"Don't be so afraid..." Kawashita approached me, "I'm just here to make a deal with you."

I forced myself to calm down: "What deal?"

"I know you and Seimei are very close, so you must know that Kidomaru is a ghost, right?" Kawashita looked arrogant.

A man came out from behind the tree. I slowly calmed down and said, "I didn't know about such a thing."

"Hmph, if you don't do what I say, you will be expelled from the school tomorrow. Even that kid Qingming won't be able to save you by then."

"...I know." I met the eyes of the man behind the tree, "Then I said, what benefits will you give me?"

"Don't worry about this kind of thing. In short, you must do what I say, otherwise-"

"puff!"

Before Kawashita finished speaking, his body was thrown onto the trunk of a tree. I stood there, watching Kidomaru's hands stained with Kawashita's blood - bright red blood, familiar fishy smell

.Same as when my brother massacred the people in the izakaya.

But there seems to be something wrong... This person named Kidomaru obviously enjoys the fun of killing more than his brother.

"Don't... don't come here!" Kawashita got up immediately after being thrown on the tree trunk, but the moment he saw Kidomaru, he couldn't help but tremble with fear.

Why is he afraid? Is he afraid of Kidomaru? But he is also among those who say Kidomaru is a freak. It is obviously his fault...

"Don't come here! You freak!" Kawashita was so frightened that his arms trembled.

Freaks...? My brother and I will also be called this in the future, right? We are not recognized by the world, and there is no world that can accommodate our existence.

As if there was a connection, when I looked at Kidomaru, he also looked at me sideways. After hearing this, he was not angry, but the corners of his mouth were raised...

He is excited... My guess is correct, killing makes him excited... Killing is what makes him happy.

He walked slowly in front of Kawashita, and just when I thought he would pinch Kawashita's neck, or scratch Kawashita's face with the claws that had appeared on his fingers, he just used his sharp nails to scratch Kawashita's face.

It slid up a bit.

"It's over, let's go home." As if for a moment, Kidomaru smiled. A gentle smile, just like the smile my brother gave to everyone except us.

I watched Kawashita fleeing in embarrassment, and turned around to say thanks: "Thank you, senior brother!"

Kidomaru glanced at me and turned around to leave.

But the red string on his neck was very conspicuous, so I asked him for the first time: "Did the red string on senior brother's neck also be prayed for at Inari Shrine?"

Kidomaru paused for a moment, turned sideways and looked at me condescendingly, still smiling: "No, I got it from the God of Yuetoku."

"...It turns out that my senior brother is a believer of the God of Yuanjie." I was a little surprised, but I thought it was reasonable.

"Of course." Kidomaru answered me, "But... aren't you afraid of me?"

"Compared to Kawashita, senior brother is safer." I walked up to him and said, "Senior brother will protect me, right? Just like Seimei."

"...Of course, junior sister." Kidomaru called me very politely.

"Azi?"

On the way back to school, when I was trying my best to talk to Kidomaru, I met Seimei who was looking for me.

"It's time for you to go back to that beautiful and rotten world." Kidomaru suddenly said this to me, and Seimei's figure gradually became clearer.

Seimei breathed a sigh of relief when he saw me, and couldn't help but smile when he saw Kidomaru passing by him: "So you are with senior brother."

"...Because I was called out, I encountered another monster on the road. Fortunately, Brother Kidomaru was nearby." I explained.

"That's it." Qingming then softened his expression, "It's good that you're fine."

...Is it considered a secret? But I still have many questions to ask Kidomaru...

"Then I'll take the first step." Kidomaru bowed politely and left.

Seeing that I came back safely, Xiaobai couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. My fantasy of home was fulfilled in Qingming's home. We would eat together, talk together, and Qingming would pat my back and comfort me when I was scared...

…

All of this is something I have never experienced before...it's so warm that it's unbelievable, and it's so warm that it makes me want to escape again.

However, this warm time did not last long. Soon after, the rumors in the school about Kidomaru being a monster became more intense. I was also pushed to the edge of the wave. I don’t know why, but Kawashita was injured by Kidomaru that day.

The incident, as well as the incident that I did not stop, were spread by word of mouth. Many people forced me to admit that he was a monster, but they were afraid of Xiaobai and did not take action. Qingming also suffered a lot because of this incident.

troubles.

Qingming always said to me helplessly: "If there is rumors, just wait until it passes."

But, this is the difference. Qingming can endure it, and I can also not care at all on the surface, but in my heart...

This was a trial, and I was finally able to talk to Kidomaru up close again. Maybe because I was so similar to my brother, I always thought that I could help him in some way.

"It's very noisy." I said walking beside Kidomaru, "What those people said..."

Kidomaru was stunned for a moment, then looked down at me: "You're not with the prey?"

Prey? Who is that? I stopped, he seemed a little different from before...

"Where's the teacher? Does he believe what those people say?" I stared at the red rope around his neck, "Does the god believe it too?"

Kidomaru didn't stop: "..."

Yes...it's really noisy. They say I'm the same monster as Kidomaru, but Haku will hit them first, and Seimei will then come out to calm the situation.

I have their protection...but Kidomaru only has himself.

Before I could think about it again, the smell of blood floated around me. I found that Kidomaru next to me opened his eyes wide, and a strange and frightened face came into view. The one with the smell of blood was that person.

The knife held by a strange onmyoji.

For a moment, it seemed like something was hitting my body. The scenery in front of me began to change...

It's an izakaya.

The person standing in front of me is the onmyoji...the onmyoji who killed my father. The brother standing next to me, his body was stabbed with a knife...

Another stab... I opened my eyes wide. My brother also opened his eyes wide in surprise, and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. There seemed to be something in his body that was about to break through my body...

My brother became a monster and was bound to the ground, and the thing inside me was also bound.

If this continues...my brother will die...he will die...

I can't hear anything around me clearly, I just want to save him...

He finally broke free from the chain that bound him, and his brother's body exuded black energy, and his wanton laughter seemed a little strange, as if he was no longer my brother...

A strong sense of oppression hit me. In order to stop my brother, I immediately rushed forward and stood in front of him: "I won't let you hurt him!"

"You are wrong." My brother said, "It should be the prey begging me for mercy. The fig leaf of the prey will also become a shroud."

The sound of the chain kept coming and going, and with the shouts of the Onmyoji, more and more blood splashed on my body. The blood was cold...

Unlike the hot blood that flowed out when Xiaobai was injured, the blood splashed on my body and face was cold.

"Leave your last words, this is my mercy." My brother said.

I looked back at my brother, with a happy expression on his face.

"Brother...sir?"

Why does my brother look... so happy at this time?

"Don't worry, I have engraved your name on the chain. I can find you anywhere in the world." My brother looked down at me, "Now, take a good look at these people...the dead cannot speak."

I stood there, watching where my brother's chain touched, breaking, shattering, splashing, and flowing. I reached out and touched the hanging jade that Qingming gave me, and it was sticky.

"Dirty." I said thoughtfully, "...Brother, won't you run away?"

My brother walked in front of me, grabbed an evil ghost, and ignored my words: "People are most beautiful only when they turn into blood. You have to remember this. What's more... let them be so simple.

It would be a bit boring to die on earth."

I know the reason why I didn't run away. Because I also thought that it doesn't matter anything... As long as my brother lives, it doesn't matter what he becomes...

"...What will you do next, brother?"

The elder brother raised the ghost's neck and said, "Wouldn't it be better to let their souls, in the evil ghost's body, repeat the most filthy killings and gluttony day and night?"

Brother, he...

Will he also become...a killing monster? If that's the case, there's nothing you can do about it.

Right? There's nothing I can do about it...

But this person in front of me...

It seems that he is not my brother...

When did I consider him as my older brother...

During the time of self-denial, those evil spirits had begun to eat those corpses.

"Senior brother...Azi?!" Qingming's cry brought me back to reality.

This is not an izakaya, but there are still piles of corpses. I looked at the place where my brother was with some confusion, and saw Kidomaru who was blowing bamboo leaves with a calm face.

He glanced at me, and Qingming had already begun to ask, looking at a dead evil ghost on the ground: "Did this evil ghost do it?"
To be continued...