The morning sun washed the sky in gold, casting soft rays across the dojo's courtyard. Dew clung to every blade of grass, shimmering like spirit motes drifting between worlds.
Momo Ayase yawned as she shuffled barefoot toward the edge of the steps, stretching in her hoodie and shorts. Her long pink hair was messy, tied lazily in a side ponytail.
She wasn't a morning person. Not even close.
But something had nudged her awake. Something warm.
She rubbed her eyes and blinked.
There, kneeling in the garden's center, was Riku.
He was… meditating?
His silver hair shimmered in the light, and his body gave off a strange peace she didn't usually associate with him. Not after summoning a storm of cursed rabbits or nearly getting sliced apart by weird cultists.
Momo tilted her head.
> "Why does he always look so calm after almost dying?"
She tiptoed forward, leaned on the porch beam, and watched him.
He had his hands resting on his thighs, fingers pulsing with faint cursed energy—like he was harmonizing with the world.
Which was weird.
Because he's supposed to be a walking disaster.
Still…
> "He's kinda pretty when he's not blowing things up."
She caught herself smiling and quickly shook her head. "No. No, no. Bad brain. Bad heart. You're not doing that."
She didn't even notice Riku had opened his eyes.
"You know," he said without turning, "you talk to yourself way too loud to be stealthy."
She yelped and jumped back, nearly tripping over her own foot.
"I-I wasn't spying on you!" she barked, cheeks flaming. "I just—I came out for air, and you were being all weird and Zen!"
He finally turned, smirking faintly. "Zen's good. Keeps the curses from noticing my soul."
"That's… disturbingly poetic."
He chuckled.
Momo flopped down beside him in the grass and huffed.
"I don't get you, Riku. One second you're fighting like some ghost-exorcist demon lord, and the next you're just… sitting here. Like a monk who forgot he has nuclear-level cursed energy in his chest."
He looked at her sideways. "What do you see when you look at me?"
She blinked. "Huh?"
"You're the one with the supernatural sense, right? Cursed ghosts, spirits, yokai—all of it. What do you see when you sense me?"
Momo hesitated.
Because she'd asked herself the same thing a hundred times since meeting him.
And the answer always confused her.
"You feel like… chaos and calm at the same time," she admitted. "Like something trying to remember what it means to be whole. But not evil. Not at all."
He went silent.
Then: "Thanks."
She fidgeted. "Don't get all sappy. You're still super annoying."
A pause.
Then Riku said, almost shyly: "You know, I've never seen you smile like that."
Momo blinked. "What?"
"Just now," he said, turning slightly toward her. "You were watching me, and you smiled. It wasn't the 'I just kicked a ghost's face in' smile. It was… nice. Soft."
She turned red in an instant. "Wha—you were peeking?!"
"You weren't exactly being subtle."
She covered her face with both hands. "I'm going to die."
Riku laughed, warm and unguarded.
Something fluttered in Momo's chest.
> "Crap. He's laughing. I like his laugh. I'm doomed."
Then his hand reached out and lightly flicked her forehead.
"Don't hide that smile," he said. "It suits you."
She stared at him.
And for once… didn't punch him.
Instead, she let her hands drop and smiled again—real, small, and a little embarrassed.
"Thanks, idiot."
They sat there for a while in silence.
But peace never lasted long in their world.
Far from the dojo, in the slums beyond the train yard, a man in a white oni mask stood atop a rusted rooftop. Watching. Waiting.
A cursed shroud surrounded him, whispering in voices only he could hear.
> "The fragments are converging. The shrine awakens."
He reached into his robe and pulled out a small photo.
Three teenagers.
Riku. Aira. Momo.
He placed his fingertip on Momo's image.
"The girl smiles. She won't when she sees what's buried beneath him."
He vanished into mist.
Back at the dojo, Riku stood and offered Momo a hand.
"Come on. Let's eat something before Aira wakes up and lectures us."
Momo took his hand.
And for the first time in a long time, she smiled without fear.
But far in the cursed shadows… the past stirred.
And it had teeth.