—It’s over… I can’t…— Kaito thought, his vision blurring.

“Enough, Shirogane!” a voice cut between them.

Yume, panting, had caught up to them.

“What do you mean ‘enough’?” the boy asked coldly.

For a moment there was silence, then Yume answered.

“If you killed him, you wouldn’t be satisfied… you want him to suffer for his disrespect, don’t you?”

She turned slightly toward Kaito.

“So stop. You’ve humiliated him—he won’t be seen again. Let him go.”

Shirogane considered her words, then sheathed his weapon into his own shadow. A smile spread across his face.

He approached Kaito and placed a hand under his chin, looking him in the eyes.

“All right, Yume. He’s not an obstacle to me anyway,” he said to her.

“Kaito, listen: I’ll spare you. Continue to live with the knowledge that if I meet you again, I will kill you.” She stood up and walked away.

Kaito, utterly exhausted, watched Shirogane call his spirit back; the knight vanished instantly.

“Let’s go, Yume. We leave for Shinkase in two days.”

Yume lowered her gaze and nodded. Her face showed resignation and sorrow.

Kaito noticed it. —Y-Yume...?—

Immediately after that thought, he blacked out. Kaito had lost.

While unconscious, Shirogane’s words haunted him.

“Kaito, I’ll spare you. Continue to live with the knowledge that if I meet you again, I will kill you.”

Those words, paired with Yume’s look, echoed in his head.

“Shirogane!!”

The shout cracked through the room as Kaito snapped awake, breathing hard and unevenly. His chest burned.

“You’re awake, boy.”

A familiar voice came from beside the bed. Still confused, Kaito turned.

“Hauromi…? What happened?”

He looked around, eyes wide.

—the inn? How did I get back here?—

“Calm down, I brought you,” the innkeeper said with a tired smile.

“How… how did you know where I was?”

The innkeeper raised an eyebrow.

“You kidding me? The whole town saw that beam of blue light tear through the sky!”

Kaito fell silent.

—The Spirit Slayer…— he thought.

“The whole town gathered by the warehouse. The destruction was… unreal. I found you nearby. I couldn’t believe my eyes.” He added with a worried look, “Kaito, what happened? And where’s Yume?”

The boy hesitated, then told him everything: the fight with Shirogane and what had happened with Yume.

“So that’s what you meant that time…”

Kaito didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”

The innkeeper shook his head. “Sorry… you couldn’t have known. Maybe it’s right that you learn now. I’ll tell you everything.”

He closed his eyes and let a distant memory come back.

It had been a cold night and rain hammered down on the city. The innkeeper had just locked up when, from his window, he saw a figure collapse onto the wet pavement. His heart leapt into his throat.

—Damn, something’s happened!— he thought, grabbing an umbrella and running into the night.

When he got closer, he found a young woman, bruised and unconscious.

“What happened to her?” he muttered. “I can’t leave her here.”

He carried her into one of the rooms in the inn. Her body was cold and trembling violently, wracked with pain. He spent the whole night tending to her, trying to ease her suffering.

Only at dawn did she come to. She opened her eyes slowly; her pupils were slightly dilated.

“Miss, you’re awake! How do you—”

A sudden punch landed in his stomach. The innkeeper staggered back and fell hard, clutching his side with a groan.

“Who are you?! Where am I?!”

The girl had sprung to her feet, breathing ragged, eyes full of mistrust.

“Easy, easy! I don’t mean to hurt you.”

Yume looked around; her breathing slowly steadied.

“You okay? I saw you fall last night and brought you to my inn,” the innkeeper said, getting up from the floor.

She stared at him, then said, “Th… thank you,” with a thread of doubt in her voice.

Hauromi paused his story. “And then what happened?” Kaito asked, doubtful.

“After that day I decided to keep her until she recovered.”

“So, if she’s still here, she hasn’t gotten better?”

The old man hesitated, then answered, “You’re wrong. She chose to stay… she told me she couldn’t go home.”

Then his mind slipped to another memory.

It was early morning. Six months had passed since Yume first came to the inn. Soft sunlight streamed through the windows.

Hauromi came downstairs and found her at the counter, arranging bottles.

“Good morning, Yume.”

“Good morning, Mr. Hauromi,” she replied with a smile.

They began preparing the room for opening. Yume noticed a missing bottle of red wine.

“Mr. Hauromi, one bottle’s missing,” she said, pointing to the empty space.

“You’re right, I’ll get it.”

The old man opened the cellar door and descended the stairs. It was dark down there, with tall racks filled according to wine type.

“There it is,” he said when he spotted the missing bottle.

He climbed the ladder and reached out—but suddenly his legs gave out. He fell, bringing several glass bottles crashing to the floor.

The thud was so loud Yume heard it upstairs. She hurried down the stairs.

“Mr. Hauromi, are you—”

She froze when she saw him on the ground with a deep gash on his head.

“Yume… please… call an ambulance,” he rasped.

But she stepped forward without a word.

“Yume, what are you doing?!” someone cried.

She didn’t answer.

A small spirit appeared beside her—tiny wings, antennae, a leaf-like garment, and large eyes.

Suddenly the wound vanished.

Hauromi stood, stunned.

“Yume… you’re a spirit wielder!”

Hearing the end of the story, Kaito was even more surprised than before.

“So Yume has a spirit too?”

The old man looked at him, then replied, “Yes. After that, we talked. I didn’t want to make her relive the trauma, so I never asked what happened the night I found her.”

He paused, then continued in a grave voice: “But after what I saw, I couldn’t pretend nothing had happened. Yume told me that night she had run away from a man who would do anything to take her power.”

Kaito understood instantly. “She was talking about Shirogane.”

The innkeeper lowered his gaze, clenching his hands tight against his pants.

“I think so too… Maybe she didn’t want to involve me. And now…”

Tears streamed down his face.

“Sorry, boy… I’ll step out for a minute.”

He rose from the stool and left the room.

Kaito stayed alone, swallowed by a thousand thoughts. But one thing became suddenly clear.

—Shirogane forced her to bring me to the warehouse… he didn’t really want to kill me; that’s why he stopped in the end.—

Then he realized something else.

—If Yume betrayed Shirogane by running away… he might punish her now.—

Clenching his fists in anger, he ground his teeth and whispered, “Idiot… you should’ve let me die… you stupid girl!”