Author's note: So here is the first chapter of the new version of Endo Hisae, now with a different title, too. For those who are knew to this, this is a re-write of an old story of mine. While the base plot will remain the same, there will be differences in the chronological approach. Besides, there is actually no risk of major spoilers for this story to read the original version, since I haven't gotten to the point of explaining its mystery.
But without further ado, hope you enjoy!
CHAPTER 1 – You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it
It is he.
Grey eyes were moving around the crowd, examining faces and expressions. Hearing the command, they shifted to the left and came across a ghostly pair of horns and a three-pointed chin. With a click of her tongue the girl, leaning against a wall on the opposite side of the street the demon was walking down, kicked herself off and rolled her shoulders to readjust her black leather jacket.
'I don't need your help', she mentally huffed at the usual freeloader inside her mind as she crossed the street and followed the demon from safe distance.
Your nose is not what it used to be and you can barely read energy signatures. Pray tell, how were you planning to pick him out of the crowd and apart from other demons?
The voice prattled, but the girl simply scoffed at the creature's arrogance. As if he did not really know what her plan originally was, since they shared the same mental space.
The demon took a turn to the right, walking down a back alley until he emerged in a park. She pulled up her hoodie to shade her face, as the place was less and less crowded. Her step was light, soundless and measured. She began to glance around, looking for signs of allies of the demon or humans the demon might attempt to eat or use as hostages against her. She spotted a couple in the green area under a tree getting rather frisky and they passed a middle-aged man probably going back home from the office. The demon snickered towards the couple and did not even glance at the man. They crossed the park, getting closer to the residential area and further away from peering eyes. At that time of night, those who did not like to party or did not have a night job were usually asleep in their houses. However, you could still find the occasional civilian going home after doing extra hours at the office, like the man from before.
When the demon turned in a parking area, she clenched her fists around the knuckledusters in the pockets of her jacket and locked her jaw. It was time.
She flattened her back against the wall circling the area and peaked over. There was a young man dropping off his bike in a corner, while the demon was stationed against the opposite wall lighting himself a cigarette. The young man threw the demon a suspicious glance, but the other simply continued smoking, not addressing the looks he was getting. While to the human eye the demon appeared like a normal, average but fashionable guy, he was acting suspicious.
The girl was expecting the demon to address the human or attack him any time, but when the young man left, while eyeing her suspiciously as well, she was left puzzled. She looked around, and then observed the demon again as he was blowing out a cloud of smoke, but not doing anything else.
She frowned. It was weird. She wondered if there was a possibility that that was the wrong demon she followed, and immediately directed her thoughts to the entity in her head, while reprimanding herself for listening to it.
There is no mistake, child. He is the culprit. His energy reeks of human soul.
She couldn't really tell, but there wasn't a time when Ryoshin – that is how she named the talking entity in her mind; it meant 'conscience' and since he always told her things she did not want to hear, she thought it was fitting – was wrong. Then again, it could also mean that the demon wasn't out to hunt but to maybe to meet some friends, which would be bad and would mean trouble for her. Not only that wasn't the best place for her to hide if there were more people coming, but she had no idea of how strong they would be, or how many.
When she decided to hunt that demon down, Yaguchi was his name, she was sure she could take him up and win, but she had no idea how would the equation would change if more demons were added. After all, her forte were one on one fights.
Retreat. If you were right, the risks would be too high. We can try another time.
'And wait he kills others meanwhile?'
If he kills you tonight, there will not be a tomorrow to save more.
She wanted to argue. Not only because she did not like the commanding tone he was using to make a valid point, or because she did not like to procrastinate the task, but mainly for the sake of arguing with him, since he was getting cocky lately.
However, she never got a chance to.
"I know you are there. You can come out already."
Hearing Yaguchi speak up stopped the air in her oesophagus and spiked her heartbeat, the only thoughts populating her mind were about how could he have discovered her, and since when. Was that why he did not attempt anything the whole time? Was it trap? Did he only want to pull her in an isolated place so he could face her alone?
If that were the case, then he only played her game. Sure, she did not expect to be discovered, but little did it matter. If he were alone, then she would no doubt win.
A smirk pulled at her lips before she covered it with her breather mask.
Do not.
The polished wood fangs shone under the lamppost as she rounded the corner and revealed herself, ignoring the admonishment she received.
The demon blinked a couple of times as he eyed her. He could not make her silhouette out very well under the leather jacket and black cargo pants. He did not know what make of the short figure in a black dress up that was standing before just a few meters away. Few things he was sure of however. A couple of people followed around him all night, he did not detect the one in front of him, who was human, so he could immediately rule out the possibility of that being the Jaganshi patrolling the border.
He studied the new revelation for some moments, internally debating if they were connected to the ones following him. He could still sense their eyes on his back from somewhere around, but when they did not move he concluded that what he had in front of him and what was behind him, were not allies. Moreover, the new human seemed to be just a normal human. In other words, a snack for him.
A wide smirk spread his lips, his bottom fangs showing, and he flicked the half-smoked cigarette on the asphalt. "Well, well, you sure are a small little thing, aren't you?"
The girl tilted her head to the side, her hands coming out of the jacket pockets and gripping around the knuckledusters. She began walking steadily towards the demon.
"Ooh, you're a feisty one." His smirk morphed into a full smile as he spread his arms and distanced his legs. "But you're picking a fight with the wrong guy." There was a flip knife in his left hand and he did not waste time to swing it at his opponent, but cut through empty air as she stepped back just in time. He continued with another swing, and another, and another, then lunged at the figure's chest but she dodged to the right and got behind him, although chose to stay distant instead of approaching battle.
Yaguchi gritted his teeth. He was being made fun of and he was not the type to just tolerate such things. He tossed the knife and rid himself of his white jacket. Clenching his fists, he flexed his arms and back as he took a big inhale and started gathering his energy. The air around him began to waver, as if he were releasing vapour form his skin, which was turning a reddish colour. The ghostly horns on his head grew in size and became tangible, along with his three-pointed chin. The brown colour of his eyes darkened to black and his lower fangs now reached his nose level, not to mention he gained a meter in height and doubled his weight in muscles, which made him resemble a reddish ugly hulk with his clothes ripped to pieces and barely hanging to him.
'Fire demon?', the girl mentally inquired staring at the still vibrating air.
No. His power is what it appears to be.
'Body-building?'
If he had had a form, Ryoshin would have been rolling his eyes for sure.
He seems to be good with aura manipulation. Letting it expand a little out of his body, but keeping it contained at the same time, he heats the air around his producing a think vapour. This means he is trouble for you.
She nodded, taking note of said thick vapour falling to the ground and expanding around. She looked up to the demon, his chuckle drawing her attention.
"I will rip you to pieces." Yaguchi declared before lunging at her and clawing the right arm of her jacket, cutting it to ribbons.
She clicked her tongue as she jumped back to put some distance between them as he continued his attack relentlessly. She had a few close calls, literally risking her head once and being cut in half twice. Moreover, all the evading and slipping away at the last moment possible, was wearing her down slowly, which made her frustrated with her stamina supply. The fatal moment was when she backed so much she hit a wall and she barely squatted away from the clawed hand aiming for throat. She looked up at the arm of the demon stuck in the concrete, his face a displeased snarl, but not from missing her as she suspected.
"How come you are still moving? The vapour should have drowsed you already."
The words clicked in her mind immediately. The info she managed to gather during the previous few weeks spoke of people mysteriously disappearing at night in rather secluded places. It went on for months before the police started to suspect a serial killer, or some ambiguous cult recruiting members, but it was also enough time for some to start rumours of people being kidnapped by ghosts as some reported seeing a weird fog where the disappearance happened. For a demon to consume a human and leave no trace, was weird, unless he took them and ate them somewhere else. However, there was no way he could do that all the time without meeting a fight and leaving hints.
'So he made them lose consciousness with this poisonous vapour and then took them', she concluded as a smile ghosted on her hidden lips.
She wore the breather mask out of habit; some demons emanated miasma and it was a convenient solution to both protect her lungs and hide her face. Sheer luck out of coincidence was what she got, but she did not waste too much time relishing it. After twenty minutes of pointless combat, she had enough intel on his fighting style to start neutralizing it.
With a chuckle, she disappeared in the mist and released a wave her spiritual energy. She gave Yaguchi enough time to register it and worry about it, as he started to look frenetically around.
"Even if I can't see you, I can still sense you!" He slashed mist at his right, but met the knuckleduster's metal, and they stalled for a moment.
She gave away first, stepping to the right and punching his left elbow as hard as she cloud. The spiritual energy she put in the blow helped crack his junction and he released a scream of pain and anger, but swung his other arm at her. She ducked and targeted his abdomen with a few more energized punches before she rolled to the side, having figured out he had a habit of diving with his right elbow to block her way out before he clawed with his left. However, his left was put out of commission, so she easily crouched away from him and pulled her arms behind.
Strings of energy tightened around the demon's limbs and pulled them together. He snarled again and tried to escape the hold using brute force, but they only tightened more, beginning to cut through his flesh. Normally, her strings would be ineffective against those good at energy manipulation, as it was fairly easy to break free from the binds if one managed to contrast her energy frequency, but Yaguchi wasn't the reflective type, and all her taunting and sneaking away only fuelled his already short temper.
"It was you, wasn't it?!" Yaguchi yelled out while still trying to break the strings. "You were the one asking around about me, you little bastard."
Flexing her index and thumb, she tightened the hold around his throat, making him choke. She narrowed her eyes, the icy look in them managing to give Yaguchi the chills.
"You ate seventeen humans in the span of three months and twenty two days." It was the first time she spoke, her voice soft but ice cold, yet clearly feminine. "Aren't you quite the glutton?"
Yaguchi growled.
"I will admit I thought you would be more of a challenge."
That last comment, filled with evident mockery, made the goat demon blind with fury. Being killed by a powerful human was one thing, but he couldn't tolerate being made fun of an arrogant little girl. However, that last exertion of force signed his demise as the strings tightened enough to cut him to shreds, sending his head flying and landing on the concrete with a deaf thud and a splash of blood.
I remember a time when you used to be less messy with your work.
The girl scrunched her nose at both the comment and the mess on the ground. She knew her speaking conscience was right and that now she had to clean after herself, but a clean work came with a lot more risks for her safety now, so she did not have that many options.
'I remember a time when you didn't speak, but I guess all things change', she answered back bitterly.
Tired, she flopped on the ground. Her legs and arms hurt, she felt overall exhausted, she had a nagging voice in her head going on about not having the time to leisure around and her favourite jacket was ruined. There was no more energy left for her to worry about the mess she just made, yet it had to be done.
With a sigh, she recollected herself form the asphalt, rolled up her sleeves, or what was left of them, and started to collect the pieces of the demon in a trash bag, while internally complaining Yaguchi wasn't the type of demon to turn to dust once dead, or, in his case, vapour.
•
•
•
"George!" Koenma bellowed from his oversized chair at the blue ogre, whom was just next to him.
"Yes sir!" The poor ogre felt the need to salute the prince despite him nearly deafening him.
"Did you see that?!" The prince jumped on his desk, his chubby index pointing at the large screen on the other side of the room. He sucked impatiently on his pacifier as he waited for the obvious reply, since George was with him the whole time.
"Well, not entirely sir. There was fog all over and it was quite distant and–"
"Find out who that is!" He was cut short by the order and was left speechless and hesitant. "Now!"
The last yell sent the ogre running out of the room while worrying about how he was going to do what he was just requested to do.
Koenma flopped back on his chair and folded his hands under his chin, elbows on the wood and a pensive expression on his baby face.
"So what now, baby-breath?" Yusuke inquired from the other side of the screen.
"I'm going to gather as much as I can about this mysterious fighter and come back to you. Kuwabara, do you think you can identify his energy signature?"
Hearing his name, the ginger haired man squeezed his face into the mirror's communicator. "I could tell him apart in a crowd no problem, but his signature disappeared right after that demon stopped screaming."
The prince sighed. Whoever this was, not only did he take care of the boys mission, but also quickly disappeared. Moreover, this wasn't even the first case of a situation being mysteriously solved before he could send someone to look into things. At least the mysterious vigilante appeared to be human, but he was still worried about his secrecy and ways. How could someone elude him for so long? This was the first time to actually see him, but not the first time the prince tried to.
"Didn't your demon senses catch anything, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked, momentarily getting the prince's hopes up.
Yusuke scoffed. "I'm neither Kurama, nor Hiei. I may hear and see things a little better than you, but I can't see that far away, let alone eavesdrop their conversation. Besides, what's the problem? This dude took care of the bastard in our stead."
Koenma sighed. Of course, Yusuke wouldn't see the real problem at hand. "We can't have an unauthorized human vigilante around with the current demon laws."
"That guy was eating people, which is against the current laws."
"That might be it, but he could draw unwanted attention to himself and endanger not only his persona, but also other humans around him."
The ex-detective rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I just know that until he takes care of the bad guys, he is not my problem. Find someone else to take your trash out; I have a day job now!" Yusuke turned communication off with that and the prince slid in his chair and gazed at the ceiling. He really hoped they would get a hold of this mystery man soon. Especially as Yusuke was becoming more and more reluctant to go on secret missions for him.