Fight For Our Souls

“Akina!”

I immediately ran towards her and gave her a massive unrestrained hug.

“Woah there, a bit much, ahaha—!” Akina laughed it off, but Yoshio joined in on our hug too, and she couldn’t complain about that. Though, she eventually pushed us off. “Sorry I took so long. I think we all got separated when we got tackled through that portal.”

“It’s okay. I found Yoshio, and now we found you. We can try and get out of here now.”

“Are you okay? You look pretty beat up. It’s also kind of weird to me that you’re physical in this world, that’s not the Miharu I’m used to.”

“Yeah. It’s strange for me too, but it also means I can use my powers by myself! Watch!” I said, before immediately shifting my arm into a hammer. “See, isn’t that cool?”

“Oh, shoot. I still have some of your powers, though I don’t know how long it will last. But, it’ll help us with getting out of here at the very least.”

“You idiots!” A loud, angry voice interrupted our reunion. “You can’t get out of here without that emotional signal. That’s why I’m going to need to carve one myself!” The angry catgirl stood up, brandishing her spatial cutting knife.

“Looks like we still have a problem here,” Akina told me.

“Then let’s handle it together. Like we’ve always done,” I reassured Akina.

“Heh. You only just remembered you got two legs to walk on and now you’re throwing hands. I like that,” Akina responded, before brandishing her own trusty kitchen knife. “Let’s do this together, then.”

“Yoshio, stay back,” I told him, before heading towards Honoha. Akina walked alongside me. With a roaring shout from Honoha, she charged at the two of us, and we responded in kind.

The battle that happened was long, drawn out, but it was something that we were used to. It was something that we had been preparing for in all our time as the Solve Everything Agency. Any strike that Honoha did, Akina matched with her own. Then, for extra spice, I kicked her from behind.

The two of us traded blows with her. Moving to cover each other whenever one seemed vulnerable. Akina’s knifeplay, and the strength of my fists both came together. I managed to get quite a few good jabs in. To her stomach, to her arms, to her legs. Akina on the other hand was keeping the catgirl’s knife busy.

We fought, jumped around, and continued to do so. But while I was fighting… one last memory began to nag at me, and it played out in my head.

***

The swirling lights, the screaming souls, and the cold emptiness of the afterlife greeted me. I got up from the ground, noticing my transparent skin and the torrent of agony around me. I didn’t even realize what happened.

Did that man kill me? Did I really die that easily?

I kept on looking around, but the only thing I could see were islands and souls. All of them losing their own sense of self as they only thought of their own memories, and the lives they had. They were all going crazy. An eternity with other dead people would drive any person crazy.

Wait. I’m dead. I died.

That was the fact of the matter. I was no longer alive. Wait. Wait wait. Wait wait wait wait. There was no way I was dead. I mean, I barely even started doing hero work. Graduation was so close too. I didn’t do enough, and I died to some random criminal?

Yoshio. Mom. Oh no. Oh no. I promised them I would be back. I promised mom I would be safe. I couldn’t die now. Not now of all times, not before I’ve done anything to solidify myself as the hero of the city!

Stress and anxiety overtook my breathing, as I frantically looked around my small little island for something… anything to get me out of here. To get me back home. Just give me one little thing!

I ran back and forth. I didn’t want to become one of those souls, the ones screaming in their own memories. I might have my mind now, but what about a year from now, two years? I couldn’t… I can’t…

Suddenly, I felt everything shake. As if someone was breaking apart the fabric that made up this plane of existence. In a panic, I tried to feel for where the earthquake was coming from. And lucky for me, it wasn’t too far.

On the very same island, I could feel space being weakened. It was just an intuitive sense, but I knew there was something to it. However, I wasn’t the only one who noticed this. The screaming souls scattered about at the earthquake, trying to find other weakened locations in the fabric of this world.

But I had one too myself. I tried to see if I still had my magic, and I did. With no other option, I began pouring my own spiritual energy into the weakened gap in space, trying to force it open… and lo and behold, a hole came out into existence. An opening… a way to get back into the world!

I kept on pouring more and more of my magic into it. Hoping that it would hold. Just enough that I could push through, and go back home. After a few more seconds of holding it, I began to try and force my way through.

I shoved my face, then the rest of my body through the tear in space. It hurt. It hurt so much. It felt like if any other ghost were to do this, they would lose their mind and body entirely. But, I couldn’t afford to do that.

Pushing further and further. It was like my body was reshaping, being peeled off one-by-one. It was the world. The world was telling me that I didn’t belong here. That my memory would end with me dead. I could not go back home, to my heroisms… and to my family.

But I refused. I kept on moving forward. My mind… I was losing my grip on it. I was struggling to remember… who am I… the world was telling me to go back. I was dead, I belonged with the dead. But no, that pain…

It wouldn’t stop me. Even if I didn’t remember who I was. Even if nobody remembered who I was. I still had things to do back home.

With one last scream, I made the final push forward. And on that day, an earthquake shook the entirety of Yamiyami City, and all memories of ‘Miharu’ were erased as a result of my actions.

***

With one last punch, I uppercutted Honoha off the ground. It hit her so hard, she dropped her knife as she fell flat on the floor. Akina went over and picked up the rift knife, leaving Honoha completely defenseless.

“I remember now,” I looked at Honoha. “Was that you? Were you the one that tore open this place? The tear that allowed me to escape?”

“...”

She didn’t respond. But I didn’t need her to. I knew it instinctively. “Well, thank you for that. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have met Akina. And I wouldn’t have been able to become the hero I wanted to without you.”

“...ggh…” Honoha groaned. In one last spiteful act of defiance, the girl picked herself off her feet and ran into the sea of souls, out of both of their sights. That told me a lot, and I guess she didn’t want to face me anymore. The consequence of her failure.

“I guess she’s not our problem now, especially without her knife,” Akina said, holding it. “You say you remember things now?”

“Yeah. I remember a lot. The good, the bad… but it’s all coming back to me,” I told her.

“That’s great! We completed our mission then—getting your memories back. Now… we just have one more question,” Akina looked back at Yoshio, who was waiting for them. “How do we get out of here?”

“Well. Maybe we can still find the Rift we came in through, but I don’t see it anywhere. Honoha said she needed a strong emotional energy signal, but it’s hard to find in the whole afterlife.”

“Well, I think I have an idea,” Akina said, reaching into her pocket. “Gimme a sec.”

While she did that, I held Yoshio in my arms once again. “I’ve missed you a lot, you know?”

“I’ve missed you too, Ms. Ghost Lady,” Yoshio smiled brightly. He didn’t know it, but I was so happy that I could hold him like this again.

“Ah, here it is,” Akina pulled something out of her pocket. It was the device that Junpei had given them earlier. The compass that was pointing in a certain direction, towards a strong emotional signal!

“You’re right!” I said. “We could probably locate it through that! Let’s just follow it until we can find that Rift.”

“Remember to protect Yoshio through the sea of souls. It gets pretty dangerous through there,” Akina told me.

“Mhm,” I nodded. “I won’t let anything happen to him. Hold onto me tight, Yoshio.”

Yoshio grasped onto me tightly, as we began to make our trek through the afterlife. A created a small barrier of protection around my body, in order to make sure he was safe. Soon, we leapt.

***

A while of leaping through floating islands later, we managed to make out something in the distance. A massive portal leading to a human moon.

“There it is!” Akina shouted. “We just need to make it through there before it closes on us.”

As fast as we could, we began to run and leap through the flying souls and onto the floating islands until we got as close to the portal as possible. It was just one more leap through the portal, and Akina was preparing to jump.

But before she could do so, I suddenly stopped. I realized something, something really bad.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Ms. Ghost Lady?” Yoshio asked.

“Miharu? Is there something wrong?” Akina turned back to me.

“It’s just… I remembered… the last time I went through a rift, it wiped my memories. And the memories of everyone else in the city too…” I said. “So, I just thought… what if it happened again?”

“Huh? Why would it do that?” Akina asked.

“It’s because I’m a ghost, Akina. I don’t belong in that world. So if I try to go back, I might have to fight against the world again… and I don’t want everyone to forget me.”

Yoshio and Akina both looked at me. I got my memories back, but I didn’t want to lose them again… and I didn’t want Akina… or Yoshio… or anyone to lose their memories of me either.

“So… um… I was thinking that maybe it would be best for you to keep your memories of me. That’s my mark on you right, as a hero? We’ve done a lot together… so…”

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my cheek. A slap. A really hard one too.

“You idiot! What’s the point of the Yamiyami Solve Everything Agency if my other half isn’t there? If all I have of you are faint memories, then what’s the point?” Akina shouted. “I need you to pay my rent, and I need someone to keep me sane in these insane times. You don’t belong in this world. We’re soulmates, remember?” She then forcefully grabbed me by the shoulder, and began to push closer towards me. “And if you say that you can’t go back because you’re a ghost, then I’ll show the world that you belong in our world, with us!”

“What… what what… what are you doing?”

“The same thing we’ve always done!” She said. I let go of Yoshio, as Akina completely picked me up, before she forced me directly into her body. The possession!

“In my body, you can touch and feel things. That’s proof that you belong, isn’t it? We’re getting out of here together! There’s no way the world can deny that from us!”

I was speechless. I’m surprised I never thought of a solution so simple. I hoped it worked, at least. Akina picked up Yoshio in her other arm as I saw everything through her eyes. With one powerful jump, the three of us leaped towards the rift.

It began to seal in on itself, and the two of us pushed as hard as we could. Harder, harder, and harder… until…

***

The smell of the city came through, and all of us crumbled and fell onto the street. The moon shined above us, and the sound of police sirens were blaring as they reached our location.

“Welcome back,” the voice of Azana came through our ears. “I thought you two were goners, if I was going to be real.”

Akina rolled on her back, letting Yoshio get up. The voice of Mrs. Lio then came through, crying and sobbing that Yoshio had come back.

“Thank god, you’re okay! Are you hurt? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay, mom,” he said, hugging his mom. “Ms. Lady and Ms. Ghost Lady protected me the whole way through.”

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect you. I won’t let that happen to you again, I promise!”

Meanwhile, neither of us had the energy to stand up, as we just looked at the rift that began to close in on itself. Honoha was still in there, but we couldn’t think about that now.

The main thing was that we were back, and we solved our biggest case yet. That was worth celebrating.