"I wonder if Shiki is okay."

These were the thoughts of Kazuha Mirei as she was putting on her school uniform. Ever since the night Shiki brought her home, she felt a bit of distance between them. They still talk to each other like they normally do, but something felt off. Whenever they spoke, Shiki would sometimes avoid eye contact with her with a minor look of guilt on his face.

"Shiki isn't the type to do things without a reason. If he's hiding something, he probably can't talk about it. Worrying too much is a pain, so I'll just trust him for now. And if it's something dumb, I'll just smack him."

Just as Mirei said this and finished putting on her school uniform, the girl left her apartment as she locked the door behind her. As she was now walking on the sidewalk, she began to let her mind wonder. Shiki was a good guy to her, but she can't help but worry about him. It was always like that between them.

"Yeah, it was like this even back when we first met."

~Flashback~
"Hey, Mirei-san, do you want to hang out after school?"

Outside of the gym of the junior high division of Miyagi Academy, Mirei was surrounded by three boys. Her hair was much shorter and her green eyes held a look of annoyance in them as she just wanted to walk home but the three boys weren't making it possible.

"Sorry, but I have to go home before it gets too late "

"You're always running off without playing with us. Why are you such a goodie two sho-"

"Can you get out of the way?"

As the three boys and Mirei looked in the direction of the new voice, they saw a young boy with black hair and green eyes staring at them as the boy fixed his glasses. He wore the school's gray blazer and pants as he has a black backpack with him. However, what truly got to their was the annoyed look on his face. Soon one of the boys walked up to the new kid who arrived.

"Who the heck are you?"

"Koritsu Shiki, 3rd year in Miyagi Academy's junior high department. Now can you please get out of the way? I want to get home."

"So you're a year younger than us? Show your upperclassmen some respect, Shorty."

Just as soon as the bully finished that sentence, he was suddenly punched to the ground as a mark that looked like a fist was visible on the right side of his face. Soon Mirei and the two other boys looked at the glasses wearing kid, as he was seen cracking his knuckles.

"I'm.....not.......short!!!"

Just as the kid said this, he ran towards the remaining two bullies. Seeing this, the first one charged at Shiki as he threw a punch with his left hand, only for Shiki to catch it with his right hand and proceeding to counter attack by slamming his knee into the bully's stomach. As the attacker was holding his belly in pain, Shiki was walking up to the last one. However, before Shiki could do anything, the bully simply turned around and ran away.

"......crap, guess I got a little carried away, huh?"

"Pffft! A little, you say! You literally just beat the snot out of two guys and made one run away. Hahahahah!"

Mirei couldn't help but laugh in the situation. This boy who just a second ago seemed terrifying was now slightly panicking about getting too carried away. If anyone else witnessed a contrast in facial expression like this, Mirei was sure they would laugh as well. As the girl was trying her best to stop her laughter, Shiki looked at her with a bit of a worried expression.

"Ummm, are you ok? Did you lose your mind?"

"Sorry, sorry. You're an interesting one, you know that. Nice to meet you, my name is Kazuha Mirei."

~Flashback ends~
Ever since that day, both Shiki and herself have talked to each other and hung out together to this day. The more they hung out, the more they began to respect one another and have each other's back. That's why, even if Shiki is being secretive, Mirei will respect Shiki's decision since it must be something important if he doesn't even want her to know about it.

"Oi, Mirei. Have you finally lost your mind?"

The moment Mirei heard this voice, she turned around with a small smile on her voice. However, that smile was short lived when she received a light chop on her head while the culprit had a smirk plastered on his face.

"Geez, you don't call me for days and this is how you greet me? Good luck finding a girlfriend with that attitude", Mirei said as she began to pout and trying her best not to let a laugh escape from her mouth.

"Oh, no~. At least I still have you to heal my broken heart if that day never comes", Shiki laughed as he hugged Mirei from behind and playfully puckered his lips. Soon Mirei broke out in laughter as she pushed the boy away from her. Just as she was walking to school, she quickly turned around and looked at Shiki.

"Glad to see you're ok, dumbass."

"........heh, right back at you, ya brat."

~Meanwhile~
"Shiranui, we have a problem!!!"

The head of the Demon Hunter Organization looked up from their paper work as they saw Mukuro Zenin had entered their office. However, Shiranui was slightly tuning the head of the Zenin clan out as he was remembering what Ochita recently told him.

"Koritsu Shiki isn't making any progress with his training. At this rate, he'll be left behind and  if he can't produce any noteworthy results, he'll have to be put down."

"Shiranui, this is urgent!"

"What is it, Mukuro?"

"It's about Jinoshima, we were requested by an anonymous source to send assistance with the extermination of a rabid beast that was noted to be devouring humans on-"

Before Mukuro could finish his sentence, he was suddenly being lifted into the air. When he looked down, he saw Shiranui was before him as they were holding him by his throat with an annoyed look on their face.

"How is that any different from the black beast case? Just send in an executioner or someone from your clan to deal with it."

"It's not just that........word has it that......Fushiguro Toji has also been spotted on that island."

Shiranui's eyes widen in shock as they dropped Mukuro to the floor. Soon a smile was seen forming on their face as an idea managed to enter their mind. As Mukuro was coughing after being choked, he looked towards the head of the Demon Hunter organization.

"So, are we going to send Olivia? She could easi-"

"Shut up, old man. This is the perfect opportunity and i'm not letting it go to waste. I'm gonna use that run away brat from your clan to make our organization even stronger."