"You okay, Daisuke?" Momo asked.
"Hmm?" Daisuke looked away from the floor and looked at Momo. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking."
"You've been spacing out a lot today." Yuri said. "You sure you're okay. Are you sick?"
"I'm fine. Really. I just have a lot on my mind right now."
"Like what?"
"Family issues." Was all he said.
Everyone was in Yuri and Kori's dorm, studying for an English test. English was a lot harder than Daisuke had suspected it would be, but he thought he was getting it down. He knew how to say things like, "Good morning/afternoon/evening" or "Where is…" Memorizing the words was hard. And the English language had used a lot of the same words for different meanings. Like "hot". It was meant for heat and attractive. It was strange. And Daisuke wondered how anybody could memorize the language.
Daisuke looked out the window. It had been a week since the mage incident. He had fought a lot of demons, and he had ran into a couple of stronger leveled ones. Lately, instead of the demons looking for souls, Daisuke looked for demons. He needed to stronger, quicker. He only had two more weeks before he was going to be fighting for his life against every single great Demon Hunter in the world. And he was one of the five chosen from Japan. Daisuke wasn't sure if it was really because he was good, or because they thought his soft-heartedness needed to be destroyed before he turned against them. Daisuke couldn't go against them either. He didn't know what the future would hold.
Daisuke had told Gi he needed to get really strong as soon as possible, and Gi said not to worry, that he had made a purchase for Daisuke and it should be coming that day. It usually arrived at night, when nobody could see much. Daisuke would get it before cram school, thank god. Daisuke wondered what the thing could be, but whatever it was, Gi promised it would make him a lot better.
"Daisuke?" he heard his name being called and noticed he was staring at the floor again.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Did you get number seven, yet?" Deíji asked.
"Sorry. I haven't really been doing much."
The girls sighed in frustration.
"If you don't do your work, your going to be failing English. You know you need that course to graduate from this school, don't you?" Yuri said.
Great. Another thing to worry about. Surviving death blows from other Demon Hunters and trying to graduate to get into a good college. He thought.
Yuri looked at Daisuke in concern. He wasn't himself today. Hell, he hadn't been himself the last week. Since their encounter with the Kori incident, which turned out to really be her fault. Maybe she had whacked him in the head once too many times. Usually, he had spoken or tried fighting back if Yuri picked a fight with him, but lately, he had the same blank expression and hardly spoke and never tried fighting back in their conversations. He had agreed to her, even if what she had said was impossible. She did that just to see if he would catch what she had just said.
Yuri looked at him, and a couple minutes later, he was staring back at the floor. His expression was deep, concerned, and had a hint of fear. It was like he was fearing something that was coming up. Well, there was a dance coming up in two weeks, but that couldn't be it. There was no way that he be freaking out over something so simple. He was a deep kid, and everyday situations like this had never bothered him. If that wasn't it, than what was it?
After their study, they had an hour before cram school had started. Daisuke didn't even say good-bye to the group, but just walked to his dorm at a slow pace. Yuri slowly followed him, hiding behind the corners like a secret agent. When he had entered his room, she walked up and knocked on the door. She heard his shuffling feet dragging on the floor. He opened the door, and looked a little surprised for him to be there.
"Hey." She said.
"Hey." He said, his voice still spaced out.
"Can I come in?"
With that sentence made, he was back to normal. He looked a her funny, as if she had something up her sleeve. She smiled a little, trying to press the fact that she was worried about him, not trying to do anything to him.
"Sure." He said, stepping out the way. He had seemed stiff. Like there was some kind of weird contraption on him. He swiveled to his bed and laid down. She grabbed a chair and put it next to the bed.
"You okay?" she asked. "You seem…out of it."
"Just a lot of things going."
"Like what?"
"I…" he sat up and looked at her deep in her eyes, as if he had something deeply important to say to her. "Don't have much time left here."
"What do you mean? You're leaving."
"For a short time… hopefully." The last part was made to be silent, but she still heard it.
"Where are you going?"
"On a trip for some sport thing. But it's kinda dangerous, and I'm just hoping that I'll make it back in one piece."
"You know, our spring break is in two weeks. Maybe I can go with you."
"Who told you it started in two weeks?"
"Well, it's break. You can't leave school, even for sports, unless it's on break."
"Oh. Right. Anyway, I don't think this is the sort of thing you'd enjoy. Besides, I kinda want to do this by myself. No offense."
"Oh. Of course." She said, trying not to show her hurt. Why did she feel hurt. It was something he wanted to do by himself. It wasn't anything strange or weird, and she had only gotten to know him these last two weeks. Why did she ask to go in the first place? She didn't even know where this thing was going to be in the first place. But Daisuke didn't sound like he knew either.
All of the sudden, Yuri felt something rub against her leg, and let out a little shriek. She looked down to see a ferret.
"Oh my god. This thing scared me. Is that a ferret? Are you allowed to have pets here?"
"Don't think so, but I wanted to bring Gi with me anyway." Daisuke said with a smile as he petted Gi.
"It's kinda cute." She said as she petted him as well. She looked at Daisuke who looked at Gi with an angered or annoyed look. A look that said, "Shut-up".
"What's wrong?"
"My ferret's a little weird. It seems to respond to mental flows of thought and emotions." She explained. "Like how animals can feel and see things we can't."
Daisuke looked at Gi.
Shut up. He thought.
Heh. I told you the girls would think that I'm cute. And here you were thinking that this would never work.
I thought I told you to shut up.
That's not a nice way to talk to the person to work so hard to get you your equipment.
This crap! I hate it! I can hardly move.
That's the point.
Gi had gotten Daisuke a pill that he had swallowed. It numbed the body of any physical movements for the next two weeks. So during that two weeks, the only way he could move was to use his spiritual energy. Gi said that Daisuke's physical condition was over great, but his spiritual power had need achieving in the getting decent compared to everyone else.
Do I really have to do this for two whole weeks.
The more you think about it and complain the more you think it's more of a hassle. Now quit your whining. We're not actually sure if this thing is stable.
WHAT? You mean it's not safe!
Well, we're not sure. We've never tested it before. You're test dummy.
I never signed up for this!
Imagine how strong you'll be if this actually works.
The "if" is the part that I worry about, you little furball.
"Daisuke?" Yuri asked, looking out the window.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer me in all honesty, okay. I don't want you to lie to me." She looked at him. "If you truly respect me and my wishes, you'll answer me this, okay?"
"Go ahead." He said.
She sat on the bed next to him. She looked him dead in the eyes, and Daisuke had seen a side of her he had never seen before. Her eyes were tender, curious, and deep. She also seemed concerned.
"Are you really gay, or is that a cover you play?"
"What do you mean?" he asked playing dumb.
"Are you really gay, or is that mask you wear for a certain crowd. Do you perform and do and say the right thing for the right people, just so you won't be ignored, or maybe you're trying to protect those around you."
Daisuke had felt exactly like that. It was like she was looking inside of him and his past.
"Sorry." Was all he said.
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." He paused a moment. "The principal had said that the girls were excited to meet a gay kid. I'm sorry that it didn't get to come true."
"So, you're really straight?"
"Honestly, I can't say." He said.
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"Well, I've never really thought about relationships that deeply. Sure, I've noticed girls before. But unlike most guys, I know when a guy is attractive looking. Either way, I'm not sure what I am."
The two looked at each other. There was some spark that had ignited at the time being, and Yuri started to blush for some unknown reason. But instead of pulling away, she started leaning forward toward him. Daisuke started to lean in as well. But before anything could happen, Gi had bit Daisuke gently in the back.
We've got eight demons outside. You need practice. Get your dick back into your pants and let's hightail it out of here.
"I'm sorry." Daisuke said pulling away suddenly. He held his stomach, and he put on a disgusted look. "I've got to the bathroom."
Without letting Yuri talk or ask questions, he took off out of the door. Did she scare him away? Was she moving too fast. What the hell was she doing! She almost kissed him. She almost tried doing something she never even thought about doing earlier. Besides, Deíji already hinted that she liked him. Yeah. Maybe if she hooked Deíji up with Daisuke, she could forget about him. But why would she want to forget about him? She didn't like him. Did she?
She heard twigs snapping outside the window, and when she looked outside, she saw Daisuke running/staggering around. He wasn't heading to the bathroom. Yuri's thoughts transferred from trying to get her emotions straight to anger. He just straight up lied to her. She was going to give him a piece of her mind, and give him the biggest part of hell she could possible give him.
"Are you sure there's eight of them?" Daisuke asked.
"That's what my censors are saying. Why?"
Something's not right. Daisuke thought as quiet as possible so Gi couldn't hear him. I'm only picking up one demon. There must be doppelgangers involved.
Daisuke's legs felt weak, and when he looked back, he was only a dozen yards from his dorm building, and he was already wheezing. He was weak and his legs grew sore. He was going to have trouble just fighting this thing.
When he got deep in the forest, he wasn't sure if he could even stand. He felt like gravity was pushing down on him and he his lung burned.
"You okay?" Gi asked. "You're taking it pretty rough on the first hour."
"I'll… make it." Daisuke panted.
Daisuke looked ahead and saw a demonic figure in the shape of an some sort of raptor. Daisuke had looked the demon straight in the eyes, and the demon stared back. It hissed a little and Daisuke grinned. This was training number one. But wait a sec… Daisuke didn't feel the demonic aura coming from the monster he saw. Daisuke looked around. He couldn't feel it anywhere at this point.
Then, he heard a snarling from his right, and ducked in time as a set of jaws flew over him. Daisuke had rolled on the ground, and quickly got up. He had seen eight of the raptors, and felt the demonic aura. It was small, very small. Barely there. Maybe that was the reason he couldn't feel it from afar. But why was it so small for a demon that could replicate itself? But then Daisuke realized he felt it from all eight of them. The real one was in there, but it just hid its demonic aura with the rest of the trickery.
"You want to do this?" Daisuke asked in a cocky tone.
The demon didn't do anything at first, and then all eight charged at him. Daisuke grinned and snapped his fingers. But when he did, nothing happened. He looked at his hand and snapped them again. Same results. He snapped them nervously as the demons got closer. Finally, Daisuke just leapt over them, and landed behind them where he threw a fist in the back in one of them, and they disappeared like smoke.
"So, they're just smoke, are they? I guess I just have to guess which one of them is the real on based on their attacks."
The group charged at him again, and he left himself open, waiting for the demons to phase right through him. If that was only the case. A demon had head-butted him, and he was sent flying into a wall.
"What the hell…? Why didn't it work."
"Even if they are merely illusions, their attacks are still real." Gi said.
"You could of told me that earlier!"
"I wanted you to find out by experience." Gi said with a smile and a voice that was a little too please.
"Shut up." Daisuke said in frustration.
Daisuke had ran toward the demons and they charged towards him. He had ran as fast as he could, until he was close enough to strike. But instead of strike, he slid on the ground, grabbed the leg of the last demon in the back. When the demon fell, Daisuke climbed on top of it. Lifting his hands was the hard part, but dropping them like a hammer was simple. The demon's head split and turned into smoke. Daisuke had rolled out the way as the demons tried leaping on top of him. Daisuke had stood up, and saw that they were trying to got off each other. Three of them didn't make it out alive due to Daisuke's arms.
There were three left, and they circled around slowly. There eyes never left him, and he looked around. This reminded him dearly of Jurassic Park. In unison, they all jumped towards him and opened their jaws. Daisuke knew that he had three enemies and only two hands. He grabbed two by the throat, squeezing as hard as he could as he broke their neck, but they poof into smoke. Whereas the real demon had bit deep into Daisuke's shoulder. Daisuke felt a little pain, but it wasn't much. He just sat there, looking at the demon.
"Damn." He said sarcastically. "You made me bleed."
He socked the demon off his arm. Moving around was a lot easier now for some reason, but now his body seemed to be shutting down. It was his drive to fight that had kept him going, and since the battle was ending soon, he grew weary and tired. He only had one good attack left to give.
"Daisuke!" Daisuke heard a familiar voice and looked to his right, where he saw, panting, Yuri. She looked angry. "What the hell are you doing out here?"
"Uh… Yuri? Shouldn't you be in bed by now?"
"That's none of your goddamn business. Now, I demand to know what hell is going on out here!"
"Nothing." Daisuke said, trying to make the area seem as innocent as possible. He need her to leave soon or else the demon might strike towards her next.
"Really?" she looked more pissed off then before. "Than what the hell is that?" she asked pointing to the demon.
"You can see that?" Daisuke asked.
"What? Do you think I'm blind? What hell is that?"
"That's a… a…" Daisuke didn't know if he should come out with the truth right away. It would seem kind of weird. But the demon didn't give him a chance. It leaped onto him, and as Daisuke fell on his back, his hands wrapped around the demon's throat as the jaws snapped ferociously. Daisuke gave one last crack in the face as the demon flew a dozen yards. Great. His body was full shut down.
"Dammit, Daisuke. Get off of the ground."
"I can't." he grunted as he tried getting up with no results.
"What the hell do you man you can't? What are you? Disable?"
"At the moment, yes."
The demon came snarling back and not towards Daisuke this time. The demon was heading toward Yuri who didn't seem the last bit frightened. As it came up, she simply slammed her fist on the nose of the demon.
"Can't you see I'm busy?" she yelled.
With the view that looked like Yuri would be attacked, Daisuke had gotten a burst of energy again and was able to stand. As the demon sat there, stunned as Daisuke felt, Daisuke gave this opportunity to attack. He gave a hard blow to the temple of the demon and it shattered like the others when they died.
"Damn demons." Daisuke said out of breath, and his shirt soaked with sweat. He had never sweated so much in his life, and it wasn't even cold out.
"Daisuke? What the hell is going on here? What was that? What the hell do you mean you're disable, and how the hell can your ferret talk?"
"Gi? You talked to her?" he asked.
"Well, it looked like you were in trouble, and I couldn't get you to stand, so I panicked and got the closest person I could find at the moment." He explained.
"Daisuke. I demand to know everything. Who you are, where you're really from, what the hell you do, and why the hell you friggin' fighting these things."
Daisuke was gently laid on his bed. Yuri had helped him to his room, and they told the nurse he had a sprained ankle and wouldn't attend class that night. For a nurse, she bought it, and it was kind of scary that they didn't ask questions. Yuri sat in a chair next to Daisuke's bed.
"Now, explain." She demanded, but in a softer tone.
"Okay," he said, sitting up a little. "You know the story of my mom dying?"
"What? Is that not true."
"No. That part's definitely true. I just left out one tiny little detail. A demon popped the tires that sent her to her death. It was the first day I could see these demons. Ever since, I've hunted them down for my mom's revenge."
"I've never seen them before. Why don't they ever show up on the news. It's like nobody else can see them."
"That's just it, actually. Nobody but what we like to call 'Demon Hunters' can see them. But for some odd reason, you can."
"Is that bad? Are they going to be coming after me?"
"Maybe. Bt don't worry. I'll protect you."
"After seeing you in battle today, I don't think I feel very safe with your 'protection'."
"Thanks." He said sarcastically.
"So, what's this about you being disable?"
"Well, there's a Demon Hunters meeting coming up in a couple of weeks. They choose five representatives from every country in the world and then they fight to the death. Something about Demon Hunters being generically territorial and attack each other by instinct. I guess with too many people like that, the world kill each other off or something, so they stop it from spreading. Anyway, I was invited to go. I'm a little weak right now, so at the moment, I need to get a lot stronger in my spiritual power. And to do that, I've cut off my physical strength. To move anything, it takes up spiritual energy."
"Sounds kinda complicated."
"Not really. You get strong, you kill and hope to live."
"When is it?"
"Two weeks from now."
"So, you won't be here for our break?"
"I should come back before the second half of it. It's only a three day thing. They have us come, examine us, and then we feast and befriend each other and then kill one another and back-stab."
"Sounds wonderful." She said sarcastically.
"Seriously."
"Is it optional?" she asked.
Daisuke never thought about that? Wasn't there anyway for him just to say "no" and move on with his life and keep on living. Or would they hunt him down and have him killed by some weird assassination agency. Either way, Daisuke really wanted to go. He wanted to see all the different Demon Hunters in the world. It would be interesting.
"I kinda want to go."
"Even though you might die."
"Hey. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'm not losing this opportunity."
"Can't you wait until next year. You know, when you're more confident in you skills."
"Sounds like you don't want me to get hurt. That doesn't sound very much like the Yuri I know."
"Shut up." She said slapping his arm and he smiled. Than her smile faded, as if she had something on her mind.
"What's up?" Daisuke asked.
"You wouldn't mind if I went with you, would you?"
"To the death round? Why would you even want to come."
"Well, some parents or dear friends come invited with each Demon Hunter. Usually they're a messenger to the outside world that they're dead." Gi said. "Or they could act as a cheerleader for you."
"See?" she said. "Besides. I want to see this Demon Hunter thingy works."
With Gi blurting out unneeded information, Daisuke just couldn't say no to her. She could actually see demons, so she wouldn't be too much of a nuisance.
"Fine, fine." He said, and she closed her eyes and squeezed her hands into a fist in victory, mouthing the word "yes."
"But you have to keep it a secret, you got that?"
"Why?"
"Well, if other people found out I was a Demon Hunter, they could be captured and tortured until they squealed about me. I don't want them to get hurt just because they know something they shouldn't. Please, keep this to yourself."
"Fine."
"Well, I'm getting excused to go to the tournament from the Demon Hunter's Association. What's your excuse going to be?"
"I'll probably go visit my aunt."
"That's your excuse?"
"Not an excuse. It'll be the truth. I'll just tell my aunt that I'm engage and want to spend the weekend with my husband-to-be."
"You'd make something up like that…about me?"
"Shut up." She said, blushing. "I only want to see you get your ass kicked by other Demon Hunters."
"Who said my ass was going to get kicked!"
"Well, you obviously couldn't take down something I could easily punch!"
As they rambled on, all the other girls had just passed by Daisuke's door and heard the two shouting. They stopped, looked at each other, and put their ear next to the door. When they heard Yuri's voice they grew concerned. The couldn't exactly understand what they were saying, but it wasn't happy, nor angry. Somewhere in between.
Finally, Yuri had opened the door and the girls and fell over. When they saw Daisuke was in bed, automatic bad thoughts ran through their heads. Yuri had a strange look on her face as she left. As she left, Daisuke couldn't help but see the evil looks he was getting from the rest of the group.
"I swear, we didn't do anything!" Yuri cried. Her frustration was growing at the fact that her friends wouldn't believe her.
"Than why were you in his room." Raine asked.
"We were talking. I already told you guys!"
"About what?" Momo asked, stuffing some snack food into her mouth.
"Things. Like school and stuff." She lied. She promise that she wouldn't tell. She was doing it for their safety. But her hesitation to answer had caused everyone o raise a brow and question whether she was telling the truth or not.
"Why was he in bed."
"He was out in the woods and he hurt himself."
"Why did were you in the woods?" Deíji asked.
"I was…trying to find a quiet place to think."
"And you found him in the same place as he was." Kori asked.
"Yeah."
She couldn't tell her friends that he didn't kiss her and she was pissed off and hunted him down. She already had yelled at Kori for making out with him. She couldn't just go around and stab them in the back and look like a hypocrite. Everything in the code of females were complicated, and at the moment, Yuri wished that it wasn't.
The girls look at each other, wondering whether she was telling the truth or not. They weren't sure, Yuri could tell. She had never lied to them about anything, but that was because she was usually the accuser, not the accused.
"Look, girls…" Yuri started saying. "Why are you freaking out so much. It's nowhere near as bad as what Kori did."
"We don't know that." Kori said, lowering her eyes.
"Why are you guys being overprotective anyway? It's like you're not even thinking about me. It's like your trying to keep Daisuke on the down low."
"Well…" the girls said, and their eyes shifted elsewhere.
"Wait… you mean you guys are actually protecting Daisuke? Why?"
"You know that weird Sadie Hawkins Dance thing that starts in one week and that the principal says is from America?"
"Yeah. We start decorations tomorrow."
The girls had been that year school body council. They had set up for every major event, made sure everything in the social world was going okay. And with Yuri as president, there was no questioning why she seemed so in charge in life.
"Well, you know that all boys school a couple of miles away from here. Our guests?"
"What about them?" Yuri asked, and all eyes went to Kori. Kori had been the matchmaker for this dance. She had made personality tests and that's who people were hooked up for the dance.
"Well, everybody has a date…" Kori said, smiling. She was obviously doing the good news/bad news deal, showing the good news first.
"But…?" Yuri pushed her to move on.
"We're five boys too short."
"Meaning?"
"Five boys too short… for us."
"You mean we're going to be the only ones dateless?"
"From who is allowed to go to this dance, yeah. Everyone else has gotten a date besides us."
"So… Daisuke's the only guy who doesn't have a date."
"Which means for us, it's every girl for herself to get him." Raine said.
"Guys. I think we should do this the fair way."
"Fair way?" Kori asked in surprise. "All is fair in love and Sadie Hawkins Dances. Am I right?"
"Look. We should all just tell him we all want to go to the dance with him, and leave it to him." Kori said.
"Um…Yuri. It's a Sadie Hawkins Dance."
"So?" she asked.
"Didn't you get the memo?"
"What memo?"
"Girls have to ask the guy."
"What?"
"Which means…" Raine started.
"It's every girl for herself." Momo finished.
Daisuke's searched around without moving his head. He felt something really weird and wrong today. It started ever since school started. The girls had been eyeing him in a weird way and they eyed each other in what seemed like anger and competitiveness. He hadn't known what was going on or way, but he didn't think it would be wise to talk to any of them.
Deíji had looked at the rest of the girls. She had really like Daisuke, but she didn't think that he was worth losing her friendship with the others over him. He was nice, he was sweet, he was cute, she could talk to him about things, he talked back to her… oh, god. He was as perfect as she could hope for. But her friendships with her friends had lasted longer, through thick and thin and she didn't want something as stupid as a giant crush to ruin that. Maybe she would give up Daisuke for the night. She could always try attracting him sometime after the dance, when the dust settled.
Raine had wanted to go to the dance with somebody. She couldn't just show up to the dance and not have a date. But if she had to, there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't even have to like the guy, as long as she didn't look like a fool in front of everyone.
Kori looked at the others. She knew that the others didn't stand a chance. Well, maybe Yuri stood a chance. In fact, she stood a great chance. She was probably going to be the hardest to defeat. She had spent more time with him, got to know him more. But Kori did have one thing that Yuri, nor any other girl, could never have: his first kiss. Maybe if she twisted that into a way that had gotten what she wanted, she could win this large battle between her and her friends.
Yuri didn't know what to think. She wanted to go to the dance with Daisuke, and not just because she wanted one. She started to believe that maybe she had liked him. A small crush. That's all it was. And maybe this dance was an opportunity for her to get to him better, and vice versa.
Momo simply wanted a guy to buy her food at the dance. Any guy who could feed her was good enough, and Daisuke seemed like the kind of guy who had a lot of time or money to get her food.
Daisuke had been bored in English class again, and he looked out the window, hoping that the odd mood in the class would leave him be. But even as he stared out the window, he hadn't felt the aura change at all. As he looked at all the girls, they had the same faces on, towards him and each other. Daisuke sighed in frustration, wondering why he hadn't known what was going on.
But before he could think some more, he felt a weird aura. It was familiar, like he had sensed it once or twice. He looked out the window to see the person he saw with the cell phone that controlled earth. They stood on a branch outside, staring into the classroom. Even if Daisuke couldn't see the person's face, he could tell that they were looking for him.
"Professor, can I go to the restroom?" he asked.
"Again?" the professor asked.
"I think I ate something bad again."
"With the results you've been having, I think anything you eat is bad for your stomach." The teacher joked in a serious tone. Fine. Hurry up, though."
As Daisuke scurried to get outside, Yuri had looked around. She knew he was looking for a demon. As she looked out the window, she had seen the person standing in the trees. The person's hair had started to show as the person slightly moved their hat. It was long and blew gently in the wind. Yuri stared at the person a little more. The legs, the waist, the arms… Yuri wasn't sure but maybe the person was a… No. Yuri was positive now. The person that Daisuke was coming after was a female.
"Professor, I'm not feeling well…"
"Oh, not you, too, Yuri. Do you need to use the restroom, or the nurse?"
"I just need the restroom." Yuri made sure she looked like she was going to vomit.
"Fine. But hurry back."
As Yuri faked a weak walk, she darted out to the forest as well. There was no way in hell that Daisuke was going to be alone in a forest with any other girl but her.
Daisuke stood up and ran out the door and headed to the tree that the person was standing up. But when he got there, he didn't see them in the trees, but rather running across the branches, as if they were leading him away from public eyes. He followed them. The person had lead Daisuke to the same place as before. As she leaped out of the trees onto the ground, Daisuke realized how tired he was from just running. He forgot about the seal that he had going on in him. He remembered how well this person had fought last time, and since he was at a large disadvantage…
"What are you doing here?" Daisuke asked.
The person didn't reply. They simply stared in his general direction. Daisuke couldn't stand people who had responded him, or answered him in the right tone. But he sometimes did rash things, and those had sometimes caused him situations he shouldn't put himself in. Such as the whole mage on the roof. He caught that if he attacked, the person was still pretty strong, they could be expecting him to attack, and that he had a great disability.
"Well, aren't you going to say anything?" Daisuke asked, trying to make sure he didn't attack. His voice sounded more curious than harmful. "I know you're not a demon, I can tell that right off the bat. Are you a mage? I'm not even sure if you're a guy or a girl. Can't you just fill my curiosity with that? Just to let me know if you're male or female."
"She's a girl." Yuri said out of breath behind him. Daisuke turned around, surprised that she was there.
"Yuri? What are you doing here?"
"Do you think I'm going to let you battle alone in your condition? You can't do anything against that raptor thing, what makes you think you can take on another person!"
"Will you quit yelling at me!"
"Somebody needs you! You act like the ass you are!"
While the two were arguing, the girl had started to charge towards Daisuke, who had barely dodged the fist by leaning far back. Daisuke had grabbed her fist and threw her away. The girl landed on her feet, gently, as if she were a cat. Daisuke had scooted Yuri out of the way, making sure she wouldn't get hurt in a battle.
Daisuke Ran as fast as he could, about the normal speed of an average person, and threw punches like an average person. It hurt to move, but he had to show the person he wasn't going down easily. Punches were thrown and easily blocked, but that didn't keep Daisuke from trying. Even if his offense was horrid, his defense and quick eye was still with him. He blocked every attack that the girl made back at him. Daisuke had tried a normal kick in the face, and the girl had grabbed his foot. She tried throwing him into a tree, but Daisuke had changed the momentum of the throw and somehow got her on the ground. Daisuke's fist had started to glow. It was the first spiritual attack that he had gotten when he was younger. It may have been weak, but it was effective if you worked on it a little.
"You already have the Demon's Fist?" Gi asked, standing on Yuri's shoulder.
"When did you get here furball?"
"The moment I heard you losing. Now what are you doing taking on such a strong opponent with no sure protection."
"I've got to defeat her. Can you guys stop talking about my weakness in front of my enemy, please? Thank you." The last part he said with an angry sarcasm.
Daisuke had charged and started throwing punches. Yuri was watching with concentration the entire time. She watched closely to each and every attack that the girl had dished out. Yuri figured if she could see demons, that meant she possessed some spiritual power. Maybe someday, she could be as strong as Daisuke.
"Hey, Gi?" Yuri asked.
"Yeah?"
"How long does it take for a Demon Hunter to finally start getting good or used to fighting demons."
"Usually after the third battle or so. Why? You want to be a Demon Hunter someday?"
"I just want to be able to do more than sit in the corner and watch."
"Well, maybe I can contact DHA…"
"Would you?" she asked with happiness and eagerness.
"If…that's what you really want me to do. I'll call them and maybe you can have a trainer to help you."
"Can't Daisuke just teach me?"
"It's not that simple." Gi explained. "Daisuke is a weird species of a Demon Hunter. He had never gotten training from anybody… at all. Usually, a Demon Hunter needs a person to show them at least the basics. Just making a weapon, or being able to pinpoint a demon's weak point is difficult. I don't know how he started or how he got so good, but its been working. He's really not even suppose to be running at the moment. The first day, he was suppose to just sit down and relax. The second day, he could get up a couple times, and maybe after a week, he could start running. It's only the third day, and he's using Demon Hunter attacks.
"Usually, when a person can do these things, they are the ones who are challenged the most, which I figure to be ridiculous."
"Why's that?"
"If you challenge a person who's already somewhat great, if they keep winning, they're only getting greater. I say you should wait until he's out of practice and then make a blow. This girl he's fighting right now is only making him stronger with every battle. Daisuke may not realize it, but the moment he understands the slightest thing about an enemy, hey person could pretty much say good-bye to their life."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if Daisuke sees that the person leans at a left angle a little when moving back, he could use his surrounding area to his advantage to take that person down, but unfortunately…"
"He's not that smart?" Yuri offered.
"Exactly."
Daisuke had been punching, and was growing weary. Luckily, so was the girl. She was panting from the constant attacking back and forth. Eventually, she had gotten a hit in the face from Daisuke and bounced off a tree, which snapped in half. All of the sudden, the tree had hit the girl like baseball hits a bat. She flew into a another tree before hitting the ground. Gi and Yuri's eyes followed the girl before they looked back at Daisuke who was on his knees, looking like he was hit in every vital area in his body.
"Daisuke!" Yuri cried as she ran to him. "What did you do?"
"How'd you do that!" Gi asked.
"I don't know. I just saw a moment where I could have hit her with the tree, if only I had been there to grab the tree. And I remember giving all my power to the tree, like the splinters, and it did exactly what I wanted to."
"Are you okay? You look weak." Yuri said, trying to help him up.
"I might have to sleep here." He joked. "I'm that sore."
"Should I get help?" she asked.
"No. I'll be able to walk. Just give me a couple of minutes."
But Daisuke didn't have a couple minutes. The girl was up and she had started to dart towards Daisuke, and tried to attack him. But the girl didn't have a chance. A punch was made, and the girl slide back several yards as her head remained in the position it was forced when it was hit. What happened? She looked forward, and saw Yuri rubbing her fist.
"You dare try to touch Daisuke and I'll kill you myself." Yuri threatened.
A mere human girl had punched her? Not only did she punch her, she had made her skid for a half a dozen yards. This wasn't good. If the girl had grown stronger, she could… The girl didn't want to think about it. Instead, she disappeared, and Yuri looked around. She didn't see the girl anywhere.
"I think we're safe." Yuri said, looking at the two, who's jaws were completely dropped in shock. "What?" she asked.
"You just…" Daisuke said.
"The girl…she…"
"And then you…"
"Yeah. I punched her." She said as if it was nothing. Yuri really didn't see it as a big deal. It was like punching out any other girl. "And if you ever go after her alone in your condition, I might have to do the same thing." Yuri threatened jokingly.
And with that, Yuri started to head back to class. Daisuke, still unable to move a little, could do nothing but stare at her as she had looked more attractive than he had given her credit for.