Chapter 24: The Dark Player
In the city where dusk and night overlap.
Nagin’s flowing black hair contrasts starkly with the pure, unblemished white of the two shrine maidens.
The black and white figures weave through the city.
“Perfect performance.”
One can transform into the role they are playing in the minds of others, even in the perceptions of the world.
Not only that, but the personality, habits, and memories of the role they embody, even—
The shrine maiden of the white spirit leaps into the air, clawed hands slicing through the air, sending a wind blade towards the back of Nagin’s head.
In the same instant.
The star pupil in Nagin’s eyes glows with a silvery light, and she swiftly turns around, swinging her arm.
An identical wind blade is shot out, colliding and canceling out with the maiden’s, creating a cloud of dust.
The scene leaves the shrine maiden momentarily stunned.
“Sister, why—”
In the next moment, she sees the “groom” burst forth from the dust cloud, running wildly down the street.
“Sister, what are you looking at—”
The other shrine maiden, moving with extraordinary speed, leaves a trail as she flashes behind Nagin.
Claws come down from above.
“Tsk.”
Star pupil shimmering.
Nagin’s body also turns into an afterimage, evading the maiden’s attack.
“Is this really all you’ve got?” Nagin’s voice comes from behind the shrine maiden.
But the wind blade she shot out only strikes the shrine maiden’s afterimage.
“Oh dear! We were taught by the same master, I can’t break your moves!” Nagin sticks out her tongue and gives a charming lick of her lips, letting out a helpless sigh.
Meanwhile, DD-chan, who had possessed Nagin, watches this back-and-forth battle repeat countless times.
DD-chan feels utterly confused.
The host it possesses suddenly shifts from Nagin to Kanade, then instantaneously into the shrine maiden of the white spirit, transforming in erratic patterns.
But this also helps it understand the essential nature of the black-haired girl before it.
She can transform into others from a cognitive perspective.
That is why it mistakenly assumed the “shrine maiden” was its host.
That night, she had become Tsukimi Kanade, entering a dream that should only exist for herself and the possessed individual.
While at the Hakurei Shrine, she became the “shrine maiden,” temporarily returning the sacred object to her mother in the name of the shrine maiden.
If she hadn’t personally demonstrated this ability in front of it, DD-chan wouldn’t have realized anything.
Who else has she become? How many of the humans I’ve seen during this time have she transformed into?
DD-chan feels an inexplicable fear.
It is supposed to be a malicious spirit that drives its hosts to distrust others and fall into loneliness, but now it is tasting that very flavor.
“How rude~” Nagin’s voice comes softly, interrupting DD-chan’s thoughts.
While deftly dodging the attacks from the two shrine maidens, she continues speaking.
“I haven’t lied to you, DD-chan, okay?”
“W-what do you mean? Clearly, when we first met, you deceived me into possessing this ‘fake shrine maiden’!”
“No, that’s just you being lecherous; how can you push that onto me?”
Nagin casts a glance at DD-chan floating beside her.
Straightening her body, she faces the two shrine maidens emerging from the dust cloud. The pure, unblemished white of their robes is now soiled with dirt, becoming filthy.
In contrast, Nagin, dressed in a school uniform, remains pristine except for being slightly damp from the rain earlier.
The disparity in strength is evident.
“Looks like apart from Amamiya Chiaka, these shrine maidens are just minor players…” Nagin observes the two shrine maidens and sighs inwardly.
They lack intelligence, have monotonous attacks and techniques: either relying on their high mobility to engage in close combat or using wind blades from a distance.
Is the combat power of generic enemies in “Star Draw 2” only this level?
Threat level 3? Or just 2? Nagin estimates in her mind using the standard of “Special Ring SEMA.”
The Special Ring SEMA categorizes fantasy monsters into 13 threat levels from 0 to 12, with higher numbers indicating greater power.
A level of 2 or 3 means they possess some supernatural abilities and extraordinary physical capabilities; even an ordinary person, with a good plan or preparation, could find a way to defeat them.
In “Star Draw 2,” aside from Amamiya Chiaka, the “shrine maidens” are nothing more than mere fish.
Even a protagonist whose powers are not fully awakened can defeat them.
Then, the experiment on combat strength stops here, Nagin thinks.
Star pupil shimmering.
“Speaking of which, since it’s our first meeting, if you’re going to take me back, at least introduce yourselves?”
“Tsukimi Kanade,” she smiles, spreading her hands wide.
“My name is Tsukimi Nagi, cough, Tsukimi Kanade.”
The two shrine maidens look perplexedly at the figure before them, who suddenly transforms back into the “groom.” The two, now degraded in intellect due to their beastly form, abandon reasoning in an instant and answer straightforwardly.
“Rokumonka—” “—Nanamonka.”
“Is that so… Since Tomoka is not here, that’s quite…”
The starlight fades.
Nagin’s expression turns serious.
“Then let me reintroduce myself. My name is Hoshimiya Nagin.”
“Or you can call me—”
A sudden gust of wind howls, drowning out Nagin’s voice.
But DD-chan’s eyes widen in shock, looking at Nagin.
Upon hearing this, the two shrine maidens let out beast-like roars, their red eyes spinning wildly in their sockets, their bones cracking and popping as their small, hunched bodies suddenly expand, their masks falling away to reveal the snarling visages of foxes beneath, claws extended into blades.
In that moment, the two shrine maidens achieve true beastification.
They, no, it, flashes a crimson light in their eyes, ambushing from Nagin’s blind spots, one to the left and one to the right.
Their speed is now a level faster than before.
“Goodbye,” Nagin whispers.
The claws of the shrine maiden named Rokumonka are already before her, the sharp beast-like claws mixed with crimson light aimed directly at Nagin’s dignified, cute face.
But Nagin shows no intention of evading or defending.
Star pupil shimmering.
The claws of Rokumonka, filled with the crimson wind blade, pierce through the utterly defenseless—“Nanamonka’s” face.
The beast-like expression changes to confusion and disbelief, but the next moment, she collapses as a corpse before Rokumonka.
The same expression surfaces on Rokumonka’s face as she turns her head, only to find her own figure standing in the place where Nanamonka once stood.
She sees another version of herself.
Then the other self slowly raises its sharp beast claw, placing it against its own throat.
And then swiftly commits suicide.
“Thud—”
A spurt of blood erupts from Rokumonka’s neck, causing her to painfully kneel to the ground.
Before dying, she struggles to lift her head, and the last thing she sees is the black-haired girl standing next to her sister Nanamonka’s corpse.
“…What just happened?” Even DD-chan, watching from Nagin’s perspective, cannot comprehend the scene before her.
“Sister killed her sister and then committed suicide out of guilt, isn’t that how it is?” Nagin turns away, leaving the two corpses behind.
The two bodies that should neither live nor die at dusk begin to be eroded by purple-black starlight, slowly dissipating.
If facing Nagin as she is now, a humanoid existence has the worst compatibility.
No, one should say it is an absolutely unbeatable existence.
Dusk is rebuffed by the night sky, as the sunset sinks below the horizon once again.
“We’re going back,” Nagin says indifferently.
“Is… is that your ability?” DD-chan watches the slowly vanishing corpses, unable to refrain from asking.
“No, it’s a curse.”
The star pupil shatters like a crystal, minute stardust falling once again onto Nagin’s jet-black eyes, transforming into sparkling starlight.
…..
…..
Kanade jolts awake from her sleep.
She finds herself lying in the back seat of a bridge car, with a soft and smooth sensation at the back of her head.
“You’re awake?”
“Little Nagi…?”
Upon hearing the voice, Kanade slightly turns her head, and she sees Nagin’s cute, upright face, her starry eyes looking down at her.
From Kanade’s angle, she can even vaguely see the female curves protruding from Nagin’s chest.
—Is this angle…?
“Ah, don’t move around too much, Kanade-kun just woke up, you need to rest well,” Nagin says while reaching out to touch Kanade’s head.
“Is, is this… a knee….” Kanade feels her eyes going in circles.
Realizing her position, the warm sensation at the back of her head makes her concerned, and she can vaguely catch a whiff of a gentle fragrance.
“Does Kanade-kun… not like my knee pillow?” Nagin pouts, her eyelids drooping, revealing a disappointed expression.
“No, that’s not it….”
“Such a good relationship,” Manaka’s voice comes softly from the front passenger seat.
This makes Kanade’s face turn red as he straightens his back, sitting upright.
Seeing this, Nagin reveals a regretful expression.
“Ah haha, truly some youth~”
The short-haired woman in the driver’s seat laughs heartily.
Kanade recognizes her as Manager Akiyo, Manaka’s agent.
So now he is in Manaka’s agent’s car?
It seems Manaka has seen through Kanade’s confusion through the rearview mirror and explains:
“Cell phone positioning.”
“What?”
“Taking someone else’s phone and running away can be considered a crime, you know?”
Manaka says this while holding up the personal phone she retrieved from Kanade.
“Ah!?” Kanade suddenly remembers he borrowed Manaka’s phone to make a call and hasn’t returned it.
“Well, it’s fine; this helped us find you two~” Akiyo laughs and reassures.
At this, Kanade recalls the memories of what happened before he fell into a deep sleep.
He anxiously looks around until he meets Nagin’s starlit eyes, slowly calming down.
“W-we escaped?”
“Yes, thanks to Kanade-kun…” Nagin smiles gently, nodding.
“Is it another supernatural topic?” Manaka says, displeased.
“Well, young people today just like this stuff~”
It seems Nagin had explained things to both of them earlier, but clearly, ordinary people wouldn’t accept this supernatural narrative.
“However, running away from home is still running away from home; you need to go back and apologize to your family, okay?” Akiyo adds.
“…..” Nagin’s hand subtly moves closer to Kanade’s, grasping it.
“I’ll accompany Kanade-kun back to apologize to Uncle and Aunt.”
“Little Nagi….”
Kanade slowly returns the grip on Nagin’s hand.
—It’s truly a relief that Little Nagi is okay…..
“So…..”
“Kanade-kun must also accompany me to apologize to Nii-chan…” Nagin’s eyes well up with tears, trembling all over.
“….Ah, when he’s really angry, Henkichi-nii is genuinely scary…” Kanade can’t help but tremble as well.
……
The streetlights outside the car illuminate the profile of Manaka sitting in the passenger seat.
Her crimson eyes quietly observe Nagin’s smile in the back seat through the rearview mirror.
“Malicious spirit…” Manaka’s voice is very soft, drowned out by the engine noise.
The black sedan carries everyone back under the starry night sky.
