The air in the boardroom was thick with tension.
The lights overhead buzzed faintly, casting a sterile glow over the long, polished table where the Highers sat. Each wore the same dark uniform, their faces lined with years of experience, power, and cold calculation. Files were scattered across the table, images of Soya, crime scene reports, surveillance stills. Blood-red stamps marked every page: Rank 1 level threat.
At the head of the table, Nakamura's voice snapped like a whip.
"You're reckless, Sora!" he shouted, his fists slamming against the table hard enough to rattle the pens. His sharp features twisted with anger, veins bulging at his temples. "You have no authority to intervene in matters like this! This is above your pay grade, boy!"
Sora stood at the far end of the room, his hands shoved casually in his pockets, one foot tapping lazily against the floor.
His blonde hair was messy, almost unkempt, the bangs falling into his dark, sharp eyes.
His expression?
Calm. Unbothered.
But the way his gaze cut through the room, like a knife through glass, sent a chill down the spines of even the oldest Highers.
"Shut up," Sora said, his voice low, sharp, and dangerously cold.
The words hung in the air like a blade.
The room fell dead silent.
Nakamura's mouth snapped shut, his jaw tight.
Sora stepped forward, his boots thudding softly against the floor.
"You people sit up here in your little towers," he said, his tone dripping with venom. "Acting like gods. But he's just a kid. A scared, broken kid. And where were you when he needed help?!"
No answer.
Sora's gaze narrowed, his voice dropping even lower.
"And now...you wanna kill him?!"
His lips curled into a crooked smirk, but there was no humor in it, just cold.
"No. I'm not gonna let that happen."
The air around him seemed to shift, a subtle pressure building like the calm before a storm.
"I'm taking the kid. To my school. I'll teach him how to control that power of his. I'll make him an exorcist. And if any of you idiots have a problem with that–"
He tilted his head, that star-shaped eye glinting like a crackling fuse.
"You're welcome to try and stop me."
Silence.
Nakamura gritted his teeth, the tendons in his neck straining–but he didn't move. No one did.
They all knew.
Sora Senju couldn't be beaten.
Not in a fight.
Not by anyone in that room.
The tension in the air snapped like a cord, and Sora turned on his heel, the faintest ghost of a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth.
"That's what I thought."
His boots echoed down the hall as he left them in stunned silence, the heavy doors swinging shut behind him.
****
The hallway was cold and dim, lit by a single flickering light at the end.
Sora's steps slowed as he approached a heavy, reinforced door marked by dozens of paper seals, each humming faintly with spiritual energy. The air here was heavy, thick with binding magic, an execution chamber.
He stopped in front of it, his hands still in his pockets.
Through the thin crack in the door, he could see Soya.
The kid sat on the floor, knees tucked to his chest, his head bowed low, dark hair sticking to his forehead in sweaty strands. Chains coiled around his wrists and ankles. Seals covered the walls like a spider's web, each one designed to suppress and destroy any trace of his power.
Sora's eyes narrowed.
He exhaled through his nose, slow and deliberate.
Then he placed a hand on the door.
The seals flickered, then shattered like glass under his touch, their fragments dissolving into the air. The hum of power vanished in an instant.
The lock clicked open with a soft, almost reluctant groan.
Sora stepped inside, his gaze locked on Soya.
The kid looked up, eyes wide with fear, confusion, and the faintest flicker of hope.
Sora's voice cut through the silence like a blade.
"Come on, kid."
He tilted his head, that lazy grin spreading across his face.
"Time to get the hell out of here."
The air in the execution chamber felt heavier now, almost suffocating.
Soya sat there, staring down at the cracked floor beneath his feet. His voice came out low, barely more than a whisper.
"I'm not going."
Sora raised an eyebrow, watching him.
Soya's fists clenched, the chains rattling faintly around his wrists.
"I deserve this," he muttered, the words scraping out like glass on stone. His shoulders trembled. "I killed people, lots of people. They're all dead because of me. I should be executed… If I die, maybe I can save lives. At least I won't hurt anyone else…"
His voice trailed off, raw and hollow.
Sora sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, his expression caught somewhere between frustration and pity.
"You didn't take those lives," he said, his voice even but firm. "Your Shikigami did."
Soya flinched like the words physically hit him, but he shook his head violently.
"I let it happen. I am the monster. I can't control it… I can't control them. I should stay here. Pay for my crimes. If I die, maybe I can finally stop them–"
That's when Sora's expression darkened.
He took a slow step forward, the light from the broken seals casting sharp shadows across his face.
His voice was sharper now, edged with something almost dangerous.
"So you think dying's gonna save lives?"
Soya's breath hitched. He looked up at him, eyes wide but still glassy with guilt, and he gave the faintest nod.
Sora's stare hardened.
"Well, it won't."
The words cracked like thunder in the still room.
Sora tilted his head slightly, his blonde hair falling into his eyes. That star-shaped glint in his right eye shimmered like a warning.
"You die, and all those Shikigami you've bonded to? They'll break free. And they'll go wild. No rules. No limits. No one to hold them back."
Soya's eyes snapped up, his breath caught in his throat.
"They'll kill more people, not less. Your death won't stop anything. It'll make it worse."
Soya swallowed, his mind racing, the weight of it all crashing into him like a freight train.
Sora crouched down, his tone softening, but there was an undeniable fire behind his words.
"You think you can just erase what happened by dying? That it'll make things right? It won't. It doesn't change a damn thing."
He leaned in closer, his gaze locking onto Soya's, burning and alive.
"But you know what does?"
Soya blinked, frozen, voice barely a breath.
"…What?"
Sora smirked faintly, the smallest curve of his lips.
"Getting up. And fighting. Using the power you have to stop more people from dying. Or at the very least, controlling it so no one else has to die because of you."
He stood up tall again, the full weight of his presence filling the room.
"Whether you like it or not, you're coming with me."
Sora lifted his hand, palm open toward Soya, fingers curling slightly.
There was a pause, then a sudden, sharp pulse of energy filled the room.
The chains binding Soya snapped, shattering into shimmering fragments that dissolved into the air.
Soya stared in shock as the shackles fell away from his wrists, his ankles, his chest. The weight was suddenly gone.
He looked up at Sora, wide-eyed.
"Where… where are we going?" he asked, his voice small, uncertain.
Sora smirked, folding his arms.
"To a school for people like us. A place where you'll learn how to control your powers."
He turned, already walking toward the door. His voice echoed back, casual but firm.
"Don't worry. There are other kids like you there."
But then Soya's voice cracked out, sharp and panicked.
"And what if… what if I lose control again?! What if I hurt them… or worse?"
Sora stopped.
He turned his head slightly, his expression shifting, his smirk gone, replaced by something stronger.
A look.
One Soya had never seen before.
A look that radiated sheer, unshakable confidence. Not arrogance, but the kind of belief that could pull the stars down from the sky if he wanted to.
It was reassuring. It was terrifying.
Sora's gaze burned into Soya's.
"Do you really think," he asked quietly, "I'd let that happen?"
The words hit Soya's chest like a hammer, sinking deep into the hollow ache of guilt and fear.
For the first time in what felt like forever…
Soya wasn't sure.
But maybe… just maybe...
This guy could actually help him.