Chapter Text
-Act 0: I Told the Bastard to Meet Us Here-
"Did you?" A great big yawn escaped a young tired looking woman half-sleeping in a seat designated E10. From side to side, she swayed as the mighty bogies of the locomotive churned below. The rocking, coupled with the plushness of the embroidered fabric that gave comfort to the back and bottom of the long, wooden pew-like seat enticed a little dosing.
"I do get tired of repeating myself y'know." A much taller and older looking man of luxurious mahogany pinstripes sat across from the young woman. The lanky fellow flicked a division of ash from his portly cigar into an ashtray built into the end of his armrest. A corner of his pale peach features flashed well-kept teeth of dissuading sharpness before parting forthright to loose an ashen swirl. Brown eyes bearing snake-like slits are drawn to the sounds of popping bones and a long, contented yawn.
"What was that?" Black sleeves that drooped onto the girl's lap was patted and smoothed in search for any evidence of having fallen into a slumber. An arm lifted skyward and her back arched forward producing a series of subtle, therapeutic snaps. Another yawn, and the undoing of other tired knots and a lazy looking back scratch are drowned out by mechanical rumblings. As if deflated, her body tiredly descended into the seat conforming to every inch of comfort it could find. She added after settling, "You're going to have to speak up. You're talking through a screen after all."
"Got me there Susie," the man replied humbly, before taking another relaxing pull of his tobacco. The plume, for the sake of the young lady sitting across from him, is loosened to the air this time. Studiously, his eyes remained beneath the rim of a derby cap and he found himself revisiting a curious six-fold light blue pamphlet. He added, "Pardon me there, but yes. I told him. To meet us...here. If you'd just look out the window with those freaky eyes of yours."
Eyes of strange dissimilarity and of even stranger yellow peered through the window of a railcar into the distance. Silvery rays of moonlight met them first in the form of a lining around the grand silhouette of a mountain's base. Outward, from beyond the curve of this geological scar, rays of a blue color so washed they too appeared silvery were cast. Their destination was entering view.
Another section of ash fell into the tray making a small noise. The incensed tip of the indulgence, when pressed into the ash grave's hull, darkened until stillness. Hand now freed, he called her attention to a red star on the pamphlet with two quick taps and only for a moment did the girl observe. "He responded a few days later that he got the message and that he'd be here but he'd be late."
A challenging glare of honeybee hue met eyes that to some may have been a mile over alarming. "Did I say something wrong?," he asked, accusation freezing his motions. A pocket watch to check the time would have to wait.
Dissatisfaction made the girl slouch further along the windowsill and a sigh flattened her. A pouting expression met her in the window that had grown foggier. Eyes of an eerie visual went to watching a drop of water outside of the window, but they wanted to roll with consternation so great it almost felt like an obnoxious passenger next to her. A simple, "Only my name," relieved her of some of it. She added, each syllable dilating with a cosmic weight of annoyance, "Can. Not. Believe."
"Susamaru?"
"Mare?"
The two demons rock side to side, staring at one another in ambient silence for a second or two.
"Are you really that upset that he..."
"You've sent just one thing. I've sent many," Susamaru reasoned as she tapped an accusatory rhythm against the wood. She added, directing her sight to her fellow demon, "He's known me longer than you. You would just think that he'd reply with something. Anything."
"And? I gots nothing for you here," Mare folded one leg over the other, then kicked his foot to percussions across cross from him. A smile lights his roguish features and he adds, "My job is in finance. Not finding out why some flower boy is being flighty with some female. Now, maybe if you paid me when this came up, I might've done it to hone my passion. Hunting. In case you were wondering."
"Paid you? Weren't you paid when we killed that last demon for-Eh, whatever. It doesn't seem like you'll have the answer anyway." Susamaru feeling utterly defeated, returned to surveying the horizon changing beyond the window. It had become almost opaque and only the centers of light sources could be determined.
"I appreciate freedom of mind you've imparted. Still, I find it bothersome...troubling even that I've gotten no response. Eight months ago, we were fighting Yahaba's killer, his annoying brat sister, a fast kid and a boorish boar brat. And a demon with a power I've never fathomed. You'd...you'd just think."
"Its not like I've sent him a bunch of messages either," Mare admitted, tilting his cap upward to keep watch over the whirlwind that was Susamaru. She seemed to be taking her disappointment much better this time. "In all honesty, I only sent the guy one thing and that was only after he asked where I thought the best place for us to meet up again would be. I'm sorry but I'm as surprised as you are that you've gotten nothing while on vacay. My advice is that you think carefully about what you want to say. Don't fight, don't attack. Just talk. Quietly. Your room is next to mine after all."
"I'll...choose my words carefully."
"Yeah that doesn't sound foreboding. How about we choose some sooner than later? Maybe give me a little rough draft before we unpack?"
The windows had now become partially obscured. Circles of orange, yellow and white shimmered in the fog-veiled window. The light of the train's cabin lowered and lowered until only the curvatures of once recognizable objects remained all around. The attention of the duo, was first given to the strips of light above, then to one another.
"I guess we're finally here."
"Eh, not quite yet," began Mare, tapping the window with a knuckle before relighting his cigar, "They do the theatrics, slow down a little, a guy talks...you get your money's worth here kid. We got maybe...ten more minutes?"
They were finally arriving. The train ride there was long and made all the more tedious by occasional bumps and stops at other stations. The seats were comfortable though and Mare, for a third time, would positively review them when he got the chance. As the steam engine lugged it's mass in coal and passengers steady around a bend of metal lines, the destination eked into view.
The expansive base of a large crescent shaped mountain was littered with small, illuminated houses that were at no distance to one another and in front of the field of abodes that rode the ascending angles of the geological scar was a large square shaped structure. Large was an understatement for what appeared to be a fortress with white elevated stone forming each wall. At each corner was a large jade dragon with eyes of glowing ruby and the head of each was higher than the walls. From the distance, easily more than several kilometers, one could feel their judging eyes.
Uncharacteristically, or rather in character for the peculiar district that already seemed ephemeral in the shortening distance, steam in exuberant amounts shrouds this place. As an onsen, it was to be expected, but the movement of the effervescent blob that shined sapphire in a similarly jeweled moonlight seemed to bubble up and out in unnaturally fountain-like swathes. To both demons, one witnessing this for the first time and the other for the fifth, it was like watching steam waft from the edges of a cauldron of odd square shape. In summation, this hideaway, very well tucked behind a mountain as crescentic as a moon's phase, was very much like its own little nation of rest and relaxation-and only with a ticket or invitation could you enter this peaceful zone.
"And do you have the tickets, Susie?", asks Mare once the train slowed to a halt before an elevated platform fitted with turnstiles. Men blue suits began flowing towards and opening doors of the locomotive to meet the arrivals that poured from the divided doors.
"Sure do," affirmed Susamaru who, while having bought the most things, carried the least out of the railcar. Compared to a modest three bag set from Mare that Susamaru did help with by rolling one black case, her companion found himself with several rugs secured to his shoulders by the weight of his hands that carried, in each, two large, heavy looking duffel bags. The man's hands were large enough for such an endeavor, and the straps of the bags were easily partitioned to two fingers each. Under his arm was a bouquet of flowers wrapped at their base by a thin golden strip. A plastic veil of equal depth protected the collection of natural chromatics from the elements but not very much so from his underarm clamp.
Shades of yellow gave a questioning stare and the man shaking now from the onset of fatigue gestured rigidly with his chin to the gift. "Se non ti..." Growing irritation was the oil that let his language of origin slip. "Ehhh...The sooner you take these, the sooner my arm can stop crampin'."
"Flowers? Wha...where did you get these?"
"Ah, before you got on, I found them in this car. Two seats down, to the right."
"And you didn't..."
"I hid them. Juuust to see what you'd say."
"Hmm. Both you boys are idiots and I can't tell which of you two are the greater. But here. Give me those before you hurt yourself." Mare turned his body and Susamaru stood at the tip of her toes to reach the bouquet's end. A tugging on a single stem would bring it into the small hand that would no sooner toss it back through the hurriedly closing doors of the locomotive assembling its faculties to depart.
"That's littering you know. Not even five minutes off the goddamn train and you're not even listening?"
Not even looking back, the young woman added, "I'm doing a favor for the next person to forget. Don't make such a fuss Mare, or you'll be the reason we're barred from your infinite relax land."
The two presented their tickets, flashed smiles as cordial as their fanged maws allowed and walked briskly past the ticket taker who was well aware of what they were. He didn't care as long as they didn't stir up any trouble in the festive district.
"We're here now. Let's get to your room first so I can put down all of this junk. Why you gotta have so many rugs anyway?"
"Wonderful. Hey Mare?" her voice chimes over his complaints like the ringing of peculiar spheres only she could summon.
"What now, imp?"
"Call me Susie again and I'll kill you." Susamaru tosses a single flower, a Hyacinth into a bin as she passes by into a shining billowing mist.
Mare followed, legs bowed and with long gait, responding in Italian and in a tone as endeavoring as his task, "...Susana è brava, ci?"
-Act 1: Warm Nights and Pretty Things-
The District of Bed and Bath. It was known to some as the District of Infinite Relaxation. Throughout this slice of heaven was thick, lucid nebula of steam, sweat, ash-colored smoke. It was an endemic, inescapable light purple mass of invitation that, like a lost traveler or a meticulous innkeeper, studied all surfaces and features caught therein.
This place that it dwelled in, stretching four kilometers outward in a square-shape, was host to many shops with pretty things wear, souvenirs and delicacies that drew upon the senses of the starved. Alluring shapes embellished wooden booths sided with flags that bore vibrant kanji symbols. Some were clan names like Aburame and others were simply shop titles or catchphrases like "Rowdy misfits? Hot districts? Buy a fan! For your wife or mistress~" Anything to entice a glancing eye. Anything for commerce. The mist, in ubiquity befitting a specter, found it's way into select suites fashioned with western sensibilities that for their price and accommodations, stood out among the wood floors and papers doors of the onsen's traditional Japanese aesthetic. At least the person who paid for three of these rooms thought they stood out.
"Do I really need a stove oven that requires no hearth?" A raspy voice bellowing with some deepness and irritation brought on by the ambient moisture pierced the half-silence with a spoken thought.
"A large mirror? Over a quaint, no-doubt imported dresser and a bathroom? Well, the bathroom admittedly is a plus. I wonder how much this cost actually..."
A healthy rattling of leaves breaks at the raucousness of the lively men and women on the other side of the door. The boy's hair was as strange as his eyes. As strange as the bulbous, pink lotus bud growing from the back of his left hand. His hair was leafy. Not covered in leaves or with leaves sprinkled throughout. No, his hair, from his scalp down into dark green sideburns and a neat little dark green foxtail that rested on his shoulder were leaves of distinct palmate shape. A trained eye would identify them as Norway Maple and Oak leaves.
The Flower Demon and Demon Slayer, Kogosei Hanai, a young man of fifteen years and amicable countenance sat with visions of winter as close company in one of these swanky rooms afforded by his close friend and occasional keeper, Ash Demon: Marena Solvalou. His attire hadn't changed much since he exited the train. Save for the removal of his standard Slayer button up, he was now dressed in a short sleeve shirt of such high green hue it appeared white in the low lighting. His pants were a contrasting dark green that blackened the length of his legs up until his ankles where conventional tabi and zori protected all below.
A strong back honed by a viciously strict teacher was slacked into ineffective tiredness by the surroundings and Kogosei soon found himself doubled forward like a stem bearing a large bulb weighed by trapped water. Plants weren't too fond of strong heat or intense humidity and Kogosei was no different in that way.
This place. Is so. Forsakenly...Huuuumiddd..." A light, raspy voice projects the lamentations of its oppressed bearer. Head tilted to one side, mouth agape sucking in air as if he'd ran a mile, Kogosei ontinues to mutter about the room's irksome strata. Somewhere in the spew of complaints, he finds the time to fold his legs into a position of focus. The well kept muscles of his forearms relax over his thighs and his chest heaves as he breathes a recovering breath.
It is to no avail; the composition of the air, if it could be called such anymore made it hard to gather the oxygen. "The smell of this place is already wearing on me and it has been since I got here. This wasn't something I had issue with on...the..." Thin lips thin out more at the realization that, "I've left the flowers...on the train. Heh, alright. I can see that this night is going downhill fast." Tiredly, a hand arose to stroke a features tuned to melancholia.
"The fan too? I'm failing to see where the relaxation is to begin." His arms again are stricken as flaccid as noodles. He gives gravity no fight and backwards onto the bed he falls, tiredly poomfing on impact. From a spot where admittedly the was some comfort, he watched elongated oval shapes oscillate at their best pathetic pace above him before surmising unamusedly, "This is how they do it. This is how the handfan merchants kill it here. Maybe a job here would be better than with That Guy. But could I convince...hmm..."
Kogosei was sure the fancy new Upper Moon had a mouthful of gloats and self-aggrandizing comments ready to try out on herself. He only felt the need to add to the repertoire. Susamaru, The Temari Demon should've arrived now. Kogosei knew that without her temperments around, he'd never find a way to ignore this stifling mist. Thirty minutes prior, he'd sent message via a most courteous housekeeper. Susamaru was ironically punctual despite her nature and so her tardiness did strike Kogosei as weird. He hadn't seen her since her inauguration the ranks of Upper Moon and wondered if she laughed or cried when she received her special title.
Torn to pieces by massive dogs, ripped to pieces by her Lord, frozen. Poisoned, even vaporized. Death was a friend of Susamaru's but success was an even closer one. She always wore a smile even with her back to the wall so the sight of if was nothing foreign. To see her beam with joy rather than bloodlust was a joy itself. Kogosei felt this way, but couldn't say it. As of yet, he couldn't word it, but he'd always find himself smiling in thought of fighting alongside her. A buoyant smirk, without his realization, arrived to fight back the crushing mist.
There could've been millions of ears set to hear the plan he'd readied, but they'd not hear a word until she heard them first. There was no other way.
He carried these thoughts close to him as the hypnotism of the fan blades eased him into half-consciousness. His breathing slowed until it was shallow and his eyes fluttered, protesting with futility a rush of fatigue. Maybe this was where that advertised relaxation lay. Somewhere sleeping beneath steam and good intentions.
A soft footstep, another, then swath of silence. A deep breath and...
"SLEEPING ALREADY!?"
A devlish rattle shattered the silence that stilled Kogosei's room. Quickly turning his face, he found his sight invaded by wide alarming shapes. Susamaru's grin was toothy and big, perfect for the expression of child-like glee that like her temaris of ornate design went with her everywhere. While he had no fear of being bitten, her ivory fangs which gleamed at their tips were just too close.
"WAAAHHH!" A cowardly sounding whoop was accompanied by the noise of rattling leaves and shuffling linen. Kogosei, in the fashion of a mouse, had scurried across the bed, slamming into the wall that propped his pillows. Following the thud that came from the Slayer in training, there was silence in the room as the boy held his shoulder and the girl held back a laugh. They waited for a response from the room over as this place was a rather crowded inn in the Bed and Bath District. When all seemed clear, the high pitched giggling the girl was holding back burst past a bitten lip. A type of laugh reserved for only the 'easiest of opponents' as she put it.
"FffFfffwell well, that was...that was amazing Hana!, ha ha ha! Eight months with the wind hashira and you've learned flight? Most impressive" The graceful swaying of her attire didn't go very well with her movements or her callow-natured roastings that would get under anyone's skin.
And there it was. A diminishing easy-going tone followed by a rosy "how amusing", then a familiar ringing that could only come from the ornate new year's gift materializing from nothing. The reeling boy wished that any of those come before the jumpscare.
"That wasn't funny Susamaru...that kind of hurt actually..." he complained head tilted stiffly while massaging his aching shoulder.
"If it weren't funny I wouldn't have laughed would I? You're fiiiinnne anyway Kogosei! Just because you play dress-up like a Slayer doesn't mean you can't heal remember? Besides," her teasing golden gaze met the sunflower-looking eyes of her half-demon in arms and she went on, catching her temari a final time, "haven't you been ripped in half? Burned, maimed. All brutally so? And what've you done? Just healed like nothing ever happened. Would it even be true to call you a human anymore Hanako-chan?"
"Tch...Susa, c'mon...I told you before I don't like it when you call me that..." Kogosei rolled his eyes at the name. It was weak sounding and meant Flower Daughter.
Eight months, Susamaru hadn't changed much. She was still boisterous, cocky and very straightforward. A loud-mouth when started up. Immature...blunt...energetic and lively. A surprisingly effective leader.. Still. The name Hanako annoyed the young slayer to no end.
"What have I done..." Another few notes of aggravation were borne to the wind.
"I can't tell you that, Oh Hana, Hana, Hanako-chan~" The bubbly Oni skipped closer as she kept her temari alive with just well placed kicks in front of and behind herself. Her precision was masterful and it was clear when she propelled the decorative gift closer and closer to the ceiling It never once made contact, but a misjudgment of height saw it bouncing off aim next to a shortly extended leg. "You're going to have to tell me what you've done. And I hope that you can~" Bending her knees to lift her thread toy, she continues, "You've been gone for an awfully long time. Yes, a dreadfully long time and I'm rather excited to show you all the neat new games I've made with my temari..."
"I'm excited to see you again too..." he said with reluctance brought on by the moment unfolding before him. "You seem to be in good spirts..."
"I am, Hanako-chan. Ohh, I am. Look, there's something I want to show you!" Susamaru brought attention to the kanji symbols found in her eyes. The left was marked 'Upper Moon' while the right bore the symbols for 'Seven'. She ecstatically went to say, "We should play a quick game or two. Y'know, to commemorate the occasion? Doesn't that sound like so much fun Hanako-chan? In fact your sword is right there! I want you to show me if your time at the Slayer place was even worth those eight long months you spent gone have paid off! C'mon...there's already steam in the room, Hana. What's a little more? OR! Are you going to make me say the magic word?"
Instantly an uneasiness set over the shonen. Something wasn't quite right here neither with the temari Oni standing with aura so menacing the boy almost felt the need to warn the mist that enveloped her. A smile washed her pale features but it was dissimilar to the one she kept. Was she smiling? Or was she...forming a word? There it was. The moment he knew to act. As the corners of her smile broke away no longer bound by the gravity of spiteful thoughts, the boy acted and spoke up.
Teeth gnashing, temari clutched in hand, Susamaru began, "I, Upper Moon Seven, challenge-"
"YOU'RE..." a fast hand caught her voice. "You are not really serious right now are you? This place is...there are people everywhere! The Slayer Corp would-"
The temari Oni threw her hands together and an energetic, rubbery clap displaced the mist that choked the tense room. Mercilessly, she squeezed her namesake between both her hands until it's shape was ovate. Past a troublemaking, toothy little grin, she shuddered with chilling excitement and intent as she tilted her head forward, "I've made a few more patterns for my temari in the time you gave me and I'm just dying to show you the best one. Compass pattern, oceanic...I modeled one after you but I only call on that one on special occasions. Which...I would say this is starting to become. Now get your sword because I'm ready to catch up. Aren't you?"
"It is special. Honestly, it is." replied the boy doing his best to reclaim the increasingly tense situation. "I actually had something planned for us all but I wanted to tell you first! I know you like surprises and well, I have a really great-"
"What? Surprise? No, no, no. You see, in the eight months you've been gone, you've given me a surprise. So many in fact! One in particular I never thought I'd experience again but one I should thank you for all the same." The height of the Temari Demon shifted until she'd lowered herself by a third. Her stance was low but unsurprisingly powerful. The sight of the form would make one fear it's function. Her right hand was her highest point now and it was raised behind her, temari up. Her right leg was bent in explosive preparation and the energy stored within her ageless muscles questioned the floor's strength.
"You've given me a surprise. I expected mail. Your crow to tell me that you've been eaten up by a demon. A New Year's Gift! A visit! Anything...anything at all!" She moves lower, her left leg now peeking from behind a kimono wing and her black covering, adding, "nothing ever came though. I expected anything, but was surprised to find that nothing ever came. I didn't think I'd ever get to experience disappointment ever again after becoming a demon and yet...see? You're still surprising me."
"I'm sorry. If that is how you truly feel, then I'm sorry. I promise I can make it up to you, but could you just...please...Don't destroy this place? I'm...I'm really asking nicely Susamaru can we please keep whatever is about to happen in this room?"
"How would that even be possible? You want to play don't you? But you don't want to involve these innocent people knowing that they're weak and we're just too strong. You didn't even ask to go outside because you're probably comfortable just sitting there. With that dumb look... Hmhmhm, even now you still think of only yourself. You're far more selfish and cruel than I could've ever imagined, Kogosei Hanai." The spry Oni tilted her head freeing a knot of pain from her neck and with a loud crack, she felt relief. Her eyes were large now and even seemed to shine like golden jewels bathing in an dull light.
"It works out because I'm selfish and cruel too. I'm not promising you the lives of any of these worthless people. You were such a fool to even think I'd consider it. I'd dare even say an idiot. Now pick up your sword, Hana Oni because now we're going to play and play all night! Until the sun comes up...and everybody here is dead!"
Act 2 will be called Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring