Night had come and Naruko was still mad, "Fucking Satsuki, what's she looking for? Our old man…" she ground her teeth just thinking about it.
But as she moved, she didn't note someone was nearby.
"Hey Naruko-chan." Naruko turned to the sound of the voice. It was Haruto, standing under the tree with that dumb demeanor of kindness of his. "Dinner's ready. I had Yura make us a traditional hotpot. You hungry?"
Naruko's stomach answered for her, but she ignored, settling to tch instead. "Piss off. I'm trying to relax."
"You still upset?" Haruto asked, his expression shifting into one of empathy. "If it's about your family—"
Naruko growled before Haruto could finish his sentence. "Even if it is, I sure as hell don't need to talk to you about it."
Haruto sighed and was about to continue until a rather strong gust of wind cut him off. Without any warning, Naruko jumped off the tree, grabbed Haruto, dragged him behind some tall grass. "Naruko? What—"
"Shut it." She whispered tersely. She pointed towards the sky and from the clouds appeared a carriage surrounded by numerous demons. Naruko narrowed her eyes and then she went wide eyed as if discovering something shocking, which she did.
"Naruko. I'm a little lost here and if I could get some words of info on what is happening, that would be great." Haruto whispered with a little stress. Haruto wasn't totally used to the laws of this universe yet, so excuse him for being surprised again.
"That woman in the carriage... it's my mother." Naruko whispered, becoming more antsy by the second.
Haruto processed his brain for a moment, then he asked. "What, how, and why?"
"I don't know." Naruko replied. The cart was nearing towards their location, but was stopped short when a giant hand out of nowhere grabbed it. The giants hand belonging to an Oni who wasted no time in crushing the carriage in its grip. Haruto was left more shocked and confused than before while Naruko immediately tensed for action. "But I'm about to find out!"
Naruko dashed with Haruto right behind her. The oni easily ripped the cart apart, quickly taking the unconscious woman inside, subsequently making Naruko sprint faster. Naruko swiftly closed the distance and jumped towards the beast, claws ready to rend its arm off, but she was stopped a whip of some sort catching her off guard and knocking her back. Haruto didn't hesitate in breaking her fall by catching her. She immediately jumped out his arms after the landing, ignoring the warm feeling.
"After all these years, you're still reckless to the point of needing human aid in combat." A familiar and stoic female voice said from the beast's shoulder. Satsuki, the ever-loving older sister of Naruko. "To say I'm surprised would be disingenuous."
"Who the hell are you and what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Haruto shouted, drawing attention to himself. "That thing has Naruko-chan's mom, lady!"
"Hmm, this monk is truly strange, even more than rumors claim…" a certain imp told the bodacious full-blooded demoness.
"Get out of my way, Haruto." Naruko growled at him, claws ready, "The bitch's mine."
"No." the blond said, putting up his fists, "Listen, I can tell she's strong. But she's between you and your mama. Let me give her a piece of my mind, you know I won't die easy."
Clenching her jaw, Naruko looked at him, then at her half-sister, and finally at the woman who was supposed to be six feet underground, "Oi, do me a single favor." She told the blond, "Whatever you do, make sure at least one of your punches ruins that perfect face of hers…"
"You think too highly of him." Satsuki said as she moved forward.
Racing to the side, Naruko ran around Satsuki, glaring at her. Giving the younger dog girl a cold look, Satsuki moved a hand, her fingertips conjuring a golden light whip which she lashed at her sibling. It was at that moment that her eyes widened when the boxer got within two feet from her in a single dash. Grinning, he reared back a fist and threw a punch that the older dog woman avoided by jumping back.
"Said something?" Haruto decided to be a cheeky bastard, cupping a hand to his ear, "Because I thought someone was thinking lowly of me. Was it you?"
"Are you trying to anger me?" she said, expressionless as always.
For a change, Haruto was stunned, "Huh, I actually expected an insult." He put a hand on his hip as he pondered what was happening, "Do you really see me as that small of a threat? If so, don't." he brought up his right fist, azure energy coating it, "Frankly, I got no idea how I'm doing this, but fighting here makes it click. I'm thinking going a couple of rounds with you ought to help me."
He clenched his fists tightly, chakra oozing from them and interesting Satsuki, "Spiritual energy, yokai power, or something else…?" she asked, her eyes slightly narrowed on him, "Maybe…" She lashed at him, the light whip cutting the air and grass in a split second. Reacting as fast as lightning, Haruto tilted his torso to the side, observing how it missed his cheek and cut a few loose hairs. He didn't wait after that attack, he went at her with his fists covering his chin.
Once again, Satsuki moved her hand gracefully, leaving a large gash on the ground when Haruto dashed to the side and got within range. Throwing a right hook that made the air ripple, he scarcely missed her by a couple inches when she casually leaned her head to the side. Although his fist managed to make her hair flutter and reveal her mature face. He'd have stared, especially when she leaned close with her very generous bosom near his face.
But the sound of air being cut was enough of a reminder that the pretty rose had thorns. He threw a punch and dashed back, his left arm lashing like a whip as her own energy attack went after him. It was a second, and the two were apart once again. Haruto winced and held his side, a cut on it. His wound wasn't deep, but it was starting to stain his borrowed outfit with blood. At that point, Satsuki couldn't help but close her eyes, underwhelmed.
"Ugh…not bad, lady." He grunted, sucking up the pain, "But don't act like you're that good. If I wanted to, I could've punched you five times."
She opened her eyes, "What…?" her eyelids went higher when noticing something in his hand.
Haruto grinned cheekily, "Ok, maybe three." He corrected himself as he held up a few strands of her hair.
Grabbing the locks where he yanked the hair, Satsuki narrowed her eyes icily at the pugilist, "Is it your intention to anger me that badly?"
"No, I want you to pop a vein in rage." Haruto retorted with a frown, "Acting all high and mighty, treating Naruko-chan like trash after she sees her mother leaving her again… I want you to be sick with fury, lady!" he thrust a fist in the air at her, "That's when I want to beat you until you cry! Cry until you feel as bad as she must have when she lost her mama!"
Charging at her once again, Haruto waited for her counter, and he didn't wait long. Irritated by the human, Satsuki's body moved in a graceful dance, gales of wind cutting everything around her. Knowing he'd get cut into sashimi if he got too close, our hero concentrated his mind. Focusing all the energy to one fist, he brought it down on the ground with enough force to shatter it!
Satsuki's eyes widened once again as the floor erupted, earth spies shooting at her. Losing her footing, she ground her teeth, put a hand on one of those spikes and threw herself over Haruto, flipping over the pugilist to see him grinning at her frowning expression. Upon landing, her eyes became frozen pools of hatred aimed at him while he clenched and unclenched his hands.
"How!?" her minion exclaimed, "No human could have that power! What is he!?"
"As a matter of fact, I'm not sure and I don't care." Haruto retorted, rolling his shoulders to crack his joints into place, "Right now all I want is to punch her with so many lefts she'll beg for a right."
"Your mouth drips with bravado, human." Satsuki slightly narrowed her eyes. To Haruto, it looked as though she was glaring even harder, but in actuality she was calculating. "Yet I hardly see the martial prowess to back it up." Satsuki lashed with another whip, aimed to sweep at his kneecaps.
Nearly on instinct, Haruto jumped back before rushing towards his target again, barely ducking under another lash. Judging from the way she was using her whips, he figured Satsuki had yet to take him seriously. Haruto figured he'd fix that soon enough with a few good punches to her exposed midsection. Once he was close, he opted to deliver a low left uppercut aimed right to her ribs.
However, he knew he was playing with fire, Just got to keep it together…
Satsuki did what she never expected to do in her demonic life and physically blocked a barehanded attack from a human. How unexpected and highly unwelcome.'Her discipline allowed her to hold back a wince from the pain vibrating in her arm and her free hand went to slice the offender's eyes out.
"Too easy!" Haruto taunted, bobbing and weaving right under her arm. Another punch was sent right towards her perfect face, a right curving strike landing on her cheek and nearly knocking her off her feet much to Satsuki's displeasure and Jaken's distress. "Hard to talk with busted jaw now, huh?"
Satsuki didn't reply. Instead, a nearly spontaneous gust of fire was shot at him courtesy of a furious Jaken, forcing him to jump back with a yelp.
"I shall not let you harm Satsuki-sama any further, disgusting human!" the green imp roared as he held up his two-headed staff.
"How about saying that right to my face, you overgrown lizard!?" Haruto quickly roared.
Jaken ignored him and looked towards his mistress. "Satsuki-sama, what do we do with this insolent brat!?"
Satsuki turned towards him. From the corner of her mouth leaked a light trail of blood, a slight bruise marking a soft yet apathetic looking visage. Her cold eyes were laced with unspoken fury.
"Jaken. If I need assistance, I will ask for it. Interrupt me again and I'll eviscerate you with your own staff." She spoke such harsh words ever so calmly that Haruto nearly shivered.
"Y-yes Satsuki-sama!" The little demon squeaked, knowing far better than to question his master.
Satsuki then turned back to regard Haruto. "I will give you this much, human. You're one of the few beings ever to injure me at all. You may get to perish with some solace."
"Talk's cheap, lady." Haruto told her as he steeled his nerves, balling his fists tighter. He clenched his jaw to keep himself from panting.
This monk is a noteworthy human threat. I suppose it was a mistake to underestimate him. She thought with bitterness sinking in. This boy must something else entirely to have laid even a finger on her, but when she readied her next strike, she noted he was taking deep breaths, "I see."
"See w—"
Interrupting him with lightning fast lashes, Satsuki charged at the blond. Swaying his body side to side, back and forth, he did his best to avoid her strikes while backpedaling. It was then that he regretted his choice of fighting her without learning to control whatever his powers were first. He had said so already: he was barely aware of how to use it. Thus, even if he got the hang of how to summon that energy, he had no idea how to properly control it. And Satsuki knew, for he was slowing down until one of her lashes cut open his gi, revealing his chest and leaving a wound on it.
Opening his eyes wide in shock, he barely heard Satsuki, "Learning in the middle of battle, such a foolish idea." She said, allowing herself to relax upon seeing him fall flat on his back, clutching his chest.
"Guh…" he groaned, using the remains of his gi to stop the bleeding, "W-what now?" he glared at her, unwilling to give her the satisfaction of seeing him afraid.
Cowering was what she expected, "Masking your fear won't work." Gracefully walking to him, she looked down on the boy with that never-changing expression, "Granted, for a human barely grasping what power it is you have, you've gotten the honor of touching me in battle."
Janken smirked, "Shall we make his death an excruciatingly slow one then, Satsuki-sama?"
"No." such a simple but shocking answer from the cold woman, to say the least, "I'm intrigued. What was that power, human? How did you obtain it? It's akin to a demon's, but pure."
"Beats me, lady." The boxer ground his teeth and tried to get up, but fell down on one knee from the pain, "And even if I knew, I'd rather take that to the grave. Oh, don't go thinking it's because I wanna be heroic and prevent you from using it for evil… All I want is to see you blow your fuse knowing I had the power to punch your perfect teeth in and you couldn't do anything to stop it…"
Instantly, the air grew colder, chilling gales of wind blowing around the demonic woman like an omen of death.
And he didn't regret getting the right corner of her pretty mouth to twitch in anger.