The roof access door creaked open behind me. I didn't turn around, I felt Miss Suzuki's spiritual energy before I heard her footsteps.
I leaned against the ledge, my hands still shaking slightly. I reached into my pocket, pulled out one cigarettes and lit it, took a long drag and held it in my lungs.
"What happened to the guy?" Takeo asked, sounding annoyed like he'd missed out on the fun.
I ignored him, staring at the spot where she had jump. I then took the cigarette from my lips, held it between my fingers like a small burning offering and whispered a short prayer. I've seen the pastor do it a thousand times, it was the only thing I had kept from him. And I dropped the cigarette over the edge, watching it fall toward the spot where she lay.
"Kenichi?" Suzuki said softly, laced with concern.
I stood up slowly and turned toward the door. "She jumped."
Miss Suzuki froze. "Wait... she?"
"Yeah." I muttered, brushing past them. "And she was just a kid."
I heard them following me down the stairs and we walked down them in silence.
When we made it out to the street. Suzuki stopped beside her car and looked at me. "Kenichi, let's go."
"I'll walk." I said, waving a hand over without stopping or turning back.
Death happens to everyone. It doesn't matter who you are or what you believe, we're all going to die someday.
Death by murder, though… that's different. It means someone else chose your fate for you and that's the grave. Some people are driven to the edge until they feel like suicide is only thing left that belongs to them.
And honestly? As a homicide detective, I've seen enough blood and broken bodies to last three lifetimes. I don't care much about death cause it comes with the job.
But when a kid is involved, It feels more like a personal failure. I feel like I could've done more to save them. It's not my fault they ended up in that situation but it feels that way cause if I had made it there earlier, I could've changed something.
I ran a hand through my hair and stopped at a small food stand. An old woman stood behind it, flipping something on a hot plate.
She looked at me as I approached, her eyes lingering on my face. I slid some money across the counter. "One burger, please."
Before she took the cash, she stopped. "Your eyes look heavy, my child. What's troubling you?"
I forced a fake smile. "I'm just tired, I had a long day at work."
She stared into my eyes for a moment, then shook her head. "I've lived long enough to know the difference between tired eyes and the eyes of those who carry too much on their shoulders."
She finally took the money and added quietly, "If whatever happened wasn't because of a decision you made by you, then it isn't yours to carry."
She was right but I couldn't shake it. That kid was somehow like me. If she'd been raised in a stable household filled with love, her life wouldn't have ended like that after being chased down by a man like me.
The old lady handed me the burger but then she reached into her pocket and pressed something into my palm. It was a small, tarnished medallion.
"Keep this close to your heart." she said to me. "And everything will be alright."
"I can't take this." I said, trying to hand it back.
"I insist you do." she said firmly. "As much as it saved me, it might save you too someday."
I didn't believe in religion, anymore. I was raised by a man who called himself a pastor but worshipped the very demons I'm now forced to kill. He was also an exorcist killer hiding behind scriptures. Faith rots fast when you watch it rot from the inside.
But I took it anyway. As I walked toward my apartment, I looked at it – it was worn out smooth by time and depicting a saint I didn't recognize. I tucked it inside the left breast pocket of my suit.
I walked the rest of the way in a daze. Exhaustion finally hit me as I reached my door. I got inside, locked the deadbolt and kicked off my shoes.
I went to the small kitchen, planning to dish up the burger, when a sensation crept up my spine.
I instantly spun around but I was too late.
A man seemed to materialize directly out of the floorboards – a shadowy thing of demonic energy swirling at his feet. His blade flashed once and he drove it straight into my chest.
He followed up with a spinning kick that caught me square in the chest, launching me backward. I hit the wall with my head and everything went black for a second.
I slumped to the floor, staring at the ceiling. He stabbed me through the heart and without immediate medical help, I'm a dead man. I was going to die here, in this shitty apartment, without even knowing who I really was. But... at least I won't have to work anymore.
I heard his voice through the ringing in my ears. "I took care of the detective."
That annoyed me and I responded before I could stop myself. "You're awfully confident for someone who needed a sneak attack."
As I said it, the realization hit me. I wasn't feeling pain in on my heart. I pushed myself up slowly. The man staggered back, his eyes wide as he was staring at the blade still buried on my chest.
I pulled the knife out and let it clatter to the floor. "It would take more than that to kill me."
The man shot out his hand, his fingers curling into a claw-like gesture.
And I felt a flash of outright annoyance when I realized then that he was a Wielder.
People who are born with spiritual energy and no technique. But they forged pacts with demons.
A giant serpent demon, erupted from the shadows beneath him. It instantly trashed my apartment, the walls cracking under its weight. Its mouth opened wide as it lunged for me.
I dove to the side, rolling across the floor and grabbed the wooden block from my counter that held my kitchen knives. I pulled two steak knives and flung them with everything I had. They thudded into the serpent and did nothing but pissing it off.
The demon let out a hissed roar and whipped its massive tail. The tail smashed violently through my apartment and finally caught both me and its own master.
"What are you doing?!" the Wielder yelled, but the beast wasn't listening.
We were both launched backward, crashing through the living room window. I spun mid-air, forcing my body to align and I landed in a crouch on the pavement below.
The Wielder wasn't bad either. He hit the pavement, rolled and pushed himself up. He looked at me, then at the hole in the wall where the serpent was currently forcing its way out of my apartment.
The man shot forward, twin blades flashing in his hands. I was still holding the knife block, now with six blades left and two of them heavy butcher knives. I pulled out four and threw them.
The Wielder skidded to a stop and barely managed to deflect them. A skilled combatant would have deflected those knives while maintaining their charge but it made sense, most Wielders rely too much on their summons.
I gripped the two butcher knives and shot forward, leaping high right before him. The Wielder looked up just in time to see me coming down on him with both blades aimed straight for his shoulders. He crossed his blades to block.
I used the block to jump back and the moment my feet touched the ground, I shot forward again. He braced for another knife strike but I spun low, and drove kick straight into his gut.
He flew backward, rolling across the street and barely managed to dig his heels in to stop himself. He raised one hand desperately. And the serpent demon charged straight at me.
I exhaled deeply and ran toward the wall on my left. The serpent followed inches behind me and just as it's head dipped to strike, I leaped onto the brick wall. The serpent surged upward after me and I kicked off into a backflip, landing on it's back.
I plunged both knives on it back. It let out a roar and began to thrash, slamming its body against the surrounding buildings to shake me off. But I held on, moving toward its eyes.
When I got within range I sprinted along its spine, leaped and landed near its head. Its eye locked onto me and I instantly drove one knife into it.
The demon roared loudly and alarms erupted in every direction. It started hitting buildings with its full weight, causing the walls of the alley to rumble and crack.
I looked over at the Wielder. He was screaming at the thing but the serpent was no longer obeying. And I drove another knife into its eye, making the situation even worse. I needed to finish this but my body my knives were useless.
I was trying to think of a plan when a blinding beam of purple light tore through the demon's body.
Another beam shot out, hitting it right in the snout and nearly taking my head off as I dove away.
The third shot punched through its skull and the serpent went limp. I sprinted as its massive body crashed down, dove forward and rolled just as its corpse smashed into the ground behind me.
I stood up, dusting off my ruined suit. And walking out from far ahead was a woman with vibrant purple hair. She looked about my age but she was far too small for the weapon she was lugging. It was a massive high-tech laser cannon.
Next to her stood an old man in a gray suit, his hair was white and swept back. He was holding a black umbrella, despite the night being clear.
The old man wasn't looking at the dead demon or the Wielder who was currently trying to crawl away. He was looking only at me. And he approached me calmly, reached out a gloved hand and offering to help me stand.
"You seem like you've had a rough night." he said. His voice was almost fatherly.
Right when I was about to take it, he smiled and his hand moved faster than my eyes could follow. And in that moment everything went dark.