Part 4
The sky was completely dark when they left the branch.
They rode the subway from the JR Meguro Station to Shibuya. They could walk between the dorm and the academy building, so they weren't used to a crowd when they came and went to school. They unconsciously sighed when they got off onto the platform.
But the flow of people hadn't stopped here. Harutora and Natsume were quickly swallowed into the crowd as they left the station.
"It seems that Shibuya really is a big city in Tokyo. Though Meguro is similar, the crowds in Shibuya are on another level."
Harutora, who felt constricted in a full subway, followed behind Natsume while complaining with a taut face. But Natsume didn't respond. Harutora turned back over his shoulder, showing a wry smile after seeing Natsume's demeanor.
"What's wrong, Natsume, are you still concerned?"
"In the end......"
"It's fine, right? We let out enough energy."
"I don't really care. It's not like that......"
When the two of them were alone, Natsume's wording no longer had her feigned male affectation [3] , and she returned how she originally was.
Harutora stopped, smiling teasingly.
"What is it? Is it about the proposals you made during my mock battle? Well, I really was a bit shameful."
"I-It's not that. Harutora-kun, you already did your best, so much that you surprised me. But that man called Eto......"
She still couldn't let it go. Natsume frowned angrily.
Then,
"...If I may, my thoughts are the same as Natsume-dono."
Even Kon, who wasn't materialized, voiced angry words.
"......Harutora-sama was just flustered during his battle. His arrogance should have a limit...... Kon will definitely defeat th-that rude man......"
"Wait, Kon. Please, just don't say that."
Harutora warned her half-seriously upon seeing his shikigami burning with the fires of revenge. After all, that overly-loyal shikigami had attacked Ohtomo alone once. [4] If she did similar things to a professional exorcist, it would definitely develop into a serious problem.
In the end, outside of Suzuka who lost her drive, Natsume, Touji, Tenma, and Kyouko had separately conducted mock battles with the exorcists. Natsume, who was the second to take the stage and fight with Captain Eto, had kept up a long, intense battle, astonishing the exorcists. Just as she had proclaimed at the start, she never summoned her trump card, the servant shikigami Hokuto.
In the end, that competition had ended in a tie. Fujiwara had judged that an accident might happen if it continued, and had called for them to stop midway.
Eto seemed to be one of the three strongest in the Meguro branch. Though they didn't know exactly how serious he was from his poker face, Natsume already had enough power to match a skilled exorcist. He should have been used to this by now, but Harutora still re-experienced how fearsome Natsume was.
"Really, if you were serious and didn't get flustered, you definitely wouldn't lose to a pro. Don't panic and move calmly, no matter what the situation is next time."
"I haven't been that panicked recently anymore, right? After all, I've been accumulating experience too."
Natsume looked at him, talking back in dissatisfaction. "I guess so." Harutora smiled and apologized. Actually, when Doman had attacked, Natsume had commanded Harutora's group through several crises. If it were the first-year her - though Natsume had been labeled a genius since she entered the Onmyou Academy, she wouldn't have been Eto's opponent.
Everyone had grown as much as they could have. Harutora and Natsume as well, and the other students too.
"Touji's incredible too. That guy's probably the strongest out of all of us."
Actually, Touji had been the only person to win in the mock battle.
His opponent was an exorcist replacing Eto. After seeing Touji suddenly release his seal and become a living spirit during the magic battle, he couldn't help but be stunned, and Touji had used that opening to obtain victory. Afterwards, he had competed with a different exorcist in his living spirit state from the beginning - though that no longer counted as a 'magical battle' - and won again. In that sense, Touji was the one who had surprised the exorcists the most, not Natsume.
But in the end, Touji was also the one who was able to connect with the exorcists the most. They heard of Touji's complex past from Fujiwara - his side-effects from the spiritual disaster and the oni living in his body. Touji was burdened by such misfortunes and was fearlessly facing an oni head-on, which probably resonated with those who also confronted spiritual disasters. Even now, Touji was still back at the branch, listening to them explain points to note when preparing to combat spiritual disasters. Although, knowing Touji, that might all be prior knowledge, hearing the facts from people who rushed to the scene might be more valuable than simple knowledge.
"For now, it seems like Touji gained quite a bit. This really wasn't bad, right? Judging from the situation, maybe we might be able to participate in their training again. ......Ah, well, although I don't have much confidence with that tamp captain......"
When he thought of Eto, Harutora glossed it over with a dry smile. He was the only one who hadn't changed his attitude towards Harutora and the others since the beginning.
Natsume frowned unhappily again.
"......That man called Eto only thinks about himself. He doesn't consider us at all, or what we're forcing ourselves and becoming strong for......"
Natsume rarely evaluated other people this poorly. The image of the quiet, angry appearance that the normally respectful Natsume had shown to Eto at the time reawaked in his mind.
Why had Natsume been so angry back then? And for whom had she spoken those words that were so unlike her? Harutora understood that, no matter how slow he was.
"......Thanks."
He thanked her in a stammer. "Eh?" Natsume showed a confused expression.
Natsume glanced at him, looking straight at Harutora's face. Harutora suddenly became embarrassed with that pair of pure, big eyes staring at him and slightly averted his gaze.
"To be honest, I feel that what that person says is correct. But we are more correct. That's why we need special treatment."
"Harutora-kun--"
"......Come to think about it, when I think carefully about it, I should have been the one saying the words you said, for sure."
"That's not true! H-Harutora-kun, you already worked hard. Really, um, you were extremely cool today!"
At some point, the two of them were walking side by side.
Natsume was a bit timid, with her head lowered and her face tinted red. She occasionally glanced at Harutora to peek at his reaction. Though Kon hadn't materialized, he could almost feel her tail swishing around. [5]
In the end, even though his intuition could occasionally be of use, Harutora was as slow as always.
"Hey, hey, isn't this the first time Natsume's praised me? I'm happy even if it was just a polite compliment."
"It wasn't just a polite compliment. Didn't I say just now? You really surprised me."
"Ah, but, I was kind of flustered back then, you know? How should I say it, I was kind of feeling bad? ......Or maybe anxious?"
Harutora didn't notice her childhood friend gazing at him as if she wanted to ask for something, recalling his mock battle just now.
Though he had tried many things, he hadn't been able to grasp any kind of conclusion. Those were his sincere thoughts.
He thought of the battle between Ohtomo and Doman again. Even if they were both magical battles, the feeling that he still hadn't clearly focused on some important part still lingered in his heart.
...Really, I'm too stupid.
The disparity between the image in his heart and reality made Harutora extremely restless, as if his entire body was being bound by heavy chains. It shouldn't be like this, his heart complained as it couldn't reach what he had imagined. After seeing Ohtomo's battle, that ideal was probably too much for him.
"......Hey, Kon."
Harutora thought while asking as if talking to himself.
"What did you think today? How should I say it...... Did anything feel different?"
"......I, I'm very sorry. Did you say, different?"
"Yeah, it's hard to express in words."
"Hard to express...... hah? C-C-Could it be that Kon did something wrong?"
His shikigami immediately materialized and kneeled on the ground to apologize, but Harutora and Natsume hastily stopped her. After all, this was a major road, and they might be reported to the police if they recklessly had a young girl kneel in apology on the road.
"No, no! It's not you, I was talking about me. Please go invisible for now, please!"
"About H-Harutora-sama? I see nothing wrong about Harutora-sama...... but..."
Kon, who vanished again, spoke with trepidation.
"In the fight just now, I saw Harutora-sama enduring pain several times and was very concerned. Could it be that you are feeling unwell......?"
"Really?" After Natsume heard this, she asked in surprise. Harutora also recalled it, pressing the palm of his left hand to his left eye. He had forgotten it because it had stopped hurting after the mock battle.
"Indeed...... When I tried to focus and 'see' the flow of aura and magical energy, I felt a lot of pain. I might have used too much power."
"While you were using power?"
Natsume looked around Harutora's left eye, muttering curiously.
"But...... Though we often say things like 'seeing', aura and magical energy aren't 'visible' things. Maybe we should use 'sensing'? Harutora, you know, right? It has no relation with sight."
"I understand that. But in a critical situation, I unconsciously think of using my eyes to see. It could be because it's not an innate and natural spirit-seeing ability."
As he spoke, Harutora used his fingers to rub the pentagram mark underneath his left eye.
When Harutora had become Natsume's shikigami, she had drawn this mark.
This pattern was also a magical symbol that Natsume had placed on Harutora.
Harutora didn't have the most basic ability to become and Onmyouji, which was spirit-seeing. Hence, Harutora had gone to a normal high school until one year ago even though he had been born in a branch family of the famous Tsuchimikado family.
But when Harutora had decided to walk the path of becoming an Onmyouji and had become Natsume's shikigami, her magic had endowed him with the spirit-seeing ability. In any case, the fact that the current Harutora could use magic was thanks to the magic that Natsume had cast.
"......Is that it? Maybe. I completely forgot recently, but maybe that's the reason. I couldn't see spirits at the start."
He had originally been unable to become an Onmyouji. Magic couldn't make up for that incompleteness, and maybe it had only started showing now when he had made some progress. If he thought objectively about it, that kind of possibility was very high.
"But if that were the case, it would be a problem, since after all it's an unsolvable problem. ......Then, Natsume? Could you just cast magic on my right eye too?"
"No, well, that sort of magic isn't cast on the 'eyes'. It's magic for the 'senses'. Moreover......"
Natsume's tone became a bit apologetic.
"Actually, that was a magic put together from several spells that I reconstructed. And ......the spell that formed the basis of it was something I couldn't completely understand......"
"Eh? Really?"
"Yeah...... my father taught it to me before. I know a lot of other magic involving temporarily allowing people to see spirits, but the magic I used on you was a Tsuchimikado secret technique...... I worked hard to memorize it because I thought it would definitely be useful, but actually it's quite a complex magic."
Though it was a magic that had been affecting his body up to now, he hadn't known the truth about it until just now. Harutora unconsciously thought about looking at the mark on his own face, though he definitely wouldn't be able to see it.
"......If your left eye hurts again, I'll have father look at the magic. Ah, uncle probably knows too. Maybe he could analyze it with detail that I can't."
The uncle that Natsume spoke of was Harutora's father. He was a Tsuchimikado branch family member as well as an Onmyou doctor, and probably was as familiar as Natsume's father with the magic cast on Harutora's body. As Natsume said, Harutora's father was easier to ask for help than her own father who she wasn't very close to.
"I see. Then I'll ask if I get the chance. We don't speak about such long topics often."
"Yeah. That's the most proper method if you're concerned."
"Ah. ......But Natsume, you really remember that magic clearly, huh? You said you would definitely be able to use it, but it seems like a magic endowing someone with spirit-seeing ability would normally be completely useless, right?"
"Eh? But, Harutora-kun - Ah, no, no! It's just coincidence. Coincidence, that's all! Well...... It was just a personal interest."
Natsume, whose face had suddenly reddened, started stammering. "Ah, hm?" Harutora, who was spacing out, replied ambiguously.
Recalling again, Harutora had suddenly made a request like 'Please make me your shikigami' to Natsume. That meant that at the time, Natsume had improvised a magic to endow Harutora with the spirit-seeing ability. As expected of Natsume, huh, it was as if she had been preparing for several years for a day that would arrive sometime. Harutora definitely couldn't pull that kind of stunt.
...But...... It hasn't even been a year since I could see spirits.
It had been a natural thing before, and somehow he had ignored it. But on the other hand, it had almost been a year, so it wasn't that strange for the impromptu magic to start breaking down.
But the turning point really had been the incident last month. Harutora had been moved by that magical battle between Ohtomo and Doman and had started to seek the 'seeing' strength of a higher level.
...But it was still a bit inexplicable.
He had witnessed several high-level magic battles up till now, and had come in close contact with the magics of three of the Twelve Divine Generals - The 'Child Prodigy' Dairenji Suzuka, the 'Ogre Eater' Kagami Reiji, and the 'Heavenly Blade' Kogure Zenjirou, three of the most prominent current practitioners. Suzuka was already completely a friend now.
But why had he only reacted so intensely when he saw Ohtomo and Doman? It deeply confused him.
Because it was very dangerous? No, even before, it had been sufficiently dangerous.
Because he had grown? It was possible, but wasn't it strange for it to be so fast?
Was it a problem of the environment? Indeed, the Onmyou Academy had received a deep shock on 'that day'. Doman had suddenly appearing during lunchtime and the academy building had been wrecked by shikigami. Though they had resisted, they had still instantly fallen into a crisis, and in the end they had gone to the roof, from which they couldn't escape--
...The roof?
Hmm. Harutora's face went tight.
Maybe that was involved. What was it...... Harutora excavated the important matters from his memories.
"Right. Natsume, what did Kyouko ask on the roof?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"That altar. The altar set up on the academy roof. That was exactly the same as the Imperial Hill altar for performing the Taizan Fukun Ritual back in the countryside, right? Why was that kind of thing on the Onmyou Academy roof?"
After Harutora asked, Natsume rubbed her chin and revealed a surprised expression.
"Now that you mention it, I completely forgot. It seems like at the time, Principal Kurahashi said 'talk later', but in the end we didn't go over it."
The Taizan Fukun Ritual was a secret ritual handed down generation after generation in the Tsuchimikado family. It was related with human souls - which was viewed as prohibited magic in the modern General Onmyoudou. One year ago, Harutora and Natsume's fight with Suzuka had revolved around the rite. The Onmyou Academy's Principal Kurahashi belonged to an ancient branch family of the Tsuchimikados - the Kurahashis. Though they ought to know of the Taizan Fukun Ritual's existence, it was difficult to believe that was why the altar was on the roof of the academy building.
As Tsuchimikado family members, they couldn't ignore this. Come to think of it, did Natsume's father know this?
"Though I don't know the reasons behind it, we should go ask directly. It's so important. If I had...... Thanks, Harutora-kun, for reminding me."
"......"
"Harutora-kun?"
Stunned for a moment, Natsume tilted her head and asked again. But Harutora stopped moving, seeming to be deep in thought.
Natsume also stopped, patiently waiting for Harutora to respond.
Not long afterwards, Harutora raised his head.
"Then, Natsume, do you want to go to the academy now and look?"
He hadn't considered it much, it was just pure interest. But when he recalled the altar he suddenly wanted to 'see' it. As the stage of that magic battle, it might refresh their memories.
They had gone to the academy at night before [6] . But during their sudden visit now, the academy when it was still being fully repaired seemed like an unknown building.
The tarpaulin covering the outer wall flapped with the wind like the loud wail of a giant animal. There were still some places being worked on even this late, and the lights shining through the swaying tarpaulin seemed like the building's pulse.
The two heavy automatic doors at the main entrance had been destroyed during the attack last month. The ground was now covered with boards, and the outside was covered with a tarp to guard against gawkers. Harutora and Natsume glanced at each other, anxiously lifting the tap and walking in.
Then,
"Oh, it's you. It's been a long time."
"What are you coming here for at this time? It's not good to walk the roads at night."
"Eh? You're already restored?"
Two komainu sat on the pedestals set to the left and right of the entrance.
But upon seeing their current external appearance, probably no one would be able to tell that they were komainu. Though they indeed mimicked the appearance of wild beasts, they had many movable metal joints. More precisely, they looked like mechanical dogs sitting there. These weren't traditional komainu, but rather capable, vigorous forms that resembled Dobermans. The pentagrams carved into their foreheads left deep impressions.
They were the principal's shikigami, Alpha and Omega. They had overseen the academy entrance before.
These two were known as mechanical shikigami, as their vessel was their physical form. They had blocked Ashiya Doman when he had attacked the academy, and hence they had both been injured. They had been brought to the Onmyou Agency afterwards and it seemed that they had wanted to resume their duty before the academy building was repaired.
But,
"Unfortunately, the building hasn't been fully repaired. Hence, we can only expose our true forms like this."
"When the academy is repaired, we can regain our original states. Hence, you will have to wait until another day if you want to see our cute forms again."
A frequented bar required three things. Darkness, space, and a suitable clamor, though not jarring.
Anyway, integrating with the shop was the most important. As for that point, the Roppongi bar 'Authentic' was able to fulfil that item. Its broad customer base was also extremely rare. There were various skin colors and languages, and even no shortage of variance in generations, all unhidden.
The man was huge.
Even if he sat on a barstool, he still had a strong presence. He was close to two meters tall when he stood up. The cocktail in his hand seemed twice as small as usual.
His muscular body was extremely well-built and didn't feel sluggish. His short, gold hair reflected the dim light in the darkness, making one unable to help but associate it with a golden crown. His clearly-outlined face seemed to have some foreign blood, and though there was a faint smile on the corners of his mouth, no emotions could be seen from his narrowed eyes.
He seemed extremely fashionable, wearing a suit without a tie, and the wild nature concealed inside was hard to keep from spilling out. It was like the incarnation of a lion mixed into the darkness of the city.
The man sat alone on the left side of the bar, quietly emptying his glass.
But when several new customers entered the store, the smile that had emerged on his face became bitter.
There were three customers. After a floor worker's lead, they entered and immediately sat next to a table. They seemed to be already drunk, but they weren't noisy enough to draw the attention of the customers already there. But if someone with the spirit-seeing ability looked, they would definitely gasp in surprise. The three all possessed strong aura surpassing that of a normal person.
Onmyouji, and probably exorcists.
Onmyouji were rarely seen around here. Of course, because he had already strengthened his stealth, they shouldn't - at least not at first glance - be able to notice his movements here. Though it would be a bit annoying to leave the bar like this, it wouldn't be as foolish as drinking in the same shop as exorcists. What to do. He looked at the cabinet of liquor, putting the cocktail to his mouth.
But when the man's excellent hearing caught the conversation between the exorcists, he eliminated his presence from the seat.
"But those guys are really amazing. Even though he's a Tsuchimikado, isn't he just a student? Eto-san was too childish."
"Because that guy hates the Onmyou Academy."
"He doesn't need to be so hard to Onmyou Academy students. Gotta be fair, you know, fair. We got scolded enough afterwards."
"That's right."
The three exorcists all laughed. It sounded like the Onmyou Academy students were borrowing an exorcist branch. Moreover, in this short time, these exorcists had conducted mock battles with several students.
Their opponent had been a Tsuchimikado...... In that case, he could immediately think of the faces of 'a couple students'. The man had been watching from afar for the whole time when the Onmyou Academy had been attacked last month.
The three exorcists seemed to have very high evaluations of the students. The two most prominent were the Tsuchimikado family's next heir and the living spirit boy. The man swilled the ice cubes in his glass. What was that person up to - it seemed that he still hadn't awakened.
"But, I didn't think he would tie with the captain."
"Well, I'm not sure how hard that guy was trying exactly."
"No, he should have been quite serious. It was no different from when he's on the scene. I already believe the rumor about that kid being a certain reincarnation."
"Hey, hey, don't speak nonsense."
"......Now that you mention it, have you heard? About the legal reform......"
"Ah, right, right. I almost forgot about that. It seems like it's finally set."
The exorcists changed the topic. The man continued listening in the darkness.
"The spring 'Repurification' started talk again, and then there was the attack that happened last month. In the end, that became the deciding blow."
"Hmph...... Well, in any case, the Chief's years of hard work have finally come to fruition. These few years - especially the 'Great Purification' two years ago - made the related agencies put in a huge effort."
"That member of Congress called Satake? He seems to be colluding with the Chief......"
"The so-called young members of the New National Defense Party [7] . Look at the news a bit, he's often on television shows."
"So? I heard from some Mystical Investigators that I know that something big will happen because of the legal reform. I don't know whether it's true or not......"
The chatting exorcists lowered their voices, as if concerned about the people next to them. The man listened attentively. But the single phrase he managed to hear was already enough for him to find new interest.
The Twin-Horned Syndicate.
"......Oh my. More terrorist attacks. Why do they have to do that kind of thing?"
"If it's the truth, aren't the kids from today in danger?"
"It's very possible. Similar things happened before too."
"No way, in the Meguro branch?"
"No, that shouldn't happen again...... I think......"
The exorcists' voices became smaller and smaller, but they still continued the topic. The man finished his glass and moved his attention away, the pieces of ice making clattering sounds.
Come to think of it, he didn't know about the movements of those people recently because his old friend had died again. Though it had nothing to do with him, he had still stepped out last month out of curiosity.
In other words, he felt very bored.
Whatever excuses he found, he actually was very interested in that group of people.
"...Check, please."
He announced quietly with a voice that only the bartender could hear.
The man rose from his stool, the left sleeve of his suit swaying lightly.
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