"Yuki…hmm, you're not from here, are you?" Zeke asked.
Yuki didn't answer, she remained silent.
"Is everything alright?"
"I can't believe it…" she finally said in a low voice.
Zeke, confused, asked her "Believe what?"
"Everything!" she screamed, bursting with rage. Zeke was still confused, but he chose to remain silent for the time being.
"I can't believe what's going on; you stole my sword, gained demonic powers, saw a Hals, a large chunk of this school was destroyed, and nothing appears to be going well..."
"Yuki…?" asked Zeke in a low voice.
"WHAT!?"
"I understand that things did not turn out as they should have been here, but can you please explain to me exactly what is happening, I don't really understand what you mean by "stealing your sword" and "demonic powers"
"Yes…of course you don't understand" she said, rubbing her eyes with one hand's fingers "It's impossible to do it, it's something completely new for you…"
"So, will you explain to me?"
"I don't have a choice…" she sighed loud "But not now, too much happened today…I'm too tired at this point…I will explain you tomorrow"
"Wait, why do we have to wait until tomorrow?" he said, trying to get closer to her, but Yuki rejected him instantly.
"Just leave me alone! I told you, too much happened today…I need some time for myself…"
It wasn't as if Zeke had an option but to accept Yuki's suggestion. She gave him her phone number and they exchanged contact information, and they agreed to meet the next day so Zeke could understand what was going on.
Before parting, Zeke asked Yuki about the area that has been destroyed, and she said that, as long as the security cameras were also destroyed, is not her problem, which pissed him off.
Luckily, Zeke had access to all of the school security cameras on his laptop at home, so when he arrived home, he wiped all of the footage from the previous twelve hours to ensure that no one knew what had happened.
But there was another thing that kept him awake at night. Too much had happened that day for him to be able to sleep peacefully, monsters that appeared out of nowhere? Magical swords? A girl who can control lightning? Too many questions for Zeke to answer.
Furthermore, he began to feel weird from the time he accidently swallowed Yuki's blood. Zeke was already athletic, but his body began to feel lighter and stronger after that. He still couldn't explain what was happening, or how he was still alive after the attacks he received, so he went to the kitchen and got a little knife, with which he made a small cut on his finger that was barely visible, and to his surprise, the cut healed almost instantly.
"My body seems to heal much faster than before…this will be very useful in the future, but I'm curious…how many things can I do now?"
Zeke sat in an unusual position, He began to sit in his hands, in perfect balance, without leaning on anything.
"Wow! I could barely do that before" He said, very delighted. "But what if…?" He then began doing what appeared to be vertical push-ups while maintaining his balance.
"This is awesome! These powers are so useful! I wonder what their limit is" And then an idea came to him. He put on his training suit and went out for a night workout.
He ran 50-kilometers, then did 1000 abs, push-ups, and knee bends to put his body to the limit, but despite all of his efforts, he was unable to do it. On the contrary, he didn't even feel close to the limit. The only thing that kept him from going on was the sun's rays, which signaled the start of a new day, a day full of surprises and unanswered questions.
After that, Zeke returned home, preparing to go to university, although he knew that the classes would be canceled due to the destruction caused by that creature, nonetheless, no one could find out what happened that night, so Zeke wasn't worried at all.
As he hurried to school he felt that he was being followed, but he did not pay much attention to this feeling because he was already quite late. When he finally arrived in front of the university, guess who was waiting for him there in a large crowd of course, it was Yuki.
She wore a knee-length purple dress with a very simple and attractive design, perfect for the season they were in, accompanied by a pink purse and a straw hat that protected her from the strong light outside. But something about her design seemed different, her hair color was black this time. A dark beautiful black, long, elegant, straight hair, which stood out during the day, but which disappeared without a trace during the night. Black, a beautiful, yet a mysterious color.
"You're late" she said "And you look horrible, what happened to your face? And what are these clothes?
On the other hand, Zeke was confused and surprised to see Yuki so changed "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I've told you yesterday, I will explain everything to you, now let's move"
"Wait, don't you think we should...?" he said pointing at the crowd.
"Depending, did you do what I told you to do?" Zeke nodded. "Then we have no reason to stay here, come on, follow me"
After that, the two left the place. They stopped at a terrace not far from the university. A nice place indeed, it had a canopy that kept guests in the shade, some chairs that you usually find on the terraces by the beach, nice tables for two people, overall a place that creates a relaxing atmosphere. The two sat down at the table, and a waiter came to take their order. After the waiter gave them their drinks, Yuki began silently sipping her tea as Zeke stared at her.
"So…?" he asked in a low voice.
"So. First things first, I told you once last night, but I'll tell you one more time in case you forgot, my name is Yuki, and I'm a demon"
"Wait, wait, wait" said Zeke fluttering his hands "I think you skipped the part about you being a demon"
"Maybe, but that is not that important now, we have more important things to discuss"
"Before you continue, can I ask you a question…"
"Just!" she said in a high tone "Don't interrupt me, ok? I will tell you as far as you need to know, you don't have to know all the details, only the essential ones, so pay attention, and listen carefully, because I won't repeat myself twice, and your questions at the end, in case you still have some"
Yuki folded her arms around her chest, and she laid her feet on one another, preparing to continue the explanations, as soon as she finished the tea she had just started sipping again.
"Don't you think you're a little aggressive?" Zeke asked.
"Me? Aggressive? I think you don't understand" she replied, casting a criminal glance at Zeke "You drank my blood, you now have powers that you humans should not have, you are capable of doing things that any other human can't, more than that…" she made a small pause "You…also took my sword!"
"About this…I don't know how I did that…"
"DON'T TRY TO COME WITH CHEAP EXCUSES!" she yelled "Don't get me wrong, I didn't call you here to befriend, but to tell you what's going on, so you won't die stupid, Get this through your head, I don't trust you, so don't see me as an ally, but rather as an enemy if you try to do something with these powers"
Zeke swallowed. Yuki was visibly irritated by this whole situation, and she clearly didn't want it to happen.
"However, I do not believe we should be at odds with one another; rather, I believe we should work together…." replied Zeke.
"What did I told you about questions?!" she shouted back, interrupting him.
"And that's what you need to work on; it won't be helpful just to yell at each other; we should strive to work together instead."
Yuki gave Zeke another menacing look, but this time Zeke was unmoved.
"Do…you want me to kill you right here and right now?" she asked him, in a serious tone.
"With what? With the powers that are mine now?, what are you gonna do without them? Punch me to death?" After Zeke said that, a small crack started to appear on the table. Yuki was so annoyed that the table began to shatter as she began to squeeze it with her arm.
"I know what's going on in your head right now, "Damn, I wished I could punch him right in his face", but I know you can't do this, not in this place at least"
"One more word from that mouth, and you'll kiss my sword" she said again, with a hint of a bright red on the face.
"I won't do that, you know why? Because I know you can't show your powers in public, that's why you made me destroy the evidence of the fight last night…"
"Stop…" she said in a low and soft voice, starting to calm down.
Zeke clasped his hands to his chest and continued talking "You said you didn't trust me and wouldn't befriend me, but if that was your plan, you wouldn't have called me to a public location where you couldn't use your powers. I get your message; you called me in a public area, deliberately lowering your guard in order to gain my trust. Even now, you try to be tough, intimidating me, but we both know you're just scared of what I can do with these powers, and that's why you're trying to win my cooperation by fear"
"Please stop it!" Yuki yelled, interrupting him, in a trembling voice.
When Zeke looked up to see Yuki again, she was almost crying, a few tears were already ready to fall from her eyes.
"Wait, wait, wait" he said in a hurry fluttering his hands in the air "I didn't mean to make you cry!"
"I don't cry, idiot!" she replied, wiping tears from her eyes "Why did it have to be you…? Why someone like you…?"
"What do you mean?"
"I hate the people like you from the bottom of my heart, people who think they are better than others, people like you who have a superiority complex, always being above all, you so-called, "perfect people"."
"See, this time, you're wrong; I don't believe I'm better than you; in fact, I am better than you, you proved to me that when you tried to intimidate me, which to be honest was pathetic."
"SEE! This was what I was talking about! How can I work on an equal footing with someone who believes he is superior to me from the start? Without even knowing what kind of situation he's in?"
"I think you got the wrong idea, this time it was very easy to read you, I knew from the start you wouldn't fight me in a place like this, because you can't use your powers, that's why you put me to delete all the footage from the cameras, isn't it?"
Yuki remained silent before saying another word, but as she spoke again ,the very first thing she said was "I hate you so much" after that she sighted hard and continued to talk "Anyway, at least leave me to continue what I have to say, after that you can say what you want, but until I'm done with the explications, please shut up"
"See, that was what I was talking about, we're starting to make progress"
Yuki's forehead vein began to pump aggressively, but she chose to ignore it and continue explaining.
"So…you already know it, my name is Yuki, and I'm a demon from Hell, and before asking, yes, the Hell, like the actual Hell, not some place with the same name. As you are already familiar there are 3 realms where life exists: Earth, Heaven and Hell. On the Earth you humans live, on Heaven there are beings you know too well, angels, and in Hell are us, demons. The creature that you saw last night was a Hals , a race of soulless creatures that lives in Hell, and for some reason, they got here on Earth. My mission is simple, to wipe all Hals on the planet and return to Hell safely, easy, isn't it? Yes, it would normally be, but there was an unforeseen aspect that threw my plans into disarray."
"And that's me"
"And that's you, you somehow manage to drink my blood and now you end up having demonic powers which is something extremely rare, and dangerous. You see now that you drank my blood, you have some of my powers, which means you can use demonic powers, but I am no longer able to fully utilize my powers, and that's a big deal"
"And that's why you need my help"
"And that's why I need your help…" she said staring to the ground "Look, I don't want to make you my enemy, all I want to do is end this thing fast and go back home, so there should be no interference"
"Hmm, you see, now that I think about it, it's a good thing these powers have reached me rather than some crazed lunatic who wants to end the world."
"Wait, so you mean…"
"I'm not a bad person Yuki, I will not use these powers for bad, I understand why you tried to trick me at the beginning, if these powers had reached someone evil, you would have been in big problems"
Yuki remained silent and listened to Zeke.
"You see Yuki…I won't use these powers to do bad, and I understand why you don't trust me just yet, but if these thing is gonna continue, let me help you, after all, I'm already aware of you and the Hals situation, so I believe we should work together"
Yuki was still silent, thinking about her options.
"Hey look, I'm not asking you to blindly believe me, and I'm not asking you to befriend me; all I'm asking is for a chance to prove to you that I'm not as evil as you think."
Yuki let out a long sigh and then gave Zeke the answer he had been waiting for "It's not like I have too many options, you're already involved in this and you know quite a lot…Ok, let's say I give you a chance, but only if you do exactly what I say and absolutely listen to me when it comes to matters that have nothing to do with this world."
"An understandable condition"
"Ok so, where did I end up with the explanations…"
"Magic"
"Right about magic. In every world there is a certain thing that I think you refer to as "faith" on Earth that is the basics of magic. Last night you were able to summon a weapon, do you remember? This is a good example of using magic. So, you made the first step, congratulations"
"So because I drank your blood, now am I able to use magic?"
"Kind of. You can use the type of magic that I had, and it seems that you also took my signature weapon as your own now"
"I'm sorry for this, this wasn't intentional.."
"I know…" she said, sipping her tea. "But it still pisses me off, at least it seems this is the only type of magic you can use, and it's called "summoning magic". It is the most fundamental type of magic that exists in all worlds; it is the magic that allows you to establish a contract with a weapon and summon it whenever you want, making it incredibly convenient and easy for you to learn"
"Ok, but one small question, is it possible that I'll be able to use more unique abilities in the future? Like some cool power-ups?"
"Did you think that you're in a novel?; she replied with a poker face "Wake up, this is the real world, and there's a lot of things that can kill you anytime...."
Yuki sighs and lies down on the chair with her shoulders down "You have so much to learn...Anyway...summoning spells are the most basic type of magic, you should be grateful you are able to at least use them"
"Yes... you are right...but for a second I thought it would be cool…"
"At least you can understand how weak you are"
"I didn't said that"
"Yes, but I did. You don't understand, but you're not as powerful as you might think you are, just because you got some demonic powers, you're still in in other parts"
"Ok, ok, I get it you like to tease people, anyway...what is the plan? What are we going to do now?
"Well, it's very simple, we need to find out how Hals are coming to Earth and prevent this from happening again. The longer it takes to find the entrance and block it, the more people will lose their lives, so we have to be fast. Hals eat people's souls, leaving them naked on the inside and eventually dying."
"Ok, and how are we going to do that?"
"Well first, I saw that you know some moves with the sword, you're quite talented, but you still need training, as I said before, you are still weak, even if you are talented".
"Well, I practiced Kendo for eleven years, that's why I know how to use a sword, but yesterday was the first time when I used a real sword as a weapon...It felt...different... It felt so intense...so dangerous, I felt that if I did something wrong and lost, I would end up dead"
"Well, it's good that you understand that, that's why you need training, to become stronger and to be able to survive next time you'll face an HAL," said Yuki with a very serious face.
"That's our two main goals, to prevent the Hals from coming to Earth, and to make you stronger to be able to do that. That was all I wanted to say, we can start training tomorrow, now take some free time to calm your thoughts. If you need something or someone you can talk to, you can call me or text me anytime" Yuki held out her phone with her contact information.
"You know, I like this part of you more,"
"What do you mean"
"I like the part of you who shows that you actually care, rather than the part that tries to be though"
Yuki's face turned red hearing Zeke's words "You know what? I changed my mind! You no longer receive any contact details"
"It's too late; I already have all the details I need to find you"
"I'll ignore your messages"
"You won't, both of us know that, because remember, you need my help, so you will talk to me even if you want, even if you don't, we are partners from now on" he said smiling in the end.
"Why does it have to be someone like you…?" she replied, lowering her shoulders and sighing loudly "Anyway, I will take my leave now…don't abuse my number for when you get bored, I know you have no friends, but please don't see me as one"
The pain Zeke was experiencing at the time was a direct one in his heart.
"Wh...who…told you I don't have friends? I have many friends in fact!"
"For real? You used to brag in front of me about how smarter and better you are than me, but now you can't even lie to my face. Who's that pathetic now?"
After that Yuki left, leaving Zeke, pissed off, because she had the last word.
"This girl…I will have my revenge, I won't let things like this"
Zeke had packed his things and was getting ready to go when he noticed a familiar figure on his way out.
"Mr.Herrler"
"Oh Zeke, good morning, how are you buddy? I'm glad to see that you are safe after last night"
"Y...yeah…I also glad that I'm safe"
"What exactly happened last night Zeke, mind if I ask?"
"I don't know, I was already home when that thing happened, I too saw what happened for the first time this morning."
"Yes…a real tragedy, but at least, no one was hurt"
"Yes, at least no one was hurt"
"Hmm, Zeke, you behave a bit odd, has something happened?"
"Me? Neah, I'm not behaving strangely, I'm good, hahaha…"
"Zeke…you don't have to hide anything from me, you know you can trust me"
"Yes Mr.Herrler...I know…but…"
"Zeke…"Herrler said, putting his hand on Zeke's shoulder "Since I met you you've always been alone, it never seemed like you were interested in having relationships with young people of your age, you always sit alone during breaks or you are in a laboratory helping a teacher, but even then you don't let them to help you, you're always working alone. Many times I was worried about you, and I would have liked to help you somehow, to be able to do something for you, but every time I've tried, I couldn't get past the shell you wrapped yourself in. Zeke…"
"Mr.Herrler thank you for your advice but…"
"Please let me finish Zeke, I want you to understand one thing, don't be afraid to trust other people, we are not creatures made to live alone, don't be afraid to trust someone else but yourself, don't be afraid to ask your loved ones for help when you need it and feel that the situation is beyond you."
"I...I...I will Mr.Herrler, thank you; he replied in a much happier tone.
"Good that being said...who was that beautiful girl you were talking to? She's quite pretty" said Herrler in a laugh.
"I just met her, I know very little about her, but it looks like we're going to spend a lot of time together from now on"
"That's how it is in the beginning, that's how love works" said Mr.Herrler smiling.
"Wait Mr.Herrler, it's not about that, it's much more complicated than something so simple"
"Oh, do you think love is that simple?" asks Mr.Herrler, amazed.
"Well, yes, I think it is, if you love someone you will do good things to them and treat them well, otherwise you won't, pretty straight forward"
Herrler sighed loudly "You're still young Zeke, that's why I don't worry, at some point you will find what true love is, who know, maybe this mysterious lady will teach you"
"Yeah…I don't think so, but I've told you Mr.Herrler it's nothing about love, it's much more complicated"
"Ok, ok as you say buddy" said Mr.Herrler laughing.
After which the two said goodbye and resumed their activities. However, as Zeke headed back home, the feeling that someone was following him had worsened, but as before he preferred to ignore this feeling by saying that it only seemed to him. But the truth is, far away in a remote building, someone was really following Zeke. A tall man holding binoculars in his eyes, was looking at him. No details could be seen, he was just a figure holding binoculars in his hand. He took a phone out of his pocket, and the following words were uttered.
"Boss, it happens exactly as you said, the subject has made allies, I repeat, the subject has made allies"