Tokyo Ravens - Volume 7 - Chapter 4.3

Part 3 
Kyouko was already past her limits. 
Someone had died in front of her. Of course, she knew that there had already been several people related to the Twin-Horned Syndicate who had gotten killed, but that was just secondhand knowledge. During the spiritual disaster attack two years ago, the culprit, Suzuka's father, had died and caused many casualties among the public. He had heard that during the spiritual disaster last spring, the man recognized as the main suspect had ended up killing himself. Maybe there would also be people dying in this sweep of the Twin-Horned Syndicate. 
But. 
Someone she had been talking with not long ago, whose face and name were very familiar, had been cut to death in front of her. 
She couldn't calm down. 
Moreover, the spiritual disaster right afterwards rivaled the spiritual disaster attack of this spring. Of course, the spiritual disaster this time harmed a limited area, and they probably couldn't be compared with a 'Type-Chimera' that had terrorized all of Tokyo, but how would someone involved view this incident? Kyouko had been incredibly scared during the practical skills exam and in the shrine outer garden [24] , but she had kept enduring as much as she could and working hard. 
How could she keep calm in front of spiritual disasters? 
Moreover, there were no adults around this time. Harutora and Natsume were very reliable, but that wasn't the issue. The pressure that 'she had to do something' was of a completely different type. 
Even so, Kyouko had maintained her consciousness to the best of her ability when they had suffered through Ashiya Doman's attack before and had fought together with Harutora and Natsume, constantly escaping a spiritual disaster. She didn't want to lose and couldn't bear failure, succeeding in urging herself to fight. 
But-- 
She couldn't face Shaver. 
When Kagami's shikigami had sacrificed his left arm to impale Hokuto, he had performed the killing strike with mirth and enjoyment. 
Kyouko's heart collapsed again. 
It was already enough. 
She didn't want to go on. 
"Kyouko!" 
Kyouko finally came to her senses upon hearing Harutora's shout, but she was already in no condition to fight and had even lost the energy to support herself. She appreciated Harutora's sympathy upon seeing her miserable appearance, felt shameful, and wanted to cry loudly, but she still couldn't muster any courage. She was helpless and had already lost. 
Then, Harutora and Natsume used themselves as bait and began to lure the out-of-control Shaver. 
The fearsome shikigami chased the two of them and slowly drew distant from her. 
She was relieved. 
That feeling of relief shocked her. She almost smiled. 
She was stunned at herself. 
"Damn!" 
The horned and fanged Touji cursed, chasing Shaver with all his might. Suzuka also followed right behind him, continuously unleashing magic with all her power. She thought of Harutora's instructions, to meet up with Touji - meet up? To do what? They still had to fight? 
"Kurahashi-san!" 
Her body trembled upon hearing someone talk to her. She turned around. With a stern expression, Tenma was looking at Kyouko as she sat on the ground. 
"Are you alright? Were you hurt?" 
Kyouko slowly shook her head after hearing him solemnly confirm. Tenma heaved a sigh of relief, and then firmly grabbed Kyouko's arm, saying: 
"Let's go!" 
At first she thought he was joking. 
But Tenma was serious. 
Bluntly put, Tenma was much weaker than her. He couldn't defeat her in a magic battle. Actually, he had been completely useless in the fight against Shaver except for his feint at the very start. If he had received Shaver's counterattack, he would undoubtedly be unable to defend, not even slightly like the others. A mere shockwave would seriously injure him. 
But...... 
Tenma still said 'let's go'. Those words didn't have a shred of hesitation. He truly wanted to rush to the frontline to help his companions. 
Why was she different? 

Kyouko had already lost her decision-making ability and didn't even know what she wanted to do. She stood up with Tenma's support and then numbly replied, 
"Let's go." 
Tenma nodded, chasing after Touji and Suzuka. Kyouko also started running, following behind him. 
Probably because she had been paralyzed once, it hurt all over her body to move again. She was exhausted and felt like she would collapse immediately. But for now, Kyouko still continued to run. What could she do in this kind of situation, what would she face after catching up? She couldn't answer these questions and could only clearly see the giant aura in front of her as she ran and ran with all her strength. 
She reached the training room. 
Suzuka, Touji, and Tenma were standing in the corridor in front of the training room, surveying the situation inside through the crumbled wall. 
Shaver was inside, Natsume was inside, and Harutora and Kon were also inside. In addition, there were other students - even classmates. They seemed to have come here to take shelter. 
Right as Kyouko confirmed the situation inside the room, Shaver's blade emitted a whirlwind of magical energy that engulfed Natsume's body. 
Harutora's cry resounded through the room. 
"Natsume!" 
Touji and Kyouko were frozen in place and Tenma was dumbstruck. "No way." Kyouko's heart quickly denied the scene before her. 
It wasn't funny at all. Natsume couldn't be defeated this easily. He was the next heir of the Tsuchimikado family, the proud genius of the Onmyou Academy, and the hero that Kyouko had always yearned for and whom she had been saved by several times. 
But, the image of Eto collapsed in a pool of blood flashed through Kyouko's mind again. 
The blood drained from her body. 
However-- 
Natsume still lived. 
But she wasn't unhurt. The whirlwind of magical energy had torn the uniform on her body to rags. 
Then, 
"Aah!" 
Natsume, appearing from the whirlwind, collapsed to the ground. 
There was no blood on her shredded uniform. White, smooth skin - in stark contrast to the black-colored fabric for males - could be glimpsed inside the uniform. 
 
Kyouko's mind went blank. 
"......Eh?" 
In that moment, the training room that had long since become hell was shrouded in silence. 
The students, especially their classmates, were speechless. 
The collapsed, red-faced Natsume covered her chest with the pieces of her uniform, but it was meaningless resistance. The soft curves hidden inside the uniform modeled after Heian imperial clothing were now clearly visible. 
The ribbon that tied her hair had already fallen as well, and her black hair hung down over her chest from her exposed shoulders. Natsume's expression was filled with embarrassment, but even that expression was charmingly cute. 
Her appearance could no longer be described with words, but it definitely couldn't be a male body. 
As expected. 
The heavy suspicions she had recently been hiding in her heart. 
They instantly buried Kyouko. 
Kyouko smiled sadly, as if she were smiling and crying. It was a confused, twisted, and unhidden expression. 
So that was it. Kyouko understood. 
Tsuchimikado Natsume-- 
Kyouko's hero-- 
Was a girl.