Killer Gami

"I don't trust none of you upper division scum!"

The room went silent. The chaos ensuing on the lower levels of the facility seemed muffled beneath the pending doom.

Worse, Grim was still gone.

He had vanished the moment he said those words, promising death to those in his way. And right now, Detective Nozomi and the mysterious intruder... was in his way.

"Grim... please don't do this."

Nozomi's words fell on death ears, only insighting a response from the intruder, who chuckled under his breath.

"Hah. You think you can sway a gami? Your death has already been written."

She ignored him, stepping further into the room, chanting an incantation under her breath.

The intruder noticed it, narrowing his eyes, but chose not to pry. Instead, he cautiously swept his gaze across the room, being sure to study the shadows in the corns as he did. Even for him, the darkness proved hard to filter.

"Told you sweetheart... a gami doesn't know compromise."

He was expecting a response from Grim - in fact, it was a part of his plan all along - but he provoked nothing. And that made his skin crawl.

Nozomi, however, wasn't done.

"Your wrong. He's not some murderous Soul Reaper. You don't know anything about."

The intruder's gaze was still on a swivel as he countered her proclamation.

"And you do? Word is, you SGA rats don't even have enough evidence to convict him for the murder of his parents. If we're being honest here, I suspect he wouldn't have made it to a judge's chamber, either way. Crazy thing is - had he not killed his cell mate, you would've had to let him go... legally that is."

The intruder's eyes briefly met her's. And the next thing he said was shook her core:

"I wonder if he knows that."

Nozomi noticed the subtle change in his expression as he turned his focus back to the shadowy corns.

He's baiting him.

To her, the intruder's intentions were clear as day. And if she could spot his deception, Grim would too.

What will you do, Grim?

The intruder waited, confident that the seeds of deception were taking root. His plan was perfect, and its outcome was inevitable.

Hence, the streak of crimson light that flashed passed his face, headed straight for the detective.

At first, he flinched, until he realized the intended target was standing behind him. The over confident grin that stretched across his face shun in the faint crimson glow.

"I told you, detective. Gami's know only chaos."

A moment passed, but nothing happened.

The intruder snapped his head toward the detective, expecting to hear the screams of agonizing death, but all he found was Grim standing face to face with Nozomi, his blood-mist katana pulsating in his hand, dripping blood into the growing puddle on the floor beneath it.

For the life of him, the intruder couldn't find a single wound on woman's body, no matter how close he looked. But that was impossible. That blood belonged to somebody. But Who?

For a while, Grim and Nozomi remained silent, staring deep in each other's eyes. His white demon mask hid his expression, but - to a true detective like Nozomi - his glowing red eyes held evidence of grief, beneath murderous intent.

Finally, she started to speak, but Grim shook his head, prompting her to hold the thought. He wasn't the type of man to act on impulse, which meant there was a time and place he deemed proper for the exchange, but not here. And she silently agreed.

Meanwhile, the intruder had grown irritated and impatient, interrupting their little moment.

"What the hell is going on? And who the hell's blood is that?"

Grim's left eye move independently, finding the intruder's gaze in an instant. Without turning to face him completely, Grim replied coldy:

"There's something I want to ask you."

By now, the intruder's grin had completely vanished behind his shadowed expression.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Nozomi focused in on his left eye, recognizing the change in size. It was similar to how the pupils dilated when a suspect was about to confess to their crimes.

However, the intruder only saw the demonic scowl of a soul reaper, and Grim's layered voice only deepened his dread.

"Do you know why my name is Grim?"

Hesitant, the intruder replied:

"It's what they found you etching into the blood of your parents."

Grim finally tore his right eye away from Nozomi and turned to face the intruder head on, both eyes settling in place.

"The name belonged to my parents true killer."

Nozomi gasped, shocked at the revaluation. That same shock formed a frown underneath the intruder's hood, his eyes following Grim's katana as his lifted it, examining the blood that dripping from its edge.

A second later, Grim continued without sparing him another glance.

"I found the killer standing over my parents bodies, reaping the last of their spiritual energy... and I was too late. The killer was gone the second I blinked. For somebody who had nothing, he took something from me that day. And now, I've taken something from him... his name."

Nozomi fought the urge to reach out to Grim, tears pooling in her eyes. He had lost his parents right in front him and was helpless to stop it. Now the government wants to persecute him, and after all that he's been through - growing up in the slums and scraping for scraps - he had felt betrayal by her hands, even after he'd just saved her.

No one could forgive that.

The intruder chuckled darkly, however. His eyes cautiously remained glued to Grim's katana as he retorted:

"Gami's don't feel emotions. Your kind doesn't avenge the the dead."

"That's where your wrong," Grim sneered. "You assume I care about those... donors. They were never parents to anyone but themselves."

Nozomi reached out to him this time, but her hand missed his shoulder as he glided closer to the intruder. Confused, both of them looked down at his feet, shocked to realize that they were never touching the floor, despite how much taller he appeared?

"Danuja..." Nozomi whispered, calling out to him.

But he didn't reply.

"How are you doing that?" The intruder questioned, back-stepping away from the approaching demon.

However, Grim sent him a chilling warning.

"I wouldn't make any sudden movements, if I were you. Unless you want to die before I can finish."

The intruder's legs halted on their own.

"Wh - what do you mean by that?"

Grim ignored him.

"My parents isn't what he took from me."

"Answer me, soul reaper! What did you mean?"

The intruder felt a cold sensation growing inside his chest, but Grim continued ignoring his questions.

"What the killer took from me that day..."

Suddenly, an indescribable pain lanced through his body. A second later, blood spat from his mouth as his knees crashed to the floor beneath him.

Grim finally came to a halt, towering directly over him, his voice a layered mess of otherworldly sounds:

"...were their murders."

With that, the intruder attempted to move, but his torso split violently. Then, as if in slow motion, it tipped over, falling to the floor and producing a sickening wet sound.

SLAPT!

The silence that fell upon the room could've killed Nozomi. She was in complete and utter shock, having never seen a man's body fall apart like that - ever. Even in the hundreds of cases she's worked as a mid-grade detective, no suspect had ever been this cruel and barbarous. Yet, somehow she saw a victim - rather than a monster - when she gazed into his eyes in his normal form.

But now - in his gami mask - he was anything but.

And by the look in his eyes now - he intended to make Nozomi one.

"You're next!"