Yuna pushed her boyfriend away from her. "Run and find cover!"
Wataru tried to see something in the trees, but the creature pushed off and whirled through the air. He only heard the beating of wings, stared at his girlfriend, nodded vigorously and ran away.
The huntress drew her Beretta and released the safety catch.
"Where are you?!", she screamed.
A hiss reached her ear. From the corner of her eye she noticed a blue glow, and she turned her gaze on it. In the next second she was hit by a beam. An ice beam! She could even feel the cold through her armor. Her left arm was covered by a layer of ice, but she shook the ice crystals off without hesitation.
"Shit, it has a power.", went through her head. She raised the Beretta and shot two bullets in the direction of the monster. A shriek rang out and the creature rose again into the air. Yuna followed the Oni with her gun barrel and fired two more bullets at it. The Oni whirled and rushed toward her.
It looked like a Wyvern. Instead of arms it had wings with which it could glide through the air. Its head sat on a long neck and a long tail fluttered behind it. The creature could be more than five meters long. It opened its throat and gathered energy for another attack. The blue glow reappeared.
The huntress fired three times at its mouth, then she threw herself to the side to escape its freeze ray. An icy corridor appeared behind Yuna. She rolled over on her back and shot five more bullets at the beast. The Oni crashed to the ground, but quickly fought up its way to its feet.
The girl jumped up, drew her knife and rushed to the monster. She pushed herself off the ground and sailed on to the Oni. It struck with its tail and hurled Yuna out into the thicket. The Beretta slipped from her hand when she was hit and clattered beside the monster to the ground. The blue-haired crashed into a tree trunk and sunk to the ground. A loud groan was squeezed out of her.
With pounding steps the Oni rushed towards her. It stood in front of her and was preparing for the next ice beam.
"Crap. I can't do a thing.", thought Yuna annoyed. She hoped that her power would be strong enough to protect her against its.
A cry rang out behind the Oni and the Beretta was fired. The creature turned its head and saw Wataru who fired at it. This was her chance!
The huntress jumped up, ran to the Oni and rammed the tip of her knife into its throat. The creature screamed and turned back to the girl. She yanked on the knife and slit the beast's throat. A gush of blood splashed her face while the creature slumped gasping.
Yuna chopped on the neck of the creature until the head fell to the ground. Breathing heavily she gasped and looked at the beast. It had possessed a power, probably it would have soon become humanoid. Where was the border between a wild beast and a possibly friendly member of the Oni brotherhood?
She wiped the sauce from her face and walked around the Oni to look after Wataru. "Are you okay?", she asked.
Open-mouthed, he stared at her gasping for air and nodded absently. "I guess so."
"I'll take this."
Yuna loosened the cramped hands of her boyfriend around the Beretta and took the gun back. She checked the empty magazine, exchanged it for her spare magazine, locked the weapon and put it back in its holster. She took her sunglasses and put them on her nose.
"Where ... where did it go?", stuttered Wataru, from who's face all color had been drained.
Yuna looked over her shoulder. The Oni had already disappeared. "Their bodies decompose when they die. Therefore, there is practically no trace of them."
"Okay ..."
The girl stroked his cheek. "That was very brave of you." His eyes turned to her and he nodded again. "I am very proud of you."
He forced himself slowly into a smile. "Thank you."
"What do you want to do?"
"W-what?", stammered the young man. His gaze jumped repeatedly to the spot, where the creature just lay.
"We have now done what I wanted. What do you want to do?"
"I want to go home. And have a beer."
"Okay." She took his hand and wanted to go, but Wataru didn't move. "What is it?", asked the girl.
"What happened? Why did it disappear?"
"If I or an Oni kill another Oni, we absorb their essence, their energy. This makes us stronger."
He swallowed hard. "Then ... then this thing is inside of you now?"
"Its energy, yes. It itself no longer exists. Oni cease to exist when they die."
The young man shook his head. "That's so crazy."
"You get used to it."
"Have you killed many Oni?"
The girl tried to remember how many Oni she had destroyed so far. The first beast in her home, then the kraken in the sewers. She took her hand to help. The six beasts in the amusement park. This one. And Daiki.
"I think this one was my tenth.", she confessed.
"Okay."
"Come. Let's go home."
"Uh-huh."
The huntress led her distraught boyfriend out of the woods. They walked for a couple of minutes along the road until they came to a taxi stand. Yuna pushed her boyfriend to the left side of the rear seat, sat down next to him and gave the address to the driver.
During the entire trip Wataru spoke not a single word. The blue-haired worried about him. That was probably more than he could handle. Reassuringly she stroked his right forearm. She took his right hand in her left and led it to her mouth.
"Everything is fine. You don't have to be afraid. " She lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it. The young man nodded absently.
Yuna looked at him further. Maybe it has not been a good idea to take him hunting. Ha! It had been the stupidest idea ever. What had she been thinking? Something could have happened to him. Someone who would be responsible, like Yoshiro or Shinji would have never taken a human to a hunt.
What came next? Hikari? Or Yui?!
Oh no. Should Yui ever wake up again, the blue-haired would do everything to preserve her little sister from this world. She should have an ordinary, innocent life. Something that Yuna would never again have.
At the pension Yuna paid the taxi and followed Wataru to the front door. He stopped in front of it and looked at the door. She pressed herself against his back and hugged him from behind. He winced. "I'm sorry that I forced you into this.", she apologized.
He sighed. "Okay ..."
"Please don't be mad at me."
"I'm not."
She paused. "Why are you so weird?"
"I ... I have to process this first."
"What?"
"You ... The Oni."
"But ... you knew it all before."
Wataru turned to her. "Yes, but to get told something and then really see it ... these are two different things. Give me some time."
The girl looked at him with trembling lips. "Are you going to break up with me?"
He smiled soothingly. "No."
The huntress swallowed hard. Dejected she turned her gaze to the floor. "That was dumb of me. I shouldn't have taken you along."
"Let it go, Yuna-chan. Let's go inside."
She nodded. He pulled out his key ring and opened the door. He let the girl go first. Behind them he locked the door again. Yuna stood irresolute in the hall and looked at him.
"I'll go to sleep.", decided the young man.
"Will you sleep in my room?"
He paused. Slowly he pulled off his shoes and deposited them carefully in his shelf. "I don't know."
"All right."
She took off her shoes, threw them into her shelf and walked past him up the stairs. She entered her room and took off her sweater. She put the holster with the Beretta and the knife in the sheath into her closet next to the Oni-knife. Wataru stood in the doorway and watched her. She turned around and looked at him in surprise.
"What?" He came over to her. They looked deep into each others eyes. "What?", she asked again in a shaky voice.
"Good night, Yuna." He kissed her intimately. She kissed him back and stroked his neck with her left hand. Then he let go of her. "Sleep well."
"You too, Wata."
He turned and left her room. She listened as he closed his door.
Mixed emotions swirled through her heart. She felt simultaneously hot and cold. She felt sad. He had estranged from her. A single tear slid down her cheek.
"Damn!", she swore. She raised her left hand to her mouth, then she began to cry. She didn't want this. She didn't want to lose him.
After she had calmed down, she went to the toilet, brushed her teeth, put on her sleeping clothes and prepared her futon. She lay down, but couldn't sleep. She took her phone and checked her messages. Hikari had not written yet. Probably she also needed some more time.
But she had a message from an unknown number.
Hey, Yuna-chan. I'm glad you're okay. Would you like to hang out?
Oh, it's me Nisha. = ^. ^ =
The huntress laughed.
Sure. Tomorrow after school?
She put her phone to the side, turned on the TV and watched a movie. Somehow, this first date wasn't as great as she had initially thought.