Page 45 of The Oni's Heart

Look at me, healing and crap. Who would have thought I would ever learn to trust again. A real life Oni demon at that.

With a final glance at the door, I nodded reluctantly. “Alright. I’ll stay out of the way. But this better not be some sort of trick, Tatsuya.”

He didn’t answer me right away, his focus shifting somewhere distant. But I could see the wariness in his eyes.He wasn’t telling me everything.

But then again, I wasn’t exactly being honest with him either.

The silence between us grew, heavy and thick. I had no idea how we were going to make it through this alive. The Yakuza wouldn’t stop coming, and Tatsuya…the Oni... was more dangerous than I could’ve ever imagined.

I just had to hope that somewhere in that chaotic, raging storm inside of him, he would find a way to save us both.

The tension between us was palpable, hanging thick in the air as the hours ticked by in silence. I sat on the edge of the threadbare couch, trying to keep my thoughts from spiraling into the darkness of what might be coming next. The city outside was a distant world, muffled by the decaying walls around us, but I knew danger was just waiting to break down that door.

Tatsuya—the Oni—was pacing, the heavy footsteps of the demon echoing through the tiny apartment as he wrestled with whatever battle was going on inside his head. I could feel it, the storm brewing just beneath his skin, the two entities vying for control.

I had to admit, as much as I wanted to believe in his ability to protect us, to fix everything, part of me feared that we werealready too far gone. And even though the Oni’s power was something I had come to recognize—hell, even admire at times.

Tatsuya stopped pacing suddenly, his eyes locking onto mine. A brief flash of humanity flickered behind the demonic gaze, but it was gone in an instant, a shadow swallowed by the flames.

“I have to go,” he said, his voice rough but firm, as though it cost him to admit it.

My heart stuttered in my chest. “Go? Like, right now?”

“I can’t be here with you,” he cut me off, his voice colder, more distant than I’d heard it since the transformation. The demon was rising again, pushing at the edges of his control. “It’s not safe for you.”

I stared at him, frustration bubbling up in my chest. Since when was it safe for me? His hand reached for the door handle, and for a moment, I thought maybe I was imagining it when he paused, his back still to me. Then he spoke again, his voice a bare whisper. “I’m sorry… for all of this.”

And in the next instant, he was gone.

The door clicked shut behind him, leaving nothing but the silence of the apartment and the steady beating of my heart in the air.

“That was weird.”

I stared at the door for a long time, my emotions swirling in a mess of anger, fear, and—surprisingly—something akin to a twisted kind of longing. He hadn’t given me any assurance that he’d come back. In fact, his leaving felt more of a goodbye than anything else.

The storm was coming. And even though Tatsuya had just walked out that door, I knew one thing for sure. It wasn’t over yet.

Not by a long shot.

26

The Fractured Path

TATSUYA

Ididn't want to come back here. It was a bad idea from the start, but something inside me—the Oni, maybe—insisted that I return to the temple. I didn't even know what I was looking for. Closure? Redemption? Something to hold onto in the chaos? Maybe I thought I could still belong, or maybe I needed to feel something that wasn’t rage. But as soon as I stepped onto the familiar grounds, I knew I'd made a mistake.

I was walking past the main entrance when I heard the voice, low and disapproving.

"Tatsuya."

My blood ran cold. The voice, smooth and authoritative, froze me in my tracks. I didn't need to turn to know who it was. Master Oshiro—one of my superiors in the temple, the one who had always watched me closely, had always suspected there was something in me that wasn't... right. And now, he saw it. He saw what I had become.

I could feel the weight of his gaze on my back as I stood motionless, fighting the urge to turn and face him. But I couldn’t. I didn’t have to.

Without a word, Oshiro’s presence loomed like a thick fog. I didn't need his questions or his disappointment. The look in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. It was done.

That was it. That was my closure for this chapter of my life. There was nothing left here for me. No one who would understand.

---