Chapter 4 - Yokai

"What are you waiting for? Kill it!" Miko shouted as she pointed her katana at the spirit. "It's only a Shikigami, and it's only out 'cause you guys are hostile," Sora said blankly. Miko was hesitant, but she slowly lowered her katana. The Shikigami looked at Sora before nodding and disappearing. "See, was that so hard?!" Miko scoffed as she sat back down in her chair. The two other students sat down as well. "Soya, how about you introduce yourself?" Sora said. Soya snapped out of his daze as soon as Sora said that. "U-Uhh, Okay. My name is Soya Senju. My favorite food is Teriyaki Fish." Before Soya could finish his sentence, Sora interrupted him. "Not like that!" Sora exclaimed. "Then how am I supposed to do it!?" Soya asked. "I don't know; explain your technique!" Sora said. "I don't even know my own technique!!" Soya shouted. "Bro, how do you not know your own? Wait,  never mind, I know why." Sora said. Soya glared at Sora. "Wait, how do you not know your own technique?" Miko asked as she chuckled a bit. Soya scratched the back of his head. "Well, you see, I just found out about all of this, like exorcists and yūrei," he said. "Sora actually said he was going to teach me today." Everyone in the class looked shocked. Normally,  people who enroll in Shinto schools like this come from a family of exorcists or at least have some connection. "Wait a minute? Are you two families? Do you have the same surname? Senju, and the Senju clan is a big deal," Miko asked. "We're not family, but I see how you came to that conclusion. But if he were part of the Senju clan, he would've been like me," Sora said calmly. "What do you mean by that?" Miko asked with a confused expression on her face. "Big clans like the Senju Clan take advantage of people with strong techniques and shape them into warriors to keep their superiority over other clans and people," Sora explained. Soya looked at Sora with a confused expression. "I'm so lost," he said. Sora sighed and looked at his watch, then out the window and at the sun. "It's almost time. I'll explain when we get there," Sora said calmly. "Get where? And what's almost time, Sora!?" Soya asked as he shouted. Sora then turned his head to Miko and the others. "I have one last mission for you guys, but be sure to finish it before twilight," Sora said as he took out his phone and sent the location to Miko. "No, that's done... It's time we go on a trip, Soya," Sora said as he walked over to Soya and picked him up by the back of his shirt. "Hey, what are you doing?" Soya screamed as Sora picked him up. "R.I.P. Soya," Miko said as she got up from her seat. "C'mon guys, let's go. I don't want to see Soya die on the first day," Miko said with a smirk in her face as she and the other students left the room. "What does she mean?" Soya asked. "Don't listen to her," Sora said with a smile. Just in that moment, Sora and Soya began walking towards the window. "Sora! The door is that way!" Soya said it nervously. "Oh, I know that." Sora said as he stood right in front of the window and stuck out his hand. In that second, the window shattered into a thousand small pieces. Soya closed his eyes as pieces of glass flew towards him. "No need to close your precious eyes," Sora said calmly. Soya slowly opened his eyes and saw that the pieces of glass were floating in front of him. He then looked out the window to see that all the other small pieces were also floating in the air. "Woah," he said softly. Sora then began moving forward. "Sora, we are on the third floor," Soya said as his voice grew louder every second. "Sora!" He shouted as he stepped on the ledge of the broken window. Soya looked down at the massive fall and shuddered. "I don't think this is a good idea," he said as he tried to wiggle free from Sora's grip. Sora kept quiet and lifted his foot as if he were going to take a step. Soya closed his eyes as Sora took the step forward. After ten seconds or so, Soya frowned; he didn't feel the massive surge of wind falling. Slowly, he opened his eyes. As his eyes fully opened, Soya was in utter shock. He was floating in the air. "Cool, ain't it?" Sora asked. Soya looked at Sora, who was still holding onto him, and said, "You're doing this?" Soya asked in total shock. "Yeah, it's my technique," he replied. Sora then looked at the sun and said, "We better get going." Sora said as she slowly began to descend towards the ground. As Soya's feet touched the ground, he let out a sigh of relief. "Y'know, we could've taken the stairs, right?!" Sora chuckled as he walked off. "Where's the fun in that?" he replied. Soya shook his head as he followed Sora. "So, where are we going?" Soya asked. "We're going to exorcise some yūrei," Sora replied as they left the school grounds and walked into the nearby forest. They walked deeper and deeper into the forest, and it was normal at first until there were some noises coming from deep in the forest. "What was that?" Soya asked. "Y'know how I told you what yūrei are right. Their souls are humans and living things that don't pass on to the afterlife," Sora said. "Yeah," Soya replied, confused about what this had to do with his question. "Yūrei are what we exorcists kill, but that's not all," Sora explained. Just as Sora said, there was another sound. "There are other creatures called yokai," he said. "You mean like, Kitsune and all that?" Soya asked. "Exactly like that, creatures that are created through phenomena that can't be explained, or something that people really believe in," Sora carried on. "I don't get it." Soya replied. "Let me say it like this; y'know, people have fears, right?" he asked Soya. "Yeah," he replied. "Well, if someone has a fear of sharks and they're really afraid of them, eventually all the negative energy builds up from that fear, and a yokai is born," Sora explained. As he said, there was another sound, but this time it was much louder. Soya looked around them to see where the noise was coming from. "Just like fear, negative emotions in general can create yokai, but we just call them spirits," Sora said. The noise got increasingly louder. "You hear that, right?" Soya asked as he looked around. Sora smirked, "But you see, since these spirits are created from lots of negative energy, they're a lot stronger than normal yūrei, so most exorcists can't kill them," Sora explained. "Dude, what are you talking about?" Before Soya finished his sentence, it clicked. "No," Soya said as his eyes widened. "Yes, Soya," Sora said with a smirk. Just then, multiple figures came rushing out from behind the trees and ran straight towards them. "I'm going to show you how to exorcise a spirit!" Sora shouted.