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Inyouchuu Etsu Chapter 1 Part 2

Hatsune heard that Yuu would strengthen her senses by allowing the animal spirits to possess her body temporarily so that she would be able to diagnose Yamato and see if there was anything wrong with him.

Hatsune has applied a technique to seal “Yamato”, the demon element that was sleeping within Yamato’s body, away, but she had no idea what kind of impact this encounter with the Oni Princess Azami would have on him. She could only smile bravely and hope for the best.

[I am also one of Ayagami’s exorcists, right? Umm, which reminds me, my Brother is waiting impatiently for you, Mikoto-san and Takeru-san. And also Hatsune-sama as well, as Yamato-san’s representative.]

[I understand…… Let us go then, Miko-chan, Take-chan.]

Seeing the three Shiratori women off, Yuu stepped into the interior of the house.

It was already dark outside the window, and both the inside and the outside of the house was dead silent. The sliding doors were opened easily without making the slightest sound, and a futon was spread out in a pure Japanese-style tatami room, where a young boy was sleeping quietly.

[Yamato-san……]

The boy’s face still didn’t have a good and healthy complexion, but he didn’t look particularly distressed, either. It would seem that the strange and mysterious condition he happened to contract at Ikihimeyama has largely subsided.

(Tachibana Yamato, -san. Half-human, half-demon born from a union of a human father and a demon mother. This person is also carrying the Demon Factor inside of himself……)

Yamato’s father, an exorcist, fell in love with a demon woman who was supposed to be exterminated by him. Yamato was born to such an unlikely couple, but Yuu heard that as a result of that Yamato’s mother was treated as a traitor by her own kin and mercilessly chased after, until she eventually fell and lost her life. After that incident, Yamato’s father also happened to vanish without a trace.

Yamato was then brought up under the protection of a certain exorcist while still harboring the Demon Factor inside of himself that could very well go out of control at any moment. And as Yamato grew older, the Demon Factor inside of him seemed to have grown stronger year by year as well.

(But even so, he doesn’t seem to be chained down by his own fate even a little bit. I don’t feel that kind of despair from him.)

It was only a few days ago that Yuu happened to meet Yamato.

In Yuu’s eyes, who happened to be friends with both Mikoto and Takeru since they were of the same age, even though both of them were of the same sex as Yuu, she considered them to be dazzling and gorgeous. She sensed a powerful spiritual power from Mikoto and a deep intellectual prowess from Takeru.

However, she felt something completely different from Yamato, yet another apprentice exorcist who came to the village alongside the Shiratori sisters.

[Say what!? Yuu-chan, you can command shikigamis at your age!? That’s actually amazing!]

[Whoooaaahhh!!! A cat-eared beautiful little girl! C-cute! So cute……!!!]

[Wanting to support your Brother with everything that you have, that’s so like you, Yuu-chan! Yeah! Really grown-up!]

Not only did he have the blood of a demon coursing through his veins, but unlike her honest and diligent Older Brother, the Head of the family as well as the chief of all of the village’s exorcists, his positive and cheerful way of speaking and carefree nature were positively dazzling.

For her Older Brother Tatsuki, a true veteran exorcist, Yamato seemed to be a special kind of existence just because he had the power of an Oni demon inside of him. She also happened to overhear that Tatsuki was paying special attention to Yamato’s final exam as well. Perhaps her Brother even thought that they would be able to somehow use Yamato for the sake of his own goals.

(I don’t really understand what my Brother is thinking here. But…… If there is something I can do to help Yamato-san, even just a little bit, I want to do everything I can.)

Yuu wanted to believe that everything that her Brother was doing was for the sake of the village, to prolong its peace and prosperity. And that her Brother would never hurt an innocent person.

When the little girl started to concentrate her attention, she gently closed her eyes.

SQUEAK…… a sound similar to ringing inside of one’s ears could be heard, and then it was followed by the silent cry of a cat. In the next moment when invisible power started dwelling inside of Yuu’s petite body, cat ears appeared on top of her head. At the same time, from the hem of her one-piece dress, a lone cat-like tail sprung up energetically.

This was actually a result of Yuu’s unique ability as a medium, Animal Spirit Possession. Perhaps because of her own gentle nature, she was incapable of subduing ferocious beasts and spirits, so she could hardly be expected to have any fighting power at all as an exorcist. However, the cowardly and small animal spirits have an excellent sense of danger. Yuu put her small hand over Yamato’s forehead and begins whispering the words of the incantation.

TWITCH, TWITCH…… with a quiet sound, her cat ears started trembling, and following that, she could feel the pulsation of the Oni demon’s power sealed inside of the boy’s body.

(S-So this is the power of an Oni demon, what intensity, what presence……Even though its barely even awake, I can still feel its presence, but I would rather not direct my attention towards it……)

Right about now, Yuu was not using her own spiritual powers. If she ended up stirring and stimulating the Demon Factor dwelling inside of Yamato into awakening by accident, the consequences would have been terrible and irreversible.

Right about now Yuu was using her Animal Spirit Possession to be able to make a faint outline of “Yamato’s” presence through her heightened spiritual perception. Yamato’s pulse and breathing seemed to be all normal for the time being, and physically speaking he was just sleeping quietly. That’s why the girl let her guard down for a mere moment –––––– and it was in that exact moment that Yamato’s hand, up until now quietly resting under the futon’s cover, got closer to her.

[Huh? Hyah!? Ahn!?]

Before she was even able to realize it, Yuu’s hand, which she had resting on top of her knees, was tightly grasped by a slightly larger hand. His thick and warm palm was radiating a feeling of a strong man unlike herself, and Yuu felt her cheeks dying hot in an instant.

[Ahh, umm, Yamato…… -san? Are you perhaps…… awake? …… Huh?]

At first she thought Yamato had regained his consciousness.

However, the boy’s eyelids remained closed and he did not appeared to be awake. Even so, his hand was firmly gripping the back of the girl’s hand, and even if she reflexively tried to shake it off, but she couldn’t.

[A medium, huh?]

The voice speaking those words certainly belonged to Yamato, even though his eyes remained firmly closed for the moment. However, to Yuu’s ears, that voice right now was nothing like Yamato’s friendly voice. Not at all.

She shivered, and a chill ran down her spine. The girl’s cat ears twitched and moved around her head, and she was afraid that she might faint on the spot from the immense spiritual pressure that was in the room at the current moment. The spirit of the cat that was possessing her body was clearly trembling in fear of “something” else that was in the room together with them right about now.

[No way –––––– But, no way, for something like this to happen……]

[I can feel it clearly…… It reeks in the air. The smell of the exorcists-dwelling town. The smell of exorcists all over the place. However, you, child, yours is a particularly pure power.]

[Ahh, ah!]

There was no doubt about it.

The one who was holding onto Yuu’s hand and speaking with Yamato’s voice right now was not Yamato. It was the thing that was dwelling inside of him, but it was not fully awakened Oni Yamato. An evil and mighty creature with powers that no human could ever hope to possess.

[Ya…… No, “Yamato”…… -san? ……Kyah!?]

WHOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHHH!!!!!! A sudden gust of wind rushed through the room, blowing the hanging scroll from the wall and causing the entire floor to creek and snap.

There was a gust of wind in the room, even though the sliding doors and the windows were all closed shut. It was way too unnatural to be a normal occurrence. And apparently it was the power of the Oni inside of Yamato that caused it.

(Yamato-san’s Demon Factor, “Yamato”! But why? The seal hasn’t been broken, yet he can wield such an immense power!)

Even when she was thinking about it really hard, she would still be unable to come up with an answer. When Yuu, who had almost no practical experience as an actual exorcist, realized that there was no way she could possibly fight in front of a real Oni demon, the girl could feel her entire body stiffening with fear that also froze her heart in an instant.