Yuki Hanada
I knelt before the bell in the center of the small shrine to Lord Tsukuyomi. I clenched my hands tight, my heart racing. I didn't know what happened to the priest. He had never arrived at the shrine. It wasn't a busy one. On a weekday, hardly anyone came up here.
Did any?
It had been hours since the shadow had engulfed the shrine. Hours of kneeling here, cold, terrified. My stomach rumbled. I swallowed my throat, the back hurting with thirst. I was trapped in here, protected only by the sanctity of Lord Tsukuyomi's power.
The God of the Moon blessed this Shrine.
"...You think that old god can keep me out..." the shadow laughed.
Wind swirled around me. I gasped as it passed right through my shrine maiden's outfit. It caressed over my naked flesh beneath me. Cold and hungry all at the same time. It swirled over my nipples and through my bush to touch my virgin nether lips.
The breeze died.
I shuddered at the yokai's touch. A powerful one that surrounded the temple in a shadowy vortex. The wind whipped around the sanctum. The ofuda charms hanging from the rafters swayed. The rope the bell hung from creaked.
Outside, trees groaned in the gale. Bits of dirt and stones struck the outside of the shrine. The wooden building groaned beneath the assault, but the power of Lord Tsukuyomi held the malevolent storm at bay.
"..Yuki-chan..." whispered the tempest.
I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed, the words of the norito spilling rhythmically from my lips. "Hi Fu Mi Yo I Mu Na Ya Ko To Mo Chi Ro Ra Ne Shi Ki Ru Yu I Tsu Wa Nu So O Ta Ha Ku Me Ka U O E Ni Sa Ri He Te No Ma Su A Se E Ho Re Ke."
"...Yuki-chan..."
I ignored the words, concentrating on the rhythm of the Hi-Fu-Mi norito, letting the syllables spill from my lips over and over again. The wind howled louder outside. Even with my eyes closed, I felt the world growing darker as the tempest pressed in closer.
"...Yuki-chan, come play with me..."
The bell shivered and a soft, metallic rang came from it. I looked up at the bell. It swayed before me as the shrine itself shook. I kept chanting the norito even as my insides quivered with fear. My heart quailed as the few candles still burning in the shrine were almost nubs.
I would soon be in darkness.
"...Yuki-chan..."
Shadows swirled around the top of the shrine. It was in here. The tendrils reached the heavy rope that held the bell. They wrapped around the top of it and gave the bell a shake. It swung to the side and rang with a menacing clang.
The sound reverberated around me.
"...Yuki-chan, don't resist me..."
I squeezed my eyes shut against the horrible voice, chanting as loud as I could.
"...Yuki-chan, don't you want to be my friend..."
"..There'll be such pleasure for you..."
"...Yuki-chan..."
"...I love you..."
Tears spilled down my cheeks as I kept praying. The bell rang again, the sound almost like metallic laughter. Evil and mocking. I didn't relent. I kept up the norito, speaking each syllable carefully. Lord Tsukuyomi...
"...Has abandoned you to me, Yuki-chan..."
"...I'm your god now..."
***
Lance Hayward
I had slept for about half the flight, waking up with Kylie sleeping on my chest. Most of the harem had also slept. Not long after, Mom started warming up the frozen meals. They weren't the best things in the world, but they were filling.
The plane landed in Nagasaki. It was dark out. Evening. That didn't feel right. We had taken off in the night and flown fourteen hours only for it to still be night. I felt discombobulated when I learned it was just after six PM the next day.
We had cars waiting for us, black and small vans. We piled into them. I had no idea if my maids knew how to drive in Japan. The steering wheels were on the wrong side, but the Japanese were very considerate. More than a dozen young women were here to greet us and make sure we reached the vehicles.
We didn't go through customs. Which was good. I didn't have a passport.
"Hayward-sama," the women kept saying as they bowed to us and guided us to the vehicles.
Asuka was in the lead vehicle. She had made all the arrangements and guided us through the city of Nagasaki. We were at the southern end of Japan driving toward a bay. The signs were all different, a mix of Japanese and a surprising amount of English. There were familiar sights, like a 7-11 convenience store of all things, and plenty of Starbucks.
God, they were everywhere, even here, too.
There were plenty of things that were different. Vending machines. There were vending machines everywhere. Just out on the street. None of them seemed to sell used panties, though. Just drinks. Maybe that used panties thing was a myth.
We reached the harbor where a ferry awaited us. A ferry? "Where are we going, Asuka?"
"Sanuki Island to the shrine of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto," Asuka said. "It's supposed to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest, Shinto Shrines in Japan. It's dedicated to the God of the Moon, Tsukuyomi."
"A church and now a Shinto shrine," I said. "Do the monsters hate religion?"
"Yes," Cali said. "What do you think drives us away? Faith in something greater that keeps us from our... entertainment."
"Tormenting and eating humans?" I asked.
"Mating with humans, tormenting them, playing pranks on them, even blessing them," said Cali. "Though the ones who truly hate and desire malice are the ones with the strength of personality to breach the Hay now."
The cars pulled onto the ferry. It was some official Japanese one but appeared to be just for us. The power of the Hayward name at work. Even here in Japan, it caused people to just want to obey. We were soon heading out into the water.
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