It took Yui only half a day to get discharged from the infirmary. The doctors told us that it’s something of a miracle, as someone possessed by a deity for a few days is rarely being able to recover that quickly. I don’t see it as a miracle, though. It’s just that Yui is very strong.

‘I’m sorry for making all of you worry.’ Yui apologizes while bowing at us.

‘You got that right! Do you know how worried I was?’ Saya hugs Yui tightly while trying to hold back her tears.

‘I’m sorry, Saya-chan. I promise I won’t worry you again.’ Yui assures her childhood friend while hugging her back.

‘Don’t make promises that you can’t keep. You know that’s pretty much impossible to do in our field.’

Yui chuckles. ‘I guess you’re right.’

Tatsuya walks towards her.

‘No, the one who should apologize is me. You have suffered because of my foolishness. For that, I apologize from the bottom of my heart.’ He tells her.

Yui let goes of Saya and gives Him a blank look.

‘Pardon me but, have we met?’

‘He’s the Dragon God that was possessing you.’ Saya informs her.

‘He is? Oh my, How rude of me!’ Yui bows at Him. ‘Please forgive me for not recognizing You on sight.’

‘It is all right. As I have told the others, formality is not required when you are interacting with me. And please, call me Tatsuya.’

‘Okay, Tatsuya-kun it is.’

‘Um, Yui? I don’t think it’s such a good idea to address a God who’s thousands of years old with a kun.’ Saya whispers.

Tatsuya doesn’t seem to mind one bit.

‘As I said, it is all right.’

After the formality’s over, Yui sits together with us at the office.

‘So, what did I miss while I was being possessed?’ Yui asks.

I proceed to fill her in, since I was there when she got kidnapped, right until the part where we rescue her from the lab and got her here. I left out the part where I asked Madoka to find out about the dark history between the priests and Zaimoto’s background since I don’t find them relevant. Besides, the first part is supposed to be a secret among them.

‘All of you must have went through a lot. Thank you for doing all those things for me.’ Yui says to us once I’m done.

‘What are you saying? You’re an important friend to us, of course we would rescue you.’ Saya tells her.

‘Well, you deserved to be thanked nonetheless.’

‘My apologies for spoiling to mood. However, we still have unfinished business.’ Ichika reminds us.

‘She’s right. We still have to go to Mountain Fuji to let Yui and Tatsuya to deal with the Dragon Pulse. And confront Zaimoto.’

Yui raises up her hand a bit shyly.

‘Um, I know we’re short on time here, but can I at least take a bath first? My body’s kind of sweaty, and it’s making me a bit uncomfortable.’

‘No problem. I’ll bring you to the shower room.’ Isa-senpai offers. ‘While you’re bathing, I’ll bring you new uniforms. They’re not the shrine maiden shirt that you usually wear, but please bear with it.’

‘Thank you. They will do just fine.’

‘Hold it, Yui. We’re coming with you!’ Saya says to her while standing up.

‘Aren’t you being overprotective, Saya-chan?’

‘No I’m not. It’s not that I don’t trust this school’s security, but we really can’t take the chance.’

‘Honestly, it’s fine. I’m not as defenseless as you think.’

‘Nope. Saya’s right. We can’t risk it. I’m going in with you.’ I say to her while getting up from my seat.

‘Akira-kun, please calm down! Besides, there isn’t any point if there isn’t any bathtub.’

Yui blushes all the way to her ears after she realized what she just said.

‘I got one at ma room. The two of ya can bath there if ya want.’ Natsuho offers.

‘N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-No thank you! Please bring me to the shower room instead, um…’

‘Call me Isa.’ Isa-senpai introduces herself.

‘I’ll be in your care, Isa-senpai.’

We patiently wait until the two of them return. When they eventually do, Yui is wearing the same uniform as the other female students. I was going to tell her how good she looks on the regular uniform until I saw her worried expression.

‘Is something wrong, Yui?’

‘I just received a letter sent by a shikigami from Zaimoto-san.’

‘...What did the letter say?’

‘To make it brief, he congratulated me from getting out of the underground lab. Next, he wants me to bring Tatsuya-kun over to Gifu. If I refuse, he wrote that lots of priests and shrine maidens will lose their lives.’

‘Why Gifu?’

‘That, I’m not sure.’

‘It’s because Gifu is the hometown of the former Head Priest Tanabe Noburu.’ Madoka supplies.

‘Ah. That explains it.’

Yui, on the other hand, doesn’t get it since no one told her about the grudge Zaimoto has on Tanabe.

‘What does former Head Priest Tanabe has to do with all this?’ she asks Madoka.

I guess the cat needs to be out of the bag, after all.

‘I’m sorry, Yui. I asked Madoka to find out about the history that all of you Shinto priests and shrine maidens are forbidden from telling outsiders. Everyone in this room minus Tatsuya knows about it.’

I was expecting Yui to finally loses her cool for prying out the dark history like this, but she’s not fazed at all.

‘It’s okay. I trust all of you, so I don’t mind even if you found out. But again, what does former Head Priest Tanabe has to do with all these?’

‘The thing is, Zaimoto is the illegitimate son of Shimada Chisato.’

‘I see. So Zaimoto-san is plotting revenge.’

‘That’s the only thing I could think of.’ I agree. ‘I suppose you’re going?’

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‘Yes. It might be dangerous, but he’s holding hostages, so we can’t ignore it.’

‘Please wait. Before we get to that, we have a bigger problem on our hand.’ Tatsuya says all of a sudden.

‘Oh, right. The Dragon Pulse at Mountain Fuji.’ I remember after being reminded by Him.

‘Indeed. Resealing it was the sole purpose I was summoned in the first place.’

‘But, what about the hostages?’ Yui asks with a concerned expression.

‘Did he specified the time for the meet up, Yui?’ I ask her.

‘No. He only told me the location.’

‘Did he told you to go to where he is immediately?’

‘No.’

‘Then it’ll be fine. I’m sure whatever grudge he has is directed at Tanabe, and not those innocent priests and shrine maidens he captured.’

At least, I hope so. I definitely care about their safety, but I deem letting those spirits at Mountain Fuji to do whatever they want to be too dangerous.

‘If you’re that worried, you could send him a letter too and tell him that we’re going to deal with the Dragon Pulse first.’ Madoka suggest. ‘If he can’t wait, we’ll go to Gifu first.’

‘That’s a wonderful suggestion, Kojima-san. I’ll write to him at once.’

Yui takes out a piece of paper and a brush commonly used for writing calligraphy. She quickly writes a few sentences on that paper and patiently wait for the ink to be dry. After that, she folds it to a crane. While I’m still watching, the crane floats to mid-air all by itself and flies outside after Isa-senpai opens the window.

A reply comes flying in the form of another crane in less than twenty minutes. The distance between Osaka and Gifu requires a journey which at least takes two-and-a-half hours. How on earth did some paper cranes manage to do it within ten minutes?

Anyway, Yui opens up the crane and reads the words written inside.

‘What did he say?’ I ask.

She looks up from the letter and nods. ‘He wrote that he’s giving us time to deal with the Dragon Pulse. However, he will not guarantee the safety of the hostages should we even have the thought of dismissing Tatsuya-kun.’

‘Well, I guess one problem’s solved at least. Or partially.’

I suddenly remember another problem.

‘Yui, is there a need for you to fast again if Tatsuya is to possess you?’

‘Not at all. The fasting is only required when I have to summon Him. Now that He’s here, it’s not required.’

I let out a sigh of relief. I can’t imagine waiting three more days for Yui to fast. She would lose even more weight, and the number of spirits at Mountain Fuji might increase by several times.

‘So, are we going ta Mountain Fuji with a choppa?’ Natsuho asks.

‘Yes, but only until we reach the bottom of the mountain. It’s surrounded with anti-electromagnetic mist, after all.’

Natsuho looks extremely dejected after hearing that.

‘Great, we have ta hike da freaking mountain…’ she grumbles.

‘Actually, we don’t have to.’ I disagree with her.

She immediately looks more alive. The eyes she look at me with are full of hope.

‘Seriously?’

‘The whole mountain’s probably full of spirits right now, so we might have to fight our way to the top. That’s definitely a bad idea.’

‘How are we going to da top without hiking it, then?’

I let out a small sigh. As much as I dread this plan, it’s the only one I can think of.

‘Mashiro, it’ll be easy for you if you use your wind, right?’

Mashiro, who didn’t say a single word during the entire meeting, nods quietly.

Isa-senpai gets up from her seat.

‘Now that it’s been decided, I shall prepare a ride for us.’

Sakuya gets up from her seat too. For some reason, so does my girlfriends.

‘We’ll join you.’ Sakuya tells Isa-senpai.

‘It’s fine, Morifuji-san. Please rest up as much as you can. The same goes for the rest of you.’

‘Oh, don’t mind us. We’re just trying to give those two some alone time.’ Sakuya says while pointing at Yui and I. ‘Come along, Tatsuya-kun.’

‘Ah. Yes.’

Tatsuya has the look of someone who has no idea what’s going on, but He got up from His seat obediently. The rest of the Osaka student council follow His lead.

‘Wait, there’s no need for any of you to do this!’ Yui tells them hurriedly.

‘It’s fine. Just enjoy some time with Akira-kun. The two of you haven’t see each other for a few days, remember?’ Saya tells her childhood friend while patting her shoulder.

After they left, I got up from my seat and walk towards Yui. She does the same. We open up our arms and hug each other.

‘I was so lonely without you.’ I whisper at her ear.

She giggles softly. ‘Even with the others around?’

‘Hey, all of you are equally important to me. I can’t calm down if even one of you left my side.’

She hugs me even tighter.

‘I missed you too, Akira-kun. Even when I was unconscious while being possessed by Tatsuya-kun, I still felt lonely. Thank you. Thank you for coming to save me.’

‘Don’t mention it. After all, getting his girlfriend out of trouble is what a boyfriend would do.’

She giggles again. ‘You’re such a dependable boyfriend.’

‘Why, thank you.’

‘Maybe we should get going. It would be bad to keep the others waiting.’

Even though she’s saying that, her hug is as tight as ever. It’s clear as day that she doesn’t want to let go yet.

‘You do realize you’re not convincing anyone with the way you’re hugging me tightly.’

‘Oh my, I guess my arms can only move when you say the password.’

‘Any hint on what the password is?’

‘The thing a boyfriend always say to his girlfriend.’

‘You mean I love you?’

‘I’m sorry, what was that?’

‘I love you.’

‘I still can’t hear you, Akira-kun. You really need to speak up.’

‘I love you.’ I speak a little louder this time.

This went on for a few more minutes until Yui’s finally satisfied. She lets go of me when she has enough dose of my sweet nothings. Right now, her expression is a mixture of pure happiness and guilt.

‘We really should get going now.’ she tells me.

‘Yup. Let’s go.’

When we get to the roof, the others are waiting patiently while standing next to the helipad which has a helicopter parked on top of it.

‘We’re sorry for making all of you wait.’ Yui apologizes to them the first chance she gets.

Natsuho just waves off her apology.

‘It’s fine. Da two of ya haven’t seen each other fa a few days, after all. More importantly, let’s get on.’

‘Yes.’

Everyone lines up n a straight line to take turns on getting on the helicopter. After making sure everyone’s inside, the pilot starts the engine. I notice that Tatsuya looks kind of nervous for some reason.

‘Is something wrong, Tatsuya?’ I ask Him.

‘I have never taken a ride on one of these modern flying contraptions invented by mortals. Therefore, I have not the slightest clue on what will happen.’ He confesses.

‘Relax, these modern contraptions will bring us safely to our destination.’ I assure Him.

‘Very well. I will believe in you.’

I honestly don’t know why He’s being so nervous. He can’t die, for one thing, and He can just fly away if the helicopter did malfunction and explodes for some reason.

It takes five hours and a half to get to Mountain Fuji all the way from Osaka by land vehicles. With a helicopter, we managed to reach it by half the time.

The road to the mountain is barricaded with lots of road blocks with even lots of talismans put on them. I guess this is how they prevent the spirits from leaving the mountains and terrorize the living. And speaking of spirits, all of them are right across the barricades. The long dead souls of every gender, age and sizes can be seen. The only thing common about them is that all of them are Japanese.

Wait, never mind. I see a few western foreigners in the mix too. There’s even a Thai. I know that’s his nationality because he’s gabbling about something in Thai while looking like a complete lunatic. It’s at this point I know I have good hearing since I could hear him over hundreds and hundreds of equally loud and insane babbling the others are yelling at the top of their non-existing lungs.

Anyway, if it wasn’t for the talismans, we would already be overrun by them the moment the helicopter lands. The pilot is to remain on standby until we return. However, he was given permission to depart immediately if the spirits got out of the barricades.

After all of us got out, Mashiro uses her key to opens the lock on her choker. Her left eye immediately turns red. Tatsuya looks at her in surprise.

‘Are you perhaps being possessed by a demonic being?’ He asks carefully.

‘Yes. There’s no need to worry, though. Mashiro has full control of it.’

‘Well, if you say so…’

Mashiro then makes all of us float with her wind magic. From the way Tatsuya is moving, He’s probably floating without her help.

While we’re flying to the top of the mountain, we keep on seeing wandering and wailing spirits. There’s so many of them it’s like they’re an army. Assaf-sensei might become ecstatic if she was still a necromancer.

‘Here’s the deal, everyone. When we got up there, Tatsuya will possess Yui again, and she’ll dance to seal up the Dragon Pulse. While she’s being busy, the rest of us will keep the spirits away from her.’ I brief them on the strategy we’ll be carrying out once we’re at the top.

‘How long does it take for you to complete the dance, Kiryuu?’ Ichika asks Yui.

‘Around five minutes.’

‘Understood. We will make sure that you’ll be undisturbed for that duration.’

‘Natsuho, do hold back when you’re using that Regalia of yours.’ Isa-senpai cautions.

‘I know I know. Even I won’t go bananas around a sacred monument.’

‘By the way, isn’t the view of the mountain grand when you see it from up here? What do you think Akira-kun?’ Sakuya asks me.

‘P-Please don’t ask me…’

‘What’s wrong, Akira-kun? You sounded fine just moments ago.’

‘I’m still fine.’

Yeah, I’m not fooling anyone. My hands are all sweaty, and my whole body’s trembling. I don’t have any access to a mirror right now, but I’m sure my face is completely pale. I don’t know how I managed to sound normal for the first few minutes I opened my mouth.

‘Do you want Mashiro to fly lower?’ Mashiro asks me.

‘No, don’t do that. We might ram into trees. It’s fine. Just keep this height.’

‘Okay.’

Thankfully, the journey didn’t last long. We eventually sees the stones that are lined up in a circular formation and the transparent leakage coming out from the ground. The invisible gas has covered the entire area, making the place looks misty. Surprisingly, there are next to zero spirits around here, though that might change soon.

Mashiro drops us off at the middle of the stone formation. Tstsuya gets inside Yui’s body once we land, and the rest of us surround her while facing outward so that we could protect her from harm. I don’t know whether those spirits have built-in radars to detect their remaining free time to remain on the land of the living or something, but I hear them screaming and wailing and rushing over to stop Yui from finishing her dance.

Right. It’s go time.