Tokyo Ravens - Volume 3 - Chapter 4.5

Part 5 
"Are you awake?" 
Before him was Principal Kurahashi's steady smile. Touji sat up immediately once his head cleared up. 
This was the Onmyou Academy. Touji had been especially sent to a classroom used for practical training. 
He reflexively reached out his hand to feel his forehead. No horns. He relaxed - then his heart leaped again. 
"What about Harutora? He--" 
The Principal smiled wryly as she looked at the student asking this of her, then waved her hand lightly, motioning towards the LCD television in the corner of the classroom. 
Once he saw the image on the television screen, Touji's eyes inadvertently widened, and he groaned listlessly. The television was currently broadcasting the scene of a spiritual disaster, broadcasting an image shot from above - by helicopter. Maybe they had judged that getting close would be dangerous, so therefore they were filming from afar, but the image still vividly portrayed the scene's tense atmosphere on the television. 
Intense fire leaping everywhere. 
Exorcists chanting incantations. 
A giant, fearsome Nue. 
Touji looked up at the principal with a rigid face. 
"......Is this a joke? Could Harutora have run over there?" 
"Right, and actually Natsume-san and Kyouko are currently in that place. According to Tenma-san, Harutora-san immediately hurried over when you returned to normal." 
The principal simply explained to Touji how Natsume had accepted the Exorcist Bureau's request for assistance and the ins and outs of how Kyouko had ended up accompanying her. Touji's comprehension ability was strong, and he immediately grasped the course of events. 
"......That idiot......" He murmured those words, then couldn't say any more. 
"He's really a troublesome child." The principal also smiled wryly to agree with Touji's opinion. 
Then, the principal frowned, deliberately informing him with a businesslike tone: 
"...Touji-san, I have something to report to you." 
"R, Report?" 
"Yes. We were amplifying your 'seal'...... you probably won't understand the situation if I say it like that, right? Simply put, after you were sent to the academy building, we had already strengthened the most important part of the spell, and we were releasing the other parts of the seal. I fear that's the reason why you showed signs of demon transformation after you awoke recently." 
The principal's casual explanation gave Touji no small impact. He suddenly stared at the principal, unable to respond for some time. After a while, he murmured a question, unable to hide his shaking voice: "......Why......" 
"After the exam, when you were sent back to the academy building, I quickly contacted Harutora-san's father, truthfully reporting your condition." The principal replied resolutely. 
"......M, My doctor?" 
"Yes. After hearing of your condition, he expressed: 'Since my son is still functioning normally, I hope that you can allow the treatment to progress to the next stage.' We prepared a new operation on the spot, the treatment I just mentioned...... amplifying the seal." 
...Do you understand if I put it like this? The principal continued to speak with caution. 
"Your 'treatment' already progressed to the next stage just now. You are no longer simply suppressing the oni, it is more like 'regulating', bringing the oni under Ato Touji's control. For someone with a condition like yours, this kind of treatment method is extremely dangerous in a sense - In other words, this is a strong medicine." 
"............" 
Touji didn't speak, silently staring at the principal. The principal faced Touji's gaze head-on, her expression still serious. 
"Do you know why this is?" 
"......I don't know." 
"Since you came here and made the decision to become an Onmyouji, the treatment method has changed from simply binding the oni and eliminating the effects on your body as much as possible to actively using the oni's strength. Doing this is to allow you to have one more choice, to give you the right to not only beat back the oni, but instead to 'use the oni'." 
"......Oni......" 
Use? 
Those words struck Touji's ears like a thunderbolt. 
Spiritual disaster after-effects. Losing the future obstacles. Having a defect different from others. 
The oni inside his body had always played a hateful role that endangered him, and he originally thought this was 'natural', but now that the choice of 'using the oni' had suddenly been added, he only felt confused inside. 
"...Independent Officer Kagami is named the 'Ogre Eater'." A tremor ran through Touji's body when he heard this. "Do you know why he has that nickname?" 
"......No, I don't." 
"I thought as much - then allow me to tell you. He uses an oni, a powerful oni that succumbed to his hand. He doesn't summon it, but he directly absorbs the oni's strength, making the oni into his 'food' instead. The origin of his strength is the oni that he uses." 
The principle's words made Touji gape again. He vividly recalled Kagami's tremendous strength. That was an oni's strength? The strength of a spiritual disaster - a 'Type-Ogre'? 
The same as himself...... 
"But..." A smile finally appeared on the principal's face when she said this. But she wasn't smiling tenderly, and it was filled with provocation instead. "Don't forget the words your primary physician said. Your treatment will enter the next stage because you fulfilled a rule." 
Touji very clearly understood the meaning in the principal's words. 
Since my son is still functioning normally... 
The treatment this time was only meaningful if Harutora could restrain Touji and keep him from completely losing control. 
"............" 

Touji advanced straight ahead, with Principal Kurahashi following behind. 
"Master, you seem to be in quite a pleasant mood tonight." 
"Could we ask if something good has happened?" 
The two Komainu on either side of the academy building's main entrance chatted. They were the Onmyou Academy's guards, the mechanical shikigami Alpha and Omega. Principal Kurahashi smiled and replied to the shikigami's question, but Touji, who was walking in front, didn't even look at them. 
After walking out the door, the wind blew Touji's hair, which wasn't tied under the bandanna, into a mess. 
"Sending me out here is enough." 
"Hold on, I have something to give you." Saying this, the principal took out a charm from her clothing. "......This originally wasn't something that I could use..." She explained, then chanted an incantation, releasing the shikigami. 
A majestic white horse appeared accordingly, a black saddle and red reins draped on its body. It was stern and imposing, with a dignified manner. Touji knew this white horse's identity with a glance, casting an inquisitive gaze towards the principal. 
"Principal, could this be......?" 
"Right, it seems that you heard from Harutora-san. This is the Tsuchimikado family shikigami, Yukikaze." 
The white horse - Yukikaze - brayed, stomping its hooves and staring fiercely at the foreign summoner before it. 
"Actually, this is a charm that Natsume-san's father sent me. It arrived in the evening - just when you were conducting the exam." The principal spoke to the surprised Touji. 
"Wh, Why did he send the charm over?" 
Harutora had mentioned the Yukikaze was a legitimate shikigami that had served the Tsuchimikado for generations. This kind of important charm couldn't be entrusted to someone for no reason, not even the Onmyou Academy principal. 
But the principal just smiled and shook her head. 
"I don't know that either, but...... I fear he already had a premonition, since he can also read the stars, after all." She replied. 
Touji's lips thinned. 
He felt as if others were manipulating everything, as if everything had been set and he was just moving forward following a path that had already been laid down. But - so what. In the eyes of the people with the strongest power or the vastest knowledge, his current self was just a piece. Complaining was to no avail, and the most important thing before him was to walk his own path and advance straight ahead on the road that he chose. Since someone had prepared the horse in advance for him, he really had no right to grumble. 
Touji made his decision, looking into Yukikaze's eyes. 
"......Maybe you've never heard of me, but I know about you. I heard you were an extraordinarily strong shikigami, can you help me out?" 
He didn't know whether Yukikaze could understand human speech, but Yukikaze stomped its hooves after hearing, leisurely turning its head like it was telling him to stop speaking nonsense and hurry up and mount. 
Touji grinned, taking the reins, stepping on the stirrup, and lightly sitting on Yukikaze's back. 
Just then, the automatic doors of the academy building opened and a student rushed out, shouting: "Don't leave yet, Touji-kun!" 
"Tenma?" 
"Good, I made it!" 
Tenma who had rushed out of the academy building held a staff to his chest. It was the shakujou that Ohtomo had specially made for Harutora. He ran breathlessly, looking up at the stunned Touji on the horse. 
"......Haha, great. Honestly, I didn't have much confidence." 
"Confidence?" 
"Yeah, the confidence that I could look at you like normal after I learned of your situation." After saying this, Tenma held out the shakujou that he had carefully brought over, giving it to Touji who sat on Yukikaze. "I know that I'm not very good at dealing with this kind of thing, but...... it seems like I was unaffected. That's really great. Touji-kun is Touji-kun, and even a spiritual disaster won't change that fact." 
"You......" 
Touji was speechless for a while, but Tenma showed him his usual naive expression. 
"Can I ask you to give this to Harutora-kun? I think he will definitely be able to use it." 
"......Alright, leave it to me." Touji silently stared at Tenma's smile for a long time, replying with extreme gratitude and taking the shakujou. 
"...Yeah, I'm counting on you." Tenma spoke firmly. Touji couldn't help but turn away - then he turned back, nodding towards Tenma. 
"......I'm going." Then, he spoke to the principal. 
"Take care." 
He grasped the shakujou, lightly patting Yukikaze's neck and lightly murmuring into its ear: "......This is my first time riding a horse, but I have some experience riding a motorcycle without a license. Don't hold back, run as fast as you want." 
Yukikaze jerked its body, as if wanting Touji not to compare him with that kind of inferior good. Then, it lightly raised its front leg, sprinting out. 
There was only one destination. 
"Alright, let's go!" 
Under the principal's gaze and Tenma's encouragement-- 
Touji and Yukikaze dashed to the battlefield. 
"......They've gone." Tenma murmured after watching Touji and Yukikaze leave. 
The principal on the side suddenly turned her gaze towards the academy building towering next to them. "...The rest is up to him...... That sentence seems unnecessary." She muttered lightly, smiling slightly. 
"You're more fitting for the role of a teacher than I expected. I'm counting on you, Ohtomo-sensei."