Her Crescent, His Eclipse

Chapter 9

"Woah, you're really eating all of that?" Manami watched in amazement as Karma's food came, the steam rising steadily from his bowl. Even the red broth of the ramen screamed 'SPICY' to her.

"You bet." Karma smacked his lips. "I love spicy stuff. This is going to be great."

He broke his chopsticks, and he dived right into his meal. Manami was still waiting for hers, so she spent her time observing Karma consuming his. The smell alone made her eyes water, but he seemed to have no issues eating chopstick full after chopstick full. He ate so quickly that she worried he was going to be sick, but after his bowl was empty, he exhaled, breathing out into the air above them.

"That was good." Karma wiped his face with a black napkin. "You should try it sometime."

"I'm okay." Manami waved him off. Her meal finally came, and she gasped. It was a bigger portion than she expected, but she was hungrier than she thought she would be.

Karma glanced at her skeptically. "You sure you can finish all that?"

"You already ate yours," she replied, breaking her chopsticks, "and now I'm going to eat mine."

Ten minutes later, and Manami understood why they often said your eyes are larger than your stomach.

"Give up yet?"

"Nope."

However, she also wasn't one to just abide by what others told her, nor by what others thought. If she did, she would've quit her witch ambition long ago.

"You don't wanna get sick now." Karma smiled, but leaned in with a serious expression. "Your wings would glitch in and out."

Manami huffed and pushed her bowl towards him with a defeated groan. "Have at it. I tried, but I guess it filled me up a lot more than I thought it would."

Karma scoffed, taking the rest of her meal away from her. "You gave it your best effort, though."

"Save it, I really don't want to hear it right now." Manami leaned into the table, resting her chin on her palm. She watched Karma add more spicy sauce to her ramen, offering him water when he started coughing.

Upon entering the small town, Karma told her it was formally known as the Out Town because of its distance from the center of the Other. Along with everything else she experienced so far, Manami learned that those from here weren't all too creative with naming their places or landmarks. Anyhow, Karma briefly mentioned how the demons from here weren't like the ones they'd seen while with Rio. They were of the more rare demon subtypes. Which worked for them, given his scales and her wings.

"But," he'd said, "they are more territorial when someone new comes into town. Nothing we can do about that. Just keep our heads low."

And so here they were, keeping their heads low over a couple of bowls of ramen.

"Is it good?" Manami leaned back, taking a quick drink of water.

"Perfect." Karma emptied her entire bowl. "Are you ready to go?"

Manami nodded, clutching her bag as they stood up to go pay. As they walked over to the register, a tall, green humanoid bumped into her. They were large, and Manami had tried to avoid collision for fear of risking their identities being found out. Somehow, she still came into contact with this demon. Two things happened at once.

One. Her wings didn't flicker at the motion.

Two. The humanoid's green color did flash for a moment.

Karma was already at the register, having not noticed Manami's struggle and leaving her behind. She grimaced, making eye contact with the 'demon.' Its eyes were the same color as its skin, a deep mossy emerald. Its hair was a shade darker than either, and its hands clawed with webbed fingers. Whatever it was trying to pose as, it was something that should've belonged in water.