Suddenly the loud banging started again.
"Brat, give me your sister's ashes in exchange for your safety," the animal outside spoke to him.
Kaede's heart started to beat fast because of fear, but he didn't say anything back.
"Brat!"
It shouted outside before banging the door louder than before. Kaede still admired the door for holding it up, whoever was on the outside.
"GIVE ME THE ASHES, BRAT!"
That was the cue that Kaede's adrenaline rush kicked in. Kaede grabs the jar and runs towards the back door. He remembered his sister's key and held it before he opened the back door and hopped inside the car. He doesn't know how to drive properly, but he knows the basics. He would rather choose to drive than stay in the house with unknown creatures outside.
The car's sound is activated, and leaving catches the creature's attention outside his door. Kaede saw in his side mirror that the beast was a huge dog that started to sprint toward the car. Kaede speeds up the car by stepping on the gasoline to avoid the dog that is now approaching him.
"Damn it!" he frustratedly shouted.
If the dog catches him, he'll die. He knows it
Suddenly, the huge dog leaped on the roof of the car.
"I TOLD YOU TO GIVE ME WHAT I WANT, BRAT!" it shouted before it started to step on the roof. Kaede could tell that the dog is like punching the car's roof, and one of its paws would puncture it at any moment.
Three more steps and one of its front paws with sharp claws hit Kaede's right shoulder. The wound started to bleed, but Kaede continued driving.
The dog must have been hyped when he smelled the blood, and it didn't stop from puncturing the roof. Kaede grabbed the jar and put it in between his legs. The attack will never end until one of them dies. And he is determined to be not the one to die even though he knew it would be futile.
Kaede ensured that the lid of the jar was tight before he jumped out of the car. When he was sure, he opened the driver's door and jumped after accelerating the car with a jar in his arms.
Injured and in pain, Kaede runs away while the dog hasn't realized that he is gone. He was probably half a kilometer away when he heard feet running towards him.
"GIVE IT TO ME, BOY!" said the dog, pouncing on him, making him stumble on the ground with the jar on his arms. When he saw a bush and the dog wasn't looking. He slowly threw the jar in there secretly.
"I will not give it to you!" he said.
The dog kicked him, sending him a few meters away from the jar.
"Where is it!? Give it to me before I eat you!" it insisted on him.
"No! The ash is my sister, and it will remain hers until my last breath!" he shouted back at the dog as it got bigger.
The dog, that Kaede is seeing now is Goryo, who has been attracted to Minami's scent. For Yurie of any kind, shamans' or Exorcists' bodies after death are the most delicious. The Celestial Axis' power will evaporate from them, attracting enemies who want to consume it.
"Give it to me?" the dog shouted as it began to show its true appearance. The scent of Celestial Dust is driving him crazy, and it makes him hungry.
Kaede slowly picks himself up. His muscles are screaming at him because of the pain he felt upon colliding with a hard tree before dropping to the ground. Kaede is used to pain because of the sport he plays, but the pain of being kicked by this dog is a hundred times more than the pain he can tolerate.
Kaede looks at the bush secretly. He can make a quick run, grab the jar and run while the dog is busy showing his power. He is confident when it comes to running. He is fast, but he wishes to outrun the dog, which he knows would be impossible. But he will take his chance. His sister's cremains needed to be safe away from it.
He took a deep breath, bolted towards the bush, and picked up the jar.
The dog saw it, and he interrupted his transformation and followed Kaede.
"Damn it!" Kaede cursed, pushing his body to its limit to run faster.
"You cannot run away from me, brat!" the dog said while aftering him.
Kaede didn't mind him. All in his mind was to keep the jar safe no matter what. The bald guy never told him that Yurei would come after her sister's remains. And he hated him for that.
But everything he hoped to escape the mutated dog was gone when he met a dead end.
"N-no way!" he almost screamed when he was face to face with a wall higher than he could climb.
He then heard a laugh.
"I told you, you can never run away from me, brat. Give me the jar, and maybe I'll spare your life," the dog said, snickering at him.
Kaede turned his face at the dog and bit his lower lips.
He cannot give the jar no matter what. The dog will have to face him first.
"No!"
"Oh? No? Well then, I have to kill you and devour your useless soul. You will be my appetizer before I eat that main course in the jar," the dog said, smirking and running to where he was.
Kaede silently hopes that he will treasure it all his life if a miracle happens.
Please ..
He silently begged whoever could hear him.
Save us.
Kaede closes his eyes and embraces the jar.
Please! Please help us!
Kaede's left arm suddenly lights up when the dog is about to pounce on him and open its huge mouth.
Kaede's eyes widened from what he saw, especially when something came out of it. In front of him, a huge hooded figure came out and met the huge dog mid-air. Kaede watches them as they fight. The hooded figure grabbed the dog's head and threw it down a couple of meters away from us. The collision created a hole in the ground due to the impact and strength the figure used on the dog.
"Who are you!?"
The dog questioned the figure, but instead of answering it, the figure suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of the dog and punched it in the face, sending it another meter away from the figure.
"Enough!" the dog screamed. "You are pissing me off!" the dog shouted and began to change.
The dog's fur suddenly becomes long; its head enlarges, and the dog"s size doubles. The dog's appearance scared Kaede, but the figure in front of it didn't even fret. The figure stood there as if there was nothing to be afraid of.
The dog ran towards the figure with its mouth open wide, but the figure just shut it back using both hands and pinned it on the ground using its left hand. The figure lifts its other hand above its head, and suddenly, five spears appear. Each tip of the spear faces the huge dog, and then unexpectedly, the figure closes its fingers in a fist, and the spears fall on the huge dog, piercing its body.
The figure walks away from the dig as the dog struggles to set itself from the spears that nailed the dog to the ground. Within a second, the spears lit up and exploded.
It was the last scene Kaede had seen before the poor boy collapsed due to shock and tiredness with his arms around his sister's cremains.
"Oy, kid. Wake up," Shoma said, trying to wake Kaede while his arms were wrapped around his sister's remains.
Shoma and his team were alarmed about a massive Goryo attack in Twelve district, where Minami's house stood. He and his team went there as soon as possible, but they came across damaged pieces of land, body parts mutilated, and the boy was sleeping next to the wall.
Shoma has his hopes up when he sees the boy sleeping.
"I see why you want this kid," Clara said before putting on her gloves and picking up the pieces of the dog's flesh.
"He has it. I know," Shoma answered and walked to the boy still sleeping.
"Kid, wake up," Shoma slightly pushed Kaede's shoulder, and he saw the ripped part sleeve of the shirt he was wearing. And when he checked his arms, nothing.
"Mnnm," Kaede finally awoke.
"Good morning, kid. Why are you sleeping outside instead of at your house?"
Confused Kaede, he looked at the man and then at his surroundings. Suddenly, he remembered everything that had happened last night.
"The dog! I saw a huge dog last night. It tried to eat my sister's remains, but someone showed up and killed it," he blabbers at Shoma.
"Fear is obvious in his voice," Shoma said to himself.
"Who?"
"I.. I don't know," Kaede said, holding his head. "I must protect my sister's remains from any monster," he said before remembering the Jar.
He saw Shoma holding it, and he snatched it from him.
Shoma heaved a sigh.
Kaede must have been traumatized by what he experienced last night, which is partially his fault. No one came alive nor killed any Yurei, especially the second-class Goryo. It is impossible unless this kid has something in him.
"Come with me. You are not safe here anymore. Now that a Goryo found this place, another will come to kill you," he told Kaede, who didn't resist.
While inside the car, Shoman tried to talk to Kaede and persuade him of who killed the Goryo. It wasn't just an ordinary Goryo; it was the fully transformed Goryo that most first-year Exorcists struggle to hunt.
"Did you kill the Goryo last night, kid?" he asked him.
Kaede looked at Shoma and then looked at the road again. The man has insisted on coming with him even though he doesn't want to.
"No, I did not," Kaede answered him. "It was someone else."
"Did you see it? The face?"
"No. I didn't. Someone wore a long cloak, and the huge hood hid its face."
"Do you know where it came from?" Shoma asked him again.
"I don't know. I don't even understand it, either. I...I only saw my left arm lit up, and then the hooded figure came out," he said, still remembering how this odd tattoo suddenly appeared in his time of need and then disappeared after the monster's demise.
"Hmm," Shoman hummed. "Then it's decided. You will enter the Ryōshi High," he said.
"A what?" Kaede looked at him with wide eyes.
"A school that is best suited for you. No more questions. I'll answer that after we arrive at the dormitory," Shaman said and shut Kaede up.
Kaede fell asleep during their long drive, and when he woke up, he saw green whenever his eyes looked. And he almost freaks out when he steps on a grave.
"Where are we?" he asked Shoma, rubbing his eyes.
"Okutama," he answered.
"Oku what? Is this even part of Japan? This is deserted, and this is a cemetery too!"
"Yes, it is, and I know. Come on, help me with your things," Shomansaid before carrying his other bags.
Kaede followed Shoma. While doing it, he couldn't help but feel eerie in their way. And why not? Their path is in the middle of a cemetery; he can even see the newly buried dead as the soil is still fresh.
"Don't be afraid. Everyone buried here are those who sacrificed for the sake of the Celestial Axis," he said. "Same goes with your sister. And also, everyone here is safe. A spell protects this cemetery," he added. "Ah, here it is."
Kaede stopped when Shoma showed him an open casket like cement.
"What is that?"
"The place where your sister's ashes will be laid in peace. Her final rest place," Shoma said before letting him put the Jar inside the open door of the gravestone.
"Are you sure no yurei will come and eat her?" Kaede ensured his sister would be safe inside the gravestone.
"Yes," Shomansaid before locking the door of the gravestone with Minami's remains inside.
He and Kaede prayed for her peace before proceeding to walk.
"This will be your dormitory," Shoma told Kaede when they reached this old, eerie dorm as he said.
The dorm was made of wood and some grass called cogon for the roof. Kaede knew this kind of house since he stayed in the Philippines back to his grandparents when his parents died before Minami picked him up.
"This will be your room," Shoma showed him the second room on the first floor.
Kaede opens the door, and a plain wooden bed, table, chair, and a gas lamp greet him.
"Is there any electricity here?" he asked.
"Yes. But we have strict rules here. Most Keireis don't like the light at night because this is a sanctuary," Shoma said. "We only use electricity in the morning. Charge your phone or do your stuff in the morning," he added.
"Huh? Are you serious?" Kaede couldn't believe what he had just heard. "For real?!"
"Yes. So I suggest you follow it. Keireis are ill-tempered creatures. If you disturb them at night, they will attack you. You have been warned," he said. "So I'll leave you for now to arrange your things. Wake up when you hear this horn sound. Breakfast is at seven, and the class starts at eight. Someone will fetch you here," he said before leaving the confused Kaede.
Kaede is a night person. He usually stays at night playing his game and sleeps around three in the morning, even if he has class the next day. Although he had difficulty sleeping in a new room without his usual stuff, Kaede eventually slept and woke up to the sound of a gong.
"What the hell?"
He opened his eyes and checked his phone. It's already four in the morning when sleep is usually good.
"Ugh!" he moaned and got up.
He pulled the towel hanging on the rack and immediately jumped in the cold shower to awaken his sleepy system.
"Wooh!" he cursed. The shower was too cold, but that's more he liked it. He is used to showering in cold water, especially after his football practice or matches.
After his cold shower and change to his uniform, a black turtle-neck long-sleeve polo paired with black jeans, Kaede slid his feet inside his favorite black socks and a brand new pair of shoes to his sister's gift. Shoma told him that he could wear whatever shoes he wanted, so he did.
He heaved a sigh when he remembered his sister.
Three knocks have been heard on his room's door.
"Mister Kaede Rodriguez, your breakfast is served at the dining hall. Please come out wearing your uniform," a soft voice spoke at him outside his door.
"Coming!" he answered him. He looked at himself in a full mirror before leaving.
A monk wearing orange buddha clothes is the one who picks him up.
"Are you ready?" he asked him.
"Yes," he answered, slid his hands into each pocket of his jeans, and followed the monk.
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