[~Keep Faith High~]
Aiko doesn't stop running, even if she's out of breath or her arms are getting tired.
"Don't worry, A-Aoto-Kun… W-We're almost there…!"
Aoto lets out a low-pained moan as Aiko carries him on her shoulder.
"I don't know why… But I don't feel that much pain…" He weakly chuckled.
Aiko lets out a strained, frustrated grunt as she stumbles, her exhaustion showing in the way her legs tremble and her jaw clenches. Even so, determination burns in her eyes, and she pushes herself onward, visibly fighting the urge to collapse.
They eventually make it to the entrance of the E.S.C.
"Help!!! Someone, anyone, help us!!! A curse bit my brother's arm off!" Aiko's voice rises desperately, her face pale and panic shining in her eyes as her arms start trembling from strain and fear.
E.S.C. Officers quickly make their way outside to the scene, taking hold of the two siblings.
"Get that man into the emergency room, NOW!" One officer yells out.
They carefully take Aoto into the building as other officers are tending to Aiko.
"Please Aoto-Kun… Please tell me you'll pull through!" Aiko prays under her breath.
While the siblings are finally receiving their treatment, we return to Kazu, who is currently battling the gluttonous curse.
"Alrighty, big guy. You had your snack, but now it's time to take a nap, permanently!"
Kazu pulls out his blade and dashes towards the curse. The curse roars and starts bouncing towards Kazu, using its large body for flexibility.
"Shaba, what kind of curse is this? It's pretty damn huge." Kazu asked while dodging a claw attack from the curse.
Shaba hums in thought, "It would be a curse with a high amount of execrational power, and probably feeds off humans and other curses."
Kazu nods, deflecting another claw attack from the curse.
"If I had to guess… the core has to be in their stomach!" Kazu takes out one of his handguns while still holding his blade in a parried state to prevent the curse from attacking.
"I hope you like holy lead bastard!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He shoots the curse right in the gut.
The curse's body burns up in flames from the inside and lets out a dissonant screech.
"Yeah! That looks like it did a significant amount of damage! I can sense the core now, slice through his stomach!" Shaba said with excitement.
Kazu was about to take out a talisman, but then a large arm sent a powerful blow to Kazu's side.
Kazu gets sent flying into a lightpost, creating a large dent in the bottom and sparking out the light. However, he doesn't seem fazed at all.
"Thanks to your cursed presence within my soul, I can't feel a damn thing…" Kazu said with a slight chuckle.
He gets up and dusts off his clothes, which makes the curse a bit angry.
"Aww, did I make the fatass hangry? Come do something about it~," Kazu teased.
The curse roars and bounces all over the place. Every time it propels off an object, its speed increases.
Kazu doesn't move yet; he only waits till the right moment to strike.
"If he slams into you, your durability alone won't be enough to save you from the whiplash…" Shaba mutters.
Kazu doesn't reply; he just listens to the sounds of the curse slamming into the objects.
Suddenly, the curse builds up enough kinetic energy to the point where it starts gyrating at high speed and bursts itself towards Kazu behind his back with its mouth wide open.
"Tch… What a moron…" As soon as the curse was about to bite Kazu, He quickly turned around with a talisman and held it up, causing a barrier effect that deflects the curse.
The deflect was so strong that the kinetic energy stored in the curse's attack completely detonated on impact and ruptured the curse from the inside.
The curse's core is now on full display, and Kazu finally takes this chance to take it out.
"Make this… your last meal!"
SLASH…
CRACK… CRAAACK….
KABOOOOOOM!!!
Curse residue flies everywhere, all over the street.
The curse is finally destroyed, and Kazu lets out a sigh of relief and decides its time to take a smoke break.
"Jeez, that was such an annoying curse… I wonder if those siblings got their help." Kazu says while taking a puff of his cigarette and looking up at the sky.
Meanwhile, in the E.S.C. Facility…
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE MYSTERIOUSLY HEALED HIS WOUND!?" Aiko yells at the officers."
Ma'am, please keep calm. I know the situation sounds quite bizarre, but-"
Before the officer can finish, she cuts them off with an angry and concerned expression.
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THAT! LET ME SEE MY BROTHER, THAT'S ALL I WANT!!!!" She began to tear up.
The officers keep their calm demeanors, but they can't help but feel a bit sorry for her. One officer, a young woman with curly brown hair, steps up towards her with a comforting expression.
"Your brother is in a bad predicament right now. You can visit him in a bit… I promise."
She leans closer, taking Aiko's hand and running soothing patterns on it, "Keep faith high, He will pull through this!"
Aiko looks up at the woman with teary eyes and relaxes slightly, letting out a shaky exhale.
"I will do anything, and I mean anything, to make sure no one has to go through the same troubles he had to endure." Aiko declared.
As the woman was about to speak, the door swung open, and the curse residue-stained Kazu walked in.
"Let them join the E.S.C. as compensation for their troubles." He said while putting his weapons in his locker.
Aiko's eyes widen as she looks at Kazu's current state, "Y-You… It's you! You're the one who saved my brother and me!!!" She runs over to Kazu.
"No need to thank me, just merely doing my-"
Suddenly, Aiko hugs Kazu, leaving him in a rare flabbergasted moment.
"I can't thank you enough for what you've done for us!!! Thank you so much, Mr…?"
"Kazu. You can just call me Kazu." Kazu says with a soft smile.
Suddenly, there's a commotion happening down the hall. It sounds like people are trying to hold someone back.
"Sir! You cannot be moving at this time! You've recently suffered a curse attack, and we're still trying to patch you up!" A medic warned.
We finally see Aoto, limping towards the main entrance where Kazu and Aiko are standing.
The arm that was recently bitten off is now miraculously regenerated back onto the socket.
"Aiko-Chan… What is going on…? Why are people trying to-"
Suddenly, he sees his sister hugging an older-looking man (Kazu is in his mid-late 20s while Aiko is in her early 20s), and he becomes angry.
"Oh hell no! Who do you think you are hugging up on my sister!?" He said with malice.
Aiko quickly pulls away and tries to calm Aoto down.
"It's not what it looks like! This man is the same man who-" Before she could finish, Aoto is already rushing towards Kazu.
He tries to land a punch; however, Kazu effortlessly catches it.
The officers managed to pull Aoto away from Kazu, and Aiko is trying to calm him down.
"He has a bunch of strength stored up in that arm of his… even though it was recently regenerated." Kazu thought to himself.
"When a curse consumes a human body part that isn't vital, it has a chance of regenerating back to its previous owner after defeating the curse."
Shaba paused before continuing,
Depending on the curse's power and how long the consumption process is, the chances can vary." Shaba mutters.
Kazu hums in acknowledgement, looking down at Aoto's freshly regenerated arm.
"You damn blindfolded bastard, you stay away from my sister!" Aoto hissed.
"Sir, you need to calm down! Don't put too much strain on your arm!" One of the medics said with concern.
As Aoto and the medics began to go back and forth, Aiko timidly walked up to Kazu.
"Hey… K-Kazu-San? Did I hear you say earlier… That you wanted us to join the Elite Safety Committee?" She said while tilting her head slightly.
Kazu nods while crossing his arms, "I did. You and your brother have a lot of resilience, and I think you two would be perfect for the job.
"He sits down in a chair and runs a hand through his smooth, jet-black hair.
"Plus, I noticed you two tried to recruit to become curse exorcists, but got rejected because you didn't have any good 'qualifications,' which I think is a bunch of bull malarkey…" Kazu sighed.
Aiko's eyes widened, not really used to anyone sticking up for her and her brother before. She looks down at the ground and clenches her fist.
"I will do it. For my brother's and my sake. I accept your invitation into the Elite Safety Committee." She proclaimed.
Kazu smirks and stands up, walking over to her and shaking her hand.
"Welcome to the team, rookie. I'll put in a good word for you and your brother."
[Ever since that day, Aiko kept her promise to protect the people from curses and to protect her older brother. The pair has trained under Kazu's wing, and after 5 months of training, they gained a new recruit, who is also known as Fumiko.]
Back to the present, Aiko is sitting down with a blanket around her. She still has tears in her eyes, but they aren't tears of remorse; they're tears of happiness and gratefulness.
"Aoto-Kun… you have no idea how grateful I am to have you by my side. I'm also grateful to Kazu-San for everything he's taught us. You might not appreciate the small things he does, but you should at least be happy he was there to even care about us from the beginning."
Aoto's face softens as he registers her words, like they hit a deep part of his heart he never knew they could reach.
"He's a huge pain in my ass and quite a moron… but I will never forget that he's the reason why we're still alive today, doing the same job that saved us in the first place."
He leans down to pat her head. "I am grateful to have him, and I'm grateful to have you, my dear little sister."