Masamichi had been shocked when Shino told him that Kagiroi was the one who had murdered Shino’s late master, Tokifuyu Tatsumi.
When Kagiroi began playing his flute…his hichiriki, reddish-black weblike veins started covering the area, and branches appeared from them and pierced the audience—and me.
As the memory resurfaced in his mind, so did the peculiar sensations he had experienced that night. Masamichi involuntarily put his hand to his chest.
All the strength seemed to be drained out of me then…and if Shino hadn’t helped me, Kagiroi would have taken my chi from me, and I would have fainted like the others. Shino called that weblike cage a “barrier.” Kagiroi has been putting up that barrier at every live performance he’s been giving and stealing the chi from his audience. That’s why people collapse…
“You’re looking like you’re in much better health now,” one of the commentators said. “Does that mean you’ll be resuming your fainting concerts now?”
That startled Masamichi.
Kagiroi waved a hand gracefully, skillfully hiding the devilish nature of the specter that he was and instead giving an impression of elegance.
“Oh, not for a while yet, since I’m not quite back to my old self. I came here today so I could at least show my fans that I was on my way to recovery.”
“I see. I hope it wasn’t too much of a burden on you to visit our studio today…”
Suddenly, the screen went dark.
Shino had taken the remote control that Masamichi had placed on the table and turned off the TV.
“Oh!” Masamichi croaked reproachingly, and Shino looked at him grimly.
“There is no reason for us to keep watching that unpleasant face.”
“But—”
“…But it appears that the power Tokifuyu left behind has caused that creature considerable damage. We can consider it a small victory that we were able to witness that,” he said casually. Then he tossed the remote control somewhere and shoved the rest of his now-cold sandwich into his mouth.
Masamichi wasn’t in the mood to start eating again yet. Still feeling chills, he rubbed his arms through the sleeves of the thick sweatshirt he was wearing.
That night, Kagiroi hadn’t tried to hide his hostility toward his “old friend” Shino. He was a powerful specter whose strength far surpassed Shino’s, and he had tried to kill them.
It was a comb, which had been a gift from Tokifuyu Tatsumi, that saved them.
Shino had found it at the site where Tokifuyu’s house once stood, and the curse the medium had performed remained in effect. Shino unleashed it, and a dazzling thunderbolt had struck Kagiroi.
That was when Shino and Masamichi escaped. Ever since then, Shino had been stubbornly and blatantly avoiding the subject of Kagiroi.
There were a million things that Masamichi wanted to ask: why Kagiroi had killed Tokifuyu, why he was now living in the modern world and posing as a musician while stealing chi from his audiences, and what he was trying to accomplish by increasing his magical power.
But Shino said Kagiroi wouldn’t be able to make a move for a while after experiencing that much damage, adding there was nothing that a mere mortal like Masamichi could do anyway, making him fall silent.
Still, after seeing Kagiroi on television, even Shino—who was usually calm and collected—seemed upset.
Masamichi moistened his parched throat with tea, coughed, and said, “Shino, can I ask you a few questions about Kagiroi?”
Shino washed down the remainder of his sandwich with his now-lukewarm tea and tightened his thin lips.
“No,” he replied, the tension in every muscle on his handsome face conveying his displeasure, but Masamichi worked up the courage to keep pressing.
“I know there’s nothing I can do, even if I learn a little more about him, but…I still want to know.”
“Why? Do you wish to irritate your master out of curiosity?”
The bridge of Shino’s nose wrinkled in disapproval. The specter’s fierce expression gave Masamichi a reminder of his intrinsically fiery temperament, and the young man cringed.
“I’m sorry. But you’re my master.”
“So what?”
“I want to know everything there is to know. More than I want to know about Kagiroi, I want to know about your relationship with him. I understand he killed Tokifuyu a long time ago. I also want to know why he killed him, what he’s trying to do now, and what you plan to do about it.”
“Then what?”
Shino’s question was succinct and precise, quickly making Masamichi hesitate.
But Masamichi was tenacious at times like these, to the extent that he surprised himself. “I don’t know,” he said, sitting up properly and curling his hands into fists as he placed them on his thighs.
“As you say, I’m just a human being and a very weak one at that, and I don’t think I could help you in any way, even if I found out the whole story.”
Shino puffed out his chest arrogantly as if to say, “Exactly.” However, Masamichi didn’t back down.
“But there are always ifs and buts. At least, I’d like to think there are. There’s nothing I can do if I don’t know anything, but maybe even I can do something—just one thing, you know, like with a fight-or-flight response—if I know what’s what. And…”
He touched the area between his eyebrows ever so lightly.
He still didn’t have a real handle on it, but what Shino called a third eye existed there, and it allowed him to see entities that were out of this world and invisible to the average eye.
It was Masamichi’s sole peculiar ability that had come to light after meeting Shino, though he was far from being able to use it freely and effectively.
“…maybe this eye, which I still can’t open without your help, will be of some use one day, even in a small way. From what you, uh…told me when we were in Kyoto, there seems to be a deep connection between you and Kagiroi. You can’t keep your distance from him forever, can you?”
Shino didn’t answer, but the corners of his mouth were turned down, showing how disgusted he was.
“Please, Shino. Just tell me the bare essentials and what you wouldn’t mind sharing with me. Please,” Masamichi said in one breath and gave him a deep bow.
He waited for a while but didn’t hear a word from Shino.
He slowly and cautiously raised his head a few centimeters at a time. What he saw was Shino’s beautiful face, with a sullen yet somewhat amused look in his eyes.