Chapter 9 – Episode 9. Outing (5)

For about 30 minutes after that, I had to listen to this kid 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’d start bawling.

Thanks to that, I learned that this girl named Misaki was a loner with no friends and a little about her family’s 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’s something weird about her, that’s what I thought.

‘Is this some kind of Jujutsu Kaisen?’

I mean, the story she’s telling sounds like something out of an exorcism anime.

The problem is, I can’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’m already weird myself. Who am 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 a game where you run 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 remember correctly, the name of the main character in that game was definitely…

“Your name is Misaki, right?”
“Munch munch. Uh-huh. Why?”
“Then, what’s your, your last name (苗字)?!”
“Ah! Right. It’s Tachibana, Tachibana Misaki.”

It was Tachibana Misaki (橘氏 美咲).

I couldn’t help but be shocked when I heard Misaki’s name.

One reason was that the main character in the game was not a high school girl but more like an elementary schooler, and 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~” was like this when she was young.

While I was making a shocked face after hearing Misaki’s last name, Misaki, who found my expression strange, 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 call each other by last names when you’re not close. Why would he tell her not to reveal it?

“Yeah. He said that if people or ghosts who have 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 seems like there’s some kind of tradition in the exorcist family.

Wait a minute, now that I think about it.

‘In the game, Misaki’s goal when she first appeared was to defeat the yokai that destroyed her family, right?’

And if I think about it 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 didn’t think much of it back then, but it turns out there was a story behind it.

‘Ero Villain, those crazy bastards.’

What kind of ero game has this kind of hidden story?

No, if I think about it carefully, Ero Villain has always been like this.

‘They always seemed to have their own stories that the players didn’t know about, right?’

What does 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’s not what I need to worry about right now.

What’s important to me right now is.

“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 is rich.

‘I was wondering how to get the initial investment to invest in Bitcoin.’

If I play my cards right, I might be able to get a sugar mama?

Even an allowance would be fine. If she’s from such a good family, the scale is different from mine.

I thought to myself, wondering how to get closer to this little kid, no, my future sugar mama.

***

About an hour passed.

It was the time when the sun, which had been scorching the earth, was starting to cool down.

Takuya said goodbye to Misaki.

“Ah. I should probably go now.”
“Already?! No! Play with me more!!”

At Takuya’s words, Misaki threw a tantrum, telling Takuya not to leave, but…

“No. I’m not playing anymore. Go home.”

Takuya simply held out his palm and said no.

At that, Misaki puffed up her cheeks, trying to show that she was sulking, but…

Poke.

Poke.

“Pffft!”

Takuya easily subdued her by poking her cheeks with his finger.

Of course, Misaki still threw a fit because he treated her like a child.

“Eek! Don’t treat me like a kid!”
“Hehe. Sorry. Sorry.”

After listening to Misaki’s complaints for a while.

“If you’re sad, come back here at this time the day after tomorrow. I’ll come too.”

Takuya said to Misaki.

Misaki made a questioning face at those words.

“Why not tomorrow?”
“I have plans with a friend tomorrow. The day after tomorrow is fine.”
“A friend?!”

Misaki seemed to be quite shocked by the mention of another friend, making an even more surprised face than before.

And seeing Misaki’s face, Takuya 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 with no friends.

Seeing Misaki sniffling again, Takuya thought, ‘Did I tease her too much?’ and tried to comfort her.

Or rather.

“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 he was teasing her, but.

Takuya said that 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 lunch box the 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 lunch box. Oh, and since I’m older, call me ‘Oppa’ when we meet.”
“No… I’ll call you ‘Uncle’.”
“…Okay. Whatever.”
“Hehe, just kidding!”

Geez.

Takuya ruffled Misaki’s hair as if tidying it up, then got on his bike and headed somewhere.

“The day after tomorrow! This time! Don’t forget!!”

He left those words behind.

Misaki just watched Takuya out of the corner of her eye until he was far away.

After a while, when Takuya 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, no, Chunshik.

For some reason, the male ghost with a name that sounds like he’d come out of a canyon asked Misaki.

[Sniff. No. Don’t go.]

Misaki said, sniffling, in response to Yasuo’s question.

At Misaki’s answer, Yasuo looked at Misaki with a warm gaze, as if he were watching youth unfold.

Just as a heartwarming atmosphere was being created.

[Do you like that child, Miss Tachibana?]

Another voice began to be heard from the air.

But it was different from when Yasuo appeared.

It was a voice that seemed to transmit sound into her head rather than her ears. At that voice, Misaki turned her head and looked at the being that was calling her.

[It’s not like that. Be quiet, Zen Unnie.]

The being that was calling her was a great yokai who had plunged Japan into chaos in the past, and who had fought and lost to the Tachibana family in the past, and was now reduced to a shikigami.

[Oh my, it makes me sad when you lie to your Unnie~]

It was the great yokai, Nyotengu (女天狗).

Nyotengu, as the name suggests, was a female tengu, and not only was she female, but she had an overwhelming figure, and her half-closed eyes made her look like someone you’d want to call “Mama.”

[Don’t lie. You’re always teasing me.]
[I’m not! This Unnie would never do that~]

Nyotengu said that and hugged Misaki tightly.

Misaki grumbled inwardly but didn’t break free from her 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 just left Nyotengu alone and started to go down the mountain from the shrine.

At Misaki’s actions, Yasuo quickly stuck to Misaki, and Nyotengu just watched them with a relaxed smile.

A little while later. While Misaki was returning home in a car sent by her family.

Nyotengu, who remained at the shrine, remembered the boy, no, the man who looked more like an uncle, and muttered.

“Who is he to have such a strong karmic burden of killing (殺業)?”

The karmic burden of killing (殺業) is something that can only be obtained by taking lives.

Even the samurai who were considered the best in the Warring States period only had a few hundred karmic burdens.

But that man…

[He had thousands, maybe~]

He had a karmic burden of death of thousands.

At least, that was something that was absolutely impossible for an ordinary human.

But that wasn’t the only thing that piqued the interest of the great yokai.

Thousands of people were not unheard of. Emperors and shoguns of the past had that much karmic burden.

What she was most interested in was.

[Who is ‘that woman’ hiding behind the thick karmic burden of killing?♪]

It was the woman who was hiding behind his karmic burden and staring at her with a murderous gaze.

Thinking back to that moment.

-Shiver!

Even she, who had powers close to a god, felt a moment of fear.

[Should I investigate separately~?]

Nyotengu was very curious about who it was.

***

[Yokai are not visible to the eyes of ordinary people, and you need a special ‘eye’ to see them.]