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*******
Riku grabbed Itsuki's neck violently and raised him up. The crack in his neck was fatal. He couldn't breathe. He tried to hold Riku with his hand, but Riku twisted the hand and it broke. He screamed in anguish.
Kazumi came out trembling and crying. She was a bit distant from Riku for fear of being killed. She knelt down, rubbing her palms together.
"Please don't kill him. I'm begging you," she cried.
"Where are my sisters!" Riku's voice was a high, dangerous roar.
"If… you… kill me… you won't know where they are," Itsuki managed to say.
"Maybe I could still kill you and know where they are," he growled at him.
"Please don't. I beg you. I don't know who your sisters are, but we brought in a group of kids," Kazumi told him.
He turned to her. "Where are they?"
"Come. Let me show you." She stood up.
Riku threw Itsuki in the air, and he landed face down with his nose bleeding. He rolled on the floor, holding his throat. He gasped and coughed out blood, soiling the floor and his shirt.
Kazumi took Riku to the dark underground where Shin stayed. She went with a torchlight. The torchlight was dim, but they were able to see.
The underground was heavy with the stench of human decay, the coppery tang of fresh blood, and the sickly-sweet smell of decayed blood. The underground had a nose-wrinkling, foul smell.
Riku pinched his nostrils. He glanced at Kazumi and was a little surprised she wasn't bothered by the foul smell. It seemed like a floral scent to her. When she got to the lair Shin stayed in the underground, she halted. It was locked, but she didn't open it.
"What could my sisters be doing here? What did you do to them?" Riku growled at her. He wanted to grab her.
"You would beat a woman, and not just a woman, but a woman who could give birth to you," she snapped.
Riku stopped.
"Save it for something bigger than you." She threw the key at him. He caught it. "The key to the entrance. You will find your sisters there. I don't know them. When you see them, you should know them."
"What did you do to them? You kidnapped them to such an awful, godforsaken, foul place to do what?"
"See for yourself." She turned back to leave but stopped without turning to him. "Wait for five minutes before opening it."
"Why? What if something bad happens to my sisters within that five minutes?"
"Do as you like." She started leaving in a hurry.
Riku opened the inner lair, and then Shin, in a demon form, rushed out like a flash. Riku was fast enough to get out of the way.
Kazumi started running, and Shin chased after her.
Shin got hold of her when she got to the sitting room. He ate her hastily, like there was a demon also there to share her with him, which he wouldn't want. His mother tasted sweeter than any human he'd eaten. Itsuki saw this and ran for his life inside the house.
The security guards, hearing the commotion inside and having recovered a little from what Riku did to them, came in. They saw Shin, and fear gripped them. They started shooting at him. Shin caught all the bullets with his hand, and then started tearing them apart one by one.
Riku went inside the lair and was hit with a heavy blow of pungent stench which filled his nostrils. He had never seen anything of that sort since he became a demon slayer. The stench in the lair was more horrifying than the underground. Millions of flies buzzed around decayed body parts.
He brought out his phone from his pocket and put on the torchlight. Millions of maggots and flies were on rotten body parts. Some of the flies came buzzing around him. He swirled his hand, trying to chase them from him. The lair was painted with blood. It was like a slaughterhouse.
Riku felt nauseated, and he finally threw up.
There were torn clothes on the ground. His eyes fell on torn uniforms belonging to Akira and Mao's school. He fell on his knees. His phone fell from his hand, and the screen broke, but the torchlight was still on.
He picked up the torn uniform. He shook his head, doubting that these were his sisters' torn uniforms. They couldn't possibly have fed the demon he saw with his sisters, he reasoned, trying hard to believe his sisters were safe.
He saw two bags and rushed to them. They were Akira and Mao's bags. He opened them and brought out their books. He couldn't doubt what he had seen now. His heart was wrenching in anguish.
The demon ate his sisters!
Riku screamed in fury. He stood up and ran to the sitting room. The sitting room was strewn with human blood. The sitting room he'd entered that was nothing compared to any other place he had seen had turned into a demon's meal house.
Shin was just dropping the last bodyguards after eating the essential places he wanted to eat. He smacked his hands loudly. His bulbous, bloodshot eyes narrowed wickedly. His claws were longer and sharper than any other demon.
Riku looked around and saw the lifeless bodies around. Not just his mother, or the bodyguards, but even the househelps and everybody that worked in the house.
"What did you do to my sisters?" He screamed furiously in tears.
"Can't you tell? Are you blind? They are in my belly." Shin laughed wickedly. He sat down on the gold armchair his father was sitting in a while ago.
Riku brought out his Nichirin sword from his side. Now was the damn time to use it. Not on mere humans, but on demons. Riku wouldn't let it go. A demon who killed his sisters deserves
DEATH.
Riku ran to Shin in order to strike his Nichirin sword on him, but when he was getting to Shin, Shin said the word "STOP," and he couldn't move. He tried moving, but he couldn't. He tried using his Nichirin sword to get to Shin, but he couldn't. He felt like a force bigger, stronger, mightier than him held him, so he couldn't move an inch.
Riku had never experienced such a thing. He had fought with several high-ranking demons, but none were able to control him with their words. None had such blood demon art. Who could this demon be, and how was he able to control him? He kept asking himself.
He wasn't in control of himself anymore. He wouldn't want to disappoint his family; he had to do all it takes to bring this demon down.
Shin laughed once more, and then his face became dead serious. "Demon slayers. I hate you all. You come to my house to kill me. You didn't think of who you came to kill."
"I will kill you, and you can't get away with it!" Riku said through gritted teeth.
"I don't have the time to talk with low creatures. Kill yourself."
Immediately, Riku used his sword and stabbed himself continuously. He started bleeding profusely. His sword clanged to the floor from his hand with a heavy thud. He fell on the floor on his knees before Shin.
Shin smirked. Riku held his stomach; viscous and ghastly gory blood was gushing out from his mouth. He got hold of his sword. He used the sword to support his weight, then he stood up. He tried slaying Shin with the sword again.
"Kill your goddamn self!" Shin screamed furiously, and the walls of the building started cracking, starting from the wall above.
Riku used the sword and stabbed his heart, and he fell to the ground.
"Pathetic creatures." He stood up and left.
The cracks from the walls above continued going down. There was a low grumble as the ground vibrated. Riku lay where he was, groaning in his martyrdom as blood flowed out from him like a flowing stream.
There was a thunderous roar, and then came a loud thud of the ceiling on the ground. At the same time, the ground also gave way to a dance of destruction. The pillars crumbled in shards.
There was no escape route for Riku. He lay in excruciating pain while the building collapsed on him.
Later on, the destructive building became quiet, except for the dust and debris which hung heavy in the air.
The sound of distant sirens could be heard coming closer….
****
Taku was in his room, screaming and crying at home. It's been hours, but Riku hasn't come back. He knew something bad had happened to his twin. He can't just sit and watch.
He hoped Riku was alive, and his sisters. He had to do something. He didn't know what to do because he didn't have such strength like Riku, but he knew he had to do something.
He ran to the sitting room. His parents were still there, waiting for the return of Riku and his younger sisters. His father wrapped his mother in his arms.
Riku didn't stop in the sitting room. He went straight to the door.
"No, Taku! You can't go!" His father said in a pleading but firm voice.
"I will, Dad."
"Taku, please. Don't," his mother cried.
"I just can't sit while I watch my siblings in danger." He opened the door.
His father tried standing up, and then he fell flat with his face on the floor. He groaned.
"Oh!" His mother went to him. She put her hands on his body. "You don't have to, please. You know you can't walk. Please don't hurt yourself."
Taku looked at his father, tears moving freely from his eyes. He just stood motionless.
His father rolled on the floor to where Taku was. The sight was agony for Taku. He didn't like seeing his father like this. But now everything he didn't like kept on happening. The world must be against them.
His father held Taku's ankle firmly. "Please, Taku, I don't want to lose you." Tears streamed down his face. "We just have to wait for Riku to bring back your sisters. He is strong. He has killed high-ranking demons. Riku will bring them back. It's just time. Please don't go."
"Riku is in danger. I know it. I feel it. If saving Akira and Mao led Riku to danger, then they are also in danger. And I can't just sit down here and watch my siblings in danger without trying to help. Dad, I'm sorry." He wiped his tears. He looked at his mother. "Take care of him, Mum."
He left.
Taku went into the street. The rain was falling very heavily now. There was no bus at such an odd hour. The rain fell mercilessly on him. He wished the rain could wash away everything that had happened that night.
He remembered the address of Mao's school teacher. He got there, but couldn't identify her room, so he knocked at a neighbor's door, next to where Mao's teacher's room is. He knew he must be disturbing the neighbor, but he didn't have a choice.
A man came out, Saku. He was wearing boxer shorts without a shirt. His hair was rough, and his face looked like one that was obviously disturbed from his sleep.
His brow knitted together, and his mouth curled in anger at seeing such a stranger at his doorstep at such an odd hour. He felt like kicking Taku on his butt.
"What the hell, kid! Why are you knocking on my door at this odd hour! Are you a thief!" Saku shouted.
"No, no, sir. I'm so sorry. Please, where is the room of Miss Megumi? The pregnant teacher."
Saku looked surprised and immediately became concerned. "Is she giving birth? Do you need help? That's not a question. Let me wear my shorts." He wanted to go inside, but Taku stopped him.
"No, no, she isn't."
"Then why are you looking for her at this ungodly hour? Were you sent to kidnap her?"
"No, sir. My three siblings are in danger. My twin…."
His eyes widened. He cut him short, "In danger?"
Taku nodded. "My younger sisters went missing, and then my twin came here to ask for their whereabouts. She is one of their school teachers. We have been looking for them since during the day. They didn't come back from school. My twin was the one who came to look for them, but hasn't come back." Panic crept into Taku's voice. He was already crying without realizing it.
Saku felt pity towards him, and all anger and suspicion melted away. "Oh, kid! Give me a sec." He went in and came back wearing khaki shorts and a worn-out shirt. "Follow me."
Taku did as he was told. They passed different doors and then stopped at one. Saku knocked on the door.
Mao's teacher opened the door. She looked all tense. She wasn't sleeping; she had been awake since Riku left, waiting to hear news from him. "Did you find them?"
"I'm Taku, Riku's twin."
"Oh! I thought it was Riku. Come inside." She opened the door wide.
Taku went inside.
"His siblings are in danger. I want to help too," Saku slipped in.
"My brother came here, right?"
"Yes, yes, he did. He isn't home yet?"
"No. We haven't heard any news from him. And I think he is in danger. A danger so grave. Where did he go? I want to find him."
"It's, um… very dangerous. If he can't make it out, I don't think you will. A demon is involved. I'm sure."
"Demon?"
"Yes. It must have attacked him. I'm not a demon slayer, but my father was before he died. So I know a lot about demons and Demon Slayers."
"Where did he go? I want to look for him."
"Tell us where he is so we can go look for him." Saku added
"You can't fight demons. You can't." She tried holding back her tears. "You won't make it back. The best thing we can do right now is to wait for him."
"Why is everyone telling me to sit down, cross my legs, and wait for Riku? I can't and I won't! I will go out there and find my twin."
"I'll go with you, kid." Saku looked at Mao's teacher. "You stay right here. Maybe go to bed. It doesn't seem like you have caught any sleep."
"I can't sleep. This demon seems dangerous."
"Give us the address."
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