Golden Days

by Gakuto Mikumo

  Right in front of the café was the western entrance into Keystone Gate. Together with it was a see-through elevator that went to the topmost floor and a studio from which FM Itogami, Itogami City’s local radio station, was broadcast. Kojou and Yukina had gone out of their way to check the place out because Asagi was supposedly being broadcast live on air. If the real Asagi was visiting the radio station, waiting there might give them a glimpse of her as she passed—or so went their faint hopes.

  At any rate, they weren’t the only ones who’d had that idea. People who looked like Asagi fans were gathering around the studio, waiting to catch a glimpse of her. It was clearly a stakeout. The fans on standby numbered close to thirty people in all. Most were high school students, and the ratio of male to female was around six to four in the girls’ favor. Witnessing this, Kojou felt renewed appreciation for Asagi’s popularity as a local idol.

  “Not gonna eat, Himeragi? This place is pretty famous, apparently.”

  Kojou pointed at the donuts placed atop a tray as he posed the question. They’d ordered a significant amount of food so they could stay at the café for a while. All the reviews said that the donuts at this location were pretty tasty, but unfortunately, Kojou was in no condition to eat fatty foods that day. His stomach hadn’t yet recovered from the onslaught of rice balls earlier that morning.

  “No, I… Sorry, I am not very hungry,” Yukina answered as she cast her face downward. She’d barely touched the orange juice she’d ordered. If Kojou’s memory served correctly, Yukina hadn’t eaten breakfast, either.

  “No need to apologize, but are you all right? You’re a little pale, y’know.”

  A wave of concern washed over Kojou’s face as his eyes locked onto Yukina. He’d been worried about her ever since visiting Asagi’s place, but Yukina seemed a little frail that day. She had a fair complexion to begin with, but she looked especially pale now. Her eyes looked bleary, too, almost feverish.

  But for some reason, Yukina firmly shook her head and said:

  “No. There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m sure I’m just experiencing a minor dip in body temperature.”

  “…Low body temperature?”

  You’ve gotta be kidding me, Kojou expressed with a scowl. Itogami Island, floating right in the middle of the Pacific, was pretty hot even in winter due to the warm ocean currents and humidity. Put more bluntly, it was hot as hell. Furthermore, the open café was getting direct sunlight from the west, enough that just sitting there was making him sweat.

  If Yukina was feeling a chill in spite of that, there had to be a serious problem with her physical state.

  “Kch……!”

  As a grave look came over Kojou, Yukina suddenly coughed in front of him.

  “Himeragi…?”

  “I’m all right. I just choked on something. There really isn’t anything wrong with me.”

  When Kojou nervously rose to his feet, Yukina met his eyes, and he took note of the pained expression on her face. In contrast to her words, she didn’t look all right. Not one bit. Her breathing was ragged and it looked like it was taking all her mental fortitude just for her to keep it together.

  “‘Nothing,’ my ass. You were up early this morning helping Kanase, so even you must be tired, right? Take today off and go home and rest.”

  “But if we don’t confirm Aiba’s safety—”

  “Standing watch here ain’t gonna do anything to help with that, and if we wait, she might contact us from her end. I left her a voicemail just in case.”

  Kojou let out a sigh after his attempt to persuade Yukina. Certainly, the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s movements were suspicious, but the situation did not yet present an immediate danger to Asagi herself. There was no reason to make Yukina force herself to wait when there was no way to know if Asagi would show or not.

  However, for some reason, Yukina became sullen and argued, “No, I’m fine, really, so let’s stay here a little longer.”

  “Seriously, it’s fine. Even your body can have an off day, y’know.”

  “What do you mean by that? Is that sexual harassment?”

  When Kojou tried to talk her down in an offhand way, Yukina glared at him with sharp dismay. Kojou uttered a reflexive “Wha—?” before he said, “Geez. Even when someone’s worrying about you like this, you go and…”

  “At any rate… There is no problem with my body whatsoever. Now, let us try visiting Aiba’s home one more time. This time, I shall use my shikigami to search.”

  “Well, if you’re sure, Himeragi, that would be a big help, but—”

  Kojou’s shoulders fell limply as he yielded to the stubborn Yukina. He figured that a thorough search of Asagi’s home—followed by a hasty retreat—was better than fruitlessly continuing to pelt her with questions.

  After Kojou finished off his iced coffee, he and Yukina left the café.

  Just as they got outside, Kojou was struck by the sense he’d just stepped into an unfamiliar world.

  “Huh…?”

  A chill ran up his spine. His instincts asserted that danger was near.

  “Senpai, pull back! There is a person-repelling barrier here!”

  Yukina drew her silver spear from the guitar case she carried on her back. The metallic shaft slid and extended, and the folded blades deployed like the wings of a fighter plane.

  Swiftly twirling that spear around, Yukina lowered her posture, poised for battle.

  “Barrier…? Wait, when did that happen…?” he murmured in astonishment.

  At some point, without their knowledge, the open café’s guests and staff, plus all the Asagi fans camped out at the entrance, had vanished from sight. Kojou and Yukina were the only people left.

  Someone had launched a magical attack on them in the middle of the city and in broad daylight. The aggressor’s target was either Kojou or Yukina—or both.

  “What the heck…?!” exclaimed Kojou as he noticed an individual quietly walking out of the now-deserted entrance gate. The figure was slender and wore a hooded white cloak that covered their entire body. The person was some thirty meters from Kojou and Yukina, but even at that distance, they felt a distinct supernatural aura surrounding their opponent.

  Rather than bloodlust or hostility, it felt like the calm before the storm. At the slightest provocation, it threatened to morph into a raging hurricane that would mow down all in its path.

  “Senpai, please be careful… That person is dangerous,” Yukina warned, a slight hint of fear evident in her voice.

  “Y-yeah…but they’re not actually doing anything—”

  They’re not even carrying a weapon, Kojou thought, but in the very next moment, there was a soft ting sound as the figure in the cloak leaped. The figure closed the distance with Kojou and Yukina, moving bizarrely, as if ignoring the laws of gravity.

  “Snowdrift Wolf!”

  A pale light enveloped the silver spear Yukina poised. This was the radiance of the Divine Oscillation Effect, able to rend any barrier and nullify demonic energy.

  That radiance scattered odd particles as Yukina leaped forward. Defending Kojou as he stood dumbfounded, she moved to intercept the person in white.

  However, the figure wavered and dissipated right before Yukina’s eyes.

  The feat was achieved through an optical illusion created by high-speed motion of one’s center of gravity as well as a leg feint.

  Yukina’s attack exceeded the reaction speed of beast peoples’, but the figure in the white mantle had evaded it with ease. Yukina instantly twirled her spear around, launching multiple rapid-fire attacks, but even so, she could not land a hit on the person in white.

  As if to mock Yukina’s sense of urgency, the figure in white slipped past her barrage, landing right in front of Kojou as he stood still.

  Kojou reflexively went on guard when he was caught by the fingertips the figure in white trained toward his chest. The fingertips unleashed an invisible blade woven from magical energy.

  “�
�?!”

  With an incoherent cry, Kojou’s body was sent flying. His uniform was spectacularly torn over his chest, and fresh blood spilled from his throat. Were Kojou not an immortal vampire, he would have died right then and there.

  “Akatsuki-senpai!”

  The sight of Kojou wounded brought fresh rage to Yukina’s eyes. She slammed the butt of her spear into the ground, utilizing the recoil to close the distance with the figure in white in one bound, using her body weight as she unleashed a blow at maximum speed.

  Then, with its back still turned toward Yukina, the figure in white eluded that attack with ease.

  The gap in their strength was dizzying. Yukina, a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency, was being toyed with. The difference was too great.

  The slight shake of the head beneath the white hood denoted the assailant’s disappointment. Then the slender silhouette twinned itself, making Kojou feel like he was seeing double.

  “The hell…? What gives…? Now there’s two of ’em?!”

  Kojou’s jaw nearly hit the ground as the cloaked person’s body copied itself before his eyes. This was no momentary afterimage, but rather, a true double. The person had magically created a clone so as to defeat Kojou and Yukina simultaneously.

  The two figures in white cloaks each extended their left arms. Countless spheres of light appeared amid their outstretched palms. The spheres gradually increased in radiance, transforming into sharply tapered arrows of light.

  “Spirit archery?! That technique, it can’t be—!”

  Yukina’s expression stiffened in fear.

  Beneath the hoods that covered their heads, the figures’ red-dyed lips curled upward.

  “—I, Maiden of the Lion, Sword Shaman of the High God, beseech thee!”

  Retreating, Yukina re-brandished her spear, lowering her eyes as she quietly got her breathing under control. A solemn chant trickled out from her lips. To protect Kojou, unable to move due to his injuries, she was deploying a barrier to nullify magical energy.

  No matter how powerful the magic of the white-mantled figure, it could not breach a Divine Oscillation Effect barrier. However…

  “Too slow—”

  Before Yukina could complete her barrier, the ground at her feet split open.

  Emerging from the crevice was a moving corpse bound by a rusted chain. Flesh had rotted and fallen from its entire body, leaving intact only the sinews connecting the bones to one another. Its skull was a hollow cavity, containing neither eyes nor a brain. And yet, the skeleton raised a rusted spear, impeding Yukina’s ritual spell.

  “Ku… Aa…!”

  Snowdrift Wolf in hand, Yukina parried the blow from the spear wielded by the skeleton. Still, the skeletal soldier continued swinging its weapon with overwhelming brute force. The small-statured Yukina was sent flying helplessly through the air, landing hard on the asphalt road.

  “Himeragi?!”

  Kojou dragged his wounded body along as he forced himself to his feet.

  The skeletal soldier that had assaulted Yukina was a magical familiar belonging to the cloaked figure. It was much faster than it looked, and it possessed overwhelming strength impossible for any normal living creature to match.

  However, it was neither the skeletal soldier’s characteristics nor its physical strength that made Kojou gape. Rather, it was the fact that the skeletal soldier poised its rusted spear with the same movements as Yukina. Their stances were the mirror image of each other. The attacks delivered while in those stances were the same, too—the attacker’s familiar was employing the techniques of a Sword Shaman.

  “Shit… From this distance…”

  Kojou glared, clenching his jaw as the ferocious battle between Yukina and the familiar continued. If he employed the power of a Beast Vassal—a summoned beast dwelling within his own vampiric blood—defeating the skeletal soldier would be simple.

  However, Kojou could not use a Beast Vassal as long as Yukina was nearby. After all, Kojou’s Beast Vassals were too powerful; he was sure that Yukina would inevitably suffer collateral damage.

  “Apologies, but I am your opponent.”

  One of the duplicates looked down at the injured Kojou while coldly making that statement. To Kojou’s surprise, the voice sounded feminine. The tone of voice had a teasing, unconventional resonance that left Kojou perplexed. Somehow, he felt like he’d heard that voice before.

  “You will behave yourself for the moment, Fourth Primogenitor. I insist.”

  This spoken, the young woman in the white cloak waved her left hand.

  The countless arrows of light she unleashed traced a complex arc as they flew through the air, assaulting Kojou from all directions. Even with a vampire’s reaction speed, it was impossible to evade them all.

  “Ugh—?!”

  Both arms and limbs were simultaneously shot, sending Kojou tumbling to the ground. It didn’t hurt as much as he’d expected. Just as the woman had stated beforehand, he could not move. The arrows piercing his four limbs had pinned Kojou to the ground.

  “Sen…pai…!”

  All light vanished from Yukina’s eyes the instant she saw the bloodied Kojou.

  Seizing the opportunity provided by her moment’s hesitation, the skeletal warrior thrust its spear. From its base, the tip of the rusty spear was sliced apart like soft candy, and the pieces fell to the ground.

  Without warning, Yukina thrust her spear forward and reduced the skeletal soldier’s entire body to dust.

  The white-mantled figure controlling the familiar showed signs of disquiet for the first time.

  “Ah… Aaah… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!”

  Yukina’s voice was strained. It was neither a cry nor a shriek, but a sad, painful scream. Snowdrift Wolf unleashed a beam of light so brilliant that it hurt to look at. Arrows of light loosed by the figure in white were all engulfed by the beam, vanishing.

  “Himeragi…?!” Kojou murmured in shock as he lay pinned to the ground.

  The two clones launched a simultaneous attack against Yukina. These throwing-blade attacks were the same as that which had gouged a hole in Kojou’s chest with a single blow. However, in spite of the countless optical illusions that came with these attacks, Yukina evaded each and every one.

  Yukina leaped and, in a flash of light, drove her silver spear straight through the second white-mantled figure.

  The mantle covering the body of the assailant made a dry sound as it fell to the ground.

  The clone vanished, and the remains of the skeletal soldier also disappeared like in a puff of smoke. The arrows pinning Kojou to the ground vanished as well.

  Confirming this, Yukina’s body wavered, depleted of strength. The radiance emitted by Snowdrift Wolf faded as well, and Yukina, unable to bear the spear’s weight, dropped to her knees.

  “Himeragi?! Himeragi, keep it together…!!”

  As Yukina’s ragged breathing resumed, Kojou raced to her side.

  Gazing at the sight of the pair, the assailant pulled off her white cloak as she sighed.

  The unveiled face of their assailant was that of a beautiful woman.

  She looked young, but Kojou couldn’t place her actual age. She had skin so pale that it was almost translucent. She had light-green hair—and eyes of the same color. The bridge of her nose made her face seem deeply chiseled. And she had pointed ears. She was a demon—an elf.

  They were exceptionally rare demons, to the point that Kojou, resident of a Demon Sanctuary, was setting eyes upon one for the first time.

  “Goodness. When I heard you had employed Divine Possession against Natsuki Minamiya, I thought perhaps this was the case. This power… It is indeed so, I take it, Yukina?”

  The elven woman posed the question as she stroked the black cat in her arms. As Yukina borrowed Kojou’s shoulder, her entire body went rigid like that of a frightened child.

  Kojou clenched his jaw, shifting an angry gaze toward the elf as he growled, “You… Why do you know about Himeragi…?!”
r />   “Ma…ster…” As if interrupting Kojou’s question, Yukina addressed the elven woman in a trembling voice.

  In response, the tall elf’s green eyes shot Yukina a frigid stare.

  Kojou glanced back and forth between the pair’s faces with a thoroughly confused expression on his own. Kojou knew of only one person Yukina addressed as master: Yukari Endou of the Lion King Agency—the individual acting as Yukina’s mentor.

  “Master… Huh? Meaning, wait, you’re the actual person behind Professor Kitty…?!”

  This time, it was Kojou who gawked while staring at the cat in the elven woman’s arms. The cat had glossy black fur and golden eyes. Its slender collar was adorned with chrysoberyl. He certainly remembered the cat; it was the familiar controlled by Yukari Endou.

  “Surely you knew. When did you first realize it, Yukina?” Yukari inquired.

  Yukina, trembling, said nothing in reply. Averting her eyes from her master, she did nothing but bite her lip.

  “Now what shall we do? Though, having confirmed it with my very own eyes, it is not something I can simply overlook.”

  Speaking those words, Yukari crouched down and reached for the silver spear. Yukina gasped, clutching Snowdrift Wolf against her chest, resisting Yukari’s attempt to take it away.

  “You mustn’t… Master, I can still…!”

  “Yukina!”

  Yukari scolded Yukina with a sharp voice. However, Yukina did not let go of the spear.

  “Hey, hold on! Why the hell is Professor Kitty attacking Himeragi?!”

  Still unable to comprehend the situation, Kojou wedged himself between the two. He thought if he simply sat and watched, combat between master and disciple might recommence at any moment.

  As he did so, Yukina gently drew her lips close to his ear. Then, she spoke sharply and rapidly, “Senpai, we need to run!”

  “Huh?! Run—?”

  How? Kojou meant to ask, but before he could, Yukina scattered ritual scrolls from the hem of her uniform.

  “Tch.” Yukari clicked her tongue. Naturally, she hadn’t expected the overly serious Yukina to defy her at a time like that anymore than Kojou had.

  “Reverberate—!”