Spiritual Education

My frail body collides with the cold tile. I look around from the floor, but luckily I’m alone. I guess class is still going. I stand and start walking back towards the classroom, pondering all the way.

“What was that? Why were his eyes glowing so brightly? Why does he work for Ligatio?”

My footsteps echo in the empty hallway, and my mind won’t stop racing. I made it all the way back into the classroom, only to be greeted by a host of glares. Most concerningly from Mr. Ishida.

“W-welcome back kid.”

“Kenji?”

Maya seems mildly surprised that I’ve returned, but Mr. Ishida has gone pale.

“Kenji, yeah… Kenji. Welcome back. Take a seat and she’ll catch you up.”

I sit back at my table with Maya and she explains what happened when I was gone. Some light busy work but nothing impossible. The class ends quickly, we all grab our bags and scramble for the hallway.

Today was nothing but a drain and I just want to get home.

“So what did the principal ask you?”

Maya finally inquires about my impromptu meeting once we’re outside.

“He just threatened me. Said to keep my head down.”

“Are you going to?”

“Probably.”

Maya stops in the sidewalk and blocks me from walking.

“What do you mean?”

“He said to stop, he clearly meant it, so I’m gonna stop.”

“Kenji, you can’t just give up like that. There’s something deeper going on here, what if someone else is involved?”

“He said he works for Ligatio.”

“WHAT?”

“I know, I thought a principal would have a better salary.”

Maya looks around clearly paranoid.

“There’s definitely something happening here Kenji, but maybe we should lay low for a bit.”

“See?”

“Just for a little Kenji.”

Maya keeps staring at the rooftops, having lost half her mind at this point. The birds are chirping in the evening sun, but she does have a point. There’s an awful feeling I feel from standing in the open. Some deep muddy feeling in my soul that seems to sit and fester on my back, but when I turn around, nothing.

The feeling subsides over the next two weeks. I finally got to get a real high school experience by keeping my head down, but the shadow on my mind doesn’t fade. I spend my time in class with Maya and hang out with Ikuma after school, I even exchanged a few nonhostile glances with Rikiyo. Everything is going alright.

“Son, staring at clouds doesn’t burn calories, GET RUNNING!”

“Sorry coach!”

“Get moving, and you’ll be fine.”

I stand up and start my lap around the field. I like PE more at this school, everybody keeps to themselves, and it’s nice being outside. Except… that feeling never faded, and it’s even stronger today. I look around the field and see nothing more than my classmates, but when I look towards the building, there’s a small shadow eclipsed by the sun.

“You.”

In that moment, the feeling disappears, this has to be the source. However, someone takes the moment to catch me off guard. A blade slices the tip of my thumb at my side, the assailant vanishes, and the sun fades into a deep blackness. I’m not asleep, I can feel the sting of my thumb, but my vision has narrowed to a three meter cone of low light. The sounds of the birds have also faded, replaced by the whistle of a foreign wind and a sea of unknown origin. However, when I look down, I remain on the grass.

“What do you want?”

I try to plead with the darkness, but it responds with a familiar silence. The fear is really setting in, and I turn to try and find some anchor, some landmark. I walk through the darkness as the sea gets louder and the wind goes from a whistle to a howl.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

I look around frantically for some way out. I turn behind and a shadow deep in the darkness. Somehow blacker than black, contrasting against the aether.

“I want… to kill you Kenji. I want it more than you could know.”

The shadow speaks and the world goes silent, save for their voice.

“Why?”

“I must appease.”

“Appease who?”

The shadow steps into my cone of dim light. Another teen, draped in ragged military gear. A breathing apparatus pulling two violet tubes out of either side of their neck. Their hair is greasy and mismanaged, their eyes are the same dull grey color, but their teeth are even blacker so. They absorb what little light remains in a truly sickening grin.

“My creator.”

The shadow slowly unsheathes a long and twisted dagger, and my legs take the initiative. I run through the grass, sprinting, all out for my life. The silence disappears as the sea grows louder the wind returns, and all I get from the shadow is a deep guttural scream in the distance before everything truly goes black.

“Kenji? Are you alright son?”

My head is pounding, my left knee aches, and my nose is crooked in an awful fashion. I open my eyes to see the nurse and coach.

“What happened?”

“You went off track and splat into a fence like nobody’s business.”

“Am I in trouble?”

“Son, I’d estimate you crossed the field in 27 seconds. Have you ever considered track? You’d get to talk with ‘you know who’ in a professional context.”

“Rikiyo?”

The nurse and coach both motion for me to silence. They step aside and show me the additional bed behind them. Rikiyo’s laying sound asleep with similar bandages on her forehead. The nurse chimes in.

“She had a little episode too. Found her at the bottom of the stairwell on the second floor.”

“Will she be okay?”

“I think she rolled her ankle, and definitely knocked her noggin, but she’ll recover.”

The coach stands proudly and crosses his arms.

“She better. District finals are soon and she needs to be ready.”

“Why do you push her like this coach?”

His proud façade fades, and he’s clearly taken offense.

“If I don’t give her drive, who will?”

“Maybe herself?”

“Listen son, I’ve seen too many athletes throw it away because no one was there to push them.”

“Maybe it’s because you isolate your athletes. Does anyone even come to cheer for them?”

Coach stands up and ponders for a moment. He turns to the nurse expecting some sympathy, but she seems to agree with me.

“Alright son, but just because you’re a treasure. Don’t make her late.”

Coach leaves the nurse’s office and I peer at Rikiyo across the room, smiling in her sleep.