The Rise of the Ronin

The confession

Clinging tightly to the jar, Kasumi can barely open her eyes. Satoru carries her clutching her by the waist like a sack. He runs quickly over the tiles of the buildings as she watches people begin to come out of their homes to take a look at what is stirring among the streets of Gifu. A curse vanishes over her nose as Satoru unsheathes his katana and cuts it right in the middle of its core, so fast that to Kasumi it was but a blink of an eye.

In a flash, the fastest curses are after Satoru and Kasumi, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, like a pack of wolves. She doesn't know for sure when she glances back and sees a curse spreading like a tarantula, just as hairy, but with an almost human torso where its head should be. She holds back a scream as she sees it leap towards the next rooftop nailing its legs hard, sending roof tiles flying and collapsing half the house in front of her.

Satoru doesn't stop, he runs straight at the massive curse and Kasumi lets out a scream as he jumps and thrusts his sword into the middle of its body. He slices it up and down until his feet touch the ground and pauses for a moment to look at her.

"That thing, they're following it," Satoru says, confirming her suspicions. "Don't let go of it, or else we could be in bigger trouble."

More trouble than this? Kasumi wonders, holding on tightly to the last jar.

The samurai grabs her hand and starts running again. Kasumi turns over her shoulder only to see a myriad of curses swarming through the streets chasing every civilian and soldier in their path. Suddenly he embraces her again and with a leap he grabs hold of the tiles of a canteen, the edge of his sword caught between his teeth.

When they gain enough distance, Satoru stops and lets Kasumi's feet touch the ground, on the roof of a three-story building. But he still has one hand clinging to her waist, as if at any second someone is going to snatch her away from him and he's not willing to leave that opportunity open. They both look at what used to be Kamo-sama's house. Curses still fall overflowing the windows, spreading through the streets like ants.

Deformed beings of all kinds invade the streets among soldiers and men, women and children, running towards the outskirts of Gifu. Kasumi's grief-stricken face sees the horrified expressions and, as she's about to plead with Satoru to help them, he tightens his grip on her waist as if he knows what she's about to say.

"There are too many, even for me," he says, looking into her eyes, "and it's a little hard for me to admit it."

Her distressed face doesn't seem to need further explanation, the answer is in front of her eyes. The city is utterly doomed.

She nods and he takes her face in his free hand; he gently caresses her neck with his fingertips and cradles her chin with his palm. He smiles softly at her, as if that might give her some comfort.

"Did they hurt you?"

"No..." she says, suddenly short of breath. Her chest fills with a new and strange sensation as she feels his skin stroking hers and for an instant, she seems to forget that a massacre is taking place just a few meters away.

The spell is broken when he turns his gaze to the street and releases her face. He grabs her tightly again and starts running. Kasumi wraps her hands tightly over the jar, trying not to lose it after each sudden leap from Satoru, until he finally sets her down on the ground in the middle of the street and unsheathes his katana again.

Kokichi's puppets are all over the place, but Satoru ignores them and runs straight into a curse that launches itself at the carpenter upon finding him uncovered. He cuts it in half just as Kokichi covers himself with his forearms.