#todochakoo

[lovetnaomi]

Secrets of the Dusk Chapter 23

Chapter 23

               The cool air flowed in through the window, softly playing with his hair, an attempt to disarm him for the cold winter ahead. Todoroki sighed, shifting his weight on his feet as he stared out towards the grave where Jericho was buried. He had been careful not to bury anyone so far, he knew he didn’t have a willing church grim-that-and well, most of the people he killed so far didn’t deserve to have a happy ending, as one of a lighter term of life may have hoped for. Those he had killed were all of supernatural-kind, they would have enough psychic-energy to linger as ghosts, he had made sure to dispose of any wandering spirits properly so he wouldn’t have to deal with the after-effects later. Besides, they didn’t deserve the rights of a church grim who had the ability to come and go to the afterlife and their modern world as they pleased, conscious of what was happening. Sure, it wasn’t without its own rules, but most wouldn’t forsake such a chance. Others would regret it. And others would use it to deal with their unfinished businesses. He wished he knew more about Jericho before they had buried him. He glanced towards Katsuki paging through some of the books he had brought home recently, his unusual behavior of quiet to accommodate their current situation. The house had an unusual mellow to it and the coffee mug he held in his hand had long gone cold. 

Another page turned. Another ripple ran across the cup. And the moonlight continued to shine in their yard, completely unaffected by the happenings of the night. To some, this was just another night. Another tranquil night, going on living their lives. And while not tranquil, that was what he intended to do.

               He reached to close the curtains.

               “Leave it.”

               “Are you sure?”

               “As long as the moonlight stays over there.”

               Todoroki nodded, unsure how long that would remain, but it couldn’t hurt to let Katsuki see outside with the moonlight illuminating the world every so often, it was likely better than most dreary nights covered in the grayscale colors. Todoroki glanced at his glowing red eyes wondering how much that allowed him to see throughout the night, maybe he was seeing the world different from how Todoroki was picturing he saw it. A soft sigh of cold air ran down towards his mug, maybe it wasn’t the cold winter air that had turned the beverage cold, but himself. Uraraka’s feet had long since stopped padding around the room, she was clearly in bed but he could hear from the way she was tossing and turning and occasionally giving up to rustle through paperwork, that she was still wide awake. Burying another was no easy task. He glared into his reflection knowing that he had failed in his task to protect her. An embarrassment as the protector of this household that would have to be paid for in kind.

               “Take her somewhere.”

               Todoroki glanced at Katsuki paging through the books, unsure of how to answer.

               “You told her we’d take care of her. It is not like she was born into this world. Give her a night out. Something to make it easier.”

               “We have another problem to deal with.”

               “Yeah, a problem that comes and goes, clearly.” Katsuki pointed at himself. It made sense, if Katsuki had restrictions it was very likely that the person who had turned Katsuki into what he was also had restrictions, although not the same ones. It seemed that they were rather active, but given by the evidence they hadn’t been attacked in a while after the first entourage of attacks it was unlikely that they were going to attack any time soon.

               “And if they’re just hoping we’ll let our guard down?”

               “Defend each other. We’re going to win. We have to.”

               Todoroki paused continuing to stare out the window. Maybe he should do something with the grave, ask one of the forest fairies for a favor or the witches that still resided in the forest. Maybe he could even cover it himself. He was sure that it would be a burden each time she looked at it. A burden that she shouldn’t have had to endure. Uraraka said that she wanted to create a future for herself, it was the reason she was going to college. But she had never said that she was willing to tear others down to create it. And it was clear that those were not her intentions. It was moments like these, moments like when she was deep asleep in her bed when he was standing out in the yard soaked in the blood of anyone who dared enough to go passe the border staring at the moon wondering what he did to deserve this life, that he wondered, wondered what her life was like before she had met them. If she would’ve been better off not meeting them if she would regret knowing them by the time she graduated. And if she would ever find out that he was slaughtering people while she slept. The idea of her stepping out that door to find the bodies that piled up throughout the night, him standing in the center covered in their blood made bile rise in his throat. It felt as though his throat boiled when he wondered what would become of all of them. They knew the only way out for “immortal” supernaturals was murder. She knew that. But he didn’t want her to see the ending. There was no reason she would have to see the ending.

               “No, I’m not taking her out,”

               “She needs a day out, we’re not-“

               “I’ll call Tsuyu. She needs a normal day out, we’re not helping.” Todoroki’s eyes slid towards the phone hoping he could remember what her number was. Wondering if Tsuyu had ever left her number around for them in the first place. Todoroki swallowed, glancing towards Katsuki as he lowered himself to the table, “One more thing….when they come home, I’ll have the Witch of the Forrest waiting for them and they’ll erase their memories of this place.”

               Katsuki’s eyes trailed leaving their after image as they moved towards him, glancing up from his book for the first time since they had been in this room several hours ago, “You can’t-“

               “It’s the same concept as the barrier that protects the forest so normal humans can’t run in.”

               “That’s her decision.”

               “Are you hoping that she’ll actually be able to fix your curse? We’re being selfish. This is going to get her killed.”

               Katsuki was quiet, closing his book as he stared towards the moonlight glowing in the kitchen floor, steps away from him, knowing that no matter how much he should ask Todoroki to close the window he wanted to let the light in, let it seep in through the curtains. Moonlight wasn’t warm, but there was something mellow about it, “So what you’re just going to throw her out?”

               “No, I’ll find a place and rent it out than have someone pose as a person renting for cheap-“

               “Shady.”

               “College offer?”

               “Unless you can get someone officially through the college, even shadier. Especially if they’re only offering it to one student. Uraraka probably doesn’t know that many other people considering she was sleeping on the streets, and Tsuyu probably lives close by with her parents’ recent appearance a couple of weeks ago.”

               Todoroki nodded. Neither option would work without some investment, but this was something worth investing for.  Uraraka was something that he would gamble his whole life on if he had to. He didn’t want her to feel indebted to him, but he didn’t want to put her in danger. He was a being of another world in her reality, he was a being of literal magic and fairytales. What was the point of all the magic and power that he controlled if he couldn’t at least give her a roof over her head and a place to feel safe? An absolute waste of power.  That was the bare minimum, the ability to protect those who had come to him for protection without them offering and giving them the ability to feel safe. It was his duty as the one with the power. It was his duty to protect them.

               Another cold breath escaped, drawing his eyes towards the forest where a set of their own blinked. “Leave” He mouthed. Enough blood had been shed here tonight. He wasn’t in the mood for another hunt of prey. That prey would suffer if they came any closer.

               Katsuki sighed, glaring towards the creature that curiously blinked in the woods, anything that was smart could smell the amount of blood the land had been soaked in, it would stay far away. But this creature seemed to be nothing of the sort, “What is it?”

               “I can’t tell from here.”

               “I’m not eating that. It smells like your other house, something recognizable inhuman about it.”

               “Several humans live there.”

               “Who also happen to be half-demon.”

               He had a point, but there was something about Fuyumi and Natsuo that seemed more human then he and his eldest brother did. And it wasn’t the crazed eyes that his eldest brother possessed, although that likely was both of his heritages struggling as hard as they could against the reality he was presented with.

               “But you’re not denying it smells like your old household.”

               Todoroki shuffled, none of the creatures around here recently were dumb enough to go near such a blood wrenched place, “It does. It smells like Fuyumi.”  He stood up, heading towards the front door and opening it, the creature already scrambling up to him. It was an unusual creature, especially for their world. It could almost be considered small and cute, by a human’s standard. Likely that was its lure to collect prey. It likely wasn’t very strong but had plenty of tricks up its sleeves. The kind that clearly got underestimated but shouldn’t have been. Some creatures that were so cute that it would cause even the toughest demons to let their guards down, creatures that should never be underestimated. It almost reminded him of Uraraka, he got himself. A smile almost escaping his lips as he considered how powerful he knew she would become. He shook his head, there was no way that this creature in front of him would be able to compare to her in any way. But there was a reason they stayed around Fuyumi, while Fuyumi may have seemed to side mostly with the humans, she spent most of her life residing in the demon world. This creature was clearly one of her messengers.

               Its voice was soft and squeaky, the kind someone would expect from something so small, a disarming voice, “Princess Fuyumi’s next birthday is coming up, we would like to request a gathering of sorts to take place.”

               “Shouldn’t that be planned by her?”

               “We are making a surprise, please do show up. Princess Fuyumi also asked that I told you that she’s made accommodations so all of your guests will be able to attend, but did not elaborate on it.” The creature squeaked, handing him an invitation and a quick nod before scampering off into the woods.

               “Guess it knew it wouldn’t get killed immediately since it smells like your sister.” Katsuki leaned on the railing near the door as Todoroki glanced up towards the floor that wasn’t there before. The house was moving around of its own will again, there were days where he wondered if it would swallow them alive. If it was a curse or a demon itself.  Or maybe something else entirely. Either way, so far it had been kind to them.

               “I wonder what it meant by accommodations.” He glanced towards Katsuki, it was clear that she meant that she would make arrangements so that Katsuki could attend a night out that wasn’t dedicated solely to the new moon, but it wasn’t something he wanted to risk without further details.

               “Don’t think about it, I need to guard the house.”

               “The house guards itself well enough.”

               “Sure, it just let like four guys in here that wish us ill will and would’ve burned it down had they a chance.”

               “It used to eat people.”

               Katsuki blinked, glancing back at him, likely the thoughts of a human running through his head as he processed while they were still living there, “Are you crazy then why are we still living here?”

               “It’s how I knew you meant no harm when I found you in the house one day.” Todoroki paused glancing towards the sky, remembering one of the first times he felt panic in the domain he had created. And yet, the reason for his panic and unreason-ability that day would become one of his closest friends.

               “I’m still not going.”

               “Fuyumi has a lot of connections herself within the magical and demon realms, she’s probably the person to ask if someone wants to get anywhere with information.”

               “That goody-two-shoes? Come on, even I know looking at her she’s not going to have the kind of information you would expect a demon to have, even if she’s only half, you can tell-“

               “You’ve underestimated her already.” Todoroki paused, remembering the creature that was at his door only moments ago, from the looks of it the creature-itself currently seemed just as unreasonable as the malicious aura it was capable of asserting. If it wasn’t it wouldn’t have managed to live long enough to deliver such a message. And it wouldn’t have left a pile of scraps that it had munched on within the woods near the edge of his territory.  He glanced towards the door, “And although I hate to admit it, she’s dating one of the most powerful tengu-clan members in the area.”

               Katsuki scoffed, rolling his eyes, “And what’s wrong with the tengu? It’s not like the two of us can’t beat the crap out of their whole clan single-handedly.”

               “We could. But we won’t.” Todoroki sighed, glancing towards Uraraka’s room wondering if she was still awake if she would like to prepare to go to such a place. Or if she would even want to get out of bed tomorrow. Maybe she was asleep already. He glanced back towards Katsuki, maybe he should enlighten him on why not to fight the tengu. “We don’t want to fight them. There are several reasons, the first is my family has a pact with them, they don’t hunt humans, they act like a mafia, but the most important reasoning is my sister is dating the heir.” Todoroki ran a hand through his hair, it was something most people would whistle at or be interested in on how sweet and soft-spoken Fuyumi had managed to snag the wild playboy heir. But last time he had seen Hawks, it seemed that Hawks was absolutely smitten with her. And he didn’t think he would randomly betray Fuyumi, likely at this point if they broke it off it would be a mutual understanding. He hoped. For Hawks' sake.

               “I’m going to bed. Make sure you address the concerns about me coming there with Fuyumi later.”

               “I will. She won’t purposely kill a guest.”

               Katsuki rolled his eyes, “Purposely isn’t the only way someone can die. And I won’t be going out in such a flimsy way, not when I’m so close to answers.”

               Todoroki shrugged, wondering if Katsuki’s species truly did sleep. After Katsuki padded off into a random direction in the house, likely just giving him the courtesy to go to bed himself and explore the house’s new arrangements on his own instead.  Todoroki turned, heading down the hall. Uraraka’s footsteps had long since stopped wandering around her room, he could at least check on her.

               “Uraraka?” He knocked on the door, receiving no response he knocked again, his knuckles sliding down the back of the door. Maybe she didn’t want to see him. Maybe she was sick of the supernatural world and the bloodshed and the fear that ran throughout it. It was no fairytale after all. She had nowhere else to go. Maybe she wanted to run from them and had been frantically packing to free herself from the perils they had gotten her into. None of these were her problems, after all, just problems her roommates had caused her, frankly if there was a roommate rating system he was sure he wouldn’t be the worst roommate, but pretty far down on the scale.  Dragging your roommate into murderous situations didn’t help in the opinion factor. Todoroki shook his head, Uraraka wasn’t like that, she was kind. And she was desperately working towards her goals. If he knew her she was likely engrossed in a book that was either teaching her about her own blossoming magic and who she was or still struggling to research how to help Katsuki. “Uraraka?” He knocked again, the sound of her breathing was soft, almost hollow, his brain stuttered reeling throughout the day. He hadn’t realized it earlier, but the feeling that slipped down his back earlier, tickling the nape of his neck, it was magic. Magic had ran throughout the house, not only once she separated the three of them from fighting for their lives, but even further. How could he not realize it sooner? Uraraka was the reason they were still alive? Between possessing Jericho from that distance, he could still feel the magic coming and going drifting around their feet. She was still running some form of magic. Todoroki’s eyes lingered towards the mirror, the bruises on his face had disappeared faster than normal. He had thought it was his demon side reacting as quickly as it could to save their lives. But it was her. She was trying to save them. And he hadn’t seen her all night in the name of giving her space, “Uraraka, I’m coming in!”

               Todoroki swung the door open, the tension building up in his shoulders releasing as he spotted Uraraka; head on placed on the desk, covered in paperwork, books messy and stacked in the corner, she was asleep. Todoroki smiled, taking a spare bracelet the Witch of the Forest had left him and slipping it around her wrist. The bracelets had been made by the Witch of the Forest when she thought Uraraka was a blossoming witch, one she wanted to take into her coven and nurture herself. There was no way she would imprison Uraraka with such intentions, especially when she was such a wild soul that was desperate to be free herself.

               Uraraka’s eyes slid open, haze covering them, “Todoroki? Did you need something?”

               “Nothing, have you been here all night?”

               “I’m trying to find answers.” Her words were jumbled as she mumbled, but it was clear what her intentions were. They all needed answers of their own. They weren’t out to save or destroy the world, but to find out the answers to what was happening in their own lives. The papers discussed the circumstances of vampires, similar creatures, and events of similar happenings. It was perplexing where she was able to obtain such documents from, but those would be questions for tomorrow as he watched Uraraka slip in and out of sleep. Maybe he hadn’t trapped her here after all but she chose to stay. No one who felt trapped would be falling asleep in front of the person who they felt was trapping them. She clearly felt safe here.

               Todoroki reached, gently lifting her up, doing his best to move delicately in a similar way to someone hunting their prey, but the only intention to move Uraraka without waking her. He slipped her into bed, covering her with her blankets. Uraraka rustled turning to her side, he let out a breath pacing towards the door, “Goodnight, Uraraka.”

               Todoroki paused, glancing down towards the paperwork, knowing he would have to pull more of the weight in the investigation. Maybe part of him wondered if they could return Katsuki back to being human, would Katsuki leave him? Would they be able to turn him into a human too? Would whatever the sacrifice require be worth it? What would be the value of it all? But mostly would he wind up alone in the end? Todoroki’s hand quivered as he picked up an article, he knew he shouldn’t look at it. An article that shouldn’t be removed from the pile, an article of a man he knew he shouldn’t meet alone. But he would. He would go for answers, and that man would pay for making his territory into a hunting ground of those who he now protected. The article without realizing it detailed the hunting ground and current pattern of the person who was suspected in several murder cases. The person who had murdered Katsuki.  And he was going to hunt. Todoroki had found that he was doing his best to limit how much blood was spilled each night as not to scare his guests off, but he had a thirst for vengeance to quench. And the clock had just hit midnight.