The Looker.

The Looker’s half-melted eyes smiled brighter when Hitsuki looked in its direction. So much so that the flesh of his face fell off like melted cheese. But it smelled horrible, and the flesh burned anything it touched—stones and trees alike.

It twitched and turned, revealing the stitches all over its body. The long neck and twisted skin made it look as if it were wearing a human skin.

“Why… the heck did you not tell me before…?” Hitsuki froze in place.

“I-I… didn’t know that we were at the borders of the forest…” she spoke, her eyes closed. “No matter what happens, DO NOT STOP LOOKING AND DO NOT BLINK.”

She panicked, calmly. Her voice cracked while speaking.

“How the heck… can I not turn away from this thing…” Hitsuki gagged. His stomach turned.

“Only when you see a frown on his face can you stop looking.” She cried again. “Please… don’t die… I don’t want anyone else to be killed because of me…”

“Oh shut up you high-ranking princess in this shitty world!” Hitsuki yelled sarcastically. “I saw you crying since I came here! If I’m dying then I’m dying for myself, not because someone kills me!”

This was probably the first time someone had shown such disrespect to her, but her heart was still unsteady.

How can someone crack a joke when faced with a situation like this? She thought.

She looked at him in wonder. He was scared—of everything. He isn’t trying to hide it at all.

But Hitsuki was a human, and every human makes mistakes.

And every mistake had its consequences.

His eyes shifted for a microsecond at the Princess’s direction.

The moment his gaze returned to the looker, it was standing a pen’s length in front of him, breathing intensely over his face. It was happy, overjoyed, not for Hitsuki…

But for her, for the instant it closed up the distance between it and Hitsuki, it went inside Hanahoshi’s vision.

Hanahoshi let out a scream as the looker turned from Hitsuki to her. Hitsuki was spared for a few moments, but he could not rest.

He saw the growing anxious eyes of hers.

“That idiot… she will close her eyes if this thing gets too close.” Hitsuki panicked inside. “What can I do??”

His opportunities were closing up on him, but he knew he had to do something. He could not bear another gruesome death in front of him.

“I carried you for two hours. Don’t you dare close YOUR eyes now…” he mumbled. But it didn’t seem like she was listening.

*****

The blank eyes stared intently at Hanahoshi, enjoying her panicked eyes as it hoped she would break eye contact.

That’s when it felt a light thud on his back, followed by three more.

“Take that!” Hitsuki muttered as he threw another rock at it, hoping to distract it from her.

It looked at him, twitching uncontrollably, while Hanahoshi looked even more horrified than before.

“Look!” Hitsuki cheered up a bit. “He is frowning!”

“T-t-that’s not a f-frown…” Hanahoshi felt her heart drop. She could hardly form speech. “It is angry…”

It was about to charge at him, but it had to stop before it made a move. He went away, not facing those human intruders.

For Mother Hannah was calling, and none cannot but answer her call…

*****

They fell down on their back the moment it went away. They didn’t know what had happened, but they were glad. That thing won’t go after their lives.

Just like the blood moon appeared erratically, it went away in the same manner as they enjoyed their little victory.

But only for a moment, before Princess Hanahoshi connected the dots.

She darted up, all panicked again.

“Are we near the sea?” She asked, panic-stricken.

“Probably.”

“We need to,” she jumped up. “NOW! BEFORE ANYONE FINDS THAT WE WERE HERE!!”

“Why?” Hitsuki asked.

He got no answers. She hardly managed to pull him up as she panicked.

“You don’t understand anything.” She replied. “If they found us near the taboo island, we would both be executed.”

“Again with the executions…” Hitsuki got annoyed.

“We have to make a run for it!” Hanahoshi replied, already darting out of the cave into the dense vegetation. Her body was covered in mud as sunlight from the suns shone over the morning horizon. “Hurry!”

Well, at least running was better than getting looked at by a creepy stalker.

Hanahoshi felt comfortable enough to grab his hand, guiding him through the woods that she seemed to know a lot about. Well, they were comrades in arms who survived the blood moon, after all.

He sighed a breath of relief. The forest looked more beautiful without the ghosts.

*****

It had been a few hours since they reached the other side of the forest.

Both of them were overjoyed. They could finally see the bright sky.

“Woah…” Hitsuki gasped in amazement. “Five suns??”

But that would be the end of his amazement.

And for Hanahoshi as well.

He heard something cutting through the wind. The sound pierced his ears.

Then it pierced his flesh. Blood splattered all over his body. It gushed out like a fountain from his forearm.

He looked up, seeing not one, but thousands of them lunging in his direction.

He looked at Hanahoshi, terrified. But she had the same face.

The seven suns filled the horizon, but the sea of arrows he saw looked like stars among them.

He couldn’t feel anything yet, and not until a couple more seconds.

Unluckily, that would be enough time for the arrows to pierce his whole body.