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it’s around midnight when emu otori loses the battle she started.
she knows this because the moon is directly above her as she lies on the ground.
or at least she thinks it is. the figure on top of her blocks her view, but the moonlight was practically blinding.
“i should kill you.”
or maybe that was just the ghostly aura surrounding her opponent. she was dealing with a yokai here, after all.
“hmm… but you haven’t?”
the spirit hisses at her. up this close, emu is startled to realize just how human this particular spirit looked. she almost looked like a normal girl, now that they weren’t going for each other's throats.
“don’t push your luck, human. if it weren’t for that cursed sword of yours, you would already be dead.”
emu grinned at that, earning yet another glare from the spirit on the other side of her katana.
that’s right. even if she’d lost, emu had enough sense to protect herself as she went down. she hadn’t come this far by being careless after all.
a clawed hand is poised above her heart, trembling, although emu suspects it’s more out of anger than fear of the sword held at her throat.
sensing they were at a stalemate, emu takes her time to study her opponent properly. as she’d already noted, this particular yokai had a human-like appearance, but upon closer examination it was clear she was anything but.
scales patterned the spirit’s skin, on her arms, her face, down her neck, and seemed to continue on underneath the kimono she wore. the eyes that glared viciously down at her were also reptilian in appearance, glowing a bright purple in the moonlight.
the hair appeared to be a light green colour, and by some force against nature it was currently defying gravity, floating menacingly around the head. and yet, to emu…
“you’re beautiful.” emu breathes the words out, a sense of awe settling over her.
the air around them seems to freeze the moment the words leave her mouth. a startled look briefly crosses the yokai’s face but it’s gone as quickly as it came, fresh anger taking over her features.
“be quiet .” the spirit hisses again, leaning even closer, despite the fact that emu’s sword doesn’t move from the place she holds it between them.
“you humans are all the same. you think empty flattery and promises will fix all your problems. you make me sick ” she continues, practically spitting the words, as if even speaking the same language as humans only served to anger her further.
emu can’t help but stare, decidedly speechless at the outburst. the venom dripping from the yokai’s words sent shivers up her spine, and the weight on top of her suddenly seemed a lot heavier than it had mere moments ago.
suddenly, for the first time in her long years as an exorcist, emu feels her confidence waver.
she had seen plenty of yokai and spirits alike over that time. not many of them liked humans very much, especially ones such as emu, intent on sending them off to the other side. some would call her cruel, others would curse at her, some would fight her, and others, unable to even speak in a language she could understand, would simply convey their distaste through facial expressions.
and it had never bothered emu much. after all, she never exorcised spirits until they were at peace. and although some would take longer than others to understand her intentions, it had always worked out in the end.
but this . the anger this spirit felt. it was something different, something personal . humans had hurt her somehow, but whether it was one or many was impossible to tell. the realization made emu’s heart ache.
there’s a growl above her, effectively snapping her out of her thoughts.
emu barely has time to react as the clawed hand comes down on top of her blade, pressing it down.
“don’t you dare. ”
there’s a hissing sound, as the yokai dares to keep her grip on the katana, but emu can’t tear her eyes away from the face above hers.
“ don’t. ”
emu feels lightheaded. the spirit’s voice was still angry, furious even. but there was also a desperate edge to her words now, even as they seemingly made no sense.
then, against all her instincts—and frankly, common sense—emu lets go of her sword.
she winces as it falls firmly against her chest, aided by the yokai’s hand still applying pressure from above. the weight disappears before it can cut into her skin though, the shock of her actions causing the yokai to snatch her hand back.
those purple eyes are still glaring into her own, but there’s so much more than just anger in them now. the shock is back, along with confusion, pain and many other emotions emu can’t seem to pin down.
“are you stupid? ”
the spirit snarls at her again, but the words have noticeably less bite.
emu only tilts her head, and continues to stare.
“stop that. stop. ’
stop looking at me like that.
emu understood this time.
“who hurt you?”
the words are out before she can stop herself. she knows it’s a mistake, even before purple eyes harden and there’s a clawed hand above her throat. only this time, there’s no sword between them, and emu is well and truly at the mercy of the yokai on top of her.
despite this, emu finds she’s not afraid. and it must show, because the yokai curses her, something in reptilian language this time, but her tone was enough for emu to recognize it was an insult.
“you must have a death wish. stupid human.” she continues, back to human language.
emu smiles, likely proving the yokai’s point.
“say, do you have a name?”
“are you out of your mind?”
“is that a no?”
“of course i have one. like hell i’m giving it to you. ”
emu hums thoughtfully. “i suppose it’s only fair i give you mine first. i’m emu.”
the yokai doesn’t bother masking her shock this time, staring wide eyed down at the pink haired human underneath her. her hand remains frozen over her throat, unmoving.
“you’re insane.” she hisses “giving your name away like that. you really do have a death wish.”
names were powerful things, after all.
this was something emu was aware of too. however, she only grins again.
“will you stop that?” the yokai growls. the anger had dissipated, replaced with frustration.
the clawed hand moves away from emu’s throat, balling into a fist and coming down on her chest instead. it isn’t gentle, but there’s no murderous intent behind it either.
“you don’t understand anything . you can’t help me. so cut it out .”
“i didn’t say anything.”
the spirit scoffs at that, glaring “it’s written all over your face. i don’t want your pity, human. don’t make me say it out loud.”
the words are cold, impossibly so. emu lets them wash over her, unflinching.
“but that’s not all you can see, right?”
emu does flinch this time however, when the fist that had been on her chest seconds ago slams into the ground beside her head.
“ leave. ”
“you still haven’t told me your name.”
“i should cut your throat. maybe then you’ll stop talking nonsense .”
“but it would still be written all over my face, isn’t that right?”
disbelief takes over the yokai’s features. even if she’d tried to hide it, emu thinks it would’ve been easy to tell when their faces were this close together.
a moment of silence passes over them as they stare each other down. emu doesn’t even blink, unwilling to break eye contact for a second.
“...leave. now.” but the words no longer have the edge they did before.
“can’t. you’re on top of me, remember?”
the yokai clicks her tongue at that, pushing herself back to move away.
emu doesn’t allow her to get far, grabbing onto her arm so she’s forced into sitting between emu’s legs. the glare she gets for her trouble is ice cold.
“let me go. i’m leaving.” the spirit says, clearly fed up.
“you still haven’t told me your name.” emu repeats stubbornly.
the look she gets in response is incredulous.
“you must think i’m as stupid as you, if you think i’ll give you that kind of power.”
“i gave you mine though!”
“did i mention you’re stupid? i can say it again. idiot. ”
emu pouts but the spirit doesn’t budge, still looking at her like she was some kind of alien she couldn’t understand. ironic, really, given who the yokai was here.
“fine. you don’t have to give me your real one then. but i have to call you something. ” emu relents, sensing she wasn’t likely to win herself any favours by pushing her.
she gets a frown in response anyways. “why? we’re not going to meet again.” the yokai doesn’t even sound sure of the words as she says them. emu smiles. cute.
“what are you grinning for? get lost already. before i change my mind and kill you after all.”
“if you really wanted to do that, you should’ve done it when i dropped my katana.”
“how are you even still alive, acting this careless?”
“are you worried about me, yokai-chan?”
“not in your lifetime, human. ” the spirit spat, pulling herself from emu’s grip.
she doesn’t leave though, and as emu inspects her face, she finds conflict.
“i won’t-”
“ don’t.”
emu shuts up immediately as the venom from earlier returns.
“don’t.” the yokai repeats, gentler this time. she looks away, deflating “i don’t want your empty promises. you don’t know me.”
emu wants to argue that she doesn’t make empty promises, but the last part stops her in her tracks.
after all, this yokai didn’t know emu either. she had no reason to believe her. it was something she’d taken for granted, the way all the spirits she’d met in the past had trusted her so easily.
it makes her wonder again, just who had hurt this spirit. she feels a spark in her chest, an unfamiliar emotion rising in her throat.
anger .
it’s what makes her sit forward, expression serious as she speaks.
“okay. i won’t promise anything. i could hurt you.” she admits. but i’d never, not intentionally. “but i’d still like to help. with whatever your problem may be.”
the yokai stares, stares , at her. unlike before, emu can’t read any of the emotions in her eyes. because there are none, she quickly realizes, as if the reptilian part of the yokai had taken full control, and emu’s resolve starts to waver.
“nene.”
emu blinks, and that cold gaze is gone, but the spirit turns away before she can try to decipher the newly returned emotions.
“huh?” she says, stupidly.
she receives an irritated huff in response “you wanted a name, didn’t you? i’m not repeating myself.”
“oh.” emu blinks, a grin slowly making its way back onto her face “...nene, huh?”
the yokai— nene , emu thinks—stiffens at the use of the name, but it’s so brief that emu almost doesn’t notice it.
“...what?” she mumbles.
“nothing. it’s a cute name.” emu smiles “nice to meet you, nene-chan!”
“whatever” nene stands abruptly, immediately stalking off in the direction opposite to where emu sat.
“wait! where are you going?” emu exclaims, also jumping to her feet.
“to sleep. being around you is exhausting. ” nene stops walking to respond, but there’s no bite in her tone.
“liar. yokai don’t need to sleep.” emu huffs, crossing her arms.
“maybe i don’t need to. no one said i can’t though.”
“but… what about me helping you?”
nene lets out a short laugh, finally turning her head to look at emu again. and emu’s breath catches in her throat, because the yokai is smirking at her.
“i don’t remember agreeing to any of that. i only gave you a name, remember?”
“wha-” emu begins, gaping.
she blinks and suddenly nene is in front of her again. she must be floating, emu realizes later, because she’s now tall enough to look down at emu.
“goodnight, emu. ”
it’s only the tiniest bit of power that nene puts into emu’s name, but nonetheless all the breath leaves her at once. her knees feel weak, her heartbeat loud in her ears. it’s only a brief sensation, but by the time she regains her senses, nene is gone.
all at once, the blood rushes to her face, the reality of what she’d done setting in. she’d helped plenty of yokai in the past, but this was the first time she’d given one her name. and it was certainly the first time anyone had used her name against her like that.
however, as terrifying as that notion should be, emu wasn’t scared. embarrassed, that was for certain. but nene could have done anything the moment emu gave her name away, and emu would’ve been powerless to stop her.
and yet, she hadn’t. what that could possibly mean, emu could only hope to guess. but a small part of her wished that maybe, just maybe, nene had believed the unspoken words she’d read on emu’s face.
grinning to herself at the thought, emu collects her katana from the ground and sheathes it.
she glances around the abandoned shrine once, eyes practically sparkling when she spots the shadow hidden on the roof. the shadow doesn’t move, but emu knows she’s watching.
“i’ll be back tomorrow, nene-chan!”