Deep thinking

Yoshio entered the student library with the practiced ease of someone who had been there many times, expertly navigating through the aisles. He casually looked at his watch, realizing he had half a day to read through the history books, and turned to the bookshelves that interested him.

Turning towards the bookshelves that caught his interest, he began scanning the spines. After selecting a few promising tomes, he placed them on a nearby table in one of the quieter sections, away from the modernized areas with their computers and better lighting.

He then sat down and read several chapters from each of those books. The information he gathered was not new. However, he read about the general history picture of the Hōki to Enryaku eras in greater detail, refreshing his memory. The times were messy, as one would expect from the period. If he had calculated it right, Emperor Kanmu was the one who had murdered the last remaining daughter. There were no details regarding Kanmu's father's deal with this family though. He started to think maybe the Fujiwara clan, that at the time was the most influential one, might have also been interested in removing the random daughter, who would threaten their future power balance in court, given how much they liked to marry their own daughters into emperor's families. Back then killing someone who seemed like a nuisance, or just out of spite was a normal thing to do anyway. So even the motive to revenge the person who did not comply with the Emperor's orders seemed enough. Moreover, it was also true, that the Emperor did not even have to say anything directly, for his vengeance to be executed by literally anyone loyal to him.

Looking through the books, Yoshio could not help but feel disappointed, and also, a bit annoyed. That old umbrella yokai, who surely knew more than he'd shared, had been frustratingly vague. Why conceal what should be historical facts? It was unclear why he would hide some random historical facts, as it was his job to share them. Also, this male-centered power/aura seemed stupid, as it probably was not the case at all. Could it have been just a rumor to harm the family or a pre-tense the Emperor had created because he wanted to marry into the family for some reason? Maybe the mother was that beautiful? After all, wars had started for lesser reasons, so why not create a myth like that too?

The entire situation still seemed ambiguous because he could clearly see a pink aura around Sora, and the creep yokais were always crawling nearby. He definitely should look into whether they were actually humans, as he suspected that she didn't look particularly special to human men. The man he saw when they met for the first time seemed normal, but he could have been a young yokai who had recently manifested in a human body. Yoshio mentally noted that he needed to find him to look into that as well.

Yoshio’s thoughts shifted back to the ancient family. Why would they resist marrying into the Emperor’s family? Wasn't it the best thing that could happen?

As he closed the last history book, he glanced at his watch again. Still two hours left. With more questions than answers, he returned the books to their shelves and shifted his focus to something else: folklore, Shintoism, and Onmyodo. Maybe the answers lay in magic, not history. He gathered a new stack of books, diving into them with renewed determination.

After reading for all two hours, this time felt like it had been well spent, as he gained way more insight into things. And what he gathered were several ideas in his mind. First, there is no such thing as "women-centered magic power to empower husband" in existence, except if you are a sexist, patriarchal dude, who wants to sell his wife or daughter to other men; or possibly a servant who wants to create a convenient rumor about a certain family that could be useful to the Emperor.

This means that what the old umbrella told him was only partially true, compared to what really was "the power" they meant. The second alternative, this aura was a blessing or a curse by a kami, or other powerful yokai/ayakshi for either Sora specifically, or her ancestors. Perhaps it had been in her family for generations, unrelated to any husband’s success. Maybe the myth was concocted to obscure the real nature of the power. Which might have no relationship to the historical story at all. However, the old librarian recalled this story specifically in relation to what Yoshio had told him, which meant, he definitely knew something important. Thus, if the story was indeed related, that meant they already possessed that rosy aura around them, and, if true, it might have nothing to do with the success of their husbands, but rather something completely different. Maybe in order to conceal this something the whole idea about the husband was created. But then it does not explain why the creeps want it so much, and why for him (even though feels like he would want this power to himself too) it is definitely not an unbearable desire enough to follow her and really consume it, right?

Suddenly, the realization struck him like a blow: was he being influenced by the aura without even realizing it? Even if he was not consciously willing to consume the "power", he still followed her to her home, and had all these conversations too. Maybe it indeed had to do with the aura then? Was he stupid, not being able to notice that his actions and decisions were based on how to be closer to that woman? Was this aura that powerful then? He felt as if he was tricked into something he did not want to be in. He stood up abruptly, feeling an overwhelming urge to distance himself from Sora.

He quickly typed a message: "I’m sorry, I can’t meet today. Please ask your friends to accompany you home. Yoshio." After re-reading the text, he felt a pang of guilt but knew it was the right decision. Without another glance, he hurried out of the library, trying to shake the feeling that he was being drawn into something he didn’t fully understand.