Chapter Text
Art by Lola1b
Prologue
A woman with pink hair, the exact shade of peonies, walked onto a stage, her white kimono with red flowers shimmering under the stage lights. She marched until she reached a podium in the center of the stage, her head held high; her bright peonie hair pulled into a perfect bun behind her head. She radiated confidence, and the way she held herself, indicated she was a woman of perfection. She cleared her throat, looked up at the crowd out before her, and beamed big and wide, “Hello hopefuls!”
The room erupted into clapping, and the woman smiled waiting for the room the settle, before reading off of a prepared note card.
“Welcome to your first day of Orientation. I will be your Spirit Guide into being… a Spirit Guide.”
There was a polite chuckle of laughter that wafted around the room from the crowd.
The woman put a hand on her chest with a flourish, “I am Eri. I have been a Spirit Guide, a Grim, a Reaper, a Shinigami, and all the names humanity has given our kind, for hundreds of years. We here, are the Spirit Guides who work for Japan. Every continent has its own breed of grim, and us here, serving under the great Koenma, are ranked number two in the business! There are thousands of us, because humanity, does not last forever, and we only work in eight-hour shifts. I will assign each of you new, bright young spirits a teacher who will help you understand your new role as Spirit Guide to the River Styx.”
“The first year, is the hardest. This year, we have two-hundred candidates, who successfully finished their three-year training period,” Eri paused for a round of applause, which broke out as soon as she finished her sentence. When the den softened, she resumed her speech, “Yes. This is a great talent! Now, unfortunately, due to the nature and difficulty of this job, usually only twenty percent of our first years… will remain.”
The room got silent.
“Now, don’t be afraid. But being a Spirit Guide, is hard… more emotionally than anything else. You young souls are undergoing a personal trial. And some of you, won’t be able to handle it. And there is no shame in that! In order to be accepted into the Spirit Guide school, what did you need?”
She looked around the room, and waved a hand, “Come, come… someone answer.”
A hand shot up, and Eri pointed out the hand, “Stand. Give us your name.”
A young girl, looking no more than sixteen stood up. Her hair was black, but it seemed unnatural somehow. Too dark, too toned in purple, and emitting a soft, soft glow around the crown. Her eyes were golden, and her Kimono was green with roses blooming on the sleeves and hem of her kimono. Nervously, but in a strong voice she answered, “I’m Haruko… and in order to be accepted into the school, the spirit had to have an innate sense of kindness or happiness. One that had lasted throughout their human life, until the day of their death.”
“Yes!” Eri cheered, “Yes! Your strength, our strength is how we feel, and how we make others feel. But if… sharing that kindness, that happiness is too much of a strain on your spirit, you can make the decision to quit. Because all of you, once upon a time ago, were alive, and were human. You have all earned your rest, but you’re here, because you chose to work.”
“And believe me when I say, I’m telling you, this job isn’t for everyone. This first year, is your hardest. Not only are you learning the ropes of your job, but you’ll also be regaining all your human memories. Why, someone answer, don’t you have your human memories yet?”
Eri looked around the room, and pointed to a thin hand raised in the air, “Yes, you! Please state your name and answer!”
A woman, probably in her early twenties stood up. Her Kimono was a deep blue with a pale blue and white striped obi, tied up in a neat bow. Her hair was green, a deep sage, and like the girl before, an aura seemed to glow from the top of her head. Her eyes were a dark black, and her voice was a low tone as she answered, “My name is Natsuko. And it is a test. If we start off with our humanity, the job might be too hard from the get-go. But if we learn it in pieces, we stand a chance to acclimate more comfortably to our job.”
Eri nodded, “Yes, correct! It is hard to juggle the job of death with human attachments. It’s hard to teach, with a mind so full. So with your permission, before you entered the school, we took your memories of your human life. So for the last three years, we taught you everything you needed to know about being a Spirit Guide. But, don’t you worry, your human life, its memories, will all come back to you before the year is through.”
“You first year here, you will ferry souls to the Spirit World, human and demon,” Eri tittered and wiggled her head as whispers echoed around, “Yes, yes we’ve extended into ferrying demon souls within the past fifty years. Koenma, Lord of the Spirit World insisted. Demons used to have to traverse a difficult path to get to the Spirit World to find their rest, or face judgment and find their damnation, but not anymore. We ferry them as we would any human soul. For now, our Spirit Guides are all still human, but if a demon soul is ever interested… they are more than welcome to come and apply for a Spirit Guide position.”
There were a couple of unkind chuckles around the room, that Eri did not silence. A few of the new hopeful Spirit Guides shifted uncomfortably.
A strong masculine voice ordered, “Quiet. What’s there to laugh at?”
The room went silent, and Eri lifted her head, looking for the voice.
“Who was that?” She asked, her voice pitched up an octave.
A strong hand lifted into the air.
Eri smiled, and gestured with her hand, “Up please… and introduce yourself.”
A tall figure stood to his feet. He had already been tall and broad, just from sitting down. Now standing he seemed even more intimidating, a towering muscular figure. His kimono was a bright sky blue, with white brocade clouds drifting from his waist to over his shoulder. His orange hair was bright, and glowed intensely, almost like a halo above his head. Brighter than most of the people in the room. The hair was styled into that of a pompadour, and he looked to be in his twenties, clear and unnaturally blue eyes shining out from his face. Calm, with his chin raised, he introduced himself, “I’m Kazuma Kuwabara.”
Eri looked at him and whispering broke out.
She smiled and asked, “Why did you ask the room to be quiet?”
“Because it was wrong to laugh. Humans and demons both die. Both souls deserve to be ferried, to find their rightful resting place. In school, I learned the human realm and the demon realm made peace, within the last century even. And that peace has done well… but demon spirits seem to have trouble finding work in Spirit World if they would rather work than go to eternal rest. So I don’t think it’s funny that there hasn’t been a demon spirit who hasn’t joined the Spirit Guide team. I don’t get the joke.”
The room was quiet, and Eri smiled brightly at Kuwabara, “My goodness… you’re a heart full of justice! We look forward to having you among our ranks. I hope you make it.”
Kuwabara grinned, “Me too.”