Seventy-Ninth Spell: Unexpected Turn-Up

A loud yipping sound caught Haru off-guard as he looked up the slope. The yipping was then followed by the light of two lanterns held by Rakurai Higa and Sayuri Shō respectively. Hikari was with them and at her feet was her Inari Kitsune familiar Kusano.

"Ryuji!" Hikari shouted. "What are you doing with that Shinchū Yokai?"

"That Shinchū happens to be one of this island's main guardians," Higa said before addressing the giant moth creature standing next to Haru. "Were you chasing the Onryō I've been trying to catch, Faloni?"

"I was," Faloni answered stoically. "Then I caught his scent and followed it to this boy, which led me to the Onryō you've been pursuing and Warumo-uragi."

Higa gripped his Kurami Sword hilt tightly. "Did you subdue them?"

"No, they both disappeared simultaneously. But I found something else."

Realizing Faloni was referring to him, Haru walked up to Higa and showed him the Kodama's body. While Higa's brow furrowed, Shō was strangely calm.

"The Kodama's wounds are too deep to heal," Shō stated, taking the body from Haru's hands. "We'll have to give the Kodama a proper burial in the tree it was born from to prevent the tree from becoming permanently cursed."

"What do you need for that?" Higa asked.

"Some incense, a knotted rope, and my beads," Shō instructed. "We'll need to perform this ritual first thing in the morning, since it's too late to do it now."

"Do Ryuji and I need to be present?" Hikari asked.

"No, you two have been through enough tonight," Shō said and looked at Haru. "Especially you, since you clearly didn't listen to my instructions."

"I did listen to you, but then I was attacked by Daichi!" Haru explained. "Then Warumo showed up, and I probably would have died if Faloni didn't save me."

"How do you know the person was Warumo-uragi?" Shō asked, not believing Haru.

"It was the same man who attacked my Manai parents. He wore a white robe and a mask shaped like a snake's face."

"That sounds like Warumo-uragi to me, since he always wore that stuff in past sightings before he disappeared," Higa said, backing up Haru's story.

"And Daichi is the same spirit who touched you on Obon," Shō recalled. "Then that confirms she is the Onryō who's been causing all these injuries to the animals on this island, and may have had a hand in the Kodama's death."

"Warumo confirmed that when he spoke to me," Haru replied. "He also said my Manai mother's spirit was summoned by him, and she was used to lure you away from me."

Shō looked briefly embarrassed. "That must have been the wailing noise, which would also explain why I couldn't find the source of it after I left you."

"We need to get the children back to Mahoutokoro and tell Dōmeki-sama about this new development," Higa said. Then he turned to Faloni, "If you find Warumo-uragi or the Onryō spirits he's summoned, let me know before you kill them."

"Very well," Faloni said and stretched her fuzzy wings. "Remember this, Haru Ryuji: your curse does not define you."

Unsure of what to say, Haru bowed to Faloni as a sign of gratitude instead.

Two weeks later, the Spring Semester for Mahoutokoro started and all the students who had left for Winter Break returned with Ruri 'Rui' Wataka and her siblings among them. On the eve of the first night of Spring Semester, Haru spoke to Rui in private at the gazebo in the school courtyard about what happened to him during Winter Break. Hikari was also present as she added further details from her side of Haru's story.

"You two are really lucky to be alive right now," Rui exclaimed after Haru and Hikari finished talking.

"No kidding," Hikari said irritably. "If I had known Warumo was lurking around this school, I would've just stayed home. And it's all because of Ryuji."

"Why is this my fault?" Haru snapped. "I'm sick of people accusing me of things I didn't do!"

"It's not fair to blame him, Hikari," Rui said, backing up Haru. "He doesn't know why Warumo is doing all these horrible things to him, or what he even wants."

"He probably has a good idea, though," Hikari said. "After all, he was born for some kind of purpose that Warumo had in mind."

"But I don't know what that is!" Haru gripped his omamori charm tightly. "All I know is my birthmother died to protect me from Warumo, and then my birthfather went missing."

"Actually, that's…something I wanted to talk to you about," Rui said. "During my New Year's celebration with my family back up at Aomori, a skeleton was found washed up on a beach near our house. My mother immediately called the Kōsen and they performed some kind of ritual that identified the remains. It was your birthfather, Taka Ryuji."

Finding that hard to believe, Haru said, "How did they know it was him? And were you there when they identified the body?"

Rui shook her head. "No, but I overheard the Kōsen officer talking to my momma about the body. He was telling her to not say anything about the identity of the body to anyone until they figure out what could have killed Taka and why his body hasn't been found until now."

"I hope the Kōsen have a plan for keeping the Maichi Yosoku newspaper from finding out," Hikari said. "Because Taka's death raises a lot of questions."

"That's an understatement," Haru murmured. "It means either Warumo killed my birthfather to keep him from telling anyone about his ultimate plan for me, or my birthfather killed himself under Warumo's orders."

"Both options sound awful," Hikari remarked. "Though it doesn't change the fact that Warumo is hiding somewhere in our school and he wants the Jinsei Stone. We think that Shō might be helping him, since she has a Kurami Sword. But we don't know why Warumo has been trying to use Kotodama Magic on Haru, or put the Onryō Curse on him."

To be continued…