"Alright, everyone! We can take it easy now." Geto says.
It was finally eleven in the morning, meaning Amanai Riko's bounty was lifted, much to the students' relief. They could finally relax and take a breather, no enemies tailing behind their backs.
"No more! No more babysitting!" Gojo grumbled, his face dark as he deactivates his Infinity, shoulders slumping in exhaustion.
"Thank you for your hard work, Satoru." Geto smiles at his friend. He knew that the white-haired boy went extra lengths to keep the group safe. He stayed up countless of nights, not even a wink of sleep just so he could protect Riko in any case that someone tries to attack.
"You did well, senpai—" ___ walks up to him to give him a pat on the shoulder but before she can touch the fabric of his uniform, the tip of a blade suddenly appears in front of her nose, just barely grazing her skin. Gojo's blood splatters onto her cheek.
"Damn, I stepped in a lil' too early, huh? I was planning on stabbing the girl's head along with you."
Her eyes shifted towards the dark-haired man behind Gojo, then back to the blade pressed through his chest and ___ felt her blood run cold, gasping out Gojo's name.
Gojo pushes the man away with his cursed energy, causing ___ to snap out of her daze and step back, albeit with a little hesitance. This man was undeniably strong, and ___ knew that just from the way he held himself. He was able to stab Gojo in a blink of an eye - they didn't even sense him until the blade sunk through his chest.
Geto raises a hand up and summons a worm-like cursed spirit that consumed the man midair before he can land from Gojo's attack. ___ swipes her arm to create a web around the spirit to entrap the man further in case he was able to cut his way out.
Geto and ___ run towards Gojo in concern, only to be stopped with a wave of his hand, shooting them a casual grin.
"I'm fine. I reinforced my cursed energy so that the blade wouldn't cause further damage. He didn't hit any vital points." Gojo stands up without a single tremble in his movements, showing just how unaffected he was, but ___ knew better. "Now go, Riko is the main priority right now."
Gojo looks ___ in the eye, a serious expression on his face that ___ thought didn't suit him very much.
"Protect her."
___ nods her head stiffly, feeling Geto's hand grip hers tightly.
"You better come back to us alive!" ___ growls, turning her back.
"And you better not let your guard down!" Geto added, dragging ___ as they ran with Riko and Kuroi. Gojo huffed at his friends' words, slipping his sunglasses off.
"Who do you guys think you're talkin' to?"
___ flinched as she heard the sound of explosion and rumbling in the distance as they descended down the elevator. Gojo was okay, right? There's no way that he'll die.
Right?
The group stepped out of the elevator, the rusted doors creaking.
"Master Riko," Kuroi stopped in her tracks, bowing down to the young girl. "This is as far as I go."
Riko envelops Kuroi into her arms, both crying as they said their last goodbyes.
"I love you, Kuroi! Now and forever, I'll always love you!"
___ gulps, realizing just how dry her throat was. Despite looking away, the sound of their sobs tugged at her heartstrings. It wasn't easy to say goodbye to someone, especially when you don't know when you'll ever see them again.
Riko lets go of Kuroi, making her way towards the two high school students.
"This is it." Riko says, taking of hold of ___'s hand and the older girl returns the gesture, rubbing her thumb across her skin.
"Yeah," ___ replied, voice barely above a whisper. She didn't want her to go yet.
"This is where Master Tengen resides, the Main Hall of the Tombs of the Star." Geto ushers the girls further from the entrance. "Go down the stairs and through the gate. Past that is the base of the tree, protected by a barrier that only people who are invited may enter."
Riko squeezes ___'s hands.
"Then you'll be protected by Master Tengen until the merger." Geto pauses, eyes remaining on the base of the tree. "..Or you could turn back, and go home with Kuroi."
Riko's eyes widened as her head whips around to look at Geto. ___ stayed motionless, like she had expected Geto to say that from the beginning.
"When our teacher referred to the merger as an 'erasure,' he made it seem like it was something wrong." Geto explained, fiddling with the spare change from his pockets. He realized that he had never paid Gojo the remaining two hundred yen yet. "The three of us came to the conclusion that if you were ever to refuse the merger, then we'll call it off."
"No matter what you choose, we promise to protect your future." ___ looks down at the girl sweetly, her voice filled with nothing but kindness. "We're the strongest, after all."
Riko felt tears prickle the corner of her eyes. These three high school students were willing to risk their lives for someone they'd just met three days prior. She found herself thinking back to the moments she shared with them and realized that she had never laughed and enjoyed herself as much as she did during those three days.
"I was always told that I was special, that I was different.." Riko whispered. "That's why I always stayed in my comfort zone, that's the only reason why I'm still alive."
___ felt her senses tingle and grow sharp. She brushed it off. They were safe underground, she thought, and Gojo would be coming anytime soon.
"I'd lost my parents at a young age but I don't remember it. I wasn't sad, nor did I feel lonely, so I thought.." Riko hiccuped, tears streaming down her face. "That maybe the merger wouldn't be so bad.. No matter how painful it became, I believed that all this sadness and loneliness would disappear."
Riko brings ___'s hand to her chest, clutching it in her own trembling ones as the salty liquid touched her skin. ___ shudders at the feeling.
"But now that I'm here, I want to live! I want to go back home with Kuroi and spend more time with everyone! Go on adventures with onee-chan and you and Gojo.." Riko wailed and Geto lets out a bittersweet chuckle.
He holds his hand out for her to grab.
"Then let's go home, Riko."
Blood.
For the second time in a span of several long minutes, ___ felt blood splatter onto her paling cheek yet again.
And that was enough to flip the switch inside of her.
"Riko..?" a soft whimper escapes her lips, her eyes wide in shock. No, she wasn't dead. She can't be dead, no, she couldn't be.
___'s finger twitched as the voice of the man from earlier echoes throughout the area.
"Man, I have to say, that was a good show. Now it's time to wrap it up for the finale."
Geto's aura was dark, rage seeping through his skin that enveloped his tense body.
"How.. Why are you here?" Geto hissed, curling his fingers in anger. Geto only gives him a puzzled look, bringing the gun up for everyone to see.
"What do you mean why?" he questions. "I killed Gojo Satoru."
___ darts towards him at an alarming speed, her eyes filled with nothing but malice.
"You fucking bastard!" ___'s voice cracks.
The man swings his elbow up to strike ___'s chin, but the girl tilts her head to the side and dodges, twisting her body to land a kick on his stomach. He catches her ankle with ease before slamming her onto brick walls, hard enough to make her cough out blood as the walls cracked on impact.
"___!" Geto calls out, stretching his arms wide open before a dragon-like spirit emerges, wrapping its long body around Geto protectively. "I see how it is.. Now die!"
___'s ears rang painfully, the sound of crumbling debris and screeching of Geto's spirits being muffled into nothing but white noises. Her half-lidded eyes come across Riko's lifeless body, reaching her shaking hand out desperately to bring the girl into her arms.
It wasn't supposed to end this way..
___ mustered all her remaining strength and crawled miserably across the floor, wistful whimpers escaping her quivering lips. She felt a warm liquid drip down her face, blood or tears, maybe both? She didn't know and she didn't care.
We were supposed to protect her..
Cradling Riko into her arms, ___ brings her hand down gently to close Riko's dull eyes. It used to be so vibrant, sparkling with so much innocent life. The scene was all too familiar to her.
I failed again.. Yuna and Riko..
___ felt the knot in her chest slowly coming undone, each beat of her heart vibrating throughout her whole entire body. Her head felt hazy, every thought becoming distorted that morphed with another voice.
Kill him.
She lifted her head up to see Geto laying limp on the ground, his blood pooling around his body.
Kill him, ___.
The girl felt a chuckle reverberating through her chest before bursting out into psychotic laughter, bringing her hands up to tug at her bloodied hair and wiping her face, smearing the blood further onto her skin.
The knot was finally untangled.
"Hm? What's so funny over there?" the man asked, a confused expression plastered on his face. ___ only ignored him, she couldn't help but keep cackling.
"Yeah! You're right Yatsukahagi!" she exclaims, gazing up towards the endless ceiling. "I should kill him!"
The man scoffs, a smirk finding its way on his scarred lips. She was fucking insane, he thought. But then again, all shamans had to be a little crazy to survive in this world.
"Yatsukahagi? Don't tell me you're from the ___ clan!" he mused, swiping his sword to the side. "It's really true then, that you killed your whole family after incarnating a curse. Man, I'm in for an extra treat."
___ brings herself to stand on her feet, faintly swaying side to side from the amount of blood she was losing.
"Yeah, that's me, alright! ___ from the ___ clan! And inside me," ___ brings a finger to her temple, tapping it harshly against her skull. "Resides Yatsukahagi. And you know what we've decided?"
The man urges her to continue.
"What?"
___ giggles madly before her voice trails off, her head dipping low as if she fell asleep.
"My butterfly and I are going to kill you!"
The man was took by surprise at the sudden change of her voice, an octave lower than it once was. Not only that, but the moment she raised her head up, her (colour) eyes were now a deep shade of red. He would never admit it, but the man felt himself shudder at the terrifying bloodlust that engulfed their surroundings. It whispered in his ear, caressing his calloused skin that made him tense. With a smirk, he brings his blade up and gets into a stance.
"What an honour to meet the one and only, the immortal Yatsukahagi." he says, eyeing the girl's every twitch.
"Mm, you'll be fun to keep but sadly, I cannot do that." Yatsukahagi hums in disappointment, healing ___'s body in a matter of seconds. "You hurt my little butterfly and her friends."
"Why does that matter to a curse like you?"
"We made a contract." Yatsukahagi licked the blood dripping down her face, eyes clouding with lust. "Ah, I should stop talking to my meal before I go insane!"
Raising her outstretched fingers up, Yatsukahagi creates a spider web between her hands.
"After all, it's rude to play with my food.."