Sunset Ghost

Training Begins

サンセットゴースト
Sunset Ghost
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第4章
トレーニングが始まる
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"Alright, Kageyama-kun, to start your training, I have a few things for you." Yachi struggled to set down her armful of heavy leather-bound books in front of Kageyama, who was seated at her kitchen table. She wiped the sweat from her brow and began unstacking them, arms trembling under the weight. "This book will tell you the different types of spirits, this one has a list of psychic abilities, this one details a few different theories on some of the greatest psychics in history." With each sentence, she slapped another book in front of Kageyama until the pile was nearly as high as Hinata.

"Um... Yachi-san, this is a lot to read," Kageyama muttered, moving a few of the hefty books so he could look the short blonde in the eye. Beside him, Hinata was ogling the stack like an excited kid opening his presents on Christmas morning. "Ooh, I wanna learn it all, too!"

"I'm sorry for the load, Kageyama-kun," Yachi said, ignoring Hinata. "But please don't worry; it won't be all reading. There will be lots of field work too." She said this with a wink as if it should make Kageyama happy, but in all actuality, it really just made him even more nervous. "In fact, you'll even get to go out today. But first, we need to start memorizing, so crack open that book right there."

Kageyama slid the one she pointed at off the top of the stack and opened it to the first page with a grimace. Yachi pulled it to the center of the table and pointed at the first line. "This is a book detailing all the different types of spirits, from A to Z. It would help if we went over a few of the most frequently occurring ones before anything else." She slid her finger over to a picture on the left. "This here is called an Amanojaku. These little suckers cause about seventy percent of our trouble as psychics. They're basically spirits that make people do bad things."

"Mm..." Kageyama nodded, trying to retain as much info as he could as she moved on down the list. "Next we have Baku and Gaki; Baku are spirits who devour dreams and nightmares, and Gaki are the starving ghosts of greedy people. Each of them can be dangerous, depending on what stage of manifestation they're at. Goryō can sometimes be confused with Gaki, but Goryō are vengeful spirits of the dead, not starving." She glanced up at him. "Do you understand?"

"I— I think so..." Kageyama lied, frantically trying to memorize everything she was throwing at him. He was having trouble keeping up with the whirlwind pace, but that seemed to be the only speed the girl knew, as he'd seen when he first met her. Yachi didn't seem to realize this, however. as she simply smiled at him. "Good. Next is Jibakurei. Eh..." She scratched her cheek with a sheepish smile. "You might want to start taking notes, Kageyama-kun. It can all get a little confusing otherwise."

"Right." Kageyama paused, relieved at the lapse in spitfire conversation. "Um... do you have paper and a pen, by any chance?"

Yachi giggled. "Sure thing. Wait here." She pushed herself away from the table and scurried off into the depths of the apartment on socked feet. Kageyama could hear her rummaging around somewhere nearby, talking to herself in a low voice. Hinata turned to look at him from his spot on the floor where he'd sprawled out a short ways into Yachi's spiel, wearing one of his typical, annoying smiles. "Kageyama isn't this fun?! I never knew there were so many different types of ghosts before!"

Kageyama glared at him, irritated by his ever-present child-like levels of cheerfulness. "Of course you would think this is fun. You're not the one that has to memorize all of this, dumbass."

"So mean," Hinata complained with a small pout, though it quickly morphed into a teasing smile. "I thought we were friends, Kageyama! You could be a little nicer to me."