"Are you sure you have everything?" Daisuke asked.
"If I had wanted to get yelled at about my stuff, I would have asked!" she yelled.
"I wasn't yelling, I was merely asking!"
"What are you doing now!"
"Just get your bags!"
The two had woken up late, and they were rushing at the last minute to get ready. They already got the word that their driver was there. Yuri had packed like the girl she was, three suitcases full for four days. Daisuke had only three pants and three shirts with a sweatshirt. He didn't see how she could possibly need three suitcases full of stuff. When Daisuke tried picking up the suitcases, he had to try a second time because the weight had taken him by surprise.
"What do you have in here? Boulders?"
"My stuff. Now, hurry up. We have to go."
"Don't rush me!" he strained to say as he carried the suitcases all at the same time. When they reached the car, there was a limo and the driver was waiting outside. He helped Daisuke with the bags, but the driver moved them as if they were empty. The driver didn't say anything, but when all was ready, he just got in the limo and turned on the ignition. Daisuke and Yuri crawled in and when their seatbelts were buckled, they took of to the airport.
"So, what did you tell the girls?" Daisuke asked.
"The same thing I told everyone else. I'm going to my aunt's house."
"With me?"
"I told them you were kind enough to give me a ride to the airport. And that's where we're going to meet my aunt."
"Wait. I thought we were just kidding about that."
"No. You have to act like you love me, too."
"How do I act in love? I hardly talk to girls before I went to this school."
"Just try your best. I think you can pull it off."
Daisuke sighed in frustration. Yuri was doing it again: taking action without full thinking. Not to say that Daisuke hadn't done that before. The mage on the roof of the hotel was bad enough. But Yuri seemed to have a large record of doing this.
Daisuke looked out the window as they drove to the airport. He was quiet most of the time. He didn't know what to talk to Yuri about. Since last night's good-bye kiss, he had seen her a little different. He didn't know why. It was only on the cheek. And she did it to other girls sometimes. Was it out of feelings that remained inside, or did she just do it as a common goodbye? Or, the possibility of this was large, she had kissed him because she was so use to kissing her friends goodbye and wasn't paying attention. That's the one that had seemed the most logical. They had only known each other for a couple of weeks. But Daisuke couldn't help that what she had done to him was more than a friendship kiss.
Yuri stared out her own window as they passed through hills to head toward the airport. Her own thoughts had wondered on how this Demon Hunter Association was going to go. She knew the best in the world was going to be there, but was Daisuke really one of the best in the world? She punched a demon that he could hardly scratch. But, then again, he was tied up in that Spiritual thingy.
The whole ride had been one giant awkward silence between the two. But as soon as the bag carrier at the airport had taken their stuff, Yuri smiled.
"What?" Daisuke asked.
"You ready to act?"
"Oh, right. You're aunts going to be here, huh?"
"I told you a half an hour ago! How could you forget that easily?"
"Things have been on my mind." He said with a shrug and a forced smile, not looking into her eyes.
Yuri backed up a little in the argument. She kept on thinking that this may be his very last day to live, and now she was yelling at him about it. She couldn't believe how self-centered she had just been. But Daisuke had somehow known what she was thinking, and reassured her that it was okay with an actual smile.
"Let's do this. I want to meet some person in your family to see if they are abusive as you." He teased.
They walked in, and looked around. The entire airport had been packed full of people trying to get by, eating, talking, or picking up a relative. Their flight wasn't scheduled to leave for another half hour, so they had about ten or fifteen minutes to talk to her aunt. Daisuke wasn't sure if that ten or fifteen minutes would go by quickly with entertainment or be hellish and slow.
"YURI!" A high pitched squeal broke above the rest of the room in joy. Yuri and Daisuke had turned around, and Yuri quickly grabbed Daisuke's hand. They both turned around to see a young woman, maybe just turned twenty, rushing toward the two. But for an aunt, she had looked just like an older version of Yuri.
"Komiko!" Yuri cried and yanked Daisuke to her. They met each other, and only when they hugged each other did she let go of Daisuke, but Yuri latched right back on. "How are you?"
"I'm great! I'm finally getting into Osaka University."
"Really? You finally got in?"
"Yep. I started a couple months ago."
"Congratulations."
"I'm not the one who should be getting congratulated. So," Komiko said as she glanced up and down at Daisuke, examining him. "This is the lucky guy."
"Yeah. My man is Hiromushu Daisuke." He said with a slight bow.
"My, my." Komiko said with a sly grin. "Manners, looks, muscle… You've done good cousin."
"I thought you were her aunt." Daisuke said a little confused.
"I'm actually her cousin. We played house one day and we pretended that I was the aunt and she was the niece, but that name has stuck with me ever since that little game." Komiko's expression went from seeing the memory, to present day. "So, where are you from, Daisuke?"
"Tokyo."
"Ooh, a city boy, huh? I've only been to the city once. A little too crowded for my taste if you ask me. That's also the only reason I didn't apply to TU. Too much traffic and noise for my like."
"So, where are you originally from?" Daisuke asked, trying to stay interested on the topic.
"Me and my family are actually from Korea, but we moved up to Japan when I was about five."
"So, around the time Yuri was born?" Daisuke said, thinking about it.
"Hey, Yuri. You don't mind if I talk to your lover for a moment, do you? You know… alone."
Yuri gave a look at Daisuke. It was a look that said, "Be-careful-and-don't-say-anything-stupid." He had kissed Yuri's hand, trying to act like the guy he was suppose to be. He slowly released his grip and walked alongside with Komiko.
"You really love her, don't ya?" she asked, taking out a cigarette.
"Yeah, I do." It was time to put on his actor face.
"So, when did you guys meet."
"Six months ago." He lied.
"And you guys are already getting married."
"Yup. In May."
"How do you plan on supporting her."
"Well, we were thinking about going to Tokyo U, actually. After that, I wanted to major in art or creative writing."
"So, you plan on being a manga creator."
"I've never given that a chance to think about. I was only thinking of one or the other."
"So, where did you guys meet?"
The word "School" had almost slipped out of mouth, but then he realized that she went to an all girl school. If Daisuke had said anything of the sort, it would have caused a lot of problems.
"We met as she was in town. We were in the book store, and we kinda bumped into each other. I saw a certain book she had that I liked and–"
"How much is she paying you?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Well, I can tell that you're lying. Yuri hates going into town, number one. Number two, you had popped into her life so suddenly. Even if she hadn't talked to me in a year, something this big wouldn't have gone down without my knowing. And three, she's done this kinda thing before."
"Done what?"
"Well, if she wants to go somewhere over a break that her parents won't let her, she just says she's going to visit me, and she supposedly 'pulls the wool over my eyes'. She thinks I don't know any better."
"Why would she do this so her parents won't find out?"
"Back a while ago, she was seeing a guy who I think would hurt her, so I told her father, and she never trusted me with anything ever since."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because." Komiko took a drag and when she exhaled, she smiled, but her eyes didn't look at him. "You'll be sure to take of her."
She looked at him after this sentence and smiled like an older person congratulating their junior in something. Then her smile turned sly again.
"I mean, you do love her and all."
"You know I was lying about that."
"Were you?" she asked. "That kiss on the hand seemed pretty romantic to me."
Daisuke could feel heat of the blood rise to his face and he knew he was blushing.
"Sh-shut up!"
Komiko had laughed a little and looked out the window, looking at the airplanes. She took another drag before throwing away the cigarette and started chewing on a piece of gum.
"But seriously," she said. "Take care of her, will you? I don't know how you guys really know each other, but it seems that you know each other well. Just watch over her for me. You can do that much, can't ya, macho man?"
"I never said I was macho."
"You never said you weren't."
"Are you mocking me?"
"Does it sound like it?" Komiko asked, walking towards the direction of Yuri. Daisuke wasn't sure. Komiko was such an odd person, but he couldn't help but smile at her. She was interesting, that was for sure.
"What did Komiko talk to you about?" Yuri asked.
"Just making sure that I'll take care of you. She seems more like an older sister than a cousin or aunt."
"She kinda is."
They had boarded the plane, which had seemed a lot smaller than the other passenger planes. It seemed to only hold about fifty people. The people were people of all cultures around Asia had boarded the plane. Asia, counting the middle east, such as Arabia and Iraq and such. Multiple languages had filled the plane.
"It's pretty diverse in here, isn't it?" Yuri asked, looking around.
"It only seems like some of the Asians are here. I don't really see anybody else. I don't see blacks or whites anywhere." Daisuke mentioned.
"So, there must be a pretty big port there to hold that many planes."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, if everyone's not here, there must be planes that take off from every continent. It seems like there would be a lot of room to board six planes."
"I wonder where it is."
"Man, is it stuffy in here." They heard a voice. Yuri's purse had started to shake, and when Yuri opened it, Gi's head popped out.
"Gi!" Daisuke shouted. "Don't talk."
"Don't worry about it." Gi said with reassurance. "Everyone here has a Demon 411 somewhere around here. Or at least they've seen one."
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Daisuke asked. "Didn't I tell you to stay at home?"
"I wasn't going to miss your first DHA meeting." GI said with a smile. "I want to see you finally get a butt-whoopin' you've been deserving for callin' me a furball."
"We'll see who gets a whooping." Daisuke said with a glare.
"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE." An announcer said over a mega phone. It sounded Japanese, but everyone had gotten the command. They all stared at the woman with the mega phone. She then said something in another language and pointed to the headphones that had sat on the arm rests. She pointed to her ears. Daisuke put them on, and when he did, the woman looked content.
Hello, and welcome to DHA airlines. A voice came over the headphones. Daisuke looked at Yuri who had headphones on as well. The tape continued. We hope you enjoy your flight with us. Please sit back and relax as we explain the DHA.
The tape went on, explaining that DHA was founded in the early 1500 by powerful Priests that had the power to destroy demons. When people had started to frown upon differentiation between the priests and the normal people, they had kept their identity a secret. After a couple centuries, they found that there is a chemically imbalanceness that had made Demon Hunters attack others upon instinct.
Now, the tape continued. On your arm rest, there should be a green pill.
Daisuke turned to his arm rest and saw the green pill and a glass of water. He looked at it strangely.
This pill contains the ancient tongue of the Demon Hunters. With this pill you will be able to interact and speak with every person on the island.
Daisuke looked at it even more strangely. He had never heard of anything of this sort before. It seemed almost unnatural to him. Who could just learn an entire language by taking a pill? Nonetheless, Daisuke took the pill with a gulp of water. After a couple of seconds, every single part of his face grew hot and things had started to become dark and blurry. After a couple more seconds, it went away.
"Whoa. That was weird." Daisuke heard the neighbor to his left, who had been an Arabian kid.
"Can you understand me?" Daisuke asked.
"Yeah. Can you understand me?" the boy asked back.
"Yeah. Whoa. This is cool."
The weird thing was, Daisuke hadn't noticed anything different about his language speaking. It felt as if he was just speaking Japanese. And the others sounded like he was sounding Japanese.
"Where are you from?" Daisuke asked the boy.
"From Afghanistan. Are you Chinese?"
"Japanese."
"Same difference."
That had always insulted Daisuke a little. He was completely different from the Chinese. His culture had been very different, they're language was just as different as English was to German. It was almost a cultural slap in the face to him, but he didn't show it. Daisuke had looked at Yuri.
"Can you understand everyone?" he asked.
"Yeah. Everything is coming completely clear."
"Why don't they have this in the normal world?" Daisuke asked.
"Because…" a voice said behind him. "People like not being able to be understood at some points. If people were able to understand all the time, it would mean you would have to find some sort of code you and your friends could go by."
Daisuke turned around to see a kid that looked about a year or so older than him. He had long black hair, his eyes were hardened with scars left unseen by all. He didn't seem to be happy at all, and his expression had made Daisuke turn around.
"That's Kagori for you." The kid to his right said.
"That's Kagori?" Daisuke asked him.
"Yep. The number one Demon fighter in all of Asia. I'm not sure if you can really say he's the best in the world, but he's pretty closed."
Daisuke had imagined Kagori a lot tougher looking, bulkier. But he was just as average Daisuke was, just with a big bad ass attitude. Daisuke knew that looks were never important in this world that he was about enter. It was all skill.
"Welcome to the Demon Hunter's Association." The President had said. Nobody had really known his name, partially because he hadn't properly introduced himself, and there was a good chance that he didn't intend on doing so. The president had looked like he was in his early sixties, with his thin gray hair, and he relied on a cane. "I hope you enjoy your stay. Now, before you venture off to your rooms, I wish to tell you what is to be expected."
Everyone had been in the lobby of the most luxurious suit they had ever seen. Fountains had been placed everywhere, gardens that were filled with wondrous flowers, tennis courts, a small forest, a large pond, swimming pools (Indoor and outdoor), arcade, volleyball court, basket ball court, a skatepark, and a large computer room. It seemed it was made every one.
"Now, some of you may already know each other, and you can welcome them back. Tonight, you're going to have a feast for dinner. Steak, sushi, tacos, burritos, cereal, anything fulfilling of your stomach that you could possibly think of to eat, it shall be yours. After that, you'll have recreation time until midnight. There, you'll go to bed and we will have breakfast at nine in the morning. After breakfast, you'll meet with your assigned trainer, and after two hours of training, you'll have an early lunch, and after that, you'll have your battle with each other. Any questions?"
A young boy with blond hair raised his hand, and the president had pointed, indicating he could ask away.
"How long is the battle going to be?"
"A half an hour." The president replied.
Half an hour? Gi thought in Daisuke's head. That's twice as long as normal.
That had seemed to be all the questions that everybody had at the moment. Everyone had held their bags in their hands as the president spoke, and when he finished, the large group of people alienated.
"Isn't this place wonderful?" Yuri asked.
"Yeah, if you like fancy places." Daisuke said dryly.
"What, you don't like it?"
"Not particularly. I like the more, its homelike and cozy feeling."
"But they put millions, perhaps billions of dollars into this place. Can't you at least try and pretend to like it? I think they'll appreciate it."
"Well, I suppose they did go through a lot of trouble just to build this."
"Exactly." She said with a nod.
As they walked down the halls, looking for their rooms, they found Yuri's first. P-14.
"Why are we separated in the first place?" Daisuke asked. "I mean, you are my guest."
"Because I requested it." Yuri explained as she opened the door.
"Why?" Daisuke asked, hanging in the doorframe, as if he was too afraid to step forth inside the room.
"You a guy and I'm a girl. You do the math."
"Oh, c'mon. I thought you were done being sexist."
"Oh, I am. It's just that, well, no girl really wants some guy from school in her room sleeping in the same place as her. Besides, these places only offer one bed per room, whether it's king sized or normal."
"I can't believe you're ditching me."
"I'm not ditching you. You're rooms only down the hall and across buildings. It's a minute walk. Jeez, get over yourself."
"I suppose you're right."
"Now, go and get set up in your room. I'll see you later tonight." She said as she closed the door in his face (not slammed, closed.)
Daisuke sighed as he stared at the closed door, and then turned to find his room. As he walked down the hall, he saw other demon slayers already in the pool, slashing each other, diving, or just chilling on the floaties. Daisuke didn't notice how warm it was on the island.
They had landed what seemed like the middle of nowhere. There was another island he saw a couple miles from the island as they flew over. It seemed like those giant maps of geographic terms. Like mountains, peninsulas, volcanoes, glaciers, bays, rivers, lakes, ponds, canyons, desserts, rain forests, evergreen forests, artic, everything. He guessed that was the place where they would be fighting.
You worried? Gi asked.
Not much. I just don't really want to kill people, you know?
I respect your soft heartedness, but if you let your kindness imprudent decisions, you're merely weak. Don't let that happen. If you have to defend yourself, everyone else understands.
Why can't I just help people?
Two reasons. One: if you try to help somebody in danger, you're only going to end up destroying them because of the chemical imbalance in your body. And two: if you do end up helping this person, they'll only backstab you.
There's got to be some other way.
I don't think so kid. I wish there was, but I don't think there's any way to do this but the way that's given.
Daisuke walked to his room, and opened his door. When he walked in, he was more amazed than when he first entered Sakura's school. There had been a small kitchen with a living room attached. There was a stairway that had lead to an upstairs bedroom with a queen sized bed. He wouldn't believe what he had seen. It was more comfortable than he was expecting, and that was saying a lot. Daisuke had looked around a little as he put his bag down. He smiled as he could see the comfort that he was going to have.
The phone that had been placed next to the phone had started to ring, and he hesitated to pick it up. When he did, he said hello.
"Daisuke?" the person on the phone asked. It sounded very familiar, almost like…
"Dad?" Daisuke asked.
"Hey, son. How're you?"
"Okay, I guess."
How had his father get his number? He was in a island that had been in the middle of nowhere, and his father had the number to his room?
"Is it scary over there with no guys?"
"No, not really. The girls are pretty tough, and I don't mean mentally. They push me a lot."
"Getting pushed by girls? Is our next generation really this deep in trouble?" Daisuke hoped his father was joking.
"Yeah, well…" Daisuke didn't know what to say. Had his father actually known he was in a Demon Hunter trip?
DHA had spiked all the phones of people who might want to know about their person's whereabouts. Gi Explained. So, when your dad calls the school, it automatically comes over to the DHA security, and we have them put on shows. Just making it look realistic.
Daisuke understood it a lot better now. He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. His shoulders relaxed a lot more.
"Listen, dad. It's been great being able to talk to you, but I have to get to PE, soon. We're starting American Football today."
"Getting back into the western sports? That's my son."
"It's been great talking to you, dad."
"You to, son. I love you, and I just want you to know I'm proud of you."
Daisuke had never heard his father say this before. He could feel his throat burn as the tears had started to force their way through his eyes. Daisuke forced a smile and sniffed a little.
"I love you, too, dad."
Where is she?
I don't know. I can't see her either. Why didn't you follow her?
There was only one last tapioca pudding left. I told her to wait for me.
The two had been standing in the sea of people that had been placed in the cafeteria. They lost Yuri once again. This wasn't the first time, either. When they had first seen her after getting out of the condo, they had met up with her, and she got lost at the pool. Then she was lost in the arcade. She had a tendency of walking off by herself and looking at things that she thought was interesting.
Daisuke sighed. Gi sat on top of Daisuke's head, searching for Yuri, looking around like a sailor looking for land. Daisuke had looked at the food that was placed on his tray. A couple of bowls of cereal, a donut, and the last cup of tapioca pudding. A perfect meal for Daisuke. It was a treat have only one of these, but to have them all at the same time was something that had only come once in a lifetime in Japan
You see her yet?
Not yet. But I can tell that she probably has a seat by herself.
They were also having trouble with finding a seat with all the people. It was almost has hard as finding a parking spot at the mall on Christmas Eve. Daisuke walked up and down isles, looking for Yuri.
"Daisuke!" he heard her voice, and turned around, to see her with a hand in a seat, already sitting down.
See, I told you. Gi said.
"Shut up."
He sat down next to her and she smiled.
"You get lost easily, you know that?" she said.
"ME? What about you, miss Wander-a-lot."
"This place is just so big and extremely wonderful. They have a lot of things that I have been dying to see or do. I mean, it's great."
"I'm glad you're having a good time."
"What, you're not having fun?"
"Not when I have to look for you constantly!" he shouted.
"Sorry." she said with a childish smile with her tongue slightly sticking out.
"Hey, you!" the three heard a voice, and when they turned around, they saw a kid with a hat that said SF, on it and was long golden brown hair. His eyes didn't seem harmful, or too busy or superior to talk to Daisuke. They were kind, and seemed curious. "Are you Daisuke? That one kid from Japan."
"Um…yeah. Why?"
People ask that question to many times. How famous am I?'
"I heard you broke my record of demons hunted in twelve hours. That's pretty cool."
"How many did I get?"
"78."
"And you?"
"37."
"Is that the greatest record ever."
"No, but pretty close. The biggest is 91. Just a little more than a bakers dozen more and you could have taken the record."
"What's you're name?" Daisuke asked.
"The name's Jason. And you?" he asked, looking at Yuri.
"My name is Yuri." She said with a slight bow.
"Nice to meet you." Jason said as he held out a hand for her to shake.
"So, what's your rank in your country?" Daisuke asked.
"America? I'm the sixth best fighter. The fifth couldn't make it, so I was runner up. I feel privileged. Not ever Demon Hunter gets to even see this place."
"Well, there is the battle tomorrow."
"A small price to pay to see a great place like this. Although, I don't like the idea of killing of a friend just to protect yourself."
"I feel the same way." Daisuke said with a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Say, do you want to be partners?"
"Seriously?" Daisuke asked.
"Sure, it'll be fun. I'll watch your back if you watch mine, and such."
"Alright. I'll see you first thing in the morning…" And with that, he walked away, and Daisuke had seen a glimmer of hope for the Demon Hunter population after all. Maybe if more people were like him and Jason, maybe they could stop this Demon Hunter slaughter.
"I had fun tonight." Yuri said as they stopped by her room. Daisuke didn't feel that it was right for a girl to walk to her room by herself, even if she had insisted on it like Yuri did.
"So did I. I didn't know you kicked so much ass in pool."
"Well, a couple of years of playing that game does that to people."
"I imagine so."
"So, are you as nervous about tomorrow?"
"Not as nervous knowing that Jason will be there. He seems like he's another person in the world that I can trust, even if I had only known him for so long."
"I know what you mean, he seemed like a nice guy."
"Yeah, but seeming and actually being are two different things."
"You're both." She said plainly.
"What do you mean?"
"You're both seemingly and actually really nice. And sweet, and kind."
"Hey, I don't deserve too much credit. I owe it all to my mom. Without her, I wouldn't be raised up half as well."
"Isn't you're dad a large part of your life?"
"Not big. He was always gone when I was a kid, and when he was home, he was always disturbed by his cell phone. He tries to be a good dad, I know that. But sometimes, he lets business take over what's really important."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't be. Because of this, I had to meet up with a psychologist. Which strangely got me to be here."
"How did you manage to get here?"
Daisuke had spent the last couple of minutes explaining the whole mage on the roof and the him telling the psychologist that he was gay, and most of the story, she seemed to enjoy, like she could picture him doing every little detail that she had spoken. And the way Daisuke told his tale, he could understand why she was smiling. When people had kicked the Demon Hunters out of the arcade due to curfew, Daisuke decided that it was time for bed.
"I'm going to hit the hay."
"Alright. Get a good night's rest."
"I will." He said.
Daisuke didn't know how the next thing happened, but there was a spark. Daisuke couldn't tell if it was the emotions he had at the moment, or whether there was something in the air that made him do what he did, but the next couple of seconds, his lips were pressed warmly together with Yuri's. And the strange part was, she didn't back up. Rather, she had wrapped her arms around his ribs, and kissed back. Fairly soon, their tongues had met together, and Daisuke could feel the warmth of her body. His hands rested on her back as she leaned against the wall. Their bodies pressed together, and Daisuke could feel his arms and hands drop lower…
That's when he decided that he may have started to go to far, and broke the kiss right there. As he backed up, Yuri gave him a look that he quite couldn't decipher. He couldn't think of anything to do, except give a forced smile, and say, "Good night."
She smiled back, almost dreamily as he walked backwards a couple of steps before turning around to head for his room. Daisuke had never felt more alive in his life. He had now had a reason for a true fight tomorrow, and for some reason, he felt that something great would come out of it…