Raising The Stakes

~One~

(It's my work of fanfiction, I get to make up all the rules about Demons) (Sorry I deleted this for a hot minute, I will return to it soon.)

   Hinata sighs loudly, pacing the length of his small cabin, hands wrapped behind his back neatly, thick black boots echoing loudly against the wooden floors. His fingers twitch, itching to have some sort of stake or blade in his hands, having the urge to get his hands dirty. 

   For a place in the country that's frequented for supernatural beings such as Demons, it's been quite a while since his last job. Sure, it's been only a couple days, but he'd be out hunting and fighting everyday if he could. 

   He flops back onto his bed, starting to unlace his boots and remove his gear, mildly disappointed he got no jobs today.

   "How boring. . ." He mumbles.

   He glances out the window, glancing out at the slowly setting sun, making the sky shimmer with gorgeous oranges, pinks, and yellows. A cool breeze flows through the window, making the brunet shiver. 

   He moves back to his feet, pulling the window all the way down and lighting some candles so that he would be able to see as the darkness would continue to spread. His stomach quenches upon laying eyes on the half-eaten, abandoned stew left out on his desk. He didn't have much of an appetite today but still felt like he should have tried to choke something down.

   He sighs, moving the bowl away from his paperwork to be scrubbed later. 

   If only Nanami was still here. Her cooking skills were impeccable, just out of this world-and that wasn't the only thing great about her. Hinata could probably ramble for hours about how amazing his best friend is-was. He really had no idea if Nanami Chiaki was still alive after getting kidnapped in the middle of the night while he was out on a mission.

   He had a theory that some Demons kidnapped her as some sick form of revenge. He has no idea where she could be. . .that is, if she's even still alive. 

   . . .But it's best not to dwell on that stuff now. 

   He winces as he reaches to move the bowl, an old shoulder injury flaring up from an aggressive Demon fight he was in not to long ago.

   "You'd think it would've been all healed up by now." He mumbles, undoing the buttons of his shirt and shrugging it off, readying himself for bed.

   "Maybe there'll be something to do tomorrow. . ."

   The brunet hunter got bored far too easily.

-

   After breakfast, there's a knock on his door.

   Hinata perks up, flying out of his sea, grabbing his eyepatch to cover his red eye and hurrying over to answer the door. Maybe there was finally a job for him?! Some sort of demon or monster or something?

   He whips the door open, coming face to face with the village's best portrait painter, Koizumi-Pekoyama Mahiru. Her shoulder-length hair is pulled back in two low ponytails fixed with yellowish-green ribbons tied in the shape of bows. She's wearing a long-sleeved light-blue blouse with little white flowers tucked into an ankle-length black skirt and black boots. 

   He smiles kindly, leaning against the doorpost. "Morning, Mahiru-san. Please come in," He steps aside, letting the red-haired girl brush past him and enter his little cabin, "Can I get you a cup of tea?"

   The brunet pulls the door shut behind him before going to meet her in the center of the room. The girl huffs, folding her arms over her chest.