Kunai flew like angry mosquitoes. Explosions ripped through the air as scroll bombs detonated around them, throwing up dust and debris. From every rooftop, every shadowed alley, ninjas leapt with impossible agility—masks hiding murderous intent.
Hajime cracked his neck. "Alright. Playtime's over."
He whipped his twin blades from his back, the silver glint catching torchlight. Then, just to be a dramatic nuisance, he unhooked a third blade—his prized curved dagger—and winked at Kiku. "Third one's yours later, sweetheart."
Kiku twirled her blade, still licking it far too enthusiastically. "Then make me swoon now, grandpa."
"Who's grandpa?!"
They both dashed into the fray like lunatics. Hajime cleaved through two ninjas with a single spinning slash, his footwork precise but unhinged, like a drunken master who drank espresso. He parried three blades at once with a devilish grin, then headbutted one masked attacker. The ninja dropped like laundry off a broken line.
"That's what I call forehead diplomacy!" Hajime howled.
Meanwhile, Kiku vaulted off a falling signboard, spinning mid-air. She kicked one ninja so hard his mask flew off—and so did three of his teeth. She landed in a split, sliced a scroll bomb before it detonated, and stood in a pose so suggestive Mizuchi had to turn away.
"Ereshan, is this normal for shrine maidens?!" Mizuchi shouted.
"No shrine maiden I've ever met threatened to seduce an entire assassination squad!" Ereshan yelled back, hurling a burst of wind to knock a ninja off balance.
"I DIDN'T THREATEN!" Kiku barked, skewering two ninjas in one fluid motion. "I promised."
Hajime leapt beside her, blades dripping with shadowy ichor. "This is why I'm keeping you."
She smiled darkly. "As a pet?"
"As a partner in lethal crime, pet for a bonus."
They high-fived mid-battle, then kicked off opposite directions to slay more enemies.
Mizuchi groaned. "They're flirting. While killing. Who does that?"
"THEM!" Ereshan screamed, ducking as a ninja cartwheeled overhead.
Suddenly, the air shimmered. A dozen more ninjas materialized using stealth scrolls, surrounding the four of them in a tightening circle. Explosive tags in hand, blades drawn. The leader stepped forward—taller, with a crimson cloth over his face and twin scythes crossed behind his back.
"Weapons down," the ninja hissed. "You've violated a sacred festival ground."
Hajime shrugged. "Honestly, feels like the festival violated me first."
Then he turned to Kiku. "Wanna bet I can slice his pants off before you do?"
"You're on," she purred.
Mizuchi and Ereshan, in unison. "OH MY GODS—CAN YOU TWO BE NORMAL FOR FIVE SECONDS?!"
Steel rang against steel. Kiku dodged a scythe by bending backward in a move so acrobatic it made gravity feel disrespected. Hajime parried a blade, headbutted another ninja again, and whirled toward the leader with a flourish.
"You know," Hajime said, wiping blood off his blade. "For a secret assassin boss, you're kind of predictable."
The crimson-masked leader didn't reply. Instead, he flicked both scythes outward in an X-pattern, forming a barrier of spinning blades that blocked Hajime's attack.
Kiku leaned on her sword dramatically. "Blah, blah, blah. Just unmask already. I'm bored."
The ninja paused. Hajime blinked. "Wait. Don't tell me this is—"
A breeze blew through the alley. With a slow, deliberate motion, the leader reached up and pulled off the crimson cloth mask. Ereshan gasped. Mizuchi's jaw dropped. Even Kiku tilted her head, impressed.
Under the mask was a young woman, barely older than Ereshan. Her face was marred with an old scar across one cheek. Her eyes shimmered—not with rage, but sorrow. And recognition.
"...Aya?" Hajime muttered, stunned.
Kiku raised an eyebrow. "Ex?"
Hajime blinked again. "...Daughter."
The street fell quiet.
"DID YOU JUST SAY DAUGHTER?!" Mizuchi shrieked.
Kiku's sword dropped an inch. "You never said you had a kid!"
"I thought she was dead!" Hajime shot back.
Aya's eyes burned. "I was. You made sure of that."
With a flash of her blades, she lunged.
Hajime barely blocked in time, shoved back by her fury. "Aya, wait!"
"You abandoned us! You vanished into the mountains with no word!" she yelled between strikes.
Ereshan dodged wildly. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?! IS THIS A FAMILY FEUD OR A SIDE QUEST?!"
Mizuchi conjured a wall of water to block incoming kunai. "This is the worst vacation ever!"
Kiku stepped back, eyes narrowed at the girl now trying to slice her 'owner' in half. "Well, well… Papa Hajime's got secrets."
Hajime deflected a blow and roared, "Not this time, Kiku!!"
Aya stopped, breathing hard, blades still raised. "I lead the Crimson Shroud now. We purge corrupted yokai. You're consorting with one." She pointed her blade at Kiku.
Kiku smiled, slow and sensual. "Oh honey, I'm not corrupted. I'm completely unhinged. Big difference."
Ereshan threw up his hands. "CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS WHOLE FAMILY DRAMA—AFTER THE NINJAS STOP TRYING TO KILL US?!"
Aya lunged at Hajime again, her scythes a blur of vengeance. Sparks flew. Hajime blocked each strike with measured grace, but his eyes betrayed him.
"Stop, Aya!" Hajime barked, retreating half a step.
"You don't get to say my name!" she snapped, spinning low and slicing toward his knees. He parried just in time, gritting his teeth.
The others watched, frozen—Kiku unusually quiet. Ereshan and Mizuchi stared, tension thick in the air.
"Aya," Hajime said again, softer this time, like tasting a forbidden word. "I thought you died in the fire—"
"I did!" Her voice cracked. "The fire you set when you walked away from us!"
His grip tightened on his blade. "I had to disappear. The Shogun's bounty on my head would've killed you, your mother—"
"She died anyway!" Aya shrieked. Her strikes grew more chaotic, fueled by rage and grief. "They dragged her from the shrine. They said the Crimson Blade's wife was hiding a traitor!"
Hajime's stance broke, just for a heartbeat. Aya caught him with a kick to the chest, sending him staggering.
"You left us!" she yelled again, eyes blazing. "You were a hero, then a ghost, and now you're here flirting with yokai while the world burns!"
"I never stopped looking for you!" Hajime shouted back, pain bursting in his voice. "But I saw your name on the death list. I mourned you!"
A beat passed. Aya stood still, her blade trembling in her hands.
"I carved your name into stone," Hajime whispered, chest heaving. "Right beside your mother's. I carried your ashes. Or what I thought were yours."
Kiku took a step forward, expression unreadable. "So this is the great Hajime's real scar, huh? The one even I couldn't lick away."
Aya turned her head, eyes narrowing.
"You don't belong with him," she told Kiku.
Kiku smirked, walking closer to Hajime. "No, I don't. I chose to. That's different."
Aya gritted her teeth. "He's dangerous. He'll betray you too."
Kiku placed a hand on Hajime's shoulder. "Let him. But I bite back."
Ereshan cleared his throat awkwardly. "Okay… this is extremely uncomfortable family drama with possible sexual tension and I don't know what to do."
Mizuchi nodded. "Agreed. Can we all just breathe?"
Suddenly—A gust of wind whipped through the alley. The six-eyed figure stepped down into view. Cloaked in shifting shadows, its voice was like a whisper in a thousand languages. "You mourn the past while I claim the future," it hissed. "The artifact… belongs to me."
Everyone turned. Aya stepped beside Hajime without thinking, weapons raised.