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Taku was walking home from school with Sota, wearing Jin's uniform. His own uniform was stained with blood, making it unwearable, so Jin had lent him his.
He saw his twin brother, Riku, running towards him, looking sad and pale. The melancholy on his face was beyond what one could fathom.
A shiver ran down Taku's spine; he wondered what was wrong. He feared something serious had happened. For Riku to come to his school with such a distraught expression meant something truly grave had occurred.
Riku disliked school, his path as a demon slayer wasn't in academics. He never attended school and couldn't read or write. Taku had tried teaching him, but Riku considered it a waste of time. He'd initially listened to avoid offending his twin, but eventually, he summoned the courage to earnestly plead with Taku to stop.
"Your twin brother! Wow, look at how fast he runs!" Sota exclaimed excitedly. "Is your brother an athlete?"
Before Taku could take another step, Riku was already there. They all stood still. Riku stared at Taku in bewilderment. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
"Riku, are you okay?" Taku asked, concerned.
"I should be asking you," Riku's brow furrowed. "Something happened to you, I know it, but how come you're looking this healthy?"
While Kenji was beating Taku on the rooftop, Riku was fighting a demon. He felt a sharp pierce in his heart, knowing something deadly was wrong with Taku.
His feelings didn't lie.
He lost focus, and the demon badly injured his back with its claws. He had managed to kill the demon by a slim chance. He always had that feeling whenever Taku was beaten, but this time, it was grave.
Taku's life was at stake.
Each time he'd asked Taku about it, Taku would lie and say he was in a fight. But the feeling Riku experienced while fighting the demon was nothing of that sort. He knew Taku was in perilous danger, a danger that could take his life. He knew he had to act fast, or he would lose his twin brother.
Taku also felt the same thing each time Riku was in danger. Riku was a fierce demon slayer, so he was rarely in danger of being hurt. But the few times he was, Taku felt it.
There was a time Taku was in class with a teacher. While the teacher lectured, Taku's eyes suddenly grew hot, tears pricked and trickled uncontrollably down his cheeks. He wailed profusely, hyperventilating.
The whole class stared at him in utmost surprise. The teacher asked him what was wrong, but his mind was distant, tears continuing to slide down his cheeks unseemingly unstoppable.
Riku was in danger, he was fighting a high-ranking demon, and the demon was hurting him dreadfully. Immediately after Riku killed the demon, a sense of infinite peace brooded over Taku, and he stopped crying. A smile flashed over his face like sunshine over flowers.
No one in the class could fathom what was going on. They all stared at him questioningly. The teacher went back to her teaching.
Taku tried denying the fact that he was hurt. He didn't want Riku to be worried in the least. But Riku was more than worried.
"Riku, I'm fine. I was never hurt." He smiled.
"Taku, you keep on lying to me. I'm dead worried about you!" Riku squeezed his eyes shut and put his hand on his forehead. He breathed in softly, then opened his eyes.
"Riku, I'm fine."
"Stop lying!" He took Taku's bag forcefully and opened it. He pulled out Taku's uniform. "What's this blood stain? This is your uniform. The one you're wearing isn't yours."
Taku was speechless.
"Taku, talk to me. What happened? I'm listening."
"He was…" Sota tried to speak.
"Please stay out of it, Sota!" Taku cut in abruptly with a warning, without looking at him.
Sota coiled back into his shell but didn't leave.
"Are you ready to tell me the truth?" Riku put the uniform back in the bag and gave the bag back to Taku.
"Let's get home first. I'll tell you everything," Taku replied calmly.
"And why are you looking healthy when I knew you were hurt," Riku raised a brow.
"Yes, I will," Taku replied.
Riku turned to Sota. "I heard that you were the only victim alive from that demon's attack," he said softly.
Immediately, Sota started trembling. His legs were shaking profusely. Sweat broke out on his forehead and dropped on his cheeks.
Riku touched him gently on his shoulder. "I've killed the demon, so there is no need to worry."
Sota gasped. "You… you are a demon slayer?"
Riku nodded. He let go of Sota's shoulder.
Sota looked at Taku. He wondered what else Taku was keeping from them. His brother had been a demon slayer all this while without telling them. He turned his gaze back to Riku.
"Thank you very much! Thank you! I really appreciate it! Thank you!"
"It's nothing. Doing what I have to," Riku replied.
"It's everything to me!" Tears blurred Sota's vision.
***
Taku was dressing Riku's wound in their room, the one the demon's claw gave him on his back. He was always the one doing it for Riku each time a demon injured him.
Riku got angry and stood up. "Why would they bully you in school, and you never opened up to me? Why did you hide such a sensitive matter from me? Were you planning to die and leave me all alone?" Riku scolded him angrily. Taku had narrated everything to him.
Taku also stood up. "I just didn't want you to be bothered. You have a lot on your plate already. I'm sorry," Taku apologized meekly.
"A lot on my what?" Riku snapped. "Are you the one to tell me the issue to address first? Demons kill. Those guys would have killed you also. So what's the difference? I'm going to your school tomorrow. I'll teach them a very good lesson so that when they see you, they will be frightened. They would never touch you again."
"Please, Riku. I'm begging you. Don't. Don't hurt them, please," Taku beseeched on their behalf.
"But they can hurt you, right?" Riku retorted.
"Please, Riku. I'm the one begging you not to. I'll take care of them. I promise," Taku continued begging.
Riku was quiet for a while, his gaze shifting rapidly. It seemed like he was contemplating whether he should adhere to what Taku said or not. He looked at Taku, and his gaze turned soft. He nodded, then sat back down.
Taku also sat down and continued dressing the wound.
"Who is the person who healed you?" Riku asked him.
"I wish I knew, but I don't," Taku replied. "I really want to thank the person for saving my life."
"If not for that bastardized demon, I would have been there on time," Riku clenched his fist.
"It's fine. I really wish to see the healer. I owe the healer."
"Time will tell. You will get to know the healer."
"I hope so. But how does one get such power? It's amazing."
"It's ancestral. In families that have abilities and power, it passes to the recent generation, just like that. It's a special power, and families with that power are rare."
"Can I be a healer? So I can heal you each time demons give you injuries like this."
Riku chuckled. "Nah. It isn't in our bloodline. We are demon slayers."
"Except me." They laughed.
"I don't think so." He laughed. "Everybody doesn't have to be a demon slayer in the family."
"And everybody doesn't have to believe demons exist."
They laughed.
***
Isao was at a horse stable at night. The horse stable was made of wood with a metal structure as a roof. There were numerous stalls with horses in them. Hay lay across the horse ranch.
He was sitting on the hay, staring in silence, crying, his cries echoing in the dimly lit stable.
Just then, Kenji came. Immediately, Isao saw Kenji. He stood up. Kenji was looking pale. He had reddened skin around his eyes and his eyelids were slightly swollen. It was obvious he'd been crying.
"What are you doing here?" Isao asked Kenji.
"I should be asking you that. You don't have the right to question me," Kenji retorted.
"You left my brother to die, and now I got a call that my mom is being kidnapped!"
"Same here. I got a call that my brother is being held hostage. And I was warned not to make any calls and just come straight here, or else they will kill him."
His eyebrow lifted upwards in surprise. "I was told the same thing."
"I love my brother so much. I don't want anything to happen to him," Isao sniffled.
"But you could watch while my brother was eaten by a demon. You son of a bitch!" Kenji roared, his face burning with rage.
Isao walked closer to him, glaring. "Lest you forget, Kenji, you were the one who sent us on such a dangerous errand that took your brother's life. If there was anyone to blame for your brother's death, it should be you. You killed him. Take responsibility for your cowardly actions!"
Kenji punched Isao's mouth. His mouth had a cut, and he bled slightly.
Isao wanted to punch him back when Riku showed up. "It's Taku." He stopped.
They both faced Riku.
"Where is my brother?" Isao's voice broke into tears.
"Where is my mom?!" Kenji screamed at Riku.
Riku punched Kenji, and he fell on the hay. He hurriedly stood up, his body stuffed with hay, not minding it, and tried to attack Riku. Riku brushed him off the ground, and he fell again. It was painful. He stayed on the ground, groaning.
"Taku, I know you are the demon slayer. You kill demons, not humans. Please let my brother go. He has done no wrong to anyone," Isao pleaded.
"I'm not Taku," Riku revealed.
Isao and Kenji were shocked. They gave glassy stares of deprecating horror. They gasped, and their eyes widened. Kenji stood up and moved a bit closer to Isao.
"I'm Taku's twin," Riku said.
"So…. you're the demon slayer?" Isao stuttered.
"Yes."
"Are…" Isao was interrupted by Riku's fist on his mouth, which sent him flying inside a horse stall. The horse neighed. Isao screamed in fright, swirling out of the stall.
In the afternoon, when Riku met Taku and Sota on the road from school. While they were walking, he was able to find Sota's house. Later on, he went to Sota and demanded the phone numbers of Taku's bullies, and Sota handed them to him. Sota, unaware of Jin's death, also gave Riku his phone number.
Riku had called Jin's number numerous times, but it wasn't going through. He had to call Kenji and Isao and lied to them that their family members were being kidnapped and they should come without calling anyone if they wanted their family members alive.
Riku crashed into Kenji, knocking him down with his steel-like fist. He groaned as the pain trickled down his body. He wanted to stand up to fight Riku, but Riku kicked him on his ribs, his ribs cracked, and he howled in pain.
He then gave him a brutal kick on his mouth, and an ocean of blood gushed out. His mouth was spilt and swollen, covering his face. He spat out blood. His teeth were stained with his own blood.
Riku took Kenji's hand and twisted it, dislocating the hand. Kenji gave a raw, high-pitched, piercing cry. He felt a sharp wrench of blazing pain in his lifeless hand.
He turned to Isao. Fear flickered in Isao's eyes. He knelt down, pleading and wailing.
"Please, Ta… Riku…"
Riku interrupted him with a blow on his nose, his nose broke and was bleeding profusely, pain surged through his body, and he winced. Riku threw him on the hay and punched him brutally. His face had red and pink bruises, his right eye swollen and shut.
Their battered bodies sprawled on the hay. They panted and groaned helplessly in agonizing pain.
"Where is your last bully?" Riku growled.
"Our last what?" They asked in unison, panting.
"Maybe a punch will help you know the person," Riku threatened.
"No, no, no!" They shrieked.
"He is dead," Isao whispered. "He was eaten by a demon. You saved me. I'm grateful. But you have given me the beating of my life."
"He is my brother. My stepbrother. It's been harassing, anxiety of sorrow," Riku said in a low, teary tone.
"Sorry for your loss. The call was a trick. Those beatings are from Taku. The next time you touch my twin, you will both be ghosts. I won't give you to a demon; I'll kill you myself." He strolled out.
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