NaNoWriMo2

“What do you mean? How dangerous?” Kiyomi asked, her tone becoming far more serious. “Is he around here?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I was hoping you had heard of him before,” Yuichi replied, “My contact said he was somewhere around here, but he didn’t know much more about him then that. Or at least he didn’t want to say much more about him.”

Kiyomi narrowed her eyes. Some dangerous mage shows up, and no-one knows anything about him? There were no books, nothing about him anywhere? “Nii-san, I thought you had books about just about everything. You had books about angels, the True Cross, and you don’t have anything on this guy?”

Kiyomi heard her brother sigh over the phone.

“I checked,” he began, “I’m trying to see if I can purchase something that might have some information on him. Some ancient journals, things like that, but I don’t have any guarantees. If he’s dangerous, like my contact said, we’ll need to keep an eye out for him.”

“… Right, right…” Kiyomi was less then pleased. Some dangerous mage coming to the city, the kind of person who might do something terrible, it made her angry just thinking about it. And they didn’t know anything about him. Well, maybe he was just dangerous, but not malicious. That was a definite possibility, and really quite likely. “Well, just because he’s dangerous doesn’t mean he’s planning on doing anything bad, right?”

“I’m planning for the worst, just in case,” Yuichi replied, “Anyway, I have to get back to my studies and see if I can find something on him.”

“All right… Goodbye, nii-san.”

“Goodbye.”

Yuichi hung up.

Kiyomi took a deep breath. A dangerous mage… the lingering anger from the possibility that he was both dangerous and ill-intentioned still remained, but Kiyomi’s optimism was winning out. Just because he was dangerous didn’t mean he was bad. Yuichi was a worrier, anyway.

“What was that all about, Kiyo-chan?” Miko asked, concerned.

“Nii-san says he might’ve found something about a dangerous mage coming to the city,” answered Kiyomi, turning to face her friend as she pocketed her cell phone, “Someone called Kurogane Masahiro.”

“Kurogane Masahiro?”

“That’s what he said.”

Miko’s expression became one of concentration. “Kurogane Masahiro…”

Kiyomi tilted her head. “What is it, Miko-chan?”

“The name sounds familiar to me, but I can’t remember where I’ve heard it,” Miko said, frowning slightly and folding her arms. She didn’t like being unable to help, and Kiyomi knew this fact very well. “Maybe Father will know…”

Kiyomi was, frankly, surprised that anyone knew anything about this Masahiro person. But then again… She supposed that if anyone was likely to know, the Hououji family was at least one of the most likely groups of people to have some knowledge about some ancient mage. They were a very old family, which had known of the magic in this world for generations. If this Kurogane Masahiro was an old mage, well, maybe they knew something.

“I’ll be sure to tell you if I find anything out,” Miko added.

“Thanks, Miko-chan.”

A few moments later, they came to their homes. The two girls parted ways.

Kiyomi’s home was really quite a normal house. Not particularly big, but large enough to comfortably accommodate her family. It was red, with a black roof. Her parents’ car wasn’t parked outside, they were out for the day. Kiyomi walked up to her house and opened the door, taking her shoes off as she stepped inside, declaring that she was home. There was no response. Her bother most likely not only already knew, but was probably deep in the process of both worrying and studying at the moment. It was just like him to do something like this. Kiyomi headed for the stairs.

For right now, she was going to practice.

~

Hououji Miko slide open the door to her home, and headed inside. She slipped off her shoes and left them in the hallway, before heading further into her home. Along with the rest of her family, she kept her house exceptionally neat, above and beyond what even other people with similar concerns did. Miko proceeded inside, stretching as she did, and declaring that she’d come home. Her mother greeted her.

Miko’s mother, Hououji Sachiko, was in her early thirties. She was an elegant woman, her black hair cut to her shoulders, her thin frame usually dressed in simple, yet fine clothing.

“Hello, mother,” Miko responded with a smile. Sachiko returned the smile, placing her knife aside. Miko could smell something cooking, and guessed that her mother was preparing dinner. Her mother was a wonderful cook, and to be honest Miko couldn’t wait. The fact that she had yet to put the knife down until she had seen her daughter, well… Members of the Hououji family tended to be reluctant to put down any blades.

“How was your day, Miko-chan?” asked her mother, pleasantly.

“It was fine, Mother,” began Miko. Both of her parents were very nice, but her mother was sweet, and very kind. Even her father said her personality was much like her mother’s. “I have a little homework, but first I need to speak to Father. Has he gone out?”

“Your Father is in his study,” her Mother replied, “When you talk with him, could you tell him that dinner is almost ready? I need to get back to the fish, so I won’t have a chance to do it myself.”

“Oh, I will be sure to do so. Thank you, Mother.”

With that, Miko’s mother proceeded back to the kitchen, and Miko quickly hurried up the stairs. She couldn’t help but wonder. Would her father really know about this ‘Kurogane Masahiro’? Regardless, she would ask him. And whatever he told her, she would tell Kiyo-chan. Part of her did really wish that Kurogane Masahiro was a good person, even if he was dangerous. Perhaps Kiyomi’s angry face was cute, but she didn’t want to deliver the news that would lead to her getting into another fight. Kiyomi was powerful, but her actions in fights made Miko worry… she always wanted to do things herself, and not make it anyone else’s problem. Miko always worried about Kiyomi in situations like that…

But if Kurogane Masahiro was an evil man, Kiyomi had to be told, so if he did anything dangerous… They could stop him.

Miko opened the door to her father’s study. The room was lit with candles. Her father sat at a desk beneath a nearby window, preparing a great deal of ofuda. Exorcisms required a large number of spells, and therefore a large number of ofuda. As an exorcist herself, Miko was rather experienced with this fact.

“Father?”

Her father ceased his work.

“What is it, Miko-chan?” Her father, Hououji Akio, was a tall man, His frame that suggested muscle, but not strength. Swiftness was more what her father’s body implied. He had brown hair, and was wearing a white shirt with a black coat and jeans. Not entirely what one would expect from an onmyouji and exorcist, but he wasn’t on a job at the moment. He was quite likely preparing for one, though.

“Do you know anyone named ‘Kurogane Masahiro’?”

Her father paused for a moment. “Why do you want to know, Miko? Where did you hear that name?”

“I can’t remember, but I heard it again today and it sounded familiar,” Miko explained, “I was just wondering if you knew who he was.”

Her father sighed, deeply. “I can’t tell you very much. Kurogane Masahiro is a mage from… centuries and centuries ago. He went to solve some mystery of the gods, and attain some power by doing so. He’s most likely dead, by now. Where did you hear about it?”

“Oh, I heard it from Kiyo-chan, Father,” replied Miko, “Her brother called her and mentioned him, something about Kurogane Masahiro coming to this city, and that he was dangerous. But if he’s been dead for centuries, such a thing would be absurd. Even as a ghost, he couldn’t be very dangerous.”

Miko’s father was silent.

“… Father…?”

“… What did Nakamura-san say, exactly?” he asked. His voice was slow and deliberate.
Confused, Miko repeated what Kiyomi had told her about the phone call.

“… Kurogane Masahiro was known as a dangerous, ruthless man in life,” her father said, after a long moment of silence. His tone was grave. “It is said he would stop at nothing to attain his goal. Even if it meant defying death itself. I’m sure you know that it’s not impossible to grant yourself immortality with certain techniques.”

“… Yes, Father.”

“But… it’s very unlikely he was capable of such a thing,” continued her father. “Kurogane Masahiro, for all his ruthlessness and dangerous acts, was a weak mage. He would never be able to achieve a spell of that nature, not in a thousand years.”

“I see, Father… thank you,” Miko replied, before turning to leave the study. After a moment, she paused, realizing that she had almost forgotten something quite important.

“Oh, Father?”

“Yes, Miko-chan?”

“Dinner is almost ready.”

~

The bath water was nice and warm.

Kiyomi’s practice had lasted rather a long time, and left her hot and sweaty. While she wasn’t really tired out by it, the need for a bath was very clear. In the bath, she wondered what Miko had learned from her father, if she had learned anything. Another part of her wondered if her brother had found out anything else about ‘Kurogane Masahiro’. Well, if he had, he would be certain to tell her all about it. She relaxed for several moments. It was so nice, just laying there in the bath…

So nice that she only barely noticed when the door opened. Immediately, Kiyomi sat up and covered herself… and saw a very familiar form.

“… Oh, onee-san… the door was unlocked, I’m sorry, the door wasn’t locked. I wanted to take a bath, too…”

“Ah… It’s okay, Chie-chan.”

Nakamura Chie was Kiyomi’s younger sister. At nine years old, Chie stood slightly shorter than most girls her age. Her shoulder-length black hair was up in pigtails, and she had brown eyes. Chie was the kind of child who could easily be called cute.