Fading Blue Leaves
"This isn't easy at all."
No matter how much of an emotionless elementary schooler Nogawa Canon was, I couldn't just spill all her personal details. I wasn't prioritizing her situation to that extent, but I couldn't fully reveal to Hanasaki that she was the magical girl Nogawa Canon. In the end, I mixed in some lies while giving a rough explanation of the Gloomy Beasts. I told her everything about the soul mutations and the wear and erosion they showed when restored to human souls, so Hanasaki would come up with her own countermeasures. From what I'd tested firsthand, any one of us—Nogawa, Hanasaki, or Sendo—could handle a single beast, but with an entire family wiped out this time, their numbers had surely increased. If incidents broke out simultaneously across multiple spots, we wouldn't be able to clean them up. And apparently, tracking them was only possible for me.
By the way, how had the original Nogawa fought them? She seemed to struggle even catching up to them alone. Anyway, I'd finished explaining to Hanasaki at school, then headed straight to the Manatsu Dojo for training and was now resting. When I mentioned overdoing it last night and getting a massive nosebleed, Hanasaki—uncharacteristically flustered—pulled out some medicine and patched me up. For the record, that pill she gave me was disgustingly bitter and nasty.
"I'm gonna die...."
Lately, I'd been moving too frantically and intensely, and on top of that, yesterday's overexertion had led to a proper nosebleed. The moment I got home and collapsed into bed, I felt like death.
"Onii-chan."
"What."
"You're always wandering around at night, so you must be tired."
"Yeah, and?"
"Stop going out and stay home."
I rolled over in bed to face my sister. She usually conveyed her demands through expressionless actions, but today she came over with a sullen face and spoke directly. Was she upset that I only came home lately to crash exhausted and sleep?
"Let's buy games like before and play together."
"I'm busy these days. Later, okay? Later."
"Idiot."
My sister snatched my pillow and chucked it at my face before storming out. She seemed really pissed, but I couldn't promise something I couldn't guarantee. I'd already broken my word about coming back unscathed.
I lay flat on my back in bed and closed my eyes. Truth be told, there was one more thing subtly stressing me out right now.
"Normal ascension to the afterlife. Probably not."
Typically, evil spirit exorcisms fall into two categories. First: outright exorcism. Destroy the spirit body or core, erasing it entirely. In this case, the soul doesn't go to the afterlife—it just vanishes. Second: purification or restoration. Sometimes, if the curse contamination is mild, you can persuade it back to a normal ghost and let it ascend properly. Whatever the afterlife is like, it gets a normal send-off.
But last time, the cafe manager's soul was so warped and damaged that it crumbled to nothing when restored. Dead. Body gone, then soul too—denied even the afterlife, just helplessly gone.
"Did I kill her....?"
If I'd played dumb, pretended I didn't know it was a human soul, and asked Nogawa to handle it, it would've been cleanly taken out as a Gloomy Beast. But in that final moment, hoping for even a sliver of salvation, I restored it—and as the price of returning to a human soul, it withered away from the world in an instant. Without reaching the afterlife.
I had no idea which ending was more beautiful. That thought alone filled my head with gloom.
As I stewed in those depressing thoughts, footsteps approached outside my door, and Mother opened it without knocking.
"Son. You have a guest."
"Mom. Knock first, please."
"You always lock the door during your alone time."
"Ugh, seriously. Who is it?"
"Don't you know? Some shrine maiden from Shinamori Shrine, I think. We don't even visit shrines much."
"Classmate. She'll leave soon."
What did Hanasaki want? I quickly straightened my clothes and condition before heading out.
Hanasaki had shown up in neither uniform nor miko outfit, but casual clothes. Hmm. Her pure white mourning clothes last time were one thing, but she always wore such similar outfits that even a slight variation felt fresh.
"What brings you h—"
"Do you have a moment?"
"Shall we go out?"
"No. Inside would be better."
Then come in. I ushered her indoors. Despite the rare casual look, her formal speech gave her an air of elegance, making me wonder if it was okay for her feet to touch our humble wooden floor.
Once in my room, Hanasaki closed her eyes for a moment.
"What are you doing?"
"It's my first time entering a boy's room, so I'm centering myself."
"Ah."
Menrei-ki doesn't like emotional surges. Of course, if that tension was from stepping into a boy's room for the first time, Menrei-ki might savor a bittersweet thrill while feeding. I let out a slight chuckle at the silly thought, and Hanasaki spoke.
"It seems better than I imagined."
"Eh, maybe."
"I thought overusing that soul-seeing ability might harm both your soul and body.... But it appears no major issue."
"Still feeling languid and tired, though."
"Then this."
"What's this?"
"A secret tonic handed down at Shinamori Shrine. Given to men when heirs are needed."
"...."
I took it wordlessly. A straight-up tonic would recover my overexerted fatigue, but calling it out like grilled eel for husbands—boosting virility—sparked those thoughts. And come to think of it, she'd been in miko garb even buying cake before. Why casual today?
Seated on my room floor, she spoke slowly.
"Suspicious movements have been spotted across Kanemachi City."
"Figured as much."
"And I believe Tsukino-san will play a key role in many situations."
"R-Really?"
"The ability to distinguish people by their souls. Focus it, and you can even read emotional states; force a werewolf's transformation to revert.... To certain non-humans, your mere presence is a deterrent."
Was that so? Yeah, it could be. But conversely, if my info leaked, it meant assassins could target me. No matter what, Ichinose, robot maid Retishia, and Shinji Tower bound spirit Fujiwara Yuu—those three could bring private military-level forces, and since it'd be entirely at the enemy's whim, no escaping it. If Hanasaki's underlings had my intel as an obstacle, they'd naturally try to eliminate me too.
Imagining it made me even more depressed. I hated fighting people, let alone killing them.
"That's why your constant efforts to grow stronger are, in my view, beyond reproach."
Hearing her say that—hands clasped over a short skirt like any other girl—made me a bit embarrassed. Atmosphere really matters, huh.
"Does my outfit bother you?"
"Yeah, a little."
"They say motivation is key for people."
"Of course."
"I wondered what reward there might be for saving me."
A brief silence fell, and Hanasaki continued in a slightly softer voice.
"If the compulsion to act only as a shrine maiden lifts, perhaps I could show outfits like this to Tsukino-san plenty...."
I couldn't speak. Modern girls sure knew how to make rejection tough. Swallowing a sigh, I watched as Hanasaki closed and opened her eyes, changing the subject.
"For now, I've passed all the details you shared to the police, so their department will prepare countermeasures."
"How capable are the police spiritually?"
"Better than nothing, but unsuited for combat."
"As expected...."
"Still, they can estimate activity ranges or narrow down habitat candidates."
"Haha. I'd like to leave the brainwork to them."
Lately, it was all headaches. I asked her to wait, grabbed orange juice from the kitchen downstairs, poured two glasses, and came back up. I was thirsty, and bringing just for me would've been rude. She sipped, seemed to like the sweet tang, and drained her glass fast. Figures—she liked cake and other sweets, so it suited her. Since it was for a guest, I brought the whole bottle up and set it on the table. Didn't want her drinking alone, so I poured one for me, one for her. She drank well. Nice.
"Tsukino-san. What of that fake soul?"
"Keeping it here, practicing whenever I can."
"A small cage.... Does it move on its own?"
"Yes."
"...Then come to the shrine this weekend."
"For what now."
"Shikigami arts. I'll teach you. You could use a standard one, of course, but once you're done practicing with that fake soul, it should become something special."
"A special shikigami?"
"Yes. Infuse it with a soul-like essence or something with deep attachment, and it becomes a strong, capable shikigami. Treat that one carefully."
"Got it."
"Then I'll look forward to Sunday."
We polished off the half-full orange juice bottle together, then stepped out to the entryway to see her off. For now, I'd take the medicine to recover, tweak the soul bit by bit as Hanasaki suggested to make it a good shikigami. Training I could do lying in bed—what could be better? I patted my pouting sister's head, pushed her back into her room, swallowed Hanasaki's pill, felt my body warm slightly, and began channeling spiritual energy into my soul for subtle changes.