"Miwa—STOP!!"
Momo's voice tore through the alley like a crack of thunder.
It came at the precise moment Miwa's cursed energy peaked—right as her Simple Domain threatened to fully activate
Instantaneously, she reacted.
Her blade halted mid-arc.
The edge of her blade stopped a breath away from Shinji's throat. The force of the interrupted swing sent a sharp gust past him, slicing a few strands of hair loose as they drifted to the pavement.
Silence swallowed the alley whole.
*****
Minutes earlier,
Shinji forced himself to breathe.
The nausea came in waves. The color of the blood—if it even was blood—still painted the ground in sickly violet streaks. The last remnants of the cursed spirit had dissolved into black mist, thinning into nothing.
Gone.
He swallowed hard.
"I need to leave…" his own voice sounded so distant to his own ears.
He shifted his weight, intending to step out of the alley —away from the smell, away from whatever had just happened—
Then, he heard it
A voice from above.
Sharp and urgent.
"Miwa, STOP!!"
He barely had time to register it.
A violent rush of air tore past his face, and his instincts locked his body in place.
And suddenly,
He saw a blade pointed straight at him.
Cold and Unforgiving.
His heart forgot how to beat.
*****
Now,
Miwa's arms trembled faintly from the forced stop. Interrupting a fully committed strike required terrifying precision. The cursed energy she'd gathered rippled violently around her before dispersing into harmless fragments.
Above them, Momo exhaled slowly.
That was too close.
She descended carefully, boots touching the ground as the wind settled around her ankles.
Miwa lowered her sword inch by inch, eyes fixed on Shinji as if confirming he was real and not some illusion.
"I—" She swallowed. "I hope you aren't hurt, Shinji?"
Shinji blinked, still pale.
His hands were pressed against his chest, feeling his pulse race beneath his ribs.
"N-No… I'm okay."
His voice shook despite his effort to steady it.
Miwa's shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank goodness…"
If her Simple Domain had completed activation, even a grazing cut might have seriously injured him.
Footsteps echoed against concrete.
Mai emerged from the shadows, rifle lowered, but tension coiled tightly in her posture. Her gaze moved from Shinji… to the splattered alley… then back to Shinji.
"…You."
Before anyone could react, she stepped forward, clearly intending to seize him by the collar.
Miwa immediately grabbed her arm.
"Mai. Calm down."
"Calm down?" Mai shot back. "He vanishes inside an active curse zone, and we find him standing in a massacre, looking like he just woke up from a nap."
"I wasn't napping!" Shinji protested weakly.
An awkward, nervous laugh slipped out of him before he could stop it.
It was the worst possible timing.
Mai's eye twitched, "Oh. Now you're laughing?"
"I-I'm not laughing—I'm just—"
"Miwa," Mai muttered darkly, "let me go."
"No," Miwa responded
"Just one punch, allow me to smack some sense into him," Mai said
Miwa tightened her hold, trying—and failing—not to smile.
Shinji scratched the back of his neck, shrinking slightly under Mai's glare. "I really didn't mean to cause trouble…"
Mai squinted at him like she was evaluating whether he was worth the paperwork.
Miwa finally let out a small laugh, the sound cutting through the lingering tension.
For a fleeting moment, the alley felt almost… normal.
Above them, Momo watched quietly.
Relief softened her expression—but only slightly.
Shinji was alive and yet unharmed amidst all the chaos of the cursed spirits in the area.
The overwhelming presence she had sensed earlier was gone.
But she couldn't dismiss what she'd seen.
That creature hadn't behaved like a wild, cursed spirit.
It hadn't attacked them.
It hadn't even acknowledged them.
It had descended—calmly—into the ocean of cursed energy beneath Shinji's feet.
As if returning home.
Momo's eyes sharpened.
"Enough."
Her voice was calm, but it cut cleanly through the chatter.
Mai stopped struggling.
Miwa straightened immediately.
Shinji stood up a little taller, as if summoned to attention.
"With Shinji confirmed safe," Momo said evenly, "this mission is complete. All cursed spirits in the area have been exorcised."
She gave Mai a pointed look.
"Stand down."
Mai clicked her tongue. "Tch. Fine."
Then Momo turned to Shinji.
"And you," she added, firm but not cruel, "Next time, do not wander off into an active cursed zone during a cursed spirit exorcism operation again. You were extremely lucky to be all."
Shinji nodded so quickly it almost looked painful. "Y-Yes, ma'am."
Miwa sheathed her blade with a soft metallic slide. Mai slung her rifle over her shoulder.
Together, they stepped out of the stained alley.
At the edge of the park, the Veil shimmered faintly, its surface thinning now that the cursed spirit presence had been eradicated. The barrier flickered like heat over asphalt.
Mission: complete.
Casualties: none.
And yet —
As they approached closer to the exit of the veil, Momo slowed.
Her gaze drifted toward Shinji, walking a few steps ahead of them.
He looked painfully ordinary again.
No visible cursed energy leakage, no looming creature behind him
Just a nervous, ordinary boy rubbing the back of his neck.
But she couldn't have dismissed what she had witnessed earlier
The cursed energy pressure she had earlier felt. That overwhelmingly strong presence of that creature she had seen, that wasn't a cursed spirit
Her thoughts darkened quietly with the one question that lingered in her mind, "Just, who are you… Shinji Ino?