NO. 47 - Save Her, No Matter What

[General POV]

Kai watched as Jin held his head in his hands. The masked man was crying hysterically as he rocked himself back and forth on the ground. At the sight of the pathetic man, Kai disregarded Jin as a threat.

"Souta… no, you can't… is this m-my fault? Souta… all my fault."

Standing still, Kai carefully eyed Souta's still body. Crimson streamed freely down the spikes that were embedded into his body, flowing into the large puddle below him. Ripples pulsed out with every new drop of blood that fell.

Satisfied that the so-called King of Curses was dead, Kai turned to the direction he had last seen Himiko and Eri run off to. Bending his knees, the Head of the Shie Hassaikai leaped into the air and landed on a far-off rooftop. With incredible ease, he began sprinting and jumping from rooftop to rooftop toward the key to his future.

"You're not going anywhere, Eri."

x x x

"Thanks, Jello," Kaina muttered as she rolled off the Jellyfish Shikigami.

With a grunt, she looked around the huge pile of rubble behind her from where the building collapsed. Scanning over at the nearby buildings, Kaina turned around and pointed at a nearby rooftop that overlooked the ruined compound.

"Jello, can you fly me up there? I need to-" Kaina's eyes grew wide in confusion as she watched the Jellyfish Shikigami slowly began to disappear. "Jello?"

The Shikigami released a low moan as it finally disappeared.

"Wait… don't tell me!" Kaina gasped and began sprinting toward the compound, her expression tight and panicked.

"How could someone destroy my Shikigami's?"

Souta said as he placed some more barbecue into his mouth. "Well, the only way that could happen is to exorcise them with CE. But considering I'm the only one with that power, that's not really a concern. Hmm… another way would be if I'm either knocked out or killed. That could force them to be dispelled for a short amount of time. Even then, I'm not too sure if they would disappear. Well, except for Jello. It seems to run off my CE like a leach. So if I do get taken out, Jello would probably disappear... But I doubt anybody besides a scant few could do the job."

Glaring ahead, Kaina quickened her pace as she jumped over a fallen piece of rubble. With practiced ease, she parkoured over and around the scattered piles of spikes and chunks of concrete around the compound. Hearing hushed sobs, Kaina quickened her pace and turned the corner.

"It can't be…" Kaina muttered as she slowed to a stop. Her eyes trained on the still, skewered body of the young man she had grown to respect deeply. Underneath him was a large puddle of blood. "Souta-san."

Looking to her right, she noticed Jin wallowing away while muttering incomprehensibly to himself.

Despite her few short weeks living together with Souta, Jin, and the incredibly touchy Himiko, Kaina had sincerely enjoyed her time with the three oddballs.

Living with them had made her almost forget her bloody past. Every day during their daily meals together, Kaina had wondered if this was what it would be like if she pursued a different path in her life.

A path where she surrounded herself with close friends or family. A path devoid of bloodshed and murder.

It was lovely.

And now it was gone.

Even if she and everyone else managed to escape alive, the glue that held Himiko and Jin together was now dead and gone. Things wouldn't be the same again.

Stepping up to Souta's body, Kaina hesitated but ultimately closed his half lidded eyes. Reaching out to Zaiko, she picked up the worm and placed it around her own shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she walked away from Souta and approached Jin.

"Bubaigawara-san," Kaina said in a cold, detached voice. A voice she had grown used to hearing during her time in the HPSC. Walking over to the man, she reached down and grabbed his shoulder. "Get up... We still have a mission to complete."

"…I can't," Jin muttered, his hands over his head. "Souta is… he's dead, Kaina-chan. He's dead."

"I know," Kaina whispered. Kneeling beside him, she grabbed his face and lifted his head so he could look at her. "But we still need to save Eri-chan. Remember? It's what Souta-san would want. We have to help that little girl. Do you understand?"

Sniffing, Jin closed his eyes and collected himself. After a few seconds, he ignored all his injuries and forced himself to stand up. Brushing his arm over his eyes, Jin wiped the tears off his face. "Y-you're right… let's go save Eri-chan."

Nodding, Kaina bandaged Jin's thigh and placed his arm in a sling before they began running off toward where she had last seen Himiko head in.

As she ran, Kaina turned back to look at Souta's unmoving form.

"Goodbye."

With no one left around, no one was there to notice the ripples on the blood puddle's surface quicken until they came to a complete stop below Souta's body.

Inexplicably, the ripples began to invert.

x x x

Several blocks away, dozens of people were walking toward their evacuation zone, guided by police officers wearing bored expressions.

"Hah… what a pain." One of the traveling civilians said with a groan as she wiped some sweat off her neck. Beside her, another young woman nodded. "Shouldn't they have warned us ahead of time we were supposed to have an evacuation drill?"

"I know, right? Like, shouldn't they be more considerate or something?" The brown-haired young woman said with an eye roll.

"Keep it moving, everyone." An officer with sharp teeth and green eyes said as he directed the large marching crowd forward. "Remember, act as if this was the real deal."

Standing next to a bookstore at a nearby intersection, Detective Yoichi and one of his subordinates stood beside one another. Watching the annoyed crowds walking down the street.

"Hey, Detective Ige? I don't mean to question you or anything, but why are we doing this?" A young man with slicked-back black hair said.

"I told you already, Kurihara-kun." Yoichi took a drag of his cigarette and then blew out a puff of smoke. "This was simply a precaution. We got a call about a bomb threat. But from the sound of the caller's voice, that call was clearly a joke."

"If it was clearly a joke, is evacuating twelve city blocks full of people really necessary?" Kurihara said as he motioned at the agitated people and even some police officers. "I can't believe the Chief okayed this."

'That's because he didn't.' Yoichi thought as he looked away.

Kabang!

Suddenly, a powerful tremor rocked the city all around them, causing all the evacuating people and officers to momentarily lose their balance. Off in the distance, smoke and chunks of concrete flew up into the sky. As the structures fell, several more tremors shook the city, causing waves of panicked screams through the civilians.

"W-what was that?!"

"Holy shit! Was that an actual bomb?! I thought this was a drill!"

"Where are the heroes?!"

Detective Yoichi watched the rising pillars of smoke with wide eyes.

'Damnit, Sukuna! What the hell is going on over there?!' Yoichi screamed in his head as he heard several officers begin to call in the situation. There were even some calls being made to bring in some support from heroes. 'Whatever you're doing, do it fast, Sukuna!'

"Detective! We need to get these people out of here!"

"Right! Let's get moving!"

x x x

"It's okay, Eri-chan! Everything's going to be okay!"

Himiko forced herself to smile as she continued running through the empty city streets. She winced as her swollen ankle sent waves of pain up her leg.

Eri looked up at Himiko with worry as she continued looking behind them. Her large red eyes scanned the streets below before moving up to the rooftops. A wave of terror shot through her as she spotted a six-armed creature with a plague mask staring down at her with rage in his eyes.

"He's here…" Eri whispered. Pulling on Himiko's shirt, Eri pointed behind them in a panic. "He's here! He's here!"

Feeling as if a bucket of ice had spilled over her, Himiko stopped running and spun around. Looking up to where Eri was pointing, Himiko found Kai looking down at them.

Glaring at him, she forced herself to continue running.

"He won't get you, Eri-chan! I promise!"

"No… that's enough," Eri muttered. "Just let me go… or he'll kill you too."

"N-no! No one's dead!" Himiko yelled as she ignored her injured ankle. "I'll save you! Just watch me!"

"Admirable."

Feeling a wave of nausea come over her. Himiko's sense of balance turned upside down, causing her to trip and roll on the ground. With blurry vision, Himiko looked down at Eri and double-checked to see if she was okay.

"E-Eri-chan." Himiko said as she tried to stand, but her body and mind continued to sway. "It's okay… I'll protect you."

The two girls spun around as a loud crash rumbled behind them. Looking back, Himiko and Eri watched as Kai slowly stood to his full height. Eri began to shake as she took in his new, more terrifying form.

"Eri," Kai muttered coldly. "Come here."

"Stay b-back, you six-armed piece of shit!" Himiko growled out as she stood up despite the overpowering nausea. Reaching behind her, Himiko brought out her blunted weapon as she stood in front of Eri protectively. "Where is he?! Whe-where's Sukuna-kun?!"

"Ah… Were you two close?" Kai said with amusement in his golden eyes. "Souta tried to stand in my way… so I killed him."

Himiko's expression fell into disbelief and despair before she closed her eyes. Shaking her head, her eyes narrowed into slits as she glared with as much hate as she could muster at Kai.

"No! You're lying!" Himiko roared with tears running down her face." He's not dead! You're lying!"

Sighing in annoyance, Kai dismissed Himiko and began walking over to Eri. "Enough of this. It's time to come back, Eri. Unless you want this girl to die as well?"

"I… don't want that," Eri said in defeat. She began to walk over to Kai, causing Himiko to look at her in surprise.

"Eri-chan?"

"Please… Just go. I don't want you to die too." Eri said as she began walking toward Kai. Her small hands gripped the fabric of her long dress. "Forget about me."

"I don't think so!"

Gasping in exhaustion, Jin marched towards Kai with his expression set into a rage. Himiko, Eri, and Kai turned to watch Jin come to a stop from the other end of the street.

"You're still here?" Kai asked in annoyance.

"I am. I won't forgive you for what you did!" Jin roared as he pointed a finger at Kai. "But I promise you this! We will save that little girl! No matter what!"

"You've seen what I can do," Kai said as he motioned to himself. "I've defeated the so-called Demon God. Tell me, what can you do?"

Jin huffed angrily and pointed up to the sky.

"That."

Kai, Himiko, and Eri all looked up at the rooftops to see over 50 Kaina clones all aiming down their snipers at Kai with fire behind their eyes.

"And this!" Jin yelled as a large wave of black liquid exploded behind him. Rising out of the goo, dozens upon dozens of Jin clones sprang to life. Their eyes were set into a frenzy as they glowered at Kai. "Sad Man's Parade!"

Before Kai could react, the sky rained down a volley of death.