Now I know it's you [KyouHaba]

Chapter 9

TW: Still from the last chapter.

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When he entered the house again, Kyotani was standing above the body with a deep scowl on his face, arms crossed over his chest.

"Anything interesting?"

Kyotani raised an eyebrow at him.

"Except for the dead man in front of us?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Whatever. But yeah. Look at his chest. Or rather into his chest."

Yahaba made a few slow steps towards the bed, taking a look at the large wound. Judging by the edges, he reckoned it was not torn open, but rather cut by a sharp knife led by an experienced hand. The thing that caught his attention, though, was a gaping hole under the man's slightly moved left lung.

His heart was gone.

"Do you ... think it was before or after he died?" asked Yahaba, not really sure if he wants to know the answer.

Kyotani's frown deepened even more.

"Judging by the shitload of blood around, before."

"That's messed up. I've never seen anything like this before."

"Me neither. And I have dealt with some sick bullshit before. I don't know any monster that would do this. And before you ask, no, I didn't find anything else. It's like the thing was intangible or something."

Yahaba stepped back, getting as much space between him and the dead body.

"Well, at least we know now it's not a demon."

Kyotani looked at him sceptically.

"You sure?"

"The demons can't cross the Hogo lines. This ... thing clearly did, so yes, I am sure."

"Couldn't it just find a way?" scoffed Kyotani. "I mean, if your lines are as shitty as your shields, it could just comfortably walk through the door."

Yahaba gritted his teeth and shot a death glare at the blond.

"Oh, so you could do better, you master Elemental manipulator?!"

He saw Kyotani flinch at the mention of the talent. The blond growled and clenched his fists, fury scrunching his face as he took a few angry steps towards Yahaba.

"You know nothing about me! You have no idea what is it like! You can't even make a fucking shield properly!"

Yahaba's throat tightened. He stepped back and blinked a few times, chasing away the stinging behind his eyes.

"Well sorry for being born to be just Cleric! Why don't you hunt the monster down yourself when I'm so shitty?!"

Kyotani stopped, his eyes widening. His face softened as he loosened his fists.

Yahaba took a shuddered breath and looked to the ground, slowly calming down.

"Sorry, I ... I shouldn't have gone there. I'm sure you have a good reason why you don't use Manipulation. But it's ... I-I know I'm practically useless at hunts except when hunting a demon, I know I can't fight or protect you or heal you properly if something bad happened, it's just ... it's still hard to hear it out loud."

A warm hand gently touched his shoulder. Yahaba's gaze shot up, meeting with the amber orbs of the other hunter.

"You aren't useless. I'm sorry, I didn't ... I didn't want to hurt you. I was just ticked off and lashed out at you. You do a great job, you know? I wouldn't want anyone else to be my partner."

Yahaba flushed dark red, not knowing what to say for a while.

"Do you mean it?" he choked out, taking note of the pleasant tingling where Kyotani's hand touched him.

Kyotani nodded earnestly.

"I wouldn't lie to you."

He then stepped back and motioned towards the body.

"Let's take another look, shall we? Maybe we'll find something else."

Yahaba blinked, immediately missing the warmth of Kyotani's hand on his arm. He shook his head slightly to wake up and took his place beside the blond Hunter.