As human technology advanced, making new discoveries and ingenious inventions at a spectacular pace, ignorance was replaced with enlightenment.  Mysteries are the children of doubt, ignorance, and fear, forced to remain in the shadows of the known or risk evaporating at the touch of blinding light.  And with man conquering the dark, bringing light to illuminate even the darkest, moonless nights, what used to be seen as the workings of the supernatural were exposed for the mundane occurrences they truly were.

Even in a sleepy, little town secluded deep in the mountains, surrounded by dense forests and far from the conveniences of the big city, the night and its mysteries were no match for the modern era.  And yet, preserving the wonder that fascinated them when they were young was a luxury of adults as they watched over the younger generations.  Even as the birthrates declined and fewer young adults that went off to the big cities to further their education returned to settle down and raise a family of their own, it didn’t matter how few students the small, rundown school had.  What mattered was keeping that spark of curiosity and wonder burning bright in all of them.

Approaching the lonely statue in the middle of the school’s courtyard, the elderly security guard making his rounds shone his flashlight up at the nameless figure.  Depicted mid-stride as he carried a bundle of books on his back in a sack, who the man was had been lost to time, though people took to calling him ‘Tanaka-sensei’ after the family with the longest history in the town.  In the darkness of night, its silhouette had been mistaken for someone stealing across the empty space more than once.  Was he the founder of the school, bringing back books to educate the people?  Did he carry literal books, or was it representative of the burden of knowledge he carried?  Did the man exist at all, or did the people at the time just think it made for a good statue?  With a smile on his wrinkly face, the aged and wisened man chuckled as he shook his head.  Placing a gaunt hand on the statue’s waraji straw sandals he smiled up at the stars that were so clearly visible thanks to the minimal light pollution in the area.

“What’s important is the effort to learn and teach, isn’t it, Tanaka-sensei?”

Looking around once more, his job of making sure nobody snuck into the school to cause mischief made it easier for him to keep a tiny bit of mystery alive in the school.  Sitting on the base of the statue, he removed his shoes and donned a pair of metal-soled sandals cast to look like waraji.  Wetting the feet of the statue, he rubbed some dirt on it before carefully making another lap around the building.

As the elderly man disappeared around the corners, four figures emerged from the shadows and gathered around the statue with dimmer lights in hand.

“Told ya it wasn’t the statue.”

“Oh, shut it, Junko-chan.  Don’t get so smug just because you were right this time.”

“And the other six times, Harucchi.  Face it, you’re buying me dinner again.”

“Would you two stop using the results of club activities to justify your dates already?”  Looking at the lone female of their group and their shaven-headed kouhai, the oldest and tallest among them needed something to lift his spirit.

“We’re not dating, Watanabe-paisen!”  Whirling around to deny the claim, the dark-haired, petite girl’s blush told a different story.

“That’s right, Buchou!”  Equalling the girl’s repulsion at the notion, the athletic young man moved his hands in a manner to outline an hourglass-like shape a couple times.  “If I were going to date anyone, it’d be someone with a nice body and huge tits like Mitsuki-senpai.”

Shooting Haruki a look of disgust, Junko crossed her arms over her flat chest.  “Wow, and here I thought Buito-senpai was the pig in the club.”

“What are you doing, Junko-chan?  If I were interested in looking at a flat chest, I’d stare at Buchou’s.”  Unashamed of his perverted, hormonal comments, the bald young man shrugged and shook his head.  “Now, if you had as much fat on your chest as Tanaka-senpai, I might be tempt–whoa!”  Ducking out of the way just as a rock was flung at him, Haruki jumped back and put the statue between him and the violently lashing-out girl.  “You trying to kill me!?”

“Please.  If anything, that thick skull of yours would damage the poor rock.”  Giving chase as the target of her ire ran off, Junko tackled him to the ground, mounting him as she swung at his face.

Shaking his head at the juvenile courtship, Minato placed a hand on the shoulder of the fourth member of their group.  “Seven school mysteries down, and Junko-san was right about each one.  I don’t even know why she joined our club if she’s so skeptical, but then again, Toshiyori-ojisan really was behind all of them.”

“Sato-san wants to believe in the supernatural, Minato, she’s just too rational to accept sketchy urban legends.”  Placing a hand on the cold, bronze statue, the bespectacled, portly youth’s disappointment couldn’t be more palpable.

Glancing over as the girl in question wrestled with her childhood friend on the ground, Minato cocked an eyebrow.  “Really, Yuito?  Her?  ‘Rational’?”

Not needing to look, Yuito rolled his eyes.  “You know what I mean.  She’s put more research into these mysteries than either of us.  Besides, not even she can deny that the Tsuzukerusakura has blossomed for over a thousand years.”  Looking past his best friend, even without illumination the bright petals of the sakura tree blooming out of season cut through the darkness.

Even if more trite ‘mysteries’ of the school were hoaxes perpetuated by adults, not even science could explain why the lone sakura bloomed perpetually.  None of the blossoms ever carried seeds, and attempts to transplant it somewhere else all ended in failure.  Its roots ran far deeper than its estimated millennia-long lifespan would suggest, and as one of the only notable landmarks of their town, it was a protected site.

“I’d like to get to the bottom of that mystery.  Maybe then the name ‘Watanabe Minato’ would be one people would remember.”

“That was the reason we started the Paranormal Investigation club up again.  Though, we still have one more mystery to investigate before that.”  Motivating himself from their most recent letdown, Yuito pulled an old, weathered, and dirty notebook, hundreds of years old if the calligraphy were to be believed, from his bag.  “Toshiyori-ojisan couldn’t possibly have faked this one.”

Smirking at the optimism, Minato nodded.  “Not unless he’s a mystery we should be looking into.”

“Hey, Buito-senpai, are you sure you translated that right?”  Rejoining the two as Haruki lay twitching on the ground, Junko’s skepticism prevented her from sharing in their optimism.  “I mean, it feels like too much of a coincidence that all the previous clubs did some silly ritual on October 31st.  Japan didn’t even celebrate it until 1997.”

“Maybe, Sato-san, but you’ve confirmed the Paranormal Investigation club has existed in some way or another in our school for centuries at least.”  Though the school building was rebuilt after the original structure was burned down in the 1940s, the grounds were always used for an educational facility over its long history.  Luckily, the oldest texts of the past clubs that investigated and documented mysterious happenings were kept in the old storage shed and survived the fire.  With so much evidence that the club existed, yet none that can be verified through firsthand accounts, there was no question that there was some sort of mystery around the existence of their club.

Despite there being records of it operating in the past and receiving funding, there was no record of any members.  The only things that confirmed the alleged past activities of the club were the notes and journals left behind that were dated within the timeframe that the school’s records indicated it was active.  None of the names in the journals and notebooks matched those of students of the time, and the club would officially be shut down once more.  This cycle repeated itself every few decades judging from the gaps between dates in the notebooks, and over time, solving the mystery of the Paranormal Investigation club became the reason the club existed.

“According to even some of these oldest entries, there is a spirit connected to these disappearances that dwells in the Tsuzukerusakura.  This ritual will let us speak to it and get answers, but we can only do it on October 31st.”

“Yeah, but isn’t it, like, dangerous or something?”  Junko was still not entirely convinced.  There was no tangible evidence that anyone mentioned in the notebooks existed outside of the dubious source they came from.  However, on the off chance that it could be real, the fact that their club has always been shut down in November, and that no generation of the club wrote any entries past October was unsettling.

“Maybe for Tanaka-senpai.  If I were a man-eating youkai, I’d target him first.”  Joining back into the conversation, Haruki poked at the heavier-set young man’s soft belly and chuckled, looking back at Junko.  “I don’t think it’d be worth the effort to pick at your bones.”

“Hmph!  Who knows, maybe it’ll be a spirit that lures in boob-obsessed perverts.”

“Then I’m more concerned you’d attack the spirit for having bigger tits than you.”

“Why you little–?!”

“Hmmm?  Is somebody there?”  Interrupting the spat before it could begin, the light of the elderly man shone from the corner of the school building as he called out to their raised voices.

“Shit!  Book it!”  Taking off before the old man could round the corner, Haruki sprinted away with his arms covering his identifiable bald head.

“Well meet up later to plan out what we’ll do for Halloween, okay?”  Turning to run in a different direction, Minato smirked as he winked at Yuito.  “Just don’t get caught this time.”

Already chasing after Haruki, Junko giggled as she looked back.  “Have fun, Buito-senpai~!”

Abandoned by his friends, and looking down at his large, protruding belly, the short-haired, asthmatic, out-of-shape young man looked back as the old man’s flashlight peeked around the corner.  Breaking out into a light jog, his top speed, Yuito just hoped that the security guard wouldn’t give chase in the awkward footwear he was using.

Halloween Night, 2023

With the added leniency afforded by the festivities of the foreign holiday, the four members of the Paranormal Investigation club were able to meet up at the Eiennisaki Tsuzukerusakura no Ki.  Each bringing something needed for the ritual outlined in the notes from their predecessors, it was up to Yuito to set everything up so they could call the alleged spirit.

“So it’s gonna be a kitsune?”  As the one responsible for getting the fried tofu, Junko’s usual skepticism was more reserved as a crisp wild blew through.

“Think it’s a tenko?  Maybe we’ll get a wish or something!”  Much more excited than the rest, Haruki was bouncing up and down as Yuito finished setting everything up and began lighting the candles and incense in a specific order.  “I’ll wish for a harem full of hot chicks so they can bear me lots of kids.  I bet Ō-Inari could do something like that.”

“And why do you think Inari Ōkami-sama would be sealed away in our backwater town, Harucchi?  How would she even appear in so many legends over the years if she were sealed away?”  Rolling her eyes, Junko shot down the young man’s misogynistic dream, kicking him in the back of the leg.  “And tenko are said to be virtuous spirits with god-like powers.  I doubt one would be sealed here.  Maybe a low-ranking zenko or a weak yako, if there really is one at all.”

“Oh?  You really know your stuff, Junko-san.”  Despite how critical of the validity of all the urban legends they’ve investigated she could be, Minato was always surprised by how much knowledge of the supernatural Junko had.

Puffing out her underdeveloped chest, the dark-haired girl smirked smugly.  “Of course I would, Watanabe-paisen.  Someone’s got to make up for the dip in our collective intelligence Harucchi causes.”

“And that’s about all you make up for.”  Not denying his shortcoming, Haruki gently smacked her with the back of his hand without looking, hitting her chest by accident.

“Don’t touch my boobs, you pervert!”

“I think you mean ribs.  I didn’t even notice, it was so hard.”

“Asshole.”

“Bitch.”

As the two childhood friends bickered, Yuito finished setting up the ritual.  “You two know that Minato and I can do this ritual ourselves, so you can go to the clubroom to be alone if you want.”

“Please.  This jerk is going to be a virgin for the rest of his life.”

“And only a gay guy that mistook you for a man would want to sleep with you.”

“Alright, alright.  Save the sweet nothings for later, you two.  What do we do next, Yuito?”  Getting in one last tease before refocusing the group, Minato approached the spectacled young man.

“Well, I was kidding before since, from what I understand, you and Nakamura-kun won’t have to do anything.”  Holding up the notebook, Yuito pointed to a line of text.  “The ritual just needs a ‘pure maiden with many relationships’ to recite the incantation.”

“And this pure maiden is where exact–  Ouch!”

Smacking Haruki in the back of his head for his rude comment, Junko folded her arms over her chest. “Harucchi being blind to my beauty aside, isn’t that a contradiction, Buito-senpai?  Most people wouldn’t believe a girl who’s being in many relationships would still be pure.”

“Not quite, Sato-san.”  Tapping the page again, the stockier young man pointed to a couple kanji in particular.  “Across all the journals and notebooks, the details of the ritual have remained unchanged.  They all use the kanji ‘潤子’, which can be read as ‘pure child’ or ‘rich child’, and ‘田中’ which can be read as ‘many relationships’.  However, they are pronounced ‘Junko’ and ‘Tanaka’ respectively.”  Adjusting his glasses and smirking confidently, Yuito puffed out his chest proudly.  “And I discovered that all the past Paranormal Investigation clubs allegedly had a Takana among their members, and would convince a Junko into participating in the ritual if there wasn’t one in the club already.”

“Seriously?  Well, the only thing in this town older than the Tsuzukerusakura is the Tanaka name.”  Leaning in the check the validity of his research, Junko couldn’t argue with his logic.  “So we just read this here?”

“Yeah.  I think it’s some sort of Buddhist or Taoism prayer.  Maybe an Onmyodo incantation.”

“Alright.  We might as well try it.”  Looking over her shoulder, Junko narrowed her eyes at Haruki.  “Don’t do anything stupid to mess this up.”

“...Don’t get yourself possessed.”

Expecting some chide remark from her abrasive childhood friend, Junko paused but then smirked.  “C’mon, Harucchi.  This is just gonna be another hoax.  You’ll see.”

“Either way, be careful, Junko-san, Yuito.”  Resigning himself to watch over the two as they knelt and began reciting the sutra, Minato placed a hand on Haruki’s shoulder while they waited.

The quiet whispering echos of Yuito and Junko’s chanting added to the unsettling quiet as sakura petals danced on the gentle wind in the waning full moon’s light.  With few clouds in the sky to cast foreboding shadows, there was no cover for them to hide their ritual, and nothing to obscure the approach of outsiders other than the Tsuzukerusakura itself.

Attributing the shiver running up his back to the chill of fall settling in, Minato checked to make sure they were alone.  “Hey, Haruki-kun…  Does it feel like someone’s watching us to you?”  Whispering so as not to disrupt the ritual, unlike the other phenomenon they investigated, a foreboding dread hung over in the air.

“Heh, n-nice try, Buchou, but you’re not gonna freak me out that easily.”  Despite his words, there was a falter in the confident athletic boy's voice as sweat dripped down his brow.  “And I bet that’s not you whispering the chant with them I hear.”  With a nervous chuckle, Haruki steeled his nerves.

“N-Now who’s messing with who?  I haven’t said a–!?”  Trying to disregard what he assumed to be retaliation for what Haruki perceived as a joke, Minato froze as he listened closer to the echoed voices.

Yuito’s family still engaged in many Buddhist practices, including reciting sutras and meditating, so his comparatively deep voice resounded clearly into the distance, but Junko didn’t have the same practiced cadence.  She stumbled a bit, recovered quickly, and tried her best to keep up, but riding the slight breeze were two voices reciting the chant perfectly.  However, the third voice quickly synchronized with Junko’s, correcting the young girl’s flaw and altering the rhythm of her chant so it no longer sounded like Junko herself was speaking, but the third party was speaking through her.

A sudden gust blew through the clearing, blowing out the candles and causing Yuito to stop his incantation, but Junko continued without pause.  As the thin trails of smoke rose from the candles, blue flames burst forth from the wicks, casting the Tsuzukerusakura in a mystifying light, causing the petals to radiate a gentle, pink glow.

None of the boys could bring themselves to say anything or try to stop Junko as she continued to chant.  Her short, silky-smooth hair flowed down over her back, spilling out over the ground to form shallow pools of ebony.  The frame of her petite body shrunk just a bit as her hips, thighs, and bust plumped up considerably and her face matured from the cuteness of a teen girl to the beauty of an enchanting woman.  The color faded from her sun-kissed skin, becoming as pale as the moon.

As her physical transformation finished, most notably with the growth of a set of pointy, fluffy ears on the top of her head and several long, brushy, black-furred tails, the woman rose from her kneeling position.  Gracefully sauntering to the base of the ever-blooming sakura, she ended her chant with a seductive chortle, turning to face the three boys as her clothes erupted in a brilliant blaze of ghostly blue flames for but a moment.  Once the fires extinguished themselves, the mysterious woman was clad in a beautiful jūnihitoe made of the finest silks as crimson as blood, dark as pitch, and dazzling as freshly fallen snow.  Seating her ample rear on the roots of the tree, she produced a bamboo fan from her sleeve and opened it was an elegant flourish, concealing her ruby lips as she slowly opened her sharp, piercing vermillion eyes.

“Ara ara~  Only three strapping young lads this time?  Well, I’ve had to entertain less before, and…”  Leveling her gaze on the plump, terrified young man whom she had been kneeling next to moments ago, the foxy woman licked her slender lips and collapsed her fan.  “...at least one of you looks particularly appetizing.  This lass was so scrawny and fragile, if not for her succulent vitality, I might have wondered whether she was a neglected child or not.”  Giggling as she patted her stomach, she pointed her fan at Yuito.  “You, Tanaka-shounen.  As it is tricky to measure the passage of time within this seal, I pray thee, enlighten my ignorant self and honor me with the era and year.  Has the Shōwa era ended yet?”

“Sh-Shōwa era?  Wh-Who…  Who a-are you, Onee-san?”  Stumbling over his words to reply, while the inhuman woman wasn’t actively hostile, her presence wasn’t a comforting one.  Not to mention there was a more pressing question he wanted to ask.  “A-And where is S-Sato-san?”

The unnamed woman’s calm, mature aura faltered, her eyes widened as his words shocked her for a moment before a much warmer, but no more endearing smile crossed her lips.  “‘Onee-san’ you say?  Maa~  Flattery will get you nowhere, Tanaka-shounen, but I thank you for your honeyed words all the same.  How many groups have passed since one last addressed me as such?  Such a polite boy.”  Basking in the compliment she received, while the air of menace had dissipated, the mood of the conversation hadn’t shifted.  “Maa~  Speaking of manners, I apologize for having forgotten mine.”  Getting off the root she was sitting on and kneeling on the ground again, the ebony-haired beauty bowed politely, with her fingers together as her head hovered millimeters from the ground.  “Though mine is a name you’ve no way of knowing, I, Kamo no Shikibu, welcome Tanaka-shounen and his two friends to my quaint domain.  Though I have my imperfections, I hope you will treat me well.”

“O-Oh!  Um…  I-I am Tanaka Y-Yuito, and these two are Watanabe Minato, and our kouhai, Nakamura Haruki-kun.”  Getting caught up in her pace, Yuito sat up straight and bowed to Shikibu, introducing himself and his friends.  “A-And there is also Sato Junko-san, but sh-she’s–”

“Right here, Yuito-shounen.”  Cutting the stocky young man off, the foxy woman got up to sit on the sakura root once more and pressed a hand into her abundant chest.  “As unbecoming as it is to do so, with my powers weakened as they are, I am forced to possess a host in order for us to communicate.”

“P-Possessed!?  S-So Junko-chan is alright then, right?”  Finding his courage to speak, Haruki’s first concern was confirming that his childhood friend would be alright.  “You’re j-just borrowing her body, right?  You’ll give it back?”

Tapping her chin with her fan, Shikibu’s lips curled into a devious smile.  “I suppose for now you could say I have not fully claimed her soul as my own, so relinquishing control of this vessel is still within the realm of possibility.”

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, the strained, nervous smile on the bald youth’s face relaxed significantly.  “Really?  Oh, that’s fantas–”

“At least, until I’ve finished digesting her soul.”

For a moment, time froze and the only sound that filled the deafening void was the playful giggle coming from the foxy woman as Haruki stared at her.  “Huh?”

“Hmm?  Oh, that’s right.  While I gleam a bit more about the state of the outside world each time I pull a group into my seal, I keep forgetting how little of the supernatural is understood.  So then, allow me to state it more clearly for you, Shounen.  This ‘Junko’, as with every other that has entered my domain, will serve as my sustenance until my next meal is served to me.”  Taking pleasure in the horrified expression that twisted the hopeful young man’s face, Shikibu patted her stomach again and giggled.  “And despite how lacking her physical development was, she has one of the richest (潤) life forces I’ve dined on yet.”

Her memory started to become fuzzy partway through the ritual.  Rather than the chill of the autumn air, Junko’s body rapidly heated up, making it difficult to focus.  Then, whispers kept entering her ear, almost as if someone were helping her pronounce the words that she found difficult to read.  Before she could contemplate that though, she blacked out, only to come to in a pitch-dark, restrictive space.

Huh?!  Wh-Where am I?  What happened?  Even with her eyes open, she couldn’t see what was forcing her into a fetal position, but she continued to hear the voice from before continuing the chant in her place.  It was louder and muffled, but it was the same woman.  What’s going o–!?  Why can’t I talk?

Trying to call out to anyone, Junko’s voice didn’t come out.  Or rather, the words she wanted to say weren’t vocalized despite her mouth opening to say them.

“Ara~  Settled in already, Junko-shoujo?  Well, don’t get too comfortable.  I’ve heard that a stomach is much less accommodating once digestion gets underway.”

Responding to her movements, the voice spoke directly in Junko’s mind this time, but what she had to say wasn’t reassuring at all.  In her panic, she hadn’t noticed the irritation stinging her skin or the acidic quality of the air burning her lungs, but being told she was in a stomach didn’t sound like a lie.  The warm, slick, wrinkly walls of flesh that constricted around her pulsed with life and began to bludgeon and churn around her.

W-Wait!  Digestion?  I’m in a stomach?  H-How?  When?!  Th-This is a dream, right?  A joke?

“Well, you’re free to believe that if you wish, I care little whether my meals struggle or not at this point.  For as humiliating as it must be to become food in your own stomach, I’ll savor this potent life force of yours, my dear.  Now, I have three strapping young lads to service, so enjoy your final moments all alone.”

Pooling liquids rose around Junko as the voice faded, and the constrictions of the muscly walls bashed her vulnerable body without mercy.  The acids splashing against her heated up to uncomfortable levels, and despite how much her lungs failed to draw breathable air, she didn’t start to lose consciousness again.  Forced to be awake and aware as she was allegedly digested ‘alive’, no matter how much she fought, Junko couldn’t escape.

N-No…  Keep…  Keep your h-hands off h-him…

As Shikibu silenced a belch in her throat, she relished the futile pleas of the imprisoned girl.  She’d use the body she possessed and enchanted to thoroughly process and melt down the teen’s mind, leaving just her life force behind to consume slowly over years and decades.

“J-Junko-chan?”  Not sure what to believe, Haruki knew that the woman in front of him wasn’t his childhood friend, and this wasn’t a prank or dream.  Before them was a real evil spirit, a yako that possessed and ate the girl he grew up with.  “G-Give her back…   Give me back my Junko-chan, you bitch!”  Anger overtaking him, the bald young man charged the fox-tailed woman, reeling his fist back.

“N-Nakamura-kun!?”  Yuito could only watch as Haruki attacked to avenge their friend.

But thinking with a bit clearer of a head, Minato called out to stop him.  “Haruki-kun, stop!  We need to–!?”  The danger they faced was too great, and if Shikibu’s words were to be believed, Junko was already too far gone.  They needed to retreat, inform people about this threat, and get help.  However, as he turned to confirm their route of egress, Minato’s heart sank as there was nothing but a pitch-dark void all around them.  Even the moon in the sky had vanished, and the only light illuminating the area around them was the glow of the Eiennisaki Tsuzukerusakura no Ki.

Without so much as looking at the boy lunging at her, one of Shikibu’s tails sprang out and slammed into him, pinning him to the ground as he writhed under its pressure.  “Ara~  Such a violent lad.  Thankfully, I’m well acquainted with the violent sort and can defend myself quite aptly.”  Snickering at his desperate attempt to free himself, she covered his face with her tail and held it there until he calmed down and passed out.  “Oh, there’s no escape from this space, Minato-shounen.  If I have not succeeded in over a millennium, you certainly have no hope of doing so.”

Staring into the empty void, Minato’s mind raced.  “H-How?  When?”

“Whatever do you mean?  Were you not the ones that appeared on the threshold of my domain and called out to me?  I simply extended an invitation to all of you, since this seal is meant to keep things in, not from entering it.  You should be honored.  For I, Kamo no Shikibu, the greatest tayū in all of Heian-kyō, offer only the greatest services and pleasure any mortal can receive.”  Laughing haughtily, the raven-haired beauty stood up and shed several layers of her elegant kimono, leaving only the thinnest, most delicate robe to barely conceal the body it was wrapped tightly around.  The pure white silk stretched across her ample chest, revealing dark, puffed-out areola and sunken nipples, and strained to contain her full buttock.  And as she swayed her chest from side to side, she delighted in the passionate, fearful expression on Yuito’s face as his eyes tracked her bosom’s movement.

“Wait…  ‘Heian-kyō’ and ‘Shikibu’?  Are you related to–”

“I have no relation to the jokan ‘Murasaki Shikibu’ other than my name being thrust upon the lass to deal with the ramifications of sealing and erasing the existence of one as famous as myself.”  Cutting the young man off as he racked his mind to save himself and his friend and put the information he learned together, Shikibu let out a heavy, weary sigh.  “And though I fault not you or your educations, it is rather vexing knowing that brat Seimei’s plan worked so well.  Mine should be a name of renown equal to that of Shuten-dōji, Tamamonomea, and Ōtakemaru.”  Stretching out her tails so they could be easily counted, she brushed her hand across each of them.  “Though nogitsune I may be, I spend five hundred long years growing in power and granting men pleasures beyond the ken of mortal women.  In the thousand years since, however, I’ve not gained even a single tail more.  My fate is to live out the rest of my life in this seal.  Having my power drained, used to keep the focal point of this seal, this beautiful sakura tree, ever-blooming as knowledge of the existence of those within scatters like its petals on the wind.”

“A-A man-eating m-monster like you d-deserves as much…”  Regaining consciousness, Haruki tearfully denounced the inhuman woman as Yuito and Minato rushed to his side and pulled him back before she could attack him again.

“Nakamura-kun!  D-Don’t antagonize her like that.”  Relieved that his taller kouhai was still alive, given the difference in strength between them, Yuito knew their lives were only spared become Shikibu allowed it.  They were novelties to entertain her.

“She ate Junko-chan, Tanaka-senpai!  She killed her!”

“If you want to avenge Junko-san, you need to live, not throw your life away recklessly.”  Forcing himself to calm down, Minato knew freaking out only lowered their already slim chances of survival.  “She’ll eat us too unless we can find a way out, Haruki-kun.”

“Oh, I assure you, Minato-shounen, I am not so uncouth as to entertain strapping young lads such as yourselves in the same manner as this lass.”  Snickering as she allowed the boys to regroup, Shikibu pulled at the hem of her final article of clothing, revealing more of her deep cleavage.  “Though, all my clients wish to be devoured by me in the end.  But, truth be told, I would rather speak with you before getting to our fun.  It’s much more difficult to decipher words mixed with moans of ecstasy.”

“E-Even if you do have great tits and a fat ass, who’d want to do anything with a bitch like you, fox?”  Defiantly rejecting her insinuations, Haruki had no other way to fight the powerful yokai than insults.

“Your words wound me not, Shounen, for my history proves them false.  In my heyday, I reserved the right to decide who was allowed to purchase my services.  An honor far beyond what any of you could afford.”  Holding up a finger, the raven-haired vixen conjured a small, eerie blue flame at the point of her sharp nail and quickly wrote a line of text.

「On this fateful night

A handful of men appear

Though others may struggle

They fit within my palm」

As she finished writing her kanshi, Shikibu giggled seductively, clutching her hand into a fist as the flames surged forth, engulfing and surrounding the unfortunate young men before they could react.  Their screams of pain and terror quickly subsided, though, as the flames were not meant to burn anything more than their clothing.  Rotating her hand so her palm faced the empty, infinite darkness above, she opened her hand and the flames she summoned rushed back and gathered into a small pyre on her palm.  With the flames, the three young men caught themselves from falling over in the sudden shift of locations, size, and perspective as they stared up at the now gigantic kitsune, frozen in fear.

“Ara ara~  I do so love when a man’s size reflects his station in life.  Countless have danced within the palm of my hands, but I shall fulfill my promise of granting you pleasure beyond your wildest dreams.”  Tipping her hand, Shikibu sent all three young men, none bigger than her pinky finger, tumbling down into her waiting cleavage.  Pressing her breasts together to trap them, she rubbed and ground them together as she used her supernatural power to create a sakura-scented lotion from the falling petals.  “I’ve learned that this service is how yūjo service and pleasure men in the modern era, correct?  I believe they were called ‘soaplands’.  Maa maa~  It has such a foreign sound to it.”

As the giantess enjoyed her form of nonpenetrative play, washing the three of them between her soft, warm breasts, the experience was not as enjoyable for each of them.

Yuito had landed and was caught closer to her sternum, sparing him from much of the pressure and grinding motions as the softness of her breasts diminished proportionately to the amount of force she used.  Able to occasionally get a bit of air as she rubbed her bosom together, other than the fear coursing through his body, the experience was more pleasant than not.  And with the deft skill and precision of a professional pleasure giver, his arousal soon overtook his fear, if only in this moment.

And for all his defiance before, Haruki was equally powerless to resist the pleasure assailing his body.  Caught between Shikibu’s excited nipples, the hardened nubs peeked out from the folds of fat that they slipped into normally and teased his throbbing phallus.  As the target of the majority of the fox spirit’s focus, the mind-melting pleasure was thorough, domineering, and absolute.  Keeping him on the edge of release, she dragged it out and denied him the release his body instinctively craved.

But for Minato, this pleasure was secondary to the other two in her mind.  Not leaving a strong impression on the lustful, man-eating vixen, and tucked into a space that offered little in the way of deft movements, he was squished from all sides and drowning in her breasts.  Almost as if she had forgotten about him entirely, any enjoyment he received was a consequence of her teasing Haurki or pampering Yuito.  He couldn’t move, and air was scarce as she didn’t separate her breasts at all.  The lotion that seeped down and around him made getting any traction impossible and despite the hysterical strength of desperation, she either didn’t notice or didn’t acknowledge his struggles.

Humming happily to herself as she washed the three young men with her breasts, Shikibu wiggled her hips as a knot in the root of the sakura she sat on poked up into her sex pleasingly.  Contemplating what she should do with each of them, if her clothing wasn’t just a manifestation of her power, she’d have to worry about the stains she’d create as her folds moistened.  “That should be enough.”  Impatience getting the better of her, she spread her breast to let the boys fall to her lap, but only two of the three tumbled from her cleavage.  The one lodged deepest in her bosom was stuck to her sternum, but seeing that the polite and adorably frightened, heavier-set Yuito wasn’t on her plump thighs, Shikibu didn’t bother pulling him out.  “Maa~  Yuito-shounen, did you want to stay in Onee-san’s bosom a bit longer?  Well, I’m not one who is shy about playing favorites, so I’ll spoil you a bit while I tend to your friends.”

Letting her breasts settle back into place, the chubby youth was hidden between them completely as she turned her attention to the other two.  However, the curse of having such large breasts did rob her of the ability to see her lap as such, so she had to pick Haruki and Minato up so she could address them.

“I trust neither of you have any compl–ara?  Minato-shounen?”  About to taunt and tease them a bit to get into the mood, the raven-haired former tayū paused when she saw that, unlike coughing and gasping for air like the bald boy, Minato was lying limp and unmoving on her palm.  “Maa~  Look at that, Haruki-shounen.  Minato-shounen enjoyed my bosom so much that he decided to cross the Sanzu-no-Kawa without experiencing the other pleasures I have to offer.”

“Huh?!  N-No way!  Buchou?  Buchou, w-wake up!”  Rushing over to his taller, skinnier senpai, Haruki grasped and shook.  “Buchou?!  Come on!  You s-said we had to survive so w-we could avenge J-Junko-chan, didn’t you?  You c-can’t have died like that!  Come on, w-wake up!”

Snickering at the life her chest claimed, Shikibu licked her lips as she plucked the lifeless body up.  “Oh, my bosom has guided many men to paradise, Haruki-shounen, though typically not in a literal sense.  However, I’ve no use for meat that can spoil so quickly.  I’ll quickly dispose of him and then I can tend to you, alright?”  Holding Minato up above her head, Shikibu opened her mouth and extended her small, thin tongue.  “Itadakimasu.”

“W-Wait!  What the hell do you think you’re doing to Buchou?  You can’t just eat him like that!”  

Rolling her eyes at the impudence of the tiny boy, Shikibu sighed.  “And why, pray tell, Haruki-shounen, can I not?  He is small enough, and as you have stated, I am but a ‘man-eating monster’, am I not?  If Minato-shounen is unable to satisfy my lust, he’ll have to satisfy my hunger instead.”

“B-But what if he’s not dead?!  H-He could be, uh… f-faking it!  Yeah, that’s it, right, Buchou?”  Grasping at straws to save the young man, Haruki desperately insisted his assumption was correct.  “He was just trying to get you to let your guard down, then he’d hide and find a way out of here for us.  Well, i-it doesn’t look like that plan’ll work, Buchou, s-so you can stop faking and show her you’re alright now.”  His voice crackling as he spoke, there was no reply to his strained, fearful laugh as Minato hung limply between two fingers.  “Buchou!?  BU–!”

Releasing the lifeless body, Shikibu caught the lean but meaty treat on her tongue and quickly drew him into her salivating maw.  Mercilessly clamping her lips shut, she mewled happily as she swallowed the shrunken young man whole.  “Well, for Minato-shounen’s sake, I pray your theory was wrong, Haruki-shounen.”  Patting her stomach, Junko’s futile struggles were still pleasing her enchanted digestive organ spiritually, but it had been a long time since she had something to fill it physically too.  “It takes far longer to digest a body than a soul, and I can’t believe it would be a pleasant experience.”

“Y-You…  You ate him!  You fox-eared bitch!  First Junko-chan and now Buchou!  You monster!”  Overcome with anger and grief at his powerlessness to save his friend, Haruki couldn’t hold himself back, and there was nobody to stop him.  “You vile whore!  No wonder you were sealed away and forgotten.  Death would be too good of a mercy to grant you!  I hope you wither and die alone for the rest of eternity!”

“Ara, what a nasty little temper you have.  However, I feel I must correct you on two points, Haruki-shounen.”  There was nothing the shrunken young man could say to sway her cold, unfeeling heart.  It only took decades for her to come to such realizations herself, and centuries to make peace with that.  However, she also had the benefit of spending lifetimes reflecting on what her future held and the true nature of her seal.  “Firstly, while my name may have been forgotten, it is only a matter of time before more guests will come to visit me, as you and your friends have.”  Her grin widening, even if she couldn’t accurately track the passage of time, all she had to do was be patient.

One day, maybe years from now, or decades, maybe even centuries, she’d hear the voice of a pure maiden (潤子) chanting and that connection would allow her to possess her and pull in whoever assisted her in the ritual.  Always so young, always so curious.  Seekers of the mysterious that should have never been sought.

Haruki’s face paled as the realization that she was right fell over him.  Though he only joined this year, Yuito got Minato to help him reinstate the Paranormal Investigation club out of curiosity.  The Seven School Mysteries weren’t enough to pique their interests, he was the one who insisted they investigate those.  It was the Eiennisaki Tsuzukerusakura no Ki and the odd circumstances of the club's history that they both focused on researching before he and Junko joined.  They were always going to find a way to that ritual!

“And secondly, it’s not just my existence that this tree erases from the world.  Those within the seal after forgotten, forever.”  Finishing her point, Shikibu’s statement of fact dripped in her malicious glee as she awaited the expression on his face when he understood what she meant.

And the dark, expression that drained all hope from his eyes in the seconds that passed was as satisfying as she thought it would be.

“N-No…  No, th-that can’t…  W-We didn’t do anything wrong to end up in here!”

“Perhaps, though either Seimei determined that even getting that close to learning of my existence is too dangerous, or he never thought humans would be so blinded by their curiosity.”  Flippantly dismissing what Haruki interpreted as them being unfairly punished, Shikibu was done humoring him with conversation.  “Now then, are you ready to receive your reward for treading where good little children shouldn’t?”

“Fuck off, you fox-faced bitch!  You can take your reward and shove it up you fat ass!”  Lashing out, the bald young man fell to his knee as he tried to come to terms with what fate awaited him.

“Ara~  Yours is quite the filthy mind, Haruki-shounen.”  The dark smile plastered on her face only grew as she leaned forward, shifting her weight onto her feet as she raised her hefty rear off her seat.  Letting the final, thin robe slip off her shoulders, Shikibu’s eyes lit up with an ominous crimson glow.  Holding her free hand up close to her eye, she framed Haruki between her finger and thumb and then slowly spread them apart, causing him to grow bigger on her palm.  “To have guessed how I’ll be servicing you so quickly.”  Snickering once he was at a size she was pleased with, roughly two and a half palm widths in length, she seized him tightly in her fist and brought him under her immense backside.  “Well then, I hope you enjoy yourself as much as I shall.”

Looking up at the pale moon, the bald young man squirmed and fought to escape before the puckering orifice consumed him, but it was futile.  “N-No, wai–!!”

Swiftly and firmly thrusting her living toy up her experienced but tight back door, a shudder of delight ran up Shikibu’s back and tails as she let out a howling moan of satisfaction.  “M-My apologies, Haruki-shounen, but I’ve been told I can be rather impatient.”  Holding onto his feet, the lustful fox spirit plunged him deep into her bowel repeatedly, withdrawing him only so far as his neck before entombing him once more.

The irregular shape of his body dug into her intestinal walls in the most pleasing ways, and twisting his body at the right moments only multiplied that sensation.  Falling to her knees, she pleased herself anally as her body trembled.  With her arms preoccupied, she wasn’t able to apply the pressure necessary to keep Yuito from sliding down her hanging breasts onto her clothing beneath her.  However, seeing the exhausted young man panting to catch his breath, she simply lowered her chest and buried him under her soft bosom until she could focus on him.

“J-Just a moment, Yuito-shounen.  Onee-san will be with you in j-just a moment.”

The illumination of the enchanted sakura tree blocked by layers of flesh and fat, Haruki was forced to endure the great pressure and foul scent in pitch darkness.  Used for the pleasure of the woman who had eaten two of his friends, and disgusted by the thick, slimy mucus that coated the hot, oppressive walls, he wanted to keep fighting back against her.  She was a cruel, heartless monster, shoving him up her ass for the deranged pleasure she derived from it… and yet the way her tight anal muscles coiled around his cock aroused him to no end.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!  This can’t be happening!  Even after his body had fallen, his mind remained, though the odor of her rectum made concentrating difficult.  Junko-chan always t-told me to kiss her ass.  I guess, in a sense, I am.  This is her body after all, not that fox bitch’s…  Trying to recall his childhood friend’s face and focus on something other than his lust and rapidly approaching orgasm, Haruki wasn’t even sure if he was kicking and squirming to free himself anymore.  Unsure what his feelings for the bossy, smug, confident ravenette were, he had at least wanted her to have a long and happy life.

But it didn’t seem that the evil spirit was content with just violating and dirtying his body as the sounds of her moans resonated in his ears.  Her scent tainted his lungs, and try as he might to keep his mouth shut, it was all for naught as his lips rubbed and ground on the sticky flesh.  Inside and out, his body was corrupted by her, made to crave for her, and want to serve her.  Her sweet moans, that addictive aroma, the surprisingly pleasant taste of her bowels.

The visage of Junko faded from his mind, distorting and morphing into that of the beautiful vixen before blurring into indiscernibility.  He was in Junko’s body, he was being pleasured by the evil spirit Shikibu, but neither was different anymore.  The physical attributes of the body tormenting him were his childhood friend’s.  The techniques used to drive him mad were the yokai’s.  …D-Does a-any of that ma-matter?  J-Junko-chan?  Shikibu-s-sama?  I’ll just…

Giving into the unimaginable pleasures he couldn’t even dream of before, Haruki’s mind sank into the mire of lust, depravity, and nihilism his irresistible guide dragged him into.

As the vigorous, strong, muscular boy twitched and spasmed in her rear, Shikibu released his feet and let him slip entirely into her new body.  While she could sense the potent life force in his body, unlike women, she needed to milk it out of him before she could feed on it.  And with the volume and density that he sprayed the depths of her bowels with, she’d have plenty to feast upon for a while yet.

“Yes, that’s right, Haruki-shounen.  Make love to my bowels and give me plenty of that youthful energy of yours.  Despite your malicious insults, allow me to grant you bliss until I snuff out your life.”  Sitting up, Shikibu gently rubbed her quivering anus, delighted by her anal toy’s impatience as he began thrusting his hardened shaft into her flesh.  “Of course, giving yourself over to my body means your soul is no longer bound for paradise, not that knowing that would be enough to keep your lust in check any longer.”  Tightening her anal muscles around Haruki’s wiggling body, she giggled at his thoughtless, unpracticed movements.  Not only in age, her experience in pleasing her partner far outstretched his.

But she still had one more ‘guest’ to entertain.  One whose body more closely resembled the type of clients was was used to servicing, and whose mind felt much more pliable.

Amongst her discarded clothing, soaked in her sweat and staring fearfully up at her, laid the ‘Tanaka’ of this ritual.  But he was much too small for what she had in mind, and though her ears were sharper than a human’s, the squeak-like tone of their voices was starting to become annoying.  Using her hand to make Yuito grow large enough to cradle in her arms like a small pet, she picked him up and gently held him into her bosom.  “Yuito-shounen, shall we continue our conversation now that those distractions have been dealt with?  I don’t believe you’ve told me the current era or year yet.”

His body sinking into the marshmallowy softness of her breasts, with his member piercing the gap between them, Yuito was paralyzed for fear and pleasure as she spoke gently to him.  There was no warmth in her voice, yet she comforted him and encouraged him to reply.  After watching her swallow Minato, and with Haruki nowhere to be seen, he was dripping in a cold sweat.  “U-Uh…  Umm, i-its c-c-currently the f-f-fouth year of the Reiwa e-era, the Shōwa era e-ended in 1989 w-with the death of Hirohito-heika.  T-The era proc-ceding his reign, the Heisei era, l-lasted 31 years by his s-son Akihito-heika.”  Rambling on, giving her more information than she asked for, Yuito couldn’t stop himself for fear of what would happen to him after the conversation ended.

Giving the malicious spirit a summary of all the major events and developments that had transpired in the country since, he rambled on, not sure when the smile on her lips would fade.  Racking his brain for a way to save himself, as he gave her more information he could only find his lacking.  Whether she was lying or not about there being a way to escape, he didn’t have the time to try.

“Maa~  You are so knowledgeable, Yuito-shounen.”  Praising and encouraging him to continue, Shikibu listened carefully to his every word and showered him with compliments.  Though, she was also subtly bouncing him in her arms, entertaining herself as she watched him struggle to resist the embrace of her breasts rubbing against his throbbing erection.  “You humans have always come up with such fascinating technologies.  Perhaps if simply watching you grow and advance had been enough to satiate my curiosity in the past, I would have been allowed to witness such progress with my own eyes.  Instead, I find myself eagerly anticipating the next group of youths to bring news of the outside world to my domain.”

“I-Is there really no way out?”  After hours of stressing over that most important question, the young man just needed to know.

Looking up at the luminescent glow of the cherry blossoms, Shikibu reached up and plucked one of the delicate flowers.  “Bright as you may be, in areas darkened by ignorance I suppose you would have no way of discovering the truth for yourself.  As I have stated before, this seal of Seimei’s traps its target within and erases its existence from the world.  It will remain as such until this sakura drains all my spiritual energy, so I ask of you, Yuito-shounen, where to does the energy drained from me go, if not into these blossoms?”

“Huh?  W-Well, I don’t know much about this sort of thing, b-but if I were the one designing the seal I’d make sure it would go–! O-Out…side…”

“Correct!  Very good!  Maa~  Here is a small reward for the bright lad.”  Shifting positions so she laid over him, the fox spirit squeezed her breasts firmly together, rubbing them up and down the length of his shaft.  “Such a good boy.  Hora~  You enjoy my bosom, yes?  Indulge yourself, Yuito-shounen.  Mine is the only flesh for you to enjoy for the rest of your life.”  Giggling as she blanketed him in her warmth, suffocated him in her scent, and smothered him in her softness, she uncompromisingly guided him to orgasm.

However, even the overwhelming pleasure wasn’t enough to distract him from his fate.  Sealed away with the only way out being as spiritual nutrients for the Tsuzukerusakura.  Unsure whether the tears blurring his vision were from the bliss her technique comforted him with, shame that he enjoyed the sexual favor of the woman that killed his friends, or mourning that he was the one responsible for getting the others involved in the first place, Yuito stared into the endless blackness past Shikibu and the sakura petals.  “I’m going to d-die here… and nobody will e-ever realize it.  Tousan…  Kaasan… Aniki...  I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry!”

Enjoying the taste of the shrunken young man’s seed, Shikibu's apathetic demeanor cracked a bit as the visage of a man from ages past came to mind.  “Mata…jiro…?”  Looking down at her chest quickly, she had already indulged in the mess he left between her breasts, but some of the thick, milky-white liquid still oozed from his softening phallus.  Collecting some with the tip of a tail, Shikibu cast a spell on Yuito’s ejaculate before licking it, and her eyes lit up.  “Matajiro-sama!  Maa~  It’s been so long, I had almost forgotten.”

Unable to not notice the shift in her tone, Yuito looked at the gigantic kitsune.  Matajiro wasn’t an especially unique name, typically given to the second-born son of a second-born son, it must have belonged to someone special to the now more maidenly yako.  No matter how hospitable or complimentary the ravenette was before, there was an underlying sense that it was all for her own amusement.  In her eyes, he and his friends were ultimately playthings to pass the time.  But the smile on her face, the longing in her eyes, there was genuine happiness and warmth reflected in her crimson orbs.

“Matajiro?”

“Ahh~!  Maa, listen to me giggle like a young lass, calling out another man’s name when I’m sharing my time with you.  I ask that you forgive my rudeness, Yuito-sama.”  Picking him up carefully, Shikibu nuzzled the stocky young man with her cheek as she giggled with glee.  “When I was first sealed away, my physical body was heavily wounded so that my powers would drain from me faster.  I would have succumbed to my wounds within a few centuries, but when my strength was about to expire, Tanaka Matajiro-sama, the first person to wander into my seal, found me and bandaged my broken body.  He was an educator, and a kind man who lamented not being able to return to his family and loved ones, so once my strength returned, I…”  Blushing as she trailed off, she licked her lips with an affectionate, predatory grin.  But her smile quickly faded as her eyes filled with tears.  “...I, I comforted him for as long as his strength lasted.  There is no food or water within this domain, and the sakura flowers never mature.  Nogitsune though I may be, I am not incapable of repaying a debt of gratitude, so I offered him the finest services with my years of experience to make him forget about his regrets and pass on in peace… with us both knowing and accepting the very nature of my services drained him of his dwindling life force.”  Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she held up Yuito with a comforting smile.  “After Matajiro-sama passed, I vowed to treat his descendants with the same devotion.  However, you, Yuito-sama, are the first with the Tanaka name to enter my domain with a connection to Matajiro-sama.  It’s been so long, I began to wonder if his bloodline had long since ended…”

Not expecting such a heartwarming story from a cold-blooded yokai, Yuito thought he had found a silver lining in all of this.  “Th-Then, could you let Sato-san and Nakamura-kun g–”

“I apologize if I have given you the wrong impression, Yuito-sama.”  Cutting him off with a domineering smile filled with passion, Shikibu set him down on the ground and conjured a rope spun from long, silky-smooth, strands of black hair.  “Matajiro-sama was, I believe in modern parlance you would say, a massive ‘M’?  Am I saying that correctly?  Ahn~  I still remember his little, piggy-like oinks and squeals as I ravished his body.  Ara~!  That’s right.  This Junko-shoujo called you ‘Buito-senpai’, did she not?  What a coincidence, because I’d call Matajiro-sama ‘Butajiro’ while we were having our fun.  Shall I call you ‘Buito-sama’ as I train you into an adorable little piglet?”  Wrapping her rope around her torso and legs, Shikibu slung it over a thick, sturdy bough of the Tsuzukerusakura and used it to suspend herself in the air with her legs spread and raised.  Using her tails to pull Yuito under her and hold him in place, she hung the rope in front of him and giggled.  “Go on, Buito-sama.  This was quite popular back in my heyday.  Grab the rope.”

Though his life was no longer in danger through such an unexpected connection he had no way of knowing, Yuito looked up at the massive undercarriage hovering over him.  There was no sign of Haruki sticking out of her rear, and her engorged sex glistened with excitement.  Swallowing the saliva building up in his throat, he did as he was told and grasped the rope.

“Good boy.  Now, all you have to do is lower and raise me to your liking.  If you want, you can even count how many times you were able to.  Some of my top clients liked to compete to see who could last the longest.”  Not letting him run away, Shikibu happily explained the rules as she began to loosen her grip on the rope.  “Just lift me off of you once you’re satisfied, okay?”

Mesmerized by her sex and entranced in her aroma, Yuito barely comprehended what she said as he snapped his attention to the rope in his hands and registered what it was connected to.  Had he been his normal size, he might have been able to support her weight.  Reduced to being only slightly taller than twenty centimeters if he was lucky though?  “W-Wait, Shikibu-onees–!?”

Before he could finish protesting though, the lustful yokai released the rope and plopped down onto the ground instantly.  Yuito was unable to even slow her fall as she landed sex-first on him, taking his entire body into her wanting womanhood.  “Ahhhn~  Oh, Buito-sama!  You’re so forceful.  Maa~  But are you not going to continue?”  Grinding her hips into the uneven ground under her kimono, she giggled playfully as her love tunnel drew her up further into her.  His hefty girth and desperate struggling stretched her out comfortably, and the way he was licking and thrusting his hips into her only elevated the pleasurable sensation.  “Ara ara~  What is my fat piggy doing in there?  Was it time to put you in your pen?  Well, that is fine too, if that’s what you want, Buito-sama.  Feast yourself and satisfy your lust on my flesh.  I’ve learned much since Matajiro-sama was here, so I’ll not allow you to wither away as I was forced to watch back then.”

Leaning back into the trunk of the sakura tree, she spread her legs and dismissed the rope, plunging her fingers into her messy sex.  With nobody to hear her lustful voice, she was free to cry out as loudly as she wished, indulge in her passion, and make up for the lacking technique of her yet-to-be-trained guest of honor with centuries of self-pleasure.  Thankfully, he wasn’t alone, as the anal toy still had plenty of life in it, but she focused on the girthier young man primarily.

“By the time you pass on, Buito-sama, you’ll be thankful that you ended up in my domain!”

He had no reason to be afraid.  The hot, wet, tight hole that consumed him wasn’t dangerous, and the beautiful woman that it belonged to favored him thanks to an ancestral debt.  As learned in Japanese mythology and folklore, he knew that even yako could be trusted to fulfill a debt and show charity to those they liked.  Yuito knew he was safe, and the euphoria that washed over his body as she used inhuman techniques to service him was as gentle as it was absolute.  So even though the spark of sensible, rational thought was screaming at him to resist, it was impossible.

The only pleasure he had known was from his own hand, and it wasn’t anywhere close to as satisfying as Shikibu’s womanhood.  She demanded that he think of nothing but his pleasure.  She wouldn’t let him think of Minato, whose body was digesting in her stomach, or Haruki, who was just beyond a thin wall of flesh and muscle, and especially Junko, who had owned the physical body Shikibu was using to melt his mind.  Licking and nibbling the rippling walls constricting around him, he ground his throbbing manhood into her without reservation.

There’s no escape…  We can’t leave…  With a cleared head, he might have been able to resist for longer, hold a grudge against her, or just break down into a blubbering mess.  But her pheromones wouldn’t allow him that liberty either.  Shikibu-oneesan…  Sh-She’ll keep me safe.  She’ll take care of me.  R-Right, Shikibu-oneesan…?

Blowing a loan as deeply into a fold of warm, slick flesh as he could, he gave himself over.

Even after centuries and millennia of progress and enlightenment, the unknown was still too terrifying.  He knew the true nature of the fox yokai.  That she would slowly drain him of his life force each time he came for her.  That affection from her wasn’t the same as affection for a human.  That, if not for his ancestor, she’d treat him no different than any of the other victims.  But any comfort, even inhuman comfort, was better than waiting in terror as the ultimate mystery closed in faster than he thought it would.

For the first time in his life, he didn’t want to discover any new mysteries.

November 1st, 2023

The night of festivities went as quickly as it came, and as he made his rounds to check the school grounds at first light, Toshiyori was pleased to see no obvious signs of vandalism on the building itself.  Thankful that big commotions that result in injury and property damage were mostly isolated to the big cities, it was shaping up to be another uneventful day.

“So how was it, Takana-sensei?  Any problems I should know about?”  Chatting up the old statue, he looked across the field for anything out of place when his old eyes settled on the Tsuzukerusakura.

Grabbing the broom and garbage bag to sweep up the perpetually falling petals, it wasn’t until he got close that he noticed the notebooks, candles, incense, and other occultistic items on the ground set up in some ritualistic way.

Grumbling that the younger generations need to learn to respect nature more, as he started to toss everything into a trash bag, he stopped when he picked up the notebooks.  Most of them were pretty old, and he recognized some as the notebooks of that one club that had never existed in their school.  However, there was a new one among them, with dates and events from the last couple years detailed inside.  But, as with all the other notebooks, it only had dates up until October 31, when the alleged students claimed to be conducting a ritual to communicate with the spirit of the Eiennisaki Tsuzukerusakura no Ki.

Chuckling to himself, Toshiyori set them aside as he finished clearing the area.  “Seems like someone’s still interested in inspiring the youngsters to chase after the unknown.  What’s a little mess to clean up if it adds to the mystery?”

Leaving the supernatural tree behind, he’d swing by the office to drop off the notebooks so they could be up into storage properly, ready for the next aspiring youngsters who sought to uncover the school’s mysteries.