Sureiyazu

Episode 48: A Hundred Demons

The team was walking through the bright market, full of life and laughter and vivid colors.

"Is it just me," said Hachirou, "or does everyone seem like they have no idea they could all be attacked by a bunch of demons and die?"

"Aren't you the cheerful one," Kasai snorted. 

"Really, though," he said. "If these are their sad and afraid faces, then I'm officially creeped out."

"People in Kinrenka are really positive people," said Kasai. "They probably know about the demons - I mean, most of them - but it's an ideal that everyone tries to hold up together. It doesn't matter if things are bad. You can still have a good time."

Two children ran past, giggling. 

"Well then," said Hachirou.

~~~

"Go into the hills," the villager nodded. "You'll know."

"Um . . . how?" Akuma asked.

"I knew," he said, his long beard, swaying as he turned his head to look at the aforementioned hills. "I felt it. They were there."

". . . Alrighty then," Akuma said. 

"That's where we'll go," said Aya. "Thank you."

The man nodded, and the team headed off. 

"It's such a nice day," Heishi noted. 

It was true. The grass was green - almost too green, the trees swaying gently in a welcomed breeze under the yellow sun that gently touched the faces of all the people below. The flowers added an uninvited but somehow right happiness, and the only clouds in the sky were white and puffed, like stuffing.

"Do you ever wonder what it'd be like if we weren't demonslayers?" Heishi added. "I mean, we'd be just out, enjoying the weather. Not going to slay a bunch of demons."

"True," Akuma sighed. "I do miss that about being normal."

"But it's so fun being famous!" Yuri squealed. "Remember that time that we were in Sanmayaku and they let us sleep over? Oh - and when that guy interviewed us? And when all those people were there helping us rebuild the castle?"

"Yuri has a point," said Aya.

"And besides," said Shinrin, "being normal is boring. There's no action."

"If that Creature says the word 'action' one more time . . ." Hachirou said to himself, feeling for the sword on his back.

"Tell me about it," Ryou agreed under his breath. 

"So . . . where are the demons?" asked Kasai. "I mean, seriously. I don't feel them, or whatever that guy said."

"Wait," Aya said suddenly. "I think . . . it's coming."

"And you know this how?" Kasai asked, but immediately there was a rushing sound as demons flew up around them like a waterfall in reverse.

They were all different in their own way, all disgustingly unique, from the grotesque and dark to the bright and horrifyingly silly. Some small, some large, some in-between. Some had taken on forms that resembled insects, while others were animal-like, while others still had invented their own forms, inspired by the nightmares of people.

But none were alike, and from what Akuma had learned, that meant one terrifying thing: 

They were all named.

~~~

Sukai cleared her throat loudly. "Excuse me! Attention, please!" Her voice echoed off of the large hall the five sat in, her golden hair and white feathered wings reflecting the rays of light that streamed in through the tall windows. Everything here was overly elaborate, and she felt slightly out of place, but still she fit in in the fancy place than any of her companions.