Chapter 9: Minohara Part 2: Elementary

            Kosuke and Shingo hid behind a vending machine in a dark alley as a demon walked by, completely unaware that there were two humans right there. “Tsk, I can’t read the bloody sign from here.” Kosuke growled.

Shingo pointed to the end of the alley. “Yo! The payphone booth we used to use all the time as kids is still here.”

“Yeah, cool.” Kosuke brushed him off. “We need to focus, can you read what that sign says, I think it has a phone num-“Kosuke suddenly grabbed Shingo’s shoulders. “You are a genius. The payphone is closer to the sign, and we can hide in there, plus we can pretend to be demons interested in purchasing a human.” He puffed up his chest and mocked the demon accent. “A little girl around nine years old, brown hair, blue eyes.”

“Say a girl around nine or ten, Emiko is a bit tall, and if you get too specific, they might get suspicious. Otherwise, it’s a great idea.” Shingo agreed with a smile.

“Did you want to make the call?” Kosuke offered.

“No, it’s best if you do it. You have the deeper voice, I wish Yuzuru-san was here, they might just hang up on us because we still sound young.” Shingo crossed his arms as he thought on how things could go wrong.

“As long as we make it sound like a serious inquiry, they shouldn’t care how old the customer is, as long as they get a sale. Let’s go, we are losing daylight, there is already too many demons wandering around, we need to hurry.” Kosuke pulled Shingo over to the phonebooth. He checked the number on the sign on the wall of the school and dialed.

A female demon answered. “Minohara Base and Human Market, what do you want?” She growled.

“How dare you talk to me like that!” Kosuke snapped, making Shingo’s face grow pale. “I want a dang human, obviously!”

The demon on the other side of the phone didn’t seem bothered by Kosuke’s yelling. “Any particular element you want? Age? Gender? Shoe size?”

“I’m looking for a female around nine or ten-ish, independent enough, but still plenty impressionable. I’m also quite fond of a brown hair, blue eyes combo, if you have any.” After speaking into the phone, Kosuke smiled to Shingo.

“Uh, let me check our files.” Kosuke could hear her stand up from her chair, then silence for a minute. “Uh, we have plenty of brunettes with purple and green eyes, oh wait, we have a ten-year-old with a blue eye and a green eye.”

Kosuke shook his head no to Shingo, he then hid the disappointment in his voice. “Ah, I’d have to come in and see ‘er. I’ll be coming in around the fourteenth hour.”

“Alright, I’ll have her ready. She costs six thousand vonid, there ain’t nothing wrong with her, we just have some over crowding.” The demon then hung up.

“Wild humans detected.” A robot spoke in a monotone voice as it approached.

Kosuke drew his blade, leaping forward, he sliced it in half, but it was too late. Several demons had saw them by now. Shingo raised his blade to the sky, he created a massive ball of water, he lowered his blade and began spinning around, knocking the approaching demons over.

The boys ran, but some demons had came running out of the former elementary school, blocking their path. One demon in particular held an authoritative aura. “So,” her words were drawn out, clean and steady, “The rumors are true. There is a band of humans wielding swords slaying all our esteemed, paying hunters. You fools have cost my lord and I far too much. Your little resistance ends now.”

Kosuke and the leader demon dashed towards each other. Kosuke went for her throat, but she caught his katana in her hand. She took it in both hands, she swung Kosuke around in the air as they fought for control over the weapon. “Gah!” Kosuke’s hands slipped. “No.” He then went flying back a meter, two other demons grabbed him before he could get back on his feet.

The leader demon held the blade of Kosuke’s katana with one hand and the hilt with the other. She raised her knee, and slammed the sword over top of it, fortunately it did not break. “Wh-what? Impossible! How? Could this blade be, no, is it blessed?!” She stammered.

The other demons all took a collective gasp. Kosuke couldn’t help but think out loud. “Hisakawa-sensei, was able to bless her element?”

“Did you say Hisakawa? It couldn’t be, not the same one, surely. Unless, no, my lord worked for hundreds of years to ensure no more saints would appear. Could that Hisakawa be one? Even then, how would she able to create this, even if she didn’t die from her injuries, I personally checked to ensure her limbs were removed, not to mention my lord’s curse would have left her on life support.” She tried to herself convince herself, staring into her reflection in Kosuke’s blade with shaking eyes. “It doesn’t matter. You fools are as good as dead, and I’ll make sure that your deaths are long and painful, but first let me give you a tour. I want you to see how much your fellow humans are suffering. She motioned for the other demons that captured Kosuke to follow her.

Shingo looked down at his own sword. “I’m still here. I still have my sword, do you not see me as a threat?”

A demon walked up next to him. “No, we don’t. You are outnumbered so badly, even if you have a blessed blade, if you fight, you will lose. Don’t try it, you’ll just be wasting everyone’s time.”

“Ugh, your right.” Shingo sighed as he sheathed his blade.

The teens were taken inside. Each classroom had been turned into a prison cell, labeled by age groups and elements. The leader demon pointed to one room as they passed. “In there are water, earth and plant elements, they make good farm slaves, they are considered the most useful, therefore, more expensive. Wind elements are most popular as pets, and metal elements are commonly used in construction, both are mid-ranged in price. Fire elements don’t really have a place in Hell, not in a practical sense. We mostly sell them for their meat.” She led them down the hall and motioned to the last classroom at the end. “In here we have imps, also known as half humans, they can be sold for a higher price then any full-blooded human. They are stronger and have a longer life span. The stupid things are still so bloody emotional and empathetic, emphasis on the pathetic.” As the leader demon finished, a young demon woman approached. “And then there are demons have an imp parent.”

Her voice was soft, almost gentle. “Auntie, our lord has messaged back. He wants the two swordsmen humans that you captured to become gladiators. He said something about treats for one of his pets.”

The leader demon walked up to her niece, without a word she slapped her so hard across the face that she fell to the floor. The leader demon picked her up by the hair. “Your stupid human heritage is showing. You are to only refer to me as Reganam-sama. The only reason I employ you, is to train you into becoming a half decent bride for our lord so our family keeps his favor. With Hanmusume-ichi’s failure, he is not too pleased. So far you are even more useless, Hanmusume-hachi. You are embarrassing my brother with your sentimental antics!”

“You don’t even treat your own family like people.” Shingo growled as he drew his sword. “You are despicable.”

Reganam glided backwards, releasing Hanmusume-hachi. She put Kosuke’s blade to his throat. “Now, now. Put that thing down before someone gets hurt.”

“Don’t worry, Shingo, I got this!” Kosuke exclaimed right before biting his sword, setting the whole thing ablaze.

As her hand caught on fire Reganam scowled. “What was that supposed to- ah, ow!” Reganam let go of Kosuke’s katana, shaking her arm in the air, trying to put the fire out. When the flames ceased, she stared at her burnt hand in horror. “H-how? You, you?” Her voice changed from disbelief to anger. “You, you will pay!”