A CLASH OF WILLS

"Ha!" Yuki scoffed. "I knew I couldn't trust you!" She shouted and grabbed Jaita's hair once more.

"Okay, okay, let's do it again," Jaita appeased.

"Do what again?" Yuki scoffed, "I'm not stupid if that's what you're trying to imply. No one has ever insulted me in my life. No one! I repeat, no one!" She tugged at Jaita's hair harder. Jaita wailed in pain; she could swear she was beginning to see stars.

"I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't think you'd actually let go at first, that's why I still held onto your hair."

"You cunning beast! What sort of lame excuse is that? Haven't I told you plenty of times that I am a being of my word?" Yuki snarled, as a bright and sharp lightning flashed in the sky, accompanied by a loud rumbling thunder.

Jaita paused and strained her head to look out the window with the side of her eye. "Was that you?" She whispered, turning her attention back to Yuki.

"That is just a piece of cake. You know what I intend to do now?" Yuki smirked smugly at her. "I really think it would be a smart choice to strike you with thunder." She quietly revealed.

Jaita's pupils dilated immediately. "Please don't kill me," she begged instinctively.

"Then why are your hands still on my hair?"

"You're also holding my hair," Jaita replied.

"I guess you're not ready to live yet. And if I may add, it doesn't matter if, let's say, I'm even hugging you, provided I'm the one who produces the thunder; it won't strike me. It'll only affect you. So don't think clinging onto me would help you," Yuki warned, as a gradually increasing rattling of thunder was heard from the sky.

"Let's do it again. Just give me one more chance, I beg of you," Jaita pleaded. Things were obviously not going in her favour. How foolish of her to contend with a supernatural force.

Jaita let out a forced laughter when she saw Yuki glaring so hard at her. She was doomed; she could feel it. There was no way Yuki could forgive her, she figured.

"On the count of three! Don't mess with me this time around," Yuki suddenly announced, and Jaita's face lit up immediately.

"Okay, let's go!"

"One! Two! Three!"

They were still in the same spot, nobody had moved from their standing position. Their heads were facing downwards, and a lot of thoughts crossed their minds.

'Did she really not remove her hand again?' Yuki tilted her head slightly.

'Did she not let go of my hair this time around?' Jaita pondered. 'Did she decide to take her revenge? How childish!'

Slowly, they lifted their heads up together but stopped midway. Determined to teach the other person a terrible lesson for not keeping their words, they shot their heads up above each other's face and found their hands high above their heads.

They had since released each other, but the aftereffect of their pulling and tugging had made it feel as if their hands were still on each other's head.

"We should seriously consider fighting less," Jaita suggested, as she used her hands to straighten her scattered hair. They were both breathing heavily, and they didn't even need to look in a mirror to reckon they looked like people who had just come out of a battlefield.

"Says the one person who has done nothing but bring out the worst in me," Yuki replied.

"Pssh," Jaita scoffed and rolled her eyes. "And you think you bring out the best in me?" She fired back.

"That's not your line. You shouldn't be saying that. It's not like you have anything good embedded in you," Yuki retorted.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!" Jaita's voice began to rise as she slowly walked up to Yuki angrily.

"And do you think you're the one with any good portrait?"

"Of course!" She smirked. "I have a whole lot of good potentials, that's why you had been lurking around in my room when I was away to get the secrets of my powers."

"There you go again! Why would I want to learn about your powers? So that I could use it to kill people? You're not one to talk when you clearly have the intention of killing me after you get what you want, you crafty beast!"

"Crafty!" Yuki paused and shook her head in surprise. "Crafty beast! If there is any shrewd person between the two of us, from what happened a few minutes ago, shouldn't that be you?"

"You're not any better; don't use that one moment to justify yourself!"

"Now I'm justifying myself? You see, that's the problem with humans! You can't just admit to your mistake. First, you accused me wrongly, then you deceived me, and you still have every reason to believe that I'm the bad one!"

"So I'm now mad? Weren't you the one who first accused me of wanting to bypass you? Meanwhile, you're the one after my life instead!"

"Where the hell are you getting such useless thoughts from?" Yuki flared up.

"Where are you getting yours from?" Jaita asked back.

"I asked you first!"

"It doesn't matter where I'm getting mine from," Jaita replied.

Yuki smacked her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Well, it doesn't matter where I'm getting mine from too."

"Pht! How about we say it together, at the count of three?" Jaita proposed.

"No!" Yuki refused immediately but had a change of heart. She too wanted to know why Jaita had been raising such allegations against her.

"No? You really don't want to know?" Jaita asked, incredulous.

"On second thought, let's do it. At the count of three, you said. No cheating this time around," Yuki warned.

"Okay! No problem! At the count of three!"

They nodded and began: "One! Two! Three!"

"Feturi!" Only Jaita yelled.

"Feturi?" Yuki could not believe her ears. "Feturi told you that?! We really should start fighting less," she scoffed.

Jaita pointed at her firmly. "You just played me. You didn't say your own reason," she quickly protested.

"You played me first. Let's call it even now," Yuki replied and walked back to her seat.

"You know..." Jaita was about to say something, but Yuki cut her off immediately.

"You should remember I'm the most powerful here. I believe you still have a lot you want to do in this life, right?" She smiled and patted Jaita's seat, implying she should return to her sitting position.

"I hate that you're right," Jaita produced a polite laughter and quietly walked back to her seat.

"Where were we?"

"We need to find Fuafo."

"That's not where we were. We stopped at your brother's newly wedded wife," Jaita reminded.

Yuki rolled her eyes at she thought; 'You shouldn't have asked then.' "I've told you it isn't anything important!"

"Well, little demon, if we're going to find Fuafo, we need to deal with your brother's wife first. So tell me, what's her name?"

"Wah!" Yuki scoffed. "Little demon?! You're quite daring, so much so that I'm even scared for your life. Do you realise I'm older than you? What is bringing that 'little' title?"

"Well, you see, there's no need to be angry. You made me your human acquaintance, which means I have to teach you about my kind. We humans give our friends nicknames rather than calling them by their real names. Now, you claim to be older than I am, but you look younger, and you're obviously never going to age. I named you 'little demon.' It's a name I can still call you even when I'm 30, 40, 50, or 100, that's if I live that long. Do you understand now?"

"Well, you're my acquaintance, not my friend," Yuki pursed her lips.

"It doesn't matter; the same thing goes for both. Now tell me, what's her name?"

"Whose name?"

"Don't act confused; your in-law's name."

"Don't refer to that devil as my in-law."

Jaita hissed, shaking her head. "You should seriously consider using that devil or demon title for yourself only. You're the real devil here."

"I guess you're right," Yuki replied with an awkward laugh.

"So tell me, what's her name?" Jaita prompted.

"I don't know."

"I know you're joking," Jaita laughed. "But let's be serious for now. What's her name, please?"

Yuki laid her elbow on the table, placed her palm on her chin, and let her eyes wander. After a few seconds, she cleared her throat and turned to Jaita.

"I really don't know her name." She was serious. Jaita could see that.

"Ah! Okay! Let's say, let's say..." Jaita paused. What?! How can you not know the name of your in-law? "Okay, what does she look like?"

"I don't know either," Yuki stared blankly.

WHAM! Jaita slammed the table hard, causing Yuki to flinch at the unexpected gesture.

"Aw, I'm sorry! I shouldn't be the one to be angry," she bit her lip in frustration.

"That's right! You scared me there for a second!" Yuki replied, her hands on her chest. "For a minute, my blood pressure shot up."

"You're not human, I find it surprising that you have any idea what blood pressure means," Jaita replied sarcastically.

"I guess you're right," Yuki snorted with laughter.

There was a moment of silence before Jaita turned to Yuki. "Are you sure you're not cursed?" She asked without warning.

"What? Why all of a sudden?" Yuki asked.

"You don't know the name of your in-law, you don't know what she looks like, and you can't even find this Fuafo," Jaita said.

"Are you sure you didn't know all these things, but your memories were erased?"

"Pfft! That's not even possible."

"No, take a look at it. If you..."

"I said that's not possible!" Yuki replied sternly.

"If that's not it, then it's one of these two things." Jaita lifted one finger. "Either you don't have a brother who was ever killed by his wife," and then lifted another finger, "or you're not with your real family right now."

She furrowed her brows and diverted her gaze to the window as a loud thunder, without warning, had suddenly struck in the sky, followed by a heavy downpour.