Main Scenario/The Fox Girl

Metro Nishiki Episode
21-1	Senbon Torii
21-2	The Fox Girl
21-3	Ward Sorcery
21-4	Miyako's Secret Art
21-5	Nagashi-bina
21-6	The Black Doll
21-7	The Doll's Friend
21-8	Staring at the Pillar
21-9	Beyond the "Gate"
21-10	I Am Fine

The Senbon Torii appeared in M Nishiki. Vermilion coloured torii lined up in a row from the foot of the small mountain up to the peak, like an approach leading to a temple.
The path created by countless torii branched off in the middle. Paddington's rote memorization ability isn't able to help here, as the path dead-ends at invisible walls, returns to the same place, and other unexplainable bizarre phenomena occured.
--Within this darkness, we continued to wander through the torii labyrinth.
Queensway	"We've been walking back to where we started for ages now."
Putra	"It's strange how we keep going up the mountain only to end up in the same place. Is Nishiki's mysterious powers alive and well in the Metro universe too?"
Putra	"Yoshino, how are you feeling? You haven't spoken at all since a while ago, are you over-strained?"
Yoshino	"Worse than normal. But at a level where it's still OK."
Yoshino	"Felt accustomed to it, so the queasiness is subsiding. But head and ears are still going round and round."
Putra	"It seems like the magic here is affecting you after all. If you think it's impossible, tell us right away, okay?"
Yoshino	"Un. Keeping physical strength in case of emergency."
Yakutsk	"Even so, we can't just retreat at a moment's notice in a maze like this..."
Yakutsk	"Conductor, if we don't know how to proceed after a bit more investigation, shouldn't we turn back?"
Putra	"I think so too. Not just Yoshino, but even Vivienne seems to be somewhat in a bad shape too."
Vivienne	"Oh non, did you found out?"
Putra	"I know you well. You can't fool my eyes, okay?"
Vivienne	"I was trying to look casual and normal too."
Conductor	Unfortunately, I am also aware that Vivienne's not feeling well. It seems that those who are more sensitive to magic are affected more severely by this torii. The same phenomenon happened when we entered the Sea of Mist at Iris Cloud back then.
Yoshino	"The magical power of these torii affects Nishiki folks the most. It feels like strong magic power is flooding into the ears and tail."
Yoshino	"That's why the M. Nishiki people didn't chase Miyako. It's not that they didn't chase her, it's that they couldn't chase her."
Yakutsk	"So Miyako is just like you now, Yoshino? Wandering around these mountains, exhausted?"
Yoshino	"Yes, think so."
Yoshino	"Miyako is suffering more, likely. Miyako is more sensitive to bad magic than Yoshino..."
Yakutsk	"Sensitive to bad magic is terrible. It means that you are more likely to accept harmful things directly."
Yoshino	"When Miyako was trapped by ever-darkness near the Metro Hole, she touched the ever-darkness with her own magic and searched the area. No normal person could have done that."
Yoshino	"Even if they could, they wouldn't do it.'
Putra	"Fearlessness is a problem when it goes too far."
Yakutsk	"But there are many missions that cannot be accomplished without people like that. Of the fearless people, some are good soldiers, and some who are not."
Putra	"Miyako is a good soldier, I guess...?"
Vivienne	"I don't think a good soldier would be this reckless."
Yakutsk	"......"
Yakutsk	"Yes, what Miyako did was dangerous, but I don't think she jumped in without a plan."
Vivienne	"What makes you say that?"
Yakutsk	"Miyako decided that 'I can manage on my own'. That's why she didn't recruit a companion from among the Railway Army."
Yakutsk	"Miyako took advantage of this torii labyrinth. So that she wouldn't be stopped from doing anything stupid. So that her people wouldn't follow her."
Vivienne	"Come to think of it, the Railway Army didn't seem to have a good grasp of what happened when Miyako disappeared."
Yakutsk	"It could be that she really got lost and was left behind. But with everyone but Miyako having made it out safely, it's quite a surprise that she's the only one who couldn't make it back."
Yakutsk	"When the troops retreated, the Mist had cleared and there was no battle with monsters. If Miyako was walking at the tail end of the line, there must have been someone close by as long as they were in formation."
Putra	"This means, she gradually moved away from the ranks."
Yakutsk	"That's only my guess. Miyako seems smarter than Versailles. I wonder if she might do something like that."
Yakutsk	"...Heh, that's what Yoshino wanted to say."
Yoshino	"Yakky-tan is an esper? Can you read Yoshino's mind?"
Yakutsk	"If I could read your mind, I wouldn't have any trouble. I just thought that a smart soldier would have deduced this."
Yakutsk	"Because I am also a smart and brave soldier."
Yoshino	"Oooh- Yakky-tan is clever, cute."
Yakutsk	"I'm not cute, I'm brave!"
Yoshino	"Really? Yakky-tan is quite a scaredy-cat too?"
Putra	"One yes vote from the right."
Vivienne	"One yes vote from the left."
Yakutsk	"You're all annoying! I'm the officer in the Eisengrad Northern Army, remember? I've been through a lot more Hell than all of you!"
Putra	"You have the image of a woman who is strong in the battlefield, yet scared of ghosts."
Yakutsk	"T-That's not true at all. How can I, the Great Yakutsk have any weaknesses? I am ready to take on anything, be it a monster or a Nishikese youkai."
Putra	"Heh, so you can't fight a cursed Nishikese doll, but you can fight a youkai?"
Yakutsk	"Naturally. First of all, youkai and Mist Monsters aren't even the same. Youkai are folklore creatures where humans find them interesting and turned them into stories..."
Queensway	"Um, Miss Yakutsk, you should look behind for a moment?"
Yakutsk	"What? Are you trying to scare me too, Queensway?"
Queensway	"No, it's no youkai, it's a fox."
Yakutsk	"Huh? What do you mean, a fox? Why would I be afraid of a fox? I sleep with one every night. I wouldn't be surprised even if it had nine tails and breathed fire..."
Yakutsk	"GWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Yakutsk	"!!□ーー×▲×ーー□!!"
It's not a surprise for the fox tail-loving Yakutsk to be so startled that she crashed into one of the pillars of the torii.
Yakutsk turned her head to see a girl wearing a fox mask floating in the air. She suddenly appeared on the spot, without a sound or sign of life.
Yakutsk	"F-F-F-F-F-FO-FO-FOX FOX FOX MASK HERE! IT WAS SO CLOSE THAT IT ALMOST TOUCHED MY EYES AND NOSE!"
Yoshino	"Calm down, Yakky-tan. What you saw was not a fox mask, but a girl wearing a fox mask. You were just a little too close."
Yakutsk	"Huh? A girl?"
Yakutsk	"Really..."
Yoshino	"Well, it's hard to say it's normal when she's floating in the air."
Fox Masked Girl	"Miyako is just up ahead. She's worried about being alone, so you'll have to follow her."
Yakutsk	"She's gone!"
Queensway	"She knew Miyako's name. She doesn't seem to be a Mist Monster..."
Yoshino	"Un, felt nothing bad from her at all"
Vivienne	"She was pointing to the right. So if we take that branch to the right, we'll find Miyako, is that it?"
Putra	"But didn't we already went that branch there on the right many times?"
Yoshino	"If we go there 'now', we'll be on the right path. Yoshino thinks that's what she was trying to tell us."
Yoshino	"Let's go. If we pass through that torii, we will surely find a new path."
Following the guidance of the fox-masked Nishikese girl, we passed through the torii on the right and continued onwards. Then, just as Yoshino said, a path that had never been seen before came into view.
But it was shrouded in a very thick Mist. Many Mist Monsters awaited us...

Metro Nishiki Episode
21-1	Senbon Torii
21-2	The Fox Girl
21-3	Ward Sorcery
21-4	Miyako's Secret Art
21-5	Nagashi-bina
21-6	The Black Doll
21-7	The Doll's Friend
21-8	Staring at the Pillar
21-9	Beyond the "Gate"
21-10	I Am Fine