Side story: White marble and frost

It was a cold night, a night where the moon hid behind the night clouds and the cold air brought by snow and ice could freeze one's body. On that cold night, there was a house or cabin that was made of wood and didn't look too safe to live in.

The cabin was on the edge of a cliff that could fall at any moment, however, there was someone who used the place as a shelter from the cold snow at night. Standing alone beside a table while looking out through the closed window, there's a man wearing a jacket and trousers who yawns from boredom.

"Hm! It's cold...Guess its time to move out."

Even though he was about to yawn, he immediately closed his mouth like he didn't want to yawn.

He then walked to the fireplace and lit a fire using the matches and firewood he had prepared beforehand. The fire that was created became the lighting for the room in the cabin. After lighting the fire he sat down to pass the time until morning came, but his enjoyment didn't last too long.

*Knock-Knock*

Not long after he watched the firewood burnt in the fireplace, he heard a knock from the door. On a cold and snowing night like this, it was impossible for someone to visit this cabin so he wanted to ignore it, but the more he ignored the knocking, the louder it got.

*KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK*

"A ghost or maybe..."

There's no fear from his face, the man walked with his bare hands and intending to open the wooden door. On the other hand, the knocking sound's coming from the door becoming louder than before.

Since he don't want that door to break, he immediately opens the door.

At the same time when he opened the door, cold wind and snow entered the cabin. Then he saw the figure who had been banging on the door from the cabin he was using.

"...So it's you."

"*Nod*"

What was in front of him was not a 'Scary' ghost or a anything, but it's a small girl with horns and several round rabbits beside her.

She wears clothes similar to Hakama and has various tools and weapons attached to her belt. The bottom of her clothes were tattered and she uses Geta as her footwear.

Even though she could be considered a child, her red eyes, white hair, pointy ears and horns said the otherwise.

As for her rabbits, they look like a stretched white mochi that was added with rabbit ears, red eyes and a symbol indicating its head.

"What can I do for you? It's quite late for you to came by, you want to step inside?"

"*She reach up her hand asking for something* sake."

The little girl refused to come in and instead held out her hands to ask a sake from the man. He who was used to the arrival of the little horned girl sighed and then crouched down to scoop up the snow that was on the little girl's clothes.

"Another sake?"

"*Nod* yes."

"Let me ask...Was it for princess again or for your friends?"

"*Nod-Nod* princess wanted another since it's already gone."

"*Sigh*"

He took another deep breath. Even so, he still gave the same thing the little girl had asked and also gave her an umbrella made of paper to protect her head. The little girl who had gotten her stuff then bowed respectfully and walked away from the cabin with her ghost rabbit following from behind.

'Onmyo jutsu is really peculiar.'

After confirming the departure of the little girl into the snowy darkness, the man then closed the door and prepared to leave the cabin when midnight comes. In a simple outfit consisting of a jacket and trousers, the man stepped out into the darkness and cold night without any other stuff on his back.

...

....

.....

After several hours of walking from a cliff covered with snow, the man then arrived at a forest that became the border between the snowy area he stepped on and the area where there's absolutely no snow at all.

The forest does not consist of scary trees that are usually found in horror films, but its a forest that consisted of giant mushrooms which have various colors and emits an aroma that can mislead some traveler who didn't know the origins of this forest.

Just like the poor soul he founds over there.

"...What're you doing here little guy?"

"Uh? Ah....Who...What...."

In front of him was a boy who could be said to have just stepped into his youth from the looks of his face. The boy looked dazed as he leaned his body against a large purple mushroom. It seemed that he couldn't think straight because he had inhaled too many spores released by the mushrooms in the forest.

Or maybe another reasons.

The boy was wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts, clothes that were quite strange to find in this place because it was still a long way to reach the city. His hair is a short dark blue color and his eyes appear to be swirling just like when a character is stunned.

"Oi...Wake up boy. You're going to die if you sleep in here for the second time."

"Ah? W-What? Who are you?"

"Straight to question huh. As long you're fine then its good, hurry and scram into that cave. Stay still and don't even move an inch from there. You're lucky you still got some chances."

After resuscitating the boy using the glowing feathers in his hand, the man walked away after giving the boy instructions to wait for morning to come so he could rest peacefully, but in reality it was not that easy because the boy actually followed him.

"...Umm, please wait up."

'...What am I expecting. At least he's not Lucoa's Shota-kun.'

Since he also wanted to pass through this forest, the man didn't mind letting the boy follow him. Even so he still kept his distance so he wouldn't got that scent on him, the scent of pandan that was glued deep inside that boy's soul.

"Thank you for saving me! I really didn't know what would happen if you're not there."

"..."

"My name is Shota. What is you name mister?"

"...Sengoku. You can call me Sengo or Oku."

Due to the strong odor and his unwillingness to clean the boy, the man decided to disguise his name as another person, or maybe the name of another personality that he has. He also used this name since Shota sound like oriental name for him, so he used another oriental one.

The boy looked amazed by the figure of the man in front of him, he sometimes tried to see the face of the man but still he never succeeded. As the man using the abilities from the feather to shine their road, the admiration of the boy grew even more. However the man still kept his distance from the boy and then they walked in silence.

"...The truth is...I didn't want to get into this forest. It was when someone called my name, and then I found out if everything is mushrooms and I couldn't find my way out. The night comes and the moon is my only way to find my way out, but then...I felt a strong dizziness right when I approach that one mushroom...I can't remember anything after that."

"Yeah...I see. That's kinda sad."

It can be seen that he who is currently hiding his name as Sengoku doesn't really care about the problems that Shota is facing. However Shota thought differently, he assumed that the man was really listening to him and continued to speak using his mouth.

Thus destroying the silence that had been created.

...

....

.....

"Ah! I can see the way out! Hurry up Uncle!"

'Did you just...'

After spending several tens of minutes in the mushroom-filled forest, they finally found a ray of light that led them to the exit. Shota who was very excited to get out of that place also ran ahead of Sengoku(?), but...

"Po Po Po..."

They had indeed arrived at the exit from the forest, but when Shota saw a figure standing waiting for them on the way out he panicked and stopped in his tracks.

The figure who lets out "Po Po" sounds is wearing a wide summer hat and long white summer dress that showed off her curves, along with her long black hair hidden beneath a white summer hat, Shota appeared to grown pale the more he heard that sounds.

"Night times comes...And then ghost starting to runs wild, ain't I'm right Shota-kun."

"There's no time to joking around Uncle Sengoku! That...That was the one who called me before...N-No...No!"

"Ah~ Is that so. What did she do to you?"

"Ah...Umm...Something, something like..."

The boy becoming shy right when he wanted to tell him what the two of them had done which rendered him dazed alone in the forest. Looking at this boy who blushing in front of him, Sengoku(?) got another great idea for Shota and that Po Po figure.

'I already know though~ Well...Let's make him suffer shall we~'

Unbeknownst to Shota who is remembering his experience of being raped by the figure of Po Po, Sengoku(?) is giving off a cruel smile while formulating a plan for the two creatures. After the puzzle has been set, he used his acting as best as he could.

"Shota-kun, you need to run. Looking at that figure, she's quite strong and I don't want you to be an obstacle."

"B-But!"

"No butts, you need to go and hurry to the exit of this forest."

He made a face as closely as possible to a character who was willing to sacrifice himself for the safety of others. His face looked very panicked, cold sweat started to drip from his head, and he showed his back so that Shota couldn't see his face that was holding back his own smirk.

"...I'm sorry...I'm sorry! UNCLEEEEEeeeee!!!"

The boy then ran, but strangely he ran back towards the forest. Worse yet, he let out a scream that drew the figure's attention to them and also called him uncle.

However, he decided to let it pass since Shota is already a goner the moment he followed Sengoku(?) and not following his instructions to stay in that place until mornings came.

'You should've stay still in that place, now your soul will stay in this forest forever and ever, Shota-kun.'

He then took out a feather that was still shining from the pocket of his jacket. The feather is one of the tools that can manipulate one's consciousness, namely Fenghuang Down.

With that feather he should only be able to manipulate human consciousness when they were alive, but because of the different laws in this world, Fenghuang Down had a different ability. That is to manipulate the consciousness of the soul that is still wandering in this world.

'Even though you're a brat, I never hate you boy...Blame your luck for meeting her before you met me.'

With the light of Fenghuang Down as his guide, Sengoku(?) walked towards the figure that was approaching him, and the closer he got, the more he saw the face of that figure.

Previously he could not see the figure's face because it was covered by her hat and lack of light in her place, but now he could see her face clearly than ever.

"Po Po Po..."

"His body is already buried. Unfortunately, his soul couldn't escape this forest. You can catch him again, Hachisaku-sama. This time make sure you didn't let him escape."

"...Po Po Po."

"Well then, have fun~"

Sengoku(?) then just passed the Hachisaku-sama's figure and she also passed him just like that without any more chit-chat between them. Hachisaku-sama who seemed to have found her prey then walked in the direction where Shota was running earlier.

Meanwhile Sengoku(?) who had come out of the forest felt very entertained from his meeting with the two figures. He tried to hold back his laughter as he didn't want to block out the sound emitted from the forest behind him.

"NOOO!!! HELP!! PLEASE NO MORE Auuhhgg Ahhhhh!!!! NO MORE...I CAN'T..."

The sound of Shota's screams being raped by Hachisaku-sama could be heard by him, and he felt very amused because he had produced very favorable results for both Shota and Hachisaku-sama together in the forest.

"Haha...This is the Forest of Deathly Paradise, you shouldn't heard that sound who was calling for you, Shota-kun. Have a pleasant death in your own paradise~"

It was now approximately three in the morning after he passed through the forest of deathly paradise and it was about to reach the witching hour, and there's a scream of a soul who was being tortured in his carnal desire together with a Yokai taking form of a busty-tall MILF.

Who knows what he did to that little horned girl, maybe he gave her a drink that she could never refuse, or even made her addicted to it.

What you need to know is, Sengoku really hates everyone.

---------------

"Really? Right after Lia told you all of that?! What the! Just...Are you horny?!"

This is one of his tales in the past, I thought you already knew that.

"Yes I know it, then why you picked this one?! More over, we deal if Side story will be something more unrelated from this story?!"

Is that so, then let's do it again in the next chapter of course.

"You just wasted one chapter...Haiyaaa...."