Chapter 3 - Time to Hunt 5 page

"Ugh!"

Yamashiro's body also almost floated up, and he gripped the staircase railing tightly. Even Kogure seemed to have become unable to stand. He was down on one knee, sticking his sword into the ground by his feet for support.

In contrast, the two oni readily exposed their bodies to the powerful wind, letting their ponytail and red hair fly about as they cheered fiercely. 'Shadow' was also unaffected by the wind and he started to slowly dance the pattern that had been interrupted before.

The black tornado filled the surroundings with darkness. Brief snippets of the dancing 'Shadow' could be seen through the gaps of the violently-gusting wind.

"Jin!"

Kogure shouted agitatedly. But 'Shadow's steps showed no traces of disarray.

Then--

Suddenly, everything was sucked into the ground.

The wind stopped and the scenery brightened. The great magical energy filling the space dissipated.

Yamashiro surveyed the back alley. Then, he looked across at the roof of the building. He couldn't see 'Shadow', 'D', or the two oni there. They had withdrawn after obtaining their information, just like they had planned from the start.

Kogure stood up, pulling out the sword stuck in the ground.

Kogure silently stared near where 'Shadow' had vanished for just several brief seconds.

Then, he turned and ordered Yamashiro:

"Yamashiro. Let's go get Miyoshi-san and return to the Agency."

His voice and his expression were indistinguishable from when he had been on standby in the van. Yamashiro was stunned for a moment.

Suddenly, he cheered himself up. Then, he cursed "Damn" to urge himself on, nodding back at Kogure.

Tonight's operation had ended in failure. But their mission still continued.

Part 4

Everyone had withdrawn from the shared building that had become the focal point. But although it was the dead of night, this was still Roppongi. After the 'spiritual disaster purification' that the Onmyou Agency carried out ended, a large number of pedestrians gathered, noisily surrounding the building.

A young male mixed in with that group of people left the building.

He had already decided the meeting place beforehand. He went under a traffic light, passed through an intersection, and entered a small alley. He had chosen a road that as few people headed through as possible. The boy's pace looked indifferent at first glance, but he was actually surveying the surrounding presences without dropping his guard. He watched out for prying eyes and paid attention to the surroundings while cautiously walking.

But even so, he didn't seem timid. Rather, he seemed inexplicably imposing and fearless, because that was his nature. He wore a leather jacket with a V-neck sweater. He wore long boots over his thin trousers.

Also, the bandanna tied around his forehead freely tied up his somewhat long hair.

Just then.

"Touji, here."

He stopped because of that sudden voice.

It came from a narrow side road. But there was no one there even when he turned his head. Also, he hadn't seen any particularly suspicious aura.

But a streetlamp stood in front of the side road. Hiss. Something small silently dropped down in front on that light.

That small thing stopped in midair at eye level. It was a thumb-sized spider hanging on a thin strand. Also, the small body illuminated by the light of the streetlamp was pale blue.

The boy - Touji - entered the side road from the sidewalk. Halfway through, the blue spider left its strand and jumped onto Touji's shoulder. But Touji didn't care, letting the blue spider ride its shoulder as he passed through the side road.

"Were you able to meet?"

"No."

"Why, did you not make it?"

"No, I managed to at the end. But it wasn't a situation I could carelessly approach. Watching from afar was the limit. Even so, it took a lot of work to keep from being exposed while approaching."

Touji replied sincerely to the voice coming from the spider riding on his shoulder.

Actually, it would have been impossible to approach if the Divine General Special Senser hadn't left the scene. Even so, the Onmyouji present had all been National First-Class Onmyouji. Their spirit-seeing abilities weren't things that ordinary Onmyouji could compare to. That was why Touji had only been able to approach to a distance where he could see while staying unnoticed amidst such an intense battle.

"I was planning on trying my luck and contacting him if it were only Sensei...... But the Mystical Investigators showed up too. Being noticed by Kogure-san would be a bit......"

"Is that guy seriously doing Mystical Investigator work?"

"It's not that simple. How should I describe it...... he seems possessed."

"Hehe. Quite a clever thing for a living spirit to say."

"Give me a break."

Touji furrowed his brows because of the cheerful voice from the spider. But although his language was courteous, that tone was thoroughly brusque and unruly, just like Touji's style.

That said, the battle before had indeed been on an unprecedented level. Ohtomo and Kogure. Yamashiro was a newcomer to the Twelve Divine Generals. Two true oni, and finally even Ashiya Doman had appeared. It wouldn't have been strange for one or two buildings to have been knocked over. It was incredible that it had been held back to only this much damage.

"But it looks like Tokyo's become unsafe too, with magical battle suddenly popping out on the street."

Touji said sarcastically to himself.

But Touji who said this was himself fleeing the eyes of the Mystical Investigators and hiding underground. Maybe it was brazen to criticize other people.

"Oh. It's the second floor of the apartment over there. The corner room to the right of the stairs.

Touji entered the building, following the spider's words. It seemed to be an old apartment, as there weren't automatic locks and doors. He passed through the mailbox-studded hallway and climbed the stairs to the second floor.

The mentioned room wasn't locked. He opened the room and entered. He took off his shoes and passed through the hallway.

There seemed to be a living room at the end. Touji opened the door, raising an eyebrow slightly. Never minding the hallway, even the living room wasn't lit. But the curtains weren't pulled over the glass windows showing the balcony, and the light from outside the apartment faintly illuminated the living room.

It didn't feel lived-in - rather, it was clearly an empty room. There wasn't any furniture or appliances. But there was a person in the center of the room.

She was looking at the nighttime scenery through the glass windows. A woman wearing a kimono. Touji shrugged and spoke to her back:

"How about turning on the lights?"

"There are things that can only be seen in the darkness - although it sounds good to say that, the breaker's still flipped. Turning back the electricity meter is also troublesome, so just leave it like this."

It wasn't the woman who replied.

The kimono-wearing woman - a young and delicate beauty - bent over slightly and turned the thing in front of her towards Touji. It was a wheelchair. An old man sat on the wheelchair that the woman pushed.

He wore a slanted bowler and a three-piece Armani suit. A silk scarf was wrapped around his neck. His originally thin body had become even more emaciated since that incident, but a zeal and intellectuality that had never receded emerged in the eyes showing from under the brim of his hat.

He loudly snapped the fan he held in his hand--

Amami's lips curved into a grin.

"How was it? Did you get anything?"

"Unfortunately, nothing particularly new."

"What. You saw Ohtomo and Kogure in combat directly, right? You didn't get anything at all?"

"Yeah......"

Touji grasped Amami's intent from his provocative tone, smiling back rudely.

"That kind of thing really stimulated me. To be honest, my blood was boiling. It was boiling so much that I wanted to jump in and try seeing how far I've gotten now."

"Hehe. Hold off. You still can't even call it a contest at your level."

Though he rebuked him disparagingly, the look Amami gave Touji seemed very satisfied.

"How's the time?"

"If you're thinking about moving, it's about time."

"Alright. Then let's go 'report' a bit. That guy should have heard about tonight's business."

Amami smiled with a slightly mischievous expression.

"That bastard's probably waiting impatiently right now."

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 525