Tokyo Ravens - Volume 10 - Chapter 3.3

Part 3 
Akino ran like the wind to the monastery. 
Tap - at the same time she leaped off the ground, her small body flew like an arrow, the wind she whipped up made the fallen leaves dance. She fearlessly flew into the flowing scenery. 
Rabbit ears had grown from her head at some point in time. A short, round rabbit tail also grew from her bottom. However, Akino didn't realize - or maybe she just didn't care - as she continued to run. 
She searched for Hokuto starting from one end of the hall inside the monastery temple. At that time, the ears on her head suddenly changed its direction intensely, and she set out to find Hokuto's presence. 
She suddenly accelerated. 
Normally, she would try not to run in the monastery, since she would be scolded for being 'dangerous'. But right now, those things no longer mattered. She was unconcerned about the obstacles on the road as well. With a hop, she jumped over the top of a stone lantern. With a swish, she swiftly passed over a fallen tree, her gaze jumping in all directions as she searched for Hokuto. Crunch crunch crunch - after she tread rhythmically on fallen leaves, she crouched her body low and leaped past a small, ancient pond. Most people were just watching from afar, so they didn't notice Akino. If they noticed the aura and came to check it out, Akino was long since gone from the area by the time they arrived. The girl ran through the monastery without being scolded by anyone. 
She sensed the heavy atmosphere in the monastery as she ran here and there again. 
One thing she could understand was that anxiety and confusion had emerged on everyone's faces. 
Even the ajari and seniors who were usually egotistic had become frightened, restless, and troubled by the imminent changes. Huge things had to be waiting for them in the future. It was a big event that could drag in even Akino, who could do nothing at all regardless, along with the powerful ajari and seniors. 
However, Akino had stopped worrying. She ran lightly, yet freely, like a gust of wind. 
She had looked around the entire temple but hadn't found Hokuto. Could it be that she had already left the monastery? The anxiety that suddenly overflowed from her heart made her chest tighten. But Akino immediately shook her head, denying her suspicions. 
Hokuto wasn't someone who wouldn't even inform her friends even if she did leave the monastery. Though she had only known her for a short amount of time, she understood at least that much about her personality. Since she wasn't in the temple, then she would just have to thoroughly search in other places. Akino picked up her speed, running to and fro in the monastery. 
After running everywhere and searching once, Akino finally spotted Hokuto when she returned to the area behind the hall she had been at earlier. She was surprised. She hadn't thought Hokuto would be with the monastery shikigami - with that Tengu. 
The place the two of them were was the very end of the monastery. The cedar trees suddenly parted in that area, leaving behind a broad, open space. Since the ground had crumbled from heavy rains the previous year, a large fissure had parted the forest there. Though it wasn't very steep, the surface of the ground was clearly revealed. 
Before her was a large swath of ferns. Akino accelerated with all her strength and leaped. 
Thump - in a flash, she jumped to a trunk of a cedar tree. Thump, thump - then, like that, she jumped from one trunk to another, leaping above the group of ferns as if performing acrobatics. 
She flew like a cannonball towards the place Hokuto and Tengu were. 
Akino suddenly flying out from the trees made Hokuto turn around and cry "Ah!?" out of shock. Akino still landed with her accelerated speed. She skidded on the ground while doing her best to keep her balance and not fall down. 
"...Ah, ouch!" 
She failed and tumbled in the other direction. 
It really hurt. 
"......O-Ow......" 
"Ah, Akino!? What happened to you? A-Are you alright?" 
Hokuto ran towards Akino, who had fallen from the sky. She came in contact with the same sweet aroma as before. A big bump had risen on the back of Akino's head. She called out "Hokuto......" while sitting up. Fortunately, her glasses hadn't broken from the fall. 
"Sorry. I started running without even knowing it when I was looking for you, Hokuto." 
"Looking for me? What happened?" 
"It's not like that...... Ah, but why are you in this kind of place, Hokuto? Also--" 
Come to think of it, Akino who had been constantly looking up at Hokuto turned her gaze in Tengu's direction. 
"Why are you with Tengu-san? Did Tengu-san say something again?" 
The shikigami called Tengu was standing with a tengu mask tied around his head like always. He stood in a position slightly further away from the two. His expression couldn't be seen on the face on his huge, abnormal body because of the tengu mask. His figure seemed like a mountain-dwelling monster in the deep cedar forest below the dim sky. 
Of course, he was a familiar shikigami to Akino. Although she wasn't wary of him...... The incident yesterday night...... 
Hokuto also seemed confused. 
"Well, I'm not too sure. This shikigami suddenly appeared when I was returning after checking the situation in the monastery...... It beckoned for me to come without saying anything, and then I just came to look." 
Hokuto's expression when she had seen Tengu had been even more confused than Akino's. Then, the Tengu that had called her over had stood there without doing anything after all. Akino raised her eyebrows. 
Indeed, Tengu often just stood still like that or wandered the monastery when he wasn't following anyone's instructions. Sometimes he would also climb trees and stand on the tree branches in complete silence. 
But she had never heard of him calling someone over like this. Of course, that being said, she had seen Tengu speaking for the first time last night. What exactly had happened? Akino stared at Tengu while listening carefully and furrowing her bros. 
"Then Akino, why are you here? You even said you were looking for me." 
"Eh? Ah, that's because......" 
Akino faltered for a moment upon being asked about this again. She lost the momentum that she had run all the way here with and felt a bit embarrassed instead. 
She couldn't be like this. If she equivocated here, her words would have come to nothing. 
"Because I-I'm very concerned about Hokuto." 
"Eh? W-Why?" 
"Because you became very strange after you learned that that Tsuchimikado Harutora person was coming, Hokuto. How is that related to the 'goal' you talked about?" 
Once Akino confirmed it directly, Hokuto's tone started to waver. As expected, it was the case. Akino breathed in and continued speaking. 
"Hokuto, you seem like you're in an urgent situation right now. It's more like you've been forced into a corner than just not having any freedom to act." 
"You...... You could see it?" 
Akino nodded honestly to Hokuto's question. 
"So I'm very worried about you. That's why I came to find you. Because--" 
Akino choked up as she spoke. 
"We're... friends......" 
Her face was hot. She was probably already red. Her heart thumped as it leaped and her ears also trembled slightly. 
"Akino......" Hokuto was very surprised. She closed her mouth tightly and turned her face away. Hesitation and indecision were written on the side of her face. Though Hokuto didn't say anything, Akino could see that her heart was conflicted. 
Akino didn't say anything either, waiting for Hokuto's reply. Hokuto's hesitation slowly turned into decisiveness under Akino's gaze. 
Then, 
"......It's as you say, Akino." 
Hokuto nodded and admitted. 
"I came to the dark temple because I learned that he would come here through my father's divination. I came here to meet with him." 
"......Is that Tsuchimikado Harutora person your friend?" 
"Yes. I'm......" 
"Tsuchimikado." 
Tengu suddenly spoke. The two of them turned in the shikigami's direction in surprise. 
The tengu mask was on the shikigami's face, so needless to say it was very difficult to read his expression or even his gaze. But right now, they could clearly sense that the shikigami was looking at the two of them. 
Tengu slowly raised its thick, long arm. 
"Look." 
He pointed at Hokuto. 
"Hokuto, possessing, dead person." 
"............" 

Hokuto's eyes widened as she gazed at Tengu. Akino continued listening in confusion to the dialogue between Hokuto and Tengu. 
"Hokuto is, Tsuchimikado family's, dragon." 
"......Why do you know this? You, what are you......" 
"Corpse is, Tsuchimikado family's, kin, right?" 
Tengu questioned. Akino instantly looked up at Hokuto. 
Hokuto, noticing Akino's gaze, turned her face from Tengu to Akino and smiled calmly. Then, she turned back to Tengu's direction, straightening her back and drawing up her chest. 
Her expression tightened. Hokuto replied nobly to the shikigami's question, her black hair and the ribbon tied in it swaying. 
"Yes. I won't hide it any longer. My name is Tsuchimikado Natsume. I was adopted by the Tsuchimikado main family not long after birth and was raised as the next family head. Tsuchimikado Harutora is my childhood friend." 
"...!" 
"Also...... It's true that I'm a dead person. Last summer, I was resurrected from death. ......No, I was just awakened, and right now I'm still barely maintaining my current state." 
Those words that were half a confession to Akino continued. 
It would be a lie to say that Akino wasn't surprised. She had received quite a shock. That was undeniable. 
But, 
"I see." 
Akino spoke as if sighing. Hokuto froze in surprise. 
"What." 
"......Eh?" 
"Hokuto, I thought your situation was scarier from how dramatic you were." 
"......Ah, Akino?" 
Hokuto seemed flustered at Akino who smiled rather than feeling tense. She had sincerely spoken the truth and completely conveyed it. 
"Do you understand, Akino? I'm someone who was resurrected after dying once, you know? There's nothing more taboo than that. It was one of the most reviled forbidden arts...... An unforgivable thing. Akino, even you should......" 
"Hey, Hokuto." 
"...Eh?" 
"Good and evil change depending on the time, occasion, and position. Hokuto might have died and been resurrected by a forbidden technique, but no one here cares about that kind of thing. Well, maybe there are people who care, but they won't say anything about it or do anything. Of course, I'm like that too." 
Those words were all the truth. 
The people in the monastery were diverse and varied. Also, no one was concerned about anyone's past. If someone had once died, then at most they might feel a bit uncomfortable around them, but the way they treated her wouldn't change. Maybe it was a bit different from the 'outside', but 'Seishuku Temple' was that kind of place. 
The final destination of people with nowhere else to go. That was Seishuku Temple. So there were actually many people with various circumstances, pasts, evils, and destinies living together in the monastery. Hokuto's 'fate' was just one of these. 
More importantly, judging from the current circumstances, it seemed like Hokuto hadn't done anything incredible. It wasn't her fault for being born and raised, and she probably hadn't thought of and orchestrated something like her resurrection after death. 
Then the Hokuto whom Akino recognized wasn't a liar or a villain, but the same Hokuto as always. That was the thing she was happiest about. 
"So you don't need to blame yourself like that." 
"B-But." 
"No. Hokuto's such a beautiful and gentle and good person. Even if you're half alive or dead, Hokuto is Hokuto." 
Akino spoke naturally and Hokuto stopped moving as if she had been struck. 
Her beautiful eyes were so wide that they might pop out. Why were Akino's words able to touch her heart like this? 
It seemed like she had properly conveyed them. Akino giggled shyly. 
However, 
"......So that's how it was." 
The voice that suddenly arose didn't come from Tengu. Rather, it was the voice of a young man. 
Akino and Hokuto suddenly spun around as if they had been struck. They looked at the cedar forest that Akino had just flown out from. On the other side of the swath of ferns that covered the roots of the trees stood a man in a suit. 
"I truly have to admit. Miyoshi Tougo is truly very valuable." 
The young man said this, taking out a charm. 
"...Order." 
As he said this, he placed the charm on his wrist. The placed charm ignited, instantly burning away the ferns. 
Akino flinched in fright, drawing back her body. The young man slowly walked up the opened path. 
That was first-class magic. The seniors also used fire magic when they were cooking. But the magic the young man controlled - while practical and a bit rough - was very effective, giving Akino an ominous premonition. 
Hokuto quickly stepped forward in order to protect Akino. Only then did the shikigami called Tengu slowly turn around, but by then the young man saw only Hokuto. Hokuto took a confrontational stance with a resolute expression, watching calmly. 
"Tsuchimikado Natsume." 
The young man announced. 
"I can't let up after hearing that name no matter what. Especially now that Tsuchimikado Harutora will be arriving soon." 
Akino suddenly had a thought as she wondered who this person was. There were only three people in Seishuku Temple that Akino didn't recognize right now. Those were the Divine Generals dispatched by the Onmyou Agency. However, there was one woman among the three of them and one person who was older. 
Then there was only one person remaining. 
"I'm Yamashiro. A Mystical Investigator." 
The young man gave his name. 
"I don't know how important you are to Tsuchimikado Harutora...... But at least he deliberately used forbidden magic to resurrect you from death. You can probably become a bargaining chip. For now, I'll escort you back." 
Hokuto's eyes instantly became sharp. In comparison, the young man's mouth curved into a mocking smile as he happily stepped out. 

 

A terraced mountain road was connected to Seishuku Temple. 
An Onmyouji stood in front of this mountain road, raising his head to look at the mountaintop. 
The mountain was covered with large, ancient cedar trees. The mountain top was enveloped in gray clouds. Even looking around casually, he could feel like it had been accumulating something for a long time from its awe-inspiring appearance. It felt like a remote mountain. 
The Onmyouji nodded, muttering 'how nostalgic' as he turned to look behind his back. 
An ancient warehouse-like structure stood there. It was a design completely different from the Front Hall that he had known, but it seemed to still bear the name. 
Just then, a truck drove up next to the Front Hall. The Onmyouji's gaze returned to the North Star Mountain from before and he took out a cell phone. 
"...Senpai? How is it over there?' 
"They're already deployed." 
"Understood. Then, I'm going over." 
He ended the call, a calm smile surfacing on his face. 
"You two, are you ready?" 
"Of course." 
"Yeah..." 
The Onmyouji nodded at these invisible voices and then strode out.