Chapter 15-16—Shrine
For about thirty minutes after that, I had to listen to this girl named Misaki.
"Munch munch. This is delicious; give me another one."
"No. Buy it with your own money."
"I don't have any money right now."
"Haa… fine, eat it. Eat."
To be precise, I had to listen to her while she was stealing my lunch. Otherwise, she would start bawling.
Thanks to that, I learned that Misaki was a loner with no friends, and I got a little insight into her family situation.
"So, you're the daughter of a famous exorcist family, and you're so talented that you can see and talk to ghosts in everyday life?"
"Yup!"
There was something strange about her; that's what I thought.
'Is this some kind of Jujutsu Kaisen?'
The story she was telling sounded like something out of an exorcism anime. The problem was, I couldn't just dismiss it as a child's fantasy.
[First Scenario Progress Rate: 5%]
'What's happening in front of my eyes is already unreal enough.'
I was already weird myself. Who was I to call someone else weird?
Besides, as far as I remember, there were two games with yokai in the Ero Villain's games. One was about running away from female yokai in the neighborhood, and the other was the opposite story, where a tights-wearing exorcist defeats yokai in the neighborhood.
'Huh? Wait a minute…'
If I remembered correctly, the main character in that game was definitely…
"Your name is Misaki, right?"
"Munch munch. Uh-huh. Why?"
"Then, what's your last name?!"
"Ah! Right. It's Tachibana, Tachibana Misaki."
'It is really Tachibana Misaki.'
I couldn't help but be shocked when I heard her name. One reason was that the main character in the game wasn't a high school girl but more like an elementary schooler. The second was…
'This little kid is going to grow up to have that body?!'
It was shocking to see that a character who made you go "wow~" looked like this when she was young.
While I wore a shocked expression after hearing Misaki's last name, she noticed and asked me,
"Why? Is there something weird about Misaki's name?"
"No, it's not that…"
"Pout! Then why are you making that face? I even told you my last name, which my grandpa told me not to tell anyone, especially since you gave me food."
"Huh? He told you not to tell anyone your last name?"
I questioned Misaki's words. Usually, in Japan, it's common to address each other by last names when you're not close. Why would he forbid her from revealing it?
"Yeah. He said that if people or ghosts who hold a grudge against us know our last name, they can attack us. So, we can only freely say our name when we want to reveal it to an enemy or when we've successfully completed a mission."
It seemed there was some kind of tradition in the exorcist family.
'Wait a minute. Now that I thought about it…'
'In the game, Misaki's goal when she first appeared was to defeat the yokai that destroyed her family, right?'
And thinking carefully, the main character's last name was never mentioned during the game. The only time she said her full name was at the end—before fighting the final boss and after defeating the final boss yokai—when she shouted her name to declare the mission complete.
I hadn't thought much of it back then, but now it made sense.
'Ero Villain, those crazy bastards.'
'What kind of eroge game hides a story like this?'
'No, if I thought about it carefully, Ero Villain had always been like this.'
'They always seemed to have their own hidden stories that the players didn't know about, right?'
What did any of this have to do with this world?
"What are you thinking so hard about? Oh, and come to think of it, we've been talking about my name, but you haven't told me yours!"
No. That wasn't what I needed to worry about right now.
What was important at this moment was…
"Ah, right, my name is Takuya. Let's be friends from now on."
"R-really? Don't you think it's weird that I'm a yokai or that I don't say my last name?"
"It's okay. I've seen a lot of weirder people than that."
The fact that her family was rich made me think.
'I was wondering how to get the initial investment to invest in Bitcoin.'
If I played my cards right, I might be able to get a sugar mama. Even an allowance would be fine. If she were from such a good family, the scale would be different from mine.
I thought to myself, wondering how to get closer to this little girl—no, my future sugar mama.
…
…
About an hour passed.
The sun, which had been scorching the earth, was finally starting to cool down.
I said goodbye to Misaki.
"Ah. I should probably go now."
"Already?! No! Play with me more!!"
At my words, Misaki threw a tantrum, begging me not to leave, but…
"No. I'm not playing anymore. Go home."
I simply held out my palm and said no.
Misaki puffed up her cheeks, trying to sulk, but…
Poke!
Poke!
"Pffft!"
I easily subdued her by poking her cheeks with my finger. Of course, she still complained about being treated like a girl.
"Eek! Don't treat me like a kid!"
"Hehe. Sorry. Sorry."
After listening to her complaints for a while, I said, "If you're sad, come back here at this time the day after tomorrow. I'll come too."
Misaki made a questioning face.
"Why not tomorrow?"
"I have plans with a friend tomorrow. The day after tomorrow is fine."
"A friend?!"
She looked shocked at the mention of another friend, even more surprised than before.
Seeing her face, I chuckled and said, "I'm not a loner with no friends like you."
"Eek! I have friends too!"
"Who are your friends?"
"Yoshino and! Haruhiko and! And…"
"They're all yokai or ghosts, right?"
"…Sniff."
At that one word, Misaki crouched down, lowered her head, and sniffled. The words "loner with no friends" were too painful for a girl without friends.
Seeing her sniffling, I wondered, 'Did I tease her too much?' and tried to comfort her.
"Hey. It's okay. It's okay to not have friends."
"Sniff! Go away!"
"I said I'm sorry."
"You're the worst! Sniff!"
It seemed like I was teasing her, but… I paused for a moment, then patted Misaki's head and said, "Then I'll be your friend. Then Misaki, you're not a loner anymore, right?"
"Sniff. Sniff."
"If we're friends, I'll buy you a lunchboxthe day after tomorrow."
"Sniff. If you buy me one, I'll be your friend."
"Hehe. Okay. Then look forward to the day after tomorrow! I'll buy you a good lunchbox. Oh, and since I'm older, call me 'Oppa' when we meet."
"No… I'll call you 'Uncle.'"
"…Okay. Whatever."
"Hehe, just kidding!"
Geez… I ruffled Misaki's hair as if tidying it up, then got on my bike and headed off.
"The day after tomorrow! This time! Don't forget!!"
I left those words behind.
Misaki just watched me out of the corner of her eye until I was far away.
After a while, when I was no longer visible, someone appeared next to her.
Of course, it wasn't a person.
[Miss. Shall we follow him now?]
It was Yasuo, the ghost who followed Misaki.
For some reason, the male ghost, whose name sounded like it came from a canyon, asked her.
[Sniff. No. Don't go.]
Misaki said, sniffling, in response to Yasuo's question.
At her answer, Yasuo looked at her with a warm gaze, as if watching youth unfold.
Just as a heartwarming atmosphere was forming…
[Do you like that child, Miss Tachibana?]
Another voice began to speak from the air. But it was different from the way Yasuo had appeared.
It was a voice that seemed to transmit directly into her head rather than through her ears. At the sound, Misaki turned and looked at the being calling her.
[It's not like that. Be quiet, Zen Unnie.]
The being was a great yokai who had once plunged Japan into chaos, fought the Tachibana family, and lost, now reduced to a shikigami.
[Oh my, it makes me sad when you lie to your Unnie~]
It was the great yokai, Nyotengu.
As the name suggested, Nyotengu was a female tengu. Not only was she female, but she also had an overwhelming figure, and her half-closed eyes gave her a presence that made you want to call her "Mama."
[Don't lie. You're always teasing me.]
[I'm not! This Unnie would never do that~]
Nyotengu said this and hugged Misaki tightly.
Misaki grumbled inwardly but did not break free from the embrace.
After enjoying the hug for a while, Misaki said to Nyotengu,
[Let's stop now and go home, Zen Unnie.]
[Heeing. That's too much~]
Misaki left Nyotengu behind and began walking down the mountain from the shrine.
At her actions, Yasuo quickly stuck close to Misaki, while Nyotengu watched them with a relaxed smile.
A little while later, Misaki returned home in a car sent by her family.
Nyotengu, remaining at the shrine, remembered the boy—no, the man who looked more like an uncle—and muttered,
"Who is he to carry such a strong karmic burden of killing?"
The karmic burden of killing could only be obtained by taking lives. Even the best samurai of the Warring States period carried only a few hundred karmic burdens.
But that man…
[He had thousands, maybe~]
He carried a karmic burden of death in the thousands. That was absolutely impossible for an ordinary human.
But that was not the only thing that piqued Nyotengu's interest. Thousands of people having such a burden was not unheard of. Emperors and shoguns of the past had similar amounts.
What fascinated her most was…
[Who is 'that woman' hiding behind the thick karmic burden of killing?♪]
It was the woman who lurked behind his karmic burden, staring at her with a murderous gaze.
Thinking back to that moment—
-Shiver!
Even she, with powers close to a god, felt a moment of fear.
[Should I investigate separately~?]
Nyotengu was very curious about who the woman was.
[Yokai are not visible to ordinary eyes, and you need a special 'eye' to see them.]