Web of light. Part 1.2

Okay, we can think about the principles of service later. Now my task is to use the situation "in my favor", while having as few victims as possible from all sides. And something is looming. The path is even more risky and faster than I had planned: I will have to take responsibility not only for the Yokai from my "retinue" to other clans, but also to the demons for the actions of Hunters in this region. And not only in front of "my own people", but also in front of those who were not even close to me in my retinue. And, worst of all, we will have to take responsibility for the "ordinary" citizens. They really won't know about it... I hope. I thought I was nervous before the university entrance exam "there". Holy shit! Everything is learned by comparison. And the expression "the hamstrings are shaking" is not at all figurative, it turns out... And my scenario is extremely simple: I actually decided to assemble a "brigade" from an available "resource" — from yokai. That is, to make a "roof" and cover no less than a million-plus city. Yes, yes, just like that. In the spirit of our "new Russians" in the 90s, "there". If I hadn't been born a Russian, if I hadn't been a teenager who was already thinking about something in the "dashing 90s", I would have let the situation take its course one hundred percent... and this is the worst thing that can be done. Because the lawlessness in the city will provoke a raid by the Jinguji combat group now, and those, since they are waiting for them in a dozen more places at once, will not be deterred by "minimal damage" to the territory. Everything related to Ayakashi will be cut out and destroyed. A "big fish" in the form of a Mizuchi and a Devourer is likely to survive by escaping in time... and all achievements will be lost. It will be difficult for anyone to hide from the Jinguji cleanup group... and they will refuse to sit out under protective amulets... and they will do it right. Because life "after" will follow a completely different path... the rails of the canon. Where the snake hates all hunters, but also hates Yuto, who could have done something and didn't. Even if she knows with her mind that nothing could have been done. BUT IT'S STILL POSSIBLE, DAMN IT!!!

Okay, calm down. The main problem is the lack of time... Hiroe promised to get the information somehow, but we will count on a month, otherwise everyone would know, including Kaname's father and mother. That means a month or more. And the first problem will be to persuade the Death Eater and Co. to come with me. Moreover, this will have to be done literally in a few days — so that there is time left to work out the strategy and tactics of patrolling the city and come up with something for those who are on vacation. The Death Eater's group should be enough... I wonder what he would say to such a "generous" offer. I hope he doesn't try to kill me on the spot, but I'll take Mizuchi with me... When I talk you into it... Don't get distracted. The second stage will begin with Tsuchi's departure — groups of demons will enter the city under amulets and begin to catch small change and filter the flow of intelligent spirits... which will have to be exposed if they do not agree to register... still figure out how to do it... and they won't promise to break the riots, that is, the rules (and tighten surveillance!). And the rest are kicked in the coccyx (or where their tail will grow from there) — and for 101 km. Our land, fuck you all...

It started skidding again, nerves, nerves. So, when the bullshit statistics decrease proportionally more than in other cities after the departure of the Tsuchi polis, show up to the main committee for the city and present yourself in all your glory — with yokai behind your back, so that you can drive your soul into your heels with one aura... and politely, politely explain about the protectorate of the Amakawa clan... Hmm, on what grounds... Yeah, the USA! I need a buffer zone around my house. 101 km. And don't f... don't care! After that, I'll either be smeared and captured by Jinguji's battle group, or even Tsuchi... or the chief committeeman will turn out to be smart. And he will conceal the agreement with Amakawa, and Amakawa with the Yokai... more precisely, a slight distortion of information, which will give some preferences to him and me... the city authorities, who will be put under pressure by the Social Committee, should also be satisfied — there are no spent shell casings and craters from fireball explosions. And you definitely need to mix up something useful financially. Ah! The head is square! But I carefully wrote down the theses in a lined notebook "for the most important".

Now exhale. Is there anything I can do "right now"? To talk to Shizuka, maybe... And I think I'll talk...

... I'm on time. Yokai was clearly sick, and it wasn't physically bad — a half-naked girl sitting on the floor in a puddle of her own water, convulsively clenching her fists, staring at nothing with empty eyes, from which moisture continued to run. It was scary. But for once, I didn't allow myself to be careful. Sometimes you have to put everything on zero over and over and over again, because that's the only way there's any chance of winning. I sat down wearily in a puddle, propping the girl's back with my back. The dealer? It's all on zero!

chapter 106.

It's wet to sit in a puddle. It's not even cold, it's summer outside, and the water from the Mizuchi is not icy, but quite body temperature. My back was soaked too. We're sitting. We are silent. The snake cries completely soundlessly.

"We're going to have to save them now, aren't we?" Finally, she asked softly.

"If you're talking about committee members, then the expression "forcibly protect from the possibility of death" is more appropriate here."

"Not too different, you know."

"Well, considering that we're actually going to take their place. No, it's wrong, not the place, but the territory."

"Are we going to?" Yokai asked with some surprise. Huh, I almost stopped crying.

"Yes. We were talking about a just world... It's time to test our beliefs and calculations on the control platform."

"Kh-huh!" Shizuka choked on it. "You're talking about your hamsters!"

But what if you don't test the model of a society of intelligent beings on hamsters? Shizuka forced a smile:

"It's unusual to feel like a hamster... You know!"

"Well, if it makes you feel better, feel like a scientist forced to enter the experimental area... or a device for measuring the result. Unfortunately, we have to enter the experiment now... But that doesn't mean that if we don't like something, we can't change it. Have you become familiar with the concept of role-playing games?"

"Is that where a girl dresses up as a maid so she doesn't have to clean up? I didn't know you liked that, Yuto-kun! And you're so young..."

"Not those role-playing games!" I finally managed to cut into Shizuka's monologue. "I was referring to D'n'D board games or role-playing games with reincarnation. No, not a maid or even a nurse! An elf or a Space Marine. What I mean is, the player and the piece are one. The player represents himself as a figure, plays the game by himself. And we will not have a game, but a study..."

"..Imagine yourself as a hamster!" Mizuchi snorted. I just sighed heavily: everyone's got these hamsters.

"So you want to make Jinguji work for you? It's a big idea, you know."

"It will be beneficial for them too." I shrugged my shoulders, "besides, not all the Jingujis, but only the local Committee. Personally, they did not actually participate in anything because of their weakness, civilian personnel were not involved at all. And we will need loyal magicians if we want our experiment to turn into a practical guide.

"They didn't kill themselves, you know, they just targeted the killers."

"As far as I know, is there a similar practice among the Yokai to detect potential food?" Shizuka grimaced. I pointed my finger at the sky and got hit, but it was simple: how did all these hordes of weak-willed aggressive freaks come out to canon Yuto, if you can feel my aura barely a kilometer away?

Shizuka inhaled... exhaled...

"Two desires are fighting in me, you know... trust you without looking back... or drop everything and run without seeing a crash... Your dream has already become mine."

"If that's the case, it's still no reason to sit in a puddle," I translated the conversation. All these "high matters" and "diplomacy" are pretty exhausting. I do not know how much longer a snake can stay in a puddle of water, a water yokai is probably comfortable... But not for me! Therefore, I hesitated for a second longer, then mentally waved my hand, and, bending down, picked up the girl under her back and knees.

"Ouch! Where are you taking me?"

I understood intellectually that a body made of water could not be heavier than a body made of water and protein. That's the confirmation.

"To bed. I need to sleep. Tomorrow we will hold a general briefing and start acting, and now we will rest."

"..You're going the wrong way, you know..."

"=I stood in front of Shizuka's room, looking puzzled and silent. I won't be able to sleep anyway... one... I should think about all this... again.

I opened the door with my foot and carried the girl into my room. I put it on the bed, just like that — wet, without undressing. He climbed in next.

He squeezed the stiffened body by the shoulders and waist. And, tired, he fell asleep. I don't know what Shizuka was doing there at night, but the next morning I woke up in a wet bed, in wet clothes, and a snake hugging my neck, smiling in a dream. While I was opening my arms, which were almost made of steel for such a fragile build, I heard, "It's still so early, nii-chan, dree-aam!" Yeah, it's stupid, but I was grinning from ear to ear as I walked down the stairs. Wow, miracles do happen!

Part 20

chapter 107.

It's a stupid situation: my kitchen, and I've cooked in it at most five times. Well, not counting slicing sandwiches. And in the last two weeks, Rinko and I have already gotten so used to the fact that awesome delicious food is already waiting for us in the morning... but the snake is sleeping today. Which finally made me think that there was a reason she went to bed later than me, and a lot of work was usually done in the morning. Yes, my "kindness" and "responsiveness" are just off the charts... How did I overlook under my own nose that Shizuka just couldn't sleep properly? And after all, if it weren't for her sharp reaction, it's still unknown how many would not have noticed. No, you can say that I'm not a psychologist... but such an epic fail! But there were hints in the manga... But what about now?

Fridge. And what do we have in stock? BEETROOT! I can't stand it, who bought it?! Is it really Rinko? So she knows about my tender feelings for this vegetable. Although... Wait a minute. Damn it! I bought it myself, a month ago. It's a great illustration of how one bad idea completely overwhelms common sense.

I regularly read Russian samizdat — and so that I don't forget the language, and in general it turned out that I just missed a lot of authors. It is especially rzhachen to read popadanstvo in anime Japan, there are few of them yet, but given my situation, it would be a sin not to help with advice! But I digress. The authors of works on this topic have compiled a whole list of what a "faithful" person should do: and if the Kalashnikov assault rifle is recommended exclusively for those who got into the Second World War, then Vysotsky's rehash is mandatory for everyone, including those who got into fantasy. It would seem that so what? Karaoke clubs are very popular, Vysotsky is definitely among the recordings, as a last resort, you can bring your own mp3s... But I'm even worse at singing than dancing. The intermediate cartridge has already been invented, but somehow they didn't write about the T-72, which needs to be redone to create the "dream tank"... and I got the idea to make the only Russian that was relatively safe for others from the entire set of "ru-cranberries" (I soberly assessed the quality of my singing and attributed my possible playing on the balalaika to the elements of mass destruction). So, yes, yes! I was going to "craft" IT! BORSCH!!!

Putting Cyrillic letters on a Japanese phone is one of a series of tonsillectomies through the ass, and therefore I found "Russian beetroot soup with meat broth" on Google without much fuss, and, periodically checking the text and pictures, I started. Yes, yes, I know, soup for breakfast is kind of weird.

But for some reason, when Shizuka makes miso soup for breakfast, everyone eats in silence. That means I can, too. And the beetroot skin began to wrinkle suspiciously... I like beets that are frozen in the refrigerator even less than fresh ones. It took me two hours to pre-process the ingredients and cook the broth, and a loaf of bread and ham were unlucky enough to become my snack. Cami! For the way I eat — healthy, delicious, varied food — Rinko and Shizuka should have monuments! So, where's my big pot? We start the basic reaction, so to speak...

"What are you doing?" Rinko asked me suspiciously from the entrance. "Is something wrong with Shizuka? Should I wait?"

"Shizuka is asleep," I reassured my friend, "So, I wanted to try my hand, but I woke up early. We have a trip planned today to visit Shizuka's "relatives", I wouldn't have time to do scientific work anyway."

"Hm-m," Rinko lifted the lid and sniffed. "Beetroot?! Yuuto, are you sure you're okay? Did this snake infect you with anything? Is there no fever?"

"Rinko! It's all right! I'm just trying my hand!"

"I hope you're not brewing poison."

"Wow, the poison! How lucky I am!"

So, and here's another fan of eating for free.

"Good morning, Hiroe-chan."

"Hello everyone Oh, do you cook your OWN food, Yuto-kun? Or is it really poison? And where is our favorite chef?!"

"Shizuka is sleeping, sleeping!"

"You know, it smells kind of edible, but it's kind of suspicious." Rinko supported me with a somewhat dubious statement.

"Yuto, have you ever made this kind of soup before?"

"No," I said through clenched teeth, "Mom cooked. I decided to repeat it."

"Mom?" Hiroe picked up the open phone and read the name of the recipe. "Russian soup?! I didn't know your mom wasn't Japanese, you don't look like a Gaijin, and you have completely traditional facial features."

Damn it! So I got burned out of the blue. Fortunately, Rinko mistook the furrowed brows for a burst of grief for her dead parents and tugged Kaname's sleeve.

"Half of it," I said, carefully keeping in mind that if my mother is Russian "there" and Japanese here, I have the right to say so. "And I don't know anything about her relatives." But this is the absolute truth.