At the end of the summer, Tsukinoko had gone to lunch with Haruo. On her way out, she passed the Academy and heard shouts of fighting, and decided to go and see what was going on, as the children didn't have school today. She made her way through the woods and came across a servant who seemed distraught and ran towards the source of the brawl. There, Midareta was on the ground as some thugs ran off after the man had come to fetch a little girl who was being bothered. Tsukinoko goes to see Midareta, worried when she realizes that he had been beaten up instead of her. She takes him home in her arms, and begins to treat his wounds as he wakes up.

  - Big sister... ? he mumbles, opening his eyes. It's been a long time.

  - How are you, little maki? What happened to him?

  Midareta explains that he had stood up for the girl in front of the thugs, and she is moved by his courage. She reassures him and suggests going for a walk to take his mind off things. He jumps on her back and shyly asks if he can have an ice cream, and they go off together to buy some.

  On the way, she passes Kimaru in military garb and waves to him from a distance before dropping Midareta in front of the playground, inviting him to go and play while she chats with her friend. He runs off with his ice cream and she watches him go. They hardly exchange a word when shouts in the park interrupt them.

  - Give me that, you moron!" cries a child.

  Tsukinoko goes to see what's going on with him. Midareta was facing the three thugs who tried to take his ice cream, before chasing him away with stones. Tsukinoko recognized the kids from this morning, who had probably come to bother her again. She hurried to help him, but Kimaru held her back.

  - They're children, you have to let them fend for themselves.

  - But...

  - By the way, isn't that the little demon?" he squints, puzzled.

  - Midareta," she continues.

  Tsukinoko tells him she knows him and used to be with him, while the children continue to argue.

  - Ouch... Stop!" Midareta yells.

  - Cretin!" laugh the children.

  - Go away, you monster!

  Midareta stands up to the stone-throwing but eventually falls backwards, shielding his face, and Tsukinoko can't stand their violence any longer and runs to save him. He sees Tsukinoko coming but catches a stone in the back of the head and turns away furious.

  - Stop it! I'll be Chief and you'll have to be nice to me!

  - Idiot!" they laugh, bombarding him again.

  - Hey kids- Ouch!

  Tsukinoko in turn takes a rock in the head without paying attention. She bends under the pain, holding her eye, taken aback, while the children start to panic at their stupidity.

  - Does it hurt...?" Midareta worried when he saw her.

  - It's nothing, Maki," she whispers. We're leaving now.

  She grabs his arm to leave, but sees blood in his hand and realizes they've cut his eyebrow open with the pebble. Blood pours into her eye and she can no longer see. Midareta is horrified and goes into a frenzy of anger at the thugs who have hurt her friend.

  - You did this!" he yells at the children.

  - Run for it!

  - Here we go!

  They take off running, but Midareta pursues them and manages to grab one by the hood. He throws himself at him and hits him hard.

  - Midareta stops! she panics.

  Tsukinoko arrives in a panic to hold him back with one hand. But he doesn't stop, enraged, and the other two children also start pulling to make him let go. Tsukinoko tries in vain to separate them, shocked by his strength as the three of them go at it, feeling a sense of oppression.

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  But Midareta pushes aside one of the children who runs into Tsukinoko in their uproar, and she falls backwards, never having seen him coming in the disconcerting panic.

  They stop suddenly, but Midareta goes mad with rage and fear when he sees her on the ground, bleeding without stopping. The children take the opportunity to run away, carrying their friend.

  For his part, Midareta begins to tremble with rage. A sudden blast sweeps across the field, knocking the children off their feet. Tsukinoko shields herself from the blast and the terribly uneasy atmosphere grips her. It's as if an evil presence has taken possession of the grounds.

  As she opened her eyes, an earthy chakra swirled around Midareta, who was on all fours in front of her, snarling like a wild beast at the children. The latter were stunned to the ground and didn't dare move. Before she could reach him to calm him down, the little demon pounced on them at full speed. With a flick of his hand, he sent them tumbling and she caught them in time with her chakra before they crashed into the gate at the other end of the field.

  - Midareta!" she shouts.

  Kimaru was trying to assimilate what was happening, it was all happening so fast. Midareta continued to growl, almost roaring with his chakra, towards the unconscious children. He turned abruptly to Tsukinoko. Her face had metamorphosed, she was horrified by his black eyes, which she recognized very well, and remained petrified. He advanced towards her, nose to nose.

  - G?me... she suffocates. Mi-Midareta!

  Midareta was being overtaken by the five-eyed demon Jackal. Tsukinoko couldn't react, overwhelmed.

  He finally stepped back and ran towards the children, but as he leapt again, wooden totem poles pinned him to the ground, biting his limbs to immobilize him. Kimaru, at the entrance to the park, had just launched his technique.

  Tsukinoko was stunned, no longer understanding the situation or how he could master it. Kimaru remains focused until Midareta calms down, eventually fainting as the excess demonic chakra dissipates. Calm returns and they can finally breathe.

  - I don't understand, the seal is supposed to prevent this," he bellows in shock.

  - Midareta... she sobbed in disarray.

  Tsukinoko wanted to get up to go and see him, but Kimaru locked the child in a wooden cage and calmed her down with a hand on her shoulder.

  - Are you going to be okay?

  - Yes... But- He- How...

  - I'll be back, keep an eye on them.

  He immediately disappeared, leaving Tsukinoko in a state of shock, and went to warn the Chief himself. They returned ten minutes later and Tsukinoko had gone to check on the children, who were still unconscious.

  - Tsukinoko, what happened?

  She stands up in front of Haruo, Kimaru, and two members of the medical team.

  - Take the children to hospital," Haruo orders the men. It's best if they have no memory of this incident.

  She pushes one of the doctors towards her and wipes her face with the back of her sleeve, so they leave with the three children. But Haruo becomes impatient after believing in a catastrophe and insists.

  - Tsukinoko!

  - What?! she screams. I don't know, isn't the seal supposed to fucking stop it?! she repeats. What seal again?!

  - Normally," he sighed. It's a good thing Kimaru was with you.

  Haruo goes to see Midareta and beckons Kimaru to cancel his prison. They come forward and wait for explanations, while Haruo checks the boy's stomach while he's still unconscious.

  - The seal is still there, but it seems to be weakening with time. And unfortunately, we don't have the key. I'll ask to apply a second seal over it to contain it, but he'll have to learn to manage his energy.

  - Perhaps we should have him monitored at the Academy? suggests Kimaru.

  - A good idea. The second seal should last a few more years. Tsukinoko, I told you to be careful with him," Haruo snaps.

  - But... she murmurs.

  - He got angry when they went after her, Chief," defends Kimaru.

  - Yet he'd never reacted like that before, despite the mockery he receives. He's too kind-hearted," he sighs. Tsukinoko, from now on you're going to keep your distance from him.

  - Never!" she snaps. He's already alone, you don't care about him, I'm not going to abandon him! Is he really the demon then? Like...

  Elle.

  Haruo stood up and thought for a moment. He didn't want to separate them either, but he understood that Midareta had reacted this way because someone dear to him was in danger, and had let himself get carried away. There was no choice but to leave Midareta alone to avoid another outburst. He turned his back on Tsukinoko to hold his ground and exclaimed.

  - Midareta will be entering the academy at the start of the new school year, directly in the class of those his age. In the meantime, you'll keep your distance without rushing him, and you will cut all ties when he enters, at the latest. You must be careful not to break the seal in the middle of Hanamaru. Isolating him and keeping him under surveillance at the Academy will be the best solution. Is that clear?

  Tsukinoko says nothing, furious, powerless. While Midareta is being treated in hospital, Kimaru returns to see her before leaving to reassure her and reveal the truth: Midareta had inherited her father's possession as a baby following his assassination, not to kill the Guardian, but to keep it under control, particularly her own.

  Tsukinoko wakes up at dawn, having spent the night terribly worried that little Midareta must keep this monster inside him, lost in her bad memories.

  To take her mind off things, she goes out hunting to enjoy the last days before autumn, and puts her bloody combat outfit to the wash. She puts on a tight-fitting black outfit and braids her hair to the side. Barefoot and bow in hand with a few arrows, she crosses the sacred Naka forest with Yukihyō, awakened from his sleep.

  The two of them head deeper into the forest, Tsukinoko crouching behind her head. They evolve for almost an hour before Yukihyō senses a boar ahead. He stops, pointing, and Tsukinoko hears him growl. She silently brandishes her bow, holds her breath. She releases her arrow perfectly still. It hits the boar right in the bull's-eye, and he immediately collapses.