Author's Note: This is the last halo of 2023. This one is kind of a breather from the Christmas special on Monday. At first, I didn't know where I was going with this but I made it work. I introduced a new character who I first introduced in the Fortunate Daughter series. (You can read it on AO3 and Wattpad.) I am finally getting somewhere with Byakko. Plus, the Dante Killer made another kill. I just had to get back to her and figure out how she was going to pull it off. I already know what I am going to do for the first halo of 2024. For now, enjoy this last halo of 2023.

Halo Twenty-Three: Rena:

They should not exist. She will not allow them. She's tried to tell them this but they won't listen. Some of the others are in love with the tadpoles. She sat on her throne with a cold scowl on her face. She's been planning to do this for many cycles now. The time to act came now. She rose to her feet. Byakko already had everything in place. The humans did the rest.

Time to activate the trap.

She took a sip of her wine.

"Show time," she said to herself. She looked down at the city.

Before the phones went out, Chisa was engaged in a candidature debate. Something about her made the man opposite of her sweat.

She could suck out my soul if she wanted. He wanted to turn around and run away. Chisa glanced over at him. Her opponent cleared his throat.

"Okay!" the moderator said. "We may now begin."

Meanwhile, Kitano changed the channel. Not his thing. Plus, he already knew what the outcome was going to be. He's got other things to think about.

"Thank you for calling," he said. "There seems to be an issue waiting to snare our tadpoles. Oh yes. Good, I knew I could depend on you. Oh, there's one more thing that we need to talk about. Are you alone right now? Good."

Byakko got right to work. She went from home to home of all the tadpoles in the hour of the ox. She giggled to herself as she got to work.

"Die. Die. Die. Die."

They had to remain hidden. Good thing the tadpoles were either at Michiko's apartment or Celty and Shinra's apartment. Byakko couldn't get close to Michiko's apartment. She would have to try the other one when the time came. The tiger girl added on the last one.

"There, that should do it," she said. Byakko jumped up into the air and vanished. Now she had to wait.

December 21st, 2015.

Aya walked up to the brick in the narrow alley with the chalk in her hand. She drew the door and pushed on it. The therapist found the blood knights waiting in their booths for her.

"Thank you for coming out this morning," she said. "I heard that one of you had a question. Which one is it?" Number Eight raised their hand.

"Yes, Number Eight?" Aya asked.

"Are we allowed to have accomplices?" they asked. Number Four lifted her head.

"Accomplices?" the therapist asked.

"Yes," Number Eight said. Number One raised his hand.

"That might be a bit dangerous," he said.

"Yes, but I really do need this," Number Eight said. "He reminds me of someone."

"I too might need someone to help me with this next kill," Number Four said. Clearly, she didn't want to say that. Aya took a moment to think about that.

"One," she said. The knights stared at her.

"Miss?" Number one asked. Aya held up her hand.

"Hear me out," she said. "There are some kills you cannot do on your own. However, it is not wise to have more than one person involved. What you do with this accomplice during and after your mission is up to you. You better choose wisely."

"Thank you, miss," Number Eight said. Aya looked around at the knights in their booths.

"Any other questions?" she asked. Nobody said a word.

"Okay," Aya said. "If there is nothing else, you are all dismissed."

That evening, Sawako got out of the shower to an email message on her phone.

"Hm?" she asked. She picked up her phone and took a look at the message. What Sawako was rather baffling.

Hey DK,

I am a huge fan of yours. I have been following your case for quite some time now. Do you take requests for kills? I have a good person in mind for your sowers of discord kill. I know people who are on the police force too.

Sawako read over that last line. Okay, what the hell was this? She was actually getting fan mail? This sounded like a trap. She looked over at the sender.

"Who the hell is Hito DK?" the office lady asked. She was about to make a reply when a request to instant message the sender. Low and behold! It was Hito DK themselves. They wanted to talk. Sawako frowned. Should she do this? It all felt fishy. Sure, she had fans. But this felt like a set-up. Who's to say that this wasn't a sting operation to snare her? It was possible. Some criminals have been caught by less. But still…

Sawako pressed accept. A chatbox popped up on the screen. A message popped up.

"Hello."

Sawako drew in a breath and started typing.

"Who is this?" She didn't have to wait for a reply.

"I am a huge fan of yours."

"Okay… What do you want?"

"To help you with your latest masterpiece."

"Why though?"

"I'm a huge fan. Plus, I heard that you were stuck on your next kill."

Sawako stared at the screen with narrowed eyes. What the hell was this? Okay…

"Who told you that?"

"I know things."

"Do you now?"

"Yes."

She should end this chat and block them. She could just end it all now and move on.

"What do you have to offer me?"

She looked out the world to the living world. She still had her glass in her hand. Byakko finished up her part. Now, it would be a matter of time before she could begin her brand of judgment.

However, she was not alone.

She glanced behind her.

"Oh, it's you. What do you want, Yorokobi?" she asked. The deity of pleasure slid out from the darkness.

"Rena, Rena, Rena, Rena," they said. "What are you up to now?" She didn't turn around as she growled to herself.

"Why do you care?" Rena asked. They floated to her side.

"I just can't let you kill them," Yorokobi said. "They have become quite popular. Some of us want to see how they are going to make it."

"That's the problem!" Rena shouted. "They should not exist! They are an abomination! Humans should not have powers like gods!"

"But that isn't their fault," the deity of pleasure said. "This was forced upon them."

"That doesn't matter," she said. "They should not exist. They should not exist!" Rena tightly gripped her glass. The wine shook wildly inside. Yorokobi raised their eyebrow.

"What did you do?" they asked. Rena calmed down long enough to turn her head.

"I'm going to kill them all," she said. "And you can't stop me. I already have everything in place. Good luck trying." Rena threw back her head and laughed. Yorokobi could see the problems that were going to arise in the next few days. They were going to have to act fast.

December 22nd, 2015.

Another victim was found in a holding cell in the local jail. The police wondered how that happened. A guard found the body. Or rather the pieces of it. The limbs were cut away from the body. The parts were scattered around the cell. They didn't look messy either. Each piece was arranged in different spots. Each limb had been cut away into little pieces. Fingers, toes, hands, feet, arms, legs, neck, head, and torso. The head was shaved bald with the hair scattered everywhere as well. Blood covered the floor and the walls.

"Chaos", "Traitor", "Die", and "Discord" were written in blood on the walls. Nakamura clicked his tongue.

"How the hell did this happen?!" he asked. Nobody had any answers. However, they knew who the victim was.

The victim's name? Why none other than Morikawa Kita herself.