When Tsukiko awoke, it was already noon. She clutched her hand, a pained expression on her face. The bleeding had stopped, but it still hurt.
She tore off a piece of her shirt and tied it tightly around her wounded arm, biting back a whimper as she knotted the rag so tightly her claws ached.
She stood up, one hand on the wall to balance herself. Looking down at the corpses of the spider and the poor child, memories of the event flooded back. She stared at her trembling hands—the same hands that had taken two lives.
She had no other choice.
She had to kill them for her own safety; survival left no room for remorse. Yet, even after repeating that to herself over and over, she still felt a heaviness in her chest and shoulders.
Tsukiko knew that after such a fight, it was only a matter of time before someone came to investigate. She was lucky no one had come already.
She quickly left the building and started walking through the streets of Kuoh again, using magic to conceal herself. She didn't want to be seen wearing blood-soaked clothes.
As she walked through Kuoh, her stomach ached, and saliva filled her mouth at the aromas from the food stands. She hadn't eaten in days, and it showed.
When the food seller looked away, Tsukiko quickly stole some food. Starving and broke, she had no other options.
She continued aimlessly walking around while eating, each stolen bite bringing both shame and bliss. She searched for her kin, but her senses offered no guidance. Maybe she wasn't here, or maybe... she was dead.
Either way, she needed to investigate. Instead of trying to sense her kin, she focused on sensing devils, searching for a weak one to interrogate for any information about her kin. She found a suitable candidate soon enough.
She climbed up a building and started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, running toward the devil she sensed. As she got within viewing range, she saw the devil—who appeared to be a teenager—exiting a high school.
From the rooftops, Tsukiko tracked him silently, her eyes locked on her prey. When he entered an alleyway, she silently dropped behind him, her presence a sudden shadow, and pressed her claws against his neck, drawing trickles of blood.
Tsukiko's eyes gleamed with a manic light as she leaned in close, her voice a chilling whisper. "Shh... listen very carefully," she murmured, a twisted smile playing on her lips. "Answer me truthfully, and you might just keep that pretty head of yours."
"I'll tell you anything! Please don't kill me," he answered with a shaky voice, his body trembling like a leaf.
"Where's the nekomata?" Tsukiko asked.
"I don't know what that is! Please believe me, I don't know!" he replied, sweat dripping down his forehead and his knees almost buckling.
Tsukiko knew he wasn't lying. "Then you're useless," she said, moving to hit him on the head and knock him unconscious.
As she was about to strike, the air around her turned cold, and her instincts screamed at her to run. She quickly jumped backward, barely dodging a beam of boiling water.
As Tsukiko leaped back, the boy bolted toward a woman waiting at the alley's mouth. "Are you okay, Saji?" the woman asked.
"Yes, President Sona," he answered, his voice still trembling, though he tried to stand tall in front of her.
Tsukiko's tail bristled and her ears flattened when she heard that name. She knew exactly who Sona was and that she couldn't win in a fight—not against the sister of a Satan.
As Sona turned to look at her with a gaze sharper then knives, Tsukiko knew she needed to get out of there immediately.
She quickly started running further into the alleyway away from them. And they followed suit behind her.
Tsukiko didn't stop running, even though her legs felt as if they were on fire. Just as it looked like she was about to escape a line wrapped around her binding her like a coil of lightning. Her strength drained with every pulse.
She twisted her head and saw the source: the boy, Saji, arm outstretched. A glowing lizard-like familiar clung to him, its eyes locked on her.
As they slowly closed the distance between them Tsukiko knew escape was not an option. She ran toward the wall ahead, coiling like a spring, then launched herself from it with all her strength. The concrete cracked under the force. She rocketed forward like a missile.
Sona raised her hands—water surged into a shield, dense as steel. But Tsukiko burst through it, claws aimed like daggers.
Saji tried to dodge, but too late. Her strike shattered his shoulder with a sickening crack.
"Saji!" Sona's voice cracked into a scream, her eyes burning red in fury. "I'll kill you!"
Thousands of water spears formed around her, sharp and trembling.
"Calm down or he dies!" Tsukiko roared, pressing her claws to his neck again, blood trickling over her fingers. Her veins filled with adrenaline.
The spears hovered—then slowly, dissolved into mist.
"What do you want?" Sona growled, her voice razor-edged.
"Where is the nekomata?" Tsukiko hissed.
Sona blinked, caught off guard. "What... what do you care?"
Tsukiko dug her claws in. Saji groaned.
"Fine!" Sona snapped. "She's in Rias Gremory's peerage. Has been for years."
"Where are they?"
"The Underworld. Preparing for Rias' wedding—to Riser Phenex. Tonight."
"Teleport away. Leave him. And I'll let him live," Tsukiko said.
"You realize what you've done? The Satans will respond." Sona said. as she prepared to teleport away.
"Let them come. I'm done hiding." Tsukiko answered.
As soon as Sona left Tsukiko run faster then she had ever run before. the memory of those spears surrounding her were seared into her mind like flame.