Aira Shiratori stood on the school rooftop, her platinum-blonde hair flickering in the wind like silver flames. Her violet eyes narrowed as she stared at the cityscape below, lips pursed.
She had heard the rumors.
> "He's not normal."
"I saw him talking to shadows."
"The spirits run when he shows up."
It wasn't just the students anymore. Spirit-sensitive residents whispered about a tall boy with golden eyes, who hunted curses like he was one of them. Some said he commanded monsters. Others believed he was a monster.
Aira hadn't decided yet.
But she would find out.
She stepped off the ledge, her own cursed aura forming beneath her feet to catch her landing soundlessly. Her destination: an abandoned train yard on the city's edge.
Reports had reached her through spirit channels: a den of cursed activity. Too strong for amateurs. Too unstable for normal exorcists. Perfect for testing him.
---
Meanwhile, Riku sat in a quiet corner of the school library, flipping through a Japanese mythology book with mild interest.
Raijin, god of thunder… Susanoo… Izanagi and Izanami… he mused.
"Stories born from fear," he whispered. "From humans needing to explain suffering."
He touched a page that showed a massive eight-headed serpent.
"Orochi."
He sensed a familiar presence enter the room.
Aira.
She moved like a blade—precise, focused, radiant in a way that didn't need announcement. She stopped beside him, casting a long shadow over the desk.
"You're Riku."
He closed the book calmly. "Yes."
"I need your help. Train yard. Spirit swarm. Three dead already."
He stood. "Why not go alone?"
"I don't like losing," she said flatly, "and I don't like mysteries."
She looked up at him, unwavering. "And you, Riku, are both."
---
The train yard was an eerie labyrinth of rusted tracks and broken boxcars. Graffiti-covered walls surrounded them, but cursed energy pulsed through the ground like a slow heartbeat.
Riku stepped into the yard first. The moment his foot hit the tracks, whispers began—ghostly, echoing.
> "He's here…"
"The boy with the beasts…"
"Golden flame… silver fang…"
Aira paused. "They fear you."
"They should."
A screech ripped through the yard.
Dozens of cursed spirits emerged—like malformed insects stitched together with wires and glass. Their jaws unhinged as they surged toward Riku and Aira in a wave.
> "Ten Shadows Technique: Nue!"
Thunder cracked as a massive, lightning-wreathed bird exploded from Riku's shadow, diving into the cursed swarm with fury. Electricity danced across rusted metal as spirits were torn apart mid-flight.
Aira's cursed aura ignited, a lavender blaze around her fists. She moved with practiced grace, smashing one spirit's skull in with a spinning kick and twisting around another, slamming it into a broken train door.
But more kept coming.
"Too many," she gritted.
Riku's eyes flickered.
"Then I'll walk among them."
He stepped forward, right into the thick of the horde. The curses paused—confused. One lunged.
Riku didn't flinch.
He caught it with his bare hand, held its struggling body, and then—his cursed energy surged outward like black fire.
> "Soul Control: Return to the Pit."
The spirit let out a horrible scream as its form unraveled, turning to smoke.
Riku's aura expanded, and with it came the beasts—Divine Dogs, Toad, Max Elephant, all emerging from the depths of his shadow. Each spirit turned to Riku instinctively—drawn not just to his power, but to something older.
Something primordial.
Aira watched, awed and disturbed.
He was a boy—but he stood like a god of monsters.
She landed beside him as the final curses tried to escape.
"They're running."
"Let them."
"But… shouldn't we—?"
"They know who they belong to now."
Aira turned to him. "You're not just strong. You're… unnatural."
He tilted his head. "Thank you?"
"That wasn't a compliment."
"No," he replied gently, "but it wasn't an insult either."
She hesitated. "What are you, Riku?"
He looked up at the night sky. "Something reborn. Something evolving."
"You're dangerous."
He turned to her, golden eyes softening.
"Only if you're my enemy."
They stood in silence.
Eventually, Aira said, "I'll walk beside you for now. But if I see you lose yourself…"
"Stop me," Riku finished.
"Good."
As they left the train yard behind, the darkness seemed less oppressive. The whispers faded. And for the first time, Aira smiled—just a little.
She was beginning to understand.
Riku wasn't a boy haunted by monsters.
He was the boy they followed.