Abe no Seimei?
Yes. A powerful onmyoji from the Heian period.
Our family, the Miyako clan, bear his bloodline.
I'll tell you all about how amazing he was—
Nah, I'm gonna play over there.
Hey, Arata! Arata!
No, Seimei!
Seimei!
You are Seimei!
I know it! Your blood smells the same as him!
No, I—
Oh, he's up.
Good morning.
Good... morning...
You collapsed at the Citizen's Plaza.
Well, I guess it's understandable.
Sounds like you had a busy night.
Hi there.
I'm Senda, head of the Shinjuku Ward Nocturnal Community Relations Division.
This is our boss.
Nice to meet you!
I was planning on making introductions tomorrow, but...
Miyako Arata-kun.
You've got Ears of Sand, I've heard?
#2 "The White Nekomata of Kagurazaka"
In other words,
Storage #1
Nocturnal Community Relations Division
when you've never heard a language before, but can still understand it somehow,
Ears of Sand
that's called "Ears of Sand!"
Have you ever had it happen when you were talking to a foreigner or something?
No...
So it doesn't work on human language, huh?
You understand what the Anothers say, huh?
That's an amazing new kid we've got.
Yeah.
Um, how have you dealt with the Anothers when you couldn't understand them?
We've used facial pallor, mannerisms, and circumstantial evidence.
Like trying to figure out what a cat or dog's thinking.
I've never heard of anyone in our line of work
in other wards or anywhere in Japan who could talk to the Anothers.
Not in the past, either.
Maybe it has something to do with them calling you Abe no Seimei?
Wonder what that means.
My late grandfather once told me...
Our family, the Miyako clan, bear his bloodline.
Nobody believed him.
Well, you can go for today.
Your shift's over.
Goodnight.
What a weird night.
Yeah, what's with that new kid?
Abe no Seimei, huh?
I thought the exam would get rid of anybody
who had relationships or experience like that.
Miyako
So?
You've come to investigate?
Yes. Here's a present.
April 6th Shinjuku Ward, Kagurazaka
If we know your connection to Abe no Seimei,
it'll provide evidence as to whether the Ears of Sand are real.
According to Senda-san, anyway.
Evidence?
Huh? Arata, you have guests?
Oh, Izumi.
Co-workers?
Thank you for taking care of Arata.
I'm Matsuno Izumi.
Her parents run that restaurant over there.
This is Sakaki-senpai from work.
And I'm Seo, his senpai. Seo's in katakana.
Nice to meet you.
Seo-san's the senpai?
That's right.
Seo got his job the same time Section Chief Senda did.
Huh?! He did?!
Surprised, aren't you?
Well, anybody would be surprised the first time they heard it.
Circular Notice
Hey, you work as a government worker on the night shift, right?
Yeah, why?
Is it something weird?
All my grandfather's things are in here.
I haven't opened it in a long time.
When my grandparents were alive I used to play in here a lot.
When they died and my family moved in, I stopped.
Wow!
My parents said you can take what you want.
That's nice of them.
Okay, I'll go check upstairs.
I guess we should carry out the papers, at least.
Sure.
What? A cat?
I-It stood up?!
Arata!
Arata! Arata!
Arata! Arata! Arata!
What's up?
There's an Another down here that really likes Miyako.
Two tails...
A nekomata.
How do you know my name?
We always used to play together!
A white cat with blue eyes...
Yuki?
That's right!
I'm so happy to see you again, Arata!
Hey, help me up here.
Wait, that's a huge nekomata!
You okay, Miyako?
Yeah.
Arata, what are you doing?
Taking some of the old books and stuff in here out and reading them.
You can't do that!
Your ancestor told me to protect what's in the storehouse.
Ancestors?
Your grandpa's grandpa's grandpa... a long way back.
My former owner.
You've been here that long, Yuki?
Yup.
In the last century or so, you're the only one who's been able to see me.
I see...
Yuki's been here... all alone... protecting the storehouse.
Okay, why not go with us and watch over them?
You must be bored in here all the time, right?
My ancestor wouldn't have wanted you to stay in the darkness forever.
But...
I want to be with you.
Is that okay?
Arata!
I'm so happy!
I actually... I actually...
I was so lonely by myself.
I'm sorry, Yuki.
I should've realized sooner.
Being alone is...
Arata, this place is huge!
It's not like the storehouse at all.
Of course.
Hey, you.
Over here.
Miyako Arata, right?
Arata, you know him?
Taroubou-sa...
What happened to you? Those bruises...
Well, some stuff happened.
I got beat up.
Everybody's against it,
and my dad and her relatives are fighting a lot.
I don't know what'll happen now, honestly.
But you cheered us on, didn't you?
I really thought you made a good couple. That's all.
That made me pretty happy.
So... thanks.
I'm happy, too!
Since I get to talk to you!
I always wanted to!
Yeah. Me, too.
Section Chief Director
Senda
Unsolved Missing Girl Cases in Tokyo
May 13th
Shinjuku Imperial Gardens
The Anothers are quiet today, huh?
Wish it were always like this.
What's that?
A bird?
No, it's way too big for that.
What's on top of it?
A person?
May 13th
Morning.
Hey, morning.
Everybody's here now.
We have something we need to deal with immediately.
On the Shibuya Ward side of the Shinjuku Imperial Gardens,
somebody witnessed a kisha.
A kisha?
Kisha
This is a kisha.
A Chinese Another. A monstrous bird that brings disaster.
It's got ten necks and nine heads, so it's also called a nine-headed bird.
We've been getting reports of sightings for a while now, actually.
In January, it was seen in Kyoto.
February, Aichi. And then it kept heading east.
Aichi in February?
Yes. The Izuna Incident.
What are you talking about? Izuna?
Aichi Izuna Incident Video Documentation
Aichi Nocturnal Community Relations
First, look at this.
Senpai, do we have to do this?
An izuna is a type of weasel Another.
Of course we do, it's our job.
Its tail is made of a metal so supple, it's called "living iron."
It's used in rituals.
Is that them?
B-Blood!
Miyako-kun, got it?
Izuna with their tails cut off were found in large numbers in Aichi Prefecture.
That's the Izuna Incident.
But that's not all.
That's the one from before?
Yeah, it was there.
Shinjuku Imperial Gardens
Head to the gardens and look for traces of the kisha.
One of its necks is continually weeping blood, after all.
Look at all this blood.
It's settled, then.
Is this kisha thing that bad?
This blood excites Anothers.
If a kisha shows up, assume that Another incidents are going to more than double.
That is bad.
All we can do is be careful and work overtime.
And pray it goes away as soon as possible.
Could we talk to it?
I can understand its language.
So I could tell it that it's causing problems and ask it to leave.
Listen, it's an Another. Not a person.
Talking to them is like talking to a typhoon or a volcano.
But...
It's a side effect of the Ears of Sand.
You've got the ability to understand them, as well as guts.
It's making them seem closer than they are.
What will you do if they demand your life in exchange?
Human common sense doesn't work with them.
You should learn more about the scary parts of Anothers.
Human common sense doesn't work with them, huh?
We can't fly for a while.
Those guys are awful.
That's right.
But we can't fight them, so what do we do?
We'll be attacked by a cat or something.
You can't fly?
He found us!
A human found us!
Run!
At a time when we can't fly?
I know this guy!
He's the lowest on the totem pole at Shinjuku City Hall!
The lowest?
The lowest!
Listen, you guys!
What is it, Miyako?
Sakaki-san?
The fairies are upset about not being able to fly.
We need powder for our wings.
But some weird person on a big bird took our powder.
It was a pretty man with long hair.
No, a woman! A dark woman!
They had the eyes of a beast, shining gold.
Storage #1
That's what the fairies said.
An Another on a kisha, huh?
That may be the real problem.
Hey, guys.
Sorry to send you back out after you just got back,
but can you go to Kanoichi Bunko?
To Kanoichi?
They say they need Miyako-kun's ears, and fast.
It's a good opportunity to make them owe us one.
I'll give you the paperwork.
Kanoichi Bunko Publishing is said to have
basically anything you'd want to know about eastern magics.
They're an old clan of onmyoji. They're also a family of magical toolmakers.
They fused British magic with Japanese onmyo.
They make items used to deal with Anothers.
Read this.
Thanks...
They seem to have been robbed, and an Another saw the whole thing.
May 13th Chiyoda Ward, Kanoichi Bunko Publishing
So they want the Ears of Sand to interpret.
My name is Kanoichi Akane, with the Chiyoda Ward Nocturnal Community Relations Division.
I appreciate you coming all the way to another ward to assist with this private matter.
No, you do so much for us...
Miyako Arata-san, correct?
Oh, yes!
They're all talking about your Ears of Sand in Chiyoda ward, too.
Thank you for coming today.
Y-You're welcome.
Who's that?
The protector goddess of the Kanoichi.
Is that... a zashiki warashi?
Yes, that's right.
I'm amazed she agreed to be your house god.
You're not supposed to be able to bind a zashiki warashi.
She allowed us to make her the house god in accordance with an ancient contract.
Contract?
Once every ten years, we cut her hair...
and offer up a dagger made with the Kanoichi's arts as part of a barrier.
She wishes to seal away something beneath it, she says.
And you want Miyako's help for something that has to do with that?
Yes.
If we can't get it back, the seal will weaken...
The oni... The oni is coming.
The bad oni.
Oni?
You can understand me, Mister?
Y-Yeah.
I'm Arata. Miyako Arata.
What's your name?
Suzuka-chan, huh?
That's a cute name.
Akane-san?
Yes.
She wants us to call her "Suzu."
You really can understand her, can't you?
Suzu-sama...
So Suzu-chan, who stole your hair?
You'll get it back?
Yeah.
You shouldn't.
It was stolen by a beast in human form.
They're a cheerful, beautiful, black creature...
But so scary.
Why did they take your hair?
I don't know.
But they said it was almost over.
"A beast in human form," huh?
Theft In Imported Goods Store
It reminds me of what the fairies said..
Koseidou
What did the culprit want?
Theft In Imported Goods Store
A thief has broken into a Shinjuku Imported Goods Store.
The police are considering it a burglary.
The case was...
Hey, that's Koseidou!
You've heard of it?
Yeah.
It's supposed to be an imported goods store.
But it also gets us the magical stuff we need.
Goat gallstones, mermaid scales, burning glass...
Living iron...
Fairy wing powder...
Seo-san?
Let me think...
May 14th
Good morning.
Morning.
Hey, morning.
Mornin'.
You look exhausted.
I was checking on something.
You okay to work?
I'm fine, I said! We're going to Hakoneyama today, right?
Yeah.
There've been multiple reports of strange fires on top of Mt. Hakoneyama.
Isn't that the fire department's job?
The fire department and police have been out there plenty of times,
but found nothing.
So, it's our job now.
May 14th
This is a pretty famous occult spot, right?
Yeah.
It was originally built by the Tokugawa, and served as a military base during war.
There was a hospital facility under it, they say.
Seo, learn anything?
Some kind of seal or entrance.
Why is this shining?
You idiot!
Why would you touch something when you don't know what it is?
Yeah? I'm kinda busy...
Seo, I just got a call from the police.
You were right. It was mermaid scales that were stolen from Koseidou.
Koseidou
Dirt from an old grave...
Could it be?
Ow!
You awake?
Huh?
Where are we?
Probably inside Hakoneyama.
From the height of the ceiling, we're pretty far down.
And...
Yes?
Does it not occur to you to check if something's safe before you touch it?
S-Sorry...
Huh? It's Seimei!
It's been forever.
An Another?!
Good timing.
My present for you just finished.
Present?
What do you...
Good, they're moving.
What is that?
People?
No, those are...
Moving corpses. They're kyoushi!
They're perfect for my reunion with you, right?
Now, have fun, Seimei!
#3 "The Trickster with Amber Eyes"