Chapter 20 (2 in 1 chapter)

It's been more than a week since Yukina and I kind of started going out, secretly of course. As I still didn't know how to tell Abe that even though I was in a relationship with Yukina, I also liked her more than a friend and that I would love to be in a relationship with her as well.

Over the last week, Yukina forced me to learn how to properly wield a katana as it would be beneficial to me to learn how to use a weapon than to use my fists. While she wasn't overly proficient in using a katana, the church made its exorcist learn how to wield different types of weapons in case their weapons get lost or broken in a fight.

Currently, I was hunting down a stray devil that was believed to be a mass murderer a few tens kilometers away from Kuoh and while it wasn't my problem to get rid of it, I couldn't risk the life of my friends and my only family member.

I saw the stray, killing a boy, maybe a year younger than before it trying to flee when it felt my presence.

A woman found me clutching a body dressed in a school uniform, morning the death of an innocent guy that found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time, not far from me was what could only be described as a humanoid lizard monster covered in blood and impaled to the ground by a standard katana. The monster was twitching, showing it was still alive and there was another girl ripped to piece next to him.

The woman focused on the corpse in my arms, she walked closer to gauge the damage… her heart broke when she saw it.

"Matsu…?" The name of her brother left her lips as she saw his glassy eyes staring blankly into nothing, there was a giant hole in his stomach, she could see the ground through it.

The woman collapsed to her knees, her hands rose to her mouth as tears began to flow down her face.

She didn't even notice the monster tearing out the katana from its chest and charging towards them… but I did.

"Grha!" I swiped my left arm, slashing the monster's chest right as it descended upon me sending it flying back.

"I always despised the likes of you. "I spoke as I approach the stray, my voice trembling with rage. "Horrid creature that only seeks pleasure in death."

I turned to face the monster that was recovering from the slash and standing back up. I pointed the large katana in my left hand at the monster, hungrily devouring the fear that was being emitted by the stray. A neat trick that I learned, it weakens my enemies while it helps me track them in case they runway.

With a roar, I charged at the monster, the katana raised over my head. The monster charged at me as well, its form blurred from its incredible speed.

I jumped high, aiming to cleave the monster in half with my sword.

The monster screeched before crossing its arms above its head. The sword met the arms in a shower of sparks. I glared down at the monster that despises its predicament, actually managed to block my attack.

"You think that's enough?" I asked with a grin. The katana was suddenly lit ablaze with yellow flames. The burning blade cleaved through the monster's forearms, leaving it to scream in agony over to the loss of its hands.

I grinned as I landed before jumping back up and kicking the monster in the face, sending it sprawling to the ground.

"Don't cry yet, little stray. The show had just begun." I chuckled, a mad grin on my face. "This is only the beginning of your punishment."

DO I enjoy torturing my enemies? No, but it actually helps my reputation of being a rather scary and dangerous hunter to those pesky bat familiars that are always finding their way around me, or better said around my hunter persona, not that I actually try to hide my eyes and hair an knowing how many people actually have these feature around these parts, I can proudly say that sooner or later, someone smarter would definitely find the similarities.

The so-called 'stray' gave a garbled cry before swinging its massive tail at me, hoping that its tail would hit my right side.

"An ex-rook, interesting…" I said blankly and raised my right hand, catching the brutal strike with no problem. "Now that's just mean, I tried to be gentle with you, but it seems that you like hardcore." I shook my head and began applying pressure to the tail.

"Let's go for a spin." The mad grin returned to my face as I began spinning on my heel, making me and the monster in my hold appear as a blur.

The monster screeched but was powerless to do anything other than accept its punishment.

"Down you go!" I chuckle as I stopped spinning and heaved the monster over my shoulder by its tail.

The monster landed with a hard crack on the ground, creating a crater beneath it.

While it laid there dazed, I climbed on top of its back and sat down before plunging my sword into the middle of the monster's spin.

The monster let out a shriek of pain. "P-please…mercy…"

The woman grieving her brother's death paused at the voice that emerged from the monster's throat… it could speak?

"S-spare me… I beg you…I'll do…anything…" The monster pleaded.

Did it want mercy? The woman felt her blood boil. She rose to her feet and stomped over to where the monster and I were.

"You want mercy?!" She demanded. "You… disgusting… piece of shit!" She raised her foot and stomped down on the monster's head as hard as she could. "Where was your mercy when you killed my brother?! Where was it!? Answer me!"

"You have your answer, little stray," I said as I pulled the sword out from the monster's back and jumped off. I landed in front of the woman and flipped the Katana in my grip so I was holding it by the blade with the handle towards the woman. "Do you want to do this?"

The woman looked between the offered sword and the twitching monster, a dark glint came to her eyes as she took hold of the sword. "Yes."

"Noooo-!" The monster tried to crawl away but was stopped when I plunged my arm into its side, keeping it in place.

"The only place your going is back to hell where you belong," I said at the monster and nodded at the woman. "Go ahead. It's all yours."

"Thanks." She whispered and raised the massive sword over her head, its immense weight didn't even seem to faze her.

The woman looked at the pathetic creature, how it tried to cry and beg how it convulsed and struggled to save its own worthless life. "This is for Mutsuhito!" She swung the blade down, decapitating the monster with one swift slash.

The monster's body remained for less than a minute before it began to disintegrate, both the severed head and the body itself turned to dust and scattered with the wind.

The woman let the sword drop as shaky breaths escaped from her. Her whole body shook as her knees buckled under her weight and she collapsed.

I quickly caught the woman before she hit the ground, then I slowly lowered her until we were both kneeling. I felt the woman grip my shirt and I was preparing myself for a sudden push, but I was surprised when I felt her hold me closer as my shirt turned wet from what I presumed were her tears.

"I'm sorry for your loss…" I said with obvious sadness in my voice, had I been just a bit faster, just a bit stronger… this woman's brother would still be alive. I wasn't perfect, I wasn't a hero. I was just a guy trying to do something good and keep my loved ones safe from this dangerous world.

The woman said nothing, she just kept crying, and I couldn't blame her. I remember when my family died, I cried for two whole days almost nonstop, I didn't even eat or drink anything, I just cried while my aunt was hugging me, trying to offer her love, showing me that I wasn't alone.

"He fought, you know," I spoke up again. "When I got here, I told everyone to stay away, you're your brother? He said that he couldn't stand aside when people were in danger. He has a hero, one that deserves the honor, not me. He died honorably, fighting to protect the weak ones."

The woman in my arms froze, and couldn't blame her. Her brother died, yet he died as a hero. He died fighting to protect her and the people that were close by. Even if she would blame me, I would accept her anger as it is the only thing I can do to honor her brother's sacrifice. He stood side by side with me and fight the monster and yet I'm alive while he's dead.

"It might not mean much to you coming from someone like me, but…" I took a deep breath. "Your brother is a hero, don't forget that."

The woman slowly pushed herself away from me, her eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks were wet from all of her tears.

"He was always too much of an idiot to let people suffer, he'd rather get injured than to see someone being hurt…" She wiped her eyes. "Whenever he saw someone who needed help, he'd just go off and help, not thinking about the dangers that could threaten his life."

"He was really something, wasn't he?" I asked.

"He definitely was…" She looked back to her brother's cold corpse, laying a few meters behind us. "He was all I had, the only family left in this world and I don't know if I can keep living without him. He was the only thing that keeps me going, no matter how hard it was, I did everything for him to finish his studies so that he could go to a good college."

I looked at the woman in shock. Now, that's not good, I know where this is going and I don't like it.

"Looking after him was all I ever did, all I ever wanted was for him to have a good life." The woman explained. "If he's dead… what do I even have to live for? I'm better off dead-"

"Don't you even dare think about it! Do you think that this will make him happy? That it would change something? That it would bring him back?" I stood up and glared down at the crying woman.

"What's the point?!" She screamed and stood up, the height difference between us meant nothing to her as she grabbed me by my jacket and glared up at me. "Mutsuhito's dead! I have no reason to live for anymore!"

"When does a man die?" I asked her as I put my right hand over the woman's left, gripping it tightly. "Does he die when a bullet pierces his heart?! No!" I pried her hand off of my jacket. "Does he die when he's gutted by a monster?! No!" I gripped the woman's hand tighter, drawing a wince of pain from her. "Does he die when the light leaves his eyes and his soul leaves his body!? NO!" I shouted at the woman, glaring at her. "A man truly dies when he is forgotten! If you die, the memory of Mutsuhito dies with you! If you die, you kill him as well! So live for both of you, for his sake if you want, but live. Don't waste this chance, keep living and remember your brother! He loved you and he chooses to give his life so that you and everybody else could be safe. You have to live! Live to keep his memory alive! Live for his sake!"

I pushed the woman away. "Don't disgrace him like this! He dies protecting others, the least you can do is live to protect his memory!"

The woman looked at her throbbing left hand, I hurt her when I pried it off of me. But the pain helped ground her a bit. "You're pretty damn arrogant…" The woman said. "Telling a grieving woman what to do."

"Maybe," I shrugged. "I know how it is to lose your entire family in a single day, I know the pain, the suffering, and the hole that it made in my soul. I wanted to kill myself every day for the past three years, but then I remember my family's faces and I could let their memory die with me. Same thing about your brother, but you know better than I ever could what your brother would want."

"I do. Thank you…" She nodded, going back to her brother's corpse and kneeling beside him. "Goodbye, Mutsuhito." She passed her hand over his eyes, closing them. "I love you." She fell back on her but and stared up at the sky with empty eyes.

"Will you be ok?" I asked her as I sat down beside her, looking at the boy's body before placing a hand over his eyes closing his eyelids, as a show of respect for the dead.

"No idea." She shook her head. "But you aren't wrong, my brother would want me to live. The problem is, I have no idea how."

"You'll figure it out, miss. Take care of yourself and don't you ever think about ending your life. "

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