19 Investigating the Red-light district II
"It's no problem but Tamayo-san... both of you are not human, are you?"
"The speed at which he leaped at me was too fast to be a normal human without using a breathing technique. And I can say for sure that you guys are not Demon Slayers."
"...You're right, both of us are demons."
"What! Is that even possible? You're talking normally with me even though I was bleeding." I pretended to be surprised.
"You have no need to worry about that. I have altered my body considerably. I've adjusted our bodies so that we no longer need feed upon human flesh. A small amount of blood is all we need."
"I see... Excuse me but if you can alter your body that much then you must be a very skilled doctor. It might be rude of me to ask you even though we just met but can you create an antidote to demon poison?"
"Demon poison?"
"You see Shinobu here is also a doctor and she's searching for a cure against a demon with a poison blood demon art."
"And...Well..., I don't know how to say this but...Shinobu maybe a doctor but her expertise lies in making poison. She's not that good at making antidotes for them." I scratched the back of my head.
I lied and looked over to Shinobu and saw her looking at me with a pissed off expression. I looked away the moment I saw her.
(Sorry Shinobu but you'll have to take one for the team.)
"I see... I'll need a sample of the poison to create the cure."
"Does that mean you can create a cure!?"
"No matter the wound or aliment there is always a cure or treatment somewhere. I'm sure I can develop a cure to the demon poison that you're seeking if I had a sample."
"I see..." I pretended to ponder her words.
"...You just said that there's a cure for everything. Then is there a way to turn demons back to humans?" I acted by showing her hope on my face.
"I am sorry." She apologized. "At this time, I am unable to turn a demon back into a human but surely, one day..."
"I see." I return my face back into a helpless one.
"Nevertheless, we are dedicated to establishing a method of treatment."
"Tamayo-san if you are a demon then do you know about Kibutsuji Muzan."
"...Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"
"I hate that man. He is a being that shouldn't be allow to exist." I showed visible anger by clenching my fists. "It would be lying if I said I don't want to utterly destroy him. But I'm too weak to do that."
"That's why If you can't turn a demon back into a human, I want you to create a poison that will at least weaken him and at best destroy him."
"Arrk." I struggled to get up before getting on my knees. I faced her and said, "I know I am asking a lot from you but...please help us!" I bowed my head, and it touched the ground.
"Please get up." Tamayo supported me back up. "Don't worry, I will do my best to aid you. If you don't mind, I'd like you to do something for me related to that."
"What is it? If it's within my power, then I'll do my best to help."
"You see to create a counter for Kibutsuji, I'll need a sample just like the antidote you asked against the poison. I'll need Kibutsuji Muzan's blood samples."
"Since all demons originated from that man, every demon has a little bit of his blood in them. The stronger the demon, the more Kibutsuji's blood they have. That is why I want you to collect the blood samples of demons with high concentrations of Kibutsuji's blood."
"It will be a difficult task. Are you stilling willing to take the risks?"
"Of course!" I answered with a grin on my face.
.
.
.
(Shit!!!! I forgot to take Akaza's blood since I was too excited on getting the Sentai powers. I just focused on killing him so he can't kill us. Well, it's not like there's a body to collect blood, I turned him into ash. *Sigh* What a waste.)
When I was blaming myself inside my head, the words the came out of Shinobu's mouth took me by surprise.
"Is Upper rank 3's blood enough?" She held up a vial of blood from her pouch.
"What!?" We exclaimed in surprise.
"Shinobu, when did you get that?!"
"You remember that time when I dashed at him alone in the middle of the fight? I collected his blood at that time." (Though I almost suffered lasting damage from that.)
"I thought I could use this in the future to create a poison that'll work against Kibutsuji but I haven't found any free time since then."
"I want you to have it since I'm not sure when'll be free and I can't concentrate on making it every day like you. So, Tamayo-san, will this help your research?"
"Yes! With this blood, our research will speed up so much!" She had a genuinely happy look on her face.
"I will do my utmost to study this and create a poison that will works against that man." Tamayo bowed and said with a smile.
"Thank you very much!" Tamayo thanked Shinobu.
"You're welcome." Shinobu answer with a smile and took out two more vials. "I also took some spare blood from weaker demons so you can compare them or test on them."
After talking with Tamayo about things such as how to contact her with a cat, she gave me the vials to contain the blood of demons. After that, I got out of bed and both me and Shinobu decided that it's time for us to leave.
"Then we'll be on our way Tamayo-san."
"See you later Tamayo-san."
"Please be careful about your injury Kosuke-san. don't move around too much."
"Don't worry Tamayo-san. I'll be careful."
(You better not come back to disrupt my time with Tamayo-sama!)
We said goodbye to Tamayo and Yushiro as we departed from the inn before heading toward the red-light district. We were walking in silence until Shinobu spoke to me.
"Hey Ren, do you know what happened to the flower you bought me?"
"Oh that? Well, it was starting to wither so I threw it away. My Shinobu only deserve the best."
"...I see...But I hope you don't do stuff like that in the future. I'm glad that you think I deserve the best but that was a gift from you. I would've kept it as long as I could."
"I'm sorry. I didn't think it through." I bowed to her to show her I was really sorry.
"It's fine." She shook her head sideways. "But you know, I thought of you as someone who dislike bowing to people."
"You're not wrong, even I have my standards. There are people I would rather die than apologize but for you, I'll do anything."
"Aww~ That's so sweet of you Ren." She hugged me out of nowhere.
"And for other people, well, I wouldn't do anything I wouldn't like, but if such a small gesture will help me achieve my goals, then I guess I'll do it without hesitation."
"I believe you." Shinobu nodded. "After all you have that shoulder wound to prove that."
"Hehe, yeah." *flinch* I touched the shoulder wound and felt a sting. "*Sigh* This kind of feels like a waste."
"But still, I'm surprise you tried to collect his blood. I thought you focused on poisoning him."
"Well, according to you, Tamayo's and my medicine and poison worked wonders in the battle against Kibutsuji. So, when I saw Akaza, I thought this was a chance for us to create the poison for Kibutsuji earlier than the series."
"You're amazing Shinobu." I gave her a thumbs up.
"Hehehehe. Thanks." She ran in front of me showing me her back.
"But I still don't apricate that you lied about my medical expertise." She turned toward me and said with a dark smile.
"I am really sorry about that!" I quickly apologized before the chill feeling went away. "I just said the first excuse I could come up with without thinking."
"Hump." She pouted.
"How about I make it up to you? I'll cook you a meal when we have the time."
"Really!?" She beamed. "I haven't tasted your cooking yet. I wonder how it'll taste?"
"*Sigh* It's better if you don't get your hope up. I can't do any complicated dishes."
"Fufu, I don't mind. If it's from you, I'll like it no matter what." She turned toward me with a sweet smile.
------------------
We walked for a little while before arriving in front of the entrance of the entertainment district. The streets were busting with men who were grinning stupidly entering the district. We walked into the district, and I noticed a few people glancing at Shinobu.
My hand automatically moved to my katana, but I stopped myself. (Deep breaths Ren. You're better than that. Calm yourself. If they don't talk to or about us, I don't need to care about them.)
We went pass the entrance and walked deeper into the entertainment district. We were walking side by side when a random woman called out to me from the building.
"Hey there cute boy, why don't you try our services." She winked at me."I guarantee you'll have the time of your life."
"Come o-Eeep!" She screamed a bit and turned around seemingly scared of something. And I knew what that something was.
I turned around only to see Shinobu releasing her full killing intent toward the woman.
Shinobu's POV
(Maybe I really should kill every woman in the city...)
Ren's POV
"Shinobu, can you stop? Even though your killing intent is directed toward her, sensitive people can feel it." I showed her a few people near us who were looking around in fear.
Her killing intent instantly disappeared like it was never there and a sweet smile quickly formed on her face.
"Ara, what might you be talking about Ren? I don't notice any killing intent."
"Sigh, you don't have worry. I'm not interested in any other woman than you." I smiled and patted her head and showed her a soft smile. "Besides, I like a natural beauty like yourself more." (I can't stand their make-up face. They look like ghosts!)
"I see." She said with a smug look on her face. (I'll have to add that to my list of things that Ren likes.)
We headed toward east following Shinobu's guidance until we reach a house with a wisteria crest. We went into house, and I yelled out "Excuse us, can we get a room!?"
The manager at the front looked at us and when noticed our swords, he bowed and said "Of course, please come this way." He led us onto the second floor where there were a lot of empty rooms.
He opened one of them and a spacious room with a table in the middle of it appeared. We sat down near the table and the manager bowed before leaving. After the both of us sat down, we started to discuss what to do.
"So, where should we start first? If we go to look for Daki and Gyutaro first and if they discover us, we have no choice but to fight them. We could run away but that could kill a person that are in the underground if she's in the mood for a snack after a 'workout'."
(Personally, I have no problem with letting some strangers die but if they can be saved then why not. Besides... I asked for these powers because I wanted to be more like them.)
(That doesn't mean I have to follow their ways but if we can save a few people by doing things a little more differently then why not.)
"If we go toward the underground pit first then we can't do much except free them but that would alert the demons and we can't fight at our full strength while protecting those people."
"What do you think Shinobu?"
She became quiet for a couple of seconds before saying "I think we should split up for now. We can cover more ground that way without alerting the demon. You should go to the demon, if you encounter them, you can defeat them easily with the Sentai powers."
"I'm still new and I don't know much except the things you've explained. I'll go guard the pit where the women are captured." (Plus, I want to try something by myself.)
I nodded.
"Then I'll go investigate the Kyogoku house to see if Daki is still there and meet you back here tomorrow first thing in the morning. She should be in the Kyogoku house if there's no changes to the plot."
"Ren don't fight her by yourself, ok? I know you can kill them if you transform but I still don't want you to get hurt."
"Of course, don't worry. I'm not stupid. Besides, I wouldn't want my cute girlfriend to be worried of me."
"*Mou*" She puffed her cheeks and said, "I'm trying to be serious here."
"Hehe, I know, but you look cute when you're mad." I smiled.
Just then a knock came from the door. When it was opened, the manager was there with a tray of snacks.
"Pardon me. I have brought you some tea and meat buns. Please enjoy them." He put the tea and meat buns on the table before preparing to leave when I called out to him.
"Excuse me Manager-san, I'm sorry to bother you, but can you tell me the direction to the Kyogoku house?"
He nodded and said "Certainly. If you go right from our entrance and turn left at the main road, it is the second largest building."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Now, please excuse me." He bowed his head and left the room.
We took a short rest in the building by eating some meat buns and drinking tea that he served us. After relaxing for a while, we got ready to start the investigation.
"Before you go..." I pulled out a ninja Ranger Key from my coat which I summoned with little effort and took out my mobilate that was on my belt.
"Gokai Change."
"Kakuranger!"
"NinjaRed." I transformed into NinjaRed and posed before pressing the button on my belt to take out a Ranger key.
"Here, take this with you. It'll make locating the hole and escaping much easier."
She took a look at the Ranger Key before saying "Thanks."
"*Umm* You're welcome. Then I'm off."
"Be careful out there."
"I will." I said before using body flicker to disappear.
Whoosh
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap*...
I ran on the roofs of the houses toward the Kyogoku house. *Whoosh* *Whoosh* I jumped from one house to another as a red blur without being seen by anyone.
I skipped on top of multiple houses, and I did a flip before falling onto the house that is facing the Kyogoku house.
*Thud*
"So, she should be in this house if my information is correct. *Hmm*" I noticed that no one was coming in or out of the building, people just walked pass the entrance.
"Looks like business is not open yet. Guess I'll have to sneak in." I put my hand together to form a sign.
"Kakure-ryu: Transformation." I transformed into a fly and flew into the house. I flew into the house through the front door. I saw no one near the front so I went in deeper into the house.
I flew pass a couple of people who were cleaning up the room. I flew deeper inside the house toward the woman's area before hearing them talking among themselves.
Woman 1: "What do you think of the new girl? I heard she punched her first customer."
Woman 2: "Well, with her attitude, I bet she'll commit Ashinuke sooner or later."
(Note: Ashinuke means to run away without paying off their debt.)
Woman 1: "I wonder how a girl like her got sold here."
Woman 3: "I heard that the man who brought her here was drop-dead gorgeous. That hag was totally smitten with him. She bought the girl with no hesitation."
Woman 1: "Well, she better fix her attitude if she wants to rise up in the ranks. Or else she'll be stuck as a cleaning maid forever."
(Looks like a new girl just arrived and according to their description Uzui's wife or somebody else infiltrated the building. It shouldn't concern with me as long as they don't get in my way. Now I have to get to Daki's room.)
I flew further into the building avoiding people as much as I can. I flew under the stairs and change back from a fly to NinjaRed and from NinjaRed to my regular Demon Slayer uniform.
(If she's there in her room then I have to pretend to be a weak demon slayer before using that opening to cut her head or to run away. Though, it's best for me to run away before she detects since I made a promise.) I used my hearing to see if there's anyone near Daki's room.
(Allright. Her room should be on the north side, let's see. *Hmm* According to my hearing, there's no one on that side except a person.)
(It's too normal for it to be Daki or Gyutarou and it's too small to be an adult so it must be one of the kids that work here. I can knock one of them out easily, but I should still be careful to not let them scream.)
(After that, should I plant a bomb under her...Nah, too risky. I should just find the best location in the room to surprise attack her later.)
I quietly walked up the stairs before closing in on the room. I stopped near the door before placing a hand on my sword handle getting ready for whoever or whatever's inside.
I braced myself and opened the door to Daki's room before widening my eyes at what or should I say who I saw inside.
"Aoi!?"
"Ren-san!?"
"What are you doing here!!??" The both of us exclaimed at the same time.
