Chapter 1 - Dark Clouds Yonder
Part 1
The towering skyscraper was a high-rise office building in Roppongi Hills.
Seeing this magnificent scene, Natsume held back her aura and quietly waited for the opportunity as she looked at this magnificent scene.
As it became time for lunch, a large number of people came out from the building. But this had all been anticipated. A confusing crowd of people was more effective for escaping the eyes of others than perfection of her stealth magic. Natsume surreptitiously passed over several interlinked walkways with the crowd.
There were four people with business in Roppongi.
Natsume and Touji were easy to spot because of their aura, so they were waiting in the wings at a place very far away. They were fighters who would move to help out in an emergency. In other words, they were fighting strength there to allow their friends to escape.
Also, the main contact was Momoe Tenma. Tenma, with no distinctive features, was currently the most skilled at concealing himself from spirit-sensing abilities. Also, his aura wasn't as easy to spot as his other friends. The spirit flow in the city had been hugely chaotic since that night, and the state of aura was very unstable. The numbers of spiritual disasters were several times greater than before. That was why there was much more potential for stealthy infiltrations.
Of course, that wasn't a good thing......
"......"
Natsume looked below the walkway. Down there at the corner of a wide road and next to a tree by the street was a temple as small as Jizo Hall[1]. It was the mechanical-type shikigami 'AR4 Guardian' of the spiritual disaster early detection sensory net. Natsume silently watched the crowd of people walking around nearby. Not only was aura unstable, but the traffic network was still in a sluggish state due to the effects of the frequent spiritual disasters, especially in Shinjuku and Kichijoji. After all, the first Phase Four in two years was a big deal.
Even Natsume had been able to clearly sense this spiritual disaster with her level of spirit-sensing. It stung her nerves. Perhaps all the Onmyouji in Tokyo's darkness had the same feeling.
"Natsume......"
Natsume heard Touji's voice. Natsume shook her head and sighed. The voice she heard hadn't come from her phone, but rather from the internet group call. These messages had been constantly coming since they had arrived here.
"A lot of people are going away over here. The situation's very serious."
Natsume checked the time. It was 12:50. The pedestrian traffic would reduce after the noon break time ended. It would be very easy to get spotted when that time came.
"I know. Retreat for now. Kyouko, perform divination again."
"Hold on."
This time was Tenma's voice. Extremely excited, he said:
"He's here, it's Kogure-san."
"Where?"
"Across from where I am. Natsume-chan, you should be able to see that convenience store, right?"
Natsume immediately moved towards one side of the walkway in the mentioned direction. A man was walking next to the bicycle lane. His ability was visible even from a distance. He was Kogure Zenjirou, one of the Twelve Divine Generals. An opponent since the night they had reunited. Natsume bit her lip, staring at him.
"Tenma, can I go?"
"Wait, don't cross yet."
"Natsume, I'm a bit closer, let me go."
That voice came from the final person participating in this operation, Souma Akino.
Natsume hastily stopped her. "No, don't, you can't keep approaching him like that, you're the backup..."
"It's fine if I'm just sending a message. Just like with Tenma."
"Akino..."
Akino's aura was very easy to spot. Especially for Kogure. But she was the backup member who would help Tenma escape in an emergency. She needed to stay on standby, and couldn't be allowed to act on her own.
Natsume's eyes widened. She was extremely tense.
"Ah, wait, Tenma-kun, there's a van coming from behind."
Two vans stopped one after another in front of where Natsume was looking. Not long afterwards, two men came down. They were Divine Generals who had shown up last year at Seishuku Temple.
"It's Mystical Investigator Yamashiro and Special Senser Miyoshi."
"Ah?"
"Don't disturb the aura for now, everyone. Stay as you are and move away from this place. Akino too, okay?"
"Yeah."
"This didn't work either? Bastards!"
"Natsume-chan, maybe I should still try approaching them. If I keep watching them, there might be an opportunity to come in contact with Kogure-san."
Natsume rejected Tenma's proposal, since after all there wasn't much time. If they gave up here, who knew when they would have another opportunity like this? Fortunately, only Kogure had noticed Tenma's aura. Yamashiro and Miyoshi still hadn't noticed. They might notice him if he approached them posing as an ordinary person.
But......
"No. Don't. The Mystical Investigators are probably familiar with your information, Tenma-kun. Those two should know you too, so you can't endanger yourself here."
There was no time, so they couldn't argue here. They needed to move carefully.
Natsume breathed deeply, issuing instructions to everyone.
"Everyone retreat, but don't panic."
Part 2
It had already been two days since the Tsuchimikado family's capture.
Natsume and the others were currently using an old warehouse as their base of operations. It seemed to be a warehouse that the Mystical Investigators had stopped using ten years ago.
"Even so, there's still someone in the Mystical Investigators who knows this. There should be related information in the reference room."
"We can still use it temporarily. But right now isn't the time to lie around. We're in a dangerous situation."
There were two floors in the warehouse, and they could see the outside scenery through the windows inside. The entire warehouse was only as large as a small gym. The most eye-catching thing in it was a giant vehicle in the middle. This was Tenma's mechanical shikigami Hama - a large vehicular-type called the 'Hama H1'. It was a high-mobility, multipurpose armored vehicle originally meant to be a military vehicle. It weighed three tons and was two meters wide and almost two meters tall. It was close to five meters long. The reason they chose this location to hide was due to Hama in the first place. If not for this warehouse, it would have been very difficult for Natsume and the others to escape the Onmyou Agency's eyes. Suzuka was next to Hama analyzing him right now. According to what Suzuka said, Hama was an incredible kind of manmade shikigami.
Natsume and Touji were on the second floor reporting to Amami. Kyouko and the kimono-wearing shikigami Suisen were also there. The atmosphere was heavier than that of the first floor.
"Sorry, I wish I made a more accurate divination."
Natsume smiled and said, "Don't worry, my stepfather also said that divination's very difficult. There's no way to fully control it in the first place."
"Just like Natsume said, I guess we were just unlucky that the other two came."
Touji shrugged and said to Kyouko.
"But if I at least divined that......"
"Just like when we were searching for Natsume-chan, you can't divine for a specific person."
"Kyouko, you've already done very well."
Natsume consoled Kyouko again.
Actually, Kyouko's abilities were already quite powerful. The accuracy of her divination this time might be able to rival Tsuchimikado Yasuzumi's. If she continued accumulating experience like this, she might grow into someone like her grandmother Kurahashi Miyo. But right now they didn't have the time to slowly accumulate experience.
"Anyways, we don't have time. There might be action again."
"Yeah."
Kurahashi Genji, the Onmyou Agency Chief, and Souma Takiko, the current leader of the Souma clan, had once secretly manipulated the Twin-Horned Syndicate from the darkness. Right now, they were trying to cause a third spiritual disaster terrorist attack. It would be held on the same day as the previous two, Hinamatsuri, or March third. It was already the twenty-seventh of February today. They only had four days left, including today. Fortunately, Natsume and the others were moving to stop the spiritual disaster terrorist attack under Amami's leadership. Amami, who had led the Mystical Investigators in their fight against the Twin-Horned Syndicate two years ago, held extremely complex feelings. Of course, that was the same for Natsume and the others. It was hard to endure their bitterness at being toyed with, nor could they ignore it. But the matter was still extremely difficult for Natsume and the others. After all, the Onmyou Agency was planning the spiritual disaster terrorism.
"It looks like we'll have to ask for support."
It looked like they would need Harutora and Ohtomo Jin to deal with the Onmyou Agency. Those two were necessary as fighting strength. But their whereabouts were still unknown.
"Both Harutora and Ohtomo should know that the Onmyou Agency's plotting something. Honestly, what are those two doing at such an important time?"
In the worst case, if those two still haven't contact us the day of, we'll have to make an emergency decision on our own."
"The most effective method at this time is to turn an enemy into an ally."
The Divine General 'Heavenly Sword' Kogure Zenjirou was most feasible for such a thing.
"That guy should have already noticed the Chief moving about behind the scenes."
Kogure had seen Amami after Amami had been saved by Ashiya Doman on the night of the fireworks festival two years ago. Maybe Kogure had already noticed that the disappeared Mystical Investigator Chief had actually been imprisoned by the Onmyou Agency. Back then, Kogure had stayed in the agency due to his responsibility as an Independent Exorcist and the societal importance of the Onmyou Agency. But considering his personality, it was surprising that he had been able to tolerate all of this. Right now, it was very possible that he would rebel against the Onmyou Agency about this spiritual disaster plan. If they had gotten in back then, they could have made all of this plot public. Seeing as they had no idea where Harutora and Ohtomo were, making contact with Kogure was the first priority.
"Speaking of which, we can only figure out where Kogure lives with Kyouko's divination. Is Kogure-san living in his residence from his Exorcist Bureau times?"
"He should be...... But that guy doesn't go back much."
"How does he change? He should go back at some point, right? They why don't we......"
"Hold on, Touji. The Chief would know if Kogure went back. It would be safer if we contacted him outside."
Suzuka had already escaped the organization after learning about the spiritual disaster terrorism. Of course, Kurahashi and the others would have strengthened their guard. Maybe they had laid a trap somewhere.
"We can't be so insistent on safety right now."
"Even so, we can't take such a big risk. That's a foolish strategy."
"I don't think we can be cautious right now."
"We can be both cautious and fast at the same time."
Amami waved his fan. Touji smiled bitterly and noticed Natsume.
"What's up, Natsume?"
"Eh, sorry. Um...... Touji and Amami-san were just talking normally, but it turned pretty interesting."
"Hear that, Touji?"
Touji laughed.
"Amami-san, although contacting Kogure-san is the priority, can't we consider the other two, Miyoshi Tougo and Yamashiro Hayato?"
"As I said before, we might be able to convince Miyoshi, but Yamashiro is Kurahashi's underling. But I don't know the details. I suspect that it was the Chief's order for Yamashiro to enter such a straight-laced team."
"Is he a spy?"
"It's possible."
Natsume spoke to Amami.
"Can we approach any Divine Generals other than Kogure-san?"
"Well, we probably won't even be able to convince any others. Also, we're designated as criminals, so we won't be able to get close to them so easily."
"Then can we ask for the help of some practitioners outside the Onmyou Agency?"
"Well, those guys are scattered, and the Onmyou Agency keeps the outside powers in check."
It looked like Kogure was the only possibility.
"Anyways, I trust that guy. Contacting Kogure is the highest priority right now."
Natsume nodded deeply and seriously.
Natsume talked with Kyouko a bit, then walked out of the room alone.
Kyouko watched Natsume's back and asked Touji what was wrong with her. Natsume's expression was very grim. Touji smiled wryly at Kyouko.
"It's probably the thing from before. Didn't Akino want to contact Kogure-san on her own in place of Tenma?"
"I was surprised too. I thought it was pretty mature."
"Natsume said that what Amami-san and I were talking about was very interesting. That girl's a bit surprising from my point of view."
Touji spoke happily. To him, Akino's existence was a positive influence on Natsume.
"Speaking of Akino-chan, what's up with what Suzuka said?"
"Oh, the Full Moon? Sorry, but I'm not too knowledgeable about it either. In the end, it's a magical tool paired with the Raven's Wing."
Amami smiled wryly and waved his fan.
"Well, it wouldn't be strange for a moon rabbit to go along with the yatagarasu[2] Naturally, none of that would be out of the ordinary."
The three-legged yatagarasu symbolized the sun in astronomy-related Onmyouji. The magical tool Yakou had left behind was the shikigami Raven's Wing, modeled after a yatagarasu. But just like how everything contained both yin and yang, this yatagarasu had a counterpart. That was the moon rabbit that symbolized the moon. These two symbolized the sun and moon in the 'Gathered Legends of the Yatagarasu and Moon Rabbit' written by Abe no Seimei.
Natsume and Suzuka had reacted to the phrase 'Full Moon'.
'Full Moon? I heard my stepfather say that before.'
'Isn't that one of Yakou's magical tools!? There wasn't anything about it other than the fact that it went with the Raven's Wing.'
Suzuka was a researcher of the Imperial Onmyoudou established by Yakou. Her knowledge of Yakou matched Natsume's. She knew more details about magic than Natsume. But even if she was a researcher, Suzuka knew only of the Full Moon's existence.
"There's a lot of information left about the Raven's Wing that was created with it, but nothing on the Full Moon......"
Since Harutora had already said the name Full Moon[3] as Yakou's reincarnation, many of their speculations were verified. The Raven's Wing was black clothing as a magical tool and appeared as a shikigami in the form of a yatagarasu. It was thus very likely that its counterpart, the Full Moon, was a shikigami as well as a moon rabbit.
"Hey, didn't Harutora not use the Raven's Wing's strength at the start? Does it have to stabilize in the same way?"
"But isn't Akino the first moon rabbit living spirit?"
Just then, Suzuka spoke up calmly.
"I wonder what the Souma experiments have found out."
"We can't research what Yakou did since it was so long ago. The Full Moon might have been passed down, or it might have been hidden after the war."
"But......"
"What, you wanted me to talk. My father did the same thing to me."
Amami coughed to lighten the atmosphere.
"Let's not make useless speculation about the Full Moon. Who knows what it truly is. It wouldn't be strange if what Suzuka says is correct."
As expected of him, Amami spoke reasonably and convincingly while easing their feelings about Akino.
"Right, Amami-san. What about asking my grandmother to help you?"
"Sorry Kyouko, but Miyo-chan's already cut off from the outside. The Chief probably ordered it."
"Are we already out of options?"
"But Grandma's contacts aren't only inside the magic community. She has a big influence in politics, business, and the media. Though it's very important to stop the spiritual disaster terrorism, it's also important to stop my father's societal actions."
Chief Kurahashi's greatest weapon was his position as Onmyou Agency Chief and the power that accompanied it. It certainly could be effective if they could put pressure on that.
"Ah, that's true."
Amami put on a difficult expression.
"But it might take a long time to have Miyo-chan use her political power to impeach the Chief and stop the spiritual disaster terrorism. They might not make it so easy for us either."
"What about using political power directly?"
"That's not very possible. The Chief's been prominent in political circles for a long time, and he's already very well-trusted."
"What if we could?"
"Do you have some plan?"
"There's one person."
"Who?"
"Naota Kouzou."
"Oh, that's quite an important individual."
Of course, Touji wasn't saying this as a joke. Amami's eyes fluttered. Naota Kouzou was the current Secretary General of the Independent Party that had been at the forefront of the political world for many years.
Not long afterwards, Amami closed his eyes and said:
"Is he your father or something?"
"Biologically."
"Huh!? Your father!? Naota Kouzou?"
Kyouko cried.
"Didn't I say that already?"
"No, um, but......"
"Well, though he's my dad, I'm just a bastard child. Honestly, I'm just his mistress's kid."
"Huh!? That's so hard to imagine. How old is that man right now?"
"He just turned sixty."
"Ohh."
"But it's the first time you've said anything like that."
"Should I ask my mom for a way to contact him?"
"It's probably best not to. What would happen if an illegitimate child suddenly contacted him?"
"A scandal? I see."
"Do you know what to do?"
"What a pain."
Touji griped coldly.
"But unfortunately, I died a long time ago, so it doesn't matter for me[4]."
"Alright."
Amami spoke in a stern tone.
"I'll go too, then. Touji, get ready. But consider contacting Kogure as the priority, since he's more reliable."
Touji smiled.
"Understood."
Suisen, who was always behind the wheelchair, spoke quietly to Amami.
"Amami-sama, there's a phone call from Fujiwara-sama."
When Kyouko heard this, she said:
"Ah!? Fujiwara!? Is that...?"
"Oh, it's Fujiwara-sama."
"So you made contact with him, huh."
Fujiwara-sensei was a former practical skills teacher at the Onmyou Academy. He had taught Touji and the before. He had retired at the same time as Principal Kurahashi. Amami and Touji had succeeded in contacting him during their fugitive life.
"What? Hey! Touji, there's news."
As he spoke with Fujiwara, Amami suddenly gave Touji an order. Touji silently listened to the instructions.
Amami finished speaking soon afterwards.
"Eh, Natsume-chan, is the report over? Sorry for not being able to help." Tenma said from next to Hama.
"No, Touji and I are enough for the report."
"Is Touji-kun still up there?"
"Yeah, Kyouko is too. She's preparing for divination."
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
"No, Akino......"
Just then, a male voice said "Souma Akino went out of the warehouse when she noticed Tsuchimikado Natsume coming down."
Natsume immediately looked at the Hama next to her. Natsume didn't really understand cars and Hama only looked like a large Jeep to her, but it was a practical vehicle that gave her a sense of stability.
"She left when she saw me? Why?"
"Sorry, but I cannot speculate the reason why." Hama responded.
"It was definitely because she got scolded."
This time it was a female voice. Suzuka said this as she worked next to them.
"That was because with Akino's speed, she had to be backup in case we needed to escape......"
"In any case, she doesn't have enough experience."
Suzuka hadn't participated in their operation before, since as a Divine General, Miyoshi was familiar with her aura and could spot her very easily. Actually, they had been strongly opposed to Akino joining them before they left. Though they recognized that Akino had grown, she still lacked mental fortitude compared to the others.
"Natsume-chan, you're too soft on her. This isn't a game."
"......"
Natsume didn't say anything and silently looked at Suzuka. Suzuka was the daughter of Dairenji Shidou, so she was a member of the Souma clan. Akino was also someone from the same clan.
Tenma spoke to lighten the atmosphere.
"Suzuka-chan, don't get all grump again. We finally got to see Natsume-chan again."
"Hah!?"
"Akino-chan's younger than Suzuka-chan and she doesn't really know how to interact with her, so......"
"Hey, stupid Glasses, you wanna die? Go write your will!!!"
"Hold on, Dairenji Suzuka. I will take immediate action if you inflict harm to my master."
"Shut up, machine."
Suzuka shouted loudly, extremely mad. Hama started its engine and Tenma hastily stopped him. Though Natsume wasn't too well-versed in the field either, Suzuka definitely wasn't good with interpersonal relationships. She was a very petulant[5] person.
"Um......"
"What do you wanna say, Glasses?"
"Suzuka-chan, you've grown quite a bit over this year and a half. You're better at reading the atmosphere than before."
"You goddamn Glasses!!!"
"I understand the stuff about Akino. I'll ask her about it afterwards. Suzuka-san, how are things? How's your analysis of Hama?"
"Well, there's some progress. This thing is really complicated. What a pain. Glasses' father was a real weirdo."
"That's a bit embarrassing."
"Anyway, the most surprising thing is that this armored thing is made up of many shikigami. There's groups of shikigami making up the engine, tires, and barrier. I've never seen this kind of shikigami configuration before. It's similar to Yakou's Armored Juggernaut, but it has some revolutionary features."
It was certainly unheard of for manmade shikigami to control other manmade shikigami.
"Simply put, it's like a computer. Hama A is the control system and has a lot of corresponding applications installed on it. Most of the shikigami spells that are just simple manmade types, nothing very unique. But no one's thought of controlling hundreds of manmade shikigami to improve their capabilities. It might be on a level comparable to Imperial Onmyoudou and General Onmyoudou."
Come to think of it, Natsume and the others couldn't have escaped their crisis without Hama. It looked like Natsume would have to properly thank Hama and Tenma's father.
"Have you gotten any new information since yesterday?"
"Well, I'm not specialized in computers or cars. I can only ask the guy who made this. But the workshop data that this thing was produced with might be hidden."
"Yeah......"
"And keep in mind, if you guys fail to get in contact, we won't be able to chat idly like this."
"Yeah. I'll go up and report this information now."
Suddenly, Natsume's gaze wavered and she staggered, losing her balance.
"Natsume?"
"Natsume-chan?"
"S-Sorry."
Maybe standing for too long had a toll on her. Her aura became disorderly all of a sudden. It felt like when she failed at using magic. Just then, Kyouko came down from the upper floor.
"Natsume-chan, bad news. The Onmyou Agency issued an announcement about the spiritual disaster terrorism."
"Huh?"
"Hah?"
"An announcement!? What exactly is going on?"
"No, the Onmyou Agency relayed an announcement that there would be a spiritual disaster on March third. They said the Twin-Horned Syndicate gave them the information. And they said that the mastermind behind the Twin-Horned Syndicate went by the name North Star King Tsuchimikado Harutora!"
At that point everyone was stunned. Of course, Harutora definitely wouldn't have made such an announcement.
"The Onmyou Agency people want to pin the spiritual disaster terrorism on Harutora and put the spiritual disaster prevention personnel on guard. With this, it'll be very hard to contact Kogure-san. If we don't think of something......"
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