(Prequel) 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕤

Part V

(Reader's POV)
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"Last night, Mister Saito Takeshi was found brutally murdered in his own bakery. It was quite tragic, leaving the locals devastated. He was found in half from the waist. Authorities say that it appeared to be the work of an animal. That is yet to be confirmed–"

Everybody watched the store's window TV with shock. Pictures of the familiar bakery appeared and a clip of paramedics zipping up a body bag.

I stood in between the crowd, blending in. I pulled the ropes on my hoodie, concealing my face even more. The guilt was slowly eating at me, I knew I was at fault for this.

'Last night... He died because of me...' I turned away and slipped through the crowd, looking for a less busy area to hide out in. I was glad that he was the only casualty. Otherwise, I would've been pushed to turn myself in, or worse.

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie and wandered around the streets aimlessly, feeling terrible and all round like shit. Then I remembered a crucial detail.

"It's me, I'm the problem..." Everytime that thing showed up, was at night, and around me. It wasn't a coincidence. No way. "I can't let that happen again. I need to think of a way to keep others from dying."

I was hungry again. I knew I needed money but had no way of getting it. I was in a rut at this point. I had quite literally nothing. Not to mention, I didn't even have any memories—

"S-Sorry..." I whispered an apology after stepping on someone's foot. "Its alright." I looked right into his dark eyes, something about them seemed mesmerizing. His spiky hair was a perfect shade of black. As I stared, the air around him exploded into a beautiful blue aura, only further enchanting me.

His monotone expression contorted into concern. "You okay?" He said looking at my bandaged arm. I snapped out of my daze to answer him, still staring at his navy eyes. "Uh um I'm f-fine..." Why was my heart racing?

"What's up, Megumi?" A tall man wearing a blindfold with white hair popped up from behind the black haired male. "Oh~ who's this?" The man asked. He looked older than the one in front of me but acted more childish...

"Oh, she was just–" When he turned to gesture to me, I was gone. "Where did she...?"
"You saw how she looked, right?" The white haired male asked while digging through his bag of sweets.

"Yeah... Did you sense cursed energy off of her, too?"
"Yep. What do you think, Megumi?"
"I don't know..." There was this feeling he couldn't shake off. A feeling that he should be wary.

*        *        *

I hid and watched them from a nearby alley. I released a sigh as they walked away and slid my back down the side of the wall. "I've been having way too many close calls lately..." But I couldn't stop thinking about that boy.

I felt my face heat up and slapped my cheeks. "Stop it stop it stop it!" I groaned into my hands. "Psst...kid!" I heard someone say from deeper within the alley.

"Hello? Who's there?" I demanded.
A man came waddling out wearing a hood, similar to mine. He grinned and took it off, revealing his long, dark, messy hair. A long scar ran across his jawline and he had a well built stature. He definitely works out.

"Hey, looking to make money?" He asked but was clearly trying to make himself sound tougher, purposely making his voice deeper.

My ears perked up, "Money?" That was exactly what I needed at that moment.
"Yeah, I got a job for you if you want?"
He was clearly the sketchy type but I didn't have a choice at this point.
"...what kind of job?"

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