The moment Bokue's fists smmed down, Akeno Himejima's thoughts were pulled back to that afternoon ten years ago.
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Fmes engulfed the shrine, the leaping red firelight reflecting off her mother's rapidly cooling body. The pristine white-and-red shrine maiden garb was stained with a deep crimson of death. The once-tranquil forest around them rattled with the Himejima Cn's exorcists, shouting and bellowing in pursuit.
"Catch her—don't let that abomination get away!"
"I don't care about the others, but that half-breed must be taken alive! That's the cn head's order!"
"She's the bastard child of that traitorous Shuri Himejima and some filthy Fallen Angel! If word spreads, the Himejima Cn's reputation will be finished!"
"Kill her!"
"Kill her!"
"Kill her!"
Someone… save me…
Save… Mom…
Echoes of hunting cries rose in the woods behind her, and somewhere off to the west, a small figure was sprinting for her life.
The young girl's hair hung in wild disarray, and the once-comfortable shrine maiden clothes became a cruel hindrance—loose sleeves snagged on branches, the cloth ripped to tatters by thorns. Bits of red and white fabric littered the ground like a path of despair.
But at that moment, she couldn't be bothered with how it looked. She only clung to the final words her mother had spoken, right before falling in order to protect her:
"Akeno… run… find… your father…"
Yet… where was her father now?
He was a Fallen Angel officer—off somewhere on a mission for the Fallen Angel Governor.
Which was why the Himejima Cn had come. They killed her mother. Now they'd kill her, too…
Their hunting calls drew closer, echoing in the darkening forest. The cn had sent its elite exorcists. Within minutes, the clues Akeno left behind were enough to track her down.
"She's here! She went this way!"
"Follow the footprints and cloth scraps—she can't have gone far!"
"We must kill her!"
Like a final countdown to death. The footsteps multiplied, pressing in with grim purpose. Akeno's strength was nearly spent.
"Father… where are you…? Cough—!"
Her parched throat burned with blood and dryness, cutting off her plea. She staggered to a halt, dropping to a crouch, hands on her knees, gasping for air. Everything tasted of iron.
They're going to catch me…
I can't run anymore…
Mom… Dad…
I… I'm going to die…
She felt strangely numb—whether from shock or resignation. The terror of a bde through her chest no longer mattered. Akeno wiped away the blood at her lips and straightened, wanting to tilt her face to the patch of sky beyond the forest canopy, perhaps catching one st glimpse of afternoon sun.
But instead of the cn's bloodthirsty exorcists, she saw someone else: a teenage boy, apparently traveling with a pack slung over his shoulder, regarding her with open curiosity.
"Hey, wake up. I'm not your dad. Also—are you okay like that?"
Run!
She tried to shout, straining her voice to warn him. Her cn's exorcists wouldn't hesitate to kill witnesses. If she was doomed to die, at least this stranger could escape…
But her throat was too raw to make a sound.
And that was when the pursuers arrived.
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"Finally ran out of steam, huh? Gave us quite the chase."
"Oh well—she's just a kid, after all. Still, it's impressive she made it this far."
"Such a pity. She could've been a top exorcist if she hadn't inherited that filthy Fallen Angel blood. Bme your whore of a mother for betraying the Himejima Cn by consorting with devils!"
It felt like the final, condemning words before an execution. The group's leader, brandishing a naginata, strode forward.
Akeno shut her eyes in terror.
But she heard a calm voice instead:
"Oh, these uniforms… So you're the Himejima Cn's exorcists. Shouldn't you be working with those Jujutsu Sorcerers to clean up curses? Why chase a little kid out here?"
"Huh?!"
Only then did the leader notice the teen boy standing next to the exhausted girl.
"Some random brat, are you? Well, I'm sorry—but if you've learned our cn's secret, I'm afraid you'll have to die with her."
"…Huh?"
He looked a bit stunned, then muttered under his breath:
"You want to kill me? That's… quite a statement. If you manage it, everyone in 'Hero Vilge' would be grateful to you…"
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Just the span of a quarter incense stick's time—a few minutes—and multiple thunderous impacts shook the mountain slopes as though meteorites had crashed. After that, calm returned to the forest that had rung with chaos all afternoon.
The Exorcist leader fell st.
Broken shards of armor cttered around him like fish scales peeled by a blunt bde. A once-famed Holy naginata y snapped into three pieces.
Even so, battered and near death, he clung to a final threat:
"You… you can't kill me. If you do… the Himejima cn head will hunt you down. They'll never forgive you!!"
"Oh?"
Unscathed, the teen frowned, picking at his ear with a pinky, then blowing on it.
"Well, in that case…"
He dropped one st punch. A lethal blow.
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When he returned to the girl, the boy pulled a fancy water fsk—embzoned with a single "Hana" character—and a rge bag of cssic potato chips from his pack, offering them to her.
"Here. I'll give you these. Take the fsk, go catch the bullet train to Kyoto. Find a fox dy with, uh… a 'VERY' big bust at Yasaka Shrine. Show her this, and she'll help you. It's safe there… Oh—almost forgot to give you some money for the ride. I've got spare change."
He pointed through the trees. "Go north about twenty minutes, and you'll reach the main road. Then take the train—two hours to Kyoto. If you're fast, you'll get to Yasaka Shrine by nightfall."
Then he stood, shouldering his pack. "I've got other business, so… guess this is goodbye."
"My name's Bokue Keikain—acting representative of the Kyoto-based Keikain Cn. Right now, I'm traveling alone."
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The next day, major news headlines broke everywhere:
The Main Himejima Estate Fttened Overnight.
House Leader Juo Himejima Found Dead, Decapitated and Dispyed on the Grand Torii Gate.
