Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Author Notes:

+Italic words within quotation marks are characters' thoughts

+Non-italic words within quotation marks are conversations

Enjoy ^^                                                                                                 

POV

“Where am I?” - I pondered while scanning the surrounding area for clues that might tell me where the heck I was. But there was nothing but a dark, empty space. 

“HELLOOOO” - I shouted in the void, but received nothing back but a long echo of my own sound. Waiting would not help, so I started walking aimlessly. 

After a moment, something appeared in my line of sight: a glowing giant antique rusty double door covered in moss and tiny purple flowers. If the door looked huge from afar, it was even more magnificent up close. The door was made of solid gold and shimmered vibrantly, lightening its surrounding darkness. 

“So mesmerizing,” - I thought to myself. 

The golden door seemed to stretch to infinity as I did not see where the top ended. With such height, it was surprising that the door had not tipped over yet - “Magic”

After my neck was tired from finding the unknown top, I moved on to examine the pattern engraved on the door. A quick thought triggered - “Wait a minute, I know this place, I have been here before, in my previous dreams.” 

It took a while for me to gather enough courage to touch the soft moss, hoping there was no poison and that my touch would not trigger any funny or, better yet, deadly mechanisms. How strange! I obviously remembered being here before, but I could not recall what would happen if I touched the door.

After minutes of mentally fighting, I finally touched it, but instead of a loud boom, my hands slipped right through it as my body followed suit. 

“Hm…cool… I’m see-through. Guess I don’t have to open the door anyway.”

While amusing myself with my translucent body, a shiny red thing catches my gaze. There was a red string* attached to my pinky finger. With a tiny movement, I felt a small tug as the string vibrated gently, signaling me to follow it. Only then did I start noticing the surrounding area behind the double door, and my eyes met a bright oval room, radiating with soft rays of yellow sunlight casting from the roof. 

Below my feet, the ground was filled with deep ocean blue sparkling water, and the surrounding velvety emerald walls of moss were covered in an ocean of tiny violet flowers - just like the golden door. 

“How magical!!” - I looked around in awe, taking in the magnificent, whimsical scenery that probably would never grow old no matter how long I stared at it. Maybe I wanted to stay here forever. For some reason, I had a feeling that I had done something right and that I deserved to be here, for eternity. 

“You can’t stay.” - A soft voice echoed all around me, reading my mind. 

“Who’s there!” - I turned, scanning around to identify any moving things. 

My eyes finally rested at the center, where a majestic sacred tree with massive branches was situated, a golden staircase wrapped around it. 

Another slight tug. 

“Go. Be happy, my child.” - The voice echoed again. I frown at the red string on my pinky finger, which was now pulling a little stronger.

If this were a dream, I had nothing to lose. So I “floated” like a balloon toward the tree, tumbling a few times as I had never “floated” before. Upon reaching the tree base, I was once again taken in by surprise at its impressive height as well as size. The tree was so massive that its branches pierced through the clouds and reached into what appeared to be the night sky. I refused to gaze at the tree any longer because my neck might snap any moment, and started ascending the golden staircase, following the guidance of the little red string.  

At the top of the stairs, my heartbeat started accelerating when my sight landed on a dark figure. The other end of the red string rested quietly on “his” pinky finger. I know “him,” though I could not make up his face. 

The figure was a “he” because of the hair and his posture. Maybe I was wrong, but “he” was tall and had white hair. That was all I could comprehend. Another thing was that he always adopted a different pose every time. He would sometimes stand still, or he would have a cigarette between his fingers while leaning against the wall, or he would cross his arms. But right at the moment, he did something completely different, something I had never observed before - he was reaching out…for me, and he was walking toward me. 

Like the deepest instinct, I ran toward the figure that I did not know. For some unknown reason, happiness bloomed inside my stomach like birds being released from the cage - powerful and unstoppable. 

However, the more I ran, the further he was, and all of a sudden, I fell into the abyss.

END POV

*Author note: In many Asian cultures, fated partners are attached by a red string; they call it “the red string of fate.”                                                                                                 

“KIRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!” - a screeching scream tore Kira apart from her dream. 

“AHHHHHH!!! WHO DIED?” - she jolted awake, drool still sticking to the side of her face. She felt pain in her forehead and upper arms. Upon touching her forehead, the source of pain felt on the table - keys from the mechanical keyboard that she had been fiercely typing on until her untimely nap - “Damn, how long have I been out?”

“You will if you don’t pay right now! Your clock is over by an hour!" - the owner of the internet cafe tapped on the computer screen angrily, his nostrils flaring. 

“Ey, I was sleeping, I did not use the computer during that time, so it shouldn’t be counted, oji-san!” - Kira massaged her poor neck and stretched her arms, flopping down the gaming chair, grunting - “Also, damn your voice, oji-san, you almost caused me a heart attack!”

“Pay, or I will kick you out! Your choice!!” - the owner grunted back, earning a bunch of whispers, but his deadly eyes killed all noises at once. 

She eyed the clock - damn, it’s already 11 PM - and decided to call it a day. 

“Here, oji-san!” - she put down what she owed lazily and headed out of the internet cafe - “see you later.”

“Ah, watch yourself on your way home, kid!”

Once outside, she breathed in deeply, filling her lungs with nice fresh air. The night atmosphere during summer in Tokyo was completely opposite to the daytime when she first entered the cafe. It was nice and cool at night, while hot and humid during the day. 

Kira spread her arm, opening herself for the breeze to slip through her hair and clothes while her mind wandered back to her dream.

“Who are you…”

THUD…BANG…BANG…THUD…UGH

Kira’s mind was flying high with pink energy until weird noises echoed from a small alley drew her attention. She grunted, thinking of 2 possibilities: Either someone was conducting a dirty act in public, which she could peek at and report. Or there was a fight, which was also considered a dirty act, in which she could also peek, report, and run.

With clear outcomes for either situation in mind, she slowly and cautiously approached the alley. As she glanced at the alley, the situation was way more severe than she thought. A group of thugs is beating up a kid. However, on a closer inspection, there were more bodies of thuds on the ground. 

“Damn….that kid is strong. Right, maybe he would be able to hold his ground when the police arrive. Let’s not get involved, Kira. Right, let’s call the police and go home. Yeah, let’s do that.” - Without further delay, she took her crappy flip phone and dialed the police number. 

UGHH.. 

A painful low growl, together with a stabbing sound, made her blood turn cold. 

“Seriously, stabbing a kid? These guys have no dignity as thugs at all!” - she made up her mind. After reporting the location to the police and adjusting her baseball hat to protect some of her identity, she got involved - “Oi! Five against 1, what are you, a bunch of pussies?” 

“I’m so fucked! These are no random thugs. These moves, these movements, they are professionally trained. Who is this kid? What had he done to be chased by these people?” - Kira wiped the blood off the corner of her mouth, eyeing the black-hair kid behind her who was leaning against the trash bin - “Oi, can you stand, kid?” 

“Who the fuck do you call kid?” - he grumbled in an intense, deep voice. 

“Um…um…who cares! I’m trying to save your ass, so be thankful, asshole!”

“We are still in deep shit, I don’t see how you are…ugh…saving me.” - he grunted, blood spilling out of the stab wound. 

“Shit, stop talking and put pressure on it.” - the amount of blood on the ground startled her - “How can he still be conscious after losing that much blood?”

“Oi, we are still here, love birds.” - the thugs smirk, baseball bats hanging on their shoulders. The leader whistled - “I want their heads.”

Despite the advantages of being small and flexible, Kira struggled to protect herself due to the size difference. If she were hit, they both would be doomed since the “kid” was in no shape to fight or run.

As Kira was praying for her life as she was about to do something very stupid, a familiar thundering and shrieking noise stopped right in front of the alley. 

“Oi, where the hell have you been? I have been looking everywhere for you,” a figure with a helmet riding a motorcycle yells.

“Kami-sami, thank you!!!! Brother, help!” - tears pricked from her eyes, her savior had arrived - she was saved. No one could beat her brother and live to tell the tales - “Oi, kid, we are saved! See, I told you I would get us out. Oi, oi….”

The black-hair kid had already fainted. 

“Who is he?” - her brother stepped into the alley, ignoring all the armed thugs as if they were nothing, and pointed at the kid behind her. She could imagine his eyebrows twitching under the dark helmet; his voice spread chills down Kira’s spine. Historically, her brother did not do well when he found her tangling with boys. 

“Someone I just happened to bump into. Brother, aren’t you going to help?” - Kira dusted her clothes, questioning her brother, seeing that he had no intention of fighting or saving them. 

“OI, FUCKER! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE US? GET THEM!!!” - the leader yelled, but no one followed his order. On the contrary, a deadly and heavy silence enveloped the entire atmosphere. He turned around to look at his subordinates before yelling again angrily, almost popping his eyes out of their sockets in the process - “What the fuck are you doing, you fools? I . SAID . GET . THEM!!”

“Boss…” - a bold follower stuttered incoherently - “that…that…guy is…is..him…”

“What?” - he looked at the figure with the helmet, completely oblivious to his identity - “Speak clearly or I will kill you too! Who is that fucker?”

“He…he…he is..he is the Black Cat..boss” - the underlings swallowed hard and took many steps back, putting as much distance between them and the figure as possible. They did not want to die today. 

“Fuck off” - Kira could feel the air move with just two words from her brother’s mouth. The atmosphere turned dark,  heavy as the killing intent rose. She could not help but swallow hard, even though the threat was from her own brother. Within minutes, the alley was completely clear except for the 3 of them, and a few moments later, the ambulance arrived. 

“Let’s go home before Mom and Dad find out you are out late gaming again! And clean all that black stuff off your hands.” - her brother mumbled and started his motorcycle’s engine, never once taking his helmet off. 

“Yeah, yeah…” - Kira took one last look at the ambulance before climbing onto her ride back to the real world.

Hi everyone! I’m back with the sequel to my first story, “Eternal,” as promised. Although this is a sequel, but you don’t have to read the first book to understand this one. But if you want to take a look, please feel free to, I would really appreciate it. 

For this book, the story will take place in the world of xxxHolic. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but I adore old mangas, especially those that not many people know about. I was surprised to find that the fandom for xxxHolic is almost nonexistent. Let’s fix that :).

As always, please feel free to leave any comments or just simply say hi. I love hearing from everyone. And if my story makes you feel better, please leave a vote so I know ^^! Thank you all!

Chapter Text

“KIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” - a scream followed by a powerful kick that almost tore her bedroom door apart woke her up abruptly - “How many times have I told you, you stubborn little child!!! No late gaming before school!!!!!”

“Geezz….My poor eardrums…Mom…can you lower your voice? You will wake our entire neighborhood.” - after identifying the source of the scream, Kira slowly retreated into the blanket, wondering if it was a trend nowadays to wake people up by screaming while spontaneously cursing at her brother for snitching to their parents about her outing last night.

“I’m giving you 5 mins,” - her Mother’s voice changed as smoke evaporated on top of her head - “If I don’t see you downstairs ready for school, I will kill you myself.”

And she knew her Mother did not lie.

It took exactly 5 minutes to brush her teeth and put on the new uniform.

Today was Kira’s first day as a High School student at Tsuji Private High School in Tokyo.

When she finally arrived at the kitchen, everyone had already started eating. Hyuuga Fugaku, her Father, was eating and reading the newspaper in a calm and uninterested manner as always.

A little history of Hyuuga Kira’s family.

Her Father was the Head of the Hyuuga clan, an infamous Assassin Clan originating from Kyoto. He was a rough man, just like his look, and he placed tradition above everything. To him, a son was worth a billion times more than a daughter. Hence, his focus had always been on her Brother, Hyuuga Natsume. Although uninterested in Kira, as the Head of the clan, he expected nothing but the best from all of his children, boy or girl. Hence, from an early age, both Kira and her Brother were trained mercilessly so they would become nothing but exceptional.

After years and years of training, Natsume not only successfully became the youngest S-class assassin in centuries but also the most lethal assassin the Hyuuga clan, as well as the Assassin World, had ever witnessed. People respectfully give him the fitting nickname “Black Cat” - he was the shadow, you would never know until he was next to you, and you would be dead before you noticed it was him. The name alone brought fear and amazement whenever it was mentioned, just like yesterday. His sole name scared the thugs away, and he did not even need to show his face, though that was a mistake because he was also lethally handsome. His skills and power even surpass Fugaku’s at the peak of his career (which was well into his 30s), and because of that, Natsume easily became the pride of Fugaku as well as the entire Hyuuga clan. His name would forever go down in history as the greatest assassin of the 21st century. 

Kira, on the 360 completely opposite spectrum, is the biggest stain in the Hyuuga clan’s history, as she could not kill. To an assassin, if you could not kill, you were rendered useless, trash, and a burden to society. Fugaku was indifferent and uncaring toward Kira to the point that she thought she was less than air to him. If he could kill her, Kira bet he would do it without any hesitation. Luckily or unfortunately, according to the Hyuuga clan’s law, killing between clan members was strictly forbidden.

Everyone criticized her, but no one ever asked why she could not kill. Maybe it was a good thing because she was confident that they would 100% lock her away in a mental facility once she revealed “things” that stretched beyond the living world.

Though he had not uttered a single word, the aura emitting from Fugaku at the dining table was deadly, making her swallow hard and curse at her Brother yet again for snitching on her. Kira eyed her Mother, Hyuuga Mikoto, for help, but she shook her head in response and signaled her to sit down. If Father was ignoring her existence, at least Mother acknowledged and loved her and Natsume equally. However, as a female, Mother’s voice was drowned in such a traditional society, but at least the blood in her veins was from the Usuba clan, one of the 3 Great Clans in the Yakuza World. Hence, from some perspectives, Fugaku did have to yield to Mikoto.

“Sit and have your breakfast,” - her Mother pulled the chair and tapped on it. Kira swallowed and sat cautiously, ready to run at any moment. Her stomach turned when her eyes landed on Father, sitting diagonally from her. He looked obviously pissed, but he always looked pissed. She swallowed again and looked down at her breakfast. She would rather not eat than eat and have indigestion.

“Stop bothering your Brother with your uselessness.” - Fugaku put the newspaper down and dropped a sentence at her coldly before standing up to head out for work.

“Phew…I thought I died.” - Kira flopped on the table like melted ice cream after ensuring the front door had closed.

“THIS CHILD, your hair is in the soup!!!!” - Mikoto yelled, but quickly stood up to grab the tower - “Tsch…You are starting High School today. Why are you still acting like a child, huh?”

“I’m still a child, Mom, hehehehe” - she wrapped her hands around Mother’s waist, rubbing her cheek against the soft stomach. At least, there was one person who cared about her. 

“Stop with those disgusting gestures.” - Natsume closed his eyes and stood up - “I’m going too, I will be back next weekend, Mom.”

“Take the food and store it in the fridge, okay?” - Mikoto pointed to the two big bags filled with boxes of all sizes.

“Mom, why are you packing him so much food? His place is only 30 minutes from here!”

“Shut it!” - she shushed Kira, then turned to Natsume - “If you need more, let me know, and I will prepare them in advance, okay?”

“Ah,” - he nodded and threw a helmet at her - “Want a ride, kiddo?”

“Yes, please!” - Kira smiled brightly. At least two people cared about her.

Tsuji High School, Class 10-4, Monday,

“Learn something!” - similar to yesterday, Natsume never took his helmet off when dropping her off. He ruffled her hair softly before driving off to Tokyo University. 

“See you next weekend!” - Kira yelled after, coughing and cursing silently at the exceptionally cool departure. No wonder he was popular not just with her parents but also with everyone. She concluded years ago that everyone liked calm, cold, and handsome boys who drove motorbikes.

Truth to be told, Kira was not bad-looking at all. In fact, she inherited many optimal features from both of her parents, just like Natsume. She had the typical jet-black hair, still-black round eyes, and overall proportional facial features. To the normal Japanese population, she was considered a beauty. As she was trained intensively from a young age, Kira adopted a lean, tall, and athletic body with well-defined muscles. However, boys her age did not like athletic girls. Boys preferred those with bodies as slim as a twig that would be blown away by the wind. That’s why, despite sharing similar features, while Natsume was popular among boys and girls, Kira remained more or less painfully invisible.

Once her Brother’s motorbike disappeared around the corner, she cautiously eyed a black blob with one huge eye hiding itself at the street corner to ensure it would not follow her. When the blob retreated, she dragged her heavy feet toward Tsuji Private High School, awaiting a horrific life as a transfer student from outskirt Kyoto. The move was justified very loosely as a “business need,” which Kira had no interest in learning what it was. Why? Because there was no way Father would ever tell her anything. She was a failure after all.

In addition to Kira being a failed assassin, another tremendous difference between Kira and Natsume was that she was “borderline” a bad student. Based on her previous records in Kyoto, it was no surprise that she was placed in Class 10-4, the second-to-last class of her Grade. 

“At least it’s better than last,” - she encouraged herself, knowing that Father would not be interested in this. It was daunting noticing how big a gap she was compared to Natsume. 

“Good morning,” - the classroom door was opened with a loud “bang,” and a middle-aged, grumpy man with heavy glasses walked in. Most students know each other from Middle School, so they sat in groups to speak to each other. Kira had no choice but to take the single remaining seat, which, unfortunately, was right in front of the class where she had a full view of their homeroom teacher. 

Their homeroom teacher had a shabby yet intimidating look. His clothes were full of wrinkles, his hair was long and undone, his glasses tilted, his face was not cleanly shaved, with a boring expression like he did not want to be here any more than all of us. Yet, his voice was intensely deep, which immediately turned the noisy classroom quiet - “My name is Tsuda Kaneki, I will be your homeroom teacher for this school year. Welcome to Tsuji High School. I have only one rule, so please remember it well. Whatever you do, don’t place last, or I will make sure that every single one of you will suffer the consequences.”

Kira heard multiple breaths hitch behind her. “I’m so doomed.”

After the daunting first 15 minutes of introduction, Tsuda-sensei announced that their seats would be assigned randomly, earning a wave of protest from students, but he shut everyone down with another bullet glare. Everyone's disappointment was Kira’s happiness; at least she might have a chance to hide in the back. She hated being called and broadcast for how bad she was in front of class, especially in Math. True to her wish and even beyond her expectations, Kira got the last seat next to the hallway, away from the windows, where things tended to show up and distract her further.

“Hi, I’m Watanuki Kimihiro, nice to meet you! I will be in your care.” - A gentle-looking boy with glasses sitting right in front greeted her, a weird aura radiating from him.

“Hi, I’m Hyuuga Kira, nice to meet you, Watanuki-san. And likewise!” - she nodded, carefully adjusting her position to avoid being so near to him. His aura - she was not sure, but it gave her chills. Something she had never felt before.

Besides the weird aura from her potentially only friend, the first day of school went by long-windedly and boringly.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of school, Kira hurriedly said goodbye to Watanuki and others with whom she had become friends today during lunch and ran toward the internet cafe.

“Only 1 hour. Only 1, then I’m going home!!!” - she convinced herself confidently, which she did every freaking time and always ended up in the ditch called CounterStrike until midnight. Her intention changed quickly as she walked past the small alley. Memories of last night's fight rushed back - “Hm…Should I go check on him? To make sure he is still alive? He is a kid anyway, and as an adult, I should be responsible….Yeah, good idea.”

With that in mind, she abandoned her precious gaming night and headed toward Tokyo Hospital to check on the kid whose name she did not even know.

“He is yay tall,” - Kira pointed to her ear, trying to describe the kid she was looking for to the nurse - “um….his hair is dark, I think, he came in last night with a stab wound.”

“Um…Someone indeed came in with a stab wound last night. But miss, you don’t seem to know the person very well. Who are you to him?” - the nurse asked suspiciously.

“I’m his classmate. He missed the first day of school today, so I want to give him the notes and the seat map. My teacher assigned me to come here.” - Kira lied professionally without blinking.

“But, miss, you don’t seem to know the person very well. I’m sorry, but without familial relationships, I cannot tell you the room number. The family did specify that they prohibit any strangers. I’m sorry,” - the nurse apologized and turned to the next person in line.

Her plan of being a responsible adult was down the toilet in less than 5 minutes. 

“Who knew Hospital security could be this tough?!!! Guess I can go back to Counterstrike before going home,” - she sighed and contemplated at the hospital entrance when a shiny black car stopped and a handsome middle-aged man stepped outside. In a split second, her jaw was on the ground.

To this day, she had never, and like never, found any man 10 years older than her attractive. Because all middle-aged men were like Father, and Father was everything but attractive. Admitting a middle-aged man’s attractiveness was like telling someone that Father loved her, which was impossible.  However, the white-hair man approaching her at this moment proves her strongly held theory wrong. She blushed hard and quickly retreated into the shadows, where she could comfortably and shamelessly check out the handsome man without being caught. Her heart pulsated in her ears, a strange sensation that she had not experienced before. 

“Damn…? Is he the one from my dream? He must be the one, right? My fated partner?” - she mumbled, eyes glued to the man’s back.

“Who is your fated partner?” - a deep whisper blew hot air into her ears, startling her to the core.

She jumped slightly as her heart skipped multiple beats. Two eyes stared at each other.

“You are not a ghost, right?” - her finger touched the boy’s arm in slow motion. Her lips trembled slightly. 

A small chuckle - “Am I?”

“Phew, you are definitely not.” - She relaxed after convincing herself that he was a real person. 

Loading

“AHHH, it’s you, the kid from last night.”

Chapter Text

“AHHH, it’s you, the kid from last night.”

“Who the fuck do you call kid?” - the “kid” grumbled, annoyingly.

“Yep, this is that mtf!”

“How come you are so big and tall overnight?” - she blinked repeatedly, eyeing the boy’s body and the length of his legs despite his crouching position.

“Hn…I’m always this big and this tall.” - the “kid” looked past her toward the direction she was looking at a moment ago - “Why are you hiding from him?”

“Huh? What? Hiding from who?” - her mind was still preoccupied that she forgot why she was hiding in the bushes in the first place.

Loading…

“You are dumber than you look,” - the boy murmured before standing up and leaving in the opposite direction from the hospital.

Loading….

“Heh? What the fuck did he just say? Who the fuck does he think he is? Dumber…me…I’m his fucking savior, damn it!”

“YA! How dare you call your savior “dumb”? Who do you think you are? Huh? If I left you in that alley last night, you would be dead by now!!!! YAAAAA.” - Kira yelled loudly from behind the bushes with all her might, grabbing the attention of many bystanders and successfully halting the boy’s footsteps.

“Tsk, lower your voice, will you?” - his deadly, cold stare and darkened expression shut her up immediately. She instinctively took a few steps back, pushing herself further into the shadow. She knew this feeling. Dangerous.

She might suck at studying and be too easily distracted at times, but she was still a professionally trained assassin. A normal person could not startle her. Human beings loved making loud noises because they sought acknowledgement of their presence. Not her kind. Assassins preferred invisibility. It was easier to slit someone’s throat without their knowledge; more control, and less messy. Assassin’s steps were barely audible, just like this boy did earlier. He was so darn quiet that she could not pick up his footsteps. Also, the fact that he was fighting with a bunch of professionally trained thugs last night stands out to Kira like a sore thumb. She concluded he must be a part of the Shadow world, part of her world, her kind.

“Who are you?” - her voice lowered, getting into a defensive position.

“Oh..” - the boy smirked at her stance, turning himself to face her. His smirk widened while casually tucking his hands into his trousers’ pockets - “Guess you are not so dumb after all.”

After the longest and most uncomfortable pause as they carefully assessed each other, the boy broke the silence.

“What is your name?” - the boy smiled, tilting his head and looking at her amusingly as if he had just figured something out.

“Who the fuck do you call kid? I’m a high schooler already!” - her nostrils flared in pride - “I’m an adult!”

“Oh? I’m a senior this year.” - The boy’s smirk remained, but it definitely was getting wider as the conversation continued.

“Senior? Hm…must be middle school senior.” - Kira chuckled, still thinking she was 100% older than him.

“I’m a senior at Tsuji Private High School” - like he read her mind.

“What? Tsuji Private High School?” - she was dumbfounded - “Maybe there is another High School with the same name. Hm…That must be. Tokyo is huge, Kira!” 

Realizing that all her assumptions about the boy in front of her might have been wrong, she came to her conclusion: this boy was bad news, and nothing good would come from associating with him any longer.

“Um…Um… Ai ya, my stomach hurts, I must have eaten something bad at school, I need to go!” - Kira made a quick excuse while finding her way out of the bushes.

“Oi,” - the boy grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer, and damn, she wanted to slap the smirk off his face up close - “I’m Gojo Satoru, by the way, what is your name?”

“Gojo? One of the 3 Great Yakuza clans? SEEEEE! This MTF is bad news! Shit….I should not be seen associated with him, or Father will…” - the sheer last name made her blood run cold. 

Satoru waited patiently. He showed no sign of letting her hand go before hearing the answer.

“Hyuuga,..Kira,” - she slurred on purpose, struggling to get out of the iron grip - “Now let go!”

“Can’t hear you.” - he signaled his ear playfully.

“Tsk…Hyuuga Kira, happy?” - she finally gave in after struggling in vain.

“Ah” - he released at once, making her stumble back a few steps and landing on her butt - “Hyuuga, huh?” 

“Ouch…YA!!! Asshole!” - she yelled, rubbing her butt cheeks.

He glanced at her one last time before walking toward the hospital’s side windows, which Kira assumed he had come through earlier. With one swift movement, he climbed back inside easily despite the height being over 2 meters.

“Hey, aren’t you heading in the other direction?” - Kira asked, rubbing her wrist.

He leaned on the windows, waving a pack of cigarettes at her before leaving without saying another word.

“Kids shouldn’t smoke! Plus, you are injured! Throw that away!”

“None of your business. Go home, kid, before people see you with me.” - he smirked one last time and disappeared.

“Ya!!!!” - she yelled after. Knowing his name and his clan now, Kira could curse him out loud casually. Yakuza had enemies whose eyes and ears were everywhere. Calling his name out loud was suicidal. People said that blades and guns did not have eyes; the same principle applies to the Yakuza. They would kill first and investigate later. Associating with a big name like Gojo would only bring harm - “Guess what, why do I have to care for such an asshole! But I will be the bigger person and cover for you this time, asshole!!!!”

She shook her head, thinking all her efforts today were in vain because of such an asshole. In the end, she could not blame anyone but herself for worrying about someone else’s business when she was clearly taught not to by Father and the Association.

She glanced back at where Satoru had stood a moment ago. Her eyes widened, and panic rose as cold sweat quickly covered her forehead.

There it was, a huge floating black shadow/blob with one big eye staring directly at her. The one she saw this morning. It was inches away.

As if it could smell her fear, the shadow released a strange noise like laughing and launched itself at Kira with bullet-fast speed.

She had no time to react before the shadow engulfed her whole. 

“Fuck, I was too careless!” - tears pricked at the corner of her eyes as she struggled to breathe. Her hands and feet kicked around, trying to grab at everything solid. She was drowning. There was nasty liquid in her mouth, nose, ears, everywhere. She wanted to scream, but she feared that only more liquid would rush into her body. She made a mistake; she let her guard down. Her Father was right; she was useless. She could not even protect herself, and now she paid the price.

“I’m going to die tonight,” - the shadow fed on her fear and laughed even louder, making the liquid surrounding her vibrate - “Father must be thrilled to hear that I finally die on my own.”

As Kira struggled for her life, normal people were still casually strolling past her on the street, completely unaware that someone was being devoured and drowned alive by a gigantic shadow monster.

Her chest contracted tightly, gasping, as air slowly drained from her lungs, and her vision blurred.

“Oi” - As she was losing hope and the will to break free, an annoying voice from the person she had just cursed at a moment ago saved her life. Kira could feel an immense vibration as the joyful laugh was replaced with shrieks in pain before exploding into fine dust.

Kira fell to her knees, vomiting all the dark substances occupying her throat and nose while gasping for air at the same time.

After she finally regained control over her breathing and body, she ran straight into the very well-lit and busy street and went straight home despite the weakness in both legs. She pushed herself to run and didn’t dare to look up at the windows to confirm if it was indeed Satoru who saved her. She could not care less. She had seen and experienced enough tonight.

Later that night, as she curled in bed, unable to sleep, her mind wandered back to the incident at the hospital.

“Why did he return? And on top of that, at such a crucial moment to save me. Hm…Is there a chance that he sees what I see, too? Also, his voice alone destroys the thing. Or did he do something? Maybe this is the Gojo clan’s power? I need to find him and confirm again! Maybe there is a cure, and I can make Father proud.” 

With the set determination in mind, sleep slowly claimed her thoughts. Before she blacked out, an old conversation she had heard between Father and Natsume reached the surface.

The Gojo clan only had one son, and rumor had it he was very special.

“Where were you?” - the white-hair man with a flawless white suit and tie put his unfinished cigarette down and looked at the guard standing by the door. The guard’s face was as white as a sheet of paper.

“I went for a smoke.” - Satoru calmly closed the door behind him; he knew what came next - “I hope these doors are soundproof.”

BANG…THUD…

The force of the bullet pushed the guard against the door, causing a loud bang before his lifeless body slid down heavily, leaving a trail of blood on the perfect white door.

“Tsk. Useless trash. Clean it up,” - the white-hair man put the gun back on the strap on his chest - “How is the wound, son?”

“Minor” - he wiped a few drops of blood stuck to his face.

“Good. Once it heals, finish the job, got it?” - the man looked at Satoru through his sunglasses, his voice was so low that it sounded like a growl.

“Ah,” - Satoru nodded and bowed as the man exited the room.

“I’m leaving for the States tomorrow. If anything, tell the butler. Don’t go around without a guard.”

“Ah”

Tokyo Hospital Hallway, Seventh Floor

“Why does our hospital accept Yakuza patients?” - a nurse asked shakily, cursing her luck to run into a Yakuza shooting on her first day of work.

“It’s the Gojo clan, our hospital exists because of them,” - a senior nurse explained calmly - “This whole floor is specifically built for them. If I’m not mistaken, in your application, you specifically list that you want 'exotic experiences.' This is the perfect place for that.”

“I did not mean this type of exotic experiences, Head Nurse!” - she cried in silence.

“Shhhh!” - the Head Nurse signaled the junior nurse to shut up while showing off her best customer service smile, which deserved a national recognition award - “Thank you for stopping by, Gojo-sama. I hope you find everything to your liking. We will make sure to take excellent care of your family.”

The white-hair man did not even spare a glance at the Head Nurse and walked past them like they were nothing.

“Handsome asshole!” - the Head Nurse spat after making sure the elevator was indeed closed.

“Kami-sama!!! WHYYYYY?” - the new nurse screamed internally.

Notes: Hi all my lovely readers! My sincere apologies for the super-duper late update! I will have to delay my update to biweekly or monthly for now because I just lost all my writing for this story and my other stories. The reason is that the platform I have been writing on had an update, and a glitch occurred, resulting in many people losing their work, including me! I have been troubleshooting with the developer for the past few weeks, but it has not gone anywhere. Hence, I have to rewrite a lot of chapters TT^TT.

Thank you in advance for your patience and support during my rewrite period. I will try my best to update more regularly once I have all my drafts done! As always, feel free to leave a comment or just say hi! Happy readings!

Chapter Text

The Gojo clan only had one son, and rumor had it, he was very special.

Tsuji High School, Class 10-4, Tuesday,

"Hyuuga-chan, Hyuuga-chan," - Watanuki shook Kira's arm gently yet urgently. His heart threatened to jump out of his chest under the intense stare of Tsuda Kaneki-sensei as the patience slowly faded from his face - "Hyuuga-chan, wake up…Tsuda-sensei is calling for you."

"…." - Kira remained unconscious. Her face pressed against the Math textbook as drool wetted the page, making it coil into odd shapes. There was no sign proving Watanuki's shake was effective in waking her up.

Tsuda now stood right next to her desk. The corner of his lips turned upward into an evil smile, scaring all the surrounding students. He unbuttoned the right cuff of his shirt and tugged slightly at the sleeve to reveal a muscular arm despite his scrawny-looking physique. With a powerful force, he pinched Kira's ear so hard that it felt like it would fall off for the rest of the day.

"AHHHHH, WHO DIED!” - as she collected herself and realized who did that, her heart sank to the floor, bracing herself for the storm called Tsuda-sensei.

"Stand outside of class, hands up, now!" - Tsuda’s low and deadly voice sent chills down not only Kira's but everyone's spines - "And wipe that drool off your face. Tsk!"

She quickly wiped the drool away, embarrassed. Luckily, no one dared to look her way because of Tsuda and his hellish aura.

She stood outside with her arms up for the entire Math period, but this was the easy part; she was used to these types of punishments. She had been through worse. When the bell rang, signaling the end of the Math period and the start of a break at 9:30 AM, Tsuda stepped out and glanced at her. This was the hard part, 

"You can put your hands down now. I want a 10,000-word letter of apology on my desk by the end of school today. If not done, don't ever come to my class again." - Tsuda dropped the sentence and walked past her, blending in with the hall filled with cheerful students.

She sighed and walked back to her seat. Her insides were shattered thinking about the 10,000-word letter of apology. Doing lines was better than this.  

"Hyuuga-chan, I cannot believe you did that on the second day of school and during the first Math period with the Devil." - A girl tapped on her shoulder, expressing her condolences.

"The Devil?" - she raised an eyebrow, looking up at her classmate, Asura.

"Yeah, Asura-chan's sister is a senior, and she said Tusda-sensei is the worst nightmare of Tsuji High School. He is brilliant and exceptional at Math; he graduated from Tokyo University after all. However, he is the toughest and scariest when it comes to discipline and testing content. So many students failed his Math tests before. And he would not hesitate to expel someone," - another girl chimed in - "I also heard that Tsuda-sensei got a few high-profile students expelled before, and that's why they made him our homeroom teacher and not the top classes."

"So "they" are teaching him a lesson, and now he drops his anger on us?" - Kira asked.

"Maybe… who knows?" - Asura shrugged.

"Stop speculating, guys. Those are just rumors, we don't know for sure," - Watanuki finally broke his silence - "I'm sorry, Hyuuga-chan, I should have warned you sooner."

"It's not your fault, Watanuki-kun! It's more me. I should not have fallen asleep in class." - She slouched, internally swearing at the one who stole her sleep last night. She sighed again before starting on the apology letter. She could not be expelled after only 2 days in Tokyo. Her Father would definitely throw her out of the house.

“Useless, a stain of the family name, blah, blah…” - she could hear his voice and shivered at the thought.

"Is everything okay?" - Watanuki asked, concern filling his eyes under the thick glasses.

"Yes? Why are you asking?" - she looked up, smiling awkwardly.

"Um…I just…I just feel it." - he scratched his head - "I'm sorry if I'm too nosy."

"It's okay, it's just…some stuff on my mind about someone."

"Ah..I know how that feels." - he smiled awkwardly, looking outside the windows.

"Eh…Oh…Aha, I know this look," - she smiled devilishly, her entire focus shifted - "who is the one, spill, Watanuki-kun."

"No one, it's no one." - Watanuki blushed hard - “I need to get back to…to my homework.”

"Hehehe, alright, I won't force you, Watanuki-kun. But let me know if you want to chat. I'm more than happy to listen."

"Thanks, Hyuuga-chan!" - his voice was barely audible, making her smile as she saw how red his ears had become. With another sigh, Kira returned to her dreadful apology letter.

"Hyuuga-chan, over here." - A group of girls from her class waved, asking her to join them for lunch.

"Amee, what are you doing after school?" - Asura, the girl with the senior sister earlier, asked.

"These girls are probably friends from before high school to call each other on a first-name basis,” - Kira thought to herself while silently enjoying her lunch.

"Nothing, want to go for ramen?" - she responded with a shrug.

"Let's go! Maru-chan, Yoko-chan, Hyuuga-chan, want to come with us?" - Asura turned to the rest.

"We would love to!" - Maru and Yoko agreed immediately.

"I cannot. I have to complete this apology letter." - Kira gently shook her head.

"Aw..that's suck! We would love to show you around Tokyo," - Asura showed her disappointment, which surprised Kira since she thought big city girls were usually not friendly toward outsiders like her. A huge wave of guilt made her stomach turn. However, the guilt was short-lived as Asura's next sentence completely blew it away - "since a countryside girl like you has probably never seen anything this grand before, right?"

They all laughed.

"Ahh….how am I not surprised?" - she smirked silently before smiling along.

She needed to fit in, to blend in, the first rule of being an assassin. Plus, she did not need friends, and these insulting words were nothing.

After a boring conversation and multiple complaints about teachers and homework, a topic catches Kira's attention.

"Hey Asura, I still don't see the one your sister mentioned at school. Are you sure he attends this school at all?” - Amee pouted.

"Amee… Have I ever lied to you? He will come, my sister said she saw his name in her class." - Asura reassured.

"Um…What or who are we talking about?" - Kira asked Maru, who was sitting next to her.

"Oh, you did not know, Hyuuga-chan?" - Maru astounded and turned to the rest of the group - "Asura, tell her!"

“Yeah, tell her, tell her,” - Amee encouraged.

"So,” - Asura inspected around before dropping her voice and waving for Kira to come closer - “there is this one guy in my sister's grade named Satoru. There are many dark rumors about him, one being that he belongs to the Yakuza."

"Satoru…Damn…" - Kira howled internally. Bile slowly rose in her throat.

"But those are unimportant; the biggest and most important point is that he is super-duper handsome and extremely smart. He placed first in the entire school every semester. That's why he is in Class 12-1." - Kira saw hearts flying in the air.

"What is his last name?" - It did not hurt to triple or quadruple confirm.

"Hm..I don't know…My sister doesn't say…" - Asura hesitated, and hope rose within her chest - "But it doesn't matter, as long as I get to see his face."

"But if he is Yakuza, shouldn't you guys run the other way?" - Kira raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care, as long as he is handsome, I can take it." - and it was an analogous answer from everyone.

“These girls seriously have their priorities wrong.” - Kira almost laughed out loud at the foolish group of girls before her. They would never be able to imagine what the Yakuza was capable of and how cruel they could be. She had seen and experienced them all, the bad, the bloody, and the worst to learn a key lesson: if you hear the word "Yakuza," you should run for your life and pray never to cross paths with them again.

But here she was, running toward the Gojo Satoru, the Yakuza she warned people to stay away to seek answers regarding her “ability." So, in a way, she could blame these girls.

"If the one they are speaking about is indeed the Satoru, he is not coming to school, probably because of the injuries. But from the last time I saw him, he seemed better, so he may come back soon. No need to risk and go back to the hospital for now." - Kira nodded, satisfied with her analysis.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, with Kira completing the 10,000-word apology letter at the cost of her right hand, which was about to fall off at any moment. She was sent off to the teacher's office with applause from the entire class as the first student who dared to defy the Devil on the second day of classes.

"Tsuda-sensei, here you go!" - she bowed, awaiting a response from the Devil.

"Leave it and go home, it's late." - Tsuda-sensei left her utterly in shock with a completely different aura compared to earlier. He sounded almost nice, but she would take it. She was not seeking trouble.

"Hai! You have a good evening, sir!" - and she ran for her life.

"Phew, that was much less painful than I thought. Since I survived, I need to reward myself. That means the internet cafe! Woo hooo!" - she giggled and started speeding toward her happy place.

"Hi Arisugawa-san, I'm back!" - she slammed the entrance door open and greeted loudly.

"Oi, kid, aren't you supposed to be in cram school now?" - the owner greeted her with a cigarette still in his mouth. The smoke traveled to her nostrils, making her cough slightly.

“Are you supposed to smoke indoors? If your wife finds out, you are doomed, oji-san." - She covered her nose, using her hands to fan the heavy smoke away.

"How about I give you 1 hour free, and we keep this information between us, huh?" - the man grinned widely after a brief pause at the mention of his wife, pointing toward her usual computer, and she happily agreed.

“Okayyy.”

Arisugawa Sorata was a middle-aged man who ran the "Ninja" internet cafe with his wife. The man had a lean build and a thug-like face with a gigantic scar that ran from his forehead to his jawline, which would scare everyone off at first sight. Even Kira was intimidated by him despite seeing way more thugs in her life than she would prefer. She eventually learns that Sorata was nothing but a teddy bear at heart, and he had a soft spot for her. He always gave her free food and free hours. His wife, Arisugawa Arashi, on the other hand, was extremely strict. She rarely gave her anything free, but Kira strongly believes the cafe was still up and running until now because of his wife. Arashi was a beautiful woman with long dark hair and a mysterious facade. Kira would mistake her for a model if she did not know better. Arashi rarely appeared at the front of the store, but when she did, all eyes were on her.

Sometimes, Kira did know how a rough guy like Sorata was able to snatch a fine woman like Arashi. Oh well, this was none of her business.

"I'm bouncing, oji-san,” - She said goodbye after 2 hours of “hard work.”

"Good, kids should sleep early. See ya soon, though." - Sorata nodded and took the bill from her hand.

"Don't let anyone get in my profile. I got so far today."

"I know, I know, go go, shoo shoo."

THUD…BANG…

A sense of deja vu captured her body, seizing her from all movements as she walked past the same alley that she had walked through 2 nights ago.

However, this time, the situation was reversed. The boy is standing tall and holding the gun, pointing at the thug on the ground, muttering and begging for his life.

BANG…

He coldly pulled the trigger without hesitation, and the entire alley fell into deep silence.

"Clean things up." - the annoying yet deep velvet voice from the boy made her heart drop to her stomach, and she knew they were bound to face each other.

As he stepped into the street light, her eyes lingered on his well-sculpted body and broad back. What struck her the most was the aura emitting from him. Dark and vicious. She had seen many Yakuza members and assassins in her life, and not many could have this overwhelming aura. This boy’s aura might trump Natsume’s just by a hair. She looked back at the number of lifeless bodies decorating his path and thought to herself:

"If he kills this many, why the heck did he struggle last time?"

When her eyes decided to turn their focus back to Satoru, their eyes collided.

Chapter Text

"If he kills this many, why the heck did he struggle last time?"

When her eyes decide to turn their focus back to Satoru, their eyes collide.

"Boss, what should we do?" - the guard next to Satoru asked without looking at her - "Should we kill her?"

"That girl is a Usuba. No one touches her,” - he whispered, eyes still locked with hers, refusing to let them go.

"Usuba? I'm sorry, boss, I did not recognize her."

"Hn. You are not supposed to. Clean this up and leave. I will take care of her."

"Yes, boss."

"Fancy seeing you here. Seems like the injury is minor after all." - she broke the silence. 

Satoru did not respond. He continued to close the distance between them until the gap became uncomfortable for her to handle. She took a step back, but he quickly grabbed her arm and yanked her to his side, eyeing the black smoke that had been waiting to swallow her if she took another step back.

"What the heck are you doing?" - she yelped at the powerful yank, and Kami-sama helped her with the power gap between them. Why can't you give me more strength?

"Hn," - he glanced at her one more time before letting go - "I can see why your Father never speaks about you.”

Those might be innocent words coming from Satoru's mouth, but they were the deadliest punch to her face. With just one sentence, he stabbed right into her deepest insecurity. She felt bare and exposed under his stare, like he could see right through her.

Satoru’s chest rose with satisfaction as he witnessed her crumbled expression of defeat. 

"I will see you soon, Kira,” - he whispered in her ear before disappearing into his black shiny car, leaving a sour taste in her mouth.

Tsuji Private High School, Class 10-4, Wednesday

"Good morning…Hyuuga-chan?" - Watanuki's hand stopped mid-air, and his brows furrowed with concern after seeing her panda black eyes.

"Good morning…Watanuki-kun…" - she dragged herself toward her seat and flopped down on the table.

"Geez, what happened to you?" - Amee, Asura, Maru, and Yoko greeted them both as they passed the door.

"Unable to sleep due to some…" - the word "asshole" got caught in her throat - "stuff. How are you guys doing?"

"Ugh, we have PT today, but at least no class with the Devil,” - Amee played with her long, shiny hair.

"Everyone, the teacher is here. Please go back to your seats,” - the class President announces, and the third day of High School starts.

She could barely pay any attention to lectures due to the sleepless night. All was because of Satoru. She stared out of the windows, and her mind drifted. Thankfully, no teacher called her out while she was daydreaming.

Tsuji Private High School, Class 10-4, PE Period

"Good job, Kira. Amazing! Where did you learn how to do all of that?" - the coach clapped impressively at how Kira swiftly and effortlessly passed the vaulting exercise, which not many students could execute on the first day of class.

Kira's head had never been held so high, and her ego had never been bigger.

"It's good to hear compliments. This must be how brother feels every time,”- she thought to herself while looking at her struggling classmates. All she could do was smile encouragingly, especially at the skinny Watanuki Kimihiro. His glasses kept falling off during each jump. The situation seemed much more stressful, with the coach yelling at him. She was about to come to Watanuki's rescue, but someone beat her to it.

"Sensei, give him a break. He sucks at this. Everyone can see that." - The tall boy's comment surprised everyone.

"Oi, are you helping me or mocking me, Doumeki?!" - Watanukia furrowed, crossed his arms, and tapped his foot on the ground angrily.

"Hm, I guess they know each other."- She stopped, wondering about the boy who came to Watanuki's "rescue." The two continued to argue in front of the coach until a girl with the darkest and prettiest long black hair Kira had ever seen approached, and they finally stopped.

Kira silently observed the group for a long time. Her brows furrowed harder and harder the longer she observed them, drowning in her own thoughts.

"If you stare at them for any longer, your brows may stick together forever.” - A familiar, deep, velvet, and purely annoying voice brought her back to reality.

She covered her right ear in surprise. Goosebumps ran across her whole body. She turned abruptly to find the one person who had successfully surprised her twice.

"What the fuck are you doing here? - She took a few steps away from Satoru after remembering what happened last night. 

"Why should I not be here? I'm a student here," - he shrugged casually, walking in front of her, blocking her view of the Watanuki’s friend group - "You shouldn't stare at people, it's rude."

"And you shouldn't kill people." - She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. She had no intention of prolonging her association with such an asshole.

Kira tried to walk past Satoru to gain visuals of the trio, but they were not together anymore. The pretty girl and the guy, Doumeki, were walking away, while Watanuki was back at the vaulting exercise, though nothing seemed to improve. The coach shook his head hopelessly and waved at Kira.

"Hyuuga, come over here. Kids, look and learn." - her nose bloomed with pride as she, once again, perfectly and effortlessly demonstrated vaulting in front of the whole class, earning plenty of “ohs” and “ahs” from people. 

"Hyuuga-chan, you are sooo good!" - everyone gathered around her as the coach finally gave them a break - "Ugh, I'm so tired! Why do we have double periods in PE?!"

As her classmates continued their nonstop complaints about PT, vaulting, and their coach, Amee tugs Asura’s arm hard as her sight focused on something behind Kira.

"Is it him?" - her face blushed crimson red - "Is it him, Asura?"

"I think so! No, it must be, my sister is there." - Asura pointed at a girl who looked obnoxiously similar to herself, only with longer and better-styled hair - "His aura is indeed undeniable! So dark, so mysterious, so majestic, so handsome…Ahhh"

Hearts were flying everywhere, and love was floating in the air. However, the only emotion Kira had was irritation.

She did not want to hear the name Satoru any longer, so she walked away toward the water fountain, where she found Watanuki and that guy, Doumeki, standing under a tree. They seemed to be in an argument again. She was convinced that these 2 were definitely nemeses, not friends.

After observing them a bit earlier, she had to admit that Watanuki had a very interesting group of friends. The guy, Doumeki, had an undeniably bright aura; the type that was very rare to come by, especially in her shadow world. He was the first person with this bright aura that she met over the years. The pretty girl, on the other hand, had an especially dark aura, which Kira could not make up for what it was. Her dark aura was not the type Kira would have seen from her shadow world; it was the type that made her feel uneasy, the type that went beyond this world. As for Watanuki, whom she had already felt a weird aura since the first day they met, his aura was neither bright nor dark; it was the aura that did not belong to this world as well, as if he were something that should not exist.

"Hmm..Ah…Ahhh, a spider web!" - Watanuki's hand got caught in a spiderweb.

"Tsk, don't move!" - Doumeki grumbled and destroyed the web.

“DON’T!” - she yelled, but it's too late. The web was gone, and so was the spider. Both Watanuki and Doumeki looked at her, confused. Her fear rose. Her sight moved toward the sky, where a gigantic red web covered the entire atmosphere slowly retreated into thin air, leaving only one thin silver strand attached to Doumeki's shoulder.

"A mark…"- A basic tactic that had been passed down for thousands of years in the shadow world for the absolute precision and efficiency. Mass murderers were amateurs. Top-tier assassins did not miss. Those were a part of her training, and she knew in her gut that something bad was bound to happen to Doumeki.

Kira's terrified expression added more confusion to both Doumeki and Watanuki. They tried to look in the direction that she was looking, but there was nothing there, just a nice blue sky and a few lazy white clouds drifting by.

"Hyuuga-chan, what's wrong?" - Watanuki asked, approaching her. Doumeki remained still under the tree, his face blank. 

"Nothing, Watanuki-kun, I thought I saw something." - she smiled, scratching her head while watching Doumeki closely, looking for any strange signs or symptoms - "How is your friend?"

"Heh? Doumeki? He is…um..fine? Why do you ask?" - Watanuki smiled, scratching his cheek. The conversation was getting weirder and weirder.

"Nothing, let me know if he feels weird, okay?" - she urged.

"Um…Ah…Yeah, will do, Hyuuga-chan.” - he nodded before the coach blew the whistle, signaling the end of their break and the beginning of the second PT period.

Kira could not focus during the second PT period. All she could think of was the silver strand sticking to Doumeki's shoulder. She knew the strand belonged to those “things,” like the black blob that almost killed her a few nights back, and they had been the source of her inability to become a successful assassin since the age of 5. Those things lurked in the dark and attacked when she could not see. That was when her fear of darkness grew. Unfortunately for her, the words “fear” and “darkness” must not be present in any assassin’s dictionary, and she ended up with both. When she was 7, all trainees went through a “fear stimulation” test, and she failed horribly, screaming, choking, and vomiting her guts out after a half-demon, half-centipede spirit tried to choke the life out of her when she was blindfolded. But to other mundane eyes, she was screaming and choking at the thin air. After that “performance,” her path of becoming a stain to the Hyuuga’s bloodline began. 

She knew what lay beyond the human realm and what they could do. She could not win against them nor fight them. So she chose what she deemed best: avoidance. She had successfully avoided them for 8 years, but the sensation earlier when the web disappeared, together with the tiny silhouette, told her she was about to encounter them again.

Fear enveloped her entire body, rendering her senses useless as she recalled the small silhouette with four pairs of blood-red eyes standing at the center of the web. She was so lost in her fear and failed to hear the yelling of her classmates until a strong pair of hands tackled her to the ground.

She groaned in pain as feelings slowly crept back into her body. She coughed, trying to regain her breathing. The first thing she saw after sitting up was a pair of brown eyes staring at her lazily. Satoru tapped her forehead:

"Stop daydreaming, or you will 100% get a bloody nose." - She pushed his hand away and gazed at the softball field where the upperclassmen were playing dodgeball. A few apologies arrived, and she waved, signaling she was all good. Once everything was back to normal, she turned and found Satoru lying flat on the ground.

"Are you bipolar?" - she barked. 

He smiled…gently, and it freaks her out a little. She temporarily forgot about the spider web. Before Satoru could utter a response, a call caught their attention.

"Doumeki-kun…Doumeki-kun?" - she followed the voice immediately to see the pretty girl, Watanuki’s friend, crouching down next to Doumeki, who was covering his right eye with a painful expression - "Watanuki-kun!"

"Himawari-chan?" - Watanuki responded immediately and ran toward them, and so did Kira, but she was stopped by Satoru.

"Don't get involved in such nonsense.” - but she tossed his grip away.

When she arrived, she could see a web formed on Doumeki's right eye, completely shutting his sight.

"Hyuuga-chan, what..what..is it? How… how do you know this will happen to Doumeki?" - Watanuki stuttered as his lips trembled in panic. All eyes were on her.

She hesitantly opened up - "I saw a spider strand attached to his shoulder after he destroyed the web earlier under that tree. There is something…or someone is causing this."

"Who or What is that? How can we cure him?" - the girl, Himawari, asked. 

"I don't know. I don't know who or what causes this. I saw it, but I don't know what it is." - Kira tried to think, and a thought struck through her mind. She looked for Satoru, but he was long gone. 

"Where is that MTF when I need him?" - she hissed, punching the ground.

"I may know someone who can help." - Watanuki finally calmed himself down enough to speak.

Kira's eyes were wide open.

"Hyuuga-chan, let's bring him to Yuuko."

Chapter Text

"Hyuuga-chan, let's bring him to Yuuko."

“Who is Yuuko?” - Kira asked, but received no answer as they all hurried to the school gate.

Despite not knowing who this “Yuuko” was that Watanuki mentioned, Kira complied without any questions. Maybe this “Yuuko” was someone she should meet. After all, Watanuki, Doumeki, and Himawari weren’t too surprised to hear that she could see things.

“Hey, you three! Where do you think you are going? School is not done yet!” - the security guard yelled loudly, but Kira and Watanuki were surprisingly fast despite carrying Domeki. They headed to a small park about a 10-minute walk from the school.

“I cannot enter that person’s shop.” - Doumeki covered his right eye.

“I will go in. You guys stay here. Hyuuga-chan, would you mind looking after him for a bit?” - Watanuki rusheed toward an old-style manor after receiving her nod.

“Doumeki-san, why did you say you couldn’t enter that person’s shop?” - Kira initiated the conversation.

“Because I don’t need to,” - he answered shortly, without looking up at her.

“Who is Yuuko?” - she waited a moment before asking again. She needed answers.

“Someone whose Watanuki is working part-time for and who handles extraordinary things. I’m not so sure either, Hyuuga-san.” - Doumeki spoke without looking at her - “Watanuki may be a better person to answer your inquiries.”

“Ah, no worries, Doumeki-san.” - she smiled, pointing at the manor that Watanuki disappeared into 10 minutes ago - “Is that her shop?”

“I can’t see it,” - Doumeki shook his head - “to me, it’s just a block of land. There is nothing there.”

“…” - Kira stared at him, and eventually tore her gaze away. They both fell into an awkward silence, which did not last long as Watanuki returned after another 5 minutes.

“What did Yuuko say?” - Kira made the first move.

“She will handle it. We should go home.” - Watanuki looked blankly at Doumeki - “I will help you home, Doumeki. Hyuuga-chan, sorry, I cannot walk you home.”

“It’s okay, please don’t worry about me.” - She sensed something was wrong from Watanuki’s blank expression.

As the boys disappeared, she entered the old mansion that Watanuki had walked out of a moment ago.

“Interesting.” - Kira raised a brow at the sensation the moment she landed her feet through the gate.

She could not make out what it was that she just felt, but her confusion was short-lived when a pair of twins immediately greeted her.

“Helloooo, we are Maru and Moro. Master is waiting for you.” - the twins spoke in unison and grabbed Kira’s hands, dragging her right into the manor, passing a long hallway. Despite the outside being Victorian-looking, the inside of the manor was all traditional Japanese with decorative paper doors and tatami floors. They finally stopped in front of a traditional double-door room.

The doors opened, revealing a woman in an extravagant kimono who looked expectant of Kira’s arrival. The woman was half sitting, half lying down at the center of the room, a pipe in her right hand, as smoke evaporated from her thin lips, filling the entire room.

“You are Yuuko, I assumed.” - Kira asked before bowing respectfully. It was not difficult for her to realize the age gap between them. Born into the Shadow world, reading faces and expressions was part of the skill set that she needed to master to survive.

Yuuko had long and straight jet-black hair with a length that Kira assumed would pass her hip if she stood straight. Her skin was pale and borderline translucent. Her lips were thin and painted red, suiting the red lily pattern on her kimono. Even though Yuuko was sitting/lying down, Kira could imagine that she must have a tall and slender body based on the skinny legs showing from the slit of the kimono. Kira had a hard time keeping her jaw from falling on the ground at how stunning yet eerie Yuuko was.

“Some people call me that indeed,” - Yuuko exhaled - “ But I go by many names, The Dimensional Witch, The Space and Time Witch, The Far-Eastern Witch.”

“Dimensional Witch, what does that mean?” - Kira swallowed.

As if Yuuko could hear her thoughts, she smiled gently:

“No need to be scared, I’m not that type of witch. All I do is run this shop, which grants people's wishes. And I can see that you have a wish.”

“Granting wishes, don’t be ridiculous. There is no such thing in this world.” - Kira huffed, but at heart, a ray of hope rose.

“Believe it or not, it’s up to you. But something tells me that you already do.” - Yuuko gazed at Kira, half smiling, half not, as they fell into a deep silence.

When Kira was about to break the uncomfortable silence between them, a mysterious black smoke crept into the room behind her. Cold sweats streamed down the nape of her neck. The black smoke continued to expand before it met the white smoke from Yuuko’s pipe, creating an invisible barrier separating them. 

“What is it?” - Kira automatically retreated a few steps toward Yuuko, trying to remain calm. 

“A guest and a warning,” - the smile faded from Yuuko’s face as she stared at the black smoke without blinking - like she was silently fighting it.

After 5 minutes, the black smoke retreated and disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Once certain that the aura had completely evaporated, Kira broke down her guard and turned to Yuuko:

“What warning? From the spider?”

“Heh, you sure have the eyes.” - Yuuko released another smoke cloud - “And no, that was not from the spider. It was from someone who is far more dangerous and powerful.”

“What…what did it say to you?” - Kira swallowed while eyeing Yuuko. She had so many questions. What did you say to Watanuki? What happened to Doumeki’s eyes? What could she do to cure her sight? What could Yuuko do as a Witch of Space and Time? Were there any limitations to the wish she could grant?

“Everything happens for a reason, Kira. You are entering my shop for a reason, and in time, you will have answers to all your questions.”

“How do you know my name? I haven’t introduced myself.”

“Watanuki told me when we were speaking earlier.” - she grinned.

“Ah. So, what did you tell Watanuki-kun earlier? What happened to Doumeki’s eyes?”

“It’s a spider’s grudge.” - her voice was light, as if what she just said was completely normal.

“Because he destroyed the web?” - Kira raised a brow.

“Yes. Spiders are the worst when it comes to holding grudges. Because Domeki-kun destroyed its home, it takes what is considered equally valuable. An eye for an eye, as people say.”

Kira huffed - “So what can we do to take it back?”

“You don’t have to worry about it. It has been taken care of.” - Yuuko smiled again, but Kira knew it would never be that easy, especially when it came to these things.

“Everything happens for a reason. Everything has a price.” - a sound echoed in her mind, and she immediately understood the purpose of this wish-granting shop.

“What did he pay to get Doumeki’s eye back?”

“Smart girl.” - Yuuko sat up and walked toward Kira - “No wonder...”

“Stop with all the mystery talk. Tell me, what did Watanuki pay?” - Kira was borderline yelling at this point as all her patience drained away.

“An eye for an eye, my dear child.” - Yuuko was inches away from Kira’s face. Up close, Yuuko’s hair was knee-length, she was almost a head taller than Kira, and much more beautiful with still black cat eyes, straight nose, and utterly fair skin tone.

“So he offers his eye in exchange for Doumeki’s. How stupid!!” - Kira judged silently before asking - “Is there no other way?”

“Instead of worrying about other people, what about yourself? What do you want from my shop?”

“It seems like you know the moment I walked through that door what my wish is.” - Kira crossed her arms, challenging.

“There is a steep price for what you want, even higher than Watanuki’s.” - She smiled knowingly.

“What do you mean?” - the conversation was definitely not going as planned. There were more and more issues uncovered the longer they spoke. 

“You guys are sharing a similar…issue. However, it seems like yours is far more gifted or complicated compared to his,” - Yuuko stopped in front of her and stared into Kira’s eyes - “Hence, the price you have to pay is significantly more, Hyuuga Kira.”

“How does she know my last name? Is this her ability?” - She cautioned, regretting entering the lion's den without any preparations.

“Heh, don’t be so tense, I’m a good person.” - Yuuko tapped Kira’s shoulder, assuring her.

“Only those who are not saying that they are good.” - Kira rolled her eyes, doubting - “If you are not going to give me an answer on how to take back Watanuki’s eye, I should take my leave now.”

“There is only one way to take Watanuki’s eye back, which is to face the thing you fear the most, dear child. Are you ready to do that to someone whom you barely know for…3 days?”

“Ah, it seems like we are more connected than I and my family. At least he shares the same burden as I do, and I understand how heavy it is. I want to help him just as much as I would like someone to help me right now.”

Yuuko did not speak another word, just looking at Kira carefully, like she had just figured something out. Kira took the dreadful silence as the queue to leave. But before she stepped outside the shop, Yuuko’s voice dripped into her ears.

“Doumeki’s grandfather was a shrine keeper; old magic and spells are documented in the library. You may find something if you visit the shrine.”

Kira looked back at the mansion before stepping past the gate, wondering why she felt so uneasy inside. Second to reading facial expressions, assassins were extremely sharp with their surroundings. When her foot hit the ground outside the mansion, she immediately knew the reason behind her uneasiness.

“Kami-sama, this place…does not belong to this world,” - she bit her lips - “No wonder Doumeki cannot see the mansion nor step inside.”

Tsuji Private High School, Class 10-4, Thursday

As if things could not get any better, the first thing that caught Kira’s attention was a patch over Watanuki’s right eye, which rendered her speechless.

“Good morning, Hyuuga-chan!” - Watanuki waved and offered her a bright grin, like nothing had happened.

She nodded but remained silent.

Throughout the entire class, Watanuki remained lively while continuously lying about his eye to their classmates.

“Stupid!” - Kira cursed loud enough for Watanuki to hear before stepping outside of class. She did not understand why she was angry at Watanuki’s kindness. What accident? He sacrifices his right eye, for Doumeki’s as a trade with the Dimensional Witch.

Her doubt was confirmed when she saw Doumeki using both functional eyes for Kyūdō (弓道). Without much thinking, Kira walked inside toward Doumeki. Up close, she was suddenly conscious of how tall Doumeki was and how broad his shoulders were, which reminded her of someone.

“What do you want?” - Doumeki’s stern voice thankfully saved her from a terrible thought.

“Can I come to your house later?” - She did not waste any time, and her directness made the archer next to Doumeki stumble and miss.

“What for?” - but it did not affect Doumeki at all. He unwaveringly hit the center with perfect form.

“Good job!” - the coach approached, nodding with great pleasure - “And who are you?”

“I need to speak to Doumeki-san regarding a very important matter, sensei.” - She bowed and started retreating toward the door.

“Meet me at the front after class,” - he spoke quickly before passing her into the dressing room. The whole conversation received many eyes from others. But to both of them, the scrutiny did not solve their friend’s eye situation.

“Doumeki? Hyuuga-chan?” - they were caught by Watanuki on their way back to Doumeki’s shrine - “Where are you guys going?”

“To my place,” - Doumeki shrugged and continued to walk toward a shrine revealing itself at the corner of the street.

“Yuuko said his shrine may have something to help with your eye.” - Kira slowed down to wait for Watanuki to catch up with them and filled him in on their plan.

“Heh? You spoke to Yuuko?” - and she explained everything that happened yesterday after he and Doumeki went home.

“So we are the same?” - Watanuki spoke without looking at her as they ascended the steps leading into the shrine.

“Yeah…well, if it makes you feel better, my issue is worse than yours.” - She smiled awkwardly.

“I don’t think that makes me feel any better.” - Watanuki replied, scratching the back of his head.

“Whatever, I lived my whole life with this, so it doesn’t bother me. It’s just…”

“Come in here quick,” - Doumeki called out from one of the rooms on the right side of the shrine.

“What is it?” - she stepped inside, coughing slightly at all the dust.

“Did you hear something?” - Doumeki asked, eyeing around the dark room filled with a few stacks of old and fragile-looking books - “I’m going to find some candles. You guys start searching.”

“Hey…hey, aren’t you helping? Doumeki, Doumeki…” - Watanuki called angrily - “I’m sure he is trying to avoid working and has us do all the work instead.”

“You can rest, Watanuki-kun. I can search.” - Kira did not want to waste any minutes and focused on the task.

“No..no..I will…” - Watanuki’s sentence cut short as he braced himself for a fall, hand covered over the white patch.

“Hey, hey, careful! What is it?” - Kira tossed the book in her hands to settle Watanuki down to a sitting position - “You need to rest; let’s go outside, it’s too dusty in here.”

“Nothing, I’m fine, Hyuuga-chan. I thought I saw something.”

“Regardless. Just rest, okay? I can do the research.” - “I need to find the cure quickly. The longer the eyes are out of the sockets, the higher the risk of unrecovered damage.”

After 30 minutes into the search, the sun settled. Doumeki finally returned with the candles, and he joined Kira. 

As Doumeki and Kira were consumed in their search, a deep silence painted the atmosphere, and every sound, no matter how small, became noticeable. Their heads popped up at a faint rattling sound as it got closer and louder. They looked at each other, remaining completely still while trying to locate where the sound came from.

After a few seconds, the rattling noise disappeared. They waited for another few seconds before lowering their head back into the old books. 

And finally.

“I found it,” - Doumeki spoke calmly and gave Kira the book - “Here.”

The title of the page was “How to get your sight back from spiders.”

“First, wash your stolen eye with water from a well during a full moon…” - she read out loud, failing to realize how the rattling noise had gotten much closer and louder. Until the sound was dangerously close, her senses rushed back. Her ears perked up as her eyes scanned the surrounding room for the source of the noise. Nothing.

“What is it? Is it a snake? ” - Watanuki walked in as he, too, heard the rattling noise.

“Seems like it’s coming from Watanuki’s bag.” - Kira pointed toward the bag. But before they could blink, a tiny, thin, string-like creature crawled out of the bag and launched itself directly at Kira like an arrow.

Chapter Text

“Seems like it’s coming from Watanuki’s bag.” - Kira pointed toward the bag. But before they could blink, a tiny, thin, string-like creature crawled out of the bag and launched itself directly at Kira like an arrow.

All the training that Father put her through, despite being a failure, saved her life. She dodged the creature’s attack beautifully.

“Don’t let it touch you!” - Watanuki warned, and they spread across the room, eyeing each other and the creature while anticipating the next attack. However, instead of attacking them, the creature seemed preoccupied with the center of the room, on top of the ancient book that contained the cure to Watanuki’s cursed eye.

“They are eating the words.” - Doumeki’s blank expression stunned them both as he darted toward the book, trying to save it.

“NO!” - Watanuki and Kira yelled after.

The creature turned and snapped at Doumeki’s hand, but thanks to Watanuki’s quick act, it only nicked his finger slightly. Kira quickly slammed a small wooden box that her hand could reach, capturing the creature along with the book inside.

The atmosphere fell into a deep silence as the scratching noise continued within the box. The three of them stared uselessly at the box where the cure was being eaten away. As if all hope was lost, a silhouette appeared at the door.

“Good evening!” - Yuuko waved happily - “What is going on here? It looks like you are having fun!”

Watanuk’s voice deepened with sadness - “There is nothing fun here, Yuuko-san. Can you please help us? A creature is destroying the book we were looking for.”

“Heh?” - Yuuko’s sight fell on the wooden box. She lifted her sight and gazed around at the wall - “Well, there will be a cost.”

“…”

“Did your grandfather write those amulets, Doumeki-kun?” - he gave her a slide nod - “Then, the price is all of those amulets.”

“Take them,” - he agreed without hesitation.

“Open the box, Kira-chan,” - Yuuko commanded after stacking all the amulets from the wall in her hand. The creature focused on the book so much that it didn’t even notice the box was lifted - “Oi, there are delicious words here.”

Yuuko whistled, drawing the creature’s attention to an amulet held between her fingers. She successfully captured its attention as it launched itself at the amulet. When it was inches away, Yuuko dropped the amulet on the floor, and the creature waited no time before feasting on the red writings.

“So it’s drawn to words, specifically, old words?” - Kira silently watched everything in front of her.

“Here is another one.” - Yuuko dropped another amulet after the creature finished the first, leaving nothing but a blank piece of paper. At the third amulet, Kira heard the creature shriek as the ink escaped the paper and tied the creature into a black cocoon. The cocoon shook violently for a few seconds, then lay completely still.

Only when the cocoon was secured in Yuuko’s hands could everyone breathe again.

“What the hell is that thing?” - she touched her forehead; it was drenched with sweat, but her spine felt so chilled.

“Bookworm” - Yuuko turned the cocoon in her hand, amusement written all over her face - “It feeds on valuable words. Because all books and amulets in here were written by Doumeki’s grandfather, a powerful priest, that’s why it’s here.”

“Doumeki’s grandfather is a priest…hm…that explains his glow.” - Kira nodded.

“But this place has been here intact for years, why now?” - Doumeki questioned.

“Hm…I don’t know. Then it must be you guys who brought the bookworm. The barrier here is strong, and you guys broke it by coming inside. And that introduces all sorts of things.”

“It came from my bag,” - Watanuki remarked, looking at his bag, which only has a few books and a pencil case. He flipped through them and stopped at one.

“It must be from this one.” - Yuuko glanced over Watanuki’s shoulder at the book he was staring at; all the words were messed up.

“Oh nooooo, what am I going to say to Himawari-chan!?” - Watanuki held his head, looking dreadful.

“Himawari-chan, huh?” - Yuuko repeated the name, and Kira did not miss the hint of worry. 

“What’s with Himawari? Is it related to her dark aura?”

“It’s all gone.” - Everyone turned to Doumeki, who breathed heavily as he flipped through the book with instructions on how to get Watanuki’s eye back from the spiders. The atmosphere once again deepened. 

Tsuji Private High School, Class 10-4, Friday

Kira sighed sadly during the break after two consecutive Math periods. Tsuda was always too intense, and with all that was going on right now, she failed miserably at focusing.

The Dimensional Witch, the spider’s grudge, Watanuki’s eye,…too many problems, no solution.

“It’s okay, Hyuuga-chan, thanks for trying though!” - Watanuki smiled at her, which made her feel even more useless. She sucked at school, sucked at being an assassin, and now she sucked at helping friends, too? No, she could not let it happen. But how could she resolve this? She could not offer her own eye to Watanuki because her Father would definitely kill her or worse, erase her name from the family tree. The Hyuuga clan’s law prevented killing clan members, but it definitely did not prevent exiling someone. 

As Kira tossed and turned her many thoughts in her tiny head, a shadow passed by, followed by many footsteps and screams.

“Satoru-sama!!”

“I love you.”

“Please take my letter!”

“Please take my chocolates.”

“Wow, people are crazy, I’m telling you.” - Her eyes rolled as she shook her head.

“It must be tough to be popular, I guess.” - Watanuki agreed, massaging his eye.

“Nah, he totally deserves it,” - she claimed - “Ah, did you return the book to Himawari-san?”

His shoulder dropped at the mention of his crush.

“It’s okay, Watanuki-kun, she would understand.”

“Thanks, Hyuuga-chan. I will tell her after school today.” - They nodded at each other. The bell chimed loudly, signaling that the break was over.

Kira found out after the fourth period in the morning that it was her turn to clean up today. With a heavy sigh of disappointment that her Friday night plan of immersing herself at the Ninja Internet cafe for Counterstrike was ruined, she dragged her feet and began clearing the tables and chairs to sweep and mop the floor. Amidst the peaceful cleaning process, a sudden and immense wave of wind shot at the windows. The wind with dust and leaves was strong enough to fling her body against the wall. It took a second to crawl and position herself at the wall beneath the windows, patiently waiting for the big winds to stop.

“Seriously, these weird things need to stop!” - she huffed in frustration. Ever since her family set foot in Tokyo, she had encountered more and more supernatural events. She even found someone who suffered the same condition as herself - “Big city is a magnet for craziness.”

After a few minutes, the wind finally died down before coming to a complete stop. Without further delay, she looked outside, into the empty garden. She shifted her sight around, then up, and there they were, three tiny dots floating above the trees. She swallowed hard, blinking multiple times to make sure she was not mistaken. She contemplated whether or not she should remain hidden or get closer to the situation.

“Never attack until you know the opponent's ability.” - Father’s voice echoed at the base of her skull. 

From her assessment, the smartest thing was to keep hiding. She could not fight them; they are supernatural beings. Their capability was beyond human reach. For all she could tell, those three tiny dots could turn the entire human population into spiders or something even worse. She shivered at the thought of billions of eight-legged creatures flooding the Earth. It reminded her of the half-spider, half-human creature in “Demon Slayer” that stung Zenitsu. She definitely did not want to become half-spider, half-human, and worse, hairless. She would rather die.

Despite all the horrible visions in her mind, Kira decided to jump outside and approached the flying beings as carefully as possible from the back. Luckily, they seemed distracted by something. Positioning herself behind a tall tree, her eyes widened to find Watanuki talking to the flying dots. 

“Holy…Are they babies? Babies with sunglasses?” - she murmured when her eyes landed on the three beings - “They are kinda cute, flying babies.”

“Who is it? Who is spying on us?” - One of the three turns in her direction, yelling. She was distracted for a split second, forgetting that these were supernatural beings; their senses were enhanced. The baby raised his hands, and a strong wind shot her way, but thankfully, she grabbed the tree trunk tightly this time, steadying herself.

“Stop it! She is my friend.” - Kira heard Watanuki’s distorted voice, and the wind slowed.

“Who is she? Why can she see us?” - Another baby asked, sounding angry.

“She is like me. She can see your world.” - Watanuki explained, rushing to help Kira back to her feet. She murmured a quick “thanks,” earning a soft smile from him.

“What happens here? Who are they, Watanuki-kun?” - she dusted off her skirt and shirt.

“They are the crows who follow Zashiki Warashi.” - Watanuki adjusted his glasses.

“And now she is kidnapped because of him!” - one baby or “crow” pointed his angry finger at Watanuki.

“Zashiki Warashi as in THE Zashiki Warashi?” - her voice filled with surprise - “And you guys are her crows?”

“Of course” - all of them spoke in unison, crossing their short arms.

“Where did they take her?” - Watanuki asked - “I will come with you and get her out.”

“We will show you the way. You better give her back to us unharmed, or we won’t forgive you, human!!” - the three crow babies huffed.

“We will get her.” - Watanuki determined, and turned to Kira - “You should go home, Hyuuga-chan, I have to do this.”

She eyed his figure up and down, taking in his appearance wholeheartedly for the first time. Watanuki Kimihiro had short black hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. His body was as slim as a twig with zero muscle, for all she could tell. He looked like a typical nerd who got bullied at school until they transferred to a different school. All to say that he had no chance of surviving against a supernatural being. But she could be wrong. 

“I will come with you, Watanuki-kun.” - She took a step closer. With her, maybe their chance of survival would improve slightly. But who knew, she might freeze up as soon as they encountered whatever entities behind the spiders. And they would both die or, worse, be turned into spiders. The thought once again made her shiver - “If we are being turned into spiders, please kill me, okay?” 

“You don’t have to...” - Watanuki refused, but it was too late. She made up her mind because no matter how hard she thought of a way to get Watanuki’s eye back, it all came down to finding the source of the problem, the one who took the eye in the first place. This was it, and maybe, big “maybe”, it might give her the courage to overcome her fear and be able to become the assassin Father had always wanted. If not, dying wouldn’t be too bad. Father wanted her dead anyway. 

“Let’s go!” - the three crow babies wave their magical fan. A strong wave of winds wrapped around them, and, in the blink of an eye, they all disappeared without a trace. 

When their bodies made contact with the ground again, Kira’s lunch threatened to appear again. Watanuki was in no better condition. 

“Weaklings.” - A crow baby coffed. 

“Brat.” - She cursed in silence and assessed her surroundings. The crows dropped them in an abandoned area with little traces of recent human activity. There were broken shop signs, wooden furniture, money machines, half a bathtub, picture frames, toothbrushes, broken glasses, stuffed toys, trash, and cigarette buds everywhere on the ground. In front of them was a semi-intact building in the entire area, broken but still standing. She shifted her focus further - “No town or city nearby. No other tall building. Where the heck did they bring us to?”

An assassin’s second most important skill was the judgment of their surroundings. 

“If you are not in the area where you can take action, do not take action.” - Father’s voice once again echoed around her ears as she started to map a plan. 

“She is in there.” - The crows pointed their tiny fingers at the crumbling structure - “It’s the spider’s lair.” 

“Great! Just what I need. Outside of Tokyo and inside the tiger’s den.” - Kira wiped the sweat on her forehead; she could feel a massive headache coming if they survived this. Her training once again showed its usefulness. Since the age of three, she had memorized the entire world map using satellite images and key geological features for every landscape so that she would be able to navigate and annihilate threats anywhere around the globe. 

This area was indeed Rikuzentakata, a town northeast of Tokyo that was destroyed in a large earthquake and tsunami in 2011. She contemplated her plan of attack as she knew there wouldn’t be any tall buildings in the area. For an assassin, a creature of shadow, light, and exposure was a detrimental enemy. Fighting out in the open meant lower success rates. What should she do? 

“Watanuki-kun, you go in and distract them. I will find a different way to take them by surprise. If possible, I will rescue Zashiki Warashi. How does that sound?” 

“But,...but what if you got hurt?” - his eyebrows furrowed in concern - “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

“Don’t worry, I have... I will be fine.” - She winked, and the plan began. They separated into two different routes. Watanuki headed straight for the front door, while Kira sneaked toward the back of the building. The crows also divided themselves into two groups: two followed Watanuki, and one stuck with Kira. Since there was a lot of debris, broken glass, and bricks on the ground, she had to be extra careful with every step, limiting the amount of noise to a minimum to avoid jeopardizing their plan. She glanced at the floating crow baby above her, mouthing:

“How about a little help?” 

“You are too heavy for me.” - The crow baby pouted. He looked at the fan, the one he used to create tremendous winds earlier - “I can use the wind.” 

“No,” - she mouthed and waved frantically for him to stop quickly. The wind would not only carry her but also all the glasses and bricks beneath her. If one of those debris fell, the operation would go down the toilet. She sighed, getting back to the extremely slow footsteps - “Damn, these supernatural things are useless!”

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally reached the back of the building. She peeked through the holes in the broken wall to see Watanuki; she followed his gaze. About 20 feet above the ground was a gigantic web, covering the entire atrium in the middle. Each strand shimmered under the soft amber sunlight like they were forged out of liquid gold - a deadly beauty. And there they were, an army of spiders that had kept Kira’s heart bobbing in her ears since the beginning; there must be hundreds of them, surrounding the web and all over the broken building, sized as big as a human teenager. One could easily devour Watanuki and maybe 5 more adults without getting full. And in the middle of it all, a black figure with long, shiny golden hair; it shifted back and forth elegantly. The figure wore a short, gothic-styled dress that revealed skin in areas that would make Kira uncomfortable. Instead of a human skin tone like the baby crows, the spider queen adopted a blueish and blackened skin tone like that of a decomposed corpse. Its head bobbed back and forth as it continued the “conversation” with Watanuki. She could not hear due to the distance, but from Watanuki’s expression, she knew it did not go well. She needed to hurry up before Watanuki ran out of excuses. 

She swallowed hard before advancing, holding her breath with every single step. She was grateful for Father being harsh on her. If he had not, she would be dead by now. Her focus heightened, drowning out all other sounds. The only thing that mattered was to find a suitable position with a good viewpoint to calculate the next steps. She finally found a qualified position on the third floor, which gave her a good look at the entire situation. Up close, she could feel the dark aura and an overwhelming stench of dead flesh emitting from the figure, sending massive shivers down her spine. Coldness engulfed her entire body as sweat pooled on her forehead and palms. 

“What the fuck have I done? Why did I agree to this? Why, Why?” - she panicked as fear rose. Flashbacks of her horrendous past rushed back. The more she tried to suppress her fear, the more she failed. Her breath hitched as her left leg gave out, and the figure turned around sharply. She covered her mouth tightly. Adrenaline pumps through her veins so strongly and loudly that they would pop any minute - “Fuck, fuck, I’m going to die.”

She had never felt death so close. 

“Hm...I know you are there. Come out, come out, little birdie.” - The voice was soft and feminine, which made no sense. How could that “thing” sound like that? 

“LET HER GO!!!!” - the baby crow that had been following Kira suddenly revealed itself and lunged toward the figure. She was so focused that she completely forgot about its existence. However, the crow was shunted away easily with a single flick - “AHHHH!” 

“Hehe, stay quiet, please, little birdie. Noise really hurts my ears.” - Kira muffled her voice by pressing harder and harder against her mouth. She started counting numbers, trying to regain posture with a few seconds that the crow bought by showing itself. As expected, the spider queen did not stop; she crept nearer and nearer toward where Kira was hiding. She prayed, for the first time in many years, “Kami-sama, please give me strength,” and revealed herself.  

Chapter Text

She prayed, for the first time in many years, “Kami-sama, please give me strength,” and revealed herself. 

“Oh? Teehee..Watanuki-kun, you did not mention how popular you are among girls.” - The spider queen’s voice was uncomfortably high up close. Kira’s mind was engulfed in the same terror she experienced before. The figure has a horrendous, disfigured…visual. It had four pairs of eyes; those that belonged to the spider, dark, cold, and soulless. Its mouth was nowhere to be found, but then she noticed tiny movements beneath its chin while it spoke. But that was not the most horrible detail after all. The contrast between the corpse-like complexion and its shiny golden hair created a frightful image that Kira did not want to fathom, where the hair was from.

To make matters worse, there were holes everywhere, scattered across its body, where bugs and worms crawled in and out comfortably as if the body was their home. If visuals alone could kill, she would probably be dead by now, and the stench would be a cherry on top, increasing the torture of her dying process. She was choking; the air was rapidly drained from her lungs as the dense, foul smell settled. The lack of clean air made her head spin, and her sight went out of focus. Everything blurred before her, which could be a good thing because the figure was now just a black blob.

 Despite her tremendous effort to hold herself in place, she fell apart. 

“Hold yourself together, Kira. Hold it. I command you…to…to…stay awake…and…fight…I cannot…” - everything went black as she fell backward - “Ah. So weak, just as Father has said.” 

“Eh? Hey, kid. I have not even done anything?” - she could hear the creature’s confused voice, right before the blackness engulfed her whole.

“Hyuuga-chan, Hyuuga-chan…” - a distant voice at the edge of her consciousness slowly crept closer, louder, until it was directly above her. And Watanuki’s figure came into focus. 

“Watanuki-kun?” - she muttered. Her head was still spinning uncontrollably. When she tried to sit up, a wave of nausea and vertigo hit her hard, forcing her back down on the ground. She released a small groan of irritation. Despite not being able to sit up, she smelled an unpleasant smell. Regardless, nothing could be worse than the stench from earlier - “What happened?” 

“They got away.” - He exhaled in relief to see that Kira was awake and functional. Once the dizziness subsided, she shifted her focus to Watanuki again, closer this time. The eye patch was still firmly situated on his right eye, which meant they failed the damn mission. She exhaled heavily, looking away from Watanuki out of shame and guilt. Her eyes then landed on a black-haired girl wearing a pink Sakura kimono behind him. Her breath hitched after one glance at the girl, whom Kira assumed to be Zashiki Warashi, considering those crows hovering closely to her side. 

Without lingering for long, Kira shifted her sight again, more slowly, to the building they were in a moment ago. It was on fire, creating a huge column of black smoke that could definitely be noticed from more than 100 miles away: “We should leave. People will see this smoke, police and firefighters probably already were dispatched,” - She informed the team. 

“Yes. I think it’s a good idea.” - Watanuki agreed, helping her up. He looked at Zashiki Warashi and the crows - “Would it be possible for you guys to give us a lift home?” 

“Um…Sure. Watanuki-kun.” - Zashiki Warashi gazed at the ground, blushing hard. Kira raised an eyebrow, “Damn, this boy is a girl magnet.” 

Within 1 minute of travel by wind, they got dropped again, but fortunately, this time, on a patch of soft and slightly damp grass. A familiar building appeared in front of them. They were at Yuuko’s shop, where Yuuko was comfortably leaning against one of the front pillars, one arm crossed, and the other holding the usual pipe. It looked like she had been waiting for them to return. She smiled, her voice filled with amusement as she nodded at Zashiki Warashi and the crows. “I assume you did not get his eye back.” 

No one said anything. 

“Come on. Let’s go inside.” - Yuuko signaled for them to enter the shop - “I will get something refreshing for you all.”   

“I can go get it. Hyuuga-chan, you should go inside.” - With that, Watanuki disappeared into the back of the shop. He moved quickly, like he knew this place like the back of his hand. Yuuko nodded and looked at Zashiki Warashi, silently asking if they would like to come inside. 

“I need to leave. Thank you for the invite, though, Yuuko-san.” - Zashiki Warashi denied, lingering for another second at where Watanuki disappeared before vanishing.

“Here! The payment as promised, Dimensional Witch.” - One of the crows handed Yuuko their fan, the one they used to create winds. Yuuko accepted, and they, too, vanished. 

“Come on, unless you want to sit here all night.” - Yuuko took another look at Kira, still sitting on the ground - “You can take a shower too if you want, your clothes are wet and dirty.” 

“It’s okay. It’s more acceptable to my family if I tell them I was fighting and that’s how my clothes looked like this.” - She scoffed. In the next sentence, her voice reduced as she spoke to herself - “Maybe that will make me less useless.”

Yuuko pretended she did not hear and sat back down like the first time Kira met her, examining the prize she just obtained - “Do you know what this is?”

She shook her head tiredly, and Yuuko explained, “This is the Tengu’s fan, a very powerful legendary weapon.”

Kira nodded. She could not care less about the fan. In fact, she could not care about anything besides the fact that they failed the mission. Just like how she failed her first mission for the same reason. How pathetic. Kira sat down near the doorway, coiling her legs close to her chest and holding them with her arms. Mother and Father always hated this posture, but it suited her: Small and useless. 

The atmosphere remained silent and heavy, with the only sound in the room being Yuuko’s smoking. Kira was somewhat appreciative that Yuuko did not ask about what happened in Rikuzentakata because she neither wanted to explain nor relive the memory. 

The silence, thankfully, was short-lived as the paper doors slid open, and Watanuki stepped in with a small wooden tray carrying a tea set and a few sweet treats. He wore a white apron and a white cleaning hat, looking exactly like a middle-aged cleaning lady at their school. Kira tried to contain her smile because it was highly inappropriate to laugh in such a dire situation: They just failed their mission, and Watanuki might never regain his right eyesight. 

“Hyuuga-channnnn, don’t laugh, pleaseeeee.” - Watanuki yelped after realizing what he looked like and that he had never shown this side of himself to anyone. His ears turned bright red with embarrassment. Kira could not contain her laugh anymore and laughed out loud. Her laugh lightened up the mood. Yuuko and Watanuki also smiled. 

“I’m sorry. I should not have laughed.” - She wiped away the tears. 

“Well, you are my cleaning boy, so it’s normal for you to dress like this, Watanuki-kun! You shouldn’t be ashamed,” - Yuuko joked.

“Heh? He works for you?” - She recalled hearing Doumeki mention that Watanuki worked part-time at a shop. So cleaning was his part-time job. No wonder he knew this place so well. 

“Ah, only until he pays his dues. Then I can fulfill his wish, and we can part ways.” - Yuuko released a smoke, eyeing Watanuki this time - “So, what happened?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” - he exhaled, sitting down, legs crossing, and grabbing a small biscuit. But instead of eating, he put the small biscuit close to his neck, where a small, thin, white string emerged, and took a bite. Kira’s eyes widened. The creature reminded her of the bookworm they faced yesterday. She immediately stood on her feet and jumped toward Watanuki. She yelped loudly as she tried to get a hold of the thing, but it already coiled itself back under Watanuki’s shirt - “No, no, Hyuuga-chan, he is Kudakitsune. He is friendly.”

“Kida - what? What the heck is it? It definitely does not look like a fox?” - As if the creature heard the insult, it jumped from Watanuki’s sleeve and turned itself from a tiny, white string into a majestic 9-tailed fox. With its full form, its height was at Watanuki’s waist, and its magnificent, fluffy tails made it look much bigger. Specks of fire radiated from its body, bringing her back to the burning building. So this fox must have fought with the spiders and set the building on fire, or at least that was what she could gather. 

“Hey, calm down. She is my friend, too.” - Watanuki threw himself in between them - “And Hyuuga-chan, it’s Kudakitsune, and please forgive him, he does have a bad temper.” 

“Alright, settle down, everyone. Let’s drink some tea, hm?” - Yuuko was enjoying the scene, which showed in her bright smile and relaxed expression. Once everyone settled, and the Kudakitsune turned itself back into its tiny, long pipe-like form, Yuuko asked again, blunter this time - “How come Kira here is safe if she fainted?”

Kira felt Yuuko’s gaze on her this time. However, she was not pleased with how Yuuko addressed her already so casually, despite this being their second encounter. But what could she do? For all she knew, Yuuko was the almighty Dimensional Witch that might have been living for centuries. 

“I don’t know either,” - Watanuki exhaled and started recalling the string of events - “I thought the Spider Queen would go for Hyuuga-chan after she fainted. But then, she just stopped midway. I remember she would pause for quite some time before retreating. Then, I offered my remaining eye and even my body in exchange for Zashiki Warashi’s freedom, but she did not agree. We fought and failed, and we came back here. That’s the whole story.”

She felt multiple heavy gazes on her shoulder.  

“Okay, stop beating around the bush. Why are you guys looking at me like that? And you too, Kudakitsune!”

“Because, because… Um…Hyuuga-chan, when the Spider Queen was… was...” - Watanuki hesitated - “Both Kudakitsune and I felt a presence of something when the Spider Queen stopped near where you fainted. A black smoke. We think it may be the reason you were untouched.” 

POV

I did not stay long at Yuuko’s shop after the conversation. After fetching my bag from school and finishing the rest of the cleaning duties, I went straight home and was welcomed by non-stop yelling from Mother about where I had been to get myself so dirty. As planned, I told her I got into a few fights after finishing cleaning duties. And as expected, Father did not spare me a single glance. 

Natsume is coming home tomorrow, maybe that will excite him a little, no, a lot. 

The rest of the night is more peaceful. After complaining a bit more, Mother finally released me to shower while she reheated dinner. Ah, it’s nice to have Mother (and clean clothes). I don’t know how to cop without her. When I finally lay my back on my comfortable bed, thinking I would faint from exhaustion, sleep refuses to come. I keep tossing and turning nonstop as the conversation at Yuuko’s shop plays in my mind. 

Flashback

“…We think it may be the reason you were untouched.” - Watanuki looked at me, but I could not make out his emotions. Did he pity me? Is he scared of me? 

“What…what do you mean by “something”? - I could hear my voice trembling. 

“We don’t know. I could not make out or see what it was. Kudakitsune did not want to come near the black smoke at all. We only know that it’s something powerful. Powerful enough to stop the Spider Queen.” 

My eyes averted to Yuuko, “Do you know?” 

“I’m in no place to tell you.” - Yuuko spoke after a short pause, her face blanked of all expressions as she inhaled a long smoke. 

“I will pay the price if that’s what you need. So tell me.”

“Sorry, kiddo, I cannot. Not this time.” - She shook her head - “Unfortunately, they are someone that is beyond my ability. And they already gave me a warning.” 

So it was someone, not something. I reckoned, head in my hands, frustrated. Why do things keep happening to me? Why, Kami-sama?

“I’m sorry, Hyuuga-chan. I wish I could give you more information.” - Watanuki tapped my shoulder, trying to offer comfort. But I did not need his comfort or apologies; I needed answers! - “It’s getting late. I will clean this up, and we can leave Hyuuga-chan.” 

Once the room was only the two of us, I made my wish. 

“Take away this vision. I need…I need this gone so I can resume my life and my duty to my clan. Can you please, please take it away?” - my voice broke as I begged the Dimensional Witch. I could not take this anymore. I wanted a normal life. I wanted to be a normal assassin. 

“I can take your vision away. However, your price will be higher than that of Watanuki,” - I coughed as she released another smoke cloud. The air in the room now became so dense with white smoke, but I did not care, as long as she was capable of taking this away - “because your sight is more…special, and it will take so much more energy to take it away. I would say as much as the energy used to create Gods.”

“How come mine and his visions are different?” 

“Tell me, what did you see in the building? What did you see, enough to scare you to death? I know you are not a coward. I know you have been in worse situations in the human realm.” - I did not realize how close her face had become. 

“I…I…” - I did not want to remember. I did not want the image to stir and enslave my mind once again. So, I refused to respond. 

“You see those creatures for what they truly are. You see hell in its bare form, without its veil. While for Watanuki, everything is put behind a veil. To him, the Spider Queen looks like a normal girl, with a normal mouth, a full lip, a normal pair of beautiful, big, round eyes, and golden locks.” - Yuuko maintained her stare - “But to you, everything is much worse. That’s the difference. Even the Zashiki Warashi looks different to you, am I right?”

I looked at Yuuko, unbelieving in what she just said. “So, in short, Watanuki saw the Spider Queen as a normal, pretty human girl, and I saw a horrendous walking corpse? And the faceless Zashiki Warashi also looks like a normal girl in a pink kimono to him?”

“Ah,” - she nodded, driving me speechless. 

My life…how much worse can it get? - “I will pay the price. So, name it.” 

End flashback 

Fuck…What have I done? 

End POV

Undisclosed location, Tokyo

“Ya, you ungrateful kid, where were you? You can’t just disappear like this. I have a family to raise.” - Suguru tossed his arm. His brows were so close together as if they could merge into one any moment.  

“Hn. From what I recall, you don’t have a family to raise.” - Satoru scoffed, walking past Suguru toward his room. 

“Why do you smell like smoke? What have you done? What did you burn? Why didn’t you tell me to come?” - Suguru sniffed, following Satoru like a tail into the shower with a million questions. 

“Are you a dog? Do you want to shower together?” - Satoru grumbled, annoyingly, and continued to take off his dirty clothes.

“Eh, if I’m a dog, I wouldn’t lose track of you. Also, I have a girlfriend, so no thanks. I would rather go home and shower with her.”

“Imaginary girlfriend?” - Satoru stepped into the shower as casually like Suguru was invisible. 

Suguru rocked back and forth, contemplating next steps. He could beat this knucklehead friend of his in the head. But in the end, he decided to leave Satoru alone. Before the door closed behind him, he shouted: “The Autumn Festival is tomorrow night. You are expected.” 

“Hn.” - Satoru grunted loud enough for Suguru to hear as usual. But this time, an unexpected sentence follows - “Get me the attendee list.” 

As impeccable and outstanding as Satoru’s personal bodyguard/childhood friend, Suguru almost tripped and fell on his face at Satoru’s request. 

“Did he hit his head somewhere? Ohhh, did someone drug him while he was out? I need to find and thank them.” - Suguru peeked back inside the bathroom at Satoru’s silhouette, who was still showering nonchalantly, hoping to find something different, but there was none.   

Chapter Text

Saturday morning, Hyuuga Resident

Kira sat sluggishly at the dining table with two gigantic dark circles as a result of a sleepless night. Her head dropped on the table. 

“Manner!” - Mother pinched her ears, earning an exaggerated yelp - “Sit up, or I will pull both your ears off.” 

She massaged her poor ears while regaining her “manner” at the dining table. 

“Kiddo, what happened with you?” - Natsume’s lips curved, obviously amused at his sister’s sour mood. He sipped his coffee without looking up from the newspaper, and Kira swore he looked just like Father. Thankfully, she could still hear the affection and adoration through his voice, which was a universe apart from how Fugaku normally sounded - empty and disdainful.

“I’m dying of bad luck. That’s what happened, Brother.” - She sighed, crossing her arms - “Where is Father?” 

“He has an emergency, so he already left.” - She eyed Natsume, silently asking if he had to leave too. Natsume shrugged. 

“Ah, how nice it is to be needed by Father, by the clan.” - Her shoulder dropped, which did not pass Mikoto’s observing eyes. 

“Eat, darling.” - She patted her head, voice softening - “And we are going shopping. Autumn Festival is tonight.”

“Ehhhhhh...?” - She dropped her chopsticks, horror filled her face - “Mother, cough…cough…I’m sick. I’m so sick, I’m going to vomit.” 

“Stop pretending and stop making a mess on my table! Finish eating and go change, we are leaving at 0900 sharp!” - Kira looked at her Natsume, begging for help, but he hid his face behind the newspaper instead, avoiding her puppy eyes like a plague. 

“Traitor!” - she cursed in her throat, knowing there was no way out this year, just like all other years prior.

Where should she start with the Annual Autumn Festival? Or the Sakura Blooming Event? Or the Summer Solstice Fest? Or the Winter Ball? 

The Autumn Festival was among the 4 most important and exclusive annual events of the Shadow World, where the most significant Clans of Japan gathered to celebrate and discuss business. These events typically included a standard list: the Japanese Royal family, the 3 Great Yakuza Clans, the Hyuuga Assassin Clan, and other infamous politicians. Despite being called “festivals,” these events were often a cover for deals and collaborations between Clans or the Government. If you wondered if there would be celebrities or famous actors, or international people attending these festivals, then the answer was no. Japanese, and especially Royalties or the Shadow World, were not fond of outsiders, and the same rule applied to these events, only stricter. If you brought an outsider, not only you and the outsider, but your entire clan would suffer the consequences. This happened once, and that was the reason the Hyuuga Clan was the only Assassin clan left. 

To Kira, the killings and high-profile people were the easy parts; she could handle that. It was the family reunion that made these events the worst. And to make matters worse, since she was the blood of both the Hyuuga and Usuba Clans, the number of relatives doubled since the entire Hyuuga and Usuba Clans were expected to attend. As many of you might have realized so far, the Shadow World did not accept uselessness and weakness, which was all of her. Hence, instead of elegant ballrooms and slow dances, these festivals were battlefields to survive; insults and assaults were a must. She would always return with bruises and cuts, or worse, be hospitalized. Sometimes, she thought Father demanded her attendance so others could kill her in his stead. She would not be surprised if he even offered a prize for her head. The Shadow world had no mercy, and neither did the Head of the Hyuuga clan. 

Did Mikoto and Natsume know? Of course, they knew, but unfortunately, they were rendered useless against this decision from Fugaku. Even as a Usuba, Mother could not help her out of this. 

Undisclosed Location, Autumn Festival

Kira and Mikoto were blindfolded for the entire helicopter ride. When they were allowed to take off their blindfolds, they found themselves standing on a well-maintained lawn that stretched so far in every direction that one could not tell where it ended. In front of them was a magnificent Victorian-style 5-story building constructed with faded red bricks mixed with stones. Despite the old rusty look, the building was well preserved, as there was no moss or messy growing vines; the landscapes surrounding the building were chopped neatly and styled luxuriously. Besides the building, she could not detect other remarkable landmarks without scouting around the estate. The Committee had done it again; they chose a perfectly hidden location for a bunch of killers and important people to gather around. 

They were escorted inside the building by a gentleman in a tailcoat attire. Since they were among the last group of people that got picked up by the helicopter, the Ballroom was already filled with various shades of crimson outfits when they entered. From the second-floor entrance, the Ballroom looked like it was submerged in a river of blood. 

“How fitting.” - She bit her inner cheek. The dress code for the Autumn this year was Royal Crimson. Mikoto donned a deep burgundy sheath dress with an asymmetric neckline, while Kira wore a shimmering A-line gown with a high-neck neckline in a brighter (younger) burgundy shade. 

As they descended the stairs to make their way to Fugaku and Natsume, who arrived much earlier after handling the “emergency,” Mikoto gave Kira a reminder stare, warning not to let her guard down in this sea of killers. She acknowledged her Mother’s concern with a discreet nod. Once she greeted Father, she would be free to disappear for the rest of the night.

“Well…well…Look who’s still sucking their Mother’s breasts.” - a viscous voice followed by a few laughs made her body freeze. How could she forget? She knew exactly who the voice belonged to, Hyuuga Mahito - her “favorite” cousin who loved to make her life miserable with every chance he got. 

“Should I tear your mouth apart and feed it to your Mother, Mahito?” - Mikoto growled dangerously, glaring at Mahito. It had been a long time since the last time she heard this voice from Mother. It meant she was ready to kill. Mahito smirked, raised his champagne glass toward Mikoto, and slowly retreated. 

“So badass!” - Kira muttered in victory, earning a half smile from Mikoto as they continued their way to the center of the Ballroom. 

“Mother, Kira.” - Natsume greeted as they emerged from the crowd. As always, there was a huge crowd circling Natsume - admirers, lovers, customers, who knew. Kira smirked at a hint of stiff expression on Natsume’s face; he was not fond of attention, or maybe just toward a few daring girls who tried to touch him in inappropriate places. High-profile people were awfully straightforward with their needs and did not hesitate to show it in public. In a split second, she actually felt bad for her Brother; the grass was not always greener on the other side. But all jokes aside, the reason girls swooned over Natsume was because he looked especially like a sex god tonight in the deep crimson suit paired with an all-black shirt and pants, accentuating thoroughly every part of his well-sculpted, lean, and tall body; his hair combed backward and held together by hair gel creating a certain look of “wetness” that drove these girls mad. 

“Good luck to the girl who captures his heart.” - Kira would love to meet such a person; it would be interesting. 

When they completed paying their respects to the Head of the Usuba Clan as well as the Elders, Mikoto returned to Fugaku’s side and accompanied him throughout the event, while Kira was finally free, though she was not sure if there was anything she could do. She gazed around; there were so many familiar faces that she recognized, but she knew none of them. Everyone either avoided her or bullied her until they grew tired. 

She decided to resume her usual 2-step routine: escape the crowd and find a peaceful place to hide until the end. It took almost no time for her to find a hidden door with a hidden staircase that led to Kami-know-where. Without much hesitation, she ascended the staircase and encountered a locked door. “Nothing is locked for me, hehe.” She easily picked the lock and pried the door open into a dark, empty, and dusty hallway. Judging from the amount of dust, this door had not been used for a while. Along the right wall, she could hear the faint classical music rumbling. 

“This must be a hidden hallway behind the Ballroom wall.” - She muttered and flicked the lighter that she always carried around. The dark hallway revealed itself partially under the dim light of the lighter. She stumbled backward, seeing all the webs on the ceiling; shivers ran down her spine as she recalled the event just yesterday. She contemplated going back and finding another “cleaner” area to hide. But her mind changed once she saw a few doors on the left wall. A quick realization crossed her mind. She remembered hearing about the “meeting suites” at these events, where secret meetings were held, which was so typical of the Shadow world. Secrets within secrets, meetings within meetings. Trust no one.

After risking her life to eavesdrop on a few doors, she was disappointed as all she could hear were the slapping sounds of naked bodies against each other. 

This was a brothel for high-profile people. 

She rolled her eyes and picked the lock of a door without any sounds behind it, hoping for a nice, clean area to rest until the event was done. Luck finally shone on her as the room behind the lucky door had a king-size bed. She scanned the room and noticed a double door in the far corner of the room from where she was. This door opened up to a huge, well-lit living room.  

“Wow,” - she was surprised at how massive it was. There was a full chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, a Victorian set of couches, and a gigantic, expensive wooden desk in the corner. The room looked like it was built for a king. Luxury and unnecessarily spacious for just 1 person. She took a final look before closing and locking the door behind her - “No need for the living room, I just need the bed.” 

As if the bed is enchanted with a sleeping spell, her eyelids closed the second she lay down.

Clack…Clack

“Quick…quick, open, honey. I can’t wait to have you in me.” - the urging voice and thumbing sound against the door pulled Kira out of her slumber. She darted her eyes at the locked bedroom door, which had now flung open, revealing a horny couple behind. And the horny dude was no other than Mahito. 

“Ah. Look who we have here. A rat.” - Mahito smirked amusingly as his eyes burned with lust; his shirt half open, revealing a muscular chest. The girl, whose urging voice belonged to, kissed his neck and chest hungrily as if Mahito was a piece of meat and she wanted to devour him whole; her kissing and sucking sounds filled the entire room - “What are you looking at? Want to suck my dick?” 

“How about I bite it off of you? Save our clan a future generation of dickheads like you.” - She took a few steps back, ready to dash out of the room when there was an opening. Despite being an asshole, Mahito was one of the top killers in the Shadow world; one would say he was second to Natsume only. However, if Natsume was a skillful and elegant killer who rarely drew blood, Mahito was on the other spectrum, messy and bloody. He loved toying with his victims before ending them. The Council had given him multiple warnings, but they were useless against him. That shitface did not care. He was uncontrollable, and that was why he was so much more dangerous. 

“Today, next year will be your funeral, bitch.” - He flung the girl away and jumped at Kira with incredible speed, his eyes bloodshot from the alcohol. She knew there was no escape, so she prepared herself mentally and physically for an uneven dog fight; using all the strength she could gather, she aimed directly at the biggest opening - his throat. Mahito smirked, seeing through her attacks, and easily dodged her attack. But at the very last second, when his right fist was about to make contact with her cheek, Kira switched the attack to her left hand toward his wide-open right flank, sending him stumbling backward. 

“Bitch! You dare! Die!” - he cursed before lunging for her again, harder this time. Lucky for her, anger, in addition to alcohol, temporarily blinded his clarity and made Mahito’s moves slightly sloppier; she might have a chance to defeat him this year. She dodged his right hook and covered her flank before taking the full-force kick to her left side. She merely distributed any force at all and received full damage to both her left arm and flank; she could hear a subtle crackling sound. She huffed in pain, trying to catch her breath before moving again; she could not stop because if she did, one of his attacks would 100% kill her. Her ears rang, but she kept going. When his right side was once again open, she stomped on his feet and kicked his shin with everything she had, sending him to his knees. As he crouched down, cursing under his breath, she reached to her thigh and pulled out a dagger, aiming at his sternum with both hands. 

“DIE!!!”

When her dagger was inches away from Mahito’s sternum and victory was near, her momentum was interrupted by a freezing sensation that wrapped around her calves. She glanced down, in time to see a pair of blueish-pale hands spring from the ground, grabbing onto her thighs tightly, leaving red marks. Her blood ran cold. While she was distracted, throbbing pain radiated from her cheek as she took the full punch from Mahito, sending her stumbling backward and the dagger lying firmly on the ground, far from her reach. He landed behind and straddled her head in his arms. 

“I’m done playing with you, cousin. Hahaha, how can you be so useless, huh? You know, how much do you think Uncle will reward me for killing you?” 

“Fuck fuck fuck…” - The third rule of being an assassin: never move while in a deadlock. It will be your instant death. 

“Tsch tsch, say hi to my Father when you meet him, alright?” - Mahito breathed into her ears, his arms slowly twisting her head. Her neck was about to snap; luckily, the corpse’s hands were no longer grabbing on her. At least, if she died, it wouldn’t be because of those hands.  

“Who the fuck are you?” - a cold, annoying, yet familiar voice caught everyone by surprise. But a precious second was enough for her to spring free from Mahito’s dead grip. She stumbled forward and got back to her feet right away; she massaged her neck while breathing heavily to replenish her lungs with clean air; her eyes were bloodshot as she got ready for Round Two.  

Mahito raised an eyebrow at the figure, but as soon as another person came into view, his eyes widened before glancing back at Kira and disappearing, “Tsk…You got lucky this time, bitch. Until next time, cousin.” 

Once Mahito was gone, she fell on her knees, heaving to regain normal breathing. Only then did she gaze at the dark brown hair figure at the double door. 

“Why the fuck are you wearing sunglasses at night and indoors?” - That was all she could think about.

“What are you doing in my room?”

Chapter Text

“What are you doing in my room?”

Satoru asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the double door. Amusement filled his eyes as he gazed at Kira, flustered on the ground, massaging her reddened neck. 

His arrogant look stirred a wave of annoyance in her stomach; her eyes twitched. She pulled herself up, hands on her hip, challenging while temporarily forgetting the screaming pain in her abdomen. 

“Mahito is the one trying to have sex in your room first! I just…I just…wanted a place to sleep.” - Her volume decreased as she realized that she, too, was an intruder. - “Damn, does this entire building belong to the Gojo clan? Why did I pick this room, his room, Kami-sama?” 

“Hn.” - His gaze lingered a moment longer before he disappeared into the bathroom. It took her a moment to regain her mental stability and understand that this was the cue for her to leave. Without further delay, she collected the dagger and retreated toward the door where she came in.  

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Hyuuga-san.” - She flinched at the soft voice, completely forgetting about the second person. He looked young, maybe about the same age as Satoru, she would say, but he was slightly more buff. He also looked friendlier, which made the warning not sound very threatening. However, this was a lair of killers. Trust no one. He might look harmless, but the second you looked away, he would stab you right in the back. 

“Wait, did he just call me Hyuuga? How did he know?” - she took a step back, which made his smile widen - “Who are you?” 

“I’m his bodyguard.” - His head pointed toward the bathroom, where Satoru disappeared a moment ago - “Who are you?” 

She immediately knew the hidden meaning: Who are you to Satoru that I hear about your name? 

 “We go to the same school,” - She answered, deliberately being vague. Before the interrogation continued, Satoru re-emerged from the bathroom with a first-aid kit and tossed it to her, which she caught in surprise. 

“Clean yourself up before heading down.” - He glanced at her again, lingering a bit longer than usual but not enough to make her uncomfortable. He closed the bedroom door, leaving a frozen Kira inside.

As speechless and confused as she was right now, the pain from her abdomen and face yanked her back to reality as they screamed for attention. Sparing another gaze at the door, she limped into the bathroom to tend her injuries. Looking at herself in the mirror, she groaned at the disfigured reflection: her hair was messy like a bird nest, a small cut on her lower lip, her right cheek reddened where Mahito’s punch landed, and her once elegant A-line dress now had a sizable hole at the thigh where her dagger was safely situated beneath the fabric before. 

After half an hour, she successfully fixed her hair and concealed visible injuries with concealer and lipstick from her purse. Moving on to her dress, she tore the dress from its hemline straight to the hole on her thigh, turning the A-line dress into a handmade slip dress. This would certainly pissed off. She could already hear her yelling about her being a teenager/student and being sexy. She observed herself in the mirror, nodding satisfactorily with her improved appearance before heading back into the bedroom, where Satoru’s bodyguard was patiently waiting. 

“I will escort you back to the Ballroom.” - He informed with a smile. 

“I can go back through where I come from. No one will know I ever stepped foot in here. I believe that’s what our clan would want.” - She gently refused. 

“Except, you have already been seen.” - His voice was patient, but Kira knew she could not deny. It was not a request. It was a demand. Earlier, Mahito did not stop because he saw Satoru, but only when Suguru arrived did he stop. If this bodyguard could stop Mahito with his sole presence, Kira would definitely not stand a chance, so she gave in. 

“May I ask how you know Satoru?” - Suguru asked halfway to the Ballroom. 

“I already told you, we go to the same school.” - She gave the same vague answer. 

“You know that’s not what I meant.” - She bit her cheek, staring at Suguru’s back while pondering if this was a test. In the Shadow world, one wrong word could result in terrible consequences. If she gave him the wrong answer, it might affect her family and the entire Hyuuga Clan. Then, Father would be more than happy to disown her or, better, kill her himself, something that he had been so itching to do. 

“The fact that Mahito does not react after seeing Satoru must be because he does not know who Satoru is. However, he recognizes the bodyguard, which means the bodyguard performs activities outside where he encounters Mahito. If the servant’s identity is open while his boss’s identity remains a secret, Satoru must be an important member of the Gojo clan. Telling the bodyguard I saw him in the alley may not be the best idea. Hm. But don’t all Gojo heirs have signature white hair? Satoru doesn’t. Why? Who is he?… The Gojo clan doesn’t always show up at these Festivals…Hmm...” - Smoke rose from the top of her head; her brain might explode if she thought any harder. She completely ignored Suguru and the stern expression developing on his face. 

Only when her face made contact with Suguru’s back that her train of thought break.

“We are here.” - Suguru smiled and opened the door to the Ballroom for her. 

“Ah, thanks.” - She walked past him, thanking Kami-sama that she did not have to respond.

“Kira, where have you disappeared to?” - Natsume sounded relieved when he spotted her in the crowd - “And what’s wrong with your face?” 

He held her face by the chin and examined it carefully, drawing unwanted attention. 

“Nothing, I just took a nap somewhere and touched up my makeup.” - She slapped his hand away; his touch hurt.  

“Tsch, who did you fight with?” - Natsume’s sight moved to her handmade slip dress - “Did someone rip this?” 

“No, I ripped it because moving around and sleeping in it was hard. How about you worry for yourself and satisfy some fangirls with a dance, hm? Go go! Chop Chop.” - She pushed him in the back, hurrying him away so she could find another quiet area to hide. But her plan failed quickly as she spotted a drunk Mahito as well as his entire killer gang while making her way toward the balcony. And unfortunately, he spotted her as well. “Wait up, cousin. Let’s splay.”

“Oh fuck my life.” - She turned in the opposite direction quickly, limping her way through the dance floor full of drunk people. She must have napped for a while for this many people to get drunk from champagne. 

“Wait up…c,..cousin” - Mahito’s voice was so close behind her. She sped up and face-slammed into a hard body. 

“Well, hello.” - The brick wall turned back, glancing down at her. The scar at the corner of his lips accentuated as his mouth curved into a half-smirk. She swallowed.

“Um…I’m sorry, sir.” - Cold sweat dripped down her spine; Mahito’s voice drowned behind her - she betted he stopped approaching because of the figure in front of her - “I was..um…I was…looking for someone.” 

She did not know why she lied. Or maybe she did. Fushiguro Toji, a remnant of the past Zennin’s Assassin clan, hated people who ran away from a fight. If he knew she was running from Mahito and his gang, he might just help Mahito and kill her himself. 

“Oh. Who?” - he asked, now turning his entire body to face her. She looked around frantically, trying to find Natsume. Instead, she found another person. 

“Him.” - She yelled loudly, pointing toward Satoru, who was speaking to someone at the edge of the dance floor - “I’m looking for him. Goodbye!” 

Without waiting for a response, she sprinted as fast as she could in Satoru’s direction. As if sensing someone coming, Satoru turned in her direction. 

“What..”

“Shut up and pretend we need to talk about something!” - She cut his sentence short, speaking through gritting teeth. His eyes traveled past her and landed on Toji. He quickly comprehended the situation. 

“Sure, let’s dance.” - He grabbed her by the waist and guided them to the heart of the dance floor.  

“Wait, what?” - she panicked as they started dancing to the Waltz, among many drunk people - “I said speaking, not dancing. Ya, I don’t know how to dance. I will stomp on your feet.”

“My feet are pretty tough, you won’t break them.” - He offered reassurance, and they silently danced. Even though they were both teenagers, only 2 years apart in age, Satoru’s body was already taking the shape of a grown-up man. He was almost a head taller than her with broad shoulders and a lean yet muscular body that she could feel up close. Her cheeks blushed at the thought. When she dared to glance up, her breath was taken away by the well-defined features with sharp angles of his face. In rare moments when their skin touched, it shot shivers down her spine and took her breath away. The dream flashed before her, making her blush even more. She thanked Kami-sama that Satoru did not notice any of her changing facial expressions. She would die in shame. 

Finally, the music came to an end, and the Waltz was completed - “See, my feet are still intact, and you do know how to dance.”

She scoffed. Assassin or Yakuza, all Assassin Clans attending the party were considered noble. It should be obvious that Kira knew how to dance. But throughout the years, she hardly had time to practice as no one wanted her.  

“Ah. I kinda wish I broke your feet.” - She huffed - “Why are you wearing sunglasses indoors anyway? Isn’t it obstructing your vision?”

“This,” - He touched it - “This is a special sunglasses. It can see through things.” 

His gaze traveled to her chest area; he chuckled - “and through fabrics.”

Loading

“…” - She was speechless as her face flushed heavily as soon as she realized Satoru’s underlying meaning and where his gaze was. She planned to send a punch right to his abdomen, but the bruises stopped her attack. She hissed in pain, hands over her abdomen.  

“You alright, love?” - his hands immediately reached out, but they stopped midway, awkwardly hanging in the air.

“Love?” - Was she hearing it right?

“Child, there you are! I have been looking everywhere for you.” - Mikoto’s concerned voice caught her attention - “It’s time to go.” 

“One second.” - She responded, steadying herself. When she looked up, Satoru had already vanished. 

“What is it?”

“Um…It’s nothing, let’s go, Mother.” 

With that, the Autumn Festival concluded with Kira only obtaining a few cuts, a very bruised face and body, and another failed attempt at killing Mahito.

Underworld, Judgment Room

“Any progress?” - A stern, uninterested voice echoed in the empty grand judgment room of Hell.

“What’s with the hurry? Why not let them have a few more peaceful years before I tear them apart?” - Satoru blinked slowly, yawning and tugging his hands casually in his pants pockets.

“They are asking, so I’m asking you.” - The Lord of Hell cleared his voice and pointed upward.

“Well, tell them to wait, or they can do the job themselves,” - Satoru grumbled - “One day up there is 1 year in the human world. You said I have a month, so tell them to stop complaining.” 

“Oi, brat! They said this time, they will tell you where she is.” - Satoru halted in place, speaking after a long pause:

“They were supposed to give her to me the moment we stepped through that door. We were supposed to be together eternally, that’s the deal, Izanami!” - Despite the bubbling anger, his voice remained cold and calm.

“Oi…oi…” - the Lord of Hell tapped on the iron desk - “Who do you think you are, huh? Just a mere soul I kept because of your ability. But don’t make me regret my decision, Satoru. I can throw you down to Hell anytime and let you suffer for eternity if you keep up with that attitude. Everything can be replaced, remember that. Plus, you are not particularly innocent to have received such punishment from Heaven.”

“Tsk. If you really think so, you would have thrown me in Hell a long time ago.” - He smirked and continued his steps toward the grand door into Hell. 

“Hn. How arrogant! Well, make some progress, you ungrateful soul.” - The Lord of Hell yelled after him and returned to the mountain of papers piling on his desk - “Next case!” 

The door to Hell opened; a scrawny white spirit escorted by a Shinigami entered the room as Satoru walked out. 

“Please help me…please help me…sir..sir” - the spirit grabbed onto his pants, but he flicked it off coldly. 

Tokyo, Gojo’s estate

“What does he want?” - Suguru asked, following Satoru’s angry steps to his room. 

“Progress.” 

“Hm…a day down there is a year here, why the rush?” - Suguru rolled his eyes, pondering if Satoru was indeed angry because of this. He recalled the event from yesterday, the girl at the mansion, Hyuuga Kira, and Satoru’s recent weird behaviors - “Oi, Satoru, it’s just another face, another similar name. We have been through this before.”

But Satoru already slammed the door shut in his face. “Tsk, brat…”

Once alone in the dark, Satoru allowed himself to fall onto the king-sized bed, feeling heavy per usual after every meeting with the Lord of Hell. Every time he walked through the heavy doors, it reminded him of her. About how Heaven stole her from him. 

Ever since Gojo Satoru was killed, Kami knew how eager he had been to reunite with his soulmate, Uchiha Kira. When he finally had the chance to be with her for eternity, Heaven tricked him - giving him the punishment of suffering until he completed paying back all of his “sins.” It was a trap to bind and send him on “missions” to “construct” different Worlds. 

As powerful Jujutsu sorcerers, both Satoru and Suguru were recruited along with other powerful beings from other Worlds that they did not even know existed. From time to time, similar faces with similar names would appear in different Worlds where they had missions. However, one encounter after another, none was the Kira that he had been looking for. 

“Where are you, love?” 

Chapter Text

Tsuji Private High School, Class 10-4, Monday

“Good morning, Hyuuga-chan!” - Watanuki waved enthusiastically, making her wonder what Himawari did this early morning to have him this worked up. 

“Good morning, Watanuki-kun!” - Over the short weekend, her bruises did not improve. Those on her face were turning brown-red, and no amount of concealer could cover all the bruises completely. Mikoto had to write a note to the school to obtain permission for her to wear a cap and face mask for the rest of the week. Her body, in addition to being bruised, was so sore that she had to move carefully to avoid clashing her organs together; the bruises might not kill her, but the pain certainly would. In summary, she was so miserable, both inside and outside, mentally and physically, that she did not know Watanuki had his eye patch removed until school was almost over. 

“Watanuki-kun, your eye! It’s normal again. How? How did you get it back?” - she covered her mouth in shock. 

“Heh..I did not get my eye back, unfortunately…” - Watanuki scratched the back of his head - “Doumeki-kun shared half of his vision with me. Now, I’m in debt to that jerk. By the way, are you free right now, Hyuuga-chan?” 

“Hm…I’m planning to hit the internet cafe now. Why?”

“Ah, Yuuko wants to meet you, so she asks if you can come over to the shop after school.” 

“Ah. Sure! Let’s go.” - She quickly agreed to join Watanuki - “It’s time to pay my due.” 

The Dimensional Witch’s Shop

“Wait, what?” - Kira’s jaw dropped after hearing the request - “I thought you said I don’t have to clean?” 

“Teehee, well, but now I think you need to clean, or let’s just say you are helping Watanuki to clean,” - said Yuuko, waving her hands uninterestedly while smiling at the two annoyed part-time workers.  

“Um…Yuuko-san, it’s not nice to go against your words. It’s okay, Hyuuga-chan, I don’t need help. Plus, we have Maru and Moro, too.” - Watanuki fidgeted his fingers, feeling guilty for dragging her into such an unexpected task.   

“It’s okay,” - she sighed, wishing she had said “no” when Watanuki asked her to come to the shop earlier - “I’m here anyway, so let me help you.” 

With that, they started cleaning the shop’s closet by moving everything outside. Some items were so far hidden in the back of the storage that they were covered in probably 10 layers of dust. It got so dusty to the point that both had to wear masks to avoid filling their lungs with dust. 

“Kamiiii-samaaaa, how long has it been since the last time you cleaned this closet?” - Watanuki rambled, shaking his head nonstop, making her smile. Who would dare to speak to the Dimensional Witch the way Watanuki did? 

“Hm…never?” - Yuuko shrugged, taking another sip of the plum wine on the front porch. Kira rolled her eyes.

“What are these junk anyways?” - she asked under the mask, looking at multiple vases, trunks, boxes, packets, books, blankets, and more lying out in the shop yard while catching her breath. From the outside, it looked like their shop was holding a garage sale. 

“Junks? My dear, these are invaluable items.” - Her eyes sharpened - “These are the equally prized items that their owners had to give up for their wishes. Most are magic items and are pretty rare to come by otherwise.”

“Okay, what the heck is this?” - Kira lifted a cute pink wand with a star and 2 tiny wings attached to it. 

“That… is a powerful magical wand that can control 53 powerful spirits. It was made for a cute girl, so it has to look cute.” - Yuuko grabbed the wand, caressing it as if she were remembering a very fond memory before putting it back down. 

“Are you planning to use them? Or giving them away?” - Kira looked at the amount of stuff in the yard, pondering the plans Yuuko had for her treasures. 

“My shop is just a temporary stop for them. One day, their true owner will arrive and claim them.” - Yuuko smiled knowingly, her eyes darting around and finally stopping at Kira - “People and items are fated to each other, just like people. Once the bond has formed, they will always find each other, one way or another.” 

“Everything happens for a reason.” - It was one of the first sentences Yuuko said during their first meeting. 

“Hello,” - Their cleaning session was interrupted shortly by a young lady, and to everyone’s surprise, she was already inside the lawn - “Sorry for barging in. My name is Nanami and I’m a Cultural student at Tokyo University. I was passing by and was captured by the antique items in here.” 

“Don’t worry about it, you are meant to come in here anyway.” - The lady, Nanami, blinked, confused at Yuuko’s sentence - “So what are you intrigued by?” 

“Ah, this one.” - She walked toward the shop’s porch and grabbed a small shiny kaleidoscope-like object on the ground - “I don’t know what it is, but I cannot take my eyes off it.”

Nanami caressed the object; her eyes sparkled with adoration. 

“What is it?” - Watanuki and Kira shared a look. 

“What do you think it is?” - as if Yuuko could read their minds. 

“Is it a kaleidoscope?” - her brows furrowed as she turned the object in her hands, trying to decipher the mysterious object - “But there is no opening. Hmm, there is something inside. Can I please get this?” 

“I don’t think it fits you.” - Yuuko’s eyes narrowed. 

“Eh? Why? Is it really expensive?” - her face filled with disappointment. 

“No,” - she paused shortly before continuing - “If you want it, I will give it to you under one condition.” 

“What is it?” - her face lit up. 

“Never open it.” 

Tsuji Private High School, Class 10-4, Tuesday 

“Hyuuga-chan, I made some picnic food, let’s eat together with Himawari-chan and Doumeki?” - Watanuki held a huge picnic basket carefully wrapped before her - “I want to thank you for helping me clean yesterday at Yuuko’s.”

“Ah, well, I won’t deny free food. Hihi.” - She beamed under the mask and followed him to the school’s backyard, where Himawari and Doumeki had already been waiting; they were in PE uniform. Kira was dreadful, unsure how to handle the double PE periods tomorrow with all the injuries.

Their supposed peaceful picnic lunch was interrupted shortly by a familiar figure from yesterday.

“Ah, you two were from the shop yesterday,” - Nanami greeted them - “So, you are students at this school. What a coincidence!” 

“Ah, yes, Nanami-san! This is Himawari-chan and Doumeki-kun. And you know Hyuuga-chan.” - Watanuki introduced the group. 

“Ah, very nice to meet you! I will be a part of the teaching intern group starting this week. Looking forward to seeing you all around.” 

When Nanami walked away and Watanuki explained what happened at the shop to Himawari and Doumeki, Kira kept her eyes glued to Nanami’s back. She smelled something rotten. She had smelled it faintly since yesterday at the shop, but she could not pinpoint the scent among a sea of antiques in the yard. For all she knew, one of Yuuko’s treasures could be rotten in that forsaken storage of hers. Now that Nanami showed up alone, away from the shop, there was no doubt that the smell came from her, or more particularly, the object that Yuuko warned her to never open in her bag. 

“Why the heck does she bring that thing to school?”  

“Hyuuga-chan…Hyuuga-chan..” - Himawari patted her back. The touch from Himawari snapped her back to the conversation.

“What happened? What did I miss?”

“You are not missing any, Hyuuga-chan. We are just wondering what you are looking at,” - Himawari explained.

“Ah…It’s just…I just smell something coming from her.” - Kira pointed after Nanami.

“Something?” - Doumeki rocked his legs. 

“A rotten smell, probably from the object she got yesterday. Doumeki-kun, have you heard of such an object from your grandfather’s notes?” 

“Nah, I don’t think I ever read about a rotten kaleidoscope-like object.” - He shook his head. 

DING…DONG….

The bell signaled the end of lunch and the start of the afternoon period. And how coincidentally or maybe “fated,” Nanami was assigned to Class 10-4. And coincidentally again, they shared the same path leaving school after classes.

Watanuki and Kira followed the group of interns quietly. 

“Did you see anything weird?” - she elbowed Watanuki’s arm to get his attention. 

“No, nothing.” - As soon as Watanuki finished his sentence, they saw Nanami take the object out of her purse and show it to others. The group seemed impressed at the object as they took turns to hold and admire it. They assessed the object using various methods until it fell from one hand. 

Kira’s and Watanuki’s hearts dropped on the concrete ground when Nanami caught the object, but unintentionally yanked it open. 

“Never open it.” - That was the deal, and Nanami broke it. Kira covered her nose as soon as the object opened; a stench odor invaded her nostrils aggressively. 

She crouched and coughed profusely as Watanuki helped her in the opposite way from Nanami. 

“Hyuuga-chan, are you alright?” - she heaved in and out, trying to repulse the filthy smell from her nostrils; Watanuki patted her back gently; he didn’t know what else to do or the reason for her strong reaction against the object. Plus, he did not get a clear look at the content of the object; they were too far away from Nanami. 

“No. I think I’m going to be sick.” - She wanted to jump into the water channel nearby to wash away the lingering sense. 

“Are you sure you are okay?” - Watanuki held on to his bag, brows furrowed and voice filled with concern as he assessed Kira’s facial expression once they were far away from Nanami’s group. 

“Yeah, a bit better,” - she nodded, hurrying him home before walking toward her favorite Ninja Internet Cafe. She deserved a treat for herself after the event, and they had double PE periods tomorrow, so less homework. With that, she strolled down the usual road. 

She stayed at the cafe until almost midnight. By the time she made it outside, an unexpected downpour from the sky all of a sudden soaked her completely.  

Tsuji Private High School, Class 10-4, Wednesday

“Good morning, everyone,” - Tsuda’s voice was borderline hateful - “Surprise math test. Put everything away except for a piece of scrap paper. Now!” 

A huge wave of murmuring and groaning erupted, which was quickly silenced by a single deadly stare. Nanami breathed out, feeling lucky yet compassionate toward the students. It reminded her of the “good” old times. 

“Hyuuga-chan, Watanuki-kun, you can do it!” - Nanami encouraged as she handed out the testing materials. 

Kira’s career as an assassin was exponentially equated to her studying level - she failed miserably in both. 

“How did you do?” - Watanuki asked on their way to the school’s backyard for PE. 

“As good as my attempt to get your eye back from the Spider Queen, I fainted at the first question.” - Her shoulder dropped,  and her face drooped in sorrow. 

“It can’t be that bad.” - Watanuki patted her back.

She sighed heavily, imagining what Mother would do after seeing her score sheet. 

The coach’s whistle signaled his arrival, and everyone hurried to get into formation. Considering her wounds from the Autumn Festival and the note from Mother, she easily earned a free pass to the infirmary. 

After presenting the notes from Mikoto and the coach, the nurse agreed for her to use any available beds to rest. She chose the second furthest bed from the door without much thinking; she would never choose the one by the window, in case something appeared. Unfortunately, the most ideal bed was occupied by no other than the infamous Gojo Satoru. 

“Why aren’t you in class?” - her nose scrunched, judging silently at his “majestic” sleeping pose - “Why does this mtf love wearing sunglasses indoors?” 

“I’m sleeping.” - He muttered, barely opening his mouth but obviously not sleeping. 

“You are not sleeping.” - She crossed her arms. 

“Why are you here?” - he turned toward her, opened one eye. 

“I have a note.” - She waved the note. 

“Hn. There are other empty beds. Why don’t you take the one by the window?” 

She tapped her foot, wondering whether to admit that she was scared of ghosts or sucked it up and took the bed by the window. To her surprise, Satoru moved to the bed by the window and lay down wordlessly.

She muttered an inaudible thank, refusing to let Satoru hear it; she lay down slowly, holding on to her rib cage like it’s about to fall apart. 

“Stop looking at me, will you?” - she sighed. 

“How do you know I’m looking at you?” - amusement coated his tone. 

“My finger has eyes of its own.” - She pulled the middle finger up, earning a small chuckle from him. 

“Tell you what, you still owe me for rescuing you that night.” - Satoru spoke. 

“The fact that you looked at my chest means I owe you nothing.” - She glared, turning her body away from him but accidentally pressing on her ribs along the way; her breath hitches. 

“You okay?” 

“None of your business.” - And that was the last of their bit before she succumbed to sleepiness. 

“Hyuuga-chan, Hyuuga-chan…” - Watanuki’s voice woke her up - “Hi, PE period ends, it’s lunchtime.” 

“Ahh. I’m up. Sorry, and thank you for coming for me.” - She massaged the back of her head and turned to the bed by the window; it was empty. A slight disappointment crept up her throat - “Let’s go.”

“The water in the school’s pool is completely gone.” - Watanuki briefed her on what happened during the PE period.  

“Ehhhh? All of the water?” - She was surprised, but she knew bad things would follow once the thing opened. 

“Yeah, the senior class 12-1 was supposed to have a swimming lesson, but I guess no swimming for a while or until the water is refilled. Also, I asked Yuuko-san yesterday, and she said the item within the kaleidoscope-like object is a Monkey’s Paw.”

“Monkey what?” - she had never heard of such a thing as Monkey’s Paw. 

“Monkey’s Paw - it granted wishes. Every time a wish is granted, a finger will snap.” 

“A finger will snap. Does that mean each person will have a total of 5 wishes? What happens when all wishes are granted? And what is the price?” - She doubted any wishes would come for free, especially after knowing the existence of Yuuko and her shop.

“I didn’t get that far. But she did say that Nanami is too arrogant to think of the consequences, and that’s the reason Yuuko first said back in the yard that the object does not suit her.” - Watanuki spoke without looking at her, his steps slow, and a stench smell followed. 

“Kami-sama…The smell.” - Even with the mask, the smell was still too intense. She pressed her mask harder against her nose until her bruised cheek ached, hoping it would somehow block the smell. She glanced at Nanami; her body froze. On Nanami’s shoulder sat a monkey-like creature; it had four eyes, positioned straight in a row. Its mouth was blood red and dripping with black liquid that she did not want to know the contents of. The monkey-like creature missed a right hand or paw; she assumed the Monkey’s Paw in the kaleidoscope belonged to this creature. Its left hand was loosely hanging around Nanami’s neck. Besides the monkey-like creature clinging to her shoulder, the black smoke oozed from Nanami’s bag, carrying with it a foul smell.

“Watanuki-kun, Hyuuga-chan,” - Nanami waved in excitement, failing to realize how pale Kira had turned under her mask - “Are you guys going for lunch?”

“Yes, Nanami-san. I see that you must have some good news.” - Watanuki smiled awkwardly, eyeing Kira’s white face. 

“Ah…You notice!” - she giggled, closing the gap between them - “I think the Monkey’s Paw at your shop is a real deal. There is a Mirror that I have wanted for so long, but no matter how many times I ask, the owner always refuses to sell it to me. So I used the Monkey’s Paw.”

“What?” - Watanuki gasped. 

“Look!” - she pulled the Monkey’s Paw and showed it to Watanuki - two fingers were snapped - “I wished for it to rain yesterday, and it did all night. But it might be just a coincidence, so I tested it again with the Mirror, and it just fell from the sky into my lap. Two fingers are gone, meaning I only have 3 wishes left.” 

At this point, Kira could not withstand the smell or the sight of the creature anymore. Watanuki also started sweating and took a few steps back. Indeed, he had a special vision, too, so he probably saw something from the Monkey’s Paw. 

“In books, it’s said Monkey’s Paw usually brings misfortune to its user.” - Doumeki appeared suddenly behind them, startling everyone. 

“Heh…It won’t happen to me. I’m usually very lucky!” - Nanami confidently concluded before saying goodbye to the group. 

“Wow, such confidence.” - Kira admired as they resumed their way to the cafeteria - “That paw will lead to her death after the five wishes are granted.” 

Author Note: Dear my lovely readers! Thank you for all your support and for reading my story. Just a quick announcement that my next update will be 2 weeks from now due to my vacation. I hope to see you all soon and, as always, please feel free to leave a comment or just say “hi” - I love to hear from you all :). Happy Reading and Happy Lunar New Year!

Chapter Text

Tsuji Private High School, Class 10-4, Thursday

“Hyuuga-chan, Yuuko-san asks if you can come to the shop tonight.” - Watanuki tapped her shoulder as she arrived at class. 

“Eh? What’s for?” 

“She said she needs you to run some errands for her.” - He shrugged. 

“Okay, let’s go together after classes.” - She nodded - “Guess it’s time to pay my dues.”

“Good morning, everyone!” - Nanami entered classes, smiling brightly like the sun. Unlike yesterday’s encounter, the foul smell fortunately did not accompany her. Though the invisible monkey-like creature still clung to her shoulder - “I will be leading the Literature period today, I’m looking forward to a great lesson. Let’s get started.” 

The Literature period ended exceptionally well with a loud cheer from all students. Nanami was indeed a very talented teacher. Her materials were well-prepared; her presentation was clear and easy to follow. Kira truly enjoyed the whole hour of class, and for a bad student like herself, she was amazed at how much she learned. She thanked Kami-sama that Nanami had left the Monkey’s Paw somewhere else. The thing on her shoulder was an obnoxious sight, but at least her eyes didn’t sting from it compared to how the smell suffocated her. 

Despite the Literature period being amazing, the rest of the morning periods were, as always, dreadful. And by lunchtime, all energy had been sucked out of her body as she flopped on the desk. 

“If I’m going to run errands for Yuuko after class, I’d better take a nap, or else, I may pass out halfway through my shift.” - With that thought and the uncertainty of the weird errands Yuuko might give her, Kira refused lunch invitations from her classmates and headed straight to the infirmary for an hour power nap. 

Satoru was not in the infirmary today. After receiving the nurse’s approval, she took the second bed from the window as last time and slowly drifted away.

POV

“You give him 1 month to complete the mission. It’s less than 1 month, so I can’t push him.” - Heh? A month? What? What are they talking about? The sound seems far away; I cannot hear it. Can I or should I get closer?

“Hm…You have a point. Guess it’s my bad for being so generous with the time.” - There is another voice, much clearer, smoother, and closer. 

Where am I? Why can’t I open my eyes? 

“Did you tell him that we will give him what he wants?” - The closer voice continues - “It may give him the motivation.”

“What do you think? Tsch. Stop pushing and stop with those sick moves, Izanagi. We don’t stoop that low.” 

Izanagi? Like Izanagi, Izanagi? Where am I? 

“Shush, you are waking her up, Izanami. And you are no fun. When things stand still, we need to stir them up.” 

Izanami? Am I in Hell? 

“Sleep, little Kira…Kira…Kira.” 

What?

End POV

“Kira, Kira,…Wake up.” - The final shake woke her up, and a big, annoying face appeared - “Tsch, breathe.”  

It took a minute to realize she had been holding her breath. She released a heavy huff before exhaling and inhaling slowly to regain the normal rhythm. As the breathing returned, the stiff muscles relaxed, allowing her body to sink into the thin mattress of the infirmary. Not only when her vitals normalized that she realized how sweaty she had become - her forehead, ears, neck, back, and hands were drenched in sweat. 

“What happened?” - she spoke, looking up at Satoru. 

“You tell me.” - He finally retreated his hands from her shoulder and took a step back, creating a distance between them. She recalled the weird dream she had with the conversation between the two people calling themselves Izanami and Izanagi. 

“It’s nothing.” - She sat up, looking at the clock to see how long she had been out. It had only been 15 minutes, but there was no way she could go back to sleep. So she got up to grab food from the cafeteria. 

“No more sleeping?” - Satoru offered her a small handkerchief out of nowhere. She hesitated but accepted as the urge to wipe all sticky sweat away trumps all at this moment. 

RUMBLING~~~

The sound was awfully loud and clear, making Satoru chuckle out loud. 

“Shut up.” - She flustered, tucking his handkerchief in her pocket - “I will give this back to you later.” 

“You can keep it. You need it more than me.” - He chuckled again and walked toward the door - “Are you coming or not?”

Despite her annoyance with him, she followed silently.

“Why are you in the infirmary?” 

“Why shouldn’t I be in the infirmary?” - he matched her pace so they could walk side by side. 

“Why does he always do that? A question for a question. So pointless.” - She rolled her eyes and decided to stay silent, agreeing that it would be best not to ask him anything from now on. 

Satoru glanced at her secretly, catching a tiny pout. The corner of his lips curved upward again; the truth was, he had been smiling a lot lately.  

He knew she was not the one, not “her,” not his, but the resemblance was uncanny, that he could not look away or not care. Her pouts, her smiles, her flusters, her cold shoulder to him, her reactions to when he teased her - everything reminded him of “her” when they first met, in a life that was so far away now. How long had it been since he last saw her? How long had it been since he held her in his arms? 

He and Suguru had met countless copies of “her” in many worlds. But never has he felt such a strong attraction as this time. This girl beside him right now stirred many deep thoughts and feelings that he had carefully hidden away. He knew this was the punishment of suffering from Heaven - what he wanted, he could never have - until the debt was settled. At least he knew now that they had her; there was no way this was the one. Because if she were, he would turn this world upside down. 

His train of thought broke as soon as he felt Nanami’s presence. She was walking toward their way. 

“Tsk…That witch has done it again.” - He shook his head and continued walking, positioning himself slightly so he could cover Kira. 

“Hi, Hyuuga-chan, Satoru-kun.” - Nanami greeted them happily. The monkey-like creature on her shoulder, its hand was creeping up her neck now. 

“Nanami-san.” - She tucked closer to Satoru’s back, but thanked Kami-sama, Nanami did not stop to start a conversation with either of them. 

“How does Nanami-san know you, Satoru? She doesn’t teach your class?” - She decided to ask once they were further away. 

“Because I’m handsome.” - He smirked. 

“…” - And their conversation ended with Kira silently mumbling, “arrogant jerk.” 

The busy cafeteria quieted down tremendously as soon as they stepped inside. All eyes were on them, or specifically on how he walked with her to the food stand, got food, and led her to an empty table. All the while, she was still in a daze until the murderous glares from girls in the cafeteria snapped her back into reality. 

“Um…So, you do want me to get killed by all the girls in school, right?” - she started eating, not like she was worried about these girls.

“Are you that weak?” - he smirked, eyeing the crowd. 

She pouted, her mind drifting to the encounter with Nanami earlier. Despite everything being the same, something changed. The left hand had definitely crept closer to her throat compared to the last time she saw it in class. Why? What happened? 

“Stay away from that teacher,” - He said without looking up.

“Huh?” - she couldn’t believe what she just heard - “Did he just warn me?” 

“The stone is rolling, and it will not stop. If you stand in its way, and you will be crushed by it.” - He continued - “Stop looking for trouble.” 

She did not understand the metaphor of the rolling stone or his sudden warning. 

“Does he…care?”

And something stirred within her. 

The rest of the afternoon classes were horrendous when, at every possible break, Kira was pinned by girls from everywhere asking, actually interrogating, about her relationship with Satoru. Some asked nicely, but most were as aggressive as possible. Some even challenged her to a fight, but Watanuki quickly diverted the situation with his amazing social skills and personality. 

Her jaw was tired at the end of the day from the same explanation that they bumped into each other on the way to the cafeteria, and that she had no idea why he bought food for her. There was no relationship between them. Though she left some details out, people didn’t need to know the whole story,

“Watanuki-kun, let’s go.” - She cheered happily, finally, out of here. 

“Ah, let’s go!” - he beamed, subtly grateful that all interrogations today did not affect Kira’s mood; and they head toward Yuuko’s shop - “Did you get some sleep in the afternoon?” 

“Ah, just 15 minutes, but I think I’m good. I’m awake and full of energy!” - she reassured him - “Do you know what errands Yuuko wants me to do?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I know it’s a request from Saoryan’s group.” 

“Saoryan? Who is that?”

“Ah, you were not there when they arrived at the shop.” - Watanuki clapped his hands together - “Saoryan, Sakura, Fay, and Kurogane are a group of travelers from different worlds. They are traveling together to fulfill their wishes.”

“Ah…What are their wishes?” 

“Kurogane wants to return to his world. Fay never wants to return to his world. And Saoryan wants to save Sakura.” - Watanuki’s voice trailed off; talking about the wishes seemed to trigger something bad in him. The conversation fortunately ended when the shop appeared before them. 

After the greetings and a round of tea, Yuuko started with the mission. 

“I need a clear water source. Not just clear, but very clear.” - Yuuko sipped her tea. 

“How clear is ‘very clear’?” - Kira raised an eyebrow at the vague request while looking around, figuring if something had changed since the last time she was here. Her eyes stop at a picture frame near the entrance of the guest quarter, where Yuuko normally hosted the guests. The picture frame was not there last time. 

“Hm…clear as in glowing clear.” - Yuuko explained, stepping away from her seat to pick up a brown sake-like bottle and pouring the contents into her cup of tea. As she mentioned, the water in the cup was glowing, shimmering brightly even under the soft candlelight. It was mesmerizing. 

Both her and Watanuki’s eyes sparkled with wonder. 

“Wow…I did not know there would be such clear water in Tokyo!!! Where can I find it?” - she yelped, gaze still locking with the cup of water. 

“That’s your task to find out.” - Yuuko winked - “There is a hint: such clear water attracts spirits, especially koi fish spirits. Look for them.”

Her eyes bounced between Watanuki and Yuuko, attempting to understand why Yuuko asked her and not him for this mission. The only plausible explanation was that his vision was not suited for this task. 

“Understood. When do you need this by?” 

“Hm…at this rate, before the sun goes out on Saturday?” - Yuuko hummed. 

“By the way, the Monkey’s Paw…” - Boh Watanuki and Kira spoke at the same time. 

“The stone is rolling…every wish has a price, regardless of how you ask for it.” - Yuuko released a cloud of smoke, eyes staring into the void behind them - “The rain she wished for will have a price.” 

“Wait, wait!!! The rain, the water in the pool, do you mean that all the water evaporated for it to rain?” - Watanuki speculated a light bulb flipped on in his mind - “So the mirror that Nanami-san wants, is it from the shop that refused to sell it to her before?”

“Yes, the owner called me and reported to the police as well. Also, Watanuki-kunnnn, something is burning.”

“Ahhhh, my cake!!!!!” - Watanuki grabbed his apron before hurrying back to the kitchen. Once there were only Kira and Yuuko, she continued.   

“Once the stone has started rolling, it will only roll faster and will not stop…” - she paused briefly before looking directly into Kira’s orbs, obviously knowing that she had heard this phrase before - “until it reaches the end.”

“She will die, right?” - this fact seemed obvious now that she heard it twice. 

“Ah…” - Yuuko’s expression turned sour - “Too bad, she ignores the warning. She is too arrogant for her own good.” 

On the way to Tsuji Private High School, Friday

“Shit…I’m so late.” - Due to Yuuko’s task, she stayed out until late last night, looking cluelessly and aimlessly for koi fish spirits. She had never wanted to see spirits this much before. When she needed them, they were nowhere to be found. As a result, she slept through her billion alarms, woke up incredibly late, and had to sprint to school. It was already past 7 AM, meaning the school gate was closed; she had no other choice but to climb the wall to avoid getting caught. 

She reached the side wall, but stopped when she noticed Nanami waiting for the traffic light across the street. Nanami looked troubled; she was biting her fingernails, eyes on the road - a thick string of black smoke engulfed her entire body.

Suddenly, the smoke darted at the man standing next to her and pushed him forward, onto the moving street; his body made contact with a running truck and was crushed into pieces. 

“AHHHHHHH!” - loud screaming erupted, and Nanami’s face became as white as a sheet of paper. Kira also froze in place, and she knew that it was the Monkey’s Paw. The school bell chimed again, louder than ever; it was time for her to go. 

During lunch, when the gang: Watanuki, Doumeki, Himawari, and Kira walked to the backyard for lunch, they passed by Nanami, who was lost in her thoughts, that she bumped into Kira without apologizing. Even though the contact lasted less than a second, it made her crouch down and cough profusely; the stench had gotten worse, and it was the worst by far. 

She eyed Watanuki, who was also following after Nanami’s footsteps with a worried expression. 

“What do you see, Watanuki-kun?” 

“I see black smoke covering her body. Something bad will happen, right, Hyuuga-chan?”

“Ah,” - she thought back to the incident this morning and shook her head. The smell surrounding her was more and more like a dead body. 

After School, still Friday

“Where are you, koi fish spirits? Where are you? Come, come…” - Kira spoke to herself while wandering around different quiet neighborhoods of Tokyo, hoping to find a school of floating koi fishes to fulfill Yuuko’s request. She only had until the end of tomorrow to look for the source of water, and she was getting more frustrated by the minute.  

“Kira?” - a puzzled voice broke the eerie silence of the night - “What are you doing here?”

“Brother!” - Kira halted for a second before running toward Natsume, whose one leg still lingered between the gate of a resident; the one she did not recognize - “Why are you here? Whose house is this?” 

“It’s just an acquaintance.” - Natsume shrugged, walking toward the motorbike, putting his helmet on, and holding one out for her.

“Um…I’m just wandering around…” - She scratched the back of her head, quickly and calmly coming up with a plausible excuse. And there they were, soft glowing fins circling behind the wall of the resident Natsume just stepped out - “And…And I got lost…” 

“Yeah, right, kiddo.” - Natsume always saw through her lies, but one thing she loved about him was that he did not pry. The same went for her. She knew this residence was not simply an acquaintance’s place, but she knew better than to ask. 

Tokyo, Gojo’s estate, still Friday

Once Natsume’s motorbike disappeared from the neighborhood, Satoru and Suguru stepped outside. 

“Hm…Satoru,” - Suguru crossed his arms, looking at Satoru suspiciously - “Did you reveal this location to the fake Kira?” 

He raised an eyebrow, putting a cigarette between his lips. He lit it and inhaled a long breath. 

“She is working with the Dimensional Witch.” - Satoru exhaled, releasing a cloud of smoke into the breezy night air. A few glowing fish spirits floated right next to him, feeding on the smoke.   

“Hummm. Should we visit the Witch?” - Suguru rubbed his chin, thinking if this “coincidence” would unfold into an issue later on. 

“Why?” - Satoru scoffed, a 5-year-old could figure out what the Witch was looking for - “Let’s keep our focus on the other Hyuuga kid.” 

Suguru grumbled, but Satoru ignored him -  “Also, the paperwork for moving to the States is done. Once our mission is completed, let’s go and enjoy the vacation there.” 

“Hn.” - The only thing he cared about after this mission was the promise Heaven made.

Author Note: Dear my lovely readers! Thank you for all your support and for reading my story. My vacation turns out to be too long, aka, I’m busy with work. Even though I would like to write all day, every day, I have a job :(. Anyways, as always, please feel free to leave a comment or just say “hi” - I love to hear from you all :). Happy Reading!

Chapter Text

The only thing he cared about after this mission was the promise Heaven made.

Tokyo, Gojo’s estate, Saturday

After breakfast, Kira sprinted out the door so quickly that she almost tripped and landed on her face. She needed to head back to the residence to complete the mission. The sooner she fulfilled her duties, the faster Yuuko could grant her the wish.  

In the blink of an eye, she arrived at the residence from last night and thoroughly assessed its surroundings before devising a plan of infiltration. 

“Since there are not a lot of blind spots between the street and the wall, stealth will be difficult. Speed is essential. I need to get in and out as quickly as possible.” - She looked at the wall, finding a spot where she could easily climb in with one movement - “The fish spirits appear around this area, meaning the water source should be somewhere right there. There are trees, meaning there may be a soft landing area and hiding places. The only thing left is the surveillance system.” 

She used a selfie stick and her phone to peek inside the residence. As expected, behind the wall was a beautiful garden with plenty of trees and bushes for hiding. And at the center of the garden was a well, the well with the water she had been looking for. All she needed to do now was get a small water sample and deliver it to Yuuko. Easy as a cake. 

With a clear plan in mind, she quickly moved into action. Within 10 minutes, she had secured the glowing water sample. She grinned at the vial of water in her hand, holding it up to the sun, revealing sparks of shimmering liquid inside. She was so captivated and distracted by the water that she didn’t hear the approaching footsteps until they were too close.

“Did you look at the paperwork, Satoru?” - The mention of Satoru’s name surprised her to the maximum. She gasped but quickly covered her mouth tightly while concealing herself further in the shadow, ears perking to look for any slightest changes in actions and conversations between Satoru and Suguru. 

“Ah, I looked at it.” - Satoru answered calmly and uninterestedly, per usual. She held her breath, carefully listening for any change in the flow of the conversation or the rhythm of their voices that signaled their realization of an intruder, aka her. Despite no change, her heart skipped multiple beats as the footsteps drew near until a pair of black shiny Italian shoes stopped directly in front of where she was hiding. She stopped breathing, cursing why Satoru went this far back in the garden. 

“And?” - Suguru continued, yawning and failing to notice Satoru’s weird behavior. 

“No comment from me.” - Satoru hummed. His sight dropped to the bush before him, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth - “Well, I’m thinking of adopting a cat.”

“Heh? What? A cat? Why all of a sudden?” - Suguru raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself why his friend had become weirder and weirder every day in this world. Maybe it’s time for both of them to travel to the next world. 

“It seems like this place has a mouse; a cat will do.” - He chuckled and walked away instead of busting her.

“Dude, why are you so weird lately?” - Suguru spoke; their voice muffled as the door closed behind them.

“That mtf!!! He dares call me a mouse?!!!!! Assholeeeeee!!!” - And she was gone in a heartbeat.

The Dimensional Witch’s Shop

“Here…you…go” - she bent on her knee, breathing hard from sprinting. The twins pointed her to the storage, the place that took her and Watanuki a decade to clean and organize. She walked toward the front door and saw Yuuko inside - “Please…tell me this…is it.” 

“Yes, it is ‘it’.” - Yuuko answered without even looking at the vial of water, like she knew from the beginning where the water was from. After achieving an even breathing rhythm, she approached Yuuko’s back. 

“You know exactly where to get this water, right?” 

“Yes.” - once again, Yuuko answered immediately, despite her mind and gaze being occupied by something else. 

“What are you doing?” - Kira impatiently looked over Yuuko’s shoulder and gasped at the object that was supposed to be in Nanami’s possession - the Monkey’s Paw. This was the first time she saw the Monkey’s Paw. The paw was long, black, and bone-skinny, like a burn tweak. To her surprise, the Monkey’s Paw did not smell rotten; it just sat stationary in the kaleidoscope.

“Why is it here?” - she swallowed and somewhat knew the answer. 

“The stone stopped rolling,” - From thin air, a yellow strip of ribbon with red writing appeared in Yuuko’s hand. She uses it to wrap the Paw tightly, sealing it - “and returned to the initial state.”

“So Nanami-san is dead.” 

Once the sealing process was completed, they headed outside the storage and back into Yuuko’s guest quarters, where the weird picture frame was still situated. 

Kira squinted and blinked repeatedly to make sense of a slight movement of the two women in the picture. She recalled when she first looked at the picture a few days ago, the two women were looking straight ahead at the camera. Now the scene changed, the long-haired woman was looking down at something, and the shorter-haired woman was behind her back, approaching closely. Both seemed happy. 

“Kira,” - Yuuko called after her - “Come in.”

“What’s with that picture frame outside?” - she pointed at the entrance while closing the door behind her. 

“It belongs to a customer.” - Yuuko lit her long pipe and started smoking. Kira raised an eyebrow, asking why - “She wants me to make it disappear forever.”

Kira’s eyes narrowed. If the customer could simply destroy the picture themselves, they would not have brought it here.

“Will the customer return?” - her thought was stuck on why Yuuko had not destroyed the picture frame yet. The only explanation was that the customer would return. 

“She will; I haven’t received payment yet.” 

Kira nodded and dropped the subject - “So, what else do you need from me?” 

“Nope. You have done your job wonderfully. Watanuki and Doumeki will be taking over from here.”

“If you know where to find it,” - It was time to scratch the itch at the bottom of her stomach - “Why send me?” 

Yuuko released another white cloud of smoke before smiling satisfactorily at Kira. Her eyes glowed as she blinked slowly, patiently waiting for Kira to deduce the answer herself.

As Yuuko had said, everything happened for a reason. 

Natsume left the Gojo’s estate, where the source of water that she was looking for was located - “Why was Brother at Gojo’s estate? The Gojo clan is notorious for not associating with other clans. They think of themselves as Kami. They even have their own assassin group. Even if they want to contract assassins, they must go through the Assassins Association first, meaning Father would be involved. But I have not heard about it. Why? Why Brother? Unless they are meeting in secret without the approval of the Association.” 

The meeting between Yuuko and Kira ended without either side saying anything further. When she left the shop, the sun had just reached the top. The question was, what would she do with the information she just received from Yuuko? Was Yuuko doing this on purpose because she knew, and this was the way she would like to inform Kira? Did this have anything to do with the black smoke and the warning during their first encounter? Why would Yuuko help her? Why would Yuuko want her to know? 

With her many questions, another theory started to bubble: Yuuko might be involved in the Dark World.  

“ARGHHHHHH!! TOO MUCH!!” - She yelled into the space with all her frustrations. After leaving the shop, she was unconsciously guided by her feet to her favorite spot whenever she needed to release negative energy: an empty, quiet sewage canal that ran through the industrial area of Tokyo - “TELL ME THE WHOLE STORY, STOP WITH THE MYSTERY.”

Her voice echoed into the void, but unlike usual, another bounced back. 

“Tsch Tsch…And who made you this upset, princess?”

Her ears perked up immediately, electricity ran through her skin as her eyes constricted on the source of the deep voice across the canal. 

“Toji,” - her anger was extinguished in a heartbeat with the realization of the owner of the voice. How could she not notice him when she arrived? - “Fuck, useless me!!”

“Um…nothing, nothing at all. Please go back to….” - And she noticed the blade in his left hand, still damp with blood. She swallowed hard - “..um…your…your mission. Have a very good day, …sir…” 

And without wasting a second, she ran for her life. However, before she could make it out of the area, her face slammed into Toji’s muscular back; she tumbled backward a few steps and landed on her butt - “Ouch!”

“Why are you always running from me?” - Toji smiled, crouching to face her while blood trickled from his face.

“I…I just don’t…don’t want to interfere with your mission.” - She was struggling to keep a straight face in front of Toji. Considering the bloody blade and Toji himself, it must be that he was actively being chased. She did not want to get caught in the crossfire. 

But life never happened the way she wanted. 

“STOP HIM!!!” - And a shower of bullets followed, aiming directly at both of them.

Never get cornered - Father’s voice echoed in her ears. All the lessons rushed back as her heart rumbled controllably. She eyed Toji, who was way ahead of her. She looked back and was glad that there was a great distance between herself and the chasers. 

“I guess I’m not that bad yet.” - With that, she confidently sprinted faster. But little did she know that she was running right into a trap. As soon as she stepped outside the quiet alley of the industrial area, a black car was waiting to snatch her right up. 

“Fushiguro Toji is running that way!!!!!! I’m not the one you are looking for! Hey, you got the wrong person. Let me go!” - she explained frantically, kicking and moving to break free. 

“But you are with him, little girl. So you are coming with us.” - Without letting her say another word, the group silenced her with a smack to the back of her neck, covered her head with a bag, and tossed her in the trunk. 

POV

Ugh. Everything is spinning. My head… What happened? My arms are killing me. Wait, why are they tied? 

That’s right. Toji. Black car.

How long have I been out? Where am I? 

“She is up, boss.”

“Oh ho, look who is up.” - Why is this mocking voice so familiar? - “The stain of our clan.”

Mahito. Why is he here? 

“Ohh boy, you are in huge trouble, bitch.” - What trouble? What the heck is he talking about? - “The Usuba blood won’t save you this time.”

What? Usuba? What the fuck is he talking about? 

“Come on, get up! It’s time.” - Hanami. Jogo. Dagon. What are the elders’ bodyguards doing here? It’s time for what?

End POV

“Kneel!” - Hanami and Jogo pressed Kira’s shoulders so hard to the ground that her knees created a small dent in the Tatami. As she adjusted to the light and surroundings, the figures sitting in front of her and all the landscapes slowly came into focus. She realized the dire situation she was in. She knew this place; this was the main headquarters of the Hyuuga Clan in Kyoto, where she lived for 15 years before moving to Tokyo this past summer.

“Kira” - she followed the voice to find Fugaku in the Clan’s Head position - the middle of a row of 9 seats. The Elders looked the same as how she remembered them, even the obvious disdain in their eyes for her was the same. This time, she noticed a hint of…joy? Besides the cold faces, there was not a single friendly face in the room. Mother. Brother. 

“This must be a close trial.” - She calmed herself, trying to focus and analyze the situation - “Mother and Brother are not here, meaning they probably did not know. Mahito was in the cellar, so he knew. But why him? He was not the one who captured me. Judging from the sunlight, it must be around sunset. I must have been out for roughly 6 hours. I was running away from a crowd that chased Toji. He got away, but I got caught. I’m here. Fuck, he must have killed a Hyuuga member.”

“Father, I don’t have anything to do with it. I swear. It was a coincidence,” - She explained herself without thinking, lingering on a slim ray of hope that Fugaku would believe her, would spare her.  - “Please, I swear, Father, I swear. I did not do anything.”

“Shut your mouth!” - Fugaku slammed the table, teeth grinding together as he spitted every word - “How insolent you are! If you are useless, the least you can do is to live quietly like a corpse. Now, you are not just useless, but you dare defy the law and murder your clan?”

 “No…No…This can’t be. No…It’s a misunderstanding, Father. I kill no one. It’s a coincidence. I just happened to be there. Please, please, believe me. Please, please…I beg you, Father.” - Tears streamed down her face, her voice became hoarse; her arms tried to break free of the guard’s iron grips. 

“If this is a mere coincidence, then how come the first sentence coming out of your mouth is to explain, huh?” - Fugaku narrowed his eyes on hers, voice ice cold. 

Another realization hit her. She made the wrong move. No one said or asked anything. She was the one who explained everything; she was the one who spoke about everything she guessed. To an outsider, she looked exactly like the culprit who was discovered and now tried to cover up. It was her fault; her mouth acted before her brain. Now everything would be pinned to her, and she had no way out, no alibi, no witness, no case to present. And the dirtbag Toji walked free. 

Above all, the Hyuuga clan, or more specifically, Fugaku, had wanted to kill her since she was born. Now was their chance; she was being accused of breaking the ultimate law of not killing clan members. This warranted a death sentence. Blood or not. Nothing could save Kira now. No wonder they looked so happy. 

“Did Father and Toji join hands and set me up? Did he hate me this much?” - tears continued to fall. 

“Please, Father, please investigate. I’m innocent. I did not kill anyone. Please, please. I’m your blood, I don’t deserve to get treated like this.” - Pleas turned into begs - “Natsume knows. He knows I like to spend time in that area. Please call for him. He can explain.”

“Silence! How dare you drag Natsume into your mess?” - Fugaku’s vein on his face hardened like it was about to pop anytime. 

“How pathetic.” - The Elders chuckled. 

“How insolent and weak.” - And the insult continued.

“Cannot believe we have such a thing in our clan. One who cannot kill and now cannot survive. And it’s yours, Fugaku. Haha. ”

“…stain of our clan…” - all sounds drowned out as she comprehended her fate.  

“Fugaku, decide, and let us return to our Go match. Tsch. Such a waste of time.” 

 “Ah, so I will die at the hands of her own blood.”

“Fifty lashes and execution by poison at dawn.” 

The trial was completed in less than 7 minutes. 

“Nooooooo!” - Mikoto’s scream was the last she heard before the last ray of light shut from her sight. 

Author Note: Dear my lovely readers! Thank you for all your support and for reading all my stories. I will be on and off from now on due to my work schedule, :(. But please rest assured, I will finish all stories. So, make sure you bookmark if you like my stories :). Thanks again, all!!!

Chapter Text

Kyoto, Hyuuga’s Cellar,

POV

Everything is so quiet. 

Has it always been this quiet at the estate? Or maybe just the cellar?

Hmmm, I don’t think so. Back then, there were always people around. Watching and guarding.

Perhaps, it’s a good thing. Leave me alone. Everything hurts.

I will die in a few hours anyway. 

All this pain will go away. Soon.

I need to endure the pain for another few hours. I can do it. 

Does Mother know I’m here? Why doesn’t she come? 

Brother, too. Why isn’t he here? Pleading my case.

Did Father and the elders keep this a secret? So Mother cannot interfere?  

Father doesn’t know about the industrial area. But Brother knows. Was he involved? No, no, it cannot be.

Sigh…

It’s too much. I should not be thinking right now. 

But if Brother says something, Father would understand. Father would listen…

He doesn’t listen to me. No one does. Maybe it doesn’t matter if I live or die. No one cares. 

I want to sleep…I’m so tired…

—

“Let’s run away.” - Heh? What are these images? Whose voice is this? - “Let’s drop everything and run away, love. Let’s live.” 

Who is it? It does sound very nice and very tempting. 

To run away. 

To live.

—

Fuck, aish, why are there so many monsters? Do they know I’m about to die? They are waiting here to eat me? 

I still have a few hours. Allow me to be alive until dawn, will you?

Alright, you know what, you can do whatever you want. Eat me. Kill me. I will make sure to kill all of you monsters when I’m in Hell!

Ah, Hell… That’s where the elders said an incompetent person like me would go. Fuck them! I haven’t done anything wrong. For Kami’s sake, I haven’t even killed anyone. If any, it’s them who will go to Hell. 

I wish I could drag the entire clan down with me. Everyone. 

I wish the entire clan would die.

“Such a naughty girl you are, Kira. But you are right on track. Let your hatred burn the entire clan down.” - What? Who’s there? 

—

“…. HEY, over here. There is a kid over here. Kami-sama, she is still alive…” 

“…kami…, what happened to this kid’s back?…” 

“I don’t know. Geez, this looks like a cellar. What the fuck is this place?” - Welcome to the Hyuuga Clan Estate. We possess the biggest cellar in Kyoto!

“I don’t know, let’s get out of here and get this kid to the hospital, QUICK.” - A hospital would be great.

End POV

Tokyo, Gojo’s estate

“It’s done.” - Suguru’s happy voice breaks the eerie silence. 

“Hn.” - The white-hair silhouette nodded his head, eyeing a particular bush in the back garden; his mind wandered. With another gulp, he finished the remaining whiskey in the crystal glass and faced his comrade - “Let’s go.” 

“Woo hoo, let’s go on vacation.” - Suguru beamed with great pleasure and followed Satoru’s steps, heading to the airport. 

Throughout the entire car ride, the atmosphere, though, remained heavy.

“What’s with you? We finished the mission early. Why the long face?” 

Satoru did not know the answer to Suguru’s question: Why did his heart and mind feel so heavy? Like he had done an unforgivable task, and he would regret it for the rest of his life. Truth be told, he did not do anything physically. All he did was stir the water, bringing to the surface what had already been there in the Hyuuga’s kid and allowing fate to take its course. 

“Nothing,” - he finally answered Suguru with a sigh as the car stopped in front of Narita Airport. 

“Any luggage that I can take, sirs?” - an airline attendant greeted them happily, but Satoru ignored and walked straight inside without saying a word. 

“Sorry about that, pretty. He is an asshole with a bad temper. And we have no luggage.” - Suguru apologized - “Oi oi, stop being so sour and rude.” 

“Hn. Let’s get out of here.” - All he cared about was to hurry and leave everything behind. 

Suguru rolled his eyes, giving up on trying to brighten his old friend’s mood. 

POV

BEEP…BEEP…

So noisy…Can someone turn that sound off? 

Ugh…my throat feels like a desert. 

“…dude, you should at least take a shower. How long have you been here?” 

“…none of your business, Fushiguro.” - Brother? And…Fushiguro? Like Fushiguro Toji!!!!! The mtf that wrecked my back and almost got me killed?

“Oi, watch your tone, kid. It is none of my business, but guess what, we are on the same boat now. And believe it or not, I have more experience than you in being a clan killer.” 

Clan killer? What are they talking about? I need to wake up.

“Fuck off or I will kill you too… I don’t mind getting my hands dirtier with your blood.” - No, Brother, no, I need to wake up.

Damn it, move, body, move. Stop being so useless. Brother, I have so many questions for you. Where is Mother? What about Father?  

“She is waking up. You’d better leave.” 

No, no, don’t leave. I need to talk to you, Natsume. 

End POV

“Rise and shine, princess.” - Toji was the only face she saw as she opened her eyes. Not the one she was looking for. 

“Where…” - her voice cracked as soon as it left her lips, making it barely audible. At least, her eyes were working. She looked at the now-empty chair where Natsume had been a moment ago. 

“Please don’t ask her to speak.” - A doctor and a few nurses rushed in. One of them turned off the beeping sounds from the vital machine, which Kira was very grateful for, and the other tossed Toji an angry look - “You should have called us as soon as she woke up.” 

“Hey, doll, she just woke up, like right now.” - Toji threw both hands over his head, blinking in defeat.  

“Miss, do you know where you are? A nod or shake would be sufficient. Please don’t try to speak.” - She gazed around and gave a slight nod, understanding she was in a hospital. 

“Good, good. Do you remember what happened before coming to the hospital?” - She thought hard and decided not to mention the lashes and the death sentence. These pieces of information would be too much for a normal person, so she shook. 

“Okay. Do you know how you got the wounds on your back?” - the doctor adjusted her glasses.

She shook again. This time, she stared intensely at Toji; she barely held back her anger enough not to jump at him, and all fears vanished.  She was this miserable because of him. Running into him was probably the worst thing ever, perhaps second to being born into the Hyuuga Clan as a failed assassin. 

“Wait, how come I’m in the hospital? There is no way the Hyuuga Clan would let me go. They were so desperate to kill me after all.” 

“Your vital signs look good for now. Memory loss is expected after a traumatic event. I will let you rest and check back later, okay?” - Without waiting for an answer, the doctor glanced at Toji - “Mister, please don’t overexert our patient.”

“Understood.” - Toji beamed brightly (in his mind), but the scar at the corner of his mouth distorted the smile significantly. 

Once there were only 2 of them left, she started the rough conversation, hoping to find answers to thousands of questions running through her mind. 

“Natsume…where…is…”

“Princess, you hear the doctor, you shouldn’t be speaking or exerting yourself.” - Toji interrupted and sat down in the chair, presumably Natsume’s chair earlier, crossing his arms - “Even if you keep speaking, I cannot understand any words.” 

“Where…is…he?” - She refused to back down. 

“He was here, but he is gone now. You won’t be seeing him for a while.” 

“What do you mean, old man? He is gone for a while, but he was here. So he knew I was captured? So he came. He must have spoken to Father and convinced him to release me. What about Mother? Will she come?”

“Stop thinking and sleep, princess.” - Toji did not hesitate to push her head down the pillow, and she fell right back into deep sleep.  

“Fugaku, decide, and let us return to our Go match. Tsch. Such a waste of time.” 

“Fifty lashes and execution by poison at dawn.” 

“Father…Father…please…”

“Oi oi, kid, wake up and lower your voice.” - She jolted awake after her right shoulder almost got dislocated by Toji’s strong shake. 

“Damn you…, old man. Control your strength, please.” - Kira groaned silently, side-eyeing Toji’s annoying appearance. The trauma really knocked her fear of Toji out of the system. 

“How long had I been out?” - her voice was better, and her head was not spinning like last time. 

“Three days.” - And Toji chucked down the rest of the ice in his cup.

“Why are you still here?” - That was what surprised her the most.  

“Well, let’s say I have a heart for kids who are in unfortunate situations.” - He smirked, tossing the now-empty cup away in her room. 

She did not think much. Or more like she cannot think much. 

“Where is Natsume?” 

“He is not here.” - Despite his unchanging voice, Toji stuck his hands into his pockets, which caught Kira’s attention. When she was trained as an assassin, there were multiple lessons about body language, and concealing body parts usually meant the person was uncertain or uncomfortable. 

“What makes the Fushiguro Toji uncomfortable?” - The question lit her brain up like a Christmas tree, and memories flooded back. 

After the lashes, she recalled people in fire suits came to take her. She was not released. Someone, someone ordinary came into the Hyuuga Clan’s cellar to get her. What happened? 

“Father did not let me go, didn’t he?” - A nod from Toji. 

A nauseous feeling rumbled in her stomach as a sentence came back from the dark side of her consciousness. 

“Yeah, yeah, none of my business. But guess what, we are on the same boat now. Believe it or not, I have more experience than you in being a clan killer.”

“Clan killer..clan…killer…” - the monitor started beeping like crazy as her heart raced; she could taste bile in her mouth. Everything in her stomach was on its trajectory to the outside. 

“Holy shit. Kid, calm down.” - Toji took multiple steps back as the nurse rushed in. 

“What did you do to agitate her this time?” - the nurse glared at him. 

“Hn. The kid is just too smart for her own good. That’s exactly why she is in this situation.” - Toji shrugged and left the room right before the nurse put an oxygen mask on Kira despite her fight against it. 

“Kira, you need to calm down. In and out, good, good, calm down, dear. That’s right. Slowly.” - As her breathing calmed, tears streamed down her face.

“Mother…Mother was not in Kyoto. Maybe…Maybe…Please, please, tell me it’s not true. Oh Kami-sama, did my wish come true?” 

Underworld, Judgment Room,

“It’s done.” - Satoru and Suguru stood before Izanami, in the room filled with unfortunate souls. No matter how many times Suguru had been to this place, he could not help but shiver at the sight of monsters, ghosts, dead human souls, the three-headed beast that Izanami kept as a pet, aka guards, and all the Shinigamis. 

“Good.” - Izanami hummed silently and continued to sign off paperwork high on his pedestal without even looking at both of them.  

Satoru and Suguru exchanged glances. He normally had more things to say, like, “you could have completed it sooner, brats,” or “brats, be respectful that you are working for me and not Heaven.” Oddly, he said nothing this time. 

“Now, give me what you promised.” - The scribbling sound from Izanami’s quill stopped at Satoru’s demand. 

“Well, about that,” - Izanami sighed after a long pause, slowly looking up through his half-moon glasses. 

“Uh oh, not good.” - Suguru swallowed, eyeing Satoru’s darkened face. 

“The Kira you are looking for,” - another pause.

“Say. It.” - Satoru growled threateningly. A cold and dark aura exuded so powerfully that it evaporated half of the souls awaiting judgment in the Hall. 

“Shut it down. Tsch. Ungrateful brat as always.” - Izanami tapped his hand a few times against his gigantic desk, clearing his throat before continuing reluctantly - “The Uchiha Kira you are looking for is the sister of Hyuuga Natsume.” 

Satoru’s heart sank to the floor. He knew it. The familiarity he felt with her was undeniable. And fuck, he messed up. Big time. Fears covered his entire body, rendering him completely still. 

“Fuck…” - Suguru’s blood ran cold - “The one he has been searching for years and through many worlds is that one? Is heaven kidding? Are they setting them up?” 

Opposite to Suguru’s fear of Satoru lashing out and killing every soul in Hell, Satoru just vanished into thin air. He looked back at Izanami, whose face was utterly troubled. 

“Did you know that it’s her when you gave us this mission?” 

“No.” 

So it was clear. They had been played, but at least it was not Izanami. 

“And here I thought Heaven was supposed to be good.”

Kyoto, a week after the Hyuuga Massacre,

POV

It has only been a week. Why does it feel like 10 years? 

Every morning, every time I open my eyes from a sleepless night, I wish, I pray that all of this is simply a dream, a nightmare, that I can wake up from.

But Kami-sama, everything is real. My wish came true. Why? Why didn’t you grant me my wish of not seeing spirits, Kami-sama? Do you hate me? What have I done to you? 

In today’s world, news travels faster than the speed of light. By the time I got released from the hospital, the entire Dark World knew that the Hyuuga Clan had been slaughtered by no one but the assassin prodigy - Hyuuga Natsume. My Natsume. My beloved brother who has been nothing but loving and caring toward his family. The proud son of Hyuuga Fugaku. The pride of the entire Hyuuga Clan. 

And now, Hyuuga Natsume is a clan killer and is officially wanted by the Assassin Association as well as the Usuba Yakuza Clan. Natsume is a different case from Fushiguro Toji, as he was hired to annihilate the Zennin Clan. Natsume is acting on his own will per the Assassin Association, which I find hard to believe. There is no way, no way he would do it. The Clan worships him. 

The more I think about it, the more fake it seems. There is no way Natsume has done this.

Of course, none of it is true.

Father, Mother, and Brother are probably still back in Tokyo. It’s Tuesday, so Father must be at work, Natsume must be at the University, and Mother is probably at a supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner. 

Yes, that must be it - a better reality. 

But the newspapers urge otherwise. Headlines on the massacre spread like wildfire. History repeats itself once again. First, the Zennin, now the Hyuuga. The two largest assassin clans in Japan were wiped out by their own clan members. Another check that further confirms my reality is unfamiliar people reaching out to me. 

After putting Natsume on the most wanted list, the Assassin Association did an unexpected move and reached out to me for their condolences. Haha, the invisible daughter of Hyuuga Fugaku and the Hyuuga Clan is now receiving recognition as the last heir of the oldest assassin clan. The Usuba Clan also reached out, but I want nothing from them. Mother is gone. If the assassins hate me, what would a yakuza gang do to a useless person like me? Don’t want to know. I probably receive all this attention because I’m now inheriting all the assets from the Hyuuga Clan as the legitimate heir. Oh, perhaps it’s a good thing, I’m super rich now. Just like Toji. 

But what is the point when everyone I care about is gone? Where will I go from now? What will I do from now on? 

I hate this. I hate all of this. I just want…want…to disappear.

Wait. Tokyo. Yuuko. The wish shop. 

End POV

Ever since she woke up, only two thoughts constantly occupied her entire mind 24/7: her clan was killed by her Brother, and her Brother killed their parents, their parents. Besides those 2 thoughts, she considered nothing else and felt nothing. Nothing could take her mind off these 2 thoughts. These 2 thoughts filled her entire being, constantly existing everywhere she goes, every minute of the day, whatever she does, even in her sleep. 

Ever since she woke up, she had barely slept due to nightmares. She had barely spoken to anyone because she could not form a proper conversation without breaking down in tears. She had barely left her room, generously provided by Fushiguro Toji, or eaten because she could not stop crying. She had barely turned on the light in her room due to the number of monsters lurking around, ready to drag her down to Hell. Maybe she should just give them what they want. What was the point anymore when the people she cared for in the world were gone? 

“Kid, you are not going back to Tokyo. You are not in your right mind.” 

“I’m not crazy. There is a Dimensional Witch in Tokyo. I work for her; in exchange, she will fulfill my wish and cure my sight.” - Maybe she was not in her right mind, because she told Toji everything about her deep secret - “Plus, why do you care? You left me to be captured and sentenced to death on your behalf. Why do you care now?” 

During the past few days that she spent with Toji, the conversations between them were usually one-sided. Toji had been…exceptionally caring for her in a way that was completely opposite to her expectations from a clan killer. It was only recently that the thought of Yuuko made her start talking like a normal human being again after days of acting like a deaf and mute.  

“Okay, let’s say you are…mentally stable and that monsters or ghosts are real. Still, from what I gather, no amount of magics in this universe can bring someone back from the dead.” 

“And how do you know that?” 

“Isn’t that the only exception in all magical movies? Harry Potter, Aladdin, Naruto, I don’t know…You are younger, you tell me.” 

“You can’t be serious.” - Kira’s jaw dropped - “Is the Zennin Clan’s killer, Fushiguro Toji, this stupid…?”

“Let them go, kid. Dead people should not come back. Your clan is gone; it’s their fate. You are alive; it’s your fate. Accept it and move on. At least when you are alive, you can take revenge.”  

Chapter Text

“Let them go, kid. Dead people should not come back. Your clan is gone; it’s their fate. You are alive; it’s your fate. Accept it and move on. At least when you are alive, you can take revenge.”  

Kyoto, Hyuuga Clan’s Estate, 

Kira never thought she would return to this place since they moved to Tokyo, or at least it would be a long time before she returned. But here she was, standing in front of the traditional double gates leading into the Hyuuga Clan’s estate. The place that was once guarded so heavily for many generations was awfully empty. The place where she was not allowed anywhere, now she could roam freely. The place that was once carefully cared for by hundreds of maids was drenched with the smell of blood, though the blood stains were minimal and clean, proving the undeniably exceptional skill of Natsume. 

How many people did he kill? She was not sure.

She was asked to identify bodies at the morgue after being released from the hospital a few days back. There must be well over 30 bodies. She did not recognize all. After all, Father tried his best throughout her life to hide her - his biggest shame - from everyone. 

There was a book that documented all members of the Hyuuga Clan. It would help the police. The problem was, the book had never seen the light of day. It was considered the Clan’s top secret document. It would be considered breaking the law to hand it over to the police. But why not? No one could stop her. The Head of the Clan and the Elders were all dead now. She was the only ‘legal’ heir of the Clan. She could do whatever she wanted. 

And that was the reason she was back at the estate, walking through the familiar yet unfamiliar hallway to retrieve the top-secret document that she would have never dreamt of touching in this life. As she passed by the room where Father and the elders sentenced her to death a few days ago, she sat in the middle seat, her Father’s chair, and looked down at the hall. 

She felt an urge to laugh at the ironic circumstance: A few days ago, while she pleaded for her life desperately, Father would sit here and judge her morals. Now, she was the one who lived, and he was dead.  

“How fun is it, Father. Hahahahahaha.” 

“Stop laughing. Tsch.” - Toji crossed his arms by the door, sneering - “You look like a moron.” 

“Hn.” - She scoffed at his sneer. Her laugh died after a little while. Nothing really mattered anymore. If Toji changed his mind and decided to kill her, she would be fine. 

“Thought about my proposal?” 

Ah. Revenge. Tempting. 

“Why should I trust you? Why should I do whatever you say? You killed your own Clan for money. You would kill me too for money.”

“What a bunch of bullshit! I don’t care if you trust me or not.” - He paused briefly, putting both hands behind his head, smirking - “Plus, no one has paid me to kill you yet. And I’m the only one that your dear Brother hasn’t defeated yet. So I’m your best bet to kill your Brother.” 

“Stop mentioning him,” She snapped, throwing an object that she could grab at Toji’s head. 

“Good aim. Your stupid Clan sucks at admitting talents. Hahaha, kid, guess what! I just made up my mind, I will take you under my wing. Use that hatred to become stronger. Strong enough that no one can stand in your way anymore.” 

“Why do you care?” 

“Let’s say I have a heart for the underdog. If those fools couldn’t beat you into shape, I will succeed.” - Toji walked toward her, slowly yet firmly. 

“So I’m a charity case?” 

“Kinda. Win-win, heh? You get trained by the best to kill the second best, and I get a nice challenge out of this boring life.” 

“Uh huh. But you still don’t believe in my eyesight or all the monsters I told you about?”

“Who doesn’t have fear, kiddo. Lesson No.1: Get over your fear. The quickest way is to find a way to utilize it to your advantage. Plus, what’s wrong if those monsters drag you into Hell? People like us will end up there anyway.”

She grumbled in disagreement, but her mind thought the other way - “He does have a point. Ever since the horror event, I have not been as bothered by them as before. Maybe…maybe this is a blessing in disguise.” 

She did not answer right away, but Toji’s convincing words had swayed her. For now, she wanted to get out of the Hyuuga Clan’s estate as fast as possible. Deaths, especially unjust ones, attracted monsters of all kinds, turning the place into a den filled with monsters crawling everywhere, on the floor, up on the ceiling, and surrounding the walls. If Toji saw this scene, he might pee his pants. 

She left as soon as she retrieved the documents she returned for and a few other classified documents that only the Elders and the Head of the Clan had access to. She turned to look at the gate now filled with yellow tape, titled “crime scene, do not pass,” and mourned for the tragedy one last time before disappearing with Toji into the silent night. 

“Fuck them! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.” - Satoru cursed internally as he boarded the plane from New York back to Tokyo, praying she was still alive - “How could I be so stupid? Please, love, please, wait for me.”

“Is she alive?” - The first place he visited after landing in Tokyo was Yuuko’s shop - “And don’t beat around the bushes, Witch.” 

“She is indeed alive.” - Yuuko was not surprised at Satoru’s sudden appearance in her shop, especially after the news about a massacre in Kyoto. It was inevitable. - “But I don’t know where she is. There are certainly some higher interfering forces. She disappears from my sight when she enters Kyoto.” 

“So, Witch, you know it’s her.” - Satoru closed the distance between them slowly; his jaw tightened with every step - “You don’t think of telling me?” 

“Dear boy, I know she is important to…well…a certain force. I don’t know who she is to you, you know that.” - Yuuko stared into Satoru’s eye, unyielding to his threatening tone. She certainly outlived him by many, many years, and he needed a reminder. 

He tightened his fist so much that his nails dug into the skin.

“Fine,” - But the Witch was right. She could not have known their relationship. After all, she only handled a handful of worlds where protectors were scarce. The Jujutsu Sorcerers were a common practice in their world back then. After the battle with Sukuna was defeated, peace was restored, and there was no need for Satoru and Suguru to linger any longer. Yuuko, too, was not needed. 

“She is being watched. Probably by Izanagi.” - Yuuko dropped a sentence as Satoru stormed through the door. He heard it, and it only made his blood boil harder.     

Fuck, Heaven had fooled them all. 

Days turn into weeks.

Weeks turn into months. 

Months turn into years.

Satoru never stops looking. 

Always.

As a payback, he would not let Izanami rest. 

“Are you sure you sent everyone?” - Satoru nagged. He had never been to Hell this many times since his passing. 

“You know, if any soul dares to speak to me this way, I will make sure it suffers for eternity.” - Izanami sighed, rubbing his temples. 

“I have got nothing to lose, old man.” - Satoru casually leaned on Izanami’s desk. 

“Yeah, that’s why everything down here scares you. And spare my damn desk, brat! This is not your home. Tsk!” - veins were about to pop on Izanami’s face - “I sent everyone. If you don’t believe me, just go check for yourself. I barely have any servants to organize this judgment room anymore.” 

“Are you suggesting something?” - Satoru pulled out a lollipop, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. 

“Be my second in command and handle those mad souls that rampage the Earth.” - Izanami cleared his voice. 

“You are giving me a title?” 

“I need someone ruthless like you right now. Believe it or not, you losing her may be the best thing that has happened to me. All that rage gets my pending work done.” - Izanami leaned back into his chair, one hand touching his chin while beaming despite his overall tired expression. Satoru has never seen him like this before. 

“You are fucking kidding with me right now, right?” 

“I’m not. You are capable. I like a brat like you around. Not sure what you did to Heaven for them to torture you, but you are an asset to me. I can protect you.” 

“I don’t need protection. I wanted her, and you fucking lied to me.” - Satoru spread his arms on Izanami’s desk, looking Izanami directly in the eyes through his iconic round sunglasses, challenging.

“They lied to you and me.” - Izanami stood up, walked around his desk, and placed a hand on Satoru’s shoulder. - “Work for me, and I will give you full control of Hell’s armies to search for her, even the Shinigamis.” 

“Even the Shinigamis?” - Satoru’s brows rose in surprise. This is new. The army of Shinigamis was said to be one of the strongest armies in the Universe. Their power was transcendent. He witnessed it once. She used it to defeat the Ryomen Sukuna. 

“Even the Shinigamis” - Izanami smiled satisfactorily as he was close to achieving what he wanted. 

“Suguru will be my second in command.” 

“Of course. Whatever you want.” - Izanami tapped a few times on Satoru’s shoulder. 

“If you harm her or participate in any schemes against us moving forward, I will make sure you pay double the price.”

“I have absolutely no interest in splitting your lovey-dovey relationship. I will help you find her and make sure she will be with you, as long as you help me take care of those mad souls up there. I do want a vacation once in a few thousand years. Haha.”

“I’m not doing your paperwork.” - Satoru started to leave. 

“We can talk about that later. Today is good enough. Here is the seal. Take it with you at all times, and you can command whoever you want.” - Izanami tossed a shimmer tassel to Satoru, which he caught without fail. 

Rumors about Izanami made Gojo Satoru the General-in-Chief in Command and gave him full access to the Shinigami army, which spread quickly across all corners of Hell. It has been hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years, since Izanami appointed someone as General-in-Chief. Rumors had it, this move from Izanami could only mean 1 thing: Hell and Heaven were not in good standing, and Izanami was gearing up for war. 

Within days, the news reached Heaven. 

“Heh. Interesting. Gojo Satoru. I’m looking forward to meeting you soon.” - The corner of Izanagi’s mouth lifted into an evil smirk behind a golden mask. A pink strain of hair fell on his shoulder and burnt away in flame. 

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Five years later, California, Silicon Valley, 

A black shadow passed through a grand courtyard that was obviously being overpaid for and over-designed by some Tech billionaires to resemble one of those traditional Japanese gardens. The courtyard was located neatly within a fenced orchard; inside filled with evergreen plants and endless beds of luxurious moss that stretched from end to end of the entire courtyard. Here, luxuriant cherry trees and bonsai seemed to always be in their prime, covering most of the courtyard with their perfectly trimmed branches. She imagined how nice and cool it would be on a sunny day underneath these trees. In the middle of the courtyard lay an utterly circular pond with a border of pebbles. 

It was peculiar to find such a ‘familiar’ place in a robotic world such as Silicon Valley, making her wonder who the owner of such a grand courtyard was. She had never been this delighted on a mission before. 

But time was of the essence. She could come back when she did not have to steal anything.

“And what an amazing idea to hide such a big piece of jewelry. No one would have thought about this. Kudos to the owner.” - Kira, to some degree, was stunned at the owner’s intellectual level to hide the world’s largest Emerald in the bunker of a Tech Company. One would have thought these types of jewels would sit in a Swiss bunker. But it was none of her business; all she needed to do was to steal it. 

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

After the tragic event of the Hyuuga Clan, she left everything behind and followed Fushiguro Toji on the revenge journey. She abandoned school, friends, and her entire life in Japan to move to America. For the past 5 years, she had trained nonstop under Toji’s strict (if not deadly) guidance to become the best assassin. With Toji, it was either dead or alive. 

Flashback

 “What are we doing here?” - she grumbled, following Toji to an empty warehouse as soon as they landed in New York. Her guard heightened.

True to her caution, a punch followed soon after her question. Her quick reflex kicked in, and she was able to somewhat deflect Toji’s powerful punch. She stumbled to the ground, vomiting up everything inside her stomach. She thanked Kami-sama for being unable to stomach anything since the event. If not, the contents of her stomach would look much grosser. Without granting her even a second to concentrate or get back on her feet, Toji’s kick landed firmly in her stomach, which sent her flying backward at least 100 meters and knocked her out cold. Despite the harsh start of her training, she knew that, for a skilled and infamous assassin like Toji, he was already going easy on her with one simple punch and one simple kick at a time. 

She learned how to fight during the weekdays at night and strength training during the weekends. Toji would not let her off a single day. Unless she had school. 

The thing that caught Kira off guard the most about Toji was that he valued education. Fighting and survival skills were critical, but he believed one also needed to be smart to become the best assassin. She learned that he had a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, and he understood deeply about human anatomy, significantly more adept than any assassins she had the fortune to encounter. He used it to his advantage as he knew exactly where to aim to deliver the deadliest blow that would either prolong his target’s suffering or end their life in a heartbeat. 

Not only was he knowledgeable, but he was also annoyingly smart, which contradicted everything she had heard about him: unorganized, amateur, stupid, lacking patience, and so on. He was analytical and exceptional at solving problems. There wasn’t a single situation he couldn’t escape from, even if caught off guard. He thrived under extreme pressure and challenging circumstances. In addition to his exceptional intellect and physical strength, he possessed a didactic memory that allowed him to carry out all plans with perfect precision. 

That’s why Toji was so lethal. 

That’s why all missions that he accepted were executed at the highest standard of the Shadow World, where he adopted a fake identity, Phantom. 

No wonder Kira never heard of Toji’s name before, but she definitely heard of ‘Phantom.’ If the East had ‘Black Cat’, then ‘Phantom’ was the essence of the West. 

She first could not understand why people stood out of his way in places and sounded too respectful toward them, until she heard the word ‘Phanton’ - the only word that made sense in an unfamiliar language. She could not believe she was being taught by the ‘Phantom’ himself. His teachings were strange and opposite from the way Father and the Elders taught her in the past. If they would never allow her to take risks, Toji encouraged taking risks, then taught her how to escape. She liked it better. It seemed natural.  

Assassination lessons and school took over her life. She rarely had any time to mourn. She appreciated it. It helped her to forget the tragedy and the dilemma that had been tearing her apart: to love or to hate Natsume, to avenge or to let go.

Day after day, fight after fight, she got stronger.

Day after day, mission after mission, she got smarter.

Day after day, lesson after lesson, her ability as well as her dilemma rooted deeper within her. 

She and Toji never spoke besides lessons or strategy discussions. 

But she rather liked it. He didn’t fake that he cared.   

The day he pushed her off a 20-floor building and she did not die. He grinned down at her in the hospital:

“You learn quick, kid! Good job!” 

She would huff if she could, but the pain was too much. 

“Was he abusing you?” - That was the first thing the doctor asked. She wouldn’t blame them. Toji was not exactly the trustworthy type, and he definitely had a mobster look.

“No,…he is…a decent person.” - And she gave the doctor a small tug at the corner of her mouth. It was her first smile since the tragedy a year ago. 

End flashback

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

The Pawn Shop, New York

“Here!” - She dropped the bag in front of the barred counter and immediately headed outside - “I will take the transfer per usual.” 

 “Hn.” - The woman at the counter hummed; she was used to Kira’s swift and bare interaction. Before the door closed entirely, the woman recalled an important piece of information. - “Oi, brat, there is a message for you, from ‘that person’.”

 Her silhouette lingered for a second at the closed door, silently acknowledging the woman’s message before disappearing into the night. It seemed like her night had not ended yet. She pulled out an old flip phone from her pocket and dialed a phone number with a Japanese area code 03. 

“Haiyo, Kira…How have you been?” - the slow yet beaming voice echoed in the dark alley immediately after a single ring. 

“Alive.” - She answered shortly - “What do you need?” 

“A bird cage…” - The voice on the other side echoed. 

“…” - She waited. 

“From Yamaguchi. He shouldn’t be too far away from you. ” - The voice continued after an unusually long pause. 

“Ah, when do you need this by?” - She asked bluntly. 

“As soon as possible.”

She hung up the phone and started her search to fulfill Yuuko’s request.  

Author note: A special thank you to Crystal__20, kells12670, and the 1 guest (sorry I don't know who you are TT^TT) for leaving kudos on my stories. Happy reading!