Part 2
During lunchtime, they could use the branch cafeteria. But it was packed after the students joined in, so people would go to the courtyard to eat lunch when the weather was good.
The Meguro branch courtyard was a quite vast, breezy courtyard. The neatly paved stepping stones and white sand along with the pinewood trees gave an impression similar to that of a shrine courtyard.
The shining sun had already started melding into the colors of summer. The verdant lawn was extremely charming, and one would really want to lie on it and roll around while resting.
"Alright, let's go eat."
Harutora and the others arrived at the stone garden next to a pond, forming a casual circle and sitting down. Natsume and Kyouko came with him, along with their classmates Ato Touji and Momoe Tenma. Though these people frequently moved together, Kyouko often went to the principal's office to keep Principal Kurahashi company, and Tenma ate his bento in the classroom. Hence, it was the first time they had eaten lunch together since they came to the branch.
"The food here is really good. Exorcists get some nice stuff."
"Really? I like the academy cafeteria more. Harutora, you always ate everything clean too."
"I didn't say I hated what we had, it's just that there are more choices here...... Also, just eating outside probably makes it taste better."
Harutora picked up the pork in his katsudon with his chopsticks while looking around.
The courtyard was a much frequented location during lunchtime. There were many people who had come to the courtyard to eat other than Harutora's group. Several days ago, they had heard the branch members joking about how 'it was like a college campus'. They probably felt interested rather than annoyed at the students who had intruded upon their workplace.
"Come to think of it, there are almost no exorcists. This place is a branch of the Exorcist Bureau, so shouldn't there be dozens of people on standby here?"
"You're wrong, Harutora-kun. You probably happened to run across them a few times, you know? But it's very hard to distinguish them when they're not wearing miasma protection clothes."
Tenma answered happily upon hearing Harutora's voiced question.
Miasma protection clothing was the uniform that exorcists wore while purifying spiritual disasters. Like its name, the special outfit was to defend against the miasma produced when spiritual disasters occurred. That dark uniform with a matching belt and coat was the sign of an exorcist.
Just as Tenma said, it was very hard to distinguish a normal Onmyouji from an exorcist without that sign. At best, one could only speculate based on the strength or weakness of their aura.
"And I thought exorcists always wore that."
"How could that be. Exorcists basically only wear it when they're purifying spiritual disasters."
"Now that you mention it, there are also people who like to wear miasma protection clothing and kendo armor and fight against shikigami barehanded."
"Hahaha. Though I don't mean to show off, I fought against spiritual disasters barehanded later. Without kendo armor or miasma protection clothing."
Harutora forced a laugh at Touji's teasing. Natsume also recalled it, looking into the distance with an 'ah'.
Tenma's shoulders shook with laughter.
"That was something from right after you and Harutora-kun entered? The shikigami showdown. How nostalgic. Thinking back now, your independent training was all fighting. That was the first time Harutora-kun fought against Hakuou and Kokfuu."
Hakuou and Kokfuu were the names of the two 'Model G2 Yaksha' defensive shikigami that Kyouko used.
Since Harutora and Touji had entered the academy, they had continuously held independent practical training after school ended. Though they had received special instruction from their class teacher and practical skills teachers after the practical skills camp during their second year, before that it had mostly been mock battles conducted between Harutora and Kyouko's defensive shikigami.
"Right, Kurahashi-san and Natsume-kun had trouble getting along at the start. Now they can practice on their own and eat lunch together. Hard to imagine, huh?"
Tenma looked in Kyouko's direction, asking jokingly.
But Kyouko didn't look at Tenma. She stared at the tray of pasta next to her hands with her head lowered. The hand that grasped her fork didn't move at all either.
Then, she finally noticed that the conversation had halted:
"Eh?"
She looked at Tenma.
Then, she hastily said:
"Ah. With Natsume-kun? Y, Yeah. I was a little weird back then......"
Kyouko laughed and strung words together, but her smile was clearly empty. Tenma didn't know how to respond, just uttering a "yeah".
Harutora stopped eating when he saw Kyouko's demeanor.
"Kyouko, have you been a bit strange recently?"
"Wh-What do you mean, 'strange'."
"Well, I'm not criticizing you. How should I say it, you're always deep in thought, always absentminded......"
"Oh, are you not feeling well?"
Harutora's words also brought about a worried look from Tenma. Kyouko showed a bit of timidity under the gazes of the two of them.
Glancing at Natsume, Kyouko showed an uncomfortable, weak gaze that she very rarely revealed.
But she quickly got ahold of herself again.
"There's no such thing. What's more, you're the one who's absentminded, Harutora. In the practical training just now."
Kyouko's accurate response left Harutora speechless.
Then,
"That's right!"
Natsume rapidly chimed in from the side, as if it were her business.
Glaring at Harutora with a stern expression:
"Just like Kurahashi-san says, you're too reckless, spacing out while casting magic! Even sensei was shocked!"
"I'm sorry about that. I'm already reflecting."
"Of course! ......Also, hasn't your attention has been a bit lax recently? In any case, this is your first time thinking about other things while using magic, right? Could you be getting overconfident after getting just a little familiar with General Onmyoudou--"
"N-No, it's not like that."
"Then why. Is something bothering you?"
"Bothering......"
Natsume, who stayed sitting, suddenly leaned forward to question him. Harutora leaned back with a bitter expression.
Harutora thought of the scene from the training room again. While he had been controlling his own simple shikigami just now, he had suddenly sank deep into thought.
How would a professional Onmyouji control that simple shikigami?
An exorcist? A Mystical Investigator? How would a Divine General control it?
...Also,
What about those two people?
Harutora thought about these things that he shouldn't have thought about. As a result, his consciousness completely turned to that direction and he later noticed that the simple shikigami had lost control.
It wasn't just today's incident. Just as Natsume pointed out, Harutora had frequently been thinking hard and absentmindedly about various magics. Though he had seriously considered with his own style before, this time was 'different'. How should he describe it? It was a different kind from his thinking before, filled with doubts and uncoordinated feelings, making him restless.
...Well, it's not like me.
It was indeed quite a bother, but he couldn't talk about it with the people around him. He didn't even understand it in his own heart. It was just a vague impression, and hence it was hard to convey to others. Even if he said 'yeah, I'm bothered about what exactly magic is', he would only increase the troubles of those next to him.
But after seeing Harutora struggling to find words,
"It's not just Harutora."
Touji, who changed his meal every day, chewed on his ginger pork while muttering with a smile.
But the smiling Touji's expression was serious. He slowly surveyed the group around him.
"All of us more or less have our 'own business', right? After all, we saw that kind of thing."
Touji's words took everyone aback.
Touji didn't clarify what 'that thing' was. But everyone present immediately realized, marking the 'personal business' that he spoke up dead center.
The incident of the attack on the Onmyou Academy last month.
The climax at the end was a magical battle between Ohtomo Jin, Harutora's homeroom teacher, and Ashiya Doman, codenamed 'D'.
"......Ah."
Harutora made a sound, smiling wryly at his good friend.
"It was indeed very shocking."
"......Yeah. Just like Touji says...... it made me think about a lot of things."
Natsume also nodded her head honestly. Tenma and Kyouko, along with the others, didn't say anything more. In that moment, the five of them had probably shared 'that moment' again.
Many things had happened since Harutora had entered the academy. Natsume had been kidnapped by a Mystical Investigator, and they had encountered a Nue and Divine Generals during their exam. They had even been sent out to participate in a large-scale spiritual disaster purification and had actually fought with a Nue, and finally succeeded in purifying it.
But Doman was the first time that they had been in a crisis where they could do nothing in the truest sense. He had made them feel that clear despair.
Afterwards, Ohtomo had almost completely overturned Harutora and the others' despair.
Ohtomo hadn't been 'victorious in battle'. Since the start, Doman had suppressed him, and he had relied on the Independent Exorcist Kogure Zenjirou along with his official exorcist team to resolve things in the end.
But from the start till the finish, it had been Ohtomo who dominated and controlled that magic battle. It wasn't a pure victory. Rather, he had been standing on a higher operational perspective.
"......Ohtomo-sensei's hospitalization is longer than I imagined."
"Ah, but Grandma said that he's already recovering very fast. Also, he's arguing about the amount of labor accident insurance with her."
"It feels like something he'd do. The principal's a lot stronger in that kind of negotiations, though."
Kyouko replied to Tenma's uncertainty, and Touji snickered.
Haggling vigorously about labor accident insurance with the principal. That kind of impression was very easy to superimpose over the homeroom teacher Harutora was familiar with. Natsume was probably imagining him in her mind as she half-closed her eyes and giggled quietly.
Then,
"I felt that he was a mysterious person from the start, but I didn't think he would be that proficient in magic."
A statement with deep feelings. Everyone present had the same feelings.
Touji ate his food again. Someone continued his words with a "So."
"Who exactly is that teacher?"
"Ah, I'm also very interested, so I asked Grandma. But she just said that he was a former Mystical Investigator and wasn't willing to reveal any more information."
"If he were just a normal former Mystical Investigator, the Onmyou Agency would be able to enjoy peace."
"Yeah. I heard that he withdrew because his right leg was injured, but if he had power of that level, it shouldn't have been a big problem. I wonder why he came to the Onmyou Academy to be a teacher."
"I don't get it either. Could it be that Principal Kurahashi invited him?"
"Rather than inviting him, it's probably more like he was grabbed by the neck."
"......Yeah, Touji's opinion sounds more like it, though I shouldn't say such a thing."
"That's good."
The girl nodded and replied to the quiet proposal.
She stood up and breathed deeply. Though it had been her own wish, it was still a long-lost feeling of release. After checking the feeling of the hair that fell to her shoulders, her mouth naturally broke out into a smile.
"Ah, sorry for troubling you."
A voice not from the girl thanked the man next to her.
The man didn't reply, continuing to speak to the girl.
"Spiritual body abnormalities can recover in a night. But it's a huge burden to maintain it for two years. Even you will be in danger if this continues."
The girl understood this, but had made her decision. Even this man's judgment wouldn't change that. The girl nodded to reply to the man's advice.
"And there's still the conventional contract. You had best hurry."
Right now they could still easily use the altar. After hearing the man announce this indifferently, the girl showed a confused expression. The thankful voice just now once again interrupted the conversation of the two.
"Though we'll need to someday, we don't need to rush right now. It's an eventful time right now. Tiring yourself out is dangerous."
"But we should hasten our preparations. Half of those people have already been eliminated."
The man's words made the girl show a lonely expression.
Then, expressing that she wanted the people talking to shut up,
"I understand."
She nodded to the man.
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