Demon Eyes

Chapter 6: Two Against One

A single road runs along the top of Chisana Hill. The houses up here are by no means luxurious, but most of the people living here are among the richer ones in the town. Of course, the richest of the rich live in the villa district further past the hill.

"We live up here, so we must be rich!" That's what Fumito thinks. In truth, both of his parents work hard for many hours a day to guarantee their son a comfortable, safe upbringing. Always balancing their own needs against Fumito's, there have been many times when one of their son's rather expensive wishes left them barely able to afford rent for the month.

However, neither of them would ever be able to deny Fumito a wish. No matter what, they think, he must not realize their situation.

The morning air is cool and breezy, and most of the town is still asleep. As Fumito leaves the house for school this morning, his father follows him outside, about to head to work. Fumito is up unusually early today, it's rare for him to see his father leave. He works in the capital city Kyoishin, an hour-long train ride away from Kawazumi.

"Bye, Dad!" Fumito shouts, sprinting off towards school. "See ya later!"
"See ya, Fumito!" his father shouts back, a cheerful smile on his face. "Don't blow up too many bridges today, alright?"

His father has the same orange hair color as Fumito, though his hair is a little shorter than his son's. His body is muscular, his frame broad. There are a few small injuries on his exposed arms.
"It wasn't me!" Fumito protests as he runs, even though he's already too far for his father to hear him.

He runs across the open field where he and Noreyu always duel, the place where they first met. The stairs leading to downtown Kawazumi come into view, partly obscured by the foliage of the surrounding trees and bushes.

But when he heads towards them, his movement comes to a sudden stop. His left foot is stuck in something. He turns his head to look down, to see a small purple puddle of a goo-like substance under his shoe.

"Ugh! I can't get out!" he thinks out loud as he tries to pull his foot out. He almost manages to pull away, when he suddenly feels a strange sensation on his leg. Something is holding onto him.

A hand.

His eyes widen as he watches the hand touch his bare skin. Some of the goo dripping off the hand flows onto him, shooting a strange sensation through his body as if he was being scratched by a thousand tiny claws. He flinches from the sudden pain, but he quickly focuses and finally manages to pull his leg away.

Following the hand, the rest of an arm emerges from the puddle, stretching towards the sky. Another arm quickly follows, then a head and a body escape the purple liquid. Fumito wipes off the residue from his leg while watching in shock as a fully grown human being emerges from such a tiny puddle.

The person who emerges is a woman of tall stature, with slim arms and legs. Tattoos of mauve-purple roses run up her left leg, while her asymmetrical black leggings fully cover her right leg.

Over them, she wears a black dress, barely knee-length, split into a small part at the front and a large part around the back. It reaches over her torso and connects to the fabric around her neck with three small straps. Said fabric is part of a mask that goes over her mouth and nose.

She has black hair, with most of it tied into a thick, curly ponytail. Her bangs are short and spiky, revealing just enough of her forehead for a crest-like tattoo between her eyes to be visible. She also has two lines tattooed under her eyes.

Her left eye is a Demon Eye, glowing in a color similar to that of her rose tattoos. The black patterns around are two curved horns facing outwards on top and several thick lines facing downwards like sludge hanging off a ceiling.