HP: Spirit Talker

Is thirteen years a lot or a little? As far as I remember from that life, at thirteen a child already thinks of himself as an adult. At that age we considered our judgment and knowledge sufficient to make our own decisions.

At thirteen, you start to want everything at once, and you don't care about prohibitions, morals, laws, or anything else, the main thing is that I WANT! And at least the grass won't grow! And this period of teenage rebellion lasts long enough to seriously ruin your life and your parents' nerves and relationships with them, because not everyone has the intelligence and courage to apologize later.

And here I am, Arata Miyazaki, a little over eleven years old, sitting in a large hall, on a special cushion, looking at the hero of the occasion. Yoshihiro Miyazaki is the only son of the clan's heir, a favorite, with an evil smile and oily eyes.

This guy, according to the overheard stories (he used shikigami, because I can already do that) of the female workers, has already managed to lift more than one skirt. Even though "the twig has not yet grown into anything," the women said, and then they began to laugh, quietly, but insultingly. Well, I have heard about this: the owner or the elder can "bend" the maid if he wants to.

No, then there will be some kind of retribution, but the fact that a woman cannot refuse is delicately left out. And even with such contemptuous laughter in their own circle, women and girls repay the offender. And this impertinent little fellow sits at the head of the party and looks at everyone condescendingly (tries to) as if he feels like the owner.

I saw him, watched him with the help of his shikigami, which he could not even notice, and this is the probable heir of the clan that specializes in them! He does not surpass me in anything, neither in teaching nor in practice; in fact, he is inferior in many respects; even calligraphy is hard work for him, not to mention physical training.

 I must admit that this boy only shoots a bow and arrow, and it comes easily to him. But he even treats the naginata like a mop, by God! But etiquette! But he acts like a prince of an empire! I wouldn't care, but we're sitting on the tatami, and it's not nice to just sit in front of ourselves!

And there were a lot of people for the holiday! And parts of the clan from outlying residences and allies and vassals, of which there were surprisingly few, only three couples came. But a representative of the Emperor arrived with a gift for young Yoshihiro — a Patek watch, for who knows how much.

But the watch, we must admit, is fancy, and moreover, enchanting in the most "don't spoil" way! I felt jealous because they didn't celebrate my birthdays, and it doesn't matter that I'm older, it's just insulting, or am I not a person and am forbidden to feel? So I sit there, carefully examining people, chewing expensive meat and fish, drinking tea, listening to conversations.

The only interesting thing I caught was a fragment of a sentence about how one of the guests was surprised by a woman from a dead clan who had been seen here somewhere. That's about it. The rest is empty chatter, or discussion of someone completely unknown to me.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was dressed in a conservative dark blue kimono, while everyone around me was dressed in very colorful and obviously expensive clothes. Many wore rings with large stones, women had bright earrings in their ears, and expensive barrettes, knitting needles, and combs in their hair. In short, no one wanted to look modest, and I didn't want to either, but there was no choice. Eh...

And the celebration gained momentum. No one denied themselves anything, everyone ate to their heart's content, drank to their heart's content, whoever wanted to smoke, the smoke was magically dispersed anyway, and there was no stuffiness at all. I watched these aristocrats and thought: "If the boy received the attention of the imperial family, that is, a gift, does that mean that the emperor himself is behaving like these people around him?

 After it became quite crowded, people started dancing and making even louder noises, creating a pandemonium in the middle of the hall. I wanted to leave, but I couldn't — I was given a specific order that I couldn't leave before the hero of the occasion left.

So I sit, bored, watching, because I've already eaten enough, but I don't want to overeat — tomorrow's training will be hard. I just sipped my tea and watched the noisy, intoxicated, and downright drunk people. It even got to the point where some people were putting on carnival masks and making fun of each other.

My high school graduation was more civilized, although we also drank, danced, and made friends with the girls. What's going on here? It seems like an aristocracy, but here is such a "truth of life," and how, one wonders, can one remain faithful to principles in such an atmosphere? I'm disappointed in them.

 They are proud people, they never forget manners, or so it seemed to me. And even though we are all human beings, we all need to relax, but this is already the level of pigs, and I did not accept it even in this life. And this is not an exaggeration, not at all. A good drinking session is one thing, but it is meaningless and merciless. Here, it's not even a drinking party anymore, it's just filth! I saw two married couples exchanging partners in front of everyone, and they started to lick and make out.

Middle-aged people! The fact that very often a man and a woman are sitting, communicating with someone, and their hands are in intimate areas, does not need to be mentioned. And this is the norm for everyone. I actually got chills when several men and women put rag masks over half of their faces and started randomly kissing and cheering. After a while, the whole party went deeper into the house. I didn't follow them — and it's clear what they were doing.