Secretly, A Master Exorcist

– Wuung, wung, wung…

The buzzing noise of the spinning ceiling fan dominated the air as the two figures sitting by the long dining table moved their chopsticks in silence.

Once in a while, the sound of clinking cutleries could be heard, which was later paired with the sound of dripping droplets, pitter pattering against the water surface. And then, there was the voice of a certain someone, questioning:

"Does it taste good?"

"Huh?" The question was so abrupt that Kirin's mind instantly returned to the present moment.

Blinking confusingly, he fixed his unfocused eyes on the young man before him, noticing the man's plate that had long been emptied from God knows when.

"I said, does it taste good? You've been sipping on your soup with your sweats stirred inside for quite a moment and, you seemed to be enjoying it very much."

Saying this, Shion eyed Kirin as if he was someone who didn't belong here but the zoo instead.

"It's not bad, I guess. The soup tastes even better with the little add of saltiness." Kirin flatly replied, ignoring the weird gaze the other guy was giving him in response.

Without any doubt, the combination both tasted and sounded disgusting to the ears and mouth however, he didn't want to embarrass himself especially in front of this annoying guy.

As Kirin forced himself to down another spoonful of the disgusting combo with a struggling heart, a rumble emerged from beyond the walls and he once again found himself yanked outside, his sight overlapping with the darkness of his surroundings as he hovered in the air with numerous glowing talismans whirling around him.

He wasn't sure if he should be rejoicing this or not.

His bet was spot on and the Tier-5 Tenma had indeed set its eyes on the Blue Star Dormitory, placing the supposedly deadly fortress as the only target of its rampage. As a result, the dorm's outer layers of defense were now in tatters with him barely holding his ground.

– Crack!

Another clap of thunder occurred and his hurriedly-arranged formation of talismans was once again incinerated into dust.

Kirin gritted his teeth, purple veins visibly popping against the skin on his forehead as his hands moved to form a series of afterimages.

Then, as if strung and connected by invisible strings, another array of unscathed talismans rose from under the house platforms to form a wall around him, rotating vigorously with him as centre as the obscurely painted runes hummed and glowed with an eerie light.

In the passing of seconds, dark clouds gathered, crackling with bright golden streaks as each rumble strung on the strings of Kirin's anxiety, placing both his mind and heart in a state of disarray.

– Clap! Clap! Clap!

A series of thunderclaps tore through the air, each strike shaking Heaven and Earth and for a short half second, a piercing white light exploded, rendering the whole world blind. Then, as the brilliance flickered in and out, something huge seemed to have shifted in the air.

Kirin looked across the distance, the light in his eyes calm like still water. Where he once stood now loomed a demon, ensnared within the swirling runes that shone like prickling thorns.

"Purgatory Flames, incinerate."

Without the slightest change of expression, Kirin formed a rapid sequence of hand seals and snapped his finger as the final trigger. In that instant, a massive tongue of white fire burst forth, swallowing the demon within.

But, it wasn't even near enough. Kirin knew this long by heart.

He had no hopes of winning to begin with. What's worse was, he was running out of talismans to burn.

Now, how much longer did he need to stall until the backup arrives?

Kirin's clear pupils reflected the huge spitting fire before him.

At the same time, his perception spread wide to cover the whole neighbourhood, slight relief washing over him when he saw the finely-intact charms plastered on each roof.

Everything was still in place, all safe and sound. But not for long though.

When a blood curdling scream occurred from the further end of the neighbourhood, and when he noticed the rotating walls of talismans gradually curling under the demon's tremendous display of wrath, a decisive light flashed past his dark brooding eyes.

He was left with no choice then.

To keep things under control, to survive – a sacrifice was inevitable.

…

"Let me bring you some sweet buns. Would you like to have some mochis as well?"

Shion accepted the dessert-filled plate with a slight wrinkle on both his eyebrows.

'What's with the sudden hospitality?' He suspiciously eyed the seemingly busy Kirin who had now systematically moved to the further back of the kitchen to wash the dishes.

It's true that he indeed wanted to get close to the young expert he had accidentally discovered, but the change in the other man's attitude was indeed too sudden.

In one moment he looked like a prickly porcupine ready to stab anyone who dared to trespass his personal space and in the next second, he morphed into an expressionless angel, his five stars service flattering the fidgeting Shion to the moon.

Suspicious. This was just too suspicious.

Shion's suspicion especially grew when he noticed the lack of light in the other man's eyes. 

'Is this perhaps a case of possession?'

He brilliantly thought, only for all those meticulously manifesting accusations to be instantly dumped outside the window when an icy kind of sweetness exploded in his mouth.

'Is this Heaven I'm seeing?' 

It was cold and refreshing, like the morning breeze in spring. Thus,

'Such delicious food, why is he sharing them with me and not keep them for himself instead?'

Shion couldn't help but question Kirin's intentions, worried that he might be conspiring something bad. When a slight discomfort shot up from his lower abdomen, Shion's face instantly turned pale.

'Poison! He must have poisoned those desserts! I knew he was up to no good! That can't to do, I need to leave this place in this instant–' was what he thought and planned at first, until he flushed all that into the toilet as well when he was given an offer he just couldn't refuse.

"How about a tour around the place?"

Shion simply couldn't stop himself from furiously nodding his head like a hungered chicken pecking on grains.

'Aye, aye. Please lead the way, Good Sir.'

…

"What do you think you're doing here?"

The scene around him shifted once again and Kirin couldn't help but frown when he saw Shion walking into the inner wards leading to the dorm members' own respective rooms. 

As the living compartment of a supernatural agency, the house certainly didn't lack secrets and naturally, unlike the outer wards specially designed to entertain their guests – the inner wards, what more of the living wards, were strictly prohibited for outsiders.

And Shion, being the outsider he was, would definitely put Kirin in trouble once he was found out bringing an outsider into the restricted region without permission.

When Kirin thought of the trouble he would be facing if he was to get caught, every inch of his hair instantly stood up like a frightened porcupine.

"Get out! Don't let me say this twice–"

The urgency in his tone was evident as Kirin's voice sharpened, only to be cut short when the ground suddenly shook. In the next instant, he found himself returned to the battlefield.

"Damn it!" Kirin couldn't help but curse under his breath, noticing the obvious signs of decaying gradually tainting the core parts of the newly-arranged formation.

Removing, reinforcing, layering, sealing – he clenched his teeth and did that all in one breathing, his movements fluid as if he had done them for at least tens of times if not a hundred.

The defense formations around the house rose and fell as Kirin quickened the speed of his tearing and repairing. And by the time he was done with this side and moved to the other, he found to his horror the rapid changes that had happened within that short time of his absence.

"Why are you now in my room?"

Kirin may have noticed the disappointment in the other man's eyes, but he never would have guessed what had just transpired in the man's mind.

Shion reluctantly placed the strangely-carved wooden relic back onto its previous position and raised his eyes to look at Kirin with a glimmer of hope.

'Oh good spirits, please do your magic. POSSESS. HIM. NOW!'