September 12th. It had come in a blink of an eye, and Ayumi felt a certain level of panic rising as her seventeenth birthday came. Her Centurions would be picked, and they would protect her as she went upon cleansing closed spaces. She always knew it was going to happen. She had seen Hinoe go through it herself when she was around seven, and her father had spent a huge chunk of her life preparing her for it.
Her own birthday was an afterthought, though her sister had delivered her gift to her in the morning along with reassuring words. It had been a new tablet, a gesture of support to her hesitant dream of being an illustrator. Her dad was practically in tears, continually trying to hug his daughter as he shouted for her to fulfill her destiny and that the spirits were surely going to pick the best Centurions for her.
Hours and hours later, school was being let out and she was still without any Centurions. She would know when it happened, Hinoe had described the feeling of the forced pact, so she knew what to look for. She was standing outside in the school yard, texting her dad to leave her alone and that no one was chosen yet. She sighed, glaring down at her phone. Should she hang around the school for the rest the day? A Centurion was chosen by the spirits, she really had no affect on it. She was beginning to feel impatient by the stalling, her stomach had been twisting with anxiety all day and she couldn't handle it much longer.
Naomi had been happily chatting with Seiko, unable to find Satoshi before being too impatient to keep waiting for him. She had hoped he wouldn't be preoccupied, but it couldn't be helped. It seemed he had stuff to do a lot of the time. As she walked, she genuinely didn't pay attention to where she was going and accidentally bumped into Ayumi. "Ah, s-" she began to say, but felt a weird pressure in the back of her head. It caused her to stop in her steps and place a hand on her head. She felt... dizzy... What was wrong with her? "Eugh... S-Seiko, you can go on ahead... I'll catch up in a second..," she said with a small smile, rubbing her temple.
Seiko blinked at Naomi curiously, concern on her face as she was told to go ahead. She would normally want to wait up as Naomi caught her bearings, but she had to pick her siblings up from school so she couldn't really lose too much time. "Ahh, if you say so! Don't take too long, though. You know I can't stand being separated from you!" she chimed, continuing to walk.
Ayumi felt a spike of annoyance as someone bumped into her, but the annoyance was replaced with a pressure. She blinked a few times, her brain lagging to catch up with what was happening. Then it hit her, and her stomach plummeted in horrible dread. "No no no no no," she muttered quietly. She cursed at the spirits and their sick sense of humor... maybe it was a mistake. Maybe she just got a headache... simultaneously at the same time as Naomi. She was postponing judgement until she saw the signature of a Centurion on her. "Nakashima, this is gonna sound weird, but show me your wrists," she said seriously, her eyes narrowed in determination. Naomi's wrists would be bare... it'll all be fine... no way would she be stuck with Nakashima Naomi as her Centurion.
Naomi couldn't pinpoint exactly where this thrumming in the back of her head came from. She was fine just a second ago... She looked at Ayumi strangely, wondering why in the world she would want to see her wrists... But arguing with her would probably only waste more of her time, judging by how stubborn she could be. "Err, okay... but make it quick. I have to catch back up with Seiko," she muttered in response, her annoyance blended with confusion in her tone. She gestured her hands towards Ayumi, staring intently to see what sort of weird thing she planned to do to her.
Ayumi took Naomi's hand, flipping them over. The left one was clear... the right one was not. The golden lines decorated the inside part of Naomi's wrist, linking her to Ayumi for a whole year, possibly longer. She sighed in defeat, dropping the left hand and moving her own free hand to tap on the marking to draw Naomi's attention towards it. "I think..." she began to say, misery hanging over her like a cloud, "you may want to tell Shinohara to go on without you." They would have to talk. Oh gods, what were the spirits thinking? Naomi was going to let her die in a closed space. No way would she actually want to protect her... nor was Ayumi really sure she could. "We have to talk," she explained with a frown.
Naomi gave the marking a strange look, completely freaked out about exactly what Ayumi was trying to get at. What was that symbol? And why did she seem to know about it? Still... her curiosity wouldn't let her refuse... "Mm... okay...?" She slowly stepped away from Ayumi to go tell Seiko she wouldn't be able to go back to her house with her just yet. She made the short jog back to where she left Ayumi, a little surprised she was still there, and not playing some sort of trick on her. "Okay... now... what the hell is this mark?" she asked bluntly as she grabbed her wrist, feeling like she deserved an answer, at least.
Satoshi was heading off to home after having talked to some friends in another class when he noticed Ayumi and Naomi. He should probably stay away... but his curiosity was piqued by seeing the two of them together. He knew for a fact Ayumi hated Naomi and was weirdly jealous of her... Naomi didn't seem to be Ayumi's biggest fan either. He debated for a moment before approaching the two.
Ayumi opened her mouth to respond to Naomi when a very heavy weight fell on her, forcing her to the ground. Then the pressure occurred again, though this time she caught her bearings very quickly. "Goddammit!" she yelled, moving her knee to hit Satoshi in the stomach because he was heavy and she didn't like him touching her.
Satoshi hadn't meant to trip, but his feet managed to get tangled with themselves... it was a klutzy, stupid move that got him way to close to Ayumi, which got him a knee in the stomach. His head felt like it was being pressed on by some unseen force. He managed to quickly get off Ayumi and stumble to his feet, even if he was a bit winded by the hit. "S-sorry," he said, embarrassed by the entire thing. He held his hand out to help her up.
Ayumi sat up, grabbing his hand by the wrist and turning it around. She felt Satoshi's confused stare as she observed the Centurion mark on him. "Well, fuck," she cursed, letting go of Satoshi's wrist and standing up on her feet. She brushed off her skirt, giving both of them a pointed glare.
Satoshi looked at his wrist in confusion, considering the look Ayumi had given it. He blinked slowly as he registered the little golden mark. "Ah... Shinozaki... what is this?" he asked, figuring she would know.
"Ho boy, this is gonna be fun," Ayumi muttered sarcastically to herself. Her ex and the girl he liked. The spirits were assholes. She placed her hands on her hips, head reeling as she figured out how to explain all this. "Well, congratulations you two. You are my Centurions," she announced with a flat tone.
Naomi watched in silence as Satoshi entered into the picture. Ugh, he was so nice, offering his hand to help her up, but she always treated him like a jerk. She observed her inspect his wrist, and noticed the same marking on him. She looked strangely at Ayumi, her vague mention of what they were not helping her whatsoever. "We're your what now?" she asked with a raised brow, her arms crossed across her chest.
Ayumi sighed, wishing these details were common knowledge. They were in the occult community, but it wasn't like those two would ever encounter the detail. "My bloodline carries a psychic trait to it. This trait has a... magical detail to it that when those of psychic blood turn seventeen they will enter a year long trial. Now, this trial involves going into closed spaces, eh, parallel dimensions, if you will. These dimensions are ran by angry spirits who are extremely dangerous. These spirits lure people into these spaces to kill them, and then as a result, the closed spaces get bigger and deadlier. So, to keep the world from becoming a ghost ridden mess, there are people like me who have the ability to cleanse those spaces. But, there's a catch. My ability is purely cleansing. I'm a sitting duck inside closed spaces for ghosts to kill me, because in most circumstances, a ghost at full power cannot be purified or appeased. As a result, people become bound to psychics such as myself, though we're called Miko's. Anyways, these bound people are Centurions. They are given the duty to protect the Miko and assist in anyway so the spaces can be cleansed. Ahh, is this all making sense?" Ayumi asked, tapping a finger against her chin thoughtfully. There was a lot of details to cover and she was given a textbook outline. Satoshi was pale and unblinking, mouth slightly agape as she explained. She knew he knew she wasn't joking, and he seemed a bit panicked by the idea of having to deal with ghosts. Ugh, a cowardly Centurion who was absolutely terrified of ghosts. Great.
Naomi gave a blank stare at Ayumi. Parallel dimensions, and ghosts? What in the hell was going on? She rubbed her head, glancing to the side for a moment. "Err... maybe... but... why were we chosen for such a thing?" she asked, skipping the comment that 'ghosts don't exist'. That'd be a waste of time. However, as she further took in the situation, she would've said this was some sort of prank, to get back at her and Satoshi, if not for the mark on her wrist and inexplicable headache. Still... she didn't want spend her time doing this, defending Ayumi from ghosts. And she highly doubted Satoshi could take the situation. He could be a real scaredy cat sometimes.
Ayumi was wondering the same exact thing. The Centurions main purpose was to make sure a Miko stayed alive and capable of purifying realms... this involved putting your own life at stake. To put her with complete strangers would have been better than putting her with two people that probably couldn't care less about her safety."Well, it's not because I chose you," Ayumi stated firmly, wanting there to be no doubt that she would have never done such a thing. "The spirits make the decisions..." she admitted with a small shrug.
Satoshi's head was reeling, the entire situation was hard to let sink in. He really didn't want to deal with ghosts... he hated the idea they were even real. And spirits picking them? The entire thing sounded like some anime or something. He looked at the marking on his wrist, as if to confirm it was really there, since it was the only proof Ayumi had towards her words at the moment.
Naomi just stared, unsure of how to take all of this. She didn't want this! She wanted to spend her time with what she wanted to do! Chatting with Seiko and Satoshi! Not doing this crap for a girl she didn't even like! "... Do... do we have to help?" she asked hesitantly, not particularly liking how cold she sounded to herself, but this was not what she had planned on. Plus, it sounded dangerous...
Ayumi wasn't surprised, nor very offended by the question. She had been expecting it to be one of the first ones, considering the two of them would not want to be Centurions. Any sane person would react badly to the forced upon role, admittedly. "Well, no, you could always just go upon your life as normal," Ayumi began to say, but her tone had a definite 'but' tone to it. "But, you may notice your luck plummet. Let's just say spirits don't take kindly to being ignored, and you'll end up as good as cursed. The bad luck isn't just cutesy stuff like being late because some bicyclist crashed into you or you losing your money for lunch, either," she explained, preparing for Naomi to get pissed. Satoshi seemed to be baffled by all the information, letting the reigns of the questions go to Naomi as he just stood, stunned.
Naomi paused as Ayumi's answer cornered her. She was unsure of what bad luck Ayumi could possibly mean, but she guessed it was really horrible, if this sort of thing could really happen. She pulled down her sleeve to look at her wrist, her frown deepening at the inability to deny that this was going on. "S-so we're stuck..," she mumbled, rubbing her arm nervously as she glanced to the side. They were just thrown into this... Even though it wasn't completely her fault, she found that her dislike of Ayumi rose. "Then... how are we supposed to protect you from ghosts?" she asked, figuring she would need to know if she didn't have a choice but to go into this.
Ayumi frowned at Naomi referencing to being 'stuck'. She knew the two of them were unhappy, and she herself was pretty pissed about all of this. Out of everyone in the world, those two had to be the top of her list for "people I do not want to protect my life and hang out with all the time for a year." She didn't really have a choice, though the year ahead of her seemed like it would take much longer than she originally hoped. "You'll pick weapons. You'll figure out which are best suited for you and use that. You'll be able to actually damage the ghosts, too, because of the spiritual energy the seal unleashes," she explained, getting tired of spouting exposition.
"Wait... all those swords and stuff at your house are actually used?" Satoshi asked, genuinely surprised. He had figured the old styled swords, bows and arrows, and knives that were strewn around her house were purely decorative.
"Well, some are too old at this point. But, yeah, you'll test out what you want to use. Then my dad will make you a new one that's fitted for you," Ayumi said, as she pulled out her cell phone. Her dad or Hinoe hadn't tried to text or call her again...
Naomi grimaced, not liking this situation at all. She didn't want to handle any sort of weapon, to fight ghosts. This was all crazy... and she hated it... But she didn't want to have bad luck for who knows how long. "This isn't good..," she said with a sigh, feeling absolutely screwed over in life at this point. Ugh, why her, of all people?! Forget being involved with Ayumi, but this ghost thing... if they could kill Ayumi so easily, then what would happen to them? This was scary, and maddening...
