2nd Night: First Encounter

At the end of the activities, the four friends were at the school gates, ready to head home.

"If you make your decision, let us know, tomorrow." Hideaki said, to which Tetsuo nodded.

"But, knowing you, I know you'll think this through." Izumi added, with a smile.

"And, should you accept, I know you'll rock it!" Ayumu added, excitedly, to which the amber-eyed youth blushed.

"That wasn't needed!" he retorted, eliciting a laugh from all of his friends.

"Well then, see you tomorrow." Hideaki said, to which his friend nodded. Then, the four of them went their separate ways. Tetsuo and Ayumu headed to their neighborhood, while Hideaki accompanied Izumi to her house, before heading to his own.

"You must be really happy!" Ayumu remarked, while on his way home with his friend "Should you accept, you will be allowed to write what you do best!"

"Well, it's only natural." Tetsuo replied "Specialization is a key factor when working in journalism."

"Specialization?" Ayumu said "So, basically everyone writes what he does best?"

"Exactly." his neighbor confirmed, with a nod "And the best entries are taken and published in the edition."

"Awesome!" Ayumu said "Well, your entries would pass and be published hands down!" The comment made Tetsuo blush from embarrassment.

"That's not a given, you know..." he retorted, making his friend chuckle. Before they knew it, the two neighbors arrived in front of Ayumu's house.

"See you, man!" he cheerfully saw his friend off.

"See you tomorrow!" Tetsuo saw him off as well, before walking the short distance separating his house from his friend's.

At the door of his house, someone was waiting for him.

"Welcome back, Tetsuo!" she smiled sweetly at her son.

"Thank you, mom." he replied, with a smile of his own "Is dad back already?"

"Yes, he is." his mother confirmed, with a nod "He's inside, waiting for you." Tetsuo nodded and entered his house.

"Hello, dad!" he greeted his father upon seeing him inside.

"Welcome home, Tetsuo." the man greeted his son back, to which the youth smiled.

"Dinner will be ready soon" Tetsuo's mother added "We can't wait to hear how your day went." The amber-eyed youth nodded at her words with a bright smile.

"I do have quite a bit to tell." he replied, before heading upstairs.

Upon reaching his room, he turned his portable computer on and quickly navigated through its apps and folders. The process was made much easier by the touch screen it featured, being a more recent model. Tetsuo opened a folder in which material for the club was collected and began revising it: information about countless demons, which he had collected in months, and data about incidents, recent and remote, which were highly susceptible to supernatural speculation.

He got lost in the labyrinth of the hidden truths he had been so passionate about since he was a child, until the calling of his mother pulled him out of his reverie.

"Tetsuo! Dinner's ready!"

"Coming, mom!" he replied, hurrying downstairs to join his parents. He sat at the table with them and clasped his hands together, as if in prayer, before eating.

"Itadakimasu!"

During dinner, the family discussed the happenings of the day.

"So, what happened at work, Soichiro?" Tetsuo's mother asked her husband.

"Well, we might be working on something big from now on." the man replied. "In fact, me and the other boys of Mirai have recently gotten our hands on useful information, that will surely help us in improving our devices."

"That's awesome!" Tetsuo cheered for his father.

"I'm sure you are." Soichiro turned to his son, with a bit of a smug smile "After all, you know you owe that screen you have on your arm to us."

"Oh, I know." Tetsuo replied, with a smirk of his own.

"And you?" the father asked "What do you have to tell us, young man?"

"I have some tales to tell you." the son calmly replied, with a cheerful smile "I had club activity today." His words elicited a chuckle from both of his parents, as well as himself.

"We all know how passionate you are about mythology, occult and whatever surrounds it." his mother remarked, to which her husband nodded.

"Of course, I'm not done yet." the youth added "After today's meeting, I've been offered a place in the staff of the newspaper of Seijou High!" The news surprised his parents.

"That's quite the offer!" his mother commented, her hands clasped together in delight.

"It's one not to be taken lightly, my boy." Soichiro added, not hiding his amazement, but showing more caution as well.

"I know that, dad." Tetsuo nodded "Given what I talk about, it should be no surprise what I will write about on the newspaper, should I accept."

"It's important for a journalist to have a message to spread through his work." the man continued "Do you have one?"

"I do." his son replied "Do I need to go over this again? There's a reason behind my passion for mythos. The lore of gods and demons hides under its surface countless truths from which mankind should learn as much as possible. Every god, every demon, every lore out there embodies a truth, a message left in this world. Each truth holds an incredible value, which can't be questioned. It is from their births that human societies were born, and it is from the intersection of these myriad truths that humanity can find ways to make his world a better place."

"It's a beautiful way of seeing things." the youth's mother commented with a smile.

"Yes, it is an interesting point of view, and it's always great to sense earnest thought behind one's words..." her husband added "But I can't say I fully agree with you. I mean, is it really necessary to give so much weight to superstitions?"

"You can't deny that many of these mythos have left us incredibly valuable teachings as their legacy." Tetsuo calmly objected "Heck, one could say that some of this lore conditions us to this very day!"

"No, I can't deny it." Soichiro replied, with a chuckle of amusement which also showed respect for the honest commitment of his son to his ideas "Nor did I ever intend to. But should we humans give them such weight in this day and age? I can admire your passion for doing so, but personally, I'm not too sure it's the way that leads to progress."

"You're not one too prone to believe in lore and fantasy, are you?" the amber-eyed youth said, with a smile "Well, not that I could expect anything else from a man who works in a tech company." His statement elicited laughter in everyone sitting at the table.

"Exactly." his father replied, while still laughing at his witty remark. "But there's one thing that I did teach you." he continued, in a more serious tone "Always be open to what's different." Tetsuo nodded firmly at his father's words. That much could not be denied, as it was a teaching that the youth held very close to his heart.

"Let it sink into your heart and become nourishment for the soil of your soul..." they both said in unison.

"Well, working in the school newspaper would surely give you the chance to spread your message, right?" his mother observed.

"That's right." Tetsuo quickly replied, with a nod "You should know that there's another student in the newspaper club who shares these beliefs of mine."

"Good for you." Soichiro smiled.

"Isn't it a little ironic, though?" his wife said, turning to him with a broad smile "That the son of a worker of a tech monster such as Mirai Inc. is passionate about mythos?"

"Who knows..." the man replied, with a chuckle "Maybe his son will walk a path more like mine in the future." the playful banter elicited laughter in everyone seated at that table.

Eventually, the dinner came to an end.

"Thank you for the meal." everyone said, clasping their hands together as if in prayer, then Tetsuo stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going, Tetsuo?" his mother asked.

"I'm gonna take a nightly walk in town." the youth readily replied. "Want to breathe in some fresh air. I'll take this time to think over the offer."

"Be careful." Soichiro told his son, not hiding his worry.

"Don't worry dad, I will." he replied, with a nod, before heading out.

He walked along the streets of Kichijouji, filled with night walkers strolling about and illuminated by the lights of the town, overflowing with nightly life. The offer was not the only thing on his mind as he walked.

"I've lost track of the times my father and I have talked about this..." he thought "Mythos has always fascinated me, and I think that we should learn from it, for it depicts not only shining examples, but also dire mistakes. These truths always have the ability to shed light on our lives, and when you think how old many of these message are, written by people who walked this earth way before us, makes it all the more astounding. He, on the other hand, walks another path. He believes that the past is not too relevant and that man should focus on looking at the path ahead of him and walking forward, discovering new truths." As his thoughts ran wild, he rose his gaze to the half moon as he walked.

"I look at the moon while he's looking at the sun. But we're not fighting over it." fond memories of his father were crossing his mind "I can't know how much I've influenced my father with these beliefs of mine, but my father has always taught me so much. I've learned from him that sharing is an important part of being human. That goes with knowledge and beliefs as well. If only people talked more openly and shared more, instead of clinging to extreme levels to their own faith, life would be so much better for everyone..." A smile crept its way on his face.

"Long story short, we believe that mankind can choose the truths he wants to follow in his life, and can draw onto the truths carried by others to make his own stronger. That has the potential to improve his life andthose of his fellows, too." he thought as he continued walking "And that truths don't necessarily have to be opposites. In fact, they complete one another. Every truth shines in its own right, but two or more can create such a beautiful light that could rival even the sun. This is the light that shines upon humanity. I want to spread this message, and to work with the newspaper club would be a great chance to do so. A chance not to miss. I'll let Hideaki, Murakami-san and Ayumu know tomorrow."

Suddenly, a strange figure caught his attention, interrupting his train of thought. It seemed to follow a man that was walking quite drunkenly among the crowd. Due to the many people blocking the view, it was not possible to see it properly, but what was more shocking is the fact that no one seemed to notice it, not even the drunken man who was being followed. Not fully understanding the situation, Tetsuo decided to discreetly follow the man, and the figure.

Eventually, when the two arrived at the end of a rather narrow and dimly lit alley, Tetsuo could scarcely believe what was in front of his eyes. The figure was that of a big, burly, red-skinned humanoid monster with two horns and a single spike of hair on its head, standing tall, wearing a purple cloak, purple shorts and purple kung fu shoulders complete with white short socks, and wielding an oversized spear, which seemed to have a shovel-like edge at its bottom end, in one of his hands. He noticed that he was holding a bottle of beer in his other hand, and quickly understood that it had snatched it from the drunken man, who was simply sitting there in awe and fear.

"Wh-what the hell?" the man shouted in disbelief "M-My bottle is flying?!" At his words, the creature chuckled in amusement, with a hint of malice in his voice.

"It's funny to tease humans like this!" it said. While Tetsuo saw this scene unfolding in front of him, a realization dawned on him.

"I can see that creature, but he can't?" he thought. In that moment, the monster put the bottle in his mouth and began chugging the beer, until there was no more left, much to the man's chagrin.

"Nooo! My booze! It's disappearing!" he drunkenly cried out. As the creature finished the beer, it sighed in satisfaction.

"Man, humans' booze tastes real good!" it said, before tossing away the glass bottle, which broke apart.

"You look tasty, too, human!" it said, looking at the shocked man. "Meat and booze in one bout! I couldn't ask for a better ni-..." it paused, feeling like something was watching it, and slowly turned around, its piercing light blue eyes seeing Tetsuo, who jumped back in fear. The creature slightly backed off as well, in surprise.

"Who… What are you?" the amber-eyed youth asked. In understanding that he was talking to it, the creature's turquoise eyes widened in stupor.

"Oh, crap! A human that can see me?!" it exclaimed, then it began eyeing the young man. "Hmmm… Your magnetite..."

"Magnetite? What is it talking about?" Tetsuo thought, as a devilish smile sprung up on the creature's features, putting its fangs on full display "Is… Is it a demon?" .

"Oooooh, now I get it!" it said, then, with a chuckle, gripped on its spear "Well, lookit what I caught! Even juicier meat!" Then, it began twirling its spear in its hand and stepped towards Tetsuo, whose eyes widened in fear as he stepped back "Put up your fists and keep up with me, if you can!"

"Hold on right there!" A firm female voice suddenly shouted from behind the youth, who quickly turned towards the source, seeing a brown-eyed girl with short brown hair, dressed in a orange hoodie, short blue jeans and dark brown boots. Her hood was up.

"A-A girl? And she can see this monster, too!" he thought, as she extended her arm and opened up her own portable computer, latched onto it.

"Another human?!" the creature exclaimed.

"You're not getting any meat, Oni." she said, glaring at the creature "I'll take you down."

"Oni?!" Tetsuo thought, looking back at the demon "So it is a demon!"

"That thing..." the demon said, its eyes narrowing inquisitively, before widening in realization "Are you one of those demon-huntin' people?!" Just as it finished speaking, the girl pressed on the screen of her portable computer and, in a flash of light, another creature appeared behind her. It had black wings and was covered from head to toe with a black garb, its head covered by a black monk mask. It wielded a staff, with a staff on one of its ends, and the youth immediately recognized it as the demon he had talked about that very morning.

"K-Karasu Tengu?!" he thought, his eyes wide in shock, as the winged demon lunged towards Oni and its staff clashed with the burly demon's spear. Immediately, the girl picked up a knife from under the sleeve of her hoodie and rushed at it as well, while it kept clashing with her demon.

"Not foolin' me, girl!" Oni said, noticing her coming at him, and tried to headbutt the black-winged demon, who avoided the blow and flew away from it, leaving the girl able to jump at him and attempt to strike him with her knife, which was quickly met with the demon's spear.

"Karasu!" the girl called.

"Got it!" the demon replied, and, as if on cue, began twirling its staff in its hands, producing gusts of wind that eased the girl's movements, allowing her to leap on Oni's shoulders and jump higher from them, towards her demon. Some more swings of Karasu Tengu's staff produced blades of wind that struck the burly demon on the chest, making him fall to the ground.

"Urgh! You're pretty good..." the demon uttered as it fell on its back. The girl grabbed the end of Karasu Tengu's staff and the black-winged demon began spinning around in the air with her, until…

"Now!" she called, and the demon spun one last time, throwing the girl, who let go of the staff and held her knife, ready to stab her opponent. The knife was engulfed in mysteriously blue flames, due to a fire enchant cast on it by Karasu. The girl fell on top of Oni and stabbed its head with the knife, then slashed him down his body, almost as if cutting him in half. A thin line of blue fire lit up on the cut as a result. As the girl walked away from the demon and towards a speechless Tetsuo, while pulling down her hood, Oni groaned in agony as it was engulfed by the flames, some stones glowing of an eerie green light flying away from its corpse.

"You should go home now." she recommended him, in a serious tone. "Forget this ever happened." In response, the amber-eyed youth shook his head.

"I can't." he objected "Not after seeing what I saw tonight! And certainly not without an explanation."

"Do you understand that this is dangerous?" the girl insisted.

"And that's exactly why I can't just forget about this!" Tetsuo replied "Is it really wrong to ask for answers?" The girl's eyes narrowed in annoyance, only to widen in realization in a moment's time.

"Wait, he saw the demons, didn't he?" she thought. "That means..." Finally, she spoke again.

"When are you free, tomorrow?" she asked.

"By five o'clock, I should be free." the amber-eyed youth readily replied, to which the girl nodded.

"If you want answers..." she continued. "…Meet me tomorrow at five o'clock in Inokashira Park."

"Understood." Tetsuo replied, with a nod.

"And, of course, you mustn't let this slip from your tongue!" she recommended him, to which he nodded in agreement, being aware of the confusion and panic that such a revelation would cause at the wrong time.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then." Tetsuo finally said, to which the girl nodded in confirmation. With that, the two went their separate ways. Tetsuo was aware of the danger of what he had witnessed.

And that it was only the beginning, his first encounter with a dark underworld, hidden to most human eyes…