Two Hundred And Thirty-Three
I left the Izumi’s with Shirohebi after Shaeula and I had perfected the networks of the family. It was easy enough for me to make tweaks to Kana’s father to turn his already-prepared network into a more perfect one, though I had to be very careful around his solar plexus chakra, as he had a natural, if incredibly weak, gift for flame energies, and doing Chirurgery around other elements required finesse, as I had discovered with Ren-san previously.
Masaji-san managed to endure it without complaint too, though he did mutter that he was too old for such trials, but when I reminded him his granddaughter would be happy if he could see the world their kami came from too, he set his jaw and endured. When I was helping him out of the room, back to the others, Shaeula was bringing back Nagi-san, who was red-faced and teary eyed. She looked at me accusingly, and said “That hurt! You’re cruel, Akio-kun!”
I’m pretty sure she’s joking. But seeing her looking like that, I’m once more reminded Kana is fortunate she takes after her mother. “Sorry about that.” I apologised. “But it does cut out most of the tedious training.”
“So, did you do that to Kana?” she asked, and remembering Kana in her underwear I tried to keep a straight face. Shaeula was snickering and the men of the shrine seemed a little resigned.
“Your networks should be a little prickly and tender for a while until aether flushes out all the debris and soaks into the capillaries.” I ignored her question, changing the subject. Nagi-san gave me a knowing smile, her face still red, but let me continue. “All I will say is, never enter the Boundary anywhere but the shrine, as the Boundary is not safe. Around the shrine is my Territory, so you shouldn’t have any problems. I dare say Kana will want to take you in herself, anyway.”
As they listened to my warnings earnestly, Shaeula was nodding, backing me up. Hyacinth finished her cleaning, so we took our leave, allowing Shirohebi further time to spend with the loyal family that had taken care of its shrine for years. Well, that’s one good job done. My Chirurgery didn’t take too much aether now I was more skilled, so by the evening I should have refilled, especially since I had a lot of Rank 3 Ether Spires running, sending me some extra, even with the earlier Chirurgery on my old neighbours too. Tonight, we need to perfect the networks of as many students as possible…
Back at the office, I saw that Noboru-san had returned, and Haru-san was gone. At my questioning gaze, Noboru-san explained. “Yes, I got her a prepaid phone. Just a cheap one, as I’m guessing she’ll want to get her own when she gets her new identification. My daughter is always going on about how shameful it is to have a cheap phone. Well, I hope I didn’t overstep?” he said, and I shook my head in denial.
“No, good job. Today is just for her to calm herself down and solidify in her mind she’s back and still a girl, despite everything. Anyway, is there anything else that needs my attention while I’m here? Might as well catch up on things, as I’ve been way too busy lately.”
“There are a few things.” Karen-chan said, coming over. “Do you want tea or anything?”
“Hyacinth will dooo it, I must be the one to serve master!” She declared, hustling off, her legs eye-catching under her miniskirt maid outfit. I saw Noboru-san and Taku-san looking, and our gazes met. They both looked embarrassed, but who was I to judge? After all, my wandering eye has been getting me into trouble a lot these last few months.
“Careful, that’s his woman you are eyeing.” Karen-chan warned, shooting me a grin. I looked down, shamefaced, and she continued. “Well, I’m not wrong, am I? She’s desperate to serve you, to be of use. I think it’s kind of sweet. And the way you look at her… well, tell me I’m mistaken?”
“It’s complicated.” I said, and beside me Shaeula chortled, having been in consistently good humour ever since she met her father and sister.
“It is not-not complicated at all. Akio desires Hyacinth, for she has a terribly sad past, and has a deep-deep hole in her heart. Akio is weak to such females, and wishes to make -make them happy. Hyacinth reminds him of his sister and Eri. As for Hyacinth, she is not-not accustomed to such kindness as she is shown, but her erstwhile nature as a brownie means she is disposed to serve-serve a master faithfully, tend a home. It will not-not be so easy to have the relationship you wish for, you know-know this, right, my Akio?” she turned to me, and I sighed in agreement.
“Yeah. If I just wanted a master-servant bond, that’s easy. But I’d feel bad with just that. But it’s a problem for another time. I want her to meet Eri first, and Hinata, Motoko and Natsumi. It’s only fair.” As Hyacinth returned with tea, expertly prepared despite her unfamiliarity with modern appliances, we changed the subject. It’s not the time for that yet. Besides, that’s a problem I don’t have to hurry to resolve. It isn’t life or death, after all. “Hey, this is great. Well done, Hyacinth, and thank you!”
She blushed and squirmed at my praise, muttering to herself, and Karen-chan shook her head. “Damn, when I shared a few beers with you on the balcony that time after work when I was depressed, who could have thought we’d end up here?” she smiled, her mood also having improved significantly, now that she knew her ex-boss had got what was coming to him. “Though perhaps I should have guessed when you had me take that purse back to Konoe-san. That was something out of a manga, definitely.” She took a sip of her own tea. “Anyway, outstanding matters. Sure.” She opened up her laptop. “We sent the university information to your sister, as well as the stuff we gathered on elements. I think I get why you want some of these strange things now.” She smiled at me slyly. “The guys pulled together information on Tyr, Valkyries and Norse gods in general. Most of it seems like garbage though, I doubt it’ll help. Oh, and there’s a follow-up report on the matter you asked me to look into about the rates of crime, suicides and missing persons.” She handed me a stack of printouts.
Scanning through them, I remembered. Yeah, I was trying to track down other Candidates that way, amongst other methods. I remember glancing at the report, but I was incredibly bogged down with important matters at the time, so never finished reading it. My eyes scanned the contents and went wide with shock. Nearly two thousand percent higher rates of suicide, general crime and missing persons than the national average, and the figures had been rising steadily since… July. This can’t be a coincidence. Shit, I should have paid more attention to this, but I can’t be everywhere at once. There’s only one of me after all. That’s why I need strong, trustworthy allies so we can cover more ground, solve more problems. So, where is this? Shit… that’s not good, not good at all. There were several areas listed, one of which was Kyoto, which had numerous mysterious deaths. I can attribute that to the higher preponderance of Candidates in that area, after all, priests and shrine maidens have a disproportionately higher rate of being chosen. The others though… several major cities around Japan, several areas of Tokyo, and... Inuyama.
At that, my thoughts went to the strange shop where we bought Azuki. The Boundary version contained that hideous creature that was a mass of dark slime, tentacles and eyeballs, and we had not only rescued Azuki from it, but found the pink jade bells and dagger of light, as well as a vestment, although we hadn’t found a use for that yet. That store was clearly not ordinary. I have the number though so…
A bit rattled, I dialled the number in my phone. Inuyama was still a fair way from Nishimorioka, but it was the closest city, so it was only natural I’d be concerned. The phone rang and rang, and I thought bitterly that it seemed to be a day for people not answering me, before suddenly there was a click. I went to speak, assuming someone had picked up, but alas it seemed to be an answerphone message.
“We are sorry to inform you that Takakura Antiques is closed until further notice. We apologise for any inconvenience.”
Well shit. Hanging up, I sighed. Shaeula looked at me quizzically, and I explained the situation. Once I was done, she nodded, eyes burning with anger as she remembered the injuries I had suffered. “You think it is perhaps this creature, rather than another like you-you, who is causing the deaths and disappearances?”
“Yes, I do.” I said with a sigh. “Perhaps some of the deaths were other Candidates. I know we weren’t exactly powerhouses at the time, but even so, that creature was dangerous. I could easily see it killing an unprepared Candidate of Kondou Kazuo’s calibre.”
“Should we be worried about this?” Karen-chan asked, and I realised we were speaking about such matters in the open, completely disregarding our listeners. Still, they aren’t completely in the dark on these matters now, and are pledged to support us, so I guess it’s fine.
“Not here. Our Territory covers the shrine, the surrounding area, and stretches up to Hisuikomushi and the hotel around there. It's growing all the time. Eventually everything within ten kilometres of here should be under our control. No monsters or other Candidates should find it easy to cause trouble, not with Ulfuric and your brother around, right Shaeula?”
“Indeed. Our Territory may not-not be as powerful as the Seelie Court, yet, but it is simply a matter-matter of time.”
“But what about elsewhere? My daughter… she lives on the other side of Tokyo.” Noboru-san said, rattled.
“Look, calm down.” I declared. “This is all just speculation. But if you are worried about your daughter… isn’t the best thing to do work hard, earn money, and perhaps you could get custody of her? In any case, even with the massive increases, it’s still just a handful of people out of the city who are affected. But I don’t think we can leave it to worsen.” Shaeula agreed, and Hyacinth piped up, saying she would be happy to squeeze my enemy to death, and I entertained a briefly amusing thought of a tentacle battle between her vines and its nasty slimy ones. “Well, we can take care of it this week, but… ugh. If monsters can affect the Material already, this is pretty bad. It means that Hinata was right though. Property values in areas that are within a safe Territory should start to spike… looks like her grandfather is going to make those sweet returns on his investment after all…” That reminds me, we still need to go over just what properties Hinata has control of now, in our name. I’m going to have to make sure we capture those areas in the Boundary, and we might need a Material to Boundary connection or two…
While I was thinking, I dialled another number. Third time lucky, I hope. Moments later, it was answered, and a familiar voice spoke gruffly. “Hey. I was just there this morning, what do you want now, Oshiro-san?”
“Well, Detective, I think you might want to hear about this…”
********
After discussing the matter with Detective Kato, I spent some further time catching up on everything else that demanded my attention, before it reached late afternoon. Marika-san had returned from school, and I was now watching the most adorable scene, as she fawned over Shirohebi like an excitable puppy.
“This is incredible, Akio-sama!” She cried, hopping over to me, eyes bright. Still can’t get her to drop the -sama huh? “A kami, in the flesh! I was so envious when Kana-chan said she met her kami!” But she’s Kana-chan now? Well I guess I’m happy you are fitting in here and have made a friend. I feel bad pulling you from home, even if it’s for my ambitions at the conclave, whenever that’ll be. “Do you think that Chairo can come soon too? I want to meet him! Grandfather will too!”
“Well, Chairoakitara shrine is a fair way outside my control. But yeah, in time, he’ll be able to visit the Material. You’ll probably be able to visit him first though.” I promised, gesturing to Shaeula beside me. “It’s time for us to perfect your network, using all the skills and experience we’ve gained. Are you ready?” I said, bending down and looking the young girl in the eyes. She seemed a little pale, but she nodded, her expression resolute.
“I am.” She swallowed, her small throat working as she sought her words. “Ever since I agreed to come to Tokyo, I made a promise to grandfather and myself, and to Chairo, that I’d do anything. I love being a shrine maiden, serving Chairo. I want to be the best one I can be! It’s the whole reason I came here! Kana-chan says it hurts a bit and is embarrassing, but I know you wouldn’t do anything bad, Chairo and the White Snake both trust you!”
“It does hurt, I’m sorry. But the pain is only temporary.” I patted her head gently, reassuring her. “And as for embarrassment, don’t worry about that. Shaeula, this one is yours.”
“She would not-not mind…” Shaeula began, and I cut her off.
“Yeah, Marika-san is a good girl, very polite and obedient.” She looked down, embarrassed but happy at my praise. “But I’m not comfortable with it. I’m no lolicon, despite what people joke sometimes when they see me with you. It’d be creepy me doing this with Marika-san. No, I’ll leave the Chirurgery on girls to you.”
“Fine.” Shaeula shrugged. “I do-do understand. But there are far-far more females than males at the school. I may not-not be able to complete them all…”
“We’ll worry about that later. Anyway…” I patted her head once more and smiled. “Good luck Marika-san. When it’s done you’ll feel far stronger, so just think of that!”
She smiled back at me. “I know. I thank you again for this opportunity, Akio-sama, Shaeula-sama.”
Damn, she’s such a good girl. Her mother must be proud, even if she doesn’t really understand shrine business. Anyway, it won’t be long until the others get here. This evening is a big one, so I’d better prepare…
********
“Akio, good evening!” Hinata said, rushing over and kissing me on the lips fleetingly. Beside her, Kazumi-san rolled her eyes, but she didn’t look unhappy. “I’ve missed you!”
“It’s only been a day.” I grinned. Natsumi was also there, and she was pink with embarrassment, but she too greeted and kissed me, followed by Motoko, who was more aggressive, even though her face was red.
“Well, there is nothing wrong with kissing our fiancée, is there?” Motoko said, and Hinata and Natsumi agreed. As the expensive car that they had arrived in drove away, I watched it go, before remarking “Not coming by helicopter today?”
“No, I’m afraid it was already in use.” Hinata said, kissing me again, not wanting to be outdone by her fellows. “By the way, who is that? She’s gorgeous, but she’s looking at us in a rather strange way. Her face is red, and she’s panting like a degenerate.”
“Master, they kissed yooou! Are these… Hyacinth needs to knooow if these are yooour mistresses!”
“I guess I should introduce you then. This is Hyacinth. She’s… well, like Shaeula. She’s a Fae. She’s a brownie, mostly, so she loves to serve. Hyacinth, these are my fiancées yes. I’ll be married to them one day, along with Shaeula, and Eri, who you haven’t met yet.”
“Mooore mistresses! Hyacinth knew you were an important man, master! Only those ooof power can have many beautiful wives!”
“Yes, I agree. I like you!” Hinata grinned. “Akio is a man of great importance indeed. And as for wives, we aren’t just beautiful, we are from noble bloodlines too!” She puffed out her chest proudly, looking elegant in the uniform of Hanafubuki. As she continued to talk to Hyacinth, both of them extolling my virtues, which was a unique form of torture, embarrassing me to no end, I turned to Natsumi and Motoko.
”Sorry about this. Anyway, tonight is the night you entre the Boundary. I’ll be happy to show you around my Territory. I think you’ll find meeting Ulfuric fascinating. He’s my master in combat arts.”
At that, their eyes shone. “Yes, I would dearly love to spar against your master!” Motoko declared, and Natsumi agreed. “I could use some pointers, as I never beat Motoko. It’s a bit frustrating.”
“Oh, that reminds me…” I said, as we walked towards the training school, still chatting. “Natsumi… how did your parents take the talk of engagement?”
“Well, they agreed in the end.” She shrugged. “Apparently they had already started marriage talks with a few other families of the Three-Hundred, but luckily they were just at the preliminary stages. When they found out I’d be marrying the same man as Motoko, that pleased them. After all, the Tsumura family is one of the most prestigious in Japan. Even so, they didn’t really want me to be a concubine…”
“You won’t be.” I assured her. “I’m not doing this mistress or concubine crap. All of you will get married properly.”
“But, I don’t mind, if it’s to be with Motoko, and you…” Natsumi began, before Motoko chided her.
“Let him speak. Akio, he is considerate of us, we should accept that. After all, he will have our sword, spear, bow and body from now on.” She flushed again.
“I’m sorry.” Natsumi apologised. “But really. We made our resolve. We cared too much about getting what we wanted, so I don’t mind being a concubine. I’m prepared for that. It’s not so unusual anyway.”
“Well I mind. I decided to accept you… no, that isn’t fair to say. That makes it sound like you are burdens. Look, Hinata, you two... you are all wonderful girls. Any man would be happy to have you, and I am too. The guilt I feel about being a cheating bastard is my penance, I guess. But because I like you all, then it’s only natural I want to give you all the happiness I can. And that’s marriage, right? A wedding with all your family and friends, one you can be proud of? Shit, I’m doing a lot for this country, and I daresay I’ll do more. The least they can do in exchange is change a small law like that. And if not, we can always marry in the Boundary. You just let me worry about that. But your parents can rest assured, you’ll not bear the stigma of being a mere concubine. I’ll meet with them at some point and we can hash everything out.”
“You see? I told you so.” Hinata said, from where she was conversing with the extremely excited Hyacinth. She turned to me then. “Natsumi has been a bit worried. It’s very hard for her to shed what she’s always known, that she’s one of the Three-Hundred, not the Fifty-Nine. Being equal to Motoko, it makes her uncomfortable, even if she longs for it. But I know you don’t like that part of the nobility. Today at school was wild, wasn’t it?”
Hyacinth cocked her head in puzzlement, and I was lost too, only for Hinata to elaborate. “At lunch, Miyu and Michiru came to see us, being very friendly and respectful.” She grinned broadly, clearly amused. “Sakura and Mayumi were shocked. Even Honoka-sama looked perplexed. Everyone was amazed that shy Miyu would talk to us so casually, especially me and Natsumi, considering the status of our families.”
“She insisted I called her Miyu, without honorifics.” Natsumi shrugged. “It… it isn’t right. Still, I did it.”
“Oh, well you outrank Miyu now!” Hinata chuckled “After all, she’s Akio’s vassal, while you are his fiancée. It’s only natural!”
“But nobody knows that! The afternoon classes were… well, everyone was asking me what I’d done to attract Miyu-sama’s…”
“No, say it right!” Hinata interrupted, and Natsumi winced.
“… Miyu’s attention. And I didn’t know until you explained on the way here!”
“Sorry about that…” we reached the training hall as the girls bantered. The other trainees were here, and we ordered them all to gather up in the hall. Motoko and the girls joined them, while Hyacinth, Shaeula and I were joined by Grulgor. There was a buzz of questioning whispers as they saw the hulking Grulgor and the scandalously dressed Hyacinth, but Shaeula clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Good evening. Today we are going to start pushing the training up.” I nodded at Kana, who waved back, smiling. “Kana here proved that we can definitely get you to a level where you can enter the Boundary, so we intend to perfect all of you tonight. Well, I say perfect, but it just means the form of your chakra networks, you still need to put in more work to level them up. Now… it hurts a bit.”
Ren-san blanched at that, but was also relieved he was already done, though he did look at his sisters sympathetically.
“But… it’s necessary. So, before that, I wanted to introduce you to some people. This here is Hyacinth. She’s my maid, but don’t be fooled, she’s strong enough to crush any of you without blinking. You’ll likely see her around. Grulgor here too. He’s our muscle.”
Grulgor grinned broadly, exposing his teeth, flexing hard, which looked weird in a suit. “Grul will crush any enemies that bother you. So if you have problems, tell Grul and he will smash them!”
“There’s also Haru-san, who isn’t here today, and Ixitt, who some of you may remember kind of… left his body here.” At that a buzz went around the room, and Kana looked pissed off, probably remembering the trouble she had calming everyone down that time. “There’s one more too…” at that Marika-san and Kana’s father entered, escorting the androgynous form of Shirohebi.
“Wait, is that…” Ren-san said, and others started talking over him, the shrine maidens and priest-apprentices recognising the aura of divinity Shirohebi was radiating.
“Yes, this is the White Snake-sama, kami of this shrine!” Marika-san declared. Her face was a little pale from the Chirurgery, but she was a tough little girl, so she had bounced back fast. “Akio-sama promised us our kami would walk the world once more, and this is the proof he did not lie!”
As that declaration stoked everyone’s passions, other than the schoolmates of Kana who were dragged into all this, who were merely looking confused or interested, I shrugged. Yeah, we aren’t getting much training done tonight… oh well, we need to do the Chirurgery anyway…
********
“So, the numbers do not-not work for us.” Shaeula grimaced. “There are too-too many females, and few males. You will need to take two females, else we can not-not finish tonight.”
Well, we can wait until tomorrow, but I admit, I have a lot on my plate, so finishing tonight would be better… Still, the girls here who required Chirurgery varied in age from middle school to recently graduated from high-school. So I wanted to avoid having them strip, it felt wrong. My ruminations were interrupted by a surprising source, as one of the listening girls, Kikuchi Maiko-san, spoke up.
“I’ll do it.” She declared, her expression stiff. “My father has told me just how much we owe to you. You cleared our debts, you’ve saved his life, you protect Hisuikomushi and our kami… this is the least I can do.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, and she nodded. “Izumi-san told us about it. It’s embarrassing but no more than a medical check-up, right?”
“I’ll do it too.” Takagi-san shouted, sticking up her hand. “I don’t want Kikuchi-san to go through it alone.”
“It is decided then.” Shaeula said, before I could speak. “I shall prepare the other females. Akio, you do the males and these-these two.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, and Kikuchi-san slowly nodded, and Takagi-san agreed more forcefully.
“Let’s get this done. I still don’t know why I’m here, but… I think for an ordinary nobody like me, this is a chance that will never come again.”
Well, that’s a problematic statement, but it isn’t as though I don’t understand. I thought that when Ortlinde first came knocking. But perhaps… it was her fate, and if not, it is now, due to her own choices. I wish she had more confidence…
Taking them to a spare room, I prepared myself mentally. “Right, yes, this is a medical procedure, so don’t worry, I’m not…” I stopped, as Takagi-san had already shed her shrine maiden outfit, down to her plain underwear. Seeing me looking, she flushed a little, biting her lip, before snapping at me, a touch acerbically.
“Oh, I know you don’t want to ogle me. I’m just a boring plain girl. Not like Izumi-san or her friends. Or those twins. Those haughty rich girls too. And Shaeula. All the girls around you are stunning and you can take your pick. Why would you care about molesting an ugly girl like me?”
I thought we agreed this was a medical procedure and nothing weird? “Hey, Takagi-san, you aren’t…”
“Oh, don’t lie to me. I hate that. If you were to say something stupid like you aren’t ugly, you’re attractive I’d be angry. I respect you a little because as far as I can tell you don’t lie much. Don’t spoil that now.”
Hey, I lie plenty when I have to. Though I admit, I do have a problem with being too honest, sharing too much. Hinata chides me about that all the time. “Fine then. Lie down on the bed and we’ll get started. It does hurt a fair bit more than the initial work, so I apologise for that.”
“Yeah, I heard, but if Izumi-san can handle it, I can too.” She relied on her stubbornness to keep her calm, but even so, she flinched as I touched her belly gently, shivering as Aether flooded in.
“Well, in that case, I might as well be honest. Takagi-san, you are far from ugly.” She glared at me as I spoke, but I shook my head, denying her. “Honesty, right? Okay, well I admit there are some gorgeous girls here, so I understand it must be tough. But really, you’re just a bit plain. I think if you changed up your style a bit, tried some different makeup, you’d scrub up quite nice. Comparing yourself to Kana or Shaeula is a mistake. Just concentrate on your own charms. Besides, you have something that is beautiful. Your personality. You came here to help your classmate, worried she was being bullied, right?”
As her eyes went wide, Kikuchi-san agreed. “Yes. Thank you Takagi-san. It meant a lot to me. You’re nice. That’s why… you should stay here. You might not know how big a deal all this is, but… we saw a kami, a god! You worry you’re plain and boring, but you are here, doing something almost nobody else has ever done before! That makes you somebody!”
“Well said.” I approved, my concentration intense as I made adjustments to her chakra network and forced open some minor chakras. Takagi-san moaned in pain, but biting her lip, she once more stubbornly refused to cry or scream. “Well… I… do get… paid for this. The money is… nice. I’ll stick it… out.”
“Yeah, you should. I’d be lonely without you.” Kikuchi-san agreed, as I was finishing up.
“There, all done.” I patted Takagi-san on the back, impressed. “You barely cried out at all. Oh well, your turn now, Kikuchi-san.”
“Oh, great.” She muttered, trembling hands doffing her hakama. ”I can hardly wait…”
********
“All done.” I said to the sweating boy who had just endured my Chirurgery. “You were my last one, let’s head back.”
“Sure.” The boy grated, redressing. “Damn, that hurt. But I do feel spiritually cleaner.”
“That’s the spirit, think of the positives.” I approved. Back at the training hall, Shaeula was not back yet, but she did have more people to do, so I decided to step out and take some air, Hyacinth trailing after me. Kana looked like she wanted to follow me too, but her friends were lying there limp and weak, Shaeula having done them first, so she wasn’t able to.
“Master has worked hard.” Hyacinth said, wiping my sweating brow with a cloth as we took in the soothing night air. The lights of central Tokyo were shining dully in the distance, blotting out the stars. “I am impressed. Yooou are very kind. I looove that, masters should be kind, nooot…” she shuddered, and I pulled her into a hug, stroking her hair. For once she didn’t start to pant, merely looking at me with her shining silver-violet eyes.
“It’ll be okay. Those times are over.” I promised. “Hmm, looks like someone is flying tonight. You’ve never been on a plane or helicopter, have you?”
“Nooo, I do nooot know what those are.” She shrugged, and I pointed to the silhouette of the helicopter as it flew our way.
“It’s a flying device. You can go places very fast and in comfort if it’s a nice helicopter like Hinata’s. Hmm, wait, that does look a familiar helicopter. And it’s coming this way.”
A minute later, it was descending to the usual landing spot at the shrine. The door opened, and out popped a boisterous girl, leaping down and landing with elegant grace, before flashing me double victory signs and a smile. “Hey bro, surprised?”
Aiko? Here tonight?