Red Data Girl - Series 1 & 2

My First Familiar - 21

Red Data Girl: My First Familiar
By Noriko Ogiwara
A Translation

Red Data Girl: My First Familiar
Chapter 3: Yukimasa
Part 4 (2 of 2)

As soon as Izumiko had gone back upstairs, Miyuki unbuttoned his disheveled shirt and hung it on the back of one of the dining room chairs. Then he pulled off his t-shirt and flung it away as well.

"It's probably better if you don't take off your pants," Sagara advised. "We're in someone else's house and you never know what'll happen,"

"I know that. You don't have to say it," Miyuki snapped.

"Whenever we meet, you're always mad at me, Miyuki," Sagara said, making a sad face. "Can't we just get along once when it's just the two of us?"

"When you're this pleased with yourself, it makes me feel sick,"

With a huff, Miyuki turned around, grabbed his shirt, and headed towards the bathroom. When he returned from hanging it up, Sagara had a can of beer. Eyebrow raised, Miyuki walked up to the sofa and looked down at him.

"Isn't it bad manners to drink someone else's alcohol in their own home without permission?"

"The only thing in the fridge here is beer. It was either choose tap water or choose beer. You'll have to drink the tap water."

"Yukimasa,"

Miyuki lowered his voice and folded his arms across his chest.

"You might have won over Izumiko from the start, but you can't trick me this easily. When we were lost in the storm, you looked like you knew what was going on. No matter how I try to explain it to myself, it doesn't make sense."

Sagara took a sip of his delicious looking beer and then crossed his legs.

"What was it that gave me away?"

"I was next to Izumiko when she was scared to death. Then the moment you come walking up as calm as can be, she's fine. You have some sort of power and I think my exorcism worked. You were able to explain it away, but the thing that Izumiko was so scared of was probably you. Now I just have to find a way to prove it."

Miyuki took a breath before continuing.

"If we hadn't been stopped, Izumiko and I would have made it to the house on our own. Come to think of it, why did the barrier around this house even let you in? Could it have been that Yukariko sensed danger and was running from you? If you're at the root of all this evil, I wouldn't be surprised at all."

Sagara turned his warm, brown eyes towards Miyuki. Miyuki's own eyes were dark with anger from uttering his thoughts. They didn't look anything alike for being father and son.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you feel this way. Her true nature is to run. But the ascetic monks are nearby and we must use all our strength to catch her when we want something. When you look at it from our point of view, we want her power and we want to benefit from her. Businessmen, politicians, religious leaders, professors... all those people probably want the same thing from her. Because everyone wants power."

Miyuki stared at him.

"Businessmen and politicians and... Do you mean the whole world's after her?"

"Due to globalization, she's probably caught people's interest outside of the country."

"What kind of power does Izumiko have?"

As Miyuki asked, Sagara looked at his beer.

"When you ask what sort of power, there's a number of different opinions on that. According to the ascetic monks, she conveys secret messages from our ancestors and is a connection to the power of the mountains. We learn through strict training and trials in the mountains and as it is, one's own abilities are important. But in rare situations, a person is born purely with power and no training is necessary. Those people have always been women."