Work Text
The cool autumn night would be just the perfect weather to sit by out on the porch with a heavy blanket, read a novel, and maybe have a nice, warm cup of tea. That would be an ideal way to end the day, but sadly that’s not what Matsuda is doing tonight. Instead he’s high up on a tree branch in search of any possible danger that could be lurking by. Normally, monsters love to mingle around these parts of the woods and wait for any unfortunate passerby to become their next victim, but things seem oddly quiet tonight. This should be a good thing if it wasn’t for the fact that the lack of monsters made Matsuda’s lookout job very boring. The apprentice sighs and carefully sits down on the branch. He gives the area one last scan with the enhanced binoculars his mentor lent him before calling it quits. Feeling safe enough, Matsuda leans his head against the tree trunk and closes his eyes. Surely taking a quick nap wouldn’t hurt. “Matsuda!”Unless he gets caught by his mentor, in which case he would be in so much trouble that he’d much rather have the monsters take him. Matsuda immediately sits straight up and looks down at the fire that’s burning far below. That warm glow makes the apprentice realize just how cold it actually is, and the uniform he normally wears doesn’t do much to keep him warm. On cue, a gust of wind blows making the man shiver before deciding that he should join his mentor on the ground. He swiftly hops down from branch to branch with a skill that would surprise anyone who knows Matsuda enough. Nothing about the man screams he has graceful agility, but many seem to forget that he’s almost done with his training of becoming an official monster hunter, and that’s not a title that’s given to just anybody. Once he’s on the ground, he comes face to face with his mentor, Rem. Normally she goes by the code name: Shi, but considering that nobody else is around, her actual name is fine. Rem is a professional monster hunter, one of the best in the business. She’s ranked four out of the hundreds that are based in Japan. She takes her job very seriously, so it gets on her nerves when her own apprentice starts to slack off. “We talked about this, Matsuda. You’re not allowed to take naps or missions, especially when you’re the one on lookout!”“Uh, w-well in my defense there’s literally nothing out there!” He gestures around them as he desperately tries to spill out more excuses. “Besides, we’re going to take a break anyway, right?” He points to the bonfire that Rem started. “Yes, but the difference here is that I’m still awake and alert. A real monster hunter never actually takes a break. We must always have are guard up even when we’re taking a small rest by a campfire.” “Sounds pretty stressful. Is that why you already have white hair?”“Wha- I dyed it this way!” Matsuda defensively puts his hands up. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Sorry, I just want to lighten the mood a bit.” He nervously chuckles as he rubs the back of his neck. He’s always trying to get on Rem’s good side, but he still fails to grasp the idea that cracking jokes while on duty isn’t the way to go. She rolls her one good eye and sits down on the ground. She picks up a long stick to poke the fire with. Matsuda is standing there awkwardly not sure if he can join her. He decides to sit down anyway. If she scolds him for being lazy, he could always say that she’s doing the same. She’d probably find a way to pin the blame on him anyway. Luckily, Matsuda doesn’t have to worry about any of that because she doesn’t say anything to him. They sit in silence for a bit. It’s not really completely silent. The mixed sound of the fire crackling and the mysterious noises coming from the woods does more than plenty to fill the void. It’s actually kind of peaceful. At least it is for Rem. She always found joy in the sounds of nature. It reminds her of the times she would go camping in the woods as a kid. Matsuda on the other hand is not so fond of the quiet. Every now and then he sighs, coughs, or sniffles just keep things from being completely quiet.The small noises is slowly starting to bother Rem. It feels like they’re getting more intense and; therefor, more annoying by the minute. “What do you want, Matsuda?”“Hm? Oh nothing. Just enjoying this nice fire here. Pretty toasty.” Rem doesn’t continue the conversation and goes back to listening to the forest. It’s silent for a bit until another cough from her companion is enough to make her give up on trying to enjoy some peace and quiet. “Alright, you clearly want to talk about something so spit it out!”“Oh we don’t have to.”“Matsuda!”“S-sorry! I was just wondering what exactly our mission here is.”Rem sighs, annoyed that she has to remind him. “MY mission is to hunt down and kill The Beast. Yours is to simply watch and take notes.”“No yeah, I get the whole hunting part, it’s pretty much all we do. I just don’t know what The Beast is exactly.”Hearing that makes Rem sit up straight. Her eye is wide with shock. “You don’t know who The Beast is? Exactly when do you become an official monster hunter?”“My training should be done by the end of the year.”“And not once have you ever heard about The Beast?!” “Well from the way you make them sound, they seem pretty important.”“That’s because he’s VERY important. He’s ranked number one on the board along with that stupid fallen angel: Kira.” “Wait, really?! How come you never told me about him?!”“I just assumed that you knew. Literally everyone else in the League knows about him. Even Ryuk is aware of who The Beast is, and you know how little he gives a shit about all of the monsters.”Not one for confrontation, Matsuda is quick to point out a solution. “Wellll, we have a bit of time before we have to carry on. How about a little story time? Tell me about The Best.”Rem almost dismisses him and tells him to figure it out on his own; however, not knowing about their current target could be an issue. Especially if that target is as deadly as The Beast. “Alright,” she picks up the long stick and starts scribbling little doodles in the dirt. “Not much is really known about The Beast. He’s a recent threat with earliest sightings of him starting around four years ago. Even then, he managed to jump to number one on the board, marking him the deadliest monster in the world.” Matsuda gulps when he looks down at the scribble. It depicts a shadowy, human-like figure with wide eyes and antlers on the sides of his head. Now that he thinks about it, the image does look familiar. He’s seen a drawing of the monster on the board where they list out the deadliest monsters. He must have never paid enough attention to notice just how big of a deal this creature is. “How did he manage to reach to the top in just four years?”“His body count is higher than any other monsters that are recorded in the system. It’s even higher than Kira’s, but what prevents him from taking the top spot for himself is that he’s not as merciless or power hungry as the other. The Beast only seems to kill for food, similar to the sirens, but by god does that thing have an appetite. Rumor has it that he’s the one who ate that entire cruise ship last summer.”“That was him?”“That’s what we believe. Hunters say that it looked like the kraken, but that’s impossible considering we killed it ages ago. It’s really not much of a stretch considering The Beast can change its form. That’s only one of its many powers. He can also emit a loud banshee like shriek that renders his victims immobile. One hunter even reported him to be able to create horrific illusions. We don’t know that for sure, but the poor guy had to be let go because of how unstable he became after the encounter so maybe there’s some truth to his report.” Suddenly the woods doesn’t feel as safe and calming as before. Matsuda can feel himself shiver though he’s not sure if it’s from the breeze or from the story. “Where did this thing even come from?”Rem shrugs. “No one knows. The first sighting pinpointed his location in England, but he somehow managed to come all the way to Japan, which is why we were hired to kill him.”Matsuda gives a nervous chuckle. “I think you mean that’s why YOU were hired. You did say that this is your mission and I only have to watch, from a safe distance, far away from The Beast.” Oddly enough, his response manages to make Rem crack a smile, albeit a small one. “Of course I’m not going to let you near him. Skilled or not, you’re still in just an apprentice.”With a small smile he asks, “you think I’m skilled?”“I never said that.”“But-,”“Or implied it.” Matsuda pouts for a quick second before looking back into the fire. Staring straight at the bright glow is almost irritating, but it’s better than letting his eyes wander the forest as his imagination takes him to the darkest corners of his mind. Of course now knowing the threat of the situation makes him anxious about being alone in the woods. Sure, he’s with one of the greatest monster hunter in the country, but the monster they’re after was able to eat an entire cruise ship for god’s sake! “Hey, Rem.”“Hm?”“Um, no offense, but why didn’t the League send the top three hunters after The Beast. Not that they’re better than you or anything. It’s just that they’re top three for a reason, right?”He expects her to glare at him or even yell for implying that she might not be as strong as the others. He’s surprised when he hears her chuckle instead. “They were too scared to take on the job.”Huh, even top three knew they had no match for The Beast. Matsuda isn’t sure if that makes him feel better or worse about their mission. He curls up and rests his head on his knees. His eyes are wide as the stare at the doodle down below. Rem notices how on edge her apprentice has become. It’s actually kind of adorable if she didn’t feel kind of bad for the guy. She nudges his shoulder to draw his attention. “Relax, it’s not like this is a life or death situation. People have managed to escape from The Beast alive. Maybe either permanently injured or traumatized, but alive. Besides, you always have the option to go home.” Matsuda tries hard to give her a smile. “What kind of monster hunter would I be if I just ran away?”For the third time that night, Matsuda managed to make Rem smile. That’s probably a new record if he was properly keeping count. The huntress stretches and stands up to her full, towering, height. “I like your attitude. Let’s put it to good use.”Knowing that their break time is over, Matsuda hops up and goes to put out the fire. “So, what exactly is the plan to kill The Beast?” Despite his best efforts, he still clearly sounds nervous“We’re not going to.”“Huh?”“Not yet at least. Simply charging in to kill him would be a big mistake. He may not look like it, but The Beast is very smart. I’m sure he would still have managed to kill all those other hunters even without those powers of his. No, we’re just going study him for now. Things would be much easier once we know more about him. We could even be lucky and find a weakness of some sort.”“How exactly are we going to follow him around without being noticed...and killed?”“That’s something for you to worry about later. For now we just need to figure out the general location of where he is. Now go do what you do best and scope the area out.” “Aye aye, captain!”“Don’t ever say that again.”“Uh, sorry.” Before he can embarrass himself any further, Matsuda scrambles up the closest tree. He takes out his enhanced binoculars and does a thorough search of the area before hopping over to the next tree. Rem follows behind him on the ground. Her crossbow is out and ready in case The Beast, or any monster really, tries to pull a fast one on them. She passes by a bunny hiding in the bushes with its tail end sticking out. A small part of her wants to pet it, but she ultimately pays it no mind as she continues to walk deeper into the woods. Once she was far enough, the bunny hops out of the bushes completely. It’s quite the odd fellow what with it being solid black with very thin, scribble like tendrils rapidly moving around its body. Bright white, pupiless eyes illuminate what's ahead of it just a bit. Those features alone would be enough for anyone to do a double take, but the first thing anyone would notice are the two large antlers on the sides of its head. The bunny stares down at the path Rem took before deciding to follow after. After all, the predator wouldn’t want to lose its prey.