6 YEARS LATER….

Tokyo was, and will probably always be, a lousy city. Yet, in a secluded district such as Shina, with its gloomy atmosphere spreading overtop like a veil and lack of color during daytime, one could say it was rather suited for solitude.

A cloudy, moody morning during mid-spring. Another spring that seemed more like winter to Eiji. What was the difference anyway?

“Hm, what do we have here?”

“If it isn’t Kanzaki!”

While the now teenage boy walked towards school on yet another lousy Monday, the two delinquents standing before him and blocking his path somehow managed to make it even lousier.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Another one of those delinquents appeared, making it a very fair 3 on 1. Frankly, Eiji could never tell the difference between all those delinquents around his neighborhood, since they all looked like some weird degenerate rock star one way or another. Dyed hair, piercings, and a deathly glare serving as their default expression. Could Eiji’s own bleached blonde hair and mean face have drawn them to him today? Or any other day for that matter? He didn’t know, nor cared either.

With a sigh too long for so early in the day, Eiji continued walking regardless.

”…I don’t have the time for this.” He simply stated, unfazed.

“Hah?! You really think you’re getting away scot-free?!” One of the delinquents clicked his tongue.

At the face of their comrade’s smug attitude, the other two seemed to have had a sudden boost of confidence “Boss explicitly told us to give you a piece of our mind!’ One of them said threateningly, cracking his knuckles.

Eiji looked them over once more. They weren’t wearing his school’s uniform, yet he knew who their so-called “boss” was. His influence sure had spread far in order to attract hooligans from different academies too.

Well not that it really mattered. That annoying trio was really getting on the young man’s nerves, and for better or worse, he was never one to stay patient.

“Tch…” Eiji clicked his tongue, his reserves of restrain dwindling.

“Hah! He thinks we’re afraid of—“

Slam!

Right as the third delinquent spoke up, a thunderous bare-knuckled fist hit him straight in the face.

“Hi-Hideyoshi!” The closest delinquent to the scene cried, his expression shifted from high-and-mighty to that of panic, as he saw his friend slam to the ground like a discarded doll.

“What’s the matter? All talk, after all?” Eiji eyed the two remaining gangsters, flicking the impact off his left wrist lightly.

“You—“

Bang!

Before the next delinquent could retaliate, Eiji delivered a lightning-fast kick to his stomach, emptying his lungs of oxygen in an instant, and bringing him to his knees.

Just like that, two of them had gone down, with only one delinquent left standing. Of course the outcome was already predetermined when the 3 of them picked a fight with him in the first place. Eiji’s speed and power where nothing sort of unbeatable by a mere delinquent, since he wasn’t JUST a high-school student, but a skilled exorcist too. Of course his experience of getting into fights every other day was nothing to scoff at as well.

“You--! But--! I…”

Despite the confusion very clearly clouding his opponent’s judgement, Eiji stepped forth once more. The annoyance those three had caused him, wouldn’t let the last one get away no matter what. He very rarely did let anyone escape in the first place. “Shut up… and fight!” With another well-placed punch, he struck at the last delinquent’s chin, laying him on the ground alongside his buddies.

“Haah…” Eiji exhaled, running a hand through his hair and brushing it back and away from his eyes. Despite his hair being significantly shorter on the sides and back, the longer part on top really was a hindrance when he was moving around, and thus opted to swipe it back whenever it did obstruct his vision.

Despite that minor setback, Eiji made his way to school once more.

“You could have gone at least a little easier on them, Eiji-dono!” Just as he walked on, a peculiar creature popped right out of thin air to make its opinion heard. At first, and last glance, it looked like a floating eyeball with a crimson red iris, and a pair of jet-black bat wings.

That was MEH, pronounced as meh, and literally meaning eye. Of course Eiji gave him that name, as he was the master, and Meh his Shikigami. Shikigami operated like familiars, and were essential for exorcists, since everyone who was to be one manifested their own right after their awakening. Every exorcist’s techniques were bestowed upon them, by a certain Kami, and their Shikigami represented the connection between them and the said God. As for their work, they were mostly of use to their masters as a tracker of sorts to malevolent energy, aiding their exorcist’s mission of tracking stray spirits known as “Specters” and sending them back to Yomi, whence they came.

“Just shut it…” Eiji sighed at the appearance of yet another nuisance, and much to his dismay, this time completely unavoidable.

“You’ll be late for school again, Eiji-dono!”

“Meh, can you just—“

“Oh, would you look at that? You’re already late!”

“Meh…”

“What was it this time? Tenth? Eleventh? You’re really about to set a new record so early in th—”

Bang!

Unable to contain his irritation any longer, and clearly having ran out of warnings for his Shikigami, Eiji masterfully blasts Meh away with a sloppy flicker punch. Despite not being known for his patience, there was something in Meh’s squeaky high-pitched voice that made that patience of his grow even thinner.

Despite the fierce blow, Meh flew back like a bouncing ball, since exorcists couldn’t really harm their Shikigami no matter how hard they tried. “Ouch! Eiji-dono! Why would you hit Meh like that?”

“You were getting on my nerves.” Eiji simply stated, as he continued walking down the pavement riddled with small rain puddles from yesterday night.

Thankfully, Meh’s form could only be seen by those that possessed the “sight”, as exorcists called it. And the ability that was referred to as such was none other than the one enabling them to see spirits, or “specters”.

What that really meant though, was that Meh and Eiji’s bickering seemed through the common eye as just a teenager fighting with an invisible insect, and muttering to himself.

As they continued down the road towards their destination, Eiji briefly looked up into the sky, stricken by big grey clouds. They somehow really did seem to be Shina district’s trademark. Yet something lingered on in the chilly atmosphere. Something abnormal. Something that was no doubt connected to the fact Meh had recently detected a rise in the malevolence around Shina lately.

The chilly wind and moody sky really did give the impression winter was in full swing though.

Yet it wasn’t. Spring had come ‘round, and it was barely three weeks after the new school year had begun. Eiji though, was very clearly late for yet another homeroom…

…

In the silence amidst the homeroom of class 2-C’s, the teacher called out his student’s names in order, as he took attendance.

“Sasaki Himari.”

“Present.”

“Shiratori Hatsue.”

“Present!”

“Kanzaki Eiji.”

As Eiji’s name was called out, the class suddenly went quite, save for one or two or three students whispering away.

“Haah…” The teacher sighed in disappointment, as he finished taking attendance “So, Kanzaki is—“

Slide.

Just as the teacher was about to declare his absence, the door of the class slid open. Standing there of course, was none other than the topic of discussion in the flesh, Eiji.

“…Present.” The young man in question spoke up lightly.

“Kanzaki-kun, huh? It would be nice to not be late for once, you know.” His teacher replied, as he got up from his seat.

“It would be indeed, sensei.”

Eiji’s cheeky remark caused a few chuckles to surface around the class.

“I wish you were that quick to respond when it came to class, Kanzaki-kun.”

A few more chuckles, this time slightly longer in length and higher in volume.

“Never mind, you may sit.” The teacher sighed once again, and Eiji didn’t have to be told twice.

Walking to the back of the classroom, he felt all sorts of eyes on him. Glares filled with annoyance or scorn, glances mixed with nervousness and fear. He had quite the past after all. Even his teachers were somewhat weary of him. Getting held back a year was no small thing, and of course word of him getting into fights every single day was quick to spread too.

Instead of grabbing a seat by the window, as one would expect for obvious reasons, the one he had picked out himself was stationed at the farthest row from it in fact, right before the second entrance of the classroom out back.

Just as he sat down, and deflected the eyes on him by taking a quick look around, he felt the need to yawn.

Lectures felt too boring and insignificant for him, as cliché as that sounded. Coming into contact with malevolent spirits on a daily basis really did give rise to a certain amount of indifference when it came to daily life. So, although he occasionally did try to pay the minimum amount of attention needed in order to not have to repeat another year, school proved to be quite the chore.

“Haaah…” Another yawn, this time even longer.

Eiji’s drowsiness was a testament to being an exorcist, since they mainly operated late into the night, and the fact the malevolence around the area had increased too, made his nightly workload even heavier. The fact he didn’t have any friends to talk to during class, and his lack of sleep at night, proved quite the set of excuses for him to catch up on sleep during classes.

….

“Oye”

“….”

“Oye!”

Right as class had finished for the day, a classmate of Eiji’s, was standing before the sleeping student, her arms crossed over her chest.

“What do you want?” Eiji retorted, raising the head that was resting on his arms.

“Did you seriously sleep through all that, dude?” The girl standing before him frowned, her face a mixture of clear disappointment and annoyance.

That was Shiratori Hatsue, class representative and pretty much always the life of the party. Or the lecture, depending on the occasion.

She sported the female version of the school uniform, consisting of a black and dark grey checkered blazer with a light button-down white shirt and burgundy bowtie, as well as a short black skirt. As per her personal preference, she also wore a pair of loose fitted white socks to go with her brown pumps.

With a short boyish hairstyle, and a striking red hair color, as well as a pair of small circular earrings on each ear, her appearance really did paint the image of an energetic person.

“What’s your problem?” Eiji finally sat up, not looking amused. Hatsue’s pestering had almost become the norm for him, even through his first year of high school.

“My problem is how you just keep on sleeping all the time. You almost make me feel groggy just by looking at you!” The girl pointed an accusing finger at Eiji “…Jeez, I’m your class rep for crying out loud, put yourself in my shoes for once.”

“What? No. That sounds like a pain.” The young man brushed her off, the kind of way one would use against a stubborn salesman.

“Eh?! You picking a fight with me, you imbecile?!” Hatsue gritted her teeth, and got into a position that looked more like a stretching exercise than a fighting stance.

Imbecile?

Eiji contemplated in puzzlement.

“You’ll probably end up punching yourself, so put those down before you get hurt.”

“Haah…” Hatsue slumped forward, as if having her strength sapped from her just from that sigh alone.

Peace, finally.

As Eiji exhaled in the calming absence of Hatsue’s voice, he looked around and realized that first period was over.

“Say, did you watch that late-night drama yesterday?” The class rep though, didn’t plan on leaving Eiji be. Even so, Hatsue was the only student Eiji was in talking terms with. Although she mostly pestered him, and asked him about weird TV dramas though.

“No.”

“Really? I was so sure Kazuki would get it on with Reiko during that—“

“I just told you, I—“

“Wait, let me finish first!”

Eiji sighed at Hatsue’s reprimanding tone. From what Eiji did hear though, it seemed like she valued her Drama viewing almost too much, what with the excruciating details she gave.

“—Don’t you think so, too? I think they’re made for each other!” While Hatsue was talking Eiji’s ear off, and a few of their classmates were looking over at them in silent bewilderment, the young man rose from his seat.

Hatsue immediately narrowed her eyes on being ignored. “Oye, where you going?”

“Bathroom.” With a single word, Eiji was out the class and onto the hallway, leaving all those weird glances behind.

For some reason, his classmates found it odd how Hatsue could talk so casually with such a mean-looking person. Although Eiji had quite the well-proportioned face, the way his piercing black eyes looked on, and his tall body stood firm, made him appear rather intimidating to his peers, thus they tended to avoid him.

After leaving the classroom though, he could finally be rid of all of those stares.