What I Have

The story of Harry Vickers and his friends, Reo and Hinata Kurosawa, is the story of human resilience. All exorcists were brought back from death, and they all had the same question. Why me? Why, of all the millions of people on the planet, was I given this opportunity to live again? Why was I given these abilities? Why make me a hero?

The day Gouki Kageyama became the demon lord was the day he discovered his answer.

“Go to Harry. Rip his heart out.”

Gouki’s words were cruel, measured, filled with venomous intent. Hinata’s legs moved, one after the other, each step a torture as she inched closer to the man she loved. She could not disobey her lord, after all.

“Hinata! No!” Reo said, starting to move.

“If he tries to stop you, kill yourself,” Gouki said, his shinigami aura radiating from him. Reo looked to Harry, who nodded at him.

“I’m not gonna fight Hinata. I can’t fight her,” Harry said.

She stood before him, her claws out. Her hand trembled. Harry reached up and grabbed her other hand, calming her.

“I believe in you. You can survive,” Harry told her, his eyes locked on hers.

“Do it,” Gouki commanded.

Her claws struck. Blood flowed. Harry did not scream as her fingers dug into his chest. They stayed there until the light left his eyes. Slowly she brought her hands up, both stained red as she gazed at the hole where Harry’s heart had been.

Hinata screamed. She screamed for herself, for Harry, for everything she had ever lost. His hammer winked out of existence.

“Hinata…no…” Reo said, his voice drained of life.

“Hinata yes!” Gouki said gleefully. “Bring his body over here now. I want to make sure our dear friend Harry is deceased. He is incredibly stubborn.”

Hinata slowly picked up Harry’s body, walking him over to her new demon lord. Her steps were hesitant, mournful, each one seemingly compelled by Gouki’s will instead of hers.

“I hate you. Even without powers, you are a monster,” Hinata said as she reached Gouki. He got onto his knee so he could speak better with her, the sneer on his mouth mocking her.

“Don’t be so mad. You and I are going to be spending a lot of time together. I think I’ll make you my first demon concubine!” Gouki said, barely containing his glee at the thought. Hinata looked up at him with disgust.

“It will be hard to serve you as you are,” Hinata said.

“Oh, me being this massive and impressive creature isn’t a problem for us,” Gouki said. He began to shrink down, his demon features leaving his body until he stood before her again, a normal man besides the holes in his clothes from his bone spikes and his lack of pants. “I’m the demon lord. I can control all aspects of demon bodies, including my own. Impressive, right?”

“Yes…impressive, Gouki,” Hinata said.

“Speaking of,” Gouki said, motioning for Hinata to put Harry’s body down before him. She set him down gently, stepping back as Gouki gloated. “I’ve waited so long to stand over your corpse, Harry. It being the girl you love having done it…” He could see the jagged hole in Harry’s chest, clear evidence of Hinata following his command.

Gouki knelt down, grabbing Harry’s face and shaking it. “Couldn’t change this, could you?! I was able to take control! I FINALLY HAVE CONTROL! WHAT DO YOU HAVE?!”

He felt it then. A hand on his wrist. The wrist connected to the hand which held his grandfather’s disk.

“I have friends I trust. And I have an extensive knowledge of demons. For example, did you know a kitsune can create illusions?”

Harry twisted Gouki’s wrist. The snap causes him to scream in pain. As the disk fell from his grip, Harry grabbed it and threw it behind him.

“Reo! Heads up, samurai!” Harry shouted. With a slice which struck like a typhoon, Reo divided the disk in two.

“No! You can’t!” Gouki howled, but Harry put him down with a final, devastating punch.

“Don’t tell me what I can do, asshole,” Harry said as Hinata helped him stand up. Reo came to join them, holding the two broken halves of the disk. The street had gone deathly quiet, not feeling like a victory yet. From the end of the street the four other Tokyo exorcists walked slowly. From the other end they saw six other figures emerge.

The exorcists stared the remains of Gouki’s Seven down, each group seeming to wait for the other to move first.

“You’re all dead men now,” Gouki laughed from the ground. Harry knew he was right. If the six before them wanted to they could transform into demons as powerful as Fenrir and overwhelm the exhausted exorcists.

“We gonna make this a thing?” Harry asked them. The group looked to Thinker as he stood calmly, his eyes icy and unreadable.

“No. We are not,” Thinker said.

“What?!” Gouki roared.

“You are not worth following. Your grandfather overestimated you. We are done,” Thinker said.

“I’m guessing you’re not surrendering,” Harry said. Thinker let a ghost of a smile slip out.

“Absolutely not, no,” Thinker said. “There are six bombs located throughout the city. When we feel safe, they will be deactivated.”

“You promise?” Harry asked.

“No.”

The word was simple. Harry would have to choose. Fight or trust? Both had risks. Would he put the safety of his friends on the line trying to contain the criminals in their exhausted state, or risk the lives of the random strangers of the city?

“Get outta here,” Harry said, waving them away. Thinker nodded, his grin growing slightly wider.

“Interesting choice. You’re a unique man, Harry Vickers. I look forward to seeing you again,” Thinker said.

“And you will,” Harry said defiantly.

The exorcists watched as six of the most dangerous and powerful people on the planet walked away, getting into two of the undamaged cars which remained after the demon rampage. They drove out of sight, turning the corner and disappearing like bad dreams.

“Did we win?” Gaku asked, scratching his head as some rubble fell from his hair.

“Well, let’s see. Gouki’s beaten, most of his best guys are in custody, one of the Seven is in custody and the others are on the run. Plus, we’re all alive. It’s not a total win, but I’d say we did damn good today,” Harry said.

“Okay, good. I’m gonna call my dad,” Gaku said. He and the girls started to walk away, already discussing where they were going to go drinking to celebrate. Takeshi hauled Gouki up to his feet roughly.

“Let’s go, asshole. You’ve got a cell to get acquainted with,” Takeshi growled, pushing Gouki forward.

Harry, Reo and Hinata stood together, not saying anything for a long while as police moved about securing the area and beginning clean up. It was the more paperwork oriented part of the job which Harry hated. Yet nobody approached the trio. Everyone seemed to know not to bother them at the moment.

“You act well,” Harry said. “I even believed I was dead for a second.”

“I wasn’t pretending. He did fill my head with the worst thoughts. I wanted to kill you. Or kill myself. I wanted the pain to end, and he promised to do it if I followed his command,” Hinata said, curling her arms around herself.

“Then how did you not actually tear Harry’s heart out?” Reo asked.

“Because I wanted something else more. And I kept seeing Harry burn the book. My life is mine. Gouki couldn’t take it from me.”

Harry didn’t look at either of them. He simply started walking towards the Tokyo PD building. “Come on, you two. Let’s get through the paperwork bullshit so we can drink.” They followed, not saying more, not questioning his silence. The way he walked with a light step. It was only noticeable to those closest to him. It was different.

Harry Vickers walked away from the fight with a pride he hadn’t felt before. For the first time in a decade, life felt complete.