Demon, Part 4

I don't know for how long I walked. Probably hours. The rain didn't stop the entire time. It'll get sick if I keep put in this rain for any longer. No I won't, I have this fucking strong half demon body.

I keep walking until I see a man in front of me. I can't see well, because of the rain and tears staining my vision.

I ignore him.

I keep walking until I pass by the man, but as I do, I hear a noise that sounds similar to my katana's blade dragging against its sheath, causing me to flinch.

"IS THAT YOU, ACE?! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU NOW!" I roar as I turn to face the man, but before I can prepare an attack, the man slashes his katana towards me, forcing me to jump backwards. But as the man slashes, the blade of his katana seems to extend outwards, flying towards me, and slashing me across the chest, leaving a bloody gash wound in my stomach.

The man then raises an arm into the air, slashing his katana's extended blade down again, reinforcing it with toxic-green Cursed Power. I bring my arms up to defend and reinforce them with Cursed Power, blocking the man's attack. The strength of the man's attack causes the pavement behind me to shatter and craters to form beneath my feet as I dig them into the floor, gritting my teeth and holding my ground.

But before the fight can escalate, the man retarcs his katana's blade back to his usual length then sheaths his sword, causing me to fall to the ground on my back.

"Not bad," the man says to himself as he walks over to me. "Could be better, but without using your half demon powers, not bad."

The man then stops before me and extends a hand out to me.

Panting heavily, I wipe the rain and tears from my eyes and peer up at the man, getting my first good look at him.

The man looks to be in his early forties, with long black hair tied back in a neat man bun, a black, scraggly beard, and medium blue eyes, matching mine. He's unnaturally tall, six foot four, and judging by the faint traces of lingering muscle, he was beyond shredded back in his day.

He wears mud stained jeans and work boots with a buttoned up gray dress shirt with an ugly green plaid design. More interestingly, he wears a brown leather breast pad over the right side of his chest, with one matching strap going over his shoulder, one under this right armpit, and one under his left, all reconnecting behind him. On the front of the breast pad, is a green Japanese symbol which I can't read. Hanging from the back of the leather harness, is a long, black, curved sheath covered in a light green cloth. Tucked away in the sheat, I can see an ornate, golden flower-shaped hilt poking it, which has a green hilt with golden diamonds going down the middle on either side, and a golden edge with a matching green tassel hanging off of it. That katana…looks beautiful. Much more ornate and less rough than my own.

"Who…are you?" I slowly ask as I peer up at the man, squinting at him, because, Hell, he looks familiar.

The man pauses. He appears timid, as if the man doesn't want to answer. "Luis…" the man begins to say. "I am your father."

I pause.

I say nothing.

I squint at the dude looming above me.

And then…I burst out laughing.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?!" I spit once I recollect myself after a brief laughing fit. "I just killed the man who I considered my father, and then you show up?! What are you, some sort of fanboy mad at me for killing their hero?! Yeah, well I did it! What of it?!"

The man claiming to be my dad frowns.

"No, really, I'm your father, Luis," he repeats, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Oh yeah?! Prove it!"

Timidly, the man reaches into his pocket and slips out his wallet, pulling out a picture and handing it to me. I snatch the picture out of his meaty hands and hold it up to my face. And when I do…my eyes widen.

I see a young, three year old me that I'd never fail to recognize, with my blue cat eyes. I'm holding a crying baby Gabby, who has maybe two hairs on her head. Kneeling behind me, is my beautiful mom, too busy trying to calm Gabby down to look at the camera. And looming behind us, with one hand on my shoulder and one hand on my mom's…is my dad. How I recognize him, at least. Short, short black hair, green eyes, and all. He has on an awkward smile as he stares at the camera before him.

I hold the picture up, looking back and forth between the man before me and my dad's face in the picture, before settling on the man.

A million thoughts begin racing through my head. I don't know which question to start off with. Eventually, I'm able to speak, picking the most random question of them all.

"Why did you grow out your hair?"

"Oh, hah hah…" the man…my dad…chuckles nervously as he fiddles with his man-bun. "Your mother gave me a haircut when we first met, saying I looked better with short hair, so I always kept it short. But truthfully, I've always preferred it to be long."

"Come to think of it…I don't even know your name," I ask.

"Luis," my dad answers, causing my eyes to widen. "My name…is Luis Tramontana."

"So…I'm a junior, huh…" I reply.

"Yeah…" my dad, no…Luis answers as he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. Calling him "daddy" after all these years isn't right, and saying "Mr. Tramontana" sounds weird. So…as awkward as it may be, for the time being, I'm calling him Luis. "I didn't want you to be, but Abig-err, your mother insisted."

"Why aren't I tall like you?" I ask.

"You were suppressing your half-demon powers, prohibiting your body from growing strong," Luis explains. "And on top of that, you weren't eating any humans. Demons need to consume human flesh and blood in order to grow strong. Even half demons."

My dad, did he…eat people.

"Let me guess, your favorite food is steak?" Luis asks.

"Err…yeah," I answer. "How did you know?"

"Because it's my favorite food as well," Luis answers. "Well…not exactly. I don't like the steak for the taste, I like it because it's bloody. Just like yours, my body subconsciously craves red meat due to the lack of human blood that we consume as pacifist demons."

Whew.

"Why did you leave? Do you know just how hard life's been without you?"

Luis turns away from me. He pauses, and sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. "Oh man…asking the hard hitting questions…" he stammers with an awkward smile, the same awkward smile that he displays in the picture I'm still holding.

"Answer my question," I growl.

Luis lets out a sigh of distress, then turns to face me again. "I'm a demon, as you may have guessed. Your mom is a human…" Luis begins to say. And then, he drops to the ground on his knees, buries his head on his hands, and begins sobbing. "I'm sorry, Luis, I'm sorry!" Luis wails as he latches onto my ankles, sobbing into my socks and shoes. "I wanted to raise you and your sister, I truly did, but I couldn't!"

I recoil and blush. "Get up, old man, you're embarrassing me!" I furiously snap.

"Luis, Luis!" I hear a voice cry, and I turn around and see my mom wandering down the street with an umbrella, desperately searching for me. Gabby and Mr. Kittles are in tow.

Great.

"Luis!" My mom then exclaims upon seeing me. But when she sees who's behind me…her eyes widen.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Gabby asks as she peers up at our mom, who drops the umbrella, her hands trembling too much to hold anything.

Sobbing, my mom then breaks into a full sprint towards Luis and leaps into his arms, sobbing into his chest

"I understand, Abigail, I understand," Luis sadly smiles as he tenderly rubs my mom's back.

"Mom…who is that?" Gabby stammers as she scopes up the umbrella and makes her way over to us. But I can tell that Gabby has already grasped the situation.

"Gabby-" my mom begins to say as she turns around to face Gabby, while still holding on to my Lui's. Err…calling my dad "Luis" is starting to get awkward now. "This is your father."

Without another word, Gabby rushes over to Luis, burying her face in his chest and hugging him as tight as she can.

"OOF!" My dad grunts from the weight of Gabby slamming into him.

"I knew it…" Gabby says, her voice muffled as she talks into my dad's chest. "I just knew it!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, after twelve years, we're just one pig happy family now," I say as I clap my hands together. "But dad, no offense…but why are you here now?"

Gabby unburies herself from our dad's chest as my dad peers back to me.

"I've got a lot to tell you, Luis. You too, Gabby," my dad answers. "Come, let's go home."