11 Chapter 11 - I'll be waiting

From behind the house next to the one Bishamon was on, Jason could clearly hear her baffled voice.

"…How did he do that? Kazuma, can you detect him anywhere?" She paused for a moment and now he could confirm that she was telepathically communicating with someone who was giving her information through unknown means because no one in the nearby vicinity replied to her. "No? That's impossible. First, your accuracy ability didn't work properly on the phantoms and now you're telling me you can't even track a human?"

She let out a tired sigh. "I apologize. I shouldn't have said that. It's just that lately, these new empowered phantoms are becoming more of a threat as time goes on and I'm almost at the end of my rope. Phantoms are starting to emerge even in the middle of the day, and I'm sure the others are also worried by this."

'The others… She must be talking about the other gods.'

"Let's go. There are still more phantoms emerging elsewhere and I might have a new lead on that bastard, Yato." Jason could hear the deep hatred in her voice when she mentioned this 'Yato' person.

After the rustling of clothes and a low rumble from the lion, he heard the sound produced by their movements as they moved farther away slowly become faint until it disappeared completely.

Jason wondered who this 'Yato' person was and his intuition was telling him it was a god. But what did they do to earn the complete animosity of Bishamon?

He shook his head clear. For now, his priority was ensuring that Saki stayed safe while Wheatley extracted the energy from her. Wheatley had not contacted him about anything, so there didn't seem to be any danger near them for now, but he wasn't counting on things being quiet for long.

Without further delay, he leapt onto a roof and sprinted back to the Saki's house.

-===-

3rd person POV:

In Saki's room, Saki stayed huddled in her blanket, staring blankly at the ground. Her thoughts were muddled.

She couldn't remove the disgusting feeling of her father touching her inappropriately, as well as the lustful look in his eyes as he did so. A look no father should ever give to their child. What about her mother? How would she react to this?

Above her, Wheatley still in his invisible state, floated in silence as he extracted the energy from Saki, dark tendrils of energy connecting them to each other. It surprised him that the amount inside her was far more than the old man Jason had killed, but that explains why it was taking so long to extract the energy. Even when extracting at a speed that would keep her alive, it shouldn't take more than half a day to do it if he used the amount he extracted from the old man as a baseline.

Wheatley inquisitively narrowed his eyes at her. [Maybe she's special in some way… Joe did say that there are those with unique qualities in this world.]

As his train of thought reached that point, the scream of a woman from the first floor reached them.

"Honey! What happened?! Who did this?!"

If Wheatley could sweat, he would start sweating right about now. [Uh oh. It sounds like someone found the father.] Sending the last part to Jason, he finished. [Someone's inside the house and found the father's body. You, uh, might want to come back.]

Jason replied, 'Damn, it's probably her mother. Don't worry, I'll be there in around half a minute.'

[Phew. Thank goodness, then.] He did not want to be the one to deal with the mother, who is quite likely looking for whoever beat up the father of her child.

The woman screamed again. "Saki! Where are you?"

As if her name was a signal, Saki twitched at the mention of her name and looked up. She unravelled the blanket before quickly walking to the door and opening it with a hopeful and relieved expression. Her mother was here!

Wheatley followed above her. He wouldn't want to have the connection be cut off, now would he?

When she reached the floor below, her father was on the floor with no pants and tied up by a rope that her mother was trying to untie with sweat and frustration on her face.

Saki rushed to her mother as tears started to flow and tightly hugged her from behind. "Mom!"

Her mother turned around in surprise and returned the hug with relief filling her. "Saki, you're safe! Wait, are you okay? Why are you crying?"

Saki tightened her hug on her mother in response. "I-it was dad! He suddenly came into my room after you left and started touching me in weird places! H-he even tried kissing me! I was so scared!"

"A-are you sure?" She couldn't believe such a thing could happen.

Saki furiously nodded her head, her hold on her mother and the quivering of her body only strengthening.

Her mother's eyes widened in shock after she heard this, and she looked back at her husband — who was still tied up behind her — with disbelief. But that would also explain why he was half-naked.

"Then were you the one who tied your father up?"

Saki shook her head. "A really big man came into the house and saved me. He said he heard my screams from outside our house." She paused, knowing what would have happened if he wasn't there. "I-if he wasn't there to stop dad…"

"Shh. Shh." Her mother shushed before cradling Saki''s head and soothingly rubbing circles on her back. "It's okay now. It's okay." She spent a long moment continuing her actions before asking, "Do you know where that man went?"

Saki shook her head silently. But she at least now knew why her husband was tied up in rope and who did it.

"I see…" Her mother sighed, continuing to reassure her daughter that it was okay now and holding her gently.

A few seconds later, the doorbell rang. Her mother stood up to answer the door, but Saki tightly gripped her arm and wouldn't let go.

She looked back at her daughter, who merely looked at her with desperation in her eyes. Understanding what her daughter wanted, she slowly pulled her daughter up with a reassuring smile and walked with her to the door. As they walked, Saki held her arm as if she was afraid that she would disappear if she let go.

When they opened the door, they were shocked by what they saw. A man of large size wearing a black hoodie, grey sweatpants, and rubber shoes who towered over them. A black face mask covered the lower half of his face, but his deep blue eyes were mesmerizing, and even with half of his face covered, they could tell that he was an exceedingly attractive man.

Saki was surprised by all this. When she first saw him, she didn't notice all these things because she was still in shock at what happened. Now, all she could do was stare in silence.

'"Really big" is an accurate description of him.' The mother thought.

Her mother gulped and shakily adjusted her hair, slightly intimated by a man of such size.

"Hello there. Am I right to assume that you're the one who saved my daughter?" She tried giving him a friendly smile.

Jason nodded. He could easily tell the mother was intimidated by him by the spike in heart rate and her body language. Better be gentle, then.

"I am. Is your daughter alright? She was in a terrible state after I stopped her dad from doing anything to her."

Surprised by how deep and soothing his voice sounded, she replied, "Oh, she's still processing what happened, but she's doing better now." She bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for saving my daughter. If it wasn't... If it wasn't for you, something worse would have happened to my daughter. As her mother, you have my sincere gratitude."

Following her mother, Saki bowed as well, but in a more subdued manner. "Thank you very much for saving me."

"Please, stand up. I was only doing what I thought was right. Speaking of which, is her father still unconscious?"

They both straightened and looked at each other momentarily.

"Yes. He's still unconscious on the living room floor," the mother answered.

"That's good. You should call the police and tell them what had happened. I know it may not be my place to say this, but that man needs to be punished for what he had done." Jason said with a resolute expression.

"…You're right." Saki's mother had a look of resignation as she turned her head back. "I don't know why my husband would do it, but what he did is unacceptable. Please stay here while I call the police."

She gently pried off her daughter's hands before kissing her forehead with a smile. After that, she headed inside while dialing the police, leaving Saki behind.

"I know I asked this already, but are you alright, kid?" Jason looked at Saki who had begun looking at the floor with great interest.

She slightly nodded her head.

"Hm." He hummed. He knew how to take her mind off things.

"Hey," he called out, and she looked at him from behind her bangs, "Wanna hear a story?"

He could see her eyes light up with curiosity, so he began to tell a story on the spot.

It was a made-up one. A story about a girl who had zero friends and had social anxiety, but overcame those obstacles after first making one friend, and then another, and another, until she had a close group of friends whom she trusted.

The man's voice was soothing to Saki, her mind becoming lost in the story. The story resonated with her as it reminded her of her own struggles with not having any friends; she had to teach herself how to do makeup and style her hair in order to fit in and hopefully make friends at school when it starts in a few weeks. When the story finally ended, it left her wanting for more.

"Please continue the story," she pleaded with no trace of the sadness from before in her expression.

Jason shook his head with a wry smile. "Sorry, but it seems like we've run out of time to do that. Your mother is done calling the police and is heading this way." He didn't think she would get this hooked on the story he made up on the spot to cheer her up.

"Sorry that took so long. The police are headed this way to arrest my husband."

"That's good." Jason nodded. "Well, it seems like I'm not needed here anymore, so I'll just get on my way. You have my best wishes. Oh, and here's some money to repair the door. I kicked it down as I was trying to save your daughter."

He gave a stack of cash to Saki's mother, who accepted it gratefully. "Oh my, I honestly forgot about that. Thank you."

With everything done, Jason turned around and walked away, but before he could walk past the gate, he heard a shout from behind.

"Mister! Will you come back to tell me a story again?"

Jason turned his head back in surprise before his eyes crinkled into a smile. He nodded. "Of course! I'll have a better story prepared next time." It'll also be a convenient way to check up on her without being creepy or making an excuse, making this a win-win situation.

Saki's eyes lit up with joy, and a small smile formed on her face.

"I'll be waiting!"

-===-

Author's Note:

Mission accomplished. Saki is saved for now, but the man that started it all in the original canon is still at large, and he'll be Jason's primary target in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!