Sureiyazu

Episode 10: The Master's Domain

The Sureiyazu had just come back from a very successful mission slaying a demon. The only bad part about it was that this demon seemed to be able to hurl pieces of whatever was around it at whoever it wanted. At least it hadn't led them into a Domain. But still, Akuma was covered in bits of food and had aches all over her that she was sure would turn into a pattern of bruises that resembled the spots on a giraffe.

Luckily, the bath was helping. Akuma sat and rested her hurting body, letting the steaming water soak through her pain. It felt heavenly. She let out a happy sigh.

And then she felt the vibrations shake the castle. They were faint at first, but soon it became clear that Akuma was not, in fact, imagining things. Was it an earthquake? Or just a sparring match gone too far? No, it couldn't be either of those, Akuma thought as she thew on her clothes and hurried to find the master. The vibrations were too big, and too rhythmic.

As she burst into the room where Master Shi was usually found, she was relieved to see that he was there, sitting cross-legged and facing away from the door.

"Master," she said, out of breath. "Something is -" a boom resonated throughout the castle "- happening -"

"A demon approaches," explained the master without moving. So that meant the vibrations, if they could be called that anymore, were footsteps?

A few moments later, Yuri appeared, and a minute after that, Aya and Kasai came from the direction of the sparring arena. (Sometimes Akuma wondered if they even liked each other, with all the fighting they did.)

"Let's slay the demon," Aya said, readying her weapon. Akuma reached for her kyoketsu shoge to find that it wasn't there. Right, she hadn't taken it into the bathroom with her. It had seemed logical that she wouldn't need her weapon in the bathroom at the time, but it was becoming apparent that the Sureiyazu carried them everywhere.

Akuma was about to run to grab her weapon from her room when Master Shi said, "I'll handle it." He stood up and walked slowly out the door as the booming footsteps drew closer and closer. As he opened the door, she saw the monster for the first time. It looked like a giant man who had eaten too many sweets. He also had very few teeth, no hair, and was a disgusting color of dark yellow.

On his way out, the master picked up his scythe. The blade was longer than any scythe Akuma had ever seen, and blacker than night. On its own, it looked slightly like a giant, black serrated knife, but in the hand of its owner it looked like the legendary weapon that it was. Akuma recalled that its name was Jinsoku.

Watching every moment intently so that she wouldn't miss it, Akuma gaped as, in one swift motion, Master Shi leaped into the air, and sliced the demon's head clean off. As he landed behind the monster and it fell with a crash so loud the castle should have collapsed at the sound, Akuma saw that there was hardly any blood on Jinsoku. That was how expertly he had slain the demon.

Akuma didn't think her eyes could go any wider, until the master raised his scythe, and they did. Jinsoku was held above the body of the slain demon, and Master Shi and his weapon began to glow with an eerie aura that must have been the demon's soul. Soon the aura disappeared, and the master walked back inside the castle as if nothing had happened, sitting back down as he had been before the castle had started shaking. Eventually, Akuma decided that everything was okay and walked to her room to take a nap.

As she walked down the hall to her room, Akuma knew she was being watched. She started to hurry, and slammed the door when she was safely inside her room. At least, supposedly, she would have been safe. But it hadn't been a living person following her - it was Asuka.

"Asuka?" said Akuma. "What are you doing here?"

Asuka was not happy. "You told me you would help Shi!"