Home Stretch

“Tch.”

Eiji clicked his tongue at the messages he'd just arrived. Judging from the poor reception Naomi got, and the lack of spirit in her texts, it was easy for the young exorcist to understand. She was in deep trouble. And the location she designated spoke volumes of its nature.

Haunted, abandoned building. A specter no doubt was behind the commotion.

Without even giving it a second thought, Eiji slipped into his leather jacket and made it out of his apartment.

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

Eiji approached the location on his bike in a steady fast pace. The ransacked building came into view, and with it, the young man’s stomach twisted abnormally.

There was an overwhelming aura emanating from within the confines of the abandoned school, there was no doubt about it. Even someone lacking the perception of a Shikigami, like Eiji, could tell.

And as if to reaffirm that, Meh popped up, flying anxiously by his master’s side.

“Eiji-dono! There’s a great surge of malevolence coming from the direction Eiji-dono is headed to! Meh advises caution!”

Without offering a response, the exorcist accelerated his pace. It didn't take long before he awkwardly parked his bike at the side of the road and ventured into the premises. He couldn't allow Naomi to remain in the vicinity of a specter. And one capable of such an immense display of energy, nonetheless.

If anything, it was he who introduced her to the world of exorcism. It was he who decided to shoulder the blame of not pushing her away, and letting her accompany him time and again. Thus, it was his duty to not let anything harm her.

As the young man hurried towards the entrance, the fact the front doors were slammed shut with no sign of budging foiled his plans once more. With a click of his tongue, he surveyed the building.

There, where the presence was thicker, there where Meh said could sense some kind of peculiar, exorcist energy. It was Eiji’s talisman no doubt, the one he handed Naomi only the day before.

With time slipping away, Eiji unleashed his powers, his eyes aglow with a vibrant shade of red. He scaled the side of the building and firmly gripped one of the open windows. He could only hope he hadn't arrived too late, and that his underclassman remained unharmed.

“I’m not afraid!”

As her loud voice echoed out the window, Eiji’s resolve only hardened. Naomi was alive. And from the sound of her voice, she was putting up quite the fight.

Empowered by Raijin's gift, Eiji vaulted over the gap and into the school. His landing was nearly soundless as the floor scarcely creaked beneath him. Without delay, the young man shifted into an offensive stance. As he affirmed Naomi’s position beside him, her big eyes looking back at him, Eiji clenched his fist.

The creature confronting him was unlike anything he had ever encountered. It bore a striking resemblance to a colossal sumo wrestler, its flesh thick and corpulent. Multiple menacing, red eyes were etched into its skull, all fixed on the exorcist. Its unprecedented and distinctive appearance was clear evidence of its overwhelming power – a newly discovered, one-of-a-kind specter.

With a swift pivot, Eiji retracted his arm before thrusting it forward once more. A lengthy burst of red energy enveloped his arm, and his knuckles crackled with intense electricity. His arm connected cleanly and swiftly, striking the specter squarely on its broad, robust chest. The roar of thunder accompanied the attack, and Eiji felt the impact all the way to his spine. It had been a while since he had unleashed so much of his energy from such a simple punch.

The specter slid back across the floorboards, its flesh convulsing by the lighting surrounding it. As it roared, Eiji spoke.

“Sorry, I’m late.”

And the young girl, unable to hold back tears of relief, smiled in response.

“No, senpai… you came at just the right time.”

Their moment however was bound to be cut short. The enemy before Eiji wouldn’t allow him to dilly dally for long.

“Meh sensed a few other presences inside the school. Are they with you?”

“…It’s my sister and her friends… They wanted to check out the hau—“

“Explanations can wait. Join them and get out.”

“I-I can’t leave you here, senpai!” Naomi shook her head, despite Eiji’s stern tone. Even as they conversed, the sumo wrestler spirit wailed and glared. It wouldn’t wait for long.

“I’ll join you once I’m finished. Now get out of here!” Eiji locked eyes with the specter. “Use your last talisman to unlock the front door.”

"O-Okay..." Naomi nodded, albeit full of hesitation. It was evident that she couldn't put up an argument, not in the face of such a perilous situation. She had never witnessed her senpai so tense, something that only added to her growing unease. Nonetheless, she promptly ascended the steps behind him, not wasting another moment.

As he heard Naomi's footsteps gradually fading into the distance, Eiji cracked his knuckles. Now, he could fully concentrate on the enemy in front of him. This foe would compel him to utilize all the powers at his disposal, all the tools in his arsenal, every technique and strategy he had ever learned. That was something he hadn't done in a while. The battle's nature was such that holding back would likely result in his own demise.

Without any further delay, Eiji closed the distance between them. The previously sluggish creature swung its arm as swiftly as a killing machine aiming straight for the exorcist’s head. The young man capitalized on the momentum and stepped on its arm with one foot, before delivering a swift kick to its head with the other. Lighting crashed with every blow Eiji delivered, but tonight, the sound was so ear-splitting it felt almost like the real deal. Raijin’s element really was that devastating.

Despite landing a clean hit, Eiji found himself unsatisfied with the feedback from his blow. It lacked the satisfying solidity he was accustomed to. Glancing back at the specter as he vaulted over its shoulder and touched down at a distance, the young man quickly grasped the reason.

The section of its head that Eiji had struck had molded in response to the impact of his foot, as if the specter's very body had reshaped itself to reduce the force of the blow. Its corpulent physique also contributed to the difficulty of delivering impactful hits.

“You bastard.” Not only was that specter powerful, it was practically all but immune to melee attacks. Thankfully, Eiji’s arsenal held more than just that.

As the creature capitalized on Eiji’s contemplation, it dashed forward.

Something the exorcist had predicted, despite that. Before the enemy could draw near, Eiji unleashed a focused stream of potent lightning from his index and middle fingers. The technique commenced with a motion that started from his shoulder and extended all the way forward.

The beam travelled across, and as predicted hit the specter squarely.

“What the—“

Eiji's smirk, however, was swiftly wiped away. The specter absorbed the lightning particles into its body as though it fed on such a meager blast and continued its charge. The young man attempted to leap to the side, but the delay worked in his opponent's favor. The specter seized the exorcist by his sides as if he were a ragdoll, carrying him along as it mercilessly tore down the walls separating the classrooms from the hallway. After the destruction was complete, Eiji bore the brunt of the attack and was subsequently flung aside.

While the damage was evident, Eiji was quick to recover, landing on his feet.

“That hurt, you assho—“

“Eiji-dono!”

Meh however popped up to shoot his master a timely warning. A red beam traveled towards him at incredible speeds, heading straight for his head.

With a clumsy leap to the side, Eiji just managed to dodge by the skin of his teeth. With eyes wide, the young man turned to the beast that seemed to fire such a familiar attack. Crackling with red particles of light around it, the specter seemed to mock the exorcist.

“It does not only absorb my blasts….”

“…The vile spirit shoots it back like a dispenser too!”

While Meh’s words could use some refinement, Eiji found himself agreeing.

This fight really was as tough as he had thought. For a second, he might have even thought it was more than he bargained for.

But Eiji stood up, not ready to give up just yet.

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

"Onee-san! You're safe!" Naomi rejoined Kazusa and her friends, receiving a warm hug from her sister. Their group, uncertain about what to do next, stood in the second-floor hallway, peering down through a broken window. In their defense, attempting such a jump was far from safe, even for a full-grown adult, let alone a middle school student.

“I am! But we need to get out!” Naomi spoke, separating from the embrace but squeezing her sister’s shoulders in an attempt to reassure her.

“Out?! But how?!” One of the boys, the one wearing the glasses, spoke, almost too frantic to communicate normally.

"Naomi Nee-chan, do you have a plan?" Aika, striving to provide a sense of calm within the group amidst the chaos, inquired. Meanwhile, the crackling and crashing of lightning served as a relentless backdrop, causing everyone to wince with each new strike.

“What even is that?!” The second of the two boys asked, deeming everyone else was too scared to ask.

“It’s the help that arrived, but don’t mind it for now! This way!” Naomi turned on her heel and guided her sister and her friends down the same staircase she emerged from.

“B-B-But that’s where t-that THING was standing a minute ago, wasn’t it?!”

As if to drive that argument home, a loud crashing sound ensued.

"It's all right!" Naomi assured, tightly holding her sister's hand as they hurried along. Although lacking concrete proof, she had faith that her senpai would find a way to divert the specter from the hallway, allowing her and the kids to reach the exit. To the dismay of the students, this aging piece of architecture featured only one exit, and that was none other than the entrance.

Just as Naomi had predicted, when the group descended to the first floor once more, the coast was clear. The wall separating the classrooms from the hallway though, was… nonexistent. Even so, the monster didn’t seem to acknowledge them, its eyes fixed on the one threat before it.

Eiji’s eyes widened as he saw Naomi and her entourage, but motioned for them to move with his eyes. Of course, the young girl couldn’t miss her senpai’s intentions. While Eiji jumped and attacked the specter, delivering fast small blows that kept it occupied, the group moved down the hallway with swift hurried steps.

“Is he fighting that THING?!”

“First a ghost and then a superhero?!”

In a typical display of “boys will be boys”, the two young men of the group whispered as they moved past the jaw-dropping scene straight out of a shonen manga.

“Shut up and run!”

While the tomboy girl of the group reprimanded them, the group was finally in the clear. In a frantic manner, but seemingly undetected, they all descended the creaky steps to the ground floor.

The first to reach the exit was Aika, who grabbed the handles and turned with all her might.

“I-It won’t budge!” She cried, soliciting the others to cry out in panic.

“It can’t be!”

“Step aside, everyone!”

Naomi let go of her sister’s hand and marched forward. All the eyes gathered on her, her heart rate elevating with each new second that went by.

She shuffled through her hoodie’s pockets, before pulling out a lone, slim piece of paper.

“What is… that, Nee-san?”

Causing no shortage of puzzled remarks to ensue, Naomi stretched her hand out towards the door. Her senpai had spoken to her about the properties and usages of talismans. Protecting, attacking, sealing, unsealing, and binding.

It was clear to Naomi which one of those she had to channel to break out of this nightmarish school with her sister and her friends.

Right before she could speak up reassuringly, her breath caught on her throat. 

How WAS she going to do that, exactly?