Chapter 19: Battle At The Hisakawa Estate

            “Hisakawa-sensei, how long have you known about, the whole, part of your family can turn into demons thing?” Kosuke asked desperately over breakfast.

Hideo and Hibiki exchanged smug looks, “Which one?” They counter questioned in unison.

“Uhh.” Kosuke didn’t know how to respond. “Uh, the cyborg one?”

“Hehe. My parents and I were told a few weeks before the wedding.” Hibiki answered.

“Yukari told me the day after I proposed.” Hideo told the teens.

“Then why did you not initially believe your sister when she told you about Barminius?” Yuzuru questioned.

Noriko was the one to answer him. “Demons have tried to hide their existence from humans for hundreds of years. My great grandmother told me that her father heard rumors that the demons were planning a massive invasion, I had in turn passed that knowledge down to Yukari.”

Yukari continued. “When Hibiki-chan was telling us about Barminius, that’s when I told Hideo that we should give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“So, the holes in the back of your daughters’ shirts, they are so their wings can pop out?” Kanako asked.

“Yep!” Sumire squeaked.

Suddenly a beeping went off, coming from the watches of Hideo, Yukari and their daughters. The beeping became more frequent, more desperate as Yukari checked her watch. “Oh no. That’s a lot of them.” Without another word, everyone excluding the grandparents grabbed their swords and ran outside.

The air was still. Everyone listened, only the chirp of a bird could be heard, until it abruptly stopped. Asahi took a deep breath, without warning, a demon leapt out of the forest and barrelled towards the group. Kanako dashed forward, she took the demon’s head off as an entire horde appeared. Everyone rushed into battle.

Sayaka and Sumire fought together. They were fast, dodging the attacks of the demon trying to kill them. Sumire went low, while Sayaka went high. With both slicing at the demon, they cut him in two, then charged towards their next target. Hibiki took on a few demons at once, clearly they were ordered to target her, still she fought unwavering. As one ran towards her, she punched him in the cheek, her wings made of metal spikes pieced a demon who tried to attack her from behind. Hibiki then made fists, spikes shot out her knuckles, she flipped around punching another demon who was trying to strike her with a sword. She killed all three, more demons began to charge, she only grunted and met them head on.

Kosuke and Shingo stood back-to-back, each time they would swing their blades, they would use their elements, then they would turn, shocking the demons with the opposite element. During one of the turns, Shingo slipped, Kosuke grabbed his arm, stopping him from falling. “You okay?” Kosuke asked as he used his sword to shoot a fire arrow into the demonic crowd.

“Yeah, thanks Kosuke. Hold your breath.” Shingo smiled. He created water below their feet, it spread out beneath the demons surrounding them, then the water began to rise, Kosuke took a deep breath right before the water overtook their heads. Painfully, the demons attempted to swim towards the two teens, but this was Shingo’s domain. He effortlessly shot forward, one by one, he killed the demons, polluting the water with their blood.

Kosuke was hit in the stomach by a demon who managed to reach him. Out of instinct he tried to create a flame around his sword, and to his surprise, it worked, he had created fire underwater. He swung his blade, slicing the demon’s arm off. The demon desperately tried to swim away, but Kosuke was a much better swimmer, he got in front her and cut her head off. Kosuke could feel himself running out of air, so he struggled to the top off the water Shingo had created. When he finally reached the surface, he coughed out water, gasping for air between each cough as to not pass out.

Kotone floated up onto the roof to avoid her demon attackers. She opened her mouth and began to sing, she fluttered her sword up and down to match her pitch. At first the demons were confused, but then the burning wind around them cleared that confusion up. Kotone then crossed her arms, she threw out her arms and screamed, cutting the demons. She leapt down and began to chop off their heads, fighting them aggressively as they failed to defend themselves.

Yuzuru cut through any demons who tried to attack him with ease. A demon with a sword, was able to block Yuzuru’s blade. Yuzuru only smiled, “Aww, good job. Surrender and I won’t kill you.”

“Never, you dirty human!” The demon growled.

“Okay!” Yuzuru shrugged, he then stabbed the demon. As a last ditch effort to fight Yuzuru, the demon swung his sword over his head, right before the demon’s sword was about to hit Yuzuru’s head, he created a small rock shield. The demon’s sword bounced right off the shield, the demon stumbled backwards, Yuzuru’s sword sliding out of him. The demon covered the wound with his hand, he looked up at Yuzuru, fear filling his eyes. “I gave you a chance, you wouldn’t take it.” Yuzuru reminded him.

The demon scrunched up his face. “Burn in Hell!” Yuzuru then killed him.

Hideo and Yukari stayed close to each other. A demon knocked Yukari’s sword out of her hand, much to the surrounding demons’ surprise, Hideo took a few steps away from his wife. Yukari grunted, mimicking her mother’s movements from the night before. “Urruh-rah!” She revealed her claws in a brilliant display, her wings fluttered out of the hole in the back of her yukuta, her tail slinking out from under the hem, and her horns adorning her head like a crown. With a flap of her wings, her feet left the ground, she looked like she just stepped out of a storybook. She stretched out her arms to the sky, covering them in water, she splashed her opponents, then she swooped down like a falcon and began to tear them apart with her hands. Minami witnessed all of this with awe.

Asahi fought the demons attacking her. She tried her best to hold her ground, but they kept pushing her back, away from the group. Asahi managed to take one down, she sent out a burst of fire, allowing her to slay another. The last two backed away from her, but not out of fear. Asahi could feel someone behind her, before she could turn around, a demon's tail wrapped around her waist and threw her to the ground. A demon commander stood over her, she tried to slash at his feet, he was too quick and was able to kick her katana out of her hand. Asahi threw a fireball, and then another with her other hand. The demon dodged each fireball, then he stomped on Asahi’s leg, crushing it.

Kanako heard the unforgettable snap of a bone breaking. She ran behind the corner of the house to see Sayaka and Sumire in their demon forms attempting to fight the demon commander, while Asahi tried to drag herself to safety. Kanako rushed in, sword drawn, the little Hisakawas flew out of the way as Kanako went in for the kill. She was able to cut halfway through the demon commander’s neck, he had stopped the blade from going any further with his hands. Still, Kanako pushed harder, locked in a stalemate. She screamed, making a few centimetres of progress, the demon became weaker, losing his grip on Kanako’s blade, eventually he wasn’t able to fight anymore and Kanako was able to kill him.

“Asahi-san!” Kanako called out. She ran over to Asahi and inspected her leg. “Oh no, it should not be bending there. Crap, crap, crap!”

Yuzuru followed by Yukari’s father rounded the corner of the house. “Asahi-chan! Are you alright?!” Yuzuru called out. He covered his mouth in shock when he saw her mangled leg.

“I’m a doctor.” Yukari’s father reassured her. “So is Rie-san, er, Hideo-kun and Hibiki-kun’s mother. The point is, we can fix her leg up. Yuzuru-san, would you mind carrying her into the house. Rie-san has already began getting medical supplies ready.”

Asahi’s leg was patched up as the few straggling demons were cleaned up. Kosuke, Shingo, Kanako and Kotone bowed to Hibiki’s father. “Sorry we made such a mess.” They apologised in unison.

“Oh, no, no. It’s not your fault. Those demons would have caused much more trouble if you weren’t here.” He waved his hand to dismiss the apology.

“Mama, is Asahi-chan going to be alright?” Hibiki asked.

“Oh yes, it was a clean break. She should be walking again in about five months, she should be fully healed in just little over a year, I’d say by the ninth month of two thousand thirty.” She told her daughter and Asahi.

“Aww, I’m going to spend my birthday in a cast.” Asahi whimpered. “Sensei, uh, would it be okay if I stayed here until after you all take back Ishidamu?” She asked Hibiki.

Hibiki gave her a warm smile. “Of course. It’s not like you’d be able to fight, this is the safest place for you. Please take care of her, Mom.”

“I will dear. You all take care now, good luck.” Rie patted her daughter on the shoulder. Everyone said their goodbyes, then the saints, minus Asahi, headed back down the driveway towards the train.