Chapter 2-The New Kid

The walk home was quiet and tense. Kira and Saya said nothing as they reached their apartment building. What could they really say after what just happened? They just narrowly avoided getting eaten by a giant yokai and then watched a girl rip it apart with disturbing ease. There wasn’t a lot to say about that that didn’t involve screaming.

“So…are we not going to talk about how we were almost eaten alive?” Saya asked.

“What is there to say, Saya? We just walked headfirst into the jaws of a freaking yokai.” Kira said tensely. “And I almost got us killed taking a damn shortcut.”

“Kira, it was a mistake, things like that happen. And when you’re dealing with yokai, stuff like that is really common. Too common.” Saya looked at her hand, thinking back to how she shot that beam. “Instead of talking about our near death experience, let’s talk about the fact that I just shot a laser beam out of my hand.”

“There isn’t much to say about it. You just shot a laser beam like some magical girl or something.” Kira said, feeling way too tired physically and mentally to really keep talking. And his chest was still aching from getting hit by a giant centipede.

“Hold up, that’s it!” She exclaimed. “It’s magic! I just did magic, Kira!” Saya grabbed Kira’s shoulders and started shaking him excitedly. “I knew granny’s genes would do me good!”

“Look, just shut up and calm down, okay.” Kira sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Let’s just get back home and go to bed. It’s getting late and we have school tomorrow.”

“Wait, what are we going to tell dad?” Saya asked. Kira bit his lip.

“Maybe…we don’t have to tell him anything.” She gave him a look and he held up his hands. “Well, we got out alright, so there’s nothing worth saying to him.”

“Kira, are you actually saying that we should lie to our own father?” Saya gave a mocking gasp. “Unbelievable!”

“I’m serious, I don’t want him to worry himself sick over this stuff. We made it out alive and the yokai is dead, so there’s no need to scare him.”

“You don’t hear me arguing that, bro.” She replied.

The walk home was uneventful, though when they reached their apartment, they were greeted by their father, who had been waiting anxiously for them.

“Kira, Saya!” Takeo pulled both of them into a big hug. “Where were you two? I was worried sick when I saw the news!”

“The news?” They echoed.

“There was a young girl found dismembered downtown, presumably by a group of kappa. The police had the entire street roped off and had everyone in the area stay indoors.” Takeo said. “I tried calling you, but neither of you picked up.”

“S-Sorry we didn’t pick up, dad.” Saya said. “We got caught up with the whole police blocked and the bus we were taking got rerouted.”

“Yeah, and you know how they act in the evening rush.” Kira smiled, trying not to show how tired he was. It was commonly known that both Takeo and Saya shared an irrational hatred of buses.

“Yeah, you have a point.” Their father laughed, very relieved they were home and in one piece. “Still, be careful when you’re going to and from school, okay?”

“Don’t worry, dad, we’ll be careful.” Saya promised.

Later that evening, after the twins had dinner and changed out of their uniforms, Saya headed over to Kira’s room to finally discuss what happened earlier. She found him at his computer watching videos and doing whatever he did when he was alone. Unlike her own room, Kira’s room had a sort of orderly chaos to it. There were two bookcases filled to the brim with books and manga, and even more stacks of books between those bookcases. Saya knew there were more books at the foot of his bed and under his bed, as well as his closet. He liked to read, that’s for sure.

“Hey, bro.” She said and threw herself onto his bed. “How are you feeling?”

“A little better now. I’m not bruising, thank god.” Kira turned in his chair and looked at her. “What about you? You were the one that was almost eaten.”

“I’m good. I’ve just been spending the past twenty minutes trying to do that light beam trick again.” Saya looked at her hands and pointed them at the wall, trying to make them do something. “And no, I’m not letting that go by the way.”

“Saya, I doubt magic works like that. We’re not even sure if it is magic.” Kira said.

Kira didn’t know a lot about magic but even he knew that it wasn’t something that just appeared out of nowhere. It was something that had to be cultivated through study and practice, like martial arts and music. Sure he heard of a few rare cases of powerful magicians developing magical powers at random, but those were a handful of cases from decades ago.

Saya flicked her hands, trying to get something to happen. She thought back to when she was in danger of being killed and tried to work off that, but she still had no results. Starting to get a bit annoyed with her lack of progress, Saya just imagined something, anything, coming out of her hands. She wasn’t expecting it to be as easy as just thinking about it, but apparently it was, as just as she thought about it, a quick beam of light shot from her fingers and burned a hole in the wall.

“Holy crap!” The twins yelled at the same time. Saya looked at her hand and snapped her fingers, causing bright sparks to shoot from them.

“Bro, I think I just got the magic touch.” She grinned.

“Could you not burn a hole in my wall?” Kira demanded. “How did you do it this time?”

“I just thought about it. You know, like how you think about moving your fingers.” Saya said with a shrug. She pointed her finger at the floor and grinned when she shot another beam out the tip of her finger. “Sweetness!”

“Stop shooting up my room!” Kira yelled.

“Kira, you got to try this!” Saya said.

“Me? What makes you think I can do that?” He snorted.

“If this really is magic, then maybe you’ve got the magic touch too. We both could’ve inherited some super-powerful magic ability from grandma.”

Their grandmother, Kaede Asakura, was a magician who was well-known throughout southern Nippon. She was well-versed in various yokai species and had made a number of protective spells against them that she used since their father and aunt were children. It was thanks to her that they lived easy and safe childhoods that were devoid of the lingering threat of child-eating monsters who lingered around urban areas.

“I don’t think it works that way, Saya.”

“Who cares, bro, look just try it for me, please?” She pleaded. “I know you don’t want to be a mage or something, but it’d be really cool if we both had cool magic powers.”

Kira rolled his eyes and turned his computer off. “Okay, I’ll try it out later. Right now, it’s getting late and we need to get some sleep. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”

“Sure, I’ll leave you alone.” Saya got off his bed and went to the door “But I’m coming back in the morning to check up on you!”

“Goodnight, Saya.” Kira groaned and fell onto his bed with an exhausted sigh. “When did life get so complicated? Oh wait, that was a few hours ago.”

He sat there on the bed just listening to his TV drone on without really listening to the show he had it on. Now that the threat of the yokai was over, he had no idea what to do. How do you react after a near death experience like that? The monster was dead, his dad had no idea of what happened and now his sister was shooting laser beams out of her hands like some American superhero.

‘It wouldn’t hurt to try it out.’ Kira thought, raising a hand. ‘If nothing else, it’ll shut Saya up.’

And so, without thinking anything of it, Kira snapped his fingers…and was promptly blinded by the flash of light that exploded from his fingers.

XXXXXX

Once again the boy found himself standing out in the cold late on a night that could have been spent watching late-night anime. He wore a long black coat with matching pants and a dark grey sweater, standing in the middle of Makura Town’s old factory district. The place was empty at this time of night, but his team made sure the area was still roped off in case his targets somehow escaped him.

“I wonder what monstrosity I’m going to fight today.” He muttered, channeling his mana throughout his body to warm himself up. “Crap, why can’t they get someone who’s actually allowed to be out this late to catch the bastard? Seriously, I have school tomorrow!”

“Less ranting, more hunting, Suijin.” A young female voice said in his earpiece. The boy, codenamed Suijin, felt his eyebrow twitch at the reprimand. “The target’s being pushed towards your position, so you better shape up.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Suijin replied and stood up atop his perch on one of the factory buildings. It was eerily dark and quiet from the lack of human habitation and activity in the area that usually made this district extremely noisy in the daytime. It was just the place for monsters to roam at this time of night.

He heard a series of heavy footsteps coming from down the street and knew it was show time. He jumped off the roof, creating floating platforms of bronze energy that he used to slow his descent. As he landed on the ground, he saw the large shadow of his target approaching his position and got ready.

“Kitsune, what am I dealing with?” He asked.

“Hold on…okay, I’m getting reports that the monster near you is an oni. Be careful, those things are dangerous, especially the feral ones.”

Just as she said that, a tall humanoid figured lumbered out of the alleyway and onto the main street, a massive spiked club in its hands. This creature was an oni, a ferocious monster not commonly seen in urban areas these days. The oni stood about ten feet tall with a muscular body that sported blue skin and a tiger-skin loincloth as its only clothing. The oni’s face was split by a wide mouth with large sharp teeth that glinted in the dim lighting of the street lamps.

“Wow, you’re an ugly bastard, aren’t ya?” Suijin reached into his coat and popped open two leather skins of water, letting the liquid flow out of them over onto his arms. “Let’s dance.”

The oni roared and charged at Suijin, swinging its club. Suijin leapt back, dodging the weapon and shooting his arm forward. The water on his right arm shot forward, slicing into the oni’s thigh like it was butter. It wasn’t a serious wound, but the pain further angered the oni and it’s attack on him grew more ferocious. Suijin dodged all of it’s attacks with ease, using his water to deflect the club when it got too close.

Oni were strong, vicious yokai that were the bane of every warrior back in ancient times, when magic was only taught to a special few in the noble caste and mages weren’t not as populous as they were now. But in this modern age of advanced weapons and increased numbers of magicians in Nippon, oni were only dangerous if you were caught off guard by their appearance, and Suijin was definitely prepared for this fight…mostly.

Suijin thrust his arm out to stab the oni in the stomach, but it grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. It brought its club down on him, but he rolled away and slashed his water whip across its chest, leaving a deep bloody gash. With the oni in pain, Suijin turned his water whip into an ice disk and sent it into the oni’s arm, completely severing the limb.

The oni howled in pain and swung an arm at Suijin. Even when he erected an energy barrier to block the blow, he was still sent into the side of the building. It charged at him, but Suijin jumped over its head and landed behind the yokai. Shaping the water into an ice spike, he stabbed it into the middle of the oni’s back, bringing it to its knees. He lashed out with a water whip and slashed it across the throat. The oni gurgled and struggled for a minute before it stopped struggling and fell forward onto the ground.

“Thank god. That was harder than it needed to be.” Suijin breathed, rubbing his sore shoulder where he hit the wall. “Lady Kitsune, I’m done on my end. How are things—“

A dark shape appeared above him and Suijin leapt away as a large form slammed into the ground in front of him. It was another oni, this one sporting red skin, and it had several deep cuts along its body which were bleeding profusely. The wounded oni spotted Suijin and charged at him.

“Crap!” Suijin waved his arms and weaved his water whips into one large chain of ice, whipping it at the oni’s face. He slashed out one of its eyes, but the oni kept charging.

Suijin formed an energy barrier, but all that did was slow the oni down as it smashed right through it and rammed its shoulder into him. Suijin tumbled across the ground, the breath knocked from his lungs. The oni stood above him, ready to pound him into the ground with its fists when someone approached it from behind.

“Radiant Sword.”

A concentrated beam of light was shot at the oni from behind, engulfing its head, completely incinerating it. The spell ended after a few seconds and the headless oni toppled forward onto the ground. Suijin gave a relieved sigh and slowly stood up, holding a hand to his chest.

“Thanks for the save.” He said to his savior.

The woman who fired off the spell said nothing as she walked up to him, her slender hips swaying visibly in her tight black bodysuit, and half her face obscured by a white scarf around her neck. Her long silver hair flowed down her back as she stepped on the oni’s corpse.

“Are you hurt?” She asked.

Just a couple of bruises. Nothing serious.” He said, wincing a bit at his aching side.

The woman saw this and pushed aside his hand to place her own against his chest. Her hand began to grow warm as she cast a small healing spell that soothed his aches and slowly healed the bruise that was forming there. Suijin gave a relieved sigh at this, and after two minutes, the woman pulled her hand back.

“Wow, thanks.” He said, feeling much better. “Would’ve been nice if you guys handled the second oni, though.”

“We were a bit busy trying to catch the kitsune that led them here.” The woman said curtly. “These yokai appearances are occurring more and more, and it’s starting to look like these encounters aren’t as random as we thought.”

“Yeah, I got that feeling too.” He said. “So now that the area’s clear, what now?”

“I will confer with the commander on our next move to increase magical surveillance in the area. You are going back home and getting some sleep.” She replied. “Your first day of school is tomorrow, I hear. Better not stay up too late or you’ll wake up late.”

“School, yay.” Suijin sighed. Even when he wins, he loses.

XXXXXX

The next morning would’ve been a typical school morning for the twins if not for the fact that they were still a bit shaken from yesterday’s events. Thankfully their father hadn’t noticed their odd behavior, so they were in the clear to take things at their own pace.

The morning went by as normal; Saya burst into Kira’s room again and assaulted him, they had breakfast, and then their dad left for work. Dressed in their uniforms, they left their apartment and walked to school in silence. After a while, Saya spoke up.

“So I did some more practicing this morning after I woke up.” She said.

“Hmm?” Kira said, turning to his sister. “Practicing what?”

“With my light powers. The ones that saved our asses.” Saya frowned at him. “I was practicing how to generate that freaky light energy from my hands.”

“You tried to shoot beams of burning hot light from your hands in your room?” Kira asked.

“Yup.” She grinned.

“Saya, you could’ve blown a hole in the roof, or even the wall!” He exclaimed.

“I didn’t do anything that drastic, you drama queen. I just made my hands light up, which was actually easier than I thought.” Saya looked at her hands. “It’s like trying to move your fingers. Just think about what you want to do and you’ll do it, it’s as simple as that.”

Saya snapped her fingers and her hands glowed like they were encased in lightbulbs and she shot her hand forward to fire a light blast into the ground. Kira whistled, impressed.

“You’re getting good at that.” He commented.

“Thanks, but what about you? Were you able to get anything?” She asked.

Kira sighed and pointed his finger at a trashcan. Before Saya knew it, a small narrow beam of light was fired from his fingertip and burned a hole into the trashcan. Saya gaped at him.

“You can shoot it out of your fingers?” She exclaimed. “How the hell can you do that?”

“I just focus light into might finger. I only learned to do that after I blinded myself for twenty minutes by snapping my fingers and causing a supernova to go off in my room.” Kira rubbed his eyes with a grimace. “Kami that hurt.”

They walked in silence a bit more before Saya finally popped the question. “So why didn’t we tell dad again?”

“One, because we’ll need to tell him about the attack, and I want to avoid giving the man a heart attack. He worries about enough every time we go out on the weekend.” Kira said. “Two, we still have no idea if this if really magic. Have you ever heard of someone developing magical powers without training?”

“…A couple of times.” Saya replied, though she sounded unsure. Yes, there were reports of extremely talented people developing magical powers without any prior training, but those people were few and far in between. “It’s still possible!”

“Look, let’s just keep this quiet until we’re absolutely sure that it’s magic. We don’t need to be hunted by yokai again, if that’s okay with you.”

He gave her a look, which she returned in full. She didn’t need to be treated like some danger magnet searching for trouble.

“I get the picture, bro. Now can we get to school before auntie pokes out our eyes with her ruler?” She asked sweetly.

The twins continued on their way, once again unaware of the cats that were watching them from afar.

XXXXXX

If the twins thought that they would be having a normal school day, then they were wrong. When they arrived at their school, they were quick to notice a different air about the place. The atmosphere felt a bit tense, and the students were oddly quiet as they entered the main building to head to their classes. It felt way too eerie to ignore for the twins, and it only got worse when they made it to their class.

“This place certainly doesn’t feel depressing.” Saya muttered as they entered their classroom.

“I wonder what’s up with everyone today.” Kira said, looking at the oddly quiet students that were talking amongst themselves.

“Kira, Saya?”

The twins saw Yukino walked up behind them. Saya gave her friend a smile. “Hey, Yukino. You know what’s going on around here?”

“You didn’t hear?” Yukino asked. She frowned when they shook their heads. “There was another murder last night. Two girls from our school were attacked on their way home in a neighborhood not far from here. It was a confirmed yokai attack.”

A chill ran through the twins’ bodies and they shared a troubled look. That could’ve easily been them had they not been saved.

“So they’re not even trying to hide it now?” Kira asked.

“Not when the evidence is so obvious.” Yukino sighed. “My dad said that this was…this was the bloodiest case yet. Whatever attacked those girls left very little behind. The incident has both the school board and parents in an uproar.”

“And kids are still coming to school?” Saya said scoffing.

“We still need to go on with our lives, Saya, but there are a lot more police in the area now. If things get worse, then they might even call in the Hunters Association for assistance.”

“What could be worse than this?” Kira muttered. Suddenly school didn’t feel so safe anymore.

What was going on in this town?

The door slid open and everyone went to their seats as Mai Asakura entered the class room. The stern yet beautiful woman looked at the class for a moment, and Kira knew that she too sensed the changed atmosphere amongst the students. She sighed and stepped up to the blackboard.

“Good morning, class.” She greeted them.

“Good morning, Ms. Asakura.” The class said back.

“Before I get started, there are a couple of things I want to talk about. The first being the tragic murder of two students from this very school. Now, the other teachers may want to keep you in the dark about this, but I believe that you all deserve to know that two of your fellow students were killed by a yokai. Its species is undetermined, but this is just the latest in a string of yokai murders in Makura.” Mai said to the class. “In order to ensure the students’ safety, school will be let out early to allow you all to head straight back home. This goes for afterschool clubs too. Any clubs you have will end five minutes earlier so you can all go home.”

Mai’s hawk-like eyes zeroed in on the twins, who grimaced at the look in her dark emerald green eyes. “And when I say go straight, home, I mean go straight home.”

There was a few muttering in class, but Mai quickly spoke over them.

“On a lighter note, we have a new student joining us today. He’s moved to Nippon all the way from Xing, so I want you all to make him feel welcome and show him your genuine hospitality.”

When the new student entered the class, the whispers only grew louder at his appearance. He was certainly a tall boy for his age, with a slender form and short spiky black hair. His eyes were storm gray, and his features showed a mixture of Xingese and possibly Nipponese heritage.

“Morning, ladies and gents.” The boy waved, his posture lazy and carefree. “Name’s Sai Huang. Please don’t kill me in my sleep!”

XXXXXX

“This day is moving too slowly.” Kira groaned, leaning against the fence with a sigh. He was the only person eating lunch on the roof, wanting to have some time to himself and think without having Saya screaming in his ear constantly.

His friend, Emi, was taking care of some business with her teacher, and Saya was with her own circle of friends, which meant that he was all alone with his thoughts. Whether that was a good thing or not was something to be seen.

Without thinking, he lifted a finger and formed a tiny ball of light on the tip of his finger. Now that he was testing it out more and more, he realized that it was actually getting easier to create light.

‘It really is like moving your fingers.’ He thought. He held out his palm and created a larger orb of light in his palm, bouncing it just above his skin like a little ball. He smiled and tossed it between his hands, the orb never actually touching his skin. ‘This isn’t so bad.’

Suddenly the door to the roof creaked open and Kira quickly dispelled his orb before turning to the door. It just hung open for a minute before a head poked itself out.

“Hello, friend,” Sai Huang greeted him jovially. “Care for some company?”

A couple of minutes later, Kira and the new kid, Sai, were sitting next to each other eating lunch and talking to each other. Kira was a bit surprised at how outgoing Sai was, considering he was in an entirely different country now, but that hardly seemed to bother him, at least visibly.

“Sorry for busting in on your private time like that. I didn’t know where else to go since everyone here already knows each other.” Sai said.

“That’s okay. It can get a bit disorienting going to a new school, but at least it’s not Edo. I hear it can get pretty hectic at the start of the school season there.” Kira said. “So, you moved here from Xing?”

“Yeah, but I was born here in Nippon. My dad’s Nipponese, and my mom’s Xingese. The best of both worlds, right here.” Sai grinned and took a big bite out of his sandwich. “Just moved here a couple of weeks ago, actually, but ran into some…complications that kept me from coming to school yet.”

“Sorry to hear that. Things have been a little crazy around here lately, it it’s throwing everything out of whack. We’ve got all these yokai attacks and people are starting to be too afraid to leave their homes period.” Kira said.

“Yokai…” Sai muttered. Kira looked at him curiously.

“Something wrong?” He asked. Sai shook his head.

“No, no, just testing the word out. In Xing, we don’t call them yokai, we just call them demons, like the rest of the world. A bit strange running into a culture that still calls them another name in this day and age.” He muttered.

“So what made you decide to move to Xing?” Kira asked. “Did your parents find work here or something?”

“Nah, my pops is dead.”

“Oh.” Was all Kira could say as he registered Sai’s sudden confession. “Oh, I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, I’ve dealt with it. I’ve still got my mom…with what little attention she gives me these days,” Sai mumbled. “But I’ve been living with a family friend before I decided to move here. So it’s not all bad.”

“Wow, that’s…something.” Again, that was all Kira could say. The fact that Sai hardly seemed broken up about having a deceased father and a (from what he could gather) absent mother, though he could be just doing a good job hiding his disdain with the subject. Saya had mastered that skill when it came to discussions about their absent mother.

Kira thought of a way to change the subject from something that didn’t make him more uncomfortable than the person whom the conversation was about, but Sai beat him to the chase. “Hey, that girl with the black hair and green eyes. Forgive me for asking but are you two related? You two really look alike.”

“Uh, y-yeah, that’s Saya. We’re twins.” Kira replied. “We were born and raised here, in this quaint little town with our dad.”

“And your mom?”

“She’s…not around. Sort of the same situation as you, gone just a few days after we were born.” Kira shrugged. “Small world, I guess.”

Sai nodded and looked past the gate at the rest of the town beyond the school gates. They sat in silence for a while, just eating and enjoying the company they gave each other. After finishing up his lunch, Kira turned to Sai.

“Sai, do you have any clubs in mind you want to join?” He asked. Sai blinked at him.

“Clubs? Already?”

“It’s the middle of the school year. Auntie’s going to make you join a club if you don’t at least start looking for one to join.” Kira said. “I take it the thought never crossed your mind?”

“No, it did, I just didn’t feel like getting into any clubs.” Sai replied. “I have a little part time job I take in the evening and its pretty taxing on me.”

“Fourteen and you’re already taking jobs? You’ve certainly got your priorities straight.” Kira joked.

Sai grinned. “No, I’m just a kid trying to make it through life one day at a time.”

“Amen to that.” Laughed Kira.

The two boys laughed, an unexpected friendship forming today.

XXXXXX

After lunch, the rest of the day passed by like a dream. The minute that classes ended, any students not going to club were immediately sent home, and no one argued otherwise as a massive influx of students flooded out into the courtyard. Yukino and Saya saw each other off at the front gate.

“Your brother isn’t going home with you?” Yukino asked, knowing that Kira shouldn’t have club today.

“No, he’s hanging out with the new kid, Sai. I think he’s at the main office helping Sai take a look at some of the clubs or something.” Saya gave an agitated shrug. “Apparently they’ve become fast friends over lunch.”

“You sound jealous.” Yukino grinned.

“Please, I’m not jealous.” Saya scoffed. “I’m glad Kira’s making new friends. Good for him.”

Yukino wasn’t really convinced, but she knew that Saya will calm down later on. “In any case, I need to get going. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, bye.”

Saya walked home in a bit of a slump, heading straight toward the fast food restaurant where she always gets an after-school snack before heading home. The place where she usually goes with Kira.

Having to go home without her twin was…strange. Saya wasn’t opposed to Kira having friends of his own (gods knew that he needed more friends than just that one girl in his book club) but Saya was a bit miffed that he blew her off out of nowhere on a day where they were supposed to hanging out.

‘Could’ve at least introduced me to the guy, you dummy.’ Saya thought.

Speaking of Sai, she wondered what it was like living in Xing. She knew that the country had a reputation for producing powerful mages, as well as developing many spells unique to Xing. Maybe he could hook her up with a mage willing to teach a thirteen year old girl magic.

“At least I have this.” Saya pointed her hand a trash can a blasted it apart with a blast of light. It just felt so good doing that to random objects.

As she played around with her light powers, she paused when she felt a strong presence nudge at her senses. It began as a small tug in the back of her head, almost like someone was tugging at her hair. She instinctively turned to face the source.

“What now?” She grumbled. She turned to walk away, trying to ignore the strange presence she was sensing, but her curiosity made her stop in her tracks. Saya growled and kicked an empty box. “Damn my fucking curiosity!”

It was like a compulsion, a feeling that she just couldn’t ignore. It didn’t take her very long for her to discover the source of her irritation-a shrine.

“Crap, it’s going to be another yokai encounter, isn’t it?” Saya lamented. Knowing that she probably won’t be able to shake this feeling, Saya walked up the steps to the shrine.

It wasn’t too rare to find shrines and temples honoring powerful demons in places like Nippon. The stark majority of mankind were members of the Church of Harmony, the world’s largest religion that worshipped the Chief God and the angels that served him. The Harmony Church had a stronger presence in the west, but there were a number of cultures that worshipped demons due to their power and influence. Nippon was one of the few countries in the world that had a stable relationship with its demon population (or yokai as they are called in the Nipponese tongue), and that relationship remained strong even now.

This shrine was just a small one, where people placed offerings and gave prayers to the local fae for blessings. Saya hadn’t been one since she went to her grandmother’s funeral.

But something was different this time. Saya’s eyes were throbbing as if irritated, along with a growing headache. As she neared the top of the steps, she heard voices, two males; one older, and one younger. She jogged up the last few steps and hid behind one of the support pillars of a tori gate leading to the shrine, peeking around it at the two people standing in front of the temple.

The first person was a young man, a teenager who was probably in his first or second year of high school. He had a slightly muscular body with an unbuttoned school blazer with short black hair and tight bandages around his arms. Saya thought he kind of looked like a delinquent, but he looked normal so that was good somewhat.

“You never should’ve come here, half-blood.”

That drew Saya’s attention to the second person, who was definitely not normal. The being facing the boy could only be described as a humanoid crow. Clad in the robes of a Shinto priest, with a slender humanoid frame, the creature was covered in black feathers and had an actual crow’s head in place of a human one. Large black wings were folded on his back and a long golden prayer staff was clutched in his hands, brandished as a weapon.

‘That’s…that’s a crow tengu!’ Saya thought, holding her breath. They were another type of yokai that often populated remote areas like shrines and temples, usually far from human habitation and under the guidance and direction of a daitengu (according to her grandmother). She was told that they rarely ventured near human towns or cities, but here was a crow tengu right in the middle of Makura Town. What was he doing here?

“I always come here around this time, asshole. Not like anyone else does the same anymore.” The boy said, glaring at the yokai. “What, can’t a guy show you assholes some proper respect every once in a while?”

‘That’s not respect.’ Saya thought dryly.

“Silence, you abomination! How dare you defile these sacred grounds with your inhuman nature.” The tengu growled, wings shaking in agitation. “I have been keeping an eye on you these past few days, boy. I’ve seen how you lure and devour the local spirits living in this place. You show nothing but disrespect to the true inhabitants of this land in this place of worship, just like every other human that has forsaken their brothers and sisters!”

“Spare me the lecture. I don’t give a shit if you’re a bit offended that I’m trying to survive.” The boy said and tore off his bandages to raise his fists. “Now come here so I can shove a cracker down your throat!”

“Die, monster!” The crow tengu spread out his wings and raised his staff in preparation to fight.

“No, don’t hurt him!” Saya cried out, though she would later have no idea why she suddenly did that. Again without thinking, she raised her hand and fired a light blast into the crow tengu’s back, right between his wings.

The crow tengu stumbled forward, hissing in pain before spinning around to see Saya standing at the temple’s entrance looking like a deer caught in headlights. His black, beady eyes glowed with rage as he saw yet another intruder upon sacred grounds.

“Interloper!” The crow tengu shouted angrily and threw his staff at her location like a spear.

“Shit!” Saya moved before she even thought about what was happening, watching in shock as the staff pierced the support pillar and completely shattered it. Between that, and how fast she moved in the span of those three seconds, Saya didn’t know what to be more surprised about.

“How did you…?” Even the yokai was surprised at the speed at which she dodged his weapon, but he had little time to react when the boy came up on him from behind and landed a hard punch to the side of his head.

“Your fight’s with me asshole!”

‘His eyes…’ Saya watched in shock as the boy’s eyes glowed a bluish-white, and glowing veins appeared on his face and hands. He pummeled the crow tengu with powerful blows, actually pushing the larger yokai back somewhat before the creature regained his bearings.

“Krah!” The crow tengu lashed out with his sharp talons, tearing three bloody gouges into the boy’s chest before kicking him into the shrine. Flapping his wings, he sprinted forward, intending to impale the boy and finish what he came here to do. But again, he was distracted by another beam that Saya fired, this time hitting his left wing.

“Stay away from him!” Saya shouted.

The crow tengu narrowed his eyes at her and held out his hand. His staff shot out of the pile of rubble and returned to his hand. “Another half-blood. You creatures are multiplying like a disease.”

“Come say that to my face asshole!” She yelled back.

“Maybe I shall!” The crow tengu pushed off the ground and launched himself at Saya with inhuman speed.

‘Me and my big mouth!’ Saya gritted her teeth and got ready to fight. Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to dodge the yokai, she settled with going on the offensive-shooting a blast into his face.

“Gah!” The crow tengu held a hand to his smoking face as the extremely hot beam burned his face like hot fire. He stumbled in the air, but still sought to kill the girl. He swung his staff and nearly got Saya in the head, which would’ve been bad as the staff tore through a stone pillar with frightening ease. “Your magic tricks will not defeat me, girl!”

He advanced upon her, but before he could do anymore, the boy came slamming into his back like a train. Now his body was emitting wisps of bluish-white energy, like a flame as he punched the crow tengu’s back so hard that there was a sickening snap-the breaking of the crow tengu’s spine. It seemed that he wasn’t even perturbed by the wounds in his chest as he landed another punch to the agonizing yokai’s back before jumping onto his shoulders and grabbing his head.

“No,” The crow tengu cried out, trying to struggle despite his wounds. “I will not be bested by mere children!”

“Shut the fuck up already!” The boy gave a hard twist and broke the crow tengu’s neck, killing him. Another hard yank completely tore the yokai’s head off his shoulders in a spray of red mist.

Saya grimaced and took a step back as the tengu’s headless body slumped to the ground. However, as the yokai died, she saw wisps of bluish-white energy seep out of its body like smoke and rise into the air. The boy stepped over the body and inhaled the energy wisps into his mouth and nose, absorbing the essence into his body and felt his wounds begin to heal as if they were never there. Saya gaped at the sight and said nothing as the boy’s glowing eyes and veins slowly dimmed and returned to normal.

“That was good.” He sighed and rolled his shoulders. Seeing Saya standing there, he called out to her. “Hey, you alright?”

“I think I should be asking you that.” Saya said, glancing at his bloody shirt.

“I’m fine. That bastard’s energy healed me.” He said, glancing down at his shirt. He cursed at the blood on his clothes. “Shit, that was one of my only shirts.”

Saya thought about what she wanted to say next. There were so many questions she had, she didn’t even know where to start. “Um, thanks for the save. I didn’t mean to jump in like that. It just…happened.”

“Hey, we were gonna fight it out anyway. The bastard just came out of nowhere and started calling me names threatening to kill me. Guess I showed him.” He smirked. “So, what the hell was that lightshow you did just now? Magic?”

“Not a clue. What was that whole thing with swallowing up that tengu’s soul or something?” Saya shot back. The boy shrugged and looked away, clearly not comfortable with telling her.

“I don’t know. It was something that I developed a couple of years ago. I…I’m cursed. I don’t eat food anymore. If I don’t feed on yokai, I’ll die. I tricking picking the bad spirits, the yokai that haunt shrines like these that like to screw around with people. It also heals my wounds and stuff.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Look, could you keep this a secret? I don’t want this getting out.”

“I won’t tell a soul about you or that we just killed a tengu on holy grounds. I’m pretty sure we just committed a sin or something.” She said.

“Good. I’ll keep your secret too.” He replied. “Come on, let’s get out of here before more birdmen show up to ruin our day.”

Saya and the boy quickly left the shrine and returned to good old human civilization. Even though the shrine was just a few blocks away from a residential area, it felt like they were exiting another world entirely.

“I’m Shirai,” He said after a while. “Nakamura Shirai.”

“Asakura Saya.” Saya replied. “Nice you meet you, now that we are fighting for our lives.”

Shirai rubbed his arms, trying to figure out what to do now that they had nothing to worry about anymore. “So, what now? Are we just two freaks hanging out together or something?”

“No, Shirai, we’re just special. Unique.” She said, placing a hand on his arm. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. Trust me, you’re not alone anymore.”

As they walked down the street, they failed to notice the group of cats watching them, all sporting the same amber gold eyes.