Multiplying Kiyohime

So this is a Japanese hot springs inn... Feels oddly familiar, though I've never been to one before. I keep thinking of hanafuda, for some reason.

I think I'm due for a break from caring for my sisters. Time to curl up at a charming inn with a good...

...book... Huh?

Excuse me, why is the book that I'd been saving for a special day on fire!? It's the latest in my favorite ghost story series!

Teeheehee. Coming all the way to a charming inn just to read a book? True beauties don't get to slack off like that, my dear Medusa♡

Now let's go find some nice pickup artists to tear limb from limb like the reptilians we are♡

Hm? If I recall, your name was Kiyohi Aaaaaahhh!?

So this is the Enma-tei... It's even better than Sitonai said...!

I think I could really relax and enjoy myself here.

I do feel guilty coming here without my sisters, but not guilty enough not to stay for a good, long time.

I always wanted to try crocheting some lace flower bouquets for my sisters. This should be the perfect place to try.

My, my... How thoughtful of you, especially at such a young age. You must really care about your sisters.

That sort of straightforward display of affection makes me sick♡

I mean, where would that leave me? Come now, we serpent girls need to stick together. Men aren't going to start squeezing themselves to death anytime soon.

Huh? Aren't you Kiyohi Aaaaaahhh!?

My name is Orochi, and Orochi is my naaame...

Hehe, with this many mountain greens to choose from, Lady Beni-Enma will have no trouble with meal ideas.

I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have any other way of paying for my stay after I found out it would cost more than I expected...

Thank goodness Lady Beni-Enma is so understanding. To let me stay in the inn's attic just in exchange for my skills as a shinobi is simply unbelievable.

I must do everything I can to repay this extraordinary generosity.

Thus, I will not rest until I have picked this entire mountain clean of anything remotely edib... Oh?

Hmm... A little half-tailed as far as snake monsters go, but I suppose she'll do.

I can't be bothered to come up with a pithy remark anymore, so I'm just going to swallow you whole now, okay? Okay♡

Wha...? Aren't you the one known as Yohime Gaaaaaahhh!

...And there are more complaints still. Do you have anything to say in your defense, Kiyohime?

If not, I'll go ahead and start your trial right now. Chirp chirp, I hope you're ready to spend at least one hundred years imprisoned.

No! Please! Anything but Jigoku Kitchen!

And actually, wait! I don't even remember doing any of that! I swear to the Buddha!

...I see. So you've now learned how to spontaneously erase your own memories. I shudder to think what you might accomplish in the future.

In the meantime, whether you remember doing these things or not, the sparrows clearly saw you there.

Or what? Are you going to claim it wasn't you, but a secret evil twin? Chirp!

I... I can't say for sure, but...

Heh. It looks like my plan was a resounding success!

Tomoe? Why are you so happy about the fact that I'm about to go away for crimes I didn't commit?

Do you know something we don't?

I do. I was thinking how we could go about acquiring dragon's head gems...

...and I decided the quickest way to do so would be from a real live dragon.

So I came up with a plan to make a Shadow Servant out of Kiyohime.

...What exactly did you do?

I am told Shadow Servants appear when the remnants of a destroyed Heroic Spirit's Spirit Origin...

...end up linking to magical energy and grudges in the nearby vicinity instead of dispersing back to the Throne of Heroes.

So I thought I could use that phenomenon to essentially clone Kiyohime... Well, only her dark side, actually.

Specifically, I thought that if I made a bell tower, had Lord Houzouin, who is a monk just like Lord Anchin was, and a beautiful woman stand next to each other there every night...

...and gathered all of Kiyohime's excess negative aspects, I could "fish" her Shadow Servant out.

After all, I knew Kiyohime would never be able to resist becoming a dragon if she saw a handsome man and beautiful woman whispering sweet nothings to each other underneath a great bell.

And so, Kiyohime No. 2 was born, just as I had planned.

All we need to do now is capture her, defeat her, and take the gems for ourselves.

？！

Then, you mean the Kiyohime causing havoc right now is Kiyohime entirely and exclusively from the Anchin-slash-Kiyohime legend!?

And just what is that supposed to mean!? As for you, Tomoe, you and I are through! At least for a while.

Huh!? But why!?

The whole point of my plan was to get the dragon's head gems without hurting you!

You may not have hurt my body, but my heart and my dignity are in tatters!

Tomoe may seem to be more polite than either Kiyohime or Tamamo, but at her heart, she's a fierce warrior who's lived through very tumultuous times.

Still, Tomoe, just because logic and cold-bloodedness served you well in war, that doesn't mean they are the answer to everything.

Oh! When you put it that way, I suppose you're right... I'll go stand under a waterfall and reflect on what I've done...

Never mind the waterfall. Just wash my share of the windows we're supposed to clean and I'll call it even.

Now come on, the rest of us need to stop Shadow Me! Ms. Beni-Enma, Master, let's hurry to the bell tower.

We must utterly obliterate this clone before she causes any more trouble!

？！

...This must be the mountain behind the inn... The last thing I remember is staring into Kiyohime's mouth stretching wider and wider...

That was awful... I can't believe she drop-kicked me AND turned into a snake to capture me...

I guess the legends were true... No wonder Anchin managed to run away faster than the speed of sound...

Lady Gorgon's snake form would be a perfect fit for an action movie...while Lady Kiyohime's would be right at home in a horror film...

It looks like all the missing Servants have been freed.

I'm sorry for suspecting you, Kiyohime. I can't help but sympathize with you this time.

Still, why did Ms. Tomoe do this? I remember her saying something about dragon gems, but

W-well, you know, she's at that age! She must have just wanted some pretty jewels that all the other ladies would be jealous of!

Tomoe Gozen, concerned with appearances... I doubt any but Lord Yoshinaka would have the patience.

All right, I'll clean things up around here. Cheep, you can go back to the inn now, Kiyohime.

I'll also make you some tea later, as an apology for putting you on trial when you were innocent.

...(Sigh) Well, it may not have been pretty, but at least we did get one of the five treasures.

And since we don't want to worry Ms. Beni-Enma unless we absolutely have to...

...let's just keep this to ourselves until we have all five of them, Master♡

？！