Birth of the Shikigami
Just as my life existed before the story of Blue Leaf Game began, life goes on even after Aoba's arc wraps up. As for her mother, she'd been a healthy martial arts master before falling ill, so once the soul issue was resolved, I heard her appetite picked up that very evening, and her toes started wiggling again after months of immobility. Of course, prolonged bed rest had atrophied her muscles, so she'd need time to recover fully. The immediate improvement was probably partly placebo. Maybe the dojo master saw that purple wedge shard from her body—or soul—and pinned his hopes on it for her recovery. His expression had softened considerably, all things considered.
And finally, Aoba. That evening, we finished extracting the wedge from her soul. The shard was much smaller than her mother's, but we pulled it out clean.
"Sleep really is the best."
Well, there was a minor hiccup when Aoba locked the door midway, but I'll just say I upheld my vow of chastity until adulthood.
The moment I got home, the strain from overusing my eyes and pouring spiritual energy into souls without damaging them caught up, and I crashed right after dinner. I woke up fine Sunday morning and headed straight to Shinamori Shrine.
My sister wasn't thrilled that I'd come home, eat, and crash, then bolt to the shrine first thing, so she clung to me whining to play. But I'd promised Hanasaki Yui to debrief yesterday's events and the wedges, so I had to go. Who wouldn't want to learn shikigami techniques right away?
"I brought it in this cage."
The doctor spirit was rolling around inside like a hamster. Kinda cute, honestly. Since I'd handled it personally and practiced soul control by manipulating it bit by bit, it would climb onto my hand if I reached in.
I played with it a moment, then tucked it back and climbed the stairs.
Hanasaki Yui, waiting on the shrine hall's veranda, spotted me and stood with a slight wave. She waved at me. That's new.
"I've been waiting."
"Hello."
"You brought it."
She took the cage, pulled out the spirit, and set it on her palm. It rolled around there too before bouncing back to me.
"It's grown tremendously in such a short time."
"I fussed over it diligently."
"I see. Even a soul fragment from a divine spirit shouldn't grow this fast... It must be because you handled it while perceiving its true essence."
I fiddled with the spirit on my hand as usual. Hanasaki watched my fingers with fascinated eyes. Lately—whether her expressions had increased or I'd gotten better at reading them—I could gauge her emotions just by looking. Anyway.
I sat on the veranda as she directed, and she began a simple explanation.
"A shikigami is a kind of familiar. A subordinate linked at the soul level."
She produced a paper doll—katashiro—and infused it with spiritual energy. It transformed into an SD version of herself. Adorable. I instinctively offered a finger, and it grabbed it with round, Doraemon-like hands.
"Ahem. So, Tsukino, visualize drawing a line from your soul to bind it to an object."
"What kind of object works best?"
"I have something prepared."
She fetched a ball-jointed doll nearly her height from behind the hall.
"Used by past shrine maidens skilled in combat."
"...It's a bit creepy-looking."
"I don't know this soul's temperament, but you need a sturdy bodyguard right now."
Fair point. Put the rolling spirit in there and link it to my soul. Got it. Sounded simple, but...
"I'll assist for the first time."
"Sure."
"First, those eyes."
I focused, feeling the spirit in my hand, and shifted my vision. Like practice sessions fiddling with it, I wrapped my hand in spiritual energy, opened my eyes, and gazed at the soul. It spun happily in my palm.
"First, possess the soul."
She overlaid her hand on mine, blending our spiritual energies to guide it into the doll. Now my turn. I formed a foundation with spiritual energy for it to settle, confirmed it rooted, then connected it to my soul. It sucked up a ton of my energy—probably to activate—then built nerve-like networks throughout the doll based on mine.
"Usually you'd use your own soul fragment, but it follows you well, so this should be fine."
"Yeah."
I kept my eyes active, observing how the soul settled into the doll's body. Useful knowledge for possession techniques someday. As it flowed energy along the artificial nerves to take control, the doll changed. Brown hair sprouted on its head, pretty features on its face. Curves formed on the body, a scythe gripped in its extended hand. It donned nurse-like clothes over what was essentially naked. Then it opened its eyes, smiled, and spoke—shockingly.
"Papa!"
"What."
"Yatagarasu-sama made my soul, and Papa tuned it with spiritual energy to birth me, so Papa's Papa!"
Fine, the eroge-worthy nickname reminded me of this damn world's nature. But one burning question:
"Why the modified nurse outfit?"
"Papa healed those Manatsu people, so doctor! I'm Papa's shikigami, so nurse!"
A doctor's shikigami as a nurse—someone'd pop a vein over that logic, but whatever. I'd expected a solid frontline tank, not this inexplicable nurse. With a scythe. Calling me Papa. Headache incoming.
"...Hoo. Name?"
"Don't have one yet~ Papa pick~."
Hmm. The divine spirit who gave this soul: three-legged crow. Yatagarasu's fragment, basically. Crows flocked from everywhere, perching on my shoulders—affinity confirmed. Crows, sun god, Amaterasu's nickname Oohirume. Daytime sun is Hiru.
"Hiru. Let's go with that."
"Yay!"
"Can you change form?"
"Crow! Grandpa's a crow."
"Calling Yatagarasu-sama 'grandpa,' huh."
And if I'm Dad and Yatagarasu's Grandpa, who's Mom and Grandma?
"Shikigami infused this way need anchoring at key points like the spine."
"Mama's right. BTW, fighting's my specialty!"
"Ma... ma?"
"Mama put me in this body with spiritual energy."
Ha ha. I'm Dad, Hanasaki's Mom. Can't imagine what kid we'd actually have. She blushed faintly—maybe same thought—then turned away, avoiding my gaze.
"Hiru."
"Yeah!"
"Try crow form."
She stretched her ball-jointed limbs and shifted to crow, perching on my shoulder. Now it feels like a real shikigami. It rubbed its beak and head on my face, so I moved it to my forearm and petted it. Loves it. Pre-soul handling paid off.
"...As long as the soul's intact, the body can be repaired even if damaged, so I'll prepare spares."
"Thanks. C'mon, Hiru."
"Caw."
Good girl. Petted her head; she flapped happily. The old cage was big—could fancy it up as a birdcage. Easy to explain to Mom and Dad too.
"A few quirks, but it's complete."
"Yeah. Bubbly personality's a relief."
A gloomy one would've been awkward.
"Next order: the Manatsu family matter?"
"Handled."
I pulled the two talisman-wrapped wedges from my pocket and showed her. The inner one was shredded, soaked in curse.
"These were embedded in their souls."
"Yeah. Blended seamlessly like soul parts—had to strain to see them."
"Inherited across generations... If you hadn't spotted them normally, even I might've missed it. Excellent work."
She brought the liquid curse I'd extracted before and said:
"Tsukino. Let's prepare an ace."
"No way."
"Curses depend on usage. Your safety concerns many, myself included. Melt these into a blade."
She asked for my eyes. Tired, but I obliged. Viewing them, I saw they were soul fragments. Infuse spiritual energy, recall healing Aoba's mom—fill gaps between curses, merge slowly. Blend. Weave. Melt into one. By my will, they fused, solidified into a dagger blade at my command.
"Your soul-handling ability... unprecedented, even unheard of."
"Costs stamina and spiritual energy."
"Wait here."
She fetched a fitting hilt, attached it, sheathed it in a talisman-wrapped wooden scabbard, and handed it over.
"Lethal to anyone without curse resistance. Blade consumes on stab, but target dies."
"Scary thing."
"This way, please."
She sat on the veranda, pulled me down to pillow my head on her thigh. Her hand on my forehead poured warm spiritual energy into my depleted reserves. Ah. Sleep's the best, as I said. Warm hand, soft thigh—I drifted off. Caw. Hiru's amused caw faded into my consciousness.
