"Um, no. I don't think so." I said.

"Aw. Don't be like that." The host said, his eyes turned away from mine and instead to Kaori's. He looked genuinely shocked as Kaori met his gaze, revealing her face and glowing azure eyes.

"Wow..." He breathed in shock. "You're very pretty, and your eyes..."

He reached a hand out towards Kaori's hand. Kaori turned away from the host and began walking in the direction she faced, ignoring him completely.

"Sorry, we've got to go." I said urgently as I chased after Kaori with Mayu on my back. This place was dangerous for two girls and one guy, I could already see people's gaze following Kaori as we moved around the district. My eyes fell down to the rod hidden behind Kaori's skirt. I guess we were safe with Kaori.

We turned into an empty alleyway with Kaori being silent the entire time. Although she didn't turn to look back at me, I could tell she felt my presence and that she expected me to follow her. There was something that told me I would be killed the moment I didn't follow after her.

Kaori stopped suddenly and I did so too.

"What's wrong?" I asked staring at her back. I was confused. Kaori turned back to look at me, her azure eyes were still glowing vividly. It seemed she was always on synthesis. Mayu had said that synthesis placed a great strain on your mind and body. It didn't make sense that her eyes were never normal.

"We are being followed." She said.

Suddenly a group of men stepped out of the darkness surrounding us. All of them were holding knifes. There was about ten of them but Kaori didn't bat an eye. They started sniggering, edging closer. I swallowed and edged closer to Kaori.

One of them took a step forward.

"We've been watching you for a while." He spoke to Kaori in a strange tone, almost ecstatic. "The nerve of you to have such a pretty face and strut around a district like this. You're just asking for it."

Asking for what? I thought. That's a strange way to end a sentence. One of them pointed at me. "Is that her boyfriend? He's got another girl on his back."

"We'll fuck her too."

Uh oh. I flinched and pulled Mayu close to me. Mayu was still unconscious and her wounds had not healed at all.

This was a red light district so it made sense that there would be thugs like them running around. I just couldn't believe it was actually happening to us. The group of men began closing in.

"If you take another step, I'll kill you all."

Kaori suddenly warned, her voice toneless. She had a dark face and her azure eyes glowed brightly. The thugs looked at each other for a second then laughed, none of them paid any heed to her warning. Was Kaori really planning to kill them all? Could she even do it? One of them took another step towards us and Kaori lunged forward at him. My question was answered quickly.

Kaori's hand snapped forward grabbing the man's throat and her fingers dug in. Her nails pierced the surface of the skin until all her fingers were submerged in the man's throat. Kaori grabbed on tightly before pulling her hand out, letting blood erupt from his neck. Her hand was soaked in his blood and she held something in her hand. The man tried to scream, his hands reaching for his neck but no voice came out. I saw Kaori drop what appeared to be his vocal chords down on the floor.

"R-Run!" One of them cried as he realised the severity of the situation.

They ran for the exit of the alleyway but Kaori jumped forward, pulling her rod out from behind her skirt. The rod extended making a clanging noise and with a sweep of her hands, Kaori bought the rod against three of the men's skulls. The rod easily crushed their skulls, creating a loud cracking noise and they dropped on the floor like flies.

One of the men tried to sneak behind Kaori with a knife but he was cut short as the rod suddenly extended further from the other end. The extended rod hit him in the centre of his chest and he was thrown several feet back.

His body skidded next to where I stood and his chest had a deep dent from where the rod had hit him. I looked down at his face and saw blood drooling down his mouth, his eyes were up in its sockets. He was already dead.

I looked back up at the fight just in time to see Kaori stomping her feet into another man's face, crushing it into something unrecognisable. There was a man on the side that was dashing at Kaori with a knife.

She spun around and kicked the knife out of the man's hands before he could reach him then she bought the rod down on his shoulder with a massive swing. His entire arm was pushed out of its socket and the rod continued to push down until the arm was dislodged from the rest of his body. The man looked at his arm in disbelief, it was hanging to his body by the skin but the bone had been separated.

Kaori raised the rod up from his arm and slammed it against the side of the man's face, breaking his cheekbone and shattering teeth. He fell onto the ground, his face a disfigured mess.

True to her words, no one had escaped from the ordeal and nine men laid dead on the floor. The last man alive huddled against the wall as Kaori approached her. His knife was on the ground and he had his hands cowering his head. I could see his entire body shaking.

"P-please, don't kill me. I-I have a daughter." He was crying.

Kaori looked unmoved. She raised her rod up like an executioner.

"There's no reason to kill him." I coughed, my voice shaky.

Kaori was silent for a moment, staring down at the man. The man moved his hands away from his head slowly. There was a look of relief on his face.

"There's no reason not to."

The rod came down bludgeoning the man in the face and he screamed. I grimaced looking away. The screams continued with the sound of the rod being bought down on the man's head, each time pummelling him into further mutilation.

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

Eventually the screams died down and Kaori retracted the rod back behind her skirt. She stood up still for a moment, staring down at the bloody mess. It was as though she was admiring her handiwork. I could faintly remember Mayu talking about ending another's life as a way for Ashens to feel alive. I shuddered.

Kaori looked at me. "Are you nervous?" She asked.

"N-no..." I answered weakly, feeling sick in my stomach.

"Are you afraid?"

I looked at her carefully for any signs of emotion but there was none.

"I'm not afraid." I said.

Kaori suddenly walked up close and stood in front of me, her face blank. I could see her reaching behind her skirt.

"Really?" She asked.

I looked down at her hand. She pulled out the rod slowly, there was still wet blood on the silver metal. My breathing accelerated.

"You're not afraid...?" She asked, her azure eyes glowing in the dark.

"N-no."

Clang. The rod extended and blood splattered onto the floor, some of it flew on Kaori's face. I felt a sweat trickle down my forehead and I looked down slowly at the thug that Kaori had pummeled to death.

He was lying on the ground, his back up against the wall. Dark red liquid oozed out from his head and there were various holes that had broken out on his face from being repeatedly bashed by Kaori's rod. His eyeballs were hanging out from their sockets and blood was dripping down. His jaw had detached from the rest of his skull hanging loosely downwards and his gums were toothless. There were shattered teeth lying on the top of his chest and on the floor.

"Are you afraid?"

Kaori's voice boomed eerily. Her hand was wrapped tightly around her rod.

I looked back up at her shakily. "N-no..." Something told me I would die if I said yes.

"What are you?"

I thought about it for a while.

"Disgusted."

She tilted her head at me as though she didn't understand. I shifted uncomfortably. She stared at me, her vivid azure eyes scanning. It felt like she was trying to read me. The silence seemed to etch on forever.

"You can go." Kaori's rod retracted and she placed it back behind her skirt, walking away from me.

I looked up at her stunned. "What?"

"You can go." She repeated. I didn't know what to do.

"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief.

She nodded her head confirming her statement. I felt unsure as though I was waiting for her to give further directions but she didn't. I still had Mayu on my back. Did she not want to find Luna anymore? I didn't want to give her any reason to reconsider her decision. I swallowed, looking around.

"What are you going to do with all these bodies...?"

"People die all the time." She replied. "It's nothing unusual."

I felt stupid for asking. She was right. Even if the police did arrive at the scene, they would probably write it off as a gang fight or the likes, considering the character of the victims. No one cared about criminals.

"Well... See you then." I said hesitantly.

"Bye." She said, then slowly she lifted up a hand in the air and waved it at me. It was a strange and awkward movement as though it was her first time doing it.

I gave a brief wave back and turned away from her. I could feel her eyes peering into my back. I walked to the exit of the alleyway. When I finally reached the end, I turned around to look. Kaori was gone.

I breathed out, feeling relieved. She was actually going to kill me for a second. If I had told her I was afraid, I had a feeling she would had taken pleasure in bashing my head in. The intense emotions produced by someone facing death... That must be what Ashens feed off to feel alive. I shuddered and thought about something else.

Why did she even let me go anyway? She even let me take Mayu with me. It was a complete surprise. I shook my head, I didn't want to think about it too much. I had to get Mayu to safety first. I hurriedly headed for home.

I had to take a train because of how far the district was. When I arrived at my station I got off the train and stood still for a second weighing my choices. I definitely couldn't go back to Luna with Mayu on my back. She wouldn't hesitate to kill Mayu while she was injured. Luna... She was probably really worried. I didn't even want to know what kind of crazy stunts she had pulled during the time I was gone.

In the end I decided to go back to my apartment.

I unlocked the door and pushed it open. I felt Mayu stirring in her state of unconsciousness. I took her inside and laid her on my bed carefully. Her right leg was bent in a weird angle because of the strike that Kaori had delivered. Just looking at her leg made me wince. The swelling on her face was slowly fading which felt like a good sign.

I allowed Mayu to rest in my room and I closed the door behind me. I was fatigued and my body was sore from crashing into the water. My adrenaline was wearing off and the pain was getting worse because of it but I had to go back to Luna. I didn't want to make her worry and do something crazy.

I left the apartment and walked down the lonely streets. The sky was still dark but I had a feeling the sun would be rising soon. It took me a while to reach Akane's house in my half conscious state. I knocked on the door a few times before I could hear footsteps approaching from inside. The door swung open and I was greeted by the sight of Luna.

"Hey..." I started then she crashed into me, her petite arms sliding around me.

"Don't ever leave me again." She cried.