Kagura and Shinatsu were black silhouettes standing inside a furnace.
Talaryuna's flames rolled across the battlefield in waves, swallowing the ground and curling high enough to stain the night sky orange. Every time the fire receded, it left behind scorched earth and a haze so thick that even breathing had become difficult.
Kagura stood in front.
Shinatsu was several meters behind her, one hand wrapped around her sword while faint purple lightning crackled over the blade.
Neither looked good.
Kagura's clothes had been burned through in several places. Blood ran down one arm where Talaryuna's sword had opened her shoulder earlier, and even with her vampire regeneration working, the damage was accumulating faster than she liked.
Shinatsu was in worse condition.
Her breathing had become uneven, and the purple lightning around her sword flickered rather than surged. Her output had never been particularly large, but against Talaryuna it felt almost pathetic.
Another wave of fire came.
Kagura moved first.
Kagura: "Right!"
Shinatsu immediately shifted.
The two split in opposite directions as the flames ripped through the space between them.
Kagura cut through the narrow edge of the attack rather than the center, her sword moving in one clean line. The pressure pushed her backward anyway.
Shinatsu raised her own blade and released a burst of purple lightning.
The lightning struck the incoming flames.
For one brief instant, the two forces collided.
Then the purple disappeared.
Burned away.
Shinatsu's eyes widened.
Talaryuna stepped through the fire.
Not rushed.
Not pressured.
Walking.
Her sword rested casually against one shoulder while flames curled around her body.
Talaryuna: "Is that all?"
Shinatsu clicked her tongue.
Kagura didn't answer.
She attacked.
Kagura closed the distance in a blur, sword already moving before Talaryuna fully raised hers.
High slash.
Talaryuna blocked.
Kagura immediately changed angle.
Low.
Blocked again.
Kagura stepped outside Talaryuna's lead foot and attacked the ribs.
Talaryuna turned her wrist.
Steel met steel.
Kagura didn't stop.
Her swordsmanship was the best in Odd Jobs.
There was no debate.
Yuji was extraordinary.
Dangerous enough that people routinely underestimated him and paid for it.
Kagura was better.
Far better.
Her footwork was cleaner.
Her timing sharper.
Her transitions between offense and defense almost seamless.
She could change the purpose of a strike midway through the movement without sacrificing speed.
And against almost anyone else, that would have mattered.
Against Talaryuna—
It wasn't enough.
Talaryuna caught Kagura's next slash and pushed the blade aside.
Then her sword moved.
Kagura barely saw it.
She twisted.
The edge passed across her stomach and cut through fabric instead of flesh.
Kagura retreated one step.
Talaryuna followed.
Their swords collided again.
Three times.
Five.
Seven.
Kagura attacked from every angle she could create.
Talaryuna answered every one.
No hesitation.
No wasted motion.
Kagura slipped beneath a horizontal cut and tried to take Talaryuna's wrist.
Talaryuna rotated her blade vertically and stopped her.
Kagura kicked toward the knee.
Talaryuna stepped over it.
Kagura used the motion to spin behind her.
Talaryuna turned with her.
Their blades met again.
Shinatsu watched closely.
She had seen Kagura fight countless times.
Had sparred with her.
Had watched her tear through opponents who couldn't understand why they were losing.
This was different.
Kagura wasn't controlling the exchange.
She was surviving it.
Shinatsu rushed in.
Purple lightning surged over her sword.
Talaryuna saw her coming.
Shinatsu attacked from the side.
Talaryuna stepped backward and let Kagura's blade pass in front of her before blocking Shinatsu's strike with the lower half of her sword.
Purple electricity burst across the contact.
Talaryuna didn't care.
She twisted.
Shinatsu's blade was forced down.
Kagura immediately attacked high.
Talaryuna ducked.
Shinatsu switched direction and thrust.
Talaryuna moved between them.
Not away.
Between.
Kagura's eyes widened.
Talaryuna's elbow struck Shinatsu in the ribs.
Shinatsu stumbled.
Talaryuna blocked Kagura's sword with one hand and swept her leg.
Kagura jumped.
Flames erupted beneath her.
She crossed her arms and was blasted backward.
Shinatsu tried to intercept.
Talaryuna raised her free hand.
A concentrated stream of fire shot forward.
Shinatsu's purple lightning met it.
For less than a second.
Then the flames swallowed everything.
Shinatsu threw herself aside.
The fire passed close enough to burn the side of her coat completely away.
She rolled through the dirt and came up coughing.
Kagura landed several meters away.
Her eyes narrowed.
Talaryuna stood between them.
Unhurt.
Not a cut.
Not even a scratch.
Kagura rushed again.
This time she abandoned caution.
Her vampire strength surged through her body.
Red eyes sharpened.
She attacked with everything she had.
The first slash cracked through the air.
Talaryuna blocked.
The second came immediately after.
Blocked.
The third changed direction midway.
Talaryuna leaned away.
Kagura stepped in and thrust.
Talaryuna struck the blade aside.
Kagura's sword continued past her.
Talaryuna's pommel slammed into Kagura's jaw.
Kagura's head snapped sideways.
She recovered instantly.
Too late.
Talaryuna's knee struck her stomach.
Kagura folded.
A hand grabbed the front of her clothing.
Talaryuna threw her toward Shinatsu.
Shinatsu barely caught her.
Both slid several meters.
Kagura pushed herself upright.
Shinatsu: "You okay?"
Kagura: "Yeah."
Talaryuna raised her sword.
Flames gathered along it.
Kagura's expression changed.
Kagura: "Move."
The sword came down.
Fire exploded across the forest.
Kagura and Shinatsu ran.
A wall of flame chased them.
Kagura jumped over a fallen trunk.
Shinatsu slid beneath a burning branch.
The heat kept gaining.
Kagura turned while running and released a slash of her own.
It didn't matter.
Talaryuna's fire swallowed it.
Shinatsu fired purple lightning.
Gone.
Burned to cinders.
The flames finally died several meters behind them.
Both stopped.
Only for a second.
Talaryuna walked through the smoke.
Her expression had barely changed.
Kagura stared at her.
Then at Shinatsu.
Kagura: "We can't win."
Shinatsu's jaw tightened.
Kagura: "Not like this."
Shinatsu said nothing.
Because she knew.
They hadn't landed a single hit.
Not one.
Kagura, the best swordswoman in Odd Jobs, couldn't beat Talaryuna's sword.
And Talaryuna still had the flames.
Shinatsu looked back at the destroyed forest behind them.
Then at Kagura.
Shinatsu: "So what?"
Kagura: "We retreat."
Shinatsu's eyes hardened.
Kagura: "Now."
That word settled it.
Shinatsu hated it.
But Kagura was right.
There was a difference between courage and stupidity.
Staying here would only get both of them killed.
Kagura turned.
They ran.
No hesitation.
No attempt to preserve pride.
They sprinted through the forest as fast as their bodies would carry them.
Talaryuna didn't chase.
Not at first.
She simply watched.
Then she began walking.
Talaryuna: "There is no escape."
Kagura and Shinatsu heard her even from a distance.
The voice carried through the fire.
Talaryuna: "I will burn this whole island down, Kagura."
Flames erupted behind them.
Kagura looked back.
Her eyes widened.
A spiral of fire tore through the trees.
Kagura: "LEFT!"
Both changed direction.
The attack passed beside them and continued hundreds of meters through the forest.
Trees vanished inside the blaze.
Another spiral formed.
Kagura felt the heat before she saw it.
Kagura: "RIGHT!"
They cut sharply.
The fire crossed their previous path.
Talaryuna still wasn't running.
She didn't need to.
Her flames were doing the chasing for her.
Another attack came.
Then another.
Kagura and Shinatsu were forced into constant changes of direction.
Straight.
Left.
Back right.
Down an incline.
Across a broken road.
Between two ruined structures.
Every time they tried to create distance, another wall of fire appeared where they intended to go.
Shinatsu raised her sword once.
Kagura grabbed her wrist.
Kagura: "Don't."
Shinatsu looked at her.
Kagura: "You can't cut that."
She already knew.
Shinatsu lowered the blade.
The flames followed.
Talaryuna could no longer see them.
It didn't matter.
She didn't need to know their exact position.
All she needed was the general area.
Fire spread everywhere.
A building to their left ignited.
Another ahead.
The road behind them became a burning wall.
Kagura looked around.
There was no clean route anymore.
Talaryuna was turning the entire district into a furnace.
Shinatsu: "How the hell is she still tracking us?!"
Kagura: "She isn't."
Shinatsu looked at her.
Kagura: "She's burning everything."
That was worse.
The two reached a canal.
Concrete walls dropped sharply on either side, with dark water rushing below.
Kagura slowed for half a second.
Shinatsu nearly ran past her.
Shinatsu: "Kagura!"
Kagura looked toward the water.
Then toward the flames closing behind them.
She understood immediately.
If they stayed together, Talaryuna would keep saturating the area.
If they split—
One target would matter more.
Kagura.
It had always been Kagura.
Shinatsu noticed the look.
Shinatsu: "What?"
Kagura didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
Shinatsu: "Kagura?"
Kagura: "I'm sorry."
Shinatsu's eyes widened.
Kagura shoved her.
Shinatsu: "Wait—"
She fell over the edge.
Shinatsu: "KAGURA!!!"
Water swallowed her.
The cold hit immediately.
Shinatsu kicked upward.
Her head broke the surface.
She looked up.
Kagura stood at the edge of the canal.
For one second, their eyes met.
Then flames erupted behind her.
Kagura turned.
Ran.
Away from the canal.
Away from Shinatsu.
Drawing Talaryuna with her.
Shinatsu: "KAGURA!"
She reached for the concrete wall.
Nothing.
Too smooth.
Too high.
No ladder.
No broken section.
Shinatsu tried climbing anyway.
Her fingers slipped.
She fell back into the water.
Shinatsu: "Damn it!"
She looked downstream.
Farther ahead, dozens of meters away, part of the canal wall had collapsed.
That was the only way out.
Shinatsu swam.
Hard.
Her arms cut through the water while the sky above flashed orange.
She could hear explosions.
Flames.
Buildings collapsing.
Every second felt too long.
Shinatsu reached the broken section.
Grabbed concrete.
Pulled herself up.
Her soaked clothes dragged at her body.
She didn't care.
She climbed out.
Immediately looked around.
Kagura was gone.
Shinatsu ran toward the nearest street.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Smoke covered everything.
Shinatsu: "Kagura!"
No answer.
She sprinted farther.
Shinatsu: "KAGURA!"
Only fire answered her.
She turned in a full circle.
Every direction looked the same.
Burning buildings.
Smoke.
Ash.
No Kagura.
No Talaryuna.
Nothing.
Shinatsu's hands trembled.
She clenched them.
Hard.
Kagura had done exactly what Shinatsu knew she would do.
Sacrificed herself.
Again.
Made the decision for both of them.
Again.
Shinatsu lowered her head.
Water dripped from her hair.
Her breathing shook.
Then something inside her broke loose.
Shinatsu threw her head back.
Shinatsu: "DAAAAAMN IIIIIIIIIIIITT!!"
Her voice tore through the burning city.
***
Sabeh met Oni head-on.
For a few seconds, the two of them traded blows like neither had any intention of yielding ground.
Sabeh drove a fist into Oni's ribs. Oni answered with a hook that Sabeh caught against his forearm. The impact cracked through the air, but Sabeh stayed planted and fired back with another punch to the stomach.
Oni barely moved.
Sabeh's eyes narrowed.
He put more weight behind the next one.
This time Oni's torso shifted half a step.
Sabeh grinned.
Sabeh: "There we go."
Oni roared and swung.
Sabeh raised both arms.
The hit still blasted him off his feet.
His body tore through the dirt, bounced once, then disappeared through the remains of a market stall nearly thirty meters away.
Patrick watched him go.
Patrick: "Well. That lasted longer than I expected."
He raised one hand.
Blood gathered above Oni.
Dozens of crimson droplets suspended themselves in the air, sharpening until each became a narrow spike.
Patrick lowered his fingers.
The sky turned red.
Piercing blood rained down.
The first barrage struck Oni's shoulders and back.
Then another.
Then another.
Hundreds of blood needles descended hard enough to punch through ordinary flesh and stone.
Oni simply kept walking.
The blood shattered against him.
Patrick's expression flattened.
Patrick: "How irritating."
Oni stepped forward.
Then stopped.
Something soft bumped into his foot.
He looked down.
A stuffed rabbit stared up at him.
Its head tilted slightly.
Another doll waddled out from behind a broken wall.
Then another.
A bear.
A cat.
Something that looked vaguely like a smiling frog.
Oni stared.
The dolls continued walking toward him on stubby little legs until several surrounded his ankles.
Chloe stood farther back with both hands on her hips.
Chloe: "Bye-bye."
The dolls exploded.
The blast swallowed Oni completely.
Fire and debris burst outward across the battlefield. The shockwave rolled over the others and kicked dust high into the air.
Chifuyu moved before it cleared.
Chifuyu: "Now!"
Iris and Hairene followed immediately.
All three entered the smoke from different angles.
Chifuyu came first.
His sword cut toward Oni's neck.
Oni blocked it with one forearm.
Hairene attacked low.
Oni stepped over the slash and kicked.
Hairene twisted away before the strike connected fully, but the pressure alone nearly knocked her off balance.
Iris came from the opposite side.
Her blade traced a precise line toward the ribs.
Oni turned.
Steel hit his side.
Nothing.
Iris's eyes widened.
Oni swung.
She ducked.
Chifuyu stepped into the opening and slashed again.
Oni caught his sword.
Barehanded.
Chifuyu's eyes sharpened.
Black fire surged along the blade.
The curse ignited immediately, black veins appearing across Chifuyu's face as the flames spread over the steel.
Oni looked down at them.
The fire touched his hand.
And did nothing.
Chifuyu froze for half a second.
Chifuyu: "What?"
Oni shoved.
Chifuyu was forced backward.
Hairene immediately filled the space he left.
She attacked twice.
One slash toward the shoulder.
One toward the stomach.
Oni blocked both with his arms and drove his elbow forward.
Hairene barely slipped outside the line.
Iris entered behind her.
The three moved together.
Chifuyu high.
Hairene low.
Iris through the center.
Oni thwarted all of it.
He caught Chifuyu's sword against one forearm, kicked Hairene's blade aside with his foot, then turned his torso just enough for Iris's thrust to scrape harmlessly past him.
Patrick's blood came in between their attacks.
A crescent of hardened crimson tore toward Oni's back.
He turned and swatted it aside.
Another came from the opposite angle.
Same result.
Patrick changed direction.
Three slashing blood arcs crossed at once.
Oni stepped through them.
One struck his shoulder.
The blood dispersed.
No wound.
Patrick clicked his tongue.
Inyaki came in.
He had been waiting for exactly this.
While Oni's attention remained divided between the swords and Patrick's blood, Inyaki slipped around his flank and reached for him.
Just one touch.
That was all he needed.
Inyaki: "Gotcha—"
Oni turned.
Too fast.
His hand closed around Inyaki's wrist before contact.
Inyaki's grin disappeared.
Inyaki: "Ah."
Oni threw him.
Inyaki spun through the air.
Patrick manipulated a ribbon of blood beneath him and changed his trajectory just enough to keep him from slamming headfirst into a wall.
He still crashed into the ground.
Inyaki: "Ow."
Chifuyu attacked again.
Black fire covered his blade.
He cut directly across Oni's chest.
The flames spread over the vampire's torso.
Nothing.
Not even a burn.
Chifuyu pulled away before Oni could grab him.
He stared at the black fire disappearing from Oni's skin.
That was wrong.
His curse had burned through vampires before.
This thing wasn't simply durable.
It was absurd.
Oni stepped toward him.
Iris intercepted.
Her sword came down.
Oni raised one arm.
The blade stopped against it.
Hairene attacked his exposed side.
He caught her wrist.
Chifuyu immediately cut toward the arm holding her.
Oni released Hairene and shifted away.
Patrick fired another blood slash.
Oni ducked.
Inyaki rushed from behind again.
Oni kicked backward without looking.
Inyaki saw it coming this time and jumped over the leg.
His hand extended.
Almost there.
Oni twisted his entire body.
His backhand caught Inyaki across the chest.
The vampire was sent rolling through the dirt.
Chloe stared.
Chloe: "Okay, this is getting stupid."
She looked upward.
Then grinned.
Chloe raised both arms.
Something enormous began forming above the battlefield.
Fabric.
Stuffing.
Buttons.
It grew rapidly.
Chifuyu noticed the shadow first.
He looked up.
His eyes widened.
A gigantic stuffed bear hung in the sky.
It was absurdly large, dozens of meters across, with a stitched smile and tiny black button eyes that somehow made it worse.
Chloe pointed downward.
Chloe: "Everybody move!"
Patrick didn't ask questions.
Patrick: "You heard her."
Chifuyu grabbed Hairene.
Iris sprinted.
Inyaki rolled to his feet and took off.
Sabeh emerged from the wreckage in the distance, saw the giant bear, and immediately turned around.
Sabeh: "Nope."
The stuffed animal dropped.
Oni looked up.
The bear landed on him.
For one quiet instant, nothing happened.
Then the world flashed.
The explosion tore through the surrounding area with enough force to flatten what remained of several nearby structures. Fire bloomed upward, followed by a dense mushroom of smoke and shredded stuffing.
The others had barely gotten clear.
Chifuyu dug his sword into the ground to stop himself from sliding farther.
Hairene covered her face.
Iris crouched behind a section of broken concrete.
Patrick stood with his coat snapping violently in the fading shockwave.
Chloe leaned forward.
The smoke slowly cleared.
A silhouette stood inside it.
Chloe's face fell.
Oni stepped out.
No visible injury.
Chloe: "No freaking way."
Inyaki stared.
Inyaki: "Is this guy even a vampire?!"
Oni roared.
The sound rolled across the battlefield like thunder.
Then he charged.
Everybody moved.
Sabeh stepped in first, trying to slow him.
Oni shoulder-checked him aside.
Patrick threw blood restraints toward his arms.
Oni tore straight through them.
Iris and Hairene split apart.
Chifuyu raised his sword.
Then something descended from above.
Fast.
Too fast.
A shadow crossed the battlefield.
Chifuyu barely had time to look up.
A hand closed around his face.
His feet left the ground.
Chifuyu: "What—?!"
Wings beat once.
The force displaced the dust beneath them.
A vampire had swooped in from above.
Large wings extended from his back.
He didn't stop.
Didn't announce himself.
He simply grabbed Chifuyu by the face and continued forward at full speed.
Chifuyu's sword slipped from its attack line as he was ripped away from the battlefield.
Iris's eyes widened.
Nicholas, still lying near the edge of the fight, saw it too.
Iris and Nicholas: "CHIFUYU!"
Nicholas planted one hand against the ground.
He tried to stand.
His arm shook.
His body refused.
Nicholas: "Damn it…"
Iris took one step after Chifuyu.
Then stopped.
Oni was still there.
Charging.
If she chased, everyone else would be left with him.
Her jaw tightened.
Patrick watched Chifuyu disappear into the distance.
Patrick: "Great."
He sighed.
Patrick: "Now I'm stuck fighting this freak while Chifuyu is being taken somewhere else."
Sabeh pushed himself upright.
Sabeh: "Please don't leave us, bossman."
Patrick looked at him.
Patrick: "Don't worry. I'll remain here with you guys."
He looked back toward Oni.
Patrick: "Even if I don't want to."
Inyaki brushed dirt from his clothes.
Inyaki: "Shouldn't we be retreating soon anyway?"
Iris barely heard him.
Her eyes remained fixed on the direction Chifuyu had been taken.
He was already gone from sight.
Some winged vampire had appeared from nowhere and removed him from the battle as if that had been the entire objective.
Iris felt something tighten in her chest.
Oni didn't care.
He came straight for them.
Hairene saw it first.
Hairene: "Eyes forward, Iris!"
Iris turned.
Oni's fist came toward her.
She stepped aside.
The blow passed close enough to disturb her hair and smashed into the ground.
The earth cracked.
Iris moved around his shoulder.
Her sword came across his back.
Still nothing.
Oni turned.
Iris jumped away.
For a moment, the whole battlefield seemed to slow around her.
Chifuyu was gone.
Nicholas couldn't fight.
Oni was still essentially unharmed.
They had thrown everything at him.
Sabeh's strength.
Patrick's blood.
Chloe's explosions.
Inyaki's curse attempts.
Her sword.
Hairene's.
Chifuyu's black fire.
Nothing had mattered.
Continuing this fight was pointless.
Iris knew that.
Everyone probably knew that.
But no one had said it.
She had always been good at fighting.
Good at following decisions.
Good at knowing where she belonged inside a formation.
Giving the order herself was different.
Iris looked toward Hairene.
Then Patrick's group.
Then Nicholas.
Her grip tightened.
Iris: "Everybody retreat!!"
The others looked at her.
Iris pointed in the direction Chifuyu had been taken.
Iris: "Chase after Chifuyu."
Hairene stared at her.
Nicholas did too.
Not because the order was wrong.
Because Iris had given it.
Sabeh looked at Oni.
Then at the escape route.
Sabeh: "I'm all for that. Let's get away from this monster."
Patrick smiled.
Patrick: "You heard the little bunny."
Iris glanced at him.
Patrick raised his voice.
Patrick: "Retreat!!"
Sabeh immediately moved toward Nicholas.
Nicholas tried protesting.
Nicholas: "I can walk."
His legs failed beneath him again.
Sabeh caught him before he hit the ground.
Sabeh: "Sure you can."
Nicholas: "Put me down."
Sabeh lifted him over one shoulder.
Sabeh: "No."
Chloe ran past them.
Chloe: "Argue later!"
Inyaki followed.
Patrick sent several blood slashes toward Oni, not expecting them to damage him, only to force him to react.
Iris and Hairene moved last.
The group turned and ran.
Straight toward the direction Chifuyu had disappeared.
Oni watched them.
For half a second.
Then roared.
He charged after them.
The ground shook beneath each step.
Iris looked back.
He was following.
Of course he was.
Hairene: "He's not letting us go."
Iris: "Keep moving!"
Patrick glanced over his shoulder.
Patrick: "Persistent bastard."
Sabeh adjusted Nicholas on his shoulder.
Sabeh: "Can we maybe run faster?"
Nicholas: "You're the one carrying me."
Sabeh: "Exactly!"
Ahead of them, Chifuyu was being carried farther and farther away by a vampire none of them recognized.
Behind them, Oni tore through the battlefield in pursuit.
The distance between both threats stretched wider with every second.
Iris ran harder.
She didn't know where Chifuyu was being taken.
Didn't know who had grabbed him.
Didn't know whether they could even catch up.
But she had made the decision.
They were leaving Oni behind.
Or trying to.
They were going after Chifuyu.
And Oni was coming with them.
The first chase had already begun in the sky.
The second thundered across the ground beneath it.
***
For several seconds, Chifuyu had no idea what was happening.
One moment, he had been standing in front of Oni with his sword raised.
The next, the entire battlefield had vanished beneath him.
Wind screamed past his ears.
His stomach dropped.
Chifuyu's eyes widened as he realized he was hundreds of feet above the ground, held by the face in one hand while a pair of massive crimson wings beat through the night behind whoever had grabbed him.
Chifuyu: "What the hell?!"
He reached for the arm holding him, then stopped himself.
Bad idea.
Very bad idea.
They were too high.
Far too high.
The forest below looked like a dark carpet broken apart by distant fires. Buildings were tiny shapes beyond it, and the roads between them barely looked wide enough for a person to stand on.
If he broke free now, there was nothing beneath him except a very long fall.
Chifuyu grit his teeth.
The vampire wasn't even struggling to carry him.
One hand.
Flying at full speed.
Chifuyu looked past the arm holding him and tried getting a proper look at his attacker, but the angle made it difficult. All he could make out were black hair, dark skin, and wings glowing faintly with crimson energy.
They were moving fast.
Extremely fast.
The forest disappeared beneath them in seconds.
Chifuyu tried judging distance through the blur below.
One mile.
Maybe more.
He couldn't tell.
Then the vampire suddenly folded his wings.
Chifuyu's eyes widened.
They dropped.
Straight down.
The city rushed toward them.
Chifuyu: "Oh, you bastard."
The vampire accelerated into the dive.
Wind tore at Chifuyu's clothes. The ground grew from distant shapes into rooftops, streets, and concrete in seconds.
He understood immediately.
The vampire intended to slam him into the ground.
Chifuyu grabbed the wrist holding his face.
Not yet.
He needed the timing right.
Too early and he'd simply fall.
Too late and he'd become part of the street.
Two hundred feet.
One hundred.
Fifty.
Chifuyu's curse ignited.
Black veins appeared across his face.
Dark flames crawled over his blade.
Now.
He twisted his head violently and struck the vampire's wrist with the guard of his sword.
The grip loosened.
Chifuyu ripped himself free.
The vampire immediately pulled upward.
Chifuyu kept falling.
Twenty feet.
He turned his sword toward the ground.
Black fire erupted from the blade.
The blast struck the pavement below and spread outward in a violent dark plume.
The recoil slowed him.
Not enough.
Chifuyu rotated his body sideways just before impact.
His shoulder hit first.
Then his back.
He barrel-rolled across the pavement, bounced once, and slid several meters before catching himself with one hand.
Dust rolled past him.
Chifuyu remained crouched for a second.
Then slowly stood.
Chifuyu: "Ow."
His shoulder hurt.
His back hurt.
Everything hurt just enough to annoy him.
But nothing felt broken.
Good.
He looked around.
They weren't in the forest anymore.
The area was strangely untouched compared to everything he'd seen over the last few hours. No flames covered the streets here. Buildings still stood on both sides, their windows reflecting the distant orange glow of burning districts.
The battle remained visible.
Just far away.
A wall of fire painted the horizon beyond the rooftops.
Smoke stretched across the sky.
Chifuyu turned toward where he thought the forest had been.
Nothing familiar.
They had only been airborne for maybe twenty seconds.
That was enough.
At that speed, the vampire had probably carried him a couple miles away from everyone else.
Chifuyu exhaled.
Chifuyu: "Great."
A soft impact came from behind him.
The vampire landed.
Chifuyu turned.
Now he could see him properly.
Brown skin.
Black hair cut through by crimson streaks.
He looked around Chifuyu's age, perhaps slightly older, with an expression that immediately irritated him.
Not because he looked angry.
Because he looked disappointed.
Like Chifuyu's presence itself had offended him.
The crimson wings behind him slowly folded inward before dissolving into dark red energy.
Chifuyu rested his sword over one shoulder.
Chifuyu: "Why'd you separate me from the others?"
The vampire said nothing.
Chifuyu tilted his head.
Chifuyu: "You got a thing for me?"
A beat.
Chifuyu: "Sorry, but I'm not into guys."
The vampire stared at him.
For one uncomfortable second, Chifuyu wondered if the joke had somehow made things worse.
Then the vampire answered.
?: "Don't worry."
His voice was calm.
Cold.
?: "Neither am I."
Chifuyu: "Good. Glad we cleared that up."
His eyes moved toward where the wings had disappeared.
Chifuyu: "So, what's with the wings? You half-vampire, half-dragon?"
The vampire's expression barely shifted.
?: "No."
Dark crimson energy gathered faintly around his shoulders.
?: "I'm half-vampire, half-human."
Chifuyu's smile disappeared.
?: "Just like you."
Chifuyu: "What?!"
The words came out louder than he intended.
For a moment, everything else disappeared.
The distant explosions.
The fires.
Oni.
Hairene.
Iris.
All of it.
Chifuyu stared at the man in front of him.
Half-vampire.
Half-human.
Another one.
He had known half-vampires existed.
Obviously.
He was one.
But seeing someone standing in front of him who said it so casually, while looking directly at him as if they shared some private fact about the world, felt completely different.
The vampire stepped forward.
?: "I'm Chiharu."
Chifuyu blinked.
Chiharu: "We're exactly the same, Chifuyu."
Chifuyu's eyes narrowed.
Then, despite everything, one corner of his mouth twitched.
Chifuyu: "Your name even starts with Chi."
Chiharu stared.
Chifuyu: "What are you, my arch-nemesis?"
Nothing.
Chiharu's expression actually became colder.
Chiharu: "Your very existence makes me sick."
Crimson energy gathered around one hand.
Chiharu: "I like sworn enemy more."
The energy sharpened.
A blade formed.
Dark red light stretched from Chiharu's hand into a long sword-shaped weapon, its surface pulsing like something alive.
Chifuyu looked at it.
Then at him.
The humor left his face.
His grip tightened around his sword.
Chifuyu lowered his center of gravity and assumed his stance.
Chifuyu: "Sworn enemy it is."
Crimson energy crawled over Chiharu's weapon.
Black fire moved along Chifuyu's blade.
The two stared at one another.
Half-human.
Half-vampire.
Same existence.
Opposite sides.
Chifuyu moved first.
He had too much adrenaline in his body to wait.
His legs launched him forward.
The distance vanished.
Their blades collided.
Black fire and crimson energy burst apart between them.
Chiharu didn't move.
Neither did Chifuyu.
For one instant, they remained locked together.
Then both attacked.
Chifuyu pulled away and cut toward the ribs.
Chiharu blocked.
Crimson sparks scattered.
Chifuyu immediately reversed the blade toward the neck.
Chiharu leaned back and answered with a thrust.
Chifuyu stepped outside the line.
His sword came down.
Chiharu caught it.
Steel and energy scraped against one another.
Chifuyu kicked toward Chiharu's knee.
Chiharu jumped.
Not backward.
Up.
Crimson wings erupted from his back in a flash.
Chifuyu looked up.
Chiharu hovered several meters above him.
Chifuyu: "Oh, come on."
Chiharu descended.
His crimson blade came down first.
Chifuyu raised his sword.
Impact.
The pavement cracked beneath Chifuyu's feet.
He shifted sideways before Chiharu could press the aerial advantage.
Chiharu's wings beat once.
He changed direction in midair instantly.
A horizontal slash came toward Chifuyu's head.
Chifuyu ducked.
Crimson energy continued beyond the blade.
A red slash tore through the wall of a nearby building.
Chifuyu's eyes flicked toward the damage.
So the weapon itself wasn't the only thing he had to watch.
Chiharu attacked again.
Still airborne.
Chifuyu stepped backward as the crimson blade passed in front of him.
Another slash of energy followed.
He twisted aside.
The attack tore through the road.
Chiharu dropped lower.
Their blades collided at shoulder height.
Chifuyu pushed upward.
Chiharu used the force to gain altitude.
His wings spread.
Crimson energy gathered along one edge.
Chifuyu saw it.
The wing itself came at him.
He barely got his sword up.
The edge of the crimson wing struck his blade like another weapon.
Chifuyu slid sideways.
Chiharu followed.
He fought from above with three attack lines instead of one.
Sword.
Energy slash.
Wings.
Chifuyu adapted immediately.
Chiharu attacked from his right.
Chifuyu blocked the sword.
The opposite wing swept low.
Chifuyu jumped over it.
A crimson slash came from the blade while he was airborne.
Chifuyu twisted.
The energy missed his stomach by inches.
He landed.
Chiharu was already behind him.
Chifuyu heard the wingbeat.
He turned.
Their blades crashed.
Chiharu floated just above the pavement, using the wings to remove the usual restrictions of footwork.
He could retreat without stepping.
Advance without shifting his weight.
Attack from angles that shouldn't have existed.
Chifuyu narrowed his eyes.
Fine.
Then he would stop treating him like someone standing on the ground.
Chiharu thrust.
Chifuyu parried outward.
Instead of immediately countering the body, he attacked the wing.
Chiharu pulled it away.
Exactly.
Chifuyu stepped through the opening and slashed toward the chest.
Chiharu blocked late.
Black fire spilled across the crimson blade.
The two powers hissed against one another.
Chifuyu pushed.
Chiharu's eyes narrowed.
Chifuyu smiled faintly.
Chifuyu: "Got you."
His other hand came forward.
Black fire erupted from his palm.
Chiharu tilted sideways.
The flame passed beside his face.
His wing beat once.
He spun around Chifuyu.
A crimson energy claw formed over his free hand.
Chifuyu saw it too late.
He leaned away.
The claws passed across his chest and tore open his shirt.
Three shallow lines of blood appeared beneath.
Chifuyu stepped back.
Chiharu landed.
Chifuyu looked down.
Then back up.
Chifuyu: "Alright."
The wounds began closing.
Chiharu watched the regeneration.
His expression didn't change.
Chiharu: "Pathetic."
Chifuyu: "That's kind of rude considering you missed anything important."
Chiharu rushed.
Their swords collided again.
Faster this time.
Chifuyu cut high.
Chiharu blocked.
Chifuyu changed to a thrust.
Chiharu slapped it aside with the crimson blade and attacked the wrist.
Chifuyu withdrew.
A wing swept toward his ribs.
He ducked beneath it and slashed upward.
Chiharu folded the wing away.
The sword missed.
A crimson claw came from above.
Chifuyu rolled.
The strike shattered pavement.
He rose immediately and attacked Chiharu's exposed side.
Chiharu formed dark red and black scales across his forearm.
Chifuyu's sword hit them.
The impact rang like steel.
Chifuyu's eyes widened.
Chiharu punched.
Chifuyu slipped his head aside.
The fist missed.
Red-black lightning exploded from Chiharu's arm.
Chifuyu barely jumped away before it tore through the ground.
The street lit crimson.
Chifuyu landed near a building entrance.
He stared at the smoking crack in the road.
Chifuyu: "Wings, energy weapons, armor, lightning…"
Chiharu turned toward him.
Chifuyu: "You have a lot going on."
Chiharu: "And you've seen very little."
Chifuyu's grip tightened.
Good.
His heartbeat was racing.
His body was tired from everything that had happened before this, but not exhausted.
Not even close.
The adrenaline had buried most of the fatigue.
His curse was still responsive.
His sword felt light.
Chifuyu stepped forward.
Then vanished.
Chiharu's eyes sharpened.
Chifuyu came from the left.
Chiharu blocked.
Chifuyu struck again before the first contact fully ended.
Then again.
Black fire trailed behind every movement.
Chiharu's blade intercepted each attack.
The rhythm accelerated.
Chifuyu pressed.
He forced Chiharu backward one step.
Then another.
Chiharu's wings opened.
He lifted off.
Chifuyu jumped after him.
For a moment, both fought several meters above the street.
Chifuyu had no wings.
He had momentum.
He kicked off the side of a building, crossed the space between them, and attacked.
Chiharu blocked.
Chifuyu planted one foot against the vampire's crimson blade.
Chiharu's eyes widened.
Chifuyu pushed off it and rotated over him.
His sword came down toward the shoulder.
Chiharu raised a scaled arm.
The slash struck.
Black fire burst across the scales.
This time Chiharu actually moved.
He dropped several feet.
Chifuyu fell too.
Chiharu recovered first.
His wing slammed into the building beside them.
The impact changed his direction.
He shot toward Chifuyu.
Crimson blade forward.
Chifuyu twisted in midair.
The point passed beside his neck.
Chifuyu grabbed Chiharu's wrist.
For one second, the two fell together.
Chifuyu swung his sword.
Chiharu formed scales along his shoulder.
Steel struck.
Then both crashed onto a rooftop.
They rolled in opposite directions.
Chifuyu recovered first.
He sprinted.
Chiharu rose.
Their blades met again.
The rooftop became a blur of black fire and crimson light.
Chiharu attacked the neck.
Chifuyu ducked.
A wing came low.
Chifuyu jumped onto it.
Chiharu's eyes widened.
Chifuyu ran two steps along the crimson surface and slashed for his face.
Chiharu pulled the wing away.
Chifuyu dropped.
A crimson claw came down.
He rolled beneath Chiharu.
Black fire followed his sword in a wide arc.
Chiharu jumped.
The flame passed beneath him.
He fired a crimson slash downward.
Chifuyu cut through it.
The collision exploded between them.
Both disappeared into smoke.
Chifuyu came through first.
Chiharu met him.
Their blades locked.
For the first time since revealing what he was, Chiharu's expression showed something beyond disgust.
Interest.
Chifuyu saw it.
Chifuyu: "What?"
Chiharu pushed against him.
Chiharu: "Nothing."
Crimson lightning began crawling around his body.
Chifuyu's eyes narrowed.
Chiharu: "I was simply wondering how someone like you survived this long."
Chifuyu's black flames intensified.
Chifuyu: "Keep wondering."
They broke apart.
Chiharu's wings spread.
Chifuyu lowered his stance.
Crimson energy flooded the rooftop.
Black fire answered it.
Neither backed away.
And for the first time that night, Chifuyu was fighting someone who shared the same blood as him—
and hated him for it.
Chiharu stopped holding back.
The change was immediate.
Crimson energy intensified around his body until the rooftop beneath him began trembling from the pressure alone. His wings widened, dark red and black scales spreading farther along his arms and shoulders as red-black lightning crawled over them in violent bursts.
Chifuyu saw it and tightened his grip.
Then Chiharu vanished.
The first strike came from above.
Chifuyu barely raised his sword in time.
The impact drove him through the rooftop.
Wood and concrete exploded beneath his feet as he crashed into the room below. Before he could even fully regain his footing, a crimson slash tore through the ceiling after him.
Chifuyu rolled.
The attack carved through the floor.
Another followed.
Then another.
Chiharu wasn't giving him time to breathe.
Chifuyu jumped through a broken doorway as red-black lightning blasted across the room behind him, shattered the wall, and continued into the next building.
He landed in the street.
Looked up.
Chiharu was already above him.
Crimson wings beat once.
The vampire descended with his energy blade raised.
Chifuyu blocked.
His knees bent under the force.
Chiharu attacked again.
High.
Low.
Then a wing came from the side.
Chifuyu ducked beneath it, but crimson energy extended from the edge and sliced through a nearby wall.
He stepped inside the next attack and slashed toward Chiharu's ribs.
Scales formed instantly.
Steel struck armor.
Chiharu turned with the impact and drove his elbow toward Chifuyu's face.
Chifuyu slipped aside.
Red-black lightning burst from Chiharu's shoulder anyway.
Chifuyu crossed his arms and took the edge of the blast.
It pushed him several meters down the street.
His shoes scraped across the pavement.
Chifuyu lowered his arms.
Chiharu floated above him.
Chifuyu exhaled slowly.
He could still keep up.
That wasn't the problem.
The problem was that Chiharu was getting stronger with every exchange.
His attacks were faster now.
Heavier.
The crimson energy around his blade extended farther with every slash, forcing Chifuyu to evade even when the physical weapon missed.
Chifuyu rushed him anyway.
Their blades met.
One clash.
Two.
Three.
Chiharu lifted higher.
Chifuyu followed by kicking off a balcony.
A crimson slash came downward.
Chifuyu twisted around it and landed on a narrow ledge.
Chiharu fired another.
Chifuyu jumped.
The ledge disappeared.
He caught a streetlamp.
Swung around it.
A third attack came from the side.
Chifuyu released.
The slash cut the pole in half beneath him.
He landed in a crouch.
Chiharu appeared in front of him.
Too fast.
The crimson blade came toward his neck.
Chifuyu leaned back.
The energy passed close enough to heat his skin.
He answered with black fire.
A dark flame slash crossed between them.
Chiharu wrapped one wing around himself.
Scale-like crimson armor spread over it.
The attack hit.
The wing opened again.
Barely damaged.
Chifuyu stared.
Chiharu's fist came through the smoke.
Chifuyu blocked with the flat of his sword.
The hit still knocked him backward.
He landed against the side of a building.
Chiharu hovered in the street.
Chiharu: "This is all?"
Chifuyu stepped away from the wall.
Chifuyu: "You say that every time you get a little stronger?"
Chiharu: "I don't need to."
He raised his blade.
Chiharu: "You'll understand soon enough."
Crimson energy surged.
Chifuyu's expression tightened.
He didn't need to prove anything by staying directly in front of him.
Not right now.
He needed space.
Chifuyu turned.
Ran.
Chiharu's eyes narrowed.
He immediately pursued.
Crimson wings launched him forward.
Chifuyu sprinted through the city while ranged slashes ripped apart everything behind him.
One attack came from the right.
Chifuyu changed direction.
The slash destroyed a storefront.
Another came low.
He jumped over it.
The crimson energy continued through several parked vehicles and split them apart.
Chifuyu landed and cut left into a narrow street.
Chiharu flew above the rooftops.
Another slash came down.
Chifuyu ducked beneath an awning.
The attack tore through the upper floors but missed him.
He kept moving.
The streets became tighter.
Older buildings crowded together.
Alleys crossed into alleys.
Overhangs blocked the sky.
Good.
Chiharu's wings were becoming less useful.
Chifuyu turned twice in rapid succession, jumped a waist-high wall, cut through the back of a small shop, and disappeared into another street before Chiharu could line up another clean shot.
The crimson attacks stopped.
Chifuyu slowed.
Not much.
Just enough to listen.
Nothing.
He kept moving through the compact district.
One block.
Another.
Still nothing.
Chiharu had lost him.
At least, that's what Chifuyu thought.
Above him, Chiharu landed silently on a rooftop.
His wings faded.
He stood near the edge, completely still.
Chifuyu moved beneath him.
Quietly.
Carefully.
He avoided broken glass.
Stayed close to walls.
Controlled his breathing.
Chiharu's eyes shifted toward the exact building Chifuyu was using for cover.
He could smell him.
His blood.
His half-vampire scent.
The lingering trace of black fire.
Chiharu waited.
Seconds passed.
No sound.
Chifuyu moved through another building.
Chiharu didn't react.
He wanted him confident.
Wanted him to believe the distance had worked.
Then he spoke.
Chiharu: "I can smell you, you fool."
Silence.
For half a second.
Then the building behind him exploded.
Chifuyu launched through the wall.
Black fire trailed from his sword.
He came directly for Chiharu's back.
Chiharu turned.
Too easy.
He tilted his body aside.
The slash missed.
Chiharu's crimson blade drew back for a heavy counter.
Exactly what Chifuyu wanted.
The sword strike had been a feint.
Chifuyu stepped inside instead of recovering.
One arm wrapped around Chiharu's torso.
The other trapped his sword arm.
Chiharu's eyes widened.
Chiharu: "The hell are you doing?"
Chifuyu grinned.
Chifuyu: "Coming in for a quick snack."
Chiharu froze for a fraction of a second.
Chifuyu: "You don't mind, do you?"
Then he bit down.
Hard.
His fangs sank into Chiharu's neck.
Chiharu: "Agh!"
Blood filled Chifuyu's mouth.
Crimson.
Warm.
Powerful.
Chiharu immediately tried wrenching his sword arm free.
Chifuyu locked both arms tighter.
He poured everything into holding him.
No swordplay now.
No technique.
Just strength.
Chiharu's wings erupted.
They shot into the sky.
Chifuyu stayed attached.
Still drinking.
Wind tore around them.
Chiharu twisted violently.
Chifuyu didn't release.
He could feel it.
The blood entering him.
His curse responding.
His depleted reserves filling.
Fast.
Much faster than when he drank from ordinary vampires.
Half-vampire blood.
Strong blood.
Chiharu roared in frustration.
He stopped climbing.
Then folded his wings.
Chifuyu's eyes widened.
Again?
They dropped.
Straight toward the building beneath them.
Chiharu rotated midair so Chifuyu was underneath.
Chifuyu realized what he was doing.
Too late.
They crashed through the roof.
Then the floor.
Then another.
Concrete, timber, and glass exploded around them.
The impact finally tore Chifuyu loose.
He rolled through debris and slammed against a wall.
Chiharu landed several meters away.
Blood ran from the bite marks in his neck.
The wound had already begun closing.
His expression was murderous.
Chiharu: "You bastard."
Chifuyu wiped blood from his mouth with his sleeve.
Then smiled.
He could feel the difference already.
His black flames came easier.
Hotter.
The curse pool inside him had expanded dramatically.
Far beyond what it had been seconds ago.
Chifuyu: "What?"
He stood.
Chifuyu: "You can do the same."
Black fire curled around his sword.
Chifuyu: "We're half-vampires after all."
Chiharu stared at him.
Chiharu: "I would have no need to do that against a weaker opponent."
Chifuyu's smile thinned.
Chiharu looked around.
The room.
The walls.
The floors above them.
Then back at Chifuyu.
Chiharu: "And now, you're trapped."
Crimson energy gathered around him.
Chifuyu noticed immediately.
Chiharu slowly inhaled.
The crimson glow intensified.
Then red-black lightning began sparking around his body.
It moved upward.
Across his shoulders.
Along his neck.
Then into his mouth.
Chifuyu's eyes widened.
Chifuyu: "Oh crap!"
This was different.
Not another slash.
Not another lightning burst.
The amount of energy compressing inside Chiharu's mouth made the entire room tremble.
Chifuyu understood the problem immediately.
He couldn't rush him.
Not from this angle.
Not before the attack fired.
He couldn't stand there and counter with black flames either.
Even if the two attacks canceled—
The building wouldn't survive.
He would bury himself alive.
Chifuyu looked toward the nearest exterior wall.
One option.
Run.
He swung.
Black fire erupted from his sword.
The slash carved through the wall.
Chifuyu sprinted toward the opening.
Behind him, Chiharu finished inhaling.
Crimson light filled the entire floor.
Chiharu fired.
Crimson Roar.
The blast tore through the building.
Crimson energy and red-black lightning merged into a single devastating torrent.
Chifuyu jumped through the opening.
The roar hit behind him.
Then everything exploded.
The building disappeared inside crimson light.
Walls burst outward.
Floors collapsed.
Windows shattered across the surrounding block.
The explosion expanded into the street and swallowed Chifuyu before he could clear the blast radius.
He vanished into dust and debris.
⸻
Several minutes passed.
The cloud still hadn't settled.
Chunks of concrete continued falling from weakened structures.
Small fires crackled beneath piles of rubble.
Then something moved.
A hand emerged from the dust.
Chifuyu climbed over a broken wall.
He coughed.
His yukata was gone.
Not literally.
Enough of it remained to technically call it clothing, but just barely.
The fabric was shredded across the chest and sides, one sleeve almost completely missing.
Chifuyu looked down.
Chifuyu: "Yeah, no."
He looked around.
Most of the block had been destroyed.
Except—
Chifuyu blinked.
A clothing store stood across the street.
Mostly intact.
The front windows were shattered, but the building itself remained standing.
Chifuyu stared at it.
Then toward the dust cloud where Chiharu should've been.
Then back at the store.
Chifuyu: "Don't mind if I do."
He ran inside.
Less than a minute later, he came back out wearing gray sweatpants and a plain white T-shirt.
He adjusted the shirt.
Chifuyu: "Much better."
A voice came from nearby.
Shinatsu: "Chifuyu!"
He turned.
His eyes widened.
Shinatsu ran toward him from another street, still soaked from the canal. Her hair clung to her face and shoulders, and her clothes dripped water onto the pavement as she approached.
Chifuyu immediately smiled.
Chifuyu: "Shinatsu!"
She slowed near him.
Chifuyu: "Glad to see you're okay."
Shinatsu's expression tightened slightly.
Shinatsu: "I'm not too sure about that."
Chifuyu noticed.
Something had happened.
He didn't get the chance to ask.
Shinatsu looked him up and down.
Sweatpants.
White T-shirt.
Middle of an island-wide vampire invasion.
Shinatsu: "Anyway, what're you doing shopping for clothes at a time like this?"
Chifuyu looked offended.
Chifuyu: "I had to change them, my yukata was completely torn!"
Shinatsu stared.
Then one corner of her mouth lifted.
Shinatsu: "I was joking."
Chifuyu paused.
Chifuyu: "Ha."
He shook his head.
Chifuyu: "At a time like this."
Shinatsu: "Must've got it from you guys."
Chifuyu smiled.
Shinatsu did too.
For just a second.
The island was burning.
Kagura was missing.
Chifuyu had been ripped away from everyone he was fighting beside.
Thousands of vampires were spread across Hanabi.
And somehow, standing in the middle of all of it, they still found enough room to smile.
The moment ended quickly.
Chiharu's voice came through the dust.
Chiharu: "Good for you."
Both looked over.
Chiharu stepped into view.
The bite wound on his neck was gone.
Crimson energy flickered around his body.
Chiharu: "A friend has come to your side."
Shinatsu's hand moved to her sword.
Shinatsu: "Is that who you're fighting?"
Chifuyu drew his own blade.
Chifuyu: "Yeah."
Black fire curled faintly along the edge.
Chifuyu: "He's basically my evil twin."
Shinatsu looked at Chiharu.
Brown skin.
Black hair slashed with crimson.
Cold expression.
Then at Chifuyu.
She considered it for a second.
Shinatsu: "I can see it."
Chifuyu: "You're supposed to disagree."
Shinatsu: "I'm being honest."
Chiharu's expression darkened.
Chifuyu stepped into position beside Shinatsu.
She steadied her blade.
Her attention remained on Chiharu.
But her thoughts were elsewhere.
Kagura.
She wanted to find her.
More than anything.
The explosion had been enormous.
For one horrible moment, Shinatsu had assumed it came from Talaryuna.
That Kagura had been caught somewhere inside it.
Then she found Chifuyu.
Alive.
Fighting someone else.
She still needed to go back.
Still needed to find Kagura.
Every part of her was screaming to move.
But Chifuyu was here now.
And Shinatsu knew exactly what it felt like to be left alone in the middle of this battle.
She wouldn't do the same to him.
Not while an enemy stood in front of them.
Shinatsu tightened her grip.
Purple lightning flickered weakly around her sword.
Chifuyu's black flames grew beside it.
Chiharu's crimson energy answered both.
Three different colors illuminated the ruined street.
Shinatsu looked at Chifuyu.
Chifuyu looked back.
Neither needed to say anything.
They faced forward.