Part 4
"......Are you certain?"
He heard Kurahashi ask to confirm what he heard, a rare look of surprise showing on his always-calm face.
The Onmyou Agency executive room. Yashamaru shrugged his shoulders in front of Kurahashi.
"Is it true?"
He asked Takiko, who was next to him. Takiko silently affirmed, her face aghast. Kumomaru was also behind Takiko.
"I thought it would be better to tell you. After all, that's enough to completely overturn the information we had."
Yashamaru said this with his arms crossed, like a solemn young scholar who had obtained poor results. Kurahashi didn't pay Yashamaru any heed, looking at Takiko next to him instead. Takiko gave a slightly angry nod to his statement.
"It's not wrong. That information came from no other than your daughter. Natsume just usually wears a male disguise...... but she's actually a girl."
"......What does that mean. A girl posing as a boy?"
"I heard that it was the Tsuchimikado main family's 'tradition'. 'The successor of the Tsuchimikado family must appear as a male to outsiders.' So only Harutora of the branch family and a few people close to them knew of Natsume's true identity before the Meguro branch incident led to her gender being exposed."
"......"
Kurahashi silently placed his elbows on the desk, burying his face in his hands.
A frightful gaze shot from his eyes. Though he didn't say a word, the entire room seemed to be filled with a feeling of pressure. Yashamaru and Kumomaru were indifferent, but though Takiko didn't show any fear, she was still angry.
"Hmm. So you really didn't know either? Though the Kurahashis are a branch family, they treated you like 'outsiders' too, huh? Or......"
Yashamaru uncrossed his arms, putting his hands on his waist and sighing softly.
Then, a cold smile emerged on his lips.
"......This 'family tradition' was a fabrication from the very beginning. In order to conceal something......"
Yashamaru, who mentioned two possibilities, seemed to have already come to his own conclusion. The ironic smile that had emerged on his clever face was like that of an old chess player staring at a younger player's coup.
The wordless Kurahashi seemed to agree with Yashamaru's opinion. Takiko, who watched the two of them talk, quietly gulped with a tense face as well.
"But, supposing Tsuchimikado Natsume's male disguise was to conceal something, we should be focusing on the goal of the cover-up."
Takiko couldn't help but watch Yashamaru. Yashamaru felt his master's doubt and smiled to alleviate the tense atmosphere.
"For example, Princess. The thing that comes to mind first right now is that rumor, right? 'Tsuchimikado Natsume is the reincarnation of Tsuchimikado Yakou.' Incidentally, the roots of that rumor lie in another rumor, 'Tsuchimikado Yakou will reincarnate as the child of the Tsuchimikado family containing his blood.'"
"That rumor's authenticity is uncertain, right?"
"Oh, Princess. We're not so ignorant as to completely believe all the rumors and let this kind of trick - or perhaps I should call it a countermeasure - lead us by the nose."
Yashamaru spread his arms like an actor, lifting a white-gloved index finger.
"First, the latter, the rumor that 'Tsuchimikado Yakou will reincarnate as the child of the Tsuchimikado family containing his blood.' That was the final conclusion reached by many Onmyouji researching Yakou's magic, including me. People doubted it because it sounded pretentious, but we deliberately manipulated the information to mislead them. After all, if that rumor was publicly known, it would become difficult for us to move. Of course, as long as we haven't completely unraveled the magic Yakou used to reincarnate, we can't say anything 'for sure'. But please remember that that fact is trustworthy and very likely to be accurate."
Then, Yashamaru lifted his middle finger to follow his index finger.
"The previous rumor. There's still no explicit information to prove the one that 'Tsuchimikado Natsume is the reincarnation of Tsuchimikado Yakou.' There's just a 'basis'. Right, Kurahashi?"
Yashamaru's monocle flashed as he looked over.
Kurahashi, who sat next to the desk, endured the shikigami's gaze with a stony expression.
He opened his mouth solemnly:
"When the current head of the Tsuchimikado family, Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi, belonged to the Onmyou Agency, he used divination on himself. The conclusion was that the child inheriting his blood would be Yakou's reincarnation. That was his first prophecy, or in other words, the first moment he possessed the ability of 'divination'. I - happened to be present."
"......"
Takiko's eyes widened silently and she pressed her lips together. Yashamaru coughed lightly.
"Returning to the topic...... 'Tsuchimikado Yakou will reincarnate as the son of the Tsuchimikado family containing his blood' is essentially certain, as I said just now. Also, 'Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi's child will be that reincarnation' is based on Yasuzumi's prediction, and there's a possibility that he 'lied' or 'read incorrectly'. But, Chief Kurahashi who saw that moment can attest to the prophecy. Then overall, 'Tsuchimikado Natsume is the reincarnation of Tsuchimikado Yakou' was a worthy enough hypothesis for us to act. Do you understand that?"
Takiko nodded obediently upon hearing Yashamaru's respectful lecture.
"......I understand. But how did we get here from when I talked about Natsume being a girl in disguise just now?"
"Nn. There's indeed no relationship if you consider it directly."
"Eh?"
"But how about this, Princess? Yasuzumi might have predicted that 'his child would be Yakou's reincarnation', right? Then, that has nothing to do with Tsuchimikado Natsume being male or female. Then there would be no meaning in deliberately disguising herself as a male. Hence, if you consider it directly, her male disguise wasn't trying to conceal anything, it was just purely because of a 'family tradition' that the Kurahashi family wasn't informed of. ......But--"
Hmm. Yashamaru deliberately made a pondering noise, turning his neck and looking at Kurahashi out of the corner of his eye.
With an indifferent tone:
"But, Kurahashi. Why are you so shocked? If Tsuchimikado Natsume is a female, does that even make anything inconvenient--"
"Yes."
Kurahashi replied immediately without a shred of affectation, forming a clear contrast with his former coworker [17] .
"The reason is that Yasuzumi's child was a boy."
Takiko went stiff. On the other hand, Yashamaru seemed to have anticipated this long ago and wasn't surprised.
He bluntly asked:
"Why?"
"I 'saw' directly with my own eyes. I...... My mother and I. When Wakasugi Yuuko [18] was pregnant, the child in her belly carried yang aura."
Yashamaru calmly narrowed his eyes.
All people carried aura, whether they were practitioners or not. Males had yang aura and females had yin aura. Though Natsume used magic to disguise her aura type, she had to use her dragon's aura. In other words, it wasn't very easy to cover up. More importantly, it was essentially impossible to forge the aura of a fetus.
"......Of course, when you 'saw', Yasuzumi-kun was......"
"Aware."
"Princess!"
Kumomaru caught up to Takiko very quickly. But it would have been very difficult to call out to her back if he hadn't been chasing her bitterly.
"Please keep calm. Where are you going?"
The workers they passed cast curious glances at the two of them. Kumomaru shrank back a bit but still spoke to her with all his power. But Takiko didn't respond, nor did she intend on stopping.
Takiko walked towards the receiving room they used. After entering the room, she finally turned to look at Kumomaru who was shouting 'Princess'.
"Kumomaru."
"Yes."
"Unfortunately, I should have realized that they were already ensnared by Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi's magic. They haven't had their own free will since they were young......"
Takiko's abrupt words made Kumomaru's eyes widen. But Takiko didn't pay any heed to her shikigami's reaction, walking into the room.
"Then, I probably can't resolve anything with words. I can only use force. ......This is for their good too......"
Takiko's words seemed nefarious, and Kumomaru didn't know how to react. Yashamaru's 'leave the Princess to you' referred to her safety, but was it really alright to let Takiko act however she wanted?
"Princess. By 'them', you mean......?"
"Kumomaru, you should have seen it already."
His master replied flatly to the shikigami's question. Kumomaru was taken aback when he heard that answer.
"I originally thought it was an unrelated accident, but that wasn't the case. In yesterday's mock battle. He responded to my 'furunokoto' [20] ."
"......Princess."
Kumomaru finally understood Takiko's intentions and froze in place. Never mind Yashamaru for now, but Kumomaru's feelings were similar to Takiko's. He also anticipated Tsuchimikado Yakou's awakening, Yakou regaining his original will, and to fight together as his companion.
Takiko walked to the table placed in the corner of the room.
The tall, wrapped wooden box was placed on the same table as yesterday. Takiko reached out to the wooden box without hesitating, taking off the wrapping.
"I'll break Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi's curse."
The wooden box was sealed with paper, and Takiko ripped through it.
"I'll awaken Harutora."
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