Aozaki Aoko Case File

However, life often has a way of going against one's wishes.

On an otherwise ordinary night, the assassin Nanaya Kiri met his end.

The crimson demon roared, igniting the air around him.

Every strike carried searing flames, his movements growing faster and faster, gradually catching up to the assassin, who had been as light as a shadow.

Kouma Kishima endured the dull pain in his neck, using all his strength—something he had never done before—and landed a punch on Nanaya Kiri's abdomen.

Bright red blood splattered onto the ground. Nanaya's side was a bloody mess, though he had narrowly avoided the full force of Kouma's attack at the last moment.

But clearly, the situation had now surpassed the limits of what a human body could endure.

He collapsed onto the ground, gazing up at the clear sky where the full moon cast its pure light. Perhaps this outcome wasn't so bad, he thought.

His only worry was Shiki... The assassin's thoughts blurred as blood loss dulled his consciousness and his body grew colder.

Heavy footsteps drew closer—the sound of the monster, Kouma Kishima, approaching. In his final moments, Nanaya Kiri saw Kouma raise his foot, preparing to bring it down on his head.

But death didn't come as he expected.

Kouma seemed to freeze mid-motion as if someone had pressed a pause button. Even his foot hung in the air, inches from Nanaya's face.

"...Smells awful," Nanaya managed to say with all his remaining strength.

He struggled to look up. In the sky above the forest, a young woman with bright red hair floated, her right hand extended in a strange gesture. A faint glow emanated from her fingers as she pointed toward Kouma.

"Non Movere!"

The words, like a spell, reached Nanaya's ears. If he hadn't been alive, he might have thought it was a hallucination.

The crimson-haired woman froze the demon in place as if commanding him. Then, in Nanaya's blurred vision, a bolt of lightning appeared in her hand.

With a gentle toss, the lightning shot forward like the sharpest, fastest spear, piercing Kouma's head.

A crackling sound echoed as the lightning seared Kouma's head repeatedly, filling the air with the faint smell of charred flesh. His tall, muscular body collapsed with a heavy thud, scattering leaves.

"Nanaya Kiri?" the woman called out.

By then, Nanaya no longer had the strength to respond, managing only a faint grunt.

The woman descended to his side, placing her hand over the wound on his abdomen. A greenish light enveloped his body, and he immediately felt relief.

"Who... are you?"

Nanaya struggled to ask, realizing that even a hopeless killer like him could be saved by someone.

"Aozaki," she said, offering a surname that sounded vaguely familiar. "Aozaki Aoko."

As the wound healed with incredible speed, pain—previously numbed by blood loss—resurfaced, causing Nanaya to groan. He noticed Aoko's gaze shift toward the road at the bottom of the hill.

"Well then," Aoko said, pausing her healing, "you should be able to make it to a hospital on your own now, right?"

Instinctively, Nanaya touched his side where Kouma's attack had struck. It was fully healed, leaving only faint, fresh scars.

So this is what a magus is? Nanaya had heard of them before—those who study the principles of the past—and now he understood their power.

The magus named Aozaki Aoko flew back into the sky, raising her wrist. Blue starlight flowed from her crimson hair, gathering at her fingertip, which pointed toward the road below.

A torrent of light shot forth, illuminating the forest.

Nanaya saw the car below explode into a heap of scrap metal. That must have been the leader of those hybrids, right?

"Aozaki!"

Nanaya shouted, struggling to stand.

"If you ever need an assassin, come find me—I'll give you a discount!"

With a grin, he pulled a wrinkled business card from his pocket and threw it toward her with the precision of a throwing knife.

The card halted mid-air before Aoko caught it. She glanced at it briefly—there was only a name and phone number. Nodding, she flew toward the old Fujou estate on the mountain.

Nanaya sighed and began limping down the mountain, leaving the place behind.

I should take fewer jobs like this in the future, he thought. Spend more time with Shiki... that kid never likes to talk much.

...

Aoko didn't know if the person in the car was Tohno Makihisa, but she didn't particularly care. If Kouma had been sent, it was likely Makihisa who had ordered the attack on the Fujou family. With Kouma's death, Makihisa wouldn't dare send anyone else.

Saving Nanaya Kiri had been an unexpected outcome. She hadn't anticipated that the Fujou family would hire him as a bodyguard—clearly, they had gone to great lengths. After visiting the Fujou household, where the family profusely thanked her for dealing with Tohno Makihisa's lackeys, Aoko didn't linger. Before leaving, she handed a rune stone to Kohaku and Hisui's mother, instructing her to shatter it in case of danger.

Nanaya Kiri had washed his hands of assassination, so why had he taken this job? Was it an old friendship with the Fujou, once part of the Four Great Demon Exorcist Clans?

Aoko didn't ask. She simply used a teleportation spell to leave.

She kept Nanaya's business card, thinking it might come in handy someday. One of her principles was to let professionals handle professional work.

Aoko stood before the gate of the Kuonji estate. Checking her watch, she sighed with relief. She'd finished early. Quite the cause for celebration!