Part 2

Akari wore the dead officer’s uniform, hat cocked back and a bloodstain on the collar. She walked toward Borei Plaza. Once an ordinary girl walking to her still-ordinary office job in one of the largest corporations, where she had to endure harassment but stayed quiet just to support her family.

Grey-haired salarymen in blue suits carried black suitcases. They strode leisurely while young salarywomen in light beige coats paced at speed, and teenagers in school uniforms laughed behind their face masks, thinking they owned the world. Even with the cold and cloudy December sky above her, she felt the sun burning her skin. She looked up. Her eyes burned. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses from a rack outside a store and walked away without paying. Her teeth were itching, and she needed to gnaw at something. She stole a popsicle. As she chewed the sweet ice, blood dripped from her mouth. She spat, and several teeth landed on the pavement. She ran her tongue over her gums and felt new sharp fangs.

Who was this yōkai spirit tangled in her soul? He was cursed, but he wasn’t evil. She could feel his soul within her. It was morbid and dark, but there was more hiding beneath it. A peaceful, bright light shone there, and their love was that light, and they were that love. She felt him rising within her, and the more he rose, the more their light came forth, along with an indomitable power rising within her. He rose, and their souls danced as light. She felt Sebastian deep inside her, gifting her comfort.

Deep inside her, a gift of Sebastian’s vast memory unfolded. His ancient memories stretched across oceans of time, filled with terror and darkness. She saw pyramids and cities of stone, strange people in strange clothes, dark foreign forests, monsters, and dark, bloodied armies toppling one another.

His curse freed her, but she was destined to find him. A virgin’s first night with an undead left her with the gift of prodigious power and a memory of revenge. Her eyes could see across the universe, her body could fly, and her strength could tear down cities. She understood that rivers of blood must run to bring Sebastian back. She was fated to drag the shadow world into mayhem, and the murderous campaign was upon her. Their bond had bred and unleashed an ancient creature, the Angel of Destruction.

She strode through the mouth of the Borei Building that towered over Tokyo, over Mt. Fuji, and over all of Japan. She rode the sterile, glass elevator just to land face to face with Hiroshi and his repressions that only erupted with alcohol as they did last night.

“Good morning,” she said without a bow.

“Good morning,” Hiroshi said with a grimace of disbelief as his mind summarized Akari’s appearance – the police uniform, the blood, and the sunglasses. “Were you in an accident?”

“Yes. A kind police officer lent me her uniform. Do you like the hat?”

“I do.” He grinned.

“Come,” she grabbed him and dragged him into an empty office and closed the door.

“What’s happening?”

“This is what you dream about, isn’t it, Hiroshi? I can feel your eyes on me. On my legs, on my thighs…” She pushed him into a swivel chair and stood above him. She swung her hips and slowly pulled up her skirt. She moved his hand up her thigh, “…On my hips, on my chest.” She moved his hand around her body and moaned. “You want me, don’t you?” she asked, face-to-face with a man whose breath smelled of fried mackerel. She groaned and blood dripped from her lips.

“Oh, yes. Yes, I do.”