Tokyo Ravens - Volume 7 - Chapter 2.5

Part 5 
The first class on the next day was planned for the first meeting room. 
It was still early summer. The first meeting room was the biggest meeting room of the Meguro branch, and the scenery of the courtyard was visible through the window. Harutora and the others came to the branch earlier than usual and gathered to sit by the window, waiting for class to start. Their topic was mainly about their visiting Ohtomo yesterday. 
"In the end, Saotome Suzu's whereabouts are unclear. How worrisome." 
"......Nothing we can do. Though they were in the same class, the two of them both left the Onmyou Agency for some time......" 
Though Natsume answered Touji's mutter, she was even more disheartened. She had originally held some expectations before they visited Ohtomo, but even if they had learned that Ohtomo had deeper contact with Saotome Suzu than they had anticipated, they had been unable to obtain any useful information in the end. Moreover, they had even lost their clue, so they couldn't continue anywhere. Hence, it was excusable that Natsume felt depressed. 
They had heard afterwards that not only had Ohtomo been in the same class as Saotome, they had entered the Onmyou Agency at the same time after graduation. But Ohtomo had been assigned to the Mystical Investigators, while Saotome had been assigned to a research division. And afterwards, she had been assigned to the Imperial Household Agency Lingering Spirit Division as per her own request. 
In addition, Saotome had suddenly 'vanished' after working only a year at the Lingering Spirit Division. 
Since Saotome had entered a division of the Imperial Household Agency, almost no one within the Onmyou Agency knew much about her. Even so, the Mystical Investigators had seemed to have pursued her traces before, but ended up without any information and could only give up. The rumor that she had died had spread through the division once. 
But, when Harutora and the others asked about this, 
"She's not dead. That's impossible." 
Ohtomo spoke strangely boldly. 
He spoke lightly about what they knew regarding Saotome when he had been in the Mystical Investigators. 
However, honestly, Harutora and the others didn't know whether what Ohtomo was saying was the 'complete truth' that he knew. What they could determine was that they couldn't get any more information out of his mouth, even if Natsume and Suzuka interrogated him. Did Ohtomo truly only know this much, or did he just not want to say it? Either way, Harutora and the others weren't able to tell with their eyes. 
The adults in this world are all tricksters. If you take everything they say to be true, you'll be unable to stand on your own. 
The words of the Mystical Investigator Chief seemed to still linger by their ears. 
"......Come to think of it, Kyouko, how's the principal?" 
Touji asked after thinking of it. 
"Sorry, I haven't asked. Grandma always comes back home before daybreak - also, she leaves early in the morning. I came here alone. She's really busy recently." 
Kyouko replied with an apologetic face. 
"It might take a long time to call her...... For now, I sent her a mail saying 'I have something to ask you'. Ah, incidentally, I will ask about Saotome. Grandma was always quite interested in what the students did after graduation. Maybe she might know something...... But don't expect too much." 
Kyouko noticed Natsume's gaze, and warned her in a fluster. Actually, there were quite the number of Onmyou Academy graduates. The principal couldn't possibly keep a hold on information about everyone. 
The last resort of their investigation into Saotome had failed, and they were still clueless about the Yakou Academy that Takiko had spoken of. Harutora and the others were in low spirits, yet could do nothing. 
However. 
"Harutora-kun, what's wrong? It feels like you've been spacing out since a while back." 
Tenma suddenly spoke to Harutora. 
Harutora was resting his chin on his hand over the desk. 
"Huh? ......Ah, yeah. I was thinking about some things." 
Flustered, Harutora glossed it over with a smile. 
"Come to think of it, Harutora, you were deep in thought since I ate breakfast with you in the dorm, right? Did something Ohtomo-sensei said make you concerned?" 
"Well, I have a lot of things I'm concerned about after hearing something that long. Right now I'm only thinking of one thing, though." 
"That's interesting. Let's hear it." 
Natsume narrowed her eyes, leaning her face closer in dissatisfaction. It seemed that she had accumulated a lot of negative feelings when their information about Saotome had broken off. Right now, her attitude was prickly as always. 
Harutora shrugged his shoulders. 
"I said it wasn't anything big. It's just that...... Now that I think about it, Senpai's also called 'Suzu'." 
"Senpai? Which senpai?" 
"The one we bumped into when we went to visit the hospital yesterday." 

Natsume also thought of her when Harutora explained this. Natsume furrowed her brows, as if to say 'what are you talking about'. 
But Touji was the one to actually speak. 
"Harutora, what are you talking about. Saotome Suzu was in the same class as Ohtomo-sensei, right? Would a student from the thirty-sixth class still be at the Onmyou Academy as a third-year?" 
"No, I said--" 
"......Bakatora, although I didn't really greet her yesterday, that person was a third-year, and she looks too young, right? Saotome was in the same class as Ohtomo-sensei, so even if their ages were a bit different, she would be at least twenty-five or twenty-six, right?" 
"I know that too! It was just that her name was a bit strange, so I felt that it was very coincidental! ......Also, I'm very concerned about that kid......" 
"Kid?" 
"Ahh, no...... Nothing." 
Come to think of it, only Harutora had seen the boy sitting in the Mini. It was very hard to tell how strange that scene was to someone who hadn't actually witnessed it. More importantly, Harutora was still currently worried that if he said what he thought right now, people would just laugh at him. 
That boy's attire, presence, and atmosphere. 
The voice and manner of speech that he had heard by accident. 
...No, it couldn't be. 
It was just a coincidence that Senpai had the same name. Otherwise, the fact that he was riding with Senpai would be befuddling. 
"Hmm, I'm just thinking too much......" 
"Harutora, what have you been saying recently?" 
"It seems that it's best for you to rest a bit in these circumstances." 
Harutora frowned upsettedly upon hearing the overdone rhetoric of the two. Kyouko couldn't help but giggle after seeing that scene. 
Tenma called out in time. 
"Sensei's here." 
After the door opened, the teacher walked into the meeting room. Harutora and the others sat in their seats in a panic. 
The first class was a lecture. The content of lectures had become deeper after they advanced to the second year. But in the students' point of view, the lecture atmosphere wasn't as tense as practical skills classes. Moreover, this was still the first class in the morning, so the atmosphere in the meeting room was a bit relaxed. 
But, once the man behind the teacher walked in, the students instantly froze up. 
"...Ah!?" 
Harutora's eyes widened and Natsume next to him gasped. Touji, Kyouko, and Tenma were the same. In addition, the students in the classroom all exclaimed in unison and stopped moving. This scene happened to resemble an eagle flying into a cage of small chicks. 
Then, another man walked into the meeting room, but the students' gazes were all still staring at the previous man. The teacher surveyed the students' reactions with a bitter face and coughed deliberately. 
...Why......!? 
No, they didn't need to ask the question why. In any case, this place was the Meguro branch, a branch of the Exorcist Bureau. To him, this was his workplace. In fact, it might have been unnatural that they hadn't seen him before. 
Even so, they still couldn't understand why he naturally walked behind their teacher into the meeting room where they were holding class. 
Harutora stared at that man. 
Then, the man also noticed Harutora and the others. 
Though they had only met once, that was already enough. The man wore sunglasses whose lenses were plated with reflective coating. He wore several earrings on his ears and a choker around his neck. There was an 'X' scar like a knife wound on his forehead underneath his short silver hair. 
He wore a jacket over a T-shirt and wore jeans on the lower half of his body. This outfit was quite incompatible with this location. However, contrasting with his external appearance and dress, the ominous air the man gave off completely rejected the surrounding environment. 
He looked at Harutora and Natsume again. 
"You should have heard, right?" 
The man called out, grinning. 
"Rejoice. This is the best VIP treatment, because I myself will be guarding you guys." 
Kagami Reiji of the Twelve Divine Generals boasted proudly in front of the stunned Harutora. 
The Mystical Investigators' operation against the Twin-Horned Syndicate began simultaneously.