The silence in the room was suffocating as Ryoichiro processed the weight of Fate’s words. Her offer was more than unexpected — it was a veiled ultimatum, and it came with a glimmer of hope stained with despair: a way out, but one that undoubtedly meant death. His gaze drifted from Fate, who now wore Yuko’s features like a mask, to Risa, whose normally unshakeable demeanor had crumbled into fear and helplessness. He was then able to somehow locate Ed’s face, who remained disturbingly calm, as if this was all part of some grander scheme he had already anticipated.
Ryoichiro’s mind raced, thoughts colliding in a storm of fear, doubt, and the desperate need for resolution. Could he truly give up his life to end this? Would that even guarantee his mother’s soul would find peace? Or would it doom her to a fate worse than death — oblivion?
“What if…” Ryoichiro’s voice trembled, but he forced himself to continue. “What if there’s another way? What if we find another solution that doesn’t involve my death?”
Fate’s eyes, narrowed and cutting, made Ryoichiro feel like a child asking for a miracle. “There is no other way. The bond between you and the green reaper is unnatural, an abomination in the eyes of the universe. It must be severed, and the only way to do that is through your death. Anything else would tip the balance, and I cannot allow that.”
Risa, trembling but trying to muster her strength, voiced out, “There must be another way, something we haven’t thought of yet. Please, just give us time! We’ll find it!”
Fate’s gaze flicked to Risa, cold and unyielding. “Time is a luxury you do not have, mortal. The balance must be restored, and it must be done soon.”
Ed finally broke his silence, his voice steady and laced with a calm authority. “Fate, you speak of balance, yet you overlook one crucial detail. If Ryoichiro must die, then why not take his life now? What are you waiting for?”
The question sliced through the room, sharp and accusatory. Fate’s expression faltered, and for the first time, Ryoichiro noticed uncertainty in her eyes. Ed pressed on, “Could it be that even you, Fate, are bound by rules and limitations? Perhaps you can only act within certain parameters, and killing Ryoichiro yourself might upset the balance you’re so eager to protect? I mean, you’ve clearly tried, and you failed a couple of times, right?”
Fate’s voice darkened, her gaze chilling. “I may not be able to take his life with my own hands, but don’t mistake that for mercy. How many have died around him already? Each failed attempt leaves a trail of death in its wake, bodies piling up around him like grim reminders of what’s at stake. How much longer until the shinigami descend upon him, hungry for the imbalance he’s created? How many more lives will be sacrificed before he is pushed to end his own? Risa, Yuko — they won’t be able to protect him forever! Sooner or later, they won’t be enough. And when he finally cracks, when his resolve shatters, countless shinigami will seize the chance to claim him. Their hunger will be insatiable. Either he dies willingly, or the chaos unleashed will be beyond comprehension.”
Ryoichiro’s heart hammered in his chest, her words resonating with every death he had seen — the destruction surrounding him, the blood on his hands, and the grim truth that something had to end. But if Fate couldn’t kill him herself… maybe there was another way.
Ed smirked, sensing an opportunity. “You want balance? Then help us find another solution. Maybe we can weaken the bond without Ryoichiro dying. A ritual, a spell — there has to be something.”
Fate’s silence was unnerving, her expression unreadable. But there was a flicker in her eyes, perhaps doubt, perhaps curiosity. “And what makes you think you can succeed where countless others have failed?”
Ed smirked, a glint of mischief in his eyes. “Because we have something they didn’t — a vested interest in keeping this man alive and a stubbornness that rivals the gods themselves! And you’ve just admitted you can’t kill him. Why not hedge your bets?” Ed winked at Ryoichiro.
Ryoichiro felt a surge of hope at Ed’s words. Perhaps this wasn’t the end after all. He looked at shadows of Risa’s face, making out a small, determined nod. She wasn’t ready to give up on him, and neither was he.
Fate’s voice came out cold and final. “Very well. You have time. But not much. Fail, and Ryoichiro’s life is forfeit. And if you try to run —” Her eyes flashed, promising cruelty. “— I will make sure your end is unimaginable.”
With that, Fate’s presence faded from Yuko’s body, the suffocating pressure in the room lifting slightly as Yuko collapsed, unconscious but breathing. Ryoichiro rushed to her side, panic pounding in his veins. She was alive. For now.
Ed glanced at Nurarihyon, who seemed to relax slightly, as if the immediate threat had passed. “Looks like we’ve bought ourselves a bit of time, and I’m going to need a drink and a change of pants,” Ed muttered, his usual nonchalance returning. “Now, we just need to figure out how to do the impossible.”
Ryoichiro nodded, determination hardening his resolve. He wasn’t ready to die, not yet. If there was even a sliver of a chance to break free from this nightmare, he would take it. For his sake, for his mother’s, and for everyone who had become entangled in this mess.
“We’ll find that ritual,” he said, more to himself than anyone else. “We’ll find it, and we’ll make sure no one else has to die because of me.”
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Risa placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “We’re with you, Ryo-chan. We’ll get through this together.”
Ed chuckled, the glint of adventure in his eyes. “Well then, let’s get to work. We’ve got a fate to defy.”
Yuko stirred, her eyes fluttering open as the oppressive darkness in the room seemed to lift just slightly. Ryoichiro and Risa, noticing her, rushed to her side, their relief tempered by the lingering tension that clung to the air. Risa knelt beside Yuko, her voice laced with concern as she asked, “Are you okay, Yuko-san? Do you remember what happened?”
“Those celestials can really toy with us, the insignificant ones, doing whatever they please,” she said, her tone bitter. “But at least we can skip the first part of the plan.” Yuko continued, her voice hoarse but steady, “And you have to stop whatever it is you’re planning.”
The words lingered in the air, perplexing them all. Ryoichiro and Risa exchanged bewildered glances, trying to piece together what she meant. Before they could question her further, Ed’s voice cut through the confusion, a sharp edge of skepticism in his tone. “Wait, are you still pitchin’ that plan of yours when even Fate herself admitted she wasn’t powerful enough to do anything? So, what’s really going on here?”
Yuko took a deep breath, her gaze flickering with a mixture of regret and resolve. “There’s something I need to confess,” she said, her voice heavy with the burden of her secret. “When I initially said there was an alternative to your death and a way to free your mother’s soul, I wasn’t entirely honest. The truth is, the ritual I intended to share with you — while a path to sever the bond — was only one part of a much more complex picture."
Ryoichiro’s eyes widened in confusion and anger. “Why hide this from us? Why deceive us when the stakes are so high?”
“I was afraid,” Yuko admitted, her voice trembling.
“Afraid?” Risa’s voice was harsh, her eyes flaring with anger. “Of what? What else are you hiding?”
Yuko’s shoulders slumped. “Afraid of the consequences of revealing everything. There are forces at play — things I’m bound to by obligations and fears. I thought protecting you from the full truth might keep you from despairing or making reckless choices.”
Risa stepped forward, her eyes blazing with frustration. “So, what is the full truth? Why should we believe you now?”
Yuko met Risa’s gaze, her expression somber. “Because I’ve seen what happens when secrets fester. The real danger isn’t just the green reaper or Fate; it’s the confusion and mistrust that can unravel everything. I needed to come clean to give us a fighting chance.”
Yuko pushed herself up, leaning against the couch for support as she caught her breath. Her expression hardened, taking on an air of grim seriousness. “What Fate said is true,” she began, her eyes locking onto Ryoichiro’s with a gravity that sent a chill down his spine. “Fate and those like her are bound by certain laws, but you’d be foolish to think that the lower spectrum of supernatural entities don’t find ways to twist those laws for their own benefit.”
Ed gave a look that somehow agreed with what Yuko said.
Ryoichiro’s heart skipped a beat as he tried to process her words. “What are you saying, Yuko-san?”
Yuko hesitated for a moment, her gaze shifting as if she were weighing the consequences of her next words. “Fate was right — the only way to sever the bond between you and the green reaper does involve your death. That much is out in the open now, thanks to her. If I’m not mistaken, the ritual requires separating your soul from your body, allowing a shinigami to reap it. It’s similar to astral projection, but it demands both your willingness and focused effort to make it happen. But… there’s more to it.”
Risa leaned in closer, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and curiosity. “What do you mean, ‘more to it’?”
Yuko’s voice was steady, but the weight of her words pressed down on the room like a dark fog. “Since your mother is a shinigami-turned-human-turned-green reaper, after your death, she will revert back to her original state — a reaper. Whether she stays as a green one or turn into something else, we can't be certain. But one thing is clear: she will no longer be what she is now. And there is no freeing her soul to begin with. The only way for that transformation to occur is for you to die.”
Yuko’s expression softened, her gaze tinged with sorrow as she continued. “For you to die, she has to allow it. But she won’t. Not with the love she has for you. In her current state, she’s beyond reason, beyond communication. She’s driven by pure instinct, by the overwhelming need to protect you, no matter the cost.”
Ryoichiro’s breath caught in his throat, his mind reeling with the implications. The bond he shared with his mother, forged in life and twisted by death, was now the very thing that kept him tethered to this nightmarish existence. And yet, to sever it meant relinquishing his life, something his mother, even in her corrupted form, would never allow.
Risa’s hand tightened around Ryoichiro’s arm, her knuckles white with fear. “So… even if Ryoichiro-san chose to go through with Fate’s ritual, it might not work? Because she’ll stop it?”
Yuko nodded slowly, her eyes filled with a deep, haunting sadness. “Exactly. Without us even telling her, she’ll do everything in her power to keep you alive. She’ll fight against any attempt to sever the bond, even if it means condemning you to this cursed existence forever.”
Ed, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke, his voice low and contemplative. “So, we’re not just fighting Fate. We’re fighting the love of a mother who refuses to lose her son again. A love that’s become twisted, corrupted by the very power that was supposed to protect him.”
Yuko’s gaze met Ryoichiro’s, filled with a quiet resolve. “The bond between you two is too strong — stronger than anything I’ve ever seen. And the closer you come to death, the more she’ll fight to keep you alive.”
“Well, what can we do?” Ryoichiro’s voice was barely a whisper, the question hanging in the air, desperate and pleading.
Yuko took a deep breath, her expression a blend of guilt and resolve. “There’s a ritual, a replacement ritual. I was going to tell you about it before Fate took control and cut me off. It’s a dangerous, twisted version of what Fate wanted. It doesn’t require your death, Ryoichiro, per se — but it comes with a cost, a cost that might be worse than death itself.”
The room fell into a heavy silence, the weight of Yuko’s revelation pressing down on them like a dark cloud. Ryoichiro felt a knot tighten in his stomach, his mind racing with questions. “Worse than death?”
Yuko’s eyes bore into his, filled with a haunting seriousness. “The ritual can transfer the bond to another willing soul. It means someone else should take on your burden, your connection to the green reaper, and the fate that comes with it.”
Risa gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as the implications of Yuko’s words sank in. Ryoichiro felt a cold sweat break out across his skin. “And what happens to that person?”
Yuko looked away, her voice trembling with the weight of the truth. “They’ll live — but their life will be cursed, haunted by the presence of the green reaper until it consumes them. It’s a fate worse than death, a slow, agonizing descent into madness.”
“Just like Evel Knievel,” Risa murmured, her voice tinged with a mix of sadness and worry, as if the weight of the comparison settled heavily in her chest.
Ryoichiro’s heart pounded in his chest, the room spinning as he grappled with the decision before him. The choice was clear, yet unbearable — save himself at the cost of condemning someone else, or face the fate that had been chasing him all along.
They were all silent, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Ed’s usual smirk was gone, replaced by a rare look of concern. Risa’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears, her hands trembling as she reached out to touch Ryoichiro’s arm. “Ryo-chan… what are we going to do?”
Ryoichiro didn’t answer immediately, his thoughts a chaotic whirl. The stakes had never been higher, and now, with this new option on the table, the decision felt impossible. But one thing was certain — whatever choice he made, there would be no turning back.
But as Ryoichiro looked into the faces of those around him, the people who had stood by him through every trial, he knew that the path ahead was dark, uncertain, and fraught with danger. The love that bound him to his mother, once a source of strength, had become a chain that threatened to drag them all into the abyss.
And now, as the reality of his situation settled into his bones, Ryoichiro realized that the battle ahead was not just against Fate or the supernatural forces that had ensnared him. It was a battle against the very heart of the love that had kept him alive — and it was a battle he wasn’t sure he could win.