CHAPTER THIRTY

Since When Do You Speak Japanese?

_______________

     HARSH SMACKS sounded across the empty gym as the morning sun shone through the windows. Ryan faced one of the few punching bags available to the students to use whenever they pleased. A pair of padded, fingerless gloves covered his hands as he knuckles connected with the cloth material.

     His talk with Lizzie the night before gave him a new pep in his step, so to speak. Ryan would not be skipping up and down the hallways any time soon, but he did decide to stop moping about things out of his control. More importantly, about a girl who did not care about him.

     Sweat clung to Ryan's forehead as he proceeded to land punch after punch to the sand filled bag hung from the ceiling. His new outlook on life meant that he needed to take better care of himself, which included releasing all his pent up energy to help calm his racing mind. It would help clear up his jumbled thoughts.

     "Hey, Ryan."

     Ryan paused, breathing hard as he dropped his arms. He turned to find Rafael and Landon at the entrance of the gym. Not the two people he expected to see bright and early on a Friday morning. Actually, he did not expect to see Rafael for a while. The boy just transformed back into a human less than twelve hours earlier. Ryan figured he would at least sleep for a day or two. He found himself tired after a few hours in wolf form. He could not even fathom being one for months on end.

     "Raf, Landon. What're you two doing up so early?" Ryan questioned as he began to pull the gloves from his hands.

     "I guess we can ask you the same thing," Landon replied, walking further into the gym.

     Ryan huffed and tossed his gloves down onto the ground beside the punching bag. "Hilarious." He faced the two boys and asked, "is there a reason why you're bothering me?"

     Rafael sighed, glancing toward his foster brother to give him a sharp look, before he looked back to the Mikaelson in front of him. "We thought you could tell us more about that girl. Uh, Hope. Landon said that you said she was your cousin."

     Ryan should have seen that coming. Of course Rafael and Landon would want to know more about Hope, considering they no longer remembered that they knew her. And, she did help Rafael turn back into his human form. Although, he knew that Hope did not want anyone to learn that she had been the one to jump into Malivore.

     "Afraid I can't do that," Ryan told them and started for the gym's exit.

     "Wha – what? Why not?" Rafael exclaimed, following after him.

     "Because she asked me not to," Ryan stated. He hoped that the conversation would end right then, but he knew that Landon and Rafael were not the type to let things go. "So, if that's all..."

     "Actually," Landon voiced, causing Ryan to release a long breath, "what do you know about the monsters coming back?"

     Ryan paused mid-step and spun around to face the other boys. "The monsters?"

     "You were after the one last night, and however many more have been back since then," Landon exclaimed. "Dr. Saltzman trusts you, and – and you're a tribrid. You're immune to Malivore. If anyone would know something, it'd be you."

     Ryan pressed his lips together at that. He did not think Landon was smart enough to put that together. The last thing he needed was for them to bother him right when he started to get his life back on track.

     "Look, if Dr. Saltzman wanted you to know, he'd tell you. It's not my place to go against him, or Hope." Ryan gave Landon and Rafael a narrowed stare, before he turned back down the hallway and strode away from them.

     _______

     Later on in the morning, Ryan sat in his History of Magic class. He never paid attention to the lessons, mostly because he knew them already. The perks of coming from a family with a number of powerful witches, one over a thousand years old. If he did not need it to finish his given curriculum, he would have taken something else. Maybe Advanced Conjuring. He could always teach the seniors a thing or two.

     Ryan had his arms crossed over his chest, not caring that the buttons of his blue and grey checkered, plaid shirt dug into his skin. It helped keep him awake. The teacher, Mr. Harran droned on at the front of the class, reading straight from the book set on the podium. He wondered why they even had class. He could read the book himself in the comfort of his dorm room.

     Halfway through the lesson, a light flickered over Mr. Harran's head. Ryan perked up when he recognized the flames of a fire message.

     Mr. Harran plucked it out of the air, bringing it down to read words written on the paper. "Ryan Mikaelson," he voiced and scanned the room to where the boy sat near the back of the class, "you're wanted in the front office."

     Ryan's brows furrowed. Who would call him out of class? His parents were in Scotland, and his aunts and uncles were at their homes. At least, to his knowledge. Ryan packed up his things into his backpack and headed through the halls to the front office. He did not have to even enter the room to discover who asked for him.

     Dorian Williams stood outside of the office. His attention snapped to the boy and let out a sigh when he approached. "Sorry for taking you out of class, but without Dr. Saltzman, you're the only one I know of who can handle this. Well, whatever it is," he said as he began to walk toward the school's exit.

     Ryan unbuttoned plaid started to flap when the autumn wind caught its edge. He followed Dorian down the paved drive and in the direction of one of the side gates. "It's cool. So, what am I supposed to be handling?"

     "The east gate picked up some unauthorized activity," Dorian told him as they made their way down the dirt path through the trees.

     Ryan blinked, adjusted the straps of his backpack still on his shoulders. "Okay? Couldn't you have just saw who it was on the cameras?" he asked.

     Dorian let out a breath. "That's where it gets weird." He pointed to where the iron gate loomed in front of them

     Ryan followed his arm to where something moved on the other side of the bars. His eyes narrowed to see a person in what looked like battle armor move in an erratic motion beyond the campus's perimeter. When they got closer, he realized that it was a man in battle armor with a long sword in his hands. Ryan stepped toward the gate, watching as symbols on the weapon began to glow a bright red.

     The man noticed, too. He whirled around and spotted Ryan and Dorian through the bars. He raised the sword up, which glowed brighter as he got closer to the gate, and began to speak rapid Japanese.

     Ryan held up his hands when the sharp point slid through the bars in his direction. "Oh, wow. Hey, no need for that."

     The man continued on in Japanese as he jabbed the sword toward the Mikaelson boy.

     Ryan looked to Dorian and questioned, "you speak Japanese."

     Dorian shook his head. "No. You?"

     "Nope."

     Dorian nodded and turned his sole attention to the man. "Dude, we're gonna find someone who can understand you, but I need to know you're not gonna go stabbing..."

     "Konichiwa."

     Ryan snapped to where Josie emerged from the trees and rushed toward the gate. She rushed toward the bars and began to speak in Japanese to the man. He seemed to understand her and pulled his sword back.

     Dorian looked to the Saltzman girl and asked, "since when do you speak Japanese?"

     "Since Lizzie's old therapist was next to a Japanese language school," Josie told him.

     Ryan pressed his lips together and nodded. "Makes sense."

     Josie turned to the man, proceeding to converse with the man in Japanese.

     Ryan watched them for a moment, before he questioned, "you know what he's saying?"

     "Uh," Josie glanced to where the Mikaelson boy stepped up to her side, "he's crazed? Kurutta." Her mouth dropped open as she gasped. "Oh, I think that's his name. Also, another word for 'crazed'." She turned back to the man.

     Kurutta went on.

     Ryan understood none of the language. He knew a majority of French, Latin, obviously English, and a little bit of Scottish Gaelic. Japanese did not come close to his language skills. Although, he could discern from the man's motions what he talked about.

     Kurutta grabbed a mask that hung around his neck and lifted it in his hand.

     "He's a – demon hunter," Josie translated. "Looking for an Oni, which is like a..."

     "A creature in Japanese folklore," Ryan cut her off. "It sometimes referred to as a ghost-like demon, a devil, an ogre, or a troll, depending on the legend you refer to."

     Josie nodded. "Yeah, that."

     "Sounds like that's our next Malivore monster," Dorian said, looking toward the armor suited man.

     "Then the Oni's probably wherever Landon is," Josie stated, before she set her stare back on Kurutta, who rambled out more Japanese and raised his glowing sword. "Uh, he said he followed his sword here, and it glows around – Jintsu-riki?" Her mouth fell open when she found the right word. "Oh, oh, supernaturals."

     Ryan nodded. "Explains why it starting glowing when I got here."

     "And why he would up here," Dorian added, "but I've never seen one of those." He pointed to the mask that hung on the man's chest.

     Kurutta grabbed the mask and began to spit out something in an angry manner, raising his sword toward them.

     "He said that we wouldn't know if the Oni was here or not," Josie translated as Kurutta continued to speak. "It – possesses people, and it could be – anywhere." She looked to Ryan and Dorian with wide eyes. "In anyone."

     Ryan released a bitter huff. "Of course. Why couldn't be something simple, like a Yeti?"

     _______

     Once they understood what they were up against, Dorian set out for the library to dig up some research on the creature called the Oni. Ryan proposed that he and Josie get more help to locate the monster, or at least get a few more people on the lookout for it. He would have sent a text to his sister, but she wanted nothing to do with the Salvatore School, so he figured he and Josie could handle the Oni themselves, along with a little help.

     Josie ran ahead through the halls of the school to reach her and her sister's bedroom. Ryan brought up the rear, keeping an eye on Kurutta. They let the demon hunter enter the gate, hoping that the man would lead them to the Oni. What he did not expect was for Kurutta to try to attack everyone he came across when his sword glowed.

     Ryan rolled his eyes and left the man in the hallway as he went into Josie and Lizzie's room. He stepped through the open door to find the two sisters in the middle of an argument. He caught the last of it, but not everything said between them.

     "And I'm so sorry. It won't happen, again," Josie breathed.

     "You're just lucky that Sebastian appreciates the old-fashioned look," Lizzie shot back.

     "Uh," Ryan voiced, gaining the twins' attention, "Josie, I don't know why you left me with crazed back here, but if you haven't noticed, I don't speak Japanese."

     Lizzie's brows furrowed toward the Mikaelson boy. "Crazed? What're you talking about?"

     In that moment, a string of Japanese erupted outside the room. Confused and angered students mixed in.

     Josie squeezed her eyes shut, before she spun on her heel and ran out of the room. After a second, she reentered with Kurutta.

     Lizzie's eyes widened at the sight of him. "Who the hell is that?"

     Ryan winced. "Long story."

     "Short version," Josie supplied, "he's a samurai/demon hunter who lost his Oni, and the only way we can kill it is with his demon-banishing sword, before it carries off Landon into Malivore." She took a deep breath and asked, "can you come?"

     Ryan pointed to Josie and nodded when Lizzie shifted her gaze to him. "What she said."

     Lizzie released a breath and picked at the sleeve of her dress. "Well, I suppose if I reschedule my date, it would give this rash some time to clear up."

     Josie rushed forward, wrapping her sister in a tight embrace. "Ah, thank you, thank you, thank you."

     Lizzie reciprocated the hug, but she looked to where Ryan remained. She quirked a brow, gaining a shrug in return. She then shifted her stare to Kurutta, who raised a fist and knocked on his forehead, before he began to muttered in Japanese.

     Lizzie let go of Josie and asked, "he's talking about me, isn't he? He's calling me crazy."

     Ryan glanced between the man and Josie. "It thought he was saying his name?"

     "Yes, and no," Josie told Ryan. "His name is Kurutta, but he's talking about the Oni." She turned back to her sister. "It possesses people and makes them act crazy."

     "Well, then I retract my offer," Lizzie stated, bringing a scrunched expression to Josie's face. "My mental health is the most precious thing that I have, Jo. A rash, I can deal with, but I cannot risk crazy. I'm sorry."

     Right then, Kurutta raised his sword that glowed a bright red. A group of students outside the room jumped when the man started to chase them through the hallway. Josie ran after the man as she shouted Japanese.

     Ryan shook his head and turned to head out of the room. "It's gonna be a long day."

     _______

     Once Josie calmed Kurutta down and stopped him from chasing students with his sword, they decided on a course of action. To protect Landon Kirby. Not Ryan's first choice, but he figured that keeping the boy from Malivore benefited them all, even if that meant he had to spend the day with him.

     Somehow, their search for Landon led them to Mystic Falls High School. Ryan did not find it as much of a surprise as Josie. After he shot down Landon and Rafael earlier that morning, he figured they would seek out answers themselves. Neither one of them knew when to let things go.

     Ryan and Josie followed Kurutta as they rounded the back of the school. The Mikaelson boy's gaze fell to where a group of people crowded around an SUV. He recognized them .

     Another thing he should have seen coming.

     "Dad?" Josie questioned when she spotted her father.

     Alaric turned to see his daughter. "Josie." He then shifted his attention to the boy at her side. "Ryan. What the hell is going on?" he asked, gesturing to the demon hunter with them.

     Kurutta stopped next to Landon and spoke to him in Japanese.

     Josie translated. "He said 'we came to protect the bonsai-headed boy.' I think." She glanced over everyone, before she leaned toward Kurutta and said something. Before they could questioned her, she turned away and set her stare on Hope. "That's Japanese for 'what the hell is she doing here?'"

     Ryan rolled his eyes. "Seriously? That's what you're harping on. She's here to help, obviously." He started to grow tired of the whole Hope, Josie, and Landon situation.

     Josie snapped to him and exclaimed, "just because she's supernatural doesn't mean we can trust her. I mean, she shouldn't be here."

     "Well, she's my cousin, so I say we can. Try to reign in the jealously, please," Ryan shot back. "The waves you're sending off are making me nauseous."

     Josie's expression morphed into a glare.

     Alaric stepped in before more could be said. "Look, I will take all the help I can get. Even from – him." He jutted his thumb in the direction of Kurutta, who took to sitting on the edge of a nearby sidewalk. "So, ask him to tell us everything we should know."

     Josie looked to the man and voiced, "Kurutta-san."

     Kurutta stood to his feet, sheathing the knife he twirled in his hands. He stretched his arm and walked toward them with a grip on his sword hung on his hip. He began to speak in Japanese as he moved over to Josie, making strange gestures.

     Ryan blinked and went to stand next to Hope.

     "Dropped on his head as a baby," Josie translated for the man. "Samurai school to learn discipline. He learned to slay Oni – demons, which is what we're chasing." Kurutta got louder. "He was a hero. All the women begged to..."

     Kurutta grabbed his sword and made an obscene movement. Ryan, Landon, and Hope resisted the urge to laugh.

     Josie smacked the man on the arm and shouted in Japanese. "Kurutta-san, I don't even know that word, but it cannot be relevant."

     "Josie," Alaric called to his daughter, "the point. Let's get to it."

     Josie proceeded to translate the man's story. "Kurutta spent months tracking down an Oni that possessed people, moving from person to person by touch. He was just about to kill it when it found its way into the body of a child, and escaped him yet again. He gave chase and caught the demon, but he could not bring himself to harm an innocent child. So, instead, he made an impossible choice, and he took the Oni into himself.

     But it was then that he realized, unlike everyone else who had been possessed and remembered nothing, he was still partly in control of his faculties. He thinks the Oni found it harder to possess his broken mind. His words, not mine. He tried to stab himself with his sword, and the Oni wouldn't let him. So, he decided to – never touch a person again." Josie frowned at the man, before she finished the retelling. "So that it could never possess anyone else. And then – Malivore, eternity of nothingness – deep psychological torment. He came through an – I think he's talking about a portal."

     "Portal?" Hope voiced for the first time since Ryan, Josie, and Kurutta arrived. "Uh, where?"

     "Uh, sorry. The ancient samurai isn't an expert on Mystic Falls geography," Josie retorted.

     Ryan looked to the Saltzman girl. "Jealously. Reign it in," he quipped.

     Josie shot him a narrowed look.

     "How do we kill the – the demon?" Landon questioned, despite the tension that grew around them.

     Josie shook her head and pointed to the sword held on the man's hip. "Uh, with his sword. It's spelled with a special kind of magic, so if we can just find the Oni..." she trailed off when a bang sounded within the SUV next to them.

     "Not a problem," Hope exclaimed as a roar ripped through the air.

     Ryan stepped back from the vehicle, watching it rock on its wheels. The back door blew off its hinges and slammed into the paved surface of the parking lot. Someone leapt out of the back, right before Kurutta swung at them with his sword. Ryan realized that it was Rafael. He landed on his feet and growled toward the man. Kurutta shouted at him in Japanese, launching at the boy with his weapon.

     "Wait, no, no, no, no!" Alaric yelled, but it fell on deaf ears.

     Kurutta swung out at Rafael, while Rafael jumped and ducked to avoid being hit.

     "Motus!" Hope chanted and waved her hand.

     The sword flew out of Kurutta's hand, clattering to the ground. He attacked Rafael, but he underestimated the boy's strength. Rafael grabbed ahold of Kurutta and threw him into a parked school bus. The man fell to the ground, giving Rafael time to turn toward the rest of them. He paused, before he took off in a sprint away from the school.

     Ryan would have stopped him, if he felt comfortable enough taking on an Oni. He knew how to wield a variety of weapons, but a magic demon-killing sword was not one of them.

     Josie rushed over to where Kurutta laid on the ground. He groaned and muttered something, before he passed out. Josie glanced back to everyone. "He said 'that could've gone better.'"

<November 19, 2019>

It's almost four in the morning, and I've been horrendously sick all day. 

How did I get this chapter written? I honestly have no idea. 

Don't forget to vote and comment.

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.