"Is that so?" Nozono Shizuka smiled, raising his right hand to wipe the corner of his mouth. He was dressed in a dark kimono, looking formal enough to attend a grand social gathering at any moment.
"I thought you wouldn't arrive until this afternoon." Nozono Shizuka slowly tidied the items on the low table. Right in front of Kisaragi Chiyo, he popped the last piece of scone from the plate into his mouth and ate it.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
"Am I going to snatch it from you? Why are you in such a hurry?" Kisaragi Chiyo revealed an indescribable expression.
It's hard to imagine, isn't it? Someone like Nozono Shizuka, who looks cold, serious, cunning as a fox, unapproachable on the outside, is actually a lover of sweets.
"That's hard to say." Nozono Shizuka gave Kisaragi Chiyo a meaningful smile.
"You were just slandering me in your heart, weren't you?" A pale, slender hand with well-defined knuckles emerged from a wide kimono sleeve. Nozono Shizuka narrowed his crimson phoenix eyes, scanning Kisaragi Chiyo from head to toe.
“Will you take it? Hurry up and give it to me, I'm asking you for a favor.”
“Do you want it right now?” Kisaragi Chiyo looked at her friend, who was impatiently demanding it from her, with a hint of speechlessness. Then, as if by magic, she pulled out a beautifully wrapped box of sweets and handed it over.
"Oh my." Nozono Shizuka untied the ribbon on the box the moment he received it and opened it.
"As expected of a shop with a century of history, the sweets are truly beautiful," Nozono Shizuka remarked in praise.
The price is proportional to the appearance," Kisaragi Chiyo couldn't help but complain. "This one box cost me nearly half of my latest manuscript fee.
"In terms of taste, it's still worth the price," Nozono Shizuka replied, his voice muffled as he chewed on a piece of the pastry.
It was not difficult to tell from his expression of enjoyment that the snack Kisaragi Chiyo had chosen was perfectly to his taste.
“Shizuka..”
Kisaragi Chiyo sat cross-legged before the low table, casually setting aside the paper talisman he had just picked up.
“What?” Nozono Shizuka raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Kisaragi Chiyo fell silent for a few seconds, then asked his long-haired friend sitting opposite him in a relatively serious tone, "Has Ms. Nanase still not controlled the amount of sweets you eat every day?"
"Well," Nozono Shizuka's movements as he ate were incredibly elegant, every gesture embodying the manner of an aristocrat raised in a prestigious family.
"Because that scone just now was actually something Ms. Nanase bought specifically for you." Nozono Shizuka spoke in a calm tone, without the slightest hint of guilt or remorse.
Didn't you used to love the desserts from that shop?
"So you ate my scone." Kisaragi Chiyo nodded in conclusion.
"Yes, I ate your scone." Nozono Shizuka's smile was as if it were welded onto his face, without the slightest change.
After saying this, the two sat in silence, neither of them speaking.
Kisaragi Chiyo's misty gray eyes gazed quietly at the other person. He looked at his young friend, who possessed a nonchalant aura, noticed that the hair the other had grown to exchange with spirits was a bit longer than when they last met.
“Are you angry?” After a silence of about ten minutes, Nozono Shizuka was the first to speak. He looked at Kisaragi Chiyo with a smile, when his crimson eyes curved, it always made people suspect he was plotting some wicked scheme in his mind.
"I am long past the age of getting angry because I didn't get my snacks." Kisaragi Chiyo smiled faintly, indicating that she was always magnanimous; as the elder, it was only right that she be tolerant of the younger Nozono Shizuka.
.. You're only capable of showing off in this regard.
"Likewise," Kisaragi Chiyo remained unmoved.
"Counting the time, it has already been quite a while since the last time." Speaking of business, Nozono Shizuka's tone became slightly serious, his gaze fell upon Kisaragi Chiyo's face.
"You're much later this time than the last." As Nozono Shizuka spoke, three moderate knocks suddenly echoed from outside the room, Ms. Nanase entered, carrying two cups of tea.
The serious-looking lady cast a slow glance at the snack box on the low table, a sharp keenness revealing itself in her green eyes. But she said nothing, after setting down the tea, she closed the door and withdrew.
"You caught me." Kisaragi Chiyo picked up the cup of tea in front of her, smiling gloatingly.
Think about whose fault this all is?" Nozono Shizuka never let things get to him; he looked at Kisaragi Chiyo with a superficial smile, "As for you, don't let those non-human creatures blind you, repeat the same mistakes as last time.
".. No, this time is different." Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her eyes, a cryptic expression appearing on her face. She shook her head slightly, seemingly unwilling to mention what had happened in the past.
I think they won't.
Won't what?" Nozono Shizuka pressed, "Do you think they won't betray you, or that they won't almost get you killed like that previous monster did?
"They won't," Kisaragi Chiyo answered with certainty. His gaze was calm, but his tone carried a stubbornness that suggested he was anything but shaken.
"Don't worry." Kisaragi Chiyo didn't want to share his emotional journey with his friend. At least, he wasn't prepared to tell his friend that he might end up in a romantic relationship with a yokai or an Evil Spirit in the future.
It's not even a matter of choosing between the two.
Ah, to end up as a terrible adult who plays both sides.
Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her eyes and took a sip of tea, the slightly bitter liquid spreading between her teeth.
At the very least.. at the very least, as long as her friend hasn't noticed anything is wrong yet, Kisaragi Chiyo didn't want to experience being scolded by the imposing Mechano Family Head, asking if her brain had been soaked in water.
As long as you understand.." Nozono Shizuka looked like he wanted to sigh, but in the end, he held it back. He stood up, looking not particularly happy, "If action is required, I would be happy to assist you.
Of course, given our relationship, I will give you a reasonable, discounted price." Nozono Shizuka flashed a smile as cunning as a fox. "Now, we should first deal with the problem inside your body.
*
Entering the room through the slightly narrow corridor, footsteps fell one after another, making soft sounds on the floor.
Tall and imposing, with a head that nearly brushed the ceiling, the Paper Shikigami wearing a white mask stood guard at the outermost perimeter of the room, following the instructions of Nozono Shizuka.
To enter the interior, one would have to pass through a barrier as well as a series of defensive mechanisms and formations used for guarding.
In a room where the four walls were covered in eerie, distorted character talismans, Kisaragi Chiyo and Nozono Shizuka knelt facing each other.
Kisaragi Chiyo sat within a circle formed by white connecting ropes; for convenience, she had even changed into a loose yukata, with the sleeves of both sides rolled up to her arms.
Nozono Shizuka carefully ground the ink in his inkstone, after confirming once more that the arrangement was sufficient, he picked up the brush resting beside him. After dipping it into the ink, he wrote line after line of runes directly onto Kisaragi Chiyo's arms.
Nozono Shizuka did not dare to let his brush pause for even a moment; he held his breath and wrote all the runes in one go.
The moment the brush stopped, the strange black characters seemed to come to life on Kisaragi Chiyo's body. They scurried all over her skin, a sight that reminded Nozono Shizuka of the lizard on Natori Shu's body.
"How does it feel?" Nozono Shizuka asked in a low voice, setting down his brush.
Even though this wasn't the first time he had done something like this, he still felt a sense of wonder every single time.
Kisaragi Chiyo.. Kisaragi Chiyo, just what kind of existence is she?
Although Nozono Shizuka did not entirely fail to understand Kisaragi Chiyo's past, he always felt that the other party's deceased guardian must have been hiding even more shocking secrets.
"It's still the same." Kisaragi Chiyo lowered her eyes. The black, distorted text swam across his skin, from his arms to his neck.. his cheeks, to anywhere they could reach.
Kisaragi Chiyo had once wondered if, if medical equipment were used to examine his internal organs at this moment, whether it would find these words swimming across his organs as well.
"I don't feel anything." There is no discomfort when the words crawl across the skin. But at this moment, he always hears a splashing sound, like fish swimming in a pond, as if his body has become a vessel filled with water.
Even though that was indeed the case.. he was a vessel for..
Then I shall continue.
"Please continue." Kisaragi Chiyo nodded, she reached up to brush the hair from her forehead, revealing that dark red eye.
As a ring of flames ignited around Kisaragi Chiyo, another red character impatiently crawled out from his dark red eye.
A familiar, sharp pain surged through his brain and body simultaneously. Kisaragi Chiyo hung his head, his face turning pale from the agony, as large beads of sweat rolled from his forehead. As the black and red characters intertwined, Kisaragi Chiyo saw a familiar face through the flickering flames in a daze.
"Kisaragi Chiyo" opened his mouth, wanting to call out that name, but the pain prevented him from making any sound. His entire body curled up from the pain, the red characters became even more vivid against his pale skin, looking like marks left behind after being scorched by flames.
They danced upon his skin, the red and black characters forming two locks that tightly imprisoned Kisaragi Chiyo's consciousness.
Everything in her vision became a blur; besides the piercing crimson flames and the sharp pain, Kisaragi Chiyo could feel nothing.
His soul felt weightless, as if it were detaching from his physical shell.
He heard a hoarse voice, its gender indistinguishable, calling his name, telling him to go back..
[Oboshima, Oboshima..]
It called him that.
..
By the time Kisaragi Chiyo woke up, the ritual had already ended.
Nozono Shizuka stayed by his side, holding the cat magazine he hadn't finished reading earlier.
“When did you bring this in as well?” Kisaragi Chiyo lay on the floor, unwilling to move; her face was pressed against the cold floor, the hair on her cheeks and neck was soaked with sweat, clinging stickily to her skin.
His voice was hoarse and very faint; if Nozono Shizuka hadn't noticed the sound of him waking up, he might have overlooked it entirely.
"How are you feeling now?" Nozono Shizuka did not answer Kisaragi Chiyo's question. He closed the magazine, waved to summon a Paper Shikigami, helped Kisaragi Chiyo up from the ground.
"Still alive.." Kisaragi Chiyo's voice was slightly weak; his lips and face were as pale as a patient who had just recovered from a serious illness.
You can't keep going on like this." Nozono Shizuka fell silent for a moment before asking again, "How are things at the villa? Have you found the clues you were looking for?
"What you said is not wrong." When discussing matters related to that, Kisaragi Chiyo's expression turned cold. He lowered his eyes, his gaze falling casually upon some point in the void.
That guy is indeed still alive.
-----------------------
Author's Note: I finally finished the revisions during my spare time, orz. I really want a vacation (wriggles)
Thank you for the support, my little angels! Mwah to everyone 033330
Chapter 72
Kisaragi Chiyo was not originally called Kisaragi Chiyo; instead, her original name existed as the pen name used for publishing articles, Oboro Asagiri, as the child adopted by the Oboshima shrine maiden and the next successor of the shrine.
“Would you like some water?” Nozono Shizuka placed a cup of warm water in front of Kisaragi Chiyo. He lowered his eyes, calmly watching his friend's face turn pale from the pain.
The dark red pupil of his right eye had temporarily lost its luster due to the ritual, becoming dull and lifeless.
"Thank you.." Kisaragi Chiyo's voice still carried an unmistakable weakness. Her lips were pale, her eyes were half-closed; it took about half an hour of rest before she gradually recovered.
“Nozono.”
Kisaragi Chiyo sat up, one hand propped on the low tatami table, looking at Nozono Shizuka with a somewhat serious expression.
Do you still remember when you asked me to collect information regarding the Church of Hope?
Upon hearing the question, Nozono Shizuka visibly froze for a moment. His left eyebrow twitched upward slightly, appearing somewhat surprised that Kisaragi Chiyo would suddenly bring up this matter.
"Of course I remember." Although some time had passed since receiving the cry for help from the Kurosu Family, it even seemed as though they had given up on pursuing the matter further.
But Nozono Shizuka had no intention of letting this matter slide.
Looking at the collected list of victims, Nozono Shizuka keenly sensed an ominous trend within it. Although he could not guess the ultimate motive of the culprit who was driving these victims to suicide, if left unaddressed, it would certainly trigger extremely terrible consequences.