Uniting the powers! The next Kami is light

"I feel like I'm in a cult," Chiyu muttered the next morning. He and the rest of the Kamis sat in a circle on their knees, dressed in their school uniforms. They all had their eyes closed but Mizu kept straightening out her skirt so it covered her knees and Keitaro couldn't help but fidget.

"Well get used to it,” Tenshi said. “This may feel like some kind of cult but when we channel our energy together we can find the Kamis a lot faster than if we just took a chance at some new person.” Nariko yawned.

“But why so early?” she asked. “We have school today. Can’t we do it in the afternoon?” Tenshi shook her head.

“It’s better in the morning when our energy is fresh,” she explained. Toshi shrugged, his eyes still closed.

“Makes sense,” he stated. “School saps the energy right out of us; may as well get this done when we actually have some.” Tenshi opened one of her eyes.

“Are we done talking yet?” she asked. “Cause the quicker we get this done the quicker you all can go back to bed.” The Kamis all nodded.

“Now concentrate,” Tenshi said softly. “Forget about everything but the task in front of you.” Soon, beams shot forward from each, each beam colored to match their element, and they met in the middle of the circle. Soon, the image of a girl with long black hair and light yellow eyes appeared in each of the Kami’s minds. It was held there for a few seconds, before all of the Kamis besides Tenshi fell over, drained of energy. Mizu lay on the floor between Michiru and Keitaro, breathing hard.

“That was fast,” she commented. “But who was that?” Tenshi tried to bring back the image of the girl to her mind, and when she did, she concentrated hard on it.

“I believe it’s the Kami of light,” she finally answered. Keitaro looked confused from where he lay on the floor.

“Light? Like when you turn on a lamp?” he asked. All of the Kamis snickered slightly at this. Tenshi shook her head.

“No, light as in…” she began, but then stopped as she couldn’t think of just how to explain it.

“It’s like an animé or manga,” Mizu explained. “In animé, light always means goodness and purity, and occasionally solar flares that blind your enemies.” Tenshi nodded.

“That’s one way of putting it,” she confirmed. Michiru slowly sat up and moved her legs out in front of her and stretched them.

“So how do we find her?” she asked. The other Kamis sat up, too.

“Yeah,” Nariko started. “It’s not like we see her face and automatically know who she is.” Tenshi stood up.

“We find her by looking,” she stated simply. “This afternoon, we’ll look for her, after school, since I doubt she’s graduated from school yet. But for now, you all can go back to sleep. There’s still a couple hours till school starts for you.” Immediately all the Kamis fell back over onto the floor.

***

Later, during lunch, Mizu sat under a tree in the back yard of the school eating her lunch while Michiru lay on the grass, her eyes closed. Mizu looked down to her green-haired friend.

“Do you ever eat at school?” she asked. Michiru shook her head.

“I eat when I get home,” she answered. “Right now I’m resting for the rest of the day. Rest is better than food when your body is weak in the first place.” Mizu shrugged and went back to eating her sandwich. “By the way, where’re the rest?” Mizu shrugged.

“Eating in the room I guess,” she replied. Michiru smiled.

“Chiyu told me he was eating with Toshi,” she stated. “Toshi all but hates Chiyu. He just didn’t want to come out here.” Mizu rolled her eyes.

“Again with that?” she asked. She then looked over to the fence that separated the school yard from the sidewalk.

“Who’re they?” she asked as some girls walked by wearing grey suit-like tops, grey mini-skirts and grey high-heels. Michiru opened her eyes and sat up and looked over to the girls.

“Oh, they’re just some girls from that private school about a mile from here,” she replied. “Yumiko told me only rich people’s kids go there.” Mizu watched them with minimal interest as she bit down on her sandwich.

“How could they walk a mile in high-heels?” she asked. “Their feet must be sore.” Michiru shrugged and laid back down on the grass.

“You’d be surprised,” she stated. “Plus, they’re good for kicking someone if they try to steal your money on the street or something.” Mizu raised an eyebrow.

“And how would you know this?” she asked. Michiru shrugged.

“It only makes sense,” she stated. “I mean look. Kick someone in the right place with the heel, and they’re down for the count.” Mizu snickered. She was about to turn her attention away from the girls, when she suddenly took a double take at the one closest to the fence.

“Michiru, does that girl with the black hair look familiar to you?” she asked. Michiru sat back up again and tilted her head to the side.

“Kami of light,” she commented. “How convenient.” The bell signaling that lunch was over immediately rang. Mizu stood up and dusted off her skirt.

“Well, at least we know where to look for her now,” she said, bending over and picking up her lunch box. “And with Tenshi’s resources we might even be able to put a name to the face.” Michiru stood up as well.

“That’s all well and good but we’ll have to worry about that later,” she stated. “There’s a test in science this period, remember?” Mizu groaned; of course she didn’t remember.

***

“So you found the Kami of light already?” Chiyu asked. He and Mizu were walking home from school. Mizu nodded.

“She goes to that private school a little ways from our school,” she replied. “I called Tenshi after I finished the science test today. She said she’ll look into the school database about her name and stuff.” Chiyu nodded and the two walked in an awkward silence for a few minutes until they heard a girl screaming.

“Leave me alone!” came a clearly feminine voice from an alley near them. Mizu and Chiyu looked at each other with concern, then both bolted over to where they heard the voice coming from. When they came to the alley, there stood the girl with black hair, and two older boys who were ganging up on her.

“We will as soon as you give us your money,” one of them said in a menacing voice. Anger started to well up inside Mizu.

“I told you already, I don’t have any with me!” the girl exclaimed, a frantic look on her face. She winced as one of the other boys was about to punch her, but for some reason, he stopped.

“She said to leave her alone!” Mizu exclaimed. The girl looked over with wide eyes. The two boys snickered.

“And what are YOU gonna do about it?” the one that was about to punch the girl asked. An angry expression came over Mizu’s face.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Chiyu commented. The two boys watched dumb-founded as Mizu charged forward, and swung her suitcase-like backpack at one’s head, and he fell over, unconscious. The other watched, positively terrified.

“Now will you leave, or do I need to make it an even two?” Mizu asked. The boy that hadn’t been knocked out grabbed the one that had and quickly dragged him out of the alley and the two went out of site. Mizu smiled triumphantly, when her backpack burst open, almost all of the contents falling out. The girl just stood, confused, as Chiyu walked up and helped Mizu pick up her school books and stuff.

“T-thank you,” she finally said as Mizu and Chiyu stood up. Mizu smiled.

“It was my pleasure,” she replied. “Really, it was, I needed to get some aggression out anyway.” The girl slightly laughed.

“Um, I’m Hoshi,” she said. “Hoshi Hikari.” Mizu grinned to herself.

And the animé puns just keep on coming! she thought. Hoshi tilted her head to the side.

“You know, you two seem familiar,” she stated. “I know we’ve never met, but still.” Mizu scratched the back of her head, a slightly nervous look on her face.

“Um, you’ve probably seen us on the street or something,” she reasoned. “Oh, um, by the way, my name’s Mizu Kaori, and the guy behind me is Chiyu Kaze.”

“Um, so, want us to walk you home?” Chiyu asked. “There’s no telling what those two guys might try if you go off alone again.” Hoshi smiled.

“Thanks,” she said.

***

“I know a song that gets on everybody’s nerves, everybody’s nerves, everybody’s nerves!” Keitaro sang. He sat in the lobby of the office building where Sakura worked. The secretary sitting at the desk near him slammed her book shut.

“Will you please be quiet?” she demanded. Keitaro looked at her innocently, then grinned evilly.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because it is annoying,” the secretary answered.

“Why?” Keitaro asked again.

“Because it’s childish,” the secretary answered.

“Why?” Keitaro asked once again.

“You know your sister never acts this way when she comes in!” the secretary finally exploded. Keitaro folded his arms.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m seven and she’s thirteen,” he pointed out. “Of course she doesn’t act that way.” The secretary bolted up, causing her rolling chair to tumble over.

“I’ll find that mother of yours myself!” she exclaimed. She left muttering something about how she was never, ever going to have children. Just as the secretary went through the door, Sakura’s boss, Mr. Takahashi, walked out. He watched with amusement as the secretary went straight past the elevator and stormed up the stairs.

“Get another one?” he asked. Keitaro nodded proudly.

“Yes I did, sir!” he exclaimed.

“Good boy,” Mr. Takahashi encouraged. Keitaro was like a member of the staff. Every time they got a new secretary, Keitaro bugged them, and if they had patience enough to stand him, Mr. Takahashi knew that they would do fine in his company. Keitaro sat back down in his seat as Mr. Takahashi went back into the hall and walked off. He looked out the window and sighed.

“I’m going to the park!” he exclaimed, getting up and walking out the door. No one could ever blame Keitaro for having a one-track mind.

***

Mizu and Chiyu looked up with amazement as they got to Hoshi’s house. Before them loomed a huge mansion, and they stood on the outside of a huge silver gate.

“I knew Michiru said rich kids go to your school but I didn’t know she meant THIS rich!” she exclaimed. Hoshi smiled shyly.

“Would you like to come in?” she asked.

“Um… sure,” Chiyu replied, and Mizu nodded. Hoshi pushed a red button on some kind of intercom.

“This is Hoshi, Tomeo, you can open the gate,” she said into it.

“Yes, Miss Hikari,” came a man’s voice, and soon the two gate doors started to open, creaking on their hinges.

***

Inside, Hoshi showed Mizu and Chiyu around until they reached the dining room.

"Hungry?" she asked. Mizu nodded, but Chiyu didn't.

"Actually, would you mind pointing me towards the bathroom?" he asked, slightly embarrassed. Mizu giggled and Hoshi smiled.

"Go up the stairs and it's the first door on the left," she explained. Chiyu nodded his thanks and bolted off. Mizu followed Hoshi into the dining room and sat down at a fairly normal-sized table.

"So Mizu, I don't mean to pry, but is Chiyu you're boyfriend or something?" Hoshi asked. Mizu folded her arms.

"No, he is not," she replied. Hoshi smiled.

"Good enough," she stated. "So, what do want to eat?" Mizu was about to answer when her cell phone began to ring inside of her backpack. She unzipped it and pressed the call-receive button.

"Hello?" she asked. She listened for a while and her eyes grew wide. "What do you mean they're looking for her? Yeah, I'm here at her house but... No, I'm not just gonna bring her to you!" Hoshi seemed puzzled at the conversation her new-found friend was having. "Well, no, I don't know if she can protect herself against their powers, she..." Mizu stopped talking and looked over to Hoshi and got a nervous look on her face. "You know what, Tenshi? Until she finds out about her power she doesn't need to meet you." Mizu closed her cell-phone and sighed.

"What was that about?" Hoshi asked. Mizu shook her head.

"Nothing you need to worry about," she assured. Chiyu then came in the door.

"I miss anything important?" he asked. Mizu shook her head.

***

"The next one has been found," Toru stated to Kamlyn. The dark ice Kami smiled. "It's the Kami of Light."

"Well, let's get to her first then, shall we?"

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Next time on Shinki no Kami:

The Dark Kamis have gone after Hoshi, wanting her for their side. Hoshi isn't even aware of her powers yet, though, so it's up to Mizu and Chiyu to save her. Hoshi is amazed by their powers, but will she except the truth about her divine past?