"What happened!" Nana cried as she came running out.
"Stay back Nana, this asshole attacked Lady Hinari!" Lucy spat in Samuru's face.
"Lady Himari... Lady Himari!" Yuka cried. She then said, "She's unconscious."
"You are so dead," Lucy growled.
"Wait, NO! Mama Lucy, that's Hisoka's uncle!" Kanae yelled as she ran up to them. Kanae grabbed Lucy's arm, her face wore terror. "Mama Lucy, please no! Don't hurt him!"
Lucy whipped her head to Kanae and barked, "Like he didn't hurt Lady Himari? Give me one good reason I shouldn't rip him apart."
"Because ... That won't help Lady Himari!" Kanae cried. "Please, Mama Lucy, you can't DO THIS!"
"Kanae... someone, I need help here!" Yuka called.
Kanae looked at Yuka then returned her attention to Lucy. "Lady Himari would not want this, Mama Lucy, please," she begged.
"What's going on?" Hisoka asked.
Samuru turned his head to see Hisoka and Mariko watching them with gapping faces. "Hisoka, stay away!" he called.
"Someone help me!" Yuka yelled.
Hisoka and Mariko came running. Mariko ran over to Yuka, who was kneeing by Lady Himari. Hisoka stopped behind Lucy and asked, "What happened?"
"Who's watching Junior and Chika?" Nana asked. Seeing everyone was inside, she huffed and said, "I'll go do it. Lucy, do NOT kill him!"
Seeing Lady Himari laying unconscious, Hisoka gapped at his uncle. "What did you do?" he asked.
A groan got Samuru's attention. Lady Himari was sitting up with Yuka and Mariko's help. Holding her head, she let out another moan. It occurred to him then that none of these girls were doing cosplay. Every one was a mountain devil. He was going to die in a den of mythical creatures. "Please, don't hurt Hisoka," he said, sure those would be his final words.
He was pulled away from the wall and slammed back into it. "Hisoka didn't do anything, YOU did!" Lucy spat.
"Mama Lucy, please, no," Kanae cried again.
"It's not up to me. We'll see what Lady Himari says when she wakes up," Lucy said sternly.
.
Kouta arrived home to a strange sight. Hisoka and Yuka were working at patching a hole in the ceiling by the entryway. Yuka greeted his "I'm home." not with a hug, but with a forlorn look. Hisoka waved a feeble hand at him.
Eyeing the hole, Kouta guessed, "Junior at work?"
Picking up some splinters of the floor, Yuka said, "No, it's a bit more complicated. In the spare room, please."
Kouta followed Yuka to find Lady Himari sitting cross legged facing a man who looked like a monk. Lucy sat to one side of Lady Himari, Kanae sat on her other side. Mariko was off to the monk's side, eyeing him. No one looked up as he entered.
"Kouta, we have problem here," Lucy stated.
Noting the tension in the air, Kouta asked, "This is about the hole in the ceiling out there?"
Lady Himari glanced at Kouta and said, "This is about leftover hatred from the War of Tears. Apparently, this man's sect was trained hard to fight us. He attacked me on sight."
Kouta eyed the man. "Why did you attack Lady Himari?" he asked harshly.
Samuru meant to clasp his hands in a prayer gesture. They were flung apart. Lucy said, "I don't think so. Try that again, and you won't have any hands."
Samuru bit back a comment, and told Kouta, "I will compensate you for the damage to your house, Sir. That is, if I live long enough to do so."
"You didn't answer my question. Why did you attack Lady Himari?"
Samuru swallowed and said, "That woman is a mountain devil."
"Aren't you the devil for attacking her?" Kanae asked.
"Listening to devils will only destroy one's soul," Samuru stated.
Lucy tipped her head and asked in a hard tone, "Are you calling my daughter a devil?"
Kouta saw the situation wasn't good, and was going to quickly deteriorate. Before the monk could speak, he announced, "All right, enough!" Pointing at the door, he told Samuru, "I don't know who you are, or why you're here, but I want you out NOW!"
Samuru looked at Lady Himari and asked, "May I leave?"
"As long as you never return," she replied.
Samuru got up, half expecting to be assaulted. Lucy got up with him and followed him. By the door, he paused to speak to Kouta, then thought better of it. All these devils had surely gotten to him, to try and make him understand would only cause greater grief.
Samuru did stop at the entryway. Seeing Hisoka helping Yuka pick up the mess, he said, "Hisoka, come. We're leaving."
Hisoka looked at him and said, "No. Lady Himari is a nice lady, she helps everyone. You attacked her for no reason. I'm sorry uncle, I don't want anything to do with you."
Samuru shook his head sadly. "So pitiful is the lost soul," he said with a sigh.
"Lady Lucy, I will escort Mr. Kobayashi out," Lady Himari stated.
Samuru turned to see Lucy had her fists clenched. The Devil Himari moved smoothly past her as she eyed him with anger. "Does it matter who will end my life?" he asked.
"Go," Lady Himari said.
.
Hisoka knew the hotel was around here someplace. Beside him, Mariko asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? He might try to kidnap you."
Hisoka winced and said. "I have to. He's got the wrong idea. He thinks you're devils. Maybe I can convince him you're not. That war was what, seventy years ago now?"
Mariko gave his hand a squeeze. "Hisoka, we should have at least told Papa where we were going. What if he becomes violent again?"
"That's why I don't want anyone else to know," Hisoka replied. "You should stay back too, Mariko. I don't want you getting hurt."
"There's the hotel."
Hisoka made sure his uncle wasn't in the restaurant, then parked Mariko in a booth. He found his uncle's room number and took the elevator up. Standing at the door, Hisoka knocked. "Uncle?" he asked.
After a moment, the door opened. Samuru grew a smile. "Hisoka, it is so good to see you here!" he said, and ushered Hisoka in.
Hisoka went in and sat down on the long couch. This was a nice, big hotel room.
"I prayed you would see reason," Samuru said with a sigh of relief. Sitting down by Hisoka, Samuru's face was bright as he said, "I feared they had gotten to you. I don't know a good place for you to live, but I promise I will find one."
"I have a good place to live," Hisoka told him. "Uncle, you don't understand. Mariko is my best friend, she helped me and mom plenty of times. So have all of them. When that mean man tried to get into the house and beat up mom again, Mario stood in front of the door and wouldn't let him in. She protected us, uncle. When mom was killed and I was shot, Mariko stayed right at my bedside. I was out, but police told me she stopped another man from killing me, and she did save everyone at the hospital from that man with the bomb. Uncle, why do you think they are bad?"
Samuru's face fell. Hisoka was completely taken in by them. "Hisoka," he said slowly to gather his thoughts. "Even devils can do good things. The good deeds they do are only to ... placate you into thinking they are not devils. This .. Lady Himari, any of them in fact. How much do you really know about them?"
"I've known Mariko and her family since fifth grade. OK, I'll agree Mama Lucy can be scary. Everyone worries that she is going to seriously hurt someone at times. Yeah, she has a temper, but it's never unjustified. From what I know, she used to be bad, but that was because they kept her locked away on some island in a vault. I mean, wouldn't that get you mad too? Anyway, Mama Lucy does love us all, and she is a nice, kind person and does her best to stay in a good mood. And Mama Nana is the best! She doesn't have a mean bone in her body. Lady Himari is also a nice lady. She does her best to help everyone. You think they are devils because of the horns on their heads. They aren't! Uncle, they are the best people I've ever met. If I could be anywhere, with anyone, I'd want to be with them."
Samuru let out a sigh. Wringing his hands, he asked, "Hisoka, if I give you some books, would you read them for me?"
"OK, but why?"
"To learn the truth."
Hisoka though for a second, then said, "OK, but you have to read a book for me, too." Getting up, he said, "Wait for me, I'll go get one."
.
An hour later, Hisoka knocked on Samuru's door. Samuru answered it holding a pair of books. Looking down on the thick book Hisoka held, he asked, "What is that?"
"This is Kanae's copy of the history of the Yukaita sect," Hisoka replied.
"And these are copies of our sect's texts," Samuru said as he held them out. "Please read them."
Hisoka took the books and handed Samuru the Yukaita history book. "And you read this, Uncle. Cover to cover."
"Very well. Shall we meet again once we finish out reading and discuss what we read?" Samuru asked.
"It's a deal," Hiskoa said, and held his hand out.
Samuru shook his hand. "Deal," he agreed.
.
Hisoka lay on the floor, reading. Beside him, Mariko peeked over from her place on the floor and asked, "Well?"
"Much of this is the other side of the War of Tears. Here, it claims they tried to 'cleanse' the mountain of devils, but the evil was too great. It goes on about all the men who died." Looking up, Hisoka said, "I can't help thinking that I know what was going on in the village, and these people were only trying to justify trying to wipe them out."
"That's pretty much what I got, too," Mariko mussed. "So, why are you reading the whole thing?"
"I promised my uncle I would, if he reads the entire Yukaita history book."
"Do you think he will?"
"I hope so, I'm struggling through this for him," Hisoka said.
Mariko let out a long yawn and said, "Well I'm going to bed." In his ear, she asked, "Want to come with me?"
Hisoka saw her crooked grin, and sported his own. "Sure, this is dry stuff anyway."
.
Lady Himari was willing to let the whole 'monk' indecent go. Lucy noted that being attacked affected Lady Himari. Lady Himari acted more subdued than normal. She mentioned several times that she wanted to have a child before she died.
That was so out of character for her, Lucy felt the need to ensure that monk never bothered them again. To help cheer Lady Himari up, Lucy took Kouta to one side and told him she was giving her turn to Lady Himari. That night she led Lady Himari to Kouta's room.
Lucy kissed Kouta and told him, "Please, take good care of her tonight. I'll see you in the morning."
"Thank you, Lady Lucy," Lady Himari said reverently.
"Just to be sure you're not bothered," Lucy said, and picked up the 'It's Lucy's turn' paper. She waved it at them and shut the door behind her. She stuck the paper on the outside of the door.
Lucy then left and paid a visit to Inspector Fushi, and told him about the indecent of Mr. Kobayashi attacking Lady Himari, and showed him a picture of the ruined ceiling. She gave the inspector the information on where he was staying, and instead of arresting the monk, or making him pay for damages, her only request was to have him leave the city. She assured the inspector that if Mr. Kobayashi stayed in town, there would most likely be a very nasty battle and people would get hurt.
Lucy got home late. Sure everyone was on bed, she went in to take a bath. The first thing she noticed was upon entering the bath was a dark head in the tub. It looked like Hisoka. She then heard a snore, and noticed two bathrobes hanging on the hooks.
Wearing a crooked grin, Lucy looked in the hamper and found a bloody towel. By the smell of sex on it, that was virgin blood. She went over and knelt by the tub, and sure enough, Mariko was cuddled up in Hisoka's arms. They were both asleep. Reaching out she pinched their noses shut.
Mariko recoiled and bumped her head on Hisoka's chin, which woke him up.
"You two are so boring!" Lucy announced.
Water flew as Hisoka and Mariko let out surprised yelps. Mariko's face turned crimson as she covered herself and sat in front of Hisoka,.
"You get naked in the bath together and you all you can find to do is sleep?" Lucy asked.
"Mama Lucy..." Hisoka started to say, and his voice got caught in his throat.
"Don't bother trying to explain, the towel in the hamper says it all," Lucy told them. "I'll go wash the towel and the clothes. Go to bed, it's dangerous to sleep in the bath like that."
"But.." Mariko said in a tiny voice.
"But noting. Yuka usually takes a late bath, so you might want to hurry," Lucy said as she got up and grabbed the hamper.
"Yes, Mama Lucy!" Mariko squeaked.
.
Lucy got the wash started and thought about going to bed, then decided to wait for the load to finish. Settling down on the floor with her back against the wall, Lucy closed her eyes and listened to the washing machine. She wondered if Mariko and Hisoka were going to sleep together, or after the embarrassment of being caught, they were going to go to their own rooms. She hoped they didn't, they should snuggle together, at least for the night.
"Lucy? Why are you doing clothes at this hour?"
Lucy looked up to see Nana eyeing her from the doorway. "Hi Nana. Let's just say it is ... vital this load be done now. Why are you up?"
"Couldn't sleep," Nana said and settled down beside Lucy with the help of her mind hands. "So what are you washing?"
Lucy smirked and said, "Evidence. Tonight, Hisoka became a man, and Mariko became a woman."
"OH," Nana said, then her eyes widened. "Ohh! You mean they ..."
"Yup, they rode the hobby horse."
"But.. Oh, I hope they didn't do that for me!" Nana exclaimed.
"I'm pretty sure they did it for themselves. They are growing up, you know," Lucy told her. "Mariko and Kanae are taking their birth control pills. I checked."
"You think Kanae ... is too?"
"If she hasn't yet, it's only a matter of time."
"I suppose so," Nana said with a sigh. Sporting a smile of remembrance, she said, "That first time was really special. So wonderful and scary all at the same time."
"Yeah," Lucy agreed, then let out a chuckle. "Who would have ever thought we'd be sitting here talking about thinks like that, huh?"
Nana let out a giggle. She then asked, "Wait a minute, I though you were with Kouta tonight. The sign is hanging on his door. Did something happen?"
"I gave my turn to Lady Himari. I think she really needed it."
"She did act strange after that monk knocked her down," Nana mussed.
"I don't think she's ever been hit before," Lucy said. "Let alone be knocked out by a human. She's rattled pretty bad. I'm fairly concerned about that guy too. If all his sect have that power, we could be in for a real fight."
"Does it have to be that way?" Nana asked with a wince.
Lucy shrugged, "He didn't hesitate. The second he saw her -bang. I think if I wasn't there to stop him, he would have killed her. The next time I see him, I won't hesitate either."
.
Samuru heard the knocking and got up from his futon on the floor by the bed that was too thick to sleep on. He donned his robe and answered the door, wondering who it could be at this hour.
A policemen stood on the other side of the door. Showing his badge, the man asked, "Mr. Kobayashi?"
"Yes, is there a problem, officer?"
"Were you at the Maple Inn today?"
"Yes, I went to see my nephew."
"And did you strike one Lady Himari and make this hole in their ceiling?" he asked, and showed him the picture.
Samuru was surprised the police had found out about it so soon. He nodded and said, "I tried to get rid of that mountain devil, the hole was from her deflecting most of my shot."
The policeman glared at him and said, "That is assault with intent to kill, Mr. Kobayashi. Normally, I would take you in. However, this is a special circumstance. It is too dangerous to keep you within the city. Pack your things, I'm taking you to the train station. You leave on the four o'clock to Tokyo. Where you go from there is not my concern. If you ever return to Kamakura, priest of not, you'll be arrested on sight for attempted murder."
Samuru noted the policeman said it was dangerous for him here. "You believe that devil will come for me?"
"No, Sir. I believe that if the people find out you tried to kill the woman who has done large amounts of good work for our community, including saving lives, you won't be safe sitting in the church. Angry mobs are hard to deal with, so you're leaving town before the sun is up. It's either that, or I take you to Tokyo in handcuffs."
Samuru couldn't believe mountain devils had that kind of power here. They controlled the police? "Yes, sir," Samuru said in a dull tone. "My nephew gave me a book to read, would you return it to him for me?"
"Send it back to him yourself. Get packed, right now."
As Samuru collected his few things, he knew he should go anyway. The Master had to find out about these devils. He'd know how to get rid of them.