"No, no! This isn't right. The way to summon a shikigami goes like this!" On the rooftop, a pretty short-haired girl was doing a series of odd, dance-like moves while coaching a few equally pretty girls whose motions were stiff.
"This is way too embarrassing!" Natsumi Torii and Saori Maki felt crushed by the pressure. They really didn't want to keep up this awkward shame-play.
"What matters most is a presence that won't lose to a yokai!" At the mention of yokai, the short-haired girl's aura suddenly surged.
Off to the side, Kana shot them a slightly disdainful look. Honestly, the moves were mortifying.
"Ah, practicing onmyoji warding arts under the clear sky? What a marvelous sight." Just then the rooftop door opened again. Kiyotsugu led Meruem and the others in.
Kiyotsugu then launched into his own private excitement, ignoring the other couples on the rooftop besides their group.
To be precise, after one glance at Kiyotsugu, each couple quietly left.
It wasn't just Rikuo and Kiyotsugu's tagalong, Jiro Shima—Meruem and his friends' expressions also turned a bit complicated.
Say, are we sure joining this club was the right call?
"Yura-chan! Kana-chan! Everyone—let me introduce you. These three are our new club members starting today. Get to know each other!"
"Hey, hey—why did you shout out to Yura and Kana and then skip straight to 'everyone'? What's with that?" Natsumi Torii and Saori Maki glared at Kiyotsugu.
"Ah-hahaha, don't sweat the details." Thick-skinned as ever, Kiyotsugu never cared. The only thing he cared about was where he might see yokai.
All told, Kiyotsugu was actually a good guy. At eight, he'd absolutely refused to believe in yokai and even disliked yokai legends, thinking they were tall tales for kids.
Until Gen'gyoji and his underlings from the Nura Clan ambushed Rikuo's school bus, and the yokai-formed Rikuo saved them. From then on, Kiyotsugu developed a deep fascination with yokai.
Now around thirteen, he still remembered his savior after five years—especially impressive for someone so young. It showed Kiyotsugu was a decent person. Plenty of adults today couldn't match that, with no shortage of cases where rescuers are slandered and repaid with ingratitude.
As for small-fry bullies like Gen'gyoji—hard to see why the Nura Clan ever took them in.
In the days that followed, Meruem settled into the usual school routine. Studying was no problem at all for him—so long as he understood Japanese. Every day after class, he joined Kiyotsugu, Rikuo, and the rest for the club's yokai-hunting outings.
To be fair, most of the places Kiyotsugu suggested really did have yokai. But to protect his classmates and to preserve a peaceful school life, Rikuo kept covering things up in hair-raising fashion each time.
Because, basically, those yokai were from his own house.
"Good mooorning, Kana-chan!" With a burst of energy, a long-haired black-haired girl came up behind a short-haired girl, then stretched her wicked hands for the short-haired girl's skirt!!!
Flip!
"Aaaaahhhhh!!!!" There was a brief silence, then a shriek beyond ordinary imagination.
It happened—the Level-6 Skirt-Flipping Fiend!
"Knock it off! I told you, Reiko-chan, don't greet my panties every time!" Realizing it was Uchiha Reiko, Kana's face flushed as she waved her little fists and scolded in a small voice.
"Hehe—gomen, gomen." Reiko put her hands together with a grin. From the utter lack of sincerity, she'd definitely do it again next time!
"Ah—Yura-chan's here too—I'm going to say hi!" Spotting another short-haired girl passing the doorway, Reiko hopped and skipped over.
Kana could only press a hand to her forehead. "Good grief, there's no dealing with her."
Then came another commotion.
That was one of Uchiha Reiko's daily routine activities.
It did show that Reiko had fully hit it off with the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol, including a certain loli onmyoji.
"Huh? This yokai aura…" After school that day, Meruem sensed several unfamiliar yokai auras on his way home. Having spent a good while in this world, he'd gradually learned how to distinguish yokai aura. With senses far beyond humans—and even most yokai—it hadn't been hard.
One of the auras carried the taste of "wind." Something clicked. He had Pitou take Reiko home first, then followed the aura alone.
If he was right, the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Demons arc had begun.
"Who goes there?" "Gah!" "Argh!"
The Hihi Squad's main base—one of the Nura Clan's divisions—was under attack by an unknown force.
Four hundred years ago, Hihi had been a great yokai and an elder among the Nura Clan. His strength had matched the likes of Meikemaru—or the Gyuuki.
He had been one of the Clan's top fighters. But that was four hundred years past. Four centuries are enough to carry any yokai from birth to death.
Especially since Hihi wasn't among Japan's most renowned yokai, and thus wasn't especially long-lived. Without eating humans' fresh livers to extend his life, four centuries later his power was less than half what it had been. Peace had also dulled his fighting edge. He was even rusty in Awe.
In other words, Hihi was old. His current Hihi Squad consisted of veterans past their prime. The squad's elite had long been handed to his son, Xingying, who was away on business. And since they weren't that far from the Nura Clan's main base, they basically never considered an enemy raid. The Hihi Squad was more a retirement unit than a combat division now.
"How can this be? Why would anyone attack?" The remaining Hihi Squad members couldn't stop the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Demons led by Tamazuki, the young lord of Gyōbu Danuki.
Hihi's old renown wasn't small, and Tamazuki's father and Nurarihyon were old acquaintances. On top of that, this strike on the Hihi Squad was a surprise attack with full force committed—catching them completely unprepared. After too long an era of peace, by the time they reacted, they couldn't stem the assault.
"Don't look down on me! I'm one of the Nura Clan's officers—the great yokai Hihi!" He forced his aging body upright to hold the enemy back alone. But he was old—no longer the great yokai who had once dominated the yokai world.
And his foes were young elites of the Gyōbu Danuki's Eighty-Eight Demons.
"Damn… what's this? Why won't my body… I can't muster any strength?" After a crushing punch from the Hand-Washing Oni sent him reeling, countless wind blades ripped across Hihi's body.
Thankfully, even aged, Hihi's great-yokai body was still tough. He managed to shield his vitals at the last second, but he still suffered wounds all over.
Even the mask on his face cracked in several places.
"Not good! I'm poisoned! When did it happen?" As time passed, Hihi felt his strength ebb away and his head swim.
If he hadn't been a great yokai, any other would already be sprawled on the ground.
"It's the wind! The wind is poisoned!" Sadly, though he found the cause, he no longer had the means to stop it. His stamina kept draining, and his consciousness grew fuzzy.
At this rate, he would die.
Is this where I end? I thought I would fall on the battlefield—but to die like this…
My lord… Hihi can no longer remain by your side.
Take care.
"But even if I die, I won't tarnish the Nura Clan's name! Come—let me show you the might of the Nura Clan's great yokai, Hihi!" Hihi resolved to stake everything on one last stand.
"Phantom Night Parade!" But the enemy had no intention of meeting him head-on. Black feathers fluttered before Hihi's eyes.
"Impossible! My eyes…" Even behind a mask, Hihi's vision was snatched away by the Night Sparrow's curse.
"His eyes didn't directly touch my feathers. This won't last long—hurry," said the Night Sparrow, strange talismans twined around her head.
"Give me your sleeve, would you?" Just then, Hihi felt his sleeve tugged, as though something had grabbed it. With his sight gone, he couldn't see who it was, but his head turned by habit toward the tug.
If Hihi could have seen, he would've recognized the intruder at once—and ripped off his sleeve without hesitation.
Sodehiki-no-Kami—the mortal enemy of land gods in legend.
"The curse has taken hold! Heh-heh-heh!" The squat Sodehiki-no-Kami let out a bone-chilling cackle at Hihi.
"Guh—" The sleeve god's curse was the final straw that broke the great yokai Hihi.
At last, his body gave out and toppled to the ground.
"Clap, clap, clap." As Hihi hovered at death's door, he heard applause.
"Wonderful—truly wonderful. Wind poison (Wind Whip), blindness curse (Night Sparrow), and a killing hex (Sodehiki-no-Kami) on top—one link after another. You really spared no effort to erase the Nura Clan's great yokai."
(End of Chapter)
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