13. Intricacy.
T: A day late but I hope you'll forgive me that fact! Warnings and disclaimers remain the same.
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The spot marked on the map by Sakuraiji-san is, thankfully, still occupied by a building and yet, looking at the state of the thing, it is clear that this shall not soon be the case.
Treading carefully they cross into the space and begin to search their way through shattered shards of ceiling tiles and large chunks of masonry. As this detritus is lifted away the story of building begins to reveal itself in fractured test tubes and dust covered chalk boards hidden amid the shadows, eventually their search leads them up into the second story of the building and to the locked room pressed to the rear of that space.
"It's spiritual in origin." She remarks after a careful examination of the thing.
"Tetsua-san?"
"It certainly feels like his aura."
"Then we 'attack' it together just as we 'attacked' the seal about that box room." Hijiri remarks as he offered her his left hand.
Ceasing onto the appendage she clears her mind of everything other than the sound of Hijiri's breath and the warmth of the aura before her. After a beat the world about her settles into an odd sort of haze and, as the pace of her breath synchronises itself with her partner's, she 'pushes' that haze towards the aura…with a sharp click door opens slightly inwards and, reality again taking control, she leases her grip on the other's fingers.
Beyond the door is a small box room which holds a simple oaken desk and a soft leather office chair. The plain hued walls are coated in photos containing the smiling faces of a middle aged woman and a little girl, sometimes together and sometimes on their own. On top of the desk sits a thin pile of opened envelopes and a half finished letter, this written in an educated hand that, given it's intended recipient, can only belong to Tetsua-san.
"'Akira-kun.
Perhaps it is better that you do not come, that you remain out of this matter. I know that you are assured of yourself and, reading through the workings that you sent me, I am certain that the spell will work as you have suggested, however…" As she reaches the letter's abrupt conclusion Hijiri lifts up the pile of envelopes and, wordlessly, begins to work his way through their contents.
Only once he has worked his way through the entire pile does he inform her,
"Muraki is keeping Tetsua-san close not only for the sake of his children but also for the sake of his own welfare," as he passes the final envelope into her care.
The letter inside is written in Tamaki-san's familiar hand and, at first, seems little more than the expression of Tamaki-san's concern for Tetsua-san's welfare Once Tetsua-san begins to state the rational behind such concerns, however, it becomes clear why Hijiri has given her this not and said such an odd thing.
"He is also being supported by Tetsua-san's magic."
"Something that Tamaki-san twisted to his advantage."
"The spell that Tetsua-san mentioned in his letter?"
"Correct." Hijiri replies before informing her, "It seems the spell was meant to cage Tetsua-san's power in such a way that Muraki could only draw strength from it while the Onmyoji was in Tamaki-san's company. That being the case one obvious question comes to mind,"
"Why not simply remove the spells influence and thus rid himself of the 'annoyance' of Tamaki-san's influence?"
"Correct."
"Because our initial impulse about this case was correct, because he is drawing us out."
"But why?"
"Only he knows the answer to that question."
"Then we find him and we ask him."
"That is, of course, the next logical step, but I think we should prepare ourselves a little before we do as such. Learn the intricacies of Tamaki-san's spell and twist them in such a manner that we are able to have them at our disposal…so that we are able to 'defeat' him if necessary."
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"He'll get back to us." Hijiri remarks as he settles down at his desk. "We can spend the free time searching for Muraki."
"I doubt we'll need that long."
"Actually Watari-san told me that he'd gone to ground again."
This oddity can mean only one thing but, rather than give voice to this fact, she enquires,
"I take it that you have a search method in mind?"
"Watari-san let me see the general set up of Tamaki-san's spell and I'm certain that I can use it to trace Muraki's whereabouts." Hijiri pauses, momentarily, then says, "I can create a 'silent' tracing spell, which means that we can track him down and maintain the element of surprise."
"Then you should give it a go."
A long moment of silence follows and then, pulling the hair from his eyes, Hijiri enquires,
"So how shall we kill time now then?" The enquiry is completely innocent and it's this, more than anything else, that prompts her to respond,
"I believe I owe you a story."
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T: Things begin to wind down and there's a high probability that the next chapter shall be the last thus review before you loose the chance!!! Next update wed/thurs.