NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6: Volume 1 (Final Act): Bakeneko
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"I understand. You are the truth behind the Bakeneko. Tell me the story." The strange man said calmly
"What difference would that make?"
"What do you mean?"
"The beast can't be held back anymore. Soon I will be killed by it."
"I don't care whether or not you are killed. The fact is that I have to cut the beast down. To do this I must know your story!" The medicine man gradually walked towards the wall, his left hand holding the sword, his right hand raised towards the wall. The Bakeneko started vibrating, as if it wanted to escape from the medicine seller's spell, it curled up into a ball before starting to transform to a small cat jumping around."You are the creator of the beast. You have an obligation to talk!"
"Obligation? I was merely looking to entertain myself. Being thoughtless for my age, I was just going to scare her." The old man began to explain the story, the woman walked to the place next to the medicine seller and sat down. Her left hand came up to cover the left half of her face, the red eye opened its eyes and looked around, it squinted then widened looking around. "That was.... 25 years ago."
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"If the girl..... If Tamaki..... If she had screamed.... I intended to return her immediately.... I intended to return her immediately.... But..... She hardly put up a fight. It was as though.... Willingly."
"Willingly.... Towards me.....and leaned in toward me. And so.... I had no other choice. Even if I had sent her home, it would not have gone well for her. So i dressed her in lavish kimonos and fed her finest foods. It was the least I could do. I had believed that our days would go on forever. I took her in the prime of her life. I can only imagine her regret and remorse."
"So you're suggesting that the girl's grude possessed the cat and became the Bakeneko?" The medicine man asked, doubt in my voice. He looked down at the woman, who had closed one of her right eyes. The eye located on the back of her left hand looked around and squinted, it became an angry red. So that means, the old man is lying so even the medicine man's sword doesn't react at all.
"It's likely that her spirit couldn't bear to see a bride leaving this household. And, of course, a woman's grudge is incorrigible indeed." The alcoholic samurai spoke slowly with a mixture of sarcasm and mockery towards the dead woman Tamaki.
"You say it like it doesn't concern you! You bastard!" Sato shouted back at the other samurai.
"Bastard?"
"I only did what I was told! I did nothing wrong! Nothing wrong at all! Everybody was using me for their own convenience!" Sato screamed again and again, arguing that she was not guilty. "You figured I'do anything I was told! You abused your authority!"
"So stinks! How can you stand these people!? Let me eat them all!" The fox-eared woman suddenly spoke loudly, her voice had become deeper, more like the voice of an animal than a human. She growled deep in her throat, the eye behind her hand looked around the room. Finally, it looked at the medicine man's hand, straining so much that veins appeared and blood flowed down from his hand.
"I'm not as easy-going as the brat you met. You better tell the truth or I'll kill this exorcist first and then let the Mononoke in..." The "woman" with the fox hands turned around, raised her clawed index finger and pointed it at each person's face. Her mouth curved into a sinister smile with the sharp teeth of a predator. The room shook more and more to the point that the medicine man gritted his teeth trying to keep Mononoke from breaking the spell. "Tear you guys apart... One... by one....."
"That's so cruel! Cruel! Cruel! Cruel!" Sato continued to roar without paying attention to the woman's threats. The Mononoke continuously banged on the door, using all its strength to rush in.
"What is it!? What's missing!?"
"Heh.... Hehehe.... Why don't you let it in? They're all going to die anyway, right?" The woman with fox ears suddenly burst into laughter as the Mononoke almost burst into the room. The woman placed her hand on the medicine man's shoulder, as Odajima took the old man down to the room below with Kayo also taking Sato down.
"Oya.... So that's it, you're the brat's new "toy"...." The "woman" suddenly spoke, she looked down at the medicine man. It turns out that Uranaishi has found a "new toy" so these past few days she's been so happy that her insides haven't been filled with rain. Maybe "the woman" should help him a little? "You want to know the Regret, right? Fine, you can't die anyway."
"H-huh?" She saw the medicine man's expression and made her lick her lips a little, but she tried to hold back because she wanted the brat (Uranaishi) to be happy. She then kicked him straight into the Mononoke, surprising him and gradually disappearing into it.
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"Yare yare..... Humans are so complicated... If you have an eternal life then emotions are nothing." The "woman" picked up the pipe and took a very long drag, then exhaled the smoke. Those red flames gradually covered the entire tunnel and the room below. These smokes caused Odajima and Kayo to faint, bringing them into Tamaki's mind world along with the medicine man. "But at least I want to see that brat's expression right now so...." The "woman" giggled as she let herself be pulled in as well, then returned control of her body to Uranaishi.
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"You think to give me orders? I'll teach you how to spean to me."
"Go home? You failed to fulfill your duty for the honor of your family.... Where do you think you can go back to? You are an embarassment. You are a disgrace." A young Yoshiyuki spoke with disdain and mocked the woman lying on the sacrificial platform. But the next scene where the woman with white fox ears not "that woman" anymore, Uranaishi had to frown in disgust. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists to the point of drawing blood.
"I will kill him...." But this time she was pulled back by the medicine, his hand removed the fingers that were clutching her palm to the point of bleeding, then his fingers intertwined with the woman's fingers and held her hand as if to reassure her. The woman with white fox ears gritted her teeth and was forced to step back. She snatched her hand away from the medicine man's hand and turned around, she smoked and just decided to listen without looking any more.
"I come here after a long absence and I see that they have made themselves den" The woman with white fox ears gritted her teeth and was forced to step back. She snatched her hand away from the medicine man's hand and turned around, she smoked and just decided to listen without looking any more. The pitiful cry made the woman stop. Tears rolled down her face, as did the scene of the Tamaki woman being abused and tortured. It only makes it even more impossible for her to exorcise this Mononoke.
"If you're not going to eat, I won't bring you any more. Keeping you alive isn't free." This time it was young Sato's voice speaking in a sarcastic and arrogant tone.
"Kitty?" The cat cried out again as if wanting to confirm. Tamaki's voice was a bit happy and surprised as she reached for the cat, which gently licked her finger. Her expression brightened when she realized the cat she loved the most had returned. "Oh right...." Tamaki looked over her food tray and happily whispered.
Once again this scene made Uranaishi unable to restrain herself from crying silently when she felt the medicine man's gaze occasionally glancing at her, she quickly looked away and smoked.
"Well, well. So you suddenly decided to eat." The scene changed again when Tamaki's tray was empty and once again Sato appeared and spoke with surprise. "You certainly are disgusting."
Tamaki silently stroked her black cat lovingly without caring about those insulting words. To the woman who had nothing left, this cat was like the whole world to her.
"Eat some more."
"One day you will go outside...."
"Kitty..... Kitty...." The scene kept changing again, just one scene where Tamaki was stroking the black cat but her face was already skinny, her skin was pale and her lips were dry. "There, there.... Eat all you want."
"You...."
"Will grow stronger...."
"Will grow bigger....."
"There, there.... Good kitty." Tamaki has become so old and thin that she only has bones left, and wrinkles appear all over her body. She still takes care of and comforts the cat with sweet and sad words.
"You will be freed...."
"Only you."
"Don't make any noise. Father's been wondering what to do with you lately. Poor girl." This time it was young Yoshikuni's shoulder that spoke, he looked at Tamaki with a sinister look, then the cage was gradually pulled up. "You maybe.... dead "
"Kitty, kitty. Good kitten.... You stay there" The woman was still muttering the words to the cat as she look up at the cat on top of the cage.
"Damn it.... " The men who never respect a woman always make Uranaishi mad. There's no need to say what happened next. The fox-eared woman muttered, her hands shaking as she tried to control herself. Remind herself that this is just the past, everything happened. Kayo sobbed and leaned close to the woman to avoid seeing this depraved scene.
"Yoshikuni!"
"Father!"
"When did you do this? A lowly, country girl seducing my son!" The sounds of beatings made Uranaishi feel a little more disgusted and irritated. "It sickens me! It's inexcusable! Inexcusable!"
"Inexcusable! Inexcusable!"
"Kitty.... Kitty.... You must....."
"What are you trying to do!? You lowly beast!" The young version of the old man hissed when the black cat scratched his hand and made it bleed.
"Run..... Run to the outside world."
"Kitty, kitty, run....."
"My sweet, sweet kitty, kitty...."
"You must live on your own."
"Farewell...."
"Allow me, Sasaoka, to take care of the rest."
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"Bakeneko.... Your Truth and Regret. I have taken.... to heart" The medicine man spoke slowly, there was still a bit of blood on his chin but he didn't bother to wipe it off. The tip on the hilt of the medicine sword made a clicking sound as the final condition was fulfilled. "With your Truth and your Regret...."
"I'll release the sword!" The medicine man spoke loudly, his sword unsheathed. For a moment everything turned white, and a divine figure with light, almost white hair and darker skin appeared behind the medicine man. The other person began to remove all the strange marks of the medicine seller such as red paint marks on his face, and the patterns on the medicine seller's kimono appeared as golden symbols on the other person's body.
Once the transformation is complete, a shield of golden talismans appears above the person's head, blocking Mononoke's attack from above. The strange man who had just appeared raised his hand and tightly grasped the sword. He opened his eyes and pulled out the exorcism sword. The confrontation between the exorcist and Mononoke happened in the air, they clashed continuously, strange shapes and flowers of all colors continuously appeared when the exorcist's sword collided with Mononoke's claws.
Mononoke splits itself into multiple eyes and begins to attack the exorcist with force. The exorcist just calmly raised me up to block the attack, then immediately appeared in the air before Mononoke's eyes.
"I understand what you're capable of as I've seen you in action. It will not work against me. You are not destined to belong in this dimension. I will exorcise you! Forgive me!"
The blade of the exorcist sword suddenly grew as long as the radius of the room, the exorcist held it with both hands and began to use it to rotate to slash all of Mononoke's eyes. Wherever his blade went, colorful flowers appeared, until the blade stopped in front of the Bakeneko's main body.
"Yare yare, so colorful...." The fox-eared woman said, she summoned a red umbrella and opened it to cover the things falling from Mononoke.
"Vanish!" The exorcist casts a spell that ends Mononoke. Mononoke's body began to twist together strangely like a large mass of flesh with eyes, mouth, and limbs. It screamed in pain, causing the whole room to shake violently before it curled back inside itself and disappeared. It dissolved into colorful sheets of paper and gradually fell to the ground. At this time the medicine man has returned to normal on the sacrificial platform, only the body of a black kitten that Tamaki raised lay on it.
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"Kusuriuri-san!" The woman with white fox ears was still holding her umbrella to cover with the two strange children accompanying her walking towards the medicine man. She was wearing a pair of black koma geta so she was very tall but he was also wondering how she could run so fast. The answer was obvious but he just wanted to be sure.
"Ojou-sama.... Do you need something...?" The other woman did not answer, but the child wearing a blue kimono next to her walked closer to the medicine man. The girl's hand took the man's hand and placed on it a red bag with silver thread embroidered with the image of a fox on it. "Hm....? May i ask.... What is it?"
"There is a jar of healing ointment in there" The woman with fox ears replied, she looked away and smoked. "So you can fix that face of yours. I don't like seeing my " new toy" getting damaged, hmph!"
"Ojou-sama, are you regretting that the other you hurt me?"
"Tch! Shut up!" The woman hissed, she clicked her tongue loudly and left with the two children. A small genuine smile appeared as the man felt that the other woman was nothing more than an angry fluffy kitten.
"If I remember correctly..... Those children called her "Uranaishi"? A fortuneteller huh...." He chuckled softly and walked in the opposite direction of the woman. Perhaps the issue of the woman's identity should be put aside if their fates intersect another time. "But her appearance when she cries....isn't it adorable...?"