Even in the shower, her hands were hurting. It was throbbing and painful. And they felt hot. As she let the water from the shower rain over her, she examined both of her hands, wrist-down. They were red and sore and she thought back on the events that happened in the exorcism room.
There were two times where she touched the creature: one when it was about to enter Takayama's mouth and the other was when she did the Interception spell. Other times were either her touching the bed in the room or touching her husband.
Heiwa clenched her hands into fists then continued showering, brushing off the thought about the demon they encountered. She thanked God that the creature wasn't as scary as the dead people she often encountered.
'Heiwa, I made chamomile, come down when you're done.'
Akashi's voice sounded distant as he spoke to her from outside of the bathroom.
'Okay!' she replied loudly then turned the water off.
When she was done and went down, Akashi was sitting on the sofa watching the television, with a remote in his left hand and a mug in his right hand. He heard her coming and turned his head.
'Yours is here,' he pointed to a blue mug on the coffee table between the TV and the sofa.
'Thank you,' she smiled and sat beside him, grabbing the mug as she did so. Heiwa sipped the hot tea slowly, savouring the sugarless taste.
They watched the TV for some time. A late-night variety show featuring artists and comedians from all over the world. They rarely watch television shows but that night was an exception.
Heiwa put her mug down after gulping half of it then snuggled close against Akashi's chest and he placed his arm around her shoulders.
'Senpai,' she spoke and he merely hummed in response while his fingers played with her hair. 'When I told you that I placed the creature under the glass, why did you examine my hands?'
Akashi rested his chin on her head. 'There was one time an officer had complications after touching evil souls. I was just making sure,' he replied.
'Have you guys ever encountered demons instead of souls?' she questioned.
'Of course, your dad dealt with it once or twice too.'
'He did?'
'Yes, but the cases were too small in number that we couldn't actually gather enough data to make anything: SOP or guidelines or find enough incantations.'
'Demons are less scary than dead people,' she stated in a low voice.
Akashi chuckled, 'You're lucky we met a faceless one.'
Heiwa gaped. 'They don't look the same?'
'Of course not. Just like dead people, they have variations too.'
She sighed, 'I'm so tired...'
Akashi's fingers reached for her eyes and covered them. 'Sleep, I'll bring you up when I'm done with this show,' he said.
Heiwa closed her eyes and frowned. 'You're going to continue watching that? You don't even like it,' she said groggily.
'Hm, it doesn't hurt to amuse myself with this dumb show once in a while.'
There were no responses after that; Heiwa had fallen asleep rather quickly. Akashi began brainstorming for the next day's meeting.
-
My hands are unbearably painful and my throat feels tight. I look around and only see darkness. I reach out in hope of touching a wall or something but there is just a void surrounding me. I try to walk. There is a solid ground to step on. It is worrying enough to walk with my eyes open but no vision so I just close them, walking forward and hands reaching out to anything, like a blind person without his walking stick.
And then suddenly I feel a grip around my calf. If it were a hand, it is a very rough and cold, scaly hand. I stop in my tracks and hold my breath.
What was that?
Another cold hand grabs my other calf. Then another around my waist, my arms, my shoulders, my neck and finally, my face.
I am breathing heavily, panic rushing over as I imagine what these things are around me.
I scream but as soon as I open my mouth, a hand covers it. Then, when I try to breathe, nothing comes in. I desperately attempt to suck in air but there is still nothing. My anxiety doubles.
My lungs feel like they are being squeezed and crushed at the same time.
I know this is a dream. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!!!!
The hands begin clawing and I can feel my skin being ripped apart. It's a dream but it sure hurts like it's real.
It's probably just my mindset.
Come on, Heiwa, wake up!
'I am with you.'
A voice resonates. The hands disappear as quickly as they had appeared earlier. I can breathe again.
'Who are you?' I ask, my voice small and shaky.
'I believe we have met,' the voice says, a hint of amusement in his tone. 'It's sad that you have forgotten about me rather early.'
'You're the demon...' I say in realization. 'Why are you here?'
The demon laughs, 'To haunt you, is that not obvious enough?'
'Why? Because I fought you? And you do not like aggressive people like me?'
'No, of course not,' it replies assuringly. 'I am purely here because...'
I frown and wait... 'Because what?' I ask impatiently.
But there is no answer.
'Hey!' I call out.
'You cannot get rid of me,' as soon as the demon says that, I am pushed to the ground by a massive unknown force.
And when I open my eyes, a hideous face greets me. It has a black, cracked and rotten face as if burned, a glistening blood-red eyes and has the creepiest wide smile I have ever seen.
I scream and it feels like somebody had struck me on the chest with a hammer.
-
Heiwa woke up with a start and a loud gasp. But she was alone in the living room. The light and the TV were still on. She had been lying on the sofa with no Akashi by her side. She looked around and still saw nobody.
Panic kicked in and she stood up to find her husband, afraid of being alone with the dream she just had. She looked at the staircase and wondered if Akashi had gone up without her but decided against it since that had never happened. Ever.
'Ow!' There was a sharp pain on her hands and she looked at it.
They looked like 1st degree burns. But it felt like the 3rd degree instead.
She shook her hands in a desperate attempt to cool it off but it just became even more painful.
Akashi appeared from the kitchen and saw Heiwa standing up. He walked towards her, 'Did I wake you up? Sorry, I went to the k–' he saw her hands.
Heiwa looked at him worriedly.
'What the hell happened to your hands?' He grabbed them and examined the marks.
'I don't know but it hurts,' she replied and sounded like she was about to cry.
Akashi frowned, thinking. 'Demon essence...' he concluded. 'You touched the demon earlier, right?'
She nodded.
'Absit omen,' he muttered, her hands still in his. 'Bono malum superate.'
The pain subsided and Heiwa's mouth widened in surprise. 'Wow, thank you. I didn't know you could do that,' she said.
'It's the basics. I thought it should work even for demonic wounds,' he said with a smile.
Heiwa sighed in relief then looked at him with puppy eyes. 'Now can we please go to sleep? I'm so exhausted.'
Akashi kissed her forehead lovingly. 'Of course,' he said and they walked upstairs and went to sleep.
-
It was 3 in the morning and Mikage had just finished settling the last case file of the day. He had brought them back home to read. When done, he stretched his arms and leaned against his seat, sighing exhaustedly. He rubbed his eyes with one hand while the other hand reached for a case file he pushed aside earlier.
It was a case file of Minatogawa Sasara, a male fugitive that could see and talk to the dead. He had committed 29 crimes, as written in the document, including attacking Supernatural Division officers, sending souls to curse humans, attempting to summon dangerous supernatural creatures (such as Azure), poisoning humans using illegal concoctions (humans' hair, demon essence, etc) and...
Mikage frowned. 'Astral projection...?'
Astral Projection is an intentional out-of-body experience, where one can wander around leaving their physical body behind. He hasn't heard of the term in a long while, mainly because not everyone can do it and it is considered forbidden in the division.
And then for some reason, he remembered Towa, through the small gap of the office door, clothes and hair fluttering in an air-conditioned room, standing calmly by the window. Could he have been doing Astral Projection?
Another random, suspicious thought came across his mind.
He was never able to read Towa's mind. It was either blocked or limited. Towa challenged him to read his mind back then but Mikage never accepted it because it'd be disrespectful.
After a long contemplation over himself, he closed the case file and went to sleep.