Chapter 3 - Soul Society

Sora and Soya were in the back seats of a car that was driving them to the school Sora was talking about. "Are you sure there's a school in the middle of the forest?" Soya asked as they began driving through the forest. "Yeah, I'm sure. The schools are in the forest for a reason," Sora replied. "Oh, and why is that?" Soya asked. "So that people don't accidentally wonder about the property," Sora stated. Soya nodded, "But what if a helicopter or drone flies over the school? Won't that see it?" He asked. "To prevent that from happening, there's a barrier around that school. It makes it so that people can't see the school; instead, they just see more trees," Sora explained. "That's neat," Soya said as the car came to a stop. They got out of the car and walked to the boot. Soya opened it and took out his luggage before walking to where Sora was. "Thanks Tadaka!" Sora said as he waved the driver goodbye. "C'mon, let's go. I can't keep the other students waiting," he said. Soya's eyes widened. "Other students! You didn't say there'd be more students!" Sora smiled. "It's a school; what'd you expect?" He said. "Don't sweat it, their nice kids," Sora said. "If they're your students, I doubt they'll be nice," Soya remarked. "You're one of my students now; don't forget it," Sora replied. They walked for about five minutes before reaching the barrier. "What! Is it supposed to look blurry?" Soya asked. Sora stopped and looked at Soya curiously. "Wait, it's blurry to you?" Sora asked. "Yeah, is it not blurry for you?" he asked. Sora shook his head. "It is blurry to me, but that's the thing," he said as he leaned over and looked Soya dead in the eyes. Soya raised his eyebrow. "This is making me feel uncomfortable," he said. Sora smirked and stood up properly. "Let's go; we can't keep the others waiting," he said as he put his hand against the barrier. Sora slowly stepped through the barrier and disappeared. Soya looked at the barrier with a confused expression. Then he tried walking through the barrier, but he couldn't; instead, the barrier just pushed him backwards. Just then, Sora stuck his hand through the barrier. Soya grabbed his hand, and in that moment, Sora pulled him through the barrier. When Soya crossed it, he was met with a sight that he would never forget. It was the largest school he had ever seen. It was about 5 stories high and massive. It also had traditional Japanese architecture everywhere, which gave the impression of money and being old. "Damn! This school is massive!" Soya exclaimed. "It's actually a normal-sized school built under the authority of Soul Society," Sora replied. "Soul society has never heard of it," Soya commented. "Of course you've never heard; it's a secret organization that was built way before the Meiji Era," Sora explained. "Now follow me; I'll show you to your dorm room and then to the classroom," he said as he began walking forward. They walked through the hallways of the school and up a few flights of stairs before they reached the boys dorm. "This'll be your room," Sora said as he unlocked it and opened the door for Soya to walk in. Soya walked into the room and inspected it. It was quite large for a dorm room. It had a queen-sized bed with two bedside tables and a lamp on one of them. There was also a desk with a computer on it and a chair. Not to mention, there were two single-seater couches in the middle of the room, with a table separating them. And there was also a massive wooden closet in one of the corners. Soya's eyes widened. "This room is massive! It might be the size of half of my house!" He exclaimed, and he put his luggage down. "It's alright, I guess. But c'mon, there's still much more we've got to do," Sora said. Soya nodded and left the room. He and Sora walked around the school, with Sora showing him where the other things were, like the gym, before going to the classroom. When they reached the classroom, Soya began to sweat. "You okay?" Sora asked when he noticed Soya sweating. "Yeah, I'm just nervous, that's all. I'm not really good with people," he said. Sora put his hand on Soya's shoulder. "It's fine, like I said, their nice kids," he said before opening in. Everyone turned their attention to Sora as he walked in. "Students from far and wide! I'd like to introduce our brand new students, Soya Senju!" He said it dramatically. Everyone stayed silent. "Another Senju? You're already too much to handle, and now there's another one," one of the students said. Sora's expression went blank once again. "Y'know, saying such harsh things could really hurt my feelings, Miko," he said. Miko rolled her eyes and said, "Let's just get this over with. I just hope he can take care of himself so I don't have to baby him like Sato and Haru," she said. The other two students said in unison, "Hey! We're not babies; we can take care of ourselves!" Miko just rolled her eyes at this. Sora sat on his desk, chuckled, and said, "I assure you, he is more than capable of taking care of himself. Now why don't you c'mon in, Soya?" From outside the classroom, Soya took a deep breath before he entered the classroom. Soya took slow, heavy steps as he entered the classroom. The whole time, he kept his gaze on the ground. He then stopped in the center of the classroom and took a deep breath before looking up at the students. From what he heard outside of the classroom, there were three students in the classroom. As he looked up, his eyes widened. Instead of seeing the faces of other students, he saw the back of one of his phantoms. "What! Don't these 'things' usually come out when I'm in danger?" Soya thought to himself. "What the hell do you think you're doing, bringing a fucking spirit into the class?" Miko scowled as she unsheathed her sword and pointed it at the spirit.