Tokyo Ravens - Volume 4 - Chapter 3.3

Part 3 
After school ended that day, Harutora immediately took action and headed towards the first-year classroom in order to find Suzuka as early as possible. 
He didn't actually know what he would talk about after meeting her, but he would rather strike of his own initiative than cower in the classroom waiting for the opponent to attack. 
Following yesterday, Harutora had appeared in front of the classroom two days in a row, and the new students' attentive gazes were more excited than yesterday. Unfortunately, he had still drawn a blank this time and heard at once that Suzuka had already left the classroom. 
With the lesson from yesterday, this time Harutora unhesitatingly left the first-year classroom. 
"......Kogure-san shouldn't have come today, right? Could it be that she already went back......" 
Compared to how she always appeared at a deadly moment, he just wasted his time even when he took the initiative to go on the offensive, running around in circles. 
Harutora decided that today he would go to the academy rear entrance first to test his luck, but he really didn't have any luck to speak of, and didn't notice Suzuka on the way to the rear entrance. If she had already left the academy building, it would really be difficult to find her by relying on the strength of a single person. 
"She's not here, huh. I'll wait here for a bit." Saying this, he opened the door, checking the situation outside. 
There were narrow alleys accessing the main roads outside the academy building's rear entrance, the lanes small enough to barely accommodate cars passing through. Almost no one traveled these small alleys, but when Harutora walked outside, he noticed that there was a figure walking towards the main road. 
She wore a pure white uniform, her body small, her uniform's size overly large and the sleeves overly long. He seemed to recognize the figure that was quickly trotting away. 
"Ah, Senpai!" Harutora hastily called out and the female student stopped walking in response, turning around. She was the third-year senpai that he had run into after school yesterday. 
She seemed to also remember Harutora. After all, she had been the one to recognize Harutora first yesterday and speak with him. 
She looked backwards over her shoulder. 
"Ah, the little girl's--" 
"I'm Tsuchimikado Harutora! Also, senpai knew me long before I introduced myself, right? Why do you say 'little girl' as soon as you see me? And what words were you planning on attaching at the end!" 
"Master." 
"At least put 'shikigami' in the middle there, please." 
Once talk like 'the little girl's master' spread, the criticism received would surely surpass what he received for being Suzuka's ex-boyfriend. Doing this and that with a shikigami in the form of a young girl wasn't something that could be fudged over easily. 
Harutora decided not to mind this matter for now, rushing up to the senpai who was about to walk onto the road. 
"Senpai, I have something to ask you--" 
"What is it? Little girl shikigami's master?" 
"......I didn't mean I wanted you to call me that......" 
"You have a lot of requests." 
"I don't have a lot of requests at all, I just want you to call me by my name like normal!" 
"Young people these days speak really impolitely." 
"Senpai, you aren't allowed to say that." 
"Though I'm small, I pay attention to hierarchy when I speak." 
"That has nothing to do with body size." 
"Thine words must contain respect." 
"What kind of hierarchy is that! You're just messing with me!" 
He just wanted to hear of Suzuka's whereabouts, but he hadn't made any progress. Harutora breathed deeply, desperately holding back his impulses and trying to stay as stable as possible. 
"Alright...... Senpai, could I ask whether you saw Dairenji Suzuka before you left through the back entrance? You know who Dairenji Suzuka is, right? She's the 'Child Prodigy' of the Twelve Divine Generals." 
"I know, the little girl who confessed to you." 
"......Don't mention little girls any more." 
"The 'Child' in 'Child Prodigy' describes a girl who is little--" 
"Did you see her or not!" 
Harutora thought that he would probably have a very hard time seeing this senpai as an elder. Spit scattered as he roared loudly, wondering about how it seemed that he had started shouting at people everywhere since yesterday. 
Before Harutora's raised voice, the senpai replied honestly: "I saw her." 
"Huh, really? Did you see her here?" 
"I won't tell you for free." 
"Tch." 
"I want to see the shikigami from yesterday." 
The senpai made her request leisurely. Harutora stared at her, cursing this damn girl on the inside. Of course, the senpai's calm expression didn't waver at all from this. 
"......Kon." 
Harutora reluctantly called Kon and Kon immediately appeared in midair and descended to the ground as her tail and hakama lightly swayed. 
"You heard her, right? Please greet her." 
"A-A-As you command......" After Kon replied, she furiously cast a vicious gaze towards the senpai. 
The shikigami Kon was extremely loyal to her master Harutora but had a bad attitude to others. In particular, she would exhibit explicit animosity when facing those who endangered Harutora. 
She naturally displayed respect towards the senpai on the surface and was hostile in her heart. "......Greetings, I am Kon, the descendant of the ancestral fox Kuzunoha, the retainer of Tsuchimikado Harutora-sama." She spoke bluntly and made a bow done as a formality. 
However, the senpai immediately knelt down to see Kon's lowered face clearly. Looking from such a close distance made Kon inadvertently look up. 
The senpai held her gaze at a similar height as the restless shikigami's, staring at her without looking away. Her blank eyes rounded slightly, her lips tight. Since her expression was blank, her appearance looked quite frightening. 
"Ah, senpai! I just let you look at her, don't do whatever you like." 
"How rude, I wasn't doing that." 
"You're staring so hard at her that those words really don't sound convincing." 
The senpai didn't respond, still staring intently at Kon. Did she truly like little girls that much? Harutora couldn't help but worry. 
...But...... 
Though Kon was young, her appearance was quite proper and exquisite, like a Japanese doll. On the other hand, though the senpai's appearance didn't count as peculiar, she was also a truly beautiful girl. If Kon was a Japanese doll, then senpai was a bisque doll. 
These two people - and both were very small - looked at each other from a very close distance. To the eyes of Harutora who looked on from the side, this scene was like two living dolls looking curiously at something similar to themselves. 
"......Nn." 
The senpai stared for about one minute and finally stood up, recovering to her usual placid, calm expression. 
"How satisfying." 
"......That's good." 
"But I haven't tasted--" 
"I'll hit you!" 
"I'm joking." 
The senpai spoke calmly, but Harutora couldn't laugh and Kon's face became dismal. Though it was to obtain information, this wasn't an enjoyable mission after all. 
"Did you make this?" 
"How's that possible, I'm not that incredible. She's a shikigami that serves my family - the Tsuchimikado branch family." 
"I see......" The senpai nodded. "So you didn't set that seal either?" 
Harutora couldn't help but ask back upon hearing that unexpected question: "Huh?" Then, he immediately thought of an incident that had happened before. 
The first time Ohtomo had met Kon, he had also said something similar, mentioned something like a 'seal'. Harutora hadn't heard of anything related, but since Ohtomo-sensei and the Onmyou Academy third-year student believed this, they couldn't possibly both be wrong or mistaken. 
...There was a seal on her? 
The person herself, Kon, was taken aback when she heard what the senpai said. It seemed that she herself didn't know about this either. 
His own shikigami had a seal that he didn't know about. Harutora was actually quite troubled, but he and Kon had gotten along for more than half a year, so Suzuka's matter was a priority right now. 
"You said you would tell me, so where did you see Dairenji?" 
Harutora asked again. Things had been a bit too frustrating just in order to ask about this small matter. 
However, the senpai didn't directly reply to Harutora's question. She raised her right hand wordlessly, pointing a finger, and "...One, two..." counting to three in front of the perplexed Harutora and Kon. "Huh, so this is where you were." Suzuka just happened to open the back door and walked out of the academy building. "Dairenji!" Harutora also turned his head in shock. 
"Where did you go just now?" 
"I wanted to ask you that, I even especially went to your classroom." 
"What? For what?" 
"N, None of your business! ...Ah, right, I went to find Tsuchimikado Natsume, you shouldn't even need to ask......" Suzuka replied, her expression a bit flustered for some reason, but Harutora didn't actually have the energy to observe Suzuka's reaction carefully. 
"Did you see him?" 
"No, he wasn't there anymore when I arrived." 
It seemed that Natsume had left the classroom a step ahead and hadn't crossed paths with Suzuka. Harutora, whose face had paled from fright, finally relaxed his breath. 
"I, I see, so we just missed each other." 
"Missed...... Could you have come to my classroom to find me?" Suzuka smiled coldly, deliberately showing a disgusted - but she actually didn't look like it - expression. "You should just give up on that thought. I said before, but I have no interest in you, so please don't follow me around however you want." 
"Shut up, why would I follow you around." 
He had just been tossed around by a senpai and now he was being tormented by a kouhai. Harutora couldn't help but wonder whether the Onmyou Academy had any normal students at all. 
"Whatever, do what you want...... Right, senpai? Th--" As Harutora turned around, the senpai's figure was no longer there before he could even finish speaking. 
"H-Harutora-sama." Harutora looked along the direction Kon pointed, and noticed that the figure of the senpai's back had appeared on the road, about to turn around the corner of the academy building. She was really a random girl. 
"......What a difficult person to understand......" 
Harutora scratched his head with a bitter face. Suzuka knit her brows, not understanding what had happened. 
But-- 
Once she noticed Kon, her expression changed for some reason. At the moment, all of Harutora's attention was on the senpai, and he didn't notice her change. She hid the wavering in her heart, desperately keeping calm. 
"......Why were you looking for me?" 
"Well, it's nothing actually......" Harutora didn't know how to respond to that question. "R, Right." He pondered and the finally asked with an awkward tone: 
"Are you free later?" 

They walked into a random nearby fast food store. Strangely, Suzuka seemed restless as soon as they entered the store. 
"What's wrong?" Harutora asked. 
"N, Nothing! I just don't come to this kind of store very often......" 
Harutora was greatly surprised and couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Suzuka hadn't entered this kind of fast food store before. As a result, Suzuka lambasted him and he ended up having to treat her to a burger, fries, and a milkshake to cool her down. 
But-- 
This girl really was very similar to Natsume...... 
They both lacked societal 'common sense', which was enough to prove that they had grown up in a peculiar environment. In the eyes of a normal person, the magic community was quite a peculiar world in the first place, but they knew nothing of the world outside the magic community. 
...So they were all lacking in unexpected areas. 
Harutora thought while looking at Suzuka sipping her milkshake through a straw, reacting in great surprise to the sticky feeling. 
"......Hey, you couldn't be thinking about something opinionated, are you?" 
"Oh, you're very keen. I was just thinking you were pretty cute." 
"Uwah, you're so annoying! What are you joking about, don't forget your position, your place is under mine! You small fry!" 
Suzuka let go of the straw, her face red. Harutora showed a smile, his expression leisurely. 
Then-- 
Harutora looked for the next topic, but he actually didn't have any goal other than resolving Natsume's problem. If he had to say so, he might grudgingly count 'enhancing mutual friendship' as the current goal. 
Harutora turned his thinking into chatting mode. 
"Are you used to the Onmyou Academy yet?" 
"I'm warning you, don't take that kind of arrogant attitude! Do you think you're amazing or something?" 
"Hey, that's not what I mean, I was just chatting. It's nothing to get agitated about, right?" 
"Nonsense, look at your overbearing demeanor!" 
"You're just deliberately picking on things...... Oh, but I can probably guess the answer, it's not too unexpected." 
"What? What does that mean?" 
"In any case, you definitely can't integrate with everyone, right?' 

"I-I-It's not your business! Especially since I didn't intend to from the beginning! Not one bit!" Suzuka howled angrily, but Harutora just smiled wryly. He added milk to his hot coffee. "Isn't that a bit of a pity? Maybe you'll find some people unexpectedly interesting after talking." 
"Let me remind you again, don't forget who I am and remember it well with that useless little brain! Someone interesting? Idiot, how could there be anyone interesting, their levels and mine are way too different!" 
"Other than the Twelve Divine Generals, you won't find any others who can match you in Onmyoudou power. Actually, you shouldn't stick to level gaps. Even if your levels are different, I believe there are a lot of people with charming natures." 
"What the hell are you talking about, you're talking like an old geezer. And what's a charming nature?" 
"One of the best examples is right in front of you." 
"God! Please don't take idiots as interesting, alright? Low-level and stupid, it really sucks to be you!" 
"Well, you're too young, you still don't understand my charm...... Better eat your hamburger while it's still warm, do you know how to open the wrapping paper?" 
"If you dare look down on me again, I might kill you!" 
Once he felt that she was similar to Natsume, Harutora's chatter couldn't be stopped for some reason. In addition, he could freely speak words that he was unable to say to Natsume's face. Could it be that Touji had assigned this matter to him because he had seen through this already? 
Harutora smiled on the inside, chewing the hamburger in his hand. He only noticed when he was halfway done eating that Suzuka's forehead was sweating and her eyes were staring unmovingly at the hamburger. 
Harutora couldn't help but snicker, wordlessly reaching out his hand without paying heed to Suzuka's exclamation from the side. He silently opened the wrapping paper, putting it back on her tray. 
Suzuka gaped blankly, then said: "......Tch! S, So it's that simple! You just pull it open!" 
"Right, it's that simple." 
"I'll kill you! I'll definitely kill you!" 
"Hey, why are you so ungrateful." Harutora smiled, drinking a mouthful of coffee. 
Beforehand, he hadn't expected that he would be chatting so happily with Suzuka, and even if Suzuka griped, he knew that she was similarly cheerful from the atmosphere of the chat. But, she would definitely throw a tantrum if he pointed this out. 
"Honestly, it would be good if you kept this kind of aggressive attitude in your class." 
"Idiot, how many times do I have to say before you understand, I need to consider my position. Do you understand what a position is or not?" 
"Is that position so important to the current you?" 
"What? What exactly are you--" 
"Let me ask you, is your identity as a Divine General so important?" 
"Uh--!" 
Suzuka couldn't say anything for a while, depressed. Harutora feared that maybe he had carelessly touched a sensitive topic, hastily continuing to speak. 
"Well, of course I don't understand how much self-respect a Divine General has, and I'm not sure what kind of position you're holding onto. But I think that entering the Onmyou Academy is a great opportunity for you, and...... Your brother's matter has also come to an end already, and you have to think about your future now. Maybe you can find a new goal." 
Harutora spoke sincerely, his tone like always. His remark had no intent of reproaching her at all, but Suzuka's eyes widened as she listened, staring at Harutora. Her face reddened...... Faint moistness showed vaguely in her eyes, and her lips were pressed tightly together. She didn't make any response. 
Harutora didn't have any other thoughts, but once he saw Suzuka's response, "Uh." He couldn't help but think about what he had said. "......Sorry, that was thoughtless of me. Those things are very important, whether your identity as a Divine General, or...... the matter of your brother." 
Suzuka's life experience - she had mentioned the situation regarding her parents with her own mouth last summer. Her parents were Onmyouji and had used their biological children as experimental subjects, killing their son - Suzuka's brother as a result. 
When Suzuka had been born - even since before she was born - she had been irrevocably tied to magic. She hated and cursed it, but she was still indoctrinated with her biological parents' magic. And to revive her brother, she practiced desperately, aspiring to become a powerful Onmyouji. 
In Suzuka's heart, being a Divine General definitely had quite far-reaching implications. 
"Sorry." Harutora sincerely apologized to Suzuka. Suzuka didn't say anything. On one hand, Harutora regretted his thoughtlessness, but on the other he clenched his teeth to endure the silent, depressed atmosphere. 
After some time, "......Why......" Suzuka spoke with her head lowered. 
"What?" 
"......Why are you so......" [6] After managing to force out those words, she pressed her lips together again, falling silent. But just before Harutora planned on opening his mouth, she raised her head as if sweeping away the haze in her heart, stubbornly staring at Harutora. 
"......That little girl with you just now was a shikigami, right? Was it yours?" 
"Huh? Oh, right...... But I didn't make her." 
The sudden topic confused Harutora for a while, but he still replied truthfully. After Suzuka heard that, her expression became clearly surprised. 
"Y, You didn't make it?" 
"No, her name's Kon, she's a shikigami who serves the Tsuchimikado branch family." 
"......I, I see, I thought......" 
"Thought what?" 
"No, well......" 
Suzuka stammered, a self-derisive smile suddenly appearing on her face. "That's true, how could you make such a refined shikigami. Also...... her type isn't similar to the shikigami from that time at all......" A crooked smile hung on her lips as she muttered as if talking to herself. 
Harutora's body trembled when he heard that. Upon seeing his dark face, a shocked expression - though maybe he was mistaken - instantly flashed over Suzuka's face. Her lips trembled, hesitating as she decided whether to advance or retreat. A brief yet intense struggle assaulted the girl. In the end, she finally couldn't hold back but call out: "Wh, What about you?" 
"Wh, What does that mean?" 
"You don't hate me?" 
"Hate you? Why......" 
"Idiot! Of course the shikigami from back then, the one that I killed!" Suzuka's face teared up and her emotions burst forth as she tried to conceal her tears with anger. "I destroyed your shikigami and you yelled at me to shut up and stared at me so fiercely, how can you deny it!" 
Harutora was speechless, and at the same time, he spurred himself on forcefully in his heart. 
This moment had finally arrived. 
Unrelated to Natsume's true identity, and meaningless towards gains or losses. 
If he planned on continuing to interact with this girl Dairenji Suzuka, right now was the crucial moment. He definitely couldn't mess up. 
He didn't need to lie. It would be enough to bring out his truthful self and reply sincerely. 
Harutora smiled slightly. 
"You're really an idiot." Right, he needed the truth right now. "Don't worry, you were the one who won't ever be able to see your brother again because of us. As the one who wasn't able to reach out to her, I'm the only one who needs to worry about Hokuto's matter. You don't need to hold it to yourself." 
Suddenly, a teardrop finally fell from Suzuka's eyes. Harutora felt a strong shock, incredibly ashamed of himself. 
Harutora had never noticed nor expected that she would be concerned this much about Hokuto. How exactly had he seen Suzuka? He always paid attention to the false appearances of the Divine General brat with a twisted personality, and as a result, hadn't he been the one to overlook her true side? 
She was so alone, she didn't even have anyone to open her heart towards. 
Once she noticed she was crying, Suzuka hastily wiped away her tears. Harutora didn't open his mouth, his entire body frozen and immobile. 
After she wiped her tears, Suzuka looked straight at Harutora again, her moist, round eyes reflecting Harutora's figure. "......I......I, I......" Her words half-spoken, they refused to come out as if stuck inside her chest. She went silent, seemingly unable to get a hold of her complex and enormous emotions. For some reason, that appearance looked like the quite crucial situation of a child desperately reaching out her hand for help. 
"It's alright." Harutora took the initiative and spoke, more or less placating the girl's emotions. Then, he thought of something important. 
"Ah, right. Sorry, you don't need to burden yourself with Hokuto's matter, because she isn't actually dead." 
After hearing Harutora's confession, Suzuka's expression changed, taking some time to understand that remark. 
"......What does that mean?" 
"Uh, she...... though she was a shikigami, she wasn't exactly the same as a normal shikigami. It's hard to explain, but she didn't actually have her own will, and was controlled by some other practitioner--" 
"......L, Long-distance control? Sh, She was a simple shikigami?" 
"Right, that's it. Anyways, that shikigami was made pretty sophisticatedly...... So even you didn't see through it immediately. But that Hokuto - that shikigami Hokuto was at best just a 'container', and the true Hokuto - the person who talked and laughed with me - should still be living somewhere in the world." 
"............" 
Suzuka was speechless upon hearing Harutora's explanation. She attentively listened to every word Harutora said and stared intently at his face, her expression as if she had suffered an intense shock. 
Harutora continued to speak: 
"Honestly, that was what made me decide to enter this world...... There were many reasons why I made this decision, but the majority of it was because I thought maybe I could meet Hokuto's controller again. That person's definitely an Onmyouji, so if I become an Onmyouji, we might be able to meet some day." 
Harutora told Suzuka the dream that he had never confessed to Natsume and Touji, wholeheartedly only wanting to slightly lessen Suzuka's remorse. If Suzuka cared about Hokuto, maybe knowing this matter could let her unburden her heart. 
However...... 
After hearing Harutora's explanation, Suzuka's body trembled and then stiffened. "......What kind of joke is that." The tone leaking out of her mouth was stilted, overturning Harutora's predictions. Then, the gaze that Suzuka looked at Harutora with was no longer clear and simple. The corners of her mouth curled, suddenly forming a savage smile, self-deprecation rapidly emerging on her face. 
"Damn." She cursed. 
...Huh? What was going on? 
Harutora's heart leaped, not understanding why Suzuka's mood had suddenly changed so much. Upon seeing Harutora's reaction, Suzuka's mouth drew back even more. A smile like fresh blood dripping from a wound emerged on her face. 
"......Whatever, this is so annoying. Anyway, I didn't need that kind of thing in the first place, so it's enough if I'm satisfied......" Suzuka spoke to herself, her voice giving off an appalling force. An electric chill ran through Harutora's back when he heard it. 
"Wh, What are you saying?" 
Harutora almost reflexively called out Kon, simultaneously regretting his orders at the beginning when he had commanded her not to appear no matter what happened. 
Suzuka caught Harutora with her gaze, suddenly leaning her body forward. "......I......I'll rely on my own strength and get a 'new self'......" She held on to a will that seemed like it could crumble anytime as she stared pressingly at him. The fire of 'determination' burned in her gaze, the flames of a 'decision' that she would chase 'something' without fear of being hurt. 
Right as her voice faded, her look suddenly shifted into a battle state. She clicked her tongue fiercely, overturning the chair as she stood up, casting a gaze behind her that was sharp as a knife. 
"Damn! There really was someone watching!" 
"What?" 
"You! Your stealth is too simple!" 
Suzuka barked, quickly forming a blade seal and slashing her hand seal behind her - towards the table on the other side of the partition. 
The magical energy cleaved through the air, still eye-catching even though it had been sealed, and exploded in midair. 
In the next second, as he 'saw' an intense flash of light, a figure appeared and leaned out of the shadows towards them from a place that had been originally empty - no, a place that he had not noticed a presence from at all. 
A dark Onmyou Academy uniform. 
Jet-black hair tied with a pink ribbon. 
"Aah!" 
With her magic broken, that person tumbled to the ground from her chair. There was a pair of unbefitting simple glasses on the face that looked up at Harutora and Suzuka with trepidation...... 
"............Ah?" 
Harutora's body went limp, momentarily forgetting his shock and fretfulness. His entire body went slack as if the vital force and mental force in his body had disappeared in a second. 
Suzuka also stared blankly at that person. 
That person's face was red, her body frozen. 
Harutora was careless for a moment. "......Natsume, why are you......" Once the words left his mouth, he realized he had gaffed, but unfortunately it was too late. It was over. Harutora looked at Suzuka. 
Then-- 

 

Who was this person - she didn't need to think much, Suzuka already realized. Everything happened instantaneously like a spark triggering a chain reaction. 
I remember this person. 
I always had that face in my heart and couldn't forget it, since after all she was one of the people who obstructed my plans. I was even more concerned after that incident happened, because she was the girl by Harutora's side. 
The girl from that day who wore miko clothing, accompanying Harutora by his side. And also-- 
"......Natsume, why are you......" 
Simply put - though Suzuka wasn't clear on the reasons why she was dressed as a male for some reason - with this, she could understand why she had been there back then, her magic unbefitting her age, and her reason for stopping Suzuka together with Harutora. 
Tsuchimikado Natsume. 
This girl was the miko from back then. 
The encounters with Harutora immediately appeared in her mind. Every time Tsuchimikado Natsume was brought up, his attitude would become strange. In other words, this was a secret that couldn't be told to others. Tsuchimikado was the main family 'son' to outsiders, but this was actually a lie concealing her true identity. 
Not only this. 
...'The true Hokuto'... 
"......Right." 
High-level techniques that could even conceal her from Suzuka. 
A reason for always being with Harutora. 
...'She's still somewhere.' 
"......So that's it." 
Just then, a burning anger that even she couldn't help but be surprised about controlled Suzuka's mind, and a cruel personality - one that even she herself feared - broke its shackles. 
A smile emerged on her mouth, her tangled emotions making her sneer leisurely. 
She looked at Harutora, looking at his pale face and dumbstruck appearance, and her eyes moistened again. 
This time, she made absolutely sure not to cry again. 
"Now...... things are becoming more and more 'interesting'." 
That's right, she definitely couldn't cry again. 

After the disaster happened, the hollow sound of a ringtone emanated in the fast food store. 
The ringtone came from Harutora's phone. 
'Sorry, Natsume might have gone to find you.' 
When Touji's message arrived, things had already progressed to the point of no return.