Chapter 1 - A New Raidou

Kuzunoha. For longer than most can recall, this clan has watched over Japan and used the art of devil summoning to protect it. Of the four branches nestled within, none carries more weight or responsibility than those blessed with the name of Raidou. As ordinary high school student, Johei Uehara slept soundly in his bed, drool cascading down to his pillow, not knowing that a conversation happening in hidden temple would change his life forever...

"Gouto...for generations you have helped train those who have taken on the name...but we must once again state our caution for your latest idea. The risk is far too great, and should you fail..." What sounded like a thousand voices speaking in unison echoed throughout the halls. A large twisted tree bursting through the floor, surrounded by torches appeared to be the only living thing for miles. Except for a small black cat sitting quietly at the base of the trees roots.

"Believe me. I understand the risks. But with recent events do we really have much of a choice? He may not be our best option, but he's the one we should go with. He's the only one right now worthy of taking on the name..." Gouto seemed to struggle for a moment to finish his sentence. Maybe he was rethinking his own idea, or maybe he just had a hairball in his throat, but eventually he was able to force out a single word.

"Raidou."

In a quiet suburb, Johei Uehara continued to sleep peacefully. As far as students went he considered himself decently educated. He had a fair amount of friends, including a very special woman who happened to be visiting his dreams tonight. But before anything too exciting could happen, he was awoken by a small object batting him in the face. His eyes opened up to see a black cat with piercing green eyes gazing at him.

"What the?" Johei sat up. The cat adjusted itself properly. It sat composed beside him, starring up at him. Johei ran his fingers through his dyed orange hair, his eyes trying to properly focus on the cat. "Where'd you come from, little guy?" Johei looked to see that his bedroom door was closed and his window was still shut and locked from the night before.

"Well good morning, starshine." The cat finally spoke. Johei's eyes widened and he let out an inaudible scream before falling out of bed wearing nothing but a pair of red flannel boxers. Without thinking he bolted from the room and ran downstairs. Gouto sighed to himself, looking around the room. Empty soda cans littered the floor, bikini clad video game characters graced posters upon his wall. "I hate it when they run."

It wasn't until a random passerby let out a loud shriek that Johei realized he had run outside in nothing but his underpants. He ducked into an alleyway and hid next to a vending machine. Slinking down onto the ground, his heart racing and his breaths short, all he could hear was that cat's voice repeating those same words. He was so fixated on it that he didn't even notice the black cat jumping up onto a garbage can carrying some clothes in its teeth.

"Ge' ress'd. Ooo wuk wiphickwus." The cat seemed to murmur. Johei merely stared at it in confusion until it spit the clothes out by his feet. "I said 'Get dressed. You look ridiculous'." Johei's eyes widened, never taking his sights off the cat as he gathered up the pants and t-shirt from the ground. As he got dressed, the cat began to speak again. "Okay. Now that you're...mildly properly dressed, allow me to explain..."

Johei listened intently, assuring himself he was still dreaming, but trying to grasp the majority of what the cat had to say to him. Every time Johei tried to ask a question, he was quickly interrupted so the explanation could continue. What felt like hours passed before silence once again filled the alleyway. Johei figured this would be the best time to ask some questions and try and understand the situation, but ended up in a curt back and forth with this cat.

"So you're-"
"You can call me Gouto."
"But you're actually-"
"Raidou Kuzunoha the 1st."
"And I'm-"
"Johei Uehara."
"But you're saying I'm-"
"Raidou Kuzunoha the 19th. Look, do me a favor and just...stop asking the same questions. I know this is a lot to take in, but that's why we're going to work together. You think I want to be here? You think I want to be training another Raidou? No! Hell, it seems like we just started with the 18th. This wasn't supposed to even be a concern for decades."

Johei took a deep breath as he and the cat walked down the street back to his house. "S-sorry. You can't exactly blame me for being confused, can you?" Johei stuck his hands in his pockets. Gouto walked alongside him silently until a thought occurred to him. "Hey wait, what happened to the 18th?"

"I think it's better if you don't know yet."

When the duo made it home, Johei had a lot of time to think about everything Gouto had said. Things were said that he'd always assumed were simply fairy tales he was told as a child. Whatever it all was, it certainly didn't seem like something he considered himself up to. Gouto had to be told as soon as possible.

"My answer is No." Johei spoke firmly, but it was clear there was a bit of fear in his voice. Gouto's ears twitched as he sat up and looked sternly upon him.

"No to what?"

"This whole Rye dough thing. It sounds crazy and dangerous and I don't want to do it." This was the first time Johei had seen genuine surprise on Gouto's face, as if he'd been taken off guard.

"Look kid, this isn't like turning down a party invite. You've got to do it!"

Johei stroked his chin and started walking over to his bedroom door. Gouto jumped off his bed and followed him to the threshold. "Actually, I don't. And I have three very good reasons why. One, I have a very important date tonight, amongst other things, I don't have time for this stuff. Two, I'm not a star athlete or brainiac or probably anything else you'd need for this position. And of course, the most important reason of all..."

"And just what would that be?" Gouto said as he stepped just outside the door. A sharp gust and a loud slam soon followed as Gouto was now in the hallway.

"I can close doors!" Johei said smugly. Feeling proud of himself he decided to return to his usual activities...only to see Gouto resting on his bed again, his expression a mix of pride and annoyance.

"Oh yeah. No one's EVER tried that trick before...C'mon kid, that's been done by the sixth, eighth, ninth, and sixteenth." Johei rubbed his forehead and got down on his knees, his upper body draped over the mattress, looking at Gouto with exasperation.

"Just...what do you want with me?"

"I want you to do your job!" Gouto yelled out with genuine annoyance. He'd tried being patient, but it was clear from this standoff that the partnership between Johei and Gouto and his rise to becoming Raidou Kuzunoha the 19th was not going to be an easy one.

Time passed faster than expected as Johei tried to deal with Gouto and get ready for his date. Without his knowledge, the clock had already ticked past seven o clock. He was officially late. Across town, a girl named Ema Taguba sat alone in Boîte Alimentaire, a recently opened French restaurant. The candlelight flickered as she scratched her exposed shoulder. Ema never liked sleeves constricting her, so she always felt more comfortable in one of her many black dresses. Since Ema was only half Japanese she often felt like an outcast growing up in the capital, so she didn't have many friends. Her bright blue and pink hair didn't help matters, but she always wanted to feel comfortable in her own skin. She checked her watch after reassuring the waiter for the third time that she was waiting for someone. Johei was almost half an hour late at this point. She was getting ready to leave when Johei finally sat down, out of breath and covered in tiny scratches.

"So-sorry I'm late." Johei hoped she wasn't too mad. He felt some relief when she released a gentle smile while admiring his scratches. "Yeah...uh...my mom got a new cat. He's a bit of a handful. That's why I was running a bit late."

"Y'know what?" Ema said, twirling one of her pink highlights around her finger. "It's fine. Let's just get some food and have some fun." Johei felt his cheeks flush up a bit.

"How did I get such a cool girl to agree to go out with me?" Ema felt embarrassed. She didn't really consider herself anything too special, but enjoyed the compliment.

"Well, we were in gym, and you'd just fallen on your face, and I still remember the first thing you said was-"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?"

Johei pointed behind Ema towards a dessert cart filled with exquisite pastries and cakes. Sure it was interesting to look at, but nothing that would warrant much shock. The slow moving green slime monster crawling towards it, opening its massive mouth and attempting to suck these cakes down in a single bite on the other hand might be more nerve wracking. Or at least it would be if anyone in the restaurant could see it aside from Johei. Ema turned her head to the cart and saw nothing but the desserts.

"It's a dessert cart, dude. C'mon. We haven't even had salad yet." She chuckled as the salads were brought to their table and she began eating. Johei nodded slowly and tried to direct his attention to his food and to his date, but the Slime moved around constantly in the corner of his eye. It didn't seem particularly hostile though. It ate off the floor and off abandoned plates that hadn't been picked up yet, but seemed mostly harmless.

Once the Slime seemed focused on something besides food though, Johei knew he'd have to jump into action. The slime was staring intently at Ema. It let out a low grumbling roar as it started making a crawl straight for her. Johei let out a deep sigh.

"Damn it...one night, just one night. That's all I wanted." Johei thought to himself as he grabbed the fork on his napkin and lept onto the slime. He tried to stab it, but the fork just went into its green pudding skin like body. The slime let out an annoyed roar and threw him off with relative ease. Johei didn't have time to notice all the eyes of people that were on him. He jumped back onto the slime and with a firm thrust, stabbed the prongs straight into the demon's eyeball. Slime roared again, but its body began to slowly collapse over, like a deflating parade balloon.

He stood up, proud of his accomplishments, but as he turned around to try and see Ema he felt two pairs of arms grab onto him. It seems the employees of the restaurant weren't as happy about the fight that transpired as he was. Before he knew it, his butt had slammed into the concrete. Gouto sat nearby, looking up at him.

"Johei, I-"
"Whatever it is, Gouto...I don't want to hear it."

"I'm sorry about your date. Truly I am. I know this isn't what you want to hear right now, but the fact that there was a demon in that restaurant should tell you how bad things are right now. Tokyo needs you. I need you...that girl with the cotton candy hair you were making googly eyes at needs you."

Johei stood up and started walking to the train station. He wanted nothing more right now than to crawl into bed and forget everything that happened to him today.

"If you hadn't been here, that demon could have killed her and everyone else in that restaurant. I can't believe you'd just walk away from that."

Johei stopped in his tracks. The weight of what Gouto had said sunk in a bit. It was heavy, but so were his eyelids. He kept walking and got on the train. Eventually he made it home and collapsed onto his bed. He'd hoped Gouto wouldn't be there when he woke up, but he had a feeling that with the night he'd had he wouldn't be so lucky.

Johei awoke the next morning to the sound of his mom calling him down for breakfast. His mother was fairly young, as she'd had him when she was still in school. She had short brown hair, similar to her son's if he didn't dye it. She'd gotten a little heavier due to booze and laziness ever since her husband was no longer in the picture, but she always tried to keep a good attitude, and that aside it had given her curves in all the right places.

Johei opened his eyes and saw Gouto sitting on the floor.
"Please tell me this was all a bad dream and you're just a stray that snuck in during the night." Johei ran his fingers through his bed head into its normal points and sat up.

"Wouldn't my ability to tell you that already ruin your desire?"

"In theory, yes...jerk." Johei put on his uniform for school and headed downstairs. He and his mom ate their breakfast in relative silence. Only the occasional meowing from Gouto as he begged his mom for food could be heard...or so Johei thought.

"Introduce me." Gouto finally said after a fairly silent walk to school.

"What? To who?"
"Your sister. I want to meet her."
"I don't have a sister."
"The voluptuous maiden you ate breakfast with."
"That was my mom, you weirdo."
"Hot Mombalaya." Gouto licked his lips and continued walking.
"Gross."

Johei couldn't concentrate in class that day, and not for the usual reason of his homeroom teacher, Mr. Aoyama being a strong contender for the most boring teacher in the world award. But also because Johei was cursed with staring at the back of Ema's head. Just once he wished she'd turn around. He wished she'd give him some indication that maybe they could talk. He decided to approach her after the bell had sounded.

"Ema. Hey, wait up!" Johei rushed over to her. Much to his surprise, she didn't seem annoyed. She was her usual cheerful self. "Hey um....about last night."

"You mean when you went nuts, started swinging forks around at nothing and got thrown out by the waiters?"

"Yes...that. Wanna try for that again sometime?" Johei said jokingly, but secretly hoped she'd be up for it.

"Why not? You had some moves." She laughed a bit. "Let's go for friday at seven. Wear something sexy, will ya?" As Ema headed home, Johei was overjoyed. He'd been given a second chance. Nothing could ruin this.

"Come on, Johei. Time for some official business." Except that, Johei thought to himself as Gouto stood by his feet. "I've gotta take you to meet your boss."

"I have a boss? I thought you were my boss? Who's my boss? Isn't being Raidou some divine destiny or something?" Gouto seemed annoyed, but not at Johei. He had trouble getting the words out.

"The Yatagarasu. They handle all the official stuff. Every Kuzunoha is required to report to them. Even I had to do it back in my day."
"Why, Gouto...do I detect a hint of hostility?"
"Let's just say they've changed a lot since my time. Let's go...they've gotten pretty punctual."

"Here? Really? Wow, you weren't kidding." Johei said out loud as he stood outside of the large bank in the middle of the city. He couldn't believe for an instant that this is where they'd be standing when Gouto told him this used to be a small shrine in the middle of nowhere. They stepped inside, the lobby smelt like cleaning supplies and cough drops. The lobby was filled with Japanese whispers, phones ringing, and bills being counted and stacked. Gouto lead him over to a single stand where an older woman stood diligently.

"Name?" The woman had her hair pulled back tightly in a bun, perfectly precise except for a single tuft sticking down her forehead. She wore very thick horn rimmed glasses, so thick the lenses were impossible to see through.

"Uehara." Gouto spoke up on Johei's behalf. "The kid just needs some tubes and the A-Okay to enter the Dark Realm."
"Oh yes, the nineteenth. I'd heard you would be stopping by soon. Do you have his paperwork yet?"
"No...not quite. The eighteenth was so sudden that...well you know."
"Ah yes, very sad. Well I'm sorry but without his paperwork I can only give out one tube right now, and access to the Dark Realm is strictly prohibited. I'm sorry, Gouto. I can't make any exceptions." The Herald started typing at her computer and placed a small silver cylinder on the counter. Johei grabbed it. After a minute of no one saying anything, he assumed their business was done.

"Hey, what is this thing for, anyway?" Johei examined it. There was a small crease that looked like it could be opened.

"Just hold onto it. You'll need it later." Johei and Gouto headed home. It didn't seem like this day was shaping up to be any better or less interesting than the one before.

Back at the house, Johei sat down on his bed and started watching TV, but it was only a couple of seconds before Gouto snatched the remote and changed the channel with his paw.

"I was getting ready to watch that..."
"Well now we're watching the news. As a Raidou, it's your job to know things that are going on in the capital, and the news is a good way of maybe seeing which ones could possibly be demon related."
"You make it sound like you're expecting a convenient story to pop up about demons. That may be how it works on TV and manga and stuff, but in real life, the news isn't so-"
"In other news, a popular French restaurant, Boîte Alimentaire has had several customers rushed to the hospital after collapsing unexpectedly. It's unknown if this is caused by the food or not. In other news-"
"...Okay, that was just luck."
"Luck or not. Sounds like a demon. Guess that Slime you killed wasn't the only one there that night. Grab that tube you got today, I'm going to go get your weapon."

Johei stood up. Had he heard Gouto correctly? Did he say "weapon"? Would it be a sword, a gun, maybe even something like a spear? Gouto came back a moment later and dropped two sterling silver forks onto the bed.

"You've got to be kidding me."
"Every Kuzunoha has used a different weapon, Johei. One used a sword, one used a mallet, we had one that only used magic, hell I think one of them even used chairs..."
"So why do I get FORKS!?" Johei grabbed the forks and held them in each hand. He didn't want to admit it, but they felt pretty natural, despite his lack of practice using them as an eating utensil.
"Do you remember at the restaurant? Without hesitating, you grabbed your fork and with little effort you took down a demon with them. That was impressive."
"What choice did I have? I didn't want to die."
"You had a knife on your table. Why not grab that?"

Johei thought about this for a moment, before he could open his mouth to object, Gouto had already sprinted off. He decided his best bet was to take the forks and follow along.

Johei was lucky that no one from the restaurant seemed to recognize him from the night before. He sat at his table, holding the menu up to his face but scanning the restaurant for anything unusual. He whispered down to Gouto who was hiding under the table cloth.

"I don't see anything..."
"I guarantee you that I see less hiding under here, but there's definitely a demon. I can smell it. Just keep your eyes peeled."

Back in the kitchen, a small demon was causing trouble. Not intentionally, but bad things were happening. He was a short bipedal demon with dark blue skin with a white lower body. His short trunk and ears were similar to that of a tapir and around his neck was a small yellow neckerchief with some stuff stored in the back. He ran around the kitchen like a kid in a candy store. He tasted food, occasionally sneezing a bit of his magical dust into the pans. He was free to do whatever he wanted since none of the chefs could see him. So long as he was careful. He could get away with anything. As he emptied a bowl of cashews into his mouth, a particularly large bowl of chocolate ice cream caught his smokey blue eyes.

"Oooh. Ice Cream ala mode. Don't mind if I do." The demon hopped onto the dessert cart and started licking the ice cream, barely aware that he was being wheeled out into the main restaurant. Johei looked over at the swinging double doors and his eyes widened when he saw the demon.

"Oh, that's just gross..."
"Johei! That's the demon!"
"Yeah. I got that...but I can't just go punch it or something. I'll get thrown out like last time...wait, I got this."

Johei stood up, holding his fork tightly. He walked over to the cart and got the attention of the waiter.

"Excuse me. I dropped my spoon on the carpet. Could you go get me another one?" The waiter shrugged and walked back into the kitchen. With no one around, Johei gave the demon a sharp elbow into its ample stomach, knocking it off the cart and onto the floor.

"What the?...HEY! That hurt, ya bastard!" The demon may have only been a couple feet tall, but it was quickly able to jump up onto Johei's shoulders. It gripped his head and knocked him down onto the floor.

"Johei! Knock it off! There's more to being a devil summoner than just fighting." Gouto poked his head out from under the tablecloth, still hoping they could get through this without attracting too much attention.

"Say what now?" The demon had already grabbed Johei's legs and was trying to do some sort of pro wrestling leg lock, but it was fairly weak and more of an annoyance than a threat.

"Just try talking to it. You'd be surprised how that can work out."
"Hey." Johei turned his head back to see the demon apparently using all of its might to try and get his attacker to submit. "Stop that." Much to his surprise the demon let go. Johei crawled up to his feet and sat in his chair. Again to his surprise, the demon joined him in one of the empty chairs.

"Human, lemme ask you something." The demon snorted its trunk and grabbed a piece of bread from the basket. "You got cable?"
"Um...Yeah."
"Cool. I'm in. My name's Baku of the Skill order. Nice to meetcha." Baku jumped off the chair and walked outside the front door. Johei looked down in confusion at Gouto.
"What just happened?"
"You recruited your first demon. He'll be living with us now."
"Wait, WHAT!?"

Johei ran from his chair and outside. Baku and Gouto followed him home. When they finally made it back, Baku was already checking out everything in the house. He sniffed things, he licked things, he even ate a bowl of decorative soaps in the bathroom.

"This place ain't too shabby." Baku finally said as they got to Johei's room. He crawled into the bed and closed his eyes before Johei could object.

"Hey, no wait. That's my bed. You can't-" Johei was cut short as Baku expelled a cloud of blue smoke from his trunk. Johei collapsed onto the floor, fast asleep. Gouto rolled his eyes and started to leave.

"I'm going to sleep with Madam Uehara..." Gouto thought back on the past few days...no doubt about it. This was going to be one of his toughest trials yet.