Nanashi woke with a jump, pushing herself up on her forearms. Her head ached slightly, the orangish sunlight streaming into the room might have had something to do with it. She sat up, looking around the unfamiliar room, seeing a closed and latched window by the large, fluffy bed she lay on. The room was not too big, but not too small. There was a fire place, empty of any wood or coal. There were a few books on the mantle above it. An ajar door to a bathroom nearby. A larger, sturdier door on the opposite side of the room. The floor was stone, the ceiling high up. She looked down at the bed, crisp and cream colored blanket and sheet surrounding her comfortably. She looked down at the clothes she was wearing. Shizeru's dress was gone, but her hair clip still remained in her tangled hair. More traditional looking grey and lavender clothes covered her from head to foot. She a warm tunic over the pants and an undershirt. She would be able to fight in these clothes if necessary, which she liked at least. She pushed the blanket and sheet back, throwing them to the other side of the bed. Even her feet had socks on them. She swung her legs over the side of the bed. A pair of simple black shoes set next to the side of the bed on the floor. A nightstand was beside the bed, holding a glass of water, an apple, and some nuts. Thirsty and hungry though she was, she did not touch them, unsure who they were from. She ran her fingers through her hair, extricating the hair clip and untangling what she could. She slipped the hair clip back into her hair, resembling a more presentable look.
She jumped, reaching for the wind dragon when she heard muffled voices behind the main door. She watched the door carefully, not blinking. The sound of a lock clicking unlocked echoed in the room. She quickly shoved her feet into the shoes, standing up and facing the door head on. She drew one fist to her mouth, and wrapped the other one around her.
In walked a demon, taller than she expected. Six ears, seven horns, and long, flowing black hair. His eyes were closed, but that did not seem to make him stumble at all. His face was not unpleasant looking, for a demon. He closed the door behind him, the sound of it latching echoing in the room as well. She sensed a quite impressive amount of energy rolling off of him, exponentially more than the three demons she last saw and fought. She gasped slightly, remembering now. The three demons, getting hit by the car, losing her phone, and being taken.
"Nervous, girl?" the demon before her said.
She shook her head, "no," she added.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
She hummed, "compared to just after being hit by a car, yes." She studied him, seeing she wore the same colors he did, which made her unsure if she could trust him. 'Why am I in the Demon World?" she asked, clearing her throat.
He cocked his head to the side, looking amused. "How did you know you were in the Demon World?"
"You're too powerful to get through the barrier, so other demons kidnpaped me," she stated. "And the sun is too orange."
He smiled at her, making her feel breathless. "Quick reasoning," he said, bemused. "Yet you have no trouble breathing."
She sucked down a breath that was both deep and audible. "Who are you and why am I here?" she pressed.
"Guess," he told her.
She ground her teeth, annoyed. "You're not King Raizen. Your men do not match Yusuke's description of his men. Yet you're far too strong to come through the repaired barrier yourself. You're one of the other rival demon kings."
"Which one?" he asked curiously.
She frowned. "I don't know their names," she admitted. "The one who invited Hiei?" she hoped, taking a stab at the guess.
"Yomi, my dear. The true king of the Demon World," he stated, stepping closer to her. She stood still, but tried not to freeze up nor draw back. The height difference between them was less than it had been between her and Youko. He came up in front of her, but then reached behind her, drawing up a few of the nuts from the plate on the nightstand. He drew one into his mouth in front of her. She watched him chew it, feeling the way she was looking at his lips was inappropriate. Her stomach loosed an ill timed growl. "I myself prefer something a bit gamier. Eat, you must be hungry," he said, holding out the remaining nuts in his hand to her. She looked at his hand, not sure if she should accept them or not. "I already put you under my protection when you arrived and were healed up. No one would dare poison you, or harm you for that matter. Especially after I make an example out of the two who allowed you to get injured."
She shook head, rushing out, "don't hurt them."
He frowned down at her. "My orders were to take you unharmed. You attacked one, knocking him out, so he's free to go. The other two however allowed you to be harmed."
"It wasn't their fault," she insisted.
"You would rather they were sparred?" he asked distastefully.
She nodded, adding, "yes."
"And the human who hit you?" he inquired.
"Not under your authority," she pointed out.
He reached back behind her, setting the remaining nuts back down on the plate. "Eat, girl. And wait patiently. Your absence should have been noticed by now. One of yours will come and fetch you soon."
He stepped away, going back towards the door. She followed him, but he moved swiftly, shutting the door behind him before she could stop him. She heard a lock click. She pulled at the door handle, trying to open it, but to not avail. The lock was on the outside as well, so she could not even get the wind dragon to try to squeeze into a key hole to open it. She huffed, stepping back over to the bed and sitting back down on it. She drew up a handful of nuts, munching on them and debating what to do next.
By the time the nuts, apple, and water were finished, she still had not sorted what to do, beyond explore the room she was locked up in. She looked in on the bathroom, seeing a tub with a shower that looked rather tempting. Everything she would care to need was in there. She looked over at the window by the bed, finding she could unlatch and open it. It was wide enough that she could crawl through it if she needed to. She looked out the window, seeing a sheer drop below, but she could fly, so it was less intimidating than it should have been. Escape would be possible, if it came to that. She thought over what the demon king had said though, making it sound like Yusuke, Hiei, or someone else would be back soon to come get her if she was patient. She closed the window, going next to the fire place, pulling down the books from the shelf, looking them over. Old, partially tattered novels from the Human World. She wondered how this demon king managed to get his hands on them. She took one of the books, settling down on the bed to read it, unsure what else to do.
After awhile, she heard the sound of a latch, seeing the bottom of the main door open, and two metal cylinders being rolled through the hole. She ran, throwing herself to the ground before it. The small door within the door was shut, closed with a snap before she could get there. She ran her fingers over the outline of it, wishing to get it open. She sat down in a huff, leaning against door. She reached over to the two cylinders, untwisting one. She sniffed it, smelling a hot mixture of beans, rice, and vegetables in broth. A soup of some kind. She sipped from it, finding the taste was not half bad. She consumed it from her roost on the floor, starting to crave some coffee. She reached over to the other cylinder, finding plain water instead. She drank from it, just as well.
When finished, she sat the cylinders down by the small door within the door, as well as the plate and glass from earlier. Giving into temptation, she went to the bathroom, showering first, then filling the tub with hot water and soaking in it. She relaxed as much as she could, considering the circumstance. She was certain if the SDF had taken her instead of this demon king, this Yomi, she would not have such luxuries as new clothes, a warm bed, plenty to eat, nor hot water to bathe in.
She toweled herself off, putting the grey and lavender clothes back on, having nothing else to wear. She laid herself back down on the bed, shifting around and trying to get comfortable. The bed was larger and softer than the one at home. The pillow was bigger and fluffier as well. Even as she craved a cup of coffee, she felt tired, settling into an uneasy sleep with her guard up as best as it could be.
That might have been what saved her. She woke in an instant, hearing a quick creaking sound. She sat bolt upright, looking over at the door. It was closed, unmoved. Even the cylinders, plate, and glass were still there in front of it. She heard a rustle come from behind her on the bed and slight breeze. She jumped off the bed, seeing the window open, when she swore she had closed it earlier. She slipped the pair of shoes on, drawing herself up for a fight. She sensed something or someone else in the room. The room was dark, lit by only the stream of moonlight shining over the bed now.
She side stepped around the bed, ears straining for any sound. A clawed hand reached out from under the bed, yanking her to the ground by the ankle. She fell back, feeling whatever it was in the room try to pull her under the bed with it. She screamed, kicking at the hand and bracing her free foot on the bed frame to stop it from dragging her underneath it. She shoved her foot hard against the bedframe, pushing herself over the floor and dragging it out from under the bed with her instead.
Whatever kind of demon it was, it was winged and ghastly. It had rows of sharp teeth and breath that turned her stomach. It crawled over top of her, claws, digging into her tunic as it crawled over top of her, roaring deafeningly in her face. The sound of ripping cloth flooded her ears. "Human," it growled down at her hungrily.
She summoned up the wind dragon, sicking on the demon. "Don't make it bleed," she rushed out, not wanting to get any of its blood on her just in case.
The wind dragon came up big enough, ringing the demons neck with a few twists. She then shoved the remaining body away from her. She groaned, rolling away from it and standing up. She stumbled over to the window, shoving it closed and latching it shut this time around.
She waited, catching her breath, and wondering if anyone else had heard that fight she just had. No one came. She went over to the light switch on the wall, turning it on to illuminate the room. The dead demon lay still the floor. She noticed the claw marks on herself, some were bleeding. The warm tunic was ruined. She went to the bathroom, shrugging off the tunic, and cleaning herself up the best she could.
Next, she debated what to do, not wanting to deal with a dead demon locked up with her. She grunted, and went over to the nightstand, moving it away from the bed. Then she shoved the bed as far away from the window as she could manage. Then she risked unlatching the window once more, picked up the dead demon, and shoved its dead body out the window. Last, she showered again, scrubbing the blood off of her and the wounds it left her thoroughly, fearful that something toxic could have come from the demon's claws. Surprisingly, the scratches were not as bad as she expected. The tunic must have been more protective than it first appeared. At least the wounds were not actively bleeding anymore, in spite of all her scrubbing.
She stepped out of the shower, seeing the grey and lavender clothes she had been given. The undershirt and pants were only a little bloody, but the tunic was too shredded and bloodied as the demon mainly went for her arms and torso. She shivered at the cold in the room. She put the damaged tunic by the door next to the cylinders, plate, and glass. Hopefully whoever brought her her next meal would see them and pass a new one.
She laid back down on the bed, feeling tired and wired, and now a little chilled. She wrapped the blanket around her firmly, trying to warm up beneath it. She felt sleepy, but did not quite want to sleep, looking over at the door. She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew she heard the lock on the door rattle. She looked up, noticing early dawn sunlight streaming into the room. She sat up, drawing the blanket up over her chest shyly as the door opened, knocking the clothes and dishes away from the area.
She saw the demon king from before come into the room, sniffing the air. "What happened?" he asked, voice sounding husky from sleep. He stepped in the room, noticing the dishes and clothes as he pushed the door wider and then shut it. She noticed he had a light blue robe wrapped around himself.
She felt shier, drawing the blanket up closer over her. "A demon got in. Through the unlatched window. I killed it," she explained. She shivered.
"Apparently shoved it right back out the window," he growled, making his way over to the window, now at a distance from the bed. "And then cleaned up," he noticed, hand coming to the window latch, testing it. "That damned creature could have ruined everything," he muttered. "Why didn't you shout for help?" He turned to face her, ears twitching as if he was listening to the very beat of her heart.
She shook her head, blinking sleepily. "I screamed, but I had it handled," she explained. "I didn't want it in the room with me."
He turned his head one way, looking down at the ground. He clicked his teeth in thought. He looked both stern and harsh. He stepped over to her on the bed, making her tense up. He took off his robe, which made her notice he was shirtless beneath it. She swallowed, trying not to stare. He held it out to her on the bed, but she only stared at it, not wanting to drop the blanket over her. He set it down on the bed next to her.
He went over to the door, opening it up in a rush, he walked through it, but did not shut the door behind her. "Get the room cleaned up and get her another tunic. And the healer for her. She is not to be left alone until he comes for her."
She shivered, watching the door, seeing two other demons come into the room, one scurrying to pick up the dishes and ruined clothing, beating the other one to the punch. The other one looked flustered to see demon beat him to grab everything up and then run out of the room. She was quick to grab Yomi's robe up now, and wrapped herself up in it. The smell of it reminded her of lilacs and musk.