All I did for the past hour was watch. I couldn't think of anything else but the scene that unfolded before me. I had always believed the night he intruded, the ceremony was the most brutal night I've ever witnessed.

. . . But this?

Mochizuki's pieces lying there. It felt right. Like the world exhaled. Something about it made my skin crawl. The look in Azuri's eyes chilled me, like an onryō feeding off the frenzy of violence.

That wasn't Azuri . . . but Kiri no Tsujigiri.

"Mirai-chan . . . What's happening?"

Michiko curled up against the wall, pinching her nose with her fingers to shut the stench away. Panic was visible on her delicate face. I simply looked at her and shook my head with a weak smile. Just then, a hard knock on the door. Peeking through the hole once more, I watched as Azuri stood still with empty, lifeless eyes as though he had been possessed.

"Mirai-chan!" Michiko gasped as I slid the wall with peeping holes open and lifted myself before running towards Azuri, who was still spacing out, kimono dishevelled and drenched with Mochizuki's blood.

His makeup turned into a huge mess. I tried my best not to inhale as much air through my nostrils because of the stench that filled the room. Otherwise, I would've passed out in front of Azuri the moment I left the wall.

His fingers flexed, dropping his katana. Its fall rang out a clunking noise. I gave his shoulder a tug, which he responded to by slowly turning to me, his gaze fixated on me with no emotion.

"Kill." He whispered.

What has gotten into him? We'll get caught at this rate! We have no time for this!

"I'll kill you . . . " His lips then twisted into a deranged grin that made him look more like a homicidal maniac than when he was one. He grabbed my shoulders as the banging on the door only got louder and stronger. Michiko twitched as she trembled in fear.

Azuri tightened his grip, which made me hitch a gasp. His eyes were too wide—unsettling. A laugh spilled from him, sharp and out of place. My heart almost dropped in a way I was facing death incarnate, whispering into my ear . . .

This is getting annoying, Azuri!

I slapped his cheek with enough force to shock him.

Azuri's eyes widened, and he slowly held his cheek. Did he return to his senses? Please don't tell me I made it worse!

"Uh, Uhm . . ." Michiko uttered, crying over the banging doors where a few samurai shouted from outside.

"COME OUT OF LORD KAMOSHIDA'S CHAMBERS!"

"THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!"

Just before I could blink, Azuri’s rough hand suddenly grabbed my wrist and forced me running through the gap of peeping walls where Michiko and I hid. Michiko followed.

The doors from the chamber burst open. With our escape route exposed, we were already caught.

"That was close!" Azuri simply cheered as he ran through the gaps towards the exit of the walls, grabbing me along as I tried to keep up with his speed. He then showed me the key in his fingers in a bragging manner.

"Seriously? From a ghost-proof safe room to a plain old lock? That moron just did half our work for us!" He laughed out loud as though everything I'd just witnessed had never happened. I'm a bit relieved that he's back to normal. I doubted he's always been.

"Whe, Where are we heading?! Mirai-chan?!" Michiko cried in between gasps. Despite being a ghost, she's struggling to catch her breath. I'm surprised she can still run as fast as she used to. I felt ashamed. She had nothing to do with this, and she doesn't owe me anything.

"Didn't know she was a friend of yours! She'll be useful." Azuri uttered when we finally fled into the halls, where busy footsteps could be heard from each side. It was only a matter of time until the guards cornered us in the middle of this hall. Wait, why is Azuri acting like he hasn't seen her in a while? Aren't they flings?

"Michiko, was it?"

"Ki, Kiri no Tsujigiri!” Michiko stuttered. “Thanks again for . . .”

Confusion rose from within me. Something feels off. Azuri then responded, cutting her off, "Much obliged, but save your thanks for another time. Do me another favor, would you? I need one more favor from you. Last one, swear."

"If it helps the two of you, I'm willing to do anything!"

What's going on?!

❁

The breeze of the dark winter air bit my face and blew my wig made of bristles into the wind. My hair loosened as Azuri kept his cold hand on mine, lifting me from a trapdoor on the apex of the brothel.

This is his plan of escaping?! Heck, he basically gambled his ideas away to come up with this route!

I glimpsed from above. We were so high up as though I'm standing on a high tower! I could see the horizon and the other districts. The ghosts below were as small as ants and from up here, the street lights shimmered. My knees trembled and my heart was pounding like crazy.

Meanwhile . . .

"Whew, this wind's alive tonight! You soaking it in, Mari?" Azuri raised my arms in the air, radiating enthusiasm.

Easy for you to say! You're a ghost!

Azuri chuckled to himself as the cold wind howled through his black hair that had also come undone.

He unwrapped his obi, dropping it without a care in the world, so he could move faster. Now he's just a deluded man in a bloody kimono and smudged make-up, wielding a katana. The thought occurred to me that he's someone who's used to all kinds of trouble.

Azuri had asked Michiko to hide and steal the Higanbana seeds herself while he lured all the guards onto the roof. We planned to meet with her at a more discreet area behind the brothel.

But why did I have to come along with him?!

Oh right. I was suspected by a guard once and was seen fleeing with Azuri. Joining Michiko to capture the seeds would be suicide. At least, for me. A single touch on me would mean trouble, or death.

‘Now what, oh great sensei Kashiki?’ Azuri looked at my expression before scoffing. "Relax. Of course, I've got a plan. And that's . . ."

Samurai suddenly emerged from the trapdoor we came from, prickling a chill down my spine. Now wielding katanas, they called out to their peers.

"They're here! The little sluts!” With their feet on the roof, they slowly and carefully cornered us at a vulnerable position. Azuri pulled me behind him with a competitive grin.

"Dang, they're fast. Cling to me as possible and don't ever get away."

Oh. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! He's going to fight them?!

At this great a height?!

Azuri pointed his katana towards the guards in a threatening yet casual manner, "Whoever goes first gets to replace me and be Kamoshida's favorite doll~!" With his fake girly voice, he teased with a flirtatious wink.

"FOR LORD KAMOSHIDA!!!" The samurai sprinted towards us.

"Eugh . . . I expected stupid—Not desperate and trashy!" He mocked as he continuously swung his katana, knocking the samurai and sweeping them off the roof that came his way.

"AUGH!"

"DAMN YOU!"

"What a bunch of losers all of you are!" Azuri struck each and every one of them effortlessly, suffering only a few scratches and causing a bloodbath under the lone moonlight like a real deal samurai!

The roof was piled with the guards' unmoving and unconscious bodies. It didn't sit well with me to call them corpses.

Damn! He moved like a blade of wind—clean, fast, beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off him. Even with that smug look and the way he talks down to everyone . . . The way he fights? That's something else.

Strong enough to kill his own invincible kind like it's nothing! No superpower, but skill! I hate to say it, but I'm super jealous right now! I want to learn that! I want him to teach me!

"Whew... That's every last of them. My arms are seriously starting to complain." He turned to me and grinned, leaning his face close to me as he poked my forehead with his index finger. "Your eyes are sparkling. Are you thinking naughty thoughts of me in that little head of yours?"

Nevermind. I don't like this guy.

"YOU..!

I winced when Mochizuki's voice rang in the air. He crawled out of the trapdoor. His body was crumbling but whole, complete. He's regenerating?! Wasn't he ripped to shreds?

"Shit! I forgot!" Azuri smacked his forehead.

What did he forget?!

"Hahahaha! You think you're so clever, aren't you, Kashiki? Sneaking into my palace and getting away with..." He squinted his eyes, taking a clearer look at me, which made my body shudder.

"Oh, so you've had her after all. Those eyes . . . She's so beautiful. Look at her! Hahaha . . . You lying—SON OF A BITCH!" He banged his fist on the roof while struggling to get on his feet, and shakily pointed a weird-looking weapon towards Azuri that was almost as long as a katana.

However, it was no katana, but one made of wood and steel. With the way Azuri stiffened, I assumed it was a weapon he can't go against, or it's something that could kill ghosts like him.

"A tanegashima. Wow. Rich people have it all, don't they?"

"YOU GAVE ME A FAKE BRIDE AND YOU KEPT THE REAL ONE TO YOURSELF?! And to think, we got along so well. Hahahah . . ." Mochizuki chuckled in a frenzy. He's gone mad. Perhaps madder than what Azuri had become once.

"You think we got along? You're full of shit. We've never been on the same side, not even once." Azuri stayed still, jaw tight. The more they talked, the heavier the fog in my mind grew.

"Whatever you say. But you should do one thing..." Mochizki threatened. I hid behind Azuri, unsettled by Mochizuki's eyes. He shielded me from Mochizuki's view with his arm.

"Give me the bride," Mochizuki commanded and stretched his bleeding, shaky arm that had been holding the weird weapon, aiming towards Azuri's head. "I'll give you the seeds. The very ones you seem to want so badly. Sounds like a fair trade to me, doesn't it?"

The wind howled as silence filled.

"Fine! Ignore me. Because I'm about to shoot, Kashiki. And take her for myself. On the count of three, if you don't give me the bride."

A clicking sound made my nerves jolt. It must've come from that weird weapon. I have to help Azuri somehow. Seeing as we're nearly at the edge of the roof, I looked down despite my trembling legs.

Keep calm, Mirai! It's just heights! I observed our surroundings before concluding after I had caught a certain spot below.

"One." Mochizuki's eye twitched in irritation.

"Not so fast. Got something for you. Straight from my master." Azuri cut him off, sneering with a cocky look. His eyes darted to me, watching the gestures I'm making before returning his gaze to Mochizuki.

"Go ahead, shoot. Let's see how the Shinigami King reacts when his right hand gets wasted by someone filthier than a sewer."

"TWO!" Mochizuki raised his voice. His grip on the long weapon became stable. Azuri may be poking into the hornet's nest but he's actually buying me a lot of time.

"Heck, when his bride runs off with a piece of trash like you, he's not just gonna lose it. He'll burn everything down. People, ghosts, the whole damn planet."

"SILENCE!"

Azuri continued, "She's his whole damn world. And you? You're not even a footnote. And if you think she'd choose you, you're more delusional than I thought. Here's the deal . . . You think you deserve her? You couldn't handle being in the same room as her, let alone anything more."

Now!

"THREE—"

The sound of what came to be a small explosion banged in the air. But the howling of the wind was stronger. Azuri and I were like threads being pulled by a needle with intense force. The chilly wind flowing through us as we descended.

"Mari, I hope to GOD you know what you were thinking!"

He didn't need to ruin my moment of serenity! It's not like I could scream as I fell from such a height, either.

"ACK!"

Both of us landed on an oak tree. The branches grazed and pricked our skins, but it turned out to be a very decent cushion for our fall, especially with the armor I stole from the guards that were slain by Azuri on the roof.

It didn't take long for me to recover from my dizziness to realize—

"You, You know, we might as well get a bit more comfortable if you intended this would happen . . ." Azuri winced in slight pain.

Eugh, I'm on top of him! I abruptly wriggled myself free and ended up falling on the ground. My armor dangled on the branches that it had pulled out from me.

Ahh! My ass hurts!

"Hey! Aren't you that...?!" A familiar samurai called out. "What the..?! Th, Those clothes! You're that errand boy—girl?!"

Whoops! I forgot there are samurai here! Maybe even more than how they were on the higher floors. He then charged towards me—

"I told you not to touch my errand boy!" Azuri jumped from the tree and landed in front of me, facing the samurai, who froze.

"Satsujin-sama?! Hey! You're not..!" The samurai choked, turning more pale than he already was.

"What, wanna sleep with me, baby?" Azuri teased with a cute tone as he fluttered his eyelashes before swiftly piercing his blade into the samurai's stomach.

"AGH!" The samurai screamed in pain.

"Before you die, I wanna tell you something . . . " Azuri dragged his sleeve across his face, smearing off the makeup. "I'M A FUCKING MAN!"

While the guard groaned in pain, he breathed, "In my dreams, yeah, I would . . ." before taking his last.

Well, that was interesting. Azuri turned to me with a blank expression, "You never heard anything."

"HALT! INTRUDERS!" A group of samurai cornered us, having heard our fall and Azuri's attack. Their numbers increased the longer we stood. This is bad! There are so many of them! We can't climb over the gates with this heck of a number!

Azuri readied his stance and parried his katana.

"It's..!" The samurai who looked like their captain gasped, as though he recognized Azuri the moment he positioned himself. "Be careful, men! He's the Shinigami King's vassal! He can exterminate common ghosts like us without a sweat!"

Common ghosts? Aren't all ghosts equal?

"Run." Azuri muttered. "Get out of here, Mari. Retrieve the seeds from Michiko. They won't touch you while I'm here." His tone was sharp, but something in it made me feel reassured. I've seen so many sides of Azuri tonight, but this one?

It caught me off—

"CHARGE!' The samurai roared and prepared their weapons.

Shoot! I sprinted as fast as I could.

"Hey! His apprentice is getting away—"

Slashing noise rang out as I kept on running and running, that I almost tripped. No! Why am I running?! I have to help Azuri! I can't leave him alone! But this is what he wanted me to do.

Why did I listen to him?! Calm down, Mirai. He can handle those dopes! You've seen him at his peak—or lowest. He's the cold-hearted Kiri no Tsujigiri, after all.

Azuri . . . Make it out of there. For the Shinigami King.