"You... you've got WHAT?" cried the scratchy male voice brutally in the hollow of her ear, screwing up her eardrum.
Kali pulled the phone away from her face, eyes closed, wrinkling her nose as she could hear a violent coughing fit coming from the receiver, silencing her interlocutor. Evidently, he was reacting rather badly to the news... No surprise there...
"Catch your breath, Prasad..." finally resumed Kali as she put her laptop on speaker, balancing it precariously on her bent knee.
The young woman sank a little deeper into the fragrant bath she'd run herself a little earlier, playing with the immaculate mound of foam that hid its surface with her fingertips, a slight pout on her lips. Perhaps she shouldn't have told him about what had happened to her a few days ago... But she didn't like keeping things from him.
"Think of your heart... I'm fine, I assure you!" she declared in a casual tone to play down the enormity of the situation.
For his part, his interlocutor struggled to resume normal breathing, making the hybrid feel a little guilty. Deep perilous breaths could be heard through the handset, filling the bathroom, which was bathed in a soft candlelit half-light. She could see him desperately tugging at his oxygen mask to regain his composure, bending towards his O2 cylinder as if in prayer. His condition was clearly not improving...
"You... He could have... He's an exorcist... Class S... And You... only 3 minutes... " his interlocutor managed with difficulty to articulate, still not recovering from the news.
"In my defense, I didn't try to cross Gojo at all... He's the one who bumped into me. I just wasn't careful enough, that's all. But in the end, all's well that ends well, Pra-pounet..." she whispered, falsely childish, hoping to soften the old man's blatant distress.
The stratagem seemed to work a little, for after a short silence, she could hear a slight disillusioned laugh coming from her phone, cut off by a new coughing fit much less violent than the previous one though.
"You're going to end up killing me, you realize that, don't you?" he finally dropped, prompting a burst of laughter from the interested party, which she nonetheless stopped abruptly, her mobile pitching dangerously on its unstable support.
She sighed with relief, picking up the device in extremis with her least soaked hand, before depositing it in the corner of her bathtub, next to her head.
"You're not taking a bath with your phone again, Maharani*?" offended Prasad, slightly outraged. "You'll end up electrocuting yourself! "
"Meuh no... It's all bullshit! The situation's under control!"
The young woman reached over to the chair she'd brought not far away, grabbing a wide stemmed wine glass filled with a thick liquid so dark in hue it bordered on black. She took a long sip, which drew a slightly disgusted grimace from her, causing her to stick out her tongue. What an atrocious taste... She was going to have to go hunting again very soon...
"Are you sure?" worried the old man on the other end of the line, bringing her back to the present moment. Surely he was no longer referring to her supposedly suicidal habit of bringing all her connected objects close to her when she immersed herself for hours in warm water...
"But yes... Well, under control is perhaps a big word..." she conceded with her lips. "But I did approach Yuuji-kun. And talked with Sukuna-san."
At these words, Kali recalled her brief 'discussion' with the King of Plagues, making her want to immerse herself completely in his bath.
"Well... exchanged a few words..." she corrected in a whisper, recalling the millennial demon's terribly deep, taunting voice.
"It's fabulous, Maharani! Do you think he'll help you? The Raja* must have some information about what you are and how to perfect your transformation!"
The man's cheerful, optimistic voice drew a slight pout from her interlocutor. All she'd managed to get so far from the millennial scourge was the condescending nickname of shrimp and a perverse appraisal of her chest size... Thinking back on this incident, Kali's cheekbones flushed brightly and she wrapped her arms around her chest, as if to hide her breasts from the carnal view of the demon who was absent from the room. He possessed such a heavy aura that, despite merely materializing on Yuuji's body as a piercing eye with a bloody glint and a mocking mouth, she could still feel his calculating, hungry gaze on her skin. He was... Dangerous. Every cell in her being could tell. And he certainly wasn't the type to be coaxed by a few stratagems or blinks of an eyelash... He was a predator... He would only help her if it was of interest to him, or a distraction... It was all going to be very complicated...
"Maharani?"
"... Yes... Certainly. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure things go that way in any case..." she replied in a voice she wanted to be self-assured. She didn't want to cause her protector and patron too much trouble...
"Prasad... Don't worry too much about me." she resumed after a handful of seconds, coming to grab her phone to look at what time it was. "It's not like I'm helpless either. But I'm going to have to leave you. I've got an appointment and I'm nowhere near ready..."
"You're asking the one thing I could never grant you, Maharani... Take care of yourself, I beg you. I remain your humble servant..."
Without adding another word, the young woman hung up, staring at the luminous screen with her feline gaze. She let out a deep sigh, throwing her head back as she stared at the bathroom ceiling. She had long tried to get the overprotective old man to stop calling himself her 'servant'. But she finally realized it would be like trying to change the course of a waterfall... He had grown up in a family delirium of adulation for the receptacle in which she had slept for an incalculable length of time, and her unlikely awakening had been for him like the supreme achievement of his life. He would have offered her the moon if she had asked... But the moon was of little interest compared to all he had given her when she had found herself lost, with no memory, no knowledge of who she was in a totally unknown world. He had given her his protection, his money, his knowledge, without limit or restriction... It was even he who had given her the name she bore...
Kali, in homage to the powerful and terrible goddess of destruction, transformation and preservation... A skin as black as his own had been the first time Prasad had laid eyes on her, just after her bloody awakening... Despite her demonic appearance, the entity was worshipped in the old man's homeland as a protective blessing. And he adored her more than the air filling his lungs...
She sincerely hoped he would live long enough to see her having completed her transformation... that would be the best thanks she could ever offer him, the hybrid knew full well.
"TING!
The ringing of her phone snapped the young woman out of her thoughts, bringing her back to the present moment. She scanned the screen with one finger, coming face to face with a new message that drew a slight smile from her. It was Yuuji writing to her...
"Are we still on for later, Kali sempai? Are you sure?" she read, slightly amused.
It was the second such message the teenager had sent her since this morning, clearly worried about the afternoon ahead... After a brief moment of reflection, the half-demon quickly tapped on her mobile, calling the high-schooler directly to reassure him in person.
The tone rang several times, making the young woman smile more and more in her bath. Since their meeting in Shibuya, she'd exchanged many casual messages with the teenager, confirming her initial impression of him... He was an adorable lion-hearted kitten, sweet and sincere, terribly innocent and so easy to confuse...
She could almost see him, with his tender hazel eyes, hesitating in front of her phone, which was screaming in her hands. To answer, not to answer? She could feel that his very European, casual and playful manner was throwing him off at times. And she found it terribly charming...
It was crazy to think that such a being could contain within her the most terrible and powerful scourge that had ever existed on this earth. The gulf... no, the abyss, the ocean, the universe separating the two of them was immeasurable. Where one was gentleness and nobility of soul, the other was gratuitous violence and disillusioned egocentricity. Despite their earlier objections, Kali reiterated... What a duo they both made!
"A... Hello? ... Kali-sempai?" the interested party heard, snapping her out of her thoughts. The adorable kitten had answered...
"Hey, Yuu-ji!" she simpered a little "Yes, it's still okay for this afternoon. Don't worry like that."
"But... it could be dangerous..." murmured the teenager in a small voice, clearly unconvinced about the project in question.
The hybrid let out a slight laugh, crossing and uncrossing her shapely legs in the slightly chilled water of her bath.
"Are you worried about me?" she laughed, leaning over to the hot-water tap to open it wide. She didn't like being cold... "That's lovely, Yuuji. But you're forgetting what I am. It'll be fine, don't worry." she resumed before coming to sit against the edge of her bathtub, coming to run a finger against the half-empty wine glass she hadn't wanted to finish so much its contents disgusted her. "It's actually rather good timing, you see..."
"Really? ..." questioned the demon's receptacle, a little reassured.
"Yes, it does. I assure you...And don't doubt it, I understood that Gojo wanted to see what I was capable of... She's not fooling anyone..."
Yuuji chuckled deep in her ear, causing a soft warmth to well up inside her. He too was dangerous in his own way...
"Well," she interrupted herself in her ramblings, settling back to the bottom of her bathtub with a splashing noise. "shall we meet again later to hunt down the evil plague?"
"All right, sempai! But... where are you? I hear like echoes, you're calling from a cave? ..."
The interested party was silent for a moment, staring at the moss reforming on the surface of the water, quartered. It was a slippery slope, she knew full well... But it was terribly tempting to play a little... Both with the high-school student and the demon he was harboring, who was losing nothing of their conversation, she knew full well. Basically, she had to find a way to get his attention so he'd finally concede some information...
"No... not from a cave..." she whispered through her lips. "Just from my bath..."
"What... from your bath?" choked Yuuji, wringing a wide, slightly guilty smile from the young woman.
"I like that..."
Kali straightened up victoriously as she heard the baritone voice in her ear. So, as she thought, the King of Plagues was constantly on the prowl. She knew very little about him, only the information Prasad had been able to provide. He had been the most dangerous demon ever to exist in this world, reigning almost as an absolute master over Japan 1,000 years ago... In addition to his immeasurable power, he was known for three other things: his pronounced taste for human flesh, his insanely high self-esteem and his absolute obsession with self-gratification. It all made for a most explosive cocktail...
Such a character must not have tolerated being trapped in a body over which he had no control... On top of having slept for a thousand years after a defeat by the exorcists, he found himself deprived of his freedom of movement as soon as he awoke. The young woman could only imagine the immensity of the frustration he must be feeling. It was a bit like putting a delicious, heady-smelling dish beyond the reach of a completely starving person... It was a bit ugly, but the state he was in would probably help a little. He must have been so bored that if she could make herself distracting to him, he might concede to providing her with some information...
"Shut up, you pervert!" hissed Yuji with a sharp snap. "Sorry, Sempai..."
Kali guessed he'd just pressed his hand against her cheek where the monster's mouth had materialized, drawing a slight smile from her.
"Ahah, no harm done." replied the interested party. "You should stop banging yourself like that, Yuji-kun... Sukuna-san can materialize her mouth anywhere, can't she? You're hurting yourself for nothing..."
"But she's a smart one, the shrimp..." snarled the scourge. "You should listen to her, kid. What you're doing isn't getting to me, you're just making a bigger fool of yourself..."
"And just let you do as you please, you old fart?" blurted the high-schooler in a bad mood. "IN..."
CLACK! A loud slamming sound came through the phone, startling Kali.
"YOUR..."
CLACK! A new noise, even drier than the first.
"DREAMS!"
CLACK! Another slap, more violent, echoed through the bathroom, leaving the hybrid a little aghast.
"Yu... Yuji, are you all right? she asked, concerned, after a few seconds of heavy silence.
"Not even bad, moron." Sukuna ironized, most certainly materializing his mouth once again on the teenager's powerful body, wringing from the latter a cry of pure inarticulate displeasure.
"One day, I'll kick your ass, I guarantee it!" belched Itadori from the other side of the wire. "I'll make you eat it, your dirty psychopathic grin!"
"Keep deluding yourself, brat," whispered the interested party. "Soon I'll have total possession of your body, and you'll only be able to sit back and watch what I do with it... The shrimp, for example, I'll..."
CLAC!
In spite of herself, Kali let out a slight laugh, somewhere between amusement and embarrassment. Cohabitation between two diametrically opposed beings didn't seem to be the easiest thing in the world, apparently...
"Kali-sempai." The high-school student replied, a little tense. "I'll leave you to it for now, the other one's gone wild today..."
"Okay, Yuji-kun... I'll see you later anyway, right?" she tried in a soft voice.
"Yes... See you later, Kali-sempai." concluded the teenager in a sullen tone, visibly undermined by the situation, before hanging up.
In the hollow of her ear, the young woman could hear the click signaling the end of the conversation. She stared pensively at her phone for a few moments. The future exorcist didn't seem to be in the best of shape, which was a little distressing for her. She tapped the edge of her mobile against her lips, trying to think how she could wring a smile from him...
Suddenly, an idea occurred to her, causing her to sit upright in her bath, filled with foam from the still-flowing water. She set about gathering it against her, shaping it into a compact, fluffy mountain. She then wedged herself into a corner of the tub, switching her phone to selfie mode to snap a few shots, only the top of her face emerging from the mound of foam she'd accumulated. She smiles despite the fact that it doesn't show in the photos, closing her eyes, forming a V with her free hand.
After a few more tries, the young woman sat back down normally, choosing the cutest selfie to send to the high-schooler. She finally slipped one into their shared digital conversation, sending it off in the process.
"A hybrid is hiding in this picture, will you be able to find her?
See you later, Yuji, if I can extract myself from this!" she then wrote to him, a smile on her lips.
She sighed softly at her own behavior. It was sometimes complicated for her, only a handful of months old, to know how to position herself in relation to people. She was naturally rather pleasant and tactile, childlike, something Prasad had warned her against more than once. He feared she'd be taken advantage of by people, especially men, more seasoned than her and more cunning... But Yuji wasn't one of those predators. Yuji was just... Yuji. She could deal with him as she wished, without pretense, she was sure.
With a smooth movement, the young hybrid stood up in her bath, the water and foam sliding down her curvaceous body. She removed the spray can before grabbing the shower head, rinsing quickly. She really had to get ready... She was going to be later than she wanted to be.
She climbed over the edge of the bathtub and planted herself in front of the large mirror overhanging the stainless steel sink. Kali grabbed the thick towel she'd left there earlier, briskly brushing it across the fogged reflective surface so she could see herself.
Immediately, she came face to face with his amethyst-rimmed golden eyes, his feline slit pupils scrutinizing her intently. Thin, dried-blood-colored lines, clashing with the mother-of-pearl of his skin, followed the curve of his shoulders, then stretched down his arms to the back of his hands. The young woman closed her eyes, sighing softly. Once freed from the seals she usually wore to conceal her true nature, the marks of her imperfect inking circle became visible again, exasperating her a little. She didn't need to turn in front of the mirror to visualize the slightest curve of the wobbly demonic pentacle that made her what she was: a hybrid lost between the world of humans and that of plagues...
An in-between with no memory... Knowing so little about the occult world to which she nevertheless belonged.
A shrimp... as Sukuna used to say.
Kali gave herself a challenging look in the mirror, wrapping herself tightly in her towel before planting her hands on her hips.
She'd get the information she needed out of him, one way or another!
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Author's note:
M (covered in scratches): Hey...Hello everyone! How are ya? I hope you're doing well! Many thanks for your votes and thanks to Kagemine27 for her comment! Boys, would you like to say thank you?
Gojo (taking off his glasses to offer a teasing wink): Tkank-you, every body! Thank you, Ka-ge-mi-chawn!
Yuji (still stuck on the photo Kali had sent him, red as a peony): In... In the bath... but... but then... Is she naked?...
Tigger... uh, Sukuna (gagged and gagged a little further away, still in a bad mood): pbdmijvtvtvavufqjmsljvjqjvvfspqjnajfsqqsf
M: We... We'll assume he's said thank you, okay? Let's do it! Now, for the Asterixes, a little explanation.
- Maharani means princess, sovereign in Hindi. Prasad is of Indian origin, hence the name Kali.
- Raja means king, also in Hindi, and since Sukuna is the King of Plagues, Prasad calls him that.
Prasad: Maharani, also the name given to the Maharaja's wives...
Sukuna (who managed to free himself with a well-placed territorial extension, dusting himself off): Wife? Don't dream, old man, I've never been married and it's certainly not now that I'm going to let myself be tied down.
Prasad (mysterious): hum hum...
Sukuna (crossing his arms): I don't see why I should bother with just one female. Monogamy is so tiresome. Only my pleasure counts and my pleasure is multiple.
Prasad: HUM HUM...
Sukuna (a little exasperated): But 'hum hum' nothing at all old man! I eat shrimps and that's that.
Yuji (throwing his phone in his face): Hands off, you old fool!
Sukuna (sarcastic): I'll put my paws where I want to, kid... But since you don't know anything about these things, maybe you'd like me to explain... Well, for a start...
M: Stooooooooop, I think everyone's got it! We'll stop here, good evening everyone, see you soon for the rest! (Baston? Kali on the front line? Maybeee!)