Derek and Chris looked at each other and then looked at the frightened girl that was surrounded by a bunch of eccentric teens.

“This her?” Derek asked. “I don’t know. I kinda expected her to be older… and not a bunch of rattled nerves.”

Chris on the other hand sighed when he saw that none had taken any extreme actions against the girl. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them to make sound decisions, but that they were just too unpredictable most of the time. 

“Mind helping us out?” Chris turned to Tristan but the latter shook his head. 

“My compulsion doesn’t work on her. And the only time it doesn’t work is if I’m compelling another supernatural.”

“Well, tough luck on that end. She doesn’t know what she is.” Malia pointed out. 

Throughout all this, Kira could only sit in silence as the conversation carried on with haphazard momentum. And yes, she saw the gun that was under Allison’s father’s jacket. 

“If we can’t figure out what’s going on from her then let’s just go to her parents. From her own words, her parents are somehow involved with those samurai.”

Chris looked visibly relieved at Malia’s statement and though it remained to be confirmed, he could safely entertain the thought that those samurais weren’t here for him given his brief history with them. 

“You, Kira right?”

Kira nodded. 

“What do you know about the supernatural world?” Chris asked. 

“Apart from what they told me today? Absolutely nothing.” Kira said with utmost seriousness. She was also inwardly glad that it didn’t come out in a stutter. 

Chris looked at Tristan and Derek and they both nodded, signifying that she was telling the truth. Just then, Kira’s phone started ringing with a call from her father. 

“Um…should I…”

“Pick it up.” Tristan said. Malia passed him a cup filled with blood as Kira answered the call and withstood the initial barrage of urgent questions from her panicking father. 

[Kira, where are you? Are you hurt? Your mom and I are worried sick with your sudden disappearance.] 

“Dad, dad, calm down. I’m fine… I think.” She said softly as she warily eyed her rescuers and interrogators. “I’m fine, truly. I’ll be coming home soon so you don’t have to worry so much.”

[Kira, listen to me. Where are you?— Kira, tell me where you are right now. Your father and I are coming to get you.]

Kira grimaced as she heard her mother’s cold voice that made it explicitly clear she wasn’t receiving any other answer than the one she asked for. 

Kira looked between Chris and Derek and was about to give the older man the phone when Tristan took it from her hands. 

“They won’t react explosively if it’s a classmate clarifying her safety than an unknown man.” He said. 

“Hmm. Since when did you become this considerate? And why was I never on the receiving end of it?” Lydia crossed her arms and pouted at how understanding Tristan was becoming lately when she had to put up with the bulk of his blatantly uncaring phase. 

Tristan didn’t answer her whining and brought the phone to his ears, staying silent until the tirade of questions came down. “Mr. And Mrs. Yukimura, this is Tristan Hayes from History class. Kira is with me and I’m bringing her over as soon as possible. I believe we have some pending discussion.”

Without waiting for their reply, he ended the call and tossed Kira’s phone back to her. 

“Now that that is out of the way, let’s get moving. I prefer we get this over with as soon as we can because I have a flight appointment that I really can’t afford to postpone any longer.” Derek said before marching out of the house. Never once did he regret his decision of sending his pack away as soon as he could. 

“Well come on.” Malia beckoned on Kira and led her to their car where she sat with Tristan at the front as he kicked the pedal in gear. 

The only ones talking during the entire drive was Tristan and Malia as all Kira could think of was getting home to her parents, serial killers or not. Everything that had happened in the last hour left her mentally drained and all she wanted at this point was for it to end… preferably with her keeping her life. 

“Huh. You didn’t destroy it.” Malia commented as they pulled up to the Yukimura’s driveway with Argent’s car behind them. 

Kira’s parents, Ken and Noshiko, came outside as they heard the cars pulling up in their driveway. 

The first reaction Tristan and Malia noticed was how Noshiko's eyes became cold as she saw them and her husband had to put a hand on her shoulders to stop her from acting out. 

“Mr. Hayes, what’s the meaning of this? Is my daughter, Kira, in trouble?” Ken asked while glancing at Argent and Derek who were coming forward. 

Tristan first surveyed the area and only when he confirmed that no one was paying attention did he answer the worried parents. 

“Well for starters, something tried to kill her in your home.” 

Both parents' eyes widened in shock when they saw Kira timidly nodding to Tristan’s words. 

“How about we take this inside?” Ken offered and wasted no time in ushering them inside while sharing a look with his wife.

Kira’s mother wasted no time in bringing her daughter to her side and making certain that she wasn’t hurt in any way. Sadly there was little she could do about mental damages. 

“So do you mind starting from the beginning?” Ken asked after they were seated. 

Argent was the first one to speak up this time around. “How about telling us what you know about those samurais that tried to kill us?”

“Your heart rates just went up so you likely know what we’re talking about.” Derek stated. 

The Japanese couple looked at each other and made silent conversations with their eyes, oblivious to the fact that Tristan was reading their emotions like a book. 

The one to answer was Noshiko who spoke after her husband managed to convince her. “They are called Oni. Forces of nature summoned to combat overwhelming evil.” 

“Overwhelming evil? Like that silver toothed bastard that loved riddles for some reason?”

Noshiko looked at Tristan with widened eyes causing the others to do the same. “Where did you see it?”

“It was the person that tried killing me… before Tristan and Malia came, that is.” Kira answered from beside her mother. 

“If you’re wondering if it’s dead then yes it is. I killed it, but given that it possessed a dead body I doubt that’s the last of him we’ll see.” Tristan informed. “Clearly you know what it is, and those samurais too. Mind telling us their deal?”

“I’m afraid the answer isn’t so simple as the cause for this is woven into history. Back in 1943 to be precise.” Ken supplied. He held his wife’s hands for emotional support. 

“… And it was all my fault to begin with.” Noshiko said with a heavy voice. 

“I’m not trying to flatter you but you don’t look like someone in their 60s – 80s.” Malia said, expressing her doubt, something that made Noshiko chuckle. 

“Try 900.” She said with a smirk at the reaction from everyone in the room except her husband. 

“What the… She’s not lying.” Tristan said, thoroughly astonished at seeing the oldest person he’s ever met. Compared to her, Satomi was still very young.

“What the hell?” Kira stared absentmindedly at her mother, struggling not to believe her words by the smallest bit because of the implications it’d have on her currently fragile mind. “My mom is 900 years old.” She muttered, and slowly turned to her father. ‘Oh no, don’t tell me–ʼ 

“I’m not a thousand years old, Kira. I’m 43.”

“Hold on, let me get this straight before you move on.” Argent held his hand for everyone to stop for a moment. “These ‘Oni’ were summoned by you, right?”

Everyone looked as Noriko nodded. 

“Then why were you using it to attack us?”

This time Noshiko shook her head. “The Oni do not attack unless someone bars their mission.”

“And what mission is that?” Derek asked, frowning. 

“The same thing you said you killed.” She answered while looking in Tristan’s direction. “To find the real host of that thing; the Nogitsune. A dark fox spirit that revels in chaos, strife and pain.”

“I summoned the Oni after I felt that the seal imprisoning the Nogitsune in the Nemeton was broken. The Onis were to mark those not possessed by the Nogitsune, never hurting them unless they are directly confronted.”

The four of them – Chris, Derek, Tristan and Malia – looked at each other in disbelief. How would anyone just let a masked ninja-samurai made of shadows mark them without trying to confront them?

“Okay, I think I get some of it. But how does this all tie to 1943 and the Nogitsune?” Chris asked tentatively. 

Noshiko took in a soft breath and slowly exhaled. 

“Because I was the one who summoned it in 1943.”

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