THE DEAL

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*Chapter 3: THE DEAL*
Hikaru went to the registration place. Sixteen years old. This was Contract Day. The day hunters got their powers.
He registered. Got in line. Bowed to every shrine. 
Nothing. No glow. No voice. No power. 
Other rookies stepped up. Shrines chose them instantly. Light, wind, fire. They got their marks and walked off to missions grinning.
Hikaru watched them leave. Saw them flexing their new shrine powers. Sparking their hands. Showing off their marks.
He was the only one left in the courtyard. No contract. No power. Can't even join a mission.
He punched the ground. His knuckles split. Blood on the stone. Still nothing. He kept waiting for any shrine to choose him.
Night fell. 
Alone at the empty shrine, he heard it.
Deep. Old. Amused.
_“No shrine will choose you, boy. They know what you are.”_
He didn't freeze. He followed it.
The voice led him through the back of the shrine grounds. Overgrown. Abandoned. 
An old temple. Unattended. Cracked stone. Rotting wood. No one prayed here. Forgotten.
He stepped toward it.
Then it dropped from the roof.
A demon. Built like a brawler. Muscle slabs. Claws like blades. Hunched and twitching.
It landed between Hikaru and the temple. Blocked his path. Grinned.
Hikaru drew. One clean motion.
Three years of Kurogane’s training. Speed. Precision. No wasted movement.
The demon lunged. Hikaru ducked under the claws and cut upward. Across the chest. Through the neck. 
The demon's head hit the dirt before the body knew it was dead.
Silence.
_“Impressive,”_ the voice said. _“For a powerless boy.”_
Shadows pooled in the center of the temple. They formed a grin with too many teeth.
_“I am the Demon King. You are worthy. I have a proposal. Let me live in your body. In return, I’ll lend you my power.”_
Hikaru didn't sheath his sword. His knuckles were still bleeding from the shrine. “...Fine.”
The shadows slammed into his chest.
Pain. Like his blood was boiling. Like his bones were breaking. Hikaru dropped to his knees, screaming through clenched teeth.
Then it stopped.
Demon King: _“Good boy.”_
His voice was stuck in Hikaru’s head now. Constant. Always there.
*Three days later. First mission.*
Hikaru stood with a temporary party. Four other new hunters. All of them glowing with shrine marks. All of them looking at him like he was a joke.
“Orders are simple,” the leader said. “Clear the hoard of weaker demons in a small barrier. Twenty, maybe thirty. Easy work.”
No shrine mark. No visible power. Hikaru drew his sword anyway.
The demons came fast. Chittering, clawing, a wave of teeth.
The fire girl burned five at once. The wind twins sliced three more.
Hikaru reached for the Demon King’s power. For the thing he felt boiling under his skin.
Nothing happened.
_“Did you think it would be that easy?”_ The Demon King laughed in his skull.
A demon lunged. Claws inches from his face. He was almost dying.
Hikaru twisted. Barely dodged. The claws tore his sleeve instead of his throat.
He gritted his teeth and moved. Cut. Moved again.
No powers. Just Kurogane’s training.
One by one, demons fell. Not burning. Not flying. Just clean, dead.
When the last one dropped, the courtyard was silent.
The temporary party stared at him. “You... you don’t have any abilities,” the fire girl said. “How did you—”
No glow. No abilities. Just steel.
They stared at him like he was crazy.
Hikaru sheathed his sword. Ignored them. The Demon King was still laughing in his head.
*Cut to black.*
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*Author Note: Next : OFFICIAL PARTY