Tokyo Ravens - Volume 5 - Chapter 4.4

Part 4 
It wasn't noisy at all on the bus back to Tokyo, vastly different from when they had come. 
The bus swayed back and forth and the students were all sunk deep in their dreams. It hadn't been ten minutes since they left the camp, but everyone on the bus was already asleep. 
From this, it was evident that every student was already badly tired. Maybe he had been affected by the drowsiness around him, but even the supervising teacher Ohtomo had started snoring. 
Of course, Harutora and the others weren't excluded. 
Their seats were positioned similarly to when they had come, with Touji and Suzuka in the front row. The two of them leaned on the back of their seats as they slept deeply. Kyouko and Tenma, who sat in the middle, had started snoring already, and Harutora and Natsume next to them had their eyes shut as well, their bodies swaying with the bus. 
A tranquil and brief time to rest. If someone woke up now, maybe they would feel a lonely emptiness like after a festival ended. 
All of a sudden, the bus jumped up. "...Mmm." Harutora woke up. 
He had originally planned on closing his eyes again and going back to sleep. 
...Ah. 
A weight pressing down lightly on his shoulder made him wake up completely. 
"............" 
Natsume, who was sitting next to Harutora, seemed to be sleeping deeply already, her body leaning and her head resting on Harutora's shoulder. 
Several strands of thin black hair brushed across Harutora's neck, and Harutora's body felt the rhythm of her gentle breathing. Harutora's whole body stiffened, his sleepiness instantly completely driven out of his mind. 
...Th, This girl...... She had just been completely down in the dumps. 
When they had gotten on the bus for the return trip, Natsume had been ashen, as if shares she had purchased had just plunged and become worthless paper - or if she had been desperately escaping a maze and ended up deep in a bottomless morass in front of the exit. Regret, frustration, worry, and despair mixed together, creating a hard-to-describe atmosphere. 
Harutora had acted out of worry, but Natsume hadn't responded, not even looking at Harutora, looking listlessly out of the window without any reaction and making one worry that she might twist her neck. She seemed as if she were trying to find her lost soul outside the window - where the camp was. 
Harutora could do nothing other than ignore her. 
"......Ugh...... Uh......" But, Natsume had ground her teeth, moaning quietly on occasion, sometimes like she had emotions that were difficult to repress, sometimes like she were a deflating balloon. "......Uuu......" She even seemed to be holding back tears, sometimes letting out a sobbing sound. She hadn't said anything, but she made one unable to help but worry whether she was insane. 
Harutora remembered that she hadn't been like this when the coursework had ended. What exactly had happened during the brief period of free time after that? Harutora couldn't tell - but her sleeping face looked exactly the same as the normal Natsume. 
...Actually, this girl could also be considered a mystery...... 
Maybe it wasn't just Hokuto and Natsume, perhaps all girls were mysterious beings. Examples emerging in his mind - putting aside Kyouko for now - once he thought of Suzuka and the senpai, Harutora agreed with that thought even more. 
Natsume kept her head on Harutora's shoulder, breathing quietly through her nose like a defenseless child. Harutora was embarrassed and nervous but didn't dare wake her rashly. 
...He really didn't know what to do with her. 
Harutora thought, his gaze looking towards the bus window behind Natsume. He noted the surprisingly beautiful scene outside the window, his gaze drawn in unconsciously. Outside the window, the sky was dyed in beautiful indigo colors. The sun was currently falling under the horizon. Such a beautiful scene could only be glimpsed during the brief period in which the sunlight hadn't completely vanished. 
Day and night switched. Yin and yang traded places. 
Like the scene from a fantasy world. 
"......Mmm." 
Natsume suddenly twisted her body as if she were angry, making Harutora flinch as he looked at the scenery outside the window. Then, Natsume murmured an "Nnn......", letting out a sweet voice. She first put her forehead on Harutora's shoulder, and then her body reflexively moved away, her neck also turning the other way. Harutora obtained his release, breathing lightly and finally relaxing. 
With her body turned, Natsume's long hair draped down her shoulders. Her black hair danced lightly, clinging to the chest of her uniform. The pink ribbon that usually tied up her hair seemed loosened because of this, sliding downwards. 
"Ah." 
Harutora reflexively reached out his hand, grabbing the sliding ribbon. He grabbed it, but couldn't tie it back up for Natsume, so he didn't know what to do. 
 
...I'll give it back to her when she wakes up. 
He had gotten used to seeing Natsume's ribbon. For some reason, Natsume always used this ribbon to tie up her hair. When Harutora had just entered the academy, he had pointed out that a ribbon wasn't suitable for a girl disguised as a guy - especially a pink-colored ribbon. Natsume had found various excuses to counter him, and even now still used this ribbon. 

"............" 
She loved this ribbon, so it was clear that it was quite a special object. Though Harutora thought this, looking carefully, the ribbon didn't look so expensive, but more like a cheap product that could be seen anywhere. Moreover, because it was used every day, it was already dilapidated. Why did Natsume use this ribbon so enthusiastically? Harutora felt that there was another mystery about Natsume. 
...It was like a ribbon used to wrap a gift...... 
"...Huh?" Thinking that, a thought crossed his mind. "No... But..." He suddenly associated it with another incident. 
A pink-colored ribbon. 
A pink-colored ribbon used to wrap a gift. 
"......!" 
Harutora's expression changed unconsciously and he gazed at the ribbon. But there were no memorable marks on the ribbon, so of course he couldn't find any 'proof' that it was related to last year's summer festival. He tried his best at remembering, recalling the gift he had given her - the bubble-blowing set he had won at the shooting game, the ribbon tied on the gift box, and her smiling as she tied the ribbon into her hair. 
But, he couldn't think of it no matter how he tried. 
An ambiguous, illusionary impression emerged in his mind. No matter how he reached out to try grasping the memory, there was nothing at his fingertips. 
Harutora moved his gaze from the ribbon to Natsume's body. Natsume was sleeping soundly, unaware of what had happened. 
"......It shouldn't be......" 
Such a thing couldn't happen. He had even just denied it loudly and laughed himself hoarse because it had been brought up in front of Kyouko and Suzuka. Such a thing couldn't happen, it shouldn't...... be possible. 
Harutora put the ribbon in his hand on Natsume's knees, then turned his back to Natsume, tightly closing his eyes. 
He felt his own intense heartbeat, letting his body sway with the bus and trying to fall back to sleep. But he felt vaguely that even if he slept, he wouldn't sleep soundly. 
The time of fantasy ended and the blue sky turned into a dark night. 
The bus smoothly drove to Tokyo, leaving the camp where various emotions had mingled. 
Zokusho shrine. That was the name of the shrine. It was a shrine dedicated to worship of the stars - called the Big Dipper's Shrine. [36] 

 

"Alright, you've worked hard. Be careful on the way back, I'll be waiting for you to return." 
Principal Kurahashi calmly finished speaking these words in the Onmyou Academy situated in Shibuya, Tokyo, hanging up the phone in the principal's office. 
The phone call had come from the third-year teacher who had gone to the camp - Fujiwara-sensei - reporting that the students' tour bus was about to reach Shibuya. The second-years were also coming back with them. The second-years were uninjured, and the camp had ended peacefully. 
How much had the students grown after this camp? Children this age might progress rapidly after just a few days. The principal secretly looked forward to them returning to Tokyo and witnessing the growth of these students with her own eyes in the Onmyou Academy. 
Among them, the ones she looked forward to the most were the two Tsuchimikados and the students next to those two. 
"......What did they learn in this camp?" 
She murmured, thinking of the other Tsuchimikado who had visited last night. 
That Tsuchimikado had said this to her: 
...'Your star is shadowed.' 
The principal closed her eyes, a slight smile emerging on her lips. She didn't feel anxious or scared of the future, she just took things philosophically and let fate decide everything. 
"The time has come...... I'll actively provide assistance." 
Kurahashi Miyo was good at divining, named the 'Kurahashi Family's Stargazing Master'. She even possessed a strong influence over higher-ups in political and economic circles. 
Even if she understood divining, she couldn't move the stars in the end, nor could she change their direction or control their radiance. 
All she could do was quietly watch and trust in the stars' strength, continuing to make proposals. 
"I'm hoping for a lot from you, Ohtomo-sensei. I...... I have less time left than expected......" 
Principal Kurahashi's quiet voice was weak but fearless. 
Night fell outside the window. Lights illuminated the big city of Tokyo, and the night eagerly waited for the young crows to spread their wings and soar.