Liberi Reader

The yakuza pulls out a bottle of sake and pours two cups, while the woman known as 'Madame Oni' silently watches on.

Madame Oni lifts her head, the sake falling straight into her belly, but rather than a gentle warmth, a raging fire burns in her like a twisted knife.

The pain in her belly becomes a raging inferno that churns together with the fury in her mind, bursting its way out of her chest.

Unlike the chivalrous yakuza who walked against the flow, who knew right from wrong and believed in the justice she had always upheld, now, she has devolved into a vicious Oni, one who knows nothing but slaughter.

The Hannya in her hands can no longer be controlled by the great wisdom in scripture it is named for. All that is left is a frenzied fury that burns hotter than the face of Hannya, uncaring of former friendships.

It is a slow song. The moment the music starts, the crowd quiets down.

The singer has already belted out an entire concert's worth of songs, the beads of sweat running down her neck just barely perceptible, but she strives to keep her breathing steady, singing to the gentle violin.

Hoshiguma turns her head towards the perimeter of the crowd.

Peering over the heads of hundreds, no, thousands of fans, she is looking to spy a target before the target spies her—

Unfortunately, at that very moment, they lock eyes.

The Oni woman lifts her 'uchiwa' up high. It is only at this point that the young fan notices the cold glint of steel shining off it.

Before he even has time to react, he is pushed aside by some monstrous force. The tall Oni has barged past him, and now she is only a few steps away from the stage.

Amidst the surging crowd of fans, one is particularly excited. She lifts something up high, having done all she can to squeeze through the crowd to reach the stage.

As she muses, Hoshiguma inadvertently spots out the corner of her eye several men, very much not dressed like fans, heading towards the Kajimachi girl.

They don't look like plainclothes security either. She might even say they look more like... yakuza?

Just as they are about to grab hold of her, Momoka suddenly pulls her up onto the stage.

The fans, lost to hype, rush the stage, making the already-cramped venue even more impenetrable.

Up on stage, the sparkling idol cups her hands around her fan's.

As the girl leans forward, she loses her balance, stumbling into Momoka's embrace. Seeing her give one of her fans a big hug, the crowd goes wild.

Momoka turns to look at her backup band. The lead keyboardist gives her a nod.

The venue lights slowly fade out.

But the darkness does not stop the crowd's fervent chatter. Hoshiguma takes the opportunity to haul herself up on stage, trying to leave the venue as fast as possible.

The lights turn on.

The two people up on stage look at each other with surprise, an unconscious man slumped on the floor between them.

As the crowd looks on, the one-horned Oni turns towards backstage, while Momoka huddles against the floor, shielding her head with her hands.

The lighting director cuts the lights, but it's no use. It only takes five seconds of silence before the venue devolves into complete bedlam.

Hoshiguma finds a perfectly unremarkable wall to sit down against. True enough, two police officers keep their eyes on the crowd, walking right past her without a second glance.

Most of the credit goes to the people she is sharing the wall with, a majority of them drunken office workers. Some of them lean against the wall to vomit, while others simply hunch over to puke onto the street.

As for those who want to entertain themselves in the entertainment district through means outside of alcohol, they appear as if on an infinite conveyor belt, a near-infinite supply of them on an endless loop.

She is pretty sure she saw this group of people walk past her not five minutes ago.

The radiant Momoka on stage is now just a young woman venting her frustrations, sniffling back tears before using one hand to lift her mask...

And her other to bring a bamboo skewer to her mouth, biting off a chunk of chikuwa to chew on.