Eighty-Eighth Spell: Kokkuri-San
"I've got it!" Hikari said abruptly.
"What?" Rui and Haru responded in unison.
"How we can get out of here," Hikari responded. "We have to destroy the bell over the door at the bottom of the slope, and then quickly open the door before the bell has time to reform itself."
"That sounds easy enough," Haru responded.
"But there's a catch," warned Hikari. "Since the bell took less than a second to reform, we need to be right against the door for us to sneak through it. So we're going to activate the bell at the top of the slope, have the gust of wind blow us down, and just before we get close to the second door I'll cast the Lightning Strike Curse to destroy the bell on the second door."
"Oh, I see," Rui realized. "That will allow us to get blown close enough to the second door without activating the bell on it and be able to open the door right away."
"Right!" Hikari nodded.
"There's one problem with that plan," Haru said.
Irritated, Hikari frowned at Haru. "You'd better explain yourself, Ryuji."
"Every time we've been blown down the incline by the bell at the top, we end up tumbling down. So we would have to get up from the ground and then open the door, which could cost us an extra second and possibly allow the second bell to repair itself."
"Hmm, you might have a point," Hikari reluctantly said.
"We could use the Namahage Cape as a sail," Rui said, holding up the straw cape and mask. "So as the wind pushes us down the slope, we could use this to keep ourselves steady while Hikari destroys the second bell and give us the chance to open the door without falling."
"I guess you both have brains after all," Hikari said condescendingly. "Okay, let's give it a try."
At the top of the slope, Haru and the girls spread the Namahage Cape across their backs with Hikari in the middle while Rui and Haru held the ends to her left and right respectively. Hikari then nodded to Rui, who nudged the door handle and the top of the slope. The bell rang and the wind gust immediately blew them down. Using their feet, the three of them moved steadily down the slope towards the second door.
"Inazugō!" Hikari cried as she pointed her wand at the bell on the second door.
Like before, a bolt of lightning came out of her wand and zapped the second bell causing it to break into pieces. As the wind gust continued pushing them close to the second door, Haru and the girls used their feet to run up to the second door. Haru grabbed the handle and pushed it open, slipping inside while Hikari followed soon after him. But just as Rui was about to join them, the cape got caught in the door and the second bell reformed itself. A second gust of wind briefly blew the door open, causing Rui to fall backwards as the door immediately slammed shut, separating her from Haru and Hikari.
Being in a dark room, Hikari used the Firelighting Charm to see where they were. It was a square room with tatami mats on the floor and a desk with a lantern on it.
"Rui!" Haru yelled, trying to open the door.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't budge no matter how much he pushed on the handle.
"We have to go back for her," Haru said. "Inazugō!"
Instead of destroying the door handle like he thought it would, the lightning bolt instead bounced off an invisible wall that briefly glowed and went flying around the room like a rubber ball causing Haru and Hikari to duck so they wouldn't get hit. So Haru had no choice but to make a slicing motion with his wand, which caused the lightning bolt to dissipate instantly.
"Nice job, Ryuji," Hikari said sarcastically. "You almost got us fried!"
"How was I supposed to know there was a Ward over the door?" Haru argued.
"You should've used a less harmful spell to test that, like the Liquidation Spell Kobutai Huà."
Just as Haru was about to snap, the lantern on the table suddenly lit up.
"Did you do that?" Haru asked Hikari.
"No," Hikari shook her head and held up her wand. "It was lit until I ducked to avoid your Lightning Strike Curse."
Confused, Haru stood up and looked at the table. Apart from the lantern, there was a sheet of paper with various letters and numbers written on it. Over the letters and numbers were the words 'Yes' and 'No' with a red gate drawn between them.
A single bronze Sei coin had been placed on top the red gate, which intrigued Haru. But as he reached toward the coin, his hand was stopped by Hikari. She had a frightened look on her face.
"If you value your life, don't touch the coin!" Hikari said, pushing Haru's hand away.
"What's gotten into you?" Haru asked. "You've never been this scared before, except for the time when we first encountered Nuru."
"This is different," Hikari claimed as she let go of Haru's hand. "What you're seeing on that table is a Kokkuri-san board, also known as Angel."
Haru remembered some classmates at his Manai elementary school discussing something called Kokkuri-san, but he never asked for the details because it sounded scary.
"It's a game where you put your finger on the coin and reach out to a spirit called Kokkuri-san," Hikari explained. "Then she moves the coin across the paper board to answer your questions. After that, you're supposed to send her away, burn the paper, and dispose of the coin—otherwise Kokkuri-san will haunt you forever."
"So is Kokkuri-san a bad spirit?" Haru assumed.
Hikari shook her head. "She's neither good or evil. I would say she's more of a…trickster kind of being, like the kitsune."
"Then you've played Kokkuri-san before?"
To be continued…