The work day progressed quickly as Budo gazed at the restaurant's window. The yellow sky was slowly taking in a dark blue hue. It was almost time for him and Ayano to see Oka, the Occult club leader from their school. Surely she would know how to exorcise the demon that had made Budo's body its home.
Budo leans against the counter and looked at his Saikou phone. 2 missed calls from Sho and 1 new message from Oka were displayed on the screen.
"I'll get back to Sho later..."Budo murmurs moving passed his calls and going into his messages. Oka had agreed to the exorcism when he had texted her earlier about it. She was almost eager by the many blocks of texts she send questioning him about the demon and even asking for photos of his burnt hands.
The new message displayed Oka's home address, Budo recognized the street where her house was at. It wouldn't be too far of a walk from the restaurant to there. He lowers his phone briefly when his eyes met another pair of charcoal ones right in front of his face.
"GAhh! A-Ayano, don't scare me like that!" Budo says slightly flustered that he jumped.
"Was that a text from Oka? What did she say? Are we going now?" Ayano asked him question after question while leaning closer to him in brutal anticipation.
"H-Hey Ayano...Y-You're too close." Budo stammers as their noses were practically touching. Her expression was absolutely adorable the way her eyes widen with curiosity and the way her lips pursed looked almost like a pout.
Ayano blinks in surprise and quickly comes to her senses, she moves away from him. "S-Sorry, I just really want to get this over with...." Ayano murmurs embarrassed.
"I know." Budo says carefully placing his hands on her shoulders. "But yes, it is time for us to go. Oka just texted me her home address so we should be all set. Let me just tell Mr. Sakimoto that we will be stepping out for an hour."
"Okay...!" Ayano says perking up at this. "I'll wait for you by the doors then."
"Alright, be with you in a minute." Budo says and walks into the kitchen where Sakimoto was putting away the ingredients.
Ayano watches him go before she felt someone's stare burning against the back of her head. She turns around to see Osoro glaring at her with crossed arms.
"Can I help you with something...?" Ayano says in her reserved tone.
"You two going somewhere?" Osoro mutters while her eyes narrowed down at her suspiciously.
"Yes, so you'll have to handle this shift by yourself. Remember to prep the tables for the night rush as well as light each candle on the tables." Ayano replies in a professional manner as she lists the things needed to be done.
"Keh, you don't have to tell me that! I've been working here much longer than you and your Martial Arts fuckboy has." Osoro says not liking Ayano telling her what to do. "Wherever you two are going, do me a favor and get lost!"
With that Osoro roughly brushed passed her. Ayano just watches her leave, these confrontations with her will never be easy.
"Alright, we're good to go!" Budo says walking out of the kitchen.
"Good, lets go!" Ayano says almost eager.
Together they both walked out of the restaurant and into the night. Ayano looked back at the establishment, its warmth was slowly slipping away from her as the night held her. She felt this place was like a second home to her, where she was always welcomed and where people would be there waiting for her(except Osoro). She was sure that when the exorcism was all over its warmth would greet her once again. However, she couldn't shake off this feeling of dread as she left.
"She lives on Whisper Street which should take us about 7 minutes to get there by foot." Budo says as he had his phone on showing a GPS route to Oka's house.
"Hey Budo...if this exorcism fails...I...I want to let you know... that I..." Ayano stammers as the words refused to come out of her lips. If this were to fail and something drastic were to happen she wanted him to know...that she loved him.
"It won't fail, I'm sure of it. And if it does fail I won't stop fighting until I'm free from that demon. That is a promise." Budo says with determination in his eyes.
Ayano stares at him, his confidence was contagious and she couldn't help but feel that they could conquer this problem together. She truly loved this boy.
She suddenly latches onto his arm and leans her head against his shoulder. "I'll believe you then.." She whispers.
"Good, that's the positivity I want to hear." Budo grins as they walk down the sidewalk to Oka's street.
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"Are you sure this is the place...?" Ayano asks as they both stared at the house in front of them.
"Y-Yeah it should be it." Budo replies equally confused by the house. The GPS on his phone stated that they had arrived.
Oka's house was a small, light pink cottage with white frames and a couple of windows covered in pink curtains. Beautiful flowers from lilies and tulips were garnished around the house as well as a worn welcome mat at the front door. To sum it up, the house looked like a mere doll house.
To think this is where Oka, the occult loving girl loved was truly astonishing.
"Well, are you going to knock...?" Ayano says nudging the Martial Arts Leader toward the door.
"W-What no way, its so cheery looking that its scary." Budo says stepping back. "All the houses on this street are obviously cookie cutter houses but this one is so vastly different that it gives me a weird vibe."
".....Scaredy cat." Ayano simply says.
"Then you knock." Budo retorts back.
"...No." Ayano says almost automatically.
"Hah, you're freaked out by it too!" Budo says while pointing accusingly at her.
"No I'm not!...Oka is expecting you to be here not me. It would be awkward." Ayano replies quickly giving an excuse.
"Your straight face and petty logic can't fool me Ayano." Budo says poking her cheek. "Just admit it!"
"Hey, who said you could touch me?" Ayano says swatting his hand away with an angry look on her face.
"What!? You were clinging onto my arm the whole walk here and now you're depriving me of touching you!?"
"Yes."
"....You're tsundere attitude is kind of cute." Budo comments causing Ayano's eyes to widen and her face becoming red. Bullseye.
"Why- you!!!" Ayano whirls around and lunges at the boy making him scream like a girl.
The front door to Oka's house suddenly opened revealing an older woman with the same blue hair and violet eyes as Oka but wearing a totally different style of attire. She wore a white dress with a pink apron over it decorated with frills and bows. She had a warm smile on her red lips.
"Hello there, you two must be Oka's friends. I'm her mother, Miss Ruto~!" She says in a sweet, sugary tone.
"H-Hello there." Budo says awkwardly as he and Ayano were pulling at each others faces when she had greeted them. The two quickly released each other and stood straight. "I am Budo Masuta and this is Ayano Aishi we are your daughter's classmates."
"Oh, how polite! Come in, come in, Oka-chan should be with you in a minute." Miss Ruto says cheerfully as she ushered the two in. "In the meantime please make yourselves at home~!"
Both Ayano and Budo blinked at their surroundings. The interior was just as pink and white as the outside of the house. They currently stood between the living room and the kitchen. The living room had pink rugs and a cozy looking white couch and a wooden coffee table as well as a crackling fireplace nearby. The kitchen had pink and white tiles with cute wooden cabinets, a pink stove and a small wooden table with chairs. Beautiful white lace and a vase of lilies adorned the table. It was certainly cozy and very pink.
Miss Ruto quickly scurries into the kitchen and grabs a tray of chocolate chip cookies. "Here, have some they just finished baking seven minutes ago so they should be crispy and warm."
"Ah, thank you!" Budo says and grabs two cookies stuffing them into his mouth. Ayano was about to decline on the offer the moment Miss Ruto proposed it but seeing Budo help himself so easily made her want to as well.
"Thank you..." Ayano murmurs shyly and takes one while trying to ignore her current weight and indulge a little.
Oka's mother kind of reminded her of her own mother when she puts her 'normal' mask on. Cheery but deceptive she was. However, Ayano felt no deception from Miss Ruto, this was her true self.
"Aishi-san, Masuta-kun!" Oka says while quickly pattering down the pink staircase. She could see them happily munching on cookies on the plush couch and already making themselves at home. She felt slightly embarrassed that her mother greeted them first and had already coddled them.
"Oka-san, thank you for having us, shall we begin?" Ayano says eagerly as she stuffed the remainder of her cookie in her mouth. She quickly grabs Budo's hand and stands up from the couching preventing him from reaching for another delectable cookie. Budo pouts at this.
"Yes, I was just about to prepare the attic. Momma, please excuse us." Oka says politely as she ushers the two up the staircase.
"You kids have fun~! I'll make some tea for when you are finished playing." Miss Ruto says with a cheerful smile on her face as she walks into the kitchen.
Oka takes the two of them up two flights of stairs until they reached an old wooden door presumably leading to the attic. Oka swiftly takes out a bronze key and opens the door, it creaks open and the smell of boxes and books filled their nostrils.
Ayano and Budo peer into the attic as Oka steps in. The attic was well maintained, the wooden floors had a dull pink rug covering most of it. The walls were practically hidden with various labeled boxes and old baby stuff such has a wooden crib and a rocking horse that likely had belonged to Oka. But what stood out the most in the attic was the varying porcelain dolls scattered around the room. Some of them where tattered while others looked fresh out the box. Immediately, an uneasy feeling fell between Ayano and Budo.
"Don't ask about the dolls...my papa was a collector." Oka murmurs seeing their unsettled faces. "Before we can prepare the exorcism we must remove them or else the spirit might go into one of them as a last resort." Oka says picking up a doll with yellow curls and wearing a pink dress.
"Right, good thinking Ruta-san." Budo agrees and carefully picks up a couple of dolls.
"...."Ayano stares at a doll with black hair and emotionless charcoal eyes. Its porcelain skin made it look ghostly white and its dark red lips was shiny and glossy as if it had just licked its lips. It was obvious to Ayano that she didn't want to touch these horrid little things.
"Heh, she looks just like you, Ayano. I'll be taking that one." Budo says picking up the doll look look alike as well.
"I look nothing like that c-creepy thing." Ayano stammered, the Martial Arts Leader just grins at her making her pout. Swallowing her disgust, she helps pick up the dolls from the attic.
The three of them relocate the dolls into Oka's bedroom which was a vast difference compared to the majority of the house. Her room had wine red carpet, various occult posters and a shelf of books. Her bed was black to the pillows and covers and on top sat a couple of teddy bears likely gifts from her mother.
They set the dolls in the corner of Oka's room, her father was quite the collector as they had relocated 30 dolls in total.
"Alright, lets get to preparation." Oka says as she picks up a box from her closet labeled 'Ritual Essentials.' she led the two back to the attic and sets down the box and opened it. One by one she begins to take out items such as candles, an worn-out occult book, flour and some matches. Ayano recognized only two items she pulled out, a sacrificial dagger and a skull from the Occult club room. She had seen the two items a couple of times when walking past the club room. She was quite curious about them for some time.
"Is...this a real skull?" Ayano asks almost intrigued as she picks it up. It was cool and smooth to the touch and its hollow black eyes stared at her as it sat in the palms of her hands.
"Supposedly yes, I won it from an online auction. It is a skull of an 1800s occultist who was said to be killed by a demon with this dagger as sacrifice. It was also said that his skull can mysteriously open a portal to the demon realm." Oka explains as she puts down the sacrificial dagger.
"I see..." Ayano says poking her thumb into its empty socket and staring intently at it.
"So Oka, what do we need to know about this whole exorcism?" Budo asks in curiosity.
"Well, first thing you need to know is that I do exorcisms quite different. I'll be summoning the demon within you."
"Wait, so you're not going to scare it away with the bible like in the movies?"
"No, I'll be summoning your demon using the summoning book, the fallen occultists skull and the dagger. Once you're within the circle the demon will come out and won't be able to get back to you. When the skull and dagger connects it will be forced by the skull's magic to go back to its realm of origin." Oka summarizes as she flips through the pages of her worn-out summoning book.
"You make this sound so easy, how do you even know this will work?" Budo asks suspiciously. Ultimately he didn't want his time to be wasted and have an even more angry demon on his shoulders. But most of all he didn't want to see Ayano's disappointed face.
Oka's face slightly darkens at this and slowly parts her lips.
"Well...because I was afflicted with a demon once." Oka confesses making the two turn to her.
"No way..."Budo says in disbelief at her confession. "It tricked you into signing a contract...?"
"No, it didn't trick me, I willingly accepted it." Oka says continuing her story. "You see, I was in a dark place when my father was killed, my dear father was stolen from me, and there was no way to get him back....but there was one option I foolishly took."
"...Revenge." Ayano answered for her. Completely understanding this dark feeling Oka must have felt during this time.
"Correct. I signed a contract with the revenge demon who would take care of the one who took my father's life. But little did I know, this demon was killing me little by little as it stayed by my side. It demanded more and more from me....its hunger could never be sated"Oka says hugging the summoning book against her chest. "I was able to get rid of the demon and the contract with this ritual just in time. So it works, I'm living proof of that."
"Alright....I'm sorry you had to go through this as well..." Budo says believing her story. He couldn't imagine the pain and the hardships Oka had to go through with the revenge demon. He certainly had his share. "Lets do this then."
Both Oka and Ayano begin to make an artificial circle with flour until it was in a shape of star within a sloppy circle. Oka then carefully places five cream colored candles on each point of the star and lit them with a match.
"The foundation has been set. Now we should put on our ritual garbs." Oka says pulling out two black cloaks from the box.
".....Do we have to wear those?" Ayano asks with a tilt of her head.
"Yes, its suppose to ward off evil energy from the demon.....and it looks cool." Oka says throwing one to her, Ayano swiftly catches it. "Budo since your afflicted you don't need to wear one." Oka says as she slips on the cloak.
"Its mainly because you're not cool." Ayano says taking a quick jab at him.
"Don't lie, Ayano." I already know you think my heroic voice is cool." Budo counters with a grin causing Ayano to blush angrily.
"How the hell did he know!!!?"Ayano thinks to herself as she seethes in anger and embarrassment. Maybe he caught her staring at him when he does it. Damn him. She slips on the dusty garment on herself and pouts.
"Alright, Masuta-kun please step into the center of the star and whatever you do...do not leave it."Oka warns as she opens the summoning book. Budo nervously does as he is told. "Ayano you will take the dagger and stick it into the skull when I give you the cue."
"Okay." Ayano says taking the dagger into her hands. Up close the dagger was slightly rusty with squiggly grooves on the edge of the blade. It was cold in her hands.
Once everything was in place, Oka began to mumble the contents of the book in a different language. She stared into the book as her violet eyes followed each and every word on the page. Oka was focused, but Ayano could see her hands slightly shaking. She was scared but also determined. Ayano almost felt guilty that she was planning to get rid of Oka weeks ago. How things have changed.
"Oh beast of Lucifer, open your eyes and mouth and breathe into this mortal world's air. I command you to leave your nest!" Oka shouts the statement in English making Ayano perk up in concentration too. This was it.
A moment passed, then another and when Ayano was about to drop her shoulders in defeat Budo suddenly fell to his knees as his charcoal eyes began to turn blood red just like how it looked in the coffin. He gripped his head tightly and screamed in pain, the flour circle began to glow white.
"Budo!" Ayano shouts and instinctively tries to go to him but Oka quickly held her back.
"Don't! The demon is coming out of him!" Oka shouts with her hands wrapped around Ayano's stomach as she struggled to get to him.
Without warning, Budo began to cough violently causing his head to dip downwards, blood started to drip down from the corners of his lips. Ayano couldn't stand to look at her Senpai in so much pain so she simple buried her face into Oka's shoulder. She wanted to be by his side but she knew she couldn't right now. Suddenly, Budo began to hurl as black liquid started to escape his mouth, it was much worse than when he puked into Ayano's sink.
Budo felt like a waterfall of black liquid was pouring out of his mouth making his throat burn immensely. He could feel its tendrils try to cling within him but it was futile against the ritual. It slipped out of him and onto the dull pink rug. But it wasn't done the black liquid began to bubble and then disturbingly began to take shape before his very eyes.
Suddenly an angry scream was heard as the demon appeared floating above Budo in the circle of flour. "YOU INSOLENT MORTALS!!!" It yelled in seething rage.
For the first time Budo looked up at the demon that forced him into a contract. The demon had raging fire for it head and hands and it wore a black school uniform that seemed much outdated than his modern one.
"It....it really is the flame demon." Oka says recognizing it immediately. "It is said to feed off people who seek power!"
"Power..." Budo whispers putting all the pieces together. He could vividly remember that voice in his head when the delinquents were beating him to the ground. Budo felt so weak and vulnerable that he couldn't protect Ayano when she was being carried away at the time. He wanted to be strong at that moment, whatever the cost and that's when the flame demon probably came to him. To grant his foolish wish.
"How dare you remove me from my human host, I'll make you both burn for this. Starting with YOU!!!" The flame demon shouts as he points a burning hand at Ayano before lunging towards her.
"...!!" Ayano yelps in surprise as the demon came at her when suddenly it was repelled away by an invisible wall.
"What....!?"The demon yells as it hits the wall again.
"You're trapped by the circle, there is no way to escape demon!" Oka says with such confidence that Ayano nor Budo as ever seen before from her.
"You think you have me trapped!? You're forgetting that this boy is trapped here with me!" The flame demon says as he then lunges to be one again with Budo but found another invisible wall as he reached for him. Upon realizing this the demon yells in anger as he beats the invisible wall. "NO, NONONONONO!!!"
Still on the ground Budo quickly sits up and backs away from the demon as it pounded on the wall in a desperate attempt to get to him. His hand suddenly brushes against the flour causing the line to be swept away.
"Masuta-kun don't! The circle will be damaged!" Oka says in a panic when she sees this.
Suddenly, the demon punches a hole in the invisible wall as the circle's power over it slightly weakens.
"THAT BOY WILL BE MINE!!!!" The flame demon shouts tearing away at the hole making it bigger. Some of the flour circle began to blow away by the demons continued assault against it.
"D-Damn!" Budo says freaking out upon seeing this, he had one job and he blew it.
"Ayano, there's no time to waste we have to send it back, place the dagger into the skull!!" Oka shouts in a panicked voice.
"R-Right!" Ayano says as she hastily gathers the now warm dagger into her hands. She could feel the now apparent power radiating off of it. Without further hesitation she plunges the dagger into the slit of the skull's head. Immediately two red dots appear in its empty eyes sockets and a mist of purple began to surround the flame demon.
"N-NO, NONONO!!!" The demon screams as the purple mist began to envelope him, it lunges forward grabbing Budo's leg trying to reclaim him but the mist weakened its grip and Budo easily slipped away from it. The flame demon then viciously turns to Ayano, its flames dancing higher in anger. "YOU, AYANO AISHI!!! I'LL BURN YOU TO ASHES FOR INTERFERING WITH MY CONTRACT, CURSE YOUR BLOODLINE AND WHOEVER MEETS IT!!!"
"You wouldn't be the first demon who said that to me!" Ayano shouts shoving the dagger deeper than intended causing the process to quicken. "I won't let you continue to torment us anymore, GO TO HELL YOU FLAMING BASTARD!!! "
The flame demon screams in hatred as it disappears into the thickening purple mist before vanishing completely. At the same time the skull broke in two never to be used again and trapping the demon forever.
Immediately, the wind in the room died down and the dagger clattered from Ayano's hands. Oka closes her book and sighs in relief and Budo collapses onto the ground. They did it, they vanquished the demon from Budo's body.
Suddenly the door opens revealing Miss Ruto. "Are you guys finished summoning those silly demons? I made Earl Grey tea and scones~!"
The three of them looked at her.
"May I have Chamomile tea instead....?" Budo weakly groans while rubbing his aching stomach.
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"Thank you so much, Oka." Ayano says gratefully to her as she sipped her Earl Grey tea. The three of them were seated at the kitchen table with tea and scones on their plates.
"I'm glad I was able to help, though it seems I'll have to search for a new skull..." Oka murmurs in thought.
"Yeah, sorry about that....I got too passionate..." Ayano says with a guilty smile.
"My mind feels so much lighter now." Budo says sipping his chamomile tea. "It feels so weird."
"That demons been with you for a while....it concerns me a little." Oka says turning her attention towards him.
"Why? I'm perfectly fine aside from my....burnt hands and sore throat." Budo murmurs weakly as he remembered the physical damage the demon caused him.
"Yes, but there could be lasting side-effects even permanent ones when being afflicted by a demon for too long.....some victims feel empty and drained. While others adopt some of its behavior and truly become insane. Tell me Budo....has your behavior changed at all...?" Oka asks worried.
"....Erm..." Budo racks his head trying to think of any strange behavior he had in the past.
Suddenly, Budo remembers his sudden flashes of rage. One happened when Riku first came to the restaurant and refused to leave Ayano alone. And another was when he torn down all of Taro's pictures from Ayano's cork board and lastly, all of those gory and dark dreams he had were kind of odd too since he didn't dream often in the first place.
"Well...?" Oka pressed as she stared at him.
"No, nothing at all." Budo murmurs. He's been through a lot of life-changing events so it was natural he was on an emotional roller coaster. The dreams could also be a natural response from his brain trying to cope with these situations. There was no way his sanity could be broken down by a demon like that. He was strong-willed physically and mentally.
"I see that's good then." Oka replies in relief.
"Oka...what about you, did you have any side effects from your affliction?" Ayano asks in curiosity.
"Yes..." Oka admits. "I felt empty when the revenge demon left me....I find myself...missing its presence." Oka shivers as she drinks a big gulp of tea from her cup.
"I'm sorry that it still has some hold over you...." Budo says, he didn't miss the flame demon but he did sort of feel empty without it now. Ayano came into his vision as she continues to chat with Oka, the emptiness within him began to fill with warmth. And eventually, the thought of the flame demon naturally left him.
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"Bye-Bye now, you two can come back anytime you like~!" Miss Ruto says waving the two of them off as they left the pink house.
"See you two at school...hopefully..."Oka says fully aware that they have been skipping school for weeks now.
Both Ayano and Budo wave to them as they leave the front yard and eventually the street. Budo could tell that Ayano was in a better mood now seeing her small smile as they walked.
"Feel better now?" Budo asked with a grin.
"Of course, it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders!" Ayano says giving him the biggest smile he has ever seen. "You're safe now and no longer a slave to the flame demon."
"Y-Yeah...." Budo says still stunned by her big smile. He smiled too but it soon faltered as he remembered his crimes the demon made him commit. At least now, he wouldn't be taking anymore innocent lives.
Ayano suddenly grabbed his arm, Budo quickly turns to see her looking at him with that sweet smile of hers. "C'mon lets hurry back to work~!" She says running and pulling him along with her, Budo quickly breaks into a run with her.
They ran down the street until they reached the town. Cold wind whipped past them and the sound of singing crickets could be heard.
"H-Hey, Ayano...!" Budo stammered but couldn't help but chuckle. He would forget about all of his worries so long as he got to stay by Ayano's side.
Finally, they reached Mr. Sakimoto's restaurant to see it bursting in flames.