The sunroot dimmed, a sign that it was night time above ground. Unlike the surface, there were no moons to light up the path, so the city would use lanterns filled with firefly sprouts that would light the path home. People would either go to the tavern to drink or be walking home at this time. Kagami was the same, carrying Aria on his back.

A few minutes of walking, Kagami could hear the sound of music wafting from a nearby tavern. A drunken man stepped of the tavern, taking a few steps outside before he lost his balance and slumped on the wall. Aria giggled in his ear.

“His liver is made of iron.” She muttered.

That was the only coherent thing he had heard from her since after their talk. Everything that came out of her mouth was incoherent gibberish, the result, she had told him, was from diving deep into the future to see all possible paths. Kagami stopped in the middle of the road when he saw a woman with wolf ears spot him in the distance. No doubt, she looked at him with as much disgust as the drool that was spreading on his shoulder.

But she spotted the woman on his back and hurried to him with the ferocity and intent to kill as a wolf did to its prey. Kagami adjusted Aria as he stood in place, waiting for the woman with his wife’s face to come and try to kill him.

Wouldn’t be the first time his wife had tried to kill him anyways.

She did try to kill him. When she got close enough, she pounced. Her claw ripped through the air, aimed at his neck. Kagami stepped aside, letting the claw cut the air. She landed on all four, skidding on the cobblestone and righting herself to face him.

Behind Kagami, he heard heavy footsteps and even heavier breathing. The bear ran past him and stopped between them, bending forward to catch his breath for a minute before straightening. Sweat dripped from his face, as he looked held a hand at Yoru.

“Stop!” He said. “I thought we spoke about this. We-”

“It doesn’t matter. I still want to kill him.”

The wolf glared at him. Kagami could feel her bloodlust leak from her. If it was anyone else, Kagami believed they would faint. Kagami returned her a grin a grin to her, which pissed her off even more.

“Here you go.” Kagami pushed Aria into Kenichi’s arms. Kenichi yelled a protest that fell against deaf ear. Kagami didn’t care what he wanted to say, because that would ruin the fun here. He cracked his fists. “I actually feel pretty good right now. I just fought an elf.”

“Elves don’t exist.” She barked harshly. Her arm hung limp right next to her, her hand formed a claw that would no doubt rip his throat out if he weren’t careful.

A smile spread across his face. His heart thumped in anticipation of their clash. Kagami pushed his left foot forward and held his hand out. This time, he would beat this wolf down.

“You want this don’t you?” Kagami asked her. “You want to kill me. That’s fine. Because this is good training for what’s to come.”

Disgust etched across her face.

“I hate you.”

Just as he was about to close the distance, he was grabbed by the head. The bear’s eyes glowed a dangerous red.

“I said.” And he was thrown aside. “Stop! You battle junkies!”

Kagami righted himself, landing on a tavern’s wall, before placing his feet down on the ground. It made a loud thud and the drunken music that flowed out of the tavern stopped for just a moment, before it resumed.

The bear was turning to the two, bared his teeth. A warning that the two of them stop their antics. Kagami gave a hearty laugh and leaned against the wall.

“You want to stop me that much? That’s fine. I actually had something else I needed to give you anyways.” Kagami walked over to him and handed him a letter.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“What is this?” He asked as his eyes bulged at the handwriting on the front of the letter. The front only had the name of person who was supposed to read it. The bear looked up at Kagami. “Is this-”

“Yeah, she wrote it.” Kagami nodded to the woman blubbering at his feet.

His eyes went wide, and he slowly turned back to Aria and then at the letter. He carefully opened the letter, handling its contents as if it were holy scripture. He unfolded it.

#

Thirty minutes ago in that alleyway.

“Yoru hates me you know. She won’t work with me. I’m pretty sure if met her again, she’d try to kill me.” Kagami told the still smiling winged woman. With the light dimming behind her, she kind of looked like an angel that had descended.

Aria smiled at him. She produced a letter from somewhere on her and handed it to Kagami.

“Give that to Kenichi. If you do that, then she will work with you.”

“Huh?” Kagami rose an eyebrow at that. “Kenichi? How would that stop her from trying to kill me?”

“You’re going to have to trust me on this. If you give this to him, Yoru won’t attack you. If you give this to Yoru, however, she will attack you.”

“Is that so?” Kagami rubbed his chin. “I could always use the workout I suppose.”

“I didn’t think I have to say this, but do not give this to Yoru.” She held up a finger. “If you listen to me like a good boy, I can tell you a nice piece of information.”

She said it.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he breathed, but when he did, it was like his heart had been stung by thousands of needles.

“Is what you’re saying true?” His voice cracked.

She had him, a smile formed on those cracked lips and her tired eyes.

“I’ll be back, and then I will tell you. But you also have to promise not to read this letter.”

#

Kagami had returned back to his house, sitting on the ground, leaning forward against his bent knee. The flames of the fireplace reflected upon his eyes, as he watched it pop and snap. When he gave that letter to Kenichi, the man looked at him with renewed purpose.

“You will lead us to the Warden. You know the way right?”

Yoru had voiced her protest, but the bear wasn’t having it. He roared at her, and she stopped in sheer surprise. He turned back to him.

“No matter what, you will lead us to the Warden.”

They left after that.

The fireplace cracked and a giant’s shadow overlapped him. Kagami turned to see Walnut, his eyes red and tired. His beard shaggy and disheveled.

“You’re here. Good.” He sat down in the chair next to his, and leaned forward. “You need to leave tonight.”

“What?”

“You need to leave.” Walnut repeated himself. “The Warden plans to use you for the Harvest. You need to get out of here now.”

“I can’t do that.”

The light from the fire painted an orange glow on Walnut’s face. His eyes were wide and his lips parted as he stared at Kagami in disbelief.

“I’m taking Yoru and her group to the Warden.” Kagami continued. “I’ve struck a deal with them.”

“You struck a deal?” Walnut repeated as if he tried to understand. He stood up from his seat and towered over Kagami. “Don’t you get it? If you go down there you’ll die. You might not believe that, because of your ability but you will die for real if you go down there. You need to get out of here now.”

Kagami slapped his hand as he tried to reach him.

“I can’t. One of them can see the future. She told me, if I help them, she would tell me where my wife is,” he explained to him.

“Wife?” His face blank crumbled into something furious. “Don’t you get it, you delusional fuck? You have no wife! But I can see it in those eyes. If you won’t go willingly, than I’ll force you to-”

Kagami’s fist wedged into the bandit’s gut. Walnut’s jaw opened up, and fell to his knees, holding his gut. He glared at Kagami.

“You bastard!”

Kagami hit him again, this time in the temple. Walnut slammed on the floor, his head bounced off once from the ground, before hitting the floor again.

“I’m grateful that you looked after me,” he spoke truly. “But I need to go. If I know where she’ll be, then I have to do this.”

He turned to leave. His ankle was grabbed. Walnut was still conscious, but the damage had done its job. The grip on his ankle was weak. It was only a matter of time before he fell unconscious.

“I can’t let you leave.” He flopped his head up to meet Kagami’s gaze. “If you go, everything I’ve done is for naught. The Warden has an elf working under him. He will-”

“He?” The one he fought was a woman. That meant there was at least two, but there were probably more than two.

Walnut seemed to have picked up on it. His face mixed with surprise and pain.

“You met one didn’t you? Then you should know that it’s futile.”

“Nothing is futile.” Kagami returned back.

“Stop being stubborn. You-”

The bandit’s eyes rolled up and he fell unconscious. Despite that, his hand did not let go of his ankle. Kagami kicked his grip aside and looked over the man that had housed him for over a year.

He bowed to the bandit, full of gratitude for everything that he had done for him. He wanted to repay the kindness somehow, but knew that was impossible. The best he could do was this.

“Thank you.”

The door creaked open. Heavy footsteps on the stone ground. Kagami leaned his head to the hallway to see the bear. He rose a hand to greet him.

“The letter instructed me to pick you up around this time. Am I late?”

“No. I was about to leave.”

Kagami rounded up the essentials in his bag, and then he left the place he called home for a year, knowing that he would never return here anymore.