Gates of Gehenna Ch.02 p3

part 3 :



"Seiji, are you sure this is the right way?"

Yukino asked me with a worried tone. Why shouldn’t she be? Instead of running out, we were racing back into the third floor’s mall interior, and went to the line of shops on the eastern side of the mall.

"Yeah, the place where I want to show you is just over this shop."

I directed my phone's light to a book shop that's right in front of us. The book shop was deserted and in shambles. Magazines and newspapers were scattered around the floor and some of the hard covered books that's on sale had also toppled from its display area.

After passing the shop, we arrived at an empty coffee shop. Needless to say that it were also in shambles. Broken cups and plates with half eaten desserts were scattered around the small round tables. Looks like they were in a big hurry. Can't blame them though, with the black out and all.

A large logo of the coffee shop was attached to the entrance door, a crescent moon with a pack of deer running under it. Hence the name Moon - Bucks, it’s an odd way of naming, don’t you think?

"Is this... the Moon Bucks?"

"Yep, Moon Bucks."

"And what do we need from this coffee shop?"

"Hmm? Yuki, you never been inside the shop?"

"Uh, no, I just heard it from my friends from class. They said that this shop was special or something."

"Oh, I see... Then let me show you what makes this coffee shop so special and how it would help us in this situation."

I let her hand go and reached for the thick glass door decorated with the Moon Bucks logo,

"Ah! Your hand..."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Uh, n-no, I didn't say anything..."

Odd, I could've sworn she said something... Oh well.

"Follow me."

I navigated through the dark coffee shop interior and quickly reached a small opening on the corner of the shop. Right in front of me was a red door, decorated with golden stripes on the sides. I open the door, revealing a set of stairs leading down.

"Eh? Stairs?"

"Yep, if you were on the second floor, you would find a small area where this stairs would end. It would also be covered in red carpets and a logo of Moon Bucks on top of it."

"I see. Two entrances, one at the second and one at the third floor... and we could use it to go to the second floor!"

"Exactly."

"But Seiji, how do you know all this?"

"Oh, I worked part-time here before, so I practically knew about the dual entrance."

"..."

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing... I just thought that you're starting to look like a certain butler that I read in a manga... in terms of working part-time almost everywhere..." [5]

A butler? Ah, that reminds me when I had that part-time job on a certain mansion at summer. But enough about that, we need to escape!

“Come on Yuki, and watch your steps.”

I lead the way into the dark stairs, brandishing my flashlight (/phone) to light the way. Yukino grabbed on my hooded jacket and followed behind me.

As we worked our way down, the gears inside my head starts to spin again.

There's something bugging me from the start of that fire alarm.

Judging from the fact that all the sprinklers had been activated at the same time, it should have been a really big fire. But oddly enough, I don't see any smoke coming from the upper floor or the lower floor. I can't even feel any extreme temperature changes to the mall interiors.

Is this some kind of sick joke? If so, this is definitely not funny...

Tch! At any rate, I must get Yukino out of here first.

As we reached the second floor, I quickly took her hand and guided her to exit the room. And right at that moment...

*pan!* a sharp breaking sound echoed through the mall. An eerie blue light suddenly envelops the mall's interior, the fire alarm went silent and the sprinklers stopped dousing the mall's interior.

"What is that sound?"

"I don't know, maybe one of the glass pane got broken? Anyway, looks like the backup generator had finally kicked in."

Though I doubted that fact myself, I need to calm her down a bit. She was on the verge of freaking out, squeezing my hand like she wants to crush it.

Thankfully, the blue light had returned some visibility to my eyes, but it's still a little too dim to see anything clearly.

"Seiji? Where is everybody?"

There's a complete and utter silence in the air, it's as if someone had pushed the giant mute button.

I narrowed my eyes and looked toward the huge stairs to the third floor that was supposed to be packed with panicked people trying to escape.

But, no matter how hard I look, there's not a single soul there.

"What the heck??"

Yukino suddenly pulled my left arm, hugged it tightly and let out a shriveled voice,

"Yuki?"

"S-Se-Seiji, w-wh-what is that!??"

She points to certain area of the hall that's usually used to set a stage. A large shadow slowly moved from behind a pillar and out toward the wide hall area.

I reflexively raised my phone, trying to see the owner of that mysterious shadow better.

"Geh!!??"

An enormous beast came into my sight, with black skin and mane as dark as the night. The sheer body size of that thing was as big as a dump truck, maybe even bigger.

Huge teeth roughly as big as my arm lined perfectly on its huge jaws. Three large scythe-like claws jutted from each of its huge paws. Its body was standing on all fours, giving a monstrous yet majestic look.

I was speechless, that thing is definitely a monster. There no other words to describe it but that.

Two gleaming yellow eyes that's attached to its head stared back at me. Then the lion-like beast lets out an intensely loud roar.

It suddenly stomped on the ceramic floor and moved in an unbelievable speed towards us.

"Dammit!!

I quickly grabbed Yukino's hand and quickly dragged her out of the way.

"Uwah!!??"

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me to the left side of the collision course. And as I gain a slight momentum, I hugged Yukino’s hip and quickly launched my body to the air, in hoping that we managed to dodge the incoming beast completely.

"Uooo!!!"

And right at that moment...

*Crunch!!*

The huge beast's gnashed its teeth about an inch behind me. If I'm late just by a second, we'd be caught between those razor sharp fangs. As the beast flew past us, the extremely huge body had created a gust of wind. Powerful enough that it to knocks both me and Yukino away.

"Gah!!"

"Kyaaahh!??"

Being thrown off track like a paper plane that's suddenly blown to another direction, the only thing I could see was a wall of ceramic tiles around a meter distance in front of me, and the fluttering hair of the Hoshiyume shrine miko.

That's because I was flying in mid air, facing down, and holding Yukino on my arm.
And to avoid Yukino being squashed under me, I used everything I had to spin my body facing up. With this speed, I might just break my back on the landing, but it would be better than the other option.

"Hiiiii~!!"

Yukino curled her body in fright and with strength that I couldn't believe her slender body could have mustered, she tightened her grip to my ribs to the point I started to think that she would break every single bone on my ribcage.

*WHAM!!*

To add to my agony, my body slammed to the cold hard ceramic floor. As the sharp pain shot through my whole body, my consciousness drifted from being awake and passing out for a brief moment.

"Kuh…"

And as I regained my consciousness, the beast lets out another ear piercing roar, probably signaling another charge like earlier.

Dammit!! This is bad!!

I picked up my aching body and pulled every ounce of strength left on my body to move toward Yukino who was lying on the floor not far from me.

"Yuki!! Oi, YUKI!!!"

I shook her body to wake her up. But it's no use, she's out cold.

So I tried to lift her to my arms with a cradling position. But, as I managed to hold her on my arms, I saw the beast's jaws gnawing at me. The monster was within three feet distance from me and Yukino. there is no way I can dodge it this time...

Dammit!! Is this it?

Is this how the life of an ordinary guy, Akuno Seiji, will end? Getting eaten by a giant hulking monster while trying to save a girl?

Heh, so much for being lucky…

*BANG!* a dry gunshot reverberated the hall, followed by an explosion to the beast's right side, veering it off its inteded course and slammed itself to the large pillar on the side.

The floor shook like the mall had just caught in an earthquake.

"Take her and run! The demon won't be lying there for long!"

A voice of a girl echoed at the empty hall, followed by a torrent of footsteps coming towards me.

Her stature was quite small, maybe a little bit shorter than Yukino who was one head short from me.

"Demon?"

Did I heard her wrong? Or did she really said demon? That monstrous thing is a demon??

She stopped right beside me. Her silvery white hair had covered most of her face, so I couldn’t see her face clearly.

She points a silver object on her right hand to the beast.

That long barrel, revolving bullet chamber, and that stainless steel frame... It was a gun, a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum Revolver, with a laser targeting system attached on its barrel.

I know that gun because I have that exact same gun replica in my room.

"Oi! Are you deaf!? I said take her and run!"

Her voice snapped me out of my dazed state.

"Wha-? Oh! R-right! What about you?"

"I’ll be fine,"

The girl twirled her Magnum Revolver like she was a cowgirl marksman on a western movie.

"You should be more worried about the girl on your arms than me."

Yukino was breathing silently like she was just taking a nap, but I could see a small cut on her forehead, dripping with fresh blood.

"Damn…"

"Go, I’ll cover you."

She said again, this time with a cold tone. Her eyes did not leave the big mass of muscles, claws and fangs that were recovering from her surprise attack earlier. The monstrous beast was growling with anger as it regains its grand posture.

"Khh… Please be safe!"

I urged each and every muscle on my body to move, and I ran as fast as I could towards the large stairs to the first floor. I know it’s a cowardly thing to do, leaving a girl fending herself in this situation, but what other options do I have?

At that moment I could hear the silver haired girl said,

"Now then, how would you like another serving of my magic bullets?"





[5] Here she implies a certain butler from a manga series, codename: Combat Butler  :P

Gates of Gehenna Ch.02 p2

part 2:



"Wait! Wait!! I… I could explain, please don't hit me- GYAAAA!!!"

Koneko Nanase screamed as she got hit by a wooden bokken[4]. The executioner was none other than Nakayama Homura.

"I thought I told you to use void spell… why did you cut the power and then threw a fireball at the fire alarm!?"

"Uuu, about that… it looked like it was a good idea back then, I mean everyone had escaped from the mall and…"

"Idiot!"

*BONK!*

"UGYAAAA!!"

"All you did was creating a huge panic!"

"Uuu..."

"Set up the void spell now, I won't repeat it again."

"O-okay…"

Koneko quickly took out five rectangular papers from her pocket and set it on the floor in the shape of a star.

"[Seal of Void]!! Confine this space in the emptiness of the eternal void!"

The rectangular papers shined, making a line of light to each other, ultimately creating a circle with a pentagram inside. And in a flash, all five papers burned, leaving only a small patch of ash on the floor.
The whole building interior that was drowned in darkness suddenly lit in a blue light, returning visibility to a certain degree.

Ignoring Koneko who just finished casting a spell, Nakayama contacted another person with her wireless radio.

"Shizuko, report!"

"I'm currently at the mall's second floor's hall," a clear voice answered her from the other end of the wireless radio.

"And I have a visual of the creature. It's quite large, it must've entered through the parking lot and worked its way in..."

"..."

Large beast... Should we just surround it and strike with all we had? Or should we use hit and run tactics to whittle down its strength?

As Nakayama thinks for the best solution, another report came from the wireless radio,

"Chief, there seems to be a couple of stray civilians at the area."

"What? But, Nanase already used her void spell!"

The Void spell, a high level barrier spell that's modified to 'persuade' other people than the caster (and a selected few) to immediately leave the area enclosed with it. Once they get out, they would be unable to enter the area again as long as the spell was active. Any outside interference will also be negated and directed to somewhere else

In Koneko's case, she was one of the few magic casters that could modify the void spell to the point that it would force teleport everyone except her and her companions. And ofcourse, the demon weren't affected by the spell.

"I don't know about that chief, but if this continues they're going to be killed."

A sudden loud howl came from the background of the report.

"Permission to engage?"

"... fine, saving the civilians is your top priority, make sure that they escaped and try to hold off the creature until we get there."

"Do I need to use the [Eraser] on them?"

"No, thanks to Nanase's earlier 'diversion'..."

Nakayama glanced to Koneko and... *THWACK!*

"UGEEEEE!!!? Whyyyy!!!???"

"...people would think that they're hallucinating because of inhaling too much smoke."

"Understood, I will engage now."

*BANG!!* a loud bang went through the wireless radio before the connection was lost. Nakayama lifted the bokken to her shoulder and turned to the tearful Koneko.

"Come, we have a demon to slay."





[4] A bokken (木剣, bok(u), "wood", and ken, "sword") (or commonly as bokutō 木刀 in Japan), is a Japanese wooden sword used for training. It is usually the size and shape of a katana, but is sometimes shaped like other swords, such as the wakizashi and tantō. Some ornamental bokken are decorated with mother-of-pearl work and elaborate carvings.

Sorry...

With all this mess around me, I have been strucked  by the dreaded writing block, so I can't update the blog for a while. But, maybe I'll post a little bit update for tommorrow.

I'm not that experienced in blog making, so please give me some feedbacks to improve myself ^_^

Gates of Gehenna Ch.02 p1

CHAPTER 2: THE BLACK BEAST





Part 1

There’s a large cube shaped mechanical structure that stood almost at the same height as myself right in front of me. The mechanical arm inside the machine gleams as it reflects the lighting on the place, a lever on the machine's side awaits its next victim to try their luck. It is the very machine that had stolen so much from society, and laughed at them with a ridiculous "too bad, so sad" jingle every time they failed at the challenge.

"You’re sure about this?"

"Yup, I'm positive that's the one I'm looking for."

Yukino points at a certain area inside the machine's that was piled with plush toys of various shape and sizes.

Yeah, this is a crane game machine with plush dolls as prize.

"Well, there's only one way to find out..."

I reached for my pocket, took a game coin that's recently bought by Yukino here and inserted it into the coin slot.

*ring ding ding* Detecting the game coin inside its mechanism, the machine started to play a 8-Bit song. For a 21st century machine, this thing was quite odd. I mean 8-bit music? Please... does the developer doesn't have some extra money to spend on the music department?

Tossing that aside, I reached the lever that looked like an oversized joystick and pushed it to the left, prompting the mechanical arm inside the machine to move accordingly.

"Right over there Seiji! On that straw hat bear’s left!"

Yukino pointed the same mound of plush dolls again, but this time I saw the bear wearing a small straw hat that she mentioned.

"Don't blame me if I picked the wrong one though..."

“I trust you~!”

Ugh, please stop putting too much hope to me. It was just a lucky shot that I got the so called rare “Rider Bear” from this machine a week ago.

The three fingered mechanical arm moved slowly in accordance with my control manipulation. It kept on moving across the machine's inside until it reached a certain spot. Right above the mound Yukino had pointed earlier. I nudged the lever bit by bit until I was confident with the position, and then pressed the red button beside the lever.

*Ziiiii~* Yukino held her breath and crossed her fingers watching the mechanical arm descending down.

*Kacha!* Ooh! It caught the doll right at the body.

*Ziiiiiii~* the mechanical arm pulled out an orange bear plushy wearing a scarf and... an eye patch? What the heck? I turned to see Yukino’s expression, but her face went blue because she held her breath for too long. I had to shake her body to remind her to breath again.

Then *Clack!*, the mechanical arm drops the plushy to the drop area, and the machine played the rarely heard victory fanfare.

Wow, I’m honestly impressed... to think my luck could do this kind of thing two times in a row, and in the same week to add. Should I try my luck on a lottery? I might just get myself a bag of cash... hmm...

“Seiji...”

Yukino, squatted down to the prize claiming box under the machine, took the eye patch bear and showed it to me.

"This... is Kaizoku-kuma[1]!! Yay!!”

She jumped around like a little kid getting a new toy. Well, the part of 'getting a new toy' is true though.

"Pirate? Ah, that explains the eye patch."

"Uh-uh, with this my bear collection is finally complete!!"

Apparently the company who made the crane game here had established a collectible series in order to attract more customers. Yukino were collecting the bear series, where there's a variety of bears like Straw Hat Bear, Rider Bear, Pilot Bear, Navy Bear and so on. The other popular series was the cat series which were based on their fur color. By the way, two of the largest plushies in the machine was Kero-pan[2] and Ao-tama[3].

"Well, want go home?"

"Uhn, thanks for the plushy."

"No problem, consider it as payment for the lunch earlier."

“Huh? I say, Seiji, do you really have to apply your philosophy of not owing anyone to me?”

“Eh? Aaa, sorry, it’s becoming quite a habit now.”

My motto was “If you owe someone something, repay it the same day when you owe it”. It was born because my own life was pretty hard, I had to work part time to pay my tuition money, electricity and water bills, not to mention my daily expenses (food and such) and unexpected emergencies. So, adding some debt into the fray was out of the question. And it wasn’t just limited to money. I also returning other people’s favors too, in a way that I deem it was equal or more than what I get in return. If I can’t do it the same day then I’ll do it tomorrow, if I still can’t, then I’ll just do it the day after tomorrow, and so on until it’s settled.

Some of my friends called it a twisted philosophy though. I really don’t understand why. Was it that odd to return something equal to what you get to the person who gave it?

“That’s a really bad habit you know? Not everyone wanted something in return when they do something for you, it’s like you’re denying their good will or something.”

“Uhh... you do have a point there... ”

I scratched my head in reflex, she really didn’t hold back on her words. That’s one of her good traits that I liked, not afraid of telling the truth. Though I couldn’t just change my life’s motto like that.

“Next time you do this to me I’ll definitely kick your butt.”

“Oi oi oi, that’s not what a shrine miko should say in a public place like this isn’t it?”

The two of us were currently in the Taiga Mall’s third floor, along the electronics section of the mall. And the crane game I just played was sitting in front of the game center that I frequently visited when I was still in high school. Needless to say that there’s a bunch of kids and some high school students skipping school in the area right now.

“...”

Realizing what she just said to me, Yukino’s face turned pale instantly and she hugged her shoulders.

“...Mom’s going to kill me if she heard that...”

“Let’s just go and hope that no one who knows you and your family had actually heard you say that.”

“Uhn, you should go to work too.”

“Yeah, yeah... Come on, I’ll walk you to the station.”

She nodded in agreement and started to pace herself beside me.


***


If someone saw the two walking side by side like this, they would probably think the two of them were a couple. Akuno with his all black hoodie, jeans and shirt, coupled with Oimikado who wore a white dress and a cream colored cardigan (oh, don't forget, she’s holding a mean looking bear with an eye patch too).

Hehe, to be walking together with Seiji like this, it almost felt like a date... Oimikado’s cheeks flushed red because of the excitement.

"Yuki? You okay?"

"Fuey? Ah, I-I'm okay! Yes, definitely okay!! Absolutely!!"

"... uh, right,” he stared at her with a worried look, “are you sure you don't want to go to the doctor? We could go now if you want to?"

"N-no, I'm fine really!"

"Hmm, well, but if you feeling sick or anything just let me know, okay?"

She only nodded to answer his question.

It’s quite rare for her to have this opportunity to be together with Akuno like this. He always went to work after he’s done with his campus studies, so she had to use the chance to its maximum potential. Even if that only means having a walk together with him to the bus station.

*snap!* suddenly everything went dark.

“Ehh???”

“Yuki, are you okay?”

A hand reached to her shoulder, judging from the direction where it came, it was Akuno’s. She reflexively clung to that hand while still trying to figure out her bearings in the dark. Her eyes were still adapting to the sudden change of brightness.

“W-what happened?”

As opposed to Oimikado's bewildered tone, Akuno answered her in his usual tone,

“It must’ve been a power failure. Let’s just wait until-”

BRIIIIIINNGGGG!!!! A sharp and loud alarm echoed at the mall’s interior. The sprinkler attached to the ceiling started to spray vast amount of water. The visitors began to panic as they scream across the dark mall. Shuffling footsteps and sounds of falling shelves could be heard in the dark.

A black out AND fire? Are you kidding me? Akuno held his breath at this sudden revelation.

He pulled Oimikado to the side and stick to the wall, if they keep on standing where they were, they’re bound to be hit or worse, stampeded by the panic mob.

"Be careful, and don't let go of my hand."

"O-okay."

She tightens her grip on Akuno’s hand, and urged him to move. They treaded the dark hall by moving along the wall. If they followed the wall from the game arcade, they would end up at an open area near the stairs to the second floor.

Akuno flipped his phone open and activate its flash light feature. It’s not that bright, but still, it’s better than nothing. He tucked the phone under his jacket to prevent it from getting wet from the sprinklers.

Okay, let’s just hope the stairs weren’t full of people who wanted to go down.

With his makeshift flash light in his hand, Akuno guided Oimikado through the darkness. Several people ran past him while shouting and some of them even cried. But the two kept their slow pace.

Panicking is not a good idea. It would only cloud your better judgement and rational thinking.

Akuno grumbles as he kept on walking toward the stairs to the second floor.

As the two finally reached the area with the stairs, they saw a commotion with people shouting and shoving each other. One of them actually fell down from the stairs to the second floor, breaking his arms as he tried to break his fall with arms stretched.

Damn! This is going nowhere… No one can tell what would happen if we join in there.

Akuno frowns at the scene, and started to rack his brain for another alternative.

“Seiji? Is there another way around?”

Oimikado probably thinks the same thing as he is, plunging into that chaos would prove to be a stupid thing to do.

Go to the north fire exit? No, it would probably be full of people from the fourth and fifth floor trying to escape.

Akuno bit his lip as he crossed out most of the possible alternative escape routes from the third floor.

Maybe… maybe I could use that place...

“Yuki, follow me!”

“Eh? Where to?”

“I might just found a way out of here safely.”





[1] Kaizoku-Kuma: literally means Pirate bear.



[2] Kero-pan: A frog plush doll that's holding a large bread, with its mouth open, ready to eat.


[3] Ao-tama: A large blue colored ball-shaped cat that's the size of a volleyball, it became one of the most difficult to obtain because of its size and shape.

Gates of Gehenna Ch.01 p3

Chapter 1




part 3


Uwaaahhh! I have to hurry or she'll hit me again! It really hurts!

Koneko Nanase hugged her head as she ran through the path at park's exterior, heading towards building D. It was the path she always took every day since she became the Student Council's secretary.

Thinking back, it was a totally random incident. One day, the student council president herself appeared before her and asked her to take the secretary position. At first she refused, but the student council president simply gave Koneko an offer she couldn't refuse.

But, that guy... Sei-yan... fu fu fu, interesting... Koneko grins as she remembered about the guy she had just met earlier.

She slows down her footsteps as she went near the faculty office. She was in a hurry, but if she's running in front of the faculty office now, it would be like waving a red flag in front of a raging bull. And since she's a member of the student council, she won't get away just by saying a simple 'I'm sorry'.

Cutting down her speed to half, she fast walked through the faculty office doors. And on the other end of the hall stood a crimson haired girl, waiting right in front of a door with a plate that reads 'student council's office'.

"Yo, Homu-nyan!"

Koneko greeted her, though she used an impolite tone toward her superior.

Yes, this crimson haired girl in front of her is the current 34th Seihokami University's Student Council President, Nakayama Homura.

Nakayama glanced at Koneko, turned her body and enters the office.

"Get in," she said

Koneko silently followed her into the office.

The office was the size of a normal classroom, complete with the whiteboard and a notice board near the entrance. The chairs and desks was lined in the shape of a large U, mainly used as a mean to have a conference. Student council related papers were scattered at the desks, the table who had the most paper was... Koneko Nanase's desk.

Ugh... so much work to do… she frowns as she saw the hill of papers at her desk.

"Nana, you remember when you told me that there's something odd around the steel factory at the mountain this morning? Like a distortion or some sort?"

"Ah? Yes, well, I was on my way there to investigate it just before I got your phone call."

"There is no more need to do that, I already went there earlier."

"Eh?? I thought you said that I should look into it myself?"

"I have no morning classes today, so I took the liberty to check the place myself."

"So, did you find anything?"

"Other than the freshly wrecked remains of what's supposed to be an abandoned steel factory? Just this,"

Nakayama produces a small sealed plastic bag and threw it towards Koneko, inside it was a few gray colored fur crumpled together.

"Homu-nyan, this is?"

"I'm not well versed in the arts, so I can't chase the owner of that fur."

"And that's where I come in, right?"

"Yes, can you do it?"

Koneko stared at the small sealed bag on her palm.

"Hmm... it's not much, but I guess it'll just do the trick."

Koneko looked around and found herself an empty table at the office's corner. She pulled the wooden table to the center of the room. Then she pulled a black magic marker from her pockets.

She uncapped it and hummed a song from a commercial as she wrote some unknown words into the table’s surface. It wasn’t Japanese, or English, or maybe it’s not even words at all. She wrote it in a circular pattern, creating a circle that’s 15 centimeters in diameter.

Feeling satisfied with her work, she nodded and stow the magic marker away in her pocket. And from her other pocket, Koneko took out a weird shaped item covered in white cloth.

She unwrap the white cloth, revealing a handful of white rice inside. Koneko gently pours the grains of rice at the table, thus creating a second circle outside the magic marker’s circle.

Lastly she unsealed the plastic bag, took the strands of fur out and put it in the middle the magic marker's circle.

"Ahem…"

Koneko cleared her throat and closed her eyes.

"Inari no Okami, please hear my plea,"

She spoke with a tone devoid of all emotions, as if she had turn into a machine. The magic marker writings on the table suddenly glows a faint blue light. Soon after, the second circle that was made from grains of rice, floated up a centimeter above the table's surface and rotated clockwise.

"Impart to me, the knowledge that which I seek... reveal the owner of this article..."

At that very moment, Koneko open her eyes, but instead of her usual hazel colored pupils, her eyes were bright yellow, like a cat's eye reflecting light.

"I could sense it..." she turns her head to the side, facing a wall.

"Where is it hiding?"

"Please wait, I'll pinpoint its loca- eh?? It's... moving?? Homu-nyan, the creature is moving!!"

Koneko's gaze shifted slightly to the left, and continues to stare at the wall as if she could see through it.

"That's impossible, those creatures were nocturnal, there is no way it could be active during the day."

"I know! But this one is really moving right now, and with incredible speed too."

"Can you identify the creature?"

"Unfortunately no, it seemed to be blurred somehow. This never happened before..."

"..."

Silence fell into the room. Nakayama was deep in thought while Koneko was still tracking the creature in question.

What on earth is happening? Not only it moved in broad daylight, but Nanase's vision magic had failed to see it clearly... 

"Umm, Homu-nyan?"

"What is it Nanase?"

"If I'm guessing correctly, the creature is going straight to the direction of Taiga Mall..."

"That thing went straight for the all-you-can-eat buffet...” Nakayama scowls at the fact, “Nanase, you go on ahead to the mall, set up the void spell. I'm going to get Shizuko, meet us at the mall entrance at..." Nakayama looked at her wristwatch.

"...12:15 sharp."

"Roger, I'll call you when I'm done with the void spell."

The two girls quickly exit the room and went their separate ways.