Sekien Academy, Ema — 6:40 pm. The prestigious halls of the school were empty. The only sounds that emitted were from Mura and Lilith’s footsteps. The yokai twirled around the corridors, completely carefree and jovial while her friend searched for the location they desired.

“Stop spinning around, will you? We don’t need anyone hearing you,” Mura whispered.

“Well we already know they can’t see or hear me unless I want them to! That’s pretty good, right? You on the other hand are a different story.”

Mura sighed, knowing she was correct. He hoped they wouldn’t run into any stray teachers or staff, else he’d most likely have to subdue and lock them away until they were found the next morning.

His eyes glazed over various glass display cases, showcasing awards and pieces of artwork created by talented students.

“So humans, they also enjoy displaying their achievements?” he said, trying to make small talk.

“Well, of course! I don’t know why you think they wouldn’t?”

The reply struck a chord in Mura’s mind, causing him to cross his arms while walking forward.

“It was just something Mara brought up when I met with him,” Mura admitted.

“What happened in there? I’m still pissed off that I couldn’t come in, you know how long I had to wait for my hair to get that pretty??”

“Yeah, I feel you. The emperor just going on about how much he hates humans… It’s kind of odd, you know? I’ve been thinking about it for some time now…”

Lilith stopped in her tracks, allowing herself to fall behind Mura.

“What’s odd, Mura?”

Mura stopped as well, reaching a campus directory sign and leaning against it.

“All of his speeches on TV, they’re all about the shinigami and how they’re a menace… But when I actually met with him, he barely mentioned them. It was just about humans and humanity… How they infiltrated and defiled demon culture and the people. Even referred to humans as a cancer.”

“What the hell… His Majesty’s a dick and a xenophobe.” Lilith said angrily.

“Yeah I know, but watch it. I don’t know if Kirin has surveillance in here or something,” Mura spoke in a whisper. “Anyways, it’s nothing. The nurse’s office should be right down this way, according to the map.”

The duo continued onwards, taking a right down the hall.

“So you’re sure they have spare clothes in the nurse’s place?” Mura asked.

“Of course! They did back in my day and that was just four years ago! They always keep spares in case something happens, like someone pissing themselves,” Lilith laughed.

Mura chuckled along with her at the thought. The conversation and silence of their surroundings was nice to him, as they rarely had a moment to relax lately.

“Hey Lilith, you remembering anything so far about your past life? Maybe… anything about school life?”

She pondered for a moment, looking up in thought.

“I do… sorta. I remember the dirty shop we went to, talking with friends back then about what they might have had in there. Ooh, I also remember walking to school every day with one girl—”

Lilith stopped in her tracks, gasping as if someone punched her in the throat.

“You okay, buddy? Lilith??” Mura asked in a serious tone, looking at her and then around at his surroundings for a possible attack.

The yokai put her hand up to tell him she was okay, but stumbled and braced herself against the academy’s wooden walls. Her eyelids fluttered as Mura inspected her at face level. Her eyes were slightly rolled back into her head.

Mura placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to snap back to reality. She wheezed and panted, as if the air had been forced from her lungs. Comforted Lilith, he remained close until she slowly regained her composure.

“What was that?! I’ve never seen that happen before!” Mura worriedly said.

“I… I don’t know what it was. I felt like someone was pushing and pulling me, back and forth. Like, I was being woken up… and plunging back into a nightmare over and over.”

“Whatever you experienced, your body didn’t like it,” he replied.

Mura checked her body for any signs of damage, including her eyes, mouth and heartbeat.

“You seem okay now, at least. Let’s just be careful, okay?”

“Thanks Mura, I’m… really glad I can count on you.”

He patted her head with smile, eliciting a tired laugh from her. The two walked into the nurse’s office, flicking on the lights. There were potted plants and a lovely sky blue coat of paint on the walls with health and nutritional posters aplenty. There was a cabinet of medical supplies locked up and a few drawers of spare pieces to the academy’s uniform.

“Perfecto! Here we go, so now we can get a proper schoolboy disguise for you!” Lilith stated with a giggle, pulling out a men’s jacket. “It’s a bit too small for you though, don’t you think?”

Mura smiled and nodded with a chuckle of his own.

“It is pretty small. Good thing I’m not the one dressing up here.”

Lilith turned to look at her friend with an expression of realization plastered upon it.

“Oh, you gotta be shitting me.”

❇ ❇ ❇

Sekien Academy, Ema — 7:10 pm. Outside of the school’s gates, night loomed over the buildings; giving off an uneasy atmosphere. Streetlamps from the sidewalks along the streetway brightly illuminated the path, as did many of the electronic signs flashing on the buildings surrounding the campus.

An orange-haired girl and the robotic companion hovering beside her peeked through the slatted bars of the locked school gates.

“Why don’t you trust that nice officer, Tomoe?” Ai complained, her avatar visibly upset.

“For one thing, he said he was sent here to escort me home safely. Did he ever make an attempt to stop me from leaving on my own?” Tomoe said, narrowing her eyes to view better in the dark.

Well… that’s true actually, he didn’t! Do you think he wasn’t a real policeman after all?” Ai cried.

“You know, for something that’s artificially intelligent, you’re really gullible sometimes.”

Animated tears rolled down Ai’s rendered face.

“M-Meanie! I can’t help that I was programmed to be so loving!”

Tomoe spotted someone emerging from the doors of the campus, a girl from the look of it. The gates were so far from the actual building that anyone would appear like a miniature from the distance.

“Sorry Ai, but hey can you focus on that person please? Turn off your screen too so they won’t see it,” Tomoe instructed.

“Aye aye!” the handheld android said happily.

Tomoe went away from the gates, hugging her back against the solid walls instead.

“What do you see??”

“I see… a schoolgirl. Blonde hair, approximately fourteen years of age by her appearance. She’s walking down the path, looking around the perimeter.”

Alarms went off in Tomoe’s head, something wasn’t right.

“That’s weird, the academy is closed… How is another girl in there?”

Her mind immediately began cooking up every possible conspiracy. Maybe this girl was the kidnapper, or perhaps she escaped and was trying to find her way around in a disoriented state. This could even be an accomplice, designed to lure out unsuspecting victims and get their guard down.

“We need to get to her right away!” Tomoe said with haste.

“B-But wait, Tomoe! We’ll be trespassing! You could get suspended… again!” Ai worriedly replied.

Tomoe ignored the A.I. and backed up into the empty street while facing the wall before her. She sprinted towards the barrier and using her momentum, planted the sole of her sneaker against the rough, gritty brick surface. Pushing off against it, Tomoe propelled upwards and reached for the top of the wall with her hand.

Her fingers found their target in the darkness, gripping tightly to the smooth stone edge of the wall’s peak. She effortlessly lifted herself up onto the wall, clearing it and dropping down to the other side.

Ai flew over the wall, her robotic voice making a tired sigh.

“You have far too much experience with this sort of thing. I don’t even want to know what you’re up to while I’m in sleep mode.”

Tomoe smiled with a mischievous grin. She motioned for Ai to come closer as she stuck to the shadows of the trees before her.

“Speaking of which, time to go take a nap. You’ve earned it, buddy,” Tomoe said as Ai hovered over her owner’s hand.

“I hope this will be over soon… I just want to go home to my dock and recharge in peace…” Ai whimpered before retracting her rotors and falling into Tomoe’s hand.

Ai’s avatar shut her pink eyes as a cartoonish bubble spawned over her nose, signifying her animated slumber. Tomoe smiled lightly, never growing tired of how cute it was even if she saw it every night.

The android’s screen powered off and Tomoe slipped her companion into her pocket, then proceed forward as she watched the suspicious schoolgirl ahead.

Meanwhile, Mura was busy watching events take place from the shadows of the roof. He had changed back into his normal demon attire, having ditched the police outfit. Hidden far more discreetly than Tomoe currently was, Mura noticed her skulking behind the trees far ahead almost immediately.

—Shit, I thought Orange Head went home already! I can’t go out and say anything to Lilith, if our perp is watching then I’ll just give away my position. Still, that also means we have two young girls as bait instead of just one…

Lilith was completely dressed in the academy’s uniform, consisting of a blazer with a plaid skirt and tie. She had complained immensely after discovering her role in Mura’s genius plan, but had to go along with it nevertheless. A pink hue was still tinting her cheeks as she pretended to be a helpless human wandering home.

“I can’t believe I got locked inside the school! Gee, I really shouldn’t eat that much next time!” she said aloud in a forced voice.

Mura looked from above in silent disbelief.

—I guess acting wasn’t her pursuit in that previous life…

By this point, Lilith had sauntered over to a wooden bench lit by an electric lamp along the path leading to the gates.

“Guess if I can’t find a way out, I’ll just have to sleep alone out here… by myself on this bench. A defenseless schoolgirl~”

Tomoe watched the display from behind a nearby tree.

“I’ve never seen this girl at the school before… Plus what the hell is she even doing?” Tomoe whispered to herself.

Unable to take any more of the embarrassing display, she leapt out from behind her tree and quickly approached Lilith. In return, the yokai immediately leapt up and threw a knife she had been hiding within the waistband of her skirt. With a soft thud, the blade embedded itself centimeters from Tomoe’s feet.

“The hell are you, a ninja or something? Explain yourself, where’s Junko?!” Tomoe yelled, assuming a fighting stance. Her crimson martial-arts gloves reflected the yellow streetlamp’s glow.

Lilith sighed and propped her leg up on the bench in an unladylike display.

“Wow, it’s you again. Buzz off kid, that’s what we’re trying to find out too.”

Tomoe dropped her stance slightly with a puzzled look contorting her face.

“What do you mean by again, do I know you from somewhere? Is this some kind of sting operation??” she asked.

Lilith rolled her eyes in response before getting off the bench and walking toward the human girl for a proper reply.

“Let’s just say I’m Detective Mura’s partner.”

“But you’re like, fourteen!” Tomoe gasped in shock.

“Hey, I’m eighteen technically! I just happen to age very well, thank you kindly!!” Lilith stated matter-of-fact.

“What the hell is going on here… I just want to know—“

Blood spurted onto Lilith’s chest.

A single arrow protruded above Tomoe’s right breast, causing a red stain to quickly begin spreading across her white shirt.

Tomoe looked down at the projectile embedded in her torso, her mind processing the events before horror overtook. Two lashes rushed out through the wind as Lilith pulled Tomoe down to the ground. As she did, two similar arrows lodged themselves into the wooden bench.

On the school’s roof, Mura had felt a burst of Tamashiryoku from within the trees before it quickly subsided. A split second later, Lilith pulled Tomoe to the ground while arrows fired at them.

—Shit! I need to get down there now!

Lilith pulled Tomoe behind the bench for cover as the schoolgirl began to hyperventilate.

“Don’t worry! You’ll be okay, just stay calm!” Lilith said as she held Tomoe close.

The yokai ran her finger along the arrowhead’s bloody surface, smelling her fingertips before tasting it lightly and spitting out the contents.

“It’s not poisoned, so that’s a relief.”

Lilith looked to Tomoe for any signs of a reply. She had passed out, sweat was beginning to form across her forehead.

Meanwhile, Mura leapt off his perch and parkoured down the building’s structure until he swiftly landed on the soft grass. The moment his feet made contact with the grass, he began sprinting to cover.

Arrows shot rapidly behind him until Mura ducked behind a tree. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Mura shut his eyes and focused.

—His focus is on me now. I guess it’s time to put this bad boy to good use.

With a thought, Mura’s slipstream ring vibrated lightly on his finger. With a small flash of green light, the Jigoku ni Tekine was summoned into his grip. Twirling it once from behind cover, Mura was armed and ready for battle.

—This guy is a long-range fighter, so I just gotta close the distance.

Mura peeked the tip of his sword out from cover. Almost immediately, an arrow struck the blade and bounced off; causing him to tighten his grip to keep from dropping the weapon.

“Where’s Junko, buddy? Listen, just tell me where the girls are and I don’t have to kill you!” Mura yelled out.

It was a blatant lie, but Mura was willing to say anything to keep any more innocent humans from dying.

Silence lingered in the air.

Lilith, noticing Tomoe’s wound bleeding even more, began to worry. She couldn’t heal the human until she merged with Mura. Knowing that the archer was now pinned to a single location, she felt a little more secure. However everyone present was now in the middle of this three-way standoff.

Mura peeked his sword’s tip out again, much more swiftly this time. Nothing struck it. Now was the time to gamble, and Mura was gambling big. He ran out from his cover and sprinted to the tree in front of him where the arrows were coming from.

What Mura found was absolutely nothing hiding on the branches of the old willow tree.

Lilith looked out at Mura who had sprinted towards the sniper’s location.

“Are you crazy?!” she shouted at him.

Lilith felt something off. Something change nearby, like a shift in the wind.

Looking down to check on Tomoe, Lilith gasped at what she saw. Tomoe had completely vanished, leaving only a small puddle of blood where she had just been.