Ren jangled the keys, shoved the door open with a sigh that sounded like it came from his soul.
"You're staying. One year. Deal with it."
Kaito just stood there on the mat, looking like he'd spotted a corpse in the foyer.
"Hah. This—this is hell. Actual hell. You want me to shack up here? With you two? Watching your cutesy nonsense all day, every day? Am I being punished for something cosmic?"
He flopped against the doorframe, hand to his forehead like some tragic actor. "Somebody put me out of my misery."
Ren rolled his eyes so hard you could practically hear it.
"Spare me. We know how to act right when there's company. So, quit your moaning, go upstairs, and try not to die of melodrama."
Kaito huffed, stomping inside like he was dragging a ball and chain.
"'Comfortable,' he says... Sure. In the love shack with a lunatic sensei and his angelic wife. This is just my luck. Perfect."
He clomped up the stairs, probably plotting ten different escape plans already.
Ren just grinned, all teeth. "Welcome to the dojo of pain... and—God help us—manners."
Kaito was out cold, totally lost in a dreamland packed with championship belts and some wildly unlikely make-out session with the medic—until Ren's voice sliced through, colder than a snowstorm in Hokkaido.
"Wake up. We've got a job."
Kaito, still half-mummified in his blanket burrito, just groaned, "Dude, no way. Let's just hit snooze on this. The yorei aren't exactly on a tight schedule, you know…"
Ren didn't even bother with a comeback. Guy just cranked up his freaky aura instead.
Suddenly the room was bathed in blue light, all ghost-movie style.
Kaito shot up like he'd touched a live wire.
"Okay! I'm up! Boss-man, where we headed?!"
Ren, cool as ever, barely twitched a smile. "Shinjuku. Third district. Old Sakura Arcade."
They hit the streets, which were about as lively as a morgue at 3 a.m. Kaito shuffled alongside, yawning like a bear out of hibernation. Muttered, "No, but seriously—why are these yorei such a big deal? It's not like normal folks can even see 'em. Why all the drama?"
Ren's tone dropped, all business. "Yorei can't hurt you directly. But if one passes through your body, it takes half your remaining lifespan. And when they gather enough malice, they can start causing physical destruction."
Kaito blinked hard. "That's… honestly, that's straight-up nightmare fuel."
Ren kept driving, stone-faced. "We Akamichi can only detect where they spawn. But we're slow. If they move too far, tracking them is a nightmare. That's why we move fast."
Kaito sleepy, rubbing his neck. "Okay but—where do these freaks even come from?"
Ren just narrowed his eyes, all cryptic. "No one's cracked it. Old stories say they crawl over from some other realm. One that's not supposed to touch ours."
Kaito sighed, suddenly missing his pillow way more. "Great. And here I was whining about night shifts…"
Ren's matte-black car screeched around a corner, engine snarling like a beast. Kaito, half-asleep and barely strapped in, was clinging for dear life.
"Dude! You ever heard of a brake pedal!?"Ren didn't answer.
The radar on his dash beeped—the Yorei was close.
In one sharp drift, the car spun sideways and halted across a dimly lit alley. Smoke billowed from the tires.
Ren stepped out.He cracked his neck, walked forward, and exhaled slowly.
Mist curled around him—unnatural, summoned from nowhere.
Kaito shivered. The temperature dropped.
Ren raised his hand, fingers slicing the fog.From thin air, a blade materialized, gleaming obsidian with ancient kanji etched across its spine.
His voice cut through the silence:
"Murakami... descendant of Daiji Murakami. Let the mist be my witness."
From the shadows emerged a hulking Yorei—fifteen feet tall, horns twisting like thorned roots, eyes glowing red.
It roared—a sound that cracked windows—and lunged.
But Ren didn't move. Not an inch.
In a blink, he vanished and reappeared mid-air—blade trailing mist like ribbons.SLASH.
The Yorei's arm fell clean off, black blood hissing on the pavement.
Ren landed like a feather, flicked the sword once, and sheathed it into the mist as if it never existed.
Then calmly…He hopped on the hood of the car, pulled out a thermos, and sipped his tea.
Kaito, still getting out of the car, was frozen.
"WAIT. That's a rookie Yorei?! Are you outta your damn mind!?"
No answer.
Ren swirled the tea.
Kaito's eye twitched.
"WHAT THE FLUFF, BRO!? WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN GETTING THAT TEA FROM!? AND WHY NOW!?"
Ren tilted his cup casually.
"Say your name, Veyne... and clean up."
Kaito growled. Stepped forward
"Sylus Veyne"
The ground trembled.
A sudden pulse burst from Kaito's core—green aura exploded around him, swirling like a storm of jade fire. His eyes ignited—pure emerald flame. Veins lit up like glowing roots under his skin.
Kaito whispered, smiling like a man possessed:
"Now that's what I'm talking about."
BOOM.
He vanished.
The Yorei blinked.
Too late.
Kaito reappeared mid-air, fist cocked—
"Nighty night, freak."
SMASH.
A sonic boom cracked the silence. Kaito's punch landed square on the Yorei's face—skull fracturing, body hurtling back like a cannonball, crashing through two cars and a brick wall.
Dust everywhere.
Ren raised an eyebrow, "...Huh."
Kaito landed, green energy pulsing from his knuckles.
The dust cleared. The Yorei rose, screeching in rage, half its face caved in, regenerating with warped spasms.
It roared. The pavement cracked as it launched back.
The fight was on.
Kaito dashed again—blink-speed movement—weaving through its claws, landing body blows with fists that cracked air and shattered bone.
The Yorei clawed down.
Kaito jumped, flipped mid-air, heel kicked its jaw, spun and drop-kicked its ribs—sending it tumbling into a streetlight that exploded on impact.
The monster stood, pissed.
It opened its mouth—launching a black shriek, a wave of sound and dark pressure.
Kaito braced. His aura flared like a reactor shielding him, but his ears rang, blood dripping.
He smirked through the pain.
"Round 2?"
The Yorei slammed a foot down, creating a shockwave. Kaito was thrown mid-air.
It grabbed him—slammed him into the street.
CRACK.
Concrete shattered.
Then again.
And again.
Ren sipped his tea.
"Get up, boxer boy."
Under the crushed asphalt, Kaito's eyes flickered.
Then—boom.
He exploded upward, elbowing the monster's throat, breaking free, twisting, grabbing its own arm—and using it to judo throw the Yorei face-first into the street.
Kaito lands. Breathing hard. Blood on lips. Still smiling.
"Damn... I love this power."
Smoke. Silence.
Kaito stood in the center of the street, chest heaving. His knuckles were bruised, blood trailing down his lip. Across him, the Yorei twitched in the debris.
Ren raised his tea again.
"Don't relax yet."
Suddenly—
WHOOOSH.
A blast of cursed wind spiraled outward.
The Yorei's aura turned deep electric blue, shrinking in size, intensifying, compacting into pure pressure. Its silhouette became leaner—faster—its missing arm regenerated in a snap of cursed mist.
"...What the hell?" Kaito muttered, eyes wide.
The creature grinned—feral, intelligent now.
And then—
BOOM.
The Yorei vanished.
SLAM.
Kaito was gone—sent flying like a missile into a building wall. Concrete exploded.
"AGHH—!"
He dropped, coughing blood. Vision blurry. Ribs cracked. Arm twisted.
"did...i just go...t hit by a..... truck?"
The monster blurred again—appeared behind him mid-cough.
BAM.
A kick straight to Kaito's spine.
He skidded across the asphalt like a ragdoll.
Kaito gasped, trying to stand. His aura flickered, weak.
"This isn't the same Yorei…"
He raised his arms—but the Yorei grabbed him by the throat, lifted him up, and slammed him into the ground headfirst—crater forming.
BOOM.
Kaito screamed.
Veins popping. Blood pooling. His green light—flickering, failing.
He looked up—eye swollen—teeth gritted.
"I can't… move…"
The Yorei raised its clawed hand—ready to finish him.
Kaito thought:
"This pain… this isn't just a fight. This is survival. I'm gonna die if this keeps going…"
A whisper in his head—
"You're not ready, kid."
Ren steps down from his car, calm as a shadow in moonlight. His eyes ice cold, scanning the battlefield like a predator sizing up its prey.
"You did good… but you've got a lot to learn," he says, voice low and steady.
Kaito, barely conscious, mutters through cracked lips:
"You bast…" —then fades out, limp in Ren's arms.
Ren's hand tightens around his sword's hilt.
Without hesitation, he draws his blade — a shimmer of pure steel materializing from the mist like a ghost's whisper.
The Yorei snarls, towering and furious, but Ren moves like liquid shadow — swift and precise.
Slash. Ren's blade carves through the air, cutting a deep gash across the monster's shoulder, sparks flying.
The creature roars, swinging a massive claw—but Ren parries effortlessly, steps inside its reach, slicing a deep cut along its ribs.
Dash. Ren vanishes and reappears behind the beast, stabs the blade deep into its spine.
The Yorei howls in pain, thrashing wildly.
Ren's eyes blaze with ancestral fury — the bloodline awakens in every strike.
Whirlwind of steel. Ren's sword dances, striking with lethal precision — one arm severed cleanly, monster staggering.
Ren flicks his wrist, sending a crescent-shaped slash that sends the beast crashing into the wall, cracks spreading like spiderwebs.
He steps back, sword dripping with cursed ichor.
"You're outmatched."
Cold sip of tea.
Ren watches the Yorei dissolve—glitching like corrupted code fading into thin air.
He slides into the driver's seat, eyes catching Kaito fully healed—face flawless, no bruise, no sweat.
Ren sits frozen in the driver's seat, eyes wide as hell.
He spins his head so fast, it almost snaps—peering out the window.
The world outside isn't the city anymore.
Pitch black void, with white smoke curling along the edges.
Ancient Japanese temples stand like ghosts in the darkness.
Ren's breath catches.
oh god!
He doesn't move—just stares, stunned, heart pounding.
Something's seriously wrong.