Five Step Plan To A Feral Honmoon

Step 1: Celine fucking DIES lmao
Step 2: "Recruit" Mira
Step 3: Recruit Zoey
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Profit (more importantly, debut)

-x-X-x-

Otherwise known as "what if Celine died before she could tell Rumi to cover up and hide her patterns?"

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter Text

If Celine had to guess how she might die, it would have been something demon-related for sure. She was the last Sunlight Sister after all, the sole remaining protector of the Honmoon. And sure, they still had a dedicated fanbase out there listening to their music and singing along and strengthening the Honmoon in their own ways… but with no further live performances, the cracks were already starting to show.

So yes, Gwi-Ma dedicating as many demons as necessary to killing her so that he could unravel the Honmoon at his leisure… that would have made plenty of sense to her.

But this? A sudden sickness coming out of nowhere? It was unthinkable. Hunters did not get sick. The Honmoon kept them healthy and safe. And yet here Celine was, laid up in bed and struggling with every breath she was taking. It didn't make any sense. It wasn't fair. She was-

"Celine?"

Stiffening, Celine looks to see a purple head of hair and two big dark brown eyes poking into the room from the slightly open door.

"Rumi…"

The five year old takes that as permission to come fully into the bedroom, though Celine definitely didn't mean it as such. These last few days have been rough as the illness has gotten worse and worse. What she initially thought to be just a common cold has progressed rapidly, until she can barely move her aching body. In fact, she's been bedbound for the past several hours now, not even able to reach the phone on her nightstand.

However, before Celine can tell Rumi to leave in case what she has is contagious… the words catch in her throat. And not just because she's having a hard time breathing again, though she most certainly is. No, the words catch in her throat… because she sees Rumi's demon patterns poking out from under the sleeve of her top.

They'd only developed a couple of weeks ago to be fair. The first time Celine had seen them while giving Rumi a bath, she'd nearly had a heart attack. Only the fact that she had a young child in her care had kept Celine from spiraling into a full blown panic attack in that moment.

She'd wrestled with what to do for days afterwards but ultimately knew that she was going to have to tell Rumi to start covering them up. It was the only option available to them at this point. Maybe if Rumi wasn't already a hunter then… then Celine could have set her up somewhere far away with enough money to live out her life happily away from all this mess.

Unfortunately, the same day Mi-yeong died, Rumi had connected to the Honmoon. Mi-yeong's mantle, that which made her one of the Chosen Hunters, had passed to her infant daughter on her death. Rumi had become the youngest hunter in their records with that 'feat', her connection to the Honmoon immediate and strong despite only being days old.

Celine had chosen to take that as a sign that despite Rumi's unfortunate parentage, she was still human just like her mother. And a hunter to boot. None of her demonic heritage should have leaked through, not when she was connected to the Honmoon of all things But then the demon patterns had shown up and everything Celine had convinced herself of had been proven wrong.

Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten around to telling Rumi everything she needed to know yet. She had fully intended to sit Rumi down and talk to her about her parentage and the need to hide her patterns, especially from her fellow hunters in the future.

Only, the day Celine had set aside time to do so was the same day that she'd woken up feeling sick. So she'd postponed the talk, assuming she'd be better the next day. And now here they were days later and she… she was sicker than ever.

"Can I get you anything Celine? Water? Soup?"

Rumi has to be the cutest, most serious five year old that Celine knows of. Not that she's met many to be fair. And she also might be a little biased in the girl's favor. Still… with her strength fleeing her body, Celine knows she can't put it off anymore. She has to tell Rumi right now to hide those patterns, lest someone in 'the know' see them and kill Mi-yeong's daughter.

"Rumi… listen to me…"

She has to… she has to…

Rumi, eyes wide, comes closer to the bed.

"Yes Celine?"

"You must… do as I say…"

Can't let them kill Mi-yeong's daughter. Can't let them kill her baby girl.

"I will! What is it?"

"You need to…"

But the rest of the words won't come. Celine's voice fails her in the crucial moment, the last of her strength sapping from her as she falls back into her pillows, tongue laden in her mouth like a heavy weight. Darkness begins to fill her vision as Rumi looks on with wide eyed concern and somehow… somehow Celine knows she won't be opening her eyes again.

I'm sorry Rumi. I'm sorry Mi-yeong. I failed you.

-x-X-x-

At first Rumi assumes that Celine is just taking another nap. She's been taking a lot of those these past few days, having fallen very ill, very quickly. Rumi had never seen Celine get sick before, so it was honestly very scary at first. Celine had also ordered Rumi to stay away so she didn't get sick too, but it was hard because Rumi was so worried.

Whatever Celine had wanted to tell her, whatever it was that Rumi needed to do, she could just tell her when she wakes up again… or so Rumi initially thinks. But then… then she feels it. A wrongness that seeps through the Honmoon, a sense of something… something bad.

The five year old half-demon blinks wide eyes up at Celine on the bed and slowly realizes that her chest isn't rising and falling anymore. She's… she's…

-come-child-

A gasp leaves Rumi's lips as the Honmoon brushes against her more strongly than it ever has before. Celine had told her that it was an honor to be chosen by it, and that Rumi in particular was special for having been chosen at such an early age.

To the five year old though, the Honmoon had always been there. But never before had it been so insistent.

"But Celine…"

-nothing-more-to-be-done-

Rumi's lower lip wobbles. Tears build in her eyes. She doesn't understand. Or maybe… she doesn't want to understand. Because really, the truth is right in front of her. In the end, the five year old lets the Honmoon guide her out of Celine's bedroom. She's careful to close the door behind her. It's only polite after all.

And then she pads back down the hall to her own room, crawling into bed and under the blankets… as well as the comforting warmth of the Honmoon.

-sleep-child-rest-

She would be lying if she said she wasn't tired. She hadn't been getting much sleep, not with how worried she was about Celine. And so Rumi lets the Honmoon lull her to sleep, a woman's voice singing in her ear like a lullaby that has her unconscious in moments.

-x-X-x-

A few days later, Celine's young teenage intern Bobby finally comes by. Rumi is in the kitchen, eating some haphazardly prepared kimbap that the Honmoon had guided her through the process of crafting when his voice echoes from the house's front door. Up until today, her entire diet has consisted of Sunlight Sisters branded Ramyeon Instant Noodles.

"Celine? Rumi?"

Perking up, the five year old calls back.

"Bobby!"

He arrives in the kitchen a moment later just in time for Rumi to hop down from her chair and collide with his legs.

"Oof! Getting stronger by the day sweetie! Um… where's your aunt? Sunlight Entertainment sent me over since it's been a while since she shot us a message. Last we'd heard, she said she had a cold…"

Rumi's smile drops and she shakes her head. But at the same time, the Honmoon is already pressing for her to guide Bobby to Celine.

-show-him-necessary-

And so Rumi takes Bobby by the hand and leads him to Celine's bedroom. When she opens the door, Bobby curses under his breath at the smell… and then curses a lot louder and a lot longer when he sees Celine's body in the bed, lifeless and unmoving.

Rumi learns a lot of words that day that she probably shouldn't know at such a young age, but where Celine would have been mad at Bobby, the Honmoon just feels more amused than anything. And eventually Bobby does recover enough to call people while also getting Rumi out of there.

Things after that are a whirlwind of events… but in the end, Rumi is the last living remnant of the Sunlight Sisters and the heiress to Sunlight Entertainment besides. Celine had lived a more dangerous life than anyone had known and as a result her Last Will and Testament was very much up to date as well as being ironclad.

Not only was there no wiggle room for anyone particularly unscrupulous to take advantage of Rumi in her most vulnerable moments following Celine's death… they couldn't even remove Bobby from her presence. Not when the five year old heiress latched onto the teenage intern and refused to let him go under any circumstances. To be fair to her, the Honmoon pushed for her to do it, and the Honmoon was never wrong so…

And of course, when Bobby found out about Rumi's strange purple birthmarks and how they sometimes grew a bit bigger between one day and the next… well, while it was a little weird, he wasn't about to shame a little girl for something out of her control. Instead, he made sure to build her up, calling them 'cool' and telling her he thought they looked awesome.

For want of a nail… everything changes.

Chapter 2: Mira

Chapter Text

A/N: Mira POV!

-x-X-x-

Mira hated parties like this. Give her a nightclub, rave, or concert any day and she'd be happy, or at least there would be the potential that she would be happy. But a party like this, where the music was faint and no one was dancing, where everyone had a net worth in the eight or nine digits and loved to flaunt it? Fucking disgusting.

It was the worst, but unfortunately Mira couldn't talk her way out of this one. She couldn't even lie or make up excuses or just find a way to miss the car and be so late to the party that it didn't matter. Mostly because this time, the party was in her own damn house.

Her family was hosting their annual gala, where her father and mother and brother rubbed elbows with the rest of their scum-sucking rich friends. If Mira tried to go and hide in her room, she would be outed by the serving staff and her brother would come grab her in minutes.

So here she was, stuck down here looking pretty, just another decoration for her father to show off. At least she looked better than most of the gaudy crap that adorned the mansion's ballroom though. The dress she's wearing is one of her own design and her makeup routine is something she came up with completely by herself.

Yeah, even if she hates this shit, she can at least console herself in knowing that she's the best looking bitch in this place and-

Mira twitches, seeing some people start muttering. After making sure they're not muttering about her, she moves to see what has them all in such a 'tizzy'. Only to stop in her tracks, her eyes widening, as she finds out just what that is. Or rather… who.

Ryu Rumi steps into the room and immediately commands everyone's attention through sheer presence alone. From her long purple braid to her immaculately done makeup to the dress that hugs her curves perfectly. All of the sudden, Mira isn't the sexiest woman in the room anymore. No, she's been unceremoniously and utterly dethroned.

Everyone knows Ryu Rumi's story. The last living remnant of the Sunlight Sisters. The darling heiress of Sunlight Entertainment. Oh and yeah, a completely phenomenal, extremely popular, horrendously successful solo artist in her own right for the past four years now.

She'd lost her mother when she was just an infant along with another Sunlight Sister. Then, five years later, she lost the last to sudden illness. What had happened after that, Mira didn't know fully, she'd been just a child growing up at the time too.

But she did know that Rumi probably wasn't ever put in school, at least. If she had been, the private school where Mira was stuffed away out of sight and out of mind would have definitely gobbled Rumi up as well in a heartbeat. It was the most 'prestigious institution' in all of South Korea after all.

No, instead it was more like Rumi had gone from five to fourteen with barely a peep… and then she'd burst out onto the stage with her beautiful voice and never looked back. The past four years until today had been nothing but Rumi, Rumi, Rumi in the music industry. Everyone wanted to collab with her. Everyone loved her. Everyone hated her.

That last part was mostly focused on her peers rather than the fans though. Because everyone thought Ryu Rumi of all people would follow in her mother and the other Sunlight Sisters' footsteps. That she would debut as part of an idol group, maybe a trio, maybe more.

Instead she had gone solo and showed up anyone and everyone who might have been hoping to be part of her eventual group. And considering she was more popular alone than even some of the most established and successful idol groups, there was a lot of resentment there.

Mira had heard rumors though that it wasn't all Ryu Rumi's choice. She'd heard tell that there had actually been countless auditions over the past four years. That eventually, Rumi DID want to debut as part of a group… but she was looking for the right people to do it with.

Hell, Mira had even been told about one of those auditions once back when she was just sixteen. It was at the height of her dancing and she'd honestly wanted to go for it. But when she'd asked her father… he'd shut her down.

And he hadn't just shut her down, he'd cut her off completely. No more dance lessons. No more instructors. Nothing. Because they were 'putting ideas' in her head. Because a life on stage wasn't part of his design for her. Never mind that it was everything Mira had ever wanted. Never mind that she could become just as rich and famous on that stage on her own merits as her family ever was…

She watches Rumi closely as the purple-haired woman makes her way deeper into the room. Maybe a little too closely and a little too hungrily, if she's being honest. But because she's staring so hard, she sees it when Rumi… hums a little bit under her breath. And she also sees it when the other woman plucks at the air and literal threads of light appear for just a second under her claw-like fingernails.

Mira's breath hitches. She must be seeing things. Though it wouldn't be the first time. She'd managed to attend a single live performance by Ryu Rumi in the past four years and… and she swears, when the other woman sung, the whole room came alive with lights. It was like she could see everyone's souls singing along with her or something.

But Mira's friends (who admittedly weren't really friends, just people using her for her money while she used them for their connections) thought she was talking crazy when she brought it up. So she stopped bringing it up.

She- oh shit.

Mira stiffens when she looks up from Rumi's fingers to see the singer looking directly at her, staring her down like… like she could see into the very depths of Mira's essence. Suddenly, Rumi is making her way over. And she's not being coy or subtle about it either. She walks across the ballroom like she owns it, cutting a straight-line through the crowd towards Mira.

Maybe if she'd been more circumspect in her approach, Mira could have taken the opportunity to duck away and escape. But nope, within seconds Ryu Rumi is standing right in front of her, eyes blazing with something undefinable.

She hums under her breath again. And at the same time, she reaches out right in front of Mira and blatantly plucks the invisible strings of light in the air, turning them visible for just a moment. Mira can't not react to this. Her eyes follow the strings; her mouth drops open slightly.

It's only belatedly that she realizes she's just exposed herself. Whatever she's seeing, Rumi clearly also sees… and now she KNOWS Mira can see it when apparently no one else can.

Immediately, Rumi's eyes light up with a sort of excitement that sends a shiver down Mira's spine. Then, the other woman is outright circling her with predatory intent, looking her up and down, studying her. Mira feels like a fucking prey animal as she stands there frozen up and tense as a bowstring. What the fuck was going on?

Finally, Rumi comes back around and stops in front of her, her eyes lingering on Mira's legs for a moment before moving back to her face.

"You dance."

Mira's lips thin out, because it's not a question. And yet… she finds herself nodding all the same.

"… Yeah. I dabble."

Rumi hums, smile widening as she reaches out and touches Mira's dress. Nowhere inappropriate… but still a lot more than Mira would allow anyone else.

"I like your dress."

Mira's tongue darts out and she wets her lips.

"I… I made it myself."

She hasn't stuttered or stammered since she was a fucking child. But Ryu Rumi doesn't seem to care. Instead, she stares at Mira for a long moment more… before nodding decisively.

"Dance with me."

Mira blinks… and then lets out a soft laugh, getting back some of her composure at the somewhat inane request. Looking around the ballroom, she shakes her head in a bemused fashion.

"Sorry Princess, this isn't that kind of party."

Rumi actually seems to perk up at being called a Princess, oddly enough. But then she looks around them as well and wrinkles her nose, clearly not finding any more pleasure in this type of party than Mira herself does.

"… Not here. Dance with me on stage. Sing too."

She says that last part almost like it's an afterthought… but truth be told, it helps Mira finally understand what Rumi is truly offering. She wants Mira… to form an idol group with her? THE Ryu Rumi, who has been auditioning and rejecting hundreds of girls for the past four years… is offering Mira a place on stage by her side?

Mira almost says yes right then and there, but the word catches in her throat as reality rather quickly comes crashing back down. Instead of immediate and full-throated agreement, Mira finds herself deflating a bit, her shoulders slumping as she shakes her head.

"My father would never allow it. Sorry Princess, you'll have to find someone else to dance with you."

She really let herself hope there for a moment. Mira smiles apologetically and starts to turn away, not wanting anyone to see the crushing disappointment that might be poking through onto her face. However, before she can leave… a hand reaches out and grabs her, clinging to her and holding her in place. Mira looks back with wide eyes only to see Ryu Rumi staring at her intensely.

"Your father. Where is he?"

Wordlessly, Mira lifts her free arm up and points across the ballroom to where her father is currently holding court. He and her mother have broken off to divide and conquer like usual at one of these 'home' parties. Since its their place, they don't have to stay glued to each other's sides the entire time.

Before Mira even fully understands what's happening, Rumi is suddenly dragging her along. She lets out a yelp before she finds her feet, surprised at the other woman's strength even as Rumi plows a straight line right through the party, making her way towards Mira's father and forcing the crowd to part for her through sheer presence and aura alone. It's frankly awe-inspiring.

Eventually, they make it to the small crowd surrounding Mira's father. Businessmen one and all, mostly CEOs and Senior Executives. Even with their backs turned to Rumi, they feel the purple-haired singer's presence and shift, turning and in doing so opening a gap for her to barrel right on through.

She never runs into anyone. She never knocks anyone over or pushes anyone aside. Her mere existence seems to force space around her. Until all of the sudden, Mira finds herself standing in front of her father with Rumi at her side.

Her father glances at her in a way Mira knows means she'll be summoned to his study for a chewing out at some point tomorrow. And then he turns his gaze to Rumi, looking down his nose at her.

"Yes?"

His drawl sends a shiver down Mira's spine but Rumi isn't remotely intimidated. She just thrusts her chin in Mira's direction.

"Your daughter. I want her."

Mira's face begins to turn the same color as her pink hair, one of the few acts of rebellion she's continued against her family for a long, long time now. Why did Rumi have to word it like that?!

"Excuse me?"

Undeterred by the warning tone in his voice, Rumi huffs.

"You know who I am. Everyone knows who I am. I want your daughter to perform with me on stage. Give her to me and I will make her a star."

If she'd been consulted ahead of time, Mira could have told Rumi that this is NOT the way to go about convincing her father of anything. Not that she'd ever managed to do so anyways, but still, she knows what he's going to say before he even says it.

"No."

Rumi… frowns and Mira finds herself wondering if the purple haired singer has EVER been told no before.

"I am offering your daughter an opportunity some would kill for."

Mira's father scoffs.

"You are offering her nothing but shallow gratification and distractions."

What? Shallow? That was so fucking hypocritical! How could music and dance and performing be shallower than his shitty business deals and margin calls and stock points?! All he did was move money around to make himself look rich and he dared to call Mira's passions shallow?!

Rumi's nostrils flare and she looks more closely at Mira's father for a moment before sneering.

"You are a sad, pathetic, small excuse for a man, aren't you?"

For the first time that she can remember, Mira gets to see her father look shocked. His eyes widen and his jaw goes slack… though only for a moment before he's sneering right back.

"Says the songbird whore born from a line of songbird whores, you-!"

Whatever else he might have said, its cut off by the deepest, most animalistic growl that Mira has ever heard. Everyone within earshot freezes up and looks around wildly, because for a second it sounds like a fucking tiger has managed to somehow slip into the party.

It takes Mira a second to realize the sound actually came from Rumi. Ryu Rumi had just growled at her father… and judging by the pale white look on his face, it had quite the effect on him as well.

For just a heartbeat, Mira wonders if the other woman is going to leap forward and rip her father's throat out with her bare teeth. That's what it feels like is about to happen, at least. Then… just as quickly as the sensation of her father's impending doom has begun, it suddenly alleviates.

Rumi pulls back, her face a blank mask as she stares at Mira's father for one more second before suddenly turning on her heel and walking right out of the party. It's not fleeing though; Mira can't help but think. There's too much poise and grace in Rumi's movements to call it a retreat. Instead, she all but stalks out of the party, once again forcing a straight path through the crowd without ever even needing to touch a single person.

Mira watches her go with nothing but longing in her heart and soul. There was a woman that Mira would have willingly followed to the ends of the earth. And yet here she was, stuck rooted in place.

"Mira."

Slowly turning back to her father to see him recovering from his encounter with THE Ryu Rumi, Mira looks at the patriarch of her family, the source of so much of her torment… and sees the fear still lingering in his eyes even as he tries to give her a hard look.

Her own eyes burn with unshed tears as Mira bares her teeth.

"Fuck. You."

And proceeds to leave the party completely, heading upstairs to her room. Let them send her brother to get her after that, after she publicly repudiated her father in front of all of his friends, business partners, and peers. No, they won't do anything to her tonight. They'll leave her to her lonesome and come for her in the morning.

Mira doesn't care though. Nothing they can do to her will compare to feeling like her heart has been torn from her chest as yet another glimmer of hope turned out to be just another lie.

Fuck… she really would have loved to perform on stage with Ryu Rumi too.

-x-X-x-

Mira's eyes snap open to the pitch black of her bedroom some hours later. They're a little crusty and bleary from her crying herself to sleep once she was in private, but she can at least tell that it's still the middle of the night and dark outside.

The party should be over by now so what the hell had even woken her- Mira's eyes widen as she registers movement near the foot of her bed. Someone is in the room with her… or rather, something. Glowing purple and pink jagged lines are the first thing Mira properly sees once she blinks the sleep out of her eyes.

And then she sees the horns, curling up off of a scalp. And finally… bright yellow eyes, peering at her through the darkness.

Mira opens her mouth to shout or scream, but before she can, something whips out across the bed and covers her mouth, silencing her. Her screams wind up muffled even as she lets them out into… into hair?

"Shhhhh…"

Belatedly, Mira starts to struggle, pulling her arms out from under her bedding, reaching for whatever is covering her face. But before she can, clawed hands grab her by the wrists and pin her arms back onto the bed on either side of her head. A heavy body pins her down as glowing yellow eyes are suddenly mere inches from her face. Along with them are the fangs coming out of an inhuman mouth.

"MMMMPH!"

The figure atop her hisses as Mira's struggles intensify. In that moment, Mira sees her life flash before her eyes and is certain she's about to die. This is it. This is the end of her life. But then…

"Stop. Struggling."

The voice sounds fucking demonic, reverberating through her head and rattling her skull. But at the same time, there's a familiar tenor to it, hidden beneath all of the layers of 'monster'. Mira settles down, realizing that her assailant isn't about to kill her. No, they want something from her.

With that realization, Mira starts to finally see past the devil horns and glowing jagged patterns. She looks past the yellow eyes and fangs… and realizes that her attacker is more than just familiar. Especially the massive purple-haired braid that can apparently turn prehensile at the drop of a hat and is currently wrapped securely around the lower half of her head.

Mira must be dreaming. She must be, because this can't actually be happening. Ryu Rumi in all of her apparently demonic glory has snuck into her bedroom and is pinning her to her bed, looming over her like… well, like the monster she seems to be.

Pleased by Mira's stillness, Rumi starts to hum to herself. And then… she starts to sing. It's quiet and low, a haunting melody for Mira's ears alone. A private performance where Mira is the only guest in attendance. And the more Rumi sings, the more the glowing threads from before appear all around them, connecting together like a tapestry of power. Mira's breath hitches beneath Rumi's prehensile braid at the sight.

"You see it."

Again, it's not a question. Mira nods all the same. Rumi purrs in satisfaction before leaning forward until their noses are touching as she stares into Mira's eyes.

"Mine."

Mira swallows hard, wanting nothing more to respond with 'Yours' in this moment. So what if Ryu Rumi was apparently a fucking demon from the pits of hell. Mira would gladly make a deal with the devil to get away from her family at this point.

Though apparently, she wasn't going to get the chance. Because a moment later, Rumi pulls away… but she doesn't let go of Mira. She picks her up, dragging Mira up out of the bed with strong arms and clawed hands and lifting her into the air.

The massive purple braid of hair that seemingly has a mind of its own wraps more securely around Mira, acting as another 'arm' of sorts while also continuing to cover her mouth and keep her from calling for help.

Holy shit. She's being kidnapped. Ryu fucking Rumi is apparently a demon and is kidnapping her right out of her bedroom to… to do what? The conversation from earlier in the evening plays back through her head.

… Was she being stolen from her room just so that Rumi could put her on a stage and perform with her? The very thought sounds ridiculous, but then Mira already knows that Rumi is the most audacious fucking bitch she's ever met.

As they make their way out onto Mira's balcony, three stories up from the ground floor, she knows she should probably be putting up more of a fight. Really, she hasn't even tried to resist since realizing who was holding her down. If she didn't want her soul devoured or something, she should be doing everything in her power to escape Rumi's grasp.

… Mira goes limp and lets herself be carried off. Fuck it.

-x-X-x-

A/N: So to clarify, while Celine dying early did mean that Rumi was never told to cover up or made to feel ashamed of her demon patterns, it also meant there was a period of time when there was no trained hunters to protect and maintain the Honmoon.

Honmoon, Rumi (and eventually Bobby who I am considering having wear an eye patch in this AU) all did their best, but it wasn't all sunshine and roses. Hence Rumi having to embrace her demon side more than a little in order to survive to adulthood.

Chapter 3: Zoey

Chapter Text

A/N: Zoey POV!

-x-X-x-

"I can't believe we're going to get to see THE Ryu Rumi any second now!"

"Eeeee, I'm so excited! Her voice is just so… ya know?"

"Yeah! It's amazing! I wonder if she'll sing at all today?"

"Heh, probably not, it's just a fan signing, but I've heard rumors that she likes to hum a lot at these things."

"Oh I read about that! Some people claim they've heard Rumi hum melodies to unfinished songs that come out later!"

"Could you imagine?!"

Zoey smiles... as she watches the three girls in front of her gush with one another about the singer they're all standing in line to see. The girls are close to her age, maybe a little younger, and they're all so happy and excited together.

It's tempting to step up, to inject herself into the conversation and give them some tidbits that she knew about certain events where Rumi had 'leaked' certain songs ahead of their release through her humming. She WAS rather infamous for it after all, and Zoey knew all of those moments by heart even if this was her first chance to ever meet the beautiful purple-haired popstar in person.

But… Zoey stays where she is, her smile turning a little bitter as she observes the girls continue to be giddy with excitement. Better not to ruin today by being too much. She knows exactly how she gets at times and where these three might be best friends who are over the moon right now, having some strange girl putting herself in their conversation could fuck everything up.

No, Zoey stays back, keeps her head down and her shoulders hunched, and clutches at the notebook and pen she's brought with her. She's going to get in, get her favorite notebook (it has all of her best lyrics in it) signed by THE Ryu Rumi, and then she's going to get out.

Frankly, that she'd worked up the courage to come today in the first place was pretty crazy, but then it was probably going to be her last chance to do so since she was moving back to America in three days to live with her father and go to college in Burbank.

This was her last hurrah so to speak. Her-

Zoey perks up as the doors to the convention hall finally open and they're allowed to start filing inside. The whole place has been rented for this fan signing and if Zoey peers around the girls in front of her, she can see Ryu Rumi alone at a table in the far flung front of the room. She can also see Rumi's manager and right hand man, Bobby, standing off to the side on the phone.

Bobby was… well, he was certainly something. He'd been with Rumi since she was five when Celine, the last Sunlight Sister had died. Zoey knew all of the lore, of course. It was kind of insane to even think about, really. There was a reason, after all, that Bobby was wearing an eyepatch and had a holstered firearm at his side.

This wasn't America, after all. The only people allowed to carry guns out in the open in South Korea were police officers, military personnel, and trained security guards protecting certain important figures. It said a lot about just how important Ryu Rumi really was that her manager, who also doubled as one of her bodyguards, had a permit.

But then, from what Zoey knew of Rumi's story, she'd had a really hard life. After her mother died, Celine had initially raised her. But when Celine died… well, suddenly it was like a feasting frenzy! Rumi was the heiress to Sunlight Entertainment and Bobby was just some intern with the company. By all rights, the stuffy men in their suits should have kicked Bobby to the curb and had Rumi under lock and key for most of her childhood.

Zoey figured they probably tried that, only it didn't work out because Bobby was apparently a certified badass. Everyone on the fan forums knew that Rumi had suffered multiple assassination attempts throughout her childhood, even if there was a coverup for every single one.

You couldn't cover up Bobby's lost eye though. Or the fact that he was jacked to all shit and looked like he could wrestle a damn tiger if he wanted to. And of course, there was the aforementioned firearm he was allowed to carry.

… Yeah, Ryu Rumi had been terrorized for half of her life. Honestly, it was a wonder that she'd even made it to adulthood, let alone become such a beautiful woman with a gorgeous singing voice. Some idiots liked to call her a nepo baby even now, but Zoey and everyone with actual eyes knew better. Rumi was a survivor. You could hear it in her music, you could see it in her manager… hell, you could see it in Rumi herself.

The line moves slowly, with Rumi taking the time to talk to just about everyone for at least a couple minutes each. It's crazy, but then Zoey already knew how dedicated to her fans the popstar was. Luckily for her, she'd been able to get there hours in advance. Maybe not as long as the people who slept in sleeping bags out front of the venue overnight, but Zoey still had a good spot in line.

As she watches the three girls in front of her go ahead and gets to see Rumi interact with each of them, it brings a bittersweet smile back to her face. The singer is so good with them, so easygoing and effortlessly cool and suave. She's not too much like Zoey knows she would have been in her place.

But of course, then they're gone before Zoey can blink and suddenly it's her turn. Okay. She knows what she's here for. She's not trying to make a scene. She just needs to get Rumi's signature and get out. Swallowing hard, Zoey approaches the table at Bobby's urging, standing there in front of it. In front of Ryu Rumi.

All thought of getting the signature and getting out quickly flees Zoey in that moment as she just finds herself staring at the beautiful popstar. Rumi is even more gorgeous up close than she is from a distance or on video. Although, her smile is starting to… falter a bit as the silence drags on.

Fuck, think Zoey! Say SOMETHING! ANYTHING!

"Y-You're super-hot!"

NOT THAT YOU DUMB BITCH!

But Rumi just smiles softly and gives her a wink.

"I know. You're pretty cute yourself."

Zoey's face goes bright red and for a moment she daydreams that her eyes have turned into corn on the cob, only to explode into popcorn as she overheats and explodes. That doesn't actually happen though, thankfully. Instead, she finally jerks herself forward, missing Bobby's hand dropping to his firearm as she thrusts her notebook and pen forward.

"Pleasesignthisformethankyou!"

Rumi takes the notebook and Zoey's favorite pen from her hands and hums, nodding with a smile. Thank god she'd understood Zoey's too-fast words. She- oh no.

Zoey had only ever intended for Ryu Rumi to sign the cover… obviously. Or… or maybe the inside of the cover at MOST. She definitely doesn't expect the singer to open her notebook and start READING!

What the fuck?! Who does that?! Well… Ryu Rumi does that, Zoey supposes. Her mouth opens and closes wordlessly as Rumi flips through, reading her lyrics. She was NOT supposed to be reading her lyrics! Those were for… well, it didn't matter! None of it mattered!

"Rumi?"

Bobby's voice cuts through the silence and Zoey realizes she's basically in the process of causing a scene at this point. It's a quiet one to be fair, but time is starting to stretch on past the point that Rumi has spent with any other fans at this signing so far. Zoey is officially getting special treatment in front of everyone. She might just die.

"Give me a moment Bobby."

Oh god, and now Rumi was asking for MORE time. And Bobby was just nodding along and GIVING IT TO HER! What the hell Bobby? You're supposed to be the badass manager who keeps everything moving smoothly! This was not smooth! Zoey was-!

"These are really good. You wrote all of these?"

Zoey nearly swallows her tongue, staring at Rumi with wide, wide eyes. Did… did Ryu Rumi just call her lyrics good? Oh no, she'd asked a question.

"Y-ye… yeah. I mean, y-yes? I wrote all of them. It's my notebook."

Rumi just nods and hums, glancing down at the notebook… and then peering at Zoey curiously. Then, much to Zoey's fresh horror, the popstar begins to hum a melody. And things start to get a little weird, because all of these glowing lines appear in the air around them.

Zoey's jaw drops open as Rumi's smile grows. The singer reaches out and plucks one of the strands of light between them and Zoey twitches, feeling a pulse of something weird.

What the actual fuck was happening?! Was anyone else seeing this?! A glance over her shoulder to check proves to be a mistake. Nobody has a look of gobsmacked wonder on their face like Zoey is pretty sure she has. No, instead they're all glowering at her… because she's approaching the five minute mark with Rumi by now.

"Come perform with me."

Wait, what?! Zoey whips back around again, staring at Rumi as the popstar rises from her chair, standing across from her.

"Come write music for me. And then sing and dance with me on stage."

Zoey must have had a stroke. She must be on the ground right now, spasming and seizing with spit fizzling at her mouth. Because there is absolutely no way, NO WAY, that THE Ryu Rumi is asking her to perform with her. To write MUSIC FOR HER.

It's everything Zoey's ever dreamed about, truth be told. But… she shakes her head.

"I'msorryIcan'tI'mmovingtoAmericainthreedaysforcollegesothankyoubutgoodbye!"

And then, before Rumi can process what she's said, Zoey snatches her notebook back and runs. And she doesn't dare look back, because if she did… she definitely would have stopped and begged Rumi to take her after all.

It's not until she's made it to her train, the one that will take the next couple hours to get her home to her mother, that Zoey finally stops and breathes. Only to then realize… she forgot her favorite pen. She got her notebook back (without the signature she'd waited in line for hours for) but she'd left her favorite pen behind.

… Zoey's eyes burn as she hiccups quietly to herself. Not wanting to cause a scene, she draws her legs up onto the seat and buries her face in her knees even as the tears start to fall and she starts to sob. Fuck… fuck, she was such a useless, dumb cunt wasn't she?

But then, that was why she'd run in the end. It had nothing to do with her moving to America. Obviously, a job offer from THE Ryu Rumi easily trumped moving back to live with her dad and go to an American College. Community College at that.

Only… Zoey knew she'd just mess it up. Rumi didn't know her. Sure, maybe she liked Zoey's best lyrics, but what she didn't know was this notebook represented the best of a decade of writing that sort of stuff down. It didn't account for the other FIFTY plus notebooks that Zoey had filled up over the years.

Rumi didn't know that Zoey wasn't good enough for her. She didn't know that Zoey would just be way too much of a handful to train to be an idol. And she… she wasn't reliable either. She wouldn't even be good behind the scenes as just a songwriter.

So yeah, it wasn't about the fact that she was moving back to America. It was about protecting Ryu Rumi from making a mistake by taking a chance on a weirdo loser like Zoey.

Really… when she thought about it that way, she could even stop crying. Her tears dry up and Zoey even manages a tentative smile. Sure, she'd fucking failed catastrophically in her mission for the day. No signature. Lost her favorite pen. But she'd stopped Ryu Rumi of all people from making a mistake. And that… that was pretty much the best thing Zoey had ever done with her life.

The smile doesn't last long, but the tears don't return at least. Zoey is able to unfold her legs and lower them back off of the seat as she sits there on the train, staring out of the window listlessly at the South Korean countryside zipping past.

Three more days. Three more days and she'd be back in America. Maybe she could reinvent herself again. The first move from America to Korea when she was sixteen and being bullied to tears hadn't exactly worked out very well… but hey, now she was eighteen. An adult. So the sky was the limit, right?

Just… had to keep things practical still. Had to keep her ambitions in check. Reasonable. Community College… that was more her speed. Not working for Ryu Rumi of all people.

… Woulda been fun until she fucked it up though, probably…

-x-X-x-

Two hours later, Zoey gets off the train at her stop and starts the final trek of her journey home. Ugh, she was going to miss South Korean public transit the most, probably. Burbank just didn't have anywhere near the same train system, and Zoey highly doubted they'd improved at all in the last two years.

She-

Zoey stops dead in her tracks as she turns the corner and sees the big black car parked outside of her house. Her eyes widen when she clocks the man standing next to said car. Bobby.

Oh god. He was here to kill her, wasn't he? She'd completely fucked up Ryu Rumi's fan signing and so he was here waiting to shoot her in the head and bury her at sea or something.

For a moment, Zoey thinks about running. But where would she even go? All of her stuff was in that damn house! Including her plane tickets to America! Shit!

… Maybe he wouldn't kill her. Maybe he'd just rough her up a little bit or something. She'd start off with an apology just to see if that made him go easier on her.

Walking up, Zoey immediately bows and starts to apologize.

"My sincerest-!"

"Zoey right? Rumi is waiting for you inside."

… What? Why was his voice so warm and kind? And… RYU RUMI WAS INSIDE OF HER HOUSE?!

Shooting up, Zoey looks between Bobby and her house with wide, bewildered eyes. Then, much to her stupefaction, Bobby… smiles and nods in understanding.

"Hey. I get it. Rumi can be a lot. Some might say she's too much at times. But those people are idiots. Give her a chance, will you? I think you'd be surprised at how well you'll fit together."

Zoey's mouth opens and closes… but no words come out. She felt like she was experiencing a meme in real life. 'Warm and Gentle Bobby isn't real. Warm and Gentle Bobby can't hurt you.'. Except obviously he's very, VERY real.

God if she posted about this interaction on the fan forums, they would laugh her off of the internet. Everyone knew Bobby was a hardass who was always yelling at someone on the phone or giving you the evil eye if you so much as breathed wrong in Ryu Rumi's direction.

In the end… Zoey just can't deal with this. She can't deal with Bizzaro Bobby. So she just nods to him politely and turns to march her way to her front door. It feels like she's walking to her own funeral a little bit. Like, obviously Zoey isn't that surprised Rumi was able to beat her here. Public transportation was good, but it wasn't 'rich people transportation' good.

She IS surprised that Rumi even bothered though. Seriously, she was THIS determined to make the biggest mistake of her life by taking a chance on Zoey?

Zoey would just have to explain to Rumi how useless she was. How much of a loser she was. She had to make the other girl realize how bad of an idea investing in Zoey in any way could be for her.

Pushing through her front door, Zoey opens her mouth… only to pause when she hears her mother's voice coming from the kitchen… and a beautiful laugh along with it.

Plodding along with what feels like cement shoes, Zoey eventually turns the corner to see Ryu Rumi sitting at her dingy dining table, tapping Zoey's favorite pen against the table's surface while smiling and laughing along at whatever Zoey's mother is saying.

Oh no, it's an embarrassing story about Zoey from her childhood. Well, given what happened today, Zoey is pretty sure that nothing her mother could possibly say would be worse than-

"This one time, when she was seven-"

NOPE!

"Hey mama! Rumi and I are going to talk in my room, BYE!"

She's not sure where she finds the gall, but Zoey runs into the kitchen, grabs Rumi by the hand, and drags her out before her mother can tell THAT story. She's pretty sure Rumi lets her do it though to be fair, because there's this split second where it feels like Zoey is trying to drag a literal metric ton rather than just one other eighteen year old girl.

Of course, by the time they reach Zoey's room, she realizes she's an idiot. Why had she said she was bringing Rumi here?! The place was covered in Sunlight Sisters and Ryu Rumi merch in equal measure! By the time she remembers that rather important piece of information… it's too late. They're already inside. Rumi already sees everything.

"I like your room."

Spinning around, Zoey gapes.

"H-How can you say that?! It's basically half-shrine to your dead family and half-shrine to you! I'm like your biggest stalker and now you can-mmph!"

Suddenly, Rumi's pressing a finger to Zoey's lips. And also looming over her. Holy shit is she hot. Has Zoey mentioned that? Because yeah, Ryu Rumi is SUPER hot.

"Shhhh…"

Zoey swallows thickly and doesn't make a peep. Finally, Rumi holds up her pen.

"I never signed your notebook."

Shakily, Zoey hands over said notebook. Rumi quickly signs the inside of the front cover (WHY DIDN'T SHE DO THAT TO BEGIN WITH?!) and hands both back to her.

"Now promise you'll come perform with me."

This again? Zoey starts to shake her head.

"I-I can't, I-mmph!"

This time, Rumi covers Zoey's whole mouth with her palm. Zoey is struck with the childish urge to lick it for just a moment before she controls herself. Although, the rumbling inhuman growl that comes out of Rumi's throat probably helps a lot in that regard as well.

"No. You can. You want to. I can FEEL it. You can see the Honmoon."

The… the Honmoon? Rumi sees her blinking in confusion and hums a quick melody. All around them, more of those bright lines from the fan sign up appear. Zoey stares at them in wonder, which causes Rumi to smile smugly… like a damn cat or something.

"See? You're special and I want you. So no more excuses. No more with the 'I can't'. Just say yes. Say you agree."

Finally, in the face of Rumi's persistence, Zoey slowly nods. When Rumi removes her hand, Zoey even follows it up with a quiet 'o-okay'.

Then, because she can't say nothing about it, Zoey tries her best to warn Rumi off.

"Y-You won't like me once you get to know me. I'm way too much for m-most people. And… my lyrics aren't that good either. You'll just wind up disappointed, in the long run."

But Rumi just scoffs at her and suddenly Zoey is being backed up to her wall and Rumi is pressing into her personal space in a BIG way. Their lips are mere centimeters apart when she stops, her eyes almost seeming a little yellow in this light as she gazes at her.

"I'm not most people. You will NEVER be too much for me. As for your lyrics… we'll work on the songs together, with Mira. And somehow I just know… you will never… ever… disappoint me."

Zoey swallows thickly. Oh god, she was such a bisexual disaster because…

"Y-Yes ma'am!"

Yep, those were the next words out of her mouth. Squeaked and everything. And of course, it just makes Rumi smile like a smug cat again. Fuck, Zoey thinks she even hears purring as the popstar leans back.

"Good girl. I'm glad you were the easy one."

She has no clue where to even begin parsing that statement.

"I'll send a car to pick you up tomorrow. You can commute until you're ready to move in with us. Oh and Zoey?"

Blinking rapidly, Zoey comes out of her daze just in time to see Rumi pick up the plane ticket to America from where she'd left it on her desk.

"You aren't going anywhere."

The popstar rips the ticket up right then and there. Bit overly dramatic given Zoey could just print a new one, but DAMN if it wasn't hot.

"The next time you go to America will be with me and Mira. Once we're on tour."

… So fucking hot. But also… what the HELL had Zoey gotten herself into?!

-x-X-x-

A/N: This AU's Bobby has a reputation among the fans that hopefully shone through well in this chapter. It is obviously not the reputation he has among his employees/subordinates or indeed in the rest of the industry. But one too many demons disguised themselves as friendly fans for him to ever be totally chill with any of them approaching his daughter.

Anyways, I know the reaction to Mira's chapter was insanely positive and there were even people who wondered if Zoey's chapter could ever possibly measure up. You'll all have to tell me how I did, because obviously the tone of each chapter is VERY different. But I like to think they're still both pretty good…

Also Rumi sure is lucky she's hot, lmao.

Chapter 4: Rumi

Chapter Text

A/N: Rumi POV!

-x-X-x-

"RUMI!"

It's been six months since she found Zoey. Nine months since she found Mira. And Rumi can safely say… she's never been happier. There'd been some worries at first, of course. Concerns about whether it would work out or things would crash and burn.

After all, it was a lot to find out that you were chosen by an ancient protective barrier in order to defend the world from literal soul sucking demons. Even more to then find out that one of your fellow chosen, the very girl who recruited you, was half-demon herself.

Rumi had briefly considered whether to hide that second part from Zoey for a time to help the excitable Korean American girl ease into things a bit better. But both Mira and Bobby had told her that keeping secrets wasn't going to really help and the more she hid, the worse it would get.

So she'd shown Zoey the truth the very first day and… they were right. Everything had worked out.

Of course, a part of Rumi had also worried that Mira and Zoey might not get along, or that prolonged exposure to her might make them decide they disliked or even hated her. She needn't have been concerned about this either though, in the end. All three of them were very different people, of course.

There was Mira, who was the absolute opposite of a people person. Then there was Zoey, who once she got out of her shell, turned out to love people, specifically those she considered HER people, more than anything. And finally, there was Rumi. She knew she was a lot. She'd never let that stop her from being herself though. And yet, with Zoey and Mira… she wanted things to work out. Oh how she NEEDED things to work out.

… They had though. They really, really had. Mira and Zoey got on like a house on fire, and neither of them seemed to have any issues with Rumi either. The Honmoon connected them all together, making them fit like three very different puzzle pieces that were nevertheless made for one another.

So of course, when Rumi hears Zoey's blood curdling, heart wrenching scream of her name from across the compound, she doesn't so much as hesitate. With a snarl that's half anger, half panic, Rumi teleports to her fellow hunter immediately, her horns and claws and fangs coming out as she looks for the threat. Whoever dared to harm Rumi's precious maknae (never mind that they haven't debuted yet) was going to PAY DEARLY!

Only… as she looks around, Rumi can't help but be confused. There's nobody there except for Zoey and Mira. No demons. No bad guys. Not even Bobby is anywhere nearby. It's just Mira looking unbelievably smug with her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her lips… and Zoey looking like she's about to cry, eyes watery and lower lip wobbling like crazy.

Rumi blinks at the strange tableau, staring at her fellow hunters in confusion until Zoey registers her presence and looks at her with wide eyes. Rushing over, Zoey grabs Rumi by the shoulders and begins to shake her.

"Rumi! Say it isn't true! Tell me she's lying! Say that you didn't… didn't do it!"

Huh? Rumi glances to Mira to see her smugness only intensifying. Whatever this is about, the pink-haired dancer is positively radiating silent glee over it. She even makes a show of checking her nails while Zoey wails.

Rumi, still in full demon form, straightens up out of her combat stand, her purple braid flicking back and forth in the air behind her, her claws dangling limp at her sides.

"Do… what?"

Whimpering, Zoey's lower lip wobbles some more.

"When you… when you found Mira, h-how did it go exactly? How did you… retrieve her?"

Blinking, Rumi glances over at Mira… and blushes a little bit. By the Honmoon, that night was probably not her finest moment… even if she was still proud of herself over most of it to this day. Still, when she'd been… repudiated by Mira's father, Rumi had been less than happy to say the least.

After all, there was Mira, the first of her fellow hunters. Rumi had been searching for YEARS ever since the Honmoon had started telling her that there were supposed to be others. For a long time, it had been just her and Bobby. And sure, they'd made it work… they'd survived. But finding out there were supposed to be more? Yeah, that was a game changer.

More than that, the Honmoon had made it clear that the others would be… would be closer than close with her. Closer even than her and Bobby had gotten. They were going to basically be her other thirds. Rumi hadn't even known she was missing parts of herself until the Honmoon told her that there were two individuals out there who she had to find.

So yeah, Mira mattered. She meant more than anything to Rumi. When she'd left that party that night, she'd had Bobby immediately get started on arranging things so that she could have Mira regardless of what her parents wanted.

See, the company that Mira's family owned was, while wealthy, a small fish in the grand scheme of things. They were owned by a bigger company, a larger fish. Within a few hours, Bobby had been able to get his hands on all of the proper documentation to confirm that there was nothing Mira's father could do to stop his parent company from selling his company to an interested party.

So that had become the plan. Sunlight Entertainment would buy Mira's family's company and Rumi would have Mira one way or the other. But when Rumi asked Bobby how fast they could get it done, he was honest with her just like always. Days. Maybe even weeks.

… Rumi wasn't willing to wait that long. She'd gone for Mira that very same night. The dancer was already eighteen anyways. Legally an adult. Her parents couldn't hold her. But also, admittedly, Rumi hadn't exactly been… asking when she'd snuck into Mira's room that night.

Here in the present, Rumi's eyes flick from Zoey's plaintive expression to Mira's smug smirk. And… she hesitates.

"I…"

Six months ago, Rumi had invaded Zoey's house, stalked around her bedroom, pushed the younger woman up against her own wall, and all but browbeat her into joining them. But half a year was a long time. And a lot of that femme fatale confidence had been… maybe a teensy bit of a façade she'd put on.

"OHMYGOD! Rumi PLEASE! Tell me you didn't do it! Tell me you didn't sneak into Mira's bedroom in the middle of the night and KIDNAP HER OUT OF HER OWN BED?!"

Zoey sounds so distraught. She sounds personally aggrieved. Rumi knows Mira doesn't care, of course. She's even apologized to the other girl for terrifying her only to have Mira laugh and brush it off like it was nothing. But Zoey is a bit more sensitive then that. She's the kind of person who will definitely get offended on her loved one's behalf even if they say it's fine.

… Was this how HUNTR/X ended? Disbanded before they could even debut because Rumi couldn't keep herself under control? She tries to find the words to apologize, to explain her actions, but they don't come. She's tongue tied. And her eyes are starting to burn because she doesn't want to lose Zoey just because her maknae thinks she's a mons-

"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!"

Out of nowhere, Zoey collapses to her knees, tosses her hands in the air, and howls at the top of her lungs. In the background, Mira's smugness gains its own time code as it grows to encompass the entire room and beyond. All the while, Rumi just stands there, blank-faced and baffled.

"WHY GOD WHY?! WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN ME?!"

What.

Rumi stares down at Zoey as she falls forward and starts to beat the ground with her fists. It's not an act either. There are literal water droplets falling from Zoey's eyes and hitting the ground under her. She's actually crying.

An amused snort from Mira finally draws Rumi's eyes up to the tall woman, who is grinning like the cat who caught the canary at this point.

"Heh, you really thought she was mad at you for a second, didn't you? Nah, our Zoey is just a freak, like always."

Rumi can't help but feel a pulse of warmth through her at those words. 'Our Zoey'. They feel good. They feel right. Still…

"It really wasn't that big of a deal. Getting Mira away from her shitty family would have taken too long going through the proper channels. So I simply took matters into my own hands…"

Mira lets out a bark of laughter.

"Claws, you mean. And you sure did, Rumi. Only meant we had to dodge the police for a few days until the sale went through and we could put the screws to my father to make him drop the manhunt."

Rumi flushes in remembrance at that. Yeah okay, maybe it wasn't her finest moment. But it got her what she'd wanted in the end, so she couldn't complain…

"… I should have gone back to America after all. Just imagine it… I could have started that underground rap career I was thinking about trying."

Both of them blinking, Rumi and Mira look down to see that Zoey has stopped crying and is now sitting up on her knees, staring off into space and mumbling to herself loudly enough for them to hear.

"I could have made a name for myself, only to have one of my shows crashed one night by the hottest fucking demon bitch on the planet. And right in front of everyone, she would just snatch me off stage and bite me in the shoulder and claim me!"

Rumi and Mira both start to blush a little.

"Hnngh… I still could. I c-could make it work. I could sneak away, be on a plane before anyone knew I was gone. Rumi would have to come after me. She'd have to kidnap me to bring me back! She-mmph!"

Aaaand nope. Deciding that her cute (but also crazy monsterfucker of a) maknae had had enough fantasizing time, Rumi whips her braid around and subsequently wraps it around Zoey's head, gagging her and cutting off her plans. Then, crouching down in front of the wide eyed lyricist, Rumi points a clawed finger at her sternly.

"No! No fleeing to America! Bad Zoey!"

Zoey whimpers… while Mira just laughs. Which proves to be a mistake because Rumi's yellow, demonic eyes dart to the dancer next.

"And don't think I've forgotten about you either, Mira. You saved this didn't you? Waited all this time. Looked for just the right moment to drop this on Zoey to mess with her and me. This was a prank. You know how I feel about pranks, Mira."

Suddenly, Mira is starting to sweat a little bit. She doesn't drop her 'devil may care' attitude completely, but she does swallow hard as she looks from Rumi down to Zoey and then back again.

"… So what if it was a prank? You only have one prehensile braid, Rumi. So really, you have to choose now if you're going to punish me… or keep Zoey from running away to America to enact her brainiac plan."

Rumi narrows her eyes into thin slits.

"Oh? Is that what you think I have to do Mira? You think I can't handle the both of you?"

Something in Rumi's tone must trigger Mira's fight or flight instinct, because a moment later the dancer's gok-do glaive is in her hands, held up defensively as she glances left and right, looking for a way out.

Rumi's lips just curl up into a slow, wicked smirk. Even when Zoey suddenly brings out the shin-kal throwing knives, forcing Rumi to let go of her head and allowing the maknae to scramble back to her feet and hop backwards to stand next to Mira, her smirk doesn't diminish.

A low, rumbling purr leaves the half-demon's lips as she draws her chilseong-kal blade from the Honmoon. The large, thick, curved single-edged sword has fed on quite a few demons over the years and both Mira and Zoey shiver a little bit as Rumi brings it out to play.

… Not that it can really hurt either of them. It's a Honmoon Weapon after all, and they're hunters. The Honmoon protects them as much as they protect it. But that's just makes it perfect for teaching a pair of uppity little chits a lesson they won't soon forget.

Mira seems to realize they maybe have overstepped.

"Now Rumi… maybe we can talk about this."

Rumi just chuckles and shakes her head as she takes up a stance, her curved sword pointed at the two of them as her braid comes up over her shoulder and points in their direction.

"Oh no… we're past the point of talking~"

And then she launches herself forward, causing the other two girls to yelp and scramble to defend against her aggressive charge.

-x-X-x-

"… So girls, what have we learned today?"

Beneath her, twin groans can be heard as Mira and Zoey wiggle and writhe… but to no avail. Sitting on them both, Rumi easily keeps them pinned down by virtue of having tied them up first so they can't easily dislodge her or wriggle free of her weight.

Finally giving up on that as a lost cause, they go still for a moment before Zoey pipes up.

"… I learned that Rumi can do this really cool trick where her braid flips you head over heels and she kicks you in the chest at the same time. Gonna be bruised for like a whole fucking week…"

Mira grunts.

"And I learned that all of our group training has made Rumi scarily good at using my Gok-do against me. Seriously, I planted it in the ground so I could grab ahold of it and use it to spin around and gain momentum. Not fair for you to do the exact same thing at the exact same time and then hit me before I can hit you…"

Rumi narrows her eyes at the two and their light, slightly teasing tones. Finally, she lets out a low rumbling growl as a warning, causing them both to stiffen and go wide eyed. Mira quickly amends her statement.

"I also learned that if I should consult Rumi before telling Zoey any of our shared experiences together from before she joined the group!"

Zoey isn't far behind.

"A-And I learned not to threaten to run away to America just so I can have my own Ryu Rumi Kidnapping Experience! Even if it WOULD literally be right out of a fanfic. I can just see it now, 'I was sold to Ryu Rumi but slowly fell in love with her'!"

Mira snickers.

"Heh, if anyone was going to be sold to Rumi, it would have been me. Thankfully my dad was too much of a bastard and got his ass handed to him instead…"

Rumi just flushes. Even when they were learning the lessons she wanted them to learn, they were still teasing her. Tch, enough was enough!

Suddenly she's up and spun around. Mira and Zoey find themselves on their backs, staring up into Rumi's eyes as she lightly holds them by their necks with her claws.

"Uh… Rumi?"

"… You good?"

Purring in the back of her throat and smiling wickedly, Rumi's braid flicks through the air behind her like a tiger's tail. All the while, her patterns glow brightly.

"Oh, I'm more than good. Because I think I know why you two are acting so… bratty with me today. You're pent up. It's been a while, hasn't it? And you need me to take care of you~"

Mira and Zoey each go red at that… before exchanging silent looks. Rumi's smirk grows as she realizes she's hit the nail right on the head.

"Very well… then I suppose, as a big bad demon, I'll just have to devour these two pesky hunters I've captured~"

Their faces go even redder, if possible. Mira juts out her chin defiantly.

"D-Do your worst demon… but leave my maknae out of this… if you have to devour anyone, devour me."

Zoey squawks in disbelief from her side.

"W-What?! No! Devour me, Mistress! Devour me!"

Rumi just laughs a deep, husky laugh… and in the end, she positively devours both of them. Before eventually getting 'devoured' herself in turn.

She never thought she would find love like this. But by the Honmoon is she glad that she did.

-x-X-x-

A/N: That's right. We fading to black in this fic. Sorry not sorry.

Next chapter, whenever I get around to writing it, will be the final chapter to keep this short story to a nice tight five parts. It will be HUNTR/X's debut… and also it will be a Bobby POV.

Chapter 5: Debut (Bobby)

Chapter Text

A/N: Bobby POV!

-x-X-x-

"Look alive people, we're on in five minutes! What's the status on the girls?"

A feminine voice answers Bobby in an instant.

"In their dressing room sir, already eating their preshow ramyeon!"

Another voice, this one masculine, clears his throat and speaks up.

"Ah… are we sure about letting them eat so much right before their debut, sir? Won't it make them bloated and unable to perform when they get on stage?"

Bobby's one singular eye focuses on the owner of that voice, narrowing into a slit as he assesses them for a moment. Finally, he lets out an amused snort.

"New to the crew, aren't you?"

"Uh… y-yessir. This… this will be my first production with Sunlight Entertainment and Ryu Rumi!"

"I see. Well son, Ryu Rumi has been performing for over five years now. And her preshow rituals have never been a hindrance on stage. That's not going to start now."

Silence falls as the young man ducks his head and mutters an apology. Of course, Bobby can practically hear the rebuttal from others, even though no one is foolish enough to say it out loud.

'Yeah but… isn't she just built different? What about the other two? What if she drags them down by expecting them to be on her level?'

Bobby just smirks into the disquiet. Those 'other two' were the missing parts of the whole. They were Rumi's other thirds, her soulmates. And after tonight, the crew would hopefully learn to never doubt them ever again. For now though, he just slaps his hand on the back of his clipboard.

"THREE MINUTES! FOCUS UP!"

And so everyone does, scurrying this way and that or turning back to their stations and their tasks and getting everything ready so they can support the girls… HUNTR/X that is, with their debut. Bobby maintains his own position in the midst of all the chaos and keeps an eye on everything of course, just like always. It's what he does.

… Heh, if someone had told Teenage Bobby all those years ago what he was in for before he signed up for that Sunlight Entertainment Internship, he would probably have laughed in their face. Or, on the off chance he somehow believed them, he would have turned and ran for the hills screaming.

Teenage Bobby just wasn't very brave after all. Oh sure, he was a go getter, a workaholic, and a total people pleaser… but he'd never been particularly courageous.

No… courage was a five year old girl with purple hair and tears in her eyes that never quite fell down her cheeks. All because she believed she couldn't afford to show weakness in the face of losing the closest thing she had left to family. Because she knew (even before he did) that it was all on her shoulders from then on and she had to be strong, no matter what.

Courage was an eighteen year old spitfire stomping back into her old family home a few days after being kidnapped away from it. A mansion that had been a prison to her for all her life and she strutted back inside like she owned the place (which by that point, thanks to him and Rumi, she did). Grabbing her things, her art, her creations… anything valuable to her, to make sure that her jailers couldn't have them. Taking back her life from those who had tried to control her.

Courage… was as simple as turning a corner and seeing a scary man with an eye patch standing outside of your house in front of a black car. And even though you were afraid, even though you wanted to turn and flee… you walk right up all the same, because he's in front of YOUR house with YOUR mother inside and that isn't going to fly. And it was showing up every day after, even if you thought you didn't belong. Until eventually, you realized you did belong after all.

Bobby's girls struggled to accept it, but they'd all been born courageous. They came by it naturally and easily, just with some things getting in the way from time to time. Once in a while, life experiences dampened their spirits... but despite all of that, none of them ever let it stop them in the end.

Bobby... can't say the same about himself. For him, courage was something that had to be learned. Bravery, something that had to be instilled. Defiance in the face of death was something he'd had to build within himself, brick by brick, line by line, until he'd fortified his heart, his soul, and his mind against the fear all around him. Fear was the mind killer, after all. Bobby couldn't remember where he'd heard that, but he always liked that saying.

Still, more than anything… he couldn't afford fear. Not when a purple haired tyke with no one else to turn to was counting on him. Not when literal demons came up out of the underworld to try to kill his charge and him too for good measure.

Bobby had gotten lucky the first few times it happened. He was just some human guy so the demons hadn't focused on him too much. It meant that early on he'd survived demon attacks he had no business surviving, because all of them went after Rumi instead.

Eventually, he'd had to get his shit together. When Rumi's markings covered her from head to toe. When she had to grow horns and claws and fangs to better protect herself. When she roared as much as she screamed, ripping and tearing and shredding until there was nothing left.

She needed him. And so Teenage Bobby became Adult Bobby in the hopes of keeping Rumi as Kid Rumi just a little bit longer. Ultimately, he'd ended up failing her on that front though. Really, he'd failed her in a lot of ways. But… he hadn't failed her entirely. Not in the ways that counted most of all, thankfully.

"The girls are in position! Everything is ready!"

"Good! Counting us down! Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One! GO!"

Bobby's order is met by a flurry of activity as the auditorium's lights go down and the stage's lights begin to strobe. And then…

"Ugh, you came at a bad time,
But you just crossed the line…"

Rumi's voice echoes through the space, the backing instrumentals picking up as she starts to sing. Privately, Bobby still worried that 'How It's Done' was a bit too much of a victory lap for HUNTR/X's debut. It felt like the sort of thing you played after you'd taken the world by storm, not when you were just starting out.

But then, they didn't keep him around to concern himself with their songs. They kept him around to do everything else so they could focus on the music.

"… You wanna get wild?
Okay, I'll show you wild!"

Besides, Rumi's solo career of five years put a different light on HUNTR/X's debut. Everyone in the industry and beyond knew how long Rumi and Sunlight Entertainment had been hunting for the perfect girls to join her on stage. Hundreds of applicants had come and gone… thousands, really.

None of them knew the truth though. None of them knew that there were only two girls out there in the whole damn world who could share the stage with Ryu Rumi. It wasn't an ego thing. It was literally life or death.

"Uh… sir? There are costumers in the audience. And they're making their way towards the stage."

'Costumers'. Code for one thing and one thing only when it came to a Ryu Rumi Performance. Bobby just smiles grimly.

"Leave it to the girls. They'll handle it. Special Effects. You know how it is."

There's a stir among the crew. The veterans have been around to see Rumi 'handle it' just fine, all while performing, all without missing a literal beat. The newbies simply know better than to question him outright at this point.

ALL of them are in for a show tonight though… because it's not just Rumi who summons her shining, shimmering, sparkling sword from the Honmoon as the first demons reach the stage. Mira's beautiful glaive appears in a flash as well and Zoey is wielding three throwing knives in each hand in a single instant.

"Knocking you out like a lullaby,
Hear that sound ringing in your mind.
Better sit down for the show.
'Cause I'm gonna show you how it's done, done, done!"

Perfectly on tempo, the girls each cut down a demon. Without dropping a single note, they sweep the first wave from the stage and then leap forward to take out the second before the demons can even get into position. Frankly, they aren't even having to disrupt Mira's choreography too much to do it.

The dancer and visual had taken to the challenge of preparing for a demon attack during their performances with a zeal that still made Bobby proud. Everything was loose and interchangeable so that they could move however they needed to on stage. And that's exactly what they do now, tearing apart the demons before any can so much as think of trying to consume a human soul.

The crowd goes wild, of course. The Honmoon glows bright, pulsing happily. Bobby just smiles.

"See? Special Effects, am I right?"

The crew lets out nervous little laughs. They all know better than to question that sort of thing at this point. The song continues. The demons all die in short order. The crowd is starting to sing along with the girls now even if the song has literally never been performed before. That's soul magic for you, Bobby figures.

"Err… Bobby right? The HUNTR/X manager?"

Turning, Bobby stares as someone unfamiliar approaches him. They're wearing a uniform belonging to venue staff and they stand out because everyone else backstage right now is Sunlight Entertainment, through and through. Tilting his head to the side, Bobby smiles lightly.

"That's me. But you shouldn't be back here right now. We have a deal with management. Sunlight Entertainment crew only, I'm afraid."

Letting out a nervous laugh, the stranger nods, running a hand through his hair. His other hand is behind his back, out of sight.

"Haha yeah, sorry man. I just got told to-!"

Bobby doesn't go for the gun holstered at his side, even though he's more than capable of drawing it in half a second if need be. Instead, as the disguised demon gets close enough to begin whipping his already transformed claw around to try and attack, Bobby just lifts his arm and an empty hand.

Or at least… it WAS empty. Materializing out of the Honmoon in a single second is a glowing approximation of the Daewoo K5 with a suppressor attached to the end of it. As a result of the added length, the demon is stopped dead in his tracks by the muzzle of the suppressor pushing against his forehead. His eyes go wide as he freezes in disbelief even as the flesh of his forehead begins to smoke with direct contact to a Honmoon Weapon. Bobby just chuckles and shakes his head with a rueful sigh.

"Gwi-Ma must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel these days."

He pulls the trigger and the demon explodes into confetti and glitter a moment later. Another moment after that and what Zoey had affectionally named his 'Honglock' disappears back into the Honmoon. Silence has fallen backstage… but Bobby just sweeps his one good eye around at everyone, his brow raised in silent question.

… They all get back to work, though those that were instrumental to the continued performance on stage had never stopped working in the first place. Bobby has trained them all well.

"Hear our voice unwavering
'Til our song defeats the night
Makin' fear afraid to breathe
'Til the dark meets the LIIIIIGHT!"

Bobby lets out a breath as Rumi hits that high note and he feels more than sees his soul resonating with the Honmoon as everyone else both backstage and in the packed auditorium begins to experience the same thing. None of them can see what he sees though. None except for his girls.

Bobby isn't a demon hunter. He's not one of the Chosen Three. He can't do what they do, can't be what they are. But he has become a survivor and that, more than anything, proved to be just what Ryu Rumi had needed to make it to adulthood. Someone to watch her back. Someone to be there when she faltered and let her know it was okay to stumble sometimes.

Around the time he lost his eye, the Honmoon saw fit to do what Bobby figured was the magical barrier equivalent of deputizing him. He might not ever be a hunter, but both he and the Honmoon would be DAMNED if Rumi was hurt by another demon ever again.

So yeah. He could summon a firearm from the Honmoon. Actually, he could summon a lot of different firearms from the Honmoon if the need was great enough. Mira and Zoey had still never seen anything more than his K5 though.

But then, it'd been a long time since Bobby had needed anything more… serious. Like the shotgun. Or the sniper rifle. Or, Honmoon forbid, the rocket launcher.

"We hunt you down, down, down, down (down)
We got you now, now, now, now (got you now)
We show you how, how, how (show you how)
HUNTR/X don't miss, how it's done, done, done!"

Out on the stage, his girls strike their final pose as they finish their first song together. The crowd explodes in excitement. And the Honmoon shines bright, brighter than it has in all of his memory. Not just the normal blue either, but other colors as well. Pink. Green. Purple. And a dozen more besides.

Bobby grins savagely, staring at the screen which holds the members of HUNTR/X. After a beat, they step back from their pose and start right into the next song in their debut album without even taking a moment to breathe. But then to be fair, they weren't do for a costume change for another two songs anyways.

Letting out a rumbling sigh of contentment, Bobby lets his one remaining eye drift shut for a moment and just listens to the three of them singing, together on a stage at long last. The words, when they slip out of his mouth in a murmur, are as earnest as anything he's ever said before.

"… I love my girls."

Fin

-x-X-x-

A/N: That's a wrap on Five Steps To A Feral Honmoon everyone! I know some of you guys wanted me to write more of this, and I totally get it.

Unfortunately, even by this final chapter I could already feel some of my interest in writing this idea starting to wane. Keeping it to a nice tight five chapters really is for the best, at least for me personally.

And hey, if I inspire anyone to write their own take on this idea, or expand on it at all, that'd be great! All I ask is that you link back to me in some way if I really do inspire your story. But otherwise, this is it!

Please be sure to leave me one last comment whenever you read the end of this story either now or in the future if you can! Would love to hear from everyone who reads this!

Notes:

I have a huge backlog of work on multiple other websites as well, so feel free to check me out there because it'll probably be a long time before I manage to transfer it all over to here, if that is indeed what I end up doing.

QQ:
https://forum.questionablequesting.com/members/cambrian.1638/
HF:
http://www.hentai-foundry.com/user/Cambrian/profile
SH:
https://www.scribblehub.com/profile/106852/cambrian/
WN:
https://www.webnovel.com/profile/4313892216?appId=10
Twitter:
https:// /Cambrian_s_Smut
Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CambrianBeckett/

Series this work belongs to:

← Previous Work Part 5 of Second Chances (the longform fic) + KPDH one shots/omakes

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vorobuh on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 01:23AM UTC

Honmoon strings wrapping around Celine’s throat to stop her from filling Rumi with shame

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Fiori75 on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 01:28AM UTC

Interesting start. Looking forward to how this goes.

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IsseixAtalanta77 on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 01:51AM UTC

Can you do a pax shirone story

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queen_WentRed on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 01:58AM UTC

RIP Celine I guess ☠️✌️✨

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furrylover97 on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 02:38AM UTC

So did the Honmoon essentially kill Celine to keep her from telling Rumi to make like Elsa and conceal don’t feel?

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Djname on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 02:41AM UTC

im here for this sounds fun!

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ShaitanKerensky on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 02:45AM UTC

Not gonna lie. I knew I would adore this fic based on the premise and the tags. Really hope you make this one more than the listed chapter count. Really Really really want to see this version of huntrix come together.

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kaitheplaguerat on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 03:15AM UTC

not the honmoon fucking killing celine 😭😭

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Big_Tater on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 03:19AM UTC

This premise is one of the most interesting I have seen in a while for this fandom and I hope to see it progress well.

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WolvezRock17 on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 03:21AM UTC

Oooo. Consider me hooked. 👀

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DrScience on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 04:13AM UTC

fufufufu ~ I love where this is going... continue doing what you are doing.

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Nnfd on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 10:15AM UTC

❤️❤️❤️

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Tykronos on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 01:03PM UTC

Did the Honmoon do this on purpose?

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SandyRiverDL on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 06:58PM UTC

Just from the tags, it's very clear this is going to be a *wild* ride. And I'm definitely hooked.

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AxelFones on Chapter 1 Sun 28 Sep 2025 07:18PM UTC

Oh this is gonna be fun lol

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nonexistent_6 on Chapter 1 Wed 01 Oct 2025 08:25PM UTC

Oh damn she really did just die. I completely understand why you called the Honmoon feral, it's kind of amusing to see in action, since I'm not actually living through the events. I love how Bobby is already part of this, he's going to be so helpful with everything. I can't wait to see how they kidnap Mira. Fabulous work!

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MengGuanxi on Chapter 1 Sat 04 Oct 2025 06:06PM UTC

😮👀🤩

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Silver3 on Chapter 2 Mon 29 Sep 2025 07:37PM UTC

I completely understand why Zoey would be jealous now

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1. LonlyWanderer on Chapter 2 Mon 29 Sep 2025 08:03PM UTC
  
  This is half kidnapping, half princess from a tower style 'rescue' XD
  
  The sexy demon girl literally swept her off her feet and spirited her away into the night!
  
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mitumial on Chapter 2 Mon 29 Sep 2025 07:39PM UTC

This fic needs a whole fucking anime I love this so much lol

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Uooomman on Chapter 2 Mon 29 Sep 2025 07:43PM UTC

I love this so much. Rumi just kidnapping Mira and Mira being so entirely okay with it is so good 🤣🤣

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