Chapter Text
So, this was how it all ended. A single car accident that sent him flying through the air, landing right on his head. It wasn’t how Hokuto imagined his life ending at all. He thought it would be more quiet, that he'd take over his fathers shrine, grow old, get married, and then die in the hospital from something natural. But what was done is done, and he’d saved a young child to boot. Sure, he had regrets, but he wasn’t about to complain about anything. Now all he had to do was wait to appear in front of the river, and then cross it. He closed his eyes and waited as the heat grew around him. Burning heat, one that caused immense pain all over his body…
Wait a minute, this wasn’t supposed to burn… was it? That’s not what Hokuto was taught by his father at all. He opened his eyes to see a bright red sky. Then, he heard the voices. The screaming voices. The voices of suffering. Hokuto looked around and saw a great pentagram, and then creatures he didn’t recognize. They were stealing, fighting, taking drugs, any number of horrible acts.
“What is this place?” he blurted out. Big mistake. A bunch of heads suddenly turned to him.
“Well, well, well,” One figure said. It doubled in size and its eyes filled with flames. “Fresh meat.”
Hokuto got up and ran as fast as he could. He didn’t even think about what was happening, he just ran for his life. The wind blew so hard it nearly pierced his skin… wait, he’s never run this fast before. Hokuto opened his eyes to see the world zooming past him, so fast that he couldn’t comprehend where he was.
Or rather, he shouldn’t be able to comprehend where he was. But it all made sense to him. Hokuto slowed himself down and stopped. This wasn’t normal, he shouldn’t be able to do that. Nobody should be able to do that. What in the world was going on? Hokuto held his head and walked towards the glass of a store. He shook his head, trying to wake himself up from whatever nightmare this was.
Then he saw it. His reflection in the glass. He still looked human, but he clearly wasn’t. His hair was replaced with flames that burned bright, his human hands were replaced with what looked like sharp claws. His eyes were yellow with red pupils. And his clothes, they resembled that of samurai you’d see in Japanese period dramas, with the kimono but without the sword. What was happeni-
“Ey! You gonna get your ass in ‘ere or you gonna gawk like a fuckin’ toddler?”
Hokuto bolted inside, not even giving it a second thought. Whoever it was that let him in closed the door. That… probably wasn’t good.
“Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna hurt ya.” the person said, much to Hokuto’s relief. Hokuto looked at the person to see a somewhat human figure, but they clearly weren’t. With the head of a barn owl and bird claws for hands, and large wings behind it, this figure was no human being. It moved its head closer to Hokuto and peered deeply into his eyes. He couldn’t help but fidget, it felt like this figure was peering deep into his soul.
“Newbie, eh?” it said after a moment. “I’d recognize that look a mile away. You’re lucky you weren’t torn to shreds out there.”
“Wh-what?” Hokuto took a step back. He didn’t know what this… thing’s intentions were.
“Welcome to Hell, sinner.”
“Hell?!” Hokuto couldn’t hide his surprise. This was Hell? How could he have ended up here! His whole life, Hokuto was trying to live as the best person he could possibly be. There was no way he could possibly have ended up in Hell! He should be crossing the Sanzu River right now.
“This must be some kind of mistake, I don’t belong here.” Hokuto said.
“Suck it up, I don’t care how ‘good’ of a person you think you are. If you’re here you must’ve done something to piss off the big guy upstairs.” Hokuto slumped down at this. There was no way this was true… right?
“Look, sit down. I’ll give you something on the house.” the figure answered. “Hope you like coffee, ‘cause you ain’t picking what you’re getting if you’re getting it for free.”
The figure walked behind a counter, and Hokuto reluctantly followed suit. He walked up to an espresso machine and began working on it, working pretty fast.
“Call me Hirad,” he said. “What’s your name, fire-face?”
“I’m Hok-”
“And don’t tell me your human name, I could care less about that.” Hirad interrupted. “You’re a sinner, a demon now. So, what’s your name?”
Hokuto paused. He hadn’t thought to pick himself a name. His mind rushed through a bunch of possibilities before he finally answered.
“Kasha.” he said. It was the name of a demon he learned from his father, a fiery demon that stole the corpses of those who died from evil deeds. It literally meant “fire chariot,” not that it mattered now.
“Alright, Kasha.” Hirad said as he turned around and gave Kasha an admittedly beautiful looking espresso. “Here’s the deal. You’re in Hell now.”
Kasha sipped his coffee as he listened. This was all hard to swallow, both the coffee and his situation, but he couldn’t doubt his own two eyes.
“Now, I don’t know what you did to deserve getting sent here. And I don’t care either. But I do care if someone ends up a bloody mess in front of my cafe.” Hirad continued. “So you better toughen your ass up, or you’re going to find yourself in a situation you don’t want to be in. You don’t want to end up in the dumps, but it’ll be very easy if you aren’t strong.”
Kasha nodded as he finished his coffee.
“Enjoyed it?”
“Yes.”
“Good, ‘cause you ain’t gettin’ another.” Hirad swiped away the coffee cup from Kasha’s hands. “Now, unless you have the money to buy something, get as far away from my cafe as you can. I don’t want any softies dying on my doorstep.”
Kasha felt around his kimono, hoping to find a pocket or something with money in it. But there was nothing. So, reluctantly, he made his way towards the door.
“Hey,” Kasha glanced back when Hirad called to him. “If you’ve got nowhere else to go and you’re really a big softie, head north. I hear they’re looking for people at some ‘has-been hotel’ or whatever. I don’t fuckin’ know what it’s about, it’s a stupid idea anyway, everyone knows Hell’s forever.”
“Thanks,” Kasha answered as he stepped out of the door. But what to do now? Even if he headed north towards the hotel, he had zero money. It wasn’t like he could book a room in it. Besides, what in the world had he done wrong? How was he a ‘sinner’?
He began walking down the street, deep in thought, when he was dragged out of his own brain by a loud screech. Kasha looked behind to see a large vulture-like beast flying straight for him.
“SHIIiiiIIIIiiiIIIIIT!”