Moonlight

Five

After being told by Shinobu to take a break for the rest of the afternoon, Sara decided to take a walk in the garden. She wore her new earrings and her haori over her uniform, her new hilt on her katana, and the five dozen rice balls in her pack.

She was peacefully walking along the path, yet she felt a little bit restless at the same time - it felt strange to not have anything to do. Nonetheless, she tried her best to enjoy the brief time she had to herself. Sooner than she realised, the Sun had already set below the horizon and the skies were dark.

"CAW!! A demon has appeared a few kilometres nearby!! Go and save the residents!!"

Sara sighed. To be honest, she was starting to enjoy the alone time. Quickly, she rushed inside the Butterfly Estate for her emergency medicine kit and left.

Following her crow, Sara approached a small house and was alarmed to smell the scent of human blood. I was too late, wasn't I?

It was just like that day... one year ago, when she was admiring the plants outside while people died. It was once again her fault. Her fault for taking life easy. Her fault for wasting time.

Swiftly, she climbed on the roof of the house.

"Ice Breathing: Fourth Form, Cold Blue Assault!"

She decapitated the demon with ease, but that didn't matter. The residents of this house were already dead. Well, that was what she thought.

Under the rubble she saw a small boy struggling to get out. He seemed to be the same age as her, yet he looked skinny and frail. He probably didn't eat much.

Sara dashed towards the boy and lifted the wood on top of him. Extending a hand out to him to help him stand, she noticed the awe that shone in his eyes. Uncomfortable, she averted her gaze.

The boy asked weakly, "Where's... my brother?"

Sara froze. That must have been the scent of blood she smelled. Cautiously, she peeked her head inside the house - her suspicions were confirmed. Another boy who looked the same as him was lying on the floor, dead.

She wasn't sure how she should break it to the boy, but she didn't need to. He turned his head in the same direction and saw his twin lying dead on the floor.

"Nii-san..." The boy began to cry. Then, unexpectedly, he looked up at Sara. "Thank you... for saving me."

Sara didn't know how to react. She didn't expect the boy to thank her, especially when she was unable to save his brother.

"No need to thank me. Sorry I wasn't here to save both of you." She murmured. She could see the guilt in the boy's eyes, as if he felt like he should have been there when his brother got attacked. She could almost see her old self in him.

Sara was surprised when she saw Ubuyashiki Amane, wife of Ubuyashiki Kagaya, emerge from the bushes.

Amane gave her a brief smile and said, "I'll take care of this, you can head back to headquarters. There's another mission awaiting you."

Sara quickly nodded and sprinted off. Back at headquarters, she was ordered to go to a town on Mount Tsukuba where people were reported with strange behaviour before disappearing the next day.

Sara followed her crow up the mountain as the moon rose higher up the night sky. Under her stoical expression, a slight hint of sadness appeared.

The stars above her glowed just as brightly as the day her family was murdered, and the moon was just as round as that night when she lost everything. It seemed that even on the night when everyone whom she cared for was killed, the sky did not mourn for her loss.