Shiki Kumori

'P-please! I'll pay for it! I'll pay the debt! Just don't kill me!'

A man in an alleyway scurried toward the wall, running from his chaser. The man had been brutally beaten and tears flooded from his eyes as he pleaded for his life to be spared. Unlike him, his chaser calmly walked toward him.

His chaser was a man. He looked slender and young. The man wore a suit and a chain piercing from his earlobe to the helix. It was black. The man's hair was a distinct green and his eyes were flaxen, similar to a cat's.

The green-haired man stamped his foot on the wall, beside the other's face, and he leaned in closer. The smile on his face was too natural.

'Then, tell me, when shall you pay me back?'

'F-Friday! Next Friday!'

The antagonizer thought for a second. He then spoke.

'No, thank you. That is next week, seven days from now. I need the money now.'

'It's only a week! 24th of May! So–'

The crying man was silenced with a simple punch. The other shook his hand slightly to naturally ward off the residual pain.

'You see... I'm a greedy man. You didn't pay up on time, so I can get another form of payment. Personally, it's less than money to me, but I can accept it.'

'R-really?!'

'Yes.'

'What is it?! I'll do it! Just don't kill me!'

His pleasant smile transformed into a creepy, toothy, smile. His eyes also turned upwards–he looked like he was enjoying every second of it. Grabbing the man's hair, he brought him closer to his face, then told him his payment.

'Then, I'll have your soul.'

A small sound came from the distraught man. He didn't understand. Frantically, he tried to escape his clutches. Punching him, biting him, however, nothing worked. He was stuck.

'M-my soul? You're a... demon, aren't you?'

The eyes of the green-haired man slowly turned to a bright red.

'I don't know, maybe.'

'AHHHHHHHHHHH!'

The man's eyes went into his head and his skin was pale. While saliva spilt from his mouth, his soul was taken out. He was nothing but an empty vessel now. One could call him dead. The other stood up–the empty vessel dropped onto the ground like a ragdoll–and stretched his limbs. He felt stiff after extracting yet another soul.

Reaching out into his pocket, he grabbed for something and he laid it out in front of him. A photograph. It was of a young high schooler. In the photo, he was smiling. The green-haired man looked at it once more and put it into his pocket.

'Kishibe High, huh? Second-year, Class 2-3, Shiki Kumori. I'll be sure to have a nice snack of him.'

Licking his lips, he exited the alleyway with a leisurely attitude.

[x]

'Have you heard, Regulus?!'

Shiki rushed over to Regulus and slammed his hands on his desk. Regulus shivered and shook his head horizontally. Regulus still wasn't used to Shiki being his friend. It was around 3 or 4 days since his life took a major change, but just by having a friend changed it again, on the same scale.

'Heard about what?'

The boy scuffled through his pocket for his phone. Once he found it, he unlocked it and searched his phone for something. Shiki then shoved the phone into Regulus' face.

'Look at this! Creepy, right?'

It was an online newspaper. It said, "SERIAL WOUNDLESS MURDERS." The word, "woundless" stuck out to Regulus.

'Serial woundless murders? Maybe they were poisoned?'

'Yeah, maybe, but get this, their systems were checked and they hadn't consumed poison in the last twenty-four hours.'

It all seemed abnormal to Regulus. It was only natural, anyone would feel weird after seeing that news article. The only thing Regulus could think of killing a human without a single trace would be poison, but even that leaves a trace within the individual's digestive system. Then, something sprung to his mind. Over the past 3 days, and two years ago to now, he has faced these demons. They're abnormal creatures who cannot be assessed by normal human knowledge and logic. Before he cut to conclusions, Regulus cut off the idea of demons completely from his mind.

'If not poison, then what?'

'I have no idea. The police are having a few troubles identifying this themselves. But, I came up with a conclusion.'

Shiki had a "let me enlighten you" face on, but he didn't say anything. Seemed like he wanted his friend to ask him. Regulus sang to his tune.

'Can you enlighten me, oh, Shiki-sama?'

He said with an indifferent tone, however, Shiki ignored it and proceeded.

'I think it's the cause of the occult!'

'Occult?'

From the corner of his eye, Regulus could see Asahi looking at him, but he ignored her. He guessed that she was simply listening in to the conversation. Shiki moved into Regulus even more; they were practically only an inch away. It made Regulus feel uncomfortable.

'Yes! Inhumane beings and all!'

'What's wrong with you? Those things don't exist.'

Regulus said as naturally as he could. On the inside, he was panicking, though that simply added to the believability of his statement.

'Maybe you don't believe, but I do.'

«I may not believe in the occult, but I know it exists. Big difference.»

The boy thought to himself. Regulus wanted to mess with Shiki.

'Then, how do you explain that these people died? Saying because of the occult is too vague.'

'I'm glad you asked. It must've been something in the shape of a human, or something with hands.'

'Why do you say?'

'Every victim's hair is ruffled in a way.'

Regulus continued to listen to Shiki's explanation.

'Their bodies look more lifeless than dead bodies, so maybe something was extracted from them.'

Shiki looked upwards with his index finger on his bottom lip. It looked like he was thinking.

'Maybe something like a soul, then... A demon! A demon! That's what killed these victims.'

'That's hilari–'

The sound of a chair being pushed against the wooden floors reverberated within everyone's ears. The sound echoed across the room. Looking beside him, he saw Asahi. She stood up, looking at him.

'Ark, let's get lunch.'

'Uhm... Okay.'

[x]

The two went to the cafeteria and brought lunch, then sat on an empty table. Asahi sat first and Regulus followed after, nervous. The girl started eating normally, but the one opposite her couldn't with the mood choking him.

'Asahi, why did you suddenly take me out?'

She swallowed her food and placed her chopsticks down. Regulus started eating.

'Demon, come out. Don't worry, your master and I are the only ones who can see you.'

Astoria came out. She wasn't her usual self. Her eyes were drawn to Regulus as he ate and the exorcist in front of him also stared at him. It gave him the chills. It didn't seem like they were playing around. Astoria was the first one to break the silence.

'Regulus, I'll have to say it. That friend of yours... he's dangerous.'

'What? Shiki?'

«Don't eat with your mouth full, that's disgusting.»

Asahi thought to herself.

'Well, tell me, how is Shiki dangerous?'

The boy said, finally swallowing his food.

'Look, Ark, I don't know if he's playing dumb or something, but I'm sure that boy isn't an exorcist.'

'And he sure isn't a demon.'

'Meaning that he guessed all of that from the top of his head. Maybe he's just good at having wild fantasies, but I don't think Kumori-san is that type of person.'

Regulus finished his miso soup and placed the empty bowl down, alongside his torn chopsticks. He couldn't properly understand what they were implying. Once he assessed their words once more, he got a simple idea.

'So, demons were behind the serial woundless murders?'

The two nodded.

'Kumori-san seemed to guess the cause of the serial woundless murders, a case that no police have solved, and that could mean only one of two things.'

'Which are?'

Asahi pulled up one finger, her index finger.

'One. He knows about demons and exorcists and he's simply playing dumb.'

Her middle finger shot up.

'And two, he's a black exorcist.'

Regulus turned his head slightly in confusion. "Black exorcist" wasn't a term that he was used to. In fact, it was his first time ever hearing the term. He didn't need to ask what it was, since Astoria explained it to him.

'Black exorcists are exorcists who disobey the Cathedral. They're considered bad. Every exorcist wears a cross to identify themselves, however, black exorcists have marks on their bodies instead.'

'So, what you're trying to tell me is... you want me to check whether Shiki for a mark on his body.'

'Exactly.'

'I'll do it.'

['Eh?!']

Astoria and Asahi both yelped at the same time. They weren't expecting such a quick answer from Regulus. Asahi thought he'd flip out since she's questioning a friend of his.

'Are you sure?!'

'Yeah, I mean, there's no point in getting angry. All I need to do is check his body, which is perfect since I'm going to his place tomorrow.'

'Quick decision. That's my Regulus!'

And with that, the questioning of Asahi came to a close and they enjoyed the rest of their lunch. Regulus had a big job on his hands, but he didn't know it.