Now I know it's you [KyouHaba]

Chapter 10

"So if it's not a demon, then what is it?" grumbled Kyotani, narrowing his eyes on the parchments containing all their notes about the hunt they had spread on the floor of their shack. "I'm not the best when it comes to learning things, but I'm sure I've never heard of any monster that would act like that."

Yahaba sighed, going through the notes for the tenth time already, hoping it will somehow bring him closer to the solution.

"We don't know if the missing heart was part of its killing from the beginning. And we will never know unless we dig up some graves. But if we assume it was, I think we can eliminate the less intelligent monsters straight away, so ghúls and onis are out of the way. It's probably not a werewolf, because I doubt it could kill someone in their home without mess and screams. And I highly doubt it's a vampire, just for the weird way it kills. Besides, they don't seem to be drained of blood."

"Could be wraith or some other vengeful spirit," thought Kyotani out loud. "But I don't understand why would wraith steal its victims' hearts. Or why would any creature do that for the matter."

"I don't know either. Everything is just ... weird."

Kyotani looked up at him with a thoughtful expression.

"You still think it could be a human, don't you?"

Yahaba nodded, lowering his voice in case someone walked around their walls.

"I mean, it would make sense. Especially if it is someone from the village. If the people know them, I bet they would let them in even at night without any questions, right? And it wouldn't be weird if someone saw talking to the victim before killing them because it wouldn't be anything out of ordinary. And a person could be killing this way. I don't know why would they keep the heart, but maybe it's just some morbid trophy or something."

"But why would a murderer settle in a small village if they planned killing others? Wouldn't it be easier to live in a city? They had to know people would notice early on. So why?"

Yahaba sighed, rubbing tiredness from his eyes.

"I wish I knew."

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They went slowly around the houses again, checking and renewing the Hogo lines, this time adding a few extra runes for protection against vengeful spirits, which could also be dissuaded by Light. Yahaba also appealed to everyone not to allow anyone into their home after dark, even if it was a friend or neighbour.

He noticed a few pairs of eyes looking at them with more distrust than before. He didn't blame them in the slightest. After all, they failed to protect one of them. But no matter how tragic the night event was, it helped them come closer to finding and hunting down the culprit. At least a bit. But he surely wasn't going to tell people that.

The line between hero and villain was very thin in the eyes of non-Hunters.

As they came closer to Hayashi's house, Yahaba noticed Kyotani positioning himself between him and the house. Yahaba smiled inwardly but didn't comment on it nor stoped the other. He didn't want to argue again.

Hayashi was standing in the doorway as if waiting for them and flashed Yahaba a bright smile.

"How is your investigation going? Any new leads?"

"We'll tell you when were are done with it," growled Kyotani, staring at Hayashi with even more hostility than before. Yahaba elbowed him into the ribs.

"We don't usually share information about the hunt," he rephrased a bit. "It's better for both sides."

Hayashi made a face, his mouth curling into a small pout.

"Aw come on. I thought we trusted each other."

"Who said we trust you?" grumbled Kyotani, earning another elbow to his side.

"Be nice," whispered Yahaba before turning to Hayashi again. "It's just a safety measure. Nothing personal. I hope you understand."

Hayashi smiled.

"I can't be mad at such a pretty face as yours," he said sweetly.

He reached out his hand, his fingertips brushing lightly along Yahaba's jaw. Yahaba flinched away, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Please don't do that."

Hayashi ignored him and stepped towards him, still smiling and still reaching out to his face.

"Come on, I'm just giving you a little compliment."

Then, Kyotani's hand closed firmly around Hayashi's wrist as the blond hunter pushed the surprised man back into his doorway.

"He said don't do that," he snarled, the amber of his eyes burning threateningly.

Hayashi's eyes jumped between the two hunters for a moment before he nodded knowingly and let his arm fall to his side.

"Oh, I see. Well, I hope you'll solve this soon. I'm looking forward to seeing you again, Utsukushī," he added with a sweet smile, staring directly into Yahaba's eyes before closing the door behind him.

Kyotani shook off the stupor first.

"Oh, that piece of shit!"

Yahaba quickly blocked his path, putting both hands on the other's chest as the fuming blond was already marching towards the door, apparently ready to kick it out.

"It's fine, it's fine," he gibbered, even though his heart was beating as if he just run up the mountain.

"It's not fine! He just touched you against your will!" hissed Kyotani and tried to get around Yahaba. The silver-haired moved to block him again.

"It's nothing, I promise," he pleaded. "Please don't do anything stupid."

Kyotani stared at Yahaba for a while before taking a deep breath and relaxing his posture. His jaw was still clenched, but he seemed calm enough not to tear the house down. Yahaba gave him a soft smile before he registered the muscles under his palms. He blushed a deep red and quickly removed his hands, clearing his throat.

"Let's go?"

Kyotani glared at the door one more time and snarled.

"I swear if that fucker tries something like that again, we will have one more dead body on our hands."

With that, he turned and headed towards their shack with Yahaba following close behind.

"Did you just ... swore to kill someone for me?" he asked quietly.

Kyotani paused.

"Maybe," he grunted and picked up his pace.

Yahaba staggered.

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AN:

Utsukushī - beautiful/lovely