"Tch."
Fujimoto Haruko clicked her tongue in disdain.
Just like her husband, Higashiyama Naoto, the moment she saw Fami, she was reminded of their daughter, Kobeni, the one they had recently cut off. The thought alone soured her mood.
Used to bossing people around, Haruko instinctively planted her hands on her hips and looked Fami up and down with narrowed eyes.
"Who cares what your name is?"
"If you're the new photographer, then do your damn job properly."
"We're in a hurry."
"Yeah, exactly," the others chimed in.
Fami's emotions were fragile to begin with. The moment she stepped in, she was met with nothing but complaints.
As expected.
Tears welled up instantly.
Her face crumpled as she bit her finger.
"Gii..."
"Waaaa... waaaaaa!"
Smack.
"No..." Saiōnji Kotoha pressed a hand to her forehead, looking exhausted. "We only said a few words. Why are you crying like this?"
"Listen, the previous photographer already explained everything."
"We just need to shoot the last segment. It will be quick."
"Waaaa... I..." Fami wiped her tears, still biting her finger, her eyes full of guilt. "I'm not crying because of what you said..."
"Then why the hell are you crying?" Higashiyama Kotaro snapped. "If you're behind the camera, then do your job, you brat!"
Fami continued sobbing, completely ignoring the second half of his sentence.
"I... I just feel like everyone... living in this hellish world... is so pitiful... I really want to save you all..."
Kotaro's face twitched in irritation.
"Bakayaro!"
"The hell are you even talking about?!"
"Hurry up and start filming! I still have to go back to work overtime!"
Fami tilted her head, chewing on her index finger. One hand rested lightly on the camera as she looked at him with an empty expression.
"This kind of thing... can't just anyone do it?"
"My talent is extremely valuable... doing something so trivial is a waste..."
"Huh?!"
Kotaro and Kotoha stared at her in disbelief.
"No way... are you messing with us?" Kotoha said.
"Ah, I get it." Fami suddenly pointed at Kotaro, her face serious. "My ability is precious. It should be used to save humanity. Something as small as filming should be left to someone useless like you."
Silence fell for a split second.
Then everything exploded.
Kotaro's face twisted between anger and disbelief.
This damn white-haired girl, acting all timid but running her mouth like that.
"F*** you!" he shouted, rolling up his sleeves. "I'm the one in the video, how am I supposed to film it?!"
"Are you stupid?!"
"If you can't do it, then get the hell out!"
The others, all relatives, quickly took his side.
Someone like her, cowardly yet arrogant, was unbearable to watch.
"Yeah! All that crying is just annoying!" Naoto added.
"My man is useless? Who the hell do you think you are?" Kotoha snapped, any earlier sympathy gone.
Haruko scoffed, fully showing her sharp tongue.
"You're so young, but your hair looks like a damn mess. Like some street trash."
"Hey, whitey, what are you doing out here, selling yourself?"
The accusations piled up from every direction.
"Waaaa..." Fami cried softly. "So pitiful... everyone is suffering this much... Don't be afraid... I'm here to save you..."
While they were still shouting, Fami slowly walked forward.
She placed one hand on Kotaro's shoulder and the other on Kotoha's.
Both of them froze, confused.
"What? You want to fight?" Kotaro sneered, beckoning her. "Come on."
He wanted to show off in front of his fiancée and future in-laws.
Getting intimidated by Cael was one thing.
But this crying mess? No way he was backing down.
Fami kept sobbing as she spoke.
"With a peaceful death... I will free you from this world's pain..."
"Ugh...!"
"Huh?!"
In an instant.
Their bodies shriveled like punctured balloons.
Their hair turned white and brittle, their skin tightening over bone in seconds.
Two dull thuds.
What remained of them collapsed to the floor, lifeless.
They had aged to death in a blink.
In a twisted way, they did grow old together.
Fami let out a small breath.
"Whew... I'm tired. I've saved two more people..."
Naoto's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull.
"You... what the hell did you just do?!"
Fami turned toward him, shrinking back slightly.
"Are you hurting too?"
"Don't be scared... I'll save you as well..."
As she stepped closer, the remaining people panicked.
They had just watched her drain two lives in seconds.
This girl was not human.
She was a devil.
"No!!" Haruko screamed, her face pale as she rushed for the door. "Stay away from me!"
She grabbed the handle and yanked.
Nothing.
The door would not open.
It was locked from the outside.
Fami slowly raised her hand.
"Rest... it will be over soon... don't fear death... death is like a cool summer night..."
Outside the studio, a girl with light purple, shoulder-length hair stood quietly.
Her head tilted slightly, a broken half of a key in her hand.
She had locked the door.
She had snapped the key.
Another Fami.
A lollipop rested in her mouth as a faint smile curved her lips.
She spoke softly to herself.
"My younger sister... no, older sister."
"Hmm... the Death Devil showed up earlier than expected..."
From inside the room came a series of soft collapsing sounds.
The remaining four had also been "saved."
To avoid being noticed, the girl vanished and reappeared on the rooftop.
She sat casually, pulling off her boots, a gift from Cael, and let her pale feet swing in the air.
"Interesting... really interesting."
"The Higashiyama family... the moment they cut ties with Kobeni, their fate was sealed."
"Even without encountering the Death Devil, they would have died sooner or later."
"In a country crawling with devils, the fact that they lived this long was only because of Kobeni."
She sucked lightly on her lollipop.
"I only confirmed this after digging through a lot of records."
"Twenty-one years ago, their real daughter died young. The hospital staff panicked and secretly replaced her with another child of the same age."
"That child was Kobeni, reincarnated from Hell."
"Akai was never human."
Her smile deepened slightly.
"She is the Luck Devil."