The Armpit Shrine Maiden (5)
“Natsunashi Yuuki! Answer me! Are you being held captive by Akatora?”
The door to Taiga’s room burst open. Tsukigumo came rushing in, looking frantic. What was with all the commotion?
“Miss Mitsurugi. Climbing up without permission in the middle of a Glico game is a penalty.”
I scolded the panting girl. Tsukigumo froze for a second, then blurted out,
“What the heck is that supposed to mean! Are you seriously sticking chopsticks in your nose?”
(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞
She squeezed her eyes shut and started yelling.
She’d ruined the mood. Puff— I blew the chopsticks out with a snort and said,
“This is a traditional dance from Japanese festivals. Didn’t you know?”
You shout “Party time~!!!” while sticking chopsticks in your nose, tearing into cartoon meat, and doing a bouncy little dance. The legendary Nose-Chopstick Dance. It was definitely on my mental list of “One Thousand Things to Do in Japan,” even if I’d never actually tried it sober. For some reason, though, I felt a surge of courage.
“Nyahaha. It’s not boring to watch, at least? Tokyo festivals are pretty fun, right?”
ʬʬꉂ(˃̤▿˂̤ *)
Taiga, lounging in the kotatsu and sipping sweet sake, chimed in with a teasing grin.
“Well now. So you’re the daughter of the Mitsurugi night watchman couple. That makes you Tsukigumo-chan, right? Why don’t you have a seat?”
She beckoned to the girl.
“Don’t act all friendly, you Akatora shrine maiden! I know you’re actually starving for blood!”
Despite Tsukigumo’s harsh accusation, Taiga replied calmly.
“That sword’s pretty impressive. So the Yuki-rin boy acknowledged its usefulness, huh? That’s good. Real good.”
“Hmph. He did acknowledge it. I am an elite night watchman, after all.”
“Even elites need to rest sometimes, don’t they~?”
Tsukigumo immediately perked up and plopped down at the kotatsu.
She’d seen right through Tsukigumo’s bluff. Was this the composure of a proper older-sister character?
“Natsunashi boy. Already got a girl following you around because she likes you? Not bad at all♡”
“I’m still hungry.”
I hadn’t even started building my harem nation—a “Service State” dedicated solely to Yuuki-kun in Utsuromura.
※Currently talking nonsense while drunk on sweet sake.
“Akatora shrine maiden! I’m not following Natsunashi Yuuki around because I like him! What are you even doing here?”
“I was telling Taiga about the festival.”
The village festival that was being revived after seventeen years.
Taiga had been pushed into taking charge of organizing it.
She said she was struggling because almost everyone from her clan had left the village.
‘If it’s about Japanese festivals, I’m basically an expert.’
I’d taken part in over a hundred Japanese festivals in my past life, and I knew every single cliché by heart—from the food stalls to the events. All of it!
Was this a visual novel thing? Yeah, it was.
“Natsunashi boy. That aside, don’t you have any other dances we could do during the Bon Odori? The chopstick dance is fun, but it’s a little… undignified.”
*Bon Odori. The group dance performed when a Japanese festival reaches its peak.
Taiga rested her chin on her hand as she asked.
!!!!!!!!
‘She’s right.’
Male characters could get away with a certain amount of degeneracy, but a beautiful girl dancing with her nostrils flared wide open? That was a no-go. There had to be another dance…!?
‘That’s it!’
A lightbulb flashed above my head. Eureka!
“Taiga, could you stand up for a second? I’ll show you the moves.”
“Sounds good. It’s been a while since I stretched my body properly.”
Taiga stood and stretched.
“You too, Miss Mitsurugi. Get up.”
“I’m not doing it.”
“It’s your penalty for losing the Glico game.”
“That’s so unfair!”
With no other choice, I went with the simplest method. The moment I casually mentioned something along the lines of “An elite night watchman can’t even do this?”, Tsukigumo jumped up, declaring she could do anything.
“Put your hands behind your head and keep your upper body mostly still. Then just rhythmically sway your hips side to side. Keep repeating it.”
“Huh!? That’s it? Is this even a dance?”
Tsukigumo sounded skeptical.
“Don’t underestimate the power of this dance. It spread across the entire world.”
When I confidently vouched for it, the two of them started moving exactly as I’d described.
‘H-holy crap.’
₍₍ (ง ˘ω˘ )ゞ ⁾⁾
It was the Zero Two dance!
I had successfully lured two beautiful girls into doing the Zero Two dance.
It used to belong to us otakus, but the normies had stolen it.
“Whoa. It’s surprisingly lively.”
Taiga shook her body, emphasizing the exposed armpits of her miko outfit. Her chest bounced from side to side with every movement.
She seemed to be getting into it, laughing “Nyahaha” as she repeated the dance.
“Ugh, seriously. This feels so weird! Natsunashi Yuuki, are you sure this is actually a festival dance?”
Tsukigumo performed the Zero Two with a slightly fed-up expression.
Even so, her movements were surprisingly smooth—probably thanks to her night watchman training.
‘I need to record this!’
If I uploaded this to TikTok, it would easily hit a hundred million views. Too bad I’d left my camera behind. Then I suddenly remembered something.
‘Does Mary’s smartphone have a video function?’
I reached into my pocket to grab Mary’s phone—and something fell out with a soft thud.
‘Whoops.’
It was salmon jerky made from the leftover salmon from yesterday. I’d left a few pieces after eating some that morning.
That was when Taiga, who had been fully absorbed in the Zero Two dance, suddenly leaped forward.
“Nyaah—!”
₍˄·͈༝·͈˄*₎◞ ̑̑ᗦ↞◃
She meowed and snatched the salmon jerky right out of the air with her mouth.
The older-sister catgirl act was no joke. Even she seemed startled by her own actions and dropped the piece of salmon from her mouth.
“Taiga… what was that just now?”
“B-boy. Every woman has a cat living in her heart, you know?”
Was that how it worked? Did that mean all women were essentially female cats at their core, which explained catfights? Understanding acquired.
A little while later.
“Ooh~ I’ve decided! The dance for this year’s festival will be Zero Two! Somehow, ever since I met you, Natsunashi boy, things have started moving forward.”
Ugh. Just the thought of a proper Japanese summer festival was exciting enough.
And now I’d get to see beautiful girls dancing Zero Two in a big group!
“I’m glad I could help you, Taiga.”
“I-is this really okay? Akatora shrine maiden! You’re actually going to dance that?”
“Will you keep helping me organize the festival from now on, Natsunashi boy? You’ll be the star of the show!”
The shrine maiden smiled brightly as she spoke.
Me, the star of the festival! And while preparing for it, I’d get to follow the shrine maiden heroine route? There was no reason to refuse.
“Yes!!! I want this village to become an even better place!”
I answered Taiga with full enthusiasm.
Utsuromura’s Three Great Families — “Akatora” (Red Tiger)
The ugly sound of festival drums.
At the forefront stands Akatora.
One of the three most powerful families in Utsuromura.
As the priestly faction responsible for village rituals, they oversee the Getkaryo festival, which is essential for maintaining the village.
Many of them are born with divine spiritual powers.
They fought a holy war against the heretical Black Mountain Goat Dawn Society—an offshoot church that had fled into the village to escape the Edo shogunate’s persecution of Christians. The war ended in Akatora’s victory.
However, the aftermath gradually turned them into a radical, dogmatic conservative faction.
They now lead many of the village’s evil customs.
The Nekowarashi custom—where any red-haired girl born into the Akatora family is treated not as human but as a cat child and ultimately killed—is so cruel and inhumane that the other two great families have urged its abolition.
Yet Akatora ignores them.
Although they are running wild in many ways, the only treasure in their possession capable of actively crossing beyond the mist is the mirror. For this reason, both “Hozure” and “Kiryuen” tolerate their tyranny.
The current head of the family is called the Azusa Miko—the catalpa-wood shrine maiden who drives away evil spirits.
Memories.
“Nyaah. Nya-owwn.”
“Why is this annoying cat bothering me? Get lost.”
“Nyaha. Nyaaah—.”
“Akatora family head. No matter how much it’s ‘tradition,’ this is too much for your youngest daughter. Kicking her with your foot? Nekowarashi?”
“Two hundred years ago, the family head raised a red-furred cat, and that was when the family prospered the most. After the cat died, the family declined. That’s why the custom was created.”
“What? That has nothing to do with the actual gods. It’s just a superstition. And being so tyrannical is exactly why you’d decline.”
“Shh. They’re still one of the three great families. That girl is to be treated strictly as a cat.”
Memories.
“Nyaah. Nyaaah.”
“There’s no time. They’ll wake up soon. Cat-chan. If you want to keep living as a cat, then keep acting like one. If you want to live as a person, bring me the Akatora family’s secret treasure—the ‘Mirror.’ Please! I have to go to the other side.”
“…………”
“Here… it is. Yume-chan.”
“You can talk! Thank you! I’ll definitely succeed and get you out of this village too, Cat-chan!”
Memories.
“W-why are the ‘Hozure’ and ‘Kiryuen’ families, who hate each other, together at the shrine…?”
“Because of the foolish things your families did, the god’s bride has fled the village. She even stole the ‘Mirror’ and something far more terrible. You will pay with your lives.”
“We are priests. We commune with the gods?”
“Not anymore. By agreement between the two families, the destruction of ‘Akatora’ has been decided.”
“Hozure Ichimatsu! Kiryuen Kirimaru! Do you really think you’ll get away with this? We are one of the three great families—‘Akatora’!”
“I’ve cut down the insignificant ones.”
“As expected of the Kiryuen family head! The leader of the night watchmen! I was worried, but you’ve done excellently! But why did you leave that one girl alive?”
“Nyaah. Nyaaah!”
“There’s no need to kill a cat as well.”
“You have a point. We’ll probably need at least one shrine maiden at the shrine…”
Memories.
Akatora Taiga stood at the top of the stone steps, watching Yuuki and Tsukigumo descend, lost in recollection.
No one knew anymore. No one.
She had been the one to deliver her family’s secret treasure to the god’s bride, Yume.
She didn’t regret it. The annihilation of her family had been their own fault.
But this village had become far too unstable since that day seventeen years ago. If things continued like this, everyone would perish.
The grand festival Getkaryo had to be held once more.
That boy was the perfect candidate to be offered as a groom to the village’s true source—the moon-eating worm.
Should she report this to Hozure and Kiryuen?
But the boy’s pure-hearted sincerity as he worried about a dance for the festival, and his final words, kept echoing in her ears.
In the end, Taiga decided to postpone her report just a little longer.