Tokyo Ravens - Volume 5 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3 - Six People's Conference 
Part 1 
A building covered the horizon and the sun gradually sank on the other side. 
In a corner of Shinjuku Kabukicho [22] , a small alley was sealed off with magic so that no normal pedestrian came through it. The orange sun dyed the surrounding scene, making one unable to help but feel a mistaken sense of slowing time. 
The brief period when day and night switched, Omagatoki. 
"......Begin." 
A man silently listened to the brief command that came from his headset. A large van was stopped by the sealed-off alley and the man sat in the innermost seat of the van, stretching his feet down the narrow aisle and lying listlessly across the seat back. 
This man could be described with one word, which was 'inauspicious'. 
He was of a young age, about twenty years old. His body was thin and gave off a proud air as if he had been carved out with a knife. He had a head of short hair dyed silver, and his ears were pierced with many earrings. 
A fur jacket was complemented by jeans, and sunglasses whose lenses were plated with silver film obscured the expression on his face. His wildly arrogant, mocking smile looked as if it had been carved into his lips like an old scar, and the 'X' scar on his forehead made onlookers shudder even further. 
He was an independent exorcist - Kagami Reiji of the Twelve Divine Generals. 
Kagami crossed his arms, sitting in the seat and focused on listening to the message that came from his headset. A sharp gaze shot from the eyes underneath his sunglasses, passing through the tinted car window and staring intently at the office building it faced. 
Using his spirit-seeing ability, Kagami 'saw' the aura of at least several people enter the third floor, fourth floor, and fifth floor. These people possessed a strange, abnormally strong aura. The people in the building who noticed that there were threats 'invading' from the outside - they also possessed strong auras - hastily counterattacked. 
Magical energy spilled forth, forming one magic after another, attack and counterattack. Magic constantly connected and traded. 
A magical battle. 
There was a group of practitioners battling in the building across him. 
Not long afterwards, the sound of shattering glass, things falling to the ground, screams, angry roars, and the sound of incantations being chanted even reached outside the building. The opponents were resisting stubbornly, and the reports that came to his headset became more and more agitated. 
But-- "......We didn't get anything." Kagami muttered, snorting with his nose. 
"Uh...... Reiji? Are we not going? If we don't go soon, the action will be over." A trepid voice sounded to confirm, politely urging Kagami on. 
Other than Kagami, there was also one other person left in the van. That person sat in the seat one row in front of Kagami, looking up at the building unblinkingly, his face almost pasted to the car window. 
That person was a thin, slender young man, his long hair tied behind his neck, with a delicate appearance that looked like a beautiful girl's at first. However, he gave off a childish air from his body, looking like a simple-natured, weak boy. 
The young man sat uneasily in the narrow seat, his hands holding a thin package to his chest. It was a sword bag used to hold a katana. 
"Hey, Reiji." He turned his head to look at Kagami behind him, continuing to call out. "Are you not going? Then should I go myself?" 
His voice was high-pitched, his tone like a child begging his parents to let him go out and play. Though he had requested patiently, Kagami didn't heed him at all. When he tactlessly urged him again, Kagami silently bended his extended leg, then forcefully kicked at the young man's seat from behind with a bang. 
The young man shrank back in fright, momentarily becoming downhearted and looking across the seat at Kagami with a gaze that seemed bored. 
The inside of the van sank into silence again. The noise coming from outside the van - from the building that had become a battlefield - became even clearer. The young man moved his gaze to outside the window again. 
The magic battle in the building still continued, but it seemed to be decided. Judging from the reactions, the group of people in the building who had originally been firmly resisting were clearly having a harder and harder time facing the challenge. 
Not long afterwards, the driver's side door of the van opened. 
A suit-wearing young man walked into the van. He sat in the driver's seat, shut the door, and turned his gaze to the mirror that reflected Kagami behind him. 
"It's over. Our side has no casualties, and no one on the other side was killed, but......" The young man reported with a calm tone, a wry smile flitting across his lips. "We specially troubled an Independent Officer with coming here, but it ended up being a waste. The incident this time has nothing to do with the 'D' file." 
The young man reporting on the current situation to Kagami was named Hirata Atsune. He was affiliated with the Magic Crime Investigation Department of the Onmyou Agency Public Safety Division - the Mystical Investigators. 
Last month, a Twin-Horned Syndicate member had brought about spiritual disaster terrorist attacks at various locations in the city. The Mystical Investigators had received information about remnants of that group two days ago, and Hirata, who was responsible for investigating the Twin-Horned Syndicate, had immediately conducted a secret investigation, confirming the authenticity of the intelligence, finding the hiding place of those people, and planning this raid. 
During the plan this time, they had been worried the most about a certain Onmyouji who had been proved related to the whole incident of the previous terrorist attacks - and who had ended up appearing at the end of the sequence of events known in the magic community as the 'Hinamatsuri Repurification'. 
A mysterious Onmyouji that the Mystical Investigators called 'D' for the moment. 
The existence of the Onmyouji 'D' had long since been confirmed before, but his true identity had always been a mystery. Though they had received information many times that he called himself 'Ashiya Doman', unfortunately the truth behind that information could not be verified. All that they knew as true was that 'D' was indeed an Onmyouji with quite a strong power and that he was often close to the Twin-Horned Syndicate. 
The Mystical Investigators viewed 'D' as a high-danger individual, and had been tracing him and investigating for many years. Since 'D' had been exceptionally active recently, the Mystical Investigators had specially requested the assistance of an Independent Exorcist from the Exorcist Bureau as a safeguard against 'D' intervening with this raid. The Exorcist Bureau agreed to this request, sending Kagami to join the attack operation. 
In the end, 'D' hadn't intervened in the operation this time. The Mystical Investigators had originally judged that the probability wasn't high, but it hadn't been out of their expectations. 
"Sorry for troubling you with coming here, but thanks to your help, the operation succeeded smoothly. Let me express sincere gratitude on behalf of the Mystical Investigators." 
Hirata thanked Kagami, who sat behind him, his voice serious and his gaze not leaving the rearview mirror. 
His honest, sincere appearance wasn't like an Onmyouji, more like a priest or even pastor. However, the eyes reflected in the rearview mirror were sharp, showing a firm will. A red streak of hair was mixed in with his neat, tidy bangs, extremely eye-catching. 
However, Kagami seemed not to pay any heed at all to Hirata. He stayed silent, no change in expression visible on his sunglasses-wearing face. The two of them kept quiet, but the young man carrying the sword bag timidly glanced back and forth between the two. 
A light, wry smile appeared on Hirata's face again. 
"Chief Amami had something to tell me. He hoped you would also come meet him." 
Kagami finally clicked his tongue with a "Tch" upon hearing those words. 
When he had first entered the Onmyou Agency, Kagami had belonged to the Mystical Investigators for a while, so the Mystical Investigator Chief Amami Daizen counted as his past boss. 
Kagami bent his body, standing up from the seat. 
"I'm leaving if you have nothing else." 
"Please let me send you there." 
"I don't need it." 
He spoke brusquely, moving to the door and pulling open the sliding door. Hirata finally said the words: "Thanks for your work", but Kagami didn't even look at him, exiting the van. 
The young man carrying the sword bag hastily followed him off the van, glancing back at Hirata, but left the area with Kagami without saying anything at all in the end. 
The opened sliding door slowly slid and closed by itself. 
"............" 
Hirata quietly reached his hand out to the rearview mirror, adjusting the angle and watching Kagami's back in the mirror as he left. 
He stayed silent, thinking, his gaze staying intently on the mirror. 

? 

Kagami walked through the evening Kabukicho. 
The pedestrians who passed by him didn't dare come close, keeping as far from him as possible. Even if they didn't know he was a practitioner, they could still feel the inauspicious air he carried. Even if they were interested, they felt scared just by looking at him. 
The young man who had been in the same van as Kagami followed behind him. There were about five or six strides of distance between the two. 
When the two of them stood like this, it could be seen that the young man was even taller than Kagami. Because his body type was slender, he looked like a stalk of bamboo, and actually he was one hundred and ninety centimeters tall with quite a slim frame. 
But his shoulders drooped and his back was hunched, so his presence was far less strong than Kagami who walked in front of him. Moreover, compared to Kagami who was dressed eye-catchingly, he just wore jeans and a shirt that could be seen anywhere. He carefully held the sword bag the whole way. 
? 
He stared at Kagami's back as if he were doing so to show his irritation, complaining: "......Hey, Reiji. How did things become different from what was said at first?" His tone sounded unhappy. "I haven't had an opportunity to do anything in a long time...... You don't need me at all for that kind of situation......" 
"............" 
"Really, I was happy for no point. Reiji, you've changed a lot since you got that 'X' carved on." 
"............" 
"Ahh, it's so stupid, I'm so disappointed." 
"............" 
The young man chattered, complaining continuously. Though he lowered his voice, it wasn't so low that it didn't reach Kagami's ears, but Kagami didn't have any intention of turning around at all. 
Hence, the young man complained more and more vigorously, bluntly criticizing Kagami's behavior, like 'Reiji's so cold', 'Reiji's so mean', getting carried away with venting the dissatisfaction that was normally pushed inside him. The expression on his face became more and more confident. 
"Also, you're too arrogant--" 
"...Shaver." 
Upon suddenly hearing his own name, the young man - Shaver - hastily stopped. Glancing forward, he saw that Kagami, who walked ahead of him, had also stopped and turned around, looking back. 
Kagami stuck his right hand in his pocket, curling his forefinger to call Shaver up. Shaver's face lit up, like a puppy being called to its owner's side, and hurried over-- 
And was hit. 

Kagami casually swung his fist. Shaver held his beaten head, trembling on the ground in a kneel and unable to even cry out. Kagami drew back his right hand, putting it in his pocket, then raised his right foot, kicking at Shaver's head with the sole of his engineer boots and sending him flying out. 
The pedestrians passing by were all shocked, looking at the two. Shaver - still tightly holding to the sword bag - let out pitiful, sad cries, tumbling on the cement. 
"Th, That's too much! What are you doing, Reiji!" 
"......'Sama'." 
"What? What are you saying-- Ah! N, No more! P, Please don't kick me! Let me go, Reiji. P, Please don't kick me, I'm begging you, Reiji-'sama'!" 
Shaver pleaded bitterly and tearfully, and Kagami finally stopped, silently turning around and striding away. Shaver moaned quietly, but finally stood up while feeling his nose, chasing after Kagami. 
The pedestrians watched the pair leave, stunned. Not a single one of them had noticed that when Shaver had been hit, his body - his contour - had immediately distorted and interference had shot through his body. Of course, no one there probably knew that it was a phenomenon called 'lag'. 
Shaver hastily caught up to Kagami, walking forward behind him again. 
The distance between the two was even closer than just before. Shaver stared tearfully at Kagami, grumbling resentfully. 
"......Hey, Reiji......sama? Could you have forgotten that you wear a lot of rings as hard as rocks on your hands? Honestly, those rings are weapons, they're like brass knuckles. If you hit someone else with that, he might have already died from it." 
"You can't die anyway." 
"No no no! That's not the problem! I'm warning you, don't randomly make deadly attacks!" 
"There would be no problem if you obediently shut up and didn't say anything stupid." 
Reiji spoke extremely coldly. Shaver frowned, glaring indignantly at his back. 
Then, as if having a flash of epiphany, Shaver asked: "Could it be that you're actually very annoyed because that 'D' person didn't appear?" He had obviously not learned a lesson at all from being beaten just now. 
Like always, Kagami didn't respond immediately, but he didn't ignore it. 
"Hmph." He laughed coldly. "I already knew that person wouldn't appear. Though I'm not sure what drives him, at least the place just now didn't have that kind of 'atmosphere'." 
"Atmosphere?" 
"......My intuition tells me. For example, last time...... After dealing with the Nue, several people who should be interesting bait gathered in 'that place'." Kagami spoke coldly, as if he were talking to himself rather than explaining to Shaver. "Anyway...... Even if that person appears, it'll just be a fight...... But it's better for me if he hides behind the scenes for now." 
"Why?" 
"The hounds are eaten after the hares are killed [23] - that's plausible. Moreover, the opponent is a wild beast, not a hare, so there was no choice but to loosen the collar on this mad dog." 
"......I don't understand at all, what exactly are you saying?" 
"I'm talking about you." 
"Me?" 
Shaver asked back, his eyes widening blankly. Kagami looked over his shoulder, staring at Shaver - the shikigami he used - and showed a grin. 
By the fact that Kagami had received permission to summon Shaver, it was evident how seriously the Mystical Investigators - along with the Onmyou Agency higher-ups who had accepted the Mystical Investigators' requests - viewed the existence of 'D'. Hence, they had especially lifted the ban - though they had added limitations - and permitted him to use the shikigami as a method of opposing 'D'. 
The most important factor for such a change was that during the ending of the spiritual disaster attack last month, Kagami and Independent Exorcist Kogure Zenjirou had crossed paths with 'D'. The two Divine Generals had verified 'D's existence first-hand, and they had expressed that the opponent's strength wasn't something to look down upon. This forced the Onmyou Agency to take urgent and definite countermeasures, and though they understood the risks, they could only allow Kagami to use Shaver as a last resort. 
"......So, we don't need to put all our effort into hunting these wild beasts. Rather, we should take this opportunity to increase our 'bargaining power'." 
"Bargaining power?" 
"Increasing the cards in our hand...... Right, I still should properly retaliate against that tricky bastard of a teacher." He spoke quietly, killing intent as sharp as a blade spilling from the eyes under the sunglasses. 
When Kagami and Kogure had happened across 'D', there actually had also been another Divine General present. That person was a former Mystical Investigator - so a past work senior to Kagami - an Onmyouji named Ohtomo Jin. At the time, Ohtomo had placed a 'curse' on him to limit Kagami's actions. 
After that, Kagami had done a complete investigation, checking that the 'curse' Ohtomo placed was just second-class magic - also known as a 'lie'. 
Kagami had noticed from the start that Ohtomo's curse was probably nonsense, but Kagami knew extremely well what kind of person Ohtomo was, so he couldn't assert that the curse was one hundred percent lie. Hence, even if he believed there ninety-nine percent of it was harmless, he could only back off. 
Simply put, Kagami had been played. They had bet their lives and carried out a trick involving life and death. Since Ohtomo had gotten the best of him, Kagami naturally refused to let it rest and obediently admit defeat. Moreover - "......It shouldn't be only 'D' who wants to taste that bait......" He thought of the people from back then - the Onmyou Academy students Ohtomo had tried to protect. 
Tsuchimikado Natsume. 
Tsuchimikado Harutora. 
Ato Touji. 
Not only had the first two been born in the famous Tsuchimikado family, the main family successor Tsuchimikado Natsume was rumored to be the reincarnation of the great Onmyouji Tsuchimikado Yakou, the ancestor of modern magic and the culprit who caused a calamity of spiritual disasters. Actually, Yakou fanatics were suspected of having tried to find and directly contact him two or three times. 
The other person, Ato Touji, was a living spirit with a demon housed in his body, and that demon was very possibly the descended 'something' that the prime suspect Dairenji Shidou had used himself as a vessel for during the spiritual disaster terrorist attack - the 'Great Hinamatsuri Purification'. The demon was sealed now, and the person who had done the seal was another Tsuchimikado, the father of Tsuchimikado Harutora. 
Most interesting of all, he heard that even the 'Child Prodigy' of the Twelve Divine Generals had entered the Onmyou Academy to study this spring. Her name was Dairenji Suzuka, the daughter of Dairenji Shidou who had made Ato Touji become a living spirit. The more he thought, the more he felt that fate was quite fickle. 
After inquiring, he had learned that the 'Child Prodigy' entering the Onmyou Academy was the will of the Onmyou Agency higher-ups as punishment for the incident she led to last year. 
With that, a new question emerged. The 'Child Prodigy' Dairenji Suzuka had originally specialized in researching 'Imperial Onmyoudou', and the Imperial-style was founded by Tsuchimikado Yakou, the foundational magic system of modern Onmyoudou. Even the incident she had led to was based on that research - in other words, it was an incident 'related to Yakou'. 
Since there was such a connection, why had the higher-ups decided to have her enter the Onmyou Academy where Natsume, rumored to be 'Yakou's reincarnation', was? It was said to be a simple punishment, but it was actually to bring about the next incident - preparing the stage to let her research further. 
"......But to be honest, Dairenji Shidou also belonged to the Twin-Horned Syndicate - fanatics who worshipped Yakou." 
Dairenji Shidou was the one who had brought about the first spiritual disaster terrorist attack, causing the Yakou fanatics to be notorious culprits in the magic community. Why had the Onmyou Agency let the daughter of such a man research Imperial Onmyoudou? Even if she wasn't allowed to stand on the frontline and had to do research work behind the scenes because she was a minor, it was still hard to understand why she was permitted to carry out research related to Tsuchimikado Yakou. 
"......It's too suspicious." 
Now, these people bore a burden that even they didn't know about. It was as if people expected that they would produce some kind of change by bumping into each other. 
Most importantly, Ohtomo - a previous Divine General - had taken up teaching on this stage and become a teacher after resigning from Onmyou Agency work. 
The Onmyou Academy. 
Right now, that place had become the place most interesting to Kagami. He believed that that was true for 'D' and the Onmyou Agency as well. Anyone in the 'industry' who was well-informed and who had keen senses would definitely treat the Onmyou Academy as an object of high interest. 
"............" 
Kagami continued to ponder. The cunning brain behind his proud expression was making various assumptions and continuing to scrutinize. 
Shaver, who had long since been ignored, looked at his master from the side, and quietly said: "......Reiji looks really happy." 
After saying that, he smiled. The fear, anxiety, weakness, and gloominess from before were no longer visible in the smile. It was as if one could glimpse a deep, bottomless darkness underneath his pretty appearance. That was what kind of smile he revealed. 
Shaver was Kagami's shikigami, and Kagami used this shikigami like a slave. However, no one forced Shaver. He had made this decision himself, agreeing himself to become Kagami's shikigami. 
He had seen what kind of a man Kagami was and decided that only he was suitable to be his master. 
As they walked, Shaver's eyes suddenly widened and he hastily turned around, looking at a building in the distance across the street like a dog hearing an extraordinarily high sound that humans couldn't hear. 
Kagami's body also shuddered a step slower than Shaver, reacting. He looked in the same direction as his shikigami, narrowing his keen eyes from underneath the sunglasses. 
"......A spiritual disaster...... It looks like its phase is pretty high." 
He couldn't see the complete picture because the building blocked it, but he could still see the distorted aura low to the ground in the distance, signs that it was about to transform into miasma. 
There was a spiritual disaster happening in the distance. It looked like it had already developed into a phase two. Its location was also quite tricky, right on top of an aura flow. After ninety more minutes - or maybe it wouldn't even need that much time - the spiritual disaster would soon enter phase three. 
"It's here again...... this chaotic world." 
Since the spiritual disaster terrorist attack last month, the aura flow inside Tokyo had been disturbed, and the rate of spiritual disaster occurrences had accelerated. Presently, a phase two spiritual disaster was no longer unusual, and even phase threes - mobile spiritual disasters - emerged one after another. 
While Kagami coldly looked at the spiritual disaster in the distance, Shaver's reaction was completely different from his. 
"Reiji." 
His thin shoulders rose excitedly, and the eyes that stared at his master showed expectation and eagerness. However, Kagami just hmphed, not caring about him. 
"Who cares about a spiritual disaster, the agency hasn't given orders yet either." 
Work time had long since ended, and today he had even gone to assist by request of the Mystical Investigators. He had already reported before leaving, and had directly left work after the incident was resolved. Even if the spiritual disaster had happened closer, he had no obligation to go purify it. 
"Let's go." Kagami spoke coldly and was about to stride away, when-- "......Reiji." Shaver called out to him again, something about his voice seeming to sound a bit wrong. Kagami's legs stiffened and he quickly checked his shikigami's appearance, noticing that Shaver was standing still with his head lowered, his shoulders constantly shaking. The arms that held the sword bag were constantly shuddering, the atmosphere clearly different from before. 
He mumbled with an empty expression: "......Why are things different from what you said at the start? Weren't you the one who called for me to come? But why, why do I have to suffer? I don't get it. I stay with you because you need me. If you don't need me...... Why do you call for me?" His spasm extended to his entire body as if he were desperately suppressing muscles that were trying to move by themselves. His empty and stiff expression seemed like that of a drug addict. 
He slowly raised his head. 
"......That can't be, right, Reiji? I'm your shikigami...... You're my master......" 
The shikigami's eyes stared directly at Kagami, his gaze filled with a strange sense of 'hunger'. Kagami faced his shikigami's gaze head-on, just like when he had faced Ohtomo, letting out a cold laugh from the bottom of his heart as if he were playing with death. 
"......That's true." He looked back at Shaver, replying readily, a savage, bestial smile emerging on his lips. 
"Alright, let's go. It's been a long time since I've tried your 'sharpness'."