Black Petals (On Hold)

Promise and Blood {2/2}

Yukari paused, her usual expressionless demeanor as stagnant as ever. She tried to react, reaching through her brain to try and scrape up the few hours of bojutsu training she'd taken. Stance ready, feet shoulder-width, strong--

She couldn't react.

The demon shot forward with the speed and lethality of a bullet. His claws twisted, quick strikes from his flat palms had her immobilized almost instantly. He knelt down to scoop up her body, but was startled to find her staring straight at him, her eyes not syncing with the limpness of the rest of  her body. They had such and intensity, those eyes. Such a dark brown that they were almost black. He was tempted to kill her right here.

"Hey... can I help you in a way that doesn't involve my death?" Yukari asked calmly, pushing herself up off the ground. The demon stumbled backwards, startled by her sudden movement.

"Uh-- um, ah, whuh... You're still conscious?" He spat out. Yukari neatly flicked her hair over her shoulder, silent.

"Well.. I kinda sorta need the life force living human so I can maintain this form... So, if you could, uh..." He muttered uncertainly, seemed to have lost his confidence from before quite easily. Yukari tilted her head.

"If you could tell me how exactly you obtain this 'life force', I may be able to think of a way to help you." Yukari offered, surprisingly calm about it.

"Well... it's kinda gross, but if you insist." He looked a bit uncomfortable, probably because he was going to explain how to kill a human properly, and to the person he was trying to eat. Yukari fixed him with the blankest look he'd ever received, making his discomfort increase exponentially.

"It's a complicated process that even I don't fully understand, but, you basically have to kill and eat the human right as they stop breathing. But, I'm not really comfortable with the whole 'nom nom, eat in the street' kinda thing, so I have a friend that helps me out."

"I think I can help you." She replied after some thinking.

"How can you help me by being anything other than dead?"

"However, you have to give me something in return." Yukari continued, ignoring the demon's confusion.

"A- and that would be...?"

"Your companionship."

The demon looked at her. He slowly turned into a tomato. It was quite an amazing process, really. The blush started at his cheeks, then it bloomed across his forehead then to his neck.

"I mean, you're the stereotypical demon-fantasy manga protagonist, so naturally I'd want to go with you on your miraculous journey to save the world." Remind you, she said all of this with the blandest facial expressions and monotone known to man. The demon coughed, then started to snicker. Soon he was rolling around over the cobblestones, soaking his yukata in the puddles from the rain, laughing hysterically. After a lengthy fit of laughter, he stood up, wiping his eyes.

"OF COURSE, HUMAN! YOU MAY ACCOMPANY THE GREATEST DEMON ON HIS MIRACULOUS JOURNEY!!" He exclaimed, spreading his arms wide in a grand and pompous pose. An old woman trotted by, pausing to stare at the two for a few long seconds, then proceeded to waddle off, murmuring something about cosplayers and the Holy Ghost.

"Dear girl, I am Koga, number one demon extraordinaire at your service!"

~~~ 

 "Tsutsui Yukari" she replied, ruining Koga's grand introduction with her expressionless one.

She stepped forward to bow politely, and promtply collapsed. Koga released an unearthly screech and pranced away in fear that someone would think he hurt her, which he did. It's not like it would matter, though, since he could probably take out anyone who tried to confront him.

He primly hopped from windowsills to fire escapes in the narrow alleyway, stopping to perch on top on the roof of a crumbling apartment. After about thirty seconds of waiting, someone rushed into the alley, probably because of Koga's shriek. With a few more minutes, an ambulance rushed into view, medics listening to the panicked stranger who'd found Yukari. 

Koga stood up and brushed off his clothes. He stared down at the blaring lights of the ambulance, their flickering colors reflecting in his eyes.

It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. What a curious girl.

---

Phew.

I rewrote the ending and added in some things. I'm much happier now and I can be at peace. You're welcome. Just kidding.

Thanks for reading