Honoo no Mirage

Chapter 3: Reunion

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Chapter 3: Reunion

The stillness of the morning was shattered in the Morino household that day at 7:50.

Saori half-galloped, half-tumbled down the stairs with a noise like falling thunder. Her amazed mother was waiting in the dining room.

“Good morning. Are the stairs still intact?”

“Ah, probably. Good morning, Mom.”

“It’s Sat.u.r.day, so I made toast. Do you want your eggs sunny-side up or scrambled?”

“It’s okay, I need to go! Just hurry up and toast some bread—bread! Eeeek! I’m going to be laaaaaate!”

“Really now...”

Her mother picked up the coffee pot.

“You’ve been rather strangely perky since you came home yesterday—”

“Don’t nag me! You’ll drive away Narita-kun’s voice from my ears, and I won’t hear him anymore!”

“Hmm? So you went to visit him? At his house?”

“Yeah! But he seemed fine!”

“I see. Then I wonder if he was coming back from the hospital when I saw him the other day.”

“But you know, he was wearing this gray sweatshirt yesterday, and his hair was...”

“I’d love to hear the report, but didn’t you have to hurry?”

“I do, but...listen!” Saori demanded, raising her voice. “Has the bicycle puncture been repaired yet? If I have to take the bus, I’ll need to hurry even more.”

“Oh my.”

From the front door came the sound of her father’s voice: “I’m going!” Her mother pattered over to see him off. She heard: “Next, from Yamanashi Prefecture Enzan City. The famous graveyard of Sengoku warlord Takeda Shingen’s family shrine Erin Temple was struck by a giant meteorite.”

“Huh...?”

The bread came flying out of the toaster with a ching. On TV, a strangely energetic reporter on location had been jabbering away since morning. A large crowd of people who seemed to be standing in the middle of the gravesite were chattering; behind them was a large, gaping-wide hole.

“...The crater is fairly large: around twenty meters in diameter, five meters deep. It appears that Lord Shingen’s tomb took a direct hit. The fragments of the meteorite which seems to have fallen here have yet to be found... Now let’s hear from the temple personnel its state at the time.”

Saori bit into her toast while gazing at the TV screen.

(Why’d it have to fall right on the tomb?), she thought, and glanced at her watch. “Yeek, it’s already this late? Oh no!”

Gulping down her coffee and finishing off her bread, Saori stood up from her chair.

“Thanks for breakfast!” she called, before galloping away. The bell on the doork.n.o.b swayed with the closing of the door. The TV continued talking alone to an empty dining room.

“...furthermore, though many eye-witnesses in the center of Enzan reported seeing the meteor and its meteorite, the Meteorological Agency and Astronomical Observatories reported that they did not observe a falling body of the like at that time last night...”

The bus, jam-packed with students arriving with not a minute to spare, finally arrived at the bus stop in front of the school. One female student was shoved out of the avalanche-like ma.s.s of students descending from the bus. She staggered and stumbled to the edge of the sidewalk.

“Hey, that’s dangerous! Stop pushing!”

It was Saori. Although she was shouting at the tops of her lungs, the students, who were on the verge of being late, walked on with darkening expressions as if they had not heard.

The dumbfounded Saori sat down right on the road. Her hair and ribbon were both rumpled. Her face half-crumbled as if she were about to cry.

“...that’s so mean...!” said Saori, who had always commuted to school by bicycle. (Incidentally, there are unusually many bicyclers in Matsumoto, such that it seems to have gained the nickname of “j.a.pan’s China.”)

She had been going to school these past few days on foot since the bike had been punctured, but it wasn’t possible today because she had slept late. I’m going to be late! she was thinking, when by chance someone jumped down from the bus which had just stopped in front of her—

“Morino-san?”

She made a surprised sound, straightening. That voice just now...

She turned her head to look up, resigned, her face flaming. There was a male student bending to peer down at her.

“Did you trip on something? Are you okay?”

It was Narita Yuzuru.

(No...no way—!)

She covered her mouth with her hand, her face flushing a deep red.

(I’m so lucky!)

It could perhaps be said that her wounds were a badge of honor.

Yuzuru held out his hand.

“Can you stand?”

Yuzuru’s hand. Was it really okay to place her hand in this hand that she had dreamed of? In the midst of her confusion Yuzuru took her hand.

“Here you go.”

Saori was pulled upright. She gazed at Yuzuru almost in a daze.

(...this hand. I’ll never wash it again.)

“Thank you for coming to visit me yesterday, Morino-san. I’m sorry for the bother.”

“Huh? Oh, it’s no problem...”

There was no “sorry” involved. Rather, she wanted to express her grat.i.tude to him for being sick. Saori smiled. “It wasn’t a bother at all. So are you feeling better? Since you came to school today.”

“Yeah.”

And Yuzuru smiled his usual bright smile.

“Nothing strange happened last night, and I was able to come this far this morning, so I think I’m all right.”

“That’s great. Then you’ve recovered now?”

“? From what?”

“The back-to-school disease.”

Yuzuru staggered, caught off guard.

Saori looked around curiously.

“Oh, speaking of which, where is Ougi-kun? Don’t you always come to school together?”

“He must be sleeping late. He can ride his bike if he’s in a hurry, so he’ll be here soon.”

Saori gazed at Yuzuru’s profile, entranced. The vibrant glistening green of the poplars along the fence dazzled her eyes, but at this moment she had no room to spare to be moved by such things, not when Yuzuru’s gla.s.s-bright eyes were right at her side.

(Oh, his eyelashes are so long...)

That small discovery made her happy.

The bell had rung a long time ago, but Yuzuru didn’t seem to care, and of course neither did Saori.

“?”

Yuzuru’s gaze seemed to be fixed on some point a long way away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm? ...Oh, sorry.”

There appeared to be something on his mind.

“There’s something I want to ask you... Morino-san, you took j.a.panese History, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I wonder if you might recognize it...”

“What?”

“Well, there was this symbol on a flag that I saw in a dream...”

“A dream? Ougi-kun was telling me about a dream you had the other day...”

“That dream was like being in a historical play...now that I think about it, perhaps the symbol on that flag was a clue. It was probably a family crest or something like that.”

“What did it look like?”

“It was a diamond-shaped... How do I explain it?”

He opened his bag, took out a notebook and ballpoint pen, and smoothly drew the symbol for Saori.

It was a diamond divided into four smaller diamonds.

“Hmm? This is...”

“Do you recognize it?”

“This is the ‘Takeda Diamond’, isn’t it?”

“Takeda Diamond?”

“Yeah. The Takeda family crest. I think that’s it.”

“Takeda...” Yuzuru leaned forward involuntarily. “You mean—Takeda Shingen?”

“That’s right. I‘ve seen it a lot in stuff like the Taiga Drama Series, so I know it pretty well. The ’Huurinkazan’ flag is also pretty famous, but it seems that this one was used a lot as well.”

“Takeda...huh?”

“Someone so terrible that it would make your knees go weak to know him.” Those were the words that man from yesterday—yes, Naoe—had left him.

The symbol from his dream was the symbol of the Sengoku Period Takeda Clan’s warflag—was that to say that the ghost warriors from yesterday were also Takeda’s warriors? Then...

(Then the “he” who’s possessed me really is one of the Takeda?)

They wanted “his” awakening. And if they were the Takeda warriors, and “he” was their master, the master of the Takeda Clan...?

Then could it really be that Shingen, the person in question, was...

(...but why...?)

“Narita-kun!”

Startled, Yuzuru raised his head.

A crowd of students dressed in navy-blue uniforms were loitering near the white plaster wall next to the school gates . Navy-blue blazers and gray trousers—they weren’t students belonging to this school. A strangely menacing atmosphere emanated from them; the style of their hair, their att.i.tudes, suggested somehow that they were waiting in ambush. Among the group of delinquents one smoking a cigarette noticed Yuzuru and Saori.

“...hey.”

He poked his companions, and they all turned towards the two.

Saori quickly hid herself behind Yuzuru. One student with a band-aid sticking to his face walked out from the bunch to stand in front of Yuzuru. Laughing unpleasantly out of a mouth warped by bruises, he said, “Good morning.”

Yuzuru, face stiffening, responded, “...good morning.”

Students from another school in front of his school gates. They were the West High students “he” had provoked a fight with the other day.

At around the same time, a black GSX250R drove up to the parking lot at the back of a gasoline stand two hundred meters away from the school. Stepping on the accelerator very lightly to stop at the wall, he put the shift on neutral and cut the engine.

Takaya took off his helmet and shook his head lightly. Straddling the bike, he took a look at his watch. Eight thirty-five. Oh well, so he was late.

“...Can’t help it, I guess.”

He should’ve eaten a proper breakfast if he was going to be late anyway. While he was busy regretting that—

“?”

He turned around, feeling the unexpected presence of someone behind him. Then his eyes widened slightly.

Standing obliquely behind him was a man dressed in a black suit.

“...”

The man was looking this way; Takaya returned his gaze warily. It was the man he had pa.s.sed in front of Yuzuru’s house yesterday.

He got off the bike slowly.

“What do you want?” Takaya asked in a low voice.

Naoe continued to look at him appraisingly without responding.

Takaya narrowed almond-shaped eyes.

“Is there something you wanna say to me or what?”

Instead of a reply—

Suddenly the branch overhead of a tree growing along the road snapped.

“...!...”

Takaya looked up reflexively. Then he immediately spun around to face Naoe.

Naoe gazed at Takaya silently.

“!” Takaya’s eyes widened.

With a sound like a plucked bowstring, the pebbles underfoot floated upwards to about ten centimeters in mid-air.

“Wh...!”

His voice choked off mid-exclamation.

As if a magnet were pulling at the pebbles, they rose close to a height of two meters and quietly hovered in the s.p.a.ce between them.

Naoe’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

Zing!

Suddenly the cloud of pebbles cut through the air and came flying straight at Takaya.

Zoom!

“Ungh...!”

The pebbles flew past Takaya’s averted face like arrows, gazing his cheeks. Then they fell like rain to the ground.

Takaya turned startled eyes back towards Naoe. Naoe, without any change in expression, crossed his arms and gazed back in his direction.

Takaya swallowed.

(What...the h.e.l.l...is he...!)

“Why don’t you use your «powers»?”

It was the first time Naoe had spoken.

“I will not hold back next time.”

“!”

The pebbles rose into the air once more. A kind of blood-thirst rose in Naoe’s eyes, through which the motionless Takaya stood reflected.

“Now!”

Takaya hid his face behind his arms. The pebbles advanced in their attack.

They were going to hit him point-blank!

Or so he thought.

But the pebbles didn’t touch Takaya at all.

He half-opened his eyes to take in the situation. The pebbles had stopped dead a few centimeters in front of Takaya’s face.

(What—)

With a clattering sound the pebbles fell to the ground.

“Why did you call out to me yesterday?” Naoe’s tone, in contrast to his actions, was coolly serene. Takaya glared at Naoe. Then he cautiously lowered his arms.

“You stank of Yuzuru.”

“...” Naoe smiled faintly. “I see.”

“Did you finish off the warriors who attacked Yuzuru yesterday with that magic trick you used just now, too?”

“So you’ve heard about what happened yesterday?”

“—”

“...Then that makes it easier.”

“What in the world were they?”

“There is something I need to show to you.”

“? To me?” Takaya asked bluntly, “Not to Yuzuru...?”

“To you.”

“Show me...what?”

“You will know if you’ll come with me.” Naoe turned gracefully on his heel. “Yuzuru-san has a right to know, but...Ougi Takaya—”

“...!”

“You have an obligation to know.”

Tension built in the s.p.a.ce between the two.

“You will come, will you not?”

“...”

Takaya answered in a low voice, “Yeah.”

“We owe you for the other day.”

The six West High students moved to encircle Yuzuru and Saori.

Saori asked in a small voice close to Yuzuru’s ear, “Narita-kun, who are these people?”

Yuzuru bit at his lips slightly. He, too, had guessed their reason for being here. They had probably been waiting in ambush to settle the score. And their numbers had multiplied. It seemed that this time they were determined to not lose—that much was obvious from the way they extruded smugness. The West High students called out to the two they surrounded in an overly-familiar manner.

“Hey man, didja bring your girlfriend?”

“You don’t wanna show her something as shameful as this, do ya?”

Sweat dampened Yuzuru’s forehead.

All of them were bigger and tougher than him. One against six odds was worse than just bad. For him to go up against them was...

“What, you scared? Where’s that swagger from the other day?”

Rustle rustle.

The West High students were shortening the distance between them. Yuzuru looked around wildly, protecting Saori behind him.

(...What should I do?)

If only Takaya were here...

“We’re going to settle this! Once and for all!”

“!”

“It’s payback time! Let’s do it!”

Oh no...!

A swinging fist. Yuzuru clutched at the bracelet around his wrist. In that moment—!

“That’s enough, you low-lives.”

All the West High students turned simultaneously towards the voice from behind. Yuzuru and Saori also stared in that direction.

A young man in a trenchcoat and jeans stood there.

Hair as glossy as if it were wet, black sungla.s.ses, light-gray, half-length trenchcoat unb.u.t.toned over a tank top. Slender as a rail, he was around twenty...no, probably a little older. The young man was so pale and beautiful that it was enough to send chills down one’s neck.

Everyone stopped breathing for a moment.

“What the h.e.l.l do you want, a.s.shole?”

“You wanna piece of us?”

The youth gazed at the excited crowd serenely and laughed deep in his throat.

“You small fry are going to get hurt if you try to act like big fish.”

“What the h.e.l.l did you say?”

“f.u.c.k you, motherf.u.c.ker!”

A glint flared deep in the youth’s eyes behind the sungla.s.ses as the West High students hurled themselves into the attack.

“How dare you lay a hand on him? I shall teach you your place!”

Crack crack crack!

“Waaaaah!”

Screams blended together with a sound like bones breaking.

The West High students stumbled and fell p.r.o.ne to the ground, writhing.

“Ah, it hurts! It hurts!”

Some clutched their arms, some clutched their shoulders, their legs, and thrashed about on the ground in agony. The color bleached out of Yuzuru’s face, standing motionless as he gazed at the scene of the students rolling around wildly screaming in pain.

(He...broke their bones?)

Swallowing hard, Yuzuru looked at the youth, who was gazing with a cold eye at the students thrashing about on the ground. He didn’t even raise an eyebrow at the screams that made Yuzuru want to cover his ears.

“Hyyyyyyaaaah...!”

“For-forgive us...!”

The students, their faces blanched with terror, shrank away cowering from the youth.

“Waaaah—!”

One of them took off like a shot, and in an instant the others were following at a stumbling run.

“Weaklings,” he spat, and turned. Yuzuru’s face stiffened. The terrified Saori was hiding behind his back. The young man fixed his eyes on him, then slowly took off his sungla.s.ses.

Beauty enough to make one’s breath catch.

He suddenly fell to one knee in front of the wide-eyed Yuzuru.

“...Wh...”

“My Lord,” he called out to Yuzuru in a sonorous voice.

“I, Kousaka Danjou Nosuke Masan.o.bu, knew in my heart that this long-awaited day would come.”

“!”

“Kousaka Danjou?!” Saori exclaimed in a small voice, and Yuzuru glanced at her before looking again at the youth.

“Ah...um...”

Yuzuru was very much worried.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but please get up. I don’t really...”

“...?”

“Are you perhaps friends with the person called ‘Naoe-san’ from yesterday?”

“...Naoe...?”

The youth suddenly started and raised his head, then without warning grabbed Yuzuru’s left hand.

“Ah!”

“!...That’s!”

Seeing the «talisman bracelet» around Yuzuru’s wrist, the young man’s expression changed completely.

“So he has been sealed.”

“Wait...ow!”

“Take it off! Take that thing off right now...!”

“Let go of me!”

Pak!

Yuzuru jerked away from Kousaka’s grasp and yelled, “Who on earth are you?”

“...”

Kousaka’s cold gaze slid from Yuzuru to a point above him, and in a stifled voice muttered, “Is this their work?”

“...?”

There was the smallest amount of strain apparent on Kousaka’s face, and he smiled thinly.

(Ugh...)

He felt a chill down his back.

“C-Cla.s.s is about to start. Let’s go, Morino-san.”

“Ah...okay...”

Kousaka stared after the departing Yuzuru and Saori with an enigmatic smile hovering on his lips.

“Narita-kun. That person’s still there,” Saori said, looking down at the school gates from a window gazing out at the blue peaks of the Northern Alps on the third floor corridor. It was the break between Second and Third Period, and the hallways echoed with the clamor of student voices.

“...” Yuzuru was also staring at him. “Who is he? He said he was called Kousaka or something...”

“That’s right!” Saori exclaimed next to Yuzuru, her voice rising. “He called himself Kousaka Danjou Nosuke Masan.o.bu, didn’t he?”

“Danjou No... yes, that’s right, he did. Do you know anything about that?”

“Kousaka Danjou—that’s one of Takeda’s twenty-four generals. He was one of Takeda Shingen’s most trusted va.s.sals, excelling in both martial and literary arts, and was the most handsome of all the Takeda. He was originally the son of a country samurai, not one of the Takeda, but his abilities earned him Shingen’s approval, and he rose to prominence. That’s the historical Kousaka Danjou, but I wonder why that person would give it as his name?”

Yuzuru stood shock-still, hardly breathing.

“And this morning on the news, they said that a meteor destroyed Takeda Shingen’s tomb.”

“A meteor?”

“Yeah. And it sounds like you dreamed about the Takeda Diamond... It’s pretty strange, isn’t it? I wonder what’s going on...”

Saori looked up at Yuzuru.

"Speaking of which, that person called you ‘my lord’, didn’t he? By ‘lord’ he would’ve meant Shingen. Why would you be Shingen? What is that supposed to mean?

(Is that what he means?)

Yuzuru looked down at Kousaka standing by the school gates.

Beneath the green leaves of the poplar trees, Kousaka stared up at him fixedly.

A May breeze swept down the corridor. Yuzuru covered the bracelet with his right hand protectively. Even sealed and unable to appear, ‘he’ was certainly inside Yuzuru.

“So until then you must absolutely not remove it.”

Yuzuru tightened his grip.

Why did the murmur of the trees arouse such unease within him?

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