Once upon a time, there was a large peasant family that lived in squallor and barely made ends meet. This large family had many children in it, and the oldest was a young man by the name of Nuriko.
He helped out his poor family as much as he could, but it just wasn't enough...although his money obsessed brother Tamahome always seemed to find money and not share.
One night, a strange sound came from the door to their tiny hovel. They opened the door, and there sat a large black tigress, with purple stripes.
She asked to come in, and begged the family to let her have the eldest son. In return, she would provide the family with enough gold for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. The family agreed, against Nuriko's wishes (for all he knew, he could be the tigress's next meal), but they shipped him off, and away they went.
He climbed atop the tigress, and she carried him through a terrific storm. Every hour or so, she would ask him if he was ok, and he nodded...it was all he COULD do, as it was too cold to speak.
Soon, they arrived at a huge purple castle in the middle of a snow-covered forest. (She has a thing for purple, doesn't she?) They went inside, and the tigress bid Nuriko to make himself right at home, as this would be his home from now on.
The tigress ordered the castle servants to prepare a meal and a bath for poor Nuriko, and when the sun went down, he was led into a bedchamber.
He crawled into bed, and soon, the door opened and a woman entered the room. (And this is NOT hentai, either!)
Nuriko: "Wha...Who ARE you?!?"
The Lady: "I am the mistress of this castle, and the tigress who carried you away before. My name is Inori. Please, I only wish you to live happily here with me!"
So, they both talked awhile, and then fell asleep in the big bed...Woohoo Inori!
Anyway, the next morning, Nuriko awoke to find himself alone in the room...guess she was a love 'em and leave 'em sort of gal.
He wandered the castle, and soon came across the tigress, Inori.
Nuriko: "Hey!! Where'd you go?!?"
Inori: "I'm very sorry, Nuriko. I am a tigress by the day, and I am my true self at night. You may never see my true form."
Nuriko: "Um...yeah...sure..."
So, this arrangement continued for a few weeks...he would see her as a tigress during the day, she'd disappear right before bed-time, then show-up in their darkened room to sleep. And she wold leave before daybreak, so he never saw her in a woman's form.
After a few weeks, however, he began to get homesick. Why, I don't know, cuz they just SOLD the poor guy off to the first tigress that offers them a bit of gold. But, he insisted, and she grudgingly took him back home to visit the ingrates.
Before they got there, she told him not to be cornered alone with his younger brother, as it would mean misfortune for them all.
So they visited for awhile, but, sure enough, Tamahome kept trying to corner poor Nuriko to talk to him....man-to-man.
Tamahome: "Nuriko, who is this weirdo tiger person. I mean, people just don't GIVE money away for gay guys like you." At which point, Nuriko pounded him into a wall before answering. (GO NURIKO!!!)
Nuriko: "That tigress is sweet and kind and she looks out for our family. I happen to LIKE that tigress!!!"
But, soon Tamahome got to Nuriko, and convinced him to sneak a peak at her while she was sleeping....we always KNEW Tama was hentai.
Soon, it was time for Nuriko and the tigress to leave, and they trekked home in ANOTHER snow storm. I think that tigress brings them along or something...
When they arrived at the castle, Inori the tigress asked the trembling Nuriko if his brother cornered him, and Nuriko lied and said no. Bad Nuriko.
So, she left him right before sunset, and he prepared for bed, which now included sneaking a candle and some matches into the room and hiding them under the bed.
The room got dark, and Inori the woman entered the room and climbed into bed. We don't WANNA know HOW Nuriko got her to fall asleep...o.O Ahem...moving right along.
So, when she was soundly sleeping, he produced the now lit candle and peered over the bed. He was surprised.
Nuriko: *surprised*
He saw lying there a beautiful woman, nothing at all sinister about her. He was SO enraptured with her beauty (read: he was drooling), that he kinda forgot he was holding a candle and accidently burned her nightshirt.
Inori: *wakens to find her shirt on fire* "What the hell did you do?!?"
Nuriko apoligized to the woman in his bed (o.O), but she pulled her clothes on and left.
Inori: "If you had waited ONE MORE NIGHT to peek at me, the spell I was under would have been broken. But NOOOO!!! You couldn't control yourself and let your hormones run wild!!! Now I gotta go back to the evil sorcerer that put me under this spell and marry his icky son."
Nuriko: "Where might I find you?"
Inori: *sigh* "Well, if you REALLY want to come see me, I'll be east of the sun, west of the moon, and it's somewhere south of Konan. Somewhere..."
So, she left, and with her went ALL the cool stuff. She took the castle, the stereo, the entertainment system, everything.
Nuriko: "Man, did she HAVE to take the stereo?!? That was mine to begin with!"
So, the dejected Nuriko went off in search of this mysterious land that Inori left for.
He wandered and wandered, and soon, he came across a little mountain shack out in the middle of nowhere. He knocked on the door.
Hermit #1: "What the $^&^* do ya want?!? I ain't here to get visiters!! I'm a $&%#^ hermit, for Suzaku's sake!!!!"
And the door opened, and Nuriko was face to face with an irritable, red-headed hermit named Tasuki.
Nuriko: "Hey, you're a hermit. Hermit's are supposed to know things. Do you know where east of the sun, west of the moon, and somewhere south of Konan is?"
Hermit #1: "What the &%*& do yo think I am? A $&% Atlas?!? Go a mile down the road and ask my friend. He better $^&%# know!!!"
So, Nuriko was kicked out of the hermit's house, but not before the hermit gave him a golden fan, just so he could prove to the next hermit that he was still alive and stuff....like he just couldn't WALK a mile down the road and tell him himself.
Nuriko walked a mile down the road, and soon came before a shack located next to a large pond....one stocked with LOTS and LOTS of fish. He knocked on the door.
Hermit #2: "I'm coming, no da. Hold on, no da."
It was a funny looking hermit with a cat on his shoulder named Chichiri.
Nuriko: "Hey, do you happen to know where this one place is? I asked that friend of yours down the road, but he's really rude and obnoxious."
Hermit #2: "Well...I don't know where it is, no da. But it's nice to know that Tasuki is doing ok, no da. He never visits anymore, no da. Try down the road a mile, they might know, no da." And he poofed into his kasa and disappeared.
Nuriko managed to take the kasa, which was made out of gold, and trudged AGAIN a mile down the road. He arrived at yet ANOTHER shack, and yet AGAIN he knocked on the door.
Nuriko: *grumbles about weird hermits giving him the run-around*
Hermit #3: "Hello, how may I help you?"
Nuriko looked around, but couldn't seem to identify WHERE the nice voice was coming from.
Hermit #3: *sigh* "Down here."
And sure enough, their stood a child with an intelligent (and, thankfully, nice) expression on his face. Nuriko showed him the golden fan and the golden kasa, and asked if the hermit, named Chiriko, knew where he might find his beloved tiger-woman.
Hermit #3: "Why yes, yes I know where that is. Let me give you a map."
And he showed the happy Nuriko where he should go, and also gave him a golden pen, just in thanks for showing him proof that his fellow hermits down the way were ok....since they were too lazy to visit anymore.
Nuriko set off in search of this mysterious castle Inori was at, taking with him the presents from the hermits. Soon, he arrived at a great castle. All the local peasants he talked to were deathly scared of the inhabitants, however.
But.....Nuriko had a plan.
He sat himself down in front of the castle, and began to write with the golden pen he had. And while he was writing, he sang. The singing attracted the attention of the owner, who strolled out to see what was going on.
Nuriko tried not to flinch, since the owner was hideous. He didn't have ANY fashion sense AT ALL, and he insisted on plastering his face with tons and tons of makeup.
Tomo: "Hmm....what do we have here? Why, it's a golden pen. I want it!! How much for it!?"
Nuriko: *shrugs*
Tomo: "Well, what do you desire? I can give it to you!! Gimme gimme gimme!!!"
Nuriko: *pretends to think a moment* "Actually, I heard there was a beautiful woman in your castle. I'll give you this pen, if I might spend the night in her room."
Tomo: "Kakakakaka.....I didn't know you were into that....Ok. Fine." And he took the pen and led Nuriko into the castle.
But, Tomo had a trick up his sleeve. When doesn't he?
He called for his son, who was more hideous than words can describe, and asked him to slip a sleeping potion into Inori's dinner before night fell. His hideous, hairy son just growled, and loped off to obey his father.
When night fell, Nuriko entered the room. But, no matter HOW he tried, he could not awaken her!!! He spent the entire night calling her name and crying for her to wake up, but to no avail. At dawn, Tomo and his son Astitare kicked out the poor Nuriko.
He just sighed, plopped himself down in front of the castle, and began to play with the golden kasa while singing.
After a while, Tomo made an appearance. He offered to let Nuriko have anything he wanted, just to possess the golden kasa, and Nuriko again asked for a night with Inori. Baka, he SHOULD of asked just for HER, not a night with her.
Yet again, the hideous furry son slipped Inori a mickey, and when Nuriko came to her room, she was sound asleep. He begged and pleaded for her to wake up, but she didn't, and he was again kicked out at dawn.
Again, he sang in front of the castle while playing with his tessen....is it just me, or does that sound REALLY ecchi? Again, Tomo appeared and offered Nuriko anything for his tessen. And again, Nuriko bargained for a night with Inori.
This time, however, while Inori was combing her hair, her maid told her that the strangest things were happening in her room...not once, but twice so far. A man came into her room and begged and pleaded for her to wake up.
Inori: "A man comes into my room, and I sleep right through it? What's wrong with me?!?!"
Inori thought about it for awhile, but it suddenly hit her when Ashitare came with her dinner. She only pretended to eat it, and fed HIM most of the scraps. (Who doesn't give their dog the food they don't want to eat?)
When night fell, and Nuriko entered her room, she was awake and waiting for him.
Inori: "Nuriko, my dear, Tomo is the evil sorceror that put me under that horrible spell. I had to spend a month with a man in my household as a tiger by day and my true form at night. If, by the end of that month, my identity remained a secret, the spell would be broken."
Nuriko: *sigh* "But I screwed it up, huh?"
Inori: "Now that THAT has failed, *stern look at Nuriko* I am forced to marry that icky son of his, Ashitare." *shudders*
But Nuriko, yet again, had a plan!!!
The next dawned, and he was again kicked out of her room. Tomo cackled his evil laugh, as today was the day Inori was to marry his son.
But she refused, on the grounds that she simply MUST have a husband that can do laundry. No others would do.
And she produced her nightshirt, the one that Nuriko burned, and asked Ashitare to clean out the soot. He tried and tried, but mostly it just got covered in slobber and pet hair and stuff. In fact, it looked like the dirty spot got bigger!
Inori: "Pathetic!! Why, I think some simple peasant boy can do the wash better than he can!!" And she handed the sooty shirt to Nuriko to clean.
No sooner did he touch the soap to the shirt and it was completely spotless and even burn-free!!
Ashitare got so POd at losing to Nuriko, that he turned on his dad and ate him, and then ran off into the hills to go be feral or something.
So that left Nuriko and Inori, who went back to their castle, got married, and lived happily ever after...of course, Nuriko didn't give Tamahome any more money, since he was the reason he had to go all over creation in the FIRST PLACE.