Fight For My Soul

“Yoshio! Basement! Now!”

As fast as I could, I stumbled out of my chair and ran towards the big red emergency button. Yoshio seemed to take my cue instantly, and ran alongside me.

“Are you coming too, Miss Lady?” Yoshio said, reaching the basement door and peeking out.

“Nah. I have unfinished business. I’ll meet you on the outside,” I told him. Within that second, I slammed on the button. If Mrs. Lio was right, then the emergency services should be coming any time soon. I saw Yoshio quickly close the door to the basement, before I turned around and saw two things happen to me.

The first was Miharu. In an instant, the girl flew into my body, like she did previously. I felt her voice, her energy, and her entire person course through my inner self. It was good thinking, I probably needed this now.

The second was the crashing of the window. With her long nails and feral teeth aimed straight at me, the soulhunter made a jab at my throat. I just barely managed to dodge the sharpened nails, as they struck the wall instead. But, I wasn’t fast enough to dodge her second hand grasping me by the throat.

“YOU. DID YOU THINK THAT BECAUSE YOU HUMILIATED ME EARLIER, I WOULDN’T COME BACK!”

I couldn’t breathe, because she was holding my throat. The soulhunter didn’t seem to care though. She slammed me against the wall in frustration.

“YOU THOUGHT I’D FORGET ABOUT YOU! YOU PROBABLY DON’T EVEN KNOW MY NAME, YET YOU DARE PASS ME OFF LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED!”

“Who… gagk- are… you-?”

I choked out. This woman clearly wasn’t intending on having a reasonable conversation, but if I could just stall until emergency services appeared… then maybe…

“My name is Azana!” The soulhunter sneered into my ears. “I’m going to make sure you and your grimy little spirit remember that when I tear you both in half!”

The soul hunter raised her sharp nails, and seemed to be preparing a strike. I didn’t know if I could take such a thing. I tried channeling Miharu’s power as a last-ditch attempt. Through my legs and my arms, but I couldn’t manage to get a hold of anything under her grip.

“Akina! This is a bit risky, but instead of just one body part… try flowing my power through your entire body! I’ll see if I can make something happen!”

Miharu spoke in my head. With no other options, I obliged. Concentrating her spiritual presence throughout my entire body, a burst of green energy shot outwards and expanded in a brief pulse!

“GAHH-!”

That pulse was enough to knock Azana back onto the kitchen counter, and give me some room to breathe. I took a moment to catch my breath, as my face had basically turned completely blue at this point.

“Why you…! I’m prepared for all of your tricks this time, so don’t test me!” Azana quickly recovered, getting into a stance on all four of her limbs. I wish I had a stance like that, as it could maybe trick someone into thinking I knew how to fight. I just got up to my feet, bracing myself for what’s about to come.

Azana began to run towards me, so I responded by running at her back. Using Miharu’s power in my legs, I charged towards her at sonic speeds.

I then felt my face slammed into an arm, sending me tumbling onto the floor.

“AGH!”

With a hard crash, I fell down on my back. My face and my behind were both aching in pain. As I clutched both of them, I felt the sharp nails grab me by the neck and lift me off the ground, before I felt my entire body slam onto a porcelain countertop.

“You move in straight lines. What an easy trick to get used to,” Azana hissed. “You know that the soul you’re harboring is a runaway? She shouldn’t exist by any means, yet here you are. Just asking to get eaten.” Her nails sharpened as she put one directly through the skin on my chest. “Let's see if I can tear her out of you.”

I let out a scream of pain as the nail began to cut from right above the sternum and down my chest. My shirt began to tear as she sliced through it, but with a glowing green energy, my wound began to quickly stitch itself back together.

“She’s shy isn’t she? Guess I’ll just have to do it again!” Azana said.

“I’m not going to be able to keep on healing you like that forever. You gotta do something!” Miharu shouted in my head. I would respond if I wasn’t busy screaming from having my chest cut open again. My arms writhed around in pain as blood came out of both my mouth and wound. I tried to reach for anything I could, and luckily, I felt the handle of a kitchen knife come into my grasp. Letting Miharu’s energy flow, I threw my arm into Azana’s own shoulder, the knife piercing through it, before taking it out. Azana returned with her own scream, which I responded to by kicking her in the chest.

She slammed into the fridge, as I got up from the counter. Despite me being tired and hurt, I needed to respond quickly. I ran towards Azana, knife in hand, slashing at her. They weren’t super effective, because the shrine maiden just ducked and weaved every single strike. The girl rolled over and began backing away as I tried to assault her. On one of my swings, I overcommitted and swung my arm too far. The girl grabbed my arm and picked me up like I was a paperweight, before throwing me over her shoulder!

I went tumbling out the front door, falling onto the porch. Quickly attempting to recover, I got back onto my feet and scanned the area. The police weren’t here yet. Damn it. Where were they?

My search was interrupted by a piercing pain on my neck. Sharp, jagged teeth tore through my nape, as I felt the skin get removed from my body. I flailed around and struggled, before kicking behind me, sending the attacker back into the wall at a high speed.

“OWWWW….” I groaned, grasping the back of my neck. Not only did it hurt physically, but for some reason, I was a lot more exhausted mentally too. I could hear Miharu panting inside of my body as well, as her power sealed off the pain and repaired my wound.

“Don’t… don’t let her do that! That’s not just soulhunting… that’s soul-eating! That’s bad for both me and you!” Miharu warned. Knowing I couldn’t let my guard down anymore, I turned around with my knife drawn. Azana was still recovering from my kick, but she got back up without much issue.

I didn’t know how much longer it would take for help to arrive, but I would need to hold out until then. She let out another hiss at me, and I responded with my own sneer. “You’ve really got nothing better to do with your day?”

“As a soulhunter, it is my honor-bound right. You’d be fine if you just didn’t get in my way.”

“Fat chance. You still haven’t gotten me yet.”

“Tough words for a mere human.”

Azana leapt towards me with her sharp nails outstretched, looking to slash at me once again. Luckily, we were outside now and I had far more space to move in. Within a blink of an eye, I dashed off of the porch and onto the street.

Azana’s leap also put her on the other end of the street, staring at me. I was far more hesitant to approach, especially considering how bad this shrine maiden clocked me earlier. However, Miharu began to speak in my head.

“That knife you’re holding is super helpful. Instead of just throwing it like you did your shoe, use your energy on it.”

I didn’t have enough time to question it, so I just did what she said. Azana began to charge towards me down the street, her fangs bared and sharp nails were outstretched.

The energy in my body flowed into the knife, and it began to glow green. The knife itself extended, far longer than I had expected. It began to act more like a whip, with a sharp end. With a crack, I slashed through the air, the blade slicing across Azana’s chest as she leaped forwards.

“AGH!” The soulhunter yelped, leaping back. “Another new trick? How many of those do you have?!”

I didn’t care to respond. Continuing to use my knife as a long whip, I continued slashing at the girl to keep her at bay.

“I had no idea that spirit you’re housing was so powerful!” Azana said, clashing against the blade with her sharp nails. This was fine for me, all I needed to do was buy more time.

I continued to swing, the long flowing blade went through the air to keep on attacking. However, after one of my swings, I felt a pull. I saw Azana grab the long blade itself, her hands cut by the sharpened edge, and pulled on it with massive force.

“Hey, hey-!”

“Shut off the energy!”

I did as Miharu told me to, but the force I was pulled with was too much. I got sent flying into Azana’s arms, as she began to strike me in the gut with her knee. I writhed in pain, as multiple hits came one after the other.

“No more tricks for you. I’m here to finally get what I deserve,” Azana growled, pulling me by the hair and raising her hand. Her nails were about to cut me open, and grab the ghost that resided within me. I closed my eyes, bracing for the pain. Just as I was expecting my chest to be torn open, I heard something I’ve been waiting to hear for ages.

The sounds of sirens, roaring down the road.

“Damn it. Really?” Azana complained. Through my blurred vision, I saw her considering her options. Then, I felt her throwing me to the ground, before running away. My vision began to fade, until it all returned to black.

***

I woke up, cold. My shirt had been torn open, which probably had to do with it. I was covered in a blanket sitting on the front porch lawn.

Damn it. I was already light on clothes, and now this shirt was ruined? I was lucky she just missed anything under it though, that would’ve been awkward.

“You good?” Miharu asked me. “I patched up your wounds, so you shouldn’t need to go to a hospital or anything.”

“Yeah. Just a bit… y’know…”

“I’m sure we can buy new clothes later. Sorry for getting you into this mess.”

“It’s fine. Nothing can be done about some crazy people. Is Yoshio safe?”

I tried to look around for him, hoping he didn’t get caught up in anything dangerous. There were police and ambulance vehicles running around the street, seemingly searching for Azana. Unfortunately, it seemed like the shrine maiden got away. That was worrying, she could come back at any time.

Soon after, a man in a suit and ruffled black hair walked towards the two. His ears were pointed, and he had a long tail coming from his behind. A horse’s tail, perhaps? Holding his hand was Yoshio. I sighed in relief that he was safe, and he seemed to be worried about me too.

“Miss Lady! You’re safe!” he said, hugging me. I patted him on the head before looking at the officer.

“Can I help you?”

“Officer Junpei Murakama here,” the officer flashed his badge. “The boy told us about you and your ghost friend, Ms. Fudo,” he said. “Apparently, he saw the fight and you held off the soulhunter?”

“Uh. Yeah. At least, I tried,” I nodded. “Was there something you needed from me, specifically?”

“Well. I’m surprised you were able to handle it so well. Normally, humans wouldn’t be able to hold their own so well against a soulhunter like that. I assume it’s due to the ghost.”

“Yes. You’re correct. We kind of have a pact together, and it protected both of us.”

The officer sighed, pulling out a piece of paper. “A stray ghost wandering around is an odd sighting. It’s a sign that they don’t belong, and quite a few of them aren’t as friendly. It’s usually a soulhunter’s job to send them back to where they belong, especially the evil ones..”

“I’m a spirit of hope and justice!” Miharu said. “Why would I be evil?”

“As I said, you’re odd. We would try to send you back to the afterlife but… you seem to have a reason to stick around, even if you don’t remember why,” Junpei spoke. “So, we’ve decided to turn the other way, especially since you’ve tied yourself to this girl. The process to separate you is… we don’t know how to, really.”

“What?” I asked. “Even you, the cops, don’t know?”

“We are naturally resistant to this kind of possession. Ghosts seem to only have dominion over a human soul like yours. So, it’s a unique case.”

Great. So I was definitely stuck with Miharu for a long time. It’s only been two days in this city, and a lot has happened.

“In the meantime,” Junpei said. The piece of paper he was writing on was burned in a magical flame, being sent away somewhere else as far as I could tell. “I’m going to keep in touch with you. Both because of your unique circumstances, and the potential danger of that soulhunter returning. We won’t be following your every step, but we will be on the lookout for that soulhunter, so you shouldn’t worry about her for now.”

“I… see. And if she attacks me again?”

“We’ll have you as our top priority. Just try and relax.”

I nodded. It was a little bit reassuring, especially with the stress I’ve already been through. “Thank you officer. I’ll keep in touch.”

The officer nodded, and began to walk away. That just left me, Miharu, and Yoshio sitting on the front of the porch.

“You know… Miss Lady. You were really cool out there. I saw you when I was exiting the basement. Have you considered doing that more? Helping people?”

I looked at Yoshio; he seemed to be impressed with my pathetic attempts at a fight. Miharu seemed to be giving me a double thumbs up, seemingly trying to send a message to me. His words, and Miharu’s signaling made me think. I thought about my ripped shirt, my torn shoe, and my cup noodles.

Perhaps, there was something I could do in this city. One that could solve all of my problems. An opportunity to make the best out of this messy situation, and also allow me to eat as well.