Page 33 of The Oni's Heart

But it was a mistake.

I could feel the rage building in me, a blinding fury that cut through the fear. They were underestimating me. They thought they could break me with their words, with their weapons. They were wrong.

I attacked again, my knife slashing down and finding its mark this time. The man with the knife cursed as I drove it into his shoulder, the blade sinking deep into his muscle. Hestaggered back, clutching at the wound, and I didn’t give him a chance to recover.

But the crowbar man was still there, and he swung it wildly, knocking me back again. This time, I didn’t have time to recover. I hit the ground hard, my head slamming into the concrete. Everything went blurry for a moment, the taste of blood in my mouth.

"Pathetic," the crowbar man spat, his voice mocking.

I felt the blood soaking through my clothes, the sting of the cuts, the bruises, but I wasn’t done. I couldn’t be done. They were playing with me, toying with me. But I wasn’t their prey.

I gritted my teeth, my body screaming, but I pushed through the pain, rolling back onto my feet. My vision was tunneling, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps. My knife felt heavier, but I didn’t let it drop.

"You want to break me?" I snarled, my voice barely a whisper through the blood in my mouth. "You’ll have to do better than that."

The crowbar swung again, but this time I was ready. I dove forward, crashing into the man with the crowbar, sending him stumbling back. My knife found its target in the chaos—his side, his ribs, deep enough to make him yell out in pain.

But they weren’t backing down.

19

The Inevitable

TATSUYA

Ishouldn’t have been there.

But something in me—some dark, impossible pull—dragged me along. My mind was a battlefield, but my body was already moving before I could think it through. I told myself it was the right thing to do, that she was in danger, that I had to protect her, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t that simple. There was an obsession growing inside me, something I couldn’t shake, something I couldn’t explain.

I was supposed to be above this.

But I wasn’t.

And that made the rage burn hotter.

I followed her, keeping to the shadows, careful not to make a sound. She didn’t know I was there. She never did. But I couldn’t help myself. She was a magnet pulling me closer, and I hated myself for it. Every time I told myself to leave, to turn around and go back to the temple, I couldn’t do it. My feet were rooted to the ground, wanting to follow her with a compulsion I had no control over.

The thing was, I didn’t know why I felt this way. Not exactly. All I knew was that there was something about her—something that both terrified and attracted me. It was a bond I couldn’t explain, a connection that was pulling at the very core of my soul.

And it wasn’t just the physical attraction. It was the darkness I could sense in her. The same kind of darkness I had tried to bury in myself.

I kept my distance, watching her from afar.

That was, until I heard it.

A scream.

A woman’s voice.

Momoi.

It felt like a dagger was piercing through my flesh. My heart thudded painfully against my ribcage. Without thinking, my body reacted before my mind caught up. I ran, faster than I ever thought possible. My legs carried me with a power I didn’t know I had. I could hear the distant echo of her scream in my mind, urging me on, spurring me into action.

When I turned the corner, the sight of her stopped me dead in my tracks.

Two men had her cornered. One with a crowbar, the other with a knife. The fear in her eyes—barely hidden under the bravado—was enough to set my blood on fire. The men were taunting her, getting closer, and she was fighting back with all her might, but she was outnumbered. Outmatched.

And in that moment, I felt a switch flip inside me. The rage that had been simmering beneath the surface erupted in an instant.

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