Overcast Memoria ( Yuki's Point of View Part 4 )

"Natsumi?" I called out in hesitation. I watched as she slowly came into view, it was late but it thankfully wasn't pitch black out.

Natsumi was holding a bag she usually uses to carry her books to meetups in case she felt like reading.

"Mhm..." She replied.

"So, why are you here?" She asked again.

"Oh, I uh... I just wanted to go on a walk." She stared at me in disbelief.

"Are you here to meet with Seina?" She asked bluntly.

Her words caught me off guard, why would she assume that?

"No, I'm not." My tone sounded more like a question than an answer.

"She's here too. So I assumed." Natsumi explained.

It was just the two of them here with no plans to meet up with anyone they'd stay together right? "You guys aren't together?"

That's what usually happens, from my knowledge.

"No, I just bumped into her. She didn't seem like she wanted company."

"Come with me," Natsumi said before I could respond, I nodded and decided to listen and follow her. Kurai followed close behind both of us.

Natsumi took us deeper into the woods, towards where our special tree was. But something felt off.

"Do you feel that?" I asked, looking at Natsumi. She turned her head to look back at me.

"Feel what?"

"It's demonic energy," Kurai said quickly as if she just realized the feeling, she quickly got in front of me and Natsumi and made her way a few trees ahead of us.

When Kurai went up front, Natsumi hesitated a step, almost as if not to bump into Kurai.

I followed them both, a pit growing fast in my stomach from Kurai's words.

Demonic?

I kept following Natsumi when we got to the clearing where the trees were. It was dark but the moonlight illuminated the clearing. There I saw Nyoko sitting at the base of the tree with Keiko. The two of them were leaning against each other.

"Everything ok?" I heard Isao call out. He entered the clearing from a different pathway. He walked to the two of them, a sad smile on his face as he crouched down in front of them.

I couldn't hear what the three of them said to each other. Were all of us here?

It all felt like a blur. As if I was lost in a daze, it felt off. These past few days felt, off.

I watched as Kurai surveyed the area to find what she sensed. Her expression was serious and almost dark. She looked like a hunter scouting for prey.

How could she even scare off a demon with no weapon?

"Looks like just about everyone is here," Natsumi nearly whispered.

As we got a bit closer to them I noticed something peering from behind the tree the three of them sat under. It looked like it was an odd shade of grey, its face long with its mouth in a large contorted grin. Its eyes were fully orange and it had large orange horns to match.

I froze in place, wondering if I was the only one who could see it. Its bony long arm caressed the tree bark as it stared at my friends.

Once I noticed it begin to slowly reach for Nyoko, I felt as if I lost control of my body I ran at her to shield her as fast as my legs could take me.

I nearly tackled her and Keiko causing them both to scream in shock, but one other scream was heard. Natsumi.

My body stiffened in fear.

Did I make the wrong move? Did it switch targets?

I was scared, I didn't know what to do. My mind was a mess, seeing a demon for the first time, the chance of my friend being dead behind me. I was scared.

Why am I always so lost?

I saw Isao stand up quickly from my peripheral vision. I wasn't able to make out the look on his face, just his movement.

"What happened?" Nyoko asked in a panic, pushing me off of her to check on Natsumi.

I sat on the grass, watching Keiko and Nyoko look at Natsumi behind me. When their expressions only showed worry I slowly looked behind me to see her.

Natsumi was on the ground, she looked shaken up and Isao was right beside her.

I quickly looked to the tree to see where the demon was.

Kurai was breathing heavily, her eyes wide and twitching with anger. She was holding a sword I had never seen before. It was thin and almost like a fencing sword.

My eyes followed the blade to see it stabbed into the head of the demon, straight between his eyes as if she struck him with insane accuracy.

It wasn't just her though, a much older-looking man with dark blonde hair stood near her. He was holding the demon's arm as if he snapped it and prevented it from harming us.

Everyone else quickly noticed them after seeing what Natsumi was looking at. I wasn't aware of their expression, but I'd imagine the silence meant they were just as shocked.

"So you guys are guardians," I heard Seina call out. Was she hiding nearby?

Did she see the whole thing?

Kurai quickly pulled the sword from the demon's head, she closed her eyes to relax as her breathing was unsteady.

The man looked around at us all and sighed.

"It is truly unfortunate to have met in such a manner. I had hoped our meeting would have been more... Proper." His voice was elegant and gentle with a slight British accent.

Nyoko slowly got up and walked around the tree to get a better look at the demon.

"What's a guardian?" She asked her expression a mix of fear and curiosity.

I watched as Seina approached us slowly, she explained what a guardian is aloud to everyone there as if reading a written definition word by word.

"Indeed. You seem to have done a lot of research Miss Suzuki." The man said with a small smile to Seina.

Kurai stared at me as if she was lost in her thoughts like she was scared. Blood was splattered on her face from the demon.

As we stared at each other, a painful feeling grew in my chest.

I had seen her like this before.