Web of light. Part 1.2

part 14.

Interlude 7. The beloved clearing of the "big three" Yokai led by the Corpse Eater. 15 kilometers upstream of the stream where Mizuchi and Yuto met.

When Shizuka, revealing her disguise for a moment, blinked her aura and entered the clearing, the leader of the local yokai and his hook-nosed henchman number two (and number one was just her, Mizuchi) were discussing the end of the raid on the crazy "spirit of the graves." And where did the jerk come from?

The main yokai was about to tell the whistling girl, who had not appeared by the beginning of the short fight, what he thought of her independent antics, but when he saw her hair tied up and tied in a braid, he lost his way a little, and his claim sounded very similar to "What the fuck?!"

"I found a man in the woods by the river, a child, you know. She took me out of the woods. That is all." she replied indifferently in response to two questioning glances, sitting down on her favorite branch.

The Hawk-nosed Man grinned, but the Corpse Eater couldn't stand it.:

"Since when do you see people off instead of scaring the shit out of them.. gray hair?"

"He wasn't afraid of me, you know." The snake still spoke indifferently.

"How's that?"

"My appearance didn't affect him."

"You took off your disguise, I saw the reflections from the slope. Anyone in an aura of power experiences mild discomfort." He knew what he was talking about.

"So he's just not everyone." Shizuka stated phlegmatically.

After giving her an incredulously amazed look, the leader only silently raised his eyes to the sky, as if asking, "why am I doing all this?"

But the Hawk-Nosed Man finally gave his squeaky and nasty voice in this guise:

"Maybe he tied your braid, too." But Mizuchi ignored the question with a look that could have been deciphered from "if you're jealous, make yourself one" to "fuck you." And silence descended on the clearing.

Lying on a feather bed, little yokai was actually thinking the same thing: about a strange, not timid child, whose body was just slightly absorbing the bursting power of a powerful spirit that was trying to penetrate him. This can explain his calmness. Some kind of amulet? It will be interesting to see this amulet if it really is the effect of the amulet. In the old families of priests, there were sometimes extremely interesting gizmos that could work for centuries without recharging from a magician... or which could recharge themselves. But there were also Amakawa amulets, which were legendary. Especially about the ones that were made for the Yokai. In addition, another reason is that the possibility of sitting out an exorcist raid in one of the houses, if she falls under it, is much greater if there is such an "overwhelming" amulet in this house.

Then, during a short conversation, the River Goddess, convinced that she knew human society well, suddenly found out about a completely huge gap in knowledge, ranging from the dissemination of information to the banal "idea of spirits" on the part of people. Magicians are also people, and she often has to disguise herself as a human — in a big city, you can't get to some places otherwise... and her hair was really styled for the first time since... as there was no one else. And, according to the boy's reservations, it seems that he, too, has become an orphan and lives alone. Okay, that's settled, and as soon as the summer current washes the shoal back to the flooded island, from which these abnormal creatures crawl out every year, you'll still need to go to the city to explore. That's when she and... Talk to you? Shizuka was slightly surprised to find that she was actually slightly interested and a little worried. I really didn't expect it from myself. Mizuchi spread out a page from her notebook, memorizing the address. With her lousy job, papers and objects afraid of water didn't live in her pockets for long anyway.

Interlude 8. City center, police headquarters. The office of the Head of the Department for the investigation of crimes committed or related to occult purposes, as well as ritual or magical actions

Yes-Yes, that's what the department was called. Do you know why there are so few sacrifices in Japan, conducted by all sorts of profane people, as well as sects and religious fraudsters? But Tsuchimikado magicians don't like to be interrupted from their work by such nonsense. They can also apply a fireball (it especially affects various "demon summoners". Light a fireball, show the icon and ask unobtrusively: "Did you summon demons?").

There is only one department for such a specific topic in the whole city, which is much more important than the fact that there are only two employees in it besides the boss. Well, if necessary, you can call a rapid response team from Home — fortunately it is not so far away, and there are helicopters to the House, and secondly, there is a whole staff of these weaklings from the committee. So there are rumors that when the promotion comes, the department will be taken out of the city altogether. To spit in the sky, to arrange rare raids on all sorts of small fry or to catch charlatans is a waste of such a wonderful resource as the combat magicians of the strongest clan in Japan. There's enough "garbage" here to protect you from every little thing. Moreover, in winter and spring, when the underwater dam is being washed away, all sorts of animals stopped coming, otherwise they used to come in droves — five or six pieces per season. Should I go check out the mountains? Maybe some kind of crap has settled there, which eats up everyone passing by in vain?

Todoki yawned, and it was at that moment that the front door opened and the chief of "minor and domestic problems" entered. The largest department in the city was giving its head a lot of headaches, and now we have to go to these black box snobs. He's a damn tour player, and he fucked me up, and he fucked himself up. Well, who asked him to expose himself?

But Mizuhara said something completely different out loud — and in a rather "fawning" voice — everyone knows the fact that damn Tsuchi has a scam at the very top:

"Todoki-san, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a case of your profile here."

"?" Todoki raised an eyebrow, nodding slightly at the bow.

"Here, a wound inflicted by something strange."

"Something strange, how is that?"

"Well, sort of... like a fireball." The head of "household" said in a more apologetic tone, as if hinting that he would not have come up with such nonsense, but here are the instructions.

"Oh my. Come on, give me your unscientific fiction. So, so, "a round-shaped burn, shock damage to the muscles of the back and face, clothing and the place of detection bear traces of the presence of a weak shock wave"? Well, it's quite interesting! Yamamoto, Yamamoto-kun! Yamo... Damn, he also snores. Mi-chan, kick Yamo-kun already, I need his report."

The secretary girl, she's an operative, she's a financially responsible person and the head of the household unit (well, a small department, a small one!), without looking up from her nails, stood up and kicked her foot (though without shoes), knocking down a third employee who was really snoring.

"You could just shake him by the shoulder," Yamamoto muttered, unharmed, as he rose from the corner. "What is it, Chief?"

"Didn't you monitor the park at Blooming?"

"Well I."

"Were there any manifestations of you-know-what?"

"Not a single Voldemort has been spotted, Chief?" The bully grinned and immediately smoothly dodged another low kick from the "secretary". "Mi, don't be a bully!"

"I'm not your Mi! And don't you dare call Him by His first name," The girl frowned "menacingly", shaking the volume of "Deathly Hallows" in her hands. Todoki looked at this farce with a smile, and the head of the "household" silently blushed. He had a lot to say, but he didn't want to lose his job. And the crazy "mystics" humiliated everyone. Finally, the main "mystic" "remembered" about his counterpart:

"Well, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but you see, it's not for us? Give me the folder, I'll attach it to the archive, but I'm sorry — there's nothing to investigate here. And tell me, my friend, have you found traces of any chemicals in your skin or clothes?"

"We found," bytovik replied, restraining his irritation, "nitrocellulose."

"Holy shit, what a mystical line-up, chief!" Yamamoto cut in.

"The chemists are funny these days. Look, my friend, I think they were schoolchildren or students. Who's there overseeing the explosives reagents? Let them go through lectures and commissions, checking the consumption of nitric and sulfuric acids and what else is needed there? Otherwise, the kids will blow up the police building next time, purely for educational purposes, of course." The head of the household department gritted his teeth distinctly and left, but did not forget to bow goodbye.

And, despite the offense, I took note of the idea of the chief of the "mystics" — in which case, there will be someone to turn the tables on for the extra fuss. For all their "virtues," Tsuchimikado never go back on their words.

Part 15

Chapter 90.

I returned home, but Kuzaki is not there yet. I made myself a sandwich — my young and growing body has already digested half of the bento. I sat down at my desk and turned on the "top" computer in my room. Yeah, when was the last time I worked for him? He thought about it. Did I mention that things are getting out of control? Now they're raining down on my head like bricks. My wonderful plan, is this how you could take and complete points A and B in just a year? And I naively thought how wonderfully slow and boring I would be doing self-discovery (since the Ferry is a part of me, it means self-discovery), and then this! By the way, what's next on the plan? Google Docs, the language is Russian. Yeah, here it is: "C) Make weapons and defenses to demonstrate your strength (and so that you don't get hurt if you fail)." I wonder which cami I made laugh? Or are they already amicably gathered in the astral around my mortal carcass and making fun of my solo performance?

Well, yes. I had an attack of self-irony against the background of the realization of my real ability to manage the situation. And I think I've already gotten used to the risk. And that's right, if after every case where you could get into a big mess, you walk away with shaking hands, emptying the refrigerator and sleeping nervously, you won't have enough health, even if you still figure out how to fix some physiological problems of the body by Ferry, like the telomerase reaction and the physiological shutdown of thymus cell proliferation... [Yuto talks about the easiest to eliminate natural reactions of the body involved in the mechanism of aging].

Damn. After all, running into a Yokai lair like that is a talent you have to have. I don't even know whether to admire myself or scold? What if Shizuka really shows up on my doorstep soon? Well, let's say everything is clear with the map, and the strangest hamsters can be removed from sight... just don't release them into the wild in the park, otherwise the residents will worry why atomic and chemically active waste began to be stored in their favorite place for walks.

How long would it take her to get to the house of the descendant of the exorcists? Well, she probably won't kill the magical one, but the relationship will be completely ruined. Or should I follow the Yuta method from the canon? That's not going to work, right, I need to get the snake interested in me, and not make it watch out of fear that I'll kill someone from the spirit people? I think she will objectively assess my ability to kill someone and proudly retire for five years to remind me of myself after removing the amulet. And I will be able to put an end to my desire to find additional allies among the Ayakashi. However, on a hunch, he called Mizuchi to his house... so, subconsciously, I assumed the possible benefits of such a meeting were higher than the possible risks. So I relaxed early, the situation with Shizuka has not been resolved yet.

So, think, think. My grandfather is an exorcist, a Himary breeder, and he probably personally managed to kill someone. But my parents became pacifists... That's it! Heh, and the answer is really on the surface. My parents left the clan. And they were killed, I'm sure of it, not by evidence, but by logic. To kill a man who owns a Ferry, who has a normal clan education, in his own car, but by hitting the car against the car? Is it logical? Everything is logical. And even though I grew up with my grandfather for the first six or seven years, they took me away and didn't let me teach. The question is "why?" That's what you're asking for, isn't it? But because my parents didn't want to see me as an exorcist, it's elementary. Oops! Then it turns out that the situation with the amulet and the sealing of power looks completely different: I remember from the canon how little Yuto promises little Kues to "kill all people," in the sense of yokai. And communication with a pack of spirits, which, as logic suggests, was supposed to prepare the future "spirit sleeper" for the peculiarities of the way of thinking and the specifics of the behavior of spirits. That is, the first stage of training, as it should be in the clan, took place at my age of three or four, or even right from scratch. If the good grandfather wanted me to become an exorcist, then it is absolutely undesirable to erase these critically important memories. After all, Himari has no information about the "Ferry" in the canon (considering how the poor cat was shaken a couple of times by Tsuchi together with Kasuri in the Tsuchimikado house, it makes sense). And from this we make a logical conclusion that everything important about working with the Ferry of Light, including, possibly, the hiding places with libraries, was informed to the heir in advance. Does it fit? There don't seem to be any flaws in the logic.

Okay, now about the amulet. I REALLY doubt that master artefactor Amakawa, now that I imagine the abilities of a trained, experienced user of my clan's "kekkei genkai" could have screwed up in such a way that critically important memories were affected. Is it logical? Quite. It's possible that the amulet was supposed to hide these memories from me until I was sixteen, but Yuto didn't remember anything about the Ferry in the canon, just something from personal communication. And then, suppressing unrestrained sex followed by a razor stroke by the notorious Occam, we get an awesome result: my parents erased my memories! Ta-dam, you've won a super prize: amnesia with love!

In light of this, the story of the amulet itself looks in a completely different light. So, I'll try to restore the events in retrospect:

1) There is some kind of rift between the older and middle generation of Amakawa. Perhaps it was some kind of knowledge or idea that needed to be studied. I remember my parents visiting Noihara, and most of the time I was left to my grandparents and Himari — and I don't remember that anymore, but it's like that in the manga. Fine, let's have a version about new information — I can't stand the hackneyed plot about "ancient lost hidden knowledge." So, let's go do some research. And they did.

2) My grandfather finds out about my parents' return "with a victory" and realizes that they will take me away now. Perhaps my relatives were so pumped up that they had cats for one sneeze. Or maybe it was just that my grandparents didn't want to start a massacre that would surely put an end to our clan. By the way, it is logical to assume that the main "retinue of clan spirits" was subordinate to their parents, and in the clan manor, in their laboratory, elderly pensioners "collected and tweaked" experimental "models" of spirits for their own pleasure. Is it logical? Of course, because the house is covered by the invincible while she's in the building, a brownie whose name I still can't remember, either that way or in the manga. The Red Blade cat is the heir's babysitter and toy, and the envelope and the dog are just the entertainment pieces. Unfinished, apparently. And where did the parental retinue go? Maybe he's waiting, hiding somewhere? It is best in the Pacific Ocean, on the warm white sand of a coral atoll, under the shade of palm trees. It's decided, they'll give you a passport, and I'll rush to look for it, along with Himari, just after 16, you can travel abroad on your own... But most likely, the retinue was simply dismissed... or they buried what was left. Which is more likely, but I will sincerely believe in the "disbanded" version — otherwise I will not wash myself in front of the snake until the end of time. It doesn't hurt to search... Oh, yeah. Most likely, if released, then with a "broken" memory. Ha, maybe Mizuchi was there, but she stuck to Yuto in the canon because she already served the clan... Damn, this is such a logical and cynical version, and it doesn't work. I got a good look at the Goddess of Rivers on the cliff, but you can't take off the ferry. Damn, that's how you have to believe in kind and intelligent Yokai...

Okay, wait, there's another piece of the puzzle: Kues-chan's arrival. It means that my grandfather found out in advance that my parents' work was close to success, and began to "wrap up" clan affairs for the heir. That's right, the suppression amulet was then made much in advance of the issue, which is why it is so complex and has so many functions. And then the self-destruct device just has to be there, thank you, grandfather, for making a reminder from childhood absent-mindedness, I did not forget! Otherwise, it would be a shame to be scattered by atomic dust or something else because no one is there for me... Stop, stop, very much so. Grandmother. And I still have that memory, no matter what. Cool, I wonder if I should go for a CT scan? There must be so many stitches from firmware and flashing on my brain that there could be physical traces left. Brr, it's better not to, or maybe there really is!

By the way, the heirs could also be "ferried" to obtain the characteristics of "speed-strength-mind". Or maybe not, maybe it can only be done in adulthood so that the muscles don't mess up? But Rinko's parents made a ferry, and the rest of the residents — and everything is fine. On the other hand, Kuzaki is not superior to an ordinary person, and as far as I could figure out, everything works purely on a rebuilt physiology, without further pumping, like the speed of passage of a nerve impulse... Okay, I digress.

So, my parents go, and I get the amulet. Grandpa twirls the dolls and tells his parents something like "it's going to be mine anyway, muahaha!" Damn, how could I forget such a moment, parents, how could you not let me remember Grandpa's hellish laugh? Because maybe he was laughing "Whoo-hoo-hoo!", but now I'm suffering, I can't reproduce such an important family parameter, I'm using "crooked grins" more and more, it's not good. Damn, I keep getting off topic, I don't even want to think about it. But I have to.

3) My parents bring me here and... mmm, they try to remove the amulet, but it doesn't work? What else? There's no way to find out. The main thing is that, desperate to remove the barrier that prevents them from selectively interfering in my brain, they took and rubbed everything, didn't they? Oh, apparently, Grandpa didn't believe in the possibility of such an animal. I'm not talking about the arctic fox, in this case there is an obvious brain vyhuhol. Mine!

Um, two conclusions follow from this: (a) The amulet affects Ferry, although I won't tell you how. And (b) — my parents had a plan to rebuild my personality. Apparently, they were not satisfied with the little exorcist, who pitted some spirits against others without regret. Or perhaps the clan's knowledge contradicted what I needed to be taught. You won't know now. By the way, the parents did not sit around doing nothing — they managed to spread rumors about the "too strong" amulet. Even Kues knows. One thing is for sure: I was trained for something. Just for the sake of a "peaceful life", they wouldn't arrange a branch of the psi corps here with shadow processor pilots. [and now Yuto remembers the series Babylon 5]. The battlefield is brains. Mine, damn it! Okay, the last step.

4) We assume that a child cannot be incapacitated from the age of 9 — it's just that then part of the best age for learning will be spent on acquiring social skills and will cause a developmental delay. Fuck!!! This is the "canon"! Well done, here's another piece of the puzzle. In fact, to break is not to build. Did it take two hours to fill in the new me? A year and a half? Three? Who knows when my parents took me away. Wait, though. A kiss with Kues. For the life of me, I can't imagine how six-year-olds can kiss like that. Make it seven. Then it is clear why so little was "poured". And so, the parents take and die. And before that, in a generally narrow interval of just a little more than a year, both grandfathers and grandmothers die. So guess. Either they faked death and went, as they say, to "cut out" their parents — and ended up with each other (otherwise the survivors would have taken me anyway). Either there is a third force (or maybe more than one). A banal suicide? And then someone sawed off the middle generation of the family of the head of the Amakawa clan who remained without spirits and without the support of relatives.

You know what I'm going to say? THIS IS A COMPLETE NINE-TAILED POLAR FOXBERSLON!!! With nine trunks! I'm alive, but do you know why? Because I'm nobody at all, and I don't have any clan skills-neither the old ones, hunting, nor the new ones, parenting. Oh, damn it!

Now I am the final, irrevocable, pre-cooked cannon fodder. Tsuchi? Ykoin? On the other hand, maybe I was just left alone because I was useless, and these comrades would pick up the "valuable fur" as a load for Himari. And everything would have worked out for them — see the "canon", but then one very lucky dreamer flew by. And he became the new Amakawa. Well, yes, I have a complete personality matrix. Apparently, the teachers were happy that my socialization progress went so fast and well "from the stress" of my parents' death. And this strange detachment of the first six months of life is understandable — instead of the skills of life in the modern Japanese society of the world, "here" is emptiness. Great, just great!

Harmony has returned to the world! [And now — "Masyanya", a series about renting an apartment] That's what they call "lucky so lucky"!

Damn it! Shizuko-therapy of the brain is good for health! It is prescribed for the sick, the maimed, and victims of loving relatives. And here it is, the main conclusion. I only have to show something, some result of the Ferry, and the hunt will begin on me. Perhaps any Ferry skill? No, the canon is the same: there Yuto successfully applies it instinctively. Most likely, there is one of the "new knowledge" about which something was learned, which was followed by the liquidation of a small, but by no means the weakest clan. All four people who might have been in the know were stabbed. Figuratively speaking, "cut up". However, a ridiculous situation in the spirit of "overdoing it" is possible for some percentage, when the parents themselves messed up something and fell unconscious on the first oncoming car. A madhouse!

But I know what to tell Shizuka. Rinko should be warned to talk... Damn, she doesn't know how to lie, so I'll just tell you that I met a reasonable yokai for the first time in my life, and it occurred to me that I managed to restore some memories in which I realized that my parents had specifically taken me away from the clan so that I wouldn't become an exorcist. The last will. But the sneaky Jinguji, Tsuchi, and others, you can't explain it to them, can you?

In order to defend my vassals (I need to repeat this word more often, in Japan there is a very special attitude towards vassalage, both on the part of the vassal himself and on the part of the suzerain), so in order to defend my Yokai who remain loyal to the clan, I will have to accept full power. Huh, one. Although I didn't give a damn about it. But I will be devoted to the guidance of my parents and will protect the yokai-spirits, except, of course, those who like barbecue from passers-by more than common sense. And I will try to create a society where yokai, humans and magicians can happily coexist. And I'll try. Because the unknown fucking shit is still standing behind my back with an axe raised. What would she find suspicious? Anything. But let him try to get there first.

And yes, this is my revenge. Revenge for the destroyed clan, which I used to consider my own, for the murdered legacy of at least twelve generations of ancestors, like Amakawa, who were "registered" as a clan of Spirit Hunters about 500 years ago. My revenge is not murder. My revenge is to get back what I've lost, to get it back so that it hits all these schemers who are capable of killing this future with their own hands for fear of their ass and the "future", in the sense of being able to sit the most important thing on the mountain. Sorry and opponents, pawn players, combinators and fans of raking in the heat with someone else's hands. I'm sorry to upset you, but now, from the abstract "general" goal of paragraph (H), "World peace," this goal has become my personal one. Has the Amakawa clan been banned from changing the world? The Amakawa clan will ensure that your warm toilets and "ancestral authorities" are rolled out on a log. So that you don't bother me, I still have to save the world, Ugh, damn, change it!

Chapter 91.

I carefully wrote down the last paragraph on Google docs, under the title: "Useful in memoirs or to stamp on a tombstone." And he went to turn off the "mago indicators", changing them to LEDs. And I need to remember, when even I start to get emotional, I need to write it down urgently, preferably on Google, otherwise the house will be demolished or the hard drive will simply die? They're not joking, maybe everything will really work out and I'll have something to talk about, and, most importantly, when to write my memoirs. In the meantime, let's start small: a map, tell Rinko the edited version about the pacifist Amakawa (wow, how Rinko will support me!), take the transition exams and worry about coming up with a new, useful direction for me for the physics club after the summer. Right now, two thirds of the cast are working on "helping Hiroe and Midori," and their program cycle should be over by the beginning of the holidays. And I need to eat, or something, and really get a good night's sleep. Stress — it still won't go away by itself, even if it was provided to me by the most kawaii loli of the city and the surrounding area.

Chapter 92.

"Hi, Hiroe!"

"Hello, Yuto-kun," the girl did not look up from the adobe maker, and I did not distract her with questions about the weather.

"I have a request for you." Help me choose a mentor in meditation techniques.

"Er-er-er?! Did I hear right?! Meditation techniques?"

"Everything is right."

Hiroe made a ridiculously funny face — wrinkled her forehead, opened her eyes (yes, you can do that too, it turns out) and hung for about twenty seconds.

"Yeah, I'm kind of at a logical dead end. Your request is exactly what you want to know, but I can't reliably guess why you need it. No, no, don't tell me, it won't be interesting." She grinned. "I won't risk choosing myself, I don't really understand. I'll ask my mother."

And so, I'm in front of the doors. Sensei, contrary to all my ideas, settled not in the quiet of the private sector, but in a business city, renting half of a small hangar at one of the business centers. I'm calling. The magnetic lock clicks, I go inside. It's funny! Such a European setting, mats, armchairs, chairs, even stools, but flags painted with hieroglyphs hang from the ceiling: concentration, calmness, attitude, and something else.

"Good afternoon, young man! I'm glad to see you at my school. Have a seat, before we start getting to know each other and I make a first impression about you, tell me why you came? Why do you need meditation?"

"My family had skills passed down from generation to generation, and I need her to restore them. First step: first I need to feel what I can do. Let go of feelings and emotions and feel."

Sensei, an ordinary guy in his thirties, but not under forty, listened intently to my tirade, although before that he looked at me with a smile, something like "wow, what a charm, so small, and already came to study on his own." He looked at me and bowed slightly:

"Please excuse me, I mistook you for one of those who came here hoping to gain, if not superpowers, then to learn how to pull off miracles like manga characters. Well, let's not postpone the lesson."

Now, having adjusted the days of classes to Rinko's schedule, I went to classes twice a week in the evenings, each time amazed at how the teacher still affects the understanding of the subject. When choosing, I would have fallen for oriental tinsel and, according to anime tradition, I would have spent five years on the "first step" (and then I would suddenly have to face danger and abruptly turn around, skipping the rest of the course as unnecessary!).

Here, I was taught specific things: focusing attention, schemes for quickly "entering" a state depending on the degree of fatigue or, conversely, arousal (and no "here's one difficult way for you to cope with impossible hothouse conditions, use it in any situation"), meditation on different moods (road, questions, cognition contemplation, comprehension of the whole), ways to control the duration of the "immersion" time, and even platitudes like "how to meditate on the bus" or "how not to fall asleep while meditating lying down."

As the teacher told me ironically, "combat meditation" was also necessary, it was a favorite way to spend money for 95% of boys and half of adults. The irony was that combat meditation was not an independent technique, but was simply a superposition of derived techniques of a peaceful orientation, such as how "contemplation of the whole" can be used to find weaknesses in an opponent's defense, and the "road" allows not only to escape in time, but can also be used to strike, bypassing protection. By the end of the second week of training, the teacher had abandoned his initial formality when addressing, and we communicated quite amicably, despite the age difference. As sensei explained to me, "seeing" a person for who they are by "breaking through" social markers is another opportunity to "contemplate the whole."

I studied, of course, for money. I didn't have to cut the ration, because my current account, it turns out, provided for tuition fees, and they were not part of the boarding school. Convenient!

The funny thing is that even mastering primary self-control has increased my work efficiency by fifty percent. Strong vivid emotions and feelings now didn't throw me away so much while working on something. For example, one evening, I suddenly managed to "finish" the mobile version of the map for observing high-energy objects, that is, magicians and ayakashi, if they get within the boundaries of the perimeter. My first successful "working" meditation was when, having once again run into a code implementation that I did not understand, I worked out the "road" situation at full speed, with a retreat into contemplation. Hurray!

To completely close the topic of meditation, I will say that a couple of times I came to classes where the teacher was chasing a crowd of assorted men and boys, teaching "combat meditation" from scratch. Well, I turned out to be completely right: a clear victory of anime cliches over reason. Interestingly, all sides were pleased: the teacher — with good money, for which it was worth walking around the hall in a kimono with a yin-yang symbol on his back, looking sternly from under his furrowed brows and making comments mixed with mysterious "like philosophical" meaninglessness, and the students who, looking at this theater, They felt like they were being turned around and covered in glory right in front of their eyes. In advance.

Some, however, actually learned what they came for. For me, the only disadvantage of attending classes was the need to cut off my mobile phone every time. Gradually, I was able to identify and close the most pressing problems in the planned actions. Following the remote control of the card readings, the mobile client that Rinko and I are currently beta-testing on mobile phones, I made the first protective amulet in my life. It was a simple version of the barrier, the same as in the walls of my house and the house in Noihara, or rather, even just a single seal embedded with a magic storage device in Kuzaki's hairpin. Theoretically, this thing was supposed to more or less effectively block not very skillful attempts to take control of the girl's mind with the help of magic. To be honest, I haven't been eager to find out what this will look like in practice yet. The next logical step was the "combined" processing of clothing, when mano-absorbing elements along with accumulators were applied to the intuitively applied base by ferry using "eye technique", that is, seeing what you were doing, right on top of the disorderly reinforcing lines. Why is it intuitive? Because in this form, for some reason, the fabric not only did not pass through the blade of the knife (and, as I believed, the bullet), but also in some way incomprehensible to me began to distribute the force of the blow more or less effectively over the entire surface. So, as soon as I was convinced of the advantages of the new process of applying protection, despite the tedium of the process, I insisted that the girl pull out her entire wardrobe for me to process, for which, for the first time in my life, I received an incredulous, appraising look from Rinko. However, trust in me won out, and Kuzaki dumped out in front of me not only the outerwear I had in mind, but also underwear. That was strong! Both of us walked for two hours in a slightly awkward mood, blushing every time we looked at each other, but my neighbor got two dozen pairs of inseparable armored personnel carriers with the function of absorbing magic, and I repeated the process of creating legendary attributes of any Amazon in practice. Meanwhile, the school academic year was coming to its logical end, the month of May was replaced by June, and the usual lessons were exams, midterms, and other chores. Hiroe and Midori's project was also successfully filmed, there was a mountain of layout and linking, and voice acting in some places, but the journalism club had to handle this on its own.

Having gathered, with the help of the president, the staff of the physics club, I suggested that next year, since we were so good at working with electric motors and studied avionics, we study the transition state of polymers during layering in an automated way. That is, to assemble your own 3D printer, the benefit for this is that the experience of assembling enclosures and drives with small tolerances has been found. Unanimously, as I expected. I'm kind of a wrong hitman, all the heroes of fanfiction anticipate the plot with afterglow and correct the characters' jambs, but I've redrawn the drawings of the Chinese RepRap from memory, which haven't even been posted here (not to the millimeter drawings, just the basic structural diagram of the device) to the public. As always, the people happily sorted out the printouts, promising to get acquainted and have time before the holidays to outline a list of necessary purchases for the school to work on the device, which the president of the club, while he had not yet transferred to secondary school, had to submit to the director and push through. I feel like I won't be able to get away from my command position next year. Hemorrhoids!

Anyway, on my eleventh birthday, I woke up without any misgivings, went to class, passed the social studies test, and went to meditation techniques classes with a calm heart. Which proves once again that I have some kind of dubious luck, because if I had known in advance what would happen during my absence from home, I would never have gone to class. And then it wouldn't have happened.

Part 16. Shizuka and Hiroe came to visit Yuto and met Rinko alone.

Interlude 9. Part 1. Shizuka by the sea

[Shizuka by the sea]

Shizuka watched as the increasing wind and the increasingly strong seasonal current hit the "road of spirits" harder and harder. There was such force in the impact of the waves, the gaps between which almost reached the flooded roadbed, and the pressure of many thousands of tons of water that the stone bulls, the huge boulders that make up the body of the dam, could not resist. With each blow, the water carried away its prey: small stones, large stones, very large stones! The sand has been gone for a long time. And so the first bull swayed, the second... The sea rolled out multi-ton boulders with a low, almost infrasonic roar, like a child rolling forgotten backgammon dice. It rolled all over the rather large bay, drove into pits, rolled into shallow shoals, in order to once again create a lot of headaches for fishermen with the identification of new shoals and dangerous places. How many curses have been poured on the heads of the dead builders over the centuries... and how many years before the island of Spirits went under water from another earthquake, it was swallowed and never said. But the fishermen were lucky. The natural source of natural mana gushing from the center of the island has not gone away, and the yokai that once fell under the distribution of the elements periodically appeared as if from oblivion. Crippled shells, a gradient of seemingly affordable, but not very suitable for constant supply of "clean" energy — and all this is under multi-ton rubble of stones, and from above — flooded with seawater: this kind of soup was cooked at a depth of a couple of meters, and not a single fisherman dared to go there. The bottom of the bay was still somewhat seismically unstable, and some spirits, still alive, wounded, and held by rocks for centuries, spirit were getting a chance to be free. The combination of "clean energy" and the impossibility of organic nutrition created an indescribable combination of hunger and promiscuity, and heavy years of pressure created severe mental disorders. They are often clinically severe.

The dam created the problem. The old road along the embankment, piled on top of the cursed stone bulls, as soon as the seasonal current changed direction, they were driven by the waves to the place where they had once been laid by the spirits of the earth. And the "Way of the Spirits", a cursed road, allowed the lost Yokai to get ashore. Most of the weak and with wounds that had not healed soon found their demise in the teeth of other unintelligent spirits, however, another part... the part that was once very strong, and now remained just strong, was a serious danger. Mostly for ordinary people, but some... instances... Even the three leaders of a small group of spirits who settled on the wooded slopes of low hills near the nearest large city were forced to "sweat".

Meanwhile, more and more of the stones at the base of the road shifted too far apart, and the "Path", which looked like a ribbon of deep blue in yokai"s perception of the water, trembled more and more, losing its thickness and scattering the energy lost by the spell around it with sparks. Finally, after another blow from the elements, it burst with a loud pop. That"s it. No one else managed to leave the island. Shizuka, standing silently above the edge of the steep shore, among the fir trees bending in the wind, turned her back to the sea — only a thick braid slapped her back. First, there is a report that the next seasonal escalation of the situation has successfully ended and there will be relative silence in the surrounding forests and fields for another six months. The last two months had been extremely tiring, and now the Goddess of Rivers was going to unwind in the city. And at the same time fulfill the promise made to one interesting guy.

[Hiroe is at home]

Hiroe looked at her watch and decided that it was already quite possible to go out. She knew for a fact that Yuto-kun had another meditation practice class today and, therefore, she would definitely not find him at home. But she is very likely to find Kuzaki Rinko there, who returns from kendo classes on Saturday much earlier than Yuto. On any other day, Rinko might have turned away a friend who wasn"t very close to her at school, or even a classmate, but not today. And what about the fact that she arrived ahead of time? Since Yuto"s phone is not answering, she has already found out the few principles of sensei in relation to students from her mother in advance. And there, once she gets to Amakawa"s house, she will be able to gather a lot of information on the subject of her interest. And if you can look into his room! The girl squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation, licking her lips. Of course, she was well aware that she could have easily asked to visit Yuuto anyway, especially if she had honestly given the reason. She could just see the guy grinning and showing her his house, making snide comments about some mess... but! It won"t be according to the rules! Mom taught Hiroe Kaname well enough that she understood that with allies, including this skinny, short-haired girl Amakawa Yuto, the rules should not be broken without very serious reasons. Even if you know that he knows that you know... That"s how, at about four o"clock on Saturday afternoon, Hiroe Kaname, a junior high school student, found herself on the street in front of the entrance to the courtyard of Yuto"s house with a small bag in her hands. Well-mannered people don"t go to a birthday party without a gift, right? And the fact that near this very door she ran into another girl about her own age, whose long black hair, shining green, was pulled into a tight thick braid, is, really, one of those coincidences that would seem to have a one in a million chance of happening... and they happen all the time.

[Two girls under the window... Ugh, under the door of Amakawa"s house]

Of course, if a neighbor had looked out the window right now, he wouldn"t have seen anything strange in the picture that opened up: just two very ordinary girls about ten years old, standing opposite each other, equidistant from the gate to the courtyard of Amakawa Yuto-kun"s house. Are they standing for a long time? But let them be.

Shizuka regarded the little stranger somewhat suspiciously. On the one hand, an ordinary person who is on the borderline between a child and a teenager is too subtle, almost to the point of pain, a girl, and everything would be fine... If it wasn"t for the look in his eyes. That cold, appraising squint, the sharp fluctuations of the pupils focusing on different parts of Mizuchi"s body, the uncharacteristic "frozen" plastic for a child... and yet the Water Snake couldn"t figure out what had aroused such interest! After all, she"s been specializing in intelligence for years... rather, it should be said that the number of these years is closer to a hundred. Ordinary clothes, ordinary (okay, maybe not ordinary, but definitely human) hairstyle, sandals on his feet, white socks... Ordinary clothes, ordinary (okay, maybe not ordinary, but definitely human) hairstyle, sandals on his feet, white socks... The opponent was definitely not an exorcist — there were no emanations of power, none at all. And why is she looking like that?

Hiroe, in turn, looked at the unknown girl and quietly fell apart from the feeling of mystery... No, SECRETS! Firstly, the exposed areas of the opponent"s skin shone a little more strongly than human skin should shine in the sun... or at this distance, she would have smelled sweat somehow! Some creams could have such an effect (and her mother refused to teach her this categorically and flatly!), but they definitely could not leave her clothes dry and clean. In addition, this set of clothes, if I may say so, is a set, and in no way a set in which socks were the most common item... pure white, as if dust did not exist in nature at all. The peach-colored sandals matched the dress closely (too short, in Hiroe"s opinion, to go with her... hmm... to the boy"s birthday... or was it on purpose?!), but the trouble is, this style of shoe was last produced about twenty-five years ago, and it didn"t look like a new model or a special order. She didn"t find them in the trash, did she? There are no shoes in such good condition in the trash. There were no special complaints about the dress (except for the length!!!) it was quite possible to buy it in the shopping malls near Hiroe"s own house... just not from natural flax without synthetic admixtures.

In fabrics, as my mother used to say, no self-respecting woman can afford to rely on the price tag. Well, the finishing touches: black hair, shining green in the sun, braided in such a gorgeous braid, for the possession of which you can strangle... tied up in black... shoe stores... With a shoelace! It was... so gorgeous... such an intriguing mystery that only by a monstrous effort of will could the young Kaname not lick her lips! "Yuto-Yuto, if I met someone like that on my first visit to you... Like this... such... You can"t give such gifts on your own birthday, you can"t! It"s so necessary to seduce an innocent girl, so cruelly! If the riddles don"t stop there, I don"t even know how I"m going to hold back anymore!"

Despite such a long description, all these glances under the door took about ten seconds, after which the girls synchronously "froze off", and Hiroe asked first:

"Hi! Are you going to Yuto-kun"s too?"

"Hi. Yes, I"m going to Yuto-kun. He invited me to visit, so I came." The snake replied a little sarcastically.

"Great! My name is Hiroe, shall I introduce you?" and Kaname Jr. extended her hand in a European handshake, another small test.

Shizuku. Mizuchi calmly shook the outstretched hand, noting how warm it was. Wow, it"s almost thirty-seven degrees. Snakes and ordinary ones can feel heat well, and the water demon is subject to differences in fractions of a degree. Are we calling? The short-haired woman nodded at the door intercom.

The River Goddess nodded and pressed the call button.

[Kuzaki Rinko, the kitchen of the Amakawa house]

Rinko hummed a tune of her own composition to herself — as usual, she was caught up in the special, cozy spirit of this place in the kitchen, regardless of the house. The girl took her time chopping vegetables with a knife and mixing ingredients for future meat roasting, put water on the hob to warm up and began to thoughtfully sort the products for the third. A celebratory dinner? No, come on! Yuto doesn"t celebrate his birthday, just not on the day his parents die. As he sadly joked last year, "minus on minus, they hope to give a plus not only in mathematics." The death of his closest relatives changed the guy — from an unsociable and introverted child, he turned into an extremely purposeful young man, and the obstacles that stood in his way seemed to only give him a reason to pick up speed towards his goal. Towards a strange, dangerous, and incomprehensible goal: either hope for an incredible future, or an incredible, deadly danger coming from literally every corner.

Who would have thought that when Yuto called her for that "serious" conversation, she didn"t believe him at first. Some kind of exorcists, yokai, magic, how can you even believe in this nonsense in the modern world? It"s like this idiotic story was invented by some mangaka, and then half the boys in the class read this stuff... However, it is possible. Yuto gave a very convincing demonstration... and then she saw a strong spirit with her own eyes. I even talked to him. I even gave out nuts and one pineapple! Smiling, the girl touched the hairpin with the back of her hand: the heavy gold object always felt pleasantly cool against her skin... and it has become a serious protective amulet.

Yuto, Yuto, well, who would have thought that this happens in life: your neighbor is suddenly a prince, the heir to an ancient family of magicians. The last survivor of the clan, his parents renounced their ancestors. And they died. An amulet that blocks magic and hides the heir of the family from the world, but only for the time being. Sixteen years will come, and young Amakawa will have to find himself with his own world, the world of yokai and magicians who live so close — and as if beyond the glass... but this is self-deception. That thing from the park... which she barely remembered, scary, ugly... Hungry. Yuto"s strange power manifested for the first time, hacking the monster in one blow... and by getting rid of the illusions that you can hide inside yourself from a part of the world. At least by saving Yuto, she herself could not accept for a long time that such a cozy and beautiful city of theirs could at any moment become the refuge of a monster or monsters.

Yes, Yuto was smart, not like her. Yuto takes care of her so much, constantly trying to protect her. And Yuto wouldn"t be left alone with his world, not when he"d let her in on everything! Maybe if she were some kind of boring aunt from a melodrama that her mother loves to watch so much, she would wring her hands and scream "how useless I am", and in the end would only add to Yuto"s headache... But she"s not a stupid grown-up aunt! That is, she is already an adult... Well, almost... although, when looking at Midori, I really want this "almost" to become at least a little more! but definitely not stupid.

"The power is not in magic, the power is not in the Ferry of Light, the power is in ourselves. A hundred years ago, people were dying of colds and pneumonia, and forty years ago they went into space." That"s what Yuto said. Yuto is right. Personal strength is not a cudgel, it is the ability to get results. This requires brains — and the desire to use them. Even in kendo, where bokken is sensitively hit in the brain from time to time, this principle applies... and the enchanted clothes of Prince Amakawa, who, his remember, called the result of "pumping" underwear his "most senseless feat", are very much in demand! Stupid, stupid Yuto, he doesn"t understand anything. In training, he "flies" to "these places", sometimes leaving absolutely monstrous-looking bruises... and very, very uncomfortable! But Rinko can"t just tell him about it?!

The girl"s cheeks turned treacherously red, and it took her a long time to notice the soft beep of the phone. What else is this, it doesn"t look like an SMS, and she couldn"t send such a signal to anyone... The map! Kuzaki dashed to the table, picking up her cell phone. Damn, damn, damn, the signal is right in front of the house! How could she not have heard the sound earlier?! Of course, it doesn"t cost a strong spirit anything to travel such a distance in a minute, but what would it be unnoticeable? What should me do? Yuto! Call... turned off. Damn it, meditation! What to do, what to do? Okay, take it easy! Yuto had warned her that he had invited a yokai he had met in the forest... how she"d sandbagged him back then, that he"d managed to get into trouble out of the blue... however, with benefit, the friend managed to partially restore, partially guess to a part of the memory... The area in front of the gate should be visible from the second floor! Rushing down the stairs, she looked out the window. Girl, black hair, braid, matches! And this... Hiroe, damn it! What is she doing here? And how capable she is of driving the spirit with her completely shameless tricks, only a corpse in front of the door was not enough! And it"s not funny, Yokai are not toys. Yokai — trouble! Rinko went down the stairs, opened the front door and went to the gate. She was holding a frying pan in her hand, which she had automatically grabbed from the kitchen and grabbed a la bokken. This is how she appeared before the two visitors, a little disheveled, in an apron with a chicken and with a frying pan in her outstretched hand. The "Meeting night" was definitely a success!

Interlude 9. Part 2. The kitchen of the Amakawa house, a somewhat unexpected selection of characters

I guess I should introduce myself: I"m Rinko, Yuto"s neighbor. Kuzaki led the girls into the house. Yuto is currently in extra classes and won"t arrive for three hours. So make yourself comfortable! The girls sat down at the kitchen table, Rinko poured a glass of juice.

"Shizuka," the snake introduced itself, and immediately asked with slightly narrowed eyes, "just a neighbor and that"s it?"

"I"ve been helping Yuto around the house since his parents died two years ago. Car crash. It"s the anniversary today, and Yuto hasn"t celebrated a birthday since."

Everyone fell silent. Rinko was sad, Shizuka was sympathetic, and she could hardly remember how she felt about the day of mourning for her murdered relatives in the early years. Hiroe thoughtfully looked at the kitchen, the products laid out in the cooking process, and nodded:

"Clear. And the dinner you"re cooking right now, it"s certainly not festive. I would call it an "everyday dinner." From an expensive restaurant. And you"re doing great, girlfriend!"

Rinko"s cheeks turned slightly red against her will. By tacit agreement with Yuto, they did not bring up the topic of death and celebration, but she was sure that the guy was grateful for her efforts...

"I see," the Goddess of Rivers said now, "I think since we came uninvited (a quick glance at the haircut), we just have to help the hostess. You don"t mind?"

"Er-er-em, I thought you"d want to wait for Yuto, but if you want to help, I don"t mind at all. Even for!"

It"s an amazing thing. They say that there cannot be two housewives in a kitchen, because women secretly consider the kitchen to be their territory. Perhaps that"s true, but it"s too unusual for representatives of the "weaker sex" to gather at the Amakawa house today. And that"s how you look at it. If the kitchen has 45 square meters, and the cutting table above the cabinets stretches for eight meters, then, perhaps, six people can cook! Rinko went back to roasting, leaving the rest to the guests, watching their actions out of the corner of her eye: you never know, they took it upon themselves to help, but they don"t know how to cook themselves? However, knowing Hiroe, one could safely assume that the scheming schemer could cook, and very well, and apparently loved it, otherwise she would have found some excuse and would have run away to inspect the house. Rinko found the special attention to subjects and the ability to draw conclusions about people based on these observations quite annoying, but she endured it. Everyone has their own hobby, although she would be ashamed to "get into the heads" of people around her. She was much more annoyed by the short-haired woman"s apparent favor for her Yuto. Under the pretext of "talking to an intelligent person," she began to visit their class often during recess and generally showed increased attention. Rinko was a little scared of this — after participating in the "plan" to raise the rating of the journalism club"s news, this little girl, without lifting a finger herself, forced the half-naked director to climb a tree at camera sight, and a couple more minor adventures planned by this terrible man, which Rinko herself learned about only through admission into the "inner circle" of the school reporter"s hangout. She didn"t know what to expect from Hiroe Kaname at all. Right now, her came with a "gift" type bag, and her can"t put it out now. However, Kuzaki admitted to herself, she wouldn"t have exposed it anyway, because arrogance is arrogance, but it"s very difficult to get a grudge against such a person!

On the other side of Rinko, near the sink, Shizuka settled down, who took over the dough for desserts and the preparation of tea. Confident, well-honed movements, spices and sugar measured without looking, even Rinko spoke about yokai"s rich experience in cooking dishes. It was a little strange to see the most ordinary girl acting so confidently, she looked to be the same age as Kuzaki herself, but that just doesn"t happen in life... unless you can see the thin blue halo around her figure. A spirit can disguise itself, but it can"t disguise itself at all, as Yuto once said. Even such a weak "illumination" was enough for the sensors of the map to visualize the presence of the spirit. However, at the same moment, Shizuka finished mixing the pastry ingredients, and furtively looked around, trying to detect the presence of exorcist magicians nearby (yeah, through the walls with absorbing "firmware"!), and lowered her shields slightly. With a single movement of her hand, Mizuchi"s magic filling the water became visible in the vision spectrum of the glasses for a moment, and flour and water became the most perfect-looking dough Rinko had ever seen in her life! Damn, it"s enviable! And what about the other side? Hiroe was cutting lettuce, and her movements were like a perfectly tuned chopping machine: perfectly even pieces remained on the cutting board, the girl smiled slightly. "This way my dish will be the easiest to taste! — the girl next door broke out in a sweat, — well, never mind, I have all my desire to make the perfect meat for Yuto! Who said that even pieces or magic guarantee an amazing taste?! Let"s see who"s who!" Rinko stole a glance at her rivals and came across similar looks. "Challenge accepted!"

"Ha ha!" Hiroe thought as she continued chopping vegetables, "this is more interesting than I thought! And if Rinko presented a surprise only in terms of cooking, then the second girl, whom Kuzaki and Amakawa seemed to be waiting for, is very interesting!" She didn"t look at the dough trick in as much detail as Rinko, and she didn"t cook often enough to consider herself a good cook, but! Only her mother could match her in cutting salads, but the soup... we must try to screw up the first one badly.

Light meditation — and now the movements of the knife acquire the necessary uniformity, and young Kaname could see exactly the size and proportions as well as her mother. Innate! By the way, Hiroe studied meditation with another teacher only because she was female, and her mother wanted to make sure that her daughter"s education was as effective as possible. But Kaname"s worthy daughter perfectly saw the atypical behavior of the water, which easily rinses the wildly sticky sweet dough from Shizuka"s hands, then almost instantly drips off her hands, leaving the latter dry and clean. Yes, and these are the movements of a woman in her forties, the dawn of experience and before the beginning of the sunset of power... In general, Occam"s razor insisted on admitting that the third comrade in their team was not a human being. I should give Rinko a hint... Although, considering how carefully she keeps an eye on the guest, she may be aware of it. The mystery! Hiroe hurriedly put a piece of apple in her mouth to lick her lips! By working together, they put the prepared dishes in the oven and on the stove, and the salad in the refrigerator, after which the girls suddenly discovered that they had not said a word to each other during the entire cooking except "please pass me this." There was an awkward silence.

"Ahem",— Rinko cleared her throat, "maybe we should do something while Yuto is gone."

"You come here a lot, don"t you?" Hiroe asked innocently.

"Each... quite often!" Rinko was embarrassed and started making excuses. "Since Yuto is alone, I"ve been helping him with the housework."

"Great!" Kaname was just beaming with "innocence," and Rinko got nervous. What"s wrong again?

"So," the schemer continued, "you keep the house in perfect order? Ha, you"re the real boss here, everything is tidy and in place. And I appreciated the napkins on the windowsills. Show us the house, since you"re keeping order for Yuto-kun."

The snake nodded. Rinko felt that she had been hit. Admitting that she wasn"t the one "keeping the house in order" was beyond her. I had to nod and invite the guests to the second floor after me. Hiroe made a victorious and at the same time slightly disappointed face — Yuto would not have been caught in such a banal two-level divorce. Then she caught an appreciative look from Shizuki and realized that she had an intellectual rival for today. This is Yuto"s room," Rinko said a little irritably. She vindictively began the tour with the bathroom and the toilet and for 10 minutes listened to the praises of "excellent tiles, warm design" and a bunch of other incomprehensible stuff. One thing was good, these two drunken bitches, no matter what, obediently followed her, which meant there was no chance that they would climb into the basement. Although there is nothing "like that"... but it will raise unnecessary questions anyway. Rinko waved her hand around the room and was about to return to the corridor, but it was not there! The girls wandered around the room as if nothing had happened, examining the spines of books and the computer, Hiroe tried the softness of the bed (and shot a provocative glance at Kuzaki), and Shizuka looked at the shelves of the shelf. And naturally, I came across a blue velvet box with a sticker "for Shizuka". Oops! Ayakashi felt herself blushing! Agree, that"s how to discover in someone else"s house that you are not just not forgotten, but also a gift has been prepared! It had been a long, long time since she had had anyone to leave a gift... and at home, where this gift could be found. The Goddess of Rivers fled from any attempt to settle in the house, she had been running for more than two hundred years... maybe in vain. The frozen Ayakashi attracted the attention of Rinko and Hiroe, and both looked over her shoulder.

"A gift?" Kaname asked?

"Yes, for Shizuka. Yuto asked me to give them to Shizuka if she came in his absence. Well, don"t be shy, open up!"

In the box, as expected, there were two folded satin-blue hair ribbons with Chinese tassels at the ends. Hiroe immediately recognized the expensive accessory that Amakawa-kun had asked for advice about almost two months ago. However, the guest has been waiting for a long time! And Shizuka was completely lost, holding the box in her hands. And no amount of long-term experience has helped. "Yuto did well, as he knew exactly what to choose for someone who, in general, does not really need things and personal items," Rinko thought proudly.

"Yuto did well, such a subtle manipulation! I wonder if I guessed it or figured it out? That scoundrel!" Hiroe thought.

"Do you want me to braid your braid?" To bring Mizuchi out of her stupor, Rinko asked, "And Yuto-kun will love that you took advantage of his gift."

"Can I?" — the snake asked in a kind of childish confusion, uncertainly.

"And even necessary! Hiroe, can you help me?"

"No," she smirked sarcastically, running her fingers through her short boyish crew cut. "It"s like I"m from a different camp."

Hiroe was mentally berating herself and her mother in every way! Well, what was it worth to show a child how to make braids? Well, you never know that their hair in the family is so brittle that you can afford a maximum of a short square! It"s necessary to make a mistake on what elementary stuff! However, Kaname didn"t self-flagellate for a long time while Rinko was flying over Ayakashi"s gorgeous hair (and was wildly jealous — she didn"t cut her hair short from a good life either!) with blue ribbons, I walked around the room once more and noticed how the corner of the long bedspread was suspiciously protruding, skirting a rather large rectangular object. "And what does Yuto keep under his bed?— the question struggled for a while with the obvious answer of "playboy selections," but surely everything could be expected from Yuto? Moreover, for some reason, I irrationally wanted to annoy "bosom friends who, in a moment, sang along on the basis of their heartfelt feelings for Yuto-kun." So I"m sorry in advance, Yuto, but if there"s porn, then your girlfriends are close enough to understand and not knock you over the head too much for "perversion". Besides, I have to figure out which figures Amakawa-kun likes the most. What if they"re skinny girls with short hair? One correctly calculated "random" step, and the box, along with its contents, rolls out from under the bed on the smooth floor. Oh, it"s not porn. It"s quite a "Table poker club". We live!

Under the delicious smells from the stove and oven, the trio sat down at a large dining table and laid out cards, chips, and even spread out a green cloth. There was still at least an hour left before the end of classes and Yuto"s arrival, which meant there was time. Rinko finally figured out to text her friend just in case, so that he wouldn"t worry about missed calls and a flashpoint from ayakashi right in the house. Kuzaki laid out and distributed the chips (she was assigned to bank) and looked questioningly at the girls.

"It"s just not interesting to play like that..." Hiroe handed it over, and after examining the chips, she said. "Let"s play for secrets!"

"How"s that?"

"Everything is simple. We play five games. Who has how many chips left at the end of the game — we calculate the minimum value and take the same amount from the rest. Whoever has the remaining chips can buy one secret from an opponent for one black (ten red). We have five black chips each, I suggest we skip the blue ones and play big right away. Just don"t be silent and don"t lie. Do you agree?"

"Hehe",— Hiroe thought, "here you are in my pocket. You"re no match for me in math and mindfulness. And obviously no one taught you how to "keep your face" like me! Everything is clear with Rinko, but I can say the same about Shizuka based on the scene in Yuto"s room. Let"s see what you"re capable of, inhuman girl!"

"Rinko, judging by the reactions, is a fairly honest and straightforward person, he won"t lie unnecessarily. And if he lies, it will mean something."

the snake reasoned and clarified:

"Tell any secret about something, unless you promised not to reveal it to anyone."

"This house, Yuto... I have more and more questions, and his "neighbor" clearly knows more than she"s letting on.", Mizuchi has already discovered that the walls "suck in" magic, subtle flashes of which break out of the collapsed aura, and the magic is consumed nowhere, not even a channel is visible. If the amulet could still be written off as an inheritance, then the artifact house, the very "ideal base" she was looking for in the city, was no longer there.

Rinko shivered slightly, feeling as if the "Ki" was clearly coming from her playing partners, and decided that in any case she had nothing to lose. After all, Yuto-kun warned that perhaps the yokai-water spirit would ask her about him, and Hiroe himself called him "a potential ally with whom sooner or later he would have to have a frank conversation." He allowed Rinko to decide if he had to decide on his own. "If I can"t trust you, I can"t trust anyone at all. Even for myself." These words, which came back to her memory, were filled with warmth in my chest and determination. Rinko might not have Hiroe"s analytical mind or the abilities of Ayakashi Shizuki, but she feels with her heart and the instincts of a tournament fighter that the right moment is coming soon. It hurts to have girls looking at each other and at her with "smart" faces. Great. Let the battle begin!

"I"m raising it."

"Support."

"I"m doubling up!"

"Pass."

If the first game was marked by careful probing, in which Yokai and the schemer literally tore Rinko, who took a careless risk, to shreds, then the "real fun" went on! Kuzaki"s emotions from the game were somewhat distorted by the fact that she would have to "shoot" anyway, it was not for nothing that the snake so confidently supported Kaname, who had outsmarted herself, and therefore, instead of closely following the games, she sat on pins and needles, giving false signals to her opponents. She had no doubt that she would lose, having assessed the class of the participants in the first game, and therefore she took risks, bluffed and mixed up the opponent"s cards in every possible way, not on purpose — and therefore effectively.

Hiroe, who held her poker face perfectly, strained her abilities, trying to keep track of everything, including the card shirts. The problem is that the cards were new and the shirt was exactly the same, but mathematics in poker begins to solve more than the case when the game drags on. The brains of the short-haired girl literally overheated, pulling out limited capacities by nature itself, promising headaches and apathy for tomorrow. He"ll survive!

And Shizuka was surprised to realize that she was losing! The fourth game, and the chips slowly flow over to the meanly calm Hiroe. It is necessary to bring the devil out of balance! Mizuchi lowered her eyelids, unfocusing her eyes into her favorite "drowned woman look," and slightly released her aura, trying to put pressure on her opponents. Of course, it was possible to stupidly "get into the brain," but an honest ayakashi would never do that. By overstepping other rules, you stop being yourself so much that you want to die later. Yes, she"s been through that too.

The demon"s aura captured the figures of the opposing girls with its edges, but instead of slightly disturbing people, it brought the opposite effect — Rinko did not feel anything at all.: "another amulet that doesn"t work properly" the snake stated with longing, but the exact opposite story happened to Hiroe — she suddenly cheered up and even smiled, and magic and auras began to flow two orders of magnitude faster than into Rinko"s amulet. The snake, who could not believe her senses, activated thermal vision and made sure that the brain of the shorn girl, working with a temperature almost half a degree higher than normal, was rapidly returning to normal, absorbing the parasitic manapot of the yokai. Moreover, she confidently started winning! Hiroe"s oddities formed a big picture and gave a clear answer to how a little girl can be so strong. Hastily pulling her aura away from the strange couple, Mizuchi barely managed to win back her last black chip in the fifth game (initially, each had two). So, following the results of a fierce poker battle of five games, Shizuka turned out to be the loser, Kaname stayed with her own and Rinko suddenly turned out to be in the lead. That"s it!

"Well, Rinko-chan, you won, and you should be the first to ask questions. The loser," Hiroe broke the thickening silence after the game and immediately switched hands.

"Er-er-er..." Kuzaki drawled, "Tell me some secret of yours, Shizuka. You are welcome."

"A secret?" Ayakashi narrowed her eyes merrily "It"s easy! I"m not human, you know. I"m actually a spirit, and you call my people Yokai... Isn"t it scary at all?" Mizuchi asked, looking at Rinko"s satisfied face (hooray, Yuto"s plan has worked!) and Hiroe"s delighted, anticipating grin.

"Nah," the short-haired piggy snorted, "You"re actually more human than many of my friends, who are clearly trying to degrade towards monkeys as soon as possible. And, I want to say, it would not hurt to prove your words."

Instead of answering, the Goddess of Rivers casually made a drop of water about the size of a soccer ball roll out of the shell and hung it in front of Kaname"s nose.

"I believe it now!" she whispered in a strangled voice. You can understand as much as you want that you calculated everything correctly, but such a collision with something you don"t believe in is shocking!

"Is that enough?" Mizuchi asked, and Rinko nodded and put one of the black chips aside. "By the way," Shizuka grinned, looking at Kaname"s dipping and pulling brush into the levitating water, and sent a drop back into the sink.: washing pans and dirty knives — since she had to open up anyway, why not help the hostess? "You two are also unusual personalities, I can tell you. Hiroe, you too... mmm... You"re not an ordinary person, and Rinko, you"re a very unusual person. At least this is the first time I"ve seen this rarity on a human." And the snake pointed her finger at her bangs.

"And?!" Hiroe leaned forward.

"Spend a chip, it"s all fair, you know!"

Hiroe and Rinko exchanged glances and simultaneously pulled out a black chip from their piles.

"I"ll start with you, Hiroe-chan. You see, I"ve been wondering who you remind me of: those all-seeing eyes, those grins, the ability to literally read the owner"s personality through things... an overloaded brain and the ability to make variable predictions, which manifested itself when you began to pull my mana. You felt my moves, right? You don"t have one iota of mana in you, but the basic abilities of each clan, which gave them a decisive advantage in the fight against the Yokai, were originally non-magical. So Hiroe Kaname, how far can you trace your family?"

"Before Grandma," Hiroe replied, involuntarily overwhelmed by the "revelation."

"Was your grandmother by any chance an orphan picked up by another family?"

"Where are you from... Oh, I see. And what is my "supposed to be" last name?"

"Ykoin. A clan of hunter-detectives. They have achieved impressive heights in controlling their own consciousness and brain... But don"t get your hopes up. The clan won"t accept you anyway, because, as I said, you don"t have any magic at all. Apparently, your grandmother was the so-called "empty branch" of the family, and she was placed with other children in a clan orphanage. And then... There was a terrible war then... You know. I actually wonder how you can use at least some of your abilities, even without magic, if no one has trained you.

"What about me?" Rinko asked after a pause.

"And you," Yokai grinned, "I managed to get the "Blessing of the Spirits" somewhere. Yes, yes, the hairpin on your head. Only One-eyed Blacksmiths make these, you know, and you have to do a great favor for them to give the hairpin to other spirits. And for Ayakashi to give such a thing to a person... Consider, for all the spirits whose mind has not faded, there is a great pass fixed on your bangs. No one in their right mind would encroach on someone marked with a Blessing, and I won"t even ask why you were given one. Curiosity killed the cat, you know! It is impossible to transfer such a thing, it becomes attached to the owner and stays with him forever... Well, are you going to ask me anything else?

"Well then..."

Yokai-with-principles and the would-be magical but talented Yakoin synchronously put forward the chips and demanded in unison:

"Then tell us the secret of Yuto!!!"

"All right," Rinko replied, inwardly ready for such a turn, "but I"ll have to start from afar. Ok?"

"Come on, we"re listening, you know!"

"Good. So, a long time ago, five hundred years ago or more, the Amakawa family lived in Hokkaido, no clan at that time..."

The extended meditation finally ended, and Yuto, rubbing his stiff legs and back, bowed to sensei. Picking up the phone, he received a bunch of text messages and a mark on the map that coincided with the house. "Shizuka has arrived," "Dinner is ready," and "We talked, successfully." Ugh, you can exhale and unclench your fingers on the shaft of the remote stunner in your pocket. And we need to go faster, anyway...

...The first thing Yuto Amakawa, who returned to his native penates, heard were bursts of cheerful girly laughter in three voices. He looked into the living room and found all three of them in front of the TV: the girls were watching the movie "The Bell".

Part 17

Chapter 93.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it, you know. As an illustration of my abilities, I blocked the Ferry's ability to work magic on the vessel. An ordinary glass jug, however, with a lid. However, as in the case of the counter in Noihara, Shizuka managed to push through the barrier by force... but to do this, she had to half "let go" of her aura, which filled the entire room. If I hadn't treated the walls with a "Ferry" a long time ago, all the magicians in this part of the city would have known about the presence of a strong yokai in my house. Is she the one who trusts me so much, just like that?! As always, I didn't feel anything (I just saw it), but Rinko and Hiroe clearly shivered. The kitchen immediately felt damp and a little chilly.

Finally, the snake stopped twirling the decanter, removed excess water from the air, and disguised itself again. We went into the living room and sat down — I on a chair, Mizuchi perched on a stool, and Kaname and Kuzaki on the sofa. They were silent.

"There's too much unexpected information, you know." The Goddess of Rivers spoke first. We need to think about everything. But first tell me, Yuto Amakawa, why did you invite me to your house? Humans and yokai... not a very suitable company, you know.

Yeah, and here's a "serious conversation." The main thing is not to lie, I'm sure Shizuka will notice the lie — a couple of trifles, this is not poker!

"You know," I continued, matching the snake's tone, "after trying your cooking, I didn't notice any differences in the result. To be honest, I didn't even look for it, I wanted to eat so much, but everything is so delicious here!

"It's not the most convenient example to look for differences..."

"Do you think it's necessary to look for differences in physiology? Recently, twenty-five centuries ago, some scribes argued about what a man is. Do you know what the canonical form of the answer was?"

"And what is it?"

""Bipedal erect without feathers"!"

Rinko and Hiroe giggled in unison, even the snake smiled. I suspect that the ancient Greek philosophers also served as a good template for jokes for their students. Okay, you almost convinced me, you know.

"Now tell me, Yuto, why did you invite me to your place? Since you knew who I was?"

That's a pushy one! Okay, I'll answer the other part of the question.

"I called you because I wanted to meet you again, that's all. And, by the way, this is the first time I've heard that there were any special conditions for an invitation to visit."

"That's it, it's fair! The Amakawa were famous spirit tamers..." The snake said a little more quietly.

Damn, he's thinking fast! The bottleneck in my logical constructions is because in the reasoning "how do I know that you won't hurt me if I believe you", there is no logical answer to give.

"I don't remember anything like that," I said again, quite honestly. "I had friends among the spirits, a white cat named Himari, a brownie... Unfortunately, I don't remember much... But I'm sure they were my friends. And I'm not going to divide my friends according to the principle of who consists of what!"

"That's what you're saying now. What will happen when you turn sixteen?"

"Well, take it and check it out!"

Fuck! You should slap yourself in the mouth! It's so stupid to blurt out on emotion! Now you have to convince her of your love again... Convince in...

"Hmm... An interesting idea, you know! I'll take advantage of your suggestion."

what?!

"Your family refused to be exorcists, but I'm sure the Circle will show interest in you after removing the seal of suppression. Or maybe even earlier. Since you've decided to follow a peaceful path, I'll help you stay on it..."

Is she serious, or should I decipher this high-sounding, however logical explanation as "with such an ability, I won't give it to anyone anyway"? Yes, I hope I made the right bet on the character of Mizuchi based on the results of the meeting in the forest and the manga I once read...

"...That's why I'll stay to keep an eye on you."

"Hey, hey, stop! Not so fast!" and this is Rinko. "What means: "I'll stay to look after you"?!"

What a dynamic! Just a minute of lengthy discussions and immediately the specifics! Shizuka, I respect you!

That's what it means. I will live here and make sure that Amakawa Yuto does not lose his way.

""Live here"?" The confused Rinko immediately highlighted the key parameter. Well, yes, well, yes. After all, I only told my friend about the need to establish contact with the Yokai community. Actually, that's what I thought would happen. Manga is a manga, but why do spirits sit in the forest and not in the city? My "inner" plan was this: to convince Mizuchi, the only yokai who (as I said above) would not try to make me, if not an artifact slave, then a tributary, "unfastening the roof" of some amulets per month, of her usefulness. It's still risky... but it's no less risky than waiting a few more years to get in touch with someone armed and protected. In addition, it would turn out that I had "deceived" Shizuka with my behavior at the first contact, but otherwise everything was logical: I met, remembered, and chose the path. And an exchange — "help with amulets on my part, help with information and, possibly, abilities on Mizuchi's part" — is the optimal strategy, let mutual trust arise first... but someone immediately took the bull by the horns!

"To live here," the Goddess of Rivers repeated. Be close. If the owner of the house doesn't mind. Wow, how polite, they didn't ask such questions to the canonical Yuto... because it's a test. Ha, and the snake understood my slightly veiled advertisement exactly the right way — an offer to cooperate.

"I don't mind, the house is big and pretty..." then the smile on my lips faded, "... empty."

It wasn't really a game. Indeed, you can turn a house into a fortress as much as you like, but the fact that you are the only defender does not make it any more pleasant.

"Yuto..." — it's Rinko again. Shake my head. Smile.

"Everything is fine. I really agree, but..." I glanced at Shizuka. "...If we share the household chores, too. It's pretty hard for Rinko and me to keep the whole house clean by ourselves."

"It's settled, you know."

"What, you're just going to move in with Yuto?" My neighbor couldn't wrap her head around the outcome of the impetuous negotiations.

"What will the neighbors think?"

"I'll say that my very distant relative has arrived, and that's it."

Now it was Kuzaki's turn to shake his head. However, there is a great way to "crush" an impressionable girl.

"Besides, I looked at the map of the area of the reserve where Shizuka said she lives. There are no settlements or even houses there."

"The spirit of the house is not... A roof over your head is not necessary to live," The snake nodded, "but maybe the house is hidden behind the barriers, why did you think there was nothing there?"

"Satellite imagery, you know!" I couldn't resist mimicking her again. But it looks like our guest is with computers... Although now I'm a neighbor, I don't know her. At least not well enough to avoid asking stupid questions. We have a lot to tell each other. It's time to voice your side of the sentence.

I can do very little, but what I've been able to learn on my own, I do quickly... You saw it. You're not hiding in the woods from a good life, are you?

"A group of police officers from the Tsuchimikado clan is patrolling the city... and she kills every yokai she meets."

Whoops! Is there a battle group in the city?! And even on a permanent basis, as I understand it?! Why are Himari and company so free to roam in the manga? We certainly should have run into these serious guys first.

"You've seen my capabilities. I can see your aura, but it can be blocked just like mine. True, I haven't made such complicated amulets yet (yeah, because I didn't really need them!), but the general principle is clear. Then no one will distinguish you from an ordinary person. And yours... comrades?.. I can help you if you need."

"Now it was Yokai 's turn to think. If the exorcists find out about your connection with the Yokai, it could turn out badly..." After a moment, Shizuka said.

"You said yourself that I'm from the tamer clan, I'll just say that these are my vassals... if you vouch for them in front of me. However, I don't know much about exorcists from other clans, about the Circle, and I don't remember much about the Yokai either... Will you tell me?"

That's it, the cards are turned over, it's time to check the layouts.

"I think I can help with that. But what will you do when you turn sixteen?"

Yeah, an important point, plans for the future should also be agreed. A temporary alliance is one thing, but long-term cooperation is quite another!

Then I'll voice my "idea" again:

"Maybe it's naive, but as I understand it, the part of the yokai that would like to live with people is mostly forced to hide? I wish that this endless senseless slaughter between the exorcists and Ayakashi and within each group would stop. We can give each other a lot, we can just live peacefully next to each other... I want to build a society where it is possible. Even if it's not a society, even if it's a single city... with my abilities... and with my last name, it's possible."

"It sounds naive, you know!" The snake grinned, and there were so many emotions mixed into that sad smile that perhaps only Hiroe figured it out. "But I want to see what you can do."

"And now that you've already agreed, what position will I have in your secret society, Yutoo-kuu-uu-un?"

Hiroe! Well, you can't just climb into such a beautiful picture with dirty boots! Have I forgotten about you, or are you sitting here listening with all your ears?! But Rinko seems to have forgotten, she jumped up!

"Is the position of head of the analytical department suitable for you?" I suggested matching the haircut. "But I don't have anything to pay your salary yet. Don't you want to wait for "secret society" to move from the category of words to something more substantial?"

"Ha, he found a fool! I'd rather "go to work" now and set my own salary... You know!" I copied the intonation of Mizuchi Hiroe in my voice.

Poor Rinko! Such a dumbfounded look! Just like that, we were talking quietly and peacefully about high things, and then bang! -the secret society." After all, Hiroe is still such a child, despite all her abilities... it seems that this phrase can be applied to all four participants of the "show".

"It seems that such agreements are usually fixed like this." Satisfied, Kaname brought her "gift" bag from the kitchen and... pulled out four thin-walled small porcelain bowls. And a small, only one hundred grams, bottle of elite (without any quotes! I saw how much it cost in the supermarket!) cherry nectar.

"After that, even I think it wouldn't hurt." Rinko muttered to herself, but everyone heard.

Hiroe reached out to pour the liquor herself, but Shizuka took the bottle away from her and very quickly poured the viscous, thick pink liquid into four completely equal parts. I don't know about anyone, but I remembered "uncle" Lenya, my neighbor in the stairwell in the distant "there": either he was also a spirit, or a water magician. The skill demonstrated was absolutely identical!

"To the bottom!" Hiroe warned. "well. Kampi!"

The liquid rolled down the tongue, pleasantly tingled the esophagus along the way and settled in the stomach, growing into a soft, warm lump. The tension left after the negotiations immediately subsided. The sounds of cicadas singing outside the windows "appeared", the soft light of street lamps turned on to disperse the impending darkness. It's already half past eleven at night! Damn, we sat down, dinner!

"I think it's time for us to go home." She nodded at Hiroe Rinko. "It's late, and sleeping for half a day on the only day off is too much."

"I'm not going, laziness!" it seems that Kaname liquor, who has overworked in the field of intellectual labor, is the only one who is a little "far away" in the brain.

"Tomorrow is the day off anyway, I'll call my mom now. Will you let me stay the night, too, Yuto-ku-u-un? Or should I call you boss now?"

So, "don't pour for the fifth table anymore"! Damn, how can you get drunk from twenty-five grams of fifteen-degree liqueur? Or did Hiroe just "let go" of herself, and this is a setback?

"Well, no way!" Rinko, driven by the jokes of the day, simply grabbed the cropped one by the elbow and dragged her to the door to the street like a caterpillar ant. "I'll take care of her, Yuto! We'll come by for breakfast tomorrow."

Waving my hand at Rinko, I locked the door and turned to a somewhat indifferent Shizuka, who, despite all her endurance, was apparently emotionally exhausted by the nervous events of the day.

"Come on, I'll open the second bedroom for you and give you a futon. And we'll do the dishes tomorrow, it's okay. Indeed, it's time to sleep!

Interlude 10. The Amakawa House. Shizuka on a futon

The snake lay staring at the ceiling. Life is a complicated thing, and no, no, and it will give you such a choice that it's better not to choose at all. Once, fear decided everything for her. The second time there was hatred, and the corpses of the enemies were frozen in ice at the bottom of a mountain lake... The third time, there was desperation, and only the intervention of the Corpse Eater forced her to join the battle of spirits against spirits... some intelligent spirits against others. And suddenly, she got a "fourth time." And from whom? From three children, one of whom is a descendant of Amakawa (she understood this in her mind, but, not feeling any exorcist power in the cub, she could not accept it in her heart), the second is a flawed branch of Yakoin... who, without any magic, "revealed" her nature, and the third is an ordinary girl... with a blessing in your hair.

Mizuchi cursed her curiosity, which was not satisfied with any of the trials that had befallen her: Well, why, why did she decide to find out something additional about the strange guy she met in the reserve. Too much for she, a "spy". She persuaded herself to go and check, of course, that the police spies from the department for combating manifestations and sects would send a combat group, three to five magicians, who would scout and knock out everyone they scouted. Why wasn't Yuto afraid?.. Because he's used to spirit's, he's used to them as his friends, he really doesn't see the difference... and because he could kill her in one hit. Just one magic absorber. Bind all the mana with his strange power, which is not magic, in a body made of water — and the snake got caught. The water will spread out, and she will simply die without even noticing it, maybe, however, she will have time to move... Or maybe not. Those movements near the ravine... they made sense. Yuto was preparing to hit to defeat, but she did not attack, and he immediately calmed down. A naive child... who managed to lure the cynical old Mizuchi into his house, from where you can't even get out unless you open the door or window... which I desperately wanted to do. Run, run from where you've been warmed up! Escape from where the danger is unknown from which side. Run, run, frantically shuffling your feet, from where three pairs of children's hands have already ruined your fate... and they will definitely break it tomorrow.

Impossible! Become indistinguishable from a human? But it's possible. All you need is a magician-not a magician, an exorcist who left the clan voluntarily (well, let him not formally marry — his parents did it for him). An exorcist who dreams of peace, not glory.

Damn it! She talked to Yuto about the new world for about ten minutes and found no inconsistencies. It seems that he has been thinking about this problem all the time since the death of his parents... a very, very strange death. Yuto is like her. Yuto is like her reflection in the water. The exact opposite... and a chance, a ridiculous, unthinkable chance for hope! Perhaps her consciousness had hardened and withered after so long, an unthinkable thing, ayakashi, the aspect of water, yokai, the Goddess of Rivers, she couldn't think big like one kid. Even hulf-Yakoin was impressed... clearly not her job. Tomorrow, Yuto — Mizuchi didn't like to mention the clan name — promised to make a set of amulets for her, completely blocking the aura. Tomorrow she will be able to look at people's lives from the inside, for real, and not like a picture in an illustrated book.

Mizuchi moaned softly and gripped the edges of the futon with her fingers. Don't run away, just don't fucking run away! The murdered family... Just don't squander the only fragile chance that their deaths won't end up being just an episode in an endless war. There were still three hours left before dawn.

Sometimes people's minds generate such monsters that all the monsters under the bed run without looking back and losing their stashed second socks!..

Interlude 11. Kuzaki's House, Rinko Kuzaki's bed, 6.40 am, Sunday

..and the sleep of the mind causes panic even among the monsters of the human mind.

Of course, Rinko, having dragged her tired friend from Yuta's birthday, got permission to leave her at home. Unlike Amakawa's half-empty house, the Kuzaki rooms were all distributed. Therefore, put the futon on the floor, and sleep, girls, in the same room. Who knew that a short-haired woman also suffers from sleepwalking? It's a good thing it's not nocturnal enuresis!

In short, at the moment of awakening, Rinko found herself lying almost across the bed, with Hiroe's legs on top of her, wearing pajamas given out from Kuzaki Jr.'s supplies. Kaname managed to lie down with her head in the opposite direction from the pillows in her sleep. Rinka's blanket lay more or less evenly on top of this body structure, and Ranmaru, the Kuzaki family's cat, completed the composition with a chubby, one-and-a-half-year-old cat. Naturally, the cat chose the place of geometric intersection of girly bodies, weighing down Hiroe's legs a little more and not made of cotton wool. And Hiroe herself is cheerful... She was snoring!

Kuzaki's stomach and back completely disapproved of the new method of sleeping and hurt a little more than they do after an intense workout, which did not add to their owner's dovish gentleness. Realizing that she couldn't sleep anymore, the girl got out from under a pile of small bodies, shooed Ranmaru away and wondered what to do with this little girl for invading her personal space: maybe rub her ears? He snores as if nothing had happened! Or maybe tickle? He smiles in his sleep, it's such an infection! Oh so! Rinko picked up a glass of water from the bedside table, where she always left it overnight, and filled her mouth with all the contents. Pshaw! Right in the face of the obnoxious girl!

The result exceeded all expectations: Hiroe screamed at the edge of the ultrasound, jumped up from the prone position (on a soft mattress — the trick is quite difficult even for Rinko) and, picking up a pillow, hit the hostess of the room right on the head with all her might! She didn't have much strength, but Kuzaki Jr. was literally blown off the bed... on the futon that was originally intended for the guest.

"Oh, Rinko, I'm sorry!" Finally, Hiroe's expression took on a meaningful expression and she saw who she had hit. "I didn't mean to!"

"Intentionally or not, it doesn't matter now!" The kendo champion of the school and the district promised ominously, grabbing a pillow from Kaname's futon and jumping onto the bed. "I'll show you what a swordsman can do even with a pillow in his hands!"

"It seems to me, dear, that our daughter should invite her friends home more often." Kuzaki Sr. said as she closed the door to her and her husband's bedroom. Rinko and her friend are so energetic and funny, and with us, our girl is just a model of gentleness and calmness. Confirming her words, gambling shouts and screams could be heard throughout the house. After that, it's not surprising that both of them showed up at the Amakawa house at eight: Rinko — to cook Yuto's breakfast, and Hiroe — just for company (and for a free breakfast). But there was a surprise waiting for them!

Part 18

chapter 95.

Unlike the "canonical" Yuto, I get up early. It's funny, I've always believed that biorhythms are set by the body, not consciousness, but perhaps biorhythms can vary widely depending on the needs of the mind? Although I actually overslept my usual wake-up time and alarm a few times, and Rinko had to shake me for a long time to wake up for school: sometimes it's very difficult to stop in the middle of an experiment... or you just need to finish the job. I got up now-it wasn't even eight o'clock yet. After yesterday's events and excitement, I slept especially well: the sun was shining through the curtains through the windows, the air in the room was fresh and slightly humid... fresh and moist? Come on... Wow!

No, of course, I am aware that once every two or three days, vacuuming through rooms and corridors and quickly wiping the floors with a mop soaked in water with a "Mr. MySQL" type of product and cleaning up normally are two different things. But not so much! To begin with, the color of the wooden flooring in the second-floor hallway turned out to be a slightly different shade than I'm used to. Much, much lighter! The walls, especially closer to the ceiling, turned out to be much whiter than before. And the spider web that the ubiquitous spiders discreetly hang in the corners? And the air itself is almost like in a "clean room" — there is simply no dust! Shizuka (there's just no one else) did a great job: I completely stopped understanding how, with such abilities on the part of spirits, representatives of the local civilization managed to lose contact with them! I'm sure she can handle more than just my small house. It's all bullshit, these fireballs and the ability to throw a heavier projectile over the walls of a fortress, with such an ability in the Middle Ages, epidemics could be stopped, not to mention just everyday amenities. And I'm sure Shizuka is far from the strongest yokai of the water aspect.

I wonder if she was in the basement? And if there was, did you understand anything else? However, I'll take you and tell you. I'll ask you myself. And... hmm? What is it that smells so good?

Chapter 96.

No, surely Russians and Japanese have common roots: well, how else to explain the appearance of girls exactly at the time when breakfast is ready? Yes, and I was lucky to wake up like that! I'm ashamed, but we ate so much! Even Hiroe, who seemed to be better trained in etiquette than us, turned her head so that it rattled behind her ears! And we ate twice as much as usual, since Mizuchi cooked a little more than even for four people. Either it was an experience, or she just wanted to leave some of it for lunch... It didn't work out! After we sat back in our chairs, I decided to hold a meeting and, just in case, a safety briefing.

"Shizuka, you're incredible! Thank you so much for your help and for such a delicious breakfast. I hope you enjoy our "second part" the same way. To do this, I suggest solving a couple of important cases today. First, about the features of protecting the house: the suppression of magic is at the level of material surfaces: walls, glass, doors. If the door or window is open, there is no protection in this place, is that clear? I have not yet figured out how the "Steam" works in projection mode in order to create zones of modified air of a given configuration or to change the properties of the material a second time.

""Ferry"?" Mizuchi was surprised. "It's a strange name."

"Well, that's what it is," I was surprised now, "The Amakawa clan's ability, "Ferry of Light." I thought you knew."

This is the first time I've seen a snake laugh, and it's smiled every other time.

"I know, you know!" Somehow calming down, she replied. "But Amakawa's ability is called "Changing Light," you know! I didn't think you could twist the name like that!"

I didn't think so either, Mizuchi, but harsh Russian translators may not be like that... Hiroe didn't get the whole joke, but Rinko, who also asked at the time why the name "kekkei genkaya" sounded so strange and ran into an explanation like "the ferry represents the transfer (transportation?) there are a lot of new properties in the "object is massive", she also began to laugh in the most natural way at the poor Yuto who had lost his memory... probably because I remembered how many words I had come up with like " ferryroller" or "ferry protection of the material."

"You know, since I'm still the last Amakawa, I think I have the right to rename my force as I see fit... if only because if I say "enlightened" instead of "FerryRoller", it will be unclear. And even more so if I say "traded"." At my last remark, Rinko's laugh cut off, and she stared at me with her trademark "heavy" gaze, sometimes shifting her gaze to the Goddess of Rivers. Which in turn amused Mizuchi already:

"You're right, you know! It's better to talk about ferries, not about cheating, you know! Your "harem" won't approve of you, you know!"

Damn! How had I forgotten to watch my words in Shizuki's presence! The same small-looking trollolo in the canon annoyed Yuto and others with jokes about the "harem" and breast size. And I gave her a reason myself!

Rinko was speechless at the word "harem," opening and closing her mouth in silence, but Hiroe, pointedly looking at her nails, rejected it:

"You signed up for Yuto's harem yesterday... You know. And she didn't even ask for a salary, unlike smart people. So you'll be the younger wife."

Now Mizuchi opened her mouth soundlessly, and I feigned a facepalm. Neither Shizuka nor Hiroe will forget this joke. And I managed to gather some girls around me! Is this karma or something?!

Chapter 97.

When we finally calmed down and had tea, I started where I wanted to start. Namely— to disguise Mizuchi. The problem, as I mentioned earlier, was that I don't know how to create projection screens, that is, roughly speaking, to use objects as ferry pickups. Mediators would solve a lot of problems, for example, the formation of the same signal network in the city would be greatly simplified, and the ability to create changes beyond the "resolution" of my eyes would be nice. It remains, as always, to understand from which side to tackle the problem. Well, since such a problem cannot be solved in five minutes, they decided to mask the snake in the old-fashioned way: to put an overwhelming "Steam" on clothes. It's simple: the girls went to the bathroom with yokai, and ten minutes later Shizuka brought me her clothes. Why ten minutes? It turns out that they were bickering over whether it was necessary (and possible?!) putting changes on your underpants. On the one hand, no one seems to be looking under the hem, but on the other hand, you never know what. In the end, Mizuchi just handed over the object of the dispute, after which the girls found out who would carry it to me. In short, Shizuka had to put on a bath towel in the manner of an ancient Greek toga and carry my things herself. Snake told me all this while I was working, and the red-faced girls tried to pretend they weren't there. Okay, we figured it out, and that's good. After looking through the magic detector, I was convinced that the "seals" of the Ferry provide good protection from the "illumination" of the hull, but the legs, arms up to the elbows and the head continue to glow treacherously. Rinko drove home without resistance and brought white knee socks and several blue hairpins in the color of the ribbons on her head. I also had to shake up my neighbor for a certain amount of jewelry — four rings (insurance, two for each hand), two bracelets and a locket necklace. Inspection. Well, almost! The front side of the face around the eyes remained uncovered, and I, habitually clutching in my hands, "secured" the next glasses. Now I was "wholesale" buying not just "computer", but "chameleons". Convenient!

Great! The fields of action of the suppressive amulets I made from all this pile of various consumer goods overlapped quite reliably, preventing glare when moving, for which I made the snake walk around the living room first, and then on the kitchen table. I was ready to get a slap in the face from Kuzaka for the last "brilliant" idea, but she took everything adequately. We were finally ready to go "into the big world" outside the walls of the house, but there was another "small" problem.

"I can't see anything, you know." Mizuchi said melancholically.

"That is, how?! You're moving confidently, aren't you, and you don't bump into tables?"

"I don't see the world. I see objects, I hear water flowing, I feel a solid floor under my feet, but I don't see the world."

Holy shit! Of course, magical creatures are very different from humans in their perception spectrum, I might have guessed. Even when they curl up their aura, they can almost feel the world with their "sixth sense" and taste it with their power. And I put an analog of a mobile prison on Mizuchi... Well, what should I do?

In the end, I just pulled out other glasses and made a standard magic detector. Let it be "not that", let it be a pathetic substitute for the variety of information that the spirit receives directly from the world... especially the water demon in a world where 70% of the surface is occupied by water... After all, did you want to see the world "through people's eyes"? So let him watch.

Are we going out now? Horseradish again! Hiroe became interested in manipulating glasses, and after receiving comprehensive explanations, she wanted the same ones for herself. Cami! Here, just get off! And then Rinko blurted out about mago-protected clothes at the wrong time, and I had to process Kaname's things as well (the ritual of locking myself in the bathroom was repeated). As a result, our "bespectacled club," as the cropped ulcer aptly put it, left the house only at eleven in the morning. Considering how much we have planned for today, we should be busy until the evening. The big campaign for "introduce Shizuku to people's lives in the first person" has begun.

chapter 98.

First of all, Hiroe dragged our entire company to "eliminate all this horror," in the sense of bringing Shizuki's clothes to the standard of "dressed with taste." Well, yes. Kaname was absolutely not satisfied with buying everything in one place, and as a result, instead of enjoying shopping, everyone except Hiroe got nervous. In a situation where undressing means putting your life in mortal danger, trying on fashionable things is somehow not the topic. As a result, I had to buy a size 56 clothing cover, apply a suppression seal, and the girls took turns putting this improvised canopy on top of the snake and holding it while she changed one wardrobe item for another. This, I note, is inside a cubicle that is not too free. Then Mizuchi would say whether it was suitable or not, and the purchased item would "steam off", and the procedure of changing clothes would be repeated in the toilet of the shopping center. According to the results, about a third of Rinko and Hiroe were rejected, but there is nothing to do. Exchanging an item in a store for a different size when you give back an amulet of magical protection in the form of a recently purchased product is at least unwise. Fortunately, Hiroe sponsored us, otherwise I would have squandered my "savings" again.

As a result, by one o'clock in the afternoon, we had a very good appetite, a slightly spoiled mood, and Mizuchi, dressed in a matching and stylish blue and white dress, blue sandals, and blue knee socks... In short, all that remained were Rinko's hairpins, glasses, and some jewelry. I had to look for a cafe, and Shizuka rejected the first one right away because of the smell. When we found out that the oil in the grill hadn't been changed for almost two days, we agreed with her. Should I file a complaint against the owner? Such violations are strictly dealt with here. I already paid for lunch.

After eating our fill, we got out of the cafe and headed towards the convenience store. A towel, a toothbrush, bookshelves-and a set of "normal kitchen knives instead of these rusty, blunt blocks that are impossible to cook with." It was an expensive pleasure — Rinko and I had to discount. Kuzaki, however, had her own interest: ayakashi promised to give some cooking lessons, and my friend was determined to give herself to this process with all her might. After dragging the bags that had become too bulky home, we took a break... And hooray! Finally, we went to do what I like: assemble computer components for Mizuchi. There was a computer store in the next block, but I wasn't satisfied with the prices of new components, but used ones were much cheaper if you bought them in parts. I explored the den of geeks and perverts not so long ago — when we were assembling the drive part of the quadcopter's control system. Why geeks? Well, these comrades, who could chat for hours about any, I emphasize, ANY board from their "unique collection", shit on Microsoft and praise the Open Source movement (I took a look for the sake of interest — all but two of them had WinXP on their work computer), were real "twisted" to my taste. But the perverts... No, that everyone has at least one poster in their kiosk with a not very dressed female person with long ears, horns, a tail, or some other contraption like a full-length sword, that's okay. Maybe it's their aesthetic sense, and these guys are mostly from our city polytechnic, working part-time in their free time... HOW THEY STARED at the three girls who accompanied me. And Kondraty almost missed one thing altogether when Hiroe, who was looking at SCSI controllers, asked something about parity. Sysadmin dad is a brutal way to break the geek template!

In general, by the time the components were typed, everyone remembered me there. Three asked to reveal the terrible secret of the heartthrob. Two — start telling the girls about how much cooler they are than the bespectacled kid (and flew past the money). And of course, everyone suddenly had the titanic parameters of computers assembled at home (at the department, at their second job, in their own design studio...). To one guy who was strenuously inviting him to go and see, offering a free computer build, Shizuka casually burned the system unit, aiming a drop of water somewhere into the power supply, after looking around and breaking through the disguise.

"Yuto," Rinko asked me on the bus, "are you sure you want to go to the Polytechnic? They're like that... er-er-er... nasty, fe, these students".

"Don't pay attention, there's usually a bunch of people in these places who have different interests: work less, talk more."

"This is the first time I've seen so many perverts at once," Mizuchi nodded in agreement.

"Serious students all work in serious companies starting from the first year, if they want to, of course. But usually they work, especially the rich do not go to the polytechnic, but go to finance or economics," Hiroe intervened. I was going to graduate from Kyoto University of Journalism and Law... apparently, we'll have to harness ourselves to the exterior.

"Why?" Rinko asked innocently.

"Because at the age of sixteen, our Yuto's amulet will stop working and he will turn from a human and a teenager into a figure at once."

"What? What are you saying now?"

"It's simple, you know," the snake supported the conversation. "Yuto chose the path of building peace... but to arrange a peaceful coexistence of humans and non-humans, you need something more than the desire of one person."

It's good that the bus is almost empty, and the old people sitting in front, in my opinion, do not even hear the stops.

"So what?" The swordswoman next door asked anxiously.

"And that's it!" Hiroe mimicked. "There is no power behind Yuto, and without the power of a person, no one will listen. They'll just make you do what you need to do. Most likely, to kill people like her."

Shizuka nodded.

"Yuto, what are they!" Rinko turned to me. There were tears in her eyes, and her face was desperate. "Is it true?!"

"However, this is indeed the case. When you and I talked about gaining control of my "blood legacy," learning all sorts of unsafe things, and figuring out the balance of power among the yokai and clans, it was all implied. Alone in the field is not a warrior. If everything works out, we will be able to find enough supporters among humans, demons and magicians, if we can find something to guarantee their loyalty and how to repay their loyalty, we will get an island of a new world in the old one. We will become the third force in the struggle between magicians and inhumans. And we'll try to become strong enough so that we don't get knocked down casually... and necessary enough that they won't unite against us.

"It sounds like a manga story," Rinko squinted. "And do you really think?.."

"Ha, it's not a boy's speech, but a husband's!" Ayakashi slammed it down. "You surprise me more and more... Amakawa Yuto!"

"But Yuto is a child, just like us..."

"We are also well-made" Kaname smiled rapaciously.

"And I was hoping for a quiet study at school, to finish junior, then middle school, to show off as a high school student, and to be a mature girl..." here Kuzaki blushed rapidly and stared at the floor.

"Just think of it as a job, like the guys in the mall." Kaname advised. "Moreover, this is the case. Politics is just a job. Even protecting yourself and others is just a job..."

"And it's going to be very hard for me to handle it without you." I finished for our analyst.

Rinko looked up at me with reddened eyes and grabbed my elbow. Her face, so childish and slightly angular, suddenly seemed to me like the face of an adult woman. A steely expression, familiar to me from her training and a few conflicts, appeared in her eyes. Predatory joy on Hiroe's part. Shizuki's calm confidence. The starting point has been set — now, for better or worse, I am responsible not only for myself, but also for the people who trusted me... and not people. And I thought it would only start in two years. Lucky me!

Part 19

Chapter 99.

The morning of a working day, and for me, a school Monday, greeted me with clean, humid air and killer food flavors. Mizuchi had already eaten and was now arranging the papers she had retrieved from the hiding places she had gone on a raid for "into the night." Meeting my gaze, Shizuka pushed the "blue" passport of a Japanese citizen in my direction. I opened it: the photo is really similar. And the name? Hmm, Chidori! The Goddess of Rivers has a surname, so now it's Mikuni. Almost Mizuchi, good harmony. But where did she get it from?

"I found it in their bag," snake shared her memories with me, not too happily, "near the destroyed camp. The Yokai is an ogre. Daughter and parents... We buried what was left."

Shoving food into my mouth with one hand, I logged into the Ministry of Emergency Situations website directly from my mobile phone and punched through my passport data. Hmm, they don't appear in the search, but the database is uniform across the country. And why? Yeah, I picked a folder out of a pile of papers: a certificate of purchase of a farm on the coast. We've already decided to relax in the mountains on our own. And snake is doing well — he knows how to work with documents.

"Do you have many of them?" I returned the documents to Mizuchi.

"Twenty pieces a year," she shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't happen every year that they are suitable for age and appearance."

"It means that a hundred people are regularly eaten in our mountains..."

"About a hundred and fifty."

"...every year. Interesting."

Statistics of population losses. The mountains... wow! More than a thousand. Well, of course, the gang from which Shizuka "holds" not the entire array, but most of it... This means that the losses are mostly accidental — I lost my temper, got drunk and froze, and so on. What about the rating? What about the rating? Car crashes — about 5,000 people a year, and that's just on our island. That's a tough one... but I'm still against pseudo-dirty creatures living in the mountains who love human meat. Because reasonable people won't just starve to eat reasonable people's meat...

"Okay, I'm off. Close the door behind me, please."

"Okay," Shizuka got up and went to the door, suddenly asked: "Will it be possible to see your school?"

"Yes, there aren't many lessons on Saturday, we'll do it." and I left her at home and went to class.

chapter 100.

It's the middle of summer. It's warm, it's good, the last week of classes, and the schools will close. Applicants who have not passed the spring exam will have a chance to try to get a passing grade in a new one or choose another place — an innovation that is only five years old. The "Tokyo incident" — I didn't have anything like that "there"... And that's good. The mass suicide of 198 people from Ronin, who jumped from the roof of the 120-storey tower of the shopping and business center with a beautiful, almost exactly round figure. It's a murky story. It comes out in the search engine with the query "mass sacrifice", it seems that the police have unearthed some kind of trace there. But the government could not help but respond to the "official" reason, and the school (and student) academic year was "moved" so that it became closer to the European one...

Why am I thinking about this? I just decided to "go through" my "post-knowledge" again: over the past two years, a number of inconsistencies have accumulated... Although there is not much value from the "after-knowledge" either. I'm sure that if I hadn't recognized Shizuka by her appearance and characteristic speech, I still wouldn't have rushed at the enemy until she attacked. But would I invite her to my house? Well, let's assume that the manga helped me here. But Rinko, I managed to fix her behavior a lot: instead of showing a "boyish" character, she confidently engages in both school and kendo. And he still walks around without the "cat" ribbons, to which an entire chapter is devoted in the manga. Although they may be "supposed" to be bought this summer?

Shizuka, on the contrary, looks much more sane, about a year after communicating with the "canonical" Yuto. Or have I just not talked to her enough yet? But there are no hacks like "this food is not for you" or "if you slip up, I'll kill you." On the contrary, I was the one who asked snake to try to analyze our joint actions taking into account her broader life experience, and I got a thoughtful look and "I'm trying to change something for the first time, just like you, you know." And Rinko teaches cooking. And I went out with Hiroe a few times. I have only one explanation: something like this happened between this summer and the summer of 2012, when I will be sixteen years old. And this "something", perhaps, should be kept in mind.

Shizuka told me a bit about their "spirit community" and mentioned the problems with regular attacks. This is after I showed the surveillance system in action and explained the principle of operation in general terms. And then I found out one unpleasant thing: Mizuchi knows almost nothing about classical magic. This is despite the fact that she told me the layout of the hunter clans (well, I finally found out something about them! And, by the way, Yakoin is the surname of all detectives, not the name of the girl from Tsuchimikado o_O), about the magic techniques used... imagining the result and the affected area, she doesn't know how it works. More than that! The mana generated by the snake is incompatible with mine. At least in her hands, the mana-electricity converters don't work, no matter how much energy she pours into them. But the wooden roundels were soaked with water and swollen. Damn, a "chakra with an elemental aspect", like in Naruto. And I've already rolled out my lip... But I can make an amulet for Mizuchi. And the overwhelming universal "cuts" any type of chakra, that is, mana. It's a real problem...

However, we will have to enter the "community of spirits" anyway: we need a testing ground for our combat abilities, at least mine, and we need sparring. Yes, and weapons need to be prepared. Now Mizuchi has occupied her computer and spends her days reading popular science literature. The poor snake's brain is really creaking — after demonstrating the laser (sawed through a wooden block in the basement... and again, the poor wall!) and she decided to master at least the theory of the linear accelerator... and she got stuck. But it's harmful, harmful to be a humanitarian, if you don't have to fight with words. Yuto the "canonical" may have also turned his tea mug into a superconductor (and I don't even doubt about the teapot!), but even if he had noticed, would he have drawn a conclusion? It seems to me that the answer is "no".

By the way, about education: with a brush, Shizuka writes just fucking well: smooth, clear lines — and this is without a "cheat" touch-up with his strength of a watery ink solution. Again, some facts from the history of Japan through the eyes of a contemporary, if not an eyewitness, are something. If anyone has watched Samurai Kenshin, that era is through the eyes of a snake... something like Russia in 1905-1920. A complete arctic fox. And gangs of samurai with swords. Mostly, though, with torches, ropes, and outdated firearms. Brr, if you really have something to compare it with, you immediately understand what a good time you live in. However, not much has changed for the Yokai: big cities are tightly closed, medium and small — you can get there if you look with both eyes.

These Yokai are an interesting civilization. There's not a word in the manga about this, although it's possible to guess in principle. This development from the "simplest" forms up to the local deity is impressive. I can imagine what would happen if there were no people on Earth... but they are there, and the species itself (if the concept of a biological species can be squeezed into such a variety of forms, possibilities and parameters) of spirits turned out to be among the "disciples" of human civilization. Just as a child learns to use his brain by looking at adults, so ayakashi, gaining intelligence, learned from people. Languages. Manners. Behavior. Minus the "instincts", of course. And now it's a grotesque medieval education next to the civilization of the 21st century... However, according to Rowling, magicians should have the same problems.

In general, it's not just the snake that has a swollen head. All experiments have been suspended, except for the extension of signal coverage, I'm frantically rebuilding my knowledge of the world. One good thing is that my studies are almost over...

chapter 101.

Saturday. Last school Saturday! People are walking around the school half in "civilian" clothes, handing in textbooks, cleaning club rooms, in the sense of cleaning so that everything is in place, and not as usual. Our "bespectacled" team doesn't stand out much against this background, although Rinko and I have already been asked a dozen times if we have brought a "new girl" who will be studying at school next year. And Shizuka is very thoughtful. Apparently, it did not occur to the snake that regular education could play such an important role. Especially when I showed some "fast" experiments on "demonstration machines" in our club, such as diffraction or elastic deformation. Or the second graders assembled a "water whip" — just a jet of water at a pressure of 6 atmospheres (you don't even need a pump, just a water pipe and an air expansion tank), which in five minutes "gnawed out" a nice cavity in a piece of limestone — so he poisoned Mizuchi in a knockdown. I had to go into the staff room and look at the information on the stand about the rules for transferring students — apparently, Shizuka must be a schoolgirl after all. Moreover, in my opinion, she knows the most difficult subjects like Japanese and Japanese history no better than the teachers. By the way, the speech of the Goddess of Rivers has also changed, archaisms are almost not found, but there are meme words from the Internet, such as "trollolo" or "parallel to me." And that's all in a week. Well, the "rubber" sealed keyboard and mouse are included from the very beginning — this is if anyone has any questions why I didn't buy a used laptop for Mizuchi. At the exit from the school, I came across Taizo with a stack of textbooks (his and his sister's, as I understand it, we don't have that much), and immediately scattered this rack when he saw my "escort". However, to the question "are you multiplying them by division?" I choked and couldn't find what to say, but three girlish fists thrust under my nose explained everything exhaustively. It's lucky that the guy got carried away with avionics, otherwise with Shizuka included in the "canonical" version of Taizo, he would simply not have lived to high school! Yes, Hiroe also walks around the school with glasses and smiles mysteriously at questions. No matter how the new fashion is brought to school... Although maybe that's what he's trying to achieve? The disguise will be excellent.

By the way! Shizuka deposited a portion of her savings, about three hundred thousand yen, into the "general cash register." It was very difficult, at least for us now, and we eventually covered all the expenses for its arrangement. As I understand it, Mizuchi has some gold buried in the "if anything": she's a solid girl, you can't take it away. It seems that the summer vacation month will be marked by "study, study and study," especially since Kaname, feigning embarrassment, asked her to "pull up" in the exact sciences. It seems that the girl has already rethought something about the world and people. And I'm going to have experiments, meditations, and a lot of brain work. In general, routine is like routine.

Chapter 102.

It's time for normal schoolchildren to rest and relax before the new school year, and only here, in the Amakawa house, there is a yoke of smoke! In two weeks, I personally conducted almost a year's worth of research on the Ferry and came close to solving the problem of increasing the speed of muscle reaction with magic-based amplifiers. Either my previous work experience affected me, or I just approached the "critical mass" of accumulating knowledge, but after I carefully examined how Shizuka moves "on acceleration", I managed to catch the necessary elements visually, through glasses. And then, over the course of a week, through trial and error, we managed to choose the configuration of the lines, in response to which, when applied to the material, it is reduced by applying magic — mine or Mizuchi's. I must say right away that the block of wood or plastic did not want to shrink. But everything worked out with the rubber! And with muscles too, even more effectively. Poor hamster, he was in such a hurry to escape from the scary me that he didn't jump in full force... This is the first time I've seen the real personification of someone who fell against a wall. Then it was necessary to somehow intensify the work of the nervous system, at least the cerebral cortex, so that the experimental animal could cope with its own speed. The "eye" ferries only "broke" hamsters for me, and for all my friendly feelings and agreements, I would not want to demonstrate these weapons unless absolutely necessary. For five days I searched for an answer, trying to imagine the logic of nerve cells through the logic of muscle cells, and eventually I bred a ten and a half hallucination hamsters, plunging their not very complex (compared to human) brains into the power of an electrical storm of signals caused by forcing using modified muscle weaving (the power part was cut off, leaving purely electrical effects). The only effect, apart from the hallucinations of the subjects, was the realization that perhaps I had invented a not very pleasant protection against mago scanning of human memory. It is enough to channel a little mana as part of any spell, and instead of direct or indirect access to memory, there is a whirlwind of vague visions and a malfunction of the hemispheres. Fifteen minutes and the subject falls asleep. He also loses his short-term memory. In general, the ferry equipment is rather dubious, from the series "leave as a souvenir to an enemy who has learned a lot, but got caught." Or send them to retirement with such a "draconian" thing. We just need to make sure that the subject does not voluntarily tell everything after two or three wonderful awakenings from such a state... and schizophrenia won't work.

Realizing that I had reached a dead end, I habitually slipped into a state of meditation... And then he came out: he had to take a hamster. My training sessions with sensei continued, and there was no end in sight yet, but I already wanted to test one idea. "Ferry scan". I used this term to describe a theoretical thing that I couldn't test otherwise — the spontaneous "improvement" of a material not for a given property, but for a given quality. I'll have to explain a bit here. I'll start with a simple one — a "ferry" mana catcher. After charging a piece of wood, glass, metal key holder, and a plastic pencil case with amulet properties, I found that metal captures magic most effectively, and wood accumulates it (thanks to the snake for working as a mana source). The hamster turned out to be the worst in terms of the dynamics of taking the amulet. No, seriously, where do you think I got mana into the amuletized muscle structures if the rodent wasn't magical at all? That's it. Looking at the graph of the capacity-saturation rate -regularity relationship of the molecular structure, Shizuka looked puzzled, then thought deeply... meanwhile, I started "meditation with a hamster." The idea of "scanning" lies on the very surface: How did my ancestors, Amakawa, naturally determine that the material at hand could be used as the basis for an amulet? It's simple, they tried to feel their blood power, to use "Steam" as that button in the joke about Photoshop fiftieth version: "do it well." At least that's how I explained to myself Mizuchi's retelling of the "Unique" magical amulets she knows, made by our family, such as the "Impossible Mediator", which instead of dispelling the user's magic, concentrates it. However, a hamster, unlike a simple piece of wood, is a superposition of a large number of elements that make up a smaller number of tissues, and I tried to focus on the nervous one. Putting my hands on the back of the animal sitting in the carrier cage on my lap, I disconnected from the outside world for about twenty minutes. The hamster had long since fallen asleep under my hands, basking in the warmth, and I was still trying to find a response... and I felt something like that. Ferryboat. Get out of meditation. Eyes. Well, yes. No, I definitely got something done — the dense jumble of lines around my head and spinal cord looked much more meaningful than with an ordinary "spontaneous" Ferry. But what does it give? When I woke up the hamster, I was convinced that it wasn't exactly the speed of information perception. So, what if mana is served? Hmm, but the structure does not consume it. Damn, what did I do? After putting the animal back in its cage, I climbed onto a chair with my feet and again began to drive myself into a trance, this time trying to focus on the sensations I experienced in the last "session" and interpret them. And he found himself at a loss. I've highlighted something, but here's how to interpret them... will? An idea? The condition? Something that is not verbalizable. I tried to remember if I had ever felt like this before. I don't think so. Although... At the very edge of sensation... every time I worked with animals... the very shadow, the imperceptible shadow of a feeling... when I interfered with the work... consciousness? No, no hamsters don't have consciousness. Well, there's definitely a second alarm system. It's like I'm breaking something in my fist. Something whole. Previously, without reaching the required degree of detachment, I would not have been able to isolate this feeling, but now... now I realized that I had always felt this "wrongness". Previously, without reaching the required degree of detachment, I would not have been able to isolate this feeling, but now... now I realized that I had always felt this "wrongness". I took the time to pull out of my bag my "magically" powered laser pistol, an artifact I made almost two years ago, I tried to feel it, and I felt it... accuracy. Not completeness, but a step in the right direction. My head started to hurt. I had to get an analgesic from the first-aid kit, which, after twenty months of unsafe experiments, I finally thought of placing in a working basement. I washed down the pills. He swirled the rest of the water in his glass. I got another "clean" hamster. So. Ferry on the muscles. Made by. The introduction of the drive. Made by. Fill in the mana... Five minutes... enough. And now — detachment and Ferry. I feel... wrongness? Incompleteness? Disadvantage... speed? That's it! Fuck, that's IT! I put the hamster on the floor and kicked it lightly in the ass. A jump... Where the hell is it? Blurred movement from the left, straight, right, up... pushed off the wall?! Another loss... And on the bag of food? That's it! More precisely, he is. Wow, damn, how the muscles glow! And the head? It seems there is almost none, except... Oh, that's it!

Victory! After two years of trial and error, after so many discarded hypotheses, I finally got my hands on a means to survive in battle. Even if it hasn't been worked out yet, even if it's unclear how to regulate mana consumption, even if I won't risk using it on myself soon... but I have a chance to win in a direct clash with the enemy. At least I won't "slow down" anymore. Hmm, and Yuto from the canon, under the control of Himari, achieved, if I remember correctly, this effect twice as fast. But unlike him, I understand what I'm doing! Damn, I am! I'm so euphoric!

Chapter 3

We blew almost the entire snake's "budget." For the most part, she spent it on herself and on business, not on trinkets: several sets of clothes, bought a school uniform for the new school year. It turned out to be quite simple to arrange the transfer of documents: Shizuka called "her" "old" school and simply gave the address of the new one. Of course, she was scolded there for taking so long to transmit the coordinates, but the data was sent. Then Mizuchi worked as a copier, copying the handwriting of Chidori's parents, under whose name she entered our school. To school, but not to the classroom: it was not possible to get her transferred to us: and so the bias by five people towards our "B". So the Goddess of Rivers ended up on the same stream as me and Rinko, but in the "A" class. It's kind of fast-paced... But on the other hand, is she a scout or is she out for a walk?

Mizuchi also talked about her role in the Corpse Eater group when we discussed the release of our classes at the "training ground". It's still purely theoretical, but the day is not far off when at least Rinko and I will have to experience Amakawa's abilities for ourselves.

Let's hope that Kuzaki's brain will get an update on high-speed processing of information from the senses and reactions: Hmm, "us." I tried not to even think about matters of personal devotion: the "Ferry" that was embedded in Rinko's central nervous system was anything but affecting the higher functions of the brain. It seems that on the contrary, he was slowing down in some ways. Over the past year, I've managed to spy on the structure of some of the neighbors down the street-Soli borrowed there or vice versa— lent me a large curry cauldron, which I think was the only one on the street. I managed to memorize and draw pictures of the lines of more than fifteen people... including Kuzaka's parents. Do I remember naively talking about behavior programming? When did you not understand the essence of the Ferry, only learned to see the lines of light? Now I doubted that it was even possible. That is, it is possible to influence higher nervous activity... about how replacing a video card with a more powerful one will enable the "Aero" mode with translucent elements in Windows 7... when they come up with it here, this seven. Or you can compare it with installing a good discrete audio system.: the card "wraps" the sound calculation on its processor, and the processor no longer spends its power on this process, which is faster. And if, for a computer, the distribution of tasks from the speed of execution is still on the conscience of the user — whether he uses Aero or listens to music there is his business, then the neural network, which is the "computing center" of the human brain, will try to independently redistribute resources, which will affect behavior... it is unknown how.

So, the lines of light, of course, somehow affected the higher nervous activity of the majority of those examined... but weakly. You can even guess how — I don't know when and on whom Amakawa collected statistics on the work of the "Ferry" in humans, and it's good that I don't know, and I would be afraid to look into the eyes of "unsuccessful experiments", I've had enough of hamsters! Basically, the Ferry affected some physiological functions of the central nervous system, just like Rinko's, by the way. Which ones are beyond my experience to understand. Here you really need to identify patterns with statistics... or find the clan archives, which looks more realistic. I feel like I need to open the "Mystical House" in Noihara, and after talking to Mizuchi about the Yokai's perception of people, I gave up the last illusions that the heir of the clan would be recognized. There will be a fight if I cancel the technique... by the way, it is also unknown how. Or wait until sixteen. I wouldn't want to kill any of the family's vassals, it's not for nothing that my grandfather left them to me. And somehow I'm not ready to go all the way for more than five hundred years of development on my own. Although it is necessary to prepare for the worst...

..I'd rather think about the money. Which are again missing. So, Shizuka specifically spent so much money because she had to hire tutors. I can't give her the right amount of time... and after consulting with her, we decided that communication with adults would be good for her. I also helped, mostly in physics, Rinko took over mathematics, which was difficult for her until I started helping her, and now, having felt her own mistakes, she could even explain mathematics to the spirit, who knew mathematics at the level of four simple arithmetic, at least such simple things as proportion and equation with one unknown. Snake mastered fractions quickly. At the same time, the three of us — the human part of the "association" — were stunned to see how Mizuchi handled the antique abacus, which she also brought from her stash: she was calculating her expenses and her savings. However, two weeks later, the scores still gave way to Excel. Shizuka also discovered Chemistry!

It just so happens that the majority of reactions in school chemistry and organic chemistry in general are somehow related to aqueous solutions. I couldn't even count on getting into the chemistry classroom, except by taking a chemistry teacher hostage and tying dynamite around her. Therefore, I had to buy a set of dishes for the laboratory at home and a Japanese equivalent of the "young chemist". It's not like Shizuka has a lot of free time... but you should have seen how her eyes literally "lit up" when she saw another successful school experience: and I don't mean magic. This is what a person who has come into contact with a Miracle with a capital letter looks like... As it turns out, neither does Yokai.

In general, we "hooked" the snake on the "human world". I don't know how she's going to get out of it when the Spirit Road gets back together in the bay, but I'll probably have to go there with her and try to break the spell on the bulls. At the same time, we'll get to the sea, at least by the end of the holidays.

chapter 104

Hiroe is a smart girl after all. It was she who did not allow our company to completely bury itself in work — it was necessary to let off steam somehow! We still visited the amusement park, which I promised Rinko last year, just walked around the city (the girls were just like that, and I was laying new sensors and connection paths for the signal network). They even had the audacity to come to the very center of a huge ten-story supermarket, which reminded me at the same time of the Moscow GUM, the Moscow Children's World on Lubyanka and some kind of "mega mall" like "Megi". They killed the whole day, but they had fun and relaxed... and they taught Shizuka to crowds of people, which at first made the village yokai just sick. And Shizuka, as it turned out, loves ice cream very much. No, it's not like that: SHE LOVES ME VERY MUCH. And she can eat a kilogram in one person. On the other hand, if you have a body made of water, why not? Although I absolutely cannot imagine what processes are going on inside the demon carcass at the level of chemistry, physics and physiology. I haven't asked Mizuchi yet if she creates a gastrointestinal tract for herself when she eats, why she washes if she uses water herself, and other "cute" details, in order to avoid injury to the template and all that. I'd like to sort myself out here! Although, of course, I'm interested. But — "no one will embrace the immensity," as the NTV channel reinterpreted Kozma Prutkov. And I'll get to the Yokai yet. Although it's better to get to a normal library first.

If you try to search for information on the subject of magic on the Internet, search engines give out huge amounts of information... Most of the time, it's the nonsense and speculation of the townsfolk. There are literally grains of reliable information among them, but sorting it out is not a task for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, it never occurred to Shizuka to use a network of informants to get the information she needed, like properly connected acquaintances and so on... but it occurred to the Corpse Eater. Which, when it came up, Mizuchi was surprised to tell herself. The Ayakashi leader was always aware of the latest developments on the "magic front", learned about significant changes very quickly and was generally a very extraordinary being. Very much on his mind.

At least Kaname's seemingly innocent questions caused Shizuka to literally sink into thought.: I actually noticed that our society makes the Goddess of Rivers think much more often than in the canon. And the first results are already there. By the way, if you think that Hiroe dragged us to the city center just to sit in cafes, don't insult her like that anymore. I myself have fished out at least three goals: to train Mizuchi to respond adequately to clusters of homo sapiens, to look for possible observers from the Committee (because it is quite difficult to run into a policeman from Tsuchi's squad in such a "plebeian" place, at least according to Shizuka, who for some time watched the magicians from a respectful distance fortunately, they did not try to muffle the auras burning with power). Kaname's third reason was to buy clothes for the summer temple festival. Which, of course, we are going to, she had no doubt. "Shall we go?"

Carefully asking Mizuchi if she had any problems visiting temples ("What other problems could there be? I lived at the temple myself... you know."), I just waved my hand. For some reason, boys were not required to dress "specially" for such events, but there was a whole ritual for the female sex... I didn't even listen.

But we still spotted one committee member. Well, what can I say: a slightly flickering aura, weaker than Shizuka's when she hid her power without the amulet. She admitted that in a normal state, without a completely severed sixth sense, she would not have paid attention to this man who was walking two children and his wife through the rows of toys on the top floor under a transparent roof... and in vain. Because he didn't lose his vigilance, and a couple of times I noticed from afar how his eyes were turning blue — I used something like a scanner spell. I had to take a chance and stay where I was: if my Mizuchi amulets couldn't even stand up to such a test... But the guy wasn't the least bit interested in us. Big deal, kids. But he didn't miss any of the strangely behaved personalities who almost turn on themselves in any crowded place. The criteria for the selection of suspicious persons became clear. Indeed, intelligent yokai who are "divorced from life" often behave "not at the checkout," like the woman who gave Rinko the "blessing." Sometimes it's more noticeable, sometimes less, but almost all spirits choose the image of "visitors" in order to somehow justify their oddities. That's how they get caught. After all, our Mizuchi has surprisingly successfully chosen the image of an eleven-year-old girl, how many times has she disagreed with such "ordinary" people without noticing each other? Something tells me that she frowned more than once. No, the inspector himself won't interfere: "call a friend" — and one of the policemen will get his ass off the chair. Or the committeemen themselves will send an elimination team with enchanted ammunition. Shibata-san often interacts with his father... and he often takes his family here on vacation. Hiroe explained innocently in response to my questioning look. Dad generally interacts with many of the middle-level employees. Everyone's computers are buggy and breaking down," a sidelong glance at Mizuchi, "you know!"

"Yes, I understand, I understand how lucky we are to have you! We really appreciate you, don't doubt it."

"And I really appreciate you all!" The one with the haircut smiled.

"The main thing is not to evaluate it as a reward." The gloomy snake muttered and almost choked on the ice cream: Kaname had such a furious look.

"I gave it to you. Word. I. Never. Not. Violating. His" Hiroe literally hissed. It even got to me — it was so unexpected.

"I'm sorry," Yokai looked away. "Me... I shouldn't have said that. To stir up the past..."

With great, obviously visible difficulty, the fragile short-haired girl regained partial composure, but the mask kept trying to slip off her face. She was speaking so softly now that I could barely hear her whisper:

"Father... he doesn't know, of course... even her mother, she considers the Committee to be just a place where money is drained from the budget... a warm, bread-filled place "for your own. But I found out... Over the past year, the Committee has had two offices in two cities... destroyed. All the people just disappeared, they were searched for and not found."

"But how? Police combat groups..."

"Yes, that's the reason. People named Tsuchimikado from five medium and small towns were transferred to Tokyo, and two more resigned. It's not so easy to find information, I had to search on social networks... "Black boxes" in cities with less than five million people are being closed... And I don't want that... so that my father would also "go missing" one day."

For a second, it seemed to me that the warm summer air was freezing like the Arctic trade wind on the White Sea. You can dislike exorcists as much as you like, and transferring magicians gave me additional "freedom of maneuver," but I absolutely did not want to get it at that price. That's why so many Yokai "limits" attacked Yuto from the canon — and this is in the city! That's why, after only five years, the Yokai feel "at home" here, and neither Himari nor the others had any problems. Again. I'll have to act again, and much sooner than I wanted to. But, thanks to Hiroe, there is still a chance to be proactive. You just need to figure out what exactly needs to be done... And don't get too worked up. There's still time. Only the whole mood to walk was gone.

chapter 105.

So we rested. So we've done our job. What happens if the combat group of magicians leaves the city? Nothing at first. Then emboldened, ever-hungry little things like "Chameleons of Dreams" and other not very reasonable stuff will make their way into the city. Usually, these comrades of magicians and yokai with a strong aura bypass the tenth way, which greatly helps to minimize any "minor" mysticism in cities, but when the number of minor yokai grows into quality, the committee members will have to release their magicians onto the streets. Or is it more correct to say "magicians"? I was very impressed with the energy level of the inspector and his family. A very low level. Even I have it eight times higher, judging by the glow of a quarter of the reserve fused into the accumulation amulet. Ask why there is no such problem in the villages. So look at the village houses: all are hung with "voices of the wind", amulets "for luck" from the nearest temple, figurines-"deceptions", and offerings are regularly left. And it's not just cats and rats that take food from the tabernacles.

So, weak committee members will take to the streets. No, they also have powerful magicians, Jinguji supplies well-trained combat groups to its structure. It's just that there aren't many of them. Just as there are an order of magnitude more magicians in the Committee than in the police, there are also an order of magnitude fewer truly powerful magicians than there were in the police. But to deal with the small fry, while the exhausted townspeople turn to temples, priests and various charlatans for amulets and talismans, there are enough of them. A strong kick is enough for most, they are not very fast, very cowardly and, to put it mildly, not smart. Thanks again to Mizuchi for the tutorial on the basics of yokai management. But stronger and, most importantly, more intelligent yokai, having seen this method, if I may say so, will understand: the magicians are gone for at least a long time. And they will go to have fun in the cities — at the expense of people, of course. Ordinary people will not be affected by this — the minuscule amount of energy that can be extracted from a person or animal without magical abilities will not interest anyone of any importance. On the contrary, the trifle will run away, the number of problems with "mysticism" will decrease. But the weakest magicians will be dealt. In such circumstances, paradoxically, employees without a gift at all are more suitable. Anyway, they perform mainly registration and reporting functions. No, you can achieve amazing success with a gun and a kind word, but in the case of a massive attack, the magicians and everyone around them are doomed. If there had been an agreement between the local especially sane spirits and the Committee Members, perhaps the problems could have been avoided. Partly. But — "not in this life." The Spirit Killers from the Tsuchimikado clan diligently maintained their reputation, and the strong Jinguji are not far behind. However, they can also be understood. There has never been a single successful contract between an organization of people and a group of Yokai in the entire written history. One asshole is enough, from either side. But my clan, the Amakawa, somehow managed. As I have already reasoned from the very beginning of my "hit" — what does Amakawa have that others don't? Obviously, a "Ferry". And I had my first vague thoughts about how the ancestors used it to achieve... no, not submission. The Amakawa Ayakashi clan, I think, was fully served. As they say, not for fear, but for conscience. Otherwise, my current knowledge and what I remember from the canon will not come together: as Himari Yuto said, "even if there was no order, I would still take care of you..."

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.

We were silent for a while, then I turned off the boiling soup and pulled out the plates. Hmm, it kind of smells like borscht. And the ladle is also red and orange, just like Mom's. And the smell...

"Are you going to eat?"

"Uh, come on." this is Rinko.

"Let's treat it as a test of will."

"That's enough already!" I got angry, blowing gently on the spoon. Am-M. By the way, it's fine.

"Good morning, you know... lee..." The snake yawned contagiously from the top of the stairs. But then the distracted look was replaced by a professionally interested one:

"A new dish, you know?"

"Yeah, Yuto's mom made this soup."

"I believe it... That's whether our young head was able to do everything right. Family recipes can be complicated... You know!"

Oops! Who is this "our young head"?! And Hiroe noticed — she widened her eyes and looked incredulous. What about me? Actually, I didn't do anything "like that".

Meanwhile, the snake came down and looked into my plate. And without bending down, go away! She tasted the contents with her tongue. We were so upset. Even though I knew about this option in advance, from the manga.

"Hmm, actually, you can eat, you know."

I sighed, and gave the "tasted" plate to the Goddess of Rivers.

"So, the three of us are going: me, Rinko and Shizuka. Hiroe, your job is to keep in touch. I'll turn on the speakerphone during the negotiations. If you hear something interesting, type and send an SMS. I'm counting on you. As we agreed, we move to the "meeting place" at the ravine, and Shizuka goes to organize negotiations. Thanks to Rinko's "blessing," we should at least be listened to. Besides, Rinko speaks on behalf of the people of the city. I am on behalf of the Amakawa clan, and Shizuka is the guarantor that we do not lie about our goals.

"Br-r!" Rinko shivered as if from a cold draft. "Somehow, everything suddenly turned around! I'm as worried as before an exam!"

"This is our first exam, Rinko. Unfortunately, preparation will not solve anything here, on the contrary, our task is to gain as much time as possible. And the sooner Mizuchi's "colleagues" have their say, the sooner our next step will become clear.

The dealer! Once again, everything is at zero!

chapter 108

The plague! I'm quoting Jack Sparrow. Wasn't that what he said when he boarded a British warship in his underwear? I feel that way. Yes, the Corpse Eater really wanted a truce with the Hunters and peace, but the suggestion I'm making doesn't sound like it. "Guys, you will claim your territory in front of other, possibly stronger and more numerous yokai, and I will save you from other Exorcist clans. Maybe."

No, of course the situation has some chance of a positive outcome. It's not just positive — for all participants of the adventure, it's like a transition to a new level. I definitely need it. Shizuka definitely needs it. It will be beneficial to the Death Eater... unless, of course, he really shares the views he preaches. I definitely need it. Shizuka definitely needs it. It will be beneficial to the Death Eater... unless, of course, he really shares the views he preaches. Because I don't remember anything like that in the manga. But I do remember that there is an "amazing" democracy and equality in the ranks of the Yokai: no one holds anyone back and all that. And it's good if they just send it to a fun address, but if they eat it? Perhaps Mizuchi will try to protect me, but the snake is not a terminator, and killing her comrades is not only for the man she has known for a little less than a month, but also for the future head of Amakawa, the killer of spirits... I wouldn't bet my last money on it. "My dream has become yours." It's worth a lot, of course, but for now, words are just words. It's good that Rinko is almost safe: to break up a parliamentarian with a "blessing" is to be very "unconscionable," especially since Rinko came to ask for herself, or rather, "for her own people." Quite in the spirit of tradition. No, of course, they will refuse her if they disagree, but they will politely and even escort her to the bus stop. I don't really count on Hiroe's special help: all the pros and cons are clearly visible. Her task is to evaluate, if possible, the interlocutors, the structure of the "gang" and draw far-reaching conclusions. It would be possible to send one Mizuchi... but this is either an immediate failure, or at least a receipt for his own incapacity.

Yes, I'm 11 years old. But if this is critical among people, then among the Yokai they are used to not looking at their appearance. I definitely won't hit them with force, but Amakawa has a reputation... It's quite strong and ambiguous. Okay, stop chasing the same thoughts around in circles.

We hardly take any weapons. Using the already proven technology, I made two more "magic wands" — remote laser-triggered stunners (wooden base + laser pointer head) with autonomous power supply. And he poured his mana into them: a quarter of the reserve. The zipper should be good... once. Rather, it was a weapon of complacency, perhaps to demonstrate the "artifact" properties of my power, because in magic vision stunners are completely empty. He took the old artifact for himself, and set aside two new ones for Rinko and Mizuchi.

The clothes on Rinko and me are reinforced, Shizuka will have one of her protective kits. Kuzaki, however, had to be sent to change clothes — for some reason she decided that walking in the foothills was possible in short shorts and sandals. Okay, I'm not wearing stiletto heels, s-swordswoman.

So, did you forget anything? The hamsters are fed, I checked my clothes, and the artifacts look exactly the same...

"We're ready, you know!" She looked into Shizuka's basement, and I had to turn away quickly before she could catch my expression. Arctic fox, it's a fucking arctic fox.

"I'll be out in a minute, wait in the hall!" We wait. The snake closed the hatch, and I exhaled. And now a completely complete Arctic fox! I got so used to it that I completely forgot about her, about my cute little feature. The Ferry of Light is not magic. The source of the light lines, this fucking web, is always in me, or rather, it is me. And in one comely spirit that I so carelessly tucked into my bed for the night, I clearly saw several dozen light lines of the "spontaneous" Ferry. And they didn't even think about disappearing. Moreover, as far as I understood the interweaving of the "pattern", some of them should have affected the work of the central nervous system. An arctic fox, just an arctic fox...

Chapter 109.

Everyone likes to quote the unforgettable Deidara — like, art is an explosion. I'm starting to share this point of view. Judge for yourself — this whole story with Shizuka, the Yokai gang and the ruined summer holidays began with the most banal procedure for destroying "ammunition". And it would be fine if it was caused by some kind of fighting or an accident. But no, it's his own fault. At first I did, then I thought "why". The result is, so to speak, on the face.

Shizuka. At least she behaves normally, she doesn't run out of water, I didn't notice much difference in behavior "before" and "after". There is catastrophically little data for analysis.: I can more or less say what influences what, but I still can't figure out how. True, no one canceled the "black box" method, but I didn't watch Shizuka that much and in rather monotonous situations: we worked together on "amulet" muscle strengthening, then I helped the snake deal with one or another section of knowledge of human civilization, like computer games or the principles of setting time zones for different regions. We walked together a few times. We talked about serious topics several times. We ate together. All. And now there's just a great opportunity to look at Mizuchi "in his natural habitat" and I don't even know what to compare it with...

By the way, why did I decide that the Ferry had any critical effect at all? Perhaps the changes will manifest themselves for the better or not at all. I will consider the latter option: it is at least pointless to introduce a new unknown factor into calculations that already consist of more than two-thirds of assumptions alone. And so Shizuka has already looked at me a couple of times in disbelief — why am I staring at her so often?

And at all. I need to try to calm down: I have a pretty good chance of successful negotiations. Yeah, fifty percent, like in the joke about the dinosaur in New York: either you meet it or you don't. There are no other options for negotiations at all...

...Naturally, I was mistaken.

We calmly got off the bus at a familiar stop, even the driver seemed to me the same as the last time, although you wouldn't understand because of the sun glasses. We waited until the transport disappeared around the bend. They crossed the road. Let's go to the river...

"Fuck!" For the first time in my memory, Shizuka swore. She managed to partially remove her disguise: hairpins from her head, glasses and a locket, and slightly released her aura to clarify if any of her own were nearby. Clarified it.

"There's a fight going on," Mizuchi said almost calmly. "Yokay vs. yokay. Ours against several enemies. Wait here..."

Damn it! My heart jumped in my chest in fright, and emotions, as always with very close danger, faded into the background. Meditation, the very "combat" meditation. Sensei also called her "involuntary..."

"We're coming with you," I quickly interrupted. "Make me an ice spear with a four-sided tip. The length is two meters. And for Rinko, it's an ice-cold straight sword with a sharp edge."

Ferry. I've already tested the accelerating-on-mans Ferry. Only on animals, but...

"They'll just kill you there."

And if we don't step in, they'll kill our hope. If anyone survives, they obviously won't negotiate.

"If you accelerate your muscles with magic, they won't kill you."

The time for "clinical trials" of his meager skills has come.

"You don't..." Kuzaki looked at me in surprise and a little scared. "... tested on people..."

I'll take my chances. If the Hawk-Nosed and Death Eater didn't deal with the enemies quickly, then Mizuchi's help won't be critical. But we have mago-invisibility and a chance to suddenly hit the enemy's flank. Mizuchi, the weapon!

"I'm already doing it, you know." the face of the Goddess of Rivers, which had been so deadly serious, became just intensely focused, a slight smile appeared on her lips. And the expression in his eyes changed. "Thanks for your help, Amakawa."

Next to Shizuka, the water rushing from the figure quickly began to take on the appearance of an ordered weapon, but I didn't look anymore. When I got to Rinko, I knelt down and ran my fingers over her ankles, thighs, across her buttocks and back to her neck and head, and down her arms to her fingers. Kuzaki must have been slightly stupefied by the speed of events, and she did not react in any way, except for a dumbfounded look, to such a blatant groping. After, everything after. We have to make it. Now the head. It's simple, it's a "magically accelerated" perception, and besides, Yuto swore, Kuzaki, if I mess up with you now, I won't forgive myself. That's it!

"Is it okay?" I asked, taking my hands off the swordswoman's temples.

"I don't feel anything like that..."

"He'll be right there."

I put my hand on the middle of the girl's stomach and formed a storage device in one motion. I started to fill it up, but Shizuka pushed me away:

"It's me, you take care of the weapons."

Logically. I picked up the sword, meditation, and ran my palm along it. Strengthening. I've read about rearranged ice, such as can be found on the moons of Jupiter or in space. It is closer to steel in properties, but its crystal lattice is more ordered.

Now the spear. Made by.

Mizuchi took her hands off the girl's stomach, and Rinko waved her hand with surprise on her face. Whistling, the limb "smeared" in the air into a semicircle. It's good that the clothes are enchanted for decontamination, the glowing areas of Kuzaki's body are almost invisible from the front.

"I'm on my own now. How to do it?"

It's kind of silly to touch yourself... And it's true. The necessary lines formed in an instant inside my body from the "rays of the star" of the Ferry source. So, and the head. Oh-h! How suddenly all the movements of foliage and grass became clearly visible. And how will I turn off this state? Fuck it, I'll think about it if I survive.

"How do we distinguish the opponents?" I asked the first smart question that finally came to my mind.

Mizuchi tensed up, looking "inside herself" and gave out:

"Two baboons, a stingray, a spider and a praying mantis. The spider is the strongest. There are only seven of us left..."

"Put on your protection and let's run."

And they ran. Three small figures: two female and one male. One with a spear, one with a straight bokken-like sword. Alone with empty hands. After the Ferry was rebuilt, the weapon stopped sticking to the skin and desperately freezing fingers and palms. I hope Rinko doesn't slip the handle in his hands. I hope that with the first blow we will kill three at once. We have the advantage in speed and full-fledged camouflage — the barrels flash by, the legs almost never get tired — we have. The Shizuka ahead is gradually making a loop from the direction of the mountains to the direction along the slopes. I hope Kuzaki and I have enough inertia and brains to hit opponents even in human form, although it is unlikely that there is at least one "in disguise". I hope the sight of monsters doesn't put me or my friend in a stupor. I hope we get to know everyone correctly and don't kill any of our allies by mistake. But it doesn't make sense. After the fight, we will count. Suddenly, a blue glow shot up like a flame in the empty forest — they reached the sensory distance for glasses. How's it going? Everything is at zero. FIGHT!

Chapter 110.

A hollow, almost without trees. And the ones that were ground to pieces, broken. Shuddering, blood-soaked carcasses and monster small carcasses. And above them is the battle of the "titans" of this battlefield. Side view. And here comes the enemy. A baboon actually looks like a cross between an eyeless gorilla and a python. Time seems to stretch even more. I see a carcass slowly approaching, I shuffle my feet, I see that we haven't even been noticed. The spear is tipped somewhere in the center of the furry part of the body. Hit. With noticeable resistance, the spear enters the carcass, I slow down, holding the handle at the opposite end. What's this? Slowly rising blood from the other side? There are no sounds. I brace myself with both hands, extinguishing the inertia of the body. The familiar, unfamiliar feeling of a nonexistent ball in my hands. The whole thing that can be done better. Or — split, crumble in the palms of my hands. The ferry!

The creature's tail convulsively moves towards me, wanting to slap me to the side next to the wound, jump straight at him and up. Unaccustomed, I push off harder and realize that I will rise five meters. A ramp floats through the thick air to his left, his glasses darkening as he releases a zipper from under his mouth plates. Hopefully not at the Rinko. I take the stunner out of my pocket. I'm checking it out. I hold down the button. The flash! A ramp with a burnt "wing"-fin begins to roll on its side. I twist in the air, my trajectory begins to tilt towards the ground. And there's a spider about four meters in its belly, with a red cross pattern, grappling with a hefty toothy beast, I can't find an analogue. With my hands and feet, I push against the spider's abdomen, my inertia throws it at the opponent. Again, the feeling is that the whole here is more perfect, rounded... The ferry!.. and there were fragments. With a convulsive movement of his body, the spider throws me almost parallel to the ground, and I crash into a pile of torn, chopped monstrous bodies. The air is knocked out, but the clothes restrain and distribute the impact. About two meters to the left, it crashes into the ground, raising dust... Spit? a piece?.. cobwebs, I feel a concussion from the impact. I push off, sliding in the blood-and as soon as I don't smash my head, I straighten up in one motion to see Kuzaki cutting through the mantis's cephalothorax with a white, black, and red sword, and out of the corner of my eye I see a deceptively slow black ramp falling and crashing into the ground. Shizuka shows up on the back of a slashed baboon, bigger than mine, which doesn't twitch. All?

Suddenly, clarity disappears, and sounds "catch up" with my head: squelching, growling, and whining... the soft rustle of the wind in the trees. A dead spider is thrown onto a slope by a man in his mid-twenties in a dazzling white shirt and tie. Shizuka falls to his knees in front of a pile of corpses and almost corpses of smaller yokai, blood is flowing, and in some places a familiar black smoke is smoking. Mizuchi's hands are covered in blood up to the elbows, his face is wet, his dress is split on the side and slightly charred — that's who the scat hit. Water falls from her hands in streams, covering the nearest mutilated yokai, covering it with a film, penetrating into the wounds. Judging by the contorted soundless scream (or am I not hearing it?) I don't think there's much hope of saving anyone from this pile of semi-finished meat products. My head is "leading" me more and more — apparently, I still applied it on impact. At the edge of my field of vision, I see another man with a funny crooked nose bowing to Kuzaki's waist, leaning on a sword. I've finally reached it, and I'm kneeling next to the Goddess of Rivers. It's funny! I know what you're missing. It's simple: water is an excellent mediator, it's understandable. But water doesn't take energy well. You can be a water spirit twenty times, but you can't feed it with your power even more. It's funny! But I can help you, since these pieces of meat have upset you so much.

"Cover everyone with water." Such a hoarse voice, wow, I didn't recognize myself. "All "ours", I specify."

The water is coming in, and I'm in a puddle again, now almost to the middle of my thigh. The hands sink into the water. It's so cool! For the first time, I see how the lines "feel like" filling the volume of water. Some bodies shudder in the depths, others don't care, they slowly spread out like black clouds in the water, as in the sky. Anyway.

That's the problem, I can't reach it. But you should. What's in the way? Is it bothering you? Well, let him get in the way. My field of vision narrows and floats away to the left, but I can still see how my hands begin to glow with a warm yellow light, and the slightly rolled-up sleeves of my shirt begin to literally fall apart right on top of me. It's funny! Darkness.

Part 21

Interlude 12. A former clearing near a mountain river, the former Ayakasi camp. Rinko Kuzaki, Shizuka Mizuchi, Corpse Eater (Kashi), Hawk-nose and other yokai, dead and not so.

[Rinko Kuzaki]

"Thank you, young lady Swordswoman," A young man with a nose slightly larger than it would be proportional bowed.

Rinko looked around dumbfounded: is that all of them? The frenzied steeplechase turned into a fight so suddenly that Rinko acted on full automatic: she singled out the target, a huge grotesque praying mantis, and, as in training, slashed at the supporting leg, and with the second movement she cut the second. When Shizuka created the sword, she clearly copied the shinto-gui, which was too heavy for 11-year-old Kuzaki, she had to hold and strike with both hands, inertia carried the blade away each time. But the opponent was still slower. The mantis settled on its belly, and one of the long blade limbs jerked back, and the girl hacked at the joint. Now the pseudo-insect-like ayakashi switched to a new target, and immediately received a paw on the leg from a clawed bare-skinned humanoid. Well, then it's a matter of technique.

Rinko suddenly felt tired. Leaning on the ice blade, she calmly surveyed the battlefield once more... just as Yuto braced his hands against the rapidly rising water... and the light hurt her eyes, despite the chameleon glasses. A second later, she saw her friend slumped against Mizuchi's shoulder. With her other hand, she continued to hold the water.

"What are you looking at, help me quickly!"

Rinko let go of the blade, ran up to Ayakashi, grabbed the guy by the arms. Heavy! She pulled him a step away from Shizuka, wrapping her arms around his chest. His friend's shirt was falling apart in threads, and they crumbled into dust. Only the amulet dangled in a ridiculous red spot on his chest, not affected at all. Thank kami, the guy was breathing. Shizuka returned to manipulating the water. Only now did the young swordswoman notice that the water was almost opaque from the radiance of power that filled it. The faint auras of the other ayakashi made their way through the water.

"Eleven. You have saved eleven lives, Blessed One." A Yokai in a white shirt appeared next to him unnoticed. "We are grateful to you and your companion, lady."

"Kashi, stop talking, you know. Take the kids and take cover, I wouldn't be surprised if the hunters are already running here. Such a doomsday has been arranged, kso! kso!"

"Come on, beautiful lady!" Named Kashi picked Yuto up in his arms and carried him, nodding to Rinko. They were walking at a normal speed now. Soon Kuzaki felt some discomfort and almost immediately realized that something was obviously wrong with the shoes. High, heavy lace-up boots "for going out into nature" were thoroughly worn out, and dangled on their feet as if worn out. Fine dust flew from the trousers every now and then, the colors faded. The crazy race and the short fight cost the clothes dearly. What if Yuto hadn't worked on things? Brr, she would have stayed naked!

[Shizuka Mizuchi under the protection of the Hawk-nosed]

Mizuchi tightened the wounds and stitched the insides, dissected, torn, with missing fragments, stopped and poured back the blood caught in the water. Yokai blood is not the best component for a solution controlled by a water snake, drains energy, interferes with control... but... Like so many times in recent weeks, Amakawa had only to put his literally golden hands to solving the problem, and instead of one patient, Shizuka was able to capture all fourteen. Unfortunately, she couldn't help the three anymore... The Goddess of Rivers was in a hurry, it was impossible not to notice the flashes of power, the same enchanting mess happened in these mountains about twenty years ago. The defense played a bad joke on Mizuchi: without it, she would have joined the battle much earlier... But in the end, Yuto turned the balance of the victims in their favor!

All. Mizuchi finished her treatment, quickly absorbing the unspent magic, and released the water cover. The water fell to her feet, and suddenly, without any transition, in the blink of an eye, it evaporated into a mist that quickly dispersed into the air. "Mystique, damn it!" — Ayakashi almost spat and grinned: this is what it means to communicate with today's "reactive" children: they have arranged such a "complete immersion in the environment" that you sometimes forget about your own nature.

Some of those who had undergone treatment, groaning in all sorts of ways, began to rise unsteadily, the rest coughed, removing the last water from their lungs, who simply breathed softly and with difficulty. The hawk-nosed man approached Mizuchi, who was sitting on the rocks and catching her breath, and looked back at the forest.

"Come out, Snappy."

"Gorbo, where is it?.."

"Kashi went into hiding and took our rescuers away." And suddenly, extinguishing his eternal grin, he asked harshly: "Where are the other two?"

"KHa!" A small yokai, with an eye in his whole head, already shrank back to the border of the surviving trees. "I'm not with them, they are... They're on their own..."

"Escaped, then. Why did you come back, brother?"

"Ah-Ah! I wanted to help from afar."

"And I didn't have time, that's a pity." It was clear from the Hawk-Nosed man's voice that he wasn't feeling any pity, but rather a desire for someone to brush his magnificent second-person teeth.

Shizuka forced herself to stand up:

"We have to go, you know. We're too close, and... oh, not anymore." And she plopped back onto a boulder, knocked out of the ground by the blows of paws in the last battle. The hawk-nosed man "listened" and realized that he did not feel the Kashi and the strange girl at all.

"What's up again?"

"It's just that Amakawa finally woke up and blocked the walls of the cave with the tunnel from magic." And Shizuka noted with malicious pleasure how the color drained from the cheeks of one of the leaders of the three. And the little cowardly schmuck, the remote, damn, shooter, actually fell on his back. Is he pretending to be dead?

Yes, Yuto was able to set himself up. Perhaps it will be much easier to come to an agreement now. They need allies and subordinates, and now the future head of Amakawa has something to show for payment. Then Shizuka caught herself thinking: she thought "them." Doesn't he consider himself a member of the Kashi gang anymore? Yes, he really doesn't. How many years have they been sitting on the branches and talking smart thoughts? About forty. And if one little boy has done more than a crowd of not-so-weak yokai, then it's probably not worth choosing who to follow. Especially if the leader is able to put his life on the line for the sake of subordinates.

"Amakawa?" The Hawk-nosed man spoke up. "They were all killed!"

"Not all of them," Mizuchi smiled even more gloatingly. "As you can see, one was enough to save your asses. And make a shelter. Pick up the most injured, and they dragged you away. Hey, one-eyed carrion! Help me, since you're back."

[Corpse Eater]

Kashi considered himself a being intelligent enough to draw conclusions from events, whatever they were, these events and these conclusions. This lesson, learned more than fifty years ago, has helped him a lot over the years. But there were no events — at least take a spoonful. The unexpected attack was not so unexpected: he already knew about the group of "cool" scumbags. But I did not expect that they would have enough "brains" to hide their auras and attack. They occupied too problematic a place, and it was a good calculation. Who wants to prove every year to the crazy little guys and bigger creatures who is in charge in this particular sandbox? And Tsuchimikado could have sent a hunting party. Actually, they sent him until he occupied the slopes of these hills, once every three or four years for sure. And they are constantly in battle, they have experience of joint actions... It turns out that this experience is not worth much. Five, assessing the attackers, fled immediately. Maybe someone else would have escaped, but the rest had enemies in their way. Seven of them. With one blow, together with Hawk-Nose, they took out the strongest and dumbest — Leviathan, and there was a commotion. Which would have ended in no one knows what, if not... And after the "not", the main oddities began.

The strangest one was Mizuchi, and it would be nice to just wear unfamiliar clothes. Before her strike, no one noticed the Goddess of Rivers at all. And these two. Okay, swordswoman, a small girl of 10-12 years old by human standards. Like her... Rinko! She fought well, but nothing more... but very, very fast for a human. Impossible fast for a man who reeks of magic so little. And her boyfriend? Generally zero, emptiness... If it wasn't for the light during the treatment, Mizuchi's technique would have become ten times more powerful. And if not... He could have sworn that when he bit off the spider's head, there wasn't a drop of intelligence left in her eyes... and she reacted more "by inertia" of the body. And this is an enhancement of the water technique, after which the guy passed out... He passed out, but, kso, Mizuchi pulled out eleven instead of two or three.

Unfortunately, the main conclusion was different. Mizuchi wasn't there. They don't count against Hawk-Nose. Minus the five who escaped at once — twenty-seven. And all these twenty-seven managed to stupidly lose. Just die in a frontal attack. It's time to question which of them is smarter — those who escaped, or those who stayed and died heroically? Kashi sighed. You can't even do a facepalm — your hands are full of the kid. How many times he informed his colleagues, how many times he tried to teach them to think before doing it. And generally think ahead. To the tired yokai, it was clear what had actually gone wrong. He didn't force anyone. His association was voluntary. Let Mizuchi call them a "gang." Let the Hawk-nosed one grin every time Kashi started another "lesson." He might have despaired of seeing rapid progress, but there was hope... and hope collapsed. Together with the students who never realized WHAT the teacher wanted from them all these years. Probably just a lousy teacher...

A procession of a girl and a man approached the camouflaged entrance to the cave. The shelter. From here, a long and winding underground path began along drifts, pelters and two siphons to the other side of the hills. The thickness of the stone could play the role of a screen, and he had no doubt that a whole crowd of people who wanted to profit from the remains of the Yokai before they completely disintegrated would soon arrive at this celebration of life. And behind them — and the hunting group of the police.

After a short narrow entrance, the cave horizon first expanded to its full width, forming a large hall. Here, close to the surface, the long-term storage supplies collected by him and The hawk-nosed were laid out. Canned food. Non-magical kerosene lamps. Clothes. Footwear. Some documents of the human world. Books that clearly cannot be stored outdoors. As soon as Kashi put the guy down and lit a couple of kerosene lamps, the boy groaned and opened his eyes.

"Where... are we...?"

"A cave in the mountains, a shelter."

The guy looked around, forced a smile.

"The bad stuff... The shelter... does not hide... auras..."

"There's a further passage," the Corpse Eater reminded himself. "It allows you to quickly move deeper into the mountains..."

"Thank you... better... in a different way... Rinko, help me..."

The girl grabbed the guy by the arms and helped him stand up. Leaning on her hand, he took a couple of steps to the nearest wall and, putting his hand on it, closed his eyes. He opened it and peered at the wall. Kashi watched these manipulations with some bewilderment, lighting additional lamps. Not all yokai can see well in the dark. And... damn it! The sinking feeling of death and battle spilled over the foothills was gone, as if cut off! Yokai cast a scanning spell, one of the few in his arsenal... and it sank into the wall like into water!

"How?!"

"Generic abilities... Let... I'll introduce myself... Yuto no Amakawa, the head and last of the family."

The thoughts in Kashi's "head" made a desperate somersault: everything, everything was falling into place! The clan of the artefactors, the clan of the "taming" Yokai, a clan with up to a dozen active members for centuries, the masters of the Blades and Claws of Noihara. The legendary ability, "the introduction of the changing light", allows you to turn any object into a powerful artifact... even a stone, even a branch... even a whole cave! No, it wasn't Mizuchi who brought them, it was Amakawa who came with Mizuchi. Two retinue warriors, a yokai and a human swordswoman... hung with artifacts so as to take out five strong yokai of his, the devourer's, level in five seconds. They say all the Amakawa are dead. It is said that the heir still survived and is hiding under an overwhelming seal. Is this HIDING?! Kashi has been interested in this clan for a long time. And I was able to find out something from what is usually called a "clan secret." There were various rumors, and once he was able to talk to yokai, who refused the vassal oath. He was not ready and could not accept her, but his girlfriend had no other chance. He was not ready and could not accept her, but his girlfriend had no other chance. But he made sure that the oath worked, and he understood and remembered something. In particular, her vows, the text.

Logic. Why did Amakawa's heir come? For some reason... by agreement. For what reason? Why go to them? Because Mizuchi told Yuto Amakawa quite a lot about their community. After all, the oath of allegiance, the vassal oath of the Amakawa, which is provided by their ability to "introduce light", is a simple, in fact, primitive thing. It's just an opportunity to step over yourself in exchange for a promise of service. When you hit the ceiling of your own limitations, strength, kind, soul, whatever. A wild, impossible chance to become someone else, in exchange for a voluntary restriction of freedom. What most yokai and humans are afraid of is fire. His hope died today. You can just live. His hope brought him an incredibly rare chance. And to kami the details! To believe in Shizuka's choice. After looking at the Hawk-Nosed man entering the lighted cave (he was carrying several survivors just in his arms), Mizuchi (two people who could not walk on their own were literally hanging on it), accompanied by several yokai, Kashi, taking three long steps, appeared in front of the last Amakawa. He smoothly knelt down and bowed his head so that it was below the level of the child's chin.

"Amakawa-sama. I am Kashi of the Kashi Yokai clan, the leader of the mountainside spirit community, I ask you to accept my oath and the oath of those who decide to follow me." By the oath of the family, by the oath of loyalty, and by the oath of freedom, may the one who is ready rise.

Yokai could have sworn that a series of expressions were flashing in the child's eyes now: amazement, surprise, understanding, and they were replaced by a concentrated squint. I felt children's hands on his temples.

"Think, desire what you want most, and remember to be faithful to the word. Otherwise, the oath is easy for you... It will break." Amakawa hissed in his ear and spoke loudly, clearly: "So be it."

And... nothing else. No flashes of light. No thunderclaps. No external effects. Yuto just took his hands off yokai's head, and Kashi stood up. What did he desire more than anything else? What limited him? The ceiling of the mind, the limit of consciousness? Kashi grinned, his lips curling into a harsh smile that was so unusual for him. Is serving the master humiliating and bad? Does serving ideals mean freedom?

"Those who still believe me as a teacher, who wanted to follow the path I suggested, come and swear Amakawa. You've all heard the words. The rest are free, everyone knows where the passage in the cave is. The Yokai, who were crowding at the entrance, rustled, murmured, darted their glances at the people, and Kashi approached and stood to the left of his overlord.

And he was almost not surprised to see Mizuchi on the right. The Hawk-nosed man standing among the "small fry" made a hand-to-face gesture face-palm and calmly approached the boy. He squatted down, exposing his forehead. Well, let's take this oath, or something. And a little quieter and to the side. If pathos could be surgically removed, I would send someone for surgery... Sensei sucks.

Interlude 13. Hokkaido Island. The ancestral lands of Jinguji. The mansion of the eldest family. A spell of peace. Mother and daughter, Meruhi and Kues Jinguji.

"Well, mom," the girl drawled, "Why is this happening again? I'm cold and hard. And boring!"

"I guess you've already forgotten, dear, how you couldn't even sleep properly until you were seven years old. Do you remember how many times you woke up with burns? And with the bruises? Do you want a repeat?"

The girl rolled her eyes. Her long, raven-colored hair was pulled back in a neat wave over the edge of the altar and hung almost to the ground. Apart from talking, the girl did not allow herself a single unnecessary movement.: She knew perfectly well what a failure in a magical ritual was and how unpleasant the consequences could be. Her mother continued to wave her hands at the Kues, answered questions in monosyllables and without much thought, and the "princess" Jinguji, who was freezing without clothes, could only close her eyes and try to distract herself from the tedious procedure with some pleasant memories.

For example, how she was cured of the "curse of magicians." There is a saying among British wizards — "there is never much power." One can only feel sorry for them, because they really don't know what a lot of power is. Too much for a fragile human body. One of the immutable laws of magic says that like wins like. And so, no matter how many prickly hedgehogs of sealing embedded spells were placed in her body, her power tore them apart time after time. While little Kues was awake, she was in full control of herself, quickly learned that the transparent-warm wave of energy did not burn her skin... or her insides. The nightmare started when she was falling asleep. Two times out of three, she managed to wake up before her magic could do damage, but sometimes the sleep was too deep...

"What do we need the power for, Mom? It hurts me..."

"To kill the Yokai, dear."

"Killing bad yokai?"

"There are no good yokays, daughter."

She was taught early, and at the age of five, little Kues was able to send energy outside the body, light candles by touching the wick, and move objects with telekinesis. For a while, the seizures turned from dangerous to something just painful and unpleasant, but it could be ignored. It was just necessary to do enough of these very, very interesting manipulations with objects or bright sparks of spells. And then her reserve began to grow. It happens that way. It is believed that if the reserve in childhood is higher than the average level, then the child usually has a fully manifested gift. Kues turned out to have the rarest gift in terms of power. And he was ready to kill her.

Merukhi Jinguji tiredly wiped away the beads of sweat that had appeared on her forehead and continued scanning-researching-reprinting her daughter's power. Considering that the Kues had an order of magnitude bigger reserve than a very small measure, it was not an easy job. Then, realizing that the child might just not survive, the mother finally turned to the Old Clans for help.

The appeal to political opponents, as expected, was far from smooth. The mirror priests were ready to save the child for free, sealing the gift... entirely. That this would have left Kues half-witted at best was not said, but it was clear as day to anyone familiar with the theory of magic. Tsuchimikado, smiling politely, said that there was not a single one among the clan techniques that could be useful. The Dungeon of the Gift? Well, this is fiction, there is no such technique and there can be no way to regulate the current of mana inside the source, modern magical thought strongly denies this. And then I had to turn to the "nuts" of Amakawa.

There were the most incredible rumors about the artifact tamer clan, ranging from what exactly they do with their yokai in their free time (and that this is what ensures the extreme devotion of tamed monsters) to the fact that anyone they touch no longer remains the same. But, there was no choice. The meeting with the head of the clan was held in a warm, friendly atmosphere... apart from the fact that Merukhi twitched every time she was served tea or cakes by zashiki-varashi, the spirit of the place, the power is such that sparks begin to appear in her hair. Very atmospheric! It is quite understandable why no one seeks to interrupt Amakawa's self-imposed seclusion. But there was still no other choice.

At the end of the week, Jinguji brought her seven-year-old daughter to Noihara. After only briefly examining the child, the head of Amakawa agreed to carry out the "treatment". And announced the price. It wasn't that high: it was just a life for a life. Kues was supposed to become a family with the "power of changing light."

"Understand, Meruhi-san, your daughter doesn't have her own destiny now anyway: never before has such a strong gift lived up to such a gigantic 7-year period. No one knows how the energy gathered in such a quantity in just one body will behave. That's why the others didn't take it on — arrogant fools are afraid to admit their own impotence, they're not idiots after all. And you brought her to me on time: she doesn't have more than a year left. I'm already surprised that she was able to tame her power for so long. Only as the wife of the heir who possesses the gift of our blood will she be able to live as a human being without the risk of her power taking over her. Only those who possess the "light" can protect her from what is inside her.

Meruhi finished and wearily sank into a chair next to the stone parallelepiped of the altar. The daughter fidgeted, stretching, stretching her cramped muscles, swung her legs to the floor and reached for her clothes. "Why, to give her up for some kind of almost incompetent," Jinguji Sr. continued her long-standing argument with herself by inertia, "yes, every department head in a small town is stronger than this Amakawa. And his grandson didn't impress me either. Ask him to join my clan... I wouldn't have sent him to sweep the street, of course, but I wouldn't have let him near the eldest family to be struck by lightning either! But if there had not been a split in the clan of the "light carriers", the daughter would have had to be wooed anyway. And now there's only one heir left, suppressed and untrained... They even keep an eye on him from time to time, just in case... But I'll choose a better match for my daughter!" She examined the Kues again with a scanning spell and was again forced to sign that she did not understand what was going on inside its source. And no one understands. The limiters are external, the limiters are internal, but will they be enough if what old man Amakawa warned about happens? A nagging sense of her own powerlessness made her heart lose its rhythm, but the eldest of the women pulled herself together. Not the time. Maybe it will be okay.

"I've heard, daughter, that you've become close friends with the Malcolm offspring this year?" She spoke casually. "Won't you tell Alexandr about this?"

Interlude 14. The new Shimomuro house. Shimomuro Yu.

The Shimomuro family was settling into a new place: movers brought in boxes, dragged in furniture and household appliances, even a palm tree in a tub. Her father meticulously checked the list of what was accepted, and his mother tried to make sure that everything was put exactly where it belonged, and that the naughty Yu would not drop a heavy box on herself, and that she would not dare to involve little Sato in her fun. It didn't work out very well: the workers didn't understand the inner beauty and harmony of the rooms at all, and tried to put everything in such a way that the combination turned out to be as terrible as possible. In addition, Sato did not understand in any way that an asthmatic child should not circle after their healthy daughter in the dust of moving and try to climb a palm tree, which, oh, woe! — they put it in the wrong place again, it's not worth it either. But the move did happen. Harmony was finally achieved between the three-dimensional world and the mother of a respectable family's idea of beauty, the children were fed, washed and installed in their rooms, and the palm tree did not even lose all its leaves. And while the adults were doing boring adult things, like cooking breakfast in order to warm it up in the morning, checking if the washing machine was leaking and where the soap and the box had been put away, Yu, who finally got her own private room, began to gut her personal belongings. To begin with, a Mystical Crystal Ball was extracted from a larger box: it was so mysterious and mystical that there was no need to explain it. Then there were: mystical incense sticks, mystical candles, a very mystical round mirror and a deck of Magical Enchanted (for a change) Tarot cards. Oh! Well, now it's all right, you can start the ritual of enchanting the house. Well, or at least the rooms, because everything around is so mystical, and the room, even if it has its own, is outrageously ordinary!

The process, as it happens in any household arrangement, at least ten times mythical, dragged on. Firstly, the girl definitely did not reach the ceiling even from the table, not to mention a more mundane and not a bit mystical chair. And the ceiling was needed: who would paste the mysterious pattern of mysterious constellations on the ceiling with glowing stars and planets? And you certainly shouldn't ask your dad: an extremely phlegmatic and pedantic father won't stick stars on anything (that is, mysteriously!) and in the constellation scheme (for added benefit), and even divide the applications by color and luminosity so that they match. Yu's father was well versed in constellations, precise mechanisms, and mathematical calculations. Now an aircraft engineer, and previously a test pilot, he had a decent amount of "emergency" knowledge. But he was being boring!

Having dealt with the stars, having taken away the stepladder from her parents (and the mezzanine can be loaded later), Yu surveyed her mystical room and decided, for the sake of moving in, to conduct another magical experiment. Moreover, the caught cicadas dried perfectly in the box, she already had a mixture of the bark of three oaks, as well as a mortar and pestle. They say, they say, but only — shh! — among the potion recipes in "Harry Potter" there are working ones. Or not much changed. For example, a light collector. Four components, a simple proportion. In the magician's hands, if he concentrates the energy in his palms, an expanding wave of light appears. One of the ideal formulations for identifying potential magicians, Yu herself personally selected several recipes for these formulations from almost two thousand "candidates" that she found on the "Internet magic textbook", various "notebooks of witches" and even in the "Anarchist Cookbook". The girl poured some powder into her palm and concentrated with all her might, "sending energy," but alas. As expected, there was no wave of light, because Yu is simply not a magician. But surely there must be magicians in the world? And it's probably not just the British Magic Academy, they just don't know about it. And Yu's mission is to bring this knowledge to people! And you can start with a simple one — to open a Magic Club in a new school. It will only be necessary to find the first five in order for the club to be approved at all...

Part 22

Chapter 111

You'll find out what a difficult day is by comparison. Until now, I was sure that the most difficult day was the day of the first trip "into the forest." Yeah, right now. I'm not having any luck with this "forest", or vice versa, I'm lucky, as you can see: here, I found ten more "problems" on my neck.

To be honest, the number of events per unit of time has simply gone through the roof: moreover, if the trip to the yokai camp itself is in the category of "unnecessarily risky, but within the norm," then the battle itself is beyond good and evil. It's a good thing that I simply didn't have time to think before deciding. And get scared. Or make a reasonable decision. Because the sensible solution is not to engage in combat under any circumstances. The Yokai from the slopes of the mountains, with all due respect to them, were, if you think about it with your head, an insufficient argument. But when there is no time to think, I have to act on my feelings, fortunately, I was not deceived by them. But, enough self-reflection. We managed to win, now we need to be able to take advantage of the fruits of victory. Of the thirteen participating "locals", ten agreed to accept vassalage, fortunately, the second leader agreed to the procedure immediately after the Corpse Eater, and the "losses" were a "trifle" from the number of the team. Well, that's good. And so, if someone had told me that in one day I would "earn" a dozen vassals, I probably would have laughed for a long time. Thanks to Kashi, whose motives I haven't fully understood yet, I've got into my team not only those who agree to take the oath, but also those with the appropriate character set, yokai. That is, the willingness to follow the leader, even if they don't really understand the meaning of the action. Very good!

The ritual was quite routine: fainting from overload perfectly "wrote off" the inhibitory behavior when applying the "ferry", while I was meditating, feeling for the necessary "vectors" in the nervous system of the next sworn in. The Devourer voiced the text of the oath very much on the subject: my ancestors developed an excellent example of an NLP scheme: it adjusts both the recipient and the receiver to the desired mood. And they also made sure that she was "on the radar." Thanks to this, I did not sit in a puddle, responding to such a generous offer, "I'm sorry, but I do not know how." Of course, on the one hand, the fact that I was practicing not only an experimental (for me) technique, which, in case of failure, would destroy a significant part of consciousness and the second signaling system on intelligent allies, smacked of madness and betrayal at the same time ... But. I definitely didn't have anyone else to train with, and secondly, I was still able to help them in battle, although that doesn't excuse me... Let's go and forget! And so, when the last "small" yokai went through the oath, and those who remained with me "waved their hand" to those who left, who decided to sail independently without the patronage of the "big three" and under the control of Amakawa (words like "traitors fucking" were perhaps the most polite that the "sides" exchanged), I Finally, I was able to think about the sacramental "and what's next?"

Chapter 112.

And then it was definitely worth making an offer, which Mizuchi and I came here with at the beginning of such a long day... By the way, it's not even two o'clock in the afternoon, so all the active actions took a little more than two hours. Looking around the room, I realized that no "revelations" were expected from me at all: the yokai were glad that they had gotten off so easily, and that now they could safely sit out those few hours in a protected cave until a couple of Tsuchimikado operatives got tired of combing the neighborhood. But questions, of course, will arise. I waited until Shizuka returned to the cave to voice my thoughts in front of everyone, but when I came across her sour expression, I decided to find out what was going on first.

"Our weapons were found, you know! It did not melt after processing, only melted slightly. And from this distance, I couldn't destroy it."

Oops! A puncture. On the other hand, the top layer of ice has "frozen off" after all, and no one will find our interesting "fingers" on the shaft and handle. Interestingly, the fact that ice, to put it mildly, has an unusual secondary arrangement of molecules, will it be discovered? And what will they think of the author of the blade and the spear? For example, I would hurry to get out of an area where there is a mizuchi capable of knocking water into comet ice. But come on. Everyone's here, can we still talk?:

"Ladies and gentlemen, Attention, while we are forced to linger under the arches of the cave, I want to tell you how I see our further interaction and describe how I would like to help arrange your future life."

It probably looks funny — an uneven row of sitting men, two women — and a teenager standing in front of them, intently "broadcasting". I forced all the Yokai to change their appearance to a human one, in order to avoid, so to speak. Whether the mindset changes due to a change in shape or not, but the motor skills definitely change, which means that the chance of "missing" in the ferry increases... Fuck it, fuck it!

"First of all, as I understand it, you all would like to get to know the human world better in order to gain some experience, am I right? Great. Then the suggestion is this: thanks to my clan technique, I can make your auras completely undetectable, which Mizuchi and I, who are present here, have already checked. And if you really integrate into the city, then it's better not to live in a park or under a bridge — with the risk of detection by ordinary police or problems with the population: a house or apartments would be better suited, right? The facial expressions of the interlocutors changed from lazily attentive to focused and then naively enthusiastic. I already felt like a politician, once again promising universal happiness from the rostrum, immediately after the elections, of course... until he came across a mocking look from a Hawk-nosed man. However, he remained silent anyway.

"As you probably know, to live in apartments and houses, you need to pay rent to their owners, and it would also be nice to eat normal food and receive other social services. And for that, I suggest you... to work as construction workers or road workers for a while. Qualifications are almost not required there — there is enough strength and desire to work, so you can... Khem!"

Then I naturally fell into a precipitate — after the words "work a little", the already joyful faces lit up with admiring smiles.

"Ah," said one of the Yokai girls from the Devourer's team, "we can play real people! And they'll also give you money for all sorts of goodies!"

The Death Eater forced a smile, spreading his arms, while the Hawk-Nosed Man couldn't help but hold his face with his palm. And completely in vain. Naivety is not something that lasts long in human society. In two months they'll be making fun of themselves. But at least it's clear why these comrades went for Kashi — the infantilism is impressive! Okay, now for the finishing blow.

"Entering the society of people is the task of the next month or two. After about this time, the Tsuchimikado clan will withdraw their fighters from the city police and remove them, and we will take their former territory under our control. That's why you need to get to know people's lives in as much detail as possible."

Huh! And the Japanese and those masquerading as them are also called "narrow-eyed"! Anime and elves are nervously smoking on the sidelines!

Chapter 112

After circling the battlefield for about an hour, Tsuchimikado's agents set fire to the remains of the killed yokai with some kind of technique, joining them with several corpses of scavengers that had not decomposed on the spot, who did not have enough instincts (or were just so hungry) to get away when the police mages approached. After waiting for this entire installation in the "horror" genre to burn out, the flames that were trying to spread to the trees were thoroughly extinguished — and finally dumped.

While Mizuchi carefully watched them from afar, I answered the questions of the yokai hiding in the cave from my squad now. And there were just a lot of questions: from the stupidest to the unexpectedly relevant ones that I hadn't even thought about yet. I answered everything: it doesn't matter if someone doesn't understand the realities of Japanese society yet. It's not so difficult to "drive into" them, especially if you don't immediately try to look like an academic and speak at some kind of debate... although, for example, if something like this happened to a Corpse Eater, I would still think who would "play out" his role better — him or a real academic. After all, an active age combined with an active intellect is a terrible combination in its effectiveness. And surely there are other yokai who have reached great heights in human society: it cannot be that there is no other "perfect" disguise other than the "ferry" one... and you can get it one way or another.

I tried to put into the heads of my now vassals, with all the persuasiveness I could, an understanding of what I expected specifically from them: not blind obedience, not worship, and not service from beginning to end: I needed employees. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say "comrades", but I really hoped that battles like today's senseless massacre would be avoided... and that, if necessary, it will not be "meat" who will fight, but specialists like Mizuchi and Houk-nose. Although I understood that this was a utopia, because if a "wave" of Yokays found out about the departure of the police from the city, a commotion would begin... and we still need to do something about it... and hopefully not in two weeks, anyway.

I specified a period of two months with a margin, given the delay in information about the security situation inside the policy beyond its borders, but then the patrols will have to be assembled "on a live thread," which obviously will not add efficiency... Because even Hiroe has problems with this when there is no specific goal, but an analysis of the situation is required. Things are not so smooth with the "three strongest" either, the infantile Shizuka and the pacifist Kashi are a great example of how a person is suitable for a leader according to the "formula"... yokai can't become one for internal reasons (he just doesn't want to). And when a patient doesn't want to go to the morgue, medicine is powerless...

"They went back to the city, I followed them to the car, you know." It is the Goddess of Rivers who has returned to the cave.

I grimaced inwardly: it's easy to talk, but now I have to work again.

"Gentlemen and ladies! And now, please, choose a set of clothes for yourself to wear in the city, and I will process them. Yes, any of them. No, Mi, an evening dress is great, but it's not what people understand by the term "casual wear," so ask Rinko. Rinko. Rinko! And what does "how cool" mean, she's not going to go to the construction site in it! And there are no fitting rooms here! Okay, okay, I'm going to block another piece of the magic shaft, but don't look at me LIKE that..."

"Hello, Hiroe?" I got out of the cave. "Hi. Yes, the negotiations have already been held, and even successfully, I will tell you everything at home. I didn't call because there was no reception, and they agreed to our terms right away. And that's it! Wait, we'll be there by five or six..."

"Dear Kashi, this passport cannot be used... No, I agree that it's probably not expired, and it's convenient, but... Look at the photo! IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT!" And this is us gutting the warehouse of things in the cave that the Yokai have stolen over the past twenty years, which is pretty smart when you think about it. After making sure that there are no mago police or any of the free exorcists.

There were also curiosities: apparently, the technique of influencing consciousness really "clears the brain", because it cannot be explained by a banal lack of curiosity that things from a box with "valuable objects", as soon as they were removed, were immediately expropriated by Kuzaki and two female spirits who had already sung with her. Well, yes, well, beautiful jewelry... and even a part of it is over a hundred years old (thanks to the Kashi reference book). But that's not a reason to grab them with a happy squeal, put them on and refuse to take them off? The voice of reason, ow!

As a result, apart from the same train in which we were traveling to the city, no one went with us — the contents of the cave suddenly became too valuable: something in terms of money that no one had previously followed, and something increased dramatically in price, having received from me a "ferry" to disguise magic. In addition, when a girl of the same age as my "childhood friends" appears in my house (and not a bit of a lie — I was friends with at least Himari, let the first one to throw a stone at me be the one who says that yokai are not my "childhood friends") it looks completely normal and innocent, but if an adult man shows up with me, and even cooler — a few, they can call the police... Fuck it, fuck it, I've had enough for today.

..After "catching" the evening bus, the three of us took our seats, two facing each other. Rinko unceremoniously took a seat next to me, which Mizuchi was clearly aiming at, and suddenly wrapped her arms around my shoulder and hugged me... A second later, a soft snore was heard! So we were driving: a sleeping swordswoman exhausted from impressions, who killed her first enemy today, a yokai of water, who received from me an incomprehensible "gift" in a dream (but guesses appeared) and your humble servant — with a bruise on half my back, dizzy and full of confusion in my thoughts.

And something tells me that there will be many such "eventful" days now!

Part 23

chapter 114

Naturally, it took us a lot of time to move the yokai squad into the rooms of two dormitories for workers and construction workers, if only because none of us had such an experience, and this social group usually does not write detailed reports on forums. Fortunately, they have foremen, and foremen have senior engineers who are forced to vent their frustration with their subordinates somewhere... Well, why not a blog?

I blamed Hiroe for checking the documents for adequacy: whether their owner was wanted as a missing person or for some other reason (from criminal offenses to non-payment of utility bills), since many women in Japan have high-pitched voices so that a haircut does not stand out when talking. Kaname had to drive around the city a lot, spend several thousand yen in pay phones and use the services of about twenty computer clubs.

Unfortunately, Rinko was completely useless in terms of working with documents or studying information to create an impression of something. It's just that no one prepared her specifically, and it's quite difficult to face this side of the issue with normal parents. But she was the only one of us who was engaged in raising our combat readiness... society? Communities? Fuck it, with the name, let it be "band". So, Rinko raised the combat readiness of the group by raising the combat readiness of herself: I modified the system of turning on/off the magical reinforcement of the musculoskeletal system with a ferry. Yes, yes, ODO, not just the muscles. I was extremely lucky that when I applied the "steam of light" to the Kuzaki, I automatically blinded it in the same way as in hamsters — not by the muscles separately, but affecting both bones and internal organs — as much as the previous "update" made by my parents allowed them to be affected. Fortunately, in irreversible tissues, such a "magic booster" simply "tightens" the structures of bones and tendons, adding strength to them (like reinforcing concrete with iron), otherwise we would not get off with bruises and aching joints. Actually, as I count the number of times we missed the metaphorical "arctic fox" that day, it gets so bad, I won't think about it.

Shizuka was trying to close the last gaps in her education at a rapid pace, and, naturally, these were the remaining most difficult pieces for her, such as ideas about the atomic structure of matter or the features of the structure of the earth's crust: even at the school level, this knowledge was so in conflict with the "naturally formed" ideas over so many years that the snake literally fought to win back I have the opportunity to understand what I have memorized. One day, I even had to give up on business, take Mizuchi to school and open a laboratory with "experimental machines": centrifugal forces, experiments on the speed of falling in a "vacuum" (if you can consider a vacuum of 10 at minus four to be a vacuum), blocks and levers — they killed the whole day, but after that, Yokai there was literally a breakthrough. As she confessed to me in the evening, she even "really managed to believe that our planet is round, and can really be in the void." After this conversation, I seriously bothered to do something about the education of the rest of the yokai from the Amakawa group, because even if a water snake scout has such problems with thinking flexibly, what about the rest?

Speaking of the others. That's exactly what took up most of my time tinkering with them. To begin with, I had to hammer into the heads of the "employees" that protection should always be worn, ALWAYS. Except maybe the shower, which I'll handle in the dorm. I forced them to learn their social roles thoroughly, using printouts from the "diaries" of civil engineers and contractors as material, as well as personal impressions of the two days that Rinko and I spent observing. However, "officially" I was looking for suitable dormitories in the quarters of "jamshut's" and stamped mago-control sensors, but that's another matter.

In general, Father Rinko enlightened me about the "jamshuts" from the Japanese society: it turns out that a significant part of real estate transactions concerns such "working quarters". By the way, the "jamshuts" there are, of course, Japanese themselves — it is very difficult for Gaijin to obtain a residence permit, and illegal immigrants are caught very strictly. Getting Kuzaki Sr. to talk turned out to be quite simple — after all, people like to talk about their favorite job... Well, all I had to do was get the information I needed. Then came the actual "settlement". The hawk-nosed one, accompanied by Rinko's "sister," went to negotiate with the commandant of a "guest house for builders," and I accompanied Kashi. No matter how much I spin the idea of "handymen" in my head, I'm more and more convinced that it was just an epiphany... or the result of watching a bunch of anime, where the hero earns something-important-but-expensive by moonlighting like this: in a yellow helmet, with a shovel, jackhammer, or in the form of a construction supervisor. The oldest earthly principle of the "gang" worked to the fullest in this Japan: if the future workforce does not come by itself, but as part of a brigade, and with a sane "senior" foreman, she is much more welcome. They can even suggest a job right on the spot. In short, everything worked out, the owners of the real estate were dealt with (Kashi was hitting, and I was "studying" as a "younger relative"), and the operation to relocate and move valuables began.

The sorted jewelry (there weren't that many of them) was put in an anonymous safe deposit box, access to which could be obtained by having a key, paying a not-so-expensive rent for 25 years. Naturally, I got one of the keys. The total amount of money collected in several deposits for the members of the "group" amounted to almost three and a half million yen. It's not enough for ten people, but it'll do for rural areas to start with. I also had to participate in the purchase of work sets of clothing, protective helmets and other stuff, such as reflective stripes for night time: despite the fact that the customer had to issue uniforms and protection, for obvious reasons it was necessary to make do with their own uniforms, so hired workers were paid more, but now these things had a chance to be demolished quickly. much less.

I've been worried for a while about the "simple" yokai from the group, but... here, when they were settling in, I "talked" with the local quite human contingent, and made sure that my yokays were almost a model of sanity and trustworthiness о_О! Now it's clear why students find these "different" jobs so easily — among all these drunks, buffoons, and just not very quick-thinking people, even people like the spirits from the two artels, there were at most twenty percent. As I said, I stopped worrying about work right away. And I started worrying about school. There were literally two days left. And we never managed to get to the bay, where the seasonal current will soon change, and in November and December, the spirit road dam will become functional again. Something will need to be done about this, too... Later.

chapter 115

And again, "hello school." I don't remember that at least once in my life, "there" and here, I went here with the realization "well, I'm finally going to rest," but — it happened! Actually, it's a great morning, great company, what more could you want for happiness? Put plans and analysis, experiments (which are worthwhile) and fears out of your mind for at least an hour, and just turn your face to sunlight. You can even take off your glasses for a minute. And maybe Rinko, after refining and two weeks of training, she learned to draw mana from the accumulator in the solar plexus area only when necessary. I got a good ferry, I must admit.

Another thing that makes me feel better is that I'm not going to school alone: Rinko is walking on one side with a bokken wrapped in a case in his hand, and Shizuka is on the other, also in a school uniform, with a "scythe to the waist." The braid is braided with blue ribbons, but Rinko doesn't have any ribbons — we didn't get to the summer festival, and there's no reason to offer — Kuzaki doesn't behave like a "kid in a skirt" now, he hasn't behaved for a long time. And I would be the last person to say that she was wrong: when you know for sure that a person is just ready to entrust his life to you, you really stop paying attention to the little things.

And the sun is shining right in your face, and the trees are green-green! Cicadas are squeaking, butterflies are flying, and individual students or, more often, companies are walking along the road just like we do. However, judging by the faces, they are "trudging" rather than walking — the first day after the holidays. Damn, I wish I could take a camera and film us walking from the side — it's like a ready-made animecha opening video! Or better yet, adjust the quadcopter — the camera angles will be more interesting.

And here is the school gate, and Hiroe is waiting for us at the gate. School uniform, briefcase, glasses on his face. And a predatory smile — the students who met Hiroe lay long loops to get around her.

"You look beautiful, I've already looked at how you walk."

"Yeah, I liked it myself. I even thought about taking a keepsake... Hiroe?"

"..."

"ER-er-er, Hiroe?" Rinko cautiously took a step back. "What are you talking about?"

Kaname has regained her normal, or rather "normal" expression, otherwise with a dreamy half-smile and eyes looking "into the horizon" she really scares. Those who know her, of course.

"THE I-D-E-A!" Kaname practically sang and squinted at us. "I'm in my senior year, I got Midori started in high school, it's time to make the project more interesting for myself."

"Is it really that scary?" Mizuchi grunted, behind which Rinko and I involuntarily retreated.

"You're participating too!"

"It's really scary, you know!"

"Yeah, there you are... Damn it, Yuto! Why are you surrounded by a bunch of girls again and all wearing glasses?" And this Taizo "crept up unnoticed." "And you... uh... Will you study with us too?"

"Chidori," Mizuchi introduced herself with her "passport" name. "But you can call me Shizuka, I prefer it that way."

"Okay! Yes, that's why I came up to you. There's another "girl with glasses" over there by the gate, isn't she from your group by any chance?"

The girl with glasses, who seemed to be our age, had apparently also decided that all bespectacled people were brothers in mind, and was already striding briskly towards us. More precisely, to Shizuka.

"Hi, I saw you in the staff room the day before yesterday, aren't you new too?" She turned to Mizuchi, and I saw in her hairstyle a silver hairpin in the form of an oblique cross — well, or the letter "X", whichever you like. A very familiar hairpin! "I'm in Class A on our course, aren't you too? By the way, hi everyone, I'm Yu! Shall we get acquainted?"

"Will be." We gave our names, including Taizo, and moved to the entrance of the building. Yu settled in next to Shizuka, she seemed a little uncomfortable walking alone to strangers like that.

"Listen," she couldn't stand it fifteen seconds later, "why are you all wearing glasses?"

We all pretended to be "surprised", "really?", then looked at each other... and they laughed together!

Taizo, looking at this, pointedly bumped his forehead against his shoe drawer a couple of times.

chapter 116.

Which was exactly what had to be proved. I am the president of the Physics club, unanimously. As if I don't have enough "administrative" work with those who have begun to master the hard work of the yokai builder and paver from the Amakawa Group. Now there's this. We must urgently look for a deputy. At least the guys had prepared the RepRap calculations, and even a double set of gearboxes for the heads had been turned out. Actually, you can just "print" them if you have at least one 3D printer available, but it's not there yet. Having spread out the printouts of drawings and parts on the table, I began to explain the assembly process (it is quite simple), and at the same time touched upon the programming of the controller...

"Is Yuto Amakawa here?"

"I'm here," — wow, the deputy president of the school committee himself came.

"The director wants you to come to his office."

"I'm coming." I waved my hand so that they could sort it out without me. What does the director want from me?

"Good afternoon?"

"Amakawa-kun, have a seat. I have a conversation for you."

"I'm paying attention, Mr. Director."

"Mmm. What I want to tell you... You're very... an enthusiastic young man. It's good to do something like this, from a young age... useful, necessary people. This is a very correct character trait, your passion and your thirst for knowledge. I recently received a call from the deputy head of the Department of Precision Machines and Mechanisms, who was very interested in our students from the Physics club. They really liked your flying camera at the University Youth Exhibition, and the aircraft modeling club managed to register... Anyway, that's what I'm getting at. They would like our school to establish cooperation with the city Polytechnic University. It is prestigious and very honorable for a junior school to receive such an offer... you probably don't know, but participating in such projects greatly raises the school's rating in the municipality. Therefore, I would like you and Rino-sensei to visit the university next Saturday, and you will be excused from classes. And your Taizo classmate will go, they were personally interested in him after participating in the glider competition.

"I'll do my best, Director-san!"

"Great. I never doubted you. Try to make an impression there... Harder, well, you can."

"I'll do my best, Mr. Director!"

"That's good. For my part, I'll try to settle your differences with the chemistry teacher. Otherwise, it's not a good idea to be one of the best students and get a negative review in your personal file. You can go now."

Bowing and walking out the door, I stopped in the middle of the school hallway. And who can tell me what it was?

Chapter 117.

However, the unexpected events did not even think to end. On my way out of school, Hiroe caught me by the elbow and pulled me aside.

"I just found out that her next "best friend" told her mother not to see them for a century. All city schools are being shaken up by the student work commission, which says the number of accidents involving pyrotechnics and self-made explosives has increased. They give review lectures to everyone, and a psychologist works with the "unreliable" ones.

"Damn, it's not a good time. Why such strictness?"

"Yes, it seems that several cases of citizens' appeals for low-power explosions of unknown causes have accumulated, so they decided on schoolchildren and students: who has access to reagents or laboratories."

"Well, it doesn't seem to concern us."

"Yes, it does. The commission has a full-time psychologist. During the lecture, he will monitor who reacts, then conduct private conversations with those who have shown unusual reactions."

"So what?"

"And the fact that psychologists are provided by the staff of the Social Committee! This is their full-time responsibility, along with monitoring the implementation of social norms for children and adolescents."

"Damn it! Are you thinking about what I'm thinking?"

"Exactly. Our Mizuchi will probably get burned on something. We need to prepare her for the conversation somehow."

"Maybe I just didn't come to school that day?"

"Then an invitation will be sent to the committee itself... What are you?"

"I've got a hunch here... Do you know when the check will be with us?"

"Who do you think I am? Of course I know, Dad has all the events already listed in the database. We're in line this Saturday."

"Fuck! I knew it!"

"What did you know?"

"The principal just sent Taizo and Rino-sensei and me to a meeting at the polytechnic to demonstrate the "face of the school. Saturday, as you guessed. And I was wondering what a reservation about a personal matter meant..."

"And what will you do? I can try to influence the transfer of the commission through my dad..."

"Don't make such sacrifices. I'll just try to be careful. Damn it, I got it!"

"Really!"