This one is told in both Yumi's and Hecadoth's POVs. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 10- Monster of Memories
(Yumi's POV)
"Man, washing out that smell gland last night was a real pain in the ass, you know!" Graphel says.
"I agree," Shizuka agrees. "It was so oily. It took at least five washes before I finally got it all out of my hair."
"I can't believe that we're ditching school to do these tasks," Takachin says.
Today's now Monday, and we've all decided to ditch school for this week so we can complete these tasks and save the children sooner. Right now, we've all decided to meet up at that posh hotel where Graphel, Naga, Yolda, Isabella, Satura, and Lord En are staying at.
"So, what was that item you retrieved yesterday?" Oga asks.
Shizuka brings out the pouch. In it is a golden telescope with intricate carvings on the cylinder. "A… telescope?" she asks, surprised.
Graphel picks up the letter. "'So, you've successfully destroyed the nest. You're probably wondering what the telescope is for, right? Well, for your next task, you have to go the park to retrieve your next item. There, you'll encounter the Monster of Memories. To kill him, shine the light from the telescope into his eyes. But be warned. He has his name for a reason. He will bring up some of your worst memories, memories that you've tried so hard to bury and forget about. He'll use the pain of those memories to his advantage and he will kill you.'"
"I'll do this one," Hecadoth volunteers.
"I want in on the action as well!" Yolda says.
"Me too," I add. "No matter what he tries to do, I won't give him access to my memories!"
"I'll help as well," Naga volunteers. "The Monster of Memories is again, a lower-class demon, but he's one of the stronger ones." He takes the telescope from Shizuka and the three of us start walking to the park.
"I must warn you three," Naga cautions as we walk towards the park. "Be careful not to show any emotion on your face or even think about anything in your past when facing him. The monster will use your emotions and memories to his advantage by bringing up the most painful ones."
Hecadoth nods. "Of course," he says. "What's our strategy?"
"When we confront the monster, I'll weaken it with my Water Ash Flow: Snake Dragon Palm," Naga explains. "Yolda, while it's distracted, run and retrieve the item. Then, I want you to give the signal to Yumi-san, who'll shine the telescope into its eyes. While it's distracted, Hecadoth will deliver the final blow."
We nod in confirmation. "Got it," I say. As I say that, we arrive at the park, which is surprisingly empty. Right then, we see it. The small pouch, up in a tree branch. "There it is!" I say.
"Well, well." We turn to find the source of the voice. To our shock, we see a demon with the appearance of a tall, handsome young man with long blonde hair. He wears a neat black tuxedo and he has an air of importance, like a businessman. However, his eyes are completely onyx and cruel.
"You're the Monster of Memories?" I ask, surprised.
"Don't be fooled by appearances," Hecadoth warns me. "This guy's dangerous. This is the Monster of Memories."
The monster smirks. "Pillar General Hecadoth, the Eighth Pillar General, and Pillar Baron Naga," he observes. "I get to fight against two Pillar demons. How wonderful." He glances disdainfully at me. "And a Konketsuji girl. A girl like you doesn't deserve to be among such important demons."
"Shut up," I say, trying to sound emotionless. "Don't underestimate what I'm capable of."
To my surprise, he continues to smirk. "That's right," he agrees. "I shouldn't underestimate your capacity. After all, you did unleash your inner demon and severely injure your former classmates to the point they had to be hospitalized."
I falter in surprise and he smirks. "How about we show the Pillar General and Pillar Baron just what you're capable of?" he suggests.
"No… stay away from me!" I shout but he just calmly touches my forehead with his index finger. Right then, I feel the surroundings changing and shifting as Hecadoth, Yolda, and Naga shout my name.
(Hecadoth's POV)
Suddenly, the park disappears and instead, we're standing in a schoolyard. Naga, Yolda, and I look around in confusion. "What is this place?" Naga asks.
"Another Human World high school," I say, recognizing the atmosphere of the area.
"Why are none of the students in uniforms?" Yolda asks.
Right then, Yumi gasps in shock. "This… This is my previous high school in Edmonton!" she exclaims. When I pay closer attention to the groups, I realize that they're all conversing in various languages. I hear people speaking in English, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Hindi to name a few.
Right then, I see Yumi in the memory. She's hanging out with some girls, just laughing and talking happily with them, all of them conversing in English. "What's happening?" I ask her.
She shakes her head. "This is the day I was expelled!" she says.
We all watch as the memory plays out.
"So, how far are you on your history project?" Yumi asks her friends.
"I'm nearly done!" one of them says.
"I'm halfway there," another says.
"Three-quarters done," a third one adds.
"I'm done!" Yumi declares.
"I've barely started," another girl laughs.
Right then, we hear cries of pain from the courtyard. We turn and see a girl getting kicked and hit by a group of girls in some expensive clothing, their faces covered in makeup. "Leave me alone! Please!" she pleads, only to get slapped in the face by the ringleader.
"Who are they?" Naga asks.
Yumi frowns. "The Populars," she says with venom in her voice. "The bitches of the school who spend their daddies' money on whatever they want and act like they're the best thing in the world."
"Shut up, you little bitch!" the ringleader snarls. "Because of you, Jessica's getting expelled!"
"Yeah, it's all your fault!" the second girl adds snidely. "It's all your fault that I'm getting expelled from the school! You ratted me out!"
"Everyone knows it," another taunts.
"Because of you, my life is ruined!" the second girl snarls. "How am I supposed to go to university now, huh?!"
"I didn't do it!" the innocent girl insists. "I swear I didn't!"
"Hey!" We see Yumi call over to the girls, glaring at them. "Leave her alone."
One of the girls glares at her. "Stay out of this!" she snaps at her.
Yumi ignores her and walks over to the girl. "You okay?" she asks, extending her hand.
The girl smiles and takes her hand as she helps her up. "Yeah," she says. "Thanks, Yumi."
As she runs off, Yumi turns to the girls and glares at them. "Will you quit your bullshit?" she chides harshly. "Number one, Chandra didn't report you, Jessica. Someone else did. And number two, even if she did report you, you deserved it. We all know that you were caught with a cellphone during midterm exams and you had the answers on your phone! You were cheating, and now you're being punished for it. So grow up and get over yourselves!" She turns and start to walk away. "The world ain't gonna cater to your every damn whim, you know?"
I shake my head. It's quite clear that those girls are the type that spend their parents' hard-earned money on everything, and relying on their parents to bail them out of trouble. Nothing but spoiled brats. "Those girls are pathetic," I scoff. "Blaming their irresponsibility on others? Che!"
"You got expelled for slapping those girls with reality?" Naga asks. "Well, then the teachers here are pretty pathetic."
"No," she says. "Just wait and you'll find out why I was expelled."
Right then, the ringleader sneers at her retreating figure. "Hey Yumi! Didn't your mommy ever tell you to stick your nose out of other people's business? Oops, I forgot! You don't have one!" she mocks.
At this, my eyes widen in shock, Yolda's mouth drops open in astonishment, and Naga looks stunned. People make fun of other people's deceased parents in the Human World? In Makai, that's actually considered an offense punishable by public humiliation!
Yumi stops in shock before turning to face the girls, appalled and angered. "What… What did you just say?" she asks, her voice coming out as a whisper.
"You heard her," another girl taunts, smirking. "Your mom never loved you! She left you because you're a freak!"
"Yeah! Your mom couldn't stand you so she left your family!" another chimes in. "Even your dad hates you, Yumi! No one loves you, and no one ever will! Just accept that fact!"
"Don't you dare say another word about my mom!" Yumi snarls, glaring at them. "If you make me mad for real, I'll show you the pits of hell!" she threatens.
"Ooh, we're so scared!" the last girl taunts. "What're you gonna do? Cry and drown us with your tears?"
At that, Yumi glares at them, her eyes burning with anger. "How dare you..." she snarls. "Don't you have any shame, any pride, any dignity? Or are you simply trashy? You bully others, force them to respect you, tear them apart emotionally and mentally, all while you spend money on expensive clothes and tear apart happy couples in this school! And then you go and mock deceased relatives of others?! You should be ashamed!" She glares defiantly at them. "If you want respect from others, then get your act together, start using your brain, and smarten up."
As we watch her walk away, I can't help but smile. That's what I really love about Yumi. How she's so strong, down-to-earth, and fiery, yet at the same time, she's kind, maternal, and mature.
"You preach it, Yumi!" Yolda praises.
Naga smiles slightly. "I can see why you fell for her, Hecadoth. She can be pretty feisty," he tells me.
Before I can say anything, however, we suddenly see the ringleader grab Yumi's arm, twist her around, and slap her in the face, much to our shock.
"You take that back, you little bitch!" she snarls.
Yumi merely touches her slightly red cheek and glares defiantly at her. "No," she says. However, she's slapped across the face again and she lets out a small grunt of pain.
"I said take it back!" the ringleader growls.
"And I said no." However, she's suddenly pushed to the ground and repeatedly kicked. At this point, I feel like running those girls with my spear. They want to see the pits of hell? Oh, I could show it to them.
The ringleader walks up to her, sneering down at her. "That wasn't very nice, Yumi," she drawls, picking up a photo of Yumi's mother that fell on the ground. "Listen here. This school isn't meant for ugly bitches like you. So do us a favour and go back to Japan with your mechanic dad!" Right then, she tears the photo into shreds while Yumi can only watch on in horror. As the shreds fall to the ground, the girls walk away, laughing cruelly.
"Those little…" Yolda seethes.
"Human World bullies can be pretty cruel, actually," Naga comments. "But mocking her deceased mother? How disgraceful!"
"Yumi!" We watch as her friends run over to her. "Yumi, are you okay?" one of them asks in concern.
"Let's take you to the nurse's office!" another one says.
"They've gone too far this time," another growls.
"Come on, Yumi," another girl says. "I've recorded the incident on my phone. Let's go to the principal and show it- Yumi…?" she suddenly trails off as Yumi stands up.
"You're right, Rachel," Yumi says, her voice low. "They went too far."
"Y-Yumi?" one of her friends asks, looking confused. She turns and faces them.
"What do you say about a little justice being served?" she asked.
Right then, I sense it. Her demonic power is rising rapidly in the memory. However, no powers surround her just yet. "You have some nerve, you know?" she calls to the group of bratty girls, speaking in Japanese. "Mocking my dead mother, slapping me across the face, kicking me to the ground, and tearing my mother's photo? You're even more trashy than I thought."
The group of bratty girls stop and turn around, giving her an annoyed look. "Speak English, we don't understand Japanese!" one of them taunts.
"You don't understand?" Yumi asks in English. "Well then, how about this?" Suddenly, the demonic aura surrounds her, shocking her friends and other students, as well as the bratty girls. "You take that back..." she growls, her voice low with rage.
To my pleasure, their smug smirks disappear and are replaced with surprise and fear. "Yu-Yumi…?" the ringleader asks, her voice trembling. "Wh-What the hell?! It was just a joke! Can't you take a joke?!"
Yumi lifts her head up and that's when I see it. Her dark amber eyes flash with pure, unadulterated rage and Naga, Yolda, and I instantly recognize that look of rage. Almost every demon has that and it comes out when they're truly angry. I realize it right then. Her inner demon has taken control of her.
"A joke?" she growls out. An almost sadistic grin crosses her face. "Well then…" Yumi suddenly charges towards the ringleader and grabs her face before violently slamming her into the ground with enough force to break some of her bones. "I didn't find it funny!" she roars as she does that.
By now, all the other students are watching in shock and horror as the scene unfolds before them. The rest of the group of girls try to step back, fear on their faces. However, Yumi glares at them with pure hatred. "None of you are going anywhere!"
With that last sentence, the memory ends.
(Yumi's POV)
I stare at the Monster of Memories in shock. He smirks as he removes his finger from my forehead, the memory fading away as we're now in the park. The monster smirks at me. "See what you're capable of now?" he asks. "Nearly killing those who make fun of your deceased mother."
"Yumi! Don't listen to him!" Hecadoth shouts. "He'll kill you once you're riled up!"
"Go on, Tanaka Yumi," the monster tells me, smirking. "Why don't you unleash your inner demon again? You know you want to."
I look up at him, a small smirk on my face. "Sorry, but I can't unleash my inner demon," I say. "She's been tamed." I glance back at Naga. "Now!"
Naga gets into his stance. "Water Ash Flow… Snake Dragon Palm!" he shouts, sending a blast at him. As Naga does so, Yolda runs past him and grabs the pouch from the tree branch.
"Yumi-san! Now!" she calls.
"Yeah!" I take out the telescope and aim the objective lens towards the light. Sunlight streams through the lens and past the eyepiece, shining directly into his eyes. The monster howls in pain as he covers his eyes. Hecadoth uses this opportunity to stab the monster through the stomach with his spear, causing it to dissolve into nothing.
Naga stares stoically at the spot where the Monster of Memories once was. "Let's go back to the others," he says. Yolda holds onto the pouch as we start walking back.
"I'm so sorry you went through all that, Yumi," Hecadoth apologizes.
"What are you talking about?" I ask, slightly confused at first.
"At your previous school," he adds.
"Oh. Right," I realize. I smile at him. "I'm fine, though. Those bitches are in the past now."
"Believe me, I honestly felt like impaling them," he says. "Why the hell are they considered 'popular'? They're stuck-up, arrogant, spoiled, immature, and bratty. I mean, making fun of your dead mother? That's horrible!"
"In Makai, making fun of a person's dead relative is punishable by public humiliation," Naga comments. "There's a difference between remembering the humorous moments of a deceased relative versus mocking them posthumously."
"You completed the task, I see," Hilda says when the four of us come back. "What's the item?"
Yolda pulls out a fairly large ball of silver string from the pouch.
"A ball of string?" Oga asks.
"'Wondering what the ball of string is for?'" Yolda reads the letter. "'It's just like in Greek mythology, with the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Go to the park. There, you will find a large, even more complex labyrinth. In there is the next item. Use the string to create a path when you enter the labyrinth. This string is magic, so it will stop extending once you reach the center of the labyrinth. But be warned. In the labyrinth is a deadly monster, known as the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster. Be careful you don't run into him, or you'll get killed and devoured.'"
"I'll do this one," Hilda says, raising her hand.
"Me too," Oga volunteers. "Hilda and I haven't done any of the tasks yet."
"I'm doin' this one as well!" Kanzaki adds.
"And so am I!" Nene chimes in.
"Me too!" Lord En adds.
"Very well," Naga says. "Be careful though. Especially you, Lord En-sama. The Minotaur is one of the deadliest monsters to ever exist in Makai."
"Of course," Oga says. "I won't let that thing eat us!"