~ Chapter 9: Pesky annoyances ~

[Syliar’s point of view]

While the path towards my new home was as clear as day for me, I did not take into account the means of transportation for getting there. By foot, we would need at least an hour or two, maybe more and flying was out of the question, at least for now. That left us with only one choice. I had to understand and learn the way human transportation worked. Luckily for me, the woman whose body I forcefully possessed knew her way around this human settlement called Tokyo. Thanks to her, I knew that in order to reach my desired destination, I had to first find a metro station. According to her memory there was one not that far away from where we were. Thus, without any further ado, we headed towards it.

Michael was following behind me, but even without looking at him, I knew that he wasn’t feeling too good. Thinking about it, this was sort of natural for a mortal in his situation, after all, he did just witness a murder scene unlike the which the detectives of Tokyo had yet to gaze upon. No doubt they would find DNA traces and even camera footage of the event. We were both walking through the city drenched in blood, after all.

It was then when I got the idea of casting a spell of disguise on us. Everyone and everything around us would perceive us as regular, run of the mill nihonjin. As an added extra, I made the spell repel the humans who got too close to us, but only by a few steps. They were going to feel as though it was absolutely natural for them to keep their distance from us.

With my plan set in mind, I took out my demonic hand out of the host body. If Michael had the ability, he would have seen the dark energies swirling around it like a swarm of piranha devouring a juicy bloody piece of meat. Using the tips of my fingers, I left a trace of angelion magic in the air, writing down the complicated code for the spells. When I was done, I pressed it with my palm. The magic activated instantly, sending out a powerful energy throughout all the drawn symbols. The cast spell then quickly vanished. It wasn’t a failure, I could feel it working around both of us like an aura.

The moment we stepped onto the sidewalk, I was offered all the proof I needed to confirm the correct functionality of the spell. Everyone ignored us like we weren’t even there. They also walked around us at a reasonable range, leaving us with ample space to move about unrestrained or worried that we would bump into some random folk.

On the bright side of things, Michael had yet to realize that something was wrong, but I did expect him to start asking questions about where we were heading to any time now.

This would come to happen only after we had reached the metro station.

As we climbed down on the stairs, he finally parted his sweet lips and dared to ask me.

“Where are we going?”

My lips curved into a smile and the idea of telling him we were going to Hell crossed my mind, but I abstained.

“Hatchobori.” I replied calmly.

Gyakakaka! I heard the mad cackle of a demon as he crossed my path.

It was an imp, and generally speaking, they looked similar to the imps envisioned by mankind in many of their fantasy stories, but unlike them, this one had the ability to change its shape. If the critter so desired to, it could change from looking as the most beautiful of women to the most horrifying of monsters. The one I was looking at had the body of a chimp, the agility of a cheetah, and a very bad taste for jokes.

I squinted my eyes at the little bugger. It belonged to the lowest of lowest classes and as such, they were far below a Demon Queen in terms of power and pretty much everything else, but they still loved to cause trouble for anyone and anything that crossed their path. I just hoped they did not get the bright idea of trying to prank their boss.

Just to be safe, I released some of my demonic presence and surrounded both me and Michael with it. Although it was weak, as long as they could sense it, they would know not to dare to cause us any trouble.

“W-What are you going to do with me?” he asked, but I could feel a little bit of fear in his tone of voice.

Gyakakaka! I heard that annoying laughter again.

I stopped and looked back at Michael from the corner of my eye. The little demon was right there, looking mischievously at my beloved. I found it a bit odd though, they normally didn’t dare to approach other demons unless...

“I wonder...” I said answering both Michael’s question and my own.

He blushed. His cute reaction made me giggle, and as I did so, I spread about my presence, touching the little demonic pest behind him. The demon prankster hissed at me and then ran off. Next time I would see it, I would make sure to vanquish it back to Hell.

The checkpoint was quite easy to pass through even though neither of us had an actual metro pass. All I had to do was spread my demonic energy and trick the system into believing that we already swiped valid passes. The cameras and guards would not bother with us anyway. From their perspective, we were just regular folk minding their own business.

The announcement board showed which metros and on which platforms they were going to stop. Our own was going to arrive in less than a minute. These nihonjin showed even the seconds until it reached its destination.

“We’re in luck. The next one is ours!” I told Michael as I showed him a small smile.

We both made our way to the platform and waited there. The same thing that happened in the street happened here as well, everyone kept a distance of a few steps away from us. They did not even bother themselves to question why they did so. That confirmed for me once more that my spell worked properly.

Although I paid no mind to the humans around us, I was starting to get annoyed by the demons roaming around. The little critters cackled with an annoying pitch of voice. It made me want to rip out those slimy tongues of theirs and then burn them all in purging fires. Oh, that was such a lovely thought and wonderful sight to behold, but alas, the repercussions of such actions had the potential of causing some serious damage to this mortal world, especially if these little buggers had a divine mission to accomplish. Once they got to Hell, however, it did not matter if their father was Lucifer himself!

From the corners of my eyes, I noticed then how Michael looked around at all the people who kept their distance from us. He figured out something was a bit... abnormal with this situation. He was not affected by my spell, and I made sure to keep my presence away from him so as to not scare him.

“Something wrong, Michael?” I asked him with a normal tone of voice.

He looked up at me and blinked surprised. Was he actually expecting me not to notice his cute~ fidgeting? It was quite normal to be confused considering the things he went through today.

“N-noth... I’m a little bit worried... why are you doing this? I mean saving me, bringing me with you...” he asked, but I could feel his soul’s energies entering in a rather strange debate. He tried to lie to me, to hide the truth, but his angel instincts prevented him from doing so.

Even when the situation quite literally went to Hell, he would still keep his white wings untainted by darkness and corruption. Unlike him, a normal human wouldn’t have hesitated to take a full bite from my taint if he deemed it to be the only way to save his cursed soul. Michael’s reaction warmed my heart. For me, that was a rather strange feeling. It was the first time when I felt like this.

I kept my gentle gaze locked onto his eyes and stayed like this for what seemed like an eternity. The metro arriving and passing by me like a hurricane didn’t even faze me. I enjoyed the moment until it was time for both of us to get on. However, knowing that it was going to be packed with people, I released my presence and forced them to free up a spot for us. A few got off on that station even if they initially didn’t intend to do so, while two relinquished their chairs for us.

“Come.” I urged him and then boarded the car.

The doors closed right after we sat down. The spell did well in keeping everyone else away from us. And so, we departed on the Hibiya Line. Our first stop would be the station Kasumigaseki, then we would arrive at Hibiya, Ginza, Higashi-Ginza, Tsukiji, and finally Hatchobori.

Just how luck would have it, right at our first stop, some of those parasitic demons decided to board this very train. However, I found it a bit strange. They kept their distance and seemed rather interested in what was underneath the floor and the wires all around it.

I saw it then.

He he! laughed one of them as he pulled a wire out of the wall.

The humans did not even notice them. The demon then placed it back, but in another connector. The lights flashed for a moment, but everyone ignored it.

“Hey, watch it!” grumbled a teenager when an old office worker bumped into him.

The man apologized while the demon laughed behind him.

It was starting to get weird.

“Watch where you’re putting your hands, pervert.” said a girl to her own boyfriend, showing him a quick smile afterwards, but the lad looked at her confused.

It wasn’t him; it was one of those pesky demons. The slimy bastards were up to no good and by the looks of things, this entire train ended up being their new toy.

Are these pests trying to cause a train wreck? With me inside? I thought, but I couldn’t have possibly made the foolish mistake of boarding a ‘cursed ride’ now, could I?

Such dangerous vehicles were covered with the energy of death and gave an ominous feeling even to the least sensitive of mortals. Only the souls who wished to experience death in this manner could board it, while the others were met with ‘misfortunes’ that caused them to skip this ride.

Looking back at Michael, I did not want him to worry about something as silly as a ‘cursed ride’, so I concentrated for a bit and slowed down the time. When everything seemed to have nearly stopped, including the demons, I pulled out my demonic hand from the body of my host and then pointed my finger at the critters. I focused my energy on a single point and then let it loose in the form of a beam. It struck the demon right in the head, burning a hole through him. With a smirk on my lips, I did the same for all the others.

When I finished off all of them, I returned everything to normal. I watched as the bodies of the annoying little pests dropped lifeless on the ground and then vanished in a puff of smoke. Their divine matter bodies disintegrated, sending them back to Hell. What were they expecting anyway when they tried to mess around with the happy time of their Demon Queen?

Still, I found it rather difficult to believe that these pests just happened to pick this train to mess around with and turn into a random ‘cursed ride’, especially in these large numbers. There were six of them in total. Usually, they hung out in small groups of two or maybe three. Anymore, and they would end up annoying each other too much to focus on annoying the mortals around them. My guess was that some idiotic demon put them up to it, but ‘who?’ was the question.

I was so deep in thought about those accursed demons, I did not even realize when we arrived at our destination. If the announcer did not say the name of the station, I would have probably ended up getting off all the way at Akihabara or who knows, maybe at Kita-Senju when the staff working at the metro station kicked us off.

I got up, and Michael followed me quietly. The boy kept everything to himself and did not dare to ask even a single question about where we were heading now or what I had in plan for him. In a way, his behavior worried me.

Hm, a Demon Queen like myself worrying about a lump of flesh like him? It was definitely strange, but alas, there was a big difference between how I had to act around a normal soul and my own special Soul Mate.

“So, tell me. What happened to you today, is it something that happens often?” I asked him while we were climbing the stairs to the surface.

“No... Usually, they aren’t so mean to me.” he replied with a quiet voice.

“Hm.” I said.

He acted so timidly around me, but only now did I begun to question whether or not he could actually sense the same things as I did for him. Thinking back a bit, when he tried to lie to me, was that because of his connections to his angel side or because of my influence as his Soul Mate? I thought about this for a moment.

After we reached the surface, we headed through the streets given to me by my previous search spell. Blue lines, which only I could see, appeared in the air and guided me on the right path. Next time I was going to use that spell, I planned on adding a search option for displaying usable local methods of transportation to help me reach my target.

“How many friends do you have?” I asked him.

It was a simple and harmless question to which most humans could answer by giving a certain number. Still, considering what I had witnessed so far, I sincerely doubted that Michael had any sort of friends around him.

“Friends? I have none, miss.” he replied honestly, it was just as I thought.

“Miss? Call me Syliar.” I told him quickly.

I refrained from using a sharp tone of voice, but I didn’t want him to address me with something like ‘miss’.

“Syliar-san...” he said.

“Drop the honorifics.”

He nodded and gulped. If it continued like this, instead of feeling respected, I would have felt annoyed. I hoped for his sake that he wasn’t going to insist on using those stupid honorifics with me.

“Syliar... why are you asking me this?” he asked me.

“I find it strange that you don’t. You aren’t the type to appear as being either annoying or easily hated. I’m guessing you never had a girlfriend before?” I asked him as I looked back at him from the corner of my eye.

The thought of tying the boy to my bed and making him submit to my sexual desires crossed my mind and made me smirk. He may have been my Soul Mate, but that did not mean I was planning on standing idle for the rest of his years in this world. Sooner or later, I would pull him under my bed sheets, I would let him know of how thirsty and lustful for him I was and then free him of his innocence... Then again, if he was the one to make the first move, I wouldn’t really mind, but could he even make me submit to his lust?

Pleased by such thoughts, I smirked.

“No...” he replied.

Without letting him see, I licked my upper lip and narrowed my eyes a little. His answer delighted me, although, I already knew it after looking into the Akasha Library at his past.

Kekeke! the cackle of demons could be heard coming from somewhere in front of us.

I looked in that direction and watched silently how they moved about through the shadows. They kept a reasonable distance from us. If I had to guess, they were most likely afraid that what happened to their friends inside the metro would happen to them as well if they accidentally angered me. Even so, they weren’t safe from my wrath. All they had to do was keep away and everything was going to be fine. I was also a bit curious about who might have dared to employ them into spying on me.

A couple of names ran through my mind, but I doubted either of them had the guts to try something so stupid and even if I went there and accused them, they would have waved it off as being nothing but false accusations. Well, if they pissed me off too much, I knew a few good spears I could mount their decapitated heads on afterwards.

The thought of going on a killing spree through my subordinates made me show a sadistic look on my face. I was lucky Michael walked behind me instead of beside me, otherwise, I might have frightened the feathers off his poor angel wings.

A few minutes later, after I calmed down my desire to torture, I stopped and looked back at Michael right in his eyes.

“How’s your relationship with your family?” I asked.

“They told me not to tell...” he replied.

“You are afraid of them?” I asked him.

He looked down and nodded.

This boy, I wondered for how long he had been kept under the solid chains of his parents.

“There’s no need to worry about them, Michael.” I told him, hoping to relieve some of his worry.

He blinked surprised and no doubt he found my words confusing.

“W-what d-do you mean by that?” he managed to ask me with a trembling voice.

“I killed them.” I confessed with a cheerful smile on my lips.

What was there to say? That I bought him from his parents? Even though I was a Demon Queen, in front of my own Soul Mate, I could lie just as much as he could. Actually, it wasn’t impossible, but it was rather annoying to deal with the aftereffects.

Looking at him though and seeing his surprised expression, it made me smile even more. It was so lovely to see how mortals acted when you told them that you killed off their family. In Michael’s case, it was his entire family. First, I took care of his parents and then his brother. I didn’t bother with the grandparents; they were going to die soon anyway.

“K-killed them?” he asked.

“Technically, they killed each other, but I instigated them into doing it! You should have seen the look on their faces when they jumped on each other like a pair of wild beasts!” I said, and I couldn’t help it, I burst into laughter.

The boy, shocked by what I said, dropped on his knees and began to cry. Seeing his tears sent a few unpleasant shivers down my spine. Indeed, hurting your Soul Mate in any way brought unneeded painful emotions to yourself.

“Why?” he asked me through his tears.

“Revenge.” I answered calmly.

He looked up at me and then asked “For what?”

Showing him a small smile, I leaned closer and with my pointer finger, I touched the tip of his lips. Looking into his eyes, I couldn’t help but feel a strange attraction towards him. I loved him...

“For you...” I told him honestly.

That was the truth, but I wondered if he believed me.

“Let’s go.” I said and turned around.

I continued to walk on the path only I could see. Our short conversation made me wonder about a couple of things, but most of them were related to the relationship between Soul Mates. No matter how I looked at him, he didn’t seem to hold the same level of resonance as I did, but at the same time, he was given the few signs he needed in order to prove who he was. I had to wonder, though, was it because he was a fallen?