Web of light. Part 1. part 28

Part 28.

Interlude 19. Dom Kaname, Hiroe Kaname, an analyst at the A-Ko Group Management Company, a junior high school student, and just a very bitch... A very sweet 11-year-old girl

Hiroe closed the browser tab and leaned back in her chair: it became very informative to read the history of her native country. In general, if you look for information about historical events in your Homeland in one way or another, from the point of view of the participation of some names and surnames in them, the result changes dramatically. It would seem that: the empire, the feudal lords... but for some reason, emperors come and go, the empire is replaced by the shogunate, it is replaced by restoration, and the Yakoin family has been among the government's advisers for almost six hundred years. Or Tsuchimikado, a surname that is constantly juxtaposed in chronicles and historical research with expressions like "progressive changes" and "new reforms." But if you look for "Amakawa"... Yuto's relatives "lit up" in the chronicles literally several times. And every time in passages like "the mysterious mystic" or "the fatal amulet." From the fragmentary notes, one might have thought that these objects or mysterious personalities suddenly found themselves "in the castle of an ancient and high family" by accident. Like, they walked and walked and came to visit, they asked to spend the night, so to speak. Especially amulets suffer from such a cute habit, yes, yes. But all that could be learned from historical documents was just a small piece of the puzzle called "the true state of affairs in Japan."

Small, but important to understand. Kaname received the second, much larger and more valuable piece from her mother. It's amazing how little human society changes, having changed so much! For half a century, the island Empire has rightfully occupied the place of one of the most technically advanced states. Instead of tens of thousands of peasants, only hundreds of combine harvesters enter the fields, and proud samurai castles have been burned down, demolished, or mockingly turned into hotels and entertainment centers. And where are they, the proud and fatalistic followers of the "bushi" way? The Prime Minister talks about democracy from the screen... and yet, the country's policy is largely set by the Old Clans. Mysterious magicians, spirit fighters and military men, schemers and researchers, fanatical followers of ancestral traditions and brave innovators. Bone rivaling the descendants of Heaven in whiteness, blood bluer than the blood of noble families. If you are lucky enough to be born or enter even the last collateral family of the weakest of the clans, they may spit at you, but they will not dare to touch you, no matter what you do. Business? You're welcome! Politics? No problem! Show business? The theater? A movie? They'll look askance, but if you act under a pseudonym, as much as you want. Humiliating and impassable bureaucratic obstacles and dirty games of competitors magically bypass such people. Yes, there may be complaints... but only the representatives of the clans. Here, the Jinguji, despised by the rest. They wanted to get their own piece of the state budget pie and influence in the social sphere of the Islands' life. Through the lip, almost spitting, the other clans allowed it... and the huge structure, with thousands of seats, was literally presented to the eldest family on a platter. In the form of a government decision, of course, but appreciate the speed and scale! But that's not all. For a long time, the girl could not understand how the clans had settled so firmly on the political Olympus.

But you couldn't get this piece of the puzzle from people outside the clans. From humans, but there are also spirits. And there is Amakawa, with whom the spirits agree to make contact, including telling several episodes of the secret endless war in the first person. Wars that have become a given, a tradition... and a solid foundation of the clans' political power.

Amakawa... Yuto. An orphan boy who turned her inner world upside down. Her mother and her father are happy, but her father is obviously not her equal. From the moment her mother forced her to communicate with her peers (and with adults), Kaname understood, accepted that one day she would be alone. Her mother taught her not to lie to herself-never and for nothing. No matter what kind of person Hiroe falls in love with someday, he will never be her equal. He might be strong, he might be a great businessman, or he might just be an honest hard worker like her father. But not like her. He will just see the world from the wrong side, from the wrong angle, through the wrong prism. He would never understand her. Kaname Sr. was completely satisfied with this situation. Due to Kaname Jr.'s age, this situation did not suit her at all... But what to do? And then Amakawa burst into her life. Children's plastic movements and not a childish, piercingly sober view of the world. Amakawa-who-doesn't-lie. Amakawa, who does not recognize problems, but only tasks. A type of thinking that is impossible in principle for an orphan child. The only person who told her, "I trust you," completely... Well, having understood it well enough. And he said it anyway. Let their union initially be an alliance for the sake of joint benefit... But doesn't that make it so strong? And then, if the union is a solid benefit, why shouldn't it also be pleasant?

And Hiroe found the solution to the "mystery" of young Amakawa's thinking... and if Yuto, in his unique style, had not dragged Mizuchi to his side, it remains to be seen how that sweet friendly dinner with poker and revelations would have ended. This ability of his is... "Farry"... It is very different from the mental techniques of all spirits and magicians combined. Amakawa's ability could actually change the parameters of thinking — it seemed only with his own will that was being processed, but Hiroe was sure that if it was really necessary, then the trick could be done without him. When Yuto talked about his clan's "blood power," he usually emphasized the possibility of incredibly wide modification of the properties of materials and objects, modestly omitting such a wonderful material as a person... or a non-human. An ordinary magician can make a person consider himself a god... and the usual Amakawa is to make you think instead of obtusely following orders. Instead of deception, there is a contract, and instead of obtuse execution of orders, there is conscious help. Feel the difference!

And the "secret"... Yuto, of course, didn't tell me anything... but the events are not so difficult to compare. When a nine-year-old child is left without parents, he can commit suicide. In this case, literally. I must admit that Yuto proved himself to be a real fighter: only such a person can wish to see the world very clearly to the point of pain, to the point of tears, when your whole being is trying to hide in the warm haze of memories of a life that disappeared overnight. The resulting character of Yuto could not be called kind: capable of pushing his childhood friend into a deadly battle, cynically forcing the spirits to carry out their plan, and being ready to plunge into blood and dirt in advance. However, by doing this, he turned an ordinary and unremarkable Rinko into his "blade". Who now dares to wipe away from the "throne" a girl who initially shed blood along with the head (even if not her own... so far) that you supported him selflessly from the very beginning? He was not afraid to take a deadly risk himself, he was not afraid to stand between his subordinates and the discontent of the clans if everything was revealed. He took a swing at the centuries-old order of relations between Yokai and hunters.

And how could Hiroe not follow him? Such a chance... not even one in a billion, but an even rarer one. To become a partner of a man who, though almost destroyed, is still respected (and dangerous— oh yes!) The old Clan. This is a bid for the very pinnacle of opportunity and freedom that an ambitious person who does not belong to the "elite" by birthright could receive. Yes, she would not become Yuto's wife. The clan needs allies, and she, Kaname, will make sure that their joint political capital with Yuto is invested as efficiently as possible! But to become the founder of one of the side branches? That would be problematic too... but she also has the notorious "improved genome." Slightly flawed, but no one would dare take her children away from the clan. And the father of the children... Well, how do you think all these subsidiary branches and junior families are formed? Oh, don't say the word "adopted into the family"! That's how the clan leader will accept someone into the family from nowhere. The institution of concubines, "successfully defeated" in "modern society," has not disappeared from the admirers of the old traditions. Well, "who orders the music, the girls dance," isn't it? Oh, her mother could have said a lot about that... but it's not always censored: there just aren't enough decent words to describe individual cases. By the way, the number of concubines is also a matter of status. We need to take care of this in advance...

Interlude 20. "Amakawa Group" (unofficial name), a Mutual Aid Group(OV). Octopus Sea Spirit, Pachi

That's what, and in the most terrible dream, in the most abstract nightmare, Pachi could not imagine that his species could cause a massive "fit of wit" on the part of his nakama. And after all, nothing foreshadowed when the Hawk-nosed artel, consisting of three snouts, sorry, individuals, crashed into the store under the sign "Manga". I must say that the location on the border between the port and work quarters played a role in the selection of the range of printed publications, you know which way. A slight distortion of the central nervous system after taking the Amakawa oath allowed the spirits from the group to learn and memorize information much more effectively. This also affected the speed of reading, and there were not enough books... As the art workers found out, manga is even more interesting! And the hentai manga, taking into account the peculiarities of the physiology of the animal forms of the existing composition of the "group", was almost a direct guide to action! Since both groups included female Yokai, the overall effect was positive: in the process of trial and error, so to speak, two solid cells of society were formed... and one innocent octopus got hurt! The beautiful dark blue color of the animal's skin, multiplied by the moral principles of the spirit, played a cruel joke on poor Patchi. That is, the jokes are from friends. And, believe he, the question about the erogenous properties of suction cups was almost the most harmless! The second mistake of the spirit was the decision to rent a separate room (and take a break from the constant "teasing" at least in the evening) — since there is no more constraint on the means. What prompted the wits to another batch of absolutely indecent creativity! About cami...

So it's not surprising that in the early autumn evening, the octopus strolled along the embankment in proud solitude, admiring the sunset and relaxing from overly cheerful friends, and completely ignored the people around him. The detector doesn't detect magic? Is there no magic? Well, that's fine. Yeah, right now! Spirits have excellent reactions. It's just that Patchi didn't connect with the cry

"Hikari, come o-o-o-o-on!!!", and then it was too late.

Because there was a human girl with light brown hair, about eighteen or twenty years old, hanging on his neck! I must say, there was only half of the classic Japanese appearance in the girl.: red freckles on her cheeks and distinctly green eyes spoke of an admixture of foreign blood, but there was a look... Patchi tried to find a non-material analogue, but did not succeed — the cockroaches in this person's head were clearly an order of magnitude more advanced than the average man in the street! The octopus tried to gently pull away, but it was not there! The girl held on tight and looked extremely happy!

"Hurray! Hikari! I'm finally here! You! I found it!"

"Me?" The spirit asked, lost. Why a human girl should be looking for him, Patchi could not say at all. "There must be some mistake, mistress..."

"Come on! You just forgot me again! Your signature feature, of course, I remember. I still admire how well you do it! And our tax service still believes that for a couple of years you ate only burdocks and dressed in them..."

In this regard, the prototype seemed to be the most reliable object of implementation: parents were dead, there were no friends, a handyman without a fixed place of residence, at least he was able to graduate from school. In principle, according to information unearthed online in both police and medical archives (Hiroe, as always, presented herself as an employer*), Comrade Hikari was definitely a candidate for the Darwin Prize: he had achievements like climbing the outer wall of a school naked at midnight, jumping off a cliff into the sea (in an unknown place at random) and other follies in the same spirit. Apparently, the aggravation passed over time (there was no mention of a period of more than three years), but the award still reached its hero: the corpse of the previous passport holder was found by a group of Corpse Eaters on top of one of the flat hills around the city. The guy managed to spend the night there (why?!), choosing a stone with a crevice as a pillow, where he safely stuck his head in a dream, insensitively pinching both arteries in his neck at once...

"I must have inherited an evil fate along with my name!" Patchi thought, trying hard to figure out how to behave with his "friend" who "recognized" him.

"Okay," octopus finally said, pulling the girl away from him. "I really don't remember you, so please introduce yourself and tell me how you found me."

"Hikari-i... Okay, I'm Haruhi Hirano, and I found you very easily! Here."

The girl held out her phone, where the display showed the standard registration page for public non-profit organizations on the website of the Takamiya City Council, where it read in Japanese in white that "Hikari Goto, deputy head." That's right, such information is open, and Hawk-Nosed, who was given the official leadership of the newly created Squad (well, not in the Rinko!), had to officially register a deputy, who became a responsible and restrained octopus.

"There's only the first and last name, there was a chance to make a mistake," Patchi pointed out reasonably.

"Oh, come on, I'm not mistaken! I turned twenty yesterday, I had to finally get away from the drunken old people! But! I sailed on a river tram! And anyway, why are we standing?! Let's do something fun, I've been waiting for five years to finally be able to see you!" Yokai repeated his boss's favorite gesture.