Part 3
What a pain. She focused on keeping a wry smile off her face as she sat elegantly on the sofa, wearing a professional smile.
In the receiving room [10] of the Onmyou Academy building, four people including Kyouko smiled around a table.
Sitting next to Kyouko was an old man wearing a suit - the current principal of the Onmyou Academy. Across from her was a young female reporter holding a notebook and pen, along with a photographer who pointed the lens of his camera at her every so often. In addition to four cups of cooled green tea, a voice recorder was on the table.
This was an interview for a magazine.
"Kyouko-san's father is Chief Kurahashi Genji, right? In other words, Kyouko-san is the daughter of the famous Kurahashi family--"
The principal gracefully replied something like "Yes, that's indeed the case, as you say" to the smiling female reporter asking a question she knew the answer to.
"Chief Kurahashi himself is a National First-Class Onmyouji, and Kyouko-san inherits the Kurahashi bloodline. Kyouko-san stands a head above the excellent Onmyouji gathered in the academy from over the entire nation......"
"And you have such stunning looks. Kyouko-san, you must be very popular among the male students, right?"
"No no, you're exaggerating......"
"Hahaha, she's the daughter of the Kurahashi family, so she's an unreachable flower in the eyes of the male students."
"Oh my, doesn't that feel upsetting for you as a girl?"
"No no, you're exaggerating......"
Keeping up this deliberate smile was making her face muscles cramp up a bit. Her only salvation was that she didn't have to spend effort thinking about what to say, thanks to the principal replying to the reporter's every question before she said anything. That said, she wondered whether the principal could make some more normal reply, but the principal seemed quite happy.
The current principal was a temporary Onmyou Academy principal that the Onmyou Agency had arranged for, a replacement for Kyouko's grandmother Kurahashi Miyo. He looked like one of her father's followers, but it looked more like he submitted before her father's powerful image than he actually held the same ideology. In that sense, it was correct to call him a peaceful, 'normal' person. He would probably faint if he learned that her father was the mastermind behind the Twin-Horned Syndicate.
He was making various reforms to the Onmyou Academy's ways in order to change the exclusive impression of Onmyouji and to cooperate with the opening of the magic community that her father advocated. Activities like magazine interviews with students were one kind of these reforms.
Kyouko secretly glanced at the table. Other than the green tea placed in front of her, there was also the business card that the female reporter had given her before the interview.
The magazine was called the 'Monthly Onmyouji'.
Though the title was very stiff, it wasn't actually a professional magazine. Instead, it was a magazine covering topics on magic and Onmyouji aimed towards ordinary readers. It was the most classic name among similar magazines. Indeed, this 'Monthly Onmyouji' had been the first to call the Onmyouji who passed the Onmyou First-Class exam the 'Twelve Divine Generals'.
Kyouko had once loved to read the special section of the 'Child Prodigy' Dairenji Suzuka, and even now they were put away in some corner of her room. Although thinking of the exaggerated, idol-like Suzuka from those reports now made a kind of bitterness rise up in her heart.
"I see~~, how interesting. Actually, when I came to view the New Year's Ceremony last month, I was completely drawn in by Kyouko-san's shikigami dance. Not only is she beautiful and an outstanding student, Kyouko-san has an extremely good disposition. Kyouko-san will certainly be a future Divine General and the star of the next generation."
"So very true. After all, many of the Divine Generals are graduates of this academy. Our Onmyou Academy's roster is quite famous, isn't it? Right, Kyouko-san?"
"No no, you're exaggerating......"
Kyouko felt more and more fatigued as she carefully answered the courteous questions.
According to what they said, the Onmyou Academy New Year's Festival that had been broadcasted live on television last month had caused quite a stir among the Monthly Onmyouji readership. Since it was very rare for an error to happen in the middle.
An unexpected group of shikigami had formed during the shikigami group dance, leading to the failure of the dance.
In the end, the reasons weren't understood. The principal had squelched the topic, choosing to brush it off rather than probe for reasons. Their former teacher Fujiwara-sensei had resigned at the same time as her grandmother. With that, perhaps Kyouko was the only one in the Onmyou Academy who knew the 'culprit' of this 'incident'.
A warm light shone in Kyouko's heart when she thought of the scene from back then.
Who would have known that she would be chosen like this.
Allegedly, the Monthly Onmyouji's interview this time was to ask about things related to that New Year's Ceremony, but they hadn't received permission from the principal and they hadn't been able to publish a report on the New Year's Ceremony last month. Wanting to get some dirt on the incident before it subsided, they had set their eyes on the next-best target, Kyouko - that was probably what this development was about.
According to what the female reporter said, it seemed like the readers of their magazine wanted Kyouko to become a new professional idol in place of the Child Prodigy who hadn't shown her face in a long time. Give me a break.
...Anyway, it would be nice if she could be inconspicuous and avoid interviews like Tenma.
That said, she had been suddenly called over without warning for an interview this morning, so she hadn't prepared anything.
First off, her divination practice was still continuing, but she hadn't been able to see anything new about Harutora, Natsume or Ohtomo. Now that everything she did was being monitored, it was best not to provoke any unnecessary suspicion. Because of that, she concealed her true disaffection in her heart.
"Oh right, Kyouko-san? Two years ago, you were at school with the Child Prodigy Dairenji Suzuka when she became a special student, right? Did you get along well with her?"
"Hm? Ah, yes."
Kyouko accidentally stopped smiling at the sudden question and nodded unconsciously.
Upon seeing this reaction, the female reporter smiled proudly and continued asking:
"As I thought, you got along very well as top students?"
"Y-Yeah. Uh... we talked a lot, and...... and...... um, Su-- Dairenji-san really looked up to me. Yeah."
"I see. As I thought, 'birds of a feather' still holds true."
She took notes as she looked at Kyouko.
"Dairenji-san's already returned to the Onmyou Agency now. Are you still in contact with her?"
"N-No...... She's very busy, I think...... And it might not be good for a student to be too familiar with a National First-Class Onmyouji from the outside."
It was true that she couldn't contact Suzuka. After all, Suzuka and Kyouko were both actually being imprisoned. In addition to contact with each other, contact with the outside was extremely difficult.
Because of that, Kyouko felt heartfelt gratitude for the next question.
"Do you have anything you'd like to say to Dairenji-san in the Onmyou Agency?"
She couldn't say the important part, but at least this could reach her.
"......I'm always supporting her. Even if we can't meet, I'm always supporting her."
In the end, the interview continued for more than an hour after school ended.
The students had mostly all returned to their dorms, and Kyouko was left to walk out of the back door alone. Now that Kyouko's life was being monitored, she had to be driven to and from school. Of course, taking small roads was forbidden. She had gotten used to driving around the academy by car.
There weren't even any students left in the hallways to talk to Kyouko. She silently headed to the back door.
Just then.
"Aah, great, I found you."
"Ah, uh, you're the one from before......"
On her way to the back door, someone suddenly called out to Kyouko. It was the female reporter of the Monthly Onmyouji from earlier. The cameraman wasn't with her, so it was just her.
"I heard that you took a car from the back door every day, so I waited for you."
"Ah......"
The female reporter smiled at the confused Kyouko.
"Sorry for suddenly calling out to you. Can I have a bit of your time again?"
"Eh? Are you continuing the interview? Then you need to ask the principal for permission......"
"AH, it's alright, it's alright, I'm not asking about the New Year's Ceremony."
"But......"
Kyouko looked towards the back door. After she walked out the door, she would immediately be pulled into the car by members of her household and shuttled back home.
But though the female reporter asked for permission, she pulled Kyouko into an empty classroom of her own volition. Even if she was a member of the media, she treated underage students in a surprising way.
Those thoughts were immediately expressed on her face. The woman laughed devilishly.
"Your family members will capture you once you go out, right? Here, have this."
"......Canned coffee?"
"I bought it before coming here, it's probably already cold."
"Ah, no, that's not what I meant......"
She ignored Kyouko's confused expression and thrust the coffee towards her.
The reporter was very young, probably twenty years old. Her inconspicuous suit and pants were indistinguishable from a normal office lady's.
But Kyouko's interest was piqued when she noticed her expression changing, especially by her vitality-filled eyes. They had maintained a distance during the interview from before, since it would be unprofessional of them to be too involved.
After giving Kyouko coffee and opening her own share, she said in a friendly voice:
"Sorry. I actually wanted to invite you to a nice coffee place, but it looks like you don't even have the freedom to do that. Man, it was hard work, you know? It was really tough to get an opportunity to approach you. I definitely wouldn't be able to handle that way of life. You've for some strong endurance."
"............"
Kyouko finally became alert.
Even though Kyouko was the daughter of the Kurahashi family, she wouldn't have investigated this much beforehand for a mere student interview.
"......Who are you?"
"Eh? Ahh, don't worry. The Monthly Onmyouji identity wasn't a lie. The business card from before was also real. Do you remember my name?"
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