ヒカリ の シイド
Hikari no Shiido
T H E S E E D O F L I G H T
On a suburban street in
“I can’t believe I overslept again!” exclaimed the girl, running down the street.
Above the girl’s head, the young boy appeared, unconscious. He plummeted down and landed on the girl.
“What the-?!” exclaimed the girl, pushing the unconscious boy off of her. “A… a boy?” she said, puzzled, taking in the appearance of the boy. “What odd clothes…and that necklace…” She reached down to finger the necklace, but as she did, the boy groaned and opened his eyes, blinking a few times in confusion.
“Hey, you alright?” questioned the girl.
The boy quickly sat up, then nodded shyly.
“I’m Kakera Mizu. What’s your name?” asked Mizu.
The boy didn’t respond, observing the girl cautiously.
“It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you or anything,” said Mizu, “Can you tell me your name?”
The boy mumbled something shyly.
“Sumimasen…,” said Mizu, “I didn’t hear you, can you please speak up?”
“Um…,” said the boy quietly, though loud enough for Mizu to hear, “My name is Shiido Yuki.”
“Well, then, Yuki-kun, where do you live? I should probably take you home.”
“Um… I don’t really have a home here…,” replied Yuki quietly.
Mizu blushed. “Oh! Sumimasen! I didn’t realize!!”
“It’s alright… I don’t mind…,” Yuki said shyly.
“Well, how about your parents?” asked Mizu brightly, “They’re probably worried. Where are they?”
Yuki pointed above them. “Up there…”
Mizu blushed once more. “Oh! Sumimasen! I didn’t mean to do that again! Um.. well, then… do you want to stay with me for a while? I live alone, so I have plenty of space and- oh no, I’m going to be late!! C’mon, Yuki-kun, let’s go!” With that, Mizu frantically grabbed Yuki’s wrist and ran in the direction of her school.
* * *
Mizu shoved Yuki into a large janitorial closet. Yuki fell back against a shelf, and several bottles of liquid clinked together. “Stay here until I come to get you, okay? We only have a half-day today, it shouldn’t be long.”
Yuki nodded.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can!” Mizu slammed the closet door and ran off. Yuki huddled in a corner of the closet, hoping no one would find him, except for Mizu, who he thought was nice, but strange.
* * *
Mizu peered through the window mounted into the door, into her classroom. Her twenty-one-year-old teacher, Kotoba Aisu, had her back to the class and was writing on the boards. She wore clothing slightly reminiscent of a schoolgirl’s uniform, only with a conservative gray dress and shirt. Her blond hair was tied into a neat, spread-out ponytail, and her blue eyes shone in the florescent lighting. Around her neck was a necklace with a pearl-white jewel about the size of a small marble.
Mizu quietly slid the classroom door open, slipped inside, and quietly closed the door. Halfway to her desk, Aisu spoke from the front of the classroom, back still turned to the class. “Kakera-chan, if you’re late again, I’ll have to give you detention.”
Several of Mizu’s classmates giggled.
“Gomen ne, Kotoba-sensei,” Mizu apologized guiltily.
“Apology accepted, but please try to be on time. Take your seat and we can resume class.”
* * *
Yuki was still sitting in the corner of the closet when Mizu threw the closet door open several hours later. “Sorry it took me so long!” exclaimed Mizu. “Are you okay?”
Yuki nodded.
“Alright, then. Let’s go back to my house. I can make us something to-“ Mizu was cut off by a loud scream that echoed throughout the school. Yuki tensed, sprung up, and ran in the direction of the scream. Mizu followed.
As they scrambled around the corner, Aisu ran past them in the opposite direction. Noticing them, she shouted, “Get out of here!”
Mizu grabbed Yuki’s wrist and tried to turn around, but Yuki tugged in the opposite direction. “Yuki-kun, let’s go! You heard what Kotoba-sensei said!” Mizu exclaimed.
Yuki yanked his wrist out of Mizu’s grasp. “Gomen nasai, but someone’s in trouble! We have to help them!”
“Yuki-kun, you’re just a little kid, you can’t help them now! Let’s go!”
“I’m stronger than most people think,” answered Yuki quietly.
Mizu sighed. “Fine, but if anything happens, we’re out of there.” Stubborn.
Several crashes came from the teacher’s lounge down the hall, the din echoing many times, hitting Mizu like a brick in the gut. Yuki and Mizu ran to the door and peered through the window.
* * *
The teacher’s lounge that was once a paradise was now a total disaster. A few vending machines were smashed on the floor, several pipes had burst, and at least twenty arrows stuck out of the walls. Aisu was in the middle of the room, staring down a gray-robed man.
“Wait, Kakera-san,” said Yuki, stopping right in front of Mizu. He grabbed the jewel of his necklace and yanked the necklace off of his neck. The leather strap stiffened and turned silver. Then, it grew, and turned into a flute, with the jewel embedded in the very top of it, just above the mouthpiece.
Mizu looked at Yuki curiously. “Yuki, what’s going on? What is that flute?”
Yuki didn’t reply; instead, he played several notes on his flute, a hauntingly sweet melody. The jewel on Mizu’s necklace glowed briefly, and Mizu felt a curious tingling sensation go throughout her body, from the very tips of her toes to the top of her head. The flute glowed for a brief moment, and disappeared. Seconds later, the necklace reappeared around Yuki’s neck.
“Yuki-kun, what was that…that feeling I just had?” asked Mizu.
“I don’t have time to explain everything right now, but I’ll tell you what that was. It’s your magic,” replied Yuki. Stupid, stupid, don’t be so rude! He berated himself.
“My what?” exclaimed Mizu.
“Your magic. Now look… let’s see what’s happening.”
Mizu looked at the window. Frost gripped it, every square inch, threatening to crack it. She gasped, “What’s going on?”
“That woman… she must be the Ice Elemental…,” mumbled Yuki, almost incoherently. He hurriedly opened the door to the lounge.
* * *
Aisu rounded the corner, and upon seeing Mizu with a little boy, she shouted, “Get out of here!”
When she got to the teacher’s lounge, she saw that there was a teacher huddled in the corner, frightened for her life. In the middle of the room was a gray-hooded man, a cocky smirk on his face.
Aisu and met the man’s eyes for a moment, then the man broke the silence. “Where is the boy?” he demanded.
“Which one?” asked Aisu, “There are hundreds of boys in this school.”
“You know who I mean!” snarled the man.
“Now, now,” Aisu admonished in her best teacher voice. “I think someone needs to cool off.” With that, the room began to get colder. Frost gripped the walls, window, and door.
The man’s eyes widened. “You-you’re one of them!”
Aisu wagged a finger at the man. “No talking in time out,” she scolded. A thin white beam of light went from Aisu’s fingers to the man’s lips, freezing them together. Behind her, the door opened with a creak.
* * *
Yuki looked around. The gray-robed man’s eyes moved from Aisu, to Mizu, then to Yuki. Upon seeing Yuki, a bow and quiver of arrows appeared in his hands. Aisu looked slightly confused at Yuki, then moved to stop the man, saying, “I can’t let you hurt them,” but she was too late. The man fired an arrow at Yuki, an even cockier smile taking the place of his first. Yuki flung out his hand, a determined look in his eyes, and a small gust of wind deflected the arrow harmlessly.
“Kakera-san,” said Yuki, “Remember that magic I told you about? I need to feel that you can use it. Try to harness it from your heart.”
“Um… okay… but… what do you mean by, ‘magic’?” asked Mizu.
The man aimed his bow at Yuki, but Aisu waved her arm and the man froze in place, encased in ice. “What are you two doing here? I can’t hold him like this for long, get out of here!”
Yuki shook his head. “Kakera-san, you have power over wind and air. Use your magic to help stop this evil man!”
Mizu nodded, then closed her eyes, concentrating. I don’t know what he means, but I’ll try… She could feel her magic. “Chouaku no Tsukikaze!” she cried. Around the man, just as the ice disappeared, the air began to swirl, enveloping the man in a violent whirlwind.
Aisu’s eyes widened. “She has powers too?!” she questioned, “Just who are you?” she demanded of Yuki.
“What do you mean, ‘too’? Yuki-kun, can Kotoba-sensei use magic also?”
Yuki nodded, then Aisu interjected, “Wait a second, we don’t have time to talk! We need to stop this guy before he can hurt anyone!”
“I’ll take care of him,” replied Yuki quietly, then he called, “Baaningu no Kanketsusen!” holding his hands out, with his palms pointing at the man. A few millimeters from Yuki’s hands, a torrent of boiling-hot water shot out at the man. After a few seconds, the torrent stopped, and the man was gone.
Aisu stared at Yuki, dumbfounded, for several seconds. “You…killed that man…!” she exclaimed, horrified.
Yuki shook his head, and mumbled loud enough for Aisu to hear, “I don’t know exactly what he was…. But he wasn’t human… I can tell…”
“Yuki-kun, that was really cool!” exclaimed Mizu, “Remind me not to get on your bad side!”
“Um…,” said Yuki quietly, “I think we should go…” With that, he reached into the satchel at his waist and threw a handful of the blue powder into the air. The powder quickly formed the strange portal.
“Yuki-kun… what is that?” asked Mizu hesitantly.
Oh, no you don’t! “I am not getting anywhere near that thing!” exclaimed Aisu, “I don’t know who you are, but-“
“Um… I don’t want to interrupt, but… if you follow me… I’ll explain everything…um…okay?” asked Yuki shyly.
“No, tell me right here!” replied Aisu vehemently.
“I can’t tell you here… um... please follow… I promise I’ll tell you…”
“Kotoba-sensei, let’s go. He can’t hurt us, he’s only… hey, how old are you, anyway, Yuki?” asked Mizu.
Yuki held out eight fingers, gray eyes downcast. “I promise I won’t do anything to you…,” he said sincerely.
“Well… fine. But as soon as we get to wherever that thing takes us, you’re going to tell us everything, got it?” reminded Aisu. She hesitated, then jumped through the portal. Mizu followed Aisu hesitantly through the portal, then Yuki followed Mizu. The portal closed, and a drop of water fell to the ground where they had been standing just seconds before.