"It seems the neighbors are here to greet us" liun said, releasing the blade from his grasp.

  There were 5 strangers at the door, backing away from him out of intimidation. The strangers all seemed to be teenagers, around the same age range as them.

  "We're sorry for ganju, she tends to do that to new people" a girl said stepping out of the crowd, her bright red hair making her stand out among the crowd.

  The girl who had swung her sword towards yui, now known as ganju, resheathed her sword, tho she seemed to be sending a strange look towards Malik upon noticing him.

  "Okay, good for her, doesn't explain what the fuck's going on though" Malik said, weapons still raised though he was slowly lowering them, he hadn't noticed the look he was getting.

  "Oh we're your neighbors, we just came by to see the new squad that settled in that's all" The redhead explained, a smile on her face, her eyes were almost as red as her hair which was held up in a ponytail.

  "Wait, all of you live here?" Yui asked. "I thought you said this place was supposed to be temporary?" She asked liun.

  "That is what I was told" liun answered.

  "Since you guys are so new here, I just wanted to let you know that we're having a party on the roof while the conductors are away, and we wanted to see if you guys wanted to join." The redhead said.

  Her smile widened at the silence that followed as looked at the two boys, still coiled for a fight.

  "Well we'd love to" yui said before being pinched on the arm by Malik. "What?"

  "Sorry but we don't party with strangers you're gonna have to check back with us some other time." The dark skinned boy said.

  The redhead wasn't looking at him tho, her eyes were shut, as if she was thinking. "Oh yeah, I guess you would be hesitant huh? We're division twelve. My name's rissa" she said.

  "Yes well, thank you for the invitation however it's imperative that we as sin hunters get some sleep" liun said, politely declining before Malik could say anything.

  "Yeah well, good luck with that"

  "What do you mean?" Liun asked the girl, to which she promptly answered.

  "This party's likely gonna be going on the whole night so I kinda find it hard to believe you'll get sleep. Plus, you're new you don't have the wifi code yet.. or a tv. So you guys can just sit down here in boredom I guess" the redhead said, which was more than enough to convince yui and Malik to at least see what was going on up there. Liun on the other hand...

  "What is... A tv?" He was ignored as his two teammates left the room and followed behind rissa as she started walking off.

  ---Meanwhile---

  Two teenagers walked into an alleyway. A boy and a girl.

  The alley was narrow, the walls slick with rain and the faint neon glow from the streets spilling over. The boy's hand brushed hers as they stepped deeper inside.

  "So... are you sure no one's around?" the girl asked, glancing over her shoulder. She laughed nervously, tugging him closer.

  "Positive," he said, voice low. "It's just us."

  The air felt heavier the further they walked. The boy stopped for a moment, tilting his head. His pupils glowed white for a second before returning to black.

  She didn't notice. She leaned against him, brushing her lips against his shoulder.

  "You feel kinda hot" she said

  He blinked, trying to shake the sensation off. "Uh... yeah, must just be pretty hot tonight."

  But it wasn't hot at all. The night was rather cool.

  Tiny cracks of blackened liquid snaked along the boy's veins, invisible beneath his skin.

  The boy placed his lips against hers, his veins bulging black.

  The girl pressed closer, completely oblivious to what was going on. That is until she felt a long inhuman tongue go in through her mouth and down her throat.

  The girl struggled, writhed, did her best to pull herself off of him but he did not let go.

  The boy revealed his white pupils and black sclera as his tongue snaked all the way down from her throat into her windpipe, completely blocking off her airways.

  5 seconds passed

  10 seconds passed

  20 seconds passed.

  Before long the girl collapsed, dead and the boys long tongue slithered back into his mouth.

  "Damnit!" The boy said with an annoyed yell. "This stupid damn demon. The one thing I wanted was to get laid but this stupid damn demon power's getting in the way! I should've never made that damn contract. If I can't find someone who can take it then I'll never get laid" the teen said annoyed.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Suddenly a plastic cup landed on his head from above.

  " The fuck was that?" The boy questioned before looking up.

  On top of the roof of the building next to him there were three girls laughing on a railing. It looked like some kinda party was going on.

  He smirked, how convenient.

  ---Meanwhile---

  Yui, Malik and liun followed rissa and division 12 onto the top of the building.

  The place was packed with people, way more people than they expected. The music was loud and the people were many

  "Woah, how many people are up here?" Yui asked, the bass thudding through her chest as she stepped fully onto the roof.

  "Enough," Rissa said easily, weaving through the crowd like she owned the place. "Conductors are off-site, they won't be back for a while. Everyone pretends to be responsible for the first hour, then it turns into... this."

  This was chaos.

  Strings of cheap lights were zip-tied to antenna poles. Folding tables sagged under mismatched bottles and plastic cups. Someone had dragged out an old couch that looked very close to collapsing. Music blasted from speakers that were definitely not rated for rooftop use. Laughter, shouting, clinking cups-too many heartbeats packed into one place.

  Malik's eyes flicked everywhere. "This is a terrible idea."

  "Relax," Rissa said. "Worst thing that happens is someone pukes over the edge."

  "Yeah because that's the worst thing that could happen with a bunch of hormonal teenagers rubbing up against each other," Malik muttered, sarcasm pretty obvious.

  Yui was already drifting, eyes wide, curiosity winning over caution. "Do people do this often?"

  "Only when supervision disappears," Rissa replied. "So, often enough."

  Liun stayed quiet, scanning faces. Alot of the people here were unarmed and defenseless. The few that were armed didn't seem too strong.

  "I don't see how this is allowed. Shouldn't you as junior division members follow your conductors orders?" The blue eyed boy asked the redhead.

  Rissa laughed. "Ha you're cute. There's nothing wrong with having a little fun now is there?"

  "I... don't see how this is fun"

  "Pfft, bummer"

  Almost on cue, someone grabbed Yui's wrist. "Hey! You're new, right? Come try this-no idea what's in it but it burns."

  "Make sure you come back alive. Or dead, I don't really care." Malik said as he watched her being dragged away

  "Aren't you gonna help me!?" Yui asked her squadmate, already being pulled away into the mass of bodies.

  "No"

  Another group bumped into him, someone spilling a drink down his sleeve. He recoiled instinctively, hand going to his weapon.

  "Whoa, easy!" a guy said, hands up. "Didn't mean it."

  "Didn't mean it my ass" Malik muttered before exhaling slowly. "...I need a drink."

  Liun turned to look for Malik, then Yui. Both were gone.

  Rissa noticed. "Happens every time."

  "You planned this," Liun said flatly.

  She shrugged. "Not everything's a trap."

  "That wasn't an answer."

  Rissa grinned and stepped closer, voice raised just enough to cut through the music."So, tell me, what's your origin story?"

  "Origin... Story?"

  "Yeah, why are you the way you are. You seem like you've got a pretty interesting story behind ya" the redhead said.

  "... Are you drunk?"

  "Whaat? No.... Okay maybe just a little bit." She answered.

  "Is that legal in this country? How old are you?" Liun questioned her.

  "Old enough" the girl laughed. "Why, you the fun police or something?"

  "I'm not an officer of the law, I'm a junior sin hunter like yourself." The boy said, not understanding

  Rissa chuckled, leaning closer, a sly smile on her face. "Relax, I was just messin' with ya."

  He took a half step back, creating some distance between them. "Right."

  "Want a drink?" Rissa offered.

  "No I'm fine."

  "Except you're not. No one here is fine," she said. "That's kind of the point of the party. To make everyone forget that by the time their training is up, they'll go out on the field and most likely die" her tone didn't drop from the way it had been before.

  She grabbed him by the arm and led him toward the edge of the roof, away from the densest part of the party. The noise dulled, replaced by the distant city hum below. Someone sat nearby with their feet dangling over the side, smoking and staring into nothing.

  Rissa leaned on the railing. "So. You're Chinese, I assume?" She said, gesturing towards his choice of attire, he was wearing a blue tang suit. Despite the fact that he was about to head to bed

  Liun folded his arms. "Yes, I was transferred here for safety during my training period because of the alliance between the hinomoto anti-sin division and the onmyo corp."

  "Yeah, I know. It's not exactly some big secret or anything, everyone knows china is too dangerous a place to train juniors in. Infact there's a couple others up here too in the same circumstances"

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, alot of good friends of mine. Sucks I'll never see them after the training period is over"

  He studied her for a moment. Bright red hair, tied back loosely. Relaxed posture, but not careless. A bubble wand on her hip, nestled between her shorts and blouse

  "You're junior division twelve," he said.

  "Yep."

  "You don't act junior."

  She laughed softly. "You don't have the right to say that."

  Liun didn't respond.

  Rissa glanced back at the party. "First night's always weird. Everyone trying to figure out where they fit."

  He hesitated. "...How long have you been here?"

  "Four years. Almost graduated. Can't wait" she said the last part with sarcasm

  Liun's grip tightened slightly on the railing. "Four years...that's longer than most junior divisions last."

  Rissa smirked, swirling her drink absently. "Yeah, well. Guess I'm just special." The girl said.

  Meanwhile

  Malik sat slouched in a folding chair near the edge of the roof, plastic cup sweating in his hand. He hadn’t taken a sip. He wasn’t planning to. He had mainly spent his time here ignoring everyone around him.

  Next to him sat ganju, the girl had short dark brown hair, a fair complexion and she was wearing a T-shirt with a skull and bones on the front.

  Malik was annoyed at the person sitting next to him. Earlier she had drawn her sword against them and now she seemed like she was ready to do it again. Her sword was in it's scabbard on her back in a way that could not be comfortable.

  He grumbled at her being there.

  She glared at him, like she was reading him, figuring him out. Or at least trying to.

  She didn't say a word as she took her blade out of its scabbard and placed it on her lap sitting back.

  Malik had absolutely no idea what that was about. But he wasn't planning on getting caught off guard anytime soon.

  He pulled out his own weapons from their holsters, holding them tight. This girl put him off but he could not tell why.

  Yui, on the other hand, was already regretting every choice she'd ever made in life.

  The drink burned exactly as advertised. It tasted like cheap alcohol and something citrus-adjacent that had no business existing together. Her eyes watered as she coughed, hand slapping against the table for balance.

  “Oh wow,” she wheezed. “That’s- that’s awful.”

  The girl who’d handed it to her laughed. “Right? You get used to it.”

  “I don’t think I want to.”

  “Too late,” someone else said, clinking their cup against Yui’s. “Welcome to the building."

  "Yeah." Yui replied. Sure she was dragged here against her will, but she wasn't gonna complain. She hadn't always been the partying type of girl, usually when she went to party's she just sat at one side of the room and talked to her friends/ whoever talked to her. Parties tended to be a boring experience for her. Not like she even got invited to many parties anyway.

  This one however felt kinda different, like it could be fun. She was having fun right now at the very least.

  Yui wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve, still blinking away the sting in her eyes. The burn settled in her chest, warm and heavy, spreading outward like she’d swallowed lava.

  Someone shoved another cup toward her. “Different one. This one’s sweeter.”

  The music changed. faster now, bass crawling up her spine. People were laughing louder, bodies closer, the roof swaying just a little bit, did it normally sway? Someone bumped her shoulder and muttered an apology that dissolved into a laugh halfway through.

  She took a sip.

  …Yeah, okay. That was better.

  “To not dying tonight,” someone toasted.

  “I’ll drink to that.”

  She drank. "Wait is this alcohol?" She asked, no one answering her question

  She quickly got her answer though. The alcohol didn’t hit her all at once. It crept in slowly, loosening the knot in her shoulders, softening the edges of everything. The music didn’t feel so loud anymore. The crowd didn’t feel so threatening. Every thought felt so far away

  Someone pulled her toward the dance space near the speakers.

  “Wait- I don’t-”

  Too late. Hands on her wrists, gentle but insistent, laughter in her ear. She stumbled, nearly tripped, then found her footing as the rhythm took over. Awkward at first, stiff and constantly bumping into people, but no one seemed to care. Everyone here was bad at it.

  She laughed again, louder this time.

  This was… fun.

  That was when it happened.

  A sharp, cold prickle ran up her spine. Like a pin pricked into her neck.

  Yui froze.

  She looked over in the direction of the door leaving the roof. Then suddenly she felt this urge, this incredibly powerful, uncontrollable urge to head down to the lower floors and kill something.

  It was weird she'd never felt like this before... Ever.

  "Where are you going?" The girl who was dancing with her asked as she walked away. Towards the door.

  As yui opened the door to go down, the girl followed.

  Malik stood abruptly.

  The folding chair scraped loudly against concrete as he pushed it back with his heel. He ignored the looks it earned him, ignored the music, ignored Ganju’s eyes snapping up to follow him.

  “I’m done,” he muttered.

  He downed the rest of the drink in one go, not because he liked it, but because he hated wasting things and set the empty cup on the railing harder than necessary.

  Malik pushed through the crowd, shoulders squared, irritation rolling off him in waves. He reached the stairwell door and paused, glancing back once.

  Before eventually opening the door and walking through.

  Rissa was still beside liun, leaning on the railing, drink half-empty now.

  “You look like you’re about to bolt,” she said.

  “I am,” Liun replied honestly.

  She blinked, then laughed. “Wow. No hesitation at all.”

  “This is not an environment I should be in,” he said. “I am here to train. Not to-” He gestured vaguely toward the chaos. “-this.”

  Rissa studied him for a moment, the lazy grin softening.

  “Yeah,” she said quietly. “That tracks.”

  Liun turned toward the stairs.

  “Hey,” she added.

  He paused.

  “For what it’s worth,” Rissa said, lifting her cup in a half-salute, “you’re probably making the smarter choice.”

  “I know.”

  He left before she could say anything else.

  She watched as he walked through the door. And as she watched him enter the room on the other side, something had confused her, why was the stairwell so bright?

  She walked over and tapped on ganju's shoulder. Gesturing for her to follow.

  Ganju followed Rissa to the stairwell, her expression already tightening.

  Ganju seemed to be looking at her questioningly as if to ask why. Rissa stepped closer to the door Liun had just gone through.

  She grabbed the handle, turned, and pulled.

  And as she opened the door, she didn't see a stairwell, like there normally would be. She saw the laundry room.

  "What the hell?" Rissa turned back to ganju as if to ask, you're seeing this too right

  The other girl walked closer, just as confused.

  Rissa, picked her bubble wand out of her pocket, preparing to walk through. This was definitely the work of a sin ability, there was no doubt in her mind.

  And just like that, the girls walked through and the door slammed shut.