To Devlin Dracul who asked about the website. I mainly looked at Wikipedia, after typing in list of Asuras. They have a list of Asuras in alphabetical order, so I hope this helps! Enjoy Chapter 10!
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 10- Bonding and Near-Drowning
Today is the second day of stick training, and the day in which we're all going to a nearby temple in the evening. As I walk by the temple pond, I see Furuichi, doing some meditation. I can't help but feel a bit happy when seeing him like that, so tranquil and at peace. He's been turning to meditation and breathing exercises to help his self-confidence, and he seems to be doing a lot better. It's a good thing that it's still pretty early, and I've already washed myself, prayed, and changed. However, I still want to talk to him and get to know him more.
Right then, Furuichi opens his eyes and jumps a bit before realizing that it's just me. "Oh, it's just you," he exhales, letting out a sigh. "Sorry, Ayaka."
"No problem," I reply. "It's still pretty early anyways." I walk up and sit down next to him.
"What do you think the others are up to?" Furuichi asks me.
I shrug. "Probably training," I suggest. "Although I wonder if any of them have encountered an Asura yet."
"Speaking of that, we should tell your grandfather about what happened last night," he tells me.
I nod. "Good idea," I reply.
We go back to the kalari where Grandpa is training the other disciples. "Grandpa," I say. "We have something to tell you."
"What is it?" he asks.
I let out a sigh. "Last night, on our way back from the village, we encountered an Asura," I say. "We had run into Bhasmasur, the second strongest of the Great Thirteen, but Furuichi and I managed to defeat him."
Grandpa looks alarmed for a moment. "Already?" he asks. Furuichi nods.
"Yes, Guruji," he replies. "I was able to use that method you taught me."
"That's good," he says. "However, I'm still shocked that the Great Thirteen are already coming."
"Who are the members of the Great Thirteen?" I ask.
"You already ran into Sunda, their leader," Grandpa begins. "Then there is the second strongest, Bhasmasur. The third is Gajasura, the elephant demon. Fourth is Mukasura, the boar demon. Fifth is Rahu, the Asura with the head of a human and the body of a serpent. Sixth is Surpanakha, the long-nailed shapeshifting female. Seventh is Kumbhakarna, the giantlike Asura. Eighth is Holika, a female Asura who cannot be burned. Ninth is Atikaya, the archer. Tenth is Bakasura, the silent one. Eleventh is Ahiravan, the shadow Asura. Twelfth is Banasura, the one with the strength of a thousand men. The last is Dhenuka, another shapeshifter. They are all very powerful and intelligent. It looks like I'm going to have to up your training regimen."
"Really?" Furuichi asks.
He nods. "We're going to move into using weapons now," he says. "Today, we're learning how to use the knife in fighting."
(Hilda)
"This is so embarrassing…" Kanzaki mutters under his breath. "Why are we supposed to do resuscitation practices, huh?!"
"Quit complaining and just do it," I deadpan.
Right now, we're doing some lifeguard practices to improve our strength, and to help improve our teamwork skills. So far, everything goes well, although when Kanzaki tries to pretend to do mouth-to-mouth CPR, he somehow trips and ends up kissing Yuka. Now, I'm being carried by Oga to the edge of the pool when I suddenly feel something grab my leg. Before I realize, I'm pulled underwater, as well as Kunieda, who was being carried by Izuma.
As we're dragged to the bottom of the pool, we try looking around to see if we can find the culprit. Right then, we feel it. A demonic aura. Much to our shock, a fierce-looking Asura materializes underwater, grinning viciously up at us. My eyes widen in shock. This is Bakasura, the tenth member of the Great Thirteen, also known as the Silent One!
I look at Kunieda, and to my horror, she's passed out. That leaves just me to try and fight this guy. Unfortunately, trying to fight in the water is a real challenge, since I'm only in a bikini, and I can't move so smoothly in the water. I try thrashing and kicking at him, but he proves to be too powerful. I slowly find my vision going black, and I know that I'm on the verge of passing out soon. Someone save us… I think before I black out.
I suddenly feel someone pressing hard against my diaphragm, before I cough up some water. I suddenly feel my mouth being opened and air making its way into my lungs. This happens repeatedly until I open my eyes slowly. To my surprise, I see Oga holding me in his arms, a look of concern and worry on his face. "Hilda, are you okay?" he asks, concern laced in his voice.
"Thanks, Tatsumi…" I whisper.
"Hil-Hil, you're awake!" Yuka sighs in relief. "You really had us worried, especially Oga!"
"Da buh!" the Young Master agrees.
"Really?" I ask, and I can see a faint blush on his face.
"Y-Yeah," he replies.
"Izuma-kun, how's Kunieda doing?" Shizuka asks. We turn and see Izuma pressing his lips on Kunieda's to try and resuscitate her.
"All the water in her lungs is gone, which is good," he replies, his voice sounding worried. Right then, he presses his lips against hers again… just as she regains consciousness. Her eyes are wide with shock as a red tint crosses her face.
"I-Izuma-senpai!" she squeaks. He pulls away and gives a smile of relief.
"Good, you're back," he sighs. "You really had me worried, Kunieda."
Kunieda blushes. "Th-Thanks… I-Izuma-senpai…" she trails off.
"Okay everyone," I say. "I think that's enough for today. However, I want to meet with Miki, Izuma, Kunieda, and Oga only."
Once everyone leaves, I turn to them as Oga helps me up on my feet. "What happened down there?" Miki asks.
"I don't know," Kunieda replies. "I passed out pretty fast, and only regained consciousness when Izuma-senpai had done mouth-to-mouth."
"It was an Asura," I reply. We had told Izuma, Miki, and Kunieda about Asuras so that they were well-prepared for training.
"Yeah, when Oga-kun and I had dove back into the pool to get you guys, we saw you trying to fight him off," Izuma says.
"He was a pretty powerful one, and it took a lot of strength to hold our breaths for so long," Oga adds.
"This isn't good," I say. "We need to inform Ayaka and Furuichi about this. And it appears that we'll have to toughen up our training regimen."
"The one time we need Furuichi, he has to be out of the country!" Miki growls.
He's right. Without the perverted silver-haired teen, we don't have a clear plan.
(Furuichi)
"So, how was your very first experience in a temple?" Ayaka asks me as we walk back from the temple this evening with Guruji and the other disciples. I smile.
"It was very… different," I say. "I really liked some of the idols they had, especially the one with the male holding a flute with a female next to him."
She giggles. "That's Krishna and Radha," she replies. "They're lovers, who have such a deep and powerful love that they can't be broken apart. It's one of my favourite love stories to hear about."
I can't help but smile at her. "Even better than Twilight?" I tease.
She rolls her eyes playfully at me. "Well of course! Any love story is better than Twilight!" she laughs.
We stop at the internet cafe, so I can email Oga. However, when I open my email, I see a rather shocking email from Oga.
Oi Furuichi,
Just so you know, we encountered one of those Asuras today. His name was something like Bakasura, and he had dragged both Hilda and Kunieda into the pool. Now, we're going to be toughening up our regimen. How are things going for you?
From,
Oga
"No way…" I trail off.
"What is it?" Ayaka asks. I turn to her.
"They encountered one of the Great Thirteen today!" I say, and she looks shocked.
"Which one?"
"Bakasura," I reply.
"Seriously?!"
I nod. "I'm going to tell Oga about our encounter as well," I say as I start typing away.
Hey Oga,
Furuichi here. We just saw your email, and we're glad that you guys are doing your best. We also encountered one of the Great Thirteen, Bhasmasur, yesterday. We managed to fight him off, but our training is also going to be toughened up. Take care when walking alone at night.
From,
Furuichi
I hit 'send' and I get up. "Come on, let's go."
(Ayaka)
"So Furuichi," I begin. "What was it like when you first met Berubo?"
He lets out a slight chuckle. "Well, he's a really strange baby," he begins. "He electrocutes people whenever he cries, and he likes things that no normal baby likes. We had done a small experiment, you could call it. We placed a plush koala toy and a jar with a dissected frog in front of him to see which one he liked. He showed no interest in the plush koala, but showed a huge interest in the frog. Then, I took one of the human body models and asked which side he liked. He chose the one with the muscles and organs."
I stare at him in surprise. "That's unnatural," I say. "Then again, he's a demon baby."
Furuichi nods. "Yeah," he agrees.
"But why was he suddenly sent here out of the blue?" I ask.
"His father is a flake, that's why," he replies. "According to Hilda-san, the Demon Lord had decided out of the blue to destroy humanity, but he was too busy, so he sent his newborn son to do it."
A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead. "Seriously?" I ask. "That's just… no words. Just, no words."
Today's training has gone well for the both of us. We both seem to get the hang of fighting with knives, although Furuichi seems kind of hesitant in using the knife. He told me that he was too reluctant to use sharp weapons because he was afraid of seriously injuring his opponent. "You know, Furuichi, you shouldn't be afraid of hurting your opponent," I tell him. "Chances are that you might have such a situation in your hands, and you'll have no other choice but to use the weapon. You need to do what you need to do when in danger, so you'll have to work on your-ahhh!" I suddenly squeal in fear.
"What?" He asks. I point my shaking hand at the road and he follows it… to a large sewer rat. I stand, frozen on the spot in fear. He widens his eyes. "Whoa, that's a large rat!"
It suddenly hisses at us, and I squeal again, clinging onto Furuichi's shirt as I move close to him. "I hate rats!" I whimper slightly.
"Oi!" I look up and see one of the local people shooing the rat away. "Shoo! Get away!" Within no time, the rat quickly runs off. After thanking the person, we continue on our way. For the most part, we're both in silence, since I just grabbed his shirt and clung onto him tightly.
"You're afraid of rats?" Furuichi asks, breaking the silence.
I nod, shuddering slightly. "I am terrified of them," I say. "Especially those large ones. I had a terrible experience with them when I was four."
"Really?" He turns to me. "What happened?"
"When I was four, I was visiting some cousins in Trivandrum and one night, there was a power outage as I was getting into bed." I shudder again as the memory comes back up.
I was just getting into my bed in my cousin's apartment, which was a fairly nice place. I got to have a room to myself, which I really liked. Right then, the power went out, plunging the room into darkness. I don't really mind it at first, until I hear the noises.
"Who's there?" I ask, thinking that it's just her. After a while, the lights turn back on, and to my shock and horror, Auntie isn't in my room. Instead, there is a large sewer rat standing by the closet. My eyes widen in shock, and I let out a loud, shrill scream.
"Ayaka!" Right then, Mom, Dad, Auntie, Uncle, my cousins, and even some of the neighbours rush in, all worried.
"Ayaka baby, what's wrong?" Mom asks soothingly. I point to the closet, tears welling up in my eyes.
"A b-b-big r-r-rat is in m-my r-room…" I whimper before crying in fear.
Chaos happens right then. Mom and Auntie trying to console me, as well as my female cousins. Meanwhile, Dad, Uncle, the male cousins, and the neighbours are all trying to kill the rat. It all ends when one of them suddenly pulls out a gun and starts shooting at the rat. By the time he finishes, the rat is beyond dead and mangled.
"After that, I never slept in that room again," I say. "Since then, I have a big phobia of rats."
Furuichi shudders before patting my shoulder. "Poor you," he says sympathetically. "You know, that story somewhat reminds me of something that happened when I was six."
I turn to him, raising an eyebrow. "Oh? What happened?"
He looks down, blushing slightly. "When I was six, these group of older boys dared me to confront Kuchisake-onna, or the Slit-Mouthed Woman. She's a popular urban legend. She's basically a woman with a Glasgow smile that's covered by a surgical mask. She comes up and asks a person if she's pretty. If they say no, she kills them with scissors. If they say yes, she'll tear off the mask, ask 'how about now' and slit your mouth. To escape, a person has to say 'am I pretty?', and she'll get confused and let you leave."
I nod. "Go on."
"So, anyways, they dared me, and I accepted the dare, since I wanted to impress them. The ringleader had gotten his older sister to dress up as Kuchisake-onna. When I saw her and she asked 'am I pretty?', I said yes, since his sister was actually very pretty. She then tore the mask off and practically roared 'how about now?'." He lets out a chuckle. "I was so terrified and I started crying pretty hard. She felt sorry for me and consoled me, and she yelled at her brother. Since then, I've been somewhat wary of girls who wear surgical masks."
"Awww, poor you!" I say sympathetically. "That must've been terrifying!"
He nods. "Yep."
For the rest of the walk, we just talk about our terrifying experiences when we were kids, and it really lightens the mood up. However, as we talk, I feel my heart rate increase slightly, and I stammer quite often. By the time I go to bed, I'm just left blushing and happy to have gotten to know him even more.