Supernatural/Anime Crossover: Where Did My Romantic Comedy Go?

It stretched out its sharp claws and reached towards the backs of the priestess and the boy.

How did my father's belongings turn into this monstrosity?!

My eyes were trembling. The sudden change was even more detached from reality and harder to accept than anything that had happened before.

The girl only had time to let out a sharp, mournful cry that pierced the air above the alley and reached the florist's ears, making him shudder.

He hurriedly ran out of the shop, looked into the deep alley, but didn't dare to take a step inside, feeling uneasy.

Could something have happened?

Kikyo remained remarkably calm about this, showing no surprise whatsoever, or rather, this was exactly the situation she had wanted to see.

If it weren't for the fact that the living god beside her told her not to make too much of a commotion, she would have already cleaned up that arrow along with the arrow.

There's absolutely no need to lure that guy in this way.

He casually turned the bow behind his back, the bow tip perfectly positioned to block the sharp claws.

As spiritual energy surged, a barrier was erected in the blink of an eye. The masked demon was violently thrown away and vanished silently in mid-air, leaving only the mask that crashed to the girl's feet.

The shadows enveloped her completely as she picked up the mask from the ground with one hand.

Looking in that direction, the boy standing next to the priestess was holding two identical masks and smiling at her.

"Could you please come with me?"

Then, the other person looked at the three men and asked for their opinion:

"I hope I won't disturb you?"

"No, no, I won't bother you!"

The three shook their heads repeatedly, answering very quickly, and even quite consciously gave the girl a push on the back.

What else could this be? Do you think the arrows from the other side aren't fast enough or ruthless enough, or do you think that monster was just an illusion?

After watching the girl follow the shrine maiden and the boy out of the alley, the three of them exchanged glances, all understanding what the others were thinking.

"Let's just cancel this project when we get back."

One of them spoke up, and the other two quickly nodded in agreement.

They all saw it clearly: the monster was created from the mask the girl was holding that flew out of her arms.

Who knows if she has any other masks at home?

Even if they manage to secure this project, they'll only get a pittance. Why risk their lives for it?

The florist paced anxiously at the alley entrance; the fear in his earlier piercing scream was genuine.

He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Kujo Toru and Kikyo walking out as if nothing had happened.

He hurried forward, and said somewhat nervously:

"Um, High Priest, is the matter resolved?"

"Yeah, it's okay now."

Kujo Toru nodded, and with the gentle tinkling of wind chimes, he pushed open the door of the flower shop and went inside.

A moment later, the florist brought over several cups of black tea. The fragrance of flowers and tea mingled together, instantly calming the mind.

"This is Darjeeling tea that I specially asked a friend to bring back. I usually only drink it by myself." The florist had a hint of pride on his face.

"Actually, I think it's more impressive that you can stock a whole tea set in the flower shop than that."

Kujo Tetsu placed two white eyeball masks on the counter and took a sip of his black tea.

"Anyway, I made enough money when I was young. Running a flower shop is just a way to keep myself busy. There aren't many customers usually, so I might as well tinker with things I like."

The florist explained something, got up and walked to the door, replacing the sign hanging on the door with one that read "Temporarily Closed".

Kikyo quietly sipped her tea, not joining in the two's conversation.

On the contrary, the girl they brought back had been sitting there cautiously watching Kujo Toru ever since she entered the store, opening her mouth to speak several times but then swallowing it back.

"Could you tell me how you got this mask?"

Kujo Toru pushed the mask in his hand towards the girl, startling her.

“Those are my father’s belongings.” The girl spoke softly, then looked up and noticed that Kujo Toru was looking her over. She then abruptly asked:

"Your father is with the Salvation Church?"

"Correct."

She nodded somewhat timidly, and then the girl began to tell her story.

The girl's name is Ryoko Yamagami. She is only in her third year of junior high school. She has an older brother who has been suffering from cancer since childhood and can only rely on anti-cancer drugs for treatment. As a result, the family has a very heavy burden.

The economic pressure was overwhelming for the father, who was the sole breadwinner of the family, and he could only rely on alcohol to reset himself and keep going.

This year, the girl's brother's cancer cells finally became uncontrollable and began to spread rapidly. He passed away last month.

While the father and mother breathed a sigh of relief, they were also heartbroken, after all, he was their only son.

Normally, after this, the family should have moved on from the grief of losing a loved one, gotten their lives back on track, and worked hard to face the days to come.

But then, last week, a Salvation Society suddenly appeared.

“Those bastards proselytized to my parents, saying that the reason my brother had cancer when he was a child was because he was a demon destined to bring about the end of the world, so Mijima Jōfumi took his life!”

Ryoko Yamagami gritted her teeth, and as she spoke, a fierce glint appeared in her eyes—a look of utter hatred.

"If you want my brother to be able to cleanse his sins and cross the Sanzu River, you must offer sacrifices to Mijima Jōfu no Mikoto!"

This is classic rhetoric from an unregulated religious sect, and logically speaking, it seems that no normal person would believe it.

But obviously, if that were the case, Ryoko Yamagami wouldn't be the way she is now.

Kujo Toru had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going to happen next.

"How much did they ask for?"

"Twenty million!"

"How many?!"

The florist, who had been sitting and listening to the story, was starting to lose his composure.

While it's not impossible to pay this money if you really want to, it's for offerings! It's like throwing it directly into the water!

Not to mention that Ryoko Yamagami's family had been struggling financially for years because of her efforts to control her brother's cancer.

"In the end, my father went to borrow money from loan sharks, mortgaged our old house, and raised 20 million to give to those evil spirits. Then yesterday morning, he suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage due to excessive drinking and died."

Ryoko Yamagami's voice calmed down:

"This morning, the Salvation Church used the same excuse to ask my mother to donate ten million to send my father to his final rest. I had no choice but to take all the property deeds and my father's belongings and plan to hide at a classmate's house for a few days."

The florist was somewhat taken aback.

"Didn't your parents have any doubts from the very beginning?!"

He began to feel fortunate that he had never intended to get close to these Salvation Society guys in the first place, and had simply paid them off with a small sum of money.

If you really get to know him closely, who knows if he'll be brainwashed too, managing to swindle people out of their fortunes with something even a child wouldn't believe.

“Heh,” Ryoko Yamagami sneered.

“When they went to the gathering, they said that the high priest had performed genuine miracles, and there was also footage of Mijima Purification Spirit fighting against the underworld to save us, so it couldn’t be fake.”

"I think if such a deity truly exists, it must be a malevolent spirit!"

At this point, the matter is basically clear.

Ryoko Yamagami's story can be summarized as follows: an alcoholic father, a superstitious mother, a seriously ill brother, and a broken woman.

Through her experiences, it is clear that this Salvation Society, operating under the name of Toru Kujo, is actually ruining his reputation.

If he is a true god, and this savior society is allowed to continue, it might actually degenerate into a cult because of these distorted beliefs and hatred.

But unfortunately, he is not.

"Isn't the authorities doing anything about this?"

Kikyo was very puzzled.

It's one thing that the Warring States period was too chaotic and difficult to manage, but in this era of peace and stability, how could the authorities allow such a religiously based and obviously harmful Shinto to exist?

Unless… she thought of a possibility.

And then, Ryoko Yamagami's words confirmed her guess:

"Why should we care? I heard that at least half of the offerings the Salvation Society receives go to those politicians, and they even provide them with election funds! They probably wish the Salvation Society could grow bigger and bigger!"

His words were full of sarcasm, but also a way of venting his anger.

The florist didn't know what to say, and couldn't even offer words of comfort.

In a situation like Ryoko Yamagami's, saying anything seems pointless.

Kikyo remained silent. This was the era of Kujo Toru, and he should make the decisions, not the other way around.

Only Kyujo Toru spoke, seemingly quite casually:

"If I want to eliminate this Salvation Society, can you help me?"

At this point, it was no longer feasible to allow the Salvation Society to continue causing trouble under his name.

Moreover, this eyeball mask is exactly the same as the masked demon that attacked him on the rooftop that night, clearly indicating that the sorcerer was behind it.

Kamiya could appear at any moment; this matter must be resolved.

Ryoko Yamagami suddenly looked up, gave him a deep look, and then readily agreed:

"Okay! How can I help?"

"Take me into the Salvation Society's gathering."

"no problem!"

After explaining the location of the purification shrine to Ryoko Yamagami, Toru Kujo left the flower shop with Kikyo.

He never expected that he would encounter so many things after only walking a few miles.

However, these examples also reveal just how rampant this so-called Salvation Society truly is.

It is unknown how many families, like Ryoko Yamagami's, have been destroyed.

"Your initial plan wasn't like this, was it?"

Kikyo spoke calmly.

"You discovered it?"

Because it's very obvious to you.

The priestess wanted to say that, but in the end she held back, only glancing at him and nodding.

"Because after listening, I realized that I couldn't let any of the Salvation Society members slip by, or it would be very troublesome."

Kujo Tetsu offered an explanation, but all he received in return was a lukewarm "Hmm," with no other reaction from Kikyo.

Since he said so, she took it seriously.

This, on the contrary, made Kujo Toru somewhat depressed.

Nothing else happened after that. About half an hour later, the two finally arrived at the foot of Seifu Taisha Shrine.

The streets in the residential area were quiet, with only the occasional passerby.

The tall, vermilion torii gate stands in the sunlight, seemingly shimmering with golden light.

A stone staircase extends up the mountain and disappears into the forest, with black eaves faintly visible halfway up the mountain.

That's the main hall of the shrine.

The scale of the entire shrine stands in stark contrast to Kikyo's small shrine on the back mountain of Kaede Village.

However, the shrine maiden didn't feel anything; instead, she looked at the "Seifu Taisha" plaque shining brightly in the sunlight.

In her time, shrines had a system of shrine status, and not just any shrine could call itself a "great shrine".

In her memory, there were only two shrines: Izumo Taisha, which enshrines Ōkuninushi-no-mikoto, and Suwa Taisha, which enshrines Suwa Daimyo-no-mikoto.

The fact that Kujo Toru's shrine can be called a purification shrine suggests that its deities must be of a very high rank.