It's starting to get late as the sun is slowly setting. I'm walking down the streets, heading towards Haruki's house that's a few streets away from mine, tho we're always coming across each other on the way to school.

I feel a shiver run down my spine.

"Oh damn... I guess my body is telling me that it's getting cold, despite it being April haha~"

Suddenly I spot an old balding man who seems to be a priest, judging by the cassock he's wearing. He is lying unconscious next to a bench.

There's a small pool of blood under his head.

"Oh no... what should I do?! Call for help? Or just pass by... fuck... oh fuck this!"

I run up to him, taking my phone out of my pocket. I kneel down next to him, trying to turn on my phone... but the battery is dead.

"Hey! Are you okay sir?! Wake up!" I shake him, trying to somehow bring him back to shis enses.

Suddenly his eyes start to slowly open.

"Stupid de-...Where... am I?" He says with a hoarse voice, that's filled with confusion and a hint of anger.

"Oh thank god! You're alive!" I feel like a stone has been thrown off my heart.

I help the priest sit on the bench.

"So you've found me, young man?" His voice is still confused, but the slight anger is replaced with relief.

"Ummm... yeah... but..." I look at the back of his head, which has a massive cut on it- probably it's the reason behind him lying there.

"...That wound looks nasty... maybe you should call for help, Father?" I ask with a hint of worry in my voice.

The priest just casually shakes his head and gives me an assuring smile, taking a weird small glass bottle filled with some transparent, water-looking liquid.

"No, it's okay child. But thanks for the care."

The priest then pours some of the water on his hand, and then puts the hand to his wound which magically starts to close up instantly.

"...What the fuck..."

My brain was literally in a decline of what I'd just witnessed.

"Huh? What? How? Huh?!" I look at the priest, who just smiles at me.

"You see my dear child, we all are in the Father's care." He pats me on the head softly with the other hand.

I just sit there in disbelief, still trying to comprehend what just happened.

"I mean... I believe in ghosts... and spirits..." I look down, clenching my hand into a fist as I remember something bad, a frown appearing on my face.

I calm myself down and finish my sentence after sighing softly.

"But magic? It's magic? Right?" I ask curiously, my frown from earlier replaced with a curious expression.

The priest looks at me with a skeptical smile, clicking his tongue a couple of times.

"You believe in ghosts huh?"

The priest then stands up from the bench, stretching his above his head.

"I think it's about time for me to go, have a nice day kiddo." He starts to slowly walk away.

I quickly stand up from the bench, catching up to him quickly.

"Wait! Father! I can't just let you go after finding you on the ground! I'll accompany you to the church, aight?" I say, trying to sound like I have no ulterior intentions, but the priest knows that it's more out of curiosity than kindness.

The priest looks over at me and sighs softly, slightly rolling his eyes, but in the end, he gives in.

"Okay, thanks."

"But tell me your name first, young man. My name is Kamiyama Sebastian."

"My name...?" I say in surprise, tho I don't know why am I surprised. It's normal for people to ask someone's name after meeting them right?

"Nakamura Shoji."

"...Shoji... Nakamura... huh?" I hear him mutter under his nose and I look at him curiously.

"Did you say something, father?"

"No, everything's okay." He laughs it off softly, but he definitely said my name with some kind of wonder in his voice.

Then we both walk to the church. Tho the uneasy feeling and shivers never left me.

I'm now walking around the room in the presbytery, looking at the various amount of paintings and figures, as the priest went to make some tea for us. My phone is lying on a cabinet, as it's charging.

I don't know why, but since I entered the church, I started to feel really dizzy.

I look at the landline telephone that's standing on a cabinet.

"Oh yeah! I forgot to make the call."

I walk up to the cabinet, dialing a number, and putting the telephone to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Haruki! It's me, Shoji."

"So why are you calling just now? You were supposed to be at my place a long time ago. I was calling you, but you didn't answer and now you're calling from some unknown number."

I sit down on a chair, sighing deeply.

"Uhh I'm sure you won't believe me at any point, but when I was on my way to your house, I stumbled across a wounded unconscious priest, who was lying on the ground under a bench, and I wasn't answering because my phone died!"

"I don't believe you, bro." He says without even hesitating, his voice cold.

"Oh god, he is probably thinking that I'm just avoiding his stupid ass!"

"Haruki believe me or not, but I'm really really sorry, you'll tell me everything tomorrow in class or wherever you want, okay?"

"Okay fine, I guess! See ya, you liar~"

"Hey I'm not lyi--" He hung up the call before I could even finish my sentence.

I put the telephone back where it belongs.

"Fucking idiot..." I sigh, leaning back on the chair while looking up at the ceiling.

"I should call Kaori, or else she'll get mad at me and throw a tantrum if I won't show up without telling her earli-..." Suddenly my phone starts buzzing.

I look over at the cabinet that my phone is lying on. I get off the chair and walk up to the cabinet.

"Oh? Kaori? Just like if she was summoned haha~."

"I can't talk for too long cus my phone is at 3%..." I roll my eyes.

I bring the phone to my ear.

"What?"

"Brother! Ugmm...! Grandpa and Grandma both want to take us for a week, on a trip! Do you want me to pack your things?"

"What? Trip? Now?! It's the beginning..." I sigh and close my eyes, grabbing the bridge of my nose.

"...another camping huh...?"

"I'm not going."

I hear my grandpa in the background, saying something like "I've told you Kaori. This gloomy kid won't move his ass."

"G-Grandpa!" She says as her voice sounds slightly flustered.

Suddenly my grandma speaks up to Grandpa. "You're going too hard on him!".

I just sigh, no longer even listening to what's happening on the other side.

"Call me when you will be back, Kaori."

"Hey! Brot-..." I hang up the call, muting the sound and putting it back on the cabinet.

The priest walks into the room. He's holding two cups of tea.

"I didn't want to interrupt you nor try eavesdropping on you, young man. Is everything okay?" He says as he sits down by the small table that stands in the middle of the room. He places the two cups of tea on it.

I sit down next to him, rolling my eyes slightly.

"Family... Ehh I love 'em, but they're annoying most of the time."

I take the tea and sip it, burning my tongue.

"Ahh! It's so hot!" I stick my tongue out, trying to cool it down a bit.

"What did you expect, child? It's literally steaming." The priest says while softly giggling.

I roll my eyes slightly, annoyed by him laughing at my pain.

"Who the hell makes the tea so hot for no reason at all?!"

"So is there any reason behind your belief in supernatural things?" He asks me, straightening up on his chair.

All of my thoughts immediately disappear from my head as I look at the ground, answering with a quiet muffled voice.

"Uhh... I've always believed since I was a kid... because I've actually seen two possessed people..."

The priest puts his hand on my shoulder, patting it a couple of times.

"Oh, I understand. I'm sorry for asking this question, child." He says with sorrow in his voice.

"I should leave this place, it's getting very uncomfortable in here..."

"And the priest seems to be fine."

After the priest removes his hand from my shoulder, I sip the tea again, but this time without burning my tongue.

The priest puts a small silver thing that looks like the thing that holds holy water.

My eyes widen in surprise and my mouth hangs open.

"It's that water! The one that healed him!" I stare at the water intently.

"It will heal your tongue kiddo just like it did with my wound, try it." He smiles at me and pushes the small container closer to it.

I raise my eyebrows and look at him in suspicion, calming myself down.

"It's nothing personal, but can you like uhh... drink it first, Father?" I smile awkwardly, pushing the container softly towards him.

He shoots me a big smile and takes the bottle immediately.

"Of course! I understand you pretty well, young man. Not taking anything from strangers huh? That's good!" He then removes the lid of the container and drinks the substance inside of it.

I look at him with extreme focus, trying to see if there are any changes happening to him. Intense. Intense. Intense.

The priest then holds the container out to be, offering it obviously.

"See? Nothing happened!" He smiles at me again, but this time even wider.

"This guy doesn't seem to be lying, or at least to me... mehh... I'm bad at reading other people."

I take the container, rolling my eyes slightly at my own stupidity.

"We live once!"

I take a sip of the holy water or whatever it is.

"Oh, nothing happ-..."

I fall off the chair, straight onto the ground. I grabbed my neck was in pain and started to scream in pain and terror.

The liquid from the container slowly spills on the ground as the priest gets off his chair and runs up to me, crouching right next to me.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! STOP IT! WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!"

I feel like my insides and everything even my soul itself are burning.

The priest starts to hold my shoulders, shaking me lightly, obviously trying to calm me down.

"Calm down, Shoji-kun! It'll stop very soon! You took a very small amount of it! Just calm down!" He says in a reassuring voice.

"STOP IT PLEASE! PLEASE!" I scream with tears in my eyes.

I start to cough as I curl up into a ball on the ground, holding my neck tightly. My vision starts to slowly black out, but then everything stops. The pain, the nausea, the discomfort, everything is gone.

"Oh God..." I sigh deeply, putting my hand on my face, and covering my eyes.

"Thank God..." The priest also sighs, sitting down on the ground next to me and grabbing the small container.

The priest stands up and helps me onto the chair.

I wait for him to sit down, but as soon as he does I start to scream at him.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE, HUH?! ARE YOU SOME KIND OF CREEP?! I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I SHOULD RUN OR NOT! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" I lean over the table and grab him by the collar of his cassock.

The priest doesn't seem to be surprised by my actions and that I'm screaming at him.

"You're cursed, Nakamura Shoji-kun." He says in a low, cold voice- a total contrast to his previous tone.

My eyes widen and I feel a shiver run down my spine and I immediately let go of his cassock, leaning back onto my chair, a drop of sweat running down my forehead.

"H-Huh?"

"What does he mean? Me cursed?! Hahaha... no?! It's impossible..."

"You're straight-up cursed, Nakamura Shoji."

"No, I am not!" I say, rejecting every word that comes out of his mouth in an instant.

The priest rolls his eyes at me. He seems to be very annoyed.

"You see Shoji this liquid you've drank was the finest holy water you could've ever tasted. It was blessed by Michael himself."

"What the fuck is that priest talking about?! I've almost died here and now he's yappin' about some angels from the Bible or something?!"

"I am aware of the fact that you're probably thinking that I'm just speaking some kind of bullshit, but I can assure you that everything I say is true."

He puts the container on the table, playing with it for a moment as he continues to speak.

"The holy water is used to exterminate demons. The slightest contact with it can burn through their skin, flesh ,and even the soul itself."

"Of course, it depends on how strong the individual is and how much Vymir does it possess."

"Since the holy water gave you a lot of pain, but no psychical damage, nor anything else then it means that you're cursed."

I just sit there, unable to speak a single word, not that I know what should I even say. My hands are shaking, my eyes are wide... there's no mistake... I am scared.

The priest then stands up and walks up to me muttering something like "Ka Hilo". I get another, even stronger shiver running down my spine and then a weird light appears in the priest's hand.

Before I could even realize it, he was holding a literal glowing piece of light itself to my throat.

I swallow my saliva in fear as I know that this man is dangerous.

"So, Shoji-kun."

"Will you die right now, or try to find out who cursed you, maybe even succeeding in breaking that curse in the end?" He pressed the light thingy very very softly against my neck, drawing some blood immediately.

"I-I..."