Chapter 81 - Volume 5 (1/2)
Volume 5, Chapter 10: I Got Involved in all Sorts of Trouble, Part 1
“Time sealing technique……? What’s that?”
Onzada’s father and elder brothers came home less often nowadays.
Onzada, who was the fourth male amongst five brothers, knew that his parents’ families were a bit different from those of the general [Shrines].
Priests in ordinary temples did not learn how to fight and train their bodies. They did not go out to purge evil spirits.
His own father destroyed evil spirits that normal people couldn’t even touch that possessed other people by filling up his body with “Ki” which was a mixture of the body’s own energy and the power drawn from the outside air.
Onzada, as a child who knew of it, admired it as an “ally of justice”, and devoted himself to practicing “Ki” to the point of exclusion.
Onzada, as he was now, has power approaching either his eldest brother or close to that of his second brother, who was without peer. When his eldest brother came home, he asked to be taken along for a demon extermination.
Of course, he was refused. Still, Onzada that clung on to him, causing his elder brother to be greatly embarrassed and inadvertently spilled out one of his secrets.
That was: the [Time-sealing technique].
“Onzada, do you know of the [Mountain]?”
“Yeah…… It’s where father and brother go to help out, no?”
“Several years ago, there was a [Shrine Maiden] who reported from the [Mountain] of a prophetic vision. It seems that there will be a tremendous [Evil] that will appear in the world about 19~20 years from now. At that time, we, cannot do anything but send it to the past.”
“Hah? I don’t understand, Aniki.”
“I don’t understand it well myself, but it seems that there’s a technique that uses the “zero” and the “twelve” figures, and seems to be called the [Hourglass Technique.]”
“I don’t understand at all.”
“What I do know is that we’ll be able to defeat that [Evil] several years before it commences its assault, I mean.”
“Beat it before it comes……?”
“If we can successfully defeat it, then the world will be peaceful in 20 years. Now, though, the [Evil] has caused the evil spirits to increase in number. Leave all these evil spirits in these few years to Father and I.”
“………But”
“Onzada should continue to train for the future. It will be your responsibility to seal that [Evil] that will come back 20 years into the past. If you don’t, I won’t be able to protect my future wife.”
“Well, I don’t know……but, I understand.”
The story was too difficult for him to understand, but the fact of the matter was that within a few years, there would be considerable danger. Based on that, knowing that he had been entrusted with the “future”, he obediently nodded.
“…………”
Protecting the future…… It wasn’t the teasing of his brother, but that singular girl that floated up in the back of Onzada’s mind, and he hurriedly shook that image from his head in a fluster.
＊＊＊
I’ve move into the second grade in elementary school.
There have been no changes…… is what I’d like to say, but it’s changing bit by bit.
Ouji-kun has become extremely thin. While he was cute when he was like a plush toy up until a while ago, when he lost weight, his appearance became much better……
I often see the girls in the class call him [Prince-kun] and talk to him.
However, whenever I tried to join the conversation, the girls would all disappear at once. Are they still not accustomed to my appearance, or are they taking into consideration my needs……
I don’t want to know about the subtle feelings that I don’t really know much about.
“Yuzu-chan, there was a party at our company, but Yuzu-chan didn’t come? Uncle Tagaki and even Shijiyuuin-san’s father came.”
“Well…… It’s kind of a little bit too high society for me……”
Where even people like the president of a company and a real Princess-sama like Kako went? My father would be troubled if a “fake Princess-sama” like myself went.
Besides, at a party, if I was to get along well with the party’s organizer’s child, even if I was being watched with strange looks, strange rumors wouldn’t spring up.
Even though it was such a wonderful party, Kouki-kun and his father didn’t attend.
I heard that the relationship between Kouki-kun’s parents and his grandparents weren’t good because of the matter of “land speculation”.
When I say “rumors”, it was something I heard from the “Spirit of the Wakame Seaweed” using hand gestures in the ramen at the ramen shop where the Dad was working.
…… I wonder if I’m just tired.
By the way, only Misa and I could see the “Spirit of the Wakame”. It’s surely because both of us have pure and innocent hearts.
＊
“Are you a child from this shopping district?”
While Misa and I were playing in the alleyway beside the ramen shop, an elegant man in his mid-twenties talked to me.
I could tell that his suit was fine at a glance. Behind him was someone in a black suit with a bulge in it that made Misa a little bit frightened.
“…… and you are?”
I was a little wary, but I asked him in a childlike way.
Still, noticing that I was trying to protect Misa, the man took an exaggerated step forwards, turning a sweet smile at us.
“I’m not a suspicious person. I spoke to you out of curiosity because there aren’t many children despite being such a wonderful shopping street.”
“Fuuhn~……”
He was saying plausible things, but he ultimately didn’t answer my question. His face was smiling, but to me that smile looked like that of a “snake”.
“……Misa, go back to dad-chan’s place.”
“Y-yeah”
I held off the conversation as I took Misa’s hand and went to the back of the shop.
Just when I thought that he would follow us, the man just gently shrugged and went back to the shopping district. …… Behind him, there were some more evil-looking men in black suits, but when the man looked lightly at them, they scattered into the shopping district.
I wonder what…… what was this feeling.
After talking to the man who was just here before, I felt something light up in my heart. What is this small, fluctuating “feeling”…
“……I won’t let anyone say that about our ramen!”
We got in from the back and heard dad-chan shouting loudly.
“……O-onii-chan?”