The Devil of Suzuka: Chapter 1 [Dark Themes]

[Aeon]

Chapter One

Haruka Izukami





Crack… boom.

​

The soft pitter-patter of rainfall complimented the sound of thunder well in the bustling city of Tokyo. After all, she had always loved the dark and dreary sounds that all those around her found ever-so dull.

A tall, brunette woman with hair that fell to the middle of her back, her bangs left loose, while the back was tied into a semi-messy braid. Her body was well formed and fit, contained within a clean business suit. In a general sense, she was a very conventionally attractive woman, aside from one factor. Her eyes.

Ever since she was a child, her malicious-looking gaze had always gotten a lot of vitriol from her potential friends, and even now in her office work, she was called ‘The Devil of Suzuka,’ the town she was born in. The woman had many rumors in regard to her intent or origin.

Some said that she was a secret mob boss, and other that she was the daughter of a dictator. Others said that she was a government agent, or some sort of serial killer. Many of these rumors did not come with malicious intent, but rather, fear.

This peculiar woman did have a relatively cold and sealed off demeanor, but she was by no means abusive. Many simply misinterpreted her gaze for a glare that wished them dead.



… A scream? Had she heard a scream? The odd woman was walking home, her umbrella in her right hand, and her briefcase in her left. She could have sworn she’d just heard a scream.

… Another. It was definitely a scream. ‘Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.’ She dropped her umbrella and ran toward the sound, the heavy rain drenching her hair and suit. Thank god she’d worn her flats today, because sprinting in heels would have been a real pain.

It wasn’t long before she’d reached the source. The back of an old run-down locally owned story. Three men, one girl, all of the men taller than the woman. The woman was already mostly undressed, left in a mess of torn cloth and smeared makeup from her tears. Despite the appearance, it at least outwardly seemed that they hadn’t truly started yet. No one was nearby but her; After all, she had worked late that night.

Rape. It was a fucking rape scene. Just her luck. Should she run? Surely she’d be next if she tried to intervene… surely she couldn’t put herself at risk… like… that…

It was moments later that her briefcase was thrown at the back of one of the man’s heads, causing him to cry out and fall to the ground. No… What the fuck was she thinking? She’d never been in a fight in her entire life. There was no way she would be able to take on three men at once, let alone one.

The two men left standing turned toward her, the nearly assaulted woman looking clearly baffled, though relieved by her intervention. The two men, despite their position, looked a bit cautious as they gazed at her.

The furthermost left man took a small step toward her. “That’s a mean look you got in your eyes, bitch.”

Mean? Did he seriously just say that? The tall woman felt like she was going to wet herself just standing there. Not only had she never been in a fight, but her reputation made it basically impossible to lose her virginity, even if she had been interested in guys.

The second man took a step toward her as well, “If she had a gun, she woulda pulled it by now. She ain’t a cop. We just gotta shut her up.” As he finished speaking, the third man was groaning, and starting to get up.

The brunette woman stared at the three, pausing. Well, running now would be pretty much pointless. Not only had they seen her distinct face, but the girl would also still get assaulted. So fuck it, might as well double down. She took a deep breath in through her nose, thinking of her hatred for the group, and after the pause was finished, she actually glared at the three.

Much to her surprise, the two men took a step back. The man to the left then looked between her and the man next to him. His voice was low, but she could still hear it. “Think she’s got a knife? What do we do?”

The second man seemed to be contemplating the answer, before speaking in the same, low tone, “We take it from her. Relax, she’s a woman.”

… Well fuck. Guess this is it. ‘I’ve had a nice run’ the woman thought to herself.

The second man quickly ran up to her, pulling out his own knife as he did. As he reached her, he swung it overhead toward her. A knife. He had a fucking knife.

“Huh?” The man stood in shock, the woman having caught his wrist as he swung. The woman was just as baffled as him. Had she caught it? She didn’t remember trying to. In her confusion, he swung at her, striking her cheek with a closed fist. A sharp pain shot through her face from the contact, before her own fist struck the man’s nose, and a ‘crack’ could be heard.

The man dropped his knife, stumbling back as she released his wrist. Despite the searing pain she felt, the man looked to be in far worse conditions. How? She had no idea.

The pained man let out a low growl, holding his nose. “This fucking bitch hits like a truck! I think my nose is fucking busted.” As the man groaned, the businesswoman crouched down, and picked up his dropped knife.

‘The hell am I going to do with this? I’ve never had to stab someone before, not like I’m keen to just throw it away though.’ Her eyes shifted to the first man to had spoken when she arrived, clearly even more cautious of her now.

“Well what about now? You gave her fuckin-“ Before the first man could finish speaking, the man she had thrown her briefcase at ran at her. Though, for some reason he seemed to be moving… slow? No, they all seemed to be moving pretty slow. The feeling of the knife in her hand felt natural, and it disturbed her a decent bit.

… So what now? The man had almost reached her. Would she go for his neck? That seemed far to grotesque and brutal for her to stomach. Despite him being slow, her hesitation gave him a chance to grab her by the front of her suit, and slam her into the wall beside them.

This pain was different from before, rather than a sharp pain, it was a brunt pain that she felt in her entire body, the wind knocked out of her. She could smell the man’s liquor-ridden breath, his face inches from hers. It was now or never.

The woman tilted her head back as far as she could, before slamming her skull into his as hard as her body would allow. Now this was bad. This pain was far worse than the other two, her head pounding. Regardless, she blinked a few times, staring at the man on the ground, howling in pain. He was writhing on the ground, holding his head.

The first man to have spoken when she arrived, yet to attack her, spoke again. “Fuck this man, I didn’t come her to get my ass kicked by some crazy bitch. Look at that fucking smile.”

… Smile? Come to think of it, she was indeed smiling. How long had she been? She couldn’t remember the last time she smiled, and yet here she was. Something about the pain, and the exhilaration felt like just as much fun as her favorite game, Anexiia.

The man took a few more steps back, before the woman stepped toward him. With that, the man who had yet to attack her, and the man she’d broken the nose of quickly began to run away. The knife flipped in her hand, so she was holding the blade, before her hand reared back.

Wait, what was she about to do? Throw it. For some reason she felt like she could actually make it hit them, but still, she stopped herself. Instead, she walked to the man writhing on the ground, and kicked the side of his head, knocking him out cold. The strike would no doubt give him a concussion far worse than the one she was bound to have.

The pain her her head finally began to set in fully as her adrenaline settled down. However, the pounding headache was the least of her concerns. First…

The businesswoman approached the girl on the ground, who stared up at her with no words. The tall brunette simply took off her suit jacket, before leaning down, and wrapping it around the girl’s shoulders. Now crouched down, she placed her hand on the top of the girl’s head, and began patting it gently as the heavy rain continued to fall on both of them.

The girl began sobbing uncontrollably. Now, with a closer look, the girl she saved couldn’t be older than twenty years old. She was little more than a kid. The stoic businesswoman wrapped her arms around the crying girl, before pulling her close. The girl had only cried more, holding her tightly. At first, she had been afraid, but feeling this fragile girl crying tears of both sorrow and joy, the pain in her body suddenly seemed like nothing.

After a long while of tears, she finally heard the girl speak. “Who are you?” It seemed like a fairly simply question, so the businesswoman couldn’t really tell why it was so hard to immediately answer.

After a pause, she slowly released the girl, and stood back up. “Me?” She could already feel her body cringe from what she was about to say. “I’m the Devil of Suzuka. Haruka Izukami.”

‘I’m tired.’

​

A sigh of relief left her lips as she shut the door to her apartment. Two hours of questioning by the police when they arrived. Haruka found it to be more than a pain in the ass. She only had so much time in the day, and with so much taken by work, she needed all she could spare. Why? Gaming of course.

She sat her sore body down on the chair to her desk, pressing the power button to her computer with her foot as she leaned back. A few seconds to think as the damned thing booted up.

Haruka was thankful a woman at the police station wrapped her injuries, as relatively minor as they were. She recommended that Haruka go to the hospital in case she got a concussion, but there was no way in hell the Devil of Suzuka was going to miss the raid at 11:30.

Gods… what time was it even? She waited for her computer to finish booting up, before her eyes drifted to the screen. It was then that true horror filled her body, more fear than she had even felt during her fight. ‘No… ‘

12:44am. It was 12:44. Maybe if she begged they’d let her in for the final boss? The weekly reset was at 3:00am. Finding a raid in general chat this soon to reset would be basically impossible, let alone a team that was competent enough to actually clear it in less than three hours.

‘Please be still in it… ‘ She quickly logged onto Anexiia, the game in question. Within minutes, she had logged into her character, Maou. As soon as she appeared where she had logged off, in the city of Kanin, she immediately began typing in the chat.

Meiva: Oh? Look who decided to show up… Riruka: Oh shit, actually? I figured he passed out or something. Maou: I’m sorryyyyy~ Please forgive me~ I’ll love you forever~ Riruka: Lol Riruka: It’s not a big deal Maou: Are you still in? I’ll give you lots of treats if you are~ Riruka: “I mean, we’re near the last boss, but we have a random filling your spot. Maou: Would it be bad if I asked you to kick him? Meiva: Bruh Riruka: Not so sure about that, kind of a dick move. Maou: Pretty please~ I’ll help carry him through next week. I haven’t gotten my chance at drops this week! I’ll farm some mats for you or him or whatever. Meiva: You’re such a loot whore. Riruka: … Look, I’ll ask. Riruka: Alright you little shit, change to PvE instance so I can invite you Maou: YEEEEEEEEEEEES! I love you. Seriously. Let’s get married. Riruka: Lol

A sigh of relief escaped Haruka, relaxing as she joined the group. Her attention switched to nothing other than the game in front of her.

It didn’t feel like long before the boss was melted down, with Haruka as top DPS again. Unlike all the other times however, an odd item dropped for her. ‘A ring?’ More specifically, the ‘Ring of the Demon Lord.’ It was certainly odd, since she didn’t remember it being in the loot tables. She hovered her cursor over it, and it showed no skills or bonuses.

“A waste of a slot, wait… “ She let out a disappointed sigh. Small red letters. ‘Class Requirement: Sorcerer.’ Totally lame, a class-specific item she couldn’t use, that had no stats. Still, it had a cool name? Not like she could equip it regardless as a Dark Knight, a subclass of the Warrior Class.

She looked through her other loot as the others discussed the drops from the night.

Riruka: Maou, what did you end up getting? Worth kicking that random out? Maou: Sort of? Look at this. [Error] Maou: Uh? I guess I can’t link it? Maou: [Error] Meiva: You can’t link a drop? What’s it called? Maou: [Error] Meiva: No, like just type the name Maou: [Error] Maou: [Error] Riruka: Maybe it’s a cursed item Maou: That’s such a lame joke. Maybe my pc is just being a bit wonky. Probably wasn’t meant to drop anyway. It’s an accessory with no stats. Meiva: No stats?

Haruka jumped a bit as the power to her apartment went out, everything in the room going black. She wasn’t prone to feeling afraid of the dark, but she felt something off in her gut. A feeling she rarely got. Surely it couldn’t be the men from earlier? She took her headset off, before getting a flashlight from her kitchen, and looking around.

She spent a long while checking every corner of her apartment, as well as the hallway to find nothing. Most people in her apartment were already asleep, so it made sense there was no one else wondering what was going on. Haruka walked to her bedroom, figuring it was time to sleep. Though, oddly enough, she couldn’t hear the storm anymore.

A yawn escaped her lips as she walked to her window, opening the curtains. It was then that a horror-filled chill was sent down her spine. The storm hadn’t stopped. It had stopped.

The rain outside of her window was suspended in the air as if time itself had paused. Haruka rubbed her eyes, in obvious disbelief. Her hands were trembling as she slowly slid her window open. She could see lightning in the distance, unmoving. The trembling hand slowly reached out to touch the rain. As soon as she touched the first raindrop, thunder sounded, and the rain began falling again.

Haruka immediately screamed and fell back. She landed on her rear on the floor, the lights in her home coming back on. ‘I must have gotten a way worse concussion than I thought if I’m hallucinating.’ She swallowed, before slowly bringing herself to her feet.

After a quick shower, she changed into her sleepwear, and laid in her bed. Tonight, she decided to leave the lights on. Even so, it took her only a few minutes to fall asleep.

“Good night, my darling Devil of Suzuka.”