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Len'en Reiretsuden�@�` Reactivate_majestical_imperial
(c)opyright Jynx

�@�@ Doujin Circle Trick Nostalgie�x

Representative and slave[ Jynx ]
2014/09/25
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Story and such

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��Prologue

~---At the Senri Shrine---~

? ? ? "Yabusame! Please wake up!"

The Senri Shrine. Located in the land called Mugenri, which was cut off from the
outside world.
For Yabusame Houlen, shrine resident and substitute priest #1,
the day began with quite a clamor.

Yabusame "Hweh?"

While making a silly sound in their throat, Yabusame snapped up and opened their
eyes.
In front of their eyes was a figure with a young face underneath dark hair,
looking down while floating in the sky.
�@

Yabusame "Mm~, c'mo~on, just lemme sleep for a couple more years~"
??? "Sorry, no! I'm waking you up now..."

The person with the child-like surface appearance answered promptly,

and with their thin arms, flung both Yabusame and the futon enveloping them into
the air.
After a brief pause, both the idiot and the futon whirling through the air
crash-landed on the floor mats with a dull sound.

Yabusame "Nu~u~... I got treated so awfully without even a chance to speak......

...You're so mean, Jinbei-chan."

The child thusly referred to Jinbei (albeit with a "-chan") made a sour face
and punted Yabusame across the room.
�@
Jinbei: "Get up already and go make breakfast, will you?
Tsubakura-san is so hungry they fell asleep all over again.

Yabusame: "Aaeh~... Jinbei-kun, why don't you do it...?"

Jinbei: "I mean, I easily could... but there's another reason I came to wake you
up."

All the while, Jinbei continued to kick Yabusame,

who was sprawled out lazily on the floor.

As Yabusame continued to ignore them even while having their head trampled on,
Jinbei said in an even more taut voice:

Jinbei: "We have guests!"

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The season was roughly winter. Even in Mugenri, cut off as it was from the Outside
World, Old Man Winter's conquest
marched on unabated, with the sound of his armies' boots echoing on the cue of
winter's first day.
Although literally speaking, since most animals and some youkai were already
hibernating,
and the wind was blowing less often, nature was shrouded in silence.

...Or at least, it should've been.

But it seemed that this year's winter was going to be different.

In one of the Senri Shrine's Japanese-style rooms,

two people sat across from each other as they warmed themselves at the kotatsu.

One was substitute priest #2, "Tsubakura Enraku".

This monochrome individual, whose waking and sleeping states were hardly
distinguishable from one another,
was burrowed into the kotatsu and sucking on a tangerine peel.
�@�@
Tsubakura: "...Aaand so what's your point?"

The genius asked.

However, they weren't addressing the person on the other side of the kotatsu,
but the green tails out past the sliding door, on the veranda.
The slimy tails all overlapped each other, wriggling back and forth.

??? "Don't 'what's your point' me. Incident resolution is your livelihood, is it
not?"

...Said the tails.

Tsubakura: "It's our livelihood, and yet we don't have a single penny to show for
it?
Don't you think that's a little too convenient?"

Tsubakura said, while gazing at the pile of tangerine peels.

On closer inspection, the peels were quite dried out.
Apparently, they had been sitting there for several days now.

??? "Well, yes, it's not exactly something you'd earn money from. Deal with it."

The tails, despite being tails, started talking once again.

Tsubakura: "That aside, why'dja come all the way here just to
give some encouragement to lil' ol' us? Orochii~n-ku~un."

Right after the tails made a big movement in response to the weird nickname,
a humanoid figure appeared from the shadows.
�@�@
The tails' owner, "Adagumo no Yaorochi," turned around
and gave Tsubakura a sour look.

Yaorochi: "Because! I'm very irritated at how you've left this situation lying
around as-is!"

Mugenri's winter had been quiet... last year, at least.

But this year was different.

As the scenery blanketed in white powder would indicate, there was occasionally
some snowy weather.
But there was something with far more presence than the snow also floating through
the empty air.

Namely...!!

Yaorochi: "What's with all these GHOSTS?!"

Tsubakura: "Like I would know...?"

The garden of the Senri Shrine was rife with ghosts, corner to corner.
They floated around freely, vanishing and appearing as they liked.
At times, they would sing in a strange-sounding choir so faint as be almost
unnoticeable,
but strangely enough, it wasn't all that uncomfortable to listen to.

Yaorochi: "They're an eyesore, for one thing, but the most dangerous thing about
them is that they steal heat.
It's only the first day of winter, but thanks to these things, it's already far
colder than last year."
Tsubakura: "If there's lots of spirits around,
doesn't it just mean a lot of people died?"
Yaorochi: "Ah, I see... and what exactly would be the cause of that?"
Tsubakura: "Prolly a big massacre in the Human Village or somethin'?
Not like it's any a' my business, thoo~ough."

As they matter-of-factly said this very alarming thing, Tsubakura bit off
part of the peel they'd been sucking on, and slowly began chewing on it.

Yaorochi: "It seems you're sorely lacking in imagination."

Tsubakura: "I'm wondering why you're not already hibernating, see.
Most of the imagination reserves are bein' spent on that."
Yaorochi: "I don't feel like it this year. Which is why I'm so bothered by this
cold!"
???: "Yeah, Yaorochi-san'sh real sensitive t'cold an' shtuff~."

Suddenly, they heard a strange language coming from the opposite side of the
kotatsu.
Yaorochi faced the source of the sound, and once again made a grumpy face.

Tsubakura: "You shouldn't take so long worrying about which hole to crawl into~.
'Cause you're a snake and all."
Yaorochi: "Shush already. And you, Sukune-- why are you lazing about over there?"

The person thus called "Sukune," who wore a heavy-looking hat on their head,
was sitting opposite Tsubakura and sucking tangerine peels with them
while poking at their feet under the kotatsu.

Sukune: "'Cause it's all warm in here, nyu~. I hate the gold, gyo~."
Tsubakura: "You're in the way. Leave already."

Tsubakura mercilessly cut them down,

but their words went in Sukune's right ear and straight back out their left.

Yaorochi: "*Sigh*... well, if the shrine's head priest says so, I suppose we should
depart soon."
Sukune: "Whaa?! Alreadyyy?! I haven't even gotten ta' eat anything yet!"

Then, just as the pitter-patter of feet drew near,

the door opposite the one leading to the veranda slid open.

Yabusame: "Oh, it's Orochin-san and Haniwa-chan!"

Yabusame entered while rubbing their sleepy eyes.

Yaorochi: "Another nuisance. Oh joy."

Sukune: "Ahaha~! Y'hear that, Yabusame? Yer a nuisance, nyah!"
Tsubakura: "Another being the operative word."

While listening to each of them shouting back and forth,

Yabusame went straight from closing the door to sitting and shoving their legs into
the kotatsu.
With the kotatsu now transformed into a three-way intersection of tangled legs,
each prospective champion began enacting strategies to expand their respective
territory.

Yabusame: "...'S cramped."

Tsubakura: "You've got no right to talk, coming in here late."
Sukune: "'S cramped, gyah~!"
Tsubakura: "You've got no right to talk either, coming in here uninvited."

The three stared each other down, while engaging in a desperate struggle under the
kotatsu.

Yaorochi looked on at this ridiculous scene, sighed deeply,

curtly said "all right, I'm gonna leave you there," and walked out off the veranda.

At this, Sukune hurriedly got up and chased after them

while yelling "don't leeeeeeave myeeeeeeee~!" or something.

At last, the shrine grounds were quiet... save for the singing ghosts, at least.

Yabusame: "So why were Yaorochi-san and Sukune-chan here, anyway?"

Tsubakura: "Said they discovered a new way of preparing konjac jelly or somethin'."

Yabusame: "Wow! That's not very cool at all!"

Tsubakura: "Ain't like I was listening in the first place, though, since they
didn't even bother to bring free samples."
Yabusame: "Makes sense~!"
Jinbei: "Ehhh... So. Anyway."

Jinbei, having come into the room a little bit late,

was standing behind Tsubakura before they knew it.

Tsubakura began gushing cold sweat from their whole body, felt their blood draining
out of them,
and let the scrap of tangerine peel they were gnawing on plop out of their mouth.

Jinbei: "Can either of you happen to guess why I've been so angry lately? Hm?"

In the end, the two of them were punted clear out of the shrine
and ordered to go resolve the incident.

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~---At a clump of bushes near the Senri Shrine Road---~

Kuroji Shitodo was in a very good mood.

Thanks to some business coming up during an earlier visit to the Human Village,
they had come quite far from the usual road while exploring the neighboring
vicinity.
But they stepped quite lightly, and as they pushed through the grass while
crunching leaves and twigs underfoot, they emerged onto a road paved with
cobblestone.

Kuroji: "This is... the shrine road, huh? Looks like I walked quite a ways without
realizing."

The Senri Shrine Road. That paved road leading up to the shrine always gave off a
faintly uncanny feeling.

Things were no different now, either. Despite there being snow piled up around the
road, the paved section
didn't have a single flake on it. It was hard to imagine anyone sweeping the path
clean;
it stretched on for so long that it was hard to picture it ending even at the far-
off horizon.

---It was as if the snow itself was deliberately avoiding the road as it fell.

Utter nonsense, of course, but with the way the road seemed to ward away any human
presence,
one might almost start thinking that.

As Kuroji pondered these things and stepped out onto the road,
they saw two shadows swiftly crossing right in front of them...
or rather, through the sky right above them.
Before they could clearly make out who the figures were,
though, the shadows had flown far into the distance.
While thinking about the shadows' identity, Kuroji stepped once more out onto the
road,
and ran smack into another familiar face.

Saragimaru: "Geh--! Great. You're that scoundrel from before."

It was that snake from before.

Kuroji: "So you remember my face, huh? Maybe all that self-advertisement is
working?"
Saragimaru: "What are you doing around here? Fraud? Blackmail?"
Kuroji: "What horrible things to say about someone."
Saragimaru: "I mean it's true, isn't it? It's a total bull's-eye, isn't it?"
Kuroji: "It seems I need to take my time having a nice, long conversation with you
to resolve this misunderstanding."
Saragimaru: "...Eh?"

As Saragimaru saw this human smiling creepily at them,

they seemed to feel an instinctive danger.

Kuroji: "You're here because you're tailing after that Yamato-no-Orochi wannabe,
aren't you?"
Saragimaru: "Uhh...."

---They actually were...

Kuroji had just been bluffing, based on a quick inference from the earlier shadow
and Saragimaru's sudden appearance,
but apparently it was a clear strike straight to the pitcher's mitt.

Kuroji: "Did you know? I'm rather famous for being a blabbermouth."

They were also quite good at lying on the spot.

Saragimaru: "...Are you saying you're gonna blackmail me in exchange for your
silence...?"

The effect seemed to be immediate.

---The more straight-laced someone is, the easier they are to manipulate.
This one seemed even easier to make use of than Hooaka or Aoji.

Kuroji: "Oh, no, it's nothing major. You've noticed the strange amount of spirits
lately, haven't you?
Would you mind helping me collect them?"

Saragimaru: "....."

Saragimaru was forced to agree in silence.

And thus, Kuroji acquired a method of quickly finishing up their ongoing business.
With the small sacrifice of a single youkai...

Saragimaru: "...Does it have anything to do with that signboard you're holding?"

Saragimaru looked at the object that Kuroji was grasping...

or perhaps more accurately bearing... in their right hand.

Kuroji: "Sharp of you! I found this by chance on a trip to the Human Village.
To be frank, this is the whole reason I'm gathering spirits."

The following text:

�@�yWe're buying souls! If you've gathered up a good amount, call us at this

number.
�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@�@Contact number: XXXX-XXXX�z

was written on the sign.

Saragimaru: "...What in the heck?"

Kuroji: "Means exactly what it says. Apparently, these babies are sellable."
Saragimaru: "Can't get much more suspicious..."
Kuroji: "However, this gives me an extremely good pretext for stea-- *COUGH*
receiving a great deal of money."
Saragimaru: "Wow. I just learned that you actually care about your reputation."

It seemed they had no choice, though. They were forced to comply with this
villain...
While experiencing tremendous shame, Saragimaru also cursed their past blunder.
However, there was one thing that caught their interest.

Saragimaru: "By the way, why'd you take the whole sign with you?
If you wanted to remember the number, you could just write a note."

As they heard that, Kuroji tossed the sign into the nearby bushes.

Kuroji "Even a monkey could memorize a simple number."

Saragimaru: "Huh? Why, then? To show it to those red and blue siblings of yours?"
Kuroji: "Even a dog can communicate things out loud."
Saragimaru: "So... why'd... you...?"

Saragimaru thought, at that moment,

that there was probably nothing that could represent Kuroji's character
better than the smile on their face right then.
And at the same time, they shivered.

Kuroji "The fewer rivals you have, the better. Right?"

Thus did the two of them, despite not being friends or even really acquaintances,
join together.
But on this journey, reluctant as it was for at least one of them, just how many
victims will utter their first cry of birth... or, more accurately, scream of
agony?
Perhaps only Kuroji knows.

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��Story spoilers below.

If you've unlocked EX, go ahead. Go ahead either way, if you're into that.
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���d�w Prologue

At the veranda of the Senri Shrine.

Yaorochi: "...It's still cold."

Yes, Mugenri was still blanketed in souls and freezing cold.

The shrine was host to a bigger gathering of people than it'd ever seen in the
past.
People standing around, sitting against the wall, sinking into the kotatsu,
playing around outside with zero concern for the cold,
stubbornly enduring the cold on the veranda while refusing to actually enter the
room, et cetera,
all of them behaving in their own personal ways.

Tsubakura: "Yeah, 'cause the ghosts didn't go anywhere. Nothin' to do about it."
Yaorochi: "Does that mean our struggles were meaningless?"
Sukune: "Even drivin' away this kid didn't fixsh anything, nya."
Shion: "Of course it didn't. It wasn't my fault."

Fumikado let out a long, exasperated sigh.

Fumikado: "I heard that the souls are leaking from a hole in the barrier.
�@�@�@�@...You louts made a total scapegoat out of me."
Tsubakura: "That makes things easy, then. All you gotta do is plug up the hole."
Shion: "Yep."
Yabusame: "Yeppers~."
Sukune: "Yip-yip-yippe~rs."
Yaorochi: "If that's not your job, Senri Shrine, I don't know what is."
Tsubakura: "Is calling people by the names of buildings your hobby or something,
Orochin?"
Sukune: "But can a coupla' rookie priests really fix Mugenri's barrier, nya?"
Yabusame: "Tsuba can do just about anything! Right, Tsubsa?"
Tsubakura: "Meh. Dunno."
Shion: "Hey, I'll get hungry if there's no souls around. And who cares if it's
cold, anyway?"
Yaorochi: "This isn't a joke. I'll wind up hibernating if this goes on much
longer."
Kuroji: "Just sleep for eternity."
As each of them went on babbling about whatever they felt like,
the shikigami of the Senri Shrine, Jinbei, came sluggishly into the room.

Jinbei: "Oh, um. If you're talking about the barrier, it'll probably be fine."
Tsubakura: "Oh my goodness, it seems that our Great Teacher has knowledge to share
with us. Pay close attention, everyone."
Jinbei: "Leaving aside Tsubakura's disposal for the moment..."

After casually giving Tsubakura a death sentence, Jinbei continued without missing
a beat.

Jinbei: "I already asked a master barrier carpenter who I'm acquainted with to
repair the hole.
�@�@�@If that hole is the cause of the incident, then both the souls and cold will
naturally disappear... at some point."
Yabusame: "That's our lil' Jinbe~i! �� You're always so efficient with stuff we
have no idea about!"
Tsubakura: "Yeah. The shrine's full of layabouts, after all."

Yaorochi, who'd been given pause by something Jinbei said, spoke through the white
fog of their breath.

Yaorochi: "You said 'already.' Just how long ago did you request this person's
help?"
Jinbei: "Um, well... right after the barrier was broken by that moron hero..."
Tsubakura: "So months ago, then?"

After a brief moment of stunned silence from the group, Yaorochi stood up.

Yaorochi: "They're LATE. I'll go cut them."

Shion: "And thus did Orochin get angry in a matter of mere seconds."
Jinbei: "No. This has to do with the dignity of the ancient and honorable Senri
Shrine. I'll make the priests deal with it."
Sukune: "Jinbei'sh angry too, gyah~!"
Tsubakura: "What do you mean, 'make'? Lousy little shikigami..."
Kuroji: "No, wait. I've finally gotten my hands on of a source of income thanks to
this incident, you know?
�@�@�@�@Stopping the flow of souls would leave me up the creek."
Shion: "Thus said the black-hearted Kuroji."
Yaorochi: "You're still trying to squeeze money out of that Taira lot...?"
Kuroji: "I've got to keep selling off souls until there's none left."
Tsubakura: "Looks like the revival plan's got another collaborator on board...
although this'll probably lead to financial problems."

While everyone aired their grievances with the still-unseen barrier carpenter,
Jinbei clapped their hands several times and commanded their attention.

Jinbei: "If you're going to go rough them up, it'd be best to go in groups of at
least two.
�@�@The opponent is someone from the Azumaterasu barrier shop, after all."
Yabusame: "Okay, then I'm gonna go with Tsuba! ��"
Tsubakura: "Don't wanna."
Shion: "I wanna go too! ��"
Tsubakura: "No, not you. You'd leave a trail of coma victims in our wake."
Yaorochi: "I have enough people on my end already."
Sukune: "Y'added me to the count without even askin', nyah..."
Tsubakura: "Kuroji's got Red an' Blue to back them up, too."
Kuroji: "No, I've got someone who's much more useful."
Yaorochi: "I've hardly any idea who that is, but they certainly sound pitiful."
Jinbei: "So, what are you going to do? Are you going to rush in en masse?"
Yabusame: "Ah, that's a good idea too!"
Tsubakura: "Absolutely anything but that."
Yaorochi: "Ditto what the inkblot said."
Sukune: "Ditto what the snake said."
Kuroji: "Ditto what the dirt clod said."
Shion: "Wow, everyone's getting along~!"
Jinbei: "All right. Shall we decide who gets to go, then?"
Yabusame: "We'll go!"
Tsubakura: "Or rather, we're probably dead meat if we don't."
Yaorochi: "I can't bear to stand around any longer."
Sukune: "Well, you heard the reptile, nyah~."
Kuroji: "I'm going to prevent the barrier from being repaired. I'll stop at
nothing."

Jinbei: "Phe~w. It seems that you all have your own reasons for going, noisy as you
may be.
�@�@�@So... shall we decide with the usual?"

"Rock-paper-scissors or a fight to the death. Which do you like better?"

---Mugenri, overrun by spirits.

�@A windy hole in the Great Barrier, the origin of the incident.
�@�@What awaits them there? Fate, fortune, or destiny?
�@�@�@Those who know the full picture of this world look down in scorn on the
ignorant...

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