Seraphim is a Bystander

School Trip Day 1: Purifying Flame
 

My consciousness rushed back to reality.
The boy who had touched my head before I blacked out—the one possessing Sasaki-kun—now stared at me in confusion, clutching the hand he had used to touch me like he was protecting it.
“What… what did you just do to me?!”
I stayed silent.

As I watched his flustered reaction, I examined the flow of power within my body.
Though she had told me in the dream, it seemed my instincts had taken over when he touched me—my abilities had automatically repelled his intrusion, as if driven by a primal defense mechanism.
“Thanks to you… I remembered everything.”
“What are you talking about…? What did you remember?”

Until now, I hadn’t known how to fight him—I was only reacting passively while trying to protect Sasaki-kun.
But now that I understood how to fight, there was no reason to be afraid.
Where once there was just a vague sense of discomfort from Sasaki-kun, I could now clearly see the black shadow clinging to him.
…The enemy I must defeat is right in front of me.
And I know how to fight.

As I slowly approached him, the eerie smile that had clung to his face vanished, replaced with a look of fear as he backed away.
“S-Stay away! Don’t come any closer!”
“There’s no reason for me not to.”

He backed up quickly—but soon hit a wall behind him and ran out of space.
Cornered, he looked back at me in panic.
“Don’t come closer! What if something happens to this boy’s body?!”
“I know you don’t have that kind of power. And besides… if Sasaki-kun gets hurt, you’re the one who suffers the most, aren’t you?”

I approached slowly as he desperately tried to escape, changing the flow of my energy—unlike the usual way I used my abilities.
“S-Stay awaaaAAAAY!!”
Realizing I wouldn’t back off, he let out a wild scream and lunged at me with a raised fist, swinging it down recklessly.

“Guh…!”
His punch was untrained, clumsy, and filled with desperation.
I caught it gently, absorbing the impact as softly as I could, then slipped around behind him.
Without using any painful holds, I grabbed his other arm from behind and restrained him—carefully, trying not to hurt him.
“W-What are you doing?! Stop it! Stop—please!!”
“It’s okay… I’m just sending you back to where you belong.”

As I held him in place, I reached up and covered his eyes with one hand.
He had no more words, only silence.
Then I let blue flames gently flare from both of my hands.
Unlike my usual way of using powers, this time I let the flow move on instinct—like she had taught me.
I wrapped Sasaki-kun’s body in the soft, cleansing flames.
“A… aaaa…!”

He let out a faint sound and twitched as if trying to resist.
But as the flames died down, the black shadow that had clung to Sasaki-kun was completely burned away—vanishing without a trace.
And then, Sasaki-kun’s body went limp and collapsed.
“Whoa—!”

I quickly released his hands and caught him before he hit the ground.
Lifting him gently, I moved to lay him down on the box he had been sitting on… but it was dirty.
So, with a flick of my power, I burned away the grime—careful not to ignite anything else—then laid him down softly.
I sat beside him, waiting for him to wake, and activated the nanomachines to message the rest of the group, telling them where we were.
“…This city really is full of them, huh.”

I deactivated the nanomachines and scanned my surroundings.
Throughout the city, I could see dim black shadows wandering here and there.
Some had already spotted the unconscious Sasaki-kun and were starting to shamble toward him.
Thinking it’d be best to put up a magical ward, I decided to summon flames imbued with purification energy—but then realized… I hadn’t actually named this power yet.
Honestly, naming your own techniques is kind of embarrassing and not really my thing…
But both my master and my dad always said it’s good to give new abilities a name early on.

“…Jōka.” (浄火 — Purifying Flame)
The name came to me in just a few seconds.
I linked the concept to a blue flame and let orbs of fire drift around the area.
Several of the black shadows wandered toward the light like moths to a flame—and were immediately purified, their forms disappearing as they returned to the sky.

While practicing how to control Jōka and checking in with my group via nanomachines, Sasaki-kun stirred with a faint sound.
“…Nn?”
He slowly sat up, scanning his surroundings with a confused look—gazing at both me and the floating flames.

“You’re awake? You okay? Feel any pain or discomfort?”
“…F-Futaba-kun?”
He seemed dazed and uncertain as he said my name—but I knew then, from the way he looked and spoke, that he was back.
That he was himself again.
I couldn’t help but smile with relief.

“Heh… I’m glad. Looks like you’re okay now.”
But then… Sasaki-kun lowered his gaze, just like he always did.
Only this time, something was different—he was holding back sobs.
“When you’ve calmed down, I’d like to hear your story… okay?”

“...!”
He said nothing.
But through the long fringe covering his eyes, I could see tears fall.
And in silence, Sasaki-kun gave me a small, but clear nod.