Kuroka's Pov (meeting at the cafe).
Even after Kiyoshi left the cafe, I couldn't calm down. My heart was pounding so hard, and the smile wouldn't leave my face.
— A date, huh? — Touching the place where he stroked my head, I let out a cheerful laugh.
Our meeting with him was accidental, but you could call it fate. If it had been an ordinary person in his place, the demon would have grabbed me and Shirone. I don't even want to think about what horrors that crazy scientist would have come up with.
After finishing my tea, I headed back home. Home. Now my sister and I have a previously empty residence as our home. On the first day, it was lonely and sad to be alone in a three—story house, but soon the number of residents increased. Lady Amaterasu was able to free the nekomata who remained in captivity. Now eleven more youkai live with us.
— I'm back, Shirone.
— Welcome home.
Deciding to make dinner, I took the food out of the refrigerator and started cooking.
— Did something good happen, little sister? — Shirone suddenly asked.
— Why do you think so?
— Ever since you came back, you haven't stopped smiling stupidly.
— What? Really? — Looking at the reflection in the window, I had to agree with my sister. A satisfied smile was reflected on my face.
— Did you really confess to Kiyoshi and you started dating?
— Shirone, what are you talking about?! — She looked at me as if I was an idiot.
— Ever since we accidentally met during training, you've been constantly mentioning him and looking forward to seeing him again. — These words made me feel a little ashamed, but my younger sister decided to finish off my pride: — I even stayed home a few times so as not to interfere with your dates. Are all my efforts in vain?
— It's not like that! We'll have a date when he comes back. — She nodded in satisfaction at my words.
Grumbling discontentedly at the treatment of my older sister, I continued cooking. All I needed was to wait for him to return.
After three days, Kiyoshi had not returned yet, but he had warned me about it. So I calmly continued my routine. On the sixth day, I was restless. Zankoku's long absence even attracted the attention of Miss Yasaka. She gave me permission to search for him. When talking with the yakuza leader, I managed to find out Kiyoshi's location and purpose. Only the feeling from this Satoshi was unpleasant.
The seventh day was spent searching for clues and traces of Kiyoshi. In one of the areas, I noticed the activity of fallen angels. The next day, the investigation led me to the city port. The presence of the fallen is felt in this area.
In the far part of the port, there were four men who attracted my attention. One of them was talking while the others listened attentively. I tried to get closer to hear their conversation, but the supposed leader turned sharply in my direction. He pointed in the direction of my hiding place and, like the others, spread his black wings. My attempt to escape failed with the appearance of an isolation barrier.
— So you were the one who was prowling around the city all day, — the four—winged one looked at the youkai in front of him with interest. — Do you know that curiosity killed the cat?
— I have nothing against you. I'm just looking for my friend. — I have no chance of defeating them, so it would be great to part ways peacefully. — Maybe you should let me go?
— You say you're looking for someone, — he looked me over appraisingly. — Your friend, isn't he a half-demon by any chance?
Hearing his words, I couldn't contain my excitement.
— Do you know what happened to him? Where is he?
— Hush-hush, — the fallen looked at the girl with a grin. — You are very fortunate to be here. I am just going to visit him now.
The angel nodded to his subordinates, and they surrounded me.
— He has been visiting me for the last week, but today he will leave us. We need to say goodbye to him properly, and you will help with this, — the fallen used magic on me, limiting my powers, — Although your opinion is of no interest to anyone.
Such a limitation is not an obstacle for me. About thirty seconds of Ki concentration in the seal area and the magic will dissipate. I had to follow them, pretending to be weakened. His words about Kiyoshi excited me too much. In any case, I can deal with a couple of two—winged guarding me and try to hide from the rest.
The leader, accompanied by one fallen, entered the building while we waited outside. A few minutes later, his escort gave a signal and I was dragged inside. I pretended to resist, making weak attempts to free myself, preparing to get rid of the magic at the same time.
— Kuroka.
I heard a hoarse, but so familiar voice. His name burst out of me: — Kiyoshi.
Looking towards the speaker, I could not realize for a moment that in front of me was the same Kiyoshi. He was sitting on a chair, bound with chains. Bright blond hair had lost its color, completely gray. There was an emptiness in the right eye socket, while the whole eye looked at me in shock. His entire body was covered in bruises, cuts, burns. In some places, even skin was missing. His hands horrified me even more. Some of his fingers were twisted at the wrong angle, or were missing altogether, and his palms were pinned to the chair with pins.
My senses were in disarray.
— What happened to you? — All concentration disappeared and tears leaked from my eyes.
End Pov.
***
— Nooo!!! — Kuroka screamed as they began to tear off her clothes.
— Stop it, bastards! — Zankoku tried to break free with all his might. The chains dug into his body. Old wounds opened and bled, but all attempts were useless. — I'll kill you, creatures!
Looking at the raging teenager, Sadiel received incredible pleasure.
— What do you like seeing this? Your girlfriend is about to be raped while you can only helplessly watch from the side. Ha-ha-ha, — the angel laughed with an ominous laugh.
— Fuck! — Kiyoshi squeezed his hands with force, damaging them even more, but now the pain meant nothing to him. Anger, hatred, helplessness and despair mixed inside the guy. This lump of feelings squeezed in his chest, tormenting his soul.
"Why can't I do anything?! I'm not going to watch my beloved get raped in front of my eyes. — Thoughts one after another appeared in his head, while he continued to try to free himself. — Why the hell am I too weak?! I must have the power of the fucking Phenex demons. Then why can't I feel it. — The chains had already torn off the skin. Even his teeth began to crumble due to the strong compression. — I need strength! The power to escape from these chains. The power to save and protect Kuroka. The power to defeat and destroy my enemies. Burn them and leave no trace! " — a flame flared up in Zankoku's soul, fueled by a storm of feelings and a thirst for power.
Sadiel was the first to notice the change in Kiyoshi. When the half-demon froze in place and stopped trying, the fallen one thought that he had broken. But the next moment, holy power began to be felt from Zankoku. He was brought out of shock by the shout of his subordinates from behind.
The last pieces of cloth were torn from the nekomata. While two of them held her hands, the remaining fallen one forcibly spread her legs. Surrendering to lust, the man leaned towards the girl, wanting to quickly penetrate her. When he was already ready to enjoy the young body, a purple flame flared up in front of him. The fire instantly engulfed the entire body of the fallen, causing him to scream in pain. The same fate befell the other two fallen. All their attempts to extinguish the flames failed, and within ten seconds they were burned alive.
Noticing that the nekomata remained unharmed despite its proximity to the fire, Sadiel realized who the culprit was. When the fallen man focused his attention on Zankoku again, the half-demon's body was lit with the same fire. The purple flames were mostly concentrated on the teenager's wounds, replacing the missing flesh.
The chains fell to the ground, allowing Kiyoshi to stand up. The fallen man only watched in horror as his captive slowly rose from the chair. For a brief moment, a cross of purple flames appeared behind the boy, which in the next moment turned into wings on his back.
— How can this be? How can you use the sacred flame and remain whole?! You're a demon. It's impossible!
The man, falling into hysterics, launched a light spear at Zankoku. The teenager ignored the fallen man, waving his wing away from the attack. The deflected spear flew towards the barrels of fuel. An explosion was heard, scattering fuel across part of the room, spreading the fire.
Zankoku took advantage of the fallen man's distraction and flew up to the nekoshou. The girl was trembling, curled up. She was completely consumed by fear. She withdrew into herself, not noticing anything around her.
— Kuroka. Kuroka, wake up, — the guy bowed down in front of her, gently shaking her by the shoulders.
— Kiyoshi? — hearing a familiar voice, a gleam appeared in the nekomata's eyes. — Kiyoshi!
— Yes. It's me, — the teenager responded to his beloved's embrace, pressing her to himself just as tenderly. — I'm sorry that you had to go through this because of me. I promise, it won't happen again. I will protect you for the rest of my life.
— Kiyoshi. I... They... — the brunette tried to think of something to say, but she couldn't utter it, breaking into sobs.
— Calm down, my dear. It's almost over. They didn't manage to do anything to you. And now they can never hurt you.
Having calmed down a little, Kuroka noticed that they were surrounded by fire.
— Why can't I feel anything? — She carefully touched the purple flame.
— This is my fire, and I decide for myself who it is dangerous for and who it is not. — He spread the wings that he had wrapped around them during their embrace.
The couple's gaze was directed at the fallen one. The man was trying to break through the fiery cage made by Zankoku.
— It's useless. You can't escape from here.
Hearing the cold voice of the half-demon, Sadiel glared at him with hatred.
— Worthless, how can you use such power? No demon except Lucifer could use holy power! It is poison for you. So why are you standing in the sacred flame and not writhing in pain?
— I'm still vulnerable to light, but you don't need to know all that, — Kiyoshi pointed his fiery finger at the man. — That information is useless to a corpse.
A three-meter-long fiery cross appeared behind the fallen one. Many small chains with sharp tips like a harpoon formed from the surface of the cross. The next moment, all these chains pierced Sadiel, but did not touch his vital organs. Despite the resistance, the fallen angel was pulled in and fixed on the crucifix. The screams of agony turned to wheezing as another chain wrapped around the man's neck, squeezing his throat.
— You know, I would like to torture you for a very long time for everything you did to me, — the teenager's voice was calm, and indifference was visible in his gaze. — But now I need to take care of her, — Kiyoshi gently stroked the girl, who was still pressed against him. — So you will die now, but do not think that this is the end for you.
An evil, crazy smile appeared on Zankoku's face and the chains began to slowly tighten. Another painful wheeze was heard throughout the room.
— Death will not be your salvation, Sadiel. Your soul will be absorbed by my mechanism, — the half—demon saw how the man's eyes widened in fear. — You, like those three, your souls will slowly burn in the sacred flame. Every moment of yours you will experience frantic and indescribable pain until your personality completely breaks and disappears.
Having enjoyed the screams of his tormentor, the boy waved his hand and the fire instantly incinerated the fallen angel.
— Kuroka, can you let me go for a while.
— Why? — she did not want to break the embrace.
— I need to heal, — the teenager pointed to his hand. — As you can see, I can't use this fire for regeneration yet. It only replaces lost flesh, but does not heal in any way.
Nekomata moved away from Zankoku. Tears again rolled from her eyes when she again realized the state of his body.
— Calm down, — Kiyoshi gently wiped away the tear that rolled down, — I just need a little time to recover.
— Uh-huh.
— Okay, — Stroking the soft cat ears, Zankoku went to the raging fire. — Wait here.
Entering the very epicenter, he closed his eyes, concentrating. The fire slowly reached the half-demon's body. Gradually, the red fire replaced the purple flame, healing numerous injuries. It took about fifteen minutes for a full recovery.
— That's it, — Kiyoshi opened his eyes, examining his body.
— Kiyoshi, — the nekoshou ran up to the guy, carefully examining him. — Are you okay? Does anything else hurt?
— Yes, Kuroka, I'm fine now, — looking at this worried face, Zankoku realized how much he loved her. Giving in to emotions, the guy hugged her.
— Ki-Kiyoshi, — a little surprised, Kuroka responded in kind, pressing herself tightly to him.
— I love you, Kuroka.
— And I love you.
After standing like that in silence for a while, Kiyoshi spoke:
— Can you teleport us to your house?
— Yes. I need to set up the coordinates and it will take a couple of minutes.
— Do you need anything from me? — the guy asked.
— No. Although... can you continue hugging me?
— No problem, — Zankoku did as she asked with a smile.
Half an hour later, when they visited Kuroki's house, where she was able to get dressed, and Kiyoshi's house, so that he could change his rags for normal clothes, they met Yasaka.
The leader of the youkai of Kyoto thought about the story she had heard. She had no reason not to believe it. She glanced at the couple in front of her. The young nekoshou was clinging to the guy, as if she was afraid of losing him. The half-demon himself calmly looked at the nine-tailed. Although outwardly calm, Yasaka could see crazy lights in his eyes. She understood that the teenager could not get away with just gray hair after so many days of torture. The fact that it didn't break is already a miracle. The woman decided to keep an eye on this young man in the near future to see if he was dangerous to the yokai or not.
— So you awakened your sacred gear. Do you know what it's called?
— Yes, — the teenager extended his hand forward and a purple flame appeared on his palm. — At the moment of activation, it contacted me. This is the Incinerating Hymn, the cross on which Christ was crucified.
— How? — the fox stared at the flame in shock. — You have demon blood flowing through your body and you calmly hold fire in your hands, from which any other demon would already scream in agony.
— Here we can say thanks to Sadiel, ha-hah, — the words were full of irony, and even Yasaka's spine was tingled with goosebumps from the crazy laughter. — Thanks to the fact that I am half human and half related to the Phenex, after numerous hours of contact with light and subsequent regeneration, I am slowly getting used to the holy element, — the platinum blond extinguished the fire with a clenched fist. — Although the Incinerating Hymn still causes me pain when used, it is not as much as what I have already experienced, — hearing this, Kuroka squeezed Zankoku's hand tighter, to which he hugged her in return. — As long as I constantly use this flame, I will soon get used to it. When my body is no longer susceptible to holy power, I will even be able to heal myself with my fire.
— This is very surprising, — the kitsune could not find other words. After thinking for a moment, she asked: — What do you intend to do now? If the demons find out about you, they will try to lure you to themselves or destroy you. Your power is too dangerous for them, even the Demon Lords can die from your longinus.
— Aren't I your subordinate? — he asked with a sly smile. — The Youkai and Shinto Gods are on bad, almost hostile, terms with the demons. Wouldn't you really help such a useful person who could be a trump card against the underworld?
— That's right, — Yasaka hid her smile behind her fan, — you're a very useful subordinate. Your power will be kept secret. From now on, you will be trained by the best teachers in both magic and senjutsu.
— I have a favor to ask of you, Miss Yasaka, — the teenager said, bowing his head.
— Just call me Yasaka. So what do you want? — the fox asked with interest.
— Let me deal with the traitor Satoshi Nishimuro myself and take his place. As the head of Hyakki Yakou, I will be able to strengthen the influence of the youkai in many cities of Japan.
— Interesting, — Yasaka looked into Kiyoshi's eyes, tapping her finger on the table. — Do you think you can handle this job?
— Yes.
— Well, then you can try. If you fail, I will replace you. Agreed?
— No problem.
— Then get started. — Looking at the back of the guy leaving, the kitsune whispered: — I expect a lot from you, Kiyoshi. With you, our faction can become much stronger.