The carriage shook slightly at the sudden introduction to a cobbled road, jostling the two passengers inside as hooves clicked loudly against the stone in their quick trot as they carried the small, wooden compartment along.
A young man was nose deep in his book, apparently paying little mind to the shaking world around him as he rambled happily to his companion, who was laid down on the cushions across from him, trying to rest a bit.
"Personally, I think it could be a type of hellhound that made it out of the fabled "Hell's Gate" cave, not too far from here! Do you think this one breathes fire too?" He asked, his black hair bouncing slightly with the rocking carriage.
Auburn eyes glanced over to him from under their dark hood of a hat, expressing slight boredom at his theories. "If it is, just prepare some herbal remedies for the burns, Fuyuki." They muttered tiredly.
The man's face soured a little as he pouted. "Oh, come on! Aren't you even a little excited that we're getting a job outside of home? And it's from a matriarch!"
They seemed to nod a bit, mocking a sort of affirmation.
"Uh-huh… Well, until we actually confirm it's not some idiot thinking they're funny and I see the money laid out in front of me, I'm not gonna take anything said in that letter seriously." They retorted with an experienced bitterness. "We're already wasting a lot of money coming out here as is…"
Fuyuki sighed, understanding his heavily dressed companion's reasons. It wouldn't be the first time they had a phony message from some fictitious villager who was suffering from some paranormal entity… And it probably won't be the last.
A lot of folks seemed to have a lot of free time on their hands nowadays.
But, Fuyuki never let that kill his optimism. "Well, just wait till we get there," he reached over and shook his older sibling's shoulder encouragingly. "And hey! If it does turn out to be another fraud, I won't stop you from killing them this time!" He added with a playful wink.
Luckily, he didn't have to pull away the tall lapels of their coat to know that they were grinning. "Promises, promises…" They chuckled, feeling the carriage come to a sudden stop.
They were here.
"Are you sure this is the right place…?"
"Well, I hope so! Otherwise, this might get embarrassing."
It was an impressive manor at the heart of the town and Fuyuki couldn't help but whistle in appreciation as he exited the carriage, his companion following closely behind him.
It was a pale majesty that seemed to scream wealth and decor as shrubs lined the cobbled entrance way as if to guard the expansive and color gardens that laid behind them. It all led to a large, steel door that was elevated by white, marble steps where a well-dressed man stood proudly in front of. All the while, looking expectantly over to the two approaching individuals.
"I take it you must be the hunters our Mistress has called for…" He addressed them smoothly. Both nodded curtly at the old man, who hummed in approval.
"Right this way, then… Let's not keep her waiting." The old man turned and opened the large doors behind him with ease and beckoned the two down into the large, impressive hall of the manor.
There were countless maids running around the pristine areas, cleaning and recleaning the same spot more than a dozen times. A few even scowled a little at the two hunters tracking their dirty boots all over the white, tiled flooring. However none of them seemed to notice or care, as Fuyuki was too busy marveling the well-kept manor and the other only huffed boredly.
Soon enough, they came to a set of twin doors decorated in intricate floral designs. The butler softly knocked on the door.
"Come in." A dignified voice beckoned. So, with little theatrics, the old man opened both doors.
"Mistress Momoka." The butler greeted the prim and proper silhouette of his lady, who's large shadow casted over her new desk and the three individuals. To Fuyuki, it almost felt as if they were intruders just barging into the Queen's court with just how intense the Matriarch's gaze was on them.
Or more specifically; HIM.
She seemed to stare holes into poor Fuyuki as both hunters practically shambled into the clean office to stand before her highness.
The butler spoke up. "These are the hunters that you requested."
Momoka almost didn't hear him as she just kept ogling the tall man in front of her, her heart trying to break itself from the confines of her ribs.
God, he was hot.
His lithe, almost feminine-like frame and the subtle stubble poking out his chin just had her head over heels.
She giggled strangely, face burning as everyone else in the room seemed to eye her curiously. "And am I to assume that you are the dashing knight in overalls here to save me from my rabid dog problem~?" She asked Fuyuki sweetly.
He kind of laughed weakly. Throwing his hands up in the air. "O-oh! No no no, I'm not really a hunter! I'm more of an expert with paranormal entities and medicines!" He explained.
Momoka only fell harder. An intelligent, but sensitive guy was all she heard, really...
He didn't seem to pick up this behavior as he continued his introduction. "My name is Fuyuki Hinata, madame." He chirped, apparently not noticing the matriarch melting a little in her chair as he directed attention to the cloaked figure that stood silently behind him. "And this is my… Brother, Natsu." He added a little awkwardly.
That seemed to be enough to snap Momoka from her brief trance as she looked over to address the shorter man. "O-oh… Well, am I to assume you're the hunter then…?" She asked, noting their more appropriate looking, heavy duty attire.
Natsu's face was obscured with the shade of a large, black hat that had been lightly decorated with a red feather. The rest of the outfit was hard to say, as he had been wrapped in a large, dark cape that hung from broad shoulders. And if you paid attention, you'd be able to see the faint outline of dried blood coating the ends on it.
And those strange amber eyes that glared up at her from under the hat… Well, despite their short stature, Natsu certainly held an air of menace and intimidation. It also didn't help that they looked rather... Muscular, if their broad frame was all she had to go by.
He nodded and with this deep voice, he asked; "You mentioned in your note that you have this Hellhound problem? Maybe a Werewolf?"
Both brothers jumped when the matriarch abruptly laughed at the mention of the dog. "Actually, the townspeople have been calling it the Devil Dog…" She sniggered. "But we know better."
Fuyuki raised a brow at this. "What do you mean by that, Madame?"
Momoka sighed as she glanced over at the dashing, lithe man in front of her. "Devils..." She shook her head. "Do people really believe in fairy tales nowadays? The idea of a man-eating demon walking among the living, just going around and killing those who've stayed out too late? That's just a boogeyman tale to keep children from misbehaving!"
Fuyuki gasped in disbelief. "But, didn't you say that there were gruesome murders happening almost weekly?" He demanded.
Suddenly, something in Momoka snapped as her eyes narrowed like daggers. And in one swift motion, she slammed her hands against the desk in fury. A loud, startling boom echoing off the corners of the office. "AND I WILL NOT LET THOSE HORRIBLE MURDERS BE PAINTED WITH STORIES OF GHOSTS AND GHOULS!"
The room went quiet for a bit, until a sudden cough from Paul finally alerted the matriarch to her sudden outburst. Silently thanking him, Momoka visibly relaxed in her chair. Taking a deep breath as she coached herself back into being a professional matriarch overseeing an entire town. "We're working tirelessly to uncover the real monsters, my good sir. But, folks are stubborn and cling on to the idea that no man could ever be able to commit such atrocities…"
"So, we're just here to act as some kind of show for the town…?" Natsu growled.
Sensing the tepid air, Fuyuki glanced over to them nervously.
Momoka couldn't help but flinch at the sudden aggression from Natsu, but that did little to dissuade her opinion as her eyes narrowed again at the hunter. "To put it bluntly, yes."
You could hear Nastu's knuckles crack in tightly clenched fists.
"I just want you to go out into the woods, find a large wolf… Maybe a pack of them to round those beasts down a couple numbers… And bring one of the bigger one's fur back to the village. Say you slaughtered the beast, the people will cheer... And you will be paid handsomely for the hunt."
"And what happens when another one of these murders happen again?" Natsu challenged.
Momoka shot them a deathly stare. "They won't."
"And why not?"
"That's not something you're being paid to worry about. Now, do you want the money or not?" Momoka demanded in exaturbation, a bit of that growl from earlier coming back up her throat, like terrible bile.
Natsu just glared daggers at the matriarch for a long time. Long enough for even Paul to start glancing over with a distrustful look, ready to defend his mistress at any given notice.
And while she hated it when her butler felt the need to protect her, Momoka couldn't really blame him.
That look was downright terrifying.
Finally, a loud and indignant hiss blew from the hunter's obscured mouth. "Fine. We'll get you your damn pelt, princess."
And without another word, Nastu stormed out the doors of the office. Leaving their poor brother behind to amend the rift between the parties.
Fuyuki sighed as he watched them leave, Natsu startling the many maids of the house as they parted to make a wide path for them. Too afraid to get even remotely close to the hunter as they stomped out of the mansion, muttering curses under their breath.
"I'm sorry about them. It's just that they take their job seriously… And it offends them when people treat it like a joke, Madame." He explained, not yet turning to face the Matriarch.
Momoka sighed heavily, leaning back into her chair. Relief with a mix of annoyance settling within her as she gazed back to Fuyuki. "Your brother's a nutjob is what he is… You can't seriously believe that stuff, do you Fuyuki?" She asked with a small chuckle.
It died when she saw him quickly turn to face her, looking offended. "I do, actually." He said.
Momoka felt like an idiot. Of fucking course he believed that stuff! He wouldn't even be in this job if he didn't! Stupid stupid stupid…
"I-Im sorry! It's just that- Well, who the heck has seen a real monster anyway?" She tried again, but Fuyuki only shrugged as he gave her this distant look.
"We did, actually."
Idiot. "Wai- Really?"
The man looked over at her, an almost apologetic smile gracing his features that had made her heart leap. "It's okay. No one ever really believes us when we try to explain what happened. They just say it was a freak accident or that it was just a bunch of wild animals."
He glanced back over to the door where he watched Natsu storm off.
"But, we know better."
He found them sulking by the carriage, noting a few, deep fist imprints on the cracked, stone walls behind them as he approached.
"Hey… How're you holding up?" Fuyuki asked.
He only got a grunt in reply.
With an eye roll, Fuyuki quickly lowered himself down to sit next to them with a grin. "Did you know your hat's a little askew? I can almost see pink~!" He teased.
This got Natsu's attention, gasping in surprise before pulling down their cap tightly over their head. "Don't say that outloud, you idiot!" They hissed. "We're in public!"
He laughed. "I was kidding! You weren't talking to me, though…"
Natsu didn't respond to that, only loosening their grip on the hat.
"Did what they say really bother you?" He asked gently.
"She doesn't actually have a plan, you know…" They said. "She's just hoping that somehow this wolf hunt'll make all her problems go away… Spoiled little…!"
"It's not nice to speak of nobility like that, Natsumi." Fuyuki chided.
The name made Natsu jump. "Fuyuki! Public!"
"Oh! S-sorry, Natsu!"
Natsu huffed a little in annoyance, but knew they couldn't really be mad. Fuyuki was allowed a few slip ups, but one of these days, someone'll hear him. And then their whole operation will really go down the tubes…
"It's fine... And my point still stands."
Suddenly, Fuyuki grinned as gears whirled in his head. "Oh? Now what makes you say that?"
Natsu looked up from under their hat to glare suspiciously at their brother. Fuyuki was a sweet man, but he had this mischievous streak to him that spelt trouble for those on the end of his wit. "What do you mean, Fuyuki…?"
"And how do you know this hunt won't solve all the townspeople's problems? You mean to tell me you won't catch this Devil Dog?" Fuyuki smirked. "Has the demon hunter lost their edge?"
He heard Natsu chuckle at that, and Fuyuki smiled in turn.
"Not in your life."
Night fell quickly. The almost biting chill of the wind blew across the old forest floor as dead leaves crunched loudly under the heavy boots that walked calmly, almost gracefully across the uneven terrain.
The cloaked human held a bright lantern along to light his path as he wandered aimlessly through the dense woods. Looking for his intended target.
Tamama almost gave away his position to laugh.
So, this was the spooky Hunter the blue lady sent to kill them? Some clambering, short oaf who had no idea where to even start looking?
It was almost insulting. But, it was far more amusing, so whatever. Just made the Shadow Imp's job easier. And no stupid mutt to get in his face and tell him how to operate!
Carefully, the small Imp melded into the darkness of the dense foliage. Blue eyes narrowing into a determined and malicious glare as he practically vanished into the black, stifling his mad giggles.
The Hunter passed by countless dead trees, the chill air whipping past did nothing to stifle or deter them from continuing along the thicket with no problem.
But, good god was he slow… Taking each step with time and pausing every now and then to look around for some reason.
It made the Imp want to just pounce on the bastard right now, but he held fast to his current position. Waiting impatiently for them too…
Finally the hunter came to a large oak that climbed past the leafy canopy and looked over the entire forest. It's roots and branches thick and sturdy despite age, that could easily hold a whole town in it's leaves and still stand tall.
Which means it was the perfect vantage point for a small Imp, meant to get the drop on some unsuspecting, dumb human.
With a loud, blood curdling cry; The creature leaped out from the branches and fell down to the human. An apex predator ready to tear their flesh into ribbons and to bring back to the castle to feast.
...
The next thing Tamama could recall is feeling his face buried in the wet ground, practically drowning in the cold mud that nursed his splitting concussion.
Staggering to get up, he hacked out a few teeth. What the hell just happened?
Then, a gloved hand roughly grabbed at his leg. And Tamama only had enough time to process that much, before he was thrown mercilessly back into the ground beneath the hunter's boots. Breaking a few more teeth and a leg bone in the process as he was thrown like a ragdoll across the forest floor, where he smashed into the thick trunk of a tree.
"I FUCKING KNEW IT!" The hunter roared, now rushing the small Imp that was thoroughly embedded into the tree.
Panicked and frustrated, Tamama deeply inhaled the chilled air around him. He didn't like doing this, it was always too bright for his liking and took so much energy, but he was desperate and prayed to whoever would listen that this would kill them.
With that, a bright blast of light erupted from the Imp's mouth. Engulfing all that got in its path as Tamama dealt with the blowback from the force of the beam.
He broke through the rest of the tree and toppled to the ground with a loud thud, wailing in his own pain the blast had caused him. But, dammit did he do it! If that didn't kill the bastard, than nothing wou-
His head perked up when he heard a grunt come from in front of him.
That's when he saw it. "Wh-WHa…?!"
That fucking ridiculously over-sized coat they wore was slung over the hunter like a bedsheet… It was apparently far more durable than it looked, as the human lowered it from their face to show a terrifying glare that stole what was left of Tamama's soul.
"WHAT THE HELL EVEN ARE YOU!?"
They only huffed, a cloud of air practically foaming from their mouth in the cold like smoke billowing out the jaws of a rampaging demon.
"A real hunter."
"What do I gotta do to get you off my case, huh?!" Whined a thoroughly annoyed Keroro, currently sipping something suspiciously red from a glass as he half-heartedly listened to the complaints of Giroro. "Tamama's more than capable of handling this on his own!"
The red creature growled. "Out of all the people you could've sent to take care of this, YOU SEND THAT RECKLESS BRAT TO DO YOUR JOB FOR YOU!?"
"Hey hey hey! Listen! If I were to trust anyone to do the things I didn't want to do-"
"You never do anything…" Giroro grumbled in interruption.
Keroro continued unfazed. "-it'd be Tamama! What he lacks in experience, he more than makes up for in tenacity!"
Then, there was a defeated, blood curdling whine that echoed pitifully down the old, stone walls it shambled in.
When they turned, they weren't surprised to find Tamama.
They were surprised to find Tamama was bloodied, beaten and probably missing a rib or two.
"What the heck happened to you?!" Shouted Keroro in utter shock at the ruined remains of a once proud Imp who fell over onto the expensive rug. Thank god it was already red before he came in here…
"That evil sadist…" Tamama grunted in anger and mostly pain. "I don't know who the hell they sent, but they weren't no human…!" He cried as he crawled pitifully over to his Count.
Keroro could feel that glare burning into his side as he half-heartedly tried to comfort the wailing Imp.
"Giroro... " He said warningly. "I know what you're going to say, but-"
"It's MY turn." Giroro growled before abruptly turning and storming out the lounge.
Seeing this, Keroro dropped the pained Tamama in shock, ignoring the cry they made as he stood up to chase the red demon. "WAIT! No! I thought you were just gonna laugh and say I told ya so!"
This didn't seem to dissuade the red frog to slow down much as Keroro managed to catch up to him.
"Please! Giroro, wait!" He pleaded, throwing himself in front of him. "You can't be serious! Let's just ignore them, OKAY?! They'll eventually give up if we just lay lo-"
"NO. I GAVE YOU AND THEM A CHANCE! AND LOOK WHERE IT GOT ME!" Giroro shouted before he pointed a finger at the room where the unconscious Tamama lay moaning pitifully.
"We can't even do that anymore since the rookie fucked it up royally and revealed us to them! NOW YOU'VE ONLY INCENTIVISED THEM TO HUNT US DOWN MORE!"
"C'mon Giroro! Be gullible- DAH! I mean- reasonable!"
Giroro shot him that glare the Count made clear to him that he didn't like.
Then, he looked over to the lounge door, where Tamama was crawling out to follow his Count. "Rookie, did they follow you?" He demanded.
The imp flinched, worried what his answer would result in. But, that flinch was all Giroro needed to see to know the answer as his scowl worsened.
"Well, how far away are they now…?"
Tamama made a whine, before holding his broken hands up in placation. "F-far enough that they didn't see me enter the homebase, sir!"
That seemed to somewhat cool the red frog, to everyone's relief. But, then he turned back to look at Keroro.
"You want this to blow over quickly?" He asked roughly.
Keroro kind of half-nodded, unsure what was the right way to respond that would convince the Devil Dog to listen to him.
"Then you'll let me do what I need to do."