After saying good night to Ennea, Madison shut the door to her room behind her and slumped against it. The gesture had become weirdly familiar - go out, get exhausted, shower, come back, slump on door. Sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Will you sleep now?Her weapon's voice was weirdly tentative. Madison sighed and ran one hand through her hair, the ragged length feeling intensely strange. At least all the really damaged bits had been trimmed off. "I dunno," she said aloud, pushing off the door and moving to look at herself in the mirror.
Man, her hair looked horrible. "I should, I guess..."
We did true battle today, Kouki said, after a moment.
You fell. You were... not there."You mean after we fell off that thing's head?" She pivoted on one foot and winced. Yeah, she was going to be really sore for the next few days. "I still don't know why I did that... must have been crazy..."
Because you are a Hunter. It is what you do. You wield us in battle, and then you... The word turned into a low, sad hiss.
You go away. We did not know how much we would miss you."You missed your other Hunters too, right? I can't be that special." Madison shook her head and sat down on her bed, kicking off her less-awesome shoes. "It hasn't even been a year. What's that compared to a whole life, right?"
... We ... A wave of hesitation and guilt rolled through Madison's mind, with Kouki's consciousness at the epicenter.
... We have had no other Hunters. Only you.Madison paused, one shoe still dangling off her toes. "Wait. What?"
You are our first Hunter. We... we told stories, Kouki said, miserably.
We wanted you to like us so very much. We wanted you to respect us and trust us. We... we told..."
Lied." Madison stared at the dangling shoe, then kicked her foot; the shoe flew off and hit the opposite wall with a dull thud. The stories -
lies - Kouki had told her flashed through her mind. Tales of the older Hunters he had been bonded to, of the experiences he'd had, of the missions he'd completed. If she was his first Hunter, then none of them could be true. "You lied to me. Ever since you met me... the first day..."
We are sorry, we... we want to be what we told you we were. A great warrior. A celebrated sword. Kouki's 'voice' was so quiet even Madison could barely make out his words over the storm of her own disbelieving thoughts.
We have always been good at... lying.Madison let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Slowly, she shifted positions, moving to lay down, staring at the ceiling as she put her hands behind her head. "Talk. Tell me the
truth, Kouki," she said; she was too tired for anger, but there was a sharp twist of unease, of betrayal, in her gut. "If you can," she added, and felt Kouki shy away from the sharpness of those words.
We are... were. A child of that place. That other world. Hesitantly, Kouki showed her - not the serpent-shape she'd seen before, the long ebony body that split into four necks, each topped with a serpent's head. No, this was a smaller figure, still ebony, but humanoid. Humanoid, with dark hair pulled up in a topknot, with one face on each side of his head. The figure wore elaborate, exotic robes that were ill-fitting; he seemed to nearly drown in fabric.
That is how we walked the halls of our school. Our family wanted so much... we could not deliver. As Kouki spoke, the figure seemed to shrink into his robes, as if collapsing under a pile of unmet expectations.
We had no choice but to tell stor- lies. But to lie. So those wishes would be met, for a time..."You were..." Madison had, of course, always known that Kouki was a monster, but seeing him in a form so similar to the freaks they'd been capturing was disconcerting. "You were like them. Like the frea- the monsters that we tried to catch."
Exactly like, though not the same school. The mental image receded.
We never had a chance to be what they wanted. We had to make it up. We... continued to do so. After. Kouki's bitterness melted into misery once more.
So that we might be what we wanted... for a time."So there, like, weren't any other Hunters, and no other fights?" Madison closed her eyes. "Is that it?" Other thoughts wanted to come out - screaming, perhaps, that he'd put them both in danger. That she couldn't trust him now. Dramatics. Hip-checking the sad little four-faced kid into his locker and hiding his gym shorts.
She was tired of acting like that.
That is it."Okay. Okay, Kouki." She took a deep breath. "But... no more, okay? I have to... we gotta trust each other. That means I have to be able to trust you, y'know? So you gotta tell me the truth.
Only the truth. I don't care if you're a great warrior or what, but if I can't trust you then, like, neither of us are gonna be great warriors."
We will, Kouki said,
oh, we will. We will tell you what we are, not what we want to be-"Oh, you can, like, tell me what you want to be. Just, like... make sure I know it's a story, okay?" She opened her eyes again, staring up at the ceiling. "I want to trust you."
We want to be trusted, Kouki replied, after a long pause.
We are sorry. We will not fail you again."I know," Madison said, yawning. "I know you are. It's okay. Just knock it off, and we'll be okay. We were pretty awesome today, right? So it'll be okay."
... Okay. The weapon's relief was palpable, his presence warm and grateful.
Domo arigatou, my Hunter. I will not let you fall. It was so quiet. We were alone then - but we are not alone now."Not gonna let you fall, either. I'd miss you too. Just the way you are, stupid." She smothered another yawn and tugged the blanket up over herself. "G'night, Kouki."
Good night, Madison.
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