“Maybe you should come back after you’ve learned some manners, freshman.” That arrogance was back in Takaya’s eyes. Didn’t this strange group think anything of seniority? Takaya lifted his chin a little to look down on him. “You’re telling me to introduce myself? I’m not really fussed about class year, but that’s not how you talk to someone you just met, is it?”

“I’m telling you the rules around here, transfer student,” the freshman with rimless glasses said without a change of expression. His tone was quite overbearing. “It’s the first thing you have to do on coming to this school.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. This isn’t yakuza territory. Who the hell am I supposed to introduce myself to?”

“Old Castle High SchoolOld Castle High School (古城高校)

Old Castle (Kojou) High School is a fictional school set at the site of the castle which was torn down to make way for Katou Kiyomasa's Kumamoto Castle (also named Kumamoto but using different characters—隈本城 instead of 熊本城). It's likely where real-life Kumamoto Prefectural Daiichi (First) High School stands.

It was originally built as a Western school by foreigners during the Meiji Period (Daiichi was built in 1903 as an all-girls school but later become co-ed). The current school was built around 20 years ago (1970s) and is composed of two three-story buildings to north and south connected by a series of hallways with air-conditioned rooms. It also has a sports oval, a prefabricated club storehouse, and a gym under construction. Kumamoto Castle Park is quite close. student council president Mikuriya.”

Takaya’s face turned stony. “Student council...?”

“That’s right. In accordance with our student council’s stipulations, you must declare your intention to become a student of this school to the executive office and pledge absolute adherence to our constitution in front of student council president Mikuriya.”

Takaya turned to Endou with a ‘what the hell?’ look. Endou waved his hand: just go along with it.

“Ougi-kun, you are a member of our school’s student council starting from today. Disobedience of the constitution will not be tolerated.” The boy sounded like a government official or even a soldier. “Now then, student council president Mikuriya is waiting in the student council room. You should come with us now.”

“...”

Takaya didn’t understand any of this. Endou pulled his sleeve and said in a quiet voice, “Just go along with what they’re saying for now. Or there’s gonna be trouble later.”

“But...”

“They’re from the executive office, he’s vice president Ozaki, Mikuriya’s flunky.”

“Endou-kun,” Ozaki said abruptly, and Endou jerked.

He quivered, “Ye... yes!”

“If you’re his classmate, you should’ve taught him the etiquette. You’re unfit to be a member.”

“Ye...yes, I-I’m very sorry.”

“Ougi-kun,” Ozaki called, and once again gestured. “Now then, please follow me.”

“...”

Had Endou meant the student council when he’d said things were weird? It was certainly a weird school. Under ordinary circumstances he wouldn’t have gone along with something so absurd, but when he thought about his aims in coming to this school, he decided he didn’t want to make a scene. And besides, there was something bothering him...

“...”

Takaya looked straight at Ozaki. (Guess I have no choice...)

Having decided to go, he was about to set off when—

“Stay away from those guys, Ougi,” came a voice from behind Ozaki. Takaya and everyone else looked toward it in surprise. Takaya stared.

“You’re...”

Reclining against the stairwell entrance looking over at him was a boy with a ‘hedgehog-head’. Takaya recognized him as another classmate:

“Miike!” Endou exclaimed. Standing there was Miike Tetsuya.

“Don’t go with them, Ougi. Don’t take these guys seriously.”

“Miike from 2-B, yes?” Ozaki said with irritation. “You again? What you said just now was impossible to ignore. Are you encouraging him to break the constitution? I see you’re a member of Nezu’s party.”

(Nezu’s party...?)

Takaya reacted to the name Endou had told him just a short while before. But Tetsuya snorted contemptuously, “Nezu...? I don’t know about those guys; I’m just annoyed by all the obnoxious stuff you guys get up to. I dunno nothing about the student council, but d’you guys really enjoy fawning over that stuck-up girl who pretends she’s a queen?”

Ozaki held back the angered executive office members shouting ‘What?!’ and glared at Tetsuya.

“Is that criticism?”

“It’s insult.”

“If you defy us, you’re as guilty as Nezu. You’ve prepared yourself, I assume.”

“Prepared? For expulsion? The constitution says you can arbitrarily expel someone who doesn’t have enough strikes against him?” Tetsuya was apparently unmoved by Ozaki’s tough talk. “You eye-sores had better beat it. Otherwise I’ve got a few ideas of my own.”

“Miike...! If we let this go he’ll just get even cockier!”

“Leave it, Shimada. Don’t make a scene.” Ozaki looked at Takaya with a face twisted by disgust. “You must come by later, Ougi Takaya. We’ll be waiting in the executive office room.”

With these words Ozaki led his cohorts down the stairs. Endou tossed away his empty juice carton.

“You sure talk big, asshole.”

As the door creaked shut Takaya turned his gaze to Tetsuya.

“Miike...’s your name?”

Tetsuya looked back at him coldly.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, transfer student.”

“...?”

“I came up here for a smoke and they were annoying me—that’s why I drove ’em off.”

He looked back at Takaya with challenge, which Takaya returned with curiosity.

“But I did want to have a little chat with you,” Tetsuya said, approaching Takaya, and Endou hurriedly intervened.

“Mi...Miike, stop being so vio...!”

Tesuya ignored him. He forcefully shoved Endou away and stepped right up to Takaya.

He glared sharply upward at Takaya, who was taller than him.

“Agh, Miike!” Endou cried as Tetsuya suddenly grabbed Takaya’s collar. He got up in Takaya’s face and threatened with all the menace he was capable of a hushed voice:

“Don’t get cocky, transfer student.”

“...”

“That look in your eyes really pisses me off.”

“Let go of him, Miike!”

Endou attempted to separate them. Tetsuya thrust him violently back.

“Waugh!”

“! ...Endou!”

Takaya’s face changed when he saw Endou knocked to the ground. He glared fiercely at Tetsuya.

(Urg...!)

Overwhelmed, Tetsuya’s hands slackened for an instant. But he was not one to shrivel away so easily. He immediately galvanized himself to return the glare.

“Ju...just stop it, both of you!” Endou thrust himself between the two and clung to Takaya. “Ougi, please stop. He’s a total hothead.”

“What did you say, Endou...?!”

“Enough already, Miike!”

Tetsuya pressed his lips together at Endou’s angry shout. But he continued to glare at Takaya. “...Cool it with the cockiness, Ougi,” he sneered nastily, and turned on his heels back towards the staircase entrance.

He seemed to have taken rather strong exception to Takaya. Finally managed to chase him away, Endou sighed in relief, and turned to Takaya.

“Sorry ’bout that, Ougi. He tends to lash out. He’s not a bad guy, though.”

“Nah, I’m used to it...” Takaya waved a hand. Whatever he had done, it seemed he had left a extreme impression on their first meeting somehow. “Anyway,” he changed the subject, “what was the deal with those other guys? They said something about a student council?”

“Yeah, that. It’s pretty weird, huh?” Endou shrugged. “They’re really bizarre, our student council. They’ve got something they call a constitution that everyone’s gotta follow absolutely. The executive office’s the ones with power, and they use the constitution to obtain absolute obedience from the students—that’s my feeling, anyway.”

“Absolute...obedience?” That was impossible to ignore, and Takaya repeated the words with blatant disgust. “What the hell? I’ve never heard of a student council like that.”

“Yeah, it feels nothing at all like an ordinary student council, right? It’s different here. All student activities fall under their say-so—if you don’t do what the executive office says, a word from them will crush your club or whatever. It’s horrible. They never discuss how the student council budget is used—it’s whatever the executive office wants. The other committees have to do what they say when it comes to school festivals and stuff.”

“What a strange school...”

Takaya’s Jouhoku High SchoolJouhoku (城北)

Lit: "castle-north"; the name of the high school at which Narita Yuzuru and Ougi Takaya are 2nd-year students, located in Matsumoto City. Likely fictional. However, the manga implies that the real-life equivalent is Fukashi High (深志高) , which is indeed "north of the (Matsumoto) Castle".

School begins in May. Some of the classes Takaya takes are: Classical Literature, Modern Japanese, English, Math, Physics, P.E. and an art elective with choices of Fine Arts, Music, and Calligraphy. Takaya and Yuzuru both take Fine Arts. Their day is divided into Periods, with one class per Period. It sounds like classes rotate into different Periods as the week progresses; for example, in Volume 2 chapter 4, Chiaki tells Takaya that the Math teacher assigned him a problem for Second Period today, because he wasn't there for First Period yesterday. had a student leadership too, but their activities were so much in the background that he didn’t even know what they did. Nobody even thought about obedience.

“And that’s not all. They’ve got some sort of leverage on the school side too; even the teachers are in thrall.”

“The teachers...too?”

“Yeah. These past six months, two of the teachers quit, and the rumor is that it’s student council president Mikuriya who made them leave.”

Takaya goggled at this. “Made teachers quit? How could a student do that?”

“No idea, but those teachers fought with Mikuriya. She’s intimate with the principal and vice principal. Rumor is there’s nothing she can’t do.” Endou’s voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s Mikuriya Juri of junior class A.”

“Juri? She?”

“Yeah, she’s so scary that nobody approaches her except the executive office’s gang. She came as a transfer student last year. It was around July, I think, when suddenly the previous student council president was forced to resign because of a lack confidence and she took over. The current executive office was created from an election later, and she managed to win all of them over...that’s when it started. That’s how the student council got to be like this.”

Dictatorial, one might say. Everyone had been apathetic towards the student leadership’s activities, so it had managed to quickly revise the constitution, and before the student body had noticed the strange change, the executive office had already taken complete control as the ‘iron student council’ based on Mikuriya’s proposal.

“‘Iron student council’?”

“Yeah. The constitution covers not just club activities but the curriculum and every aspect of school life, and the executive office monitors everything—something about us students building a better school.”

In short, the ‘strict school rules’ the school had once established and imposed on the students were now decided on by the students themselves in the form of the student leadership, who had also taken over the role of enforcement— i.e., the students were managing themselves.

Tardiness checks, attire, and personal belongings all fell under inspection by patrols under the executive office’s direct control. Club activities supervision and even after-school outside-of-school behavior was monitored. Anyone who violated the constitution got a ticket. Based on the number of tickets issued, students were reprimanded or their membership activities suspended (all privileges of student life withdrawn, equivalent to getting suspended.) In the worst case they were stripped of their membership and expelled.

Takaya’s eyes widened in disbelief. “That’s impossible.”

“It’s not impossible, it’s the way it is,” Endou said, taking a bulky notebook out of his pocket. “The constitution is from this page to the end.”

“What’s this...?”

“The rules say you have to keep your student handbook on you at all times or you’ll get a ticket for violating the constitution.”

Takaya opened the dictionary-like volume. The detailed ‘rules’ were printed in small font. ...It made him dizzy.

“This school wasn’t really big on rules before.”

“It’s gotten like this in just six months?”

“Yeah... Everyone’s been scratching their heads over it. How’d it get to be like this?” Endou leaned against the railing, tilting his head as if he were truly trying to understand. “It happened before we even realized it. It really feels so sudden...”

“...”

“But recently some people got together to resist—it’s gotten to be pretty interesting.”

Takaya suddenly remembered: “You mean that Nezu guy? The one in our class?”

“Yeah. Nezu Kouichi. It’s like a resistance army. They’re incredibly defiant towards Mikuriya—pretty interesting to see from the sidelines, you know?” Endou laughed foolishly. “Me, I don’t got the guts for that, so I just watch. I graduate in a year, I just gotta hold on a little longer, y’know?”

(The leader of a rebel army, huh?)

Takaya recalled Nezu’s face. That blunt stare tinged with wariness. He’d been glaring rather than peering in Takaya’s direction.

But there had been something else too...

(Animosity?)

Looking at Takaya as he considered, Endou probably thought he was ‘uneasy’. He added solicitously, “I-It’s pretty intimidating, huh? Don’t worry about it; they leave ordinary students alone if you don’t stand out or act out. Like Nezu and Miike...”

It was more a warning to keep a low profile than an assurance. He was the stereotypical ‘don’t rock the boat’ kind of ordinary student.

“But it really is a weird school. We’re haunted, and there’s the weird student council—and Nezu wasn’t that sort of guy until recently. Classwork is reasonable, but it’s not like I’m much of a scholar...” he mumbled, and then pressed his hands together toward Takaya. “That jerk Miike is probably gonna come at you again—just please don’t get mad, okay? You’re a ‘level above’, so I know you get it. He’s the type of guy who immediately lashes out against anyone he thinks is stronger than him.”

“Don’t worry about it. He doesn’t bother me.”

“His family’s got some problems, so he’s pretty depressed. ...Geez.”

“?”

“His family’s got quite the pedigree, apparently.” Endou crossed his arms and looked at the doorway through which Tetsuya had gone. "This is just between you and me, okay? He has a twin sister, but she’s gone missing.

Takaya involuntarily stared. “Gone...missing?”

Takaya never made it to the executive office that day. He’d see what kind of a reaction he got for his failure to show up.

He and Endou became quite friendly on this first day; though he seemed a breezy sort of fellow, he actually was very kind. When Takaya told him he didn’t have any plans for after school, he volunteered to show Takaya around the neighborhood, and took him to various places downtown.

“It’s a good idea to take off your uniform jacket after school,” Endou had said. There were inspection patrols under the executive office’s direct supervision which scoured the neighborhood looking for students gallivanting about. “There’ll be trouble if we get caught.” Endou had stuffed his bag and uniform into a coin locker and pulled on a garish jumper.

The city center was called Upstreet [Kamitoori] and Downstreet [Shimotoori], and had an arcade surrounded by many shops crowded together. The arcade was long enough that even walking along it was enough to tire you out, let alone the entire city center, and there were many young people among the crowds.

Newtown [Shinshigai] adjoined Downstreet with many eye-catching game centers and pachinko parlors. It looked as if one in three was a game center (or maybe more). There were so many to choose from that it was hard to know where to go, Takaya said, and Endou laughed.

“If you wanna check out the games, I can show you around. There are the Namco or Sega centers, the places with the latest titles or the ones that are just so-so; I even know which models are in right now. Just say the word and I’ll take you there.”

“So you’re a game center fanboy rather than a gamer.”

“Kinda,” Endou laughed. But the competition was so fierce that the companies probably didn’t have an easy time of it. “Kumamoto has an overabundance of two things: game centers and taxis. You can see cruising taxis wherever you go, right? There are way more taxi companies than you’d expect for the number of people here—60, I think. Competition is fierce, so they try to differentiate themselves by their service—it’s a mess,” Endou explained—his father was a taxi driver.

The game center tour melded with the city center tour, and they had a fun time of it. Endou even joined him for dinner, and escorted him back to his hotel afterwards.

Thus ended his roller-coaster first day at Old Castle High School.

It was almost 11 p.m. by the time Chiaki Shuuhei returned to the hotel.

Their window happened to directly face the illuminated Kumamoto Castle. Takaya had been staring at it for a while when the doorbell chimed, and he turned. He opened the door to find Chiaki leaning against the wall.

“I’m back.”

“You’re late. What’ve you been up to?” Takaya crossed his arms and scowled. “You stink of alcohol. Were you drinking?”

“A bit. With the guys from work. The teachers threw a welcome party for me,” Chiaki chuckled and handed Takaya a paper bag. “Ah, put this down somewhere.”

“What is it?” He opened the bag and took out something that looked like it had been purchased from a toy shop. “A dart board? What’s this for?”

“I asked some students in my class to buy it for me. Isn’t it great? Kumamoto’s schoolgirls are nice. I just said ‘buy it for me’, and they were like ‘no problem’.”

“What’s this thing for?”

“Just leave it for now,” Chiaki soothed, tottered into the room, and tumbled onto the sofa. He seemed pleasantly buzzed.

Takaya protested indignantly, “You can’t sleep over there. At least take off your shoes!”

“I had basashibasashi (馬刺し)

Raw horseflesh served as salami in thin slices dipped in soy sauce, often with ginger and onions added. In Japan, Matsumoto is one of the places famous for this dish., Kagetora. Kumamoto’s basashi is the best—did you know that? The highest grade basashi is like eating tuna. And that special thick soy sauce...”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Old Castle High School’s teachers are so generous. Drinking Kumamoto rice shouchuu, and basashi. This is what I came to Kumamoto for! Did you want some, huh? You did, didn’t you? It was so good. It’d drop your jaw. MatsumotoMatsumoto City (松本市)

The largest city in Nagano Prefecture, Matsumoto is surrounded by mountains and is acclaimed for its beautiful views.’s basashi can’t compare.”

“I told you to shut up, you drunkard.”

“Hey! What was that?” Eyes glazed, Chiaki sat up and grabbed Takaya by the collar. “Is that proper language towards a teacher? Huh? Does a student get to tell a teacher to shut up? Huh?”

Takaya threw a cushion at the look of great self-importance on Chiaki’s face.

“Bwah!”

“What teacher? Cut it out, idiot!” Takaya stood and looked down at Chiaki. “You’re not at that school to eat basashi. Why d’you think we’re in these roles? We’re here because we’ve got things to do.”

“Geez, our general nags like an old mother hen. ’Cause you’re the real cock-of-the-walk.” Chiaki hugged the cushion and retorted as he scratched his head, “Whatever. At school you’ll be a mere student—that’s when the real fun starts,” he muttered, leering creepily. Takaya deliberately ignored him.

“Anyway, I’ve taken a look around. Looks like the «NokizaruNokizaru (軒猿)

Lit. "roof monkey"; Uesugi Kenshin's ninja, who used a special technique which involved traveling on rooftops and entering houses from above. Their forte was hunting down other ninja, such as the Fuuma of the Houjou Clan and the Toppa of the Takeda Clan.» were right. I don’t know how everyone can act like everything’s normal in a school like that.” Takaya breathed a tired sigh and leaned against the window. “I’m about to collapse after just one day.”

“Right? Looks like we’ve got a ghost hang-out spot on our hands.” Chiaki slumped against the sofa and stretched out his legs. “It draws them in. Maybe somebody’s summoning them. In any case, I’m certain there’s a power source at that school pulling the spirits in.”

He hugged the cushion against his stomach. Takaya looked out the window at the pale castle tower soaring above the magnificent wall, dazzlingly aglow.

“...The former site of the old Kumamoto Castle, huh...?”

That was where Old Castle High School had been built.

Takaya and Chiaki had come to Kumamoto on investigation.

They’d first received reports of a psychically active area in a corner of Kumamoto Castle’s ruins from the Uesugi Lady in White in Saga. The spirits of the Nabeshima clan had run riot in Saga a couple of months ago. They’d been pacified before long by Takaya and the others, and they’d installed a Lady in White there to monitor the northern KyuushuuKyuushuu (九州)

Also known as: Kyuukoku (九国: “nine states”), Chinzei (鎮西: “west of the pacified area”), Tsukushi-shima (筑紫島: “island of Tsukushi”), Saikaidou (西海道: “West Sea Route”).

Lit.: "Nine Provinces", the third-largest and most southerly and westerly island of Japan. Its name comes from the former provinces of Japan situated on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo, Buzen, Bungo, Hyuuga, Osumi, and Satsuma. It is now comprised of the prefectures of Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Ooita, Saga, and Okinawa. district and prevent a violent flare-up of the «Yami-SengokuYami Sengoku (闇戦国)

Lit.: "Dark Sengoku", the civil war still being fought by the spirits of the warlords of the Sengoku period in modern-day Japan.».

Kumamoto and Saga’s vicinity were the territory of Ryuuzouji Takanobu, who had long ago allied himself with Oda. Nabeshima had once been a vassal of Ryuuzouji, but in later years there had been a strange reversal of head and subordinate clans. From the Edo Period onwards Saga had been governed as Nabeshima-han. The Nabeshima clan and Ryuuzouji Takanobu were adversaries in the «Yami-Sengoku»; though Nabeshima had been forced into submission for a while, conflict had erupted again.

The revolt had caught ordinary citizens in the crossfire, and Takaya and company had intervened. After Nabeshima had been crushed, Takaya had installed the Lady in White to watch over Ryuuzouji and the surrounding territory. It was she who had sensed the abnormalities in Kumamoto. The spiritual magnetic field around a certain point in Kumamoto’s vicinity was going haywire, and the earth’s own energy was changing. Upon receiving the report, Takaya had dispatched the «Nokizaru» to infiltrate Kumamoto.

But then the Lady in White had been killed by persons unknown.

She had, of course, been guarded by Uesugi’s own soldiers—the finest and strongest warriors they had. Yet all had perished. In other words, the Uesugi in Saga had been annihilated.

Thereafter the «Nokizaru» in Kumamoto had also been picked off one by one.

Kumamoto was ostensibly under Ryuuzouji’s rule. It had formerly been governed by Sassa NarimasaSassa Narimasa (佐々成政) Feb. 2, 1536 - July 7, 1588

Also known as: Kuranosuke—nickname (内蔵助)
Titles: Mutsu no Kami, Ecchuu no Kami, Chamberlain

A daimyo of the Sengoku, born in Owari. His father was Sassa Morimasa. His two older brothers, Sassa Masatsugu and Sassa Magosuke, died in battle, so Narimasa became head of the clan and master of Hira Castle in 1560. He distinguished himself in the loyal service of Oda Nobunaga and fought in many of Nobunaga's battles. His name was first on a list for the Kurohoro-gumi, an elite group of Nobunaga's bodyguards.

In 1580, he backed Jinbou Nagazumi against both the Uesugi Clan and the Ikkou-ikki in Ecchuu, and was given half the province. The following year, he was named governor (Kami) of the entire province when Jinbou Nagazumi lost his standing. He made Toyama Castle his main castle and performed extensive repairs and renovations on it.

After Nobunaga's death in 1582, Narimasa continued to engage in fierce battles with Uesugi Kagekatsu. He took the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobukatsu against Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but later surrendered to him in 1585 when Hideyoshi laid siege to Toyama Castle with 10,000 troops. He lost Ecchuu, but was given a fief in Higo in 1587 for merits in the suppression of Kyuushuu, along with instructions on refraining from hasty reforms. Ignoring those instructions because of illness or perhaps misunderstanding, Narimasa immediately set out on Hideyoshi's nationwide land survey, resulting in rebellion of the province. He was charged with misgovernment and committed ritual suicide.

He wrote the following as his death-poem: "The shell of my begging bowl in which I have placed the evil delusions of these recent days now breaks" (この頃の　厄妄想を　入れ置きし　鉄鉢袋　今破るなり).

Narimasa is said to have brutally killed his concubine, Sayuri, along with her family for a rumor of infidelity. The legend goes that Sayuri cursed him before she died, and the curse was responsible for his death at the hand of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

In Mirage of Blaze: He is kanshousha who has entered the «Yami-Sengoku» as one of the Oda's commanders, described as a tanned, fearless-looking young man, a "mountain cat in human skin." He and Mori Ranmaru don't appear to be on the best of terms. He later seeks his death at Sayuri's hands in remorse for the way he brutally tortured and killed her in their previous lives. before he’d been sent back to the KinaiKinai (畿内)

The five provinces around the capital: Yamashiro, Yamato, Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi.; thereafter the area had been placed under Oda ally Ryuuzouji Takanobu’s temporary rule. Kumamoto had recently been placed under martial law. All «nuenue (鵺)

In Japanese mythology, the nue is a chimera formed from the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the legs of a tiger, and a snake-tail. The nue can transform into a black cloud and brings illness and misfortune.

In Mirage of Blaze: The troops of the various clans, lumped-together masses of onryou, are called the «nue». Mori Ranmaru commands the Nue-shuu of the Oda, who are onryou with strong powers.» who attempted to move about in the city by means of possession, such as the «Nokizaru», were hunted down and killed. A barrier had gone up, so the Gohou DoujiGohou Douji (護法童子)

Also known as: Gohou Douji of the Swords

Lit.: "Dharma-protecting boy"; a variety of demon-deity in the service of Bishamonten who can be summoned by a high priest with mikkyou to do his bidding. They look like boys of 9 or 10 with red hair and golden skin who wear a thousand swords and ride on top of a magic wheel (Cakraratna). Their power and skills are varied and depend on the power of their summoners.

In Mirage of Blaze, Takaya summons the Gohou Douji by writing Bishamonten's mantra on a piece of paper in Sanskrit and wrapping it around a dagger while chanting On beishiramandaya sowaka, then drawing Bishamonten’s seed syllable in the air above the blade before placing the fore- and middle fingers of his right hand against his forehead. He then touches the sword to his fingers, whereupon the paper ignites, and the Gohou Douji appears from the fire., for example, was unable to approach. As a result, Takaya and company could obtain no information about the spiritual conditions within the city from the outside.

There was a high possibility that Ryuuzouji Takanobu had taken these actions. But could he have managed it alone? Oda had obviously intervened. Ryuuzouji had recently begun an aggressive invasion of east Kyuushuu, which pointed to his confidence in Oda’s power at his back.

Oda intended to use Kumamoto as a crucial base for gaining complete control of Kyuushuu.

This was the Kumamoto which was now seeing the outbreak of spiritual magnetic field anomalies and earth-energy changes. It had become a mighty psychic point at the center of Oda’s campaign, and the source itself was in Old Castle High School.

Takaya and Chiaki had decided to infiltrate Old Castle High School in order to seek out that source. As kanshoushakanshousha (換生者)

Those who possess others by driving out the soul from a body and making it theirs.

Unlike normal spirits, kanshousha cannot exchange bodies at will; they can only switch to another host body when their current body dies. Because kanshousha become the owners of their bodies, choubuku does not work on them. It is, however, still possible to exorcise kanshousha when they are in spirit-form (i.e. between possessions)., they were indistinguishable from ordinary people. They could enter the city without attracting the attention of the possessor spirit-hunters. Takaya had come as a student, Chiaki as a teacher. They had each come to Kumamoto and inserted themselves into Old Castle High School.

This had been their first day.

Takaya muttered, staring out of the window, “There’s definitely something off about that school. You’ve probably been going around the classrooms, so you’d know more about it than me, right?”

“...”

“More than half of the students there are being haunted.”

Chiaki’s expression became serious.

Takaya turned. “Do you know their identities?”

“Let’s see. They’re pretty varied. None of them possess any great power—they’re such a motley group that I haven’t figured out the connection between them yet. I’m pretty sure there’s a bunch that aren’t from the [[SengokuSengoku (戦国)

The "warring states" period, lasting from 1467 to 1615, in which the warlords of Japan battled each other for the rule of the country. Period]]. There’re younger spirits and much older spirits—it’s like a spirit showcase. ...I’ve seen students haunted by five, six of ’em.”

“It looks like both earth-bound and wandering spirits are gathering here from every conceivable location.” Takaya sighed deeply.

...Even Endou had had two ghosts following him around. They’d run away at the slightest threatening gesture from Takaya, but the school was swimming with wraiths of every kind. They were so weak that they fed on the consciousness of those they haunted and never manifested themselves. They had some influence on their surroundings, but it was very limited.

What worried him was the fact that he sensed something like a spirit-‘magnet’ from every single person.

“I took a look around the corner of Kumamoto Castle called the Old Castle section—the predecessor of the current Kumamoto Castle.” Chiaki leaned forward. “Sassa NarimasaSassa Narimasa (佐々成政) Feb. 2, 1536 - July 7, 1588

Also known as: Kuranosuke—nickname (内蔵助)
Titles: Mutsu no Kami, Ecchuu no Kami, Chamberlain

A daimyo of the Sengoku, born in Owari. His father was Sassa Morimasa. His two older brothers, Sassa Masatsugu and Sassa Magosuke, died in battle, so Narimasa became head of the clan and master of Hira Castle in 1560. He distinguished himself in the loyal service of Oda Nobunaga and fought in many of Nobunaga's battles. His name was first on a list for the Kurohoro-gumi, an elite group of Nobunaga's bodyguards.

In 1580, he backed Jinbou Nagazumi against both the Uesugi Clan and the Ikkou-ikki in Ecchuu, and was given half the province. The following year, he was named governor (Kami) of the entire province when Jinbou Nagazumi lost his standing. He made Toyama Castle his main castle and performed extensive repairs and renovations on it.

After Nobunaga's death in 1582, Narimasa continued to engage in fierce battles with Uesugi Kagekatsu. He took the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobukatsu against Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but later surrendered to him in 1585 when Hideyoshi laid siege to Toyama Castle with 10,000 troops. He lost Ecchuu, but was given a fief in Higo in 1587 for merits in the suppression of Kyuushuu, along with instructions on refraining from hasty reforms. Ignoring those instructions because of illness or perhaps misunderstanding, Narimasa immediately set out on Hideyoshi's nationwide land survey, resulting in rebellion of the province. He was charged with misgovernment and committed ritual suicide.

He wrote the following as his death-poem: "The shell of my begging bowl in which I have placed the evil delusions of these recent days now breaks" (この頃の　厄妄想を　入れ置きし　鉄鉢袋　今破るなり).

Narimasa is said to have brutally killed his concubine, Sayuri, along with her family for a rumor of infidelity. The legend goes that Sayuri cursed him before she died, and the curse was responsible for his death at the hand of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

In Mirage of Blaze: He is kanshousha who has entered the «Yami-Sengoku» as one of the Oda's commanders, described as a tanned, fearless-looking young man, a "mountain cat in human skin." He and Mori Ranmaru don't appear to be on the best of terms. He later seeks his death at Sayuri's hands in remorse for the way he brutally tortured and killed her in their previous lives. made it his residence when Toyotomi HideyoshiToyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉) 1536 - 1598

Also called: Hiyoshimaru (日吉丸), Kinoshita Tokichiro (木下藤吉郎), Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴秀吉)
Titles: Kanpaku, Taikou, Chikuzen no Kami

Historically: The second of the "Three Unifiers"; he was born a peasant but rose quickly through the ranks of Oda Nobunaga's vassals to the position of one of Nobunaga's most distinguished generals. After Nobunaga's death, he took over the work of unifying the nation through military strength and brought an end to the Sengoku period. ordered him to transfer here from Toyama. Before that it belonged to the Jou family, retainers of Ootomo, but they yielded it to Toyotomi Hideyoshi during his subjugation of Kyuushuu.”

“Sassa Narimasa...hm?”

Takaya reflected.

In the «Yami-Sengoku» he’d been one of Oda’s ranking commanders and had clashed with Takaya and company twice. He’d been a deeply impressive man. Two and a half years ago he’d been destroyed in the incident involving Lady SayuriSayuri (早百合) ? - 1584? 1585?

Sayuri was a favored concubine of Sassa Narimasa, said to be a peerless beauty, whom he brutally tortured and killed on suspicion of infidelity.

The story goes that Narimasa fell in love with Sayuri at first sight and made her his concubine. He lavished affection on her, and was overjoyed when she became pregnant in 1584. His other three concubines were jealous of Sayuri, and when Narimasa left Ecchuu on a trip to meet with Tokugawa Ieyasu in December of that year, spread the rumor that she was in secret communication with one of Narimasa's vassals, a man who had stayed behind at Toyama Castle because of illness, Takezawa Kumashirou (sp?) (竹沢熊四郎). They claimed that the child belonged to Kumashirou, not Narimasa.

Narimasa dismissed the rumors at first, but found a small brocade sachet at the door of Sayuri's bedroom which belonged to Kumashirou (said to have been placed there by the other concubines). He flew into rage and put Kumashirou to the sword on the spot. He then hanged Sayuri by her feet to a tree in the Jintsuu River Basin and slowly cut her to pieces. He also beheaded the 18 members of her family and crucified their bodies at the prison gates.

The scene is described in the Taikouki: at the moment of her death, Sayuri, her lips bitten through, bloody tears flowing down a once-beautiful face now twisted into a malevolent mask, cursed Narimasa: "As Narimasa beheads me here, my enmity shall a demon become, to grow year by year until I have killed all thine issue even unto the extinction of thy family name." Those watching covered their eyes, and those who heard felt their hair rise at those words.

Stories say that a drifting fire would appear on stormy nights at the spot where Sayuri died, and sometimes a freshly-severed head with wild hair waving in the air saying "Sayuri, Sayuri." The fire was called "Sayuri Fire". The story goes that Sayuri became a vengeful ghost whose curse later killed Sassa Narimasa (though not his children). Sightings of the fire occurred as late as the Meiji Era.

The hackberry tree from which Sayuri was said to have been hanged was burned during the air-raid of Toyama City in World War II. Two second-generation hackberry trees now stand on the spot.. He’d breathed his last in Takaya’s arms, and Takaya had never forgotten the look of contentment on his face in death.

“...!”

Suddenly—

Takaya’s face stiffened.

Because the memory of Narimasa’s weight in his arms had called up another, different memory.

(What is this feeling?)

In his arms, in the same way.

(Who—...?)

Who had...died...?

Takaya’s eyes bulged as he stared down at his own palms.

“Kagetora?” Chiaki said doubtfully. Takaya looked odd.

“Ah...”

He couldn’t remember. But there had been someone in his arms. Yes, the same weight. The same heaviness of mere flesh left behind when life had gone, growing cold in his arms...

(Someone...)

So precious.

So heavy...

He couldn’t remember...!

“Aa...aah!”

“Kagetora? Oi, Kagetora!”

“Ah...ah...aaah!”

(! ...What!)

Oh shit, Chiaki thought, at once seizing Takaya hard by the shoulders.

“Snap out of it! Kagetora...!”

Shaken wildly, Takaya shivered hard and regained his senses. He pressed a hand against his mouth and somehow managed to quell the paroxysm of trembling.

“I’m...fine...”

Chiaki watched him grimly.

Takaya recovered his breath.

Seeing that he had calmed, Chiaki removed his hands.

“Narimasa, if I recall correctly...” he picked up the conversation, “...committed seppukuseppuku (切腹)

Also known as: harakiri (腹切り)
Lit.: stomach-cutting

Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment, performed by plunging a short blade into the abdomen and slicing it open from left to right. Seppuku was originally reserved for samurai, the warrior class, in the samurai code (bushido), and was a way to die with honor instead of falling into enemy hands. It was also used as a form of capital punishment, or voluntarily performed by samurai who believed they had brought shame upon themselves. a year after he entered Kumamoto Castle.”

Endou had meant Narimasa by ‘the old lord who did something bad and committed seppuku’. He’d taken responsibility for the Higo Rebellion which had happened a year after he’d become lord of the province.

“After Narimasa, HigoHigo-no-kuni (肥後国)

A province of ancient Japan which is Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyuushuu today. It bordered the provinces of Chikugo, Bungo, Hyuuga, Osumi, and Satsuma, and was held by the lords of those provinces during the Sengoku Period until Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Higo. He gave the province to Sassa Narimasa, then Katou Kiyomasa, then the Hosokawa Clan. was divided into two. The northern half was assigned to Katou Kiyomasa, the southern to Konishi Yukinaga. Katou Kiyomasa took over the old Kumamoto Castle. Not long afterwards, Kiyomasa built the castle in its current position and renamed it using the character for ‘bear’ instead of ‘nook’. Though the original burned down during the Meiji Period.” Chiaki poured water from the pitcher into a glass and handed it to Takaya. “Sassa Narimasa was resurrected into the «Yami-Sengoku» in Kumamoto. Until he returned to the Kinai, Kumamoto was his base. He resided in the old castle. If the source of the current abnormalities is there, maybe it has something to do with Narimasa.”

The manifestation of the high-powered psychic point in the old castle. The gathering of miscellaneous spirits. ...Were they gravitating there or were they being summoned?

Whatever the case may be, they would need to perform a detailed spirit-sensingreisa (霊査)

Also known as: reisa-nouryoku (霊査能力)

Lit.: "Spiritual investigation"; the ability to use the spiritual senses to distinguish between residual thought signatures, and thus recognize spiritual entities. A person with a high-level form of this ability could potentially recognize souls by the pattern of their "soul-nucleus", which is the part of the soul that remains unchanged through purification and rebirth, especially if they had met that person before previously. Haruie and Kousaka both excel at this ability, though Kousaka seems to be one of the few to possess a very high-level form of it..

And that was not the only anomaly occurring at Old Castle High School...

“What about you, Kagetora? Found anything?”

“...Yeah.” Takaya drained the glass. He seemed to have calmed. “I don’t know if it’s connected, but that school’s student council is really strange.”

“Student council...?”

“Yeah. It calls itself the ‘iron student council’ or something. The student leadership rules the school like a dictator.”

“You’re talking about Mikuriya Juri, president of the student council?” Chiaki had also heard of her. “She has recognition among the teachers as well. She appears to tower above the rest in every subject, though fear might be a more accurate description than recognition.”

“I don’t know if she has any connection to the spirits, but I have to wonder. I’ll look into it a little deeper.”

“Look into it? The student council?”

“Yeah. There’re too many things about that school that are troubling. It’s not just motley ghosts gathering there”

“What?”

“There are at least two kanshousha there.”

Chiaki paled. Takaya glared grimly at Kumamoto Castle.

“Who? Onshouonshou (怨将)

Lit.: "vengeful general": the spirits of the warlords of the Sengoku period, who continue their battles even in modern-age Japan.?”

“I haven’t figured out their true identities. I’ll investigate more. Besides the weak miscellaneous spirits, there are also powerful possessor spirits controlling several students. I’m pretty sure they’re the subordinates of the onshou.”

“Who are the kanshousha you mentioned?”

“...” As Kumamoto Castle’s lights went out, Takaya answered flatly, “Let me make sure.” He turned away from the wall and looked at Chiaki. “Leave the student council to me, you figure out why the spiritual magnetic field went haywire.”

“OK, roger that,” Chiaki smirked. “It’s best to leave high school students to someone who is one.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“If you’ve got the spare time to go to someone else’s school, you should attend your own. How many years have you repeated now?”

This time Takaya’s jacket came flying over. “I’m gonna take a bath. If you’re gonna go to sleep, change your clothes and sleep on the bed.”

“Yeah, yeah.” As Takaya made for the bathroom, Chiaki looked at his back and abruptly queried, “Something weird’s been going on with you lately—”

Takaya’s shoulders quivered. He cast his eyes downward a little, hand on the bathroom door.

“—Is it because we’re near Aso?”

“...”

“Have you remembered what happened 30 years ago? Our final battle with Nobunaga?”

“...”

“Aso was where it took place. Do you remember?”

Takaya didn’t respond.

As he opened the bathroom door, about to step inside, Chiaki stopped him once more.

“Wait, Kagetora. Stop running away.”

“...”

“I’ve been wanting to ask you. Have you recovered all of your memories from that time? About Minako and Naoe and that battle, all of it?”

“Do I have to talk to you about it?” As Chiaki choked, Takaya turned sharp eyes on him. “I’m pretty sure I already told you it’s useless for you to pry.”

“It’s not prying. You only think that because you think you need to hide everything.”

“I’m not obligated to answer you.”

“You’re just gonna run away again, then? Your silence is just an escape, isn’t it? Don’t you think it’s a cowardly thing to do?”

They glared wordlessly at each other.

But after a moment Takaya’s expression turned weary, and Chiaki flinched.

“...I remember pretty much everything about that time,” Takaya dropped his gaze. “If I want to.”

“...You...”

“It’s just that I don’t want to.”

“...”

The words had come reluctantly.

Takaya’s profile was shadowed.

He turned his back as if he wanted the conversation to be over, but Chiaki asked, “You loved Minako, didn’t you?”

Takaya’s eyes opened wide.

“You loved her, right? Even more than you loved Naoe?”

“... Minako and Naoe can’t be compared like that.”

“It’s influenced Naoe a lot, the thought that you hate him because of Minako. He was on tenterhooks, wondering when you would remember. When did you get your memories back? But you didn’t seem to blame Naoe—why is that?”

“Chiaki...”

“Are you good now? Have you forgiven him?”

“Forgiveness wasn’t...” Takaya said painfully, “It wasn’t Naoe that Kagetora couldn’t forgive.”

“What?”

But Takaya could say nothing more. Something was cinched painfully around the recesses of his chest, cutting off his voice.

“Kagetora...”

“...”

Takaya’s expression sank into obsessive gloom once more. Anything more would probably drive him to the wall again.

Chiaki sighed.

“All right... You don’t want to talk about it, right? I’ll stop asking.”

“... Sorry, Chiaki.”

That commendable apology was so out of character for Takaya that it astonished Chiaki. No, what astonished him was Takaya’s weakness.

“You...”

“Being with a guy like me makes you uneasy, doesn’t it?”

“...”

“I’ll...become stronger.”

Chiaki’s eyes widened in real amazement. He’d never expected to hear such words from Takaya’s lips.

He looked pained.

(You...)

Chiaki soon realized that his surprise was due to how in character those words were for Takaya. In recent days Takaya had been so intent on concealing his own heart that he’d rejected all comers, intimidating them into backing away. He’d shown no care for those worried for him. Just now it seemed as if something had flaked off him, and Chiaki’s chest suddenly and unreasoningly heated.

“I’m gonna go take that shower,” Takaya said, and disappeared into the bathroom.

 
"He’s not dead.

Naoe is alive..."

"He said he would come to me.

He said to wait for him..."

 
Soon he heard the sound of the shower, loud in the utterly silent room.

(What happened that night?)

Something had begun to change, just a little.

Takaya’s heart, which had seemed like it would keep growing harder and harder, had instead softened just a little (if it could be called that)—as if it had been resuscitated. Thus it had remained, and at unexpected times he could feel it from Takaya’s words and actions.

Ever since those words had slipped out of his lips at Koyurugi Shrine.

On what grounds was he basing the claim that Naoe was still alive? Had they been aspiration or delusion, blurted out when, cornered, the mask had been torn from the depths of his conscious mind? Chiaki didn’t know.

He’s alive, Takaya had said. True, Kotarou had been right in front of him. But that didn’t jive with the next words:

He will come to me.

He told me to wait...

(What’s going on?)

It was almost as if there was another Naoe out there somewhere.

Was he saying that the true Naoe was still alive?

(No way,) he thought. (And yet.)

And he was filled with doubt again.

Tired of going around and around in circles, Chiaki heaved a heart-felt sigh and leaned back against the sofa to look up at the ceiling.

When he contemplated the disturbing picture around Takaya, he felt as if nothing could surprise him anymore, whether it be enemy stratagems or psychological attacks.

What unsettled him was that it was not just enemies.

“Fuuma’s head is Ujiyasu’s servant. He must not be allowed near Kagetora-dono.”

Irobe’s warning had intensified Chiaki’s vigilance against Kotarou. Ever since the E Island case, he’d kept Takaya with him and had prevented direct contact between them as much as he could. If those were Kotarou’s true intentions, then he was grateful for Irobe’s warning. Yet.

(Pops... You’re acting plenty suspicious yourself.)

He’d claimed to be working under Kenshin’s direct supervision—in which case, what in the world was he trying to do?

There were too many things he didn’t understand. The only thing he did understand was that Takaya could not be left alone right now (which was why he’d intentionally chosen a suite for their room).

Chiaki picked up a dart between his fingers.

“I’ll become stronger.”

He’d sounded tired. His mask of bravado had been peeled away, and his true face had peeked out for a moment.

Chiaki recognized that he felt somehow happy about this.

The tension in Takaya’s psyche was no small matter. The beast who foresaw that it would never be able to get up again if it relaxed its attention would plant its feet firmly on the ground, determined to go for the jugular. That nervousness had been suffocating.

These past few months, looking at Takaya had been unbearable. Ayako had openly raved about him ‘getting stronger and stronger’, but that was not how it’d looked to Chiaki.

He’d had no elbow room at all. Chiaki knew Takaya had been driven to the cliff’s edge. He’d been desperately trying to regain that which he had lost. The accumulation of power looked like he was trying to get away from something.

The self-confidence was a lie. Ayako and the other Kagetora devotees saw it too, but nobody was so skilled at hiding his true feelings from his worshipers than Takaya. Most people were taken in by it. They didn’t notice anything wrong about Takaya’s nervousness. They drunkenly praised his ascent, while depriving Takaya of more and more places of refuge.

He‘d been so desperate that to look upon him was to feel pity. Oversensitive to his devotees’ valuation of him, he’d lost his way and could only writhe in pain. That he was so good at concealing this internal aspect was brave, pathetic, and all the more tragic.

(If he could wake up a little, if he could gain a little distance.)

Takaya himself surely understood how fucked-up this method of climbing to the top was.

He feared the foundations collapsing beneath this feet. One could guess the intensity of his impatience from his recklessness this past year. He bluffed left and right, and rashly blurted out aspirations and ideals: ‘it should be like this’ ’we should do this. His own words deprived him of escape.

There must be those who would soon notice ‘something is wrong’. They probably already existed.

Takaya’s psychological deformity...

(Though we already know the reason...)

Takaya’s loss.

The existence which had sustained the foundation of his self-confidence...

“I never asked for your opinion on Naoe.”

“...That asshole,” Chiaki muttered to himself, and sighed deeply.

(I don’t wanna play nursemaid...) Right now his priority was to protect Takaya from the schemers. He was the only one who could. (I guess I gotta be Kagetora’s manager for now.)

He took aim straight ahead.

The dart hurtled through the air. With a light thump it struck the outermost ring of the target.

 

Takaya stood in the glass stall.

Hot water rained down on him from above, continuously sheeting over his skin. He brushed up the wet bangs flattened over his forehead and sluggishly opened his eyes.

His vision was white was steam. Into it...

Came the flashback of the memory roused by Chiaki’s words. A woman’s voice calling him. Naoe’s painful confession. Then:

Wailing...

Looking up at the ceiling, Takaya weakly opened his lips.

(I am going to break apart.)

So many things coming at him all at once.

Naoe’s cold robotic eyes. And then Kaizaki’s heated gaze. Even when he closed his eyes, they refused to disappear into the darkness. His head soon filled with words without answers. Since that night they had repeated times without counting, thought following thought that circled with reckless speed to exhaustion.

Then, like the coup de grâce, the image of flames assaulting him.

The unbearably heavy weight left in his arms...

“I’m going to break...” Takaya muttered again as if pleading for help.

Even now the assault of the storm from the innermost depths of his heart felt as if it would breach his dams.

Within the heated glass case, he heaved for air like a suffocating fish.

It hurts so much...