In the afternoon, behind a quiet grove on the school grounds, Miketsu stood on a stone path set into the grass. Holding a supermarket receipt in her hand, she looked with a smile at the young girl in front of her, whose face was flushed with intense shame.
'It’s over, it’s all over... Not only did I mistake a receipt for a spell charm, but she even caught it and read the contents out loud in public. This is so humiliating...' The Onmyoji girl, Yura Keikain, clutched her head and screamed internally. Miketsu’s words just now had been like sharp arrows shot straight at her, dealing continuous psychological damage.
'No, this won't do! I have to save face now!' Thinking this, Yura gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. The only way to reclaim her lost dignity and restore her wounded pride was to crush the enemy before her with a brilliant and beautiful offensive.
"Th-that was just an accident! I’m getting serious now! Watch closely!" Looking at the person she had identified as an "evil practitioner," Yura mustered her confidence and shouted. Hearing her words, Miketsu’s smile remained unchanged. She tucked the receipt away and spoke again.
"Oh? Just an accident? In that case, let me see it—the strength of a Kyoto Onmyoji..."
"Hmph... Don't get too ahead of yourself. Take this!"
Murmuring her incantation, Yura, desperate to regain her footing, drew several more charms and threw them all at once toward the enemy. Several small afterimages streaked toward Miketsu, but Miketsu simply reached out and deftly caught them all with a few light movements, completely unharmed.
Under Yura’s stunned gaze, Miketsu unfolded the slips of paper in her hand. After a quick glance and a casual count, she spoke with a smile.
"That will be thirty-seven thousand, three hundred yen in total. Thank you for your patronage~"
Holding a handful of yen banknotes, Miketsu looked at the dumbfounded Yura. Yura stared at the scene, frozen in place, before panic surged in her heart and she cried out in a fluster.
"M-my living expenses?! Give them back! Those are my living expenses!!" Yura shouted in terror, but Miketsu simply continued with a smile.
"Heh, do you really think an enemy in the middle of a battle would return money to you? Next time, try not to keep your charms in your wallet."
'Aaaaah! How did I grab the wrong thing again?! This shouldn't be happening!' Hearing Miketsu’s words, Yura’s heart went cold. She clutched her head and screamed inwardly, her shame and indignation exploding as she began to wonder if she had been cursed.
It was true she kept her charms in her wallet, but to grab the wrong thing twice in a row was absurd.
'No! I can't make another mistake. I have to defeat her right now—not just to save face, but to get my living expenses back! If I have to ask that guy Ryuji for money because of something like this, I don't even want to imagine how much he'll mock me...'
Thinking of her ill-tempered brother’s poisonous tongue, Yura quickly pulled out her wallet and began rummaging through it for charms, no longer drawing them blindly. However, after searching the entire wallet, she couldn't find a single one. She turned the empty wallet upside down and shook it, but only a single white paper katashiro fluttered down. There was nothing else.
'The... the charms are all gone? Weren't there supposed to be more? Did I accidentally pull them out and lose them when I was getting money to buy water earlier?'
Holding the only remaining white katashiro, Yura thought frantically. She had already gone through a major battle with the malicious spirits at the convalescent hospital at noon, so she hadn't had many charms left to begin with. Somehow, at this critical juncture, they were all gone...
Losing charms for no reason, and then throwing receipts and cash as if they were spells—thinking about it, this was just too much bad luck!
Though she was inexplicably down on her luck, Yura had no intention of giving up. Looking at the lone white paper katashiro in her hand, she steeled her resolve, prepared to fight on.
'Even if it's just one katashiro... there's still a chance. For the sake of my precious living expenses, now is not the time to give up. Do your best, Yura!'
With that thought, Yura quickly pulled herself together from her shame and disappointment. Looking at the handful of cash in Miketsu’s hand, the fighting spirit reignited in her eyes.
"There were some accidents before, but don't get cocky too early. Now, I’ll show you my true power!" As she spoke, Yura threw the white paper katashiro into the air, and the paper figure instantly ignited with a pale blue spiritual flame.
"Come forth! Tanrou!"
At Yura’s call, the blue flames burning in mid-air flared up violently. With a whistling howl, a majestic white wolf, nearly as tall as a person, leaped out from the flames. It stood before Yura, body slightly hunched in a combat stance, glaring forward with an extremely fierce expression.
"A soul-contracted shikigami... Tanrou?" Miketsu murmured to herself as she watched the scene. Yura waved her hand, commanding Tanrou to attack.
"Go, Tanrou! Subdue her!"
Obeying Yura’s command, the giant white wolf sprinted toward the girl. Pushing off with all four legs, it closed the distance to Miketsu in a few bounds. In the next instant, it would have tackled her to the ground. Yet, facing the beast right in front of her, Miketsu remained calm, making no move to dodge.
'I’ve got her...'
Just as Yura thought she was finally about to succeed, Tanrou’s eyes, which had been focused on the enemy, seemed to realize something. The fierce expression on its face vanished instantly. The giant wolf shikigami, which had been charging at high speed, suddenly braked and came to a dead stop right in front of Miketsu.
Tanrou sat on the ground, tongue lolling out, its tail wagging incessantly. Miketsu smiled and reached out to pat the giant white wolf on the head, as if she were petting a large dog.
Seeing this, Yura froze again. After a long silence, she stammered.
"Ta-Tanrou... You... what are you..."
Yura never expected that her most loyal shikigami would be so docile in front of this girl. Wasn't she supposed to be the enemy?!
For a moment, Yura’s thoughts were a chaotic mess. She stood there dazed, not knowing what to do. On the other side, Miketsu continued to pet the familiar large dog-like shikigami, speaking in a soft, low voice.
"Oh my... it’s Tanrou. It’s been a long time, hasn't it?" Miketsu said to the wolf with a smile. Clearly, as a soul-contracted shikigami passed down through the Doman lineage, Tanrou still possessed memories from a thousand years ago. It recognized the face Miketsu was currently using in her human form—the face of Asakura Hao.
As a close friend of Ashiya Doman a millennium ago, Miketsu was naturally very familiar with her most-used shikigami. In fact, Doman had often lent it to her. Tanrou knew exactly what kind of existence the person before it was.
Compared to its soul-contracted master, who had lost her original memories and gone through countless reincarnations, the girl before it still maintained the same demeanor and aura from those days. Tanrou naturally wouldn't attack. Moreover, it knew very well what the consequences would be if it dared to strike someone of her caliber.
Watching her own shikigami act like a puppy in front of the enemy, Yura stared for a long time. Finally, she shook her head violently and rubbed her eyes. After confirming the reality of the scene, she pointed a finger forward and shouted.
"Y-you! What kind of sorcery did you use? Did you bewitch my Tanrou?!"
"Sorcery? Hehe... I didn't do anything at all. It’s your shikigami that refuses to attack me." Miketsu chuckled at the fuming Yura. Seeing Miketsu’s expression, Yura grew even more anxious and began shouting at her shikigami.
"Dammit... Tanrou! Don't be fooled by her! Wake up and attack!"
Yura shouted urgently, but Tanrou still ignored her command. Instead, it turned its head and looked back at its master with an expression of utter helplessness, as if it were in a very difficult position.
"What’s with that look?! Just follow my orders and get my living expenses back!" Seeing her shikigami remain unmoved, Yura was now frantic. Since her charms and paper figures were lost, Tanrou was practically her only means of attack. Seeing this method fail for no apparent reason, Yura felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.
Looking at Tanrou’s troubled expression, Miketsu maintained her constant smile. She leaned down and whispered to the worried white dog.
"So? What do you think of this generation’s 'Doman'?"
Hearing Miketsu’s whisper, Tanrou simply closed its eyes and shook its head, expressing its opinion as clearly as a dog could.
'This generation’s Doman is no good...'
Watching her shikigami shake its head in disappointment, Yura’s heart tightened. Miketsu then stood up and spoke loudly to the girl.
"Your shikigami has seen everything you’ve done. It seems it finds you too embarrassing to follow your orders anymore."
"Em-embarrassing?!"
Hearing Miketsu’s words, a sharp pain pierced Yura’s heart. Deeply struck by the blow, her legs gave way, and she collapsed to her knees, supporting herself with her hands on the ground. The world around her seemed to turn grey as her confidence plummeted to rock bottom.
And so, under the weight of Miketsu’s words, the Kyoto Onmyoji girl, Yura Keikain, completely lost her will to fight, falling into a state of total dejection.
Rate on N.U.
