A strong wind brushed the streets as the young man made his way down an empty sidewalk. It's late, too late for anyone to be out without a good reason. He sees empty shop after empty shop, peeking at his phone periodically to suss out the route. Nothing should be open now except the shop he's looking for. It was cold, dry, but cold. The kind of cold spring only gets when the clock crawls past the witching hour. Why is he even here? There was class tomorrow, homework hadn't been done, and he'd already lost enough sleep from other tasks he'd carried out for this "side job". Surely there's no real reason to be out this late, especially not off some tip from an errant forum post. Problem was, if it wasn't just a prank, if this was real, if this was what he was looking for, then fuck a sleep schedule.
He finally makes his way to his destination. "Takarajima Antique Shop" just like the post said. It was a tiny place, but it was very visually distinct from the outside. Bright lights on the displays of ancient-looking vases & fineries. As the boy makes his way inside, he's met with a gruff elderly voice greeting him in Japanese.
"Irashaimase!" Said the shopkeep. "Welcome! You are here very late! Almost time I close!" The shopkeep let out with a laugh. His accent was definitely forced, his command of English was better than he was letting on. Probably to ease Japanophiles into a sense of comfort.
"You're open very late." The young man responded with a wry smile.
"How can I help you? We have very good deal on authentic samurai armor, yes? You like samurai?"
"Oh yes, I do. I'm actually here for something that belonged to a Samurai. My ancestor." The young man responded.
The shopkeep looked confused and began to let out a chuckle. It made sense for him to do so, our young man didn't look like your average descendant of an asian warrior; He was a black teenager with dreadlocks.
"Heh heh, my friend, you have Japanese ancestry?". "Never knew they let Yasuke have kids". He muttered in Japanese.
"You're wrong there, he never took a wife, but he got plenty of castle girls pregnant." The young man retorted dryly, facing away from the shopkeep to look at the displays.
"You speak Japanese?" asked the shopkeep, his eyes narrowing as he began to drop the jolly old ojii-san act.
"A little" the boy said while tinkering with a set of Kunai.
"Pardon my shock. Plenty of young boys like you come into my shop and play with swords. None of them have the gall to say they're descended from a Samurai''. The shopkeep's accent had all but evaporated. Still unmistakably Japanese, but much less cartoonish.
"Young boys like me? What do you mean by that exactly?" The Young man was slowly making his way through the sword collection as he spoke. "How many of those boys swing by at 3 in the morning?"
"You'd be surprised how much business I get at this hour. Mostly people who trade in black market materials. Not so many black people though" They both chuckled. "This sword you are searching for. Its name?" The shopkeeper asked.
"Hyoukiri" The Young man responded blankly. "I heard from a source that you have it."
A silence took the room. The kind that happens after a tasteless joke.
"I'd like to know what kind of source that is." The shopkeep said, his gaze unbroken, affixed on the young man as he perused. "The name of that blade-"
"-Isn't something one of those other 'boys' would know about is it? Name your price, oyaji" The young man interrupted as he turned to face the shopkeep.
"It's not for sale. Not unless I know you're not lying about your lineage" The shopkeep said sternly. "Truth be told I only have the thing because the post-war government sold every antiquity they could find. It's been in my family's care for 60 years. If you truly are a samurai, I will relinquish it gladly."
"That's odd" The young man said quizzically as he put down a box of throwing stars on the counter. "The last use of the sword was stated to be-"
"-1970." The Shopkeep said with an equally puzzled look. "But the only way you'd know that is…"
The young man was now leaning close to the shopkeep, and began muttering something in Japanese. "Let's stop with the games, oyaji. That bit about not seeing many black people may be true, but I'm sure you know what this means."
The young man reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a tattered piece of cloth. Once unfurled it revealed an insignia. Two birds facing each other wrapped in a wreath: The crest of clan Date. Upon seeing the crest, the shopkeeper lets out a laugh.
"Is that the best you've got? A torn-up cloth? Any otaku off the street can make such a forgery." the shopkeep said angrily.
"Look closer." The young man said.
At that very moment, a presence took the room. A foul, vicious energy began to ooze from the banner in the boy's hand. Upon closer inspection, the Date clan crest began to move, the birds flapped their wings, the wreath flowed as if a breeze was blowing. The shopkeeper's eyes narrowed once again.
"It's been a long time since I've seen one of those" The shopkeeper now spoke purely in polite Japanese. "Pardon my rudeness till this point, these days it's so easy to be duped by crooks and con artists. Please, may I ask your name?"
"Neji. Neji Okalu." The young man responded.
"Okalu Neji dono. My humblest apologies. Had I known-"
"There's no need." Neji responded calmly.
"Oh but there is. And I'm to believe you're a direct descendant?"
"As far as I know."
"Then by all rights you are no mere Samurai, Okalu dono. I am in the presence of a Demon Hunter am I not?" The shopkeeper stood up and began to close the shop.
"Something like that..." Neji said while sighing.
"And this sword. It is necessary for your work, yes?" The shopkeep said as he closed the blinds and locked the doors.
"It is invaluable." Neji stated firmly.
"Then right this way, Okalu dono," Said the shopkeep in english, as he gestured for him to follow him up a flight of stairs
"Neji is just fine thank you," Neji said as he wrapped up the banner and stuffed it back in his jacket.
As they made their way through the shop, Neji was amazed by all the trinkets and weapons scattered around in the displays.
"Takarajima is right, this really is a little treasure island, right here in Brooklyn," Neji said as he took in the scenery.
"Yes, mine is a merchant family that dates back to the Kamakura! From dead bodies on battlefields to ransacking castles after revolutions! We always knew how to increase our collection somehow." The shopkeep said with a slight air of pomp.
The two made their way up a flight of stairs and into a deceptively huge attic styled with a Japanese interior, tatami floors, and all. The room housed hundreds of scrolls, weapons & suits of armor that seemed much too ornate to be priced anywhere below the millions. The shopkeep briskly walked across the tatami and began shuffling objects in a large container.
"If I'm being honest, I'm glad you came. This damn thing is cursed. But I'm sure you already know, Descendant of Devil Slayers." The shopkeep said as he pulled out a slightly above average length Katana from the box. The sword was wrapped in talismans from its tip to its hilt, and even that didn't suppress its cursed ki from seeping through.
Neji began to smile. "How much do you want for it, Oyaji?"
"It's not for sale," Said the shopkeeper, as he tossed the sword across the room at Neji.
As Neji caught the sword, he also caught a glimpse of something in his mind's eye. A presence, a figure, shrouded in purple flames, saying-
"Let me die," The shopkeep said blankly. "That's what I'm told its previous owner kept saying to himself as they tried to pull the sword off him. From what I heard he went crazy and started going on a killing spree after stealing it from another vagabond who did the exact same.. I'd expect nothing less from the work of Muramasa himself." The shopkeeper closed the box and locked the latch. "Will that be all for tonight Okalu-dono?"
"Let me get a box set of shrunken, 25 Kunai, a garotte wire, and 1 daisho pair, onegaishimasu" Neji said as he started trying to peel off the talismans on Hyoukiri.
"Not here, wait till you get home." Said the shopkeep, a sense of trepidation in his tone. "I'll go ring up your items."
Neji had Hyoukiri in a sword bag slung over his back, while his other items were placed in a duffel. The air smacked his face like a wall of snow as he exited Takarajima, he beckoned farewell to the shopkeeper whilst bracing for the cold. A few paces away from the shop, Neji's phone began buzzing.
"O'boy, How far?" Said a voice barking in jovial pidgin English.
"What do you want Lex." Neji retorted dryly.
"Ah-ah!? Why you gotta be so cynical? I can't check in on my kouhai?" Lex said, now in his regular voice.
"It's 4am. You either want me to clean up one of your messes, or you're pawning a demon on me." Neji said, maintaining his biting disposition.
"I'm honestly hurt man! You know I love you like family! Duke always wanted us to-" Lex began.
"Leave my dead uncle out of your guilt trips. Look man, I'm actually busy with something right now and I couldn't pick up work even if you wanted me to." Neji retorted.
"That's a damn shame too, cuz Reba's been fighting it for, oooh about 25 minutes now." Lex said, now matching Neji's dryness.
Neji knew Lex was calling to booger flick him a mission, what he didn't expect was for him to send his hunting partner ahead of him to face it alone.
"So you sent a 19 year old girl." Neji began.
"Mhmm". Lex responded.
"On a solo hunt." Neji continued, building in irritation.
"Now hold on! She won't be solo if you stop being difficult" Lex battled Neji's assertion of his carelessness.
"You sent her specifically to make me go?" Carelessness wasn't the accusation, apparently it was duplicity.
"Quicker you stop bitching, quicker you can unwrap your new toy. Oya, I texted you the location. Happy hunting jor." Lex said, intentionally not making a big deal of knowing exactly what Neji had been up to that night.
"How did you!? Ugh, what even is it?" Neji asked in an annoyed tone.
"Oh you're gonna love this…" Lex said, preparing his briefing.
***
Elsewhere in Brooklyn, hours earlier…
"This is the second time you've sold me a dud!" rang out a frustrated voice on the speaker of Reba's iphone.
"No, this is the second time you've fucked up a simple attraction spell" Reba responded curtly.
She was in front of a mirror doing her nightly routine whilst taking 'customer service' calls from disgruntled patrons. This one was upset about a love spell gone awry.
"The charm you bought was just a catalyst. Did you get him to think about you today? Please tell me you at least went on a date or something." Reba continued.
"Why didn't you say any of that before! I did the spell just how you demonstrated, but I didn't know he was supposed to think about me! Doesn't that defeat the purpose? I'm trying to MAKE him OBSESSED with me! Now you're saying for that to work he ALREADY has to like me?!" The voice continued on in a frantic and caustic manner.
"See this why I don't like selling to y'all. You don't listen, and can't follow no damn instructions. I told you the cheap spells only work on boys who ALREADY have feelings for you." Reba paused to pull out a particularly bad knot in her gargantuan afro. "This isn't a Love spell bitch, it's an attraction spell. You want a love potion, Maddie? They the same price they always been." Reba continued.
"I'm not paying you a thousand fucking dollars Reba!" Maddie responded angrily.
"Oof, you sure? I read up on him by the way, he's cuuute. Did you know he was rich too?" Reba said devilishly.
"Ugh! You stalked him?! You freak!" Maddie shrieked.
"Relax, I don't do pink dick. You do have the rest of New York to worry about though, so chop chop if you really want him locked down." Reba was hustling harder than a greased up car salesman.
"You said that the last time!" Maddie responded.
"I also said it wouldn't work if you weren't sure he liked you, you're the one who said you were that bitch, so to speak"
"Ugh!" Maddie shrieked once again in offense to Reba's chiding.
"Hey, your words, not mine. Attraction spells can only deepen ready made connections. If you want to make a boy like you from scratch you need to change his brain chemistry, which the potion is for. You know my cashapp." Reba said, attempting to close the transaction.
"Fine, bring it to me at school tomorrow, I'm sending it now." Maddie said in a defeated tone.
"Pleasure doing business- Wait, I'm getting another call." Reba said as she noticed her phone.
"If this doesn't work I'm telling everyone you're a fucking fraud! You can't just keep scamming peopl-" Reba cut the line before Maddie could continue grandstanding.
"Hi Lex! Sorry I was on the line with a friend." Reba said, now taking an entirely lighter, more amenable tone.
"Uh huh. Girl stop lyin', we both know you ain't got no friends. You bootleggin spells again?" Lex said in a harshly accusatory manner.
"I wasn't, I swear!" Reba said, clutching her metaphorical pearls.
"On what? On who? Oya na, play that gamble and let's see if you don't wake up with a curse tomorrow" Lex said shrewdly.
"Ok fine, what do you want Lex." Reba said glumly, knowing Lex was threatening her with actual spiritual violence.
"Well if you tryna make some money the right way, I got a job for you." Lex said, seemingly ready to continue before Reba responded.
"Why don't you get your little brother on the case? You never call me first…" Reba said with genuine curiosity.
"If Recon is to be trusted, he's gonna be preoccupied till he acquires a certain heirloom he's been looking for. There might be backup for you if you take too long though" Lex explained.
"Okay… Y'all just love being vague as fuck. How does anything get done in Nigeria when none of y'all can say a damn regular sentence?"
"Oh we can be direct when you're paying us. But since I'm the one paying you, I'm gonna need that attitude dialed down. Your target was spotted 4 blocks from your apartment. Doesn't look like much, but it's not a cognition we want hanging around. Take it out, calcify it and bring the marble to HQ tomorrow after you're done with class" Lex said, concluding his briefing.
"Anything else for you, Lex-Sama?" Reba said jokingly
"Don't start with that shit, I get enough of that from the other goth kid. Just get to work, Ms Daniels." Lex said, cutting Reba's jests short.
"Roger Roger." Reba said sarcastically whilst ending the call.
***
A single rat scurries its way through Brooklyn, dodging vehicles and pedestrians alike. It almost seems to be able to make it across the bustling street before violently being run over by a speeding car passing by. The mangled remains of the rat begin to twitch. A black smoke emanates out of the rodent's corpse as its wounds start to heal and its body reforms back into itself. The rat begins to scurry once again.
The rat rushes its way to an alleyway, joining what looks to be an ever growing congregation of other rodents. The way they crawled, no, it was more of a march. They weren't just scurrying for survival, these creatures had purpose, guided by a malevolent energy only they could feel. When our first rat joined the procession there were about 30, 40 other rats swirling in the alley, but now there were hundreds, and they were multiplying by the second.
The same black smoke that was emanating out of the dead rat from earlier now caked over the apparent mountain of them crawling on top of each other. The mass of rats began to blur into themselves, obscuring their individual forms and molding into a monstrous rodent-like creature that now stood about 10 to 12 feet high. Its head was covered in a skull like adornment, Its body upon first glance looked like a solid mass but closer inspection revealed millions of rats swarming through its carcass.
"EW EW EW EW! NO BITCH! UH UH, NO WAY HE EXPECTS ME TO DO THIS ALONE!" Reba screeched from a perch above as she frantically attempted to call Lex. Only for the line to ring as busy. "NIGGA FUUUUUCK YOUUUU!" She screamed, directly at her iPhone.
Reba had tracked the Cognition Lex informed her on and it led her to the first rat. Now, after quietly observing the demon manifest before her, she had a clear report on what she was dealing with: The EmpiRat , a demon built from the most common negative cognition known to the New Yorker's mind.
The Empirat had heard Reba's loud protestations and had cast its vision upwards, towards the direction of the roof she was camped out on overlooking the alleyway. As the beast opened its mouth a cloud of black smoke began to billow out of its throat, giving way to a barrage of flaming rats aimed directly at Reba's direction.
Reba's first instinct was to dodge, a decision that proved fruitless in the face of the flaming rats that were now beginning to chase her upon missing. Having dodged off the ledge of the roof, she was now suspended in mid air above the alley way, the Empirat directly below her shooting more rats, whilst the other rats from before began attacking from a different angle. In that same instant Reba unleashes an attack with…Kusarigama?!
Still mid-air, Reba slung one of the chained blades through the rats attacking from the ledge, destroying all three and lodging the blade into the roof. The kama stuck in the ledge allowed Reba to take a wide swing with the chain, once again avoiding the Empirat's barrage. Continuing with the momentum from the chain, Reba swooped down lower towards the Emprat, yanking down the lodged Kama, taking out the second wave of rats, as she finished with a drop into a double stabbing attack on the Empirat's head.
After holding on long enough for the demon to belt out a vicious Miasma laden scream, Reba pulled a taoist style talisman out of her hair, smacking it down onto the giant rat's forehead.
The talisman glowed bright green, temporarily seeming to dislodge the composition of the Empirat. This sent a couple rodents up Reba's leg, causing her to immediately backflip off of the Demon.
"EW EW EW EWWWW, OH MY GOD!" Reba exclaimed, fighting back the urge to vomit and or cry.
The talisman was a spell meant to dispel foul cognition, and reveal its source. Reba's plan was simple enough, if this was a common apparition, just kill the source rat and calcify it. As the talisman began to flash red, Reba's heart sank.
This was no common apparition.
The EmpiRat reformed fully, seemingly adding another meter to its size. Reba was now plum center in the middle of the alleyway facing off against the revivified demon, with a dead end right behind her.
"Now how in the HELL did you get BIGGER!" Reba said angrily, holding her Kusarigama in a steadfast stance, fighting against every urge in her body to tremble.
"You're afraid of rats, dummy! 'How you get so big?' YOU THE ONE FEEDING IT!" A voice barked from behind the Empirat on the other side of the alley.
"I know you ain't talkin shit after showing up LATE! NIGGA WHERE YOU BEEN!" Reba screamed in sharp retort.
"Shopping." Neji was at the mouth of the alleyway revving the engine of his purple dirt bike. He guns it, accelerating directly at the Empirat, practically riding through it as the rats in the Demon create space to avoid the hit.
"JUMP" Neji screamed for Reba to get out of the way of his bike, which she did with a spinning axel jump landing on the other side of the demon. Neji then put the Bike into a sharp turning brake that would make Kaneda proud, adjusting his body mid stop, jumping off of the seat, charging at breakneck speed in the direction of the Empirat.
Neji, still with Hyoukiri in the bag on his back from earlier, was instead using the Daisho pair of swords that he purchased from Takarazuka. Neji's approach to demon hunting was much more straightforward than Reba's. Where she went for planning and observation, Neji's home was in the pocket, right up front, swinging like his life depended on it.
Wielding his two swords in a Niten Ichi crossed arm stance, Neji used the momentum from the jump off of his bike to launch into a cross slash, the attack was fast enough to slice some of the rats, but the Empirat didn't seem to be phased. Neji launched into a combination flurry of slashes, realizing with each proceeding blow that the Demon was capable of avoiding damage entirely by spacing out the rats it was composed of along the path of the slashes.
"There's something off about it. That's no normal Empirat!" Reba belted from across the alleyway as she began scanning it with her Evil Eye.
"And you say this AFTER I start fighting it?" Neji said as he attempted to back up from his onslaught, only for the Demon to respond with more flaming rats.
Using a pair of swords to deflect projectiles was easy enough, but these were living projectiles. The more of them Neji deflected, the more rats were able to cling to the swords. He was able to shake them off, but the distraction gave the Empirat enough time to close in, smashing Neji in the mid section with a charging attack that sent him flying into the dead end. As the rat attempted to follow up the strike, Reba's chains violently wrapped the beast.
"I figured out what's weird about it!" Reba said exasperatedly. "It's a fucking DYBBUK. STOP STALLING AND FINISH THIS THING YOU BUM!" She screamed at Neji.
In that instant, a plume of smoke appeared from where Neji had been knocked over to. From Reba's view, at first all she could see was a figure jumping from wall to wall within the smoke, until Neji was clear in the sky above the alleyway, only for a split second though, as he came crashing down, both swords in tow, at the chained down Empirat.
Reba backed up, unfurling her chains.
"A Dybbuk?" Neji said, looking at Reba, still with his swords lodged in the rat's head, holding steady as it struggled.
"Jewish possession spirit." Reba responded.
"Like a Dybbuk box?" Neji said quizzically. still cling to the rat.
"No, a Dybbuk box is what you trap them in." Reba shot back.
"Do you have one?" Neji asked sincerely.
"Do I LOOK like a Rabbi?" Reba said angrily.
"I'd make a joke about your money habits, but I don't wanna be anti-semitic" As Neji cracked wise, the demon reshaped its head away from its wounded rats, reformed, and bit into Neji's swords, breaking them.
"THOSE WERE NORMAL SWORDS?" Reba said, flabbergasted. "You IDIOT! DYBBUK'S CAN ONLY BE KILLED WITH MAGIC! I ALREADY TRIED WITH MY KAMAS"
The Empirat once again let out a Miasma Shock, sending cursed ki flowing in all directions. Our demon hunting duo backed up in opposite directions to get to safety.
Neji, now with no other options than to reach for the trump card he had secured earlier in the night, was now clutching Hyoukiri, ready to unsheath.
He was reluctant to summon its power till now on account of wanting to handle a lesser demon without too much spiritual disturbance, but the events of the night had presented Neji with anything but a lesser demon.
"Let's see if you live up to those stories" Neji said , thinking of his uncle's tales of this very blade. The blade of his ancestor. He attempted to unsheathe the sword triumphantly… Only for it to be stuck! The Seals!
"Uhh… Reba, Imma need a second here, hold it off!" Neji said exasperatedly while doing his best to rip off the talismans with urgency..
"Nigga, you have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME" Reba said, whilst hurling a scythe blade directly at the EmpiRat, engaging it in battle.
The Demon's attention was once again fully on Reba now, locking its big red eyes on her as it batted the Scythe away. Reba pulled the blade back and began spinning it once again, this time slowly advancing on the demon as she hurled the blade she was keeping still. The Rat Demon advanced on reba, conceding a cut on its side as it closed in. Reba spun around the rat like a matador evading a bull, pulling the chain that connected her blades around the demon, carefully making sure to catch the chain of the other blade that had been thrown. She then yanked the empirat down in full force and began charging the chained rat with electricity.
"I know what I need to eat a big rodent." Reba said sadistically as she pulled another talisman out of her hair, threw it in the air, and began to perform hand seals. In that moment, a giant white Tiger appeared where the talisman had been thrown, attacking the empirat viciously.
The rats that comprised the demon all scattered and separated, leaving the ones being electrocuted by Reba's onslaught to die whilst all crawling over the form of the tiger. Reba, who's magical energy was what maintained the Tiger's shape, struggled to hold as the rats began gnawing from all angles. The Empirat's pieces were able to dislodge the tiger's composition, dissipating it as Reba pulled her scythes back again.
"Any update Okalu?" Reba said, once again assuming a battle ready stance as the Empirat began to reform itself.
Neji was almost done ripping the seals that wrapped around the sword's sheathe, still frantically trying to pry off enough to pull out the blade. "Just, one, second…" Neji muttered.
The Empirat had reformed, once again increasing in size as Reba's (and now Neji's) trepidation continued to fuel it. The demon slowly advanced on reba, batting away her Kamas as she tried to probe it from a distance.
"Nejiiii…" Reba beckoned again as the Empirat raised its hand, igniting the rats within for a vicious flaming strike on Reba.
Before the strike connects, Neji violently unsheathes Hyoukyiri.
Time stops.
Neji looked on at Reba, frozen in place, moments away from the Empirat's fatal strike. Before he was able to act on his instinct to save her, the world around him faded, giving way to an endless purple inferno. Strangely enough, the fire didn't burn Neji, it didn't even feel hot to the touch. The flames emanated an unnerving chill that sent shivers down his spine.
Through the inferno, Neji heard a voice…
"Isn't it past your bedtime kiddo?" said the disembodied voice. "A tad bit young for the 'Family Business' aren't we?" It continued.
"Who is that? Are you the spirit that dwells in this blade?" Neji asked.
"Mhmm, and you have exactly 1 minute to tell me why I shouldn't possess your body and murder everything I see until noon tomorrow," As he said this the spirit manifested in front of Neji. He stood about 2 meters tall and his skin was an auburn brown, his hair a shining silver, his eyes were bright purple much like the flames surrounding them. An athletic build, a body with exceptionally defined proportions. Atop his head were a pair of fine feline ears, with a long bushy tail flowing from his backside to match. He was dressed in a mixture of Sengoku era loungewear and samurai armor. While definitely humanoid, this spirit was no human.
"Cut the shit, you served my ancestor, now by right of the contract you serve me!" Neji screamed urgently
"Hmph, typical samurai, trying to jockey favor with bloodlines and connections. You humans are such a bore!" Hyoukiri groaned. "You're one of Nnamdi's sons I'm guessing?" Hyoukiri said, circling Neji.
"My dad's name was Chibuzor." Neji responded. Maintaining eye contact with the demon.
"Chibu- Wait a minute. What year is it?" Hyoukiri asked, confused.
"2019" Neji shot back.
"Time dilation is such a hassle, can you believe it's felt like basically a week in here?" Hyuokiri chuckled as he manifested a throne out of the flames in his domain, plopping himself on it like a spoiled prince.
"A week since what?" Neji said quizzically
"Since I helped your grandfather save Biafra. I'm guessing that's where we are, no?"
Neji paused, too shocked and confused to hide it on his face.
"We're in America. You've been here since god knows when.. I fished you out of an antique shop in Brownsville." He continued.
"Then what became of your homeland?" Hyoukiri said in a tone of concern.
"Doesn't exist anymore. We lost the war." Neji responded. "But that's the least of my worries. Will you fight for me?"
"Unfortunately, even that's unnecessary. It's like you said isn't it? You were born contracted to this blade. One of the many annoyances your jackass of an ancestor stuck me with. So I don't really have a choice in the matter.. But I will need a far more detailed explanation on what's become of your family, Baby Tiger."
"Sure whatever, just get me back to my body" Neji said flippantly.
"It seems the impatience that's run in your blood for centuries still hasn't bothered skipping any of you. Relax, the girl is fine. For now. I would like to know a little more of the one who is to wield me. What clan do you serve? What are your motives? If I'm to be shackled to another layabout with a grudge, you might as well wrap me back up and toss me in a river."
"First off, I'm not a samurai. I serve no clan. I have no masters. Not a ronin either, I'm a demon hunter. A Kuroryoshi. You should know best what we are. You served the first one."
"And what a class act he was…" Hyoukiri grumbled. "Alright then, And what of your motives?"
"I can't go into those right now." Neji said blankly.
"And why on earth is that?" Hyoukiri barked.
"Don't trust you. I go through the trouble of finding you, unsealing you, and communing with you and the first thing you do is hold me hostage in my own sword while my friend is in danger." Neji wasn't backing down.
Hyoukiri sneered silently, then lifted his foul expression into one of acceptance and then understanding. "You're not wrong. Can you blame me? I've been cooped up in this Katana since the 17th century. And I haven't had one of you Tigers to talk to since Biafra. So forgive me if my curiosity is causing a holdup. You know us cats and all." The demon said cheekily. "Asking was a courtesy. I already smell everything I need to off you." Hyoukiri continued.
"Smell…?" Neji was clearly puzzled
"I smell a lot of things on you, self righteousness, typical sense of justice, resentment, bitterness, a lot, I do mean a lot of hate. But no love. Justice without love is a blade with no sheath. Destined to cut recklessly till either everyone's dead, or it's dulled with rust."
Neji stood, somewhat shocked, and a bit perturbed at the Demon's assessment.
"Relax, don't look so glum. Look, I've quite literally seen a dozen generations of your bloodline. The 50 years I've been sealed were honestly a flicker of candlelight. I remember your grandfather's death like it was 5 minutes ago, and I don't like admitting this, but it hurts to hear that it was apparently in vain. Forgive me now, for not being too keen on being shackled to some layabout with a grudge."
"What do you mean a layabout with a gru-"
"Your grandfather, and your ancestors before him all loved their people. Many of them died for that love. I smell none of that on you. What I smell in its place is something more, dare I say…"
"Demonic?" Neji snarled wryly
"Villanous to say the least. I've been able to glean your motives as well. There's no secrets between contractors, as I'm sure you're aware."
"I'm aware"
"So you know, that I know, what you want." Hyoukiri said plainly.
Neji stayed silent.
Hyoukiri stood up from his chair and began to stroll around Neji once again. "We'll circle back to this, Baby Tiger. Go, make use of my power, and save your beloved." Hyoukiri said flippantly, snapping his fingers.
"She's not my-"
Before he could finish his sentence. Neji opened his eyes back in his regular body. Time was progressing normally again. Reba was still moments away from doom.
In that split second before the Rat could land the blow, a Miasma Shock came from Neji's direction. Distracting the beast, giving Reba the opening to rush away.
The Rat charges towards Neji, missing embarrassingly as he darts into the air. With momentous force, Neji brought his weight back down with his Blade, directly on the EmpiRat with a vicious helm splitter. The attack decimated a portion of the rats, and dissipated the rest. The scattering rodents then attempted to surround and absorb Neji.
From Reba's perspective, Neji's Ki had exponentially increased in size and potency out of nowhere. "USE A JUTSU DUMMY" she screamed from the other side of the alley.
"Oh yea…" Neji muttered devilishly. "One big cat couldn't do it… but maybe…" Neji wasn't the best sorcerer, but what he did have a knack for was ninjutsu. Sorcery required long term study and practice of the human mind and its connection to the elements, Ninjutsu was more tactile, more intuitive, more modular. Neji stabbed Hyoukiri into the ground. Creating a shockwave that kept the rats at bay. With his hands free he began throwing Hand Signs at a meteoric pace.
"HIKKI RELEASE「引き遁」: KODOKUSHI NEKO 「孤独死 猫」" Neji belted out. The Ki that emanated from Neji was a shimmering amethyst in colour. It went out in fiery waves as he projected his energy for the technique. The rats were scrambling at this point, some going up the walls of the alley, and some trying to rush their way past Neji. From behind Neji's foot, what appeared to be the ghost of a common housecat began to prowl, violently darting towards a rat on the wall, consuming it. Then, the ghostly cat began to shoot across to the other wall, then back and forth, eliminating rats with every movement. Before acquiring Hyoukiri, this would have been the extent of Neji's proficiency with Kodokushi Neko, however, not long after the first cat began its rampage, a veritable pride of spectral felines pounced from Neji's direction.
In a storm of carnage, the cats waged war on the swarming rats, bouncing beyond traceable speeds whilst eliminating the rodents at a breakneck pace. During the mess, Reba kept her Evil Eye activated to scope out the rat containing the Dybbuk. For a few moments, she struggled to suss out exactly where it was, only to notice a solitary rat trying to run towards the mouth of the alleyway.
"Neji, there!" Reba exclaimed, gesturing towards the escaping rodent.
Neji, for his effort, was still doing his best to guide his Ki correctly through the cats. Strangely enough, Kodokushi Neko was a jutsu Neji developed for use in stealth and recon. When Neji summons a deathcat he can use his evil eyes to see through it, and can also make use of spatial distortion to switch places with it. Controlling one was all he'd ever done, but tonight, with this new sword, with all this extra ki, it was tough to make on the fly judgements and not fumble the whole spell. One of the DeathCats pounces on the Dybbuk rat, and within the second it's about to descend upon it, Neji triggers spatial distortion, switching places with the cat instantly with Hyoukiri in tow, stabbing down on the Dybbuk.
An explosion of black smoke immediately fills the alleyway, before re-concentrating itself into its true gruesome form. Without a moment's hesitation Reba threw her scythe at the demon, its incorporeal shape unphased as the blade flew through it.
"Was that… really the best move?" Neji said with a wry chuckle.
"Shut up" Reba said while throwing one handed gestures, keeping a firm grasp of the chain.
A green glowing energy began to disperse from the fingertips of the hand she was doing hand signs with and she touched the chain with it, creating a binding effect on the Dybbuk's spirit form, holding it in place.
"Your turn" Reba shot at Neji,
Taking the hint, Neji begins throwing his own hand signs for another Jutsu, this one more complicated than Kodokushi Neko, thus requiring a slightly longer preparation period, the extra time required proved to be just enough for the Dybbuk to put a crack on Reba's binding jutsu.
Neji finishes the signs:
BAKENEKO RELEASE「化け猫遁」: SEVERING SERVAL「切断サーバル」
A vicious ghostly serval radiating energy of an amethyst hue began attacking the Dybbuk, it's body was adorned in several sharp blades, as well as many that flowed from it's movements in a whirlwind of laceration. The Dubbuk, now fully free from Reba's grasp, was able still shaken by the Serval's onslaught, that is until Neji' began to falter in his ki control, Once the Dybbuk regained its footing, it managed to snatch the serval by the neck, and dissipate it.
The Dybbuk, still attached to Reba's chain, began working its way towards her, meaning to possess her body. In a moment of split decision making, Neji used Hyoukiri to rend the chain asunder, splitting the potential connection point to his partner getting demonized.
"Nigga YOU OWE ME MO-NEY!" Reba belted in a fit of rage
"Nigga I just SAVED YOU!" Neji shot back.
Interrupting the duo's argument, the Dybbuk began to possess,,, the chain itself… Its links began to fold in on each other and materialize into a monstrous form, covered in Kama blades.
"NICE WORK DUMMY!" Reba belted, once again
The Chainform Dybbuk sluggishly lifted its arm and from it sprang scythe blades at dazzling speed. The duo jumped to defend themselves, but the blades were attached to chains that enabled a change in direction mid-flight. Reba managed to deflect the blades only to be submerged and entrapped by the chains that followed.
Neji on the other hand, was busy deflecting and maneuvering through another batch of chains. He uses a mid-air Zangeki(A sword based ki management skill that results in a cutting wave) to wipe out the batch and land safely. Realizing Reba had been captured, Neji's instincts kicked in, moving him at startling speeds that he hadn't moved at before, but it was too much, he somehow lost his footing, which provided an opportunity for the Dybbuk to impale him in the chest.
"NEJI" Reba screamed in horror, helplessly held captive.
The Dybbuk lifts Neji up slowly, its chained up tendril still punctured through the boys chest. Bringing him close to watch the life drain from his eyes. Which it seemed to, sure enough… Until a shining purple glow began to emanate from them, and Neji's hair began to turn a bright white.
Neji, or whatever was in control of his body at the moment, grabbed the Dybbuk's chains, slicing them with ease.
Now free with the chains pulled out his chest, Neji's body began rapidly rematerializing his lost tissue and organs. A flick of "Neji's" sword hand let out a dazzling flash, and the Chain Dybbuk was left in a thousand infantesimal pieces, freeing Reba in the process.
Reba landed on her feet, and dusted herself off, puzzled and amazed at what she had just witnessed. She turned her attention to "Neji" as they sheathed Hyoukiri, and their hair began to turn back to normal. Upon transitioning out of the possessed state, Neji passed out.