"... Ngh..." Haru groaned, his mind in a haze once more. His limbs felt like lead, and he felt no pain. Was he dead… again?
Dammit… so he couldn't stay alive this time after all...
"... ou..."
What was that...?
"... Fou… kyu..." He felt something wet lap against his face.
Haru's eyes fluttered. He could barely see a thing. It was too bright. After a minute, his eyes adjusted. There was a familiar creature sitting on front of him, though contrary to what he expected, he was still in the chapel.
Staring at Freed's severed head, expression frozen in disbelief.
"... Okay, ew." Haru said in disgust before the little critter kicked the head away with its hind legs.
"Fou!" It chirped in agreement.
"It's funny… I feel like every time I die...I see you again..." Haru told the fluffy little beast. Slowly, he got up, only to wince when he saw the room spinning. "Augh... My head hurts..."
"Namikaze-kun!" The redhead looked to the side, finding a familiar damn handsome approaching. "Are you alright?"
"Seriously?" Haru deadpanned. "Dude, I think I died. Again."
"Well, for someone who has a burned hole in his shirt, you look surprisingly alive." Kiba replied. Haru blinked and looked down. His spare clothes were damaged, with a burn right where Freed had stabbed him. There was even soot stuck to his flesh. Even the singed tear on his side from Freed's first hit was still there. Okay, so he wasn't bucked naked this time around. Did he just revive in his old body? So where were the wounds? Did they heal on their own? "By the way... Did you do that?"
Kiba gestured to Freed and his headless corpse. Haru nodded, his voice cold. "Bastard deserves a lot more." he said, standing up to his feet. This time, he didn't feel so sluggish. The white little creature let out a yip and hopped up, climbing up his leg and settling itself on his shoulder. "So where's Asia? Is she safe?"
In all the chaos, he had nearly forgotten the reason why they came here. If there was even a hair missing from her scalp, he was seriously gonna...
… Wait a second. Why was Kiba's face pale? "Yo, bishounen." Haru frowned. "What's up with you?"
"N-Namikaze-kun?" Kiba aimed a shaky finger at him. Well, not at him. The little creature on his shoulder. "What-what is that?"
A second. Two, then three.
"Wait! You can see him?!" Haru cried with wide eyes before he looked at the creature. "Holy shit! Are you actually real this time and not in my dreams?!"
The creature seemed to smile. "Fou!"
"Seriously?! I wasn't just hallucinating back then?! Then where were you?! Why did you take so long to appear now in the real world?!"
"Kyu kyu..." The creature hummed as if trying to dodge the question.
"Oi! Don't dodge the question!... and now I realize you can understand me… I have no idea what you're saying."
"Fou!"
Heh. This thing was cute when it wanted to be. Still didn't answer the question. Then again, maybe he'd never find out. Not unless he understood "strange white creature" language. And why was Kiba freaking out? Really, what was he so afraid of? Was he scared of this guy? A small part of Haru deviously hoped that would be the case, that way he could humiliate him in front of the school.
… Okay, maybe he wasn't that cruel. All things considered, the only thing that made Haru hate him was his damn face. Aside from that, though, he seemed like a pretty cool guy.
"Y-you..." Kiba struggled to say something, choked while unsure whether to step away or grab the creature and pull it away from Haru. "I-I think you should get away from it."
"What? Why?" Haru asked in confusion. "Dude, he's, like, totally harmless. Not to mention freaking adorable." He gently grabbed the white creature by the scruff of its neck and held it up in front of Kiba. "Seriously, you can't tell me this is the face of pure evil."
Was it wrong he found enjoyment when Kiba yelped and immediately backed away?
"Haru!" Tamamo's voice called out to him. "Husband? We managed to—PRIMATE MURDER?!"
"Eh?!" Haru jumped and nearly released the little critter in his hands from the exclamation. He looked at Tamamo in confusion as her expression was set in a mix of shock and terror. "Tamamo-chan, what's wrong? And what the hell's a Primate Murder?"
"Husband! You need to get away from that creature right now! It's dangerous!" She readied her talismans with trembling hands.
"Dangerous? Really? You too? Come on..." He set the creature on his shoulder and scratched its chin, eliciting a soft purr. Those present in the room stared in baffled horror at his nonchalance. "How can you call this little fluffball of adorable incarnate dangerous?"
"Fou~!" It chirped in agreement.
"See? And what's this Primate Murder anyway? Some sort of monkey killer?"
"That-that's..." Tamamo shook her head. What was she getting scared of for?! She was Haru's wife! She needed to be brave! Actually, that could wait. That little bugger didn't seem to be doing anything, so for the moment, she could ignore it. For the moment. "N-Never mind... We managed to rescue Asia-chan."
"Really?! That's great!" Haru cheered in glee. The little creature was patting the teen's cheek in congratulations from his shoulder perch. "Is she okay? Those bastards didn't do anything to her, did they?!"
"No, they didn't. She looks a bit unwell, but I think it's only because of what's happened so far." Tamamo answered. "That Gremory woman offered to look after her in the meantime. Something about it being an apology."
"Buchou is one of the owners of Kuoh." Kiba answered, still wary of the creature on Haru's shoulder. Whatever it was, it felt… dangerous. It's appearance was unassuming, but the presence he felt was unearthly. Hell, just being so close to it was enough to make him nearly suffocate. Why didn't Haru feel any of this?! Was he just that oblivious? "The stray exorcists running amok is her responsibility, along with Sitri-san."
Haru nodded in understanding before smiling in relief. "As long as Asia's okay, it's fine with me." he said before he looked at the white animal on his shoulder. "But seriously, what the heck are you? You don't look like a dog."
"T-That's..." Tamamo stammered. How was she supposed to explain this? Moreover, why in the name of Yomi did that thing have such an adorable appearance? Was it trying to get them to lower their guard? "It-it's Primate Murder."
"You said that earlier. The heck's Primate Murder?"
"It's, um..."
"Fou!" the creature yipped, gathering their attention. Haru saw it was flicking its tail, aiming one of its tiny legs to the side. "Fou fou!"
Following its line of sight, Haru's heart swelled when he saw Koneko emerge, holding an unconscious and strangely half-naked Asia Argento in her arms.
"Asia!" Haru rushed toward the unconscious blonde as Koneko gently set her down on the floor. True to Tamamo's words, she didn't seem to be injured. Although her robes from before were replaced by a short white dress, but Haru didn't care about that. He was simply glad to know that she was safe. "Thank… thank god you're alright..."
"Ngh!" Koneko and Yuuto flinched in pain from hearing the Creator's name. Such as a weakness of Devils.
"She's pale..."
Sona didn't seem to notice. "I imagine she's had quite the ordeal." she remarked before turning to the two fellow Devils. "Where is Rias and Akeno?"
"Destroying the device that she was strapped to." Koneko answered. "Want to be thorough."
"How did things go on your end?"
"We eliminated any stragglers that managed to get out of the church." Sona answered before she looked to Freed's corpse, eyes flashing with a foreign emotion as she turned to Haru. "Did you do that, Namikaze-kun?"
"Yep." Haru answered without a hint of shame. "Though I did get a little roughed up to do it."
"And… you're okay?"
Haru knew why she was asking. To be honest, even he was a little disturbed about the fact that he didn't care that he had killed a man minutes ago. Even if he was a psycho path. "Surprisingly, yeah. It's weird. Look, can we get out of here now? I just..." He sucked in a breath. "I just want to make sure Asia's safe."
"Very well. Let's leave. By the way, about that thing on your shoulder..." Sona adjusted her glasses, looking at it warily. "What is it? It feels… unnatural."
"To be honest, I have no idea. He just showed up in my dreams up until now."
"... In your dreams?"
"Yep!"
Sona was silent. She felt a migraine coming on right about now. "I see..." She sighed and rubbed her temple.
"I'm telling the truth here!"
"Fou~! Kyu~!" The little animal barked softly as it patted Haru's cheek.
"See? It agrees with me." Haru added, feeling like he's getting the hang of understanding the creature based on its actions
Naturally, he didn't fully understand the reason why Sona looked so tired or exasperated. Gently, he kneeled down and picked up Asia. Her sleeping face looked so peaceful.
Of course, no one knew at the time what was going to happen...