Tokyo Ravens - Volume 7 - Chapter 4.4

Part 4 
"Natsume!" 
His shout almost broke his voice. 
Harutora hurried over as fast as he could, simultaneously 'seeing' the whirlwind that had absorbed Natsume. The pain in his eyes and the splitting pain in his head didn't matter. It didn't matter even if the pain ended up reaching his heart. 
--Natsume! 
He single-mindedly watched for Natsume. 
Natsume still lived. 
The blade of magical energy hadn't harmed Natsume's body for some reason and had only cut apart her clothes. 
Then, Natsume was tossed out of the whirlwind and tumbled to the ground with a cry. The students all gasped upon seeing her unclothed appearance. 
...Damn! 
They had been found out. 
Natsume's true identity had been exposed, and it had been right in front of their classmates. 
Moreover, he only noticed now that the magic that Natsume used when she posed as a male had also disappeared. Natsume used yang aura to mask her female yin aura when she posed and dressed as a male. She multiplied the yin aura of Hokuto with her own yin aura, making it as if she carried yang aura. 
But right now, Hokuto had been severely injured, and the yin aura coming from the shikigami had become weak. Natsume's aura returned to its normal yin aura and she could no longer hide it. 
"Ah!" 
The red-faced Natsume pulled her shredded uniform to her chest. Her slender, bare arms trembled lightly. Harutora flew into a rage upon seeing his childhood friend's tearful expression. 
On the other hand, Shaver gazed at Natsume and smirked. 
"What's going on, there isn't even a vessel? That's so annoying......" 
Shaver's intent could be understood from those words. He hadn't killed Natsume instantly, fearing that the shikigami might not appear again after the master died. So he had torn Natsume's uniform to look for Hokuto's vessel. 
"No helping it. Then I'll cut off an arm or leg. Please, before you die--" 
"What the hell are you joking about!" 
Harutora gripped the shakujou that had been cut into two pieces in his hands, striking Shaver as the blood rushed to his head. 
He hit. 
But that just showed how little heed Shaver paid to Harutora. 
"Annoyance." 
Shaver moved his leg like he were kicking a pebble, but it would definitely be deadly if he were kicked head-on. It was Touji who saved Harutora before that happened. He blocked the kick with crossed arms, making Shaver lose his balance instead. "Oh." Just as Shaver stumbled, Touji picked up Harutora, grabbed Natsume, and shoved them back. 
"Bakatora! Calm down!" 
Touji roared at him. 
"Shut up!" 
But Harutora yelled back. 

In that period of time, Kon covered Shaver's vision with foxfire and Suzuka attacked him with charms, but Shaver indifferently swung his katana, charging towards Harutora and the others. 
Touji threw Harutora and Natsume out at the same time, swiftly leaping out himself as well and dodging the shikigami's slash. The wall behind him was cut open and a new hole was opened in the training room as it crumbled. Shaver turned his head amidst the dust that fell from the ceiling, searching for the thrown Harutora and Natsume with his gaze. 
His gaze landed on them. 
Shaver's face revealed a mocking smile as if he were teasing his prey. 
A hard-to-endure anger filled Harutora's entire body with strength. 
...This thing! 
When he had been thrown, he had tossed away the shakujou in his hands to protect Natsume. Harutora kneeled on the ground, tightly grabbing all of the charms he had, and refined his aura into magical energy with all of the energy that burned in him. 
A flashing pain coursed through his brain and even reached his fingertips. 
Anger. 
Regret. 
No matter how many charms he had, they weren't even worth mentioning to the shikigami in front of him. Even if he bet his life on an attack, he couldn't hurt Shaver a bit. 
He couldn't protect the people important to him. 
Natsume leaned against Harutora from inside his arms. 
His hunger exploded. 
Not enough, not enough, not enough. 
Aura, magical energy, spirit-seeing ability, strength, everything. 
Suddenly, the same feeling from the mock battle appeared in Harutora's heart, from when he had been restrained by Eto's Unmoving Golden Chains. Just like that time, he had been restrained and shut in a 'shell'. The impatient feelings of wanting to struggle and break through that 'shell' poured from his heart. 
He just wanted that 'shell' to be gone. 
If only he could see more directly - if only he could touch. 
...Wait. 
Right now, he 'saw' the outside world from the 'shell' using the magic Natsume had cast as the medium. The pentagram marked underneath his left eye, the Tsuchimikado family seal modeled after the stars, the magic symbol of Onmyoudou. 
This was the door connecting the inside of his shell to the outside world, and simultaneously a crack in the firm shell sealing himself that had been slightly cut open, leading to the start of his hatching. The moment he felt this, Harutora pulled his strength back into this crack. 
Focus. 
He focused his entire mind and body. 
Then, 
...Shatter... 
The sound of something breaking resounded inside Harutora's body. 
The horrifying sound made Harutora's hair stand on end, and the decisive sound of destruction evidenced some kind of irreversible change. 
It was very likely that the thing destroyed was the existence named Tsuchimikado Harutora. Even so, that was fine. If he could protect Natsume that way, then who cared what happened afterwards. 
So, the raven spread its wings.