"W—Who are you???"
"I'm Ryo, never heard of me?"
—How can he be so calm after slicing a human open right through the torso???
—Shit… am I next?
Kouji was still frozen, his mind filled with questions and fear.
"W—How can you be so calm, you killed a human?" he asked Ryo as the person collapsed beside them, the blood draining completely from their body. The mysterious man, who introduced himself as Ryo, simply gave him a bewildered look. "He was completely possessed, there was no saving him."
A brief silence passed, then Ryo slowly opened his mouth. Before he even began to speak, the shock was etched on his face. He began to speak, practically screaming.
"You—YOU'RE NOT A HUNTER?"
—A Hunter? What's that guy talking about?
Ryo examined Kouji from head to toe, and after a thorough inspection, Ryo concluded, "Ah, I see. Here—in a small town like this, they probably don't know us."
While Ryo spoke to Kouji in a gentle tone, the person who had just been lying next to them dissolved into ash until only blood remained on the floor. Kouji looked at Ryo, confused; he still didn't quite know how to process the situation.
Ryo took out his cell phone and made a call. Kouji wondered who Ryo might be calling—another Hunter? Not even a few minutes passed before Ryo put the phone down and put it back in his pocket.
"Let's continue this conversation somewhere else. A cleanup crew will be here soon," Ryo said in a calm voice that reassured Kouji.
—A cleanup crew? To wipe away the blood, perhaps?
—What have I gotten myself into?
The two left the school grounds. Kouji glanced at Ryo out of the corner of his eye. He had white hair with a hint of silver. A black shirt and a black coat over it, which he wore open. In his left hand, a katana. The same one he had used to kill the human earlier.
"I thought you were a Hunter, since you used a Blessing."
"Blessing?" Kouji asked.
"Your gift, we call these gifts 'Blessings'."
The two walked to the gate of the school grounds. There was a brief silence as they approached the gate, when Ryo suddenly asked, "Which way do you need to go?"
—Should I really tell him where I live?
"Left," Kouji said. He had lied to him; his house was on the right
The two of them left the school and headed towards what they thought was Kouji's house, and Ryo began explaining what he had seen.
"Do you live alone?" Ryo asked, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Yes, my mother died not too long ago. And you?"
Ryo laughed: "Do I look that old? Just call me 'you.'"
"All right. Do you live alone, Ryo?"
"Yes, I live alone. I moved out early."
—Is he trying to distract me from the fact that he killed someone?
"Wh—" Kouji was about to ask what had happened with the man from earlier when Ryo interrupted him.
"You're probably wondering what that was all about. That man wasn't human anymore."
—What does he mean by "not human anymore"?
"He had made a pact with a devil," Ryo said, as Kouji's eyes widened.
—A devil, he says? That can't be.
"I'll try to explain. —Devils come in all forms, and each one has a unique ability, just like yours. There are those like the one you just met, but also much stronger ones; these are called Original Devils. For simplicity's sake, the normal, but simple, ones are called demons, and the Originals are called devils. But it's essentially the same thing."
"I see. So this person wasn't really human from the beginning."
Ryo added: "Not quite. Devils can't interact with the outside world, so they sneak inside people. For a devil to manifest in a person, the person has to agree to it in some way. Most people who make such a pact have a craving for power. But making such a pact can backfire if you don't have the necessary willpower to resist such a devil. Then you go crazy, like the man earlier."
"Oh, so that's why he dissolved instead of decomposing?"
"Exactly. In exchange for a pact with the devil, you offer your body and soul, meaning that after death, you simply dissolve into ash a short time later."
"Are there other beings like this besides devils?"
"You could say that. A general term for such beings is 'nightmares,' but I prefer the English term 'nightmare' because it's easier to differentiate."
—Nightmare? I've heard that somewhere before—that's right—my mother said back then that a Nightmare killed my father.
—At the time, I thought she was just saying that to make things easier for me, but if that's true, maybe I can thank her by killing these Nightmares.
"Can I become a Hunter too?" Kouji asked after he'd decided to fight the Nightmares so no one else would have to live a life like his.
"Anyone can become a Hunter. If you want, I'll take you in."
"These Nightmares are evil, aren't they?"
"Regular Nightmares don't have minds, so I wouldn't call them evil, but they do harm people, that much is certain."
"Then I want to become a Hunter too. You said take me in. Does that mean you have a dorm?"
"I meant you could join our group. We already have a dorm; many of our Hunters live there. Are you really that keen to come with us?"
"I want to, nothing's keeping me here anyway."
"Well, we can always use more students. One of my students is your age; I'm sure you two will get along just fine." As Ryo finished his sentence, he reached into his coat to pull out something that looked like a map.
"Wait a sec, I'd like to go somewhere else," Kouji said, his voice agitated. Ryo simply nodded, and the two of them headed back toward the school in the opposite direction.
"Back to school?"
"I'm sorry, but when you asked me where I needed to go, I lied to you."
Ryo gave him a horrified look, almost as if he were disappointed and hurt that Kouji didn't trust him, though he quickly calmed down. He wouldn't give his address to just anyone, either.
The two followed the path back to school and continued on after school. Kouji led the way and stopped in front of a house after a while.
"Your house?" Ryo asked, but Kouji shook his head. "No, someone else lives here."
Ryo inclined his head: "An important person?"
"Not really," as Kouji put his backpack down and took something out of it.
It was an old radio.
He placed it on the stone slab next to the small entrance gate.
"Hey, Ryo—was that demon strong? I had a lot of trouble, and you took it down with a single blow."
"Don't worry, demon encounters like that are rather unusual, and besides, it was your first. I've had years of practice, so I can kill a human without even flinching."
"What kind of demon was it exactly?"
"The Knife Demon. You have to understand, the more feared something is, the more likely and powerful the demon that will emerge from it. Demons represent the active fear of something: knives, swords, axes. However, for every demon, there's also a corresponding origin demon; the knife demon would be the Dismemberment Demon. Since demons are bound to humans, many people die instantly after making the pact."
"Is it easy to kill a human?"
"Absolutely not, but you have to understand that if you let him roam free, he'll attack other people, hospitals, schools, or even universities, and kill people there. Killing such people is the burden a Hunter has to bear."
-I wonder if he could kill me instantly, too.
"Don't worry about it so much. Many Hunters among us don't fight demons or demons; they just clean up the Nightmares."
"I see. Show me the way."
But before Kouji could continue, he noticed Ryo reaching into his coat again. From his side pocket, he pulled out a card. A tarot card.
"What kind of card is this?" Kouji asked. "A tarot card?"
Ryo stared intently at the card for a brief moment. Suddenly, Ryo's initially unreadable expression changed to one of sadness or thoughtfulness, with a faint smile of acceptance and respect.
"This card once belonged to a friend, but he's gone now. I'm sure if I never use it, he'll be angry."
Kouji remained silent, a small pang of guilt rising within him, as he hadn't meant to delve into Ryo's past. Ryo lifted the card one last time and examined it closely. The card depicted a seven, with the word "Chariot" inscribed on it. Before he could succumb to grief again, he threw the card to the ground.
... Kouji looked around as the surroundings distorted around him, as if through a veil. The two of them were enveloped in a veil that, from the inside, appeared to depict a different environment, and before it closed, Ryo took a step forward.
"We're here," he said, standing before a medium-sized building, roughly the same size as Kouji's school. It had two floors, and directly adjacent to it was a huge building.
—Where am I? Are we still in Okutama?
Kouji finally decided to ask, "Where are we?"
Ryo laughed, tears welling up in his eyes.
"You've really never been to Tokyo before, little one?"
"Come with me, I'll show you around."