Hangaku let Mura’s words sink in. Her thoughts tumbled over them, not certain what to think.

“You’re… the furthest thing from a god? What are you then, just a priest?” she said, not truly understanding.

“I’m a demon. You know what those are, don’t you?” Mura said, leaning against the doorframe of the building.

“A… demon? B-But that’s not possible…” Hangaku stuttered, scooting back from his direction.

“Why? Is it because you humans only believe demons are capable of evil and wickedness?” Mura said bitterly. “I’ve done my research, seen things since I’ve been here. My race is despised and feared throughout the myths and beliefs of mankind…”

Hangaku looked up at Mura, too scared to say anything.

“You wanna know something? The original reason I was sent here was to murder you. To strike you down simply because my superiors had you pegged as a witch.”

“W-Witch?! N-No, please d-don’t kill me!” Hangaku whimpered.

“If I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t have spent the last few days trying to figure out a way to get that shit outta your soul,” Mura sighed, looking out at the moon. “In fact, I might have just thrown away everything to save your life.”

“W-Why? I don’t understand… I-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen…”

Hangaku began to sniffle as tears welled up in her eyes. Lilith glared at Mura, punching his arm. As he recoiled slightly, she shot him a look that made the demon realize his mistake.

“No, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to guilt-trip you or anything. It’s just… a lot has been on my mind lately. The last few months have been a rollercoaster for me.”

Mura slumped down onto the cold ground.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore…” he said softly. “At this point, all I can tell myself is that saving a life can’t be all bad, right? It’s all I can really go off of.”

He smiled lightly, reaching over to the shiny Jikininki pin attached to his coat’s lapel. With a firm tug, he plucked it off and held the small piece of precious metal in his hand.

“This pin here, Hangaku? I risked my life… I risked the life of my best friend too just to get it. I killed a man to get to this point right now. Thousands of people would give anything to be where I am right now… I thought by being a killer, I could solve all of my problems. But… I think I realize now that taking a life could never amount to the importance of saving one.”

Lilith’s eyes widened. She shot her arm out, clamping her hand onto Mura’s shoulder.

“Mura, wait! Are you sure—“

He looked over at his best friend, placing his hand atop hers.

“Take this,” the demon said softly, placing the pin into her warm palm. “Sell it, you’ll be able to get that money you needed. I’ll ask Naraka to help you in finding the secrets to your past, just in case anything happens to me.”

Lilith blinked once, her mouth falling open slightly in shock. She wound back and with every amount of strength she could muster, slapped Mura across the face.

“What the hell is your problem, you asshole?! You can’t just give up, like they’re gonna execute you for not killing this girl!! After everything I’ve been through with you, the fights we endured; you’re just gonna give up and tell me to continue on without you?! You stupid idiot!!”

Tears rolled down Lilith’s cheeks as she pounded Mura’s unmoving chest. He didn’t want to give up, to admit defeat. But he knew in the off-chance something did happen to him, she’d be taken in as well.

“I can’t risk anything happening to you…” he uttered.

“Dumbass! I handled tougher things than this and so have you! The empire needs to realize that no matter what, nothing is breaking apart the dream-team!”

Mura laughed and smiled, trying to ignore the lump forming in his throat. Suddenly, a voice from the corner spoke up.

“W-Who’s the girl next to you?” Hangaku asked.

“She’s my partner, a spirit named Lilith… Wait, you can see her?”

“Of course I can! I could for a little while now…”

Lilith turned around, not wanting the human girl to see her crying. Mura wondered what triggered her appearing to Hangaku or if the priestess could see her from the beginning.

“Sorry you had to see all of that…” Mura apologized.

“It’s okay! I just… I didn’t know that, well… I didn’t know demons could be like me. Or that they could… have emotions like sadness…” Hangaku said softly. “I thought that demons were all evil. That they spread horrible omens and misfortunes on humanity and our land.”

“Hey, it’s okay. You can’t help it if you don’t know the other side… Especially if you don’t even know that we exist outside legends and whatnot,” Mura said.

“You’re right… But still, I don’t quite understand everything that’s happening,” she trailed off. “Even so! You helped me, Mura. You saved my life! That’s all I know right now, that’s what matters most.”

Hangaku crawled over to Mura and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you so much… I’ll never forget the kindness you showed me.”

She smiled with tears in her eyes, looking into Mura’s. Hangaku turned to Lilith, smiling still.

“Thank you as well, Lilith! I’ll pray that you are able to find peace in heaven one day, if that is what you seek!”

Lilith turned towards the human and half-laughed, choking midway through her tears.

“D-Don’t mention it, hehe…” Lilith chuckled, brushing off the emotional moment to the best of her ability. She walked over and joined in the hug, placing the Jikininki pin Mura gave her back onto his lapel.

“This is nice…” Hangaku said. “Why don’t demons introduce themselves to the world? You can show the rest of us how kind your people are!”

“Maybe someday, Hangaku. But right now, I don’t know if they’re ready for it. Not every demon is as good as we are, sadly. There’s a lot of hate in both worlds, I’m not sure everybody would come to understandings right away,” Mura explained as the trio separated.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Hangaku nodded along.

“You’re right… But maybe one day, you can visit me again?”

“Perhaps, if it isn’t too dangerous. I think it’s best if we stay apart for now, though. I don’t need you to become a target in case anything bad happens.”

Hangaku smiled weakly.

“Maybe one day though?” she asked.

“Yeah, one day,” Mura replied with a smile, patting her on the shoulder. “Until then, you need to get home okay? Your mother will be waking up soon, don’t let her think anything wrong now.”

Hangaku bowed to him and Lilith, then smiled again as she tried to fight off tears.

“I’ll never forget you two! Thank you… for everything!!” she said, getting up before running away.

Mura and Lilith watched as the girl disappeared into the forest, running along the path towards her home.

“Think we’ll ever see her again?” Lilith asked.

“I hope so. It’d be something to look forward to, wouldn’t it?” Mura said with a smile.

“Heh, that’s my best friend. Glad to hear you’ve got your head on straight again.”

Mura got off the ground, brushing off his coat and pants. He took a nice long look at the nighttime sky and breathed in the fresh air.

“This was a pretty nice time we had here, huh? I think I might miss Earth.”

“You wanna buy a summer home here, Mura?”

“Shut up, haha. You had fun, don’t lie,” he said jabbing Lilith’s side.

“Whatever! They have good food, that’s all,” she admitted, not wanting to really leave either.

They both knew the contract had been finished. Hangaku wasn’t assassinated, but the incubi controlling her was. No doubt Kirin or some other operative witnessed the whole ordeal and would be awaiting them for further instructions.

“You still have that magic chalk stuff Kirin left us?” Lilith asked.

“Yeah, I sure hope so! Had to check about four times each day just to make sure it was still there in my coat pocket.”

Mura removed a piece of the magical chalk Kirin had used to transport them initially to the human realm. What seemed like an eternity ago was only just a week, proving just how much transpired in their first assignment. He looked around the shrine for any potential witnesses that could observe them.

“Ready to leave, then?” he asked.

“Ready as I’ll be, I guess…” Lilith replied.

With a nod of confirmation, Mura drew a large circle on the outside wall of the shrine building next to them. Within the circle he sketched out a pentagram before striking two diagonal lines through it like his instructor had done.

Once he lifted the chalk away from the stone wall, the outline glimmered with a pale blue light. The stone bent inwards like flower petals as a portal back to Yomi materialized before them.

“I certainly won’t miss the transportation method, that’s for certain…” Lilith complained, remembering how bizarre it felt to be sucked through a wormhole.

The two of them joined hands. Once Mura double-checked to make sure they weren’t being watched, he stepped inside and immediately was dragged into the portal along with Lilith.

Both of them were rushed through the tube of bending space as flashes of rainbow-colored images blended together past their vision. At the portal’s end, the duo were spat out into an ornate chamber shaped like a dome. Their feet met with the surface of an old circular stone that looked several eons old. Etched into the flat stone surface was a large arcane design made up of intersecting lines and curves; likely forming a sigil that relayed people back into the same room.

Mura immediately noticed one person waiting for them in the room: Kirin, her hands clasped behind her back. Still dressed in her militant uniform from the last time they met, she smiled lightly in the way of a supervisor locking eyes with a troublesome employee.

“Back from your adventure, Tenth? I hope the human realm treated you well,” she said, her cinder-grey skin eerily lit in the dim chamber lights.

“It was nice, actually! Had a great time, learned a lot, that kind of thing.”

Mura chuckled, trying to seem nonchalant. Kirin kept her poker face however, completely undeterred.

“Alright, please listen before you do anything,” Mura said, still retaining a calm voice. “You probably know that we didn’t kill the girl, but that’s only because we discovered something else was afoot.”

“Something… else?” Kirin asked, shifting her weight to one leg in an inquisitive stance.

“Yes. Our investigation showed that the human girl wasn’t practicing witchcraft or magic of any kind. Instead, she was possessed by a nest of incubi,” Mura explained.

Kirin’s eyebrow raised slightly, showing Mura that this information must have been new to her. Either that, or she was just playing him for a fool.

“Yeah, like Mura said, she was possessed! So we made sure to kill the incubi inside after exorcising her!” Lilith chimed in.

“The Amano girl was possessed by an incubus? Not just one, but many…?” Kirin asked, subtly asking for confirmation.

“That’s right, yes. The incubus is dead and its corpse is still at the shrine. Not sure if anyone can see it, but—“

“Don’t worry about that. Our recon teams are most likely cleaning it up as we speak. Still, that’s… actually pretty impressive. Well done, you two.”

Kirin smiled at them, extending her hand out towards the doors leading out of the chamber.

“We’ll just have to get a report from you, Tenth. You’ll soon find out that paperwork is the least fun part,” she chuckled.

Mura and Lilith walked along the large stone platform until they reached a small ramp leading down. They shuffled down, walking over to their commanding officer.

“Before you go, you’ll have to return any items left over that I’ve given you,” Kirin explained, redirecting her gloved hand towards Mura for him to place his personal effects.

“Oh yeah, I figured as much,” Mura said, taking the items from his pockets.

He returned the Japanese credit card and magical chalk, placing them into her hand. His fingers touched her gloved hand momentarily, the material feeling like soft, supple leather that clung tightly to her skin.

Kirin’s hand curled up, taking the tools and placing them into a small pouch on her waist.

“Alright, if that’s everything just follow me. Congratulations again, both of you.”

Kirin led the way towards the door, walking over to a keypad next to the mechanical metal doors leading outside. She punched in an 8-digit pin code, causing the doors before Mura and Lilith to unlock and slide open smoothly.

Mura waited for Kirin to enter first, but she insisted that he went through before her. Not wanting to hesitate, Mura motioned for Lilith to follow his lead and walked through the exit.

Walking on through, Mura saw just an empty foyer waiting ahead of them. Clearly he was present in some sort of center for agents and affiliated personnel returning back to Yomi, like an airport for portals. But something was striking him as off, a feeling he half-expected to be facing from the outcome his mission had taken.

—No other choice but to follow Kirin’s instructions. I have no clue where I am right now, so it’s not like Lilith and I could escape if we needed to.

“Mura, where is everybody?” Lilith asked in a concerned tone.

“Don’t worry, little one,” Kirin reassured. “The welcome wagon is all right here.”

Once the words left her mouth, Mura immediately felt a blast of magic hit his body. He heard a consecutive magical blast strike Lilith as well, causing her to gasp out.

He wanted to run, but his mouth wouldn’t move nor would his legs. In fact, he couldn’t move at all.

Mura’s body locked up and went numb as it quickly crumpled to the recently-waxed tile floor. Lilith’s body subsequently joined him on the ground, yet the demon was unable to turn his head to see her.

—Paralyzing magic? Shit… Guess my intuition was right…

Mura could see one thing however. From the ground, he saw a cloaking spell deactivate; revealing the laced boots of several armed police agents surrounding them. Joining them were the bare feet of someone else he recognized.

The barefoot figure crouched down, taking Mura’s face into his rough hands.

“Welcome home, champ,” Grendel said with a chuckle. “Gentlemen, do your thing.”

Mura’s eyes fluttered as he attempted to scowl in rage at the Jikininki before him. On cue, one of the police agents called out to Mura in a strong, unemotional and authoritarian tone.

“Mura of the Jikininki Ten and his Thrall, Lilith. By the decree of His Majesty and the Great Empire of Yomi; you are hereby under arrest for the crimes of treason.”

As the final words left the officer’s mouth, Grendel grinned as his purple eyes flashed.

“Knew you wouldn’t last the week.”

Grendel took Mura’s head and with a quick fluid motion, slammed it down against the floor; placing the now-convicted demon into an unconscious slumber.