Aoishiro
Chapter 12
Momoko: Ok, everyone!
The all-you-can-eat dinner was finished. Everyone had taken their baths. There was nothing else left to do this evening except prepare for tomorrow, and sleep, when Momoko's genki voice shouted out.
Excluding Nami, who didn't wake up, there was no one sleeping yet. There were also no neighbors who would be annoyed by us. Momoko's slighty loud voice was another matter though.
Momoko: We've played a lot, brought up our spirits, nourished ourselves with seafood so that we'll be able to fight, so I believe we should think about some countermeasures for the ghost girl.
Syouko: Countermeasure, huh?
It's said that when you're hungry, and when you're full, the stomach and other internal organs take blood from the head, so no good ideas are going to come right now.
Because of fatigue from the afternoon, it seems like a lot of people won't be able to stay up late tonight.
Considering Ayashiro's health, if there were an effective plan, I'd want to try it out, but...
Momoko: I carelessly forgot about this yesterday.
Syouko: About what?
Momoko: With this miraculous bokutou, there's no need to fear a ghost girl!
Momoko raised up the borrowed bokutou, Kumouchi, which she was going to use to smash a watermelon, and struck a pose.
Syouko: You're planning on exterminating the ghost?
Momoko: After Hime-sempai, I have a feeling that Zawacchi is going to be targeted next. I'm prepared to stay up all night and stand guard!
Ayashiro: So if you're saying after me...
Momoko, who got excited, lowered her eyebrows and looked down.
Ayashiro was the only victim and the eyewitness. If the ghost were indiscriminate, then the first sacrifice would be...
Syouko: Momoko, don't say such unlucky things.
Momoko: Uuu...I didn't mean to say it like that.
She put her hand on her head and made a bow of apology.
When she raised her head again, her smile and willingness returned.
Momoko: So that's how it is. I, Akita Momoko, am going to act as the security guard tonight so leave everything to me. Zawacchi, everyone else, please rest well.
For people who couldn't see the ghost, they could only wake up the victims if they looked like they were having nightmares. Momoko, who was going to stand watch, said that she'd seen the ghost once. But still, I couldn't let Momoko do this job by herself.
Syouko: Staying up all night is not good for your health.
Momoko: About that, I wanted to discuss something with you, Osa-sempai.
Syouko: You want to talk about having a group of people take turns to watch?
If Momoko and I were taking turns, then we could take naps and last until the morning. We might not even need one or two more people.
Momoko: No, no, nothing like that. Warriors don't need to rest...
Momoko unexpectedly declined and looked up at me in a Yasumi-like glance.
Momoko: Could you excuse me from morning practice tomorrow?
Well...I guess that was ok.
Like how the waves melt into the land, the proper, young girls turned off the lights. The sound of their sleeping filled the dark room.
Everyone: su..., su..., su...
Like how thousands, tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands of waves crash over each other to make a single pulsing sound, the many sleepings breaths mixed with each other in the room.
Momoko: Suya...gugugugu, munya, munya, subisubi
There was the sound of someone sleeping that wasn't supposed to be. That healthy sound was also mixed in.
Syouko: Well, if I was going to say that was expected, then it's as expected.
Since she played that much, and ate that much, her body would want rest.
Momoko, who was hugging Kumouchi, and had her back against the wall, might still be keeping a vigil in her dreams, maybe...
No, with that slack face, she probably wasn't.
Syouko: Geez, that's why I told her to have a rotation.
I was going to revoke Momoko's exemption from morning training. Anyways, I moved her to the futon so she could sleep.
Syouko: Yo...
When I entered, she was sleeping, so I went to pick up her light body and move her to her futon, which was laid out.
I removed Kumouchi which she might swing around if she wakened. She stayed sound asleep though.
Now...
Since I woke up, I'll keep watch instead.
It was strange that I wasn't that sleepy.
Yesterday's event...
After causing the Tokosaki no Tsubaki's flowers to fall, I felt as if my body were filled with a strange vitality.
It was a little similar to the feeling I got at last year's school festival after I drank an energy drink costing several thousand yen, gjven to me by a sempai.
In order for the crimson tsubaki to live forever, it might need to absorb some "energy" to keep up its vitality.
If it needed to absorb the "energy" of other living things, then it was almost like a...
Syouko: I guess...I am a little strange...
The strange thing wasn't limited to the "energy" that filled my body.
Holding Kumouchi in my hand, I could tell that there was something special within it.
Even in the dim light, if I closed my eyes and searched with my mind, I could feel some sort of presence.
It was the feeling of how a hunter sharpens its senses to infer its prey.
It wasn't coming from Kumouchi, nor the sleeping Yasumi, nor Nami...
It was coming from the corridor.
Syouko: Who's there?
The old floorboards weren't creaking and I didn't hear a sound.
I thought it was about to appear, so I gripped Kumouchi, but the presence passed by the room.
Syouko: .....?
I thought I should check it out to make sure, so I stood up. I tried not to make an sudden movements as I put my hand on the metal fixture of the sliding door.
I stuck my face out and looking around, I saw someone.
With bare shoulders, and with a supple back like a feline hunter, the suspicious shadow was...
Syouko: .....Migiwa?
Migiwa was wearing the same clothes she wore in the afternoon. In her hand was a long item which resembled our bamboo shinai, and had something that looked like a bag on the end.
At this time, where was she planning on going?
At this time...
In the middle of night...
In the dead of night...
During this time, would ghosts or such things appear?
Migiwa: I'm going to chase down an oni.
It's been half a day since that talk...
I wonder if it was a suitable time for her to go to the road that leads to Onigashima at the Unasaka Sea.
If she really was going to the Oni Stepping Stones, then I wondered if what she said at that time wasn't a joke, and she really was who she said she was.
Syouko: .....
In China, they said oni were the souls of people who died. That's what I'd heard from my grandfather.
Personally, I think that the spirits of dead people are ghosts, and that oni are something that doesn't came from a person, but something like a spirit but...
In the West, vampires such as Dracula are dead people that have returned from the grave. In other words, they were like ghosts with a corporeal body.
Then, if Migiwa was part of an organization that hunted oni, the oni that attacked Ayashiro, maybe she could...
While I was thinking, Migiwa had completely disappeared.
But I had a clue about where she was going. If she weren't in that place, then it would shake the basis of why I would ask her for help.
Syouko: ...ok.
After I looked back in the room to confirm that there was no strange presence, I went down the corridor with Kumouchi in hand.
My step resounded on the floor slabs.
I went past the courtyard, and down the stone steps, and arrived at the sea, where the salty smell filled the air.
The first night we arrived in Unasaka, the sound of the waves made it so I couldn't sleep, and I even came out to the beach at night.
Everyone was having fun here in the afternoon.
The blue, shining, summer ocean, had completely hid its roar...
Yasumi: But... the ocean drags people away...
And also, it was if something was going to come. There was a strong impression that this was a boundary between the real world, and some other world.
And the beach that was the gap between that world, in the past, it actually was a real boundary to the road that lead to Onigashima...
Today, it was a forbidden place, and the line that was drawn between the everyday world by the water's edge, I wonder if Migiwa was guarding it
I walked towards that place as the sand dragged down the soles of my feet and walked towards the rocks.
As expected, there was a big difference between seeing it in the afternoon.
What started out as small stones, like what you'd find on the shoulder of a road, gradually became taller. They stood out as towering, black shadows under the blue, night sky.
In complete contrast to that, the Oni Stepping Stones that lead to the island were indistinct.
Migiwa: What? You've finally gotten rid of the paralysis?
I arrived and Migiwa greeted me in a tone like, "You're an impatient one,".
Syouko: .....
Geez, who exactly was the impatient one?
Migiwa, who was looking at the ocean, didn't move her head. She seemed to be looking for the presence of whatever should be approproaching. At this time, and at this place, it was probably the oni that stole the "sword".
Syouko: Wait a minute, Migiwa.
Hearing me call her name, she turned to face me. Her expression was a mixture of dejection, relief, bewilderment, mischief...I couldn't explain it.
Migiwa: Osa, what are you doing here at a time like this?
Syouko: I'd really like to return those words right back at you.
Migiwa: Of course, I'm waiting for the oni to appear. The middle of the night is an appropriate time, right?
As I expected, Migiwa was waiting for the oni who she anticipated would come here.
Migiwa: Well, what about Osa?
Syouko: A girl ghost has appeared.
Migiwa: The long haired, ghost girl...right?
As if Migiwa wanted to slay the ghost, a dangerous glint appeared in her narrowed eyes, and she looked over my shoulder in the direction of Shoushinji.
Slay it...
I didn't think about the method that was needed to protect the team members. But I guess that would be the method for an Onikiri (Demon Slayer) to take care of an oni.
The ghost was said to appear. If it was going to be a danger to us, then if Migiwa slayed it, everything would be over...
Maybe...
Really, just maybe...
I stared down at my hand. I looked at the palm that had caused the crimson tsubaki to fall.
I wanted to say it was not possible, and that there was another oni that was sucking the vitality from people, but, could it be, I...
That I myself, was the vitality-stealing oni. There was a possibility.
While I was sleeping and unconscious, something would take over my body, and like I was sleepwalking, would I attack someone...?
I wondered if Migiwa would slay me?
The blue moonlight suddenly looked dangerous to me.
I shivered and wondered if it was because of the strong wind that was coming from Urashima that preceded the festival.
Migiwa didn't say anything. She just stood still and looked as if she was slowly trying to logically figure out the culprit.
Or perhaps since the culprit might be someone we were close to, she couldn't give an immediate reply about slaying her.
Migiwa: About the incident with the girl with long hair, there is one mysterious girl whose name, age, and address is unknown...
That was...
That was not me...
Syouko: You mean Nami?
Migiwa: Like the crane in the story "Tsuru Nyoubou (The Crane Wife)" and the turtle in the story
"Urashima Tarou", there are stories where non-human things disguise themselves as humans, right?
A non-human thing that takes on a human form...
When I first saw her, my impression was...
Migiwa: Disguising oneself as a pretty, young girl is also a stereotypical pattern.
Syouko: But Nami...
Just because a child has a mysterious air around them, to say they're not human, is something that I couldn't not believe, but...
To say that she was an oni that attacked people...
More than that possibility, I believed...
Syouko: The stories that Migiwa mentioned, they all had a favor to return, so if they were left alone, they wouldn't harm anyone, right?
Migiwa: The mermaid in Anderson's "The Little Mermaid" was willing to stab the prince with a dagger. It was just an attempted crime though.
She was saying that there were other reasons for transforming besides falling in love or returning a favor.
And that instead of having good will turn to malice because it couldn't be helped, which was the exception, their aim from the start was malice.
Migiwa: Take the case of the iso-onna (rocky beach woman) we were talking about last night. It wasn't returning a favor, but taking advantage of kind people...
Syouko: Iso-onna? You mean the one that turns into a crab, and has long hair...?
It is a female vampire that appears near the sea.
Migiwa: It is a vampire that uses its long hair to capture its prey. It appears in front of kind people by the beach and says, "For just a little while, can you hold my child?" and then disappears into the ocean.
Migiwa: After that, an ushi-oni (ox ogre) appears to attack. The person carrying the child tries to flee, but the child turns into a heavy stone which attaches to the hand so the person can't let go of it.
The partner of the ushi-oni was the shape-shifting iso-onna. When she makes someone hold her child, she herself becomes the child and is carried by a person...
So she was teasing me with this story since we weren't suspicious about the real identity of Nami and instead just took care of her.
Migiwa: By the way, there's another story that after being caught by the ushi-oni, in the next few days, you'll turn into the roots of a tsubaki...
Syouko: Being caught and turned into the roots of a tree, it's almost like the ninja's kawarimi technique (changing places with another object).
Migiwa: Nn? Tsubaki?
Migiwa, who was telling me how Nami was suspicious, suddenly seemed to remember something, and her face hardened.
Migiwa: There was an ox oni sealed within the Tokosaki no Tsubaki that Yasuhime-sama planted, right?
Syouko: Madamu...
The oni was defeated at Urashima, which was born from the grudge of the Oni King.
Migiwa: I wonder if all this seems really strange?
Did she mean how she was guarding the Oni Stepping Stones, or the oni she was chasing?
Migiwa: It'll be bad if I just left it alone...
She stopped talking and looked around the area.
Migiwa: Osa, have you heard the story that if you talk about spirits, then spirits will come?
Syouko: Yes, I have.
It was like when we were listening to ghost stories and then at the test of courage, where we were trying to ascertain the identity of the ghost.
Last night, those things were vague, but that didn't seem to be the case tonight.
Migiwa: Because I was talking to Osa about oni and stuff, it seems they've actually come.
Migiwa closed her eyes and searched for their presence.
Syouko: .....!?
Without letting us know, we were surrounded by countless things.
Like Migiwa said, they weren't human.
They were more indistinct than humans. They looked as if they were a childish drawing by a small kid, where the details of their bodies had been left out. They had that kind of body...
As if they were dolls that had been mixed with heat and chemicials, their bodies didn't have a proper shape and were muddled...
In addition, their presence didn't just extend to the rocks, it extended to the middle of the so-called dangerous, Unasaka Sea. There was not just one presence, but countless.
Migiwa: If you're sure of victory, then I'll gladly welcome you...
While saying that, Migiwa bent her fishing pole.
Migiwa: I don't want to waste my time with small fry though!
With a sharp sound, the fishing line jumped towards the moonlight and shone silver as it was cast.
One end of that silvery line was connected to end of the fishing pole, while the other end went into the dark ocean.
Along with a splash of water, something came out from under the waves.
Shining like the reflector of a bicycle, what looked like red lights came out from the middle of the ocean. My eyes which couldn't see far in the darkness, could see them.
So that was their true face.
They had pointy ears that looked like horns, and large, red, glittering eyes that were the color of blood. Their faces were inhuman.
At the end of Migiwa's string was not a human nor a monkey nor conncted to those two. Though they didn't have horns on their forehead, they had a head that was appropriate to call them oni.
Syouko: Yesterday...these were...
Migiwa: Osa, you've seen these before?
They looked the same as the thing was saw at the test of courage. Focusing on them, I didn't see what Migiwa was doing.
Oni: Gisha...!
Perhaps she threw some small thing that I couldn't see, but it seemed to hit the earlobe of oni with a sharp sound, causing it to cry out in a strange voice...
The silver string that was stretching into the darkness, snapped, and disappeared along with the oni's head.
But that wouldn't be the end of it.
If my senses were correct, there was not just one oni. Instead, we were surrounded by them.
Splash...
The sounds of the waves didn't disappear. For some reason, they appeared together with the sound of the waves and with their small bodies, they started to climb on the Oni Stepping Stones.
Splash...
Looking back at the sound of wet footsteps, under the night sky, their shadows werer darker than the strange shadows cast by the rocks. Within those shadows, red lantern-like lights shone. One, two, more.
Four, eight, sixteen. Migiwa looked at the growing number of oni and casually threw her fishing pole aside, and exchanged it for another long pole nearby.
It was straight and of a uniform thickness stretching out about 150 cm. With its scarlet color that resembled that of a torii gate, it was definitely not a fishing pole.
Whether it was because they'd seen rough use or not, both sides looked like they were reinforced with metal.
It resembled the staff wielded by the great Monkey King, Son Goku, who exterminated spirits.
It looked to be too long for stick fighting and too long for martial arts and was like a half-complete pole.
Like how a kid with bad manners would twirl a sharp pencil to amuse himself, Migiwa started to rotate her pole.
The rush of wind grew louder.
To the right, to the left, forward, backward, while shifting to different positions, the rotation didn't stop and seemed to speed up.
The speed of the rotation caused a picture that looked like the crimson, full moon during the Obon Festival.
Migiwa wielded the vermillion, pole that could be used as a weapon or as a shield. Her blue eyes glared at the gathering small-sized oni.
Migiwa: These are a type of kappa.
Syouko: If it's a kappa, where's its shell or the saucer on its head?
Migiwa: It's something in that category. There's variations, and some have scales, others have fur, and others are hairless,
They appeared from the ocean and didn't have shells or saucers, but they did come from the water.
I couldn't exactly say they were like children. Though they were small, their arms and legs had well-developed muscles and looked to be strong, like a sumo wrestler.
Migiwa: Kappa, suiko, kawatarou, yamawaro...
She counted on her fingers spirits of similar appearance and disposition.
Migiwa: It's annoying to say all those so we use the general term, mouryou, to refer to kappa and oni that are related to them.
Mouryou...
Syouko: Is it the mouryou from the phrase "chimi mouryou"? (evil spirits of the rivers and mountains)
Migiwa: That's correct. Chimi are oni from the mountains...
With a sharp sound, she stopped the rotation of her pole and set up a stance.
Migiwa: And mouryou are oni from the water!
In an instant, she extended the pole as far as she could, and the mouryou that it connected with was captured in mid-air.
Mouryou: Gyaoh...!
The kappa-like oni that accelerated had its weight collected in one place as the metal end of the rod connected with its solar plexus and it was held in the air.
Migiwa: Seh!
With a yell, Migiwa flinged her rod to the side and the oni broke like a dried-up mud doll.
The mouryou changed into something like mud. The lump broke apart like a caltrop, breaking up and crumbling.
The moment the black, mud-like substance, collapsed, it disassembled into an ash-like, fine dust, and scattered in the wind.
Syouko: .....
The only traces that the thing existed were footsteps, which would disappear when dried, and the circle of like oni.
Migiwa: As I thought. They're not living things, but shiki.
Syouko: Shiki?
Migiwa: Shikigami, gohou, kenzoku-shin...they are a type of oni that are summoned using some mystic arts and bound to work for the summoner.
Syouko: Then, the kappa-like things...
Migiwa: They are like fallen water gods. There are many types of kappa.
Kappa, and now
shikigami. Migiwa explained them in a non-ironic way. I faced the closing ring of mouryou.
Migiwa: Like the tengu in the mountains, there are also kappa that started as humans.
The same was said about the kosenyudou gods.
Migiwa: They're like constructed dolls with life blown into them, so they're similar to robots.
There were also small fry that were not like robots, so mouryou were divided into those two categories.
The tip of the pole swirled around Migiwa's feet and body, drawing a circle in the air.
Wherever it moved, it seemed to be able to return quickly to its previous position, and the next movement looked to be faster than the previous one.
Migiwa: Have your heard that kappa can extend their arms? One one side extends, and the other side shrinks in to keep it consistent...
Migiwa: It's the type of shikigami that's created like a simple straw doll with a pole for both arms.
Like she explained, the arm extended and while one turned, the other did not. It looked like the blow was strong.
She dodged with the same movement she used against my attack from before.
...it was that movement.
The scarlet, full moon that was the motion of her rod, fell towards the ground and shattered, and then continued to shine.
Syouko: Then these are...
Migiwa: They're in the robot category. If they're being used by something other than a human, then they're like fallen water gods.
It looked more like a sword fight than those staged on television, as if she were dancing as she defeated the mouryou without stopping.
Migiwa: The ninety-nine or the spirits of the trees or the high-class beings that made living things had their own self of sense, but...
Like a windmall blowing powder, Migiwa's vermillion pole kept smashing while she continued her explanation.
Migiwa: These don't seem to be such high-class oni though.
Migiwa: From industructible robots for industrial use to friends of the future, there are all kinds of robots too, huh?
Migiwa: Anyways, these things are missing the 'kon' part of 'konpaku' (魂魄 spirit and soul).
'Kon' is the energy the supports the mind.
'Paku' is the energy that supports the body.
So the mouryou that are missing a 'mind' are like puppets...they only move as ordered and are like automatic dolls.
Migiwa: Hey, hey! Small fry should just scatter!
Migiwa: Oh! One went your way!
Syouko: Eh...!?
So against a proper opponent, I didn't need to hold back. I held the sword above my head and swung with all my might...
It dodged and extended an arm that swiped down...
Syouko: .....
I didn't dodge and it grazed me.
Syouko: You!
Even then, I didn't stop swinging down.
Mouryou: Gugya...!
I felt the impact through Kumouchi. It was like hitting thick rubber.
At the same time it gave a cry of agony while dying, the feeling of it changed.
The same as when Migiwa defeated one, the mouryou turned into black, shapeless dust, and disappeared.
Syouko: .....!?
And suddenly, the impact of hitting it was gone...
Like suddenly stumbling down some stairs, I made a step and broke my stance.
Mouryou: Giya.....!!
At the instant, the mouryou attacked...
Migiwa: Hah...!
Migiwa, who hadn't changed her attitude, used her pole to return them to dust when they were almost on top of me.
Perhaps she wanted to take a break. She stopped the rotation of her pole and stopped behind me.
Migiwa: Hyuu ♪, Osa, you're not too bad.
We protected each other's back as we stood in the middle of the mouryou that surrounded us.
Migiwa: If you don't put "power" into your attack, you won't break them and they won't disappear.
Syouko: The bokutou doesn't have its own "power"!?
Mouryou: Gege!
Mouryou: Gegya!
Countering the extended arms of the mouryou, I could answer my question.
Kumochi is a miraculous bokutou made from the Tokosaki no Tsubaki.
If you believe the legend, the Oni King's malice was sealed in the Tokosaki no Tsubaki, so if it was made from that tree, and the mouryou, which are small fry, are the opponent...
It seems that even with the virtue of Kumouchi, a normal blow was not enough, and to defeat the mouryou, you needed one more attack.
Migiwa: So, it seems we've cleaned them all up.
Syouko: Hah...hah...
Syouko: Is that...all.....?
Migiwa: It seems they've stopped attacking.
It seems even Migiwa was amazed and she looked around. It seems there was something of a calamity since it looked like it was extremely rare for so many mouryou to come out.
Syouko: .....
It was Migiwa's job, but there was also me, a novice to this, so it was quite a feat to defeat so many and receive only shallow wounds.
Migiwa: Osa, your blood is red, right?
Syouko: ...What color did you think it was?
Migiwa: It would normally be red. The majority of oni that have corporeal bodies also have red blood. It's because red is the color of life.
So the mouryou who didn't have red blood really were small fry.
Syouko: So, what were those things? Why were they guarding the Oni Stepping Stones?
I wondered if Migiwa would answer the questions? I knew the gist of things.
The mouryou were shikigami which were controlled by something.
Migiwa said she was chasing an oni that stole the "sword".
But what was the connection between those two things?
Were both unrelated...?
No, I didn't think that was the case.
And there was something else.
If the girl ghost with the long hair was connected to the Oni King, Matamu, and it was connected to this time and this place, then...
Syouko: Ah, Ayashiro!
Since my life was in danger from the mouryou who attacked, I'd forgotten. The reason I came here was not to slay oni.
I came here to ask for the help of Migiwa, who was chasing an oni.
It's been quite a long while since I left the room.
Syouko: Migiwa! Ayashiro's in danger! Sorry to do this, but, lend me a hand!
After I remembered that critical thing, I told Migiwa and didn't wait for an answer as I turned on my heel and started running.
Migiwa: ...Osa!?
I knew that Migiwa had to guard the Oni Stepping Stones that the waves were hitting.
But, I also needed her help here.
Since I defeated the mouryou small fry, maybe I could do something about it myself.
But like Migiwa pointed out, the iso-onna and the ushi-oni had some sort of connection with each other. So if the ghost girl with long hair and Matamu had some sort of connection...
If a dangerous existence like the grudge of the Oni King were next to everyone...
We would have to deal with it somehow.
In order to face it, I would need the help of Migiwa, who was stronger than me and had knowledge of oni.
We were interrupted by the mouryou in the middle of talking, but I didn't want to leave Migiwa, and I was getting a bad feeling.
Even if Migiwa said that she wanted to slay the source, or gave a logical reason for her dangerous methods...
Even if Migiwa glared at Nami, whose identity was unknown...
Syouko: Migiwa!
I had a strange conviction that it was not Nami, so I didn't hestitate in asking for Migiwa's help.
Migiwa: Ah...geez...there's no helping it then.
Migiwa caught up to me, who was running at full speed and ran next to me.
We passed the beach and ran up the stairs and up the dark mountain that was shadowed by the Sal Forest.
The scenery was normally not strange, but...
For some reason, the air felt heavy.
Syouko: .....!?
I put my hand on the sliding door to open it, but the moment I touched the metal handle, I reflexively stopped.
There was a presence in the room.
There was something in the room.
Something was occurring in the room.
And I suddenly felt something unnatural in the air, and my skin felt cold.
I didn't know if that were just a physical phenomenom or if it was the wind-chill factor, but it was cold enough to give me goosebumps.
The cold air...or should I say the spiritual air...
It stole heat, it stole vitatlity, and left a sluggish sleep in its place.
This was the reason for Ayashiro's condition.
This was the reason no one awoke.
But for me, it wasn't such a big thing.
I was still worked up from the excitement before, so a dull person might not have noticed this.
Migiwa, was definitely not dull, and not showing any reason to be careful, she took my place and opened the sliding door.
Migiwa: Now, then...
Though she wasn't cautious, there was a hardness in her voice.
The sliding door slid open.
I could feel the spiritual air on my skin and a stronger "power" than before that dragged my consciousness towards a white darkness.
If you fell because of that, then you would surely sleep until morning.
It would be like how I slept in the past few days. You wouldn't wake and sink into an abyss and sleep.
Syouko: Ku...
I clenched my molars and fought against the spiritual air that invited sleep.
Even if I fell asleep, Migiwa would take care of it, but I couldn't do such an irresponsible thing. I gripped Kumouchi and watched.
The moonlight shining past the shoji screens was the only thing lighting the room. It was darker than outside here, but there was something shining inside. Whether it was the glow of moonlight that lost its heat, or the heat of vitality being stolen, the faint, glowing thing was...
Migiwa: A long-haired, ghost girl.
Migiwa announced that as she thinned her eyes like the edge of a blade and changed her grip on the pole to two hands.
Now that this matter was brought to light, I was afraid of how defenseless we previously were, though I was also relieved that I wasn't the culprit.
So the location of the ghost that was revealed, the oni that sucked vitality, was...
Syouko: Ayashiro!?
It was at the place where Ayashiro's futon was laid out.
Syouko: You...
I gripped Kumouchi and gathered my strength. While holding Kumouchi, I stepped in the room and struck at the ghost, giving it no chance for excuses.
Syouko: Doah.....!!
Because of the ceiling, I couldn't swing as much as I wanted, so I held Kumouchi near my body and and aimed for the head of the kyuuseiki (vitality-draining oni) that was hovering over Ayashiro.
Kyuuseiki: .....!?
In my mind, I projected Kumouchi only hitting the kyuuseiki and...
My aim was not off. I moved as my mind had projected...
Syouko: .....!? It dodged!?
I'd only felt a little impact, like wind resistance, as Kumouchi went past the body of the kyuuseiki.
Migiwa: So it seems it only has a spiritual body, and not a real one.
So, Migiwa, who was at the threshold of the room, meant that the ghost couldn't touch ordinary things, but also, ordinary things could touch the ghost either.
Migiwa: No wonder it's attached to that person. It needed to combine its spirtual body and the other person's spirtual body.
Migiwa: In order to drain other spirtual bodies, yah?
Kyuuseiki: ....., .....
Syouko: But, I felt an impact!?
Migiwa: That bokutou...yah. It seems to be the real thing.
Syouko: What did you think it was!? A while ago, it defeated the mouryou, right!?
Migiwa: For that level of small fry, most people could defeat them if they felt they were in desperation of dying...with something like a metal bat.
It's true that a metal bat didn't have any particular virtue.
Migiwa: But, if it can affect an oni without a physical body, it's the real thing.
She scrunched her left eye and widened her right, making an asymmetrical, crooked, expression.
The "power" in her eye was not from this world, but from another, and she looked at Kumouchi, which was in my hand.
Migiwa: It has a very small core that's surrounded by tsubaki. If you just glanced over it, it'd be hard to "see".
Her gaze turned and...
And looked at the kyuuseiki.
Like Ayashiro and Momoko said, it was transparent, and the upper half was vague, and it glowed. In addition, because the long hair was in the way, you couldn't clearly see the face.
But, if it was Migiwa, she should be able to "see" it...
Migiwa: Let's see, let's see. Why don't we try to reveal your true identity?
The colored part of her eye shrank and her pupil expanded. Whether it was due to the reflection of the moonlight or not, Migiwa's right eye glowed with blue-white light resembling phosphorus.
Migiwa: You may be able to fool a novice, but you won't be able to fool Migiwa-san, the Suten no Onikiri. (the demon slayer of the protector of the sky)
Suten no Onikiri...though I now knew the name, it was a little strange-sounding. That was the real identity of Migiwa, who was chasing an oni.
Migiwa: ...Fu..un...I see, so that's how it is.
Even in all this commotion, the sleeping girls didn't wake, and Migiwa looked at each of them in turn.
Migiwa: Osa, I'm sorry to say this, but the culprit is among you.
Syouko: Eh?
Migiwa: It's probably happening unconsciously. Osa, you'd understand, if I said it was like a sleepwalking spirit, right?
Migiwa: There's someone among Osa's group, right? Someone who doesn't have "energy" and has problems with everyday living?
Migiwa: Someone that Osa treats with care. A girl with long hair.
Migiwa's eye, which had an inner glow, coldly looked down at one, sleeping person. I also followed her cold gaze.
Syouko: That can't be...