DMC: Being a demon hunter in Japan is not easy

"Thank you so much for your help, Nakano-san."

"Don't worry about it! I had fun!"

Yotsuba Nakano, a lively girl with short hair tied back with a green ribbon, decided to stay behind after school instead of heading home. She helped the volleyball club, who needed an extra player for their practice.

"I was really lucky to run into you since the local tournament is coming up soon. With one of our members missing today, it would've been hard to train without someone as skilled as you."

"I'm not that skilled, hehe." She replied, scratching the back of her head modestly.

"Are you sure you don't want to join our club?"

Thanks to Yotsuba's athletic talent, several sports clubs had tried to recruit her, but she politely declined their invitations. Still, whenever she had free time, she often helped out different sports clubs.

"I don't think I have much time to dedicate to a club." She said with a faint blush.

Since she started dating Uesugi, the two would usually walk home together after school. But today, with Uesugi tied up with something, Yotsuba had a bit of extra time to help the volleyball club.

"I see... well, if you change your mind, the volleyball club will always welcome you!"

After chatting a bit more about the practice, Yotsuba headed to the locker room to shower.

Japanese schools are well-equipped to meet students' needs, and the gym facilities include spacious locker rooms and showers for students participating in extracurricular sports activities to freshen up.

As the hot water ran over her pale, smooth skin, Yotsuba let out a soft sigh, savoring the relaxing sensation. Her hands unconsciously slid to her chest, feeling the warmth of her own touch.

"Why do they feel bigger?" She murmured, a hint of curiosity in her tone.

Though she knew her body had already matured, the thought made her smile shyly, a soft blush coloring her cheeks. Shaking off the idea, she let the water wash away not just her thoughts but also her tension.

A few minutes later, she stepped out of the shower, wrapped in a towel that clung delicately to her figure. Moving with an unhurried precision, she got dressed in her school uniform.

"See you later, girls!"

"Bye, Nakano-san!" The volleyball club members called out cheerfully as she left.

Unlike any of her sisters, most of the girls at school found Yotsuba easy to talk to thanks to her cheerful, energetic demeanor.

-I wonder what Uesugi-san is up to...

As she walked, tilting her head in thought, she couldn't help but notice that her boyfriend had been acting a little strange lately.

-Knowing Uesugi-san, he'll probably tell me eventually.

That clumsy yet kind boy, who had become her boyfriend, often made silly mistakes that Yotsuba found endearing.

Recalling those moments, Yotsuba kept walking in a cheerful mood. Soon enough, she caught sight of a rather old apartment complex.

"I'm home." She called out as she opened the door to her modest home, where she lived with her four sisters.

Taking a few steps inside, she felt something was off.

Yotsuba's gaze swept around the apartment, but she couldn't pinpoint anything unusual.

-Am I coming down with something?

Shaking her head quickly, she walked to her room and set down her belongings.

"This place has never been this quiet..." She murmured, finally realizing what was making her feel uneasy.

It wasn't just her apartment; the silence seemed to blanket the entire complex, as if all the neighbors had agreed not to make a sound at the same time.

The apartments were usually filled with noise from all kinds of residents: elderly folks, families, office workers, young students, college kids, and children.

That's why, except at night, there was never a moment when the entire complex was this quiet.

But it only took a glance at the neighboring apartments to figure out the reason for the silence.

-Why can't I shake this feeling that something's wrong?

From the moment Yotsuba walked in, something deep inside her told her she needed to leave. Quickly.

Humans, although they have evolved over the years, still retain fundamental traits inherited from their predecessors, such as the survival instinct that alerts us to danger. This instinct is closely tied to the brain's ability to detect threats in its surroundings.

And while Yotsuba couldn't quite grasp what was wrong at that moment, her instincts could sense it—the scent of death lingering in the air.

"Girls, are you home?"

She tried to brush aside those uneasy feelings and called out for her sisters to ease her mind.

"They should've arrived by now..."

Yotsuba glanced around her small apartment, but there was no sign of her sisters.

"I should call them..." As she moved toward her room, a figure caught her eye, sitting at the dining table.

"Miku, you scared me!" Yotsuba jumped slightly, her hand instinctively flying to her chest. She hadn't heard a single sound from Miku.

Sitting at the table was a girl identical to Yotsuba, both wearing their school uniforms. If not for the differences in hairstyles and accessories, they would have been indistinguishable.

As expected, the girl was one of Yotsuba's sisters; Miku Nakano.

-Did she not hear me?

Seconds passed, but her sister didn't respond.

"Miku?"

Yotsuba stepped closer, concerned by her sister's silence.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Reaching out, Yotsuba touched her sister's forehead to check for a fever. But as their eyes met, Yotsuba stumbled backward in terror. Her instincts screamed at her to run, to get as far away as possible, as fear gripped her mind upon seeing her sister's eyes.

Miku's irises had turned a blood-red hue, while the whites of her eyes were now pitch black.

"M-Miku?" She stammered, her voice trembling with fear.

Before Yotsuba could act, Miku moved in an instant, wrapping her hands around Yotsuba's neck.

"Urgh…"

A strength far beyond anything Miku should possess tightened around Yotsuba's throat.

Among the five sisters, Yotsuba was the strongest and in excellent shape due to her athletic habits. Yet now, Miku was strangling her effortlessly.

-This... can't... be... The situation was so sudden that Yotsuba couldn't think or react.

As the oxygen left her body, Yotsuba began to struggle, but it was futile; her vision blurred with every passing second.

-I'm sorry for this...

Summoning her last ounce of strength, Yotsuba delivered a powerful blow to her sister, breaking free from the chokehold. Her survival instincts had taken over entirely.

Freed from the brink of death, Yotsuba collapsed to her knees, coughing violently as she gasped for the air she had been denied.

"Even at death's door, will you deny me that satisfaction?" Miku's voice had changed; now deeper and harsher.

"Miku...?" Yotsuba whispered, backing away on her knees.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to end your life for robbing this poor girl of what she held most dear." Miku's voice grew sinister.

Gathering all her strength, Yotsuba forced herself to her feet and bolted toward the door.

There was no time to process the situation; her body and mind reacted purely to the overwhelming fear she felt and the chilling words from her sister.

"I'll get help…"

Before Yotsuba could reach the door and call for help, she collided with something; or rather, someone.

Blocking her path was another sister, Nino Nakano, who looked identical to Yotsuba, save for her distinct accessories and slightly shorter hair.

"Nino, Miku's sick..."

Maybe Miku is sick; I need to get help; that was Yotsuba's initial thought as she tried to convey her concern to Nino. Even in a situation like this, Yotsuba's first instinct was to prioritize her sister's health.

But her words didn't fully leave her mouth.

-Why...? Yotsuba froze as she noticed the same eerie look in Nino's eyes.

Before she could react, Nino slapped Yotsuba. What should've been a light slap sent her flying into the wall.

"Ahhh!" She cried out in pain.

The impact was thunderous as Yotsuba crashed against the wall, coughing up blood upon impact.

There was no way she could emerge unscathed after a blow like that, even with her superior physical condition.

"Don't think you can escape!" Nino declared, advancing toward Yotsuba.

At the same time, Itsuki and Ichika, the two missing sisters, walked through the apartment door. The five girls looked identical, all wearing the same school uniform, but…

No… the differences were now more than just the length of their hair or their accessories. The uniforms of Itsuki, Ichika, and Nino were covered in blood.

Did they visit a butcher shop? Or perhaps they turned their neighbors into butchered meat?

In the other apartments, only lifeless bodies remained. There were no survivors; no elderly women, no children; no one left alive.

The worst part was that none of them died quickly. It seemed like the perpetrators had relished in their suffering. What might have been the last thoughts of a mother watching her child perish in front of her, unable to do anything as her limbs were shattered?

Helplessness, fear, hatred, and, above all, despair; knowing she couldn't protect what she loved most before joining her child in death.

"Our guest of honor has finally arrived, so we can't let her leave." Itsuki said, walking slowly toward Yotsuba. "You disgust me."

Grabbing Yotsuba by the arm, Itsuki hurled her into another wall, this time with enough force to break through it. The flimsy, old apartment building was no match for that kind of strength.

"Itsuki, I told you not to throw trash around." Ichika said as she appeared in front of Yotsuba's crumpled body, kicking her to the other side of the room.

Even though Yotsuba's body was stronger than any of her sisters, she wasn't indestructible, as her current condition proved. Her body was covered in wounds and bruises, with several fractured bones.

Lifting her gaze slowly, Yotsuba could only look on helplessly as her four sisters approached her, unable to comprehend why they were doing this.

"Why…?" She couldn't finish her sentence; even speaking brought unbearable pain.

The four girls stopped near Yotsuba's broken body, and Itsuki stepped in front of them.

"This is the first time I've seen four girls so miserable, and the most surprising part is that they're sisters. Even though they try to hide it and endure, the pain of their souls is impossible to conceal."

The voice that came from Itsuki's body was different this time; both sinister and seductive.

The demon known as Kiyohime had successfully taken control of the minds of the four sisters, moving her consciousness between them while turning the other three into puppets of her will.

The process hadn't been easy. Despite their weakened wills, the love they felt for their sister Yotsuba had been strong enough to resist for a while.

For that reason, Kiyohime took her time, planting ideas in their dreams until their resistance finally broke.

"Let's finish this so we can move on to the boy."

The demon could have killed Yotsuba from the start, but where was the fun in that? Breaking and tormenting her was far more entertaining.

Yotsuba, still conscious, didn't know what to think after hearing those words.

"I'll give you the satisfaction of finishing her off. After all, it was your emotions that brought me to you." Kiyohime said.

Miku stepped toward Yotsuba, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her as though she weighed nothing.

Without hesitation, Miku began to squeeze, threatening to either strangle her or snap her neck.

"Will you run out of air first, or will your neck give in? Let's find out!" Itsuki said, laughing with twisted pleasure.

The little consciousness Yotsuba had left was consumed by fear of death. There was no way out. She didn't understand what had happened…

No, she knew. Her sisters had said it repeatedly. She was going to die for being Uesugi's girlfriend.

Was it an unfair fate? Who could say?

Yotsuba's neck began to give way as tears streamed from her eyes, her breath slipping away with each passing second.

"How thrilling it is to watch you die like the bitch you are!" Kiyohime screamed in delight.

Yotsuba felt her body stop responding, the creeping sensation of death overtaking her. In those final moments, her mind drifted to the memories she shared with her sisters, from their childhood to the present day. And even now, as she faced death at their hands, she couldn't bring herself to hate them.

In one's last moments, they say the most important memories surface. After the images of her sisters faded, another figure appeared in her mind; a boy with a serious demeanor who sometimes seemed clumsy but was the one she had fallen in love with.

And like something out of a child's fairy tale, she wished for the impossible, a wish that made no sense and would only endanger the person she held dear.

-Uesugi-san… save me…

That was her final thought before her tragic end.

The poor girl's neck was snapped by the brutal force, and her lifeless body was tossed aside like a discarded bag of trash.

There was no escape for Yotsuba. This was the inevitable conclusion.

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Or at least, it should have been.

Seconds before her life was snuffed out, a strange sound echoed; a noise like something rushing in at high speed.

"Hmm?"

Kiyohime turned toward the source of the noise… utterly unprepared for what was coming.

A black motorcycle burst through the door, screeching to a halt right in front of Yotsuba. The rear wheel kicked up into the air, spinning wildly before slamming into Miku with such force that it sent her crashing through the nearby apartment walls, saving Yotsuba from her grim fate.

"Demon hunter, at your service!" Declared a white-haired boy.