Yurui The Cursed One

I drag in enough air to call her name, but all that comes out is a wet cough.

The woman crouches, her head tilting. “Wow.”

That voice.

Just hearing something so painfully familiar again sends a sharp ache through my chest, and for once, I know it has nothing to do with the broken ribs.

She leans closer. “You look like shit.”

I stare at her. She stares right back. We keep it up for good thirty seconds or so until she taps the side of her mask.

“Come on. You’ve got nothing to say to an old friend?”

I force the first sound out.

“V...”

Blood rises in my throat, and I cough. It spills from my mouth and darkens the sand between us.

Her smile disappears. “Ah.” She goes very still. “Yeah. Maybe save the dramatic reunion until your lungs stop leaking.”

Her voice lacks its usual confidence, which is not very reassuring.

She sits down beside me without warning or explanation, just lowers herself into the sand, stretches her legs out in front of her, and looks toward the horizon.

I cannot stop staring at her.

This has to be some kind of hallucination. There is no fucking way this is real.

The desert wind moves through her hair. I know the shape of those side tails, the way she sits, the tiny, impatient bounce of her heel against the ground.

Fuck. It really is her, exactly how I remember, down to the smallest stupid details.

She glances my way.

“So.” Her voice is casual. Almost bored. “You still go to that fancy school?”

I blink. The question catches me completely off guard. Of all the things I expected her to say, that was not one of them. I try to answer, but all I can manage is a weak shake of my head.

After a few more attempts, each one little more than a useless gasp, I finally manage to force the words out.

“No.” The word comes out as little more than a rasp. “Different one now.”

Her eyebrows rise above the mask. “Oh?”

I nod. “Miracle Academy.”

She whistles. “Look at you.”

I almost laugh. It turns into another cough, and she glances over.

“Seriously?”

I cough into the sand. “Apparently.”

A small laugh slips out from behind the mask. “Miracle Academy. Never would’ve guessed.”

I manage to glare at her, which only makes her laugh again.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. Last time I saw you, you still looked ready to bolt every time someone said hello.” She pauses, head tilting. “Actually... you still do that?”

I try to answer. Blood bubbles into my throat and turns the words into a wet gurgle before something warm runs from the corner of my mouth. I look down at the blood dripping into the sand between us.

Right. Almost forgot about that.

She gives me a moment to catch my breath before asking, “How is it? The new school, I mean.”

I stare up at the stars. There are so many of them tonight. Too many. The whole sky looks washed out.

“Hell.”

Her fist slams into the sand.

I flinch.

“What the fuck, Yurui?” She whips toward me, and before I can react, the fox mask is inches from my face. “You know better than that.”

I blink. “Than... what?”

“Letting people fuck with you.”

I look back at her. The amusement is gone from her face, and a quiet unease settles over me.

“What?”

“I’m serious.” She taps one finger against the side of her mask. “Tell me who’s causing problems for you.”

A laugh rises in my throat, but the pain in my ribs stops it before it can come out.

“And what exactly are you going to do?”

“Take care of it.”

“Right.”

“I mean it.”

And annoyingly enough, she does sound like she means it.

“Violet, you can’t just stroll into Miracle Academy and start threatening people.”

“Why not?” she asks, almost pouting.

“Because they have security? And teachers? And probably enough high level Blessings in one building to turn you into paste?”

“Mm.”

“That was not a joke.”

“I know.”

I stare at her.

She leans back slightly. “I’m tight with the boss.”

“What boss?”

“The boss boss.”

I blink. “Oh, of course. The boss boss. How could I possibly not know who the hell that is?”

“I’m an executive now.”

I wait for the punchline.

She just looks at me.

A few seconds pass, and then I laugh. I cannot help it. It is the stupidest thing I have heard all night, and less than five minutes ago, a giant monster looking dude crushed half my skeleton.

“Executive of what? A lemonade stand?”

Violet shakes her head. “Nope. There’s this nice little group of guys doing all the robbing, smuggling, extortion, that kind of thing. Practically own the whole fucking desert.”

I stare at her.

She continues as if she has just described a local gardening club. “Anyway, I got recruited. The boss man liked me. One thing led to another, and now I run my own crew.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Her eye narrows behind the mask.

I cannot help myself. “I just have a hard time picturing it.”

“Picturing what?”

“You. Managing actual human beings.”

Violet straightens. “Excuse me?”

“I remember you barely being able to function without me holding your hand every step of the way. Anything requiring even an ounce of planning usually ended with something broken, the police involved, or me desperately trying to talk us out of whatever mess you had created.”

“That happened, like, twice.”

“It happened constantly.” I study her for a moment. “Honestly, I wouldn’t trust you to walk a dog by yourself without somehow ending up in police custody. So yes, I have some trouble picturing you leading actual humans.”

She sighs. “You really know how to make a girl feel appreciated, don’t you?”

“I’m serious. You were terrible at making decisions. And managing anything.”

“That is not true.”

“Remember the time you—”

“Hey!” She points an accusing finger at me. “No digging up ancient history. That’s cheating.”

I stare at her. “You tried to—”

“Yurui.”

The warning in her voice only encourages me.

“That one time you decided to start a black-market pawn shop specializing in stolen goods. The first thing you tried to sell was a watch, and somehow you ended up pitching it to the exact same guy you stole it from.”

Violet goes still.

I keep going. “And to make things even worse, the guy was a cop. You got lucky that he only wanted his watch back and didn’t pursue it any further.”

“Hey! Hey, hey, hey! That’s not fair!” She cuts in immediately, pointing an accusing finger at me. “You cannot seriously expect me to memorize every single person I’ve stolen something from. Do you have any idea how many people that is?”

I stare at her.

She barrels on. “And it’s not like I spend time studying their faces. Most of the time, I’m taking things from behind them. Or from the side.” She pauses, apparently considering this. “Very rarely from the front.”

Then she folds her arms. “So really, that whole thing was an honest mistake.”

“Um-hmm.”

“Let’s not pretend it was entirely my fault. You said it was a smart idea to take the market into our own hands.” She jabs a finger at me. “You agreed to it.”

“Yeah, because it made sense. Most of the expensive stuff sitting in pawnshops around the slums had been ‘nabbed’ by you in the first place. At that point, selling it back through them was basically self-sabotage. We lost a cut while they built their businesses off our work.”

Violet’s smile grows brighter. “You see?” She leans back, looking absurdly pleased with herself. “You were in on it too.”

“No, I wasn’t. I don’t remember ever telling you to steal a watch from a cop and then try to pawn it back to him on our opening day. We did not just crash and burn on the spot. You turned us into the laughingstock of half the slum.”

Her smile deflates, and I cannot help the small one that tugs at my mouth.

“Good times.”

Violet nods. “The best times.”

For a few seconds, neither of us says anything. I find myself looking at her again- the same mask, the same ridiculous confidence, the same little mannerisms I had spent years convincing myself I would never see again.

She is exactly as I remember her. And somehow, that only makes it hurt more.

Violet reaches over and taps my forehead with one finger. “You always did this.”

“What?”

“Got quiet.”

“I don’t—”

“You do.”

“No.”

“See? You’re doing it right now.”

Despite everything, a tiny laugh escapes me. Pain immediately lances through my chest hard enough to bring tears to my eyes, and Violet’s smile fades at the edges.

“You know,” she says, quieter now, “I really could take care of it.”

I look away. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious.”

“Sure.”

“I am.”

“As if you could just walk into Miracle Academy and start causing trouble. They do have security over there, you know.”

“I told you. Executive.” She points a finger at herself as if that is supposed to impress me.

“Right. And I’m supposed to take your word for that?”

That gets a small laugh from her. Then she leans closer, planting one hand in the sand beside my head.

“You were never this helpless.”

The words hit harder than they should.

I glare at her. “Excuse me?”

“The Yurui I knew would’ve raised hell before letting anyone put her through all this.”

She leans in farther, close enough that I can feel her breath against my mouth. Our lips are barely apart now.

For one drawn-out second, neither of us moves. My heart gives one hard, painful thud against my ribs.

The Yurui she knew.

Memories come rushing in.

Thirteen-year-old me. Angry at the whole world. Spending half an afternoon trying to convince Violet to release some poor bastard she had robbed five times in a single day because, apparently, by the fifth time, she had grown attached and decided she wanted to keep him.

As a pet.

The poor bloke had looked one bad breath away from pissing himself. It took me hours to talk her out of it.

That was always how it worked between us. I was the rational one. The brain. She was the muscle. The walking disaster. Together, we were invincible.

Or at least we thought we were.

My chest tightens. The Yurui you knew is long gone. This cruel fucking world tore her apart years ago and left... whatever the fuck I am now. Like it or not, you had a hand in that too.

I draw in a breath, ready to finally give her a piece of my mind.

Violet beats me to it. She closes the distance, bringing her face inches from mine.

Her mouth presses against mine.

My brain freezes.

Before I can so much as process what is happening, her tongue slips past my lips.

I do not resist. Somehow, I do not even try. I just let it happen, staring up at stars I don’t even like while my face burns so hot I am genuinely concerned I might melt straight through the sand.

What the fuck?

What the actual fuck?

A few seconds later, Violet finally pulls away. She sits back on her heels and wipes the corner of her mouth with her thumb, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

“How’s that for a greeting?” She tilts her head. “Or maybe a return gift?”

I continue staring.

Her smile widens. “Come on. I figured I owed you something after bailing on you last time.”

I just lie there with my mouth hanging open like a fish dragged onto dry land.

Years of abandonment. Betrayal. Grief. Rage. Entire speeches I had apparently been rehearsing in the back of my mind all this time.

Gone.

Completely wiped out by one kiss.

Violet gives me a smug little look. “Still getting quiet, I see.”

My face somehow gets even hotter. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

The answer comes too quickly. Too confidently.

And the worst part is that I cannot even bring myself to argue.

“Aw, come on. It wasn’t that bad.” Violet bumps her shoulder lightly against mine. “I even brushed my teeth and everything.”

She pauses.

“At least I think I did.”

She did not.

I can tell.

Violet smirks, apparently reading the answer directly from my face. “Anyway, wanna go for round two?”

She gives me a quick nudge with her elbow.

Pain explodes through my ribs, and I fold in on myself with a strangled gasp.

“Fuck. Sorry.”

Violet immediately shifts away, giving me space. For the first time since she appeared, she seems to really take in the state I’m in. Her gaze moves over the blood soaking my clothes, the twisted limbs, everything the armor has failed to hide.

“Jesus, Yurui.” The last trace of her grin disappears. “They really did a number on you.”

I give a small nod.

“You know, if you need anything—”

I shake my head.

“Yurui—”

“Don’t.”

The word comes out sharper than I mean it to. She stops, and I look straight at her.

“I’m done being ‘Yurui’d’ today by people who betrayed me.”

Even with half her face hidden by the mask, I feel her expression shift.

“I didn’t—”

“You left.”

She goes quiet.

“You left me when I needed you most. You didn’t say goodbye. You didn’t leave a note. You just disappeared.” My throat tightens, but I force the words out anyway. “For years, Violet. For years, I thought you were dead.”

My voice cracks on the last word.

Damn it.

Heat gathers behind my eyes. “Do you have the slightest idea what I’ve been through? What I thought? What I felt?” My voice catches again. “You broke me.”

“Yurui, I can explain—”

I shake my head. “Not now.”

She goes quiet.

“I’m not in the mood for excuses. Honestly...” I look away from her, back toward the sky. “I’m not even sure I want to be talking to you right now.”

That lands hard. For the briefest moment, she freezes, and something sharp flickers in the eye behind her mask.

“You don’t mean that.”

There is something almost defensive in her voice now, but I shake my head again. For a while, neither of us says anything.

Then Violet leans back and looks up at the sky with me. “Fair enough,” she says, quieter this time. “You’re hurt. You’re angry. And you’ve got every right to be.”

One hand disappears beneath her coat.

I tense.

She rummages around for a second, then pulls out a small white device- blocky, gun-shaped, and completely unfamiliar. Before I can ask what it is, she drops it onto my chest.

I wince. “Fuck, Violet.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Then she rises and turns away. For a second, I just watch her go.

The moment it hits me that she is actually leaving, panic floods through me so fast I can barely breathe.

I force myself onto my elbows, every broken part of me screaming in protest. “Wait.”

She stops, and my eyes drop to the white device resting against my chest.

“What is this?”

Violet glances back over one shoulder, a small smile touching her face. “Nano-healing device. Courtesy of Miracle Inc.”

I stare at her as she taps two fingers against the side of her neck.

“Press it against a vein. One shot into the bloodstream and it’ll fix pretty much anything that hasn’t already killed you.”

Then she turns away again.

Something inside me drops.

“W-wait.”

My voice comes out thin and unsteady. She keeps walking.

“Don’t leave.”

Violet lifts one hand without looking back. “We’ll meet again.”

“No.” My voice cracks.

She slows.

“I promise,” she says, turning her head my way. “We’ll sit down somewhere. We’ll talk. I’ll explain everything.” Her voice grows quieter. “I have so much to tell you.”

I push myself higher despite the pain. “Then tell me now!”

She says nothing.

“Violet!”

Her shoulders tense beneath the coat.

“I missed this,” she says, the words almost lost in the wind.

I freeze.

“I missed you.” She keeps walking. “Fuck, Yurui, I missed hearing about all the stupid shit that happened to you every day. Sitting around for hours, trading stories till sunset.” A shaky laugh slips into her voice. “It’s been so long now, it almost feels like a dream. Like some distant memory from a past life.”

Her voice cracks.

That does it. The floodgates inside me finally burst.

“Hey!”

The shout rips through my chest. Violet stops.

Tears blur the desert until the stars smear together. “You’re seriously doing this again? You’re just going to leave?” My breath catches. “Just like that?”

She does not turn around.

I can barely see her through the water in my eyes, but one hand rises toward her face. For a moment, neither of us moves.

Then I hear a quiet whisper.

“Sorry.”

She walks into the darkness.

And this time, I watch her disappear.

I stay propped up for another few seconds. Maybe longer. Then my arms give out, and I collapse onto the sand, staring at the sky.

What the fuck just happened?

My heart will not slow down. Neither will my thoughts. The last few days come crashing through my head all at once—a blur of blood, faces, voices, pain, things I still do not understand, and things I understand far too well.

Too much. Way too fucking much.

The last few days feel heavier than the rest of my life put together, and somewhere along the way, my brain has simply stopped knowing what to do with any of it. I shut my eyes, then open them again.

The little white device is still lying on my chest.

Right. That.

I pick it up carefully. It is lighter than I expected, with smooth white casing, squared edges, and a narrow opening at one end. Almost like some expensive medical stapler. I turn it over in my hand, remembering Violet’s instructions.

One shot into the bloodstream. Heals pretty much anything.

My eyes drift toward the black armor covering my arms.

Well. The arms are out.

I bring the device toward my neck. Under normal circumstances, pressing an unknown Miracle Inc. needle into a major blood vessel would probably rank somewhere near the bottom of my list of intelligent decisions.

These are not normal circumstances.

My hand shakes as I press the device against the side of my neck. For one second, nothing happens.

Then—

Click.

A needle punches into my skin, and I flinch as something cold floods into my vein.

Oh.

That is—

The world explodes.

Energy tears through my body so violently that my back arches off the sand. Every muscle locks. My vision goes white. It feels as if a car has just plowed through me from the inside out.

I am pretty sure I am screaming my lungs out, but I cannot hear a single thing. All sound has vanished from the world, leaving only the violent pressure tearing through my body.

Then everything disappears.

When I open my eyes again, I am staring at stars.

For several seconds, I do not move. I am still in the desert. Still on my back. Still alive. That last part feels worth checking.

Slowly, I lift one arm.

No pain.

I stare at it. The black armor is gone, leaving pale pink skin stretched over an arm that, as far as I remember, was broken in several places not long ago.

I sit up carefully, bracing for pain that never comes. My ribs feel fine. My leg is straight again. Even my shoulder, which had been torturing me only minutes ago, moves without so much as a protest.

I sit there in the sand for a while, taking deep breaths and waiting for some hidden catastrophe to announce itself. Nothing does.

Then I look toward the horizon. Faint lights shimmer in the distance- Miracle City, probably. Honestly, at this point, they could be the gates of hell themselves, and I would still rather head that way than spend another fucking minute out here.

I push myself to my feet, dust the sand from my clothes, and start walking.

END OF ARC 2

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