Inherited Will

Not wanting to have to deal with Fukada's ire, I made some excuse as to why I couldn't return to the Club Shed. Fukada was a part of it, at least, but ever since returning from the Labyrinth, I'd had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. It wasn't really something I could explain, I just felt... wrong. Like there was some part of me that being in that place changed fundamentally.

It wasn't until I actually made my way home and flopped onto my bed that it's cause became unavoidably apparent.

'Sekigahara-kun?' The voice of the Shopping Mall Demon called out to me from inside my own head. There's been enough strangeness in my life that I just quietly accepted that this was something that could happen, but something tells me I should hold off on mentioning this to the others. Fukada seems... intense, at least when demons are involved, and if I was able to hear the voice of demons that had already been hunted, then there's a non-zero chance she'd turn that intensity on me. 'Sekigahara-kun, can you hear me?'

Loud and clear. But I don't understand how a dead demon can talk to me in the first place.

'I can't say that I understand either. It's like you... took in a part of my essence when I attacked you. My consciousness will probably fade after a while.

I do recall my swords absorbing her attack. That could be the cause of all this.

'Please, thank your friend for me. Once the part of me that's within you fades, I can be with Rin-chan.'

I'm not sure Fukada-san would be all too pleased, being thanked by a demon, but sure.

'And also, I'm sure there are other demons like me, who don't want to hurt people. The hunger was already driving me crazy, and I don't know how much longer I would have lasted without attacking an innocent person. The kindest thing to do for any of us is kill us.'

I was trying to do the right thing by letting you go.

'I know. But now a part of my power can live on through you, and help you to save people. Thank you, Sekigahara-kun.'

~~~

The entire school was, once again, abuzz with chatter when I arrived, but thankfully there had been no more attacks. No, this time, the cause of the commotion was...

“Sekigahara! You bastard!” Akira cornered me on my way to class. “You-You were out with the Occult Research club yesterday, weren't you!?”

“I was.” I tell him. No point in hiding it. Hell, there's nothing to hide, as far as I'm concerned.

“You bastard!” He repeated. “Mei told me she was out with her friends, but you- you were there too!? Just what is your relationship with my sister?”

“We fight cannibalistic monsters together.” I tell him.

“Don't you get cute with me! My sister hates all men! Even me! How the hell did you get her to consider you a friend? And, and she came home really late, too, what's up with that?”

“I don't ramble on and on about how hot all her friends are. And I dipped out before the girls were even finished, so I dunno when they went home.”

“Well what am I supposed to do? Not say anything? That'd just be rude!” This man's priorities were so out of whack that even the greatest minds of our time wouldn't be able to comprehend his thought process.

“Whatever.” I brush him off and try to head into the classroom, but am cut off by a voice behind us.

“Oh, good morning, Sekigahara-kun, Nishida-san.” Konishi called out to us.

“Good Morning, Konishi-chan.” Akira replied, leaning against the wall. “You're looking as radiant as ever this morning.”

“Thank you, Nishida-san.” Konishi smiled. “Your zipper is down.”

Akira let out a yelp and rushed into the classroom, leaving the two of us alone.

“How's Nishida... Mei-san doing?” I ask.

“Kato-sensei healed her. She was fine when she went home.”

“That's good to hear... what about Date-senpai and Fukada-senpai?”

“They're both... well, Fukada-senpai's pretty mad at you. Date-senpai said something about how 'Your compassion, even towards humanities greatest foes, is inspiring, if misguided.'”

“I see.” I sigh.

“Fukada-senpai hates demons more than anyone else.” Konishi explained. “We've all suffered at their hands, but I think she had it worst. I'm not entirely sure of the details, though.”

“That makes sense. I've never seen her so angry as she was with that woman. She seemed pretty pissed with that Ueda guy, too, now that I think about it.”

“To tell you the truth, I became a hunter because I want to help people.” Konishi admitted. “And when I think about how demons used to be people themselves, it must be awful having to eat other humans.” Her voice was quiet, and not just because she knew we couldn't talk openly about this sort of thing. “So I try to rationalise it like, we're actually helping the demons by killing them, in a way.”

“No, I completely understand.” I say. “In fact, after class, can I talk to you in private about something? I don't know how the others would react, but... I need to tell someone about this.”

Konishi's eyes widened. “O-Of course, Sekigahara-kun. Whatever you need.”

“Thanks, Konishi-san.”

“Please, there's no need to be formal, Sekigahara-kun. Like you said yesterday, we're friends now.”

“Oh... alright then, Konishi-chan. I'll talk to you later.”

I turned around to finally get to class, and came face to face with Akira once again. Part of me worries that he overheard us talking about demons, but even if he did, it's something completely different that he's concerned with

“T-Talk to her in private? You need to tell somebody?” He mutters, before his face turns bright red all the way up to his ears. “Kuro! You damn bastard!”

~~~

For the first time in my life, I eagerly awaited our lunch break. I absolutely needed to get what I planned to talk to Konishi about off my chest. This was something that excited and terrified me in equal measure. I was worried that Akira would try to keep me from meeting up with her, but the guy just sat, completely defeated, in his seat, maybe not even noticing that I'd gone past him until it was too late.

We hadn't arranged a particular place to meet, but Konishi was waiting for me outside my classroom, and I led her up to the roof. The door was still knocked clean off it's hinges, and there was tape blocking the open doorway, but it wasn't exactly hard to just duck under it and make our way to the far end of the roof, the mesh fence dented from the other day.

“So, this is where you and Fukada-senpai fought that Thrall?” Konishi asked. “It's a wonder the police haven't gotten involved with all this wanton vandalism of school property.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I say.

“Hmm? Sekigahara-kun, you seem nervous about something.” She notes, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

“A-Actually, Konishi-chan, there's something important I need to tell you.” I admit. “It's been eating away at me since yesterday, and I don't really understand this feeling, but...”

“Sekigahara-kun, you can tell me. It's alright. I won't turn you down. Promise.” She's fully blushing now, for whatever reason. I guess she's trying to say that no matter what, we'll always be friends. That's nice to know.

“Okay, here goes.” I take a deep breath. “K-Konishi-chan, I... lately I've been.” Damn it, spit it out, Kuro! “I think I absorbed demonic powers yesterday!”

“Of course!” Konishi says with a wide smile, before it immediately falters. “Hmm? Wh... What did you say?”

“Yesterday, when I was fighting that demon, I... absorbed her powers. I even heard her voice for a while, but it's gone now. H-Have you ever heard of that sort of thing happening before?”

Konishi is completely stunned by my revelation. I mean, who wouldn't be, right? This sort of thing can't be normal, even among demon hunters.

“I, um... what?” She can't even form a sentence properly! Is she going to have to kill me or something now? Well, I'm not going down without a fight! “I've never heard of that, but... Sekigahara-kun, your Word of Power is 'Mirror' right? Maybe you're mirroring the ability that was used against you?”

Mirroring the demon's power. I guess that made sense. Yeah, this is probably just a part of my normal skill set, nothing to worry about.

“Still, I think we should tell Date-senpai about this.” Konishi tells me. “I mean, if it can come in useful, it's better if everyone knows about it, right?”

As much as that was exactly the outcome I was trying to avoid, Konishi's argument is too perfect to refute. So, yeah, after classes are over, I'll head over to the shed and let everyone know...

And pray that Fukada doesn't try to skewer me on the spot. Or at least that somebody'll try to stop her when she does.

~~~

“You did what?” I'd barely even gotten the sentence out when Date exploded at me in anger. “Sekigahara, this is an incredible asset to our already invincible team!” Or maybe not. For as simple as Date is, it's impossible to get a read on her sometimes.

“Don't like it.” Fukada responds.

“To be honest, Fukada-senpai, I'm just glad you didn't attack me before I could properly explain.”

“Not yet.” Fukada adds reassuringly.

“O~Kay.” I look over to Nishida, who hasn't reacted yet.

“What do you expect me to say? It could prove useful, I guess.” She tells me with a shrug.

“Our job. Kill demons. Not become them.” Fukada mutters.

“S-Sekigahara-kun isn't becoming a demon.” Konishi defends, surprisingly forcefully. “Fukada-senpai, I understand how you feel, and you know I do. But Sekigahara can help us fight demons using their own powers now. Isn't that a good thing?”

Fukada stands up, heading out the door. “Let me judge.” Fukada says, looking me dead in the eye. “Duel me.”

“Wha-”

“Duel me. See how it feels. If you feel like a demon, I'll kill you.”