Akari ignored the tenacious Kotogami and was about to raise her voice even louder, when a man in uniform suddenly appeared in front of her.
“All right, young lady. That’s quite far enough.”
The man was blocking her path. Late thirties, wearing a straight-collared uniform similar to a police officers’ but in a different color. Akari suddenly froze, noticing the collar and wondering if he was military. But his lack of that kind of aura gave her pause.
His hair was cut in an unkempt style, and his face looked sluggish and sleepy. His collar was unfastened, too. He looked nothing like a disciplined member of the military.
But Tomohito suddenly looked relieved as he hailed the man.
“Munakata! You’re finally here!”
“Calm yourself. I’ve been run ragged all day on Raiju hunting duty, and then you call me out here all of a sudden…”
“What seems to be the trouble, you lot?”
As the military (or was he?) man just stood there looking clearly exhausted, the nearby police officers started to gather around them, drawn by the commotion.
As Akari bowed contritely, alarmed by their severe expressions, the police officers ignored her. They were looking at Munakata—more precisely, at his uniform—and the next moment, they were saluting him.
“A Yokai Containment Narrator! We had no idea! Thank you for coming!”
Yokai Containment Narrator? Akari could hardly believe her ears.
Among the Narrators who controlled the Kotogami spirits, the Yokai Containment Narrators were a special division within the military who controlled the dangerous yokai variety. Everyone in the city knew who they were.
Akari ran her eyes over Munakata again. At his waist, he wore a belt that held a military saber and a rather large item pouch. Just large enough to hold several books.
Munakata nodded vaguely, seeming to take the officers’ show of respect toward him as merely a matter of course.
“I’m Munakata, of the Imperial Army’s Yokai Containment Narrator Squad. The Raiju is being tracked by some of our other Narrators. I need you fellows to secure this area. Also, this young woman appears to have been attacked by the Raiju. I’ll be taking her with me for debriefing.”
“Certainly, sir!”
Hold on, why do I have to go anywhere with you? …was what Akari wanted to say, just as the officers—her last hope for salvation—walked off.
The moment Akari began to despair over being abandoned to the slovenly-looking Munakata and annoyingly persistent Kotogami Tomohito, the aforementioned Munakata put his hand on her shoulder.
“All right, then. You’ll be coming with us.”
“Perhaps you could tell me the reason why I have to go with you?”
“You opened this one’s Kotogatari, did you not?”
Munakata stabbed a finger in the direction of Tomohito, who looked jumpy on his feet as he stood waiting.
Okay, I opened it, but so what? …was what Akari wanted to say, but the words died in her throat. Maybe it was the presence of the military that was making her nervous.
And anyway, Akari wasn’t raised to talk back to authority.
It looked like she was going with them, then. But there was something else.
“Hold on. One more question.”
“Another one?”
Munakata made a face as though Akari was being a huge nuisance. But Akari was unperturbed by his sharp look. She met it head-on.
“When we get to where we’re going, will you give me something to eat?”
The grilled chicken skewers hadn’t quite cut it. Filling her belly was all she could think about.
Munakata looked even more annoyed and unimpressed. But Akari kept staring at him until he finally sighed.
“Fine, we’ll order in. Tomohito, would you mind?”
“Not at all! I’m delighted to be of service!”
Tomohito’s face lit up, and he bowed reverently.
Akari cheered internally, but she was getting sick of this Munakata guy already.
They got into a brand-new type of automobile and arrived in Shiyabu. It was the site of an army barracks and training ground, and the night air was still and solemn, heavy with military presence.
Their destination was a sturdy stone building that gave off a stately aura in the dusky darkness.
On the gatepost, Akari could read the words “Association of Yokai Containment Narrators” illuminated by the electric lights. So, this was where they had brought her.
Akari was led into the parlor, where she soon began to devour a bowl of deep-fried pork cutlets over rice.
Having pork right after chicken felt luxurious. These military men were generous after all. But Munakata ate a bowl of grilled beef over rice, and that sort of irritated her.
“You’re really chowing down on that, Miss Mitsukuri.”
Akari lifted her head as Munakata addressed her. She’d introduced herself in the car—the only conversation they’d shared—so he knew her name as well now.
“I was on my way home from work, that’s why. Don’t they say you always get hungry after battle?”
“Ah, were you?”
“Also, being stared at while I eat makes me nervous and eat too fast.”
“…I see.”
Munakata stopped looking quite so shocked over her unladylike gorging and shrugged instead.
Akari cleaned her bowl down to the last grain of rice before she finally stopped eating and looked up at Tomohito, who was standing beside the sofa. As their eyes met, Tomohito blushed a deep pink and blinked rapidly.
He really was incredibly handsome. But recalling his creepy request from earlier, Akari felt zero attraction.
“All right then, Miss Mitsukuri. Now that we’ve both filled our stomachs, let’s get down to business.”
“All right.”
Akari sat up straight, and Munakata pointed at the Kotogami standing beside them. Akari took that to mean Tomohito was the business they were there to discuss.
“As I mentioned, my name’s Munakata. I’m a Yokai Containment Narrator with the Imperial Army. You know what a Narrator does?”
“Yes. They narrate the cinematographs, the moving pictures. They describe the story on the screen and speak for the characters so we can hear.”
“No, that’s not what I— Not that kind of narrator.”
“I was just joking. Everyone knows the Narrators are people who manifest Kotogami by telling stories aloud.”
Munakata’s face twitched. But Akari was just a layperson, and that was her understanding of how the Narrators worked.
Thanks to the Narrators taming the Kotogami, humans no longer had cause to fear them, and they could now peacefully coexist.
At school, Akari had learned about the ancient art of the early Kotogami-taming Narrators, an art that had begun in secret among a few select families. In time, it became more widespread, and now talented Narrators had even been inducted into the present-day military.
“But to be more precise, we need to use special books to seal the demon yokai and the good spirits alike. Take this one, for example—Tomohito Yagyou.”
Taking his cue from Munakata, Tomohito bowed gracefully.
Suddenly, Akari realized the golden letters that sprang from the pages of the book she’d opened had been the letters of his name.
“He’s under my charge, more or less, but tends to get out and go wandering off by himself.”
“Huh…”
But if a spirit could manifest, why would it stay in one place?
Akari muttered politely, not really getting it. Munakata thought for a moment, then pulled a book out of the pouch at his waist.
It was bound in stiff leather. Munakata opened it casually and began reading aloud.
“Begrudged though she may be, in service to thee,
Her loyalty be without reproach.
The dog spirit Kuroe.”
His voice was clear and resonant as he continued speaking languidly. Akari felt goose bumps prickle along her arms.
She was taken aback, maybe even a little impressed, by this surprising new side of him. But her rising sense of dislike for him was stronger.
She rubbed at the goose bumps with irritation. Nope. She really did NOT like this man.
While Akari sat there in discomfort, inky-black letters rose from the pages of the open book and formed the shape of a human—a woman.
Soundlessly, her feet made contact with the ground right beside Munakata. She was in all black, from her kimono to her hair. Only her skin was a corpse-like shade of white. One other thing—she had furry ears, like a dog. Here was another Kotogami.
She ignored both Akari and Tomohito, staring only at Munakata as she emitted an aura of darkness.
“How may I serve you, Master?”
“Take these bowls and give them to whoever’s outside. Tell them to have them returned to the restaurant.”
“Certainly.”
The young woman nodded briskly, picked up Munakata’s and Akari’s bowls, and left through the doors.
Akari watched her leave, the woman’s doglike tail wagging. Then Munakata started talking again.
“You have just observed a Narrator at work. We open the book and read aloud, thus manifesting the Kotogami. This fellow, however…he continually manifests of his own free will.”
“So you don’t have to read aloud for, uh, Mr. Yagyou to appear?”
“I’ve never even read his book, much less out loud.”
Munakata answered her question matter-of-factly. Akari suddenly recalled her meeting with Tomohito.
He’d saved her from the rampaging Raiju, his own book in hand. So if he could manifest himself at will, that meant he wasn’t exactly bound to its pages, didn’t it?
“That sounds like quite the conundrum.”
“I manifest at will!”
Tomohito flexed his bicep, but Akari ignored him.
She was starting to grasp the gravity of the situation. She raised an eyebrow at Munakata, who continued on cue.