Seventh Moon

Shinazugawa Sanemi: Murderers

"I wanted to spend more time with you, Y/N-chan..." Kyojuro said, barely struggling despite the demon arm poking out of his body. He blessed me with a bloody smile before hissing... "this is your fault."

"Ah!" I'm... huh? I turned my head, taking in my surroundings only to find myself completely alone. Right. He's dead... has been for over a month now. And my nightmare version of him was right – it was my fault. I'm a demon. And one that could see glimpses of the future. I should've been ready and protected Kyojuro... but I can't change the past. All I could do now is to prevent it from happening again.

"Good evening." I greeted as I walked into the room, tea and snacks on a tray. "Where were you all day, nee-san?" Miyu asked, grabbing a rice cracker off the tray. Yuto followed suit, and it was just their munching that could be heard for a while. I was totally lost and didn't know what to tell them. Back home, I don't really answer questions like this – they just know... well, their parents told them, I guess.

"She's busy during the daytime." Shinazugawa-san answered for me, prompting me to finally look his way. And what a funny sight it was! Little Chiyo, standing on his thigh and grabbing onto his hair for balance. Despite what happened last night, Chiyo looked pretty content to pull Shinazugawa-san's hair and cheeks. I really didn't expect him to be great with children, but the way he carried and played with the toddler tells me he's done this before.

A tug on my sleeve prompted me to look away from Shinazugawa-san and turn to Yuto, who had the most adorable puppy eyes. "Can I have more snacks, idiot?"

"-wha?"

"What?"

"Yuto!"

A child I barely knew just called me idiot... "Wha..." I couldn't even fully form the word what. Shinazugawa-san, on the other hand, looked ready to explode.

"What did you call her, runt?" His tone and face was enough to make Yuto start crying, and both Miyu and I were frozen. "Idiot..." Yuto mumbled, not knowing what else to do. Miyu then recovered from the shock and started defending her brother, "he thought that was nee-san's name because that's what you call her."

Oh. I sneaked a peek at Shinazugawa-san and found a peculiar expression on his face. It's a mix of guilt and regret, I think. Like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't. His mouth opened and closed so many times it almost looked funny, but then he stood and passed Chiyo over to me, grumbled something I didn't understand, and walked out of the room leaving me to comfort a still sobbing Yuto.

The sun was already bright and up in the sky when I finished preparing the children. Shinazugawa-san would be taking them to the orphanage today. Both Yuto and Chiyo were still very sleepy, Miyu on the other hand was looking melancholy – which is understandable considering everything they've gone through in just a span of days.

Like a fool, I asked if she was ready. I mean, I said that almost instinctively after finishing tying up her hair but it was still insensitive of me. It was all it took for her to start crying. "I'm never going to see my parents again. I'm never going to see my friends again. I don't like this... My chest its – it hurts!" All I could do was pull her into a hug and whisper "I know..." To my surprise, she whimpered that no. I don't understand.

Holding her by the shoulders and looking into her eyes, I tried to make her feel less alone. "Both of my parents are dead. My older brother, too. A creature like that one who killed your parents got him... and that monster is still alive today. A friend of mine, Kyojuro, also met the same fate." For a moment, I was lost in my memories of these people I lost. Thoughts being stuck to Kyojuro. I can't help the regret bubbling in my chest. We just got reunited, barely got to know each other again when Akaza-san ripped that chance away from us.