Compassion

It feels like my body's been aching since before I even hit the ground. Maybe that wave of heat did more damage than I'd initially thought? I hear Konishi and Nishida groaning in pain from somewhere around me, and pull myself up. We must have fallen at least two storeys, and, quite frankly, its a wonder we're still even breathing. I guess just the process of becoming a demon hunter must do wonders for your constitution and durability. That doesn't mean falling that far doesn't hurt like a bitch, though. I can't feel my... oh, right, my left arm isn't flesh and blood anymore, of course I can't feel it.

“Ugh...” Konishi stirs across from me, before her eyes flicker open. She sits up and looks over to me. “S-Sekigahara-kun, are you okay? Where's Mei-chan?” She frantically looks around, before her gaze catches the unconscious girl next to her. “M-Mei-chan? Mei-chan!?” She tries to shake her awake, but gets no response. With lighting fast movements, she checks Nishida's pulse, and breathes a sigh of relief.

“Make sure she's breathing, too.” I instruct. “I'm gonna go help Date-senpai and Fukada-senpai.” As if on cue, I hear a loud explosion from above me, and see Date rocketing across the gap, riding her giant sword like a surfboard. I can even faintly hear her yelling 'Woo-hoo'. At least she's having fun, I suppose.

“She's breathing. Thank goodness.” Konishi says, before looking at me pleadingly. “Sekigahara-kun, do you know CPR?”

“Even if I did, I'd hesitate to take the risk.” I say. The last thing we need is Nishida accusing me of taking advantage of her while she was unconscious. And in front of Konishi, too, I'm sure she'd bring that up as if it were the most heinous part.

“Um... okay, I can do this.” Konishi amps herself up, before pressing down on Nishida's chest in a rhythmic motion. I almost feel like I should look away.

Another explosion rocks the Labyrinth, this time Fukada is the source, as she fires her pistol with such incredible force the very air around it ignites. Is it really wise for two people who specialise in fire-based attacks to fight a demon with the same abilities? I know they say you should fight fire with fire, but if RPGs have taught me anything, it's that elementally powered monsters aren't harmed by the same element they use. Maybe the issue is that I'm using RPG logic for a real life combat situation, but it's the only frame of reference I have for a life-or-death battle.

“I've got her, Sekigahara-kun, go help the others!” Konishi tells me, and I race towards the stairs. I'm not sure whether Akira would be mad at me for ignoring what he'd probably consider to be a yuri development, or happy that I'm doing so when his sister is involved.

~~~

“Incredible work, Fukada! We no doubt have this foul demon on the ropes now!” I praise my beloved subordinate on a job well done, as is the duty of a leader, and she nods in approval.

“I missed.” Fukada corrects, okay, perhaps that nod was not approval, however, the point still undoubtedly stands! “That shot. Supposed to kill.”

“It would be frightfully boring were the battle to end in such a quick manner!” I inform her. Fukada may seem to be a picture of calm, but even I cannot deny that her bloodlust when it comes to delivering righteous justice directly into a demons ugly face is second to none. Still, as well as delivering praise when appropriate, it is also the leaders duty, and one no less important, to reign her followers in when necessary.

“Draw it out?” Fukada asks. “The battle? Are those orders?”

“Wahaha! Tomomi Date does not give orders! She merely makes humble requests as to what her fellow hunters aught to do! You should know that by now, Fukada!”

“Roger.” Fukada aims her Demonbane pistol squarely at the Demon. “Won't hold back.”

“N-Now, hold just for a fraction of a second, dearest Fukada, when I said requests, I in fact meant-” Before I can finish my sentence, Fukada blatantly disregards me and fires at the demon, hitting it square in the shoulder, at which point the bullet detonates in a fiery blaze that seems like nothing more than a shoddily made firework compared to my mighty explosions.

Said explosion (barely even a fizzle, really) does send the demon flying backwards, and disintegrates most of the balcony on which it stood (honestly, I don't even know why the word 'explosion' even came to mind, in actual fact, it was more akin to a soap bubble bursting in terms of outward force, at least compared to anything I could produce, at least).

However, despite our continued assault, a certain contrivance has arisen, and of course, my esteemed self has noted it before even Fukada.

“Fukada, is it just me or is this demon... not fighting back?” I ask.

“Don't know. Noticed that. But don't understand why.” Fukada says, but for her to feign awareness, perhaps she is embarrassed that I noticed and she didn't? There is, of course, no need for such a thing, it is only natural that the smartest member of the club would be first to notice oddities such as that. “Doesn't matter. Makes thing easier.”

“Wahaha! I could not have said it better myself!” I could, of course, but if Fukada wants to be on equal ground with me, intellectually, then I must make concessions.

“You guys! Are you okay?” I hear Sekigahara's voice come from the stairwell. “I'll be right there!”

My, how conscientious of him, worrying about us like that.

~~~

The sounds of explosions echoed throughout the shopping mall, and the very foundations of the building shook with each one as I climbed back up to the top level. You can tell that one hell of a fight's been going on in my absence.

“Sekigahara!” Date greets me with open arms, as if there isn't a powerful demon stood not five feet away from us. “Where are Konishi and Nishida?”

“Nishida got hurt bad, she' still unconscious.” I explain. “Konishi's staying with her.”

“Ah, of course. Konishi has always been the caring type. Indeed, it almost brings a tear to one's eye, does it not?”

“Uh... sure?” Honestly, with how everything's been going here, I was expecting even Date to be just a little more serious. Fukada, on the other hand, barely seems to have registered my presence, she just keeps firing that oversized pistol into the now even more ruined beef bowl store. “What's the situation?”

“Wahaha! Our reputation clearly proceeds us! This demon must understand that there is no point in fighting back against our might!” Date announces proudly. I think that means that these two are just wailing on an opponent that won't retaliate. Demon or not, that's pretty bad form, if you ask me.

“Now, Sekigahara! Will you formally join the hunt with us?” Date stretches out her arm to me.

“Let me just...” I trail off, looking over to the bombed out beef bowl store. “Have people absolutely, definitely been disappearing around here?”

“Well, I see no reason to believe otherwise!” Date tells me, but that must mean. “When a human's soul is consumed by a demon, all but those closest to them lose all memory of their existance, so it would be impossible to verify-”

“So you don't know?” I ask. “Date-senpai, this might be presumptuous of me, but... I don't think this demon actually wants to hurt people.”

“Impossible.” Fukada finally chimes in, punctuating her interjection with another bullet. “Demons only hurt. Only kill. All they know.” She looks at me, and I can finally see the hatred in her eyes. “Showing mercy. Waste of time. Puts innocent people in danger. Foolish. Pointless.” I've never heard Fukada this talkative. This must be a sore spot for her.

“Still, if it's not fighting back-”

“A trick.” Fukada tells me, before going back to her relentless assault.

“Fukada may well be correct. Demons are not mindless animals, after all. It stands to reason that one may attempt to appear docile in order to make us doubt our actions.”

I can't deny the possibility. After all, the demon that attacked me pretended to be an innocent girl so I'd make for an easier target. But something about this made it feel different. Even when that girl was playing the part, something about her made my skin crawl, there was just... a lot of other feelings at the time that that particular one was pushed to the wayside. Here, I don't feel anything like that at all.

“Fukada-senpai. All I ask is a few moments.” I say, and both her and Date turn to me in shock.

“What are you saying, Sekigahara?” Date asks.

“Pointless.” Fukada says.

“Just let me try something.” I say. “If it doesn't work, then you can blow the entire shopping mall up to get the job done.”

“Hmph.” Fukada turns away.

“Wahaha! I do so enjoy sudden twists like this!” Date grins. “Fukada, you will allow Sekigahara to go forward with his plan.”

Fukada doesn't speak for a moment, before letting out a begrudging “Roger.” and I make my way to the other side of the mall.

“E-Excuse me? Demon-san?” I call out into the beef bowl store. The whole place looks as if it's been shelled from orbit, but curled up in a ball against the back wall is the demon woman. “My name is Kuro Sekigahara.”

“You... want to kill me?” She asks, looking up at me.

“No. Well, if you attack me, I've told my friends to do so, but that just means that as long as you don't attack me, we'll both be fine.”

“No.”

“What?”

“No... I deserve it. I killed Rin-chan.” The demon tells me.

“Is she... the only person? Or have you killed anyone since you became a demon?”

“I've already taken one life. That's too many. Rin-chan...” The demon sounds like she's about to cry. I can't deny the possibility that this is all just a ruse to make my sympathise with her.

“Then, in that case... if that is the truth, I don't see a problem in letting you live.” I tell her, and she looks up at me with wide-eyed shock.

“No! I killed Rin-chan! I have to die! It's not right, I... I... even when I tried to end things myself... I came back like this.” She stands up, and I realise for the first time just how tall this woman is. She towers over me, her head just shy of the ceiling. She must be at least 8 feet tall, and that's a conservative estimate. “You said your friends would kill me if I attacked you?” Oh, I really don't like how this is going. I feel the ambient temperature skyrocket around me, enough that the air itself stings my skin. “I am sorry for this, Sekigahara-san.” The demon says. “I'll try not to kill you.”

The demon rears her arm back, and lashes at me with a whip made of pure, concentrated flame, I move to block it with my swords, and when I do, I hear a voice in my head, the same as when I was training with Date.

“Shattered Mirror; Phase Two – Mirror Veil”

As soon as the flame whip makes contact with my swords, they glow with a brilliant light, and my body once again painlessly shatters into pieces. Though none of the shards are connected, I can move all of them as easily as if I were walking normally, and I dodge out of the way before reforming. In the instant that this transpires, a bullet flies past me and into the demon, sending her flying into the back wall before exploding in a brilliant light. The floor beneath me gives way, and I once again find myself falling through the Shopping Mall Labyrinth. But before I even hit the floor, the world around me dissipates, and I find myself stood with Date, Fukada, Konishi, and the still unconscious Nishida.

“I told you.” Fukada scowls, and it feels like it's taking all of her willpower not to slap me. “Pointless. Sentimentalism. Put us all in danger.”

“In a way, you're right, Fukada-san.” I say quietly. It probably isn't my place to talk back to a senior member like this, but I can't hold myself back. “That demon wanted to die for what she did to Rin Mori. I told her that you wouldn't do anything if she didn't attack me and, it, well, had the opposite effect.”

“We shall have time to argue later.” Date says, picking Nishida up in her arms. “I believe there are more pressing issues in the here and now.”