Kagoshima Market
As the hot summer wind blew, Natsuki walks on the crowded streets of Kagoshima market. Foul smell of fish meat and rotten food permits the air and the yells of vendors and crying children are heard from the little town.
Natsuki's appearance resembles of a beggar. Her shirt and pants has large torns and dirt all over. The shoe she's wearing is barely doing its job. Her midnight blue tresses are frizzy and sticky. Her face is full of mud and looking at her gave the passersby an off feeling.
Along her way to her master's house, Natsuki heard a loud commotion. In front of her are stilt houses constructed on top of a river. There is a wooden bridge made of bamboo that is connecting the little river community from the land. A priest with a wooden sword was seen standing on a boat while performing chanting spells on the river. A loud explosion was heard under the priest's boat after he threw a clump of leaves in the water. A few seconds later, and a dead sting ray the size of a house floats in the water. The villagers cheered and offered money donations to the priest as gratitude for killing the demon monster. But Natsuki, being a demon hunter herself, knows that the manta ray that the priest had killed is not a demon monster.
"Thank you, your Holiness. Here's a little money and two ancient salted fish " said the Town Mayor while handing a basket full of coins and dried fish to the priest.
"Hey, as a Taoist priest, my sole purpose is to help the world. Now that the demon's been caught, it's up to you to decide on what to do with it" said the priest while pointing a finger at the humongous sting ray hanging on a fishing net.
"Kill it!" yelled an angry villager
"Isn't it dead already?" questioned an old villager
"Kill it again!" yelled another villager
"Revenge!"
"Revenge!" yelled the villagers
"You're all mistaken. That's not the killer." Said Natsuki
All the villagers turns their head to her as she walked in the middle of the crowd.
"It's just a stingray. He's gentle, kind hearted and cheerful. A fish of good character. Just a bit too big" explained Natsuki.
"Who are you?" asked the Town Mayor.
"I am the unshaven Buddhist monk, Natsuki Kuga. I am a demon hunter" replied Natsuki
"We Know about stingrays, but we've never seen one so big. The priest says it's possessed by a demon" argued the Town Mayor.
"Mayor, look. That's really not the demon you're looking for" explained Natsuki.
"A good mother was savagely killed by the demon. How his innocent family suffers. While you ...you just talk nonsense" pointed out the priest while fake crying to get the sympathy of the townspeople.
"You scumbag!" yelled the Mayor.
"Scumbag! Scumbag! Scumbag!" chorused the villagers.
"Everyone, listen to me. The real demon has not yet appeared!" yelled Natsuki.
"SHUT UP! Have you ever lost a wife?" Asked the husband of the dead woman, pointing his fingers accusingly to Natsuki.
Natsuki held the hand of the widowed. "Sir, I don't have a wife"
"Have you ever lost a wife" he repeated
"Sir Believe me, I've never really had a-"
The man slapped Natsuki in the face and the villagers jump in and threw punches at her. Weakened by the assault, Natsuki could not resist the villagers tying her up on a hanging bamboo. As her last resort, Natsuki challenged the priest to prove that the water is safe. The proud priest told one of the villagers to go jump on the river. But since everyone is still afraid of the water the priest decided to kick one of the villagers on the back causing the villager to catapult into the river. They waited patiently till the villager resurfaced again.
"I think it's safe!" Said the villager.
"See! It's safe!" yelled the priest.
Sensing that the water is indeed safe, all the other remaining villagers jump into the water to enjoy their now "free demon" river. Just as they swam happily, Natsuki spotted the real demon monster swimming rapidly at their direction.
"Get out of the water! It is here! Believe in me! It is really here! Please! GET OUT OF THE WATER!" Yelled Natsuki furiously.
A loud sharp cry is heard and suddenly a pool of red mixes the water. The villagers yelled and swam wildly out of the water to run away from a giant underwater creature. Some made it up to their houses but some got killed while escaping.
They got eaten just as they were climbing the stairs of their houses. Natsuki kept squirming until the rope on her wrists loosens. She quickly jumps on the river landing on a wooden slab to help some of the remaining villagers. Just as she was finished helping the last one, tragedy strikes and a baby on a basket fell on her mother's grasp falling onto the water. Natsuki's instincts kick in quickly grabbing the baby before it completely fell onto the demon fish's waiting mouth. She throws the baby back to his mother while jumping onto the see-saw-like board. On her landing, the other end of the board smack fully on the demon's faces stunning it for a second. Natsuki did not waste any more time on capturing the demon fish.
She repeated her see-saw actions until the demon fish catapulted out of the water. When the demon fish landed on the floorboard of one of the houses, thick smokes appear onto its body and it suddenly transforms into a naked man. The villagers panicked and are ready to kill the man when Natsuki stands up and block their advances over the man.
"Stop! I know what to do! I need you all to move back so that I could set up my ritual kit." said Natsuki.
The villagers listened and stepped back allowing Natsuki all the space she could have. She pulled out several things from her bag. Incense, a weird looking relic, music box, some flat rocks, rice and a book titled "300 nursery rhymes".
She began her incantation by turning the handle of the music box and singing a song from the nursery rhyme book.
"Sometimes things just don't turn out right
But some foolish people want to fuss and fight
But I for one can find a better way
I know you can, let me hear you say
I can talk it out I can listen too
I can take a deep breath and count to 92
I can change the way I talk inside my head
And sometimes I have to walk away instead
You know there are people I have found
Who like to be mean just to bring you down
I know I never want to be that way
So when I'm mad you can hear me say
Don't you know there's nothing' wrong with being mad
Maybe you're feeling scared, hurt or sad
There's so many ways to let it go
Come on and talk about it, Let it flow"
Her gaze is intently focused on the man's face, as if she wants the man to listen fully to her song. Every time the man turns his head, she would go closer and closer to his face to sing the nursery rhyme. It looks really silly watching her perform her nursery song enchantments.
Some of the villager's faces were morphed like they are experiencing constipation just from watching the performance.
In the middle of her enchantment, a woman jump from the roof landing softly on the floor boards near the naked man. She pulled out the gold bracelet from her left wrist and throws it on the man's head. The bracelet widens and hovers over the man's head. She produced a cloth bag from thin air and placed it on the ring. After she placed the bag, a strong air sucked the man into the cloth bag rapidly. She grabs the bag and quickly twisted its end to lock the demon inside. After locking the demon, the ring turns back into a bracelet and the bag shrinks. The demon inside also transformed into an ugly fish ragdoll.
"Well that was easy" said the woman.
Natsuki sat there in awe as she replayed what happened. The girl in front other is wearing a white kimono with an intricate design of purple patterns on its sleeves. The woman has bright red eyes and sand-collared hair. Her cheeks are red and her skin is fair and smooth. Natsuki just sat and stare there until she remembered what had happened. The girl slowly walked towards Natsuki.
"You're also a demon hunter too?" asked the girl and Natsuki nods.
"Based on what? "
"The Demon's Handbook"
"Ara, the Demon's Handbook?"
Natsuki nods again and handed her book to the questioning girl.
"300 Nursery Rhymes?"
"It brings out the goodness within demons. We are all born naturally good. And also I add my own unique style"
"Says who?"
"My master"
"And you believe him?"
"You might not... But I certainly do"
The girl nods and smiled at her, while turning her back to get away from the commotion. Seeing that the girl is leaving, Natsuki's brain function again and asked the important questions.
"Who are you, you're a demon hunter too, right? Will you give me the doll?"
The girl in question stopped walking and smiles sweetly at Natsuki.
"Ara ara, so many questions" she winked at Natsuki and Natsuki just blushed like a tomato.
"I am Fujino. Shizuru Fujino. Yes, I am a demon hunter. No, this is mine to keep. I need the bounty for myself."
Before Natsuki could ask any more questions, Shizuru pulled out a smoke bomb and throw it on the floor. Heavy smoke blasted on the ball giving Shizuru time to make an escape. But before she completely disappears, she stole a kiss on Natsuki's cheeks and murmurs something on her ears.
"We'll meet again, my love."
Hey guys! This is my first time writing a fanfic. I know this has a lot of grammar errors so please bear with me. I'm not that fluent in English since it's not my mother tongue. Also, reviews are very much appreciated :) Let me know if you want me to continue the story.
