"Well then officer, let us get to work!"
Irina smiled, all teeth. She walked past the baffled Officer Asahi who after a minute or two snapped out of his stupor to follow after their teacher. Rikuo blinked and the teens went after the adults at a more sedate pace.
"I didn't know Teacher was a colonel."
"Well, she is one of the highest ranking exorcists so her rank within the military would obviously be as high. "
"I see, would we receive ranks too once we graduate?" The blonde asked, reading himself to look at the bodies once more.
It wasn't his first time seeing a dead body, he did spend a lot of time in the hospital after all. But they still made him queasy because while he had seen corpses before, they were mostly of patients and not of bloody murder scene like this. The ravenette beside him shrugged, pulling Rikuo's attention away from the bodies.
"All exorcists, depending on their accomplishments in the academy, are granted a rank in the military or police once they graduate, so most likely. What rank we get however is entirely up to how well we perform."
"I see. What abou-" he was interrupted by Irina, motioning for them.
"You two! Come here quickly."
They shared a glance then walked up to their teacher who hadn't even looked up to acknowledge them.
"What is it, teach?" Shuuji asked, his blue eyes surveying the corpse their teacher was standing over. Rikuo watched, curious. Irina pulled them down by her side.
"Can you guys feel it? The reiki around this guy. Not just him too, every one of the bodies have faint traces of reiki."
They nodded and focused on the body. Their eyes widened when they saw the faint shimmer of violet flickering over the body. Indeed, there were traces of reiki left on the body. There was also something more...
'Isn't this?-' Shuuji thought. He recognized the feeling he got from the violet energy. It was the same as that day when Rikuo used the Absolute Authority but how? Weren't all five users accounted for? Did they miss someone? What was going on-
"This is strange! Teacher, why does the reiki feel like Ruhia's? Not only that, there is some strange flavor in it too."
Rikuo muttered, instantly drawing their attention. 'What did he mean?' They thought. Irina and Shuuji couldn't feel anything other than the authority it excluded.
They stared at the blonde long enough for the boy to start fiddling with his shirt. Wondering if he had said anything wrong. The brunette teacher snapped it out first. She turned to address Rikuo.
"Riku, can you describe this strange 'flavor' to me?"
The blond blinked, his turquoise eyes wide. He nodded.
"S-sure. You see, when I interact with Ruhia's reiki, it- how do I say it?. It feels like apple juice and sunlight, a refreshing and warm feeling that makes you wanna do anything for them. But when I interact with this reiki, it feels more vile? Like when you are told to do something you don't want to but absolutely have to."
"Uhh, Did that make sense?"
"Yes brat, it did make sense. Thank you for clarifying something for us Riku."
Irina grinned at the still green-faced kid. She opened her mouth to suggest for the kid to take a breather but was cut off by the police detective behind her.
"I am sorry but reiki? Ruhia? What are you talking about? Is this some kind of a sham?" Officer Asahi asked, looking at them intently.
The brown haired woman sighed. She turned to the officer but before she let the teens know it was okay to go outside.
"I'd explain everything to the Officer. He has a clearance to know. Why don't you brats go get some fresh air?" She suggested.
They nodded at the order to show they understood. It may have been disguised as a suggestion but Irina was ordering them to perform a cleansing ritual on the building so the malicious energy of death won't linger to cause problems in the future.
Rikuo had read up on cleansing rituals. It was one of the easiest and most basic of the rituals in the 1st year academy book Shuuji had given him. It was meant to cleanse any place from cursed energy that might attract or otherwise create onryo by corrupting and eating away at the ayakashi's core.
Malicious energy like that was often gathered in a place where someone died violently or somewhere negative emotions ran rampant. Or a place where a lot of dead bodies were kept, like a morgue or a graveyard.
And as onryo are attracted to places that fit those criteria, these places were cleansed once every two weeks as well as kept under strict watch by Midnight Realm members. So, many funeral parlors and hospital services were owned by the city.
Boys went to the alley beside the store where they scaled the walls up to the roof in minutes. Well, Shuuji did as Rikuo climbed the fire escape like a normal person. The blonde hadn't learned the cool parkour moves just yet.
Once on the roof, the black haired boy pulled out a chalk from his back pocket and threw it towards Rikuo who caught it easily.
He gave the ravenette a questioning look.
"You want me to do it?" He clarified, which the blue eyed boy shrugged to.
"Yeah, think of it as getting in some real practice."
The blonde gave Shuuji a searching glance. He must have found what he was looking for since the other teen kneeled down to draw a basic circle on the concrete of the rooftop.
First he drew a circle as big as a car tire, he then drew a smaller circle inside the big one. Rikuo slowly added the purifying runes he had managed to memorize in the short week.
The turquoise eyed boy finished quickly. He looked up into Shuuji's eyes, silently asking if he got the right.
The ravenette nodded approvingly. Rikuo smiled, pushing down the warm feeling of accomplishment to finish the task.
"Now I just have to add reiki right?"
"Yeah, once we progress your studies some more, you'd be able to use Ruhia's reiki instead of your own. Since more personalized rituals require the Iwa's connection with the God to activate."
"Hoo, I see. I haven't read that far ahead just yet."
They exchanged a smile. The blond teen, slowly pushed his silvery reiki into the circle. Yet, he must have pushed too much in as the circle began to glow brighter than it should.
It grew brighter and cracks started to appear around the edge.
"Get down!!!" Shuuji screamed, he tackled the other boy down from the disaster of their own making. Just in time too, for in the next second or three, the circle blew up with a Bam!!.
The boys coughed from the dust and particles that flew off all around them from the circle blowing. Shuuji opened his mouth, exasperatedly to question the blond when the sound of someone clapping their hands reached their ears.
"How the hell did you-"
The ravenette stopped to look over, Rikuo's line of sight followed his partner's until they reached a sight of someone else, sitting by the edge of the roof.
He wore a purple hoodie with its hood pulled up and dark gray jeans along with a pair of white trainers. From what was available under the hood, Rikuo could see pale white hair, as well as mismatched eyes of lilac and silver.
The exorcists in training tensed as they got on their feet, ready to defend themselves when the stranger's face pulled into a small delighted grin.
"Exorcists? Now, how delightful." He purred.
"Don't move. We're gonna have so much fun."