Fifty-First Spell: Shrine of Idesei
"This weekend is the Obon Festival," Peri said from the head of the Byakko table, unable to look directly at Haru.
"Obon? You mean the holiday that celebrates one's ancestors?" Haru asked.
He remembered his adopted family tried to participate in Kyoto's official celebration of Obon a few years ago. But Daichi cried too much, forcing them to go home early.
"You got it," Peri nodded. "It's an especially difficult holiday for us because of—
"Dad," Gaane and Fuyou said in unison.
"Right," Haru realized. "Your dad died unexpectedly. What did he die from?"
While Rui and her sisters struggled to answer, Haru's eyes drifted over to the Phantom Table where Gyoku had been sitting at since the start of Summer Semester. Unlike his older siblings, Gyoku had a contemplative look on his face. Just as Haru was about to ask Rui about it, the crowing from Dōmeki's Yatagarasu rang forcing him to head to class.
"Since the Obon Festival is upon us, I will be offering a special assignment," Shō-Sensei said to Haru, Nayu, and Seita just as their Necromancy class began. "If you complete it, five points will be rewarded to your respective Clans."
"Um, will it be double the points if me and Haru do the assignment?" Nayu asked nervously. "I mean, we are part of the same Clan after all."
"Indeed, Rakkashi-Chan," Shō answered. "You and Ryuji will get five points each giving you a total of ten points for Byakko."
"So what is the assignment?" Seita asked.
"On the northwest corner of the island, there is a hidden shrine," explained Shō. "It's called the Shrine of Idesei, where one can summon the spirits of those who've departed regardless if they've already passed on to the afterlife or not. Your task will be to journey to this shrine and successfully summon one spirit each."
"Will you be accompanying us?" Haru inquired.
Shō shook her head. "You must find the shrine on your own. But I will meet you there and supervise the summoning of your spirits, in case anything goes wrong."
This surprised Seita. "What could go wrong during a spirit summoning?"
Looking at Seita like he was an idiot, Shō said, "Did you take away nothing from our previous autopsies on the cadavers? Spirits who died violently are the most unpredictable and will use any means necessary to keep themselves in the mortal plane—even if it involves harming the living. That's why ghost-like yokai such as onryō exist."
"Okay, but what does this have to do with the shrine?"
"If you think of the shrine as an open doorway, you're making yourself vulnerable to all kinds of spirits that might show up uninvited. So one must exert caution when using the shrine. Do I need to repeat myself, Fumito-Kun?"
"No, Ma'am," responded Seita.
From there, Shō went into a lecture on the different forms a deceased person's spirit might take. While it usually appeared as a floating ball of fire, it would sometimes look exactly like the deceased person and even wear the same clothes they wore when they died. This difference in appearance not only reflected how much attachment the spirit still had to the mortal plane, but also the strength of their influence on the living.
"Spirits that appear as flames can only either lead people astray with their light or possess someone with a weak will," Shō described, using the Illusion Spell Gensōtó to create a ball of pale fire and the apparition of a person with no face. "But spirits that look human will cause bodily illness to those they haunt or drive someone to insanity in addition to possessing them."
Hearing this reminded Haru of Daichi, which made him increasingly upset. But he managed to get through it and continue his classes as normal. Then on their way to lunch, Haru briefly walked up to Seita and noticed his kimono sleeves no longer had the white lines he got from lying to Fuwa-Sensei in Charms during their first day of school.
"What happened to the white lines?" Haru asked Seita. "I noticed they were gone weeks ago, but I was too nervous to ask about them."
"Oh, they go away once the kimono recognizes that you've learned your lesson," Seita said. But when Haru gave him a confused look, Seita explained, "So because I lied to Fuwa-Sensei, I got the white lines. But when I told you the truth about being more motivated in class because of our academic rivalry, the white lines went away. Whereas if I kept telling lies or did other bad things, the white lines would spread across the rest of my kimono."
"I see. Then in order for your kimono to turn completely white, you would have to keep doing bad things and not make up for them in any way."
"Yep, and that's why people like Warumo really stand out. Because it takes a lot of guts to not only commit crimes, but to keep doing them."
"And he continues to wear his white kimono from school, even after he was expelled?"
"To him, the white kimono is like a twisted badge of honor. At least, that's what I've heard."
"Did he have a regular name before he called himself Warumo?"
"Quit dallying in the halls, kids!" shouted Ako the Shitanaga uba Caretaker as she was accompanied by her Shunobon companion. "Or I'll have Bambō eat you!"
Bambō licked his pointed teeth in anticipation.
"Okay, Ako, take it easy," Seita said in a calm manner. "We were just talking."
"I wasn't talking to you," Ako said and pointed at Haru. "Ever since you've come to this school, I've had to do more nightly patrols than usual."
"Why is this my fault?" Haru said, not liking what Ako was implying.
"You're cursed, like your father before you."
Feeling insulted, Haru's rage boiled over. "Just because I lost my stepparents and birth mother to an evil wizard doesn't mean I'm cursed! My mother died to protect me for crying out loud!"
"His evil reeks from your skin, boy, even with your mother's seal keeping it at bay."
To be continued…
