sep. 9th masterpost | a tale of two schools masterpost
It had all been too convenient, Toya decided. The way Cityspirits kids had been coincidentally finding the meeting spots of Exitfind students and continuing to foil their masterly-crafted plans. Toya didn't want to start a turf war, by any means, but what Mafuyu had been telling him wasn't exactly being proven by her underclassmen.
"What do you want to do with them?" Kohane asked, perched on a desk in the room Toya had taken over to prepare a counterattack. Toya hummed in thought, then shrugged. "...Should you talk to Asahina-san?"
Toya sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I have, but nothing's changed. Something's clearly at work here."
A thump echoed against the wall facing outwards; Toya and Kohane moved over to see a familiar purple-haired figure, holding her bow with a look of determination. Toya opened the window and leaned against the ledge, putting his chin in his hand.
"Aoyagi. We need to talk. Those aren't Exitfind students."
"Oh?" Toya raised an eyebrow. "Then why are they wearing Exitfind uniforms?"
Asahina-san glanced away. "...Let me in. This information is too sensitive for public ears. I shouldn't even be telling you this."
"What does that imply, Asahina-san?" Was she going behind Kamishiro-san's back? Even Toya didn't dare mess with him, even with backup.
Asahina-san looked back up at him with what he could only call a glare. "I'm aware of the secret Exitfind Academy keeps within its walls. Just like you, Cityspirits Academy keeps a tightly-guarded secret within its walls."
"...She knows about SEKAI?" Kohane murmured, flipping back to the wall to her back so Asahina-san couldn't see or hear her. Toya hummed, straightening up.
"Alright. I'll listen. Kohane will go down and let you in," he turned to his classmate who nodded and scurried downstairs. He turned back to Asahina-san. "But this stays between you and I."
"Both secrets," Asahina-san clarified. "You tell me about Exitfind, and I'll tell you about Cityspirits."
Toya smiled. "You have yourself a deal."
Asahina-san got straight to the point: "Cityspirits Academy is host to multiple youkai, primarily in their upper ranks. Thus, we deal a lot with paranormal activity in the town. Exitfind Academy guards something similar, does it not?"
Toya crossed his arms and legs, sitting upright in his chair. "...Yes. Exitfind Academy guards SEKAI, a large device in the basement. It's said to grant your true feelings if you ask for it; the student council has been protecting it for decades now."
"I see," Asahina-san leaned forward. "Due to Cityspirits Academy's involvement in the paranormal, I can confide with you that those Cityspirits students aren't out students—they're youkai, camouflaging themselves as students. They're trying to bring us down as, without us, they'd be allowed to wreak havoc upon the city."
"How did you even figure that out?" Toya asked.
"They were too uniform. Too perfect. No one in Cityspirits Academy wears their uniform that neatly."
Toya snorted, then looked to his partner-in-crime beside him; her brow was furrowed and her hand was on her chin. He asked her what was on her mind.
"...If they knew about SEKAI," Kohane murmured in response, "it could be catastrophic."
He thought for a moment about the history timeline he'd been forced to memorize when he first began as council president. "Cityspirits and Exitfind's rivalry falls in line with when SEKAI was first put under lock and key," Toya agreed. "But that's for later thought. First of all: why are you telling me about your youkai problem? It sounds like it's not our problem."
"Sooner or later, they were going to start a turf war," Asahina-san raised an eyebrow. "I wanted to tell you before it happened. Cityspirits is not trying to disrupt whatever it is you're trying to do."
"So you know we're trying to do something?"
"...No comment," Toya glanced away. Asahina-san huffed.
"You have no obligation to help us with our problem, but... if you helped us, it would let you return to your plan faster. They're going to keep targeting your students until they get fed up and attack Cityspirits Academy. At which point, they would turn into Exitfind students and overwhelm us."
"They're tricksters," Kohane noted. Asahina-san nodded.
"Chaos is their favorite thing to do. The only thing standing between them and unlimited chaos is Exitfind Academy."
"Are... you a youkai?" Toya looked her up and down. Nothing seemed specifically out of place, but then again this was the first he was hearing of Cityspirits's true motive.
Asahina-san shrugged. "I see them. Can interact with them. Do everything youkai can do to youkai, but I'm not one. Kamishiro says I have strong spiritual energy or something. But I'm fully human."
"But Kamishiro is a youkai?" Kohane asked.
"Tenma, Hinomori, and Momoi, too."
"Did you know about Tsukasa-san—?" Kohane turned to Toya. Toya snorted, leaning back in his seat as he felt the weight slip off his shoulders.
"Why do you think I'm not that phased about this? I always knew Tsukasa-senpai was a youkai. Saki-san is, too." I'm glad Tsukasa-senpai isn't alone there, he added mentally.
"Oh, so... you knew youkai existed?"
"Mm, just not that Cityspirits was basically a final line of defense against them."
Asahina-san took a deep breath. "Aoyagi. I don't want to start a turf war. I want the tension to stop. So please—"
Toya held up a hand. He turned his decision over in his head once more, then gave Asahina-san a smile—not a normal smirk, but a real smile. "We'll help, Asahina-san. I want the turf war to stop too, and if helping you stop the youkais means that SEKAI stays secure, then I will do whatever it takes."
"...I see," Asahina-san breathed. "Then, it's a pleasure working with you." She held her hand out, and Toya grasped his firmly, shaking on it. Toya knew that this was the start of something—the start of the end he'd been looking for for years now. The start to the end of all his pain and suffering for himself, for the entirety of those forced to keep SEKAI secret for as long as they lived, lest their worst nightmares come true.
Cityspirits Academy, Asahina Mafuyu. That was his way out of this hellhole, he could just tell, holding onto her hand. He would be free soon.
