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The Saja Boys escaped.
There was no trace of those bastards after the girls had cleared out the demons from the men's bathhouse.
If only they hadn’t gotten so overwhelmed by all the tears in the hunmoon, maybe they could've chased after them.
Then again, Rumi had gone off to do just that and come back through a whole in the wall, clutching her arm for dear life.
But at least they'd gotten out with only a grumpy old geezer noticing them. Thank hunmoon for it's mass distraction effect, making people not notice anything whenever the demons expose their true forms.
So, for now all that was left to do was go back home, relax, maybe have some good couch time before crashing out for the night. Hoping to get through this exhausting time and finally have that well earned break.
Right now though, one thing Mira's thoughts couldn't get past, was Rumi. Her behavior in the bathhouse was weird to say the least, running off like she had a personal vendetta to settle.
Sure, Mira would be lying to herself if she said that it wasn’t hot for her, seeing Rumi act so feral and maybe a little protective too.
But something was sending alarm bells in Mira's mind. Rumi was still occasionally clutching that dumb green bandana, as if her life depended on it. She seemed stiff, her movements were a little erratic, antsy. Like she was looking for somewhere to hide.
On top of all that, the more she thought about it, the more it confused her. Mira had never seen that bandana before.
Especially not on Rumi.
Between the girl's purple hair and her life being raised by a former idol, her sense of style had always been up to fashion standards. Always wearing things that complimented her features and physique perfectly.
To top it all off, Mira had never seen her wear a single bandana, in general. Not for a photo shoot, not for a music video, even less so in their day-to-day.
And that color… Made of two weirdly pastel shades of light green —or maybe lime green, hard to tell under the street lamps' light— divided in a checker pattern, like some kind of old school house-wife cloth. It was clashing with both her hair and makeup.
While they weren't exactly running, since the threat had been taken care of, the girls were still going though the city at a fast pace. Sometimes speed walking through the streets, other times hopping over rooftops, whatever got them to the tower quickly and unnoticed.
In a moment where they were climbing up a building, Mira noticed another thing related to that dumb bandana. As Rumi lifted her arm, a piece of her leather suit drooped down. It was torn, shredded even.
Rumi was never one to get hurt, or at least never getting her clothes slashed. Usually she could let herself be pommeled by blunt weapons, sometimes still standing even after hits Mira could've sworn were able to shatter bone. And yet, she'd be walking those off just fine every time.
But for Rumi to get her sleeve torn, that was new, almost seemed impossible even. Their leader had always been the most cautious out of them, especially when it came to her clothing.
Thinking back at it, the look of absolute fear and dread Mira had thought was an hallucination of the bathhouse steam, made a bit more sense now. The more she concerned on the memory, the more she noticed that Rumi was clutching her arm in the same spot as the bandana.
But she didn't have it on in that moment.
Rumi hadn't been wearing any sort of green cloth the whole night. These leather suits were too skin tight to allow them to have extra things under them and Mira could've sworn she saw that dumb Saja Boy… —what's his name, Jinu or whatever— running away from Rumi, right when she was standing with her hand on her arm and fear in her eyes.
Had she been fighting Jinu until that moment? Did he hurt her? Was she covering up a wound with that dumb cloth?
After a bit of staring at it, Mira thought to check on Zoey, both to make sure she was ok but also to see if she'd also noticed.
Sure enough, Zoey was staring right at it, a worried look she hadn't bothered to mask, yet, on her face. But, thankfully, there was also a small smile there.
Mira figured the maknae had probably gotten the same thought as hers, about the style choice between that green and Rumi's purple hair. Zoey had most likely already compared it to some kind of movie character that the other girls had never heard of, but would be for sure forced to watch later.
Sure enough, Mira got her confirmation soon after.
"…Disney villain green…" she heard Zoey whisper, deep in thought.
"What?" Mira asked her, slowing down to a stop on one of the rooftops, hoping to start a conversation that would draw Rumi out and let them see if she was alright.
"…what?" Zoey stopped dead in her tracks turning to Mira confused.
"What was that about 'villain green'?"
Zoey blushed at that, a little flustered from being caught thinking aloud.
"Oh! That… nothing, hehe, sorry."
"No, no. Now I'm curious. Spill."
Looking at Mira's smirk, Zoey seemed to understand her intentions with this talk and decided to play along, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes covering the worry from her face,although was still easy to perceive in the smaller girl’s body language.
"Fine… I was just thinking about how the combination of black, purple and green reminded me of the Disney villain Maleficent, especially now that Rumi had all three with that bandana…" she drew out the last word hoping for it to be caught by Rumi, while Zoey was pointing at it just for good measure.
That seemed to work, as their leader stopped with a flinch before turning around with a look that was a mixture of curiosity and poorly hidden dread.
"What bandana?" She tried to play dumb, before catching the deadpan stare from both other girls, as Zoey's finger was still aimed at her arm.
"Oh! This? Pfff… It's nothing, really. I just… felt like it?"
Rumi sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anybody else. And Mira obviously didn't buy it.
"Yeah. Sure. And the torn leather flapping under it is 'just a fashion statement'."
Rumi’s eyes flew to her arm, looking at it as if it had actively betrayed her.
"Rumi are you ok? They didn’t scratch you did they?"
"What?! No! No, I'm fine Zo, really! I… just… didn't want to see the torn leather. Yeah, that's all. Now come on lets get home so I can give it to Bobby to get it patched up, or replaced… or something."
Rumi turned around, beginning to walk again, slightly faster than before.
Zoey and Mira were left standing next to one another, slightly baffled by the entire interaction.
But noticing that there didn't seem to be blood seeping through the bandana, Mira thought it wouldn't hurt to just slide it off and make sure.
And looking at Zoey it seemed that she was thinking the same thing too, that mischievous twinkle in her eyes even more prominent than before.
As soon as the maknae turned to face her, Mira felt like all she was waiting for was her to give the ok.
So, Mira did just that. She and Zoey shared a look, with Mira's usual playful smirk never leaving her face, as she gave her a small nod.
Practically unleashing the chaotic gremlin of a girl to do whatever her devious mind had concocted.
Zoey obviously took the nod as a 'go ahead' and launched herself on Rumi, wrapping her arm in a hug and doing little hops while tugging at it, distracting the girl enough to untie the bandana and reveal the-
No blood. No sign of any scratches. Just purple. So much purple. Snaking it's way all over in uneven lines.
Glowing. Dimly lit flashes, in that repulsive magenta, zipping their way all over. Disappearing under the leather clothes, like nothing ever happened. Like there wasn't a whole infestation of those marks underneath.
Zoey jumped back with a squeak. Dropping the cloth like it was contaminated.
That's when Rumi the imposter noticed her roose was up. She tried to cover her exposed arm, fear etching her face, just like it had at the bathhouse. Hunching over, her breathing going ragged.
"I-It's not what it seems…" She stammered. She actually stammered, pathetic. Rumi never stammered, she was always well spoken, even when she was clearly scared and hurting. She never stuttered.
"Y-You were never meant to see… I— I was going to tell you… tell you when I was fixed. I-"
"Where is she?" Mira had enough of this nonsensical bumbling.
"…w-what?"
Mira's thoughts spiraling with all the things Rumi might be going through in that very moment. For how long had she been taken? When was she last with them? How did she not notice sooner?!
Mira pulled out her Gok-do, glancing at her side as a teary eyed, worried sick, but resolute Zoey had already gotten her Shin-kals out and ready. She turned back at the demon.
"Where. Is. She?"
"W-Who?"
That was the wrong answer.
As a glowing blade flew right at the imposter's exposed arm, cutting it just below where it's hand was still trying desperately to cover the obvious patterns.
It yelped as the shin-kal created another tear in the leather, this one thinner and straight. The cut, unfortunately, didn't show the skin below in the bad lighting, but the magenta glow was seeping through anyway.
"N-No, no please. Please wait!"
"What did you do with our Rumi, demon!" The last word coming as a shrill from the smaller girl.
As Zoey was already getting to position to throw more of her blades, the impersonator started to back away. Coward.
"N-Nothing! I swear! It's me! I'm Rumi! Please, Mira, Zoey! You have to believe me-"
Mira had enough. She lunged at the demon, bashing the side of her Gok-do in it's face, making it fall flat on the roof and pinning it down with the staff part of her weapon pusing on it's neck.
"Stop using her voice! Show us your true face, monster! …or I'll carve at it, until you're too weak to hide it."
"Damn right! Nice Mira!" Came Zoey's amused voice, as she was standing right behind, with a predatory look on her face that Mira knew was mostly a mask to cover her worry.
"Now… demon. Why don't you make this easy on yourself and just tell us where the Saja Boys took our Rumi, huh? You'll die anyway but, like Mira said, we can make it really painful…"
With that Zoey got closer, going around Mira's Gok-do and crouching right by the faker's head.
She had a manic look in her eyes now, twirling a single blade in her fingers, like it was one of her pens.
"For example…" she placed the tip of her shin-kal right under the demon's chin, avoiding any vital points or veins, and slowly carved a line from there to the end of it's jawline.
At first the demon's screams, thrashing, cries and slight sizzling of it's skin under the effect of the hunmoon's blade, was all normal. The usual things they saw on every hunt, especially when they were bored and liked to play with their targets a bit.
But then it started to be different. The cries turned into hiccuping sobs. The same Mira always heard Rumi make, whenever she thought she couldn't be heard. And a sinking feeling started to build up in her.
That feeling only got worse, when the bit of smoke from the cut started to clear and blood began to seep through.
Demons don’t bleed.
"I—I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry…" The demon said though sobs. "I should've told you… told you sooner… but— but I was scared! I thought— I thought I had more time. I thought I could get fixed… Celine told me to get the Hunmoon to be gold and fix this, fix ME! And then— then I could tell you without— without fear you'd-"
"We'd what? Kill you?" Mira growled pulling away her Gok-do enough to let this Rumi speak.
"Say we believe you, which we don't, how long have you been betraying us, huh? And why would you sell your soul to Gwi-ma?" Zoey asked crossing her arms, while still holding her blade.
"I— I didn't sell my soul to Gwi-ma. I would never."
"Then how the hell do you have patterns? What, do you think we'd consider them birth marks of something? They're demon patterns. And those only appear when someone makes a deal with the demon king." Mira growled through gritted teeth.
"But I never made a deal with him! I was born with them! My father was a demon. And just like I never got to see my mom, I never met him ether. All I know about him is that he was a demon, I don’t even know if my mom chose to have me or-"
Rumi's words got faster and faster, tears coming back down full force until a sob stopped her, as the following implications were obvious and gut wrenching. After taking a breath she continued.
"I'm a mistake. And the only thing that can fix me is the Golden Hunmoon. Or at least that's what Celine told me."
"So Celine knew and told you to what? Hide until the Golden Hunmoon? Hoping it'll fix you? Rumi, what the hell?"
"Yeah! Mira's got a point! You said you were born with these, right? So, you never made a deal?"
"…yes? Never, why?"
"Because… It means you're not a mistake, you're not even a demon. You've done nothing but good your whole life and sacrificed so much, just trying to get to a goal that no other hunter has ever reached in history, hoping for it to help you when we don't even know what it might actually do! Rumi, it might kill you instead. You do realize that, right?!"
"Yes, but-"
"No, no buts Rumi. You don't deserve to die for something that isn't even remotely your fault. We won't let you!" Mira didn't even want to hear what idiotic reasons Rumi's martyr complex had come up with.
"You… won't let me… die? But I thought… Our duty… Aren't you at least mad at me for betraying you?"
"Yes, we are. But not because you're a demon-"
"Half demon, Mir." Zoey Interjected, her shin-kals fully gone and nothing but worry on her now.
"-half demon. Right. We aren't mad because of that, we're mad you didn't trust us with this sooner. We're mad you lied for so long."
At this point Mira made her Gok-do disappear, allowing Rumi to get back up in a sitting position, just looking at her with a pissed expression to make sure her feelings were very clear to the weeping leader.
After a moment, where Rumi tried to wipe her tears away with the heel of her hand, as some of them had already gotten down to the bleeding cut on her jaw and were making it sting, she spoke again.
"I-I wanted to tell you for so long, but I was scared you'd… you'd leave if you found out. So I decided to wait for my patterns to be gone. But they just… keep… expanding. I'm sorry… If only I had told you sooner, we could've-"
"Gone to the bathhouse together?!" Zoey said, already giddy at the thought.
With a huff of a laugh Rumi continued, "-had a proper break… but yeah, the bathhouse too, I guess…"
"Yeeyy!! So that was the only reason why you didn't want to come! Awesome! I promise it'll be much better than the one we went into today though!"
Rumi just smiled and nodded at that. But Mira could still see some worry in her eyes. There was still something unsaid.
"So… when you said 'they keep expanding', what do you mean by that?"
That seemed to be the exact point of worry for Rumi, as her mask fell revealing the hidden concern within, before changing to a pained expression.
"They… they started off just as a single line just above my right arm. But as time went on they kept appearing, covering both my shoulders and chest, etching their way down my arms and now…" she moved her hand over to the zipper on her suit, pulling it down to reveal her neck, "…now I think they got to my voice."
"Oh… Ru… no."
Zoey hugged Rumi from behind crying with her, as a new wave of sobs came for them both.
Mira joined in soon after, enveloping both girls in her long arms.
"We'll figure something out Princess, don't worry. We'll take care of both those Saja Boys and your voice, until everything is back to the way it was. Just… you know… without the lies. We're a team. And we're never gonna leave you."
"That's right! You're stuck with us Ru. For as long as we live."
"Aw, girls… Thank you… I-I love you so much!"
"We love you more!" They said in unison.
It took them a few more seconds of just sitting there in silence, letting their feelings from the long night settle a bit, before finally getting up again and heading home.
With Zoey sticking really close to Rumi, a guilty expression flooding her features as she stared at the cut she'd made.
"will it heal?" She whispered, unsure of weather she had the right to even ask.
Rumi noticing her concern simply smiled and took her had, caressing Zoey's knuckles with her thumb.
"Of course Zo. The hunmoon's already at it see?" She said, pointing at it with her other hand. "It'll take some time, longer than my usual because it blocked my natural speed healing, but it'll still be gone fast enough with the hunmoon alone."
"Oh, good! …wait… what do you mean by 'natural speed healing'?"
"Oh! Um… well… I guess that's one of the only good things of my… heritage. You see, if I get cut by a normal blade or hit in general it takes me a few minutes, to a few hours, for most injuries. But when it's hunmoon weapons, well… that healing is blocked."
"So you did get hurt in past hunts!"
"…yeah…"
"But, wait. How do you know that hunmoon wounds heal slower?" Mira asked, worried of the possible implications of that statement, seeing how self loathing and almost suicidal Rumi's words had been since the reveal.
"While training. I've cut myself goofing around with my sain-geom more times than I can count."
"Oh."
Seeing Rumi’s embarrassed blush popping up after that statement, made the girs start to laugh, getting a chuckle out of her too soon after.
But Mira could tell Rumi was finally being honest now, not hiding anything anymore.
Not even the little things.
And she couldn't be happier.
Sure, they still had things to worry about. But the girls knew they could handle them. Together.