once more

Kei whips around, wings barely visible in the dark and spread out for a possible quick escape. The light in his hand darts forth like a firefly, revealing broken branches and leaves scattered over some tombstones.

He reaches out with his senses, searching for anything- any magic, any movement, any sounds- and something flickers, like a candle that had been blown out. It’s absurdly silent, the air is still, and it’s only when Tetsurou’s wings flare brighter than a full moon that he notices it.

There’s a stretched out, smudged, human silhouette made of shadows towering over Tetsurou.

One of its hands is recoiling from Tetsurou’s wings- as if they burned white hot. Despite the physical reaction to pain, it makes no sound.

Tetsurou warily uncurls his wings from where he had instinctively went to protect himself, arching them behind him in a way that would allow him to defend himself again if needed.

The ghost-like creature is a spirit, an Onryo- a spirit that holds grudges and seeks vengeance.

Kei extinguishes the light in his hand. Tetsurou’s wings were providing more than enough lighting and carefully makes his way down. The spirit, double their size, sluggishly turns to stare at him. Its eyes are two blazing holes in the haze of black.

For a moment, he thinks they might be able to eliminate the spirit peacefully but, as he steps closer, its eyes digs deep into him and burns brighter.

As if it had foregone all its previous subtlety, the wind picks up and howls. Kei and Tetsurou both plant their feet and fold in their wings before they could get blown away, arms raised to protect their faces from the stinging gale.

It lashes out with a hand, sharpened fingers aimed at Kei.

Tetsurou shouts a warning and it’s only because of the glow of his wings that Kei is able to pick out the difference between the spirit and the harmless shadows around them. Kei darts to the side, lashing one hand at the spirit as he moves.

A blade of magic slices into the black layer around the spirit, revealing tattered clothing and spiderweb scarred skin under it. They disappear under another flood of black and the spirit screeches.

It’s not loud, sounding very much like a shrill whistle, but it’s loud in pressure- a hand on their heads and forcing them down. Neither of them buckle under it, moving as easily as ever.

Tetsurou defends against its next lash at Kei, motioning as if he were snatching something from the spirit, despite their distance, and the black covering its hand bubbles. As the spirit flinches back, the bubbles burst, sending shards of its black cloak flying. It reveals the skin and clothing underneath that area, stark against the black.

A shard of it embeds itself next to Kei’s foot before dissipating into the air.

He spares it a single glance, just long enough to make sure it had entirely disappeared, before he moves. He’s tensing to jump, wings spreading when Tetsurou repeats his hand gesture, forcing him to stop before he collides into the burst of magic Tetsurou had just released.

The spirit’s chest bubbles and bursts, sending more shards of its black armor flying and Kei immediately lunges for the exposed area.

He weaves a thread of magic through his fingers and solidifies it, grasping the charcoal coloured rod as he approaches and jams it in as deep as he can. As soon as his momentum fades, he lets go and jumps away- now out of the range of a flailing hand.

The rod bursts, shattering the black armor into numerous shards that rain down into the cemetery. Without it the spirit takes on its original appearance- a young man with singed hair and angry red electrocution scars that show through the ragged clothing he had once worn.

There is rage sharpening his face as he wordlessly shouts, mouth moving and the wind howling louder than before. His eyes no blaze like miniature suns, but there’s still an all too real burn within them as he spreads his arms.

The black shards that had once been his cloak rise into the air, spinning until all their sharpest points are directed at Kei.

“Holy- Kei get over here-” Tetsurou nearly curses, his wings shining brighter as he rushes over.

Kei hesitates.

Why would he retreat? He could take out the spirit the moment it let those shards go. They were its only defense and he’s confident in his ability to dodge majority of them. Any he couldn’t- Tetsurou.

Any he couldn’t dodge would cut him at best and impale him at worst. He no longer had the type of defense he was so used to working with at his back.

“Kei!”

He ducks down and into Tetsurou’s protective hold, feeling as if something had been left behind- torn out of him.

Tetsurou grabs him by the shoulders, hunching them down as his pale wings curl over the both of them. They light up the small space with their soft light. Kei can feel both their breaths, steady- if not a bit rushed- and he presses his own wings as flat as possible against his back. He can feel feathers brushing his own, shielding his back.

He avoids eye contact, staring at the wall of feathers surrounding them- they’re almost ghost-like, wispy and pale. As he watches, the edges of all the feathers bleed silver- as if they had been dipped in moonlight.

Through Tetsurou’s wings, he can see the approaching shards as spots of faint shadows. They clink off of his wings without any damage at first but eventually he grunts and his grip on Kei’s shoulders tighten.

Kei futilely tracks the shards, sensing for the spirit. Through the heat and sunlight veil around him, he can just barely sense the smear of ink and turbulence. The moment there’s a short pause in the barrage, Kei pushes at the shoulder in front of him insistently.

Without a word, Tetsurou flares his wings open.

Threads of magic raise from the ground and twines around Kei, shimmering gold and alive like snakes. In a mimicry of the spirit’s own attack, Kei sweeps his arm towards it as he turns and they shoot off.

Like arrows, they strike dead on and pierce through the spirit- and within the spirit, they burn.

The wind dies down to a soft breeze as the spirit is swallowed up in a golden fire, slowly scattering like ashes in the wind.

Tetsurou’s oddly quiet and Kei glances over to see him rubbing his shoulder with a grimace. “Are you okay?”

“Hm?” Tetsurou tears his eyes away from where the spirit had once been standing, flicking his eyes over to him and away. “Oh, yeah, don’t worry that was nothing. Anyways….”

A warmth radiates from him, a welcome contrast to the chill in the air. Tetsurou’s practically beside Kei as he calls up a blessing, washing them both in the pale light of his magic.

This close, he can hear Tetsurou’s soft inhale and exhale, focused as he cups his hands in front of him. The spark of magic ignites and Kei is helplessly raptured as it swells within Tetsurou’s fingers, watching as they gently pull away. It swells, releasing the blessing- releasing magic that’s filled with Tetsurou’s own feelings and spirit.

And Kei remembers every single time he has been within this very same blessing, the warmth and lightness and peace, but this time- it doesn’t have the same effect.

It feels flatter, lukewarm, and not at all settling.

The magic fades from the air and the chill returns, only, after the weak blessing, it feels freezing. Tetsurou closes his eyes, wings fading and dropping them into the dark.

“Ah...sorry.”

“....I do recall you saying your blessings were shit,” Kei murmurs as he summons a ball of light in his hand. Tetsurou laughs weakly. “If a blessing failed then the spirit’s tied to something here. Let’s find it.”

“Yeah, okay.”

They search the cemetery again, scanning for the thing that had tied the spirit to this area. With all the magic that had been used and thrown around though, it’s harder to sense anything let alone a spirit’s focus- it’s like trying to see through thick fog.

To make things better, there usually wasn’t any physical evidence of a spirit or ghost’s focus- or any origin of unfriendly magic really, not until someone touches it.

With their ability to sense the focus hindered, they were playing a hard game of find the needle in the haystack and hoping they don’t get poked by it.

“I think I got it,” Tetsurou calls from the row of tombstones on the top. When Kei joins him, he’s staring at a white tombstone, clean and newly carved, between the other worn down stones around it.

Neither of them touch it but when Kei crouches down for a closer look, his hair stands on edge and his skin crawls.

He traces a circle around the grave, stepping lightly around it, and the line of red magic sparks the moment it’s closed. Kei pours in his magic, with a force not unlike a waterfall, and steps back.

It erupts like a geyser, engulfing the tombstone in a pillar that reaches the top of the surrounding treeline. Slowly, it dies down before flickering away. The tombstone hasn’t changed in terms of appearances, but Kei feels like it does look renewed compared to before.

The chill is still in the air, but it’s less insistent, only evident when the wind blows.

“I guess we can request a follow up for this,” Tetsurou says, running his fingers through his hair for the fifth time tonight.  Kei pretends not to notice.

“Yeah.”

Later that day, Kei finds himself in the rec room just as the sun rises, filling out the paperwork for their investigation assignment.

Usually, he would be doing this in his own room, alone and without the distractions in the rec room- with people coming in and out and trying to talk to him. However, Tetsurou had somehow convinced him to fill out the follow-up request together. In the rec room.

“Too bad we didn’t catch the sunrise on our way back,” Tetsurou muses, gazing out the window by their table. Kei taps a pen on the paper with a noncommittal hum. “Have you seen the sunset or sunrise from the air before?”

Kei quirks a brow at him, barely glancing up from where he was summarizing their actions. Tetsurou continues, turning from the window to watch him. “The view is really nice, not something you can do when you’re human, y’know. Though it can be sort of awkward…”

Kei hums, double checking the form.

“Hey, Kei...uh.” Tetsurou scratches his cheek before looking away. “So...what do you feel about pets?”

Kei looks up at that, brow furrowed. “...we can’t have pets.”

“I know that! I mean, just. In general. Did you have a pet before?” Tetsurou scrutinizes him. “You seem like you’d be a cat person.”

“I wouldn’t remember.” Kei looks back down at the form, signing it off. He then hands it over to Tetsurou before starting on his own report. If he was going to be here, he might as well get that finished and hand it in.

“Okay, but would you get a cat? Or a dog?” Tetsurou pauses for a moment to read over the form, add a few words and signs his own signature at the bottom. “Maybe a reptile? Turtles, snakes, lizards?”

“None.”

“Mice or rats? Rabbits? How about hamsters- they’re cute.”

“No.”

“Do you like parrots? I’m not sure if I can see you with a bird.”

Kei rolls his eyes and doesn’t even bother replying. Tetsurou pouts. “I’ll take that as a no then.”

Tetsurou stops for a moment, resting his chin on his hand as he regards him. Kei glances up, catching his stare, his report quickly forgotten.

What are you thinking? Kei wonders, staring straight into those amber eyes. He’s not sure he wants to know.

“Oh, good! You two are here!”

Oikawa ambles up to them, suit perfectly arranged and his hair looking as good as usual.

Kei swallows a snicker, his shoulders hitching as he recalls the image of Oikawa sprawled on the floor and the literal opposite of the image he’s presenting now.

“I’ve got good news.” Oikawa shoots Kei a confused look but continues without a hitch, “You both have been cleared as an official Strike Team as of a few minutes ago. You’ll have to pass your assessments later this year to keep that, but that should be no issue for you two.”

Any humor Kei had felt evaporates instantly, replaced with a cold finality

“That’s pretty fast, I expected it to take years.” Tetsurou marvels. “Did you sell your soul to someone?”

“Ha, ha, like I’d sell my soul for you.” Oikawa harrumphs, “Do you know how much paperwork I went through for this?!”

Tetsurou sticks his tongue out at him. “Don’t be a baby, you’re the one who went through with this.”

“Hmph!” Oikawa gives Tetsurou one last venomous glare before moving on. “Well, I’m slating you two as the first responders later this week- are you two ready?”

Tetsurou considers the question before quietly answering, “Yeah, can’t wait…”

Kei looks away. “Mm.”

There’s a heavy moment where Oikawa surveys them, where neither of the two really meet his eyes.

“Alright then...I’ll see you two soon.” He slowly leaves them, joining up with another team and speaking with them.

Kei goes back to his report, pen digging into the paper. He’s not entirely sure he’s writing everything he needs to on it- the letters are blurred out, unfocused.

Tetsurou looks up from where he had been staring at the table, mouth opening- and he stops. Looks at Kei. And swallows his words.

Instead, he leans back into his seat, gazes out the window and rambles.

He talks about the sun and the clouds, about the process of evaporation, the atoms that make up water and the chemical reactions of potassium, about the various types of reactions, the periodic table, the ocean and the fish- anything he could think of.

Kei doesn’t remember finishing his report nor does he hand it in that day.

It’s beyond obvious to Kei when Oikawa has scheduled them for a strike.

The amount of assignments they had been getting regularly for the past month or so died down, and eventually they got only one assignment, compared to their previous back-to-back assignments.

Once two days had passed without any new alerts, Kei just knew that the next alert they would be getting would be the one for their strike.

It was agony, being on call and anticipating it like a knife to his back.

He rearranges his bookshelf for the first time ever, cleans the entire apartment and had started pacing before he sits down and lays on his bed. He doesn’t get up, watching as the room grows darker and is eventually lit up by the moonlight instead of sunlight.

His pager never once beeps.

Without the regular assignments, Kei no longer has anything to occupy his mind anymore.

Being on call had once made him restless with a sweet, eager anticipation.

Now, he dreads it, feeling as if someone’s holding a blade to his neck- loose and entirely unthreatening, but when the moment strikes, it would dig into his neck and bleed him out.

And Kei doesn’t have much to bleed out without losing it all.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

‘US10-STRIKE’

Oikawa isn’t waiting for them this time and Kei heads straight to the Portal Room, heart pounding in his ears.

“I’ve got it- I’ve told you I’m sending U10 on it- Will you just-”

Tetsurou steps into the room, softly closing the door behind him, and joins Kei in watching Oikawa argue with someone through his headset. Oikawa, once he sees the two of them, rolls his eyes and removes the headset with a, “I’m sure, Suga-chan, don’t worry, don’t worry.”

“Right.” Oikawa moves towards the door frame, hand reaching out and opening a portal. “We’ve got an alert for a large creature in a populated neighborhood. Last known status was not hostile, but keep your head up.”

The portal swirls like Kei’s stomach, growing. The green is sickly as it fills the frame, shimmering and reflecting light that hurts his eyes. Oikawa steps away from the portal, an expectant smile plastered onto his face.

Despite his feet being as heavy as lead, Kei steps forward without any hesitation, magic veiling him like a second skin and wings folded tensely, ready to spring open. Tetsurou’s right behind him, a searing spot of heat at his back.

The portal swallows them and Oikawa’s smile falls.

“Good luck you two.”

The large baboon-like creature is lounging on the roof of a house, hands and mouth tainted red as it blearily watches its surroundings. Its large flapping lips smack together and it shifts to pick at the bush of black hair on its head.

It pays absolutely no attention to the portal that opens up on the street.

The street is thankfully empty this late at night, clear of any witnesses and possible casualties. It, however, doesn’t eliminate the fact that the neighbourhood is filled with houses. The tiniest mistake would bring the entire neighbourhood, and then some, crashing down on their heads.

“A Hihi,” Tetsurou quietly identifies. “How did that get all the way out here?”

Without waiting for a reply, he lays a hand on the wall of the street beside him and raises a ward. It shoots off into the distance, bordering the street and the house the Hihi is on. Once it closes them in, he quickly weaves additional wards onto it- ones for misdirecting attention, fortifying the ward, containing magic and soundproofing.

That gets the Hihi’s attention and it blinks the sleepy fog out of its eyes, pinning them with an intense stare.

Tetsurou cautiously takes his hand off the ward, letting it fade into near invisibility. The Hihi does nothing, blinking at them. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Guide it to-”

The Hihi lets out a shriek- shrill and laugh-like. Part of the roof under it starts to crumble as it shifts its weight and pounces.

“I think we need a new plan!” Tetsurou shouts as they scatter to opposite sides. He takes the opportunity to shift his wards, cutting the house out, and trapping the Hihi with only the length of the street to move.

Now truly cornered, the Hihi whirls on them, a large and heavy mass of anger and aggression. It’s in between Kei and Tetsurou, separating them.

It gives them an advantage.

As it swings its palm at Kei, Tetsurou meets his eyes from down the street.

Kei stands his ground as the hand barrels towards him, undoubtedly able to break bones. Just before it impacts him, a ward springs up between him and the hand, meeting with a thick, echoing pound.

Kei’s hand zips up, silk and electric thrumming at his fingers- and he pulls up short.

His magic dies at his fingers as he pulls it back. Tetsurou’s ward wraps around his body, like a curved shield. It prevents him from taking a shot at the Hihi.

At least, not without shattering the ward first.

Frustrated, Kei runs out from behind the shield. The Hihi is readjusting his balance from the recoil, tracking him with sharp eyes. It lets out a raspy bark, reaching to snatch him up but Kei doesn’t stop, running down the street and it chases after him.

He can see, and feel, Tetsurou raising another ward, right in front of him, and it’s curved again- perfect for redirecting the Hihi’s blunt but hammer-like fingers. Kei’s certain they would hurt much more than hammers though.

He pivots on his heel and spins, right beside the ward, tracing a circle around him with his other foot- resulting in a harsh grinding sound. He then slaps the ward and merges his own sharp-silk with the heat of Tetsurou’s magic before forcibly unraveling it.

He jerks his hand back as if it had been burnt, but the ward unravels, and he takes off down the street again.

The circle he had traced into the ground shines faintly and it flares when the Hihi crosses over it. The Hihi is fast though; fast enough to only be caught by just a few of the spikes that erupt from the circle.

It howl-barks with pain and a raspy rumble leaves its chest.

The few spikes had impaled its hind legs and it stumbles forward and it uses the momentum to lunge for Kei again.

Kei stumbles back, arms and wings flailing to recover his balance as its hand smacks down into the ground just in front of him. It creates a crater and he’s quick to back off the moment he gets his footing.

“Kei, be careful!” Tetsurou ducks under the Hihi’s arm as it scrambles upright, hopping over the large crater. His wings help him over it and he grabs Kei’s shoulder, careful to keep an eye on the Hihi. “Don’t take risks like that!”

“It got a hit on him, didn’t it? I don’t see you doing anything.” Kei shrugs his hand off with a scowl. Tetsurou recoils, turning to face him directly.

“You completely disregarded my help.”

“You didn’t help,” Kei counters, squaring his shoulders and glaring. “You prevented me from doing anything.”

“If that was a problem, I’m sure you could have found a way around it- it was a ward, to protect you.”

“I could have gotten a shot in-”

Tetsurou cuts him off firmly, “You can wait until a better- safer- opportunity comes up.”

“We would never get anything done before it makes a mess of everything.”

“All that is fi-”

Kei practically tackles Tetsurou. “Move!”

A fist slams into the ground like a wrecking ball, sending bits of concrete flying. Kei rolls off of Tetsurou, staggering upright and shaking out the rocks and dust in his wings.

“And you think I’d ever get a chance to counterattack something like that by waiting?” he asks. “That’s never going to work.”

“It’s not just waiting!” Tetsurou shoots back, jumping to his feet. “It will work. It’s waiting and when the opportunity comes you take it- you’re taking way too much risks right now!”

“And your way won’t do-” The two of them leap to the side again as the Hihi swipes a hand at them. “-anything! Slow and steady isn’t that helpful!”

“And heading straight into a fight will end up with both of us killed!” Tetsurou yells, looking past the creature and staring at Kei. “Would you stop and think?”

“Think?!” Kei barks, sharp as a blade. “I am thinking- are you scared?” Kei can sense the Hihi behind him, feels the wind shifting with its movement, but he still pushes with a sneer, “What, are you afraid of sinning?”

Tetsurou balks at him. “What?!”

“Too afraid of getting dirty? Nothing should taint your pure, innocent hands- is that it?”

“Damn it, Kei! I don’t care about that!”

“You’re not even able to kill are you,” Kei snarls, a piece of white hot coal burning in his chest. Tetsurou’s wings are raised threateningly, his face blank and angled stiffly. Kei hears the whistle of something forcing its way through the air.

He jumps back just as the Hihi plants its fist where he had been standing. It hovers over him, red stained teeth exposed and body blocking out the sky.

The burn of his anger and frustration curls in his chest and he grabs onto it, letting it sear through his veins, and slices up at the Hihi with a curt gesture. His magic loses its silky edge, becoming an electrified blade- it’s sharp enough for him to tense up at the feeling as it burns its way out.

The Hihi roars, the gash on its chest spraying vivid red blood.

Kei spins on his heel, retreating as the Hihi jerks back. It gives another screech as a tumor bubbles from its thigh, bursting and scattering the ground with more blood.

Tetsurou jerks his fingers again, a sharp and curt movement. It reflects the anger Kei can sense from him.

Another tumor forms on the Hihi’s arm, only, it doesn’t burst- it multiplies.

It bubbles until its entire arm is swollen and the Hihi is stumbling around, screaming like a raspy child. They all burst simultaneously, showering the area with blood.

Kei turns his face away, feeling the fluid spatter onto his cheek. He turns back to see the Hihi clutching its deflated arm, roaring at Tetsurou. It jerkily stumbles in his direction, teeth bared and very bit intent at fighting back.

With a gesture that reminds Kei heavily of his own attack, Tetsurou slashes through the air with his hand.

The wards flicker into view for a split second, bright enough to sting his eyes.

The Hihi’s screaming growl dies as it falls to the ground. The ground shakes under its weight and there’s a steady pool of red gathering under it. The ground is staining red and Kei feels a fleeting dose of pity for the clean up crew assigned to this.

Kei himself is spattered with blood and Tetsurou…

Tetsurou is staring straight at him.

He’s miraculously free of blood on his body, only a few drops on his clothes, but his pale wings are practically drenched in the red fluid- dripping down the feathers smoothly.

Tetsurou’s tone is hard and low.