"𝑨𝒉! 𝑫𝒊𝒆́-𝒅𝒊𝒆́? 𝒀𝒐𝒖...𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓...𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆." 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒍𝒚.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒐 𝒚𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒔𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂.

𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒚, "𝑾𝒂𝒌𝒌𝒂? 𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊̀, 𝑿𝒊𝒂𝒐-𝒃𝒊̂𝒏𝒈..."

𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, "𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆? 𝑫𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎?"

"...𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈..." 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅.

𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒉𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉, "𝒀𝒐𝒖, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒕." 𝑯𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, " 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚."

"𝑯𝒎𝒎..." 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒖𝒑 𝒚𝒆𝒕, 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, "𝑫𝒊𝒆́-𝒅𝒊𝒆́, 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖?"

𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔...𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒕 𝑶𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒐.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈, 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆." 𝑯𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎, "𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒐𝒐."

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒑𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒔, "𝑯𝒆𝒚! 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅...𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐...𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄."

"𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘? 𝑺𝒐 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄?" 𝑯𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅.

"...𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖." 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅.

𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅, "𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈."
"𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏," 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆, "𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖?" 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔.

𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎?

𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒏-𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒑𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆. 𝑰𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆?

"𝑨𝒍𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉." 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍, 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓, "𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖!!"
"𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆. 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕."
"𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏?"
"𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖."
"𝑶𝒉..." 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅.

𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔, "𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕."
"𝑶𝒉! 𝑺𝒉𝒉𝒉...." 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒏.
"𝑺𝒉𝒉..." 𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒏, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕.

"𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒍!"

✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°

"I have proof." Setsuko put the proof in front of the desk of Kiosho, confident in her work.

Kioshi looked slightly disturbed, but quickly composed himself, "Let's see what you have to hear."

"Moria-san..."

"Is this information reliable?" Kioshi asked.
"Of course." Came the reply from Setsuko, she sounded quite heated, "I have it on good authority that the mayor is meeting with the executives from the railroad company on a daily basis."

Kioshi tilted his head, "Well that's not illegal."
"But don't you think it unlikely that they are just small talk?"

In between Setsuko's words Kioshi's bored voice was heard, "Sorry, Ichikawa, but we are not a tabloid. We can't publish an article just with that."

Setsuko made a face, "I think you are just jealous."

Kioshi appeared offended with surprise, "Jealous? Of who?"
"You are jealous of me, Moria-san."
"Ridiculous."
"You are jealous that I got such a huge story."
"It's not a story at all! There is nothing to be jealous of. We cannot publish this." He defended himself while Setsuko continued to side eye him.

He didn't stop, "Looks like it was a mistake to put you in this field, you bit off more than you could chew. I will put you back in the advice column."
"You can't!" She denied, "I am not giving up on this. I will get to the bottom of this." She ran away, wanting to prove her point.

Kioshi attempted to stop her, "Don't get me wrong, I think you are a great-"
Of course she didn't stop.

That night, she took pictures of the mayor as more evidence. More concrete evidence.

'Very diligent. She is good at her job.' Kusuriuri observed quietly.

The pictures were presented to Kioshi the next day.

"Is this still not enough?"

Kioshi remained silent for a while, observing the pictures.

Then he looked at her, "Just as I thought. I knew you could do it. I am sorry for being so hard on you. Forgive me, Ichikawa." His voice was gentle.

Kusuriuri felt the irritation reach his brain, 'This fucker...what an absolute piece of garbage...'

He could already see the far picture beyond. His mind had pieced more or less the entire phenomenon. All that remained was to understand how they reached that point.

Kusuriuri already knew what was the ending of this case. Years and years of experience and knowledge, coupled with his own wits sure had its downsides sometimes, because now he was even more irritated than before.

"That's right! I knew she had it in her." Kioshi screamed in the train, panicking, "That's why I was so hard on her."

Setsuko only looked down, letting her side know to the mysterious exorcist.

"When did it appear?"
"Last night."
"And you took the shots there too?"
"Yes."
"Where is the film?"

Ichikawa pointed to her bag, "Here."

Kioshi insisted, sounding desperate, "Hey, let's go outside."
"But-"
"This is a huge scoop. We can't let others know. Not even one of our co-workers."

Kusuriuri side eyed him.

'Well yes, letting your co-workers know will not end well for you.'

They reached Caucau Cafe, as Ichikawa presented her photos on a table, "These are the photos of the mayor with the Touto Railways' Board of Directors. Here he is with Nihobashi Construction. They met at Kisshou Hotel in Kajima. The mayor recently passed a city ordinance at the rail's company request. I believe he received quite a bribe for this request."
Kioshi analysed the pictures, putting a hand on his chin, "Where does he bank?"
"The Ichi'i bank." Setsuko replied, "The mayor's uncle is its president."

'She has worked really hard. Unfortunately...media...' Kusuriuri sighed.

"I see. This is more than enough information to move on. This is front page material. Have it on my desk tomorrow. We will run it the next morning. It's not much time, but can you do it?"

Setsuko's eyes gradually widened, "You...want me to write the article?"
"Yes, you worked hard. You should bear the fruit of your work."

Setsuko sounded like she laughed, she did, but she was crying along with that, such was her joy. Kioshi's eyes widened.

"Thank you so much. I misjudged you, Moria-san."

'Oh no no...you didn't misjudge him, I am afraid...' Kusuriuri frowned as he thought.

"I thought that you always saw me as a weak, worthless woman. And that only a man could make an actual reporter."

'...He does, actually.'

He could tell. Very clearly. The look in Kioshi's eyes made that so obvious to him.

He had seen countless people look down on Otome like that, as a feeble, worthless woman.

And obviously had their expectations twisted. Some even had their hands and legs twisted.

'Didn't she dislocate someone's jaw with a punch? That was wild.'

"𝑶𝒉 𝒚𝒆𝒔...𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓, 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕? 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔."

𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒑, 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑, 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑.

𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒉!

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆.

𝑶𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍, "𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕? 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉."

'Setsuko-san...she truly is a woman dedicated to her job.'

"Do you know Hichiriki Zaka Konata's inn? Write it there." Kioshi advised, looking at the floor.

"To prevent any leaks?"
"Yes."

'No.'

"We can't let anyone else know about this. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"

'No.' Kusuriuri frowned.

The next scene was in the front of the cafe, the phone was being used.

"Yes, the very same. I have a proposal for you, actually."
"No, it's not pleasant at all."

'Your ass needs to be on fire.'

"No reason to meet somewhere. I will come to you."

Ichikawa ran outside to the inn.

"Her regret is close." Kusuriuri knew. He knew it was.

"You promise to help me? I don't wanna rot here for life!" Chiyo's voice was heard in the Cafe.

'Oh goodness...'

The City Hall.

"Are you the man I spoke to? I had fun, for once, last night." The mayor spoke up as soon as the door opened.

Setsuko wrote the article in the inn. Haru was near the bridge, to go to the house near it.

'Well...'

"Ichikawa Setsuko-san, you have a call." One of the workers in the inn informed her.

"Yes." Setsuko went down and picked up the phone.

"Yes."

"Huh? Why is that?....Yes, I understand."

'Here goes nothing.'

"People have asked if I wanna become a singer." Chiyo spoke as she flirted with the officer. Shakei.

"Ah, I remember it. I wonder what happened."

Ichikawa passed by the window.

And waited near the bridge.

Kioshi came.

Kusuriuri started reciting the ethics sutras.

"Moria-san." She looked at him, happy.

"You made sure no one followed you?"
"Yes. What's wrong, Moria-san? Why do you look so scared?"
She smiled softly, although looking slightly uncomfortable.

"We are in danger."

"Danger? It's not like we are going to get killed."

'...She jinxed it.'

"I just went to see if she was safe."

The sword in Kusuriuri's hand was itching to get his mouth closed.

"There's no hurry." He assured the sword.

The sword made a buzz in his hand.

As if to retort, 'You have been cursing this guy and his entire bloodline to death in your mind for the past few minutes. I think we do need to hurry.'

"Where's the article?"
"I have it with me. Are you going to read it here?"
"Yes."

'It's close to 5 a.m already.'

Kioshi tried to take the article, Setsuko for some reason, refusing to let go of it.

"What's wrong?"
Setsuko hesitated a little, then she let the article be taken, "Nothing."

'And here it begins.'

Kioshi never read the article. He burned it.

'Your ass really does need to be on fire.'

"What are you doing!!!!????" Setsuko cried out.
"I can't let this out."
"Why not???????"
"Just following orders."
"Who's orders???"

'The mayor. Who else?' Kusuriuri bitterly smiled.

The article was burned to ashes, all her hard work was gone.

"Moria-san, you can't do this! You have no right to! I will tell our superiors!"
"No use. I already talked with them."
"You are lying!"
"I am not."
"You planned this from the beginning! You were always going to steal my-"
"I am sorry, I had to."

'For fuck's sake, don't abuse the word sorry.'

He had a bad affinity with that word. But he hated it even more when that word got abused.

Setsuko screamed at Kioshi, "You coward! You snake."

Kusuriuri, sitting on a cafe chair, turned around, "You planned this from the beginning?"

His voice was mocking Kioshi.

"I will talk her out of it."
"How?"

...

"I will tell the Chief editor to fire you!" Setsuko threatened him, "You will get fired!!!!" She screamed in despair, while Kioshi started laughing with a disgusting grin.

'May he never get reincarnated again. He is a bitch in every lifetime. Heavens, the great realm of Shuga, head my prayers.' Kusuriuri prayed with all his sincerity.

Kioshi pushed her down as she ran to him in anger.

Setsuko was on the ground, panting in rage.

"You think I am jealous of you? Don't make me laugh."
"Damn you, damn you, damn you!"
Setsuko continued to curse her.

Coincidentally, Kusuriuri was also saying the same thing in his mind.

"I wouldn't do that over such petty concerns. In the end you are a woman after all. Never being able to catch on when the time is right."

'Damn you.' Kusuriuri repeated the same thing Setsuko kept saying again and again.

"I was watching her from a much higher position!" Kioshi despaired in the train.

"What do you mean?" His voice was low, but it sounded angry. His face looked even more stern than usual. The negative thoughts were finally starting to catch up to his face.

"We cannot let this turn into a scandal." The mayor's voice was heard on the phone.

Setsuko put two and two together, and finally made a soul crushing realisation, "You were working for the mayor the whole time."
"That's right. You women are so blind." Kioshi mocked her, keeping his grin. 

"How dare you! How dare you! How dare you!"

Kusuriuri walked behind him, "You never intended to print the article.".

"From now on, you will take orders from me."

'Wait, if the article was already burned, why was she killed? Unless...'

Setsuko picked herself up, and started to laugh.

'I knew it. She has a back up plan. Women's intuitions are right most of the time.'

"I will have it printed somewhere else. I still have the evidence. You are the fool here."

'Atta girl.'

"Where is it? Give it to me!" Kioshi aggressively threatened.

'Oof.'

Kioshi caught her, Setsuko tried her heart and soul to break out of his wrists. They started having a brawl. Setsuko was cornered to the edge of the bridge.

Kusuriuri noticed the appearances of the other four.

Setsuko finally stopped struggling.

"You really are a stupid woman...I gave you a fair warning...You made me-"
"Made me kill you?" Kusuriuri whispered into his ears.

Kioshi looked behind, and saw no one.

'It's about time.'

Setsuko attacked him, seeing him caught off guard. Kioshi got scared, and pushed her over the edge.

Kioshi looked down at the railway, seeing her bleeding.

"A woman reporter bit off more than she could chew and committed suicide when her dreams were shattered."

'Maybe if I kill this guy, it will also be considered as a suicide, since murders are suicide now.'

Masao on the other hand, noticed Kioshi looking down the bridge, but didn't say anything, and moved on to his work.

'It hurts. It hurts. I can't move my body.' Setsuko thought with despair. As she did, she noticed a train coming her way. Her eyes widened in fear.

'No,no! Please, notice me!' She cried in her mind.

The driver, Bunpei, was in fact, not noticing her. He was half asleep.

'Don't hit me! Notice me!' Setsuko didn't want to die.

A cat was roaming around her body

The train showed no signs of stopping.

'I will never forgive you.' She cried in anger. Tears rolled down.

'So this is the thought that gave birth to the Bakeneko.'

The clock hit five a.m. And Ichikawa Setsuko was run over by the train.

"Ah, I wanna be an actress."
"Here's your payment."
"Yeah, this is definitely a suicide."
"Shut up."

Clink!

The sword vibrated a little in Kusuriuri's hand. As if relieved that he finally had to no longer listen to Kusuriuri's destructive intrusive thoughts.

The said man on the other hand, headed towards the Mononoke to slay it.

"Ayakashi reside in a host, and humans reside in the physical plane. A Mononoke is formed with an Ayakashi as a host, and fed by the fates of men."

The Sword of Exorcism let out a low shriek. The train car was surrounded by yellow dots.

"However, when a Mononoke comes into the human plane, it must be cut down." Kusuriuri sensed the Bakeneko behind him.

Setsuko opened her eyes, revealing a pair of black spirals in them.

She slowly extended her hand.

"This is already a Bakeneko."

A large red hand formed by the Bakeneko attacked Kusuriuri, the impact hit him.

"Thus, I will cleanse this world. Rest, Mononoke!" The blood flowed down from his head to his cheek.

"I release the sword."

Two large legs wanted to squash the car, coming out of two ghostly mouths.

Kusuriuri had already switched to his other self, entering the planes where the Mononoke resided.

A shield was formed around the car, dissolving the legs away.

Kioshi woke up in the train, with people chattering around him. The train was at a stop.

He looked around.

"A nightmare?"

He saw the mayor who spoke to a fellow passenger, "I would like to embark on the second step soon."

'We are safe?' Kioshi thought to himself.

"It was a nightmare." He smiled, "That's unlike me. I am sorry, Ichikawa. I had no choice."

The clock that was ticking, started ticking backwards.

The world came to a stop.

Kioshi's widened. Again, he was alone on the train. He looked with absolute fear to his side, seeing the dead body of the mayor on the ground. And Setsuko on a seat.

He finally figured out.

The medicine seller, refused to save him.

"Ichikawa...?"

Setsuko smiled menacingly, "I will not forgive you."

"Perish." Kusuriuri exorcised the Bakeneko.

✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°✦°

Time passed. Eventually the truth was revealed. The mayor's case became a huge scandal.

Kusuriuri may or may not have played a part in it.

Ironically, Shakei was the one who investigated it till the end, and had it published out in the papers.

Chiyo, Masao and Haru soon came to give flowers by the bridge in regards to Setsuko.

With a wish that now, she may rest in peace.

Chiyo greeted her with a bow, and looked at Masao softly with a smile. He also bowed at them.

Kusuriuri stood at the bottom of the bridge, smiling to the three on it.

He sensed the small cat that had formed the Bakeneko before and looked down. A ginger cat. With a partially cut ear.

He crouched down, and started petting it with a gentle smile on his face.

The other three looked down the bridge, and were greeted with this sweet scene.

The gentle breeze flew past by, ruffling Kusuriuri's hair a little, his eyes soft.

The cat soon moved away from his hand. He looked ahead, and saw many other cats behind the ginger cat. And with the blink of an eye, they all disappeared.

He stood up.

Time was a fleeting thing.

A few years had passed already since that day.

He walked away from the railway, far, far away with his box of medicine and holy tools.

The afternoon sky rang out with an orange hue.

He stopped at a cemetery. And walked into it.

Not many people were in it. He walked.

Step. Step. Step.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖...𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆?" 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅.

𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕.

"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕?" 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅, "𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘?"
"𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅."

𝑯𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚, 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒚𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊, 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍?" 𝑯𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚.

"𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏? 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆, 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖?" 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒅.

"𝑶𝒉, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝑰 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍." 𝑯𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆.

"𝑶𝒉...𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒆..."
"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆?" 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅, 𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.

"𝑰..."
"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕. 𝑨𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆. 𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉." 𝑯𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑯𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒄𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒋𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎.

"𝑰...𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕."
"𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕?"

"𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖." 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒚𝒆, "𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖."
"𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏?" 𝑯𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐, 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏.

"𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒐..." 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚, "𝑩𝒖𝒕, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕. 𝑫𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌. 𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏."

𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒆, "𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰...𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅..."

𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒋𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒍𝒚.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌. 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆."

𝑲𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒓𝒊 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓...𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐...

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑰 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕." 𝑯𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓.

𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏...

𝑯𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅.

𝑯𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑶𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍.

Kusuriuri stood in front of a grave.

He knelt down, and smiled.

"I am sorry I am late. Another case, haha, stopped me."

The flowers he had picked from a field nearby, were placed in front of the grave.

"Wakka, I hope things aren't too difficult over there for you."

The second world war had taken her life away. She was in Nagasaki for some important work. And there happened to be a nuke attack in it that day.

She had promised to bring him souvenirs from there. With that big of a smile on her face and glimmer in her eyes.

She could never fulfill that promise.

Today was the day.

August 6, 1950.

Kusuriuri could still remember that day clearly. Every time he closed his eyes, that day would flash in front of him. That smile would flash in front of him.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Some scars truly never heal.

He could never heal away from her deaths. No matter how many reincarnations of hers died in front of him, he could never get used to them.

And no matter how much time passed, he couldn't heal away from that soul churning pain he felt from her deaths.

"You never brought me the souvenirs, Wakka." Kusuriuri's voice finally broke, he sheltered his eyes with one of his pale hands. He forcefully stopped his body from shaking.

He had long since given up trying to keep his tears in, knowing it was futile to do so.

"You never did..."

When will you finally live long, my child? When can I finally see you growing up well, long, and happy?

He didn't know. The world never gave him that luxury.

Fate never gave him that chance.