Ichika (After) - You Know Nothing
Perspective: Terasu
It's a-me, Terasu[1]! Solo camper who travels the neighborhood!
I'm patrolling Ashihara Nakatsu. Specifically, well, I'm heading over to the beach to see if there's anything interesting.
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Perspective: Ichika
I[2] am currently at the beach, training to improve my self-discipline.
For reasons outside of my control, my eyes would always follow Nini-sama[3] despite him having nothing to do with me. I know that if I do not fix this bad habit, I would be eventually killed by the Kegai in the line of duty.
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And so, by an utterly unfortunate coincidence, the two of them met.
Perspective: Terasu
Whether I like it or not, the moment I see her, I can tell she is a product of the Oyama[4]. The way they go about things suck -- really, why are they still trying to protect the country by manufacturing soldiers out of the same mold?
Disappointing. Very disappointing.
Yeah, I can't help but feel that way, even though it's about my household. Or maybe exactly because it's my household? Anyway...
"Now you're a pitiful girl if I've ever seen one. Do you need help with anything?"
"Help? You can help me?" The Miko smiles, as if terribly amused. "Oh, who am I kidding... Of course you cannot."
"Looks like you've got a pretty haughty princess inside you. But listen -- the world is not so simple anymore. You won't succeed if you do things the same way you would in the ancient times."
"You have no idea what you're saying!!"
She attacks me with divine power -- a long-ranged wave of energy generated by a swing of her hand.
"Oh, but I do," I say as I catch the blast with one hand and dispel it. "Don't you get it?"
Energy waves continue to fly at me in rapid succession. I snap them in between my fingers, dispelling them in order.
It doesn't take long for her to run out of breath.
"You know nothing!"
"Trust me, I know a lot. So much that it's sad, really. After all, I used to be just like you..."
Perspective: Ichika
The moment I saw her, I knew she was an Oyama. The fact that she is still alive at this age must mean she is a failure. Did she somehow manage to leave the land of exile[5]? Or is this town the land of exile all along?
With my mind occupied with thoughts of Nini-sama, her cheap provocations got me to take a swing at her.
She is able to block the attack without breaking a sweat.
No. This can't be!!
She should not be allowed to exist. If she is too powerful for the main household to dispose of, then she is much more dangerous than the Kegai.
I proceed to repeatedly attack her.
"You must return to the Celestial Realm. Ashihara Nakatsu belongs to humanity -- that is the agreement!!"
"Yeah. You're right."
Even she herself agrees -- why? I have no idea what is going on anymore.
"But there are reasons things are this way. Reasons I can explain -- if you'd only stop attacking me. C'mon, all you're doing is tire yourself out," she says, and when I do as told, she continues, "First of all, introductions. I'm Terasu. And you? What name did they give you?"
"I am... Ichika."
"Alright, here's the thing, Ichika-kun. I am a bit of a special individual, which is why I was sealed up in this land. The being inside me makes it so that I can't fight. Neither of us likes to take part in confrontations, you see."
"Despite the magnitude of the strength you possess?"
"The gods march to their own tune. Always have, always will."
"How are you still alive?[6]"
"I don't really know what the main Oyama household is thinking, and I doubt they themselves know, either. At this point, they're just following a program -- one that's been passed down so many generations that no one understands it anymore."
"Frog... ram?"
"Okay, that... was too much of a stretch. You're not catching up with the times at all!! The year is 1983 now! C'mon, stay with me here!"
"We are in Japan. Please refer to the year of the proper calendar."
"BAH!!"
Well then. This is far more effective than direct attacks, it seems.
"C'mon, I bah'd so hard just now, I think I might turn into a sheep..."
"You can simply not do that."
"Ugh... For some reason, I feel like we've been through this conversation before..."
"We likely have not. Perhaps it is a memory of the one inside you."
"Well, anyway, listen here, Ichika-kun -- I do not like doing things the Oyama way."
"So you are an enemy."
"Like I said, I don't like fighting. As much as I hate them, I won't attack them. It's just that they'd be better off changing their ways sooner than later, you know."
"What do you expect me to do about it?"
Now Terasu is bah-ing at the sea. Perhaps she actually will turn into a sheep this time.
"Well, I'll handle all the hard talk with the main household myself. You... just don't push yourself too hard. Stay alive. Your role in all this is the hard opposite of pretty, so just ignore it if you want."
"If I don't do what must be done, the Kegai will find their way up to the Celestial Realm. Surely that will not be good for the gods, either."
"Right. But I'm not telling you not to fight, you know."
"What... do you mean?"
"I mean what I said -- I do not like doing things the Oyama way. We should try something else[7]."
"So many warrior households of the Kamakura, Muromachi, and Edo eras have said things to that effect, and they were all unsuccessful."
"It'll be different this time."
"Those who failed often said that, too."
We proceed to stare each other down for a while... and in the end, Terasu is the one who stops first.
Now she is bah-ing again.
"Look, just make sure you stay alive through this mess, alright? Maybe try falling in love and raising some kids -- yeah, that'd do you good. It'll change your outlook on life in so many ways."
"My life is none of your business," I reply, and the following moment, Terasu uses... something on me. Perhaps a divine power, perhaps not.
"C'mon, don't say that."
"What did you do to me!?"
"Oh, y'know, cast a spell[8]. Don't worry, it's not a curse."
Depending on what it does, a spell can be a curse... is what I would like to say, but Terasu has already disappeared. Now that definitely was a divine power.
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Chapter 23 Character Profiles
↩[1] Terasu
For reasons unknown, she hides her true name.
In the game, you'll see her wandering around town all day.
First-person pronoun used: Boku
↩[2] Ichika
No surname. Her given name is made of the kanji characters "tsuitachi," meaning "the first day of the month" or "new moon," and "yoru," meaning "night."
Like Nini, she has transferred to Ashihara Nakatsu High School in August as a first-year student.
Burdened with important duties, she finds herself often fighting alone and struggling to understand those around her.
A no-nonsense princess, she is in fact ignorant of the ways of the world. She has received special training from childhood to serve as a powerful anti-Kegai weapon, a warrior with the title of "God Slayer Miko".
First-person pronouns used: Watashi
↩[3] Nini (Novus Nemo/Taichiro Oyama)
The game's protagonist.
Born on the Hope International Space Station as Novus Nemo, and raised outside of the Japanese linguistic sphere despite his ancestry.
Due to the unique location of his birth, some people treat him as effectively an alien.
His nickname, "Nini," is short for "nobody" or "new" in the International Space Station's standard language.
Being Teruko's grandson, he goes by Taichiro Oyama, his Japanese name, when he comes down to Earth. No records of his father and grandfather exist in Japan.
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Chapter 23 Footnotes
↩[4] Product of the Oyama
Refers to the God Slayer Miko.
↩[5] Land of Exile
The territory the Oyama household has created for those who wish to live a normal life.
↩[6] "How are you still alive?"
Normally, the Oyama household's Miko are disposed of when their time is up.
↩[7] "Try something else"
Refers to a plan that involves Nini's intervention.
↩[8] "Cast a spell"
To weaken the effect of mind control.
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