The moon was a pale coin in the night sky, its glow filtered through the dense fog that coiled around the Shisōkai compound like a living thing. Inside the central hall, a quiet tension hung in the air. Torches flickered along the stone walls, casting long shadows over the gathered group. The mission had been approved codename: "Chinkon Sakusen." A Soul Calming Operation.
Their target: a spirit only recently located a child Onryō known as The Forsaken Child. A minor spirit by power, yet its domain pulsed with unrelenting sorrow. And sorrow, unchecked, could become something far more dangerous.
Hayato Kamizawa stood at the head of the room, flanked by Mikasa Sumeragi and two others ; Aoi Kirishima, the soft-spoken but formidable barrier specialist, and Takeshi Aoba, the youngest of the team a loud, brash rookie with bright eyes and boundless energy. Rei stood near the center, his fingers twitching lightly near the hilt of his newly issued blade: Yureikiri, still humming with latent resonance from his recent training.
Hayato's voice was calm, but there was no mistaking the weight in his words. "The location is an abandoned temple deep in the forests northeast of Fujikawa. The temple ,Kanzaki-in ,was long forgotten, reportedly collapsed two decades ago. But spiritual activity has spiked in the area. This is where the child Onryō is rooted."
He turned, sweeping his gaze over the team. "Your mission is not to destroy it. Not unless it's beyond reach. This is a Chinkon Sakusen. We seek release, not extermination."
Rei nodded slightly. "Do we know what binds it?"
Hayato paused. "No. But there are theories. A failed ritual. A child sacrifice. Perhaps abandonment. You'll need to identify the anchor on-site. Aoi will support from within a protective formation, and Naoko will perform the purification chant. Mikasa will lead combat engagement. Rei, Takeshi assist in spirit suppression."
Takeshi cracked his knuckles. "Suppressing ghosts. Finally."
Mikasa shot him a look. "You'll suppress your mouth first."
"Just saying," Takeshi muttered. "Been waiting for real action."
Naoko moved forward, clutching a set of sacred sutras bound in red string. Her voice was steady, but Rei noticed the faint tremble in her hands. "I'll need three uninterrupted minutes to initiate the chant. During that time, I'll be vulnerable."
Rei looked at her. "Then we make sure you're not alone."
From the shadows, Mikasa rolled her eyes.
Hours later, their team stood before the crumbling gates of Kanzaki-in.
The forest around them was unnatural. No wind stirred the branches. No insects chirped. Even the air was dead muffled, like sound itself had been strangled. The temple, partially devoured by ivy and warped wood, loomed like a corpse trying to rise from the earth.
Rei stepped past the threshold, and immediately felt the air thicken, congeal. It was not just cursed.
It was grieving.
"I don't like this," Aoi whispered.
"The grief's thick," Naoko added. "Like walking into a funeral that never ended."
Mikasa gave a sharp gesture. "Positions. Don't speak unless necessary."
They stepped into the main hall. Faint footprints marred the dust-caked floor too small for an adult. The wood creaked under their boots. Statues of forgotten deities lined the walls, their faces eroded into grotesque mockeries of serenity.
Candlelight flared of its own accord. A child's giggle echoed from deep within the temple, high-pitched and echoing far too long.
Aoi's hands began tracing symbols in the air, barriers forming in translucent gold between columns. "I'll create a containment circle here. You bring the spirit in."
Hayato's voice echoed in Rei's earpiece. "Remember what I told you: anchor, cleanse, protect. Don't give it time to warp the domain. These Onryō want to keep you in their sorrow. They want you to drown in it."
Naoko stepped toward the center, laying out her sutras in a precise diamond shape. Her mantra began soft, melodic, ancient.
Rei turned just in time to see something crawl across the far wall. Not walk. Crawl.
A pale, emaciated form. Arms too long. Fingers scraping the wood like nails on bone. It moved like water, body jerking in broken rhythms.
Mikasa reacted instantly. Her katana hissed free, slicing a ward into the air. "Eyes on it!"
The child Onryō laughed. A wet, choked sound.
It screamed and the room changed.
Wood splintered. Walls bent outward. The air turned blue-black, cold and hollow. They were no longer in the temple.
They were inside a Cursed Realm.
It was a child's nightmare given flesh.
Broken toys hung from the ceiling like corpses. The floor was a sea of rotting tatami, waterlogged and riddled with mold. Shadows swam beneath the floor. And in the center ,at the altar, a pile of children's shoes.
The Forsaken Child stood at the far end, eyes glowing like drowned embers.
"Banishment formation, now!" Mikasa shouted.
Takeshi launched forward, sword flashing, but the Onryō vanished. A second later, it erupted from the ceiling, tackling him to the floor.
"Behind you!" Rei cried, slashing downward. His blade met resistance not flesh, but cold hate. The spirit recoiled, smoke pouring from the gash.
"Naoko, begin the chant!" Mikasa ordered. "Aoi , barriers on quadrant three!"
Naoko dropped to her knees, lips moving rapidly. The sutras lit up, each character pulsing gold. The Onryō screamed again, this time, in pain.
It exploded into three forms , child-sized shadows that darted toward Naoko.
Rei moved on instinct, placing himself in front of her. Yureikiri clashed with one, forcing it back. "You're not touching her!"
Naoko didn't flinch, though the tension in her hands was growing.
From across the room, Mikasa dispatched one shadow clone, severing its legs and hurling it into a barrier. It hissed, dissolving.
"Two minutes left!" Aoi shouted.
One of the shadows slipped past straight toward Naoko.
Rei threw his body forward. The shade collided with him, slamming them both against the wall. His shoulder burned, black veins crawling up his skin, but he held.
Naoko kept chanting.
Mikasa cursed, leapt over a collapsed beam, and skewered the last clone through its center. "Rei, switch! You're getting corrupted."
"I'm fine!" he grunted.
Takeshi, bleeding from the scalp but still upright, flanked the original spirit and unleashed a flurry of slashes. "Hey kid! Play with me!"
The Onryō shrieked ,a deafening cry that shook the walls.
Naoko's voice rose above it all.
The shrine lit up with radiant gold.
The Onryō froze.
It wept.
Naoko's voice softened. "Go home… You're not alone anymore."
The child spirit looked up at her.
Then it smiled.
The realm shattered.
They stood once more in the ruined temple, only now the air was clean. Light streamed through a broken ceiling panel. The scent of incense lingered where rot had once ruled.
Rei staggered slightly. Naoko caught his arm.
"You okay?" she asked, breathless.
"I should be asking you," he replied, offering her a tired grin.
Mikasa approached, wiping blood from her blade. She looked from Rei to Naoko , and rolled her eyes.
Takeshi gave a triumphant whoop. "Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"
Aoi looked up from her barrier markings, her voice gentle. "It's done. His soul is at rest."
For a long moment, none of them spoke.
Only the wind answered.
That night, back at the compound, Rei sat beneath a sakura tree that bloomed unnaturally in the underground garden. Naoko approached with two cups of tea.
"For the exorcist who throws himself in front of ghost-children," she said, offering one.
Rei chuckled. "It's my thing now."
They sat in silence.
"Thanks," she said at last.
Rei glanced sideways. "For what?"
"For trusting me. For protecting me."
He looked down. "You were incredible. I just held a sword. You held a soul."
Naoko blushed faintly, then sipped her tea. "Still. I feel safer when you're nearby."
Mikasa lingered by the corridor, half in shadow, half lit by the soft amber glow of the paper lanterns. Down the hall, Rei and Naoko were still seated near the outer walkway, their voices low but threaded with occasional laughter. Naoko nudged him lightly about something , he flinched, then smiled in that awkward, boyish way he always did when caught off guard.
Mikasa's hand tightened slightly on the strap of her blade.
She hadn't meant to stop. She'd just been passing by. That's what she told herself, anyway.
The soft echo of Naoko's laughter reached her again.
She looked away.
A moment passed before she moved, her footsteps quieter than usual as she slipped back into the empty hall. Her expression unreadable. Maybe even to herself.
There was no reason to feel anything. No reason at all.
Suddenly, a voice echoed across the courtyard. Hayato.
"All operatives to the main chamber. We have a priority directive."
Rei stood. So did Naoko.
The night wasn't over yet.