Onwards

Ryoma watched as the spirit’s body dissolved into the air.

The room went silent.

The boy stood there, glad that he could help the spirit’s life come to a somewhat sweet conclusion, but the boy felt conflicted at the same time. He remembered how he had first felt going up against the giant spirit. There was hate in the boy’s eyes. He wanted nothing more than to kill the spirit.

But after hearing the spirit’s last few words, there was no way the boy could continue hating the cursed-spirit. Deep down, there was still good deep within the spirit’s consciousness.

Ryoma then wondered if he could help bring this sort of closure to all the cursed-spirits he’s sure to go up against.

Though he knew deep down what the answer truly was.

From outside the office building, Ryoma heard the sirens of multiple ambulances. And from a few feet away, standing on the open ground, free from any rubble caused by the crushed cubicles, Satsuki called Ryoma’s name.

“Escort this lady out of the building,” she said. “I’ll take care of the guy over there.”

She was talking about the manager of the cursed-spirit, who became unconscious after he tried escaping from him.

Ryoma nodded to his aunt and looked over to the woman with shiny black hair.

He extended his hand towards her.

“Do you need help walking?” he asked.

The lady shook her head.

“No, I’m fine, thank you very much.”

The two headed out of the building. There was a crowd out there, with reporters and cameramen running straight up to the boy and woman.

They asked about the events that happened inside the building, but the police pushed them away.

Paramedics went over to the lady with shiny black hair to check and see if she was okay.

At the sight, Ryoma let out a sigh, relieved that the battle was over, and went to report what went down to a sergeant in the area.

***

Once the situation died down and the reporters drove away for their next big story, Ryoma walked towards his aunt Satsuki, where she stood near the back of an ambulance.

“So what happened to the guy who got knocked out?” the boy asked. “Is he okay?”

“He’s got a fractured clavicle, but other than that, he’ll be fine.”

Ryoma nodded upon hearing those words.

“That’s good to hear,” he said.

Satsuki eyed her young nephew and figured that there was something gnawing at his brain. Was it a question? Either way, Satsuki shot a questioning glance at him.

“Is that all you wanted to ask me?” she asked.

“No,” he said softly. “There’s one more thing. About that spirit, do you think he’s one of the Leech’s lackeys?“

Satsuki shook her head.

“He isn’t.”

And I think you know that already, she wanted to say, but kept it to herself.

“He didn’t have a small hole in his forehead, and his brain was functioning quite well. Not that there aren’t cursed-spirits under the Leech’s control that have decent intelligence, but most of her lackeys usually act like zombies.”

“Right…”

“But it’s a good thing that this spirit wasn’t that wench’s underling. The guy was damn heavy. He had to be at least four-hundred pounds if I had to guess. I don’t know how I was even able to hold him with telekinesis.”

Satsuki, with her purse slung over her shoulder, used her psychic powers to unzip her purse and take out a pack of press-on nails–the same ones she flung at the spirit from earlier. Using her powers, she opened the package and placed the nails on with precision.

“So,” Ryoma asked, “what’s the plan now?”

“We’re getting out of here, of course. But don’t you have something to do first?”

Ryoma perked up.

“You’re right,” he said innocently. “I almost forgot. I have to apologize to the people here. Thanks for reminding me, Auntie.”

“Of course,” she said, and smiled at his last few words.

What would that kid do without me? She joked to herself.

Ryoma went around the area to the remaining employees and apologized on behalf of the spirit who passed on, bowing down and everything.

Some folks didn’t know how to respond. Some of them even apologized back to Ryoma, while the others thanked him for saving their lives.

Eventually, Ryoma found the lady with shiny black hair and found it awkward to apologize to her on the spirit’s behalf. After all, the spirit had one-sided feelings for the lady and had even called her ‘his woman.’

But Ryoma found the confidence to apologize after taking a deep breath.

“Hey, miss,” he said. The boy scratched the back of his head as he continued speaking. “On behalf of the spirit who passed, I’m–”

Before Ryoma could say sorry, the lady raised her hand, motioning for him to stop speaking.

“It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t need to apologize to me.”

“Are you sure?” Ryoma asked.

“Mhm.” The lady nodded. “There’s nothing for you to apologize to me for personally.”

“But what about the spirit?”

The lady held her head low.

“I’ll be able to forgive him, but it’ll take some time before that happens.”

“That’s fair,” Ryoma said.

After what the woman went through, he figured that forgiving a person who she thought was going to kill her a few minutes ago was pretty unreasonable.

“Still, I appreciate the kind gesture,” she said.

Ryoma didn’t know what to say. He defaulted to scratching the back of his head and letting out a light chuckle.

“Of course,” he said. “It’s no big deal, really.”

The two were quiet after that. Then the lady spoke.

“So, Mr. Spirit Hunter, what are you going to do now?”

The question knocked the awkwardness out of Ryoma’s head. Finally, there was a topic he could talk about with confidence.

“I’m heading over to Shinjuku with my auntie.”

“That pretty lady over there is your auntie?”

“Mhm.”

“Wow, she’s so pretty. Though you know, when I first saw her, I thought she was your mother.”

“My mother? Oh, no, no, no.”

Ryoma couldn’t ever imagine his auntie as anything but his auntie.

The lady laughed.

“I’m just messing with you,” she said.

Ryoma squinted at the lady. He wasn’t the kind of guy who was great at taking jokes.

“But anyway,” the lady said. “What are you and your auntie doing over at Shinjuku? Are you stationed there?”

“Um, no. Not exactly.”

Ryoma contemplated ‌how much information he should share. He thought about saying nothing to the lady, but didn’t want to feel like a jerk if he said that what he was doing was ‘top secret,’ since chasing after the Leech has been public knowledge for a while now.

The boy then decided that he would tell the lady just a piece of the overall truth.

“We’re chasing after a certain spirit in Shinjuku,” Ryoma went on to say. “He’s not a crazy strong spirit with a bounty on his head, but he’s someone that I want to help pass on to the next life. You know, without any hatred or sorrow.”

The lady nodded along with his words. She heard the discomfort in his voice and saw how his face shifted away from hers. She understood the boy’s motives, at least the gist of it. The lady’s eyes softened and looked at Ryoma in the same way a mother would look at her child if they were sad.

“Well, from what I’ve seen over at the office, I know for a fact that whatever spirit you’re chasing will pass on feeling loved and wanted.”

The lady’s words were sincere, and her smile was sweet.

Ryoma smiled back.

“Thank you,” he said.

His words warmed the lady’s heart.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Ryoma asked her.

The lady scoffed.

“I’m going home after this. I want to sleep the day away, but if I’m being honest with myself, I’m probably gonna binge-watch some romance show until I pass out.”

“Well, that sounds like a nice plan.”

From a distance, Ryoma heard his aunt calling for him.

The boy turned around.

His aunt waved for him to come towards the car.

The lady with black hair saw it all.

“I guess you have to go now, don’t you?”

Ryoma nodded.

“Yeah, I do.”

The boy waved at her with a friendly smile.

“I hope you’re able to relax and watch that show of yours.”

“And I hope you’re able to find that spirit you were talking about.”

“Thanks,” the boy said. He turned away and took a few steps forward when the lady said, “Wait! I almost forgot!”

Ryoma turned, wanting to say, “What is it?” when he saw the lady bow in front of him. The boy was stunned.

“Thank you for saving me and my colleagues!” the lady said. “I won’t ever forget what you’ve done for us!”

Ryoma scratched the back of his head. He couldn’t look in the lady’s direction. Despite being a spirit hunter for the better part of a year, he could never get used to the people who thanked him like this.

“Please, there’s no need for you to bow to me. If there’s anyone to thank, it should be my auntie.”

The lady glared at him.

“Mr. Spirit Hunter, why do you have to downplay my gratitude?”

The boy flinched. He seriously didn’t know what to say now.

“Sorry,” he uttered.

The lady chuckled. She forgave him quickly, then locked eyes with Ryoma.

“Good luck with your spirit hunting, Mr. Spirit Hunter.”

“Thank you,” the boy said. He really needed it.

The two waved each other goodbye before Ryoma strolled over to his auntie’s car.

His aunt Satsuki was already inside.

“Are you done with everything you needed to do?” she asked the boy.

Ryoma nodded.

“I am.”

“Good,” Satsuki said. She then turned the key in the ignition and pulled the shift to reverse. “We can finally move on with our mission now.”

Ryoma looked out the window. The boy was nervous. He felt something tugging at the insides of his stomach, and yet at the same time, there was a twinge of excitement. Of anticipation.

The boy couldn’t wait to reach Shinjuku.

But what would come next was something that the boy did not expect, although he should have seen it coming.