Chapter 13: Clashes
In the end, all his demonic allies ended up coming after him again. First was Preta, chewing on Bill O Wisp. Indeed – the purple people eater had never truly left him, but had come trotting several steps behind. Later, the three members of Shinjuku Hospital Infiltration Team arrived – Shiki in the lead, Hua Po and Kodama trailing behind him.
Naoki hadn't known exactly what to say – what could he say after how he had acted? He'd glanced at Hua Po, expecting to see exactly what he wanted to see – outrage, hatred, terror.
Instead, she smiled at him, her eyes almost. . .adoring? And she spoke. "That was a pretty neat trick you pulled back there! Didn't know you had it in you!"
There was no sarcasm in her voice – not that Naoki had ever been very good at detecting it. The reaction on his face said it all. Eyes wide, mouth open, fixing her with a look of complete astonishment.
WHAT?
He was too shocked to say anything.
"Let's be off, Naoki," Shikigami told him. "The Pixie will heal herself soon and come after us, so we'd better hurry to Shibuya."
That got his mouth working. He whirled to stare at Shikigami in horror. "What – you mean you just. . . left her there? With a broken skull? Without healing her?"
Shikigami blinked. "She has healing powers of her own. And she is not of the Jirae Clan."
Naoki glared. "Who cares? You left her injured!"
Kodama blanched, his entire body turning white. "I am NOT touching that icky fairy ever again!" He shuddered. "She probably gave me cooties."
Naoki turned, to run back in the direction he had come.
"Gruaaaah. . ." Bill O Wisp moaned, having escaped from the Preta. "Where. . . you . . .go. . . ing?"
"Back to Yoyogi Park!" Naoki yelled behind him before disappearing into the distance.
"Waaaant Eat!" The Preta yelled, galloping after him.
Hua Po sighed and looked around at the other demons – Bill, Shiki, Kodama. None of the others wanted to say it. . . but she could tell that they were all thinking the same thing. "Alright – this is probably blasphemy. . . but is Lord Lucifer out of his mind!"
"His choice of Hito Shura is .. . " Shiki hesitated for a moment. ". . .admittedly questionable."
"Questionable? The guy's a freaking wimp!"
"He's a smelly human, through and through!" Kodama spoke in a sing song voice.
"Gruaah .. . he . . .strong. . . " Bill tried to defend the absent Naoki Kashima.
"Yeah, maybe," Hua Po frowned. "But the only reason he's strong is because of his Magatama. Without that thing, he's nothing. And even with it, he's only slightly above nothing!"
She sighed, kicked a pebble on the ground. That didn't vent her frustrations at all, so she went all out and threw an Agi spell, blowing the pebble to smithereens.. "Ah, DEVIL! Why did we have to be the ones to baby sit this guy!"
"Yeah!" Kodama whinged.
It was Bill who pointed out her hypocrisy. "Gruah . .. you an. . . swered. . . . own . . .. quest. . . . ion…."
Hua Po snarled. "Yeah, I know, I know, I was there when He gave the order, I'm just wishing I wasn't."
"Our personal wishes on this matter are unimportant," Shiki told her. "We have been given the charge of guiding the Hito-Shura on his destiny and we will follow this order to the letter."
"I know, I know!" Hua Po snarled again. "Let's just get this over with.. Lead the way back to Yoyogi Park, Paper Boy." The snarl was instantly gone from her voice. "Oh Blast that Pixie! Now I'm starting to speak like her!"
Shiki nodded. "Fortunately, I do not believe I will need to lead us anywhere." He indicated with his tail past them, in the direction of Yoyogi Park.
Sure enough, Naoki reappeared, looking miserable, followed shortly by the Preta. He jogged up to the assembled demons and sighed.
"She wasn't there."
Kodama cheered. "She's dead! She's dead!" As Naoki stared on, the little Jirae suddenly broke into . .. song? "Ding dong, the Pixie's dead! Which old Pixie?"
Hua Po joined in. "The stupid Pixie! Ding, dong, the stupid Pixie's dead!"
"Your singing is atrocious and off key," Shiki critiqued, but his criticism went unheard as Bill O Wisp started singing along.
"Gruaah. . . she's . . . gone . . .where. . . the . . . de. . . mons. . . go . . .be. . . "
". . . low! Below, below, below Yo ho!"
" Let's open up and sing!
"And ring the bells out –"
"Stop that!" Naoki yelled.
Even the Preta joined in, singing "Want Eat! The merriyo!" to the tune of the other demons' song.
Finally Shikigami sighed. "Oh, what the heck " He began to sing in a completely deadpan voice. "Singing high, singing low."
"Let them know, the stupid Pixie's deaaaaaaaad!" They all sang as one, the Preta adding an extra "Want Eat!" at the end.
Naoki could only look on in disgust and disbelief. They're singing. I'm seeing a choir of evil demons singing. It would have been absolutely hilarious if not for the situation.
After their song had finished, the rest of the journey was made in complete silence.
Finally, when they arrived at Shibuya, they were most surprised to find somebody waiting for them.
"Hey guys! You sure took your time!"
Naoki stared, a look of pure relief on his face. "You . .. you're alright?"
The other demons on his team stared as well, though the looks on their face were no way near as positive. "She's alright!"
"Yes I am!" Pixie snarled at them. "No thanks to you lot!"
She was at the entrance to Shibuya, tapping her foot impatiently, Jack Frost by her side.
Naoki opened his mouth to speak. "I'm – I'm sorry. Please forgive –'
But he was just as quickly cut off by the irate members of the Shinjuku Hospital Infiltration Team.
"And just WHAT are you doing here?" Shiki asked angrily.
"You mean as opposed to lying dead in Yoyogi Park?" She snorted. "That was no way to treat an ally! And I thought we were friends Pervert!"
"AN ALLY!" Hua Po roared, fire blazing in her eyes and fists. She looked as though she was about to rush towards the Pixie and continue the battle where they left off.
Naoki ignored the two fairies – he'd learned to stay out of their petty squabbles. Instead, he turned to Jack. "How's Chiaki? Is she okay?"
The two demons looked at each other, then shrugged their shoulders.
Naoki frowned, suddenly got a terribly bad feeling. "What does THAT mean?"
"He. . .ho. . ." The Jack Frost said nervously., "She.. . she woke up, he ho. . ."
"And?" Naoki growled.
"Well, she didn't want to stay still, he ho. . . she wanted to see the sights. . ."
"Where. Is. She." Naoki growled, baring his teeth.
"Who knows?" Pixie shrugged. "Who cares? She woke up, kicked Jack here in the snowballs and ran off. We let her leave."
"WHAT?" Naoki yelled.
"He ho. . ." Jack said nervously.
"You can't 'he ho' your way out of this!" Kodama teased.
Pixie shrugged. "Oh, don't throw a fit. Hey, she's probably still hanging around.. Go find her yourself."
"You . . ." Naoki snarled, before Shikigami interrupted.
"Naoki – she's a human. I can sense her in the Shibuya Underground Club."
"Ooh, really?," Pixie snorted. "THAT could be a problem. .. lots of unsavoury types there. . . hot human all on her own like that. . . never know what things she may get up too.. . "
Naoki had heard enough. He grabbed the two demons and threw them out of the way, then went charging off into the underground, the Preta following hot on his heels. "CHIAKI!" He roared.
"Want EAAT!" the Preta yelled behind him.
Left alone again, the demons glanced at each other. "We have to follow him, don't we," Kodama muttered.
Shiki sighed. "Yes, we do."
Pixie grinned. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go get him!"
Shiki whirled to fix her a death glare. "WE will follow him. YOU . . " he pointed at the Pixie, " .. . will stay HERE. Out of trouble. Or I may 'accidentally' Zio you."
He turned to the other demons. "Let's go."
Within the Disco Club, things were pumping. With some help from one of the demons, they had managed to reanimate a disk jockey zombie who was willing enough to help them out, which enabled them to play things much more up tempo. Now the volume was turned up to eleven.
"I really don't like this music," Setanta frowned as he watched his partner dance.
"Rrrrrreally?" his partner said back, with an almost feline drawl. "What music do you preferrrrrr?"
Setanta shrugged. "Me? Oh, I prefer River dance."
His partner sighed. "Figurrrrrrres." She scratched her chin -with a back foot and meowed. "Oh, wait – I think something's –"
The two demons turned to entrance as the doors came bursting open and a HUMAN, of all things, barged into the room.
It was Chiaki Hayasaka, wide awake and pissed off when she opened her eyes to find a blue and white snowman staring down at her. A long argument followed in which the snowman babbled something and Chiaki couldn't make heads or tails of it, after which she'd left the freak behind and run through the underground until she ended up HERE. In a room full of freaks.
She was so outraged, she began to yell loudly. "HEY! What is this!"
Her voice was loud, but it wasn't loud enough to be heard over the music. This only made her even angrier.
"I'm speaking! Listen to me!"
Still no response. She looked around, spotted a tall man with a scarf, leaning against the wall and holding an absolutely enormous spear.
"YOU!" She yelled at him, causing the man to turn towards her in surprise. She pointed at his spear. "GIVE ME THAT!"
Seatanta blinked. "Eh – what? Hey, wait a minute, you can't just –"
Chiaki had no idea what he was saying – it sounded Irish, but she didn't understand a word of it and decided it was therefore unimportant. When he hadn't immediately complied, Chiaki simply went over and grabbed it.
"Hey, wait!" Setanta yelped. "Give that back!"
"Speak Japanese!" Chiaki yelled, then grabbed the spear in both hands, lifting it off the ground through rage alone. Her target was clear. Holding the spear as though it were a battering ram, she charged forward, Setanta yelping behind her.
Several of the demons saw this and burst out laughing. That human girl has big Balls of Steel. But their laughing quickly turned to horror as they realized where she was aiming. No, not that – anything but –
With a screech of rage, Chiaki had buried the spear into the stereo sound system. Sparks crackled, then the electronics equipment exploded and the room was completely silent.
Well, silent except for the outraged snarls of an entire disco club full of demons. They were all thinking one thing.
"Alright!" Chiaki yelled, gripping the spear with both hands angrily, now that she had the attention of everybody, demons and ghosts alike. "Answer me! Who are you and what have you done to the world!"
The entire club was instantly filled with demonic growls, yells and curses that Chiaki couldn't make sense of.
"I haven't done anything to the world!" Setanta whinged. "Now give me back my spear!"
Chiaki whirled, saw the guy with the scarf, glared at him. Frustrated with the situation, she turned around, summoned every last bit of strength she had and clouted him upside the head with his own spear. "NO! Not until someone gives me some answers!"
"Meow, meow! I know!" called one demon, meowing like a cat. As Chiaki turned to glare at this new source of irritation, she was surprised to find that it really WAS a cat – a bipedal cat with distinctly human features yes, but a cat nonetheless. With a forked tail. And it was speaking Japanese.
A Nekomata, Chiaki realized. She'd heard of them before – her family bred purebred Japanese Bob tails, cats with the distinctive tri colour Mi-Ke pattern. Like the name of the breed suggested, these cats did indeed have bobtails. Every once in a while, however, a kitten would be born with an ordinary tail.
It should have been impossible – they had a breeding line of the highest pedigree! But yet it happened – out would come a little kitten with an especially long tail, long even by most cat breed standards. When this happened, the kitten would be drowned immediately, for fear that it would grow into a cat monster. If the tail grew to a certain length, it was said, the tail would split in two, becoming a forked tail, and the cat would then gain demonic powers and abilities.
Chiaki hadn't really believed the legends until they were standing in front of her. She gripped her separ tighter. "You know, do you? Then tell me, demon!"
"Meow!" said the Nekomata, purring evilly. "I have an idea! If you do something. . . naughty with me, I'll tell you! What do you think of that?"
"Do you think I'm a fool!" Chiaki thundered, swinging her spear around, aiming it at the cat demon'. "Don't play games with me!"
"Reowl? You want me to be honest? I think you're a scaredy cat!" The cat demon purred at her. "Look at you, human. I can smell your fear."
Chiaki stared in outrage. "You . . ." HOW DARE YOU!" She swung her spear, aiming the point straight for the cat's throat. "How DARE you call me a coward!"
"Meow, meow!" Nekomata taunted.
With an outraged squeal, Chiaki rammed the spear forward as hard as she could – only to be stunned when the cat's clawed hand suddenly moved and caught the spear, stopping it cold. For a few moments the two struggled, but then the Nekomata gave a very audible hiss.
"I let you live only because you were amusing, human!" The cat growled. "But now you're starting to IRRRITATE ME!"
"Don't break my spear, Neko!" Setanta yelped.
Nekomata snarled as she unsheathed her claws – claws the size of daggers – and spoke in the demonic tongue. "It's not the spear I'm planning to BREAK!"
Chiaki trembled, gritting her teeth. "You. . . stay away from me! I order you!" She was afraid now, she had to admit, as the Nekomata disarmed her of her weapon and flung it to one side, where it was hastily retrieved by the boy with the scarf.
But that was the least of her problems, as the Nekomata gave her a backhand slap that flung her clear to the other side of the room, her head spinning.
From somewhere there came a scream of pure rage then the sound of footsteps.
Chiaki staggered to her feet with difficulty, breathing hard, bleeding slightly – only to find herself face to face with yet another freak who had kneeled before her in concern. He looked her over for a second, then turned to face the two demons, growling in anger, the strange blue markings on his body blazing in his rage, his teeth bared. He roared something at the demon, speaking in some strange language.
"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FRIEND!"
His voice was slightly familiar, but Chiaki couldn't place where she'd heard it before.
The Nekomata hissed something back. "What's the matterrrrrrr, big boy? This human with you?"
The boy with the scarf picked up his spear and left the underground, still holding his head. "Darn. . .I thought this place was supposed to be neutral. . .Ouch, my head…!"
The boy with the markings took a step forward, her hands clutched into her fists. "You .. . you'll pay for what you just did. . .You'll PAY!"
It seemed to be a negotiation. They also seemed to be ignoring her, Chiaki didn't like to be ignored.
"HEY!" she yelled at the two of them. "Don't just ignore me!"
For some reason, the negotiation failed - the cat lunged, claws extended. The other demon yelled, caught the cat with one hand, then swung his fist directly into the her face with a feral yell.
"MROWWWWR!"
In front of Chiaki's startled eyes, the Nekomata staggered back, her face punched so hard it had actually caved in from the blow. She reached her hands up to cover her face, only for the other demon to snarl in anger and hit her again.
The cat girl whimpered. "Okay, okay. . .I'm sorry. .. I –"
"I DON'T CARE!"
Chiaki stared, watching the demon with the markings punch the cat over and over again, snarling like a wild beast. He only stopped when a little purple monster came in and stood on top of the cat, waving its arms.
"Want Eat!" the demon yelled. "No hit, no hit!"
Chiaki didn't know what the purple demon had just said, but it seemed to have an effect – the boy with the markings stopped attacking, looked up at all the demons nearby. . . realized that now would be a good time to leave. He picked up the purple demon as it began to chew at the badly wounded cat demon on the ground, then turned to Chiaki.
The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds. Then the boy with the markings spoke - in Japanese this time.
"Let's go!" He reached out a hand and grabbed her.
Chiaki recoiled, slapped his hand away with her own. "Why should I? Who are you!"
"There's no time to explain. Follow me, Chiaki!" the newcomer shouted, causing her eyes to widen in surprise even as he began to drag her across the room in his haste to leave.
Still, Chiaki hesitated. She needed answers. "You – how do you –"
"Hurry!: There was no time for hesitations - he scooped her up in one arm as though she were weightless, blood smearing her clothes, then carried her bridal style through the underground as the other demons shouted insults after them.
It was only later, when they were standing in an Adult Entertainment Shop and she was surrounded by a variety of monsters from flying girls to purple monsters to the snowman from before, that she finally realized that her mysterious saviour was none other than Naoki Kashima, the door mat of the class no longer.
"How should I act at a time like this?" Chiaki wanted to know. "Should I be happy? Glad that we're both okay?"
She was standing in the center of the room, still breathing hard from exertion. Her feet ached – her shoes were designed more for fashion than practicality – and her head was still spinning from when she'd been hit by the Nekomata. She was also not particularly fit, coming from a lifestyle in which she was driven everywhere, which had made the mad rush from one end of Shibuya's underground to the other that much harder.
Despite this, she still couldn't help feeling perturbed by the fact Naoki Kashima, the boy who had always come dead last in all races and sports – even behind the slowest of the girls, had ran the entire distance without breaking a sweat or even heavy breathing. This was despite the fact that he'd also had to carry her the entire way.
Now the two of them were staring at each other, she in the middle of an adult entertainment store, he hovering near the entrance but not actually coming in. Around her were a variety of monsters that seemed to be keeping quiet for the moment, although they had been chattering in an unknown language when Naoki and she had first arrived. Naoki had spoken to them in that same language as well.
Finally, Naoki spoke to her. "Chiaki. .. " The words caught in his throat. Her stare caused him to forget what he was about to say, caused his mind to go blank.
How exactly do I say this?
Tell the truth.
He lubricated his mouth with saliva and tried again. "Chiaki – um. . .I don't know how to tell you this, but –"
She raised a hand to indicate him to be quiet. "It's you, isn't it Naoki. I can tell."
He was covered in glowing blue tattoos and dried blood and his entire physique had changed dramatically, which was why she hadn't initially recognised him. The weedy short kid she had always bossed around was replaced by a boy whose physique would make the sportiest of the class jealous. But the look in his eyes and his mannerisms was pretty much the same as she'd remembered it. He was still the puppy, always eager to please her. Therefore, no matter how different he looked. . . he was still inferior to her.
True to form, his next words were all about her wellbeing. "Chiaki. Did they hurt you? Are you okay?"
Chiaki shook her head and sighed. "My head and my feet hurt the most, but I basically ache all over."
He could still feel the fire that had blazed through him. He had ran to the underground club and arrived just in time to see Chiaki get hit by the Nekomata, a sight which had made him explode with pure fury. Suddenly, all thoughts of peaceful negotiations and polite requests had gone flying out the window and his world had been filled with red. He didn't want to merely injure the Nekomata, he didn't even merely want to kill it. He had wanted to torture it - crush its skull, rip off its arms, tear out its heart. He'd wanted to punch it until there was nothing left but a bloody smear on the ground. He bared his teeth as he remembered that awful moment. He would have gone through with it if not for the Preta stopping him.
I WILL NOT LET ANYBODY HURT MY FRIENDS!
But the look of violent rage on Naoki's face was instantly replaced by a look of pure misery as he looked Chiaki over. I messed up. "I'm sorry Chiaki. . . none of this is your fault. I should have been faster, I should have –"
One of the demons – brown haired, with blue clothes – said something in demon. "Oh, would you stop that, Pervert!"
Chiaki couldn't understand what was being said, but she assumed it was nasty as Naoki stopped his whinging immediately. That was good – she found his self bashing and his whinging highly irritating.
Another of the demons – blonde, with red skin and white clothes – said something in demon that Chiaki couldn't understand. "The HELL it wasn't her fault! My Satan, she's even more annoying than Pixie is!"
Naoki turned to the demon and snarled something back. "Don't talk about her like that."
He turned back to Chiaki and spoke in Japanese. "It's the sun," he explained. "It burnt your skin – I tried to cover you up with my jacket as best as I could, and Kodama healed your wounds as best he could. .. but I guess it wasn't good enough. I'm sorry."
Chiaki had no patience for Naoki's apologies. All that mattered was that she finally had a source of information to get answers. "What's happened to the world? I fell unconscious at the hospital, and when I woke up no one was around and my cell phone didn't work, so I ran outside for help, and I saw. .."
Her voice trailed off as she remembered the horror of the sight – a scene of desolation and a brightly glowing light that burned her body. She had screamed in horror, fallen to the ground as everything collapsed around her and the world came crashing down. . .
Naoki opened his mouth to speak, moved his mouth up and down but no words came out. He didn't know what to say. How DO you tell somebody the world has ended and you've been transformed into a demon by your teacher who was actually a cultist all along and now you're strong enough to protect her because you met the Devil – all without sounding like a total complete lunatic?
Chiaki's eyes narrowed as Naoki hesitated. "Tell me," she ordered..
Naoki sighed. ". . . You . .. you remember the magazine? How it had written a feature on the Scripture and the . . .the Cults and a . . . a calamity?"
Realization dawned in Chiaki's eyes and her mouth opened wide as the true horror of the situation struck home. "You mean what was written in that magazine actually happened!"
My friends. My parents. My pets. My teachers. My peers. My family. My life! They're all –
Naoki closed his eyes in pain – not physical pain, but pain of the soul "Yes."
Chiaki's voice was flat. " . . . I see. "
"I'm sorry, Chiaki."
She shook her head. "No. Don't worry. Nothing phases me anymore. I've realized that no matter how much I cry or shout that this nightmare won't end." She finally composed herself after a long moment lost in thought. "You saw how it was out there, didn't you?'
Naoki nodded. "Yeah. I couldn't even tell were my house used to be."
"When I. . . When I saw the sky falling, I thought I'd gone insane. When I woke up here.. . I seriously thought that I was the only person left alive., "
She stepped forward into his arms. "Hold me."
Naoki blinked, gasped in surprise. But he obeyed – reluctantly returning the hug. The embrace was awkward and uncomfortable for him, but Chiaki didn't seem to notice.
I. . . I'm so glad to see you again, Naoki. Now that I've found you, I realize that. . . that maybe there's still hope." She slipped out of his arms. "There's got to be other survivors, don't you think?"
"Survivors.. . " Naoki nodded. "Yes! Ms. Takao and Isamu and Hikawa and Hijiri!" He quickly told her about how he'd seen the other people, how the last time he'd seen them they were okay. "And maybe there's other people!" He was eager now, hope renewed whin him suddenly.
Chiaki echoed his thoughts, voiced them aloud. "They must be alive. Fate just can't be that cruel, it just can't." She nodded to herself, having made a decision. "I'm not ready to give up entirely. "
She turned to Naoki, looked him up and down. "Tell me something. You just punched a demon in the face so hard that it could talk out the back of its head. How did you get so strong?"
He told her, haltingly. Her eyes widened and he cowered beneath their gaze.
She knows I'm a monster now. She hates me.
He couldn't know that Chiaki's reaction was more of irritation than repulsion or terror. Why? She asked herself. Why him? Why HIM? What makes him worthy of this strength? Why is HE the one who got strong?
Why did she give the strength to Naoki instead of ME?
Such a waste of potential
Chiaki shrugged. "So, you're a demon, you're strong enough to take care of the demons, and these other demons are your allies?"
Naoki nodded, slowly.
"Good," Chiaki said. "Then you're coming with me while I look for the others."
"Ahahahahaha!" Pixie burst out laughing. "I like this girl!"
"Gruaaah, . . . she. .. . mean . .. " Bill O Wisp whinged.
"She certainly has Naoki eating out of her hand, doesn't she," Shikigami noted.
"Want EAT hand!" The Preta declared.
"Shiki sighed. "That's NOT what I meant."
"I don't mind," Naoki said. "But. . . there's a bit of a problem."
Chiaki frowned. "What?"
"Um. . . " he paused and began to fidget nervously, trying to find a way to tell her without something painful resulting. "I. .. don't know how to tell you this, but.. . "
He told her.
Chiaki stared. "I've been SOLD!"
Jack smiled. "That's right, he ho! I bought you for 5,000 macca, fair and he ho square!"
"She can't understand you, idiot!" Pixie yelled at him.
She was right – Chiaki couldn't understand them, but from the look in the snowman's eyes she got the general idea and she didn't like it. "I didn't agree to be sold! I refuse!" she yelled.
"Oh, shut up!" Pixie told her, fully aware the human couldn't understand her, not caring in the slightest.
Naoki flailed, desperately trying to defuse the bomb that was about to go off. "I- I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to –"
Chiaki didn't punch him. She merely glared at him. "Fix IT."
"Y-yes, Chiaki," Naoki whimpered. He turned to Jack. "Um. . . can I buy that human back?"
Jack Frost frowned. "She's not for sale, he ho!"
"Besides, pervert," Pixie teased. "You don't have any money! I'm the one who took it all, remember?"
Hua Po glared at her fairy counterpart. "You frigging flying daughter of a –"
Naoki looked at Jack, began to kneel down.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Pixie snorted. Don't tell me he's going to –
He did. He got down on his hands and knees and begged. "Please, Jack. Please, I'll do anything."
"He ho?" Jack Frost blinked. "Weeeeeelll. . . . maybe," the demon thought for a moment, then poked at Naoki. "I want to go on a journey, to be just like the great king, he ho. How about I come with you, mister Hito-Shura?"
Naoki blinked. "Come with us? Uh. . .okay." He turned to Chiaki, translated for her.
She frowned back at him. "Fine. Let him come with us. But first. .. "
She rubbed her stomach, causing Naoki to blink in confusion.
"I'm hungry. Find food."