[color=orangered][h3]Natsumi Fujikawa[/h3][/color]
Oh, this was bad, real bad. Especially because they couldn’t possibly comply with the demon’s demand. When human criminals take hostages, they’re usually trying to get away with stolen money or something. But a demon that gets away will just continue killing people, way more people than this one hostage. They had to kill it one way or another. But maybe they could still salvage the girl’s life.

[color=orangered]“Alright, alright, let’s talk about this,”[/color] Natsumi spoke up, doing her best to sound confident. She raised her hands to her sides as a sign of non-aggression, but deliberately allowed the flames on her head to flare up larger, hoping to seem threatening and direct attention towards herself. [color=orangered]“Suppose we agree. What are your terms exactly? Because there’s a Demon Denial Field out there, and more demon hunters in reserve.”[/color] Really it was just Ayako, but it didn’t need to know that. [color=orangered]“Walking away from us won’t be the end of it.”[/color]

While she spoke, she made lingering eye contact first with Kaeru and then with Kaida. She didn’t think she could make an expression or gesture that the demon wouldn’t notice, so she simply hoped the others would pick up on her thought process. Kaeru was fast, so she would probably have the best chance to intercept the demon, which [i]might[/i] just work if it was distracted by negotiating. And if the girl did get stabbed, Kaida’s healing might still be able to save her. It wasn’t much, but it seemed like the best option they had.

[sub][@Rune_Alchemist][@LuckyBlackCat][/sub]