Gifts inside the house

Arriving back home from the demon world was a much welcoming feeling than arriving back from school.

The first thing Asato had to do was to make sure everything was alright in the shadow mansion. There should be no problem overall but still, it would not bode well if something had happened and Asato had missed it because of carelessness.

Besides, he needed to figure out a place to put Ten inside. None of the shadow puppets had reacted to Ten’s presence at all, rather they had outright ignored it which was a concerning matter.

They behaved as if Ten was not even in the vicinity while they moved to cause many collisions in the process. It had taken much reworking the theory and introduction of Ten’s energy to those shadows to make them conscious of Ten.

This made him wonder how many more energy signatures were these shadow creatures not aware of. Was that why someone was able to sneak past his defences before?

He did not share his theory with Erin, but he did share his other worries with him though.

“So, what do we do with Ten now? Ten, do you have a preference about what you want to do?” Asato asked, his red eyes moving toward Ten who shrunk back on himself. Really, what was the other so afraid of all the time?

“Wow, calm down Asato or you’ll scare him off” Erin grinned and soon the red glare turned toward him.

“I-I have no preference” Ten replied, his voice meek. Asato frowned at that tone, for it worked no well.

“Anyway, I was thinking about putting him up with my unit. What do you say? Ten, want to join up with them?” Erin asked, his voice as free and comforting as he could make it. Asato could see Ten waverings in his decision.

But something was still holding the other back at this point which made Asato irritated with him.

“What’s wrong with you? Just join this idiot” Asato’s voice was firm and he could see the resolve in Ten’s eyes waver and yet there was something which was holding him back.

Ten’s eyes moved over him once before they lowered as they shifted around and at that second it drew on Asato. The reason why the other could be so fidgety and undecided.

“Is it because you are a demon? You don’t actually need to worry about that at all. This person here is a half-demon himself” Ten’s resolve broke at that as he nodded his agreement.

There was something in Asato which almost made him refuse to put Ten out of his range of vision. The same part that believed the entity in the fire and said that Ten was hiding something which could bring great danger to them all.

But Asato just suppressed that part of himself for the time being.

Of course, there was no problem and Ten was not a problem here. Besides, why was Asato trusting the fire entity anyway? It could very well be that entity that started the fire after all and led them in a wild goose chase.

And won’t it make a convenient reason for them to put Ten out of their range of protection for this misunderstanding so that he was easy to be killed? Now that made much more sense.

And Asato did not like the conclusion he reached at.

“Anyway, will you be taking Ten with you to the headquarters with you Erin?” Asato already knew that Erin would.

He was just fulfilling the formality by asking, but he felt that he should at least make an effort by asking.

After all, Erin was an unpredictable wildcard and Asato was not sure where he would put Ten if Erin didn’t take him with himself.

Luckily, Erin did take the other with himself which made Asato give out a sigh of relief.

Once his guests were gone, Asato made his way toward the back cave to plant his much-needed seeds. His bag was still on his back with everything inside.

He had not dared to put it down and at first chance, he had dashed to plant the illuminant grass. The conditions to plant the seeds were quite specific which had been instructed to the shadow puppets to be prepared in his absence.

The cave was moist and dark, the perfect blend for the seeds to take root. Rubber gloves covered Asato’s hands before he opened the required bottles.

The grass had almost dissipated in the liquid leaving behind the black mass in the bottom of the liquid.

Digging a small hole in the ground, Asato allowed the liquid to drain into the earth fully along with one seed. The same process was repeated a few times till all the seeds were planted.

The planting of the berry was the easy part since they only required the presence of luminescent grass to grow. Since he already had one part there, the other was not a problem.

The cave was sealed as soon as he was done and the inspection of the mansion continued. There was nothing missing and he didn’t open any place up since he needed to leave again soon.

However, he did make his way toward the room which held the dead corpse and for a second wondered if he should get Ten here to check it out too.

But that would be too cruel, won’t it be? Asato let the idea hang where it originated from - in the back of his mind as he made his way back.

The evening saw the introduction of Ten and Asato back into his home, the pair waiting for him in his living room.

“You are back too early? What happened?”Asato asked as he saw the pair sitting in his living room. His eyebrows twitched to see the pair relaxing in his space. They should not be back till tomorrow.

“Nothing, Ten was accepted in the rookie squad so he’ll need to stay behind” Erin informed him as Asato joined him on the couch. Ten just stayed quiet the whole time, his gaze on the floor.

“And? Wasn’t it expected?” Asato asked, his voice containing his question. He thought it was quite clear this would happen and Erin was smart enough to know that Asato would know about this.

Was he………..beating around the bush? But why would he need to do such a thing at all? Unless……….

“So you can’t make it to Easter city too Erin?” Asato asked, his voice containing a finalising tone to it which made Erin panic. Asato already knew it was something like that.

“Ah, yes? There is too much work no one is picking up on and the pressure just keeps on building up and I’m sorry that I caved in under it” Erin apologised and Asato just sighted.

Ah yes, he forgot that most of the position holders in the association were actually there because of their family background and not their actual powers. They were lazy and of course, the work would pile up till someone responsible did it.

And there were not enough responsible hands in the higher-ups who were not busy. Of course, they would not let Asato go to a place that was already jam-packed with the human side’s forces.

Besides, it worked out quite well for Asato as well.

“It’s perfect actually. Since Ten’s still a target, I actually wanted for you to stay behind and keep an eye on him. Also, take a few of those tattoos you used before and ask your blacksmiths to work on a similar power structure for your weapons so that they work similarly” Asato passed a few tattoos to Erin who nodded.

“Are you sure?” Erin asked the doubt still in his voice. Ten’s attention was also fixed on him the whole time which made Asato just roll his eyes. Why were these two behavings like this now of all times?

“Yes, I’m sure. Besides, you will need weapons that actually deal damage to those creatures in case of emergency” Asato assured the two who nodded, but there was still a doubt left in their eyes.

That was not for Asato to vanquish though for it would take time and patience to curb, two things Asato was lacking at that very moment a lot.

“Alright, I’ll inform my team at the Easter city that you will arrive tomorrow and they will brief you on-site. Is there anything else you want me to arrange?” Erin asked, his voice finally breaking to acceptance.

Asato just smiled at him but said nothing. Erin just sighted before he left with Ten in toe. The night was spent making preparations for the next trip.

Seeing how much resources the first time had required, Asato was almost sure that this time would be even more dangerous than before. Also, the rumours about the monster in easter city did not reassure him at all.

The main monster of easter city was the holy beast Kiryuu. But that was not a monster but a divinity. A monster could not exist as long as a divinity existed in the same dungeon for it was against the rules of the balance.

Then, was the balance of the dungeon broken or was there another reason for the same?

Again, it felt far too fabricated of a situation to actually make sense to him and that was something that was getting to his senses.

Everything felt as if he was being led around, the connecting thread just a little out of his reach to join all the clues he had and it made him frustrated a lot.

Just what was he to believe any longer? Was the balance even important in these cases at all or was it just an overhype at this point in time?

(Let's just say that my other book 'Leave the monster alone' is beloved by me butbman do I take updating liberties with it)