The morning sun peeked gently through the inn window, warming the wooden floorboards and casting light on the quiet, simple room. Emi sat in the corner, knees tucked to her chest, silent as always. Her small fingers were wrapped around the edge of the blanket, eyes darting between the three strange boys who'd rescued her.
She didn't know them. Not really. But something about them felt... different. Safe. And today, one of them knelt beside her.
"What's your name?" Mike asked, voice soft like falling feathers.
She didn't answer at first. Her eyes lowered. The silence stretched.
Mike smiled anyway. "That's okay. I'm Tsukiharu. But you can call me Haru."
Her eyes lifted slightly—just enough to catch a glimmer of kindness in his face. Not pity. Not disgust. Just… warmth.
He stood up, ruffling her hair gently before walking over to AO and Jay. The three had already begun preparing for another long day of training, yet this morning felt different. Lighter.
Outside, distant sounds of music and laughter reached the window.
"A festival?" AO asked, tilting his head.
Jay peeked outside. Lanterns were being strung up between rooftops, children ran with sparklers, and the scent of fried sweets drifted through the breeze.
Mike turned back toward Emi. "Want to go?"
She stiffened.
AO frowned. "She just got here. She's still scared."
Jay stepped between them. "Maybe that's exactly why she should go. She deserves to smile at least once."
A long silence passed. Then Emi nodded—barely—but it was enough.
The festival unfolded like a dream.
Stalls lined the streets, painted in colors that shimmered under the sun. Musicians played on corners, and laughter echoed like wind chimes.
Emi clung to Mike's sleeve at first. He let her. AO walked behind them with his hands in his pockets, muttering about crowds. Jay grinned from ear to ear, pointing at everything like an overgrown child.
They played games—Emi won a small white rabbit plush. They ate dango until their stomachs hurt. Mike bought her a bright blue yukata that made her eyes shine.
She didn't speak. But her smile bloomed slowly throughout the day, fragile and beautiful like spring's first flower.
Night fell, and the festival transformed.
Lanterns glowed like stars in the streets. Music softened into lullabies. The villagers gathered on a hilltop overlooking the town, waiting for the fireworks.
Emi sat between them all now, the rabbit plush tucked in her lap. She looked up at the sky, then at Mike.
"…Emi," she whispered.
Mike blinked. "What?"
She turned to him, brave in the dark. "My name is Emi."
Jay's eyes widened. AO paused mid-bite of his skewered meat.
Mike grinned, pure and honest. "Nice to meet you, Emi."
They sat quietly then, all of them staring into the vast sky.
One by one, the trio made their promise.
Mike leaned forward, hand on her small back. "I'll protect you. No matter what."
Jay smiled, brushing her hair gently. "We're your big brothers now."
AO hesitated, then reached out—ruffling her head. "You're stuck with us, okay?"
Emi's eyes welled up. She didn't know why, but the tears just fell.
And then—
The first firework bloomed above them, painting the sky in red and gold.
"Wanna see more?" Mike asked, standing up and offering his back.
She nodded, sleep pulling at her, but she climbed on.
He carried her through the soft night air, down the lantern-lit street.
As they walked, Emi rested her cheek on his shoulder. "Haru?"
"Yeah?"
"…Don't disappear."
His footsteps slowed. He glanced back at the hilltop, where his brothers still sat beneath the stars.
"I won't," he whispered.
But as the second firework cracked through the sky, something in the world shifted.
And far behind them, hidden in the crowd, the shadows began to move.
I'm really glad you liked it. Here's the continuation:
The second firework screamed through the night, lighting up the village in violet sparks. The crowd cheered. Children clapped. Lovers kissed beneath the bursts of color.
Back on the hilltop, Jay yawned, leaning back on his elbows. "Man… it's kinda peaceful here."
AO gave a small nod. "Almost too peaceful."
Their gazes wandered through the crowd below. The villagers were gathered so densely, so joyfully—it was the kind of sight that used to make them ache back in Tokyo. The kind of thing they could never have.
Now, they were part of it.
But just as AO started to relax, something shifted.
A woman near the center of the crowd suddenly fell—her body crumpling with no sound.
No one noticed.
The music continued. People laughed.
Then a man staggered backward, a strange, red blossom spreading across his chest.
Still, the crowd did not scream. Not yet.
Then, with the third firework—blue and gold—three more fell in perfect rhythm.
Jay stood. "AO…"
AO's eyes narrowed. "The screams are being masked."
Below them, chaos unfolded in silence.
A blur darted between bodies like wind through wheat. Wherever it passed, people fell—throats slit, stomachs opened. The attacker moved with joy, spinning beneath the fireworks like it was a performance.
A little girl screamed—but her voice was swallowed by the next explosion of color.
Jay and AO ran down the hill, pushing through the panicked crowd as realization finally dawned and the cheering turned into wailing.
They were too late.
From behind a food cart, the killer emerged—drenched in blood, smiling wide. A young girl, no older than them, with jet-black hair clinging to her face and a dagger still dripping in her hands.
She walked toward them, skipping slightly. "There you are…"
Jay reached for his blade. "Who the hell are you!?"
The girl tilted her head. "This wasn't for you. It was for Mike. This was always for him."
And then, like lightning—
She was in front of Jay.
Before he could react, her dagger sank into his throat. His breath caught.
She twisted.
Then plunged another blade into his stomach.
AO screamed his name.
Jay collapsed in a growing pool of red, choking on blood, his eyes wide with confusion and pain.
The next firework exploded—red and white—just as the girl turned to AO.
He tried to move, but she leapt again, faster than he could read. Her blade carved across his abdomen.
He fell to his knees, coughing blood, clutching at the wound.
And then came Mike.
He had heard the screams now, the panic, the blood.
He had run with Emi still on his back—until he saw it.
Jay on the ground. AO bleeding. The girl.
He set Emi down, trembling. "Stay here."
She reached for him. "No—Haru—"
But he was already gone.
He stepped between the killer and his friends, eyes wild. "You…"
She smiled like it was a game. "Mike, right? Finally."
He didn't get to speak.
Her blade shot forward, straight into his cheek. It pierced through. She twisted it in his face, laughing.
"Let's make it pretty!"
Then, with the second blade, she swept across his neck—
And his head fell.
AO screamed.
But before he passed out from blood loss, he saw something impossible:
Mike's body didn't fall.
It stood.
Even headless, the body didn't fall.
Then—
The hands reached down, picked up the severed head… and placed it back on the shoulders.
Blue light sparked behind the eyes.
The crowd froze.
The killer stepped back, confused. "What…?"
Mike—no, something inside Mike—opened its eyes. Glowing. Unblinking.
His voice was not his own.
"You hurt… my family."
In an instant, he crossed the distance between them. His hand closed around her face, and before she could scream—
Boom.
She exploded into ash.
And the firework above was blue.
Mike's glowing form collapsed, lifeless, his head rolling gently to the side again.
Silence.
Blood pooled around them. The bodies. The smell of burning.
Emi sobbed behind a food cart, arms wrapped around her rabbit plush, her little fingers trembling.
The next morning
The sun rose quietly over a town forever changed.
Villagers found the trio collapsed among the dead—covered in blood, but breathing.
When asked what happened, only one voice answered.
A small girl, trembling behind the doctors.
"They were… drunk," Emi lied. "They were just drunk. That's all."
No one believed her. But no one questioned it either.
The dead were buried. The streets were cleaned. The whispers began.
And in the quiet inn room, three boys slept under heavy silence.
AO woke first.
And when he did, he couldn't stop shaking.