CHAPTER I.II. WHITE ARC

A woman with tan skin that looked a bit gray. White long, flowing hair that reached her ankles. Bright yellow cat-like pupils that were incredibly intense as well as angry looking. A well-endowed body that was only ever covered with black laced underwear. And to top it all off, a pair of fluffy white cat ears that sat on top of her head.

This is Kakureta Neko's true form. A form that she only ever exposed to me when she was at my apartment. She didn't come out of hiding for no reason, though. She did it only if I was in danger or if she was angry. Considering the fact that I just arrived home from eating Udon with a Spirit Warrior, I'll go with the second option.

"Is there a reason that you're sharing a meal with a person trying to kill me?" Kakureta looked down at me with disgust. "You may be immortal — but if your body is weak enough, I will be forcibly brought out. Spirit Warriors won't hesitate to Exorcise me. Or worse, capture me to bring to their stupid Society."

"Hisakata-San, can't kill you." I began to remove my shoes. I was a bit hungry, I didn't even touch the Udon I had bought. It was such a waste of money — money I couldn't afford to spend like that again.

"Mirei Hisakata can't, but other Spirit Warriors can. If the Spirit Society is allowing her to spend nights in that school, there are others who might actually live in homes. I didn't worry about the banished ones, but this is bad!"

"I would probably be worried if a certain someone educated me on the Spiritual World business." I chuckled, removing my blazer and ribbon. I turned to face Kakureta who had the angriest scowl on her face.

"Matsuri, this isn't a joke." She walked over to my small living room, sitting on top of a small round wooden table. "I explained to you the levels of Apparitions, before."

"Yeah, there Ranked from D, C, B, A, S. D-Rank being the lowest while S-Rank Apparitions are rare but the highest and most difficult to deal with."

"Well think like that when talking about Spirit Warriors. There are also five rankings of Spirit Warriors. Camellia, Carnation, Amaryllis, Magnolia, and Daffodil. Camellia being a beginner and Daffodil becoming a general. Mirei Hisakata is a Carnation, an intermediate Spirit Warrior. She can barely handle fighting B-Rank Apparitions, so I'm not worried."

"I still don't understand the problem, Kakureta."

"The problem," Kakureta said, becoming serious. Her yellow eyes began to glow. "if a low-level Warrior like her is trying to kill you, most likely on her own accord . . . who is to say they don't have Spirit Warriors watching you? The Kyomu Clan, I mentioned to you before? Their leader, Kyomu-meishu's job is to make sure that there are absolutely no Spirit Warriors who betray the Society. Isn't there a student at Hisamitsu that has that surname? Well then you were being watched from the start. Who's to say there aren't more Spirit Warriors at that school, waiting for their chance to strike at you like Mirei Hisakata. The only problem? They're ten times stronger than her."

"Why me? Jeez, there are plenty of other people who get possessed and even cursed by Apparitions. Why can't they just Exorcise you, without trying to kill me?"

"Most likely because I possessed you when you were just five years old. You shouldn't have even lived that day . . . why do you think I've stayed with you this whole time? I'm way too strong for the regular human to handle, most die after I hide inside them for an hour. Yet you're still breathing." Kakureta scoffed as she looked at her sharp white nails. Her ears twitched a couple of times causing her eyes to stare at the door. "Someone's coming."

"Wha—"

Kakureta jumped off the wooden table, her body slowly turning transparent. Right when she completely disappeared someone began to knock on the door. They then called out my name, quickly recognizing it, I rushed to open the door. No surprise, it was Tomoko Sekitani who stood at my door with an angry expression.

"Matsuri-Kun!! Why the hell haven't you answered my calls!!"

I froze not knowing what excuse I should use. It wasn't like I could say a First-Year, who is a Spirit Warrior, completely slashed my school bag in half. I didn't even remember that my phone was inside my brown bag until this moment. I wonder how many times Tomoko tried to call. Probably around one hundred, maybe even a little more. Kohei probably tried to reach me too — my soccer coach too. My deadbeat old man probably tried to reach me as well.

"Well!? Are you going to let me just stand in this cold?!"

I would rather have Kakureta be mad at me than Tomoko. Kakureta couldn't hurt me, but Tomoko knew almost every martial art move in existence. Back in middle school, she was feared by almost every student and teacher. She was even in an all-girl gang — hard to believe she's the student council president now.

"Sorry, come in. My phone got completely trashed . . ."

I mean it wasn't a lie; just as long as Tomoko didn't question me any further. I should be all cleared and I might live to see tomorrow. Well, at least live long enough before Hisakata tries to kill me.

"Oh yeah? And who were you talking to inside here? I'm so mad! We barely get to see each other as is, but I called you over two hundred times — I thought you were hurt!" Tomoko quickly took off her scarf and shoes. She was playing with her long gray hair — something she did when she was distressed.

I couldn't help but feel guilty. She was clearly worried about my safety, but I was spending my time eating dinner with some other girl. I placed my hand on top of her hair in response. Tomoko shyly hugged me while grabbing my other hand. She felt so cold, I even shuddered in response to her touch.

"Sorry . . . I'll make it up to you, but, erm . . ."

"What's wrong, Matsuri-Kun?"

"Well, do you have any idea of where the school's second library could be?"

Tomoko pulled away from the hug with a perplexed expression. I'd assume she would know where this 'second library' is located; she is the student council president. She messed with her gray hair a couple of times trying to think. 

"I may have an idea . . . but why?"

"I wanted to ask the librarian there a couple of questions."