I did the most heroic thing imaginable.
I took a shower.
I let the day wash off me. Thinking about nothing important.
Dinner time.
We played Uno.
Which is to say, we went to war practically.
Hazuki played like she had nothing to lose, telling everyone her hand every game.
Kana was playing to make everyone else suffer. Dad kept pretending he didn't understand the rules even though he won twice. Mom invented a house rule halfway through that made absolutely no sense but somehow benefited her.
I didn't win a single game, which didn't surprise me. I'm not into Uno.
By the time night settled in, the house was loud and warm.
That's when I felt it again.
A tug.
Not fear or pain.
Just… the feeling that something was wrong.
Something out of place, like a word misspelled in a sentence you couldn't stop rereading.
I waited. Counted breaths. Let the noise die down.
Then I slipped out my window.
---
The night air was colder than I expected. The town looked the same as always though—streetlights, empty roads, the occasional car whispering past. Nothing screamed danger. Nothing wanted me to notice it.
Which was the problem.
I ran.
Not recklessly. Just enough to cover ground. I moved through familiar streets, then unfamiliar ones. Back alleys. Quiet parks. Places where something should have been lurking.
An hour passed.
Nothing.
I slowed to a stop, breathing hard, annoyed.
"…Great," I muttered.
Then it hit me.
The cemetery.
The place where everything started.
I turned and headed there.
---
The cemetery was quiet in the way only cemeteries are. Not empty but patient. Rows of stones standing like they were waiting to be called.
I walked slowly, letting my senses stretch.
I felt something.
Another pull.
One grave, near the back. Older than most. Weathered, but cared for.
The name carved into the stone read:
Tachibana Sōgen
A Beloved Son
"…You?" I whispered.
I stepped closer. Reached out.
Before my fingers touched the stone—
"Don't."
I froze.
I turned.
A man stood a few meters away, dressed in red and gold robes, prayer beads looped around his wrist. He looked young—maybe early twenties—but his eyes were sharp, alert, he'd already decided I was a problem.
He studied me openly.
"…Interesting," he said. "Spiritons flowing outside the body. And a link… but something isn't right."
I blinked. "You're… very direct."
His stance shifted. Bare hands raised, feet planted.
"For a moment," he said, "I thought you were a ghost with an exceptional human disguise."
"Wow. Rude."
"I'll take that as confirmation you're alive."
"Can I explain—"
"My name is Ōkuni Takeo," he cut in. "Novice Cemetery Priest. Assigned to this town after a recent binding incident."
Recent.
Yeah. That tracks.
"And you," he continued, dropping into a martial stance, "are trespassing near an active grave."
He lunged.
Fast.
I barely had time to think this is bad.
And then—
THUD.
Takeo slammed face-first into something solid.
Something that hadn't been there a second ago.
"Ow—?!"
I stared.
Arata stood between us, hands in his pockets, not even leaning back from the impact. Takeo bounced off him like he'd run into a wall.
Arata laughed. Loudly.
"Oh man," he said. "You okay, buddy? That was a commitment strike."
Takeo scrambled back, horrified. "W-What are you—?!"
"Relax," Arata said. "He's not a ghost. Just complicated."
I exhaled. "You could've shown up before the attack."
"And ruin the dramatic timing?" He waved it off. "Nah."
He turned to Takeo. "This one's under my watch."
Takeo stared at me again. "That doesn't explain anything sir."
I stepped forward. "I felt something wrong around here earlier."
Arata snapped his fingers. "Ah. Right. You remember the relic Daigo Ren was digging for?"
I nodded.
"I killed him," Arata said casually, "but forgot to grab the relic."
Takeo and I facepalmed at the same time.
"You forgot?" I said.
Takeo groaned. "Unbelievable…"
"Anyway," Arata continued, unfazed, "the disturbance you felt was me absorbing it."
I blinked. "…People can do that?"
Arata smiled. "Only me."
Of course.
He glanced at me. "Time to go. Where's your uniform?"
"…At home."
He frowned. "Why aren't you wearing it?"
"I didn't think I had to—"
"No matter, the clothes are already linked to your spiritons. Focus," he said. "Think about it."
"Ok..'
Cmon clothes cmon appear!.
The fabric warped onto my body like it had always been there.
"…Okay that's strange."
"ly Efficient," Arata corrected. "Alright—"
"Wait," I cut in. "I need to tell my sisters I won't be home."
Arata paused. "…Where do you live?"
"Why?"
"Just tell me."
"I live southeast from the school 3 blocks from here in a white house with 2 floors."
I pointed.
"Okay I know where the school is, bye, Takeo," Arata said, and—
The world folded.
---
We appeared outside my house.
I stared. "…You can do anything, can't you?"
Arata shrugged. "I can only do what I can do."
"Very funny."
"That wasn't a joke though."
---
I had jumped back inside my room through the open window when a hand caught my hood and stopped me cold.
"Hold on," Arata said perching on the window stool behind me. "Bad idea."
I froze mid-step, feet still hovering. I turned slowly.
"…I was going to tell my sisters." I whispered.
"At three in the morning?"
"Yes."
"That makes it worse," he said. "You'll traumatize them."
I sighed. "Then what do you want me to do?"
Arata straightened up, smoothing imaginary wrinkles from his sleeve like he'd just had a revelation.
"We wait until morning."
"…Why."
"So I can wear a suit."
"That doesn't explain anything."
"It explains everything."
---
Morning arrived with the cruel inevitability of responsibility.
I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I expected Aka Manto to be standing in my closet or the Lady in White to be sitting on my desk judging me silently. Instead, I woke up to sunlight, birds, and the terrifying realization that Arata was serious.
I still wasn't sure where Arata had spent the night—he refused to clarify, which meant I didn't want to know—when the doorbell rang.
I peeked from the hallway just in time to see him step inside.
Arata Seimei, now in a sleek black suit and tie, bowed politely.
The illusion lasted exactly two seconds.
"Good morning!" he said brightly. "Wow, your entryway is way nicer than mine. Ours has bones."
Hazuki blinked.
Kana squinted.
My dad stopped mid-egg flip.
I leaned against the wall.
He didn't even wait for someone to answer the door he just came in.
Arata snapped his fingers.
He straightened, cleared his throat, and dropped his voice half an octave.
"Good morning," he repeated. "I am Seimei Arata."
Then he grinned. "No relation to tax fraud."
Everyone's face was a mix of confusion and suspicion.
Why did he bring up tax fraud?
---
"This gentleman," I said carefully, "is… a recruiter."
"From a government-adjacent youth development initiative!" Arata added, finger-gunning my mom. "A very cool, very exclusive program."
My mom's eyes lit up. "Oh? Like leadership training?"
"Among other things," Arata said. "Discipline. Responsibility. Field experience."
Kana frowned. "That sounds fake."
Arata leaned in, whispering loudly, "That's how you know it's government-adjacent."
My dad crossed his arms and tilted his head. "ehhh…."
"And how long will Itsuki be gone?" Hazuki asked.
Arata paused.
Raised a finger.
Lowered it.
Then shrugged.
"Indefinite."
The room went silent.
I panicked. "Indefinite like—study abroad!"
"Yes!" Arata snapped. "Very abroad, and this program comes with other benefits like free lodging, food, clothes and more!"
"How abroad?" Kana asked.
"…Conceptually."
My mom clasped her hands together. "I think this is wonderful. He's finally doing something instead of drifting."
My dad nodded. "Proud of you, son."
That one hit harder than any ghost attack.
Kana stared at me. "…Don't get brainwashed."
Hazuki smiled. "Come back alive."
"Low bar," I said.
---
We stepped outside.
The door closed behind us.
I exhaled. "We just lied to my family."
Arata beamed. "Professionally."
You seemed to enjoy that."
"Oh immensely."
He raised his hand, finally serious.
"Ready?"
I nodded.
"Open the path beneath the world let the unseen garden calls us home."