On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

“So, who can answer this question?” our teacher was saying, looking around the room, frowning. “Oh well… I suppose I may as well ask. Masui-san, go ahead. Though I’m not expecting much.” She gestured to the chalkboard, where a maths problem was sketched out. There was a ripple of laughter around the room at the teacher’s words, and Rika-chan laughed it off as usual.

“Maybe I’ll surprise you today.” She smiled, enjoying the attention, her usual flashy look drawing the eyes of the boys in class. I idly cast my attention to the problem on the board, my mind instantly providing me with the answer, and how it was worked out. Skills and stats sure are convenient…

“Well, the answer is… x approaches zero at…” she moved the chalk, filling in the problem, leaving the room in silence.

“That’s right, Masui-san.” The teacher frowned, her eyebrows arching she was so surprised. “Uh, well done, I guess. Have you been studying? That’s… well, not very like you. As your teacher I’m pleased though!” She hurriedly corrected her rather insulting words.

“Well, I’ve been putting in a bit of an effort. Yae too, right?” At that Yae-chan waved her hand in agreement, her other hand idly twirling her bleached blonde hair.

“Sure have!” she said, and at that the teacher’s eyes glimmered, as she sketched out another problem.

“Well then, go right ahead, Chihaya-san. If my precious students are trying their best, it would be remiss of your teacher not to test you!” There was more laughter at that, but Yae-chan merely got up from her desk, brushed down her (rather too short) skirt, and then wrote out the answer.

“Perhaps I’m still dreaming?” The teacher said with a laugh. “Well, if it is a dream, I hope I’m not late for work!”

“No dreams, teach.” Yae-chan teased, sitting down. “Rika and I finally decided to take school a bit more seriously, you know? It’s all down to good girl Ai-chan here! She’s helped us out a lot.”

Don’t bring me into it. I’m in a bad enough mood after last night! Just remembering it made me mad. My blue eyes were stern as I looked at her, but that only made her laugh harder, and the teacher wasn’t going to let that go.

“That’s right, our very own Oshiro-san whose grades have shot up. I think you have a good chance of entering the University of your choice in Tokyo, following in your brother’s footsteps. I hear he’s moving up in the world?”

“He sure is.” Rika-san smirked. “It was pretty fascinating seeing where he lives and works in Tokyo.”

“Damn, I’m so jealous!” Another classmate cried, and she shrugged.

“Oh, you should be. It was… magical, right Ai-chan?” She winked at me, fuelling my annoyance.

“Well, now that you’re as good at mathematics as you’ve always been at English, Oshiro-san, these questions are probably too easy for you, right? You’ve been frowning to yourself all lesson…”

Well, that’s got nothing to do with the class content! “… well, I believe the job of a teacher is to challenge my students, unleash their potential, so…” as our teacher smiled slyly, I felt my annoyance spike. It doesn’t really matter. There’s only a few minutes to the end of class, and then there’s only English to go until we’re done, and I can switch off during that class…

“… here. don’t be sad if you can’t solve this problem. It’s material you’d cover during your first year on a Mathematics or Physics course at University, but it is solvable, if you apply everything we’ve learned during your three years at high-school, and…” as the teacher droned on, I stood, striding to the board and grabbed a piece of chalk. My hand moved, elegantly sketching out the solution.

“Well, that was… fast.” The teacher said, shocked.

“I’m not intending to do a true STEM course.” I said primly. “My focus is on sports science, but my bro told me that contains a lot of maths and biology, so there’s a lot of overlap. So I’ve been studying too.”

“I see you have. Uh… just out of curiosity, can you answer this?” She drew up an even more complicated problem, one that I could indeed answer, but I realised that a good chunk of the problem was material we’d never covered. A trap, huh… well, I’m not my bro, showing off in baseball in front of the whole damn town. I’ll be careful…

“I’m sorry. I get it up to here…” I made some notes on the board. “But I don’t think we’ve studied this, right?”

Our teacher let out a little sigh, and I was sure I could see some relief on her face. “You’re right. We haven’t. That’s third year University material. I wonder… no, class will be over shortly. Ah, the bell…” As her words were spoken the bell rang, releasing us from the teacher and her annoying questions. “One last thing…” the teacher said, looking at me sympathetically. “I know everyone is worried about Mori-san and how she is doing away from home, but she is properly submitting her assignments and has been taking tests over webcam with us. I see no problems with her graduating with you all in March, so do your best so she doesn’t leave you behind! As for her physical condition…” the teacher looked at me, so I shrugged.

“Yeah, Eri’s doing rehab, she’s putting her all into it. Progress is slow, but her doctors…” Well, bro and Shaeula, anyway… “… say that if she keeps up her hard work, she’ll make a full recovery in time.”

“Must be nice, having her fiancée look after her with such dedication.” One of our classmates said.

“Well, that’s the minimum one can expect, isn’t it?” Our teacher smiled as she was packing up. “If you find a partner, make sure they’ll be there for you in both good times and bad. If they are, then you’ve found a keeper…”

Yeah, well my bro sure does love Eri, but he isn’t perfect, not by a long shot. I puffed my cheeks out in a scowl as I took my seat, head down on the desk, switching off. At least I get time to think about things…

********

“You know…” Asami-chan said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Don’t you think that Ren-kun is starting to act more manly? I think it’s kind of hot.”

“Ren-san? Really?” I raised an eyebrow, surprised. Well, if I’m going to be fair, he’s definitely changed since Kyoto. A lot of people have. Akio too. “Now that you mention it, he does seem more mature than his age. Like he’s a bit older than us now, even though he isn’t.”

“They say adversity makes a man.” Mio-chan said piously, as we waited for our final class of the weekend to end. “Well, so, do you like him then, Asami-chan?” she asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

“Like is a bit strong a word, but… well, he’s not so bad, right? I hear he’s from a pretty important shrine, too? Before, even though I go to a faith school, I never really thought about it much.”

“Me neither.” Mio-chan agreed with her. “I mean, no offense, Kana-chan, but your shrine, other than having a lot of land, it was pretty run-down. Well, not fair to say that now though, is it?”

“Yeah well, I won’t argue with you. I always used to hate it.” I agreed. “Things are different now though.” I could see some other girls listening to us, including Takagi-san and Kikuchi-san. I still wasn’t all that close to them, despite everything, but since we were all allies in the same boat, we were spending more time together, and I had a fresh appreciation for their circumstances. Although…

“No need to be jealous, Kana-chan! After all, your achievements are way more impressive!” Mio-chan reassured me, and I managed a wry smile. I’m not jealous. It’s just…

“Maiko-san has worked hard.” Takagi-san defended her, her eyes sharp behind the glasses. For a shy girl, she was becoming bolder recently, and that made me like her more. “She’s a daughter of a true shrine, just like you!”

I snorted a laugh at that, amused. “Really, Kikuchi-san, you have such a brave hero trying to protect your honour.” At that Takagi-san looked down, flushed, and it was cute. The plain girl was definitely looking less out of place in our group of beauties, that was for sure, as she took better care of her appearance, and had even bought a more fashionable pair of glasses. Well, Akio does insist on making sure we all get paid. It’s not a huge amount of money, but for highschoolers like us, it’s certainly welcome. It’s like a proper wage an adult would get… well, he did say we were doing the work of an adult so should be compensated accordingly. I like that he’s fair. Like…

“Don’t bully Hisano-san!” Kikuchi-san protested, and I shook my head.

“Bullying? This is banter. Don’t you get it? It means we’re friends, right?” I smiled. I really can’t be bothered to play the queen bee anymore. There’s more to life than being beautiful… I could feel the power thrumming within me, a great surge of earth element energy. It was muted here outside the Boundary, but I could still sense it boiling within my lower body, and if I chose, I could probably collapse the building we were in, if I put out all my effort. Me, effort. I can still hardly believe it, but… I’ve never felt so alive. Every day makes my heart race, makes me discover new parts of myself.

“Friends?” Takagi-san said softly, seemingly puzzled.

“Yes, friends, Hisano-chan.” I changed my way of address, surprising a few of the listeners. “If you don’t think we are, you’ll hurt my feelings!” I guess we certainly are friends, comrades. And I guess I’d like to get to know them better.

At that, Noguchi-san, another girl in class who I had been friendlier with recently, and had visited my shrine, spoke up. “Really, the five of you have been pretty close ever since we visited your shrine, Kana-chan!” she pouted. “I was there too, and I can’t help but feel I missed out on something!”

“Me too!” another girl declared.

You did, but… “Well, maybe you did. Maybe you didn’t. If you’re really curious…” I paused, drawing everyone’s attention on me. It felt good, but somehow… lacking. It really does feel better being praised for what I do, what I can contribute, than for merely being pretty and charming. “… well, I can’t say I recommend it…”

Mio-chan and Asami-chan giggled at that, remembering. “… but you remember that girl Shaeula, right?”

“Oh yeah, the beautiful foreigner with the yukata. Her hair was like golden silk!” Noguchi-san said admiringly.

“Well, I have her phone number, of course. She’s like a sister to me.” I bragged, and it was actually true. After all, Shaeula’s always liked me, from the start, even though she saw through how shallow I was. And she helped save Keomi-chan. If my idiot cousin died, I think I’d be crushed… besides… I hoped my face wasn’t red, as the thought of being sisters with her naturally turned to the other meaning. “So, if you want to be best friends with us all, give her a call. But don’t say I didn’t warn you…” Shaeula’s a fiend for pretty girls, well, not in the usual way, but… well, she picks them too, I guess. She’s never really pushed Mio-chan or Asami-chan at Akio. I guess I’m flattered that she chose me. But then…

Now things were different. I had been trusted with the most precious thing in the world right now, a Divine Favour, and I wanted to live up to that trust, not just because I always felt I should be special, respected, wealthy, happy… but because of those who did trust me. Akio, Shaeula, even Eri-san, who hated me at first. She’s cold, but she’s fair. And she’s nice to those that like who she likes…

“I wouldn’t.” Hisano-chan remarked. “Not right now, anyway. But if you wanted to… hang out, I wouldn’t mind. Would you, Maiko-san?”

“If I have time, that’s fine.” The gloomy girl said, surprising us with an unusually bright smile. “Maybe karaoke? Or we could go into central Tokyo. I have some money…”

“Really?” Noguchi-san said, surprised. “Well, karaoke is fun!”

As the girls chatted, I met Hisano-chan’s gaze. She seemed embarrassed, but offered me a small smile. Yes, everyone’s changing. I think that’s a good thing. I always divided the world into us and them. It turns out most people can be part of the ‘us’ if you give them a chance. I looked at Kikuchi-san, no, Maiko-chan, as she talked brightly, so unlike her previous introverted gloom. Well, it’s no wonder. Her family is secure under the best protection one can have, she doesn’t have money worries anymore, and… last night, she mastered wind element. As a daughter of a true shrine, that has to be a happy thing. I mastered earth first though! I wasn’t going to budge on that. I had put in the hard work, even if the twins and Haru-san had helped…

********

“So spill it. You’ve been in a foul mood all day, Ai-chan!” Yae-chan said to me, as we prepared ourselves to enter the Boundary at Chairoakitara shrine. The room Eri and I used to enter from had been transformed, and was now a luxurious space with a number of beds, a bathroom and more. As well as secure doors with proper locks. Marika-chan’s grandfather won’t pull anything, of course, but better safe than sorry…

“When she’s this annoyed, it’s always either Akio-kun, or Ri-Ri.” Rika-chan observed as she removed her school uniform, revealing the rather risqué black bra under her shirt. I couldn’t help but glance at it, and she sniggered, crossing her arms under her chest.

“What’s up, Ai-chan? Jealous of my sexy underwear? Yours is all boring and follows the school rules. You’ll never attract a decent boy unless you get sexier.”

“I’m sexy enough thank you.” I said primly, pulling on a cheap hospital-style gown over my plain white underwear. “As for attracting boys… sorry, but I don’t have time for that right now. Besides why even stick to humans? Maybe I’ll get myself a sexy elf. My bro’s proved that you can have non-human partners. My bro…” I sighed bitterly.

“I knew it. It’s Aki.” Yae-san had also put on the gown, though her hands shook doing it, as well they might. After all, I am pretty ruthless in their training. Well, they wanted this, so… consequences.

“What’s he done now then? Got himself another girl?” Rika-chan said, earning an annoyed look from Yae-chan, who I could tell was a bit downheartened that my bro wasn’t into her. Well, she’ll get over it. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with Yae-chan, and I suppose, much as it pains me to admit, she’s a nicer girl than she looks, and far less a bitch than her gal fashion would suggest. But against the others… well, she’s just too normal. “He has, hasn’t he?”

“Well, yes. Mom is going to be so happy. She’s gone crazy with her delusions now, though dad, uncle and auntie aren’t anywhere near as thrilled.” I had been told that Daiyu, that pretty Chinese girl, was going to be living with my bro and the others, in that way. I was pretty used to it by now, so that wasn’t what was bothering me. “No, it’s just… well, we can do this in a minute.”

We entered the Boundary, lying on our respective beds, and soon we were outside the shrine. As I called upon my golden sister army, the statues materialising around us, I noticed their gazes of envy and wonder. Well, I guess it took me a while to get used to this too… I couldn’t help but feel satisfied, that my bro chose me to bear such a precious gift. I knew he wanted me to be able to defend myself, but taking it was a responsibility as well. My grip tightened on my brilliant red bow. A responsibility I can shoulder.

“They never get old.” Rika-chan remarked, looking at them. “So, why Ri-Ri, Shaeula and the others? It’s cute, but… a bit odd?”

“No reason. They just seem to be what I think of when I call them out.” I sighed. “Anyway…” I explained the situation to my friends, the mess with my bro and his prisoner, and the guilt he was feeling.

“That’s… so messed up!” Rika-chan said, pale-faced, when I was finished. “She’s not done anything wrong, it’s like she was held at gunpoint, no, worse than that!”

“Yeah, I feel really bad for her myself.” I agreed. “It still doesn’t make me less pissed off. Anyway, train while we talk!” I ordered them, and the two girls groaned, running through the current version of the Aether Manipulation training I had received from my bro and Shaeula. “And… sorry, but this is going to hurt.”

“It always does. I’m sure you just enjoy punishing us, you sadist!” Rika-chan managed a wan smile, as I pulled one of my arrows free, using the head to make a series of small but painful cuts on Rika-chan and Yae-chan, along their upper arms and thighs. Silver and red beads of blood sprang free.

“Again, you wanted to be in this world. So suck it up. Ether Healing training is hard, painful work. And I can’t do it like Hyacinth does, so…” The gowns soak up the blood back in the Material, if their parents noticed them coming back with bloody school uniforms, that wouldn’t be good at all… “… back on the subject. You don’t agree, Rika-chan?”

“I just don’t see how she can be put in prison for that. She was made to do it. It seems so heartless!”

“I agree.” I said, gently releasing aether into their bodies. I wasn’t just trying to strengthen my Ether Healing, but to get a firmer understanding of other people’s Astral bodies, as a precursor to Chirurgery. Else I could just do it on myself. It’s not like I enjoy hurting them. Though even a Rank of Ether Healing will keep their skin and hair beautiful, so they suck it up. Damn, wish I had eyes like my Bro or Shaeula, that would make this easy. Even Kana-chan has potential it seems…

“… I feel really sorry for her. But I also get what my bro is driving at too. It’s coloured by his stupid, self-sacrificing nature…” Rika-san yelped under my hand as my anger made me less gentle. “… he thinks everyone should do what he would, but he can’t even make up his mind on that. If Eri, Shaeula or I were in her position, he’d never tell us to die rather than save ourselves, no matter the cost. It’s just so… frustrating!”

“I think that’s only natural, right?” Yae-san said, waiting her turn, blood trickling down her body as she practised juggling small metal balls she had willed into existence with her limited stocks of aether. “Why should you have to apply the same rules to those you love and some stranger? I’d be pretty disappointed if he would tell you to die, Ai-chan. But… well, I guess I feel sorry for the woman too. But don’t you feel more sorry for the dead? Each one of them had brothers, sisters, children, parents… now they’re gone.”

“Even so, it wasn’t her fault.” Rika-chan insisted, shivering at my touch, and I grinned in satisfaction as the wounds on her thighs closed. Hang on a minute, here I am stroking her thighs, isn’t that a bit kinky? No, it doesn’t matter. My intentions are pure so it’s fine. Besides… This time I could feel and perceive a little bit more of her inner workings through the expended aether. Ever since I received the Divine Favour of Kannon and started to level up, my perceptions had grown sharper day by day.

“Maybe not.” Yae-san argued. “But does that mean we should just send her on her way with a pat on the back? Is that fair?”

Yeah, that’s my bro’s argument. Well, Yae-chan is right in a way. I can accept whatever he decides to do, so long as he doesn’t end up getting hurt, but… that doesn’t change that I feel really bad for the poor girl.

“Fair? To the dead? Well, shouldn’t we blame the one that forced her to do all the killing? It was like she was a gun, right? You blame that hands that… hey, that tickles, careful Ai-chan… pull the trigger, not the gun… aha… itself.” Rika-chan giggled at my touch as my hands started healing her other wounds, aether flowing into her body.

“I think you don’t get it, Rika, Ai-chan.” Yae-chan stopped her exercises, gazing at us with earnest brown eyes. “Fair… to the victims? You should worry more about her. If you had done that, even to save yourself, and Aki let you go, said don’t worry, it’s not your fault, you did nothing wrong, would you be able to believe that, live with the guilt?”

“I…” I avoided thinking about that. I didn’t want to. I focussed more on my stupid bro saying if he had to fight and kill one of us if we went down the wrong path, he’d follow after. That’s never the answer. That would just make those who survived feel the same pain… “I think I’d never recover.” I admitted.

“That’s why… she needs punishment. Not to punish, though… to be honest, your brother can be pretty blinding at times. Saying he’d rather die than be forced to do what she did… I don’t have the strength for that. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t look at me…” Yae-chan said sadly, and I felt the urge to give her a comforting pat on the head, so I did. She looked at me in surprise, before continuing. “… but I do think that we sometimes need to be punished, not for the victims, but so we can forgive ourselves? And if she can do something she feels can balance what she did, won’t she feel she’s trying, she’s doing her best to live for those that died?”

I see. Yes, that does make sense. I don’t know if my bro was entirely conscious of that, but…

“When did you get so clever, Yae?” Rika-chan said, proud of her. “I guess that makes a lot of sense to me. Not that we’ve ever done anything so terrible, but… that time I broke dad’s expensive bottle of sake and lied about it, I felt awful. I almost wanted to be caught. That way I could stop feeling so guilty and on edge.”

“Hey, I’ve always been a smart girl. Not very academic, but I’m no dummy!” Yae-chan sighed. “But… we think about a lot of different things now, don’t we? Look around us.” She gestured at the golden sister army and the silver, lightning-streaked sky overhead. “I don’t envy Aki, you know, Ai-chan.”

“Really? I don’t see any reason not to, he’s rich, strong, got a gaggle of girls fawning all over him. Don’t tell me you don’t want to…” I eyed her.

“Yeah, but… doesn’t it come with all these painful decisions? And this is just the start.” Yae-chan sighed. “He’s taking on a lot. And be honest, Ai-chan. Your brother, he wasn’t anything special before, was he? Well, maybe to you and Ri-Ri, but he was pretty ordinary. A bit more handsome than the average, sure, and for Nishimorioka a real go-getter, but… did you ever see him handling these sorts of problems, making decisions that are life and death for thousands of people?”

“No, to be honest, much as I loved my bro, he had his faults. Still does. They’re just masked better now. It’s got to be eating at him, hence… ugh, I feel bad blowing up at him now. I should have been nicer about it, more supportive. I’m a failure as a little sister.”

“Don’t worry, Ai-chan.” Yae-chan returned the favour, patting my head now. “He’ll understand you care about him. After all, isn’t that why you’re doing all this?” She gestured around the Boundary. “It’s you, little Ri-Ri, Shaeula… all of you support him, make up for what he lacks.”

“Well, it’s not just for my bro. I’m doing all this for me too. I’ve found something I want to do. As for you two…”

“I think this is something special.” Yae-chan continued. “No matter how I feel about Aki, I’m your friend too, Ai-chan. So let’s not do this alone.”

“Yeah, we’re friends for life!” Rika-chan agreed. “Akio-kun aside, us girls should stick together!”

“In that case…” my eyes gleamed, and as I pulled out an arrow they swallowed nervously. “… best prepare yourselves. Training from hell begins now, get ready for it!” As they hastily made excuses, I didn’t listen to their cries, my thoughts on my future plans. I really wish I could drop a Territory here, but bro says it’s too risky, since I can’t defend it all the time. He’s right. Sure, there’s probably no other Chosen anywhere near Nishimorioka, but if one does come across my Anchor… well, I’ll wait until bro tells me where he wants it. Then I’ll just squeeze him for resources like Haru-chan!

********

“How’s it going, Ren-kun?” Asami-chan said cheerfully to him as he was practising with the mirror Akio had lent him, his admittedly handsome face screwed up into an expression of concentration as he was manipulating the glowing halo of indigo and golden light around the glass. Oh that’s right, we should be getting light energy from Haru-san’s Territory too now.

Beside me, Mio-chan covered her mouth so we couldn’t see her smiling at the antics of our friend.

“It’s hard.” He said, looking up, his eyes flickering over us. He didn’t pay me much attention, but his gaze lingered on Mio-chan and Asami-chan, and Asami-chan was going a little pink at his scrutiny. It’s strange. Before, I used to get annoyed when boys looked at me with lustful eyes, but I also got angry when they didn’t, I felt disregarded. I was such a bitch. Well, at least I know why he’s ignoring me now…

“Yeah, but Akio says your contributions are really important.” I soothed him, and he nodded gratefully.

“Yes, I can see results, which helps. Well, Chiaki and Chiasa are at the usual spot. So if you want to join them, now’s the time. Even without Suzuki-san, we’re having some successes.” He said, proud of his sisters.

“We sure are. Maiko-chan mastered wind, that bodyguard of Hinata-chan’s mastered earth element, and more us are close.” I agreed. “Well, I’ll give it a miss though. I have to level up.” Besides, there are all those Americans here too. I find some of them scary, even though I should be able to protect myself, and they have been bound by Shaeula…

“Good luck!” Mio-chan said cheerfully. “I’m going to get earth element too, today’s the day, I just know it.”

“Well, do your best. Having an element will be a solid foundation to build on.”

“I’ll do my best as well!” Asami-chan said, enthusiastic, and Ren-san blinked for a moment, before nodding. That’s cute. You know what, I think she might have a thing for him after all, so competitive.

“Good. There’s nothing worse than not having power when you need it. I know that now.” He looked at me, and while his eyes searched me, it wasn’t in appreciation of my looks, like with my two friends, but it was as if he was trying to burn my new strength into his eyes. I like that a lot more. I’m being valued because of what I can do, not what I look like. Although admittedly I have a long way to go until I master the Earthen Womb.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to it. If you can, help Keomi-chan, she’s really struggling.”

“We will do. Honestly, your cousin is such an airhead. Cute though.” Mio-chan laughed.

“She is. It can be a pain tidying up after her though.” I complained, and Ren-san looked a bit sad, probably considering that she was wrapped up in the same mess as his sisters were. “That reminds me… Ren-san, are you planning to do another round of light element teaching? Since it doesn’t clash with the other elements, it might be useful. I think Asami-san might have a good affinity. I’m sure she’d be grateful if you could give her a few pointers, some special training maybe?”

“Well, I’m struggling here myself, but…” he looked at Asami-chan. “A change of pace might be a good idea. This is hard work.”

“I can imagine!” Asami-chan took my cue gratefully. “But yes, it’d be really great to learn light element. And who better to ask than someone who was born with it?”

As the two of them talked, Mio-chan and I slipped away. “That’s pretty cute.” Mio-chan giggled.

“Well, it’s not like a bit of flirting and romance is a problem.” I said, thinking. “Ren-san is a pretty decent catch, as we said at school. And if it doesn’t work out… well, it’s all experience, right? And if it does, he’s not bad looking, and his shrine is an important one, in Akio’s inner circle. That’ll make her important too.”

“You sure have changed, Kana-chan.” Mio-chan said as we walked. “Although not too much.” Her smile was kind and gently mocking. “You’re nicer to everyone, but you still think like the Kana-chan we love. Speaking of love… how’s it going?”

I shrugged. “Same as always. But I don’t mind. I really don’t.” I insisted at her doubtful expression. “Right now, I want to focus on being the best me I can be. I want my gift to blossom, and as a Chosen I want to be strong. I’m not going to depend on pity to get what I want, nor simply my looks. I’m going to take it all!”

“Love the confidence!” Mio-chan laughed. “So, what’s your plan right now?”

“Well, I can’t put down my Territory, as we’ve not decided where it should go, and Akio already has Shirohebizumi shrine. It’s a shame, but I’ll concentrate on getting more powerful.”

“You mean fighting?” Mio-chan asked, a little nervous.

“I do. Well, mostly against monsters from the sea, or I might take a trip through the Gate to Kyoto.” I pondered that. “I’ll find some others who are levelling up, there’s always someone around. We’re safer together, anyway.”

“I see. Well, good luck, Kana-chan! As always, I’m rooting for you!”

“Root for Asami-chan. She needs it more than me.” Directing aether into my eyes to activate my Eyes of the Shrine Maiden was starting to give me a slight headache, but it was largely successful, and for a moment I could sense a little of Mio-chan’s emotions, amused and expectant. “After all, I’m Izumi Kana, Chosen of Kṣitigarbha, Shrine Maiden of Shirohebizumi, and therefore I’m not going to lose!”

Mio-chan clapped excitedly. “I can’t wait to see how everything plays out. Well, that’s it. Today is the day I master earth element! Then you can show me the ropes!”

“Sure, it’ll be nice to be the teacher for once.” Speaking of, I need to continue with practising Ether Healing and Aether Manipulation. The new programme is really coming along. Trying to maintain the flow to my eyes, I gathered my thoughts and willed several small marbles into existence. If I stopped concentrating on them, they would vanish, scattering back into the aether from which they were made.

“You make that look so easy…” Mio-chan sighed, and I couldn’t help but give her a cheeky smile.

“Of course I do. I’m brimming with power now!” I boasted.

“Well, compared to Shaeula or Hyacinth…” she grinned, and I mock-pouted.

“That’s a low blow! But… well, I have one advantage they don’t. I can get there!”

“And if you do, you’ll get praised and maybe even some head pats from…”

“It’s not about that!” the marbles vanished as I was distracted, so I bit back a curse.

“Oops, you lost your focus there, Kana-chan!” she teased me.

“I’ll give you focus!” the ground turned to mud and several globules shot at Mio-chan, harmless but dirty. As she was pelted, laughing, I found myself smiling. It’s happy days like these that are so precious. Which is why we have to be strong to protect ourselves, those that can’t. Eri-san was right about that. Disaster can come in an instant. I don’t… I don’t ever want to be there just watching as Keomi-chan, Eri-san or anyone else suffers in front of me again… I’m no longer helpless, weak…