After several more minutes had passed, the only thing the young lady heard was a scream, sharp, panicked, and cut short far too soon.
She flinched.
Her hands curled tighter against her chest. She wanted to open her eyes, but fear glued them shut. All she could do was wait, listening to her own heartbeat thundering louder than anything else in the alley.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Unnatural.
Then...
"... You can open your eyes now"
Her eyes snapped open.
Kagerou was standing right in front of her, close enough that he blocked her entire view of the alley behind him. She couldn't see the two men anymore. She couldn't see anything except him, calm, composed, as if nothing had happened.
"You okay? Can you walk?" he asked, a gentle smile softening the sharpness of his features.
"I… I'm fine," she whispered, though her trembling legs said otherwise. "But… I don't think I can walk"
"I see"
His gaze flicked to her scraped ankles, then back to her face. Before she could say anything more-
He lifted her.
"E-Eh?!"
"Come on," he said, adjusting his hold effortlessly. "We need to get you out of here. Staying in this alley too long is just an invitation for more idiots to show up"
"O-Oh… yes. Thank you." She clung to his haori, trying to steady her breathing.
They walked in silence for a bit before he spoke again.
"Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself," He glanced down at her, eyes warm despite the cold shadows around them. "My name is Kagerou. And you?"
"K-Kagerou-san…" she echoed, embarrassed at her stutter. He nodded.
"That's me. And you, young miss?"
"My name is Shinobu… Shinobu Kocho."
The moment the name left her lips, she felt him stop walking, not abruptly, but enough to notice. His arms tightened slightly, as though he needed a moment to process her words.
He turned his head slowly, eyes widening just a fraction.
"Shinobu Ko… Kocho?"
There was surprise.
Recognition.
And something else she couldn't place.
Shinobu blinked up at him, confused.
"You… know my sister, perhaps?"
Kagerou didn't answer immediately.
A beat of silence.
Then he forced a smile, awkward, stiff, painfully unnatural.
"…So you're Kocho- I mean, Kanae's little sister?"
"Yes, that's me," Shinobu replied softly, still confused by his reaction.
"I see… ah-ahaha~" The laugh was so awkward that even Shinobu blinked in mild concern. "Well, anyway, let's get out of here first"
"…Okay. But, um… Kagerou-san?" Shinobu shifted a little in his arms. "Could you please change the way you're carrying me…? It's a little uncomfortable"
"Oh! Really? Sorry, sorry, my bad. You're a girl after all," Kagerou said, nearly tripping over his own words as he gently lowered her to her feet.
He steadied her by the shoulders, letting her lean against the wall.
---
On the main road of the market
The market was noisier than usual, vendors shouting, children darting between stalls, travelers weaving through the crowd.
And in the middle of that chaos... Kanae Kocho was running.
Her breath was uneven.
Her eyes were wide.
Her hands kept clenching and unclenching at her sides.
She stopped every few steps, approaching strangers with desperate hope.
"Excuse me, have you seen a young girl? This tall, with purple eyes, black hair with purple tips?"
"I'm sorry, miss, haven't seen her"
"No, not around here"
"Try the north side"
But every answer was the same: no.
Kanae's fear grew heavier with every passing second.
A few days ago, she received her Nichirin blade and completed her first major mission.
Today, she was supposed to spend her reward celebrating with Shinobu.
But the market was crowded, too crowded, and Shinobu had been right next to her one moment…
…and gone the next.
Kanae clutched her chest, her heart pounding painfully.
With what happened to their family… With how hard Shinobu struggled to trust people… With how fragile she still was beneath her brave face…
Losing sight of her, even for a moment, felt like losing the ground beneath her feet.
"…Shinobu… where are you?" Kanae whispered, her voice trembling.
Tears welled in her eyes, thin, trembling droplets clinging to her lashes, as Kanae scanned the crowd with frantic desperation.
People moved past her in blurs.
Voices blended into meaningless noise.
Her heartbeat drowned everything else out.
*Thump. Thump. Thump*
She refused to blink.
She refused to stop.
She refused to think the worst.
Then... Her breath hitched.
Far down the road, just barely visible between passing shoulders and swaying luggage…
Someone was carrying a girl on their back.
Kanae almost ignored it, her mind too overwhelmed to trust her eyes.
But something, something about the posture, the small frame, the purple-tinted hair swaying with each step...
Her heart stopped.
That was Shinobu.
There was no mistaking it.
Not even if she were blindfolded.
'Shinobu…? SHINOBU!'
Kanae didn't think.
She didn't breathe.
She ran.
She sprinted so hard her sandals nearly slipped off, fear clawing at her throat.
Hands reached out as she pushed past people.
Voices complained when she shoved through the crowd.
But Kanae didn't hear anything anymore.
Her eyes were locked on that one small girl on a stranger's back.
On her sister.
'Please… please don't disappear again. Please be safe. Please... let me reach you'
Her heart screamed with every frantic step as she bolted toward the two figures, terrified that if she blinked, if she hesitated, even for one heartbeat…
Shinobu would be gone.
"…Shinobu… SHINOBU!!" Kanae's voice tore through the crowded street, raw, desperate, loud enough to make heads turn. "Wait! SHINOBU!!"
Her call cut sharply through the bustle, freezing a few nearby merchants mid-sentence. Some pedestrians flinched, startled. Others glanced around in confusion, wondering who could scream with such fear and urgency.
But Shinobu-
----
But Shinobu... stiffened.
Her body jolted faintly on Kagerou's back, her fingers tightening against the fabric of his haori.
"O-Onee-san…?" she whispered, barely audible.
Kagerou felt her move and instinctively turned his head slightly, following her gaze.
There, pushing through the crowd like a force of nature... Kanae.
Her breathing was ragged.
Her eyes were wide and shaking.
Tears were streaming freely down her cheeks as she sprinted with everything she had.
The moment Shinobu saw her sister, her lips parted.
"…Onee-"
But she couldn't finish.
Kanae reached them in a heartbeat, slamming to a stop, chest heaving, shoulders trembling.
Her eyes locked onto Shinobu first.
Alive. Safe. Not gone.
And only then did her gaze flick sharply, blazing with panic, relief, and something dangerously close to fury, toward the young man carrying her sister.
Kagerou blinked at the sudden intensity.
"…Uh," he murmured. "I can explain?"