A close encounter of serpentine kind, part 2

For a moment, Iashkawa's head phased slightly out of Mihara's, overlaying the left half of the man's face.

"Finally, someone who treats me with a modicum of ressspect," demon hissed. "But if you are really trying to get into my good graces, consider 'Iashkawa-sama' instead. And a good bribe."

It disappeared out of sight again, and Mihara rubbed the left side of his face uneasily.

"I get that you are supposed to help me, but it's very disturbing, Iashkawa-san," Mihara said. Then he turned to Shin and threw him a look sharpened with a fresh wave of suspicion. "Follow you… How did you find me in the first place? Did you stalk me, Kugutsu-san? Could the cultists use the same method to get here?"

Shin decided he had enough standing in the middle of the room. It had a chair—he went and sat in it, facing Mihara.

"The cultists have a man watching this hotel already. They know where you are. But this world—or experiment faculty, whatever you call it—is based on short novels by a single author. I read them all, so I know a lot about it. And…"

He explained briefly how he tricked the cultists, so they tell him where Mihara is. Shin didn't mention a lot of details, though—like the involvement of The Horned King or Shin's own goals.

Mihara reacted with an excited smile. "Great! So there's basically a guide on how to escape this terrible place? I guess there's no way to read it from here… But if you read all the novels, do you have any guesses, at least, what's the goal of us being here? What should we do?"

"For now, just survive," Shin replied. "Sticking together will help a lot."

"Of course." Mihara nodded. "Strength in numbers… So you think that the two of us can really destroy this cult? What if they have guns?"

"They have guns, but you have Iashkawa. You have nothing to be afraid of."

The words were said as if to reassure, but they reflected Shin's own thoughts. How was he supposed to incapacitate Mihara without killing him, if he could turn intangible, and therefore, invincible?

"I guess… But Iashkawa can only make me intangible if we are touching. That's dangerous for me, anyway."

Shin suppressed the urge to smile at how easily Mihara, despite his conspiracy theories, divulged his weaknesses. And Iashkawa, who seemed to be the more competent of the two, didn't try to stop him.

He probably didn't care that much about Mihara's safety.

"You don't have problems with killing cultists?" Shin asked carefully.

Mihara shook his head, smiling. "No! I mean… they aren't real people, anyway! They are probably government androids, or some clone soldiers. They look and act too alike to be real!"

Shin nodded. Mihara really could have survived in this place… If Shin didn't plan to interfere.

"Does your 'demon' have a special power, too? What's its name? Or… is it a girl?" Mihara asked. "It looked very… girly." He blushed.

Shin wanted to blush, too. He felt Tetsu's desire to go out and speak for herself—but unlike Iashkawa, she waited for Shin's approval.

He appreciated that a lot. Wordlessly, he let her know she could do what she wanted.

'Just don't mention our plans,' he added.

She stepped out of him with a fluid grace that stressed her every feature for Shin. First, the curved line of her thin waist turning into wide hips. Then, when she stepped to the side, the glint of light on the hemispheres of her breasts. The red fullness of her lips twisted into a devilish smile.

When Shin caught himself and looked at Mihara again, that smile widened.

"My boss calls me Tetsu. But you must be more respectful, of course. To him, too," she said, moving to put a hand on Shin's shoulders possessively. "My power is to control iron."

Iashkawa showed himself again. "Why are you looking like this? Almost like a human. A female human! Are you TRYING to debase yourself?"

Tetsu pressed tighter to Shin and smiled at him. "You won't understand what we have, Iashkawa. I can only pity you."

Shin turned to meet her gaze. Although her eyes were always hidden, he could feel it meet his own. Tetsu's gaze was full of potent emotion, dark and sweet like chocolate.

Despite his rational thoughts, something warm filled Shin's stomach in response.

Maybe it was hunger.

Shin shook off those thoughts and turned to Mihara.

"The cultists expect me to kill you, and if we spend too long here, they might get suspicious. We must hurry."

Mihara straightened up, alert. "To leave? Sneak from the back door? Oh, we can pretend that I am your prisoner. You will tie me, and I will phase through the rope when the time is right!"

Shin shook his head. "You have a demon. The cultists know that no rope will hold one. They won't believe us unless I bring you bloody and battered."

"Oh. So what will we do?"

Shin stood up. "Just leave through the back door. We will sneak into their secret meeting place, destroy the items that give them power, kill their leader and as many cultists as we will find. The rest will disperse on their own."

"That sounds so simple," Mihara mused.

"Simple plans are the bessst," Iashkawa said. "Assassinations can solve any problem, and I can execute any assassination."