An old man lies on his bed in a dark room. The dim glow of hospital equipment lights the room just enough to see, and the slow, faint beeping of that same equipment is the only sound. The man stares at the ceiling, his raspy breath bringing him a slight pain in his throat in what he knows are his final moments. He feels the warm touch of another holding his right hand, and he turns to see his son holding that hand.

“Hano…” the old man spoke, “My son, come closer. I wish to see your face… one last time.”

“Yes father.” The son, whose name was Hano, obeyed and moved his face closer.

The man smiled at Hano, seeing his son's stern expression one last time, the young man's silver glasses hiding the soft face of an empathetic man. “I was not a good father to you, Hano. And yet, I am proud of the man you have become.”

“Thank you father, but please, do not disregard your efforts.” Hano spoke in a formal tone. “It is thanks to you that I am the man I am now.”

The old man smiled, before a violent fit of coughs abruptly came over him. As the coughing ended, the man turned to Hano once more. “Hano, when I am gone, the duty of training your brother will fall to you.”

Hano nodded. “I am aware, father. I will do all I can to make Hiro into a samurai worthy of our family name.”

“I see. Thank you Hano. Tell Hiro that… I love you both.” As the man spoke, the air from his body escaped from his mouth, his eyelids shut, and the beeping of the hospital machine stopped. Hano let go of his father’s hand, stood up, and left the room.

Outside of the room was a long hallway, and waiting just outside the door was a boy four years younger than Hano. The boy turned to Hano, looking him in the eye waiting for the answer to an unspoken question. Hano shook his head, and the boy looked down, disappointed.

“So he’s gone, huh?” The boy reaffirmed.

“I’ll alert the rest of the family. You pack your bags, we’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.” Hano began walking past the boy and into the hallway.

“Aren’t you sad?” The boy asked. “Our dad just died you know? You’re allowed to cry.”

Hano stopped walking, and thought for a moment. Then, without even glancing at the boy, he answered. “There will be time for tears later. For now, we have a duty to fulfill.” Hano continued his path down the hall, as he left the boy with a message. “You’ll have time to cry on the plane.”

Sorin’s eyelids began to slowly close, as the monotonous instructions of his teacher at the front of the classroom went into his ears and seemingly left through the next. The 17 year old boy stared down at the paper on his desk, as he scraped his pencil across its white surface, creating letters and numbers of which he had little interest in. As the boredom set in further, Sorin’s attention was caught by the whispers of two girls closer to the front of the class. Sorin’s eyes were drawn towards one of the girls, Tia Morgan. Sorin stared at her for a moment, admiring her short brown hair and attractive smile, before Sorin realised the strangeness of his actions, and he quickly averted his gaze, his eyes darting back to the pages on his desk quickly. Sorin let out a sigh, and he muttered to himself.

“I should really stop daydreaming. She’s cute, but I’m never getting a chance with her.” Sorin continued writing on his paper.

Outside the school building, a pair of eyes peered through the windows, scanning the students and observing them, like a farmer wondering which of his animals to slaughter. A teenager might be good… a young body means they’re physically able. The owner of the eyes thought to themselves.

That day, Sorin ate alone. He sat in a secluded corner of the cafeteria in his school, and he ate his lunch while observing the gossiping and laughing of all the people around him. Sorin would often think about how some would see this sort of existence and think it sad. However, after living like this for many years of his life, Sorin had simply gotten used to it, and although he never thought it ideal, he never disliked being alone either.

The eyes stared through the windows from above, staring at the students below like a vulture eyeing its prey. The eyes locked onto Sorin, observing his every action. He’s alone, doesn’t seem to have any friends. The eyes thought.

After school had ended, Sorin made his way home through the city streets, walking along the sidewalk surrounded by towering glass skyscrapers. Streetside shops lined the walls, and the roadside paths were crowded with people. The city of Idolis was truly a metropolis, a testament to the ingenuity of modern day humans.

The eyes continued watching Sorin from high above the street, as the owner grew a large smile staring at the boy. If he’s alone, then no one will miss him when he’s gone. The eyes continued following Sorin, as the owner let out a sinister chuckle.

After leaving the crowded inner city and reaching the outer suburbs, Sorin eventually found his way to his home, where he entered and was greeted by a familiar voice.

“Sorin! You’re just in time, dinner’s already up!” Sorin’s mother, Nora Trace, called out as Sorin opened the door.

“Thanks Mum, I’ll be there in a sec!”

Sorin and Nora sat at their table, eating dinner together as the sound of the television filled the room, the two barely paying any attention to the masculine voice relaying the news. “It has been confirmed by the family that Sakai Moritoshi, the head of the esteemed Moritoshi clan in Japan, unfortunately passed away late last night. Mr. Moritoshi was a beloved philanthropist, and the people of Japan are crossing their fingers that his two sons, Hano and Hiro Moritoshi, can follow in his footsteps.”

“Did you hear what that guy said?” Nora asked.

“The news announcer? Was it something about some Japanese guy dying?” Sorin replied.

“The name though, I seem to recognise it but I wasn’t paying enough attention to fully hear it.”

“Yeah, it did sound a little familiar. Maybe I’ve heard his name on the news before. What was it again… Mori… Marito…” Sorin attempted to piece together the vague syllables he barely heard just a moment ago.

“His sons too though, they seemed to sound familiar.” Nora thought for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders and returning to her dinner. “Oh well, I’m sure it’s nothing we need to be worried about. If it is we’ll hear about it soon enough.”

Sorin finished his dinner and stood up from the table. As he waved his mother goodbye, he turned and began walking upstairs towards his room. “I’m just gonna stay in my room till bed. Goodnight Mum.” Sorin stepped into his room, closing the door behind him, as he sat atop his bed looking through his phone, the moonlight spilling through his closed window. As Sorin looked through his phone, his attention was suddenly caught by a tap. Confused, Sorin looked around his room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. A moment passed, and another tap came. This time Sorin heard its direction, as he turned towards his window, once again seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Sorin stood up, walked towards his window, and opened it, peering outside to see the origin of the tapping. As Sorin looked outside, he saw nothing but his backyard, an empty small plane of grass, abandoned under the dark of night, and once again, nothing out of the ordinary. Sorin sighed and muttered to himself. “Must’ve been a possum or something.” He reached to close the window, but before he could, out of the corner of his eye Sorin saw a red flash flying around the corner of his house, through his window, and slamming itself into Sorin’s chest.

Sorin was thrown back, landing on his behind in shock as his widened eyes looked forwards to see what had slammed into him, however nothing was there. Not a single trace of the large red flash that rushed into his body. Sorin looked down at his chest, seeing no marks of a cut or bruise, and he began to wonder whether he was hallucinating.

Right as these thoughts crossed Sorin’s mind, he heard a voice. “So Sorin, was it?”

Sorin began to shake, as he slowly turned his head towards his bed, and saw, lying atop it casually, with a confident fanged smirk, was a ghostly red demon. With a translucent body, it appeared to bear two small horns and sharp, claw-like nails on each finger and toe, with two red eyes that confidently peered at Sorin. In shock, Sorin quickly scurried to the opposite corner of his room, his eyes locked onto the creature, as words failed to escape his mouth.

“What, too scared to even answer me?” The demon asked in a casual tone. “Kinda rude if you ask me, then again I haven’t been on earth for a couple hundred years. Customs may have changed, so I guess I’m not one to talk.” Sorin remained speechless, as he stared in awe at the creature in front of him. The creature stared back at Sorin, confused. “Uhh, are you okay? Can you speak english? Or am I not speaking it correctly? I don’t really have any way to check.”

“Who are you…?” Words finally escaped from Sorin’s lips, as the demon looked at Sorin in surprise.

“Oh wow! He talks! Now that’s a surprise! Well I guess to answer your question, you can call me Kamui!”

“Are you a ghost? Or a demon?” Sorin’s body shook as he barely managed to speak.

Kamui thought for a moment, rubbing his chin as he did. “I mean, I’m kind of close to both of them, but I’m not exactly either. What I am is a yokai, a spirit from Japan who possesses humans.”

A look of realisation came upon Sorin’s face. “Was that what just happened? When that red thing flew into me? Was that you possessing me?”

Kamui snapped his fingers, then pointed a finger at Sorin playfully. “Bingo. Right now, you and I are sharing a body kiddo. I’m just an extra soul in the same body, so right now you’re the only one who can see me.”

“So… what? What are you going to do by possessing me?”

Kamui smirked devilishly. “Well first I’m gonna take over your body. Then, I’m gonna head into the city over there and wreak some havoc. Seems like there’s plenty of people over there to kill, so it should be fun to rip some flesh and bash some skulls.”

Sorin gasped, before quickly standing up and rushing towards his door, reaching for the handle to open it. Kamui noticed this though, and he quickly flew towards Sorin, flying into his body. As Kamui collided with Sorin, the boy was pushed onto his back on the ground. As he landed and looked up, Sorin was left stunned, and he questioned if what he was seeing was real, as he saw standing over him was not Kamui like he had expected, but himself. Sorin looked down at his hands and saw the same translucency he saw in Kamui, and the realisation slowly dawned on him, as the Sorin standing over him turned his head, and smiled sinisterly at the Sorin on the ground.

“Sorry kid, but I’ll be taking the body from here.” The Sorin standing said in Kamui’s voice, as the Sorin on the ground looked up in fear.

“You took my body?” Sorin asked.

“Yep. And it’s a pretty good body too.” Kamui in Sorin’s body confirmed, as he looked out the window and smirked. “I’m gonna go cause some hell. You’re welcome to come watch, not like you can do much like that anyway.” Kamui turned towards the window, clenched his muscles, and leapt with such force that he seemingly shot like a bullet out of the window. As Sorin stared at the window in stunned silence, he felt a sudden pull, as though a giant unseen rubberband was pulling him towards his body, as without even twitching a finger, Sorin flew out the window the exact same way Kamui had a moment ago, dragged along by the invisible force that followed Kamui into the city.

The excited eyes of a yokai looked around the city streets in awe at the massive buildings of glass and steel, the golden street lights illuminating the city at night and spilling their artificial luminescence onto Kamui below, as well as his toothy grin.

“Holy shit, you guys have come a long way in just a couple hundred years.” As Kamui spoke to himself, Sorin suddenly landed on the ground directly behind Kamui, face planting into the pavement below. Kamui turned to Sorin, unamused. “Oh right, you can’t go too far from your body while in soul form.” Kamui rolled his eyes, then ignored Sorin and continued walking.

Sorin pulled himself off the ground, as he looked around in fear at all the people walking through the streets, without even throwing a glance his way. “They can’t see me… can they?”

“Of course not.” Kamui answered. “You’re just a soul in my body. You have no effect on the physical world.”

Sorin’s gaze quickly snapped to Kamui, as he spoke with both fear and frustration. “That’s my body! You stole it from me, so don’t talk like it’s already yours!”

Kamui stopped in his tracks, causing Sorin to recoil slightly in fear. The demon slowly turned around, his expression now uncaring and emotionless. “Didn’t you hear what I said?” A smile began to grow across Kamui’s face. “This is my body now. You’re not in control anymore little man. And since this is my body, I’m gonna use it how I want.”

As Kamui said this, he quickly turned around, slamming his fist into the face of a nearby salary man, causing the suited man to go flying through the crowd behind him for about fifteen meters, before skidding across the ground, unconscious. The crowd’s eyes were all drawn to Kamui and the man, as the civilians around began to back away from Kamui, creating an opening in the crowd with Kamui in the center. A second passed which felt like an eternity, as the terrified gazes of the people looked upon the sadistic grin Kamui bore. Then, a single scream from the terrified crowd, and not a moment later the entire crowd was put into a panic, as they all desperately scrambled away from Kamui.

Kamui laughed out for the entire street to hear, as he cried out words of excitement. “Yes! This is what I was missing! All those hundreds of years trapped away, I missed this feeling of making a bunch of pathetic humans fear for their lives! It almost feels as good as actually killing them!”

Sorin stared in horror at the demon before him, muttering to himself in shock. “How… How can he have so much strength? How was that punch able to send that man so far?”

Suddenly, a masculine voice cried out, “Freeze!” And both Sorin and Kamui turned around to see a pair of police officers further down the street, one male and one female, both aiming their handguns directly at Kamui. “Drop any weapons you have and put your hands in the air!”

“Wait, he’s just a kid.” The female officer mentioned. “Whatever’s happening has gotta be a misunderstanding, no way a kid like that could cause this much panic.”

“Kid!?” Kamui cried out, immediately grabbing the attention of the officers once more. “Did you bastards just call me a kid!? I’m over a thousand fucking years old you assholes!”

“Even if he is a kid, he seems delusional.” The male officer observed. “He might be on drugs, let’s try to diffuse the situation first.”

As the officer spoke however, Kamui suddenly darted forwards at speeds higher than the police could react to, and in the blink of an eye Kamui had already slammed his fist into the male officer’s face, sending him flying across the ground and leaving the female officer in shock, with Kamui now standing directly beside her. The female officer, her eyes widened in fear, quickly turned her gun towards Kamui, and without a second thought she pulled the trigger and fired a bullet directly into Kamui’s left shoulder.

Kamui recoiled back and clutched the bleeding hole in his shoulder. “You bastard!” Kamui screamed in pain. As the officer prepared to fire once more, Kamui reached forward with his left hand, grabbing the officer by the neck and raising her above the ground, all the while she continued holding her gun only centimeters away from Kamui’s head. The officer looked down in shock, as she saw Kamui’s right hand hovering over the bullet hole, digging his fingers into the wound, as with a pained expression and sweat rolling down his face, he pulled the bullet out of the bloody hole, right before the hole began rapidly healing over, the flesh growing and moulding itself to cover the hole completely in less than a minute.

The officer looked down at Kamui in horror, as she uttered, “What the hell are you?” Her fingers hovering over the trigger of her gun, able to send a bullet through Kamui’s skull at any moment, but too afraid to commit to the action.

Kamui smirked, however his smirk quickly faded as a bullet flew into his right waist, causing him to recoil slightly as he turned to the officer he had previously punched, who was now aiming his smoking gun directly at Kamui. “Get the fuck away from him! That thing clearly isn’t human, so stop treating it like one!” the officer cried, trying to warn his partner. Kamui scoffed, before forcefully taking the gun from the startled female officer’s hands, and without any hesitation, Kamui fired at the male officer, sending a bullet flying through his head, killing him instantly as the officer’s body went limp and well over, his blood leaking onto the pavement below.

The female officer screamed, as Kamui threw her onto the ground, and without looking her in the eye fired a bullet through her chest, ending her life in the blink of an eye. Kamui inspected the handgun in his hand and smiled sinisterly. “Long ranged, easy to use, good power. Yep, I like this weapon.” Kamui turned around, facing Sorin who was leaning over the corpse of the female officer, terrified and confused. “Hey, kid? What do you call this thing I just used?”

“You… just killed them…” Sorin muttered in shock. “You just killed two people… I just watched two people die…”

“What? You’ve never seen someone die before?” Kamui asked. “Jeez, humans have gotten soft over the years.”

Sorin turned to Kamui, and with an expression of anger, fear and sadness all mixed into one he screamed, “What is wrong with you!? You’re a monster!”

As Kamui smirked at Sorin, police cars began to arrive at the scene, turning so that they covered both ends of the street, trapping Kamui as the police rushed out of their cars and aimed their guns.

“Two officers down! Suspect has a weapon!” An officer barked. “Suspect appears to be a young adult in their late teens!”

“How the hell did a teenager cause this much of an uproar!?” Another officer asked. “Are the officers safe!?”

“Negative, both appear to have been lethally shot.”

“Damn it…” The second officer grabbed a large megaphone from one of the police cars and began speaking through it to Kamui. “Sir, I ask that you put down the weapon! If you don’t we will be forced to shoo-” Before the officer could finish, a bullet smashed through the megaphone, piercing the officer’s skull and killing him instantly, as all the police turned to Kamui and his recently fired gun in shock.

“Boooring!” Kamui yelled. “Do you idiots really think I’m here to negotiate!?”

“Damn that kid!” The first officer screamed. “He’s murdered at least three people of his own free will! If you have to, then shoot to kill! Now fire!”

As the officer screamed, twelve bullets were fired and flew towards Kamui, however right as the triggers were pulled Kamui leapt towards the barricade of police cars in front of him, in a single leap landing on another officer, slamming his foot into the officer’s face and pushing it to the ground, crushing the officer’s skull instantly. The scared officers of that barricade all turned their guns towards Kamui and fired. Three bullets on Kamui’s left and right each were flying towards him, in an instant Kamui flung open a door to one of the police cars, using it to shield his right side from the gunfire, as he ducked under the bullets on his left. Aiming the gun in his hand to his left, Kamui fired three quick shots, each one hitting an officer lethally, as the police fell over like bleeding dominos. Kamui aimed his gun around the car door he was shielded by, only to pull the trigger and hear a faint click. After pulling the trigger two more times and having no bullets come out, Kamui discarded his gun, throwing it to the side, as he leapt over the car door. The three officers in a row looked up, terrified, as they aimed their guns, ready to fire. As Kamui landed, he grabbed the first officer by the collar, using him as a shield right as the second officer fired a bullet, the bullet flying into the human shield’s back. Kamui threw the officer he was holding towards the second, knocking him over, and as the third officer looked at his two comrades terrified, Kamui dashed towards him, grabbing the officer’s face and slamming it into the ground below, causing blood to splash onto Kamui’s face, and leaving a deep red stain on the road below.

Kamui glanced at the other barricade of officers, who were staring at the yokai in terror, and Kamui smirked once more. Kamui leapt behind a nearby police car, as the officers at the other barricade began to panic.

“He’s trying to run!” One officer yelled.

“That bastard! Is he the devil himself!?” Another screamed.

As the officers prepared to pursue Kamui, they were all left stunned and speechless, as they saw Kamui, with his bare hands, raising a police car above his head, with the psychotic smile of a madman reaching from ear to ear. The officers stared in fear, as Kamui threw the car into the air, the hunk of metal flying through the street, and landing on the cars of the other barricade, exploding on contact into an inferno that consumed every car and officer at the barricade. As the flames of the explosion continued to burn, Kamui stared with a sadistic glee at the raging fire, and Sorin stared in horror at the lives being purged.

Kamui laughed maniacally, his cackling of death echoing into the night sky above. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh, this is the feeling I’ve been missing all these years! It’s been so long since I’ve killed a human, it feels so damn good to be back!”

“How can you laugh at this?” Sorin asked, as Kamui stopped laughing, turning to Sorin. “Those people… they all had families… friends… lives… and you took that all away from them. They didn’t know tonight was going to be their last night, and now they’ll never live another night again.”

Kamui stared at Sorin for a long moment, scoffing and frowning at Sorin. “Way to kill the mood, shithead.” Kamui stared at the inferno, no longer feeling the same murderous ecstasy as he observed the charred corpses of police officers, being rapidly consumed by the chaotic orange light. “Damn it… What the hell am I doing?” Kamui muttered to himself, frustrated.

As Kamui spoke to himself, he felt a slight gust of wind at his back. This wind was familiar to Kamui, he knew it was the gust that came from a powerful enemy approaching him quickly from behind, and Kamui reacted accordingly, immediately turning around and leaping away from the threat. As he did, Kamui saw a glimmering blade just barely miss the flesh on his chest, and as Kamui landed a few meters away he looked forwards, and saw the opponent standing before him. A man in his early 20s, with silver glasses, a cold expression, and slightly unkempt, black hair. He looked of asian descent, he wore a white coat with small, near unnoticeable droplets of blood scattered around the coat. In the man’s right hand he held a shining steel katana, the long, thin blade of ancient samurai, with a blue handle and guard at the base of the sword. Kamui looked at the man, and he immediately began sweating. He knew this was not an opponent to be underestimated.

“Evil spirits have no place in the land of the living.” The man said, as he pointed his sword at Kamui.

Kamui smirked, attempting to hide his uneasiness. “That sword, you’re a samurai? Good to see some humans still go by the old ways.” Kamui stood up high, as he stretched his arms. “You seem pretty strong. That’s good, killing these guys was fun, but I need a proper challenge to get back into fighting.”

The man dashed forwards, quickly reaching Kamui and swinging his blade towards the yokai in a horizontal slash, however Kamui was able to jump into the air, leaping over the blade and avoiding the attack. As Kamui’s feet landed on the ground once more, the man swung his sword again, this time Kamui ducked to effortlessly avoid the strike. Kamui stuck out his right leg, and sweeped it across the ground, towards the man in an effort to trip him, however the man saw this, and quickly shifted the stance of his left leg, firmly planting his leg onto the ground and completely blocking Kamui’s swinging kick. Kamui was left surprised, as he looked up and saw the enemy’s blade plummeting towards him as the man unleashed a downwards slash, however before the attack could connect Kamui leaped backwards, landing several meters away from the man and immediately putting himself into a battle stance.

“I’m impressed.” Kamui commented. “Not many humans could fully block the physical force of a yokai, even if I wasn’t putting my all into it.”

“Perhaps the yokai are simply growing soft after spending so many centuries imprisoned.” The man taunted, causing Kamui to grit his teeth.

“Watch it, dipshit. You don’t wanna try and piss me off, that’s how you get yourself killed.” The man dashed towards Kamui once more, unleashing the same horizontal slash he had before as Kamui muttered to himself. “The same attack again? And here I thought this guy might be a challenge, but he’s just a rookie who only knows a few moves.”

As the man reached Kamui, the yokai once again leapt into the air, completely avoiding the slash. As a confident smile made its way onto Kamui’s face, he was suddenly left shocked, as Kamui saw the man had reached into his coat with his left hand, and in the blink of an eye the man drew a handgun from his coat, and fired it point blank into Kamui’s stomach. As Kamui landed, he attempted to leap back, but stumbled and only got a few feet back before stopping. Before Kamui had any time to get his bearings, the man was already dashing at the yokai once again, preparing another horizontal slash that would slice off Kamui’s head. In his desperation, Kamui quickly stepped forwards and swung his right leg directly into the man’s waist, causing the man to skid away from Kamui several meters.

Kamui clutched the bleeding hole in his stomach, as he began to breathe heavily. “Damn you… If it wasn’t for that kick I would’ve died there.”

As the man gathered himself and returned to his fighting stance, he adjusted his glasses and looked forwards at Kamui. “That’s the idea.”

Kamui smiled, however this was not a smile of excitement or glee, this was a smile of rage, as his eyes widened and his fists clenched. “You fucking bastard… I’ll make your death extra painful…”

Kamui dashed at the man, ready to attack, however he soon noticed that the man was preparing to attack as well. As Kamui reached the man, he unleashed a diagonal slash, which Kamui avoided by sidestepping to his right. The yokai attempted to throw a punch, however the man dodged as well, unleashing another slash at Kamui. Kamui noticed the attack, and leapt back to avoid it, however the tip of the blade grazed Kamui’s cheek as he dodged, leaving a red cut along Kamui’s face. As Kamui landed, the man stepped forwards and turned his blade, preparing for a thrusting attack, with Kamui barely noticing in time and leaning to his right to dodge. However Kamui had fallen into a trap, as he soon noticed that the man had aimed his gun at where Kamui had dodged using his left hand, and with a pull of the trigger a point blank shot was fired directly through Kamui’s right shoulder. As Kamui screamed and clutched his shoulder in pain, the man slammed the hilt of his blade into the side of Kamui’s head, disorienting him and allowing the man to place his gun directly at Kamui’s forehead. Kamui noticed this, and he slapped the gun away right as the man pulled the trigger, the bullet grazing Kamui’s head and leaving a slight wound. Without a second of hesitation, the man placed both his hands on his katana and unleashed a diagonal slash. Kamui leapt back to avoid the attack, however he was a moment late and the blade left a deep gash across his stomach as he leapt away, not a fatal wound, but a deep one nonetheless. As Kamui landed several meters away he stared at his opponent in confusion and fear.

“Who is this guy!? His speed is insane, he’s barely giving me a second to think, it’s just attack after attack with him!” Kamui asked himself, as he observed his foe. “Damn it, if I had a sword I could take him on, but instead all I have are my fists.”

The man dashed towards Kamui, leaping into the air and slashing downwards towards the yokai as he landed. Kamui sidestepped to avoid the attack, however the man immediately followed up with a diagonal slash towards Kamui, with the yokai just barely stepping back to avoid the attack. Kamui stepped forwards, preparing for an attack, as the man unleashed one more diagonal slash, however Kamui grabbed the blade with his left hand, leaving the man surprised as the blade dug into Kamui’s palm, held in place by Kamui’s inhuman strength. As Kamui took one more step towards the man, he threw his right fist upwards, slamming it into the man’s stomach. Kamui smiled, the man coughed due to the punch, the blood from Kamui’s hand dripped down the man’s sword.

“Not bad.” The man spoke, leaving Kamui speechless. “That was a strong punch, but I guess you are a yokai.”

Kamui stepped back, letting go of the man’s sword and staring at the man in shock, as his thoughts were panicked and rushed as they all flew through his head at once. How is he still okay after that? Damn it, it took me this entire fight to land just a single strike, and he’s completely fine after it. Meanwhile I’m bleeding from every inch of my body. Kamui grinded his teeth, his body began to shake, however the yokai attempted to hide it in front of his enemy. I can’t fight this guy, not like this. I’ve taken too much damage and he’s taken barely any. Hell, I’m lucky he hasn’t killed me yet. There’s no way I’m beating this guy, not today, I have no choice but to retreat. As Kamui made his decision, he turned around, leaping through the inferno behind him, and retreating from the battle, leaving the man behind and dashing through the city streets at high speeds. Sorin stared at the inferno Kamui jumped through, before being dragged towards Kamui by the same invisible force that had pulled him to the city a moment ago. The man, after watching his opponent retreat through an impassable wall of fire, let out a sigh, as he wiped the blood off his sword with a cloth from his pocket. The man placed his gun back into his jacket, replacing it with a cigarette which he lit and placed into his mouth.

“There’s no way I’m catching up with him, not on foot at least. And besides…” The man turned around, leaving the scene of the battle behind as he headed back into the city streets. “There are plenty more yokai in the streets tonight.”

The sound of police cars and civilians speaking filled the streets of Idolis below, as Kamui looked down upon them from the roof of a tall tower. He sat at the edge of the roof, pulling the bullets out of his flesh one by one, then discarding them by throwing them into the glowing abyss below, the golden lights reaching upwards, however not quite reaching Kamui atop his dark, isolated building.

“Damn, can’t even remember the last time I lost a fight that badly.” Kamui muttered to himself.

“So what now?” Sorin asked, as he sat several meters behind Kamui.

Kamui turned towards Sorin, surprised. “You’re still here? I thought you would’ve given up by now.”

“Given up?” Sorin questioned. “What do you mean by that?”

“When a yokai enters a human body, they can take over the body or hand it back over whenever they wish. The thing is, when the hell is a yokai gonna want to give the human back their body? So, when a human gives up on ever getting their body back, their soul passes on to the afterlife and they can die peacefully.”

Sorin’s eyes widened. “You’re telling me that I’m never getting my body back?”

“Yep, you might as well just give up and accept your death. Trust me, it’s easier for both of us that way.”

Sorin stared at the ground in stunned terror, as he began muttering to himself. “I’m never getting my body back… I might as well be dead…” Kamui stared at Sorin, confused, as tears began to form in Sorin’s eyes, falling onto the cement roof below, before dissipating into a fine spiritual energy. “I never got to properly grow up… I never got a job… I never had friends… What about my mum? She’ll never know what happened to me… I can’t even tell her!” Sorin buried his face in his hands, as he continued to cry. “I don’t wanna die… I don’t wanna die… I really, really don’t wanna die…” Kamui continued staring at Sorin, and he was suddenly left shocked, as Sorin darted towards Kamui, with tears and terror in his eyes as he desperately crawled across the ground towards Kamui. “I don’t wanna die!” Sorin screamed, as he leapt at Kamui, leaving the yokai in shock.

“Hey, what the hell are you doing!?” Kamui cried, as Sorin leapt onto his body, but suddenly Kamui felt strange. As the teenage boy’s soul leapt onto his possessed body, Kamui felt as though his own soul was being forced out of the body as Sorin forced himself in. Kamui, in a state of confusion, failed to struggle against Sorin, and in a single moment, Kamui’s soul had been pushed onto the ground. He looked up, and he only saw Sorin, now back in his body, staring at his hands in shock.

“I’m… back?” As the realization dawned on him, Sorin leapt up in excitement, with tears of joy flowing out of his eyes. “I’m back in my body! I’m back!”

“What the fuck!?” Kamui screamed angrily, as he leapt towards Sorin, attempting to force himself into the body once more, however to no avail as it felt as though Sorin’s body was an immovable brick wall which he simply bounced off as he attempted to tackle Sorin. Kamui backed away, his eyes wide in shock. “How the hell… that’s not how this works…”

Sorin turned to Kamui, confused. “What do you mean that’s not how this works? It’s my body, right? Shouldn’t this be normal?”

“No! The yokai is supposed to have priority over the human’s soul! That’s how it’s always been! The only way a human’s able to resist is if they undergo intense mental training, but there’s no way a flimsy kid like you has ever been through that sorta training!” Kamui scratched his head aggressively, as if he was desperately trying to figure out the answer to this question. “Damn it! Okay kid look! I don’t know why you’re able to stay in your body, but mark my words!” Kamui pointed to his chest confidently. “My name is Kamui! You know what that means!?” Sorin stared at Kamui for a moment, before shaking his head slowly. “It means god! Kamui means that I’m a god, so if I try to do something, I succeed at it damn it! So I swear on this day, I don’t care how long it takes, I’m gonna stay in this body until I figure out why you were able to force me out, and how I can force myself back in! You got it!?”

Sorin continued staring at Kamui, as a frown dawned upon the boy’s face. “So what you’re saying is… you’re not leaving?”

“Damn fucking right I’m not leaving asshole! Not until I can call that body my own!”

Sorin let out a sigh. “So we’re stuck together. Great, this’ll be fun, being stuck with a mass murdering ghost that only I can see.” Sorin began approaching the door leading into the building below, preparing to leave. “Well, I guess you might as well get comfortable. I’ve gotta get home before my mum realises I’m gone, don’t think I can explain to her that a demon possessed my body and went on a rampage in the city.”

“I’m not a demon! I’m a yokai! A yokai damn it!” Kamui screamed, however Sorin ignored him and instead entered the building below, as Kamui muttered to himself, frustrated. “Stupid kid…”

Kamui begrudgingly followed Sorin into the building below. A boy and a yokai, forced to accompany one another as they left for Sorin’s home.