Following the road past Okutsu Shrine
, they descended a flight of steep stone steps to see a vast rocky stretch spreading out before them. This was the sea-eroded flat protrusion called Chigo Pool.
“It’s cooold!”
Ayako ducked her head against the sea breeze’s chill. The day was well advanced, and waves sparkled in a long shining path under the orange light of the sun.
The sea was rough. Waves slammed into the rocks, sometimes spraying foam high into the air.
There was a walkway to the grotto as well as a proper pedestrian bridge above the rocks, which was entirely cleared of people. Takaya and Ayako headed for the entrance with the roar of breaking waves in their ears.
“I came here a really really long time ago—it’s so different now. It was just a rocky stretch then.”
The grotto cavern was called the cradle of E Island’s faith. The main shrine of E Island Shrine had once been inside the cave itself—the ‘Great Grotto’.
Ayako’s current family lived in Yokohama, and she‘d come here many times over the past twenty-odd years. But this was the first time she was entering the grotto as ’Kadowaki Ayako’, due to the collapse and closure in the 46th year of Shouwa (1971).
A sign had been placed at the entrance: ‘No entry due to falling rocks’.
Opening the locked door with their telekinesis, the two entered. There was no sign of anyone else. Investigation into the rock fall appeared to be over.
The electric lights were off, and the interior was pitch dark. They borrowed flashlights from the information desk.
“Let’s go in.”
They stepped into the bare rock cave, following the regular route. It felt more like a gallery than a cave, with pictures and geoscience explainer panels everywhere.
“I thought it’d be like the limestone cave, but this is way different.”
There was no ambiance of exploration. The grotto forked into #1 and #2. Grotto #1 was 152 meters (~499 ft) long, about 40 meters (~131 ft) longer than Grotto #2. According to legend, Koubou Daishi, the Venerable Nichiren, and others had retired to the inner part of the cave for prayer.
The path forked past the gallery; they chose the left-hand branch to Grotto #1.
“Which one has the blowing cave?”
“Uuum...I don’t know, but the description says #1. Oh, but it’s man-made, so I don’t know if it counts as a real blowing cave.”
“Shhh!”
Takaya suddenly held up a finger. A startled Ayako fell silent. Takaya whispered, “I can feel a presence.”
“Is someone here?”
“...Seems like it. But it’s strange.”
Ayako concentrated on the auras around her. She could feel the movement of an odd presence.
“It’s further in.”
“The rock slide was in Grotto #1, so there shouldn’t be anyone in there.”
“...Yeah. But there is,” Takaya said, cautiously erasing all traces of his own aura. Ayako copied Takaya, then ventured deeper with bated breath and silent feet.
“!”
The flashlight illuminated someone lying in their path. Shocked, they rushed up to him and lifted him upright.
“What’s wrong?! Are you all right?!”
They shook him, but there was no response. Ayako found other people collapsed on the path up ahead.
“Kagetora, there’s more of them!”
A group of workmen in hard hats. Takaya swung the flashlight around them, wondering if more rocks had fallen.
“Weird. I don’t see any fallen rocks...”
“Kagetora...! I can hear something from up ahead.”
Takaya strained his ears.
It was a man’s low voice, and it sounded as if it were reciting a poem...No, not a poem. It was chanting a sutra.
(This is...)
Takaya knew it.
(The mantra of Fudou-myouou.)
He could see the wavering light of a candle. Someone was up ahead. The mantra abruptly stopped—had he sensed Takaya and Ayako?
A sharp voice sprang out.
“Who’s there...?!”
“!”
They instinctively braced themselves for a fight. Someone emerged into the glow of their flashlights: a bear of a man with short hair, thick lips, sharp, penetrating eyes, and a large, burly build that spoke of possible martial arts training.
(He’s...!)
He was no ordinary man.
(He’s been possessed!)
Ayako, too, perceived it immediately. As they faced each other, each instantly recognized the preternatural nature of the other. Watching Takaya and Ayako, the man stood and openly shifted into fighting stance.
“You’re...kanshousha?”
At the man’s low murmur, Takaya held his breath.
“Which clan do you belong to? Are from the Satomi?”
“What...?!”
“Have you come to meddle in my affairs, Satomi?”
(Onshou...!)
Ayako stiffened. Takaya’s tiger’s eyes glinted with focused intensity as he glared in response.
“...We’re not Satomi. What are you doing over there? Are you responsible for the people lying back there? Who are you? Identify yourself.”
“What?! And who in hell are you?”
“If you will not identify yourself, you will be driven out of that body. If you like, we can send you right to the other world.”
A strong aggression emanated menacingly from Takaya’s body. It was at that point that the man seemed to realize who he was dealing with.
“Then...then you’re—!”
“Identify yourself. Who are you?”
“Damn you...! As if I would allow myself to be snuffed out by the likes of you!”
A militant blue aura flared from the man’s body, and he moved before Takaya could release his will.
“!”
Blue lightning streaked through the darkness. Takaya reflexively shielded Ayako with a «goshinha». There was a violent crackle as of an electrical short, and for an instant the cavern lit up as bright as day.
“Kagetora...!”
Their opponent’s will exploded violently a second time, and rocks rained incessantly down on them from above.
“Guh...!”
As they shielded their heads, Takaya used his will to pulverize the rocks. Sand fell on them in a cascade. The man slipped down a side road and ran for the exit.
“Wait!” Takaya yelled, shooting a «nenpa» after him. However...!
“!” Oh shit, he thought, too late. His control slipped again. An excessive amount of will overflowed from Takaya once more.
“Aaagh!”
The man stretched a «goshinha» around himself, but it was too late. Takaya’s accidentally overpowered «nenpa» smashed into not only the man, but the grotto’s bedrock. The huge blast shook the entire cave.
“Kyaaaah!” Ayako covered her ears against the thunderous roar of crumbling rock. Shielding himself from flying debris, Takaya struggled to keep his eyes open.
(It happened again...!)
He caught sight of the man crawling away from the mass of fallen rock. He appeared to be injured but alive.
“You’re not getting away!” Ayako yelled, boldly scrambling past the obstacles in her way after the bloodstained man. He was running not for the entrance, but straight for the exterior path leading to Grotto #2. He crossed a fence and jumped down to the rocks. “Wait, you—!”
After finally making her way past the fallen boulders, Ayako emerged outside to find the man already gone. Standing on the rocks, she looked around.
“Where did he...! Ah!”
She spotted the man dashing from the rocky stretch to Chigo Pool. Ayako followed hot on his heels.
“Wait!”
She attacked with her will as she ran, but despite his wounds the man sprinted nimbly across the rocks. He was fast. He disappeared into the shadows of a rock, and Ayako scrambled after him.
“Agh!”
A motorboat leapt out of the spot into which the man had vanished with him on board. It had been waiting for him, no doubt.
It carried him toward the open sea with great speed.
“Aaargh, dammit!”
Ayako stamped her foot in frustration. A golden mass slipped past her and soared over the sea’s surface: Takaya’s ‘Gohou Douji of the Swords’. Chasing after the motorboat, it vanished over the western horizon.
Takaya emerged.
“Kagetora...that guy...”
“...”
“Kagetora!”
Takaya crouched down on the rocks with his face between his knees. A surprised Ayako hurried to him. He was very pale, and his shoulders quivered.
“What’s wrong! What’s wrong, Kagetora?!”
Takaya said nothing. He covered his mouth with his hand and trembled. His heart thumped furiously. The instability of his «power» was getting worse, and it was now causing irregularities in his body.
“Kagetora! Hold on!”
“I’m...fine... That man just now...”
“What are you two doing over there?!”
They lifted their faces in surprise at a voice from the top of the stairs. Two men descended the stairs from Okutsu Shrine.
“!”
They knew them from earlier—
Yashiro and Kaizaki...!
(What are they doing here?)
“We heard the sound of falling rocks. It was from around here—do you know what happened?” Yashiro asked after descending the pedestrian bridge. “We thought it might have come from the grotto.”
“We, we were just having fun out here. We were surprised, too...! Um...we don’t really know what happened, but the sound came from inside.”
“You didn’t go inside, did you? This stretch of rocks should be off-limits. Didn’t you see the sign?”
“N-no, we didn’t notice it... But we were only enjoying ourselves out here. Really.”
As Ayako was making their excuses, Takaya was staring fixedly at Yashiro. He seemed to sense something suspicious about the man.
“Are you injured?” Kaizaki asked from the top of the stairs.
He descended and came toward them with black coat and scarf fluttering in the cold sea breeze.
“N-no, we’re fine...” Ayako answered, but Kaizaki approached anyway. He stepped onto the rocks and came to a stop next to them.
Takaya looked up at his tall figure.
“You...”
Kaizaki’s almond-shaped eyes looked down at him behind his glasses. Takaya defensively returned his blunt stare with a sharp look of his own. Kaizaki peered into his eyes for a moment; then his expression suddenly softened, and crouched down in front of Takaya without a care for his long coat.
Takaya’s eyes widened in surprise.
Kaizaki said quietly, “...You’re injured.”
“...” Takaya glared sharply with renewed wariness. Kaizaki gently wiped away the blood welling from a graze on Takaya’s cheek with a leather-gloved finger.
“...!”
Takaya was so surprised he didn’t even shake him off. It didn’t hurt.
The finger felt strangely warm. Takaya’s breath caught, and his eyes closed. It was as if the finger had touched a distant memory.
Kaizaki inclined his head slightly and examined Takaya’s expression as a father might his child’s. He said, “Did you fall?”
“...”
“Take care with injuries from these rocks. Even if it doesn’t hurt, make sure to disinfect it,” he said, and abruptly slid his arms out of his black coat, startling Takaya. As he watched, wondering what the man was doing, Kaizaki wrapped the coat around Takaya’s shoulders.
With a gentle flutter it settled around him, wrapping him in warmth. It was as if his back was covered with the man’s body heat. He could also smell the faint scent of a cologne that was somehow familiar to him. Takaya’s eyes widened.
“...”
Kaizaki smiled once more at the dumbfounded Takaya and murmured in a low voice, “...The sea breeze is cold. Please take care.”
He quickly stood and returned to the footpath across the rocks to speak to Yashiro.
“Everything all right?”
“Yes, fine. The rock slide appears to have taken place inside the grotto. Let’s go.”
“Right,” Yashiro answered, and followed Kaizaki into the grotto. As expected, a flustered Ayako yelled, “Hey, hey wait! Your coat!”
The two men disappeared into the grotto without turning.
“Wh-what was with that man, oof! He just left this thing behind! It looks expensive, too—is this cashmere? Dammit! What are we supposed to do with it?! What the hell was that just now?!”
“...” Takaya stared at the rock face, still dazed. He gripped the coat and stirred not a muscle.
“Ka...Kagetora...?”
Takaya sat there motionlessly. Ayako peered at him worriedly.
Takaya’s eyes suddenly blurred, and tears spilled and ran down his cheeks.
It floored Ayako.
“Kagetora!”
Takaya stared wide-eyed at a fixed point. Ayako panicked. “Wa—what’s wrong? Kagetora. Kagetora!”
“Ah—...” Takaya came back to himself and turned to her with his hand over his mouth. He’d just realized he was crying.
“Why are you crying? What’s wrong?”
“...I...I don’t know.”
“You’re not crying because of nothing!”
“...I really...don’t know...”
Takaya was truly bewildered. He didn’t know why he was crying. The mysterious tears refused to obey his command to stop.
“Why are you crying? Are you cold, maybe? Do your wounds hurt? Was that man posturing or something?”
“...No...”
“So what is it...?”
Takaya could only shake his head.
The lingering velvety body heat wrapped around his back made him feel a strange longing, as if inside his heart, a string that had been cut, something that had been buried...
Something that had become agonizing...
“Kagetoraaa...”
His inability to explain why he was crying agitated Takaya.
Gigantic waves broke against the wind-chilled rocks.
(What should I do?)
Hidden in the shade of a rock, Nikaidou Reiko had seen the entire scene play out in front of her. After leaving Councilor Gotou’s residence, she had arrived to investigate the grotto. She’d rushed here after hearing the sound of falling rocks when coincidentally she’d spotted Takaya and the others.
(It has to be.)
After comparing the photograph Sakaki had given her several times, Reiko clenched her fists in excitement.
(He’s the young man, I’m sure of it. #36’s material witness.)
She had excellent visual acuity, and she was confident in her ability to distinguish faces. She wondered briefly about the identity of the two men who had entered the grotto, but her gaze and her entire focus were on Takaya.
(To find him in a place like this...)
Did this mean this deadly curse incident had a deep connection to #36, as she’d suspected? If that was the case, she couldn’t linger here.
(I have to contact the chief.)
Reiko turned back and rushed up the stairs toward a pay phone at a nearby souvenir shop.
By the time Ayako and Takaya left E Island behind, it was fully dark.
The car drove down Route 134national_highway_134 towards Hayama. Darkness had fallen over the ocean, and the distant lighthouse flashed every few seconds.
“The possessor spirit we met in the grotto must be one of the onshou,” Ayako said, her hands gripping the wheel. “It’s like we suspected. It’s got something to do with the «Yami-Sengoku». We need to get more people on the investigation tomorrow. Let’s call the «Nokizaru», okay? Kagetora. ...Kagetora?”
“Huh...?”
Takaya came back to himself as Ayako called his name a second time. He looked like he’d been brooding over something since earlier. She’d thought his reticence was peevishness due to embarrassment because she’d seen him cry, but that didn’t appear be the case. Something was weighing on his mind; he was restless, and when she spoke to him it was like the words flew right over his head.
Kaizaki’s coat lay across his knees.
“He’s pretty gross, don’t you think? That man.”
Takaya’s eyes jerked up.
“Who acts that way towards a stranger? Normally. If he did that to a woman you‘d think ’what a womanizer’, right? But he didn’t even look at me, it was you he...anyway. It’s just weird.”
“...I guess.”
“Maybe he knows you’re Uesugi Kagetora? It looked like he noticed us at Hetsu Shrine, too. And that man from earlier was saying something about Satomi. We need to be careful with this. They’ve apparently got a magic-user with them.”
(Is he an onshou?) Ayako wondered, but immediately discarded the idea. As far as she could tell, Kaizaki was neither possessed nor a kanshousha. If he were, she would’ve perceived it immediately.
“I wonder what he is...that man.”
“...”
“He had a really strange look in his eyes. The way he acted was so weird, just totally weird! He’s definitely got something up his sleeve! Anyway those glasses of his are totally snobbish—it’s offensive,” Ayako asserted in a huff.
“Speaking of which, that man—Yashiro,” Takaya muttered, low, “he’s been possessed.”
“Huh?” Ayako’s eyes grew round. Takaya looked from the tail lights of the car ahead of them to Ayako.
“You didn’t notice the possessor spirit’s aura?”
“I-I was only paying attention to Kaizaki...”
“The spirit seems to be quite skilled at concealing itself.”
“So what does that mean? Yashiro’s been possessed by an onshou? Or something like that? Is Kaizaki also...?”
“No,” Takaya responded firmly, his expression clouding. “He’s—...” he mumbled, and stopped. As the silence stretched Ayako peered with concern at his face.
“What’s wrong? Are you still bothered about earlier?”
“...”
“Kagetora?”
Takaya didn’t respond. He pulled the coat in his lap a little closer. He’d refused to let go of it.
“Oh, geez! Pull yourself together, Kagetora. Stop letting it bother you. It just happens sometimes, some guy who thinks he’s all that suddenly does something incomprehensible! There no point in taking it seriously! Besides, you tend to be susceptible to older men.”
“Who’s susceptible to men?”
“It-it’s just a figure of speech.”
“...”
Takaya broke off the conversation and went back to his brooding. So he was bothered by the man. He was more agitated than confused. Certainly Kaizaki’s actions had been extraordinary, but...
Ayako helplessly reverted to a lively tone and asked brightly, “Well, whatever, but that cashmere coat is first-class. Look at that sheen. It must seriously cost more than five, six hundred thousand yen. What’re you gonna do with it? Just keep it?”
“Do...? Give it back, of course.”
“How?”
“What do you mean, how? Go drop it off at his office or something.”
Ayako pushed back her disheveled hair.
“You don’t suppose that was his plan all along, to get us to go to his office? That can’t be true, right?” Ayako muttered, face turning grim.
It could be a provocation. If he was involved with the onshou, maybe he knew their identities...?
(But why...?)
There was also the mystery of the man inside the grotto.
“Are you one of the Satomi...?!”
What he’d said concerned her. If he was an onshou, there was no mistaking the fact that he was an enemy of the Satomi. Where had he come from? Takaya had sent the Gohou Douji in pursuit, so they should know his whereabouts shortly.
The rock slide in the grotto, the purchase of E Island Shrine, dreams of Yama, the appearance of merpeople... If they assumed that all of these incidents were mixed up with the onshou, what in the world connected the series of events?
“...”
As Ayako wracked her brains, Takaya was sunk in his own thoughts just as if she had nothing to do with him. His left fist was pressed against his mouth, while his right grasped the coat tightly.
Ayako was concerned about Takaya, but there was nothing she could do. As things stood, she could only keep a tight grip on herself and conduct a steady and thorough investigation, like Chiaki had said.
Upon spotting the glow of a roadside family restaurant, she deliberately squealed loudly with delight. “Ah! I found a Lobster! I’m starving, let’s go in!”
“!”
She made a sharp abrupt turn and pulled the car into the restaurant lot.
The Shounan sea quietly billowed, wrapped in the dark of a winter night.
Meanwhile—
Chiaki Shuuhei and Fuuma Kotarou had come to Yokohama.
A nighttime fog shrouded Honmoku Pier. Chiaki and Kotarou were at a place called Honmoku Pier D Breakwater. To their left was the metropolis’ high-speed bay coast rail line, which could be seen in the blue glow of Yokohama’s pay-bridge lights. Then there was the orange illumination of the pier.
“It’s pretty chilly at the harbor in winter, huh...?” Chiaki mumbled with his head pulled down into his collar, standing in front of the breakwater gazing at the pay bridge. “Heeeey. How come the Takeda atake-bune isn’t here yet?”
“We’re probably too early.” Kotarou, clad in an off-white half-length coat, answered carelessly, standing diagonally behind him. He passed a Chinese steamed bun from the bag he was holding to Chiaki.
“My intelligence only indicated that it would come to this port tonight; it did not include the time of their arrival.”
"...If even the honorable and highly capable Fuuma ninjas couldn’t get that information, it must’ve been guarded quite closely.
Kotarou didn’t even raise an eyebrow at Chiaki’s snideness.
“You could say the same of the noble Uesugi «Nokizaru», who are surely far superior to us. I would have assumed they already had such trifling information in hand.”
Chiaki twitched, his temple spasming. Sarcasm from this cold-blooded ninja was delivered so flatly that it was even more obnoxious than having it rubbed in via a passionate retort.
Kotarou took no notice; he gazed expressionlessly at the lights of Daikoku Pier on the opposite shore. A boat’s whistle resounded. Chiaki reluctantly bit into his steamed bun.
“...What a dreary late-night snack.”
Their task was to prevent the expected Takeda atake-bune from docking.
According to Fuuma intelligence, it was due to arrive tonight at the Port of Yokohama carrying a spirit-stone from Kouzu Island, which had been mined from the island’s Mt. Tenjou. Takeda intended to use the stone to create certain magical weapons.
From here the stone would be conveyed to Kai. Their mission was to obstruct its journey and round up the entire crew.
The atake-bune was scheduled to enter C breakwater opposite them. «Nokizaru» had been placed at strategic points to await its arrival.
It was almost 11. There was no sign of the ship.
Chiaki squatted down with the steamed bun and observed Kotarou’s profile quite seriously for a moment as he bit into it. He, of course, remained vigilant against the Fuuma. What was Kotarou scheming? It was extremely questionable for him to lend his aid to the Uesugi just because he had been ‘made into Naoe.’
But even Chiaki couldn’t read anything from Kotarou’s words, actions, or expression. Distracted, he gave up and tugged at the tip of the long ponytail swaying against Kotarou’s back.
“You’re faithful to the part, huh? You’re even wearing Naoe-black. He hasn’t said anything about this ponytail?”
“He asked about the clothes once. That day. Why I wasn’t wearing black.”
That day—the day he’d woken up in Hiroshima.
“Since then I’ve worn black. But he doesn’t seem to pay any attention to the hair.”
“He ignores anything inconvenient, huh? Well done.” Chiaki drank from a container of oolong tea. “I think Naoe would always wear black while working because he regarded it as mourning dress. Because he worked with dead people, see? That was very him—conscientious, over-serious, deeply sincere. Kagetora knows the reason too—probably why he was fussed.”
“Is that why.”
“...Looks like he’s been a handful, huh?”
Chiaki cocked his head up at Kotarou. Kotarou’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You’re referring to me?”
“Our general is willful and selfish—that’s why there’s been so much tension between you. Kagetora starts sulking whenever you do something even slightly un-Naoe-like.”
“I’ve been properly playing my role.”
“That’s not what I mean...” Chiaki looked sourly at Kotarou. “I’m thinking that in the end, you can’t be a substitute for Naoe.”
Kotarou grew exceptionally peeved at this remark. “What do you mean? You’re saying my ‘Art of Mimicry’ is defective?”
“No, your Art is pretty damn amazing. You’ve gotten his mannerisms and gestures and speech patterns down to a T. I recognize that. No wonder you’re Fuuma’s head. But no matter how perfectly you copy Naoe, there’s one person in this world you can never deceive.”
“...”
“And that’s Kagetora.”
Kotarou’s face stiffened. Since he was quite confident in his people-imitating technique, his pride was a bit wounded.
“Why? Saburou-dono created an auto-suggestion to make himself think that I’m Naoe, didn’t he?”
“He still knows. This is Naoe we’re talking about. The words that come out of your mouth are different, for starters. The actions you choose are different. What Naoe says at any given time that you don’t say. The actions he would take that you don’t. That’s why Kagetora’s fucked up.”
“...”
“Kagetora doesn’t get why Naoe’s not acting the way he should. It’s screwing with him and making him suspicious and rubbing his nerves raw.” Chiaki cast his gaze at the pay bridge. “All you’re doing is deepening the gap. In the end it’s simply not possible for you to replace Naoe.”
Kotarou knit his brows, he’d been cut to the quick. “...Are you saying that it’s impossible for me to perfectly play the part of this person called Naoe?”
Chiaki looked up dubiously.
Kotarou’s tone was quite stressed—was he losing his patience?
“You’re saying I’m incapable of it?”
“Kotarou, you—”
“...”
“How happy it is to be an emotionless machine.”
He’d lately recalled those strange words. When had Naoe said them to him? They’d lodged in his brain, and something in them oppressed Kotarou whenever he recalled them. Layered on top of the words was Takaya’s voice pressing him for answers.
“How could a robot like you understand! Why don’t you just keep diligently sharpening your knives?!”
Kotarou grimaced as that oppressive feeling rose in his chest again.
“I don’t understand—...” he muttered, low. “I still don’t understand him. How do I analyze Naoe’s choices at Hakone? I still haven’t found an answer. Why did he want to enter the mirror? Wouldn’t it have been a double suicide?”
“...”
“I wanted to know his psychological structure. I thought that, in order to do so, I first had to know this person called ‘Saburou-dono’, the impetus to his actions.”
“And?” Chiaki urged him to continue. “You been at ’Saburou-dono’s side for a year and ten months; what do you think?”
Kotarou answered with a faint distress that was both bitter and anguished, “...I am more bewildered than ever.”
“Yeah...?”
“Last night, when Saburou-dono returned to his rooms, he asked: ‘Is this your revenge?’ He said it while taking off his shirt, like this, while flaunting his wounds at me.”
“Isn’t there something you should say? Something you should do when you see me like this?”
Kotarou had done nothing.
Kotarou had been thinking about it ever since. What would Naoe have said to him in that moment? What would he have done?
He hadn’t stopped thinking about it.
This past year and ten months.
His imitation of Naoe should be perfect. But things he said seemed to cause a sense of discomfort and dissatisfaction in Takaya. Kotarou had noticed.
Takaya was irritated. Kotarou had detected many instances of discontent in his eyes. Though he said nothing, his eyes vented his feelings.
And Kotarou didn’t know how to deal with those feelings. To Kotarou, who had no experience with relating to another person in the deep places of the heart, Takaya’s blunt unforgiving gaze was nothing but a savage and lethal weapon.
In order to endure it, Kotarou had to become ‘Naoe’.
How could he become a perfect Naoe? Before he’d realized it, he had devoted all his mental acuity to it, as if he were improving a ninja skill. His goal: to become Kagetora’s perfect ‘Naoe’. Feelings didn’t enter into it. His ninja aspirations wouldn’t allow anything else. That was all.
Looked up at Kotarou’s profile, Chiaki wrapped his arms around his knees and muttered, “... Have you thought that maybe,” he followed the slow flow of tail lights beneath the bridge with his eyes, “you’ve wanted to become Naoe for a very long time?”
Kotarou’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “I’ve wanted to become...?”
“That’s how it looks to me. Isn’t that why you’ve been fretting about every little thing?”
“You’re wrong. Data is all I need. His mental patterns are all I need.”
“Then how come you’re so depressed? You’re moping all over the place. You sure it’s not a complex of some kind?”
Kotarou goggled and glared at Chiaki with the dreadful face of a demonic noh mask. Chiaki retreated nervously.
“H-hey, hey hey,” he waved his hand placatingly. “This anger makes you seem pretty human, Kotarou-san, man. But ya know, if you wanna be a top-caliber human being, you should emulate me rather than Naoe. If you’ve a mind, I’ll be your life teacher any time. Isn’t that generous of me?” Chiaki said, sucking loudly through his straw.
Kotarou looked faintly dejected. And then he seemed to sink back into his thoughts.
I’m surrounded by ’em, Chiaki thought, sighing.
“Oh?”
The wind changed.
The strong harbor wind suddenly weakened. A tepid wind intermingled with spiritual energy rose and wrapped around them. The ship appeared to be approaching.
“Looks like it’s here, huh?” Cramming the remainder of the steamed bun into his mouth, Chiaki stood.
Kotarou suddenly whirled and yelled sharply, “Yasuda-dono!”
“?”
He turned. He could hear many panting breaths coming from the warehouse area. Surprised, Chiaki strained his eyes and made out a black cluster in the fog.
“What the hell is that...?”
“Stray dogs...” Kotarou could tell by their scent. “It’s a pack of stray dogs! Yasuda-dono!”
“What?!”
“Here you are, Uesugi, just as we expected!”
They could hear a piercing woman’s voice from within the pack, and it rattled them.
The light revealed her form. When had she gotten here? At her feet was a pack of dozens of dogs. ...She was a blonde foreigner wearing red boots and a black militaristic uniform with red stripes. She was armed with what looked like an animal-training whip.
“Humph, so you’re Yasuda Nagahide? Cursed kanshousha of the Uesugi, we already knew the information was leaked to you. Do not underestimate Takeda’s «rappa».”
“Woah, I never expected a hot spicy sister to show up,” Chiaki smirked and spat the straw out of his mouth. “...Has the «Yami-Sengoku» gotten globalized, too?”
“How unfortunate for you that the atake-bune’s destination has been changed.”
Chiaki and Kotarou stared.
“What?!”
“We can’t let you get in the way. I’m the only one here tonight, and I will end you.”
“... Feh. So we get a foreigner in red boots instead of an atake-bune? Geez...” Chiaki steadily filled himself with power. “WELCOME Yokohama. How about we set off some so-happy-you’re-here fireworks?”
“What a prissy little yasha. You Uesugi are just as Kousaka-dono described. Stubborn in every respect.”
The woman’s eyes glinted. Her aura danced from her feet upward, stirring her blonde hair.
“My name is Yamagata Saburouhyou-no-Jou Masakage! Yasuda Jibushouyuu! Let us conclude Kawanakajima right here!”