Kibishi's POV

  Kibishi's Room

  Swipe! Swipe! Swipe!

  To the left, to the right, I swung my knife as best as I could. With a one, two of forward steps, then a slide kick to top it all off, I was trying my best to get used to fighting with this type of fighting style.

  But for some reason, it didn't feel like it fit me.

  I slowly stood up and stared at my knife. I narrowed my eyes in shame and felt my body shaking.

  The grip on my knife tightened as I bit my lower lip.

  What kind of joke is this?

  I would admit that I learned some basic movements to get by for training. But that was nothing compared to the speed and power of that mysterious creature.

  I wasn't fully aware at the time, but that monster was very powerful. It was like a divine entity toying with insects that were crawling on its bare skin.

  One swipe, and I was dead.

  There was no doubt about it. I was the weakest among the supernaturals.

  "So much for being the concept of death. I can't even keep up with the girls during training."

  Yeah. There must be a mistake. How could someone who could wield death within the palm of his hand and STILL be weak like this?

  I mean, it would be best that I became the supernatural of a snail or something.

  I lowered my knife and stared at my ceiling. How could someone like me be a part of the mission if I couldn't even be useful?

  I scoffed at my weakness and slowly sat on the floor with my bde in hand. I brought my knees up as I rested my arms on them. The shine of my bde hit my eye and forced me to lower it a little.

  I held my red hair with my free hand and scratched it in frustration.

  Come on, Kibishi! You can't beat yourself like that!

  "I can do this! I know I can!"

  That was what I wanted to say, but I couldn't. This was getting my head thumping. I couldn't force myself to fight like that if I couldn't even know what the hell I was supposed to do right now.

  "Damn it!"

  With a toss, I threw my weapon across the floor. It didn't even go that far and just simply moved a few inches away from me.

  Really?! I can't even throw something properly?!

  I slowly picked up my weapon and grumbled to myself.

  So much for raging at my weakness.

  There was nothing so special about me or this stupid knife.

  "How the hell am I supposed to use my stupid supernatural powers anyway?"

  In the first pce, the ability of death should be very powerful. Well, on paper, at least.

  But to me, I couldn't even comprehend something if I were still alive.

  That very concept was only knowledgeable to the dead. And frankly, the dead don't speak. Once you're dead, that's it. There's no second chances after that.

  "Wait a minute..." I muttered.

  If the dead are the only things that have knowledge of such a concept...

  "Does that mean... I died... and then got brought back to life?" I asked myself.

  I slowly touched my chest, which had the wound from the tragedy ten years ago. Surely, I knew that I survived that attack back then. Or... did I end up being brought back to life by some miracle?

  "No, it can't be..."

  But then again, what Mato mentioned before did sound valid.

  'And I have a theory that due to the abnormality of the sughter back then, some magical energy entered his body, and he became the concept of death himself. It could expin the part of his body showing some fmes.'

  "Is something like that even possible?" I scratched my head some more.

  It sounded impossible to me. But at the same time, it didn't.

  "Well..." I slowly stood up and lifted my knife. "... I'd better get in some more practice before thinking some more."

  Swipe! Swipe!

  I began moving my knife again. It wasn't the greatest thing you would ever see, but it was something for now.

  I wondered how Tao was doing at the moment.

  Creee...

  I then heard my door opening. I took a gnce and saw Mato with his hands in his pockets. Not only him, but a guy in a dark blue jumpsuit was with him. He had dark skin and some braids alongside a beanie.

  "Huh?" I blinked.

  "Hey there, Kibishi. Would you mind following us?" Mato asked with a warm smile.

  Taoreta's POV

  The first part of the yer

  Walk after walk, I could hear the echoes of the group and their footsteps.

  It wasn't that surprising to hear since it was a big group, but still, I never expected it to echo all that much.

  And like before, the pce seemed very tragic. The buildings were in ruins, the trees and pnts were barely alive, and frankly speaking, it seemed like a dead zone that mixed with a desert.

  To be honest, you would expect to see this in the seventh yer instead of the first.

  I suppose there was more to these yers than I initially thought. Then again, Yosei did mention that this yer would be angel-like, but nothing about this yer spelled holy or angelic at all in my opinion.

  "... Maybe it was a ruse?" I muttered.

  ... I wasn't sure.

  Everything about this so far wasn't as it seemed, but I was pretty certain that the yer wasn't angel-themed.

  But more than that, though...

  A fsh of memory of Kishi appeared in my mind. That day, he recreated my favorite dish that my mom used to make. I was fairly certain that the person was her who gave it to him. I both appreciated and hated that idea. My own mother, who abandoned me for pleasure, had opened the door for me. And... to be honest...

  I wasn't sure back then.

  But...

  The way he looked at me, the way he genuinely smiled brightly at the sight of me being there...

  Back then...

  I wondered what he was thinking after running away from his family's restaurant. Was he lonely? Didn't he have friends back then? I wondered what drove him to take care of me? Was it... something else? Something... that's...

  .

  ..

  ...

  ....

  ...... I didn't get it.

  All I knew was that smile... those eyes... they were so bright and shining. That was when I knew... I had found a human being who had a pure heart...

  "... You're silly. Why didn't you just leave me be?" I smiled weakly as I looked at my shadow while I kept walking.

  Now... you have a scar that will remain there for the rest of your natural life. All because you wanted to save a girl who was on the brink of death.

  Death, huh.

  For some reason, hearing that word... soothed my shaking heart.

  I closed my eyes, continuing to think about Kishi.

  Ah.

  I guessed I was the silly one. Here I was, going through a mission, and I was still thinking about him. What a selfish human being you are, Tao. Thinking about these things at a time like this. Maybe you weren't cut out to be a hero or even a follower of justice. Perhaps all of this time... you were just trying to satisfy your own selfish desires.

  ... But I don't see anything wrong with that, though-

  "Hey! Earth to Tao! Oi!" I heard Kuma's voice.

  I hadn't realized it until now, but I just noticed that Kuma's face was pretty close to mine while she leaned forward a bit with her hands on her waist.

  "Ah, my bad. I was just thinking about something." I said as Kuma backed up a bit and fixed her posture.

  "Well, you'll need to pay attention. This pce is like a death trap if you linger for a long time." Kuma scolded me while wagging her finger.

  "I know you missed Kib, but you need to stay focused. We're with regur people, so anything could happen under our watch." Kujira suggested with her hands behind her back.

  I see that Kujira is getting used to Kishi, and I know that we're living together a bit longer.

  I knew it hadn't been too long, but it had been almost a week and a couple of days. I suppose at this point in time, Kujira was comfortable enough to call us by nicknames. Speaking of, maybe I should do the same to open up a bit.

  Now... what was the nickname Kuma gave her? Oh, right!

  "Thank you, Jir! I'll do my best!" I pumped both of my fists and smiled brightly at her.

  "N-ngh!" Kujira- sorry, Jir made a croaking sound from her mouth.

  I could see Kujira- Sorry. I saw Jir blushing intensely as she flinched like a scared cat. She then pyed with her green pigtails and smiled awkwardly. "I-it can't be helped! Don't just say that out of nowhere, good grief!" Jir pced her hands on her sides while narrowing her eyes at me as the blush never went away.

  "hehe!" I ughed.

  You would think that her coldness was the only thing that was going for Jir. I'm gd that we're opening up.

  I wouldn't lie and say I would be like that for everyone I met.

  ... No, that wasn't right.

  I might start doing that. Well, I would still be cautious around people, but I wouldn't be too close-minded and would be polite if I needed to.

  Right.

  I thought that was for the best. For Kishi's sake as well as mine. That aside, though, it could help me in the long run to trust humans even more. Maybe. We would have to see.

  "Okay! Cute time is over! Time to get to work!" Kuma cpped her hands together, and Jir and I nodded.

  "So, let's do this in groups. We can divide it into three groups. Each supernatural will lead the group and try to protect them while looking around the first part of the yer." Kuma raised her index finger with a smile.

  "Mm... is that okay? I don't think it'll be TOO risky, but still, we can't be too certain, right?" Jir folded her arms and looked upwards. Kuma and I looked at the sky and saw the moon in the sky. Frankly speaking, it looked close, but yet so far. And I didn't think it was really the moon. I thought it was something that the underground created with magic.

  "You mean with that 'moon' thing, right?" I asked.

  "Not only that, but with the yer as a whole. Lately, the creatures have been hiding for some reason. They don't come out to hunt for us anymore as they used to." Jir blinked.

  "Think it has something to do with the thing we saw a week ago?" Kuma asked, putting her hands into her bck jacket.

  "I'm not sure. But that's one of my main worries as well."

  Jir frowned and pced her hand under her chin.

  "But the bounded field Yosei and I haven't triggered, so maybe I'm being paranoid. But still, I think we should do our best to do this as quickly as possible. The fewer casualties, the better."

  "Sounds good to me!" Kuma grinned, then boxed her fists together.

  Kuma then picked up a rock and looked at the moon thing again. She blinked and took a step back. Sending the rock up and down within her palm, Kuma used her free hand to cover her eyes.

  "Hmm..." Kuma tilted her head.

  Kuma then dragged her foot backwards on the ground, leaving a small dust cloud. She adjusted her aim once more and then-

  "One, two....!"

  Toss!

  In a fsh, she tossed the rock towards the moon. With a quiet thud, the moon formed a very tiny dust cloud that was barely noticeable. It was like seeing a rocket nding on the moon and you were trying to see it from Earth itself. Once the smoke cleared, Kuma adjusted herself and dusted her hands.

  "Phew..." Kuma exhaled.

  "Why did you do that for?" I raised my brows.

  "I was thinking that thing was an egg pod or something. Like one of those alien movies I used to watch as a kid." Kuma answered my question.

  "And what was your pn if that so-called egg hatched just now, stupid?" Jir coldly gred at Kuma with her arms folded.

  Aaannnnddd there she is. Welcome back, Jir...

  I simply smiled as I sweated at the return of the cold version of Jir.

  "Dunno," Kuma simply shrugged and continued walking.

  "You don't know?!" Jir was stunned.

  "I'm more like the action before question kind of gal. Of course, I'm not that stupid. I would've killed it the minute I saw some eggshells falling from the sky." Kuma stopped mid-walk and turned to us. "Anyway, let's split up and clear up this pce!"

  "Right!" Jir and I nodded in agreement.

  I slowly looked at the moon in the sky once more. Yeah, it was pretty weird to see it that close when we were nowhere near the surface area. But Kuma threw a rock at it, and it didn't react, so maybe it was okay for now.

  Not that seeing that floating in the air is normal either...

  I couldn't put my finger on it, but it felt dangerous, but at the same time, it didn't. I wondered what the purpose was-

  "Hey, we're leaving." I heard Jir's voice, which snapped me out of my thoughts.

  "C-coming!" I made a small dash and jogged towards the others. I gnced back at the moon that was floating in this dark and gloomy sky. The more I stared at it, the more questions I had about this pce and its function. But for now, our mission came first, I suppose. I just hoped this didn't turn out for the worst for us...