Everything seemed to pause after the deafening sound of gunshots died down. Right behind the motionless minotaur stood Officer Asahi with his gun clenched tightly in his hands, aimed towards the giant, humanoid bull.
Miwatoshi waited in tense silence, watching for any reaction from the beast carefully. He had barely managed to stop the thing from killing the blond child but there was no guarantee that it wouldn't simply finish the job before starting on the policeman.
Very slowly, as if stuck in slow motion, the minotaur turned towards the brunette man. It watched him curiously, head tilted to the side as if wondering. Miwatoshi stared back, not willing to break eye contact.
The bullet wounds on the ancient monster's shoulders closed off in gentle flickering black flame, leaving behind nothing on the skin.
'Ah…It can heal…' he absently noted.
It then advanced towards Asahi who stood frozen in fear, unable to move. The minotaur raised its ax slightly before swinging it towards the detective, who could only stare until-
"OFFICER! DUCK!!!!"
Rikuo's horrified voice snapped Miwatoshi out of his own head and the man quickly ducked out of the way, barely missing the sharp ax by an inch.
He didn't get a chance to recover and realize what had happened for the beast continued to assault the brown haired officer relentlessly, forcing him to dodge unless
he died by its hands.
Miwatoshi ran around the hallway, trying to distance the beast from the struggling blond by the wall.
'God damnit…' he cursed to himself silently. 'I should have kept Rikuo from entering this creepy place.'
He had allowed himself to be influenced by the worry for Kunichi and Rikuo's stubbornness about saving their teammates. They had been reckless with their decision and now, it seemed like they were more likely to die before they reached the others.
Rikuo pushed himself up in a hurry. He picked up his discarded dagger and with a war cry, jumped into the oversized bull's back, barely remembering to coat the blade with his reiki.
His dagger sunk into the beast's open back right between the shoulder blades. The monster roared out in pain as pure reiki invaded its system, attacking the corrupted energy of the bull. It trashed around, trying and failing to get the young exorcist who held onto dear life off of itself, the police detective long forgotten in the face of its pain.
Asahi Miwatoshi did not waste the opening, however.
The brunette officer aimed his gun towards the struggling minotaur and fired several more times, careful to not hit the teen. First two shots grazed the beast's thighs and the last two landed right on its chest, where the heart would be.
Yet, they did nothing to kill the mythical monster, healing the bullet wounds within seconds. With a cry, the minotaur finally threw the blond child off of its back where he skidded away over the wooden floor. Rikuo grunted, letting out a strangled cry at the burn of his wounds.
The monster ignored the now cursing child behind it to continue towards Miwatoshi. Fortunately, it did not pick up its ax, though unfortunately for the detective, it moved too fast for him to dodge.
A huge fist collided with his chest and he went flying. A strangled cry tore out of his throat at the force of the hit. Asahi Miwatoshi tasted the blood that curdled up inside his mouth. He came to a halt when his back hit the wall however.
The officer's head ringed and he was pretty sure he had a broken rib or two. He threw up the blood that suddenly came flooding out.
Miwatoshi raised his head to stare at the minotaur that once again slowly descended towards him, too helpless to move.
He stared up at the face of the certain death unflinchingly. He wished he could see his family one last time, and hoped for his last moments to be helpful for the exorcist boy in escaping the Meido Territory.
With one last breath, the brunette detective closed his eyes. He waited for the impact-
'BANG!!!'
Sound of a gunshot echoed and Miwatoshi felt something heavy fall into the ground, just in front of his outstretched feet. He cracked his eyes open to see the minotaur on the ground, bleeding profusely through the bullet wound lodged into its head.
On its back was also Rikuo's knife still stuck between its shoulder blades, the flesh around it rapidly rotting away into what seemed to be black glittering dust.
He then raised his hand to see the said blond teen on the ground a few feet away from Miwatoshi with a smoking gun gripped tightly in his hands. The officer released a breathless chuckle then broke into a hysterical laughter. To think he had been so sure about dying just a few seconds prior.
And just like that, the spell was broken as Rikuo scrambled towards Miwatoshi, worried for the man. Unlike Rikuo who was physically blessed not just by his patron but also enhanced by his use of reiki, Officer Asahi was a normal human and the punch from the minotaur most likely damaged him far more than it damaged the teen.
Soon enough the blonde teen was beside Miwatoshi, his hands glowing slight silver of his reiki as he attempted to heal the elder man. The brunette man glanced at Rikuo in question.
"W-what-cough cough!, are you doing?"
"Healing you. Teacher taught me how to heal basic wounds with reiki."
"Oh? -cough!, how?" He asked curiously, trying to distract himself from the cool sensation that started to spread around his chest.
He had yet to accept all the weird magical things about the Midnight Realm so far but he was getting there. Rikuo hummed a bit, a small grin lighting up his battered face.
"It's like what I did with my dagger and your gun earlier. I am channeling then shaping my reiki into creating a small barrier around your wounds then using the energy generated to activate and boost your cell regeneration to heal the injuries."
"I see… Is it something any of your kind can do?"
"Yes but it also depends on the person I think. Shuuji is better at this than me."
Rikuo removed his palm from Miwatoshi's chest once he finished healing. The brunette officer sat up, marveled at how the pain had all but disappeared.
"All done. Now come on! We have to keep moving!"
The teen stood up and started walking further down the hall. He had a slight limp in his left leg and the bruises bloomed on what visible skin he showed. Miwatoshi frowned concerned.
"Can't you heal yourself?" He asked, quickly following the boy.
"I can but I am a little low on reiki right now. So in case we get attacked again, I need to preserve my reiki to fight."
Rikuo then smiled at Miwatoshi.
"Don't worry sir, I'll be fine. I am far more sturdier than normal people."
"Alright…"
They continued their journey down the hall, weapons retrieved and ready in case of attack. They could not afford to lose anymore time, for who knows how long their partners could hold up.
….
If anyone asked Harukami Shuuji what he thought of their current situation, he would look at that person in the eyes and say-
'This Is Bullshit.'
Earlier in the day, alongside Officer Kunichi, Shuuji had left to investigate one of the crime sites he found while organizing the police reports. Their little expedition was only meant to satisfy the ravenette's suspicions.
And yes, while it had indeed proven his suspicions correct, their journey also ended with them trapped inside the newly established Meido Territory. So, in the teen's humble opinion, their current situation was utter bullshit and he hated every second of it.
Behind him, he heard Officer Kunichi's gun go off nonstop as the elder man took down the onryo that swarmed them with help of Jor, who channeled reiki for the man.
Shuuji himself slashed down yet another low grade corrupted spirit despite the distractions of his own head.
The raven haired boy growled lowly under his breath as he slid out of the way of the crab onryo's pincers, only to almost be stabbed by the damned spikes of a hedgehog youkai
Swiftly ,Shuuji cut down hedgehog onryo with his coated dagger before he delivered a reiki-filled kick against the crab's inner shell. It screeched something unholy before disintegrating into a shower of black glitter.
"Tch…" he grumbled.
The ravenette stepped back from the hoard and closer to the round Officer.
"How many bullets do you have left?" Kunichi grimaced.
"Not much kid, not much. How long do you think you can hold up?"
"Another hour with the amount of reiki I have left. Two, if I push myself." Shuuji answered, as he got rid of yet another beast that came after the two. Kunichi nodded behind.
The elder man raised his gun and pressed the trigger. Instead of shooting, the gun only made a clicking sound. Cursing, the round man ducked out of the way of the onryo's swipe.
"SHIT!!"
"KID! COVER FOR ME!"
Shuuji didn't think twice before he was in front of Kunichi, attacking the donotsura without hesitation. Behind them, Kunichi quickly reloaded his gun.
Jor hissed in warning for Shuuji who moved out of the way and the round officer shot the donotsura straight in the heart.
The donotsura slumped, fading away before it even hit the ground. The duo panted in exhaustion but they didn't have much time to catch their breath before they were assaulted by the next monster.
In the labyrinth of never ending battle, Harukami Shuuji and Kunichi Atsushi continued to fight for their lives. Yet, never once did they dare to lose awareness of the eyes that watched them from above.
Floating in the middle of the room, the inhumane creature grinned in anticipation. A worthy opponent was coming and he just could not wait!~