Flying was an awesome experience, Nara must admit. And being in Jongin’s arms was kind of awkward, but not at all terrifying.

Jongin, who she had been extremely afraid of for the past week, no longer intimidated her after she’d seen him getting angry because she’d been hurt. No matter how evil he seemed to be, or he wanted to seem to be, his impulsive behavior said otherwise.

It was enough proof for her to believe that Jongin was indeed a kind spirit.

The flight was considerably short, to her disappointment. It didn’t even take five minutes to travel from the bridge behind the school to Yona’s house while Nara usually took about ten minutes using Yona’s bike, which currently was left at school.

“Thanks for the ride,” Nara said as they hovered above Yona’s house.

Jongin scoffed. “What do you think I am? Your personal transportation?”

However, as soon as Jongin stepped his feet on the front yard, Yona’s three familiars materialized before them with angry faces, ready to fight.

“You insolent fiend! How dare you step on our grounds again!” Chanyeol bellowed in rage, stepping forward, raising his hand to attack. But Minseok stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

Looking as angry as Chanyeol, Minseok tried his best to stay calm. “What are you doing here? What have you done to Nara?”

Kyungsoo glared at Jongin so intensely that he gave Nara the chills although she was still blanketed by Jongin’s warm flames.

“You want to fight?” Jongin’s wicked smirk was back and feeling anxious, Nara sensed the powerful urge to quickly get away from him. “Are you sure you puny youkai can beat me?”

Gritting his teeth, Chanyeol growled, his voice shaking out of anger, “Keep your hands off her!”

“No, Chanyeol. I… He…” Nara didn’t know how to explain the situation. And judging from the current situation, the four of them wouldn’t hear anything she said.

Fear slowly crept back into her, making her heart beat faster and her body tremble. She was supposed to not be scared of Jongin anymore. But how could she not be when he showed his devilish grin and eyes that were full of hatred?

This Jongin was nothing like the Jongin who had screamed her name out when the river woman’s blade cut her. He’s like a totally different person – youkai, to be more precise.

Just say something, Nara! Nara desperately told herself, but she was too spooked to even move. They misunderstood the whole situation!

A loud sound distracted them. With a huge double-edged sword in her hands, Yona darted out of the front door, dressed in loungewear under her apron. Nara guessed Yona must have been cooking for their dinner.

“Let Nara go, you demon!” Yona roared, pointing her sword at Jongin. “Or I’ll cut you to pieces!”

“Is this what I get from saving your precious cousin’s life?” Laughing in amusement, Jongin said, not the least bit frightened of Yona’s threat, “I’m thankful for such a warm welcome from you, human. As you wish, I’ll leave.”

Jongin put Nara down, extinguished the flames on her body and disappeared like the wind.

Like being slapped in the face, Nara came to her sense as she saw Jongin go off. You’re a coward, Nara! He just saved your life! And you’re doubting him?

“No, Yona!” Nara shouted in exasperation, dashing past the three youkai and towards Yona. “Jongin just saved my life! Why did you chase him out?”

Yona gaped at Nara. “But you were on fire…”

“No! His flames aren’t hot! I’ll show you if you don’t believe me! Jong—”

Nara’s head spun like crazy as she tried to summon Jongin. Unsteady, she swayed and lost her balance. Minseok made it in time to hold her back before she fell.

“Easy, Nara,” Minseok gently said.

Yona lowered her sword and muttered, “Hiro, return.”

The huge sword in her hands vanished in an instant. Nara blinked, thinking she was seeing things, and opened her eyes again to find that it really was gone. What did she do to the sword?

“Calm down, Nara. I believe you,” Yona said softly. “Let’s talk about it inside.”

But when Yona grabbed Nara’s arm to help her walk, Nara groaned in pain. Yona’s eyes widened and panic flicked through them as she realized what’s going on.

In a hurried tone, Yona ordered, “Minseok, carry her upstairs! Quick!”

“Yes, Master.” Minseok immediately lifted Nara up and rushed towards the house. He ran up the stairs to her room and carefully put her on her bed. Before she could say thank you, he teleported away, leaving her alone in her room.

The door to her room was slammed open seconds after and Yona entered, bringing some kind of a jar. None of her familiars came with her. She took a seat on the chair next to Nara’s bed and opened the cap of the jar, revealing what looked like green colored ointment.

Sitting up, Nara squinted her eyes to see the label of the jar in Yona’s hands, but there was no label. “What is that?”

“Take your blazer and shirt off,” Yona urged hastily without answering Nara’s question. “Let me see your arm.”

Seeing the rashness in Yona’s eyes, Nara complied. She threw her uniform tops to the edge of her bed, wearing only underwear and skirt. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw her forearm and shoulder. Large purplish spots had colored her skin like bruises. And it hurt when she touched them as if they were real wounds.

Eyes widened in horror, Nara yelped. “What are these?”

Yona took Nara’s right arm and gently applied the green ointment on the bruises. “These are called Taints. When the spirits hurt you, they give you these kind of injuries that can’t be seen by Vanillas. These will disrupt the flow of the spiritual energy inside you and also damage you physically.”

Is that why I had trouble in absorbing spiritual energy to summon Jongin earlier? “And this ointment is—”

“—able to heal Taints,” Yona continued. “I got it from a friend. He’s a priest.” She paused before saying, “Do you mind telling me what actually happened?”

Doing as told, Nara filled Yona in on all the things that had happened to her after school, including Soomi and Minhyuk. Yona listened to her intently while applying ointment on her bruises, which apparently were called Taints.

“So now you can summon Jongin? That’s a great improvement, Nara! I knew you have potential! You’re the fastest learner I’ve ever met!” Yona exclaimed in the middle of Nara’s story. Nara muttered a shy thank you before continuing her story-telling.

Yona’s expression turned to rage when Nara told her about how she’d got the wound on her forearm. “What? Are you an idiot or what? Why would you jump in front of the river woman like that? Jongin is a strong youkai! He can protect himself!”

“I know,” Nara mumbled apologetically. “I just didn’t think much. Sorry.”

Yona scolded, “If you put yourself in danger again, I won’t forgive you! Don’t you dare act recklessly! Understand?”

“I understand.”

Weirdly, Nara was pleased that Yona scolded her. Knowing that someone actually cared about her made her really happy.

Now that Nara was reminiscing the whole incident, she remembered the thing she found odd during the fight with the Chimi. After she finished telling the story, she couldn’t hold herself back from asking.

“Yona, why was my stick unable to touch him?” Nara asked. “It’s as if the stick went through his body. As if he’s intangible.”

Yona explained, “It’s the same reason why Vanillas can’t touch spirits. Your stick doesn’t have spiritual energy, that’s why it can’t touch him. And actually, this has something to do with your second lesson. But since you’re still Tainted, we can’t start the lesson right away.”

With a dejected sigh, Nara shrugged. Yona was right. It’s not like Nara could do anything in this state. “Alright, then. Can you at least tell me what my second lesson is?”

“Okay. I’ll show you.”

Yona stood up from her seat and went out of Nara’s room, taking the ointment jar with her. Nara grabbed the chance to change into comfortable clothes and put her uniform into the laundry basket inside the bathroom. While moving around, she felt that the pain in her arm and shoulder was slowly getting bearable. The ointment must have started working.

Not long after, Yona came back in, holding two Kendo sticks. This time, Minseok, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were tagging along with her.

“I told them about Jongin,” Yona began. “If you meet him again, tell him that the four of us are sorry.”

Nara nodded distractedly, paying attention to the Kendo sticks Yona was holding instead. “Do you do Kendo, too?”

Yona frowned, as if the answer was obvious. “Of course I do.” Then realization dawned across her face. “Ah. Sorry, I tend to forget that your parents are Vanillas. Our grandfather must have been the one who asked them to make you attend Kendo classes. Swordsmanship is our family’s – the Kim Clan’s – expertise. Every Indigo in the family must take Kendo lesson to practice swordsmanship, if they want to become an exorcist