He didn't see her coming
That was the first mistake
The second was thinking he could still walk through this city without someone recognizing his face
Shigure ducked too late the blade already slicing through his shoulder clean smooth practiced
The pain didn't even register just a flash of red and a jolt of heat through his nerves
He spun catching a glimpse of the attacker
Small lean fast as sin
A girl in black with a stitched-up blindfold covering both eyes
She moved like she didn't need sight
"Return the name you stole" she hissed
Shigure's grip on his sword tightened blood dripping down his fingers
"I don't even remember mine"
She vanished again
His instincts screamed he turned just in time to block her next strike with the flat of his blade
The sound of steel on steel cracked through the empty alley
He gritted his teeth
"Who sent you"
"I was born for this" she whispered "To kill the abysswalker"
The fight didn't last long
It couldn't
Shigure wasn't at full strength
And she was too fast too precise too broken
But when he disarmed her she didn't beg
She laughed
Low and cold like someone who wanted to die but refused to let go without making him pay for it
He stood over her chest rising and falling
Her blood mixing with his in the rain
Shigure looked at her then at the sky again
"How many more like you did they create"
She didn't answer
She was already gone