Disgraced, embarrassed, humiliated—no, those aren't even the words to describe the feelings welling up inside me. I was grabbed by the neck—choked, punched in the face, and tossed around like a rag doll.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY NANA!?"
"I—"
Her fist slammed into my face, sending me flying. It was as strong as steel.
She rushed at me and grabbed my neck again.
"What did you do to her?! Answer me!"
"I—"
More blows rained down on my face and stomach.
She didn't even give me a chance to speak.
"Oh, I'm going to kill you if you don't start talking!"
Bitch, you're the reason I can't talk.
She grabbed me by my collar and lifted me into the air, ready to throw another punch.
"Speak! What did you do to Nana?!"
"I—"
"We were training, big sister. He didn't do anything to me."
"Oh, so that's what happened. Come on, you could've just said so, Tatsuya."
This bitch!!!
She dropped me to the ground and walked over to Nana.
"So, tell me, you won, right?"
"No, I lost again."
"Damn it. I wonder how you keep losing to this good-for-nothing…" She patted Nana's head. "…You need to get stronger, okay? But that aside, here's a gift I brought for my cute Nana."
She pulled out a hair ornament and fixed it into Nana's hair.
"Haa, so cute."
This being of chaos and destruction goes by the name Hanako Mui, senior sister to Hanako Nana. Both had long dark blue hair and blue eyes. Mui was athletic, with curvy, child-bearing hips, but her looks contradicted the gorilla-like behavior she directed toward Hachiro and me. But honestly, those toxic traits aside, she's the only girl I'm even slightly attracted to in this mansion.
Hehe.
A nine-year-old boy and a sixteen-year-old girl—not a bad pairing, if you ask me.
"Big sister, you broke your blade again."
"Hahaha, sorry, I was a bit rough."
"Humph! Or maybe your sword was fed up with your gorilla strength."
"What did you say?!"
"Nothing! Nothing at all."
"Haa… it was a long journey." Mui dusted off her clothes. "Where is my lady?" she asked.
"I don't know. She was in her chambers when she sent for me," Nana answered.
"She's at her study. I was just about to head there."
"Oh, that's great timing then. There's something I wanted to talk to you about. Let's discuss it as we go."
Hmm… What could it be?
We walked through the veranda leading to Ms. Ayuma's study.
"So, what's this thing you wanted to talk about?"
"Hm… I remember now, you once said you were from the ninja village…?"
"Mmhm… What about it?"
"The village I went to—there was this kid I saw, err, what was his name again…" She rubbed her forehead.
"What did he look like?"
"Nothing much attractive, just short dark hair and a kind of scary look on his face. He said he left the ninja village."
Scary look? No one I knew had a scary look—Pacho had a serious look, but it wasn't scary to me.
"Where is he? Did you tell him about me?"
"He decided to stay at the village, even though he's homeless. And why should I tell him about you? You might not even know each other."
She had a point. I didn't know all the kids back at the village, and no one I remembered was ever that scary.
After our brief conversation, we made it to Ms. Ayuma's study.
The room was large and square, with a wooden table at the center. Scrolls were stacked at the edges, and in the middle was one Ms. Ayuma was writing on.
Behind her was a shelf filled with more scrolls. Even though Ms. Ayuma was a demon slayer, I heard she was also a scholar—or at least an assistant, since women weren't allowed to officially hold that title.
"Greetings, my lady. I have returned."
"Good day, Ms. Ayuma."
Mui and I bowed our heads.
"Oh, Mui, Tatsuya—come in."
We removed our footwear and walked into the room, sitting across from her.
"Mui, I see you're back from your mission."
"Yes, I just returned and wanted to report to you first."
"Okay, how about Gi?"
"Gi is currently with Ki."
Gi and Ki, Ms. Ayuma and Mui's crows—from what I heard, they were siblings.
"About my report, my lady… I made a rather unusual discovery. It's about the devil's house, you know, the one the natives spoke of."
"They said they hear screams from the house at night, but when they go to check, they don't find anything."
"Yes! And they also complained that after that, someone in the village goes missing."
"So, what is it you discovered?"
"After slaying a demon who made the village its feeding ground, the natives thought it was the cause of everything. But I was curious, so I went back to the house to check, and I discovered something very odd. The house… I think it's a blood demon art."
"Mm…" Ayuma looked down at her work. "…And why do you say that?"
"Because the house is alive."
"Alive?" Ayuma's gaze shot up to Mui.
Even I was intrigued.
"There are two reasons I say that. Firstly, I found out from the natives that the man who built the house was presumed mad. After building it, he went missing—he locked himself inside and was never seen again."
"But there's still a chance he could have left during the night?"
"Yes, but that's where it gets more alarming. Some villagers went to check on the house at night, but the door is always locked after dark, even though it's open during the day."
"So, what's your second reason?"
"My second reason is more troubling, and it's what makes me certain that the house is a blood demon art…" Mui glanced at her broken blade. She crawled to the table and set it down. "…It doesn't take any damage. I punched it as hard as I could, but there wasn't even a mark. I used my blade, and then this happened."
Ms. Ayuma picked up the blade by its scabbard and examined it.
"Have you reported this to Oyakaya-sama?"
"Not yet, my lady."
"Then make sure you do so after you've rested."
"Yes, I will. Well then, I'm off, my lady."
"Mm…"
Mui stood up and left, leaving me alone with Ms. Ayuma—the angel.
I think I'm into older women… No, no, no! I must stay loyal to my queen.
But honestly, Mui's story kind of creeped me out.
"Tatsuya, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, Ms. Ayuma. The thing is… I want to quit. I want to leave the mansion."