Her ears twitched in annoyance, causing her hair to move as she awaited her sister's arrival. Her kimono made her feel uncomfortable and trapped as her mother glared at her impatience. She pinned her ears to her head to keep them from twitching, her sapphire eyes sparking with concealed anger. The sound of approaching horses caught her mother's attention and the older woman smiled as she climbed to her feet.
"You will behave yourself, or I shall punish you, youkai." She spat out the name with a venomous tone.
If you hate me so much, why care for me for so long after he died? The young girl thought as she began to follow her mother out into the middle of the village where people were gathered to welcome her sister and her new husband.
"Haruna, move quicker girl!" Her mother said over her shoulder and Haruna rolled her eyes before catching up to her mother just as her sister was lowered from her horse by her new husband. The two girls glared at one another as they faced each other. The mother smiled at her oldest daughter and pulled her into a hug as Haruna slipped away unnoticed by the crowd admiring her sister's new life. Her nose burned with the scent of sake radiating off the men of the village as a fire roared in the center, celebrating the winter solstice. She walked to the outskirts of the village and her eyes rested on the pale moon as it rose above the treetops. She smiled, tempted to take her hair down so her ears could feel the breeze that swept the air around her. However, her peace was short lived as she caught the scent of her older human sister behind her.
"I suppose sneaking up on demons is something they taught you while you were being a saseko then, Ashikko?" She sneered at the younger girl's comment and Haruna smirked. Her older human sister was evil as her name implicated. Ashikko literally translated into "evil one". Her mother Kirakki is just as evil if not more with her name translated into "killer of demons".
"Ikeike!" Ashikko hissed at Haruna's back. Haruna's smirk stretched across her face allowing her canines to be seen as she turned to face her sister. The older woman gasped and took a step back before glaring at her younger counterpart.
"Oka-san will know about this, ikeike." She hissed again and Haruna shrugged her shoulders before walking past Ashikko toward the raging fire. Ashikko let out a huff of pure rage before following after Haruna.
"Oto-san…" Haruna whispered as she sat in her room where she was sent while the others ate. She wiped the powder off her face, revealing two red stripes on each cheek and released her hair from its confines, allowing her ears to wiggle in freedom. Her raven hair went well past her bottom when loose. While up it only came to her middle back. She changed out of the stuffy kimono she had been forced to wear into hakama pants and a matching top. She sighed as she let out a breath and she listened to the humans in the other portions of the house. Her ears twitched in annoyance when she heard her name used in several insults said by none other than her mother and sister. She leaned out the window and took in the crisp smell of snow as the ever-pale moon smiled down on her. Her ears suddenly perked up at the sound of footsteps in the freshly fallen snow, and her nostrils burned with the scent of another demon. A stronger demon. A male demon. She bolted from her room into the main dining room earning an enraged gasp from her mother.
"Haruna! You stupid…" Kirakki was cut off by Haruna's shout.
"A demon approaches! He is strong!" Ashikko and Kirakki froze before laughing.
"Stupid youkai! No demon trespasses here! Do you take us for bakas?" Kirakki laughed as Haruna looked down, her fists clenched in rage. The nails she had been forced to file down grew and dug into her skin causing blood to drip onto the ground. Shouting was heard at the entrance to the village and Kirakki pushed past Haruna, knocking her to the ground, to get a better look. Her gasp along with that of the others caused Haruna to smirk and climb to her feet, her eyes still sparking with rage.
"It is a demon. A male demon! Oka-san, the ikeike was right!" Ashikko whined as Haruna disappeared from the room, knowing her scent would single her out from the other humans.
"Who are you?" She heard a man shout to the demon as she leaned out her window again. She heard a high-pitched raspy imp-like voice answer the man's question.
"He is Lord Sesshomaru! Lord of the Western Lands! You baka ningens should bow and kiss his feet!" Haruna's eyes widened as her ears twitched at the sound of her sister's voice.
"Haruna, make him leave! Tell him he is not welcome here!" Haruna turned to growl at her sister but stopped when she heard footsteps approaching her home. She pushed past her sister and stood in the doorway of her home just a man came out of the smoke. His ivory hair seemed to glow in the pale moonlight and his harsh golden eyes landed on her figure with an emotionless stare. A small greenish imp appeared at his feet with a staff almost 5 times his size in his hands. Her eyes widened before narrowing on the demon and his imp.
"Leave now." She stated simply before turning to return to her room.
"Do not speak to the Lord in such a manner you filthy hanyou!" The imp shouted at Haruna's turned back and she froze as her eyes flashed in released rage. She turned quickly and suddenly lifted the imp off the ground by his yukata.
"Hanyou? Is that what you believe I am, imp?" The imp stuttered as Haruna asked this in an icy tone. Her blue eyes flashing in rage. A smirk graced the handsome demon's face before he went to grab the young girl's neck only for her to disappear from next to him and reappear walking back into the home she had emerged from, pushing past the humans in the doorway.
"Leave now, son of Inu no Taisho." The man froze at the mention of his father's name and her family gasped at her knowledge. She disappeared into her room, sighing as she tried to calm herself. Somehow, she knew he would not leave. Deep down, she did not want him to. Her hands trembled slightly as she lightly touched the mark on her chest, normally hidden by her clothing. She heard her mother shouting for the warriors to fight the demon and her eyes widened at the command. She quickly hid her mark from anyone's eyes and ran out into the clearing.
"Yamette!" She shouted but none of them heeded her demand as her mother glared at her.
"Move Haruna! Or we will kill you as well, you worthless yokai!" Kirakki demanded and Haruna's fierce glare froze her.
"Iie ningen." Haruna stated icily as warriors surrounded her and the male demon named Sesshomaru. She glanced toward the flame that still burned in the center of the village and she smirked. Her arm shot out and the flame snaked around her, leaving its original place with nothing more than a pile of cold ashes. Everyone's eyes widened as she jumped high into the air and spun her body, shooting the flame as she did so. Shouts of agony and pain reached her ears and she smirked as she appeared in front of her still frozen mother. Ashikko screamed as her husband too fell from the damage the fire had done to his body and she rushed at Haruna in rage.
"Ikeike!" She screamed as she pierced the dagger into Haruna's shoulder. Haruna in wounded rage threw both Kirakki and Ashikko back; their bodies hitting the wall of their home with such tremendous force, Sesshomaru heard their necks snap from the impact. Haruna pulled the dagger out, wincing as she did so and threw it into a tree, watching it pierce the bark. Blood stained her once white kimono top and the imp snorted.
"Injured by such a ridiculous ningen weapon…pathetic." Haruna heard a soft oomph as Sesshomaru stepped on the imp's head, causing his face to be buried in the dirt. Sesshomaru slowly approached the young demon girl with caution as she turned to face him. The wound he noticed was slowly healing itself and her eyes were no longer flashing in rage. They seemed to swirl with emotion for a moment before freezing over in her icy glare.
"Leave now." She stated as he frowned at her.
"I do not have to heed your word wench." She seemed unfazed by his insult as her ears twitched. He noticed the movement and smirked at her restlessness. She hid it well except for the twitching ears.
"You're to come with me." He stated emotionlessly as he turned to walk away, the imp slowly digging his head out of the ground.
"Iie, Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands." She said to his turned back and the wind whipped her hair around her face as Sesshomaru froze from her defiance.
"Nani?" He asked in rage as he turned to face her. She frowned and spoke again.
"Iie, I cannot come with you." His eyes flashed red before he froze as she fell forward. A young boy backed away slowly, looking at his hands in amazement as Sesshomaru saw the sword protruding from Haruna's back. The boy looked up in fear as Sesshomaru approached the sword, pulling it out of Haruna's body before throwing it. It landed in the pile of ashes that had been a roaring fire but mere minutes ago. He knew now why her ear had twitched. It had not been from restlessness but from pain. She had kept the boy out of his sight to protect him and he stabbed her in the back. He bent down next to her motionless figure and heard her light heartbeat. He lifted her into his arms and left the boy to tend to the rest of his fellow villagers. Women and children looked mournful as they saw her injured figure and he raised an eyebrow before deciding to quench his curiosity. He turned to one of the older women, a blind old woman. She smiled when she heard him approach her figure.
"You want to know about the young girl you carry now, do you not Lord Sesshomaru?" She asked and he nodded before answering, remembering she couldn't see him.
"Hai." She chuckled lightly at his answer before starting her story.
"Her name is Haruna. No one knows her true name. It is the name the leader of our village gave her when he found her injured in the forest. She had almost died but he saved her and she had forgotten her past. He decided to care for her and claim her as his own, giving her the name Haruna for the season in which she was found. The two women you saw confront her and die were the leader's wife and her daughter from her previous marriage of which she had been widowed. Kirakki and Ashikko hated Haruna for being a demon and often abused her and treated her as a servant instead of family. Do not misunderstand my lord. Haruna was a sweet caring girl until our leader died and left her in the care of Kirakki and Ashikko who have belittled and beaten her to the point she is almost like an empty shell, hollow except for her pain and rage. Her power has only been used against us once before during an uprising and she was praised as a hero. She will be mourned for and missed by those who knew her before the Change." Sesshomaru nodded at the old woman's story before turning his eyes down to the girl he held in his arms. Her voluminous raven hair skated across the snow and her figure was hidden beneath the baggy hakama pants and kimono she had dressed herself in. He smirked before turning to his imp who had just appeared at his side.
"Jaken, you will take care of this onna do you understand?" he asked and Jaken stuttered a futile protest before shrinking back in fear at the harshness in his lord's eyes and agreeing.
"Hai, Sesshomaru-sama." They left the village to tend to their wounded and dead, taking with them the young girl known only as Haruna.
