They had an afternoon homeroom that day, so the three girls had to throw on their uniforms and run down the hall in order to make it to class on time. The period lasted only five minutes and established who would be in charge of cleaning the classroom for the next week.

The moment the final bell rang, Ayako leapt from her desk and joined the mob of students rushing toward the front doors. In the chaos, Mika and Kana had no chance to catch up with her.

“Do you think she’ll be alright?” Mika questioned as they turned onto the sidewalk.

“Ayako will be fine. She gets hot-headed like this from time to time. I apologize on her behalf.” Kana spun around to direct a small bow toward Kaito, who was following behind them.

“I don’t particularly mind.”

“Would you like a bag of ice for your face? I can pick it up from home easily enough.”

“Don’t worry about it. Something this minor isn’t worth being concerned over.”

“If you’re sure.”

The three resumed their walk, but a couple of blocks later Kaito stopped, announcing he had a few errands to run before heading back home. Mika and Kana wished him farewell as he turned right down a side street and continued onward until they hit Ayako’s road. Here, Kana stopped. “I’m going to check on Ayako, just to make sure she hasn’t found more trouble.”

“Would it be alright if I came also?”

“Of course.”

And with that the two shifted their direction.

“Her house is here,” Kana said, indicating a rather large house to the left, “but when she gets angry, she always goes to the river at the end of the road to clear her head.”

Two more houses down, the road met perpendicularly with another street, and on the opposite side was the steep grassy bank of the river. From their spot on the sidewalk, Mika could just barely see the top of Ayako’s head. “Ayako!” she called as she jogged over to the river.

Ayako’s head turned only briefly before her focus snapped back toward the river.

Confused by her apparent disinterest, Mika came to a stop. “Kana?” she questioned, turning to look at her friend as Kana rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t mind it too much. Looks like she’s still in a mood.” Kana took the lead and approached Ayako first. “Aya –”

“Shh!” Ayako hissed in response, without turning to look at Kana. “There’s something over there but…”

Mika knelt down in the grass beside Ayako and Kana and followed their gazes to a shadow under the bridge. At first she saw nothing, then the darkness shifted and two glowing red eyes stared back at her. Mika jumped, falling back on her butt as she felt her stomach drop into oblivion. Is that?

“I think it’s a person, but they’ve just been staring at me for the past few minutes,” Ayako said in a low voice.

“That’s a very strange person,” Kana said slowly.

“Guys, I think we should leave.” Mika’s voice came out as a shaky whisper.

“That’s probably for the best,” Kana agreed. “We should avoid getting mixed up in any trouble.”

Together the trio stood and took a step back toward the road, but they were prevented from moving farther by a sudden strong gust of wind. Hit by its great strength so suddenly, Mika felt herself falling backwards down the hill. On instinct, she grabbed Kana’s arm to steady herself, but Kana too had already lost her balance and was reaching for Ayako. With the three girls all holding onto each other, they tumbled down the short hill, stopping at the edge of the river.

“What the heck was that!?” Ayako exclaimed as she stood up and dusted herself off. “That gust must’ve been more than a hundred kilometers per hour! Where did it even come from? You guys okay?”

Kana responded first. “I’m fine.” Taking Ayako’s offered hand, she pulled herself to her feet. “Mika, are you alright?”

Only a small part of Mika’s brain registered that she was being spoken to. The rest of her concentration was directed to those red eyes, which seemed to be growing brighter while the shadow around them solidified. It’s a demon, I’m sure! And it’s after us.

“Mika!”

Slowly her terrified gaze turned to Ayako, who had spoken. “We have to get away from it.”

“It? What are you talking about?”

With a trembling hand, Mika pointed to the shadows where the demon was emerging. Two steps brought it into the light. Just like the previous demon that Mika had met, the individual looked human at first glance, except for the fact that his scleras were red. The rest of its body was hidden under a ragged black cloak. “You weren’t thinking of going somewhere, were you?” it rasped in a hoarse voice.

Ayako took a bold step forward, meeting the man’s gaze. “Yeah, we were actually. You got a problem with that?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t plan to let you humans escape alive.” His right hand emerged from the cloak and with a casual flick of his wrist, a second gale blew. Once again the girls were unable to withstand the strength of the wind and toppled over onto their bottoms.

Opening one eye, Mika could see the air rippling around him, as if it were being heated, and then it seemed to be rushing at them for a third time. She braced herself, but the moments stretched out and nothing occurred.

Instead, Mika heard Ayako cry, “What are you – Get off of me!” Mika jumped up, expecting to see the demon holding Ayako down. Instead, she caught sight of short raven hair fluttering on the wind and sharp royal blue eyes. Kaito had one hand on Ayako’s shoulder, forcing her to the ground while his second hand was outstretched toward the demon.

“Kaito…” Relief washed over Mika in a wave. If she wasn’t already on the ground, she was sure her legs would’ve given out then and there.

“Are you all alright?” He scrutinized Mika and Kana in turn.

Mika nodded while Kana responded with, “I’m alright.”

“Well I’m not okay!” Ayako yelled, breaking free of his grasp and lunging for him with her fist raised.

This time, Kaito caught her punch. “I don’t want to banter with you right now. Why don’t you just get lost?”

“Like hell –”

“I’m not going to turn this into an argument. I’m ordering you to leave if you want to keep all of your limbs attached to your body!”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something,” the demon spoke. “I’m not going to let them leave.” Slowly and deliberately, the demon stretched his arms to the side, and from his back, something black emerged from under the ragged cloak. It wasn’t until they were completely stretched out that Mika realized he had a pair of black feathered wings. She didn’t get the time to stare though as the wind was rushing past, trapping them in a vortex.

“It’s in your own best interest to take down the barrier,” Kaito warned as he stood.

“Hah, is the likes of you going to try to stop me?”

“Not to worry,” Kaito said, with a light airy tone to his voice. “’The likes of me’ will be more than enough.” He moved away from the girls to the right; for every step he took, the demon moved as well until they were circling each other. Kaito was the first to break the stalemate. He rushed forward and in one smooth movement, had gotten within striking range.

The demon, flustered by Kaito’s unexpectedly fast lunge, jerked backwards in an effort to dodge.

He’s faster than I predicted. No doubt dealing with him will be a pain, Kaito thought as he pivoted and struck at the demon’s exposed left side. As a matter of fact, it’s already become quite the pain. His eyes flickered over the three girls who were hunkered on the ground. Ayako was in front, ready to protect the other two, though there was little she’d be able to do against such an opponent.

“Do you fancy them?”

The soft comment from the demon was surprisingly close to Kaito’s ear. While his attention had been diverted, the guy had dodged once more and slipped around behind Kaito. With a wave of his hand, a blade of air was released, but instead of aiming it toward Kaito, it hurtled straight for the girls.

“Get down!” Even as he shouted it, Kaito knew they’d be unable to dodge the blow, and if it were allowed to complete its course, it would leave wounds deep enough to kill them. Kaito’s feet moved of their own accord, carrying him toward the trio.

He placed himself in front of them just in time to take the blow. The wind blade carved through the skin of Kaito’s back, leaving a gash that stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip bone. For a heartbeat, after the attack, everything was still; then, Kaito retaliated.

He stretched out his right hand, and a small black cloud formed at his palm. Come. He closed his fingers and felt the hilt of a sword form in his grasp. The black cloud elongated and condensed until he held a black-bladed katana.

Kaito leapt, heading straight for the enemy. The demon lowered himself into a fighting stance, ready to parry the blow and counter, but the moment Kaito reached him, he sidestepped with blinding speed, coming up on the demon’s unguarded back. In one motion, Kaito struck horizontally with the sword, cleaving him in half at the middle.

The result of the attack was not gushing blood. Instead, its body began to dissolve until the only thing left were flecks of ash on the dying wind.

Kaito drew a breath through his nose and released it slowly through his mouth. The fight was over and the demon was vanquished, but looking at the three girls, he could tell its effect would not be vanishing any time soon.

They remain frozen as he approached them and knelt down to their level. “Are you guys okay?”

Mika was the first to respond after the long pause following his question. “Kaito you’re hurt.”

Her broken tone told him that she was on the verge of tears. “I’ll be fine.”

Kana was the next to move as she pulled out her cellphone. “I’ll… I’ll call for an ambulance…”

Kaito was in motion to grab the phone, but Ayako surged forward, beating him to it, and knocking the phone into the grass. “Don’t you guys get it?!” she shouted, and pointed and accusatory finger at Kaito’s face “That guy’s a monster!”

“That’s a terrible thing to say to someone who just saved your butt.” Kaito’s tone of voice was light, but his face was entirely emotionless.

“Bakemono!” Ayako shouted the word as a curse. “Beast! De-umph!”

Kaito clamped his hand over her mouth, muffling her shouting. “You’re giving me a headache. Shut up,” he growled. Luckily there had been no one on the street before, but the last thing he wanted was the sounds of shouting to draw the attention of any nearby.

“Mika, take the phone,” Kaito ordered as he noticed Kana’s fingers inching toward it.

“I’m sorry Kana,” Mika said softly as she picked up the small smartphone and stored it in her school bag.

“Mika… you… are you in league with this guy?” Ayako had managed to work her way around Kaito’s grasp and stared wide-eyed at the person she had always presumed was her friend.

“No! That’s not… I mean…” Her eyes flashed to Kaito in a desperate plea for help.

Sighing, Kaito shifted his weight backward. “Mika’s not involved. It was always only me that you had bad feelings about right?”

Ayako’s fists clenched and unclenched at her sides. “Yeah,” she finally admitted through her teeth. “Justified feelings too! As soon as Kana gets her phone back, I’m calling the police to come contain you.”

“Kana’s not getting her phone back until you’ve decided you aren’t telling anyone about this.”

“Is that a threat, you monster?!” Ayako challenged.

“Would you lower your voice already!”

“Um,” Mika broke into the conversation hesitantly, with her hand raised as if trying to grab a teacher’s attention. “Couldn’t you… explain it?”

“I’d like an explanation as well,” Kana added. “What I’ve seen today shouldn’t be possible on a number of levels.”

“It’s actually something I’d rather not discuss.”

“But you will discuss it because you want us to stay silent about what’s occurred,” Kana declared. “If we leave here terrified because some unknown beast attacked us then that’s problematic for you, correct?”

“Your perception is terrifying.” He ran his hand through his hair several times before standing up. “Really, why is it that I keep finding myself in these sorts of situations?”

His tone contained a note of defeat, and in recognition of that, Kana also stood. “Where shall we converse?”

“Wha – Kana!” Ayako also jumped to her feet to grab Kana’s shoulder and hold her back. “You can’t actually be thinking of going with such a dangerous guy! What if he eats you alive?”

“He won’t. Mika seems to already know about this and he hasn’t done anything to her that I can tell.”

“How did you –”

Ayako’s face brightened in sudden realization, and she slapped her fist into her open palm. “That’s why they’ve been sending those weird glances to each other all week! Right?”

Mika felt her face sink in horror.

“I certainly believe it’s related,” Kana affirmed.

“Are the lot of you coming or not?” Kaito addressed them from the top of the hill. “I’m not waiting on you all day. If you’re okay with everything, can you just go home and let me call it a day?”

“Sorry, but I am not willing to let this matter go that easily,” Kana said as she climbed the hill after him.

Grumbling and muttering about curses and monsters, Ayako moved after her friend, leaving Mika to bring up the rear of their small group.