Unreadable [Ritsu x Reader]

Chapter 18: Sacrifice

The imprisoned spirits flood out of the seal and soar wildly in every direction. Their screeches and twisted laughter fills the air. I duck down as vividly colored ghosts fly right past me.

"They're escaping!" Ritsu calls out. "Don't let them get away!"

Desperately we attack with our powers, but many spirits have already flown over the trees and away from view. Their mangled thoughts fill my mind. Kill...terror... they will feel terror...they will suffer...

"We can't let them reach the city!" I cry out desperately.

"We can't stop them, there's too many!"

"They're everywhere!"

"These guys are too strong!"

Voices of my struggling friends mix together with the noise. Fear grips my heart. I desperately turn around in circles trying to find anyway to stop the chaos. Wait, someone is missing... Michio. My hopes plummet as I fail to read his presence anywhere. He's gone, he left us.

"Ahh!" Rei is knocked back by one of the blasts. I rush over to her side and lift her up by the arm.

"You okay?!"

"Yeah," she pants. "I'm good."

I look back towards to the battle unfolding. Some of the spirits have been exorcised but at this rate we won't be able to stop them before they reach the city. I stare at the glowing masses in the sky as they fly further away. Suddenly they stop, wincing as if they had just collided with a solid object. The Old Ones struggle to break through this invisible barrier in their way but have no luck.

"MICHIO!" I hear somebody shout.

I break my gaze away from the sky and gasp at what I see. On the other side of the clearing is a giant machine covered with buttons, switches, and dials, with an orb of pure energy glowing in the center. In front of it lies Michio face down on the ground, a pool of blood forming beneath him. Everyone rushes over. Teru quickly kneels down and rolls the man onto his back. His suit is torn and stained with red. A giant gash stretches all the way across his chest, along with many other cuts reopened along his entire body. Michio groans in pain, telling us he's at least alive for now.

"What happened?!" Ritsu calls to him. Not receiving a response, Ritsu digs into Michio's pockets and pulls out a thick roll of gauze. He and Teru immediately begin wrapping the wounds. I reach deep into Michio's mind, trying to understand what he's done.

....force field....nothing can get through the dome....pull the largest lever to shut it off............you must...stop them............ His mind fades into nothingness. I hear his his breathing become quiet and shallow. No movement from his body.

"He was willing to hurt himself this badly just to bring this back." I look up at the powerful invention. "It's a force field, he's trapped us inside here with all the spirits."

"What?! We're trapped with a bunch of demons that wanna kill us?!" Takeshi shakes.

"No, we can turn it off!" I reassure him, then sadly look back down at Michio. "Thanks to him the Old Ones can't escape now."

"He said he had a backup plan from a previous job..." Ritsu mutters, remembering earlier today.

"What are we gonna do now?" Daichi asks.

It's quiet for a minute, then Teru speaks. "We're gonna go track down those spirits. Kageyama, Kaito, and Rei, you guys stay here. Keep applying pressure to Michio's wound and make sure he's stable. Kageyama, you're the strongest so we need you guarding the machine from any spirits who might come back. Kaito, if anything goes wrong we'll talk to you through your brother. The rest of us, let's go track down these ghosts and defeat them, one by one."

"Let's break up into pairs." Ritsu adds. "That way we can cover more of the forest and still watch each other's back."

"Nice thought, little bro." Teru stands up. "Alright, let's get to work!"

[Drafted by Anna]