Ikemen Genjiden: Prologue (Part 5 of 10)
Yoshitsune: If you leave now, I will spare your life. However, you must leave the fox behind. When Yoshitsune raised his sword again, swirls of dust blew into the air around my feet, as if being sucked into the swirling wind surrounding him. Yoshino: (He’s so frightening…) Yoritomo: …Yoshino, leave. Yoshino: But… Yoritomo had briefly paused to collect himself, but soon ran towards Yoshitsune again; Morinaga immediately followed him. Yoshino: (I want to get away from all of this madness right now!) Yoshino: (But…) Yoshino: (I’ve already given this little fox medical treatment. After I saved its life, am I really going to leave it here to die again…?) Yoshino: I can’t abandon the fox!! With a new sense of urgency and resolve, I held the little fox tightly in my arms with all my strength… …And all of a sudden, I began to hear the sound of many bells ringing from somewhere in the distance. Yoritomo: …What is that sound? ??? (Tamamo): I’ve taken a liking to you, woman~ Yoshino: (Whose voice is that…?)
Bright white light overflowed into my field of vision, making everything around me invisible before the faint silhouette of a figure appeared in front of me and began to approach me. ??? (Tamamo): Your soul is simply beautiful. So… Will you allow me to make a contract with you? Yoshino: (It has animal ears and a tail… It’s not a human?!) Yoshino: What are you? Where did you come from…? I was too dazzled by the glare of the light to think straight. Amidst my confusion, I felt the stranger’s arms embrace me—he had gotten close enough that I could see him clearly now. ??? (Tamamo): Why do you speak so coldly towards me? Even after you protected me so bravely in your slender arms… I’m almost heartbroken. Yoshino: Tried to protect… Ahh!!! Yoshino: (Impossible! There’s no way!) Yoshino: (Silver hair and golden eyes, and that mysterious decoration… And more than anything else, his ears and tail remind me only of one thing.) Yoshino: The little fox from before?! ??? (Tamamo): My name is Tamamo. I won’t mind if you use it. ….Call my name, Yoshino. Yoshino: Tama…mo… Tamamo: Good. Do remember it well. It is the name of the ayakashi to whose soul yours is connected, after all. Yoshino: Ayakashi?!! In a single graceful motion, Tamamo gathered both of my hands into his and brought them close to his lips. Tamamo: We can explain all of that later. Right now… There’s something I must do with your body first. Yoshino: (With my body…?! Nn-!) Tamamo gently brushed my fingertips to his lips, and a sweet tingling sensation shot all the way through my body, making me feel numb with euphoria. Moments later, a mysterious heat began to pulse through my bloodstream… Yoshino: (What’s happening?! My body feels so… hot…) Yoshino: Ah…! The overwhelming heat flowed through me like a crashing river, filling every corner and crevice of my body. Tamamo: Don’t be afraid, now. Just like that… Slowly… Accept me within yourself. He strokes my back with his hand to calm me down. I couldn’t help but relax at his gentle touch. Yoshino: (…Nn…) At that moment, a particularly strong sensation surged down my spine, making my whole body tremble. I shook my head in a daze as the bright light around me subsided. Once I could see normally again, I felt that something was wrong with the colors I saw in my field of vision. Yoshino: My hair… The color changed?! Tamamo: The color of your eyes has changed as well, you know. Your hair is silver, and your eyes are gold. Just like mine. Tamamo smiled smugly in response to my astonishment, his beautiful lips forming a perfect arc. Tamamo: Forming a pact will partially change a human's appearance to match the ayakashi they contracted. I think you turned out beautifully. Yoshino: Magic…? What did you do to me?! Tamamo: Magic is the power of ayakashi. Tamamo: I bound your soul to mine and gave my spirit power to you. That is the result of the contract that I formed with you. Yoshino: (I was given the power of an ayakashi?! But… Except for my appearance and the heat in my body, it doesn’t feel like anything else about me has changed…) I opened my mouth with the intent of asking him more questions, but the bright white light surrounding us suddenly disappeared.
When I regained my bearings, I felt everyone’s gaze on me, staring in surprise. Morinaga: You—What happened to you? Are you alright? Yoritomo: Yoshino, what happened? Yoshino: I think I’m alright. But I have no idea what happened to me… Upon seeing Tamamo standing beside me, Yoshitsune-sama raised his blade and pointed it at him. Yoshitsune: …Did you form a pact with that fox spirit? Tamamo: Indeed she did. Yoshitsune, you seem to have done me a favor not long ago. Tamamo: Thanks to you attacking me in my sleep, I have now lost much of my power. What do you have to say for yourself about that? Yoshino: (So it was Yoshitsune who injured Tamamo so badly…) Yoshitsune: I don’t particularly care for you. My grudge is only against Lord Yoritomo, who went so far as to transport the killing stone to Kamakura… Yoshino: Killing stone…? Yoshino: (What kind of stone has a name like that… It almost sounds like this is all just a huge prank! This is getting ridiculous!) I had intended to keep my murmur to myself, but Morinaga picked up the sound of my voice and turned his gaze on me. Morinaga: There is a large rock in the town of Nasu that poisons those that come near it or touch it because this fox spirit had been sealed within it. That is what we call the killing stone.
Notes:
Ayakashi (あやかし) is an archaic term for a type of supernatural spirits/demon/monsters in Japanese folklore called yōkai (妖怪). In more modern usage, the term ayakashi refers mostly to a specific type of yōkai that are found above the surface of bodies of water. From my understanding, ayakashi are more like strange apparitions that are generally malevolent, while yōkai can have a wide variety of animal or humanoid features and are of varying moral alignment—in certain contexts, especially in archaic usage, the terms can be used interchangeably.
Tamamo is a type of yōkai known as kitsune (狐) or yōko (妖狐), which are foxes with the ability to shapeshift into human form and are known to be cunning and mischievous. They gain a new tail for every hundred years that they live; once they have lived long enough to have 9 tails, they ascend to their most powerful form, known as tenko (天狐) meaning “heavenly fox”, and their fur turns white or golden. I’ve translated all these terms as “fox spirit” for the sake of simplicity.
I chose to translate the word 契り (chigiri) as “contract” or “pact,” but I feel like it means something more like “pledge” or “vow.” (Apparently it can also be a euphemism for sex.) In the context of a human making an agreement with a supernatural entity, I thought using words that would evoke Western folklore about making a deal with a demon/the devil would sound more natural in an English translation.
