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𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐢
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"like a million dollars."
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𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐚, 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐚𝐜 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 in chris' office. allison was cleaning the wound on her father's head as the older argent explained to the four teens about his first deal in japan awhile back.
"his eyes were glowing." scott said.
"there was something almost ritualistic about it. like it was looking right into his soul." chris continued.
"that's the same thing it did to me." aurora mumbled.
"that's what it did to everyone." allison corrected.
"not everyone. they only came after the werewolves." scott pointed out.
aurora furrowed her eyebrows slightly, remembering one of the dark ninjas looking at allison. maybe they had just turned around to face everyone.
"and lydia." allison added.
"anyone with a connection to the supernatural." chris said.
"then who's the guy they went after in japan?" isaac questioned.
"a kumicho. a yakuza boss." chris answered. "it was my first gun deal. i was only 18 and it was supposed to be a simple exchange. except gerard left out the minor detail of the buyers being yakuza. he wanted to see if i could adapt in the moment. testing my ability to improvise."
"or your ability to survive." allison corrected.
"the moment the sun went down it was like they just materialized out of the shadows. they had swords, not curved like katanas but straight, black steel. like ninjatos." chris continued.
"what did they want?" aurora and scott asked in unison, making isaac look at them weirdly.
"to get to the kumicho. they cut down every living thing in their way." chris said.
aurora absentmindedly brought her fingers behind her ear, feeling the mark that was there. "did they mark him like they did us?" she questioned.
"not exactly."
"what was he?" scott asked.
"i don't know. but there might be someone who does." chris answered just as allison finished patching up his head. "there were a few others who survived that night. one of them was a man named karachi. . . they called him silverfinger because of an unusual prosthetic. and it looked like he was getting ready to take them all on himself. i've known for a while karachi was in the country. i spent yesterday tracking him down."
"didn't look like he wanted to be found." isaac said, gesturing to chris' bruised face.
"not particularly, no."
"you think he knows what they are? or what they want?" scott quizzed.
"maybe."
"what if he doesn't wanna talk?" allison asked.
"what if he doesn't even remember you?" isaac then added.
"he'll remember this." chris answered, standing from his chair and going to a wooden box before opening it. there was shards of one of the masks that had been covering the ninja's faces. "i know i didn't kill it. i'm not sure you can. but i slowed it down long enough or us to get out of there."
aurora stood up from her seat to get a better look, picking up one of the shards. she felt her stomach churn the longer she stared at it. "what was behind the mask?"
"darkness. . . absolute darkness." chris answered.
aurora carefully put the shard down back in the box, backing away slightly.
➶︎ ☠︎ 𓃦 ☠︎ ➶︎
aurora approached scott's locker, seeing that the mccall boy and the twins were at it. she furrowed her eyebrows as she approached them, pushing the twins apart so that she could get to scott.
"why are the wonder twins at your locker?" she asked the alpha, making him turn around.
"they're worried about the demonic ninjas attacking me." scott sighed.
"and why are they worried?" aurora questioned, turning to see that the two omega wolves were frantically looking around the hall.
"because they were staring at me right when the sun came."
"okay. . . have you seen stiles?"
"no. but we need to talk to him to let him know everything that happened last night." scott answered, closing the his locker door.
"without them, right?" aurora questioned, pointing to the twins.
"without them." scott nodded.
"no." aiden quickly said.
"yes." aurora and scott corrected.
"and i don't want you listening in. no wolf hearing." scott quickly added.
"how would you even know?" aiden asked.
"i'm a true alpha." scott answered.
"and i'm a true gamma/alpha. you have no idea what we can do." aurora added.
a few minutes later, the duo had found their best friend. they didn't even get a chance to tell him what happened the night before, the spastic boy quickly beginning to tell them where he had gone last night and what he had figured out. as he explained, he led the two werewolves to the chemistry lab.
"so then she starts talking about phosphors and the key having chemicals on it, right?" stiles said, opening the door as his two best friends followed him. "and so that made me think of the chemistry closet and the fact that someone had to let barrow in. . ." he continued, walking towards the chalk board. he then stopped his movements, his voice trailing off.
aurora and scott looked at one another with furrowed eyebrows, wondering what had happened. they stood at the back fo the room, by the door.
"it's gone." stiles pointed out. he then made his way back towards his friends. "okay, it doesn't matter though. it doesn't matter. i still got the key. he said, pulling out his keys from his pocket as he pushed past his friends towards the chemical closet.
aurora and scott turned towards the stilinski boy, watching as he tried to unlock the door. the key wouldn't fit into the lock, making stiles pull away and flip through the many keys on his keyring.
"are one of those a key to my house?" aurora questioned.
"obviously." stiles mumbled, continuing to flip through them. "i had it. . . i had it here. i had it here this morning, i swear to god, i had it this morning."
"what key are we exactly talking about, smarty?" aurora asked, seeing the confused expression on his face.
"the key you were talking about last night?" scott asked.
"yeah, i showed it to you, right? didn't i show it to you?" stiles quizzed, looking up at the mccall boy.
"no, you just told me about it. i never actually saw it." scott answered.
stiles released a huff before he made his way back to the chalk board, the two werewolves following him. "i was here a couple of hours ago. and the message left to barrow spelling kira's name was right there on the board in my handwriting, and i had the key to the chemistry closet."
"so what you're saying is. . . you unlocked the chemistry closet so barrow could hide in it from the cops and then you wrote him a message to kill kira?" aurora questioned.
"i know how it sounds. . ." stiles whispered before he pulled a piece of paper out from his pocket and unfolded it. "but look at this. this is the news report that came out about barrow when they caught him, okay? about the shrapnel bomb that he used. see this/ see what he did? he put nuts, bolt, and screws. and ten he hid the bomb and the detonator in a box that he wrapped as a birthday present. what does that sound like to you?"
"coach." scott answered. "the joke we played on coach."
"that was my idea. you guys remember? that was my idea. that's no coincidence. it can't be." stiles said, looking between his two best friends.
"i don't want to sound like i'm trying to tell you you're wrong. but i don't think you're trying to kill people either." scott said.
stiles looked over to aurora, hoping that the hybrid believed him. but she didn't say anything, not because she didn't believe him, but because she was trying to process everything that stiles had told them. the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, but she didn't get any goosebumps.
"it was here. it was all here." stiles whispered, turning back to face the chalkboard.
"dude, are you feeling okay?" scott asked. "you're looking really tired."
"yeah, i'm fine. i just haven't been sleeping really. . ." stiles answered.
"why don't you go home? take a sick day or something." scott suggested.
"yeah. . . yeah, maybe i should." stiles mumbled.
scott nodded before he walked out of the chemistry lab. aurora didn't move, still trying to wrap her head around everything that the stilinski boy had said.
"do you believe me, rori?" he asked, his voice almost as low as a whisper.
"i do, but it just doesn't make sense, stiles." aurora answered, combing her fingers through her hair. "you see that, right?"
"yeah." stiles sighed, frustratingly running his hands down his face. "but i'm not lying, rori. i promise you. . . i'm not lying."
"i know. i know." the hastings girl nodded.
the freckled boy examined her face, seeing that she had dark circles and bags under her eyes just like him. she was having trouble sleeping too, but it was for completely different reasons.
"still having trouble sleeping?" he asked.
"yeah. but it's okay." aurora shrugged.
"how is it okay?"
aurora opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. she didn't know how it was gonna be okay. she didn't know how long it would be until she would be able to get an actual full night of sleep. it's already been so long, and she was 100% surprised that she hadn't started hallucinating. she let out a huff of breath, looking at stiles with sad eyes.
"i don't know." she mumbled. "but really, smarty. go home, and try to get some rest, okay?"
"yeah, okay." stiles nodded.
aurora gave him a small smile, stepping forward and pressing a kiss to his cheek. he shot her a small smile back before she walked out of the chemistry lab and into the hall. just as she was about to go to her locker, her phone started to ring, making her pull it out of her jacket pocket to see that it was allison.
"hey, what's up?" aurora asked, continuing to walk down the hall.
"hey, are you at school?" allison questioned.
"uh, yeah. got here a few minutes ago." aurora answered.
"okay, well. . . me and my dad have a plan, but we need you and isaac's help." allison informed, making aurora furrow her eyebrows.
"uh, what's the plan?" the werewolf asked.
"we'll explain it when you get here, aurora. bring the lahey boy and get her, fast." the voice of chris appeared, making aurora groan.
"fine, we'll be there in a few." she mumbled before she turned around and went to isaac's locker.
➶︎ ☠︎ 𓃦 ☠︎ ➶︎
isaac, chris, aurora, and allison were all in chris' car. chris and allison were in the front, aurora and isaac was in the back. they were parked outside of warehouse, where aurora assumed that katashi was at. aurora was trying to stay awake, not wanting to have a terrifying nightmare in the car with her girlfriend and her girlfriend's father.
the sound of a phone ringing pulled the girl back into reality, turning to chris. he had looked at his phone before he sighed in frustration.
"what is it?" allison questioned.
"katashi won't do the buy in person." chris answered.
"but he's a paranoid recluse. shouldn't you be a little less surprised?" isaac questioned.
"i was trying to remain optimistic that we wouldn't have to go to my plan b." the hunter reasoned.
"plan b? uh, what's plan b?" aurora quizzed.
"how tall are the both of you?" chris questioned, turning in his seat to look between aurora and isaac.
"like. . . 5'10". why?" aurora answered, running her fingers through her hair.
instead of answering, he pressed a button that opened the trunk of his car. this made the three teens turn to look at it opening, all of them confused on what was chris' brilliant plan b. ten minutes later, isaac and aurora were dressed in suits. it took five of those ten minutes for allison to convince aurora to slip into the pencil skirt that chris had given her. the werewolf finally gave in.
"guys." the hastings girl called, awkwardly walking around the car, making the two argents look up from the blueprint. "this isn't - this isn't gonna work. i look ridiculous and i hate pencil skirts."
"and i look like i just stepped out of the last period of a catholic prep school." isaac added, stepping out from behind the car.
"and - and there is no way that i'm gonna be able to remember all of this. i mean, what does this even mean?" aurora continued, looking down at the piece of paper chris had given her. "'revolving over and under barrels?'"
"all you two have to do is keep them talking long enough to allow us to get inside and find katashi." chris told the two. "he may not be there for the buy in person but. . . he won't be far."
"you look great." allison said to aurora, trying to calm the werewolf down.
"i truly hate pencil skirts. i'm so uncomfortable. i've never been so uncomfortable in my life." aurora mumbled, pulling at the skirt. it felt like it was becoming attached to her skin.
"give us a second." allison told isaac and chris.
the two males nodded, walking away from the girls. isaac made sure not to use his werewolf hearing to listen in on the conversation, knowing that it might be private between them.
"you can do this." allison whispered to the taller girl, gently cupping her cheeks so that they could look each other in the eyes. "you're not a girl if you walk in there acting like a woman. okay?" allison continued, starting to tuck aurora's shirt into the pencil skirt. "go in there with confidence and all they'll see is a girlish looking woman."
"or a stupid teenager pretending to be a woman." aurora corrected, her voice low. "i'm gonna get isaac and i's heads blown off by a bunch of japanese fingerless mobsters -"
the hybrid was cut off by allison pulling her in, their lips meeting one another's in a heated kiss. aurora moaned lowly, letting her lips mold against allison's. her confidence immediately came back, letting her hands go down to allison's butt, using both of them to squeeze it. the argent girl slowly pulled away, knowing that if she didn't, the kiss would get more heated.
"how do you feel now?" the huntress questioned, a smirk on her lips.
"like a million bucks." aurora whispered.
with that, aurora walked towards isaac and chris, the lahey boy already being ready. chris had given him a pep talk before he handed him a duffel bag. the beta wolf then put a pair of sunglasses on his face before started to walk towards the building. aurora turned towards allison, sending her a wink before she followed isaac. as soon as they were out front, the door slid opened, making the two werewolf step inside.
aurora smirked slightly, looking up at isaac before she turned back to the many men that were surrounding them. "gentlemen, i believe katashi is expecting us."
"i'm expecting you." a man with a deep, deep voice spoke, making the two teen wolves look up. he then slowly started to walk down the stairs, his claws dragging along the railing as he crept closer to them.
aurora furrowed her eyebrows slightly, seeing that the werewolf in front of her had a silver briefcase. the two other werewolves approached the table that was in the middle of the floor. isaac opened up the duffel bag and pulled out a box before he set it on the table.
"what we're looking at here is a mint-condition french flintlock turnover pistol crafted in the mid-17th century." aurora told the man as she opened the box to reveal the antique gun. "it was a gift from louis xiv to a prominent french family. it only ever been fired once."
"during a duel between brothers on the ground of palace of versailles." the man continued, aurora hearing isaac gulp beside her.
"so you're familiar with it." aurora said, not losing her confidence.
"oh, mr.katashi knows what he wants. we'll take it." the werewolf said before he opened the briefcase up to reveal the many stacks of cash. "$150,000."
aurora nodded, looking down at the money. "we're gonna need to count it."
"oh, really?"
"yeah." aurora confirmed before she looked at isaac.
the lahey boy quickly took the money counter machine out of the duffel bag. aurora then grabbed a wad of cash, taking the paper from around it, and then handed it to him, the beta wolf taking the money and putting it in the machine. this process went on for awhile, all of katashi's bodyguards looking at the two teen wolves closely before the one with the deep voice closed the briefcase.
"you two don't know the whole story behind this gun, do you?" he questioned. "there was no duel between brothers. that was the cover story. the real one involves an encounter in the woods with a vicious animal. its bite caused one of the men to change into something. . ." he continued, walking around the table until he was in front of aurora. "monstrous. by his family's code, the brother of this man killed him with this very gun."
"well, that is certainly better than the version that we heard." isaac said, looking around at the bodyguards.
"look, we're gonna trust you guys with the money here, and -" aurora tried, seeing that this wasn't gonna turn out the way that they hoped.
"personally, i'd like to hear your story." the guy said, quickly grabbing aurora before he squeezed her arm.
this made the hybrid yank her arm from his grip, her eyes glowing and her canines growing as she growled at him. she heard isaac growl behind her, but before they could even do anything, the two teen wolves were being dragged throughout the warehouse. because aurora was the strongest out of the two, the werewolf bodyguard had his claws to her throat as he pushed her through the corridors. they entered a room with chris, allison, and katashi.
"guys. . ." aurora choked, glaring down at the floor before she looked up at her girlfriend. "they have a werewolf too."
"rora." allison said, stepping forward to go attack.
the hastings girl felt the werewolf holding her tighten his grip as he dug his claws deeper into her throat, making her wince slightly. "i'm okay. i'm okay."
the couple looked at chris and katashi, who was looking down at the what was in the box on the table.
"starting to remember?" chris asked katashi. "it was 24 years ago."
katashi quickly looked over to his bodyguard, nodding at them. this made them release the two werewolves out of their holds, allison instantly pulling aurora towards her as she glared at the werewolf man that was holding her.
"you know what they are, don't you?" chris questioned, watching katashi closely.
"they're called oni. they are demons." katashi started, looking away from the broken mask. "and they are unstoppable."
"there's not anything to stop them?" aurora questioned.
"nothing. at least no man-made weapon. the oni are a force of nature. you don't fight a tsunami. you endure it. and you hope that you're not destroyed in its path." katashi answered.
"then how do we endure it?" allison asked.
"one of you already has." the man said, walking around the table towards aurora. he then quickly flipped her ear in to reveal the mark behind it. "this is japanese kanji for 'self'. this means she is still herself."
aurora quickly slapped his hand away from her ear, glaring at the man that they called silverfinger.
"the oni are looking for one who is no longer themselves."
"what do you mean no longer themselves?" chris questioned.
"possessed. by a dark spirit. there are 13 kinds of kitsune. celestial, wild, ocean, thunder. but there is one, a dark kitsune. they call it void."
"nogistune." aurora mumbled, making katashi look at her with raised eyebrows. it was in her mother's journals.
"a kumicho." chris said.
"that's right. he was possessed by a nogistune." silverfinger confirmed. "it's what helped him rise through the ranks of our yakuza family. nogistune draws its power from pain and tragedy, strife and chaos. do you know why i'm missing this finger?"
"penance." the hunter answered.
"there's a ritual called yubitsume. removing the joints of the little finger weakens your grip on a sword. when a katana is gripped properly, the little finger is the strongest."
"why did they take your finger?" isaac asked.
"they didn't take it. a yakuza performs the ritual himself and offers it to his superior. it was penance for a mistake. and it wasn't my only one. . . i don't know what it was about the way i moved or stood that suggested to them that i was going to take them on. because actually i was. . . preparing to run for my life. that shot you fired saved me from looking like a coward before the survivors. for that humiliation, i wouldn't have to have given up my finger. i would've had to give up my head." katashi informed chris, aurora listening closely.
everyone watched as he gently placed the clothed over the shards of the mask. he then pushed it across the table towards chris. aurora, allison, and isaac watched as chris stepped closer to the table.
"i wish i could give you the answer you need, mr.argent. i owe you more than my life. i owe you my honor. i will tell you one thing, however. if there is a nogistune among you. . . let the oni destroy it." katashi told the argent man before he looked over at allison. he then looked back to chris. "even if it is your own daughter."
this made chris slowly turn towards allison with a worried look, aurora looking at the huntress in worry as well. before she could say anything, her phone started ringing, making everyone in the room jump at the sudden noise.
"sorry." the hastings girl mumbled as she pulled her phone out from her blazer. "hello?"
"aurora, please tell me that you guys have something. they're here. they're trying to get in. and it looks like they're gonna be able to do it." scott frantically informed from the other end.
"uh, okay. they're japanese demons called the oni. they're looking for someone possessed. someone with a dark spirit attached to them." aurora quickly explained.
"nogistune?" scott asked, remembering what the hybrid had told him.
"yeah. but they won't hurt you. they know that you're supernatural, but once they check you, once they realize that you're not carrying the dark spirit with you they're not gonna hurt you. i promise. all they're looking for is the nogistune."
with that, scott hung up. and then suddenly. . .
aurora's spidey senses started to tingle.
➶︎ ☠︎ 𓃦 ☠︎ ➶︎
heyyyyyyyyyy. ik it's been like a week since i updated but i was getting adjusted with being home and everything. i won't promise that i'll spam this book while i'm on semester break, but i will update some of my other books as well as this one. i promise.
i hope u guys enjoyed this chapter. i'm kinda disappointed that it's so short, it's 3855 and it's usually way more than that. but anyways yeah.