Tenmyō and Arata were already waiting. Tenmyō's eyes darted from Saiko's cracks to my torn sleeve, then to the faint burn marks on the ground that probably came from Saiko's outburst just now.
"So," Tenmyō said flatly, "how'd it go?"
Saiko exhaled sharply, brushing soot off her shoulder. "Well, we didn't die, so that's a start."
"We engaged the Lady in White," Genkei added, tone crisp. "Her abilities are parasitic. She kills by draining life force through contact. We saw her do it—to a civilian. His entire body collapsed in seconds."
Tenmyō's brow furrowed, his tone suddenly hard. "And you didn't go back to check if he was alive?"
Saiko frowned. "We were a little busy not dying, head."
"You still messed up," Tenmyo said. His gaze dropped for a moment, then he sighed. "Luckily, I had a team tailing you. They're already stabilizing him with spiritons."
I blinked. "Spiritons?"
Saiko turned to me with a small smirk, like she'd been waiting for a chance to say something snarky. "Wow. You really are clueless sometimes, huh?"
Before I could retort, Arata stepped forward, his expression a mix of patience and amusement. "Spiritons are the building blocks of all spiritual and life energy," he explained. "Everything—souls, power, existence—runs on them. You can think of them like... the universe's fuel."
"Fuel?" I repeated.
Arata nodded, his eyes lighting up.
he'd just found his favorite analogy.
"Yeah. Imagine this world as one massive engine. Gravebinding, Onmyōji arts—those are your engines. Spiritons are the oil that keeps everything running smoothly. The stronger your spiritons, the smoother and faster your power flows." He grinned. "Think of it like... a V12 engine versus a rusty old hatchback. The better the oil, the stronger the drive."
Saiko chuckled. "So Itsuki here is running on discount gas."
"More like learning to change the oil," Arata quipped, grinning.
I sighed. "Glad to know I'm a used car now."
Even Genkei smirked faintly at that.
After the laughter died down, Tenmyo folded his arms. "That's enough. You three did well, but you need to rest. Itsuki, you can go home for now."
I blinked. "Wait—just me? What about them?"
Saiko scratched the back of her head, avoiding my gaze. "Eh, me and Genkei don't really have anywhere to go."
I looked between them, unsure what to say. They didn't look sad. Just... accepting. Like it was normal.
For some reason, Miu's face flashed through my mind, her calm expression.
"Where's Miu?" I asked.
Arata gave a faint smile. "She's on a mission of her own. Don't worry, she's fine. Probably better off than any of us."
He walked closer, resting a hand on my shoulder. "You've been through a lot, Itsuki. Most rookies wouldn't have made it this far in one night. I'm impressed."
I hesitated, feeling something heavy press against my chest.
"...There's one more thing," I said quietly. "I think—no, I know—I bound to another ghost."
That made both of them look at me instantly. Arata's grin faded.
"Another one?" Tenmyō asked slowly.
I nodded. "Yeah. I didn't try to. It just... happened. After we defeated her—the White Lady—I felt that pull again. Same as before with AK. And then... she was just there."
Arata scratched his chin, thinking deeply. "Two bindings, both without graves. That's not supposed to be possible."
Tenmyō exhaled. "You need to be careful, Ririku. The more you connect with them, the more their stories seep into you. The line between binder and bound starts to blur."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Arata let out a soft chuckle. "Still, that's a crazy thing to pull off—once, much less twice. You might be the weirdest rookie we've had yet."
"Not sure if that's supposed to be a compliment," I muttered.
"It is." he said with a grin.
Tenmyō straightened his posture, "You and Arata will discuss this 'second binding' later. I'll be busy for a while."
Then Arata raised his hand, tracing a circle through the air. Red light flared outward, shaping into a swirling gate of smoke and crimson lines.
"Open the path above the crimson seal. Let the unseen garden call us home."
The Benikaen gate pulsed once, humming softly.
I looked back at Saiko and Genkei one last time. Saiko gave me a lazy wave, her cracked arms glowing faintly. "Don't do anything stupid while you're gone."
Genkei nodded. "Rest. You'll need it."
And then, I stepped through the gate.
---
The city air hit me instantly—cool and quiet, the world still asleep. I didn't head straight home. My feet wandered until I found myself at a small park, the kind that's always empty at night. I sat on a bench under a flickering streetlight and closed my eyes.
I focused on my breathing—on that faint pulse of energy that had always felt distant, out of reach.
Then the world... shifted.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn't in the park anymore.
The mirror-stall realm stretched out before me on one side—dark tiles, cracked mirrors, and the faint dripping of unseen water. Aka Manto stood there, her crimson mask gleaming faintly under the warped lights.
And on the other side... a second dome. The Lady in White.
Her figure hovered over a crossroad shrouded in black fog, eyes empty and endless.
Two realms, split by some invisible line—both bound to me now.
I took a slow breath, my pulse quickening as both figures turned toward me in perfect unison.
The bathroom lights flickered once. The crossroad lamps burned brighter.
And in the silence between the two worlds, I whispered,
"...what are you both doing here?"