Chapter Text
There was an indescribable, paradoxical moment of clarity that came right before complete and utter chaos.
As if, in a single second all the correct neurons fired in sequence and Aira’s breathing slowed down steadily to almost halt - before it picked back up again and she immediately sprung into action. Already in her Yokai form, she jumped from the tree house onto the grass patch beneath it, careful not to hit the intricate flowers growing nearby; someone’s passion project, she was sure. Though the consideration was soon lost on Evil Eye, who immediately proceeded to land right on top of them. She couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling at the brat.
Well, whatever, no time to mourn over stomped milkflowers now- it was time to act.
Running towards the house, she found the partygoers completely frozen in time and a suspicious green light emanating from the kitchen. Aira stopped in her tracks, forcing Evil Eye to stop as well.
“What are we-?”
“Shhh,” Aira pursed her lips, one finger over her mouth and Evil Eye nodded attentively. Good. The last thing she needed was an uncooperative Yokai child to deal with, on top of a mystery time-stopping villain-demon.
Careful not to make any sound, with light ballerina steps, she inched closer and closer and closer to the wooden isle where the creature munched on something. Barely able to make out a silhouette now; there were wings. And something that looked like antennas. It was covered in fur. And it had a pair of red magnetic eyes, staring right at her.
It happened in what felt like a blink of an eye - but was probably much faster than that. In a millisecond, perhaps less, the Moth Man (or Woman! She could be inclusive!) was eating up radioactive green goo and in the next, it had bitten through her arm.
She was sure that if she didn’t have a supernatural reaction time to match, she’d be monster dinner in less time than it took to make instant ramen. No time to waste, with her hair flinging herself backwards on impulse and Evil Eye gearing up for a surprise attack, she could feel blood drip down from the bite. But she couldn’t think about that now.
There were kicks to land. A creature that was way too good at dodging them. A battle to be won on a Saturday night (her day off, because nothing else was sacred anymore, apparently).
The Big Moth was fast. Too fast even for her. And it was strong too, every move landing with the magnitude of a small earthquake.
But it had to have a weakness. Everyone had a weakness.
In between pink hair strands, green plasma and destroyed kitchen utensils, a pattern started to form in Aira’s head. There was something curious about the way the cryptid maneuvered around the kitchen, as if deliberately avoiding a specific glass container. The only one that sat unshattered amidst the destruction. Peppermint.
Huh. Then again, gramps always did use peppermint to shoo away unwanted insects during summer. She reached out for the lone glass sitting at the counter but Mothman blocked her in his unusual record-fast reaction.
Jackpot.
The alien/insect/person locked in on her. Claws reached out towards her for a sequence of offensive attacks, which Aira tried to dodge but it was damn near impossible. The glowing red eyes taunted her, as if daring her to counter-attack.
What the creature received instead was an Evil Gun shaped ray to its side. That’s what you get for ignoring a kid during their playtime.
Aira tried to laugh, but there was a red, warm liquid coming out of her mouth instead. The rich taste of iron hitting her tongue.
“Aira, you’re bleeding!”
Ah.
Then there were Jiji’s eyes, looking at her. Even though he was transformed, somehow. They were big and brown and-
A nasty blow to her ribcage knocked the air out of her lungs and cut off her thought process. The pain irradiated towards the rest of her body, in ripples. Aira felt like her muscles were being ripped off her bones, with every movement.
It was getting harder and harder to breathe all of the sudden. Her chest felt heavy from the simple effort. God, maybe she had been taking breathing for granted all this time. Would she die from this? Could she die from this? She had already died once, could she die again?
Back up. They had to ask for back up somehow. But what if he couldn’t make it out of the house in one piece?
She had to let him know. She had to use the last of her strength and whatever else was there to let him know. He had to know about her grandfather. No, about peppermints. Wow, everything was getting so confusing all of the sudden.
“Enjoji… peppermint.”
“What?!” Evil Eye called out from across the room, a voice getting further and further away from her already.
“Should kill 'im,” was all she managed to reply.
Amongst the blackness, she could feel a soft thumb on her cheek. She was laying on something that wasn’t quite soft and wasn’t quite hard. It was hard, but still inviting.
“Come on, answer me! Aira! Are you still awake?! AIRA!”
That was Enjoji’s voice. Pretty sure. But it was so distant, as if talking to her from a dream.
The thumb caressed her face and she leaned towards it. Opening up her heavy eyes with some difficulty, she could see whose thumb it was. And yeah, maybe she shouldn’t have leaned into it. Oh, well.
Things would probably get awkward between them at school, but that was Monday’s problem, and Monday was a long two days ahead. At least, that would probably mean they had gotten the job done.
“...Aira?”
It was that same uncharacteristic worry in his voice from three hours ago, except different. Actually, had it only been three hours? He was looking down with a worried stare, his human skin wrinkling right above his very human nose. Still, those funky little strands of hair continued to defy gravity on his forehead.
Aira wanted to answer him, she really did, but what came out of her mouth was, instead, copious amounts of blood. It caused Jiji to reposition his hold on her, with a hand lying softly behind her scalp, fingers carefully placed on the hairs on her neck. Almost like they were soothing her. His voice was so far away, it fell on her like a whisper.
“Aira…. fall asleep….”
“What?” She finally asked, faintly. If only to keep hearing that soft voice as it kept fading away from her consciousness.
“I said don’t fall asleep! Keep looking at me, okay?! Look at my eyes!”
He had such funny eyes. Especially in his Yokai form. So colorful and wobbly. The third one in particular was the weirdest. But she much preferred the brown ones. They were unbelievably bright, so bright you could mistake them for red or green. But they were still very much brown, you know? And right now they were all looking at here with a mixture of worry and… something else. Something that her light head couldn’t quite place.
So, with her free and yet just as blood-soaked hand, she pulled his face closer. And closer. Until they were mere inches apart and his bright eyes looked not green, nor red, but as hazel as ever.
She still couldn’t see it.
She still couldn’t place it.
Aira opened her mouth again. And suddenly, like a string of time being cut with a pair of dull scissors, she wasn’t there anymore.
She had woken up somewhere else.