Fireworks

Naoya reached up and uncovered his right eye. He put the talisman onto the ground in front of him and started chanting.

Nee, aishitara dare mo ga konna kodoku ni naru no? Nee, kurayami yori mo fukai kurushimi dakishimeteru no?

“Haven’t heard that one in a while…” Aki said.

Naoya felt his muscles tense and then it happened, everything focusing on his head. Half of his vision whited out as the energy traveled through the air, hitting the rift with full force. With Aki’s support, holding him upright, he forced himself to stare until he felt the energy run out.

The rift flickered a few times. It grew smaller… but it didn’t disappear completely. Around them, the perimeter started chanting.

“It isn’t closing? Why?” Aki yelled.

She held Naoya’s shoulders as he swayed, lightheaded and weak in his knees.

“Seems like the loss was too big for what he had stored,” Kazu said. “But it’s most of the way there… see? They should be closing it in record time now.”

They watched the rift’s glow grow smaller and smaller, until the darkness of the night sky returned. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The whole procedure had been so short, even the ghosts were confused, circling in the air with no goal at all.

“The protection is working,” Aki said. “As long as I’m close and concealing your presence, they shouldn’t—”

The sudden flash of light blinded them, and the force of the opening rift made the glowing steam disperse in a wide radius. Above the town, a gash into the night sky opened up, flooding the streets with a harsh, white light.

“They started a fireworks show above the spring. It’s… an anniversary of some sort tonight,” Kazu relayed.

Naoya could imagine everyone with their phones, high in the air, filming the spectacle, the reflection of lights in the steam, the interplay of colours in this fantastical atmosphere. He would’ve done the same. Hell, he mostly traveled to take photos.

“Can you go again?” Aki asked.

“I don’t know. I can try.”

“Let’s. They’re chanting again—we should support them.”

“Alright.”

Aki leaned over Naoya’s shoulder and gave him a kiss, lingering and sweet. Around them, the murmur of the chanting agents rose. Even Aki started chanting as Kazu threw another talisman their way. She always recited her favourite novel’s opening, which she knew by heart. Naoya swallowed nervously and concentrated.

Nee, aishitara dare mo—

He doubled over in pain. His vision flickered, white spots at the edge. Aki immediately covered his eyes with her hands and held him close.

“Don’t try again. We can do it.”

Naoya agreed readily. He let himself be held, grateful for Aki’s presence. They didn’t even know each other for more than a few days, and most of his feelings were induced by possession, but at that moment, he felt blissfully in love, listening to Aki’s voice as she narrated her favourite book. So much so, he jolted when she stopped and addressed their colleague.

“Kazu?”

Naoya turned his head and dared to open his eyes. They burned slightly, but he was alright.

“We need backup. It’s not budging.”

Indeed, the whole of Deadrealm Kusatsu was still cast in this stark, unnatural white light.

“There’s another emergency in Tokyo,” Kazu said, touching his ear, where an earpiece sat. “We can’t have any backup.”

“No backup? How big is it?” Aki asked.

“Several, actually. Tokyo Tower, Shibuya again, Akihabara, Skytree.”

“At the same time? Fuck. We’ll need to resupply here. Can you get some people to retrieve more talismans?”

Kazu shook his head. “The supply teams have been reassigned to protection duty.”

“What? All of them?”

“Yes. It’s not only Tokyo. But you concentrate on this rift. I’m going by myself.”

“Not only Tokyo?!” Aki yelled and reached for her pocket. “Karin? What do you mean not now? Where… ugh. Fine.”

Kazu was already gone. Naoya couldn’t do anything but watch the spectacle as everyone else channeled the energy contained in the talismans into the newly opened rift. Everyone else… Wait.

“Shit!” he yelled, as he spotted a cloud of ghosts circling the area like hungry lions. “Is there anyone on defense?”

Aki shook her head. She couldn’t answer, too absorbed in chanting. Naoya looked down at his gloves. They weren’t only used to shift between the realms—they could also help him to fight. Not that he had any experience in that beyond the few hours the technicians had shown him how they worked back at HQ. But he had to defend the world of the living. He walked forward, to the edge of the spring and watched the ghosts fly by. Aki stared at him, alert, but kept captive by the chant. The rift above them shrank, but it was incredibly slow.

Then Naoya saw it: A group of shadows approaching the rift directly. He could not fly, but he could do something else. He opened his right eye and stared directly at the shades.

“Here I am! Come here!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.