The number of yōkai in the city was increasing.
After spring break, schools had started their new semester. Once the students gathered, they were surprised to find that in just one break, urban legends had exploded. Everyone could tell a completely different story.
From visuals to details, everything was crystal clear, as if they had been on the scene.
The sound of someone tapping the handrail would echo in a stairwell late at night, but no one would be found upon searching. In the countryside fields at dusk, a tall, thin shadow would poke its head out, vanishing when looked at closely. Picking up a landline at midnight and pressing four zeros would connect to hell...
There were too many. Araragi felt these couldn't even be called urban legends anymore; they were full-blown horror stories.
He no longer doubted the authenticity of these stories. He just did his best to warn any classmate willing to listen not to let curiosity drive them to do things that looked suspicious, and to try not to go out after dark.
Most students treated his words as a joke, or saw him as a lunatic who took urban legends too seriously, which made his already gloomy image in school even stranger.
But Araragi knew what he said was true... Ah, right, Hanekawa Tsubasa would surely believe it.
What made him give up the idea of becoming a pure human were these yōkai and "oddities" [Kai-i] one could run into even while walking at dusk. Some were new yōkai born in the new era from human wishes, fantasies, or fears, but more were things that had gone extinct and were reappearing in this world.
He wanted to protect his family, his sisters—to hold the blade in his own hand when danger came.
Black smoke flickered with an ominous light in the setting sun. The "oddity" whose core Araragi had already gripped manifested in the physical world only as thrashing black tentacles. Even the struggle of these tentacles gradually weakened, until they were limply hitting Araragi wrist.
The scars on his arm were vanishing at a visible rate. Araragi watched silently as the monster in his hand grew weaker and thinner, until he gave a light squeeze and it became dust, vanishing completely in mid-air.
The vampire's unique ability to drain energy made clearing these minor oddities or yōkai as simple as crushing dry wood.
The government seemed to have noticed these things too. Or perhaps on a national level, they had long known of these anomalies, but because they had remained stable, no major moves were made. In any case, in this era of growing unrest, they had introduced corresponding defensive measures.
Though given Araragi understanding of the Japanese government, this was a remarkably quick reaction, rather than relying on them...
...I hope Mr. Sū ěr can resolve this soon...
Dusting off his empty palms, Araragi looked up at the sky, where faint black demonic aura seemed to linger, and thought silently.
Tonight, Araragi Koyomi would join the hunt.
With Araragi, the Nura Clan, and the motley crew of Onmyōji and oddity experts, keeping human society stable on the surface wasn't difficult for now. Coupled with the Japanese government's timely release of "expert explanations," urban legends generally remained just urban legends.
As for Sū ěr side... it had fallen into an incredibly annoying situation.
The Saigyouji Yuyuko matter was, to put it bluntly, human sacrifice. Human sacrifice had occurred in every country and era. Moreover, this wasn't a fake sacrifice manufactured by humans for money or status, but a real sacrifice that benefited a whole region.
Though cruel, judging ancient matters by modern standards was pointless. Furthermore, Sū ěr was certain he had no desire to bear the casualties and future impacts that would follow if this centuries-old balance was suddenly shattered.
He knew that every time he went to the past, he changed the future. He didn't want to be the villain who helped yōkai drive humans to extinction or suppression, even if he didn't want to participate personally in human development.
And then...
"Are you really not going to reconsider?"
"..."
"How about now? The weather is so nice today; why not try thinking from a different angle?"
"..."
"Ah~, such a beautiful and kind girl, having to give up her life just because of an ancestor's decision. The world is so cruel!"
"..."
"Here is some water, and some snacks."
"..."
"Good morning, how are you feeling today? Shall we talk about lovely Yuyuko?"
"..."
Conversations like the above happened at any time and place. With her gaps becoming increasingly sophisticated and her mastery of boundaries growing after tens of thousands of years of evolution, Yukari Yakumo could always pop out from an unexpected angle to deliver a "soul-piercing" lecture to Sū ěr.
Sū ěr felt like Sun Wukong with Tripitaka chanting the Tightening Hoop Curse.
He couldn't hit her, and he couldn't curse her away. No matter what he said, Yukari would eventually offer her most sincere service and heartfelt condolences with a smile. It wasn't worth escalating into a real fight; Sū ěr was willing to call this yōkai's pestering skills the strongest in the world.
Strangely, Yukari's concern for an ordinary human far exceeded Sū ěr own.
Even though Sū ěr found that Yuyuko had accepted her fate, Yukari hadn't given up, even if it meant going against the girl's own wishes.
Is this the power of love?
But when Sū ěr asked Yukari this with a strange expression, the female yōkai denied it without a moment's hesitation.
"I simply cannot stand by and watch her, so pure and kind, die so simply."
Sū ěr still remembered the soft smile on Yukari's face when she said that—calm and indifferent.
He believed her without needing proof.
The relationship between humans and yōkai... was truly interesting.