April 1995. Just as the spring cherry blossoms began to bloom—
Ryougi Shiki, newly promoted into her first year of high school, met her childhood companion, Asagami Yuuki, on the unfamiliar campus.
He didn't have the relaxed air of the "genius boy from a great family" you'd see in the news. There was no chauffeured luxury car like some rich heir. He showed up alone—dead fish eyes, severe dark circles—looking like an office worker who'd been worked to death on overtime.
Once upon a time, Japan's four oldest and largest demon-hunting families had ties far deeper than they did now. Every ten years, they would take the lead in holding a ten-day gathering—something like an exchange conference.
It drew in many people from long-standing demon-hunting lineages across Japan, and it also served as an excuse for families within the same closed circle to interact more.
And when the adults gathered to discuss serious matters, they would sometimes bring their future heirs along as well—something like letting them meet in advance. In short, that was the tradition.
As the times crept closer to the modern era, the tradition gradually changed along with the age—and with the internal shifts within each family.
Perhaps because of the era's limitations, the idea of "demon-hunting families" died out in modern times with startling speed. Lineages with weaker foundations gradually withdrew from the circle—either leveraging their accumulated resources to move into other industries, or simply fading from history altogether.
As for the four great families that sustained the meetings: first, the Miko family stopped attending for reasons that couldn't be spoken aloud. Then, another great line began appearing less and less due to problems with bloodline inheritance, until they stopped showing up entirely—appointing the branch Asagami family as proxy, a hollow formality in name only.
By the gathering twelve years ago, only the Nanaya family, the Ryougi family, and the Asagami family (attending as proxy for the main Asagami line) were still present.
That was when Shiki first met Asagami Yuuki. Time had washed the details away—she couldn't remember what had happened—but she did remember the impression of "friend." A childhood friend. A so-called sweetheart of youth.
After that, the Asagami family severed ties with the demon-hunting circle and turned into an ordinary business family, slowly expanding. Six years ago, the main Asagami line went bankrupt and vanished. Their assets and debts were absorbed by the Asagami family in the same year.
And that same year, the Nanaya family was wiped out overnight—cause unknown to this day.
Now, among the four great demon-hunting families, only the Ryougi maintained demon-exorcising work in public. Those gatherings would never happen again. Shiki had assumed she would never meet that boy again—the boy she'd known for only ten days.
"It'll be a hassle, so I'd rather not bring it up…"
That was what Shiki thought at the time.
But her "childhood friend" recognized her almost immediately—and, with absolutely no sense of the mood, came right over.
There was nothing to be done.
After all, they sat next to each other.
…
May 1995. A month had passed since Shiki and Yuuki met again. That hazy filter from back then had completely evaporated, and Shiki seriously began to wonder how she'd ever become friends with him in the first place.
He'd taken over company assets at a young age. He'd even made the newspaper as a child prodigy. Yet his self-care was strangely poor—despite traveling all the way from Tokyo to Mifune City, he still came alone.
He wasn't a bad person. If anything, he was good at his core. He felt gloomy in atmosphere, but his drive was bizarrely strong. Maybe, deep down, he had real backbone.
He would forcefully claim her as a friend under the pretext of "childhood friends." He would rebut and correct ugly rumors about her that she couldn't be bothered to address. He would block most of the hassles that came her way—like love letters from people she'd never even met.
Even if they fought, he'd come back as if it were nothing, and from time to time he would still add a few unnecessary problems to her life.
And yet, through all of that, Asagami Yuuki became—little by little, unmistakably—someone Shiki could exist alongside.
Yuuki didn't pry into Shiki's matters, and he spoke of his own only in passing. Sometimes he felt close in how he interacted, yet psychologically he always left a safe distance—an unmistakable boundary.
…
One night in June 1995, Shiki found Yuuki drenched in blood, barely breathing.
She could have ignored him. But the way he looked—like he might shatter at any second—made Shiki remember the boy from childhood. Before she realized it, she did something unnecessary.
…
The final night of August 1995.
Shiki sat in her room, back against the bed, staring out at the sky.
It was the last day of the fireworks festival. Because of the angle, she couldn't see the fireworks, but the noise—rowdy and distant—still drifted faintly through the air.
Shiki simply stared out the window.
Maybe it was because she'd done something unnecessary. After that, the "safe distance" between her and Yuuki had been broken.
A lot happened after that. Yuuki gradually became someone she couldn't accept—no, someone she couldn't coexist with again.
From an ordinary person's perspective, Yuuki hadn't done anything wrong.
So the problem was on her side.
Yuuki had shown an astonishing level of stubbornness and resolve. Honestly, Shiki didn't dislike someone with backbone. But if that backbone was aimed at her, then no, thank you.
And coupled with that accident when she killed Shirazumi… Shiki had come to feel real killing intent toward Yuuki.
The feelings of childhood friendship were still there. Her gratitude for his desire to help her was real.
But the killing intent was also real.
So was her anger at how lightly he treated his own life.
None of this was normal. Shiki had accepted her abnormality long ago. Acceptance didn't mean indulgence—because the sight of Yuuki's concerned eyes irritated her. Yesterday, she'd only meant to scare him, but she'd nearly failed to stop herself.
If not for that "Miss Tama"…
Shiki wanted to kill Yuuki, yet she didn't want Yuuki to die. So the outcome as it stood now was the best possible.
Today, Yuuki didn't come—just as expected. And with her brother away on a trip, she was finally able to soak in the dojo alone for the first time in a while, venting savagely on the training dummy.
Even by night, Yuuki still hadn't shown.
Shiki didn't feel lonely, because there was Shiki's other self—Shiki's "Weaving"—within her. Even if she cut ties with the only person lately who could be called a friend, she wouldn't return to being alone.
It was already late. The fireworks faded. The drifting smoke dispersed, revealing a clear, blue full moon.
"Asagami… he probably won't come anymore, right?"
Weaving was likely asleep, so Shiki's question received no answer. But she didn't need one. Facing someone who wanted her life, if he could still show up shamelessly on his own, that wasn't "thick-skinned"—that was borderline self-destructive.
Ding—
"—Shiki! Are you there, Shiki!"
Then, as the outermost doorbell rang, Shiki heard that voice from beyond the main gate.
Asagami Yuuki!!!
That idiot… does he have any idea what time it is?!
Even if the Ryougi estate was large enough that there were no neighbors nearby, that wasn't an excuse.
Shiki was simply furious.
If Yuuki truly was the sort of person who didn't cherish his own life—
Then even if he got killed, it would be unavoidable.
....
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