"Figures," Akira commented with a frown, when Akio tried the door only to discover it was locked. Had the owner of the apartment actively attempted to make it [i]more[/i] difficult for them to conduct their extermination, or had this been done by the grudges? Or was it an effort to keep something inside that hadn't been thought through?

The deceptively boyish young lady's thoughts were interrupted when she noticed inky darkness oozing out from around the frame of the door, looking almost like strands of hair.

"Akiraaaa, there's something [i]really[/i] nasty beyond that door...!"

"I don't need you to tell me that!" she hissed at the spirit as her grip tightened on Hanamaru's hilt. With each thud on the door that followed, her body tensed just a little more. She narrowed her senses, focusing entirely on the very moment the door would open. Her left foot slid slowly back as she lowered her stance, eyes fixed firmly on the rattling door.

And then it exploded off of its hinges. Greasy black hair pooled on the floor, like pools of oil, as gangly pale limbs exploded through the air and lashed out towards the assembled attuned.

In the very same instant, Akira leaped back. In the very same motion, Hanamaru left its sheath, a sliver of moonlight cleaving through the air.

Then she landed two meters back.

Alongside her fell one of the pale limbs, trailing almost-black blood before hitting the ground, twitching and writhing. Drawing her blade and swinging in the same motion was practiced technique, one she had done plenty of times before. And this opponent was not trying to protect itself in the least.

Akira had known her strike would be successful the moment the door had been torn from its hinges.

"Blech, cutting through that felt awful!" came the spirit's voice with a loud complaint.

"Oh, please!" responded Akira, irritated as she sized up the grudge. Its form, or at least what could be seen of it, was a mass of vaguely feminine pale arms, surrounded by enormous amounts of stringy, greasy black hair. All of it looked slightly damp, and each of the hands sported chipped and cracked nails, some entirely uprooted.

"Don't tell me this sword hasn't cut plenty of grudges since you decided to possess it, this isn't even the first one I've faced since I started wielding it!" she continued in frustration. There were no obvious points of attack aside from the limbs.

"That doesn't mean I like it!"

Another limb lashed out towards her.

If that was how it was, then she'd have to start cutting. They all would.

This time she swung the blade upwards from a low stance, advancing in the very same moment. She caught the hand between the middle finger and the ring finger and parted it neatly up the middle until she reached the elbow, splattering black ichor to the ground.

[@PKMNB0Y][@Silverpaw][@Vertigo]