Void • Memoria [1]

36. Lost Words

Tempo Memoria ( Keiko's Point of View Part 3 )

"Stay close to me kid," Ryuji said, glancing back at me, the three of us were running to where some of the commotion was coming from. It was happening on nearly every street, all of them at a distance from each other.

All the demon attacks were at a similar distance from each other, it almost felt planned.

Me and Ryuji were side by side up front while Hiro fell a little behind, I kept glancing back at him just in case every minute or so.

I guess I'm not truly running as fast as I could, I didn't want to leave Hiro behind after all. I know Yuki and Isao would tease him once in a while for sitting down with snacks while they worked out together, but I didn't think he'd be this slow.

As we ran through the chaos, smoke from destroyed cars blowing up, and homes being demolished filled the air. I put my hand over my face so I wouldn't breathe any of it in.

People were running a muck, screaming, crying, and yelling blurring into each other. I couldn't make any of it out. All I could do was run to the source and look around for anyone that might need help.

"Keep going straight, I'll be there in a minute," Ryuji yelled to make sure we could hear him, I nodded and watched as he ran to the left, he left my field of view quickly. After another minute or two me and Hiro finally found the source of the chaos.

The evacuation alarms went off in the town, it was ear-piercingly loud. The woman on the speaker instructed everyone to leave the town and go to the other two towns adjacent to this one.

The contract stated the demons can't leave this town, so the faster everyone gets out the better. Once they're all gone it'll become a hunt or be hunted between them and us.

A demon with tall purple horns was squatting down on top of a building, looking down at everyone. It had four arms that held itself up on the roof, it looked like it wore its own bones as if they were armor scattered over its body.

Its four bright purple eyes moved quickly as if they were scanning the area for something specific.

I reached my hand out to make Hiro stop beside me.

"You do have a weapon, right?" I asked nervously.

Ryuji said the purple ones were the most dangerous, and now that he left for something if Hiro doesn't have a weapon that means I'm alone here.

Hiro stared up at the demon as if he was fixated on it. "I'm... Not sure," He responded.

"You aren't sure? Have you tried to summon it?" I could barely lift my battle axe, let alone know how to fight with it properly. Fighting a purple demon alone for the sake of both of us might as well just be a death wish.

"I don't want to summon the wrong one." He moved my hand to allow himself to pass me. "Let's go."

I blinked in bewilderment as I watched him walk into plain sight of the demon, right in the center of the intersection.

"Hiro!" I whispered loudly. "Let's wait for Ryuji!" My plea failed as he ignored me and without hesitation, he called to the demon.

"Hey, asshole! Are all four of your eyes blind? Get down here and fight me!"

He's dumb. He's dumb. He's entirely stupid.

I quickly summoned my axe the way I was instructed to, I gripped it tightly with both hands and used all I could to hold it up.

The demon snapped its gaze to Hiro, a large crooked grin spreading across its face. It stood up and cracked its neck before jumping off the building and landing only a few feet from Hiro. The impact of the landing made the concrete under them crack and go inward.

But neither of them seemed fazed by it.

"Finally. I was getting bored of those humans." The demon's voice sounded like a woman, but it was distorted in a way that was hard to describe.

I cautiously got closer to them but kept a small bit of distance for safety.

"Stay back. I want to fight her alone." Hiro said, his voice sounding off, I've never heard him so stern yet excited before. I stared at him for a few seconds, hesitant to leave him alone in this.

Brass Knuckles then appeared on his hands. Each side of his hands had a decently long blade on either side, and each knuckle had sharp spikes on top. It was made of gold, with red-colored blades, the metal looked different, as if it wasn't from Earth.

He stretched out his fingers as if he was readjusting to the Brass Knuckles then clenched his fists.

"Go." The demon said as she glanced at me. "I will honor this duel between just us."

I let out a small breath, I couldn't help but be nervous. I mean, we saw Yuki practically die not even an hour ago, I don't wanna see Hiro get hurt too.

Why did he lie about his weapon? Was this the "right" one? Did he change his mind? I just don't get it.