Another explosion and another demon sent back to where it came from. But as soon as that one was destroyed, Daisuke could feel another one coming around a couple dozen yards away. He dashed and found another demon, and before the demon had even gotten a chance to even see Daisuke, it was sent back to hell.
Daisuke had been crazy busy. Demons were popping in and out of nowhere all day. In every class, he asked to go to the bathroom, and when he got back, he had to go again to destroy another demon. He used the diarrhea excuse for the day, and it seemed to work. The teachers gave a disgusted look, and just said that he should go. Some suggested that he went to the nurse, but he said that he couldn't miss a day of school due to his education being at stake. He got props from the teachers thinking he was a perfect student, and he was able to hunt down those pests.
"You're on fire today." Gi said. "I've already had to send in two progress reports, and it's not even sunset yet."
"I know. I wonder where they all came from, and why now."
"I don't know. Maybe there's a current change."
"Current change? Like in a river?"
"Yes. You see, the portals that let demons come to earth are scattered and aren't in the same place for too long, or else the demon hunters would be able to find them and hunt them down and destroy them once and for all."
"So, you think that all the portals are here for a short change."
"It doesn't seem likely, but it's a possibility."
"Have you noticed that they seem kind of off today?" Daisuke asked.
"What do you mean?" Gi asked.
Gi rested on Daisuke's shoulder, and the two headed back to his dorm. The weather seemed to get cloudier, and it looked like it was going to rain soon.
"Well, they all seemed like they were afraid of something to me. Like they were being hunted by somebody before us."
"It's likely that there's a demon hunter around here. I mean, there is two in every square mile."
Wow Gi thought. This kid is amazing. I'm suppose to find the demons for him, but he's picking them up far before I can. I don't understand it. How is he doing better than the best DHA has to offer?
"You don't think…" Daisuke started to say.
"What?"
"You don't think it could be one of the girls, do you?"
"Who knows. Can we get inside before it starts to rain? My fur doesn't do too well with wet."
"You know, for a computer program, you seem awful human."
"Yep, I just don't make mistakes like you guys do." He teased.
"Shut up."
As the two headed inside, there was a pair of eyes following them. The person stood in the trees, and brought out a walky-talky.
"I found the demon hunter." The person said.
"Good." A voice said coming out of the other end of the walky-talky. "Destroy him."
"Very well."
"C'mon Daisuke!' Momo called as they rushed out to get lunch. They just got out of English. They were heading to the dinning hall when Daisuke felt a really strong and weird aura.
"Hey, Momo! You go ahead. I'll meet you in there."
"Why? What's wrong."
"Sudden bathroom urge. I'll see you in there."
"You better not have diarrhea again!" Momo teased.
Daisuke waited for her to start running to the lunchroom before turning around and heading to the forest again. He whistled, which was a cue for Gi to come out from wherever he was. This time, he had a stain of navy blue around his mouth.
"The blueberries around here sure are good." He said.
"You know, for a machine, you have a pretty good appetite."
"Don't talk, just find that weird aura."
"You felt it too?"
"Yeah. It's not demonic, that's one thing."
"I thought it felt really different. But at the same time, it feels really familiar, Gi. Like I've felt this somewhere multiple times in my life."
"I don't think that's possible." Gi quickly said.
"Eh. Maybe you're right. It must just be my imagination."
Daisuke started to slow down in the middle of the forest, where a giant dent of tree population was. There hadn't been a single tree within a thirty-yard radius. Daisuke looked around, not feeling very secure about his surroundings. He wasn't sure, but it seemed darker than before. Much darker.
"I don't feel it anymore." Gi said.
"Neither do I." Daisuke replied looking around. "And I don't like it."
"You scared?" Gi asked, teasing.
"There's nothing wrong with admitting that you're frightened."
"At least your honest with yourself." Gi said.
"Gi, I was talking about you. You're shaking like crazy."
In addition, it was true. Most of Daisuke's movements now were made by Gi's shaking. Gi's claws were dug into Daisuke's shirt, and he looked around nervously.
"Like you said, there's nothing wrong with–"
A suddenly shadow flew out of the trees and nearly struck Daisuke who moved out of the way just in time. The figure quickly turned around, and headed back toward Daisuke. It had a spirit sword, a lot like Daisuke's, only a little bit longer. The person, or so Daisuke thought it was a person, had swung the sword multiple times, and Daisuke had dodged them all. Until the person struck their weapon into a tree. When they couldn't let it out, Daisuke tried striking with a punch. But the person had caught Daisuke's fist, and sent their knees toward his stomach. But he dodged the attack and tried sending the person away from their weapon, and he succeeded.
Daisuke looked at the person. He knew it was a person, or at least a demon in a human's form. Either way, he couldn't tell if they were male or female. They also wore a mage's hat, and a long cloak, which the collar had stuck out up to their high cheekbone.
Daisuke snapped and he got his spiritual weapon. He had started charging without thought. He swiped his sword many times at the person, but just like Daisuke, they dodged every single one. Luckily, the person was far from their weapon, and as long as they stayed as far away from their weapon, the more control Daisuke had in this–
When Daisuke saw the person back up, he had seen them draw two energy swords.
Daisuke's jaw dropped. He didn't know you could use your spirituality more than one weapon. He had looked behind him, where the first stood still stood. They had three weapons out, and it didn't look like they were slowing down very much. Daisuke had sprinted towards the person, still thinking that the person would maybe slow down if he caught them off guard.
He swung some more, only to have his attacks parried, and with an extra sword, it wasn't hard for the other person to move to their advantage. They moved to offense quickly, and with two swords, Daisuke was having trouble keeping up. With multiple strikes at the speed of machine gun bullets, Daisuke had many close calls, and figured he had to make things work for him. He swept the person, who had leaped not only over his leg, but also over him. Daisuke, with his free hand, grabbed the person on the collar, and threw them to a tree.
Daisuke tried attacking, and rushed over to the person, who had struck back, but Daisuke dodged the attack once again. Daisuke had somehow been trapped between the person and the tree. The person tried socking Daisuke, who had dodged again but by ducking. The person's hand went through the tree, and seemed to be stuck. Daisuke ran a somewhat great distance and turned around with a grin. He held out his palm, and focused most of spirituality towards his palm. It started to glow a light blue, and everything else around him grew dark, the palm being the only light. Daisuke shot a large fireball, and everything seemed to be ending.
But, to Daisuke's luck, his opponent wasn't going down that easily. The person couldn't get their hand out of the tree, so instead, they yanked the tree out of the ground, and used it as a shield. Daisuke's jaw had dropped in amazement, and saw the splinters fly. When the dust cleared, the person had stood in place. But the weird thing was, the splinters weren't falling to the ground. Instead, they floated around the person. The person held out their palm, and the splinters flew towards Daisuke like a bunch of knives. Daisuke knew that Demon Hunters could alter the way elemental things work and make it work to their uses. But it used a great deal of Spirituality to even try attempting one elemental thing such as this. Daisuke only saw this a challenge.
Daisuke put his hands together in a form he had seen fit, and focused all his energy on the needles. If this didn't work, he would die. Lucky for him, it worked to his advantage. The splinters had stopped to his face and turned around. He threw them right back at the person. But instead of dodging or using a normal shield, the person punched the ground, and a large slate of earth had come out of the ground, acting as a barrier, where the needles were stuck into place. The person had sent boulder towards Daisuke, who charged right towards it. He had a plan. He struck the flying boulder and it slip in half. As soon as he struck it, he leaped towards the person, who wasn't all that far from where Daisuke destroyed it. Daisuke tried striking, the person, but they ended up being a dozen yards behind Daisuke. He had seen them from the corner of his eyes.
All of the sudden, he had felt a large pain in his hand, but he endured it. He had heard about this. It was when a person used up their spirituality and still had a weapon out. It harmed your body, and could kill you if you held on to it too long. But if Daisuke had dropped his weapon, it would show the opponent that Daisuke was weak and not able to protect himself. Daisuke had held on, until he had heard a ring. It was a melody, and there was an awkward silence between the two. Nobody moved until the other person had reached into their pocket and pulled out a cell phone. They put it to their ears, and didn't say anything for a couple of seconds until they said, "Roger."
Then, like dust particles out of sunlight, they disappeared. Daisuke looked around, making sure it wasn't a trap, but he knew that they were gone, and relaxed. He had fallen to the ground, realizing that he was weaker than he thought he was. His entire body hurt. It was the most he had ever used his Spiritual energy before. It was more than empty, and that took out from his physical strength.
"You okay?" Gi asked as he sat on Daisuke's chest.
"Y…yeah." Daisuke panted.
"You need to be careful, especially with people like them."
"Why?"
"Their spiritual energy was over 700. And their strength was 300. They're an advanced Demon Hunter. Although I don't know who it is. I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Daisuke said forcing himself up. "I like surprises."
"Where are you going?" Gi asked.
"Where else?" Daisuke asked with a forced smile as he started to limp away. "I have to do PE, and then I got school work to do before Pre-Cal. I got to get cracking."
This kids energy level is –67. That's lower than a fetus has when it bleeds to death. Nothing is ever this low, except dying off weak demons. For this kid to still be able to stand is amazing. Maybe I should tell DHA to keep a closer eye on him. Gi thought.
"Where were you?" Mom asked, in her small PE uniform. She looked at him with both curiosity and anger. She eyed him, and he had only given her a dull look.
"I went out in the forest." Was his only reply.
"Oh, c'mon. You act like you're sore. And we haven't even done the mile yet. What's wrong with you?"
"We're doing the mile today?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Great." He mumbled.
"What's up with you? You're a grouch."
"I am a little sore today. I had done a bunch of sit ups this morning." he lied.
"Why?"
"Keep my figure in line, I guess."
"You talk feminine sometimes, and others you seem straight. Are you sure you're not just bi?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." But what he thought and what she thought were exact opposites. He knew that he was straight, but Momo…
"Hey, where are the others?" Daisuke asked.
"Well, Raine's taking another smoke, but I don't know where the others are. They're usually on time, but maybe they're still dressing."
"Hmm…" Daisuke said. He felt something strange. Nothing seemed right. He looked around, looking for something new, something different, but he couldn't see anything. Nor had he felt anything different. But still, there was something out of place. But before he could think about it, the class was called out to the track, and his heavy body was forced into a painful hell called the mile.
"So, have we concluded anything yet?" Raine asked, putting her cigarettes away. Everyone nodded, and she nodded in the understanding that she had gotten her answer. "So, what do you guys think of Daisuke?"
The girls were discussing about Daisuke a couple minutes before dinner. They were in Yuri's room. For some reason, that was the room for discussion. Yuri and Kori never minded, though. It was kinda nice having the group like your room better than theirs.
"He's weird, that's for sure." Kori said. "And I don't mean the bad kind of weird. He's not like normal guys."
"I know," Momo agreed. "I can't tell whether he's gay, straight, or in between. He's got some kind of weird malfunction with his brain."
"I think it has to do with the heart." Deíji said. "He's sweet… sometimes."
"I don't know." Raine said. "He has a way of listening to you. I told him a lot of things I never thought I'd anyone outside of this group."
The others nodded in agreement. The had all told their story without feeling ashamed or felt like they were going to be persecuted or be thought of as weird. Daisuke had accepted them and talked to them about his life as well. He was nice.
"What are your thoughts, Yuri?"
"I think I can trust guys again." She said, and the whole room went quiet. Nobody said or did anything. They had all looked at her blankly, until Kori spoke up and said what was on everyone's mind.
"What?" she asked to repeat.
"I think I can start trusting guys again. He gave me the concept that not all guys are alike. Everyone is responsible for their own actions, and just because you may be some part of somebody, like race or sex, doesn't mean they're all alike. He showed me that I wouldn't like it if he hated all girls named Yuri just because of one girl named Yuri. That wouldn't be fair."
"He taught me to be sure of myself, and what I want to be." Momo said.
"He made me feel important." Deíji said blushing. Yuri didn't know what she meant, and she didn't want to know what she meant.
"I think I'm going to stop smoking because of him."
"What?" Kori asked.
"Smoking was my way of forgetting my mom and my anger towards her. I just need to put it behind me."
"What did you learn Kori?" Deíji asked.
"You know what, I'm kinda hungry. I'm heading to dinner." She said, avoiding the question.
"No, Kori. Really. What did you learn from or about him?"
"Nothing, let's just go." Kori said.
"Wait a sec…" Raine said squinting. "Are you… blushing?"
"Oh, my god. She is!" Momo exclaimed.
"C'mon, Kori. There's nothing wrong with telling us what you had learned about him."
"It's nothing, really." She said, opening the door, but Raine walked up and closed it behind her.
"You a'int leaving until you tell us, Kori."
"Fine, fine." Kori said. She smiled. "You guys are going to hate me for this." She said.
"C'mon. It's not like you showed him how to get into the girl's locker room undetected."
"No, of course not."
"Than what?"
Kori stood up and walked to the door again. She opened it, but didn't go out. She turned her head a little, seeing the crowd with her grin.
"The boy knows how to make out."
Kori couldn't imagine the look on the faces of the girls in the room as she headed out the door of the room and went to the cafeteria.
Who was that bitch? Daisuke demanded.
How am I suppose to know? She has abilities that I've never seen before.
You mean to tell me you've never seen an Earth Demon Hunter before? What are you guys, stupid?
There are only few who can develop the abilities to use elemental powers. And people usually pick fire, ice or electricity. Nobody ever picks earth. It's weird. And it's the weakest of the powers.
WEAK? She almost killed me! What do you mean "weak"?
Listen, just because you can't be careful doesn't mean she's strong.
Don't try pinning this all on me, you little furball.
Who are you calling a furball?
Daisuke didn't talk but rather had a thought conversation with Gi, who was in his book bag. It would looked weird to see the him talking to an illegal animal. Or was illegal? Either way, it didn't grow in Japan, let alone this area if it. Daisuke took a sip of soup that was being served for dinner and went along with the conversation.
Is there any way you can possibly get a trace of all the Earth users?
We hardly know who the elemental users are, let alone the earth users. It could take weeks, months, or a year at most.
I'd like to get the information. In fact, I want to know everyone. It would be nice to know who can do what around here.
Well, I can help you with one. His name is Kagori. Nobody knows his last name. They just know him by Kagori. He's the master of all elemental uses. He's the number one demon hunter in Japan. At least he will be until the end of your term.
Why? What goes on at the end of this term?
The top demon hunters across the world goes to the DHA headquarters and there they get to meet each other and see the progress of how well it's going. There are usually five representatives from all the countries. If you had seen a person from last year, it's like a big reunion.
Sounds like fun.
Until the battle.
Battle?
They keep you there for a couple of days, getting your information and letting you relax for a couple of days. And then they send you into the greatest battle in your life.
What do you do?
It's the largest free-for-all this world would ever see. They let you fight for an hour in a thirty-mile radius arena, filled with all the elements. People sometimes join forces, but their partner either dies, or you backstab them to get your reputation higher. It's gory.
Don't people miss them? Don't they wonder what happened to them?
The DHA usually finds a way to cover their tracks.
Why would they do this? It's insane.
They want to see who's the greatest, and they want to keep the demon hunter numbers down.
Why?
Well a while ago, a decree was made. Demon hunters use to be the greatest heroes in the world, everyone wanted to be one. But when people grew jealous, they had outcasted them, and then their jealous continued to grow, and they eventually started to kill them. It was pretty much the Holocaust all over again. They slew the people in monstrous ways, it leaves me wondering whether they're really human.
Did Kagori lose any friends?
All of them. And his siblings.
And that's why he's the greatest warrior in the world.
What do you mean?
Is Kagori cold and hardly talks to anybody? Gives out cold, dirty looks, and the only thing that comes out of his mouth are negative or threatening things?
Yeah. Sounds like you know him.
Not him. I know his type. He's cold and he's out for revenge. He wants to be the best. And he is the best, but he doesn't want to be the best anymore. He wants to kill all that are in his way. He wants them all to be dead, anybody who had slain who he had loved most.
How do you know all this?
I once felt that way over my mother's death.
"Daisuke!" a voice rang out. He had seen all the girl's except Kori, and they didn't look happy. He wondered what they could be so upset about, but then he realized that they would soon tell him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing with Kori?" Yuri yelled.
Okay, so much for telling him what was going on. Daisuke had no clue what she was talking about and he sat there, his expression blank, and a mouthful of noodles were hanging out of his mouth. When he figured he should answer to save his on life, he slurped the noodles and said, "What are you talking about?"
That was probably the wrong answer, because a strike on the head was made as Yuri yelled, "Don't be a dumb-ass!"
"Ow! I told you, what the hell are you talking about?"
"You made out with Kori?" Raine suggested.
"That? I didn't make out with her. She made out with me."
Another strike to the head, followed by the words, "LIAR!"
"OW!" he said rubbing the pained spot. Since when had this been such an abusive place. "It's the truth. She wanted to see if I was gay or straight."
"And making out with you would prove this how…?" they asked, still not believing him.
"Don't ask me? Have you had a sit down the Kori yet? Ask her about all the facts?"
"We…" Yuri stopped. She hadn't. She went ahead of accusing without even trying to get the facts.
"I think you owe somebody an apology." Daisuke said with a grin.
"Don't think you've gotten out of this yet." She warned.
They walked away to find Kori to see what happened in her side of the story. Why did Yuri feel so stupid? Because she accused Daisuke without proof. Or was it that he corrected her on such a simple thing. Either way, she could tell that she was blushing from embarrassment.
"Can't believe he had to correct us like that." Yuri grumbled.
"Yuri, you okay?" Deíji asked.
"Besides feeling like a communist?"
"What? Why do you feel like–"
"I came up and beat the crap out of the kid without an explanation. I feel like some tyranny."
"Don't let it get to you, Yuri. It seems he's use to you, just like the rest of us." Raine explained.
At first, Yuri took it as an insight of something. And then she saw the deeper meaning.
"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?"
The girls ran away, laughing as they went to see Kori. Maybe it was both ways, the way Raine said it. Maybe he had been getting use to her. Was she getting use to him, though? He was nice, but that didn't make him safe. But, for some strange reason, Yuri could trust him deep inside. She knew he had good intentions. And she couldn't say he was bad looking either. For the most part, the kid had it going on. But he was gay, or so people claimed. She couldn't really do anything. Oh, well, she thought, life is never fair, anyway.
Daisuke had opened his eyes. The dark room had seemed empty. It was a little past one o'clock in the morning, and the moon was fully lit. Daisuke looked around his room as he sat up. He didn't see anything unusual. But a second ago, he had felt a strange aura surrounding his room. Or perhaps it was a dream.
But, suddenly, Daisuke snapped his fingers and drew his sword as he turned around and pointed it at the neck of a mage. The mage showed no fear, but rather looked amused. And not a mocking amused, but as if a wish had come true. Daisuke didn't say anything, but stood up, not letting his sword's tip leave the spot. Daisuke looked at the mage deeply, and he recognized something.
"Wait a sec… aren't you–"
"The demon on the roof?" he smiled. "It seems that you have grown a little stronger, young Daisuke."
"The demon on the roof of that hotel? The one who had tricked me into falling off the edge?"
"I did no such thing. You had done so by yourself."
"Shut up." Daisuke said, embarrassed. "And what do you want? You don't reek of demon anymore."
"I never had. You just weren't use to mage aura. It was something new to you, so you just mixed it up with demonic aura."
"What do you want?" Daisuke said.
"I'm here to invite you to DHA's annual Demon Strongest Fighting Competition. Have you been informed at all about such things, or must I explain."
"I've heard about them. The free for all battle against all demon hunters to kill each other?" Daisuke asked coldly.
"You make sound worse than it actually is. You see, if all people, or most people at that, were demon hunters, pretty much everyone would be killing each other. Demon hunters are territorial people, as you should know. And it's not just because of who they are. It's generic. All demon hunters have a certain gene, and that lets them see and destroy demons, but it also makes them go berserk and kill each other."
"So, it's a way to keep down the violence and to protect the innocent."
"Pretty much."
"Sounds like a bunch of bull to me. Like you're hiding something."
"Well, there's also another reason we do this."
"Like…?"
"Well, every couple decades, there's a person who corners a demon. And then the demons tell people their sad, sad story of being hunted for existing. And then the demon hunters are converted into Demonic Knights. They usually are the best fighters who have a soft heart, which hardens, but towards humans instead of demons. We need Demon hunters to have hardened hearts so they won't fall for this trap."
"So, you gather the strong and the soft hearted and eliminate them to protect people?"
"Once again, you're making it sound a lot worse than it really is."
"Or maybe you people are just naïve."
The mage didn't say anything. He had just sat there. Daisuke knew that he had given the mage something to think about.
"Either way," Daisuke said. "If this is an invitation to go, I'm going."
"You are?" the mage asked, seeming relieved.
"Of course. I want to see other demon hunters. Maybe the ones who survive live somewhere near Japan and we can be friends."
"I'd be careful though. Even friends can backstab you."
"Not if they're true friends."
"All I'm saying is not to let your guard down. Always have it up, just like you did tonight."
"Hey," Daisuke said, thinking.
"Yeah?"
"How many Earth users are out here in Japan?"
"My guess is about five or six. There aren't a lot. There's only about seventeen in the world and Japan has the largest population of them."
"And is this Kagori really that tough?"
"Tougher than you can imagine kid. Just stay clear of him in the battle."
"When is it?"
"You'll be excused from your school in three weeks. You better enjoy life, because most kids never see the light of day again after leaving their homes."
"I'll be ready." Daisuke said with confidence. "I'll show up and show everyone that even a soft hearted person can stand against the forces of demons."
"Good luck, kid." The mage said sarcastically. "You're going to need it."
And with that, the mage took off.