Archive of Our Own

ACT I: Born Under a Bad Sign

[Grand Prairie, Alberta]

God, this is stupid. So so stupid.

Beady eyes follow Yuuki as he crouches near the window.

The canary cocks its head in judgment as mute wings flap about a cage with no jingle. Satin white curtains drift without a breeze and everything’s just so…clean. A personal maid two times-a-week type of clean. In it, Yuuki feels like a stain, and if he gets caught, that won’t all be metaphorical.

“Eiko,” Yuuki whispers as the girl stalks across the living room with broad steps. Yuuki hunches forward. “Eiko!”

“What?” She snaps.

“Can you just,” he stutters, “slow down…” Her eyes narrow. “...Maybe?”

Eiko rolls her eyes. “Relax, will you? I told you no one’s coming.” She snatches a burgundy pillow from the gray couch and squishes it in her palms. “That asshole’s probably screwing his way through BC like he is every other weekend.” She tosses the pillow to the floor and turns on her heels.

“That doesn’t mean he lives alone!”

“Look, do you want the photos or not?” Yuuki’s answering silence receives a matte pink grin. “Good boy, now wait here, keep an eye out and I’ll go grab his shit. He never takes his laptop anywhere.”

“Have you done this before!?” His voice pitches up but Eiko’s up the stairs before he receives an answer.

The room is unsurprisingly bigger than what most uni kids could afford. Brand new textbooks with unbroken spines sit neatly within shelves, plastic plants tower every corner and there isn’t a single photo in the whole room.

Everything about it felt like a prop—proof that the charming Tsukasa was just about as real as his grades. Someone has to be taking care of the bird though, someone who could be home any minute.

The canary watches as his fingers curl around the banister. The wood groans beneath a hesitant first step. “Come on, Eiko! This isn’t funny!”

Yuuki gives one last twist to the door and hurries up the stairs. He doesn’t dare turn on the lights, not in case any neighbors or one of Tsukasa’s twenty girlfriends thinks he’s home. Yuuki doesn’t wanna deal with that any more than he would the cops. Eiko is a handful already.

Yuuki pauses as light spills from behind a closed door at the end of the hall. His breath fogs in the open air, and he vaguely wonders if there’s a draft somewhere. He reaches the door, and the knob is cold against his palm. He twists and begins to push it open.

Eiko's gaze jumps off the screen as she’s sprawled out on a king size bed. Under the laptop light, Yuuki watches glassy brown eyes squint to a glare. “What the hell!?” She hisses.

“What are you doing!?” He asks. “You were supposed to bring it downstairs!”

“And you’re supposed to be our look out!”

“I was calling you!”

“I was getting to that!” She fumbles, “It’s just,” she sniffles as her voice cracks. “On my birthday…”

“What?” She spins the laptop on the mattress and Yuuki sees a girl, well, he tries to see the girl. The whole picture is mostly her bust rather than her face. Yuuki’s cheeks feel hot as he tries really hard to come up with something intelligent to say.  “Uh, what.”

“He told me he was sick on my birthday…” Eiko says. “Didn’t know the flu had triple Ds.”

Yuuki pauses.  “Oh.”

“I’m so stupid,” she sniffles. “Fuck…”

“You’re not stupid…” Yuuki says. “Look, let’s just…” He tries. “Delete the stuff and then…maybe we can…uh.” She stares at him. “Key his car or…something?”

She snorts. “Right, you’d key his car?”

“I could totally key his car!” He defends, “came in here with you, didn’t I?”

“Like you could say no to me,” she retorts, he would be mad about how matter-of-fact she is about it if she wasn’t dead on. He could never say no to Eiko, even on the days where he definitely should. “Still, thanks…”

He smiles when she does.

He’s totally keying that car.

“Now turn around,” Eiko says. “I’m deleting mine first.” She points. “So, no peeking.”

Since he wants to leave alive, Yuuki covers his eyes on his turn for good measure and his hands are the only warm thing against his face. “At least close the window…it’s freezing in here…”

“It is closed,” Eiko says. “Heat must be busted or somethin’.”

“Right…” A thud sounds beneath the floorboards and Yuuki freezes.

“Shit,” Eiko whispers.

Yuuki moves his hands. “What was that!?”

“How am I supposed to know!?” She whispers back. “Go down and check!”

“Me!?”

“You wanna leave here without getting this done!?” Yuuki groans under his breath. “Just check and head back, if anything we'll leave through the window.”

“The window—? You’ve done this before haven’t you!?”

Eiko shoos him out the door. Yuuki closes it behind him with a quiet click as shadows lean against his vision. He goes down the narrow hall and crouches near the top step as a head of dark hair catches his sight.

His chest seizes as the woman looks right at him. A bob framing a still gaze behind thin frames. Yuuki struggles to breathe as she leaves his line of sight into the kitchen.

Shit shit shit!

Yuuki stumbles as he bolts to the bedroom. “Someone’s here!”

Eiko pales in the laptop’s light. “What!?”

“A lady’s downstairs and she saw me, we gotta go now!” Eiko closes the laptop and shoves it under her arm. “Are you?”

“I’m not leaving them on that asshole’s computer, we’re bringing it with us!”

Yuuki doesn’t argue, instead he sprints to the window. “Sure, whatever, let's just go!” His fingers catch on the edge and though his arms strain, the window groans, but nothing gives. “Shit! It’s not opening!”

“Let me see!” Eiko shoves the laptop into his arms and tries to pry open the window. “Shit,” she echoes.

“What do we do!?” He whispers back.

“Calm down!” She says. “There's a backdoor downstairs.”

“What!?” he says.

“This window is next to the tree! So, unless you want busted kneecaps AND prison!”

“Seriously Eiko!?”

She ignores him and heads out the room and Yuuki gives the window one last try before he follows her out. This time, he crouches behind her ponytail as they ease towards the stairs, his legs straining with each stiff step.

“Are you sure someone’s here?” She whispers back. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Maybe she ran? Oh god what if she ran—”

Eiko shushes him as nausea snakes through his system and each creaky step forces it further up his throat. He swallows down air once he’s off the last step but nothing moves as he peers at the shadows in the kitchen.

No one’s here.

Eiko straightens her back, and stalks across the living room then turns with a look. “I swear, I saw someone,” He defends, but he’s had enough. “We have the laptop, let's just go.”

“Fine,” Eiko says as she turns the corner to the kitchen. “But next time—”

Eiko freezes and a breath passes before the laptop hits the floor.

Yuuki jumps. Eiko’s posture stiffens under the stone archway as her fingers curl in the empty air. “Jesus Eiko—”

“Yuuki…” She whispers, her eyes on something out of sight.

Yuuki rounds the corner to her side and the man on the floor is there.

His eyes and jaw hanging open as his right hand locks around the neck of his tie. Old and balding, his skin gray. Blue butterflies flutter out of his gaping throat.

And Yuuki Mishima screams.

MEANWHILE…

*
One month later…

[ Canmore, Alberta]

“Let her go.”

Duplicate amber eyes narrow under the white light of the flashlight beneath his gun. Chihaya gawks from behind and breaks out in a run. “Hifumi!”

“Stay back,” Ren warns over his shoulder. Chihaya freezes.

“You might wanna listen to him,” goes the thing wearing Chihaya’s face. “Now, drop the gun before I do some redecorating with her spine.” Ren’s eyes narrow. “Unless you think you’re faster than me…” Her sickly-sweet smile droops as pink nails tighten over Hifumi’s throat. Sweat beads on Hifumi’s paling skin and every breath rides on a whimper.

Ren’s arm stiffens on his exhale as he puts the safety on and tosses the gun into the grass. “There,” Ren says. “Now let her go.”

Hifumi shivers within blood-stained arms. The shifter’s face clumps and an amber eye slinks to the floor leaving a gun-metal iris in its place. “Not so tough without your silver bullets huh, hunter? I think I make the rules here sweetheart.” Nails dig half-moons into Hifumi’s neck. “You shouldn’t have come alone.”

Hands above his head, Ren’s smile is all teeth.

“I didn’t.”

A black shape falls from above and lands on the shapeshifter’s head. It shrieks at the claws stabbing into its eyes long enough for Ren to run forward and pull Hifumi from its gasp. “GO!” He pushes Hifumi into Chihaya’s arms, and they bolt up the path.

Ren pulls the silver knife by the handle as the shapeshifter tosses Mona from its face. With a flick of his wrist, the silver spins free and sinks blade first into the shifter’s chest.

As flesh sizzles beneath black satin and denim. The shapeshifter looks at the hilt in disbelief then drops to the floor. Blonde hair fans free on dried leaves as unseeing mismatched eyes stare at the open canopy.

Turning at the sound of a groan, Ren hurries to Mona’s side.

“Ugh, seriously, what the heck!?” His feline companion groans as pinecones litter about his tail. “How many more times are you gonna pull that fake gun trick!?”

“Until it stops working,” he notes with a grin, “you good?”

“I’ll live…” Mona groans. “You could have taken care of that thing a while ago.” Mona rewards his smile with a paw to the face. “Would have saved us more time…”

“It’s not about the time,” Ren replies, his gaze drifting to the trail. The others should have made it out. “Still, who would have thought there’d be a shifter all the way out in Canmore, thought they only hung around Ontario.”

“Well, caves aren’t that different from underground sewers, cold, wet, dark. We’re just lucky this one was an idiot.”

Ren pets the top of Mona’s head as he grouses beneath his palm. “I’m just glad we got here in time to save them.”

“Speaking of time, we better head back before cops swarm the place,” Mona says as Ren fishes his airsoft gun from a pile of leaves. “And you still got your paper due tomorrow.”

Shit. Right.

Mona circles him as Ren strides toward the shapeshifter’s body and pulls his knife out of its chest. “We should probably dump this thing in the river before we go.” Then Mona adds, a little too happily. “I don’t have any hands, or you’d know that I’d help.”

Right…

*

Half gallon short on coffee for his two-fifty-kilometer drive. Ren parks his beaten-up car and drags his limbs across the lot. Mona shuffles in the bag seated on numb shoulders as Ren pulleys himself up the rusted railings of his educational prison. Muffled shouts and thuds greet him in all directions and life doesn’t wait even two steps from his door before his phone rings.

“Oh, good you’re alive,” Ohya says.

Ren fishes his keys from his pocket and holds his phone to his ear by the shoulder. “Hello to you too.”

“Don’t hello me, tell me you at least got the pics?”

“Nope,” Mona retorts from the bag, the snitch.

“Kid.”

Ren groans. “Can we go back to the part where you’re happy that I’m alive? Remember that feeling?”

“The photography club can’t run on feelings.”

“It can’t run on ghosts either,” he pauses. “Sorry, bad joke.” Ren closes the door behind him to an answering sigh.

“Look, if we’re gonna keep using the club as an excuse for all these outages of yours, you’re gonna need to give me something.” Probably not the best time to mention he lost the camera in a cave too. “You can only miss so many classes before it's both our necks on the line.”

“I know,” he says, his back to the door. “I’m sorry, I’ll get you something soon I promise.”

A glass chimes on the other end, “did you get ‘em at least?”

Ren recalls that two people are alive tonight that wouldn’t otherwise and relief ebbs at the numbness.

“Yea,” Ren says.

“What was it this time?”

“Shapeshifter.”

“Those are real too? Man…” Ohya says. Ren throws himself on the bed and Mona strides out of his bag and hops onto the mattress. “Look, you know I got your back…”

“But…?”

“But…” Ohya continued. “Are you sure…school’s even something you wanna do? Not that what you do pays the bills or anything…but…” she says. “If you don’t figure out something soon, there’s not gonna be much I can do…”

Ren stares at the ceiling fan as Mona sits in his rear vision. “Yes, I’m sure.” He has to be sure.

He doesn’t have a choice.

“I got the university paper deadline pushed for four weeks from now…” She says. “Just give me something to show and I’ll take it from there. I’ll owe Kawakami and Ushimaru drinks, but they’ll fold.”

“Thanks, Ohya.”

“Just whatever you do, come home, okay? I’d rather have you flunk out than end up dead in a ditch somewhere.”

Once the call drops, Ren’s arm falls limp on the mattress as blue eyes peer down at him.

“You’re lucky you got Ohya as an advisor, if it was Ushimaru you’d be expelled by now even if you did save him from a ghost.” Ren can’t argue facts. “But Ohya has a point.”

“You think she always has a point,” Ren pouts, teasing. Harmless.  “Traitor.”

“If I was really a traitor, I would have gone with Ann instead of you.”  Ren wants to make a joke, wants to probe and go ‘well why didn’t you?’ but he doesn’t. Not when three years of missing his friends feel like thirty. “You’re gonna get yourself killed out there alone.”

Mona pauses as Ren’s hand lands atop his ears. “The others wanted something outside of this life…if I go back now and they hear about it…they’ll want to go back too…” He pauses. “They’re safer wherever they are now. It’s better this way.”

“Ren…”

He didn’t work all those years or form all those connections just for everyone to give up their lives now. Apart from each other, apart from him. His friends can live a life that didn’t end at the tip of  a bloody claw.

After all these years, they were finally free. He wasn’t going to ruin it for them. Wasn’t going to drag them back because he couldn’t stay away.

They’ll meet again. One day.

All of them.

He’s sure of it.

Ren shoots another smile at the ball of soft fur beneath his palm. “Besides, I have you, don’t I?”

Mona stares and a warm cushiony paw lowers onto Ren’s forehead. “Yea…” Mona goes. “You do…” Claws prick at his skin. “Go on and nap, I’ll wake you up so you can work on your paper.”

“Thanks…” Ren murmurs before he rolls over in his outside clothes and falls asleep.

Mona’s whiskers tickle his cheek.

Ren’s eyes fly open in the dark and peers through the open door into the small living room. Mona walks off his chest as instincts take over in an instant. Ren peels off his sheets and crouches near the walls as weak wood creases an earshot away.

Ren’s head nods right as Mona goes left.  A peek past the wall shows nothing. An empty couch, bare walls surrounding a worn coffee table. Ren’s eyes struggle in the low light, but not enough to miss the fist coming toward his face.

Ren ducks and the hand slams into the wall. The stranger doesn’t slow down as an elbow connects with Ren’s chin. Sharp pain splinters his jaw as iron lathers his tongue. Ren stumbles to the bedroom floor then flips upright in time to block the leg aimed at his face.

Between heartbeats, Ren panics. This wasn’t some prank or hazing gone wrong. Not many people let alone around campus could dodge his punches and even fewer can manage to land that many in a row. With the walls so close, there’s little room to move but Ren doesn’t yield. His muscles straining, Ren twists and spins the assailant’s arm then lands a kick in the small of his back.

The coffee table breaks under the stranger’s weight. Ren wipes the blood from his mouth as the attacker rises from broken wood. “Had enough?”

A silver knife flicks free from a gloved hand.

Guess not.

The knife swings in long arches and Ren has nowhere to go.

Stinging pain shoots up his forearm as the tip of the blade skates over exposed skin. Ren dances left then ducks right as something feels off.

The force behind his blows, the wild animalistic manner in which the attacker fights. With the knife acting as an extended claw, Ren feels like going toe to toe with a werewolf though the silver says otherwise.

The silver is the clue.

The attacker fights like he knows him, like he is him and the excitement, fear, and rage condense into familiarity as Ren gets flipped onto broken wood as a knife sits on his jugular.  The sharp tip pricks his skin and through the pain, Ren shoots a look up at the mask peering down at him as equal parts hope and hate bubble to the surface.

“Goro?”

Behind the ski mask, the assailant tilts his head. “Amamiya.” Comes the honeyed tone. “Or is it Ashida now?”

A tidal wave of emotions crashes into Ren. Anger, annoyance, fear, joy, but none of it separates long enough for him to feel any of it. The knife doesn’t move, and neither do they. Ren doesn’t know if he wants to hug him or throw another punch.

“Akechi!?” Mona gawks behind him.

“Three years, and this is what you’ve become?” Goro goes, pressing the knife for emphasis. “Pathetic.”

A punch it is.

“The hell’s wrong with you?” Mona goes. Goro moves the knife and takes a step back after removing his mask. Straw colored hair and wine eyes stand out in the dark and Ren’s limbs scream as he shuffles over jagged wood.

“Hello cat,” Goro goes. “Still alive I see.”

Mona’s eyes narrow as Ren sits up. “I could say the same about you.”

“As if I’d give you the satisfaction.”

Ren stares and for once is lost for words. Goro is here, he’s here. It’s everything he’s ever wanted and the subject of all his nightmares.

Because if Goro is here then that means…

“Did he send you?” Ren starts.

“What do you think?”

Ren glares. “I’m not going back, Goro and I’m not going to let you take the others back either.”

Goro stares. “And if I do? What would you do about it? Kill me?”

The fire within Ren all but deflates.

“You know I won’t,” Ren whispers.

And he knows that too. That’s why he sent you, that’s why it has to be you.

It falls quiet before Goro adds. “You also promised you wouldn’t leave.” Ren stares. “As far as I’m concerned your word means nothing to me.”

Somehow, that stings more than the knife ever could.

I wanted you to come.

I begged you to come.

But you chose him…

And I didn’t.

Goro’s gaze was steel. “You can stow the faux sentimentality; we have other matters to discuss.”

Ren rubs the soreness out of his neck as Mona steps in front of him. “If you're not here to drag us back then why are you here Akechi?”

Garnet eyes study Ren as he hoists himself onto unsteady legs but the ground shifts beneath him anyway.

“Sakura has gone missing.”

Ren’s heart stops.

“What?” Mona echos.

“You heard me.”

“Boss is missing?” Mona says. “Was he working a case?”

Files drop at his feet and Ren scoops them up without a second thought. “Police commissioner in Grand Prairie.” Goro continues. “Found in his grandson’s home a month ago with a chest cavity full of butterflies. Fifth body in four months.”

“Sounds like a witch had an ax to grind,” Mona says as Ren stoops so Mona could see the photos.

“Witches don’t usually cross provincial lines though and two of these cases are in Nova Scotia,” Ren murmurs.

“Long way to go plant a hex,” Mona mutters.

“If someone was driving all over the country on a killing spree, that should be easy to track.” Ren bites his lip. “But if you’re here then…”

“I’ve spent a week on this case and so far, I haven’t found a shred of information on where Sakura might be or if…”

There’s anything to find.

Ren curls his fists as Mona sighs. “It’s not like you to come for help with something like this…” His gaze narrows. “What’s your angle?”

If Goro’s offended, he does a good job at hiding it. Instead, he pulls at his glove sleeves and huffs. “If I had to explain myself, it’s simply a matter of personal principle.”

Mona rolls his eyes in Ren’s place. “You can just say you’re worried.”

“Do you agree to cooperate or not?” Goro asks. “You are the one who knows Sakura best. If anyone can pick up on the breadcrumbs he’s left behind then it’s you.”

“I don’t like this…” Mona says and Ren stares at the crime scene photos long enough to see Sojiro’s dead face staring back at him. “But if Boss is in trouble, then I guess there’s nothing to think about.”

There isn’t.

“And Shido?” Ren asks.

“A non-factor, he just wants the case closed. He doesn’t care how it’s done.”

“So, he doesn’t know you’re here?” Ren asks.

“No.”

“And why don’t I believe that?”

Goro’s gaze narrows. “…You’re breathing, aren’t you?”

The nick on Ren’s neck stings less than his pride. He knows he’s rusty, knows that smaller cases he’s been picking up here and there are cakewalks compared to the ones he’s handled in the past. Against more seasoned hunters, against hunters like Goro. Ren can’t keep up, not anymore.

But Ren’s head still tilts as he leans. “So are you.”

Hatred sparks at the back of Goro’s gaze and even further back—approval.

“I was wondering where you went, Joker.” The name is a backhand across Ren’s cheek. An insult, a memory. Something in him twists as it leaves Goro’s lips.

Healed wounds squirm and old instincts scratch at his skull as Goro’s smile widens, if only because he knows even after all these years, how best to get under Ren’s skin.

A game meant for two.

“Oh, my dear Crow.” Goro’s smile fades. "I haven’t gone anywhere.”

The hand over Goro’s knife twitches at his side.

Ren wants him to.

No one says anything as they get into Goro’s stolen jeep and drive.

*
ACT II:
Jus in Bello

Red Deer isn’t a small city but the roads this far out of town are empty and the dirt lot Goro drives through is no exception.

Straw trees line unpaved roads and there’s nothing but brown in either direction save for the black impala parked near a dilapidated shack. White stripes along its side and shining silver rims. Loki looks just as magnificent as the day Goro finished fixing him from scratch. Ren remembers sleeping on worn leather to the rattles of a broken heater in a cramped car of laughter and poorly gauzed wounds.

Even when empty.

It’s home.

Ren’s hand is still on the bumper when Goro returns from ditching the jeep somewhere up the road. With Mona asleep and Goro suddenly allergic to small talk, the drive to Grand Prairie is mostly quiet. When they pull up to the crime scene, Ren notices Goro already has a key.

“What’s your angle?” Ren says.

Goro buries both hands in the pockets of his brown coat. “Without an official cause of death, insurance payouts have stalled, so they hired a private detective to have the matter resolved. A contract that quickly ended the moment I introduced my services to the matriarch of the family.”

GILF magnet. “It’s the sweater vest, isn’t it?” Ren won’t get anywhere with his red flannel he fears.

Mona’s pink nose wrinkles. “Oh yea, it definitely reeks of magic in here,” Mona says, ignoring him. “What do the local suits have to say about the corpse?”

“Considering the chest cavity was filled with pupa, not much,” Goro says, putting on his leather gloves. “They’ve inclined to keep it that way.”

Ren combs over the files again and lifts a page. “Body was found by the grandson’s girlfriend?”

“Says she found him in the kitchen alone but didn’t see or hear anything strange,” Goro says.  “Said she gave the same story to an older reporter by the name of Maurice that in her words, stunk of cheap liquor and coffee.”

That manages to bring a smile to Ren’s face as he shakes his head. “You buy it?”

“Of course not,” Goro says. “Neighbors said they heard a male voice scream the night the body was found but time of death meant it couldn’t be the victim. Gullet full of butterflies and all.”

Another guy in her boyfriend’s house huh? Yea, Ren would lie too if he were her.

“On it.”

“Good,” Goro says, “Morgana, stay here and see if you can find anything that I might have missed.”

Mona’s tail sways, as he snickers. “I won’t be missing anything with this nose of mine.”

“I am going to the police station to examine the victim’s personal effects again and see if there were reports of anything being stolen from their evidence locker in the last month.” Goro tosses the keys and Ren swipes it from midair. “Meet back here when you’re done and for the love of god don’t do anything stupid.”

Ren’s busted out of juvie six times but somehow searching someone’s private twitter after breaking into their bedroom feels a step above that. Saving lives didn’t always indicate a moral high ground, because in the depths of Eiko’s twitter Ren searches for the single most important ingredient to any good conversation—blackmail.

Though Eiko seems smart enough not to publicly admit to obstruction, there’s still crumbs to work with. Tales of cheating boyfriends, backstabbing friends and Eiko’s lonely but supportive best friend that had puppy love written all over it.

Feeling confidant, Ren turns off the desktop, and begins the hunt for one love-struck puppy.

*

Yuuki Mishima hobbles when he walks.

With drooping shoulders, Mishima rounds the corner of the building and squeaks to an abrupt stop. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t see you there—"

“No, no, it’s my fault,” Ren rubs the back of his head. “To be honest, I don’t know where the hell I’m going.”

Mishima cocks a brow. “Oh, are you new here?”

“Yea, my dad and I just moved into town so I’m hoping to transfer mid-semester.” Ren extends his hand. “Mao.”

“Yuuki.” Mishima takes it. “Oh, that’s cool. What major?”

“Programming.”

He brightens up. “Yea, same! That and a minor in digital marketing!”

Ren angles a thumb to himself. “Photography.”

“Awesome! Maybe we’ll see each other around,” Mishima goes.

“Yea, if my dad takes the case then I’ll be here till the end of the year so maybe we can hang out sometime.”

The bait snags. “Case?” Mishima asks. “Is your dad a lawyer or something?”

“Nah, PI,” Ren goes. “Some family hired him to solve some unsolved case or something.”

“…Unsolved case?”

“Yea, some police commissioner?”

Sweat pools at Mishima’s brow as he fiddles with his bag strap. “I thought the cops were done with that one…?”

“They are, family’s not though, some insurance hold up that kind of thing.” Ren eases in. “And between you and me, the wife’s a little obsessed, they think someone else was there that night, cops don’t care so my dad gets a paycheck and I have to move.” Ren’s phone buzzes in his pocket and his next sigh is real. “Speaking of one sec.” Ren smiles. “Hey dad.”

Goro’s eye roll is audible. “What brain dead plot have you wandered into now?”

“Yea, I’m at the university already, gonna head to the admin building soon.” Ren eyes Mishima. “Just looking for directions.”

“University? I take it you’ve found our mystery guest?”

“Yup,” Ren says. “I’ll probably have to swing by later too just to scope the place out a bit.”

“Then I won’t keep you, I just thought I’d share my findings with you in case it assists you with your duties. None of the victim’s personal effects seem to be missing nor has the department reported any break-ins to their evidence locker as of late, there was however, a break in at the victim’s place of employment about six weeks before his death, and another two weeks after he died.”

Sojiro.

“Did Mom need something?”

“Hard to tell,” Goro goes without missing a beat. “If the culprit planted a hex or a cursed object of sorts then it should have been on his person when he died but seeing as nothing was lifted from evidence by Sakura, reality contradicts that theory. It’s possible the object might not have been picked up by the police.”

So back to square one on method.

“After I wrap up here, I can swing by the supermarket later if you want.” Breaking in afterhours was no issue and if Sojiro left something behind, Ren will find it.

“No need, I’ll take care of matters here, you focus on our wayward witness.”

“Got it, talk later, love you~”

“The fuck—"

The call ends with a beep and Ren buries a snicker along with his phone. “Oh…sorry, for going on like that.”

“Uh, yea don’t worry about it but um…” Mishima shuffles then quickly walks past. “I forgot I had this thing so I gotta go but I hope to see you around!”

“Oh okay, yea, see you around!”

Mishima sports a hesitant wave and Ren waits a few minutes before he trails behind out of sight.

*

Tailing a frazzled mark for info is so easy when he beelines right to the source. It takes hours, but Mishima and Ren finally find what they are looking for. Eyes glued to her phone, Mishima hunches beside Eiko as they walk from the performance art building towards a bright yellow civic.

“How am I supposed to calm down!” Mishima whispers. “Do you have any idea what they’re gonna do to us when they find out!?”

“There’s nothing to find,” Eiko insists. “Now shut up about it already.” Ren leans against the black truck. “Look, I’ll just tell this new cop or whatever, the same thing as everyone else, if they had anything they would have said so by now.”

“Well, can’t beat that logic.”

Eiko and Mishima jump as Ren smiles with his phone in the air.

“Mao?” Mishima chirps.

With a tap of Ren’s thumb, the audio plays.

“What the hell?” Eiko gapes.

“Oh god, you’re the PI!?” Mishima blurts as he looks seconds away from having a stroke.

Ren’s face scrunches. “No, but the guy who's on the receiving end of this voice note is. I’ll be happy to get out of your hair, I just have some questions.”

“Questions about the body?” Mishima asks.

“And about Maurice.”

“Who!?” Eiko asks.

“The reporter you spoke to. Old, long beard, balding, reeks of cheap liquor and coffee beans?”

“That guy? What the hell for?” Eiko says. “Why should I tell you anything when you could just run to the cops anyway?”

“Eiko…” Mishima says.

“Look, I’m not here to get you guys in trouble, I’m really not,” Ren goes. “But my friend and I are in town because Maurice is missing, and by all accounts you were the last person to see him alive.” Eiko and Mishima’s faces fall in unison. “Sorry, I had to do this but if he’s in trouble then I couldn’t have you both lie to me. Now, I’ll delete this, and my friend and I’ll leave town after we hear what you have to say, but I need you both to talk to me.” Mishima and Eiko exchange looks as the tension bleeds into the air. “Please.”

Eiko adjusts her bright yellow handbag as she sighs. “Look, I don’t know anything. We barely spoke, he just asked me all the same questions as the cops. I found the body in the kitchen like…that…called the cops and Yuuki got out of there before they arrived.” Ren raises a brow and Eiko frowns. “Listen, smart ass. Yuuki and I were there because Tsukasa had some things of ours and we wanted them back before I broke up with him. We thought someone came home so we tried to make a break for it when we found the body.”

“Was someone home?”

“No,” Mishima goes then sighs. “…Maybe…”

“Maybe?”

“I thought I saw a lady downstairs but when we went to check no one was there,” Mishima goes.

“And you never told the cops?”

“No?” Eiko goes. “No one was there but us. Yuuki was just paranoid and seeing shit.”

“What about Maurice? How’d you meet him?”

Eiko rubbed her arm from an incoming draft. “I work at a café after school, and he came by and said he needed to interview me for his paper. We talked, he ordered a cup of black coffee, drank half of it then wrote something down in a journal and left.”

Ren put a hand under his chin. Goro would have gotten a hold of the café feed if there was one. “When he drove off, did you happen to see where?”

“No?” Eiko goes. “Look, this was like two weeks ago, okay? The only reason I remembered that guy was because he gave me a huge tip.” Ren reaches into his pocket and scrolls through his phone and holds up a picture of Sojiro.

“And this is the guy you met?”

“Yea, that’s him,” Eiko goes. “Minus the cheap suit.”

“Wait a minute,” Mishima gawks. “That’s professor Nakata!”

“Who?” Eiko goes.

“A grad school professor I met about two weeks ago!” Mishima says.

Hope sparks like firecrackers inside Ren’s chest.

“What did he want?” Ren asks.

“He just needed some help picking a computer for his daughter and we chatted a bit.”

Daughter?

“Was he with someone?”

“No, but he bought a pretty expensive model. He didn’t ask about the body or anything…we just talked a bit about the town.”

“What did he want to know?”

“Just where certain buildings used to be 19 years ago…he said he was studying the history of Alberta and needed a gift for his daughter when he went to visit her.” Mishima says. “I don’t know what’s going on, or what’s up with either of you but…I don’t want anyone to get hurt so…I hope you find him.”

“Yea,” Ren says as he deletes the audio in front of them. “Me too.”

Goro eases the lock pick into their slots and invisible cogs slide into place. Ren inclines his neck over his shoulder down the bare hallway reeking of vomit and stale piss. A hunter’s paradise. Mona hasn’t sounded the alarm, but the busted cameras still leave Ren on edge. “You sure you got the right one?” Goro shoots him a look then rolls his eyes when Ren sticks out his tongue.

“Once I acquired Sakura’s current alias, finding the residence of one Jōji Nakata became mere child’s play. This motel room was bought out in cash for a month and is situated close to one of the roads out of town.”

Hunter protocol.

The door creaks as notes of cigarette smoke and whiskey graze Ren’s nostrils. Goro pockets his tools as Ren lets out a low whistle that springs Mona from the shadows. The room is as clean as motels go. Smooth white sheets, cream walls and a used ashtray on the dresser. Ren closes the door the moment Mona slips in.

Goro gets to his knees and his glove hovers above the tile as Ren stoops to give Mona a pat. “Anything?”

“Yea…but it’s faint,” Mona goes. “Probably a week or two old but magic was definitely used here.”

“So…definitely a witch then?” Ren goes.

“Doesn’t explain the disappearing woman that guy said he saw,” Mona goes.

“Might have seen,” Goro says.

“Yea, cause everyone’s definitely always sure they’ve seen a ghost,” Mona deadpans.

“He did say the house was freezing,” Ren adds.

“In Alberta, in the fall, I wonder why that might be?” Goro straightens his back. “Considering your description of our key witness, he might have mistaken his own chattering teeth for paranormal activity. Besides, even if there were a ghost present there were power lines near the home.”

“So, EMF detector is useless then,” Mona goes. “No way to prove there was a ghost.”

Ren wanders over to the closet. “Thought that was our job?” He doesn’t miss Goro’s scoff as he opens the doors to dress shirts ranging from olive to salmon to navy blue, all about Sojiro’s size. A red string peeks between the seams and pinned to the back of the closet are maps, coffee-stained notes, and news articles. All jumbled with stray letters, code and other things that made no sense together and even less sense apart. Still, Ren’s heart squeezes at their first big lead.

“Yup, that looks like Boss’s handwriting,” Mona says.

Goro reaches for the first pinned obituary. “Kunikazu Okumura.”

“First victim to drop.” Ren watches as a red string connects all five pictures. “Sojiro wouldn’t have left this behind.”

“There’s no sign of forced entry or a struggle,” Goro goes as Mona swings open the mini fridge and sours the air with weeks-old curry. Goro scrunches his nose at the stench. “The last known location of Sakura’s cell puts him a few kilometers out of town a week and a half ago. He seems to have left in a hurry and considering there hasn’t been a new body since the commissioner, I suspect somewhere among this trail hides the key toward the killer’s next victim.”

“Okay, then let’s get to reading.” Mona’s tail swings. “If we’re gonna find Boss we’re going to have to decipher all of this, so pick a lane and stick with it.”

Sojiro’s notes might as well be hieroglyphs. Letters with scratched out names and addresses, receipts, photos, obits and research papers. Ren’s eyes are swimming the longer he stares at the pile in front of him. Goro takes a picture of the complete set to keep track of what Sojiro connected where, but even with two computers and a magical not-cat. In eighteen hours, nothing connects them all other than a single name.

Emma.

“Mishima did say Boss was shopping for his daughter,” Ren says. “Maybe this Emma person is the next target…?” Goro doesn’t look up from the piles of papers in front of him. “Great talk.”

“These letters aren’t even the original ones, they’re photocopies dated nineteen years ago or older,” Mona goes. “Address and everything are scratched out but not perfectly. If I’m seeing this right, I think the last name of the writer is ‘Isshiki’?” Mona looks up with a single paw on the page. “Sound familiar?”

“Nope,” Ren says. “Goro?”

“I’m afraid not.” Goro stares. “However, given the articles in my possession, it seems that all five victims do indeed have something in common. They were all a part of an investment project that took place twenty-five years ago.”

“What kind of project?” Mona asks.

“From what I can tell, new technological advancements in AI for security purposes. However, given that I hardly see what a school principal would have to gain from such a matter, it may simply be a front. A few facilities were used to run this project, about twelve locations in total.” Goro leans on the chair back. “Most have been rundown, demolished or otherwise shut down.”

Mona hums. “Any of those spots connected to our stiffs?”

“Four out of five of them in total. It seems our second victim, Principal Kobawayaka moved to St John’s in the last three years, but his last known address was in the same town as the one of these centers, Halifax.”

“Explains why Sojiro might have been asking where some old buildings were,” Mona goes. “Maybe he was looking at the old sites for something?”

“Okay.” Ren stretches his back. “So, there’s a chance Sojiro is at one of the remaining eight locations.”

Goro nods. “The only bit of information that remains completely indecipherable seems to be these numbers.” Goro holds up a ten-digit number on a piece of stained paper and Ren stares at the combination. “They seem to be a system entirely unique to Sakura.”

On cue, Mona groans. “How are we supposed to know what Boss’s made-up numbers mean?”

“Precisely my issue,” Goro goes.

“Easy,” Ren grins. “Because Sojiro told us what they meant.” Goro raises a brow as Ren’s grin goes bolder as he holds up the picture. “Remember what Eiko said? How Sojiro ordered a cup, wrote something down in his journal then left?”

“Uh, yea?” Mona says.

“It’s his coffee ranking system,” Ren says. “Sojiro’s a huge coffee snob, so whenever he has a cup at a new place, he grades it and sorts by location. He told us all about it on that Rougarou hunt and taught us the system in case we needed to pass off directions to one another without anyone noticing.” Ren shifts through the map on his laptop. “The first digit stands for the province, the next two digits are the letters of the city, and the rest are the coffee scores to throw people off so…six…would be BC, and fourteen then one would be NA.”

Mona looks down at the list of locations. “And there was a facility in Nanaimo!” Mona goes.

Goro smile is saccharine and tight along the edges. “As expected of Sakura’s favorite.”

Ren frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean? Sojiro taught all of us that trick, I’m surprised you forgot about it.”

“It seems it isn’t my memory that should be under question.”

“Huh?”

Mona looks up at Ren, ears flat on his head as he sighs “…Akechi and I weren’t on the Rougarou hunt.”

“What?” Ren goes. “I could have sworn…”

“We were rerouted to the kitsune in Okinawa, remember? Shido thought Akechi didn’t need backup and you sent me with him anyway?”

Oh.

“Well,” Goro goes, smile still tight. “Now that we’ve further established the different realities we live in, I suggest we get going.”

“Wait,” Ren steps forward and hangs onto Goro’s sleeve. “I’m sorry, I really thought you were on that hunt, I’m sure Sojiro would have taught you if you were there.”

“Clearly, despite our history, helping me is the last thing Sakura seems to be interested in.”

Ren’s chest clenches along with his grip on the fabric. “…Do you need his help? Is that why you’re looking for Sojiro? Are you in some sort of trouble?”

Goro yanks his arm away. “My life is none of your business.”

“The hell it isn’t!” Ren closes the gap and Goro doesn’t even blink. “We looked for you, begged you to come! So quit acting like I wanted to leave you behind!”

Goro barks a laugh. “Ah yes and what an offer it was! Betray everything I’ve known, all that I am, my mission, my purpose and run away for a life where we’re all practically strangers in order to maintain some mundane existence everyone pretends that they want. Well with an offer like that I must have been a fool.”

Ren sees red.

“Shido was fucking using us, using you, as his little child soldier! Our “purpose” was lining his goddamn pockets with each monster we killed. He didn’t give a shit who we were saving or if any one of us died to do it! Werewolf teeth, amulets, vampire blood—dollar signs. That’s all you are to him! Or did you forget he gave you the nickname Crow!?”

Goro’s nostrils flare. “Don’t pretend that’s what this is about, Joker,” Goro growled. “You were just upset that you had to answer to someone other than your own inflated ego. Without your little army of sycophants wrapped around your finger—”

“Sycophants? You mean our fucking friends.”

“Ha! And what an exemplary friendship they’ve given me! Leaving me to rot for three years. Not knowing if I lived or died after I had to answer to Shido as to why his group of six miraculously became one.”

“I begged you to leave.”

“Yes, you did, then proceeded to beat me unconscious once I said no.”

“Guys…” Mona goes.

“You boast about free will and choices, but that night I realized the truth. The only choices in my life that matter to you are the ones that you agree with. In that regard, you’re no different from Shido.”

A fist connects with Goro’s jaw.

Goro doesn’t stumble far, in fact, his bloody grin is ecstatic. Pain splits Ren’s vision as Goro slams into his temple headfirst. Spots dance and Ren does stumble but not for long.

“Guys! Knock it off!” Mona whines.

Goro’s punch nearly chips a tooth. Ren misses this, the way their blows burn, and chip away at the broken, screaming shells masquerading as something normal. Here, they are the most honest they’ll ever be. Shido’s little monsters, Joker and Crow.

When Goro’s kick hits a rib, Ren yanks Goro by the tie and returns the favor with a knee to the chin. By the end, they're both bleeding on grimy tiles near Ren’s broken glasses. Their eyes blazing, neither dares to move lest the other one pounces first.

“Seven,” Ren spits.

Goro smears his bloody lip with his fist. “What?”

“There used to be seven of us.”

Goro stays quiet and Ren doesn’t meet his eyes when he says. “You want to hate me, hate me but you could never hate me more than I hate myself for leaving you there...” Ren pauses. “But I couldn’t let you take us back and I couldn’t let anyone else die, Goro. Not even for you.”

It falls quietly in the room as the rift tears even further.

“That’s the difference between us you see, I’d rather die than live some meaningless life alone.” Ren stares. “I might have been the one in charge, but you were their leader...not me. You can waste your breath all you want Joker, but the truth is—the others would have never left you behind. Not for anything.”

Ren can’t find the words when Mona walks between them, ears flat on his head. “Alright, that’s enough you two…” When no one moves, Mona sighs. “We have work to do, remember?”

“…Yea,” Ren goes, barely a whisper.

In more ways than one.

*
ACT III:
Malleus Maleficarum

For the next fourteen hours, Ren rides with a pit in his stomach. As much as he wants to tell Goro that he’s wrong. Ren knows he isn’t. Knows that the group would have never left them both behind. It’s why Ren didn’t stay when Goro said no, why it took everything in him to leave Goro bloody on the side of the road.

As cold and detached as Goro acted, Ren knew Goro’s masks as intimately as the ones secured on his own face. They knew he cared, knew he was loyal…knew that Goro would be there for them no matter what came out of his mouth.

For years, Goro has been this…security. He’s always been stronger, faster, smarter than everyone else and Ren had to spend years playing catch up.

In Ren’s mind, Goro was the only one that didn’t need anyone else. The only one that was never weaker apart. His antithesis.

At the sight of the truth, Ren’s heart deflates.

Goro’s right.

I sound just like him.

Despite being his friend, they never really saw Goro as human.

Never really thought he could die.

Frail shrubs transition to tall conifers and sprint past their windows. Loki smells like coffee and grease and a half-eaten salad sits on Ren’s dashboard. To the tune of soothing jazz music, Ren can feel Mona watching from the back seat, worrying, waiting, hoping one of them would crack first.

So, Ren does.

“I shouldn’t have brought Shiho up,” Ren whispers mid-drive.

Goro doesn’t look at him. “Someone had to.”

Ren’s eyes widen in surprise as Goro’s words sink like a stone.

Most days Ren thinks they all died with her that day. Exited that night as hollow projections of the people they used to be. That’s what vengeful spirits are after all. Beings forced to stay angry at a world that had forgotten their pain. Burning and salting the body might keep spirits from lingering after death, but it did nothing for the living ghosts the dead left behind.

Besides, Ren could never forget Shiho.

After all, she died in his arms.

Armed with the bitter memories of Ann’s scream, both boys finish the ride in silence.

*

Goro being a real PI has some advantages.

Most of his paperwork and permissions are real for the most part and faking that kind of stuff is impossible alone. If Ren had to list a single positive about working with Shido, that would be it—the connections. Dirty cops, the mob and every sleazy CEO in a hundred-kilometer-wide radius was snuggly fitted in Shido’s pocket.

So, at the coroner’s office, Goro flashes his award-winning smile as the coroner watches on in amusement. She spins the pen in her fingers and her long brown hair sways as a blue crystal necklace sits around her neck.

“My, my, how intriguing, you’ve come a long way for this visit then investigator.”

“I go where my duty takes me,” Goro says. “Now, about my question?”

The coroner sighs, “no such luck I’m afraid. There haven’t been any unusual deaths around here. Only heart attacks and ulcers. It’s been awfully boring.” Ren raises a brow. “Oops, sorry.” She waves her hand. “I have a habit of forgetting to leave the coroner humor with my colleagues. To answer your question in a more professional manner, we haven’t had any undetermined deaths in the last four months.”

“What about homicide victims? Are there any unsolved cases?” Goro goes.

“No more than usual, and certainly not recently. Homicide cases tend to be resolved quickly due to it being a smaller city.”

“I see, if you don’t mind. I have one last question before I go,” Goro rests an article on her desk and Ren watches her olive gaze go wide. “Do you happen to know where I might find information about this research center? My findings indicated that it was repurposed as this morgue a little over ten years ago.”

“Well, only part of it.”

“Come again?”

“The research center had two departments, this building and the one just a little outside of town by Piper’s lagoon.”

“So, you’re familiar with it?” Ren asks.

“But of course, it was famous for its high-earning internships back in the day,” she goes. “Not to show my age but I tried to do my grad school practicum with them fifteen years ago. It’s ancient history now of course, my friends and I applied before I switched to medical school. It’s my understanding that the facility went on to achieve some awards before it lost its funding.”

“Do you don’t regret it then?” Ren can’t help but ask. “Making the switch?”

She hums.

“Well, I suppose I can’t miss what I don’t know!”

Well, that’s one answer.

Goro bows, “I think we’ve gathered everything we need, thank you for your assistance, Ichinose-san.”

“Please, call me Kuon,” she says, unable to drop her smile. She slides a card forward as Goro raises a brow. “And if you need a second opinion on those corpses, I would be happy to tinker with them…I also do freelance!”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Goro says as he pockets the card. “Have a good evening.”

“Take care investigators!”

Ren trails behind Goro as the door to the coroner office jingles to a close.

Rocky shores bank a dark sea as stones crack beneath Ren’s shoe. The flashlights barely illuminate the steps in front of them as they part through tall grass toward the facility. Moss-eaten walls and vines cage metal doors aged by rust. Goro pries the doors open with the bar and the metal groans and screeches as it parts. Dust clogs the air as the flashlight slices through the shadows.

“If the door’s like that, does that mean Sojiro hasn’t been here?” Ren asks as Goro steps ahead. Mona jumps out of Ren’s bag and stands in the circular light.

“He might have found another way in, this place is huge,” Mona goes.

“Do you sense anything?”

“Faint, but yea, definitely magic was used here.”

“And the coroner’s office?” Goro asks.

“I couldn’t get a good whiff from inside the bag, but nothing stood out no.” Mona lowers his nose to the floor. “…Something’s off though…”

Goro stops. “Off how?”

“I’m smelling something…weird…”

“In here?” Ren asks.

“Yea, just…” Mona pauses. “Hold on, follow me…I’m not sure what it is but…it’s faint too…and up ahead!”

“Lead the way.” Goro goes as Mona runs ahead.

Following Mona through the winding halls into a large room with aged desks and furniture. Ren’s eyes drift from the bare walls to the broad shoulders ahead of him. From behind, it’s hard to see what Goro’s looking at, let alone what he’s thinking, and Ren’s tongue feels sluggish in his mouth.

With a sigh, Ren plays with his fringe. “Goro…”

Goro doesn’t stop. “What is it?”

“Listen—” Metal shines in the mirror ahead and Ren freezes. “GET DOWN!”

Ren dives.

They both hit the ground hard as the wall splinters from stray buck shots. The flashlight rolls to the end of the room as Mona jumps. “GUYS!?”

Goro and Ren part on a roll as the once silent steps become audible. Ren’s heartbeat is loud in his ears as Goro peaks past the stone pillars and swears under his breath.

“I knew I recognized that hideous impala.”

Ren’s blood curdles.

In the mouth of the hall stands two unmistakable figures, one nearly seven feet tall with an eyepatch over his left eye and another stout man half his height. A familiar gaudy grin shines in the low light as Ren’s head feels hot with rage.

“Kamoshida,” Ren growls.

Kamoshida’s grin widens in the mirror. “Joker, is that you?” Besides him, Kaneshiro reloads his shotgun as they enter the wider room. “So, you did know where that brat was hiding! Oh, that’s rich.”

“Is it really that kid from three years ago?” Kaneshiro says.

Kamoshida laughs. “The one and only!” They enter the room as Goro shoots the flashlight and cuts the light. “Come on now, is that any way to treat old friends?”

Against the pillar, Ren can’t breathe. He can’t even think. Flashes of that night churn in his head until all he can see in the dark are Shiho’s dead eyes staring back at him.

“Crow, come now you know how this song and dance goes by now,” Kamoshida says. “Tell us where Sakura is, and we’ll leave, pretty reasonable right?”

Wait.

Kamoshida and Kaneshiro were Shido’s men.

Why were they shooting at Goro?

To his left, Goro is already gone, having snuck off behind broken furniture to wait for an opening.

“You know Joker,” Kamoshida's voice drops low. “I’ve just been dying to see you again after our last…meeting.” Kamoshida sighs. “How’s Ann doing by the way? It might sound hard to believe but I forgive her, you know, really, I do…It was an emotional time I understand that. Ann at the end of the day is a sweet girl, my sweet girl…at least until you came along and filled her head with lies.”

Steps ease closer and Ren’s grip on his knife tightens.

The tiles creak and shift before—

“Shut your disgusting mouth about Lady Ann!!” Mona yells.

A shelf falls to the far left and as Kaneshiro fires a shot into the empty hall, Goro fires right and the bullet catches Kaneshiro in the right shoulder. “FUCK!”

“Shit, that damned cat is here too.” Kamoshida growls. “Go after him!”

Kaneshiro bolts left after Goro but just when Kamoshida turns, Ren appears at his back. After knocking the gun clean from Kamoshida’s grip, Ren swings blade first for his neck.

Kamoshida is bigger, stronger, taller, but Ren is faster. The knife cuts deep right down to the collar bone and blood springs through a split white t-shirt.

A hand grabs Ren’s neck and slams him to the wall. Pain bursts at the back of his head and Kamoshida pinches at his trachea until his chest feels ready to burst. Kamoshida barks a laugh and blood dots at their feet as the pressure begins to build.

“Nice eyepatch,” Ren croaks.

“You piece of filth,” he snarls. “You and Ann think you could try to kill me and get away with it? Do you know who I fucking am!?” Kamoshida squeezes. “All over some dumb slut who can’t even can’t even put up a proper devil’s trap.” Drool pools in Ren’s mouth as Kamoshida lifts him off his feet by the neck and laughs. “When you see her, tell her if she had just shut her whore mouth instead of talking back to me, maybe that trap wouldn’t have failed, and the demon would have stayed right where it was instead of ripping out her throat.”

“Fuck you.”

Ren’s knife sits somewhere on the floor as Kamoshida’s grin begins to blur.

Fuck. Fuck.

Ren brings his elbows up and between Kamoshida’s arms and pushes. Kamoshida doesn’t flinch. “What do you think that’s gonna do—” Ren spits into Kamoshida’s only functioning eye. “Agh!”

His fingers slip for only a second.

But it’s enough.

Enough for Ren to clamp his teeth around Kamoshida’s hand.

Ren feels it sink beneath flesh into bone as Kamoshida’s screams.

He doesn’t let go. Not even as pain snaps with every kick to his ribs. Ren bites until he feels the joint of his thumb between his teeth then pulls.

“AHHH!” Kamoshida drops him entirely to hold his bloody fist without a thumb. Ren spits out his thumb as Mona runs by and slides the knife to his feet.

“Ren!”

Breathless, and his lungs burning, Ren snatches the knife and buries it into Kamoshida’s remaining eye. Kamoshida’s scream cuts as Ren twists.

The ground shakes when Kamoshida drops, and Ren falls to his knees beside him. Chest screaming for air, Ren can barely suck any in past his heavy coughs.

“Ren are you okay!?” comes Mona beside him.

With his forehead on the bloody floor, Ren nods. “I’m alright,” he wheezes after a tight swallow. “I’m alright…” Eyes still burning and his head screaming, Ren pushes to his knees. “Where’s Goro?

Almost on cue, Goro comes out of a room down the hall, arm bleeding. “I’m here.”

“Kaneshiro?”

“Dead.”

Ren stares, “I didn’t hear any other shots.”

“I managed.” Goro’s eyes fall on Kamoshida’s corpse and his lip curls. “Disgusting.” Ren can only nod as he holds his ribs. He doesn’t feel better after the fact. Shiho is still dead, and Ren still misses her.

Goro goes quiet. “…Are you alright?”

Kamoshida is cold in front of him, and Ren can still taste his blood in his mouth. “I’ll live.” Goro stares but if he has thoughts he doesn’t share them. “Why were they after you?”

“Kamoshida and Kaneshiro have always wanted me dead,” Goro says. “Today’s no exception.”

Ren frowns. “Kamoshida’s one thing but Kaneshiro doesn’t disobey Shido.”

“You of all people should understand that loyalty tends to shift with time.”

Ren feels himself getting angry all over again and he reaches for Goro’s good arm. “Cut the shit, Goro. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Don’t move.”

Both boys freeze at the new figure at the door. Ren doesn’t recognize this girl at all. Brown fluffy hair in a bright pink bomber jacket. The shotgun she holds is trained at Ren’s head. Her toffee eyes shift to the body with a severed thumb then narrows. "If you mean to figure out a way to incapacitate me, I must warn you that action would be a grave mistake.”

Ren inhales through a sore throat. “Who are you?”

The girl hesitates, her arm still straight as Goro flexes his fingers.

“Hagall.”

Goro throws his left arm out and an invisible force slams the girl into the wall. Words die in Ren’s throat as Goro rises to his feet.

“There you are,” Goro says, his expression flat.

The girl winces as her body remains pressed to the wall as Goro keeps his arms straight.

“What the hell?” Mona gawks.

Ren can’t believe what he’s seeing. Goro hates magic, more specifically, he hates his own. It’s why Shido calls him Crow after a witch’s familiar, an insult, a curse. A reminder that the very thing that killed his mother was running through his veins.

“Ren,” Mona goes, his eyes wide. “This…this is the same magic back at the house! And the motel!”

…What?

Goro isn’t even looking at him.

“Okumura,” Goro says. “Where is Sakura?”

Okumura?

The girl, Okumura, grits her teeth and stays silent. Goro clenches his fist and a scream punches out of her throat. “You will answer me whether you want to or not.”

“Haru!!!” A voice cries and Ren spins. Out from the back is Sojiro holding a gun as a girl with bright orange hangs onto his back.

“Drop her,” Sojiro goes. “Now.”

“Ah, there you are,” Goro says. “I had a feeling you were close.”

Ren can’t help but stare. “…Sojiro?”

Sojiro’s eyes widen behind his frames. “Ren!?” His aim almost falters. “What are you doing here?”

“…Looking…for you?” Ren says, more a question than a conviction and it all falls into place the moment he says it.

Goro should have been able to find Mishima on his own. Should have been able to find that motel on his own. There was no step Ren was needed for except…except…

The numbers.

Goro stays eerily calm, even as he twists the life out of the girl pinned against the wall. “Have you figured it out yet?”

“…Sojiro didn’t leave that stuff behind in the motel, did he?”

“No,” Goro says.

“And Mishima?”

“Lifted his prints weeks ago,” Goro says, “it didn’t take long to figure out who that girl would have taken with her in the house…all I needed was an opening at his work and stole a sample to check against what I found in the house. It was simple really…but three months of a game and cat and mouse was beginning to be tiresome. I knew if anyone could decipher Sakura’s notes…it would be you. All I needed to do was fake some handwriting and present you with everything I knew.”

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that,” Sojiro says as the girl shivers behind him.

“Let her go!” The girl cries.

“Akechi, for god’s sake, let the past stay in the past!” Sojiro goes.

“I will kill her if you continue to test my patience. No one is leaving here alive until you tell me what you know about my mother’s death.”

Those words slap Ren out of his stupor. “What?” Ren says. “I thought…” He treads carefully. “Your mom’s death was an accident.”

Goro laughs but it doesn’t sound the least bit joyful. “I remember it so vividly, you know? Being young, playing around with one of her spell books…I didn’t know what I was doing…I just wanted to surprise her…” Ren’s heart drops. “What a surprise it was…”

“Goro…”

“All these years, I thought I started that fire, but it turns out I merely summoned the thing that killed her…” Goro’s laughter grows more manic. “An entity that happens to have a penchant for blue butterflies.”

Oh.

“That thing is still out there, so when those bodies started dropping months ago, I begged Sakura to tell me what he knew, to help me get justice for my mother…and he turned me away!”

“You killed Wakaba!” Sojiro says, “and damn near tried to kill Futaba too!”

“I killed a witch, one who borrows their magic from demons at that. Last I checked, that was your job as well,” Goro says. “You will give me what I want, I’m through asking!” Goro squeezes his fist and Okumura screams.

“Goro stop!” Ren tries.

“Shut the hell up!” Goro barks. “Not another fucking word from any of you! Traitors, you’re all fucking traitors! Sakura, you knew exactly what would happen if you helped them run! Yet you have the nerve to blame me for what happened next!”

“Damnit, Akechi! You were supposed to run too!” Sojiro shouts.

Goro cackles. “Outrunning my father is a fool’s errand.”

Sojiro’s eyes widen and Ren’s whole world is spinning. Goro looks nothing but amused. “Kaneshiro being here means he knows, he knows I came for Joker and more hunters are likely on their way for my head. Can’t have his bastard witch son breathing, that’d be bad for his image you see.”

Shido is Goro’s father. His father sent him to hunt monsters at ten.

“My mother will have her justice, even if I have to kill all of you to do it.”

“Goro listen,” Ren tries, but Goro’s gaze snaps to him, his skin pale.

“Not another step.”

Ren freezes in place. “…Please just…listen, okay?” A single ribbon of blood dripples down Goro’s nose off his lip. Ren eyes Okumura as her lips and skin flush pink from strain. “I never really saw you, did I? None of us did.”

Goro flinches, his fingers flexing ever so slightly.

“I looked up to you… you know? When I first arrived at the bunker you were everything I wanted to be. Strong, smart, capable…” Ren laughs. “I was nothing but a juvie kid sold off to make a quick buck. Shujin’s Joker. No one expected anything of me but expected the world from you. I…I envied that. To me you were strong because you didn’t need anyone else…not like I did.”

“What are you getting at?”

Ren inhales. “I don’t regret helping the others have that normal life. It’s what they wanted but we are supposed to be your family and we left you all alone and I’m sorry,” Ren chokes. “Goro, I’m so fucking sorry.”

Goro stares like Ren is made out of glass. Sojiro’s gun lowers slightly when Ren takes his first hesitant step without reprimand.

“You all blame me for Shiho’s death, don’t you?”

Ren’s heart shatters. “Of course not!”

Goro laughs as bloody tears streak down his face. “I failed. And the moment I did, you all stopped believing I could keep you safe! That’s why you left! Why you all left! You would all rather be complete strangers to one another than trust me!” The laughs become more manic as blood drips off his chin. “If I had killed that piece of shit when I had the chance, she’d still be alive! If I had just disobeyed—”

“Then you would have been killed! We all would have been!” Ren closes the gap. “You saved Ann and I from making a mistake and I left you to make all the hard choices, and I’m sorry. It wasn’t fair to you, Goro. None of it was.”

“Fuck you...” Goro’s voice cracks as Ren eases closer. “Don’t.”

“Kill me if you want, I won’t stop you.”

“Ren,” Sojiro warns, but Goro's arm starts to shake. Ren eyes the gun in Goro’s pocket and sees Goro’s fingers inch towards it.

“Stop.”

“It’s ok,” Ren says. “Goro, it’s okay.”

“Not another fucking step!” Goro rips the gun from his pocket. “I will blow your goddamn brains out I swear to god—”

Once Ren wraps his arms around Goro, Okumura drops from the wall and gasps for air. Sojiro hurries past them both as Ren squeezes Goro tight. “I know I can’t change things; I know it’s not enough...but I’m here...” Ren chokes. “Goro, I’m right here.”

The room goes still as Ren feels wetness against his cheek.

“...I needed you,” Goro croaks.

“I know, I’m sorry, I know.”

“You should have just killed me. Leaving would see Shido having us all slaughtered like animals. It’s a wonder why it hasn’t happened already. That’s why I tried to make you all stay. I just couldn’t bear the idea that I had failed again, and I couldn’t stand the thought of being alone.”

“…You’ve known where I was the whole time, didn’t you?” Ren whispers. “Where everyone is…”

Goro nods into his neck and god, Ren feels himself breaking in two. Even he doesn’t know where the others are. It was the one condition Iwai had to keep them all safe and, nothing gets past Iwai’s connections. Nothing.

“There are things you don’t know…” Goro goes. “Things that I did…to prove my loyalty after you left I—”

“I don’t care,” Ren says, and he means it with everything he has. Nothing matters more than Goro being in his arms. Alive. “Whatever it is, whatever you did, I don’t care. I’m not leaving you again.”

“Ren…”

“Whatever we do next, we’ll do it together.”

Ren hears a shaky whimper as Goro goes limp in his arms.

Sojiro’s cabin is a stone’s throw from the facility but still feels too far. The air is tense. Goro is still unconscious on his back and Sojiro lingers behind to take care of the bodies leaving Ren with two girls Goro has tried to kill, and one he did in fact orphan.

The orange haired girl, Futaba, doesn’t leave Haru’s side. For being three years younger than Ren, she’s short for eighteen. Haru is the same age as Goro at twenty-two, and as Sojiro warns, is just as good of a shot.

Ren doesn’t try to make small talk, but Mona does and for a little while the girls seem calmer around him at least. Once they settle in the cabin, Ren leaves Goro on one of the beds and heads down the winding hall into the living room. There are lines of salt on every window ledge and entry to keep spirits out.

“Would you like some water?” Haru asks. Ren eyes the glass and Haru smiles. “No need to worry, I understand this situation is…complex…you have nothing to worry about from me.” Haru says that, but Ren doesn’t miss the revolver strapped to her thigh. “Please, I’d rather you remain hydrated if we mean to work together.”

“Thanks,” Ren says, but would admittedly feel much better if he had a gun in this equation. Goro’s gonna want his back sooner or later and he doesn’t even need one.

Futaba is nestled in a small couch and Mona is in her arms, deflated from trying to escape. Just as he utters another weak plea for help, the door swings open and Sojiro slips inside. “No chatter on the police radio, shots must not have reached the locals.”

“That’s good,” Mona says.

Sojiro grunts. “If you could call it that.” Then the two of them lock eyes, and Ren wishes he only felt relief. Sojiro on the other hand chuckles, “wish I could say it was good to see you, but I did say not to let me see your face again,” he strokes his beard. “You got tall.”

Ren grins, “you got old.”

Sojiro chuckles. “I see that mouth of yours is still trouble.” Sojiro adjusts the glasses on the bridge of his nose as he eyes the hall with the bedroom. “Prince Charming's asleep huh?”

“Yea,” Mona goes, “all that magic must have worn him out. I’ve never seen him use it before.”

“New development I’m guessing given the strain,” Sojiro says. “Novice natural types can only lift what their bodies can allow; they aren’t like borrowers that can get a boost from demons.”

Haru keeps her expression still. “I see, so that’s what he is? A natural born witch? Like Futaba then?”

Sojiro nods, “yea, rare as all hell but yea, he is.”

“So that’s the scent I picked up,” Mona says.

“He’s not like me,” Futaba goes. “I’ve never killed anyone. Why does he get a pass?”

Sojiro sighs, “he doesn’t.”

Ren’s gaze hardens. “No one is touching him.”

“I believe Futaba has a right to feel how she does given the circumstances,” Haru interjects.

“Circumstances that I caused so if you want to hate someone hate me.”

Haru only smiles. “If you insist.”

“Enough both of you,” Sojiro snaps. “No one has to like our situation, but there are two bodies rotting in the woods and more coming if we don’t hurry up and get the hell out of the city, so if you’re both done puffing your chest, we have a job to do.”

“First, we gotta know what’s going on, what are we hunting exactly?” Mona says, “we figure it’s a witch but…considering the magic we detected was Akechi’s…”

Sojiro shakes his head, “no you’re still right. We’re looking for a witch, a necromancer.”

“Necromancer?” Ren asks.

“A type of borrower who can control ghosts,” Sojiro says, “Whoever they are, they've been sending Wakaba to kill all those people.” Futaba’s face creases as her arms tighten around Mona. “Anyone who was involved with the EMMA project.”

“Yes, like my father,” Haru goes.

Mona’s ears flatten. “An Okumura was the first victim…”

“And this…Wakaba person? She’s doing all of this?” Ren asks. “Emma’s the name of a project not a person?”

“That’s right, it was a subsidiary of one of Wakaba’s bigger initiatives.” Sojiro rubs the back of his head. “Officially she was working on AI for security purposes…but unofficially, she was looking into utilizing scanning technology to better search for sedimentary layers for old tablets. Spells, rituals, anything that can prove the existence of angels, more specifically, of Metatron.” Ren’s eyes widen.

“Angels? But they’re a myth.”

“That was Wakaba, she didn’t take no for an answer,” Sojiro goes. “The tax breaks that were promised for helping fund the project is what really drew people in though, I doubt half those poor bastards even knew what she was really doing. Wakaba had a way with people. She was a witch, but she never hurt anyone. So, when I looked into it all those years ago…I just…left her alone. Hell, we even became friends.”

“Then if the people who funded her didn’t know anything, why is someone killing them?” Ren goes.

“I don’t know,” Sojiro grunts. “But whoever is doing this picked those guys for a reason.”

“Ghosts can’t just…show up anywhere though, they’re usually tied to the place they died or an object, how is this person doing this sending her all across the country?” Mona goes.

Sojiro sighs. “Best guess, they all had something of Wakaba’s or the necromancer.”

“Like what?” Futaba asks.

“I wish I knew…searched their places top to bottom, nothing stood out to me…but maybe it’s because I didn’t know what I was looking for. EMF was useless.”

“And what does this have to do with Goro’s mom?” Sojiro’s jaw clenches. “Goro’s going to want answers that hasn’t changed and if it’s all connected you can’t leave us in the dark.”

“You don’t understand. What Wakaba found, whatever she found, it wasn’t no damn angels,” Sojiro says. “Whatever it was got her and everyone attached to the project killed.”

“Murdered,” Futaba corrected. “By him.”

“Yes,” Sojiro sighs. “Three years ago, and I’ve been on the run with Futaba ever since, until those bodies started turning up with those damn blue butterflies. I knew it had to do something with Wakaba, it was the only thing she told me about that thing. That the entity’s magic took the shape of blue butterflies.”

“So, the question now becomes.” Ren spins around to see Goro leaning against the walls of the hallway. Skin pale, hair sticky with sweat but his eyes no less sharp. “Why did my mother have that book twelve years ago?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know,” Goro laughs. “Old man, I still have a gun.”

Haru’s gun is already out. “As do I.”

Goro smiles and Ren shuffles between the two just as the boards begin to tremble beneath their feet.

“Our salt lines!” Futaba goes.

The entire room scrambles for their weapons.

Ren eyes Sojiro, “got a gun for me?”

“Bathroom, under the sink!”

Ren bolts down the hall and ducks beneath the mirror to reveal a shotgun wedged under the pipes. Ren fishes it out as his breath rolls out in puffs of fog. The air grows frigid and the mirror creaks as frost opaques its surface.

Ren slides a salt shell into the chamber as a shadow warms his back. A single blue butterfly flutters in front of him.

Behind him, stands a woman in a dirty lab coat. Pale skin, black dress suit and a bullet hole between the eyes. Her cracked and bloody glasses shield the same round eyes as her daughter. Wakaba Isshiki’s chapped lips flap mute as Ren fires a salt round into her chest.

Isshiki dissipates in a burst of fire as smoke trails from the barrel.

“Ren!?” Sojiro shouts.

Ren bolts to the living room, the ground still trembling beneath their feet. “I’m alright!”

Goro shoves more salt rounds into Ren’s hands and arms his own double barrel. Doors slam all around them as the salt lines scatter.

“Mom!” Futaba says.

“Futaba, stay behind me!” Sojiro says, as Futaba wedges between her and Haru.

“Guess it’s safe to say the necromancer knows we’re in town,” Ren goes.

“You don’t say,” Goro snaps. “How did you track the necromancer here?”

“I was a town ahead when a body turned up on the police radio two weeks ago,” Sojiro goes.

“But the coroner said there weren’t any strange deaths,” Ren goes.

Goro freezes and reaches into his pocket for the now blank business card. No magic, just disappearing ink. “Shit. She made us.”

“We should go—” Haru croaks as a hand flies up to her throat. Small bumps shift beneath the skin of her neck and Ren’s blood runs cold.

Haru drops to her knees and proceeds to hack out her lungs. Goro and Sojiro’s guns hit the ground as they both drop to their knees as similar bumps formed on their throats.

“NO!” Futaba cries.

“Ren!” Goro forces out as keys skate across the floor.

Ren snatches them up.

“Futaba! Get salt! Pour it down their throats!” Mona yells.

Tears in her eyes, Futaba watches Ren sprint to the door.

Ren slams his foot against the door, again, and again, and again.

Futaba kneels in front of the others and hands them fists full of salt to pour into their mouths. Ren can still hear their gags and gasps. See the thin scratches from under their nails as they claw a path to air. What little relief the salt gives won’t last forever.

Goro wobbles on shaking arms, salty spit dripping from his mouth, bumps shifting beneath the skin of his neck as he raises his left arm. “óðal”

Heat shoots up Ren’s spine and his next kick swings the door off its hinges. Pain shoots up his leg, but he doesn’t stumble, instead he runs. Goro’s eyes are blazing on the floor even as he chokes. Ren gets into Loki, punches the gas and the tires scream.

*

Ichinose’s home address takes minutes to find. Ren slides the lock pick into the back door, and it opens without a creak. The lights are on in the living room and Ren moves silently through the kitchen with a silver Chekov in hand.

“Oh,” Ichinose chirps from behind. Ren swings around and points his gun. Her eyes are wide in surprise. “You’re alive.”

“Let them go,” Ren says, his voice cold. “Now.”

She tilts her head, curious, “why are you alive? You shouldn’t even be on your feet.”

“Three, two—”

Then she breaks into a smile. “He was right! He said I’d see something special if I did this and he was right!” She laughs, “tell me, what are you?”

Ren blinks. “What?”

“What are you?” She repeats, “I must know.” She takes a step closer and Ren fires at her feet.

“Don’t.”

Her eyebrows knit together but she doesn’t flinch. “Oh my, do you not know either?”

Ren can’t burn minutes on this. His eyes race around the room, at the walls and the closets around them as she continues to speak.

“If he was right about this then…” Ichinose giggles. She giggles, and it’s the most baffling sound Ren’s ever heard.

With his gun arm straight, Ren searches. He opens every cabinet and closet door he can find. Dumps clothing onto the floor as Ichinose watches on with a smile. Witches didn’t make magic from nothing. They needed conduits, herbs, materials, an altar, something to touch. Goro had his gloves to cast, where is hers?

“How do I stop the spell?” Ren says, keeping his gun arm straight.

“I take it your friends didn’t like my little calling card?” Ichinose hums. "You know killing me won’t stop it.” Ren knows, he knows not all spells end with their caster and it’s the only thing keeping him from seeding a bullet between her eyes. “How do you know they aren’t dead already?”

“If they die, so do you.”

Ichinose buries her hands into her pockets. “You hunters are so fascinating, you know that? Just so eager to kill things and ask questions later when it should be the other way around!”

“That so?” Ren asks.

“Of course, you know what they say, break eggs, get omelets, etc., etc.” Ren's gaze wanders to the thin rope around her neck that disappears beneath the neck of her blouse. “You do what you do to save a handful of people. I’m doing this to save the world.”

Ren’s gaze narrows.

“You’ll see soon enough,” she says. “After all, he knows who you are.” A jewel peaks above her collar. “He knows who we all are, and he’s going to save us.”

“Pass.”

A bullet shatters the blue crystal and blood seeps through Ichinose’s blue striped blouse as she falls to the floor. Ren eases closer to the cracked shards that dim to gray alongside Ichinose’s olive gaze.

“Thank you.”

Ren spins around and Wakaba stands behind him, her image no longer marred with the look of death.

“Are they?” Ren breathes.

“Alive, yes,” As she begins to fade, her expression pinches behind a translucent lens. “Please, look after my daughter for me…and…I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Ren says but her expression never fades.

“It will be.”

And with those words, she vanishes.

*

Overlooking a lake, Goro slams Loki’s trunk as Sojiro’s loads the van. Ren passes a bottle of water to Haru as she stands by the RV’s door. “How are you feeling?”

She manages a smile, a real one, “health wise, I’m well.”

“And otherwise?”

“Hm,” she says, “Well, I suppose I’m feeling a bit envious. I spent five months looking for the person who murdered my father…and in less than a week that was taken from me.” Ren doesn’t know what to say to that, but Haru shakes her head. "To be clear, I’m not blaming you, it’s just a shame is all.”

“You didn’t have any trouble hating me before,” Ren jokes.

“Ah, yes,” she giggles. “We didn’t exactly get off on the right foot but considering you saved my life; I can’t help but feel gratitude towards you.”

“Still, I wish things could have been different.”

“That’s kind of you to say,” Haru says.

Ren leans against the van. “What’s next for you then?”

“I’ll be staying with Sakura-san and Futaba, it’s hard to imagine my life anywhere else now.”

“Good, I'll feel better knowing there’s someone with a gun by his side,” Ren says. “One that’s not trying to shoot him.”

Haru giggles, “no worries, he’s in good hands. I’m a very good shot.”

Ren believes her.

He leans off the RV as Futaba pets Mona in the front seat. Futaba’s still shy, still hiding, and Ren doesn’t blame her one bit. He manages a small wave to her, and to his surprise, she waves back.

Once Sojiro emerges from the back he stops, “you sure about this?’

“More sure than I’ve been on anything,” Ren goes. “Goro’s right, Shido’s not gonna stop coming for him or us so…we need to get to him first.”

Sojiro sighs, “I suppose if any two people could do it…”

Goro watches on from Loki’s hood with both hands in his pockets. Ren wishes he knew what to say to mend this bridge, but maybe that was another thing that was left to time. “Do you hate him?” Is all Ren can manage.

“Wish I could do more than just hate him,” Sojiro goes, “Wakaba was a good woman…” His gaze falls on Futaba in the front. “I may not hate him, but I can’t forgive that.” Ren nods, because it was less than he wanted but more than he hoped. “I tried looking into what happened with his mother. I looked into all you kids. Whatever happened in Akechi’s past, someone put a lot of effort into making sure it stayed buried.” Ren raises a brow. “Whatever’s down that road, he might not like what he finds.”

“Yea, well, he won’t be alone when he finds it,” Ren says.

Sojiro’s smile wrinkles. “If you need anything…either of you, don’t be a stranger, alright?”

“Thanks.” Ren watches Sojiro take a step before something comes to mind. “Hey Sojiro?”

“Yea?”

“Why didn’t Isshiki’s magic work on me? I mean Futaba I get, that’s her daughter but…”

“Kid I wish I knew.”

Ren plasters his unease with a smile. “Well, no use worrying about it right?”

Sojiro gives a hesitant look. “Yea…”

Haru and Sojiro get into the RV and Ren watches besides Loki as they drive down the road. Ren pockets both hands as Goro leans against the bumper and Mona jumps through the car window.

“Are you sure about this?” Goro goes.

Ren grins, “are we ever?”

Goro’s lips quirk to a smile as he leans off the dash. “By the way, drive my car like that again and I’ll kill you.”

Home sweet home.

***

Ohya pours gin over ice and feels the matte of her lipstick in her grin. “Kid, quit apologizing.”

“I’m sorry, I just don’t want you to think I didn’t appreciate everything you did for me.”

“What? That you left school to go save the world?” She laughs, “trust me, it’s fine you flunked after you didn’t hand in that paper anyway.” Ren groans on the other end, and Ohya can’t help but laugh at his misery. “You gonna be alright?”

“Yea,” he goes. “I’ll be alright.”

“Good,” she whispers. “Kick it in the ass, okay?”

Ren laughs on the other end. “Thanks, Ohya…”

“Call me every once in a while so I know you’re alive alright?”

“I will,” Ren says, “Talk later.”

The call ends and Ohya places the phone against her lips as blood continues to drip from the kitchen counter. Ushimaru certainly bleeds more than he talks, which is to say, a lot. Ohya was beginning to worry she was never going to kill him. His neck cut clean open, she lowers her chalice under the wound and lets blood pool within the cup. The blood swirls with a touch of her finger and the center deepens to black.

“Yello~”

The blood bubbles a voice. “I assume your inane greeting means you have an update?”

All work, no foreplay that one. Ohya doesn’t mind. She hates the son of a bitch. Still, there are worse demons in the world, as few as they are. For now.

“The birdie has indeed left the nest,” she coos. “I believe they should be in your neck of the woods soon.”

“Hm, good. Let them come,” Shido goes. “I’ll be ready for them. Continue your preparations as scheduled.”

“Of course, you can count on me.” The blood stills and Ohya’s lip curls. “Prick.”

Still, an order’s an order.

And in the end, Shido reign is only temporary. One day, it’ll all be worth it for the delicious world they were going to build.

It might sound silly but in truth, Ohya can’t wait to follow her master.

After all, she’s already quite fond of his vessel.