Hmmm? Oh, why, if it isn't a human? At such a time and place too, my my. You realize you are deep in the Great Youkai Forest? That it is midnight on the eve of the new moon? Tonight, we youkai revel at the peak of our power. It is a time for youkai, not for humans, human. Except, perhaps...for meal time...hmmmm?
Hmmm, why the scared look? Oh, yes, I am indeed a youkai. Sure we look a lot alike, human, but surely you noticed the glowing red eyes? The gleaming fangs? I'm sure the horns or ears must have given it away? Or maybe the cute fluffy tail?
Did you not come out here to exterminate me? Surely there is no other reason for a human to be so far away from the Human Village in the dead of the night? Otherwise one might start to think you are suicidal...though I suppose even coming here with youkai extermination in mind would be considered suicidal by even the most reckless of your kind. Here in this forest we have the...what do you humans call it? The 'Home Advantage', so to speak.
What was that? You don't want to kill me? Hmmm, queer,...why else would a human be wandering these god forsaken woods at such an ungodly hour? What was that? You ran away from home? Dear oh dear, you ran the wrong way, young one. Come closer. I won't harm you, promise~
Come now, what's that look for? I've decided I won't eat you. I don't eat humans...often~
Sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist. Please excuse my giggling. Come closer, that way you will be safe. Why do you look at me that way? You are safer here in my presence than out there in the dark. How so? Well, I am known to most youkai around here, and they know well not to get between a youkai and her meal, especially me and mine. They will think I'm simply playing with my food a little~
Come, come, I won't be making a meal out of you. I prefer sweets myself. I cannot get enough of anything with sweet bean paste in. I especially love taiyaki and dorayaki and all the other great things sold down at the store in the human village.
Ah, but best I stop there. I can go on all night and I'm getting hungry already. Come, sit by my side. We shall wait out the night here and move at first light. It is a little too dangerous to be moving about with a take-away meal in plain sight on a night like this. Everyone we pass would ask for a bite.
I am so very sorry, again, I couldn't resist. Yes, yes, I am finished giggling. And no, nobody else will be making a meal of you tonight. I will make sure of that. I promise you.
Sorry, did I say 'else'? No, you must have misheard me.
Well, what a way to run away from home, is it not? One can argue you've only managed to climb out of the proverbial frying pan and land in the metaphorical fire. Yes, I'm trying my best to avoid figures of speech involving food ambiguously. Well, I'm sure you have your reasons. I sort of ran away from home myself, back when I was still a human.
Oh yes, I was a human once, just like you. Oh, no, no, not all youkai start out as humans. How did I become a youkai then, you ask? Well, that's a story, a story and a half perhaps. You want to hear it, you say? Well, I suppose we have a plenty of time until daybreak...I suppose I can share a bit. What else is there to do over a meal?
Yes, yes, I apologize, I promise that was the last one. My name is Rin by the way. Satsuki Rin. And this is my story...
- Prologue -
From the east she rides
Sunlight and stars in her hair.
In her eyes an undying memory
A land that is magical and fair
Light the way, mane of gold
Crimson eyes and fiery soul.
Beacon of courage, summon us hope!
Our Lady Kirrin rides forth bold!
Although the skies may descend,
Fire and death may reign.
For the days that remain,
By our Lady's words, by her gentle hands
No shadow falls across this land
Before the storm and darkness She stands
And us Her children shall know no harm,
Enfolded in Her arms,
Why, thank you, it is a nice song, isn't it? Oh, you mean my voice? Well, I had lots of practice. All the time in the world too. Two close friends, that night sparrow and that yamabiko from the temple, taught me.
As for the song? This is the song of the Kirrin, and this is the song that filled the air that one, beautiful summer night.
OST - ヤンメー節, Dark side of fate arrange, by Seele, - www . youtube . com (slash) watch?v=TzkU-vh-IRI
"Kyuu~ Kyuu~!"
She was a little girl. It was a big festival. The expansive open air courtyard was thronged by a thick crowd of towering grownups. And yet she was more than at home here, amongst the bright, colourful paper lanterns and the masked dancers. She clumsily bounced along to the beat of the drums, her oversized yukata's hem and sleeves flapping about in the air behind her. The crowd cheered and clapped her on as she awkwardly danced along to the music of the procession, losing herself in the march of the dancers and palanquin-bearers.
"Akyuu-chan? Akyuu-chan?!" Someone in the crowd called out for her. But she danced on, weaving between the legs of the palanquin-bearers, twirling around the kirrin-dancers at the head of the line.
The music stopped. The procession halted. The little girl almost stumbled as the music that had carried her thus far dissolved into the warm, night air.
"Kyuu?" She looked around, puzzled, and found herself looking up at the massive, colourful head of the majestic Kirrin leading the procession. It towered over her, golden mane ablaze in the firelight. Its bright red eyes gleaming in the moonlight, gazing down upon her.
It leaned in, close, slowly, tilting its head to one side, then the other. The little girl mirrored it, cocking her head from side to side, almost losing her balance from tilting too far. It leaned in closer...and closer. The little girl stared, open-mouthed, as the Kirrin slowly opened its own jaws wide. Then, before she knew it, the jaws had engulfed her head. It was stiffling hot in the darkness behind the jaws, but she could just about make out the bright eyes of the lead Kirrin-dancer wearing the head. It was an older girl, with soft, purplish snowy blonde hair that shimmered in the dark.
"Fufu, aren't you a brave little one?" The Kirrin dancer grinned a toothy little grin in the dark, "Haven't seen a child not break into tears at being bitten by the mighty Kirrin...till you, that is. Fufu, you'll become a fine Kirrin indeed, sure will."With a bright smile she pushed a sweet into the little girl's little hands.
"Kyuu?" The little girl looked up from the dorayaki sweet in her hands in surprise as she felt a soft kiss grace her brow.
"See you soon, my little kirrin." The dancer whispered with a smile as she drew away.
And with that, the music suddenly started up again as the head withdrew. The world seemed to come to life once more all around her as the procession resumed dancing to the beat of the drums and the melody of the erhu.
"Akyuu-chan! There you are!" A steady pair of hands scooped the little girl up into the air.
"Kyuu?" The little girl found a pair of stern, worried blue eyes glaring back at her. She shrunk noticeably, realizing the trouble she was in. "K-Kyuu...?" She quavered, offering up the sweet as a potential bribe to her captor.
Kamishirasawa Keine, were-hakutaku schoolteacher extraordinaire, sighed. Dealing with children is her lifelong job, but even with a lifetime of experience she still found this particular girl a real handful, metaphorically, and, now that the girl's almost 2 years old, almost literally too.
"Akyuu-chan, promise me you'll never run off by yourself like that again." The were-hakutaku said, before she fell under the siege of her little girl's beseeching gaze. "And no, you shouldn't accept sweets from strangers either. And no, you can't bribe people to get out of trouble."
"Kyuu?" The toddler cocked her head to one side. One finger shot out to point at the Kirrin at the head of the procession, "Kyuu!"
"...And no changing the subject either!" Keine added, following her finger nonetheless. "You got bit by the Kirrin, Akyuu-chan?"
"Kyuu Kyuu~" The little girl bounced in the teacher's arms excitedly as she pointed at the object of her curiosity. "Kyuu!"
"Kirrin, Akyuu-chan. Ki-Rin." The teacher said, slowly.
"...Riii~n! Rin! RinRinRin!"
"...That'll do for your second word." Keine sighed, inwardly giving up on ever being called mommy. "Yes, Akyuu-chan, that's the Kirrin, the divine goddess of hopes and dreams...well, youkai goddess, but goddess all the same. She protects everyone, no matter who they are, what they are. She grants wishes and safeguards hopes and dreams, brings good luck, fortune, and happiness...oh, and she's also the patron goddess of sweets."
"Rin~ RinRinRinRin~!" The toddler cried excitedly.
"Look at me chatting away to a toddler. You don't understand a word I'm saying, are you?" Keine held the toddler tighter, "Do you? You little munchkin?" She asked, snuggling the giggling ball of excitement. "And you got bit by the Kirrin. That means you'll become the next Kirrin, Akyuu-chan."
"Kyuu?"
"That means you'll get to wear the head and do that dance. You'll get to be what they call the 'Kirrin Rider'. And this Kirrin flower in your hair is proof of that." She said, clasping a peach-coloured flower in the little girl's hair, securing it with a bright red ribbon. "Now don't you look precious, little Kirrin?"
"Kyuu?" The little girl raised a curious little hand to touch the flower, her clumsy fingers tangling in the bright red ribbon encircling the flower. "Kyuu! Kyuu Rin!" She cried out suddenly, excited.
"No, when you grow up, Akyuu-chan."
"Kyuu Rin! Rin!"
"No, you have to wait, patiently. Don't worry, this shrine's not going anywhere anytime soon."
They watched the procession dance away the hot summer night. Before long, a long, wide yawn escaped the little girl. Sleep claimed its young captive, and, soon, that night was but a memory.
What shrine do I speak of? You wouldn't remember it as it was back then. Nobody does. Even then, many, many years have passed since that one, bright summer night. The festivals and music had long since ceased.
When our story begins, the shrine lies abandoned where it lay, not too far from here actually, by the old Genbu Marsh, with naught but the toads for visitors. None remember what the shrine was for, or who was once enshrined in it. And the once-great Kirrin statue that held the place of honour in the middle of the temple was nowhere to be seen.
And yet, the occasional passing youkai or fairy who wandered that far into the mountains might often pause on their way to check their hearing, often sure they could just about hear a soft, melancholic melody, barely a whisper in the wind. Few recognize it as a disembodied erhu. None however recall the lyrics to that song...
