Chapter Text
The special defense unit, consisting now of 7 people, technically 8 beings, decided to meet up after a couple of months of coming back to the artificial satellite. They decided to meet up in front of a restaurant, but they probably won't buy anything.
Yugamu, Takumi, Tsubasa, and Darumi all waited in front of the restaurant, waiting for the Tsukumo twins, Nozomi and Kamyuhn.
“Mistress Tsubasa, look, look!” Darumi ran out of the restaurant, having bought herself something. “I got myself la mozzarella fries! Do you know the Pocky game? Wanna do it, but with a mozzarella fry?”
“Ah, okay!” Tsubasa smiled in response and complied with Darumi's request. They then proceeded to make out in front of the restaurant.
Takumi, meanwhile, was forced to listen to Yugamu's ramblings about different ways of torture. He decided to listen, this once. He deeply regretted it, but hey, at least Yugamu seemed pretty glad. They really paid no mind to Tsubasa and Darumi, for they didn't notice them, but as soon as Yugamu shifted his gaze and saw them, he stifled a laugh.
“Aww, look at them go.” Yugamu chuckled. “You know, Takumi, the offer still stands. I really wouldn't mind showing them how to properly kiss.”
“Mhmm.” Takimi simply hummed in response, then turned back to Yugamu.
Soon, the twins came. Darumi and Tsubasa were done with what they were doing, so, to Ima’s relief, Kako wouldn't have to be a viewer of such lewd stuff. He walked over to Yugamu and Takumi’s table and shook their hands. He did the same with Tsubasa and Darumi. Darumi only agreed because Tsubasa told her to shake his hand.
“It's a pleasure to see you all again.” He smiled lightly.
“Yeah!” Kako nodded along excitedly.
A couple of minutes after the twins, Nozomi with Kamyuhn came. Nozomi ran over and gave everyone a big hug, while Kamyuhn stayed behind her. Perhaps judging a bit.
“Hii! God, I haven't seen you all in so long, how are you doing?” She asked with a smile.
“Pretty good, we actually moved in together!” Tsubasa spoke first, gesturing to Darumi, Takumi, Yugamu, and herself.
“Mm, we're helping make food for children in need, as we planned.” Ima nodded, quite proud of himself.
“I'm trying to apply for med school. I quit being an assassin." That was Yugamu…
When they caught up, Darumi said she knew a place where they could all go. While literally NO ONE was sure if they wanna go, after a while, Tsubasa defended Darumi enough, and they followed her.
“Okay, so, don't shit your pants, but we're going to a forest! I found a cool altar in there! Anyone up for sacrifice?!”
… Silence. Yeah, no, nobody wanted to follow her at this point except for Tsubasa. But they did. And Darumi was being truthful, it seems, for when they got to the forest—which was dark and scawy—and walked for a few minutes, they indeed found a rock that looked weirdly like something you'd sacrifice… a deer or something on. Said rock had weird writings all over itself. And the place not only seemed weird, but it emanated a weird aura too. There were also a few… cards scattered around and an axe, sword, dagger, hammer… normal stuff.
“Okay, Miss Amemiya… Why did you bring us here?” Ima asked, holding Kako’s hand. He was feeling quite protective. Ah, Darumi, Darumi…
“Cuz it looks fun! Line up everyone, it’s sacrifice time!!!” She beamed in response.
“No, no, sister dearest and I are out of this, Miss Amemiyai.” He tugged Kako back a bit.
“No, brother dearest, I wanna have a look at this, it looks interesting…!”
“No.”
“But—”
“No, I said, sister dearest.”
“Alright…”
While Kako didn't get her chance to investigate, everyone else did. Ima chatted with her, but she didn't seem too pleased by it.
Takumi followed Tsubasa, who stared at the stone carefully. Darumi hopped around like a kid on drugs. Yugamu seemed just as curious and stayed next to Takumi, while Nozomi led Kamyuhn wherever she wanted. Still keeping up that big sister role, mm?
“Ugh! If none of you wants to be sacrificed, then sacrifice me! Come on, it'll be fun!” Darumi grinned, just to be met with silence. “COME ON! WHY DOESN'T ANYONE WANT TO SACRIFICE ME?! MISTRESS TSUBASA!” She whined and whined so much that… maybe Takumi, Tsubasa, and Yugamu weren't as annoyed, because they're quite used to this. Nozomi, Kamyuhn, and the twins were just mildly concerned.
But the gods… oh, the gods aren't as patient.
As Darumi hopped onto the sacrifice stone, stomping as if throwing a tantrum, a weird rift emerged from the inside, letting out a screech, and a hand grabbed Darumi's leg and dragged her in.
“AHH—! I'M BEING SACRIFICED MISTRESS TSUBASA SAVE ME!!!!” She squealed. The portal didn't close, though.
Tsubasa immediately got nauseous, Takumi stared at the portal in shock, and so did Kako. Ima immediately wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a protective habit. Nozomi looked even more distressed than Tsubasa, while Yugamu and Kamyuhn were just mildly confused.
“... Shouldn't we go after her? Tsubasa?” Yugamu shot a glance at the rift, then looked at Tsubasa.
“I— eugh… thought we were already done with insane things like this…” she muttered, covering her mouth in case she vomits. “But I do want to go after her… I vowed to care for her, but…”
“Then it's decided, let's go after her.” Kamyuhn cut in, “I see no reason to stand by.”
“No, there is no way my sister dearest and I are going down there. If even one hair on my sister's head gets harmed, I couldn't let myself live.”
“… but brother dearest…”
Kamyuhn didn't wish to wait a moment longer. First went Tsubasa, just gave her a little push. Before Takumi could process anything, she pushed him in too.
“Ka— Kamyuhn?” Nozomi walked over with an even more panicked expression.
“No, it's a smart decision.” Yugamu sighed. “Alright, maybe not. Going into that rift seems dangerous, but I'd also like to have Darumi back.” Then he dipped his hand in the portal and got sucked in by something.
“I think I'll go with them too. They might need my help.” Kamyuhn shrugged, glancing at the rift. She knew how to make Nozomi break. No denying that. Even if she wouldn't do that, Nozomi would probably still go, knowing her.
“... Alright…” She nodded. Though still quite distressed, she… Well, wanted to help. She grabbed Kamyuhn’s hand and glanced at the Tsukumo twins nervously. “Are you two going…?”
“No, I've already said what I think. Leave my sister dearest out of this. We're going.” Ima tightened his grip on Kako and turned around, leading her away.
“Oh… that's—” before Nozomi could even mutter anything to herself, she was inside the rift too.
One, two, three, four, five, six… it seems like they just keep on coming. But oh, it's done.
One by one, they fell onto a pile.
They found themselves in some sort of… dungeon, it seems. There were red flowers around the bushes that surrounded the “room” of sorts. While it wasn't clearly a room, more of a forest, the trees were placed in such a way that it might as well be called a room.
Everyone got to their feet as quickly as they could and looked around.
“Wow, wow, wow, WOW! WE'RE ACTUALLY IN SOME SORT OF ANOTHER REALM!” Darumi hopped around like a child on absurd amounts of coke (although a child on so much coke would be dying… hm.), while she clung to Tsubasa. Said Tsubasa was vomiting, and Takumi patted her shoulder in a show of comfort, while looking around.
“Yes, Darumi, that's right… But… What realm…?”
“It seems we found ourselves in…” Kamyuhn looked around the area. “A forest, of sorts. Oh, camellias? Either way, we are most definitely not on the artificial satellite… Just look at the sky. Or more, the lack of it. Just how dense is this forest…?”
Yugamu walked over to where Kamyuhn had pointed out the camellias and inspected them thoroughly, tapping his chin in thought.
As if on cue, right when Yugamu stopped, the ground started shaking, a red portal opened, and some sort of bush emerged. “Run, run, little lamb— Oh?” Said bush had a bandage in the middle of itself and stood on a black, tall platform. Oh, that’s a robe… And a black two-spiked crown with a green diamond-shaped eye rested on top… What is this thing?
“HOLY SHIT! And what is THIS?!” Darumi screeched again and hopped over to the bush. “What a weird bush! Why are you talking, dude!” She grinned manically, and as she reached out her hand to touch it, something pushed her away. Is that infinity?
“Show some respect, puny child. Why are you interrupting the peace of the forest? I was convinced it’d be the damned lamb… Either way, I am Leshy.”
“Leshy? As in the protector of forests in Slavic mythology?” Kamyuhn asked, “I was quite sure he takes the form of a wolf… or a man. Not whatever you are.”
“Excuse me? You dare question my identity, child? As I said, and won’t say again, I am Leshy. The youngest of the bishops of the old faith. And you dare shout as if you’re being sacrificed.”
“Old faith?” Takumi stared at Leshy for a moment or two, then sighed. “Leshy, can you at least tell us how to go back to our world?”
“Your world? Ah, are you from Anura perhaps, where my sister, Heket, resides?”
“No…?”
So they had this back-and-forth for a while, until Leshy probably got tired of this bullshit (understandable) and decided he’s gonna seek out his siblings for help, since he has no idea what to do. And the students waited. Takumi still tried to calm Tsubasa down, but it was of no use. She kept vomiting and vomiting. Darumi still hopped around, while Nozomi, Yugamu, and Kamyuhn investigated the flora.
Soon, the bishops came. A huge portal opened up in the ground, and they all emerged. Leshy, an orange toad, a squid, and a spider. They all seemed special in their own sense. They all wore the same black robes, although the squid’s seemed stuffed with something.
The toad was red and wore a bloody bandage around their neck. They also had four big black eyes with red slit pupils. A black crown with three spikes and an upside-down triangle as an eye topped their head.
The squid looked way less intimidating. In the place of their ears were bandages, and their mouth looked more like a slit in their head than anything. They had the same type of eyes as the toad, except two, and more almond-shaped. On their head resided a simple triangle crown with a blue, circular eye.
Finally, the spider. They were purple, the top of their head wrapped in bandages. Once again, the same eyes as the frog. Four, too. But placed differently. Their fangs didn’t fit in their mouth, it seemed. They wore a crown with a round inside and a moon-shaped purple eye.
Everyone turned to look at the bishops. Darumi once again wanted to run over to them, but Takumi held her in place. He spoke first.
“So…” his voice wavered slightly. They seemed so intimidating. These crowns that rested atop their heads. They must be of high rank. And they don’t seem too friendly. Although Leshy was nice enough. “We’d like to know… how do we get out of this place?”
“Ah,” the toad glanced towards Leshy. “Is that what you had to bother us— Bother Shamura for…?!” Their voice seemed… choked. As if merely speaking caused them great difficulty.
“Yes, sister, I simply didn’t know what to do with these children—”
“You could’ve led them out of your realm, then. Or simply put them to the blade.”
Ah, so Takumi was right… That’s absolutely not a relief.
“... Alright,” Leshy murmured after a while of thought. “Leave this to me. I apologize for bothering you.”
“But— Leshy, what if they’re… They’re on the side of the red crown?! It could be a trap! We all know it’s coming for us…!’ The squid spoke. They seemed way more terrified. Red crown?
“Five becomes four becomes three becomes two becomes one becomes nothing…” The spider muttered to themself, staring blankly at the students.
“See?!” The toad choked out, “Stop speaking of the crown, Kallamar! We’re going, Shamura must rest, for your idiotic blabber is making them lose their mind already! Leshy, put those children to the blade!” With that, the toad and those who seemed to be Kallamar and Shamura left. Once again through those portals.
A silence fell over the forest once more. Darumi dared to speak first.
“Damn,” she whistled, “Talk about family problems.”
“Darumi, I think this isn’t a good time to say that.” Yugamu sighed, “I’m pretty sure we’re gonna be attacked.” He reached inside his bag (he took one with him. They were supposed to be going to a restaurant, after all! He wouldn’t want to be a parasite and not pay!), and kept his hand in there. Just in case.
And he wasn’t wrong. More portals opened, spawning multiple big, leafy…? worms with red eyes. And just as leafy bats that flew around chaotically.
“Damn you, puny children.” That was the last thing Leshy said, before summoning a portal of his own and leaving.
“Shit…” Yugamu muttered and got into action first, taking out a small dagger (bro still keeps weapons nearby. Old habits die hard), it seems, from his bag. He extended his arm and slashed the first of three worms. Well, he needed to hit many times, but it finally died, blood splattering around the corpse.
Tsubasa, if not already scared as shit, just got even more terrified. Takumi wished he could go fight those monsters, but uno, he didn’t have anything to kill them with, dos, he was scared himself, tres, he didn’t want to leave Tsubasa…
Nozomi and Kamyuhn were just as scared. Oh, if Kamyuhn’s hemoanima was just a bit stronger… But it wasn’t!
Only Darumi was left. And, well, she didn’t disappoint. Despite having no weapon, she charged towards a bat that flew slowly in a circle and grabbed it. Thankfully, it didn’t have claws or even teeth, just those menacing, red eyes. She squeezed it hard in her hand, and since she didn’t really have anything good to do with it, she slammed it onto the ground and stepped on it hard. All done while laughing manically.
Yugamu noticed this and grinned. Aww, was he proud of her? Either way, as the bats’ insides splattered on the ground and onto Darumi’s boot, he ran over and reached into his bag once more and gave her a dagger similar to his, then ran off to kill another worm.
So it went for a few minutes. Yugamu and Darumi were fast killers. Yugamu because he was trained for it, and Darumi… well, who knows why.
Thankfully, Leshy was feeling merciful. Or maybe he expected one round of those enemies to kill them? Either way, they survived. That’s what mattered the most.
Tsubasa was literally shaking in Takumi’s arms. Her vomiting stopped, only because there wasn’t really too much to puke out. Takumi seemed shocked, but grateful for Yugamu and Darumi right now, while Nozomi and Kamyuhn hid in the corner. Both really not knowing what to do and being terrified. Nozomi hugged Kamyuhn tightly, as if to shield her from the gruesome sight.
Darumi hopped over to Tsubasa and Takumi, while Yugamu approached Nozomi and Kamyuhn slowly.
“Mistress Tsubasa, mistress Tsubasa!” She grinned. “I did it! I saved you! Are you proud of me? Do I get a pat, a kiss?! Will I get laid for a reward?”
“Darumi, now’s not the moment, seriously…” Takumi sighed in response, patting Darumi’s shoulder.
“Aww…”
“Hey, it’s alright now, they’re dead.” Yugamu put his dagger in his bag. Oh, Darumi still had the second one. Oh well. “Although it’s quite a gory scene, not sure if you’ll like it.” He sighed, glancing back at the scene… It looked dull. Almost as if he’s back at that damned academy. Well, okay, maybe not that bad. But still…