Which was a shame, because she really should’ve given them a whack when she had the chance, so that was one regret she still held… No, there might still be a chance, a thought Hana considered with a wicked grin, until she was interrupted by a loud, sudden cackle.
“Ah-ha-ha-ha!” came the roaring laughs from the one who posed the question, Kazura. Hana didn’t know why he was laughing at her, but he at least didn’t seem to be mocking her.
“You’re a strong one. Not just in power, but in spirit. And you have such a firm sense of who you are. Really, quite interesting.”
“Uhhh… Sure…”
Hana thanked him vaguely. It didn’t seem like he had ill intentions, but Hana still sensed a hint of danger in Kazura’s gaze. Perhaps the stare could be described as how a bird of prey would target a rabbit.
“Ahhh… If only we could have met sooner.”
Fortunately, Kazura’s murmur was quiet, too quiet to reach the ears of the others.
Afterward, Yanagi and Kazura returned to their duties. The girls saw them off, though Kazura turned around to flash one last grin on the way out. It was such a gentlemanly and kind smile, yet it sent a shiver down Hana’s spine.
“Hey…Suzu. What do you think of that Kazura person?”
“Oooh? Hana, don’t tell me, but is he more your type? I know he might be handsome, but you can’t go cheating when you’ve got the clan lord!”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then what did you mean?”
Suzu seemed completely puzzled. Hana opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. She decided it was best to ignore that sensation she’d felt.
After school, Hana returned home to the Ichinomiya mansion and plopped down on her bed.
Her thoughts turned to her earlier meeting with Kazura. He was the strongest Obsidian-rank practitioner. And yet he gave the impression of something bottomless. She saw him, but she couldn’t see all of him. Hana had confidence in her powers, but his were at a level she doubted could be overcome. All of that made his affable smile feel like a mask, so he seemed that much more bizarre.
“Hmm…”
Hana kept her relationships simple, save for a few, so it was rare for someone she’d just met to stay on her mind for this long. This Kazura person was just that strange to Hana.
“Master, I heard from Azuha that you met someone known as the strongest Obsidian-rank practitioner.”
Hana looked up from her bed and saw Miyabi. Only Azuha had come with her to school today, with Miyabi and Aoi left at home. Arashi was out somewhere, and he still hadn’t returned.
It sounded like Miyabi had heard about the day’s events from Azuha.
“Yeah.”
“What kind of person was he?”
“What kind, huh…?”
Hana was at a loss for words and didn’t answer right away. After a pause, she put it this way…
“It’s, like, you wouldn’t know just by looking at him, but you can tell why they call him the strongest, all right.”
“I’m afraid that doesn’t explain a thing.”
Miyabi giggled at Hana’s paradoxical explanation.
“So is this guy strong?”
Aoi was sitting cross-legged next to Miyabi and appeared to be interested enough to ask questions.
“Probably more than Saku.”
“Huh. Stronger than that dirty old man, you say?”
Aoi sounded impressed. He normally had nothing but insults to say about Saku, but he did respect the man’s power as a practitioner.
That said, this was still just Hana’s intuition. She couldn’t tell just how wide the gap was between Saku and Kazura. She had completed jobs with Saku before, but only a handful. She had never seen Saku wield his powers while driven to his absolute limit, so she couldn’t make a true comparison. And Saku was too much of a narcissist to ask directly; he’d say he was the more powerful one no matter the truth, so his word wouldn’t mean much.
“I also heard this person tried to seduce you. Are you all right?”
“Azuha, did you need to mention that, too?”
Miyabi asked how Hana was with a bit of concern, but Hana just turned to Azuha.
“Well, it’s the truth!”
Azuha fluttered around and landed on Miyabi’s shoulder.
“It was nothing but lip service. It was just because I’m the Ichinomiya clan lord’s wife. He didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Well, I would hope so. But, Master, I must say, you seem to attract the strange ones.”
Miyabi placed a palm to her cheek and appeared worried. Nobody in the room objected to what she’d said. In fact, Aoi was nodding deeply in agreement.
“You worry about the weirdest things…”
Hana was exasperated. Just then Arashi entered the room.
“Oh, Arashi, welcome back. Where’ve you been all this—?!”
Hana hadn’t seen Arashi for a bit. She understood that he was plenty powerful as a god, so she didn’t worry much, and when he finally did return, she took it as nothing more than a matter of fact. But when she looked at Arashi, she gasped.
His slow steps had a wobble to them and seemed just a bit sluggish. But the real problem was the malevolent presence enveloping him.
“What happened, Arashi?!”
Hana leaped up to approach him, but the malevolent presence sought to latch on to Hana’s hand as well. She had made contact with nothing more than the tips of her fingers, but the immediate sense of danger she felt was enough to make her pull her hand back in a hurry.
The sight made Miyabi and Aoi rush to her side.
“Master!”
“Master!”
Hana looked at the fingers she touched that presence with, but nothing seemed wrong. The only thing the dark, polluted presence left was the sickening sensation of its touch.
Hana took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She looked again at Arashi; he stared back apologetically.
“Arashi, explain exactly what happened.”
Hana lowered her tone, emphasizing each word. When Arashi’s shoulders drooped, Hana worried she was being too harsh on him, but times like these called for some tough love.
“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t leave the animals behind…”
“Animals…? What do you mean? No, taking care of whatever that creepy thing is comes first.”