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When it comes to youkai, there are a couple of names that stand out among the rest. The fearsome Shuten-douji. The deceitful Tamamo-no-Mae. The enigmatic nue. And of course, the shrewd Danzaburou-danuki. But of them, only Danzaburou-danuki still remained. Even in her home region of Sado, Danzaburou-danuki, or as a few knew her, Mamizou Futatsuiwa, could tell her days as a prominent youkai were over.
She had taken the form of an old woman, allowing herself to speak in an old-fashioned manner while smoking old-fashioned tobacco without attracting any attention. The humans of this era didn't pay her any mind, despite how many of them were descendants of her former underlings, unaware of their tanuki blood.
Mamizou let out a particularly impressive puff of smoke, and contemplated how she would pass the time in her next life, when it was about time for this identity to "die." Maybe she wouldn't bother crafting a new identity to live among the humans. Maybe she would just go to sleep and cease to exist, like most youkai had already done.
"At this point, I'm just being a stubborn old lady who refuses to die."
Mamizou was just musing to herself, as old ladies do, but to her surprise, she got a response.
"Youkai don't go anywhere when they die, you know? We're beings that exist outside of the cycle of reincarnation. Or maybe that's wrong. I've met a sect of Buddhist youkai recently."
Mamizou chuckled.
"And what do you suppose they're hoping to gain from that, Nue?"
It was another great youkai, the nue, or as Mamizou knew her, Nue Houjuu. She appeared to Mamizou in her true form, rather than that monkey-tiger beast that humans knew her as. It had been hundreds of years since she was last seen. Mamizou wasn't even sure she existed anymore.
"Hell if I know! I don't get them at all. But, that's how I've been spending my time lately. I kinda owe them, actually."
"You've never been the type to do anyone favors."
"Well, who can say whether I'm actually giving them a hand or just causing more trouble for them?"
That was the Nue Mamizou knew and loved.
"Anyways, why don't you join me? In a land where great youkai are still great youkai. Where humans stay inside at night. Where youkai extermination is still practiced."
"Is getting exterminated a hobby of yours, or something?" It had happened so many times, it wasn't an unreasonable guess.
Nue just laughed, and didn't answer.
"So what do you say?"
The stubborn old lady side of Mamizou wanted to stay in the Outside World, attempting to find a place in a world where she didn't belong. The great youkai side of her couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. But in the end, Mamizou was a great youkai after all.
"Lead the way, Nue."
Nue grinned. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist the opportunity to be a great youkai again."
"Oh," Nue's grin was replaced by a serious face. "Make sure you change out of that ridiculous form first. You're the conniving tanuki leader of Sado, not some frail old human."