"…"
"…"
"…-Y"
"-EY"
"…."
"Hey? Are you alive?" – said the distorted voice.
"?"
(W-what?) – though Akrema as she started regaining consciousness.
"Hey…. Can you hear me?" – said the voice that Akrema couldn't tell if it came from close or from afar.
"?"
(Is…Somebody talking…. Why…. Body…. Weird….) – though Akrema.
(Why….. Wait….) – though Akrema as her memories started slowly coming back, she started remembering the gyaru group, the crack…. But then she started remembering something alien.
The alien memories were in pieces, as if they were shattered, but when she tried looking through them, thinking that they were hers, she saw some random things… Sphere. Holes. Roars. Pain.
But while trying to remember what was going on, she then remembered the bear biting her and ripping out her guys.
"AAAAAAAAA!" – Akrema got up screaming in fear as her whole face went pale.
"…."
"Oh. So, you are alive." – said the female voice.
"…."
"?"
Scared Akrema covered in sweat looked instantly to her side and saw somebody standing right next to her. An girl and young one at that.
An little girl wearing jean shorts alongside simple red and black T-shirt with an hoodie on top of it.
The girl appeared very young and as Akrema looked at her, she saw that the girl had yellow eyes alongside two tone tail with an black hair at the start while slowly turning around the half of an length and then bright red at the very end.
"…W-what?" – said Akrema as she stared at the girl that looked confused at the Akrema.
"Hm…" – the girl walked around the Akrema, checking out her body.
"You…. You are not an monster?" – said the little girl with worried expression.
"?!"
"M-monster? Wait…. What…." – said Akrema as she stared at the girl confused.
"Em…. Who…. Who are you?" – said confused Akrema.
"Hm…. That is the good question." – said the girl.
"Em…. My said that I shouldn't give my name to strangers…. But….. Can you tell me your name first?"
"…. Akrema." – said confused but alarmed Akrema as she introduced herself.
"Akrema, huh?" – said the girl while getting closer to the point where she had her face right in front of Akrema's, causing Akrema to confused back away.
"…Hm…."
"Call me Sar." – said the girl while smiling.
"Anyway, how did you gotten here big sister? Why were you in the ruble?"
"?"
"Remember…..!" – Akrema began looking around in panic, finding out the things she feared, giant roots and the building remains.
"Shit! This place isn't safe!" – said Akrema as she got up.
"We need to go to the safety…. Wait…. Why are you alone?" – said scared Akrema.
"Where are your parents?!"
"Oh, they are not here if you are wondering about it." – said the girl as she saw Akrema worried expression.
(Shit!) – though Akrema.
(This ain't good! An girl like on her own?! If that bear or what ever is still… Wait…..) – though Akrema as she realized something was off.
Akrema looked down and saw her legs without boots and torn up skirt as well as her thorn up shirt.
Akrema hastily reached out for her stomach, touching it…. Before then looking shocked at her left arm.
"W-what is going on?" – said terrified Akrema.
(Both of my legs were completely broken…. My arm was snapped in two like twig…. And my insides including guts were torn outside my own body…. I saw it…. I SAW THEM ALL OUTSIDE!)
(This isn't an dream! I can fuking tell! There are still those roots and those building remains….. Wait.)
(This isn't…. Where…. Where am I?) – though Akrema as she realized that she was somewhere she doesn't recognized.
(This isn't… This isn't the place where that bear mauled me…. Where… Where am I?)
"…."
(And why are my limbs okay? They were….) – though Akrema as she stared at her hands in fear.
"Big sis…. You saw those weird monsters, didn't you?" – asked the girl with worried voice.
"E-eh?" – said Akrema as she realized she forgotten about the girl.
"Y-yes…. Wait. You saw that bear thing too?!" – said Akrema as she rushed towards the girl that had scared expression.
"Yes… But I didn't encountered the bear…." – said the scared looking girl.
"I encountered instead those weird beast human things…. Honestly I was running away from them before then I saw rubles and roots falling down from there…. I though it was monsters catching up to me, but then I saw it was you."
"?"
("Falling down"?) – though Akrema as she looked up and saw some kind of hole some kind of hole above her.
"…"
(Did…. Did I fallen down? But why? And how? I mean I do see that hole there and….. No. I shouldn't be asking that now.)
(The situation right now is too dangerous.)
(That thing it wasn't an dog or a bear…. It was just something pretending to be them!)
(I need to get out of here and bring that girl somewhere safe… Or that thing would find us and catch up to us in no time.)
"…"
(Still…. What happened to my body….. It WAS completely destroyed.)
(HELL! I can still taste blood in my mouth and my clothes ARE ripped apart by something like claws!)
(I was destroyed…. So why am I….)
"Shit…. Nothing is making god damn sense!"
"…."
"Are you alright?" – said worried girl.
"…Sorry…. But I don't know…. Still, we need to get out of here." – said Akrema.
"Say, how did you find yourself…. Whatever this is?"
"Did you were also swallowed up by something like an "crack"?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you are talking about…. I just…. I was just playing around with my cat…. And the next moment I knew I was here, alone." – said the scared girl.
"Honestly, I though you were one of those "Things"."
"…."
"What do you mean by one of those "Things"? You mean an monster that can become different animals?" – asked Akrema.
"…. You…. You didn't saw them?" – asked confused looking girl.
"???"
"…Wait… What did YOU saw?" – asked scared Akrema.
"…I… I don't know… They looked weird…. Like something like toys that have mismatched parts?" – said the scared girl.
"Either way, they swinged…. I don't know, "Something" at me and that next moment I knew the tree next to me was cut down… I ran… And ran…. And ran…. Until I came here."
"…"
(Shit! Its not just one monster, but many?! Not only that, but she said "Things", meaning that she meant multiple monsters?!)
(Dammit!)
"…."
"!"
Akrema approached the rubles nearby after noticing something burrier beneath them, before then starting to move bricks away and then taking out something from it.
(Its better than nothing.) – though Akrema as she picked up an broken pipe with an ripped off part, giving it an sharp end.
"I know you were running away just now, but staying here is too far dangerous… I was also attacked just moments ago by something that turned from a dog to an bear." – said Akrema.
"I don't know where that thing is… But it will kill us once it find us and this isn't something we want."
"Let's go. Stay close to me."
"O-okay." – said the girl before then fallowing Akrema.
Akrema began walking through the tunnel of roots and building remains alongside the girl, before then finding themselves in something akin to an large garden slash forest that was also mixed up with the remains of some buildings or even roads.
"…."
(Jezus Christ. Its looks like one of those apocalypse games and movies where zombies had destroyed the civilization and plants started growing everything.
(But is this place really "Earth"?) – though Akrema as she slowly moved while also looking around.
(I mean, the weird crack appeared and the next moment I know I'm some place that looks similar but isn't the same, before then some sort of "monster" attacked me.)
(The best thing I can come up with is an "different world", an isekai…. But this is just plain fantasy! An fiction! An fake!)
"…."
(Then again…. There was "that" thing and that monster…. Both of the things that should not be real and yet they were…. They also almost killed me.)
(There is also the question of my body. I really got…. Did I died? I ain't an doctor, but with those kind of injuries I should had died…. But then again, what happened to my body? Its good as new! Besides the clothes that is, they are still destroyed after the attack.)
"!"
"Hide!" – whispered Akrema as she grabbed the girl and hid behind the giant tree nearby.
"W-what is it?" – said scared girl.
"I don't know!" – said scared Akrema as she held on to the pipe.
(But I definitely saw something moving in the distance.)
"…"
"…."
"!"
Few moments of waiting was an right call, as the Akrema gazed as something in the distance moving away some debris and entering an field of grass and flower.
The creature appeared to be…. An mix of something.
The creature body appeared human from afar, but it was not.
Left leg, right arm, half of the upper torso, all looked like something mix of an wolf and human, while its head looked like an distorted mix of the two heads, wolf and human heads combined.
The creature appeared to be also carrying something like an bend medieval club.
"…"
(WHAT IS THAT THING?!) – though panicking Akrema.
(That ain't human! That ain't costume either!) – though Akrema as she saw the creature crouching and sniffing the flowers.
"Hey. Sar. The monster that you saw, was it something like an human resembling an wolf?" – whispered Akrema after completely hiding behind the tree for an moment.
"Y-yes. They chase me around. T-there was few of them." – said the girl.
"…'
("Few"? Shit…. I only see one….) – though Akrema as she watched the monster nervously while trying to stay out of its line of sight.
"…."
"Sar. When I grab your hand and move, try not to scream or make any noises while also trying to keep your head as low as possible. Got it?" – said Akrema.
"Y-yes." – replied scared girl.
"…."
"Now!" – Akrema grabbed the girl by her arm and began moving quickly while crouching and using the bushes as cover while the creatures was focused on some random tree.
"…"
(Okay. So far so good.) – though Akrema as she hid alongside the behind an part of the building roof that was sticking out from the ground.
(Honestly, I don't know what to do…. The best bet would be to get to the crack and hope it would somehow "magickly" transport us back…But the crack I came from…. There was that monster in there…. And I can't look for the place where that girl came from, since she said that there are other monster roaming around.) – though Akrema before moving again with the girl as soon as the chance popped, before then hiding behind next spot.
"…"
(The best bet would be to first get the fuck out of here and probably find the crack from before or maybe some help…. But would be there any help here in the first place?)
(Hell! That thing just transformed from an dog to an…..To an….)
"?"
"Is something wrong?" – asked the girl while noticing the scared expression of Akrema.
"…"
(The monster was able to turn from the dog to a bear…. But who said that it couldn't just turn into an human…. Into this "girl"?!)
"…."
(NO! Calm down!)
(The monster tried to kill me as soon as it spotted me and if that girl was an monster, then why it didn't killed me? Simple! It's just an girl!)
(Dammit! Am I losing my mind from the panic?! I was about to swing the piper at her head!)
"…."
(Escape! We need to escape!) – though Akrema as she looked around, spotting the creature from afar.
"…"
(Good. Its not looking in our direction and we made quiet distance…. There is something like path here, once we take it we are good to go.)
"Lets….?"
(What the…. What…. What is this weird smell?) – though Akrema as she smelled something foul nearby.
"…."
Akrema looked around, before then saw something in the corner of her eye that completely alarmed and her scared her.
The second disfigured wolf human creature wielding an broken sword had saw the pair and rushed at them while making screaming noises.
"?!" – Without even thinking about it, Akrema swinged her pipe around, smacking the creature in the face and causing it to entire an loud yelp, that caused the other humanoid beast to hear it and start running.
"!"
"SHIT!"
Akrema grabbed the girl by her arm and began running away towards the exit while the two beast tried giving chase.
(Shit! How the hell did that thing got so close?!) – though panicking Akrem as she slowly started reaching the exit.
However, right as she was about to, the third humanoid wolf monster leaped out of the bushed and rammed into her, knocking her back and separating her from the girl.
The second beast from before that got hit tried rushing towards the girl, but before it could, Akrema threw her weapon at the creature, hitting it directly in the eye.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! RUN FOR IT KID! JUST FUKING RUN!" – shouted Akrema as she picked up an random branch as her new weapon.
The first beast that ran towards the two had finally catched up and rushed at the Akrema swinging its weapon at the Akrema and instantly destroying the branch.
(Shit!)
Akrema tried gaining some distance, but then the beastly creature leaped at it, with its weapon in hand, ready to swing it.
(OH SHIT! I'M DE-)
"…."
"?" – Akrema who was braced to defend herself by raising her guard with her arms realized that something was off as the attack that was supposed to come did not hit her, causing the girl to lower her guard and see something she wasn't expecting.
The creature that was about to attack her was now in front of Akrema, standing in place, with its entire arm missing that held its weapon.
*Sigh*
"Really? Well, that was certainly fast reveal." – said the girl voice from before moments later the creature body was brutally reaped in half.
"???"
"W-what the- "
"Fuck? Yea I know." – said the girl, finishing off Akrema sentence.
"Anyway, may you just sit your ass here?"
"I really don't want bothering saving when dealing with these guys."
"…. What…" – Akrema stared confused at the girl before then noticing something.
(H-horns?!) - though Akrema as she spotted two long slightly bend horns sticking out from the head that had black color alongside beautiful golden colored patten rings that resembles rings alongside the tip of the horns looking like they were made out of gold.
"…."
"Hm… Just saying, if I wanted you dead, I would had killed you already, so just sit down your ass there and wait. It won't take long." – said the girl with the horns.
One of the beast monsters leaped at the girl, but then it was instantly grabbed by its face, before then getting smashed against the ground, instantly killing the creature, before the third creature leaped at her, but she just stepped to the side, grabbed the creature by its arm and then swinged it, slamming against the ground as well before then stepping on its head, crushing it, completely and easily wiping out all three creatures in just few seconds as Akrema stared confused and scared.
"…"
"I already said it before, but its better if you calm down." – said the girl with the horns as she turned around.
"If I wanted you dead, then I wouldn't be pretending an little hopeless girl, would I?"
"…."
Akrema stared at the girl, alarmed, ready to run.
"Fair warning. Try to run and I will catch up to you." – said the girl as she instantly got in front of Akrema.
"?!"
(W-when did she?!) – though panicking Akrema.
"…."
"Anyway, introduction are in order, correct?" – said the girl as she backed away a bit.
"Considering the current circumstances, its better if I say my real name and explain what is going on."
"First thing first. Yes ain't human. Those horns make things that much obvious and me just demolishing these monsters."
"The same goes to my name, its made up. I just used it as an cover up."
"My real name is Shuten."
"Shuten Doji."
"An oni."
"…."
"Oni?" – said Akrema as she carefully stood up while looking at the girl, still having her guard up.
"…Shuten….. Wait. Wasn't- "
"Shuten Doji known as an drunk demon?" – said the girl that introduced herself as Shuten Doji.
"An leader of the oni and demons as well as the descender of the Yamato Orochi? Yeb. One and the same."
"I ain't some fake pretending to be the real one, I'm the real ass Shuten Doji."
"…." – Akrema just stared at the girl with confusion and fear.
"…"
"Hm…. So, you are one of those types? The ones that believes that something like magic, fantasies and stuff are not real, eh?" – said Shuten.
"Well, look around kiddo. Does this look "normal" to you?!"
"Hell, you were just attacked by the monsters that almost kill you."
"So yea, cold hard truth out of a blue! Monsters are real and stuff!"
"And so are onies!" – said the girl while showing off her fangs.
"And real onies eats naughty children." – said Shuten, alarming Akrema.
"…."
"Just kidding!" – said Shuten while smiling.
"I said it twice already. If I wanted you dead, then I would just killed you from get go."
"…"
(She…. She is not wrong…. Those monsters were instantly destroyed one sidedly! She also somehow closed the distance between us before I realized! She is really not human…..She says that she could kill me from get go…. But if that is the case then WHY she didn't killed me?!) – though scared Akrema.
"Anyway, I will cut down to the chase."
"I want to know what happened." – said the girl with serios voice and expression, alarming Akrema.
"Why are you here and how did you gotten here?"
"…"
"You mean… How I gotten to this weird place?" – asked Akrema who kept her guard up.
"Yeb. How did you gotten here? Full story. Now." – said Shuten.
"…"
"I was heading home before then I noticed that I left something in the high school, I tried going back, but then saw my friend being taken away by the thugs, so I changed my plans and started fallowing them instead." – said Akrema.
"They took her to the abandoned restaurant and tried doing something to her, but when I got her, I make her run away, before then beating up the thugs who tried to stab. I beat them up and made them run way."
"I waited a bit in the restaurant since I didn't wanted to bother dealing with them again, but I only waited few seconds."
"I tried leaving the restaurant…. And then this weird thing appeared."
"An crack right in the middle of the room, floating."
"Next moment I knew the crack expanded instantly and then some lights happened…. Next thing I know I'm here. At first I thought I just conscious and everything looked same…. But once I left the restaurant, everything was…. Messy."
"I tried looking around, only to then see that I'm high in the air and that there was some weird Japanese castle in the distance…. I didn't knew what was happening, but I thought maybe if I were to return to the restaurant, that weird crack thing could reaper and maybe take me back home…. But on my way I meet an dog…. Or something that looked like a dog."
"That dog looked at me, before then… I don't know, transforming?! It turned into brown bear and started chasing me."
"I ran, I slipped…. And then I filled onto some kind of hole."
"You mean the hole where I found you in?" – asked Shuten.
"No….. I was in different one, with more ruble, an sharp one at that." – said Akrema.
"My entire body was in messed up and my leg was completely smashed…. Then that bear monster came and stared ripping me apart. I tried defending myself, but my arm just got bended into two and then it grabbed me by my other leg, crushing it, before then smacking me against the ground….. Then it bit me into my stomach…. Ripped…. It….."
"…"
"It ripped me…. My organs… My guts were outside….. I lost conscious I think….. Then the next thing I knew I saw you in the place I wasn't in before."
"Hm… So, a bear mauled, torn to shreds… That explain the beastly cuts clothes." – said Shuten.
"But you said that your legs were destroyed and even your arm was snapped in two, so why are you "fine" now?"
"I…. I have zero fuking clue!" – said Akrema.
"Hell! When I woke up I still could taste blood in my mouth!"
"…."
"Was it…. Was it your doing?"
"Hm…. If you are talking about "fixing" you. No. It wasn't my doing. When I found you, you were already completely fixed." – said Shuten.
"There was blood around and it was probably yours, but you did not had an single injury on you."
"Still… What about the creature that attacked you?"
"How the fuck am I supposed to know?!" – said Akrema.
"It was an dog, then an bear, and then if fuking chased me and completely destroyed me!"
"Hell! I ain't doctor, but even an complete idiot should able to tell that I should had died! With is fuking scary since those injuries I had should had killed me!"
"I really didn't wanted to stay in that place, since I was scared that thing would come back and- "
"Yea, yea, I get it, I get it." – said Shuten while walking towards Akrema.
"I get the situation."
"Anyway, last question."
"…."
"What is- "
"?!"
Akrema looked down and saw the girl fingers inside her stomach.
"Die." – said Shuten with big smile.