Tokyo Ravens - Volume 11 - Chapter 1.3

Part 3 
"......Uwah, it's so cold......" 
The moment he walked out the entrance, the chilly outdoor air made Momoe Tenma's body shiver. 
His breath was faintly white. After Tenma tucked his chin into his scarf, he stuck his hands into the pockets of his coat and quickly left the house. 
The house Tenma lived in was around Gokoku-ji [4] . It was an old area with narrow, complicated, criss-crossing alleyways. There were transfer routes in Nagata-cho and Ikebukuro to Shibuya where the Onmyou Academy was, but Tenma normally always walked to Zoshigaya Station and took the train all the way to the central lines. Though the distance was longer by foot, he deliberately chose to walk because he liked walking through the alleyways. But he couldn't help but regret his choice in this kind of frigid morning. Of course, since he did this regularly, he wouldn't change his course because of the cold. 
In any case, his body would warm up quickly if he was active. Tenma quickly headed to the station at his normal pace. 
A disappointingly dim day was above his head. Around him was a winter scenery lacking color. Maybe the scenery had become dim because he had returned to a plain, ordinary feeling after the 'happy' days of Christmas and New Years. Tenma's brief winter break had ended a few days ago. 
But he would have to get used to this ordinary feeling very quickly. After Tenma glanced at his wristwatch to check the time, he hastened his pace. 
After walking for a while, he ran across the Arakawa Line track. His view expanded, his vision broadened, and he was able to see the buildings of Ikebukuro. He turned along the track and the entrance to the subway was immediately visible. But at the same time, the wind increased in intensity. Tenma drew back and furrowed his brow at the cold, gusting wind. 
At that moment. 
"E-E-E-E-Excuse me!" 
Tenma stopped in surprise at the sudden, loud apology from next to him. 
The one apologizing was a girl about middle-school age. A coat covered her sailor-type uniform and her hair was tied into two pigtails. A rather cute girl who wore glasses like Tenma. But she was an unfamiliar face. Moreover, she was red-faced for some reason. 
Tenma couldn't help but look left and right, checking that there were no other people nearby. In other words, this girl was apologizing to Tenma. But why? Of course he had no idea. Rather, his mind couldn't keep up with the abruptly changing situation. "Um......" After Tenma let out an insecure voice, he just stood there, dazed. 
Then-- 
"Um, you are M-Momoe Tenma-san, right?" 
"...Ah, yes......" 
He replied immediately, feeling shocked this time out of something other than reflex. 
After all, this was an unfamiliar girl. But why would she know his name? Or had they met once before? But he ought not to have forgotten metting a girl from another school. Or had she been in ordinary clothing when they met? No, but...... 
Confused, he desperately dug through his memories. 
However, while Tenma was unsettled-- 

"U-Um! T-This! P-Please read this!" 
That girl thrust her hands straight forward, not looking properly at Tenma's face either. 
She gave him a letter. Even Tenma realized the situation when he saw this. But his confusion worsened even further. 
"Eh? E-Ehh?" 
He looked left and right for no reason again. After all, it was the first time in his life that he faced this kind of situation. Also, they were close to the station. There were people going to work and class passing by at this time. Actually, although the people passing by didn't stop, they all shot Tenma and the girl a glance without exception. One of them - a woman who looked like an office lady - smiled mischievously with an "Oh my, hoho." His chill from before had vanished like an illusion and his face rapidly heated up. 
"P-Please! H-here!" 
"O-Okay--!?" 
The girl suddenly pushed forward the letter. Tenma couldn't help but take it, swept away by her momentum. 
Immediately, the girl turned around and ran off down the asphalt road. 
"W-Wait--" 
Tenma spoke up in a panic, but lost his words there, his eyes wide. That was also because the girl who had given him the letter had instantly slipped into an alley and vanished. An astonishingly fast sprint. Truthfully, Tenma was dumbstruck. 
"......W-What's going on?" 
He stood there blankly for a moment. A bolt from the blue. In any case, he was more shocked than happy or embarrassed. 
His face red, Tenma moved his gaze to the letter dropped in his hands. 
A name was written on the pink letter. But he felt inexplicably tense just by holding it. Tenma decided to put it in his backpack for the time being. Then, without any deep intentions, he flipped it over and saw the other side of the letter. 
Tenma's expression tensed up, and a tension different from the one before flashed through the eyes behind his glasses. 
A small mark was written on the other side of the flipped letter. It was a simple mark. Not one of the heart-shaped marks that were commonly used in love letters. 
A star mark. A five-pointed star drawn in one stroke. 
Tenma was extremely familiar with this mark - the pentagram. 
"............" 
Tenma put the letter into his backpack, then walked down to the subway station entrance as if nothing had happened at all.