The sky was turning the pale white of a fish’s belly. A chilly morning wind swept through the streets, stirring up scattered leaves.
Although there weren’t many pedestrians at this hour, the few who were out found their eyes instinctively drawn to a young girl passing by in the distance.
She was a girl with black hair and black eyes, styled in a traditional hime cut. Dressed in a black shrine maiden attire, she looked as though she served at some Shinto shrine, walking expressionlessly forward.
She left the city, heading towards a mountain in the outskirts. Other people gradually vanished from sight around her.
“Kiryoki, we meet again.” A voice called out from nearby.
Kiryoki looked up. There stood a man dressed in a black formal suit, looking every bit the foreign gentleman. But Kiryoki knew this man; he was no gentleman at all.
Seeing this person, Kiryoki tilted her head, her emotionless eyes fixed on him. “Hm? Why is it you again? Haven’t I clearly rejected you many times? Can’t you understand human speech?”
Adachi Tsukasa didn’t mind Kiryoki’s words. He kept his smile. “No matter how many times you refuse, we won’t give up. I’m here once again, on behalf of our Commander, to invite you to join our Flame Bird Group.”
“How many times have you invited me now? Still refusing to give up?” Kiryoki slowly walked closer.
“Of course. Our Commander is very fond of you. Why not disband your Demon Spirit Group and join our Flame Bird Group?” Adachi Tsukasa’s smile remained, but it looked somewhat phony.
Kiryoki had reached him. She grabbed Adachi Tsukasa by the collar, her tone inexplicable. “You keep telling me to join, join, but I don’t see your sincerity. How about this: cut off one of your hands and give it to me as a gift. Show some sincerity, what do you think?”
“I can’t do without hands; it’s tough to get by in the Reincarnation World otherwise. Besides, what would you do with my arm?” Adachi Tsukasa struggled to maintain his smile.
“See? You truly have no sincerity. You can’t even fulfill such a simple request.” Kiryoki shoved Adachi Tsukasa, her voice growing louder. “You refuse this, you refuse that, yet you still want me to join your team. Do you think it’s possible?”
Adachi Tsukasa took a deep breath. “Kiryoki, if you had any normal request, we wouldn’t say no. But we truly cannot agree to these demands of yours. This time you want my arm, last time it was the Commander’s arm, the time before that you wanted to castrate me… Don’t you have any normal needs?”
If not for the Commander’s particular fondness for Kiryoki, a constant desire to have her join the team, he wouldn’t be so polite to someone like her. To him, Kiryoki was just a strange lunatic, always carrying a morbid air. She was truly difficult to get along with.
“Are you saying I’m a pervert?” Kiryoki cupped her own face with both hands, letting out a morbid laugh. “That’s a wonderful compliment. I quite like it.”
Adachi Tsukasa was speechless.
Kiryoki’s smile came and went quickly. She tilted her head and said to Adachi Tsukasa, “Stop following me. Otherwise, I might just accidentally dissect you. I wonder if your internal organs differ from those of the people I’ve dissected before.”
Adachi Tsukasa raised both hands in surrender. “Don’t be like that. I’m just following the Commander’s orders to invite you. If you have any complaints, why not speak to our Commander directly? You know the Commander’s smartphone number, right?”
“I do. She calls to harass me often enough. But she doesn’t agree to any of my demands. No sincerity. Under these conditions, I cannot agree to join the Flame Bird Group.” Kiryoki spread her hands.
Adachi Tsukasa didn’t need to guess what kind of demands Kiryoki was making. As a bloody-minded pervert, the nature of her requests was easy to imagine.
Without another word, Kiryoki chuckled softly twice, then turned and left.
This time, Adachi Tsukasa did not follow.
As Kiryoki’s figure disappeared from view, Adachi Tsukasa’s brow furrowed deeply.
‘The Commander of the Demon Spirit Group, Kiryoki. What a truly unpleasant person.’
A look of displeasure crossed Adachi Tsukasa’s face. Why had the Commander taken a liking to this sort of person? If the Commander were male, he could understand it as an attraction to Kiryoki’s beauty, but the Commander was a woman.
He knew the Commander’s favor toward Kiryoki was definitely not for her strength.
Kiryoki reached the mountain and headed for the Demon Spirit Group’s hideout.
Before long, she arrived at her destination.
Looking at the collapsed passageway entrance, Kiryoki fell into silence.
She wasn’t particularly surprised. When a Reincarnator in a team died, the Team Contract would alert the remaining living members. She already knew that she was the sole survivor of her Demon Spirit Group.
“Whoever you are, since you’ve become my opponent, you best be prepared to die.” Kiryoki muttered to the air before laughing softly, a hint of madness flickering in her eyes.
Cherry blossoms bloomed in profusion, dancing in the wind.
Female students in white short-sleeved shirts and pink-white plaid skirts stepped into Aragaki Girls’ High School one after another on this morning.
“Keiko, Keiko, look, isn’t that Ruri-chan?” Mizuhashi Yuzuki looped an arm around the neck of the nearby Inoue Keiko, pointing out the window with a smile.
From their classroom window, they had a clear view of the students entering through the school gate.
The captured Inoue Keiko was very helpless. Mizuhashi Yuzuki was clearly from the neighboring Class A; why was she so overly familiar, running into her Class B to chat with her directly?
Inoue Keiko had already noticed many curious glances from her classmates.
“Ruri-chan is truly adorable,” Mizuhashi Yuzuki said, looking out the window.
Inoue Keiko followed her gaze.
At the school gate, Tsukiyomi Ruri, also wearing the school uniform, slowly walked in. Her pink twin-tails swayed gently, surrounded by dancing cherry blossoms, as if existing solely to complement her.
Seeing Tsukiyomi Ruri, Inoue Keiko said, “Tsukiyomi-san is indeed very cute. It’s a pity I’ve never seen her smile. She would probably look even prettier with a smile, don’t you think?”
Mizuhashi Yuzuki giggled. “I’ve never seen her smile either. But Ruri-chan has a stoic face, so it’s not very realistic to expect her to smile.”
“Why does she have a stoic face?” Inoue Keiko seemed curious.
“I don’t know,” Mizuhashi Yuzuki tilted her head, then added, “But I once secretly watched her while she was eating her bento. Her little canine teeth are quite pointed. If she smiled, they’d definitely show. Oh my god, just imagining it feels incredibly cute.”
