In the 14th year of the Tenpo era (1843), life in Edo is grim for many; famines plague the land, frugality is enforced in many aspects of life, and social standing rules the day. Yuki is a floater who has twice run away from the floater ghetto - an act that has marked him for execution. But when a chance encounter leads him into a fight with a yoi, a mysterious monster from another world, Yuki finds himself being recruited into the Bansha Aratamesho, an organization charged with hunting down and destroying yoi. For Yuki has the power of ayagami, which draws out the true meaning of words and allows Yuki to create weapons from the kanji in the names of his enemies. Yuki must make a choice: will he continue to run, rejecting the powers of the Other World, or will he join the Ayashi in the fight against the yoi?