Tokyo Ravens - Volume 1 - Chapter 4.1

Chapter 4 - Progeny of the Tsuchimikado 
Part 1 
Harutora and Hokuto had met over their first summer vacation after entering middle school. 
It was in a small park near the tram stop, under a blue, sunny cloudless sky, and the fresh green leaves shone like emeralds in the sunlight. 
The first time he met Hokuto he had been unable to keep his eyes off her. She looked like an idol that he liked at the time, and had been about as old as him. Harutora watched from the distance for a long time, wondering what school the girl went to. 
The girl was sitting alone on a park bench, and once she noticed Harutora's gaze, her body suddenly jumped up like a spring. Her eyes widened in Harutora's direction and her mouth gaped to make quite a strange reaction. After all, he didn't know this girl. 
Harutora felt it was very strange, and tried approaching the girl. Noticing, the girl quickly escaped from the park, vanishing instantly and without a trace, leaving behind the stunned Harutora blankly standing still - that was the first meeting between Harutora and Hokuto. 
Harutora ended up meeting Hokuto again - Actually, 'spotting' would be more appropriate - the second day after the first meeting in the park. 
From then on Harutora would always feel like there was a person spying on him. He didn't have that feeling when he was at home, but once he walked out onto the road, he would feel like there was someone gazing at him from behind. But every time he turned around no one was there. 
He turned around frequently, wondering whether he was being followed. But he didn't expect that he was actually being followed. He noticed the other person purely by chance. At the time, he had been walking by a car parked to the side, and he saw the figure of his follower from the side view mirror. 
It was that girl he had run into in the park. 
He reflexively turned around, meeting eyes with Hokuto, who was caught by surprise. Hokuto escaped on foot, and he chased after her. Unfortunately, Hokuto's speed was shocking, and her figure vanished in moments...... Back then, a similar thing would happen every three days, and not long after it became every two days, and in the end, this drama would be performed every day. It was the strangest human relationship Harutora had in his life. 
Harutora chased, Hokuto ran, and these days continued for a period of time. 
Why does she follow me around? Why does she run? Harutora pondered but couldn't understand and only felt baffled. 
But instead, that baffling feeling inflamed Harutora's fighting spirit. 
He thought of several plots, but Hokuto saw through them. Before he noticed, he had already been deeply engrossed in this game of tag. He had never passed a summer vacation where he had racked his brain, run around, and sweated this much. 
Meaningless, hot, exciting, and mystery-filled days. 
He absorbed himself in the chase in that nostalgic summer sunlight. 
But in the end, Harutora didn't catch Hokuto a single time. 

On the last day of summer vacation, he decided to change his methods. Early in the day, he came to the park they had first met, and waited there for the whole day. He didn't do anything, just stayed in the park and waited idiotically, and in doing so even made himself wonder whether he had gone crazy. He endured the torment of the heat, sweating until he was almost dehydrated, but the thought of going somewhere to cool down never crossed his mind. 
Hokuto appeared at dusk. 
The instant the sun fell under the horizon, in the short moment when the light hadn't completely vanished, when the sky was dyed a magical indigo-- 
Hokuto's determined appearance walked straight up to Harutora, and she opened her mouth like she was going to come clean. 
But Harutora spoke first before she made a sound: 
"You don’t need to say anything, it's your win." 
She closed her mouth, her eyes sizing Harutora up, like she was speculating the meaning of those words. 
"I didn't catch you even at the end, so I think you probably don't want people to know your background, right?" 
Hokuto stood silently with an awkward face, but Harutora was beaming with a smile. 
"You're really crazy fast for a girl. But let me at least tell you my name. I'm Harutora." 
He stood up from the bench upon saying this, extending his hand. 
Hokuto looked intently at Harutora's hand like a small animal seeing food, and then her eyes - her slightly lowered, big eyes - gradually shone with light. 
She quietly reached out her hand, timidly touching Harutora's hand, and then she shook his hand firmly like she wouldn't let go. 
Afterwards, a blooming, naive smile emerged on her face - one that Harutora would often see in the future. 
Harutora barely understood Hokuto at all. A mysterious girl - Touji had called Hokuto this, but Harutora didn't care, since in the end he liked Hokuto being by his side. 
That summer day ended, welcoming in the fall, fall gave way to winter, and a year passed. The second year passed, and the two of them stayed as they were. Touji joined during the third year, and Harutora's surroundings became even livelier. 
The secretive girl and the juvenile delinquent - Everyone seemed to get along very well, and Harutora felt satisfied. 
So he didn't want to destroy the relationships between them three. 
So he wanted to always go on like this. 
That would be pretty nice, he thought.