Saiyou and Shimura sped towards Kathy and disappeared in a flash. Kathy looked around for the two oni slayers but they were nowhere in sight. Appearing once more, Kathy’s arms were sliced off. The arms laid lifeless on the ground while blood gushed from the wounds. The wounds bubbled, attempting to regenerate, while the blood continued to splash on the floor. Saiyou rushed up to Kathy to slice her shoulders apart. Shimura then sliced her belly apart spilling her loose organs to the ground. He then sliced Kathy in half from the head cutting through muscle and bone. Saiyou followed up by cutting the flesh into smaller pieces. Takuya watched with awe and horror as the blades cut like a sushi chef preparing sashimi. As the flesh plopped onto the ground, the organs began to stir. An arm began to form from the pile of organs. Kathy’s face was slowing appearing and the skin began to sew itself together. “Takuya! Now!” shouted Saiyou.
Takuya with the newly assembled machine gun pulverized the monstrous spawn. With each bullet fired, Kathy began to die. The floors were riddled with holes and splintered wood flew in the air every time a hole was made. When the last bullet was fired, Takuya dropped to the ground shaking. The recoil was strong that he couldn’t aim properly, but it didn’t matter. Kathy’s remaining body exploded splattering blood onto Takuya’s face. He continued to shake and jerked when Saiyou pulled him up by the collar. “You told that girl you were an oni slayer right?” said Saiyou dangerously. “Yeah ...” responded Takuya. Saiyou slapped Takuya across the face and dropped him to the ground. “You idiot! What makes you think you can trust that girl!” screamed Saiyou in Takuya’s face. “Saiyou! It’s not Takuya’s fault!” interrupted Shimura. “Shut up!” Saiyou roared at Shimura. “He should have known better than to boast!” Saiyou picked Takuya up by the collar again. “Yamero, Saiyou!” Shimura yelled and grabbed Saiyou’s arm from punching Takuya in the face. Saiyou scoffed and let go of Takuya violently. Saiyou flicked on a lighter and threw it on to the corpse. After completing the ritual, he left the school leaving Shimura and Takuya behind. “C’mon Takuya,” said Shimura. “Let’s scram before the police gets here.” Takuya nodded and followed behind Shimura.
Takuya sat on a park bench near a secluded garden wiping off the demon blood. Shimura came over with two drinks and handed one to Takuya. “Thanks,” murmured Takuya and sipped his hot tea with milk. “Saiyou was just looking out for you. Don’t hate on him for that,” assured Shimura. “He was right. I am an idiot,” said Takuya depressed. “You learn something each day. Now you know not to trust people so easily,” said Shimura. “You’re lucky you survived this. Let this be a lesson you take to heart.” Takuya sat glumly with his hot drink. “Cheer up. I’ll bring you somewhere fun,” said Shimura. It turned out to be an arcade. A crowd of people gathered at the DDR machine. Shimura pushed Takuya through the crowd. “You brought me here to play DDR?” said Takuya surprised. “DDR is a good way to relieve stress. Now go!” said Shimura cheerfully and pushed Takuya onto the stage. The crowd began to cheer and the music began to play. “C’mon dude! It’s starting!” exclaimed Takuya’s challenger. Takuya sheepishly stepped on the arrows and missed a few arrows on the screen. “Relax man,” laughed the challenger. “Just concentrate and have fun.” The two began battling at expert level. Their legs stomped on the dance floor furiously. The crowd cheered as the two competitors disappeared in to world of DDR.
“That felt good!” exclaimed Takuya after he left the arcade. “See, I told you. DDR does work,” said Shimura. “Now just talk to Saiyou tomorrow and everything will be alright.” “Are you sure?” “Positive.” “How did you guys know that Kathy was an oni?” “The day you told Saiyou about throwing pebbles aroused our suspicion. We checked the school records and found a Kathy Arisawa as a transfer student, but there is no such person in this area. Then as we entered your school, we discovered a huge trail of youki leading us to an electrical setup that would later paralyze the entire school.” “Oh my god! But Kathy ... no, the oni led me away during the evacuation. She wanted to kill me.” “We disabled her setup and she found out later when the evacuation was announced.” “Hold on a sec ... did you guys initiate the evacuation?” “We needed to get the people out. We figured that she would rid the oni slayer first so that she could kill humans whenever she wanted to without others noticing.” “I guess I was easy bait.”
The following day, Takuya called Saiyou on his cellphone. “Ne, Saiyou.” “Hm?” “About yesterday. I was pretty stupid and stuff.” “I got it.” “Eh? You’re not angry at me anymore?” “That was yesterday.” “Oh. I’m sorry, Saiyou ...” “Gotta go now. Bye.” “Heh?! Wait!” Saiyou had already hung up. After school, Takuya went to an empty park to practice his combat moves. “I see you’re working hard,” said a voice behind the metal fence. Takuya turned to see Saiyou standing. “We got another mission,” said Saiyou.
Takuya followed Saiyou to a sleek red car. “Is this yours?” beamed Takuya. “Nope, it’s still Shimura’s.” Saiyou answered. How many cars does Shimura own? Takuya thought. “Today’s mission,” said Saiyou. “Is catching a triad.” “You mean like those drug lords?” asked Takuya excitedly. “Yes except, we received news that this one is an oni,” replied Saiyou. “If he’s an oni then his subordinates are oni. Then there’s gonna be a mob of oni!” exclaimed Takuya. “Actually, this one has some sort of spell to control humans around him,” said Saiyou. “Oh yeah, where’s Shimura?” “He’s already there.” “There? Where?” “At the hideout.”
Saiyou had driven Takuya to a more filthy part of the city. Some people eyed at Shimura’s car as it drove past them. Shimura was waiting in front of a deli with a cap covering most of his face. “Put your hood on,” ordered Saiyou. Saiyou himself put on a pair of coffee colored shades. They left the car and walked towards the deli. Together the trio walked into the alley and assembled their weapons. Takuya was handed a revolver and a Glock pistol and walked behind Saiyou and Shimura. They peeked through a crack of a door. An obese man in a tuxedo sat in an armchair smoking a cigar. He was old with a balding spot and white whiskers. Subordinates in street clothes stood on opposite sides of the triad boss. The assumed trader slid a bag of white powder on the table. One subordinate took out his knife and jabbed the bag. Using the tip of his knife, he sampled a portion so small that it can be stacked on his finger. Sucking the powder up his nose, he breathed in and stood for a moment. He turned to the triad boss and gave a nod of confirmation. The triad signaled with his finger to another subordinate. A suitcase of money was brought up on the table and exchanged for the white powder.
Just then, Saiyou kicked the door open and operated his semi-automatic machine gun. People fell like collapsing buildings, but some were like soldiers that charged forward. Shimura fired his two shotguns at anyone who came close. By the time he finished firing, the triad boss had already been escorted away. Shimura went first to the escape passage. Saiyou kicked the dead trader’s body and ensued Shimura. Takuya peeked from behind the door and saw that one member lifted his gun at Saiyou. Takuya pulled the trigger of his Glock pistol and the bullet shot through the member’s head. Taken back by his merciless act, Takuya froze for a moment. Saiyou spared no one at the scene, only to leave one trader half dead. This must be a test to see if I could kill, thought Takuya. The hidden passage was a hallway to the next street. The triad boss was already driven away by his subordinates’ car. Shimura boarded his motorcycle without his helmet and revved away. Saiyou boarded the second motorcycle and drove away.
“Wait for me!!” shouted Takuya, but the two were already gone. Takuya frantically searched for transportation and saw a chained bicycle. He fired at the chain and took off. He pedaled as fast as he could hoping to catch a glimpse of Saiyou. After a few twists and turns through alleyways and shortcuts, he saw the triad’s car. He caught a flash of Shimura’s blue hair nearby and sped his bike towards that direction. When he caught up with Shimura, Shimura was surprised when he saw Takuya at the corner of his eye. Takuya was pedaling at high speed on a mere bicycle.
A/N
yamero (Japanese) - "stop"
ne (Japanese) - "hey"
