Hori sat alone on the wooden bench outside the inn, both hands resting neatly in her lap as she stared at the forest trees.
Nothing was happening.
That was the problem.
'Haruki-san left nearly an hour ago after receiving a job protecting some underground boss.'
She spoke to herself.
Before leaving, he'd given her a simple instruction.
Wait here.
So she waited.
The afternoon had settled into an almost irritating stillness. A mild breeze passed through the trees surrounding the inn, stirring the leaves with a soft rustling sound before disappearing just as quickly.
Hori's eyes followed a drifting leaf as it tumbled across the dirt.
It stopped.
She stared at it.
The leaf did not move again.
"The Sabbath Exams..."
She said aloud. Her voice carried absolutely no enthusiasm.
"How on earth do I plan to make it to the top 3.... I'm just a kid."
She leaned farther back against the bench, letting her head rest against the wooden backrest. Her newly shortened hair brushed against her neck, and she absently tucked one loose strand behind her ear.
Nothing.
No Haruki.
No visitors.
No sinners.
No training.
Not even a particularly interesting cloud.
Hori sighed.
She had already counted the fence posts. Twice.
She had counted the windows of the inn.
She had even spent several minutes attempting to determine whether the same bird had been chirping from the same tree or whether there were simply two identical birds.
The latter seemed more likely.
Still, she had nothing better to do.
Just then, a familiar voice called played in her head.
"I'd start training if I were you kiddo."
Hori slowly turned her head to the left.
Behold.
What could only be called a ghost sat there. The ghost of ICHIRO NAKAMURA, the deceased luchador-inspired Priest who had saved her.
Hori stared for exactly 5 seconds, she blinked once. Then twice. Before jumping out of shock.
"Ah-!"
Her voice cracked. She tripped over her own feet and landed hard on the dirt, palms stinging.
Nakamura was still there.
Same frowning luchador mask. Same red and blue briefs.
Only problem: he was dead.
Hori's breath hitched.
This wasn't possible. Dead people didn't sit on benches and talk to the living.
"N-nakamura san...! what're you doing here?" she had to ask, despite knowing it wasn't real.
Hori remained on the ground for several seconds, her palms pressed against the dirt while she stared at the impossible figure sitting comfortably on the bench.
Nakamura stared back.
Neither of them moved.
The afternoon breeze passed between them, stirring the grass around Hori's knees and carrying a few dry leaves beneath the bench.
Hori slowly lifted herself onto her knees.
Her eyes narrowed.
"... I'm.... hallucinating?"
Nakamura's eyebrows rose beneath the edge of his mask. "That's your conclusion?"
"...Yes." Hori answered, head bowed. "You were crushed in my front... your smashed entrails was smeared on my body." Tears almost fell. Guilt gnawing her insides.
Nakamura took a deep breath. "Here, come sit down." He tapped the bench with his huge red gloves.
Hori stood carefully, brushing the dirt from her palms before looking at him again.
Her heart was still beating faster than it should have been, but the initial shock had begun giving way to something more familiar.
Curiosity.
It was difficult for Hori to remain frightened of something she desperately wanted to understand.
"Ehmm.... H-how are you doing?" She managed saying.
Nakamura's expression remained completely calm. As if not hearing her through the mask.
Hori stared at him. Then her voice cracked. "...are you... angry with me?"
"Ehh? What makes you say that?" Nakamura sounded oddly calm.
Hori's lips parted.
"You were killed because of me... if I had died in the explosion. You probably wouldn't have had an excuse to risk your life..."
Hori confessed.
She looked away, thinking about his response to come.
Nakamura chuckled.
Hori slowly lowered herself onto the bench again. She kept her hands folded neatly in her lap, but her eyes couldn't meet his.
"I'm a Priest. Even if nobody survived Arson's explosion. I would've still died fighting... it's what I signed up for right?" He laughed patting Hori's head.
There was something different about seeing Nakamura like this.
Even the feeling of his glove tapping her head was detailed.
Her mind had somehow reconstructed him perfectly.
"Nakamura-san....I need some advice." Hori said with watery eyes.
"What is it?" He leaned back on the bench. Glancing over his shoulder.
"Do I... just give up?"
Hori's expression softened. Sorrow fogged her thoughts until it got grim.
"I'm sure I'll just end up dead if I take the Sabbath Exams... that's if they even allow a 14 year old to take it."
She swallowed then continued.
"So do I just stop trying? Spend the rest of my days in this forest with Haruki-san.... never to see my father... Ever again?"
She pulled her knees in and rested her head on them.
Nakamura didn't look at her.
He turned his gaze to the forest instead. To the dark between the trees.
When he spoke, his voice had no softness in it. No pity.
"Take the exams."
A pause.
"If your reason for becoming a Priest is truly noble, then you don't run from the danger simply because you're afraid of dying... you need to get up. And take the risk."
Hori's tears stopped.
Just like that.
She had been bracing for gentle hands. For the kind of words adults give to children who are breaking.
What she got was an order... one so absolute, She couldn't help but laugh.
And for a brief moment, sitting beside a hallucination of a dead man felt almost normal.
'Nakamura-san is right.'
She thought with a smile, cleaning her nearly red eyes.
'My father owns the highest rank for any man in SHO. The rank of Pope!'
Her posture straightened.
'What kind of daughter would I be to give up so easily...!' Hori nearly slapped herself for the pitiful display up till that point.
"As for the age limit, SHO doesn't have such for participants of the Sabbath Exams."
Nakamura added.
"I took mine 5 times from when I was 66.... That's why I'm such an old geezer of a Priest. Instead of a cool veteran." He laughed from embarrassment.
Hori frowned then stood up. "You're quite strong yourself Nakamura-san... Arson was just too much of a challenge for you." Her words were true. Even amongst the bishops rankings existed.
"Then again... thank you." She suddenly bowed. " Your death won't be in vain.... I will take the Sabbath Exams. And I'm not dying trying!" Hori raised her voice at the old man.
"You better keep on that promise, Inori."
A wave of encouragement washed over Hori.
The trees stood motionless in the afternoon light, their branches overlapping until the forest seemed almost like a wall.
Hori's fingers tightened after she blinked. Nakamura-san. Was gone.
The silence had returned.
She stood by the bench and adjusted the sleeves of her sweater, preparing herself with the reluctant seriousness of someone accepting a task she already knew she was going to hate.
"Haruki-san should hurry back."
She turned around. Another gust of wind swept through the trees, rustling leaves.
"I have to start my training."
The words came out steady.
Hori's eyes shimmered, not with tears, but with resolve.
Her fist tightened as she looked at the inn, and for the first time it didn't look like shelter. It looked like a starting line.