Chapter 6

My whole body was overflowing with ryoku. In another moment, sparks would fly from my fingers. In an instant, the kumihimo wrapped itself around my arm like a living snake and merged with the handle of the kaiken.

I ducked, avoiding the swipe of a paw. I threw my fist forward — a strike with the cord and the knife. A flash. A shriek.

My companions didn't waste time. The boys fended off the attacks with chairs; the girls grabbed everything they could get their hands on: chopsticks, bottles of sauce, paintings, and masks from the walls.

But I had the most effective weapon. All I could do was watch the cobra's eyes flash. Realizing that a fight with the living walls would only exhaust us and that we had to find another way out, I turned to the former window. Of course, the door would be better, but the teeth there would be bigger, and the maw, if my premonition wasn't wrong, would be longer. So, the window it was.

"Aska! Don't just stand there!" Satu roared.

I jumped back, giving her space, but I swayed and almost ran into the wall. I rolled away, tumbling to the side, getting out of the path of the claws' strike. I got back on my feet and lunged toward the window.

The kumihimo with the knife plunged straight into the gaping maw.

"You idiot, it's going to eat you!" Haruka screamed and threw herself at me to pull me away.

The kaiken was stuck. I pulled with all my might; the creature was snarling and whimpering at the same time. It had problems with mobility—it couldn't move.

The kumihimo grew hot to the point where it felt like my skin was about to catch fire. A scream tore from my lips; Haruka gasped and flinched. Apparently, it was burning her too. The cord pulled me across the floor toward the maw. I managed to jump up and slam my two feet into its lower jaw.

"You won't eat me!" I spat out.

And I hit it again. And again. The next moment, I felt a surge of ryoku and abruptly raised my hand, with the kumihimo immediately lashing out behind it. The creature shrieked horribly; a flash of purple light sliced it in two.

Shreds of flesh and splashes of blood flew at us. Haruka and I immediately dropped to the floor; shouts from our companions were heard from behind. Praise the Weaver, there was no pain there.

Fresh air poured into the room.

"Let's go!" Hideo shouted and was the first to boldly climb out through the defeated monster. "Bring the wounded one."

That was a reasonable plan.

We immediately helped Chou get up and grab onto Hideo with her good hand; he held her and then carefully lowered her down.

Misaki went next, then Satu, then Haruka. The boys from the Tokugawa School proved to be gentlemen; no one tried to escape through the newly created exit first. Even the tall, skinny boy who had been injured just shook his head and pushed me forward.

"You go first."

I had just taken a step toward the thing that had recently been baring its teeth and threatening to swallow us when I heard a strange hiss. I turned my head, trying to find the source of the sound. Nothing seemed to be there. The other maws were growling and gnashing their teeth, but they couldn't reach us. What was that?

"Aska, come on," Hideo called, holding out his hand.

I frowned but didn't linger, easily hopping onto the former windowsill. His firm hand didn't get in my way, as it was disgusting to stand on the still-warm flesh. And only when I was on the ground did I breathe a sigh of relief.

Thank the gods.

Next to freedom was the wounded student from the Tokugawa School, then two more boys, Garu, and, finally, Hideo.

He was grim. He looked from me to the eatery. From the outside, by the way, no one would have thought that "At the Mountain" had gotten such cute pets. Right up until their eyes fell on the ripped-out window and the remains of the monster.

It only just dawned on me that I was thoroughly splattered with its blood. My clothes, hands, hair, face. Ugh. I needed to wash urgently, as it was impossible to walk around Nozu and then go to the Gozen School in this state.

I met Hideo's gaze. What was he so thoughtful about? Just like the teachers when you stand on their rug and they tell you how not to behave. He even narrowed his eyes. He was strange. And he had just offered to buy a ribbon for my hair. Sigh, it turned out that a man's heart was so fickle.

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He quickly walked over to me, grabbed my left wrist, and examined it carefully.

"What was that you had?" he asked in a tone that brooked no arguments.

The Weaver's gift. Oh, for heaven's sake... At that moment, I hadn't thought that anyone might question why a kumihimo shimmering with ryoku was coming out of my hand. At least, Director Tetsuya wasn't surprised at all, and I hadn't been told, "Hide it. Hide it from everyone and don't even think about showing it to anyone. Otherwise, it will be very bad." But now there was something to think about.

"Your salvation, you idiot," Satu's voice suddenly chimed in. "Isn't it obvious?"

"I'm not talking to you," Hideo retorted sharply, not taking his eyes off me.

It was a nasty, unkind look. And his fingers squeezed my wrist.

I pulled my arm away. That's all I needed! After Koji and the Director, I wasn't fazed by this; they had disciplined me plenty.

"It's..." I began, quickly coming up with an answer.

The eatery trembled. A black fog, so... alive and dense, enveloped it from all sides. And the familiar hiss was heard again.

"Let's go, quickly!" Garu commanded.

Everyone obeyed, rushing away to avoid another trouble. None of us wanted to linger near the cursed eatery.

We had only run a decent distance to a ceramics shop with an elaborate, bright sign when we were able to see a crowd gathered near the eatery. So, in front of everyone was Teacher Koji. But it was impossible to make out what he was doing there. Was he even doing anything? I could only see his back, and "At the Mountain" was shrouded in darkness, which was pierced by white flashes.

"You're alive!" Tehiko's clear voice reached us.

She immediately flew over to us, followed by a man in light clothes with hair a silvered with gray. A teacher from the Tokugawa School, it seemed. We were quickly checked over; a look of relief appeared on Tehiko's face.

"Chou, we're going to the healer right now," she said. "And boys, help your friend."

I glanced at Koji. He stood there, like a statue in the Weaver's temple. The warehouse that Satu and I had cleared suddenly came to my mind. Back then, to get rid of the nasty things that had appeared because of the plaques, Koji had done something. And the darkness was very similar. And the hiss, if I wasn't mistaken, was from it.

And a good question immediately arose: what exactly was the teacher controlling? Back then, he had told me to keep quiet, but here, he had still used his power. But... the darkness didn't extend from his feet, didn't break away from his fingers like a web, and didn't swirl above his head. Maybe he could use something like an amulet or some artifact to destroy a cursed object, but still use his own ryoku? Very interesting.

"Aska?"

I turned to Tehiko's voice.

"Yes, Teacher, my apologies."

"Teacher Koji will catch up with us. Let's go."

...After a while, we managed to visit a small bathhouse on the outskirts of Nozu, clean ourselves up, and even get some clothes that were very similar to our keikogi, but made of cheaper material. Then we were led to a tea house, where we sat on the floor and waited for a well-deserved soup.

Chou's arm was bandaged, and Kai, the injured boy from the Tokugawa School, had several bandages and a splint, as his arm was seriously hurt. Thank all the gods, the guys didn't feel too bad.

I sat, cupping a bowl of green tea with my palms, and blissfully narrowed my eyes. The townspeople had also helped us, not standing aside. It turned out that we had managed to remove the curse, even if it was in such an exotic way.

"A house can become a mado-noroi," Chou said quietly, "if someone deliberately put a curse on it and enlisted the help of a tsumi. Then evil power is breathed into the dwelling, and the mado-noroi craves food."

"Well, let's say we went in," Haruka pointed out.

"Dinner is served," Satu scoffed, taking a sip of tea.

"...and what if there's no one to eat?" my friend continued, ignoring her.

"Then the mado-noroi falls asleep and waits until prey comes along," Chou explained. "After all, we walked into a normal eatery at first."

"I'm more concerned about what happened to the owners of 'At the Mountain,'" I remarked.

"That's a good question," Hideo nodded.

"They're usually eaten first," Teacher Tehiko said grimly.

We all shuddered, clearly imagining the horrible scene.

"How..." My mouth went dry; I had to swallow. "How is this curse cast, anyway? And how long has it been on this house?"

"I hope Teacher Koji finds out," Tehiko sighed. "He stayed there with..."

"With our teacher," Garu said and, frowning, looked into his cup. "So much for a nice trip to Nozu."

"Who would have known how this trip would end," Satu grumbled.

Chou just pressed her bandaged arm to her chest. I had a strange feeling that she had something to say, but the girl just didn't dare. Or, on the contrary, was she glad that no one was asking questions?

Just in case, I made a mental note: catch her at school and ask her some questions. She clearly knew much more than she was saying. The granddaughter of an onmyoji — that was a very good thing; it was a treasure trove of useful information.

But Tehiko wasn't in a hurry to question her. Either the teachers already knew everything, or there was a reason not to talk about it in front of all of us. No matter how you looked at it, the boys from the Tokugawa School were strangers.

The wooden door slid open quietly, and a pleasant-looking woman brought our food on a tray.

"I'll bring more in a moment," she told those who were left without soup.

I inhaled the scent. Oh, Weaver, I hope this time no window will open its mouth for my portion. After all, I was just a simple girl from the Gozen School, and I wanted to eat. Not solve problems with mado-noroi and other curses. We had gone to the city to relax, not to fight evil spirits. By the way, that's another good question: were these living houses a normal thing here, or not? I hadn't come across any information in books, and people didn't talk about it, but it was clear that they had already encountered something like this. At least, the teachers weren't surprised.

Ah, the deeper into the forest you go, the more tsumi there are.

I shifted my position and once again caught Hideo's gaze. I really wanted to stick my tongue out at him but held back. Otherwise, they'd start lecturing me, and I wasn't in the mood. He definitely remembered my kumihimo, but I wasn't going to talk about it.

Our soup arrived just as I was thinking that I myself was about to turn into a mado-noroi and devour everyone around me.

"So what was that with your hand, Aska?" Hideo whispered to me, leaning in so no one else could hear. "You never answered me."

I almost dropped my chopsticks. What a scoundrel.