"Woah."

That was the only word that Mirei could get out of her mouth as she saw the scene unfolding before her as a crowd was forming. After playing her game, Mirei wanted to see how well Shiki would do in other rhythm games. Right now he was playing Dance Dance Revolution, however, she wasn't prepared for what she witnessed.

Right now, on the hardest difficulty, Shiki was hitting nothing but perfect on each arrow without looking down even once. What made it even more impressive was the fact he could accurately step on the right spot despite how fast he was going. Meanwhile, Shiki was thinking to himself as he felt slightly guilty.

"I know I had good spatial awareness, but this is crazy. It almost feels like i'm cheating."

As soon as Shiki stopped dancing, he noticed that he had zero misses on screen. A sense of pride filled his mind as he walked towards Mirei. The moment he stood in front of her, a smirk was forming on his face. Seeing this, Mirei simply walked out the arcade while holding his hand.

"Come on, Mirei. You gotta give me props."

"Ok, you did good, for a show off."

"Hey now, the results don't lie. I think I was awesome!"

The two of them laughed as they simply walked around the city and holding hands. Truth be told, Shiki couldn't help but feel relaxed with Mirei beside him. Everything about the supernatural, his fights, they all melted away as he simply enjoyed himself. While the two of them were walking, Shiki finally spoke up.

"You know, it's kind of funny, don't you think?"

"Hmm, what is?"

"If you told the past me from middle school we would be dating, I would probably laugh and call you crazy."

As Shiki said this, Mirei began to think to herself. Considering how they first met, she probably would have thought the same. A light giggle escaped from the girl's lips as she hugged Shiki's arm with a smile on her face. Seeing this, the young man couldn't help but smile.

"I wish days like this could last forever."

Soon Shiki and Mirei found themselves in front of an ice cream store. The two of them grew silent as their hair shadowed their eyes. They stepped away from each other as they were thinking the same thing. Suddenly both of them thrust their right arm forward as they shouted.

"PAPER!"

"ROCK!"

Shiki merely sighed as he lost the game of rock-paper-scissors. As they walk inside, the glasses wearing boy was getting his wallet ready. However, when he saw the cheerful look on Mirei's face, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

~Meanwhile~
"Hey, Megumi. I have a question. Why did Shiki join the organization in the first place?"

As the two girls were sitting in a cafe, Olivia wanted to learn more about her two comrades. Seeing as Megumi knew Shiki far longer than she did, she thought about asking her since she didn't want to bother the guy during his day off.

"Hmmm. Well, at first, Ochita-san and I just thought that he agreed to join us out of fear of us killing him if he declined. But we were actually surprised when he gave us his real answer."

"Which is?"

"To keep his dad and his friend safe. All Shiki wants is to protect the little normalcy he has in his life now."

Olivia couldn't help but feel a bit conflicted after hearing this reason. It was perfectly valid why that would be his goal, his life would never be completely normal so he values the simple things that he does have. However, Olivia couldn't ignore the major flaw of such a simple desire.

"Honestly, I think that might be the most dangerous goal for him."

"What do you mean, Olivia?"

"It's a pure and simple desire. However, it's those same pure and simple desires that get distorted the most and with great ease in our line of work. I just hope that doesn't happen to Koritsu-kun. He's a lot kinder than all of us, but he's also the most dangerous considering the Nanaya family's traits. If he sinks into despair, who knows what might happen to his enemies and allies."

~With Shiki~
"Aaaah. I'm so tired, that ice cream tasted amazing, Shiki. Thanks for paying for the both of us."

"I'm a man of my word and I lost that game. This was the least I can do."

After finishing their ice cream, Shiki and Mirei both decided to take a walk through the city again. As they did, they looked up at the sky and saw how dark it was getting. Just as this happened, Mirei felt a sharp pain suddenly striking her head. She didn't know how to describe it, but that split second was unbearable. Soon the girl began to fall forward as she felt herself almost losing her consciousness.

Before she could hit the ground, Shiki quickly caught her in his arms as he lifts her up like a princess. Just as Mirei was about to ask him to put her down, she saw the look on his face. It tolerated no denial as he simply walks towards a bench in a nearby park. Soon Shiki carefully placed the girl on the bench as he looked at her.

"Are you ok, Mirei?"

"Y-yes, i'm fine."

As Shiki stood in front of her, he saw the girl fidgeting a bit. Not only that, she seemed to have her right hand in the pocket of her jacket. Soon Mirei took a deep breath as she felt her face getting more red, despite the pain in her head growing a bit more.

"Shiki, can you do me favor?"

"Sure. As long as it's within reason."

"T-then, close your eyes and hold out your hands. Don't open your eyes til I say so."

As Shiki heard this, he saw the girl's face becoming more red as she was trying her best not to look nervous. Soon Shiki closed his eyes and reached out his right hand. Seeing this, Mirei reached into her right pocket and placed a small black box into the boy's hand. The moment she did, she placed both of her hands onto Shiki's.

"Happy Birthday to you."

Stop her.

"Shut up. Shut up, my dumb instincts."

The pain in her head grew more intense. Her eyes were watering uncontrollably as her throat began to feel dry. Her body slowly started to feel a bit weaker with each passing moment. However, for some reason, Mirei did not stop.

"Happy birthday.......to you...."

We have to stop her!!

"Please.....just this once. Let me enjoy being human for once!"

Mirei's form slowly began to change. As she began to grow in size, her body began to morph unevenly as it was starting to become disjointed. Several limbs of various sizes began to grow upon this hideous pile of flesh as it was now beginning to have another eye and mouth forming on it.

"Hap......py......birth.....d...ay....to.....Sh-Shiki."

END THIS!!!!!

Suddenly, Shiki was met with a cold silence. His heart began to race, but it wasn't due to excitement. No, he remembered this feeling. This was the same feeling that Fushiguro Toji gave him. Right now, Shiki felt nothing but fear.

As the boy slowly opened his eyes, he saw the black box in his hands as two large hands seemingly just made of flesh were resting on his. Soon his gaze began to move upwards as the silence was now broken due to the sound of crying. He felt like he wanted to vomit, he wanted to scream until his voice was gone. He wanted to rage at the person responsible for this. Most importantly, he wanted to cry as his heart was slowly sinking into despair with what he saw.

"Happy......birthday........to......y............."

"M-Mirei?"