“Goddammit,” said Saiyou. “That ends our trail right there,” said Shimura. “We have to find some other way then,” said Saiyou. Takuya stared out the window of living room. It had begun to rain. Little rain drops pattered the window blurring the images. He thought about Saiyou’s previous words. You can think about joining the organization. You may be useful to us. It meant risking his life, but it would be worth it. Avenging Tsukino’s death and protecting his kind was above all agendas. It is a hero’s job. After all of Takuya’s experience, for the first time he felt that he had a true goal in life. “Hey, Saiyou,” called Takuya. “I was thinking about your offer.” “Hmm, you have decided then?” said Saiyou. “For the sake of humanity, I’m going to do it.” “We’ll begin your training as soon as possible.” “Does this mean tomorrow?” asked Takuya. “We might as well since Kazu’s dead. It’s not like you have anything else to do,” said Saiyou. The next morning, Saiyou shook Takuya awake. “Huh? What?” said Takuya groggily. He took a look at the clock. “It’s only 4 am Saiyou.” “Rise and shine,” said Saiyou. “Shine? The sun isn’t even up yet,” remarked Takuya. “We have no time to waste. We’re gonna make you into a soldier,” said Saiyou.
First off was a session on basic defense moves followed by a session of attack moves. Takuya continuously sparred with Saiyou and Shimura. The Spartan ritual continued on to the next day fueled by target practice with various weapons. “You learn pretty fast, kid,” said Saiyou. Takuya smiled at his own accomplishment. “But that doesn’t mean you’re good already,” said Saiyou. “You need much more practice. We’ve trained for years to reach our condition,” added Shimura. “You should also practice your flexibility. You’re so friggin’ rigid,” Saiyou remarked. “What about spells?” asked Takuya. “Spells come much later. It is until you’ve reached the so called spiritual level. Plus spells are hard because you have to draw out a lot of concentration,” said Saiyou. “Can anyone become an oni slayer?” asked Takuya curiously. “Yes and no,” answered Shimura. “With technology today, you can defeat a lot of lower class demons, but to become a true oni slayer requires some predestination. Some people are born with a stronger supernatural sense which can be honed into what we call magic.” “Do I have magic?” Takuya asked excitedly. “You can’t tell,” said Shimura. “It might not show up for years. You have to at least be able to detect youki.” “So work hard,” said Saiyou. “You might be a true oni slayer.”
At school, Takuya quietly waited for the class to end. Takamura-sensei came in with a new student by the name of Kathy Arisawa. “Pleased to meet you all!” said the pink haired girl. She had two pigtails and bright blue eyes. Kathy took the empty seat beside Takuya. “Hey there! What’s your name?” Kathy asked. “Takuya,” he answered. She seems outgoing and nice. Like Tsukino. “Do you believe in oni?” she asked. “Yeah! I saw them with my own two eyes,” said Takuya. “Why are you asking me that?” “I always ask people that first,” laughed Kathy. “But no one believes them. I feel them all around me.” “Guess what? I’m an oni slayer,” said Takuya proudly. “Well, in training that is.” “That’s cool!” said Kathy. “You can now protect all of us.” After school, Kathy waited for Takuya at the school gate. “Takuya!” she shouted. “Wanna take a walk by the river?” “Sure!” agreed Takuya. “Haven’t done that in a while.” At the river, the two began collecting stones to throw. “I bet I can hit that piece of metal over there,” Kathy pointed. About 20 feet away in the river was a discarded piece of metal on the island of junk. “Well, let’s see about that,” said Takuya. Kathy swung her arm and thrust forward to throw the pebble. The pebble clunked loudly loud against the metal and pierced a hole into it. “Wow! That’s awesome!” shouted Takuya. “I learned it myself,”smiled Kathy. “It’s my super good arm too.”
Walking home by himself, Takuya saw Saiyou coming towards him. “Hey Saiyou!” greeted Takuya. “Yo,” Saiyou greeted back. “Guess what! There’s this new girl in class and she’s so cool!” Takuya said bursting with excitement. “Really now,” said Saiyou sarcastically. “We were skipping stones and she threw this one pebble and it went through the metal!” “Really?” said Saiyou now interested. “You can still see it. It’s by the river under the bridge not far from here.” “Alright then, I’ll check it out.”
Once Saiyou reached the bridge, he called Shimura over to look. “Dude, there’s something suspicious here,” said Saiyou. “Judging by the distance, it’s impossible for a young girl to do such a thing. Unless they’re like you or me,” said Shimura. “The orders to investigate a new threat were on this area too,” said Saiyou walking around the bridge. “There’s youki here.” “Very faint though,” said Shimura. “Looks like this one is very good at masking its youki.” “I hope Takuya didn’t do anything stupid,” said Saiyou.
The next day, Takuya waited for Kathy to appear for class. She ran in breathing loudly. “Am I late?” she asked still trying to catch her breath. “Almost, but just in time for our second class,” replied Takuya. “Anyways, tell me about being an oni slayer,” Kathy asked curiously. “Well, I can’t use spells yet, but I can do some simple moves.” “That’s good.” “Good?! I can’t do spells!” blurted Takuya. “It’s still a good start,” said Kathy. “Attention everyone in the building!” the voice over the intercom spoke. “Everyone is to evacuate the building. I repeat ...” “That’s weird. I wonder what happened.” said Takuya. Hundreds of students lined up in front of their classrooms and hurried out the school. Packs of students jammed in the staircases slowing down the flow. “Maybe we should try the side entrances. There’s too much people here,” suggested Kathy. “But shouldn’t we stay with our class?” “We’ll join with the others when we leave the school.” Carefully, the two sneaked past teachers and made their way into the gym. “We’re using the gym exit? I thought you meant the side exit,” said Takuya. “No,” Kathy replied plainly. “We’re staying here.” “Kathy, it’s not safe here. We have an evacuation now!” “It wasn’t suppose to end up like this, but it looks like I have to change my plans,” said Kathy now looking at Takuya in the eyes.
Kathy’s arms extended into thick, purple flesh with an open mouth for each hand. Takuya froze in fear and watched as Kathy’s arms sped towards his direction. Doors burst open with firing gunshots from Saiyou and Shimura. “S-Saiyou,” whimpered Takuya. “Stay behind me,” ordered Saiyou. Takuya immediately ran behind Saiyou. “Oy, little girl! Why don’t you change into your true form? It’s a pain in the eye looking at a girl with disgusting forelimbs.” “As you wish,” said Kathy. Kathy let out a screech and melted into a black puddle. The puddle boiled into a cone shaped body and formed two yellow eyes. Her mouth appeared first as a thin line, but then opened up revealing a gray tongue. Kathy’s arms retreated and more arms grew from her body. “Aah, that’s better. That way I don’t have to hold back,” remarked Saiyou. “But it’ll look better if you became a nice goulash.” Kathy screeched again and lunged her arms at Saiyou. He darted away and her arms crushed the gym floor into splintered wood. Saiyou fired at Kathy’s arms, but her arms ate as much bullets as possible. One arm then spat out the bullets that were consumed. Saiyou pushed Takuya away to protect him from the bullets. One of Kathy’s arms extended to follow Saiyou crushing the gym floor and littered the place with bullets. Shimura entered the scene with a bazooka and fired straight into Kathy’s face. Kathy sacrificed her arms which then regenerated in a matter of seconds. “Shimura! Give Takuya the machine gun!” Saiyou shouted.
Takuya flinched upon hearing his name. His body had become unresponsive amidst the shooting. Shimura slid a large suitcase to Takuya. Takuya opened it and saw that there were several parts to assemble. Frantically, he tried to remember the basic steps he was taught two days ago. Meanwhile, Saiyou and Shimura stood side by side and tossed their guns away. Drawing from thin air, the two oni slayers had huge oddly shaped swords in their hands. Saiyou’s sword contained several curves in its design resembling the shape of flames. Shimura’s weapon was a cross between a trident and a katana. The weapons gave off an unworldly glow and deathly aura that shook one’s body with intimidation. “Ready?” said Shimura. “As always,” said Saiyou with a glint in his eye.
