Chapter Text
“YOU BROUGHT THEM HERE?!”
Romance wasn’t able to control his own volume as he shrieked from the sight of the people they swore not to cross paths before further discussion.
Mira and Zoey stayed silent, each bearing their own perplexity, it was already awkward having this kind of conversation where neighbors nearby can overhear his yell. Though it’s somehow amusing to see the Saja boys breaking character right in front of them, back then not one of them ever lost their composure until their last fight. It’s also quite funny to see how Romance’s bangs are spiking up in alarm like it has a mind of its own.
Abby rolls his eyes, they can’t just stand here looking stupid all day. He walks past Romance, patting the other demon’s upper arm by the back of his hand as he does. “Yeah.”
Seeing the agitated expression on Romance’s usual calm face makes him feel a lot better with this entirely bad decision. When he enters the room, he goes to plop himself back to the floor now grabbing the remote to switch channels on the tv like nothing happened.
“Get inside you two, you’re blocking the entrance.” Baby shoves the girls inside the apartment once Romance steps back for them to come in.
“Make yourselves comfortable.” Mystery said following them from behind.
Mira glares at Baby behind her but turns her attention to the interior of the place. It’s not badly managed but there’s a lot that needs to be improved, the walls are old and have a lot of cracks in the corners and the paint is shown to be moldy.
Both her and Zoey scrunch their faces almost feeling bad with their living conditions but they could just be overreacting considering they’re famous pop stars who have plenty of access to luxurious buildings to live in. The demons don't seem to mind at all as many things here were inaccessible back in the demon realm.
Baby melts on the couch, spreading his arms and legs, letting out a long sigh of satisfaction, acting all cutesy sucks all the energy out of him but at least those braindead fans boosted his ego.
Zoey follows her gaze to Mystery who just chooses to slump by the corner like some lifeless doll and do absolutely nothing it seems. It should be weird in its own way but she supposed that’s the charm about being mysteriously attractive. She probably made a silly face because she can sense the judgemental stare from her friend.
Romance closes the door once they all went in, still glaring daggers at Abby who’s purposely ignoring it, they’ll definitely talk about this later. He glances at their supposed foes, since they’re here he should help ease their worries, for now. He quickly puts on a sparkling smile that he mastered as he approached the hunters.
“Welcome to our humble abode.” Romance offers a hand with a polite bow as if waiting to kiss Mira’s hand as a greeting but the hunter just scoffs and walks away. He didn’t mind since he’s already familiar with her attitude, he’s surprised that she somehow agreed to come with his bandmates, though he doesn’t know much about the context. He’ll just have to keep the girls in a good mood, he goes to the shorter popstar. “Let me take care of that for you.”
Zoey’s attention was occupied but his voice got her to turn to him. She curiously looked at him then down to where his hand patiently waits towards the sling bag she has on. Once she got the memo, she briskly took it off her shoulder.
“Oh- why thank you.” She lets out a giggle now offering her bag to the demon. “You can place it on the floor, it won’t get smudged.”
Baby rolls his eyes at the gesture, not seeing the need to be polite with them.
Mystery hears Zoey’s laugh and perks up. During the signing, she got the most unique, unlady-like giggle he ever heard throughout the years he lived in and yet he learned to find it entertainingly funny. Though he sees that it’s not towards him this time and begins to tap on the floor in frustration.
“Zoey..” Mira sighs in disapproval.
“What? It’s just a bag.”
She places a hand on Zoey’s shoulder now whispering in her ear. “We have to be careful. Remember, those were our enemies.”
The two girls raised their heads and looked at said demons who now stared at them, each with a grin of their own, harmless but filled with hidden intentions just like back in the variety show. They probably heard her words with those unnatural hearing abilities.
“Got it.” Zoey nods determinedly. While they’re handsome, she’ll control herself so as to not jeopardise the reason why they’re here in the first place. She then turns to Romance and points at the bag he’s holding. “We bought a drink for you too so please help yourself.”
“Hm?” Romance lifts the bag and sniffs on it before zipping it open, he can see why the bottom of the item was cold and soaked as he grabs a can of lemon flavored soda. He guessed that they picked this for him since he used to wear a blouse that’s the same color as lemon. He lets them see his smile to show his appreciation, ‘humbly’ placing a hand on his chest. “I’m grateful for the gift, really touched.”
“Chill It’s just soda, and calling it a gift makes it sound like we put effort in getting that for you.” Mira said as a way to destroy the sentiment.
“How I miss you and your tendency to not pull your punches.” Romance places the soda on the table. “So what exactly brings you both here, my companions didn’t bother to explain any details.” Said companions just shrugged in response to his annoyance.
“From my understanding, they wanna give us a restraining order.” Baby said as he stared boredly at the ceiling.
“..What?”
Abby shakes his head and stands up, wrapping his arm around Romance’s neck who recoils in confusion. “Them being the heroes they are, wanna have a little chat with us because they’re scared we’ll eat their fans, again.”
Romance nods slowly still bothered by the sudden grab, but at least he understands most of the context. He placed a hand on his chin, it explains the paranoia. Huntrix has a lot to lose if they manage to slip out of their vision. They could use this to the Saja Boys’ advantage.
He noticed said hunters staring straight at him, waiting for his response. “It’s inevitable, unfortunately. Demons live to feast on human souls, it doesn't help much that we can’t go back to our realm.” He sighs in a dramatic manner.
“Then don’t feast on human souls.” Mira snaps. “You guys don’t actually starve and only need them to get a power boost.”
“Quite an understatement. Though it’s tempting to be in a world filled with our energy roaming around on two legs.” Romance clasped his hands together and quickly added before the girls could argue. “BUT let’s get away from that fact. I don’t want you thinking we’re using that to get back ‘home’ when it won’t work with two strong hunters in our hideout.”
“You got that right.”
“We want to help you find an alternative.” Zoey pipes up. “You see, we got this Huntrix code that if we finally get a hiatus then we need to commit- like it’s been in our to do list of ‘what to do once the Honmoon is fully sealed’ for ages!”
“So.. you just want to befriend us for the sake of your vacation?” Abby asks with an arched brow thinking about their conversation not too long ago.
The twin bunned hunter nods her head rapidly.
“I already thought it’s stupid when I heard it for the first time, but seeing that you actually meant it just makes me feel sad for you.” Baby mutters as he places a pinkie in his ear.
Small, mocking laughter erupted from the rest of the Saja Boys. It's not difficult for them to even think how silly that request is, especially on a commitment like that. Such a ridiculous idea makes them even question how the demons are successfully banished by those kinds of enemies who always put friendship first, sounds like something from a children’s story.
Zoey looks at the demons, her face reddens as if it’s a thought that deserves to be ashamed about. “What’s wrong with that?!” She fires back.
“Reality sucks is what’s wrong with that, idiot.”
She puffs her face in anger, and it doesn't help the fact that Baby smiles sardonically by the sight of her frustration.
“I agree with that sentiment.”
“So much for defending me Mira.” Zoey frowns but her friend just shrugs apologetically. “Look, we want to find ways to help you as long as any of us won’t be in each other's throats. We just think that dealing this without any violence can put less stress on us all.”
“And what if it won’t work?” Mystery questions.
“We haven’t tried it yet!”
“Unless you want us to kill you now.” Mira cuts in. “I hate the idea but at least open your heart a bit and play along so you can go back to rotting in hell with Gwi-Ma.”
“Open our hearts?” Abby snorts. “What, you think we’re like Jinu? Just because having a conversation of smiles and rainbows worked on him doesn’t mean it’ll do the same to us.”
Mira and Zoey exchange glances, they haven’t figured out or even had the chance to ask Rumi how she managed to convert Jinu or how their ‘friendship’ happened at all.
“If Jinu’s proof that your kind still has a soul then why should we give up?”
“You got your sources wrong.” Romance bows down a bit to be eye level with Zoey. “There’s only certain species of demons that keep their souls. Even then, humans are always our source of ecstasy, it's believed that you’re made to be delectable to us.”
Zoey glares. “That’s definitely NOT why we’re made, what a shallow way of thinking!”
“But it’s the truth.” Romance smirks when he easily provokes her and gestures to himself and the others behind him. “Demons, predators.” Then back to the hunters. “Humans, prey.”
“Hey, if you want us to turn that logic around, I’m glad to.” Mira’s face twisted in aggravation and Zoey didn't manage to hold her back when she began to approach them. “Just because you’re demons doesn’t make it okay for you to talk shit about the lives of our people.”
“How heroic.” Abby struts in front of Romance, happy to join in butting heads. He rests his hand on his neck as he cracks them, ready for a brawl. “I’m quite interested in where this is going.”
“You guys better fight outside the apartment if you’re settling this with violence.” Romance gave Abby a warning look. The landlord is the least of their worries but the shelter itself is something they need to maintain.
Mira observes the silent communication and her eyes glint for a moment, now glancing at an old vase sitting on the table behind her. She checks on Zoey who was busy seething and moves her feet back. Nothing happened for a while as she continued to slowly walk backwards and Romance immediately noticed her.
“What are you doing?”
By the time she stops, Mira places her elbow on the edge of the table making the vase tremble before returning to its stable position. “Heard the owner’s pretty strict in this area.”
Romance narrows his eyes in suspicion, based on their limited interactions he learned that he shouldn’t underestimate the hunters, her especially.
“Last chance, and I don’t want mocking from any of you.” There’s no change in expression on Mira’s face that he finds reliable on guessing what she’s up to, and it gives him an unsettling feeling. “Will you agree to what we have to offer?”
His jaw clenches, watching her closely to decipher the sudden confidence around that woman. He scans to where her elbow touches and widens his eyes when he finally guesses what she’s trying to do. Romance considered about their request, a temporary alliance wouldn’t be bad but the problem is that it wouldn’t take a second for any one of his bandmates to fuck up and try to kill the hunters.
As expected, he heard scoffs behind him. There was no direct answer but Mira took it as a refusal now shrugging. “Alright then.” She spreads her arm out.
Just by looking at it, he can tell how fragile it is. “Don’t let that touch the ground!” Romance yells.
“Oops.” Mira pushes the item off the shelf and Abby swiftly moves to save the vase, hugging it but soon colliding his head to the wall. He groans in pain but gets up to check any cracks or dents on the clay container.
The Saja Boys watched, both baffled and speechless. The silent terror explains the hidden relief washing over them, clearly having been told a warning by the landlady before obtaining the building.
“What was that?” Abby made sure to keep his claws from piercing the vase as he glared daggers at the smug hunter.
Mira tilts her head innocently. “Sorry, clumsy me. I’m surprised by how fast you caught that. Scared to get in trouble?”
“Scared? Hah- you’re the trespassers here so watch it.” His other hand that isn’t holding anything twitches in anger, clearly wanting to throw blows so bad.
“Yeah! Aren’t you worried about having your reputation tarnished or something?” Baby shrieks, pointing at the girls.
“Please it’s just a vase plus we got more important things to worry about than our reputation!” Zoey rolls her eyes as she places her hands on her hips. It sure is a pretty vase and it’ll be bad if it falls but the Saja boys are still foreign to how things work here which explains why they look like they’re walking on eggshells.
“Also you let us in here so no we’re not trespassers.” Mira said as she goes to tip a pot near the edge of the table which Baby almost trips when he throws himself to the floor to catch it. “You guys are the one trespassing in this world. We’re putting some effort to be kind here, best you do the same.”
Romance traces his hair in frustration, almost tugging them out of his scalp. “You think we want to stay here? Because of you three we’re stuck in this situation!” They’re the ones who are supposed to win, all those preparations, promises, they were meant to be hints for the demons’ victory.
Something tears in Mira’s nerve and she bangs her fist on the table beside her causing everyone to jump. “Are you kidding me? You act like you’re the victims here for being left behind but you’re all responsible for your actions! If you didn’t manipulate your fame to kill hundreds of people then this wouldn’t be as personal. We’re still trying to repair your messes and there were many souls that were too late to be recovered. Doing your job? Being controlled by Gwi-Ma? You still could have made a choice, just like your leader did!”
“Mira-!”
Zoey holds both her hands out wanting to stop her from making things worse but it’s too late as the Saja Boys all tensed up. Mystery abandons his spot and stands up with his head lowered, Baby gets up as well, squeezing the pot he just saved. Abby is already dangerously close to her with his patterns glowing brightly, Romance who tried his best to be the calm one already has a crack of his facade.
“You don’t know what you’re spouting.” Romance said through gritted teeth. “You think we had a choice to begin with?”
“Then you’re already given one. Gwi-Ma is gone, the only threat you have right now is us.” Mira traces her fingers on the table making the Honmoon threads glow and activate her glaive. Zoey sticks close with her, throwing blades ready. “The point we’re making here is not about friendship but mainly for an agreement. We’ll help you get back home as long as you don't break our trust .”
All the demons in the room stayed quiet, debating to themselves if it’s a trap. They said that it’s just for their own benefit but it’s still too good to be true. Hunters were formed to kill demons and yet they offer to help them.
After a moment, Abby raises his demonic hand and gestures over to his fellow bandmates to go closer so they can properly discuss things before making a final decision.
“We seriously can’t just trust them.” Baby hissed with a harsh whisper.
“You heard her, we have no choice.” Mystery said, he covered his mouth as the tusks were fully formed from his temper. “They’re still strong enough to kill us all with the essences of souls they gathered from the idol awards.”
Right, the souls. Romance furrows his brows. He almost forgot about his theory of Jinu being possibly alive. The leader of that girl group isn’t here, she could be gone because he probably found out about her secret.
Abby glanced at him. They already discussed it not too long ago with just the two of them but they got into a heated argument because of the mention of their former leader. It’s already working in Romance’s favour but it seems that it was just an idea not fully fledged out.
“Yeah..” Abby exhales heavily. “We have to agree.”
“....” Mystery nods, he never once refused a decision any of his companions would make, but this one is where he would see eye to eye a hundred percent.
Baby stays silent with reluctance, wanting to argue. He never liked the idea of opposing sides but truthfully he never wanted to come back to the demon king. Everything in this world is bright and loud but he prefers that than the world where fear rules the entire realm. Fortunately Abby didn’t dwell on him any longer and took the silence as a fellow agreement.
“Is that alright with you, ‘Romance’?”
This time Romance wakes up from his thoughts and turns to Abby and the others who are waiting. “I’m still thinking if there’s any options we haven’t thought of yet.”
Abby nudges him. “Relax, I did promise that I’ll take any chance we get, and we got one.” Even if it’s less favorable for them.
Romance kept his hesitation but soon gave a self satisfied smile which is a fast switch up of his behavior.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He places his chin on Abby’s shoulder now leaning close to his ear whispering. “Can’t believe we’re going with my initial plan, it sure sounds stupid right?” He teases wanting to continue annoying the burly demon.
He can hear Abby groan and push his face away. Romance keeps his smug look, serves him right, he lets himself be petty at this moment to get back at him. Though if they’re keeping it this way then they’ll have no problem upgrading their lifestyle a bit, they are rich after all.
As the Huntrix waits, Zoey gets rid of her weapons, letting the fragments return to the barrier. “Would we really let those guys get evicted from here?”
Mira crosses her arms. “I really want to but then we won’t be any better than them.”
She learned that fire can’t always be clashed with fire no matter how easy it sounds. The only reason why she pushed their buttons by making the items fall is because she sees how desperate they are, she knows they’ll catch it with their unnatural speed. It’s dangerous enough to be in a demon’s temporary home but to trigger all of them makes her pray that things will go well.
After a while, the hunters noticed the Saja Boys moving away from each other and facing them, each with a weighty expression of their own. It’s satisfying to see that in person by how much work they gave them in order to keep the Honmoon stable.
“Soo.. what’s your final answer?” Zoey asks, anxiously twiddling with her thumbs.
The demons exchanged glances with each other before Abby speaks up. “We’ll make your hiatus a little easier for the time being.”
The girls were overshadowed with relief as their tense body soon relaxed. Mira finally puts her weapon away. She’s not sure when they’ll decide to betray them but at least they’ll cooperate for the time being.
Zoey jumps with excited claps. “Great, we'll take it! I’ll contact Rumi where we are so we can discuss how we’re gonna do this.” She immediately gets right into it.
“Glad to hear that.” Mira said nonchalantly. “I would have liked to have a chance to smash all your faces if you didn’t.”
“Mhm, hot and I would have let you either way but let’s not do that now.” Romance lets out a light laugh and quickly goes back to topic before she could even question anything. “How much will you be taking control of our lifestyle here?”
“Not much I guess.” She shrugs. “I mean- we didn’t really think it through since we mostly believe you guys would refuse.”
“After threatening us, why would we?” The corner of Romance’s lips curl upwards as he locks eyes with her. Everything is slowly coming together, soon they’ll use whatever's necessary and pick up any advantage piece by piece no matter how slow. “Though, we really should stop meeting like this.”
Mira wrinkles her nose, getting uncomfortable from the stare and now trying to look away, but in her other line of vision, Abby has his abs staring back at her as well from below, it didn't help that she tears his shirt a bit during the fight. She grunts as she walks away back to Zoey, absolutely not going to voice her annoyance that’s only gonna amuse them.
Both the pink haired demons laugh sardonically with each other, each having their own fun of bothering the Huntrix’s visual.
“Yo.” Abby pats Romance on the back. “Are you going to drink your gift?” He motioned over to the soda still sitting on the table.
“Eugh.. I suppose I should.” Romance picks up the soda and opens it to take a sip but draws back when his throat was hit by the acids. He tried it once and promised himself never again, but a beautiful lady did give it to him so he needs to commit.
Abby notices his recoil and snickers. “Celebrate that victory alright?” He goes to the couch where Baby is sitting and sits down with him.
Baby who’s trying to distract himself by watching tv flinches when a rock solid body squeezes him to the side, pressing his more lean body on the arm of the couch. “Why do you gotta sit in the middle, go sit on the other side!” He pushes Abby by the arm but he doesn't budge.
As if to spite him, Mystery sat right beside Abby with a straightened back, not saying anything to Baby’s complaints as he glanced towards Zoey who was busy on her phone in the corner of his eyes. It’s not like anyone could tell by how much hair is covering half his face.
Mira was pondering for a moment before grabbing Zoey by the wrist. “On second thought, let’s discuss this with Rumi tomorrow.”
Zoey blinks, raising her head and pausing her thumbs that’s tapping on the screen of her phone. “But I already sent the message.. Should I delete it?”
“Yeah. Sorry I was just thinking that it’s getting pretty late.” She motioned towards the window where they could see the sun setting and the sky glowing orange. “Would that be okay?”
“Ah- yeah that makes sense.” Zoey quickly deletes what she sent in PMs and informs the other hunter that it will be moved. She then frowns. “Do we also have to move our bathhouse relaxy time?”
“Today’s been eventful.” Mira gently pats her shoulder. “Let’s not cram our messy unplanned ideas in one day, we still have a few more months to relax anyway.”
“True..” It didn’t take for Zoey’s smile to return now peeking over to the Saja Boys who were watching television. Truthfully she doesn’t mind it, at least they managed to convince those boys not to terrorize innocent civilians, it’s enough for her as well.
Mira returns her smile before turning her attention to the demons behind them. “Alright, change of plans.” She announced. “We’ll visit you guys in a few days, maybe tomorrow if we feel like it, if there’s anything we discovered then we’ll just inform you. No soul eating okay? We’ll know if you do.” She points her eyes then back at them.
The Saja Boys boredly glanced at the taller hunter raising her fist as a warning and shrugs collectively. “K.” They echoed. Abby lazily waves but stares weirdly at Baby who magically sat upside down on the couch beside him, swinging his legs.
“Hey, Zoey right?” Zoey hums in curiosity when she hears her name being called now looking towards Romance. He raises the now empty soda, shaking it lightly. “Thanks for the drink.”
Zoey beams. “It’s nothing, Mira also helped out buying that.”
“Took more than thirty minutes choosing even one can..” Mira grumbles, never again will she be in a convenience store buying shit for demons. She opens the door to leave the apartment, not wanting to wait any longer to finally lie down on her own soft comfy bed. Zoey follows behind her now waving energetically as a goodbye.
It was instantaneous but once the two girls left the place to go back to their home, the Saja Boys slumped, the tension flying off their shoulders. Even through the forced lightheartedness, all they could think about is having their life in the hands of their sworn enemies.
.
.
.
_________________________
Meanwhile, Rumi felt like she’s suffocating through the silence, she and Celine stayed quiet for a couple of hours in the Huntrix tower and she’s quite afraid to ask when she’ll be leaving, she can see the sky growing dark by the window. She lets the k drama on in the tv to help distract herself and it worked most of the time, zoning out but wakes herself up when she realizes who is still here with her.
Even when the two talked things out not too long ago- albeit not completely truthful, Rumi still finds hope in the conversation. Celine was always strict but she could sense a hint of genuine protection through it, at least that’s what it was. She’s used to covering herself with false warmth so feeling it again makes her uneasy, sick even.
She sniffles before quickly grabbing some tissue to let all those disgusting mucus out of her runny nose. It still is embarrassing for her to almost bawl her eyes out but Celine didn’t mind it and gave her time to recover.
Rumi then stands up and turns to her mother figure who looks like she’s watching the drama from afar, maybe she was too paranoid and just hallucinated those feelings. Celine noticed her standing up and kept her composure, mug still on her hand as it’s refilled with freshly brewed coffee.
“Is there anything you want to eat?” Rumi asks in her usual polite manner. “Just checking if you’re hungry..”
It was almost hidden but she can see Celine staring at the white patterns on her arm once she completely turns to her. There’s the feeling again, she fiddles with the ends of her shirt as Celine’s eyes glued on it for a while, she guessed that it happened whenever a hint of the marks shows from any exposure of her skin. Rumi has to admit that she did feel uncomfortable, sensing like their strained relationship will go back to square one.
To her relief, Celine averts her eyes and stares right at Rumi. “Not at all. Sorry, I’m still getting used to that .” Even when she’s the first person who sees it from the day she’s born, Rumi can spot that same face she used whenever she catches sight of it.
“No- no! I understand.” Rumi mumbles, rubbing her arm. “At least only the demons and hunters can see this, it’s still the same but it’s a nice change of pace from the purple color.”
Celine hums, looking distracted as well before sipping on her mug.
“Celine?”
“Hm?”
“From these past days, I discovered that you were quite silent to the public as well lately, were you doing something? Other than digging through ancient scrolls for me.”
“Well, if you really want to know.” Celine puts her mug down. “I’m still helping the recovering victims in the hospital. Not directly of course, but I’ve been able to cover my tracks well in order to protect you and your friends’ reputation.”
Rumi swallows a dry clump on her throat. “And how are they..?”
“Confused but mostly fine. It’s a good thing since they won’t have to question the events that happened in the idol awards. We still aren’t able to control the news about the Saja Boys yet but it won’t take long for them to be entirely forgotten, I’ll make sure of it, don't worry.”
The younger hunter clenches her fist, facing down. “I’m sorry.”
Rumi can feel Celine’s gaze looming over her but feels a soft touch on her cheek now raising her head to face the older woman.
“Mistakes are common for hunters unfortunately, even if the rules said we shouldn't show any sign of vulnerability in order to keep the demons gone.” Celine said, staring straight to her eyes. “Either way, the Honmoon is sealed even with it not being gold, that we need to keep in mind.”
Rumi stares back before looking down again. “Does the prophecy say that the barrier needs to be exactly gold for the demons to be gone forever?”
“Yes.. The golden Honmoon keeps all the energy of hope and inspiration in its threads without faltering permanently. It’s supposed to make sure Gwi-Ma and his servants are unable to access our world for good and won’t have any chance to eat anymore, thus making him disappear once his flame distinguishes together with the rest of the demons.”
“Mhm..” To Rumi it might be safe to say that the Honmoon she made might not be as strong despite it being newly created. “I want to figure out the connections with the new barrier and my marks, is it okay if I visit your library so I can study some ancient scrolls too?”
Celine stays silent now and Rumi can see her trying not to drop her gaze. “Sorry, but I can’t-.. I’m using them right now, all of them in order to study it myself.”
“But I can help, it’s connected to me after all-.”
“You and the girls should continue your rest.” Celine cuts her. “I don’t want to put all the weight on you. I’m a retired hunter so it’s my duty to handle any information I can give you girls.”
Rumi’s not entirely convinced by her words and Celine knows it but she nods in acceptance. “Alright.”
Despite Celine trying to be supportive she can still feel something’s wrong.
It then rains down on her to realize that Celine was very selective when it comes to teaching her and her friends about demons, she always was. Maybe she’s hiding something from her, maybe she knows more than she lets on when she told Rumi about demon souls and.. Possibly her parents. She consistently has doubts, which is normal, but she often pushes it away.
Celine’s the only parent figure she ever had and was close to, compared to other respectable adults like Bobby, he doesn’t know anything about demons or their second career, not like she wants the poor guy to constantly worry about them since he’s just a manager.
Rumi wants to argue, figure out what else she’s hiding from her, but she knows that it will strain their relationship even more. For now she’ll just trust that woman since she’s also keeping the Saja Boys’ existence from her.
Suddenly she hears a slight buzzing sound and goes to her coach to grab her phone. It’s a text message from Zoey which has been deleted but there’s another one under it. Scanning through the text she reacts a thumbs up now sighing in relief.
“Did something happen?”
She quickly places her phone down. “Just Mira and Zoey finally booking a ticket to a carnival.” She spits out whatever her mind came up with. “Don’t worry- we’ll make sure to keep our disguises.”
Celine nods slowly now taking a glimpse at Rumi’s hair. “Take care of your braids. Those knots took forever to straighten when I took care of them last time.”
Rumi flushed now remembering the time her hair got caught by a fly and got tangled by it in the process when she was little.
Twirling her locks with her finger she sees Celine looking down at her wrist. “I need to get back home. It’s been a while since we stayed together for half a day. I was making sure nothing strange happened to your patterns and kept quiet till now.”
“So that’s what it’s about..?” Rumi mutters before watching the woman grab her bag and place the empty mug on the sink.
“Just making sure, I’m only trying to look out for you. I promise to call you if anything comes up.”
“Thanks..”
Celine’s gaze softens and goes to gently hug her while Rumi hugs her back. By the time her mother figure left is when she began to let out a long exhausted sigh. Somehow she felt even more frustrated now, and there’s no one else she could blame but one person. Is there really no one else she could ask for help about the new Honmoon?
Slumping back on the couch she began to start asking the girls if they’ll be coming back soon when suddenly she feels a large shadow looming behind her and Rumi swiftly puts her guard up. The shadow must be outside the building as it circles around the windows, when she looks closer she can see the creature on four legs, resembling a tiger.
Rumi relaxed once she discovered what it was, now going over to the window to slide it open. “Tiger-cat thing is that you?” Jinu never really told her the cat nor the bird’s name.
As a response, she can hear loud purring from above. If she didn’t know any better she would believe someone magically parked a motorcycle on the roof. Rumi softly sighs and jumps to the railing of the balcony, pushing her feet off so she can grab the edge of the fascia. She front flip during the jump so she can have a smooth landing now looking around to find the giant feline.
A giant blue tail twirls playfully as the tiger reveals itself, tilting its head as if to greet the hunter. Behind Rumi was a tweet and she turned around to see the three eyed magpie staring at her boredly.
“Just in time for you guys to appear huh?” Rumi mused as she gently scratched the back of the cat’s ear which the creature purrs even louder. “Is there a reason for you guys to see me?” She suppose she’s the only one who knows of their existence besides the Saja Boys.
She was met with silence, she doesn’t know what to expect from asking an animal, despite it not being a normal one. Looking down she can only guess, even when none of their mannerisms changed. “I’m sorry for not protecting him..”
A crackling chirp sounded behind her and the bird flew over to rest itself on top of the tiger’s head like it usually does. The tiger then steps forward, leaving no air for distance and lies down right beside her. Rumi sits down as well now looking up to see that the sky already darkens to a bright blue color, the lights from the city made it look more alluring. She slides her hand through the tiles and summons her sword once again to stare at it, raising it up she can see the whole blade shining like diamonds.
The tiger perks up and nuzzles its head to her arm that is holding the sword. Rumi notices and raises a brow now lowering her weapon for it to see. She watches curiously as the tiger slowly raises its paw and presses it on the blade.
“Careful, it’s sharp.” Rumi chuckles now melancholic. She tries not to flood her head with the memory of him, but in some way she detects that he could be the clue to help uncover what’s going on to why she felt like someone’s been watching her or why she feels that person is alive. But he’s gone, she knows he’s gone because he gave his soul to her. Jinu is inside-.
Suddenly something struck her and Rumi spins her head to the giant derpy cat with wide eyes. “Did you perhaps.. sense Jinu inside this sword?” It could be possible. There must be a clear reason why the cat and bird came back to her.
The tiger tilts his head once more, not blinking in sync. The bird jumps around and lands on her sword, pecking the weapon. Rumi made sure not to overthink things, sure- it makes sense since she’s a demon and she can consume souls but maybe she can try testing it out if she can figure out how it works.
Suddenly Rumi heard a door closing from under the roof together with chatter from voices she highly recognized. She yelps when she almost trips when standing up now pushing the tiger. “Alright! Let’s meet some other time okay?” She didn’t bother to look back to check if the creature disappeared as she hops down to greet her friends.
When she sees the two calling out her name, Rumi went inside from the balcony to welcome them back. The excited faces on Mira and Zoey made her heart skip a beat as the two rushed in to hug her.
“Omg I just heard from Mira that Celine came to talk to you!” Zoey cries out as she squeezes her arms around her.
“Haha yup!” Rumi squawks out before finally getting a chance to breathe when she lets go, she loves Zoey but that girl really doesn’t know her own strength. “It’s nothing much, just some talk about the Honmoon. Also congrats to you two for persuading the Saja Boys.”
“It was no sweat! Er- nevermind it took a lil effort but it’ll be no sweat!” Zoey jumps with a squeal. As tired as she was, she’s glad that she’s able to see a smile on Rumi’s face again. The situation with the Saja Boys surprised and stressed her (as did all of them) but that problem was quickly thrown away.
“So are there any new details we need to know about?” Mira asks, patting Rumi on the back who was still catching some air.
“Not really- Celine mentioned that since it’s a new occurrence, she’ll have to dig deeper.” Rumi thanks her before frowning a bit. “Though there’s something I found out, together with a few ideas that popped in my head about the remaining demons.” She then hears a yawn and turns to the girls who look pretty beat. “Uh.. how ‘bout we talk about that tomorrow?”
“Ah yeahhhh.” Zoey rubs her teary eyes from the load yawn she let out. “Been walking around the whole day.. Sorry girls, I wasn’t able to buy us some boba tea.”
“Hey it’s okay, we’ll go tomorrow to buy some together.” Rumi rubs her shoulder.
“Sounds great.” Zoey hugs her once more before heading to her bedroom to pass out.
“It’s been a really long day.. Need to get some shut eye as well.” Mira stretches her arms now waving at the leader. “We already ate ahead so you can eat some food before heading to bed, you better not be up the whole night.”
“Yeah yeah I won’t, good night.” Rumi said before exhaling softly as she watches them walking down the halls like undead zombies. She doesn’t feel like eating at the moment now looking down at her hand, clenching them. Soon she’ll find out all the secrets Celine’s hiding from her as well as to what’s going on with the rainbow barrier.