"Woooow, this place feels like [i]death[/i]! It's [i]super[/i] creepy, right?"

The cheery voice emanating from the blade sheathed at her side offered little encouragement.

It wasn't as if she didn't feel it, too. Her only immediate response to the spirit's irritating comments was a heavy sigh.

So this was the apartment they were supposed to clean up.

It didn't take someone with finely-tuned skills to feel it, even a simple awareness of the spiritual nature of a location would let you figure out just why this place was apparently filled up with grudges.

Just what prompted so much violence here? The murders were seemingly unconnected from the details they were given, and yet they'd all occurred under such strange circumstances in a single apartment complex.

Maybe it was just her own experiences influencing her opinions. But even if she hadn't learned about the murders, she'd have been able to feel just how dense this place was with negative spiritual presences.

But someone just moving in probably wouldn't feel a thing. Or maybe they'd feel something was off, but not enough to turn them away from moving in.

"It's not like I need you to tell me that, anyone with even cursory knowledge of spiritual presences should be able to pick up on [i]this[/i]," Akira complained to the spirit within Hanamaru as she glanced around the pristine-seeming lobby, running her fingers lightly through her hair as she spoke, "I think you're right, Yatsujima-san. The building isn't the only thing that needs investigation."

"Oho~? You think the owner's shady huh? Why don't we just track him down afterwards and-"

"[i]Please[/i] shut up."

At least that seemed to put a stop to the spirit's blathering for the moment, though she could practically hear her pouting. Whose idea even was it to bind the spirit of some obnoxious yokai to this sword? Who thought that was a good idea? Back when Hanamaru was forged, it had to be when it wasn't uncommon for yokai to be enemies of humanity.

It certainly felt like this spirit was among that number sometimes. But who would think [i]that[/i] was a good idea?

Perhaps the spirit really was an ally of humanity. That didn't make her any less obnoxious.

One hand resting lightly on Hanamaru's hilt, Akira took a step forward, ahead of the others now.

"Let's go," she began, "The faster we clear them out, the less time they'll have to fester."

[@PKMNB0Y][@SilverPaw][@Vertigo]