How do I keep on getting myself into these messes? Daisuke thought as a crowd had headed out the door of McDonald's, him behind the counter with a uniform on. Of course he knew how he got himself in this mess; it was a rhetorical question. He remembered exactly how he got himself into this mess. It was one of those things that you wouldn't even think would get you into a stressful situation.
Daisuke was walking down the street of Tokyo, just coming home from school. Snow hadn't fallen yet, which was odd. Although the weather was cold, Daisuke couldn't find out why it hadn't snowed yet. It wasn't normal. The latest was usually mid-November. And this was a week and two days until Christmas.
Aw, Christmas. The season of giving gifts to friends, school off, and his father getting a little too drunk on the eve of Christmas from the all the eggnog that he drank. And now that Daisuke was in high school, he was this was a big year for him to go out and buy Christmas presents. He had been saving up most of the year to buy people gifts. And more and more people had come into the group, which meant more presents. But he thought he had enough. 20,000 yen (about $200) was plenty for buying gifts, right? That's what he thought as he walked down the street. Until he had come across a little shop.
He didn't know what, or how it had caught his eye, but when he stopped and looked to his left, he had seen a beautiful jacket, made entirely of violet colors, and some woolen neck piece, giving it some comfort spots. But, as Daisuke walked had seen the price tag, he had noticed that it was over 6000 yen ($60) over his spending money. And Hakura was telling him he might want some extra spending money when he went to America.
But he couldn't ask his dad for money. If he wasn't going to beg his father, how was he going to pull sixty bucks out of his wallet? And then something had come to mind: a job. How hard could it be? He heard it might be stressful, but it couldn't be worse than Demon Hunting. Handling a cash register couldn't be that hard.
After passing his interview for McDonald's with flying colors, he started the very next day afterwards. He couldn't wait, but at the same time, it was going to be weird to serve somebody for five hours a day. It was just going to be a pain.
But it had been nearly two hours of his first day, and Daisuke had already hated working there. His manager had left him with the register to handle for a couple of hours. He wanted to make sure Daisuke could handle people and the machine at the same time. And Daisuke thought he could do it as well.
But a matter of minutes later, the near-by middle school had let out, and teens rushed in, and filled the place up, screaming, shouting, being loud, and just being disturbing. Daisuke hadn't noticed that his generation had been so irritating. But his first customer had come up.
"Hi, and welcome to McDonald's. How may I help you?" Daisuke forced a smile for the young teens. I can't believe that I'm slaving away for kids under my age.
"Yeah, I'd like to get a Large Mac." The kid said, looking at the board. Daisuke had looked at his computer. Every item had a button to punch in order to charge, but as Daisuke looked for a 'Large Mac' he noticed he could only find the Big Mac. But what if there was a difference? Daisuke hadn't gone there too many times. He didn't know what was what. His dad usually ordered and knew what to get Daisuke. Daisuke had started to grow weary, trying to find the right button. He could feel the irritation in the teens waiting as he eagerly searched for the button.
"Um… Kayo!? I need help!" Daisuke called the assistant manager. Kiyo had been pretty cool about things. He had usually been pretty easy going about Daisuke's constant mistake. He had extremely long black hair, which he usually kept in a ponytail, but that had top be under his hat during work. His glasses had pulled off a sort of… sensual look. He was attractive looking, but weird acting, so it never really worked out for him with the ladies department. But, he had been working at the same McDonald's for the last seven years (he was twenty three). As Kiyo came over, he looked at Daisuke.
"Whatcha need?"
"Where's the Large Mac."
"It's the Big Mac there, Sparky." That had been Kiyo's nickname for Daisuke. He pressed the button and patted Daisuke on the shoulder as he left, indicating him a good luck with the next two minutes before Daisuke cried Kiyo's name again.
After a couple of more times of crying for Kiyo, Daisuke had finally gotten the whole "cashier" business down pat. Sure, he had a couple of questions every couple of minutes, but he had gotten down that he didn't need to call Kiyo until every half hour.
Around seven o'clock, things had started to slow down. With three hours of nothing but pure rushing, Daisuke had no clue what to do when people had stopped coming in.
"Hey, Sparky!" Kiyo called. When Daisuke turned around, he saw a broom thrown towards him and caught it, and then he saw a dustpan land next to his feet. "We need you to check lobby. Go clean it up."
"Alright." Daisuke said. He was used to sweeping at his house, so how much harder could it be at his job. As it turned out, it wasn't very hard at all. It was just like home, just a little messier, and the trash bags were a lot bigger. But it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
"Hey, Kiyo?" Daisuke called he was sweeping. Kiyo had a soda in his hand as he waited for customers to come in. "How come you never quit this job? You've been here for so long."
"I need to pay rent and stuff, Sparky. I can't stop for a single week, because I usually won't make it without a weeks paycheck. Every single week counts."
"Can't you look for another job as you work here? I mean, then you can directly go into another place without having to wait a weeks paycheck."
"I could, but I don't know where to work at. I mean, McDonald's has been all I've known for the last years. It's the one thing I'm good at."
"Well, what about that anime café you go to every single morning until you have to come to work?"
"Huh?" Kiyo asked. "How did you know I went there?"
"A little hint." Daisuke said as he raised a filled trash bag, half of the stuff had been empty cups from the café. "And I know that Jishi doesn't like coffee, either. And there's only three of us during this shift. Who else is there?"
"You could be in a trance and go to places without knowing that you're doing it. Maybe somebody's controlling your actions." Kiyo laughed. Daisuke usually would have laughed too, but when he thought about it, but it could have been a special power form the books on the people he had been fighting lately.
"What's Jishi doing anyway?" Daisuke asked.
Jishi had been the manager of the place. A Korean, he had loved nothing but Korean things. He had been a little racist at times without meaning to be. The cooks in the back were Korean. And every time that Saewon, one of the cooks, wanted to take Kiyo's drink, Kiyo would usually sock them in the arm, and take it back. And than Jishi would get mad at Kiyo. Or, if Saewon starts strangling Kiyo, Jishi would be upset that Kiyo isn't working. That kind of thing. But Jishi was a good person, he just didn't direct his attention to things like he should.
"Probably in the back again, talking to his wife."
"He can do that? Isn't he suppose to be working on papers or something? He's the manager."
"Because he's the manager, that's is his job. He gets to leave for 'business' stuff whenever he wants to. Sure, he'll go check up on a store, but he visits a friend that's there. I swear to you, all the manager's in a twenty mile radius are friends."
"Well," Daisuke said, putting the broom and dustpan away. "I've swept, what else is there to do?"
"Besides cook more patties, nothing. But you can't do that; it's the cooks job, remember?"
"Ugh! There's nothing to do!" Daisuke said loudly with a large, frustrated sigh. The policy was that if you were caught not working, you were suspended for the day. And with nothing to do, Daisuke didn't know how to overcome his boredom. Maybe he'd get a soda. The staff was offered free, unlimited soda as they worked, and if you were drinking a soda, it counted for working. As weird as it sounded, it was convenient as well.
Daisuke had started to drink his cup when he started to think of that jacket again. He really, really wanted to give it to Yuri. But then, there was Yuki to give a present to as well. He couldn't just show favoritism to between them can he? It didn't seem right. But he didn't want to go out and give the two the same exact present. Everybody else was easy to shop for, and then he found this jacket. But now the jacket that he thought would be a great gift had been turned into a whole competition in the making. Although, he never thought about never buying the jacket and saving himself from the trouble.
As he sighed, he knew that this was going to be a Christmas that would never be forgotten.
"What do you think Daisuke's doing now?" Yuri asked Yuki as they walked down the street.
"Who knows?" Yuki asked, taking a sip of her hot chocolate in her Styrofoam cup with a lid. As she gulped, and sloshed the cup around, realizing she had far more to drink, she looked at Yuri. "I mean, we haven't seen him outside of school for the last couple of days, and he's been leaving us with his Demon Hunting responsibilities. It's really irking me."
"You don't think he's trying to avoid us, do you?" Yuri asked.
"No," Yuki said in a confident tone. "He wouldn't do that." But that last part didn't sound as convincing.
"You're worried about him to?"
"He's been acting pretty weird." Yuki admitted. "Every time he talks to either one of us, he rushes the conversation, and takes off. Nobody else seems to see any change in his at all. Not even Ryuku."
"I wonder what it is." Yuri said in thought.
"You can never tell with Daisuke. He's so unpredictable nowadays."
The two walked down the street, thick jackets and pants to keep warm from the cold. Still, no snow had fallen, and most people were beginning to worry that it wasn't going to fall at all this year. Rumors saying that demonic aura had been causing the town to be dry of any snow. But, with being Demon Hunters, the group hadn't believed in a word of the demonic sense.
Yuri and Yuki had been getting along better than ever now, and what had been their rivalry for Daisuke had soon disappeared. Not entirely. There had been feelings for Daisuke by the two, but they had never aid anything that might anger the other by Daisuke's name. But, once in a while, it was okay to tease each other.
"So," Yuri said with a large grin. "Whatcha get Daisuke?"
"Just some chocolate. You?" Yuki said in a tone that said that the question Yuri asked was not personal at all.
"Well, I… uh…" Yuri stuttered. Crap! She actually got him something before me? This isn't good. I need to find a way to beat her. I mean she bought him only chocolates, right? "How come you only got him chocolate?" Yuri decided to change the subject.
"Haven't I told you?" Yuki asked as she stopped dead in her tracks. Confusion was plaster on her face as she looked into Yuri's eyes.
"Told me what?"
"I'm an orphan. I live by myself."
"R…really?" Yuri asked, stunned about what she was hearing.
"My parents went to a Christmas party and left me with a babysitter, and they got into a car wreck about two years ago. I've been taking care of myself since then. You know, living off by getting good grades. My aunt pays me money for every good report card I send towards her. Are you sure I never told you this story?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Yuri said in a tad bit of a hurt tone. Wow. I thought I had it bad. At least my father, even if he is a bastard, is alive. But she lost them over night. Even my mother died of a long term disease, and we were all prepared for it. How could Yuki just move along so easily? It's only been two years.
"Are you coming or what?" Yuki asked as she was about to cross the street, holding her hot chocolate, the steam rising to the heavens.
"Yeah, I'm coming."
As Yuri caught up with Yuki, they looked at each other. Yuki still had her look on her face.
"I can't believe that Ryuku didn't tell you guys. I mean, sure I told him not to tell, but I thought he would anyway."
"You told Ryuku? Have you ever even told Daisuke, yet?"
"I don't think I have."
"Why would you tell Ryuku and not Daisuke."
"I don't' know…" Yuki said, thinking about it. It seemed strange to her as well. Perhaps she wasn't thinking at the time. "There's just something about Ryuku that makes you want to tell him stuff. I don't know. He's just…"
"I know what you mean." Yuri said, ending Yuki's uneasiness on the subject on talking to Ryuku. There was something about him that made you want to confess.
As the two were walking down the road, they felt an aura. They looked at each other. It had been massive. They looked around, and as if the whole world was black and white and who they were looking for were in color, they say Hakito standing out in the crowd.
"Great, it's the freak." Yuri said. "What are we going to do?" When Yuri turned towards Yuki, she saw that Yuki was walking down the street at a rather fast pace. She caught up to Yuki and looked at her, but Yuki wouldn't look back. "What's wrong?"
"Hakito is stronger than we can ever imagine."
"What are you talking about? He's weaker than Doichi was, and he was the first to go."
"He hasn't even seen us yet. He's not angered, or excited or anything. Imagine the power he's holding back right now. That's him in relaxed mode. Imagine if he found us. Daisuke's nowhere to be found. He'd go straight for the kill."
"You don't really think that he can take the two of us, do you? I mean, we know each other."
"Right. But we know nothing about him. It's best that we get Daisuke and Ryuku before we do any form of attack. Perhaps they know Hakito better than us. Only they can tell."
The aura had suddenly tripled in strength, and when Yuri turned around, she had met eye contact with him.
"Don't look at him!" Yuki said in a loud whisper and she grabbed Yuri's hand "Let's go!"
The two took off running, and Hakito had let them go. He simply watched as they absconded into the city. He knew what was going to happen. His aura was readable from the entire city. He knew that the group was able to feel the entire aura, and that they were going to group together to fight him. It was all obvious. The whole thing. Even the fighting stage: the field of AU High. That's where most of the battles had taken place. It's a place of spiritual relics. And he knew all this without the help of his book, too…
Daisuke had felt it. It was an weird aura. It was overwhelming, strong, and really, really big. But it wasn't angered or excited. It was a little tense, but other than that, it had been pretty much nothing that a normal aura usually had. What was going on?
Daisuke had just got off work when he had felt the aura. He had started to look for it, thinking that maybe it had been Hakito. It had to be. Who else could it be? It didn't make sense to be anybody else. He continued to power walk down the street, looking. But that's when he bumped into Yuri and Yuki. Their faces had been a little worried, but not pained in any sense. A good sign.
"Did you feel it, too?" Daisuke asked.
"Yeah. It's Hakito. He's spotted us." Yuri explained.
"Has he followed you guys?"
"It doesn't seem like he's headed towards us at all." Yuki replied, looking around. "I think he's up to something."
"He's probably waiting for us somewhere." Daisuke said, feeling the aura move, but not towards them. "Where the heck could he be going?" Daisuke asked quietly to himself out loud.
"You don't think he wants to fight us, do you?" Yuri asked.
"I haven't felt his aura like this before. It must be a power outbreak. His power is probably coming even though he's been trying to hide all of it. So, he's going to take care of us while he can keep it as low as possible. He wanted to sneak attack us." Daisuke said.
"How do you know all this?" Yuki asked. "Has he told you? Or his he that obvious?"
"Neither. It's just a gut feeling I have. I don't know what's going to happen, but I think we should go out after him."
"We're just going to end up fighting." Yuki pointed out. "He's not going to join us, Daisuke. You have to accept that fact."
"I realize that if the time for battling comes, than I must prepare for it. But don't prepare before you've given peace a chance."
"That's the Daisuke we all know and love." Yuki said sarcastically. "If any of us get hurt because of your carelessness, you're going to have to live with that."
"Don't worry. Nothing bad is going to happen."
"To us." Yuri pointed out. "If we have to fight, none of us are going to get hurt. It's that little creep."
"Why do you have a problem with him?" Yuki asked. "besides the obvious. Sure, he's not on our side, but you've been bagging on his ever since you've come back on our side. What's the deal with him? What aren't you sharing with us that's about him?"
"Well, it's just that…" Yuri paused. She knew that she probably should have told her friends this, but for some reason she didn't. "It's nothing I know for a fact, but it's a feeling. It's like he can see inside me. Like he knows me without even me saying anything about him. And it's not a good way, either. It's really creepy and strange. I just want to get him either on our side so we can trust him, or to finish him off so he can stop creeping me out."
"That's the only reason you want to do him in? Because he's been giving you the creeps? That's such a babyish way to do things." Yuki pointed out in a disappointing form of tone.
"I think I know where he's heading." Daisuke said, breaking up the fight that was clearly coming in the near by future.
"Where?" Yuri asked.
"Where else?" Yuki replied, already getting the hint and feeling where the aura was going. "AU High's field. Where we fought Doichi and the two chicks."
"Is that place really all that great of a battlefield?" Daisuke asked in a half-joking manner.
"Well, what are we going to do?" Yuki asked. "It's obvious he wants us to follow him. Is it safe to assume that that's our best option?"
"It doesn't look like he's going to give us much of a choice." Daisuke, staring into the direction that Hakito's aura was heading. "He's going to get us in a dead-end and fight him sooner o later. We're going to have to fight him, and we might as well do it now. We don't want him ruining the holidays, right?"
The two nodded, and the three had taken off to go toward Hakito. It only took about a minute in a half to get to where they needed to go. It wasn't all that hard. Just a couple of buildings jumped here and there, and they were where they needed to go. As they stopped, they saw Hakito standing in the middle of the field, looking at the three.
"So, you decided to come."
"Don't act like you didn't know we were going to do so otherwise!" Yuri shouted. "I don't know what it is about you, but for some reason, I know you know what we're feeling. It's like you have cameras or something around us."
"A good guess, but not quiet accurate. If you truly want to know my secret, than perhaps you should try and fight me, don't you think?"
"Hakito, do you really want to go through all of this? I mean, I don't really want to fight. You should know that by now. I've never wanted to fight you guys. I don't want to fight anybody in the world. But if you're going to try and hurt my friends, or innocent people, I'm afraid I'm going to have to destroy you."
"Is that you're logic? Just say that you're doing it to protect your friends? You're pathetic. I know that you a reason far more reasonable than just wanting to protect. You fight because you know that somewhere in your heart, it drives you. You want to fight real people, not just demons. It makes you mentally and spiritually stronger to fight actually people. You're heart doesn't retch every time you slay a person now. You want the bitterness of death to leave your mouth forever, am I right?"
Daisuke hesitated for a bit. But after a while, Daisuke grinned and shook his head.
"You got me, Hakito. You're right on the money."
"Daisuke!" Yuri said appalled.
"No, Yuri. He's completely right. I know that it sounds horrible, and it probably is. But I don't like the taste of defeating and killing off people. If I do it enough, I think I can do my job of finishing off Kagori."
"That's not the Daisuke I know." Yuki said.
"Don't get me wrong," Daisuke said. "I know that Kagori's human, and I want to save him, but knowing him, he's going to refuse, and I'm going to be in this exact position. I need to ready myself for just in case we're going to fight. You have to understand that."
"So, are we going to fight, or are we going to sit here and babble all day long?" Hakito said, getting his book out.
"Before you use that cheap device, do you mind telling us what it does?" Yuki asked.
"Why would I do something so foolish? You can't expect me to just hand over my secrets. You'll know in good time."
"Alright, I don't mind surprises." Daisuke said with a grin. "Let's get this on, shall we?"
Hakito had gotten his book and did the ritual, and the sky and scenery had changed again. As Daisuke looked around, he had looked at Hakito.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Daisuke asked, one last time. He wasn't going to strike somebody without fully trying to convert them to good.
"I should be asking you the same question."
Daisuke nodded slightly, showing that he understood. Daisuke knew that the most respectable thing to do would be to kill him right away. But how should he do it? Hakito seemed to have a weakness for speed. When he saw Lily and him spar, Lily usually was able to get to him and make a couple of blow. If Daisuke could get behind him, then it would be an easy attack.
Daisuke charged forward, and quickly made it behind Hakito. He drew his sword, and tried attacking, but Hakito had already put his blade up for the deflect. Daisuke was caught by surprise, but didn't let that stop him. He swung several times, but Hakito had blocked them all. At one point, Daisuke found himself flailing to the ground, bouncing not once, but twice before skidding to a stop. Daisuke sat up and saw that he was several dozen yards away from Hakito. What happened? Did Hakito read his moves that easily or was Daisuke that predictable. Either way, no more mister nice guy.
Daisuke got up and charged again, swinging rapidly, but only to have the attacks blocked. Daisuke felt a sudden pain in his stomach, where he saw Hakito's knee there. Daisuke's one weak spot where he couldn't constantly cover it. Then there was the kick to the side of the head and sent Daisuke skidding again.
Yuki couldn't stand the sight of Daisuke getting pummeled. She had gone towards Hakito, but before she could even draw her weapon, she was kicked to the side, and Yuri was caught, just about to catch him from the other side. Hakito threw her towards Yuki, and they hit the floor on top of each other.
"Do you still want to continue with this pointless battle. You fools will die before you even have the chance to try and figure out what my book does."
"We'll see about that!" Daisuke's voice came from behind Hakito, but Hakito had already been in the defensive position when Daisuke started to swing. With Hakito's knowledge of Daisuke being able to get behind him, Daisuke was thrown off guard. Hakito had grabbed him by the throat and kneed him in the stomach again, and tossed him onto the girls who were just starting to get up in pain.
"Man," Yuri said as they started to get up together. She glared in Hakito's direction. "What's this kid made out of? It's like he's invincible."
"No, that's not it. It's like he knows our every move before we even do them."
"Perhaps he's got the ability to move faster. If he has that gift, he would be able to read our moves and dodge them or deflect."
"I concur." Yuki said. "It sounds like the thing that he may have against us. So, all we have to do is be faster than him."
"Yeah, but how easy is that going to be? We can't even see his eyes watching us when we're going full speed." Yuri pointed out. "Do you really think we can pull this off?"
"It may take some time and a lot of effort, but I think if we work together, we can pull this off."
"You're fools." Hakito said as he saw that they were ready to battle again. "There's no way that you can possibly win this battle. Every one of you shall perish in this forever realm. There will be no Demon Hunters to stop us once this battle is over."
"Except Hakura." Yuki said.
"And Ryuku." Yuri pointed out in the same tone of defensiveness that Yuki had. But when her statement was made, the three looked at each other. "Where is Ryuku?"
"I can't believe we didn't notice that he wasn't with us!" Daisuke shouted.
"This is odd. It's not like Ryuku to miss a battle. I wonder what he's up to."
Ryuku continued to walk around town, his thoughts drowning out everything that he had been surrounded by. Everything that had been going on had been obsolete and didn't have a desire to be sought out by Ryuku. He had simply kept his mind on his current problem.
What should I say to her? He questioned himself. He walked by a crowd of people watching a TV in front of a local in-the-alley store. I mean, I don't want to scare her off. But then again, if I say this to her, it might be the most responsive thing she'll give me. And when the group finds out, there's going to be utter chaos with questioning. I don't want to think about the future.
Ryuku continued to walk down the street, passing by people, dodging cars as he jaywalked down the street. He had been able to look around, and seem active without leaving his mind. Everything that was important was going on in his head.
Until something had stopped him for a minute. Did he feel a powerful aura? Or was it four? Now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard from any of his friends for a while. Did Hakito decide to attack after all? Either way, he hoped that nobody had taken too much action from him, and he darted off in that direction.
Daisuke bounced off the ground, leaving a dash of blood as he flew. But before he could touch the ground a second time, Hakito had been hovering above him, and kicked Daisuke to the ground, making Daisuke kick up dirt and grass, and other earth elements as he grounded up the ground while dragging. Daisuke tried getting up, but he only sat up before coughing out blood, and collapsing back into the hole he had made.
"What is this?" He heard Hakito and when he looked up, he had seen Hakito grinning in victory as he looked down at Daisuke. "I thought you, the great Daisuke, would be able to put up much more of a fight then this. You even had your friends help, and you couldn't even a scratch on me? What happened? You've slayed hundreds of demons, and killed off four of our people. And now you just lay there in defeat? Are you that weak, Hiromushu. Perhaps you deserve to die. I can't believe I actually thought I needed a plan to kill you!"
Dang it! Daisuke thought. I thought that I would be able to fight and keep this world safe. But I couldn't even be an equal to this guy! How am I suppose to protect the world if I couldn't even leave a mark? It's like he's a god. Even though I move as quickly as possible, he knows what I'm going to do. I've done some moves I've never done before, but he already knows how to block them or dodge them. It's like his eyes are quicker than we ever anticipated. I'm going to die like this.
Suddenly, an arrow had shot out towards Hakito, but Hakito dodged at the last minute. But when Daisuke saw the look on Hakito's face, it was the face of something Hakito hadn't shown in the entire fight: the face of surprise.
Daisuke had seen Ryuku with a bow strapped to his arm, but he wasn't too far from Hakito.
"Aw, c'mon Daisuke. Did you guys get your asses kicked that badly? I was only a few minutes late! How did you manage to get hurt this badly!? I swear, it's like I need to baby-sit you guys every second of every day."
"Hmph…" Hakito said, accepting the idea the last of the group had come. "So you finally came. I had started to think you hadn't sensed my aura. But I guess you're not that stupid. You're also not so lucky to have me to fight against."
Ryuku had moved his collar of his jacket closer to his ears, trying to keep them warm. He then blew his hands, trying to make them heated as well, all in doing so with a grin. His eyes glared into Hakito's, something amuse. Something was up Ryuku's sleeve.
"Do you have no idea who I am?" Ryuku asked. "Sure, I may be one of Daisuke's friends, but I've got tactics you've never been able to dream of. If you think you're some sort of badass to stand up and fight against me, then you're just as big a badass to fight Death himself. If you really want to fight, then bring it."
"It's you who should be warned. For I have a secret weapon." Hakito warned.
Ryuku scoffed at the mentioning of the book. He shook his head in disgrace and then turned his attention back to Hakito.
"Nothing but cheap tricks. That's all it is, and that's all it's ever going to be. I hope you know no force on earth is going to stop me from ripping you to shreds for hurting my friends."
"You continue to talk, but your words mean nothing to me."
Suddenly, Ryuku had head-butted Hakito in the middle of the face, bashing his nose in, and most of the upper layer. Hakito's head swung back in pain. What happened. Did Hakito just get hit? There was no way! Hakito's special move didn't say that he would attack Hakito! What happened. Was the gift functioning. Hakito felt the pain, and fell to the ground.
"Now," Ryuku said, rubbing his chin. "You think just because I'm friends with a guy this dense, I don't do my homework. Well, you're wrong, and you couldn't be any wronger."
"More wrong." Yuki corrected from a distance.
"Whatever." Ryukyu waved her off. "My point is, that even though you think that you may have me due to your trick, I know exactly what it is, and I know how to destroy it."
"You know his gift?" Daisuke asked weakly as he started to sit up.
"It's obvious." Ryuku said, looking from Daisuke and back to Hakito. "It's mind reading."
It all made sense. Hakito had been reading the thoughts of what Daisuke was going to do. Even the subtext of what his attacks were going to be like, such as how hard, and when, and at which place. It was an ingenious thing to use. But what did Ryuku mean by he knew how to destroy it?
"You speak blasphemy. You couldn't know how to undo mind reading. There's nothing you can do to throw off anything in my balance." Hakito said, panic in his voice.
"Oh really?" Ryuku questioned. "I think that I might be able to change your mind in that area."
Ryuku was in front of Hakito, sending punches into Hakito's face and stomach as Hakito had started to bleed. Ryuku sent Hakito flying, and when Hakito was suppose to hit the ground, Ryuku grabbed him by the foot, and threw him into a concrete wall, sending holes into it with each blow. Ryuku kicked Hakito in the face, and Hakito went sailing farther than a field goal football. When Hakito landed, he bounced a few times before stopping. When he slowly looked up, and tried standing, Ryuku placed his foot on his back, drawing his sword and holding it to Hakito's face.
"I don't understand…" Hakito said with confusion. "How?"
"It's simple." Ryuku said with a fake smile and happiness. "I've intertwined with an old Demon Hunting spirit. You read his mind while I attack. You never can guess what's coming, even when you read minds, huh? Cheerio!" Ryuku said with a British accent.
But Hakito had raised his hand toward Ryuku, and sent Ryuku flying backwards, to land on his feet. Hakito stood up, and brushed the dirt off himself. He stretched his muscles in his shoulder, and then looked attentively at Ryuku.
"You think that destroying my ability to read your mind has made me weak. Don't think so quickly, my foe. Do you honestly think I'd be in the Demon Hunting world had I not been able to fight without mind reading?"
"I don't know." Ryuku said with a grin. "I've never heard of you before. And only those who I've heard of deserves to be enlisted in my memory."
"You think that a couple of words are going to break my confidence?" Hakito grinned back. Ryuku gave a confused look.
"I know what you're doing, Ryuku. It's a specialty of yours that you rely on. I'm not even sure if you're aware of doing it."
"And what would that be, that I couldn't even tell that I was for sure doing something?"
"You speak to your opponents. And with every growing word, you make them feel a little more stupid with your speeches. It's not feeling you notice right away, it's hidden. You don't want to feel weak, so people attack you before their adrenalin drains, leaving them open for a stupid attack. And with every time you block, their confidence falls, until they're too weak to even try to attack you with their everything, and you slay them."
"Nice analysis. I've never noticed that before." Ryuku said. "But now that I think about it, I can't help but think that it's true. I don't think I've not used that technique in any of my battles."
"But now that I know, it's not going to work on me."
"Well, instead of talking, draw your sword, and I'll kill you in another way."
Hakito drew his sword, and the two went to battle. The clanking of swords and sprits had made everything shake. It seemed with every attack that Hakito gave, Ryuku blocked it with a taunting look, as if it were too easy for him. Hakito backed up after a couple of attacks.
"Are you going to attack me or not! You're just defending yourself!"
"I could do that. Or maybe I could just sit here and let you drain all your energy and kill you when the time is right."
"That's cheap." Hakito exclaimed.
"With the way I've grown up in life, it's the only way to live. Let your enemy do things the way they think if fitting, and then surprise them right underneath their noses."
"Have you no honor?"
"Honor is for people who could actually afford it. I find that living is something pretty important to me. Hell, screw honor if it means dying."
"Honor, or no honor, I'll have your head."
"No," Ryuku said, suddenly right behind Hakito. "As long as you have your pride, I'll always strike when needed."
With that, Ryuku stabbed Hakito in the back. Hakito gasped in horror or pain, Ryuku didn't know which. Most likely both at the same time. Either way, Ryuku had gotten Hakito.
"H…how?" Hakito questioned.
"It's easy," Ryuku explained. "You let your guard down while you spoke. Doppelgangers aren't just for people with special books. Us normal people can learn as well."
The book floated out of Hakito's pocket, and it dispersed. The sparkles had become cohesive with the earth. Ryuku yanked his sword out, leaving spilt blood on the ground. But instead of Hakito being flown into a deadly position, it was Ryuku who had flown away.
"Ha!" Hakito said, still lying on the ground on his stomach. "It seems the book has mistaken the winner! You'll soon die. That'll teach you who to mess with!"
"No you fool." Ryuku said. "It's you."
When Hakito turned around to see what Ryuku was referring to, he had seen the piece of concrete wall that Ryuku was bashing him with. The holes had been in a circular form (Battle coincidence, or the book?) and had broken off, sending two thousand pounds of wall on top of Hakito. The group looked away at the given moment of the squishing. They didn't look in that general direction, but rather stood up and started to leave, not wanting to see anything that had might of remained in view out of the bottom of the rock.
As it seemed, all battle scars had been removed, and they could no longer feel pain. Any sing of battle, besides the wall, had been removed. As if the whole thing never happened on the field. But as the group left, they looked at Ryuku in wonder, not knowing which questions to ask first.