Chapter 17: A Reunion

At the center of Kuro’s apartment, on the floor, there lay Homura—in a corpse-like posture. His arms were tucked by his sides, legs together, and he had his face turned upward.

And as a Demon, his body was honed for survival. So, even noticing the subtle rising and falling of his chest as he breathed proved challenging. If a person were to walk in on him that way, they’d be convinced he was dead—

“Haaa!”

He shouted suddenly as his right arm extended with a folded fist. That was the last action his body remembered taking, before being rendered motionless…

It didn’t take long for the fuzzy feeling in his head to wear off, and he immediately took note of his surroundings. He withdrew his hand and sat up.

“Hey, could you move? I can’t see the screen!”

Homura turned sharply at Yuka, mashing buttons with desperation. He then turned in the direction she was facing. She was playing some fighting game—not that he knew the specific one. Why would he care?

“Yo, Homura.”

The casual greeting from Kuro reached his ears and he snapped his eyes to him.

“Alright. Fight me—for real this time,” said Homura as he got up, blocking the screen.

“Damn, Homura! Move already!” Yuka’s voice fully carried her frustration aimed at the Demon interrupting her high stakes game. “I swear—if I lose! I’ll—”

She stopped talking partway, joining Kuro to simply tilt to the side to see around Homura.

“And what do you mean ‘for real’? Didn’t you get your butt kicked a minute ago?”

Homura thrust a finger toward Yuka who questioned him. “That one doesn’t count. I was obviously trying not to wreck the place. So I was handicapped.”

“With or without the handicap, you’d still lose—dammit, I can’t lose any more health!”

Scoffing distastefully at Yuka’s verbal jab, he redirected his attention back to Kuro—in the zone.

He was about to challenge him once again, but Kuro spoke first.

“So, Homura? What have you been up to these past couple of months, hmm?”

Previously, he would have scrambled his brain for a convincing answer. But as of now, he was fully ready with a response.

“My job as a bouncer is actually kinda fun.”

“Ah, yeah. You did mention something about that a while ago.”

Kuro having reinforced a decree to the Demonic Clan, demanding they cease the baseless killing of humans, did come with its drawbacks. He had managed this by bringing a strategic basis as to why it was necessary—also, he was the Demon King, after all…

So supposing there was a Demon who loved brutality—say Homura—and needed an alternative outlet for those urges, how would that be resolved?

That was how Kuro gave him the brilliant idea to become a bouncer, handling the unruly patrons at various bars and clubs around the city.

“Are you still with that same joint?” Kuro asked, manipulating his fingers dexterously across his controller.

“Nah, I left that place ages ago,” Homura replied, pride soaking into his tone. “I’ve switched locations many times since then. This is my twentieth. They all said I was too ‘violent’, or something.”

“I see…” Well, at least he didn’t kill anybody… Probably.

● ● ●

“Nooo!” Yuka cried, almost flinging the controller in her grasp in a fit of rage. “It’s not fair!”

During her outburst, she could hear Kuro mutter, “lol” under his breath. She berated him with even more accusations of foul play.

With the score settled—Kuro, ten; Yuka, nil—he went back to his conversation with Homura.

“What’s your living condition like?” He’d asked because, like Yuka, Homura’s parents had left him to his own devices. A common practice among Demonkind, said to build character.

“Decent. I got my own room. Actually, it’s more of a storage unit converted to a room. But I get to stay there for free, comes with the job.” Homura nodded in a satisfied manner.

Kuro found his often easy going attitude quite pleasant. He was a great friend, all things considered. The only factor of his that could be faulted was his penchant for all kinds of violence…

“So, when’re you gonna fight me, huh?” Homura sauntered over to where Kuro sat. “Exactly the way you did that day. Well, Demon King?”

For a long time, Kuro had tried to get at least his two friends to simply call him by his name. But tradition could not so easily be broken. A being as powerful as the Demon King deserved the utmost respect, and casually referring to them by name was a smear on that front.

He had assured them that it was fine, and nobody would reprimand them for an action he permitted. Even Yuka, though it started as a joke, could no longer address him informally.

It was absolutely tiresome.

Leaving that subject for now, he simply responded to Homura, “When I feel like it.”

“Whatever you say,” Homura chuckled, evidently not content with such a vague reply.

The three of them gathered together made Kuro feel as though they were having a reunion between old friends. He couldn’t deny that he enjoyed it.

He then recalled an important piece of information he believed Homura should be informed of.

“By the way, I ran into The Hero at college some days ago.”

“Oh, that’s cool—wait! What?!”

Yuka burst into an uncontrolled laughter. “I know, right? It was so random. After all his efforts—she just shows up?” She continued her teasing.

Kuro’s head panned slowly in her direction. His eyes held something so fearsome, it killed her laughter instantly.

“Is she strong?”

“No, you can’t fight her, Homura.”

“Urk—! I didn’t even ask yet. Can I?”

Kuro waved his hand in a dismissive manner. “She’s at Stage IV. And judging from the first time we met, I’d say she’s moderately skilled—enough to put up a decent fight. It’s just… Something doesn’t feel right. Like there’s something much larger at play.”

Homura wasn’t paying close attention. He thought it was Kuro’s habit of overthinking things flaring up again.

“So, if possible, I’d like to deal with her myself.”

“Seems to me like you’re just hogging all the fun.”

Yuka flicked her gaze between the two of young men, anticipating who would make the next move—

“My Liege! Time for training!”

● ● ●

Currently, Kuro was being escorted upstairs by Talmarius to the dojo on the second floor of the mansion. He had been roped into another one of his butler’s impromptu training sessions.

Kuro replayed what had happened before he got here in his head…

The door of Kuro’s closet slid open with an alarming speed. And from it leapt forth Talmarius.

He landed, and dropped to one knee dramatically.

“Hi, Talmarius.” Yuka waved at him amiably.

“Good afternoon, Lady Yuka.” He gave her a dashing smile, lowering his head.

As he lifted his gaze, he saw Homura eyeing him—like a chunk of meat.

“Sir Homura, I hope you’ve been well?”

“Hmm, I dunno. Why don’t you fight me and find out?” Homura grinned, nodding at his proposition. “Whaddya say, Talmarius?!”

“My deepest apologies. But I already have plans, Sir Homura.”

“Tsk.” He looked away, now facing a wall with crossed arms.

Already knowing Talmarius’s next course of action, Kuro stood up and showed Yuka and Homura to the door.

“Sorry,” he said, “Talmarius is being, well, Talmarius. We’ll catch up later.”

Slam.

The door shut with finality behind them.

Kuro looked over his shoulder, hands still on the door. “Lead the way.”

“With pleasure, my Liege.” Talmarius’s face was stoic. But behind that wall, Kuro could sense a childish excitement bubbling over…

Just when I was getting comfortable…

Kuro ended his internal muttering when they reached the dojo’s entrance. Once inside, various plaques with bold kanji lined the walls. Words like “spirit” and “flow” were inscribed on them.

Kuro had changed into the typical gi worn by many practitioners of karate. The only difference was that it was styled in black, with a crest of a cross on the left breast.

Talmarius, of course, would be fighting in his usual attire—his prim and proper suit. It occurred to Kuro that he couldn’t picture him without it, or in any other style of clothing, for that matter…

Kuro made little hopping motions in a single spot, rotating his shoulders while he did. He knew that Talmarius’s training sessions would require him to be in top form—no exceptions.

“So, what’s on the agenda, Talmarius?”

“Sword training, my Liege.”

Kuro’s eyes widened, only a little. Of all the things Talmarius trained him on, how to swing a sword was the one he handled most earnestly.

And the reason he did so had something to do with the origin of that Odachi of his. The one he had fittingly dubbed, Silent.

It was all because of a single Demon—a great ancestor of Kuro’s…