The nights of Sapporo were bustling with tourism, and more than average foreigners, there were mostly Japanese people who travelled from their prefectures to enjoy Hokkaido at least once in their lifetimes.
"Oh!"
"..."
"Yakitoukibi!
"..."
"Kaitaku Okaki!"
"..."
Having lived all of his second life in Kyoto, it was Ray's first time watching a Japanese city first-hand. Kyoto is a very traditional region with few if any tall buildings. He always thought it would be Tokyo the first one he'd visit, but it turned out to be Sapporo, he walked alongside Anna and the tall lady marvelling at the designs and screens that seemed to be attached to every building.
Hasshaku-sama acted as a tour guide while getting a lot of gazes. Her attire changed like gooey darkness into a new more casual set and she discarded her hat despite how much Anna insisted that it looked nice on her.
"And this here is the Odori Park," Kuu-sama remarked, pointing at the entrance of a massive bustling park in the middle of the city.
"Ray-chan look, they have takoya-"
Ray, unable to hold back anymore, pulled both of the girl's cheeks, hard.
"Anna-chan... you drank almost three litres of blood before coming... how much more are you going to eat?!" His eyebrows were really twitching and if one looked closely, there was a vein popping up his dark skin. It wasn't that he didn't want her to eat as he even found her cute, but she was overlooking everything else and just focusing on every single street food stall...
The girl seemed to notice her behaviour was far from charming and pouted with a bit of remorse, she didn't want to look bad in front of him but every corner she looked there was a new snack she hadn't ever tried.
"Am shoy".
"What?"
"I shoy!"
"I can't hear you properly!"
It was the youkai this time that popped a vein and pulled both of his hands away from her cheeks, "I said I'm sorry, you bully!"
"Hehe~ come, let's see what snacks are those over there".
"Yay! Let's go!"
Hasshaku-sama found the eye-twitching was quite contagious tonight, 'So you're still getting her the snacks... over-indulgence at its finest'
...
They sat together in the park and Anna found a couple with a baby that had a dog, the dog immediately got interested in her and they started playing together, leaving Hasshaku-sama and Ray sitting on a bench, looking at her.
"Isn't she a sweetheart?~"
"Yes, I don't know how she manages, it's like she's a natural for being cute".
"She's just as cute as you're charming~"
"..."
Ray didn't even notice when Hasshaku-sama's hand was resting on top of his on the bench, he hurriedly retracted it and all she did was release a small giggle with a concealed glint.
"For what happened to Anna this time I'll forgive you, Hasshaku-sama. If you weren't there when Khaos Brigade came, it would have been worse".
"Just Kuu or Kuu-chan is okay and thanks for forgiving me. You see, I was originally going to eat that girl but when I saw her after she undid her transformation, I couldn't do it... I have a soft spot for kids"
"..."
"I like kids... a lot, especially boys" She licked her lips, the eyes she used to regard him made Ray feel something... indecent was concealed within.
"And boys also like me quite a bit... don't you think I'm pretty?"
This time she went as far as to put her hand on his tight!
'This woman-'
"You're pretty indeed, ojou-chan~"
Hasshaku-sama's gaze technically morphed to a lifeless one once somebody interrupted their conversation, it was an old lady that seemed to be walking by after doing some shopping.
"You're so tall... you remind me of her... the myth".
"..."
"The myth of Hasshaku-sama".
"Is that so? Do I look like her, obasan?~"
"I don't think so... you may be quite tall but you're a gorgeous young lady while Hasshaku-sama has always been depicted as a horrendous being".
"Ara..."
Ray gulped a mouthful of saliva and prayed for the safety of this old lady, if push came to shove he'd have to fight the tall woman.
"We haven't heard from her for a while now but... when I was a child I'd hear it recurrently, young man. Handsome boys like you would be taken by her and..."
"And...?"
"And they would never be seen again, once she puts her eye on you, she will never let you go".
"That's just a myth obasan, you're taking it too seriously~" The tall woman giggled but her countenance wasn't funny at all, she kept stealing glances at Ray who in response also glared at her as if asking 'Is that true?'.
"You're right, I hope you have a lovely evening young folks" The joyous old lady waved at them before making her way out of the park, Anna was also coming back from playing with the dog.
"You too Obasan, enjoy yourself... while you still can- *ouch!*"
Hasshaku-sama's threat was interrupted by Ray clenching her tight with his superhuman strength.
'Leave the old lady alone...'
"Hmph!"
"Is it true what she said?"
"I'm a Youkai, what do you expect? But I had changed my ways up until recently" Seeing that Anna was just around the corner, Hasshaku-sama made some distance from Ray as they both stood up ready to head to the next landmark.
He tilted a brow, unable to truly decipher what this woman was thinking most of the time, he wasn't stupid enough to not realise all of a sudden she was being quite seductive.
"Had? So you're going back to how you were? what was the point of trying to change then?"
"As a Youkai, once you're addicted to something, you can hardly let go... if you don't believe me, you can ask Anna-chan. It didn't matter how much I wanted to change. Thousands of years of wicked behaviour won't change with just a century, let alone... someone had to come and mess it all up" She rolled her eyes and walked up in front of him, bending down with that snicker of hers that makes her look like she's in control of everything.
"..."
"By the way, Ray-kun..."
"What?"
"You didn't answer my question".
"What was it again?"
"Am I not pretty?"
"..."
Ray took a deep and analysing look at her. She was tall... more than two metres and that's considering she shrunk herself to look more 'human' while walking across the streets of Sapporo, otherwise, people would have surely swarmed her to take pictures as not only is she tall but she's well endowed in every regard. A massive butt, thick legs, thin waist, breasts that didn't lose to Yasaka's... with flawless white skin and long black hair that reaches her butt.
She's a devastating beauty but behind that black rose there are sharp thorns and Ray knows very well. This pungent darkness behind her just won't go away.
Hasshaku-sama is more than what meets the eye. Others hadn't caught it up but he had seen her true form back in the battle. That hideous monster.
"The current you... looks pretty" he answered and bent down just in time to catch the pup that ran into them.
"Ray-chan, Kuu-chan, look... it likes me!"
"Even if it likes you we can't take it with us, Anna-chan. Where is the owner?"
He headed back with Anna to take the pup back to its owner, unaware that Hasshaku-sama viciously licked her lips while regarding him.
'I thought Anna-chan was quite the catch but as expected... I just can't help myself with boys like you, Ray-kun... how can I do it? how can I have you without losing my life in the process? I want to eat you... all of you... slowly and in so many ways!'
She thought and thought about how to do it but didn't come up with any ideas.
Yasaka Okami was just too big of a barrier to surmount, she was too strong and clearly put Ray on a pedestal and if that wasn't enough, Ray wasn't a pushover either... if he didn't want to be seduced, he wouldn't.
'The more difficult the prey, the more satisfying once it is caught~'.
**
**
The evening went just like that with Ray walking alongside Anna, toured by Hasshaku-sama who seemed adamant about keeping her innuendos. It eventually became too late and Ray decided to return to the hotel as they still needed to decide what would happen with Hasshaku-sama since they had destroyed her hut, he thought Yasaka needed to at least get her somewhere to live out of decency but that was the Ancient Youkai's last worry.
She already knew where she was going to be living.
As they headed back to the hotel, they met the unthinkable.
Ray looked left and right, Anna tilted her head in confusion while Hasshaku-sama rubbed her temples.
"Is this some sort of low-budget porn movie-making?"
"I'm sorry... could you help me please? I'm stuck..." The lady looked so helpless and she also sounded like she was in a predicament. She was speaking English too, not Japanese and it seemed like the people that have walked past hadn't been able to help her.
Ray had to cover Anna's eyes when a gust of wind blew and the lady's panties flashed the world.
"Wait, Ray-chan... if I can't look why can you look?!"
"At times like this you're unexpectedly logical" He sighed and walked up to the person in question.
In front of them, there was a blonde clearly foreign lady stuck in between two metal bars of a fence with her butt completely plucked out towards them, she was wearing a fairly long dress but that did little to conceal the shape of that massive butt that seemed as if it could compete with Hasshaku-sama's.
Her waist was stuck in between the metal bars but her butt and breasts were so massive that he wondered how she even got there in the first place.
The demigod effortlessly yanked both metal bars open, they were strong steel but nothing his super strength couldn't do.
"Thank you so much, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. can you understand me?" She answered, again in English.
Neither Anna nor Hasshaku-sama knew what she was saying, English wasn't Anna's strongest subject and the latter merely shrugged her shoulders.
"My name is Ray, it was nothing... can we help you with something else? If you're a lost tourist you should go ask the police for help".
"I'm not really a tourist... my name is Gabriel, Ray~ nice to meet you".
He shook the pretty girl's hand, for some reason she had a man's name but he didn't pay attention to it. When she touched his skin, she faltered for a moment in shock before hurriedly retracting her hand.
"Is there anything wrong?"
"Hmn... n-no... nothing. If you don't mind me asking, do you know where the Mount Yotei is? I need to go there but I got lost while sightseeing..."
"If Mount Yotei is where you're headed I'm afraid you're quite far away, Gabriel. It is at least twelve miles away to the east" He clarified yet more confused than anything else. This whole encounter felt very unnatural from how they found her... to her destination.
How did she even reach this far if she didn't know Japanese?
Even Hasshaku-sama was starting to frown.
"That would be inconvenient... would you mind if I tag along? I have been trying to communicate with people around but nobody seems to understand me, only you do, Ray".
"We're heading back to our hotel now..."
"I don't mind, I can book a room in there~"
"..."
"By the way, these two ladies are?"
"Kuu..." The tall woman answers dryly, analysing every centimetre of Gabriel's body.
"I'm Anna, Yamada Anna~"
"Yamada Anna!?"
!!!
Gabriel's reaction was the strongest towards Anna, so much so that Ray stood in between them, something wasn't right.
It was at that moment that he realised why everything had been unnatural so far. It was because Gabriel belonged to the 'supernatural'.
Twelve white shiny wings sprung from her back, astonishing him and Hasshaku-sama who immediately got on guard.
"A Seraph!?"
"If you're Yamada Anna... then you're our new saintess! I have been looking for you!"
The already hectic night had just gotten even more confusing.