An'na to kuroi raikan - Episode 3
Always remember to check your pockets before you leave home.
It had been two days after the incident where Anna met Raikan in the woods. He was such an interesting creature. A friendly demon. Every demon that Anna had come up against in the past all seemed almost mindless, attacking whatever they could get near. Anna, Mary and Max had helped keep the city safe. The three of them, along with Anna's Grandpa were what they like to call 'Tsu?gaido' or 'Tour guide'. It was their job to 'guide' the demons back to their home world. For most part, sending demons back went off without a hitch. Other times however, they were forced to kill the demon. It was something which Max took extreme pleasure in. Anna was a little more kind than that. Okay, a lot more kind. She knew several styles of martial arts and had been studying some magic with Mary. Max had shown her how to use a sword somewhat, and her grandpa taught her how to use these all together. No one else knew about what Anna and Mary did. Not Brendan, not her step-brother Clint. Nobody. After the demons were cleared out, The town went through an overhaul. Parts of the town that were destroyed from demon attacks were rebuilt. The areas that were affected the most were South Chisana Biru and Moru Square Mall. They were almost totally destroyed in Anna's last big battle 4 years ago. Her last night as a demon hunter, or at least she thought. Now those parts of the city were high traffic business districts.
Anna had spent the last day and a half with Mary, setting up a spot for Raikan to sleep and running around the mall to stores to find everything they needed for his 'make-over' before sending him back. It was a dumb thing to suggest, but part of her wanted Raikan to stay. If there was some type of resurgence of demons appearing, they could use someone like him helping them. The make-over would do nothing else if not delay him leaving for a bit so she could find out more.
“Okay, I think we got everything." Mary was checking through the bags she was carrying. They were from at least 4 different stores, maybe more. Soaps and Shampoos to clean his fur, clipper to shave it down since it was so long and shaggy. Infact, if his fur were green, he would look like a big moss man with a snout. They had also stopped by a clothes store and got a sweatpants suit for him to wear. He was no doubt gonna be cold after having his fur shaved down. When Anna first came across Raikan, he had on just a ruined cloth around his waist that went down to about 6 inches above his knee. It almost looked like a skirt, or a kilt. Only dirt brown and tattered.
“You think he'll like the clothes we got, or should I return them for something different?" Anna asked, sounding as though she was shopping for a dear friend and just had to get the perfect gift. Mary was paying much attention to Anna. She was busy digging through her purse, as though she was looking for something that couldn't be found.
“Oh come on!" Mary shouted out in a mix of panic and annoyance. “I know I had it when I left your house!" She was very frustrated at losing whatever it is that she lost. Anna turned to her when she started freaking out. “Well just what did you lose?" Anna reached out to her, offering to take the bags off her hands to give her an easier time in searching her purse.
Mary sighed out as she handed over the bags to Anna. “Trent gave me a brownie, and now I can't find it." Anna just chuckled. “All that freaking out a brownie?" Mary peered up from looking in her purse. “Yep! A brownie. A BROWNIE." It took Anna only a few seconds for her to realise what Mary meant.
“Oh. Bummer dude. Maybe next time you'll just eat it?" Anna chuckled again before she stopped walking and started thinking to herself. “Umm hey Mary…" Anna started to say, causing Mary to stop walking and turn around. “I think we should get back to my house. Like now." Mary scratched the side of her head in a bit of confusion. “What? Why do we need to-." Mary paused mid sentence. It was like a light bulb went off in her head. She gasped softly. “How stoned do you think he is?"
Raikan was sitting in the spot they had set up for him in Anna's garage. She didn't drive, so there weren't any cars around. Just boxes and other stuff. Mary had used a bit of magic to swap things around, making a nice corner of the large space for him. He had a large mound of blankets on the floor, as well as a TV beside him. Anna had put on a small playlist of about 50 songs for him to listen to. A couple of different genres. He loved watching the screen and seeing the music that came with a video. Some had lyrics on the screen, but he couldn't read, so he would normally look away from the screen and let his eyes wander around the area he was in when those came on. Anna and Mary had been gone a long time, and Raikan was nearing the end of the playlist for the 3rd time. Anna had left it on repeat, so he was getting pretty familiar with the songs. The door that led from the inside of her house to the garage opened quickly and sounds of footsteps could be heard. Mary and Anna were walking up behind Of course, Raikan couldn't hear them because he had headphones in. He started to hum along to the song he was listening to. “...Like rhinestones, falling from the sky…" Anna and Mary both paused as they heard him attempting to sing and saw him swaying to the music. A nice voice for a demon. Anna lightly tapped his shoulder to get his attention. When he turned and saw the two, he quickly got excited. Like a puppy would at seeing his owner return home. “You've returned!"
Mary held up the bags of different things they were carrying. “And we got everything we need. So err…" Mary started to say before stumbling over her words. “How ya feeling big guy?" She asked with an awkward half smile. Raikan cocked his head to the side a bit. “I'm feeling fine. Why do you ask?"
Anna and Mary both looked at each other out the corners of their eyes before looking back at him. “You didn't… happen to find any chocolate did you?" Anna asked him. “Mary thinks she might have accidentally left some here." Raikan thought for a moment before he looked to his side and picked up an empty ziplock baggie. “Was it this thing?"
Anna just looked at the empty bag while thinking of what could even happen to him at this point. “When did you eat it!?" She asked him with a slightly panicked voice. The bag fumbled from his hands when she shouted at him, dropping it to the floor. The tone she took made Raikan think she was mad at him, so he dropped down and started bowing to Anna.
“Please forgive me!" He begged of her. “I ain't it shorty before you two both arrived!" He stayed bowed before her, but lifted his head when he heard Mary start to snicker. She had to put a hand over her mouth to hold back the laughter.
“Mary! This isn't funny! You know how much weed Trent puts in those." Anna leaned down to look into Raikan's eyes, which still seemed okay. “Yeah, I know. He's about to be so stoned." Mary started to chuckle again. Raikan cocked his head to look over at her. “Stoned?" He asked her.
“Yeah you know. Stoned." She replied. He just sorta stared at her. “Like… High. Lit. Blazed." She didn't think she would have to explain any of this to him. He did know what she knew after all. Thanks to the spell.
“But I don't wanna be burnt!" His ears went from being slightly drooping to pointing straight up. “What do I do!?" He looked at both of them, concerned about what was gonna happen to him from eating the brownie. When no answer was given, he fell back onto the stack of blankets left there for him. “Umm hey Mary." Anna looked back at Mary, who was taking her cell phone out of her pocket. “I don't think that spell of yours included context of words." When Anna looked back at Raikan, he was laid on his side, asleep. Mary just chuckled softly when she saw him passed out. “So much for fixing him up." Anna said with a sigh. “Come on. I need some food." She and Mary walk towards the door to go back inside of her house and head into the kitchen.
Two people were walking down the street, both with backpacks slung over their shoulders. It was Clint and Brendan, heading to Anna's house. Everyone once in a while when the four of them all had nothing to do, they would hang out at her house, or Brendan's house if they felt like playing music. The two of them were dressed up pretty similar. Blue Jeans and black hoodies with the phrase 'D-Force' on them.
“And I'm telling you dude. None of that stuff was real." Brendan said while both of them were looking at their phones and scrolling through the newsfeed of some social media site. “If it was, it would have been all over the news. This is just someone trying to spread propaganda to keep us scared." On the feed of the website was a video claiming to have captured a demon on tape. The headline read 'Green goo seen galavanting through gorgeous Grace Woods. Have other worlders returned?'
“But what if it's not!?" Clint spurted out. “I don't think this town can handle something like what happened last time." Clint had pretty vivid memories of the attack 4 years ago. He was right in the middle of it. The attack had started inside of the mall before getting to the outside. He was just lucky four heroes showed up and saved the day when they did.
“People NEVER go out to Grace woods. So why was some random chuckle fuck just out there, much less out there with a camera?" Brendan brought up a good point. At least, he thought so. “I guess that does make some sense." Clint replied back. The two of them had reached Anna's house and noticed that Mary's car was out front. “Guess Mary's already here." Clint said as they passed her car and went to knock on the door.
Inside, Anna and Mary were both eating some leftover pizza they had from the night before. When the knock at the door happened, Mary dropped her slice of pizza, surprised by it. “Grr. Damnit Max!" Mary cursed out. Anna swallowed her bite of pizza and looked at her. “What makes you think it's Max. It's Saturday, so…." Anna had totally forgotten. Clint and Brendan were coming over. They had done this so much that it was just easier to cancel plans if someone couldn't make it over having to plan out when to meet. It had totally slipped her mind to call them and cancel, but now it was too late. As long as they stayed out of the garage, she would be fine.
The door opened and Anna greeted the two of them with a smile. “Hey you guys." Brendan hugged her and Clint just gave a brotherly fist bump. “We were… wondering when you guys would get here." The two of them step inside and go to the couches that were around her living room tv. For the most part, Anna's house had the same layout of Brendan and Clint's house. They were only 2 blocks away and all built by the same person, so it made sense. The two of them began taking stuff out of their backpacks. A game console, a couple controllers, a bong. You know, standard gamer gear. When Anna saw the bong, it reminded her of their sleeping friend. She would have to go check on him soon.
The four of them were soon gathered around the TV, ready to play their game. This one was different then the last. This one was a co-op game. “So I was thinking, on the next update I could buff up some of the enemy npcs." Brendan said to no one in general. This was a game he had been working on for some time. He liked to make games. He was oddly good at programming and coding things. Had been for quite some time. Ever since he was young.
“What about nerfing the level 3 boss? Feels like all the other levels run good, but then he just stops me dead in my tracks." Anna offered as a suggestion. She didn't know anything about making games, but she was a big gamer. She was always giving him tips on how to make his game better. It was nice to have a coder give you a suggestion, but it really helped to hear what a gamer thought.
“You know, that's not a bad idea. I keep getting comments from people I let beta test that he does slow down the flow of their gameplay. I just thought they were being babies, but if the gamer queen thinks so, then I guess I can make that change." He wasn't being sarcastic. Anna was probably the best out of the 4 of them at most types of games. She had a certain focus that really helped her be a good gamer. It was her idea for them to start the gaming team they used to have. Anna enjoyed playing games with her friends. If it weren't for all of her demon hunting stuff in the past, she could have been a pro gamer. At least she thought so. fighting games were her strong suit, but games where she could think and work with others were where she really shined.
“Hey, you mind if I pack a bowl?" Mary asked, pointing at the bong that was on the table. Brendan motioned at the bong with one hand while the other held onto the controller. “Already packed. Just spark it up." Mary reached for the bong and a light and lit a nice corner of the bowl. An old stoner trick for not burning through weed so quickly.
In the garage, Raikan was starting to wake from his nap after his sensitive nose picked up the smell of smoke. He leaned up with a groan before he yawned and stretched his arms above his head. He sniffed the air, smelling the smoke again. His stomach gave a wicked growl of hunger, and he grabbed onto his rumbling belly. “Ugh! What? So hungry…" He attempted to stand, feeling a bit loopy when he did. A soft giggle left his muzzle shaped mouth before he stumbled over towards the garage door. “Anna will have more food." He reached to push the door open, to which it didn't. That's when he looked down and saw the door knob. “Hmm." He hummed to himself before reaching to grasp it in his hand. He tugged at it, hoping it would open the door. He jiggled it, but to no avail. His stomach gave another loud rumble and he really started jiggling the knob. “Opennnnn!"
In the main house, Clint was in the kitchen getting something to drink. When he saw the knob to the garage door moving around, he got curious and walked over to it. Opening the door, he froze in place as he saw this big, shaggy creature towering over him. He couldn't say anything. He was struck with fear. Anna and Brendan were too busy playing the game while Mary was taking another bong hit. Raikan stepped through the doorway, only noticing Clint when he looked to his left.
“Many thanks for releasing me. Where is Anna?" Raikan's calm speaking voice caught Clint off guard and due to being overwhelmed by seeing this demon and the memories he had of 4 years ago, he passed out. Anna turned her head and gasped loudly when she saw Raikan standing over her step brother. This alerted Mary and Brendan, who both got up and ran over to where Clint was. Brendan stopped a few steps into his stride when he actually saw Raikan. Anna hopped up to go join Mary in lifting Clint up. He was groggy, but alert.
“What happ-." Clint stopped talking when he saw the beast standing over him along with Anna and Mary. “What the hell is that thing!" He shouted as he pointed a finger out at Raikan. He didn't know anything about the demons, so this was going to be much harder to explain away. Explaining Demons. Explaining Demon hunters. This was all gonna seem like too much at once. Clint stood and backed up against the wall, keeping his eyes on Raikan, who just looked at the three people in front of him before looking behind him and seeing Brendan. He just waved at the brown skinned male, who was staring back at him very nervously. When Raikan smiled at him, Brendan awkwardly smiled back as he wiped his forehead of sweat.
Raikan kneeled down so he could be eye level with Anna. “I think something was wrong with that chocolate I ate. It made me really sleepy. Do you have any food?" He was so clueless. There was something about it that Anna found cute. He really was like a big, dumb puppy.
“I have some pizza left if you wanna try that." Anna replied back to him. Clint and Brendan were both shocked at how casually she talked to the creature. “What, are you friends with that thing or something?" Clint asked in a shocked voice. Anna was about to say something when Raikan walked away from where he was and towards where Brendan was. His eyes were focused on the bong, which still had some smoke coming from it. The smell slightly reminded him of the chocolate he ate before. He sniffed at it some before Brendan nervously cleared his throat. “Would you… like to hit it?" He offered, pointing down at the bong. You could hear his tone that he was uncomfortable around Raikan.
“Sure!" Raikan replied before he balled his fist up and cocked it back. Mary saw this and quickly called out his name, stopping him with is fist in mid air. He looked over as she was coming towards him. “I'll teach you metaphors and stuff tomorrow. Just…" She motions for the bong, which Raikan handed to her. She places it up to her lips, taking a mock hit of it, showing him how he would do so. When she handed him back the bong, he looked it over for a few seconds before he put it to his lips and tilted his head back, drinking the bong water.
“Shit dude, no!" Mary shouted out as she saw him swallow it all. Raikan licked his lips of the funky water. “That tasted bad. Do you have anything better?" Even when he showed displeasure, he still had a friendly demeanor.. Suddenly, a bit of laughter could be heard. It was Brendan. He seemed to have eased up a bit as he was attempting to hold back his laughter. “He… He drank the.." He couldn't help but burst out laughing at him while pointing a finger toward him. Anna and Clint were making their way back over to the couch. Anna had her arm around Clint's shoulder. She was helping him back to the couch.
Deep in the forest, there was a strange flash of white light that illuminated the area for a few seconds before disappearing. There was a sudden thumping sound as something slowly made its way through the forest. A long, scaly arm reached out for a tree. It appeared to be trying to drag itself along. It looked like it had the body of an alligator, but the face of a gorilla, scaled over to match the rest of the body. Short legs, and long arms with webbed hands made up the rest of its body. From the forest, you could faintly see the lights from the city, and hear the sounds of cars blaring by. This would no doubt attract whatever this creature was to the people there.