Tokyo Ravens - Volume 2 - Chapter 4.2

Part 2 
When Natsume regained consciousness, she was lying on the ground with both her hands tied behind her back and the ankles of her feet also tied with rope. 
She couldn't make sense of the situation for some time, widening her eyes and raising her body. 
"......The magic practice field?" 
Natsume happened to be lying on the arena where the shikigami battle had been held yesterday. 
Why - once she thought this, the memories from before she lost consciousness instantly awoke. 
"Ah, you're finally awake." 
The suit-wearing Mystical Investigator stood to the side, speaking while gazing at Natsume who lay on the ground. 
"You......!" 
"Oh, shout and yell as much as you please, it doesn't matter since the sound won't reach above. But I implore you to not act rashly for your reputation's sake." 
The Mystical Investigator showed a cold smile, respectfully bowing towards Natsume on the ground. 
"First, I should apologize for the incident a few days ago. My comrade became impatient and did something undignified. Though, I'm not too willing to call that person a 'comrade', even if he holds the same respectful attitude as I, as our ambitions are inconsistent, in particular since the difference in our abilities is too great." 
Natsume couldn't help but doubt her own ears upon hearing the Mystical Investigator's words. When 'the incident a few days ago' was mentioned, she could only think of one person, the Yakou fanatic who had appeared before her before Harutora and Touji entered the academy. 
"It would be fine if that person had just done his duty properly, but unfortunately he grew restless upon hearing of your outstanding performance. Not that I don't understand his feelings, as in the end, my heart is also jumping for joy." 
The Mystical Investigator snickered, his appearance simply seeming like a different person's compared to the young man she had become familiar with, who had come to investigate after she had been attacked by the Yakou fanatic. The displeasure and anger from being tricked made Natsume's white face swiftly flush red. 
"You called that man a comrade, so could you also be......" 
"Correct." 
The Mystical Investigator became polite again, bowing proudly like a child. 
"I am truly honored to be able to pay tribute to your true self like this. Heir to the Tsuchimikado family, Tsuchimikado Natsume-sama, my great King of the North Star." 
Natsume moaned in despair. 
The North Star King was the moniker that fanatics worshipped him by. The North Star referred to Polaris [14] , which occupied an important position in Onmyoudou. Those people compared Polaris to 'the night's radiance', and hence Yakou [15] , and they deemed their master a king in imitation of his retainers Hishamaru and Kakugyouki, thereby spawning a nickname. Of course, Yakou himself never referred to himself as such, and because of this there were very few people who called him the 'North Star King'. 
"Why!?" 
Natsume still felt it hard to believe, unable to hold back her shout. 
"You're a true Mystical Investigator belonging to the Onmyou Agency! Why would you be together with that kind of person like a Yakou fanatic--?" 
"It's not to proper to address your own believer as 'that kind of person', so could you please retract that manner of speaking? In particular, you don't need to be surprised, there are quite a few worshippers of the North Star King in the Onmyou Agency." 
"Liar!" 
"You think I'm lying? Actually, isn't such a situation natural? How do normal people who don't understand magic criticize the King of the North Star? Only people who are versed in Onmyoudou can understand his greatness, and there is no place in the world with deeper relations to magic than the Onmyou Agency, isn't that right?" 
The Mystical Investigator spoke regally. Natsume felt a great shock, since his explanation sounded extremely convincing. 
The Onmyou Agency could be said to be the modern Japan's Onmyou Bureau - the headquarters of Onmyouji. But at the same time, the Onmyou Agency was also the lair of Yakou fanatics, which was no small matter. Even if there weren't many, they might bring huge effects to the magic community someday if their true identities weren't exposed. 
"However, the vast majority of people currently related to magic enjoy the grace of the North Star King's undertakings, yet they bury the North Star King, seeing his existence as taboo. Far too foolish! How could those actions be anything but ungrateful? I wait to correct that mistake as soon as possible and revert the king's improperly disparaged reputation." 
The Mystical Investigator spoke and suddenly stared unblinkingly at Natsume. His gaze was hot and eager. He walked in front of her, slowly kneeling to the ground. 
"I wait to atone before the great king, for forcing you to descend to this world again to clear his own stigma...... That is truly a great insult, and thus I am disgraced. But now, I only wish to kneel before you as soon as possible and ask that you forgive my indolence and permit that I offer my entire services to my king's future greatness...... You came for this, right, Yakou-sama?" 
The Mystical Investigator peered into Natsume's eyes, apologizing reverently. 
The young man used exaggerated speech and motions, pure faith showing in his eyes. That faith was completely distorted - insane. 
A chill ran through her body and the illusion of her body temperature dropping straight down assaulted Natsume. She was glad that she was lying on the ground, as if she had been standing, she might have collapsed to the ground from her trembling legs. 
Because of the rumors about Yakou's reincarnation, she had suffered quite a bit of scorn and had been feared ever since she had been born. She had often even been forced to bear impossibly high expectations. 
But among all of those emotions of the people who had seen her as Yakou, never once had this kind of 'affection' showed up that made her so terrified and physically sick. She felt like her teeth were chattering and desperately clenched her jaws. 
"I...... I'm not Yakou......" 
Natsume muttered, opening her mouth to letting out the fear and filth from her heart. 
With those words, the young man's face momentarily changed. He no longer showed the proper, upright appearance like before, but instead he gave off an appalling air, his dark face giving off an extremely narrow, distorted belief filled with prejudice. 

But, he quickly regained his calm and even forced a good-intentioned smile, slowly standing up. 
"Natsume-kun, I can reach confidential information that is not revealed to the public due to my identity. I'm very clear on what happened. The 'Child Prodigy' Dairenji Suzuka and the 'Armored Juggernaut' both showed up, right?" 
"Wha......" 
Natsume's eyes widened in surprise as the summer incident was suddenly mentioned again. The Mystical Investigator couldn't help but grin at that reaction. 
"Do you understand my feelings when I heard that report? Not just me, my comrades were all ecstatic. Many years before, there were rumors indicating that you were the North Star King's reincarnation, but after receiving that report, we finally had proof of the rumor's truth! If you remember, I said that one comrade among us couldn't help but take early action because he heard of your outstanding performance, right? Now, we have already distanced ourselves from our lengthy hiding and have made various preparations to welcome your awakening. We have waited for the moment the North Star King awakens for a long time, the days creeping by like years!" 
The Mystical Investigator spoke glowingly with zeal. 
Natsume was shocked again. The incident with Dairenji Suzuka was an important 'turning point' in her life and she couldn't forget about it even if she wanted to, but now it was a 'past event' that had 'already ended'. She had never dreamed that this incident would lead to a great uproar in a place that she didn't know of. 
But-- 
"That wasn't done by my strength alone." 
Natsume murmured quietly. As if he hadn't heard clearly, the Mystical Investigator asked: "What did you say?" 
"That incident wasn't resolved by just my strength alone. It wasn't me who defeated the Armored Juggernaut and stopped Dairenji Suzuka by myself, it was Harutora and I - we were only able to successfully resolve it by combining our two strengths. We were only able to achieve such surprising results because we combined our two individual strengths. You say you were 'very clear'? How laughable, you don't know anything at all! Don't think that you can make a conclusion about Harutora and I by just relying on your own selfish conjectures." 
"You, that......!" 
The pleasure on the Mystical Investigator's face shattered. 
The dark face that had flitted across him just now showed from underneath his pleased expression. A callous face appeared along with violent spasms in his shoulders and hands like he was shivering from cold. 
"Ignorant...... Far too ignorant and clueless...... This is the king? Unbelievable...... Unreasonable...... This is......!" 
The Mystical Investigator’s proper appearance twisted into something inhuman, like a severe lunatic. 
But, regardless of what kind of grave shocks his faith received, he was still a Mystical Investigator. He forcefully suppressed his agitated feelings, muttering fiercely. 
"Hah! The King hasn't awakened, I cannot act with undue haste and improperly attempt to speak directly with the king. But Natsume-kun, let me tell you something to help you awaken. That brat you seem to call Harutora should be currently breathing his last due to the kodoku that I released!" 
The Mystical Investigator hurled those words with a vicious tone, and only then did Natsume truly feel like her body temperature had actually dropped rapidly. 
She reflexively searched for Harutora's aura. A 'link' of spiritual power had been created between them ever since she had gifted him with the spirit-seeing ability and allowed him to become her shikigami. Natsume could feel Harutora's presence however far the two were from each other. 
But, she finally noticed that her strength had been sealed when she tried to search for aura. 
Four charms had been stuck on to her chest, shoulders, and back, and their use was to restrain her spiritual power. With that, she was powerless, unable to even summon her servant shikigami Hokuto since she couldn't use magic. 
"Did you only notice that now? How truly careless. What's more, what do you think this place is? This is the magical practice field, and the center of the arena, right?" 
There was a first-class barrier around the arena in order to keep magic that was cast inside the magic practice field from affecting the outside. Natsume couldn't establish a link with magic even if she tried to trace Harutora's aura. She couldn't help but be stunned. 
The Mystical Investigator laughed coldly. 
"Do you feel very sad that your fancied shikigami will die? But, you don't need to be upset, as I will take the burden of being your next shikigami - your retainer to guide and protect you. I am the one fit for the awakened King. I am the new Hishamaru!" 
The Mystical Investigator spoke nonsense wildly and arrogantly, and Natsume didn't pay them any heed, her mind occupied with thoughts of Harutora. 
She remembered that she had fought with Harutora during the noon break. She didn't believe that Harutora would die like that, but Harutora was helpless facing the kodoku unleashed by a specialist Mystical Investigator. 
A dark despair shrouded Natsume and her wide eyes could only see darkness. 
"Is this real......" 
A quiet voice slowly dripped like blood from Natsume's lips. 
But... "......What's going on?" The Mystical Investigator suddenly raised his head, moving his gaze above and away from Natsume's body. 
A clump of fog entered through the entrance to the spectator seats. 
A clump of slowly moving, pulsating, living fog. 
It was a kodoku. The Kodoku rushed straight towards the arena from above the spectator seats and was blocked off by the invisible barrier's wall. Even though it was blocked, the kodoku still continued to charge forward, trying to force itself through. Moreover, the Mystical Investigator standing in the center of the arena gave off an intense anger and hatred. 
"How is this possible! The kodoku I released was somehow returned?" 
He shouted with a dumbfounded look. At a loss, Natsume looked up towards the spectator seats with her tearful face. 
Not long after-- 
A definitely unmistakable voice passed through the barrier from the other side of the entrance that the kodoku had rushed in from, reaching Natsume's ears. 
"--Natsume! You're alright!" 
Natsume breathed deeply.