amatsuki 90

amatsuki 90

55
Text: [Chapter 90: Here Blooms the Daylily, Part 4]
Text: [Come, demon, come towards the sound of my clapping hands.]
(Note: These are the lyrics to a song used in the popular Japanese children's game of blindfold tag.)
Text: [Come, wolf, follow me, and your hunger will be sated.]

56
(no text)

57
Text: [Chapter 90: Here Blooms the Daylily, Part 4]

58
SFX: [*wheee*]

59
SFX: [*grrrr grrrrrr*]
Wolf: *howl*
SFX: [*rustle*]
SFX: [*toss*]
SFX: [*flap flap*]

60
SFX: [*slam*]
SFX: [*wheeze wheeze wheeze*]
Susutake: Shit, shit, shit!
Susutake: What...
Susutake: The fuck!
Susutake: I guess...
Susutake: I...
Susutake: I made it out alive...
SFX: [*wheeze wheeze*]
SFX: [*tremble tremble*]
SFX: [*flap flap*]
Susutake: WTF!?
SFX: [*shock*]
Bonten-bird: Are you still alive,
Bonten-bird: Susutake?
SFX: [*flap flap*]
Susutake: That voice... is that you, boss?

61
Bonten-bird: I guess you're not dead yet.
Bonten-bird: Good.
SFX: [*flap flap*]
SFX: [*stare*]
Susutake: Boss!!  How can you sound so chill when I'm dying here!?  Come save me!!
Bonten-bird: No.  If I did that, wouldn't I get caught by those wild dogs?
Susutake: Whaaaat!?
Bonten-bird: One of us has common sense, okay?
Wolf: *HOWL*
Susutake: Gah!
Susutake: Wait!
Susutake: You mean you didn't run at all...!?
Bonten: Of course I didn't.
SFX: [*howl hooooowl*]
Bonten: Idiot.
Wolf: *howl*
SFX: [*run run run*]
Wolf: *howl*
Bonten-bird: You...
Susutake: WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

62
SFX: [*run run run*]
Susutake: Eee!
Susutake: Gah!
SFX: [*run run run*]
Susutake: Oh shit, I'm surrounded!!
SFX: [*gasp gasp*]
Susutake: If I stop running, I'm a goner!
Susutake: [Ahh, so I'm going to die like this, huh?  You know, I don't even care if the boss won't come save me.  I don't care that I'll never touch a woman again.  I don't care that I'll never cheat at cards again.  I'll never rob a store again.  I'll never crash a party again.  It's all over for me now... but man, I wanna curse those dumb kids to death three times over!  But I'd just get exorcised.  COME ON, GIVE ME A BREAK!! THIS JUST ISN'T FAIR!!
Text: [Random Stream Of Consciousness]
Susutake: Eh?
SFX: [*crack*]

63
SFX: [*crash crash crash*]
Susutake: AIIIIIIEEEE!!
Susutake: Ow ow ow ow ow!!
SFX: [*crash*]
SFX: [*grrr grr*]
SFX: [*turn*]

64
Susutake: .....
SFX: [*wheeze*]
Susutake: Shit, man...
Susutake: How am I still alive...?
SFX: [*flap flap*]
Bonten-bird: Susutake!
Susutake: Huh?
SFX: [*flap flap*]
Bonten-bird: Are you okay?
Bonten-bird: Here, chew on these plants and the dogs won't attack you.
Susutake: Eh!?
Susutake: Really!?
SFX: [*gag*]
Bonten: And try not to breathe too much.
SFX: [*blargh*]

65
SFX: [*thrash thrash*
Bonten: They're herbs to conceal the smell of your breath.
Bonten: It's just mugwort and soapgrass.
(Note: Both of these are extremely bitter, fragrant herbs.)
SFX: [*step*]
Bonten: Dog demons don't have eyes, so they're tracking you by scent.
Bonten: They can sense the smell of dog meat on your breath.
Susutake: (So bitter...)
Bonten: You just had to eat it, didn't you?  You wouldn't listen to any of us.
Bonten: Maybe you'll learn your lesson this time.
Bonten: [Idiot.]
SFX: [*gag gag*]
SFX: [*whine*]
Bonten: Alright, then.
Bonten: It looks like we're pretty far from the village...
Bonten: We should head back.
Bonten: Huh...?
SFX: *splash*
SFX: *splash*
SFX: *splash*
SFX: *splash*
Demon: No good...
Demon: No good...

66
SFX: *splash*
Bonten: What's that sound...?
(Note: The sound Bonten hears, "shari shari," is supposed to be the onomatopoeic word for the sound of washing azuki beans in water.  This ayakashi is an "azuki-arai," or a "bean-washer."  It's a demon who is said to be responsible for creepy sounds that you hear in the woods - the sound of beans washing is very close to the sound of wind whistling through trees.  The azuki-arai otherwise harmless and extremely shy.)
SFX: *splash*
SFX: *splash*
Demon: It's no good...
Demon: No good at all...
SFX: *splash*
Demon: This river...
Demon: Is no good...
SFX: *splash*
Demon: I can't wash my beans...
Demon: This water...
Demon: Tastes funny...
SFX: *splash*
SFX: *splash*
Demon: I can't wash
Demon: My beans...
Bonten: Is that...
Bonten: An "azuki-arai!?"
Bonten: What is one doing in a place like this?
Bonten: Hey.
SFX: [*shock*]
Demon: Eeeeek!
SFX: [*tremble tremble*]

67
SFX: [*uwaaaah*]
SFX: [*flail flail*]
Bonten: Wait.
SFX: [*still*]
Bonten: Just calm down, okay?  I'm lost.
Bonten: I need to find the path.
Demon: Eep!
Demon: W-who are you?
Demon: Y-you...
Demon: You had better tell me,
Demon: Or I'm going to eat you!
Bonten: Look, I'm just trying to get back to the Inugami's village.
Bonten: Do you know where that is?
Demon: The Dog Village?
Demon: Um, I'm kinda new here, so I don't know... I came from across the bridge.
Demon: But if you want to go to where the humans live, you can probably just follow the river.
Bonten: Huh?
Bonten: So you're not a local?
Demon: Um, well, something happened to the river lately...
Demon: So...
Demon: Um...
Demon: I thought I'd try a new place.
Demon: I'm from the forest on the other side of the bridge.
Bonten: .....
Bonten: Uh, okay.
Bonten: (Something happened to the river?)

68
Bonten: ......
Bonten: Uh, hey.
Bonten: Why did you say earlier that the river was bad?
Demon: Eh?
Demon: Oh.
Demon: Because...
Demon: The water tastes salty.
Demon: I can't wash my beans here.
Demon: It's no good.
Demon: I think...
Demon: I'll just go home.
Bonten: [I see now...]
Bonten: [The river is salty because it's ocean water!!]
Bonten: Hey!!  Azuki-arai!!
Bonten: Can you take me to the bridge!?
Demon: Eh...!?

69
Old Man: Ahhhh!!
SFX: [*Crash*]
Old Man: Stop!
Old Man: Stop right there!!
Old Man: What do you think you're doing!?
Old Man: Damn you!!
Ainezu: Did you think were were just simple travelers?
Ainezu: Actually, we're professional exorcists.  <3
Old Man: What...?
Old Man: Oh...
Old Man: Did you come to exorcise the Dog God too?
Ainezu: No, we're just here by coincidence.
SFX: [*surprise*]
Old Man: Ah... I see...
Old Man: That's why you knew not to eat the drugged food we gave you.
Old Man: Well, then you should be helping us!!

70
Ainezu: How dare you mix a sleeping drug into my Hii-san's food!?
SFX: *glare glare*]
Old Man: Eee!!
Ainezu: What if something had happened to her!?
Ainezu: WHAT IF SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED TO HER!?
Ainezu: Thankfully, she's fine,
Hizame: [I'm a tough old lady!]
Ainezu: BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!
Ainezu: I'm her doctor, so I'm the only one who should be putting things into her body!!!
Ainezu: I'm not letting some know-nothing country bumpkins try to poison her!!!
SFX: [*shock*]
Aienzu: Whose fault is this!!?
Old Man: I don't know!!
Old Man: It wasn't my idea to do this, and the village chief didn't know either!!
Hizame: The plot thickens~
Old Man: It was those exorcists!
Old Man: The village chief called them here,
Old Man: But even he didn't know what they were really up to!  We've only heard rumors!!
Old Man: The exorcists were the ones who brought the sleeping drug!!
Ainezu: So those bastards threatened my Hii-sama...
SFX: [*grrrrrrrr*]
Hizame: .....
Hizame: Is this village so remote that it doesn't have its own local priests?
Hizame: Have you always had this tradition of exorcism rituals?

71
Hizame: Or is this something new?
Hizame: In the past, perhaps you even worshipped the Dog God...?
SFX: [*shock*]
Hizame: Perhaps...
Hizame: This village existed to protect the Inugami?
Old Man: ......
Old Man: We... we had no choice!!
Old Man: Last year, we started clearing land in the mountains to the east of town.
Old Man: We just wanted to have contact with other villages!
Old Man: But first...
Old Man: We had to stop worshipping the Dog God's cult!!
Ainezu: I see...
Ainezu: So the "marriage ceremony" you mentioned was really the union between villages.

72
Hizame: And because humans were intruding on the mountain,
Hizame: The Inugami spirit grew angry.
Hizame: But the Inugami is a god,
Hizame: And killing gods is forbidden.
Hizame: But if the god was made to take the form of a human child...
Old Man: That's right.
Old Man: That girl was possessed!  She belonged to the Dog God!!
Old Man: So if she were to die...
Old Man: The Dog God would be gone too!!
Ainezu: How "convenient."
Ainezu: When you stopped worshipping the Dog God,
Ainezu: The girl was no longer useful.  She was disposable.
Ainezu: Hii-sama.
Ainezu: I'm going to save that girl,
Ainezu: Kuchiha-san.
SFX: [*turn*]
Ainezu: Because now...
Ainezu: Now I'm *mad.*

73
Ainezu: Hii-sama,
Ainezu: They're just using you!!
Ainezu: I can't stand it...
Ainezu: I wish there was something I could do...!!
Hizame: Oh, but I'm hardly a meek little victim~
SFX: [*giggle giggle*]
Hizame: Actually, I'm in a perfect position to take advantage of their resources to further my own goals.
Hizame: So you could say that we're using each other~
Ainezu: ......
Ainezu: I have a feeling that you've been saying that for a long time.
Hizame: ?
Ainezu: You have to maintain your pride, even when people use you and ignore you.
Ainezu: Even when people ridicule you.
Ainezu: I know, because I'm the same way.

74
Ainezu: So...
Ainezu: I want to protect you.
Hizame: You're passionate, aren't you~?
SFX: [*giggle giggle*]

75
Toki: Nobody's here...
Toki: I guess they went somewhere else...
SFX: [*stare*]
Toki: Why are you looking at me like that!?
Toki: I swear, they were right here!!
Toki: And what they were doing was totally sketchy!!
Toki: .....!?
Kanzou: I do know that girl...
Kanzou: She's the one who never plays...
Kanzou: With the other kids.

76
Kanzou: She stays with her grandfather all the time.
Kanzou: None of the other kids want anything to do with her.
Kanzou: Or at least that's what I heard.
Kanzou: My dad is one of the village elders,
Kanzou: So I don't get involved.  I just watch.
Toki: .....
Toki: But why...
Toki: Why won't anyone play with her?
Kanzou: I don't know.
Kanzou: The grown-ups said not to, I guess.
Kanzou: So we don't go near her.
Toki: [It reminds me...]
Toki: [Of all the times I saw someone being bullied at school.]

77
Toki: [It was only ever a handful of students who actually bullied others.]
Toki: [The rest of us...]
Toki: [Just watched.]
Toki: [Even though we knew that bullying was wrong, we never said anything.  We never tried to stop it.]
Toki: I guess we just didn't want to get involved.
Toki: [It's so easy...]
Toki: [To pretend you aren't there.]
Toki: [If you're not there, then it's not your problem.]
Toki: [If you keep pretending you're somewhere else, eventually you just stop caring about the real world.]

78
Toki: [You don't try to help.  You don't even feel sad anymore.]
Toki: You can't act like it's not your problem.
Toki: Look, I know you're not one of the kids who was bullying her.  You seem like a really good kid.
Toki: But still, you knew what was going on and you didn't do anything about it.
Kanzou: ....
Toki: Sometimes grown-ups are wrong, you know?
Toki: I'm telling you this because that girl is one of my best friends.
Toki: Do you know how hard it is to see her being hurt?
Toki: [We just cover our eyes and give everyone a "label."]
Toki: [After a while, we don't even think of them as "people" anymore.]

79
Toki: Oh...
Toki: I get it now.
Toki: I think... that he and I actually have a lot in common.
Toki: We don't see Kuchiha as a "demon."
Toki: To us...
Toki: She's just a regular girl.

80
Toki: .....
SFX: [*gulp*]
Toki: Senkichi.
SFX: [*shock*]
Toki: No...
Toki: Kanzou.
Kanzou: ?
Kanzou: ?
Toki: I guess you don't get it yet.
Toki: Don't worry about it.

81
SFX: *HOOOOWL*
SFX: [*whoosh*]
Kanzou: !!
SFX: [*grrrrrr*]
Kanzou: Eek!
Toki: Kanzou, go hide!!
SFX: [*gasp*]
SFX: [*grrr*]
Toki: ......
Toki: Haha... hey, don't you guys recognize me?

82
SFX: [*grab*]
Wolf: !
SFX: [*grrrr*]
Toki: Look!
Toki: I have bite marks on my neck!
SFX: [*flutter*]
SFX: [*gasp*]
Toki: That's the Dog God's mark!!
Toki: I'm on your side!!
Toki: So take me to the Inugami!!