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*"Kuruk, look, look!"* The six-year-old shouted as she ran toward her brother, who was sitting on the snow, lost in thought. The excitement was clear on her face. The moment she stopped in front of him, she moved her hands with the fluidity of waves into the same positions she’d seen him do, perfectly imitating the movements just as the book said. And in that instant, the water rose in front of her and twisted, impossibly, into the shape of a ball.
She raised her hands again and spread them out around her with obvious concentration. The water obeyed her. The ball stretched itself into a line, and with another movement of her hands it turned into a circle that spun around her small body.
The smile returned to her face as she waited for his praise. All she’d done was make the water swirl around her in a tiny circle, nothing compared to his abilities. But the teenager smiled.
"Good job, Kanami!" he said, gently ruffling her hair, making her giggle.
Moments like these were a good escape for him during the difficult mission he’d been forced to take. The spirits weren’t happy, and there was no one else to deal with it.
At that moment he sensed the presence of that spirit immediately. His kind eyes hardened as he looked toward that angry violet apparition, and he quickly stood up.
"Stay behind me!" It was a command, and the little girl understood that, so she did as she was told.
She watched. Curiosity overcame her despite the danger of the situation, and she saw the incomprehensible circular movements her brother was making. She knew it was spirit purification. That’s what he’d said, but she didn’t understand what it was, so it only seemed more amazing in her eyes.
Her eyes caught that small spirit above their cabin — the glowing eyes and violet body. It looked just as angry as that huge thing. The little girl wanted to try. She wanted more praise. So she tried to imitate his movements with that angry little spirit, spreading her legs and moving her hands in circles just like him.
She really tried, but she had no idea what she was doing. Nothing happened. And the spirit realized her attempt to purify it, and it became indescribably furious. The small spirit screamed with a sound the child had never heard before and lunged at her with a speed not of this world.
The girl froze in terror when she realized her situation. The scream reached her brother’s ears too. He miraculously succeeded in what he’d set out to do, quickly glancing to his left. His hand shot out and gripped his sister’s wrist painfully, yanking her away from the danger within seconds.
He raised his other hand, forced to use it, and moved the snow quickly to trap that spirit in a tight ball. The girl saw what he was doing, but her legs were shaking so she couldn’t help him this time.
She saw his eyes glow and his hands move fast. The snow rose and gathered around the spirit to imprison it in place. Then, without the prison breaking, he began making those same circular movements. Slowly, the dark spirit turned into a mass of light, then faded away as if it had never existed.
The snow fell back to the ground as the teenager exhaled in relief. His eyes returned to their blue color. Then he turned when he felt small arms wrap tightly around him. She was still trembling, and so was he. But his face shifted into the expression of anger that she hated. He put his hands on her shoulders, gripping them hard and pushing her back so she’d look straight into his eyes.
"Are you crazy?! Don’t mess with spirits, Kanami, they’re more dangerous than—"
He stopped when he saw tears gathering in her blue eyes, and realized he’d shouted at her.
Regret hit him like a wave. Immediately he loosened his grip to hug her instead.
"I’m sorry. I was just worried about you, you know that, right?"
She nodded, her head buried in his warm fur coat, still trembling and still crying.