Luna wrenched her knife out of Kaori's body, splattering blood on the floor.

She returned the knife behind her skirt and stood up, facing me. Blood splattered the side of her pale cheeks and the front of her shirt was soaked in red. "We should go now, Ryo. We don't want anyone to find us like this."

I was in awe but I felt my head nodding slowly. Luna had killed Kaori and tore her body apart in front of my very eyes. The gruesome image burned in my mind.

At that moment, I heard footsteps running up the stairs of the parking lot. I spun around wildly, facing the door but Luna stood calmly, her eyes watching the door.

The door swung open and Mayu was standing there, her emerald eyes glowing. She was panting slightly and her light blue hair was somewhat ruffled by the wind.

"Ryo... Luna..." Mayu looked at us, then looked down at Daike's body before she saw Kaori's dismembered body on the floor. Mayu winced seeing Kaori. "Y-you killed Kaori...? Luna...?"

Luna shrugged nonchalantly. "I asked her if she really wanted to fight me."

The glow in Mayu's eyes dimmed seeing that we were fine. "Kaori..." Mayu stared at Kaori's body and walked over slowly as though she wanted to confirm with her eyes. She winced again as she stood over the body.

"Did you tell her where I was?" Luna asked.

I felt alarmed by Luna's question. "L-Luna, Mayu didn't say a word."  I stuttered, finally finding my voice. "Kaori and Daike attacked us, but we escaped from them and Kaori followed me to find you."

Luna glanced at me and frowned. "Ryo..."

I felt tension in the air and I tried to change the subject. "Just how strong was Kaori anyway?" I asked, glancing over at Mayu.

"Number 6." Mayu replied without looking at me.

"Number 6?"

"She was the sixth strongest Ashen." Mayu elaborated as she turned her eyes away from Kaori's body and instead over to Daike.

"How do you know this?" I asked.

"Back in Asahikawa, when we were growing up we made a list of numbers to rank each other. That way weaker Ashens wouldn't challenge stronger ones for fear of death."  Mayu walked over to Daike's body. "Luna was number one, I was number nine. The list hasn't changed much over the years."

I swallowed, pondering over this new found fact. "Just how many Ashens are there?"

"Fourteen remaining." Luna answered suddenly. I turned to face her and saw a small smile tugging the corner of her pink lips. It kind of creeped me out.

"There used to be thirty." Mayu stopped at Daike's body and kneeled down, inspecting the robotic material inside.

I didn't ask what happened to the rest. It made sense that Ashens would kill one another for fun. I caught Luna staring at Mayu's back with a strange look and I grabbed onto Luna's wrist firmly.

"Luna..."

Luna turned to me, frowning. "The Navigator, Ryo. We have to get it off her." She whispered.

"Mayu... she's helping us now, Luna. You can't kill her." I tried to talk in a stern voice. "She's our ally, Luna."

"He's right." Mayu sighed, her back was turned to us as she studied the interior of Daike's body. "I want to help you, Luna. I don't want to go back to Asahikawa and be trapped there again."

"R-Ryo... we can't trust her..." Luna stared at me desperately but I refused to let go of her hand. "We have to kill her. She will tell the other Ashens where we are."

"Luna, we're not killing Mayu." I said exasperated.

"It's too late anyway." Mayu said, she pointed at a flashing light inside Daike's body. "Daike already uploaded this city as a priority zone before he died."

"What?!" I spun to Mayu, stunned.

Mayu reached into Daike's body and pulled out the source of the flashing light. Cables tugged backwards, but Mayu pulled hard, ripping out the cables. She held a metallic device covered in a slime-like material that looked similar to the Navigator.

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"Daike couldn't pinpoint an exact location, but he managed to upload this entire city as a priority zone." Mayu said, looking at the screen of the device. She gripped hard, and the device crushed in her hand. "The other Ashens will be coming to Tokyo soon."

"No way..." I said in disbelief.

"It's okay, Ryo. I will protect you." Luna said trying to cheer me up.

"L-Luna can beat them all, right?" I asked. "She's the strongest Ashen."

Mayu shrugged and sighed. "I wouldn't be so sure about it."

Before Luna could reply, a voice sounded from behind us.

"What's going on here?"

We turned around to see a security guard at the door, he held a flashlight in his hands and his face turned white as he saw the blood all over the floor. He clutched onto his radio and spoke to it quickly.

"T-this is Isao, I need back-up righ–"

Luna appeared in front of Isao, and her knife snapped out from behind her. She sliced his hand off, and the hand fell on the ground along with the radio he was holding onto. Blood gushed out of the open wound and Luna pushed her hand over his mouth before he could scream. His face twisted in pain and his eyes were wide open as he made muffled noises behind Luna's hand.

"L-Luna!" I uttered.

Luna pushed the security guard against the wall with her hand against his mouth. He pulled at Luna's arm with his remaining hand but she held on tightly. She pulled her knife back on her free hand aiming for his neck as she stared into his eyes emotionlessly.

Then without hesitation, she stabbed the blade forwards, piercing into his throat and he made a gargling noise as the knife dug in deep. The knife jerked inside his throat along with the squirming motion of his body as Luna slowly moved the blade sideways along his neck.

His body dropped down stiff on the floor when she was done, and Luna turned to us.

"We have to go now." Luna said, blood covering her face.

----------------------------------------

We arrived back at my apartment and I closed the door behind us, feeling numb as I stared at the floor. I looked up to see Mayu sitting by the kotatsu table, playing with the remote for the TV and Luna standing in front of me with a worried look.

"Are you okay, Ryo?" She asked. "Your face looks white."

She had blood smudges on her cheeks even after cleaning up.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." I replied. Her pale violet eyes gazed into mine. Dark hair fell by the side of her face and her pink lips pouted at me.

"I had to kill the security guard." Luna said. "He saw us and he knew what we looked like. If I didn't kill him, he would give the police our description."

"Y-yeah, I guess you're right..." I laughed weakly.

I walked away from Luna and sat down on the opposite side of Mayu on the kotatsu table. Luna bit her lower lips and her hands curled into fists by her side.

"R-Ryo..." Luna mumbled. She walked to the kotatsu table and sat down on the seat between Mayu and me.

Mayu gave up on the TV remote and placed her head down on the table, sighing. She glanced between Luna and me, noticing the atmosphere in the room.

"Ryo, are you still thinking about that security guard?" Mayu asked, staring at me. Her arms were crossed in front of her and her head leaned on her arms. Streaks of light blue hair fell over her pale emerald eyes.

"Y-yeah..." I looked away, feeling her gaze.

"Hmm..." Mayu mused staring at me. She pulled herself from her side of the table and moved towards me. "It's okay, Ryo–"

Luna sprung up and pushed Mayu with both hands before Mayu could come close. Mayu fell backwards, crashing onto the floor with a cry.

Luna towered over Mayu, her pale violet eyes staring down at Mayu between streaks of dark hair. She pulled her knife from behind her back. Snap. The blade shot out of the handle, coated in dried blood. The edge of the sharp steel glinted.

"This is all your fault..." Luna mouthed.