Tokyo Ravens - Volume 13 - Chapter 1.1

Chapter 1 - Dark Clouds Yonder 
Part 1 
The towering skyscraper was a high-rise office building in Roppongi Hills. 
Seeing this magnificent scene, Natsume held back her aura and quietly waited for the opportunity as she looked at this magnificent scene. 
As it became time for lunch, a large number of people came out from the building. But this had all been anticipated. A confusing crowd of people was more effective for escaping the eyes of others than perfection of her stealth magic. Natsume surreptitiously passed over several interlinked walkways with the crowd. 
There were four people with business in Roppongi. 
Natsume and Touji were easy to spot because of their aura, so they were waiting in the wings at a place very far away. They were fighters who would move to help out in an emergency. In other words, they were fighting strength there to allow their friends to escape. 
Also, the main contact was Momoe Tenma. Tenma, with no distinctive features, was currently the most skilled at concealing himself from spirit-sensing abilities. Also, his aura wasn't as easy to spot as his other friends. The spirit flow in the city had been hugely chaotic since that night, and the state of aura was very unstable. The numbers of spiritual disasters were several times greater than before. That was why there was much more potential for stealthy infiltrations. 
Of course, that wasn't a good thing...... 
"......" 
Natsume looked below the walkway. Down there at the corner of a wide road and next to a tree by the street was a temple as small as Jizo Hall [1] . It was the mechanical-type shikigami 'AR4 Guardian' of the spiritual disaster early detection sensory net. Natsume silently watched the crowd of people walking around nearby. Not only was aura unstable, but the traffic network was still in a sluggish state due to the effects of the frequent spiritual disasters, especially in Shinjuku and Kichijoji. After all, the first Phase Four in two years was a big deal. 
Even Natsume had been able to clearly sense this spiritual disaster with her level of spirit-sensing. It stung her nerves. Perhaps all the Onmyouji in Tokyo's darkness had the same feeling. 
"Natsume......" 
Natsume heard Touji's voice. Natsume shook her head and sighed. The voice she heard hadn't come from her phone, but rather from the internet group call. These messages had been constantly coming since they had arrived here. 
"A lot of people are going away over here. The situation's very serious." 
Natsume checked the time. It was 12:50. The pedestrian traffic would reduce after the noon break time ended. It would be very easy to get spotted when that time came. 
"I know. Retreat for now. Kyouko, perform divination again." 
"Hold on." 
This time was Tenma's voice. Extremely excited, he said: 
"He's here, it's Kogure-san." 
"Where?" 
"Across from where I am. Natsume-chan, you should be able to see that convenience store, right?" 

Natsume immediately moved towards one side of the walkway in the mentioned direction. A man was walking next to the bicycle lane. His ability was visible even from a distance. He was Kogure Zenjirou, one of the Twelve Divine Generals. An opponent since the night they had reunited. Natsume bit her lip, staring at him. 
"Tenma, can I go?" 
"Wait, don't cross yet." 
"Natsume, I'm a bit closer, let me go." 
That voice came from the final person participating in this operation, Souma Akino. 
Natsume hastily stopped her. "No, don't, you can't keep approaching him like that, you're the backup..." 
"It's fine if I'm just sending a message. Just like with Tenma." 
"Akino..." 
Akino's aura was very easy to spot. Especially for Kogure. But she was the backup member who would help Tenma escape in an emergency. She needed to stay on standby, and couldn't be allowed to act on her own. 
Natsume's eyes widened. She was extremely tense. 
"Ah, wait, Tenma-kun, there's a van coming from behind." 
Two vans stopped one after another in front of where Natsume was looking. Not long afterwards, two men came down. They were Divine Generals who had shown up last year at Seishuku Temple. 
"It's Mystical Investigator Yamashiro and Special Senser Miyoshi." 
"Ah?" 
"Don't disturb the aura for now, everyone. Stay as you are and move away from this place. Akino too, okay?" 
"Yeah." 
"This didn't work either? Bastards!" 
"Natsume-chan, maybe I should still try approaching them. If I keep watching them, there might be an opportunity to come in contact with Kogure-san." 
Natsume rejected Tenma's proposal, since after all there wasn't much time. If they gave up here, who knew when they would have another opportunity like this? Fortunately, only Kogure had noticed Tenma's aura. Yamashiro and Miyoshi still hadn't noticed. They might notice him if he approached them posing as an ordinary person. 
But...... 
"No. Don't. The Mystical Investigators are probably familiar with your information, Tenma-kun. Those two should know you too, so you can't endanger yourself here." 
There was no time, so they couldn't argue here. They needed to move carefully. 
Natsume breathed deeply, issuing instructions to everyone. 
"Everyone retreat, but don't panic."