Journal Entry #1.4
I thought on what Shizuku had told me as I rode the hotel elevator up to the top suite, the gentle whir of machinery behind the walls oddly calming to me.
"They don't feel comfortable with you bringing either the cat or your "fiancé" with you. And since you're the only one they consistently listen to; that means you'll have to convince both of them let me and Ageha escort you instead."
After we had our little talk I thought it best to leave for Kesu's apartment before Himari woke up, she'd be the easiest to win over so I might as well get her settled first.
She wasn't as zealously protective of me when it came to Demon Slayer business. Not to mention the fact that dealing with both Himari and Kesu at the same time was both unwise and not an experience I wanted to repeat.
As I saw the floor indicator get halfway to the top I busied myself with checking the "equipment" I brought with me, the training I got from the other Demon Slayers put a heavy emphasis on always being ready for a fight.
My dagger was snugly sheathed and in my inner coat pocket, I'd grown rather fond of the little thing and it had served me well so far.
It sure as hell made me feel a lot more secure than the pistol in a shoulder holster on my right side.
The hours of drilling in reloading, shooting, and safety procedures had made me proficient in it, at least by normal standards, but I still much preferred my knife and my magic when. I even considered the gun more "dangerous", even though I logically knew that the opposite was actually true.
Speaking of magic, I thought before closing my eyes and focusing inwards.
I could feel my magic pulsing with my heartbeat like always. It had been growing little by little every day, but the others had cautioned that I would hit my limit soon enough. Light Ferry still had its familiar golden glow to it, I could sense the small amount I had put into the gun and knife on me.
I promptly took my hands out of my coat as the elevator doors finally opened and revealed the rather ostentatious marble hallway with pearly white pillars on either side.
"Now or never I guess…", I muttered as I stepped into the pristine hall.
***
"No.", Kesu folded her arms across her sizable bust as she gave me her unusually curt answer.
"You won't even hear me out on why I want to?", I scotched a little closer towards her on the couch, the same couch she had tried to stab me from I noted worryingly. I never wanted to make her that angry ever again, so I resolved to at least sooth her nerves while talked.
My young witch friend had practically carried me inside as soon as I rang the doorbell, an ecstatic smile framed by her peculiar silver hair that flowed down the back of her classic black dress. She'd made a pot of tea in advance as usual. In fact the entire room looked exactly the same as last time, the only difference to me being that I was now competent enough to see the various wards and traps she had set up.
Hard violet eyes stared into my brown ones as she responded, "I don't care why, this is by far one of the most reckless things you've ever thought to do.", she reached over and wrapped a surprisingly strong arm around my middle and pressed herself to me. "You don't need to rely on them, Dear.", she said as she ran her fingers along my chest with her free hand. "We have our own ways of gathering information.", she'd made her voice a little huskier and was very obviously pushing her ample chest against mine in an effort to tempt me.
And I'd be a liar if I said it wasn't working very well, but meeting with Shizuku's group was too important to let her discourage me.
So instead of conceding I steeled my nerves and countered; "I know, and I'll tap them when they're available. But they aren't right now, are they?"
The twitches a bit at that.
"No, right now, they've probably been called in by the other Demon Slayers to try and find out about what happened in America."
Kesu's face becomes a full-on frown, "You shouldn't know about th-".
But I cut her off and keep going, desperate to maintain the momentum I have, "I have the opportunity to get from a more entrenched source right now." In a move surprising even myself, I pull her into my lap, desperately trying to ignore how soft she feels, before continuing, "I know you're worried about me, and you have every right to be; But please trust me on this, I'll even keep you updated on whatever I find out, okay?" Then I punctuate the ending with peck on the cheek.
That last part may have been a mistake.
Kesu blushes and huffs, but I notice she makes no move to get off my lap, before responding. "Alright alright: Why exactly do you want to speak to Shizuku's group?"
"...They want to tell me about a group of Yokai coming from America that also want to talk to me."
She just stares wide eyed for a few seconds before blinking slowly; one of her rare, and cute, flabbergasted expressions taking over. I think my reasons for going stunned her too much to get properly angry.
That didn't last long.
Kesu stands up from my lap and throws her hands up in frustration, "Fine, whatever!" She spins around and points one dainty finger right at my nose, "But I want an updated on everything they tell you as soon as you get back.", she said in an angry rush.
"Alright, I promise.", I nod my head and raise my hands in surrender.
"And I want you to give me and my contacts time to review any info you might act on.", she went on.
I hesitated a little before nodding my agreement; I didn't feel like arguing anymore and this was probably as good as it was gonna get with Kesu anyway.
I moved to get up and past her but stopped when I felt a strong grip on my wrist, turning me back to see that Kesu was looking at me with an angry pout. "Before you go, how about a Goodbye-Kiss?"
Her lips were pressed roughly against mine before I could even respond, her arm around my neck and the second grabbing my hair to pull me in deeper. And I tried pulling back... until she slipped her tongue between my lips. I don't know if it was magic or my tolerance for this was waning, but after that everything got a little fuzzy and hard to resist. I could taste the expensive lipstick she had on as she ran her tongue all over my gums and teeth before bullying my own reluctant organ, tilting her to the side to get in further.
At this point I'd wrapped my arms around her and was bordering on matching her enthusiasm; before forcefully removing myself from her. We separated with a pop, a thin string of saliva stretching and then separating from between our lips.
Kesus composed herself before I did and met my eyes, a smug grin on her lips, "Hmm~ It's been a while seen we've done that hasn't it, Yuto?"
"You know that I'm with Himari.", I say out of reflex in defense.
"Why not share us then?", she says in a conversational tone, even as her faces becomes increasingly deeper shade of scarlet.
It was my turn to be flabbergasted; any response I had dying on my lips after hearing the unexpected proposition.
"We've all already had you before. So just… think about it, OK?", She says while wringing her hands and looking to the side.
I open and close my mouth for a few seconds, feeling the blood rush up to my cheeks.
"Um, thank you for taking the time to listen to my suggestions Kesu.", I say, pointedly avoiding the sudden topic change, "I'll be sure to pay you back in full, after my business with the local demons is done of course." before rushing out of the hotel room.
I quickly shut the door behind me before leaning against the wall beside it and heaving a sigh. Feeling like a bit of a coward, I tried to focus on anything other than what Kesu had suggested as I walked away.
The wards around the entrance, and in the hallway, feeling weird as I passed over them was a good enough distraction as any. The closest feeling I can compare it to is the feeling of walking through a spider-web and feeling the silk catch on your skin.
Alarming and distracting, but not exactly unpleasant.
This was why wards, or even detection runes, were so hard to hide from anyone sensitive to magic; they naturally agitate the senses of any practitioner or Yokai. Thankfully though, the various and interconnected wards stopped near the end of the hallway, Kesu evidently feeling no need or simply not having the time to manage anymore of them.
I thought over how I would even begin trying to convince Himari as I took the stairs two at a time. She'd be much more stubborn than Kesu and I might have to get some help with her.
So focused was I on the impending argument with Himari that I barely noticed the quite rumble and flash of magic before the wall ahead of me exploded inwards with a flash of inky-black energy, the sudden and piecing sound nearly popping my eardrums. I was dazed and disorientated but I managed to pull my dagger out of reflex. With a hiss of pain, and resisting the urge to cover my ears, I readied myself for… whatever had just happened.
I didn't have to wait long; I could only see two wickedly clawed hands and a hairy, disfigured face. The rows of serrated and curved fangs looked entirely too big for it's maw; the rest of it either was surrounded by or made of a roiling mass of black smoke. The Yokai let out what sounded like a garbled mix between a snarl and a screech before rushing forward with surprising speed.
But not fast enough.
The second it had taken to try and intimidate me was just enough time for me to draw my dagger.
I ducked under the swipe of the creature's claws and took a swipe at it's hand when the thing tried to follow up with the other. The demon hollowed in pain as the dagger sliced through with little resistance, taking off three of its wrinkled claw like fingers. The creature retreated quickly, apparently more scared than enraged by the pain, and gave me exactly the opening I needed.
I backed up three steps up before reaching inside me coat and un-holstering the small pistol I'd infused with power. I let the firearm flare with an ominous golden light as I sighted on the creature's center of mass.
The Yokai's eyes went almost comically bug-eyed at the sight of Light Ferry activating, completely falling for my bluff. It let out a disturbing screech of fear before hurling itself toward the wall it'd come from. At first the dark cloud of the thing's body just spread over the wall, before rapidly seeping into it somehow. Only leaving an inky black smear on a patch of slightly cracked marble as any indication of its presence.
I stepped back and took a few deep breaths, trying came calming myself down; panicking wouldn't help me or anyone else. And I needed to be ready for if the, whatever that was, decided to show itself again; so, I waited kept my guard up, but couldn't see or feel anything besides the smear on the staircase wall.
It felt like an hour before Kesu finally arrived; even though the fight must have only lasted ten seconds or so.
"Yuto, what happened!?", Kesu yelled as she quite literally flew down the stairway, tome in hand and literally crackling with violet energy.
***
I strolled down the street and toward my house pleasantly surprised instead of frustrated; Kesu had taken what happened surprisingly well.
The demon, which I now know is called a "
Akashita", was one of the few she'd seen prowling around town in the past few weeks. She'd been planning on hunting some down soon but hadn't expected any of them to be so bold as to attack someone so close to her own home.
She'd given me a peck on cheek before going out to, "Take care of the rest.". I wasn't exactly reassured by the gleeful look on her face as she left; but decided to keep my mouth shut for once.
When I finally got back home, I spotted Shizuku watching me out of the second story window before moving out of sight, a little disturbing but nothing too out of the ordinary for her.
I open the front door and am immediately assaulted by the smell of freshly cooked pastries and tea. I practically rushed over to the kitchen; the stress of the meeting and short fight had made me extremely famished.
What I found was a small plate of scones, three in total, all of them looking freshly baked. And the delicious smell of tea was coming from a rather oriental looking tea set, with the main pot letting out plums of steam.
"Welcome home Yuto, how did the negotiation with the witch go?", Shizuku said from her position on the counter top, wearing a pink apron with a flower pattern over her usual semi-see through dress. She'd let her "true" long hair out again, I was starting to notice that she let it out more often these days but I couldn't figure out why.
"It actually went pretty well, all things considered.", I replied as before taking a seat at the table. "I convinced her that it was necessary to achieve my goals and she only asked for information in return. And a small favor she wants me to… think on.", I didn't waste any time in pouring myself a cup of tea and popping a cookie into my mouth. Taking a few seconds to chew and wash down the treat, "The only real thing of note that happened was when a small Akashita attacked me in the building.".
If i'd been paying more attention, I might have seen that the corner of Shizuku's mouth had twitched up at the mention of a "favor". But I only noticed her eyes widen at the mention of the attack in the stair way. "You were attacked? Why? Are you injured?", she was by my side and already trying manifesting some water to try and heal me.
"Don't worry about it, the demon was pretty weak and Kesu said it was just a wandering rouge.", I put my hands on her small shoulders and looked her in the eye. "No, what's important is that I've found out a way to convince Himari to let me go, and I need your help to do it."
She tilted her head to the side in complete confusion.
