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Description
Fellow Deviant and Slayers addict 's story "Recruitment" detailed how corporate bigwig (and elemental mystic!) Hikari Abe Zong strolled into Misa and Kyoko's lives asking them to work for his Slayers Organization. His goals may be admirable, to support Slayers in every way possible, but the man himself needs a little work, as you'll discover. Kyoko and Misa are at his headquarters, and Hikari's eager to have them sign their lives away...however, if he thinks he's gonna be in charge of these lovely warriors, Kyoko has a little bit of a surprise for him! ^_^

The story also explains some more history of the Slayers world and how it's REALLY different from ours in a lot of ways. I also provide how I picture how everything works in this universe, both in life and the Afterlife. This story is brought to you with the full approval like always of Slayers creator , but this story wouldn't exist if it wasn't for KoDraCan's inspiration, I hope she loves this!

Fair warning, there's a bit of cussing in the story...you'll tell right away!

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Contract Negotiations

My name is Hikari Abe Zong, and I'll freely admit: I'm an asshole.
I'm an asshole because I've often had to be, in order to get myself and The Slayers Organization where we are today after my late father left the corporation to me. Oh don't get me wrong, I was raised right. Both of my parents were old school raising me, if you know what I mean. I was brought up in accordance to all my culture could require. Polite, ordered and tranquil, the very picture of honor and civil decorum. How my people of the Tokyo Kingdom see ourselves is just as important as how the rest of the world sees us. Well, that's the ideal.
It was also kind of a requirement to learn self-discipline and civility because I had magical gifts passed on to me from my father, who was a mystic. For my whole childhood as I grew, besides regular school I was trained to hone my powers, which are formidable if I may say so. I can command one of the four elements themselves: wind. I can do everything from simply blow out a candle on the dinner table to making a Kenworth tractor-trailer fly end over end down a street with a force equal to a hurricane. Often I've really impressed myself.
If you're worried about that power corrupting me, don't. I may be an asshole half the time, but I'm a really good boy. A long time ago I realized there was no percentage at all in answering to temptations, either mortal or anything offered by the Dark Gods and their forces. That's something too many idiots have never figured out and never will because one way or the other, there will always be mortals who are too damned weak. Yeah, go on and answer those temptations. Follow the lure of the Dark Gods and everything they're offering. You'll get your heart's desire, maybe every dark and twisted dream you ever had will come true. Temptation can be overwhelming, but it blinds you to the truth that in the eternal long run you're screwed. You'll have nothing but misery and torment to look forward to in the darkest places imaginable, where you'll be just as damned as any demon and you won't have jack-shit unless you like all kinds of neverending pain.
Pass!
Incentive enough for me to be a good boy, to say the least. But my main focus in my adult life wasn't mysticism -- which I still practice every day at a master's level -- but business. My father left me a worldly inheritance too, and I wanted to make the most of it, build from it. And in order to get to where I am now, I learned early on there's virtue in being an asshole sometimes. I learned to see the business world for what it was and adapt to it. Business is an ocean dominated by sharks, each living to gobble down profit, and in both the business world and the ocean if a shark doesn't stop swimming and eating, they die. I learned to grow my teeth pretty quickly and became one of the biggest sharks out there. I had to in order to make the Slayers Organization grow to have international reach and influence.
I had to because this world needs my corporation and entities like it because of the great stew the mortal realm has become. Mortals once called this our singular domain, the Earth and our universe. Not anymore, not since the Demonkind and then Angels immigrated from the Netherregions and Heavens.
And how did that happen? All because of the most horrifying week in mortal history. What Americans called Hell Week, and for good reason.
Back in ancient times, the Gods of Light and Darkness agreed to leave our world in mortal hands. Of course that didn't stop the Gods of Chaos from continuing to send their gods-damned minions to terrorize us at every chance, even tried to affect history so many times. I'm not even going into what the bastards tried after World War II started. Yeah, the Demonkind constantly invaded our realm and threatened mortals like me, but thankfully Heaven gave us the Slayers, our guardians of justice and good, especially my Kingdom's Vanquishers.
But all conflicts escalate...and the worst part of Hell Week was, what happened then and the events after that were mainly mortalkind's fault.
Mortalkind was so ambitious and short-sighted that in order to bring an early end to World War II, the Americans dropped the first atomic bomb on Berlin, Germany in early 1945. It was nothing to be proud of in hindsight...we reached too far before really thinking about whether we should have or not. Berlin was turned into a giant funeral pyre, but everyone wanted a quick finish to the war, and nobody liked Hitler and his Nazis.
Creating the nuclear bomb came back to haunt our kind in the worst way possible. It was the Black Disciples, the mortal terrorist group. Undoubtedly those zealots were following the orders of the Dark Gods they worshipped, and what they did was commit the single greatest terrorist atrocity in history. Each day for seven days, from November the Second to the Eighth, 1995, the fuckers randomly nuked a major city across the planet.
Johannesburg. St. Petersburg. Warsaw. Fort Worth. Guanzhong. Nairobi. Paris.
Everyone and their mother knew the darkest of forces were responsible, yet they used mortals as their agents! Yeah, the mortal world was left in mortal hands...for what that was worth anymore. Every country was in a panic because, no shit, no one wanted anymore cities dead. Thank the Heavens the Kingdom was never affected.
Then a black mystic arrived at the U.N. as an emissary with a message for the General Assembly. The Dark Gods had ordered their faithful on Earth to commit those atrocities...but there would be no more violence if we complied to a demand no one ever expected. The Dark Gods wanted to send us what the black mystic called undesirables from the Netherregions to the mortal world. They wanted to send hundreds of thousands of Demonkind to immigrate to Earth. The U.N. was told these demons were were still capable of redemption, which had a high chance of destabilizing the dark realms of the Afterlife.
You can see the inherent problem with that. If you don't, let me remind you of some of the basic truths most everybody knows about how things between the mortal realm and the Afterlife work.
First. There's no single Hell or Heaven, contrary to what a given religion told you. Better to say there's truth in every religion because they are all real. Most every god and goddess you ever heard of -- especially those of far more ancient times -- rule in more than one Heaven. A given eternal Heaven is awaiting each of us -- as long as you haven't been sinful! -- that reflects each of our respective faiths. The same holds true for the Hells aka the Netherregions or simply the Nethers, one's immortal soul is damned after their death to one dark domain or another mostly depending on their beliefs. Fairly cut and dry.
Second. When a mortal man or woman loses their life, their eternal soul rises or falls to their fated domain in the Afterlife to experience what one would call a transition. The immortal soul is reborn in an immortal and eternal form, usually in the appearance of that individual's self image, how they saw themselves in life at their best. In Heaven, barring the fanciful imagination of a person or whatever blessings they are given, their physical appearance changes little from how they looked at the prime of their mortal lives, pretty much like those classic works of art that depicted angels who didn't look different from mortals at all. Some depending on their goodness could even be empowered by the Gods of Light to become Angels, wings and everything. Again, fairly simple to understand, right?
It's much more complicated for the most sinful of us doomed to any of the Nethers. They are also 'reincarnated' to know eternal life in their self-image, but the Hells are unspeakable, hideous, dangerous places. These are essentially prisons, realms of pure and constant torment for their 'inmates'. Part of the torment of the Hells is that they can change the condemned through punishments we mortals are better off not trying to imagine. The condemned's eternal form and their persona become a reflection of their domain, monstrous and hellish. They become what we call demons.
Third, an important distinction must be made. There are those born in the Afterlife, the Heavens and the Nethers. They are often the progeny of those who have passed on and even offspring of gods, Light or Dark. In the case of the Hells, these godly offspring are far, far more powerful than those who passed on to become demons. All citizens of the Nethers, whether born there or in the mortal world, are still described uniformly as Demonkind.
The fourth thing. There are laws to be obeyed whether you're mortal or eternal. First, naturally, a mortal being can't enter the Afterlife unless they have passed on from our world. There was one very unique and incredible incident happened back in earlier times, a legendary moment in history involving Slayers who literally took their fight against the Demonkind right to the Hells. That isn't so important right now, but basically mortals belong in this world for good reasons.
Unfortunately, the reverse isn't true. Why else would the Earth be invaded by Demonkind time and again? However, beings from the Afterlife are at unique risk when they're here. They don't belong here and they're not immune to physical harm, even enough damage to destroy them. There's no 'second death', though -- if only the meaning of the name Slayer was literal! Demonkind can be destroyed in our realm, but their souls transition back to their home Nether to be 'reincarnated' in a new eternal form. That's part of why they've menaced all of mortal history. It isn't just that there's so many damned demons, no matter how many times a Slayer destroys them, they'll rejuvenate and the Dark Gods will send them back again and again as many times as they fucking want! I have endless respect for the Slayers because of that, everyone should. Would you want to fight an enemy force knowing they can renew their strength time and again? Talk about your neverending battle of good versus evil...unless the Gods of Light finally slap some kind of wall between the mortal realm and the dark domains...!
So, considering that most demons from the most evil parts of the Afterlife were once sinful enough to deserve eternal damnation in the first place, the idea of any of them being redeemable sounded as likely at that time as the thought that rain could stop being wet.
But we didn't care about that. We didn't want millions of people killed each day anymore. We let our fear motivate us instead of justified anger and defiance. We didn't do what was right and moral, we did what was most convenient to us. And we caved, or at least specifically the United Nations General Assembly did when they represented us. The world leaders like President Clinton were hesitant to argue against the move, too.
We agreed out of fear for ourselves to take in these 'undesirables' of the Demonkind to end the bombings...we were ready to lay out a red carpet for them. You can tell I haven't always been proud to be part of the human race. We can be so stupid.
The next day, as the U.N. hammered out the arrangements with a 'negotiator' from the Demonkind, the other shoe dropped. The Archangel Michael flew into the U.N. Building like a comet from on high. There he was, his great wings keeping him in a hover over everybody, and he was NOT happy. We found out how the Gods of the Heavens felt pretty fast...Michael declared in a voice loud enough for all Manhattan Island to hear (no one in the General Assembly hall got deafened because of a miracle, of course) that a balance was demanded if we were going to be foolish enough to let demons enter our world. He said that we'd have to have a similar arrangement with the Heavens, to accept just as many angels into our world to be our guardians.
He didn't give the impression that we had much choice in the matter, either.
-
And that's why our world is the way it is today. Ever since, many of the undesirable Demonkind did prove to be as harmless (or at least as harmful) as any mortal. Many of them were still surprisingly human in appearance and other ways. In general, most seemed to honestly look forward to the chance to start again on Earth, obey the law and do unto others, really work in harmony with mortals and angels. They've even earned advocates among the public and our world leaders who took steps to ensure there would be some form of tolerance toward them through new laws. The Kingdom has even followed suit to a degree, but cautiously, such as the Among Us and Gate Laws acts adopted by Demon City...I mean City 7.
But more conservative souls among us, like the Vanquishers and all the Slayers of our world, have been keeping as watchful an eye of the situation as the Angels have been. Their jobs weren't made easier because restrictions were leveled upon them for the sake of tolerance and keeping everything stable between mortals, demons and angels. No demon hunter has liked this arrangement at all because not all of the Demonkind who peaceably immigrated want redemption and to...well, be good to everyone and themselves. You want proof?

One fucking word: Barumusu. That demonic shit is single-handedly leading all organized crime in my city, but even the Vanquishers can't touch him because he's slick in ways you wouldn't want to imagine. Barumusu's damn smart, maybe smarter than me, and no one can nail the bastard because he's so far removed from his own operations. No cop or demon hunter has ever been able to connect him directly to his corrupting City 7. Not yet, anyway.
On top of all that, the Dark Lords are still sending Demonkind here like they always have to terrorize and corrupt us further, make this planet a reflection of the Hells!
The Slayers of the world have never, ever been needed more than they are now.
Which for me was a golden opportunity!
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And this day as I entered the main boardroom to meet the two girls waiting inside, the Vanquishers I invited to work for me and the Organization, I had the feeling greater and greater things laid ahead. I took one look at those lovely Slayers and I felt probably the same as the owner of the Chicago Bulls when they signed Michael Jordan.
The one standing dressed in black, Kyoko Asagi, was already a living legend. Just look at what she did saving Okinawa. It was cause for relief and celebration among most mortals, especially in the Tokyo Kingdom, when fairly recently Kyoko resurfaced after having disappeared for three months. Acquiring her alone would be a massive boon as far as publicity went for the Slayers Organization. Kyoko looked out upon the city as Misa Asagi, basically radiating sweetness and light, was sitting at one of the comfortable seats. The girl quickly stood the moment I entered. Good girl, daddy's here! Misa bowed and said brightly, "Konichiwa, Zong-san! It's great to see you again!"
I stopped and bowed deeply in greeting and assured, "The honor is mine, young lady. Thank you for coming." As I straightened up, though, Kyoko continued to look out at the city. It was like she hadn't noticed I arrived.
I didn't take that for the warning it was. I should have.
I approached and I offered a greeting to the girl in black: "Kyoko-san, thank you for coming, as well." Kyoko turned and looked at me with a neutral expression. I stopped a respectful distance away and bowed...stiffly, she mirrored the gesture. Then I began to realize there was something off, but I continued with formality and poise, as was my way in a situation like this.
I thought to myself not to worry, keep your confident demeanor, everything will go just as planned. Be the Alpha Male. Show you're in control of the situation.
I had no idea.
Misa moved close to Kyoko, and immediately the girl in black relaxed...her neutral expression softened so in reaction to her younger sister's loving warmth. Naturally, I thought. So close they were virtually inseparable, as sisters and Vanquishers.
I said to them, "This won't take long, ladies. My executive assistants will be here in a few minutes with the necessary paperwork and contracts. Among them, of course, will be the scholarships that shall be granted to you. Do you both have any questions as we wait? Can I get you both anything to drink?"
Misa said cheerfully, "Oh no, that's okay! If this won't take long, Zong-san, please don't trouble yourself!"
Kyoko was staring at me. The older girl said, "Actually, I have questions. I want to know more details about the precise nature of the Slayers Organization and our relationship with you."
I blinked. The girl was staring at me the same way my mother did every time she watched me when I was a child, ever vigilant to make sure I was on my best behavior. I hated that damn look. I felt self-conscious in a way I didn't want as I said smoothly, "Ask anything you want, Kyoko-san. I had believed I made everything clear when I outlined what I could offer you as your employer."
Kyoko looked at me fully and shook her head slightly, quietly. "Not necessarily. For one thing, giving it a great deal of thought, I want to be completely clear about what your Organization will do for me, Misa and other Slayers you...sign up."
I relaxed a bit and smiled...I was the picture of reassurance. "At our heart, the Slayers Organization exists to formally sponsor and support demon hunters like you and your sister, Kyoko-san. We're not a government agency, but we are endorsed by the Emperor and his royal family. We'll be working directly with our country's military and intelligence agencies, and I'm already securing relations with the U.N. Security Council, the CIA of the United States, Interpol, the British SAS, Scotland Yard, and many more in the international community.
"My intention is that the Slayers Organization serve as a watchtower for all demon hunters we will support. We would be uplinked across the planet to receive real-time intelligence every moment and receive immediate warning of any emergencies and illegal activities committed by criminal and especially invading Demonkind. We would then use our support systems, which have the best possible funding, to provide any logistics from transport and other services and resources to, if need be dependent on the circumstances, backup personnel. As they say in America, we'd have you and your sister's back. That's what we can do for you."
Kyoko asked, "I am sure you contract your services to the Kingdom and other governments, as well?"
I laughed casually. "Of course, in that way and others we need to make a profit in order to best support our Slayers! Besides, you can't get something without giving something. It's the way our world works. Our sponsorship would take many forms for maximum effect."
"So you would not necessarily be a benefactor for demon hunters?"
I frowned a bit. "Benefactors are a little different from sponsors, Kyoko-san. We're not a charity like the Holy Ark. They have so much support only because there's lots of Christians in the world."
Kyoko observed, "Actually, more and more, you sound like a patron of the ancient Roman Empire."
I looked at her blankly. "Huh?"
The girl in black turned fully to look at me...and then she gazed at Misa as she said, "I want to be completely clear where we would stand working for you. I want there to be no mistake of what you require from us. It's very important how working for you will affect my sister."
Misa looked back at Kyoko with such affection she could have brightened a dungeon, but at that moment I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach that built by the moment. I didn't want this deal complicated. Hell, I made things as simple as possible for the sisters, but my instincts told me that things were about to go sideways. I was right, but still. I had no idea.
I laid it down so there would be no mistake, like the girl wanted. "I did say from the very beginning you'd work for me, so you'll essentially be at my beck and call when warranted. I'll also have to lay down a lot of procedural do's and don'ts for you both to adhere to. However, I'm sure I don't have to remind you there's a lot of...legal complexities these days that all Slayers have had to deal with."
"Yes...all in the name of political correctness." Kyoko's voice was as stony as her expression when she said that, and she was justified for it. Misa's own expression became sour, too. But then the older girl added, "Such a need for tolerance should be reserved for the offspring of demons and angels in this world, especially if one of the parents is mortal." Yeah. Talk about complex! Love really was blind, and often a mortal man or woman has met and fallen in love with an angel or demon, one thing led to another, and...
Misa nodded, and she really was so sweet when she supported Kyoko: "There are way too many jerks out there who want to call those half-breeds monsters, like they committed a crime just being born! Why can't any tolerance and love be shown for them? They deserve to grow and live their lives without hate, just like any mortal!"
Kyoko said, "Yes, because what a person is doesn't define who they are. Demonic children are not enemies to me and Misa and our fellow Slayers...not unless they grow to become as evil as any renegade Demonkind. If they live good lives, be good to others, they could even ascend to the Heavens when their time in this realm is over. But for all of my life there has been the need amongst politicians to bend over backwards to appease the Demonkind here, no matter how amoral they are, and that is a mistake."
I shook my head and said, "You're preaching to the choir, ladies. I believe in common sense, not politics, but that's the way or world works. Because of that, it'll also be my role to tell you both how you'll operate during a mission or investigation, depending on the circumstances. A lot of Demonkind are just waiting for somebody to discriminate against them, especially Slayers, so they can shout and protest 'Demon Lives Matter!' again. The Slayers Organization is absolutely going to do its best to avoid those kind of political complications."
Kyoko said tightly, "You will tell us how we will operate. Really."
My first thought was, 'Uh-oh.' But I tried to change the subject just a little, if only to ease the mood of the girl in black. What I said next, in retrospect, proved to be the wrong thing. "Really. There are other things I'll want from you both simply to promote the Slayers Organization and its interests. There are a lot of ways to do that and they'll be pretty painless. For one thing, Kyoko-san, you and your little sister have the beauty and charisma to provide all the endorsement we could ever need. Have you both ever thought of modeling, for instance?"
Kyoko raised a single eyebrow, but her eyes had a strange look...very flat. I was too much of a fucking idiot to recognize that I just offended her. She asked matter-of-factly, "You mean for corporations like Victoria's Secret? A bit of, what would you call it? Cross-marketing?" Misa stared at me with neutral eyes. Maybe a little too neutral.
I was so foolish to ignore those warning signs. I actually wanted to smile big but didn't, I kept myself professional and asked in turn, "Why not? That and other kinds of promotion for the Organization would definitely capture everyone's attention. It wouldn't be too much to provide such endorsements from you both, would it?"
There was only a moment of silence before Kyoko said, "Yes. It would be. In fact, the very idea of working for you has become unacceptable."
Okay, it felt like eels were squirming in my gut then. I was tempted to lose my composure. I was the Alpha Male here and this little girl only what, a few years past high school was going to give me shit? Refuse me?
My eyes narrowed as I shifted gears to be the asshole, the shark who swam and fed on whatever he damn well wanted because he could. I stiffened and said in a tone full of authority, "Unacceptable. Really. The world needs Slayers, and because of the state this world is in, you need the support of people like me. Yeah, you can consider me a patron from back in the day, and why not? I'm ready to give you anything you could ever need to stop the renegades of the Demonkind or, worst case scenario, any of the Angels on this Earth if they get funny ideas! All I ask in return is that you do what I say when I say for the best interests of the Organization. If you want any support to be even more effective against your enemies, if you want to even go to college at all, you've got to give something in exchange. That can't be too much to ask because once again, I made this clear from the start: I'll be your employer and you will follow my orders whenever I want you to!"
They both simply stared back at me. Yeah, I was an asshole. Sometimes you have to be to make yourself understood.
Kyoko drew close and softly put a slender hand on one of Misa's shoulders...the kawaii cutie fawned upon her sister with a look that would have made flowers grow. Kyoko smiled softly back at Misa and said, "My sweet sister likes you, Zong-san...she sees a lot of potential in you."
Kyoko looked at me, and there was something very cold in her blue eyes...she continued: "I must admit, I do not see you the same way. You must earn my trust and respect, Zong-san. At this moment, after everything you have said, I feel quite differently from Misa. I do not usually use harsh language in public. It's beneath me and my place in this world as a warrior blessed by the Heavens to be so crude.
"Still...I must say you are an asshat!"
My jaw almost dropped. I was the Alpha Male, or at least trying to be, and she didn't give a damn. I stammered, "W-w-what???"
Kyoko said mildly, "If we are to have any respect for each other, Zong-san, let's be completely honest. Your Organization is a corporation...men like you in your well-pressed suits care only for your 'bottom line'. This, all of this, is for the purpose of gaining worldly profit, influence, power, and prestige. I believe you do have the best of intentions, you do desire to help Slayers like me and my imoute." Then Kyoko began to move toward me with a confident stride as she said, "You still have a lot to learn, and I really feel the need to teach you."
In a couple of heartbeats, she was standing right before me...I tried to talk, but her penetrating stare that could have looked through titanium gave me some trouble. "W-wait...I don't understand..."
Kyoko said unkindly, "No, you don't. You have completely missed the point of what it means to be a Slayer!
"Me and my sister do not care about such things as profit and prestige. We do appreciate your offering of scholarships...if only college education wasn't so ridiculously expensive in part because of men in suits like you, your 'full rides' wouldn't be necessary. Misa does want to explore options of what else she can do with her life besides being a Vanquisher...I look forward to learning more too because knowledge is power. Rest assured, Zong-san, your gifts will not be wasted and we are thankful for your offering them.
"But, if you think that will make us follow you at your beck and call, you are wrong!"
"Ack!" I never even saw a blur...just like that, Kyoko grabbed me by my tie and pulled me close to within an inch of her gorgeous face so fast my neck felt wrenched. I had to check in with a doctor later to be sure I didn't have whiplash.
I heard a giggle...it was Misa. She moved close to us to watch, her eyes full of bright cheer. Okay. I didn't win her over like I thought I did.
Kyoko's voice was hard as steel as she spoke: "Our first and holy duty is as Vanquishers, to honor our birthright and the Divine who blessed our family since the beginning! We serve the interests of the Order of Vanquishers, the Emperor, the will of the Heavens, and most importantly our fellow mortals who need us to defend them from darkness. They are our 'employers'.
"You, Zong-san, will not be! You will be our patron, you will be our sponsor, but you shall not be our boss! Instead -- " I tried to look to Misa mostly because I was outright terrified at the moment, Gods the older girl was so strong, but suddenly Kyoko's other hand took hold of my face and made me look into her eyes again as she almost shouted, "Look at me!" I did. I had no choice but to look into her eyes again. She was physically stronger than I could ever hope to be. I wasn't looking at a little girl but a Vanquisher, perhaps the greatest of all, the Slayer my people called the Warrior Worth a Thousand. I didn't think about using my power over the wind to defend myself because I absolutely did NOT want to make an enemy out of Kyoko Asagi. She would have beaten the blue hell out of me anyway, I have no doubt of that. Yeah. I honestly thought it was a good idea to be an asshole with the Asagi sisters.
Kyoko advised, "If you want to appeal to my sister's kindness, notice she hasn't stopped me. We talked about this, and we are both in agreement."
"It's true, Zong-san." Only my wide eyes could move at the moment and I managed to see Misa. Her smile was luminous as she said, "I do like you, but my nee-chan's right. You really don't get what it means to be a Slayer! It's our birthright to serve things a lot higher than making money and stuff. Think of it like this. If the Knights Templar were still here, they'd never care about being sponsored by somebody like, well, McDonalds!
"I do want to learn more and do things I'd really want to when I'm not hunting demons. We appreciate those scholarships so much! But really, you've been looking at us the wrong way. It's not too late, though. We still want to work with you if it helps us serve the Heavens and the people!"
"Exactly." Kyoko. She had my full attention again. The girl in black said, "We are prepared to work with you, Zong-san, not for you. If you want to cultivate any more Slayers across the world, you will pay them that exact same respect. Some would react far, far more unkindly than I have if you don't.
"When your assistants come in with the paperwork, I want everything but the scholarships for me and my imoute burned. You will draft a new contract with very simple language. One that states we will mutually support one another on an as-needed basis and you are more than free to promote your own interests through our professional relationship. Considering I've already been subject to such publicity it might risk my effectiveness as a Vanquisher, I suspect the Slayers Organization will draw considerable attention and profit, just as you want.
"But Misa and I do not work for you. You may advise, you are more than at liberty to do that, but you will not tell us how we perform our holy duty, either! We will support you as long as you do not conflict in any way with our duty to defend our Kingdom and our world, and we would appreciate any and all support you could provide in return."
Kyoko's eyes turned even colder as her voice spoke with a sharp edge of threat: "But this is your only warning, Zong-san: you will never give us orders.
"Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
Kyoko was perfectly, absolutely clear. So damn clear it took all of my focus to keep from pissing my pants at that moment. Gods, she turned me on, too!
I did miss the point. I really did. I was treating these ladies, devout demon slayers empowered by the Heavens, like they were NASCAR racers.
I was looking point-blank into the ice-blue eyes of a warrior who ate sharks for breakfast.
I did get it and I caved. My professional relationship with the sisters was...ah, firmly established. I did exactly as Kyoko and Misa wanted.
A wise decision on my part all-around!
**********

Slayers of Demon City 7 is owned by ...make sure you remember that!

Giving credit where it's due!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek
XPS created by Dusan and XNAaraL

Models:
Kyoko and Misa Asagi and Hikari Abe Zong by their creator !

Description
Fellow Deviant and Slayers addict 's story "Recruitment" detailed how corporate bigwig (and elemental mystic!) Hikari Abe Zong strolled into Misa and Kyoko's lives asking them to work for his Slayers Organization. His goals may be admirable, to support Slayers in every way possible, but the man himself needs a little work, as you'll discover. Kyoko and Misa are at his headquarters, and Hikari's eager to have them sign their lives away...however, if he thinks he's gonna be in charge of these lovely warriors, Kyoko has a little bit of a surprise for him! ^_^

The story also explains some more history of the Slayers world and how it's REALLY different from ours in a lot of ways. I also provide how I picture how everything works in this universe, both in life and the Afterlife. This story is brought to you with the full approval like always of Slayers creator , but this story wouldn't exist if it wasn't for KoDraCan's inspiration, I hope she loves this!

Fair warning, there's a bit of cussing in the story...you'll tell right away!

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Contract Negotiations

My name is Hikari Abe Zong, and I'll freely admit: I'm an asshole.
I'm an asshole because I've often had to be, in order to get myself and The Slayers Organization where we are today after my late father left the corporation to me. Oh don't get me wrong, I was raised right. Both of my parents were old school raising me, if you know what I mean. I was brought up in accordance to all my culture could require. Polite, ordered and tranquil, the very picture of honor and civil decorum. How my people of the Tokyo Kingdom see ourselves is just as important as how the rest of the world sees us. Well, that's the ideal.
It was also kind of a requirement to learn self-discipline and civility because I had magical gifts passed on to me from my father, who was a mystic. For my whole childhood as I grew, besides regular school I was trained to hone my powers, which are formidable if I may say so. I can command one of the four elements themselves: wind. I can do everything from simply blow out a candle on the dinner table to making a Kenworth tractor-trailer fly end over end down a street with a force equal to a hurricane. Often I've really impressed myself.
If you're worried about that power corrupting me, don't. I may be an asshole half the time, but I'm a really good boy. A long time ago I realized there was no percentage at all in answering to temptations, either mortal or anything offered by the Dark Gods and their forces. That's something too many idiots have never figured out and never will because one way or the other, there will always be mortals who are too damned weak. Yeah, go on and answer those temptations. Follow the lure of the Dark Gods and everything they're offering. You'll get your heart's desire, maybe every dark and twisted dream you ever had will come true. Temptation can be overwhelming, but it blinds you to the truth that in the eternal long run you're screwed. You'll have nothing but misery and torment to look forward to in the darkest places imaginable, where you'll be just as damned as any demon and you won't have jack-shit unless you like all kinds of neverending pain.
Pass!
Incentive enough for me to be a good boy, to say the least. But my main focus in my adult life wasn't mysticism -- which I still practice every day at a master's level -- but business. My father left me a worldly inheritance too, and I wanted to make the most of it, build from it. And in order to get to where I am now, I learned early on there's virtue in being an asshole sometimes. I learned to see the business world for what it was and adapt to it. Business is an ocean dominated by sharks, each living to gobble down profit, and in both the business world and the ocean if a shark doesn't stop swimming and eating, they die. I learned to grow my teeth pretty quickly and became one of the biggest sharks out there. I had to in order to make the Slayers Organization grow to have international reach and influence.
I had to because this world needs my corporation and entities like it because of the great stew the mortal realm has become. Mortals once called this our singular domain, the Earth and our universe. Not anymore, not since the Demonkind and then Angels immigrated from the Netherregions and Heavens.
And how did that happen? All because of the most horrifying week in mortal history. What Americans called Hell Week, and for good reason.
Back in ancient times, the Gods of Light and Darkness agreed to leave our world in mortal hands. Of course that didn't stop the Gods of Chaos from continuing to send their gods-damned minions to terrorize us at every chance, even tried to affect history so many times. I'm not even going into what the bastards tried after World War II started. Yeah, the Demonkind constantly invaded our realm and threatened mortals like me, but thankfully Heaven gave us the Slayers, our guardians of justice and good, especially my Kingdom's Vanquishers.
But all conflicts escalate...and the worst part of Hell Week was, what happened then and the events after that were mainly mortalkind's fault.
Mortalkind was so ambitious and short-sighted that in order to bring an early end to World War II, the Americans dropped the first atomic bomb on Berlin, Germany in early 1945. It was nothing to be proud of in hindsight...we reached too far before really thinking about whether we should have or not. Berlin was turned into a giant funeral pyre, but everyone wanted a quick finish to the war, and nobody liked Hitler and his Nazis.
Creating the nuclear bomb came back to haunt our kind in the worst way possible. It was the Black Disciples, the mortal terrorist group. Undoubtedly those zealots were following the orders of the Dark Gods they worshipped, and what they did was commit the single greatest terrorist atrocity in history. Each day for seven days, from November the Second to the Eighth, 1995, the fuckers randomly nuked a major city across the planet.
Johannesburg. St. Petersburg. Warsaw. Fort Worth. Guanzhong. Nairobi. Paris.
Everyone and their mother knew the darkest of forces were responsible, yet they used mortals as their agents! Yeah, the mortal world was left in mortal hands...for what that was worth anymore. Every country was in a panic because, no shit, no one wanted anymore cities dead. Thank the Heavens the Kingdom was never affected.
Then a black mystic arrived at the U.N. as an emissary with a message for the General Assembly. The Dark Gods had ordered their faithful on Earth to commit those atrocities...but there would be no more violence if we complied to a demand no one ever expected. The Dark Gods wanted to send us what the black mystic called undesirables from the Netherregions to the mortal world. They wanted to send hundreds of thousands of Demonkind to immigrate to Earth. The U.N. was told these demons were were still capable of redemption, which had a high chance of destabilizing the dark realms of the Afterlife.
You can see the inherent problem with that. If you don't, let me remind you of some of the basic truths most everybody knows about how things between the mortal realm and the Afterlife work.
First. There's no single Hell or Heaven, contrary to what a given religion told you. Better to say there's truth in every religion because they are all real. Most every god and goddess you ever heard of -- especially those of far more ancient times -- rule in more than one Heaven. A given eternal Heaven is awaiting each of us -- as long as you haven't been sinful! -- that reflects each of our respective faiths. The same holds true for the Hells aka the Netherregions or simply the Nethers, one's immortal soul is damned after their death to one dark domain or another mostly depending on their beliefs. Fairly cut and dry.
Second. When a mortal man or woman loses their life, their eternal soul rises or falls to their fated domain in the Afterlife to experience what one would call a transition. The immortal soul is reborn in an immortal and eternal form, usually in the appearance of that individual's self image, how they saw themselves in life at their best. In Heaven, barring the fanciful imagination of a person or whatever blessings they are given, their physical appearance changes little from how they looked at the prime of their mortal lives, pretty much like those classic works of art that depicted angels who didn't look different from mortals at all. Some depending on their goodness could even be empowered by the Gods of Light to become Angels, wings and everything. Again, fairly simple to understand, right?
It's much more complicated for the most sinful of us doomed to any of the Nethers. They are also 'reincarnated' to know eternal life in their self-image, but the Hells are unspeakable, hideous, dangerous places. These are essentially prisons, realms of pure and constant torment for their 'inmates'. Part of the torment of the Hells is that they can change the condemned through punishments we mortals are better off not trying to imagine. The condemned's eternal form and their persona become a reflection of their domain, monstrous and hellish. They become what we call demons.
Third, an important distinction must be made. There are those born in the Afterlife, the Heavens and the Nethers. They are often the progeny of those who have passed on and even offspring of gods, Light or Dark. In the case of the Hells, these godly offspring are far, far more powerful than those who passed on to become demons. All citizens of the Nethers, whether born there or in the mortal world, are still described uniformly as Demonkind.
The fourth thing. There are laws to be obeyed whether you're mortal or eternal. First, naturally, a mortal being can't enter the Afterlife unless they have passed on from our world. There was one very unique and incredible incident happened back in earlier times, a legendary moment in history involving Slayers who literally took their fight against the Demonkind right to the Hells. That isn't so important right now, but basically mortals belong in this world for good reasons.
Unfortunately, the reverse isn't true. Why else would the Earth be invaded by Demonkind time and again? However, beings from the Afterlife are at unique risk when they're here. They don't belong here and they're not immune to physical harm, even enough damage to destroy them. There's no 'second death', though -- if only the meaning of the name Slayer was literal! Demonkind can be destroyed in our realm, but their souls transition back to their home Nether to be 'reincarnated' in a new eternal form. That's part of why they've menaced all of mortal history. It isn't just that there's so many damned demons, no matter how many times a Slayer destroys them, they'll rejuvenate and the Dark Gods will send them back again and again as many times as they fucking want! I have endless respect for the Slayers because of that, everyone should. Would you want to fight an enemy force knowing they can renew their strength time and again? Talk about your neverending battle of good versus evil...unless the Gods of Light finally slap some kind of wall between the mortal realm and the dark domains...!
So, considering that most demons from the most evil parts of the Afterlife were once sinful enough to deserve eternal damnation in the first place, the idea of any of them being redeemable sounded as likely at that time as the thought that rain could stop being wet.
But we didn't care about that. We didn't want millions of people killed each day anymore. We let our fear motivate us instead of justified anger and defiance. We didn't do what was right and moral, we did what was most convenient to us. And we caved, or at least specifically the United Nations General Assembly did when they represented us. The world leaders like President Clinton were hesitant to argue against the move, too.
We agreed out of fear for ourselves to take in these 'undesirables' of the Demonkind to end the bombings...we were ready to lay out a red carpet for them. You can tell I haven't always been proud to be part of the human race. We can be so stupid.
The next day, as the U.N. hammered out the arrangements with a 'negotiator' from the Demonkind, the other shoe dropped. The Archangel Michael flew into the U.N. Building like a comet from on high. There he was, his great wings keeping him in a hover over everybody, and he was NOT happy. We found out how the Gods of the Heavens felt pretty fast...Michael declared in a voice loud enough for all Manhattan Island to hear (no one in the General Assembly hall got deafened because of a miracle, of course) that a balance was demanded if we were going to be foolish enough to let demons enter our world. He said that we'd have to have a similar arrangement with the Heavens, to accept just as many angels into our world to be our guardians.
He didn't give the impression that we had much choice in the matter, either.
-
And that's why our world is the way it is today. Ever since, many of the undesirable Demonkind did prove to be as harmless (or at least as harmful) as any mortal. Many of them were still surprisingly human in appearance and other ways. In general, most seemed to honestly look forward to the chance to start again on Earth, obey the law and do unto others, really work in harmony with mortals and angels. They've even earned advocates among the public and our world leaders who took steps to ensure there would be some form of tolerance toward them through new laws. The Kingdom has even followed suit to a degree, but cautiously, such as the Among Us and Gate Laws acts adopted by Demon City...I mean City 7.
But more conservative souls among us, like the Vanquishers and all the Slayers of our world, have been keeping as watchful an eye of the situation as the Angels have been. Their jobs weren't made easier because restrictions were leveled upon them for the sake of tolerance and keeping everything stable between mortals, demons and angels. No demon hunter has liked this arrangement at all because not all of the Demonkind who peaceably immigrated want redemption and to...well, be good to everyone and themselves. You want proof?

One fucking word: Barumusu. That demonic shit is single-handedly leading all organized crime in my city, but even the Vanquishers can't touch him because he's slick in ways you wouldn't want to imagine. Barumusu's damn smart, maybe smarter than me, and no one can nail the bastard because he's so far removed from his own operations. No cop or demon hunter has ever been able to connect him directly to his corrupting City 7. Not yet, anyway.
On top of all that, the Dark Lords are still sending Demonkind here like they always have to terrorize and corrupt us further, make this planet a reflection of the Hells!
The Slayers of the world have never, ever been needed more than they are now.
Which for me was a golden opportunity!
-
And this day as I entered the main boardroom to meet the two girls waiting inside, the Vanquishers I invited to work for me and the Organization, I had the feeling greater and greater things laid ahead. I took one look at those lovely Slayers and I felt probably the same as the owner of the Chicago Bulls when they signed Michael Jordan.
The one standing dressed in black, Kyoko Asagi, was already a living legend. Just look at what she did saving Okinawa. It was cause for relief and celebration among most mortals, especially in the Tokyo Kingdom, when fairly recently Kyoko resurfaced after having disappeared for three months. Acquiring her alone would be a massive boon as far as publicity went for the Slayers Organization. Kyoko looked out upon the city as Misa Asagi, basically radiating sweetness and light, was sitting at one of the comfortable seats. The girl quickly stood the moment I entered. Good girl, daddy's here! Misa bowed and said brightly, "Konichiwa, Zong-san! It's great to see you again!"
I stopped and bowed deeply in greeting and assured, "The honor is mine, young lady. Thank you for coming." As I straightened up, though, Kyoko continued to look out at the city. It was like she hadn't noticed I arrived.
I didn't take that for the warning it was. I should have.
I approached and I offered a greeting to the girl in black: "Kyoko-san, thank you for coming, as well." Kyoko turned and looked at me with a neutral expression. I stopped a respectful distance away and bowed...stiffly, she mirrored the gesture. Then I began to realize there was something off, but I continued with formality and poise, as was my way in a situation like this.
I thought to myself not to worry, keep your confident demeanor, everything will go just as planned. Be the Alpha Male. Show you're in control of the situation.
I had no idea.
Misa moved close to Kyoko, and immediately the girl in black relaxed...her neutral expression softened so in reaction to her younger sister's loving warmth. Naturally, I thought. So close they were virtually inseparable, as sisters and Vanquishers.
I said to them, "This won't take long, ladies. My executive assistants will be here in a few minutes with the necessary paperwork and contracts. Among them, of course, will be the scholarships that shall be granted to you. Do you both have any questions as we wait? Can I get you both anything to drink?"
Misa said cheerfully, "Oh no, that's okay! If this won't take long, Zong-san, please don't trouble yourself!"
Kyoko was staring at me. The older girl said, "Actually, I have questions. I want to know more details about the precise nature of the Slayers Organization and our relationship with you."
I blinked. The girl was staring at me the same way my mother did every time she watched me when I was a child, ever vigilant to make sure I was on my best behavior. I hated that damn look. I felt self-conscious in a way I didn't want as I said smoothly, "Ask anything you want, Kyoko-san. I had believed I made everything clear when I outlined what I could offer you as your employer."
Kyoko looked at me fully and shook her head slightly, quietly. "Not necessarily. For one thing, giving it a great deal of thought, I want to be completely clear about what your Organization will do for me, Misa and other Slayers you...sign up."
I relaxed a bit and smiled...I was the picture of reassurance. "At our heart, the Slayers Organization exists to formally sponsor and support demon hunters like you and your sister, Kyoko-san. We're not a government agency, but we are endorsed by the Emperor and his royal family. We'll be working directly with our country's military and intelligence agencies, and I'm already securing relations with the U.N. Security Council, the CIA of the United States, Interpol, the British SAS, Scotland Yard, and many more in the international community.
"My intention is that the Slayers Organization serve as a watchtower for all demon hunters we will support. We would be uplinked across the planet to receive real-time intelligence every moment and receive immediate warning of any emergencies and illegal activities committed by criminal and especially invading Demonkind. We would then use our support systems, which have the best possible funding, to provide any logistics from transport and other services and resources to, if need be dependent on the circumstances, backup personnel. As they say in America, we'd have you and your sister's back. That's what we can do for you."
Kyoko asked, "I am sure you contract your services to the Kingdom and other governments, as well?"
I laughed casually. "Of course, in that way and others we need to make a profit in order to best support our Slayers! Besides, you can't get something without giving something. It's the way our world works. Our sponsorship would take many forms for maximum effect."
"So you would not necessarily be a benefactor for demon hunters?"
I frowned a bit. "Benefactors are a little different from sponsors, Kyoko-san. We're not a charity like the Holy Ark. They have so much support only because there's lots of Christians in the world."
Kyoko observed, "Actually, more and more, you sound like a patron of the ancient Roman Empire."
I looked at her blankly. "Huh?"
The girl in black turned fully to look at me...and then she gazed at Misa as she said, "I want to be completely clear where we would stand working for you. I want there to be no mistake of what you require from us. It's very important how working for you will affect my sister."
Misa looked back at Kyoko with such affection she could have brightened a dungeon, but at that moment I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach that built by the moment. I didn't want this deal complicated. Hell, I made things as simple as possible for the sisters, but my instincts told me that things were about to go sideways. I was right, but still. I had no idea.
I laid it down so there would be no mistake, like the girl wanted. "I did say from the very beginning you'd work for me, so you'll essentially be at my beck and call when warranted. I'll also have to lay down a lot of procedural do's and don'ts for you both to adhere to. However, I'm sure I don't have to remind you there's a lot of...legal complexities these days that all Slayers have had to deal with."
"Yes...all in the name of political correctness." Kyoko's voice was as stony as her expression when she said that, and she was justified for it. Misa's own expression became sour, too. But then the older girl added, "Such a need for tolerance should be reserved for the offspring of demons and angels in this world, especially if one of the parents is mortal." Yeah. Talk about complex! Love really was blind, and often a mortal man or woman has met and fallen in love with an angel or demon, one thing led to another, and...
Misa nodded, and she really was so sweet when she supported Kyoko: "There are way too many jerks out there who want to call those half-breeds monsters, like they committed a crime just being born! Why can't any tolerance and love be shown for them? They deserve to grow and live their lives without hate, just like any mortal!"
Kyoko said, "Yes, because what a person is doesn't define who they are. Demonic children are not enemies to me and Misa and our fellow Slayers...not unless they grow to become as evil as any renegade Demonkind. If they live good lives, be good to others, they could even ascend to the Heavens when their time in this realm is over. But for all of my life there has been the need amongst politicians to bend over backwards to appease the Demonkind here, no matter how amoral they are, and that is a mistake."
I shook my head and said, "You're preaching to the choir, ladies. I believe in common sense, not politics, but that's the way or world works. Because of that, it'll also be my role to tell you both how you'll operate during a mission or investigation, depending on the circumstances. A lot of Demonkind are just waiting for somebody to discriminate against them, especially Slayers, so they can shout and protest 'Demon Lives Matter!' again. The Slayers Organization is absolutely going to do its best to avoid those kind of political complications."
Kyoko said tightly, "You will tell us how we will operate. Really."
My first thought was, 'Uh-oh.' But I tried to change the subject just a little, if only to ease the mood of the girl in black. What I said next, in retrospect, proved to be the wrong thing. "Really. There are other things I'll want from you both simply to promote the Slayers Organization and its interests. There are a lot of ways to do that and they'll be pretty painless. For one thing, Kyoko-san, you and your little sister have the beauty and charisma to provide all the endorsement we could ever need. Have you both ever thought of modeling, for instance?"
Kyoko raised a single eyebrow, but her eyes had a strange look...very flat. I was too much of a fucking idiot to recognize that I just offended her. She asked matter-of-factly, "You mean for corporations like Victoria's Secret? A bit of, what would you call it? Cross-marketing?" Misa stared at me with neutral eyes. Maybe a little too neutral.
I was so foolish to ignore those warning signs. I actually wanted to smile big but didn't, I kept myself professional and asked in turn, "Why not? That and other kinds of promotion for the Organization would definitely capture everyone's attention. It wouldn't be too much to provide such endorsements from you both, would it?"
There was only a moment of silence before Kyoko said, "Yes. It would be. In fact, the very idea of working for you has become unacceptable."
Okay, it felt like eels were squirming in my gut then. I was tempted to lose my composure. I was the Alpha Male here and this little girl only what, a few years past high school was going to give me shit? Refuse me?
My eyes narrowed as I shifted gears to be the asshole, the shark who swam and fed on whatever he damn well wanted because he could. I stiffened and said in a tone full of authority, "Unacceptable. Really. The world needs Slayers, and because of the state this world is in, you need the support of people like me. Yeah, you can consider me a patron from back in the day, and why not? I'm ready to give you anything you could ever need to stop the renegades of the Demonkind or, worst case scenario, any of the Angels on this Earth if they get funny ideas! All I ask in return is that you do what I say when I say for the best interests of the Organization. If you want any support to be even more effective against your enemies, if you want to even go to college at all, you've got to give something in exchange. That can't be too much to ask because once again, I made this clear from the start: I'll be your employer and you will follow my orders whenever I want you to!"
They both simply stared back at me. Yeah, I was an asshole. Sometimes you have to be to make yourself understood.
Kyoko drew close and softly put a slender hand on one of Misa's shoulders...the kawaii cutie fawned upon her sister with a look that would have made flowers grow. Kyoko smiled softly back at Misa and said, "My sweet sister likes you, Zong-san...she sees a lot of potential in you."
Kyoko looked at me, and there was something very cold in her blue eyes...she continued: "I must admit, I do not see you the same way. You must earn my trust and respect, Zong-san. At this moment, after everything you have said, I feel quite differently from Misa. I do not usually use harsh language in public. It's beneath me and my place in this world as a warrior blessed by the Heavens to be so crude.
"Still...I must say you are an asshat!"
My jaw almost dropped. I was the Alpha Male, or at least trying to be, and she didn't give a damn. I stammered, "W-w-what???"
Kyoko said mildly, "If we are to have any respect for each other, Zong-san, let's be completely honest. Your Organization is a corporation...men like you in your well-pressed suits care only for your 'bottom line'. This, all of this, is for the purpose of gaining worldly profit, influence, power, and prestige. I believe you do have the best of intentions, you do desire to help Slayers like me and my imoute." Then Kyoko began to move toward me with a confident stride as she said, "You still have a lot to learn, and I really feel the need to teach you."
In a couple of heartbeats, she was standing right before me...I tried to talk, but her penetrating stare that could have looked through titanium gave me some trouble. "W-wait...I don't understand..."
Kyoko said unkindly, "No, you don't. You have completely missed the point of what it means to be a Slayer!
"Me and my sister do not care about such things as profit and prestige. We do appreciate your offering of scholarships...if only college education wasn't so ridiculously expensive in part because of men in suits like you, your 'full rides' wouldn't be necessary. Misa does want to explore options of what else she can do with her life besides being a Vanquisher...I look forward to learning more too because knowledge is power. Rest assured, Zong-san, your gifts will not be wasted and we are thankful for your offering them.
"But, if you think that will make us follow you at your beck and call, you are wrong!"
"Ack!" I never even saw a blur...just like that, Kyoko grabbed me by my tie and pulled me close to within an inch of her gorgeous face so fast my neck felt wrenched. I had to check in with a doctor later to be sure I didn't have whiplash.
I heard a giggle...it was Misa. She moved close to us to watch, her eyes full of bright cheer. Okay. I didn't win her over like I thought I did.
Kyoko's voice was hard as steel as she spoke: "Our first and holy duty is as Vanquishers, to honor our birthright and the Divine who blessed our family since the beginning! We serve the interests of the Order of Vanquishers, the Emperor, the will of the Heavens, and most importantly our fellow mortals who need us to defend them from darkness. They are our 'employers'.
"You, Zong-san, will not be! You will be our patron, you will be our sponsor, but you shall not be our boss! Instead -- " I tried to look to Misa mostly because I was outright terrified at the moment, Gods the older girl was so strong, but suddenly Kyoko's other hand took hold of my face and made me look into her eyes again as she almost shouted, "Look at me!" I did. I had no choice but to look into her eyes again. She was physically stronger than I could ever hope to be. I wasn't looking at a little girl but a Vanquisher, perhaps the greatest of all, the Slayer my people called the Warrior Worth a Thousand. I didn't think about using my power over the wind to defend myself because I absolutely did NOT want to make an enemy out of Kyoko Asagi. She would have beaten the blue hell out of me anyway, I have no doubt of that. Yeah. I honestly thought it was a good idea to be an asshole with the Asagi sisters.
Kyoko advised, "If you want to appeal to my sister's kindness, notice she hasn't stopped me. We talked about this, and we are both in agreement."
"It's true, Zong-san." Only my wide eyes could move at the moment and I managed to see Misa. Her smile was luminous as she said, "I do like you, but my nee-chan's right. You really don't get what it means to be a Slayer! It's our birthright to serve things a lot higher than making money and stuff. Think of it like this. If the Knights Templar were still here, they'd never care about being sponsored by somebody like, well, McDonalds!
"I do want to learn more and do things I'd really want to when I'm not hunting demons. We appreciate those scholarships so much! But really, you've been looking at us the wrong way. It's not too late, though. We still want to work with you if it helps us serve the Heavens and the people!"
"Exactly." Kyoko. She had my full attention again. The girl in black said, "We are prepared to work with you, Zong-san, not for you. If you want to cultivate any more Slayers across the world, you will pay them that exact same respect. Some would react far, far more unkindly than I have if you don't.
"When your assistants come in with the paperwork, I want everything but the scholarships for me and my imoute burned. You will draft a new contract with very simple language. One that states we will mutually support one another on an as-needed basis and you are more than free to promote your own interests through our professional relationship. Considering I've already been subject to such publicity it might risk my effectiveness as a Vanquisher, I suspect the Slayers Organization will draw considerable attention and profit, just as you want.
"But Misa and I do not work for you. You may advise, you are more than at liberty to do that, but you will not tell us how we perform our holy duty, either! We will support you as long as you do not conflict in any way with our duty to defend our Kingdom and our world, and we would appreciate any and all support you could provide in return."
Kyoko's eyes turned even colder as her voice spoke with a sharp edge of threat: "But this is your only warning, Zong-san: you will never give us orders.
"Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
Kyoko was perfectly, absolutely clear. So damn clear it took all of my focus to keep from pissing my pants at that moment. Gods, she turned me on, too!
I did miss the point. I really did. I was treating these ladies, devout demon slayers empowered by the Heavens, like they were NASCAR racers.
I was looking point-blank into the ice-blue eyes of a warrior who ate sharks for breakfast.
I did get it and I caved. My professional relationship with the sisters was...ah, firmly established. I did exactly as Kyoko and Misa wanted.
A wise decision on my part all-around!
**********

Slayers of Demon City 7 is owned by ...make sure you remember that!

Giving credit where it's due!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek
XPS created by Dusan and XNAaraL

Models:
Kyoko and Misa Asagi and Hikari Abe Zong by their creator !