Now I know it's you [KyouHaba]

Chapter 6

The sun was already setting when they walked out of the house. Kyotani stated he's going to check on the horses, leaving Yahaba to carry their things to their designated shack near the edge of the village. It was basically just one and a half rooms, but they've slept in worse before.

As he walked over the road, he suddenly felt someone's eyes on his back. He turned around, catching the gaze of a pretty girl, who was watching him from one of the houses. He bowed his head in greeting, making her giggle and run away from the window.

A feeling of utter wrongness settled under his skin. Who's going to giggle when your neighbours are getting murdered?

He shivered and sped up.

He found himself digging through his bag for at least a tenth time just for the sake of not being still. He'd never felt like that on a hunt before. Sure, he used to be nervous, but this was different. As if something was waiting for him to drop his guard to attack.

He jumped up when the door to the shack opened. Kyotani looked at him with a tilted head, and if Yahaba didn't know better, he'd say the other looked slightly worried.

"You should talk to people tomorrow," grumbled Kyotani, his usual scowl back on his face. "Maybe someone saw something."

"Not me, we. You are coming too."

Kyotani made a grimace, rolling out his bedroll.

"I'm not good with people. I'm sure you noticed."

"You can always intimidate people. You don't even have to put much effort into it."

A pained expression flashed over the blond's face. It was gone as fast as it came, but Yahaba noticed and immediately regretted his words.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just ... you have to admit you look scary when you frown, which is almost always. But, eh ... it's not that bad when you smile ... I guess."

He hid his reddening face and heard Kyotani chuckle. It was a weird sound coming from him, but definitely not unpleasant. Yahaba shook his head to stop wherever his thoughts tried to go.

Damn this bastard.

"Fine. But if we're working with a theory that it's human's work, do you really think someone who killed five people will be intimidated?"

Yahaba sighed.

"Probably not, but maybe you will make people tell the truth. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to split up. No matter what species the culprit is, the most logical thing would be to take out the danger. Let's not make it easy for them."

Kyotani nodded pensively and flopped onto his bedroll.

"As you wish. Take the first watch then."

Yahaba stared at him in disbelief.

"Really? Shouldn't we at least draw straws or something?"

But the other was already deep in slumber, his chest going up and down with even breathing. Yahaba sighed.

Back to good old Kyotani. Damn this bastard.

........................................................

It seemed like Kyotani woke up even more cranky than usual. He wasn't snapping, but there was a deep frown on his face. But truth to be told, Yahaba wasn't doing much better. During the time he got to sleep, he was constantly woken up by wild dreams. He remembered running through the forest, fleeing from something he couldn't see, but knew it was right behind him. As a result, he felt maybe even more tired than the night before.

They decided to check out the other houses where the victims were found, but because except for the first victim, every other was living with someone, the murder scenes were already cleaned. It was annoying, but Yahaba understood. No one would want to look at a bloody bed where someone they loved was killed.

Yahaba questioned the family members while Kyotani engaged his Slayer senses and tried to look for anything they could overlook. Unfortunately, neither turned out helpful and by the visit of the fourth house, Yahaba could predict what the people will tell him. Everyone was a saint according to their families, with no enemies and no reason to be killed. And yet, Yahaba wasn't convinced he's hearing the whole truth. Kyotani, surprisingly, agreed.

"What now?" grunted the blond, already looking absolutely done with the whole task. "We have no bodies to examine, the houses are cleaned, and according to others, the worst thing they've done in their life was that they were too kind. Am I forgetting something? Oh yeah, and everybody is sure it's a work of a demon. Suddenly everyone is expert on demons."

"Don't be so harsh," reprimanded him Yahaba mildly. "They are just trying to cope with the fact that the people are getting murdered and can't accept the fact it can be their neighbour."

Kyotani scoffed but didn't object further.

"We need to find someone who isn't taking anyone's shit," thought Yahaba out loud. "I still think we aren't dealing with any demon. And if that's the case, there has to be a reason why they were killed. I don't believe someone would just randomly kill five people in a small village."

"You are just asking the wrong people."

Yahaba jumped up at the unexpected voice behind him. As he turned around, he recognized the person as the giggling girl he saw through the window. He quickly stopped Kyotani's hand on the hilt of his sword before he could draw.

The girl was watching him with her dark eyes, and even though she was smiling, Yahaba suddenly felt uneasy in her presence.

"Do you know something that could help us?" he asked carefully.

"They all had their little secrets," chirped the girl singingly. "And someone found them. Even though they buried them. And now they are buried too~."

And with that, she skipped away, waving at them before disappearing inside the house.

Yahaba stared behind her, his brain trying to register what just happened. He didn't realize he was still holding Kyotani's wrist until the other shook his hand off, promptly returning him to normal functioning.

"That ..."

"That was fucking creepy," supplied Kyotani, still gripping his sword. "I'm surprised they don't call her a demon. I would believe that for sure."

Yahaba nodded.

"Yeah, but she kinda helped us, don't you think?"

"If we can believe her."

"We don't have anything else right now," sighed Yahaba and motioned for the other hunter to follow. "Come on, let's ask around a bit more. Maybe someone has seen something after all."