Lucrezia was saved from death. Osamu was the one who was impaled with Amatsuki's spear. He couldn't believe it himself. Even as the spear passed through him, he took hold of it and prevented it from passing through his stomach even further, thus protecting Lucrezia from the spearhead. Blood ran from the entry and exit wounds, saturating his clothes. His entire body felt like it was on fire, and the pulsating pain from the wound weakened him by the second.

This was nothing like when he clashed with Tsukiakari and died alongside her. That was over in an instant, and he barely remembered feeling much of anything. This was different. The pain was overwhelming, so much so he had to fight off the urge to vomit. The shock rapidly settled in, drawing screams of agony from Osamu.

"Osamu!" Lucrezia cried, her eyes widened in horror.

"Lucrezia, now you know what losing a loved one feels like! This is the anger and heartbreak that comes from it!" Amatsuki chided.

Osamu took hold of Amatsuki's hands, preventing her from backing away, but consequently pushing the spear further through his body. "Shut the hell up!" Lucrezia, you haven't lost me yet! I'm still breathing! I'm still standing! This is our chance! Whatever you need to do, do it now!"

Lucrezia wasn't able to stand and move, but she was able to reach out to Osamu's arms. She withdrew her black feather and touched it against the spear's shaft. The shaft turned black upon contact, spreading to Amatsuki's hands, arms, legs, and shoulders.

"What the hell is this?" Amatsuki cried. "What have you done?"

Amatsuki fell over on the ground, screaming, but unable to move. Osamu fell over, his strength completely depleted. Lucrezia crawled over to him and cradled his head between her hands. She observed the catastrophic wound he suffered, unsure of how to fix it.

Osamu smiled. "Good...good job, Lucrezia. I always knew you'd make it out of this."

"Don't talk! I...I don't know what to do! If I pull it out, you'll bleed to death in seconds!"

As she thought of what to do, two rockets suddenly flew over Lucrezia head, striking the ground floor of one of the tall buildings close to them. Flames broke out and further degraded the ground structure of the building, causing it to lean over Lucrezia Osamu, and Amatsuki.

"What the hell was that?" Lucrezia screamed.

Lucrezia looked to the direction the rockets were fired from, spotting two suited men tossing their RPG's to the side as they fled. It was just as Lucrezia feared. Amatsuki's own men were going to kill her.

Knowing the building would collapse soon, Amatsuki tried her hardest to move her blackened body, but it was futile. Lucrezia managed to stagger up onto her feet, but would only be able to carry Osamu with the strength she had left.

Lucrezia stood up and saw Amatsuki struggling to get onto her feet. If she didn't get up and move soon, she'd be crushed under the collapsing building. For a split second, Lucrezia seriously considered abandoning her and prioritizing her own life above Amatsuki's.

But she couldn't do that. Amatsuki's flowing, silver hair and desperate cries of helpless agony reminded her of someone, a loved one she failed long ago. For a moment, Lucezia's mind took her back that failure, to her standing in the forest in the middle of the night, a bloodied sword in her hand and a dead, silver-haired girl in her arms.

The agony of that night haunted her still. She wasn't going to let it happen again. The building creaked and shuddered, warning everyone it was on the verge of crushing them all. Lucrezia ran over to Amatsuki, picking her up and throwing her over next to Osamu. Then, the building gave way and fell on top of Lucrezia, the explosive crash leaving a painful ring in Osamu's ears. The collapse shrouded the street in in a thick cloud of dust, dirt, and scattered debris.

Lucrezia was nowhere to be seen. She was buried beneath the rubble.

"Lucrezia can you hear me?! Answer me!" Osamu screamed.

"Why...why did she rescue me?" Amatsuki mumbled, in complete awe.

Within a few minutes, the gunfire and explosions stopped. Cars carrying Amatsuki's men rushed out of the neighborhood. They figured that no one could've survived that collapse. If it weren't for Lucrezia's intervention, that may have surely been the case. With the fighting dying down, Kagutsuchi and the shinigami searched around for Osamu and Lucrezia.

Kagutsuchi rushed over to Osamu's side. She placed her hand on the spear, using her powers to completely disintegrate it before searing Osamu’s wound shut. Osamu was in such poor shape that he almost couldn't even feel Kagutsuchi's palms cauterize his skin.

"Thank god! We made it to you in time! Are you okay?" Kagutsuchi asked.

"Kagu, the rubble over there. Lucrezia is buried in it!" Osamu urged.

"Dig through the rubble and retrieve the girl!" one of the shinigami commanded.

Osamu's exhaustion finally took over his weakened, brutalized body. His vision turned dark and hazy, and any instance of sound grew muddled.

"Kagu...don't...don't hurt Amatsuki..." Osamu mumbled, losing consciousness.

"Hey, Osa! Osa!" Kagutsuchi cried.

(Lucrezia...I know you're alive, aren't you? You wouldn't die that easily...right? Just when we were really becoming friends, too...)

When Osamu awoke, it was in bed. His eyes slowly peeled open and he recognized the ceiling. Somehow, he had made it back to the house. The warm sunlight kissed the side of his face and shined onto the bloodstained gauze wrapped around his stomach. For a moment, he thought he had died and woke up in Heaven. That is, until the pain from his wounds bit at every inch of his body. He realized this was still the world of the living, and he had gotten lucky enough to survive one of the wildest battles of his life.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"I'm alive." Osamu sighed. "Good."

Osamu looked over the edge of the bed and saw Lucrezia sleeping on a futon on the floor. He watched her chest, seeing it slowly rise as she took a breath.

(Thank goodness...)

"Osamu...is that you?" Lucrezia groaned, barely able to move.

“Yeah. You're awake?"

Lucrezia turned her head and giggled. "Looks like it was a success."

Osamu smiled and laid back down. "Yeah, I know."

Suddenly, Amatsuki's voice gently called out from behind Osamu. "Osamu, can you scooch over a bit?"

How could he not notice Amatsuki laying right next to him in bed, wearing a big, white t-shirt and a pair of Yoko's red underwear? How?

Kagutsuchi immediately rushed into the room when she heard Osamu scream. She had her purple cooking apron on and her hair was tied into a messy ponytail. To say that Osamu was a tad bit lost was a gross understatement. He began to think that maybe he truly did die and this was some weird, alternate dimension.

"What's going on?! Are you guys okay?" Kagutsuchi asked.

"Kagu! Amatsuki!" Osamu stammered.

"What? What are you saying?" Kagutsuchi questioned.

"What is Amatsuki doing here!?" Osamu screeched.

"Would you please stop yelling? Your lucky I can't move my hands." Amatsuki groaned.

"Well, you did say not to hurt her..."

"'Don't harm' doesn't equate to 'Take personal responsibility for', Kagu!"

Kagutsuchi puffed her cheeks. "I was trying to do the right thing! Besides, she even asked me to destroy the phone she had so that she couldn't be tracked!"

"Wait...she...she did?" Osamu questioned.

"My own men tried to kill me back there. You saw it yourself. May as well let them believe they were successful, since there's no point in going back." Amatsuki explained.

"Oh...well, that's a relief for us." Osamu sighed.

"Lucrezia, are you there?" Amatsuki asked.

"Yeah, I've been on the floor this whole time."

"Why did you save me? I tried to kill you. We're enemies, yet you risked your life to save me. Are you really just that righteous? Or are you stupid?

Lucrezia smiled as she withdrew her phone from her pocket. "I've been waiting for this moment. Osamu, please hand her the phone."

Osamu took Lucrezia's cell phone and passed it to Amatsuki, groaning in pain while doing so. Amatsuki's eyebrows shot upwards in shock. She was staring at an account with half a billion yen in it, a small piece of her brother's legacy.

"I...I don't understand..." Amatsuki murmured.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save more for you." Lucrezia sighed. "From the very beginning, your brother and I planned all of this. Satori was in a lot of trouble when he first reached out to me. He discovered Kagutsuchi and brought her home with him, resulting in her curse afflicting his entire household. He knew she'd eventually be captured by the exorcists, and because he was ill, he wouldn't be able to protect her. He reached out to me, the one person he felt he could trust within the Exorcist Program. Together, we hatched a plan that would save Kagutsuchi, end Satori's suffering, and save you from certain death, Amatsuki."

"What kind of nonsense is that? You're saying you two planned all of this? Why would an exorcist like you help my brother after he had become a pariah to the program?"

"I suppose it was my penance for wronging the Sentani family long ago." Lucrezia said.

"Everything she's saying is true." Kagutsuchi interjected. "Satori told us himself. He took both you and I into consideration when he planned all of this. He wanted the both of us to have fresh starts. Because of his planning and Lucrezia's efforts, as well as Osamu's sacrifice, we're both alive and well."

"...Seriously? My brother...really did all of this?"

"Satori knew that you'd inherit his legacy in the event of his death, and since he had already experienced it himself, he knew that such boundless wealth would make you a target within your organization." Lucrezia explained. "That whole stunt I pulled off with taking legal control of your inheritance was to provoke you into a fight, and to provoke the yakuza into increased desperation. I knew they'd try to kill you if they had the perfect opportunity to do so, like a fight between you and I.

“They fell for it, and we used the chaos to get you out of their reach. That money you're looking at right now is just a small piece of what Satori left for you. I'm afraid it's all I can give you right now. It's under a different name for your protection, but I've already transferred access to you. I wanted you to have something, even if it was only a little. This way, you're set for life without being in danger."

Amatsuki's eyes widened and filled with tears. She didn't know what to do or say. She couldn't believe that Satori thought so far ahead, and fought so hard to protect both her and Kagutsuchi, knowing he was going to die the whole time.

"Shinju and I did kill Satori, but we even planned that out as well. Please understand that we had to do all of this while fooling the exorcists as well. If they caught on to us, they would've taken Kagutsuchi into their custody, and they certainly would've arrested you, if the yakuza didn't kill you first." Lucrezia explained, stretching her arms. "Everything is finally done now. I fulfilled my promise to Satori. Amatsuki, you're a free woman now."

"But...what do I do now?" Amatsuki cried, wiping tears from her cheeks. "I have no family. I have no clan. What am I supposed to do?"

"You live, Amatsuki." Lucrezia said. "That's all your brother wanted you to do. Although, it would be dangerous for you to strike out on your own right this second. I was actually hoping you could stay with Osamu and the girls for the time being."

"Wait, what?!" Osamu recoiled. "Lucrezia, you didn't discuss this with me beforehand! How am I supposed to explain this to them?"

"I don't know. You're their husband, so figure out. I did all the legwork for you."

(I can already hear Yoko screaming my face off. I'm doomed...)

"Well, if you promise not to kill any of us, I don't mind if you want to hang out.” Osamu sighed.

"You...I almost killed you..." Amatsuki marveled.

"Saving you was the right thing to do, and I'm glad I made that choice. Because now...you don't have to live in hell anymore." Lucrezia said. "You get to have friends, laugh, eat supper together, and go back to living the normal life you were almost deprived of. So how about it? Want to start over?"

Amatsuki laughed until her stomach hurt, revealing a cheerful, human side to her. "What you're trying to say is that I can live with you, right?"

"Well, I mean...if it keeps you off the streets and out of a life of crime, I don't see why not." Osamu said. "If you want, you can live with us. I've got to warn you though, Yoko is super possessive and feisty, and she doesn't take kindly to those outside of our small ring of friends and fellow wives. Don't do anything she might misinterpret, all right?"

Amatsuki nodded. "I think I can do that."

Amatsuki looked out of the window and gazed at the sun-kissed neighborhood and the cloudless, blue sky above. All of her anger and rage disappeared thanks to her late brother, who managed to protect her, even in death. Tears ran down her rosy cheeks as a slight smile formed on her glowing face.

"I can't believe it. I wake up, and my life is saved...thank you...Big Brother"

(In the end, she's just as human and fragile as the rest of us. Lucrezia must've seen that at first glance. She figured it out so much faster than I did.)

"You guys keep resting." Kagutsuchi said. "I'll be downstairs cooking with Gekko and Shinju."

(Once again, I saved someone. Because of our choices, Amatsuki can start her life anew. If we just be patient with her, I'm sure we'll be able to get along. Anyone who can cry like this is someone who still has a heart.)

All they could do now was rest and let the wounds of the past heal themselves.