A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also ans the next FIVE chapters are up on my Patreon for early access!
Jinu is a troll. Zoey is unpredictable as ever though.
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Jinu knows exactly what he's doing, to be fair. Sure it's a serious situation, but it's also Rumi and he can't seem to help himself when he's around her. Even with his soul back she's just so fun to tease. Plus, he definitely heard Mira's muttered words upon their approach and saw the look on Rumi's face, so he'd known offering to take his shirt off would get quite the reaction from the both of them.
The only one he couldn't predict, of course, was Zoey. Like always, the youngest hunter threw caution to the wind and was upfront as ever about what she wanted most.
Admittedly, sending Derpy to guide them to him was a calculated move (one he'd decided it at the very last second as the Honmoon alerted him to their approach). But he still hadn't expected her to get this fixated this fast. Still, looking on with amusent, he gestures broadly.
"Go ahead. His na is Derpy."
"THAT'S THE PERFECT NA!"
"Zoey wait!"
But it's too late. Rumi and Mira both make a belated attempt to reach for their younger comrade only for Zoey to already be gone from their side. If Jinu didn't know any better, he'd say Zoey was the half-demon with how she almost seems to teleport over to Derpy only to wrap her arms around the big blue tiger's neck and bury her face in his fur.
Rumi and Mira both tense up of course, looking an amusing mixture of mortified and horrified by Zoey's lack of survival instincts. They needn't have worried though, because Derpy just continues to 'stare' forward with his unanchored gaze.
He literally does nothing while Zoey hangs off of him and snuggles the massive animal, so in the end the other two are forced to relax. For a given definition of relaxing anyways. They still look like they're one wrong move from starting a fight. With that in mind, Jinu keeps his arms spread and hands open in peace, even as he smiles at them both.
"Now then. I assu you two have more… probing questions than that."
The two hunters who have yet to be seduced by his massive cat share another look before Mira jerks her head in a nod, conceding the floor to her leader. Rumi sucks in a deep breath and looks back to him, her eyes narrowed.
"… Why do you sing Golden like you do?"
Jinu blinks, not having been expecting that to be the question she leads with. From the flicker of sothing in Rumi's eyes, he wonders if that wasn't what she'd ant to ask either. And of course, Mira frowns a bit, crossing her arms over her chest in confusion. He can tell that the only reason the lithe dancer isn't calling her leader out right now is because he's present. She no doubt wants to at least try to keep up a show of solidarity in the face of Zoey's blatant betrayal.
"I'm not sure what you an, exactly? If you're talking about changing around the pronouns so I'm singing it about you instead of myself… well, I think that should be obvious. What was it you said in that interview, Mira? That song is about all of you. It wouldn't be right to make it about ."
Mira stiffens at being directly addressed. And yet, Jinu thinks he sees a slight hint of respect in her eyes all the sa. Rumi on the other hand…
"No, that's not what I'm talking about. It's not about the word changes; it's about the WAY you sing it. Why do you make it so… sad and lancholic?"
She might not have intended to ask about this first, but it's obvious that it's weighing heavily enough on her mind that she couldn't have stopped herself if she wanted to. Jinu tilts his head to the side, considering the question for a mont. He hadn't even realized he was doing what she accused him of but now that he's being called out on it, it's rather obvious.
The thing is that a lot of his answers would be too revealing. Mira and Zoey don't know the truth yet and while Jinu doesn't want to lie anymore, so secrets are not his to reveal. Not this ti around, anyways.
"… Perhaps because I recognize it as an impossible dream, knowing what I know."
Rumi straightens up at that, frowning as she mulls over his words. When she doesn't imdiately respond, Mira takes the chance to step in.
"Yeah? That's what you told Bobby too. You said the Golden Honmoon was a trap, right? That it was perfection and perfection was impossible. Not just impossible, but undesirable. Here's the thing though, all three of us have seen gold in the Honmoon. So we know it's not impossible. Care to explain that?"
Ah, trust in Mira to get right to the root of the matter. Even Zoey has lifted her head from Derpy's fur as all three hunters stare at him, awaiting an answer. Jinu gets it, truly he does. The Golden Honmoon has been their life's work after all. Nobody wants to be told they've wasted years on sothing only to have to give it up at the finish line.
Jinu ets Rumi's eyes in particular as he offers his response.
"I can only tell you all what I know. The Golden Honmoon will not do what you hope it will. It is not the salvation you think it is. The Honmoon picked , gave my soul back, and brought here to stop you from making a mistake that you can't take back. There is a better way."
The more Jinu talks, the wider Rumi's eyes get. He's laying it on a little thick, but then Rumi could admittedly be quite thickheaded sotis. Still, he thinks he gets through to her. She might not believe him about the Golden Honmoon (no, scratch that, she definitely won't believe him instantly) but she almost certainly suspects he knows her secret now. And that he's telling her outright the Golden Honmoon won't remove her patterns like she thinks it will.
Of course, while she's grappling with that revelation, Mira is continuing to question anything and everything, as is her tendency and personality.
"Right. Because we're supposed to believe that a demon was just randomly picked by the Honmoon to tell us not to achieve our fucking destinies. Why wouldn't the Honmoon just tell one of us directly or sothing? What makes you so special, exactly?"
Nothing. Well, nothing except that he'd given his soul to Rumi right at the foundational mont for the Rainbow Honmoon, tying his essence directly into the new protective barrier. Jinu assud that was the why and how of what had happened.
Why was he 'chosen'? Because the Rainbow Honmoon didn't have anybody else. It was the only thing that really made sense given he would normally be the last possible pick for a role such as this. But of course, he can't exactly tell them he's from the future.
"… Nothing makes particularly special. And I won't pretend like I'm so paragon or anything like that. Bobby told you what I did, right? He told you what sort of scum I was, even when I was human."
"Oh! Hey, I actually have questions about that!"
Zoey suddenly pipes up from where she's still cuddling Derpy, the younger hunter waving a hand through the air excitedly. Jinu turns, giving her his attention.
"Sooo… are all demons forrly humans? Is that how it works?"
Jinu wishes he could say he was surprised by the ignorance but he rembers his first conversation with Rumi. Even as a half-demon, she hadn't known anything about their kind.
"Not all of them. It's sothing of a mixture. Gwi-Ma can create demons and most of the ti those are the ones you find yourself fighting and killing up here on the surface. Because they don't know anything except servitude to Gwi-Ma, so they'll happily throw themselves onto your weapons for even the chance at collecting human souls for him."
He has the trio's full, undivided attention now.
"And then there are demons like , those who were once humans. Gwi-Ma reaches out to us in our lowest monts and offers us deals. We sell our souls in exchange for whatever he promises us but eventually the butcher's bill always cos due and we wind up in his realm anyways."
Looking back to Mira, Jinu looks her right in the eye.
"Don't start to pity us though. If anything, humans who accept Gwi-Ma's offers are worse than the demons he creates out of nothing but his power. We know what we're getting into."
Mira's frown deepens and she seems to eye him more closely for a second, but she ultimately nods. Still, Jinu feels a need to press the point ho.
"Believe when I say if we had t re weeks ago, I would have been just as nasty, irredeemable, and pitiless as any demon you've ever fought before. Without my soul, without my connection to the Honmoon, I am nothing but just another monster."
Jinu sees so confusion across all three of their faces. Clearly they weren't expecting him to talk down to himself or his species as much as he is. But he doesn't want them to start hesitating in combat against other demons. That was his plan the first ti around with Rumi; to get her second guessing herself so he could manipulate her more easily.
Speaking of Rumi, she finally shakes herself out of her stupor and glares at him.
"You talk a big ga, but how do we know you even have a soul in the first place? Sure you can interact with the Honmoon, but we all know that's only because you infect it with whatever those iridescent patterns of yours really are."
Jinu hums.
"The Rainbow Honmoon, like I told Bobby."
"Keep his na out of your mouth and answer the damn question. Can you even prove you have a soul?"
There's a glint in her eyes, like this is where she expects his entire charade to fall apart. As though this is the question that is ant to stump him. Jinu just smiles… and starts to sing. He ans to go with another HUNTR/X song, but at the last possible second, other words slip out instead.
"Oh, ti goes by, and I lose perspective
Yeah, hope only hurts, so I just forget it"
He doesn't sing the rest of the verse… he doesn't need to. Without even looking down, Jinu can see it in all of their faces… shock as the blue light of his soul glows in his chest through the sleeveless HUNTR/X shirt that he's still wearing.
Mira's eyes widen, Rumi's jaw drops open, and Zoey…
"Oh! You're not Blade, you're Angel!"
What? Jinu furrows his brow in confusion as Rumi and Mira both look over at Zoey, the latter letting out a befuddled grunt.
"Zoey, he's a literal demon, what are you on about?"
"No Mira, I'm not saying he's an Angel, I'm saying he's like the character Angel! You know, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"
There's a long pregnant pause as Mira and Rumi just stare, until Zoey's face falls.
"Oh co on guys, Buffy is a classic…"
"Zoey is this another ancient piece of dia created in the twentieth century before any of us were even born? Because so help …"
"I refuse to answer on the grounds that doing so might incriminate ! Also technically no, it only STARTED in 1997, but it ran all the way to 2003! So there!"
What… what was even happening right now? Jinu finds himself baffled by the byplay, even as Zoey jabs a finger in his direction while continuing to cuddle Derpy with her other arm.
"And also I'm right too! Angel was a vampire character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And in that show, vampires are like demons in that they lose their souls after being turned. In fact, I'm pretty sure the show's lore later revealed that they were so form of lesser demons or sothing…"
"Zoey! Focus!"
"Sorry! Anyways, Angel was a vampire, but because a coven of witches perford a ritual on him, he got his soul back and that made him a good vampire! Just like Jinu here. The Honmoon picked him out, stuffed his soul back in his body, and made him a good demon! Simple as that!"
… Huh. Well that wasn't entirely accurate… but if it worked, it worked.
"We still don't know for sure that he really has his soul back. Maybe he's faking it…"
Even Rumi doesn't sound convinced of her own words though as she tries her best to poke holes in things. But Zoey just whines.
"He HAS to be a good demon, Rumi! Look at Derpy here! Would a big lug this lovable ever follow around a bad demon?!"
Rumi and Mira exchange another exasperated glance while Jinu finds himself forced to raise his hand and clear his throat.
"Actually, in the interest of full disclosure, Derpy has been following around for hundreds of years, including back when I was still a 'bad demon'. I created him. Him and Sussie. The magpie."
He points at the six eyed bird on a nearby tree branch, who looks down at them all with the usual disdain Jinu has beco used to seeing from Sussie. The hunters all stare back at it for a mont before Mira finally asks what they're all thinking.
"… Why does that six-eyed bird have a hat on?"
Jinu can't help himself. Sure, it's repeating a joke… but they don't know that.
"Actually, I made it for Derpy when he was just a cub, but Sussie kept stealing it until eventually it just beca his."
There's a pause as they all stare up at Sussie… who adopts his usual insufferable smirk in response. And then Zoey is giggling helplessly into Derpy's fur while Mira is smirking right back in spite of herself and nodding along like that makes perfect sense.
Rumi though… well, last ti he'd built much more of a rapport with the half-demon girl before telling that story. So he really shouldn't be surprised when she growls in frustration instead of laughing this ti around.
"Enough! This is… you're coming with us!"
Suddenly, her sword is out and pointed at him. To Mira's credit, she imdiately summons her own weapon, the glaive pointed unerringly at Jinu as she backs her leader and bandmate up. Zoey is the only one who hesitates, but after a mont she drags herself away from Derpy and rejoins her girls, her throwing knives appearing from the Honmoon in a flash as well.
Jinu just smiles... and lifts his hands in surrender.
"Alright. I'll go with you."
Heh, maybe Bobby was rubbing off on him just a little. Though, the stupefied looks on all their faces alone almost makes 'giving up' this easily worth it by themselves. Rumi's expression is particularly amusing as she was clearly hoping he'd fight back so she'd have a reason to try and beat him up. Before they can muster up any sort of response, Jinu just shrugs.
"I an, the alternative is that you lot chase around the city and tire yourselves out constantly hunting down to different busking spots while I'm just trying to make enough money to buy food. You should be conserving your strength to fight Gwi-Ma and his actual demons, so I'd rather just skip all that and co with you now. That said, I am going to be stealing your food, just so we're clear."
The girls exchange looks at that before all speaking at the sa ti.
"Demons only eat souls!"
"We literally own a skyscraper; you'll have plenty of food."
"Can Derpy co with us?!"
Rumi and Mira both look at Zoey for that last question. But while the youngest hunter does duck her head sheepishly, she also doesn't take back her query. In fact…
"Oh, and Sussie too. All pets are welco at Casa de Huntrix!"
"Zoeeey…"
As Rumi groans, Mira just smirks while Jinu chuckles. He doesn't bother responding to Rumi's comnt, in the end. It was clear she was struggling with the idea that he had a soul, even after his little lightshow. Hopefully, they'll get there eventually. For now…
"If it's allowed, then yes I'll bring my pets along. Shall we, ladies?"
Rumi narrows her eyes but ultimately gives in to Zoey's puppy dog eyes. Mira just grunts before dismissing her weapon and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Don't get cute with us Casanova."
Jinu grins cheekily.
"That's going to be difficult seeing as I'm frankly adorable."
To his surprise, Mira actually goes a little red at that before flipping her hair back and just scoffing. Rumi on the other hand.
"Stop flirting! Let's… let's just get back to the tower. Celine will want to question him herself."
Unlike Mira and Zoey, Rumi doesn't dismiss her weapon. Instead she keeps it pointed at him, even as they all start to leave the park. Jinu keeps the easy smile plastered across his face to hide the fact that his mind is suddenly in serious turmoil.
Celine? The last remaining hunter from the previous generation? But she was supposed to be retired… she hadn't been involved whatsoever last ti as far as he knew. So why was she involved now?
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A/N: Hm, I wonder Jinu. I wonder.
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