The warm tropical air greeted Hikari like a long-lost friend as she stepped out of the Honolulu International Airport. She inhaled deeply, her chest rising with the effort, as she soaked in the scent of the salty sea breeze mingling with the scent of freshly bloomed flowers. The endless sky stretched above, vast and blue, a stark contrast to the suffocating confinement of her life back in Japan. For a moment, the weight of everything seemed to lift, only to crash back down as reality snapped into place.
“So this is the States?” Hikari asked, her tone a mixture of awe and exhaustion. She stood still, taking in the unfamiliar landscape, trying to make sense of it all.
Behind her, Lila strolled casually, a map crinkled in her hands. The contrast between them was striking—where Hikari was edgy and brash, Lila was effortless and poised, her bubblegum-pink hair bouncing with each step. The bright azure of her eyes seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, and her colorful, playful attire screamed carefree youth. Yet even as she looked at the map, Lila exuded a calm that Hikari envied.
“Actually, no,” Lila replied, her voice light but steady. “This is just the closest airport to Japan. We got dropped off here because it’s the best transit point. We still need to go through U.S. Customs and Border Protection before we can even get to New York.”
Hikari groaned, throwing her hands up in exaggerated frustration. “Ugh! So many steps just to get to one city? We should’ve brought Jecka with us! She’s from the U.S. She could’ve helped us navigate all of this, no problem.”
Lila chuckled softly, the sound like a warm breeze. “Relax, Ari,” she said with a teasing smile. “I’ve got it covered. I have a newly updated visa, and before we left, I asked Sylvia to get you into the Visa Waiver Program. It lets citizens of certain countries—like Japan—travel to the U.S. for tourism, business, or transit without needing a visa for stays of up to 90 days.”
Hikari’s expression softened, her gaze turning from irritated to impressed. She raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Guess you really thought of everything, huh?”
Lila’s grin widened, pride flickering in her eyes. “That’s right!” She beamed, her energy infectious.
But Hikari’s smile faltered as a question nagged at her. She turned to look at Lila, her voice tinged with suspicion. “Wait, you said this was your first time coming to the States. So, how do you have a newly updated visa?”
Lila’s face shifted slightly, her smile shrinking to something more contemplative. “The church provides one to every exorcist who’s been working there for at least two months. As long as you’re still working there, they’ll keep it updated,” she said, her voice steady but with an edge of bitterness creeping in. “It’s one of the few things they actually do right.”
Hikari caught the shift in her tone, the way her usual playfulness darkened in an instant. It was a rare sight to see Lila’s mood shift so abruptly—there was something in her eyes now, something serious, something almost… dangerous. Her words, laced with barely concealed disdain, had an unfamiliar weight to them. It was a side of Lila Hikari had rarely seen.
Before Hikari could probe further, Lila was already moving, her playful demeanor creeping back as if nothing had happened. “Anyway, we should probably get moving. We need to make it to U.S. Customs and Border Protection before our domestic flight to the mainland. Don’t want to miss that, right?” she said, the tension in her voice quickly masking over.
Hikari stood frozen for a moment, her thoughts swirling. Something had shifted in Lila. For a fleeting second, she had glimpsed the true depth of the woman she had come to care for—a woman capable of both the lightest joy and the heaviest shadows. But Lila was already on the move, unburdening herself from the moment’s heaviness, and Hikari knew better than to press further. Not yet.
With a sigh, Hikari followed, casting one last glance over the bustling airport scene. She couldn’t shake the feeling that they were about to step into a new world entirely, and that the Church—so often just a background figure in their lives—was something far darker than either of them had realized.
The two of them headed towards the customs line, the hum of the airport surrounding them. But even as Hikari followed Lila, she couldn’t help but feel that something, deep within the web they were tangled in, had begun to stir. The seeds of something ominous were taking root, and Hikari had no choice but to let them grow, even as she felt herself being drawn deeper into a game she still didn’t fully understand.
After passing through Customs and Border Protection, they were finally cleared to step onto American soil, marking the beginning of their journey in the United States.
They would soon arrive in New York City, the busy streets of Manhattan was a stark contrast to the more quieter streets of toyko Japan, excluding the supernatural world of course. Hikari couldn’t help but admire the city she only heard about in western music she would listen too in her free time.
The bustling sounds of New York City reverberated through the air as Hikari stood at the edge of a street corner, her eyes wide with awe. The concrete jungle stretched out before her, with towering skyscrapers piercing the sky like silent sentinels. The streets were alive with a cacophony of honking cars, chattering pedestrians, and the distant rumble of subway trains beneath the pavement. The smell of hot dogs, pretzels, and city grime mingled in the air, and for a moment, Hikari felt like she was in the heart of a place she had only heard about in stories.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Woah, so this is New York, huh?” Hikari murmured to herself, her voice a blend of wonder and excitement as she took it all in.
Lila, who had been walking with a relaxed pace beside her, flashed a bright smile, her eyes glinting with a knowing look. Her bubblegum-pink hair fluttered with the breeze as she adjusted the straps of her bag. “That’s right,” she replied, her tone light, but there was an edge of seriousness behind it. “But don’t forget what we’re here for.”
Hikari’s smile faltered, and she gave a small nod, the weight of their mission settling back on her shoulders. Her gaze shifted from the neon-lit billboards and the crowd of people passing by to Lila, her constant companion in this strange and ever-expanding world they now lived in. “Right, right… our mission in Long Island City. How far are we from there?”
Lila pulled out a small map from her bag, unfolding it with practiced ease. She studied the streets for a moment, her finger tracing the route. “We’re in Astoria right now,” she said, her voice calm and precise. “Long Island City is just 1 to 2 miles from here. Walking distance… that’s about a 20 to 25-minute walk.”
“Not too bad,” Hikari mused, taking a deep breath of the city’s air. The scent of exhaust, food, and a hint of salt from the nearby river was oddly refreshing to her, despite the harsh urban energy. She stretched her arms above her head, feeling the tension in her muscles after their long flight and time spent navigating through airports. “I could use this time to stretch my legs,” she added with a playful grin, slowly bending down to touch her toes.
Lila watched her with a half-amused, half-skeptical glance. “I guess so, but we should probably hurry up and get there,” she said. Her tone softened slightly, as if her mind was already a step ahead, considering the mission they had ahead. “We don’t want to waste too much time. We’ve got a lot to cover once we get there.”
Hikari gave a mock sigh but couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. “Yeah, you’re right,” she admitted, rolling her shoulders to loosen up. “Let’s get this over with.”
The two of them set off, stepping into the pulse of the city, the world around them a whirl of vibrant colors and sounds. As they walked, Hikari marveled at the sheer scale of it all—the towering buildings, the busy streets, and the overwhelming energy that seemed to crackle through the air. It was a city unlike any other, a place where dreams and nightmares collided.
Lila, always the guide, led the way with an unhurried confidence, her eyes scanning the crowds and streets with a sharpness that Hikari had come to expect from her. There was an unmistakable air of purpose in her every step, a quiet intensity behind her sparkling demeanor. Hikari followed, letting the rhythm of the city soak into her, the unfamiliarity of it thrilling in its own way.
They moved quickly, the sidewalks busy with commuters, tourists, and locals going about their day, but it wasn’t long before they turned a corner and started making their way through quieter streets. The nearer they got to Long Island City, the more the city’s chaos began to recede, replaced by the steady hum of distant cars and the faint rustling of leaves in the occasional tree.
For a moment, it felt like just another day. Hikari and Lila, walking side by side, in a world that was ever-changing but somehow still the same. But underneath that normality, something else was simmering, an unspoken tension that both women could feel, even if they didn’t acknowledge it aloud. Their mission waited for them, a reminder of the stakes ahead. They had no idea what lay in store once they reached Long Island City, but Hikari knew one thing for sure: the game had changed, and they were in deeper than ever before.
Their footsteps echoed in rhythm as they walked, their pace quickening with each passing block.
△▼△▼△▼△
The midday sun hung high in the sky, but it brought no warmth—only a blinding, sterile light that cast long, distorted shadows along the cracked pavement. The city was alive with distant chatter, the hum of engines, and the occasional bark of a stray dog, yet none of it felt real to Amanda Fujimoto.
Her steps were slow, heavy, as if invisible chains coiled around her ankles, dragging her deeper into the city’s suffocating embrace. The world around her was warped, unreal, suffused with an eerie hollowness. Buildings loomed taller than they should have, their windows like empty eyes staring down at her. The air was thick, almost syrupy, pressing down on her lungs with every breath.
And then came the whisper of rotting fabric, the gentle shff of shuffling footsteps just behind her.
A pair of arms, cold and lifeless, wrapped around her shoulders.
“What’s wrong, my dear~?”
The voice was sickeningly sweet, a mimicry of paternal love, but the stench of decay—faint yet undeniable—coiled around her like a noose. She didn’t flinch. Slowly, she turned her head, her dull, tired eyes meeting the glassy, hollow gaze of her father’s corpse.
No.
Not him.
Her fingers twitched at her sides.
“Quit trying to pretend to be my father,” she murmured, her voice hollow. “I know you’re not him.”
The corpse only smiled. The lips—cracked, bloodless—stretched too wide, as if the thing wearing her father’s skin barely understood how expressions worked.
“For a ten-year-old, your perspective is awful~.”
Then, the body twisted.
Bones cracked like brittle twigs as its torso coiled unnaturally, joints popping out of place with grotesque enthusiasm. Skin sloughed off in ribbons, revealing an undulating mass of something beneath—a writhing, shifting thing that refused to settle into a single form. Limbs extended, fingers curling like grasping tendrils. Its face was a mess of unfinished features, shifting and dissolving before finally settling into something inhuman—something wrong.
Amanda’s stomach churned, but she didn’t react.
Not anymore.
“What is it you want from me?” she asked, her voice eerily steady. “I just want to live my life… to be happy.”
The entity loomed over her, its presence vast, suffocating. Its voice slithered into her ears from everywhere, a cacophony of whispers layered over each other, like a hundred unseen mouths speaking in unison.
“I’ve just felt the Supernatural Pressure of two exorcists in the state. You know what that means, don’t you~?”
A chill crawled up Amanda’s spine. Her breath hitched, her small fingers curling into trembling fists.
“They’re… they’re here to take my friends and family away,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “Again.”
“That’s right~.”
The entity’s tone was saccharine, dripping with amusement. It moved, though it never really seemed to shift—one moment it was in front of her, the next behind, then beside, always watching, always there.
“They want to stop you from living your life. They want you to suffer, again and again. Just like last time. Just like two months ago. Do you remember, Amanda~?”
The memory surged forward, unbidden, like a festering wound torn open. Blood. Screams. The cold finality of lifeless eyes staring at nothing.
Her breath came in shallow gasps. Her vision blurred as rage swallowed her whole.
“NO! I won’t let them!!!”
Tears streaked down her face, hot and angry. Her small frame shook with the force of her emotions, but the entity merely sighed, almost pitying.
“As your personal supernatural entity, I would kindly take care of them for you~.”
Amanda hesitated. “But… I don’t want you to hurt them…”
The entity’s grin widened, its voice a purr, coaxing, indulgent.
“But they hurt you, Amanda. Wouldn’t it be fair to hurt the very organization that murdered everyone you love? That took everything from you?”
Her lip quivered. A war raged in her chest, but the voice was so soft, so understanding, like an old friend wrapping her in a warm embrace.
She swallowed.
“I… I guess so…”
The entity beamed, its form flickering, pulsing with something thrilled and hungry.
“Good~. So allow me to handle them, and you’ll be able to live out your life as happily as you’d like. No more pain. No more suffering. Just happiness, forever and ever~.”
Amanda’s fingers twitched. She wiped at her eyes, sniffling. “F-F-Fine…”
The entity’s laughter was like silk brushing against her skin, gentle, reassuring.
“Good girl~.”
And just like that, the weight of her choice settled in.
To be continued.