Kyoshi Miyazaki

     That awkward moment when you're outside in your pajamas while your best friend's soul is being devoured by a Japanese demon.

If I had a dollar for every time that happened...

The demon wasn't huge, but it was just as terrifying. It was still a dark mist, but its presence relayed all my worst nightmares.

Taylor and Alan backed up from the demon and Alan turned to me.

"Why does it speak Engl-Holy Hera! Why are you in pyjamas?"

I glared at him. "In case you didn't notice, Mr. Obvious, it is currently 7:30. Anyways, what happened here?"

"We followed Kris outside but she left us, well, more like we split up because she and Taylor kept bickering. We were about to head back inside when we heard the scream. And did that demon just speak?"

The demon cackled. "Of course, I speak. How else would you the curses and insults I lay on you as I rip out your larynx?"

"Of course," Alan growled. "How rude of me. Now let go of my friend!"

Kuroi held Kris up. "Oh, this thing? I have no use for her. Neither does Shujin. She merely had the scent of the one I want: Zia Cage."

It tossed Kris and Taylor caught her.

I reached for my katana and then realized it was back in the hotel room. Nevertheless, I looked up at the demon.

"You have me," I said.

"Yes, yes." the demon said. "It would be a pleasure torturing you."

Alan frowned. "Hold on. Who's Shujin? And what does he want from Zia?"

"It's sad for you to assume Shujin is a man. Shujin has no need for gender, as they are omnipotent." It turned back to me. "Now then, let's get the killing."

The demon lurched forward but Alan jumped in front of me. The demon slapped him across the car park.

I ran back into the hotel and grabbed my katana. I got back to the car park,  but Alan, Kris, and the demon were gone.

I turned to Taylor. "What happened?"

"The demon took Alan. I wanted to chase after them, but the girl told me to stay behind. Claimed that I was too weak. That being a walking Wikipedia is extremely useless. Well, excuse me, Miss-"

"What girl?"

"A Japanese girl. Kinda hot, big boobs, black-"

"How do you know she's Japanese?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because she spoke to me in Japanese, but who knows?"

I rolled my eyes.

"She also took Kris," Taylor added. "She was feeling better so she decided to tag along."

"Do you know where they were headed?"

"No. The girl mentioned something Grand. Is there anything grand in Arizona?"

I facepalmed. "You're such a dumbass. They're at the Grand Canyon!"

"Oh. Right. So how far is it?"

"Approximately 2 hours if we drive."

"Yeah, I don't think the demon is going to wait for us before devouring them."

I groaned. "I wish Kris was here. She'd be able to-"

Kris suddenly appeared beside us. She had soot marks and a nasty cut on her face, but she was grinning like a maniac.

"Hey guys," she said. "Sorry I left. Kyoshi really needed me."

I blinked. "Have you been fighting a demon or playing Super Mario Bros.?"

"You just said Yoshi needed you."

Taylor snorted. "She said Kyoshi. She's the Japanese newbie."

"Newbie?"

"Yes. She had a BlankHouse Acceptance Letter. It fell out of her pocket when she left with Kris."

"So that means she was on her way to the BlankHouse."

"Yes," Kris said. "And she sent me here to get you guys. Well, Zia more specifically."

She took our hands and the world turned black. Then I found myself at the Grand Canyon.

I turned around and saw a girl with shoulder-length wavy black hair with two blonde streaks in the front, Jennie Kim style. She had chocolate brown eyes that were currently glaring daggers at the canyon. There were dark webs inside of it and Alan was trapped at the center.

I stepped forward. "Alan!"

The girl stopped me. "Don't. She'll attack anyone who tries to come close. She says she's looking for somebody called Zia Cage. Do you know this person by any chance?"

Kris giggled. "Kyoshi, that is Zia Cage."

Kyoshi blinked. "Sorry. My bad. She's all yours."

I shook my head. "I need backup. Kris, you'll need to make sure that the demon doesn't leave the Canyon or attack tourists. Maybe place some special-"

"Runestones. Got it."

"Great. And Taylor...Taylor, what the hell are you doing?"

Taylor dropped his bag.

"Sorry, señoritas! You're on your own! No way I'm fighting that. It's every man for himself. Adios muchachos!"

He took off.

I gritted my teeth. "That son of bitch."

Kris walked up to me. "Forget about him. Kyoshi and I will back you up."

"Thanks," I said. I walked over to the edge of the Canyon and looked down at Alan.

"Alan!" I yelled. "I'm coming to get you!"

From all the way at the bottom, I could see Alan's widened eyes.

"Are you sane?" he yelled back.

"As sane as a mundane!"

"Wait. Was that a-"

I clutched my katana and jumped in.

Now, seeing Alan trapped in the shadow webs, I assumed they would be like webs; sticky, worst-case scenario. But they were as hard as a rock.

A landed in front of Alan and pain shot up my legs. My knees buckled.

"Zia Cage," the demon's voice echoed around the canyon. "Give yourself up or the boy dies."

"So you can kill me then kill the rest of my friends? No way."

The demon cackled. "You act so tough, but you couldn't hurt a fly. Why Shujin wants you dead, I will never know. Now I'll say it for the last time, hand yourself over or the boy dies."

I jumped and tried to cut the webs but my blade bounced back. I grabbed it just before it slipped into the void.

"Zia," Alan whispered. "Help me."

I turned around and gasped. Alan's body was beginning to wither. He was growing paler and thinner by the minute.

A sob built in the back of my throat. My eyes became blurry with tears. "Let him go!"

"No can do, little one I told you, give up or he dies."

"Not happening. Now let. Him. Go."

"Nope. I think I'll do this instead."

The dark webs around Alan tightened. He howled in agony before going limp.

I screamed and my vision turned red as I slowly lost consciousness.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I woke up in the sick bay of the BlankHouse. I sat up in the bed and lifted the covers and saw my left foot was in a splint.

"Did I really fall that hard?"

"Yes."

I flinched. Alan was sitting beside me. He was back to normal and had band-aids on his arms.

"Hey," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine. So did you guys finish the mission?"

"Yeah, we did. And I still can't believe you-" He stopped himself.

"You can't believe I what?"

"I can't believe...what you said back there."

"What did I say?"

"That you're as sane as a mundane."

"So?"

"So, you don't watch anime, but you watch Shadowhunters?"

"Shadow...Oh, mundane!" I laughed. "Yes, I prefer Shadowhunters to anime. Why don't you like it?"

"Because it's stupid! The mundanes and shadowhunters are classified differently. Why? I don't know. At least werewolves and vampires have an excuse. And also, you can't just mix different religions! Like, you have a vampire with the Mark of Cain, a shadowhunter whose husband is the prince of Edom, and not to mention Angels not being allowed to draw demon runes with their...stylo? Stethoscope?"

"Stele."

"Yes, stele. Anyway, and let's not forget Jonathan Morgenstern, the psychopath that fell in love with his own sister! It's all bullshit!"

"I like it."

"You're dead to me."

"Oh really? Am I now? How about this: I have a dad joke for team 7, but only Sakura would understand."

Alan cracked up. "Did you come up with that?"

"Yes. I did watch a bit of Naruto. And Naruto Shippuden. Maybe up to episode three hundred and something. I genuinely miss-"

Just then, someone stepped into the sick bay. It was Selena Bliss, one of the students.

"Mrs. Mendev sent me to get you two," she said.

"Thanks," I said. We'll be right there."

Alan handed me a pair of crutches and we went down to the hall where Kris, Taylor, and Kyoshi were standing before the other students. We joined them and Mrs. Mendev stepped forward, holding medals in her hand.

She gave the first one to Kris.

"Congratulations, Kristabel Maywell, for completing yet another quest."

Kris grit her teeth but said nothing.

She gave the second to Kyoshi.

"Congratulations, Kyoshi Miyazaki, for making it to the BlankHouse. We hope to see more of your courageous spirit."

Kyoshi bowed.

She gave the third to Taylor.

"Congratulations, Taylor Mendev, my son, for tactically retreating when things were hectic. Very wise of you."

I rolled my eyes.

She gave the last medal to Alan.

"And congratulations, Alan Decker, for completing your first mission. As a bonus, you'll be giving the students a little speech."

Alan glanced at me like, sorry.

I shrugged. I didn't want Rayla's scrap metal on a string. I'd rather she shoved it down her disgusting throat.

The students applauded Alan as he stepped forward. He cleared his throat.

"Hey everyone. As you all know, I'm the new kid. And as you also know, I came here yesterday, so going on my first mission was pretty hard, especially when the only fighting/killing experience I have is from playing GTA and Apex Legends."

Everyone laughed.

"Yes, it's true. And speaking of truth, I'd like to say something that Mrs. Mendev 'accidentally' forgot to mention. You see, Sukoshi Kuroi didn't run away. It...She was killed. And the person who killed her is none other than Zia Cage."

The crowd gasped and I did as well.

"Yes," Alan continued. "Zia killed the demon with five, and she saved my life. I tried to save hers at the beginning- a pretty dumb move- and ended up trapped. I would've died- all of us would have- if Zia hadn't intervened. Why did she intervene?"

His eyes met mine. "Because she's brave, beautiful, and Gods of Olympus, she's freaking amazing."

I felt my cheeks warming up. I tried to steady my nerves. At least he didn't say, "And she so hot. Like damn~", so that was a plus.

He walked over to me and put his medal around my neck.

"You deserve it more than I do," he said, as he turned back to face the rest of the students.

"We know that the standard amount of BlankHouse students required to go on a mission is four, and our 'honourable' proprietress hadn't planned for Kyoshi's arrival. Therefore, I hope you all understand that Mrs. Mendev had not meant to exclude Zia from the medal-giving ceremony. Thank you."

The students applauded as we left the hall.

As soon as we left, I hugged Alan.

"Thank you," I said. "For everything"

He shrugged. "No biggie. Although..."

He walked up to Taylor and jabbed his chest with his finger.

"You."

Taylor looked offended.  "What? I didn't do anything!"

"Exactly," Alan growled. "Zia and the girls risked their lives to fight that demon and you just pulled a John Cena on them!"

Kyoshi arched her eyebrow. I did John Cena's signature gesture- You Can't See Me.

Oh, she mouthed. She giggled silently.

"Your mom might have called the bullshit that you did there a 'tactical retreat', but she's a brainless and power-blinded bitch. And you're a *****."

He headed to his room and took me with him. He had just chewed Taylor out, but when he turned to look at me, he was smiling.

"Come on," he said. "I want to talk to you."

"Okay..."

We got to his room and I sat next to him on his bed.

"So," I said. "The real thing you wanted to tell me in the sick bay was that I killed the demon, Isn't it?"

He nodded. "Zia, if you weren't there for me, I would have died."

"Yeah, no shit. Why didn't you use your powers?"

"Huh?"

"You know, your indescribable powers."

"I didn't use it because it's dangerous."

"Really? More dangerous than fire?"

Alan sighed. He reached over to his nightstand and touched the lamp. Its light began to flicker.

"You have eletrokinesis?"

"And fulgurkinesis."

"Why do you have two?"

"Why do you have two?"

"My dad has pyrokinesis, and my mom has cryokinesis."

Alan scoffed. "Icy Hot. Anyway, in addition to those two, I have super speed."

"You have super speed?"

"Yes, and don't you dare-"

"I am so calling you Flash now."

"Fine then. I guess Icy Hot is now official."

"Whatever." I hugged him a second time and left his room.

A/N: Hello. Bonjour. Guten Tag. Whatever. I'm really tired because I finished this chapter when I got back from school, so pardon me if the ending is bit...weird.

BYE 4 NOW!

~KristyTGP

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