Crimso's Notes

Honestly, Spanish tests always scare me, because I'm not good in Spanish. Yet, today's test, which I JUST finished, I managed to complete in a matter of… fifteen minutes? Something like that. But my Spanish teacher doesn't believe me. And now he's the one being negative D:. He always tell me to think postivly, but now he's making me think negatively. Creepy. I kind of forgot I had a Spanish Test, though. Oh well. It went over well… I think. –Eyes her Spanish Teacher out of the corner of her eye- …Eheh…

I really don't have any notes for this chapter here, so let's move on... All notes involving spoilers shall be placed in the Crimso's Corner V2

~~~~X~~~~

Chapter 7: Execution

The man rushed through the halls of the great house he was in, careful not too make too much noise as his feet hit the wooden floor. He looked behind him to make sure that there was certainly no one there, and then returned his vision to the front and ran onwards. It was the middle of the night, so that meant everyone was asleep. A single loud footstep could wake someone up. He had to be careful, or else he'd certainly be caught…

The Kimiyoshi Manor was a big place. He didn't quite know which room the head slept in, or the one his son slept in, but the chances of him rushing past the room and just so happening to wake the head or the heir up was small, or so he believed. The man slipped through the hallways until he reached a sliding door decorated with a painting of nature. He slid it open, knowing exactly what that room was. He had been in the Kimiyoshi Manor before, and while he didn't know rooms like where the head slept, he knew the room he had just entered very well.

It was where Kimiyoshi kept his things. And in there, there had to be the key to the room containing all the fifty demons that he owned. He just needed to snatch a few up. He needed them, after all. Demons were expensive, and he didn't have enough money to pay for even one. He walked up to the wall, finding two, golden keys dangling by a string roped around a small hook. He snatched them up, putting them into his pocket. He wore a large grin on his face. Now, he would be able to snatch a demon up.

The first key was the key to the room in which Kimiyoshi kept his demons. The second key was the key to the locks on the cells. He just needed to unlock a single cell and bring the demon home with him. Then, he would force the demon to obey him. He didn't actually know anything about controlling demons or demons in general aside from the fact that they served humans and existed, but he was sure he would be able to figure things out.

With the keys in his pocket, the man walked out of the room, humming a small, quite tune to himself, one that could only be heard if someone was desperately trying to hear it. He kept his hand on the shining keys in his pocket, enjoying their feel. He felt powerful having those keys in hand, the keys that led to the demons. Demons were powerful creatures, and with those keys, it would be easy to control one.

Reaching the end of the hallway, the man came across a pair of steel doors. Unlike the Sonozaki Manor, the Kimiyoshi Demon Storage was connected to the manor. He inserted the first key in the lock, unlocking the door without a problem. Hearing the click of the lock, the man pulled the great steel doors right open, hearing a creaking sound coming out from them. He looked behind him to make sure that no one had woken up, and then entered the doors. Quickly, he locked them.

Before him was a room almost completely barren of any bright color. The walls were a dull gray color, and the floor was a disgusting brown. The cells were made of gray metal, and the only thing that he could really see of color were the eyes of the demons, all staring at him with curious expressions on their faces. Some were simply enraged. Was this man a new servant, or was he just an intruder?

One of the demons began to snap at him. "I think it's a new servant!" he yowled out loud. "Let's kill him before he can gain any more power over us! I don't think it'll matter if he hasn't started his job yet."
The demon next to him shook her head. "No, no, no! We have to torture him before we kill him."

"That's what I meant!"

He ignored the demons' cries, however, and continued down the room. He needed to find the perfect demon, a demon that would surely obey anything he said. The demons in the front seemed a little too vicious for his tastes. If he needed a vicious demon, he could just order a usually peaceful demon to turn that way. He didn't need one that was naturally that bloodthirsty. He twirled the second golden key in his hands, and as the demons caught sight of it, they became tense.

One of the demons began to bash against the steel cage and yelling at him threateningly. The man shot him a look, but said nothing more. That demon was certainly not for him. The demon who sat next to that one didn't seem much better, as he was shouting a long list of curse words at the top of his voice.

"My god, Kimiyoshi makes sure he gets the worst of the demons, doesn't he? Well, I suppose it works for him. He doesn't seem to do much with them aside from the occasional murders," he commented as he gazed at a demon who was currenly trying to break through the metal with her claws, ready to slash the person who she thought was the new demon manager up. None of the people who managed demons were ever kind to demons. They couldn't be killed easily, so what was the point of feeding them?

Indeed, all the demons there were rather skinny, making the man wonder when the last time the real manager of the demons bothered to feed all fifty of them. Buying giant slabs of meat for all the demons was probably expensive. The man didn't even have enough money for a demon, so he was sure the one he would take wouldn't be fed too often, either. Meat could be rather expensive at times.

Suddenly, the man came to a halt, and he looked at the demon to the side of him. He was rather small for a demon, and he looked rather timid. His eyes went wide when he saw the man in front of him, and he scooted back. He looked like a demon that would submit to his orders. "Well, you certainly seem like a demon that would obey my commands, Number Thirty-Nine," he spoke, glancing at the collar around his neck. On the back of the collars of all the demons was a small loop, and this demon was no exception. Attached to the cell was a long chain, and the purpose of that chain was to attach it to the back of the demon so that they couldn't escape their master's hold, just like a dog on a leash.

The demon looked over to the other demon on his right. "H-Help! Number Forty, stop him!"

The demon next to the timid one, Number Forty, was staring at the man with a ferocious look in her blue eyes. "Obey your commands? Are you trying to steal us or something?" she spoke, narrowing her eyes at him. "I don't think master was planning on hiring any new servants to take care of us. We already have five managing us, and six doesn't seem likely."

The man looked surprised, but he tried to wipe that off of his face. "No, I am a new servant here. I'm just taking your friend out of his cell for a little bit. But I'm not taking you, Number Forty, so don't even bother hoping for such to happen," he said to her, his tone harsh and rude.

She growled at him. "That sounds suspicious to me."

He simply laughed. "It's not suspicious at all. Kimiyoshi wanted me to bring a demon out so that they could guard his manor at night. Who knows? There's a chance that a thief will come and try to steal demons."

She opened her mouth to protest, but she was cut off as soon as another voice, a new voice, interrupted the twos' conversation.

"No, you're right, Number Forty. Kimiyoshi himself told me that he wouldn't hire anymore servants for now, since he had enough," a demon spoke, one with short, dark blue hair. His unnaturally golden eyes stared at the man. "This guy is no more than an intruder, one that wishes to steal us."

The man whipped around, staring at the demon who had just spoken with hateful eyes. "I am not! There's no way that you would know that, anyways. You're just another scrawny, puny demon. Why in the world would the great Kimiyoshi tell you of all people?" he growled.

The demon closed his eyes for a moment, crossing his arms against his chest. "I'll have you know that I am not a puny, weak demon. No demons are puny and weak. But even if they were, that's far from what I am." He opened them again, fierce golden eyes almost piercing through the man's soul. "I used to be one of Makoto's most trusted guards, and I am now the head demon of the Kimiyoshi family."

The man blinked at him. "What?"

"The name is Kai," he spoke, pointing to his metal collar. His name was engraved on his metal collar, unlike the usual numbers written on the other's collars. "I'm Kimiyoshi's most trusted demon, and I've been that way since the end of Makoto's rule. I'm surprised that you don't know who I am. I've been to many executions in the past, and actually have led them myself. Have you not been to any, or are you just uninformed about the demons of Onigafuchi?"

The man gulped. It was true that he hadn't done any research on demon, but such probably didn't matter. "W-Whatever! It doesn't matter. You're locked up right now, you don't know my name, so there's nothing you can do! My friend is waiting outside with the car, so I can just put him in there, and I won't be caught walking a demon around Onigafuchi," he argued, though his voice with a little shaky.

Kai let out a sigh and stood straight up. He walked to the back of his cage, and he grasped onto something in the back. The man's eyes widened when he noticed the golden key that the demon now held in his hand. The demon's expression didn't change, however, and he simply walked up to the front of his cage and unlocked it.

"W-What?" the man spoke, disbelief in his voice. "That can't be true, that can't be true! You demons aren't supposed to have keys like that!"

Kai's face remained the same. "Kimiyoshi has ordered me not to use these keys for doing anything other than catching intruders like you, but I'm not allowed to use it for any other reason. Since you're an intruder, I'm allowed to use it," he explained as he stepped out of his cell, the metal door creaking behind him.

The man took a few steps back, his eyes wide. He hadn't been expecting something like that to happen! He looked behind him, considering the idea of running without the demon. His friend, of course, would be disappointed that he hadn't taken a demon, but there wasn't much he could do. He whispered a quick "goodbye" under his breath before he dashed away, the keys still jingling in his pockets.

Kai ran after him without hesitating, bursting out of the doors leading to the demon storage area. The man looked behind him, finding that the demon was still on his tail. If he could get in his friend's car and drive away before anything happened, then the demon would never learn of his identity, and he would be able to escape and live on as if his attempt at stealing had never happened. However, the speed the demon was running compared to the amount of speed he was causing the distance between the two to diminish.

The man burst out of the doors of the Kimiyoshi Manor, startling his friend in the car. His eyes widened when he saw the demon coming after his friend, his hands just centimeters away from grabbing him.

Kai grasped onto the man's shoulder, pulling him towards him. With his demonic strength, he wrapped his hand around the man's wrist, preventing him from escaping. He then walked up to the car, easily tearing the door off with a single hand. The man inside looked scared beyond belief, but that didn't stop Kai from grabbing him as well.

"Come with me, you two. My master would love to meet you…"

~~~~X~~~~

The rays of the morning sun leaked through Keiichi's windows and shined directly on his face, indicating that the morning had come and it was time for him to wake up. He peaked a blue eye open, gazing at the room before him. The house was strangely silent, and all he could really hear were the cries of the higurashi cicadas. Usually, he would hear the sounds of his parents conversing about how lovely the village was, but this time, there was nothing.

Curiously, Keiichi got up from his futon. He quickly threw his school clothing on and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. His eyes went wide when he realized that his parents weren't there. There was no breakfast cooking on the stove, meaning that there was now no time to eat before he was late for school. But more importantly, where did his parents go? His fears escalated as he remembered Hiroshi's mutilated corpse, but he told himself that such wouldn't ever happen.

The demons that killed Hiroshi were probably evil and twisted, and hopefully unlike most of the demons that lived in Onigafuchi. His parents probably weren't dead, anyways, and he was able to confirm that was a note on the refrigerator.

"Hi, dear! Something came up with your father's work and we have to go to Tokyo. I hope you don't mind. Sorry for not warning you about it earlier, but we just got the message. There's still some instant ramen in the fridge. All you have to do is warm it up… and then… tada! Your food is done! Anyways, have fun with your friends while we're away!"

With a sigh, he threw the note to the ground. He didn't feel like having instant ramen for breakfast, and besides, there wasn't enough time for him to boil hot water. Grumbling, he grabbed his backpack from the ground and slung it over his shoulder. He would just have to settle for eating someone else's lunch today. It didn't really matter, though, as that was what they usual did, anyways.

He walked out of the door and went down the paths of Onigafuchi. By now, he had memorized the way to get to his school and back. He didn't feel danger on those paths anymore, even if he had come across Hiroshi's corpse along the way. His death may have just been a one-time thing, after all. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he tried not to think about such things and continued on his way.

Soon enough, he was at school. He walked into the building without thinking much, and then into the classroom door. However, as soon as he did so, he felt something fall from the roof and onto him very gently.

"H-Hey! What's with the net!" he cried out as he struggled to get the wires of the net off of him, flailing about.

"Ohohohohoho!" A shrill laugh echoed through the classroom, one that could only belong to Satoko. "You see now, Rika? My plan is perfect! Whenever one of them comes at me, I'll just use this handy net trap!"
Rika frowned. "Satoko, I don't think catching a demon is as easy as trapping poor, helpless Keiichi," she spoke, rubbing the top of her friend's head. "Besides, my story about the demons was just something I made up. A demon isn't going to try to hurt us…"

Satoshi frowned as he looked over to the blue-haired girl. "Have we given up on hiding it from Keiichi, or did Satoko just slip again?" he asked.

Rika sighed. "We gave up. Really, there's no point in hiding it from him. The shock of a demon's existence is great, but really, they can't do anything to us."

Satoko grinned. "I like Kaede. She's always so nice to us, right, Nii-Nii?" she said, looking up at her older brother.

However, the blonde-haired boy just looked down. "Not all demons are like Kaede, though… and Kaede used to be a rather vicious demon before the Furudes changed her…"

While the three had a conversation, Keiichi was busy grumbling about how no one was noticing that he was still trapped in a net. Still, though, the conversation they were having was interesting. He had heard the name Kaede before from Rika and Satoko, but they didn't mention that she was a demon. Sighing, he turned to look for Takeru and Rena, who also didn't seem to notice him. When he found the two of them, he noticed that Takeru was busy flirting with her again, and Rena was standing there with a blood-red blush painted on her face.

"Hey, Takeru, Rena! Would you mind getting this thing off me?" he cried out to them.

Takeru grinned as he looked at Rena. "…That's why I think you're beautiful. I just gave you all the reasons. Actually, that's a lie. I have more. Do you want to hear more, Rena?" he asked her.

"Hau…" Rena said in a light tone, but no more words came out of her mouth.

Keiichi sighed as he focused his gaze on Rika, Satoko, and Satoshi. Rika and Satoko had begun to argue for some reason, and Satoshi was standing there, sighing. From what Keiichi had picked up, they were arguing about the color of cauliflower and broccoli. How a morbid talk on demons changed to such a topic, he would never know.

"Satoshi, would you please let me out of the net?" asked Keiichi hopefully.

Satoshi nodded and walked over to him, easily removing the net from the top of the boy. "I'm sorry about that, you know all about my sister and traps…"

Keiichi nodded, brushing off his school uniform. "It's really no problem at all," he replied, staring at the two much, much younger children who were still spitting out arguments about vegetables.

Takeru spotted Keiichi, and walked over to him. He was giving him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. I was busy making sure Rena knew that she was the most beautiful girl in the entire universe. That's important too, you know."

"How many times have you told her that, again?" sighed Keiichi.

"Many times, Keiichi, many times. But it's still important," Takeru replied.

Satoshi looked down. "You're really open about your feelings for her, aren't you?" he replied. "I don't think I would ever be able to do that if I met a girl I liked. I think I would just keep it to myself forever and ever… until she confesses to me instead. Y-You know, if she even likes me…"

Keiichi shrugged. "I've never been in love. I don't know what I would do."

"Well, that's understandable. There aren't very many girls in Onigafuchi our age, and I don't want you chasing after Rena, so I completely understand," he replied, glancing at the orange-haired girl out of the corner of his eye. Now, she was twirling Rika and Satoko both around in a circle, exclaiming that their arguing was cute, and that she was going to take them home with her. "Maybe you'll meet a girl your age in Okinomiya."

"Love isn't really on my mind right now, though," Keiichi replied. "I'm not nearly as flirty as you are, Takeru."

Takeru laughed. "Once again, understandable, for the reasons I've stated before. I've known Rena for a long time."

A few seconds later, Satoko and Rika came crashing into the group of boys, Rena following them closely behind. She snatched up Satoko, who was injured on the ground, and began to hug her tightly to her chest. The poor yellow-haired girl struggled to get free, kicking and flailing about.

"Help me, Rika! I don't want to be taken home!" Satoko cried out.

Rika looked up at Rena, an adorable smile on her face. "Please don't take her home, Rena," she requested kindly.

Rena instantly dropped Satoko, but the moment she did so, she snatched up Rika. "Rika's smile is sooo cute! I want to take her home with me! Hau…" she cried out, almost squeezing the life out of the poor girl.

"Satoko, now it's your turn to help me!" Rika cried.

Satoko sighed. "Rena, please, don't take her home," she asked her, her tone not sounding nearly as nice as Rika's was before. She seemed a little irritated.

Rena complied to her request, and set the poor blue-haired girl down on the ground. Rika held her head in her hands, feeling rather dizzy. "This is something I'm used to, don't worry," she told Keiichi, who was now wearing a worried look on his face as he saw the state that she was in. "Rena tries to take me home every single day… so this is normal."

Keiichi chuckled. "You really like cute things, don't you, Rena?" he commented, ruffling the girl's orange hair gently. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll be able to take something cute home soon."

Takeru shot Keiichi a death glare as soon as the brown-haired boy's hand came in contact with Rena's hair, causing the boy to stop patting her head just after a few moments. He didn't like Rena, but he knew that Takeru was feeling a little… threatened, by Keiichi's actions.

The green-haired boy cheered up a little as soon as Keiichi's hand pulled away. "Now, Rena, if you like cute things, have you ever tried to take yourself home?" he asked, walking up to the girl with a grin on his face.

Rena looked puzzled. "Take myself home?" she repeated.

Takeru nodded. "Yeah. Take yourself home. You know, because you're clearly the cutest thing in this room. Have you ever tried?" he asked her.

The orange-haired girl blushed, looking down at her feet. "Rena… Rena doesn't know how she'd take herself home. I mean… I walk home everyday. Is that what you mean by take myself home? Because honestly, I don't see how else I could take myself home," she answered.

The green-haired boy rubbed the back of his head. "Eheh… I don't know either…" he admitted.

For once, his flirty line completely failed. Well, it certainly got her to blush, but that aside! Keiichi thought to himself, observing the two friends before him.

All of the children laughed out loud at his commented, excluding Satoko, who was busy trying to figure out what Takeru's comments meant. She never really seemed to pick up on those kinds of lines, anyways.

"In any case, guys, I have something important to tell you," Takeru spoke, his joyful tone suddenly turning gravely serious. Everyone in the group of friends stopped laughing and turned to look at him, equally dark looks on their faces, save for Keiichi, who was wondering what the news could possibly be. It seemed that it was clear to everyone else, who had been in the village for such a long time. "After school, around four pm, there's going to be another execution at the Furude Shrine…"

Keiichi's blue eyes seemed to turn to the size of plates. "D-Did you just say… there's going to be… an execution?" he said, his voice full of disbelief.

Takeru nodded his head. "Yes, an execution," he repeated.

Rena looked at the stunned boy to her left, giving him a look of sorrow. "You see, Keiichi-kun, every once in a while, Kimiyoshi holds an execution at the Furude Shrine. That's what the restraining board you saw was for. They're usually executing people for trying to steal demons, but they don't always kill them. S-Sometimes, they… they… ugh! But really, it's nothing special. There's no elaborate torture. They just stick a knife in them or slice them with a sword and they're done with the execution. …There's not much point to making people watch, but Kimiyoshi commands it," she explained to him, a grave look on her face.

Satoshi nodded. "He says it's because he wants to make people learn their lesson, and teach everyone not to steal demons. W-We're all required to go, but sometimes, people don't show up. Kimiyoshi usually gets to punishing them later for that, sometimes even taking their demons as payment, but it doesn't really matter if you don't own demons," he added on.

Takeru looked down at his feet. "I have to attend, otherwise they may take a few of our demons away…" he murmured. "Same with Rika."

Satoshi sighed. "It's true. Satoko and I are forced to attend, too, since we live with Rika… he'll take Rika's demons away, even if they aren't the Houjou's property," he said, a look of sorrow on his face. "I always cover Satoko's eyes, though, and Rika covers her ears. No one has ever caught us doing so before, so it's all good…"
Keiichi shoot Rika a look. "And Rika, you don't bother shielding your own eyes?" he asked.

Rika shook her head. "I don't really mind the execution. I just think that Kimiyoshi can be cruel sometimes, even if he acts like a nice old man. He's so kind to me… but…" she shook her head, clenching her fists tightly.

The green-haired boy looked down. "…The Kimiyoshi family isn't on such good terms with us since we basically have more power than them now, even though they have more demons than us. They have around fifty, while we have a little less than that…"
Wait a moment! What Takeru said just then was a complete and utter lie. They didn't have a little less than fifty! The Sonozaki family only had two demons, which was a much smaller number than fifty. Keiichi had to wonder what the point of him lying was, but he didn't bother asking him for obvious reasons. Perhaps he was just embarrassed about the lack of demons, or he was just hiding the fact that his grandmother had gone and killed all the demons for seemingly no reason, judging by what Number Twenty-Seven and Number Twenty-Eight had told him.

Rika also shot him a suspicious look, a blue eyebrow raised at him, but she said nothing.

"Keiichi, I think you need to attend. Even if you don't have demons, he'll surely notice whether or not the new kid in the village came to the execution or not. You can look away, if you want to," Takeru spoke, giving him an apologetic look. "I know that you probably don't want to, and I don't want to either, but there isn't much we can do about it…"

Keiichi clenched his fists together. Was he really going to have to see a human get killed right before his very eyes? It was gruesome and terrifying to think about such a thing happening. But still, what would happen to him if he didn't attend the execution? Bad things would happen, for sure. Takeru was right in saying that he really didn't have any options.

"Fine then… I'll attend it… the execution…"

~~~~X~~~~

School flew by, and soon enough, the seven friends were strolling down the dusty paths of Onigafuchi, heading to the execution at the Furude Shrine. Keiichi could see a few people in the distance also moving in the same direction, and Keiichi automatically assumed that they were also going to watch the execution. Was it really that big of a deal? It just didn't make sense to kill someone right in front of everyone, and force the entire village to watch. Even with the explanation for that that had been given to him, he still had to question the old man's logic.

He was behind the rest of the group with Rena at her side. She was looking down at her shoes as they stepped in the dust, leaving footprints behind her. She let out a sigh, looking rather upset about the whole execution.

In order to put the grim thoughts of the execution out of her mind, Keiichi decided that he'd start up a conversation with her. He looked ahead of him, finding that the others were far away enough so that they couldn't hear them if they spoke softly, and then returned his gaze to the girl at his side. "So, uh, Rena, do you… you know, like Takeru back?"

Rena looked surprised by the question for a moment, but then her shock died down, as she returned to her previous expression. "I'm extremely flattered by his comments, but really, Takeru's a good friend of mine. I know he likes me, but I don't want to see him in any other way than just a good friend," she spoke, kicking dust with her feet. "I don't want to hurt him, though. So I'm kind of forcing myself to feel the same way," she added on.

Keiichi raised an eyebrow. "So you don't like Takeru like that?"

Rena nodded. "I don't. But I don't want to hurt him by telling him that, so I guess the only way to make things go without having anyone get hurt is to pretend that I like him as well," she paused for a moment. "It's n-not that I'm not embarrassed by his comments. I like it a lot when he calls me beautiful, I really do," she finished.

"But isn't that just being even more cruel? Playing with his feelings isn't a good way to make him feel any happier. Sure, he'll think it's real, but in truth, it's really just a game of pretend, isn't it? That's the cruelest thing of all," he replied.

Rena sighed. "I know that, Keiichi-kun. But there's really nothing else I can do," she murmured.

Keiichi decided to drop the conversation after that. He wasn't really sure what to say in response to that, anyways. He wasn't so keen on the subject of love, as he had never really met a girl before he moved to Onigafuchi. Sure, there were some in his school in the city, but he never bothered talking to them. Rena was the only girl in Onigafuchi his age, but Takeru already had his eye on her. Besides, she didn't seem like the kind of person Keiichi would date, anyways.

But then again… those two demons are my age…

He shook the thought out of his head and moved on. He had other things to be concerned about at the moment, like the upcoming execution. What would happen, there? He wondered if it was possible for him to get away with closing his eyes and covering his ears, like how Satoshi and Rika did that to Satoko, but he wasn't sure. Satoko was tiny, so it was hard to see her amongst the crowd of people. Keiichi was a lot bigger than her, so he would be easier to spot. Besides, he was just a little curious as to what they were going to do…

Not only that, but something Rena had said struck Keiichi's attention. She added that they didn't always kill them, but she never finished her sentence. What would they do if they didn't kill them, then? Wound them badly, and then send them to the clinic? That didn't seem to make much sense in his mind.

He put the rest of his imagination off for the time being. He would find out the answer in a few moments.

The paths began to grow crowded, and it was much worse when they reached the Furude Shrine. Many, many people were gathered around the shrine, looking up at the old man Kimiyoshi standing in front of the restraining board, a megaphone in his right hand Next to him was a man with dark blue hair and piercing golden eyes, who was staring at the crowd with an emotionless expression on his face. Keiichi caught sight of a metal collar on his neck, reading the name Kai.

So he's a demon? Keiichi thought, gazing at the collar. It was almost exactly the same as Number Twenty Seven's collar and Number Twenty-Eight's collar. His collar didn't have any spikes on it, and instead, was engraved with many strange patterns. He has a name, too. Upon thinking about it a little more, he remembered the significance of that name. Kai was the name of one of the demons that guarded King Makoto's throne, and when the king was killed, Kai was given to the Kimiyoshi family as the head demon.

So, then, is Kai going to kill the person being executed? He wondered. Is he going to kill him just like the way those unknown demons killed Hiroshi?

The friends kept close together, though none of them said much to each other. Satoshi was murmuring a few words to Satoko, and so was Rika, but that was just about it. Takeru was standing there with his arms crossed, staring at Kimiyoshi with a somewhat hateful look in his eyes. It startled Keiichi, to say the least. Rena was focused on Kai, gazing at the name written on his collar.

"He really doesn't have any control of his actions, now does he?" Rena murmured to Takeru. "Poor Kai."

Takeru nodded. "Kimiyoshi overworks him. I don't think my grandmother overworked Kenji that much," he whispered back.

Kenji, huh? That had been the name of the head demon of the Sonozaki family, but he was long dead. Oryou had apparently killed him for some unexplained reason. Though Keiichi had to wonder, did the village know that the Sonozaki demons were all dead, save for the twins? Did they know that the head of the Sonozaki Demons, Kenji, was also dead?

His thoughts were interrupted when a voice bellowed across the land, silencing all of the villagers gathered. "Silence! My master requires your full attention right now!" Kai yelled out.

Takeru looked a little surprised. "Kai never has any emotion in his voice. He never tends to yell, either," he whispered to Rena, though Keiichi was able to hear it. All Rena did was nod.

Once all the villagers were silent, Kai took a few steps back, eyeing his master with emotionless, golden eyes. He said nothing more and moved no more, his expression not even changing once.

"Good! Now that I have everyone's attention, I would like to thank you all for gathering here to see the execution of a wretched man who thought that he could steal my demons!" Kimiyoshi yelled into the megaphone. Everyone murmured to others about how foolish it was to try to steal a demon from the great Kimiyoshi, though they were rather quiet about it. "He broke into my manor in the middle of the night around a week or two ago, and tried to steal my poor demons away! But that's not all! The man… was not alone! He and his friend plotted it out together, and his friend was going to aid him in getting the demon home!"

More whispering followed after that. They continued to comment about how foolish those two men must have been to try to steal a demon. And now, here they were, about to be killed in front of the whole village, just for trying to steal a single demon.

"And now, without further ado, I present to you, the man who tried to steal one of my very precious demons!" Kimyoshi bellowed into the megaphone.

Suddenly, a man was brought from out of the Furude Shrine, his hands tied behind his back. He had a look of shame and regret on his face, though it was pointed down at the ground so it was hard to see. Two demons were leading him out, both of them wearing metal collars with the same patterns engraved in them as Kai. They held the man down and began to tie him down with the restraints on the board.

"And, since he tried to steal my demons, I thought… perhaps it would be fitting… if we gave him punishment number two?" he spoke, causing the audience to gasp. "I know that people are usually up here for trying to kill my demons, but I haven't done number two in a while. Aside from that, his offense was minor compared to others, who have tried to steal five or six demons."
The two demons finished fastening the restraints, and then took a few steps back. They nodded at their master before they turned around and returned to the Furude Shrine, disappearing within it.

"And it looks like we're all set to go! Kai, how about if you go up there and do what you normally do for punishment number two, hm?" he spoke, giving the blue-haired demon next to him a glance and a smile.

Kai nodded once. "As you wish," he spoke before he began to move to the restraint board. He held out his fingers, and then, suddenly, a claw grew out from each finger, replacing the fingernails that used to be there. Keiichi gasped as he saw them. Was he really going to slice him up, just like the other demons had done to Hiroshi? It made sense, but what was this number two that they were talking about?

The man's eyes were wide, also wondering what his fate would be. Kai stared at him with his still emotionless gold eyes, and then let out a small sigh. He bent down so that his claws were positioned right next to the arm of the frightened victim, placing one on the soft skin. Tears of fear were streaming down the man's face. "I beg of you, don't kill me! Don't do this for me! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry! I'll sell you my house and give you all my money if you just don't kill me!"

Kai didn't listen. The single claw remained there, and he was beginning to start the execution. The man was still crying out words, but Kai ignored them. He dug the claw into his arm, causing him to yell out with pain.

Keiichi winced as he heard the poor man's yelps. Looking to his friends, he saw that Takeru simply had a dark expression on his face, Satoshi and Rika were busy covering Satoko's ears and eyes, and that Rena just looked sorrowful. None of them seemed frightened. It made Keiichi wonder how many times they had all been through this.

Kai was about to make his move. What was he going to do? Keiichi could feel hot, sticky sweat trickle down his forehead. His whole body was getting tense, and he was tempted to look away. However, no matter how hard he tried to look away, he found that he just couldn't.

However, all the demon did was slash a cut in his arm with a single claw. Red blood trickled down the arm, though the people watching could not see it, for it was on the side that wasn't facing them. The man cried out with slight pain, though he knew it probably wasn't anything compared to what was to come next. The next thing he did, though, surprised him. Kai brought a claw to his own arm, slicing a cut on that one. He didn't even react to the pain. He brought his arm down to the man's before it could start to bleed, pressing his own wound against the man's.

And then it happened. The man screamed out in pain, his cries probably being loud enough to shatter right through glass. Satoko winced, able to hear that piercing scream through the protection of Rika's hands. The man's whole body was shaking, even though all his limbs were restrained. He continued to scream and cry in pain, tears trickling down his cheeks. He wanted to flail with the pain, to struggle, but the restraints were preventing him from moving much more than half a centimeter.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO ME? MAKE IT STOP! MAKE THE PAIN STOP! JUST KILL ME IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO!" the man yelled out before letting out another wordless scream.

A tear made its way down Satoko's face, who could barely take all the screaming. It seemed as if Rika's protection wasn't helping enough. Thinking quickly, Keiichi clapped his hands around Rika's, hoping that it would block a little more of the screams out. His hands were much bigger than Rika's, after all.

The screams were growing even louder, and by that time, Kai had already pulled away, his hands stained with red blood from the man. He wiped the man's blood off, then stepping away to observe the victim. Judging by his expression, he didn't really seem to care about how much pain he was in. In fact, he didn't really seem to care about anything around him in general.

Suddenly, the screaming ceased, and was replaced with breathing from the man. His hands were still trembling. The two demons from the Furude Shrine reappeared after that, sensing that the deed had been done, and they worked to undo the restraints. All the while, the villagers were whispering a few comments to each other, mostly about the amount of screaming the man had made.

The restraints were undone, and the man was released. Yet, he didn't stand up. His body continued to shake, and the look of horror was still painted on his face. He was breathing quite heavily, and his heart was racing like never before. Another demon emerged from the Furude Shrine, carrying something behind her back. Keiichi stood on his tiptoes to see if he could see what it was, but he really couldn't.

Kai forced the man to sit up. His eyes were wide, his hands clutching his face with realization at what they had done. It seemed like there was no change to everyone else, but on the inside, the man that had been tortured knew.

The demon that had just come from the Furude Shrine removed the object from behind her back. She held it up to the man, attaching it to his neck. It was a metal collar with the same patterns engraved into it, along with a number.

"You no longer have a name," Kimiyoshi told the man. "You are now Number Fifty-One, and you are my demon. I'll see you to your new home in a little bit, demon, but first we have to take care of your little friend there, hm?"

The two demons that had fastened the restraining board led him into the Furude Shrine, and the man didn't even bother to protest their actions. He was still too shocked to say anything.

But he wasn't the only one too shocked to say anything. Keiichi was, too. At first, he had no idea what had been going on with the man, but by Kimiyoshi's words, it became all too clear. He had turned the man into a demon. The man, once human, was now a Number Fifty-One, a demon without a name. He had just taken all his rights from him, just like that. And just like that, he had taken away his humanity.

…Don't tell me… don't tell me they did the same thing to Number Twenty-Seven and Number Twenty-Eight! It was the only answer Keiichi could come up with. The fact that he had turned into a demon reminded him of the two demons in the Sonozaki basement, who were supposed to be dead. They had a human mother, a human father human brother, a human grandmother, and much, much more. And yet, they were demons. They had to have been… they were turned into demons! They weren't born that way!

"Number Fifty-One, huh? He sure has a ton of demons," commented Rena to Takeru.

Takeru nodded. "It's a lot compared to the number we have…"

Satoko tried to pull Satoshi's hands from her eyes, but he simply covered them again every time she tried to do so. "It's not over just yet, Satoko. They're going to execute another one," he explained to her, though she couldn't hear it through Keiichi and Rika's hold on her ears. However, she seemed to understand after a few attempts at pulling them away, and said nothing more.

Seconds later, the demons came out of the shrine again, dragging another man along with them. He looked like he was the same age as the man from before, and he too was wearing a look of shame on his face. However, he looked a little more frustrated than ashamed. He hadn't done nearly as much as his friend did!

The two demons tied him down on the board, then taking a few steps back. They bowed as Kai walked past them, his claws still outstretched on both of his hands. He positioned them above the frightened man, showing him their length. Glancing down on the man who was to be his prey, he let out another sigh. A demon who appeared from the Furude Shrine, the same one who had attached the collar to the man's neck, handed Kai a sword, still being held tightly in it's sheath.

Kai drew the sword out of the sheath, allowing the blade to shine in the sunlight. He held it above the man, gazing into his eyes. "Don't worry. My master has ordered me to make this one quick," he told him in his usual stern tone, one that lacked any emotions.

"P-Please don't kill me," he begged. "I-I didn't do anything! I hardly did anything! My friend was the one who came up with the idea, and he was the one who snuck in! I didn't do anything!"

Kimiyoshi rolled his eyes. "Just do it already, Kai. There's no point in hesitating any longer."

Kai nodded, though the man on the board refused to stop protesting. "Please! I'll do anything, anything! You know, I have a cool house! I could try selling you my house? N-No! I won't even sell it! In fact, I'll give it away for fre-." He never got to finish that sentence. Kai brought the sword down on him, cutting through layers of flesh. The man barely managed to let out a scream before he died. The one he did manage to get out sounded a little more like a chicken choking than anything else.

Keiichi shut his eyes. The scene before him was gruesome, and much too cruel. It was such a large punishment for just aiding in the assistance of a scheme to kill demons.

Sliding the sword back in the sheath, Kai gave it back to the demon and walked back to Kimiyoshi's side. The two demons from before removed the body and began to drag it off, leaving behind a trail of blood. Keiichi looked away before he could see the mutilated corpse, saving himself from what horrid image was before him. He didn't want to look at such a thing, that was for sure.

"Thank you for coming, everyone. Please enjoy the rest of your day, and remember, don't steal demons!" Kimiyoshi called out to the villagers, who were all very willing to leave.

Keiichi was one of the villagers who decided to dash off, not even saying a goodbye to his friends. They were all probably going to do the same, anyways. He wanted to throw up as he remembered the screams the man emitted as he was transforming into a demon. He never knew someone could scream that loud.

He wanted to run away, to escape from the village, but he knew that was impossible. He had already tried telling his parents, and besides, such a thing like execution wouldn't happen to him unless he stole a demon. He would be fine in the village. Though, the last thing he wanted to do was to go to an execution like that one ever again. Perhaps he would hide in his room while the next one took place, and hope that no one noticed his absence.

But aside from the fact that he couldn't run away, he still had unfinished business to go about. He had made himself a goal, and that goal was to bring happiness the two demons who had been trapped down in the dark basement of the Sonozaki Manor all their lives, not feeling a scrap of love or affection. And now that he knew that they had been transformed into demons, he was one step closer to getting to the bottom the case. Why had they been turned into demons, rather than being killed? And why were they the only ones not killed when Oryou murdered all the demons? Sure, it didn't relate directly to those two questions, but a huge part of the answers he needed was to find out their origin.

Tomorrow, I'll tell them what I learned today. And then I'll teach them about who they really are… the lost twins of the Sonozaki family, both of which had supposedly been killed. Yes. I'll make sure they learn… and I'll make sure they understand.

That was the job he gave himself, after all.

~~~~X~~~~

Crimso's Corner V.2

Whoa… that was a lot of writing to do in… mostly one day. I wrote like three or four paragraphs after I finished my Spanish test, and then I continued next Spanish class, and then I went to work in study hall, and then after school a little, and then… oh well, you get the point. I wrote the last… 5,500 or something words in the last few hours, though. I don't really remember when I started working on it recently.

So, there's your execution, and the start of the blood. Of course, blood won't return for a little while, but there you go! And yes, the execution was a little.. fast. Normally people wait a few months, or even years, before carrying out an execution. …Onigafuchi isn't really organized like that. When he wants them dead, he wants them dead. There's nothing they can do.

Do review! Reviewers of this chapter can get a plushie of any demon so far, except Mion and Shion. I'm saving that for later. And yes, they're all my ocs, but whatever~. Oh, typos being pointed out gives you a fake Kimiyoshi Demon Collar. You know, the ones with the patterns on them. It's different for each family.

~Crimso

P.S: The new Higurashi Kira episode was awesome. Okay, go ahead and judge me for thinking that, but it really was. I don't care about what people are saying about how the violence is all gone. It's just a fun arc, nothing to be taken seriously. I can't wait until subs come out. I didn't quite understand what they were saying…

P.S.S: I have a new avatar. I like it~. Probably won't show up until tomorrow, though.