episode_0015

Leaving the unpleasant feeling behind, I arrived at the shrine.

The shrine I had arrived at.

However, upon arriving at the shrine, I immediately felt something strange.

The weather around the shrine felt chilly, like autumn.

Just a moment ago, it had been so hot I thought I’d lose my mind.

I wasn’t so foolish as to dismiss this as just a feeling.

‘There’s something here.’

Something in this place was making the weather strange. That was my conclusion.

Perhaps that was why. The senses within my body, which hadn’t functioned properly for years, began to awaken.

My hearing became more sensitive to surrounding sounds.

My sense of smell sought out the scent of blood, not just the nearby grass.

My vision expanded to see more, transmitting even more information to my brain.

Amidst my sharpening senses, I prepared to raise my quills like a hedgehog, ready to defend myself from a predator the moment it approached.

As I remained on high alert, surveying my surroundings for a while.

‘There’s nothing.’

The information gathered by my heightened senses told me that there was no one here.

No matter how many times I re-examined the information, the answer remained the same.

My ‘enemy’ was not here.

Reaching that conclusion, I calmed my sharpened senses and let out a deep sigh.

“Right… what would be here anyway?”

It seemed I had reacted too sensitively because of past events.

Frankly, even if I found something strange, what could I do?

With this weak body, all I could do was report it to the police.

‘Snap out of it, I’m not who I used to be.’

The current me was Takuya, not the me before I was possessed.

After chastising myself for a moment, I moved to the back of the shrine to eat with Misaki, who would be waiting there.

And when I arrived at the back of the shrine, I couldn’t close my mouth at the sight before me.

After all, the ground behind the shrine was covered in a thick blanket of snow.

As I marveled at this surreal sight for a moment.

“Young lady. It seems that person isn’t coming?”

“Ah, no! She said she would definitely come!”

From the wooden floor, where no snow had accumulated, I heard Misaki’s voice – the one I was supposed to meet today – and another voice that sounded somewhat refined.

I turned my head to look at the floor, and there were two people.

One was Misaki, whom I had seen the day before yesterday, and the other was…

“Oh?”

A woman with pale skin, dressed in a white yukata, and long, straight white hair.

“She really did come, just as the young lady said.”

She was a woman whose appearance was truly unlike that of a human.

***

Do you happen to know the term Yuki Onna?

Anyone who watches anime or likes yokai would probably know this one.

She is typically a snow spirit or yokai found in Japanese folklore, and a fairly common female character who appears whenever yokai show up in Japanese literature, manga, or anime.

So, why am I suddenly saying this?

“It’s cool, so if you drink it right away, your head might feel numb.”

“Ah. Yes…”

Because right in front of me was that very Yuki Onna.

I trembled at the intense cold emanating from the teacup the Yuki Onna handed me.

I was bewildered by this baffling situation, but the person who had brought this yokai seemed completely unfazed.

“Try it. Yuki Unnie’s tea is really delicious!”

No. Rather, she seemed to have no thoughts at all.

I was so nervous I could die, but the person responsible seemed unconcerned.

I felt like giving her a good smack on the head, but I desperately suppressed that urge and asked Misaki.

“Drink this once it’s a little lukewarm, and so, the Yuki Onna… no. Why is she here?”

At my question, Misaki looked at me with a “why are you asking that?” expression and asked.

“That’s because. Oppa seemed completely unfazed?”

I genuinely felt like smacking her on the head at that remark, but fortunately, Misaki quickly explained herself before I could.

“A-actually, that was a joke, and today the family is doing a large-scale yokai subjugation, taking almost all the ghosts and yokai, so I just brought one of the yokai assigned as escorts.”

In other words, she just brought her because she was the only one left?

If that’s the case, I can understand.

While I was nodding my head.

Misaki asked me.

“So, did you bring the lunch box?”

“Of course.”

I said that and took out two lunch boxes I had bought to share with Misaki.

“Two today?”

“Are you telling me to starve? Anyway, since I brought the lunch boxes, we’re friends now, right?”

“Hehe. Okay! But, can we still be friends even with a big age difference?”

“Friends are made with the heart, not by age.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s how it is.”

Misaki and I ate our lunch boxes together while chatting about trivial things like that.

Honestly, at first, I wondered what I would talk about with a child, but unexpectedly, we communicated well.

The reason was simple.

‘She’s knowledgeable.’

Unlike her seemingly clueless or ditzy appearance, Misaki was a very knowledgeable child.

Thanks to this, the conversation topics shifted from what children usually care about to things adults would find interesting, allowing for a comfortable discussion.

As a bonus, I even subtly brought up economics, laying some groundwork.

By the way, after we finished eating, when I told Misaki she was smart, her response was something to behold.

“Of course! Even my family members call me a genius!”

It was true, but that arrogance somehow annoyed me, and I wanted to smack her head, but I held back.

Anyway, after safely finishing lunch, I asked.

“Ah. Now that I think about it. I have a question. Are there any other ghosts or yokai here besides the Yuki Onna?”

“Other yokai besides Yuki Unnie? Hmm… not for now, why?”

“No. Just because I don’t see any. I was curious.”

Hearing the answer, I pretended to be unfazed on the outside, but inwardly, I cheered.

This was because seeing the Yuki Onna had given me an idea for an experiment.

For that, there shouldn’t be any ghosts or yokai nearby. It was a relief.

After that, Misaki and I had a long, ordinary conversation. Now, it was almost time to part ways.

“Ah. Oppa. I think I should get going now…”

Around 2 PM, Misaki told me with a regretful expression.

At her words, I smiled and comforted her, telling her we could meet again at this time next time.

After comforting her for a moment.

I asked a question that I had wanted to ask earlier.

It was about how I was able to see the Yuki Onna.

“But, how was I able to see the Yuki Onna earlier?”

And to my question, Misaki answered as if it were obvious.

“Oh. That? Yuki Unnie wasn’t born from a spiritual body, so she has a physical body.”

Hearing that, I almost said, ‘What’s that, you otaku?’ but I just pretended to understand, grasping only that she had a physical body unlike other ghosts.

Just as Misaki was about to call the Yuki Onna to leave the shrine.

I made a request to Misaki.

“Could I perhaps talk with the Yuki Onna for a moment? I have something I’m personally curious about regarding yokai.”

It was a request to be left alone with the yokai to talk.

At my request, Misaki said I should just tell her about the yokai, but I insisted it was private and I wanted to talk separately.

At that, Misaki sighed, saying that since her escort duty only extended to getting into the car at the bottom of the stairs, she would allow it.

At her words, I grabbed Misaki’s arm and told her I was truly grateful.

For some reason, when I grabbed Misaki’s hand, her face turned very red, but anyway.

And so, I was left alone with the Yuki Onna at the shrine.

The Yuki Onna, sitting in front of me, asked with a questioning look.

“So, what do you need from me?”

“Oh, nothing special.”

Saying that, I handed her ‘a certain bottle’ from my pocket and said.

“I’d be grateful if you could just drink this one bottle.”

For your information, that ‘certain bottle’ was, of course.

[An aphrodisiac].

That’s right. What I was curious about was whether this item would have an effect on non-human beings like yokai.

And a specimen to resolve this question was right in front of me.

“You want me to just drink this?”

“Yes. It’s nothing strange, I’m just curious what happens if you drink it. Haha.”

“Hmm…”

At my words, the Yuki Onna made a suspicious expression, but fortunately, perhaps because Misaki had spoken well.

“Understood. It’s not really a strange medicine, is it?”

“Of course not (it’s definitely a strange medicine).”

The Yuki Onna willingly decided to drink the aphrodisiac I gave her.

-Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

The Yuki Onna, who had chugged the aphrodisiac, was bewildered for a moment, wondering what effect it would have.

Then, her face gradually turned red.

“Ugh!♥ W-what is this…♥”

Soon, her entire body began to twist and squirm, her clothes becoming disheveled, and the sleek legs of the Yuki Onna, previously tightly wrapped in her yukata, emerged.

As a bonus, her voice also began to mix with a hint of charm.

I watched the Yuki Onna becoming lewd in real-time and thought.

This item was even more amazing than I thought.