"Surprised? I thought you're better than that. Didn't I teach you to check if your target is alive or not?" William shifted into billions of wasps. He stood in front of the wooden door. "Clearly, I didn't teach you enough."
Ice broke through the door. Asahi ran through the front door and blasted the insects outside with Belial. However, he only caught a few thousands suspended in the air.
There Asahi saw a tall man in his late thirties. His black hair was pulled into a sleek style, streaks of white strands sprawled on his hair. For someone in his thirties, he aged like fine wine, along with his wrinkle under his eyes. He kept a cool demeanor under his black suit.
William flashed a smile as he stood by the gate. Dauntingly, parts of his face were peeled off. The insects on his arms proliferated, laying eggs as maggots crawled up to his face. It shifted to his flesh and healed.
Asahi was disgusted by the sight of it. The corners of his lips twitched as he saw William by the gate.
The silver-haired man drew the heat from the front yard. Freezing the grass and bushes solid. The permafrost plumed the dirt as the chill air swirled and blew onto his face.
He quickly dodged the icy field, subsequently transforming into an infestation of mosquitoes and botflies. "Hm, you're too impatient." William paced through the empty roads. The sunlight was gentle during this time. His eyebrows was relaxed as he observed Asahi who was tensed up. "How about we talk here outside, you don't want your precious detective to find out don't you?"
Asahi glanced inside the house. Hogou frantically held the bug spray, unleashing a mist of death against the bugs. Asahi lowered his gaze, relieved that Hogou was not hurt by William
Then he walked up to William calmly.
"That's more like it." William smirked. Each footsteps grew louder, Asahi drew closer then he stopped a few notches away from the man.
In a cold voice, Asahi asked: "What are you doing here?" He gazed through his purple eyes. He did not change even after ten years… he's still rotten.
William did not respond for a moment, he was enjoying the scenery of the dead neighborhood of downtown Kuri. He could only hear the desolate squawk of the birds as the low rumbling of the cars in the uptown state.
The sound of his footsteps created by his sole tapped against the concrete floor. He hummed a tune unknown to Asahi.
Turned away from Asahi, his face not visible. He asked, "Do you remember that time? Where I picked you up from this slum."
"..."
Asahi only followed his movement. He did not utter a single word. Which prompted William to scoff at him. "Of course you would, I changed your life. For the better or worse."
"But, what made you turn against me? Do you dislike the idea of working for me that much? Or was it because you found what you wanted to see? Is it that detective? You seem to have your eyes on him for quite awhile.
I can see it through the eyes of Beelzebub."
Asahi trembled, not because of the cold. But because of William's tone. It was menacing, he spoke like he was threatening him.
"Hmp, maybe it is both. What did I do wrong, little snowflake?"
Fractals of ice emerged from the ground. Snowflakes fluttered in the air like butterflies before succumbing to the sunlight.
William scattered into a swarm of locusts. He escaped by a hair as he reformed in the distance.
"Don't call me that." Asahi glared with contempt.
The black-haired man laughed, locusts hopped into him, slowly reforming his body who got caught by Belial's ice blast. "You used to like the nickname. Would it hurt not to call you a cute little name."
The pavement froze, microscopic cracks proliferated onto the road. Asahi extended the reach of his ice field, making it inhospitable to any life. The insects who clung to William moved sluggishly. Responding five to ten seconds late.
"Aren't you overexerting yourself? Heh, i must say, this is quite a show. You really wanted me dead!"
"I just came to visit the little snowflake. You've lost your manners Asahi."
Asahi released another surge of frost. William flew upwards, his body transforming into a swarm of black cockroaches. It resembled a block fog as their wings produced an annoying fluttering sound.
"Tell me why you're here!?" Asahi screamed, William flew in circles as the roaches locked their eyes on him. "I'm not playing games, William Malady."
"Hmph, fine, but I'll do it my way." The roaches piled near the house. William fixed his tie and dusted himself. The idea of transforming into a cockroach was revolting to him.
Tap… tap… tap… The sounds of his shoes echoed through the icy pavements. He chuckled inwardly, then smiled. "Have you heard project Solomon?"
Asahi's body twitched, he was not expecting William to utter that project. "No, what of it?"
"Project Solomon, it was a project proposed by the Kurinian Government. While it's not entirely revealed to the public, since our existence alone is skittish. They would use the project as an excuse to capture every single one of us. All seventy-two of us."
"What… how?" Asahi asked, it was improbable for the government to do that. The special detective force was already struggling against S-class criminals who wielded a goetia. So, the action of the government alone to enforce this project means they had something that could counter goetia.
But what it is was beyond them. Even William had no idea what it was.
William added, his voice was deep. "You're on thin ice right now, President Belial." His gaze swept from Asahi's foot to his head. Then he uttered, "Considering your mishaps with Misami Misash- no Misami Kureha, you're going to be the number one target for this project."
Asahi scoffed at William's statement. "Speak for yourself, deadly sin of gluttony." Asahi glared ar William as the man flashed a constant smile.
He took a few pace, then spoke after a few seconds. "What ever it is, I just came to remind you. I don't want to lose my favorite plaything, and don't get attached."
Asahi hissed at William like a cat. The audacity of William looking at him like some sort of toy. He clenched his fist then heard him continue what he said.
"Especially to that boyfriend detective of yours." William lightly laughed.
"We're not like that." Asahi deflected William's attack on him.
William found it amusing.
"Hmp, too obvious already." Bugs flew out of the house. William shifted to his side as bugs pooled in. "I just came to check on you, it's been ten years already. Well then, I'll bid you luck little snowflake. Till you succeed."
William's body scattered into billions of mosquitoes. He went to the uptown Kuri and left Asahi standing in the icy wasteland.
"...I didn't even get to kill him for calling me that twice…" said Asahi. He sauntered back to the desolate house, there was a noticable holes scattered around the house. The wooden support of the house was chipped by the bugs like it was a gourmet meal. "Tsk… did he really have to transform into thermites?"
Hogou looked at Asahi, sitting calmly on the sofa. Everything had been so hectic to him lately. At first, the criminal with him turned a shore into a frozen wasteland and now, some guy could turn into various terrifying insects.
He could not grapple the existence of Goetia as a whole. As a child, who grew up in a predominantly atheist household, he had no reason to believe demons existed. For some reason, his parents had a collection of books from the fifteenth century, aptly named: 'Ars Goetia'
A second book his father brought after the lesser ley of solomon.
He recalled about the seventy-two demons under the wise king Solomon. Belial and Beelzebub were one of them.
Hogou shook his head in disbelief as his sanity plunge like ice cream in a hot summer day.
If these two could cause trouble on their own… what about the remaining seventy-two of them? Were they in Kuri as well? Or they were scattered all over the world?
Then if so, what if the special detective forces was created solely because of the Goetia users that the normal forces could not fight. He was set to fight them sooner or later, but now he's allied to one of them.
He could feel his head turning as he realized how much of a mess this situation that he unknowingly participated.
Suddenly, he snapped back to reality. He heard Asahi's smooth voice, he look on Asahi's purple eyes. He felt his warm hand as Asahi cupped his cheeks. "Are you okay, Detective?" he asked.
"I am… it was nothing really, its just bugs" Hogou said nonchalantly, there was a trace of fear in his voice. He inwardly screamed to himself how terrifying the insect were.
He shook his head then looked away. Asahi nodded, and sat beside him.
There was an awkward tang lingering within them. Hogou could hear his heart rhythmically tapping against his chest as he heard the low hum of breathing of Asahi.
Before he could speak, Asahi said: "Detective, I have a favor."
Hogou turned to Asahi, the corners of his mouth twitched. He wondered what Asahi meant. Why a favor of all things? Hogou replied: "A favor? What is it?"
Hogou felt compelled to grant Asahi a favor. He did not know himself why? The detective just felt his soul tugging him to give Asahi a chance.
Asahi parted his lips. "Speak no one of this, I'll tell you something important."
Hogou nodded, he put the bug spray on the table. He stared at his beautiful eyes. "I'm all ears."
"Then, do you remember what happened ten years ago?"