# Web of light. Part 1-7

Аноним Plotnikov_Sergey

Alexey falls asleep at work and Yuto Amakawa wakes up at the age of 9. After meeting Shizuka and Hiroyo, events begin to swirl around him, dragging him down with them. The story of Yuto's pre-adulthood and Alexei's return after his death.

Ilustration: https://disk.yandex.ru/d/xbZJ1KPYzFcI8w

ссылка на автора https://author.today/work/18887

THE WEB OF LIGHT volume One

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https://author.today/u/SergeyPlotnikov

Chapter 1.

Zero entry The starting point.

The equipment works silently, which cannot be said about the peripherals: buzzing bumblebees - and each in their own way - power supplies, the radiometer beeps once a second, the coolers of a fairly old system unit (laboratory stand) and an almost new desktop ("Starcraft-2" is the favorite game of the laboratory) are buzzing. My time is night.The experiment starts at 20.00 and lasts until 6.00, and there is no way to leave the laboratory without an employee.It is forbidden for safety reasons.It is not surprising that most of the time I doze on a chair or in an armchair, sometimes on an uncomfortable, flat sofa, similar to a bench from a polyclinic (if it is absolutely unbearable).A few months ago, I began to notice that my dreams have become more realistic, vivid, colorful.Even if I dreamed that I was a giant dragonfly, and the whole dream I was catching flying fish over the vast expanse of a thick, all shades of green ocean.I dreamed of various plots: from a replay of everyday, from a series of experiences, to absolutely fantastic, like the struggle for the survivability of a military spaceship.(Or not military?.. I didn't understand it then.)

What is the effect? Electromagnetic oscillations?Yes, nonsense, that's what the radiometer is for.I told the boss - he assumed an infrasound.They brought a quartz resonator, searched-searched - did not intend.We didn't understand anything, but considering that quartz has some selectivity of measurement...On the other hand, we would have detected any strong impact, but a weak one...There is not enough energy to damage anything in the body.Naturally, no one released me from night duty.And I wouldn't ruin my career myself.And now...


Apparently, I very successfully passed out at the point of intersection of reflections from certain waves - sound waves or electromagnetic waves.This time I became a gloomy nine-year-old child who had just lost his parents yesterday.Somewhat unusual sensations - and again I remembered myself.I knew I was dreaming.But I didn't wake up, I didn't even try.There was no fear, it was interesting.A kind of alternative Japan.Why alternative?Here is the house, now mine - the boy has no living relatives left.Completely European design, right down to the furniture.Lack of social care: for some reason, not a single official approached me at the funeral, and I am an orphan child...We don't seem to be in Tokyo (I saw it in the photos), but it doesn't look like Kyoto either - there is no port, and I remember there should be.I was accompanied by the mother of a school friend, and she also had no doubt that the child would be able to live alone.It's kind of gloomy.


While the funeral and subsequent movements lasted, I finally lost the feeling of a body lying in an office chair in the middle of the laboratory.But - I began to feel a fresh breeze here.This often happened in my dreams - I even remember the taste of the notorious fish from the ocean-broth...I was still doubting that it was worth examining this burden, when suddenly it turned out that my friend was preparing lunch for me in my kitchen.Like this is her voluntarily assumed responsibility.By the way, unexpectedly delicious, damn.Even a feeling of satiety appeared, such a pleasant one. And I'm tired of crying.My emotions, according to the plot of the dream, were sad, and I got some strange, slightly unpleasant pleasure from the fact that they are not really mine.That's enough, I decided, and went to bed.The surest way to wake up in a dream is to go to bed.We've been through this before.Or wait for the end of sleep - a subjective five or six hours, but I got bored.Again, I wanted to remember the dream with lunch, not someone else's loss.I lay down and fell asleep.


the first entry.

I woke up again in a dream. However. Familiar bed, familiar wall... An unfamiliar ceiling?No, the ceiling is also familiar: a square chandelier, a round lamp: very typical for the Japanese. More precisely, for manga-anime Japanese. We also have such comrades: the round is dragged, the square is rolled - a suspicious similarity of styles. No? It happens that an unsuccessful joke of humor, especially if you are joking for yourself... However, I was firmly hooked. I wonder if the dream is original or inspired by something?It was both so and so.Rather the second, by the way: the anime lamp seems to hint.It's a pity, the original plots are captivating with their uniqueness, although the world around them is nowhere more real. Hmm.Well, if that's the case, the show continues.First, let's try to figure out where I am... Or - remember.


the second entry.

This time I didn't have enough imagination for the original world.Forty-eight hours of local time have passed, and of these two days I can remember almost a minute-by-minute scan when I was awake: a lot of things were new.Rinko came-that was my neighbor's name.A small girl, talks a lot, but cooks, as I noted above, surprisingly well for her age.We're nine years old, by the way.Interestingly, I really didn't wait for the social inspector.I walked around the whole house, climbed into the attic, into the basement.I walked around the city, a magnificent park with a reservoir, the business center is built up with skyscrapers, somewhat reminiscent of Moscow City. Only the buildings are two or three times lower, but there are more of them.I went shopping.I tried to figure out the chronology.It's two thousand and five on the calendar. Hmm again.

It's school time now, I'm going to school tomorrow: the Japanese have a holy fetish in anime. I tried to "remember" something about myself in the quotes: I remember surprisingly little. At home, I tried to rummage through the documents - I found a certificate of ownership of a land plot with a house in some Noihara. It seems that according to the will from my grandfather, he got to me personally, bypassing my parents.Hmm, Rinko is a common name, but I definitely met Noihara.In manga or anime.


entry three.

M-yes, and the teachers look away, but are silent. So it is accepted. I wonder if that's the way it's done in real Japan, too?And my place is not at the back window. Either the template has broken, or the imagination is naughty, or I'm not the main character. Just hardly imagination.

[A traditional classroom seat for a manga or anime character.Japanese artists and animators diligently support this stamp, which has become a real tradition.]

I've been thinking a lot about what happened.I memorized a bunch of dates on the history of Japan here.Especially awesome motor writing skills.That is, I write like a chicken with a paw: it's normal for a junior, but still - I didn't have them.Again, we communicate in Japanese.I understand freely when I say - there are no difficulties at all.I should have woken up anyway, if the surrounding beauty was "supported" by my brain.Consequently, my consciousness is on, let's say, a "third-party server".It sounds wild, but - "if all possible explanations are discarded, the impossible is correct," or whatever Sherlock Holmes said?And for some reason, I don't really care about this fact, it seems.An interesting effect was given by the installation, after all, not a stimulant, something more serious.I already wanted to conduct research.Logically speaking, at six in the morning the computer will cut off the power, and even if not, at eight the employees will come and turn off the installation.Will I be back? A very high probability.And how much local time will pass?Very interesting.


entry four.

A week has passed.I'm diligently filling my head with various information, I'm just a nerd.I drew hieroglyphs with a brush, ink, awesome!I drew a vase with flowers while drawing, cursed everything.I read a school history textbook.A letter came from the bank, I went to get a checkbook, I received it.I get weekly payments from my parents' account, good enough not to cook at all, but Rinko feeds me.That brings from parental generosity, then cooks herself.Yes, I carry a hefty "amulet" on my chest, a flat red silk bag than my palm.I tried to take it off and immediately "remembered" that my grandfather gave it to me when I was... six? Seven?Something's wrong with my memory... has it become?Probably still "was".You can remove the amulet, but I can't move more than a meter or two away from it - naturally my heart starts to fail and it's wildly scary.Mysticism sucks.


entry five.

Month. Did I create this world or did I get into it?Or, to be a little more detailed: was this world created by human fantasy, or did the mangaka, um, anticipate it?Yes, I know where I am.There are no experts on creating worlds in line of sight, and there is no one to ask.Or you should stick to the theory of infinite multiplicity of worlds... or sign allegiance to the religion of the name of Max Fry, and Juffin Halley is his prophet.However, from the point of view of a physical observer, this is all bullshit.The observer wildly does not like that he is "the chosen one", that is, he got the full program.Some kind of perfume... I'm sorry, Yokai.Have the Mazzoku and the kishins got mixed up?I also came across a manga from the category of "etty" - that is, "perversions".Well, from the Japanese point of view of perversion: I don't see anything perverted in looking at beautiful undressed girls for a young guy.If only I was interested in guys...Brr, don't talk about the bad!Why do I believe I'm in a manga?And why not?The very fact of "hitting" is much more incredible.

But back to the manga."My (body)the guardian of Himari."I remember her among all the plots by the presence of a main character with a support specialization.A certain clan feature, the "Ferry of Light".The name is strange, what does the ferry have to do with it?And this is my only "superpower", unlike representatives of other clans, who could conjure both this way and that way... sort of.I've been reading manga for a long time, I don't remember everything.If we adapt the story, then the ancestors (mine) are not fools: the only magic available is an extended analogue of the fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki clan from Naruto.Yes, I also watched Naruto.My, now a personal clan - and I'm the only one in it, the last heir, and, therefore, the head.Nine-year-old head, just super. But I digress.

So, my ancestors, now mine, didn't watch Naruto, but they fought about the same way: they cast spells on themselves (such as "spiritual vision", "acceleration", "muscle strengthening" and even horseradish-knows-what) and chopped ayakasi.Oh, yes, my clan used to hunt demons. Cute.A kind of secret magical Shinobi, hello "Naruto" again.Ordinary people have completely forgotten about Yokai, thanks to the government that protects us.In all seriousness, I say that the silverless hunters are far in the past, the Japanese, of course, are conservative people, but the corrupting influence of the West suddenly opened the magicians' eyes: what the fuck?!Now our (from the clans of exorcists, and there are already twelve of them in little Japan) have sat out the government, climbed up. Not all.According to the manga, it turns out that we, Amakawa, were overboard.I wonder if the fuck.And I wonder why there are so few of us left that you can even put it in the red Book.Yeah, feet first. I got distracted again.

Amakawa. Abilities. Spirits - if in Russian - it is problematic to destroy them in connection with their epic power.Not all - some.And his is one of my clever ancestor two or three hundred years ago (it's bad to forget the history of your own clan, bad!) he solved the issue cardinally.Caught a cat. Hey, hey, the demon cat! How is it... "baka-neko"? No, Bakeneko.That is, a spirit-cat, but in strength - a very advanced unit, almost the ancestor did not end there.

But bullshit - the cat was led to a vassal oath. How?!I am most interested in this question.Because at the age of sixteen, my amulet will end, and I will smell delicious for the whole neighborhood with free magical energy.For free spirits, because no one thought to train the last heir.But they gave in advance a descendant of the very cat that will come to "protect and instruct" me after the end of the amulet.And, as I remember, the spirits will gather around - like flies on... honey.And I - neither with a sword nor with magic!I won't even be able to order my only combat unit.And all why?According to the manga, the parents were taken away and rigidly fenced off from everything supernatural.It seems that they quarreled with older relatives.And why did grandfather give out the amulet then? All questions...


entry six.

One day off! ONE!If it weren't for that, my life would be a raspberry...Well, until the age of sixteen.I had to wait for the holidays to go to Noihara.It seems that we have a clan library.It seems to be "useless" - hero from the manga did not even manage to stick his nose into it."Techniques are transmitted orally."Yeah, yeah, and the description of strategic weapons, demon cats, just lies in the house.I doubt something.

The Amakawa followed a deliberately profitable path - recruiting strong units in the enemy camp (not everyone had to be defeated, some did not mind cooperating themselves), and then - support in battle.I wonder what motivated these energy substances to fight?Is it really only the security of life next to people?It sounds like nonsense.

True, Noihara is now just a "home" enclave of "sworn in", but it seems to me that most of them fled with the death of their grandfather and parents.Or was it released on purpose while there is no support?In a certain sense, spirits are vulnerable.In order to somehow influence the world of people, they have to partially materialize...Fuck, the physicist in me is writhing and demanding Einstein's blood, but I must admit that I turned out to be a so-so physicist.A materialized spirit can be killed with ordinary weapons.However, these bastards, even the weakest, are very fast.But not faster than a bullet, here Kimovsky Harald Potter is absolutely right.It would be necessary to think about where a nine-year-old child can get an AKM or ultrasound.Do you think I'm joking?


entry seven.

I overestimated myself a little. I haven't been a nine-year-old for a long time (again, a "funny" joke for myself)!My legs get tired. You sit for ten minutes - it's all gone.Then I'm thirsty, that is.I have already eaten two bags of chips, they are light, I try to drink mineral water little by little - I can't buy it here.I've been climbing the mountain for two hours now. Rough.

Going to the clan house of relatives who have died in God is a bit creepy: according to the manga, Yokai is a vampire (what's her name? I don't remember) my companions are waiting for me right here.But logically, the bloodsucker set up an ambush only after the heir of Amakawa appeared to the world, but for now I'm kind of gone.I wonder if my amulet only protects me from the "glow" of delicious magical energy, or does it completely cut me off from the spirit world?To go, or something, to the "holy places", I remember, the "water god" who stuck to Yuto was an ordinary water spirit.If "ordinary" can be called a creature comparable in strength to the one-tailed jinchurikifrom "Naruto", only water, not sand.Yes, analogies with anime about a moron from the Uzumaki clan come to my mind more and more often.Only here I'm more of a hybrid of two hero: Sasuke and Naruto.Yes, I don't have red eyes, but I think having such a kekkeigenkai, that is, an "improved genome", it's not a problem to get them for yourself.As I said, the "steam of light" can be applied to yourself.I feel like a genin from Konoha, only Danzo is not here.Wait, oristhere?


entry eight.

Interesting place. Well, where is everyone?I half expected that not far from home I would be affectionately wrapped up by a type or types in black glasses and three-piece suits, what's their name?Ah, the Public Committee. Or not?A strange name for a police magician.There are no spirits either.The house, by the way, does not look abandoned. The yard is swept. And... silence.Only the trees creak occasionally, and the wind rustles the leaves.

I'm sick of using manga as a guidebook!I remember it only in chunks, and there was about five percent of the plot there.What about ninety-five? So fanservice is the same.Beautiful shapely fool... spirits, yeah.Memories of the body, ow!

There is no fresh food in the kitchen.Thank you for having electricity.And even takes a cell phone - Rinko called, reported that everything is OK.For her, I went to remember relatives, although she probably thinks that at the cemetery.And I have a small altar right at home.And even aromatic sticks are lying...

Where is this fucking brownie, that is, "the spirit of the place that keeps the house"?Yes, yes, the same fool who threw knives at me in the canon.That is, not in me, but in Yuto, but I'm Yuto now.I want to eat. No, I want to e-e-eat!Am I the head of the clan, or where?Let me just sort out the blood inheritance ("kekkeigenkai" translates that way), and someone will dance!I very much doubt that the vassal oath for the spirits was strictly voluntary.Have you ever seen a chain cat?Surely the conquered spirits were "ferried", how will it be in the series about Shinobi?Ah, they imposed a controlling genjutsu.Or "firmware" - probably, it is much easier to influence a purely energy entity than a person, and it is possible to influence human consciousness with a "ferry": I'm kind of an example of this here.Or here: how did Noihara's "blades" come out of deranged Yokai cats?

Yes, I did find something useful in the clan scro... Ugh, books.It's interesting, the house is not even locked: come who you want.On the other hand, there is nothing particularly valuable here, except for the house...So, or am I being stupid? Magic is the same: maybe there is a barrier with a selective filter around the house.Hmm, and in the manga, anyone walks around the house.Or was the barrier stupidly discharged by my sixteenth birthday?That is, it will be discharged in seven years?It's bad to be the blind, untrained last representative of a powerful clan that needs to be revived.That is, a typical hero of Senen. Um...


entry nine.

It looks like I shouldn't have run into the brownie.She's not here. Apparently, there is a matryoshka doll: an ordinary barrier protects the house from ordinary people and weak Yokai.Arriving through the barrier, the inspector from the magical police will see only an empty house.But if something strong happens, the spirit of the place will manifest itself.I remembered, there was this technique in the manga. "Virtual house". Oh, no, "Mystical House".A complete copy from the real world, right down to the internal organization of the space, and the spirits are sitting there.I wonder if the house is damaged - Yokai will appear?Or will I get a knife first, and then the spirits will figure out who was killed?Somehow I don't want to check.In the spiritual spectrum, am I identified as the heir or not?And does this very "spiritual spectrum" exist, or did I just invent it for myself now?You can remove the amulet...But I'm not sure that the barrier around the house will restrain the emanations of my energy... and a fox to a kitten.I mean, not Himari, but a fox for me.By the way, according to the manga, Yuto did meet a fox, that is, a nine-tailed deranged kitsune, and I don't even know how they filled her up.And all kinds of big-eared and tailed insanity is a trump card, it seems...


entry ten.

I took a couple of the most interesting notebooks from the library (the library, pf! There were about two dozen hand-filled albums there).I will think. I wonder if there are real descriptions of techniques in a virtual, ugh, mystical house?According to the manga, Yuto didn't find them, but he wasn't looking for them either.And Mizuchi, who is the "goddess of rivers", might not have read it."Only the third stage of sharingan is able to read the writing from the plate..."- damn, narutovism is getting into my head again, but I don't rule out the "cipher of the eyes".Or a hand cipher? Activation is there by aura... Maybe a drop of blood?Damn, I feel like I'm in my own laboratory."Here's a sample for you, do whatever you want, but find me a resonant frequency."But the visible text is also interesting to read between the lines.

Hey, ancestors, what have you got to such a dangerous thing?If it's about demon cats, then it's called, if not wagging, not "instilling duty", but "a full-fledged artificial personality".Awe-so-me! Can you do that with people?Otherwise, in the future, the bride will come to me.Kues, I don't remember the clan.She stayed with us for some time as a child, we even kissed.Funny. My hormones will only work in two or three years.Something grandpa was mutating, oh, mutating.And the parents? According to the manga, they refused to live as exorcists, but did they give up their own power?I doubt it very-very much.


entry eleven.

Rinko, poor thing, was all worried.Does he really think I'm going to jump off the roof out of grief?We've been friends for at most a year since we moved here.She warmed up my dinner.And your mother wasn't waiting for you, was she?Your grief is... hmm, mine. And why is she sticking to me like that?Unless... Okay, paranoia, scram, scram.I'll think about it tomorrow.


entry twelve.

Both Rinko and her relatives definitely treat me strangely.They love you, they feed you, they give you water, but they don't climb either.Here is an adult, and here is not.I want to come - always welcome.Rinko cooks breakfast.Nine-year-old Rinko, a girl-boy, who has in her head "to run until you drop" and "be more cheerful, what-nose-hung up".Suspicions gradually turn into confidence.By the way, we have an interesting quarter: just an exemplary order.Neighbors don't make noise, cars are always clean.The shops have angelic service...However, this is most likely a property of the entire service here in Japan.A kind of circle of close people who constantly intersect with a lonely sullen child.With me. I'm not sullen, I'm calm, but against the background of the same neighbor-an electrician...


part two.

entry thirteen.

I bought a computer.More precisely, I bought components and assembled something like that.Rinko is in shock.He opened the lid, showed me, told me what was what.Rinko is completely shocked.I bought a DSL modem, stretched a network cable around the house.The Internet is still cheaper than buying books.Especially foreign ones - you can go broke for one or two.Kuzaki came (this is Rinko's last name) - the browser showed.Afraid to use the mouse. Jap-panese, mother!And her phone calmly receives and sends e-mails, this is like normal, and the computer is scary and only for specialists. Facepalm.


entry fourteen.

What makes me think that the amulet blocks my powers?He screens them.As evidenced by this electric kettle, which has been working successfully for two months with a burnt-out spiral.And I just shook him and wanted a piece of iron that refused to work at the wrong time to warm my tea.Yuto, you're a moron. And I am a complete idler, to show clan jutsu simply from unwillingness to lift my ass and turn on the stove...I'll probably go far.


entry fifteen.

Just a month of vacation.Classes started again.So far, no special progress, and the computer is to blame here.I have not forgotten how to read Russian (it was not easy to make the Japanese version of the browser understand Cyrillic), English is also preserved in my memory.Funny math here for junior school students, writing numbers is harder than counting.But the story is awesome interesting, and there is sociology (!), I learned a lot of new things.Maybe I should take the exact sciences as an external exam?


entry sixteen.

I began to doubt that the "ferry of light" was magic.Yeah, that's it. By the way, there is a British Magic Academy here in all seriousness, there is even a website, and an article on the wiki.You may not be a wizard, but they will teach you the theory, some obscurantism.Yes, "Harry Potter" is here too.And there is (oh my God!) Russian fandom.Compared it with Japanese.I don't know where there are more perverts.And Lukyanenko hasn't written all the watches here yet.Which, by the way, are somewhat different, there is no twilight, but barriers, magic circles, rattling energy in each other's assortment.There are also druids. I've been thinking a lot.

I figured out how the kettle works.Just a part of the polymer of the wall became a conductor.Plastic. A guide.I don't believe myself, but I believe the tester-probe.It's not metal, of course, and it heats up more, but it's not critical in the kettle.

In the evening, Rinko and I stumbled upon some young guys in the park.Who didn't notice us in time and raked us.From Kuzaki, they got it! I'm shocked.It turned out to be the same freaks who mocked me a year ago (I didn't even understand it then), and Rinko dispersed them.We became such friends.The girl's kick is set to five, it has already become enviable.I made a terrible vow to run and swing in every possible way.That is, it's just running for now, otherwise my bones are still growing, putting excess weight on my limbs is fraught.


entry seventeen

As a result, I run in the evenings, there is no time in the morning.Interestingly, the breakfasts immediately became much tastier!And fish and rice, which I was somewhat fed up with, opened up new facets.Truly, a breakfast eaten without appetite is simply eaten a day earlier than it should be.

I wonder if this is a good school here, or is this the norm for Japan at all?Lately I've been hanging around in the physics laboratory a lot - the devices are primitive, but of high quality.What for? I decided to measure the speed of free fall and other values.I don't remember Planck's constant by heart, the Avogadro number seems to match.Acceleration of free fall, too.Rinko follows me around - her physics is bad.However, physics is one name for us now, rather the history of physics and beautiful experiments: what is needed to attract children.I'm in a circle, that is, in the physics club: it's nice to do different experiments, who will let me get to chemistry (without a teacher), biology is truly a pitiful sight.And physics - please. In additional classes, as a social burden for the club: to show experiments that were not included in the program and tell, after all, I know how, children like it.Yes, they stopped considering me sullen, they began to consider me a nerd.But they don't say it out loud - after all, Kuzaki's fist is heavy, and his shoe is even heavier.

I have another "friend" - Taizo.More precisely, he considers me a friend, because friends always let me cheat, right?It's funny to me. Taizo was trying to get out in front of Rinko.No, I didn't, on the contrary - like, step back, woman.Well, Kuzaki still understood the law of conservation of momentum: if the opponent is heavier than you, kick him with a run.Oops. The desk wasn't broken after all.


entry eighteen.

Rinko went to kendo.I explained the lever rule, mentioned Archimedes and the fulcrum.Instant reaction, I was just blown away.For which I respect my friend: exactly five seconds pass between making a decision and implementation.

I begged for a laboratory laser, as much as five watts.Good laser, Hitachi.The diffraction is very clear.He talked about lasers, eventually switched to "star Wars" and weapons.My tongue is already tired. Interestingly, girls listen as attentively as boys.To dispel the piety in front of laboratory equipment (like, for smart people and carefully), I told about semiconductor laser pointers and shooting galleries.Why the fuck did I do that? People started doing laser fights, thank you "friend" Taizo.Promised to help, but where to go?


entry nineteen.

Before Christmas (They celebrate the twenty-fifth of December here. Shintoists are so funny - a Christian holiday? Yes, sideways!) finished with the equipment.The high school students helped: they not only made photodetectors (red and green circles, sewn in pairs for unloading, so that on the chest and on the back in a circle), but also a radio track to them.Now, when hit, the display shows "killed" and "whole" fighters.Weapons were made separately.They poured plastic according to the shapes themselves.Quiet Japanese girls climbed to participate almost ahead of the guys.Teachers are happy! Especially a physicist and a teacher of the subject that the Japanese have instead of work: students are engaged in CONSTRUCTIVE work, and even for several weeks in a row.They staged a "test" fight in the yard after school and blew the team of high school students.Everything is grown-up, bushes without leaves do not protect from the laser beam.No one guessed to lie down on the ground, reducing the affected area to zero. Except me.Two more "cheater" shot through the reflection in the window glass.They didn't even notice. It will be necessary to finalize the rules - we agreed to meet on vacation and arrange a global shootout inside the school.As a result, we left school only at eight in the evening - while we played enough, while everything was cleaned up...


entry twentieth.

Fuck it! No, I remembered about Yokai, but they look real...I didn't have to wash my pants just because I forgot to shit myself out of fear.No, the amulet is working properly, I'm a creeping shit, like a caterpillar, I didn't even notice.But Rinko got caught.I did a good job too, I grabbed my weapon.For the "weapon" - I have a laser pistol with me.It can be seen that I still feel like I'm in a computer game.Well, I killed the spirit.From a toy pistol with a laser pointer.Sawed in half.You're still an interesting thing, "ferry".The main thing is that you work on time.The spirit and the teapot are phenomena, if philosophically, of the same order, right? Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Rinko drank some tea. Sweet.She then notably spat - after a liter of syrup consumed.To her, if we were at least twelve, honestly, I would try the "standard" method of dealing with stress...Someone would have cured me myself.And you won't go to a psychiatrist.I sent my girlfriend to bed, I passed out myself...


entry twenty-one.

There are no words, just letters. And those obscenities.Where is this fucking vice police, that is, spirits, when caterpillars are eating people in the park?Or do they not eat, but only gently suck?I didn't let my neighbor-girlfriend count everything as a dream: it's better not to walk alone in the park.And he believes in spirits, in evil ones.It's better not to believe in the good ones. Awesome Christmas tomorrow-the day after tomorrow will be.


entry twenty-two.

By the way, and nothing.Either our psyche is plastic, or... my parents did work on the block where our house is.My parents, I mean Yuto's parents, notmine.I, however, have already trained to consider them my own.Rinko calmed down, they celebrated quite normally.

I looked at the gun...It's better not to take him to school, otherwise real corpses will appear.A semiconductor milliwatt laser suddenly began to give out, if "by eye", half a kilo of power.It heats up, but not fatally, and does not overheat in a second pulse.And the energy, such a bitch, seems to take directly from my strength... abilities...The fuck knows how to say it.Minus the wall in the basement (melted furrows in the concrete), dizziness and the hunt to eat wildly!


entry twenty-third.

And I'm a moron again.I spent the Internet, but I don't bother to read the news.Eight corpses. Eight people were picked up by a fucking crazy caterpillar in the park.The police, it turns out, found a maniac. Dead.Yeah, I killed him. But for some reason, the magopolice didn't get to me, although it seems like it's not difficult. Or is it difficult?I remember that representatives of the council of clans should follow Yuto, and later - Kues.Or did they tactfully turn away?And the caterpillar really moved its head, from what, I wonder?Or is it not interesting at all?But, in any case, it seems pointless for spirits to kill people.

Yokai are killed for the same purpose as humans: either to kill their enemies or to devour them.At the same time, it is possible to satisfy the hunger of the body with ordinary food, which is just what people do.In the current age, there are almost no cannibal demons: compare a raw, tasteless a human and, for example, a meat pie, hot, freshly cooked.The caterpillar, judging by the news, did not eat anyone.Maybe someone from her family was killed by hunters?Or just a hot multi-legged guy escaped from years of imprisonment?

And the mago-cops, apparently, thought that the ayakasi themselves killed the boozer.As I remember from the manga - they have something like a community here-the Bundes meets, at the top of which there are very powerful elderly guys, like a Corpse Eater and the Goddess of Rivers.I wonder if the mago cops have garters with this gang?According to the manga, it seems like not, but... I don't believe it.


entry twenty-fourth.

I was sitting in the basement, thinking a lot.Something began to turn out.The breakthrough seems to have happened to me - there, in the park.Not otherwise than with fear. But now there is another problem.I launch the "ferry" strictly in the basement, otherwise I somehow twisted a magnet in my hands (round flat crap, do not forget to put pieces of paper on the refrigerator under it).Twisted, then, and then put it down.Into the air, over the cup from where he drank tea. Stupor. No, I figured it out.This is "Maglev". A real levitation, only not magical, but magnetic.Funny physical trick, "the effect of Mohammed's coffin".Bring the magnet to a horizontally arranged ring of superconducting material, and the magnet induces eddy currents on this ring.The electric current in a circle generates a counter-directional magnetic field - compensation of the force of attraction, levitation.The rim of the mug became a superconductor, with a little help from me.

Mom, they'll either kill me right away if I show my mug to someone, or they'll lock me in a bunker underground and never let me out!A superconductor at room temperature.That's how, your mother, how?! And I read, still "there", that ceramic superconductors are possible at high temperatures.Yeah, at seventy degrees Celsius. A setup! The ferry is a hell of a dangerous thing.It's dangerous for me, not for enemies who are still potential.But I have already secured a cozy coffin for myself from the oil magnates, if someone gets a mug in their hands.Fuck, I'm sure I can't do it again! Or can I?


entry twenty-fifth.

Rinko returned with her parents, from relatives.Delicious food again!I bought prefabricated metal racks with delivery, at the same time I blocked the damaged wall in the basement.I did not buy a safe - they are as expensive as dogs.I didn't rent a cell for a mug either.A nine-year-old kid brings his favorite mug and rents a cell in a bank, nonsense.I'm afraid I'll have many more "souvenirs".But now my basement is stylish, you can imagine that I'm at a secret military base... or in the back of the store...I put the mug on the shelf, the first family artifact, damn.


entry twenty-sixth.

The shelf was replenished with five more items.The crown of the collection is undoubtedly the unbreakable toilet paper!Moreover, all the properties of the paper have been preserved, it is cut and gets wet perfectly.Do you want to capture the world?Otherwise, I don't see how to investigate these materials.I wonder if my relatives could do that?Probably they could. Otherwise, theymighthavebeenalive.


Two days until the end of the holidays.The ability to create shit with your hands (I'm not talking about the result of cooking in the kitchen) is taken under control.And everything is simple - I almost broke my protective amulet: I like to twist something thoughtlessly in my hands, and here a pretty big thing is hanging around my neck. It worked out.It seems to have worked out, because no one has tried to eat me yet.The flash of light was notable.

It's good that no one saw this during the day.I was already covered in sweat, twice: from the fact that I was almost blind, and from the fact that I was left without protection.And the hands are pressed with the palms to the eyes. Fuck!I saw IT. Lines. Curls.The most complex grids of three-dimensional structures.And it's all in the negative against the background of floating spots of light in blinded eyes.The retina returned to normal by the evening, I hope I didn't spoil my eyesight.I saw diagrams... drawings... How is it according to the Japanese cultural tradition?Ah, the seals! I even figured out how to turn on the "eye jutsu".And I also saw myself. \


entry twenty-seventh.

I look like a star.I mean, in the "special" vision - a bright, indistinguishable structure of the core and divergent, branching rays.I move my hands, and the rays gather in bundles, beat from the palms of my hands.A lot of bundles are collected in the area of the head, there are seals on the legs.In other places, the rays more or less evenly diverge in space... about three meters.In all directions.My house is one solid seal.Doors, windows, floor, ceiling, walls - all in a dense structure of lines.Now I see them in the "positive" - light lines.And my own structure is in contact with the seal of the house.How... how is the tram on the rails?There is such an attraction - small electric cars with a driver, and a conductive grid on the ceiling.A current collector rod goes to the grid.The cars are moving - and sparks fly between the grid and the pantograph.Very similar, but there are still no sparks.


entry twenty-eighth

Back to school.I shocked Rinko again: I asked him to come out twenty minutes earlier than usual.Yes, the neighbor is now trying not to let me go alone - she got it into her head that I was afraid of a "maniac".Considering that I also killed him... or her.No, I told her it was a spirit, Yokai.He even showed pictures from the wiki, by the way - classic Japanese engravings.Rinko decided that it was something like a glitch, a little material and not very dangerous - people don't believe in spirits, and they don't believe in magic.Taking into account real schools of magic and even the profession of "wizard" in the state register (oh, yes!) - it's a little weird.But not much, I had such examples in the "old" world, too, to hell...Maybe there are wizards, too.


While walking, I activated the "ferry" vision several times...We need to figure out what it's called already.The result was no longer very shocking.This inner light does not just stick out of me in all directions - it interacts with objects.The road to school is all in chaotic lines, in some places and on close walls, trees standing nearby.Not printing, not printing at all, there is no structure as such, whether it affects something or not - I don't know.But the block in the energy vision looks quite different.There is a real, specially made... okay, let the seal.About a kilometer across.Houses, trees, land a few meters deep.And people. Adults, children. Even dogs. Even cats.Even some birds.Everyone seemed to be entangled in a web of light.The mind refused to be scared again.


entry twenty-ninth.

I live like in a fairy tale. Only the fairy tale turns out to be a little scary.Tove Jansson has a character in her Moomin fairy tales, Morra.There will be ice where the village is.I have the same. If I sit in one place for a while, and a patch of light web spreads under me.However, it does not last very long if you do not regularly renew your presence, as with the road to school or your place.And the properties of materials do not change. It seems to be.My own seals, like the one on the superconducting part of the mug or on the laser gun, look like a somewhat denser and somehow ordered mishmash of lines.And finally, the professional seals of my relatives on things and everything else look... finished.And, amazingly complex, especially in the amulet.In larger seals, for example, in the walls of the quarter, you can isolate individual blocks: wavy "combs", some closed rings, more complex elements.Seals on people are more compact, it is impossible to consider in detail.And the apotheosis is an amulet.Suffice it to say that this subject has a seal that goes beyond the boundaries of the material and it is movable. Changing.

The problem is that I don't understand how it works.For example, where is the feedback with the amulet?There is no her. And it does not interfere with the spontaneous lines around it.And how can the presence of printing change the properties of the material?Some questions, even a headache.


entry thirtieth.

And winter in Japan, at least in this place, is short and not cold.There was almost no snow.February has passed - and spring is not only on the calendar, soon sakura will bloom.At school, half of the guys "get sick" with laser fights.The school's management established official games after the "massacre" during the holidays.One class is one team.They say someone even makes bets.

With the seals, everything is still the same, that is, it is not clear.My only progress is that I realized what is responsible for what in people.The seal in the muscles is intensifying and strengthening, that's why Rinko runs like a sprinter.The seal in the bones is only strengthening, is it logical?So, we isolate structures similar to muscles and throw them out: voila, the seal increases the contraction of fibers.It seems to be all right, but it's hard to try.No, not like that. IT'S WEIRD!!!

As it turned out, I repeated my "type seal" from the handle of a laser pistol on some branch.And "energized". Fuck!!!Okay, asshole, I took the insulator as a material.It was good - there was an iron leg of a park bench nearby, and the canvas by the bench was wooden.And it was good - there was no one around.Total: a slow-passing illumination with a "bunny" from an arc discharge, slightly blocked ears from being hit by a sound wave, melted, as from electric welding, in the place of breakdown, the frame of a park bench and ... an absolutely whole stick.Which has become, through me, an extremely dangerous weapon - a civilian stun gun is resting.Plus one "artifact" on the shelf in the basement, already half of the section was filled with various junk with unusual properties.By the way! Rinko made chocolate on the fourteenth of February and gave it to me - with such a reddened face that I just made heroic efforts not to laugh!After all, she's lovely!However, I can't say how the seal of light affects her...And what will happen if the seal is removed.If the seals can be removed at all.


part three.

entry thirty-one.

The cherry trees have swollen buds, and I have brains.Everything goes with a creak - this does not apply to "ordinary" studies, of course.The "ferry of light" is definitely not magic.Because the energy, the thing that "makes" magic, it turns out, I have not seen, and I do not see.I was trying to optimize my spontaneous design into something more manageable.A hundred M2 wooden pencils as experimental material, two weeks of torment in the evenings - and I accidentally managed to assemble a DC source from pencils and myself.It's an awesome feeling when a hundred-watt lamp burns from your hands.I have enough for almost an hour - it's about the birds, in the sense of my strength.True, the question of efficiency remains open, but there is already something to focus on.So, I noticed that when the "voltage" is applied, nothing in the pattern of light lines visible to me changes.In general, apparently, we need to experiment again, now with our own eyes.The very thought of such an experiment and its possible consequences immediately makes me lose the desire to learn to see magic.Or should I get extremely scared again?


entry thirty-two.

Cherry, I mean, sakura, in bloom!Classmates go mysterious and goofy.Sometimes the wind raises a real blizzard of petals - it's really beautiful.But it's not fun to draw this cherry blossom at all, it's good that we did it just on the nearest alley.And yes, the school festival is coming, however, not soon, in a month and a half, but you need to come up with a theme for the class right now.

The headman composted the brains.It's absolutely ridiculous - we're all small, terribly inflated with a sense of self-importance, and our class teacher, a young teacher in general (she's about 25 years old), is also pretty serious.My face also embodies seriousness: I put on glasses.They called me names at the kiosk, where I immediately bought a box of a hundred pieces, "computer".But the look is stylish.Yes, yes, I measured twenty pieces until I puzzled the seller "wholesale".How he was skewed, sickly, even had to leave a deposit for the order.But the Japanese was a very polite Japanese, and did not ask anything.

Why glasses? Well, I decided: instead of disfiguring the eyes, it's better to "kill" the glasses, I don't feel sorry for them.So far, I have not been able to impose magic vision, but I decided in advance to teach everyone that I wear glasses.That's what he said to the headman: "to fit the image of a "nerd".Why does this phrase cause a total break in the template for every questioner?


entry thirty-three.

A-aaapchi! Rinko "saved" a kitten - a small one terribly, only her eyes opened.It's good that you can protect yourself from magically induced allergies with ordinary suprastin.Neither Kuzaki herself nor her parents had anything to do with pets, it turns out, that's why a sad fate awaited her, if not for me.I had to take Rinko by the hand and buy cat's feed milk, a pacifier for kittens, diapers - this is after I fed him the usual heated cow's milk from a syringe.Now my neighbor is rushing home after school to visit her pet, and then back to self-training.

Yes, Rinko runs fast, unlike me.Demon hunter, shame!Although I myself regularly try to run in the park, I do not have enough speed or endurance.But it is frankly scary to "modernize" the muscles, although I have already redrawn the structure and memorized it.And for bones, too.It remains to understand how it all works - and I can try to create my own seal.Everything twists inside me when I imagine how much knowledge was lost along with the last initiate into clan technology.I'd kill the freaks!Technically, of course, it's not really my legacy, but I've already got used to the role...And anyway, mine is now!

In addition, all the deadlines for the time of awakening have come out, and I don't even know what to think.But having come up with about three dozen hypotheses ... well, "hypotheses", I decided not to guess on the coffee grounds.Moreover, we have a lot of "experts" here on instilling consciousness into someone else's body - from ayakasi to local magicians, you can try to find out some information... Much later.First - to survive. It's good that the amulet turned out to be so durable and, it seems, capable of self-healing.By the way, only his seal changes over time, too weak for me to understand what it is.


entry thirty-four.

Rinko has nursed her kitten, now he is able to eat on his own.And we have arranged a 3D cinema in our class: long live the torrent servers of Russia, where you can download not only a camrip to a film that has not yet been released, but also the full version of Japanese classics of cinema, and in Japanese, for home cinema.How to make a projector from a TV - I also downloaded it from some of our forum. Lepota!And how many positive emotions I got, communicating with my voice in the raid in the "Ruler" on the Russian server: already the accent inherent in my young body has almost disappeared!Well, a master class on a laboratory mat for the younger generation, not without it.

The festival pleased me, I haven't laughed like that for a long time!And a tenth of all the fun was not shown in any anime: the main thing is to keep your eyes open and look around.Yes, and preparation... How we painted my "computer" glasses with nail polish in two colors, and boys!In general, seriously, pedagogical work has been set up in Japan here - even if I don't fit into the team a little, I am now quite perceived by my peers from the stream of nine-year-olds as my own.However, I am almost ten years old already, a year will soon pass since I am "here".


entry thirty-fifth.

What is "magic"?Oh, well, more specifically, what is magical energy?Twelve variants of seals and pieces of glasses, respectively (and a bunch more screwed up in the trash).Each seal shows movement.. something... while I was powering the electro-artifacts.This is something different.By the way, the light lines of the print can, apparently, perform different functions.Magic in Rinko by definition should not be (although it is not a fact at all), but as shown by print sample N 22, which seems to register high-frequency weak currents...Or fuck knows what. In short, the muscle booster seems to stupidly cause all the fibers of a single muscle to contract according to a nerve signal strictly simultaneously, and not with a lag of several milliseconds, as in a purely biological sample.Just don't ask me which part of my girlfriend and how long I've been staring at!


entry thirty-sixth.

Today I'm ten, and I made myself a "gift".The second wall is occupied by shelves, and on them... cages with hamsters!Twenty hamsters.At first I decided to take mice, but white mice somehow don't really pull on pets, and I didn't want to attract attention.And so - he said that for the school zoo club, and it rolled.I will conduct experiments, there are six years left until hour X.It's stupid to die from the fact that I'm so delicious, somehow I don't want to.

I finally figured out where to take tru-magic as a reference.Yokai is the same. It seems like they consist of energy, even if they have a material body.So I'm waiting for a walk in the evening park, fortunately it's summer.And the holidays are relatively soon.It's also not a bad idea to get rid of the induced curse - Rinko is constantly dragging around with his grown-up pet, and I sneeze when I come to visit.A little annoying.However, to find a spell in your own body... I don't even know how to approach the problem...So - the hunt for spirits is declared open, starting next Saturday.And now - feed the hamsters!


entry thirty-seventh.

Minus two hamsters.It is necessary to apply muscle strengthening and bone reinforcement together, otherwise the creature broke both front paws.The second "disable" happened as a result of a very successful application of reinforcement - the bars of the cell were bitten and ... swallowed.Apparently, internal bleeding.

He made a magic wand. Yes, that's right.In fact, it is a remote shocker, based on a "ferry": a tube, a laser pointer and an optimized stamp from my first artifact - a pistol (I still figured it out a little, by trial and error... and the application of knowledge of physics).The laser ionizes the air, and an air discharge breaks off from the end of the improvised stunner along the ion path in the gas.Plus glasses - so that you don't catch more "bunnies" on the retina.The application looks very magical: the wand is pathetically aimed at the enemy with the end...Poor wall, melted spot again.The range of the stunners is about five meters, a maximum of ten, so my weapon should have about the same characteristics.Yes, to eat sweets before use, so as not to be so twisted by hunger.


entry thirty-eight.

The first pancake is lumpy.In the park, of course, there are lanterns - in the alleys.The new moon, the stars and the city light up a little... treetops.We'll have to sculpt night vision glasses.I wonder if the bodies of demons radiate heat?Maybe just buy a device in a store and not worry?..On the other hand, with a nightlight mask on my face, I will look even more strange than just a little kid wandering around the park at three in the morning.Yes, and it seems to be heavy...It's decided, I'll do it myself.I needpractice.


entry thirty-ninth.

The second pancake is lumpy.Three glasses, attached one after the other, inspire... uh... They definitely inspire consternation.I covered the windows to train in the house.Kuzaki came in, I just decided to start with the hall...Positive result: I was right, the bio-flow detector glasses can be used as a selective filter.Many ayakasi are dissected by cities and villages in the form of people - you can't tell a horseradish, but it's immediately clear whether the spirit is or not.It seems like I should, like any hunter of any clan, feel the presence of Power, but...Either the amulet is blocking, or I no longer encountered spirits after meeting with the maniac caterpillar.Or I just don't understand that I feel something, there is no one to explain it to.Negative result: Rinko can't digest the multi-point me in any way.I shouldn't have told her that one piece of glasses wasn't enough to express my charisma.

Okay, I think I should tell her about my magical inheritance, anyway, one way or another, the girl will get into all these things with me.However, there is an option - to break off friendly relations...But. Maybe it's extremely selfish, but I'm afraid to be left without a single friend.Rinko is really all I have, the only person who cares about my condition.Another point: there are not very many demons compared to people, and the danger of getting hit by a car is many times higher than under a tentacle or mental seizure, but those who are warned are armed.Well, the last argument is responsibility.I don't know if my parents purposely tricked my neighbor to change her attitude towards me, or if she got handed out along with the whole block, and her concern is just a manifestation of character, but since I remained the last representative of the clan, I am responsible for her.And for the rest of the residents, by and large, too.In addition to these lofty thoughts, one completely pragmatic motive came to my mind: it is much easier to believe in magic at ten than at sixteen.Not just to believe, but to include in the worldview and react calmly.Okay, let's start educating our colleagues.


entry fortieth.

It's been a long time since I've seen a person so genuinely having fun.It was me who told Rinko about the great, but former clan of exorcists and the last heir - me.As I already said - the plot is for senen.As proof of his "magical power", Rinko offered to try on glasses... and was awarded a new portion of laughter. Uh?And everything works for me and shows what the problem is... What a moron!Power supply.There is no magic in the girl, he decided so himself.Okay, I'm going to hold the glasses with my hand by the shackle now... Wow!That's the size of the eyes!Children at the age of ten already have expressive eyes, and here is a direct approximation to the anime standard!I clicked on my mobile phone, I'll print it and hide it in an album: there will be something to tease the girl in five years!Great, saggy and ready to hear revelations about the wonders of the world.By the way, thank you, maniac multi-legged giant caterpillar-demon, now there will be someone to blame for the "sudden insight" and "enlightenment of childhood memories".


entry forty-one.

I'm a complete moron.Well, how can you ignore the principle of solving any problem from simple to complex?That's why, instead of trying to set up a safe experiment in "laboratory" conditions, I decided to look for an adventure to a soft spot in a dark city park?And if I really stumble upon someone strong?With a stunner from a Corpse Eater or a Water Spirit, I definitely won't dismiss it.And the risk of exposing yourself increases incredibly, and do I need it? the hell, the hell.

So, the task is for junior classes.We have a "weave" that works from "magic".Considering that I almost don't feel the loss of strength from glasses, magic... mana?In short, it is not enough.Logically, if I can make a "magic device", then I can convert the material by ferry and under the battery for it.

Meanwhile, the holidays are in a week.The midterms are almost passed, get the assignment for the summer - and... m-yes.You definitely won't be able to rest peacefully.Or will it work?


entry forty-two.

I noticed a long time ago: Rinko is far from stupid, it's just... too straightforward, probably.Does not understand, for example, physics, exactly until I first explain a specific useful example (about the center of gravity and where to kick), after which the theory is no longer rejected by the girl's immune system.I guess I'm boring, or it's vanity, but I like to explain.And Kuzaki benefits - grades in natural sciences have improved.And in general, schoolchildren look at experiments with great curiosity and conduct them themselves.And if you add an element of the game...

Stocks of glasses are coming to an end, I donated thirty pieces to the 3D cinema development fund at a particular school (and now I periodically search and download torrents for the class).It turned out that removing the effect of printing a ferry of destruction harmless to the material is possible only if the seal is not fixed in the material.It's like in the case of spontaneous drawing of lines, when I'm just next to the subject, or if the lines are "moved" for a few minutes after the introduction.Then - everything. It is possible to supplement the seal to some extent by imposing additional lines, if there is a place and ... how to express it... the logic of the older print allows.But - if you destroy an entire object with a seal - the properties dissipate, the lines in the fragments thin out and melt, further damaging the material, as if they age it...But back to the glasses. And to Rinko.

Honestly, I almost decided to find Krylov's translations into Japanese on the Internet - the scene was characteristic:"These don't work either... Hmm, and if you look the other way around?And if you turn it over? And maybe breathe on them, huh?Well, you said yourself that you don't understand how your abilities work.What "and what?" How is that!You told me yourself in the circle: research should be carried out in all possible ways!So, don't be lazy, let's enchant the next ones!Yes, I write, I write: sample number fifty-six... How-how?Sharodug type of drive, option fourteen bis?Yyy, and where do you get all these words from?"And so on, in the same spirit.When we finally got the next option (minus one glasses - they broke, minus three more pieces - the glasses clouded to full opacity - it wasn't so safe to move the already superimposed lines) - I didn't even believe it at first.

"Are you sure you see it?Don't you think?From fatigue?"

"Yes, exactly, exactly! Yu-to!Why are you such a bore?!It turned out, hooray, hooray!"

Okay And now - the trials.


entry forty-third.

I didn't think Rinko could turn green like that!We conducted the tests on a biodetector.On the third attempt, I made a weave that, instead of detailing, visualizes just a glow from a living organism.And I am no longer sure that these are weak currents.At least we managed to see the cockroaches through the floor.Or not cockroaches - bugs there or crickets, horseradish knows, but there are really a lot of them.It's good that this version of the scanner does not have enough resolution for smaller arthropods.And people can be seen thirty or forty meters away.We determined this by going outside.Kuzaki with glasses is awesome!The seller of ice cream, it seems, received a moral and pedobirny injury, stuttered, almost forgot to give the change.That's right, one wrong move in the choice of clothing items - and you're already a loli.

Well, well, why did Rinko blush so much and tear off her glasses?The usual thick bushes, and behind the foliage the contours of two people next to each other.And what are they doing there... Ehm.I pulled off my glasses, I think my face is now like a girlfriend's - very red!S-students, damn, found the same place...I didn't want to go for a walk, either from embarrassment, or ... envious.


entry forty-fourth.

Here it is, the moment of truth: now I will find out what exactly we have "magic".I pull out a pile of glasses with tags - well, I'm off.


part four.

entry forty-fifth.

Great! Three responses, only three, not seventeen!Either the weaving is alternatively seen the same, or mago-energy consists of different components.Well there, yin, yang and, uh... shit?Mmm... I missed something.The appearance of the glasses when they work, when viewed through the detector, is a little... slightly unmasks the artifact.A little is an understatement, they glow in the most natural way, like bastards.Presumably, this should also be noticeable in the auric or some other vision of spirits and magicians.

Oh, shit. And did we get burned walking in the park with such "eyes"?Although I myself should glow in this vision like a Christmas tree... Stop.I have an amulet.That's what he's blocking, then.And that's how the ayakasi find hunters in a crowd of people - yes, they can be seen at a glance.Highlighted goal, what a beauty.Only unlike me, hunters of other clans can pull an eye on the ass in response.Apparently, now the first priority is to deal with the amulet.Well, Rinko to help me.


entry forty-sixth.

"It's getting more and more wonderful," Alice said.The artifact on me, if I feed it with personal power, is masked.The artifact on me, powered by an autonomous source, is perfectly visible, in all its shining fullness.Moreover, the concealment works even at point-blank range: Rinko literally pressed her face into my chest with glasses - no illumination.It remains to understand how it, that is, he, the amulet, works at all?


entry forty-seventh.

Excellent. Just fine.The "eye jutsu" that allows you to see the light web of the Ferry seals of Light cannot be transferred to the glass.Or you can, but I didn't succeed.The print detail is so fine that even a magnifying glass wouldn't help - I was ready to splurge on a microscope.Not fate. Where to consider this very protective barrier in "normal resolution".Surely the clan used it to hide hiding places... Yes, that's right.At home. I'll have to go to Noihara again before the holidays are over.Rinko, I think, should not be taken with you - he will only get tired in vain, and it will not be possible to see anything without an artifact.And you can't wear glasses - they'll unmask you.


entry forty-eighth.

Hello dom, here I am.I lit the sticks on the altar, threw things, activated my vision and went to inspect the object.


entry forty-ninth.

Gha! What a mess!Literally everything turned out to be enchanted in Noihara - from the sand under your feet to the water in the nearest pond.Steamed water with a seal that shimmers along with the liquid is a sight from which you naturally go out.Is that so, eh? Sailed. What are you, a "ferry"?

Well, it was not without other discoveries.First, I found this mago-absorbing barrier.After that, I wanted to beat my head against the corner of the house (the wall is paper-plywood-batten, uncomfortable).It turned out to be simple, moreover, I already knew what needed to be done.Elementary did not think of it, although the solution was before my eyes.Well, what could be simpler than storage rings united by common channels?Mago-energy was diverted somewhere into the house, it was not possible to trace it.

The second discovery - I found the caches.Not even that: I found some ingeniously disguised, well-prepared hiding places... with a couple of bottles of sake (but an interesting seal on the bottles, I'll take it) and the diaries of a certain girl (great-grandmother's sister?Old sheets, but there are no dates, written with a brush and ink).Diaries - I flipped through them - about cosmetics, fabrics, lipstick and other girlish stuff.I put it away where I got it.And the crown of my findings is a selection of playboy magazines for the seventh-fourth - seventh-sixth years.Oh, yes! Dad, did Mom know about this?Or was that, uh, what Grandpa still needed?

The third find is another hiding place. The new model, apparently, is also a stranger's new model: a purely magical design, I see it for the first time.The spell was glowing from the energy that had been pumped in, the supply line of which simply grew out of the wall of the house.Even a channel rather than a line, maybe a cable? A pipe?The magic flowing through the tube.And the spell itself is like... a jellyfish?Fluctuates, shimmers... and it's perfectly noticeable for any magician or demon, as I understand it.Do you know what medusa was hiding?ELECTRIC METER!

It became clear to me whose job it was. Zashiki-varashi tried, brownie, if in Russian.A demon whose receptacle is a building - in this case, a family estate, if a simple old house is worth such big words.By the way, on the wall next to it there was a fairly simple, but also a hell of a powerful energy meter illusion, with a different amount of kilowatts, of course.What a sweet and touching concern for the clan budget, it brings tears to my eyes - if I remember what I live on. By the way.It will be necessary to shake the house spirit for access to the assets of the clan.It is still unclear how, because the house is still empty, no one has appeared in the eyes of the heir.

I had hope for books, but nothing. The standard reinforcing structures are already on the sheets and binding of notebooks, that's all. Apparently, I did not find any truly disguised hiding places, although it would be at least logical to leave one in the house of the older family. Presumably, it is necessary to get into the space of the "mystical house". "Mystical house," I remind you, is a spell that allows you to split space, creating a new layer of reality for a while. Or something like that, but it's different - I vaguely remember this crap from the manga, but as I remember it, it sounds too crazy. Unfortunately, I did not find the entrance to this most Mystical house. The mago or ferry structure itself, too, although maybe I just couldn't make out the lines in the mess. Seriously, in the Amakawa house of exorcists, in some places in the ferry vision, the material was hidden in a dense weave. One could only guess what was what in this multi-year, and maybe even centuries-old layering.

By the way, I began to seriously doubt that I could damage the house itself, even if I really wanted to. Yes and... the illusion inspired me with respect, inspired me with its glow. My glasses are like a candle next to a spotlight, and that's not counting the fact that the pressure tube is pulled right through the wall protection. An unplugged protection, I emphasize, which regularly sends the flow of magic somewhere inside the building, but there is also enough left over. Brr, the tin!

I need to restore "unofficial" contact with the spirits who have remained loyal to the House and Clan - they probably have the information I need, and they themselves are... um, an asset.

Assets and knowledge are a very significant asset, and getting to them in advance, before disabling the amulet, is a key advantage over the scenario described in the manga. But there was something else in the manga: let's just say the locals might not really like me and stupidly refuse to help. Or you just don't recognize them under disguise and slam them down before you can establish contact. When I first visited Noihara, I just didn't know how the amulet worked, and I didn't think about it, but now this simple thought makes me uncomfortable.

I do not know how the notorious "taming of Yokai", which Amakawa is known for, works. But the conclusion suggests itself: "the ferry of light." Since, as it turned out, he falls on water, it means that he falls on spirits too. Breaking the involuntary vassalage is now easier than ever - by nailing me. So, what should I do? For starters, don't get too worked up. This is the second time I've been here, and the second time I walked freely without meeting anyone. Are am lucky? Most likely, the point is different - the same zashiki-varashi gets out of the "mystical house" at night, when the chance of running into loitering idiots like me is noticeably lower. That's why I'm going to get out of here... I'm just going to do one thing.

"Hello, Rinko! Yes, this is the phone number of my house in Noihara, please write it down. Yeah, I'm going home. See you."

The family secrets will have to wait a while longer... months or years. There's still time. For self-improvement, yeah.

part fifty.

Shock is our way. They came to school with Rinko wearing glasses and the same short haircuts. An outburst that would have been almost ignored in another country, but not in Japan. Local specifics: the child's appearance is a sacred cow. Many girls, and boys too, often do not change their established image for many years. That's real, they get their hair cut in the same way, they wear about the same thing - that's how their parents buy them. That's why everyone was staring at us like that! I even persuaded my friend to shout something like "now I know physics!" at the entrance to the classroom to enhance the effect, but Kuzaki was shy. Although she supported the idea of shocking classmates within the bounds of decency. However, Kuzaki didn't start wearing glasses for beauty after all. Alas, the spirits of this world have not gone away. It is better to notice them in time, even if nothing can be done.

The very next day after returning from the ancestral home, I hastily sketched out a protective shield for glasses, and now Rinko has his own magic sensor. The thread-lines from the nodes of the screen storage devices were connected to the battery in the arches of the glasses, which increased the battery life of the glasses by about a third more. Yes, it turned out that the screen was not so simple: the storage devices for stray energy (which was simply dissipated in space) should be empty by default to support masking. And the central battery, on the contrary, is full. If we were dealing with an electrical circuit, I don't know how I would get out of it, but here, it turns out, a small squiggle was added to the accumulators - a pump that accelerates magical energy like water and literally ejects it through the transmission channel. And then there's a one-way valve, like a diode bridge in a radio circuit....

***

My thoughts, when I got tired of turning over the well-known information about magic and the ferry in my head for the hundredth time, returned to my studies by themselves. More precisely, for club events. Who would have thought that it would be interesting for me to go to junior high for the second time? And here. I even got a little carried away with calligraphy, maybe I would try to get into a circle, that is, a club, but now I can't give up physics. Moreover, I will not hide that it is pleasant to be in the center of the trusting attention of enthusiastic children. And also...

My two ideas were actively used, and not only by our classes, even a "3D cinema lovers club" was formed, and, as far as I have already managed to gossip, under the patronage of a teacher, fine art was currently sculpting an installation from two digital cameras to shoot this very tri-de. The boys from high school were actively hacking at the laser range - and some of the girls too. And all this without any of my participation - and the initiatives I launched were also developing! Cool? Undoubtedly. That's why now, looking at the ceiling, I was thinking about how to mess this up. This time, not spontaneously, but to make it useful to me in the future (this is one), it would be interesting for everyone (this is two), and... brought some unhealthy excitement, perhaps. I already had the answer, but, to put it mildly, it was a little shitty. However, the more I liked him, the more I liked him, and at the first meeting of the physics club after the holidays, I immediately suggested him:

"Let's build a rocket!"

And looking at the stunned faces of my peers, gradually spreading into smiles - this is the boys' somewhat apprehensive expression on Sensei face, I decided that I definitely like to shock.

So rocket science should be in a single elementary school!

Part 5

Entry fifty-one.

I wonder if there are migrant magicians? Because personally, I reminded myself of the classic jamshoot, when in a paper cap (so as not to get my head dirty in dust), in the worst clothes, I methodically crawled wall after wall, all floors, ceilings (!) and other surfaces (yes, there were such too!). I was just installing the "ferry" magic protection, but I steamed up and spent time, as if I had really started repairs. Question: why didn't the parents bother with screening? I had a couple of thoughts about this, but the most obvious one was the loss of the opportunity to sense the source of magic outside the house. On the other hand, if there is protection at the ancestral home in Noihara, then the problem can be solved in another way? Well, yes. I was also annoyed by the need to literally feel all the sealing places, introducing another layer of protection in addition to the existing ones in the walls of the house. I can't believe for the life of me that my parents " ferry" the block that way. If only because it took so damn long, and the neighbors obviously wouldn't understand such a fuss. This means that the process can be optimized. But how?

During the week, we didn't find anything magical within the range of our detector glasses. Rinko even doubted their work, she had to weld a simple visualization scheme for the charge of a magic battery - just a dot, the brightness of which shows the amount of remaining energy. It shows conditionally, of course, but mana can be accurately measured. How exactly? Convert it to another energy and measure it. In joules, for example.

The Mago-electric converter is still on my shelf. Interestingly, the scheme works only in one direction. If you plug the pencils into an outlet, mana will not flow from the opposite ends. Yes, I checked. Of course, I did not hope that everything would be so simple, otherwise the Yokai would not have eaten people and each other, but developed energy. By the way, I wonder if radiation is dangerous to spirits. If not, then some prospects open up. The city of Fukushima, for example, is also here, and the nuclear power plant is present next to it, I checked the guidebook on the Internet. The very nuclear power plant where the accident happened in my world was a big story. If radiation is harmless to spirits, you can set up a lucrative reactor inspection and repair office. Yuto and the spirits, yeah. Fortunately, there are no competitors and it seems that the taming of spirits, as far as I remember the manga, is quite an exclusive feature. And I'm the only living exorcist who still has the ability to ferry.

Speaking of abilities and their carriers. Once again, I thought about my "bride" and finally the name of the clan came to mind, it's also a surname. Jinguji. In the original source, Yuto, after their meeting with Kues, someone told the details about the white-haired girl, just by finding information on the Internet. Well... a dubious way, of course. Most likely, the manga's author just didn't bother at all figuring out how to introduce a new character. But... I haven't been banned from Google yet, so why not?

To my great surprise, the information was indeed found! Not on the first attempt, but only after I spelled the first and last name correctly in English - but I found it. And, of course, the "school of magic and witchcraft" where the "betrothed" studied was not called Hogwarts, but the British Magical Academy. The word "Hogwarts" stuck to the academy after the institution participated in the filming of "Harry Potter"!

This BMA was not some kind of ancient cold castle, but a real small town in the old English traditions, but with modern infrastructure. Its own campus, where students and teachers lived, academic buildings of a closed school and college, canteens, sports facilities - and everything else that is needed to educate children at full board from seven to eight to sixteen years old. "Learning magic" was on the schedule there as one of the disciplines quite openly, but in the interview, of course, they condescendingly explained that it was "rather a philosophy of perception of the world." Well, yes. Interview. The little Kues turned out to be milakha - one of those children with serious eyes and a reasonable voice, from which most adults instantly fall into tenderness, and try to feed sweets. And - surprise! Long black hair! But the crescent moon, a tattoo made by the mother for no reason, was actually found on the forehead of the "bride". And little Jinguji held up perfectly to the camera: not the slightest trace of excitement. It was as if she, and not Emily Watson, was a professional actress. Plus an insanely expensive handmade baby dress. It is not surprising that the filmmakers could not ignore such a colorful little sorceress.

Interview with Kues Jinguji and "Hermione" Emily Watson! Like, an actress is a prototype. It was something to gape at. The interview was quite long, about 40 minutes, but not very informative. In response to the provocative suggestion to "show something magical," Kues rejected the school's rules, which stated in black and white a ban on "witchcraft outside the walls." Then the brunette told how they became friends with Emmy, together with the young actress, she told a couple of cases from filming: Kues, it turns out, was involved in the process as an expert. Then Emily told about the director of the BMA, who was easily recognizable as Rowling's Snape. It seems that Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, who "also studied within these walls," quietly either adored or hated the headmaster of the academy. And that's why she entered into a "tragic" role with a demotion, hmm. Rough. Then there was a typical girly twitter, like how much time is spent on makeup, where, by the way, they asked about the "decoration on the forehead." However, the "traditions of the ancient clan of wizards" satisfied the presenter, and she switched back to Watson.

Well, yes. Kues has torn my soul apart, she has. Closing YouTube, I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate and remember something else from the manga. I watched the video, had fun, it's called. PR at Mama Kues (what's her name?) It turned out to be excellent: she showed the future clan leader with her face. And the rest, I suppose, did not carry out such promotions due to the lack of use - I remember Jinguji had some kind of problems with nobility, or something like that. No wonder a representative of the Japanese magic clan was pushed to study all the way to the other side of the world. That is, what I saw is the lower level. And I will have to join this wonderful company called the Circle of Exorcists. I have to because they just won't let me stay away. Well, the little thing: how was it in the advertisement? Is it difficult to be a delicious little candy? That's it.

In the manga, the younger Jinguji got into Yuto Amakawa's soul for a reason. The untrained underexorcist was offered an exchange, something like: "we will protect you, you will give us your children." After all, I don't actually have a clan with centuries-old traditions, I was, but I sailed away. There are no oligarch relatives either. There is the power of blood - and fortunately, no one knows exactly what. But they will find out, after all, if I agree to protection. And then... damn. Well okay. The "battle" for the Amakawa inheritance, according to canon, will only begin in 2011, when my amulet turns off. And before that... A lot of things can happen. It should even happen, because the choice between Yokai's stomach, Jinguji's captive prince, and trying to "remain a simple man and just live for myself", hiding behind the tamed bakeneko from both the former and the latter, categorically does not suit me. There is still time... but we need to think now. Think hard.

part 6

Entry fifty-two.

So, the task. To get real power capable of protecting me and those whom I consider "my own", human or Yokai - it doesn't matter. To get behind my back the power that will force the magical community of Japan to take account of me. To survive in the meat grinder, which will begin the year after my sixteenth birthday (that is, in 2012). To find and win back a "place in the sun" for yourself and your own... hmm... not just human. And then we'll see who's who. I think I've finally figured out what a "Light Ferry" is. The train from Noikhara took me further and further away from the mountain range, on the shoulder of which the "city" is located, and I compared what I saw in the ancestral home with my experience. And with what I read in the manga. And the result was this.

Steam is not a "different magic", it is an ability akin to alchemy from the TV series "Steel Alchemist". From the one that TV-2 is, if anything. True, I can't make gold out of a pile of coal, but I can make a superconductor out of ceramics, compared to that, any pile of gold nervously smokes on the sidelines. How does the Steam of the Light play at work? Energy fields of atoms? The bonds between molecules? The legendary "torsion field" that no one has seen, but all housewives are absolutely sure of its presence? Steam is an opportunity to reveal the properties of materials and objects, within the limits generally possible for the substances composing these objects and materials. Imagine that you are playing an RPG on a computer. Here's a bow, it shoots at 100 meters and does 10 damage from that distance. You right-click the mouse button and in the properties you wind up the stat counter by 999 meters and damage 99. And the raid boss fell with ten hits. You can't damage a bow with 100 or 200, because bows just can't do that kind of damage. Like shooting at 10 kilometers. To do this, the admin in the game needs to change the basic laws of the game world... or magic. But magic is also just a weapon. For example, an amulet of ten lower jaws of a female dragonfly nymph, caught by the hands of a ten-year-old albino girl at midnight on June 17, makes it possible to throw a water scourge at the enemy. Simply because the property of the material extracted with such parameters makes it possible to form a water whip, if energy is applied to it, of course. And now, it's enough for me to get a piece of chitin, even, most likely, pectin (phytochitin) will do. With a slight movement of my hand, I will someday be able to change the material to the most effective shape according to the specified characteristics (for example, the girl had a pair of dark strands, and the power of the dragonfly amulet turned out to be lower than possible, and the clock lied for a couple of minutes), and the water scourge will become much more powerful. I'm a real godsend for magicians. Come on, magic, how many centuries has it been in this world, so what? Technological progress has raised the standard of living and health of the human masses, and the fucking "Power" has remained the lot of the "chosen" and the spirits. Build an orbital elevator? The material that "holds" the hot plasma of a fusion reactor? It's for me.

I can now guess what the "seal" of the Ferry of Light is. No, it's not channels, and it's not a structural element. These are the scars from the surgery on the flesh of the world, on the processed matter carried out by the Ferry user. Additional stress lines that distort the internal structure, like prestressed concrete for bridges and high-rise construction, are twisted with stops along the reinforcement, obtaining deformation and strength characteristics uncharacteristic of artificial stone. It's the same when processed by the Amakawa clan force: if you want, the material will become electrically conductive. You want it to be strong, firm, or elastic. If you want, the material will become magically conductive, a blank for an amulet, or the amulet itself. Any whim... if you know how.

I can now roughly imagine how my ancestors, the ancestors whose family became the Amakawa clan, became exorcists. A few centuries ago, one of the magicians discovered that the materials collected by this family for making amulets were more suitable and of higher quality than those of others. And this magician, unknown to me, had the brains to compare and verify the entire chain of obtaining materials. And to understand that it is the Amakawa themselves that enhance the amulet properties of the blanks. This magician turned out to have broad, almost European views, he intermarried with the "dummies", diluted his blood of the lord of wonders with the dirty blood of Muggles. His descendants proved to be weak in magic... but they are strong enough to get through at the junction of abilities and gain a foothold at the "top of the food chain." Become spirit hunters, chosen ones, and found your own clan. The clan, if you recall the manga, was the strongest of all. Alas, time does not spare anyone... You need to calm down, relax, and think about everything later. It's good that I formulated all this for myself right now, and not in a year, or, God forbid, in five! Thank you, Kues, you don't know, but it was you who helped me now, albeit unwittingly. Yuto promised that he would not forget it.

Entry fifty-three

A day passed, fully occupied with dictation and an impromptu lecture on the physics of jet propulsion, which, of course, turned to orbital and then interstellar flights. Walking out into a crowd of chattering peers dreaming of starships and space pirates (well, where could I go without that!), I was finally able to calmly and "without a heart" think about the current and future situation.

So, back to the plan. Unfortunately, my clan's power can't be used directly like a sledgehammer. Stupidly not enough energy. The limit of my energy shell, aura, reserve, whatever you want is one small lightning bolt. And then, I suspect, purely "magically" I would not have succeeded. Unless you apply steam to the air and hit the modified air with a zipper from your hand, then it's enough for two... Damn, I'm not Edward Elric, I'm Roy Mustang. But such a thing will only work if there is relative calm... and a braking goal. In any case, this is not an option for me. Even if my reserve grows four times by 16, I will be one punch or bite away from any Yokai - if they hit, of course. I will never reach the achievements of Kues, capable of erasing a mountain with one blow. But! To defeat the spirit-spirit, even the strongest, a blow comparable in strength to a tactical nuclear weapon is not required - it is enough only to hit a critically important place, depending on the physical form, this is the head, nerve ganglion, etc., and even the pistil of a carnivorous flower. With the accuracy of the weapon, the power can be relatively low. The revolver has a muzzle energy of only 200 joules, but it pierces a human through with a bullet. That's why Noihara's Blade has defeated hundreds of enemies with one sword - it just moves fast and gets where it needs to, that's all.

And then, by default, I decided that I would not be able to gather the necessary energy? I don't just need magical energy, which only spirits and human magicians produce (probably?), but I can also assemble electrical energy. By the way, it's easy to catch a couple of lightning bolts in superconductor rings, since I already have this technology. And thermonuclear fusion seems to be possible in a container with hydrogen in a powerful laser beam, I read from Rozov * also "there". That is, it turns out that I can still match the "capacity" of the Kues, and without involving heavy industry in a medium-developed country, which is already encouraging. Yes, I'm a fabricator and a chemical plant myself, but there are limitations, but if you use your brains, you can overcome them.

So, the preliminary result of the analysis. Can the "survive and get used to" plan be implemented in reality? Yes. Can it be done with the knowledge and strength that I have now? As Linier from Babylon 5 would say: "Without five years of prior training, no." But I have five years! Great! It remains to think over tactics, and we can continue harnessing - otherwise, everything has quieted down on my personal magical front, only the hamsters are getting more and more exhausted. It's out of order!

Entry fifty-four

In a week and a half, the tactical plan, which had been shaken up many times, took on such a simple form:

A) Find local Yokai and establish who you can get in touch with.

B) Find observers from the magic police and the social committee (or whatever their names were in the manga?) on the ground. and make sure that the contact with the spirits will pass without their close attention.

C) Make weapons and defenses to demonstrate your strength (and so that you don't get knocked out in case of failure).

D) Recruit Yokai vassals using the carrot method (strengthening both by creating weapons and by personal leveling) and the whip (and whoever shirks their duties - in the face... preferably with a sniper rifle). Perhaps someone will be able to get out of the Mystical House from the old servants of the clan.

E) To do all this before the appearance of Kues in June 2011 (she is just finishing her last course of study at Hog).

F) And here there are already assumptions. If there really is a seal on Kues that has influenced her character towards full loyalty to me, it is to demonstrate her strength in one way or another in order to become a leader from a patronized figure whom she can follow. If there is nothing, then ask to arrange a meeting with the elders of Jinguji, demonstrate the strength and detachment of Yokai and propose an alliance. And don't think "what about Rinko" now. I have time, I'll figure out how not to betray my friend's love and enlist the support of the "young and early" Jinguji. I'll even accept Islam if there's nothing left. Although there doesn't seem to be a ban on polygamy in Shinto? In short, there are ways, that's for sure. And close people can always find a common solution to a problem if they want to.

G) Well, by joining forces, try to climb even higher, taking control of high-tech production of strategic materials or something else that will really fit into the global elite. By the way, it is symbolic that this item got on the letter "Ж" How would you really avoid getting into the "Ж"? Although... Live again, the head of the future great clan!

H) World peace, the restoration of the human part of the clan, the technological breakthrough of the inhabitants of Earth into space under the leadership of the Amakawa-Jinguji alliance, a cure for cancer and immortality. If we're going to plan, we'll do it to the maximum, I think!

And enough plans, it's time to work!

Part 7.

Entry fifty-fifth.

And why, when asked, "Can we cook some rocket fuel after class in the chemistry room?" it must be met with a hysterical "No-o-o-o-o-o!!!"and running away from class? Kagura-sensei, in my opinion, is generally the oldest teacher we have, she's somewhere in her late fifties. She should be reacting calmly by now... Yeah, that's right. She returned with the director and hides behind his back. Naturally hiding!

"Um, young people, you see, the school welcomes the initiatives of the Physics Club, but the manufacture of dangerous substances..."

It's started. What's wrong with "powdered sugar", a mixture of saltpeter and sugar, the composition of which has been known for almost 150 years and is used for homemade rockets for the same amount. AND it DOESN'T EXPLODE! The director didn't even look at the printout, but in vain. There's a saying that if something can't be done with chemistry, it can be done with physics. The Internet, ow! And the chemist will regret it!

Entry fifty-six.

The hamsters in the basement conspired to increase their linear size by five times, and then pretend to be guinea pigs. And they are trying very, very hard! For example, an extended finger that does not carry food is food in itself, which is what Rinko is wearing now...

"Ah, the vile thing!!!"

... and I was convinced. Yes, now the participation of hamsters in Kuzaki's Ferry experiments is no longer disputed. And then there's so much "Oh, how cute, xiu-xiu-xiu!"it was.

Why did I drag my girlfriend into the dark... in a well-lit basement with shelves and hamsters? Well, since Rinko decided to participate in my clan skills acquisition, I decided to dedicate her to the next four points of the plan. Moreover, in points starting from D, actions are planned taking into account the day after the announcement and in five years, so everything is written with a pitchfork.

I must say that the ideas of friendship and cooperation between people and Yokai caused Rinko absolutely fair doubts, as she reasonably remarked to me, "you don't know how the oath was taken. And if they cheat?"Hmm, then I'm yum-yum, that is, me. But I didn't tell the girl that. As well as the fact that I want to copy the scheme of the "oath" from her head. If there really are traces of personality correction with a seal in Kuzaky's head. In addition, I can always try to hack the "Mystical House" in Noihara. In any case, the bearers of magic must first be found. And at least - unnoticed by them. In this regard, I have a constructive idea.

Actually, "everything has already been stolen before us." That is, look at how others have decided, and copy it with your own technology. I decided to copy RFID technology. These are such arcs in supermarkets that do not allow you to carry a purchase "past the checkout", starting to croak or ring viciously when you try. Actually, I have everything to implement this idea. The touch element is still the same mana trap accumulator. Knowing how a ferry can be used to channel mana movement. And the map is a good, detailed map of the city, which I attached to one of the vacant walls of the basement. It's really two by two meters, in a tourist store. I didn't need much precision at first: a square with a side of two hundred or even five hundred meters. A weave is attached to the end of the channel - a visualizer of the presence of magic, in fact- it is just an analog of an LED. It remains to bring the end of the "channel" to the desired part of the map - and voila. How convenient it is to set specific tasks for yourself - and not have to worry about which direction of your clan "jutsu" to develop.

That's it - a correctly posed question already contains half the answer. Now it remains to work on the implementation.

Entry fifty-seventh.

Did I say that the chemist would regret it? The kid said, the kid did. Although I, or rather we, didn't do it on purpose. By the way, Mizuki-sensei is at it... And I had to think about safety, too. I'm sick too... Great job! Anyway, our first rocket did explode. And why is that? Because someone did not allow us to make a safe mixture in the laboratory. And you can't do "chemical experiments" in the physics room. Not allowed? Okay! Let's turn to the founding fathers: there is such a thing, a liquid-pneumatic Zangger engine, also known as a "Zangger blowtorch". A pulsed jet engine powered by compressed air and kerosene. I took the information from the MAI website and translated it into Japanese without much effort. I bought kerosene from a hardware store - it is often used in home heaters. Yes, yes, I was also stunned when I found out, it's good that we have our own boiler room in the block. And such happiness in our city is not found in all places of the private sector. Well, yes.

So, we assembled the rocket engine from two cylinders with pistons, which in some distant past were probably bicycle pumps. And then everything is simple: fairing, nozzle. Vertical stabilizers were soldered to the fairing. A piezo crystal is used as an ignition. The launch was carried out from a vertical machine. The rope pulls the stopper out of the pistons, the pressurized gas-air mixture begins to spray into the nozzle and ignites. Start!

Three mistakes were made at once: the engine should have been tested first on a machine with a full load, and not with a quarter, sparing kerosene. To balance the center of gravity of the device, rather than hoping that the tube is generally light and there are enough stabilizers. And don't let them pull the Taizo starting halyard! Then, like real rocket scientists, we reconstructed the chain of events from the wreckage.

As a result, due to a strong jerk, our unit tilted even at the start, and the trajectory turned from an arc with a vertical deviation into a parabola. So at the moment when the injection head of the mixture was torn off the kerosene tank and tore at the seam, the rocket was already flying parallel to the school building, at about the sixth floor level.

Pop, and half a tank of fuel flies out through the widening gap. And it is set on fire. And it burns down with a loud bang. Needless to say, it was in front of the chemistry room, where for some reason the delayed teacher was making tea? Fate! Her last gesture was especially eloquent: the remains of the rocket fell directly into a concrete bin for garbage cans (and only because we were able to find them anyway).

Entry fifty-eight.

Oh! For a week, we, those who took part in the first launch, became just the stars of the school. The journalism club interviewed every participant, all the witnesses, and one of the most brazen "journalists" had the courage to ask the director for his opinion on the event-"without a tie." Oh yeah. The newspaper came out the next day and it began with a huge headline: "'HMM...' SAID THE DIRECTOR." There were no reprisals for the students, which is logical, given the lack of visible damage to the subordinate territory or students (apart from the moral trauma of some tea lovers). But Mizuki-sensei, apparently, was put in the pose of a star and ... they gave a lecture on the safety of students. But this is my personal conclusion, the Japanese are terribly correct, and no one saw the scolding from the students.

In general, while the participants and a few observers retold their version of events several times, each time "remembering" more and more details in the style of "a giant cloud of fire fell on the chemistry room!After school, Rinko and I went to print a close-up plan of our neighborhood downloaded from Google into the school computer classroom, logically reasoning that the near part of the surveillance network should be made more dense, and there was nowhere to buy such a detailed map. I wish I had paid the money at the mall for the printout! "Is the physics club planning to launch cruise missiles?!" - it was an article the next day, and we were called to the director: me, Kuzaki, and Mizuki-sensei together. After suspiciously asking why we needed a printout of the map (and receiving an honest answer "to know your house better"), the principal frowned and asked in a gentle voice to promise that we would not set fire to, launch, or detonate anything within 500 meters of the school. They barely bargained for the right to light sparklers. Wow, what a reputation we have!

Part 8

entry fifty-nine.

The map of the quarter on the wall is assembled, the installation points are marked. The weather is good, and Sunday is ahead. After connecting the first point, in the courtyard of the house, the plans had to be abruptly revised. Crawling on all fours, stretching the sensor line to the basement with your hand - it looks very funny (Kuzaki was laughing like crazy!), but it's actually impossible. And how could I have missed such an important moment?

record sixty.

Great! I can also steam with my ferry! However, it feels like I'm trying to make tea with my feet at least... And I'm good at it... but the main disadvantage is another: me have to be barefoot. Yeah, that's great. And if I need to use the "Ferry Light" somewhere in the mountains or in winter, should I take off my gloves? So, the problem needs to be solved, and now, it's good that it surfaced so early!

Entry sixty-one.

Minus the "extracurricular" sneakers. Minus the socks. Four pairs, and it was possible to fix the properties on the fifth pair without destroying the material.

Entry sixty-two

Minus the second pair of sneakers. Minus the old shoes. The principle of similarity did not fit. I'm going to stay without shoes! Rinko was already exhausted from laughing and went to cook dinner. And I'm going to the shoe store while I have something to wear!

Entry sixty-three.

The 7th pair of cheap sneakers. Hurray! VICTORY!

Entry sixty-four.

The 9th pair. Absolutely a victory! Socks will also need to be bought in stock. Well, my parents provided a decent allowance, and with my girlfriend's cooking, it's quite realistic to save almost half of the weekly funds. Sometimes savings... You have to spend a lot, that's how it is now. There was an idea to pump and strengthen all the clothes, in case the hands and feet of the object of the "Ferry" application would not touch. After all, I don't apply it with my hands, but with my gift, which I see as a star with rays.

Entry sixty-fifth.

Rinko will definitely live a hundred years. Laughter prolongs life, right? Put on an old shirt, apply "Ferry". Remove the remaining rags, once more. And then the threads lost their grip on each other, and the fabric literally rolled out along the fibers - an enchanting sight. Maybe I should switch to floor cloths already?

Entry sixty-six.

Toilet paper helped! I mean, that roll that I accidentally "ferry up" until I could take control of my gift. All that was needed was not to upgrade the entire fabric to skip the print lines, but to select several points and apply reinforcement around them. By the way, I wonder if the wall of the house can be destroyed in this way? And, most importantly, which building wouldn't it be a pity to try?

Okay, that's later. For now, let's summarize the evening: a whole single touch point has been installed! Yes, if I keep moving at this pace, six years won't be enough for me.

Entry sixty-seventh.

That's how routine comes in. One thing, another, a third, and it's already November. The leaves turned yellow and fell off, the hamsters became even thicker, and one of my achievements is a "pumped-up" neighborhood and the road to school. However, now you can't approach the house unnoticed, the magic sensor seals lie on the streets of the block one after another, and you can only bypass them by air. However, even at a distance of thirty meters from the place of overlap, they must detect and accept the "illumination", so you really need to fly, jumping on roofs will not help.

The physics club, which I'm tempted to call a "circle," became interested in aircraft modeling at my suggestion. On the other hand, we were banned from jet engines, but not from propellers. It's easier for me. One group of enthusiasts is launching regular models, another group is assembling a mini helicopter, and Taizo is "sick" of paper airplanes and is now seriously going to compete in the junior competition for the longest-flying model. Yeah, I didn't know there were any. Everyone who knows the kid is just shocked!

My studies are moving forward, while the majority of subjects like Japanese history are new to me, and the amount of teaching is very gentle, we are not even a secondary school. Everything is going on interestingly and calmly, there is no frenzied excitement of last year and this spring and summer. I got used to my role. Both civil and social... and the magic one.

There also came a time in the development of the Ferry when I simply did not have enough concentration and dexterity to apply more complex seals. So, training and more training, consolidating the material, so to speak. As part of securing the material, I stocked up on naphthyzine, suprastine and handkerchiefs, upgraded all the dishes and fragile things in the house from the Kuzaki family (under the guise of helping with general cleaning). Now you can not only play football with your favorite mug and plates of a housemate, but also hammer nails. Rinko is naturally happy! During the cleaning work, the cat, once saved by a kitten, stuck to me, rubbed against my legs and purred. It was probably not by chance that Himari was chosen to be my bodyguard. Oh, Himari-Himari, if I were sure that you had been entrusted with the secrets of my clan that you must pass on to me, I would have gone to open the collapsed space on Christmas Day. Who would know how tired I am of banging my forehead against the wall of my inability...

Entry sixty-eight.

As bright and colorful as spring is in Japan, winter is so gray and dreary. I wouldn't be surprised if the japs abandoned the Christmas tradition among Europeans precisely for the sake of colorful Christmas trees and garlands! There is no snow again, at least the ground is frozen. The signal perimeter has already been stretched for several kilometers in all directions, not as tightly as in the immediate vicinity, but still. The school is already inside the perimeter. However, there is still no one to look at the map - this is my next mistake. Apparently, planning is not my strong suit, I still "there" did not have any special abilities in this business, but here too strong childish emotions do not allow me to think through everything properly to the end.

I don't care about girls yet, though... although. I already feel something like that when I look at our homeroom teacher. And she is a woman with pronounced virtues. I noticed that some guys were also surreptitiously staring at her. Oh, oh, remembering my first childhood, when the sex hormones finally activate, will my head completely fail? I hope not, after all!

Of course, I figured out what to do with the map. For this purpose, I bought and assembled another computer and bought an external IP from the provider. Now I remember Visual Basic. Yes, yes, I know it sucks, but I didn't code anything else at the university, I'm sorry! And it will be relatively easy to attach the web interface to the program. It remains to figure out how to assemble the logic of receiving signals and make a mago-computer interface. Well, it looks like I'm the only person in the whole world who has SUCH problems right now! Even my mood improved.

Entry sixty-ninth.

Christmas passed, and Rinko's parents took her back to her relatives, just like last year. And I'm sculpting an "adapter" in the basement. I managed to order a controller board with a USB interface in a trivial way. Of course, it's not for tracking magical manifestations, it's just a banal fire alarm system with trigger marks. But you can attach 400 devices to it (a field of 20 x 20 contacts), which is what I need. However, even with a voltmeter and instructions with specifications, it's not so easy to avoid false alarms: I've been fucking for three days now. Well, again, judging by the hexadecimal code, this is the perimeter on the highway side. Hmm, but the tension is normal this time... Holy shit! A light on the map! Fuck, who did it bring?!

Part 9

Entry seventy.

I'm a big-eared fucker! Weapons! I should have at least tried to make a weapon. And I speculated pathetically and put this matter on the back burner! I only have a stunner, and that one is actually disposable. And this? Great, a knife with a button-down blade, "tourist". It's good that I bought it on sale, but it's not processed, and there's no time. And the source of the magic is moving at the speed of a moving car, it's already at the boundaries of the block, is it really here? No, he stopped. No, it's moving, but it's much slower now. Here he crossed the border of the block... Damn, he's really coming here! Okay, stop! Calm down immediately! The walls of the house are reinforced, you can't enlighten him with magic, and you can't just enter. The glass in the windows does not break or cut with a diamond, and the walls will withstand a tank shell. The walls are my parents, and the glass is already mine, as are the frames.

But he's really coming here! But he's not in a hurry, he's a bitch, like he's on a walk. so! Stop! One more time. Why is he coming? Analysis.

He arrived, judging by the speed, by car.

Yokai prefer to move on their own, they don't trust technology - this is according to the manga, but let's take it for granted. So far, there seemed to be no reason to doubt.

By car, it means a person. Giving a mark means a magician. Who are our active magicians? The exorcists. Police or Social... The committee even remembered the name from stress.

Could it be a spirit? Only if you took the bus.

Google. Public transport routes. No, not a bus. Taxi? Is unknown. But more like a human being.

Accepted - a representative of the magicians is coming here.

Advantages? Guaranteed defeat of the opponent in a fight if I touch him or get hit by a discharge. If there is an attack, it will be a physical one that does not attract attention, I am protected from the mental one.

The disadvantages of the situation? Juvenile colony. Stop, if it's on the street, at home, it's self-defense. Why should I let him in?

Should not. Maybe I'm not at home. Analysis: the purpose of the appearance? Most likely, it's a routine check of my residence. Analysis. The action should be regular, but not frequent (no one is interested in me yet, unless I got fired up with glasses then). If he had spoken to me last year, I would have remembered. Memory correction? What's the point? And the amulet blocks it, but you can't take it off. Hence, surveillance and questioning of neighbors. Is that logical? Logically. Ugh-ugh-ugh!

Pulse is under 180, blood is pumping in my ears. My heart is ready to jump out. But I'm protected now. And the walls of the house, and their status.

The only thing worth doing is to try to look at the Committee agent through the window, carefully so that he doesn't notice me. Most likely, this is my supervisor. Most likely, it provides operational surveillance. Not very often. Maybe once a month or once every six months, and most likely closer to the second. The gap between the street wall and the curtain in the bedroom on the second floor. Narrow. My eyesight is excellent. The street is in full view. And almost empty. A stranger should appear from that corner. Great. Calm the heartbeat, inhale, exhale. To wait. He's coming now...

Interlude 1. Employee of the Department of Work with Minors Ishiro Seizura, Social Committee

Ishiro walked leisurely along the street of this always quiet, surprisingly calm, slightly sleepy neighborhood. He had long been in love with the streets of his hometown, in general, that's why he ended up in his position. Он давно был влюблен в улицы своего родного города, в общем-то, именно поэтому и оказался на своем посту. Above the position of social inspector, the next step is the social controller, one for the whole city. The controller, of course, is also from the Jiguji clan, which gives certain opportunities to the subordinate for various manipulations... if Ishiro wanted to see them off. There are not enough really capable families of exorcists left. Over the past fifty years, as many as three influential groups have descended from the scene of events onto the pages of history... and it gave his clan an opportunity to rise. Illegitimate children with at least a tiny bit of strength, who renounced their last name, foreign fugitives who wanted to fall under the wing of a strong patron - they were all accepted, perhaps not by a very friendly, but definitely by a large and strong family. This affected the internal climate of the clan.

Namagomi. The scavengers. That's what the clan was called behind its back. Jinguji accepted everything. And offensive nicknames, and fragments of other people's knowledge. They collected artifacts. They encouraged the most adventurous plans if they led to one thing. Strength and power. And not to say that it turned out very badly. It worked out well. At least, the creation of a Social Committee, pushed through the Clan Council, which became a de facto parallel structure to the police forces, where magically gifted law enforcement officers were traditionally supplied by the Tsuchimikado clan, perfectly demonstrated the increasing influence of the crescent bearers. The Exorcist Department of the police investigated crimes where Yokai were present (mostly murders, although there were also thefts, body seizures, and sometimes banal begging) and punished criminals. The Social Committee became the one who looked after the guards and did other "unnecessary" work. He found and controlled unregistered or ordinary-born magicians, monitored the non-magical activities of clans and their individual representatives, and monitored the manifestations of non-criminal activity of Yokai in cities. He looked after mixed married couples of humans and spirits. Polite, non-intrusive. And he recorded all the events in detail. The dossiers in the databases grew line by line, and the folders on the shelves grew thicker. So far, the Jinguji have not shown any obvious activity towards rival clans, but the volume of compromising material on individual high-born asses sitting in high office chairs, as Ishiro suspected, has already gained critical mass. It would be possible to move to the statistics department, the social inspector has already been offered an analytical position several times, to which he was clearly predisposed. And then there was career growth, and maybe, in the case of a successful job, a modest analyst in ten years would be offered to marry one of the younger daughters of the side branches. And their children would already have a surname and a crescent moon on their foreheads: the young clan, unlike the swaggering and arrogant ancients, understood perfectly well that power is not only in magic and ancestral abilities. Often, the ability to think is more important than the ability to use a fireball.

However, Ishiro refused. He loved the streets too much and despised intrigue and politics too much. Let the younger ones build a career and fight for the right to join the younger families. He's satisfied with his work, just done well.

"... Here's kso, it's gone wrong again," Ishiro took his hands out of his pockets, looking around the dim and gray street after the bright lights of Christmas. "And there's no snow again." He had been here more than once, since the Amakawa couple and their child had settled here. A youthful, energetic husband and wife, glowing with magical aura energy. And a gray, "ordinary", sullen child in between.

"That's it, Mr. Inspector-san. Listen here, I'm not going to repeat it. We came here to live, just to live. Don't interrupt! We are not interested in the past or the exorcists' cases. Don't worry, we will protect our house. Our son, too."

"But I have to check how gifted civilians are living without a seal..."

"Don't worry, Inspector-san, we haven't forgotten how to kill Yokai. However, we will see you twice a year, we are ordinary, law-abiding citizens."

For some reason, Ishiro couldn't remember their faces back then. He remembered all the phrases he had said and heard, remembered how the lips, male and female, moved when pronouncing words. It was as if he himself couldn't look up at them, couldn't look into their eyes.

He came here three more times and found the whole family three times. He greeted them, politely asked about the weather and health, and asked if the esteemed Amakawa needed anything. And he invariably received a refusal and assurances that everything was fine, purposefully put a check mark on the workaround list (so as not to think that he had come on his own initiative or for some other purpose) and left. The fourth time, he was disrupted from his rounds just a week after visiting a house on a quiet street in a slightly sleepy neighborhood. Crash. So banal, so simple. Two cars collided head-on on an empty street. Things happen. Even with exorcists who can outrun an Olympic sprinter like a cheetah can outrun a turtle. Accident, speeding and negligence on the road - Amakawa did not buckle up. That's what the gloomy, disheveled Tsuchimikado investigator said, you can trust these guys. There was no sign of Yokai around the accident site, but then the clan leader changed his principles and sent an emissary. Amakawa's heir died, as did his wife. Death was instantaneous. That's it. There's only one child left, and judging by the empty aura, he's not a magician.

Then he was called by the exhausted Shigura-senpai, the then social controller.

"Ishiro," he said, "please do everything around the last Amakawa, according to the will. Transfer the money there and make payments. Little Yuto should get boarding. And make sure that no one is hanging around him... from other clans.

"But, Shiguro-san! The child! He just turned nine! Custody..."

"There are no relatives, you know as well as I do!"

"How can you do this to a child?!"

Shiguro exhaled, pulled off his glasses, and narrowed his already narrow eyes at his subordinate in a tired, short-sighted way.

"It's politics, Ishiro-kun, it's fucking vile politics. We can't dispute the will, his parents gave three copies to three clans. No contact before the age of 16. Not to educate about our "world", the world of Yokai and magicians - "let the child have a childhood" is how they wrote it."

"But we..."

"We can't do anything. He is the heir, the clan formally exists."

"And how do we base this on our neighbors? Driving Crazy Ibiki around again, brainwashing the neighbors?"

"No, it looks like the boy's parents did something... preemptively."

"Something? Have you done it?"

"They did not violate the agreement - there are no traces of magical interference. Maybe it was simply bribed. I don't know and I don't want to know. Do you know what the rumors were about these Amakawa?"

"What kind of rumors are these!?"

Shiguro put his glasses back on and straightened up in his chair.

"I probably shouldn't repeat that to me..." He began hesitantly. "The Amakawa were called spirit tamers."

"I heard that."

"But I saw it. Once, when I was a kid." Shigura habitually poked his forehead with his finger, pointing to the crescent moon: they say, I've been stewing in this broth since birth.

"The spectacle is not for the faint of heart. The spirit reeks of Strength and Thirst, twisting my guts, and he came up and stroked my head. He barely glows against the background of such power, but he is completely calm! "Nice, sweet kitty." And she looks at you like you're at lunch, and she's scared to her wet pants. This is the grandfather of our ward, who brought a pet to the Tsuchimikado house. "Routine checkup," br-r, as I remember, I shudder."

"But still, a child..." the social inspector tried to return to the previous topic, but the boss just shook his head...

Shaking his head, Ishiro dispersed his circling thoughts - the house he was looking for was visible at the end of the street. Gray-white, similar to the neighboring houses, like a brother. There was no light in the windows. Ishiro really wanted to go to the gate right away, to see if everything was all right?

Still alone at home... But you can't. Instead, the inspector rang the intercom at the street gate of the first house on the street. He waited, but no one answered. He moved on to the next one, then crossed the roadway and called the house across the street. He smiled politely at a young mother with a toddler in her arms, introduced himself as a social inspector (it was true), and made an appropriate facial expression. Speaking memorized phrases so that they sound sincere is a talent and a lot of practice. The woman quickly invited him into the house, set down a traditional glass of tea, verbally and in detail answered questions about playgrounds and the availability of fresh milk within walking distance, and Ishiro searched the neighborhood of the house with his weak spell. Empty. A magical vacuum. At the same time, he did not stop listening and even marked several defects found by his mother in the children's complex near the park. Ishiro never forgot to send information to the right place, and then make sure that the authorities worked out. For this and for his ability to speak, he was always sent on "long-distance" trips to the private sector away from the skyscrapers of the city center. Who can say - they moved it, but the social inspector was happy. No, the mother and her Girlfriends did not notice any strange silhouettes, or strangers disappearing or appearing.

"Yuto-kun from the end of the street? Yes, I feel sorry for the guy, they say, his distant relatives are watching him, but the girl around him is his younger cousin. I must have looked for a groom, in advance, hee-hee. No, he's not so gloomy, he's calmed down and got over it. Oh, what a worry, on the contrary, I'm glad that you're "our" inspector! Come back again!"

After walking the entire street like that, Ishiro braked in front of Yuta Amakawa's house. It's empty, there's no light in the windows. The lawn seems to be tidy, the windows are not dusty, you can immediately see that people live there. He reached for the call button, pulled his hand back. By God, if they had met a child on the street, he would have... violated the order. I would have asked, maybe I could have helped, nothing more. There wasn't a single glimmer of magic in the house, it was completely empty. They say there are ways to seal a gift securely. What happens if he suddenly wakes up? Although what is one untrained kid worth? "I hope Amakawa's creepy fame will pass you by, kid. It's often better to remain an ordinary person, believe me," the man thought and moved towards the intersection. After all, the authorities and the city have only him, how many more quiet, slightly sleepy streets are waiting for him ahead? Naturally, he did not feel any glances from the second floor, from the narrow gap between the frame and the curtain...

Interlude 2. Fourth year student of Kues Jinguji. England, Hogwarts... Ugh, the British Magic School (aka the British Magic Academy)

"Hey, hello, you nasty Slytherin!" Kues-tyn, like a comet, aided by her long black unrestrained hair, swept through the laboratory, flew across the bench with just a flutter of her robe, and finished at a massive worktable, slamming her ass against the hard seat. Neither the countertop nor the bench reacted to the provocation in any way: being made of solid oak, supported by simple wooden legs, the furniture seemed to be able to serve as the roof of an air raid shelter, it was so solid and heavy. For example, the "princess" Jinguji's palm and fingers would not be long enough to grasp the tabletop by the edge.

"If I'm a Slytherin, the guy waved off wearily, but somehow maliciously, then you're Luna Lovegood!"

"You're Lovegood! And I am beautiful and amazing..."

"...Myrtle the crybaby..."

"That's it. Wha-at?! Like a snake, it's not for nothing that your last name is Malfoy!"

"Malcolm! My last name is Malcolm, write it down somewhere..." The boy's eyes searched the figure of his neighbor and stopped in the chest area, "uh, on the forehead."

"Well, yes, you're lying! Platinum blonde hair? Respond. A pretty face? Also a checkmark. The ability to make a face like you're trying to remember if you swallowed your morning slug for breakfast... Yes, that's right, even the color is aristocratic green!

"Kues, stop it!"

"And now I'll say this: ho-o-o-one-e-e-e-y!"

"That's it, I'll settle for a slug!!! Just don't make me hear it for the three hundred and ninety-first time every day!"

"You're also counting?! How lovely! Just wait, we have only three hundred and sixty-one girls in our school, on all streams..."

"Another twenty-nine times is Anna."

"Cami. I sympathize with you, my friend, be strong. I've heard an ancient legend that once upon a time, a brave knight with a pure soul was able to leave Anna-senpai's chambers in one piece..."

"Don't poison your soul!"

"..For his verses were so terrible that only his armor with a gauntleted helmet saved him from the punishing vase... night time."

"Kha. And this is an idea!"

"A night vase?!"

"The armor! With a blind helmet and a visor with a lock from the inside! We have just such things at home, we just need to pick up the one that is not the most rusty..."

The guy and the girl exchanged glances and laughed, imagining this scene. Then Kues finally got up from the bench and began preparing the experienced tools, Malcolm took over the ingredients. While everything was set up, obviously not for the first time, the occasionally giggling children calmed down and, while waiting for the Doctor of Philosophy in Metaphysics, Trelloni O'Reilly, a pure-blooded red Irishman, they started fighting again.

"Aren't the radishes in your ears too tight?"

"Radishes are not for me. But I can't figure out how the filmmakers overlooked you. You're perfect for the role of the mysterious jerk."

"Entertain the plebeians and peasants?" Malcolm stuck out his lip ostentatiously. "Not really. And who's going to let me in? I'm an a-ris-toc-rat!"

"Well, well, don't frown! I've heard that outside the walls our fun college is now only called Hogwarts."

"Don't take that name in vain! They say our Magister [the rector here] has vowed to kick out of the Academy anyone who mentions this word close enough to his ears for him to hear it."

"Yeah, they say that at the board of trustees meeting, some wisecracker from the Americans managed to ask him if he really flies on a broom on business."

"So what?"

"And nothing. The table was replaced, they apologized, and the stuttering itself went away on the third day. The American, I'm asking."

"Wow! How is this so?"

"Lightning. I wouldn't have held back either."

"Yeah. Do you remember how mcDougan, the teacher of artefactorics, screamed that Rowling's wand was missing in one place when she was scribbling? "Any object, playing the role of a mediator, takes away, takes away, your mother, energy and dissipates the direction of the spell...""

"I remember-remember..."

The young people fell silent, recalling that lesson, which was amazing in terms of the number of obscene expressions (many students also wrote down unfamiliar words in order to clarify them later with their English classmates). But soon Malcolm stirred and, glancing at the door (the teacher is late again!), turned back to the witch.

"You know, Kues, I never would have thought that I would be able to communicate with a girl like a friend. It's good that you're like this... Er..... normal!"

"It's just that these fools, our girls, didn't come here to study, but to look for a husband. Cows! If only they could think with their brains, since nothing else has grown," the girl shook her chest. Then she gave Malcolm a sly sideways glance and continued, "Maybe I'd fall for you too, but I already have a fiance. No worse than you!"

"Ha!"

"So much for ha! We even kissed!"

"Ah... Damn it! Really? And how?"

"How's that? Well, uh. Nice. Very much," the "princess" was rapidly blushing. "And don't you dare ask me for such embarrassing details, you damn Slytherin!!"

"Minus ten points from Gryffindor!" Dr. O'Reilly stormed through the lab door and plopped down in a creaking chair. "For shouting in the office, Miss Lovegood."

[in two voices] "Teacher! And you go there too!!!"

Interlude 3. The boundary of the city park from the mountain reserve. The Corpse Eater and the River Goddess Mizuchi

"Three more people were killed today." Mizuchi looked past her boss friend. A little girl riding on a fir branch. So fragile and defenseless... if you don't know how to see the aura of mighty power around her body.

"They say that Yokai's physical body reflects our inner age or our strongest experience," the River Snake's interlocutor thought, "and the second is definitely true."

"And he asked aloud:"

"Hunters or showdowns?"

"A showdown, you know."

The man rubbed his forehead painfully. These literally suicidal fights of the younger spirits unsettled him. It is clear that most spirits are not born into families where the union of parents, if the spirits manage to create sufficiently perfect bodies for themselves, already intelligent and extremely strong Yokai are obtained. Like the Goddess of Rivers, for example. But most rise from the animal kingdom, born from places of natural concentration of power or human emotions. Crushing and killing crowds of the same little ones, they slowly reach the level of self-awareness. And when they realize it, they reach out to human settlements to look and learn, it happens instinctively. So what? There are a thousand ways to get energy, absorb, generate, steal or give birth. And intelligent spirits, it is worth turning away a little, they bite with all their teeth, jaws and limbs, trying to tear and eat their neighbor. Or even just tear it up, without purpose or meaning.

Yokai remembered how he realized himself on the battlefield, among hundreds and hundreds of corpses of Japanese and American soldiers. How, at first, with an appetite, and then with more and more horror, he watched the work of his own jaws. The residual energy of death overwhelmed him, but one thought, the thought that he was destroying the last memory of sentients, made him step away from the most luxurious table in his life. A lot has happened since then: Japan collapsed, captured by the enemy, and rose from the ashes like a jasperwing phoenix. People got out of poverty and even began to give others the opportunity to gain some of their knowledge. He straightened his tie, and there was not a single spot on his perfectly white shirt. He learned to read and write, and he read many books in many libraries. He saw how the total war between the spirits who had gone mad from the explosions and the horrors of the war and the spirits who had lost their minds from permissiveness with the exorcists was gradually coming to naught. Twenty years ago, he came to this slope and sat down next to a mountain stream. For nineteen years, there was no one who would challenge his authority. Eighteen years ago, he began to teach everyone who wanted to Yokai his knowledge, acquired some by accident, some at the risk of his life, and some through painful thought and countless attempts to find a grain in a pile of garbage. And what did he achieve? Two, there are only two of them, whom he can call his like-minded spirit, perhaps friends. Hawk-nosed, who prefers to be called by his nickname, and does not like the human form, and Mizuchi, who hates exorcists, is only slightly weaker than she values her life. No, there were also about thirty different spirits, usually ten times weaker than each of the three, who considered the Devourer to be a mentor, someone to be a senior associate, and someone to be just a senior nakama. How slowly they progress... And will any of them be able to understand him?

"The situation in the city is getting worse, you know," the snake continued to report, making sure that her "boss" had returned his thoughts from the clouds to the ground again. "We barely managed to intercept two more madmen from the mountains coming to prey on human flesh. We were incredibly lucky when someone was able to finish off the caterpillar Tayata. You know. The hunters raided the city and the urban part of the park cleanly, we managed and were able to take shelter. One more breakthrough with the murders, and they'll take us seriously, no matter what maneuvers, you know. And most of your "students" are just sluggish meat, no matter what you think of them. You know."

"Cami! We would like to establish contact with the Social Committee or the police..."

"..And they'll kill you right there, you know! An intelligent Yokai trying to get in touch is too suspicious even for Jinguji!"

"But all we can do is just patrol our border!"

"And that's the only reason they don't touch us. They think, you know, that we are defending ourselves from competitors."

"But this can't go on forever - let's let someone through. And then what?"

"And then we'll drop everything we've created here and go on the run, you know. Or die. Killing exorcists for protection will definitely not be allowed. You know."

***

This is the situation that has developed "on the fronts" at the moment, shortly after Christmas 2007, in a medium-sized Japanese city and in a seemingly private but highly respected school of magic. Of course, Yuto didn't know any of this. But after making sure on the map that the bearer of magic had moved beyond the perimeter of the scanning seals, and after waiting another half hour to be sure, he called one of the neighbors to borrow soy sauce and at the same time unobtrusively asked about the visitor. Having thus learned about the frequency of "surveillance" of himself, Yuto, using a trophy sauce, very skillfully cooked himself a pack of store-bought dumplings, simultaneously wondering what the Social Inspection wanted from him. Having come to the conclusion that he was most likely being celebrated for a "tick" (of course, with such a frequency), the future head of Amakawa wondered if he himself, in that case, should go out to social workers... Not now, but when he's ready. Just catch the inspector and ask him to tell you "about everything." And listen to how much they lie.

Entry seventy-one.

Wow, how flattened I am. Nervous release after stress - as soon as I went down to the basement, and here it is - a rollback from a few hours spent in tension. My hands were shaking in the most natural way, and my head felt like cotton wool. Only a few times I had to experience all the "delights" of such a state "there". I'd like some cognac now... or vodka. But they won't sell alcohol to a child, even in a supermarket. A teenager of about fourteen would be sold - his relatives may well send him to the store for "adult" purchases, but the child is not. I don't know how "out there" in Japan is with this, but here everything is strict... Damn, I found something to think about.

Usually my reaction to stress is a long reflection, for several hours I just lose touch with reality, replaying past events in my head, making sure that everything has passed and there will be no continuation - right now... The problem was that now I couldn't afford to blow my nose, figuratively speaking. I chose my path, the path of conscious rejection of a quiet, peaceful life... for five years. I chose it because at the beginning of the "problematic" 2012, I don't want to be cannon fodder, maybe a little more elite than the "low-level" fighters of Jinguja and other clans. But even the Kues were allowed to be used for meat.

In the probable future described in the manga, the young mega-witch was still waiting for a not very quick, but painful death. A ridiculous, stupid death. And therefore very plausible.

It's just that no one taught the future head of Jinguja how to fight. There was undoubtedly a collision experience, but the opponents were apparently so much lower in class that the girl didn't even have any problems.

Irritation. It was the death of Kues in the manga that made me very angry back then, and now, mentally turning over the pages of the still-future story in my memory, I felt the same feeling, only even stronger. And it wasn't that I was attracted to that painted girl. She was no prettier than the beautiful Himari, who was much more useful. And none of the girls, who for me remained, to be honest, for the most part, just flat black-and-white pictures, even slightly forgotten, can compare with Rinko, alive and real. Something else annoyed me.

An aimless waste of a unique, irreplaceable resource! Kues could be any kind of person, maybe not very smart in everyday communication, a lover of showing her ego and demonstrating superiority at every opportunity, yes kso! She was only sixteen, maybe seventeen years old. It's like throwing it in a landfill... No, not even an atomic bomb... a randomly found alien spaceship, preserved in excellent condition. Just because during the construction of the shopping center, when they were digging a foundation pit, it got caught under the bucket of an excavator and prevented the construction of an underground garage. No, not to throw it away, but to deliberately destroy it, they say, such an incomprehensible, probably dangerous thing, suddenly it will fall into the hands of competitors. The freaks! I hate it!

Wow, how the auto-training helped, my hands stopped shaking! And the way the fists clench... Fists, yes. Nothing has happened yet... but so far, all my hatred is the legendary "anger of a hamster in a cage." I can't change anything... And I can't, not in the position I'm in right now. Even if I rip off the amulet... and I will survive this event... No matter how much I train as a magician, I can't imagine any power on my own. And it's not necessary, it's not only dangerous, it's harmful. My strength, the strength of Amakawa, the strength of the Ferry of Light, and mine personally, is not in magic or muscles. Odin, no matter how strong he is, is not a warrior in the field, and the death of Kues in the "canon" was natural. But I have something more respectable in my hands than the notorious "nano factory" from some space opera. And thanks to my native department at the university - unlike the hero of that space opera, I know what a "scientific approach" is, and I know how to use logic. And even - here's a cheat from cheats! - I know how to use Google search! My only problem is that I need time to realize my advantages... and companions. And if everything is fine with the first one, then the second one is still to be dealt with and dealt with. And maybe I should do it right now, because I won't be able to continue working on the map anyway.

***

The child, nervously pacing the concrete floor of the basement, suddenly stopped and, smiling, looked affectionately at the racks of cages. The poor unfortunate rodents, who had been calmly engaged in important daily tasks like eating and sleeping, had their fur standing on end. Oh my God! It's a premonition! The scariest feeling for a hamster, much worse than the feeling of approaching mortal danger! They wanted to force them...

Work!!!

Part 10

Interlude 4. Mountain hotel at mineral hot springs, Rinko Kuzaki, a junior high school student, and her parents.

The Kuzakis quietly watched their restless daughter: the road to the hotel at the springs, where her father's sister worked and half of which was owned by her father's sister, was quite narrow, winding and, as a result, slow and long. Naturally, the father did not want to accelerate and thereby endanger the life of his family.

They were waiting for a week during which the family had traditionally, for many years now, used the "official position" of the owners' relatives, and when it was possible to spend all day not doing a little boring notary work (this is Tsukiro Kuzaki) or working with real estate (and this is her husband), but walking all day. in casual traditional clothes, helping the "sister", cooking for the guests of the establishment, sweeping the paths or just relaxing, gazing at the majestic and beautiful mountain landscapes. That's not to mention bathing.

This family tradition appeared eight years ago, when it became clear that their baby daughter, the fruit of their early love, because of which they were almost cursed by Tsukiro's parents, turned out to be so weak that a normal childhood for the child had to be given up. Rinko could not walk normally - the muscles did not have enough effort for the child to even stand normally without holding on to the wall or the mother's hand. And that was the end. The end, at least, of her mother's career, the career she had longed for... and which turned out to be so unnecessary. Violation of the metabolic functions of the placenta in the third trimester of pregnancy is a diagnosis made after the fact by doctors. Where were they, these experts, when she was carrying a child! Then it was still possible to do at least something, but now?! The young woman's hands dropped and tears welled up in her eyes, but her daughter's father was not like that. Realizing that traditional medicine predicts his daughter's path to disability, he turned to alternative medicine. Anything to get this daughter to walk! One of the "healers" recommended taking the child to the mineral waters: with the help of her parents, it was easier for her to stay on the water than to walk, and daily temperature effects on the muscles should have a beneficial effect. If you find a suitable source and if the spirits of this place are supportive.

Her husband's sister welcomed them cordially: despite the fact that the hotel was traditionally packed with people during the holidays, there were rooms in a distant "non-guest" house, food, and the opportunity to sit in hot water as much as you want. In addition to the separate outdoor serviced baths, there were a couple more reservoirs on the "shelf" of the mountain slope, one of which had boiling water (and the favorite pastime of tourists was to cook eggs in nets there, as the hotel staff carefully told them, and eggs, along with a carefully prepared net, could be purchased in the kitchen), and the second one was "heavy water". It was unknown why, but it was possible to sit in such water for five minutes, and then it began to mercilessly "press" on the skin and twist the joints, the head began to ache. And on the fifth day of their stay, following the recommendations of the "healer", it was their turn to reach the far reservoir. The natural reservoir, which bears almost no human traces, was surprisingly not empty.

A man and a woman calmly settled down in a "heavy" pool and did not plan to get out. And judging by the conversation, their head wasn't going to hurt. Out of politeness, after waiting for a couple of minutes, the Kuzaki couple nevertheless went down to the water and, as soon as they stepped into the pond, they immediately felt all the "charms" painted by the co-owner of the hotel. However, little Rinko, contrary to expectations, did not cry, she actually cried very rarely for a three-year-old toddler. The girl stubbornly tried to swim, but she couldn't do it very well, and the water with unpleasant properties clearly hampered her movements. The father of the family was already figuring out whether to pull the child out now or still hope for a miracle and keep it in the other source for as long as possible, when suddenly he heard a conversation behind his back.

"... So small and so stubborn!"

"Yes, she's just like my husband," Tsukiro forced a smile.

She did not go into the water - after staying in several reservoirs for several hours (and so for 4 days), she was already a little shaky when walking, and her husband ordered her not to go into the "harmful" spring.

"Dear? The woman turned to her escort. By the way, they were both standing, dressed in yukata, with completely dry hair. And how did you manage to get out and walk around the pool so quickly and unnoticed?

"At your discretion," the man grimaced slightly.

"My husband," she said, turning back to Tsukiro, "has a special technique, like acupuncture. It's not exactly a cure, but it can help your brave daughter. If you like..."

"Anything to help!" Kuzaki carried his daughter out of the water and looked incredulously at the towel rolled out on a flat boulder.

"What do you want, right here?"

"Yes, why delay?" The stranger shrugged his shoulders. "It's not long, two minutes at most."

"And what, will it help in two minutes?"

"It may help," the interlocutor clarified pedantically. Reluctantly laying the child down (the girl was still silently enduring all the actions she was doing to herself), he unwrapped the towel and took a step back. And he began to watch his counterpart suspiciously. However, he did not do anything special: he bent over the stone, long, sensitive fingers ran over the body of the little patient, lingering a little, kneaded the too soft muscles of the legs, rubbed his hands. Then he took the girl's head in his hands for a second... and he rose to his full height.

"That is all. The result will show up after a while."

The mother picked up and wrapped her child, it was obvious that she was ready to cry. Her lips were moving, you could make out a whisper: "Cami, if only it would help, if only something would help, give at least hope, cami!"

"Excuse us," Kuzaki bowed, making up for the impoliteness of his wife, who was already walking away along the path to the hotel. "My wife is very worried, she didn't mean to offend you at all! And thank you. How can I thank you?"

"Do not mention it." it is unclear why the man smiled crookedly in response. "Your daughter's physical health will soon be the envy of. But nothing is given for free, in return for the physical, your daughter should have grown up to be an outstanding intellectual. A mathematician, a chess player, maybe a brilliant engineer and a writer. Yes, confined to a wheelchair. My... treatment... it will make the body stronger, but in return, any other person would remain a moron, and your daughter will remain just an ordinary person. I don't know if this is the best fate."

There was nothing like that in the self-appointed doctor's voice or posture, just an ordinary middle-aged Japanese man. But his simple words struck the father of the sick girl from head to toe like an electric shock, and he immediately realized: yes, it will be so.

Rinko will get up and walk and run too. And as for outstanding intelligence... What kind of happiness would it be for a girl if she couldn't even get up on her own. A miracle! This is the miracle they prayed to the spirits and gods for!

Kuzaki literally fell at the feet of his daughter's savior, touching his forehead to the rocky ground. And no matter how much the startled couple tried to lift him up, he did not agree to get up until they told him how he could help them. Upon learning that he was engaged in real estate, the man and the woman exchanged glances and asked for help choosing a house. Preferably in a quiet and cozy neighborhood in the city. The next day, Rinko woke up her sleeping parents, demanding to be taken out for a walk. She was still not very stable, but she was standing on her feet with complete confidence. Is it any wonder that the Amakawa couple soon found themselves neighbors of the Kuzakas?

Memories of wonderful things - no fooling around! - During the healing process, we returned to Rinko's parents every time they went to the mountain hotel for a "Christmas vacation" after Christmas. There was so much despair, hope, and, after successful healing, happiness back then... and they felt so much pride and happiness looking at their daughter now. Especially now. After all, she is already so big and independent, she even started wearing glasses, although with her perfect eyesight they are not really needed... and so touchingly he takes care of the orphaned Yuto! Well, just a couple! And they, the parents, were not at all against a possible affair. However, here the thoughts of the husband and wife were different. If Tsukiro felt more sorry for the poor child, orphaned so early and deprived of parental warmth, the loss of which, if possible, needed to be compensated in some way - to help, as they themselves had once been helped by Amakawa. Her husband, who perfectly remembered that long-ago conversation immediately after the healing, understood perfectly well: neither medicine, nor massage, nor acupuncture could give such a result... and with such a side effect. Amakawa's inhuman abilities, which were more suitable for spirits or kami, clearly could not be attributed to naturally occurring events. Witchcraft, magic, generic ability, whatever you want to call it. Possessing better analytical abilities and well-trained attention to detail than his wife (and you can't become a good real estate agent otherwise), Kuzaki saw perfectly well how, since the purchase of the house by the sorcerer family, loud hysterical quarrels from neighbors from the third house on the street quickly stopped, as the eternally ill pensioners from the fifth for some reason they began to go grocery shopping themselves, and the old grandfather, who was always pawning his collar, became a model of sobriety. It was as if someone had expertly cleaned out the sources of irritation and minor troubles from their neighborhood... Thankfully, there weren't any big ones. And he, Kuzaki, knew perfectly well who these "someone" were. Kuzaki's family had never been cultivators or grain growers, their family, as far as it was possible to trace, were servants of one of the minor samurai clans, servants and warriors, if necessary. Along with the kicks of his grandfather, who is always swearing at his untalented grandson, the son of his worthless son, who is even ashamed to give a stick in his hand, not like bokken, he has to some extent adopted their family philosophy. "Serve the worthy," my grandfather used to say, telling family stories. Then, at the hot spring, he prayed for an errand precisely because of this desire. To serve the heavenly reward. And in the last year, he began to notice something. Even if little Yuto looks much weaker than Rinko, even if their childish communication has not changed at all, but it is the girl who has now become the leader in their pair.

"What happened to you? Was there something scary in the park?"

"No, it wasn't. Yuto protected me."

My daughter followed the family path with dignity!

***

Rinko, of course, had no idea what thoughts were going through her parents' heads. It wasn't often that the girl found herself outside the city, in nature, only the traditional week-long vacation at the springs in the mountains and a couple of days on the beach in the summer: her parents were busy people. While they were driving along the highway, passing suburbs and villages, the girl did not see anything unusual. But then the transnational highway was replaced by a regional one, then just a regional road turned aside, and then they taxied onto a narrow serpentine mountain road leading to the pass. It was here that the springs were located, and apart from the once-a-day regular bus and the hotel minibus, only rare local cars could be found along the way, living in two small villages beyond the pass. However, they preferred to swim where they needed to by water - both faster and more convenient than on a winding road.

The girl was absentmindedly looking at the surrounding landscape, floating behind her, and her thoughts were far from the road and from the springs.

"Another not-so-fun birthday," she thought. "And again without Yuto. Sometimes parents still overdo it with their "correctness and upbringing." Even though the guy is worried about his parents, surely he won't think that everyone else will stop celebrating their birthday? And it's boring there without him."

That's what, but Yuto was never boring, and the more they talked, the more interesting and mysterious he opened up to her! They hadn't talked much before his parents' death, and Rinko honestly considered her friend to be a sullen, withdrawn boy who couldn't hit back. Yeah, well, she was always good with punches. The family inheritance must have finally manifested itself. Her father kept lamenting that her grandfather had not lived to see her win the district kendo competition among ten-year-olds this spring. And when Amakawa said that he was from a family of exorcists, it was funny! Very! Until his strange magic manifested. However, magic was not very good, except for the time when they counted the bugs in the floor of his house (Brr! The horror!!) Yuto showed his powers in front of her a few times: when he enchanted glasses (Rinko adjusted the glasses on her nose), when he enchanted dishes from breaking and when ... yes, when he protected her from that incomprehensible crap two years ago. Admittedly, she didn't see much at the time: just a vague silhouette that detached itself from the darkness beyond the circle of light from a street lamp, rushing towards her at the speed of a train... and it split into two halves, melting away with a strange liquid smoke. The girl shrugged her shoulders shiveringly and shook her head to get rid of the shadow of the horror she had experienced. It's better to remember what was good.

And there were a lot of good and funny things. Yuto turned out to be an enthusiastic inventor, an inspired storyteller, and demonstrated a shocking agility of thought in conducting experiments of interest to him. Hamsters alone are worth a lot! And the rocket? Wow, the chemist turned pale later, as soon as their class came to a science lesson, if it was devoted to chemistry! And also... Then Kuzaki Jr. was distracted from her memories and stared out the window. Something flashed by, something wrong... unusual... Rinko noticed the first faintly glowing blue dot higher up the slope, along which their car was crawling at a speed of thirty kilometers per hour. Dangerous road, speed is limited... Then another flashed below the tops of the passing trees as the Kuzaki family's car drove onto a straight stretch of serpentine... And here's the third one... It's strange that it could be so small, not cicadas, and even those don't glow... Wait, what kind of cicadas are in the mountains and at two degrees Celsius? And then it hit me-the glasses! After so many days of magical vacuum, the magosensor finally found something to visualize! And the higher up in the mountains, the more points there were. Some were floating slowly in the sky (not too high, the glasses were "blind" at thirty or forty meters), others were swarming in the branches. Still others were on the ground or in the ground, one dot even flew through the windshield, completely ignoring the matter, flashed past Rinko and disappeared behind the car. There was no doubt left - Kuzaki had heard about little harmless spirits living in the woods and in the mountains, and scary stories about will-o'-the-wisps too. However, not a single spirit reached the ogonyok. Some of the visible dots were brighter, of course, but once I caught a glimpse of something resembling the silhouette of a mouse, and that was it.

Having settled into their familiar house in the backyard of the hotel, Rinko habitually harnessed herself to the general turmoil of the staff: she helped in the kitchen (it was there that the chefs taught her how to cook almost better than her mother!), washed the floor, started huge washing machines that washed clothes and yukata, hung up the washed clothes and performed dozens more small but important orders. And how nice it is to relax in the pool after physical exertion, from where all the visitors have left, to occupy it like an important person, alone or with cousins...

And all this time, the girl noticed the spirits: there were fewer of them on the territory of the hotel - somehow people were bothering them. But some non-material guests, on the contrary, behaved sociably - jostled at a street lamp, followed one of the hotel guests, swam in the water column in the pools. There were really a lot of them only in the stone bowl at the edge of the territory, a natural reservoir of "heavy" water, which was unpleasant to climb into and in which you couldn't stand for more than five minutes. The most interesting thing is that if you scoop up water from the tank, for example, with a bucket- then at least hold your arm or leg until the evening - no effect.

Interestingly, Yuto didn't say anything about the little Yokai when he warned her about her behavior if she noticed something magical with the glasses, apparently he just didn't know about them. The spirits didn't do anything to anyone, and after a day Rinko stopped paying special attention to them... until small dots flew past her right through the walls, hurrying to get away from her... The girl turned and almost fell. A glowing female silhouette could be seen right through the wooden wall of the house. A silhouette engulfed in invisible blue flames, beating around the figure as if in the wind.

Entry seventy-two.

I killed the first hamster pretty quickly today: after superimposing a web of lines, as I remembered them and redrawn them from the Rinko structure, the animal lasted about half an hour. Despite the fact that it's a hamster and that I specifically bought it as a laboratory animal, its death really stressed me out. After applying the "Ferry", the hamster abruptly changed the pattern of movements: instead of smooth, imposing ones, they were sharp and impetuous. Moreover, I got the impression that the rodent suddenly stopped recognizing familiar objects: it sensitively pressed against the bars of the cage several times, tried for a long time to chew sawdust from the bottom, and then, finally finding food, began to hide it. Moreover, if the attempt to bury it in sawdust can still be attributed to an awakened instinct, then throwing grains through the bars did not climb into any gate at all. And the amplitude and power of the movements continued to increase. After a few minutes, the hamster was already screaming with every movement, and bruises began to collect under the skin. When the little body stopped shaking and breathing, I finally approached the cage. And I found that my "inventory" was at least missing a scalpel and a binocular magnifier, or better yet, a microscope. It seems that I can only determine the cause of death "by eye", because I simply have nothing to open the corpse with. It looks like it's internal bleeding, because the limbs are swollen, they literally turned blue. But if not for such obvious symptoms, the hamster would have died in vain. And I need to do something about my eternal fuck planning problems, otherwise the first fight will be my last!

Peace be upon your ashes, hamster, forgive me your death. It wasn't that pointless. I'm having a bad day today. It's better to try to learn the map anyway. Burnt-out controllers are at least easy to replace.

Interlude 4. Part 2

For a few seconds, Rinko just stared at the fiery silhouette, unable to believe what she was seeing. Her face must have been such at that moment that an unknown Yokai would surely have guessed that he was being seen somehow wrong. Or is it a magician? The girl shook her head convulsively. Concentrate! Yuto gave clear instructions: Whatever happens, keep the poker face. Funny word - Yuto-kun had to explain the translation first, then the meaning, and then teach her, Rinko, to play poker. The memory made her smile: Rinko eventually figured out the rules and quickly started winning, considering that they were playing to visit an amusement park, the guy managed to lose as many as two trips! After that, he refused to play cards with her flatly.

Just focus. "I'm-very-busy-and-going-on-business, especially since there really is a case! Chanting this mantra to herself, Rinko slid open the front door and stepped out onto a narrow veranda without a railing. And here... the girl hurriedly took off her glasses, pretending that something got on the glass, because it was indecent to look at a calmly walking along the path, an unremarkable woman at first glance. But through the enchanted glass, the picture opened up to a completely different one: the facial expression from afar looked more like a grin, the gaze of the inhuman deep eyes attracted like a pool. "Don't look into Yokai's eyes! Rinko recalled, carefully putting her glasses in her pocket, now she had no doubt that she was seeing a spirit. The girl carefully picked up the basket with bedding and dragged it, resting the edge of the container on her stomach, stealing glances at the stranger. When my daughter was very young, her dad often played "make a wish" with her - he combined mindfulness training with his daughter's development. The restless Rinko rarely managed to notice something casually, like her dad, but if someone caught her attention... Yokai turned out to be strangely dressed: her too-dark yukata was worn out, and her wide belt also remembered the best of times. The woman, Rinko realized, was not just walking, but eating nuts. And how she ate! She indiscriminately took out another nut from her wide sleeve - either ordinary, forest, noble, or earthy, and when Kuzaki came very close- Greek was used. Crunch! Rinko's jaw ached and his eye twitched. And more. Kuzaki realized that she wasn't afraid of the spirit at all. Maybe it's self-deception, but such a vegetarian-minded Yokai was not at all intimidated.

"Girl, wait," the woman called out to Rinko in such a voice that any normal, unprepared person would have jumped half a meter - it sounded so otherworldly. Kuzaki, already mentally prepared for something like this, didn't even flinch. Taking a deep breath, she put her burden on the path and, without looking up, memorized and politely gave out the standard phrase of the attendant-at-the-entrance, since she was wearing a yukata:

"Good afternoon, dear madam! We, the staff of the Night Bell Hotel, are ready to help you in any case. What do you want?"

"er-er..." - having lost half the overtones, the guest drawled with a slight accent. "I wish I had some nuts... unfamiliar, new ones."

Then, please follow me," looking at Yokai sternly at her feet, Rinko rammed in the same tone again, picked up the basket and continued on her way to the laundry room. There was no one in the laundry room, just the drums of two of the three machines turning steadily. Kuzaki unloaded her tired laundry, pulled out the key to the grocery warehouse and opened the door leading there. The three-by-three room on several levels was filled with boxes, and there was exactly one step left to stand up. However, the girl almost immediately found what she was looking for, pulled out the three remaining decently heavy coconuts from the shelf and, after a brief hesitation, added pineapple to them. About personality (or essence?) as a guest at night, she had already formed a definite opinion.

"Here, eat up!"

The Yokai woman looked at the gifts with a completely confused face:

"How can me repay you, child, for this treat? It's not often that I see generosity, only occasionally can I reach out to people."

Rinko sighed. Well, you can't demand money. And anyway, she felt humanly sorry for this creature in clothes from a hundred years ago. And is he talking about generosity? On the other hand, she could have been simply kicked out of the store - with all due politeness, of course, but without money, no one would give her anything... Kuzaki's parents often told fairy tales, and then she herself enjoyed reading folk art, where it was mentioned more than once that some spirits can afford to walk "in the body" only once every ten years, or only on new moons at night, or with some other problems. But my aunt could just steal it, or even take it by force - look how the aura was burning!

And Kuzaki Rinko, who is still a ten-year-old girl, felt sorry for Yokai, who is maybe a hundred, maybe three hundred years old. Sighing once more, she reached into her pocket and fished out a five-thousand-yen bill-she was instructed to pay off the alcohol suppliers and was allowed to keep the change.

"Here," the girl held out a bill, "the figure is how much it costs, the price tag is usually under the product. Buy some more in the village under the mountain when these run out, if you want."

"I cannot leave this debt unpaid, and I see that your holiday will soon be, and you will soon be a woman. Please accept this gift." And the spirit took out an object from her other sleeve, put it in the hand of the dumbfounded Kuzaki, bowed, mystically without scattering nuts and pineapple, and slipped out into the street. Only then Rinko, cursing herself for her stupidity, snatched out her glasses and convulsively brought her hand with the gift clutched to her face: clear! No glow, no magic! Yuto strongly insisted that there could be any hidden thing in an ordinary thing, and if a spirit or magician dropped something "accidentally", look at it carefully without picking it up. But since I took it... Rinko, looking up, still managed to see through the wall, as at the limit of the range, the silhouette of a woman, engulfed in flames of her own power, suddenly shrinks into a bright dot and takes the form of some small animal with a long tail, and it disappears from sight in one movement. Scolding herself once again for her carelessness and for her inappropriate pity for a very dangerous creature, Rinko left the pantry, locked the door behind her, and only then opened her hand - there was a small and rather heavy antique hair clip in her palm. The lamp's beam reflected off the polished yellow metal, scattering small reflections from several small transparent stones inlaid...

Part 11.

Entry seventy-three.

Cami, bless the scientists who came up with naphthyzine and suprastin! Otherwise, feeding a Rink cat would have turned into a real torment, but as it was, I stroked and squeezed a fat fluffy animal that missed communication, happily purring something to me in its feline language. I wonder if Himari can translate from feline? Like she's a beast. I must remember to ask. Well, well, don't worry, tailed one, better wait for your mistress tomorrow. However, my girlfriend's rational parents do not often pamper their four-legged cat food, especially expensive "horse meat", preferring to buy cheap fish like capelin or saury, or whatever it is that we have here, actually on the ocean, much cheaper. Yes, they are also frozen in portions in the refrigerator. But I love cats, so I pamper this carcass, while mine... more precisely, he didn't start his own. If I live to see Himari, I will definitely force her to take on a second form and squeeze my legitimate familiar. And then - in the first appearance, and squeeze again!

Damn, I've been completely out of control lately. The body! That's why you need a boner now? There are not a single girl around, but what was in the imagination now is better to wait in the real world. And compare it. Yeah, by touch! Damn, it's inconvenient to walk! Calm down, calm down, damn it! Breath... and exhale... Kind of let go. Ten and a half years, and the hormones have already been activated, awesome. In addition to all the problems, now you also need to control yourself so that when making decisions you don't think in your balls! If that's even possible at my age, damn it! And I get turned on by some thoughts... pancake.

chapter 74

The ayakashi squirrel definitely has a taste. Rinko's hairpin is going crazy. I wonder why the simplest manipulations with simple materials are obtained almost automatically (and how I got used to printing the absorber in one motion, and it doesn't matter if it's hands or feet!) but with living organisms - such a case?! And how did Yuto easily put muscle boosters on himself in the manga, and realized the jump with Himari in his arms? Does the freaking amulet have any effect on my Ferry? And you can't check, damn it. Or am I just that crooked? Last night, I applied the full version of the light-linear modernization of the hamster according to the Rinko template, including the structure on the nervous system, which I was afraid to use before, and sat down to observe. And again, I searched for grains through the bars for five minutes in a thirty-by-forty-centimeter cage. But he did not eat the bars of the cage, having identified the metal. I calmed down and went to bed, and in the morning before school I found a de-energized computer and an almost gnawed 220 volt power cable. Yesterday's test subject was hanging on the cable, clenching his teeth with a death grip. I immediately realized what he was doing on the floor - he was hungry and fell out after the grains like a stash. But the fact that before that he bent the bars on the cage with the letter "O", in the manner of the terminator from the first movie, drove me into a stupor. What a frenzied force there is in such a small body! However, now I believe that Rinko will be able to drag me by the scruff of the neck like a kitten. I really haven't given her any reason to do that yet... But it's a fact that I had to "lock up" the bars in the cages even after that incident. And why didn't I do it right away?

entry 75.

Walking at a leisurely pace, Rinko and I wandered around the "shopping district" on Sunday. Formally, I was mastering the multi-flow connection of seals located far from the city, otherwise one could imagine how I would cross-stretch one six- to seven-kilometer "virtual stranded" cable (in fact, the Ferry simply changed the properties of the soil at a depth of several centimeters and as far as I could reach (it turned out to be almost two meters). I was motivated to achieve such an outstanding achievement by an excavator that dug up the street between our neighborhood and the school. The damn unit, along with the driver, set two tasks for me at once: to improve the reliability of communications and make some kind of alarm sensor for line breakage, so as not to check half the city when our signal network finally spreads further than you can easily walk. Separately and sincerely, I "thanked" the construction company that started the work for the need to create a new printing option, and, most difficult of all, to upgrade the sensors of the system where the seals were already in place. I would have buried the bastards!.. or himself, already for his stupidity.

Actually, I've already managed to make so many mistakes that I've been amazed at myself. The only consolation was the amount of my success "from scratch", but even here I was not deluded: if an associate professor of metallurgy or even a doctor in chemistry or physics had taken my place, I bet the secrets of the Ferry's interaction with metals would have already been revealed. Simply because such people know from their own experience which way to "dig", depending on what result the experiment has brought... And the questions kept piling up.

On the other hand, how lucky I am that I am not some kind of philologist, or, God forbid, a musician, an orientalist, or even some kind of lawyer! I don't hover over every hieroglyphic squiggle that is spelled differently from its counterpart "there". I do not believe in the disinterested intentions of the authorities and the unequivocal rule of law. After all, I can sacrifice hamsters to science, and I don't dream of their twisted dead carcasses. I'm afraid that if such a person had received a "ticket" to this world, he would have been no better prepared than Yuta from the manga. I'm afraid he would still consider "Steam" to be ordinary magic and would not have discovered why the burnt kettle started working, which is exactly how my research began here. I sometimes want to think how good it is that I did not find textbooks on the use of clan "jutsu" in Noihara. Now, perhaps, I will reach such depths of my power that my ancestors could not even dream of. Simply because they did not know the banal scientific principle of cognition of the world. I wonder if all the exorcist clans send their children to receive specialized education in specialized schools and universities like the Magic Academy, or are there smart people? Oh, something tells me that I'm not the only one who's so smart, yes. I'll get back to the walk.

I tried hard to make sure that using the Ferry didn't require me to concentrate excessively, because they certainly wouldn't give me time to meditate in battle. It was under this sauce that I took my girlfriend for a walk in my free time so that she would distract me. Besides, one pair of stolen glasses is good, but two are better. However, so far our surveillance networks have not caught a single instance of yokai or mag, but the computer has already twice registered the presence of such a trace in my absence. In my spare time from training and homework, I finished the pairing of the signal network with the computer and was now making a shell for the client to install on the local cell phone, for me and Rinko. In general, at first I happily screwed up the SMS notification and did not think about it until the first pass of someone: after all, messages go through an open server, and any competent police officer or even just an official should compare the sending of consecutive messages of the type of "number printing" - "transit time" to the same number with the movements of his employees. software. No, we're better off using the web - it's so much more reliable!

It took a lot of time to engage in technical self-education, which annoyed me a lot, taking me away from improving my survival skills, but there was no way without it: neither in programming nor in designing weapons, which I did undertake, I cannot shift my responsibilities onto Rinko's shoulders. After all, my friend is an ordinary Japanese schoolgirl of 11 years old, and it's extremely stupid to demand that she learn C++. It's just not the right level of perception of the world yet.

But my upgraded hamsters finally survived! However, the symptoms with the grains coincided one-on-one, well, the bars of the cage are not so easy to unbend even with hydraulic pliers, let alone with a hamster. The pictures of the muscles working after synchronization as a whole soon began to resemble the one of Rinko, and I had the task of checking the control circuit in my head: what is it for and why is it needed? How to formulate the question so as not to offend the girl, and not to get burned yourself... Mm-hmm...

"Rin, and Rin, what kind of order would you like to receive from me?"

Oops! Rinko, who was just sucking on a juice bottle, just sent a fountain down the street, looked back at me and immediately blushed to the roots of her hair. What was she thinking?

Just imagine, there's a fight going on," I began to explain to the girl who had fallen into a stupor. "A yokai is running at us, and I'm yelling at you: go ahead and roll to the left. Will you jump or not?"

"I'll j-jump." Kuzaki replied uncertainly.

"Great! How should I tell you to understand and jump?"

"What?!"

I'll explain it again. The spirit is rushing at us, counting in seconds. How can I tell you exactly what to do? Briefly.

"Uh-uh..." Rinko paused, lost in thought, "I don't even know."...

"And that's the bad thing. Let's imagine this situation in detail, and you will represent your actions and mine, okay?"

"I recently read about this feature - intuitive commands." Yeah, recently. When planning this conversation, I was figuring out how not to lie to my neighbor, why am I asking all this? No, it's definitely useful in combat, but first I need to figure out how to get the hamsters to respond to my commands. They don't understand speech, as expected. Therefore, I decided to carry out a kind of tricky version of decompiling the firmware from my parents, simulating the situation in Rinko's vivid imagination. Maybe Amakawa had special gestures and commands, unusual or even strange. Well, it's at least two hours to go, so I'll have time to squeeze everything out of Kuzaka that she can remember or come up with. And may kami and the holy hamster martyrs help me!

Part 12

Interlude 5. School and surroundings. Part 1

On the early, slightly frosty morning of March 1, 2007, which fell exactly on Saturday, the morning shift of the guard was pretty surprised: almost half of the students aged 10-11 deigned to come an hour and a half before the start of classes. And both boys and girls, which is quite strange. No, the guards did not get out of their booth and did not go to interview the students, what they needed here. According to the uniform school rule, students had access to school around the clock, even at three o'clock in the morning, come and scare the school ghosts. The security post was more like an outpost of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, responsible for the timely evacuation of schoolchildren during fires, power outages, earthquakes and other potentially and simply dangerous situations. The security post was more like an outpost of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, responsible for the timely evacuation of schoolchildren during fires, power outages, earthquakes and other potentially and simply dangerous situations.

Midori frantically adjusted her huge bow and checked for the tenth time whether her makeup, which was not allowed to be applied at school, was hiding her eyelids, which were slightly blue from lack of sleep. Normal. And she'll wash off her makeup before the first lesson.

Midori was already twelve, and she had to go to high school in the summer, but for now... Yes, yes, while she was the "queen" here And-hee-hee-hee, well, who can compare with Midori-chan? Long hair, a bow that matches the color of the shape, and delicate, graceful facial features. Long hair, a bow that matches the color of the shape, and delicate, graceful facial features. And most importantly, the breasts are already visible, not like those of these little ten-year-olds! Had she ever been like that herself?.. such... flat? Well, now there's something to be proud of...

"Midori, damn it! Stop spinning in front of the mirror! Get back to the studio!"

Midori made a displeased face at herself: oh, this Hiroe! He's always pretending to be something... but even without it, everything falls apart! Verified: they had already had a fight once, and until they reconciled, the journalism club was virtually paralyzed. It was Hiroe, a girl with such short hair that she was mistaken for a guy if she was out of shape, who owed the club the second half of its popularity: because it owed the first half of its popularity to her, Midori. And-hee-hee...

"Mi-do-ri!" The short-haired girl actually growled, and the "queen" of the school choked on her own laughter. Cami! How annoying it is! And how sometimes you want to attach this mannered bitch, her best friend, with something heavy... this folder with the text, for example, which this cow never bothered to read before the live broadcast! But Midori was, nevertheless, absolutely irreplaceable: technically, she was the head of the club, and she, if you ask her, was the author of all the scandalous projects of the club. Although in fact, it was Hiroe who came up with all the risky things. It's not that she likes scandals... But news journalism should be hot! And any hot material should be carefully prepared to impress everyone with the randomness of capturing this event. Who else would be able to arrange the filming of a future masterpiece of staged documentary films the way she did? If only everything would work!

Who would have known how much work was put into organizing this plot, how much Midori-cow had to be instructed, and she almost screwed up everything...

It's a good thing that Gotaru, the president of the Physics club, fell for what her dumb bosom friend considers "feminine charms.".. and the fact that she herself agreed with the "shadow" leader of the club, with this Yuto!

Wow, what a conversation that would be! The kid, a year younger than her, was completely unwilling to do anything for their club "for the sake of friendship and mutual understanding." Very, very different from her peers and her cousin, he is the same age. And the nerdy nerd that the guy is strenuously pretending to be, too! And the glasses didn't help! "You already owe us for the Rocket, false information, and vilification in the eyes of the pedagogical staff, how will you pay?" Well, it's not like offering money, especially since Hiroe doesn't have much of it. The "grey Cardinal" of the Journalism club tried to offer to meet on Sunday and "talk in person", hinting at a date: nothing like that, just to walk together and go to a couple of cafes, maybe to the cinema... That's exactly what guys at that age lack. But it didn't work either! And just five minutes later, Rinko, this rising kendo star of the sport, joined them in a training uniform and with a bokken. And she stood behind Yuta. Damn it! What should I do now? Under the heavy gaze of the swordswoman, who seemed to be seriously considering whether to charge Hiroe in the eye with her stick after school, or a fist would be enough to make it difficult for the guys to lead away! Hiroe had to "shoot" and honestly tell what exactly was needed and why. The Grey Cardinal has never told anyone her plans in such detail! And here the girl still calculated everything correctly: after the ban on the "rocket direction", Utah had a small grudge against the director. And he found it funny enough to return the favor. The guy asked a couple more questions like, "I need you to help me get it... Can you do it?" and about the parents' work... and then he asked me to introduce her to her father. I had to arrange a meeting. Yuto talked to Dad, and Hiroe lost the thread of the conversation just a minute later: she wasn't interested in all these controllers, wipers, Wi-Fi and other incomprehensible-sounding crap. But, apparently, the pieces of hardware brought by my father from work were really needed for business - and the preparation for action was completed in just four weeks.

So, we need to call Tanaka-kun and find out if they have managed to take up a position. "Hello? We made it! Group two, is object "K" ready? Are you well-fed? Is the ladder still there? Great. How is object "B"? Are you ready? Great. Everyone get ready and wait! The action begins!"

"Taizo, over!" The radio spoke in Utah's voice.

"I'm in touch!" It was cold on the roof, the wind was cold, and the four guys had to bring warm winter jackets. However, everyone except Taizo had already unbuttoned them -the last preparations for the launch of their helicopter were underway. Their helicopter! How it sounds! And two years ago, no one would have thought that they would-just imagine! - with your own hands! They will do it! Such things! However, Taizo himself took part in the construction of the "aerial platform", as his friend called the helicopter, indirectly: by that time he was carried away by free floating. The guy literally fell ill with gliders, pasted clippings from magazines over half of his room, which caused quite decent approval from his mother and sister: for this he had to remove the clippings of beauties ... eh. It's not that Taizo has stopped dreaming about perfection and the mysteries of the female body... but it is better to dream of something that can be achieved than of something that is unattainable... still unattainable. And all because girls are fools! And why, if he's polite, polite! - invites you to go for a walk together on the weekend - do you need to blush and run away from him like from the plague? And then run for two more weeks? And you won't ask anyone, will you? My sister is shallow and doesn't understand anything, although she turns up her nose like hell! He tried to ask the same Yuto how he manages to take the Rabid Rinko for walks... Unfortunately, he didn't ask it softly enough, and Kuzaki herself heard. Bang! A blow to the solar plexus seemed to knock all the air out of his lungs. And when he was able to straighten up a minute later, the red-faced girl showed him a bokken and, haltingly, warned him that the next attempt to find out this information from Yuto would be beaten with this. Taizo shivered, and it wasn't because it was cold.

"Taizo, specify the wind to the north-northeast, distance 3200."

"I've accepted it, and I'm taking measurements."

And binoculars with a laser rangefinder are awesome. Group 2, on command from the "center" located in the journalism group, launched another balloon filled with light gas, which they had bought in advance yesterday, and it cheerfully began to climb into the sky. Through the binoculars, it was clearly visible that the bright orange balloon had deflated a little during the night, but this did not prevent it from flying at all. Time - measured above the launch point. Count down the minute. Two froze. Map. The line from the school to measurement 1, from measurement 2, attach a ruler. Divide it by sixty.

Center, southerly wind, about half a meter per second, steady. Got you. The Roof group! The platform is ready to launch!

The guys fussed, checking the screws holding the camera on the turret under the crosshair of the beams of the device one last time, and started the screws. In order not to damage the camera, it had to be launched from a special stand, which had to be brewed independently from a corner in the school locksmith workshop. The camera, by the way, was "borrowed" from the short-haired what's-her-name... Hiroe. In fact, it wasn't even a camera, but a camera with a long-focus automated lens, which was controlled by a real computer board mounted on the platform. All of this together, plus the batteries for the engines, was mounted on the platform in just four weeks. It's good that the platform itself was ready in January, and even flight tests were conducted...

The helicopter unscrewed the screws with a nasty squeal and, at the command of one of the guys from the control panel, carefully lifted off the frame, smoothly rising above the roof.

"Center, I'm transferring control."

"This is the Center, accepted."

The platform, raking the air with circular screws, smoothly began to move away from the roof, but suddenly froze. The turret drive whined, and the camera aimed at the guys gathered in a bunch.

"Hey, The Roof. Well, the smiles in the photo quickly figured it out!" This is Hiroe. "Well done, I've had my cards!"

The camera turned as it moved and the platform picked up speed again. She had almost ten minutes to travel to her destination, and now she had to be guided by the telemetry of the video transmitter.

entry 76

Inertia of thinking is a real scourge of modern society. Technology can already do it, but people don't even think it can be used! The idea that a school group could do some of the work for me came to my mind a year ago, after which I tried to push through the "invention" of the rocket.

Alas, it did not work out, because of the fear of responsibility of someone who did not allow the production of solid fuel. Yes, yes, I'll remember it to the chemist for a long time! Until the end of elementary school, for sure. The idea of the platform came to my mind immediately after one part of the circle spoke out in favor of airplanes, and the second set out to build a "real helicopter." The aircraft group broke away from us - there is no point in making models with such a wealth of ready-made options, and the Aviation Model Piloting club, which is friendly to our club, occupied the next room. Actually, Taizo was formally included there, because of his performance at the floating paper glider competition, serious guys from the local polytechnic university drew the attention of the school and the club. No, Taizo didn't win, of course. But his model showed the average time, just think about it! There was no formal age restriction, but when a kid comes out of the Department of Air Traffic with students and bearded professors and shows results, it's impressive. And it's even more impressive that he did all the calculations himself. No fooling around, I just taught him how to use the Matkad software package. Well, Taizo found the formulas himself. However, for this competition, calculation and material are still secondary: ultralight gliders are more of an art, an opportunity to feel the material with your hands. And if you think that I have "sealed" the paper for Taizo, I have to disappoint you. So this is really his victory. And you should have seen his eyes after he was awarded his diploma, bowed for a long time (as you remember, the Japanese do this instead of shaking hands) and hinted that they would be happy to accept such a promising student when he graduated from high school. This short episode, in fact, completely changed the guy's behavior: instead of the complexed "perverted" Taizo from the manga, I now had a confident and calm guy in the same class. His grades even went up, simply because he no longer had to force himself to believe that studying was easier. Damn, he even began to communicate normally with girls, looking into their eyes and not making ambiguous verbal constructions and poses. It looks like a couple of classmates have a crush on him - otherwise why would they run away from him with such red faces at every opportunity? It was the example of Taizo that inspired me to join Hiroe's adventure, because everyone involved in this project, if it is successfully completed, will feel their strength.

And I'm not mocking you. Creative power is inherent in every person, but few people undertake to do something unless they have sorted out all the problems for them and compiled instructions to "do it this way." Unfortunately, in modern society, the idea of "cool specialists" is cultivated, and the rest, they say, "will not be able to do anything, they will only lock up." Well, for example, if it concerns setting up a bank or investing somewhere in China with a 40% kickback, I agree. But for some reason, it is these "specialists" who are always in more than sufficient numbers... but I digress. As a graduate student and laboratory assistant, I had a truly vast experience in collecting everything from "shit and sticks", from operating appliances to a banal mop - and there was really nowhere else to get them with our budget - one of all, both students and teachers, understood that nothing was impossible in creating even there is no device that looks very complicated at first glance.

Here is a helicopter that is currently being piloted by one of the senior "circle members", 12-year-old Hiro-kun. In front of him is a real remote control, two joysticks, a speed control, the display below shows the instrument readings and the location on the city map. How? It's simple: a regular computer (though the filling is from a broken laptop, thanks to Hiroe's dad) with a regular Windows XP, only without a case, and a regular data phone. Yes, and here the japs already have a 4G network, and the traffic is already unlimited, and the speed is 1.5 megabits. Drivers for electric motor controllers are provided by the manufacturer. The drivers for the phone are provided by the phone manufacturer. Remote access? It's not a problem, plus we fixed a directional Wi-fi antenna dish on the roof, because the Plan called for a backup channel. And everything. The rest is just a structural assembly, completed in the school's workshop during the day. We fucked only with the blades, which sometimes deformed, then changed shape from temperature changes, then something else... until I quietly processed them with my ability. But even without this, the blades could be made, I was just too lazy to wait. Well, we just bought a game console for the simulator. And everything. And now the guys were watching the work of their hands, which they had done, actually casually, as part of a club hobby. And I could tell by the gradually changing expressions on their faces that right now their brains were making a revolution from the fact that space flights are difficult, dangerous, and what the hell, to "into space? Give me three smart engineers, ten workers, and materials, and we'll see in two weeks." Google works on your computer - then you don't need anything else! I'm exaggerating, of course... But only a little, just a little! Gods don't burn pots.

Interlude 5. Part 2

Hiroshi-san, the principal of Junior High school No. 103, was a trim fifty-year-old man who never drove to school. What for? He could walk a block and a half perfectly well: it was a little difficult to sit in the office all day without this walk. However, he always went out in advance, and it's useful to show up at work half an hour earlier, to take a look, so to speak, with a master's eye. In an emergency situation, you can try to fix the problem in time.

Therefore, when he saw a couple of students near his gate: a girl with funny ponytails, Aneko, and a guy with a small camera, like Todo, he did not get angry: they could easily get to class in ten minutes by bus. But what are they for?..

"Mr. Director-san!" Aneko didn't let him ask a question. "We, the school journalism club, decided to make a series of documentary stories about our teachers!" And we decided to start with you, Director-san! You're live right now, the broadcast is going through the school's IP server! Our students are watching you with me right now.

Hiroshi had no choice but to nod approvingly. Well, that's another thing. At least it's not a Physics club, which hasn't caused any particular problems in the last six months. But he remembered the mess with the laser shooting range for a long time last year, and he had to literally gnaw out the permission for the students to practice from the school board so that the kids would not run away to play in doorways and roadways, blinding pedestrians and, most dangerous of all, drivers with rather bright lasers. The kids didn't understand the hints at all, but he actually found out about the implementation of the idea when it was ready, and he simply didn't have time to force the physics teacher to direct the energy of his students in another direction. And the "rocket attack" on Seemi-sensei's office, when this hysterical woman almost filed a complaint with the inspection committee? They wouldn't have found anything, of course, but what a shame! And you can't squeeze an old toad into retirement. Meanwhile, Aneko very well said a lot of flattering words about the director in front of the camera and concluded her speech like this:

"..Our director is a very kind and strong person!" He will never pass by an injustice, always personally intervenes and corrects himself.

At the same time, the sly girl approached the director, gently grabbing the sleeve of his jacket, and therefore Hiroshi had to not limit himself to a few interjections, but push a minute-long speech on the topic that personal intervention is always more important than just "sympathy" or "verbal help." After finishing his speech with the words that "this is what real people do," the principal was graciously released, and without looking at him, he agreed that they would tell him in detail about his way to work according to the school schedule. Let them tell you, the way is the way. I wonder what they're bothering the other teachers with? After all, restless journalists probably feel wildly grown-up. The director was smiling, mentally grinning at the kids' games, not yet knowing that he was already playing their game.


"Did you turn off the camera?" Aneko asked, and after receiving a nod from the operator, she took out her phone, wiping her hand with a wet cloth at the same time. "Object "D" has moved into position, time has passed!" Raking the air with the blades, the platform, compensating for the lateral drift from the wind by the operation of the motors, caught the walking director in the camera sight. At thirty times magnification, his entire figure was placed in the frame, the platform was from above, to the side and from the east, so there was little chance for Hiroshi-san to notice the device hovering at a height of thirty meters. He hadn't noticed. The stabilization system worked acceptably - the frame shook slightly, but not so much that the Adobe premier for student could not cope. But that's later, and now we just need "naturalness". However, the whole trick of Hiroe's idea was live: otherwise, the performers of the report could have been ... well, not punished, but the relationship would have deteriorated specifically. As it is, everything is "fair." And the viewing audience was decent: not without the help of the same Yuto, the school's TV server was brought to the IP broadcast server so that school students could watch the work of the journalism club directly from their phones. Considering that the broadcast was launched only two weeks ago, the audience's interest still hasn't faded - it wasn't that often that journalists played their shows. And here it's a live broadcast. She had sent out text messages in the evening, and now a separate monitor showed a fairly significant number of viewers: 208. Midori smiled happily at the camera, standing against the background of a white screen on which a projector projected an image from the camera of a helicopter platform, and spoke the text. Their studio room, which used to be quite empty, now strongly resembled a professional studio: the floor was black with cables, an additional shooting lamp was shining in her face - and who would have known how much effort it took for the photographer's mother to allow her to use it for a week! There were so many computers and desks with monitors that it looked like she was in a Computer club room rather than a journalism room, and that was partly true. "Well, anyway, they're shooting their own shooting games and playing warcraft there -they'll get over it.

"Well, anyway, they're shooting their own shooting games and playing warcraft there -they'll get over it. And there was no reason to lie to the director that they had self-study via the Internet. Printout of traffic in the nose, and let them try not to give it!" With these thoughts, Midori smiled even more affectionately, continuing to talk about the usefulness of walking and that the principal, just like the students, gets to school. She knew that Hiroe the snake couldn't help but prepare some kind of surprise for the director, but she didn't tell her, "for the sake of a natural reaction." Well, let her, she'll see for herself now anyway.


Group 2, consisting of Aiko and Rinko, took up a position near the tree along with the object "K". Object "K", who is also an extremely fluffy black and white large kitten, five and a half months old, with expressive eyes and a loud high-pitched voice, was now lying quietly in Rinko's arms. The girl found the kitten on her own with Yuto, just walking around a couple of shopping districts where conditionally homeless cats live. Aiko, the fourth girl from the journalism club, was a pronounced "green" activist - she called for the rescue of animals (except whales and dolphins, otherwise the authorities might misunderstand), regularly visited the city animal shelter and campaigned in every possible way for a good attitude towards our younger brothers from the podium of the school. And here is such a chance for PR!


Rinko frowned, remembering how Yuto and that nasty bitch Hiroe spent two hours, shouting, arguing and doodling on paper, redoing the "ingenious" plan of the "gray cardinal". And then she smiled when she remembered how the journalist had tried to kick her out of the discussion under the pretext that as few people as possible should know about the Plan.

"Remember," Yuto said in an unexpectedly harsh, oppressive tone. Rinko will never betray. She's as reliable as a rock, more reliable than me or you, okay?! Her cheeks warmed up again, and Rinko was only awakened from her reverie by a poke in the side.

"Time, time, Rinko- chan! There's no one here yet!"

The girls picked up a ladder and, running around the corner, placed it against the lower branch of a selected tree in a small park near the buildings of the old factory. Almost no one goes here, the local junior school for these places is in the other direction, but there are no residential buildings here. Rinko put the kitten on a higher branch, hurriedly jumped down and the girls dragged the ladder away.

"This Hiroe," Rinko thought with disgust and delight, pulling out an electronic board in a plastic bag from her bag and plugging in the contacts to turn on the power, "this shorn bitch just scares me."

The girl made sure that the cellular network icon on the mobile screen went out, and ran around the corner behind Aiko, from where they quickly moved to the end of the jamming zone, which was two hundred meters in diameter. After making sure that the phone was picking up the network again, both of them connected to the school's server without agreeing. The crucial moment of the plan was coming, and if anything, the kitten needed to be rescued by themselves.

Koneko's black and white kitten (which means kitten) was one of the shelter's "representative" cats: that is, he had the external data and enough brains to play along with his human partner when he collects donations for the shelter.

Koneko's black and white kitten (which means kitten) was one of the shelter's "representative" cats: that is, he had the external data and enough brains to play along with his human partner when he collects donations for the shelter. He clearly understood that for the right actions, they give delicious food! The shelter's training scenario was worked out and consisted of a preliminary "run-through" of the kitten's actions when a certain event occurs. For example, you need to react to women passing by and meow plaintively. When she came up, she looked into her eyes. I went away - they give me a piece of delicious food! A separate question is how Hiroe found out about this? But okay. Koneko was talented, but the kitten was gradually becoming a very decent-sized cat. So it would be time for him to be settled by someone... and then the opportunity came up! Aiko personally trained the cat on the man in the jacket. Koneko looked smaller from the tree than he really is. So, the chairs are set up, the guns are hung... And here's the main character!


The director, as before, was in a great mood: the weather was fresh, walking was easy, what else was needed? True, the kids delayed him a little when he left the house, but only for a few minutes, so there was no need to even speed up his steps. The sky is blue, the sun is climbing into the sky. Grace! And then he saw a small, extremely cute kitten crouched on the second branch of a thick cherry tree from below. The kitten's whole appearance showed that he had somehow climbed onto a branch two or even three days ago and could not get down by himself. The kitten looked at the man, and Hiroshi-san just drowned in his green-ligth blue eyes.

"Mi-I-I... I-u," the unfortunate beast almost whispered in a barely audible voice, and the director realized that he simply could not pass by like that. We must save them! The problem is that the bottom branch was more than two meters away, maybe even three, and the cat, as expected, did not react to the "Nya-nya, jump to daddy".

Looking at these antics and monkey jumps, to Midori's alarmed recitation of heroic attempts to save the unfortunate animal, Hiroe painfully regretted that she could not have left a dictaphone nearby to listen to what he was saying to the poor cat! Unfortunately, the girl knew herself well and was sure that she would not have been able to resist and then voiced the recording, and then could not resist and bragged. That's how the best plans burn.

"He can't stand up from hunger," the director realized. And he pulled out his phone to call the rescue service. He didn't even remember that there was no cat in the tree yesterday. Hiroshi-san had one weakness - he was madly in love with cats! And now his feelings were playing tricks on him: he couldn't catch the phone because of the jammer, and it was beyond his strength to get away from the poor kitten! And he made the decision to climb. Of course, Hiroshi-san did not know that the chosen tree had been slightly modified by the Amakawa clan force - Yuto insured that the branches would not fall off under the weight of a person, and strengthened the trunk itself - or else you never know. Progress - I didn't even destroy a tree. There is no need to bring a farce to a tragedy. It was with these thoughts in mind that the conspirators combed last year's leaves under the branches last night for fragments or pieces of iron. And a small modification to make it more interesting to save - the bark, which was initially smooth on the bottom of the trunk, became even smoother and more slippery. Naturally, Yuto did it unnoticed by the others.

After the first fall, Hiroshi took off his jacket and folded it neatly. After the second one, the tie went to the jacket. The shirt was already ruined, but now the director took it off, too, showing the audience very good muscles: nevertheless, in his youth he worked as an ordinary handyman on construction sites, never giving up teaching, and even supported a young pregnant wife. O-one, and the operator of the flying camera made a hit, and already a decent crowd of students gathered in front of the school, watching two or three through one phone for a live report, gasped. His muscles bulged, and with a few energetic movements, the director dragged a heavy park bench with stone legs under a tree. Now, with a normal focus, he made a vigorous output of force - two, three - straddled the branch. And the cat is saved!

There were clearly audible ovations and shouts in the courtyard of the school. The teachers, who were approaching the school and had already arrived, looked out to see what the students were crowding for, were involuntarily drawn into what was happening and gasped along with the children. Especially the young teachers. Of course, the older teachers, especially the deputy director, demanded that the broadcast be stopped... In the middle of the schoolyard, oh yeah. Naturally, the screams did not bring any effect. The director, having finished with his shirt, reached for his jacket... That was not the case! Aneko, grabbing the sleeve of Hiroshi's clothes, rubbed with dry catnip, provided the kitten with a reliable "binding" to the director's jacket. Besides, Koneko hasn't been given anything delicious yet! That's how Principal Hiroshi ran into the schoolyard, wearing an unbuttoned rumpled jacket, with a black and white five-month-old kitten in the crook of his elbow, and was greeted in the courtyard by a thunderous ovation from the crowd of students. And he began to understand something only when the flying camera dropped three meters above the crowd, aiming its lens at him, but it was too late. Hiroe clicked "OK" as she finished recording the streaming video on YouTube.


Midori and Hiroe, as the authors of the project, were shown on city television, she was invited to another program about schoolchildren. Midori was happy, it's not a bad line on her resume if you get a job as a TV presenter after high school. Hiroe was pleased, her personal fame suited her as much as possible, because she was going to become a journalist, and then a politician. Oh yes, Hiroe had a plan for almost thirty years ahead. Very detailed. The flying platform with the camera turned out to be almost the central exhibit at the school technical exhibition, and a representative of the local polytechnic university offered Mr. Hiroshi cooperation in terms of the fact that enhanced technical training from such a young age is just wonderful for their students. And for a long time he tried to find out in a roundabout way who guided the small schoolboys in their work. The animal shelter received a good donation from the principal when the cunning Aiko persuaded Principal-san, since he couldn't keep the kitten, to go with her to the shelter. And there, once again, he couldn't resist the fifty owners of fluffy tails, whiskers and ears sitting in aviaries AND SO UNHAPPY!

"I don't understand, what was the benefit for us personally to participate in all this?" Rinko asked Yuto, about three days after all the events. "I understand why girls, even a bitch with a haircut, would do that, but Toro would at least go into the fire for Aneko. What about us?"

"Oh, I have to remind you of something. Do you remember when I told you that I remember from my grandfather's stories about the exorcist clans?"

"I remember I don't like that we have to do this, and even like this, secretly. But I like killing people and Yokai for no reason even less." Kuzaki took off an antique gold hairpin from her bangs and pinned her hair back. "As the head of the clan, maybe you can really make a difference, your voice counts in the Circle."

"Don't forget, if I'm alone, just with you, no amount of voting rights will help. Didn't you agree then that we should look for an ally?"

"J... How are they?"

"Jinguji"

"Yes, you said that Grandfather signed an alliance agreement with them."

"And with my grandfather, it made sense. But right now, the entire clan's power is sealed."

"I still don't understand this rush. You'll get all your vassals for your sixteenth birthday, right" .. Rinko was confused, but the rest was clear: "and now I'm with you."

"Because I do not know what forces the clan has left, and I suspect that they are small. And while I am not considered capable, I need to accumulate strength, pick up new Yokai who want to serve my clan. But we also need to get in touch with Jinguji in advance, I do not know what conditions have been set for us. Get out unofficially.

"That's understandable. But..."

"You just didn't match it. Do you know where Hiroe's father works as the head of the IT department?"

"Is it important?"

"As it turned out, yes. Didn't I tell you about the visit of the Social Committee inspector to the quarter? So, by some chance, Hiroe's father's place of work is called the Social Committee. And by some chance, a man named Jinguji works as the head of the local branch of the committee. And Hiroe herself now owes us for her help. Is it suitable for informal contact?"

Rinko had to admit that she would go.

Meanwhile, Yuto took out the latest issue of the city newspaper, where on the second page there was an article "Young technical geniuses-elementary school students."

The article mentioned a flying helicopter camera, participation in a glider competition, and even mentioned a shooting range.

"So what?" Kuzaki asked, putting down the newspaper.

"It's just that the authorities will have fewer questions if they have to use this." Yuto picked up a thick-walled brown ceramic tube about a meter long, with a hole about a centimeter in diameter. Seeing Rinko's perplexity, he pulled a small metal ball out of his pocket, pushed it into the hole at the end and held it with his hand. The other end pointed at the last remaining concrete wall.

Flop-dsh-sh. A round ball-sized hole appeared in the wall. Yuto walked over to the table and picked up a pencil... and he stuck it in the hole for the entire length.

"That's it, friend," The guy said sadly, "do you want peace? Prepare for war."

Part 13

Chapter 77.

In my past life, I definitely didn't come across the best school. In some ways, I now reminded myself of the "canonical" Yuto, if he had grown up without Rinko's participation and would not have been the heir to the exorcist clan. Apparently, my underlying desire to "replay" played a role in getting here. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I woke up in the lab one day. However, I know. I'll circle the place of the chair on the floor with a marker and try to see my dream further... And I don't believe it's a dream. There is too much original "content" so to speak. And the "texture" of the world, all these hieroglyphs, traditions, school, after all... people. After our enchanting "conspiracy", I suddenly found that half of the school was greeting me, and both streams of high school students were not just greeting me, but considered a good friend, almost a friend. Midori and Hiroe, Aneko with Todo and Aiko, immediately after the participation of the first two in the Sunday program "School and Schoolchildren" dragged Rinko and me into the journalism club, closed the doors and got out... That's right, champagne! And as soon as they got it, Hiroe's job was for sure. Todo was increasingly silent, but to my surprise, I broke up, argued about biology with Aiko, argued about politics with Hiroe (and once again I was surprised by her childish mindset and the frightening feeling that in terms of speed and resourcefulness of mind, this fragile girl with short hair surpasses you if not twice, so at one and a half for sure. This is despite the fact that she is only eleven years old, and I, counting "there" - thirty! Yes, the baby's body has pretty much "rejuvenated" my emotions, but the brain is something... in a way... I still have the same ones. Anyway, after drinking a bottle of champagne (with a snack!) for the seven of us, we gradually spread out into three groups: Rinko chatted about animals in general and cats in particular with Aiko and Midori, who joined them, Todo and Aneko crawled into a corner and talked quietly about something, and I found myself in Hiroe's company.

"..I don't really want to be a journalist," after a sparkling drink and in close company, Hiroe slightly "lowered" her usual mask, allowing her emotions to appear on her face, and not what she wanted to demonstrate. "What I like is getting my way. But you can go into politics without a certain reputation as a secretary or a street agitator, so that in five years you can take at least some position in management. And I'm not satisfied with being a secretary, I have to work too hard to get promoted... under and on the table.

The girl shuddered, she smiled wryly. Yes, the worlds are different, and politics is just as dirty... However, I didn't doubt it. The girl, meanwhile, observed my expression and nodded with a satisfied look.

"And I wasn't mistaken, you weren't even surprised. You know, Yuto-kun, you're very unusual for a junior high school student... gesturing, a way of approaching problems - I didn't sleep at night then, I remembered our conversation and analyzed it. You immediately decided to enter into the implementation of the "plan", but "revenge" was not in the first place for you. That is, you took it into account and showed me that this is the main thing, but you had your own goals..."

"You're right, and one of them is your location, it's dangerous to have you as an enemy, Hiroe... Chan."

"Yeah, the third of the four goals, am I right? Oh, no? The fourth? The fifth? Fuck, I'm getting more and more interested in you!"

"You're scaring me, Hiroe. It scares me to imagine what has so influenced your character that you have become so... perfect in its own way." I smiled crookedly when I saw a similar smile on her face.

"My mother taught me. And my natural powers of observation are very good, I notice everything. And, as you can see, I can decipher emotions using fine motor skills, both my mother and my great-grandmother showed this. However, it's easy." Hiroe picked up the glass without turning her head and sipped the juice. "Right now, for example, your Rinko is staring at me, staring at me like an enemy, but she's not even trying to come up and interrupt your conversation with me. And how did you train her so much? Is it really purely based on respect and authority? Wow, Yuto, I didn't expect that. You know what, if you have a job in my field, I'm probably ready to join yours... the party."

"You know what, Hiroe, I think such a job may appear even sooner than you think. And there you will find a fully worthy opponent, very similar to you."

"It's a deal." The girl extended her hand to me in a very European gesture, and I shook it just as solemnly. "Now I won't leave you alone so easily. You know, I believed you, Yuto Amakawa, it's worth a lot."

Having slightly recovered from the alcohol (although how much was it?), Rinko and I, chewing hard on mint gum, which, of course, Hiroe had provided, left the room of the journalism club.

"What were you talking about with that haircut? You're having an overly businesslike conversation."

"Wow. Have you noticed?"

"Well, I may not be Hiroe, but I can do some things too... Otherwise, I wouldn't have beaten you at poker, Yuto-ku-u-un."

"This Hiroe has an incredible talent that neither you nor I can do. But our opponents can."

"It still seems to me that you are greatly exaggerating the danger and scope of all these intrigues. You're not making a circle of exorcists, you're making a movie yakuza."

"It would be better if they were Yakuza..."

I walked with Rinko through the corridors of the school and thought that I really only had a chance to turn the situation in my favor now. Yes, Hiroe is indecently young, yes, it would be better for me to secure the support of some old schemer from the government - at least as a consultant... but such people are all well-known and watch each other... that's not counting the fact that I never managed to use the Light Ferry as a binding. I managed to induce a hamster coma, I managed to cause something outwardly similar to glitches in a couple of test subjects (especially "food from an invisible bowl" killed), I managed not even to show any effects at all. The only thing I haven't been able to do is get the rodents to follow my commands. But a single conditionally positive result made me think. This hamster began to defend its territory very aggressively, even cleaning the cage became a problem. But even with the grate removed, he did not want to leave the pallet. The result has not been repeated yet. Why did I classify the result as conditionally positive? Well, I managed to achieve a complex behavioral reaction for a hamster, and I... felt something... that the Ferry was used "correctly". About the right way. The question is, really, what was the difference between this experiment of mine and a series of four similar ones? The same drawing, the same actions...

It seems that my knowledge in the field of human and animal biology turned out to be too little to interpret the result. It's a pity, it's a pity, we couldn't overcome this "as is" topic either. As for Hiroe, I hope that by that time I will be able to ensure her loyalty, because she will be the one who will go with me to the round table. I don't know yet how I'm going to achieve this, but Yakujin Tsuchimikado is in for a great surprise!

Interlude 6. Kaname Hiroe, 11 years old, a student of the penultimate grade of elementary school, goes home

"I'm just an ordinary housewife," her mom says to herself. And until the age of six, my daughter believed. I believed that all these games, "figure out the gait", "depict the main feature of that uncle" or cramming the rules of traditional etiquette - this is a normal family life. And that Mom is completely gray-haired in her forties is also normal. And at six, her eyes suddenly opened. She hardly communicated with her peers, her mother was better and more interesting, but on the eve of entering school, the woman began to purposefully take her daughter for walks in crowded places where there are many children. She easily joined companies on playgrounds, casually involving her daughter in the social circle of her peers, and then, walking on, with a slight smile, she helped to sort out the confusion of feelings that Hiroe had brought out of communication.

Hiroe calmly enrolled in junior high school and started attending first grade in August. But the impression didn't change much-she was bored with her peers. But what a shock - she was bored with adults too! As soon as she allowed herself to show at least some atypical trait for children, they began to fuss, for the first time it came to calling her mother and having a joint conversation with a child psychologist... where the mother easily forced the doctor to believe in the clinical idiocy of bringing Hiroe and her mother to a consultation.

At eight, Hiroe finally managed to get information from her mother about the reasons for her seclusion.

"The grandmother who taught me once told me, "A geisha who decides to climb a mountain turns into an ordinary woman."" quoted by Kanami Aya. I didn't understand it then, I understood it much later. And you'll understand.

"Teaching me how to be a geisha" My daughter grinned.

"I'm teaching you like a daughter, which I can't say about my grandmother. She was a good girl, but she raised the last bitch out of me." The mother suddenly described herself. "And it's not for me to judge her, our "family" was generally peculiar. The girls were taught, they became "daughters" - and so on, my great-grandmother taught her own daughter, and she taught hers, the time was such that it was possible not to survive otherwise. And she began to teach me when I was left without a mother and father, penniless. Well, I've earned a home and a living... but such a "job" brought me nothing but sorrow. Your father found me... I allowed myself to relax then... Too much. That general was a real jerk... And your dad's been trying to get me out of it for two weeks... out of condition. And brought it out. And he forced her to become his wife, he just told her to be. And I believed it. He was the first person who hadn't lied to me in two weeks. A timid, so fragile, so unfamiliar smile lit up her mother's face for a second, as if the weight of years and heavy memories had lifted. He hasn't lied to me once in all that time... I didn't say a lot, that's right... this is even more interesting..." and a slight smile played on her lips.

Illustration:

https://disk.yandex.ru/d/xbZJ1KPYzFcI8w

Part 14 getting to know the water snake Shizuka.

Chapter 78.

Sakura should be blooming any day now, and the buds are already pink in some places. Did I complain about the monotony of life last fall? I don't really want that variety anymore. Rinko also started going to kendo classes outside of school three times a week. And one day, on Sunday, our walks were covered. He is preparing for inner-city competitions. She arrives terribly excited, excitedly tells me that Sensei adjusted that stance, that pose, that movement. I have absolutely Filkin's credentials, but I really hope that I won't have to fence personally. The eight-millimeter ball flew out of the trunk for three hundred and twenty meters, where it successfully met a tree... leaving a hole twelve centimeters deep... This is the eighth, I haven't found any misses in the previous seven. The vertical angular deviation was about five degrees, if I calculated it correctly. Well, not bad on the whole. The shot is 1/10 of the reserve, and I really want to eat! And sleep. To "shoot" in an empty park, I had to get there by five in the morning, since it's already getting light early. At the same time, I left several sensor system seals and now I'm pulling the line, returning on foot through the city, which is waking up heavily.

It's still a pleasant feeling to walk and feel full of energy. And my legs don't get tired - after all, almost regular runs around the block have done their job. The muscles on my legs got stronger and became noticeably stronger than on my arms. And it's time to take care of your upper limb girdle, otherwise you'll only scare Rinko with your thinness. It seems like exercise in childhood increases the release of somatotropic hormone, so maybe I'll be higher... STOP!

I lost my step, but I didn't lose the "channel" I was making. I'm an idiot, that's what it means to study mostly engineering instead of biology for the last five years before getting into it. I'm a moron! There are no muscle elements and no bone elements. The seal cannot be applied to a body part! That long-standing premise about casting spells, which I formulated to myself immediately after the hit. Strengthening the muscles, strengthening the reflexes? The hell with it! The parameter comprehensively boosts the body! It's not magic! That's why Yuto moves like this on the roof before starting the fight with the fox and his henchman. The ferry worked. How was I able to unconsciously boost the laser at will, as Yuto from the canon pumped the branch, deflecting Himari's blow. Yuto didn't know anything about physics or the physiology of muscle tissue. He was acting on the opposite. Is the ferry rearranging the material? The ferry works at the level of the "ability of the body" - I want, I imagine what is needed, I form an image and "manifest" or draw lines with willpower and concentration. BUT Yuto COULDN'T SEE THE LINE!

That's what I was missing. The puzzle has formed. How can I make a seal on a person, on an unfamiliar object? I take a look and adjust the printing in the "manual" mode. And you can feel the material! Fuck! Fuck! Kso! Go home and try it urgently!

Chapter 79

Well, yes. It really starts to seem like I've never done print without lines. I'm so used to using ferry vision all the time that even when I turn it off, I still do exactly the same thing: I imagine a line drawing and point it at an object, but I don't see it.

Chapter 80

3 hours have passed, nothing has come out. Maybe we should change the object?

Chapter 81

Okay, the morning of the evening is more complicated, something like that.

Chapter 82

What am I doing wrong? I remember that after I started seeing the lines, I stopped applying "random" seals. The question is, what changed then? I would say "control," but I learned how to keep my ability "on my fingertips" all the time only six months ago, and it took literally two months not to think about it at all.

Chapter 83

Sakura is in bloom, all the streets, paths, and even the roofs of houses are covered with petals. The petal-shaped small "tornadoes" that the wind drives along the paths look especially funny. I purposefully walk Rinko, with about twenty pencils in my pocket. I absentmindedly twist them in my pocket with one hand, and I automatically offered them to Kuzaki - not in the sense of asking him to marry, but in the European manner. Who is this red guy? In order to normalize the complexion, I had to buy ice cream, and on holidays there are a lot of vendors on the central alleys. The ice cream is finished, shall we repeat the field experiment? So, so don't stare at Rinko and don't laugh! Don't laugh, I said! S-s-s, well, what an overflow. So, what should I buy now? Rice candies?


Japanese sweets are divided into three types: ordinary ones, which can be tasted in both Europe and America, such as cotton candy and lollipops. Rice-based sweets. Well, yes. It's mostly mashed rice, in some form, not always with sugar. Maybe, for example, with a cherry blossom stuck on top. Interestingly, I have never seen any chocolate rolls and other sweets from "Japanese" cafes in Moscow. Oops, it turns out that I have never been to a cafe after I was "here"?! Uh, shock is our way (c). No, I understand everything, school, Ferry, there's a lot to do, there's always something to do, you need to sleep normally too, but you never get a break from the self-imposed rhythm? It was only now beginning to dawn on me, somewhat belatedly, that there was more than just another world around me-paradoxically, the country was different. How many times have I looked at the buildings of the city center from afar - and never bothered to go there. And Tokyo, and Kyoto? And, damn it, we have beach spots three hours away, and the sea is warm (in summer)!

Why am I so "fixated" on my "powers" at all? Did something affect me that way? Oh, of course. That mega-caterpillar attack on Kuzaki is not far from here. I was shaking for a long time from the sensations I had experienced, but the fact that I was able to cope turned out to be even more significant. To hell with everything! I'm going to relax, eat apples boiled in honey, I just bought a bag of six, and change the color of the Rinko. It was necessary to take a stopwatch and detect the rate of color change. Is it possible to get a phone without paleva and start a timer? In my opinion, my friend is making clear progress, I pulled out a new apple to replace the one eaten by my neighbor and handed it to her with a solemn expression. Maybe I should put her on a bench and hug her. Or will it provoke a nosebleed and heat stroke? I'm tired of walking, and the benches are all occupied by couples and families... admiring the flowering trees. Yeah, it's not Russia, it's not Russia at all, I can hardly imagine people at a holiday with such soulfully focused faces. No, it's just full of people having fun, especially children, running along the paths in twos and threes, chasing petals whirling in the air... it's a good thing that Kues was jealous of Himari then, and not of the cherry tree she was sitting on, otherwise I would have a local end of the world every time at the end of March!.. And I wouldn't mind going to Russia... It's not that I want to "go there" so much, and I would love to see my "historical homeland" here, it seems like there are many differences from "my" Japan, maybe a lot of things are different in my homeland? The president's last name is definitely different. But Yandex is exactly the same, even the design matches, and the news in the feed is just as stupid and indistinct, and in world history school we only got to the Middle Ages. It's very, very funny to recognize some things in the Japanese interpretation... Fuck your mother!


Several things happened at once. An empty winding path, Rinko and I, I have the last apple in my hands. A teenager of about fifteen rushes past like an arrow, ripping the bag off Kuzaki's shoulder. So fast that she doesn't have time to react... But I can do it. On pure reflex. Swing. A throw. An apple strike near the shoulder blades. And the explosion!


It's like a freeze frame in my eyes: a flash of light, a teenager's legs lifting off the ground, and a head hurtling towards the ground. And the shock wave, picking up the petals from the ground in a beautiful pink ring, carrying them past us and in all directions. Then time "dies out". I have noticed many times that with a sudden change of events, if you need to act quickly, emotions disappear somewhere, and a bare calculation remains. I run up to the opponent. The gloves are thin and leather, here they are "winter" on the hands, well, they were lying in the pockets. Flip over. Heavy, but not that heavy. The nose is smashed and broken - but successfully, sideways, otherwise there could already be a cute corpse.

Thin trickles of blood from the ears, what a lovely concussion. He's breathing. Pick up Rinko's bag. Did you forget something? Ah, of course. My favorite books about popadants! Left jacket pocket. Keys. Right jacket pocket. One, two, three cell phones. I won't take it, no one canceled the IMEI, and they sell phones here with a passport. Left trouser pocket. The wallet. Wow, how fat! Take the cash, put the wallet in the loser's jacket pocket. The right pocket of trousers. A taser?! You know, kid, I don't feel sorry for you. I think for a second, so as not to invest my "favorite" Ferry, which is "hamster death". We also leave the shocker. Nearby, near the pocket, let the police have questions - should the park be patrolled on holidays? And even better, the citizens who have already "got acquainted" with him should find a friend. And now, grab Kuzaki by the elbow and go, go. Yes, not on the ground, but on the path, it was not enough to leave footprints. The first turn. To the right. It's a good thing that "pocket" pyrotechnics are being sold in the park and the kids are ripping firecrackers and firecrackers for nothing. Just not in the cherry blossom alleys, but there are assholes everywhere, right? The second intersection. To the left. And now stop, and step, step! People are already walking around here. Phew. So much adrenaline! But not as much as it could be. The committeeman scared me a lot more then, not to mention the caterpillar.

"W..what was that?" and here Rinko is "turned on".

"They tried to rob us. A fast, long-legged bastard. You know, let's go home, because I don't feel like walking anymore."

Yeah, so I relaxed.

Chapter 84

Who runs the bus routes? I want to see this creature, which can certainly move between worlds, not to mention countries. Thirty minutes to get home! This is taking into account the fact that he stops at the school, and from there I still have fifteen minutes to walk. And I really want to count the money, but not the place. By the way, every bus here is already equipped with cameras, and "us" only started installing them in the eleventh year. Yeah, I used to dream of throwing fireballs when I was a kid. Who knew that it was necessary to throw apples? And by the way, why did it explode? No, well, it's clear that this is a "Ferry", I just didn't put any structure in, I didn't even want the apple to explode, it was just an ancient reflex to stop an escaping opponent, almost inherited from my tailed ancestors... Stop. That's it. What I forgot, or rather, couldn't realize. A message of action without "words describing it in thought." Da-a-mn, you could have figured it out for yourself! The ferry is not magic! The ferry is not magic! The ferry is not magic! It's an ability of the body, an inherited skill. What kind of pronouncing properties are "about yourself"! This is probably the heavy legacy of watching animes, with the characters becoming brutalized by "accepting themselves." It's pretty hard not to think while thinking. Only if you need to act so quickly that you don't have time to think. Only if the nervous system is overloaded with impressions that have fallen on your head, and you, thinking, "fall" into a kind of trance. Or... in the toilet on the toilet bowl, "lost in thought." If I'm not mistaken, this state is called "meditation." An empty head with no thoughts, just pure action. I also read in that "old" LiveJournal, dedicated, oddly enough, to motorcycles and riding them. The only book from which the author of the diary quoted quotes, where instead of pseudo-clever nonsense there was a specific description of the technique. But in Japanese, of course, I will find information and more details, after all, "the homeland of elephants"!

Hey, Rinko's uploaded something.

"Rinko, don't worry about the jerk. No one asked him to attack vacationers."

When he wakes up, he may change his profession.

And what kind of look is that? And why such a facial expression?

"Sorry... I'm not much of a defender." And tears in his eyes. Well, what should I do with you? Should I hug you? Wow, it worked! Whatever they call it in psychiatry, a substitute factor, I think.

"You are my friend and the closest person." I said it with emphasis on the word "most." I wanted to add, "and I'll always be there for you," but I didn't. And why? Fuck you! Because I'm shy!! I didn't expect it from myself... But looking at my reddened face, Kuzaki abruptly calmed down. She even giggled. Hurray! "I'm going to become a psychologist - let them teach me!"

Chapter 85.

After escorting Rinko to her door, I went to my house. The first thing he did was pull out a pretty thick wallet and count the cash: it came out to be something in the region of fifty thousand. It's not much, but if I pulled out such a pack in front of the seller in the store, unnecessary questions might arise, I usually don't carry so many small bills. And there's a message on the radio about a pickpocket or a bomber like that, and they'll think who knows what. I'd rather blow on the water.

Why would I go to the store? For apples, honey and sugar. And some more cinnamon, please. I can cook apples in honey, nothing complicated. And the structure must be drawn, absolutely. I think I can repeat it. I mean, not to draw from the finished fruit, but to make the apple become a grenade. As long as the emotions are fresh, as long as there is a ready result in front of your eyes... Oop, pick it up with a ladle, it's hot, damn it! On the window. Yeah, but now you can. Heck! It worked! It worked! I'm cool! And one more thing? Yes, yes! It was only when I had "steamed" six of them that I realized that there were six grenades with a contact fuse on the windowsill in front of me, and nitrocellulose (and what else could come from a fruit with 70% fiber content, where another 29% is water?) although not as unstable as the famous TNT, trinitrotoluene, or dynamite, it has proven its ability to be effectively detonated by impact.

Carefully, one at a time, without sudden movements, he transferred the "delicacy" to the top shelf of the far cupboard, having previously placed a plate. Rinko won't get in there, and we have to try to figure out how to defuse this stuff! But then, and now - to rest... and really, should I read the latest history of Russia? And then you can Google a map of the city's eateries and cafes.

Chapter 86

"I'm 30 years old. Even 39, if you count Yuto's past. I can't fall into childhood. I don't want to blow things up. Even if I can, and even if I have to blow them up for my own safety... Ah, to hell with everything!" these were the funny thoughts that were spinning in my head when I decided to dispose of the "ammunition". I wisely rejected the idea of "burying a contact mine in the front garden" and "putting it off for the future, in case it comes in handy." To walk two or three blocks, throwing an apple into each newly brought dumpster, and then watch from a distance as the poor guy who threw the garbage into the box is doused by a wave of the same garbage thrown out by the blast wave - crushed as a manifestation of inappropriate laziness and because of the rather high probability of injury, if not to the residents of the block, then scavengers taking away the bins. However, I must admit, there were such thoughts. In the absence of a landfill, it was decided to take the dangerous cargo outside the city, to find a more comfortable ravine there... and yes! Leave the shore! The idea of trying to transform the tree into a mine had to be discarded: there are not so many sugar and nitrogenous compounds in the tree, and the layer of explosive cellulose will turn out to be a thin layer between the bark and the trunk. No, I'll peel the bark off the tree, of course. What's the point? I must say that the explosive apple was also not 100% explosive, otherwise it would have been the equivalent of 30-50 grams of TNT and Rinko and I would have been lying next to the torn corpse on the path. Well, we would definitely survive, of course, but we still need to carefully use the newly acquired old ability.

Actually, for now, apart from apples, I can only boast of simple things - strengthening the fabric, for example. And then it suddenly turned out that I had already grown out of last year's clothes, so I had to buy T-shirts, trousers, shorts, and so on. Without much effort, it turned out to repeat the shocker, which is without laser tunneling to drain the charge through the air. And for the rest... right! What is missing now is not concentration, but detachment. I must say, meditation turned out to be not as simple as I thought. Ridiculously, it's easier to let go in case of danger and in battle than in a calm environment. Because there is one strong factor that needs to be eliminated - emotions, and here there are a lot of small ones. In bed, for example, instead of meditating, I just fall asleep. And by no means on the mat! I straightened my legs with such difficulty after the session that I felt sick. Should I sign up for a course? No matter what, but you can't find a mentor in meditation techniques in Japan, you have to try.

Chapter 88.

The bus stopped, and the driver kindly asked if I really needed to get here. And the stop where the village is in the saddle is only one through. Fortunately, I knew that there was a shrine of some spirits somewhere relatively nearby (in fact, this is the first stop after the place where the park turns into a forest on the gentle slopes of the local mountains), so I just showed a transparent plastic box from Christmas balls (with compartments, and sticky grenades I wrapped in the same napkins and padded with cotton wool, like the balls before). Like, an offering. And he told the driver something about the respect for the spirits, invested by older relatives. And what? I respect that. Himari, for example, I respect, I respect so much, I just can't live without her... Damn, literally. Bye bang me... Well, not that it's a couple of trifles, but I won't have time to apply my best practices, so I have my laser prototype and remote stunner with me. If anything happens, the unexploded Apple Zapas will be blown up. And the fact that I got respect for Himari from my grandfather, I don't think I need to mention?

Waving to the driver, I found a narrow path climbing through the forest somewhere up a gentle slope, and cheerfully turned my back on it, crossed an empty highway and plunged into the forest. Yes! I have special street crime supplies - boots like "berzy" and camouflage pants. The hoodie is ordinary, but it seems to match the image of a brutal hitman again. Ah, Kso! There is no Kalashnikov assault rifle, pity, pity. It was also possible to apply strips on the cheeks a la Rimbaud, since there was a foundation for the face in the same sports store. However, it would go wonderfully with the glasses that I wear without taking them off. Do you think hunters shouldn't mask their faces in an ambush? The animals are not as naive as the ones that survived here. The islands of the Japanese archipelago are not that big, and people have been living here in abundance for a long time.


Well, here's a wonderful piece. Meters... I should have taken a laser rangefinder. But there are ten. Three floors, exactly. I hope the edge under me won't collapse from the explosion? A meter-wide river, or rather a stream, runs briskly over the rocks below, the bottom is wide and rocky, without vegetation. Apparently, the spring flood carries everything away with the current every year - then the bottom of the ravine becomes a riverbed for several days. Both turns on the right and on the left - the sound should be muffled. Oh, swing your arm, open your shoulder... some kind of incorrect quote... whatever. Fire an apple at a likely opponent! Bang! Wow, what an echo. Pebbles and sand were scattered, but only those that are smaller than the phalanx of a long finger. The second one went! Bang. I'm kind of oblique, but I was aiming at the same place. But when an emergency situation occurs, it naturally turns out to throw far and accurately. Yeah. The pile of rocks over there is unstable. A throw. Bang! A miss. A throw. Bang! Passing by again. A throw. Uh-huh? That's a bitch. The apple fell and rolled down the slide I was aiming at. What the hell is this? I couldn't have missed it, could I? Yes, I see the lines of a disorderly grid, the trace of a ferry. Apparently, the ammunition "goes out" over time. Or I got a rotten apple- I haven't tried them. Okay, let's try to play billiards for now. The last shell. Throw! Bang! Wow, damn it, bang! The sixth apple that fell next to the fifth threw the never-exploding companion into the center of the stream, onto a fragment of stone protruding slightly from the running water. And a second explosion followed. The spray of water was thrown up two meters, splashing the stones around the stream. Damn, I didn't kill the fish, I hope? Otherwise, you can't actually catch it here, all freshwater reservoirs are a nature conservation area, all that. It's a logical requirement for islands. And I feel sorry for the frogs too. No one has surfaced, like. Well, I think we can move back. I'll just have time to get back and wait for the bus to arrive in time for Rinko's return. Well, I calmed my darling down with explosives, got rid of a potentially dangerous "treasure" at home, and even took a walk in the woods. I haven't been in a forest in a hundred years, and I haven't been in one with double-girth mast larches and pines like here. Otherwise, a park is great, of course, but a park consisting of 50% cherry trees is not our way. I thought for a while about whether I should urinate off the cliff, for more pathos of the moment, but decided that it was too much. And glory to kami! Because otherwise I would have fallen off a cliff or at least got into an awkward situation that might not end well either. And all because I heard a voice from behind me:

"You were the one rattling around, you know?"

Chapter 89

That's a fucking thing! Grabbing my backpack with one hand, I literally turned 180 degrees in a jump, preparing to grab a pistol or a stunner - whichever gets into my hand first. And then he discarded the idea - it was useless. Because behind me, about five meters away, there was a girl-my age, by the look of it-with long, green-black hair almost to her feet. The Goddess of Rivers, the Mizuchi Water Snake. I probably would have been scared out of my mind, but I could see her aura in the vision spectrum of the glasses... It's stupid, but I couldn't suppress my admiration! The glasses, of course, provided visualization of energy in one color - azure blue, and it suited Shizuka insanely. All that slightly hunched figure, hands lowered in a slightly inhuman gesture, eyes looking "nowhere" from under their brows - and all this framed by a giant canopy of energy that swept over the tops of the trees, spreading to the right and left like a peacock's tail! Something similar can be seen in the manga Naruto - a fox spirit crouching before jumping - and a fan of tails like a flame behind his back. It turns out that the engravers of medieval Japan copied the images of spirits from nature, and modern mangakas copied them. We were probably silent for about ten seconds, I was mesmerized by the picture of a riot of Power, and the snake was probably trying to glue the template torn by my facial expression. I got there first. Once. The snake didn't attack first. Is he playing? No, I'm just HUMAN to her. A complete blockage of magic, neither in me nor in the objects. If I wanted to kill you, I'd just hit you in the back of the head with water, but I didn't kill you, did I? I was one hundred percent ready to scare, but I missed my role a little bit. She reflexively released the pent-up force, otherwise I would have seen her from the road... although not. Damn range, I completely forgot. Okay, Mizuchi is clearly going to say something now, we should seize the initiative. Because if she touches me and doesn't have time to kill me, then she's guaranteed dead, or whatever remains of yokoy. It's bad to be a piece of water. Of course, I hadn't tried "Death of hamsters" on perfume, but I felt it would work.

"Ko-o-o-oll!" I said, smiling. "Don't they force you to get a haircut?" (Parents, I wanted to add, but I shut up in time).

Apparently, the image of the Corpse-Eater and his companions persuading the water spirit to get a haircut appeared alive in Mizuchi's imagination, because she choked on the prepared phrase and muttered something like

"Well, you know."

Meanwhile, I began to act. In an arc, gradually approaching (and leaving the opponent between himself and the ravine, into which, if anything, a snake with burnt brains needs to be pushed) I walked behind ayakashi, admiring the waterfall of hair, which, by the way, a normal girl at that age would never grow.

"That's cool-ll!"

"What do you mean, you know?" The snake finally recovered and turned to me.

"Hair! U! You! They're so cool!" And I didn't lie, the hair looks cool and clean. And immediately, without interruption, it is necessary to add pressure: "You won't tell anyone, will you?" and look back. "You're the only one here, aren't you, like me?"

"What won't I say?"

"That I was throwing bombs here!" Look back again, and it's quieter. "I did it myself. Cool, right?"

"You're right, you know" I'm kind of tired the snake replied," I won't tell you. "Did you know that this place is reserved and it may be dangerous for people to come here? Spirits are roaming around here, anything can happen."

Yeah, there are miracles here, a goblin is wandering around, a Shizuka is sitting on the branches...

"Well, you're walking around here, and nothing." push, push with logic. And take a step closer. I wonder if the snake looks like that as part of psychological pressure or to avoid accidentally looking into the eyes? She seems to be an ideological opponent of mental pressure.

"What if I'm a malevolent yokai myself, I just took on this appearance, you know?"

"You're not doing very well," I looked at the girl critically and summarized. "It doesn't look like it."

"What doesn't look like?"

"She doesn't look like a yokoi. You're beautiful!" Mizuchi straightened up and began to hold her hands normally. The eyes lost their depth and finally began to focus normally on the other person. That is, on me. Well, I can calmly look into the eyes of almost anyone - to break through the cocoon of protection of the amulet, you need to be either an extremely strong mentat, like a banshee (if I correctly interpreted the knowledge of evil spirits from the "past" world), or an archmage like Kues.

"Do you live in the village or in the city? I'm in the city, and I wanted to go to the bus stop right now. And you?"

"I'll go with you," the girl muttered. Ha, and the "mysterious syllable" is gone.

The aura of power flickering around ayakashi rapidly shrank, being drawn into the figure. Once- and now only the glowing outline around the body can reveal the disguised snake.

"What's your name?" I asked the girl, putting on the straps of my backpack and picking up an empty box. "And I'm Yuto!"

"Shizuku," the Goddess of Rivers introduced herself.


It took about ten minutes to walk to the bus stop along the slope. Damn, I've been climbing up here for almost half an hour, so Shizuka didn't come with me for nothing. That's what a local means. We started talking. I talked about school, about how I live, about Rinko's girl-friend who cuts her hair short - that's stupid. The snake mostly made meaningless comments, but I tried not to ask her anything. I'll also drive her into a logical dead end, and she'll want to "clean up" my memory after all. It will break off, of course, but then you will have to hit to defeat... And keep up the pace. So very soon I turned the conversation to new movies (at least ayakashi should read the posters in the city, otherwise what kind of scout would she be) and found out an outrageous gap in her familiarity with the horror genre. And snake really seemed to have watched some of the new movies. Apparently, he is creatively conducting observations in the city, yes! Or maybe it was just the magicians she was spying on who went to watch the movies.

Anyway, when I got to the bus stop and found out that the bus would be there in twenty minutes, I took out the bentos I had packed for the trip and honestly shared them with the conductor. The well-rounded yokai appreciated the taste of the products with the interjection "hmm", which apparently meant "you can still eat," and I was solving a difficult question for myself. How to extend the contact. However, if I turn off the magic indicators from the maps, put normal LEDs on and put the ferry's mago protection on top, and like hell she'll find something magical with me. However, my house will end up in the database of the local Yokai gang... But what do they care about me? They're not interested in people, but they are in a normal relationship with Shizuka. And it is desirable that I have it at hand when the "Ferry" system of the oath is restored by me. If there is, but somehow I again believed in my strength after apples. But would she come?. Hehe, watch The Bell. Mizuchi will like it, I guess!

"Listen, if you're in town, come visit!" I tore out a piece of paper from my notebook and wrote down the address. "And you walked me out, and I can't thank you enough... Can I braid your hair?"

"Kha... Well, you know! Try."

Well, what's so complicated about a braid? Just practice. And I put long, beautiful hair on the list of advantages right after big tits... Have a good figure! I've been bothering my mother every day since I was five years old, when I saw her braiding her hair for the first time. And then I had long-haired girlfriends, you know! So there was practice, and women, oddly enough, appreciate such a gesture of attention to themselves. Of course, if Mizuchi were a normal girl, I would have to comb her hair first, but the "spiritual" hair lay hair to hair and was braided quite simply. The secret of a beautiful braid is simple - uniform effort throughout and the most dense styling. Well, that's it. After looking for something to tie it with, I found only a spare bootlace berz in my backpack. Oh well, it'll do for the countryside. A knot, long "bow" loops. And again. And again.

"Well how?"

Mizuchi threw her braid over her shoulder, looking as if she had never styled her hair... Hmmm, or maybe she didn't. She tugged at the end of her thick braid, thicker than her hand, and finally smiled a normal smile. Great! And finally, a bus, barely moving, appeared around the bend in the road. I got up from the bus stop bench, picking up my things.

"Of course, a ribbon would be more suitable... Mm-hmm... Light blue, yes. If you come to visit, I'll give it to you! Will you come?"

"Maybe," replied the snake, and, apparently, having decided something for herself, she spoke seriously and with suggestion:

"My house is not far from the ravine, mine, and many more, but these places are not kind. It happens... everything, and again someone attacks people, we haven't found him yet, but two people are missing. Don't come yet, but later... If you show up one day, I'll warn you about you."

The bus pulled up and opened the doors, and I was somewhat stunned to understand the meaning of Shizuki's maneuvers with his aura. She stupidly scared a possible opponent, and then just protected the child. She led him out of the woods, spent a lot of time making sure that the possible target was out of the kill zone, and only then went on to track down the killer. Oh, shit! Well, Shizuka, I won't forget it, I swear! Your rating in my eyes has risen to an unattainable height! And her last sentence. Apparently, I hooked the river goddess with something, either with attitude or fearlessness... Maybe, despite the amulet, Ayakashi felt something. This is the very thing that allowed Amakawa to recruit spirits into his troops. Damn, there are so many reasons to think carefully about everything.

Part 15.

part 14.

Interlude 7. The beloved clearing of the "big three" Yokai led by the Corpse Eater. 15 kilometers upstream of the stream where Mizuchi and Yuto met.

When Shizuka, revealing her disguise for a moment, blinked her aura and entered the clearing, the leader of the local yokai and his hook-nosed henchman number two (and number one was just her, Mizuchi) were discussing the end of the raid on the crazy "spirit of the graves." And where did the jerk come from?

The main yokai was about to tell the whistling girl, who had not appeared by the beginning of the short fight, what he thought of her independent antics, but when he saw her hair tied up and tied in a braid, he lost his way a little, and his claim sounded very similar to "What the fuck?!"

"I found a man in the woods by the river, a child, you know. She took me out of the woods. That is all." she replied indifferently in response to two questioning glances, sitting down on her favorite branch.

The Hawk-nosed Man grinned, but the Corpse Eater couldn't stand it.:

"Since when do you see people off instead of scaring the shit out of them.. gray hair?"

"He wasn't afraid of me, you know." The snake still spoke indifferently.

"How's that?"

"My appearance didn't affect him."

"You took off your disguise, I saw the reflections from the slope. Anyone in an aura of power experiences mild discomfort." He knew what he was talking about.

"So he's just not everyone." Shizuka stated phlegmatically.

After giving her an incredulously amazed look, the leader only silently raised his eyes to the sky, as if asking, "why am I doing all this?"

But the Hawk-Nosed Man finally gave his squeaky and nasty voice in this guise:

"Maybe he tied your braid, too." But Mizuchi ignored the question with a look that could have been deciphered from "if you're jealous, make yourself one" to "fuck you." And silence descended on the clearing.

Lying on a feather bed, little yokai was actually thinking the same thing: about a strange, not timid child, whose body was just slightly absorbing the bursting power of a powerful spirit that was trying to penetrate him. This can explain his calmness. Some kind of amulet? It will be interesting to see this amulet if it really is the effect of the amulet. In the old families of priests, there were sometimes extremely interesting gizmos that could work for centuries without recharging from a magician... or which could recharge themselves. But there were also Amakawa amulets, which were legendary. Especially about the ones that were made for the Yokai. In addition, another reason is that the possibility of sitting out an exorcist raid in one of the houses, if she falls under it, is much greater if there is such an "overwhelming" amulet in this house.

Then, during a short conversation, the River Goddess, convinced that she knew human society well, suddenly found out about a completely huge gap in knowledge, ranging from the dissemination of information to the banal "idea of spirits" on the part of people. Magicians are also people, and she often has to disguise herself as a human - in a big city, you can't get to some places otherwise... and her hair was really styled for the first time since... as there was no one else. And, according to the boy's reservations, it seems that he, too, has become an orphan and lives alone. Okay, that's settled, and as soon as the summer current washes the shoal back to the flooded island, from which these abnormal creatures crawl out every year, you'll still need to go to the city to explore. That's when she and... Talk to you? Shizuka was slightly surprised to find that she was actually slightly interested and a little worried. I really didn't expect it from myself. Mizuchi spread out a page from her notebook, memorizing the address. With her lousy job, papers and objects afraid of water didn't live in her pockets for long anyway.


Interlude 8. City center, police headquarters. The office of the Head of the Department for the investigation of crimes committed or related to occult purposes, as well as ritual or magical actions

Yes-Yes, that's what the department was called. Do you know why there are so few sacrifices in Japan, conducted by all sorts of profane people, as well as sects and religious fraudsters? But Tsuchimikado magicians don't like to be interrupted from their work by such nonsense. They can also apply a fireball (it especially affects various "demon summoners". Light a fireball, show the icon and ask unobtrusively: "Did you summon demons?").

There is only one department for such a specific topic in the whole city, which is much more important than the fact that there are only two employees in it besides the boss. Well, if necessary, you can call a rapid response team from Home - fortunately it is not so far away, and there are helicopters to the House, and secondly, there is a whole staff of these weaklings from the committee. So there are rumors that when the promotion comes, the department will be taken out of the city altogether. To spit in the sky, to arrange rare raids on all sorts of small fry or to catch charlatans is a waste of such a wonderful resource as the combat magicians of the strongest clan in Japan. There's enough "garbage" here to protect you from every little thing. Moreover, in winter and spring, when the underwater dam is being washed away, all sorts of animals stopped coming, otherwise they used to come in droves - five or six pieces per season. Should I go check out the mountains? Maybe some kind of crap has settled there, which eats up everyone passing by in vain?

Todoki yawned, and it was at that moment that the front door opened and the chief of "minor and domestic problems" entered. The largest department in the city was giving its head a lot of headaches, and now we have to go to these black box snobs. He's a damn tour player, and he fucked me up, and he fucked himself up. Well, who asked him to expose himself?

But Mizuhara said something completely different out loud - and in a rather "fawning" voice - everyone knows the fact that damn Tsuchi has a scam at the very top:

"Todoki-san, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a case of your profile here."

"?" Todoki raised an eyebrow, nodding slightly at the bow.

"Here, a wound inflicted by something strange."

"Something strange, how is that?"

"Well, sort of... like a fireball." The head of "household" said in a more apologetic tone, as if hinting that he would not have come up with such nonsense, but here are the instructions.

"Oh my. Come on, give me your unscientific fiction. So, so, "a round-shaped burn, shock damage to the muscles of the back and face, clothing and the place of detection bear traces of the presence of a weak shock wave"? Well, it's quite interesting! Yamamoto, Yamamoto-kun! Yamo... Damn, he also snores. Mi-chan, kick Yamo-kun already, I need his report."

The secretary girl, she's an operative, she's a financially responsible person and the head of the household unit (well, a small department, a small one!), without looking up from her nails, stood up and kicked her foot (though without shoes), knocking down a third employee who was really snoring.

"You could just shake him by the shoulder," Yamamoto muttered, unharmed, as he rose from the corner. "What is it, Chief?"

"Didn't you monitor the park at Blooming?"

"Well I."

"Were there any manifestations of you-know-what?"

"Not a single Voldemort has been spotted, Chief?" The bully grinned and immediately smoothly dodged another low kick from the "secretary". "Mi, don't be a bully!"

"I'm not your Mi! And don't you dare call Him by His first name," The girl frowned "menacingly", shaking the volume of "Deathly Hallows" in her hands. Todoki looked at this farce with a smile, and the head of the "household" silently blushed. He had a lot to say, but he didn't want to lose his job. And the crazy "mystics" humiliated everyone. Finally, the main "mystic" "remembered" about his counterpart:

"Well, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but you see, it's not for us? Give me the folder, I'll attach it to the archive, but I'm sorry - there's nothing to investigate here. And tell me, my friend, have you found traces of any chemicals in your skin or clothes?"

"We found," bytovik replied, restraining his irritation, "nitrocellulose."

"Holy shit, what a mystical line-up, chief!" Yamamoto cut in.

"The chemists are funny these days. Look, my friend, I think they were schoolchildren or students. Who's there overseeing the explosives reagents? Let them go through lectures and commissions, checking the consumption of nitric and sulfuric acids and what else is needed there? Otherwise, the kids will blow up the police building next time, purely for educational purposes, of course." The head of the household department gritted his teeth distinctly and left, but did not forget to bow goodbye.

And, despite the offense, I took note of the idea of the chief of the "mystics" - in which case, there will be someone to turn the tables on for the extra fuss. For all their "virtues," Tsuchimikado never go back on their words.

Part 15

Chapter 90.

I returned home, but Kuzaki is not there yet. I made myself a sandwich - my young and growing body has already digested half of the bento. I sat down at my desk and turned on the "top" computer in my room. Yeah, when was the last time I worked for him? He thought about it. Did I mention that things are getting out of control? Now they're raining down on my head like bricks. My wonderful plan, is this how you could take and complete points A and B in just a year? And I naively thought how wonderfully slow and boring I would be doing self-discovery (since the Ferry is a part of me, it means self-discovery), and then this! By the way, what's next on the plan? Google Docs, the language is Russian. Yeah, here it is: "C) Make weapons and defenses to demonstrate your strength (and so that you don't get hurt if you fail)." I wonder which cami I made laugh? Or are they already amicably gathered in the astral around my mortal carcass and making fun of my solo performance?

Well, yes. I had an attack of self-irony against the background of the realization of my real ability to manage the situation. And I think I've already gotten used to the risk. And that's right, if after every case where you could get into a big mess, you walk away with shaking hands, emptying the refrigerator and sleeping nervously, you won't have enough health, even if you still figure out how to fix some physiological problems of the body by Ferry, like the telomerase reaction and the physiological shutdown of thymus cell proliferation... [Yuto talks about the easiest to eliminate natural reactions of the body involved in the mechanism of aging].

Damn. After all, running into a Yokai lair like that is a talent you have to have. I don't even know whether to admire myself or scold? What if Shizuka really shows up on my doorstep soon? Well, let's say everything is clear with the map, and the strangest hamsters can be removed from sight... just don't release them into the wild in the park, otherwise the residents will worry why atomic and chemically active waste began to be stored in their favorite place for walks.

How long would it take her to get to the house of the descendant of the exorcists? Well, she probably won't kill the magical one, but the relationship will be completely ruined. Or should I follow the Yuta method from the canon? That's not going to work, right, I need to get the snake interested in me, and not make it watch out of fear that I'll kill someone from the spirit people? I think she will objectively assess my ability to kill someone and proudly retire for five years to remind me of myself after removing the amulet. And I will be able to put an end to my desire to find additional allies among the Ayakashi. However, on a hunch, he called Mizuchi to his house... so, subconsciously, I assumed the possible benefits of such a meeting were higher than the possible risks. So I relaxed early, the situation with Shizuka has not been resolved yet.

So, think, think. My grandfather is an exorcist, a Himary breeder, and he probably personally managed to kill someone. But my parents became pacifists... That's it! Heh, and the answer is really on the surface. My parents left the clan. And they were killed, I'm sure of it, not by evidence, but by logic. To kill a man who owns a Ferry, who has a normal clan education, in his own car, but by hitting the car against the car? Is it logical? Everything is logical. And even though I grew up with my grandfather for the first six or seven years, they took me away and didn't let me teach. The question is "why?" That's what you're asking for, isn't it? But because my parents didn't want to see me as an exorcist, it's elementary. Oops! Then it turns out that the situation with the amulet and the sealing of power looks completely different: I remember from the canon how little Yuto promises little Kues to "kill all people," in the sense of yokai. And communication with a pack of spirits, which, as logic suggests, was supposed to prepare the future "spirit sleeper" for the peculiarities of the way of thinking and the specifics of the behavior of spirits. That is, the first stage of training, as it should be in the clan, took place at my age of three or four, or even right from scratch. If the good grandfather wanted me to become an exorcist, then it is absolutely undesirable to erase these critically important memories. After all, Himari has no information about the "Ferry" in the canon (considering how the poor cat was shaken a couple of times by Tsuchi together with Kasuri in the Tsuchimikado house, it makes sense). And from this we make a logical conclusion that everything important about working with the Ferry of Light, including, possibly, the hiding places with libraries, was informed to the heir in advance. Does it fit? There don't seem to be any flaws in the logic.

Okay, now about the amulet. I REALLY doubt that master artefactor Amakawa, now that I imagine the abilities of a trained, experienced user of my clan's "kekkei genkai" could have screwed up in such a way that critically important memories were affected. Is it logical? Quite. It's possible that the amulet was supposed to hide these memories from me until I was sixteen, but Yuto didn't remember anything about the Ferry in the canon, just something from personal communication. And then, suppressing unrestrained sex followed by a razor stroke by the notorious Occam, we get an awesome result: my parents erased my memories! Ta-dam, you've won a super prize: amnesia with love!

In light of this, the story of the amulet itself looks in a completely different light. So, I'll try to restore the events in retrospect:

1) There is some kind of rift between the older and middle generation of Amakawa. Perhaps it was some kind of knowledge or idea that needed to be studied. I remember my parents visiting Noihara, and most of the time I was left to my grandparents and Himari - and I don't remember that anymore, but it's like that in the manga. Fine, let's have a version about new information - I can't stand the hackneyed plot about "ancient lost hidden knowledge." So, let's go do some research. And they did.

2) My grandfather finds out about my parents' return "with a victory" and realizes that they will take me away now. Perhaps my relatives were so pumped up that they had cats for one sneeze. Or maybe it was just that my grandparents didn't want to start a massacre that would surely put an end to our clan. By the way, it is logical to assume that the main "retinue of clan spirits" was subordinate to their parents, and in the clan manor, in their laboratory, elderly pensioners "collected and tweaked" experimental "models" of spirits for their own pleasure. Is it logical? Of course, because the house is covered by the invincible while she's in the building, a brownie whose name I still can't remember, either that way or in the manga. The Red Blade cat is the heir's babysitter and toy, and the envelope and the dog are just the entertainment pieces. Unfinished, apparently. And where did the parental retinue go? Maybe he's waiting, hiding somewhere? It is best in the Pacific Ocean, on the warm white sand of a coral atoll, under the shade of palm trees. It's decided, they'll give you a passport, and I'll rush to look for it, along with Himari, just after 16, you can travel abroad on your own... But most likely, the retinue was simply dismissed... or they buried what was left. Which is more likely, but I will sincerely believe in the "disbanded" version - otherwise I will not wash myself in front of the snake until the end of time. It doesn't hurt to search... Oh, yeah. Most likely, if released, then with a "broken" memory. Ha, maybe Mizuchi was there, but she stuck to Yuto in the canon because she already served the clan... Damn, this is such a logical and cynical version, and it doesn't work. I got a good look at the Goddess of Rivers on the cliff, but you can't take off the ferry. Damn, that's how you have to believe in kind and intelligent Yokai...

Okay, wait, there's another piece of the puzzle: Kues-chan's arrival. It means that my grandfather found out in advance that my parents' work was close to success, and began to "wrap up" clan affairs for the heir. That's right, the suppression amulet was then made much in advance of the issue, which is why it is so complex and has so many functions. And then the self-destruct device just has to be there, thank you, grandfather, for making a reminder from childhood absent-mindedness, I did not forget! Otherwise, it would be a shame to be scattered by atomic dust or something else because no one is there for me... Stop, stop, very much so. Grandmother. And I still have that memory, no matter what. Cool, I wonder if I should go for a CT scan? There must be so many stitches from firmware and flashing on my brain that there could be physical traces left. Brr, it's better not to, or maybe there really is!

By the way, the heirs could also be "ferried" to obtain the characteristics of "speed-strength-mind". Or maybe not, maybe it can only be done in adulthood so that the muscles don't mess up? But Rinko's parents made a ferry, and the rest of the residents - and everything is fine. On the other hand, Kuzaki is not superior to an ordinary person, and as far as I could figure out, everything works purely on a rebuilt physiology, without further pumping, like the speed of passage of a nerve impulse... Okay, I digress.

So, my parents go, and I get the amulet. Grandpa twirls the dolls and tells his parents something like "it's going to be mine anyway, muahaha!" Damn, how could I forget such a moment, parents, how could you not let me remember Grandpa's hellish laugh? Because maybe he was laughing "Whoo-hoo-hoo!", but now I'm suffering, I can't reproduce such an important family parameter, I'm using "crooked grins" more and more, it's not good. Damn, I keep getting off topic, I don't even want to think about it. But I have to.

3) My parents bring me here and... mmm, they try to remove the amulet, but it doesn't work? What else? There's no way to find out. The main thing is that, desperate to remove the barrier that prevents them from selectively interfering in my brain, they took and rubbed everything, didn't they? Oh, apparently, Grandpa didn't believe in the possibility of such an animal. I'm not talking about the arctic fox, in this case there is an obvious brain vyhuhol. Mine!

Um, two conclusions follow from this: (a) The amulet affects Ferry, although I won't tell you how. And (b) - my parents had a plan to rebuild my personality. Apparently, they were not satisfied with the little exorcist, who pitted some spirits against others without regret. Or perhaps the clan's knowledge contradicted what I needed to be taught. You won't know now. By the way, the parents did not sit around doing nothing - they managed to spread rumors about the "too strong" amulet. Even Kues knows. One thing is for sure: I was trained for something. Just for the sake of a "peaceful life", they wouldn't arrange a branch of the psi corps here with shadow processor pilots. [and now Yuto remembers the series Babylon 5]. The battlefield is brains. Mine, damn it! Okay, the last step.

4) We assume that a child cannot be incapacitated from the age of 9 - it's just that then part of the best age for learning will be spent on acquiring social skills and will cause a developmental delay. Fuck!!! This is the "canon"! Well done, here's another piece of the puzzle. In fact, to break is not to build. Did it take two hours to fill in the new me? A year and a half? Three? Who knows when my parents took me away. Wait, though. A kiss with Kues. For the life of me, I can't imagine how six-year-olds can kiss like that. Make it seven. Then it is clear why so little was "poured". And so, the parents take and die. And before that, in a generally narrow interval of just a little more than a year, both grandfathers and grandmothers die. So guess. Either they faked death and went, as they say, to "cut out" their parents - and ended up with each other (otherwise the survivors would have taken me anyway). Either there is a third force (or maybe more than one). A banal suicide? And then someone sawed off the middle generation of the family of the head of the Amakawa clan who remained without spirits and without the support of relatives.

You know what I'm going to say? THIS IS A COMPLETE NINE-TAILED POLAR FOXBERSLON!!! With nine trunks! I'm alive, but do you know why? Because I'm nobody at all, and I don't have any clan skills-neither the old ones, hunting, nor the new ones, parenting. Oh, damn it!

Now I am the final, irrevocable, pre-cooked cannon fodder. Tsuchi? Ykoin? On the other hand, maybe I was just left alone because I was useless, and these comrades would pick up the "valuable fur" as a load for Himari. And everything would have worked out for them - see the "canon", but then one very lucky dreamer flew by. And he became the new Amakawa. Well, yes, I have a complete personality matrix. Apparently, the teachers were happy that my socialization progress went so fast and well "from the stress" of my parents' death. And this strange detachment of the first six months of life is understandable - instead of the skills of life in the modern Japanese society of the world, "here" is emptiness. Great, just great!

Harmony has returned to the world! [And now - "Masyanya", a series about renting an apartment] That's what they call "lucky so lucky"!

Damn it! Shizuko-therapy of the brain is good for health! It is prescribed for the sick, the maimed, and victims of loving relatives. And here it is, the main conclusion. I only have to show something, some result of the Ferry, and the hunt will begin on me. Perhaps any Ferry skill? No, the canon is the same: there Yuto successfully applies it instinctively. Most likely, there is one of the "new knowledge" about which something was learned, which was followed by the liquidation of a small, but by no means the weakest clan. All four people who might have been in the know were stabbed. Figuratively speaking, "cut up". However, a ridiculous situation in the spirit of "overdoing it" is possible for some percentage, when the parents themselves messed up something and fell unconscious on the first oncoming car. A madhouse!

But I know what to tell Shizuka. Rinko should be warned to talk... Damn, she doesn't know how to lie, so I'll just tell you that I met a reasonable yokai for the first time in my life, and it occurred to me that I managed to restore some memories in which I realized that my parents had specifically taken me away from the clan so that I wouldn't become an exorcist. The last will. But the sneaky Jinguji, Tsuchi, and others, you can't explain it to them, can you?

In order to defend my vassals (I need to repeat this word more often, in Japan there is a very special attitude towards vassalage, both on the part of the vassal himself and on the part of the suzerain), so in order to defend my Yokai who remain loyal to the clan, I will have to accept full power. Huh, one. Although I didn't give a damn about it. But I will be devoted to the guidance of my parents and will protect the yokai-spirits, except, of course, those who like barbecue from passers-by more than common sense. And I will try to create a society where yokai, humans and magicians can happily coexist. And I'll try. Because the unknown fucking shit is still standing behind my back with an axe raised. What would she find suspicious? Anything. But let him try to get there first.

And yes, this is my revenge. Revenge for the destroyed clan, which I used to consider my own, for the murdered legacy of at least twelve generations of ancestors, like Amakawa, who were "registered" as a clan of Spirit Hunters about 500 years ago. My revenge is not murder. My revenge is to get back what I've lost, to get it back so that it hits all these schemers who are capable of killing this future with their own hands for fear of their ass and the "future", in the sense of being able to sit the most important thing on the mountain. Sorry and opponents, pawn players, combinators and fans of raking in the heat with someone else's hands. I'm sorry to upset you, but now, from the abstract "general" goal of paragraph (H), "World peace," this goal has become my personal one. Has the Amakawa clan been banned from changing the world? The Amakawa clan will ensure that your warm toilets and "ancestral authorities" are rolled out on a log. So that you don't bother me, I still have to save the world, Ugh, damn, change it!

Chapter 91.

I carefully wrote down the last paragraph on Google docs, under the title: "Useful in memoirs or to stamp on a tombstone." And he went to turn off the "mago indicators", changing them to LEDs. And I need to remember, when even I start to get emotional, I need to write it down urgently, preferably on Google, otherwise the house will be demolished or the hard drive will simply die? They're not joking, maybe everything will really work out and I'll have something to talk about, and, most importantly, when to write my memoirs. In the meantime, let's start small: a map, tell Rinko the edited version about the pacifist Amakawa (wow, how Rinko will support me!), take the transition exams and worry about coming up with a new, useful direction for me for the physics club after the summer. Right now, two thirds of the cast are working on "helping Hiroe and Midori," and their program cycle should be over by the beginning of the holidays. And I need to eat, or something, and really get a good night's sleep. Stress - it still won't go away by itself, even if it was provided to me by the most kawaii loli of the city and the surrounding area.

Chapter 92.

"Hi, Hiroe!"

"Hello, Yuto-kun," the girl did not look up from the adobe maker, and I did not distract her with questions about the weather.

"I have a request for you." Help me choose a mentor in meditation techniques.

"Er-er-er?! Did I hear right?! Meditation techniques?"

"Everything is right."

Hiroe made a ridiculously funny face - wrinkled her forehead, opened her eyes (yes, you can do that too, it turns out) and hung for about twenty seconds.

"Yeah, I'm kind of at a logical dead end. Your request is exactly what you want to know, but I can't reliably guess why you need it. No, no, don't tell me, it won't be interesting." She grinned. "I won't risk choosing myself, I don't really understand. I'll ask my mother."


And so, I'm in front of the doors. Sensei, contrary to all my ideas, settled not in the quiet of the private sector, but in a business city, renting half of a small hangar at one of the business centers. I'm calling. The magnetic lock clicks, I go inside. It's funny! Such a European setting, mats, armchairs, chairs, even stools, but flags painted with hieroglyphs hang from the ceiling: concentration, calmness, attitude, and something else.

"Good afternoon, young man! I'm glad to see you at my school. Have a seat, before we start getting to know each other and I make a first impression about you, tell me why you came? Why do you need meditation?"

"My family had skills passed down from generation to generation, and I need her to restore them. First step: first I need to feel what I can do. Let go of feelings and emotions and feel."

Sensei, an ordinary guy in his thirties, but not under forty, listened intently to my tirade, although before that he looked at me with a smile, something like "wow, what a charm, so small, and already came to study on his own." He looked at me and bowed slightly:

"Please excuse me, I mistook you for one of those who came here hoping to gain, if not superpowers, then to learn how to pull off miracles like manga characters. Well, let's not postpone the lesson."

Now, having adjusted the days of classes to Rinko's schedule, I went to classes twice a week in the evenings, each time amazed at how the teacher still affects the understanding of the subject. When choosing, I would have fallen for oriental tinsel and, according to anime tradition, I would have spent five years on the "first step" (and then I would suddenly have to face danger and abruptly turn around, skipping the rest of the course as unnecessary!).

Here, I was taught specific things: focusing attention, schemes for quickly "entering" a state depending on the degree of fatigue or, conversely, arousal (and no "here's one difficult way for you to cope with impossible hothouse conditions, use it in any situation"), meditation on different moods (road, questions, cognition contemplation, comprehension of the whole), ways to control the duration of the "immersion" time, and even platitudes like "how to meditate on the bus" or "how not to fall asleep while meditating lying down."

As the teacher told me ironically, "combat meditation" was also necessary, it was a favorite way to spend money for 95% of boys and half of adults. The irony was that combat meditation was not an independent technique, but was simply a superposition of derived techniques of a peaceful orientation, such as how "contemplation of the whole" can be used to find weaknesses in an opponent's defense, and the "road" allows not only to escape in time, but can also be used to strike, bypassing protection. By the end of the second week of training, the teacher had abandoned his initial formality when addressing, and we communicated quite amicably, despite the age difference. As sensei explained to me, "seeing" a person for who they are by "breaking through" social markers is another opportunity to "contemplate the whole."

I studied, of course, for money. I didn't have to cut the ration, because my current account, it turns out, provided for tuition fees, and they were not part of the boarding school. Convenient!

The funny thing is that even mastering primary self-control has increased my work efficiency by fifty percent. Strong vivid emotions and feelings now didn't throw me away so much while working on something. For example, one evening, I suddenly managed to "finish" the mobile version of the map for observing high-energy objects, that is, magicians and ayakashi, if they get within the boundaries of the perimeter. My first successful "working" meditation was when, having once again run into a code implementation that I did not understand, I worked out the "road" situation at full speed, with a retreat into contemplation. Hurray!

To completely close the topic of meditation, I will say that a couple of times I came to classes where the teacher was chasing a crowd of assorted men and boys, teaching "combat meditation" from scratch. Well, I turned out to be completely right: a clear victory of anime cliches over reason. Interestingly, all sides were pleased: the teacher - with good money, for which it was worth walking around the hall in a kimono with a yin-yang symbol on his back, looking sternly from under his furrowed brows and making comments mixed with mysterious "like philosophical" meaninglessness, and the students who, looking at this theater, They felt like they were being turned around and covered in glory right in front of their eyes. In advance.

Some, however, actually learned what they came for. For me, the only disadvantage of attending classes was the need to cut off my mobile phone every time. Gradually, I was able to identify and close the most pressing problems in the planned actions. Following the remote control of the card readings, the mobile client that Rinko and I are currently beta-testing on mobile phones, I made the first protective amulet in my life. It was a simple version of the barrier, the same as in the walls of my house and the house in Noihara, or rather, even just a single seal embedded with a magic storage device in Kuzaki's hairpin. Theoretically, this thing was supposed to more or less effectively block not very skillful attempts to take control of the girl's mind with the help of magic. To be honest, I haven't been eager to find out what this will look like in practice yet. The next logical step was the "combined" processing of clothing, when mano-absorbing elements along with accumulators were applied to the intuitively applied base by ferry using "eye technique", that is, seeing what you were doing, right on top of the disorderly reinforcing lines. Why is it intuitive? Because in this form, for some reason, the fabric not only did not pass through the blade of the knife (and, as I believed, the bullet), but also in some way incomprehensible to me began to distribute the force of the blow more or less effectively over the entire surface. So, as soon as I was convinced of the advantages of the new process of applying protection, despite the tedium of the process, I insisted that the girl pull out her entire wardrobe for me to process, for which, for the first time in my life, I received an incredulous, appraising look from Rinko. However, trust in me won out, and Kuzaki dumped out in front of me not only the outerwear I had in mind, but also underwear. That was strong! Both of us walked for two hours in a slightly awkward mood, blushing every time we looked at each other, but my neighbor got two dozen pairs of inseparable armored personnel carriers with the function of absorbing magic, and I repeated the process of creating legendary attributes of any Amazon in practice. Meanwhile, the school academic year was coming to its logical end, the month of May was replaced by June, and the usual lessons were exams, midterms, and other chores. Hiroe and Midori's project was also successfully filmed, there was a mountain of layout and linking, and voice acting in some places, but the journalism club had to handle this on its own.

Having gathered, with the help of the president, the staff of the physics club, I suggested that next year, since we were so good at working with electric motors and studied avionics, we study the transition state of polymers during layering in an automated way. That is, to assemble your own 3D printer, the benefit for this is that the experience of assembling enclosures and drives with small tolerances has been found. Unanimously, as I expected. I'm kind of a wrong hitman, all the heroes of fanfiction anticipate the plot with afterglow and correct the characters' jambs, but I've redrawn the drawings of the Chinese RepRap from memory, which haven't even been posted here (not to the millimeter drawings, just the basic structural diagram of the device) to the public. As always, the people happily sorted out the printouts, promising to get acquainted and have time before the holidays to outline a list of necessary purchases for the school to work on the device, which the president of the club, while he had not yet transferred to secondary school, had to submit to the director and push through. I feel like I won't be able to get away from my command position next year. Hemorrhoids!

Anyway, on my eleventh birthday, I woke up without any misgivings, went to class, passed the social studies test, and went to meditation techniques classes with a calm heart. Which proves once again that I have some kind of dubious luck, because if I had known in advance what would happen during my absence from home, I would never have gone to class. And then it wouldn't have happened.

Part 16. Shizuka and Hiroe came to visit Yuto and met Rinko alone.

Interlude 9. Part 1. Shizuka by the sea

[Shizuka by the sea]

Shizuka watched as the increasing wind and the increasingly strong seasonal current hit the "road of spirits" harder and harder. There was such force in the impact of the waves, the gaps between which almost reached the flooded roadbed, and the pressure of many thousands of tons of water that the stone bulls, the huge boulders that make up the body of the dam, could not resist. With each blow, the water carried away its prey: small stones, large stones, very large stones! The sand has been gone for a long time. And so the first bull swayed, the second... The sea rolled out multi-ton boulders with a low, almost infrasonic roar, like a child rolling forgotten backgammon dice. It rolled all over the rather large bay, drove into pits, rolled into shallow shoals, in order to once again create a lot of headaches for fishermen with the identification of new shoals and dangerous places. How many curses have been poured on the heads of the dead builders over the centuries... and how many years before the island of Spirits went under water from another earthquake, it was swallowed and never said. But the fishermen were lucky. The natural source of natural mana gushing from the center of the island has not gone away, and the yokai that once fell under the distribution of the elements periodically appeared as if from oblivion. Crippled shells, a gradient of seemingly affordable, but not very suitable for constant supply of "clean" energy - and all this is under multi-ton rubble of stones, and from above - flooded with seawater: this kind of soup was cooked at a depth of a couple of meters, and not a single fisherman dared to go there. The bottom of the bay was still somewhat seismically unstable, and some spirits, still alive, wounded, and held by rocks for centuries, spirit were getting a chance to be free. The combination of "clean energy" and the impossibility of organic nutrition created an indescribable combination of hunger and promiscuity, and heavy years of pressure created severe mental disorders. They are often clinically severe.

The dam created the problem. The old road along the embankment, piled on top of the cursed stone bulls, as soon as the seasonal current changed direction, they were driven by the waves to the place where they had once been laid by the spirits of the earth. And the "Way of the Spirits", a cursed road, allowed the lost Yokai to get ashore. Most of the weak and with wounds that had not healed soon found their demise in the teeth of other unintelligent spirits, however, another part... the part that was once very strong, and now remained just strong, was a serious danger. Mostly for ordinary people, but some... instances... Even the three leaders of a small group of spirits who settled on the wooded slopes of low hills near the nearest large city were forced to "sweat".

Meanwhile, more and more of the stones at the base of the road shifted too far apart, and the "Path", which looked like a ribbon of deep blue in yokai"s perception of the water, trembled more and more, losing its thickness and scattering the energy lost by the spell around it with sparks. Finally, after another blow from the elements, it burst with a loud pop. That"s it. No one else managed to leave the island. Shizuka, standing silently above the edge of the steep shore, among the fir trees bending in the wind, turned her back to the sea - only a thick braid slapped her back. First, there is a report that the next seasonal escalation of the situation has successfully ended and there will be relative silence in the surrounding forests and fields for another six months. The last two months had been extremely tiring, and now the Goddess of Rivers was going to unwind in the city. And at the same time fulfill the promise made to one interesting guy.

[Hiroe is at home]

Hiroe looked at her watch and decided that it was already quite possible to go out. She knew for a fact that Yuto-kun had another meditation practice class today and, therefore, she would definitely not find him at home. But she is very likely to find Kuzaki Rinko there, who returns from kendo classes on Saturday much earlier than Yuto. On any other day, Rinko might have turned away a friend who wasn"t very close to her at school, or even a classmate, but not today. And what about the fact that she arrived ahead of time? Since Yuto"s phone is not answering, she has already found out the few principles of sensei in relation to students from her mother in advance. And there, once she gets to Amakawa"s house, she will be able to gather a lot of information on the subject of her interest. And if you can look into his room! The girl squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation, licking her lips. Of course, she was well aware that she could have easily asked to visit Yuuto anyway, especially if she had honestly given the reason. She could just see the guy grinning and showing her his house, making snide comments about some mess... but! It won"t be according to the rules! Mom taught Hiroe Kaname well enough that she understood that with allies, including this skinny, short-haired girl Amakawa Yuto, the rules should not be broken without very serious reasons. Even if you know that he knows that you know... That"s how, at about four o"clock on Saturday afternoon, Hiroe Kaname, a junior high school student, found herself on the street in front of the entrance to the courtyard of Yuto"s house with a small bag in her hands. Well-mannered people don"t go to a birthday party without a gift, right? And the fact that near this very door she ran into another girl about her own age, whose long black hair, shining green, was pulled into a tight thick braid, is, really, one of those coincidences that would seem to have a one in a million chance of happening... and they happen all the time.

[Two girls under the window... Ugh, under the door of Amakawa"s house]

Of course, if a neighbor had looked out the window right now, he wouldn"t have seen anything strange in the picture that opened up: just two very ordinary girls about ten years old, standing opposite each other, equidistant from the gate to the courtyard of Amakawa Yuto-kun"s house. Are they standing for a long time? But let them be.

Shizuka regarded the little stranger somewhat suspiciously. On the one hand, an ordinary person who is on the borderline between a child and a teenager is too subtle, almost to the point of pain, a girl, and everything would be fine... If it wasn"t for the look in his eyes. That cold, appraising squint, the sharp fluctuations of the pupils focusing on different parts of Mizuchi"s body, the uncharacteristic "frozen" plastic for a child... and yet the Water Snake couldn"t figure out what had aroused such interest! After all, she"s been specializing in intelligence for years... rather, it should be said that the number of these years is closer to a hundred. Ordinary clothes, ordinary (okay, maybe not ordinary, but definitely human) hairstyle, sandals on his feet, white socks... Ordinary clothes, ordinary (okay, maybe not ordinary, but definitely human) hairstyle, sandals on his feet, white socks... The opponent was definitely not an exorcist - there were no emanations of power, none at all. And why is she looking like that?

Hiroe, in turn, looked at the unknown girl and quietly fell apart from the feeling of mystery... No, SECRETS! Firstly, the exposed areas of the opponent"s skin shone a little more strongly than human skin should shine in the sun... or at this distance, she would have smelled sweat somehow! Some creams could have such an effect (and her mother refused to teach her this categorically and flatly!), but they definitely could not leave her clothes dry and clean. In addition, this set of clothes, if I may say so, is a set, and in no way a set in which socks were the most common item... pure white, as if dust did not exist in nature at all. The peach-colored sandals matched the dress closely (too short, in Hiroe"s opinion, to go with her... hmm... to the boy"s birthday... or was it on purpose?!), but the trouble is, this style of shoe was last produced about twenty-five years ago, and it didn"t look like a new model or a special order. She didn"t find them in the trash, did she? There are no shoes in such good condition in the trash. There were no special complaints about the dress (except for the length!!!) it was quite possible to buy it in the shopping malls near Hiroe"s own house... just not from natural flax without synthetic admixtures.

In fabrics, as my mother used to say, no self-respecting woman can afford to rely on the price tag. Well, the finishing touches: black hair, shining green in the sun, braided in such a gorgeous braid, for the possession of which you can strangle... tied up in black... shoe stores... With a shoelace! It was... so gorgeous... such an intriguing mystery that only by a monstrous effort of will could the young Kaname not lick her lips! "Yuto-Yuto, if I met someone like that on my first visit to you... Like this... such... You can"t give such gifts on your own birthday, you can"t! It"s so necessary to seduce an innocent girl, so cruelly! If the riddles don"t stop there, I don"t even know how I"m going to hold back anymore!"

Despite such a long description, all these glances under the door took about ten seconds, after which the girls synchronously "froze off", and Hiroe asked first:

"Hi! Are you going to Yuto-kun"s too?"

"Hi. Yes, I"m going to Yuto-kun. He invited me to visit, so I came." The snake replied a little sarcastically.

"Great! My name is Hiroe, shall I introduce you?" and Kaname Jr. extended her hand in a European handshake, another small test.

Shizuku. Mizuchi calmly shook the outstretched hand, noting how warm it was. Wow, it"s almost thirty-seven degrees. Snakes and ordinary ones can feel heat well, and the water demon is subject to differences in fractions of a degree. Are we calling? The short-haired woman nodded at the door intercom.

The River Goddess nodded and pressed the call button.

[Kuzaki Rinko, the kitchen of the Amakawa house]

Rinko hummed a tune of her own composition to herself - as usual, she was caught up in the special, cozy spirit of this place in the kitchen, regardless of the house. The girl took her time chopping vegetables with a knife and mixing ingredients for future meat roasting, put water on the hob to warm up and began to thoughtfully sort the products for the third. A celebratory dinner? No, come on! Yuto doesn"t celebrate his birthday, just not on the day his parents die. As he sadly joked last year, "minus on minus, they hope to give a plus not only in mathematics." The death of his closest relatives changed the guy - from an unsociable and introverted child, he turned into an extremely purposeful young man, and the obstacles that stood in his way seemed to only give him a reason to pick up speed towards his goal. Towards a strange, dangerous, and incomprehensible goal: either hope for an incredible future, or an incredible, deadly danger coming from literally every corner.

Who would have thought that when Yuto called her for that "serious" conversation, she didn"t believe him at first. Some kind of exorcists, yokai, magic, how can you even believe in this nonsense in the modern world? It"s like this idiotic story was invented by some mangaka, and then half the boys in the class read this stuff... However, it is possible. Yuto gave a very convincing demonstration... and then she saw a strong spirit with her own eyes. I even talked to him. I even gave out nuts and one pineapple! Smiling, the girl touched the hairpin with the back of her hand: the heavy gold object always felt pleasantly cool against her skin... and it has become a serious protective amulet.

Yuto, Yuto, well, who would have thought that this happens in life: your neighbor is suddenly a prince, the heir to an ancient family of magicians. The last survivor of the clan, his parents renounced their ancestors. And they died. An amulet that blocks magic and hides the heir of the family from the world, but only for the time being. Sixteen years will come, and young Amakawa will have to find himself with his own world, the world of yokai and magicians who live so close - and as if beyond the glass... but this is self-deception. That thing from the park... which she barely remembered, scary, ugly... Hungry. Yuto"s strange power manifested for the first time, hacking the monster in one blow... and by getting rid of the illusions that you can hide inside yourself from a part of the world. At least by saving Yuto, she herself could not accept for a long time that such a cozy and beautiful city of theirs could at any moment become the refuge of a monster or monsters.

Yes, Yuto was smart, not like her. Yuto takes care of her so much, constantly trying to protect her. And Yuto wouldn"t be left alone with his world, not when he"d let her in on everything! Maybe if she were some kind of boring aunt from a melodrama that her mother loves to watch so much, she would wring her hands and scream "how useless I am", and in the end would only add to Yuto"s headache... But she"s not a stupid grown-up aunt! That is, she is already an adult... Well, almost... although, when looking at Midori, I really want this "almost" to become at least a little more! but definitely not stupid.

"The power is not in magic, the power is not in the Ferry of Light, the power is in ourselves. A hundred years ago, people were dying of colds and pneumonia, and forty years ago they went into space." That"s what Yuto said. Yuto is right. Personal strength is not a cudgel, it is the ability to get results. This requires brains - and the desire to use them. Even in kendo, where bokken is sensitively hit in the brain from time to time, this principle applies... and the enchanted clothes of Prince Amakawa, who, his remember, called the result of "pumping" underwear his "most senseless feat", are very much in demand! Stupid, stupid Yuto, he doesn"t understand anything. In training, he "flies" to "these places", sometimes leaving absolutely monstrous-looking bruises... and very, very uncomfortable! But Rinko can"t just tell him about it?!

The girl"s cheeks turned treacherously red, and it took her a long time to notice the soft beep of the phone. What else is this, it doesn"t look like an SMS, and she couldn"t send such a signal to anyone... The map! Kuzaki dashed to the table, picking up her cell phone. Damn, damn, damn, the signal is right in front of the house! How could she not have heard the sound earlier?! Of course, it doesn"t cost a strong spirit anything to travel such a distance in a minute, but what would it be unnoticeable? What should me do? Yuto! Call... turned off. Damn it, meditation! What to do, what to do? Okay, take it easy! Yuto had warned her that he had invited a yokai he had met in the forest... how she"d sandbagged him back then, that he"d managed to get into trouble out of the blue... however, with benefit, the friend managed to partially restore, partially guess to a part of the memory... The area in front of the gate should be visible from the second floor! Rushing down the stairs, she looked out the window. Girl, black hair, braid, matches! And this... Hiroe, damn it! What is she doing here? And how capable she is of driving the spirit with her completely shameless tricks, only a corpse in front of the door was not enough! And it"s not funny, Yokai are not toys. Yokai - trouble! Rinko went down the stairs, opened the front door and went to the gate. She was holding a frying pan in her hand, which she had automatically grabbed from the kitchen and grabbed a la bokken. This is how she appeared before the two visitors, a little disheveled, in an apron with a chicken and with a frying pan in her outstretched hand. The "Meeting night" was definitely a success!

Interlude 9. Part 2. The kitchen of the Amakawa house, a somewhat unexpected selection of characters

I guess I should introduce myself: I"m Rinko, Yuto"s neighbor. Kuzaki led the girls into the house. Yuto is currently in extra classes and won"t arrive for three hours. So make yourself comfortable! The girls sat down at the kitchen table, Rinko poured a glass of juice.

"Shizuka," the snake introduced itself, and immediately asked with slightly narrowed eyes, "just a neighbor and that"s it?"

"I"ve been helping Yuto around the house since his parents died two years ago. Car crash. It"s the anniversary today, and Yuto hasn"t celebrated a birthday since."

Everyone fell silent. Rinko was sad, Shizuka was sympathetic, and she could hardly remember how she felt about the day of mourning for her murdered relatives in the early years. Hiroe thoughtfully looked at the kitchen, the products laid out in the cooking process, and nodded:

"Clear. And the dinner you"re cooking right now, it"s certainly not festive. I would call it an "everyday dinner." From an expensive restaurant. And you"re doing great, girlfriend!"

Rinko"s cheeks turned slightly red against her will. By tacit agreement with Yuto, they did not bring up the topic of death and celebration, but she was sure that the guy was grateful for her efforts...

"I see," the Goddess of Rivers said now, "I think since we came uninvited (a quick glance at the haircut), we just have to help the hostess. You don"t mind?"

"Er-er-em, I thought you"d want to wait for Yuto, but if you want to help, I don"t mind at all. Even for!"

It"s an amazing thing. They say that there cannot be two housewives in a kitchen, because women secretly consider the kitchen to be their territory. Perhaps that"s true, but it"s too unusual for representatives of the "weaker sex" to gather at the Amakawa house today. And that"s how you look at it. If the kitchen has 45 square meters, and the cutting table above the cabinets stretches for eight meters, then, perhaps, six people can cook! Rinko went back to roasting, leaving the rest to the guests, watching their actions out of the corner of her eye: you never know, they took it upon themselves to help, but they don"t know how to cook themselves? However, knowing Hiroe, one could safely assume that the scheming schemer could cook, and very well, and apparently loved it, otherwise she would have found some excuse and would have run away to inspect the house. Rinko found the special attention to subjects and the ability to draw conclusions about people based on these observations quite annoying, but she endured it. Everyone has their own hobby, although she would be ashamed to "get into the heads" of people around her. She was much more annoyed by the short-haired woman"s apparent favor for her Yuto. Under the pretext of "talking to an intelligent person," she began to visit their class often during recess and generally showed increased attention. Rinko was a little scared of this - after participating in the "plan" to raise the rating of the journalism club"s news, this little girl, without lifting a finger herself, forced the half-naked director to climb a tree at camera sight, and a couple more minor adventures planned by this terrible man, which Rinko herself learned about only through admission into the "inner circle" of the school reporter"s hangout. She didn"t know what to expect from Hiroe Kaname at all. Right now, her came with a "gift" type bag, and her can"t put it out now. However, Kuzaki admitted to herself, she wouldn"t have exposed it anyway, because arrogance is arrogance, but it"s very difficult to get a grudge against such a person!

On the other side of Rinko, near the sink, Shizuka settled down, who took over the dough for desserts and the preparation of tea. Confident, well-honed movements, spices and sugar measured without looking, even Rinko spoke about yokai"s rich experience in cooking dishes. It was a little strange to see the most ordinary girl acting so confidently, she looked to be the same age as Kuzaki herself, but that just doesn"t happen in life... unless you can see the thin blue halo around her figure. A spirit can disguise itself, but it can"t disguise itself at all, as Yuto once said. Even such a weak "illumination" was enough for the sensors of the map to visualize the presence of the spirit. However, at the same moment, Shizuka finished mixing the pastry ingredients, and furtively looked around, trying to detect the presence of exorcist magicians nearby (yeah, through the walls with absorbing "firmware"!), and lowered her shields slightly. With a single movement of her hand, Mizuchi"s magic filling the water became visible in the vision spectrum of the glasses for a moment, and flour and water became the most perfect-looking dough Rinko had ever seen in her life! Damn, it"s enviable! And what about the other side? Hiroe was cutting lettuce, and her movements were like a perfectly tuned chopping machine: perfectly even pieces remained on the cutting board, the girl smiled slightly. "This way my dish will be the easiest to taste! - the girl next door broke out in a sweat, - well, never mind, I have all my desire to make the perfect meat for Yuto! Who said that even pieces or magic guarantee an amazing taste?! Let"s see who"s who!" Rinko stole a glance at her rivals and came across similar looks. "Challenge accepted!"

"Ha ha!" Hiroe thought as she continued chopping vegetables, "this is more interesting than I thought! And if Rinko presented a surprise only in terms of cooking, then the second girl, whom Kuzaki and Amakawa seemed to be waiting for, is very interesting!" She didn"t look at the dough trick in as much detail as Rinko, and she didn"t cook often enough to consider herself a good cook, but! Only her mother could match her in cutting salads, but the soup... we must try to screw up the first one badly.

Light meditation - and now the movements of the knife acquire the necessary uniformity, and young Kaname could see exactly the size and proportions as well as her mother. Innate! By the way, Hiroe studied meditation with another teacher only because she was female, and her mother wanted to make sure that her daughter"s education was as effective as possible. But Kaname"s worthy daughter perfectly saw the atypical behavior of the water, which easily rinses the wildly sticky sweet dough from Shizuka"s hands, then almost instantly drips off her hands, leaving the latter dry and clean. Yes, and these are the movements of a woman in her forties, the dawn of experience and before the beginning of the sunset of power... In general, Occam"s razor insisted on admitting that the third comrade in their team was not a human being. I should give Rinko a hint... Although, considering how carefully she keeps an eye on the guest, she may be aware of it. The mystery! Hiroe hurriedly put a piece of apple in her mouth to lick her lips! By working together, they put the prepared dishes in the oven and on the stove, and the salad in the refrigerator, after which the girls suddenly discovered that they had not said a word to each other during the entire cooking except "please pass me this." There was an awkward silence.

"Ahem",- Rinko cleared her throat, "maybe we should do something while Yuto is gone."

"You come here a lot, don"t you?" Hiroe asked innocently.

"Each... quite often!" Rinko was embarrassed and started making excuses. "Since Yuto is alone, I"ve been helping him with the housework."

"Great!" Kaname was just beaming with "innocence," and Rinko got nervous. What"s wrong again?

"So," the schemer continued, "you keep the house in perfect order? Ha, you"re the real boss here, everything is tidy and in place. And I appreciated the napkins on the windowsills. Show us the house, since you"re keeping order for Yuto-kun."

The snake nodded. Rinko felt that she had been hit. Admitting that she wasn"t the one "keeping the house in order" was beyond her. I had to nod and invite the guests to the second floor after me. Hiroe made a victorious and at the same time slightly disappointed face - Yuto would not have been caught in such a banal two-level divorce. Then she caught an appreciative look from Shizuki and realized that she had an intellectual rival for today. This is Yuto"s room," Rinko said a little irritably. She vindictively began the tour with the bathroom and the toilet and for 10 minutes listened to the praises of "excellent tiles, warm design" and a bunch of other incomprehensible stuff. One thing was good, these two drunken bitches, no matter what, obediently followed her, which meant there was no chance that they would climb into the basement. Although there is nothing "like that"... but it will raise unnecessary questions anyway. Rinko waved her hand around the room and was about to return to the corridor, but it was not there! The girls wandered around the room as if nothing had happened, examining the spines of books and the computer, Hiroe tried the softness of the bed (and shot a provocative glance at Kuzaki), and Shizuka looked at the shelves of the shelf. And naturally, I came across a blue velvet box with a sticker "for Shizuka". Oops! Ayakashi felt herself blushing! Agree, that"s how to discover in someone else"s house that you are not just not forgotten, but also a gift has been prepared! It had been a long, long time since she had had anyone to leave a gift... and at home, where this gift could be found. The Goddess of Rivers fled from any attempt to settle in the house, she had been running for more than two hundred years... maybe in vain. The frozen Ayakashi attracted the attention of Rinko and Hiroe, and both looked over her shoulder.

"A gift?" Kaname asked?

"Yes, for Shizuka. Yuto asked me to give them to Shizuka if she came in his absence. Well, don"t be shy, open up!"

In the box, as expected, there were two folded satin-blue hair ribbons with Chinese tassels at the ends. Hiroe immediately recognized the expensive accessory that Amakawa-kun had asked for advice about almost two months ago. However, the guest has been waiting for a long time! And Shizuka was completely lost, holding the box in her hands. And no amount of long-term experience has helped. "Yuto did well, as he knew exactly what to choose for someone who, in general, does not really need things and personal items," Rinko thought proudly.

"Yuto did well, such a subtle manipulation! I wonder if I guessed it or figured it out? That scoundrel!" Hiroe thought.

"Do you want me to braid your braid?" To bring Mizuchi out of her stupor, Rinko asked, "And Yuto-kun will love that you took advantage of his gift."

"Can I?" - the snake asked in a kind of childish confusion, uncertainly.

"And even necessary! Hiroe, can you help me?"

"No," she smirked sarcastically, running her fingers through her short boyish crew cut. "It"s like I"m from a different camp."

Hiroe was mentally berating herself and her mother in every way! Well, what was it worth to show a child how to make braids? Well, you never know that their hair in the family is so brittle that you can afford a maximum of a short square! It"s necessary to make a mistake on what elementary stuff! However, Kaname didn"t self-flagellate for a long time while Rinko was flying over Ayakashi"s gorgeous hair (and was wildly jealous - she didn"t cut her hair short from a good life either!) with blue ribbons, I walked around the room once more and noticed how the corner of the long bedspread was suspiciously protruding, skirting a rather large rectangular object. "And what does Yuto keep under his bed?- the question struggled for a while with the obvious answer of "playboy selections," but surely everything could be expected from Yuto? Moreover, for some reason, I irrationally wanted to annoy "bosom friends who, in a moment, sang along on the basis of their heartfelt feelings for Yuto-kun." So I"m sorry in advance, Yuto, but if there"s porn, then your girlfriends are close enough to understand and not knock you over the head too much for "perversion". Besides, I have to figure out which figures Amakawa-kun likes the most. What if they"re skinny girls with short hair? One correctly calculated "random" step, and the box, along with its contents, rolls out from under the bed on the smooth floor. Oh, it"s not porn. It"s quite a "Table poker club". We live!

Under the delicious smells from the stove and oven, the trio sat down at a large dining table and laid out cards, chips, and even spread out a green cloth. There was still at least an hour left before the end of classes and Yuto"s arrival, which meant there was time. Rinko finally figured out to text her friend just in case, so that he wouldn"t worry about missed calls and a flashpoint from ayakashi right in the house. Kuzaki laid out and distributed the chips (she was assigned to bank) and looked questioningly at the girls.

"It"s just not interesting to play like that..." Hiroe handed it over, and after examining the chips, she said. "Let"s play for secrets!"

"How"s that?"

"Everything is simple. We play five games. Who has how many chips left at the end of the game - we calculate the minimum value and take the same amount from the rest. Whoever has the remaining chips can buy one secret from an opponent for one black (ten red). We have five black chips each, I suggest we skip the blue ones and play big right away. Just don"t be silent and don"t lie. Do you agree?"

"Hehe",- Hiroe thought, "here you are in my pocket. You"re no match for me in math and mindfulness. And obviously no one taught you how to "keep your face" like me! Everything is clear with Rinko, but I can say the same about Shizuka based on the scene in Yuto"s room. Let"s see what you"re capable of, inhuman girl!"

"Rinko, judging by the reactions, is a fairly honest and straightforward person, he won"t lie unnecessarily. And if he lies, it will mean something."

the snake reasoned and clarified:

"Tell any secret about something, unless you promised not to reveal it to anyone."

"This house, Yuto... I have more and more questions, and his "neighbor" clearly knows more than she"s letting on.", Mizuchi has already discovered that the walls "suck in" magic, subtle flashes of which break out of the collapsed aura, and the magic is consumed nowhere, not even a channel is visible. If the amulet could still be written off as an inheritance, then the artifact house, the very "ideal base" she was looking for in the city, was no longer there.

Rinko shivered slightly, feeling as if the "Ki" was clearly coming from her playing partners, and decided that in any case she had nothing to lose. After all, Yuto-kun warned that perhaps the yokai-water spirit would ask her about him, and Hiroe himself called him "a potential ally with whom sooner or later he would have to have a frank conversation." He allowed Rinko to decide if he had to decide on his own. "If I can"t trust you, I can"t trust anyone at all. Even for myself." These words, which came back to her memory, were filled with warmth in my chest and determination. Rinko might not have Hiroe"s analytical mind or the abilities of Ayakashi Shizuki, but she feels with her heart and the instincts of a tournament fighter that the right moment is coming soon. It hurts to have girls looking at each other and at her with "smart" faces. Great. Let the battle begin!

"I"m raising it."

"Support."

"I"m doubling up!"

"Pass."

If the first game was marked by careful probing, in which Yokai and the schemer literally tore Rinko, who took a careless risk, to shreds, then the "real fun" went on! Kuzaki"s emotions from the game were somewhat distorted by the fact that she would have to "shoot" anyway, it was not for nothing that the snake so confidently supported Kaname, who had outsmarted herself, and therefore, instead of closely following the games, she sat on pins and needles, giving false signals to her opponents. She had no doubt that she would lose, having assessed the class of the participants in the first game, and therefore she took risks, bluffed and mixed up the opponent"s cards in every possible way, not on purpose - and therefore effectively.

Hiroe, who held her poker face perfectly, strained her abilities, trying to keep track of everything, including the card shirts. The problem is that the cards were new and the shirt was exactly the same, but mathematics in poker begins to solve more than the case when the game drags on. The brains of the short-haired girl literally overheated, pulling out limited capacities by nature itself, promising headaches and apathy for tomorrow. He"ll survive!

And Shizuka was surprised to realize that she was losing! The fourth game, and the chips slowly flow over to the meanly calm Hiroe. It is necessary to bring the devil out of balance! Mizuchi lowered her eyelids, unfocusing her eyes into her favorite "drowned woman look," and slightly released her aura, trying to put pressure on her opponents. Of course, it was possible to stupidly "get into the brain," but an honest ayakashi would never do that. By overstepping other rules, you stop being yourself so much that you want to die later. Yes, she"s been through that too.

The demon"s aura captured the figures of the opposing girls with its edges, but instead of slightly disturbing people, it brought the opposite effect - Rinko did not feel anything at all.: "another amulet that doesn"t work properly" the snake stated with longing, but the exact opposite story happened to Hiroe - she suddenly cheered up and even smiled, and magic and auras began to flow two orders of magnitude faster than into Rinko"s amulet. The snake, who could not believe her senses, activated thermal vision and made sure that the brain of the shorn girl, working with a temperature almost half a degree higher than normal, was rapidly returning to normal, absorbing the parasitic manapot of the yokai. Moreover, she confidently started winning! Hiroe"s oddities formed a big picture and gave a clear answer to how a little girl can be so strong. Hastily pulling her aura away from the strange couple, Mizuchi barely managed to win back her last black chip in the fifth game (initially, each had two). So, following the results of a fierce poker battle of five games, Shizuka turned out to be the loser, Kaname stayed with her own and Rinko suddenly turned out to be in the lead. That"s it!

"Well, Rinko-chan, you won, and you should be the first to ask questions. The loser," Hiroe broke the thickening silence after the game and immediately switched hands.

"Er-er-er..." Kuzaki drawled, "Tell me some secret of yours, Shizuka. You are welcome."

"A secret?" Ayakashi narrowed her eyes merrily "It"s easy! I"m not human, you know. I"m actually a spirit, and you call my people Yokai... Isn"t it scary at all?" Mizuchi asked, looking at Rinko"s satisfied face (hooray, Yuto"s plan has worked!) and Hiroe"s delighted, anticipating grin.

"Nah," the short-haired piggy snorted, "You"re actually more human than many of my friends, who are clearly trying to degrade towards monkeys as soon as possible. And, I want to say, it would not hurt to prove your words."

Instead of answering, the Goddess of Rivers casually made a drop of water about the size of a soccer ball roll out of the shell and hung it in front of Kaname"s nose.

"I believe it now!" she whispered in a strangled voice. You can understand as much as you want that you calculated everything correctly, but such a collision with something you don"t believe in is shocking!

"Is that enough?" Mizuchi asked, and Rinko nodded and put one of the black chips aside. "By the way," Shizuka grinned, looking at Kaname"s dipping and pulling brush into the levitating water, and sent a drop back into the sink.: washing pans and dirty knives - since she had to open up anyway, why not help the hostess? "You two are also unusual personalities, I can tell you. Hiroe, you too... mmm... You"re not an ordinary person, and Rinko, you"re a very unusual person. At least this is the first time I"ve seen this rarity on a human." And the snake pointed her finger at her bangs.

"And?!" Hiroe leaned forward.

"Spend a chip, it"s all fair, you know!"

Hiroe and Rinko exchanged glances and simultaneously pulled out a black chip from their piles.

"I"ll start with you, Hiroe-chan. You see, I"ve been wondering who you remind me of: those all-seeing eyes, those grins, the ability to literally read the owner"s personality through things... an overloaded brain and the ability to make variable predictions, which manifested itself when you began to pull my mana. You felt my moves, right? You don"t have one iota of mana in you, but the basic abilities of each clan, which gave them a decisive advantage in the fight against the Yokai, were originally non-magical. So Hiroe Kaname, how far can you trace your family?"

"Before Grandma," Hiroe replied, involuntarily overwhelmed by the "revelation."

"Was your grandmother by any chance an orphan picked up by another family?"

"Where are you from... Oh, I see. And what is my "supposed to be" last name?"

"Ykoin. A clan of hunter-detectives. They have achieved impressive heights in controlling their own consciousness and brain... But don"t get your hopes up. The clan won"t accept you anyway, because, as I said, you don"t have any magic at all. Apparently, your grandmother was the so-called "empty branch" of the family, and she was placed with other children in a clan orphanage. And then... There was a terrible war then... You know. I actually wonder how you can use at least some of your abilities, even without magic, if no one has trained you.

"What about me?" Rinko asked after a pause.

"And you," Yokai grinned, "I managed to get the "Blessing of the Spirits" somewhere. Yes, yes, the hairpin on your head. Only One-eyed Blacksmiths make these, you know, and you have to do a great favor for them to give the hairpin to other spirits. And for Ayakashi to give such a thing to a person... Consider, for all the spirits whose mind has not faded, there is a great pass fixed on your bangs. No one in their right mind would encroach on someone marked with a Blessing, and I won"t even ask why you were given one. Curiosity killed the cat, you know! It is impossible to transfer such a thing, it becomes attached to the owner and stays with him forever... Well, are you going to ask me anything else?

"Well then..."

Yokai-with-principles and the would-be magical but talented Yakoin synchronously put forward the chips and demanded in unison:

"Then tell us the secret of Yuto!!!"

"All right," Rinko replied, inwardly ready for such a turn, "but I"ll have to start from afar. Ok?"

"Come on, we"re listening, you know!"

"Good. So, a long time ago, five hundred years ago or more, the Amakawa family lived in Hokkaido, no clan at that time..."

The extended meditation finally ended, and Yuto, rubbing his stiff legs and back, bowed to sensei. Picking up the phone, he received a bunch of text messages and a mark on the map that coincided with the house. "Shizuka has arrived," "Dinner is ready," and "We talked, successfully." Ugh, you can exhale and unclench your fingers on the shaft of the remote stunner in your pocket. And we need to go faster, anyway...

...The first thing Yuto Amakawa, who returned to his native penates, heard were bursts of cheerful girly laughter in three voices. He looked into the living room and found all three of them in front of the TV: the girls were watching the movie "The Bell".

Part 17

Chapter 93.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it, you know. As an illustration of my abilities, I blocked the Ferry's ability to work magic on the vessel. An ordinary glass jug, however, with a lid. However, as in the case of the counter in Noihara, Shizuka managed to push through the barrier by force... but to do this, she had to half "let go" of her aura, which filled the entire room. If I hadn't treated the walls with a "Ferry" a long time ago, all the magicians in this part of the city would have known about the presence of a strong yokai in my house. Is she the one who trusts me so much, just like that?! As always, I didn't feel anything (I just saw it), but Rinko and Hiroe clearly shivered. The kitchen immediately felt damp and a little chilly.

Finally, the snake stopped twirling the decanter, removed excess water from the air, and disguised itself again. We went into the living room and sat down - I on a chair, Mizuchi perched on a stool, and Kaname and Kuzaki on the sofa. They were silent.

"There's too much unexpected information, you know." The Goddess of Rivers spoke first. We need to think about everything. But first tell me, Yuto Amakawa, why did you invite me to your house? Humans and yokai... not a very suitable company, you know.

Yeah, and here's a "serious conversation." The main thing is not to lie, I'm sure Shizuka will notice the lie - a couple of trifles, this is not poker!

"You know," I continued, matching the snake's tone, "after trying your cooking, I didn't notice any differences in the result. To be honest, I didn't even look for it, I wanted to eat so much, but everything is so delicious here!

"It's not the most convenient example to look for differences..."

"Do you think it's necessary to look for differences in physiology? Recently, twenty-five centuries ago, some scribes argued about what a man is. Do you know what the canonical form of the answer was?"

"And what is it?"

""Bipedal erect without feathers"!"

Rinko and Hiroe giggled in unison, even the snake smiled. I suspect that the ancient Greek philosophers also served as a good template for jokes for their students. Okay, you almost convinced me, you know.

"Now tell me, Yuto, why did you invite me to your place? Since you knew who I was?"

That's a pushy one! Okay, I'll answer the other part of the question.

"I called you because I wanted to meet you again, that's all. And, by the way, this is the first time I've heard that there were any special conditions for an invitation to visit."

"That's it, it's fair! The Amakawa were famous spirit tamers..." The snake said a little more quietly.

Damn, he's thinking fast! The bottleneck in my logical constructions is because in the reasoning "how do I know that you won't hurt me if I believe you", there is no logical answer to give.

"I don't remember anything like that," I said again, quite honestly. "I had friends among the spirits, a white cat named Himari, a brownie... Unfortunately, I don't remember much... But I'm sure they were my friends. And I'm not going to divide my friends according to the principle of who consists of what!"

"That's what you're saying now. What will happen when you turn sixteen?"

"Well, take it and check it out!"

Fuck! You should slap yourself in the mouth! It's so stupid to blurt out on emotion! Now you have to convince her of your love again... Convince in...

"Hmm... An interesting idea, you know! I'll take advantage of your suggestion."

what?!

"Your family refused to be exorcists, but I'm sure the Circle will show interest in you after removing the seal of suppression. Or maybe even earlier. Since you've decided to follow a peaceful path, I'll help you stay on it..."

Is she serious, or should I decipher this high-sounding, however logical explanation as "with such an ability, I won't give it to anyone anyway"? Yes, I hope I made the right bet on the character of Mizuchi based on the results of the meeting in the forest and the manga I once read...

"...That's why I'll stay to keep an eye on you."

"Hey, hey, stop! Not so fast!" and this is Rinko. "What means: "I'll stay to look after you"?!"

What a dynamic! Just a minute of lengthy discussions and immediately the specifics! Shizuka, I respect you!

That's what it means. I will live here and make sure that Amakawa Yuto does not lose his way.

""Live here"?" The confused Rinko immediately highlighted the key parameter. Well, yes, well, yes. After all, I only told my friend about the need to establish contact with the Yokai community. Actually, that's what I thought would happen. Manga is a manga, but why do spirits sit in the forest and not in the city? My "inner" plan was this: to convince Mizuchi, the only yokai who (as I said above) would not try to make me, if not an artifact slave, then a tributary, "unfastening the roof" of some amulets per month, of her usefulness. It's still risky... but it's no less risky than waiting a few more years to get in touch with someone armed and protected. In addition, it would turn out that I had "deceived" Shizuka with my behavior at the first contact, but otherwise everything was logical: I met, remembered, and chose the path. And an exchange - "help with amulets on my part, help with information and, possibly, abilities on Mizuchi's part" - is the optimal strategy, let mutual trust arise first... but someone immediately took the bull by the horns!

"To live here," the Goddess of Rivers repeated. Be close. If the owner of the house doesn't mind. Wow, how polite, they didn't ask such questions to the canonical Yuto... because it's a test. Ha, and the snake understood my slightly veiled advertisement exactly the right way - an offer to cooperate.

"I don't mind, the house is big and pretty..." then the smile on my lips faded, "... empty."

It wasn't really a game. Indeed, you can turn a house into a fortress as much as you like, but the fact that you are the only defender does not make it any more pleasant.

"Yuto..." - it's Rinko again. Shake my head. Smile.

"Everything is fine. I really agree, but..." I glanced at Shizuka. "...If we share the household chores, too. It's pretty hard for Rinko and me to keep the whole house clean by ourselves."

"It's settled, you know."

"What, you're just going to move in with Yuto?" My neighbor couldn't wrap her head around the outcome of the impetuous negotiations.

"What will the neighbors think?"

"I'll say that my very distant relative has arrived, and that's it."

Now it was Kuzaki's turn to shake his head. However, there is a great way to "crush" an impressionable girl.

"Besides, I looked at the map of the area of the reserve where Shizuka said she lives. There are no settlements or even houses there."

"The spirit of the house is not... A roof over your head is not necessary to live," The snake nodded, "but maybe the house is hidden behind the barriers, why did you think there was nothing there?"

"Satellite imagery, you know!" I couldn't resist mimicking her again. But it looks like our guest is with computers... Although now I'm a neighbor, I don't know her. At least not well enough to avoid asking stupid questions. We have a lot to tell each other. It's time to voice your side of the sentence.

I can do very little, but what I've been able to learn on my own, I do quickly... You saw it. You're not hiding in the woods from a good life, are you?

"A group of police officers from the Tsuchimikado clan is patrolling the city... and she kills every yokai she meets."

Whoops! Is there a battle group in the city?! And even on a permanent basis, as I understand it?! Why are Himari and company so free to roam in the manga? We certainly should have run into these serious guys first.

"You've seen my capabilities. I can see your aura, but it can be blocked just like mine. True, I haven't made such complicated amulets yet (yeah, because I didn't really need them!), but the general principle is clear. Then no one will distinguish you from an ordinary person. And yours... comrades?.. I can help you if you need."

"Now it was Yokai 's turn to think. If the exorcists find out about your connection with the Yokai, it could turn out badly..." After a moment, Shizuka said.

"You said yourself that I'm from the tamer clan, I'll just say that these are my vassals... if you vouch for them in front of me. However, I don't know much about exorcists from other clans, about the Circle, and I don't remember much about the Yokai either... Will you tell me?"

That's it, the cards are turned over, it's time to check the layouts.

"I think I can help with that. But what will you do when you turn sixteen?"

Yeah, an important point, plans for the future should also be agreed. A temporary alliance is one thing, but long-term cooperation is quite another!

Then I'll voice my "idea" again:

"Maybe it's naive, but as I understand it, the part of the yokai that would like to live with people is mostly forced to hide? I wish that this endless senseless slaughter between the exorcists and Ayakashi and within each group would stop. We can give each other a lot, we can just live peacefully next to each other... I want to build a society where it is possible. Even if it's not a society, even if it's a single city... with my abilities... and with my last name, it's possible."

"It sounds naive, you know!" The snake grinned, and there were so many emotions mixed into that sad smile that perhaps only Hiroe figured it out. "But I want to see what you can do."

"And now that you've already agreed, what position will I have in your secret society, Yutoo-kuu-uu-un?"

Hiroe! Well, you can't just climb into such a beautiful picture with dirty boots! Have I forgotten about you, or are you sitting here listening with all your ears?! But Rinko seems to have forgotten, she jumped up!

"Is the position of head of the analytical department suitable for you?" I suggested matching the haircut. "But I don't have anything to pay your salary yet. Don't you want to wait for "secret society" to move from the category of words to something more substantial?"

"Ha, he found a fool! I'd rather "go to work" now and set my own salary... You know!" I copied the intonation of Mizuchi Hiroe in my voice.

Poor Rinko! Such a dumbfounded look! Just like that, we were talking quietly and peacefully about high things, and then bang! -the secret society." After all, Hiroe is still such a child, despite all her abilities... it seems that this phrase can be applied to all four participants of the "show".

"It seems that such agreements are usually fixed like this." Satisfied, Kaname brought her "gift" bag from the kitchen and... pulled out four thin-walled small porcelain bowls. And a small, only one hundred grams, bottle of elite (without any quotes! I saw how much it cost in the supermarket!) cherry nectar.

"After that, even I think it wouldn't hurt." Rinko muttered to herself, but everyone heard.

Hiroe reached out to pour the liquor herself, but Shizuka took the bottle away from her and very quickly poured the viscous, thick pink liquid into four completely equal parts. I don't know about anyone, but I remembered "uncle" Lenya, my neighbor in the stairwell in the distant "there": either he was also a spirit, or a water magician. The skill demonstrated was absolutely identical!

"To the bottom!" Hiroe warned. "well. Kampi!"

The liquid rolled down the tongue, pleasantly tingled the esophagus along the way and settled in the stomach, growing into a soft, warm lump. The tension left after the negotiations immediately subsided. The sounds of cicadas singing outside the windows "appeared", the soft light of street lamps turned on to disperse the impending darkness. It's already half past eleven at night! Damn, we sat down, dinner!

"I think it's time for us to go home." She nodded at Hiroe Rinko. "It's late, and sleeping for half a day on the only day off is too much."

"I'm not going, laziness!" it seems that Kaname liquor, who has overworked in the field of intellectual labor, is the only one who is a little "far away" in the brain.

"Tomorrow is the day off anyway, I'll call my mom now. Will you let me stay the night, too, Yuto-ku-u-un? Or should I call you boss now?"

So, "don't pour for the fifth table anymore"! Damn, how can you get drunk from twenty-five grams of fifteen-degree liqueur? Or did Hiroe just "let go" of herself, and this is a setback?

"Well, no way!" Rinko, driven by the jokes of the day, simply grabbed the cropped one by the elbow and dragged her to the door to the street like a caterpillar ant. "I'll take care of her, Yuto! We'll come by for breakfast tomorrow."

Waving my hand at Rinko, I locked the door and turned to a somewhat indifferent Shizuka, who, despite all her endurance, was apparently emotionally exhausted by the nervous events of the day.

"Come on, I'll open the second bedroom for you and give you a futon. And we'll do the dishes tomorrow, it's okay. Indeed, it's time to sleep!

Interlude 10. The Amakawa House. Shizuka on a futon

The snake lay staring at the ceiling. Life is a complicated thing, and no, no, and it will give you such a choice that it's better not to choose at all. Once, fear decided everything for her. The second time there was hatred, and the corpses of the enemies were frozen in ice at the bottom of a mountain lake... The third time, there was desperation, and only the intervention of the Corpse Eater forced her to join the battle of spirits against spirits... some intelligent spirits against others. And suddenly, she got a "fourth time." And from whom? From three children, one of whom is a descendant of Amakawa (she understood this in her mind, but, not feeling any exorcist power in the cub, she could not accept it in her heart), the second is a flawed branch of Yakoin... who, without any magic, "revealed" her nature, and the third is an ordinary girl... with a blessing in your hair.

Mizuchi cursed her curiosity, which was not satisfied with any of the trials that had befallen her: Well, why, why did she decide to find out something additional about the strange guy she met in the reserve. Too much for she, a "spy". She persuaded herself to go and check, of course, that the police spies from the department for combating manifestations and sects would send a combat group, three to five magicians, who would scout and knock out everyone they scouted. Why wasn't Yuto afraid?.. Because he's used to spirit's, he's used to them as his friends, he really doesn't see the difference... and because he could kill her in one hit. Just one magic absorber. Bind all the mana with his strange power, which is not magic, in a body made of water - and the snake got caught. The water will spread out, and she will simply die without even noticing it, maybe, however, she will have time to move... Or maybe not. Those movements near the ravine... they made sense. Yuto was preparing to hit to defeat, but she did not attack, and he immediately calmed down. A naive child... who managed to lure the cynical old Mizuchi into his house, from where you can't even get out unless you open the door or window... which I desperately wanted to do. Run, run from where you've been warmed up! Escape from where the danger is unknown from which side. Run, run, frantically shuffling your feet, from where three pairs of children's hands have already ruined your fate... and they will definitely break it tomorrow.

Impossible! Become indistinguishable from a human? But it's possible. All you need is a magician-not a magician, an exorcist who left the clan voluntarily (well, let him not formally marry - his parents did it for him). An exorcist who dreams of peace, not glory.

Damn it! She talked to Yuto about the new world for about ten minutes and found no inconsistencies. It seems that he has been thinking about this problem all the time since the death of his parents... a very, very strange death. Yuto is like her. Yuto is like her reflection in the water. The exact opposite... and a chance, a ridiculous, unthinkable chance for hope! Perhaps her consciousness had hardened and withered after so long, an unthinkable thing, ayakashi, the aspect of water, yokai, the Goddess of Rivers, she couldn't think big like one kid. Even hulf-Yakoin was impressed... clearly not her job. Tomorrow, Yuto - Mizuchi didn't like to mention the clan name - promised to make a set of amulets for her, completely blocking the aura. Tomorrow she will be able to look at people's lives from the inside, for real, and not like a picture in an illustrated book.

Mizuchi moaned softly and gripped the edges of the futon with her fingers. Don't run away, just don't fucking run away! The murdered family... Just don't squander the only fragile chance that their deaths won't end up being just an episode in an endless war. There were still three hours left before dawn.

Sometimes people's minds generate such monsters that all the monsters under the bed run without looking back and losing their stashed second socks!..

Interlude 11. Kuzaki's House, Rinko Kuzaki's bed, 6.40 am, Sunday

..and the sleep of the mind causes panic even among the monsters of the human mind.

Of course, Rinko, having dragged her tired friend from Yuta's birthday, got permission to leave her at home. Unlike Amakawa's half-empty house, the Kuzaki rooms were all distributed. Therefore, put the futon on the floor, and sleep, girls, in the same room. Who knew that a short-haired woman also suffers from sleepwalking? It's a good thing it's not nocturnal enuresis!

In short, at the moment of awakening, Rinko found herself lying almost across the bed, with Hiroe's legs on top of her, wearing pajamas given out from Kuzaki Jr.'s supplies. Kaname managed to lie down with her head in the opposite direction from the pillows in her sleep. Rinka's blanket lay more or less evenly on top of this body structure, and Ranmaru, the Kuzaki family's cat, completed the composition with a chubby, one-and-a-half-year-old cat. Naturally, the cat chose the place of geometric intersection of girly bodies, weighing down Hiroe's legs a little more and not made of cotton wool. And Hiroe herself is cheerful... She was snoring!

Kuzaki's stomach and back completely disapproved of the new method of sleeping and hurt a little more than they do after an intense workout, which did not add to their owner's dovish gentleness. Realizing that she couldn't sleep anymore, the girl got out from under a pile of small bodies, shooed Ranmaru away and wondered what to do with this little girl for invading her personal space: maybe rub her ears? He snores as if nothing had happened! Or maybe tickle? He smiles in his sleep, it's such an infection! Oh so! Rinko picked up a glass of water from the bedside table, where she always left it overnight, and filled her mouth with all the contents. Pshaw! Right in the face of the obnoxious girl!

The result exceeded all expectations: Hiroe screamed at the edge of the ultrasound, jumped up from the prone position (on a soft mattress - the trick is quite difficult even for Rinko) and, picking up a pillow, hit the hostess of the room right on the head with all her might! She didn't have much strength, but Kuzaki Jr. was literally blown off the bed... on the futon that was originally intended for the guest.

"Oh, Rinko, I'm sorry!" Finally, Hiroe's expression took on a meaningful expression and she saw who she had hit. "I didn't mean to!"

"Intentionally or not, it doesn't matter now!" The kendo champion of the school and the district promised ominously, grabbing a pillow from Kaname's futon and jumping onto the bed. "I'll show you what a swordsman can do even with a pillow in his hands!"

"It seems to me, dear, that our daughter should invite her friends home more often." Kuzaki Sr. said as she closed the door to her and her husband's bedroom. Rinko and her friend are so energetic and funny, and with us, our girl is just a model of gentleness and calmness. Confirming her words, gambling shouts and screams could be heard throughout the house. After that, it's not surprising that both of them showed up at the Amakawa house at eight: Rinko - to cook Yuto's breakfast, and Hiroe - just for company (and for a free breakfast). But there was a surprise waiting for them!

Part 18

chapter 95.

Unlike the "canonical" Yuto, I get up early. It's funny, I've always believed that biorhythms are set by the body, not consciousness, but perhaps biorhythms can vary widely depending on the needs of the mind? Although I actually overslept my usual wake-up time and alarm a few times, and Rinko had to shake me for a long time to wake up for school: sometimes it's very difficult to stop in the middle of an experiment... or you just need to finish the job. I got up now-it wasn't even eight o'clock yet. After yesterday's events and excitement, I slept especially well: the sun was shining through the curtains through the windows, the air in the room was fresh and slightly humid... fresh and moist? Come on... Wow!

No, of course, I am aware that once every two or three days, vacuuming through rooms and corridors and quickly wiping the floors with a mop soaked in water with a "Mr. MySQL" type of product and cleaning up normally are two different things. But not so much! To begin with, the color of the wooden flooring in the second-floor hallway turned out to be a slightly different shade than I'm used to. Much, much lighter! The walls, especially closer to the ceiling, turned out to be much whiter than before. And the spider web that the ubiquitous spiders discreetly hang in the corners? And the air itself is almost like in a "clean room" - there is simply no dust! Shizuka (there's just no one else) did a great job: I completely stopped understanding how, with such abilities on the part of spirits, representatives of the local civilization managed to lose contact with them! I'm sure she can handle more than just my small house. It's all bullshit, these fireballs and the ability to throw a heavier projectile over the walls of a fortress, with such an ability in the Middle Ages, epidemics could be stopped, not to mention just everyday amenities. And I'm sure Shizuka is far from the strongest yokai of the water aspect.

I wonder if she was in the basement? And if there was, did you understand anything else? However, I'll take you and tell you. I'll ask you myself. And... hmm? What is it that smells so good?

Chapter 96.

No, surely Russians and Japanese have common roots: well, how else to explain the appearance of girls exactly at the time when breakfast is ready? Yes, and I was lucky to wake up like that! I'm ashamed, but we ate so much! Even Hiroe, who seemed to be better trained in etiquette than us, turned her head so that it rattled behind her ears! And we ate twice as much as usual, since Mizuchi cooked a little more than even for four people. Either it was an experience, or she just wanted to leave some of it for lunch... It didn't work out! After we sat back in our chairs, I decided to hold a meeting and, just in case, a safety briefing.

"Shizuka, you're incredible! Thank you so much for your help and for such a delicious breakfast. I hope you enjoy our "second part" the same way. To do this, I suggest solving a couple of important cases today. First, about the features of protecting the house: the suppression of magic is at the level of material surfaces: walls, glass, doors. If the door or window is open, there is no protection in this place, is that clear? I have not yet figured out how the "Steam" works in projection mode in order to create zones of modified air of a given configuration or to change the properties of the material a second time.

""Ferry"?" Mizuchi was surprised. "It's a strange name."

"Well, that's what it is," I was surprised now, "The Amakawa clan's ability, "Ferry of Light." I thought you knew."

This is the first time I've seen a snake laugh, and it's smiled every other time.

"I know, you know!" Somehow calming down, she replied. "But Amakawa's ability is called "Changing Light," you know! I didn't think you could twist the name like that!"

I didn't think so either, Mizuchi, but harsh Russian translators may not be like that... Hiroe didn't get the whole joke, but Rinko, who also asked at the time why the name "kekkei genkaya" sounded so strange and ran into an explanation like "the ferry represents the transfer (transportation?) there are a lot of new properties in the "object is massive", she also began to laugh in the most natural way at the poor Yuto who had lost his memory... probably because I remembered how many words I had come up with like " ferryroller" or "ferry protection of the material."

"You know, since I'm still the last Amakawa, I think I have the right to rename my force as I see fit... if only because if I say "enlightened" instead of "FerryRoller", it will be unclear. And even more so if I say "traded"." At my last remark, Rinko's laugh cut off, and she stared at me with her trademark "heavy" gaze, sometimes shifting her gaze to the Goddess of Rivers. Which in turn amused Mizuchi already:

"You're right, you know! It's better to talk about ferries, not about cheating, you know! Your "harem" won't approve of you, you know!"

Damn! How had I forgotten to watch my words in Shizuki's presence! The same small-looking trollolo in the canon annoyed Yuto and others with jokes about the "harem" and breast size. And I gave her a reason myself!

Rinko was speechless at the word "harem," opening and closing her mouth in silence, but Hiroe, pointedly looking at her nails, rejected it:

"You signed up for Yuto's harem yesterday... You know. And she didn't even ask for a salary, unlike smart people. So you'll be the younger wife."

Now Mizuchi opened her mouth soundlessly, and I feigned a facepalm. Neither Shizuka nor Hiroe will forget this joke. And I managed to gather some girls around me! Is this karma or something?!

Chapter 97.

When we finally calmed down and had tea, I started where I wanted to start. Namely- to disguise Mizuchi. The problem, as I mentioned earlier, was that I don't know how to create projection screens, that is, roughly speaking, to use objects as ferry pickups. Mediators would solve a lot of problems, for example, the formation of the same signal network in the city would be greatly simplified, and the ability to create changes beyond the "resolution" of my eyes would be nice. It remains, as always, to understand from which side to tackle the problem. Well, since such a problem cannot be solved in five minutes, they decided to mask the snake in the old-fashioned way: to put an overwhelming "Steam" on clothes. It's simple: the girls went to the bathroom with yokai, and ten minutes later Shizuka brought me her clothes. Why ten minutes? It turns out that they were bickering over whether it was necessary (and possible?!) putting changes on your underpants. On the one hand, no one seems to be looking under the hem, but on the other hand, you never know what. In the end, Mizuchi just handed over the object of the dispute, after which the girls found out who would carry it to me. In short, Shizuka had to put on a bath towel in the manner of an ancient Greek toga and carry my things herself. Snake told me all this while I was working, and the red-faced girls tried to pretend they weren't there. Okay, we figured it out, and that's good. After looking through the magic detector, I was convinced that the "seals" of the Ferry provide good protection from the "illumination" of the hull, but the legs, arms up to the elbows and the head continue to glow treacherously. Rinko drove home without resistance and brought white knee socks and several blue hairpins in the color of the ribbons on her head. I also had to shake up my neighbor for a certain amount of jewelry - four rings (insurance, two for each hand), two bracelets and a locket necklace. Inspection. Well, almost! The front side of the face around the eyes remained uncovered, and I, habitually clutching in my hands, "secured" the next glasses. Now I was "wholesale" buying not just "computer", but "chameleons". Convenient!

Great! The fields of action of the suppressive amulets I made from all this pile of various consumer goods overlapped quite reliably, preventing glare when moving, for which I made the snake walk around the living room first, and then on the kitchen table. I was ready to get a slap in the face from Kuzaka for the last "brilliant" idea, but she took everything adequately. We were finally ready to go "into the big world" outside the walls of the house, but there was another "small" problem.

"I can't see anything, you know." Mizuchi said melancholically.

"That is, how?! You're moving confidently, aren't you, and you don't bump into tables?"

"I don't see the world. I see objects, I hear water flowing, I feel a solid floor under my feet, but I don't see the world."

Holy shit! Of course, magical creatures are very different from humans in their perception spectrum, I might have guessed. Even when they curl up their aura, they can almost feel the world with their "sixth sense" and taste it with their power. And I put an analog of a mobile prison on Mizuchi... Well, what should I do?

In the end, I just pulled out other glasses and made a standard magic detector. Let it be "not that", let it be a pathetic substitute for the variety of information that the spirit receives directly from the world... especially the water demon in a world where 70% of the surface is occupied by water... After all, did you want to see the world "through people's eyes"? So let him watch.

Are we going out now? Horseradish again! Hiroe became interested in manipulating glasses, and after receiving comprehensive explanations, she wanted the same ones for herself. Cami! Here, just get off! And then Rinko blurted out about mago-protected clothes at the wrong time, and I had to process Kaname's things as well (the ritual of locking myself in the bathroom was repeated). As a result, our "bespectacled club," as the cropped ulcer aptly put it, left the house only at eleven in the morning. Considering how much we have planned for today, we should be busy until the evening. The big campaign for "introduce Shizuku to people's lives in the first person" has begun.

chapter 98.

First of all, Hiroe dragged our entire company to "eliminate all this horror," in the sense of bringing Shizuki's clothes to the standard of "dressed with taste." Well, yes. Kaname was absolutely not satisfied with buying everything in one place, and as a result, instead of enjoying shopping, everyone except Hiroe got nervous. In a situation where undressing means putting your life in mortal danger, trying on fashionable things is somehow not the topic. As a result, I had to buy a size 56 clothing cover, apply a suppression seal, and the girls took turns putting this improvised canopy on top of the snake and holding it while she changed one wardrobe item for another. This, I note, is inside a cubicle that is not too free. Then Mizuchi would say whether it was suitable or not, and the purchased item would "steam off", and the procedure of changing clothes would be repeated in the toilet of the shopping center. According to the results, about a third of Rinko and Hiroe were rejected, but there is nothing to do. Exchanging an item in a store for a different size when you give back an amulet of magical protection in the form of a recently purchased product is at least unwise. Fortunately, Hiroe sponsored us, otherwise I would have squandered my "savings" again.

As a result, by one o'clock in the afternoon, we had a very good appetite, a slightly spoiled mood, and Mizuchi, dressed in a matching and stylish blue and white dress, blue sandals, and blue knee socks... In short, all that remained were Rinko's hairpins, glasses, and some jewelry. I had to look for a cafe, and Shizuka rejected the first one right away because of the smell. When we found out that the oil in the grill hadn't been changed for almost two days, we agreed with her. Should I file a complaint against the owner? Such violations are strictly dealt with here. I already paid for lunch.

After eating our fill, we got out of the cafe and headed towards the convenience store. A towel, a toothbrush, bookshelves-and a set of "normal kitchen knives instead of these rusty, blunt blocks that are impossible to cook with." It was an expensive pleasure - Rinko and I had to discount. Kuzaki, however, had her own interest: ayakashi promised to give some cooking lessons, and my friend was determined to give herself to this process with all her might. After dragging the bags that had become too bulky home, we took a break... And hooray! Finally, we went to do what I like: assemble computer components for Mizuchi. There was a computer store in the next block, but I wasn't satisfied with the prices of new components, but used ones were much cheaper if you bought them in parts. I explored the den of geeks and perverts not so long ago - when we were assembling the drive part of the quadcopter's control system. Why geeks? Well, these comrades, who could chat for hours about any, I emphasize, ANY board from their "unique collection", shit on Microsoft and praise the Open Source movement (I took a look for the sake of interest - all but two of them had WinXP on their work computer), were real "twisted" to my taste. But the perverts... No, that everyone has at least one poster in their kiosk with a not very dressed female person with long ears, horns, a tail, or some other contraption like a full-length sword, that's okay. Maybe it's their aesthetic sense, and these guys are mostly from our city polytechnic, working part-time in their free time... HOW THEY STARED at the three girls who accompanied me. And Kondraty almost missed one thing altogether when Hiroe, who was looking at SCSI controllers, asked something about parity. Sysadmin dad is a brutal way to break the geek template!

In general, by the time the components were typed, everyone remembered me there. Three asked to reveal the terrible secret of the heartthrob. Two - start telling the girls about how much cooler they are than the bespectacled kid (and flew past the money). And of course, everyone suddenly had the titanic parameters of computers assembled at home (at the department, at their second job, in their own design studio...). To one guy who was strenuously inviting him to go and see, offering a free computer build, Shizuka casually burned the system unit, aiming a drop of water somewhere into the power supply, after looking around and breaking through the disguise.

"Yuto," Rinko asked me on the bus, "are you sure you want to go to the Polytechnic? They're like that... er-er-er... nasty, fe, these students".

"Don't pay attention, there's usually a bunch of people in these places who have different interests: work less, talk more."

"This is the first time I've seen so many perverts at once," Mizuchi nodded in agreement.

"Serious students all work in serious companies starting from the first year, if they want to, of course. But usually they work, especially the rich do not go to the polytechnic, but go to finance or economics," Hiroe intervened. I was going to graduate from Kyoto University of Journalism and Law... apparently, we'll have to harness ourselves to the exterior.

"Why?" Rinko asked innocently.

"Because at the age of sixteen, our Yuto's amulet will stop working and he will turn from a human and a teenager into a figure at once."

"What? What are you saying now?"

"It's simple, you know," the snake supported the conversation. "Yuto chose the path of building peace... but to arrange a peaceful coexistence of humans and non-humans, you need something more than the desire of one person."

It's good that the bus is almost empty, and the old people sitting in front, in my opinion, do not even hear the stops.

"So what?" The swordswoman next door asked anxiously.

"And that's it!" Hiroe mimicked. "There is no power behind Yuto, and without the power of a person, no one will listen. They'll just make you do what you need to do. Most likely, to kill people like her."

Shizuka nodded.

"Yuto, what are they!" Rinko turned to me. There were tears in her eyes, and her face was desperate. "Is it true?!"

"However, this is indeed the case. When you and I talked about gaining control of my "blood legacy," learning all sorts of unsafe things, and figuring out the balance of power among the yokai and clans, it was all implied. Alone in the field is not a warrior. If everything works out, we will be able to find enough supporters among humans, demons and magicians, if we can find something to guarantee their loyalty and how to repay their loyalty, we will get an island of a new world in the old one. We will become the third force in the struggle between magicians and inhumans. And we'll try to become strong enough so that we don't get knocked down casually... and necessary enough that they won't unite against us.

"It sounds like a manga story," Rinko squinted. "And do you really think?.."

"Ha, it's not a boy's speech, but a husband's!" Ayakashi slammed it down. "You surprise me more and more... Amakawa Yuto!"

"But Yuto is a child, just like us..."

"We are also well-made" Kaname smiled rapaciously.

"And I was hoping for a quiet study at school, to finish junior, then middle school, to show off as a high school student, and to be a mature girl..." here Kuzaki blushed rapidly and stared at the floor.

"Just think of it as a job, like the guys in the mall." Kaname advised. "Moreover, this is the case. Politics is just a job. Even protecting yourself and others is just a job..."

"And it's going to be very hard for me to handle it without you." I finished for our analyst.

Rinko looked up at me with reddened eyes and grabbed my elbow. Her face, so childish and slightly angular, suddenly seemed to me like the face of an adult woman. A steely expression, familiar to me from her training and a few conflicts, appeared in her eyes. Predatory joy on Hiroe's part. Shizuki's calm confidence. The starting point has been set - now, for better or worse, I am responsible not only for myself, but also for the people who trusted me... and not people. And I thought it would only start in two years. Lucky me!

Part 19

Chapter 99.

The morning of a working day, and for me, a school Monday, greeted me with clean, humid air and killer food flavors. Mizuchi had already eaten and was now arranging the papers she had retrieved from the hiding places she had gone on a raid for "into the night." Meeting my gaze, Shizuka pushed the "blue" passport of a Japanese citizen in my direction. I opened it: the photo is really similar. And the name? Hmm, Chidori! The Goddess of Rivers has a surname, so now it's Mikuni. Almost Mizuchi, good harmony. But where did she get it from?

"I found it in their bag," snake shared her memories with me, not too happily, "near the destroyed camp. The Yokai is an ogre. Daughter and parents... We buried what was left."

Shoving food into my mouth with one hand, I logged into the Ministry of Emergency Situations website directly from my mobile phone and punched through my passport data. Hmm, they don't appear in the search, but the database is uniform across the country. And why? Yeah, I picked a folder out of a pile of papers: a certificate of purchase of a farm on the coast. We've already decided to relax in the mountains on our own. And snake is doing well - he knows how to work with documents.

"Do you have many of them?" I returned the documents to Mizuchi.

"Twenty pieces a year," she shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't happen every year that they are suitable for age and appearance."

"It means that a hundred people are regularly eaten in our mountains..."

"About a hundred and fifty."

"...every year. Interesting."

Statistics of population losses. The mountains... wow! More than a thousand. Well, of course, the gang from which Shizuka "holds" not the entire array, but most of it... This means that the losses are mostly accidental - I lost my temper, got drunk and froze, and so on. What about the rating? What about the rating? Car crashes - about 5,000 people a year, and that's just on our island. That's a tough one... but I'm still against pseudo-dirty creatures living in the mountains who love human meat. Because reasonable people won't just starve to eat reasonable people's meat...

"Okay, I'm off. Close the door behind me, please."

"Okay," Shizuka got up and went to the door, suddenly asked: "Will it be possible to see your school?"

"Yes, there aren't many lessons on Saturday, we'll do it." and I left her at home and went to class.

chapter 100.

It's the middle of summer. It's warm, it's good, the last week of classes, and the schools will close. Applicants who have not passed the spring exam will have a chance to try to get a passing grade in a new one or choose another place - an innovation that is only five years old. The "Tokyo incident" - I didn't have anything like that "there"... And that's good. The mass suicide of 198 people from Ronin, who jumped from the roof of the 120-storey tower of the shopping and business center with a beautiful, almost exactly round figure. It's a murky story. It comes out in the search engine with the query "mass sacrifice", it seems that the police have unearthed some kind of trace there. But the government could not help but respond to the "official" reason, and the school (and student) academic year was "moved" so that it became closer to the European one...

Why am I thinking about this? I just decided to "go through" my "post-knowledge" again: over the past two years, a number of inconsistencies have accumulated... Although there is not much value from the "after-knowledge" either. I'm sure that if I hadn't recognized Shizuka by her appearance and characteristic speech, I still wouldn't have rushed at the enemy until she attacked. But would I invite her to my house? Well, let's assume that the manga helped me here. But Rinko, I managed to fix her behavior a lot: instead of showing a "boyish" character, she confidently engages in both school and kendo. And he still walks around without the "cat" ribbons, to which an entire chapter is devoted in the manga. Although they may be "supposed" to be bought this summer?

Shizuka, on the contrary, looks much more sane, about a year after communicating with the "canonical" Yuto. Or have I just not talked to her enough yet? But there are no hacks like "this food is not for you" or "if you slip up, I'll kill you." On the contrary, I was the one who asked snake to try to analyze our joint actions taking into account her broader life experience, and I got a thoughtful look and "I'm trying to change something for the first time, just like you, you know." And Rinko teaches cooking. And I went out with Hiroe a few times. I have only one explanation: something like this happened between this summer and the summer of 2012, when I will be sixteen years old. And this "something", perhaps, should be kept in mind.

Shizuka told me a bit about their "spirit community" and mentioned the problems with regular attacks. This is after I showed the surveillance system in action and explained the principle of operation in general terms. And then I found out one unpleasant thing: Mizuchi knows almost nothing about classical magic. This is despite the fact that she told me the layout of the hunter clans (well, I finally found out something about them! And, by the way, Yakoin is the surname of all detectives, not the name of the girl from Tsuchimikado o_O), about the magic techniques used... imagining the result and the affected area, she doesn't know how it works. More than that! The mana generated by the snake is incompatible with mine. At least in her hands, the mana-electricity converters don't work, no matter how much energy she pours into them. But the wooden roundels were soaked with water and swollen. Damn, a "chakra with an elemental aspect", like in Naruto. And I've already rolled out my lip... But I can make an amulet for Mizuchi. And the overwhelming universal "cuts" any type of chakra, that is, mana. It's a real problem...

However, we will have to enter the "community of spirits" anyway: we need a testing ground for our combat abilities, at least mine, and we need sparring. Yes, and weapons need to be prepared. Now Mizuchi has occupied her computer and spends her days reading popular science literature. The poor snake's brain is really creaking - after demonstrating the laser (sawed through a wooden block in the basement... and again, the poor wall!) and she decided to master at least the theory of the linear accelerator... and she got stuck. But it's harmful, harmful to be a humanitarian, if you don't have to fight with words. Yuto the "canonical" may have also turned his tea mug into a superconductor (and I don't even doubt about the teapot!), but even if he had noticed, would he have drawn a conclusion? It seems to me that the answer is "no".

By the way, about education: with a brush, Shizuka writes just fucking well: smooth, clear lines - and this is without a "cheat" touch-up with his strength of a watery ink solution. Again, some facts from the history of Japan through the eyes of a contemporary, if not an eyewitness, are something. If anyone has watched Samurai Kenshin, that era is through the eyes of a snake... something like Russia in 1905-1920. A complete arctic fox. And gangs of samurai with swords. Mostly, though, with torches, ropes, and outdated firearms. Brr, if you really have something to compare it with, you immediately understand what a good time you live in. However, not much has changed for the Yokai: big cities are tightly closed, medium and small - you can get there if you look with both eyes.

These Yokai are an interesting civilization. There's not a word in the manga about this, although it's possible to guess in principle. This development from the "simplest" forms up to the local deity is impressive. I can imagine what would happen if there were no people on Earth... but they are there, and the species itself (if the concept of a biological species can be squeezed into such a variety of forms, possibilities and parameters) of spirits turned out to be among the "disciples" of human civilization. Just as a child learns to use his brain by looking at adults, so ayakashi, gaining intelligence, learned from people. Languages. Manners. Behavior. Minus the "instincts", of course. And now it's a grotesque medieval education next to the civilization of the 21st century... However, according to Rowling, magicians should have the same problems.

In general, it's not just the snake that has a swollen head. All experiments have been suspended, except for the extension of signal coverage, I'm frantically rebuilding my knowledge of the world. One good thing is that my studies are almost over...

chapter 101.

Saturday. Last school Saturday! People are walking around the school half in "civilian" clothes, handing in textbooks, cleaning club rooms, in the sense of cleaning so that everything is in place, and not as usual. Our "bespectacled" team doesn't stand out much against this background, although Rinko and I have already been asked a dozen times if we have brought a "new girl" who will be studying at school next year. And Shizuka is very thoughtful. Apparently, it did not occur to the snake that regular education could play such an important role. Especially when I showed some "fast" experiments on "demonstration machines" in our club, such as diffraction or elastic deformation. Or the second graders assembled a "water whip" - just a jet of water at a pressure of 6 atmospheres (you don't even need a pump, just a water pipe and an air expansion tank), which in five minutes "gnawed out" a nice cavity in a piece of limestone - so he poisoned Mizuchi in a knockdown. I had to go into the staff room and look at the information on the stand about the rules for transferring students - apparently, Shizuka must be a schoolgirl after all. Moreover, in my opinion, she knows the most difficult subjects like Japanese and Japanese history no better than the teachers. By the way, the speech of the Goddess of Rivers has also changed, archaisms are almost not found, but there are meme words from the Internet, such as "trollolo" or "parallel to me." And that's all in a week. Well, the "rubber" sealed keyboard and mouse are included from the very beginning - this is if anyone has any questions why I didn't buy a used laptop for Mizuchi. At the exit from the school, I came across Taizo with a stack of textbooks (his and his sister's, as I understand it, we don't have that much), and immediately scattered this rack when he saw my "escort". However, to the question "are you multiplying them by division?" I choked and couldn't find what to say, but three girlish fists thrust under my nose explained everything exhaustively. It's lucky that the guy got carried away with avionics, otherwise with Shizuka included in the "canonical" version of Taizo, he would simply not have lived to high school! Yes, Hiroe also walks around the school with glasses and smiles mysteriously at questions. No matter how the new fashion is brought to school... Although maybe that's what he's trying to achieve? The disguise will be excellent.

By the way! Shizuka deposited a portion of her savings, about three hundred thousand yen, into the "general cash register." It was very difficult, at least for us now, and we eventually covered all the expenses for its arrangement. As I understand it, Mizuchi has some gold buried in the "if anything": she's a solid girl, you can't take it away. It seems that the summer vacation month will be marked by "study, study and study," especially since Kaname, feigning embarrassment, asked her to "pull up" in the exact sciences. It seems that the girl has already rethought something about the world and people. And I'm going to have experiments, meditations, and a lot of brain work. In general, routine is like routine.

Chapter 102.

It's time for normal schoolchildren to rest and relax before the new school year, and only here, in the Amakawa house, there is a yoke of smoke! In two weeks, I personally conducted almost a year's worth of research on the Ferry and came close to solving the problem of increasing the speed of muscle reaction with magic-based amplifiers. Either my previous work experience affected me, or I just approached the "critical mass" of accumulating knowledge, but after I carefully examined how Shizuka moves "on acceleration", I managed to catch the necessary elements visually, through glasses. And then, over the course of a week, through trial and error, we managed to choose the configuration of the lines, in response to which, when applied to the material, it is reduced by applying magic - mine or Mizuchi's. I must say right away that the block of wood or plastic did not want to shrink. But everything worked out with the rubber! And with muscles too, even more effectively. Poor hamster, he was in such a hurry to escape from the scary me that he didn't jump in full force... This is the first time I've seen the real personification of someone who fell against a wall. Then it was necessary to somehow intensify the work of the nervous system, at least the cerebral cortex, so that the experimental animal could cope with its own speed. The "eye" ferries only "broke" hamsters for me, and for all my friendly feelings and agreements, I would not want to demonstrate these weapons unless absolutely necessary. For five days I searched for an answer, trying to imagine the logic of nerve cells through the logic of muscle cells, and eventually I bred a ten and a half hallucination hamsters, plunging their not very complex (compared to human) brains into the power of an electrical storm of signals caused by forcing using modified muscle weaving (the power part was cut off, leaving purely electrical effects). The only effect, apart from the hallucinations of the subjects, was the realization that perhaps I had invented a not very pleasant protection against mago scanning of human memory. It is enough to channel a little mana as part of any spell, and instead of direct or indirect access to memory, there is a whirlwind of vague visions and a malfunction of the hemispheres. Fifteen minutes and the subject falls asleep. He also loses his short-term memory. In general, the ferry equipment is rather dubious, from the series "leave as a souvenir to an enemy who has learned a lot, but got caught." Or send them to retirement with such a "draconian" thing. We just need to make sure that the subject does not voluntarily tell everything after two or three wonderful awakenings from such a state... and schizophrenia won't work.

Realizing that I had reached a dead end, I habitually slipped into a state of meditation... And then he came out: he had to take a hamster. My training sessions with sensei continued, and there was no end in sight yet, but I already wanted to test one idea. "Ferry scan". I used this term to describe a theoretical thing that I couldn't test otherwise - the spontaneous "improvement" of a material not for a given property, but for a given quality. I'll have to explain a bit here. I'll start with a simple one - a "ferry" mana catcher. After charging a piece of wood, glass, metal key holder, and a plastic pencil case with amulet properties, I found that metal captures magic most effectively, and wood accumulates it (thanks to the snake for working as a mana source). The hamster turned out to be the worst in terms of the dynamics of taking the amulet. No, seriously, where do you think I got mana into the amuletized muscle structures if the rodent wasn't magical at all? That's it. Looking at the graph of the capacity-saturation rate -regularity relationship of the molecular structure, Shizuka looked puzzled, then thought deeply... meanwhile, I started "meditation with a hamster." The idea of "scanning" lies on the very surface: How did my ancestors, Amakawa, naturally determine that the material at hand could be used as the basis for an amulet? It's simple, they tried to feel their blood power, to use "Steam" as that button in the joke about Photoshop fiftieth version: "do it well." At least that's how I explained to myself Mizuchi's retelling of the "Unique" magical amulets she knows, made by our family, such as the "Impossible Mediator", which instead of dispelling the user's magic, concentrates it. However, a hamster, unlike a simple piece of wood, is a superposition of a large number of elements that make up a smaller number of tissues, and I tried to focus on the nervous one. Putting my hands on the back of the animal sitting in the carrier cage on my lap, I disconnected from the outside world for about twenty minutes. The hamster had long since fallen asleep under my hands, basking in the warmth, and I was still trying to find a response... and I felt something like that. Ferryboat. Get out of meditation. Eyes. Well, yes. No, I definitely got something done - the dense jumble of lines around my head and spinal cord looked much more meaningful than with an ordinary "spontaneous" Ferry. But what does it give? When I woke up the hamster, I was convinced that it wasn't exactly the speed of information perception. So, what if mana is served? Hmm, but the structure does not consume it. Damn, what did I do? After putting the animal back in its cage, I climbed onto a chair with my feet and again began to drive myself into a trance, this time trying to focus on the sensations I experienced in the last "session" and interpret them. And he found himself at a loss. I've highlighted something, but here's how to interpret them... will? An idea? The condition? Something that is not verbalizable. I tried to remember if I had ever felt like this before. I don't think so. Although... At the very edge of sensation... every time I worked with animals... the very shadow, the imperceptible shadow of a feeling... when I interfered with the work... consciousness? No, no hamsters don't have consciousness. Well, there's definitely a second alarm system. It's like I'm breaking something in my fist. Something whole. Previously, without reaching the required degree of detachment, I would not have been able to isolate this feeling, but now... now I realized that I had always felt this "wrongness". Previously, without reaching the required degree of detachment, I would not have been able to isolate this feeling, but now... now I realized that I had always felt this "wrongness". I took the time to pull out of my bag my "magically" powered laser pistol, an artifact I made almost two years ago, I tried to feel it, and I felt it... accuracy. Not completeness, but a step in the right direction. My head started to hurt. I had to get an analgesic from the first-aid kit, which, after twenty months of unsafe experiments, I finally thought of placing in a working basement. I washed down the pills. He swirled the rest of the water in his glass. I got another "clean" hamster. So. Ferry on the muscles. Made by. The introduction of the drive. Made by. Fill in the mana... Five minutes... enough. And now - detachment and Ferry. I feel... wrongness? Incompleteness? Disadvantage... speed? That's it! Fuck, that's IT! I put the hamster on the floor and kicked it lightly in the ass. A jump... Where the hell is it? Blurred movement from the left, straight, right, up... pushed off the wall?! Another loss... And on the bag of food? That's it! More precisely, he is. Wow, damn, how the muscles glow! And the head? It seems there is almost none, except... Oh, that's it!

Victory! After two years of trial and error, after so many discarded hypotheses, I finally got my hands on a means to survive in battle. Even if it hasn't been worked out yet, even if it's unclear how to regulate mana consumption, even if I won't risk using it on myself soon... but I have a chance to win in a direct clash with the enemy. At least I won't "slow down" anymore. Hmm, and Yuto from the canon, under the control of Himari, achieved, if I remember correctly, this effect twice as fast. But unlike him, I understand what I'm doing! Damn, I am! I'm so euphoric!

Chapter 3

We blew almost the entire snake's "budget." For the most part, she spent it on herself and on business, not on trinkets: several sets of clothes, bought a school uniform for the new school year. It turned out to be quite simple to arrange the transfer of documents: Shizuka called "her" "old" school and simply gave the address of the new one. Of course, she was scolded there for taking so long to transmit the coordinates, but the data was sent. Then Mizuchi worked as a copier, copying the handwriting of Chidori's parents, under whose name she entered our school. To school, but not to the classroom: it was not possible to get her transferred to us: and so the bias by five people towards our "B". So the Goddess of Rivers ended up on the same stream as me and Rinko, but in the "A" class. It's kind of fast-paced... But on the other hand, is she a scout or is she out for a walk?

Mizuchi also talked about her role in the Corpse Eater group when we discussed the release of our classes at the "training ground". It's still purely theoretical, but the day is not far off when at least Rinko and I will have to experience Amakawa's abilities for ourselves.

Let's hope that Kuzaki's brain will get an update on high-speed processing of information from the senses and reactions: Hmm, "us." I tried not to even think about matters of personal devotion: the "Ferry" that was embedded in Rinko's central nervous system was anything but affecting the higher functions of the brain. It seems that on the contrary, he was slowing down in some ways. Over the past year, I've managed to spy on the structure of some of the neighbors down the street-Soli borrowed there or vice versa- lent me a large curry cauldron, which I think was the only one on the street. I managed to memorize and draw pictures of the lines of more than fifteen people... including Kuzaka's parents. Do I remember naively talking about behavior programming? When did you not understand the essence of the Ferry, only learned to see the lines of light? Now I doubted that it was even possible. That is, it is possible to influence higher nervous activity... about how replacing a video card with a more powerful one will enable the "Aero" mode with translucent elements in Windows 7... when they come up with it here, this seven. Or you can compare it with installing a good discrete audio system.: the card "wraps" the sound calculation on its processor, and the processor no longer spends its power on this process, which is faster. And if, for a computer, the distribution of tasks from the speed of execution is still on the conscience of the user - whether he uses Aero or listens to music there is his business, then the neural network, which is the "computing center" of the human brain, will try to independently redistribute resources, which will affect behavior... it is unknown how.

So, the lines of light, of course, somehow affected the higher nervous activity of the majority of those examined... but weakly. You can even guess how - I don't know when and on whom Amakawa collected statistics on the work of the "Ferry" in humans, and it's good that I don't know, and I would be afraid to look into the eyes of "unsuccessful experiments", I've had enough of hamsters! Basically, the Ferry affected some physiological functions of the central nervous system, just like Rinko's, by the way. Which ones are beyond my experience to understand. Here you really need to identify patterns with statistics... or find the clan archives, which looks more realistic. I feel like I need to open the "Mystical House" in Noihara, and after talking to Mizuchi about the Yokai's perception of people, I gave up the last illusions that the heir of the clan would be recognized. There will be a fight if I cancel the technique... by the way, it is also unknown how. Or wait until sixteen. I wouldn't want to kill any of the family's vassals, it's not for nothing that my grandfather left them to me. And somehow I'm not ready to go all the way for more than five hundred years of development on my own. Although it is necessary to prepare for the worst...

..I'd rather think about the money. Which are again missing. So, Shizuka specifically spent so much money because she had to hire tutors. I can't give her the right amount of time... and after consulting with her, we decided that communication with adults would be good for her. I also helped, mostly in physics, Rinko took over mathematics, which was difficult for her until I started helping her, and now, having felt her own mistakes, she could even explain mathematics to the spirit, who knew mathematics at the level of four simple arithmetic, at least such simple things as proportion and equation with one unknown. Snake mastered fractions quickly. At the same time, the three of us - the human part of the "association" - were stunned to see how Mizuchi handled the antique abacus, which she also brought from her stash: she was calculating her expenses and her savings. However, two weeks later, the scores still gave way to Excel. Shizuka also discovered Chemistry!

It just so happens that the majority of reactions in school chemistry and organic chemistry in general are somehow related to aqueous solutions. I couldn't even count on getting into the chemistry classroom, except by taking a chemistry teacher hostage and tying dynamite around her. Therefore, I had to buy a set of dishes for the laboratory at home and a Japanese equivalent of the "young chemist". It's not like Shizuka has a lot of free time... but you should have seen how her eyes literally "lit up" when she saw another successful school experience: and I don't mean magic. This is what a person who has come into contact with a Miracle with a capital letter looks like... As it turns out, neither does Yokai.

In general, we "hooked" the snake on the "human world". I don't know how she's going to get out of it when the Spirit Road gets back together in the bay, but I'll probably have to go there with her and try to break the spell on the bulls. At the same time, we'll get to the sea, at least by the end of the holidays.

chapter 104

Hiroe is a smart girl after all. It was she who did not allow our company to completely bury itself in work - it was necessary to let off steam somehow! We still visited the amusement park, which I promised Rinko last year, just walked around the city (the girls were just like that, and I was laying new sensors and connection paths for the signal network). They even had the audacity to come to the very center of a huge ten-story supermarket, which reminded me at the same time of the Moscow GUM, the Moscow Children's World on Lubyanka and some kind of "mega mall" like "Megi". They killed the whole day, but they had fun and relaxed... and they taught Shizuka to crowds of people, which at first made the village yokai just sick. And Shizuka, as it turned out, loves ice cream very much. No, it's not like that: SHE LOVES ME VERY MUCH. And she can eat a kilogram in one person. On the other hand, if you have a body made of water, why not? Although I absolutely cannot imagine what processes are going on inside the demon carcass at the level of chemistry, physics and physiology. I haven't asked Mizuchi yet if she creates a gastrointestinal tract for herself when she eats, why she washes if she uses water herself, and other "cute" details, in order to avoid injury to the template and all that. I'd like to sort myself out here! Although, of course, I'm interested. But - "no one will embrace the immensity," as the NTV channel reinterpreted Kozma Prutkov. And I'll get to the Yokai yet. Although it's better to get to a normal library first.

If you try to search for information on the subject of magic on the Internet, search engines give out huge amounts of information... Most of the time, it's the nonsense and speculation of the townsfolk. There are literally grains of reliable information among them, but sorting it out is not a task for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, it never occurred to Shizuka to use a network of informants to get the information she needed, like properly connected acquaintances and so on... but it occurred to the Corpse Eater. Which, when it came up, Mizuchi was surprised to tell herself. The Ayakashi leader was always aware of the latest developments on the "magic front", learned about significant changes very quickly and was generally a very extraordinary being. Very much on his mind.

At least Kaname's seemingly innocent questions caused Shizuka to literally sink into thought.: I actually noticed that our society makes the Goddess of Rivers think much more often than in the canon. And the first results are already there. By the way, if you think that Hiroe dragged us to the city center just to sit in cafes, don't insult her like that anymore. I myself have fished out at least three goals: to train Mizuchi to respond adequately to clusters of homo sapiens, to look for possible observers from the Committee (because it is quite difficult to run into a policeman from Tsuchi's squad in such a "plebeian" place, at least according to Shizuka, who for some time watched the magicians from a respectful distance fortunately, they did not try to muffle the auras burning with power). Kaname's third reason was to buy clothes for the summer temple festival. Which, of course, we are going to, she had no doubt. "Shall we go?"

Carefully asking Mizuchi if she had any problems visiting temples ("What other problems could there be? I lived at the temple myself... you know."), I just waved my hand. For some reason, boys were not required to dress "specially" for such events, but there was a whole ritual for the female sex... I didn't even listen.

But we still spotted one committee member. Well, what can I say: a slightly flickering aura, weaker than Shizuka's when she hid her power without the amulet. She admitted that in a normal state, without a completely severed sixth sense, she would not have paid attention to this man who was walking two children and his wife through the rows of toys on the top floor under a transparent roof... and in vain. Because he didn't lose his vigilance, and a couple of times I noticed from afar how his eyes were turning blue - I used something like a scanner spell. I had to take a chance and stay where I was: if my Mizuchi amulets couldn't even stand up to such a test... But the guy wasn't the least bit interested in us. Big deal, kids. But he didn't miss any of the strangely behaved personalities who almost turn on themselves in any crowded place. The criteria for the selection of suspicious persons became clear. Indeed, intelligent yokai who are "divorced from life" often behave "not at the checkout," like the woman who gave Rinko the "blessing." Sometimes it's more noticeable, sometimes less, but almost all spirits choose the image of "visitors" in order to somehow justify their oddities. That's how they get caught. After all, our Mizuchi has surprisingly successfully chosen the image of an eleven-year-old girl, how many times has she disagreed with such "ordinary" people without noticing each other? Something tells me that she frowned more than once. No, the inspector himself won't interfere: "call a friend" - and one of the policemen will get his ass off the chair. Or the committeemen themselves will send an elimination team with enchanted ammunition. Shibata-san often interacts with his father... and he often takes his family here on vacation. Hiroe explained innocently in response to my questioning look. Dad generally interacts with many of the middle-level employees. Everyone's computers are buggy and breaking down," a sidelong glance at Mizuchi, "you know!"

"Yes, I understand, I understand how lucky we are to have you! We really appreciate you, don't doubt it."

"And I really appreciate you all!" The one with the haircut smiled.

"The main thing is not to evaluate it as a reward." The gloomy snake muttered and almost choked on the ice cream: Kaname had such a furious look.

"I gave it to you. Word. I. Never. Not. Violating. His" Hiroe literally hissed. It even got to me - it was so unexpected.

"I'm sorry," Yokai looked away. "Me... I shouldn't have said that. To stir up the past..."

With great, obviously visible difficulty, the fragile short-haired girl regained partial composure, but the mask kept trying to slip off her face. She was speaking so softly now that I could barely hear her whisper:

"Father... he doesn't know, of course... even her mother, she considers the Committee to be just a place where money is drained from the budget... a warm, bread-filled place "for your own. But I found out... Over the past year, the Committee has had two offices in two cities... destroyed. All the people just disappeared, they were searched for and not found."

"But how? Police combat groups..."

"Yes, that's the reason. People named Tsuchimikado from five medium and small towns were transferred to Tokyo, and two more resigned. It's not so easy to find information, I had to search on social networks... "Black boxes" in cities with less than five million people are being closed... And I don't want that... so that my father would also "go missing" one day."

For a second, it seemed to me that the warm summer air was freezing like the Arctic trade wind on the White Sea. You can dislike exorcists as much as you like, and transferring magicians gave me additional "freedom of maneuver," but I absolutely did not want to get it at that price. That's why so many Yokai "limits" attacked Yuto from the canon - and this is in the city! That's why, after only five years, the Yokai feel "at home" here, and neither Himari nor the others had any problems. Again. I'll have to act again, and much sooner than I wanted to. But, thanks to Hiroe, there is still a chance to be proactive. You just need to figure out what exactly needs to be done... And don't get too worked up. There's still time. Only the whole mood to walk was gone.

chapter 105.

So we rested. So we've done our job. What happens if the combat group of magicians leaves the city? Nothing at first. Then emboldened, ever-hungry little things like "Chameleons of Dreams" and other not very reasonable stuff will make their way into the city. Usually, these comrades of magicians and yokai with a strong aura bypass the tenth way, which greatly helps to minimize any "minor" mysticism in cities, but when the number of minor yokai grows into quality, the committee members will have to release their magicians onto the streets. Or is it more correct to say "magicians"? I was very impressed with the energy level of the inspector and his family. A very low level. Even I have it eight times higher, judging by the glow of a quarter of the reserve fused into the accumulation amulet. Ask why there is no such problem in the villages. So look at the village houses: all are hung with "voices of the wind", amulets "for luck" from the nearest temple, figurines-"deceptions", and offerings are regularly left. And it's not just cats and rats that take food from the tabernacles.

So, weak committee members will take to the streets. No, they also have powerful magicians, Jinguji supplies well-trained combat groups to its structure. It's just that there aren't many of them. Just as there are an order of magnitude more magicians in the Committee than in the police, there are also an order of magnitude fewer truly powerful magicians than there were in the police. But to deal with the small fry, while the exhausted townspeople turn to temples, priests and various charlatans for amulets and talismans, there are enough of them. A strong kick is enough for most, they are not very fast, very cowardly and, to put it mildly, not smart. Thanks again to Mizuchi for the tutorial on the basics of yokai management. But stronger and, most importantly, more intelligent yokai, having seen this method, if I may say so, will understand: the magicians are gone for at least a long time. And they will go to have fun in the cities - at the expense of people, of course. Ordinary people will not be affected by this - the minuscule amount of energy that can be extracted from a person or animal without magical abilities will not interest anyone of any importance. On the contrary, the trifle will run away, the number of problems with "mysticism" will decrease. But the weakest magicians will be dealt. In such circumstances, paradoxically, employees without a gift at all are more suitable. Anyway, they perform mainly registration and reporting functions. No, you can achieve amazing success with a gun and a kind word, but in the case of a massive attack, the magicians and everyone around them are doomed. If there had been an agreement between the local especially sane spirits and the Committee Members, perhaps the problems could have been avoided. Partly. But - "not in this life." The Spirit Killers from the Tsuchimikado clan diligently maintained their reputation, and the strong Jinguji are not far behind. However, they can also be understood. There has never been a single successful contract between an organization of people and a group of Yokai in the entire written history. One asshole is enough, from either side. But my clan, the Amakawa, somehow managed. As I have already reasoned from the very beginning of my "hit" - what does Amakawa have that others don't? Obviously, a "Ferry". And I had my first vague thoughts about how the ancestors used it to achieve... no, not submission. The Amakawa Ayakashi clan, I think, was fully served. As they say, not for fear, but for conscience. Otherwise, my current knowledge and what I remember from the canon will not come together: as Himari Yuto said, "even if there was no order, I would still take care of you..."

Okay, we can think about the principles of service later. Now my task is to use the situation "in my favor", while having as few victims as possible from all sides. And something is looming. The path is even more risky and faster than I had planned: I will have to take responsibility not only for the Yokai from my "retinue" to other clans, but also to the demons for the actions of Hunters in this region. And not only in front of "my own people", but also in front of those who were not even close to me in my retinue. And, worst of all, we will have to take responsibility for the "ordinary" citizens. They really won't know about it... I hope. I thought I was nervous before the university entrance exam "there". Holy shit! Everything is learned by comparison. And the expression "the hamstrings are shaking" is not at all figurative, it turns out... And my scenario is extremely simple: I actually decided to assemble a "brigade" from an available "resource" - from yokai. That is, to make a "roof" and cover no less than a million-plus city. Yes, yes, just like that. In the spirit of our "new Russians" in the 90s, "there". If I hadn't been born a Russian, if I hadn't been a teenager who was already thinking about something in the "dashing 90s", I would have let the situation take its course one hundred percent... and this is the worst thing that can be done. Because the lawlessness in the city will provoke a raid by the Jinguji combat group now, and those, since they are waiting for them in a dozen more places at once, will not be deterred by "minimal damage" to the territory. Everything related to Ayakashi will be cut out and destroyed. A "big fish" in the form of a Mizuchi and a Devourer is likely to survive by escaping in time... and all achievements will be lost. It will be difficult for anyone to hide from the Jinguji cleanup group... and they will refuse to sit out under protective amulets... and they will do it right. Because life "after" will follow a completely different path... the rails of the canon. Where the snake hates all hunters, but also hates Yuto, who could have done something and didn't. Even if she knows with her mind that nothing could have been done. BUT IT'S STILL POSSIBLE, DAMN IT!!!

Okay, calm down. The main problem is the lack of time... Hiroe promised to get the information somehow, but we will count on a month, otherwise everyone would know, including Kaname's father and mother. That means a month or more. And the first problem will be to persuade the Death Eater and Co. to come with me. Moreover, this will have to be done literally in a few days - so that there is time left to work out the strategy and tactics of patrolling the city and come up with something for those who are on vacation. The Death Eater's group should be enough... I wonder what he would say to such a "generous" offer. I hope he doesn't try to kill me on the spot, but I'll take Mizuchi with me... When I talk you into it... Don't get distracted. The second stage will begin with Tsuchi's departure - groups of demons will enter the city under amulets and begin to catch small change and filter the flow of intelligent spirits... which will have to be exposed if they do not agree to register... still figure out how to do it... and they won't promise to break the riots, that is, the rules (and tighten surveillance!). And the rest are kicked in the coccyx (or where their tail will grow from there) - and for 101 km. Our land, fuck you all...

It started skidding again, nerves, nerves. So, when the bullshit statistics decrease proportionally more than in other cities after the departure of the Tsuchi polis, show up to the main committee for the city and present yourself in all your glory - with yokai behind your back, so that you can drive your soul into your heels with one aura... and politely, politely explain about the protectorate of the Amakawa clan... Hmm, on what grounds... Yeah, the USA! I need a buffer zone around my house. 101 km. And don't f... don't care! After that, I'll either be smeared and captured by Jinguji's battle group, or even Tsuchi... or the chief committeeman will turn out to be smart. And he will conceal the agreement with Amakawa, and Amakawa with the Yokai... more precisely, a slight distortion of information, which will give some preferences to him and me... the city authorities, who will be put under pressure by the Social Committee, should also be satisfied - there are no spent shell casings and craters from fireball explosions. And you definitely need to mix up something useful financially. Ah! The head is square! But I carefully wrote down the theses in a lined notebook "for the most important".

Now exhale. Is there anything I can do "right now"? To talk to Shizuka, maybe... And I think I'll talk...

... I'm on time. Yokai was clearly sick, and it wasn't physically bad - a half-naked girl sitting on the floor in a puddle of her own water, convulsively clenching her fists, staring at nothing with empty eyes, from which moisture continued to run. It was scary. But for once, I didn't allow myself to be careful. Sometimes you have to put everything on zero over and over and over again, because that's the only way there's any chance of winning. I sat down wearily in a puddle, propping the girl's back with my back. The dealer? It's all on zero!

chapter 106.

It's wet to sit in a puddle. It's not even cold, it's summer outside, and the water from the Mizuchi is not icy, but quite body temperature. My back was soaked too. We're sitting. We are silent. The snake cries completely soundlessly.

"We're going to have to save them now, aren't we?" Finally, she asked softly.

"If you're talking about committee members, then the expression "forcibly protect from the possibility of death" is more appropriate here."

"Not too different, you know."

"Well, considering that we're actually going to take their place. No, it's wrong, not the place, but the territory."

"Are we going to?" Yokai asked with some surprise. Huh, I almost stopped crying.

"Yes. We were talking about a just world... It's time to test our beliefs and calculations on the control platform."

"Kh-huh!" Shizuka choked on it. "You're talking about your hamsters!"

But what if you don't test the model of a society of intelligent beings on hamsters? Shizuka forced a smile:

"It's unusual to feel like a hamster... You know!"

"Well, if it makes you feel better, feel like a scientist forced to enter the experimental area... or a device for measuring the result. Unfortunately, we have to enter the experiment now... But that doesn't mean that if we don't like something, we can't change it. Have you become familiar with the concept of role-playing games?"

"Is that where a girl dresses up as a maid so she doesn't have to clean up? I didn't know you liked that, Yuto-kun! And you're so young..."

"Not those role-playing games!" I finally managed to cut into Shizuka's monologue. "I was referring to D'n'D board games or role-playing games with reincarnation. No, not a maid or even a nurse! An elf or a Space Marine. What I mean is, the player and the piece are one. The player represents himself as a figure, plays the game by himself. And we will not have a game, but a study..."

"..Imagine yourself as a hamster!" Mizuchi snorted. I just sighed heavily: everyone's got these hamsters.

"So you want to make Jinguji work for you? It's a big idea, you know."

"It will be beneficial for them too." I shrugged my shoulders, "besides, not all the Jingujis, but only the local Committee. Personally, they did not actually participate in anything because of their weakness, civilian personnel were not involved at all. And we will need loyal magicians if we want our experiment to turn into a practical guide.

"They didn't kill themselves, you know, they just targeted the killers."

"As far as I know, is there a similar practice among the Yokai to detect potential food?" Shizuka grimaced. I pointed my finger at the sky and got hit, but it was simple: how did all these hordes of weak-willed aggressive freaks come out to canon Yuto, if you can feel my aura barely a kilometer away?

Shizuka inhaled... exhaled...

"Two desires are fighting in me, you know... trust you without looking back... or drop everything and run without seeing a crash... Your dream has already become mine."

"If that's the case, it's still no reason to sit in a puddle," I translated the conversation. All these "high matters" and "diplomacy" are pretty exhausting. I do not know how much longer a snake can stay in a puddle of water, a water yokai is probably comfortable... But not for me! Therefore, I hesitated for a second longer, then mentally waved my hand, and, bending down, picked up the girl under her back and knees.

"Ouch! Where are you taking me?"

I understood intellectually that a body made of water could not be heavier than a body made of water and protein. That's the confirmation.

"To bed. I need to sleep. Tomorrow we will hold a general briefing and start acting, and now we will rest."

"..You're going the wrong way, you know..."

"=I stood in front of Shizuka's room, looking puzzled and silent. I won't be able to sleep anyway... one... I should think about all this... again.

I opened the door with my foot and carried the girl into my room. I put it on the bed, just like that - wet, without undressing. He climbed in next.

He squeezed the stiffened body by the shoulders and waist. And, tired, he fell asleep. I don't know what Shizuka was doing there at night, but the next morning I woke up in a wet bed, in wet clothes, and a snake hugging my neck, smiling in a dream. While I was opening my arms, which were almost made of steel for such a fragile build, I heard, "It's still so early, nii-chan, dree-aam!" Yeah, it's stupid, but I was grinning from ear to ear as I walked down the stairs. Wow, miracles do happen!

Part 20

chapter 107.

It's a stupid situation: my kitchen, and I've cooked in it at most five times. Well, not counting slicing sandwiches. And in the last two weeks, Rinko and I have already gotten so used to the fact that awesome delicious food is already waiting for us in the morning... but the snake is sleeping today. Which finally made me think that there was a reason she went to bed later than me, and a lot of work was usually done in the morning. Yes, my "kindness" and "responsiveness" are just off the charts... How did I overlook under my own nose that Shizuka just couldn't sleep properly? And after all, if it weren't for her sharp reaction, it's still unknown how many would not have noticed. No, you can say that I'm not a psychologist... but such an epic fail! But there were hints in the manga... But what about now?

Fridge. And what do we have in stock? BEETROOT! I can't stand it, who bought it?! Is it really Rinko? So she knows about my tender feelings for this vegetable. Although... Wait a minute. Damn it! I bought it myself, a month ago. It's a great illustration of how one bad idea completely overwhelms common sense.

I regularly read Russian samizdat - and so that I don't forget the language, and in general it turned out that I just missed a lot of authors. It is especially rzhachen to read popadanstvo in anime Japan, there are few of them yet, but given my situation, it would be a sin not to help with advice! But I digress. The authors of works on this topic have compiled a whole list of what a "faithful" person should do: and if the Kalashnikov assault rifle is recommended exclusively for those who got into the Second World War, then Vysotsky's rehash is mandatory for everyone, including those who got into fantasy. It would seem that so what? Karaoke clubs are very popular, Vysotsky is definitely among the recordings, as a last resort, you can bring your own mp3s... But I'm even worse at singing than dancing. The intermediate cartridge has already been invented, but somehow they didn't write about the T-72, which needs to be redone to create the "dream tank"... and I got the idea to make the only Russian that was relatively safe for others from the entire set of "ru-cranberries" (I soberly assessed the quality of my singing and attributed my possible playing on the balalaika to the elements of mass destruction). So, yes, yes! I was going to "craft" IT! BORSCH!!!

Putting Cyrillic letters on a Japanese phone is one of a series of tonsillectomies through the ass, and therefore I found "Russian beetroot soup with meat broth" on Google without much fuss, and, periodically checking the text and pictures, I started. Yes, yes, I know, soup for breakfast is kind of weird.

But for some reason, when Shizuka makes miso soup for breakfast, everyone eats in silence. That means I can, too. And the beetroot skin began to wrinkle suspiciously... I like beets that are frozen in the refrigerator even less than fresh ones. It took me two hours to pre-process the ingredients and cook the broth, and a loaf of bread and ham were unlucky enough to become my snack. Cami! For the way I eat - healthy, delicious, varied food - Rinko and Shizuka should have monuments! So, where's my big pot? We start the basic reaction, so to speak...

"What are you doing?" Rinko asked me suspiciously from the entrance. "Is something wrong with Shizuka? Should I wait?"

"Shizuka is asleep," I reassured my friend, "So, I wanted to try my hand, but I woke up early. We have a trip planned today to visit Shizuka's "relatives", I wouldn't have time to do scientific work anyway."

"Hm-m," Rinko lifted the lid and sniffed. "Beetroot?! Yuuto, are you sure you're okay? Did this snake infect you with anything? Is there no fever?"

"Rinko! It's all right! I'm just trying my hand!"

"I hope you're not brewing poison."

"Wow, the poison! How lucky I am!"

So, and here's another fan of eating for free.

"Good morning, Hiroe-chan."

"Hello everyone Oh, do you cook your OWN food, Yuto-kun? Or is it really poison? And where is our favorite chef?!"

"Shizuka is sleeping, sleeping!"

"You know, it smells kind of edible, but it's kind of suspicious." Rinko supported me with a somewhat dubious statement.

"Yuto, have you ever made this kind of soup before?"

"No," I said through clenched teeth, "Mom cooked. I decided to repeat it."

"Mom?" Hiroe picked up the open phone and read the name of the recipe. "Russian soup?! I didn't know your mom wasn't Japanese, you don't look like a Gaijin, and you have completely traditional facial features."

Damn it! So I got burned out of the blue. Fortunately, Rinko mistook the furrowed brows for a burst of grief for her dead parents and tugged Kaname's sleeve.

"Half of it," I said, carefully keeping in mind that if my mother is Russian "there" and Japanese here, I have the right to say so. "And I don't know anything about her relatives." But this is the absolute truth.

We were silent for a while, then I turned off the boiling soup and pulled out the plates. Hmm, it kind of smells like borscht. And the ladle is also red and orange, just like Mom's. And the smell...

"Are you going to eat?"

"Uh, come on." this is Rinko.

"Let's treat it as a test of will."

"That's enough already!" I got angry, blowing gently on the spoon. Am-M. By the way, it's fine.

"Good morning, you know... lee..." The snake yawned contagiously from the top of the stairs. But then the distracted look was replaced by a professionally interested one:

"A new dish, you know?"

"Yeah, Yuto's mom made this soup."

"I believe it... That's whether our young head was able to do everything right. Family recipes can be complicated... You know!"

Oops! Who is this "our young head"?! And Hiroe noticed - she widened her eyes and looked incredulous. What about me? Actually, I didn't do anything "like that".

Meanwhile, the snake came down and looked into my plate. And without bending down, go away! She tasted the contents with her tongue. We were so upset. Even though I knew about this option in advance, from the manga.

"Hmm, actually, you can eat, you know."

I sighed, and gave the "tasted" plate to the Goddess of Rivers.

"So, the three of us are going: me, Rinko and Shizuka. Hiroe, your job is to keep in touch. I'll turn on the speakerphone during the negotiations. If you hear something interesting, type and send an SMS. I'm counting on you. As we agreed, we move to the "meeting place" at the ravine, and Shizuka goes to organize negotiations. Thanks to Rinko's "blessing," we should at least be listened to. Besides, Rinko speaks on behalf of the people of the city. I am on behalf of the Amakawa clan, and Shizuka is the guarantor that we do not lie about our goals.

"Br-r!" Rinko shivered as if from a cold draft. "Somehow, everything suddenly turned around! I'm as worried as before an exam!"

"This is our first exam, Rinko. Unfortunately, preparation will not solve anything here, on the contrary, our task is to gain as much time as possible. And the sooner Mizuchi's "colleagues" have their say, the sooner our next step will become clear.

The dealer! Once again, everything is at zero!

chapter 108

The plague! I'm quoting Jack Sparrow. Wasn't that what he said when he boarded a British warship in his underwear? I feel that way. Yes, the Corpse Eater really wanted a truce with the Hunters and peace, but the suggestion I'm making doesn't sound like it. "Guys, you will claim your territory in front of other, possibly stronger and more numerous yokai, and I will save you from other Exorcist clans. Maybe."

No, of course the situation has some chance of a positive outcome. It's not just positive - for all participants of the adventure, it's like a transition to a new level. I definitely need it. Shizuka definitely needs it. It will be beneficial to the Death Eater... unless, of course, he really shares the views he preaches. I definitely need it. Shizuka definitely needs it. It will be beneficial to the Death Eater... unless, of course, he really shares the views he preaches. Because I don't remember anything like that in the manga. But I do remember that there is an "amazing" democracy and equality in the ranks of the Yokai: no one holds anyone back and all that. And it's good if they just send it to a fun address, but if they eat it? Perhaps Mizuchi will try to protect me, but the snake is not a terminator, and killing her comrades is not only for the man she has known for a little less than a month, but also for the future head of Amakawa, the killer of spirits... I wouldn't bet my last money on it. "My dream has become yours." It's worth a lot, of course, but for now, words are just words. It's good that Rinko is almost safe: to break up a parliamentarian with a "blessing" is to be very "unconscionable," especially since Rinko came to ask for herself, or rather, "for her own people." Quite in the spirit of tradition. No, of course, they will refuse her if they disagree, but they will politely and even escort her to the bus stop. I don't really count on Hiroe's special help: all the pros and cons are clearly visible. Her task is to evaluate, if possible, the interlocutors, the structure of the "gang" and draw far-reaching conclusions. It would be possible to send one Mizuchi... but this is either an immediate failure, or at least a receipt for his own incapacity.

Yes, I'm 11 years old. But if this is critical among people, then among the Yokai they are used to not looking at their appearance. I definitely won't hit them with force, but Amakawa has a reputation... It's quite strong and ambiguous. Okay, stop chasing the same thoughts around in circles.

We hardly take any weapons. Using the already proven technology, I made two more "magic wands" - remote laser-triggered stunners (wooden base + laser pointer head) with autonomous power supply. And he poured his mana into them: a quarter of the reserve. The zipper should be good... once. Rather, it was a weapon of complacency, perhaps to demonstrate the "artifact" properties of my power, because in magic vision stunners are completely empty. He took the old artifact for himself, and set aside two new ones for Rinko and Mizuchi.

The clothes on Rinko and me are reinforced, Shizuka will have one of her protective kits. Kuzaki, however, had to be sent to change clothes - for some reason she decided that walking in the foothills was possible in short shorts and sandals. Okay, I'm not wearing stiletto heels, s-swordswoman.

So, did you forget anything? The hamsters are fed, I checked my clothes, and the artifacts look exactly the same...

"We're ready, you know!" She looked into Shizuka's basement, and I had to turn away quickly before she could catch my expression. Arctic fox, it's a fucking arctic fox.

"I'll be out in a minute, wait in the hall!" We wait. The snake closed the hatch, and I exhaled. And now a completely complete Arctic fox! I got so used to it that I completely forgot about her, about my cute little feature. The Ferry of Light is not magic. The source of the light lines, this fucking web, is always in me, or rather, it is me. And in one comely spirit that I so carelessly tucked into my bed for the night, I clearly saw several dozen light lines of the "spontaneous" Ferry. And they didn't even think about disappearing. Moreover, as far as I understood the interweaving of the "pattern", some of them should have affected the work of the central nervous system. An arctic fox, just an arctic fox...

Chapter 109.

Everyone likes to quote the unforgettable Deidara - like, art is an explosion. I'm starting to share this point of view. Judge for yourself - this whole story with Shizuka, the Yokai gang and the ruined summer holidays began with the most banal procedure for destroying "ammunition". And it would be fine if it was caused by some kind of fighting or an accident. But no, it's his own fault. At first I did, then I thought "why". The result is, so to speak, on the face.

Shizuka. At least she behaves normally, she doesn't run out of water, I didn't notice much difference in behavior "before" and "after". There is catastrophically little data for analysis.: I can more or less say what influences what, but I still can't figure out how. True, no one canceled the "black box" method, but I didn't watch Shizuka that much and in rather monotonous situations: we worked together on "amulet" muscle strengthening, then I helped the snake deal with one or another section of knowledge of human civilization, like computer games or the principles of setting time zones for different regions. We walked together a few times. We talked about serious topics several times. We ate together. All. And now there's just a great opportunity to look at Mizuchi "in his natural habitat" and I don't even know what to compare it with...

By the way, why did I decide that the Ferry had any critical effect at all? Perhaps the changes will manifest themselves for the better or not at all. I will consider the latter option: it is at least pointless to introduce a new unknown factor into calculations that already consist of more than two-thirds of assumptions alone. And so Shizuka has already looked at me a couple of times in disbelief - why am I staring at her so often?

And at all. I need to try to calm down: I have a pretty good chance of successful negotiations. Yeah, fifty percent, like in the joke about the dinosaur in New York: either you meet it or you don't. There are no other options for negotiations at all...

...Naturally, I was mistaken.

We calmly got off the bus at a familiar stop, even the driver seemed to me the same as the last time, although you wouldn't understand because of the sun glasses. We waited until the transport disappeared around the bend. They crossed the road. Let's go to the river...

"Fuck!" For the first time in my memory, Shizuka swore. She managed to partially remove her disguise: hairpins from her head, glasses and a locket, and slightly released her aura to clarify if any of her own were nearby. Clarified it.

"There's a fight going on," Mizuchi said almost calmly. "Yokay vs. yokay. Ours against several enemies. Wait here..."

Damn it! My heart jumped in my chest in fright, and emotions, as always with very close danger, faded into the background. Meditation, the very "combat" meditation. Sensei also called her "involuntary..."

"We're coming with you," I quickly interrupted. "Make me an ice spear with a four-sided tip. The length is two meters. And for Rinko, it's an ice-cold straight sword with a sharp edge."

Ferry. I've already tested the accelerating-on-mans Ferry. Only on animals, but...

"They'll just kill you there."

And if we don't step in, they'll kill our hope. If anyone survives, they obviously won't negotiate.

"If you accelerate your muscles with magic, they won't kill you."

The time for "clinical trials" of his meager skills has come.

"You don't..." Kuzaki looked at me in surprise and a little scared. "... tested on people..."

I'll take my chances. If the Hawk-Nosed and Death Eater didn't deal with the enemies quickly, then Mizuchi's help won't be critical. But we have mago-invisibility and a chance to suddenly hit the enemy's flank. Mizuchi, the weapon!

"I'm already doing it, you know." the face of the Goddess of Rivers, which had been so deadly serious, became just intensely focused, a slight smile appeared on her lips. And the expression in his eyes changed. "Thanks for your help, Amakawa."

Next to Shizuka, the water rushing from the figure quickly began to take on the appearance of an ordered weapon, but I didn't look anymore. When I got to Rinko, I knelt down and ran my fingers over her ankles, thighs, across her buttocks and back to her neck and head, and down her arms to her fingers. Kuzaki must have been slightly stupefied by the speed of events, and she did not react in any way, except for a dumbfounded look, to such a blatant groping. After, everything after. We have to make it. Now the head. It's simple, it's a "magically accelerated" perception, and besides, Yuto swore, Kuzaki, if I mess up with you now, I won't forgive myself. That's it!

"Is it okay?" I asked, taking my hands off the swordswoman's temples.

"I don't feel anything like that..."

"He'll be right there."

I put my hand on the middle of the girl's stomach and formed a storage device in one motion. I started to fill it up, but Shizuka pushed me away:

"It's me, you take care of the weapons."

Logically. I picked up the sword, meditation, and ran my palm along it. Strengthening. I've read about rearranged ice, such as can be found on the moons of Jupiter or in space. It is closer to steel in properties, but its crystal lattice is more ordered.

Now the spear. Made by.

Mizuchi took her hands off the girl's stomach, and Rinko waved her hand with surprise on her face. Whistling, the limb "smeared" in the air into a semicircle. It's good that the clothes are enchanted for decontamination, the glowing areas of Kuzaki's body are almost invisible from the front.

"I'm on my own now. How to do it?"

It's kind of silly to touch yourself... And it's true. The necessary lines formed in an instant inside my body from the "rays of the star" of the Ferry source. So, and the head. Oh-h! How suddenly all the movements of foliage and grass became clearly visible. And how will I turn off this state? Fuck it, I'll think about it if I survive.

"How do we distinguish the opponents?" I asked the first smart question that finally came to my mind.

Mizuchi tensed up, looking "inside herself" and gave out:

"Two baboons, a stingray, a spider and a praying mantis. The spider is the strongest. There are only seven of us left..."

"Put on your protection and let's run."

And they ran. Three small figures: two female and one male. One with a spear, one with a straight bokken-like sword. Alone with empty hands. After the Ferry was rebuilt, the weapon stopped sticking to the skin and desperately freezing fingers and palms. I hope Rinko doesn't slip the handle in his hands. I hope that with the first blow we will kill three at once. We have the advantage in speed and full-fledged camouflage - the barrels flash by, the legs almost never get tired - we have. The Shizuka ahead is gradually making a loop from the direction of the mountains to the direction along the slopes. I hope Kuzaki and I have enough inertia and brains to hit opponents even in human form, although it is unlikely that there is at least one "in disguise". I hope the sight of monsters doesn't put me or my friend in a stupor. I hope we get to know everyone correctly and don't kill any of our allies by mistake. But it doesn't make sense. After the fight, we will count. Suddenly, a blue glow shot up like a flame in the empty forest - they reached the sensory distance for glasses. How's it going? Everything is at zero. FIGHT!

Chapter 110.

A hollow, almost without trees. And the ones that were ground to pieces, broken. Shuddering, blood-soaked carcasses and monster small carcasses. And above them is the battle of the "titans" of this battlefield. Side view. And here comes the enemy. A baboon actually looks like a cross between an eyeless gorilla and a python. Time seems to stretch even more. I see a carcass slowly approaching, I shuffle my feet, I see that we haven't even been noticed. The spear is tipped somewhere in the center of the furry part of the body. Hit. With noticeable resistance, the spear enters the carcass, I slow down, holding the handle at the opposite end. What's this? Slowly rising blood from the other side? There are no sounds. I brace myself with both hands, extinguishing the inertia of the body. The familiar, unfamiliar feeling of a nonexistent ball in my hands. The whole thing that can be done better. Or - split, crumble in the palms of my hands. The ferry!

The creature's tail convulsively moves towards me, wanting to slap me to the side next to the wound, jump straight at him and up. Unaccustomed, I push off harder and realize that I will rise five meters. A ramp floats through the thick air to his left, his glasses darkening as he releases a zipper from under his mouth plates. Hopefully not at the Rinko. I take the stunner out of my pocket. I'm checking it out. I hold down the button. The flash! A ramp with a burnt "wing"-fin begins to roll on its side. I twist in the air, my trajectory begins to tilt towards the ground. And there's a spider about four meters in its belly, with a red cross pattern, grappling with a hefty toothy beast, I can't find an analogue. With my hands and feet, I push against the spider's abdomen, my inertia throws it at the opponent. Again, the feeling is that the whole here is more perfect, rounded... The ferry!.. and there were fragments. With a convulsive movement of his body, the spider throws me almost parallel to the ground, and I crash into a pile of torn, chopped monstrous bodies. The air is knocked out, but the clothes restrain and distribute the impact. About two meters to the left, it crashes into the ground, raising dust... Spit? a piece?.. cobwebs, I feel a concussion from the impact. I push off, sliding in the blood-and as soon as I don't smash my head, I straighten up in one motion to see Kuzaki cutting through the mantis's cephalothorax with a white, black, and red sword, and out of the corner of my eye I see a deceptively slow black ramp falling and crashing into the ground. Shizuka shows up on the back of a slashed baboon, bigger than mine, which doesn't twitch. All?

Suddenly, clarity disappears, and sounds "catch up" with my head: squelching, growling, and whining... the soft rustle of the wind in the trees. A dead spider is thrown onto a slope by a man in his mid-twenties in a dazzling white shirt and tie. Shizuka falls to his knees in front of a pile of corpses and almost corpses of smaller yokai, blood is flowing, and in some places a familiar black smoke is smoking. Mizuchi's hands are covered in blood up to the elbows, his face is wet, his dress is split on the side and slightly charred - that's who the scat hit. Water falls from her hands in streams, covering the nearest mutilated yokai, covering it with a film, penetrating into the wounds. Judging by the contorted soundless scream (or am I not hearing it?) I don't think there's much hope of saving anyone from this pile of semi-finished meat products. My head is "leading" me more and more - apparently, I still applied it on impact. At the edge of my field of vision, I see another man with a funny crooked nose bowing to Kuzaki's waist, leaning on a sword. I've finally reached it, and I'm kneeling next to the Goddess of Rivers. It's funny! I know what you're missing. It's simple: water is an excellent mediator, it's understandable. But water doesn't take energy well. You can be a water spirit twenty times, but you can't feed it with your power even more. It's funny! But I can help you, since these pieces of meat have upset you so much.

"Cover everyone with water." Such a hoarse voice, wow, I didn't recognize myself. "All "ours", I specify."

The water is coming in, and I'm in a puddle again, now almost to the middle of my thigh. The hands sink into the water. It's so cool! For the first time, I see how the lines "feel like" filling the volume of water. Some bodies shudder in the depths, others don't care, they slowly spread out like black clouds in the water, as in the sky. Anyway.

That's the problem, I can't reach it. But you should. What's in the way? Is it bothering you? Well, let him get in the way. My field of vision narrows and floats away to the left, but I can still see how my hands begin to glow with a warm yellow light, and the slightly rolled-up sleeves of my shirt begin to literally fall apart right on top of me. It's funny! Darkness.

Part 21

Interlude 12. A former clearing near a mountain river, the former Ayakasi camp. Rinko Kuzaki, Shizuka Mizuchi, Corpse Eater (Kashi), Hawk-nose and other yokai, dead and not so.

[Rinko Kuzaki]

"Thank you, young lady Swordswoman," A young man with a nose slightly larger than it would be proportional bowed.

Rinko looked around dumbfounded: is that all of them? The frenzied steeplechase turned into a fight so suddenly that Rinko acted on full automatic: she singled out the target, a huge grotesque praying mantis, and, as in training, slashed at the supporting leg, and with the second movement she cut the second. When Shizuka created the sword, she clearly copied the shinto-gui, which was too heavy for 11-year-old Kuzaki, she had to hold and strike with both hands, inertia carried the blade away each time. But the opponent was still slower. The mantis settled on its belly, and one of the long blade limbs jerked back, and the girl hacked at the joint. Now the pseudo-insect-like ayakashi switched to a new target, and immediately received a paw on the leg from a clawed bare-skinned humanoid. Well, then it's a matter of technique.

Rinko suddenly felt tired. Leaning on the ice blade, she calmly surveyed the battlefield once more... just as Yuto braced his hands against the rapidly rising water... and the light hurt her eyes, despite the chameleon glasses. A second later, she saw her friend slumped against Mizuchi's shoulder. With her other hand, she continued to hold the water.

"What are you looking at, help me quickly!"

Rinko let go of the blade, ran up to Ayakashi, grabbed the guy by the arms. Heavy! She pulled him a step away from Shizuka, wrapping her arms around his chest. His friend's shirt was falling apart in threads, and they crumbled into dust. Only the amulet dangled in a ridiculous red spot on his chest, not affected at all. Thank kami, the guy was breathing. Shizuka returned to manipulating the water. Only now did the young swordswoman notice that the water was almost opaque from the radiance of power that filled it. The faint auras of the other ayakashi made their way through the water.

"Eleven. You have saved eleven lives, Blessed One." A Yokai in a white shirt appeared next to him unnoticed. "We are grateful to you and your companion, lady."

"Kashi, stop talking, you know. Take the kids and take cover, I wouldn't be surprised if the hunters are already running here. Such a doomsday has been arranged, kso! kso!"

"Come on, beautiful lady!" Named Kashi picked Yuto up in his arms and carried him, nodding to Rinko. They were walking at a normal speed now. Soon Kuzaki felt some discomfort and almost immediately realized that something was obviously wrong with the shoes. High, heavy lace-up boots "for going out into nature" were thoroughly worn out, and dangled on their feet as if worn out. Fine dust flew from the trousers every now and then, the colors faded. The crazy race and the short fight cost the clothes dearly. What if Yuto hadn't worked on things? Brr, she would have stayed naked!

[Shizuka Mizuchi under the protection of the Hawk-nosed]

Mizuchi tightened the wounds and stitched the insides, dissected, torn, with missing fragments, stopped and poured back the blood caught in the water. Yokai blood is not the best component for a solution controlled by a water snake, drains energy, interferes with control... but... Like so many times in recent weeks, Amakawa had only to put his literally golden hands to solving the problem, and instead of one patient, Shizuka was able to capture all fourteen. Unfortunately, she couldn't help the three anymore... The Goddess of Rivers was in a hurry, it was impossible not to notice the flashes of power, the same enchanting mess happened in these mountains about twenty years ago. The defense played a bad joke on Mizuchi: without it, she would have joined the battle much earlier... But in the end, Yuto turned the balance of the victims in their favor!

All. Mizuchi finished her treatment, quickly absorbing the unspent magic, and released the water cover. The water fell to her feet, and suddenly, without any transition, in the blink of an eye, it evaporated into a mist that quickly dispersed into the air. "Mystique, damn it!" - Ayakashi almost spat and grinned: this is what it means to communicate with today's "reactive" children: they have arranged such a "complete immersion in the environment" that you sometimes forget about your own nature.

Some of those who had undergone treatment, groaning in all sorts of ways, began to rise unsteadily, the rest coughed, removing the last water from their lungs, who simply breathed softly and with difficulty. The hawk-nosed man approached Mizuchi, who was sitting on the rocks and catching her breath, and looked back at the forest.

"Come out, Snappy."

"Gorbo, where is it?.."

"Kashi went into hiding and took our rescuers away." And suddenly, extinguishing his eternal grin, he asked harshly: "Where are the other two?"

"KHa!" A small yokai, with an eye in his whole head, already shrank back to the border of the surviving trees. "I'm not with them, they are... They're on their own..."

"Escaped, then. Why did you come back, brother?"

"Ah-Ah! I wanted to help from afar."

"And I didn't have time, that's a pity." It was clear from the Hawk-Nosed man's voice that he wasn't feeling any pity, but rather a desire for someone to brush his magnificent second-person teeth.

Shizuka forced herself to stand up:

"We have to go, you know. We're too close, and... oh, not anymore." And she plopped back onto a boulder, knocked out of the ground by the blows of paws in the last battle. The hawk-nosed man "listened" and realized that he did not feel the Kashi and the strange girl at all.

"What's up again?"

"It's just that Amakawa finally woke up and blocked the walls of the cave with the tunnel from magic." And Shizuka noted with malicious pleasure how the color drained from the cheeks of one of the leaders of the three. And the little cowardly schmuck, the remote, damn, shooter, actually fell on his back. Is he pretending to be dead?

Yes, Yuto was able to set himself up. Perhaps it will be much easier to come to an agreement now. They need allies and subordinates, and now the future head of Amakawa has something to show for payment. Then Shizuka caught herself thinking: she thought "them." Doesn't he consider himself a member of the Kashi gang anymore? Yes, he really doesn't. How many years have they been sitting on the branches and talking smart thoughts? About forty. And if one little boy has done more than a crowd of not-so-weak yokai, then it's probably not worth choosing who to follow. Especially if the leader is able to put his life on the line for the sake of subordinates.

"Amakawa?" The Hawk-nosed man spoke up. "They were all killed!"

"Not all of them," Mizuchi smiled even more gloatingly. "As you can see, one was enough to save your asses. And make a shelter. Pick up the most injured, and they dragged you away. Hey, one-eyed carrion! Help me, since you're back."

[Corpse Eater]

Kashi considered himself a being intelligent enough to draw conclusions from events, whatever they were, these events and these conclusions. This lesson, learned more than fifty years ago, has helped him a lot over the years. But there were no events - at least take a spoonful. The unexpected attack was not so unexpected: he already knew about the group of "cool" scumbags. But I did not expect that they would have enough "brains" to hide their auras and attack. They occupied too problematic a place, and it was a good calculation. Who wants to prove every year to the crazy little guys and bigger creatures who is in charge in this particular sandbox? And Tsuchimikado could have sent a hunting party. Actually, they sent him until he occupied the slopes of these hills, once every three or four years for sure. And they are constantly in battle, they have experience of joint actions... It turns out that this experience is not worth much. Five, assessing the attackers, fled immediately. Maybe someone else would have escaped, but the rest had enemies in their way. Seven of them. With one blow, together with Hawk-Nose, they took out the strongest and dumbest - Leviathan, and there was a commotion. Which would have ended in no one knows what, if not... And after the "not", the main oddities began.

The strangest one was Mizuchi, and it would be nice to just wear unfamiliar clothes. Before her strike, no one noticed the Goddess of Rivers at all. And these two. Okay, swordswoman, a small girl of 10-12 years old by human standards. Like her... Rinko! She fought well, but nothing more... but very, very fast for a human. Impossible fast for a man who reeks of magic so little. And her boyfriend? Generally zero, emptiness... If it wasn't for the light during the treatment, Mizuchi's technique would have become ten times more powerful. And if not... He could have sworn that when he bit off the spider's head, there wasn't a drop of intelligence left in her eyes... and she reacted more "by inertia" of the body. And this is an enhancement of the water technique, after which the guy passed out... He passed out, but, kso, Mizuchi pulled out eleven instead of two or three.

Unfortunately, the main conclusion was different. Mizuchi wasn't there. They don't count against Hawk-Nose. Minus the five who escaped at once - twenty-seven. And all these twenty-seven managed to stupidly lose. Just die in a frontal attack. It's time to question which of them is smarter - those who escaped, or those who stayed and died heroically? Kashi sighed. You can't even do a facepalm - your hands are full of the kid. How many times he informed his colleagues, how many times he tried to teach them to think before doing it. And generally think ahead. To the tired yokai, it was clear what had actually gone wrong. He didn't force anyone. His association was voluntary. Let Mizuchi call them a "gang." Let the Hawk-nosed one grin every time Kashi started another "lesson." He might have despaired of seeing rapid progress, but there was hope... and hope collapsed. Together with the students who never realized WHAT the teacher wanted from them all these years. Probably just a lousy teacher...

A procession of a girl and a man approached the camouflaged entrance to the cave. The shelter. From here, a long and winding underground path began along drifts, pelters and two siphons to the other side of the hills. The thickness of the stone could play the role of a screen, and he had no doubt that a whole crowd of people who wanted to profit from the remains of the Yokai before they completely disintegrated would soon arrive at this celebration of life. And behind them - and the hunting group of the police.

After a short narrow entrance, the cave horizon first expanded to its full width, forming a large hall. Here, close to the surface, the long-term storage supplies collected by him and The hawk-nosed were laid out. Canned food. Non-magical kerosene lamps. Clothes. Footwear. Some documents of the human world. Books that clearly cannot be stored outdoors. As soon as Kashi put the guy down and lit a couple of kerosene lamps, the boy groaned and opened his eyes.

"Where... are we...?"

"A cave in the mountains, a shelter."

The guy looked around, forced a smile.

"The bad stuff... The shelter... does not hide... auras..."

"There's a further passage," the Corpse Eater reminded himself. "It allows you to quickly move deeper into the mountains..."

"Thank you... better... in a different way... Rinko, help me..."

The girl grabbed the guy by the arms and helped him stand up. Leaning on her hand, he took a couple of steps to the nearest wall and, putting his hand on it, closed his eyes. He opened it and peered at the wall. Kashi watched these manipulations with some bewilderment, lighting additional lamps. Not all yokai can see well in the dark. And... damn it! The sinking feeling of death and battle spilled over the foothills was gone, as if cut off! Yokai cast a scanning spell, one of the few in his arsenal... and it sank into the wall like into water!

"How?!"

"Generic abilities... Let... I'll introduce myself... Yuto no Amakawa, the head and last of the family."

The thoughts in Kashi's "head" made a desperate somersault: everything, everything was falling into place! The clan of the artefactors, the clan of the "taming" Yokai, a clan with up to a dozen active members for centuries, the masters of the Blades and Claws of Noihara. The legendary ability, "the introduction of the changing light", allows you to turn any object into a powerful artifact... even a stone, even a branch... even a whole cave! No, it wasn't Mizuchi who brought them, it was Amakawa who came with Mizuchi. Two retinue warriors, a yokai and a human swordswoman... hung with artifacts so as to take out five strong yokai of his, the devourer's, level in five seconds. They say all the Amakawa are dead. It is said that the heir still survived and is hiding under an overwhelming seal. Is this HIDING?! Kashi has been interested in this clan for a long time. And I was able to find out something from what is usually called a "clan secret." There were various rumors, and once he was able to talk to yokai, who refused the vassal oath. He was not ready and could not accept her, but his girlfriend had no other chance. He was not ready and could not accept her, but his girlfriend had no other chance. But he made sure that the oath worked, and he understood and remembered something. In particular, her vows, the text.

Logic. Why did Amakawa's heir come? For some reason... by agreement. For what reason? Why go to them? Because Mizuchi told Yuto Amakawa quite a lot about their community. After all, the oath of allegiance, the vassal oath of the Amakawa, which is provided by their ability to "introduce light", is a simple, in fact, primitive thing. It's just an opportunity to step over yourself in exchange for a promise of service. When you hit the ceiling of your own limitations, strength, kind, soul, whatever. A wild, impossible chance to become someone else, in exchange for a voluntary restriction of freedom. What most yokai and humans are afraid of is fire. His hope died today. You can just live. His hope brought him an incredibly rare chance. And to kami the details! To believe in Shizuka's choice. After looking at the Hawk-Nosed man entering the lighted cave (he was carrying several survivors just in his arms), Mizuchi (two people who could not walk on their own were literally hanging on it), accompanied by several yokai, Kashi, taking three long steps, appeared in front of the last Amakawa. He smoothly knelt down and bowed his head so that it was below the level of the child's chin.

"Amakawa-sama. I am Kashi of the Kashi Yokai clan, the leader of the mountainside spirit community, I ask you to accept my oath and the oath of those who decide to follow me." By the oath of the family, by the oath of loyalty, and by the oath of freedom, may the one who is ready rise.

Yokai could have sworn that a series of expressions were flashing in the child's eyes now: amazement, surprise, understanding, and they were replaced by a concentrated squint. I felt children's hands on his temples.

"Think, desire what you want most, and remember to be faithful to the word. Otherwise, the oath is easy for you... It will break." Amakawa hissed in his ear and spoke loudly, clearly: "So be it."

And... nothing else. No flashes of light. No thunderclaps. No external effects. Yuto just took his hands off yokai's head, and Kashi stood up. What did he desire more than anything else? What limited him? The ceiling of the mind, the limit of consciousness? Kashi grinned, his lips curling into a harsh smile that was so unusual for him. Is serving the master humiliating and bad? Does serving ideals mean freedom?

"Those who still believe me as a teacher, who wanted to follow the path I suggested, come and swear Amakawa. You've all heard the words. The rest are free, everyone knows where the passage in the cave is. The Yokai, who were crowding at the entrance, rustled, murmured, darted their glances at the people, and Kashi approached and stood to the left of his overlord.

And he was almost not surprised to see Mizuchi on the right. The Hawk-nosed man standing among the "small fry" made a hand-to-face gesture face-palm and calmly approached the boy. He squatted down, exposing his forehead. Well, let's take this oath, or something. And a little quieter and to the side. If pathos could be surgically removed, I would send someone for surgery... Sensei sucks.

Interlude 13. Hokkaido Island. The ancestral lands of Jinguji. The mansion of the eldest family. A spell of peace. Mother and daughter, Meruhi and Kues Jinguji.

"Well, mom," the girl drawled, "Why is this happening again? I'm cold and hard. And boring!"

"I guess you've already forgotten, dear, how you couldn't even sleep properly until you were seven years old. Do you remember how many times you woke up with burns? And with the bruises? Do you want a repeat?"

The girl rolled her eyes. Her long, raven-colored hair was pulled back in a neat wave over the edge of the altar and hung almost to the ground. Apart from talking, the girl did not allow herself a single unnecessary movement.: She knew perfectly well what a failure in a magical ritual was and how unpleasant the consequences could be. Her mother continued to wave her hands at the Kues, answered questions in monosyllables and without much thought, and the "princess" Jinguji, who was freezing without clothes, could only close her eyes and try to distract herself from the tedious procedure with some pleasant memories.

For example, how she was cured of the "curse of magicians." There is a saying among British wizards - "there is never much power." One can only feel sorry for them, because they really don't know what a lot of power is. Too much for a fragile human body. One of the immutable laws of magic says that like wins like. And so, no matter how many prickly hedgehogs of sealing embedded spells were placed in her body, her power tore them apart time after time. While little Kues was awake, she was in full control of herself, quickly learned that the transparent-warm wave of energy did not burn her skin... or her insides. The nightmare started when she was falling asleep. Two times out of three, she managed to wake up before her magic could do damage, but sometimes the sleep was too deep...


"What do we need the power for, Mom? It hurts me..."

"To kill the Yokai, dear."

"Killing bad yokai?"

"There are no good yokays, daughter."


She was taught early, and at the age of five, little Kues was able to send energy outside the body, light candles by touching the wick, and move objects with telekinesis. For a while, the seizures turned from dangerous to something just painful and unpleasant, but it could be ignored. It was just necessary to do enough of these very, very interesting manipulations with objects or bright sparks of spells. And then her reserve began to grow. It happens that way. It is believed that if the reserve in childhood is higher than the average level, then the child usually has a fully manifested gift. Kues turned out to have the rarest gift in terms of power. And he was ready to kill her.

Merukhi Jinguji tiredly wiped away the beads of sweat that had appeared on her forehead and continued scanning-researching-reprinting her daughter's power. Considering that the Kues had an order of magnitude bigger reserve than a very small measure, it was not an easy job. Then, realizing that the child might just not survive, the mother finally turned to the Old Clans for help.

The appeal to political opponents, as expected, was far from smooth. The mirror priests were ready to save the child for free, sealing the gift... entirely. That this would have left Kues half-witted at best was not said, but it was clear as day to anyone familiar with the theory of magic. Tsuchimikado, smiling politely, said that there was not a single one among the clan techniques that could be useful. The Dungeon of the Gift? Well, this is fiction, there is no such technique and there can be no way to regulate the current of mana inside the source, modern magical thought strongly denies this. And then I had to turn to the "nuts" of Amakawa.

There were the most incredible rumors about the artifact tamer clan, ranging from what exactly they do with their yokai in their free time (and that this is what ensures the extreme devotion of tamed monsters) to the fact that anyone they touch no longer remains the same. But, there was no choice. The meeting with the head of the clan was held in a warm, friendly atmosphere... apart from the fact that Merukhi twitched every time she was served tea or cakes by zashiki-varashi, the spirit of the place, the power is such that sparks begin to appear in her hair. Very atmospheric! It is quite understandable why no one seeks to interrupt Amakawa's self-imposed seclusion. But there was still no other choice.

At the end of the week, Jinguji brought her seven-year-old daughter to Noihara. After only briefly examining the child, the head of Amakawa agreed to carry out the "treatment". And announced the price. It wasn't that high: it was just a life for a life. Kues was supposed to become a family with the "power of changing light."

"Understand, Meruhi-san, your daughter doesn't have her own destiny now anyway: never before has such a strong gift lived up to such a gigantic 7-year period. No one knows how the energy gathered in such a quantity in just one body will behave. That's why the others didn't take it on - arrogant fools are afraid to admit their own impotence, they're not idiots after all. And you brought her to me on time: she doesn't have more than a year left. I'm already surprised that she was able to tame her power for so long. Only as the wife of the heir who possesses the gift of our blood will she be able to live as a human being without the risk of her power taking over her. Only those who possess the "light" can protect her from what is inside her.

Meruhi finished and wearily sank into a chair next to the stone parallelepiped of the altar. The daughter fidgeted, stretching, stretching her cramped muscles, swung her legs to the floor and reached for her clothes. "Why, to give her up for some kind of almost incompetent," Jinguji Sr. continued her long-standing argument with herself by inertia, "yes, every department head in a small town is stronger than this Amakawa. And his grandson didn't impress me either. Ask him to join my clan... I wouldn't have sent him to sweep the street, of course, but I wouldn't have let him near the eldest family to be struck by lightning either! But if there had not been a split in the clan of the "light carriers", the daughter would have had to be wooed anyway. And now there's only one heir left, suppressed and untrained... They even keep an eye on him from time to time, just in case... But I'll choose a better match for my daughter!" She examined the Kues again with a scanning spell and was again forced to sign that she did not understand what was going on inside its source. And no one understands. The limiters are external, the limiters are internal, but will they be enough if what old man Amakawa warned about happens? A nagging sense of her own powerlessness made her heart lose its rhythm, but the eldest of the women pulled herself together. Not the time. Maybe it will be okay.

"I've heard, daughter, that you've become close friends with the Malcolm offspring this year?" She spoke casually. "Won't you tell Alexandr about this?"

Interlude 14. The new Shimomuro house. Shimomuro Yu.

The Shimomuro family was settling into a new place: movers brought in boxes, dragged in furniture and household appliances, even a palm tree in a tub. Her father meticulously checked the list of what was accepted, and his mother tried to make sure that everything was put exactly where it belonged, and that the naughty Yu would not drop a heavy box on herself, and that she would not dare to involve little Sato in her fun. It didn't work out very well: the workers didn't understand the inner beauty and harmony of the rooms at all, and tried to put everything in such a way that the combination turned out to be as terrible as possible. In addition, Sato did not understand in any way that an asthmatic child should not circle after their healthy daughter in the dust of moving and try to climb a palm tree, which, oh, woe! - they put it in the wrong place again, it's not worth it either. But the move did happen. Harmony was finally achieved between the three-dimensional world and the mother of a respectable family's idea of beauty, the children were fed, washed and installed in their rooms, and the palm tree did not even lose all its leaves. And while the adults were doing boring adult things, like cooking breakfast in order to warm it up in the morning, checking if the washing machine was leaking and where the soap and the box had been put away, Yu, who finally got her own private room, began to gut her personal belongings. To begin with, a Mystical Crystal Ball was extracted from a larger box: it was so mysterious and mystical that there was no need to explain it. Then there were: mystical incense sticks, mystical candles, a very mystical round mirror and a deck of Magical Enchanted (for a change) Tarot cards. Oh! Well, now it's all right, you can start the ritual of enchanting the house. Well, or at least the rooms, because everything around is so mystical, and the room, even if it has its own, is outrageously ordinary!

The process, as it happens in any household arrangement, at least ten times mythical, dragged on. Firstly, the girl definitely did not reach the ceiling even from the table, not to mention a more mundane and not a bit mystical chair. And the ceiling was needed: who would paste the mysterious pattern of mysterious constellations on the ceiling with glowing stars and planets? And you certainly shouldn't ask your dad: an extremely phlegmatic and pedantic father won't stick stars on anything (that is, mysteriously!) and in the constellation scheme (for added benefit), and even divide the applications by color and luminosity so that they match. Yu's father was well versed in constellations, precise mechanisms, and mathematical calculations. Now an aircraft engineer, and previously a test pilot, he had a decent amount of "emergency" knowledge. But he was being boring!

Having dealt with the stars, having taken away the stepladder from her parents (and the mezzanine can be loaded later), Yu surveyed her mystical room and decided, for the sake of moving in, to conduct another magical experiment. Moreover, the caught cicadas dried perfectly in the box, she already had a mixture of the bark of three oaks, as well as a mortar and pestle. They say, they say, but only - shh! - among the potion recipes in "Harry Potter" there are working ones. Or not much changed. For example, a light collector. Four components, a simple proportion. In the magician's hands, if he concentrates the energy in his palms, an expanding wave of light appears. One of the ideal formulations for identifying potential magicians, Yu herself personally selected several recipes for these formulations from almost two thousand "candidates" that she found on the "Internet magic textbook", various "notebooks of witches" and even in the "Anarchist Cookbook". The girl poured some powder into her palm and concentrated with all her might, "sending energy," but alas. As expected, there was no wave of light, because Yu is simply not a magician. But surely there must be magicians in the world? And it's probably not just the British Magic Academy, they just don't know about it. And Yu's mission is to bring this knowledge to people! And you can start with a simple one - to open a Magic Club in a new school. It will only be necessary to find the first five in order for the club to be approved at all...

Part 22

Chapter 111

You'll find out what a difficult day is by comparison. Until now, I was sure that the most difficult day was the day of the first trip "into the forest." Yeah, right now. I'm not having any luck with this "forest", or vice versa, I'm lucky, as you can see: here, I found ten more "problems" on my neck.

To be honest, the number of events per unit of time has simply gone through the roof: moreover, if the trip to the yokai camp itself is in the category of "unnecessarily risky, but within the norm," then the battle itself is beyond good and evil. It's a good thing that I simply didn't have time to think before deciding. And get scared. Or make a reasonable decision. Because the sensible solution is not to engage in combat under any circumstances. The Yokai from the slopes of the mountains, with all due respect to them, were, if you think about it with your head, an insufficient argument. But when there is no time to think, I have to act on my feelings, fortunately, I was not deceived by them. But, enough self-reflection. We managed to win, now we need to be able to take advantage of the fruits of victory. Of the thirteen participating "locals", ten agreed to accept vassalage, fortunately, the second leader agreed to the procedure immediately after the Corpse Eater, and the "losses" were a "trifle" from the number of the team. Well, that's good. And so, if someone had told me that in one day I would "earn" a dozen vassals, I probably would have laughed for a long time. Thanks to Kashi, whose motives I haven't fully understood yet, I've got into my team not only those who agree to take the oath, but also those with the appropriate character set, yokai. That is, the willingness to follow the leader, even if they don't really understand the meaning of the action. Very good!

The ritual was quite routine: fainting from overload perfectly "wrote off" the inhibitory behavior when applying the "ferry", while I was meditating, feeling for the necessary "vectors" in the nervous system of the next sworn in. The Devourer voiced the text of the oath very much on the subject: my ancestors developed an excellent example of an NLP scheme: it adjusts both the recipient and the receiver to the desired mood. And they also made sure that she was "on the radar." Thanks to this, I did not sit in a puddle, responding to such a generous offer, "I'm sorry, but I do not know how." Of course, on the one hand, the fact that I was practicing not only an experimental (for me) technique, which, in case of failure, would destroy a significant part of consciousness and the second signaling system on intelligent allies, smacked of madness and betrayal at the same time ... But. I definitely didn't have anyone else to train with, and secondly, I was still able to help them in battle, although that doesn't excuse me... Let's go and forget! And so, when the last "small" yokai went through the oath, and those who remained with me "waved their hand" to those who left, who decided to sail independently without the patronage of the "big three" and under the control of Amakawa (words like "traitors fucking" were perhaps the most polite that the "sides" exchanged), I Finally, I was able to think about the sacramental "and what's next?"

Chapter 112.

And then it was definitely worth making an offer, which Mizuchi and I came here with at the beginning of such a long day... By the way, it's not even two o'clock in the afternoon, so all the active actions took a little more than two hours. Looking around the room, I realized that no "revelations" were expected from me at all: the yokai were glad that they had gotten off so easily, and that now they could safely sit out those few hours in a protected cave until a couple of Tsuchimikado operatives got tired of combing the neighborhood. But questions, of course, will arise. I waited until Shizuka returned to the cave to voice my thoughts in front of everyone, but when I came across her sour expression, I decided to find out what was going on first.

"Our weapons were found, you know! It did not melt after processing, only melted slightly. And from this distance, I couldn't destroy it."

Oops! A puncture. On the other hand, the top layer of ice has "frozen off" after all, and no one will find our interesting "fingers" on the shaft and handle. Interestingly, the fact that ice, to put it mildly, has an unusual secondary arrangement of molecules, will it be discovered? And what will they think of the author of the blade and the spear? For example, I would hurry to get out of an area where there is a mizuchi capable of knocking water into comet ice. But come on. Everyone's here, can we still talk?:

"Ladies and gentlemen, Attention, while we are forced to linger under the arches of the cave, I want to tell you how I see our further interaction and describe how I would like to help arrange your future life."

It probably looks funny - an uneven row of sitting men, two women - and a teenager standing in front of them, intently "broadcasting". I forced all the Yokai to change their appearance to a human one, in order to avoid, so to speak. Whether the mindset changes due to a change in shape or not, but the motor skills definitely change, which means that the chance of "missing" in the ferry increases... Fuck it, fuck it!

"First of all, as I understand it, you all would like to get to know the human world better in order to gain some experience, am I right? Great. Then the suggestion is this: thanks to my clan technique, I can make your auras completely undetectable, which Mizuchi and I, who are present here, have already checked. And if you really integrate into the city, then it's better not to live in a park or under a bridge - with the risk of detection by ordinary police or problems with the population: a house or apartments would be better suited, right? The facial expressions of the interlocutors changed from lazily attentive to focused and then naively enthusiastic. I already felt like a politician, once again promising universal happiness from the rostrum, immediately after the elections, of course... until he came across a mocking look from a Hawk-nosed man. However, he remained silent anyway.

"As you probably know, to live in apartments and houses, you need to pay rent to their owners, and it would also be nice to eat normal food and receive other social services. And for that, I suggest you... to work as construction workers or road workers for a while. Qualifications are almost not required there - there is enough strength and desire to work, so you can... Khem!"

Then I naturally fell into a precipitate - after the words "work a little", the already joyful faces lit up with admiring smiles.

"Ah," said one of the Yokai girls from the Devourer's team, "we can play real people! And they'll also give you money for all sorts of goodies!"

The Death Eater forced a smile, spreading his arms, while the Hawk-Nosed Man couldn't help but hold his face with his palm. And completely in vain. Naivety is not something that lasts long in human society. In two months they'll be making fun of themselves. But at least it's clear why these comrades went for Kashi - the infantilism is impressive! Okay, now for the finishing blow.

"Entering the society of people is the task of the next month or two. After about this time, the Tsuchimikado clan will withdraw their fighters from the city police and remove them, and we will take their former territory under our control. That's why you need to get to know people's lives in as much detail as possible."

Huh! And the Japanese and those masquerading as them are also called "narrow-eyed"! Anime and elves are nervously smoking on the sidelines!

Chapter 112

After circling the battlefield for about an hour, Tsuchimikado's agents set fire to the remains of the killed yokai with some kind of technique, joining them with several corpses of scavengers that had not decomposed on the spot, who did not have enough instincts (or were just so hungry) to get away when the police mages approached. After waiting for this entire installation in the "horror" genre to burn out, the flames that were trying to spread to the trees were thoroughly extinguished - and finally dumped.

While Mizuchi carefully watched them from afar, I answered the questions of the yokai hiding in the cave from my squad now. And there were just a lot of questions: from the stupidest to the unexpectedly relevant ones that I hadn't even thought about yet. I answered everything: it doesn't matter if someone doesn't understand the realities of Japanese society yet. It's not so difficult to "drive into" them, especially if you don't immediately try to look like an academic and speak at some kind of debate... although, for example, if something like this happened to a Corpse Eater, I would still think who would "play out" his role better - him or a real academic. After all, an active age combined with an active intellect is a terrible combination in its effectiveness. And surely there are other yokai who have reached great heights in human society: it cannot be that there is no other "perfect" disguise other than the "ferry" one... and you can get it one way or another.

I tried to put into the heads of my now vassals, with all the persuasiveness I could, an understanding of what I expected specifically from them: not blind obedience, not worship, and not service from beginning to end: I needed employees. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say "comrades", but I really hoped that battles like today's senseless massacre would be avoided... and that, if necessary, it will not be "meat" who will fight, but specialists like Mizuchi and Houk-nose. Although I understood that this was a utopia, because if a "wave" of Yokays found out about the departure of the police from the city, a commotion would begin... and we still need to do something about it... and hopefully not in two weeks, anyway.

I specified a period of two months with a margin, given the delay in information about the security situation inside the policy beyond its borders, but then the patrols will have to be assembled "on a live thread," which obviously will not add efficiency... Because even Hiroe has problems with this when there is no specific goal, but an analysis of the situation is required. Things are not so smooth with the "three strongest" either, the infantile Shizuka and the pacifist Kashi are a great example of how a person is suitable for a leader according to the "formula"... yokai can't become one for internal reasons (he just doesn't want to). And when a patient doesn't want to go to the morgue, medicine is powerless...

"They went back to the city, I followed them to the car, you know." It is the Goddess of Rivers who has returned to the cave.

I grimaced inwardly: it's easy to talk, but now I have to work again.

"Gentlemen and ladies! And now, please, choose a set of clothes for yourself to wear in the city, and I will process them. Yes, any of them. No, Mi, an evening dress is great, but it's not what people understand by the term "casual wear," so ask Rinko. Rinko. Rinko! And what does "how cool" mean, she's not going to go to the construction site in it! And there are no fitting rooms here! Okay, okay, I'm going to block another piece of the magic shaft, but don't look at me LIKE that..."


"Hello, Hiroe?" I got out of the cave. "Hi. Yes, the negotiations have already been held, and even successfully, I will tell you everything at home. I didn't call because there was no reception, and they agreed to our terms right away. And that's it! Wait, we'll be there by five or six..."

"Dear Kashi, this passport cannot be used... No, I agree that it's probably not expired, and it's convenient, but... Look at the photo! IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT!" And this is us gutting the warehouse of things in the cave that the Yokai have stolen over the past twenty years, which is pretty smart when you think about it. After making sure that there are no mago police or any of the free exorcists.

There were also curiosities: apparently, the technique of influencing consciousness really "clears the brain", because it cannot be explained by a banal lack of curiosity that things from a box with "valuable objects", as soon as they were removed, were immediately expropriated by Kuzaki and two female spirits who had already sung with her. Well, yes, well, beautiful jewelry... and even a part of it is over a hundred years old (thanks to the Kashi reference book). But that's not a reason to grab them with a happy squeal, put them on and refuse to take them off? The voice of reason, ow!

As a result, apart from the same train in which we were traveling to the city, no one went with us - the contents of the cave suddenly became too valuable: something in terms of money that no one had previously followed, and something increased dramatically in price, having received from me a "ferry" to disguise magic. In addition, when a girl of the same age as my "childhood friends" appears in my house (and not a bit of a lie - I was friends with at least Himari, let the first one to throw a stone at me be the one who says that yokai are not my "childhood friends") it looks completely normal and innocent, but if an adult man shows up with me, and even cooler - a few, they can call the police... Fuck it, fuck it, I've had enough for today.

..After "catching" the evening bus, the three of us took our seats, two facing each other. Rinko unceremoniously took a seat next to me, which Mizuchi was clearly aiming at, and suddenly wrapped her arms around my shoulder and hugged me... A second later, a soft snore was heard! So we were driving: a sleeping swordswoman exhausted from impressions, who killed her first enemy today, a yokai of water, who received from me an incomprehensible "gift" in a dream (but guesses appeared) and your humble servant - with a bruise on half my back, dizzy and full of confusion in my thoughts.

And something tells me that there will be many such "eventful" days now!

Part 23

chapter 114

Naturally, it took us a lot of time to move the yokai squad into the rooms of two dormitories for workers and construction workers, if only because none of us had such an experience, and this social group usually does not write detailed reports on forums. Fortunately, they have foremen, and foremen have senior engineers who are forced to vent their frustration with their subordinates somewhere... Well, why not a blog?

I blamed Hiroe for checking the documents for adequacy: whether their owner was wanted as a missing person or for some other reason (from criminal offenses to non-payment of utility bills), since many women in Japan have high-pitched voices so that a haircut does not stand out when talking. Kaname had to drive around the city a lot, spend several thousand yen in pay phones and use the services of about twenty computer clubs.

Unfortunately, Rinko was completely useless in terms of working with documents or studying information to create an impression of something. It's just that no one prepared her specifically, and it's quite difficult to face this side of the issue with normal parents. But she was the only one of us who was engaged in raising our combat readiness... society? Communities? Fuck it, with the name, let it be "band". So, Rinko raised the combat readiness of the group by raising the combat readiness of herself: I modified the system of turning on/off the magical reinforcement of the musculoskeletal system with a ferry. Yes, yes, ODO, not just the muscles. I was extremely lucky that when I applied the "steam of light" to the Kuzaki, I automatically blinded it in the same way as in hamsters - not by the muscles separately, but affecting both bones and internal organs - as much as the previous "update" made by my parents allowed them to be affected. Fortunately, in irreversible tissues, such a "magic booster" simply "tightens" the structures of bones and tendons, adding strength to them (like reinforcing concrete with iron), otherwise we would not get off with bruises and aching joints. Actually, as I count the number of times we missed the metaphorical "arctic fox" that day, it gets so bad, I won't think about it.

Shizuka was trying to close the last gaps in her education at a rapid pace, and, naturally, these were the remaining most difficult pieces for her, such as ideas about the atomic structure of matter or the features of the structure of the earth's crust: even at the school level, this knowledge was so in conflict with the "naturally formed" ideas over so many years that the snake literally fought to win back I have the opportunity to understand what I have memorized. One day, I even had to give up on business, take Mizuchi to school and open a laboratory with "experimental machines": centrifugal forces, experiments on the speed of falling in a "vacuum" (if you can consider a vacuum of 10 at minus four to be a vacuum), blocks and levers - they killed the whole day, but after that, Yokai there was literally a breakthrough. As she confessed to me in the evening, she even "really managed to believe that our planet is round, and can really be in the void." After this conversation, I seriously bothered to do something about the education of the rest of the yokai from the Amakawa group, because even if a water snake scout has such problems with thinking flexibly, what about the rest?

Speaking of the others. That's exactly what took up most of my time tinkering with them. To begin with, I had to hammer into the heads of the "employees" that protection should always be worn, ALWAYS. Except maybe the shower, which I'll handle in the dorm. I forced them to learn their social roles thoroughly, using printouts from the "diaries" of civil engineers and contractors as material, as well as personal impressions of the two days that Rinko and I spent observing. However, "officially" I was looking for suitable dormitories in the quarters of "jamshut's" and stamped mago-control sensors, but that's another matter.

In general, Father Rinko enlightened me about the "jamshuts" from the Japanese society: it turns out that a significant part of real estate transactions concerns such "working quarters". By the way, the "jamshuts" there are, of course, Japanese themselves - it is very difficult for Gaijin to obtain a residence permit, and illegal immigrants are caught very strictly. Getting Kuzaki Sr. to talk turned out to be quite simple - after all, people like to talk about their favorite job... Well, all I had to do was get the information I needed. Then came the actual "settlement". The hawk-nosed one, accompanied by Rinko's "sister," went to negotiate with the commandant of a "guest house for builders," and I accompanied Kashi. No matter how much I spin the idea of "handymen" in my head, I'm more and more convinced that it was just an epiphany... or the result of watching a bunch of anime, where the hero earns something-important-but-expensive by moonlighting like this: in a yellow helmet, with a shovel, jackhammer, or in the form of a construction supervisor. The oldest earthly principle of the "gang" worked to the fullest in this Japan: if the future workforce does not come by itself, but as part of a brigade, and with a sane "senior" foreman, she is much more welcome. They can even suggest a job right on the spot. In short, everything worked out, the owners of the real estate were dealt with (Kashi was hitting, and I was "studying" as a "younger relative"), and the operation to relocate and move valuables began.

The sorted jewelry (there weren't that many of them) was put in an anonymous safe deposit box, access to which could be obtained by having a key, paying a not-so-expensive rent for 25 years. Naturally, I got one of the keys. The total amount of money collected in several deposits for the members of the "group" amounted to almost three and a half million yen. It's not enough for ten people, but it'll do for rural areas to start with. I also had to participate in the purchase of work sets of clothing, protective helmets and other stuff, such as reflective stripes for night time: despite the fact that the customer had to issue uniforms and protection, for obvious reasons it was necessary to make do with their own uniforms, so hired workers were paid more, but now these things had a chance to be demolished quickly. much less.

I've been worried for a while about the "simple" yokai from the group, but... here, when they were settling in, I "talked" with the local quite human contingent, and made sure that my yokays were almost a model of sanity and trustworthiness о_О! Now it's clear why students find these "different" jobs so easily - among all these drunks, buffoons, and just not very quick-thinking people, even people like the spirits from the two artels, there were at most twenty percent. As I said, I stopped worrying about work right away. And I started worrying about school. There were literally two days left. And we never managed to get to the bay, where the seasonal current will soon change, and in November and December, the spirit road dam will become functional again. Something will need to be done about this, too... Later.

chapter 115

And again, "hello school." I don't remember that at least once in my life, "there" and here, I went here with the realization "well, I'm finally going to rest," but - it happened! Actually, it's a great morning, great company, what more could you want for happiness? Put plans and analysis, experiments (which are worthwhile) and fears out of your mind for at least an hour, and just turn your face to sunlight. You can even take off your glasses for a minute. And maybe Rinko, after refining and two weeks of training, she learned to draw mana from the accumulator in the solar plexus area only when necessary. I got a good ferry, I must admit.

Another thing that makes me feel better is that I'm not going to school alone: Rinko is walking on one side with a bokken wrapped in a case in his hand, and Shizuka is on the other, also in a school uniform, with a "scythe to the waist." The braid is braided with blue ribbons, but Rinko doesn't have any ribbons - we didn't get to the summer festival, and there's no reason to offer - Kuzaki doesn't behave like a "kid in a skirt" now, he hasn't behaved for a long time. And I would be the last person to say that she was wrong: when you know for sure that a person is just ready to entrust his life to you, you really stop paying attention to the little things.

And the sun is shining right in your face, and the trees are green-green! Cicadas are squeaking, butterflies are flying, and individual students or, more often, companies are walking along the road just like we do. However, judging by the faces, they are "trudging" rather than walking - the first day after the holidays. Damn, I wish I could take a camera and film us walking from the side - it's like a ready-made animecha opening video! Or better yet, adjust the quadcopter - the camera angles will be more interesting.

And here is the school gate, and Hiroe is waiting for us at the gate. School uniform, briefcase, glasses on his face. And a predatory smile - the students who met Hiroe lay long loops to get around her.

"You look beautiful, I've already looked at how you walk."

"Yeah, I liked it myself. I even thought about taking a keepsake... Hiroe?"

"..."

"ER-er-er, Hiroe?" Rinko cautiously took a step back. "What are you talking about?"

Kaname has regained her normal, or rather "normal" expression, otherwise with a dreamy half-smile and eyes looking "into the horizon" she really scares. Those who know her, of course.

"THE I-D-E-A!" Kaname practically sang and squinted at us. "I'm in my senior year, I got Midori started in high school, it's time to make the project more interesting for myself."

"Is it really that scary?" Mizuchi grunted, behind which Rinko and I involuntarily retreated.

"You're participating too!"

"It's really scary, you know!"

"Yeah, there you are... Damn it, Yuto! Why are you surrounded by a bunch of girls again and all wearing glasses?" And this Taizo "crept up unnoticed." "And you... uh... Will you study with us too?"

"Chidori," Mizuchi introduced herself with her "passport" name. "But you can call me Shizuka, I prefer it that way."

"Okay! Yes, that's why I came up to you. There's another "girl with glasses" over there by the gate, isn't she from your group by any chance?"

The girl with glasses, who seemed to be our age, had apparently also decided that all bespectacled people were brothers in mind, and was already striding briskly towards us. More precisely, to Shizuka.

"Hi, I saw you in the staff room the day before yesterday, aren't you new too?" She turned to Mizuchi, and I saw in her hairstyle a silver hairpin in the form of an oblique cross - well, or the letter "X", whichever you like. A very familiar hairpin! "I'm in Class A on our course, aren't you too? By the way, hi everyone, I'm Yu! Shall we get acquainted?"

"Will be." We gave our names, including Taizo, and moved to the entrance of the building. Yu settled in next to Shizuka, she seemed a little uncomfortable walking alone to strangers like that.

"Listen," she couldn't stand it fifteen seconds later, "why are you all wearing glasses?"

We all pretended to be "surprised", "really?", then looked at each other... and they laughed together!

Taizo, looking at this, pointedly bumped his forehead against his shoe drawer a couple of times.

chapter 116.

Which was exactly what had to be proved. I am the president of the Physics club, unanimously. As if I don't have enough "administrative" work with those who have begun to master the hard work of the yokai builder and paver from the Amakawa Group. Now there's this. We must urgently look for a deputy. At least the guys had prepared the RepRap calculations, and even a double set of gearboxes for the heads had been turned out. Actually, you can just "print" them if you have at least one 3D printer available, but it's not there yet. Having spread out the printouts of drawings and parts on the table, I began to explain the assembly process (it is quite simple), and at the same time touched upon the programming of the controller...

"Is Yuto Amakawa here?"

"I'm here," - wow, the deputy president of the school committee himself came.

"The director wants you to come to his office."

"I'm coming." I waved my hand so that they could sort it out without me. What does the director want from me?


"Good afternoon?"

"Amakawa-kun, have a seat. I have a conversation for you."

"I'm paying attention, Mr. Director."

"Mmm. What I want to tell you... You're very... an enthusiastic young man. It's good to do something like this, from a young age... useful, necessary people. This is a very correct character trait, your passion and your thirst for knowledge. I recently received a call from the deputy head of the Department of Precision Machines and Mechanisms, who was very interested in our students from the Physics club. They really liked your flying camera at the University Youth Exhibition, and the aircraft modeling club managed to register... Anyway, that's what I'm getting at. They would like our school to establish cooperation with the city Polytechnic University. It is prestigious and very honorable for a junior school to receive such an offer... you probably don't know, but participating in such projects greatly raises the school's rating in the municipality. Therefore, I would like you and Rino-sensei to visit the university next Saturday, and you will be excused from classes. And your Taizo classmate will go, they were personally interested in him after participating in the glider competition.

"I'll do my best, Director-san!"

"Great. I never doubted you. Try to make an impression there... Harder, well, you can."

"I'll do my best, Mr. Director!"

"That's good. For my part, I'll try to settle your differences with the chemistry teacher. Otherwise, it's not a good idea to be one of the best students and get a negative review in your personal file. You can go now."

Bowing and walking out the door, I stopped in the middle of the school hallway. And who can tell me what it was?

Chapter 117.

However, the unexpected events did not even think to end. On my way out of school, Hiroe caught me by the elbow and pulled me aside.

"I just found out that her next "best friend" told her mother not to see them for a century. All city schools are being shaken up by the student work commission, which says the number of accidents involving pyrotechnics and self-made explosives has increased. They give review lectures to everyone, and a psychologist works with the "unreliable" ones.

"Damn, it's not a good time. Why such strictness?"

"Yes, it seems that several cases of citizens' appeals for low-power explosions of unknown causes have accumulated, so they decided on schoolchildren and students: who has access to reagents or laboratories."

"Well, it doesn't seem to concern us."

"Yes, it does. The commission has a full-time psychologist. During the lecture, he will monitor who reacts, then conduct private conversations with those who have shown unusual reactions."

"So what?"

"And the fact that psychologists are provided by the staff of the Social Committee! This is their full-time responsibility, along with monitoring the implementation of social norms for children and adolescents."

"Damn it! Are you thinking about what I'm thinking?"

"Exactly. Our Mizuchi will probably get burned on something. We need to prepare her for the conversation somehow."

"Maybe I just didn't come to school that day?"

"Then an invitation will be sent to the committee itself... What are you?"

"I've got a hunch here... Do you know when the check will be with us?"

"Who do you think I am? Of course I know, Dad has all the events already listed in the database. We're in line this Saturday."

"Fuck! I knew it!"

"What did you know?"

"The principal just sent Taizo and Rino-sensei and me to a meeting at the polytechnic to demonstrate the "face of the school. Saturday, as you guessed. And I was wondering what a reservation about a personal matter meant..."

"And what will you do? I can try to influence the transfer of the commission through my dad..."

"Don't make such sacrifices. I'll just try to be careful. Damn it, I got it!"

"Really!"

Part 24 The opening of the magic club and the visit of a psychologist from the social committee.

Interlude 15. Shimomura Yu

Everything turned out quite well. Admittedly, Yu has always been shy of new people, and a whole class of new people - br-r! Another thing was on the Internet, where Yu felt at home and was not shy at all. Just try it on the moderator moepotter.jp someone raises the cap or says a bad word, and is banned with a whoosh. Shimomura also knew quite well what "blocking by IP" and "cutting off anonymizers" were. She even participated in the layout of the latest versions of the site herself, and her colleagues said that she was doing well... But still, it wasn't that. Not A Lifelong Passion!

Magic! That's what I remember from her grandmother's fairy tales, growing up reading all sorts of mystical fiction for children (and sometimes for adults), and it struck a powerful chord in Yu's soul after reading the first book about HIM. Yes, yes, about the boy with the scar and the glasses. Like thousands of other children, she associated herself with a child from a non-magical world who suddenly found himself surrounded by the charm of magic... She even expected an owl to come to her too... or better yet, a dragon. Get more of it so Dad can see it! The passion for flying has also been absorbed since childhood... And Dad is her favorite, even though he's boring! But he didn't arrive.

And then Yu went to look for like-minded people on the "network" - they had an Internet computer since 2000, and the young Shimomuro perfectly learned how to use it. And when they bought her a laptop out of generosity...

In general, she found like-minded people. Even together with a group of enthusiasts, she translated new books before the release of the "official" translation - as best she could. Unfortunately for others, Yu inherited not only her mother's sweet habit of admiring the unusual, but also her father's rationalism regarding applied solutions. Do you want to get a dream? Make it with your own hands!

And so Shimomuro Jr. entered the classroom of her new school and was introduced to the class after Chidori-Shizuka. They were even put in a row. Shizuka... a girl with glasses and a gorgeous braid that you would never grow... She was unusual. That confident look, the impenetrable calmness when she was asked in class, the subtle, almost mocking humor - after a day of communication, all the boys did not dare to approach her closer than a meter, let alone ask what. Sometimes it seemed that she was just having fun looking at others. Sometimes it's deadly serious, and the radius of the planet or the distance from Earth to the Sun in kilometers is the most precious knowledge she's ever learned. And on the history of Japan... After giving a brief description of the situation between 1901 and 1920, the teacher did not dare to ask her anymore.

Shizuka was simple and mysterious at the same time. She loved rice and seafood, and could tell a lot of interesting things about the city... and at the same time, I didn't listen to music, I hardly watched movies, I didn't give a damn about actresses and actors, and, oh gods! She was completely uninterested in hearing about GP! No, at first she was interested, but after the phrase "flying on brooms and conjuring with magic wands" she abruptly lost interest. And who will figure out why?

However, the girl with the scythe, by her very presence and kindness to a newcomer like her, helped Shimomuro get used to the classroom faster, become friends with the rest of her classmates and girls from parallel classes of the stream. And, gathering four like-minded people, Yu went to register a magic club. I was a little confused by the reaction of the principal, who, putting a sweeping visa on the form and applying a personal stamp (to highlight the room and the props that the school could provide), whispered to himself something like "finally, a normal hobby, and not a club of fans of differential equations or builders of giant humanoid robots." Shimomuro immediately wanted to look into the last one, but she courageously restrained herself and did not ask anything.

Shizuka didn't want to go to the Magic Club.

"I'm definitely not a magician, you know!"

However, she did not refuse to help her new girlfriend, and the six girls brought the club room into a "cozy nest" literally on the second day. They even put pots of flowers. A "goblet" containing the powder that defines magicians was solemnly placed on the central table (the composition was wisely kept secret). It was assumed that the neophytes would put their hand there and try to transmit the Force... If you are lucky, rays of light will shoot out of the bowl. It's very stylish, isn't it?

And, of course, on Saturday, a young psychologist from the screening committee wanted to settle there - she liked the office.


Interlude 16. Suzuhara Mikuru, a psychologist from the Social Committee. Junior secondary school number 209

Suzuhara was very worried, because today was her first day working with children - before that, she had mostly been acting as a secretary. Despite the recommended specialized education and the fact that she was a second-generation magician, having been born to two weak magicians accepted into the Jinguji clan, she was released "into the field" only when the branch was checked by an inspection from the central office of the Social Committee. Identifying disguised spirits is her job, and eliminating the effects of contact with spirits in ordinary people. The education of a psychologist was required to erase or change the episode of the meeting between yokai and the man in the latter's memory. Often it didn't even require magic - a small conversation, and the victim himself believes not in supernatural causes, but in a combination of circumstances.

But Mikuru was taken care of in the department - with her wave of brown hair, fragile figure and big naive eyes, they were afraid to let her go to real work... and they did it right. But because of the stupid commission for work with schoolchildren and students, everyone was torn away from chairs and "solitaire". The emergency as it is.

While the school commission was checking something about chemical reagents and whispering with the chemistry teacher, the streams were driven one by one to the assembly hall... and the hellish work began. Children! Who came up with the idea of catching "atypical behavior" in this fumbling, whispering crowd of sitting "chickens"? It's good that their inspection included as many as three psychologists... and that the commission, by a strong-willed decision, rejected the verification of flows under ten years of age. And they will also listen to the lecture on the school broadcast.

As a result, the lecture turned into a real torture for Mikuru - try to see who in the sea of heads... Even if there are only ninety people, it's all the same. In the end, Suzuhara just ignored the observations and decided to call on the list. And to start with the "difficult" boys. The boys were called one at a time, and she was pretty exhausted trying to get the teenagers to talk-shy of strangers, class, and surroundings... and a pretty-looking girl. About kami, to question children again during puberty... The horror!

After ushering the last "problem" out the door and looking at the clock, Suzuhara discovered that it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. And she decided to launch the girls en masse.

"...You're kidding me! Mikuru thought, looking around at the customers. "Or someone at the top of the school hates girls with glasses." The three visitors were in uniform, wearing glasses and about the same build, only the hairstyles were radically different. And they didn't look like any kind of "fuses", rather, on the contrary, they looked like "nerds".

"I wonder if this is a chauvinist director who hates smart women, or did the head teacher try her best?"

The girls greeted each other, introduced themselves, and sat in a semicircle on chairs that had been pulled out in advance, and Mikuru began to "talk." She was also haunted by one of the students' last names, but she couldn't figure out which one. After quickly "driving through" the topic of "blowing up is bad" and making sure that the topic of the students was not interested in any way, Suzuhara habitually turned to the topic of domestic violence. And that's when she got sick!

Kaname saw nothing wrong with domestic coercion, considering it an integral part of life. The looks are more like those of a cynical middle-aged woman, but to hear such a thing from an eleven-year-old? It's a nightmare!

Chidori treated violence evenly: it was bad, and she planned to "stop" it towards herself. She said this with such cold indifference that the impressionable Mikuru immediately formed the image of a little girl with a scythe, right in her school uniform from a rooftop position "suppressing" violence with a sniper rifle. The "picture" turned out to be so organic that it's just awful!

As for Yu, she said that she does not consider domestic violence as such, but only unreasonable attempts to impose her opinion. Because reasonable attempts can be not only not harmful, but even the only true one. And she told she a couple of cases from the history of plane crashes. "Was she looking for them on purpose?" - poor Suzuhara broke out in a cold sweat, listening to the distraught Yu, who climbed onto her second favorite hobby, "flying". The psychologist, as already mentioned, did not complain about the lack of imagination.

Feverishly scribbling five pages in her notebook, Mikuru was already considering whether to immediately call her parents to the committee or first submit an official petition to the joint commission on schools of the city, when the most short-haired girl got up from her chair. She stretched. She looked at Suzuhara with a satisfied smile. And, addressing the other girls, she said:

"I still lost to my mom! She said that Mikuru-chan would definitely attack me, you, and Shizuka with a long diagnosis, and I thought she would recognize me right away."

"From... How do you know me?!" the psychologist jumped up and, bumping into the girl's cold squint, shuddered.

"Mi-ku-ru... san. Did my last name remind you of anyone? Perhaps, for some reason, it looks like the name of the head of the IT service? Hmm, probably because I'm his daughter..."

And then Suzuhara remembered. The Kaname couple repeatedly attended the Committee's corporate events (as is customary for employees, they brought their "soulmates" - after all, the Social Committee was and remained a fairly closed organization). It was this woman, Kaname, who, having slightly taken on her breasts and hooked tongues with Mikuru, first made her believe in a conversation that an experienced contract killer was sitting in front of her, at least an international terrorist, and maybe Saddam Hussein, who had deep facial and chest surgery. And then, in the same five minutes, she proved that you need to be able to interpret facts using completely truthful words and that generally accepted positions are not always correct. And now, slowly breaking out in a cold sweat, she peered into the familiar squint her daughter had taken over from her mother.

"Let's start with that," Kaname said in the tone of an experienced psychologist, "First of all, Mikuru-san, you needed to clarify the information about the parents and the occupation of the subjects themselves. For example, the tranquility of the Sidz... Chidori is related to the fact that she has a lot of martial arts experience and can really fight back in case of violence. What's not scary isn't fearfull, is it? Well, you probably guessed about me, but the fact that Yu's father worked as a test pilot is probably news to you? It's simple, isn't it? I'll have to tell Dad to print out the report on our school and give it to Mom to read-that's it..."

Then Mikuru's nerves broke down, and she did something that violated two points of the instructions of the Social Committee at once.:

Then Mikuru's nerves broke down, and she did something that violated two points of the instructions of the Social Committee at once:

First, she used magic, casting an area spell on the girls, which discourages "fast" memory for the last fifteen minutes. It was quite an overload for her weak gift, but the girl still had experience...

And secondly, she stormed out of the classroom without even bothering to make sure if the spell had worked or not... and why rays of light are hitting the ceiling from a plastic parody of a medieval goblet.

Luckily for Mikuru, she was the only magician in the entire delegation... and, unfortunately, she didn't know that Hiroe's compact camera was snuggled behind the neat pots, from which the shorn-haired woman was already pulling out a mini CD.

"Don't worry. And he won't write a report either - such a slip in front of outsiders!" Hiroe stroked the disk. I bet a couple thousand yen, if Yuto brings this to the Social Committee, one lovely psychologist will just be buried... to the archive, to scan the papers until the end of days. By the way, can you explain why you did this?"

"I don't like it when people try to mess with someone's brain... And it's so rude, you know!"

"Er... was it magic?" Yu finally managed to get out of herself. "Have you seen it too?"

"Have you seen what?" Kaname batted her eyelashes innocently.

"We're not magicians," Shizuka continued to match her tone, and the girls nodded to Yu, took the camera and left the door.

For a while, Shimomuro tried to put the events in her head, then for another fifteen minutes she tried to decide whether it was her imagination or the fountain of light was really there. She spent another ten minutes telling herself not to look at the goblet, but she did. Of course, there was no powder there, just a black coating on the walls. And all the way home, Yu was thinking hard, is it good if magic really exists, or should she close the club from sin and focus on flying? Doesn't the school have an airplane modeling and piloting club?

Part 25.

Chapter 118

Honestly, I expected a relatively large but provincial city from Polytech, a picture I knew from business trips "there" - small cozy buildings, everything is drowning in greenery, students are in no hurry (if not a session)... But it seemed - I got somewhere in the Moscow StanKin (Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys)! Three twenty-storey academic buildings, hangars, a huge area for crowded Japanese cities for its own small park and sports area. There is a separate exhibition pavilion building - I shouldn't have gone to the exhibition with the guys in the spring. The buildings are gleaming with glass trim, and students are wandering around the park and the area between the buildings in couples and groups, sitting and hurrying. Someone is clearly learning something. Damn it! What is everything... dear!

"There" I really spent "half my life" in such places, if you count only my conscious age. First higher education, postgraduate studies. Work as a laboratory assistant. An unsuccessful PhD (or rather, an unsuccessful research assistant). The second highest, I've already taken over. New scientific work... which is why I got here. There was everything - I worked as a subordinate in the hospital, and adjusted experimental machines at the factory, I even had to become an employee of an LLC on a part-time basis with a free schedule, which makes and installs alarms with special functions (such as covering extended perimeters with laser emitters "at the intersection" or volume/weight sensors to organize an electronic analogue of the legendary "strip" from the loosened soil on the border). This particular job was especially informative in terms of communicating with people - from locksmiths and drunken electricians who put up two months of work before handing over the facility (and it still needs to be handed over in an hour!), to communicating with customers (as a technical consultant to determine how much it will cost), then in uniform, either in suits for my two annual salaries in the lab (and do it like a pond with ducks, since you're going to dig a hole anyway), or ordinary men whose garage cooperative is being robbed every day.

At second glance, the Japanese university differed from the Russian one somewhat more strongly - less noise, students sitting right on the floor, or even lying down (!), some - right on a specially dragged sleeping bag (!!!), but at the same time - more identical clothes, although there is no uniform. Many have T-shirts with the university or faculty logo. The shrine to the "spirits of reason", with smoking incense sticks, paper amulets and notes like "successful retake of the assembler test", which was also completely demolished right in the corridor of the department of computer science. о_О! By the way, judging by the notice on the door, the transfer is just underway. Rino-sensei, after rereading the inscription after Taizo and me, convulsively shrugged his shoulders, lit and stuck a new incense stick into the stand, prayerfully folding his hands. Wow, is this already a "holy place" for more than one generation? Yeah!

The Department of Precision Engineering was hiding at the far end of the corridor on the 12th floor, where we finally got after ten minutes of a confusing route. For some reason, all the buildings of educational institutions larger than schools seem to be an analogue of the Cretan labyrinth at first glance. Great. My seven-kilogram backpack has already weighed down my shoulders, not counting the laptop bag in my hands: again, I forgot about my not-so-old age... But he didn't dare to use magic. Even then, after the battle, when I saw that all the structures of the ferry had simply disappeared, I was pretty shocked... and I postponed finding out the reasons for later - there was no time for that. But then... It was a good thing it was a small storage device. It's good that I chose a place in the skin of the abdomen for its implementation, under which there is no fat layer... And it's good that I sleep on my back. The burn hurt a lot. However, Mizuchi brought him to me after all... with a loud hiss and comments about where I was thinking: after all, in order to overload the protection of my amulet, she had to fully unleash her aura and put her strength into a full-fledged combat blow that could cut an elephant. At the same time, the protection of the house was checked - Rinko was looking outside through glasses.

What it cost me to prepare everything in five days - it's better not to even think about it. Of course, it's not about protecting spirits from spirits, and it's not as stressful as taking a vassal oath, but everything had to be done "quickly to make it work." Suffice it to say that we completed the last details on Friday at school at ten o'clock in the evening. If it was still somehow familiar to me, then Taizo was just nervous. Well, yes, it's useful - it's better to start a "collision" with the "adult" world carefully in advance...

I liked the head of the department - a world-class man, with his own mind, of course, a stocky Japanese man with the figure of a sumo wrestler and the intelligence of a chess player. After talking with Rino-sensei for a while, he switched to us. He began to ask, unobtrusively pushing for revelations, who encouraged us to do such interesting things, are school teachers really? I had to come up with a trump card:

"Goro-san, nowadays almost any information, especially if you don't need to search for complete information, is easy to find online. The main thing is curiosity and the desire to do something, as Rino-sensei teaches us (a bow to sensei, who really blurted out something like that a year ago). May I demonstrate? Thanks! Taizo, help me!"

What is the good of the Rep-Rap project? It's really going to be "made of shit and sticks", all you need are metal guides, stepper motors, order a plastic melting head (you can do it yourself, but I didn't dare), buy a controller and download the software. If you have experience building one such device, it's really nothing complicated. And I've already assembled 3D printers. In just twenty minutes, we unscrewed the disassembled unit, connected it to a laptop and warmed it up. And then they set up a program for printing a sample that would be shown by Taizo at the avia department: a simple, even primitive glider... but by installing a light motor (with itself) and a battery (with itself) and planting the blades on the axle, we get a flying thing for quite a long time. Someone urgently had to master Autocad and an editor for a printer, and our homework, which was not done in a week, is still lying at home. At least almost all the teachers have "entered" our position...

Watching Goro and Rino's expressions, I tried harder to suppress the smile that was trying to creep onto my face. When I said that we would be demonstrating a working model of this ersatz fabricator, I forgot to mention that we would be printing a workable model of a motor glider "right here". Not all of it, of course, but only the nacelle and keels, because without any modification to the wing plates, they warped during "printing", and they turned out well if once out of five... that's why we made them in advance on Friday evening, choosing the best ones and literally finishing them with a file. Naturally, we said here that we would not print the entire model "to save time." A typical marketing ploy... but the "customer" was so impressed that he didn't even seem to notice anything. You know, when they showed me a 3D printer at work there, I was just as impressed!

About the degree of fu... surprise Goro-san's can be judged at least by the fact that he asked to leave the assembled printer at the department - with a refund later, of course, and compensation for the working time of the machine. No, the university has its own semi-industrial fabricator, of course, but he's the ONLY ONE and there's a queue for him for a month! And Taizo and I (already alone!) He invited me to attend the "open" lectures that the university holds for everyone, when he, Goro, leads them. And then he took us to the department of aircraft designers.: He wanted to see our glider in action. Fortunately, the success was complete, although one of the elevators still had to be replaced with a pre-made one. While Taizo was watching the operation of the wind tunnel with huge eyes (under the condescendingly flattered glances of two laboratory students), I heard the head of the department say to Rino-sensei:

"...And tell your esteemed director that an invitation for cooperation negotiations will follow within a month..."

Success, complete success! And he got the right to look "at the light", and Taizo dragged I, now who the hell is going to get me out of here - the playground for work is much better than the school Club, with all due respect to him. So I won't be me if I can't use the knowledge of a thoroughly familiar environment so as not to drag my teammates here too. And I'll have a real chance to figure out my ancestral abilities in terms of improving materials on a completely different level... and at least no one will stupidly count electricity for charging superconducting batteries here... So, I won't say "gop" yet. But! This is a victory! And it's purely mine - without any kekkegenkai and inherited spirits, without the glory of the clan, and even without a selfish goal. It's nice, kso, to get recognition like that, that I didn't work in vain, very much!..

...However, I still have to deal with the Committee. I need to call Hiroe and find out how it went...

Chapter 119.

"You couldn't be excused from visiting the Committee's office, I'm sorry. Everyone in the social control department was already ready to sign - I don't know what my mother gave them through my father, but she was terribly annoyed by our record. And she hadn't figured that out about the spell yet. In general, it was unpleasant - a fan of blue needles flying from the hand of this dyed bitch - and a part sticks into you. Brr, it's good that your defense held up. At the same time, this unfinished magician also managed to set fire to something in the office..."

"Rather," Shizuka added, "something reacted to her magic."

"Are you saying that there was a real magic item in this "magic club"? Actually, you would have noticed it, I think. Although if the amulet has no energy, then no. However, are you sure that Yu is not a magician?"

"Absolutely. No skills, no knowledge, you know."

"Okay, then we closed the topic. "Do you have any idea why the bosses of the Social Committee needed me?"

"Because of the last name," Hiroe snorted, "because in all other cases, you would have already witnessed an attack on your, sorry, OUR mutual friends."

"I support you," Mizuchi grimaced at the words Kaname.

Hiroe, of course, says what he says, no tact... It's just how she shows trust in the other person. The absence of a mask. And the girl's character is not easy... At least Shizuka understands this, I checked it out by specifically talking to her about this topic. And with Rinko too. The team began to "get lost", and immediately other people's flaws came out of all the cracks, which you notice only with close, relatively long communication. And it's good that girls are able to "talk through" these shortcomings, because in most men's groups, a universal "virtual penisomerism" championship would begin... and in women's too, only girls have not yet had time to learn to ignore the feelings of others, even Kaname. So you need to be prepared for lapping and smooth out, if possible, sharp corners as they appear... however, everything is clear here.

How should I behave in the Committee's office? It's clear that the charge against me now is "you live without custody, we have to send you to orphanage" they won't, otherwise they would have done it right away, at the age of nine. They probably won't. Damn, it makes me sick when I think that all my endeavors can be ruined with a light swipe of the pen on the sheet. Over the past two years, I have already managed to forget that I live in a house with bird rights... Maybe they'll try to put pressure on me... but for what? I didn't have time to show up with my "otherworldly" projects. And my social scientific endeavors should be encouraged in a good way. So what is it?

Rather, it's just an attempt by the head of the regional office to get to know me. What for? Apparently, to make sure that I understand my place correctly... under the broom. That's kso! After all, a couple of months after Tsuchi's departure, the conversation would have gone in a slightly different vein. Most importantly, it's all my fault with this rocket... On the other hand, it's an accident. Okay, it's too late now anyway. So, the plan of the conversation is to demonstrate sanity when talking to a psychologist. to demonstrate that I haven't forgotten everything when talking to the head of the regional office. Actually, that's all I can do.

I was scheduled to visit the Committee's office on Tuesday (again, having personally canceled school for me, the teachers will probably frown disapprovingly, they don't like absenteeism here - even on business). And I devoted half of Sunday to delving into the affairs of the Amakawa group, which had to be blamed on the girls. Well, what can I say - there has definitely been progress. All, absolutely all spirits have learned to express their thoughts very briefly and ... obscenely! No, they tried to restrain themselves in front of us, but a couple of new acquaintances were "caressed" in such a way that Rinko turned blue, and Hiroe made a tense face, memorizing. She was still too shy to take a notebook and write it down... or was she just doubting her ability to spell it accurately! As a result, the same Mizuchi turned out to be the spontaneous coordinator: she forced all yokai from both brigades to purchase inexpensive mobile phones for the first payment and record each other's phones. And put a call to her and me on the alarm button. At the same time, she taught me how to find and quickly press these buttons. Hiroe looked at the concluded contracts, there was nothing particularly complicated there, once she forced Kashi to charge a penalty from a not entirely honest customer who delayed the paver by as much as two hours. And the foremen, in the person of Porridge and Hawk-Nosed, were also driven to a men's clothing store and forced to buy a suit, and the rest were forced to buy any casual items such as T-shirts, sweaters, and sneakers in a simpler place. And she explained why in human society you need to change clothes, even if your outfit falls apart because of artifact protection.

Well, the yokai themselves were literally idolized... Rinko! Of the eight "ordinary" spirits, each brigade included, which is logical, four. Three men and one girl. And the girls, of course, got the role of housewives of the household unit: they took their clothes to the washing machines of the dormitory's common laundry room on time and pulled them out, dried, hung, bought and cooked food for everyone... That's where the plug came out. It wasn't that the workers' eateries had any particularly bad food, but it was still more expensive to eat there every day than cooking at home. Rinko, coming home from school with Mizuchi, became convinced that the yokai girls could not cook from the word "at all". And she fed one of the teams with her own cooking - it wasn't difficult for Kuzaki. As Hiroe blabbed to me, the spirits from the second brigade were literally on their knees begging for a master class with their cook. Rinko, who had recently found herself in the position of the second most powerful combat unit, was intensively mastering new possibilities, even with Shizuka she stopped cooking together, and then - this! They flattered my girlfriend, they flattered her... Moreover, the scene was seen by others, ordinary hard workers from the dorm, and now Kusaki were almost greeted with applause in the dormitory - a compassionate girl foolishly shared her generosity with other residents, as a "common boiler" (all the food is for me, then everyone takes the food).

And the spirits themselves suddenly overgrown with social connections, greeted oncoming acquaintances, talked about the topic of payment for work, asshole suppliers of building materials, and even argued about politics. Cami! It's only been a week! Were they really all like this before the Ferry - the oaths were so insane that they couldn't find a common language with people? Or am I underestimating the influence I had on the Goddess of Rivers, and she, in turn, on the wards? Because the ferry didn't fundamentally change anything in yokai's psyche - it just rearranged his priorities (it's still unclear how). However, there is something to ponder...

On Monday, I covered my tails, answered in class, pulling my arm hard - in short, I made up for the upcoming absenteeism in every possible way. It even seemed to work out. And on Tuesday, Hiroe's father picked me up by car from home with all the service. Kaname-san is a typical IT guy, except without a beard and without a sweater - it's hot! - he quickly drove me to a skyscraper office center. Well, hello, the Social Committee.

Chapter 120.

No, it wasn't an office center-the thirty-story building was entirely owned by the committee. Damn, where did the money come from? And actually on the embankment of a hefty freshwater lake, which for some reason was called a "reservoir" in the manga. There is even a port on the lake and a yacht club, and the latter is suspiciously close to the committee's high-rise. How interesting...

The car drove through a gate in a wide elevation around the building - the underground garage, of course, is very big. And then I saw what I had long wanted to see: the implementation of magical protection by magical means. Forgive me for the tautology, I mean, it was exactly a magically active defense... or an alarm system. Although, judging by the intensity of the glow of individual lines, it is still protection. Embedded spells pierced the concrete of the underground complex, creating a uniform grid inside the walls - three-dimensional, quite frequent, mathematically verified. Were they amulets or just spells? Damn, once again I regret that none of "my" people understand this issue at all! What's this? Right in the thickness of the concrete, gliding and touching the cells of the network, a certain energy formation was floating and crawling quite cheerfully. There are also movable elements, autonomous, apparently. Or is it a type of "tester" spell, looking for gaps in the defense?

Kaname-san parked the car in his "own" box, and we only had to go to the elevators, after all, the head of the department. Yeah, there's a signal network running through the air. Logically. It turns out that the foundation is not a signaling device at all, but a reinforcing weave? However, I'm not thinking about that. Here I come to the lines of the network, here my body crosses them, and the lines try to pass through it, as through Hiroe's father... And, of course, they break off: Grandpa's amulet breaks them one by one. And here the guards at the elevators are bored. And why is he bored? Well, let's say the guys aren't magicians, but they must have a combination of magical and conventional security systems, right?

We get into the elevator. Why am I so calm? Because of the "ferry" items of my own manufacture, I risked taking only glasses with me, and the Committee should have information about the lock amulet issued by relatives. At least for those of them who are "in the know", let them see how the amulet works.

The elevator is also not simple - it not only has its charms in the walls, but also crosses the threads stretched across the shaft when moving. It's all very cool, but the purpose is completely unclear. No, well, it's clear that the sensors are working "at the intersection", but what about the rest? And, most importantly, where does the energy come from to power all this beauty?

The elevator stopped at the eighth floor, and Kaname-san invited me to get out.

"Yuto-kun, take a look: the eighth floor is my department, you'll be interested!"

It's really interesting! But actually, I didn't come here to look at the server hardware. But I would take a look at the system of interfacing protection spells, at least with one eye.

"Aren't we going to be late for the interview?" I asked, letting the "naive" intonation into my voice. Ugh, damn, communication with Hiroe has already begun to influence me - I've already noticed that Rinko is unconsciously trying to control her voice, and even Mizuchi. I can imagine how a woman with a haircut communicates with her mother if, even after completely "letting go" of the mask, she continues to play intonations on a subconscious level.

"Kouji-san asked me to give you a sightseeing tour of our building while he has a meeting in the morning. He'll call you when he can come over."

"Kouji-san?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know. This is the director of our branch. When he found out that I was taking you here, he asked me to show you the interesting things in the branch at my discretion. I decided to start with my department - you're not interested in paper shufflers, are you?"

"IT solutions in such a big house are probably more interesting." I returned the smile with a smile, following Hiroe's father into his office... rather, however, it was a control post - I was even slightly confused by the wall of monitors displaying the statuses of the main servers and controllers in a single scheme. Damn, I thought that only happened in Hollywood movies!

Oh, they've also screwed on the touch controls! In general, the tour was a success: starting from the IT chief's office, designed to throw dust in his eyes (he calmly conducted all control from a ten-inch tablet or netbook) and ending with a huge forced ventilation and air conditioning room under the roof. No, I looked at the clerks too, and there were quite a few of them. At the resolution limit of the glasses, I could barely see up or down five or six floors. For the three hundred plus personnel, there were, if I understood correctly, thirty or forty people who were magicians as such. More precisely, they are "magicians" who are twice or more weaker than me. But behind the overlapping lines of defense, I still spotted a couple of quite powerful auras.

And there was only one thing I couldn't figure out: what the fuck? I was determined to defend my rights or to carry out formal procedures, but here... as an honored guest of what. "Look at how we live and work here." Well, cool. So what? And why should I look at it? Although I was almost completely convinced of the impossibility of covert penetration. But it's not like I was going to break in here... I wasn't going to at all.

Was I really invited not as a student of Yuto, but as a representative of the clan? An incapacitated representative, and even under a seal, that is, under an amulet. When Hiroe's father finally got a call from the director asking him to bring me, it wasn't just me who was tired. But I got an idea of the amount of "basic" - not magical, social - work that the Committee does, and I was a little taken aback by the scope: from working with minors, unreliable and single-parent families, to assessing and planning social norms for the number of recreation areas, beaches, cafes, etc. Now it's clear where such a lot of money comes from! It's just a gold mine! Moreover, the Committee was not officially responsible for the maintenance of the infrastructure, but only for receiving information and processing it for the Japanese government (and other structures, if they contacted them... not for free, of course). How did the city council miss such a delicious piece, I wonder? We had to create our own committees... Or did they just transfer their officials here? Damn, Jinguji is something. I wouldn't be surprised if they also managed to pull money out of the city for the hotel room occupied by the "princess" in the manga - they just registered the Kues as another inspector - and go ahead. The massive redevelopment of the urban landscape is just in time for the Twilight Moon. She can... or it will be able to. In general, I don't know if this was what Jinguji's protege in the city wanted, but I entered his office feeling some respect and even reverence for the creators and employees of this structure, at least for those who performed "official functions."

Chapter 121.

In some cases, Japanese pedantry is very convenient, as is hieroglyphic writing. Because the small sign on the door of the office could easily fit the inscription:

"Office of the Regional Director of the Social Committee for the city of Takamiya."

"Social Controller of the Executive Department of the central office of the Social Committee."

"Sugowara Kouji"

Just great! The office, according to custom, was located almost under the roof, on the 27th floor. A spacious lobby in front of the elevators, black leather sofas, techno-style lamps and decorative glass panels. And the door to the reception area with the receptionist. More precisely, with man the secretary. The secretary, not looking for me on the list, got up and bowed me into the office, hmm, without even asking on the intercom.

Wow! What a breathtaking view! The glass wall of the office overlooked the lake shore with one side and the lake itself with the other. Impressive. It's not that I wanted an office like this "right now," but it would be an interesting experience to sit in such an armchair and run my own corporation...

While I was looking at the scenery outside the window and the surroundings, the main conductor, that is, excuse me, the controller, was looking at me. By the way, the setting is emphatically minimalist and completely European - not a single Japanese motif, right down to a single painting in the genre of, it seems, super-realism, depicting quite a tea clipper, even if not the famous Cutty Sark.

Finally, I walked through the entire twenty-meter office to the desk of the regional director and bowed. In response, he stood up and bowed to me, and motioned for me to sit down.

"Good day to you, Amakawa-san. I am very glad that you accepted my invitation and were able to visit our Social Committee office."

Oh! And it turns out that I accepted the invitation. Or why not take it? You bastard, Controller, you're also making fun of me.

"Oh, thank you! The tour of your patrimony was extremely, simply amazingly entertaining. Although, of course, the teachers at school were not happy about my absence."

Especially the attempts to see through the three walls of the real command center in the heart of the building, "hung" with energy flows so that it was difficult to see the auras.

"I will not hide that I would not have distracted you from your studies if I had not accidentally happened to hear your last name in connection with participation in the social control program for minors that Saturday. You probably don't know, but all schools provide us with summary reports from their psychologists on all students annually, I won't hide it - I requested information about you..."

er-er-er, is he trying to scare me or something? Why such a preamble?

"...Because of course I was aware of the accident with your parents. The surname Amakawa is quite famous in certain circles... but the psychologist's report notes the loss of early childhood memories. Tell me, do you remember what makes your last name stand out?"

Oh, that's it! It's an interesting question, and Hiroe seems to have been right in her analysis. That's just it...

"I do seem to have lost some of my childhood memories, but not all of them..."

You can't lie now. I can't pretend to be oblivious anyway-I'm too full-fledged. And a magician who has climbed into the chair of the regional director on the twenty-seventh floor has the ability to "read" the interlocutor in one way or another... especially 11 years old.

"..But I can't, forgive me, not ask a counter question: why did this conversation take place today, and not immediately after the parents... They got too far away... from me." I made an effort to remember the unpleasant moments in front of the gravestones in the cemetery on my very first day "here", and the pauses with the right intonation came out by themselves. "Or it wasn't postponed until the age of fifteen, when it would be possible to deal with someone other than... a child."

"That's exactly why," Kouji Sugowara's put a smile on lips. "sometimes a terrible tragedy breaks a person's fate forever... and sometimes it makes you show your essence, grow up ahead of time. I want to say, young man, you have achieved significant success, your name is well-known in the inter-district school commission, under your leadership and with your participation, one school club was reorganized and two more were formed. Didn't you know that Toryu High School has been hosting laser fighting tournaments for the second year in a row, wasn't that your idea too?"

I could only nod. However, the inertia of thinking: I got used to the fact that "there" was everything for the initiatives of schoolchildren... Well, it's not that I don't care, but RONO and the Ministry of Education and Science were interested in average data, and here, it turns out, they already noted and praised... and they didn't say anything, because they really did... Cultured, like a Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh! Although no, I'm driving: I would definitely have told my parents, but no one is covering this place for me. So, since such revelations have been made, we need to clarify this issue, I really don't want to feel like a disenfranchised child.

"Really, you're praising me too much, Kouji-san. Of course, I can guess something, but maybe then you can tell me why I wasn't sent to an orphanage as an orphan?"

"It will make sense if you have sufficiently preserved your childhood memories... after putting on your amulet."

And this is a subtle politician and psychologist?! Rushing like a bear through a raspberry! One of two things, either he doesn't consider it necessary to hide something, or just such behavior is recommended based on the study of my psychological profile... or is it such a test? "There may be a combination..."

"The Amakawa Clan," I began, looking him straight in the eye, "One of the twelve clans of exorcists in Japan, is that what you wanted to hear?"

He's smiling, you bastard!

"Very well, Amakawa-san, I'm glad you haven't forgotten the main thing. I'm answering your question.: You are the most recent member of your clan's senior family. Provided that there was no younger family as such in your clan, you are the heir. Our internal rules are somewhat different from the laws of Japan, the adoption of the heir of the family would mean the actual deposition of this kind. Moreover, your parents have persuasively asked us not to interfere in the upbringing of their child, that is, you. It is the responsibility of the Social Committee to ensure that the rules of the Circle of Exorcists are properly followed in such cases. Accounts, real estate, personal property - our task is to transfer them to the legitimate heir and make sure that the rules will not be violated... Not to the detriment of a minor, of course, but with minimal interference."

Huh?! Is this a minimal intervention?! WELL, WOW!!! Apparently, my face was so eloquent that the regional director hurried on:

"I'm sorry, Amakawa-san, but in the current situation, I risked violating the rule of non-interference in the affairs of a minor. May I explain, please? Good. Apart from the fact that, by unfortunate chance, I received an official reason to call you for an interview at the Office of Social Control, I took yours into account... reputation and thoroughness, rather characteristic of much more mature years. You have not only proved yourself to be a successful student, but you have also established informal contacts with both the leadership of your school (Hiroshi-san personally asked me through three supervisors not to conduct further interviews with his student) and the Kaname family. They got to me... There is some information about extremely successful negotiations with representatives of the Polytechnic City University, and I decided to have an informal face-to-face conversation. Oh, if you want, then our communication will end with this conversation and the Social Committee will not bother you anymore, excluding possible official events like the recent commission. But perhaps, perhaps, as an understanding person, you would like to consider some possibilities of mutual assistance that we can provide to each other."

Like that. I leaned back in my chair (leather and nickel, I want to be a director!), and thought hard. If you translate it from a political conversation (and then they chewed it up and literally put all the information in my mouth, fearing that the child would not understand), then Mr. controller offers to take advantage of his opportunities as the topmost cone on the local Christmas tree in exchange for some help that I, in the person of my clan, can provide him. Question: how can an untrained 11-year-old child with partial memory loss help?.. STOP! Who says I'm not trained?! Clan education begins at the age of five, or even four. I have to be able to do something. And I'll bet a couple thousand yen, it's something like a "Light Ferry." But he knows about the amulet... I wonder where from? After all, there is clearly more than one power sealing technique... So let's check the bump for honesty.

"Kouji-san, tell me, how did you find out about the amulet?" It's not like it's a secret...

"I understand you, Amakawa-san. Well, maybe they didn't tell you, but the structure of the "Social Committee"... so let's say, the Jinguji clan oversees, with whom your relatives managed to conclude some kind of agreement... You may remember him. Among other things, your relatives provided us with some information about the procedure for hiding the heir, which was important given the agreements reached."

Aw, Grandpa, aw, son of a bitch... Well, well, I think I'm just now starting to assess the level of paranoia among my ancestors: my parents hedged their bets with the Kuzaki family, and my grandfather, therefore, hedged his bets with the Jinguji family. And not with any family, but with the ruling one. Like, "the amulet will turn off suddenly for everyone, come, protect and marry." Is that so? Hmm, am I watching a leak of information right now?

"Mr. Director, can you tell me where you got the information about the engagement? It seemed to me that this arrangement was not particularly disclosed?"

Wow, how we grimace, I couldn't keep my face! And I couldn't resist - a winning smile on my face is the best trump card in the opponent's hands. Damn it! I have almost never conducted such negotiations personally, I have only been present at something like this. And not for so long! Yes, even his forehead and hands were wet from exertion. Damn.

"Indeed, Amakawa-san, the engagement information came to me... indirectly. This is the structure of the clan to which I formally belong as a younger family: I have to collect my own information about everything as much as possible... and everyone."

Awesome. And here's the threat, or rather, the uncle just let it slip. Now they'll start following me, too. Maybe it's not too tight, but there's no way you can miss an extra "person" in the house! But catching a Shizuka is elementary - just send an inspector... it seems that I can just use the right to inviolability mentioned in the conversation... but then they will start digging three times more intensively. An ambush! And contacts with the "Amakawa group" will burn just like that! And if the guys from the control find out about the amulets, it's absolutely rubbish. Damn, either negotiate right now, or fuck off... But where to? This place is pre-heated... right. Calm down. Don't get excited. We'll find out what the main social worker needs.

"It's a very good opportunity to be able to collect information", I hinted very thickly, "that's really the problem. I know something about my clan, but I've only heard about the rules of the Exorcist Circle..."

(yeah, in the manga "there")

"I don't think it's such a big deal, Amakawa-san. Perhaps you shouldn't even wait for the official entry into law at the age of sixteen... you might be very busy then..."

(Uh-huh, I'll be dragged into bed by Kues... although I don't really believe in such "etty" fragments)

"...Therefore, I could help you in terms of both informational and personal growth... professional abilities."

Oh, oh, did I just get offered magic knowledge? What is protected as unknown, what is more valuable than securities and money? And in exchange for what?

"I'm ashamed to say this, but maybe you could help me too. Oh, no, I don't want to insist on anything, but maybe, maybe you could get a few dozen amulets from the clan stocks... or blanks for amulets like yours?"

STU-PID! Won't your lip crack, Uncle?! What a lip - the whole building can crack from such titanic arrogance!!! Although... If you recall what Hiroe told me about the regional offices of the Committee: "The employees of the two offices just disappeared - that's it. Overnight." Everything became clear to me. This is not arrogance. This is not an attempt to ingratiate herself with Kues' future husband if the engagement does turn into a marriage. It's a gesture of desperation! Y-y-y, you crossed the path of someone "big", like a whale... No, a tyrannosaurus! And you actually closed the embrasure. Yes, you are a strong magician, but Mizuchi is capable of one unexpected blow, and any of the "three leaders" will have a serious chance even alone.

I suddenly calmed down, the nervousness was gone. Out of habit, I perceived my vassals as people, not even magicians... but they are not human at all, and if they want to take out a few magicians, even if they lock themselves in their office, it will not be so difficult for yokai. It will be extremely difficult for me to give an order for liquidation, but if I am pinned to the wall... They haven't nailed it yet, but it's a bye. On the other hand, it became clear that the Tsuchi were already actively waving their hands and smiling, which meant that they could just wait a couple of months and they would be carried out on their own... with some of the stupid civilians, at least building security, it will be enough for me not to deploy the planned patrols... for a while... I "popped out" of my thoughts and found Kouji-san looking at me very intently. It seems that my sudden reassurance was not lost on the director's friend. It's bad. A rat, if it feels itself in a corner, can bite at the last... It can even be fatal. And really, why can he go ahead and I can't?

"Kouji-san, I can probably help you if you can help me too. You see, there is some necessity in the fact that the amulet "closes" me from magic... legal, so to speak. Amakawa's power is not in weapons or amulets - they are, of course, important, but... Our main striking force in recent centuries has been tamed spirits. Your permission for them to live with me (under my guarantee) in the city and information on the "Mystical House" technique, if you agree to "close" me with your powers, and I am ready to take the risk and open the clan warehouse... and release the guards. Moreover, as I understand from your words, there won't be many in the city soon... Are you restless? How do you like my suggestion?

***

...Walking steadily a block away from the Committee's office, I boarded a suitable bus, which was still empty, and clutched my head with trembling hands as hard as I could. I walked along the edge, damn it, I walked along the very edge. Yes those Tsuchi damn Fuckers all die! How you got me, not just taking responsibility for life, but deciding and speaking up for everyone! Without hesitation. Without preparation! Without full information! I'm not ready! For this... If you can prepare for this at all... and besides me, there's no one else to take responsibility. I personally have already burned the bridges. And it's been a long time...

But ready is not ready... Roll it up and stuff it in the ass!

..And you can't even get drunk...

Part 26. The Treaty of Kauji and Yuto. Yu's walk to the nail polish store.

Interlude 17. The Office of the Social Controller/Director of the Regional Branch of the Social Committee in Takamiya city. Sugowara Kouji

When the door closed behind the last of the Amakawa clan, Sugowara "held his face" for another twenty seconds by inertia, staring "into nowhere", then exhaled sharply and leaned back in his chair. He pulled a napkin out of a drawer and wiped his face. He shook his head, trying to put his thoughts together, and looked at the tabletop. He sighed again. What a conversation, damn it! And after all, he had dragged that damn Amakawa out for an interview, well, what did it cost him to be satisfied with the sight of Kaname, at his wife's behest, "building" a social control department. He wanted to get acquainted... He got acquainted.

Sugowara has been a good magician since childhood, and later became a good exorcist. The reserve in the lower half of the norm for the Jinguji combat wing and the initially good reaction became a pass for responsible "street" work for him. And after ten years of service, first as part of combat groups, and then as a junior commander, he was promoted to the "external" department of the clan's combat wing. Jinguji's interests stretched all over the world, from Europe, which was built up even more densely in Japan, to the colossal expanses of Texas, from the ice of Mary Blade Land to the Chukchi plague on the coast of the Bering Strait. And everywhere Sugowara destroyed the spirits. Reasonable and unreasonable, weak and average. I had to face really strong specimens a couple of times, and once I even had a chance to participate in battle. He did not grab stars from the sky, there were no dizzying feats, but he and his subordinates produced consistently high results. Kalashnikov, armor reinforced with magic, and a straight meter-long blade - he had not parted with them for years. We should not forget that the Jinguji "private magical special forces" did not disdain to use not only against yokai, people also sometimes needed to prescribe a dozen metal pills, and for some, a fireball. You can't get a grenade launcher or a thermobaric capsule flamethrower into some places...

Sugowara had only one problem: he was only a second-generation magician. And he had a very low origin: his father was a Japanese Korean. Not to say that titles and awards bypassed him, of course, not to compare with the bearers of the surname Dzhinguji from the younger family, but by 2002 he occupied the place that colonels occupy in the army. That's it, the ceiling: then the places for the crescent moon carriers began: the tasks became too strategic. With good reason, counting on the hand of the daughter of the younger family, he worked quietly for three years... and then Merukhi Jinguji came to the post of head of the clan. The death of her grandfather and the changes within the clan were extremely clear... and Sugowara was offered to resign. Yes, just like that, abruptly: they say, your work was harmful, Kouji-san, so it's time to relax and settle down, find a match for yourself... Roughly speaking, the chances of joining a younger family are reset. And no one cared about the totality of the merits. The 37-year-old colonel, who was still young, turned over his supervisor's head directly to the administration of the Eldest Family with the question of whether he, Sugowara, could get a place corresponding to his current position, with the expectation of sitting for six months or a year until passions subsided, and it would be possible to gently remind the administration of the Clan head of the promise. Well, he got his assignment. And earned another enemy.

You can't work for a big corporation and not make enemies. The system of checks and balances implies that there will be a lot of squabbling for every warm spot... and that it is customary to get rid of the checks. No, at first everything was great: after dragging many of his "staff", which he often recruited from "competitors" who had left their posts, this guaranteed a small percentage of informers and instigators, he began to delve into his new job. And he got into it. Two, two regional offices in two years. They were, of course, smaller than his office in the million-plus city, but their personnel were mostly "weaklings" and failed magicians. The funny thing is that civilian staff were recruited to the Committee's empty offices in just a couple of days, which was suggestive... not the most pleasant.

No, he wasn't afraid. Including getting stained in the blood of their own subordinates, after all, no one forced them to go to the Committee. Moreover, the situation did not require immediate action, since everything would begin only after the departure of the police combat groups. Tsuchimikado... Their operatives looked down on people like him... oh, yes! They had every reason to do so. Such a colossal amount of strength, and everyone had it, and it was imposed on the fighter's well-honed reflexes and combat coordination. It is clear that after the departure of these "lanterns", the yokai will pour into the resulting darkness... and the faint glow of the Jinguji magicians will be like an advertisement for a restaurant for them.

Actually, there were several ways to solve the problem:

You could have just run away, written for dismissal, and let it be as it was known. Of course, Tokyo will not stop protecting Kyoto either. But what was he working for all these years? A very bad option.

You can make a blind defense, after all, especially large fish may not come, but the "Private guard of Dzhinguji" still had an arsenal. Don't go out one at a time and don't take off your armor until you're in a fortified camp. Thus, it is not possible to attack singly and knock out the fighters. And fuck who's going to do what to them. But he obviously won't be able to manage the office, even physically, and so he will have to move to a more convenient place for defense. This is a bad option. He will undoubtedly be asked to resign from his position.

You can block the aura completely by receiving a seal upon contacting the central office. But despite the fact that he will not be asked to resign from his position, a magician who refuses to use the gift for the sake of security is far from the best page in his portfolio, and he will be in control for the rest of his days... which, again, may come ahead of schedule. In the end, with the aura blocked, he will lose half of his abilities, but the opportunity to get into a duel, for example... or get a "sudden" ticket to the place of the clash, where he will immediately be killed by a yokai - like two fingers. A bad option.

You can just defend a well-fortified building. True, it is rather reinforced and prepared for detection, but this is also quite a lot. There will be losses, unlike a convenient base. The worst part is that there will be civilian casualties. The central office didn't care about civilians, as long as the losses could be masked for the city and replenished, but this game would not be in favor of the magicians. So far, the option remained bad, but it did not promise Sugowara unbearable problems, only very unpleasant ones. The situation without protection could not last more than a year, otherwise official Tokyo was in danger of being left without most of the regional offices...

..But then the Amakawa kid got caught.

Perhaps it's not surprising that the names of the founding families are well-known among exorcists. Therefore, when he heard the operators talking about how the head of the department had ordered Amakawa to be removed from the list because of "that terrible slut Kaname," he naturally "made a stand." His hunting instincts were right-it was the same Amakawa, the boy heir named Yuto. Having picked up the documents about the boy through the terminal (and the inspection was supposed to deal with him anyway), he found the current orders given, among other things... Merukha Jinguji. A CRM system is cool, but when an order comes from such a big shot about minimizing contacts, it makes you think, right? It turned out to be not so difficult to find out the details through the connections available in Tokyo, and the initial desire to just look at the heir of the old clan (as well as check the work of his seal, otherwise he would definitely not be forgiven for the death of such a person on his territory) turned into a desire to talk a little, or better yet, try to win the kid over. Oh, nothing like that, but a situation in which most of the chances are to fall upside down predisposes to slight violations of instructions.

He decided, scheduled a meeting, put it on the calendar (the secretary will take care of everything), but it wasn't there. On Monday, he was picked up on the phone by the headmaster of the heir to the clan's junior school. He was not afraid to reach the director of the regional committee with an urgent request to release his student from the interview. During the conversation, the young heir's rather good organizational achievements suddenly came to light. Ha! And he thought he was an uneducated child, who was also scandalously taken away from the clan residence by his parents. Well, if that's the case, the chances of getting a useful profit based on the results of the meeting increased dramatically. It was already possible to negotiate with a trained child, a word in clans was always equated to a contract at a price. I also had to arrange with Kaname to bring his protégé personally and take him around the building a bit to create the right mood, so to speak.

And so Amakawa arrived, went through the scanning weave... and Sugowara Kouji realized that he wanted such an amulet. One of Amakawa's legendary artifacts perfectly concealed the aura of a child magician, at least with weak scanners, the protection could not be overloaded. But the fact that this amulet by itself was not a foil - it was something with something. How is it? By absorbing magic, you accumulate magic in yourself. Where's your own background? Everything turned out one to one. Kouji decided to take a chance. Of course, kid, and even under the amulet (which, however, unlike the seal, can simply be mechanically removed!) He won't be able to do anything, but get his hands on at least one of these priceless amulets that work in violation of the principles of the basics of magical amulet construction... It was worth the risk. Take a chance, but LIKE THIS? To personally let the spirits into the guarded city?! Even if they were controlled, even if they were tamed, but one famous Crimson Blade of Noihara could arrange a fun life for all the available magicians at once. And if there are several? There was a risk of losing his head, not his position... and it's good if Yokai kills him, and not his own punishers. But the amulet or amulets and the affection in the eyes of Prince Amakawa, who had sharply increased in "value," were not worth the risk. And it remains to be seen whether the combat team will be able to make it through the hot call if something really strong arrives, as it is guaranteed to tangle with Yuto-kun's retinue... and then they will arrive. The game has gone to other stakes, and the young Kues, and the Merukhs, can appreciate all the efforts to prepare their possible husband and son-in-law, respectively. Sugowara Kouji got up from his chair and took a couple of walks around the office - from the glass corner to the corner with the painting and back. He gave the "prince" a manual on Mystical Houses on a flash drive right away, and Tsuchi stayed in the city for the time being... so, you need to carefully wrap the beaks of especially brazen woodpeckers, slowly and with all the taste. And wait. The next step is yours, Yuto-kun!

Chapter 122.

Some time after the meeting ended, I was still able to drive all the experiences "deep": meditation, which I eventually fell into right on the bus, helped clear my mind of emotions. After that, I finally took out my phone and called my friends: first Rinko, then Hiroe, and then her father to inform her that I had already left on my own. Now you can think about the results...

At first, I decided to go straight home, but then I was overcome with paranoia: you never know what is written on a flash drive, maybe a keylogger or a Trojan... moreover, in the director's computer, he may be from the Committee's own security service. Probably not, but the thought "what if" got to me so much with its itch that I spat, got off the bus halfway and went to the nearest computer club. There, I opened the contents of the drive and looked at the only Word file, entitled "methodice_covered." Wow, 74 megabytes. Come on... damn it! Ye-es, human laziness is universal. The tutorial turned out to be a tutorial from about the seventies of the last century, blindly scanned without recognition and pasted with pictures directly into the Word document page by page. Moreover, the book that served as the basis was marked in different handwriting in the margins and between the lines of the text, something like "to destroy enemy equipment "hidden" from the outside of the applied technique, it is necessary to disrupt the concentration of the magician or spirit supporting the collapsed space" and handwritten comments "best of all with a bullet in the head" and "is there nothing inside at all?" Chuckling, I remembered the GP's textbook in the sixth book, where Rowling's hero, thanks to such "notes", was unrealistically steering on "potions". Is it the same principle here?

After sending it to the printer and receiving a stack of sheets (thank you, thank you, Japan! if it weren't for the compact recording, I would have splurged on three hundred sheets, but there are only 64), meticulously checked whether the text was correctly typed everywhere. After making sure everything was OK, I bought a "file" and formatted the flash drive. I thought about it, and after leaving the club, I put the drive in the trash. After walking two blocks, I thought about it some more and pulled into another computer club along the way. Thank Kami, there was a scanner with an auto-sensor. I wonder how many times the unfortunate document has been subjected to such iterations? Judging by the quality, I'm not the first or even the fifth.

***

Thanks to all these unplanned walks, I eventually had to come home even later than the girls, who were still scheduled to visit the "group". But I decided not to rush it. After getting on the bus, I pulled out the papers and began to read: the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach was gradually giving way after the difficult negotiations, and the chocolate bar, even though it was pretty disgusting, replenishes calories well. And I'll eat some normal Shizuka's cooking at home. It was convenient for me to calm my nerves alone with an interesting text while still "there".

But the text would really be extremely, extremely entertaining. Judging by the letters, the manual was issued in a small printing house - even the print run was not specified, nevertheless it had a clear "chipboard" stamp on the title page and, as follows from the preface, it was intended for neither "combat groups and detachments within law enforcement units." Yeah, and here's the author: last name... Yakoin?! Ha! Surprise! I wonder if Je's training manual was simply stolen, or is it just a clan of detectives making them "for general needs"? Well, okay, the main thing was that it was the language of presentation. The author is a genius! And obviously he pulled a lot of straps in these "combat troops", otherwise he would not have been able to write a tutorial... No, not for morons! Morons are geniuses, even a garden snail would understand the text if snails could read Japanese. The author chewed up the principles of the ritual and its features so much that even a complete layman, even an oligophrenic, could understand and remember it against his own will! Aerobatics! Well, the comments also "burned":

"The Mystical House cannot be used as a field camping toilet! And I will personally find the smart guy who "guessed" and [unprintable]."

As a result, my mood improved noticeably at the end of the trip, my worries more or less subsided, and I mostly wanted to eat and sleep. That's the only reason I didn't jump when I found a cheerful group of Rinko, Mizuchi, and Hawk-Nose in my living room... And Shimomura Yu! The girls and the spirits were enthusiastically watching some kind of talk show on TV, completely occupying the sofa, crunching crackers (it looked like Shizuka was cooking), drinking homemade lemonade (Shizuka, you're the perfect hostess!) and they enjoyed life in every possible way. Seeing me, the warm group turned off the sound, and, looking at me through the eyes of a Shrek cat, timidly greeted me. Only the snake stood out from the general background - judging by her face, she could barely restrain herself from laughing. Damn it!

I went over, commandeered a large bowl of cookies, a glass of drink, and flopped into an armchair. Come on, tell me what's going on.


Interlude 18. In the city. Shimomuro Yu

When your father is an aircraft engineer, this can create sudden difficulties, for example, dad may call and ask you to stop by after school and buy a strictly defined varnish in a strictly defined store. Because he's at work, and he needs to "comerighttomorrow." Yu, in principle, was quite used to it, especially since such situations occurred relatively rarely - once every two or three months. Checking the letter her father had sent her on the phone, she boarded the bus and, looking at the landscape passing by the window, began once again to go over all the recent events in her memory. Magic... Yu used to just get carried away by this word, as soon as someone said it out loud or read another charming description of miracles in another book. Then she grew out of good children's fairy tales and started reading everything: a look at magic from different authors... To put it mildly, it was ambiguous: from "we can do everything with this" to "any magic is a painful agony on the way to death." And descriptions of various magical creatures... like the "native" Japanese yokai or European spirits and undead... Br-r! But Shimomuro read anyway- after she learned about one side of something, she wanted to study the subject or phenomenon from all sides... And mom laughed loudly, as soon as her daughter, once again, came across the description of a "slimming belt" or "super-resistant lipstick," she immediately began to ask "uncomfortable" questions, like: "If it doesn't wash off with water, then what should I wash it off with? With acetone?!". Mom saw her daughter's cute "husband's oddities", not suspecting how many times these "cute oddities" saved her future husband's life, forcing technicians to check and replace fuel pumps for the tenth time, break off pieces of skin in unexpected places for laboratory research and check whether the cockpit hood opens after the He's going to be assaulted with a gloved fist... and if with a mallet?

In general, the useful tendency absorbed from a young age to consider any object or phenomenon from all sides almost discouraged the young Yu from interest in the "beauty of miracles", but then, unfortunately, the first volume of "Harry Potter" fell into her hands. The almost forgotten feeling of "magic" has returned, no matter what you say, and the talent of the writer greatly influences the perception of the description by readers. For several years, thinking about his hobby caused Shimomura only a warm feeling in his chest and positive emotions. And so, the first real encounter with the subject of a hobby suddenly awakened a persistent feeling that "maybe I don't need it?" And there was a reason.

Yu didn't really remember what happened in the Magic Club room back then, and getting the camera footage from Hiroe when she didn't want to give it... After five minutes of conversation, Yu walked away from the short-haired bitch, and all her self-control was barely enough not to run headlong: Kaname is just terrible! At the same time, she managed to say neither yes nor no to the question "did you see what I saw?". Kami, yes Shimomura will now bypass this one... You can't find an epithet... Ten meters away!

The conversation with Chidori's classmate Shizuka also ended in nothing: "Does magic exist?" "What do you think?" "I think so," "Then what's the question?","I want to know what I saw," "If you think you saw magic, then you saw it, you know!" Shizuka had a very utilitarian view of many subjects, extremely materialistic, if you can use such a term when talking to ... well, probably, after all, a girlfriend comes up on the subject of the supernatural. Useful - useless, dangerous - not dangerous. That's it! And in response to the reasoning "I wonder how it works," the girl with the invariable braid, braided with blue ribbons, chuckled, looked at Yu strangely and said:

"I recently discovered that if you make assumptions about the workings of even the simplest things, like the earth under your feet and the sky above your head, you can make mistakes no less than in complex ones."

And then she refused to "pound water in a mortar."

There was still a third participant in the events, Kuzaki Rinko from a parallel class, whom Yu decided to "catch" without witnesses when she went to the Kendo club. And today she succeeded.

"To be honest, I didn't really understand what it was. And I don't want to understand. I don't really understand why you need all that "mysticism" if you can just live normally," Kuzaki replied with some annoyance.

And then it's a bummer.

***

..The store was located on the territory of a huge paint and varnish warehouse, which, in turn, turned out to be on the territory of the river port. Warehouses, containers, a continuous stream of trucks, movers and people in overalls scurrying back and forth. What can I say, it's good that there was a separate free "minibus" running through the warehouses, otherwise Yu would only have been looking for the store there for an hour. The store, by the way, was also not just a store, but a sample collection point for checking purchases before a wholesale shipment of hundreds of cans or dozens of tank trucks. I still had to pay for the Shimomuro sample, but judging by the invoice, it was for delivery to the city.

The minibus took Yu back to the main gate of the warehouse terminal. Phew! Yu went to the bus stop and was displeased to see that the bus she needed would arrive only in 45 minutes. Maybe on the crossbar? Shimomura opened her phone, found a suitable option, and boarded a nearby bus... in order to jump up on the seat in just two minutes: She could have sworn that in the narrow passage between the warehouse fences she caught a glimpse of a familiar school uniform and a familiar braid with blue ribbons.

Damn reflexes! Before the situation reached the girl's consciousness, she had already jumped out of the bus at the bus stop, and it was gone. The curiosity that she so successfully inherited from her mother, combined with a certain amount of adventurism, sometimes pushed Yu to completely reckless actions. And if common sense kept her safe from something dangerous, then in potentially safe situations, her impulsive reaction often prevailed. The horror! Is she going to keep an eye on Shizuka? No, no, that's crazy... but then, it turns out, she jumped out of the bus in vain. And even at a completely empty bus stop, from where the terminal workers leave in the evening to return in the morning. Besides, she's here on business, and Shizuka lives somewhere near the school, so she has to go back alone too. But it's more fun together... And I wonder what she's doing here. And even if she lingered for a long time, she would not find a friend in this tangle of alleys and fences.

Walking through the warehouses turned out to be quite unpleasant: narrow one-way alleys in the canyons of fences, sidewalks are not everywhere, huge steel monsters of trucks with trailers, containers... And the classmate seemed to have disappeared through the ground. And where to look for her now, around what bend? And there's no one to ask... although a group of road workers is working here, blocking the road perpendicular to the alley with red and orange fences, they have dug a decent hole and are doing something. There's nothing to do, you'll have to ask them...

In her observations, Shimomuro Yu did not take into account the fact that a blocked section of road in warehouses, where there is almost no free space, creates a significant distortion in the logistics of cargo movement. And the delivery time for some goods is half an hour around the city, and you can do whatever you want, driver. Therefore, a twenty-ton truck with a trailer, suddenly "surfaced" from around a nearby bend, was traveling at a speed of under forty kilometers per hour and clearly did not have time to stop. Then, for Yu, everything merged into a single blurred strip: the cabin of a heavy truck approaching in a desperate creak and whistle of pneumatic brakes, a guy in a construction helmet jumping over the fence and the freezing fear of imminent death... but, contrary to all the laws of physics and inertia, the worker managed to be the first. A blow to the stomach, when he intercepted Yu's body by the middle, knocked all the air out of the girl's lungs, the inertia from the jerk tore off her glasses, but Shimomura miraculously held the branded bag with the cherished bottle in her hand... It just wouldn't let go. The problem was that there was almost no gap between the fence and the side of the truck - one-way traffic and the sidewalk on the other side, but an unexpected savior... he just pushed off the asphalt and took off like a bird to a four-meter height. Yu remained hanging on his arm, blinking absurdly and gasping for air with an unruly mouth, while the driver of the transport stopped after a dozen meters and quarreled with the "fucking acrobat" - however, not for long, just a couple of phrases were exchanged, the loser driver perfectly understood what problems he had just been saved from. However, the Hawk-nosed man, and it was him, also had no time to explain himself to the police, and almost no one saw a fraction of the supernatural forces manifested anyway. The truck started moving, and the spirit easily jumped down from the support pole right into the middle of the road. He put Yu, who was still dazed, on the asphalt, picked up the glasses that had survived the whole mess, and put them on her nose.... and he swore with gusto! Blood trickled down the girl's left leg from long shallow cuts in several thin rivulets: barbed wire coils ran along the top of the fence.

When Shimomura was able to think more or less normally after a few minutes, her leg had already been treated and wrapped with bandages along its entire length. And they even gave me painkillers - construction crews in Japan have pretty strict requirements for having a first-aid kit at the work site, safety precautions, after all. Yu found herself sitting on a concrete block, squatting in front of her... A human?.. and he looked anxiously at her face.

"You're a spirit, aren't you?" Yu asked, still "out of her mind," and the Hawk-nosed Man nodded dejectedly. Well, what was it worth for a girl to fall into a stupor and not remember anything? And now it was kind of stupid to deny it.

"What's your name?" Yu asked, and when she heard the "passport" name "Shinji" in response, she looked at her rescuer skeptically. A uniform, a walkie-talkie, a traffic controller's baton in his belt... Suddenly, she found it very funny! The adrenaline rush of the surf washed away the timid obstacles of common sense, and Yu burst out laughing a little hysterically, to the point of tears.

"You know," she laughed with difficulty and forced a smile at the spirit, "I was expecting something more pretentious. For example," she looked at the man once more and giggled again, "Wearing a Yellow Helmet!"

Part 27 Yu's entry into the Yuto group.

Chapter 123.

"...I came running like I was scalded to heal the "terrible wounds", but I found a couple of scratches, you know," Shizuka glanced ironically at the Hawk-nosed man. "And just for ten minutes of business. "However, we had to bring Yu to us - her parents would not like that their daughter returns in one stocking, I think. Well, we stayed waiting for you, we still have to decide something."

"Is there something to decide?" Shimomura asked again. "Decide about me?"

"The exorcists have banned Yokai from cities, you know. And you accidentally got into our secret," the snake explained.

"I can keep secrets," Yu promised seriously. "Besides, I want to go to "you"!"

"Just fine..." I said. No, I approve of all the actions of both Shizuka and the newly-minted "Shinji". However, it is symptomatic: the "problem" was left to me to solve. That's right, I'm in charge of this whole movement, after all. But all the same, the fact that I was given the opportunity to make a decision already says that I have become a leader for my spirits, and not just a convenient standard and tool. It warms up.

But what to do with Yu? The problem is that in the manga, Yu somehow did not get into situations that reveal her character from the side I needed. Smart? Yes. Compassionate, consistent, inquisitive, careful? Yes, as many as you want. But the question of faithfulness to the word simply did not arise...

On the other hand, why am I doing this? Our Helmet Wearer would have had enough strength to clean up the child's memory, and he would not have waited for Shizuka, knowing about her dislike of mental manipulation. Did you like the girl? I mean, not as a woman, but as a person? And so much so that he came to our house with her, where, unnecessarily, as we agreed, the yokai from the "group" do not enter or even approach. Yeah, that's what the Goddess of Rivers is secretly making fun of. The banal "we are responsible for those we saved," right? Well, it fits. By the way, Mizuchi will also not be pleased with any place to clean the head of his almost, and maybe not even almost, girlfriend- the only one in the whole class. Of course, a week and a half is not a long time, but at our age it is almost the norm. And Rinko certainly won't be thrilled with anyone's memory correction if it's "unnecessary."

"...that you want to join "us" without even knowing who "we" are or what you're joining." To which Shimomuro just shook her bangs independently and stated with unshakeable confidence:

"Chido... Shizuka is good, and you and Rinko are normal. Why not? After all, I got into all this myself, and now I have "no way back", like in a Yakuza showdown. Right?"

Mizuchi turned away, hiding a smile, the Hawk-nosed man unsuccessfully tried to portray embarrassment and regret, but Rinko... SHE NODDED! Well, now someone's going to watch gangland action movies on evening cable, under the auspices of "learning from the experience of street kendo style"! And how are the older Cousins capable of such a thing?!

"Overall, you're right," I said diplomatically, "The existence of the yokai is hidden from the majority of the population by the government, and there are a number of reasons for this. Because we are law-abiding citizens..."

[10 minutes of explanation]

"...so we decided to follow our goal."

Shimomuro, who was listening intently, nodded, calculated something, rolled her eyes, and smiled:

"Well, now everything has become clear to me!.."

Well, thank Kami!

"...I couldn't figure out why there were so many girls hanging around a guy like you..."

KSO! Shimomuro, is that your ONLY conclusion from my words?!

"...Anyway, I thought you had Hiroe in charge, but it turns out that's what it is. "The mysterious prince, the last of his kind." Like in a love RPG game about the "Create a harem" type!" At this point, the girl's glasses flashed with bright highlights.

Again, that word again! It just seemed to me that I wouldn't hear any stupid jokes from the "Yuto's harem" section in the foreseeable future (until the age of 14)!

"Y-you do play "such" games?!" Kuzaki was amazed. "And your parents let you?!"

"My parents have too much trouble with my sick little brother to watch my every move. Besides, there's nothing like that. Well, a kiss at most! The first one!"

The future "eternal elder" said with a sigh. Oh, and their cheeks are red! OOPS! And Rinko is like a tomato!

"A-a kiss?!" she whispered. "The first one?"

"Well, yes, if you kiss the "prince" first, he will "become yours." This is the meaning of the game. Well, that's if you don't play for a boy. The prince needs to have a bigger harem... hmm."

It was Yu who choked on her breath under the snake's interested gaze. And she hastened to disown:

"I have never played such a walkthrough. Well, I hardly played, it's interesting!"

"Is there any practical benefit?" Mizuchi became even more interested.

"I don't know, I haven't met any princes... earlier," Yu finished in a strange voice, and she and Shizuka exchanged glances and stared at me in unison.

WHAT?!

"Well, you know!" I ran out of my own words, especially the censored ones, and I used the vocabulary of the Goddess of Rivers. And with emphasis he said:

"Yu, you have to understand that this is really serious. Of course, I haven't told you everything just now, and I don't know much myself yet. But one word from you, said in the wrong place and by the wrong person, and this yokai, who pulled you out from under the wheels, will be killed. And it's also good if they just shoot you, and not roast you or cut you with a blade. You don't want that, do you?"

"N-no," Yu choked out, "no way!"

Great. I could have tried to steamroll Yu by making him swear an Amakawa oath, but in my heart I didn't know how it would work, not on the formed consciousness of a yokai, but on the mind of a child who was still growing and developing. I really didn't want to see Shimomuro slowly losing his will to act and his mind from year to year because of the crooked Ferry. The question "how to ensure a high degree of reliability of protection against betrayal of like-minded people" was worth thinking about. If I was even more confident about the sly Hiroe than I was about myself - the one with the haircut would not miss her luck and benefits, and Rinko's character, which I had known and observed for several years, did not even give a shadow of a thought about the possibility of deliberately or stupidly breaking promises, then Yu was a dark forest for me. However, while the problem is a single one, you can solve it in the "classic" way: communicate more, help with the study of the "practical side of the magical world" and just observe. Damn, it would be easier to erase the memory! But then it turns out that all my calculations about "peaceful coexistence in a new world" are empty words. Oh! Exactly! Why am I doing this? I've got a pretty good and even loyal object for social experimental research, so to speak, and I'm turning my nose around! It's possible that today's worries have dulled his wits. So you need to rest!

After looking at the clock, I suggested that Taki Yu go home. She might have called her mother, but she was probably worried that her daughter was hanging out with her new school friends instead of doing her homework at home. We went on foot, and Mizuchi followed me. Of course, it was almost impossible to meet anything dangerous in our quiet residential area, but I decided to make sure: since we managed to save a girl who got into trouble on her own stupidity. At the same time, let the parents get to know us... and they'll start getting used to seeing me with girls and Yu together.

When Shimomuro's house had already appeared at the far end of the street, I asked:

"Yu, your fascination with magic... Is it just curiosity or would you like to achieve something more?"

Shimomuro thought about it. In general, I noticed that the girl, in all the questions that she considered serious, tended to think before answering. A trait worthy of an adult.

"You know... I probably just wanted a miracle at first. You know, like a little kid, he wants something unusual to happen that doesn't normally happen... But now that I'm convinced that magic can be "touched". Yes, I just want to understand what it is. How do I feel about it, how does it work, after all."

"Human still don't know how electrons "work", let alone magic. But you know, if you set yourself a goal, you may well become the first. We can do everything with your help. Because, funnily enough, the yokai themselves have a hard time imagining what "magic" is, and they have absolutely no idea "how it works."

The frowning Goddess of Rivers confirmed my words with a nod. And there's nothing to frown at, people over two hundred years ago also didn't really understand what a "planet", "climate" and even "energy" were, but they figured it out, even if not completely..."

...Two days later, in the evening, after knocking on the door, I went to Mizuchi with new printouts... and I became convinced that I should have knocked MUCH louder. To the exclamation of "Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!!" (this is Rinko), Shizuka and Kuzaki literally jumped up on the chair in front of the computer, which they managed to sit on together. And then the girls jumped up at the same time, so as to block the monitor screen from me. Trying to keep my face straight, I handed the stack of sheets to the snake and left, closing the door behind me. And immediately I slid down the wall, shaking with silent laughter: in the upper right corner of the display I managed to see the inscription "Lord of the Harem_v3.1.14".

Chapter 124.

A week! No negotiations, risky experiments, deadly dangers - even I did all my homework on time. Tsuchimikado has not yet set a date for the departure of the police "mystical special forces". The Yokai from the Amakawa Group received their first salary on time and in full (and immediately got drunk in a relatively good restaurant from the rank of "for all walks of life." And they got drunk in the sense that they ate various exotic and not so good dishes). The physics club is experiencing a "construction boom" - from the series "draw three-dimensional, incomprehensible, but very necessary stuff and print it out", and suddenly modeling turned out to be necessary for everyone: in school classes in physics (details for simple devices for laboratory experiments), and geography (models of the relief of the islands of the Japanese archipelago), and even at the ISO, whose teacher timidly scratched at the door and, shyly, asked if she could try to draw something in 3D (there were 3Ds MAXa courses at the academy), so that she could transfer it to a hard copy. Since Mia-sensei was a twenty-two-year-old "yesterday's" graduate, slender, with regular features and green eyes, half of the male members of the club were lost for three days - they were setting up the only graphic station of the Art club, figuring out how to convert files into a format understandable to printer software and all that.

And I... for the first four days, I was just moving away from the whirlwind of change and action, and then I started thinking about the results of the last two crazy weeks. And I finally realized what I should have realized from the very beginning: there were only eleven spirits under my command. Eleven yokai for a million-plus city. It's not even funny! In my preliminary calculations, I took into account that I would be able to use the entire "mighty bunch" of the Corpse Eater- and there were thirty of them. That would be enough to cover the city with patrols, even at close range, even in pairs, in two shifts. But the number 11 is not even funny. Not zero, far from zero, but also not the necessary minimum. The trick Himari did in the manga could only be done here and now by Kashi, Hawk-Nose, and Shizuka. That is, to cross a rather large city in a reasonable 10-15 minutes, with big jumps over the roofs, a la Spiderman or Wolverine from the Marvel comics. Cross over and not get tired, I mean. And something had to be done about it. That is not a very pleasant "something", namely the opening of the "Mystical House" technique in Noihara. Himari was strong, fast, and most importantly, she had something unique that none of my vassals owned. And it's not what you think!!! Reputation. The Red Blade (or was the translation not accurate in the manga again, and was the Blade Purple or even Bloody?) Noihars are a brand! Both hunters and yokai. The mere presence of a cat on my side will strengthen the position of the "group" at times. Don't forget that Himari is also extremely loyal to me - Grandpa did his best to bring little Yuto and the albino spirit together. And the rest of the girls are not useless there, the spirit of a dog (or a wolf?) - first of all, it is the ability to find on the trail, which can be very useful, and the "envelope" with its "duty-free" movement of cargo or messages over long distances will very quickly come in handy in courier work, and it is much safer to send important messages with it.

So, the opening of the "House" is transferred from the category of "possible" to the category of "necessary". Shizuka and I read the tutorial on creating (and destroying) this technique together: after all, this is the first time I've encountered magic in an applied way, so to speak. No, I understand everything, but I have a lot of questions for the ancient developers of technology.: how did they, for example, come up with a technique for replicating the projection of an area, including the structure of house walls, indoor interiors, etc., to the mind of the operator? After all, this is a full-fledged scan! And almost down to the molecular level. However, after a little thought, I decided that after all, the collapsed space is tied to the real terrain, therefore the operator cannot be moved. But you still need to scan it. True, the average human magician will not be able to create a "house" more than a couple dozen meters across, but this is already such a "cheat"! It seems that people did not create the "Mystical House": the conditions of the "hollow hills" of the Sidhe, the "underground tunnels" of the Ural "white-eyed wonder", the sudden appearance of all sorts of new rooms in the complex of the Egyptian Pyramids and other numerous stories about the appearance or disappearance of "something" are very similar.

The same Mizuchi is able to create a "Hidden" in a couple of blocks in size, however, it requires a "resonator" in the form of a container with water, such as a memorable lake, like ours, but still the coverage is impressive. Of course, I won't find oil this way, but I wrote down the idea of looking for sunken ships with valuable cargo.

Money. Strangely enough, this question wasn't in front of me right now. It was a unique situation, but there were enough available funds for what could be legally purchased. Of course, I would not refuse to purchase several sets of automatic weapons, and unloading bulletproof vests would not hurt, but I categorically did not believe in the possibility of buying or otherwise "unnoticeably" obtaining such equipment. Yes, even if you manage to remain incognito, it's exactly until the first bullet gets stuck in the wall, or the cartridge case is not picked up... Right now, I need a reputation. More precisely, the "group" needs a reputation among the spirits. What for? Well, I managed to make a plan, a concrete plan for the implementation of my and my allies' goals: to a first approximation, it became like this:

By exercising control over the city by setting up patrols and introducing clear rules on the territory before mass tourism begins in the person of those interested in free food or just "to live", I will be able to create a precedent. The situation should be as follows: a yokai who comes to the city, having met with a patrol, should not run right into it (that's why you need to "rock a turnip"), but quietly and peacefully listen to the rules of the territory and commit to behave here according to them. But we do not pursue him and provide some comfortable conditions: we guarantee the non-aggression of the exorcists, disputes between the conflicting parties are settled by the "holder" of the city, the weak but sane are protected from strong violators. True, for a really long time I will be able to provide protection from non-aggression only by blocking the aura with an amulet like mine - when I learn how to make them, but this is for the best: the amulets will be given personalized, in fact, an analogue of a passport. We will have to "screw" the tag tracking function to the territory control system (also think about how to implement it), and we will get a parallel police system for nonhumans that is not entirely correct from the point of view of identity secrecy, but reliable. A city with such conditions, if I understand correctly, will attract quite a lot of non-human population, including mixed families, after spreading information among the spirits. And among them there will be candidates for vassalage and joining the "Amakawa group" (think about renaming so that there is no publicity!). The Yokai is a very unpleasant opponent in the city: when the situation opens up, and it will certainly open up, the Japanese government will suddenly discover that the population of Takamiya has actually been held hostage by an organized group of spirits and people, and without mass casualties and destruction, normal yokai who have tasted a taste of normal life cannot be expelled from here. A subtle point comes into play here: you need to throw in some kind of trick for Japan that will force financially interested circles of the government and the clans associated with them to leave Takamiya alone for a while: like the city produces a valuable resource and at least in the near future it is more profitable to cooperate. Maybe this is a close collaboration with representatives of the Japanese Self-Defense forces, where new materials from my authorship will be relevant, maybe high-capacity batteries (just not on superconductors, otherwise the city will definitely suffer the fate of Tokyo-3!) for some large corporation like Hitachi, perhaps something else. Play on contradictions... and get involved in local politics. To gain the support of local universities, industries, and an influential part of the population (funnily enough, I have even managed to take the first steps in this direction)... A decade of stability and good financial performance, and my "society" will have imitators in other cities. During this time (and behind this screen), prepare a sharp leap in technology... and "pull" into space.

I also read with satisfaction "there" a certain utopian author by the name of Rozov. And one simple thought struck me: the slowdown in the development of society at the "economic impasse" is simply due to the lack of a promising direction in which the human economy can develop expansively. It exists, this niche, and it is called "near space". But so far, structural materials and energy resources are not able to ensure profitability... more precisely, they are not capable there. But here humanity has a humble self, and I can literally provide a "leap up" with a wave of my hand. The main thing is to survive while this breakthrough is taking place, and then the locomotive of civilization will rush forward on its own... and the comrades with the "first slippers" are literally waiting for astronomical prospects!..

Damn, it's cool, of course, but I'm so intensely remembering the speech of Ostap, our unforgettable Bender at the chess tournament, right up to the imaginary bumps on his head. The problem is that I don't categorically disagree with "just living a life" - they won't let me! And nothing less global than the established system of political and economic ties between old families, in which my place is that of a sacrificial pawn, cannot be penetrated by me. And there's nothing left but to tell yourself, "do what you have to do, and come what may." In the end, I won't forgive myself if I don't even try to use this crazy, insane, almost unrealistic CHANCE!

Chapter 125.

In general, planning is such a useful thing that, on the one hand, is absolutely necessary, but on the other, nothing ever goes as planned. In general, after looking at my notes the next day with an "armed eye" (this time I just wrote in word, you can break or steal the password to the mail if you want, but now I have "friends" from the Committee), I decided that for now it's enough to keep in mind the first, clearly achievable goal.. City control.

What is territory control? Well, quite simply, everything in this territory should be the way I want it to be. Well, not everything, but everything that is important to me. And what is important to me? The execution of the rules in relation to the yokai. The fulfillment of the rules by the spirits themselves. So that the territory pays off the costs? It's also a plus. Also, so that city services and organizations would not interfere with me, but rather help me in my work and activities. Not for free, of course, but for your profit. Achievable? Well, if you think about it, yes. With this approach, there is a chance to organize everything so that they try to move me globally: hunters "eat" from the yokai resource. In fact, I'm going to use this resource as well, but in a different way. Through me, the government can get an "alternative" way to control the situation based on mystical manifestations, and this is a lever for some kind of influence on the clans. Since, as I suspect, there are levers for inter-clan struggle for every exorcist association, I will be "on the topic" and will not upset the balance, but simply expand the niche. Moreover, the perfume I need is actually less than one percent of the total. Only this information will need to be publicly leaked.

Another question is, will the Yokai want to work? Well, let's bet that some people will want it themselves. And the rest, desiring the benefits of human society, will be forced to do something like that. And, because I know that spirits can do "something like that" better than the average person (at least twice as much physical strength on average). My group (and I'm tempted to say "control") is working very efficiently. As for space... we'll see. I've read a lot of assumptions, but practice will show what really happens. But - "planes first" (c).

Okay, let's assume that I've figured out what I want to get. And now - what exactly should I do now?

First, prepare for the opening of the "hidden". It sounds like it! Secondly, to drive the "group" in patrol mode: at least let them understand what I want from them. Third- figure out what to do with the "perfume road" in the bay. And fourthly, to continue our useful activities in the field of cooperation with the Polytechnic, to do club business, and also to load the Magic club with its president. And we also need normal projection amulets, one for the whole body - that's fifth. KSO! I don't even have time to rest, it turns out. Okay, they harnessed up and dragged. Stop! Why should I be the only one planning everything? I've got an expert analyst hanging around here. Telephone. Contacts. Kaname Hiroe.

"Hiroe-chan, hello! I have an idea about a salary. Yes, that's right. I'll tell you tomorrow after school, is there any cozy cafe? Yes, I'll call the girls myself."

Chapter 126.

"It's a cool place," I said, "the amount of lace is definitely above the norm... Once every forty years!"

"It even depresses me," Yu agreed with me, "Who would have thought that we have such a place in our city."

"I would have brought you to the maid cafe," Kaname giggled, "But here's the problem, there isn't one. I have to here..."

"Pervert," Mizuchi chuckled to the side, examining the interior.

"Since everyone liked it so much, shouldn't we appoint Croissant as an operational base?" The shorn-haired woman made innocent eyes. We snorted in unison, looked at each other in disbelief, and burst out laughing.

"Well, okay", when we finally calmed down and sat down, I took the floor again, "I want to say that now such meetings will be held regularly. It may have turned out a little spontaneously, but here we found ourselves each representing our own "department" in our small, nameless society..."

"What about me?" asked Rinko.

"And you," I reassured, "You're the head of our department... Well, let it be "law enforcement"."

"Me?!" Kuzaki, who had learned a lot about herself, pressed her palms to her chest, pointing at herself.

"I also don't know how it's done," I ignored Kaname's soft "snort." "But the Internet wasn't just invented by people. The main thing is to learn from the experience of others, because, as far as we know, no one has tried to establish patrolling by Yokai forces before us."

"Rinko-san, I can help you with the search," Yu clarified, "I'm good at it! By the way, which department am I?"

"Applied and theoretical magic. Yes, I understand that you don't have the abilities, but neither do others."

"And you?" Shimomura frowned in perplexity.

"The block is up to 16 years old. I can only use my Ferry of Light, and that's not magic. It's like an innate gift. And in any case, I got the task with the technical development of our "corporation". Plus, I have overall control, personnel work with the spirits (along with Shizuka). Hiroe is an analyst and financier, and in the future, he will be a cadre among people. Shizuka is the intelligence coordinator of our society, and Kashi, who is absent here, is the spirit coordinator in general. A spiritual leader, you might say. It's a pity that I couldn't take him to the meeting: five schoolchildren in a cafe is normal, but with an adult it's already memorable and unnecessarily attracts attention. Here you go," I handed out four A4 sheets on which were printed "official duties" and the first assignments. "It is better to remember this, and tear the sheets smaller before throwing them away."

"Are we encrypted as Yakuza?" Yu smiled contentedly.

"We encrypt ourselves in order not to cause unnecessary problems with our sloppiness," I answered in the same tone as her and nodded to Shizuka.

"Here," Mizuchi placed a small gold coin with a hole in the middle on the table, with hieroglyphs around the hole, "is a golden kotesen."

The coin looked a little dim, but in his hands it pleased with its genuine weight.

"Medieval Japan," Hiroe nodded, examining the coin in turn, "Do you have many of them?"

"There aren't many of them, you know," the Goddess of Rivers shrugged, "but there are still others."

"Yeah, it's definitely not worth shouting about at every corner," Yu agreed seriously.

"The main thing is to get rid of all thoughts like "I can't do this because I don't know anything." If people approached all issues this way, the stone axe would still be the pinnacle of our civilization." I noticed the hostess of the cafe moving towards our table with a tray, and I put the coin in my pocket.

"Here, help yourself," the hostess, a rosy-cheeked, not skinny madam in her fifties in a dress, of course, with lace, in the manner of "I'm little red riding hood 80 level," put a tray in front of us. And, since we were almost the only customers, she began to chat as she set out cups and plates (with roses!).

"You don't often find such a group: one boy and four girls."

"This is our future husband," Hiroe gave it away without batting an eye, "We're dividing it up right now."

Rinko, who had time to take a bite of her signature bun, almost choked on it, and I experienced similar problems. The teapot in the hostess's hands trembled.

"Ah, ah, ah... Aren't you too young for that yet?!"

"When we're not too busy, we'll just have time to divide it up." melancholically stirring the sugar in the cup, Mizuchi joined in the conversation.

"We decided to meet with the whole staff regularly to resolve such issues," Yu flashed her glasses, nodded carefully, and waved the paper I had given her. "today we decided to sort out our future marriage contract."

With a titanic effort of will, I kept the expression "well, yes, and what's the big deal?" The painfully red Rinko buried her face in her cup. The hostess blushed, turned pale, blotched, muttered, "excuse me, please, my curiosity, dear customers," and ran behind the counter at the speed of sound. We were attacked by a "coughing fit", all except Kuzaki, who looked at us and tiredly gave us away:

"Well, you know!.."

Chapter 127.

"Here you go," Hiroe handed me a printout.

It's a big break, and the class is half scattered across the school's courtyard, roof, friends in neighboring classrooms, and clubrooms: everyone is enjoying the last weeks of warmth and sunshine. Autumn is still quite imperceptibly tinting the first leaves in gold and red. It gets a little colder in the mornings and evenings, and the days have become noticeably shorter. Just a month of summer holidays is insanely short, it seems that they rush by like an airliner taking passengers to a resort for a vacation... And it's only after a month of study that you realize how long the rest has been dragging on: the first month of school generally skips like a supersonic stealth fighter, o-o-o-one, and that's it. But this is for everyone, for me, the feeling of this month has remained completely different - as if six months have passed, so many events.

I read the printout... and he looked up at the pleased girl.

"Hiroe, I don't think I've told you this yet, but you're a genius. Without any exaggeration."

"I like to do several things at the same time," The girl with the haircut smiled flatteringly, and I returned to studying the document."

No, nothing like that, just a simple printout of the terms of reference from the government-accredited contracting portal. You know, when a private contractor is needed to do something that the authorities don't have the manpower, equipment, or just stupid time to do. Here, too, there was a similar outfit order: everything is simple and unpretentious. It was necessary to clean the bottom of large rock fragments throughout the water area to ensure the safety of local coastal and fishing navigation. It's not the easiest task, but it's not that rare either, after all, we live in an archipelago. The difference between this particular government order was in the location of the work. Exactly where the underwater island of Spirits now rests. How lovely! I especially like the amount with eight zeros that you can get for this job. No, I understand everything - renting a seaworthy barge or a special trawler for lifting heavy stones weighing up to several tons, and there are hundreds of stones, and the weather at sea is a capricious thing. Shallow depths, strong currents, tides, in short, I understand that the tender has been hanging for many years. I'm surprised that the residents of the coastal villages even pushed through these works in the prefecture. Apparently, the lack of sea communication with limited land-based road infrastructure prevents the normal development of this, perhaps to some extent, promising region... Most likely, despite the impressive amount, the expenses can eventually be covered by income only in theory. And that's not counting the risks... but in our case, it doesn't matter. Since the problem needs to be solved this way and that, then why not combine the useful with the profitable? Moreover, where a floating crane cannot cope, one water spirit can do just fine, right?

In general, the division of tasks among the headquarters of our as yet unnamed corporation (or is it still a society?) it gave quick and positive results. Where I used to have to take time to think about a topic that wasn't so interesting to me, the girls found information and made a primary analysis on their own and with great enthusiasm. For example, the same Rinko, who received the task of "sorting out" the patrol, having studied the available information about the work of the police, did not limit herself to this, but climbed to "dig" further. And she dug it up! Historical Japan, even if we take history just a hundred years before modern times, was still a patchwork of interests of local feudal lords, long-standing (or even centuries-old!) small-town gangs, certain "societies", legendary "hidden settlements" with ninja Shinobi and other crap. At least take the same "Wolves of Mibu", who adopted the motto "I destroy evil where I see it." Something in my paranoia tells me that the wolves were not without the influence of yokai, at least at the time of the creation of this organization: the name is too telling. And there are dozens of such examples!

Rinko, by the way, got so carried away with the assignment that I had to buy her a computer, because her parents were already seriously worried why their girl was sitting at my house until eleven at night, and returned with reddened eyes and a pretty stunned face. Fortunately, our brave handymen, as agreed, allocated part of their earnings for general needs, so they did not have to change the gold. Her parents brought the Internet into Kuzaki's house at my request - after our detailed report in their kitchen, when the daughter, usually slightly cold before studying, with burning eyes, dumped various kinds of historical "revelations" on them, the Kuzaki elders looked at me with a little wary respect. Yuto promised to "pull up" Rinko with classes? The kid said, the kid did!

Things weren't going well in theory and practice of magic either: after kicking out Yu's Potter-obsessed teammates, I treated the walls, floor, and ceiling of the clubroom with a Ferry, getting a pretty decent laboratory room for practicing all sorts of mysticism. Shimomuro received an upgrade of her favorite glasses from me, and the first series of experiments went off with a bang. At least one of Yu's compounds absorbed mana perfectly when I took a handful of an incomprehensible mixture and applied energy. It is noteworthy that the same composition flatly refused to absorb Shizuki's mana. Hmm. And Yu didn't calm down until she demanded a promise from me to do the processing of her room at her parents' house. They say that she has a LARGE collection of ingredients, mixtures and blanks for various amulets, which were simply ordered by the kami themselves, since there was such an opportunity. Well, she will give us a lecture on the basics of amulet building and alchemy, as she understands them based on online research. Naturally, we agreed.

It remains to be noted that throughout this period of late summer and early autumn, until events began to "fall apart" again, Hiroe had the least rest. According to my very, very rough estimates, she compiled the "yokai civil code for the city of Takamiya", compiled the internal rules of our structure, and with modifiers for people and for spirits. In general, she earned three hundred percent of the modest salary that she had set for herself from the "community". It wasn't that Hiroe needed the money, but the "principle point" was more important to her. In general, it turned out to be a good respite, almost a full month. And then the whole group of us went to visit Yu.

Chapter 128.

"First of all, I want to say that the information on the web is different, however, besides fantasies and outright nonsense, there are things that look quite reliable," We started talking about the topic of interest on the way to Yu's house. Suffice it to say that the information on the subject "Simple amulets and compounds" in the form of a lecture notebook from the British Magic School got into my hands through a closed section of our forum, scans of one girl from our "crazy bunch" were simply sent by a friend who knows about the "crazy" of his "lost" passion. Some kind of phishing via satellite, whatever it is...

"I'll tell you later," I promised, recalling various stories I had read there about what elementary ignorance of the procedures of public network resources leads to. And it would be fine if the magic, bankers managed to send information so that it lay unprotected on file balls for months. At least Google encrypts traffic using SSL. However, you can't say that I'm "five points" good at this either. And it's definitely worth investigating, because there's no way you can do without the Internet at work. He pulled out his phone and, half listening to Shimomuro, typed himself a note with a reminder: it would be extremely unpleasant to forget something planned. Like losing your phone... Kso! But calendar synchronization, if you enable this service from your provider, will also be available, even if not publicly available, but on someone else's resource. Damn it! Another note in the calendar...

"...The bottom line is that," Yu continued to tell us, leading us to her house, "that, as I understood it, magic as such can have two fundamentally different ways of "making". It could be some kind of spell: A method where a magician uses his gift to create mana... someone calls it a weave, someone a noose, someone a scheme in general, but the word "spell" occurs most often. When the spell is completed, the mana in it begins to be spent on performing a certain process: from a flash of light to the most difficult transformation. The second method is an amulet. Or alchemy. There are different directions, but as far as we were able to understand and translate the summary, in general it is the same thing. All substances and objects made of them have their own magical properties. Some substances have highly pronounced properties, and simply applying magical energy to them already leads to results. It's as if the spell is made not of mana, but of material - the principle is the same. The individual parts of the amulet or the ingredients of a solution or mixture in alchemy each give their own effect, the sum or sequence of which leads to the desired result. If you strip away all the "technical nuances", in general everything is very simple. Even two people broke away from our forum "crazy bunch" - they said that we had "killed a miracle" and they were not on their way with us. By the way, they "keep" it potteryaoi.jp.

"I hope you haven't told your "crazy company" anything about us?" Hiroe asked in an indifferent tone.

"Do you think I'm such a fool? Of course not, the Yakuza don't give away their own!"

I groaned inwardly: again! Meanwhile, Yu opened the front door with her key, and before we could take off our shoes, a small hurricane named Shimomuro Sato hit us.

"si-i-i-i-i-ister! Hello, hello, hello! Andwhodidyoubring?! Theseareyourfriends, right?!"

In general, for technical reasons, I had to take a break: the younger brother Yu literally charmed Rinko and Hiroe, who immediately clung to him from both sides like pincers. Naturally, Fidget got tired of hugging after about twenty seconds - but fuck it, I should have run earlier! The older sister, with a vengeful smile clearly visible, explained to him that the guests should be treated with respect... and let yourself be squeezed half to death. Well, what can I say, Sato Shimomuro, you're a MAN! Sato obediently endured being pulled by the hair, stroking his head, and stupid questions like "are you already going to the potty yourself?" and other cute manifestations of gender sadism. However, his suffering paid off in just five minutes, when Rinko, in a fit of emotion, threw the child to the ceiling. AND, THANK KAMI, SHE CAUGHT IT! Well, in kendo classes, Rinko never allowed herself to "count" by strengthening her muscles...

"sister!!! You're so strong!"

for me, it's a completely stupid Japanese habit to call a friend older than yourself "sister/brother," but I bit my tongue and didn't get involved, even though I was offended. Let Kuzaki figure it out for herself.

"Otherwise, I'm the strongest girl in school! That's because I'm the district's kendo champion!"

Anyway, after a minute and a half, my neighbor and the little misunderstanding of the Shimomuro family were already learning some kata, and Rinko turned into a "sensei." Mizuchi, having taken the tea set from Yu, also found something to her liking, and we drank tea in a very family way, since Yu's parents, who had been warned about our arrival the day before, had already gone somewhere after work.

Nevertheless, an hour later we returned to the topic of the meeting. Yu's room is... well, a girly room, but not too much. Stars on the ceiling, glowing in the dark (demonstrated), a selection of paper books on mysticism, a bed, a TV on the wall with a good diagonal, a computer on the desktop. I went to the book rack and was naturally shocked: if I ignored Necromicon, considering it fake, then Lovecraft and Hammer of Witches with King on the same shelf made an impression on me. Did Yu's parents even look at them?! Facepalm...

While I was feeling the walls, floor and ceiling (the location of the ladder was known to Shimomuro), the girl pulled out an impressive box from under the bed. I opened it. And... yes! It was the largest collection of jars, cones, bundles, and even herbarium albums that I had ever seen. The content matched. And if captions like "a plantain stalk at the intersection of six roads on June 6 at 6 a.m." only led to some confusion, then after reading "cemetery land from the Jewish cemetery, midnight, Halloween," I decided to save my nerves and did not ask about the phalanges of fingers or the ears of the dead.

"You've done such a great job... work... I don't even know what word to use to express mine... admiration from... from... from your abilities!"

"Die, you can't say it better, you know!" Mizuchi whispered, just as I had seen the magnificent example of human perseverance... or stubbornness?!

"Believing in a miracle can work miracles," The future headman shrugged her shoulders in a calm and very adult way. And how does your belief in miracles feel after recent events?" The short-haired woman asked seriously. Faith has not gone away, but miracles have... Here, next to me is a yokai who can turn into water and brew a real drink of the gods from Dad's cheap tea! A miracle just needs to be seen. Okay, shall we start?

Then the routine began. Take a cone / jar / twig. Release some mana. If the response is somehow different from the standard power outage, log it. Pass the jar to Shizuka. Take the next one... Dreary, monotonous. Sato stopped by a couple of times to see what kind of nonsense we were messing with. The third time, he couldn't stand it, picked up one of the unopened vials and squeezed it in his hand too.

"Sato..."

"Yes, let it play," Yu was making notes in her ingredients catalog, "There is nothing dangerous there. And I didn't bring anything particularly nasty home."

"You don't even know what he got."

"This is the pollen of linden flowers."

"Oh, well, ok... Sato, put it down!.."

But it was too late. I have never seen in person how a person literally turns blue in five heartbeats and falls with a wheeze, unable to stand on suddenly weak legs.

"Sato!!!"

"What's going on..."

"What's wrong with him?!"

Yu picked up the child, but immediately received a poke in the side from me:

"Get the inhaler out of his medicine cabinet! Don't stand there! RUN!!!"

"It's bad, you know," Mizuchi collapsed next to me on her knees. "What's wrong with him?"

"Anaphylactic shock." as always in a period when it is necessary to act quickly, my emotions have gone somewhere. "It is necessary to flush the respiratory tract and trachea. Can you do it?"

"I'm doing it!"

The guy's eyes were already staring at the ceiling, he didn't seem to see anything, and he barely twitched when the water from the snake's palms poured into his mouth in a living stream, only to pour out in a few moments. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Pushing the door open with a bang, Yu returned to the room with a can of inhaler.

"Mizuchi, make the solution evenly cover the throat and larynx, trachea and bronchi," I held the baby's mouth open with one hand and pressed the spray button, preventing the jet from running out. "Are there syringes and injections in the medicine cabinet in case of an attack? Yes, answer me!"

"I have syringes, but I don't know about medications. My mother was only talking about this, and calling an ambulance." Tears were continuously flowing from Yu's eyes, but she didn't even seem to notice it. Shizuka pushed the baby's chest, and he took a hoarse breath... with difficulty. The snake pulled up Sato's shirt and literally lifted and lowered his ribs with both hands, just touching his palms. The blueness subsided a little, but the clearly visible swelling on the face and upper half of the body only increased, slowly but steadily.

"The doctors won't have time, you know," Without stopping the measured pumping of air, the snake spoke, and I decided. He closed his eyes, touching the younger Shimomuro's skin, forcing his consciousness into a trance. It's quite simple. Does the body want to live? Find his desire, find all the reasons...


...When I finished, I felt myself falling sideways. I couldn't feel my legs at all-they were numb, but Sato was breathing normally, and even there was a meaningful expression in his eyes. I looked with my "ferry" vision and almost fell down again - a pattern resembling a three-dimensional visualization of the circulatory system appeared in the body, almost all tissues and organs were entangled with the smallest threads of light. I saw them with difficulty, at the limit of the detail of my ability. I was sure that even if I wanted to, I would not be able to add anything to this pattern. If only it would work, if only I wouldn't screw up anywhere!


...The boy finished feeling his chest in surprise, and, amusingly surprised, said:

"And now it's not hard at all. And your hands were glowing when you held me. What was that? How's the magic? But Dad says there's no such thing as magic..."

"Dad's right," I rested my head on the edge of the bed, "Magic wouldn't have helped you... If only because I don't know her."

Chapter 129.

I ruined my shirt again. Ferry materials are, of course, convenient and cool, but it's worth using my ability with full concentration... In the end, a solution was found - in the form of a "dimensionless" sweater ... light pink and with a red heart in the whole chest! And how naturally the girls laughed at me like that! At least it's of some use...

...I put Sato to bed, and without listening to timid objections, I made his take his temperature. Anaphylaxis is a generalized immune inflammation, and all the signs of inflammation are present: swelling, redness, fever. They hammered something into my head at the university, but there were no symptoms. Driving Yu back and forth, I made them bring me a phonendoscope and listened to the lungs in half with grief. I didn't find any wheezing, and in terms of the presence of foreign fluid, I trusted Mizuchi's diagnosis more than my own percussion abilities. It's been a long time, ten years have passed... but the hands remember, if necessary. And not just the hands.

What bothered me the most was the fact that I roughly understood what I had done. And I did nothing less than adjust the power of the immune response. Judging by the fact that the changes affected almost all tissues except the brain, the Farry additionally distorted the receptors of already proliferated cells right in place... Ha, and I thought I'd definitely forgotten about immunology... and I would prefer not to remember her like THAT.


A lovely, wonderful sweater! Instead of sitting there looking lost, the "board of directors" is trying not to laugh at me. Sato wanted to sit with us, but now he's going to have a "pleasant" time, divided between juice bags and a toilet: the body abruptly sheds immune proteins. And I can just watch, hoping only that the Farry has affected them enough to have his own immune cells... So, I'm done with the terms. And I'll try to tell Yu.

"Yu, now listen to me very carefully. What I had to apply to Sato is not a treatment per se, the removal of an acute reaction is only a consequence, one of the side effects. Do you know what happened?"

Shimomuro frowned, clutching the cup, not noticing that it was quite hot.

"Asthma attack with suffocation... Mom said it could happen... And without you, I wouldn't even have thought to carry the medicine, I'd just stand there and watch..." Yu's eyes shone treacherously again.

"Don't blame yourself... in this. And it wasn't asthma... not exactly asthma, or rather, not only asthma. It was an ultra-fast allergic reaction to the very lime pollen that he turned over in his hands and inhaled. I don't know how you got so much of it, but I want to warn you, there are large amounts of pollen on the mucous membranes (that is, in the nose, for example) they will cause dangerous allergies even in a healthy person. Allergy sufferers are generally at risk: it is always possible that the body will react to more than just that antigen... An antigen is something that causes an allergy, whether it's wool or chocolate... but also on some other one. The probability is low, but it is there. And there is always a chance that the reaction will be like this... scary. Yu's parents will probably take Sato to the clinic when they find out about the attack... but they won't find anything there. It's just that his body stopped reacting to itself as to an antigen - this is the essence of the asthma process (I'm simplifying it, of course, to make it easier to understand). Sometimes it happens for no reason, like the carrier of the "Ferry of Light". So I'm putting the responsibility for your brother on you."

"Responsibility?"

"Yes. I was acting on almost nothing but instincts, according to my feelings. Do you really think that I know what to do by Ferry in case of such a disease, if no one taught me at all? But I know a little bit about medicine... When modifying something, Ferry changes one of the parameters of the modifiable object within its capabilities... in this case, the Ferry reduced the immune system's response. I do not know how much. Yu, you have to watch your brother! If he gets even a little sick, make sure he takes his medications, especially antibiotics. I... I do not know how much the reaction has changed... The immune system is a complex thing, it protects our body from infections, and asthma - when this watchman is too timid, he starts "shooting at the bushes" without figuring out whether his own or someone else's are coming... and be sure to take away, right now, all the old medicines from your brother. Let the doctors reassign... Damn. I'm sorry, Yu, I am... I'm really afraid that I didn't do my job well enough... and you can check it just by watching..."

"But you can help if something goes wrong, right?" Shimomuro asked hopefully.

"No... The ferry is a one-time thing. There may be repeated modifications if they do not affect the previous ones... and the attempt to change by "force" - did you see what happened to my shirt?"

Yu quickly turned white, remembering the lump of white mass, or jelly, into which the threads of the upper part of my school uniform were spreading.

"So that's what you meant when you said that "The ferry is not magic."" Mizuchi nodded to herself, "and I must admit, I thought it was such a figure of speech... Even when I didn't feel like you were making amulets... You know. Impressive... You know."

"Received "The introduction of Changing Light" materials, in addition to new properties, receive new features... Just try to keep it a secret... a large deformation of an object, or if it is broken, the whole object collapses.: the same effect as when trying to change the "Ferry". I'm sorry again, Yu... I do not know what will happen if Sato has to undergo significant surgery... and it's better for him to try not to break his limbs... The Ferry was applied to the entire body at the same time, and I do not know which deformity will be critical for it..." "The loss of a limb is for sure," I thought, but I didn't say anything. Yu's face is already chalky in color.

Suddenly Rinko also turned pale:

"There, in the mountains... When we got into a fight, you were there too... That's it... I... me..."

"No, that's where the methodology was worked out... You remember asking why hamsters changed so fast... I wouldn't dare here either, if I had a chance..." We sat in silence. The cups were cooling on the table, no one else touched them. The silence thickened in the house, kind of sticky and nasty, as it always does with such conversations. For two minutes we just stared at nothing... and then Shizuka silently stood up and silently approached me. She hugged her head, hugging it to her chest.

"Yuto... You don't have to take everything on yourself... We followed you, and that means we're all responsible... And we're going to follow you anyway. Lead on and don't hesitate, leader-san!"

Ha, and Mizuchi was lying about not being a magician! When needed, she found the only true "magic words". The tension suddenly subsided, leaving only fatigue and a slight headache.


...When Yu and Sato's parents returned, we had already come to our senses. Of course, we didn't do any work anymore, but we helped Shimomuro make dinner (a normal dinner, not "warm up semi-finished products from the refrigerator"). They told them a slightly edited version of their youngest son's seizure (I just held him, Shizuka did artificial respiration while Yu ran to get medicine). Yu's mother was pretty worried, but since everything was already fine, she didn't call an ambulance, since we didn't call her, promising to make an appointment at work tomorrow and take her son for an examination. Then she hesitated for a long time, finally whispered something in the ear of the father of the family, who asked with a laugh why I was walking around in Yu sweater.

"This is payback," the Goddess of Rivers beat me to it, "one guy for four beauties like us. Let him suffer!" Yes, and I also have to amuse the neighbors with my appearance. Should I call a taxi? But I puffed out my chest and walked home: I had to maintain my reputation, even so.


Damn, the hamsters seem to have hit again. And the worst part. I haven't told anyone this yet, but a year ago I figured that Steam could be used to affect the reproduction of cells in one organ. The thymus. The key to a long active life. Experiments on rats gave them a "second youth" after the transplantation of this thymus gland. I was almost sure that I could handle the Ferry, but I postponed the experiments as they were not the most important. Life extension is a great bonus to attract allies and followers. And just today I killed the very opportunity to prolong the life of one of the family of "my" people with my own hands. Just because he didn't ask Yu to bolt the door to the room. Just because he treated serious work as "mystical stuff." And I got paid immediately. What if one of the stupid flasks detonated in response to mana? Or would it turn into a volatile poison? Damn, anything could have happened! I've been exploring unknown subjects... in the girls' room, sitting on the floor! Well, I have to admit, we all got off easy for my sloppiness. We need to turn on our heads and fix the situation before it's too late. You can't do stupid things anymore. Moreover, I am now responsible not only for myself.

Chapter 130.

That's right, they say: if it doesn't go over your head, it goes through your ass. Tested, it gets there perfectly. The story of the younger brother influenced Yu herself the most. The girl abruptly began to behave much more seriously and judiciously. It was especially funny to watch how, in her class, Shimomuro began to mildly "build" particularly wild and carefree boys and girls, surprisingly forcing the latter to behave less erratically. Anyone who tried to perform such an operation on a crowd of eleven-year-olds will understand the epic nature of this event. Now Yu looked much more like the girl from the manga I remembered: cautious, but able to arrange an adventure, reasonable... but not the "gray mouse" who is not particularly interested in anything and is not friends with anyone.

Our friendship, on the contrary, has grown stronger. Ours is in the sense of between all of us: experiencing this together is like going into battle together. And I'm so glad that everything ended without losses... while. What is happening has perfectly cleared the brains of all the "directors" of our "corporation" - each in his own way. Mizuchi found a detailed first aid manual on the Internet, studied it and asked for help to complete the courses: modern medicines should be familiarized at least in conditions "close to combat." I doubt it will help for yokai either, but the snake has set out to protect the human part of our team at least that way. Shimomuro, on the other hand, had delved into the safety regulations she had found to compile the requirements for the magic laboratory, and now she was just clutching her head at how many necessary rules we had managed to break. Just the fact that a magical object could potentially not only catch fire and shock, but also explode, give off poisonous gas, and even cause a small spatial anomaly (theoretically) required special conditions for conducting experiments. Or, better, a training ground, where these conditions could be created under the open sky and using the terrain. The idea is smart and timely: after all, even my modest magical powers are enough to create four discharges of electricity (through the amulet), piercing half a meter of air. I estimated that this is about 0.1 gigajoules of energy at least. For comparison, the muzzle energy of a revolver is only about 200-500 joules. It's okay, right? If it explodes or bursts into flames, everyone who will be around will at least not laugh: it's not funny to live with fractures and burns.


The funny thing is that the "learning" fever mysteriously struck our "artel": the younger members of the "group" persuaded Kashi... Buy an excavator! Well, not right now, but in a month, and during that time someone will take courses... For example, the Hawk-Nosed one is Shinji. Tom Sawyer sailed too shallow with his fence: it was necessary to lay down a steamship yard right away - this is at least. The enthusiasm of the Amakawa Group was overwhelming: it was enough for me to sit with the guys in the dorm and listen to their rave reviews. Well, yes. Don't forget to ask the Polytechnic students about the university courses the next time, I go to a public lecture with Taizo (we go once a week on Fridays). The university should teach all kinds of "secondary special" certifications in separate shortened courses, such as foreman or lower-level manager. We'll need it soon, I think. Because, looking at the Yokai who had won the unspoken title of "I'll solve everything" in a month, the rest of the normal hard workers from the surrounding dormitories began to intensively approach them on the subject of "working on the object together." Of course: the two-armed and smartly working spirits (who had nothing interesting waiting for them at home) could pull off almost any hopeless task on time. Especially if it's "hopeless" because of the sloppiness of previous employees. I wonder if my vassals will soon get tired of this occupation, or have they found their recognition? On the other hand, Rinko and Mizuchi will soon start chasing them in their free time - the concept of patrolling the territory was under active refinement.

Patrolling... Well, if someone had told me that the proposed scheme was developed by two girls (and even if one was under three hundred years old), I would not have believed it, to put it mildly. They decided to include three yokai in the patrol group, and they had to act like this: according to the serif from the surveillance system (oh, I feel like I have to finish it in an emergency!), the group moved out of the "office" (places should still be selected) so as to intercept the intruder. Two of them stopped him in the middle of the street (or somewhere else), and the third, using aura invisibility, had to take up a position... with a sniper rifle. Makes sense, right? In principle, the group should have had means of fighting that enhanced their not-too-good defensive abilities: remote stunners were just asking for, especially if they had at least three charges, an elephant could definitely be fried. But without the option to "eliminate quickly and quietly", the situation did not "roll" at all - if only because a potential opponent could simply run better than fight - and chase him around the city. A linear accelerator as a weapon of destruction from a long distance was just asking for it (although I can't say that it will be so silent - no one canceled the air resistance), but I have what they call "no horse lying around" in this direction. Damn, it's tin! By the way, I carefully asked if Rinko understood (I had no doubt about the snake) that the patrols would have to kill? To which he ran into a harsh and adult answer: "it's better to kill someone who came to kill everyone himself than to cry over the murdered relatives." Yes, our first encounter with the caterpillar spirit in the park is clearly not forgotten. However, why am I surprised? Children can be much more violent than untrained adults... And we already had the experience of fighting with murders.


They decided to "make" the training ground on the opposite slope of the low mountains around the city: the peaks will shield the bursts of magic from possible observers from the city. Fortunately, without disguise, Mizuchi is able to detect a strong yokai or a police magician from a long distance... We also brought Kashi with us. Firstly, because "there is never much security," and secondly, he will be with us in Noihara. We decided to clearly schedule the "storming" of my clan's stronghold for the last Sunday in October: regardless of Tsuchimikado's actions. Tired of living from one adventure to another, it's time to get used to living and thinking "like an adult." During this time, I planned to have time to visit the "landfill" at least three times: to learn how to open a Mystical House, to test a prototype of a railgun - a weapon, not just a single barrel. So that everything is as it should be: with a sight (so far without optics), with a butt and charging through the shutter. The small, inexperienced arrows were supposed to be made of good hard steel at the Department of Precision Engineering: that's why this contact was useful for the first time. Of course, officially these were not charges at all, but parts for the school physics laboratory, but no one even asked me - the help with the printer was appreciated. It probably looks a bit too presumptuous to finish something that is just a barrel to a prototype weapon, but I had a trump card - 3D printing. And the fact that the butt and charge supply elements will be made of plastic - well, gunpowder is not used in weapons, and the simplest bolt mechanism will not experience any special efforts - it does not even need to be sealed. And my ability allows me to strengthen even simple plastic to the characteristics of a building composite.


The trip turned out to be a bit exhausting: two and a half hours on mountain roads up and down at the speed of a wounded turtle in the ass: the road is narrow and winding. The only bright moment was when a bus passing through the pass taxied onto a site with a beautiful view of the lake and a part of the city lying on the shore: for a minute we just caught our breath! As a result, we were just happy to get off the bus - it was better to walk through the mountains and without a road than in this leisurely "shaker" through the remnants of the summer heat. Speaking of the heat: only Hiroe had the brains to connect "we're going to nature to train where there's water" with the opportunity not only to work, but also to relax. However, it was agreed that no one else would go into the water except Shizuka: even if this section of the river was dammed downstream, but the channel of angular granite fragments somehow did not have the potential for safe swimming. And I shouldn't have worried about the lack of a road - the Corpse Eater led us to a very nice path winding through the mountains, across the river I was looking for (an hour's walk from the highway), and even an elegant, albeit old wooden bridge was thrown.

"An abandoned temple. Regular," Kashi explained it to me.

"Great!" Hiroe stretched vigorously, unaccustomed to pulling a small backpack onto her shoulders. "In the meantime, you sort out your things and food, and we'll change our clothes."

At this point, manga heroines usually shout "don't peek!"- with a natural result, of course, but- what happiness! we're not in a manga. The girls came out from behind the rock in just five minutes: and two of the three were looking at the fourth, Mizuchi, so that they were ready to check the hole. The Goddess of Rivers was blushing for some reason. And what happened there?

"How do I look?" Hiroe spun around on her toe in front of me: a black two-piece swimsuit, of course, suited her... but along with the "mountain" boots, which, at the insistence of the corrosive Yu, we chose and bought in advance (it was still that scene in the store!)... After swallowing a comment like "at least now in a combat walker" and "I allow you to start saving the world!" I just gave a thumbs up. Surprisingly, Rinko and Yu continued to rub something with the snake, although they also, in general, had something to show off: the girls chose "children's" options for tanning, like school. I don't know how they got together to sunbathe like that, but their angular figures looked very cute (at least, this option was more suitable for shoes).

The girls noticed that I was looking at them and blushed together, and Shizuka quickly kicked off her shoes and flew like a bullet into the greenish water (only her head remained above the surface). And what does that mean?

"I'm starting, you know," the Goddess of Rivers informed me, and I began to watch the formation of the technique with all my glasses. Shizuka dived headfirst, I saw her body sink to the very bottom, and... dissolved! The glowing aura literally flooded the river from shore to shore, and shot up into the air like a torch... And three girls are missing! Oops!

The Mystical House "as it is" looked quite interesting from the outside: a column of spells above the place where the operator disappeared into the water, and a light bluish haze covering the copying area - a circle with a radius of at least two hundred meters. Strong, snake!

Basically, to interrupt the technique, it was enough to pick up a heavier rock and throw spells at its center: Shizuka can't move, and her body is vulnerable now, even though I can't see it (body). But in the case of the amulet, you will have to act differently: either smash it with a hammer (which is not too safe to do in the center of the house), or use a "mine" - a counter-charm that will interrupt the manopow and cause the spell to collapse, throwing everything inside at real coordinates. Actually, I intended to make a similar thing out of a meter-long fragment of wood, making a kind of "magical superconductor" - mana should theoretically flow through it more readily than just through the air. Here we go!


... and finished. Three hours later, I managed to steadily create a stick with the desired effect, bridging the flows so that the spell failed in about a minute: just in time to run out of the house. I felt like I was carrying bricks, and I was hungry. Plopping down on a beach towel with the girls, I saw Mizuchi come up, grab her things, and rush headlong behind the rock locker room.

"But what is it?!"

"Haven't you figured it out yet, Yuto-kun?" He asked me for Kashi. "Don't worry. It's just that Shizuka was too lazy to buy and carry a swimsuit and created clothes for herself out of her own water... And it looks like someone managed to convince her that she was naked anyway, right?"

Yu and Rinko's faces could light a cigarette - such a crimson shade! And I didn't know whether to laugh or cry- after everything that had happened to her over the years, after all our adventures together, the three-hundred-year-old Yokai was worried about what her clothes were made of?! Moreover, two eleven-year-old girls convinced her that she should worry about this! Oh, kami! Truly, if a person runs out of problems, he will invent them for himself! And not just a human!

Chapter 131.

"We need to decide what we're going to be called." Yu posed the question bluntly, leaving the empty cup. To drink the European version of tea from European mugs with roses - of course, the Croissant cafe! Well, we're not going to Mac, are we? And here it's quiet, calm, lace in such quantity that, it seems, going out on the street, you will strangle the first wearer of them...

Hiroe opened her brand-new mini-laptop P series from Panasonic and meticulously read out:

"We need to come up with a name for three organizations. For a voluntary, non-profit police assistance squad, for a construction company that will take on a contract for bottom work in the bay, and for a scientific group that will officially conduct research in the field of the latest materials and experimental equipment."

"Sign up another management company - it will be all of us."

"Logically, it is worth making formal distinctions on work right now."

"Why such difficulties?" Rinko was surprised.

"A simple precaution in case of problems with someone. Again, taxes are easier to calculate and pay," explained Yu. "What? My mom told me."

"I feel like the dumbest again." My neighbor confessed, "How do you know so much?"

"My mom taught me too, I told you," Hiroe grinned, "and then I began to understand something myself."

"Life experience, you know" Snake shrugged, draining her fifth cup of tea in small sips. Considering that every time she ordered a new tea, the poor hostess looked at her with holy horror.

"Well, I'm just an enthusiastic person, I don't like to stop halfway if I'm interested in something." Yu flashed her glasses. Interestingly, we all wear glasses, and only Yu knows how to flash them. Did you train on purpose?

"Rinko, stop suffering with nonsense!" I tried to cheer up my childhood girlfriend. "You have a different range of hobbies, why are you so worried about it? But look, here, except for you and Shizuka, no one can stand up for themselves. Do you remember how I used to hide behind you when we were eight?"

Well, it wasn't that I was hiding, Rinko had shielded me from the little jerks herself, but I was ready to admit this "shameful" fact, so that the girl wouldn't feel "inferior" or "superfluous in this company." After all, everyone in our company has problems with tact except me... Although I'm good too!

"Wow, did you really protect Yuto from bullies when you were little?" I almost knocked over Shimomuro's chair, so abruptly she leaned on the table. "This clarifies a lot! And anyway, everything is going well!"

"What's going on?" Kaname responded immediately.

"Well, you played that one... The game I recommended?"

Two nods, and Rinko blushes again. Damn, we'll have to talk about this carefully somehow... or shouldn't we get involved in girly games? Da-a-amn, they say, recruited a women's team on his head! On the other hand, somehow I don't see an abundance of guys to whom I could entrust not just my secret, but really my life. And if I introduce at least one kid into the "inner" circle, a monkey measuring of reproductive organs will immediately follow, simply because at our age hormones are definitely stronger than brains. And hormones push any teenager to try to take an alpha position in the pack, no matter how you look at it. It's better to let it be as it is.

"..Around the main character, the mysterious prince," Meanwhile, Yu continued to speak earnestly, "the one who lost his parents, the last heir of a mysterious clan with mystical powers... Yuto, did you have any problems with your memory?"

"They were," Rinko ratted me out.

"Very good! So, having memory lapses, beautiful girls suddenly appear: a "simple" childhood friend, in whom the hero suddenly begins to see not just a friend, but a beautiful girlfriend, super-smart, but too fl... Ek-ahem, I wanted to say, a very nice student from the senior class (Hiroe! I honestly wanted to say sweet!), a sensible classmate on the outside and passionate on the inside (That's me! And there's nothing to look at so incredulously!) and even a mysterious spirit girl with superpowers. Well how? Hmm... Definitely missing is a princess from another clan, with whom the hero was secretly engaged in childhood and forgot about it..."

I hit my head on the table top with a groan. Not in the eyebrow, but in the eye! But until the Kues appeared on the horizon (if it appears at all), I was not going to report it - they would only wind themselves up once again and dilute the difficulties from scratch. Fortunately, Yu mistook "the moan that's called a song" for a painful rejection of painted roles and began to agitate me for her vision of the world.

"Well, look, it's great! Four beautiful girls will fight for the right to be by your side, and in the end you will choose..."

"The harem"- suggested the kind Mizuchi.

Oh, oh, what's that blush on Shimomuro's cheeks? Hey! Why doesn't anyone object?! And what should I say to that?! And why are all four of them looking at me?!?!

"Wonderful," I concluded, feeling a slight warmth on my cheeks, but trying to speak in an even tone, "now that you have thought out my personal life in detail for me, I will no longer worry about this aspect..."

Get the grenade, fascist! More precisely, a tank - there's just a crew of four.

"...And I can ask you to focus on your work tasks again. Let's go back to the names, since there's no way without them. Suggestions for patrol organization?"

"The Night Watch!" Hiroe immediately responded. "As I understand it, the main work will be in the dark?"

"You're right, but that name makes me feel bad, so let's change it."

"Mm-hmm..." thought Yu, "What about "Breaking Dawn"? Since the patrol will be at night, it will sound symbolic - they bring light into the night. Well, and make uniforms in the form of dark purple cloaks, like the sky before dawn... Yuto? Why are you banging your head on the table?"