Tokyo Ravens - Volume 9 - Chapter 4.5

Part 5 
"What should we do!?" 
Touji, who was on the horse again, questioned Harutora who sat next to him as the wind rushed past. 
Since Kogure had appeared, the spiritual disaster purification team would probably be contacted very soon. Harutora and the others had become fugitives. Then it was a matter of time until they showed up. 
"We'll take back Natsume. Then, we'll go to where Suzu-senpai is." 
"Alright. Then first to the Exorcist Bureau headquarters. Our second break-in of the night." 
Touji's voice was very happy. Without a doubt, Touji had already prepared himself to abide by Harutora's decision, but just like Ohtomo, he had a desire to cast away his hesitation and his troubles. 
Kon flew next to Yukikaze, her ears and tail fluttering in the wind. Slightly farther was Suzuka's shikigami as well. And also the Raven's Wing. Though the yatagarasu had pulled away from Harutora and the others, it definitely wasn't trying to leave them. 
He could only trust it now. He didn't know how much Saotome would help them out, but he didn't believe they would be able to entrust everything to her. In the end, he could only rely on himself to challenge the Taizan Fukun Ritual. Perhaps he would require the strength of the Raven's Wing for that. 
Harutora and the Raven's Wing had both been saved by Natsume. 
This time, it now fell to Harutora and the Raven's Wing to join together and rescue Natsume. 
"H-Harutora-sama!" 
Suddenly, Kon caught their attention. Right afterwards, the caws of crows poured forth. 
"Wha!?" 
From the front, from behind, from the left and right, and also from above and below. The caws coming from every direction resounded, bouncing off each other and becoming more chaotic. There was magical energy in the sound. It was magic. Yukikaze's feet thrashed, but Touji inadvertently released the reins to cover his ears. Though Harutora also screamed, he couldn't even hear his voice. 
...This was!? 
Flap. Four crows cut through the dark night and flew by, surrounding Yukikaze from four directions. Crows - no, that was wrong. Though their heads and wings were like crows, they wore miasma protection clothing on the rest of their small body. They were the crow tengu that Kogure used. Kokuryuu and Dasai. Reisen and Hou'oubeiden. 
"You guys!" 
The crow tengu continued cawing as they surrounded Yukikaze. "You!?" Kon slashed to her right, but the crow tengu dodged like smoke. At the same time, the one from behind speedily closed the distance to Harutora. 
"Harutora! You idiot!" 
An angry and resentful cry. 
"Listen to Zenjirou! There's still time! We'll go with you to apologize!" 
Harutora and Touji knew Kogure's crow tengu. In addition, they were comrades who had fought together to purify the 'Type-Chimera' during the spiritual disaster terrorist attack this spring. Though they had followed by their master's orders, their vibrant, good-natured selves probably hadn't expected to fight against Harutora. 
But. 
"......Sorry, I can't right now. Let us through - but it's no use to say that." 
Regardless of what the crow tengu thought, to a shikigami the master's order was absolute. 
Therefore. 
"We'll win right away!" 
After saying this, Harutora twisted his waist and threw a charm at the crow tengu behind him. The crow tengu keenly dodged, regaining their willpower with a particularly strong caw. 
Yukikaze didn't succumb to the crows' disruption, beginning to advance again. A flash from the right. It was Kon's foxfire. 
Then, from the left-- 
"Order!" 
Suzuka attacked the crow tengu that doggedly chased Yukikaze from her bird of prey shikigami. 
She slid between the crow tengu and Yukikaze, telling them without turning her head: 
"Go down!" 
Touji automatically pulled on the reins, twisting Yukikaze's course. Then, something shot like a bullet through the path Yukikaze had been heading in until just now. It was a vine extending from a wood-element charm on the ground. 
They looked below. Below Yukikaze who galloped between buildings - large vehicles were speeding along the road. The transports of the spiritual disaster purification teams. The hatches on the roofs were opened, exorcists stuck their upper bodies out and were looking up at Yukikaze and the others in the air. 
They had finally been spotted. Reinforcements would be coming enmass after this. Harutora had to shake every single one of them off as he headed to the Exorcist Bureau. 
"...Hey, Suzuka! You and I will be bait and let Harutora escape, alright?" 
"Touji!?" 
"Shut up. You still have a heap of things to do afterwards." 
He spoke in a tone permitting no protest. Also, though he said they would 'let him escape', it wasn't as easy as he said. The crow tengu were focused on him. "Suzuka!" Touji shouted again, making Yukikaze draw near Suzuka's shikigami. 
"Circle back to throw off the tengu and use that opportunity to entrust Harutora to the Raven's Wing. I'll stop the exorcists below, and you divert the tengus' attention by making a simple shikigami to substitute for Harutora!" 
"............" 
"Suzuka!" 
Suzuka stubbornly gritted her teeth, not turning her face towards Harutora and Touji. Tears welled in her reddened eyes underneath her windswept bangs. 
She still had yet to agree. She couldn't make her decision. 
"...Suzuka." Harutora leaned forward, stopping Touji who prepared to yell out again. 
"I'll bring Natsume back, so--" 
Harutora spoke to Suzuka gently and emotionally. Suzuka shut her eyes, violently shaking her head and scattering her overflowing tears. 
Glittering tears floated into the wind. 

Then, she looked up and said: 
"Bakatora!" 
Suzuka stared straight at Harutora. 
"If you die in place of Natsumecchi, I'll die to resurrect you!" [23] 
He might not ever be able to forget Suzuka's expression at that moment for his life. "Yeah." Harutora replied tearfully. 
"I'll definitely come back, so wait for me." 
A heroic smile emerged on Touji's face. "Let's go, on three!" He raised Yukikaze's speed. 
"Kon!" Harutora shouted, and Kon released her materialization according to her master's order. 
Suzuka gripped charms. 
"Two!" 
Yukikaze sped up again. The crow tengu ahead were forced to move aside and turned to pursue with beaks clenched. 
"One!" 
Charms flew out of the transport vehicles below them, but Yukikaze's speed brushed aside the magic that activated one after another. Harutora shot a glance at the Raven's Wing amidst the strong wind. The Raven's Wing that had watched silently before responded to Harutora's gaze, changing its trajectory. 
"Zero!" 
Touji forcefully pulled Yukikaze's reins. 
Yukikaze turned sharply to the right, and the crow tengu that approached from the right was taken by surprise, dodging in a panic. Suzuka's charm magic exploded before it spun behind them to chase. When the screeching sound of brakes came from the transport vehicles below, Touji released a water-element charm. On the other hand, Yukikaze turned to the right sharply and leaped over a roof, its hooves almost crashing into the building wall. 
Yukikaze rushed past the building's roof, and before the crow tengu caught up to it, went through the road on the other side of the building. 
Harutora stood on the saddle, shouting "I'm going!" and leapt. Suzuka immediately threw a charm that became a simple shikigami substitute behind Touji. 
Harutora shouted after he jumped into the air: 
"Raven's Wing!" 
The yatagarasu rapidly swooped into Harutora's chest. In front of Touji and Suzuka’s eyes, its figure deformed and it became multiple feathers as black as night that covered Harutora's body. 
Then-- 
Harutora, intertwined with the Raven's Wing, tore through the night sky. 
He didn't look back. 
Harutora just looked forward, conveying his desire to advance. The Raven's Wing led him, its hem beating like wings as it sped straight into the night sky. 
The surrounding scenery was gradually left behind them. The wind battered his ears and instantly robbed his body heat. 
But his blood never stopped boiling. His heart beat intensely, driving Harutora forward from the inside. 
The motions of the Raven's Wings were far more stable compared to when he had escaped from the exorcists before. It was suited to him. Even Harutora could clearly feel this. If Harutora was Tsuchimikado Yakou's reincarnation, then had he freely flown through Tokyo's night sky with the Raven's Wing wrapped around him like this in his previous life? It was a thought that seemed to make him dizzy. A thought spanning time and space. 
Anyway, first was to advance. In any case, he would just move forward now. 
He circled around the buildings that appeared in front of him, kicking past the billboards that jutted up and flew in the windy Kandagawa sky. Harutora just moved forward. 
Towards Natsume's side. 
The faces of his laboring companions continuously flashed through his mind. Touji. Suzuka. Kyouko. Tenma. And Ohtomo. Without any one of them, he wouldn't be here right now. He was able to go see Natsume like this now because they had all given their all. 
Hey Yakou, Harutora thought. Were there also people who helped you like this? Were there people who worked hard and supported you? 
If there were. If he had such companions, and Yakou had lived to repay them-- 
If he became Yakou instead of Harutora, maybe he wouldn't regret it. Maybe he would be able to pass the baton without regrets. 
Yeah, but...... Harutora smiled. 
What would Natsume think? She definitely wouldn't be pleased if he became Yakou. After all-- 
He saw it. 
The Exorcist Bureau headquarters. Harutora dropped down in a flash. He chose a dark alley devoid of people and soundlessly floated down. 
Fortunately, the exorcists of the Exorcist Bureau were currently all mobilized because of the surprise events at the Onmyou Agency. Though Touji had talked about breaking in, he would ideally slip in secretly without anyone knowing. Harutora approached the headquarters, gliding above the asphalt road. 
However. 
"Harutora-sama!" 
Kon gave out a warning and the Raven's Wing entered a defensive state at the exact same time. 
After it suddenly stopped and hardened its hem, a sharp slash assaulted Harutora. The Raven's Wing endured the magical-energy-filled blade - but was cut. 
The cut Raven's Wing hem became a puff of feathers that dangled in his vision. Swinging the blade of the katana back, the 'Ogre Eater' clicked his tongue as an ominous, ferocious look surfaced on him. 
"It's you, huh." 
Kagami spat. Harutora swiftly retreated, pulling away from Kagami. 
He glimpsed, through Kagami's eyes that were now free of his sunglasses, the intense anger and restlessness that continued to burn deep in Kagami's chest. He savagely stared at Harutora, like a wild beast thirsting for blood. 
"Ah, whatever. I'll use you as bait to lure Ohtomo out." 
After saying this, Kagami shouldered 'Higekiri'. 
The Exorcist Bureau headquarters was in front of him on a completely silent street corner. 
Harutora wrapped in the Raven's Wing faced Kagami carrying Higekiri. Sparks flew as they confronted each other.