Chapter 015: Cold Weather Cherry Blossoms (Part 1)

Cold Weather Cherry Blossoms (Part 1) (寒桜(前編) "Kanzakura (Zenpen)" ) is the 15th chapter of the Kekkaishi Manga written and illustrated by Yellow Tanabe

Summary
Along with many other students, Yurina Kanda watches the famous off-season cherry tree, one of the seventy seven legends of Karasumori. She notices a girl wearing an old-fashioned school uniform beneath the tree. Immediately after, Yoshimori rushes past them. Yurina asks her friend Kyoko about the strange girl, but when Kyoko fails to notice the girl, Yurina realizes that the girl is a ghost. Suddenly, Yoshimori approaches the ghost, and to Yurina's shock, talks to the ghost and drags her away from the tree.

Back in class, Yurina grows increasingly suspicious of Yoshimori, who is now being followed by the ghost. He tries (without success) to get the ghost girl to leave him alone, but she insists on speaking with him. After class, the two go up to the roof, where Yoshimori refuses to listen to her, since he can do no more to help her. The ghost becomes furious, intending to force people to listen to her, at which point Yoshimori threatens to destroy her if she tries to hurt anyone. Yurina, who followed them, overhears this and becomes afraid of Yoshimori. Yoshimori's odd behavior only makes him more intimidating to her: she secretly looks into his notebook (which is filled with complex ideas for baking, but she assumes it is all secret code), suspects that Yoshimori's ability to draw people to him while asleep is a demonic power, and mistakes the customized test that Mr. Kurosu gives Yoshimori as an offering.

At lunchtime, Yurina and her friends try to eat lunch under the cherry tree, but the high school students have taken over the spot. Kyoko suggests that they come back after sundown. Yoshimori overhears and orders them to stay away because it's dangerous. Yurina tries to convince her friends that Yoshimori is dangerous, but Ayano assumes that this is Yurina's sixth sense (which is a joke to Ayano) at work. Yurina lets the subject drop, afraid of exposing her ability to her friends.

Later that night, Yoshimori and Madarao sit beneath the cherry tree. Madarao suggests that the tree blooms because the lord of Karasumori loved cherry blossoms. Yurina arrives, at first mistaking them for her friends. Yoshimori tells her to go home, but Yurina wants to wait for her friends. Yoshimori says he took care of them, and Yurina thinks he may have harmed them. Tokine appears with Hakubi, telling Yoshimori to deal with Yurina. Sensing approaching Ayakashi, Yoshimori places Yurina beneath the tree and surrounds her with a Kekkai for her own protection. Tokine questions the wisdom of this, but Yoshimori assumes it will be fine since normal people can't see Ayakashi, unaware that this doesn't apply to Yurina. Yurina stares in shock at the approaching swarm of Ayakashi.

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * Kyoko
 * Ayano
 * Yurina Kanda
 * Hiromu Tabata
 * Tomonori Ichigaya
 * Yoshimori Sumimura
 * Schoolgirl Ghost
 * Kurosu
 * Madarao
 * Hakubi
 * Tokine Yukimura