Chapter 27-28 – Yokai – 2
After worrying for a long time, I eventually decided it was probably just my imagination and headed back to the shrine.
Still, I couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling.
Leaving behind that unpleasant, lingering feeling, I finally arrived at the shrine.
'Yes, the shrine.'
But the moment I stepped onto its grounds, I couldn't ignore the strange sensation that hung in the air.
The weather around the shrine was oddly chilly, carrying the crispness of early autumn. Just moments ago, the sun had scorched the air so heavily that it felt like my mind was on the verge of cracking from the heat.
I wasn't naive enough to dismiss this as just a fleeting impression or a trick of my imagination.
'There's something here.'
Something in this place was twisting the atmosphere, making it feel off, unnatural. That had to be the reason.
Perhaps that was why the senses in my body, dormant and unreliable for years, began to stir.They slowly awakened once more.
My hearing sharpened, picking up the soft rustle of leaves and distant, barely noticeable movements in the surrounding area.
My sense of smell became more acute, detecting not just the ordinary scent of grass and earth, but also a faint, underlying metallic tang of blood that made the hairs on my arms stand on end.
My vision widened, allowing me to see further and more clearly, capturing subtle details I had never noticed before. My brain began processing more information than it had in years.
With my senses now finely tuned, I braced myself like a cautious hedgehog, ready to raise my quills and defend against any approaching predator. Every instinct told me to stay alert.
I remained on high alert, carefully scanning my surroundings for any sign of danger, my body coiled with tension.
'There's nothing here.'
Despite all the information my heightened senses provided, the shrine appeared empty. No matter how many times I reassessed the situation, the conclusion was always the same.
There was no enemy, no hidden presence to threaten me, nothing at all.
Reaching that realization, I allowed my tense senses to relax and exhaled a long, slow breath, trying to shake off the residual unease.
"Right… So what exactly am I expecting to find here anyway?"
I realized I was probably overreacting. My mind was still haunted by past experiences that had left behind a lingering sense of wariness.
Even if there had been something unusual, what could I have done about it with my current frail body? My only option would have been to report it to the police.
'Calm down. I'm not the person I used to be.'
I was Takuya now, a different version of myself. I was no longer the person I had been before the possession.
After giving myself a mental scolding and straightening my posture, I turned and headed toward the back of the shrine. Misaki was waiting for me there, patiently, and it was time to eat.
The air seemed to shift slightly as I walked, carrying the faint, comforting scent of incense from the inner shrine. Every step felt heavier than usual, but I forced myself to focus on the present, leaving the uneasy feelings behind, if only for a moment.
When I reached the back of the shrine, I was momentarily rendered speechless by the scene before me.
The ground behind the shrine was blanketed in a thick layer of pristine snow, transforming the area into something surreal and almost otherworldly.
I stood there, completely stunned. I couldn't move, nor could I fully process the sight before me.
"Miss, it seems like he's not coming?"
"No, he said he would come for sure!"
I heard Misaki's clear and anxious voice. Alongside it came another voice, refined and delicate, from the veranda where the snow had not settled.
I turned my gaze toward the veranda and saw two figures standing there.
One was Misaki, the girl I had met the day before yesterday, looking as expectant as ever.
The other figure made me pause.
"Oh?"
She had pale skin and was wearing a white yukata. Her long, straight white hair framed a presence that felt both elegant and unsettling.
"It seems that he really did come, just as you said, Miss."
The voice belonged to a woman with a striking appearance, so unnervingly perfect that she seemed almost inhuman. Her presence alone blurred the line between reality and something beyond human.
Her presence carried an aura that made the air itself feel colder, sharper, as if the world around her had subtly shifted the moment she appeared.
…
…
Have you ever heard of a Yuki Onna?
Anyone who watches anime or has an interest in yokai would probably recognize this spirit.
She is a snow spirit, a yokai often appearing in Japanese folklore. She also shows up frequently in Japanese literature, manga, and anime whenever yokai are involved.
So why was I suddenly thinking about her?
…
…
"It's cold, so if you drink it right away, your head will throb."
"Ah… okay."
The Yuki Onna was standing right in front of me.
I shivered as the intense cold radiated from the teacup she had handed me.
The situation bewildered me completely, yet the person responsible for bringing this yokai here seemed entirely unconcerned.
"Try it. Yuki Unni's tea is really delicious!"
'No, she seemed utterly oblivious to my shock.'
I was so nervous that it felt like my heart might stop, but she didn't appear to notice at all. I wanted to smack her on the head, but I held back and turned to Misaki for an explanation.
"I will drink this when it's a little lukewarm. But… why did the Yuki Onna— I mean, why is she here?"
Misaki tilted her head, looking puzzled, and replied, "Well, because you didn't seem to mind?"
I wanted to smack her on the head for that answer, but thankfully, she quickly clarified.
"W-well, that was a joke. Actually, today the family is conducting a large-scale yokai extermination, so most of the ghosts and yokai were taken away. I just brought one yokai who was assigned to be my escort."
In other words, she had only brought the Yuki Onna because she was the only one left. If that was the case, I could understand.
As I nodded, Misaki asked, "So, did you bring the lunch boxes?"
"Of course."
I said that and pulled out the two lunch boxes I had bought to share with Misaki.
"Two today?"
"Are you implying I should starve? Anyway, now that I have the lunch boxes, does that mean we're friends?"
"Hehe, okay! But can we really be friends even with a big age gap?"
"Friends are made with the heart, not age."
"Is that so?"
"That's how it is."
Misaki and I chatted idly while eating our lunch boxes.
Honestly, at first I wondered how I could manage a conversation with this girl. But to my surprise, we got along quite well.
The reason was simple. She was knowledgeable.
Misaki was surprisingly knowledgeable, far beyond her airhead or ditzy appearance.
Thanks to that, we could have comfortable conversations about topics that interested adults, not just the things children cared about.
I even slipped in a bit of economic talk to lay some groundwork.
After we finished eating, I complimented Misaki on her intelligence, and her response was hilarious.
"Of course! The family members also call me a genius!"
It was true, but her confidence was so over the top that I felt like smacking her on the head. I held back, though.
Once lunch was over without any problems, I asked, "Ah. Now that I think about it, I'm curious about something. Are there any other ghosts or yokai here besides the Yuki Onna?"
"Other yokai besides Yuki Unni? Hmm… there aren't any for now. Why do you ask?"
"No, I was just curious because I didn't see any."
I pretended to be nonchalant when I heard her answer, but inside, I was quietly cheering.
Seeing the Yuki Onna sparked an idea for an experiment. For it to work, there couldn't be any other ghosts or yokai around.It was a relief.
After that, Misaki and I had a normal conversation for a while. Soon, it was almost time to say goodbye.
"Ah. Oppa. I think I should go now…"
Around 2 PM, Misaki said this with a sad expression.
I smiled and told her that we could meet again at the same time next time. I comforted her as best I could.
After a moment of comforting her, I asked a question I had been curious about all along.
It was about how I was able to see the Yuki Onna in the first place.
"But how was I able to see the Yuki Onna from the beginning?"
Misaki answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Ah. That? Yuki Unni wasn't born as a spirit, so she has a physical body."
I almost said, "What the hell are you talking about, you weeb?" But instead, I pretended to understand, realizing that she simply had a physical body unlike other ghosts.
Just as Misaki was about to call the Yuki Onna to leave the shrine, I asked her for a favor.
"Could I talk to the Yuki Onna for a bit? I have some personal questions about yokai."
It was a request to be left alone with the yokai for a private conversation.
Misaki said I could just ask her questions if they were about yokai, but I insisted it was personal and I wanted to speak separately.
Misaki made a "pffft" face but eventually agreed, saying she would allow it since she was only escorting the Yuki Onna to the car at the bottom of the stairs.
I grabbed Misaki's arm and thanked her. For some reason, her face turned bright red when I held her hand, but I didn't think much of it. And so, I was left alone with the Yuki Onna at the shrine.
The Yuki Onna sat quietly in front of me and tilted her head. She looked at me with a questioning expression as she spoke.
"So, what do you need from me?"
"Ah, it's nothing much."
I said that and reached into my pocket, pulling out 'a certain bottle.'
"I would be grateful if you could drink this."
By the way, that 'certain bottle' was, of course, [Aphrodisiac].
That's right. What I wanted to find out was whether this substance would have any effect on nonhuman beings like yokai. And the perfect specimen to test this theory was sitting right in front of me.
"You want me to just drink this?"
"Yes. It's nothing weird. I'm just curious what will happen if you do. Haha."
"Hmm…"
The Yuki Onna looked at me suspiciously, but thankfully, Misaki had spoken well of me earlier.
"Okay… It's not some really strange medicine, right?"
"Of course… (well, it's definitely a strange medicine)."
Despite her caution, the Yuki Onna agreed to drink the aphrodisiac I handed her.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
She downed it in one shot. Her expression was a mix of curiosity and uncertainty as she waited to see what effect it might have. Then, slowly, her face began to flush red.
"Ugh♥ W-what is this…♥"
Soon, her body began to writhe subtly. Her yukata loosened and shifted, revealing her shapely legs that had been hidden beneath it. Her voice, once calm and composed, started to take on a flirtatious tone.
I watched, fascinated, as the Yuki Onna became more and more expressive in her reactions.
In that moment, I thought to myself, 'This thing is even more amazing than I imagined.'
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