Volume 8 Chapter 4 (1/2)

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She had entered this cafe near shi+buya Station to pass the ti But noas already past the ti, yet Natsues that Harutora had arrived in Tokyo and shi+buya Station, and it had already been ten minutes since then The ot, and hence she didn't even dare look at the time Even so, her heart was about to burst from tension

She walked into the bathrooh times that she had lost count, and checked her appearance in the mirror

She had already gotten co in the Onmyou Academy uniform in half a year's time The black male uniform She was probably already quite practiced with male actions

But, no matter how fa before Harutora with a male appearance He had already heard about the 'family tradition' business, but ould he think when he actually saw her do this? Also, what attitude should she take towards hih she had already rehearsed it several times in her mind these past few days, she still hadn't found an answer now that the time came Why was she so hen it came to the crucial moment?

But, Natsu a uise There was another problem

The pink ribbon tied to her black hair

She stared at the ribbon in theheartbeat seemed to become even more intense

When Hokuto's shi+kigaic she had added to and reinforced with ic to constantly improve had been revealed, why hadn't she confessed Hokuto's true identity on the spot? She didn't need to explain thethis iood for her to blaret when she faced her weakness and shamefulness frohts troubled by her guilt

But

She couldn't continue running away

This time, she would definitely make Harutora understand clearly

Hoould Harutora react? Hoould he see her, who had hidden herself in the shi+kigami?

Maybe that would produce discord It was possible that he would beThey had finally ed to mend the relationshi+p between the two of thehtened her so much that she trembled

But

She really couldn't keep running away Moreover, she couldn't escape anyway

Natsu her mind with deep breaths

It would be fine to keep acting like Hokuto She would be sincere and straightforward just like those times

So, Natsume finally made her decision and left her seat She paid the bill and exited the cafe She walked towards the station She was about to arrive at the designatedplace

It was the fateful moment she had anticipated, but Natsume still fearlessly advanced

◎

According to the weather forecast, there was zero chance of precipitation that day, and the sunny day would last until the evening

It was a good day for a fireworks festival

”Wearing a yukata will be very e”

”I, I guess Since everyone's going together”

The cafeteria of the Onmyou Academy male dorm Because it was a holiday, there were no other students around Harutora and Natsume passed the time alone, bored

The clock hung on the ould be pointing to noon soon The sun that shone through the as al from the air-conditioned cafeteria out of thefelt as if the world had been painted pure white with light

”But, that was really sudden I never thought you would run off somewhere after school yesterday or that when you cao to see fireworks the next day What kind of development is that”

Harutora sighed froic outcoht that it would be a fireworks festival Perhaps this as called a miracle

But, though his words were those of complaint, Harutora's voice was extremely cheerful In any case, Kyouko and Natsu This was probably the feeling of getting a weight off his mind

”I didn't think this would happen before I spoke with Kurahashi+-san either”

”What? Well after all, we didn't really see her for the whole day yesterday I wonder what you talked about to s become like this”

”If you ask that it's probably a heart to heart”

”A heart to heart?”

”We talked honestly”

He had asked her yesterday once, but Natsu concrete at all Well, if the positions were reversed, Harutora would probably also have trouble explaining, so he didn't push the question

Though Ohtomo had driven them on at the time, she had faced Kyouko, the two of them had spoken honestly, and then they had finally worked hard to reach an understanding That was quite incredible If he were asked whether he could do the sa, he wouldn't have that confidence at all The i to ee in his mind

”Natsu”

”Eh? What are you talking about?”

”Yeah, in a lot of areas”

It wasn't just Natsunanier shock than Harutora could iine when she had learned of Natsume's true identity But in the end, Kyouko still hadn't run away, but had spoken face-to-face with Natsume who came to her 'Be honest' was very simple to say, but in that kind of situation it truly required an enors

Though he didn't knohether this as suitable,

The two of the'

But speaking ofup, it seemed that they still hadn't returned to before, and there was still a bit of a distance left between the two of the at Natsume's appearance Natsume's behaviour had been stiff ever since she returned yesterday after speaking with Kyouko Though she had expressed happiness about the talks being successful and about their proether, that seemed to be all Harutora became even more curious about what exactly the two of them had talked about

But even if there were still some problems left, Natsume's h It would be enough if from now on, the true Natsume - not her male persona - slowly advanced her relationshi+p with Kyouko

Then, I'm up next

Natsu with Kyouko and had made up But Harutora still hadn't The incident froht before hile step to address it Outside of the relationshi+p between Natsume and Kyouko, the relationshi+p between Harutora and Kyouko still had other problems

But, Kyouko will come to watch the fireworks today too

That meant that Kyouko would see Harutora When Harutora was stalled and indecisive, the other party had taken a step towards him - no, just half a step Then he had to respond

How nerve-wracking

”Hey, Natsuht? Maybe there will be even more people than in shi+buya on a weekend”

”But the scale definitely can't coht? This isthem at the Sumida River too The farthest I've traveled is Akihabara”

”I, Is that so I've never gone either”

Harutora wanted to use the light chatter to distract himself, but he wasn't able to have a proper conversation with Natsume Actually, he had felt this ever since yesterday Natsume's actions were aard, and she seemed to be distracted What exactly had she talked about with Kyouko yesterday?

Incidentally, it had been Suzuka's proposal to see the fireworks festival, not Kyouko's Though the person in question had strongly denied it,place is here and absolutely don't be late had been arriving nonstop since the

Come to think of it, the first time he met Suzuka had also been at a summer fireworks festival

”But, we didn't have ti last year's festival”

Suzuka had suddenly shown up and fought a ators An unexpected first kiss A tearful, shocking confession That night's events instantly returned into focus as if Harutora were daydrea

That night was undoubtedly an iht that had changed his life

”How nostalgic”

Harutora sighed e back on the year

Then, he suddenly turned to Natsume who sat next to him

Natsu at Harutora with a blush on her face

It wasn't at the level of a slight red tinge, but rather she was red down to her neck The eyes staring at Harutora were verywhen he saw Natsu as well

”Wh, What is it, Natsume?”

”What are you asking about?”

”Uh, because”

”What? I didn't do anything”

”I Is that so?”

Harutora stopped talking after seeing Natsume inexplicably tense up

As for the Sumida River fireworks festival planned for today, Touji was researching the area online Also, it seeone before, so they probably didn't need to worry

But,

”Ah, right Sorry, Natsuical charms Ohtomo-sensei made for me”

Natsume finally came to her senses when Harutora warned her about this as a precaution

”Of course I have theht now”

As she said this, Natsume took out a hand-crafted charm from her pocket It was a charm that Ohtomo had prepared for Harutora yesterday after the mock battle after school had ended

”Harutora-kun, is your aura still unstable like before?”

”Well, yeah I should be able to get through it This is actually decent training for aura usage”

”You sound very optimistic when you say that But, the current situation isn't good at all Please don't force yourself And Kon, tell me immediately as soon as you feel that Harutora-kun's condition is slightly off”

Natsume warned Kon as well as Harutora Kon wouldn't respond to an order from someone other than her master, but this tireement

”But like Ohtomo-sensei says, we can't resolve the funda Sensei's charet in touch with Uncle and ask him to perform a detailed examination”

What Natsunosed as soon as possible

But, an entire day had passed since the news of the fire, and they still had no way of contacting Natsume's father or Harutora's parents No new inforency either The peculiarities of the current situation even misled some people to believe that it had been a simple natural fire

”Hey, Natsume What do you think of Takiko's explanation yesterday?”

”The inforency was behind the fire? To be honest, I don't understand it”

The Onh those words had come from Touji, not Takiko, it sounded like that hat she had ency want to attack the Tsuchimikado family?

Though the Tsuchimikado family had already declined, it had once been a prominent Onmyoudou faency was the head of the Kurahashi+ family And the Tsuchimikado family had once been the masters of the Kurahashi+ family If they hadn't heard the news of the fire first-hand, they would have treated the infors

”Could it be that they have some connection with Yakou that they hid from us”

”How could that be I don't believe it After all, well Even if they did have soe that they ignored you and acted directly against our families?”

In the end, they couldn't coiven without knowing anything about Takiko's background If they heedlessly trusted her, itthem unnecessary trouble In the case, they could only find solace in the e 'we're safe' that his father had sent In the end, they could only trust thatfor contact

But it was truly strange that there still wasn't any infor' had definitely happened to his father

What the hell happened?

Takiko had appeared before Harutora and the others, which itself see on right now? Quietly but steadily, with Harutora and the others being the only ones unaware, and now

”I wonder what's going to happen”

Natsus leaked out Harutora inadvertently looked at her

Her lonely face looked like she orrying over vague anxieties She was pretending not to care on the surface, but she gave off quite a pitiful i, or lost alone a crowd Harutora felt his chest tighten

”Hey, Natsume”

”Hmm?”

Natsume looked at Harutora sincerely, as affectionate and naive as a child trusting his parents Heat rose in Harutora's body when he felt that casual, faaze

If he wanted to clear away Natsume's anxiety, then perhaps there was only one way

Harutora pondered over those thoughts and was momentarily about to open his mouth

But,

Huh?

He focused his ness'

It was a very subtle wrongness - no, it was a 'gaze' The feeling that 'soh that he nornore this kind of feeling

His attention unconsciously turned towards that feeling

A gaze Soht now No--

Was he observing?

Outside

Before he realized it, he had suddenly stood up from the seat ”Harutora-kun?” Natsume spoke, surprised But Harutora didn't respond to Natsuaze

But his gaze focused on the distance outside

”Someone's there”

”Eh?”

Natsuaze in her confusion Just then, Harutora's body moved by itself

He kicked back the chair and ran out He sprinted fro Natsuh the entrance

The suht filled his vision The sound of cicadas caaze' he had noticed just now

It's not just one person There's someone else!

Then, after he ran out of the doraze

Magical energy Magic had been set up Thatused to - monitor the dorm

”Kon!”

Konto her master's wishes Her small face bore a sharp look, as she rushed out before Harutora Then, Harutora noticed the trace gradually thinning, disappearing in the blink of an eye Stealth ic He realized that Harutora had noticed hiue

”Kon! Don't let him escape!”

He ran in the other direction at the saa one of the movements that he had noticed before But the opponents had already hidden their trail with stealth They had probably moved as they chased after them

What should he do?

His handsout a wood-element charm from the charm box tied to his waist

”Scatter! Order!”

He used the charic had been y and released a blinding light Then, before the light had dispersed, it becaust of wind The brilliant wind blew across the road in a flash, instantly sweeping over the area that Harutora indicated

Then,

”Ah!”

The stealth htly disrupted As expected, he was still there A man dressed in a suit and pants, with a coat he had taken off under his aric to monitor the dorm just now

”Hey you, what are you doing!”

He took out the next charm as he roared It was also a wood-element charm He would capture him for now But the opponent was also a practitioner, so he couldn't be careless Harutora iic that eed in his mind

”Order!”

He shouted and released the charm

But in that y he infused into the charm unintentionally overloaded

His output surged uncontrollably The giant aura in his body swelled up in a flash, as if it were trying to lift his body itself

This was bad!

His ical energy flowed into the ers Vines extended everywhere with the force of an explosion Harutora, as right next to it, was quickly engulfed

”damn!”

He frantically tried to control it, but he couldn't The e pressure that was difficult for hiic, turned to look over, stunned Then, co to his senses, he ran away Harutora didn't even have the leisure to shout at the opponent

The vines wound around Harutora, pressing hiround How disastrous, to be attacked by his own y still didn't stop in that period of time, and his aura continued to increase

”H-Harutora-sama!”

Kon had observed her master's abnormal condition and had abandoned her chase to return to Harutora's side

She swung Kachiwari's blade to cut the vines covering Harutora Though the out-of-control a Harutora due to using tooher wakizashi+, the speed at which she cut couldn'troad had already been covered in creeping vines, like a spiritual disaster

Because of the huge an to lose focus, as if his brain were deprived of oxygen ”Harutora-sa harder and harder for him to even hear her clearly

damnNatsume!

Harutora cried a consciousness

Just then The click of a tongue sounded from somewhere

”No choice I'll help you this time”

A very reliable male voice

Finally, Harutora lost consciousness

◎

Natsu after Harutora who had suddenly run away But she finally realized when she reached the entrance

Harutora's y had exploded

It was extrey could only be described as an explosion Her face instantly paled because of his runaway aura

”Harutora-kun!”

She frantically rushed over She wasn't far, so she would be able to get there soon Over there, around the corner Natsume reached for Ohtomo's charm that she had just taken out to show Harutora

But right before Natsu aura appeared on the other side

It was different from Harutora's aura No - it was more like miasma

Demonic aura

”What!?”

She froze and goosebumps rose over her body

She had already gotten used to demonic aura ever since Touji had been able to control his living spirit power But the de Touji could co such a strong intensity and presence An overwhelth' Her instincts howled in terror

But - the de, vanished in the next moment as if it had been crushed Natsus that had stopped for athe corner

The first thing she saas Harutora lying on the road and Kon next to him

Harutora had lost consciousness There were still traces of turbulent, chaotic aura in the surroundings But the output of y seemed to have stopped already His spiritual poas depleted because of his sudden release of ood, he was safe for now

On the other hand, Kon crouched next to Harutora, and upon closer inspection, she see hiripped her wakizashi+ and the hair on her tail was erect She stared at a man in the distance who stood on the other side of the road

The instant she glanced at this ain

A giant h to rival Shaver, maybe even taller But compared to Shaver's thin body, this h Western suit outfit was also very striking, and couldn't hide the wild nature inside His short golden hair was like a crown in the sunlight

The demonic aura from just now had come from this man Natsume had that kind of doubtless instinct

An oni

He wasn't a ami, but rather a true oni

Why was he here?

”Hey”

The man abruptly spoke With just that, Natsume almost fell down from her tension

”What's up with that curse?”

”Eh?”

Natsume didn't understand the man's words for a while and didn't even knoho theto the unconscious Harutora, the embattled Kon, or her, who had rushed over?

”He became like this because it wasn't completely removed”

The ain Natsu spirit was blazing, and her expression sees She was deter after her own safety, fitting of her identity as a defensive shi+kigami

In any case, Natsume was in a stance, prepared to su her brain The highest priority was to escape this place with Harutora But even if she fled, it would probably be hard to escape She couldn't act recklessly before she understood the reason this oni had appeared here

Harutora's going out of control could very likely caused by this oni here But Natsume had felt the demonic aura after Harutora's aura went out of control Moreover, he had appeared the erous level - then, Harutora had stopped going out of control Could it be that this oni had stopped Harutora? But why, exactly?

The surroundings were filled with a si felt difficult

Not long afterwards,

”The 'Raven's Wing' has activated”

”Eh?”

”It can't be worn right now It's risky”

What was he saying? Natsume was confused and didn't understand But Natsuh Kon hadn't lowered her guard, Natsume felt that he wasn't an 'enemy'

”What's going on?”

She asked cautiously

But the man didn't reply As if he had already finished his business, he quietly spun around and indifferently turned his back to Natsume

Then, Natsuasp as she finally realized The man's jacket The sleeve of his left arm didn't have any thickness and the cloth just sloayed along with the man's movements

One arm In other words - a one-armed oni

Could it be? Natsuht

The man suddenly stopped

”Ask Saotoh I don't really recommend it”

After looking over his shoulder and leaving those words, the man truly left

Natsume's entire body was paralyzed for a while and she remained frozen Then, she waited for the man leave Only after the demonic aura faded completely did she bolt to Harutora's side

She checked his condition As expected, although his aura was very weak, it had already stabilized With this, there wouldn't be a problem even if she didn't use Ohtomo's charm

The words theleft sleeve churned into an ominous swirl in her mind

But for now, Natsuht Harutora back into the dorm

She hadn't worn a yukata since she was a child Kyouko let herat herself in the mirror a bit bashfully

Kyouko's mother wasn't an Onmyouji, but she had to support her husband and family in many areas as a Kurahashi+ family member Moreover, she herself was quite cultured, with hobbies of tea ceree another put on a yukata was quite trivial for her With that,yourself' contrary to their original agreereed to help put it on, there wasn't anything else she could say

Once the preparation as finished, she sighed and checked the ti, and there was still a lot of time But once she becaet when she was preparing

The conversation with Natsume yesterday after school

Also, she was going to see Harutora soon

She inadvertently smiled wryly

”I went a bit overboard yesterday”

She hadn't professed her e time Her face inadvertently reddened when she recalled it

Of course, she wouldn't regret It was extres she had always hidden It was great that she had been able to do her best and talk seriously She truly thought so Though her relationshi+p with Natsume hadn't returned to what it was before, they could at least start anew

But, although she could end the business with Natsume with minimal embarrassment, the problem was Harutora Unfortunately, the probleht beco after her relationshi+p with Natsume was successfully restored

Uh oh I should've kept quiet about the past if this things were going to turn out like this

But at the time, she had said it because she had to, and there was no helping it now She could only face Harutora directly like how she had dealt with Natsume yesterday Even if the relationshi+p between the two of them became even more complicated because of it, it definitely wouldn't 'break' Yesterday's experience had given Kyouko this confidence

”Well, but, it's really e”

She couldn't calht now? She at least hoped that he was as nervous as she was

Her mother who had helped her put on her yukata returned as she was inadvertently gri into the mirror

An Onmyou Academy student had called her home Kyouko unconsciously asked back ”For me?” After all, someone she kneould directly call her cell phone She couldn't think of a student ould call her home phone

”Is it really a student?”

”Who knows But her voice sounds like a young girl's But her manner of speech is like a boy's”

She instantly thought of Natsume when she heard that, but she knew Kyouko's phone number Even if her cell phone was broken, she could borrow Harutora's or Touji's, so she wouldn't have to deliberately call her home's landline

Kyouko walked out of the roo to the room that the phone was in

She lifted the earpiece out of its cradle:

”H-hello?”

She greeted

Then,

”Kyouko? Sorry for bothering you so suddenly I'm Souma Takiko, we talked yesterday”

”Ah”

In her surprise, Kyouko replied that she still remembered her Come to think of it, Takiko had once said that she had connections to her father Even if she didn't know Kyouko's cell phone nue for her to know their family's number

But,

”What is it? Do you need so?”

She had first ht her to the classroo about classes the whole way They had introduced themselves to each other too But they had just stated their names She seemed to know about Kyouko froins

Doubts that she couldn't banish arose in Kyouko ”Actually” Takiko spoke as if she had so difficult to say

”I had a bit of a disagreement with Natsuht in the end I didn't inally But for various reasons, and because it was a bad ti it”

”A fight”

Kyouko's eyes widened

Now that shethat could be called a fight In other words, if what Takiko said was true, then Natsume had clashed with Takiko as well as Kyouko

Moreover, unlike Kyouko, Takiko's fight with Natsuone smoothly

”What happened?”