From A Whisper to A Scream

Thanks to Honoka’s gift, reaching the voices was but a matter of time. This time her heightened hearing took center stage instead of her supernatural inherent ability. The three of them now stood beneath a railway bridge, with the train roaring above them, its wheels clattering against the tracks, casting intermittent flashes of light over the scene.

The light female sobs filled the air, the wails of a suffering soul. This time, the voice was undeniably human. No unearthly shrieks, no distorted monstrous undertones. Just the pure cries of agony.

“Will you shut up already?!”

A loud echo of palm against skin cut off the cries, which didn’t intensify yet kept its volume to a bare minimum.

Honoka and Naomi gulped, while Eiji clenched an already enraged fist, his knuckles threatening to lose all color, and soon, reason.

Within the obscurity of a small hut-like structure, formerly an office for the train station, the silhouettes of five men stood in stark contrast to the feeble light, their figures framed by the wall behind them. A few of them were sitting, lazing about, and a chosen two were occupied teasing a young, cuffed girl, cornered at one part of the structure. Their gestures held no restraint, and their body language exuded a disturbing sense of ownership over their victim.

The girl fought against her restraints, fully aware of the futility of her efforts. Having witnessed enough, Eiji managed to exhale a trembling breath as he approached.

Was this what the specter wanted them to see? Was this why it brought them here?

It mattered not at that moment. What mattered was putting Eiji’s nature of attracting fights to use once more. And this time, for a much more just cause than just fits of anger.

As the girls shuffled closer too, the 5 men took notice of the approaching figures and stepped out, exactly as if they owned the property.

“What the hell?!”

“Who the heck are ya?!”

“Better walk away pal!”

Three different types of responses were hurled at Eiji, yet the young man wasn’t intent on striking up small talk. Nor was he about to show mercy.

As he walked, he could feel the pull in his step, the gravity holding him down gradually lightening. Soon a figure emerged beside him, a green aura of malice, a shriek so cold and deadly it chilled their bones with a snap of its tongue.

The specter now appeared to stand besides Eiji, and lunged forward, only stopping before the faces of the hooligans, to deliver a blood-curling scream.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”

“AM I SEEING THINGS?!”

As the 5 men stepped back in a fit of shock, Eiji closed the distance between him and the one closest.

“HUH?!”

Seizing him by the collar, Eiji delivered a powerful head-butt to the man's face, his eyes seething with anger.

“Tsuyosh—“

Eiji hurled the staggering fool back to his friend’s side, a moment of hesitation passing between them all. The exorcist capitalized on that, and aimed a kick at the first one’s chin, and another spinning hit towards the second’s gut.

“Screw you moth—“

“WAAAARRRGGH!” The shriek of the specter that came between the young man exacting justice, and the delinquent fighting to protect himself almost from the divine justice, blew out his fighting spirit like a candle.

“WAAAAA!” "He stumbled backward, his hands instinctively clutching his head and ears in sheer terror.

Eiji shifted his attention to the specter's figure just before it vanished once again. In the heat of his initial anger, he had been uncertain, but now the pieces had finally fallen into place.

That foreboding presence was, indeed, on his side.

The girls skillfully navigated through the chaos, finally reaching the dilapidated structure. It was clear that they had seized the opportunity to assist the unfortunate girl.

“W-W-W-Wh-Who… are… ya?” One of the three, still unharmed delinquents uttered in pure terror, as he gazed at the young man’s fiery red glare.

The other two individuals stood there in stunned silence, their teeth chattering uncontrollably. One of them even emitted a strange odor, a testament to the fear that had overwhelmed him.

As strong as Eiji's urge was to immediately resort to violence, he managed to rein himself in, making an effort to articulate his thoughts.

“What did you do to that girl?”

“What… did… we…. Aaah…” While the first was unable to speak, the one still clattering his teeth managed to voice, albeit frantic.

“We… we found her on her way home… We thought she was beautiful and A-Akira said we could grab her and do as we please!”

“Akira?”

“The guy you just knocked out! He, he roped us into this! It was his idea! He said it would be cool if we acted all gang-like and have our way with her! He did all sorts of things and we just looked! When we spoke of letting her go, he refused and maybe we followed him in doing things too but—“

“How long has this been going on?” Eiji calmly asked, his heart still beating with unbridled rage.

“We caught her this afternoon, and thought that if she reported us we’d be in trouble! So, so Akira said, he said, we couldn’t let her go back so—“

The girl had been in their clutches for several hours. Their actions had gone far beyond a mere prank. These hooligans had not merely crossed the line of delinquency; they had plunged into the dark realms of deranged criminal behavior.

“Enough. I’ve heard… enough.” Eiji’s fists crackled with a red light. He was ready to unleash all of his powers at them, or even better let the specter devour them whole. Of course, he couldn’t do either.

As the specter shrieked once more, and hovered closer to them, the hooligans bellowed in horror yet again clutching their heads. Judging from their dilapidated irises, the specter had turned visible to all.

“Make it stop! Please!”

“Oh, I will.”

<*><><><*><><><*>

With the delinquents finally subdued, sprawled unconscious on the street, Eiji joined Honoka and Naomi in their efforts to console the sobbing girl. Her anguish was palpable, her cries uncontrollable. Naomi provided comfort by rubbing her back, and Honoka, having removed her jacket, used it to cover the girl's arms, where a few bruises were evident. Though her cheek still bore the red mark from an earlier blow and likely throbbed with pain, she was safe for now.

On the ground lay scattered cigarettes and several untouched knives, a grim reminder of what Akira might have done if left to his devices for the entire night.

The girl wore a school uniform unlike their own, and had her hair short. Her face was very pretty, but her glasses were strewn across the floor. A testament to how hard she had been hit earlier.

“These bastards…” Eiji had half a mind to turn back and go at it once more.

“It’s okay. No one will hurt you now.” Naomi tried to reassure her, her soothing touches slowly calming the sobbing girl down.

“We’re here. And we’re sorry we were late. It’s over now.” Honoka tapped her back too, as the girl’s tears continued to flow.

Suddenly, and without any prior warning, a vibrant green aura enveloped the tiny structure. All eyes turned upward, and the girl's sobs momentarily ceased.

The ghastly figure of the woman, now a mere specter of her former self, glided over the threshold and weaved past the walls.

Everybody stiffened.

“Senpai…?”

However, Eiji stood his ground, though his fists were clenched tightly. He contemplated stepping in between them but hesitated, never having witnessed a specter behave in such a manner. Nonetheless, he remained close, ready to intervene if the situation took a dangerous turn.

The spirit, appearing anything but malevolent, emitted a faint, sorrowful cry as it inched closer. The girl's face twisted in fear upon encountering a visage as deathly as that.

Yet, as the face approached her, its glow grew more radiant, and its face warmer. Soon, the face of the specter, turned to that of a woman, a beautiful young lady, with fair skin and beautiful hazel eyes. With a small, final smile, the figure dissipated in the air, the loose bonds that framed its body turning into small light particles, hovering like fireflies in the room.

As the figure dissolved in the air, in a spectacle of light, it was like a voice, an echo of the same soul, spoke softly inside Honoka’s head.

“I’m glad… you didn’t meet the same fate.”

Eiji heaved a sigh, and produced a vial from his pocket. The specter was exorcised, and yet the exorcist didn’t even touch it. It seemed like it had fulfilled its wish, its one desire, and simply passed on to the next world, its newfound peace now lying deep within it.

The girl was escorted at a police station soon after, and then to a hospital. Her nightmare had ended, the news were all over the incident. Her captors of course faced fierce sentences, and her four saviors shied away from the light of publicity. Besides, one among them, was not even human to begin with.

Eiji discreetly conveyed a clue about the construction site to a particular individual. To the astonishment of everyone involved, a shocking discovery was made: a body concealed within the concrete of one of the machines. The body belonged to the missing dancer from Tsutsu, a young woman who had been subjected to torture and then discarded. Her spirit endured, and managed to offer assistance to a younger girl, preventing her from sharing the same fate.

Her name was Yuki. And when the three of them looked at her photograph, they promised to never forget.

Yet Eiji was still skeptical. Still searching.

How was a specter able to help humans? How was it able to contain its bloodlust? How was it possible for it to pass on, without any sort of fight or struggle?

Were exorcists just needlessly violent? Was there another way? Or was it just a fluke?

There was something however, Eiji was sure of. It was real, and not some sort of halucination. The presence of the girls even confirmed so. And since it really were true, there was nothing in the way of him finding out what it really meant.