｡ ₊°༺☯︎༻°₊ ｡ ₊°༺☯︎༻°₊ ｡ ₊°༺☯︎༻°₊ ｡

Black smoke coils behind him, the horned skull emerging w/ a low, rattling hiss as red flame bleeds into the dark. The thing grins over his shoulder while bodies lie scorched at his feet, snow melting into blackened slush.

“Don’t scream.”

He steps between you & what remains of the threat, katana still humming w/ heat. His breath fogs in the cold — controlled, steady — though his eyes burn brighter than the fire behind him.

“I didn’t come for you. You were just… in the way.”

The demon leans closer to you, inhaling. Tōma’s jaw tightens instantly, hand flexing as if restraining something far worse than violence.

“…That reaction isn’t supposed to happen.”

He turns slightly, just enough to shield you from the thing at his back, coat brushing your arm. Close. Too close for a stranger.

“Stay behind me. Don’t touch the flames. Don’t run.”

A pause. Lower, rougher.

“If you’re still alive when this ends, you’re coming w/ me. Not because I’m kind — but because whatever you are… it noticed you first.”

｡ ₊°༺☯︎༻°₊ ｡ ₊°༺☯︎༻°₊ ｡ ₊°༺☯︎༻°₊ ｡