• The taste, the smell, the rush, the feeling. It was all the same as it always was, but it still felt new every time. I stood on a roof, staring down at my prey below me. This was a lesser kill compared to my normal hunts, but still stronger than others were used to. This spirit had been causing chaos in this city for some time now. It was one of the souls that wouldn’t let go. The souls that stuck to Earth. They were jealous of the living and determined to torture them. The worst part was hearing their screams. They were constantly screeching, though it just sounded like the wind to normal humans.

    “Why do they always give me such simple tasks,” turning to Youko, one of my twin foxes, “Where’s Tsuki, dear?” Youko gestured to the side, where I found Tsuki laying stretched out in the moon light, “At least someone is enjoying themselves,” I smiled at Tsuki’s simple enjoyments in life.

    I turned back to the ground as the shrieking became unbearable again. It was time to finish this.

    I jumped down from the roof, landing silently 10 feet behind the poor thing. It looked as if it was once a woman, she had been twisted by her grief and fury. As I took a step forward, she turned suddenly, her eyes drilling into my soul. I could see her memories of the day she died. She was so happy to be seeing her husband again. He had been away on a business trip for a few weeks, and she was lonely in the house with only her child. She spent the whole day preparing, cleaning the house, preparing a meal fit for a king, even making herself sparkle and shine. She didn’t know what was coming. She didn’t expect her husband to walk in with another woman, calmly explaining that he was leaving her. She didn’t know he was bored with his life, and he needed something new. She snapped after he left. She took her life and the life of her child in the same violent manner that had been enjoyed by countless others before her. She came to this city as a spirit, and was now haunting the apartment in which her husband lived. She refused to leave this planet until he had felt the pain he caused her. Too bad it was my job to stop her.

    The spirit lunged at me, her nails growing into claws. Youko cut her off, ramming into the spirit’s side.

    “You never let me have any fun!” I laughed at Youko. She made a small sound then bounced out of my way. I charged at the beast as it regained it’s balance, drawing my daggers from my belt. The spirit dodged all of my attacks, but this dance was the most enjoyable part. Lunging, stepping, backing up, lunging again. This spirit was too low level to waste my spirit on using my full powers. It was too dangerous out here, I never knew what I would run into. I had finally gotten one of my daggers stuck into the spirit’s arm. I had her pinned against wall, my Spirit Energy spreading from the dagger and into her arm, keeping her stuck there. I stared at her, watching her shriek and claw at her own arm. I was laughing at her pain.

    “Well done, Hotaru!” The voice behind me was undeniable.

    “Hello, Aiden,” I responded, “Come to watch me kill?”

    “Actually, I was sent after the same spirit, even though they KNOW I have no powers here. And you know the suicides belong with me in hell…”

    “Oh hell nah,” I shouted at her, turning around, “You are not taking this spirit! Zero sent me here because you guys took too long. She’s been wandering our streets for weeks, and NOW you want her!? It doesn’t work that way, baby.” I was screaming now. The demons and angels…they always waited until we weakened the spirits to jump in. Their powers didn’t work here, they needed us.

    “Well I just found out today! What do you expect!?” A shriek came from behind me, the monster was beginning to break free.

    “Tsuki, Youko, get on her!” I turned just enough to watch the foxes jump on, wrapping their tails around her legs and keeping her against the wall, “I’ll take care of that in a minute. For now, get out of here Aiden. This one’s mine.” She was watching me. She knew I only had one dagger, but I could use my Hidden Powers, she had nothing up here.

    “Fine, Hotaru. As long as you come drinking with me after!” I sighed. Aiden was always like this. Start a problem with me, then drink it off. I was lucky that she was one of the neutrals.

    “I’ll be done in a second.” I turned and stared at the demon, allowing my dagger to become longer, stronger. I smiled as I plunged it into the place where her heart once belonged. As I twisted, I felt another pair of eyes on me, but that was to be ignored. The spirit twisted into my blade, shrieking as her body became smaller, twisted, attached to the end of my blade. I opened the currently empty Spirit Bottle and dropped the creature inside. Youko and Tsuki sat in front of me, I could see their smiles as well. My little Spirits…so lovely, enjoying her pain.

    “Let’s go,” I said, turning back to Aiden, “Coming, Riko? I know you could use a drink after watching that.” He jumped down in front of me, a pout on his adorable face.

    “How did you know!?” He begged with the distinct whine he always had in moments like this.

    “I always know, sweetie. You’re not very good at hiding your Energy.”

    “Well I’m usually in Heaven…” He hid his wings then, not wanting to attract attention. We walked off like that. Aiden, the dark demon. Riko, the bright angel. And me, Hotaru, the once-human assassin. Any of the other angels or demons would have snapped at this site, but I put a shield over our spirit energy so they wouldn’t sense us.

    My name is Hotaru. I’m an assassin, working for anyone that will pay me enough. My Spirit Foxes, my companions, Youko and Tsuki, are the ones that give me my power. At this point, we were stuck in the middle of a war. But you can’t understand my part in the war without understanding me…