Chapter 15
The bookshelves which revealed the history of the Nekata, which was smeared in the Nie no Chi, made us feel confined, so Yasumi and I went to the garden outside.

Syouko: .....

How many times had Yasumi and I sighed?
No matter times I sighed, the oppressive feeling in my heart would leave my body.

Yasumi: Who would have believed my family would have such a history...

Yasumi, who had a good power of imagination, might have been thinking that if she kept drinking blood, she might really become an oni.
In the dead of night, the dark shadow of the mansion which stretched out looked as if it would capture Yasumi...Nekata Yasumi.
The kendo club manager that I knew was kind and gave embarrassed little smiles and I couldn't let her stay here a moment longer. It wasn't just about her physical condition anymore. Even if the hinokusuri could heal her condition, now that we found out how it was manufactured, Yasumi probably wouldn't want to drink it.

We came to Urashima thinking we could accomplish something, but maybe we shouldn't have come. Compared to the rituals that occurred on this island, Yasumi draining vitality was a small thing. In the case of Yasumi, if she stayed by my side, then it wouldn't be a bother to anyone else.

If we stayed on this island any longer...

Syouko: Do you think it's about time we headed back?

Refined man's voice: That would be troublesome.

Yasumi: .....!?

Souji: Aizawa Yasumi...no, my daughter Nekata Yasumi.

Syouko: .....

Nekata-san, who shouldn't have returned yet, was standing under the doorway.

Souji: Did you think I wouldn't notice? I'm still your father and share part of the same blood as you.

Yasumi: Otou-san...

Souji: You two...no, Yasumi

Souji: If you've returned to this island...

As if he noticed something strange, for a moment, Nekata-san's face distorted.

Souji: What happened to your mother?

Yasumi: This winter, after the Setsubun holiday...there was a traffic accident...

Souji: I see.

Souji: If you had stayed in hiding, I probably wouldn't have had to find you, unlike now, and from now on always.

If Yasumi's mother who took her away from the island were still living, Yasumi wouldn't have come near the island and might be living a peaceful and tranquil life.
But, her mom passed away.
And Yasumi returned.
Not just to Unasaka, but even crossing over the Oni Stepping Stones to the Nekata home.

Souji: Yasumi, what did you see in the study?

He'd seen the light on in the study.

Syouko: .....

Both Yasumi and I couldn't answer. But seeing our expressions, Nekata-san could guess.

Souji: I see. So you've found out the sins of the Nekata that have continued for generations from the past to the present.

Yasumi: Are the things written in the book true!? Did otou-san really slay someone to offer them as a sacrifice to Kurou-sama!?

Souji: Ah...I have killed someone.

Yasumi: So the reason that onee-chan is gone...

Souji: It's not unrelated.

Did Nekata-san really kill his own daughter, Yasumi's older sister, as an offering to Kurou-sama?

Then the visions that floated up from within me, were they just delusions that I got the wrong idea about? Were they just ephemeral illusions?

Souji: And also, Yasumi.

Souji: You appeared in front of me at a somewhat bad time, and a somewhat good time.

Yasumi: Eh.....?

Souji: This is an exception, and is certainly a bad omen, but it hasn't been said that it's limited to one sacrifice per generation.

Souji: It's urgent that a new sacrifice is offered to Kurou-sama and to perform the true ceremony.

Yasumi was captured by a hard and keen gaze. Following his oldest daughter, was Nekata-san going to offer his second daughter to the Nekata sea god also?
Syouko: This girl isn't Nekata Yasumi! She's Aizawa Yasumi! We're going back across and returning with everyone to Seijou. She's the manager of the kendo club, Aizawa Yasumi!

Souji: Even though you know I'm from the founding family of the Kurou-ryuu, you're still pointing a sword at me.

Syouko: .....

I let my eyes deliver the answer as I said nothing and held Kumouchi.

Souji: The ceremony on this island...no, if the disaster spreads from this island...then if it spreads from Unasaka...the whole area will be affected.

So that was why he was willing to turn against his own daughter, and why he killed a person before.

Souji: The sacrifice I offered with my hands did not have the correct qualifications. So that's why the "power" of the sacrifice was probably not enough.

Souji: That girl had a body that could endure the hinokusuri but, she didn't ingest it since infancy.

Yasumi: Eh!?

Souji: You said you were Osanai...Syouko, right?

Syouko: So what?

Souji: Looking at that stance, I remember. I didn't remember your last name, but I remember your first name.

Souji: Though I always thought you were Narumi Syouko.

Syouko: That's because we were as close as sisters.

Souji: It's very similar. Not just your stance, but the light in the depths of your eyes. And also, protecting someone behind you, it's like a repeat of that day.

Syouko: Eh.....!?

Syouko: You...and Natsu nee-san...

I should know this.
It was in the ocean of my memory, sunk in an abyss where light would not reach. I should know this.
That time, in front of my eyes, Natsu nee-san was...

Souji: So, you should know the end result from that time.

Souji: When you hold a sword against an opponent, when you're seriously facing an opponent, you shouldn't be thinking about anything else.

Syouko: Kaha....

Souji: This time, it'll fine be if YOU go to Kurou-sama's side.

Ah...as I thought, it wasn't Yasumi's older sister...

I'm sinking.

...I'm sinking.

I'm sinking deep down.

Bubbles of memory are hitting me and bursting open.

One by one, those bubbles are lighting up the past.

The bubbles break with a popping sound and the vibration of a wave of a past memory starts.

buh...buh...buh...buh...

Like how a film is consisted of a series of moving pictures, one by one, the fragments of memories in the bubbles played back a memory.

Refined man's voice: I'll also punish my daughter but...

Cute girl's voice: Syouko-chan...

Cute girl's voice: Syouko-chan...I'll save you...
Dignified girl's voice: Though I just woke up, something like this happened...

Dignified girl's voice: I've already lived for a long time.

Dignified girl's voice: No matter how much red earth I eat, or how long I live, that person is already no longer in this world. It's been a very long time.

Dignified girl's voice: So that's why I don't want to live like this anymore.

Dignified girl's voice: So that's why I'll give you life.

The beautiful person with long, black hair was in water that was dyed in red. The sleeves of her kimono were fluttering like the fins of a fish as she drew closer to me, who was sinking.
My cheeks, which had become the same temperature as the water, were warm where she touched them...
She came closer to my lips, which were blue as the water, and when she touched them with her own...

In my mouth, red life entered.
And with that strong "power"...
A red impurity pierced me, and my eyes were blinded by blue light.

Dignified girl's voice: This is the sealed "gate" of the Ruri Palace (Lapis Lazuli Palace).....!?

Dignified girl's voice: To be able to open it this much, requires a lot of "power"...

Dignified girl's voice: By the virtue in mine words. By mine words I decree...

Dignified girl's voice: "Gate", close thyself.

Following that decree, the "gate" closed.

The world filled with lapis lazuli light disappeared.

Blackout.....

Ah...right now, it's nighttime...

A voice I remember: Syouko...Syouko...

The blue light wavered. The person that was floating in light that was blue like the sea was...

Syouko: Yasuhime-sama.....?

No...that wasn't Yasuhime-sama...

Yasumi: Syouko-sempai!

Syouko: .....!?

Yasumi: Syouko-sempai, are you awake?

Yasumi's face was so close to mine, I could breathe on her.
She peered at me as if she were checking a patient's complexion or asking about their fever. For Yasumi, who collapsed a lot, this would be a familiar point of view, but for me, who had a healthy body, I wasn't used to it...
My parents were both busy and I was an only child so for someone to see my sleeping face was a rare thing in these past eight years...
And why did I collapse.....

Syouko: .....!?
The memory of the past that I'd forgotten until now connected with the present. I remembered I'd been defeated by Nekata-san and moved my body in a flurry.

Syouko: This is...

I was in the middle of a forest.
The moon could be seen peering between the gaps in the foliage. The thin darkness was lighted up by a dim light creating a blue forest.
This was not the Sal Forest of Shoushinji.
Looking up, I didn't see tsubaki flowers but...

Yasumi: This is the Tokosaki no Tsubaki Forest.

Syouko: Why am I here? I was defeated by your father...

Syouko: ....And, what's with your body?

Yasumi: Ahaha...with my body, I didn't think I could carry sempai's body, so I just went ahead and possessed Syouko-sempai's body and came here...

Yasumi: It was right after otou-san confirmed you were unconscious so it seems he was also a little careless.

Syouko: .....

Syouko: So, where is Yasumi's body?

Yasumi: It's not here.

Yasumi: Eh...to...

She looked a little troubled, but still managed to smile.

Yasumi: I left it at the Nekata mansion.

Syouko: Yasumi!?

I could only let out a yell. What was she doing? This girl.

Yasumi: But, if I just left you like that, I thought Syouko-sempai would definitely be sacrificed, so I just reacted.

Syouko: Geez, that wasn't just an impulse...

I wanted to lightly poke her, but right now, it would just pass through Yasumi. But still I made the motion to poke her and Yasumi laughed while apologizing.

Syouko: So, how is your physical body doing?

Yasumi: I wanted to go back to my body and check how things were over there, but I wasn't able to.

Yasumi was talking about something like an invisible line that connected the physical body and the soul.

Yasumi: Besides that, sempai, have you noticed?

Yasumi: In this forest, the tsubaki where Yasuhime-sama sealed the disaster, it was already strange in the evening, but now, even more so...

Syouko: Have the tsubaki flowers fallen?

The Tokosaki no Tsubaki that made up this forest didn't leave one strand, or one blossom left. All the flowers had fallen. While we were gone...
When I was unconscious, did something happen.....?

Yasumi: Some "power" is leaking out and distorting the area. Since I don't have a body, even I am being affected.

Like how water conforms to its container, the soul is bound to a physical body.
But looking at it in the opposite way, the soul, which can easily change its shape, is taken care of by the physical body, which doesn't easily change its shape.
There are exceptions though, such as where a demon possession which changes the soul also changes the body.

Yasumi: Was this the evil omen that otou-san was talking about?

Syouko: I think it's something different though...

The Tokosaki no Tsubaki was said to have taken root here before the Nekata rituals, so having the flowers fall was not necessary a evil omen but...
No, it could be because the sacrifice that Yasumihime-sama was using had diminished so that "power", which was symbolized by the tsubaki flowers had fallen which would be an evil omen...
But I think something else had happened.

Yasumi: Anyways, about what we're going to do.

Yasumi sat up an faced me.

Yasumi: At dawn, when the waves ebb, could sempai return to Shoushinji?

Yasumi's face expressed that she wasn't saying a joke.

Yasumi: Syouko-sempai is definitely strong compared to a normal high school girl, but otou-san is much, much stronger.

I know that.
Nekata-san was a strong opponent. After all, he was the person who defeated Natsu nee-san. I know I couldn't win.
But about Yasumi...

Yasumi: My...body is also at otou-san's place...

Syouko: We're going to return together, with your physical body too, of course.

Leaving Yasumi who said she was going to say behind, I couldn't just shamelessly go back by myself.
If I just left Yasumi and ran away here, I would probably regret it for my whole life.

Yasumi: But...

Syouko: If we can't win by rushing in the front door, there's other methods we can use. Anyways, I'm not going back.

Syouko: Do you want to make me a liar?

We'd made a promise.
For certain, I'd wrapped my little finger around Yasumi's, whose body wasn't here right now.

Syouko: I'd like to avoid drinking 1000 needles. (Note: If you break a pinky promise, this is supposed to be the punishment.)

Syouko: And there's also an urgent situation we have to think about.

Yasumi: Urgent...?

Syouko: Your "power" has weakened.

Yasumi was transparent to begin with and the "power" needed to make that shape, she would soon use it all up.

Yasumi: Since I have no body...I couldn't help it...

When the soul is in the body, it is protected from alteration and diffusion. And now, with the distorting "power" that was leaking out of the forest, for a weak soul to be out was equivalent to suicide...
Yasumi was using all her "power" just to stay the way she was.

Syouko: Don't say there's no helping it. There's a way for you not to disappear.

Yasumi: But...

Like a container with a hole in it which water is leaking out of, before it becomes empty...just pour more water into it.
For that purpose, I also...
Promised to do as much as I can.

Syouko: Yasumi, please drain my "power".
I once again, laid down on the ground and looked up at the large moon in the sky.

Yasumi: Syouko-sempai...

Even when Yasumi was on top of me, the brilliance of the moon was not obscured.
Because Yasumi was transparent, the moon's light was bright...
That told how transparent Yasumi was.
Yasumi's spirit, which left hr body, was on its way to becoming something indefinite. There wasn't much time left.
I turned my head to the side and exposed one side of my neck.
Yasumi, who became a spirit, should be able to drain "power" from anywhere, but since she didn't have a body, maybe it was easier to have an image in mind. Yasumi didn't object as her face neared my neck.

Yasumi: Is it ok...if I hold your hand?

Syouko: That's fine.

Yasumi put her half-transparent hand on top of my open palm.
We closed our fingers as if we didn't want to separate, but it was like grasping open air.

Yasumi: I can't...properly hold your hand.

Syouko: It's because your "power" has weakened.

Syouko: If you drain some "power", you'll be able to grasp it better.

Yasumi: Ok...

Yasumi: Then, if you'll excuse me...

The feeling of her lips on my neck was lighter and softer than a feather, and was like a breath.
Like how the earth has a pulse, like how underneath my skin was a pulse, it might have been a good place to drain "power".
As if she were looking for a good place, the movement of her lips was a little ticklish.

Syouko: Nn.....

Yasumi: Did...did it hurt!?

Syouko: It can't hurt, right? Right now, you don't have a body.

It's true that Yasumi was biting me, but the feeling was lighter than her physical body's lips and it wasn't painful.

Syouko: It's just a little ticklish.

She didn't have a body that could impart pain to me, but it seems there was still something.

Yasumi: Ah...

Syouko: It's fine. It's nothing I can't stand.

Whether it was because my "power" was having an effect, the ticklish feeling became.....

Syouko: Nn! Nn.....

It was mixed with a little bit of pain.
That was proof of Yasumi's existence.
Because of that, I sought the pain and embraced Yasumi's head.
The feeling of her soft hair...somehow made me happy.

Yasumi: Nn.....

Syouko: My "power".....I can tell it's flowing into Yasumi.

The feeling of her hand on mine strengthened, and there was the concrete feeling of our fingers intertwined.

Yasumi: Y.....yes.....sempai, I also.....

Yasumi: I can tell.....that I'm connected to Syouko-sempai.
Yasumi: With this, I think I'll be fine for a while.

Syouko: But this is just a temporary measure. We have to do something before Yasumi is affected.....

We need some container that can protect the spirit from the outside world. We need something physical that the spirit can reside in.
Some person, some thing, some animate or inanimate object.

Syouko: Yasumi, when you were possessing me, did you feel strange? Did you feel as if the strange "power" coming from the outside was going to alter you?

Yasumi: No, but I was in a hurry.....

Yasumi: When two souls touch, the inside of the other person...such as memories and such, might also flow through.

Yasumi: There's dangerous things like that sometimes.....

There were two choices.

The Tokosaki no Tsubaki that contained Yasuhime-sama's "power" was said to have sealed Matamu.
Besides the Tokosaki no Tsubaki, many shrines also had a sacred tree. The forest was like a shrine.....and sacred ground.
So in other words, it was a suitable container for holding the "power" of a soul. And the demon repelling bokutou I was holding, Kumouchi, was made from the same material.
That was one choice. The other choice was what Yasumi was doing before, which was attaching herself to my body.

Syouko: How about.....Kumouchi?

It was a virtuous bokutou.
And also, as long as I was on the island, this bokutou was a lifeline that I probably wouldn't let go of.

Yasumi: T...then...I'm going to begin!

Yasumi: Nn.....

Yasumi's body disappeared and I thought I felt Kumouchi become slightly heavier.

Yasumi: When sempai is fighting, we'll be fighting as one.

Yasumi: Huh...?

Syouko: What's wrong?

Yasumi: Ah...nothing...the inside is a little.....

It was probably like the feeling of going into an abandoned house that wasn't used for many years and finding spiderwebs in the ceiling and dust on the beds.

Syouko: It'll be an inconvenience until we get your body back, but please try to endure.

Yasumi: Ok.

Syouko: The wind.....has become stronger again.

The wind picked up the red tsubaki which had fallen, causing them to dance in the air.
I thought it looked like blood was scattered in the night.

Yasumi: The ceremony where the ox is slayed that everyone sees takes place in the evening. After that, the hidden ritual of the Nekata starts.

Yasumi: So if my body becomes the sacrifice.....

Yasumi: It would be hard to say it will remain until the morning, but it should be ok until the start of the ceremony in the evening.

Syouko: Then, why don't we rest for a while?

Yasumi: Ok, sempai, it's been a long day.
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