Sasami-san @ Ganbaranai

Chapter 13: Priestess of the Blood Hakama (2)

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VOLUME 2

PART 3: YOMOTSU HEGURI (1)

Chapter 13: Priestess of the Blood Hakama (2)

I saw my mother on the way back from school.

It was after school, and I had dropped by the shopping district to buy some things.

The streets were rather crowded, but my mother was wearing a very conspicuous outfit, so I recognized her instantly.

She was in her priestess garb.

Her clothes were an auspicious mixture of white and scarlet, the kind of clothes you wouldn’t expect to see unless you were at a shrine and in January.

Her eyes were always closed, and she gripped a golden-colored khakkhara staff in her hand.

She really should’ve stood out a lot in that outfit, but none of the other people around seemed to be making a fuss about it.

It was almost like she was a ghost, or an optical illusion.

“Sasami.”

My mother came up beside me and spoke to me as emotionlessly as ever.

“Going shopping?”

“Ah, yeah.”

I always felt myself shrinking in on myself when I stood next to my mother.

She was the most powerful priestess in generations of Tsukuyomi priestesses, and a spiritualist worthy of respect.

Everyone back at the shrine respected her, so to someone ignorant of the outside world like me, she was someone I idolized… my mother was like a G.o.d.

I loved my mother.

I wanted to become like my mother.

“What will you purchase?”

My mother still had a bit of an old-fashioned way of speaking.

The gold ring at the top of her staff let out a clear ring.

“Umm, I go to a school near here…”

This was my mother I was talking to, but I still felt nervous.

“Oniichan always sends me home on his bike, umm… but two people riding together on a bike is illegal and umm… well, oniichan is still a teacher, so that might not be great. So I wanted to buy my own bike.”

I really couldn’t talk very well here.

“But I’m really wishy-washy, and I don’t know what to buy… also, it’s a bit embarra.s.sing, but I don’t even know how to ride a bike… so uhh, maybe I should get something good for beginners, or something. So I’m thinking about that stuff.”

Also, if I drag this out and don’t end up buying anything, then I could continue riding with my brother forever.

“If you need a bicycle to go to school, then perhaps something with a basket.”

My mother pointed to a boorish-looking, functional model, and I scowled.

“I don’t want that… it’s not cute at all.”

“A Tsukuyomi priestess has no use for ‘cuteness.’”

My mother said that with a completely straight face.

“Seeking salvation from external sources is only a sign of weakness that others can exploit. Worldly preferences are naught but distractions; they prevent us from making firm decisions for the betterment of the world.”

“Well, if you feel that strongly about it, why don’t you buy one? A bike, I mean.”

“I have no money. Money is evil.”

This priestess was flat broke, wasn’t she?

“Money is only useful in the materialistic world. The Tsukuyomi priestesses must maintain their freedom from such common desires. Receiving charity is allowable, but we must not allow ourselves to drown in the pleasure of such charity. Such is the duty of priestesses, who live closer to G.o.d than the common people.”

My mother spoke in the same impersonal tone she always used.

“But, I will take this opportunity to impose myself upon my daughter’s shopping trip. It has been quite a while since I have seen you… so I will accompany you while you inform me of recent events.”

“Eh? Mom, you’re going shopping too?”

My eyes widened, and my mother gave me an emotionless nod in return.

“It is not bad to act like a mother and daughter occasionally.”

This was quite a turn of events for me, but I had always wanted to have a normal mother-daughter relationship with my mother, so I couldn’t help but accept her invitation.

I couldn’t help but accept… and conveniently forgot one potentially lethal fact.

I really didn’t know where to go shopping with my mother.

Well, there was the huge shopping center which sold almost anything you could want, Mahoroba (3). So I decided to head for there.

My mother was walking pretty slowly, but when I held out a hand to help support her, she would refuse. “I do not require additional a.s.sistance,” she would say. Ugh, what a bothersome person to deal with.

It took us quite a long time to walk a fairly short distance, but I was having fun.

My mother didn’t know much about the world, and talking with her and hearing her saying silly things made me laugh.

That might’ve been a bit rude of me to do, but being able to go shopping with my mother with smiling like this… it made me happy.

This was definitely something that would’ve never happened back at the Tsukuyomi Shrine.

“Hm. What might that noisy contraption over there be?”

“It’s a UFO catcher. You use this b.u.t.ton here to move that crane. And then you can get one of these stuffed animals. Wanna try?”

“Dolls are evil. Objects modeled after living things are easier to imbue with a soul. There is the possibility that evil forces may have placed a curse on these… hng, please listen to me when I am talking.”

“Ah, dammit. This is hard… I really want that bunny rabbit over there…”

“Leave this to your mother.”

“Mom! You can’t do that! You can’t push your hand through the gla.s.s like that! How the h.e.l.l are you doing that anyways?! Your fingers are going right though the gla.s.s!”

“I cannot see the significance of actually operating the crane. The priestesses of the Tsukuyomi Shrine know the value of expedience.”

“No, that’s against the rules! Look, that shop employee is seriously staring at us!”

“Hng. Well then, I will chant a charm and make the stuffed animal itself move.”

“Scary! The stuffed animal is walking! Ah, it fell… well, I got the bunny, but is this really alright?”

“I grant you permission. And permission from a Tsukuyomi priestess is the same as permission from G.o.d.”

“Um, sorry, but I don’t think you can do that…” (*shop employee)

I hugged the bunny tight and ran away from the shop with my mother.

“Do not start running so suddenly. Your mother does not excel at physical activity.”

“I don’t either, but… you’re the one who did something completely ridiculous back there! It’s fine if that guy just got angry with us, but we might’ve gotten arrested!”

“A Tsukuyomi priestess will never yield to the likes of public law enforceme-… hahh, hahh, I request a short break.”

“Mom, you’re pretty weak… it’s pretty d.a.m.ning if you’re even less fit than I am, you know?”

“Your mother just does not see any significance in athleticism.”

My mother sat down on a bench and hung her head in exhaustion, while I left for a bit and headed for the nearby food court.

I brought back two, three-scoop ice cream cones and handed one to my mother.

“Mom, here. I bought these.”

“Hm. What exactly is that? I feel a dangerous coldness emanating from it.”

“It’s ice cream. Kind of like chilled sweets.”

“Consuming indulgences such as this is a sin. A Tsukuyomi priestess must always carefully consider what she places into her mouth. There is always the danger of poisoning, and all forms of pleasure can lead to attachments to other-“

“It’s fine, just have some. Here, it’s going to melt.”

“Hm… hyah?! C-Cold!”

“Ah, mom, you sounded pretty cute just now.”

“Your mother is always cute. Hm… this is… quite…”

I waited as my mother zealously finished eating her ice cream, and then we went shopping.

“Hm. There are lights flickering nearby. Is this the work of spirits?”

“Those are just electrical appliances… mom, do you have a computer? They’re pretty convenient.”

“A Tsukuyomi priestess sees no value in convenience. Convenience is merely something invented to aid in the lives of the commonfolk, while our role is to rule the land on which those lives are lived. We must swallow hardship, be unafraid of great toil, shoulder great deals of pain… Sasami? Are you listening?”

“Mom mom, buy this for me~~?”

“I refuse. Material desires are evil. Also, your mother is completely penniless.”

“Hmm, oniichan would’ve bought this for me in an instant.”

“That is unacceptable. Do not seek to depend on that too much. Your heart will rot. Such rules apply to ‘compyooturs’ as well. It is fine to use such things as tools for convenience, but dependence is an evil. Using a ‘net-wurk’ and connecting to the outside world will only disturb the peaceful isolation of our G.o.ds. Should the G.o.ds integrate, should they begin to mutually encroach upon each other, then the logic governing our world will overturn, and this world will enter into its twilight-“

“Hey, mom, look here! I’ll pick out some clothes for you! You must be getting tired of that priestess outfit.”

“Hm. Sasami, when did you move over there? Your movements are quite difficult to read. Well then, about what I have been saying up until…”

“Mom, why are you having a stare-off with that fancy-looking washing machine?”

We shopped for quite a long time.

In the end, no matter what I suggested, my mother didn’t even try to buy it. She didn’t even try on any of the clothes I picked out for her.

I didn’t have much money on me either, so I just ended up window shopping a lot.

In the end, the only thing I added to my collection today was the stuffed bunny my mother had gotten for me through illegal means. (4)

“Ahh, that was fun!”

I felt like I had used my time fully. It was now pretty far into the evening.

My brother had probably already finished work, and was busy at home preparing dinner by now.

Usually, I would probably have to head home now, but…

“Mom, do you want some dinner? I can just email my brother and tell him I’ll be home late. Do you have some more free time?”

“A girl who once was unable to do anything is now here speaking to me with such arrogance…”

My mother was completely exhausted. Geez, she was weak.

We were taking a break at the food court where I had gotten ice cream earlier.

There were a bunch of round tables and chairs around us, and I could see lots of shoppers happily chatting away with each other.

There were also a bunch of little food shops nearby. The customers here could just go and order whatever they wanted there and bring their food back to these tables to eat.

I could smell the heavy scent of sauce from the food cart, the soy sauce and pork bone broth from the ramen shop, and a sweet aroma from the crepe shop.

Those smells worked in perfect harmony to fan the flames of my hunger.

“I’ll go buy something. What do you want to eat?”

“I do not need anything. More importantly, please sit there quietly. I have something I need to discuss with you.”

I was about to get up, but my mother forced me back down.

I had no idea what she wanted to talk about. I heard my mother sigh as she began to speak quietly.

“You said you had fun earlier, did you not, Sasami? Your mother finds that quite pleasing. I do not believe we have ever been able to spend such a normal day together, going shopping and conversing like this.”

She had on the same expression as ever, but I could feel a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“I was not a good mother to you. I apologize, Sasami.”

“Eh, ahh… that’s…”

She just straight-out apologized to me. I really didn’t know what to do.

I hated the Tsukuyomi Shrine, but I didn’t hold any of that against my mother.

I loved my mother.

I wanted to become like my mother.

“Don’t apologize, mom. I’m happy to be able to spend just a bit of time with you like this… like just a normal family. That’s always been a dream of mine.”

“You must have been lonely up until now. Because of me.”

“It’s okay, mom. I know you were working really hard to be the Tsukuyomi priestess, and trying to train me to be a good successor at the same time. You were trying to discipline me and make me strong. That’s the only reason I managed to live until today.”

I told my mother my true feelings.

“Thank you. I’m really grateful. And I love you, mom. Please believe that. But, even so… there is something I have to ask.”

And so, the curtain drew on my happy day. Everything came to a full stop.

This was the trigger that destroyed the illusion.

–

“My mom… should’ve already pa.s.sed away…”

It may be a bit late, but I think I should explain some more about my family.

Our tribe had existed since time immemorial, since Ninigi no Mikoto had descended from the heavens, and we trapped the power of the Supreme G.o.d within our family line via incest.

My mother excelled at being the Tsukuyomi priestess more than anybody in history.

She used her abilities to make this world a much better place for humans. Under her rule, occult and supernatural phenomena were restrained to a bare minimum, while the G.o.ds were controlled and driven into corners.

I almost wanted to say that because of this, she had picked a fight with the G.o.ds and was cursed…

Either way, while my mother was still overflowing with youth, she had her life mercilessly taken from her.

When I was a small child, my mother’s health deteriorated and she majestically departed from this world.

Perhaps it was because of genetic defects acc.u.mulated over generations and generations of incest, or perhaps it was because of the cruel role that was thrust upon us, but the Tsukuyomi priestesses usually didn’t have very long life spans.

And my mother was no exception.

I remembered.

I remembered my mother’s pale face as she lay on her death bed.

I remembered her thin, emaciated fingers, which looked like they’d break at the slightest touch.

Her beautiful hair had become frayed, and the whites of her eyes were exposed.

This is what death looked like.

Humans were frail. As time went on, they grew more and more unsightly, until losing their lives at the end of it all.

Like drops of rain, falling down to earth.

Her erratic breathing became weaker and weaker, until she took her last breath and lay completely still.

Her heartbeat disappeared, and the warmth slowly drained from her body.

I clung onto her the entire time, sobbing, and I knew exactly what had happened.

My mother had died.

But even so…

“You say… I have pa.s.sed away?”

My mother was now sitting right next to me, speaking to me with a hint of puzzlement in her voice.

I couldn’t understand this.

My mother had died.

There was no mistaking that. I had no doubt in that fact.

And yet, on the way back from school, I went shopping… and she was there waiting for me like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Rather than surprised, it would be more accurate to say that I was completely dazed.

I had never expected something like this to happen.

But I couldn’t just ignore this, so I went together with her, talked with her, and observed her.

And I concluded that this was definitely my mother.

She wasn’t a fake.

I had the power of the Supreme G.o.d, so if I really observed something carefully, then I should’ve been able to see through any illusions.

But the person in front of me was my mother.

She was a living, breathing human with a real body who could move about.

My mother had come back to life.

I had no idea exactly how that had happened, but that was probably the truth.

“Sasami.”

My mother c.o.c.ked her head slightly to the side and muttered in a bored tone.

“Did you think… I had not realized that myself?”

“… Eh?”

“Of course, I am already deceased.”

My mother closed her eyes and spoke in her usual dignified tone.

“This body’s appearance has also been smoothed over, but it is still a deceased body. It is slowly rotting away. Only, an alteration has hid its presence from the people around us. You have also been unwilling to notice it, as you do not desire to perceive me as a decomposing body… like so.”

In the next instance, my mother’s staff pulsed.

The golden ring on top of the staff clanged.

“… Wha-…”

At the same time, an offensive smell attacked my senses.

And I gazed in amazement at my mother.

She had transformed.

No. She had been this way the entire time, but I just didn’t want to notice.

Her priestess garb blackened and rotted into a torn rag dirtied by a mixture of blood and mud.

Her skin lost all its moisture, drying up into what almost looked like tree bark. Her skin had collapsed to the point where I could see blood vessels and bone exposed in various places.

Her hair had mostly fallen out, while maggots crawled around her open eye sockets.

Flies buzzed around, and a rotten-looking liquid seeped from her mouth.

“Uwaahh?!?!”

I fell from my chair and landed squarely on the floor.

I didn’t want to see this. I didn’t want this.

I didn’t want something like this.

I didn’t want to understand what was going on.

I covered both my eyes with my hands and shivered, while my mother’s voice cascaded down on me.

“All humans must eventually pa.s.s away. The souls of the deceased descend down towards the gates of Yomotsu, returning to their root. This is the way this world, or more precisely, this country functions. There is no reincarnation. The deceased will never live again. That is the ironclad rule. And I am no exception to that rule.”

My mother’s voice cracked above me. It was really hard to hear what she was saying.

“However, there is a way to escape.”

My mother continued to casually explain.

“Before I ate the fruits of the Underworld, before I completely became a denizen of that Underworld, I negotiated with the King. His and my interests seemed to align, and so I was allotted time to return to this transient plane of existence until my body completely rotted away.”

She had literally returned from the land of Yomi. (5)

She had forcibly distorted the rules of this world.

This was not normal. This completely defied common sense.

It was impossible. Ridiculous.

This was probably something only the greatest of spiritualists, my mother, could have accomplished.

“Why…?”

I timidly opened my eyes back up, and saw that my mother had returned back to her normal, human form.

No, rather… I had wished for it, so that’s how she appeared to me… she was still really a rotting corpse.

“Why did you… come back from Yomi? Why did you do such an abominable thing when even Izanagi and Izanami failed to do that…? (6) You’re just a human, but you did something… so horrific…”

What my mother did…

It was completely and utterly sinful.

It was like taking out a pistol during a boxing match.

No, it was more like ma.s.sacring the entire opposing team with a machine gun during a soccer game.

What an awful, awful violation of the rules. This wasn’t something that a human could ever be permitted to do.

That’s why I was terrified.

The happiness I had felt at meeting my mother again evaporated in an instant.

“’Why,’ you ask?”

I shook in fear, but my mother proceeded as if nothing had happened.

“Originally, I had allowed myself to pa.s.s peacefully. My body had been eaten by disease, but I had persisted in fulfilling my duties splendidly until I had taken my last breath. For the sake of this world. For the sake of the humans in this world. I had acted in a way befitting of a Tsukuyomi priestess… for this world and the people’s interests.”

My mother always liked to talk like that.

“But, I could not stay deceased peacefully. Before I ate the fruits of the Underworld, I suddenly became anxious for my daughter. Unable to resist, I stole a look back into the world above, and I saw everything. I saw how you escaped from the shrine, how you abandoned your role as the Tsukuyomi priestess, and how you began to live your life of pleasures and diversions.”

There was no fear in my mother’s voice.

And that’s why I was afraid.

I loved my mother.

I wanted to become like my mother.

But, I…

“I recall saying this to none other but you, Sasami, on my death bed. ‘Take care of the world for me,’ I had said. And you had nodded. And you responded ‘leave it to me, mom.’ However, you have broken your promise. But I will not blame you for that. You are not the only one at fault in the end.”

My mother stood up.

I was still sitting on my behind on the floor. My mother stood above me, staring down at her foolish daughter who couldn’t even stand back up.

“Before I could raise you to be a proper successor, before you had completed your training, I pa.s.sed away. And therein lay my mistake. You were not foolish to run away. Rather, I was foolish for dying before I could raise you to be strong enough not to run away.”

And that’s why my mother had come back from Yomi.

She had twisted the rules of this world, and had come back with her rotting, ugly body, all the while probably enduring the agony of h.e.l.l.

“Return to the shrine, Sasami. We will begin your training anew.”

“T-The shrine…”

I slid my behind back on the floor, scooting backwards.

“The shrine got destroyed. There’s no more ‘Tsukuyomi Shrine’ anymore… where do you want me to go back to?”

The three Yagami sisters had attacked and destroyed the Tsukuyomi Shrine.

“I am aware of that.”

My mother didn’t seem shaken at all.

“However, what we need is not land. It is not the physical facilities of a shrine. Buildings can always be rebuilt. Rather, all that is necessary is a quiet environment in which training can be held away from the diversions of the world.”

We were in a pretty chaotic food court, but n.o.body around us seemed to pay me or my mother any mind.

For spiritualists who hunted supernatural abnormalities, the ability to erect barriers to divert attention away from yourself was the most basic of skills.

“Do not make me repeat myself. Be reasonable and return with me. The time for play is over.”

“N-No…”

My mother reached out to me, but I was terrified and feebly resisted.

I continued to back away and try to put some distance between me and my mother, all the while pointlessly knocking over tables and chairs.

“I’m not going back! I’m fine without training until I’m spitting blood and crying, just to make the world a ‘better place for humans’ or whatever! Because of those people, you died… they bring nothing but pain… I’m not going back to a shrine like that! I’m not a Tsukuyomi priestess anymore!”

“Do not misunderstand my words, Sasami. I am not asking you for your opinion.”

There was a slight bit of annoyance in my mother’s tone.

“This is for all of mankind. Are you claiming that your own happiness, freedom, and comfort take priority over the future of humanity? Your fate is not the only one resting on your shoulders. This is a n.o.ble issue that supersedes trivialities such as one human life. Stop behaving like a spoiled child!”

My mother was a Tsukuyomi priestess to her very core. To her, the joys of the world outside, and my feelings… they were just idle grumbles that were impossible to understand.

The only thing running through my mother’s head was the desire to maintain a world that was fit to live in for humans.

Our sense of values were vastly different.

I understood that all too well.

“Do not behave like such a child! Foolish girl, when do you plan to grow up?!”

My mother came up to me with great strides and grabbed me by my collar. She slapped me as hard as she could.

I felt my brains rattle.

“If you are not a Tsukuyomi priestess, then your existence has no value! Spending each day aimlessly, abandoning your duties, and falling into inactivity is nothing short of a sin! Why do you not understand?! I should never have spoiled you during your upbringing, you fool of a daughter!”

I felt my eyes blur with tears.

Memories began to run through my mind like a revolving lantern.

I saw my brother patting my head.

I saw Tsurugi pushing me from behind.

I saw Kagami smiling at me.

I saw Tama embracing me.

I… I…

–

“Hey there, mum. Stop getting so worked up. Don’tcha think it’s goin’ a bit far to hit your kid?”

–

Suddenly, I heard a voice.

A moronic-sounding voice… but a voice that filled me with relief.

“Hm.”

My mother turned her sharp gaze to a certain someone who at some point had shown up.

“Not like I wanna make a habit of b.u.t.ting into family stuff… but violence is a bit bad, ain’t it? She’s not a dog. You can’t just hit her and force her to listen. Almost seems like child abuse, don’t it? I think we need to have a parent-teacher talk, mum.”

It was Tsurugi, who looked prepared for a fight even as she spewed nonsense out of her mouth.

At some point, everyone else had disappeared from the food court. Tsurugi was watching us from a corner, right to our side.

She had a sour look on her face, and she was holding a familiar-looking crimson-colored bundle over her shoulder.

“T-Tsurugi!”

I must’ve looked pretty pathetic, calling out her name like that with tears leaking from my eyes.

Tsurugi gave me a casual wave. “Yo,” she said as she slowly walked over to us.

“Kagami told me she felt something weird around you, so… sorry for showing up late. Well, I was listening in a bit, so I pretty much got what’s going on. First time I’ve seen someone come back from Yomi by herself.”

“Evil G.o.ds such as you should cease speaking like the humans.”

My mother let go of me and spoke in a cold voice.

I fell to the ground in pain, but I still pathetically tried to crawl away from my mother.

My mother ignored my attempts to escape and put her weight on her staff like Zatoichi. (7)

“Did you plan to tempt Sasami with that smile and those comforting words of yours? I do not know what you are planning to use Sasami for… but I will not allow an evil G.o.d to have her way with Sasami.”

“I’m not an evil G.o.d, ya know. And come on, you’re the monster who came back from Yomi.”

Tsurugi took out an old double-edged blade from her bundle.

“Not even the G.o.ds can come back to life after they die. That’s the rule that pops set out for this world. You get a short life, so you live it to its fullest. That’s the same for everyone. You’re the one who broke the rules, so don’t get all d.a.m.n c.o.c.ky and think you can lecture me”

I could sense an intense amount of pressure beginning to churn up between my mother and Tsurugi.

It was a mixture of fighting spirit and killing intent… the kind of thing that put a chill down your spine but also lit your entire body on fire.

I cowered. I couldn’t even let out a sound as I just watched the situation unfold.

I didn’t like this.

For some reason, I really, really didn’t like this…

“Dead people don’t belong in this world. I might’ve been a lazy slob that abandoned her duties, but I can’t just ignore such an awful violation of the rules… so allow me to make things right.”

Tsurugi exhaled sharply, and stepped firmly into the ground.

“Sasami isn’t being tricked; she’s just living a life she chose for herself! Someone like you who died and left her alone a long time ago doesn’t have any right to come back and start acting like her mother!”

Like that, Tsurugi made a straight leap at my mother and thrust her sword out.

“I’ll send you right back to h.e.l.l on the express train!”

“… It appears I am being underestimated.”

It was the next second.

A strange noise echoed through the air.

It was almost like someone had struck a gong.

“For generations, the Tsukuyomi priestesses have been tasked as spiritualists to eliminate any and all types of irregularities… they represent the very best of the Tsukuyomi Shrine. Extermination of evil G.o.ds is our specialty.”

Tsurugi’s sword had been repelled by my mother’s staff.

Her staff, no thicker than a human finger, had managed to stop Tsurugi’s blade completely in its tracks.

“As. I. Said…”

Tsurugi’s eyes widened in shock, but she still swung her sword again and again.

“I’m not an evil G.o.d!”

But each time Tsurugi swung her sword, my mother blocked or otherwise dealt with Tsurugi’s attacks with the slightest of body movements.

Tsurugi had not even managed to scratch my mother.

I had thought my mother was really weak and unathletic too…

Tsurugi swung her sword in all directions, but my mother dodged her attacks nimbly, almost as if she knew exactly where Tsurugi was going to thrust.

As expected, Tsurugi’s facial expression began to pale.

“W-Wha-…?!”

“You are as unskilled in fights as the myths suggest… Sun G.o.ddess.”

My mother quickly thrust her hand out.

Her fingertip made direct contact somewhere around Tsurugi’s forehead. Tsurugi seemed to lose balance, and was pulled by her own momentum down to the ground, rolling backwards quite a number of times.

“Neesan!”

It was right after that.

A black-haired girl rushed over with panicked steps, her hair swinging back and forth. It was Kagami.

Tama was also standing behind her. It seemed all three Yagami sisters were here in full force.

“Are you alright, neesan?! Also, Sasami-san?!”

“Ow ow ow…”

Tsuguri kicked away all the tables and chairs she had knocked over while she had been rolling on the ground and then stood right back up.

“Stay away, Kagami, Tama! This one is pretty strong! You’d be no match for her!”

“It doesn’t seem like neesan is a match for her either though…”

Kagami mumbled that with a look of exasperation in her eyes, but she didn’t come any closer.

So, I guess they had been watching us from afar, but once they realized things were getting bad Tsurugi had come over alone to help.

“As expected, the Tsukuyomi priestesses do not seem like humans at all.”

Kagami seemed to understand exactly what was going on without any further explanation.

“By the way, neesan, please stop trying to rush around by yourself. Right now, neesan is just an empty husk compared to her previous self, so she might be at a disadvantage when dealing with professionals.”

“Shut up. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn’t step in when I see a mother hitting her kid?!”

Tsurugi finally stood back up and readied her blade again.

My mother just stared at Tsurugi and the others and let out a long sigh, almost as if she was watching a bad comedy on TV.

“You are all overly relaxed. This land’s G.o.ds are all hedonistic. That is why we cannot leave this land’s affairs to you. We will not turn the clock hands back until we are immersed in the same state of chaos that existed before the times of legend. This world has developed and flourished purely because it has been under human control.”

This was the natural way to think for my mother, for a Tsukuyomi priestess.

She wasn’t willing to listen to any dissenting opinions, to any opposing arguments… so I’m sure she wouldn’t understand.

“If you choose to inherit the power of the Supreme G.o.d and yet choose to live an idle life full of material pleasures, then you have failed as a human being. Furthermore, I cannot humor you by accompanying you on your play dates while ignoring your transgressions as you plunge the world into chaos.”

My mother grasped her staff tightly and pointed it towards the side.

The pressure I felt in the air multiplied tenfold.

“Everything is for the sake of the world, for the sake of the humans in this world. I cannot stay long in this plane anymore, so I will make sure to train Sasami to carry out her duties successfully as my final act. If you wish to stand in my way, I will not hold a grudge against you, but I will not allow you to continue living either.”

“I’m not gonna go to the Underworld! Some of the people there really annoy the c.r.a.p out of me!”

Tsurugi yelled that and once again swung her sword in a straight, direct attack.

I knew that sword.

I knew that it housed divine powers within it.

That it could exterminate low-level G.o.ds with the slightest touch.

Once again, I heard the sound of a gong.

“……?!”

This time, Tsurugi froze in her tracks as well.

My mother had defended against Tsurugi’s attack with her staff, and she then moved that staff slightly.

No, I saw now that it wasn’t just a normal staff.

A blade appeared in the middle of the staff, separating the staff into a thin saber and a scabbard.

This was a double-edged blade, which resembled Tsurugi’s sword, but it felt more sinister.

“Your blade has quite a bit of power. As expected from the divine blade Ame-no-Murak.u.mo… however, at its core, your blade is a defensive one. A blade imbued with holy power like that has no ability to kill others. Your blade is nothing more than a gra.s.s-cutter intended for self-defense. You will need a blade with more ill-will to destroy your enemies.”

My mother tossed away the scabbard portion of her staff and readied her sword at eye-height.

“This is the Ame-no-Habakiri, a G.o.d-killing, magical blade that the King of the Underworld has entrusted to me. It is the blade which cut down the Yamata no Orochi, which was once cursed and broken into pieces but was then reforged and sharpened in the forges of the Underworld. You will soon be but a spot of rust on this blade of misfortune.”

“The Ame-no-Habakiri, you said…?! And the King of the Underworld… I see. I see what’s going on!”

My mother and Tsurugi exchanged sword strikes a number of times.

Strange noises rang around me while blade met blade and sent ominous sparks flying through the air.

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! So it was that guy all along! I thought it was strange you found your way out of Yomi, but that d.a.m.n idiot with the Oedipus complex was behind it all, wasn’t he?! Ahh, I finally see what’s been going on! You’re way too strong for a human… nyoohh?!”

While Tsurugi was raising a fuss, my mother unhesitatingly charged her.

She sent her blade diagonally downwards and sliced into Tsurugi.

Tsurugi managed to deflect my mother’s blade a bit with her own sword, so she somehow escaped from the full force of the attack, but her small body was still easily swept away and thrown violently into the wall.

“Neesan?!”

Kagami paled, and pointed her right arm at my mother.

It was really odd to see the normally calm Kagami looking so panicked.

“Y-You… how dare you?!”

A black hole opened in her palm, and what looked like machine gun bullets flew out of the hole.

This was probably one of the spiritual weapons that Kagami was equipped with.

The bullets gouged into the floor and wall and bore down on my mother at supersonic speeds.

“What foolishness.”

However, my mother was still perfectly calm.

Kagami’s attack hadn’t made a single dent.

The bullets reached my mother but then disappeared, only leaving behind strange ripples like they had been pebbles thrown into the deep sea.

It just wasn’t possible…

“T-That’s…?!”

Kagami’s eyes widened in shock, and my mother pointed her magical blade at her.

“Someone with your level of divinity has no hope of harming me. You may have gained a moderate amount of strength, but in a spiritual battle divinity determines everything. I am under the protection of the King of the Underworld, and I possess this divine sword, so the average G.o.d has no hope of even touching me.”

My mother said that in one breath, and in the next…

The blade that should’ve been in my mother’s palm had suddenly pierced through Kagami’s chest.

It’s not like she had thrown the sword.

No, I hadn’t seen the sword fly through the air and piece into Kagami. Rather, it was almost as if the sword just suddenly appeared in Kagami’s chest. This… defied all logic.

“Kagami?!” “Kagami-nee?!”

Tsurugi and Tama both shrieked, while Kagami bent back and collapsed to the ground.

I saw her head bounce and her hair swing upwards in slow motion.

At the end of it all, she spat out large amounts of fresh blood.

She should’ve been pierced in her chest, but I saw the damage spread quickly to her stomach and shoulders.

It was like watching a crack run through gla.s.s… Kagami’s body was breaking apart, her blood glittering in the light.

The vividly red pool of blood under her grew larger and larger. Kagami’s fingers convulsed a number of times before she grew still.

If she was human, she would’ve definitely died from that.

As a G.o.d… who knew what was going to happen.

I felt my mind grow blank.

I couldn’t think of anything.

I didn’t know what was going on anymore.

“Y-You b.a.s.t.a.r.d…!!”

Tsurugi looked enraged and flew at my mother.

My mother’s sword had pinned Kagami to the floor like a bug in a bug collection, and my mother was no longer holding onto her weapon.

Maybe Tsurugi saw that as her chance, or maybe she was just blind with rage at seeing her little sister hurt, but she flew at my mother with tremendous force.

“You are too weak.”

My mother didn’t move, but just held out her hand.

“We no longer consider the foreign world as distant lands. We are becoming interconnected, losing our borders… we can no longer rely on ignorant, powerless G.o.ds such as yourself to control this world that will surely soon become enshrouded in chaos.”

And then, as if there was an invisible zipper in the middle of the air…

My mother lightly grabbed something in front of her, and then pulled downwards.

It was in the next second.

The air in front of my mother cracked, and a hole into the void appeared.

“Uwoohh?!”

Tsurugi was rushing right into that hole with all her might.

She instantly twisted her body and tried to dodge, but at that moment my mother seemed to skip a few steps again and teleported right behind Tsurugi.

“After returning from Yomi, I have found that it is easy to connect the s.p.a.ce around me back to the Underworld. And whether you are human or G.o.d, finding your way back from the Underworld is a nearly impossible task.”

Tsurugi was then very, very casually pushed from behind.

Tsurugi let out a yell as she fell into the hole, soon vanishing from sight.

“Your time has long since past. Sun G.o.ddess, sink into Oblivion and surrender the world to the moon.”

The hole soon closed again.

Silence filled the food court.

I couldn’t believe what had just happened.

The Yagami Sisters might’ve been unreliable, might’ve often acted like nonsensical idiots… but they were still high-level G.o.ds and had saved me time and time again.

They drove away all irregularities like it was nothing, did the impossible on a daily basis… but they couldn’t do a single thing here.

Tsurugi had been swallowed by darkness, Kagami lay motionless in a sea of blood, and Tama…

Tama was cowering.

She was a newly-formed G.o.d, and this was probably the first time she had ever seen such a high-level battle.

Tama also had always depended on and respected her older sisters.

And those older sisters had both been easily defeated.

So, if Tama saw all this and shrunk in on herself in fear, and didn’t even want to move anymore… I didn’t blame her.

“Well then, it seems there is no longer anybody who will interrupt us.”

My mother ignored Tama, and just walked towards me as I also huddled over in fear.

I couldn’t move at all.

I couldn’t understand what had just happened in front of me.

What the h.e.l.l was this? I felt dizzy.

I even felt nauseous… I didn’t want to believe this.

Tama moved.

“O-Ooo…”

Tama slowly walked in front of my mother and blocked her way, trembling all the while.

She spread her arms out in front of me. I continued to sit there pathetically, not being able to even speak out.

Tama’s eyes teared up, and her lips trembled.

But she showed no sign of backing off, even as she stood in front of the resurrected, strongest Tsukuyomi priestess who had ever lived, someone who even her sisters couldn’t defeat.

“Move away, little fish.”

My mother’s words were completely frank.

But when she saw Tama wasn’t budging, my mother began to speak again, a bit of irritation in her voice.

“You all may feel better about yourselves, pretending to be the allies of justice and protecting my selfish daughter… but it is all meaningless. There is no worth to your actions. For this world, for the humans in this world, Sasami will become a marvelous Tsukuyomi priestess, and will lead this land on the path of righteousness.”

“I-I don’t know… Tama doesn’t know anything… but.”

A single line of tears streaked down Tama’s cheek.

“This is wrong, so wrong! Why are you being so mean?! Everyone was finally happy! Tsurugi-nee was having so much fun! Kagami-nee was finally laughing! It was all because of Mamarin… but, but, you…! I don’t know what you’re saying! Tama doesn’t understand at all!”

“Well then, please allow me to explain things to you simply.”

My mother reached out for Tama’s face with her hand.

–

“You are in my way.”

–

I finally moved.

Without even thinking, I thrust both my hands forwards and jumped at my mother.

Wrapping my arms around her, I toppled to the ground with her and begged her.

“Just stop it already!”

I should’ve just said this from the very beginning.

I was being such an idiot all along.

”I’ll go back with you!”

Just like I had often done when I was a little kid, I desperately pleaded with my mother.

I couldn’t do anything else.

“I’ll go back to the shrine… back to being a Tsukuyomi priestess… so just stop it!”

I couldn’t even process what my mother said in response.

I think Tama was yelling about something, but I couldn’t hear about what.

I was worried about Tsurugi and Kagami.

Also, where exactly was my brother in the middle of all of this…?

“………”

I heard a ringing in my ears.

I had unconsciously closed my eyes, but I suddenly opened them.

And I found myself in the middle of a small, unfamiliar room, sitting on top of a wooden floor.

When I looked down at my body, I saw I was wearing a priestess outfit that matched what my mother had been wearing.

It was almost as if those times I had been wearing a Konohana Sakuya Academy uniform… that had all been a lie.

Or rather, it felt like anything and everything was just a dream, and I was finally waking up.

I looked up in a daze, and saw my mother sitting across from me. For probably the first time since our reunion, she smiled at me.

“Welcome back to the human world.”

And then, after that point, I knew no more.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

(1) Yomotsu, or Yomi, is the Underworld in j.a.panese Mythology. Yomotsu Heguri (or more commonly, Yomotsu Hegui) is a reference to how when one eats something in Yomi, one becomes irreversibly a resident of the Yomi.

(2) A hakama is a traditional divided skirt worn by men.

(3) Taken from Wikipedia: Mahoroba is an ancient j.a.panese word describing a far-off land full of bliss and peace. It is roughly comparable to the western concepts of arcadia, a place surrounded by mountains full of harmony and quiet.

(4) This is followed by the parenthetical statement “My sentence endings were getting a bit influenced by my mother.” Sasami used the formal, more archaic “dearu” ending in this sentence, which is the same ending her mother has been using the entire time. This is almost impossible to really encapsulate well in English, so I omitted this line.

(5) In j.a.panese, the word for resurrect is “yomigaeru.” This can also be read as “yomi + kaeru,” where kaeru means “to return.” So you could read the word for resurrect in j.a.panese literally as “returning from Yomi,” where Yomi is the name for the Underworld in j.a.panese mythology.

(6) Two of the original j.a.panese G.o.ds.

(7) A fictional, blind swordsman from j.a.panese film and TV.

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