51. To Satisfy A Maiden
Miss Kodoku’s voice is a low purr, “You know, pretty girls shouldn’t hide〜.”
Under the light of stars and street lamps my anger gets blown out like a candle in the wind, by this girl-obsessed beauty that looks too much like a model to be real.
Whatever retort I had catches in my throat and vacates my mind.
She’s too close!
I’m…
The first few buttons of her blouse are undone in this too perfect manner drawing attention to her slender neck. The soft scent of spring and green tea falls over me, sweet and bitter. Her scent. Long straight hair cascades past her shoulders.
Flush lips that part ever so slightly.
My heart races.
Is she going to kiss me again?
(⸝⸝0⸝⸝0⸝⸝)
No! Get it together Katsumi!
She has been super rude and dug into your personal stuff all stalkery!
What self respecting girl lets herself get treated like that? Guy! I mean guy… I’m a guy! Which makes this worse.
Remember you’re the son of a proud warrior clan, Katsumi!
She hovers so close.
A sultry whisper reaches my ear, “So cute…”
『—///ERROR///—』
I flick my gaze to the ground, to look at anything but the invitation of her eyes, seeing the rise of my own chest, the flare of my skirt and everything—so girly(!!!)—setting my mind on trajectory for another hard crash.
Even my ears are burning.
Finding some words at the bottom of my collapsing brain, I throw them at her hoping they resemble an angry bark, so she might retreat.
“I-I wasn’t hiding. I g-g-got like, injured…”
Yeah that was giving nervous school girl who is sightly annoyed.
Embarrassed I close my eyes.
I mean… I’m totally just resting them, who said I’m embarrassed or flustered? Certainly not me!
Miss Kodoku hisses coldly, “Let me guess—because of one of those rotten girls?”
Too far.
I glare.
She tilts her head back with a smug expression, “Thought so.”
"It wasn’t like that!”
She smirks.
“However it came to be, I’m glad to see you’re all well and recovered, Lady Kojou.”
Abandoning the intimacy of our closeness, she retreats, taking a few steps to pull from under the cover of a shadow a long wooden pole which she throws at me.
Bewildered I catch it at the last second.
It’s one of those wooden dummy weapons that still hurt like hell if you get hit but at least they won’t cut you, you only get the worst bruise of your life.
I notice the tapered curve at the end. So this is like a training naginata I guess.
With a glint in her eyes and a staff of her own, she challenges me, “You say they aren’t holding you back. Prove it.”
What!? She wants to spar with me? Like right here!? Right now!?
“Eh???”
She reaches back putting her hair in a ponytail.
“Not so certain after all are we?”
“Stop getting everything wrong. They’re… were my friends. They helped me.”
“Is that so? If you want to dissuade me from the impression, you better show me, because all I see is a hunter of pure conviction being dragged down and held back.”
She doesn’t leave me any time to react, sending the end of her staff at me at full force. Pure instinct has me blocking and stepping out of the way in one motion.
I feel the strength of her strike reverberating through my arms. This would’ve hurt a lot if it had hit me directly.
With me on the sidewalk and her on the gravel of the empty lot I stare at her.
What kind of lunatic is she!?
As if to answer the question she smiles and attacks me with two swift stabs, one high at my head, one low towards my left knee. I evade the first and block the second.
She is fast and shows none of the restraint Haruki usually does when training with me.
All her attacks carry enough force to injure, and these aren’t summoned weapons so healing magic is out of the question.
Kodoku twists and throws a sweeping arc at my midsection. I widen my stance, get a bit lower and deflect her swipe upward—blocking it head on wouldn’t have been wise. Directing the force of a strike away from oneself is the way to go.
With her wooden staff up high, I use the opportunity, readjust my grip and let my blunt wooden blade go for her center mass.
My strike misses.
She’s so freaking fast!
Her staff comes down catches my naginata, runs up the pole and hits my right hand.
『 OUCH!!! 』
I yelp.
The sudden pain has me closing my eyes against my will.
What comes next will hurt even more.
A split-second passes.
Instead of wood connecting with my chest, something soft and warm graces my cheek.
I blink.
『 ! ! ! 』
What…
Her face is closer than expected, hovering a few centimeters in front of me.
I feel the heat reaching my mine.
She kissed me!
On the cheek!
WHILE I HAD MY EYES CLOSED!!!
She bites her lip for a second before a grin splits her whole face.
“You’re dead, Lady Kojou.” Kodoku pirouettes to walk away, “Proving my point.”
A sweet little kiss.
My fingers find the spot.
She…
I shake myself out of my stunned state, my face still burning, and snarl, “Two out of three!”
“No.” She puts her staff into a bag on the ground. “I’ve already proven my point. My two fast stabs in the beginning had me open, but instead of pushing the advantage you held back. If this had been a real fight do you think your enemy would thank you for the grace? And it isn’t as if you’re blind to these opportunities. My wide arc, you did exploit. You have the knowledge. Yet you hesitated even there and then left yourself open. Were we expecting a barrier or a companion to save us? You hold yourself back, you lack aggression and you expect others to save you. It will get you killed. Don’t rely on others.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I’m not. Why hesitate? You appear to be studious and driven in other aspects.“
I haven’t been holding back.
Right?
RIGHT!?
She gathers the wooden polearm from me, stepping back into my space.
A mischievous smile dances across her face, “I think I’m owed a prize. I won after all.”
“That’s not right. It was over way too quick-"
“Whose fault is that? If you wanted a longer fight, you should not have let yourself be defeated so easily.”
“We never agreed on anything.”
With her chin held high, she looks down at me, “And yet I won.”
“What do you want?” I grovel.
“Don’t look so glum, Lady Kojou. I will ask only two small favors of you.”
“Okay?”
“First, I want us to address each other in a more familial manner. Please call me Miori.”
“Fine.”
“Secondly, go on a date with me.”
A DATE!?
Eh… she isn’t for real, is she?
I’m getting light headed.
The bag with the training weapon hanging off her shoulder in a casual manner, along with her slight head tilt has me so flustered it’s embarrassing. How can someone exude such confidence!? And why does that make me all weird!?
Flawless skin, a well defined jaw that the shadows seem to highlight together with the slope of her nose and full lips.
A girl like her… is… asking me on a date?
No, she’s making fun of me. This is some silly game.
She couldn’t possibly mean that.
Also, I’m not even a girl.
This girl-loving beauty should go out with another girl, not some crossdresser, this isn’t my place.
I cast my eyes towards the floor.
Not looking at her makes me a little calmer, but it doesn’t help against the fragrance toying with my nose—she smells so nice! Like yes, most girls smell nice, but whatever understated perfume or natural scent Miori has is intoxicating.
I shake my head.
“No, that wouldn’t be right.”
Soft fingers find purchase on my chin and a shiver races down my neck. She pushes my gaze up.
“Do you think it improper for two girls to go out? I remember the taste of your lips, you didn’t seem to object back then, so why now?”
“I’m not a…”
…a girl.
“You don’t have be to anything. I can be your exception. Yet I must say, to potentially one day see you in the arms of a man would break my heart. What a waste.”
Her thumb brushes across my lips and for a moment nothing in my mind works anymore.
I take a step back closing my eyes.
I’m burning up.
“Ok-kay. W-w-we c-can go on a date. B-b-but there are no obligations. And I’ve to say y-you’re kinda rude.”
“When have I ever been rude to you?”
“You-"
I stop.
Okay, fine, maybe technically she has only been outwardly rude to my 'brother' not me but: come on!!!
Miori begins walking off. She glances over her shoulder, “Aren’t you coming?”
“Hu?”
“Our date.”
“Right now?”
“Why wait and waste a perfectly good night.”
I follow.
“Where are you taking me?”
She grins, “To the only thing that would satisfy a maiden of pure convictions; a hunt.”
────୨ৎ────
When this night began I didn’t think it would come to this, that I'd somehow end up on a rooftop of an apartment building—Miori assured me we weren’t trespassing, technically—in a short skirt and stockings looking over the edge.
We took her car—another thing I never planned on doing, getting into someone else’s vehicle dressed as I am. But I can report I had the awareness to do the swiping my skirt thingy while sitting down, which I’m kinda proud of.
We are super high up.
The skyline of the city beyond appears so different from this perspective, the highrises looking like an odd rock garden with terrible vibes made from glass and steel.
Taking another peek over the edge, my arms wrap around myself all on their own.
Beside me, Miori places the small backpack she got from her trunk on the floor and summons her weapon.
My eyes go wide.
As the rainbow flash clears she holds a giant rifle in her hands.
What is that thing!? It’s huge! The muzzle break or whatever that thing up front is called is big enough to function as club!
“Woah…”
“It’s efficient. One shot, one kill.”
With trepidation I ask, “How… many shots do you get?”
“Two at full power, a third at half strength if I have to push myself.”
What kind of insanity is this? A ranged weapon that consumes more than one third of one’s mana in a single shot!?
What if she misses?
I stare at the giant rifle as she sets it down.
She pulls some kind of tiny three legged camping stool from her bag and gestures me to take a seat. I do and get handed binoculars.
“Down past the two buildings right there, between them you can see a bridge over the river. Do you have it?”
“Yes.”
“B-class. Sells diluted counterfeit medicine. Our mark has some sentimental connection with that bridge, frequents it with regularity. Often alone, minimal to no security detail.”
“Understood.”
“I need you to keep an eye on the perimeter around him when he arrives. Keep track of a potential second demon. Human body guards are of no concern but I need to know regardless.”
“Why are they of no concern?” I hear the nervousness in my own voice.
“We are too far away for them to do anything, but another demon if it were a spellcaster? I witnessed a hunter getting impaled by a Void Spear from a kilometer away.”
Oh what a relaxing date. (NOT!!!)
And here I thought the potential of having to wear an evening gown to visit whatever fancy restaurant Miori frequents and having to constantly worry that I'll get caught and exposed as a crossdresser would’ve been the more terrifying option.
Nope!
Why not hunt demons that carry the potential of getting impaled from a kilometer away!?
This girl is truly something else.
That something, for the record, being fucking insane!!!
I stand up and focus the binoculars on the bridge she pointed out.
In a wordless night, time becomes a lazy brook.
Below us the city exhales its usual cacophony of indistinguishable sounds.
We wait for quite a while in silence, but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable.
Movement.
Into the view of my binoculars steps a man with short bleached hair and a gaudy print shirt and suddenly the night is twice as bright, the noises of traffic swells, and the rank of AC exhausts fumes becomes unbearable. A familiar revulsion crawls down my back at the sight of this man and the fur on my tail stands tall.
〜FUR!?
〜〜TAIL!?
I whip around in panic to catch what I can glimpse of my backside.
Nothing.
I touch the crown of my head.
Nothing.
But that sensation right now…
I shake my head.
I definitely felt it.
Hesitantly I dip my awareness inwards to the channels Ouha showed me.
No ears or a tail. What a relief. But the nodes are there.
Wait, could I theoretically… what am I even thinking?
The energy running through those channels…
I’m brimming with mana!
I'm positively loaded!
It was barely there yesterday or any of the days before.
WTF!?
I peer down on myself.
Fuck!!!
So Chie was right.
This is so freaking stupid! What kind of joke is this!?
Miori abandons the scope of her weapon and glances up at me in confusion.
Oh, yeah, right. I’m helping Miori.
“Blond guy, that’s the demon. No other demons, the guy walking besides him is human.”
Her eyes study me with, I want to say suspicion, but she’s kinda hard to read so who knows.
“I know that’s the demon.” There is a pause. “You have the gift. You can sense them.”
I nod slowly.
Her gaze falls and she looks solemn, “I’m sorry. I know how one acquires it. My family used to have a ritual to force it. Not everyone came back.” She swallows. “So one demon? The tall man with him is human?”
“Yes. No other demons around him, and I can sense even the ones I can’t see directly. So… he’s alone.”
“Keep watch. If something changes, someone new enters the scene, warn me. I have to concentrate.”
“Understood.”
From our vantage point, the footbridge off in the distance over the small river in its concrete bed gets framed by either side by tall office towers.
You can see most of the surrounding area thanks to the top down view, but I’m getting only a limited picture.
This is hardly ideal.
But I guess with us being so far away we are practically invisible to the naked eye.
Who would strain their neck and constantly scan the rooftops of far off buildings.
I watch as our mark with his bleached hair and gaudy shirt get lightly obscured by the trees lining the river bank as he saunters slowly towards the bridge.
The tall guy that has been following him, stops at the foot of it while the demon walks to its mid point to listlessly peer over the edge into the water.
I do another sweep of my limited window.
They’re alone.
Above the familiar hum of the city I hear Miori exhale.
I tense.
The demon hasn't moved, doing seemingly nothing beyond peering at the water below him.
A second long exhale reaches my ear.
The narrow view of my binoculars comes to rest over Mr. Bleached-hair who continues to give me this odd sense of revulsion even from a distance.
Instinctually, I hold my breath.
The tranquility breaks with the sound of a loud gong being struck right beside me.
A second passes, maybe two.
Then a quarter of gaudy shirt guy’s upper body gets deleted, from one second to the next.
An afterimage of rainbow sparks in between.
I hear Miori cycling the action of rifle.
A shiver down my spine.
She wouldn't, would she?
“What are you doing? It’s dead.” I hear myself asking.
There is no answer, only a second shot.
In a swift motion she dismisses her weapon, grabs her backpack and the stool I abandoned. She mutters gunning for the stairs, “Needed to scare his human body guard. They’re seldomly loyal to their master past their death, but you need to scare them nonetheless, to make sure. No-one sticks around with a sniper aiming at them.”
Trying to keep up with her breakneck speed down the stairs, I yell, “So it was just a warning shot, you didn’t actually shoot the tall guy?”
“Shot at his feet. Though to him it surely appeared as if he dogged a bullet.”
This girl…
Out on the street even with the mass of people blissfully unaware of what just transpired surrounding us, Miori shows no sign of slowing down. She dodges and weaves through the crowd in a direct line towards the bridge.
Only with great difficulty am I able to not lose her among the people.
Near the river, the stream of nighttime wanders give us free and Miori reduces her speed to a casual unhurried pace.
She grabs my arm and I almost go rigid—not that I do.
She leans in, close to my ear she whispers conspiratorially, “We’re just two girls taking a lovely nighttime stroll along the river. No hunters in sight.”
I guess that a strategy. Nobody saw who the sniper was that slew the demon. No need to reveal it.
I catch her gaze.
Warm beautiful eyes.
My chest flutters in return.
Yeah… I can probably sell that. The romantic walk along the river.
She pulls me onto the bridge and just as we reach the small ash pile on the ground, she steps in front of me with a twist and a bright smile to look me in the eyes, never letting go of my hand.
A step backwards, another twist and she’s by my side again, the ash behind us.
It appeared so innocent, a girl just stepping in front to look the girl she’s with straight in the face, but I caught it. The small kick, the sleight-of-hand grabbing a flying gemstone out the air during her half pirouette.
Miori tilts her head, “Something the matter?”
“You’re frighteningly good at this.”
“Practice.”
She leads me off the bridge to a tree-lined pedestrian path following the river.
She hasn’t let go of my hand.
There is nobody around us, only the canopy of the trees, the neat pattern of the cobblestones beneath our feet, and the calming bubbling of the stream. Even the soundscape of the city falls away for the time, becoming nothing more than a background hum.
I have her to myself, this tall girl in a suit with her exceptionally beauty.
Why again does she care for me?
This doesn’t feel like a joke.
We walked in silence for quite the while.
She doesn’t seem to mind or be hurried to get anywhere, content with walking beside me, holding my hand.
I'm definitely blushing when I ask, “So you do this, like full-time?”
“No. I work for my family’s charity during the day.”
“Oh, okay. I just thought…”
“I’m responsible for my own schedule, which usually allows me to accommodate any demon-hunting related activities.”
She doesn’t ask me something in return.
She doesn’t have to.
Not that I have an answer where I go during the day, the girl on my hunter's ID doesn’t really exist outside these hunts, and even then she’s fake.
────୨ৎ────
We dropped off the demon heart Miori so expertly nabbed at the Guild office and against my meek protest she logged me as a contributor, netting me not only a B-class to my name but half of the reward.
Being driven home by her, I feel drowsyness all but take me. Thankfully we arrive before it got embarrassing.
With my flat in sight I get out of her car, stretching my legs.
Miori follows to see me off.
In front of my building we halt.
So tired… must sleep…
“Thank you for tonight, Katsumi.”
My gaze falls.
“Yeah… it was… eventful.”
“Good night, hope to see you again.”
“Mhm, get… get home safely.”
She begins waking down the street before turning around. “Your flat is too small for two people. Tell your brother to move out. I don’t like seeing him. He sours my mood.”
With that she leaves me.
(╹ - ╹)?
What's that supposed to mean!?