Chapter 17

It takes Yukari less than half an hour to show up at my apartment after I send her a brief but desperate text. I don’t even question it, my brain is too muddled to focus properly right now.

She grits her teeth as she drags a fingertip along the wound on my cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me you were attacked?”

I flinch when she shoots an accusatory glare in Aku’s direction. Wincing, I manage to sit upright against the headboard.

“’S not his fault… He killed it, anyway. He saved me.”

“And that damn demon left some kind of poison in your body, Ichika!”

…Poison?

Aku bares his teeth, taking another step closer; to her credit, Yukari doesn’t flinch at his intimidating stance. “That’s not possible. I would’ve sensed it!”

“Like you would’ve sensed the demon before it even got close to her, huh?” Her glare is fierce enough to make him avert his gaze, just for a few seconds. “You’re an incubus. You’re strong, but with no real way of feeding and keeping yourself satiated, your senses have dulled. You’ve gotten weaker than you were in your own realm. But your ego got in the way of protecting not only yourself, but protecting Ichika, as well!”

It’s hard not to shrink away at her voice. I’ve never heard her sound so upset like this before. She’s never exerted this much emption with me, not even when she’s being flirty and carefree. But now, hearing the genuine fear laced throughout her voice, it chills me to the bone.

Yukari drags both hands down her face with a groan. “I can get the poison out if I use a certain spell, but it might take a while. Blood magic isn’t pretty, you know.”

At this point, I couldn’t care less. The searing pain in my cheek is enough to get me to agree to anything.

When I nod, Yukari orders Aku to pull the curtains closed and shut off all the lights. I lay back on the bed and gaze up at the ceiling. Yukari sits beside me, her thumb caught between her teeth.

“Close your eyes, Ichika. I’ll try to make this as painless as I can.”

She pulls her thumb away, and a bead of blood stretches out and swirls towards the center of her palm. I scoff to myself; I might really be far gone with the pain if I’m seeing stuff like this.

She touches my cheek, and suddenly the whole world goes dark.

🔥

I don’t know where I am. My feet are on solid ground, so that’s a good sign, but I can’t see anything at all. Just inky darkness that stretches far beyond my line of sight.

At least my cheek doesn’t hurt anymore.

Indeed, the pain is no more than a dull ebb, like a bruise that’s finally healing. I gaze down at my hands, no blemish or birthmark to be seen. That’s how I know this is a dream, or at least an illusion.

Thin red tendrils gather at my fingertips, giving off a faint warm glow. I want to reach out and touch them, but something deep down tells me not to.

Is this Yukari’s magic?

The red lines brush my face, casting a cool touch when they graze my skin, before floating upwards and disappearing into the abyss. Specks of purple are mixed in now; my gut tells me it’s Yukari’s magic steadily drawing out the poison.

I reach up and touch my face, feeling no trace of a scar. Success! I smile and shake my head.

“Thanks, Yukari! I think it’s all gone now.”

No answer. No muffled underwater voices or invisible force tugging me out of this dream-like state. The red and purple tendrils vanish altogether, leaving me alone in the murky abyss.

“…Yukari?”

Still no answer. Is she supposed to pull me out of here, or am I supposed to wake up on my own? I open my mouth to call her name again—and suddenly I hear a growl.

My heart drops to my shoes. It’s the same growl as the one I heard in my nightmare.

I whirl around, but instead of the writhing, snarling cluster of demons from before, it’s only three. Three small creatures with black scales, pointy teeth and bright red eyes. Crouching down in a half circle around me, their claws stretched out in my direction. Their forked tails swish from side to side, reminding me of Aku when he hasn’t eaten in a while.

Oh.

But I can run this time. My legs work like they’re supposed to, my sneakers slapping against invisible pavement. I can hear them following me, but I try not to panic yet. Three demons are easier to outrun compared to hundreds.

But running doesn’t mean much when I can’t tell where I am or where I’m going. I could be running in circles for all I know, or maybe into another huge swarm of demons like before. Still, I try to keep running, even when I feel my lungs about to burst.

“Ichika!”

My knees nearly give out. Aku’s voice?

One of the demons catches up to me, running on all fours side by side with me. I take a sharp turn—then another as I narrowly avoid another’s snapping jaws.

“Aku!” But he doesn’t answer my cry; I don’t even think he can hear me.

What’s happening? Why can’t I hear his voice anymore, or even Yukari’s? Why are there suddenly demons chasing after me?

More importantly, why does Aku sound so scared?

The demons chasing me suddenly skid to a halt, their tails lashing from side to side. One of them snaps its jaws at the other two, and they snap back. None of them seem to be focused on me anymore.

Now’s my chance!

But before I can start running again, the demons take off into the shadowy abyss. Scampering after each other before disappearing into the endless void.

“Ichika!”

I can still hear Aku, faintly, somewhere in the distance. But I can’t pinpoint it, can’t tell which direction he’s in.

“Aku! Ak—ah!”

Another pair of imps tears past me, soon followed by three more. My eyes widen as two—no, four more demons run past, completely unfazed by my presence.

Where are they heading off to?

Suddenly I hear screams—a male and female—and I think I can make out my name.

“Aku! Yukari!”

As another demon races past me, I take off after it. I’m too slow to reach down and snatch it up, so I do the only thing I can think of: I throw myself down onto it.

The poor thing squeaks as I fall on it. I grab it with both hands, narrowly missing its claws and teeth.

Take me back to them. Come on, bring me back to Aku!

The demon swipes at me; I grit my teeth as its nails score across my cheek. The sound of growls becomes closer, and when I open my eyes, I realize we’re not alone.

The small creatures have finally noticed me, and now surround me. I hold onto the writing mess in my arms, baring my teeth at the circle of demons around us.

Screw this—I’m not going down without a fight!