The afternoon sun glowed warm across the railway as Tenshi, Kaito, and Haruka boarded the quiet train heading from Fukuoka back to Tokyo. After Daigo's brutal morning training, their bodies felt like they had been hammered into the ground.
Tenshi collapsed into a seat by the window.
Kaito sprawled across from him.
Haruka sat beside Tenshi, eyes half-closed.
The train rattled along peacefully.
"Next stop: Shin-Kokura," the overhead speaker chimed.
Passengers stepped in and out.
A businessman.
A hooded man.
A mother with a stroller.
Tenshi barely noticed.
He was drifting into sleep.
Until—
click.
A metallic sound.
Soft.
Distinct.
Tenshi's eyes opened halfway.
"Ha—"
BANG.
A bullet drilled straight through Haruka's forehead.
Their head snapped backward.
Blood sprayed across the window.
Their body fell sideways into Tenshi's shoulder with a dead, heavy weight.
Tenshi froze, unable to scream.
Kaito's voice cracked,
"H-HARUKA—?! HARUKA—!! NO—!!"
Haruka's body twitched once, then went completely still.
Dead.
Instant.
Permanent.
The hooded man raised the gun again.
BANG. BANG.
Two silent rounds — one straight into Tenshi's chest, the other into Kaito's stomach.
Tenshi gasped violently as blood filled his lungs. He tried to raise his hand, but his arm felt detached from existence. Kaito collapsed onto the floor clutching his abdomen, coughing blood.
Passengers threw themselves to the ground.
A woman screamed.
Someone pulled a crying child under a seat.
The shooter aimed for Tenshi's head—
BANG.
The bullet tore through Tenshi's cheek, spinning his head sideways. Blood streaked down the window. His vision dimmed as he slumped beside Haruka's corpse.
Kaito roared weakly,
"YOU—BASTARD—!!"
But blood loss pulled him to the ground.
The train slowed onto the next platform.
The shooter stepped off.
On the platform were three more assassins, pistols in hand.
They were waiting.
The train doors slid shut behind them.
Inside, the carriage was drenched in blood.
Haruka's lifeless body.
Tenshi unconscious.
Kaito fading.
Passengers sobbed and prayed.
The next station announcement dinged faintly overhead.
"Next stop: Shikai Station."
The train doors opened softly.
Three assassins stepped in, scanning the carnage.
One pointed at Tenshi.
"Check the heart. Make sure."
Another nodded.
"Cut the spino-hybrid's head."
They moved forward—
Then froze.
A shadow crossed the doorway.
A woman stepped inside.
Short white hair.
Red eyes.
Black coat dusted with sunlight.
Himari.
Her expression was blank.
Not surprised.
Not emotional.
Just cold.
The assassins reacted instantly, guns raising.
"Drop your weapon—!!"
But Himari didn't carry one.
She lifted one hand lazily—
and several thin, silk-like strings extended from her fingers, almost invisible under the bright light.
Razor-thin.
Silent.
Deadly.
The assassins noticed too late.
SHIK—
One string sliced through the first man's throat.
He collapsed without a sound.
The second assassin fired—
Himari leaned aside lazily as the bullets struck the floor.
She flicked her fingers—
strings whipped through the air.
SHRRT—
His gun hand fell off.
He screamed for only half a second before another string cut straight through his chest.
The last assassin tried to run.
He didn't make it three steps.
Himari's string wrapped around his head—
and tightened.
CRACK.
His body dropped instantly.
In less than four seconds, all three assassins lay in spreading pools of blood.
Himari exhaled softly, brushing a speck of dust from her sleeve as if nothing had happened.
She stepped over the bodies and walked toward Tenshi.
She knelt beside the unconscious boy.
Tenshi's chest wound was closing painfully slowly.
He had lost too much blood.
His immortality worked…
but it was weak in human form.
Himari lifted his head, wiping blood from his nose with her thumb.
"Tenshi… Tenshi, can you hear me?"
Tenshi didn't answer.
His breathing rattled weakly in his throat.
Kaito groaned from the floor.
"H…Himari…? Is that—you…?"
She didn't look at him.
"Don't speak," she said.
"You'll live. Barely."
Passengers peeked from behind seats, terrified but recognizing the uniform.
"Is she… a devil hunter…?"
Himari stood up and raised her voice:
"EVERYONE STAY SEATED.
THIS TRAIN IS NOW UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL."
Her tone erased panic instantly.
She turned back to Tenshi and Kaito.
Himari grabbed Tenshi under the arms, pulling him up.
He was heavier than he looked, limp and cold.
Kaito struggled to stand, slipping on the blood-slick floor.
Himari shot him a sideways look.
"Don't fall. It's embarrassing."
Kaito huffed—
but obeyed.
Himari dragged Tenshi and supported Kaito as they moved to the platform.
Tokyo police, who had been alerted by the conductor, rushed in.
One officer froze when he saw Himari.
"G-Gre— I mean—Director Himari! Are you—"
"Clear the scene," Himari ordered without raising her voice.
"No civilians enter.
I will send cleanup orders."
"Y-Yes ma'am!"
Officers darted around, cordoning off the area.
Himari walked Tenshi and Kaito toward the exit, her steps calm and controlled.
Tenshi's head lolled against her shoulder.
Kaito staggered beside them.
Himari glanced down at Tenshi quietly.
"Don't worry," she whispered, so softly no one else could hear.
"I won't let anyone kill you."
And with that, she marched them toward the ambulance waiting outside.
The hospital room felt too clean. Too white.
Tenshi sat up slowly, blinking away the last bit of sleep. A half-eaten apple sat on the desk beside his bed. He didn't remember eating it. Maybe he did it automatically.
He stood, slipped into the soft hospital slippers, and stepped into the hallway. No one stopped him as he walked toward the entrance.
Outside, the air was warm. A vending machine hummed beside the doors.
Tenshi inserted a coin.
Pressed the apple juice button.
A cold can dropped.
He picked it up and leaned against the wall.
The wind was soft.
Cars passed on the road.
A nurse chatted with a doctor nearby.
Everything looked normal.
But Haruka's face kept flashing in his mind — the way they fell, the blood, the silence afterward.
Tenshi lowered his head.
Why didn't I cry…?
He didn't understand it.
Shouldn't he have cried?
Shouldn't it hurt more?
He sighed lightly.
Would I even cry if Kaito or even Asahi died
Probably no but why?
"…Weird," he murmured under his breath.
Footsteps approached from behind.
Kaito walked out of the hospital wearing blue patient clothes, scratching his neck and yawning.
He spotted Tenshi immediately.
"There you are. What are you doing?"
Tenshi looked at him.
"…Getting a drink."
Kaito stared at Tenshi's face for a moment, then shrugged.
"You look like an idiot thinking too hard."
"…Thanks."
Kaito leaned on the vending machine, bored.
He didn't ask how Tenshi felt.
He didn't ask about Haruka.
He didn't ask about the attack.
He didn't care.
And somehow, that made things feel lighter.
Tenshi took a sip of his drink.
Kaito stretched his arms.
"Anyway, I'm hungry. Hospital food sucks. Let's go find something edible."
Tenshi blinked, then nodded slowly.
"…Yeah. Okay."
Just like that, the heaviness in his chest loosened a bit.
Not gone — just easier to carry.
Kaito shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Hurry up, blondie. You walk slow."
Tenshi huffed.
"Shut up."
Kaito smirked.
"There he is."
They walked back toward the entrance together, the conversation light, normal, stupid as always.
And Tenshi didn't understand why…
…but it helped him move on.