Chapter 32: Window
Yukio checked the gun again even as the demon (a ghoul, oddly familiar, a part of his mind whispered) pulled itself through the hole it had made, chipping and tearing hardwood like paper, but it was still empty. He knew that it was loaded this morning, knew that he hadn't set it down out of his sight once, but somehow, it was still empty.
He had never been more glad that he had a habit of loading an extra bullet in the chamber.
He aimed it forward, breathing deeply to center himself. He had exactly one shot, so he couldn't afford to miss.
"Whoa, where did you get that?" Someone shouted, finally noticing the gun, but Yukio ignored them, keeping his aim steady. He had to focus, for nothing but a perfect hit was acceptable-
The ghoul's head bulged, and Yukio had just enough time to realize what was going to happen, but no way to stop it.
"Cover your face!" He shouted, abandoning his aim to instead bury his head into his arms, limiting skin exposure. The cursed fluid spewed over them, sapping strength and life wherever it touched, but Yukio ignored the vertigo. Instead, he aimed the moment the assault ceased, ready to fend it off with his switchblade if he absolutely had to-
"Nii, I need Mr. Una-una!"
Wooden branches burst forth like a river, filling the gap between their group and the demons in a matter of seconds. A very solid wall had been erected, twisting wood leaving barely a gap. Just in time, for the students around Yukio swayed and slipped to their knees, and he himself only just managed to not fall, instead slumping against the wall when the room spun deliriously.
"Thank you, Nii!" Shiemi cooed to her tiny Greenman. Beside her, the class gaped at the ridiculous feat from such a small creature and its equally demure Tamer even as the strength fled their bodies.
Yukio grimaced and stumbled his way over to Shiemi's side. He ignored her curious look and flush as he examined her, slipping off his jacket to use as a rag to wipe any sickly liquid he could find from her body, "Shiemi, I want you to focus on pacing yourself as much as possible, ok? You've managed to save us, and you've bought time, so don't worry about anything else but keeping that barricade up. We'll handle the rest, ok?"
'The rest' being two average sized Naberiuses from what little Yukio could see through the tangle of hardwood. They moaned, scratching at the bark and they tried to squeeze their way through the small gaps, grasping claws dripping with dangerous rot and disease. Ghouls could wildly range in size and form, so Yukio could count it as a blessing that neither was particularly exotic, each possessing just four limbs and one head, unlike some of the absolute abominations the textbooks showed. One head meant that, ideally, he could have ended this mess in a matter of seconds, but with only a single bullet left in his gun…
"Ugh, would you two stop it with that sappy crap, it's making me sick," Izumo huffed, wobbling to her feet with nothing but sheer stubborn willpower. She swayed worryingly, but slapped away Shima when he reached for her, "I'll admit, I was surprised, but all she has done is managed to buy us time. So, we need to stop wasting time and counterattack already!"
"She's right, Shiemi can only keep up a barrier of that scale for so long…" Yukio paused, remembering what he had seen from the twin tailed girl before, "Izumo, are you sure that you're fine to summon?"
She scoffed at him, "Of course I am, I'm the best Tamer her and from a long line of shrine maidens! What do you take me for?"
"I wasn't trying to offend you, it's just that I noticed you haven't been at your best lately, and-"
"And what? I've been training for this my whole life, so don't underestimate me!" A prick, and the blood was smeared across familiar papers, "I humbly call upon the gods of harvest…"
Maybe it made Yukio a bad person, but he found himself waiting (and a part of him, wanting) for her to fail. The swirl of magic and the twin summons formed, gracefully touching on the ground. They seemed to peer at Izumo a bit differently than Yukio recalled, but he could have just been imagining things. It didn't matter so long as she could control them, and he nodded his approval. It certainly made things easier, in the end-
"See, I told you that I could do it. Now, you just stand back and I'll…I'll…" Izumo very suddenly stiffened, the smug pride that had once been radiating off her dripping away and slipping through the cracks in the floor under her feet.
Yukio looked at whatever had so suddenly crushed her ego and was…confused. He hadn't known what to expect, but, at some point, Paku had crawled her way over to where Shiemi kneeled and was doing her best to physically support the rapidly tiring blonde. She hadn't even looked over at Izumo's yelling, doing her best to ignore the other girl. It was innocent, a friend supporting another, and yet Yukio could see Izumo shattered behind her mask. Like her world was being crushed.
It clicked and suddenly Yukio saw not Izumo watching Paku support another friend, but Rin watching Yukio reject him.
It wasn't as extreme, wasn't as serious of an attachment, but to Izumo, someone who never went out of her way to be likable, it was probably her only friend being 'stolen' from her. It didn't matter if it wasn't true, it didn't matter that it was a petty fight that only felt like it mattered because the wound was so fresh, it didn't matter that could easily make up, because right here, right now, it was all that mattered.
"You are not worthy of us…"
Yukio bit back a curse and trailed his weapon on the Byakkos just in time to see their faces distort in anger, growls curling in their throats. If he was prepared it would be a simple matter to dispose of the demons despite their level, but no, he only had a single bullet and of course, Izumo summoned two. He couldn't afford to waste even that, not with two demons breathing down their necks. Izumo jerked back in shock, looking personally betrayed at the way her summons had so quickly turned on her at the first sign of weakness. A vicious cycle that would weaken her resolve further and make the demons even more enraged.
And of course, she had frozen in fear, Yukio spitefully thought, "Tear the paper, Izumo!"
"But…!"
The Byakkos leaped, and, in her weakened state when she could hardly stand, there was no way Izumo could have dodged. She screamed and covered her face, stumbling from the movement and falling to the ground, hard. A fumble that, ironically, protected her, one fox sailing over her head while the other tried to correct and ended up only managing to catch her shoulder. It, however, wasn't a light wound and blood gushed forth.
The Ghouls howled, the blood and violence and fear driving them wild. They scrabbled at the vines with new vigor, and Shiemi whimpered, nearly collapsing on the spot.
It hurt, but Yukio ignored her, trusting that Paku would stay by her side. He had to prioritize and focus on the two rogue Byakkos even when the floor kept doing it's best to heave under his feet. Thankfully, they were ignoring everyone but Izumo, but it was a meager blessing when the girl was left grasping her shoulder and dumbly clutching the papers.
"Izumo! Rip the papers already!"
She looked so confused, so lost, but Yukio couldn't afford to pity her, "Now!"
It was funny how the demons, threats that could easily kill all of them as they were, were so easily disposed of with an anticlimactic tearing of paper scraps.
The sudden silence was crushing.
Brokenly, Izumo looked at the torn papers in her hands. With jerky movements, she reached for her pockets, and pulled out more slips of paper, "If I just try again…if I just…"
Yukio found new strength in his burst of white-hot anger and stormed over and snatched the summoning circles away. Was she trying to get them all killed?! "Damn it, Izumo, if you can't do it then just say so and stop trying to play hero! Or do you really want to get us all killed so badly that you can't have some common sense?"
Izumo looked like she wanted to protest, but it came out as a pathetic choking noise as the words closed up in her throat. Paku stumbled over to check on her, but was pushed away. Tears welled up and she finally looked away from his furious glare, curling up on the spot to bury her face behind her knees.
She didn't make a single sound, but everyone knew what was happening.
"Yukio…"
Yukio ignored the guilt. He could feel bad later when they hadn't all died.
"Hey." Shima began slowly, looking distinctly uncomfortable to even talk to Yukio after that display, "You have a gun, right? Can't you just, you know, shoot it?"
"I only have a single bullet."
"Who carries around a gun with just a single bullet in it?"
It was a valid point, but Yukio remembered that this very well may be a test and didn't speak up. The easy ways to win had been taken away, their second-best option had imploded spectacularly, and now they were all at each other's throats or flat out afraid. Some test this was shaping up to be, all but Shiemi having failed to be useful at every single turn. He could have handled Izumo better, but he was so irritated that she was so stubborn and nearly got herself killed and, and…
And he could deal with that later. It didn't matter if this was a test, the danger was very real and he was going to have to make sure everyone made it out in one piece.
"Bon, you're training to be an Aria, right?" Yukio asked suddenly. At the teen's startled nod, Yukio continued, hating that he didn't already know the answer on his own "Do you remember its fatal verse?"
"No, sorry. But I do remember that Ghoul-type demons' fatal verses are usually in the Gospel of St. John. But I've memorized all of it already, so if I recite the whole thing it'll work eventually, right?"
"Bon, that's…" It would take far too long for just one person to recite the entire gospel, if Shiemi's labored breathing was anything to go by. But what could Yukio say when he was only just shy of useless? They hadn't even been assigned more than a chapter of that book, and yet Bon had taken the initiative and memorized the entire thing already, and that sheer studiousness was clearly already paying off.
"I've…I've memorized the first ten chapters already." A meek voice spoke up, and Yukio blinked as he realized that Konekomaru had shuffled his way over to their side, "Please, let me help."
"You two are already that far ahead, huh?" Yukio asked no one in particular. He really had been only doing the bare minimum he needed for any class not his specialty, but it might be time to change that. Once his weapons were gone, he was far more helpless than he was comfortable with.
Well, Yukio thought, idly checking the weight of a small switchblade he had started keeping on-hand for years now at Rin's insistence, he wasn't completely helpless.
"I think…I think I have an idea."
Satan had only ran so fast a few times in his life. He took the stairs six at a time, tore down hallways so fast that he slammed into the walls when his feet tried to slip out from under him. But he didn't slow even when his shoulder stung, instead bouncing with the momentum and pushing off the walls to throw himself at the doors until they opened (far too slowly, every moment was critical, who knew what was happening?) and he could tear across the campus as fast as he weak human legs could carry him. He hardly touched the ground between steps, very nearly fell as he feet failed to keep up with his mind and will. But he caught himself, refused to be delayed for even a half-second longer, and arrived at the abandoned dorm in record time.
Yukio was there, outside and talking to…to someone who wasn't Satan. That was unacceptable, because Satan needed to know that Yukio was fine. Even if he was standing there, even if he was talking without issue, Satan needed to know.
The demon collided with Yukio at bruising speed, immense strength easily rocking the boy off the ground. He pulled Yukio away from the stranger (not completely unknown, familiar but distant) and looked his body over frantically. His uniform jacket was missing for some reason, but not a single injury was on him. He absolutely reeked of rot demons, however, and Satan growled, a low and inhuman rumble in the back of his throat, at the stench. Without thinking, he pulled Yukio's hands, still spotted with fluid that let a filthy stench cling to him like a miasma, and inhaled. His human nose wasn't nearly as sharp as he would like, but he memorized scent of the filth that had attacked Yukio all the same.
Satan ignored the mumbling of those around he and his child, subconsciously recalling their identities from their voices and quick glances alone. They wouldn't hurt Yukio and couldn't even begin to threaten Satan. And despite the reek of other demons, the lingering taste of fear in the air, there was no tang of blood. Yukio….Yukio was fine. He was always going to be fine, because Samael was many things but an idiot wasn't one of them, but Satan still couldn't shake the fear, irrational as it was, that he very nearly lost his child.
Yukio could defend himself, but Satan still feared for the mortal's life.
He knew he was making a scene, but the king of demons didn't care.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
Samael was a bastard.
Satan had always known his second son had a sadistic streak a mile long- it was in a demon's nature, obviously. But he hid it under pretty words and fancy gestures, and you would never know he was leading you by the nose until it was too late. So, of course, Samael had decided that the completely unreasonable task of forcing half a dozen high schoolers to handle two Naberiuses when they hadn't even finished their first semester of proper training was a good idea for a test. It was even worse that he had purposely pulled Satan out of the test, and taken Yukio's bullets, because god forbid that the children have an actual chance to win.
Satan was proud that Yukio had deiced to throw the implied rulebook out and had smashed open his own path. Even if it had been little more than running away, anything to spite Samael's idiotic plans was a win in his book.
Well, Satan thought, staring at Kuro pattered alongside him as he followed Yukio and the useless adults, maybe Samael had thought to force Yukio to take proper control of a demon. It wasn't hard to guess that Samael intended to use Yukio like a leash for 'Rin' in the future, so it could have been entirely bad luck that Kuro had decided to follow Satan, subconsciously drawn to his king. Satan hadn't even realized he was being followed until he was halfway to the office, and he had had no reason to assume anything then.
Or Samael was just a complete bastard.
Either way, he and Kuro needed to have a talk about his priorities. Yukio always had to come first, no matter what Kuro himself thought.
The rest of the class was gathered in the nurse's office, most sitting in chairs, though Shiemi was half-asleep in a bed, sitting up only thanks to several pillows, and Izumo was missing for some reason. Otherwise, they looked completely fine, the IVs completely unneeded if anyone asked Satan.
Ryuji saw them first, eyes narrowing even as he continued to talk to the others that had gathered in a loose circle, "I still can't believe that it was all just a test! And that you," he pointed at Satan accusingly, "didn't even have to participate!"
"Hey, I'm not exactly pleased that a damn rot demon got close to Yukio without me there!" Satan retorted sharply.
"Is that all you care about!?"
What a stupid question, "Is there anything else to care about?"
"Come on," Paku soothed, standing up with hardly a wobble to try and block Ryuji's view as if that would ease tensions, "we should be quiet and let Shiemi rest. I'm sure the headmaster had his reasons…"
Shiemi muttered something, slowly stirring from her doze, though her words were still indistinguishable.
Satan thought Paku looked perfectly fine, but something must have tipped the others off, because Konekomaru leaned forward and said, with obvious worry, "Are you sure you're alright? After the test, Izumo did say some…"
"I'm fine," Paku said, very obviously not that. But she carried on all the same, "We were all under a lot of pressure back there, so I know some things just slipped out. I'll let her calm down and then we'll talk everything out! Besides, she needs to rest anyway."
It sounded like an excuse to put things off to Satan, but it was none of his business.
"Paku, after you've made up with Izumo, I'd like to apologize to her as well." Yukio suddenly spoke up, "You're her friend, so I'll let you sort things out with her first, otherwise I don't think she'll care about anything else."
And suddenly Satan was forced to care about the twin-tailed bitch once again. Yukio had explained things well enough on the way over, so as far as he was concerned, the girl deserved everything she got, and then some, "Why do you want to apologize to that bitch? From what you've described, it's her own damn fault that she got hurt."
Renzo recoiled, frowning at the sheer contempt in that statement, "Hey, that's out of line! She was just-"
"No, it isn't." The demon cut him off, "She's a summoner, she's got to know what she can or can't handle, or she'll get you all killed."
"Except none of us were meant to handle that exam, Rin." Yukio shot back, voice even and cool with growing authority, "From what I can tell, it was to test how we would handle a worst-case scenario. Our most powerful fighters were indisposed, we had no reasonable way to know their fatal verse, and our supplies were tampered with as if we had run low. That doesn't excuse our performance, but it wasn't easy to handle that pressure either."
"Hey, why are you being so hard on yourself? You're the only reason we even got out of there alive!" Renzo asked, "I wouldn't have thought to break out the window like that and just, well, run away."
Yes, while he might approve of spitting on Samael's plans to force teenagers with very little training to fight man-eating demons, he also didn't like the idea of Yukio being seen as a coward. Or being forced to flee, "If you can't even handle a Naberius, I'll have to ramp up your training, Yukio! Running away doesn't fit you."
"Well, he did shoot one…" Someone said, but was ignored in favor of Yukio's lecture.
"But sometimes that's the only way to make sure everyone stays safe, Rin. I had a few plans to kill one of the Naberiuses with a single shot and then pin the other until Bon and Konekomaru could finish the recital, but those were far too risky. It was best to cut our losses and run for backup."
"Demons are slaves to their bodies." Satan countered, and lazily dragged a finger across his throat, "Cut the connection and it would have been easy to subdue it, if not kill it outright. Easy, right?"
Exactly no one agreed.
I almost skipped this entire section and just went to where Satan finds the aftermath, but I decided that Yukio and the others needed some focus. And things differ enough here that I think it can be justified.
I'm not happy with this chapter, but I'm less happy with the idea of getting so stuck I never continue because I'm obsessed with this being perfect. I literally have 3x as much scrapped or removed material as stuff I've written when I'm not even publishing this, which is getting to be ridiculous. So, I'm ending it here and moving on already to the good stuff. It's sloppy, it sucks, but hey, not a deadfic yet!