Me: Behold! Chapter Two!
Rin: About time.
Me: Sorry I've been busy with Counter-Shock and Okami-san and the Pied Piper.
Mephisto: Oh I simply love Okami-san, why isn't that out yet?
Me: Sorry… I'm working on it, Chapter Three will come out soon. Well on with the show.
"Migani's eyes were swollen shut and black. He came in muttering about 'The Blue Toothed Monster' and clutching an unusual animal claw which he called the claw of the demon. A man claiming to be a relative came in later and took him home. He called himself Miaru. Migani acted as though he didn't recognize him, but he explained that he was his brother in law and Migani has been drinking and then had disappeared." The doctor concluded finishing the report.
"And you let him leave?" His boss asked.
"Yes sir. While we believe he may have head trauma, other than a few bumps he appears fine, no real reason to keep him here. What he needs know is a therapist." The doctor explained.
"And what proof did he offer you that he was related to the patient?" The head of the hospital asked. The hospital had a fine reputation that he worked hard to build and even harder to maintain. Letting a delusional man out to a random stranger would ruin the name of his hospital completely.
"A driver's license sir. We did find multiple lacerations and abrasions on his head, which we can assume gave him some minor concussions. This would trigger the memory loss." The young doctor answered checking his clipboard.
"I see, where is this claw you spoke of?"
"Right here… huh?" The doctor began patting his pocket, stopped in confusion and then began to search the rest of his coat.
"Is there a problem?" The head of the hospital asked, he did not like problems.
"The claw is missing."
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The claw had been taken to the laboratory and cross examined with any known demonic entities that had been seen lurking around or near the city. None were found.
"How goes the progress, have you uncovered any clues to the demons location." The Paladin asked, his face appearing in glorious HD on the Arc Knight's laptop screen.
"A faint sense comes from Rin Okumara." Adam answered, fully aware of the reaction he would get.
"Paladin Fujimoto's son?" Arthur Aguste Angel asked in awe. "I heard he was adopted… Shiro wasn't married so I heard he adopted Rin and his other brother. Does the younger brother have a demonic scent as well?"
"No, no more than what you would expect from an exorcist who has been in action as long as he has. With Rin though I'm not sure why but he reeks very strongly of demon, like he was being possessed. But no one else seems to notice, and he got through the barriers Mephisto set up. Not that I trust the tailed scum." Adam spat in disgust.
"I thought you said it was a faint trace. Explain." Arthur demanded folding his hands together, putting his full attention to the spy.
"I'm sure you're aware of how it feels when a demon tries to makes its presences. His scent alternates between weaker and stronger waves, without any rhyme or reason that I can discern. Either it's a very lazy demon, or one in little control if he is being possessed." He explained, pacing while staying in line of the camera.
"Which seems unlikely considering him getting past the barriers, even if they were set up by Mephisto." The Paladin remarked. He sighed. "Truly this is troubling, something big is going on behind our backs and I don't like it."
"I doubt he himself is a demon… but… never mind. Even Fujimoto in his old age wasn't soft enough to adopt one of the enemy. But regardless he behaves very suspiciously."
"How so?" The Paladin asked. Something he had learned over the years was that it was usually the little details that revealed the big picture.
"While he smells like a demon, he doesn't act like one possessed. He acts kind, goofy and even lazy. Despite his personality of a slacker, he seems motivated and alive. Very unlike the M.O. of a possessed human. Quite frankly, I've never seen anything like it." Adam answered admitted how puzzled he was.
"If only the late Shiro was alive, we could ask him ourselves. Also…" he held up the claw. "A man was attacked in the town near here by what I believe to be a demon. He came into the hospital clutching this claw."
"What became of the records from the hospital?" The Paladin asked.
"Destroyed or altered. The demon's trail vanished with me. Soon he will himself vanish." He answered holding up the chip were the files of the demon were contained. He smiled, it felt nice to be out of his desk and back on the hunt.
"Good." The exorcist chuckled. "Sounds like something you would say." His grin vanished and it was replaced by his cold stare, leaving no proof the smile was ever there. "And the man's wellbeing?"
"Taken care of. A little Promethium Oxidrate and he won't remember a thing. I mixed it with cold water to clean wound, and flush out any possible poison. Completely harmless, but he might be a bit dizzy for a few days. It doesn't look like he received a temptaint, despite being struck, so I'm using that to narrow down any demons who fit the description."
"One more thing… Upper First class exorcist Shura Kirigakure has disappeared from the Vatican." Angel informed the exorcist.
"Wasn't Shura… a student of the Fujimoto?" Adam asked.
"Exactly what I was thinking, she may be in on this. She used her credit card in a local convenience store in a village a few miles from here to purchase a beer. A team has been sent, but she wasn't found."
"It's probably a red herring, knowing Shura. She probably bought a beer and moved on." Adam answered.
"Yes, that is just like her." The Paladin agreed.
"I'll keep my eyes open." The Arc Knight promised his eyes flashing to the list of students he had received from the Vatican.
Actually there was one student that he had been a bit suspicious of, he wasn't on official transcript provided by the Vatican, and it's easy to disguise genders in that large sweatshirt.
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"Today we'll be splitting up into groups of four. Names have been randomly drawn to decide the teams. Goblins have been sighted in abnormally large quantities, we believe there may be a colony somewhere in this city, so you'll be expected to eradicate any demons you can find. Since we can't evacuate the entire city, try to be discreet. Stick to sutras and verses if at all possible. Your job is to find the hive, and then inform me or Mr. Neuhaus, do not attempt to take on the beast alone. Let's begin. Team One: Konekomaru…"
The young boy stepped forward awkwardly. Yukio continued "Suguro…" Bon stepped forward next to Konekomaru and high-fived his friend.
"Shima…" Izumo sighed. "I feel bad for whoever gets stuck with the three for them. "
"I'll have you know women are signing up to be stuck with me!" Shima countered his mouth acting before his brain again.
"Can you even name more than five girls?" Bon asked teasing his friend.
"Of course…. Let's see Shiemi, Izumo, and Paku… okay fine I can't. What of it." Shima sighed.
"And Izumo" Yukio finished, a faint smile present.
"WHAT! No way am I working with those idiots!" Izumo screamed in protest.
"Sorry, nothing we can do about it. These teams are final." Yukio stated emotionlessly.
"You were saying something about feeling bad…" Bon teased.
"But… but… fine." She sighed accepting her fate.
"Next group… Miaru, Rin, Shiemi, and Yamada." Yukio rattled on.
"That was much faster than the last time." Rin scolded his younger brother. "Try not to show favoritism."
"I was hoping we could get through the grouping quickly, we don't have enough time for an entire drama each group pairing." Yukio explained adjusting his glasses.
"Alright team let's move out!" Rin announced to his team which had gather together.
"Who died and made you leader?" Bon asked his friend.
"Shut up!" Rin yelled.
"Let's go Rin." Shiemi said attempting to drag Rin away from Bon and prevent any potential fighting.
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Their group progressed for twenty minutes without any progress, they found a lot of miniature Goblins and a few ape sizes ones, all of which Shiemi had Nee finish off. Then a large demonic sense appeared on Adam's metaphorical sensor. It was off in an alley hidden off from the public.
"Hey Rin, Shiemi I'm sensing a demonic presence up ahead, you two check it out and we'll keep searching." The spy ordered sending Rin and Shiemi away. Rigging the drawings to put the two of them together was easy, but he didn't expect Rin to be on his team as well. This might just work out for him.
"So, who are you exactly?" The hooded figure asked. "You aren't on the list."
"So you can speak Yamada, or should I say... Shura?" Adam asked deciding to confront the Exorcist.
He or rather she pulled the top of her hoodie off revealing her pink and yellow hair and her purple eyes. "Man it feels nice to take that thing off; you have no clue how stuffy it is in there." She let out a sigh and turned away facing the direction they had sent Shiemi and Rin. "So then I can safely assume you have been sent by the Vatican, Arc Knight?"
"What gave me away?" Adam asked not bothering to hide.
"You may not remember me, but when I was younger, and living with Shiro, you were attempting to exorcise a demon that he'd had been sent to deal with. You were barely a middle second class at the time. As soon as you found out that Shiro was going to appeal to the demon, you went on ahead and killed it, using a human as bait. The old man kept an eye on you ever since, he feared that you would one day become a worse monster than the demons." She paused to glare at him and the continued. "Being the Paladin, it wasn't hard. It hasn't been that long, you look initially the same. Younger than your age, that would be why they sent you disguised as a student. It made sense. I wasn't positive at first, but I noticed that the list I stole didn't include you. After that I just started watching, the more I looked the more obvious it became."
"That was you? Hum, I never associated you Shura as that little girl from so long ago. And yes I really wish I looked older, stupid body of a teen! I'm 23, why must I look like a child?" The Arc Knight moaned dramatically, attempting to throw Shura off track, then perhaps he could gain information.
"And why are you here?" Adam asked trying to squeeze any information he could out of the woman as he could.
"That's my business scumbag, I'm not here with the Vatican." Shura assured. "I'm here for pleasure."
'SCUMBAG! Come on really!' Trying to keep his outward cool the Arc Knight asked the first question that came to mind. "Does Yukio know you're here? I remember the two of you were friends as children training under Shiro." Adam asked.
"Huh… four-eyes? No he doesn't know, though he might suspect." Shura answered nonchalantly shrugging.
"So where did you send those two?" Shura asked showing unnatural concern.
"There's a small horde of the Goblins in an alley. I'm still working on locating the King. The others should disappear to Gehenna when I kill it." He fiddled awkwardly, not comfortable standing still.
"Let's get down to business. I have some questions for the late Paladin, but since he isn't here anymore, you're the next best thing. Keep in mind that I outrank you." Adam smirked.
"Keep in mind; you don't want the students to know your true identity, if the great Arc Knight came here, disguised as a lowly student, there is something big going on; so I'd say we're even." She countered pulling out her PSP, seemingly done with the conversation.
"One question, since you've known Shiro and his boys longer than anyone, this will be your way off apologizing for the scumbag comment." Adam suggested putting his hands in his pocket, a universal non-threatening stance.
"Buy me a beer and I'll answer." She said grinning her cocky grin.
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"I didn't think you'd actually buy me a beer. It's been too long since I've had a proper Budweiser." She said chugging an entire can in one go.
"You're easier to talk to when you're drunk." Adam admitted, leafing through his wallet, hoping he would be able to pay for Shura's drinking spree.
"Hey shut yer trap!" Shura yelled clearly tipsy.
"It doesn't take much to get you drunk does it? Okay anyway, when did Shiro adopt the twins?"
"Ssss…ome time near Christ-mash… Yuki always-sh mentioned that their Birt-day and Chris-mas was just one bihg eve-nt for them." Shura slurred.
Christmas 15 years ago… why did that sound so familiar. True he was still barely 8 years old at the time, but even then he was being trained to kill demons, so he should have heard… there was something about that date.
Suddenly a large and nauseating wave of demonic energy hit and the Arc Knight shot up. Shura remained seated, her drunken state must have prevented her from sensing the demon. Dropping his wallet on the table he charged off towards the energy he assumed was coming from the Goblin King.
"Hey waiter, another beer please! And keep em coming." Shura giggled, holding the wallet Adam had left behind.
Rounding the corner he saw a ginormous, and fat Goblin climbing up the fire escape of an apartment complex. "Disgusting… prepare to die. 'For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.' Seraphim Sword." The Arc Knight recited, a curved katana forming from the air. Grabbing it he floated up to the roof where the Goblin King was sitting.
Its green flesh was rotten and oozing demonic pus. It smelled of burnt trash and cigarettes, its wail was high pitched and irritating. "You truly are disgusting, I'm going to kill you right now." Raising his sword he launched himself at the King, who summoned two Goblin Guards to fight for him.
'Goblin Guards… shielded Goblin warriors whose only purpose is to separate the King from any opposition. Getting past them will be difficult, since they can drain life energy. I'll kill them quickly and then finish of the King.' His reasoned instantly, his near encyclopedia knowledge of demons coming into play. Almost twenty years of studying his enemy had led to an easy recognition of most demons, and more importantly their weaknesses.
Throwing the sword between the two guards he chanted a quick Sutra, and as the sword passed behind their shields he finished. "Amen!" causing the sword to explode brilliantly and disintegrate the two Guards.
"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." The Arc Knight chanted drawing another sword for the King. This sword was overly large and unwieldy. Hefting it in a battle position Adam charged the King. Before making contact he swung the sword, but met resistance.
"A cocoon?" he chuckled… "You can't hide in there, I'll tear this thing open." Holding the sword in front of the cocoon he began chanting "Jesus answered him, 'truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.'"
The tip of the sword began glowing and fired a brilliant light, shattering the encasement and exposing the demon. "Let's end this, I'm disgusted just by looking at you." As he finished speaking his sensor was overloaded by a demonic presence beyond anything he had sensed, with the exception of Mephisto when he was fighting.
"What is that?" He asked to no one in particular and turned towards the intense energy. The Goblin took advantage of the distraction, and knocked the Arc Knight away, shattering his sword on the process. Summoning several hundred of his miniature brethren they dog-piled the exorcist.
Struggling to move under the weight of the demons the Arc Knight was whimpering on the inside. "I despise these demons… how dare they touch me. All right I'm using it, screw my cover. I'm using the Full Armor. "Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were…" The Arc Knight stopped chanting… the weight was gone. Opening his eyes he saw Rin Okumaru seating his weapon standing over the burning corpse of the Goblin King. The little goblins all around him had become barely visible smoke and vapor.
'I was outperformed… by an Exwire! No he's not even that! How did he defeat the King so quickly? What is with that sword?' Looking closely he saw the Goblin King alight with… Blue flames.
Christmas, The late paladin, the obscure and unusually scent, Yuri Egin, blue flames, the twins… It all made sense! He was the half demon, half human child of Satan! But didn't Shiro finish them off… apparently not. But where did his alliance lie? It did not matter. "I will eradicate all demons." He muttered standing up preparing to draw his celestial swords. "When the son of Man shall sit in glory."
"What were you thinking!?" Rin shouted. 'Huh? What is he talking about? He couldn't be worried about him… he was a demon… the son of the king of demons to be precise.'
"You could have been killed, I don't want to lose anyone else. Don't be so reckless, let me help you." Rin scolded helping the Arc knight stand all the way. 'Is he for real? How can he act so… human?'
"Good thing I was in the area, me and Shiemi got separated. I sensed the energy and headed over." Rin smiled. "Though you were really impressive. But I already knew that, since you managed to take me down in sparring."
"I was foolish, allowing myself to be distracted, it won't happen again. But thank you for coming to me… now I can eliminate the last demon and go home."
"Don't strain yourself, I'll help you, you don't have to do it yourself." Rin assured.
"No I will end this." Raising his arms he began chanting. "The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates."
"Hey what are you doing?" Rin asked.
Ignoring him the Arc Knight continued. "Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright." A large broadsword of pure silver formed in his hand. Turning to Rin he removed all emotion from his face. "Die demon."
Slicing horizontally at Rin the sword managed to nick Rin's shoulder as he attempted to dodge. Gripping his shoulder he tried to resist screaming at the stinging sensation from his shoulder.
"Don't try to deny it demon. This sword is specifically design to destroy demons. Humans are unaffected. You won't be able to move… what!" The Arc Knight paused in shock as the demon spawn stood up.
"How can you move?" 'How he's a demon… so why."
"I won't bother denying it. But I'm just as much human as I am demon." Rin argued. 'Could that really be the reason he can move?' The Knight asked himself. In all of his years of demon slaying he had never once hesitated, but would this be murder?'
He shook his head. "It doesn't matter, all demons will die."
"Then what about Yukio!" Rin yelled drawing his sword, the flames engulfing his body. "Are you going to kill him too?!"
'Worrying for his sibling when his life is in danger, just like me… Can I really kill him?'
Author's Notes
Me: Not much to say. Stay tuned for chapter three, hopefully the romance will actually start soon.
Yukio: Enjoy your weekend, and we hope you enjoyed it.