Ordinary Life

By: Aviantei

Chapter Sixteen


Whiskey never got the chance to check to see if Vati had called her back, since Kamiki and Suguro decided that they needed to have some pissing match or what the fuck ever in the middle of Scripture Recitation Spells, including tossing some blows at each other, and that debacle had led to every single member of their cram school course back in the dorm, in the seiza position, with goddamn bariyons on their laps as a form of collective punishment.

"You stay here, cool off, and get along until I get back in three hours," Yukio had said with a smile before heading out, locking the door, and leaving the room of teenagers to stew in their punishment. Suguro and Kamiki didn't waste much time in bickering again, despite Miwa's attempts at interference.

I very much think that I would like to murder absolutely everything right now.

As if in response to her thoughts, the rock demon in her lap increased in weight again, and Whiskey bit back a groan. Technically, with her Submission, she could easily get rid of the thing and not have to put up with it, but she had the feeling that Yukio would know if she cheated her way out of it. Besides, as obnoxious as the situation was, the punishment was sound; exorcists needed to be able to cooperate, and if those two didn't go ahead and learn their lesson, they'd be in shit ton of trouble down the line.

Still doesn't make this suck any less, though. Not even bothering to try and move her legs (since the bariyon so wasn't going to let that happen), Whiskey turned her torso as best he could to face Mocha and Ruma. "Mocha-chan, I challenge you to Shiratori. You can pick whatever weird restrictions you want," she said. They needed some way to pass the time, and Whiskey wasn't about to make a phone call to her father about a potential traitor in the school with everyone else around. "Moriyama-san, do you want to join?"

Moriyama's expression flickered between interested and pure worry. "I-I don't mind, but wouldn't it be better to…" Her leaf green eyes drifted over to Suguro and Izumo, who were still snipping at each other.

"Collective responsibility or no, it's not our job to stop them from fighting." Even so, Whiskey felt bad for Rin being stuck in the middle of it again. "They're not going to learn to cooperate if we force them. Trust me, it's better this way." For all she admired the protagonist trope of fixing everything with a few well-placed words, Whiskey wasn't charismatic enough to pull something like that off. "The sooner we start playing, the sooner we can start ignoring them, so—"

The lights went out.

Whiskey's eyes adjusted to the darkness far faster than anyone else could manage, and everyone's unnerved voices rang out in confusion. The weight of the bariyon vanished from her lap, and she was able to stumble out of the way on numb legs as Kamiki half-kicked Miwa across the room kin her panic. There were still lights on outside, and they helped Whiskey quickly survey the room as she rested her hands on both Mocha's and Ruma's shoulders. They both tensed at the touch, but Ruma managed to catch onto Mocha's hand in an extra show of reassurance, and Mocha managed to snatch onto the front of Whiskey's shirt.

Shima managed to turn on his phone's flashlight function first.

That was enough to reestablish a sense of moderate calm, and everyone else that could went for their phones as well. Soon, they had a collection of miniature spotlights floating in the air. While the others debated what had just happened, Whiskey scanned over her classmates one more time, relived that no one was hurt, save for some emotional ruffling.

"Let's look out in the hall," Shima said, heading to do just that and laughing even after Miwa's warning. "I like stuff like this. It's a real test of courage…"

The scent of kin of rot—

"Shima, move!"

Shima attempted to slam the door shut, but the naeberius on the other end smashed through it with a shattering of splinters. Shima managed to get out of it unharmed, and Whiskey was already pushing Mocha and Ruma behind her and charging forward with a snarl. The panic had spread between everyone else, and Whiskey grimaced as she saw one of the sacks on the demon's body start to expand and bulge. "Moriyama-san!"

"Nii-chan! Oona-oona, quick!"

Whiskey wasn't sure what the hell "oona-oona" was supposed to be, but it quickly became apparent that her familiar understood as it grew a whole bramble of tree branches from its body, blocking the entrance and keeping the enemy demon at bay. Some of its attack still made it through, though, a dark and foul sulfur-smelling liquid splattering through the air. Whiskey grimaced at the sting, but the sensation started to fade after a few moments. The others, though…

Not quite as bad as a direct attack from a ghoul, so it shouldn't be at risk for necrotizing, but it's still going to make them feel sick… "Mocha-chan. Ruma. You two doing okay?"

"Doing great," Ruma said with a heavy layer of sarcasm. "I managed to keep Mocha-chan from taking too much of it, but this still sucks. I wanna puke."

Whiskey shared that sentiment; the odor of the naeberius was pungent, all the more so since there were two of the damn things, and the combined fact that one of their teachers had probably set them on them didn't help the nausea in her stomach. The power was out, so they couldn't rely on the lights to help weaken the demons, and after taking splash of the ghoul fluid, Moriyama's barrier would only hold up for so long. Rin wasn't having any luck reaching Yukio, and Whiskey doubted that any attempts to contact Vati would go any better. I can't even use Submission on these things, then…

"I'll go out and draw them off," Rin said, before Whiskey could even begin to put together a proper strategy. "If they both follow me, run away. If they don't follow me, I'll get help or turn on the power." Suguro and Miwa both protested near immediately, but Whiskey had to admit it was probably the best bet they had. If he went off on his own, then Rin could fight freely without showing off his half-demon status to anyone else, and how he'd handled the night before meant he was had enough regenerative capability to not come out of the conflict worse for wear.

"I'll come with you, then," Whiskey said, sending up several more protests from the others. "What, do any of you have a better idea? I've at least had some combat experience before." It all sucked, sure, but like hell if she wasn't about to put it to use.

"Yeah," Suguro said, the faint outline of a vein pulsing in his forehead, "we don't split up and put our heads together to do something that isn't a suicide mission—"

"Good luck telling Rin-kun that." He'd slipped out into the hallway while everyone else was bickering, and, based on the smell alone, one of the ghouls had followed him. Suguro spluttered in indignation, and Whiskey took the opportunity to weave through the available gaps in Moriyama's summoned tree. "We'll take care of things out here. Ruma, if something goes wrong, call me. Keep Mocha-chan safe."

"You don't gotta tell me twice!"

Suguro started to voice a fresh protest, but Whiskey didn't bother to listen to it. She'd already wormed her way through Moriyama's tree branches and her feet slammed into the hallway floor. One of the demons had taken off after Rin, and the pulse of his demonic fire was clear from farther away in the dorm, since he was free to use his powers without any of their classmates watching. Whiskey shifted into a battle stance and let some of her own demonic aura pulse out into the world, catching the naeberius's attention.

"Looks like it's me and you. Wanna tell me who your master is and get this over with?"

The naeberius groaned, a foul wave of its sulfuric breath washing over Whiskey's noise. "You are…not the one…my master…wants…"

"Too bad, 'cause I'm the one you—what the—?!"

Whiskey's eyes easily caught the flash of white in the dark, but not with enough warning to dodge out of the way. The impact struck hard into her head, sending her tumbling over, and she clawed at the floor for some purchase, feeling the wood give way beneath her extended nails. She managed to not slam into any walls, but there was enough distance that the remaining naeberius took advantage of her absence to work its way back into the room with the others. Whiskey pushed herself up to charge towards it, but soon the demon that had hit her made itself apparent as a small white shape rushed towards her.

Is that another fucking—?!

A pseudo-Galatea almost kicked Whiskey in the face, and she swiped back at it. Somehow, another one of the stupid demons had made its way into the school, and it was showing up at the absolute worst time that Whiskey could think of. Even worse, if her past experience was anything to go by, there wasn't any reasoning with the damn thing, other than trying to pull it into Submission and hoping for the best.

Frustration fueling her more than anything else, Whiskey clicked her tongue and launched herself back onto her feet, regaining her balance just in time to dodge out of the way of the latest blow. Looking at the demon, this one didn't have a small weapon, instead wielding what looked closer to a club in a color dark enough to blend into the shadows.

Yeah, that's gonna be a bitch to deal with. Not wanting to take any more chances, Whiskey pushed even harder on her demonic aura, sharpening her senses even further, so that she could hear any incoming movements and taste the differences in the air. A vaguely ashy taste wandered into her mouth even though the naeberius's odor, accompanied by a pulse of demonic activity that flared up in the distance, likely Rin dealing with his own enemy. Alright. Enough thinking, Whiskey. Move.

Not even waiting for the pseudo-galatea to make a move, Whiskey dove forward, claws extended and flashing out in a strike. The demon countered with a swing from its own weapon, intercepting Whiskey's right wrist with a blow hard enough to send a fierce needle of pain up her arm and a crack of snapping bone to her ears. The pain was nothing, especially since it started to heal right away, and Whiskey aimed a low, sweeping kick at the pseudo-galatea in retaliation.

She landed a glancing blow, which upset the demon's balance, but not enough to stop it from leaping up into the air. Whiskey crossed her arms in a block, planning to use the moment when the pseudo-galatea was close to activate her Submission, but she'd misread the blow. The demon hadn't been aiming for her.

Instead, it smashed its weapon into the floor, and the sound of splintering wood that followed was almost deafening to Whiskey's sensitive ears.

The floorboards beneath her feet gave out, and Whiskey fell into the darkened hallway waiting below.


Ruma really fucking wished she had her bat with her.

Okay, so she wasn't sure how well even a metal bat would do against the damn demon that was hounding them, but it would have helped to get her in the right mental state to deal with trouble. As things were, she was in trapped in a room in the dark with no easy way to call for help, a frightened Mocha, and a bunch of other kids who were acting like they'd never seen a fight in their life. To add a cherry on top, Whiskey—who most easily knew what she was doing when it came to fighting demons—was gone, which limited their options.

Dammit, get it together. I can't go around relying on Whiskey all the time. Shoving her hands into her pockets, Ruma felt around for the summoning circles she'd stuffed away. So I'll do what I can—

"I call upon the guardians of the river and harvest to bring me aid!"

The air shifted and Ruma felt the pull of her energy slip away, making way for Satis to land on an unoccupied area of the floor. Satis turned her head in an instant to the naeberius behind the wall of plants and let out what seemed to be an irritated snort.

"Satis, can you make sure that thing doesn't get any closer?" The antelope tossed her head as if Ruma's question was an insult and stomped on the ground, adding more vines to the shield Moriyama had put up. Ruma looked back to check on Mocha, who was taking several deep breaths, and then to the others. "If the rest of you have any great ideas for us getting out of this alive, I'd love to hear them!"

"Ugh, dammit, fine. Like I'm just gonna stand here!" Suguro said, stepping forward. "I'll beat it with an Aria!"

Shima looked exasperated. "But you don't know its death verse."

Ruma had to give it Suguro, he didn't back down. "All the ones for ghouls are in the gospel of John. I've memorized the whole book, so I'm bound to come across it sometime."

"The whole book? That's more than twenty chapters!"

"Twenty-one, to be exact," Miwa said, looking smaller than usual still hunched over on the floor. "I've memorized up through chapter ten. Let me help."

"Me, too." Mocha's voice was shaky, but she'd balled her hand into fists and stepped forward. Ruma smiled, even if her expression probably didn't make it through the dark. "I've only practiced enough to memorize the first two books and some of the third, but it's better than nothing!"

"Now just hold on a second!" Kamiki, her usual bluster disappeared, looked stiffer than Ruma had ever seen her. "Once you all start, it'll focus on you. There's no way you'll get to its death verse in time. This isn't going to work!"

Ruma scoffed. "Do you have any better ideas?" Kamiki's flinch was all the answer Ruma needed to plow forward. "It's either we sit around and wait for our familiars to give out or we do something. You have no fucking right to talk down on other people if you can't even stand up and fight. So if you wanna cower in a corner and wait to die, then fine. Just stay the hell out of the way of the rest of us!"

Kamiki dropped her head, but Ruma didn't feel any guilt. She'd had to learn that lesson, too, and in a much harder way than Kamiki was having to put up with. Ruma had resolved to be strong—for real, and not in the fake way she'd tried before.

I don't want to feel hopeless like that ever again.

I don't want to watch Mocha cry and not be able to do anything about it.

I don't want Whiskey to have to carry everything by herself anymore.

"Alright!" Ruma shouted, moving up to stand by Moriyama as Mocha, Suguro, and Miwa all settled down further back to start chanting. The naeberius clamored and tore at the plants serving as a barrier, the rough sounds scraping through the air. "Let's do this shit!"


Whiskey slammed into the ground of the fifth floor with enough force to make her body bounce back into the air. Those precious seconds cost her when it came to dodging the pseudo-Galatea's next blow, and she had only half rolled out of the way before the club slammed into her leg, the splinter of bone shooting all the way through her thigh and dragging a moan of pain from between her lips. The amount of force it took to break a bone when she'd released so much of her demonic aura was astounding. Where the last pseudo-Galatea had a style that focused more on dexterity, it was obvious this one cared to show its superiority through strength.

Not like this is the worst shit I've ever been through, though!

Broken leg or not, Whiskey was still able to pull herself to her feet. The blend of adrenaline and demonic healing blurred the pain away to a haze, and she could feel the sensation of her incisors extending long enough to prick into her lips. It didn't matter. The time for handling the situation gracefully had long passed.

If you want brute force, I'll give you brute force!

Whiskey reset her position and then let out her suppressed demonic ability. Her tail lashed free from its hiding place beneath her shirt, and her nails and ears grew out even further. The demon stilled for a moment, sensing the shift in pressure. If it had thought it could get the advantage on Whiskey by isolating her, it had another thing coming.

Following her instincts, Whiskey pounced at the lull in the pseudo Galatea's movements. It tried to retaliate, but the full arc of the swing of its club took too long, and Whiskey had already latched her claws into its torso. Her unoccupied hand went for the club, managing to yank it out of the demon's momentarily unsteady grip, and it sailed through the dark before landing further down the hall in a series of chaotic thumps.

Whiskey felt her grin go wide enough to bare her teeth and snarled.

"Submit."

The pseudo-Galatea might have struggled, but Whiskey had enough of an upper hand that it fell prey to her ability in seconds. It didn't even hurt to open up the doors to her Submission with how far she'd dove into her abilities. Her fist continued to clench on empty air, and she exhaled before prying her fingers open. That was one enemy down, and Rin's fiery presence had calmed down a bit in the distance, so he must've taken care of his target as well.

The lights flicked back on.

Several more presences Whiskey hadn't noticed before became very obvious in her senses, along with one all too familiar scent, even from a distance.

"Vati?"


[Author's Notes]

Did someone say the Exwire Exam? Oh, yeah, that was me.

Thanks go out to e. for the favorite and follow since the last chapter! I greatly appreciate the support~.

Action sequences are fun. The trouble is making existing action sequences exciting when there are new fighters involved that would honestly tip the scales a bit. Oh, and making sure Whiskey doesn't figure out that Rin is the son of Satan yet. That's also important. And a little bit more Ruma POV to explore that end of things as well.

Honestly, I'm just having fun with setting things up in the background while working on these early chapters. Best of luck to see if you can find my hints~.

My writing schedule has honestly gone haywire this year, so there is no guaranteed date for the next update. It is coming though, so keep an eye out. Whenever it does arrive, please look forward to it!

-Avi

[03.02.2020]