Sanemi Shinazugawa gasped for air, the kitchen knife in his hand falling to the ground, too heavy for him to pick up.
His face was throbbing with pain, a numb, tingling itch, and something slid down his cheek.
Sanemi knew it was his own blood.
A gaping wound stretched across his face, marring what was once a handsome countenance.
But he stopped thinking about anything; when Haruto's blue-violet nichirin blade light tore through the darkness, illuminating the attacker's face, the boy's mind went blank, as if his spine had been pulled out, leaving him limp on the ground.
That familiar face, that small figure, had been smiling and preparing his lunch just that afternoon.
"...Mama?"
Sanemi's lips trembled, half-doubtful, half-despairing, as he whispered, "Mama, is that you?"
Haruto's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately turned his blade, pressing the back of it against the female demon's neck, using his strong muscles to pin her to the ground.
But the female demon beneath him was in the chaotic period of newly transforming into a demon, unable to recognize the person in front of her as her own son.
Moreover, stimulated by something, she was now struggling madly, trying to pounce on Sanemi, whose face was covered in blood.
No way... another marechi?
Haruto sighed; a mother-son tragedy, such a scene was incredibly cruel.
But demons could not be forgiven, and... the female demon had so much blood on her, not entirely from fighting the silver-haired boy; she must have killed other people.
So Haruto leveled his blade, preparing to swiftly sever the female demon's neck with one stroke.
"Turn your head away," he said in a deep voice.
"Wh-what?" Sanemi didn't react.
"Unless you want to watch your mother be beheaded by me."
Haruto felt very sorry, but he was powerless.
Killing a mother in front of her son was truly too cruel... even if it was a mother who had already become a demon.
"No!" Sanemi found strength from somewhere, scrambling to Haruto's side, his hands trembling, unsure what to do.
His small mother no longer resembled a human; when she killed his younger siblings inside the house, she was no different from a true beast. Two disproportionately large demon claws had grown on her small arms, her face was covered in bulging veins, constantly wanting to bite through Haruto's neck with her sharp fangs.
"No... no, isn't there any way? Will she get better if she sleeps? We always recover from illness by sleeping..."
Sanemi's face was covered in blood, and he bared his teeth, wanting to cry.
Haruto said nothing, silently lowering his head, only gripping the female demon with his hand and sticking his nichirin blade into the dirt beside him.
Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps sounded, and the rooster-haired boy stumbled into the alleyway, his kimono stained with blood.
"Brother, we need to call a doctor..."
There was a bleeding wound on his face, and the blood, tears, and sweat mixed together, making him look very disheveled.
Seeing the messy aftermath of a fight in front of him, the rooster-haired boy froze: "...Brother?"
"Genya..."
Sanemi and Haruto looked up together, only to find their brother's gaze fixed on their mother beneath the white-haired swordsman: "Genya, don't look!"
He didn't want his brother to see their mother in such a wretched state, nor did he want his brother to know that the monster who attacked their family was their mother.
In the blue-violet light of the blade, Genya's already small pupils contracted tightly.
"Sir... what are you doing?" He took two steps forward, slowly reaching into his embrace: "Why are you holding my mother?"
Sanemi's head buzzed; as his brother, Sanemi naturally knew what Genya had in his embrace.
It was a brass slingshot, which Genya often used to hunt birds in the mountains. His aim was excellent, and he always managed to provide extra meals for his younger siblings.
"Genya!" he urgently cried out: "Stop!"
Haruto raised an eyebrow, his hand pressing down on the female demon unmoving, while his other hand quickly drew his nichirin blade and held it in front of him.
The rooster-haired boy over there was fast, and his aim was also very good.
"Clang! Clang!"
Two metallic clangs sounded as the copper pellets were blocked by Haruto.
Seeing that the rooster-haired boy was about to reload and shoot again, Haruto yanked up the struggling female demon, and as he leaped up on the balls of his feet, he sheathed his nichirin blade with one hand and lunged straight at him.
Sanemi frantically reached out to grab Haruto's haori, but his hand closed on empty air.
He quickly got up from the ground, using both hands and feet—
No! His younger siblings were already dead, and his mother was also going to die!
Spare Genya!
Haruto's speed was very fast; he almost instantly appeared in front of the rooster-haired boy, raising his hand to knock the slingshot out of his hand and onto the ground.
"I understand that after such a shock, your mind isn't in a good state right now."
Haruto frowned: "But acting recklessly without knowing anything, like this, won't help anything."
Genya saw "Mama" and began to tremble just like Sanemi.
"Oh, God..."
Sanemi pounced, covering his brother's eyes: "Don't look, don't look, Genya, don't look..."
Haruto struck the female demon hard on the neck, incapacitating her, then grabbed the silver-haired boy and shoved the female demon into his hands.
"Are there any other victims? Don't just stand there!"
Unfortunately, in the blood-splattered house, five small children had died in agony and terror.
The oldest child was five or six, the youngest possibly not even a year old.
Haruto silently lined them up, then went outside to have Sora relay the message to the Kakushi.
He heard Genya's suppressed sobs from inside the house and could only punch the wall, filled with anger.
Takanashi Haruto, why did he eat so much!
If he had left the shop half-full, he would have discovered the transforming demon in time, and these children wouldn't have had to die.
He could still remember the bright expressions on the two brothers' faces when he saw them earlier that evening.
They were imagining a beautiful future, having escaped their abusive father!
But now, all of it was gone, tears and sorrow washing away all past happy memories.
Sanemi guarded the female demon in the yard, not saying a word, his face devoid of any expression.
Haruto walked over, and he looked up, his face blank, and after a long moment, he said, "Sir, what exactly is this?"
"It's a demon."
"Will she get better?"
Haruto's heart ached; the silver-haired boy's eyes looked at him with a plea.
"Becoming a demon isn't an illness."
He sighed inwardly, and still told the boy some things about demons.
"...The sun will eventually rise, and her time is short.
I'm sorry, I cannot spare her.
If I don't kill her, many more mothers and children will die by her hand."
Sanemi buried his head in his knees, his shoulders trembling.
Their happy, beautiful family, which began with an abusive father, had completely collapsed within a mere two or three days.
Genya sat with his younger siblings for a long time; he didn't dare to look at the two people outside the house, or the "Mama" lying on the ground.
As dawn approached, Sanemi carried his mother out.
The swordsman did not stop him, only watched him from afar with those misty blue eyes.
He came to the window, cleared his throat: "Where is Brother taking... Mama?"
The white-haired swordsman held his nichirin blade to his chest and exhaled towards the rising sun.
"To see the light one last time."