Yumi and Akira: The Shinigami Warriors

Chapter 1

24th of April, Kana­za­wa

„This is your new classmate," our teacher announces to the class, turning to the left to look at the new girl. She has long platinum blonde hair and red eyes, with very fair skin, and carries herself with great confidence. Her elegant demeanor leaves a strong impression, but there's something about her that gives me an uneasy feeling.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" the teacher asks the new girl.

"Of course, my name is Shibata Akira, and it's a pleasure to meet all of you," she says with a smile.

As she introduces herself, I can't shake off this feeling of discomfort. There's something about her that seems off, but I can't quite put my finger on it. "Alright Shibata, why don't you sit back there next to Ōshiro," the teacher said. Why did he have to seat her next to me when there were other open seats?

As the teacher pointed to my new seatmate, I saw a girl who looked a bit smaller than me, with long black hair that cascaded down her back and bright brown eyes.

Akira walked over to the table next to mine and sat down. She looked at me with a smile and waved, "I hope we can become good friends, Ōshiro-chan." She was the first of my classmates to acknowledge my presence. Yes, you heard that right, I had no friends, but it didn't really bother me. During breaks, I always sat on the roof and read a few books. After saying that, she turned her attention back to the teacher.

Over the next few days, Akira tried to get to know me better, striking up conversations whenever we had the chance. I wasn't really interested in befriending her and often gave her short answers. It was break time, and I went up to the roof as usual to read my book. "Come on, Yumi-chan, why don't you want to be friends with me?" she said with a pout as she followed me. "Don't call me that," I replied to her. I tried to get rid of her, but she grabbed onto my hand. In that moment, I felt something I had never felt before. It was as if some kind of spiritual energy was pulling me through my hand.

I tried to pull my hand away, but Akira held on tight. "What's happening?" I asked her, confused. She looked at me with fascination. "Yumi-chan, I didn't know you were a Shinigami!" A Shinigami? Me? "What are you talking about?!" I said to her. "I'm not a Shinigami!" I protested to her as she looked at me with a silly expression on her face. "I felt it! Your spiritual powers, and you felt mine!" she insisted. "You're joking, right? If I were a Shinigami, I would know it! And what do you mean by 'I felt your spiritual powers'?" I said to Akira, feeling skeptical.

The whole idea of being a Shinigami and having spiritual powers was completely foreign to me. I had always considered myself to be an ordinary person, with no special abilities or powers. "You felt something strange, didn't you? Those were my powers! A normal human wouldn't be able to sense them," she said to me. "This is absurd! As I said, your jokes are really not funny," I replied.

"Come on, Yumii, why don't you believe me?" she said, grinning in a way that made it clear she had an idea. "Well, if you don't believe me, you'll surely believe my Sensei!" What? Is she really going to bother the teachers with this?

I couldn't believe what Akira was saying. The idea that I could have spiritual powers and be a Shinigami was just too much to handle. It sounded like something out of a fantasy novel, not real life.