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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".
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