Takeo said. “Our attackers would have been all but invisible to humans—an army of ghosts. Only a few of us managed to escape, and the others are in grave danger. The whole world is in danger, if they aren’t freed soon so we can return to our duties.”
“Kami and ghosts and grave danger,” Chiyo said. “This really is quite a story.”
“It’s not just a story,” I snapped before I could catch myself. But Chiyo kept smiling.
“Say it’s not,” she said. “You didn’t answer Haru’s question. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off fighting those ghosts?”
“How would we know you’re not ghosts?” Haru put in.
“Because the last thing the ghosts would want is for Chiyo to come home,” Takeo said. “And that’s why we’ve come here.”
“Home,” Chiyo repeated.
“You were born on Mt. Fuji,” Takeo said, an edge of frustration creeping into his ever-steady voice. “You’re one of us, as I’ve said. Your kami parents left you in the care of a human family so that our enemies wouldn’t be able to harm you before you were old enough to make full use of your power. But we need you now. We need you to fight with us.”
“Hold on.” Chiyo’s tone was still bright, but she sidled closer to Haru. “You’re really trying to tell me that I’m some sort of magical being? That somehow I never realized it?”
“You wouldn’t have, growing up among humans,” Takeo said. “You had no one to teach you how to draw forth your power.”
“Okay,” Chiyo said, “if this isn’t a joke, I’m sorry about your mountain getting attacked. I really am. But I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it. Look, I’m absolutely completely human.”
She spread out her arms and swiveled on her feet, and all I could see was her glow. It eclipsed everything around her from Haru to the rooftop wall. She held so much ki she could have lit up the entire school. So much I could believe that this one girl could make the difference against the demon and his army of ghosts.
But she didn’t want it. We were offering her everything and she didn’t want it.
My jaw clenched. If Mt. Fuji was going to be saved, she had to take it.
I raised my hands, giving myself no chance to second-guess. “No, you’re not,” I said, and hurled a shining ball of ki, which I now knew I had to thank Midori for, directly into her face.
Haru flinched, and Chiyo reacted on instinct, throwing up her arms. Only, because she was kami, she didn’t deflect the ball of ki. She caught it. It smacked into her hands and clung there, bound by her own energy.
“Oh,” she said, lowering her arms. Glints of light swirled between her palms. Haru was staring at her with open awe now. “It’s me, doing this.”
“It’s you,” I said, like a piece of my soul I was tearing out and handing to her.
She rotated the ball between her short fingers, her grin growing as she watched the light dance. “Then... Then I could...” Turning, she flung it across the roof.
The ball of light whipped through the air toward the stairwell. I had just enough time to notice that the door was now standing ajar before the swirling ki slammed into it. As the door thumped shut, a yelp echoed through it, followed by a mumbled curse.
“Someone was watching!” I said. Takeo was already dashing over, his sword drawn. He yanked the door open.
A teenage boy was crouched behind it, clutching the side of his head.
“What are you doing here?” Takeo demanded.
The boy slowly righted himself, one hand gripping the doorframe. With the other, he grabbed his fallen glasses from the ground and pushed the rectangular frames back over his wide-set eyes. The room at the top of the stairs must have been incredibly stuffy in this heat. The shaggy hair that zigzagged across the boy’s forehead looked damp, and the collar of his shirt was loosened, the knot of his tie dangling halfway down his lean chest.
He glanced at the sword pointed at his neck and
“Kami and ghosts and grave danger,” Chiyo said. “This really is quite a story.”
“It’s not just a story,” I snapped before I could catch myself. But Chiyo kept smiling.
“Say it’s not,” she said. “You didn’t answer Haru’s question. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off fighting those ghosts?”
“How would we know you’re not ghosts?” Haru put in.
“Because the last thing the ghosts would want is for Chiyo to come home,” Takeo said. “And that’s why we’ve come here.”
“Home,” Chiyo repeated.
“You were born on Mt. Fuji,” Takeo said, an edge of frustration creeping into his ever-steady voice. “You’re one of us, as I’ve said. Your kami parents left you in the care of a human family so that our enemies wouldn’t be able to harm you before you were old enough to make full use of your power. But we need you now. We need you to fight with us.”
“Hold on.” Chiyo’s tone was still bright, but she sidled closer to Haru. “You’re really trying to tell me that I’m some sort of magical being? That somehow I never realized it?”
“You wouldn’t have, growing up among humans,” Takeo said. “You had no one to teach you how to draw forth your power.”
“Okay,” Chiyo said, “if this isn’t a joke, I’m sorry about your mountain getting attacked. I really am. But I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it. Look, I’m absolutely completely human.”
She spread out her arms and swiveled on her feet, and all I could see was her glow. It eclipsed everything around her from Haru to the rooftop wall. She held so much ki she could have lit up the entire school. So much I could believe that this one girl could make the difference against the demon and his army of ghosts.
But she didn’t want it. We were offering her everything and she didn’t want it.
My jaw clenched. If Mt. Fuji was going to be saved, she had to take it.
I raised my hands, giving myself no chance to second-guess. “No, you’re not,” I said, and hurled a shining ball of ki, which I now knew I had to thank Midori for, directly into her face.
Haru flinched, and Chiyo reacted on instinct, throwing up her arms. Only, because she was kami, she didn’t deflect the ball of ki. She caught it. It smacked into her hands and clung there, bound by her own energy.
“Oh,” she said, lowering her arms. Glints of light swirled between her palms. Haru was staring at her with open awe now. “It’s me, doing this.”
“It’s you,” I said, like a piece of my soul I was tearing out and handing to her.
She rotated the ball between her short fingers, her grin growing as she watched the light dance. “Then... Then I could...” Turning, she flung it across the roof.
The ball of light whipped through the air toward the stairwell. I had just enough time to notice that the door was now standing ajar before the swirling ki slammed into it. As the door thumped shut, a yelp echoed through it, followed by a mumbled curse.
“Someone was watching!” I said. Takeo was already dashing over, his sword drawn. He yanked the door open.
A teenage boy was crouched behind it, clutching the side of his head.
“What are you doing here?” Takeo demanded.
The boy slowly righted himself, one hand gripping the doorframe. With the other, he grabbed his fallen glasses from the ground and pushed the rectangular frames back over his wide-set eyes. The room at the top of the stairs must have been incredibly stuffy in this heat. The shaggy hair that zigzagged across the boy’s forehead looked damp, and the collar of his shirt was loosened, the knot of his tie dangling halfway down his lean chest.
He glanced at the sword pointed at his neck and
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