Tokyo Ravens - Volume 9 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3 - Bared Fangs 
Part 1 
"You've become pretty." 
Her heart almost burst because of his unexpected words. 
But his compliment was correct. The surrounding gazes aimed at her were clearly different from before. Especially the males. The people who had bullied and looked down on her as children seemed to have become different people, casting toady gazes at her. 
She didn't feel happy at all. She was unhappy and resentful. She felt contempt and disgust at the males attracted by her appearance. 
But only he was different. Only the change in the way he treated her made her feel terrified and anxious yet also sweet and joyous. His discomfort and embarrassment - more than terror and fear - made her feel happy and joyful. 
"You're my shikigami, don't forget that." 
'Of course', she said with a smile to the upset him. She was happier than ever, so much that she even felt anxious, but even so, she still vowed seriously. 
My loyalty is not to your family. 
Only to you, Tsuchimikado Yakou-- 

A locked door. Simple lighting. Inlaid windows. One table and two chairs. 
This was the entire room. Harutora sat motionlessly in one of the chairs in the center of the room. 
A tight barrier had been set in the room. Hence, he couldn't even sense his own aura. It was as if he had returned to his self from a year ago, his still ignorant self. The ignorant, innocent and irresponsible time when he had frolicked with Touji and Hokuto. 
His life just a short year before. 
But it was like a different person's life. Or, was the current reality just a dream? After he woke up, would he still be ignorantly frolicking with Touji and Hokuto? 
"......Ugh." 
That time with Hokuto. Her shikigami self left a charm in Harutora's hand after vanishing. 
Then, today. Harutora had learned that Natsume had been the practitioner controlling Hokuto...... then, she had dyed Harutora's hands with her own blood and died. 
Harutora stared at his palms. They were still clammy with Natsume's blood. As proof of his irreparable 'crime'. 
...Natsume...... 
Suddenly, their childhood promise awoke in his mind. 
...Okay, I'll become Natsume-chan's shikigami. We'll be together forever, and I'll protect Natsume-chan forever. 
He had announced this and they had woven the magic of a promise together. Entwining pinky with pinky. 
Right, he had indeed promised that to Natsume. 
A promise he had once broken. 
Right now, he had broken it again. He hadn't been able to protect his master, and in addition, Natsume had lost her life because of him. 
Thinking back to the time with Hokuto, Natsume had also sacrificed her shikigami to help Harutora. Then, Natsume had helped Harutora again today by self-sacrifice. 
How could he call himself a shikigami. 
"......!" 
He tightly clenched his hands, his eyes bloodshot. He gritted his teeth with all his strength. 
His crime. No matter what, he had to repent for that crime. ......No, the words weren't as pretty as that. Hate. He couldn't suffer Natsume's death and couldn't tolerate her absence. Currently, Natsume didn't exist anywhere in the world. This moment without Natsume would continue to exist forever. It was a hard-to-stand pain that practically destroyed his heart. His heart agonized as if it were being scorched. 
Because of that...... 
Yashamaru's previous proposal wouldn't leave his mind. It had invaded him. Even though he clearly knew somewhere in his heart that it was an obvious 'mistake'. 
It was a curse. 
"Shit." 
Suzuka's figure emerged in his mind. Have you forgotten what you told me 'back then'? The sound of that girl's shout resounded in his heart. 
It was completely as she had said. Harutora hadn't understood how it was to lose someone important. Not only had he let Natsume die, he had also hurt Suzuka. He had been selfish and irresponsible. 
Even so...... 
As expected, he couldn't give up on Natsume. 
Just like Suzuka had scolded him for, he was despicable. But his decision would no longer change. 
The future was suddenly closed off in a thick darkness, and he stood in place with nowhere to go. However, there was a faint light in the depths of the darkness, indicating a path. 
That path had to lead to a path in even deeper darkness. A path full of shadows, chill, and rancid taboo. 
The forbidden soul magic. The Taizan Fukun Ritual. 
But even if it were the devil's contract, he wouldn't hesitate. 
"............" 
Harutora's eyes housed a cold, penetrating light. 
He would resurrect Natsume using the Taizan Fukun Ritual. That was 'decided'. The next question was 'how' to use that ritual. 
The most reasonable way would be to ask Suzuka. It didn't matter if Harutora's life were the price. 
But it was very difficult to pull off. Suzuka definitely wouldn't agree. In the first place, it wasn't certain that he would be able to obtain the help of his companions. No, they might even oppose him. Especially the adults, they wouldn't agree. Regardless of whether it was the principal or Ohtomo, they wouldn't approve of Harutora using banned magic. He couldn't even rely on his parents. After all, he couldn't contact them. 
Moreover-- 
... 'I hope that you remember that even if you prepare to carry out the Taizan Fukun Ritual, your time is extremely limited.' 
It was extremely maddening, but right now his feelings were irrelevant. His determination wouldn't change even if he had to make a contract with the devil. Since there were no choices left for him, then he wouldn't hesitate. 
But in the end, this was all based on the great premise of 'Natsume's resurrection'. 
Yashamaru had also said that 'there might be some 'additional conditions. For example, if Natsume became like Yashamaru - if she awoke as 'Takiko's shikigami' just like Dairenji Shidou...... should Harutora accept the proposal? His personal feelings towards Takiko were an irrelevant problem now. On the other hand, since Takiko had the Raven's Wing, then there was a very high probability that she is on the same side as the 'enemy' that had attacked the Tsuchimikado main family residence. To Natsume, awakening as the shikigami serving the person in that position might be a fate worse than death. 
First, Yashamaru had said this. Since he was named 'Yashamaru' and not 'Dairenji Shidou', then technically speaking, he was a different person - he wasn't 'human'. 
In other words, it was possible that what Yashamaru called 'awakening' was different from Natsume's 'resurrection'. The other party might see it as a slight difference, but to him it might be a huge disparity. 
The only thing he could say for sure was that in the end, the opponents were aiming at him - though that was hard to believe - as Tsuchimikado Yakou's reincarnation, not Natsume. Yashamaru had purposefully expressed that they were 'abnormal negotiations'. 
Harutora couldn't determine whether he was Yakou or not. But at least Yashamaru, Takiko, and the others believed so. And to them, Natsume's resurrection was just a bargaining chip. There were no negotiations he could trust any more than his negotiations with them. 
...But, is there no other...... 
Harutora tightly shut his eyes. 
What exactly did Takiko and the others want to do by capturing this useless reincarnation? Or would they make him awaken after this? If he regained his memories from his past life, would he become able to wield powerful magic? But, so? What were they preparing to do? Come to think of it...... 

Why had Yakou reincarnated? 
What exactly did Yakou want to do? Maybe that was related to what Takiko and the others were planning? Harutora didn't know Takiko's true goal either. 
...That girl...... Who was she? 
"......Damn......" 
He didn't have enough information. His definite information was exceedingly insufficient. He hated his ignorance from the bottom of his heart. Why hadn't he studied more, understood more, or seriously asked questions before things became like this? It was the first time since he was born that he regretted being lazy. 
"...Damn!" 
Harutora stood up from the chair, unable to stand the silence. He paced around the room with rough footsteps to get over the agitated emotions filling his body. But even this couldn't suppress them. 
In the end, he shouted out loudly and hit the glass of the inlaid window. 
"Damn." 
He growled, angrily glaring daggers at the idiot reflected in the window. 
Then, he noticed. 
The corner of his left eye. The pentagram mark had vanished. 
...Wha!? 
Suddenly, he felt as if his heart had been grabbed. 
The proof that he had become Natsume's shikigami. The magical pattern that had guided Harutora to become an Onmyouji. It had vanished. As if the bond between the two of them had been cut because of Natsume's death. 
Tears welled up. 
...Why...... 
His body's strength dwindled. Harutora leaned against the window as if he had collapsed, knocking it with his forehead. The whole room creaked. 
...Natsume...... 
"......Natsume......" 
His heart was sad and grieving. 
Harutora leaned listlessly against the window as if his power source had been cut off. 
He didn't know how long he stayed motionless like that. 
Suddenly-- 
Something moved in the corner of his vision. 
He slowly moved his gaze, not thinking about anything. Outside the window. Something was stuck on the window. 
A bug. It was a spider. 
A spider as small as his thumbnail. It crawled curiously back and forth on the other side of the window, across from Harutora. It moved right, moved left, and moved upward and to the right and then down...... Repeating the same movement several times. Moreover, it kept moving along the same trail, but it didn't seem to be weaving a web. 
Right. Left and down. Up. To the right and down. Left and up. Then to the right again. 
Harutora followed the spider's movements in a trance. He kept watching for a long time-- 
At some point, he realized. 
"......Wha!" 
The spider had been tracing a pattern since the beginning. 
A pentagram. 
He inadvertently put his hands on the glass, staring at the spider outside. It wasn't wrong. That spider was making the exact same movements and drawing a pentagram. He was taken aback. His wretched mood left him and he became purely and simply surprised. Harutora's eyes widened. 
Along with that, the spider seemed to understand that Harutora had noticed it, and changed its continuous movements. 
It quickly drew a pattern, snaking around as if dividing a circle into right and left. It repeated that a second time, and then he noticed when it repeated the third time. It was the Taijitu [6] . The image representing yin and yang. Then, after Harutora became aware, the spider started another different movement. 
"This thing...... is it!?" 
...A shikigami!? 
Harutora's spirit-seeing ability had been sealed because of the barrier set in the room. But the movements of the spider before him clearly were not the movements of an ordinary bug. Moreover, though he couldn't see clearly through the glass, this spider was blue. It was a blue spider in an even deeper color than Swallow Whips. 
Harutora stared motionlessly at the spider sticking to the outside of the window. 
...Whose...... Whose shikigami was it? Why was it here? No, what was it here for? 
His paralyzed mind rapidly started spinning. This spider - what did the shikigami's master want? The only thing he knew was that the other party wanted to establish contact with Harutora. Otherwise it wouldn't deliberately make these movements to catch Harutora's attention. 
However, there was another important point. 
...No matter who the master of this thing was...... He wasn't with Takiko's group. 
If he were one of Takiko's companions, he wouldn't have used such a roundabout method. Moreover, he didn't think it was Touji and the others. He immediately thought of Ohtomo, but he didn't feel it was him either. Then his parents? There was that possibility, but how could they know where he was? 
"Damn!" 
The spider shikigami seemed to lack the power to pass through the room's barrier. Since the Onmyou Agency had prepared this room's barrier to restrain practitioners, it wasn't easy to break even for a top-notch Onmyouji. 
But the spider didn't give up at all, continuing to move before Harutora. Then, it finally started tracing 'words'. One word after another...... But it was difficult to spend time reading the spider's movements while racking his brains. 
...Who? Who was it? 
A mysterious practitioner who was attempting to come in contact with Harutora. 
Then as you wish. Harutora grinned resignedly and impolitely. He put his thumb against his teeth, breaking the skin. 
He ignored the pain, using his welling blood to write hiragana starting with '?' on the glass window. An intense change came over the spider's movements. After it circled around a few times, it started moving on the other side of the window when he finished the 'さ' [7] . It moved from character to character. 
い. 
い. 
そ. 
Harutora mumbled, closely following the marks in the corner of the window. The spider moved around as it willed. 
い,い,ぞ. [8] 
...Alright! 
The devil had offered his hand, and now it was a spider. But - good. To the current Harutora, it didn't matter if it was straw or a spider as long as he could grab on to it. Seeing that his bloody characters had already started drying, he bit his finger again. 
Needless to say, Harutora didn't know. Even if he had heard of the legends of Kibi no Makibi, who had brought back the Onmyoudou codex '金鸟玉兔集' [9] from the Tang Dynasty and had controlled 'spiders' to save the life of Abe no Seimei's ancestor, Abe no Nakamaro, he didn't remember them. 
However, unbeknownst to him-- 
The progeny of the Tsuchimikado prepared to entrust his life to the guidance of the spider again.