Demon Language

Harry slept like a restless bear, grunting and snoring as he leaned back in the chair, his legs up on the conference room table. He hadn’t left the station much in the past few weeks, only going out to deal with demons and yakuza. His drive had been focused, pure and cold and unrelenting. Any lead which could lead him to Gouki he chased down.

And of course, he read the book.

Reo walked into the conference room, sighing softly as he saw Harry passed out in there yet again. He picked up Reiji Kageyama’s diary, scanning the pages Harry had last been reading. FLIGHTS OF CROWS FROM BLOOD RICH MERCURY DRIPPED TERROR OVER WASTELANDS OF…Reo closed the book. None of it made sense. They’d been over it cover to cover, using the best code breakers they had, even testing the ink and paper. The ink had a bizarre mix of chemicals in it which nobody could place, but knowing such a fact still gave them nothing to go on. They were, for all intents and purposes, the written ramblings of an insane old gangster. And the man’s grandson was currently tearing apart Tokyo with demons in order to get it back.

Harry let out a brief little snore as he leaned back in his chair. Reo couldn’t help but be impressed at how his friend was able to find the perfect angle to fall asleep at. His feet anchored him on the table, the angle of the chair was exactly right for supporting his head. Only the large American could make a conference room chair look comfortable. At the moment, though, they did not have the luxury of comfort. Reo stuck his foot out, tapping one of the legs and tipping him over. Harry began to flail back, his eyes opening wide and his arms flailing. He was saved from disaster when Reo reached out and grabbed one of his hands. Harry blinked rapidly, restarting his brain.

“Morning?” Harry asked.

“It is,” Reo confirmed, hauling him back into a sitting position.

“Anybody kill Gouki overnight?” Harry asked, stretching and cracking his joints with loud pops.

“No,” Reo said. Harry made an annoyed little grunt.

“Got my…” Harry started to say when Reo slid over the cup of coffee he had brought in with him. Half the cup was downed before Reo could blink. He then opened the diary again, immediately going back to work.

Reo snatched the book from Harry’s grasp, snapping it shut while glaring at him through his glasses. “What do you think you’ll learn?” Reo asked. Harry sat still, his knuckles rapping lightly on the table as he thought of an answer to Reo’s question. Unfortunately, he knew the answer.

He wouldn’t learn a damn thing from the book.

“I can’t sit here and do nothing,” Harry said softly, the weariness and rage breaking through his words. Reo could practically feel his frustration at letting Gouki slip away weeks ago. He had felt it himself as well.

“Gouki escaping was not your fault. It was not my fault, or Hinata’s fault,” Reo said, slowly and carefully, hoping each word might penetrate Harry’s thick American skull. Harry, however, was skilled at finding ways to blame himself for anything he could. He downed the rest of his coffee, slamming the cup onto the table.

“Whose fault is it then? People are dying out there because Gouki God damn Kageyama is still free,” Harry said. There was no good answer to the question which would ease Harry’s conscience. So Reo gave him the best one he had.

“It’s Gouki’s,” Reo said.

Before Harry could rant against himself any further, Hinata opened the door, walking in like a woman on a mission. “Knew it. I could smell you from down the hall. Go home,” Hinata said, placing her hands on her hips, trying her best to look intimidating to Harry.

“Can’t. Still got reading to do,” Harry said, grabbing for Reiji’s diary in Reo’s hand. Reo held it up, a teasing smile on his face as if he were holding a treat above the head of a particularly yappy dog.

“You two are the worst. Give me the police evidence,” Hinata said, snatching the diary from her brother. She sat on the edge of the table, running her claws tipped finger lightly over the worn leather cover.

“Have you read it yet?” Reo asked his sister. She gave a slight shake of her head, her fox ears twitching.

“No. I’m honestly a little intimidated,” Hinata said, the book heavy in her hand, feeling the weight of the pages which had caused so much bloodshed. She cracked it open, her eyes beginning to trace the lines, a look of confusion crossing her face.

Harry scoffed at her. “Go nuts. But I can already tell, you won’t be able to make any more sense of it than…”

“What are you talking about? I can read this fine, ,” Hinata said.

The room went still. Both men stared intently at Hinata, not moving, not breathing. Even the air conditioner seemed to give up the ghost as Hinata casually said she could read Reiji’s mad scribbling.

“You…what?” Harry asked, his throat suddenly dry. He couldn’t tell whether it was dread or excitement making his blood rush through his veins as he stood up, leaning forward on hands slammed down onto the conference room table.

“Read it? These all look like normal…you guys can’t read this?” Hinata asked, cocking her head in confusion as she looked between them. This was what everyone had been fighting over and killing each other over? A normal book written in a strange looking ink which smelled like blood and meat?

Rep grabbed the book back from Hinata, looking at the page she had read. FOURTEEN OF THE MELTED ONES HEAVING LIKE ICE IN CORPSE GUTTED HOLLOW CAVERNS. “Read,” Reo said, holding it before Hinata and pointing to the exact line he wanted her to read.

“Today we traveled to Hokkaido to dump the bodies of the traitors in the ocean. Gouki complained about the cold, and I reminded him of our…seriously, you don’t see this? What does this look like to you?” Hinata asked.

Reo grabbed her hand, dragging her quickly from the conference room. “Come!” he shouted, his mind already racing as he pulled her through the halls of the Tokyo police department.

In the lobby of the building, Takeshi and Mayumi took a quick moment of peace for themselves after a lengthy night, dripping on the floor as they came back from a fight on the river. “Why do we live in a country with so many species of demon?” Takeshi asked, his broad bulk settling on a bench with a rich squish.

“Especially water demons. I’ll never dry,” Mayumi said, wiping her glasses for the fifth time before wringing her hair out.

Gaku and Mizuki walked through the large front door slowly, their eyes bloodshot. Gaku nodded at them, his expensive tie dyed shirt and ripped jeans covered in blood, his sunglasses cracked. “River?” Gaku asked. Takeshi nodded slowly. “Music festival,” Gaku said, sitting near them.

“Being an exorcist totally sucks,” Mizuki said, laying on the bench Gaku was on and putting her head in his lap.

Aa those four sat together, wallowing in the weariness of fighting monsters, Reo flew down the stairs and headed directly for them with Hinata’s hand still in his, Harry following closely behind. He stood before them, holding up Reiji’s diary.

“Hinata can read!” Reo shouted, holding up the book. The four other exorcists looked at him with sleep deprived, bloodshot eyes.

“Congrats. But she’s in her 20s, Reo,” Gaku said.

“No!” Reo shouted, smacking Gaku in the head with the book. “She can read THIS!”

More stares from the four exorcists as their brains tried to catch up.

“Since when?” Takeshi asked.

“Since always!” Reo shouted.

“Maybe,” Harry said.

“I think,” Hinata said.

They all waited in silence for several moments, seeing who would ask the most important question.

“So…you gonna read it?” Mizuki asked from Reo’s lap.