Possession 2: Kodama Rei

                That night, Tenshi had the strangest dream he had ever had. He was walking through a garden in some sort of temple. He knelt by a patch of wildflowers, gently touching their petals. A voice seemed to intrude upon his adoration and he turned to see an old man speaking with him. Tenshi answered, although his voice sounded strange, foreign yet familiar. He turned back to the wildflowers, but a nearby pond caught his eye. Slowly, he moved to its edge and looked into its serene waters.

But… that wasn’t….

Tenshi woke up, suddenly awake. His bed was slightly damp with sweat. He reached up and brushed a hand against his wet brow. That was weird… not at all like my usual nightmares… this one was so… real… Ugh… I think I’m losing it…

Dragging himself out of bed, Tenshi trudged towards the bathroom. A clock hanging in the hallway announced that it was about a half hour before his alarm usually went off. “Typical,” he muttered.

Tenshi pushed the door to the bathroom open and moved inside. He closed the door then turned to stare into the mirror.

His face was completely healed. No black eye. No split lip. No swollen cheek. A cold shiver swept down Tenshi’s spine as he pulled his nightshirt off. No bruises, no cuts, no scratches. Tenshi carefully massaged his ribs, but no pain. He even punched himself in the stomach, but felt nothing from his previous injuries.

Tenshi leaned over the sink and frowned into the mirror. “What’s going on here…?” Tenshi blinked then realized that the face staring back at him wasn’t his own.

“YAHHHH!” Tenshi stumbled backwards into the open bathroom door, tripping and falling into the hall. He scrambled back against a wall, panting and staring with shock at the bathroom mirror.

Instead of his reflection, the face of the girl he had seen yesterday had appeared. It watched Tenshi’s reactions with amusement in its pale green eyes. Then, to Tenshi’s astonishment, it moved forward and out of the mirror, becoming real. With the head came a body dressed in priestess robes. Arms reached downwards, hands lightly grasping the edge of the sink as the figure pulled herself forward. She then let go and drifted down to the floor, landing softly in a kneeling position.

The apparition smiled. “Greetings.”

Tenshi pushed himself farther against the wall, trembling. “Wh-who are you?”

The girl who looked no older than Tenshi kept smiling and bowed her head. “My name is Kodama Rei. I apologize for startling you…”

Tenshi skittered near the stairs. “How… how did you do…do that…thing…with the mirror…?”

Rei glanced over at him with a slight frown.  “When last I checked, spirits were able to pass through walls.”

Tenshi’s eyes widened as he pointed a trembling finger at Rei while teetering on the top step of the staircase. “You! You’re a…you’re a… you’re a g-g-g-!”

“Erm, you may want to watch--”

“GHOST!” Tenshi suddenly lost his balance. Wind-milling from his position on the floor, he couldn’t stop his descent. Tenshi let out a strangled yelp and tumbled down the stairs.

Rei stretched out and floated through the air down the stairs after Tenshi. “I tried to warn you…”

Tenshi sat dazed at the bottom of the stairs before he regained himself and sat up. “No way! There’s no such thing as ghosts!”

The priestess frowned and stood up, patting herself down. “Really? Well, I feel real enough….” She lifted off of the ground did a little spin in air. “And I can float pretty well… Are you sure ghosts don’t exist? If so, then I’m just as confused as you are.”

Tenshi gaped at her.

Rei touched down again and leaned close, resting her hands on her knees. “I’m a ghost, despite how unhappy it makes me. You’re not dreaming. I’m not a hallucination.”

“How… how did you get here...?”

Once again, Rei sat in front of Tenshi. “Yesterday, I thought I was strong enough to take on a Hell Hound. While I was dying, you arrived and scared the beast off.” Rei bowed her head. “Many thanks, sir, for aiding me. But it was too late… with the last of my strength, I was able to transfer my life essence into you.” She looked back up, concerned. “I’m sorry, but it was the only option open to me. I realize I didn’t have permission to, but I hope you forgive me, sir…?”

Tenshi’s heart began to slow. He watched Rei, the behavior of the priestess calming him down. “Er… Tenshi… Saishi Tenshi…”

Rei bowed. “Forgive me, Saishi Tenshi. I realize how awkward this might be…”

Tenshi forced a laugh. “Awkward doesn’t begin to describe this… so… I’m really not seeing things….?”

“Not at all.” Rei smiled.

A trembling sigh escaped Tenshi’s lips as he stared at Rei. What’s wrong with me… I haven’t seen anything like this since… well, not for a long time… but why now? Tenshi lowered his head. So much for being normal…

“I have never been in a city before,” Rei said as she floated alongside Tenshi. “My temple was very secluded. The closest thing we had to a city was a small village…”

Tenshi trudged down the alley leading to the school. Everything I’ve been through, he thought, and I still have to go to school… Tenshi sighed then paused as a thought occurred to him. “Hey, Rei?”

“Yes, Tenshi?”

“I was pretty beat up yesterday… but this morning, when I checked myself out in the mirror, I was completely fine. Did you have anything to do with that?”

Rei nodded as she drifted along beside Tenshi. “Yes. Consider it a tribute for what I have done to you. When a spirit works in harmony with the living, such things can occur.”

“Seems more like a miracle to me,” Tenshi murmured.

“Exactly.”

Tenshi sighed.

“Well well well. Look who decided to stroll on down our alley.”

Tenshi rubbed his forehead. “Izumi…”

Oda Izumi leaned against the alley fence, flipping a coin in his hand. His black hair was slicked back against his head, his dull black eyes full of malicious intent. On one side of him stood a small, stocky boy with brown hair combed back, similar to Izumi’s. On his other side was a wiry, rat-like boy with hair combed in the popular ‘gangster’ style.

Rei watched the boys curiously as Tenshi spoke. “I never realized I was on your territory,” Tenshi muttered. “How about I just give you all my money and we call it even?”

Izumi snatched his coin out of the air and stalked forward. “Oh no. Trespassers must be punished. Right boys?” The other two teenagers snickered.

Tenshi groaned. “Somehow I knew that was coming…”

The three boys began to knock around Tenshi. A low punch to the stomach, knee to the kidney, backhand against his face… Tenshi flinched after every blow, but didn’t back off or beg. Izumi noticed Tenshi’s lack of bruises from the other day. “What’s this, Saishi? Using makeup to cover up our gifts?” Izumi reared his fist back and slammed it into Tenshi’s eye. “Well, ya gonna need a lot more after this!”

The beating took less than ten minutes. Izumi and his gang left Tenshi slumped on the ground, clutching his stomach. Izumi smirked and flicked his coin at Tenshi’s limp form. “Nice exercise, girly-man. Next time, stay out of our alleys. See ya later, Saishi.”

Rei knelt beside Tenshi. “Forgive me… but is it customary to get beat up every morning in the city?”

“Shut… up,” Tenshi groaned. “Ugh… they usually…save all this for after school…” Tenshi struggled to his feet, a streak of blood from his nose smeared across his cheek, crusted with dirt.

The ghostly priestess frowned. “You mean that this occurs to you frequently?”

Tenshi picked up his discarded backpack and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the blood from his face. “Yeah,” he said bitterly. “I’m a regular punching bag.”

Rei watched the snickering gang move down the alley. “You cannot let them get away with that!”

Tenshi began limping after Izumi at a safe distance. “Yeah right. What can I do? I never fought a day in my life…”

Rei looked back at Tenshi. A flash of concern flickered across her face. “Forgive me, Tenshi.”

The tired teenager glanced over his shoulder at the floating priestess. “For what?”

Rei quickly floated ahead of Tenshi. Tucking her legs in, she suddenly sprang forward, turning into a hazy vapor as she did so. The vapor slid into Tenshi’s mouth before he could move. He let out a choking gasp as he clutched at his throat. He trembled a moment more, then fell to his knees.

Izumi snickered. “That was a nice way to start the morning. Nezumi, you snatch all of Saishi’s money?”

The rat-faced boy grinned. “Yeah Izumi, yeah I did! Wasn’t much, wasn’t much at all though. Just enough for lunch, not much more than that, not much.”

Izumi scoffed. “That Saishi never carries enough for more than a few games at the arcade.”

“I’ll be sure to carry enough for your hospital bills,” said a low voice behind them.

Izumi spun. “Saishi! Just what the hell do you think—OOF!”

Tenshi’s fist had been driven straight into the center of Izumi’s face. The stricken teenager fell to the ground as the heavy-set groupie surged forward. With astonishing agility, Tenshi leapt up and flipped, landing lightly on the boy’s head.

“You’re a bit too slow, you know,” Tenshi said with a smirk. Nezumi swung at Tenshi’s groin but the teenager leapt again, landing behind his attacker. From a crouching stance, Tenshi was able to drive his elbow into the small of Nezumi’s back. The teenager cried out and fell to his knees.

The stocky one had circled around and charged again. Tenshi looked over his shoulder then ducked to the side. As the boy ran past, Tenshi delivered a quick kick to the back of his knee. The boy fell to the ground.

Izumi staggered to his feet. “Why you little—!” He ran at Tenshi, bringing a fist back. At the same time, Nezumi had stood and was charging Tenshi from the other side. At the last moment, Tenshi back flipped out of the way. Izumi’s punch knocked Nezumi down in one blow. As Izumi turned, Tenshi jumped and swung his foot around, catching the bully on the side of the head. Izumi crumpled.

Tenshi turned and looked at the stocky boy who had stood up from Tenshi’s earlier blow. They stared each other down for a moment before the boy began to tremble. He quickly ran off.

Tenshi sighed with relief. “There… I’m sorry Tenshi, but I could not let them get away with what they did to you….”

A shiver ran down Tenshi’s spine. He suddenly fell forward onto his knees, clutching his throat. His eyes went wide as he struggled for breath that would not come. A stream of vapor slipped out, taking the form of Rei as it lifted away from Tenshi.

“Forgive me… I ought not to possess you without warning, but there was little time to lose.”

Tenshi twitched and rolled onto his side, eyes staring. “Wha… what did you… do…”

Rei rubbed her head. “Possession… forcefully taking control of a body… I’m sorry I didn’t give you time to prepare, but—” Rei paused.

Tenshi slumped forward as he lost consciousness.

“Hellloooo… Earth to Tenshi…”

The darkness began to fade as Tenshi slowly opened his eyes. “Eh… Huh…?”

Kai knelt above him, eyebrows raised. “Hey, welcome back. You look like you’ve been through Hell.” He glanced over at the still-limp forms of Izumi and Nezumi. “New bully in town? Those guys went down hard.”

Tenshi sat up slowly, rubbing his head. “Huh? Oh… yeah… Yeah, you could say that…” He glared over Kai’s shoulder at Rei, who nervously held up a ‘peace’ sign.

The blonde-haired boy stood and offered Tenshi a hand. “Be careful. You could have been robbed, just lying around like that.”

“Yeah right,” Tenshi muttered, still rubbing his head. “Nezumi took all my money already…”

Kai shrugged and walked over to the unconscious boy’s pocket. “Let’s see here… wow, he’s got a pretty good amount on him…” He stood up, making his way back to Tenshi as he flipped through the paper bills. “Looks like you got your money back with interest.” Kai held out the money to his friend.

Tenshi managed a small smile as he took the bills. “Good… maybe I can get a decent lunch today…” He began to walk to school. Kai fell into step beside him.

Rei floated along next to Tenshi. “I told you they would not get away with harming you. Now you have your money back and your wounds will soon heal. I hope I did not cause too much of an… inconvenience…”

Tenshi grunted. “It was more than an inconvenience,” he muttered.

“You say something?” Kai asked.

“No… just talking to myself.”

“Ah. Hey, you might wanna clean up when we get to class. Your face looks like roadkill.”

A shadow swirled in the shade between a dumpster and an alley wall. The dumpster was slowly pushed to the side after Tenshi and Kai had walked past, two blood red eyes staring at the two students. The shadow formed into the vague shape of a large dog. A low growl rumbled from the throat of the dark beast.