The next day came and went; she spent the first part of it tending to her fresh wounds. Choso had hit her and done damage, but it wasn't anything that wouldn't heal in a week or so. He had held back significantly. The evening of her day consisted of keeping her mind off Choso, doing busywork like cleaning her apartment and fixing the generous hole Choso left on her door and the window she had shattered. Anything and everything to keep her mind from wandering back to him.
Asami made her way to the train station with a set destination but an unknown goal. These couple of months had strained her. Focusing on one task who seemed to be taking her life's work as a joke. Maybe she would try to get assigned a different mission, far enough away from her dreadful life in Japan. Head hung low, she bored the train. She wasn't sure why her job lately had felt like a chore. She used to have a rich passion for her career, knowing that risking her life to save thousands of others was worth it. Acknowledging that she was also doing this for her sister.
She quickly worked her way up the chain and became a grade-one sorcerer. Honing her technique to be as close to perfect as she could manage. Devoting every breathing second to mastering jujutsu. She had exorcised thousands of curses on her own effortlessly. Yet she failed time and time again to kill the one that mattered most, Choso. He was far weaker than she was. They both knew that yet, when they faced each other, it was like all her hard work vanished. What was so special about him that she couldn't fight against him? Had the murder of her younger sister and his hands not been enough motivation?
Her sister was tortured and killed at the hands of Choso. Her body was found hanging off a bridge, miles away from the attack. The sick bastard couldn't even let her body be at peace after her passing. Natsuki, her sister, was twelve at the time of her death; she hadn't even lived a fraction of her life. Looking back, Asami knew she played a considerable role in her little sister's passing.
May 2018
On the day of the attack, they were making their way to a local ice cream shop a few blocks down from their house in Tokyo. When suddenly the building directly ahead of them caught fire. A few moments later, the sound of glass shattering, and two curses came out from the 12th story of the building.
She recognized Scarface, but not the man accompanying him. His tall frame, tired eyes, messy hair, and black mark across his nose caught her attention. He didn't look like a curse, but the energy around him felt ominous.
She urged Natsuki to run back home, to not look back, no matter what she heard, and to hide until she found her. Her sister resisted at first, pleading for her to come, afraid to be alone. She assured her that she would be home soon, but this was critical, she needed to get out. Asami turned her back to her sister and began to approach the two men a few feet from her. Hearing her sister's footsteps fade in the opposite direction. The two men glared her down.
She spoke first, breaking the silence. "Who are you?"
Scarface responded with a wide grin plastered across his malicious face. "Does it matter? You won't be around for much longer."
"It does matter if you're going to cause chaos in a city crowded with innocent people." Asami raised her voice to not let it be lost amongst the civilians yelling in fear around them.
The dark-haired man next to him spoke up. "Then let us put an end to your inconvenience." Shooting a glance at Scarface, they attack simultaneously.
The blueish-gray-haired curse made it seem as though he was planning on striking her face, so she moved opposite of his aim. But he went straight past her, and she had driven herself into the dark-haired one's red fist, it made contact with her ribs, and she heard them shatter. Falling to her knees, she coughed out blood. Spasming pain flooded her body.
Before she could make any effort to get up, a sound pierced through the air. Her blood ran cold, and her body stiffened, she wanted to believe her ears were deceiving her. She turned her head slowly, looking behind her.
Her senses never deceived her, the screaming was her little sister. She looked back to see that Scarface had severed her leg. Blood was seeping out at an alarming rate, and gut-wrenching screams filled her ears.
"Big sister, help me." The little girl pleaded in agony.
Asami felt sick, her stomach twisting at the sight of her sister, her food threatening to come back out, but she constructed her throat. Her fingers dug into her palm, breaking the skin.
But she also felt anger, which quickly turned into blinding rage. Working its way through her veins, pulling at her heart, and screaming at her body to move. Before she knew it, she was sprinting, closing the distance between them and summoning various blades around her. She could still save her.
"Dagger manipulation; dragon blades." Ten hot, bright red blades flew straight at the curse. She was nearly at her sister's side. The curse dodged all but one, which effortlessly pierced through his ghostly, pale arm.
She didn't have time to waste on running. "Dagger technique; transport." Asami was at her sister's side. She made a shield of daggers around them.
"It's going to be okay. Suki, do you hear me? It's all going to be alright. I'm here now; big sister is here." She fixed a tourniquet around the injury made from her now-ripped black blazer. She tried to pick up her sister and make an escape. Her sister whimpering in pain at the sudden movement.
Asami had been wreckless, she should have taken her sister's safety into her own hands. She should have let someone else handle the situation that had ensued in front of her. Guilt etching up her heart tearing her soul in half.
The dark-haired curse pierced through their shield with an arrow of blood. She put Natsuki back down and strode out of the shield.
"If you need a target, you have me, but you leave her out of this. She's merely a child; this does not involve her."
He rolled his eyes, a growing look of disgust on his face. "Child or not, she is a pathetic human. She serves no purpose in this world." Without another word, he sent spheres of blood at the shield, breaking it completely and hitting the frail body it had once guarded.
Asami gathered her energy into her daggers and focused on the curse; at her will she could pinpoint her daggers to hit any target without a single miss. She sent the blades flying at him, one by one they fused into his body. Asami felt lightheaded; the downside to this technique, it took up an immense amount of energy. The curse's blood was splattered everywhere.
She had been so distracted with him that she failed to notice the body on the ground was not the same one she was looking at moments ago. It was not the curse with the black mark across his face. No, the curse on the ground was Scarface. Was her mind playing tricks on her? She wondered but didn't have time for curiosity. Asami looked around; the other curse was gone, along with her sister's body.
The curse on the ground spoke up almost inaudibly. "Choso Kamo, he is the man you're after." Those were his last words before the blades inside of him exploded.
She made her way in the direction of the trail of blood. Where the other curse was headed with her sister. Adrenaline and fury surged through her body. She ran for miles, aimlessly calling out her sister's name with no response. She wound up near a lonely bridge.
That's when she saw it—her sister's body hung, her organs adorned her neck as a noose on the railing of the bridge. What remained of her sister's body; her arm was now cut off, and her other leg had been shredded to pieces. Asami cut the intestine that hung her sister and took her limp body in her arms.
Despair overcame her body, letting horrific screams escape her body. She doubled over her sister's body in pain and held Natsuki close, vowing to not let anyone take her again, even if it had been too late. She would make this right; she made a final promise to her sister to avenge her, Asami Inoue vowed to take the life of her sister's killer, even if it was the last thing she did.
Back in the center of Tokyo, the lifeless Scarface curse lay, standing at his side, Choso Kamo, the curse from earlier, and behind him a third unknown woman.
The train had stopped at her destination, the place she had fled following Natsuki's funeral–Tokyo. Chills ran through her spine as she stepped off the train. Feelings she had been suppressing for so long attacked her body, coming in waves. She knew she needed to face these feelings eventually. She only wished it didn't have to be so soon, she didn't feel ready yet.
Accepting these feelings meant fully letting go of her sister. Completely understanding and acknowledging that the past couldn't be changed. That Natsuki wouldn't come back, even as Asami stood in the city where she left her, she wouldn't be there to greet her.
Why had she come back after all this time, why was she suddenly giving up on her sister? She had vowed to avenge her, yet she was miles away from her target and on her way to pass the mission on to someone else. She had failed as a big sister twice.
Asami had made her way out of the train station and into the city. She began to walk with no direction of where she was going. Letting her heart guide her steps blindly to whatever unknown awaited her.
—
The train had stopped at her destination, the place she had fled following Natsuki's funeral—Tokyo. Chills ran through her spine as she stepped off the train. Feelings she had been suppressing for so long attacked her body, coming in waves. She knew she needed to face these feelings eventually. She only wished it didn't have to be so soon; she didn't feel ready yet.
Accepting these feelings meant fully letting go of her sister. She had to fully comprehend and acknowledge the immutability of the past. Natsuki wouldn't come back; even as Asami stood in the city where she left her, no one would be there to welcome her.
She had vowed to avenge her, yet she was miles away from her target and on her way to pass the mission on to someone else. She had failed as a big sister twice.
Asami had made her way out of the train station and into the city. The cool autumn breeze nipped at her exposed skin. She began to walk with no direction for where she was going. Letting her heart guide her steps blindly to whatever unknown awaited her.
—
She was unsure how long she had been walking or in what direction she had gone, but she kept her head down for the majority of the walk. Something had told her that she was now where she needed to be. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head to see that she had arrived at her childhood home.
Considering that only six months had passed since she abruptly left the house, it looked worn down and old. But she knew this was the place she had once called home. Making her way closer to the entrance, she felt there was a sinister presence enveloping the building. She entered regardless.
The inside of the house was in worse condition, with paintings barely hanging on the walls, paint beginning to chip, and the wooden floors creaking under her. Pushing past the entrance, the dining room had been vandalized, several plates were shattered on the floor, and kitchen knives had been flung into the walls.
To the left of the dining room was the spiral staircase that led to the second floor, which maintained all the bedrooms. She felt the sense of uneasiness grow stronger with every step she took up those stairs. Her heart thumped rapidly in her chest and filled her ears. Fighting hard to push the fear behind her, she kept her head high and held on to her composure. She could take on whatever was up there waiting for her. She reached the final step and proceeded forward, following the thick air that seemed to be coming from the end of the hall, from the room her sister once vacated. Taking slow, careful strides forward, she reached the room. The oak door was closed, and she could feel that something was waiting for her behind it. She reached for the door, turning the knob ever so slowly. She threw the door open and was already in a fighting stance, but the room was empty.
Cautiously, she stepped into the room, looking around to ensure there wasn't something hiding in the shadows. Nothing, but the presence of something evil still lurked in the air. She took in the room, seeing how much things had changed. All of her sister's items remained where she'd left them, but the color in them had faded. Once pink walls were now eerily gray and dusty, the mirror on her wall had shattered.
The remnants of her sister had been the same but all too different; the happiness her sister had once etched onto her belongings had been sucked out, and what remained were nothing but worthless objects.
She turned and began to walk out of the room and explore the rest of the house when she felt a strong sensation of danger behind her. Swiftly, she turned around once more and positioned herself for combat.
A creature with a broad muscular frame, purple-tinted skin, matching hair, and emerald stars for its seven eyes stood where she had been seconds ago. The creature had nothing on save for its long lavender hair wrapped around its arms like vines from a tree. Scars adorned its skin throughout the entirety of its body.
Four daggers appeared around her, ready to attack at her command.
The curse stood so eerily still that it would have been a statue. It made no movements, only staring her down.
Though she didn't plan on waiting around for it to be ready to attack her, Asami sent a blade flying, aiming at its torso.
The figure stood still, making no notice of its wound. She sent another two its way, one coming for its shoulder and the other to its foot.
She wasn't entirely sure why the curse wasn't moving, but she was going to take advantage of it while she could.
Asami came at the curse with two daggers in her hand, striking the curse in various places, ensuring to place enough pressure on the blade to slice deeply.
Only seconds after each injury, the wound had closed. Leaving nothing but a sliver of a scar. She kept attacking, regardless.
It kept regenerating but did not counterattack or block her moves.
Asami took a step back, tired from restlessly trying to damage the curse. She was confused about the situation in front of her. She decided to switch her plan of close-range attacks.
She sent five other blades to the target, each landing precisely where she had aimed. She watched the blood drip from the cuts of the blade and then stopped shortly after.
Taking many big steps back and out of the room. She spoke out, "Dagger manipulation; blade bombs." Asami had the ability to imbue her cursed energy into her blades and at her discretion set off the small amount of TNT coating the blades of her choice.
Instantly, the blades exploded and sent shreds of meat flying. The curse didn't regenerate this time. Instead, its eyes met hers, and it came sprinting at her.
Engulfing her body in its mangled arms and sending them flying out of the house.
Her back hit the ground and took the air from her lungs. Her head ricocheted on the concrete, turning her vision white and sending immense waves of pain to her head.
She struggled under the weight of the creature, who now had her arms pinned above her head by its hair and her knees under its legs.
Asami's vision slowly came back; the world around her was blurry and spinning. She needed to get out from under this strange creature.
She looked around for anything that might help her. All she could see was a puddle of blood forming under her, painting her once warm, fawn skin crimson red.
She couldn't escape by taking the place of one of her daggers; the curse had separated her hands. She was too close to use her bomb-blade technique. And her plain blades had proven to not affect it.
She tried to break free from its grip around her, wriggling her body vigorously. But it had done nothing.
Blades were conjured around her. The curse attempted to punch her face, sending its fist at her with life-threatening force. She moved her head, dodging most of the attacks but inevitably miscalculating a few.
"Dragon Blades," her blades once at her head now decorate the curse's body. Slicing through the layers of flesh effortlessly and leaving a lingering smell of burnt meat in the air. Drips of blood cascaded onto her body and burned the skin it touched.
The curse faltered for only a moment, slightly pulling back. At that moment, Asami freed her legs and threw them back with all her force. The hair that previously held her hands back had disintegrated.
As she went to attack the curse again, an arrow of blood shot through its left thigh.
Her vision was redirected to the figure that blended in with the shadows. Though she didn't have to look to know who would be there.
Choso
A look of anger overtook his features for a fraction of a second before his mask fell back into place.