In the classroom, the lovely young girl's cherry-blossom lips parted slightly as she murmured, "Feed it?"
"Precisely," Aomori said, stepping forward. "Since it's so starved, just feed it until it's full. Once it's satisfied, it will stop draining your Spirit Power."
"But... how do I feed it?"
"Like this." Aomori extended an index finger and pressed it against her brow. A massive surge of energy erupted, flowing through his finger and into her body.
Miko's eyes snapped wide. She could clearly feel a wave of heat entering her, circulating through her entire body before converging entirely on her eyes.
"Ah—it's hot!"
Her eyes felt like boiling eggs—searingly hot, bordering on painful. She couldn't help but tilt her head back, leaning against the desk behind her.
"Miko, hold on." Aomori watched as golden light swirled within her eyes. They were like a "starving ghost" reborn, their suction increasing steadily. His energy was being swallowed the moment it entered; he had no choice but to ramp up the output speed.
At the same time, he held his left hand vertically before his chest and commanded: "Domain Expansion!"
Dense darkness instantly blanketed the entire classroom. He was worried the phenomenon might attract meddling evil spirits, so he chose to seal the area off with a Domain.
As the energy continued to pour in, the golden light in Miko's eyes grew increasingly brilliant. After nearly half an hour, she seemed to reach a critical point. A powerful force erupted from within her, snapping Aomori's finger away.
Aomori retracted his hand and stood by. He watched as Miko was lifted by an unseen force, rising slowly until she hovered in mid-air.
Then, a burst of blinding golden light shot from her eyes. It tore through the Domain's seal, pierced the ceiling, and streaked straight into the sky above the clouds, lingering for several seconds before vanishing.
Strangely, the light caused no physical damage to the ceiling.
Aomori watched the scene with a hint of surprise. He hadn't expected Miko's eyes to manifest such power; it seemed he had underestimated them.
Once the light faded, Miko closed her eyes and drifted back to the floor. She stood still for a moment before opening them again. The moment she did, Aomori felt a massive, overbearing pressure flash by and disappear.
At that moment, Miko seemed to regain consciousness. Her eyes returned to their usual, unassuming appearance.
"Why am I standing? I think Aosora-sama said something about feeding me... then my eyes got hot, and after that, I don't know what happened."
"Don't worry, the surgery was a success." Seeing she was fine, Aomori deactivated the Domain and said with a smile, "Now, try looking at them. See if anything feels different."
Outside the classroom, for reasons unknown, the hallway was now packed with the layered, black silhouettes of evil spirits. Not just there, many more were congregating from below, heading their way.
"So many?!" Miko was nearly frightened out of her wits. Hearing Aomori's words, she summoned her courage and stared at them with wide eyes.
As she looked, a trace of confusion flickered across her face. "It feels like... I can..."
A giant evil spirit, as large as the classroom itself, shoved the others aside and thrust its head through the doorway. Its eyes, the size of truck tires, locked onto Miko.
Instead of panicking, Miko took two steps forward. She reached out her right hand and shouted, "Kneel!"
The moment the word left her lips, Aomori felt that same pressure from before radiating from her. Some of the weaker spirits dropped to their knees immediately, trembling in terror.
The giant spirit was staggered back a few steps. However, it quickly recovered and, seemingly humiliated into a rage, lunged violently at Miko.
In that instant, Miko seemed like a different person. Her expression turned cold and indifferent as she barked again: "Kneel!"
A pressure far stronger than before erupted. Every spirit except the giant one collapsed, unable to support themselves. The giant spirit's pounce was halted mid-air; it froze in place, body shaking, its massive eyeballs bulging as if struggling against an invisible weight.
"Kneel!"
Golden light flickered in Miko's eyes, and the pressure intensified. Finally, the giant spirit could no longer resist. With a heavy thud, it crashed to its knees.
As far as the eye could see, hundreds, thousands, of evil spirits lay prostrate on the ground, as if worshipping their king.
"An ability to intimidate and command evil spirits? Practical enough." Aomori watched Miko's expression shift from coldness back to her usual self. He analyzed: It's not a split personality, and there's no foreign presence. Likely a side effect of the forced growth. She'll return to normal once she adjusts.
"Eh? Why are they all kneeling? Did... did I do that?" Miko looked at her hands in a panic, casting a pleading look toward Aomori.
"That is the power of your eyes. For now, you should be able to command any spirit that isn't excessively powerful."
"Command... spirits?" Miko was dazed. Once she processed the thought, she asked urgently, "Does that mean I don't have to be afraid of them anymore?"
"Silly girl," Aomori said, patting her head. "From the moment you formed a contract with me, you had no reason to be afraid."
"Oh, right." She lowered her head, feeling a bit bashful. Despite being treated like a child, she didn't dislike the feeling at all.
"Aside from this big fellow blocking the door, the rest of these spirits are useless. Do you want to keep him?" Aomori pointed at the giant spirit.
"No!" Miko shook her head instantly. "I don't want that following me around!"
Even if she wasn't as afraid, having such a stomach-turning creature following her was out of the question.
"Besides, with Nightmare-sama here, I don't need them."
"True. Then allow me to grant them peace."
"Light!" Aomori raised his right hand, letting light-element energy expand outward with him as the epicenter.
The weaker spirits vanished instantly. The stronger ones held on for a few seconds, while the giant spirit, being so close, dissipated in less than ten.
Having cleared the area, Aomori lowered his hand and let out a soft breath. After two consecutive large expenditures of energy, even he was feeling the strain.
The observant Miko noticed immediately. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.
It's all because he was helping me. This was the first time she had seen Aomori look tired, and she felt a pang of self-reproach.
"I'm fine. I just need a moment to rest."
"Why don't we stop the lessons for today and continue next time?" Miko suggested.
"Hmm." Aomori pondered for a moment and nodded. "Very well. Your Yin-Yang Eyes will take time to master. Next time, I will teach you how to utilize spirit power."
"During this period, explore the usage of your eyes on your own and try to sense the presence of spirit power."
"Yes!"
…
After a brief rest, Aomori was about to leave the school with Miko when he sensed a familiar presence.
Activating his Mind's Eye, he spotted Natsume. The boy was climbing over the school wall, accompanied by a black-haired youth.
Since they had crossed paths, it was fate. Aomori opened the window and drifted down from the sky with Miko, waiting for them to arrive.
With Miko being so visible, the boys spotted them instantly.
"Ah! Look out!" The black-haired youth, thinking Miko was in danger, moved to rush forward but was stopped by Natsume.
"Tanuma, it's okay. She's safe."
The boy was Kaname Tanuma, Natsume's classmate and close friend. He knew Natsume could see yokai and could vaguely sense their presence himself. Hearing Natsume's reassurance, he understood immediately.
He looked toward the girl's side and indeed felt an unusual presence. "Natsume, is it a yokai?"
"No, a deity," Natsume clarified. "A very kind-hearted one. Let's go over."
"Right."
The two jogged over and soon stood before Aomori.
"Aosora-sama, we meet again," Natsume said with a respectful bow.
"Indeed," Aomori nodded in return. "Natsume, what brings you to school on a Sunday?"
"It's a bit of a situation," Natsume said with a wry smile. "Nyanko-sensei threw a tantrum and ran away from home yesterday. He didn't come back today, so I came out to look for him. Then I saw a bright light at the school and thought he might be here. I didn't expect to run into you."
"That light was related to me. As for Nyanko-sensei, he's currently at my shrine."
"Eh?! Really?" Relieved by Aomori's confirmation, Natsume let out a sigh. "Is he doing alright?"
"He was quite angry when he first arrived, but he should be cooled down by now. He's likely just looking for a graceful way out—waiting for you to personally come and bring him home," Aomori noted.
"Nyanko-sensei, really..." Natsume felt completely at ease now, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "Would it be convenient for me to accompany you when you return to the shrine later?"
"That would be fine."
"I'm sorry for the trouble."
"It's a small matter." Aomori glanced at the composed Kaname Tanuma standing behind him. "This is your friend, I assume?"
"Yes." Natsume nodded. "This is Kaname Tanuma, my friend."
Seeing himself introduced, Tanuma took a step forward and bowed slightly toward the empty space in front of him. "Hello, I am Kaname Tanuma. My apologies, I can only vaguely sense your presence; I cannot actually see you."
"Heh." Aomori chuckled. He flicked a small orb of light that sank into Tanuma's body.
Tanuma felt his eyes grow warm. After rubbing them instinctively, a man in white clothing wearing a fox mask appeared before him.
"Can you see me now?" Aomori asked.
"I can." Tanuma nodded blankly, then spoke in disbelief. "I can see you... it's amazing. Natsume, this is incredible!"
"Aosora-sama is a very powerful deity," Natsume said, happy for his friend. If Tanuma could see spirits too, they would have company on future adventures.
"Thank you so much, Aosora-sama!" Tanuma was genuinely moved. This meant the hidden world Natsume lived in was finally revealing its true face to him.
"It's just a small trick. The effect will likely only last a day."
Aomori was using his own energy to "open his eyes." High-level evil spirits could manifest themselves in a similar way, though through more mature and subtle means—they could make ordinary people see them simply by infecting them with a specific aura.
"A day is plenty." Tanuma was a grateful person and didn't expect Aomori to help him indefinitely.
"Would you like to be able to see yokai permanently? I can help you with that," Aomori offered.
"Really?"
"Really. You would just have to pay a small price."
"A price? What is it?" Tanuma asked.
"Hmm, let me think." Aomori paused. "You live in a temple, don't you? How about this: when you offer prayers to the Buddha, offer some to me as well."
"You can even tell where I live? But as for praying to you, that's no problem at all."
"Then do we have an agreement?"
"Yes!" Tanuma trusted Natsume's judgment; if Natsume believed in him, there was nothing to fear.
"Excellent. The contract is sealed," Aomori said, clapping his hands three times.
"Is that it?" Tanuma looked at himself, feeling no different.
"That was just to confirm the contract. I haven't started helping you yet. You still have a day of vision left, so there's no rush."
"Understood." Tanuma took a deep breath to compose his excitement.
"Right, I haven't introduced her to you yet." Aomori patted the shoulder of Miko, who had been trying her best to remain inconspicuous. "This is the shrine maiden of my shrine, Miko."
"These two are locals. The one with light hair is Takashi Natsume; he can see yokai as well, and his spirit power is quite potent. The other was just introduced, so I won't repeat myself."
"Hello." Miko greeted them politely. Perhaps because she attended an all-girls school, she wasn't used to interacting with boys her age, making her appear somewhat stiff.
As she greeted them, she took a careful look at Natsume. Aosora-sama said his spirit power is strong... he must be a very powerful medium.
"Hello, Miko-san," the two boys replied in unison.
"Oh, please, no need for honorifics," Miko said, waving her hands frantically. "We're the same age. Just Miko is fine."
"Alright then."
After a few moments of awkward small talk, Aomori took over the conversation. "I borrowed this place to give Mieko a lesson, and things got a bit loud. Since we're done here, how about a stroll through town?"
"Sure! Natsume and I can accompany you. It's a small town, but there are plenty of interesting things to see."
"By the way, Tanuma, do you own glasses?" Aomori asked suddenly.
"No." Tanuma shook his head; his vision had always been fine.
"Then we'll need to buy a pair later."
"?"
Though he didn't know why, he followed the deity's instruction.
The group left the school to explore the town. When they passed an eyewear shop, Tanuma bought a pair of non-prescription glasses. Aomori applied a sealing technique he had recently devised, sealing some of his own energy into the lenses.
Now, whenever Tanuma wore the glasses, he would be able to see yokai. Tanuma was overjoyed and tucked the "Sealing Glasses" away carefully.
Later, as they passed a vacant lot, Aomori spotted a young girl doodling in the dirt with a stick. He glanced at her for a moment before looking away.
The group spent the afternoon together, and after lunch, they all boarded Pidgeot and returned to the shrine.
————
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