Cantora

MYOGEN DOKKAKUJI!

YOU CONSPIRED WITH JAPAN TO COVER UP HIS EXISTENCE AND THE TRUTH BEHIND THE MIRACLE OF FIRE!

YOU! THE CHURCH!

IT WASN’T A FIREBOMBING, IT WAS MAGIC!

YOU DON’T WANT THE PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT MAGES?! IS THAT IT?!

<Who are you?!>

I’M HIS DAUGHTER! MYOGEN DOKKAKUJI’S DAUGHTER! I HAD TO HIDE FOR YEARS WHILE JAPAN AND SATSUMA WORKED TOGETHER TO PURGE HIM!

The voice was powerful, and certainly seemed to carry some conviction in its words, but sounded a bit…shrill, coming out of Justo’s phone speaker.

“So, yeah, that’s the video they got yesterday in the cathedral.”

“And I’m telling you, that’s the girl that attacked us last week! Her name’s Karen, and if I had to guess her last name’s…whatever she just said!”

Justo and Noe once again congregated on the rooftop of St. Protasio, standing under the shade of the entryway’s awning, and this time they were also joined by Leonor, who was sitting on the ground, back slouched against the structure’s wall. Justo, ever the savvy netizen, had found footage floating around on social media of the assassination attempt the day before on the Archbishop of Funai, Cornelio Fukuda, and had just finished playing it for the two non-mages.

“She’s an actual onmyoji, Justo!” Noe argued. “She stuck us in this weird…illusion-thing and tried to kill us! With this…this floating monster! …I think, anyways. I dunno if she would’ve actually been able to kill us. She struck Leonie pretty bad in the ribs, but when we got out of the illusion she was all better.”

“Huh,” mused Justo, scratching his chin. “That true, Leonor?”

“Yeah,” grunted Leonor. “Hurt like a bitch, though.”

“No, I mean the part about this chick bein’ an onmyoji.”

“Oh, yeah. Made it pretty clear. She used a mantra to conjure up a Hachimon Tonko, and summoned a shiki inside it on top of that.”

“Ahh, I s—”

“Wait, wait, wait!” interjected Noe, crossing her arms as if to call this play dead. “I’m sorry, but layman’s terms, please! That last sentence sounded like Latin to me!”

“Don’t have a very good memory, do you?” replied Leonor.

“HEY!!”

Leonor shrugged. “Just saying. She spelled out her powers for us and everything.”

“Sorry, I was a little busy fighting that monster-thing while being scared out of my wits!” Noe then turned aside to Justo and bowed. “Thanks for taking the sword again, by the way.”

“‘Ey, don’t mention it,” replied Justo suavely.

“That ‘monster-thing’ was a shikigami,” said Leonor, getting the group back on track. “Or a shiki for short. They’re basically familiars kept by onmyoji.”

“Ohh,” exclaimed Noe. “Familiars. Then…does Sachiko have shikigami like that? Or Shunji?”

“Nah,” said Justo. “Most onmyoji ain’t really got a reason to keep ‘em, from what I hear. They’re a pretty weak class of spirits, and they get done in pretty easy by just about anythin’ but humans.”

“Wait,” said Noe, her countenance slowly turning more and more elated, “so I…didn’t actually have anything to worry about? And having an onryo actually makes me pretty strong?”

“Not that strong,” stressed Justo. “There’s plenty stronger spirits out there. But I think that Karen chick wasn’t bankin’ on you bein’ able to merge so cleanly with it.”

“Yeah…” said Noe sheepishly. “Th—That does kinda freak me out a bit. And…it had a name, right, Leonie?”

“Chigadaira Torajiro,” Leonor answered.

“Huh.” Justo scratched his chin again. “Well, ain’t no Christian name, that’s for sure.”

“From what Karen said, it was exactly the opposite,” continued Leonor. “He was persecuted by the Church, and is seeking revenge against the Portuguese.”

Justo clicked his tongue. “Guess it’d make sense why he’d still be pissed off after four hundred years…”

“By the way.” Leonor looked over at Noe again. “I think I remember you saying you’d heard mantras before, right?”

“Mantra…?” asked Noe.

“The chants onmyoji use. You know, like, ‘ommm’.”

“‘OM’!” Noe exclaimed. “Yeah! It—It’s in my dreams. Was in my dreams; I haven’t had them for about a week now. There was this chorus of voices that’d say something like…uh…‘Om Bazabaza Sowaaaa’, or something. On repeat.”

“‘Om Bazara Sowaka’?”

“YEAH! THAT’S IT!”

“That’s Sanskrit. A crude approximation of it, anyways. Used frequently by certain sects of Buddhists, and picked up by onmyoji. So, if I had to guess…”

Noe’s face turned pale from the realization. “…An onmyoji did this to me?” She turned to Justo. “Th—Then we’ve gotta catch them! Whoever Karen’s in league with, we’ve got to track them down! I’m telling you, she knew everything! She knew who my ghost was; she named the archbishop as a target days before all this! Isn’t there anything you can do to mobilize some other people, Justo?!”

Justo clicked his tongue again. “Tougher than it looks, Noe. First off, the fact that Karen used a gun and not any kinda spell means the assassination attempt’s bein’ handled by the plain ol’ police. An’ second off, the Bureau ain’t turned up any evidence of Karen attackin’ you two at karaoke last week.”

“Wha—?!”

“When they went back to check the security cam footage, everything from before about 4:00 PM had been wiped. The joint’s transaction data didn’t match up with her name and description, either; she was prob’ly usin’ a stolen ID. I’ll admit, she’s played this well so far…”

Noe threw her head back against the wall and groaned. “God, this is so frustrating!”

“Yeah,” scoffed Justo. “Welcome to the government. Ain’t nothin’ done efficiently.”

“Th—Then at least Sachiko! Can you see if Sachiko’s around?!”

“About that…” said Justo reluctantly, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “I ain’t been able to reach Sachi since she left the hospital. ‘parently she got real upset after seein’ that the band was goin’ on a forced hiatus, what with her injuries plus all the drama with the leaks. Got into a nasty argument with Merry, too.”

“Oh…” said Noe, with a hint of remorse in her voice. She sighed. “I’m sorry. Really sorry. If—If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt to begin with…”

Justo clamped one hand down on Noe’s shoulder. “Naw, don’t be,” he said, flashing a toothy grin for a split-second. “I think Sachi just really needs to sort out her priorities. It’s true, she’s still under the authority of the Godoh clan for now, but in less than a year that won’t be the case. If I’m bein’ honest, I’ve been playin’ along with her whole ‘hardcore onmyoji’ act, but I don’t think that’s what she really wants. She’s livin’ a lie, and if anyone’s to blame for that…it’s probably me for enabling it.”

He stared out wistfully at the clouds as he gave these words some space.

“Eghhh… Anyways, I need a pick-me-up. Got a smoke, Leonor?”

“Mm-hm.”

Leonor rustled around in her skirt pocket and produced a small white box with a red border. Opening it up revealed rows and rows of fresh cigarettes. But before she could offer one to Justo, Noe darted out and stepped in between them.

“WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!” she shouted. “Leonie, I love you and you’re my friend, but are you crazy?! What if a teacher catches you two up here?! What if they think I’m in on this too?!”

“They won’t,” said Leonor. “Justo and I did this all the time last year. This year, too.”

“Okay, but—why are you even smoking? Where did you get those from?!”

Justo reached around Noe and plucked the cigarette out of Leonor’s fingers. Then he took it in his mouth, lit it, and took a drag.

“What?” he said with a sneer. “Y’think people call me a delinquent for show, Noe?”

“That doesn’t answer my—”

“The nuns give me these,” interrupted Leonor. “Basically all of them smoke.”

“Okay, guess that does answer my question.”

“Want one?” asked Leonor.

“No way,” said Noe. “It’s bad enough having my dad smoke and drink all the time at home.”

Leonor shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Then she took a cig for herself.

And thus, while Justo and Leonor took a quick smoke break, Noe closed her eyes and squinched up her face, trying to block out the blatant violation of school rules taking place right in front of her.

But her ears were not invulnerable. She caught the sweet sound of a gentle, airy voice going up and down scales from far away. She peeked one eye open, and there on the other side of the school roof was another girl, dressed in the button-up shirt and coarse skirt that were part of the uniform here at St. Protasio. Noe bolted into action.

“G—Guys! GUYS!!” Noe shouted in the loudest whisper she could muster. “C’mon, put those out! There’s another girl over there!!”

“Hm?” said Justo, peering out into the distance. “Eh, she’s far away enough. ‘Sides, she didn’t pass us gettin’ there so she must’ve come another way.”

“Th—That doesn’t matter! If she sees us, she’ll—oh, crap.”

The girl had turned her head to them, and was now walking their way. But as her features came into view, something about her smacked familiar to Noe. Long, blonde wavy hair. Big almond-shaped eyes with red irises. A round, spotless face. Could this be…?

“C…Cocoro-chan…?”

“WHAH?!” The girl nearly seemed like she was about to drop to the floor in fright. But, taking a second look at the group she was confronting, she too had her memory jogged.

“Wait… You two are…!” she wagged her finger at Justo and Noe.

“Yo!” said Justo. “If it ain’t Sachi’s partner-in-crime!”

“I—I should be saying that to you,” she continued. “I know you know Sachiko, but who are you people?”

Justo chuckled. “Sorry, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Justo Ijyuin, and I’m an…artist. I’ve done commissions and such for Sachi.”

“Ohh!” exclaimed Cocoro-chan.

“Noe here’s also a big fan of yours.” Justo turned to Noe, who let out a sheepish smile.

“I see! Well, my name’s Teresa Mori. It’s good to finally meet you!”

“Oho!” Justo scratched his chin again. “So you’re a Satsuman yourself, eh?”

Teresa eagerly nodded. “Yes! But my parents are both entertainers, so my accent’s pretty versatile. I’ve always loved having that cultural exchange with Japan; it was part of our concept for FCZN.”

While Noe and Leonor were politely listening along, Justo seemed like he was hanging on Teresa’s every word. “I see…” he mused. But, remembering Sachi’s circumstances once again, he was prompted to speak in turn. “Hey, sorry ‘bout what happened with the group, by the way.”

“Oh, don’t be!” said Teresa. “I don’t think we’ll be inactive for that long. If anything, I think it’s nice to finally have a bit of a break. And I’m sure they’ll find out what really happened to that poor man… I’m actually only here for a few weeks; after summer break I’ll probably go up to Edo to do more training.”

“Ah, that’s good,” said Justo. “Uh… Y’know where Sachi is by any chance, too? I’ve been tryna get a hold of her, but she ain’t gotten back to me. Not that I wanna bother her too much, but…”

“Oh, yes!” beamed Teresa. “She didn’t get back to me for a few days, either, but she just invited me to an onmyoji event this morning!”

Justo’s eager, coy grin quickly dropped. Noe and Leonor both stared at Teresa, wide-eyed.

“I—I—I—” Justo stuttered. “I’m sorry, a what now?”

“Onmyoji event!” replied Teresa cheerfully. “Yes, did you know that Sachiko’s a practicing onmyoji?”

“N—N—No. I did not.”

“Oh! Well, I’m sure you knew her parents run a shrine, right?”

“Y—Yeah. The Godoh Shrine, right?”

“Mhm! And there they practice onmyodo—ancient Chinese-based astrology!” She pulled a slip of paper out of her skirt pocket and unfolded it many times, revealing what looked like a grid with kanji scribbled all over the place. “Not that I really believe in the stuff, but it’s fun to go through all the calculations and see what your fortune is!”

“I…see…” said Justo. “And…is there anything else these onmyoji do?”

“Hm?” Teresa cocked her head in confusion. “Not that I know of, why?”

“…Just askin’.”

“Oh! Well, I’ll see if I can get Sachiko to invite you guys too. Anyways, I need to get going. See you!” She disappeared into the entryway, but popped her head back out a moment later. “Oh, and I didn’t see you guys smoking.” She gave a wink.

Justo, Noe, and Leonor stayed still as statues, eyes glued to the door through which Teresa had gone. Slowly, Justo took his cigarette to his mouth and took a long drag.

“A’right,” he said. “Change of plans. We’re goin’ after Sachi.”