"H-hello?!"

I turned around and saw... nothing. Abe-senpai and Nakamura-sensei were gone.

Oh god, really?

Feeling a chill creep up my back, I desperately pressed on my right earbud.

"Would you like to call headquarters? Tap twice for 'yes'."

"Calling headquarters..."

"Miyake-san?"

THANK the heavens.

"I-I'm here."

"Oh, good. This is Hasegawa. Looks like the call is working just fine. Are you doing okay?"

"Yes, I just got separated from Abe-senpai and Nakamura-sensei when I stepped into the building."

"Hmm... Let me add them to the call."

I waited anxiously for a couple of seconds, while Hoshi kept guard.

It was so, so quiet.

"Are you okay, Miyake-san?" It was Nakamura-sensei's voice.

"Yes, thankfully. What happened? I can't see you or Senpai anymore."

Abe-senpai was the one who responded. "I think you're in a spirit world, like with Kumo. It'll be hard to get out unless you exorcise the Youkai, but it's easy for sensei and me to get in if necessary."

"I think I'll be okay. Do I keep going now?"

Hasegawa-san replied, "Yes, if you feel up to the task. I'm checking your app right now, and it looks like the Youkai is at the top of the building, in the same place as before."

"Alright then, I'll be heading in."

Nakamura-sensei's iconic laugh was easy to recognize, even over call. "Bahaha! Attagirl! Now go get 'em!"

I decided to play along with him to lighten the mood. "Yes, sir!"

Even though I had Hasegawa-san and the others on call with me, the creepy atmosphere of the area was still overwhelmingly suffocating. Shadows seemed to stretch towards me, and shapes and stains all over the walls looked as if they were moving.

I slowly made my way through the lobby, being careful as to not make any noise. Hoshi covered my blind spots, and we walked towards the stairs. I stepped onto the ruined steps when suddenly, the stairs started to move!

"Woah!"

The step below my foot began to flatten, and I jumped backwards in shock. A rush of adrenaline flooded from my heart, and my body heated up. Hoshi imbued her naginata, and raised it to swing.

...But nothing else happened. The stairs simply transformed into some sort of slide.

"Miyake-san, are you okay?" I jumped, having forgotten that I was on a call.

"Yeah, the stairs just... smoothed out."

Hasegawa-san sounded intrigued. "Hmm... it almost sounds like possession, but if nothing more is happening..."

Nakamura-sensei sounded excited. "Oh ho! Maybe it's just a property of the Youkai's domain? Do you remember Kumo, Miyake-san?"

I thought back to how the Kumo teleported to Senpai and me when we tried to escape.

"Did it manage to find us because we tried to escape?"

Abe-senpai sighed. "Well, when Sensei and I gave Hasegawa-san the details of the mission afterwards, he theorized about what happened. I'll let him tell you."

Now Hasegawa-san sounded excited too. "Thank you, Abe-san. Well, I noticed that most of the attacks by Kumo occurred rather close to the alleyways. It's almost as if it's unusually sensitive to when something steps into its domain. Like a spiderweb, struggling to get out only makes it locate you faster, which is likely what happened to you and Abe-san."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Miyake-san. I put us in danger." Senpai sounded rather disappointed in himself.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Hoshi was able to use her ability for the first time because of that. Anyhow, I guess it's safe to proceed? I'm not getting attacked."

"Should be fine. Still only one signal, and it's at the very top. Stay vigilant."

Since I couldn't take the stairs any longer, I was at a loss at how to proceed. But because this was the spirit world, maybe the layout of the building changed, which could prove both a blessing and a curse.

I decided to scout around the area, while being very cautious of any potential attacks. The building was... no longer broken down. In fact, it looked really clean and new.

The only way I could describe it was... cozy?

I wasn't sure why that word popped up in my head.

And then I saw it.

Deeper into the building lobby was a black trash bag lying on the ground.

I slowly walked up to the lone sack of garbage, my anticipation rising with each step. Intrusive thoughts flooded my head.

What if I like, found a severed head in there?

I stopped in front of the bag, and stared. Hoshi looked over my shoulder with a worried face.

Well, here goes.

I sheathed my naginata, and reached out for the bag's knot. My hands shook uncontrollably.

I slowly untied the knot, and after counting to three, took a look inside.

Inside was...

Some discarded cup noodles.

Hoshi and I simply stared blankly at the bag for several seconds.

Ah. It looks like some random dude's trash.

After exchanging an incredulous look with Hoshi, I sifted through the rest of the garbage bag. The rest of the bag was also just garbage. Empty tissue boxes, used cans, there was nothing of note inside. Except...

"Ew..."

...there were also some magazines with adult content in them. I hastily put the magazine back into the bag, and tossed it away. This really did seem like some middle-aged man's old garbage.

I pressed on my earring. "Looks like I found a garbage bag. Not sure why its here."

Hasegawa-san responded. "Sometimes the Youkai's environment will have random things, like the street lamps in Kumo's world. We're not exactly sure why, but they usually have a theme."

"Bahaha! Maybe this Youkai's a shut-in!"

I managed to find another set of stairs, and this time they did not transform into a slide. But after a short amount of time walking, the stairs stopped.

That's strange. This should only be far enough to be the second floor.

There was a door at the top of the staircase. I counted to three, and with Hoshi covering me I slowly creaked open the door.

Woah...

There were a lot more garbage bags on this floor. They covered the area, and this time random trash also littered the ground.

Looks like I'm gonna have to cross all of this to get to the stairs on the other side.

Actually, hold on. Let me try something.

I concentrated on how I had felt back when Hoshi summoned the fire against Kumo. It felt like my consciousness condensed into the very tips of my fingers.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I imagined all of my energy traveling down my arm and pooling into my pointer finger, and moved it through the air. Sparkling blue ink shimmering with the light of the stars trailed behind it.

A line here, then some lines inside here...

When I stopped, the word for "wind" 風 was shining in the air in front of me.

...well?

I stared hopefully at the glowing words, as did Hoshi.

Nothing.

I sighed.

Well, I did expect this. I was hoping that maybe "wind" was a less abstract concept to summon than "star", but it seems like I was missing something. I might have an idea, but I have no clue whether or not it's true...

After crossing the sea of garbage with a disgusted face, I finally reached the other end of the hallway.

This was just one floor?

_________________________________________________________

Fortunately, the rest of the floors only had trash. Unfortunately, the amount of trash only ever increased. There were ludicrous amounts of litter all over the place, and it made it really hard to proceed.

After a while, I had made it to the eighth floor. Only one more floor to go.

But something seemed a little off about the place now.

It felt warm. Or rather... it felt like outside would be cold. It was a sensation that was hard to put into words. Whatever it was, it felt like this was the coziest place in the world, despite being covered in trash.

"Weird... Hoshi, are you feeling it too?"

She nodded, and kicked a trash bag. It burst as it slammed on the wall.

All of a sudden, as if we had woken up a group of rats, the garbage bags started to move!

The bags started to swirl together in the air, and they formed a fist.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh boy.

I quickly drew out my naginata, and Hoshi flew forward. In the blink of an eye, she slashed across the wrist of the garbage fist.

But despite her imbuing her weapon, the garbage simply... reformed. Or not really, it just stayed intact.

Was there a Youkai in the center of the fist? Was it too small to hit? What was going on?

I moved my naginata to my left hand and jumped as the fist swept across the floor. My shoes allowed me to move much more nimbly than usual.

I pressed my earring with my right hand.

"Hasegawa-san, I'm fighting something right now! I need your help!"

Hasegawa-san replied urgently, "What's the situation?"

"There's a ton of garbage bags being manipulated by something, but I can't figure out what. Can you check to see if there's a Youkai nearby?"

"That's strange. I don't see anything, except for that one signal on the top."

Nakamura-sensei cleared his throat. "Well, you are in its domain. Maybe it's like the stairs, and the bags are being controlled from afar?"

Abe-senpai said "Miyake-san, I don't think you'll be able to defeat the arm. You're going to have to find a way past it. If you need to make an SOS call, just say "

"Gotcha. Give me a bit, I'll be right back."

But I didn't get it. How the heck do I immobilize this thing? It's way too fast for me to get to the door without stopping the garbage bags from moving.

The hand thrusted forward, and Hoshi just barely swatted all of the garbage back. The hand started to hurl bags at us, and I dodged them while thinking hard.

Even if I could manage to summon fire again, if I burnt all that garbage right now... I'd rather not think about it.

The hand swept from my right, and Hoshi pulled me back, narrowly avoiding the strike. The hand slammed into the wall, and left behind a massive hole in the material.

I definitely shouldn't get hit. I don't know if I want to risk trying to run past the hand...

All right then. I'll have to test out that theory now. But I have to find a way to buy time.

Oh yeah. I can just use this.

I pulled out one of the smoke bombs that Hasegawa-san gave me, and focused my energy into it. I threw it on the ground, and it exploded in a cloud of smoke.

The hand simply sat there, as if whatever was controlling it was trying to sense where I had gone.

Looks like it finally came in handy. Wish I could just slip past it, but I don't have enough bombs to go any farther. I wanted to try this anyway.

I took a deep breath, and focused my energy into my pointer finger. Using the trail of starry ink, I formed the word for "ice" 氷 in the air. And yet...

Nothing happened.

Come on! Hurry up! Why won't it work?

Calm down, Sayuri. Just think. Think about the essence of ice.

Cold, chilly, sharp...

I really had thought that the secret to it was understanding what ice was like. It seemed that was the reason I was able to summon fire before, with my burning determination. So why couldn't I do it now?

The smoke started to dissipate, and the hand started to sense me again.

This was my only chance. I don't think it'll be fooled by the smoke bomb again.

So why can't I do it?

If I don't get it right now it's going to be too late, so hurry up!

The hand thrusted toward me, and I fought back my instincts. Every nerve screamed at me to run, and terror flooded my mind.

Run. Run away. You're going to die.

I was back to being the helpless girl from earlier. Nothing had changed.

And yet, somehow I felt like everything suddenly made sense.

Why?

Ah. I see.

It seems so simple now.

How am I supposed to understand something if I don't know what it feels like?

And how can I write about something I don't understand?

I channeled all of my emotions of terror and ice-cold fear from my soul into my finger, and once more wrote 氷 in the air.

And this time, I felt a surge of energy from the word. Hoshi shined as brightly as a star, and I pointed the tip of my index finger at the lunging enemy.

With a loud whoosh, a chilly torrent of ice flowed from my finger and blasted the garbage hand. Icy crystals grew on every surface, and soon the entire hallway was enveloped. The hand no longer moved, and the temperature of the room had dropped. There was silence.

Still panting, I looked down the hallway, mind racing.

Did we really just do that? I still can't really believe that Hoshi and I were capable of doing something like this.

Hoshi's naginata evaporated, and she flew around the air in celebration. She stuck a tongue out at the garbage hand.

"Y'know, it's just a puppet. The actual Youkai's still up ahead..."

I proceeded to the final floor, and unfortunately, the amount of garbage did not go down. Once again, as I stepped into the hallway, the garbage began to quiver and float.

"Gah!"

Thankfully, before the trash could even fly in my direction, I quickly wrote 氷 and froze all of them. The bags fell to the floor where they lay motionless.

It looks like I figured out the missing piece to using our ability. I pressed on my earpiece.

Hasegawa-san responded "Miyake-san, are you alright? What happened?"

"Well, I think I figured out what our ability is."

Nakamura-sensei spoke excitedly. "That's my student! You can tell us all the details when you finish the mission. It's too dangerous to be talking too long right now. You've got this!"

I couldn't help but smile at sensei's words, but I didn't tell them that. "I'll be right back again."

Abe-senpai said "Good luck, Miyake-san!" and I hung up the call.

I started walking to the end of the hallway, where room 910 was. This time I could definitely feel something emanating from the door. There was the faint yet unmistakable sound of footsteps coming from inside.

Well, here we go.

I counted to ten, and Hoshi pushed on the door.

It didn't open.

I expected this. At least we're in a spirit world. Now I can do this.

Hoshi and I once again counted to ten, and concentrating our will into our blades, we both swung at the door.

It caved in with a crash, and flying splinters of wood dissolved into nothingness, like a Youkai or Kami.

I tensed up in anticipation and pointed my naginata towards the darkness.

But... nothing happened.

No flying garbage hand?

That's strange. I'd expected there to be the most resistance in here...

Without lowering my guard, I slowly walked into the apartment. There were piles of garbage everywhere, but it remained docile. Hoshi kicked a couple of bags and glared at them. But they didn't react.

I felt.. something from a room down the hallway. The footsteps steadily continued.

I decided to cautiously follow the sensation. If it weren't for the trash bags, I would say that it looked rather ordinary.

As I got closer, the presence of a Youkai intensified, and the footsteps getting louder. My heartbeat began to beat faster and faster until it matched the sound of the footsteps. I could hear my own breathing.

I anxiously walked down the hallway, and finally reached a door.

It was definitely in here.

The sound of the footstpes and my own heartbeat had merged, and the deafening sound pumped in my ears.

I took a deep breath, and Hoshi turned the doorknob and...

The door wasn't locked.

Before I even walked into the room, I saw it.

The room was covered in red tentacles, which glowed and spread across the place, almost like tree roots. Hanging from the ceiling was a giant, pulsating mass.

"Ew!"

I jumped back in shock, but nothing happened. The Youkai just kept pulsing. It looked like a giant heart.

The sound wasn't footsteps, but a heartbeat, like my own.

I walked into the room, slightly cringing due to the gross nature of the fleshy tentacles. Hoshi flew up to the ceiling to get a closer look at the Youkai.

The Youkai hardly moved. Aside from its heartbeat, it just sat there, motionless. Its red flesh was covered in what looked like black veins. Every time it pulsed, it looked like it glowed a bit.

Despite the lack of danger, my heartbeat matched the Youkai's, and didn't slow down.

I... couldn't really tell what I was feeling.

I couldn't describe these emotions.

Instead, I had to use my words and hope that they could convey these emotions of mine.

A bit paradoxical, isn't it?

As I stabbed the Youkai, I couldn't help but whisper my thoughts out loud.

"I'm sorry."

_________________________________________________________

"Bahaha! Looks like you didn't need our help at all!"

To be honest, I kinda missed Nakamura-sensei's boisterous laugh.

After I exorcised the Youkai, its spirit world faded like Kumo's street, and I found myself standing in front of the apartment complex, right next to sensei and senpai. It startled me a little too much.

Nakamura-sensei was driving us to the Agency Headquarters for an after-mission check-in ("It's kind of a special case, given your circumstances. It shouldn't take too long.").

Abe-senpai looked into the rear mirror. "By the way, Miyake-san, you said that you found out what your ability was?"

"Ah! That's right!"

How do I even begin to explain this?

"Well... I have a small hobby in writing, and I think it has to do with my ability. Although you already knew that. But basically, the reason why it wouldn't work was probably because I didn't put my soul into it..."

"What do you mean by that?" Abe-senpai sounded rightfully confused. It's not like my explanation was very good...

"Well, I kinda did put my soul into it to make the words appear, so uh... L-let me reword that. Basically I didn't really put my heart into my writing. I guess you could say that when you write, you put a little bit of yourself and your understanding of the words into the writing. So what I was missing was my own understanding of the word... Does that make sense?"

It felt like I was stuttering and rambling on for no reason. My cheeks were feeling rather hot.

Hasegawa-san was deep in thought. "Hmmm... I do think I understand what you mean. Then could you explain what happened when you used the fire against Kumo?"

I cleared my throat and struggled to find words. How ironic.

"I guess, uh... I was really determined to help? Kind of a like a burning motivation to do something, which translated into fire..."

"Ohhh, that makes a lot more sense." Thankfully Abe-senpai seemed to quickly understand. Nakamura-sensei on the other hand...

"Bahaha! Still don't get it!"

Nakamura-sensei and Abe-senpai were asking me about my first three days of high school when we arrived at the Tokyo Police Station. The attendant seemed to be close to Nakamura-sensei and Abe-senpai, but surprisingly enough, he recognized me too.

"Oh, it's the high schooler! Ah, sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

After informing the attendant of our reason for visiting, Nakamura-sensei led us to the elevator and scanned a card inside. But this time, he clicked the 100th underground floor.

Eh? Not Hasegawa-san's office?

My curiosity and anticipation only rose as we descended, and when the doors finally opened, I gasped out loud.

"It's nice to see you again, Miyake-san."

Hasegawa-san was standing next to a desk, but it wasn't him who had said that.

Ueda-sensei was the one sitting at the desk, and she was smiling at me brightly.

"Why don't you take a seat?"