The sun gradually sank in the west, painting the sky with the hues of sunset. The twilight glow shone through the forest of reinforced concrete, staining the earth in vast swathes of orange-yellow. A blood-red sun hung at the edge of the sky as this massive city once again welcomed the Oma-ga-toki.
Ai Shindai, the blonde high school girl, walked slowly along a deserted, secluded road. Her gaze was vacant and her expression dull, moving forward like a living corpse. The vibrant energy she usually possessed was nowhere to be seen.
With stumbling steps, Ai continued down the empty path, climbing over several barricades until she reached a desolate, cluttered construction site. Countless piles of discarded building materials were scattered across the rocky ground. In the center of the clearing stood a towering high-rise.
This building, nearly eighty meters tall, was unfinished. Although the main structure was complete, the exterior lacked any finish, showing only the bare frame and brick walls. The scaffolding had mostly been dismantled, and the construction elevators and cranes were gone. Not a single person was working or maintaining the site. It was clearly a project interrupted for various reasons, left derelict due to a lack of funds. Perhaps the investment company’s losses were so severe they couldn't even afford a single guard.
Entering the site with dazed eyes, Ai walked into the unfinished building. She moved slowly through the hollow structure, climbing the stairs that lacked even handrails. Before long, she had reached a significant height.
Stopping on an upper floor, Ai walked in a trance toward the edge. Soon, she stood before a window frame that had yet to be fitted with glass. Facing the blood-like setting sun from a height of over sixty meters, the piles of scrap material on the ground below looked tiny.
Lost in her daze, Ai braced her hands against the window ledge, preparing to haul herself over and plummet down.
At that moment, a star-shaped mark flashed in Ai’s dull eyes. Behind her, the spiritual body of a young man was violently repelled from her form, a look of surprise on his face.
"What..."
"Aaaah!"
As the possession was broken, clarity instantly returned to Ai’s eyes. Looking down at the terrifying height before her, she let out a scream of fright and scrambled back, collapsing onto the floor.
"Eh... I—where am I?"
Sitting on the ground, Ai looked around in confusion. Seeing that he had failed to drive Ai to suicide, the young man’s spirit took on a vicious expression. He glanced at a discarded water pipe nearby. Driven by a strange power, the pipe began to writhe like a snake. It rose into the air and coiled itself around Ai’s neck, tightening instantly. Ai’s throat was suddenly subjected to immense pressure.
"Ngh! Ugh... I can't... breathe... ngh!"
As the pressure on her neck increased, Ai’s face began to turn red. The suffocation grew more agonizing, and she struggled desperately, her hands clawing at the pipe wrapped around her throat.
Watching this, a look of agony appeared on the young man’s face. His hands trembled, but he quickly gritted his teeth.
"I’m sorry... Ai... Please endure it, it will be over soon...
"Once we go to the Underworld together, we can finally escape that guy... So... please endure it!"
Meanwhile, at the Hozuki residence, Keitaro, who had just bid farewell to Ai, returned with Yayoi. Upon entering the house, little Yayoi headed straight for her room carrying a plush doll. Imprisoned within it was the white spirit she had captured near Ai earlier.
Yayoi reached her bedroom door. When she opened it, a dim room was revealed. The shelves lining the walls were filled with various plush dolls, and within each one, an evil spirit was imprisoned.
This room was Yayoi’s specialized storage for captured spirits.
The number of dolls in the room... exceeded forty. In other words, nearly fifty evil spirits were held captive here.
"Now then, try to get along..." Yayoi said as she placed the doll on a table in the room, then closed the door and left.
In the darkness, the doll Yayoi had just placed emitted a faint white light. From among the countless other dolls, a shadow extended, creeping toward the glowing plushie.
After leaving the room, Yayoi suddenly seemed to sense something. She immediately set down the bag she was still carrying and pulled out another doll. Her eyes widened slightly.
"This is..."
Outside the Hozuki residence, Keitaro had finished seeing Yayoi home and was saying goodbye to his childhood friend, Eiko, preparing to cycle back. Just then, he heard a rustling above. Looking up, he saw Yayoi climbing down a tree from the second floor.
"Eh! Yayoi-chan, that’s dangerous!" Keitaro cried out. However, before he could finish his sentence, Yayoi had already performed a few nimble flips among the branches and landed on the ground. While Keitaro was still stunned, Yayoi rushed to his side and hopped onto the back seat of his bicycle.
"Hurry, Ai is in danger!" Yayoi spoke seriously to Keitaro, who turned his head in confusion.
"Danger?"
Without explaining further, Yayoi pulled a white plush doll from her bag. A white paper katashiro was stuck to it. The doll’s neck was currently twisted at an unnaturally severe angle, as if it were being strangled by something.
"This is..."
"It’s a substitute katashiro made from an evil spirit. I put some of Ai’s hair on it, and now the doll is reflecting her condition... she’s in extreme danger! We have to find her right now!" Yayoi said. Hearing this, Keitaro’s expression turned solemn.
"I understand... but... we don’t know where Ai is!"
"That doesn't matter. Because I was worried about her brother causing trouble, I put a transmitter on her before I left. I can track her location now. She’s very close; we can get there quickly." Yayoi held up her phone, which displayed a map and a signal coordinate. Keitaro stared in shock.
"A transmitter... Yayoi-chan, where did you get something like that?"
"I got it from Eiko... Anyway, now is not the time for that. Move! She’s nearby!" Yayoi urged. Keitaro gritted his teeth and pedaled the bicycle forward with all his might.
Elsewhere, atop the derelict building, the young spirit’s strangulation of Ai continued. However, after a considerable amount of time, the ghost had still not managed to kill her. Although he was using all his strength to control the pipe and crush Ai’s throat, he simply couldn't tighten it further to the point of total asphyxiation. Ai was in immense pain, but she did not die or even lose consciousness, as if an invisible force were countering him.
"Why... why..."
the spirit murmured. By now, his invisible hands were clamped tightly around Ai’s neck, trying to use physical force to bolster the pipe’s pressure and end her life. Yet, under the resistance of that invisible power, he remained unable to fully choke her. Ai could only struggle desperately in her dazed state. Seeing her suffering, the expression on the spirit’s face became even more tortured.
"Why... why can't you die... Ai..."
"That’s because I’m protecting her, of course. Ai is my promised bride..."
Just then, a rather childish male voice rang out in the air. Hearing this, the young spirit froze in shock. Before his stunned eyes, another white phantom drifted out from Ai’s body.
It was the ghastly youth who had been following her. He was currently looking at the horrified spirit with a grotesque smile, his pitch-black eye sockets filled with mockery.
"Ai is my property. How could I let you take her away so easily? Keisuke..." the ghastly youth said with a sinister grin. The spirit, Keisuke, spoke in shock.
"You... why are you here? Weren't you..."
"Weren't I captured? Heehee. What was caught was merely one of my split spirits. You weren't actually naive enough to think a little spirit medium could catch me, were you? Even if it was just a split spirit... it’s not something a mere mortal can oppose... Of course, the one before you now is also a split spirit..." the ghastly youth continued. Keisuke paused for a moment before speaking in realization.
"You... you were captured on purpose?"
"Naturally. If the split spirit I kept on the surface didn't get caught for a plausible reason, how would you have cast aside your reservations and laid hands on your own sister? I was helping you, Keisuke—helping you find the resolve to kill her." The ghastly youth leaned his terrifying face close to Keisuke’s eyes.
"Weren't you worried I would snatch her soul after she died? So, I stepped aside for a bit to let you act in peace... Otherwise, you’re always so hesitant. It was making me anxious just watching you..."
Looking at the horrific face pressed against his own, Keisuke tried to move, but he found himself pinned in place by a powerful force, unable to budge an inch.
"What... what are you trying to do!?" Keisuke roared at the ghastly youth, who replied with a distorted expression.
"Heehee, what am I doing? This, of course..." The youth waved a hand lightly. Immediately, the surrounding air turned frigid, and the light in the room dimmed. Ai, who had been in a trance, shook her head as her consciousness began to clear.
Ai’s eyes widened as she took in the scene before her. She spoke weakly.
"Brother... why... this isn't real..."
Seeing the fear and confusion in his sister’s eyes, Keisuke’s heart wrenched. He wanted to immediately pull back the arms he had wrapped around Ai’s neck, but he was paralyzed by the overwhelming force.
Under the power of the ghastly youth, the area had been turned into a ghostly domain. Ai could see Keisuke standing right in front of her. And what she witnessed...
What Ai was witnessing was her brother trying to strangle her—her own beloved brother...
"Ai! Listen to me! I’m not trying to hurt you! To escape the god of our hometown, you can only go to the Underworld! If he gets your soul, you’ll be doomed forever!" the young man shouted, screaming at his terrified sister. However, Ai seemed unable to hear his voice at all, remaining on her knees in despair.
"It’s no use... she can't hear your voice. Everything here is under my control... No matter how loud you yell, it’s a waste of effort..." the ghastly youth floating behind Ai sneered. Seeing this, Keisuke gritted his teeth, tears streaming from his eyes. He roared at the youth.
"What... what do you want!?"
"What do I want?" Looking at the heart-stricken Keisuke, the ghastly youth spread his arms and laughed loudly.
"Heehee... To punish you, of course! You disrespectful blasphemer, Keisuke Shindai... How does it feel? How does it taste to be hated and feared by your most beloved sister? This is the penalty for trying to steal my property. This is the consequence of angering a god!
"I will not only let you die, but I will make you be loathed and cursed by your sister! I want you to witness Ai returning to her fate in agony and regret, offered up to me. And as I devour her, you shall turn to ash!"
"This is the price of your sacrilege... This is the wrath of a god..."
Kneeling on the ground, the young spirit looked at the arrogant god before him, his eyes filled with absolute despair.
As the slanting rays of the setting sun shone upon Mount Kagami-oboro, at the top of the sando, Miko spoke anxiously after hearing Miketsu’s words.
"Shindai-san’s life is in danger? What happened? Did her brother’s spirit attack her?"
"Her fate is very complex. I would need to calculate it carefully to know the specifics, but it is certain that her current situation is critical." Miketsu spoke calmly, slowly unwrapping a piece of candy.
"Then—then we have to go save her! Inaba-sama, let’s head down the mountain right now!" Hearing Miketsu’s words, Miko started running down the path in a panic. Watching the flustered girl, Miketsu shook her head slightly.
"Wait a moment, Miko. Do you know where your classmate is right now?"
Miko suddenly stopped her frantic descent and rubbed her head awkwardly.
"Eh... oh no. I have no idea where Shindai-san is..."
Miketsu let out a soft sigh and continued.
"Sigh... I have already roughly calculated her location. However, it is quite far from here. Even by car, it would take several hours. If you take the bus, you’ll be far too late." Miketsu’s tone was steady, but Miko only grew more frantic.
"Then what should we do, Inaba-sama? We can't just leave her to die!"
"Of course not. There are many ways to travel quickly. I think this time, we shall use a shikigami. It’s a good opportunity for you to become familiar with them." Miketsu spoke calmly as she walked toward a wide, open space in the shrine courtyard.
"Shi—shikigami?" Miko followed with a look of confusion. When she heard the word 'shikigami,' she thought of the Onmyoji-themed TV shows and manga she had seen, where practitioners commanded various spirit beasts and yokai.
'So Inari priestesses can have shikigami too...' With this thought, Miko hurried after Miketsu.
Reaching the edge of the clearing, Miketsu pulled a small paper figure from her sleeve. After whispering a few words, she tossed it into the air. The paper figure erupted into brilliant blue flames, which then expanded violently.
The blue fire surged and then quickly receded, revealing a rugged, mechanical form.
Beneath massive rotor blades was a long, streamlined fuselage. Heavy armor protected the thick body, and reinforced glass secured the cockpit. The weapon pylons were fully loaded... Seeing the image that had emerged from the blue flames, Miko’s eyes went wide.
"A—a helicopter!?"
Miko stood stunned for a long moment before finally shouting at the top of her lungs. Beside her, Miketsu calmly began her introduction.
"This is one of the shikigami commonly used by Inari priestesses. It is something you will need to master as well, Miko. It was modified from a mortal military prototype and is known as—the Fox Hunt."
Rate on N.U.
