"What?"

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

The three opened their eyes in confusion. They looked around the area they were in, and it was a place they've never seen before.

"Where are we?!" Nene shrieked as she let go of Y/n and Hanako's arm and stood up, looking around to see if anyone was there to help them. "Y/n-chan, Hanako-kun, do you know where we are?"

"I don't know.." Y/n grumbled. I forgot.

"No..." Hanako mumbled as he looked around. He helped Y/n stand up and quickly pulled the two girls beside him for safety.

They all heard the crows as they stood together.

"Maybe we're in the underworld..." Nene mumbled in fear as she fiddled her fingers. Y/n raised a brow and looked at the girl. "I doubt the underworld would look like this, Nene-chan.."

"But doesn't it make sense..? Aoi said we'll never be able to go back, and it's dark, and we have no idea where we are..."

"No, there's no way..."

"No.." Nene fell on the ground with her hands on the side of her head. "What if we get in trouble?! And Y/n-chan—!"

"Calm down..."

Y/n hushed the two upon hearing the leaves rustle. The three then looked at the side, to see whatever or whoever came out from the dark forest.

An old man then came out from the forest with a lantern in hand. He looked at them, processing whatever they were. And they did the same.

"Who is this person?" Hanako poked Y/n's arm. The girl then shrugged as she waited for the old man to say something. "I don't know, maybe its just a local passing by or something."

"Let's ask him about the place," Nene suggested before looking at the old man once again and giving him a smile. "Good evening..."

"Wr.."

The old man looked at them, horrified. "WRAITHS!"

Did he just call me a wraith? Y/n's eyes widened as she pulled Nene and Hanako back. He just screamed, so the other locals might come here and kill us.

"Guys, let's make a run for it." Y/n gave the two a thumbs up, though they immediately shook their heads in response. "Wait, why?"

"You are not allowed to go running!" Hanako exclaimed as he pulled her towards him. "You're gonna get worse if you go and run. Just stay here with Yashiro. I'll take care of them."

Suddenly, more locals came rushing towards the area. And within a few seconds, they managed to surround the trio.

"Uhm." Y/n nudged Hanako's side. "Don't you think it's best to bring out your knife now."

"Yeah.." Hanako gave the locals a glare as he took his knife out. But before he could do anything, a voice stopped the locals' chatters.

"You all."

They all looked at the blue-haired girl standing infront of them. "What are you doing in my garden?"

"We're here." The blue-haired girl grinned as she dragged the tied up trio into her house. "This is your home, starting today!"

She then held up her teapot and looked over her shoulder. "You must be thirsty, right? I'll give you some water right now." She then took out her scissors and snapped the ropes off. "Please wait like good children."

Although, they weren't good children.

Y/n, Hanako, and Nene all looked at each other before sprinting towards the exit. Sumire watched as they go closer and closer to their escape.

"Wait—!" Y/n stopped running and tried pulling the other two back, unfortunately, it was too late.

The barrier of the two shocked them— Y/n included, since she was holding the two. She crouched down in dizziness, ignoring the fact that the unknown girl had made her way towards them.

"No going outside. I want indoor pets." She gave them all a pat on the head. "And even if you'd try to escape, you'd just get recaptured. Since we have a big festive event tomorrow, there'll be lots of mountain patrols tonight."

"A festive event?" Nene questioned. Y/n looked at the blue-haired girl, who had a small smile on her face.

"It's my wedding."

"A wedding..." Nene's eyes sparkled as she looked at the girl in amazement.

"Yes, so we'll peel off your skin and put you in the wedding's grand feast, the raccoon hotpot."

The three of them instantly hugged each other: Nene clinging into Y/n while Hanako pulled the girl closer to him. They all looked at the unknown girl in fear.

"I'm kidding," she stated as she walked towards them. "Relax, I won't hurt you."

"Really?"

"Of course." She placed a hand on her cheek. "I adore miserable animals."

Miserable animals? Y/n sweat dropped as she watched the girl crouch down infront of them.

"My name is Sumire," she finally introduced herself. Y/n frowned as she looked at the girl's sky blue eyes. She was no doubt, one of Aoi's ancestors.

Number six had his attention on Aoi for a reason earlier, he stated about something with her being the one at that time.

Y/n concluded that the girl infront of them, has a high chance of being number six's yorishiro.

"What are your names?"

Nene answered with slight hesitance. "I'm... Nene."

"I see." Sumire smiled as she took Nene's hands into her own, an action that even Aoi would do. Y/n couldn't help but think back of her friend who betrayed them.

"Let's be friends, Nene."

"I ended up being called Rini," Y/n grumbled as she sat beside Hanako— who was now, supposedly known as Gon. The two sat outside as Nene took care of the things Sumire told them to do.

Y/n really tried to help her, but some apparition decided to pull her along with him. This led Nene to being alone inside the house, and Y/n felt insanely guilty.

"Why did you even drag me with you..." Y/n grumbled as she looked at the boy, who was busy doing some things with his hakujoudais. "You could do whatever you're doing alone, what do you need me for."

"Hm..." Hanako smiled. "It would be best not to exhaust yourself. Plus, you being here helps me concentrate better when it comes to these kinds of things."

"What..." Y/n looked at the wisps floating around them. "We're still in number six's boundary, aren't we?"

"Yeah." Hanako hummed. "That girl is dangerous, and I'm sure you know that."

Y/n frowned. "She doesn't seem as dangerous as number six. She doesn't look like the type to kill people. All I know is that she's related to number six and that she has something planned up her sleeves." She glanced back at the house. "Even leaving Nene-chan alone with her is already dangerous."

"Of course, you're already one step ahead." Hanako chuckled before taking the girl's hand into his own. "So, what do you plan on doing after this whole number six incident, Y/n-chan?"

"Wow." Y/n furrowed her brows. "Your thinking is too advance. For all we know, something might happen along the way."

Hanako hummed. "Probably," he mumbled before looking at the girl with a small smile on his face. "But if anything happens, what will you do?"

Why is he suddenly asking me this type of question... Y/n bit her lower lip as she looked up in thought. "Well, I'd stay close to you, I guess? Probably look for the others as well."

"I see." Y/n watched as Hanako's smile faded as he looked at his hakujoudai's once again. That made the girl wary of his actions. He's also planning something.

"What are you three talking about?" Y/n flinched as she looked at the blue-haired girl beside her in shock. The fact that she didn't even notice her sneaking up on them amazes her.

Nene had just joined them a few minutes ago. The two started explaining the information she had missed out on— which was unfortunately not that much.

"Its got nothing to do with you." Hanako pulled Y/n away from Sumire as he looked away from her, as if just looking at the blue head would make him feel disgusted— and maybe it did.

"Gon is being rebellious." Sumire blinked. "Well, I see how it is..."

Sumire then stood up before pulling Y/n and Nene with her. "I'll just ask Rini and Nene. Let's go!"

"Wait—?!"

Hanako grabbed Y/n's hand, stopping the trio from going any further. He gave Sumire a sharp look. "I'm coming too," he stated.

"Oh?" The bracelet that Sumire wore suddenly rang. It looked like it would ring if a supernatural was around them— or maybe one with ill-intent, from what Y/n could tell.

"Nope." Sumire zapped Hanako right on his forehead. "You're being perverted. Saying you want to come with us while we take a bath."

"A bath?!" Nene squeaked out as she looked over her shoulder.

"Or Gon, could it be that..." Sumire smiled. "You want to see Rini and Nene naked?"

"N-No...!" Before Hanako could talk more, the door shut close on him. He was left outside, still feeling uneasy about the fact that his precious Y/n and his assistant was in the same room as the unknown girl.

"Hey, Rini."

"Please call me Y/n.."

"Then Y/n." Sumire looked at the H/c-haired girl who was busy preparing her clothing. "Perhaps Gon is your lover?"

"What—" Y/n choked on her own words as she looked down. Wait, now that I think about it... I confessed to him back at number four's painting, not only that, but he literally acted as my boyfriend the whole time. She gave Sumire a smile. "It's still something we're working on...?"

"So you mean, you and Gon aren't together yet—" Sumire frowned. "But have feelings for each other?"

Does Hanako like me in that kind of way though? "I guess so..?" It would be kind of awkward to know that I'm the only one who feels like that.

"I see." Sumire smiled. "In this world, being attracted to an aberration is a taboo but..." The blue-haired girl walked towards the clothes she had taken out for Nene. "If you fall in love despite that, you can't do anything about it. Just like me."

"Just like Sumire-chan...?" Nene blinked in confusion as she looked at Y/n, who had her brows furrowed as if she just realized something bad.

And maybe she did.

Being in number six's boundary... My only guess is that she fell in love for number six. The possibility of her being his yorishiro is also pretty high. Y/n sighed as she shook her head. At this point, my brain is gonna malfunction.

"The fiance I fell in love with isn't a human, but an immortal demon," Sumire stated. "He's a strangely serious but cute being that has been with me since I was little."

Nene's eyes sparkled, but before she can voice out her awe, Sumire continued.

"Well... Before I met him, apparently he used to kill people when he was bored from his immortality." Both Y/n and Nene flinched. "Also, he is very shy. He used to wear masks of animal bones over his head."

Sumire looked over her shoulder and gave them a smile. "He hid his face so much, one time I got angry, so I hid his mask," she said. "Let me show you... It should be here..."

A few moments later, Sumire's smile widened as she grabbed the mask from inside her drawer. "Ah, there it is."

She raised an oddly familiar mask beside her head, showing the two girls the mask that her fiance wore all the time.

"See, it's this."

She's number six's fiance. Could she be his yorishiro too? Y/n looked over at Nene, who had a terrified expression plastered on her face. She's sure that the girl had realized it by now, that number six and Sumire had some sort of connection.

"Su—" Nene stuttered. ".. Sumire-chan, you... What are you?"

Sumire tied her hair back. A sense of familiarity washed over Y/n upon seeing the hair style that Sumire did, but as of the moment, that wasn't what was important.

What was important was that the black seal that could solve everything was stuck on the side of her neck.

The two girls decided not to spill a word about Sumire being number six's yorishiro. Her wedding day was just hours from now, they could at least give her that.

Sumire smiled as she took her bracelet out and gave it to Y/n.

"Have this as a thanks." She then looked at Nene. "Unfortunately, I only have one spare bracelet. I'll make sure to give you one tomorrow, Nene!"

"I-It's okay!"

꧁☾︎ 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎 ☽︎꧂
i just learnt mitsukou isnt
canon 😃🔫
— chyuu.