chapter eight;

━━━━━━ "NOW WOULD BE THE PERFECT TIME TO kill those hero wannabes", shigaraki growled, slamming his fisted hand on the table as dabi and chisaki just sat on the opposite side.

     "we can't. there's not enough backup", chisaki rejected.

     "we don't need any!! we can just kill them now. especially since the fox king went back to the castle", shigaraki argued.

indeed, only the fiancées stayed at the tents, waiting for their lovers to come back.

"we can't risk it", chisaki replied.

"it's not actually a bad idea. that explosive kid is sick...the red-haired one and freckled one are the only ones there", dabi chimed in.

"you'll be pitting the first and second princess against each other", chisaki said. "and we don't even know how far their powers extend to".

     "who cares? as long as one of them lives, we can use the other to help reach our own goals", shigaraki scowled.

     "you're too rash, no wonder you've lost some of your most useful pieces like muscular and moonfish", chisaki scoffed, making shigaraki click his tongue.

"shut the hell up! what do you know?"

"boss, perhaps now isn't really the best time to attack", dabi suddenly said, making shigaraki even more irritated.

"princess must be plotting something if she's going for the throne. and if we mess it up for her, she might not help us in the future. after all, the only reason we're here is for her powers", dabi reminded.

the three stayed silent for a moment.

"she's half human isn't she?", chisaki suddenly asked, to which the two league members perked up.

     "and what of it?"

     "perhaps that's why her sisters treat her like shit", chisaki mumbled, thinking back to all the interactions the sisters have had.

"and their father too", dabi added in. "he's ignorant to it. in fact, he almost seems to encourage it".

"why does any of this matter?", shigaraki growled, not understanding the point of this conversation.

"she said she picked us because she saw potential. our initial agreement was to help her, and she'll aid us in return. but we still don't know what we're assisting her in", chisaki said, rubbing his temples with tension.

"do you think she wants our help to...kill them?"

shigaraki grinned, now finding this whole situation amusing.

"what a cunning woman she is..."

"not quite. we're not sure of her plans yet. in fact, if she's planning on killing them, it'll be quite hard considering there's three of them and one of her", chisaki deduced.

"and we're not sure if she's got any allies on her side, other than that one guy she mentioned", dabi said.

"and us", shigaraki added.

     "right...and us", dabi softly repeated.

━━━━━━ • ✿ • ━━━━━━

     "it's been hours and I've yet to witness another yōkai", inasa scowled, starting to think kisa was just saying all those things to scare him.

     "keep your guard up inasa. I wasn't joking", kisa warned, suddenly stopping in the middle of the murky forest.

     the sun had already set and kisa's ears twitched every time she heard even a single sound. the girl felt the breeze growing stronger as she internally wished she would've brought more clothing.

the girl then sighed. it was truly tiring to spend all day looking for a yōkai when none would show up...at least during the daytimes.

     "inasa, let's take a break here. it's getting late", kisa said as she gathered some wood and lit a fire with the snap of her fingers.

     though instead of a normal orangey-red flame, it was a fiery black, with a tint of purple, fire.

     "are you hungry? I only brought food for one, my apologies. I didn't think that father would force me to take someone", kisa bitterly chuckled as she took a wrapped up snack out from her kimono.

inasa gave the girl a weird look as she unraveled the parchment sheets.

"it's just a normal onigiri rice ball with seaweed, nothing too fancy", kisa smiled, forcing inasa to take it by sticking it on his hand.

the black-haired male hesitated. he refused to showcase his left side, even though he knows kisa knows what's under there.

"what? worried?", kisa chuckled.

"I don't know what you're blabbering about", inasa coldly spat.

kisa sighed. "want to see a trick of mine?"

inasa raised a brow in curiosity.

kisa then smiled, taking off her mask and turning her face away before turning it back, nearly making inasa flinch at the girl's dark furry face.

it was the face of a fox.

as kisa turned her head back around, her face had contorted back to normal.

"it's not as impressive as kasumi, kimiko, kaoru, or father, but at least I can make my face look like a fox", kisa explained.

"I see..."

"and what about you? won't you let me see your face? I even took my mask off and showed you my little secret", kisa enticed, scooting closer to inasa.

"aren't you worried that I can kill you right here right now?", inasa threatened, clearly not in the mood to play.

     "you could, but that wouldn't really be beneficial on your end", kisa smiled, still waiting for inasa to shed off his helmet.

     "will you ever let this go?"

     "I doubt you sleep with this thing on. and since we will be sleeping together once we wed, I might as well see now", kisa reasoned.

     inasa sighed in irritation as he shoved the onigiri back into the girl's hand.

     the pale boy took a key hidden next to his chest and unlocked the lock. the large metal collar that's connected to the helmet clicked open.

     inasa leisurely took his helmet off, showcasing the left side of his face, which was a deep blue, topped with white hair. the man's eye was outstretched, with a red iris and sharp teeth jutting outside from his mouth.

     kisa gazed in amazement as she raised her left hand, gently caressing the male's half whale feature. it was quite interesting to her that humans these days weren't much different from her perceptually.

     "are you done looking?", inasa callously asked.

kisa chuckled. "you must be hungry. eat", kisa said as she gave the onigiri back to inasa, who had took his time consuming the food.

"are you not eating?", the male asked, seeing as kisa stared into the dark fire.

"I don't need food. my body's more durable than that of a human's", kisa explained, throwing a stick into the puddle of fire.

"how are we supposed to hunt if there's nothing to hunt for?"

a moment of silence had passed by, with kisa smiling at the crackling flames.

     "those three might be hunting, but that's not what we're here for", kisa grinned, perking up as she heard a rustling nearby.

     the girl suddenly stood up, putting her mask back on as she stood still, making inasa even more confused.

     "inasa, stand up", kisa whispered, to which the male had swiftly put his helmet back on and done so.

     kisa then snatched inasa's hand, holding it in her own.

     "I see you've come back with a sacrifice", a low voice said, suddenly making inasa flinch.

kisa chuckled. "my apologies oni-sama, but this one's my fiancé, not food", the girl clarified.

"I see...how disappointing".

"I do wish to offer you a deal though. perhaps we could discuss this face to face?"

a moment of silence was then disturbed by the heavy footsteps of what inasa could assume was a yōkai.

glancing up, a hideous, gigantic ogre-like creature with two horns and skin as red as kisa's lips showed up. with sharp claws and wild black hair, the oni sat down in his tiger-skin loincloth, surprisingly obedient.

"what is this offer you speak of?", the oni questioned.

"I must say, as much as I admire you and your comrades durability in this forest....it grows quite boring and tiresome doesn't it?", kisa asked.

     the oni furrowed his brows. "and your point? if you're here to spite me, I reckon you take your leave. just because you've saved my life before doesn't mean I still won't kill you", the oni threatened, making inasa's fight or flight instincts show.

     kisa gripped tightly onto inasa's hand, smiling to let him know that it's alright.

     "oni-sama, I mean no such foulness. in fact, I'm here to ask if you'd like to join me".

     "join you?"

     "indeed. my father's tyrant ruling has been quite troublesome don't you think? though if I were to rule...I can guarantee you and your friends and family beyond this forest, a place where we as yōkai can all unite in harmony", kisa offered.

     the oni seemed to truly consider it, as it didn't totally seem like a terrible offer.

     "what is it that you want in return?"

     "your support. in fact, I can mass produce some kanabō along with other weapons if you'd please".

     the oni loudly chuckled, to which even kasumi and kimiko from miles and miles away could hear.

     "you're a bold one, offering an oni their common weapon. you're not worried that we'll turn on you?"

     kisa shook her head.

     "you won't, because unlike my father, I don't go back on my words, and neither will you for the sake of your loved ones".