Eyes Wide Shut

“Mhmm…”

Eiji’s eyelids fluttered open, greeted by the all-too-familiar cracked ceiling of his cramped apartment. What time is it? “Eiji-dono! Classes will be commencing soon!”

A floating eyeball drifted into his peripheral vision. Eiji groaned, checking the time on his phone.

“Then why the hell didn’t you wake me?”

He rolled out of bed with a weary sigh. It had been a long time since he’d been this late. Usually, the sound of Naomi’s energetic pounding on his door or her prying into his business acted as a natural alarm clock. Her absence felt louder than Eiji thought it would.

⌁◉⌁

Naomi was nowhere to be found. She wasn't at the gates, she wasn't at his desk, and no one came to drag him to the clubroom for lunch. Eiji took the rare opportunity to find a corner where the world was quiet.

Phew…

A cloud of smoke billowed from his lips. He rested his arm atop a bent knee, leaning back against the school fence. He hadn't had lunch alone at the back of the building in a while. It was the kind of place that reeked of fake bravado and cheap cigarettes—the unofficial sanctuary for delinquents and hooligans. Or maybe that smell was just the dumpster a few yards away.

Either way, he was currently the only soul in the vicinity.

“Meh.”

“Yes, Eiji-dono?” The shikigami popped into existence.

“You’re sure about that guy from yesterday?”

“An exorcist, indeed!”

Eiji went silent, staring at the ash on his cigarette. It had been a long time since he’d run into another "professional" in Shina. Brushing the mysterious man aside, another issue rose to the surface.

“Should we hold off on approaching that senior?”

Eiji had spent yesterday trying to devise a plan to deal with the invisible malevolence clinging to the emerald-eyed girl, Takenaka. But he’d fallen asleep before hitting on anything concrete.

“The malevolence keeps vanishing before we can interact with it, Eiji-dono.”

“So if we get too close, it’ll just go to ground...”

Master and shikigami fell into a heavy, synchronized thought.

“Indeed. It might even escape and change targets if Eiji-dono reveals himself too quickly.”

“So we wait for it to show its teeth, huh?” Eiji took a final drag and crushed the cigarette.

“That is what Meh would advise!”

Just as they reached a consensus, Eiji’s phone buzzed. He only had a few contacts, and only one of them sent messages this frequently.

Naomi: Hey Senpai! Sorry, but I won’t make it today… turns out I have a slight fever. The doctor says it’s exhaustion. I’ll rest today and hopefully see you tomorrow!

“That idiot…” Eiji sighed.

Naomi had been pushing her limits with their midnight excursions. Even someone with Eiji’s constitution felt the fatigue; what made her think a normal girl could handle it? She was too diligent for her own good. He made a mental note to bench her next time she looked haggard.

Ping.

Naomi: Oh, and don’t do any exorcist stuff without me, ‘kay? Sidekick and Boss go together no matter what!

Naomi: [Sticker: Winking Black Cat]

“Can’t make any promises,” Eiji muttered. He knew better than to type that, though; he didn't feel like dealing with the digital storm it would trigger. He sent a simple: Got it.

“Oh, look who it is.”

A familiar, annoying voice echoed. Eiji reluctantly turned his head.

“Ishida?”

“Kanzaki.” The scrawny delinquent with the pompadour grinned, flanked by a few cronies trying—and failing—to look intimidating.

“Fate brings rivals together again, eh?”

Eiji stood up, ready to head back to class. He wasn't in the mood for a street-fighting monologue.

“Oi!” Mitsuaki called out as Eiji walked past him. The delinquent leader hesitated, stuttering for a second before finding his voice. “Isn’t… that girl… with you?”

Did he… mean Naomi?

Eiji stopped, raising a brow.

“Why? What’s it to you?”

“I—ah…” Mitsuaki cleared his throat dramatically, puffing out his chest. “I just want to know how she’s doing! I want to make sure you aren’t forcing her to hang with you!”

Eiji stopped for a moment. He didn’t know exactly how to respond to that weird declaration.

“…Sure.”

Eiji kept walking. It was a weird exchange—no punches thrown, no threats. Just a confused delinquent playing knight-errant.

“Oi, come back here—!”

⌁◉⌁

“Okay everyone, settle down. We’ll begin the explanation shortly.”

Ms. Suzuki, the round-faced Home Economics teacher, spoke softly as the class filed into the kitchen. Eiji leaned against a counter, surveying the room with his usual side-eye. He really should have skipped today.

“Today, we’re making a simple omelet,” Ms. Suzuki jotted the recipe on the whiteboard. “Essential for your future endeavors. You’ll be in groups of three. Go ahead and pick your partners.”

Chatter erupted instantly as groups formed. Everyone found a spot—except for the one person who didn't move an inch.

“At least try to look like you're participating, dude…” Hatsue hissed from a nearby table.

Ms. Suzuki furrowed her brows. “Ah-ra… Kanzaki-kun doesn't have a group. Would anyone like to take him?”

What am I, a kindergartner? Eiji thought as the class stared at him with varying levels of anxiety. Hatsue was the only one who looked more annoyed than scared.

“Geez, for crying out loud!” she grumbled, raising her hand. “We’ll take him. We’re short one anyway.”

Ms. Suzuki smiled. “Excellent. Kanzaki-kun will join Shiratori-san.”

The short, black-haired girl next to Hatsue looked at Eiji with visible concern.

“H-Hatsue… are you…”

“He’s fine, don't worry,” Hatsue patted her friend’s back before beckoning the delinquent over. Eiji joined them with a wordless sigh.

“I swear, you’re a real pain,” Hatsue whispered, nudging him with an elbow.

“Shut it.”

“Now!” Ms. Suzuki announced with a lethal, silence-inducing smile. “Let's get started.”

Hatsue grabbed the olive oil and shoved it into Eiji’s chest.

“Here.”

“What?”

“'What' my ass. Pour it. We’re cooking, aren't we?”

“Oi.”

“Don't you ‘oi’ me. We’re. cooking.” Hatsue’s unwavering gaze bored into him until he dismissively grabbed the bottle.

He tilted it over the pan.

“Kanzaki-kun!” Hatsue’s friend, Marika, winced. “Don't pour all of it!”

“She didn't say how much.”

“A spoonful, Kanzaki-kun! Just a spoonful!” Marika stared at the lake of oil swimming in the pan.

“You tell him, Marika!” Hatsue sighed, grabbing a new pan.

“You’re hopeless.”

The class moved on to the next step. “Now, we crack the eggs against a hard surface,” Ms. Suzuki instructed.

“Your turn,” Hatsue declared, passing the eggs to the man caught between a rock and a hard place.

“The hell am I? Your servant?”

“Eggs. Chop, chop,” Hatsue smirked.

“Hatsue-chan, I think it’s 'crack, crack' instead of 'chop, chop',” Marika noted.

Hatsue opened her mouth to reply, but Eiji’s "technique" stopped her cold.

“The hell are these eggs doing?” Eiji muttered, staring at his palm, which was now a slurry of yellow yolk and a thousand tiny shards of shell.

“The hell are you doing?!” Hatsue hissed. “She said crack them, not squeeze the life out of them!”

“Didn't you see what happened?” Eiji gestured with his gooey hand.

“I saw! I saw it with my own eyes! You went full Detroit Smash on those eggs!”

Marika let out a small giggle.

“You’re funny, Kanzaki-kun.”

“Ou, he’s not funny, he’s just stu—”

“What’s going on over here?” Suzuki-sensei appeared, her usual relaxed smile feeling oddly spine-chilling. The three of them froze.

“Oh my, that’s not how we treat an egg, is it, Kanzaki-kun?”

After scrubbing the "eggshell massacre" from the table, they finally managed to get some actual eggs into a pan. The shrill sizzle filled the room.

“The timer will ping when it’s ready,” Hatsue said, setting a plastic egg-timer on the counter. “Holler if anything happens. We’re going to ask Suzuki-sensei for some pointers on the seasoning.”

Eiji didn't even acknowledge her as she and Marika trotted off. He stared at the bubbling omelet. It reminded him of Hifumi. Omurice was her specialty. It had looked easy when she did it, but his own attempt at simple eggs was already a disaster.

“Eiji-dono!”

Meh appeared in a whisper of smoke. Before Eiji could glare at him for being out in public, the shikigami darted toward the window.

“The malevolence! Look!”

Eiji sighed but followed the gaze. Out on the P.E. field, a group of seniors was running laps. Among them, he spotted the emerald-eyed girl, Takenaka.

Beep.

Nothing happened. She was just running.

Eiji turned a sharp, accusing glare toward Meh.

“Eiji-dono, wait—”

“Ou!”

Hatsue’s voice snapped Eiji back to reality as she snatched the pan from his hand.

“Didn’t you hear the damn timer?! You’re going to burn it to a crisp!”

As he was getting chewed out for the charred remains of the omelet, an audible gasp drifted in through the open window. Eiji’s head whipped back toward the field.

Takenaka was on the ground, clutching her ankle, her face contorted in pain.

Tch.

Eiji realized it instantly. He’d let Hatsue distract him. He’d missed the exact moment the Specter struck.

“Don’t you click your tongue at me!” Hatsue shouted, unaware of the situation outside. She crossed her arms.

“Haah…”

“Oi! Why are you sighing like you’re the one paying the school’s electric bill?!”