Crimso's Notes

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL! Yeah, I bought all my candy. Well, we're eating the leftovers from handing them out. Yeah, Halloween isn't my thing, aside from the dressing up part. I don't have any costumes, though. …My Spanish teacher told me that I was dressed as a human instead of what I usually am, though. I don't know what he's implying. I asked him if that meant I was a demon before, and he looked away and said innocently "I didn't say anything."

One: After this chapter, I'm hoping the pace will pick up.

Two: Don't trust me on that one, though.

Three: It's the end of the quarter, and we're staring the second quarter. I don't think there will be too much work.

Four: Don't trust me on that one, either.

~~~~X~~~~

Chapter Nineteen: Horns

The awfully strange sounds of footsteps echoed at gate the Kimiyoshi Manor as a figure walked towards the gate. It was around twelve AM in the morning, and everyone in the household was fast asleep. He carefully opened the gate, the sound of the creaking metal barely making a sound. He looked around the area, making sure there was really no one there, and then continued onwards towards the great house.

It only took him a about few steps to reach the entrance of the Kimiyoshi Manor, as the garden that was owned by them wasn't all that big. He placed his hand on the cool metal knob, then pulling the whole thing open. The man knew that the old Kimiyoshi didn't generally look the door so that the demons on patrol could get in and out; so breaking into the house was easy.

What wasn't, though, was fighting off all those demons.

The man did not flinch as a demon jumped out at him, glaring at him with orange eyes that pierced the night. The demon's claws were unsheathed and pointed at the man threateningly as he attempted to intimidate the man with his strangely orange eyes. "Intruder!" he hissed loudly as he showed off his white fangs, trying his best to scare away the thief before him. Usually, such a technique worked. While it prevented them from catching them, it certainly scared the heck out of anyone and sent them running away.

But when the man didn't move, not even to open the door, the demon began to grow slightly confused. "Hey, you! Get the hell out of here before I have to claw you to death! You don't want that, now do you?" he hissed at him, taking a few steps forward and reaching to grab his shoulder and dig his claws in it. "Hey, you, I said to—"

The figure drew a knife out and stabbed the demon right in the heart with intense speed, causing the demon to stumble backwards and fall on the ground. His eyes were wide with disbelief as the man drew the knife out of him, a smirk on his face.

"I'm sorry, Number Twenty-One, but your attempts to intimidate me are futile," he spoke as he looked down at the dying demon. He quickly pulled the knife out of the demon's heart, which was now slick with his blood. He smiled and watched as the demon took his last breath before lying completely still on the ground, his blood caking the outside of the manor.

Before he knew it, two more demons had surrounded him. They were both looking at him with fierce eyes, though they were full of a slight shock, as they hadn't seen a thief actually manage to kill a demon. The man smiled at them as he opened the entrance to the Kimiyoshi Manor, walking inside of it nonchalantly. It was as if he didn't even notice the two demons were behind him.

The first demon lunged from behind with claws as sharp as knives. The man didn't seem to notice him, so it would have been an easy kill. However, at the last second, the man flipped around and plunged the knife into the incoming demon, causing him to fall down to the ground with blood staining the wooden floors. Another demon lunged for him, and this time, the man didn't have time to retrieve the knife from the dying body of the other demon. He made a move to attack the man with a kind of martial arts move that you would see in action movies. He charged into the demon with his side and then punched him with brutal strength, causing him to fall down to the floor. With a swift movement, the man drew the knife from the now dead demon and stabbed the other.

The demon let out a dying shriek and then lay still. The man collected the knife again and dashed down the hallways with it in hand, the blood of many demons mixing together on the blade. He hummed a small tune to himself as he walked down the hallways, his shoes leaving bloody footprints on the floor behind him.

From out of nowhere, a demon charged at him from the front. The man punched him right in the gut and caused him to tumble over to the ground, the punch having knocked the air out of him temporally. He ignored the demon after that, deciding to spare him, and walked onwards through the manor. Another two demons lunged at him, but he simply raised his knife and slashed the both of them deeply, causing them to fall over to the ground. The wound wasn't fatal, but it could keep them on the ground for a while.

He was now running down the hallway, his bloody knife in his hand and demons running after him, screaming for reinforcements. Every time a demon went for him, he would either punch them or slash them. He didn't have enough time to stab and then retrieve the knives.

Finally, he came to the door he was looking for. Tens of defeated demons now lay on the floor, a few of them just knocked out and a small amount having died from blood loss. He was about to open the door when he noticed a figure come up from behind him, and he didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. "Kai," he said, still clutching onto that knife. "I know that's you.

"What have you done?" the demon asked the man in a unmistakably emotionless tone. Yes. No one else could have a tone so barren of emotion except for Kai.

The man smirked. "Kai, I think you should be tending to your fellow demons, shouldn't you? Number Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, and Twenty-Three are all dead. I believe Number Seventeen has already died of blood loss, and a few others in the front. Shouldn't you save them before you continue on?"

"I am loyal to my master. I have to protect this manor before I protect my other demons," he answered right away, raising his claws to the man.

And, much to his surprise, he turned around with the knife in his hand. "Ah, too bad. You made the wrong choice!" he cried. Then, with a swift movement, he lunged for the demon with the knife, though the demon managed to jump out of the way just in time. There was no doubt that he was skilled. The man pointed the knife at the head demon threateningly, the blood still dripping onto the ground and giving him a rather intimidating feel.

However, Kai, as usual, felt nothing from the man.

The man went for Kai again, stabbing and slashing at him and occasionally attempting at a martial arts move. However, Kai was too skilled. He would dodge each and every move without a problem. The man, however, did not seem to be troubled by this in the slightest. He continued to stab and slash, though each time failing to even injure the demon in front of him.

Finally, the man seemed to give up. He stood there, panting, as he stared at the blue-haired demon. For a moment, no interactions were given between the two.

And then, it happened. Kai charged forward at the man with great speed, his claws outstretched and ready to tear right through his human flesh. He was quick, and it was move impossible for anyone to dodge. He was about to attack, when he suddenly felt the man's fist come in contact with his stomach. He tumbled backwards, having lost his breath from being punched. The man smirked as he quickly lunged got down on the floor and plunged the knife right into the demon's foot before retrieving at it and slashing some more at it, creating deep cuts. It was enough to cause the demon to fall over, the blood loss pretty extreme.

"Don't die now, Kai," the man told him. "I still need you."

The man turned around and opened the door to the room Kai was attempting to protect. Kai's head moved as he tried to get a good look at what was going on inside the door, and what was going to happen now that he had failed.

And yet, his face still remained the same.

As the man stepped inside, the figure within the futon that was sleeping inside of it began to stir. He quickly sat up, rubbing his eyes as he tried to make out what was going on. The man before him was a skilled, silent fighter. He knew how to make moves without making too much noise. It was clear that he had practiced for a long, long time.

"H-Huh?" the old man said as he looked at the figure in the door way, making out the shape of a rather buff adult man standing there. As he observed him more, he noticed a bloody knife held in his right hand. Panic filled the old man as he tried his best to peer through the doorway, catching sight of Kai and a few other demons lying on the floor. "…Q-Quick! Kai! Take the other demons that aren't on patrol out right now!" he screamed desperately to the lying demon.

But the man in the door way smirked. "…It's too late now."

"…H-Huh?" was all the old man could get out of his mouth.

"…It's already over… Kiichirou Kimiyoshi."

And then, the man ran at him with the knife.

~~~~X~~~~

It was a bright and sunny morning in Onigafuchi. All the children were chatting happily about how they hadn't seen a day so beautiful in a long time. Sure, there had been other nice days recently, but this one seemed… different, for some reason. The atmosphere just seemed cheery today, and all the kids in the school were having a lot of fun joking with each other and chasing each other about the classroom.

"Cell number five… check!" Rika spoke as she scribbled something down on her piece of paper. "Cell number four… check! Cell number three… um… Satoko? Have we cleaned out cell number three in a while?" she asked as she turned her best friend, who was busy playing with a jump of clay she had gotten from the classroom art supplies.

Satoko shook her head as she concentrated on molding the piece of clay into a squirrel. She was busy working on the tail, which see seemed to be having trouble doing as her face was filled with annoyance. "Nope. We haven't done that one for a while," she answered as she tried making the squirrel's fur texture with her fingernails. "Number Ten, Eleven, and Twelve are pretty upset about their dirty cage, I think," she added on. "But when isn't Number Twelve upset? She's grumpy about everything."

"Some demons are just like that. I don't think any of them are happy to be controlled by humans," Rika replied as she began to scribble down a few more notes. "Meat in all cages… check. Cleaning in all… not done. I need to be testing these demons on their fighting skill."

"Furude demons aren't known for killing, though. I guess they're more like… defenders who don't kill, if you know what I'm trying to say…" Satoko muttered as she molded the tail of the squirrel a little more before moving to work on the tiny ears. Her eyes were set on them, her face near it as she narrowed her eyes. "I don't even know. But I think it would be best to train them a little more. Perhaps we can get the Sonozakis to help a little… "

Rika nodded. "I was planning on doing that. I don't know how to fight with a sword, but the Sonozakis are best with that. I could always get Kaede to teach them, though. Maybe that's a better option. Who knows if the Sonozakis want to help." She shook her head. "Besides, with all the demons they have now…"

"Yeah, I think that would be better. Has Kaede fought in a while?" Satoko asked.

Rika shook her head. "It's been a long, long time! Nipah!"

Meanwhile, at the back of the classroom, Keiichi was having a small conversation with Satoshi about the two small girls in the front. From what Keiichi was hearing, and from what Satoshi told him, the two of them helped out the Furude Demons and often came into contact with them. "They aren't all that bad," Satoshi said as he looked at the two young children at the front of the classroom. 'The Furude demons aren't all that bad. There are a few that are a little foul, but that's about it."

Keiichi blinked. "Ah, that's surprising."

Satoshi nodded. "Although there's something about them that constantly reminds you that they are demons, and not humans. You know what I mean?"

Keiichi thought of Mion and Shion right away. They acted like humans at times, but there was still that element that made them feel a little demon. However that only happened when he thought about them being demons. When he was playing Clue with the two of them, the fact that they were demons was the last thing on his mind. Mion and Shion were different from most demons, though, so he wasn't surprised that Satoshi believed it was hard to think of a demon as not being a demon. He was still working on that, after all. He had been hesitant about letting demons play Clue at first, but when he did, it didn't make a difference.

"I guess I get what you mean," replied Keiichi. "It would be hard to make friends with a demon." Of course, he knew that this wasn't true, but he played along so he didn't look suspicious.

Rena gave him a knowing look. She too knew that it was possible to be friends with a demon, as she had already become rather close to Shion and Mion only after meeting them twice. It was probably nice to girls her age around. There was no one else aside from the two of them, after all. She had gotten a blast out of dressing up the two of them.

"They look like demons. It's hard to forget about that," spoke Satoshi.

Keiichi blinked at him. "They look like humans mostly, though. With their claws sheathed and their mouthed closed, you 'd think they were human. The collars help us with that, though. I'm sure that back then, demons were able to trick humans into believing that they were human and killed off many of them that way," he said. It seemed like something that would work. It would be a useful strategy.

"Well, for most demons. There were some demons that had horns back then. For some reason, they're all gone now." Satoshi shrugged. "Kenji, the Sonozaki demon, had horns."

Keiichi hadn't heard that one before. "Really?"

Satoshi nodded. "Yes, really." Then, he changed the subject. "Where's Takeru?"
Rena pointed towards the front. Takeru was chatting with Rika and Satoko now, not having greeted Satoshi or Keiichi yet. "He was talking to me earlier. I guess that he's interested in what Rika and Satoko were talking about, as the Sonozaki family was mentioned. They were saying something about how they were cleaning demon cells and teaching them how to fight and that kind of thing."

Satoshi blinked. "Ah, I should join them in that case. I'm sure I need to know about this." He waved a quick goodbye as he stood dup and walked towards the group of children.

Rena and Keiichi now sat all by themselves. They didn't say anything for a while, until Rena decided to speak up.

"That's not true, though," she piped up.

"What's not true?" inquired Keiichi.

"That no demons alive today have horns." She cupped her cheek with her hand as she drifted off into memories, her eyes wandering away from Keiichi to the ceiling. "You know, I was surprised. When I was putting Mi-chan's hair up into a ponytail, I actually found two, very, very tiny horns on the top of her head. They were very tiny, though. Like stubs. I guess they just started growing. I looked to see if Shi-chan had them too. She did. You wouldn't be able to find it easily. They were so small. Barely even visible!" she told him in a rather hushed voice, eyeing Takeru nervously.

Keiichi's eyes filled with surprised. He hadn't noticed that, either. He would have to take a look at Mion and Shion's heads when he got home. "Why is that, though? None of the other demons have horns."

"The way you turn a human into a demon is by using demon blood. A demon allows their blood to flow into a human's bloodstream, and it corrupts them and turns them into a demon." Rena turned away from looking at the ceiling to focusing on Keiichi's rather shocked-filled blue eyes. "Kenji had horns, just like Satoshi-kun said. Oryou must have used Kenji's blood to turn them into demons. I guess Kenji's blood had some sort of thing that causes them to have horns as well." She paused for a moment. "But as I said, they were very, very tiny. Kenji's were a lot bigger, but he was also a lot older. I guess that Mi-chan and Shi-chan's are going to become very big in the future."

Well, that could pose a problem. Mion and Shion could hide their fangs and claws, but if they were to grow gigantic horns… well, not so much. He supposed they could try to hide them with a hat or something, but who knew how big they would get. It would be hard to forget about, and that would be a huge problem if he wanted them to become fully human. As Satoshi said, it's hard to forget a demon is a demon if they look like a demon.

"So, did you find anything interesting about the book I gave you?" Rena asked him. "I got it because I saw it had a section on emotions. That's important to understand if you're going to try to convert them to human."

Keiichi thought back to the book. It was very biased, and he doubted much of it was true. "I suppose it was somewhat helpful. They did say things about the history of demons and taking away their emotions, but all they said about them were that they didn't exist, period. I doubt this Koichi guy really knew all that much about demons." He sighed. "He may have killed the great Demon King, but that doesn't mean he knew much about them…"

Rena sighed. "I heard something from Rika's demon, once. Kaede, was it? She said that Makoto wasn't as bad as Koichi described. I think that… Koichi misunderstood…" She looked down at the table. "Though you have to consider that's coming from a demon who worked with Makoto and was loyal to her leader. Of course she would understand her leader better than Koichi did…"

Keiichi wasn't sure what to make of that. Makoto was said to be cruel. Was he really just misunderstood? He felt like saying so would be going against the village and saying something wrong, but he couldn't help but wonder if the tale was actually incorrect. Koichi had told it, after all, and he could have changed some things. Either that or he may have not understood him. Koichi was convinced demons were bad. He may have been unable to see Makoto as anything more than a selfish king who murdered humans without any reason. Of course, what Kaede said could have just been her talking great about her king, who she was so loyal to. She protected him for years, after all.

But judging by what he knew about demons, especially Mion and Shion, it seemed likely that Koichi's tale, and the book about demons he wrote, were just a pack of lies and misunderstandings.

"I don't know," Keiichi suddenly spoke out, having spent a while contemplating that idea. "Kaede or Koichi could have been right about Makoto. Maybe he was just a selfish ruler, and maybe he was just misunderstood. Who knows?"

"I don't think we'll ever get the truth with what we know today," sighed Rena, leaning back in her chair. "The only book that states the tale is one written by Kimiyoshi Koichi himself. I don't think anyone else knows any other versions of it…"

Keiichi looked down at his desk. "Too bad. It would be nice to know."

Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened, revealing the figure of Chie. Every child who was still up and about scampered to his or her seat, and Satoko quickly hid the art project she was working on. She wasn't supposed to use the clay without permission, and Chie didn't allow her to use it since she usually thought it was for some kind of trap. Usually, it was, but in this case, it was just a silly sculpture Satoko had decided to make for the fun of it.

"Good morning, class! It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" she cried out to all of them.

"Yes Chie-sensei," chorused the children.

She nodded. "It feels like a wonderful day, like nothing in the world could go wrong!" sung Chie. She usually wasn't in this good of a mood, even if she was a nice teacher. She took her work seriously and it was rare to see her so happy. Though it was true, the day was beautiful, and the usual atmosphere was lightened. "But we'll have just to wait until gym class to enjoy all that! For now, let's get started on math!"

Every child booed.

"Oh come on! Math is fun! We'll have a bunch of fun learning math today." Chie turned to the board and began to scribble down a very, very easy math problem on the board for the young children to do, and then began to scribble a much harder one for the older children to work on.

Keiichi grumbled as he began to work on that problem. He didn't like doing work as much as he used to now. Before, all he cared about was the grades he got on his homework. Now, he had a whole bunch of other things to be concerned about. Doing such problems was just a reminder of how he used to be, how things were painful for him. He didn't believe he was missing out on anything then. But now, looking back to who he used to be, he couldn't help but feel sorry for himself. He had been missing so much in life.

He scribbled down the answer to his problem, though he was barely thinking about it. Right now, he was concerned about what Rena had told him about Mion and Shion. He wanted to make them human, and he wanted to make them be able to interact with people like a normal human would do. A person would think of a demon as a demon if they looked demonic. It was easy to hide their fangs and claws, but if they were to grow gigantic horns like Rena said they would… that would be tough. He didn't know if a hat could cover their horns so easily, and they would have to constantly wear it. It would have to be a pretty big hat to be able to cover gigantic horns.

"All right class, let's discuss how we got the answer to these problems. Furude-san, please tell me what you got and how you got—"

Suddenly, the door burst open without any warning, revealing the figure of Dr. Irie. He looked as if he was out of breath, and a worried look was plastered all across his face. Needless to say, everyone in the whole class turned to look at him.

Chie looked stunned. "Irie? Has something—"

"Everyone! To the Furude Shrine! Right now!" he bellowed, confusing all of the people within the classroom. "It's an emergency meeting! They demand that everyone in Onigafuchi shows up in ten minutes!"

Chie opened her mouth, puzzled. She was going to protest and explain that the children needed their education, but she realized that whatever it was, it was probably important enough to pull everyone out of work and school. "Class, leave your things here. Don't pack up. We'll come back to class after and we'll work on everything later," Chie ordered them. "Just follow me."

Everyone dropped their things at once and followed Chie out the door as they chatted amongst themselves about what could have possibly happened. Whatever it was, it must be important. Keiichi walked alongside his friends and they murmured about what it could be, and why they would have to have all of Onigafuchi meet up in the beginning of the day. There were probably a few people who were peacefully asleep at home, so it would be troubling for them to wake up and walk all the way to the Furude Shrine.

"Is it another execution?" Rena wondered.

Takeru shook his head. "He would inform the Sonozakis before he executed anyone. I haven't heard a word about this meeting yet…"

"Then what is it?" Satoshi scratched the top of his head as he tried to figure it out. "I don't think that anyone has done anything like this before…"

"As far as I know, it's a first," responded Rika.

Whatever it may be, it was a big deal, as people from every spot in the village were now flooding the paths towards the Furude Shrine. They too were talking amongst themselves, also having no idea why they had been called over. Seeing as no one else knew, Keiichi began to grow very curious. What was all this about?

Eventually, they reached the Furude Shrine, and Chie ordered all the children to stay together in one group. They obeyed her, each and every child standing very close together as they looked up at the great Furude Shrine. Standing there, on the steps, was none other than Kimiyoshi Masaru, the son of Kimiyoshi Kiichirou. He looked incredibly worried for some reason, and it scared Keiichi. Had something happened to him? There were also a few members of the Kimiyoshi family there, ones that didn't have much of a say in the family, people who were barely ever spoken of. Along side him was a man Keiichi remembered vaguely, one he felt as if he had spoken to before…

After a few minutes, when the man confirmed that everyone was there, he stepped forward. He still looked scared for some reason, and the look would not come off his face. Keiichi heard Rika mumble something about how Masaru usually didn't speak in front of everyone, and how this was his first time. Keiichi wondered why, though. Was Kimiyoshi busy?

"Citizens of Onigafuchi! I have come with news!" he cried out, though his tone was shaky and nervous. He did not sound confident. It actually seemed like was scared. "L-Last night… A-At… Um… 12 am…" he began to trembled, and the look of fear on his face escalated. "…S-Some guy broke into the Kimiyoshi Manor and…" He gulped.

"Always happens," Takeru whispered to Rena. "Guess this really is an execution?"

Rena nodded. "Guess it is."

Masaru looked around and everyone, a nervous expression on his face as he played with the collar of his shirt. "…Well… s-someone broke in… with a knife… a-and somehow, they managed to kill the demons guarding outside… a-and injured the others guarding inside." He began to fidget. "A-And…"

Keiichi blinked in confusion. What was up with this guy?
"A-And h-h-he… h-he… he…"

A man placed a hand on Masaru's shoulder, giving him a grave yet reassuring look.

"…H… H… He killed my father and stole all the remaining demons!" he bellowed out.

The crowd broke out into surprised chatter, with expressions of horror on people's faces. Keiichi's eyes were wide as plates, and he turned to look at his friends. Rena had the same expression, as did Rika and Satoko, while Satoshi looked at the ground with a scared look in his eyes. Takeru, on the other hand, looked as if he had just been told that he had been disinherited and was going to be locked in a cage for the rest of his life. He was absolutely horrified.

"I don't know how he did it!" cried Masaru as he shut his eyes, trying to prevent tears. "B-But he did it! He killed three demons, and then injured others! F-Five of the injured died of blood loss… that's what Hayashi said anyways…" he looked over to the man on his right. So that was the person Keiichi had thought he had seen before. He was the demon doctor he had met during his tour of Onigafuchi. "H-H-Hayashi told me that they had been stabbed. The rest of the demons were stolen… so now… we don't have any demons…"

Hayashi cleared his throat. "It is very important you look out for who did this. We have to find the Kimiyoshi demons at all costs. We need to find this person and execute them! So that's why we're asking for your cooperation. If you see a demon with a Kimiyoshi collar, contact us right away." He looked over to Masaru, who looked as if he were about to break down on stage. "…You all understand how important this is."

"Did they take Kai?" the voice of one of the villagers cried out.

Masaru nodded slowly. "Uh-huh… he's gone too… they're all gone. All fifty-one of them." He looked down at his shoes. "So… minus the eight demons that died, forty-three of them are still alive. I'm sure we can get them back! So p-please villagers! I beg of you to find them… I have to avenge my father!"

Hayashi stared at the crowd with his lemon-lime eyes. "Masaru is now the head of the Kimiyoshi family. Please respect him, and remember to watch out for this demon thief. He could be taking your demons, too."

"Some demons were stolen from the Sonozakis recently, too!" cried Masaru. "I suspect they're connected!"

Keiichi froze. He had indeed taken Mion and Shion, but he hadn't taken the forty-three remaining Kimiyoshi demons. If they found out about Mion and Shion… would he be blamed for the other demons? Then, he realized. What if this guy went after Shion and Mion? This guy had murdered eight demons. He could kill them, too. His eyes widened. They would surely die if that were the case! Would two demons have a chance against this guy, who had killed eight demons and stolen forty-three others? Even if he weren't to kill them… he could still steal them.
"That is all. Meeting dismissed!" cried Hayashi, as Masaru was unable to do so through his tears.

~~~~X~~~~

Class was dismissed early that day. They allowed the students to get their things and then leave. Needless to say, Keiichi had gotten away from everyone as fast as he could. He was now back at his house, the door locked tightly behind him. The idea of someone actually murdering eight demons was crazy. Was it even possible for a human to do that? The thought scared him. Of course, all the villagers were horrified at the idea. No one felt safe anymore.

He ran up to his room, where Mion and Shion were still peacefully sleeping. He shook them both awake as fast as he could. When they saw the horrified look on his face, they were both rather confused. Was there something wrong? They sat up instantly, staring at him with curious eyes.

"Kei-chan?" Mion spoke.

"It's bad news!" he cried out, scaring the two of them. "Kimiyoshi is dead! They stole all of his demons too!"

They both looked at each other. "Kimiyoshi? Is that the old guy with the weird eyes?"

He nodded quickly.

"Oh, I remember him!" cried Shion. "He used to come down all the time to look at us when we were small. Sometimes, he picked us up and it was really annoying." She blinked a few times. "But he's dead? How?"

Keiichi shook his head. "I don't know! But they said the guy actually killed the demons!"

"I didn't think that was possible," Mion commented. "Aren't humans nothing compared to demons in terms of strength?

"And that's why I'm worried!" he screeched. "Mion, Shion! What if this guy comes and tries to take you? What if they end up killing you? He killed the other demons! He should have no problem killing or taking you two!" He was genuinely worried for the two demons. They had become such a huge part of his life. He covered his eyes with his hands. "W-What would I do without you two?" he murmured as he allowed himself to sink down to the ground.

Yes, they had done so much for him. They were a huge part of his life. The thought of having a life without them was crazy. He couldn't imagine such a thing.

Mion looked down at him. "Kei-chan," she whispered. She placed a hand on his shoulder, inching closer towards him. "…I'm not going to die, Kei-chan. Do you think that this guy could beat me?"

Keiichi nodded. "He killed… eight demons…" he whispered, not even bothering to look up at her. "He could kill you… or take you away from me. It'll be easy for him."

Mion touched his chin and lifted it up, forcing him to look at her straight in the eye. She allowed a large grin to grow on her face, one filled with the spirit she had when she played cards or any other kind of game. "Do you think this demon here would lose? When have I lost? Kei-chan, I'm a great fighter. I can fight with all kinds of swords. I bet those demons didn't have a single sword! Shion's good with a sword, too! They wouldn't be able to touch her!" She winked at him. "I'd show that guy! I'd beat him up! He wouldn't be half of what he used to be if he fought me!" She placed a finger on his head, flicking him gently. "So cheer up. This demon here will never be caught."

Her warm yet mischievous smile and her spirit gave him confidence. She was right. Who was he to think that Mion would be killed easily? He hadn't seen her in battle, but judging by how she was with card games, she wouldn't be a tough opponent. Shion was similar, even if she wasn't as competitive. He looked up into those emerald greens of hers, which were shinning with pride and confidence. Yes, he could feel better with her. Her spirit was enough to calm him down and reassure him that everything would okay.

"Mion… t-thank you." And without even thinking, Keiichi leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight, warm embrace. He held her tightly, refusing to let her go. She was a strong person. She could pull through. He never wanted to lose either of them. Even as the seconds flew by, he did not loosen his grip on her. Her warmth was reassuring him of her life, that she was still alive and that she could take down this killer and thief before he got to her. She was so… warm…

Mion was in awe. Her face was as red as a tomato, and she didn't even know why. What was this feeling she was getting? Whatever it was… it was nice…

Keiichi finally pulled away after what seemed liked forever. Shion was watching them with surprise painted on her face. She noted that her sister's face was a bright red, but she didn't know why that was. She hadn't seen anyone's face get like that before.

"Thank you for being there for me… you two…" whispered Keiichi as he stared at the two of them. "Really… what would I do without you?"

He shot them a sad smile. They had done so much for him, and he was sure that he wouldn't lose them anytime soon, now that Mion had reassured him of that. Really, Mion was probably one of the strongest people he knew.

Keiichi remembered something then, about what Rena had said about the horns she had found on their heads. "Mion, come here," he told her. She was a little confused at first, but she obeyed him and scooted towards him. He placed hand on her head and then began to rummage through her green hair, much to the girl's confusion.

It didn't take long at all. It actually took about three seconds. He peered through her green locks, finding that what Rena had said was true. There, on her head, were two stubs of white horns that were beginning to grow. However, Rena had said there were tiny and almost impossible to see. These… were a lot bigger. He let go of her hair and allowed it to back to normal. She was blinking at him in confusion, but he ignored that. He looked at the top of her head, and found that if you looked close enough, you could see their points.

…But Rena said they were small! It can't be… they grew that much in a single day?

He didn't know how to react to that. If that was how much her horns were going to grow per day, it wouldn't be long before she had a set of huge horns protruding from the top of her head. Then, everyone would know that she was a demon and it would be nearly impossible for him or her to think of her otherwise. Horns were something associated with demons often, after all.

He looked to Shion and discovered that he could see the points of her horns, too. They were both growing about the same rate.

Soon… maybe even in a few days… those tiny horns are going to become huge. And then… no one will be able to see them as a human anymore…

~~~~X~~~~

Crimso's Corner V.2

12:01 AM. It's not Halloween anymore. Happy November 1st! Really, I'm not going to upload this yet. I just wanted to finish it. I have to take a shower still, though. I'm amazed that I managed to finish this all in one sitting! I didn't take breaks or anything. Still, though, I'm going to wait. It's more exciting if I upload it in the middle of the weak. You got one yesterday, after all. Well, I guess it'll be different when I upload this, but…

Horns. Yes. Return of the horns. They're not just to look cool, by the way. As I said before, it's something that'll stop them from becoming "human", like Keiichi wants them to. If you saw someone with horns, you would probably focus on that. I hope you understand what the whole meaning behind the horns were. And yay for KeiMi fluff!

Please review! Reviewers can get a ticket to the Crimso Land Theme Park! People who point out typos can get a ticket to bring a friend. I also would REALLY love to hear your predictions, especially with what happened in this chapter! I'll give you a special ticket to the Crimso Buffet if you can! You can go three times with that ticket. Please, though. I really, really want to hear it this time. I know it sounds like I'm begging, but it really makes me happy!

And now I must shower. First, though, I have to get my kitten off my foot. Yeah, he fell asleep on it.

~Crimso

P.S: It's 1/1/11 now. That's so cool…

P.S.S: I downloaded the raws of Higurashi Kira file 3. It's mostly KeiShion, actually. There's hardly any KeiRena, and there's a fair amount of KeiMi… or maybe that's just because I skipped over all the KeiRena parts.