The world is a strange place. You could dwell within it for centuries, watching wars pass and cities grow, and still never truly understand the way society works. The truth of the matter is, no one really does. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors, how truly terrifying the mind of their neighbour could be, and above all else, about the systems thriving just below their feet. Secret associations, run by generations of powerful individuals, are what keep the public moving forward, what keeps the people reassured that there are no monsters beneath their beds. It is also what destroys communities, and the reason why certain organizations are formed in the first place. In specific, organizations such as The Black Order.
Home to many and hell for others, The Order has been a sanctuary to exorcists and mankind alike for centuries. With over one-hundred people flooding in and out of it at one point, it had to grow and adapt to its surroundings as much as its residents had to. Being that it was partially built underground proved to be slight problem in the beginning, though adjustments are necessary for any growing association to continue functioning successfully. Over time, the underground tunnels were upgraded from living quarters to holding cells, where creatures of all sorts were regularly brought in and dealt with discreetly. Having no longer any space to provide for the people who once lived in the tunnels, The Order was forced to expand and eventually became one of the largest castles in the area. As decades passed and fewer exorcists were needed, the residences of the house slowly subsided, and many went their own separate ways, staying in contact only when necessary. The castle itself still stands, and though most would assume it to be the mansion of some old fellow with an incredible amount of wealth, the few dozen who reside within it only think of it as their one safe haven.
Exorcists today, along with the monsters they hunt, are considered to be nonexistent, simply fictional characters created to entertain children and keep them out of the streets after nightfall. Society has always been kept in the dark about such affairs, unaware and uninvolved to keep organizations like The Order from being revealed. After all, how could one explain that the reason for assassinating someone's friend, co-worker, or even lover, was because that individual was a monster? A demon, spawned from hell to bring chaos and destruction to the world, was not an excuse that was taken seriously anymore, not in the present day at least. People were no longer superstitious and wary of what lurked about in the night, simply because they didn't believe those creatures existed. To believe in them, was now the job of the remaining exorcists, and why The Black Order was still standing.
Duffle bag over his shoulder and heavy boots carrying him swiftly across the pavement towards his next assignment, Yu Kanda was not one to wait for his teammates to arrive on the scene in order to start. Having been practically born into the organization, the young man was one of the most skilled exorcists in the entire Order, not to mention one of the best swordsmen as well. His determination to destroy demons and anything else that happened to get in his way was impeccable, though on occasion quite the hazard to both himself and his teammates. Nevertheless, strength, agility, and brains were nothing the man was short of as he made his way up a set of stairs towards the building that headquarters had confirmed to be the location of a wandering entity. It hadn't been in the area for long, though once it was picked up on by the systems at The Order, the power outage it almost caused was evidence enough that whatever the thing was, it couldn't be left alone. It had to be dealt with, and fast.
Pushing the front entrance open slowly with the toe of his boot, the exorcist calmly slipped inside and shut the door behind him. The place was no doubt abandoned, by humans anyway, and from the looks of it, hadn't been used in quite some time. Stepping forward with silent and precise footsteps, Kanda avoided the rubble on the floor and proceeded further into the main hall, eyeing the worn down walls and broken beams in the ceiling. The place was a wreck, fitting for something as disgusting as a demon in the exorcist's opinion. With the large bag still slung over his shoulder, maneuvering around certain objects was a bit more of a tight squeeze than usual, though seeing as how no one at The Order was able to identify what exactly their radar had picked up on, precautions and extra equipment of all sorts were unfortunately necessary.
Shoving through a half opened door that seemed to be blocked by wreckage on the other side, the exorcist climbed the pile of rubble expertly and scanned the room he had entered with careful, dark eyes. Having hunted demons for so long definitely had its perks, and sensing the presence of something abnormal was one of them. He was getting close; he could feel it, though the aura was still too weak to identify any familiar species. Slowing his movements ever so slightly to silence what little noise he was making, Kanda stealthily made his way down another corridor to a set of stairs. Should anyone else have been in his place, the normal procedure of waiting for the rest of your squad to arrive would've been followed, though for Kanda, that only meant wasting more time on people who were already late to begin with. He could handle this alone.
Climbing the stairs silently and keeping an eye on the next floor that awaited him, the exorcist froze suddenly upon hearing a loud thud, followed quickly by running footsteps. Narrowing his gaze and reaching his free hand towards the sword at his side, Kanda was more than a little surprised to see a woman stumbling down the stairs towards him. Or rather, he was more surprised by the blood covering her body. One hand on her neck and the other on her arm, the girl barely noticed the presence of someone else on the staircase until her body connected with the heavy duffle bag Kanda had placed in front of himself. Falling backwards with a small cry of surprise, the woman looked up, horrified that she had run into her kidnapper once more, only to realize it wasn't the man she'd originally come here with. Eyes wide and mouth open to take in sharp huffs of breath, the girl paused for moment before scrambling back to her feet and running past the man. Watching her for a few seconds, the young exorcist turned his attention back towards the top of the staircase and continued upwards; no point in chasing after someone who would soon be tracked down by The Order for questioning anyway.
Making it to the top of staircase with not the slightest of sounds, Kanda set his sight on the trail of blood the woman had left behind and followed it intently with his gaze. What was at the end of the messy streak, however, was exactly what he'd come here for in the first place. Standing in the doorway to another room, no doubt the one that the woman had just escaped from, was the figure of something inhuman and dark. There were no windows where Kanda was standing, only the light from inside the room where the other figure stood, illuminating his frame and casting a long and eerie shadow across the bloodstained floor in front of them. Any regular person would've turned around by now, or perhaps attempted to pull a gun on the assailant, though Kanda knew better. Bullets wouldn't help anybody in this situation, not unless they wanted to end their own life and spare themselves the possibility of being tormented by a bloodthirsty demon. No, killing abnormal beings with aura's as powerful as the one in front of him was no easy task, though nothing was impossible.
Letting the duffle bag slip from his shoulder and down onto the ground with a loud thump, the exorcist could feel the corner of his mouth twitch downwards in a bit of a scowl. Whatever was in front of him definitely wasn't stupid. Normal demons would've charged by now, their hunger for destruction and bloodshed clouding their ability to think and making them relentless and determined opponents. Though this one was doing precisely what Kanda was; assessing. Not gloating about its powers or explaining how it would rip the young man limb from limb, but processing the situation and taking into account just who he was up against. That alone made the figure more unpredictable and dangerous, not to mention the immense amount of power pulsing off of it. Reaching around his side and letting his fingers glide across the hilt of his blade in preparation for what was surely to come, the exorcist slid his right foot backwards and to the side in order to strengthen his stance. He knew little about what this creature was or what exactly it wanted, but he was best with his sword, which meant currently that was his greatest chance at surviving.
Before the exorcist had time to draw his sword, his body was being thrown back across the hallway and collided abruptly into a steadily collapsing wall. Having the wind knocked out of you surely wasn't the best experience, though the attack itself was a clear indicator that the demon's assessment had now been completed. Dark eyes flicking upwards to lock onto the figure now standing at the top of the staircase, Kanda quickly rolled to the side as the demon rushed forward and dodged the blow that would've no doubt knocked him right out the side of the building. The creature was fast, he would give it that, but this wouldn't be the first time the young man had to deal with strong opponents. Part of being at The Order was to expect the unexpected, and though with enough training and experience you had a fairly good chance at coming out of encounter with a demon alive, you could never have enough knowledge about them, making the habit of underestimating them a deadly choice.
Pushing upwards and onto his feet, Kanda quickly unsheathed his sword and spun around to face the creature, though the demon was no longer there. Gritting his teeth and exhaling through his nose, the exorcist swiftly scanned the ceiling and the immediate area surrounding him. Playing hide and seek was never something he had the patience for, but he couldn't afford to ignore the other being now. Listening intently to the silence for a few moments and waiting for any sort of sound that would give the other's whereabouts away, the man hastily swung himself to the side as something large toppled down onto the spot where he'd been standing. From the floor above him, he could now hear scattering sounds and what he could only assume to be footsteps, so the young man pushed forward and climbed the hazardous pile of rubble through the hole in the ceiling until he was standing on the next level of the building. Naturally, there was no one there to greet him, though the demon's presence was more than noticeable now.
"Are you going to continue to cower in the shadows or come out and face me?" The exorcist spoke, his voice echoing slightly off of the bare walls as he stepped forward and away from the hole in the floor. Nothing frustrated him more than an opponent who continued to toy with him, especially one who had the capability of putting up a decent fight. Navigating his way a little further into the room, Kanda ignored the sounds he heard coming from a few floors down and locked his eyes on the figure slowly stepping out of another doorway. Now that they were in a room surrounded by windows, the light from the night sky outside illuminated the area enough to provide some adequate luster, just enough for the exorcist to finally get a better look at his target. The creature was small, smaller than most demons he faced anyway, and appeared to be taking the form of a human. This came as no surprise; most supernatural beings took this shape in order to blend in better with their surroundings and fool their victims easier. What was a bit odd was why the other figure was still taking that form, especially in the presence of an exorcist, someone who was already aware of what it truly was.
Shrugging the subject off, Kanda took his stance and held his sword steadily with both hands as the smaller figure stepped further into the room with silent footsteps. Light coloured hair peeked out from underneath a dark hood, and even from his position across the room the exorcist could see the blood on the other's face, causing his hands to instinctively tighten around the hilt of his blade. Though the demon's eyes were not visible, the exorcist could feel a powerful gaze boring into him, looking past his exterior and seeking something more, though this hardly shook the man. The only thing that concerned the young exorcist now was whether or not he was to be the one to kill the bastard before his teammates arrived. Taking the first move this time, the man rushed forward with impressive speed and spun around just in time when the other figure dodged him, blocking the kick aimed at his head and thrusting his blade forward in a swift attempt to wound the creature. Though it missed its original target, the sword grazed through the other's clothing and nicked the demon's side, a flinch barely occurring from the other figure as it quickly brought its knee up and connected it with the exorcist's stomach. Gritting his teeth from the blow, Kanda shoved the smaller being away from him before landing a kick of his own, his boot colliding with the demon's stomach and sending the figure skidding backwards a foot or two.
With unnatural speed for a human, the young man continued his attacks and managed another hit with his sword, the blade sliding across the front of the demon's chest and causing a hiss to fall from bloodied lips. It was a decent strike, having cut right through the fabric the creature wore and carving a nice long wound along the pale skin underneath, though unfortunately it was the last blow he was able to dish out before he found himself flying across the room again. Crashing through one of the many windows in the room, the exorcist ignored the aching pain now throbbing in his stomach from the hit he'd received and desperately tried to flip himself around to see where he was falling. The ground outside was steadily coming closer, and though it was covered in grass, being on the third floor meant it was going to be a rough landing. Bending his knees slightly and preparing himself for the impact, Kanda quickly fell to the side once his feet connected with the ground and protected his head with his arms as he rolled forward. It wasn't the most graceful of exits he could've made, but at least he was still alive. Groaning lowly in irritation, Kanda slowly rolled over onto his back and paused a moment to check if anything was broken. Sore, perhaps, but nothing seemed too out of place to be serious.
Sitting up and gazing at the window he'd been tossed out of, the exorcist barely even realized there were other people surrounding the building until a hand touched his shoulder. Snapping his arm up, the young man grasped onto the limb tightly, ready to pull the assailant down onto the ground and finish what they'd started until dark eyes recognized just who was kneeling beside him. "Whoa, Yu! It's just me, bud. You alright?" The other man asked, his concerned green eyes scanning Kanda's face for answers. Sighing and letting go of his teammate's arm, the young exorcist pushed himself up to his feet and brushed the subject off, already beginning to walk back to the front of the building. "I'm fine." He stated over his shoulder, gazing at the vehicles now pulling up in front of the abandoned structure. The Order had arrived, though it was pointless now; the presence was gone. Watching as a few groups of exorcists entered the building, Kanda took one last look up at the third floor before turning to leave. This was something bigger than what they'd expected, and after an encounter like that, he'd need to prepare for the next time.