Sousei no Onmyouji: Reborn.

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Sousei no Onmyōuji (Twin Star Exorcist), all rights belong to the goat Sukeno, not every I write is cannon and true to the original.

Normally, an exorcist as young and mostly inexperienced as Ayato would have never been given the chance to exorcise alone like this.

"Gowan-Fu, Idaten-Fu."

"Exorcist Enchanted Gear."

The Strong Arm Talisman and the Fast Leg Charm—these were basic enchantments for exorcists.

When fighting in Magano, the first thing one must do is secure as many talismans as possible.

Against the impurities born of humanity's sin and karma, normal weapons are completely ineffective.

However, the special spirit powers within an exorcist's body—their enchanted powers, or spell powers in this case—must be wielded as both weapon and armor.

In addition, the efficiency of one's enchanted gear is proportional to the amount of enchanted power infused into it.

When fighting in Magano, incapacitation due to exhausting one's enchanted power means certain death.

Hence, it is best for two or more exorcists to fight side by side in Magano.

Of course, there are exceptions.

Yet, even amongst the "average exorcists" of the mainland, Ayato was one of those exceptions.

Most, at best, are able to wield about two to three enchanted gears in a chain equip at most.

Chain equip.

Not only is one constantly supplying enchanted power to the enchantments on their body—like armor—but also to their weapon.

Their enchanted power is divided between both. And those a cut above the average exorcists should, at bare minimum, be able to wield at least three or more.

Of course, one can only consider them "average" when compared to the monsters of that island.

"Enchanted Ceremonial Blade: Kazamachi."

SHICK—!

Ayato unsheathed his kodachi, sending the blade lunging into a small Kegare—dark, monstrous creatures with ominous patterns across their bodies.

Most notable about them was the Kujikiri, the "#" symbol imprinted on their body.

Gripping the kodachi embedded in the low-level Kegare, Ayato swung the blade horizontally before lunging at the next one.

This one came from behind. However, with quick reflexes, he turned and decapitated it.

As he did, a pentagram-like symbol appeared before them, cleansing the impurity.

But he didn't stop.

The next one, which had also approached him from behind, was forcefully stopped in its tracks by Ayato who quickly made an hand sign—middle and index finger together.

"Binding Hold."

From the murky and dusty ground, a blue, whip-like energy extended, latching onto the creature before Ayato ended it with a vertical slash.

Once it was done, he sheathed his kodachi before slowly unsheathing the odachi strapped behind him.

Adopting a stance—

His body bent slightly, his left leg in front, his right positioned behind. Both hands gripped the handle of the blade, raised high near his head.

"Fuu."

"Revel in Taizan Fukun's mercy. For your final destination shall be across the body of corpses, to a place further away where you may find peace."

"Banma Chōbuku—10,000 Evils Exorcism. Come forth at once."

An esoteric chant of his own making was spoken as he poised his odachi before lunging forward once more.

A slash to the right—then, with a shift in position, he spun into a full 360° arc, cutting down several Kegare that had lunged at him from all sides.

Like that, he continued. As they lunged, he cut them down, one after another, until only he remained in the desolate landscape.

"Fuu. I imagine they'll assign someone to this area now that I'm leaving."

Ayato muttered as he sheathed his odachi.

"Seika Dormitory, huh?"

With a flick of the talisman he held onto, the light covered him as he reappeared in the normal world—inside an alley.

He had shifted slightly from his original position when hunting down those low-level Kegare as they were always a pain in the ass to deal with because of their numbers.

One can only make out a landmark if the landmark still bore some semblance of being intact.

And just like that, he headed home to prepare.

~At the Same Time. Narukami. Seika Dormnitory~

Not only had they received word of the transfer, but there were two of them.

"Hm. One is from Kyoto, and the other, the East Kanto region, huh?"

An old man with gray hair, a long gray beard, and glasses mused in the living room of his dormitory.

He assumed the two were exorcists.

But well, if it were Arima's order, then he was in no position to ask questions in the first place.

He was sure the exorcist head had his own plans in mind.

He had always been like that, after all. He wasn't the Tsuchimikado head and exorcist leader for nothing.

Arguably, one could say he was among the strongest exorcists of this era.

Having just returned from work with Ryogo, their mission had been to exorcise a Kegare that had possessed a young girl.

"Luckily, we made it in time."

There were also occasional cases like this, though they weren't that common.

More frequent, however, were the instances of powerful Kegare breaking through the boundary between the real world and Magano.

And though they were just mainland exorcists—the average among the bunch—they took pride in keeping the mainland safe.

Regardless—

"Okay, I'm gonna pass out the requests we got for next week."

The rest of Seika Dormitory sat in the dining room, sharing tasks among themselves.

"Old man Tanaka says his shoulder cramps must be caused by an evil spirit."

"Definitely not."

In the dining room was a tall young man with short, spiky black hair and a braid in front of his right ear.

Seated with him were two others.

One was a male with lilac-colored hair, his bangs covering his eyes. 

The other had brown hair with a red streak running through it.

"Hahaha, figures… other than that, we also have the—"

"RYOGO-O-O-O-O!"

Interrupting their conversation was a fourteen-year-old boy with messy dark brown hair, a single streak of hair standing out at the top, and prominently sharp teeth.

He wailed dramatically as he continued.

"Tell me something good about me!"

"Huh?"

Of course, Ryogo wasn't surprised. Sure, it came out of nowhere, but if he had to guess, his foster brother had been turned down again.

He could already picture it—Rokuro probably told the girl he'd fix his flaws, only for her to reply that everything about him was flawed.

Ryogo could just imagine it playing out.

"Forget about that! Just tell me!"

To that question, they didn't even have to think about it.

"Well… you can eat anything."

"Oh, you can tie your shoelaces!"

"You get up and go to the bathroom at night all by yourself."

"Ah, and you know the difference between right and left."

Even their old man, all the way from the living room, had added to the list.

Perhaps they were trying to be considerate, but the way they said it just made Rokuro stare at them in absolute shock.

"Perhaps you need to rethink your priorities. You ditched our Kegare exorcism again! You always find a way to get out of it."

Ryogo pinched Rokuro's cheeks, pulling them around before Rokuro slapped his hands away.

"Sh-shut up! Leggo of me! How many times do I have to tell you, Ryogo!?? Look at me! My dream is to be a pop idol! Then all the girls will be crazy about me!"

For a moment, Ryogo just stared at him, dumbfounded.

Just what does this kid take the world for?

"YOU FOOL! Just last week, you said your dream was to become a soccer player and compete in the World Cup!"

As if!

In the first place, shortly after Rokuro had declared that and joined his school's football team, he was kicked out immediately—because he sucked.

I mean, a guy who kicks the soccer ball only for it to bounce back and hit his own face? That takes an insane amount of skill issue.

To make things worse, the week before that, he had said he wanted to be a comedian.

"I know! I'm serious this time!"

Rokuro's words made the old man Zenchiki, who was lounging in the living room, sigh in resignation.

So that's what the other letter was all about.

Opening it up, the old man deadpanned as he exhaled.

"By the way, you got a rejection letter from that talent agency."

"DON'T OPEN MY MAIL!"

It was only natural that Ryogo would try to convince Rokuro to give up.

After all, he had seen the kid in action so many times in the past.

The truth was, Rokuro was strong.

Heck, he would be leagues above Ryogo himself if he hadn't quit.

At least, that's what Ryogo believed.

And he wasn't wrong.

But, of course, Rokuro would never accept. Not after what happened back then.

That tragedy.

"You're always making fun of me! I swear I'll run away once and for all!"

Rokuro dramatically swung his arms, as if dismissing Ryogo's latest attempt to convince him to become an exorcist again.

And yet, despite saying that, Rokuro always came back.

This was his home, after all.

"Wait..! Rokuro, wait! We're out of soy sauce—could you pick up a bottle on the way home?"

"I TOLD YOU, I'M RUNNING AWAY!"