Part 2
'I hope you can relay the message.'
'He' had said to her.
She hadn't been conscious of what 'he' had said - 'he' had spoken with her many times about how that was so that she would not have any memories of it. The movement of the stars had aligned. But their conversation had been more of a primitive transfer of feelings, and seemed difficult to transform into language. So it seemed like she was unable to remember anything extraneous.
But 'he' had spoken again.
Naturally, she would have to remember it this time. The connection had gotten interrupted before, after all. She was perplexed. It was quite hard on her, for him to suddenly tell her to do something that she had never been able to do. But 'he' had said 'don't worry' so cheerfully.
The effects of Taizan Fukun still remain right now. You'll surely be able to remember.
Okay?
She started getting more and more impatient after 'he' spoke so leisurely. Even if he said 'don't worry', she didn't have any confidence in herself. Also, his relaxed attitude actually implicitly made it even more important, even if 'he' didn't expressly say so.
Hold on a moment. It's not possible. But he had moved on, leaving her utterly shocked self behind.
The only way she could bring everything together now was to transmit her soul. [3]
The gods were ever-present.
This was true for all worlds simultaneously.
So...
"......So...... eh? W-What......?"
She suddenly became aware that she was mumbling quietly.
As her consciousness abruptly resurfaced, her clouded thoughts cleared up. At the same time, something that was in those clouds vanished like smoke.
She tried to grab for it, but tragically the memory slipped between her fingers. All that remained was a hint of wetness on the tips of her fingers. [4] "......Nn." That chilly sensation made her uneasy, and she grimaced and fidgeted.
Then, Souma Akino opened her eyelids.
.........A dream?
In her head that was still hazy from waking up was a vestige of the dream she had just seen. A nostalgic feeling from somewhere or other. The trace sadness that came from it made her chest twinge.
In any case, the sensation was momentary. Akino immediately focused her consciousness on the reality before her.
...Huh? This place is......
What Akino noticed was that she was somewhere she didn't recognize. A wide, tatami-matted room. She seemed to have been sleeping on top of a spread futon. She got up out of surprise.
"Hey."
She practically jumped.
The voice came from the girl sitting in seiza in front of the desk in a corner of the room. It was a girl she knew. Souma Takiko. That vivid red hair was unmistakable.
....Right. Harutora-kun was controlling me!
It had been evening. Akino, who had flew out of their warehouse hiding place alone, had been taken over by the 'Full Moon' inside her and had connected spiritually with the fugitive Tsuchimikado Harutora. Harutora had used magic remotely. In the middle of that, Dairenji Suzuka had showed up to take Akino back, and then <emph>she</emph> - Souma Takiko - had shown herself before the two of them.
Then, Tsuchimikado Natsume and Ato Touji had rushed to Akino and the others and Takiko's defensive shikigami Yashamaru and Kumomaru had shown up as well, sparking a confrontation. To be honest, they hadn't had any chance of victory. Akino and the rest would have fallen at the enemies' hands.
Harutora had linked with Akino, with the 'Full Moon' taking over her again. He saw their plight and made a plan. He controlled Akino to perform the Far Step magic. And with it, she traversed the spirit flow to move far away from that place - or had intended to, but Takiko and her two defensive familiars had gotten pulled in and moved far away... together with Akino, who had performed Far Step. In other words, Akino had become the enemy's prisoner in order to save Natsume and the others.
She very quickly recalled her memories and emotions from back then. But Akino's memories since jumping through the spirit flow were blank. It seemed that she had lost consciousness and slept since then.
She was now away from her companions and alone inside the enemy encampment. Akino's cognizance of that reality made her whole body stiffen up.
Takiko watched Akino with a slightly sad, troubled smile.
"You don't have to worry. I won't hurt you."
"......"
Akino looked wordlessly at Takiko. Rather than resistance, her lack of a response was simply because she was too nervous to form words. Though she was fully aware of this, she wasn't able to summon up any courage.
Moreover,
...This person is strange somehow......
She had felt the same thing the first time they had met, but this girl named Takiko had some kind of strange atmosphere around her. This girl was no less strange than the eccentric practitioners of Seishuku Temple, who had clearly been different from normal people. But Takiko's abnormalness was of a different kind compared to anyone who had been at the temple.
If she had to elaborate, she would describe it as something occultish, something similar to having a strong aura. She could feel an extremely strong spiritual presence from Takiko. But the root of Akino's feeling was not 'power'. It felt something like Takiko was 'far away' or 'higher' than she was in some occult sense. Of course, Akino had no clue of any reasons why this was.
However, during Takiko's momentary smile just now, she hadn't felt that vague strangeness. Akino slowly suppressed her nerves as she watched Takiko.
"......U-Um......"
"Hm?"
"Where...... is this?"
She fearfully tried asking a question. "Mm." Takiko returned a sound showing her pleasure that Akino's vocal cords were working.
"This is one of the buildings owned by the Souma. You didn't seem like you'd be waking up after losing consciousness from using Far Step. So I brought you here for now. We had a base in a different hotel before, but that spot was found out."
Takiko explained to Akino in a very amicable tone. From her demeanor, it felt like she was going to give Akino room to calm down.
"You slept through the whole night after that. Seemed like you forced yourself quite a bit."
"The whole night......!"
Unfortunately, there was no window in the room. But come to think of it, she had the satiated feeling of having gotten lots of sleep. Her stamina was also recovered.
...But this means......
It was now March 1st. Akino gritted her teeth at that.
And,
"...Princess. Excuse me."
Accompanied by a sudden voice, the aura inside the room wavered and the figure of a young man suddenly appeared. Akino's expression suddenly contorted and she took a guarded stance on top of the futon.
The young man wore a dress shirt and slacks. He wore a monocle and looked intellectual, but his slight smile was chilly, if not cold. A smile like a clear stream with a single drop of poison mixed into it.
He was Takiko's defensive shikigami, Yashamaru.
"With regard the earlier incident, it seems like we hit the mark. As you might expect, it was empty."
"I see. Is there anything that might turn troublesome?"
"We've taken care of everything."
Takiko nodded lightly at the shikigami's sharply-delivered report.
Then, she turned her gaze to Akino, and said:
"We've found the place Harutora was hiding."
Akino's eyes widened.
"That said, just like you heard, it seems like he's already changed locations. He hasn't slipped up."
"............"
Akino bit her lip as she looked at Takiko.
The place Harutora had been hiding was the deserted house place that had appeared in her mind while she had been connected to the 'Full Moon'. Even though she had been told they escaped, her heartbeat still sped up.
Also,
...What about Natsume and the others? What happened to them afterwards?
What she was thinking seemed to show on her face. Takiko smiled softly.
"I think Natsume and the others are fine. Also, we didn't do anything at all while you were sleeping. Like drawing out Natsume's location, for example."
Akino paled upon hearing that, finally noticing the danger that being captured by the enemy presented. Takiko wasn't lying about what she claimed, right? Imagining it made her shiver.
On the other hand, the shikigami shrugged at his master's words.
"It was the princess's orders. ......It's true that being careless with you might have unknown effects on the 'Full Moon' inhabiting you. In any case, once you fell into our hands, they would have left their hideout right away."
He said to Akino and her anxious expression.
"But, we have put a light seal on you. If not, our location could have been disclosed through the 'Full Moon' connection."
Akino sat up straight again upon hearing about the seal. She reached out and touched the top of her head. It seemed like her rabbit ears wouldn't materialize.
Cheerfully, Yashamaru said:
"Well, if you really want to, we could let you materialize those cute ears of yours. Although we'd have to surround you in a barrier to cut off any connection to the outside. The princess's safety is the first priority at this point in time. Targeting the princess would be the fastest way to turn the tables, after all. You'll have to bear with us."
Akino understood what Yashamaru was saying. Natsume's group - and of course Harutora - understood that Takiko was crucial to the Tenchuu Chifu Ritual that Takiko's group was planning. Right now, Takiko's group had the overwhelming advantage. And like Yashamaru said, Takiko could directly sway the fight.
Takiko was simultaneously the trump card and the Achilles' Heel of the Souma and Kurahashi.
"At any rate, you are part of the Souma bloodline. We won't treat you poorly, so please don't be worried, Akino-kun."
Saying that, Yashamaru smiled softly. But she couldn't stop worrying no matter what he said. On the contrary, the young man's amicable smile made her raise her guard.
This was enemy territory.
And Takiko and Yashamaru were Akino's enemies.
"......Well then. I was a bit worried, but your condition doesn't seem bad. There's someone who wants to take this opportunity to meet you. Can you come over here?"
Saying that, Takiko stood up. Akino startled reflexively.
But,
"...Akino."
When she heard that voice, her nervousness somehow melted away like frost in the sunlight. She herself was even surprised at her rapid change in emotions.
She felt relief.
Along with that, she was wrapped in a feeling of absolute safety and comfort that was completely out of the ordinary. It was her first experience like this.
Yashamaru's eyes narrowed as if in satisfaction, giving his master a side-glance from behind her. Akino stood up unsteadily, walking up to Takiko's side as if drawn to her.
She stepped out of the room. Here was the entranceway where shoes were removed. On the side was a door that looked like it led to a bathroom. Takiko opened the door, and in front of it was a linoleum corridor continuing forward. It was slightly odd, but perhaps this building had been a ryokan [5] before it had been bought.
Takiko left the corridor. Akino and Yashamaru followed behind her.
Takiko walked to the end of the corridor and went down the stairs. She went down one flight and then another. There were no more windows in the corridor anymore, so they must have descended underground. The stairs ended there, and Takiko walked into the corridor.
She stopped in front of a door. Unlike the previous room, this door had heavy-duty magical seals placed on it that even Akino's eyes could recognize. Yashamaru got in front and released the complicated seals. Then, he opened the door and moved to the side.
We'd like to talk with just the three of us. There had been no reason to listen to Takahiro's request, but Takiko had permitted it and left the room leaving Akino behind. After all, they had only been granted ten minutes. And as evidenced by the magical power seal, Yashamaru wasn't going to underestimate the Tsuchimikados one bit.
Only three days left.
But, there were still three days.
And it was inconceivable that Harutora would be sitting still. Because of that, Takiko's side had to pay close attention.
She had mentioned it to Akino before, but Harutora's best strategy right now was to aim for Takiko, the crux of the Tenchuu Chifu Ritual. Assassinating Takiko would immediately turn the tables. And Harutora wasn't the only one potentially taking aim at Takiko. The former Divine General Ohtomo Jin, whose whereabouts were as unknown as usual, was also somewhere. He in particular had carried out 'those kinds of jobs' many times during his period of active duty.
"Please be careful."
"...I know."
The master and servant exchanged brief words in the corridor outside the room.
And,
"......So here's where you were."
A young man materialized with that calm voice. An unrefined-looking young man wearing a parka. He was Kumomaru, one of Takiko's defensive shikigami alongside Yashamaru.
Yashamaru said:
"How was it?"
"As expected, I couldn't confirm."
"Any motion in the editorial department?"
"Nothing particular right now. It looks certain that she was acting independently, and it doesn't seem like she's come in contact with them since. If she's alive, she'll contact them eventually. The editorial department will get suspicious if news stops coming for a while."
"Hm...... Having only three days left puts us in a delicate situation. Speak to Kurahashi and get some people moving. Just to make sure, have the editorial department marked."
Yashamaru made a slightly difficult face at Kumomaru's report. "What's going on?" Asked Takiko.
In response,
"It's about the magazine journalist who was working with Kogure."
Yashamaru explained.
"We ought to have taken her into custody, but we put it off until after our fight with Kogure-kun...... When Kurahashi's Mystical Investigators arrived at the scene, she had already disappeared from the hotel. We couldn't catch her."
Wakamiya Rika, reporter for the 'Monthly Onmyouji', had partnered with Kogure and was drawing near the shadows of the Onmyou Agency upper echelon - in other words, Yashamaru and Takiko's plot. No, perhaps she had even 'arrived'. As Yashamaru said, they ought to have gotten ahold of her somehow, like they had gotten Kogure.
That said, she posed a much smaller threat compared to Kogure. They had thought there was no harm in putting off taking her into custody. After all, it would be impossible for an ordinary woman to escape from such an intense magic battlefield, or so they had presumed.
But when things quieted down and they had moved on to search for her, Wakamiya had vanished splendidly. Without a doubt, Yashamaru had been mistaken.
"My apologies for the failure. But her laptop was left behind in the hotel. We're still analyzing it, but she won't be able to access any of the evidence she was holding onto. Even if she speaks up now, it won't change anything. We're keeping an eye on the editorial department just to be sure, but we think that's sufficient in this case."
If it were a month before Hinamatsuri, they would have to investigate this even if it meant making use of the rank-and-file. It would have been a clear choice if there were ten days - no, even five days until then.
But now Hinamatsuri was the day after tomorrow. Now that they had come this far, it was fair to say there was nothing that a single common reporter could do.
Takahiro and the others calmly accepted it, but in fact, now that the Tenchuu Chifu Ritual was in its final stages, it was debatable whether they Yashamaru and the others needed them as hostages any longer. They had to be on guard for Harutora first and foremost, and after that Ohtomo. And then Natsume's group. With all that, they didn't have the time to care about a single magazine editor.
In Yashamaru's opinion, it was best if Takiko sat quietly and did nothing.
And,
"Understood. But......"
"Yes?"
"A festival ought to be rowdy."
She spoke like she was talking to herself. "Princess?" With a glint in his eyes, Yashamaru queried her intentions.
But Takiko didn't say anything more. She just turned to her defensive shikigami, making a bewitching smile.
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