It hit me. Sensei and my sister… they were…? I don't even want to think about it.
The realization crashed over me, pieces falling into place like a puzzle I hadn't known I was solving.
"What's wrong?" The captain paused, glancing back as he noticed I'd stopped in my tracks.
"I need to use the bathroom," I muttered.
---
I splashed cold water on my face in the restroom, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I could really use a cigarette right now. Everything made sense now—everything. Memories flooded my mind, connecting like scenes playing out in the glass instead of my pale, drawn face.
After my sister's death, it wasn't Sensei who took me in first. It was his sister, Saya. The reason? His grief over my sister's passing had drowned him in bottles of sake, leaving him useless. I'd known Saya as my sister's friend long before I learned she was Sensei's sister—and one of the most formidable Muma hunters alive.
It all began three years and two months ago.
At my sister's funeral, where I saw Sensei for the first time. After everyone left, I sat alone in front of her grave, legs crossed, as the sun dipped toward the horizon. I was numb, hollowed out by loss.
Then someone sat beside me, mirroring my pose. It was Saya, my sister's friend. She didn't say a word, just sat there in silence, unmoving even as the sun set and darkness crept in.
"You can go," I said finally. "I just want to stay with my sister tonight, so she's not alone until her spirit rises at dawn."
"I want to stay with my friend for the same reason," Saya replied softly.
There's an old legend that says a soul lingers in the graveyard on the first night after death, ascending to the heavens at sunrise. Many believe it, which is why I was left alone—to be the closest one to her, to keep vigil. I never really bought into it. I'd scoffed at the idea when I saw it in the manga I read. But I wanted to do it anyway, just in case it was true. Even if the odds were slim, it was the least I could do for my sister.
"I knew she was going to die for months," I said, my voice breaking as tears welled up again, despite my efforts to hold them back. "I prepared myself, but I still can't believe she's really gone."
"I can't either," Saya said, her own tears falling as she stared ahead at the framed photo of my sister. "I was going to cry with her, but then I remembered she's the one who died. I came back here because I have no one else to turn to. I can't talk to my brother about most things. She was my friend—more than a sister. No one can fill that void."
---
'Do I really have to do this tonight?' Saya thought, glancing at her friend's younger brother sitting beside her in the dark cemetery.
Most people find graveyards eerie, but they're one of the few places Muma don't tread. Tonight, though, Saya had to enter the boy's psychic world and heal him before he turned into a Muma in the spirit realm. She'd given her word to Misa, her friend, that she'd take care of it.
She waited for the right moment, her resolve wavering. 'I promised Misa. I have to do this.'
Closing her eyes, she plunged into the spirit world. In an instant, everything shifted. She stood in a transformed landscape, glancing down to see herself and the boy sitting side by side, eyes closed. She drew her sword swiftly and soared into the air, sensing something.
A thick plume of black smoke erupted from the boy's head, coalescing into a monstrous form before her—a two-and-a-half-meter beast with black fur, glowing red eyes, and a maw of razor-sharp teeth. It wielded a pitch-black sword. This was no ordinary Muma. It was a "Makami", a Muma Lord—the strongest, most dangerous kind, the only ones that wielded weapons, with swordsmen being the deadliest.
Saya unleashed her aura, sealing the cemetery off from the rest of the world to contain the Makami's presence. This was likely the first time in history a Makami had manifested so quickly, triggered merely by a Muma hunter's proximity. It defied all logic.
She should have been terrified, but instead, rage surged within her. This creature dared to disturb her friend's rest, using her brother's spirit to taunt her with his slim chances of survival.
Saya was ready to fight, one of the few who could face a Makami alone, alongside Misa, her brother, and a handful of others she didn't care to think about now. But what happened next was beyond anything she, the so-called Queen of Predictions, could have foreseen.
The Makami dropped to its knees, gripped its sword with both hands, and plunged it into its own heart. It dissolved into black smoke, revealing Reiji's spiritual body beneath—frail, emaciated, like a wanderer lost in a desert for weeks.
Saya's mind reeled. She'd seen every kind of Muma, every conceivable psychic world, and wonders too strange for words. But this? Her knowledge as a Muma hunter, steeped in their entire history, offered no explanation.
Below her, two versions of Reiji lay on the ground: his physical body and his spiritual one, weak and withered. This was better than fighting the Makami—had she done so, the battle could have triggered a catastrophe in the real world, like an earthquake leveling the area or, at the very least, a disaster like a plane crashing into the cemetery.
After ensuring nothing else would emerge, Saya sheathed her sword, descended, and lifted Reiji's spiritual body. She flew toward the shrine within the cemetery, her mind racing with thoughts she didn't want to entertain. Even though Reiji was her friend's brother, she had to treat him like any other case—worse, like the spiritual body of a serial killer. She placed him gently in a fortified cell meant for such threats, unlike the last occupant, a child predator she'd kicked into one without remorse.
Pacing outside the cell, Saya grappled with her next move. She can't call her brother, He hadn't spoken to anyone since Misa's death and wouldn't for a while, just as he'd shut down after their father's passing. If she told anyone else about Reiji's transformation into a Makami, he'd be executed on the spot.
'What should I do?' She'd been warned he might turn into a "Makanashii" tonight—a Muma of sorrow and loneliness, slow and easy for her to handle. She'd planned to enter his psychic world to prevent it, helping him process his sister's death. But a Makami? The strongest Muma, each with unique powers, inhabiting psychic worlds only the elite hunters dared enter in specialized teams to prevent disasters like earthquakes or the tsunami that once submerged entire islands.
'Maybe it's better if he dies and joins his family,' Saya thought, then shook her head, remembering her Misa words: *"My father was a Muma hunter, and so am I. There's a chance my brother will be afflicted too after I'm gone. Don't let him die. He has to become a Muma hunter at all costs, to carry on our clan's bloodline. I promised my father."
'Misa you were right to tell me that instead of my stupid brother,' Saya decided. She wouldn't tell anyone. Misa didn't tell her everything, she's sure about that, but she's more sure that it was for a good reason.
Gripping her sheathed sword, she tapped Reiji's body. "Wake up, kid."
Reiji's eyes fluttered open. He sat up, looking around, confused. "Where am I? What happened?"
To spare Muma hunters from explaining psychic phenomena to every patient, they'd developed spiritual talismans that automatically clarified things in most cells. But this cell, meant for condemned criminals, lacked one to prolong their torment—a problem now.
"We're still in the cemetery," Saya said. "I was in a cell too, but I got out with this sword. You need a sword like mine to escape." She knows he wouldn't understand, but she knows what she's doing.
"What? But what is this place? It's the cemetery, but… different. Everything's different. What's happening?"
"When I was in the cell, when I woke up your sister was standing outside my cell with a sword in her hand, like me now. She explained everything."
"What?"
"Yeah. She looked healthier than ever, like before she got sick. She said she's in a better place now and had a sword like mine. She was a demon hunter, and we're trapped here because we're the two people she loved most. The demons want revenge on her through us, and they got their chance when we stayed in the cemetery after sunset. She said we need swords like hers to survive and avoid hell. You have to get one before sunrise, or you'll die and go to hell with the demons instead of meeting your sister in heaven. You have to become a demon hunter."
Saya knew Reiji, barely twelve, was obsessed with manga and easily influenced by it. She spun a lie his weak spiritual mind would believe. In her spiritual form, her mind worked sharper, and she knew exactly what to say.
"Can I see my sister if I get the sword?" Reiji asked.
"Yes," Saya lied. If he survived, she'd take him to a cell with a talisman, and he'd understand everything.
Reiji stood, and a black sword—the same one the Makami had wielded—materialized in his hand.
He stared at it, shocked, and it slipped from his grip. Picking it up, he shouted, "It's the sword! Does this mean I did it?"
Saya forced a smile. The sword had chosen him, giving him a chance to become a Muma hunter. But it was the Makami's sword. Her worry gnawed at her, but for Misa's sake, she pushed it aside. If he hadn't claimed the sword before dawn, his physical body would have died somehow, no matter her efforts. Now, he had a chance, but he still had to pass the psychic trials.
"How do I get out now?" Reiji asked.
"The cell should be open," Saya said, unlocking it—a feat only licensed Muma hunters could manage.
Reiji stepped out, looking around. "What are all these new buildings in the cemetery? Are we still in the same place?"
"I don't know, but Misa went into that building and vanished. Let's check it out."
She led him to a cell with a mind talisman. As he entered, she closed the door.
Reiji collapsed instantly. The talisman would show him the truth in a dream, explaining everything in the best way possible.
---
Moments after Reiji boarded the train, Saya watched him exit the restaurant via the security camera. She approached the table where her brother sat, poured the last of the wine from Reiji's glass, and said, "Why do you have audio cameras here? Spying on your customers?"
"We needed them for that mission with, the one with the MB gang."
"The Muma Bastards?"
"I hate calling them that. They wanted to meet in broad daylight, during the mall's opening, to take everyone hostage—lots of kids, so we couldn't fake it. They didn't know I owned the restaurant. I bought it before they built the mall and the new train station. We used that to let the police install cameras. They forgot to remove them after the mission, so I kept them for security."
"That's the mission that got you promoted, and you never shared these details?"
"Did those details matter before you asked about the damn cameras?"
Saya sipped the wine. "Anyway, you said you'd tell him today, but you didn't. You told him about demons instead."
"Knowing about demons is more useful than knowing his sister was my girlfriend."
"He'll find out eventually. By the way, what were those drawings you found inside his collection? That revelation shocked him more than learning about demons."
"You don't want to know, trust me."
"Now you're making me want to know. We're not leaving until you tell me."
"Fine, you'll regret it though"
"Bro, just talk."
"Ok, so, when Reiji and I weren't close like now, I wanted to change that. I snuck into his room to find something to connect with him. I found his stash of hentai manga—normal for a kid his age. But inside, there were pages he'd drawn himself. His own porn."
"Seriously? What did he draw?"
"You and him walking the dog."
"What?" Saya stood, incredulous. "You're joking."
"Do I joke about this? It pissed me off. I couldn't even look at them. I burned them and left him a note: 'Draw me again, and I'll cut your dick off.' Then I told him you'd said if he didn't train with me and do what I wanted, you'd tell me something about him. He couldn't answer what, of course, but it worked. Then I punished him indirectly for it."
Saya sat back down, shaking her head. "Unbelievable. That's why he started avoiding me and behaving so weird. I thought it was just puberty."
" You're half-right, at least."
"That's insane."
" Why did he choose you though?"
"Don't you dare say it's my clothes."
"I won't, but I doubt he had to work hard to imagine you without them."
Saya stood again, dumping the rest of her wine on her brother's face before storming toward the door. "Let's go, or you'll be late for your trial again. And if you mention my clothes again, find another lawyer who wears what you want."
"You all wear the same thing," her brother called, wiping his face.