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You sighed deeply as the only thing you wanted was to go lay down in bed. You had just finished helping Mrs. Agutsuma at her fruit stall. The sun had already set and the streets were empty.

She had paid you with fruit, not that you were complaining. You were glad to have helped her out, a reward wasn't something you expected.

You carried a cloth bag filled with your favorite fruits. You carried it with both hands.

You peaked back, as you admired your staff from the corner of your eye. Your mother had put together something that would help you hold your staff on your back.

"I should thank her again when I get home..." You smiled to yourself.

Things were normal.

Well, why wouldn't they be? It's not like you fought the god of swords and destroyed some buildings while you were at it. You pursed your lips. "It did happen though..." It had already been a few months since you saw your "brother".

The whole situation baffled you. All of that happened...and everyone is acting as if it didn't happen.

It bothered you as much as you hate to admit it. Nothing really changed except for the fact everyone was nicer to you. Even those who would talk bad about you.

You turned into another street as you got closer to your home. "This is Junnao-sans street...Maybe I should drop off some fruit."

You picked up your pace deciding to go to Junao's house. You arrived at her home, it looked identical to all the other homes except she had a few plants growing in pots near her door.

You noticed one of them, a vibrant blue color. The color flowed from its stem to its thin petals. It caught your eyes in a trance. "How pretty..."

You jumped at the sound of the door sliding open. "What are you doing here!?" Junao saw your hands floating around her plants.

Her eyes widened and she was quick to smack your hand away. "Just leave Hanae. You're always just trying to cause some sort of trouble aren't you." She spoke to you in a relatively calm voice.

She walked over to the plants got a big empty pot and put it over the flower, covering it.

You saw her smoothen down the dark purple clothes she was wearing as well as her long black hair.

"I'm sorry truly, I just wanted to bring you some fruit that Mrs. Agutsuma gave-"

You stopped talking as someone came out the door. "Ah, Junao-Sama are you going to walk me home~"

It was a girl one you didn't recognize. She was shorter than Junao. Her hair was messily thrown in a low ponytail and her clothes were disheveled.

You saw the girl cling to Junao. "No, I won't," Junao told her plainly. The girl pouted and her eyes landed on you.

"Huh? What's Hoshiko doing here?" The girl said with venom in her voice. "She was just leaving me some fruit."

"Oh, I see! Were you making her run an errand for you?" She laughed and let Junao go. She stood on her tippy toes and planted a kiss on Junao's cheek.

"I'll be sure to come tomorrow as well..." She giggled as she left. Junao had a nonchalant face up until the girl left. A small smirk on her face appeared as she looked at you.

She turned to head back inside, "We should start over...are you coming in? Come on Hoshi-san just for tonight."

                                                                                             ...

You put your blanket over you. Finally, in bed, you sighed. Junao had invited you inside her home earlier to which you declined since it was already late.

Junao had told you that she forgave you for that time at the bridge before heading inside her home. She even apologized to you for all the times she bothered you! She also apologized about how the girl talked when mentioning why you were at Junao's house.

It brought a warm smile to your face as the previous tension with her was gone.

You closed your eyes ready to fall asleep when you suddenly snapped them open. "Wait a second..." You muttered as you slowly blinked multiple times.

Your face went red as you suddenly realized what Junao had done with that girl.

"Are you coming in?"

Her words rang multiple times I'm your head. "What the fuck!???" You screamed in your head multiple times. You continued to lay there in bed traumatized.

The next day you had gotten up early, expecting to go help Mrs. Agutsuma set up shop before you went to work with your father.

It was peaceful, the sun was barely up, and not that many people were out. It was only a few minutes into your walk to the market when you saw the girl who had left Junnao's home. You recalled Junao telling you her name, Ren Yuuka.

She had seemed to catch you staring as she began gazing at you. She had deep brown hair. Her eyes were grey matching the silver lotus-shaped hair clip that she wore to pull back her hair. As you made eye contact you recognized the look in her eyes. It was the same hatred that Junao had before.

She was quick to look away from you. "Strange..." You mumbled to yourself.

The rest of the day had gone by relatively quickly as you helped Mrs. Agutsuma at her stand. You wiped your forehead with the back of your hand as you sighed. The sun had only risen higher, the temperatures rising throughout the day.

"Hey sweetheart, you can go ahead and leave I'll be alright for the rest of the day." Mrs. Agutsuma clasped her hands together, her face wrinkling as she gave you a small smile.

You nodded your head, "Thanks for allowing me to help you today Mrs Agutsuma!" You bowed down as you returned her smile. You straighten yourself out before Mrs. Agutsuma patted your cheek.

"Oh, sweet Hanae..." She muttered. "I know everyone's acting like nothing has changed-" She stopped for a second before continuing. "But just know when everything around you is changing, I will always be here...the same as always."

You were taken aback as your mind froze. Not even your parents had brought up all the changes that had been happening around you.

"Thank you..." You mumbled out. She bid you goodbye as you walked to the port, meaning to go help out your father. As you walked, you lifted your head before covering your eyes with your arm.

You sniffled as your heart swelled with emotion. "At least I'm not crazy..." You laughed at yourself as you wiped your eyes. "I'm glad I still have people I can rely on."

The day had gone rather quickly and the whole time you were working you couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching you. Currently, you were wandering around town after doing random odd jobs for people.

Thinking back when you were at the port the feeling of being watched was intense but it's nothing like it is now. The streets were empty aside from the occasional person arriving home from a long day's work.

It wasn't until you heard someone call out your name that you stopped walking.

"Hoshiko Hanae," The voice said, as smooth as silk. You recognized the voice as you turned around and found the girl that you'd seen this morning. "I don't appreciate how much Junnao-San likes you."

You raised a brow before bringing up your hands defensively. "I swear it's not what you think! She's just a friend of mine, I promise!" You told her as you began to apologize for making her upset.

She only laughed as she looked directly into your eyes, never stopping eye contact. "Junao's has a strong soul...". She spoke to you in a relatively cold tone. "But this-" She pointed at herself, "has a stronger body than Junao's."

"I'm sorry?" You asked confused.

Her finger slowly began drifting towards you, pointing at your heart. "But you...you have both a strong body and a strong soul, " she said, inching towards you.

"So please let me have it?"

She exhaled, and a frosty cloud appeared before her lips before it disappeared. "Come on, Hanae. Say you'll be mine?" She laughed as her body bent down, her palms on the ground when multiple spikes of ice shot up.

Reacting to the attack you jumped up and tried to avoid her attacks. Whenever your feet touched the ground you were surprised to feel the coldness even when you were wearing your sandals.

You noticed how when you exhaled you could see your breath. Your movements became sluggish as your body shivered.

"Don't tell me you'll freeze to death before I even get the chance to piece you!" She mocked you, ice shards forming from nothing around her. "Come on! Don't die just-" She stopped as she was met with your blade.

"Wait-!"

"Death doesn't wait for anyone." Your blade touched her neck but before you even drew blood her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

Her mouth was wide open as you saw a piece of flesh fly out of her mouth. You drew back as the piece landed not far from you. You noticed Yuuka falling and held her in your arms before slowly laying her down on the ground after checking her pulse.

You cautiously approached the flesh as it remained pumping and moving in place. Disgusted at it you used the tip of your sword to poke it. You saw multiple slits on it as you took a closer look. Abruptly it opened its multiple eyes. "It seems as if I underestimated your abilities. I was sure I'd win even after seeing you fight last time."

It said referring to your fight with Susano. You looked at the blob of flesh and wondered how it was talking as you noticed it didn't have a mouth or anything of the sort.

"He wasn't even trying, but you...what are you exactly?" You questioned it as you poked it multiple times.

It stared at you intensely before speaking. "I'm just looking for a vessel and I'm planning to take the strongest one I can find. That just so happens to be you." It jumped at you but you simply sliced it in half.

As it plopped to the ground it began to convulse. It began to disintegrate and after a few seconds, there was nothing left of it. "Well, that was weird..."

You heard coughing behind you and saw Yuuka moving. You ran up to her and held her in your arms while she slowly opened her eyes. She blinked slowly. "Ah... what happened..." Her vision was slightly blurry as she looked at you. "Junao-san?"

Her hand reached up to cup your cheek and you panicked. "No, it's just me Hanae! Are you feeling alright? I'll walk you home or better yet we should see if the doctor is still awake."

Her vision started to become clearer and stared at you with wide eyes. One of your arms was supporting her back as she sat up while the other held one of her hands.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?"

...

After dropping Yuuka off you walked into your home with a tired sigh. "Hanae!" You shivered as you heard your mom yell at you. "yes...?" You answered meekly.

"Why are you late?" She asked as she came up to you. "You look like a mess."

"Yes, I know." You sighed in defeat.

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A/N: Hello yall I'm back from the dead (ITS BEEN MONTHS WTFF) with this random ahh chapter that no one needed. I was planning to post this on Christmas eve but I forgot (sorry)

Anyway round 10...what da fuk. Call me a hater but the one who won shouldn't have. And I'm not saying that cus I'm bias (perhaps I am). Overall it was OK but definitely not one of my fav fights ya know? 

Next updateeeee comes out sometime next year so this is the last update of 2024 omg!!!. Thx byee!!