Io moved through the temple at an easy pace. Just looking, as he sometimes did. Lately he had taken to doing it more often, probably due to the distinct lack of spiritual activity. The goblin moved through the rooms, not touching anything but just looking, eventually he had made his way back outside. He licked his lips and took a few steps through the yard before large brown wings sprouted from his back. The wings looked like large sparrow wings, they flapped a few times and brought him into the air. Io flew over the temple, over the training grounds, giving Lylth a passing glance as he moved lightly through the air. When Io finally came to land, he landed next to Nekozawa at the top of the shrine. "A demon was hunting another at the border of our property, they grow bolder with each passing day." Io spoke the words softly in that quiet way of his, he didn't look at Nekozawa though, his eyes were on the city. Watching it carefully.

Issa wandered absently through the shrine, not really paying attention to where she was going.
So she was rather surprised when she found herself in the back yard. The blue eyed girl frowned, surely she had been heading towards the kitchen?
The thunk of wood brought Issa back from her thoughts and she glanced round curiously.
At the sight of Lylth (wearing a blindfold of all things!) attacking one of the wooden training dummies with a sword she smiled lightly. Lylth was a nice girl, a little too intense when it came to her weapons, but someone Issa didn't mind spending a little time with.
Looking around the floor she found a place mostly clear of dirt and wood splinters. Sitting cross legged in that spot she smoothed her short white dress over her knees, then leaned back against the wall watching the dark haired girl practice.
Issa felt admiration fill her, even with the blindfold Lylth was having great success at beating the dummy into submission.
Oh well, guess I'd better get my own practice in.
Shutting her eyes Issa let her breathing slow and become deeper. Each breath in filling her lungs before she released it.
Then she reached out (when asked that was the best word she could use to describe what she did) looking for Lylth's emotions.

Lylth's harsh offense was still going at full bore, her mind centralized still on the target in front of her. I sense something. She began to feel hopeful. A spirit? No, it couldn't be. As Io glided quickly overhead.

Her chest began aching in a way she was overly familiar with. The pain of agony and fury. Her training periods were always emotional, fueled by the spite she still felt from the murder of her adoptive parents; the ones who helped her develop and master her weapon summoning skills, who made sure she was up to par in hand-to-hand combat. Though when they were alive living together with Lylth, they had no knowledge of the spirit world or the demons that walk these realms in disguises far better than one could imagine. It was another reason they were baffled by her abilities. Day and night, it seemed, Lylth practiced in their yard just as she does now at the temple (though she doesn't train at home anymore, her emotions get the best of her there and her practice battles get out of hand), and furthered her knowledge of her power.

She remembered, thinking back, of the day they discovered her weapons couldn't hurt the forces of good. A long day it had been, of destroying dummies, sparing with her father, and balance training with her mother. It was about time to quit for the evening when she summoned her katana (a basic model at the time made only of hilt and blade and no decoration), aimed at a dummy and struck just in time for a bird to land happily on the wooden post. But it was too late, she had already struck. Horrified, she dropped her sword, (which then immediately disappeared; all of her weapons can only handle a few seconds of being out of her hands before they vanish) and fell to her knees as the bird flew to the ground, seemingly dead. Tears began welling up in her eyes when she reached over to the bird, feeling horrible for the murder she had committed. Just before her hand stroked the bird's head, it fluttered. Lylth jumped back in surprise. The little bird, albeit obviously dazed, popped back up and looked around, tweeted at her angrily, then spread wing to take flight away disappearing into the distance. It had been a minute before she finally managed to stand again, still ridiculously confused, and brought about her dagger. Her mother, thinking the same thing, held out her arm for testing. With great hesitation, she brought the dagger to her mother's arm and touched the skin (her mother nodded reassuringly, she was very familiar to pain and injury), slicing downward. It went right through her. As if her arm was made of air.

Since then Lylth happily obliges when a comrades insists she demonstrate her abilities on them. Some have said they feel a slight tingling when her blade "goes through" them, others say the don't feel a thing. One thing that's consistent, though, is it's a good laugh when it first meets their flesh. There is always that feeling, on the receiver's end, that maybe it won't work this time. Maybe it will actually slice them open. But that's the fun of it. Fear, in some situations, can be fun.

Lylth's ears perked like a cat's, now feeling something watching her for sure. But she knew it wasn't a spirit, it felt like human eyes. Spirits don't breathe, do they? She asked herself before hiding her katana and summoning forth a throwing dagger, and throwing it directly to the body she sensed watching her. She lifted a corner of her blindfold, peering out with one eye, to find a very unharmed Issa, her knife already disappearing from being lodged in the wood behind her.

Issa frowned in frustration, she could sense Lylth but trying to pick out the separate emotions was proving difficult today.
She opened her eyes, just in time to see Lylth throw a dagger straight at her!
Her eyes widened and she barely had time to let out a squeak of surprise before it flew right through her.
Issa froze, heart pounding, she could feel the dagger vibrating in the wall behind her.
Although she was well used to Lylth's weapons by now it was still scary when one of them came flying towards her!
Issa managed a shaky smile. "That was cool" she said airily, trying to hide the slight tremble of her hands.

Lylth chuckled at Issa's obviously tense reaction. She expected no less, poor girl. Ready to rest from her intense morning session, she plopped down on the ground pretzel-style and put her hands on her knees with a smile. "How are you today, Issa?"

Issa had very interesting powers to Lylth. Her ability to sense or alter someone's emotions must be convenient at times, especially when people are lying or hiding something, or possibly deescalating a developing fight. I can think of a few ways Dianna could benefit from this. Although there was no knowledge to how effective her ability was at this point in time, Lylth hoped optimistically that soon Issa would master it; it's not often someone so mind-bending comes along, and if she masters it, maybe new doorways to her power would open up, like mind reading. Though Lylth would never personally enjoy having those powers. Sometimes it's nice to be blissfully ignorant of what people are thinking.

Nekozawa let out a sigh, saying, "For some reason, I'm not so worried about a couple of demons... I feel like there's something else coming, something worse than the odd demon or poltergeist... I feel like I did when I was still Yusuke's apprentice, on the day he was killed.... I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid. What do you think, Io?"

Io regarded Nekozawa for a few moments before his gaze shifted up, to the sky. "Something is coming. Demons grow bolder and spirit activity lessens, it's a sign. Things are changing, something is going to happen." At least, that's what Io thought, it was how he felt. The goblin wasn't entirely certain, perhaps a lot of spirits had just moved on? That was a bit unlikely. Io's gaze lowered from the sky to the city, his large wings twitched once and then vanished. There was a slight frown on Io's lips. "I fear for your students, whatever is coming, they might not be able to handle it." The demon-eater spoke those words a little quieter than was normal for his quiet voice, with the slightest hint of a grim tone in his voice. It wasn't just the children that Io feared for, he feared for the safety of the entire city, of Nekozawa and all the innocent lives that might get caught in the crossfire.

A slight roar echoed from the city. Ikari froze, but the rest of the students kept walking down the hall, like they hadn't herd a thing. Slowly he moved to the window and froze. "No....." his heart skipped a beat. Even from here, he could make out the shape of a ghost similar to the one he had seen this morning in the city, and if he could see it from here, it had to be huge. Unlike the one this morning though it did have a mouth, and as its' mouth opened a red energy began to concentrate inside. Ikari took off at a run down the hall, not caring if others looked at him strange. He pulled out his phone texting the others.

Spirit in town, big and deffinetly not friendly.

With that he made his way out of the school, heading down an ally he made sure no one was watching. He takes a breath and closes his eyes. Slight whispers echo in his ears, and it felt for a moment like his body was shifting just slightly. His eyes open, and he was now in an ally very close to the spirit. It had to be over fifty feet tall. Ikari's heart was racing, he hoped the others had got his message.

Miya left the classroom after attendance and headed towards the library. Her eyes focused on where she was going until she noticed the student council president as he ran down the hall. Several of the students turned and looked at him as he ran from running down the hallway. The students returned to what they were doing but it felt like she needed to follow him. Her eyes on him as he ran from the school. Miya knew this was a bad idea but it felt right to her.

"Knight-sama, Where are you?" She asked when she realized that she had lost him. Her hair started to stand on her arms as she felt something near her. Miya shivered as she looked around for him.

Issa relaxed and smiled brightly at Lylth as the other girl sat next to her.
"Oh I'm wonderful" she replied in a light voice. "Sorry I was using you to practice on, I hope you don't mind?"
A worried look passed over her face, maybe Lylth would be mad after all a person's emotions are pretty personal. Issa shifted uncomfortably at the thought. She liked Lylth and hated the idea that she might have intruded on things better left alone.

Lylth looked to the sky with a timid smile on her face and chuckled at Issa's question. She was rarely worried about hiding her emotions, or her thoughts for that matter; she always respected honesty even if it might hurt someone's feelings. "People learn and grow about themselves and the world around them when they're honest;" she looked to Issa, who still appeared slightly worried, "don't worry, I'll be your guinea pig as long as you like." Lylth laughed wholeheartedly and smiled wide to her friend. "But promise that if you ever see any emotions that seem confidential," she unknowingly paused, glancing up at the very top of the shrine --to where Io and Nekozawa stood--, "don't tell anyone, please."

Her gaze fell to the ground. "Besides! My practices are just one big ball of stress anyway, so I probably overwhelmed you." A giggle escaped her.

Nekozawa blinked in confusion at the sound of a shrill beeping before realizing it was his phone. He pulled it out, staring at it before a light blush colored his cheeks as he asked, "Umm... Io... do you know how to open up a tea-ex-tea message?" The keeper of the shrine had many skills, but none of them had anything to do with modern electronics, and even simple cell phones, like the one his Misfits had insisted he get, was as alien to him as Christian/Buddhist-combination exorcism rites were to most people.

The sudden shrill beeping sound put Io on alert, his body tensing and he stared at Nekozawa, because that was where the beeping was coming from. He relaxed instantly when Nekozawa pulled out the phone, Io had no use for such useless human technology. He shrugged rather helplessly at Nekozawa's question, but he had felt something, it was so far away. Just a ripple. It was probably nothing, he felt ripples occasionally. His gaze shifted from Nekozawa and the phone back to the city.

Io's body tensed again, his large wings appearing and spreading out behind him. "Something's in the city." He raised a hand and pointed, eyes narrowed as he squinted. It was big, whatever it was, but still so far away that he couldn't tell exactly what it was, he could just barely see it. He could just barely tell something big was there and moving through the city. His wings twitched, ready to leap into the air and rush to the city's defense. He looked at Nekozawa for half a moment before the goblin was in the air. He hesitated, if Nekozawa didn't want him to go, Io would obey, but only if ordered to.

Nekozawa's eyes narrowed as he put the phone in his pocket, gesturing for Io to go, saying, "Go, if the Misfits are there, keep them safe, I'll be right there!" Turning, he sprinted down the stairs and to the back gate of the shrine, quickly hopping onto one piece of modern tech he could understand... a moped. Slapping on his helmet, making sure his katana was secure, he fired up the pearl-white vehicle and made out for the city like a bat out of hell... if bats made a buzzing-type noise.

Issa let out a tiny breath of relief, then her small smile became wider.
Lylth was great to practice on, she needed a little challenge otherwise how would her power grow?
In response to Lylth's question Issa let out a small laugh. "Of course, I wouldn't dream of spilling anything personal. I-" she paused frowning.
Something was wrong. She looked towards the top of the shrine, the very place the other girl had glanced at moments before. There, that's where it was coming from. She didn't know who it was, but someone up there had been feeling very strong emotions. And not good ones either.
Issa hesitated, biting her lip anxiously. "Lylth" she said finally. "I think something's wrong".

Lylth was immediately concerned with the loss of expression Issa obtained. Her only thought was Uh-oh.

"Well--" she stood and offered a hand to help her friend up, "I'll go take a quick shower look into it with you, okay?" A glance was shot up in Io and Nekozama's direction. "I shower quickly. It'll only take a few minutes." Without realizing it, she began absent-mindedly dragging Issa inside the temple with her, now suddenly eager to find out what the issue could be. A face of determination and defensiveness shadowed her. If Issa was picking up something, it had to be serious, and it was a sure thing -- Lylth's heart trusted Issa's abilities.

She stopped at the door to her room and let her iron grip go, embarrassed she'd taken the other girl all through the temple with her. With blush gathering on her cheeks, she bowed a small apology to her friend and was about to speak until she heard a small buzzing on a table in her room. After poking her head in for a quick peak, a small light became visible from under a book. "Is that my phone?" Lylth walked over to it and opened the text message that awaited her. An even darker look crossed her face, her eyebrows furrowing and a sinking feeling enveloping her chest. "It's Ikari. There's trouble."