chapter 3:You Must Become 'Interesting'

POV of the narrator

"Where did you go?" After her encounter with the child-obsessed spirit, Mahito was back, perched on Kouki's shoulder in his bat form.

"I told you, I was taking a walk, and I even met an interesting woman." Mahito's words made Kouki shiver slightly. Of course, Mahito noticed it.

He drew a sadistic smile on his bat face. Unsurprisingly, it made his expression even more... threatening.

"What? Your master isn't allowed to flirt with other ghosts since he took you under his wing?" he teased. Kouki, caught off guard, avoided his gaze, too embarrassed.

"I... it's just..." She was too flustered to formulate coherent arguments to refute Mahito's teasing.

"A piece of advice, my little protégé: if you want something, then take it. Of course, that includes my heart~" Before Kouki realized it, Mahito's human face was dangerously close to hers.

Their breaths mingled. Kouki's face was visibly red, but she showed no resistance when Mahito grabbed her chin to bring her face closer to his.

"You're not 'interesting' enough..." Mahito whispered in her ear before returning to his bat form.

There was an awkward silence for the rest of the day. Kouki had too many conflicting emotions in her head after Mahito's act.

'Why is my heart reacting like this?'

Of course, Mahito was aiming for exactly that.

'I must make her want to chase after me. An oath is good as a chain, but human emotions are... more effective.'

Mahito didn't know it yet, but he hadn't only inherited Mahito's powers. His original personality had been influenced by the original Mahito's, which impacted his view of humans.

It should also be remembered that Mahito was literally born from human hatred.

"Tell me, do you have a goal now that you have powers?" As the heavy silence continued, Mahito decided to break it himself.

"Uh... I don't know, you haven't really explained what my obligations are as your 'champion,'" she replied after hesitation.

"Apart from obeying me from time to time, you're literally free. But if you don't have a purpose, I can give you one, if you want," he said mysteriously.

"A purpose?" She seemed thoughtful for a moment before turning her gaze back to Mahito.

"What purpose do you think would suit me?" At this question, the smile already present on Mahito's face grew even wider.

"How about exploring the supernatural of this world with me? And who knows... you might become 'interesting' along the way." At the mention of the word "interesting," Kouki's face turned red.

"Okay..." she replied timidly.

"Excellent, we'll start your training tonight, around 2 AM," he suddenly declared, catching Kouki a bit off guard.

"What do you mean, training? I thought you wanted us to explore the supernatural."

"Yes, but without strength, you'd get yourself killed stupidly."

To prove his point, Mahito flew into the air before charging at a crazy speed towards Kouki.

Instinctively, she tried to defend herself using her psychic powers and, surprisingly, managed to grab Mahito in mid-flight.

"Why did you do that!!!" While Kouki wanted to express herself further, she felt something cold against her neck.

It was a blade. Mahito had partially modified his bat form into a sharp weapon that he pointed at Kouki's neck.

"You have potential, but you're too weak to explore the supernatural currently."

It wasn't just about exploring the supernatural.

Mahito wanted to prepare Kouki for various extraterrestrial attacks on Kami High School.

The young girl, possessing strong spiritual power, would inevitably attract dangerous creatures.

'I must avoid a situation like with Jiji, this girl is my possession' a dangerous gleam shone in Mahito's eyes.

....

POV of Kouki

"I'm a bit exhausted, do we really have to come to the music room at 2 AM?"

Although I rested very early, I'm not really happy about being active at school at this hour.

"You want to become stronger, yes or no?" Mahito, perched on my shoulder, gave me a slightly disapproving look.

I quickly nodded to confirm my willingness to improve my current strength, but also to...

"Now, get ready and don't forget: if you're weak, you'll die here," he said seriously before hitting the piano keys.

"Wait, you never mentioned dying during training!!" I protested, but Mahito ignored me and continued pressing the piano keys.

"Wretches, you deserve to die," shouted a voice coming from a portrait in the music room.

Mahito returned to his original form, showing rare seriousness. It seems he really wasn't joking about the risk of death.

"Remember, you can block their musical notes but you must avoid the 'rests,' understood?"

Although I don't quite understand the whole situation, I trust Mahito.

I immediately nodded. He smiled tenderly at me before modifying the shape of his legs to those of a gazelle and running towards the ghosts.

"Symphony No. 6!!" shouted a ghost representing a famous musician.

We were teleported to a field... or was it an illusion?

"What's happening, Mahito?" I immediately asked my mentor, but he just motioned me to keep my attention in front of me as he dodges an explosion.

Musical notes were falling on us like relentless rain.

I tried to block them with telekinesis but I couldn't stop everything. There are just too many.

*Bam* When I thought I was done for, Mahito caught me and carried me in princess position.

"You need to try using your telekinesis on yourself and improve your movements. This ability isn't just a distance technique." Although he was explaining how to use my powers, Mahito didn't stop using his own to block and dodge the musical notes.

"But there are too many attacks!!" I was struggling to catch my breath under the relentless rain of musical notes.

"You need to find a rhythm. I remember you're a musician, right? Find their rhythm and find yours!" Mahito deployed his long hair to protect us from a huge explosion.

"I see." I had understood what to do.

I don't know what Mahito saw, but he smiled at me before returning his hair to its original form.

....

POV of Mahito

I love that expression. Usually, this is the moment when a secondary character is determined and about to get a glow up.

"Here we go." I rushed again towards this group of music-obsessed ghosts.

This fight could end in one blow if I deployed my domain, but this is training for me and Kouki.

*Boom* A piece of earth hit a "rest" that was dangerously approaching me.

I gave a gesture of thanks to Kouki before growing wings on my back to finally catch a ghost.

"I wonder what you taste like," I said as I immediately started using my cursed technique to forcefully absorb the ghost's aura.

There was, surprisingly, more resistance than with the stalker ghost, but I simply increased the power.

'A bit of aura was wasted in the process, but my theory is confirmed.' I made a musical note appear after creating a musical instrument.

Aura is the essence of everything in this universe. Whether you're alive or dead, you possess it.

If you lose all your aura, you return to the "void."

It's been proven that "aura" can be transferred, but the donor spirit must agree, and psychic powers are also needed.

Aira was able to obtain the ghost woman's powers when she was between life and death this way.

I simply manipulated my aura thanks to Mahito's cursed technique. The principle is simple: I connect my soul to that of my opponent, then I suck up the aura like drinking through a straw.

Of course, my opponent could potentially resist or even counterattack.

So it's a bit risky, but I have the necessary confidence for such a crazy act thanks to Granny Turbo's words and Mahito's cursed technique.

Granny Turbo mentioned that some yokai and spiritual beings attack humans precisely to steal their aura. Their goal? Trying to become more powerful or come back to life.

"Who's next?"