"Someone paid a lot of money in the assassin world... well, maybe not that much, but enough to want your head. All your crimes are listed here. No problem with that, right?"
Under Toji's puzzled gaze, Mukuro tossed the documents toward the man.
This time was different from any mission before. Mukuro, who usually preferred to strike fast and return home for dinner, was surprisingly taking his time, talking to their target instead of finishing the job.
From the look in Tanaka's eyes earlier, he could see the fatigue and guilt buried deep inside. It was as if the man had already expected this day to come and had been waiting for it. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't help but resist it at the same time.
"No problem," Tanaka said quietly, not bothering to pick up the documents that had scattered over the floor. "But I won't surrender."
He knew what he had done, so there was no point in looking at the evidence. He simply accepted it.
"For a sorcerer like you, money shouldn't be an issue." Mukuro tilted his head, studying the man. "You even exorcised a grade 1 cursed spirit five years ago. So why live in a dump like this? And why buy all the land nearby just to plant trees?"
He raised a finger and pointed toward the ceiling. "Or maybe there's something here you're trying to hide. Like the grade 1 cursed spirit that was supposed to be dead."
Tanaka's expression darkened instantly.
"That's enough!" His patience had reached its limit. He was no longer the man who only wanted to drive them away.
"Let's fight outside," he said coldly.
"Here's fine," Mukuro replied, a grin forming on his face. "Since we're already here, we might as well finish the job and deal with the one upstairs too."
Whoosh!
The words had barely left his mouth when a flash of steel sliced through the air. A blade coated in cursed energy flew straight at Mukuro's face, but Toji lifted his Split Soul Katana and blocked it effortlessly.
"You'll regret this!" Tanaka hissed.
He took a careful step back, removing the too-small children's outfit he'd been wearing. Beneath it was a body sculpted from years of battle, muscles taut and scarred. Lined along the inside of his shirt were identical throwing knives, each one faintly radiating cursed energy despite not looking like true cursed tools.
The air whistled as he threw them. Simultaneously, he charged forward, his fists wrapped in cursed power.
"Do we need to keep him alive?" Toji asked casually.
"Since he doesn't want to talk, forget it," Mukuro responded.
They spoke as if discussing the weather, not a fight to the death with a grade 1 sorcerer.
Clang!
The next instant, Toji swung his blade. A sharp metallic clash echoed, and Tanaka watched in shock as all his cursed-energy-infused knives shattered into fragments with one swing.
Before he could even process what happened, Mukuro's figure that was about to be struck by his fist vanished from sight.
A dull, heavy thud followed. A taste of iron filled Tanaka's throat as he spat blood. Toji's leg had smashed into his abdomen with the force of a speeding truck.
He flew across the room, crashing through old furniture before slamming into the wall near the staircase. Blood trickled down his chin as he struggled to move. Even the slightest twitch sent waves of pain shooting through his body.
"My technique..." he started weakly, voice trembling but clear. "It lets me control any object I've touched within the last thirty minutes by imbuing it with cursed energy."
There was despair in his eyes, but also a strange sense of relief as he revealed his technique.
"What?" Toji muttered.
Just then, the knife that he had first deflected suddenly shot up from the ground, launching a swift and fierce attack from the back.
Snap!
He didn't dodge. Mukuro behind him reached out and grabbed the knife's handle, stopping the cursed energy-laden weapon with his bare hands.
Another new knife shot from the shadows, but Toji caught that one as well, eyes narrowing. "There's an unusual cursed energy coming from this… So this is it, huh? The reason you can nullify other people's techniques."
Weighing the short blade in his hand, he grinned.
Tanaka's face twisted bitterly. "Special grade cursed tool: Inverted Spear of Heaven. Its ability is to nullify any technique."
He hadn't expected to lose, especially to men with no cursed energy.
His strength left him as he slumped against the wall, eyes drifting toward the attic above. Guilt and sorrow clouded his face.
"What are you going to do to my Tanaka?!"
A distorted voice rang out as the entire house began to shake. A cursed spirit, its body covered in a strange exoskeleton, leapt down from the second floor and landed protectively in front of Tanaka.
"Reika… you still recognize me?" The man who had looked ready to die now suddenly had light in his eyes again.
The cursed spirit's name was Reika. In life, she had been his childhood friend. This was once her home.
Ten years ago, a grade 2 cursed spirit attacked this peaceful household. When Tanaka arrived, the scene was a nightmare. Reika's parents had been devoured. Only she was left, barely clinging to life.
Her parents had hidden her in the basement to protect her, but whether by chance or cruelty, the exit had been blocked. The young girl in her early teens was left to die slowly in the dark, starving and alone.
By the time Tanaka finally broke through and found her, she could hardly speak. Desperate, he uttered the words no sorcerer should ever say to the dying.
"Don't die."
And with that, the curse took root. Reika became a bound spirit, forever trapped in the house where she'd perished.
She no longer remembered much from when she was alive, yet she still tried to keep the house exactly as it had been. Even Tanaka could only be recognized by her when he dressed the way he had back then.
He had believed they could stay together like that for the rest of their life.
But five years ago, a group of troublemakers broke into the house while he was away. Frightened and confused, Reika relived the memory of watching her parents devoured by a cursed spirit. In that panic, she killed and ate them all.
From then on, she became addicted to human flesh.
As a jujutsu sorcerer, Tanaka volunteered to hunt the cursed spirit. Yet instead of exorcising her, he bribed the assistant manager overseeing the mission and helped her survive.
To keep her happy, he killed numerous people, staining his hands with blood he could never wash away. He no longer knew if he could even call himself human.
But now, as he sat there, broken and dying, seeing that she still remembered him brought tears to his eyes.
He had hoped she wouldn't recognize him. That way, when he died, she wouldn't feel grief or guilt.
"Tanaka… protect me… I will protect… Tanaka…"
Reika didn't answer. Her mouth only repeated those same broken words, her eyes burning with killing intent as she stared at Mukuro and Toji.
"Come with me, Reika," Tanaka said gently, forcing himself to stand. His body trembled with pain, but he reached a hand toward her. "I'll stay with you. Let's go to the afterlife… together."
"Tanaka…" she whispered, reaching out.
In that moment, the curse born from love was finally lifted, and a soft light began to shimmer around them.
The cursed spirit didn't resist. She held his hand tightly as her body started to dissolve into fragments.
"After being bound for so long… we turned each other into monsters. I'm sorry. And… thank you, both of you."
Their voices echoed gently in the light.
In the glow, Mukuro and Toji saw two children about the same age, standing hand in hand, smiling as they said goodbye.
Ten long years had passed, and at last, they stepped out of that summer of suffering.
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