0. Prologue
The sky shines in an orange hue.
A teenage boy, Sukeyoshi, 17 years old, is pushed against the wall of an alleyway. Three trouble-making delinquents corner him with mischievous smirks.
Delinquent #1: "Aww, what's wrong? Elephant got your arms?
He shoves Sukeyoshi, the three of them laughing while the latter tenses uncontrollably.
Sukeyoshi: (stutter) "P-Please... I don't mean any harm..."
A punch strikes him on the abdomen, and the delinquent perpetrator watches Sukeyoshi hold the bottom half of his stomach before dropping to his knees, attempting to process the pain.
The delinquents laughed even harder as Sukeyoshi was completely on the ground, wincing in pain.
Sukeyoshi's ears rang, his eyes blurry toward his surroundings. Maybe not from the pain.
Maybe he's just done with everything.
All the things that have happened to him. What's even the point of living?
Should he let them end it? Let them win?
But everyone has always won.
Not him.
Stuck in his own mind, only then does he hear a thud. A body drops to the floor; Sukeyoshi turns to it.
One of the delinquents is dead, on the floor.
For the first time, he felt relief.
But then, reality struck. It wasn't him who killed him.
Sukeyoshi quickly got up to his feet as he leaned against the alleyway wall, his eyes widening at the corpse. He turned to the other two delinquents, all of whom were deceased themselves, slit on the throats. He looked around frantically, until..
A tall woman in a white dress and knee-length black hair stood. Her head horrifyingly tilted as she stared at him with...
A slit mouth, ear-to-ear. She had a horrifying grin.
???: "Am I... pretty?"
Sukeyoshi hyperventilates, unused to the situation. The delinquents are all in front of him, dead on the floor, yet here he is, the only one alive. If he could recall, the woman was part of an urban legend.
If that is the case, he could only wonder whether they are really true, or his mind is playing a game against him, or that he's simply dreaming.
Sukeyoshi: (breathes heavily) "...Don't hurt me."
???: (firm) "Wrong answer."
The lady reveals a kitchen knife from behind her and rushes at Sukeyoshi with a shriek. Sukeyoshi screams as he cowers against the wall, eyes closed. His fate seems to be sealed.
But then, a crossbow-like shot can be heard.
A thud to the ground.
Sukeyoshi hesitates for a bit before slowly and finally opening his eyes to see the lady tranquilized on the nape, seemingly unconscious. When he turned to the source of the shooting, the man had already pointed a handgun at him.
In a full-black trench coat, blonde, messy hair, and sunglasses, he was too flashy. Yet, he held his handgun professionally at Sukeyoshi. The latter could only gulp.
Blonde guy: (scoffs) "You're one lucky bastard, ain't ya?"
Sukeyoshi: "W-Who are you...?"
The blonde man sighs as he crouches down to inspect the unconscious lady, his handgun still aimed at Sukeyoshi.
Gisou: "...Gisou,"
The blonde man finally answered.
Gisou: "Gisou Nishitora."
