Seventy-Third Spell: The Namahage Cape
Following the Quidditch Exhibition Match and grueling Fall Semester Midterm Exams, the Mabuki Theater Club's production of Jiraiya the Gallant resumed. But as promised, Haru was no longer Akaji Juro's understudy for the role of Orochimaru. Instead, he returned to his previous role as the play's puppeteer. Though because he had been so busy with rehearsing Orochimaru's lines up to the first show, his puppeteering skills were lacking which caused some issues during the next two performances each Friday.
So Otoma Wan took it upon herself to give Haru private lessons every day after school to improve his puppeteering. And while he did do a better job at the third show, the audience was underwhelmed by Akaji's over-the-top version of Orochimaru feeling like Haru's version was better because it was more 'real'. Yet there was nothing the Mabuki Theater Club could do to change this. Then after Fall Semester Finals, Winter Break was upon the school leaving it nearly empty of teachers and students. Some of the students who stayed were Haru, Cheng, Daizō, and Hikari, whose parents had decided to go to Australia for New Year's at the last minute.
"Why did your parents go to Australia?" Haru asked Hikari.
It was the morning of New Year's Eve and all the remaining students were sitting at the Phantom Table off to the side instead of their usual Clan tables.
"Mostly for research," Hikari grumbled. "They went to Australia to get the information they need for a book they're writing."
Cheng looked interested. "What topic are they writing about?"
"Animals," Hikari answered reluctantly.
"Cool!" Cheng smiled. "There are a lot of interesting magical creatures in Australia, like Billywigs, Antipodean Opaleye Dragons, Lethifolds—
Hikari abruptly got up and left the Student Dining Hall without speaking.
"What did I say?" Cheng wondered, looking at Haru with confusion.
"I don't know," Haru said. "Hikari's just moody, I guess."
"True, but she's never been this moody in the three years I've known her. Maybe she's bothered about something…."
She's probably worried about how to get in to the Inner Library without attracting Inku's attention, Haru thought to himself. That yokai watches the entire school library like a hawk! So it's not going to be easy for either me or her to sneak in.
Later that night, the students and staff gathered in the courtyard to celebrate New Year's with magical fireworks and buckwheat noodles being served down elaborate bamboo slides. This was also when gifts were exchanged or brought to the students after being delivered via crow mail.
Haru managed to get a few presents: one from Higa, which was a bag full of mice his bobtail cat Fuan caught while on patrol inside the school that was for feeding Haru's pet uwabami snake Heshi, a handmade kakefuton quilt from Rui, and a small Ninmenju tree grown by Nayu in her spare time. But instead of budding flowers, the Ninmenju tree had human-shaped heads that laughed at random intervals.
"That's going to get annoying," Cheng remarked after Haru put Rui's quilt over the Ninmenju tree to keep the heads quiet. "I know Nayu meant well, but—
"I'll see if Sabe-sensei wants to add the Ninmenju tree to the school garden when Spring Semester starts," Haru said. "But I'll take care of them for now."
As Haru brought the Ninmenju tree into his room, he noticed a wrapped package on his futon bed that wasn't there before. There was a small scroll attached to it, which he opened and read out loud:
Your mother Kiku left this in my possession before she died.
May it be just as useful to you as it was for her.
There was no name written on the scroll, which Haru thought was odd. So he tore open the package, and found a strange piece of clothing. It was a cape made of straw attached to a red mask depicting an angry face with fangs and horns that reminded Haru of the Oni he and Hikari encountered on Mount Ōe. Long horse hair also trailed down from the top of the mask's head.
"Hey, Cheng!" Haru said as he went into the Byakko Sitting Room.
"Yeah?" Cheng responded, who was sitting near the fire. But when he saw the cape and mask, his eyes widened. "Where did you get that?"
"In a package on my bed, though I don't know who left it," Haru explained and showed the scroll. "There was no name attached to the package either."
"Strange," Cheng remarked before concentrating on the cape and mask. "Do you know what that is?"
"No."
"It's a Namahage Cape!"
"Namahage…Cape?"
"Basically, it's a cape made of straw with a mask depicting an oni face that's either red or blue. Manai people wear them as costumes to celebrate the New Year by scaring the kids into obeying their parents."
From the recesses of Haru's memory, he remembered his Manai parents took him to Mount Ōe on New Year's Eve where a bunch of people dressed in straw capes and scary-looking masks approached him. He was frightened by them as he was only five years old at the time. But his Manai parents were there to protect him, which helped him overcome his fear.
"However, the Namahage Cape is not like the kind Manai wear," Cheng said. "It's enchanted with magic to make the wearer invisible, just like the ones actual Namahages wear."
"Namahages are real creatures?" Haru exclaimed. "Not just the name of the outfit?"
"Sure! The Namahage is a sub-species of Oni that's smaller than their typical brethren."
"How small are we talking?"
"About the size of a regular human. So they make up for their size by wearing straw capes that make them invisible."
"Do they use magic?"
"No, they just have special saliva that they use to bind the straw together for the capes that's non-reflective, meaning light doesn't bounce off of it."
Though Haru was slightly disgusted at the idea of magical spit, he realized he now had a means to sneak into the Inner Library without being noticed by Inku.
To be continued…