Title: The Tale of the Reincarnated Soul

Author: The-Dark-Whimsical-Witch

Rating: T+

Beta: Demons of the arch angel (Whims of Anime)

Warnings: OOCness, OCs, grammatical errors(?), death, a dash of angst, yaoi,

Disclaimer: Witch does not own Beyblade. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners such as Aoki Takao. Witch only writes fanfiction.

Inspirations: umm . . . Inuyasha

Ship(s): Kai x Ryoko, onesided!Sirob x Ryoko (more to be added later)

Witch: Welcome to my first fanfiction on Beyblade. Not very important information but I decided to give it anyways. The first chapter focuses on Kai and Ryoko's relationship as it is relevant to the plot for me to do so. I do hope you enjoy.

TaleoftheReincarnatedSoul

1: The Corrupted Flower

A young woman was alone in front of a decrepit temple. She was sitting on the statue of a phoenix, humming softly as she looked up at the blue sky. She was a beautiful girl with light tan skin, auburn eyes and long navy blue hair that made it past her rear that she wore in a simple ponytail. She was dressed in the robes of a priestess and, by her side, there was a bow and quiver of arrows. She had a sword in her hands while a light purple gem was around her neck.

She looked up at the sky, as if wondering something, "Kai, when are you coming?"

"Ryoko-sama," A voice called to the young woman, getting her attention. It was the voice of a young girl – probably aged ten – with black hair and green eyes. She too wore the garb of a priestess yet she possessed no weapons.

"What is it, dear Chinatsu?" Ryoko asked, getting up from her seat at the statue. The girl did not seem to be afraid or out of breath so the matter wasn't too urgent. Still, it was important if Chinatsu had come to this place when she feared the demon that dwelled in this temple.

Chinatsu looked around before turning to Ryoko, bowing to deliver her message, "Master requests your assistance to partake in an exorcism, Ryoko-sama. Lady Tama and Lord Yukio are there as well and wish for your company."

Ryoko frowned before nodding, "I will go. Go on ahead, Chinatsu, to relay my answer." Chinatsu smiled and ran back to the direction of their village. Ryoko, on the other hand, unsheathed her sword rapidly, the blade clashing with another.

"Missed me, my feisty dragon priestess?"

Ryoko smiled, "You took your time getting here, blasted demon lord."

The duo sheathed their swords. The demon was a handsome man with burning red eyes, three blue shark-like markings on his pale cheeks, dual-colored slate hair that jutted out in spikes. He was dressed in royal robes while his bright red wings and pointed ears reminded Ryoko that Kai was a demon lord.

Kai smirked, placing a hand delicately on Ryoko's cheek, "I'm sorry I'm late. I had to outrun some mad priest that tried to put me in a seal." Ryoko leaned closer to his hand, smiling softly, before sitting down on the ground.

"Pity the priest that does that. You're my prey, Kai-sama."

"You're not very romantic, Ryoko." Kai muttered, sitting down next to her. He drew in his wings in order to sit closer to the girl. They were silent, enjoying each other's company before Kai turned to the priestess, "I heard you, your infuriating master, and the duo are going to do an exorcism in Symphounin. Be careful, alright?"

"My, you're being protective of me." Ryoko chuckled, looking at Kai with her eyes shining, "Or are you protective of the jewel?" She gestured at the gem that hung around her neck. Kai glanced down on it before looking at Ryoko in the eye.

"The Shikon jewel means nothing to me anymore. My quest for immortality, for unlimited power, is over. I have told you that before, Ryoko." He answered, brushing some of her navy locks behind her ear. She smiled, the admittance of that making her blush slightly, before standing. She grabbed her bow, ready for battle.

"Be careful, my priestess." Kai said.

Ryoko smiled at him, "I should be saying that to you. You are in human territory, after all. Even if it is a village that adores you." She left swiftly, no doubt not wanting to draw attention to their relationship. Their romantic relationship was forbidden so it made Kai wonder why the girl broke all the rules to be by his side. What a foolish girl.

"Stop lurking in the shadows, Ray," Kai finally said, standing up, once he was sure Ryoko was too far to overhear this conversation.

A person jumped out of the trees and landed behind him, kneeling immediately. The person was a demon as well, as his pointed ears could be seen. His eyes were yellow and distinctly cat-like while his raven-black hair made it up to his knees. It was currently up in a high ponytail and he was dressed in skin-tight black clothes that suited a ninja.

"When will you strike, Kai?" Ray asked, looking up with a frown, "You've been playing this ridiculous game of house with this priestess for a year now. When will you take the Shikon Jewel from that girl's possession?"

Kai looked up at the sky, eyebrows furrowed, "Don't rush me, Ray. If I take the jewel now-."

"She's already in love with you, isn't she? Have you not tamed the girl blessed by the gods?" Ray asked.

Kai was quiet and Ray gave out a sound of annoyance, standing at long last, "Don't tell me you've gotten soft, my lord. If you are, I'll have no choice but to take the jewel myself."

"I'll take the jewel by the end of the next month, Ray. Tell the men to get ready for the day that the girl blessed by the gods is taken down by the third son of the demon king of the south." Ray smirked, his fangs showing through, before disappearing into the foliage.

Kai stayed alone in the old temple that used to worship his ancestor, the great phoenix demon god Suzaku. People left this temple and stopped the worshipping of the great four gods of the world when the legendary priestess Hitomi began her reign.

The priestess Hitomi was praised more than the demon gods so the demons that served the four gods attacked her when she had her guard low. The battle between the demons and the priestess was said to have lasted two days and two nights and had ended up with the defenseless priestess in the jaws of the seemingly victorious demons.

This battle where light and darkness clashed, where good and evil clashed, caused the creation of the legendary gem known as the Shikon Jewel. The jewel, the manifestation of the souls of Hitomi and the one thousand demons she fought, was unlimited power and the person who wielded that power would be all-powerful.

The jewel passed to the Demon King of the East Sirob, descendant of the demon dragon god Seiryu. With the power of the jewl, Sirob reigned the lands with no opposition so he ruled for two hundred years with the jewel.

His reign with the jewel came to an end the moment Ryoko began her training as a priestess.

Ryoko was an orphan found alone in the woods and taken in by the monastery. At the age of six, she decided to become a priestess to aid the people and her training began at the age of seven. She was twelve when she decided that she'd take the Shikon Jewel from Sirob.

Leaving without telling anyone, Ryoko travelled to the east, fighting demons along the way. When Sirob learned of her, he sent over six hundred million demons to destroy her.

Day and night, day after day, Ryoko fought the demon hordes Sirob had sent. She was tired after the battles yet she continued on with her strong will. By the time she reached Sirob's palace, she was already thirteen and had killed about eight hundred million demons in her year long journey.

Ryoko was welcomed into the palace with open arms. Sirob had grown fond of the "blood-stained priestess" and allowed her to finally rest. After a week of recovery, the powerful Demon King of the East made a deal with the naive priestess. If she could wound him in the next three days, he would passively give her the jewel. If she couldn't wound him, she would become his bride.

Ryoko accepted the challenge with a grin.

The two began their battle with Sirob wielding his scythe and Ryoko fighting with her bow and a quiver that only had twenty arrows. Their battle seemed to go on and on. They did not eat or sleep for the two days and night that they fought. Despite being a human, Ryoko's endurance was something to be praised.

On the dawn of the third day, the final day, Ryoko fell to her knees. Her wounds were great, her arrows were gone and her bow broken in two. Sirob becoming the winner was evident. In the battlefield covered with blood, sweat and tears, Ryoko was blessed by the gods.

Lightning struck the battlefield close to where Ryoko laid and a sword appeared. It was a sword that had dragon scales on the left side of the blade and it glowed with an unearthly feel. Ryoko took the sword and fought with renewed vigor. Finally, she managed to make Sirob bleed by cutting off three of his fingers.

Sirob kept to his promise and handed Ryoko the jewel. Still, he asked her for her hand in marriage. Ryoko had merely smiled cruelly before saying, "I will never fall in love with a demon."

The reign of Priestess Ryoko began and it was a reign filled with pain and blood. Ryoko fought days and nights against demons that coveted the jewel. She slayed so many of them that she could be found easily for her bloodstained scent. Her reputation grew until it finally reached Kai's kingdom.

Kai was a phoenix prince of the south, the third in line for the throne. He was practically useless to his father and had no clear way of obtaining the throne. However, upon hearing about the jewel that had once made Sirob the King of Demons was in the hands of a mortal girl, he decided to take the jewel for his own.

He made a plan in order to gain Ryoko's trust. He sent out thousands of his demons to attack the weary priestess and, when she was about to fall, he swooped in and rescued her. While she had been wary at first, she had grown to trust him over the months they spent together.

That trust she had for him grew to become something else.

"I love you." She had said to him only six days ago, blushing so brightly that Kai wanted to tease her. Instead of doing so, he had merely smiled and said he had loved her back.

But he wasn't really in love with Ryoko.

Ryoko was just a tool for him to gain power. He had no feelings for that pathetic and weak mortal girl. She had fallen for him, exactly as he had planned, while he had no feelings for her.

Right?

Kai shook his head, "I do not love Ryoko. By the end of next month, she will be dead and the jewel will be mine." Although, thinking about a dead Ryoko just made him feel sick and disgusted.

He hadn't fallen for Ryoko, right?"

There is always sleep between part and meet

with our usual words on the usual street.

Days seemed to be passing quickly, as if taunting Kai to make his move and kill Ryoko. No matter how many times she was vulnerable these past five days, Kai never took advantage of it. He never raised his sword against her unless they were sparring and he felt horrible whenever he saw her bleed.

"What are you doing?" Ryoko laughed while Kai stared at the bandages on her hands. He frowned and Ryoko blushed, "Kai, mind telling me why you're so upset?"

"Who hurt you?" He asked.

Ryoko blinked and looked at her hands, as if for the first time, before beginning to laugh, "No one. I was just making something and it was my first time making it and-."

"Making what?"

"A present for someone, of course." Ryoko answered, tapping her bow on his forehead. Kai didn't feel jealousy upon hearing that his Ryoko - when had he started considering her his? - was making something for someone other than him. He supposed he was just selfish and wanted her to only love him.

"Who?" He muttered and Ryoko smiled before tapping his head with one, thin finger. He blinked, "You made something . . . for me?"

When Ryoko nodded, Kai wondered if he had imagined his heart skipping a beat. Ryoko turned to grab her bow and nocked an arrow before getting into positon to shoot her arrow. Kai watched her shoot and hit an apple hanging from a tree. As the apple fell, she caught it and took a bite, "Want some?"

"You have the appetite of a bull." Kai told her, patting her head. She grinned up at him before offering him the apple once more. He had told her before that he had no interest in human food but Ryoko ignored him and still offered him food. Kai learned that it was her way of saying that he was someone special.

Kai sighed and bit into the red apple, "Wow. It's so delicious."

"Stop being so sarcastic, Kai." Ryoko replied before continuing eating said apple, "You have to say it like you mean it. I swear, the reason you're so thin is because you don't eat." She stopped before making a face, "Don't tell me you're one of those demons that derive nutrition from human flesh."

"Don't be so crass, Ryoko." Kai said, flicking her on the nose. She grunted and gave him a look that was meant to be stern but she just looked cute rather than commanding. Kai smiled at her, "I just don't like this type of food."

"Then what do you like?" Ryoko asked.

Kai thought about it before shrugging, "I don't know. Maybe fish?"

"Fish?" Ryoko repeated before humming, "Interesting taste. I don't like fish much so I don't understand why you like it." She was about to continue when they both heard Chinatsu screaming for her again. Ryoko sighed before waving goodbye to him, in order to hide their hidden relationship.

The next day, Ryoko came with fish she had caught in the river. Kai didn't tell her how much that meant to him.

So let us part like we always do . . .

And in a world without you

I'll dream of you.

"Here, Kai," Ryoko said, presenting Kai a shiny blade a week later. He blinked, staring at it in wonder, before looking up at her. Ryoko blushed, "It was what I was working on for you. I called it Fireshadow, you know? I really hope you like it because I burned my hands a lot of times-."

Kai took her into his arms, burying his face onto her small shoulder. Ryoko returned the embrace and they stayed like that for a while, Ryoko blushing furiously as Kai did nothing but hold her in his arms.

"Why?"

"Hm?" Ryoko blinked before they seperated from the hug, "Why what?"

"Why would you do something like this for me?"

Kai was a trecherous demon prince who enjoyed burning villages to the ground. He had destroyed countless of cities and had killed more than one million humans. He was a monster who had no remorse. He never felt guilty over anything.

Ryoko was a kind-hearted priestess who enjoyed helping villages that were plagued by demons. She had saved countless of cities and had protected more than one million humans. She was an angel who had compassion. She felt guilty over anything.

A demon and a human. Dark and light. Evil and good. They were from two different worlds and they were two different species. They were different sides of the same coin. They were forever close yet forever apart. They could never truly be together.

Ryoko would forget this foolish dalliance and continue hunting demons the way she always had. He would retreat back to his palace and attempt to forget her with the harem of demon women that he had. Their love - for that is what they shared - could never be real.

"Because I love you."

Ryoko's words just made him kiss her.

Ryoko shed a single tear as they did so and perhaps everything that had crossed his mind had crossed her own. They were destined to be apart and Kai hated being a demon.

Something told him Ryoko hated being a priestess at that moment as well.

If only . . .

When I come to, let us meet

with our usual words on the usual street.

"Maybe I should stop." Ryoko one day told him as they were sitting by the river, nine days after she had gifted him Fireshadow. Kai turned to her, hoping she would elaborate. She looked at him before picking up a stone and throwing it into the river. As ripples formed, she continued, "Being a priestess."

"You want to stop?" Kai asked in shock, placing a hand gently over her own, "Why?"

Ryoko looked at him with sorrowful eyes before squeezing his hand, "I don't want to continue this way for my whole life, Kai. Being a priestess limits what I can do. I cannot love properly and I cannot be human. To be a priestess means to discard your humanity but not enough to be a demon."

"Do you want to stop being a priestess for my sake?"

Ryoko leaned on his chest, a forlorn look in her eyes, "Yes. The reason why you and I cannot be together is because you are a demon and I am a priestess. You cannot change what you are, Kai, and I would not want you to change for my sake. I am a human and that won't change but what I can change is my occupation. I can stop being a priestess and become a normal mortal."

"But people need you." Kai said, not believing he had said that.

"I know." She answered and she looked so torn that Kai felt his heart twist, "I just want to be selfish for once. It hurts being selfish, Kai. I don't want to stop being a priestess because I've been one almost my whole life. I don't know what else to do to help."

"Then don't stop."

She shed tears and Kai immediately wiped them away. He hated to see Ryoko cry and be vulnerable. That wasn't the girl he knew and loved. He pressed a chaste kiss on her forehead, "You love helping people. Don't stop just for my sake. If you did, I'd hit you."

"Sorry." She said, in between sobs.

"Then stop crying," Kai replied, hitting her lightly on her forehead. She merely smiled up at him, silently thanking him for his words. He had probably lifted a huge burden off her shoulders and he felt good about it.

"Thank you, Kai." She said before yawning, "You make a nice pillow."

"Don't sleep, Ryoko, or I'm throwing you into the river."

"Too late~." She replied in a singsong voice and giggling as she drifted to sleep. She was so cute, Kai thought with a light smile as he ran a hand through her navy blue hair. He spotted the jewel around her neck yet paid it no mind, finding that Ryoko was more precious than the thing that had lured him to her.

He had no interest in the jewel anymore.

Beyond the path without you

is a forgotten promise to keep.

"You love her, don't you?"

Kai looked up from his work to see Ray was standing over him. Kai was, once again, in the old wrecked temple of his ancestor. Ryoko was hunting down a demon in the mountains so she wouldn't be back for two days at the most. That's why he was here, working on her present.

"If I say I do, will you overthrow me?" Kai replied before fixing the sash of the kimono he was making for Ryoko. All she wore were those tacky priestess robes and it annoyed him that she looked so dull in them.

Ray sat down in front of him, "Caring is not an advantage. That's something you've always preached to us. Is she really something to be able to make you change your philosophy?"

"Ryoko is Ryoko." Kai answered, "She is everything to me and I couldn't help caring for her when she easily began to care for me. I am weak and I am aware of it." He returned to his task, almost done now.

Ray snickered, "Who said that any of us minded?"

Kai looked into the cat-like eyes of the nekojin and Ray smirked, "We owe you our lives, Kai. If you've fallen for a mortal girl, then what can we do except be glad? At least you've started smiling and treating us better. This Ryoko's been a good influence."

"She has, hasn't she?" Kai thought to himself. He looked to the skies with a gentle smile Ray had never seen him wear, "Ryoko has done something I never thought would be possible."

"And what is that?" Ray asked, staring at the fond smile.

"She has made me feel human."

We may have walked side by side,

but now we go on back to back.

A week until the end of the month. Before, that had been the countdown of the day Kai would kill Ryoko and take the jewel. Now, it was the countdown to the greeting of autumn and the village was making a festival to celebrate. Ryoko had invited him and his demons to join them if they wanted.

"I really like autumn." She said with a laugh when she had told him the news over the festival. She was walking around a grove of trees, looking up as if expecting to see the leaves to fall. She looked behind to see his face and laughed, doing a small turn.

"Weren't you born during autumn, Ryoko?" Kai asked as he patiently walked after her. He had already grown used to her hyperactive antics and he found them rather endearing. At the same time, Ryoko found that his quiet and introverted side was his best feature.

Ryoko nodded before sighing, "You never told me the day of your name day, Kai."

"A demon doesn't find their name day important. Besides, why would I remember one day? I've lived through millions, Ryoko. You know that I am an ancient being at this point, centuries older than you."

Ryoko shrugged, "I don't mind being with a relic, Kai. I just want to know when the relic celebrated its birth."

"Why is it so important?"

Ryoko rolled her eyes, "You demons are so ancient yet not very wise." At his glare, the navy-haired priestess continued, "I want to throw you a celebration when it's your name day. It'd be us, Ray and the other demons you employ. We could give you gifts and-."

Kai flicked Ryoko's forehead. The girl pouted, staring at him with an accusing look, before Kai ran a hand through her hair, "The day the stars fall. That is my name day."

"The Festival of Stars?! That's your name day?!" Ryoko sounded so excited as she began making plans over how to celebrate Kai's name day as it fell on the day where stars seemed to rain down from the skies. It was the day Ryoko loved and Kai felt a little smug knowing that it would become a more important day for his optimistic priestess.

"Make sure to watch the stars with me that day." Kai whispered to her.

"I will!"

The smile that Ryoko gave to him would forever be in his heart.

And though our paths may not cross,

all paths are connected somewhere.

Two days before the festival of autumn, Kai had finished the kimono he had been tirelessly making for Ryoko. Ray approved of the design before sending Kai on his way to the spot where Ryoko awaited him.

As he approached said spot, he could hear wailing and screaming. He paused, not recognizing those screams for a moment. Finally, the name Chinatsu - that young priestess that followed Ryoko like a leech - appeared in his head and he flew faster to where the child screamed.

When he made it to the meadow where Ryoko was supposed to meet with him, everything seemed to stop.

Chinatsu, along with several villagers, were crying over someone. The carcasses of demons littered the ground. Ryoko's master and fellow colleagues - Tama and Yukio - looked sorrowful. He would have dismissed this had it not been that Tama was crying, holding Ryoko's sword.

No.

He dropped down next to the villagers, eyes fearful of what he'd find. His worst fear came true as he saw his Ryoko - his vibrant Ryoko that seemed full of life - on the ground, lifeless. There was blood staining several parts of her priestess garb and she looked melancholic, as if she had not been ready to die.

"Go away!" Chinatsu screeched, tears spilling out of her eyes, "You blasted demon, why did you kill Lady Ryoko?!" She didn't continue, grasping Ryoko's limp bloodied hand as she sobbed violently.

What?

"How could you?!" Tama shouted, half in hysterics. She looked nothing like the narcissistic, cold girl Ryoko used to complain about, "You cruel beast, you killed Ryoko! You killed her!"

Killed her? I didn't. Why are they-?

"Ryoko said it herself as she died." Yukio hissed, looking at the blade Tama held. Ryoko's sword was covered in blood, no doubt from the demons she had slayed. He grabbed it and planted in the ground, the rage in his eyes evident, "She died feeling betrayed because she thought she could trust a demon like you."

"I did not kill Ryoko!" Kai yelled back, looking at his beloved one's lifeless body.

I wanted to kill her before. Before, I held no feelings for her. She was just a human. She was nothing. Now, I wouldn't even harm her. Seeing her cry was like being stabbed in the chest for every tear that she shed. Killing her was something I could never do. I didn't kill her!

"Begone, vile demon!" Ryoko's master yelled. The glare he shot at Kai would have been more effective if it hadn't been that he was shedding tears for the girl he had raised and had seen as his own daughter, "Leave now before I seal you away."

Kai knew it wasn't an empty threat. He glanced at Ryoko's corpse and let a single tear fall. Before anyone could comment on that or curse him, he took to the skies once more.

When I arrive at where you are,

we may not appear to be as we were . . .

Kai wasn't allowed to attend Ryoko's funeral. Of course he couldn't. Not only was he a demon, they also thought that he was the one that had killed the young priestess. As such, he watched from the distance as the funeral was being conducted.

"You don't have to look." Ray told him. His men had accompanied him to view the funeral, all of them sending him somber looks that conveyed their pity over the death of his love. Kai looked at Ray before shaking his head.

He watched the villagers take Ryoko's body - they washed off the blood from her corpse and had dressed her in all white - and place her in stone tablet. The stone tablet was surrounded by white flowers that represented his Ryoko's innocence. People like Chinatsu were weeping openly in front of the stone tablet. Yukio and Tama were both kneeling in front of Ryoko's tablet, praying so her soul could reach heaven. Ryoko's master was talking about the good qualities of the deceased priestess before grabbing a torch.

"Kai, the jewel!" Ray hissed, eyes wide. When Kai turned to him, Ray pointed at Ryoko's body, "She's still wearing the jewel, Kai. Are they going to-."

Ray didn't finish as the torch fell on Ryoko's body, burning the girl's body. The jewel glowed a bright pink before the glow stopped. What did that glow mean? And why had they burned the jewel with Ryoko's corpse?

Why?

But we'll make another promise to keep.

"Kai, what are you doing here?"

Kai looked up to see Ray was looking down on him. The two were currently in front of a statue where Ryoko's ashes had been placed after her death. The statue was of the young priestess herself, the statue placed there shortly after the burial.

Five thousand years had passed since the death of his love at the hands of demons. He still hadn't gotten over her death and perhaps he never would. That's why Ray knew where to find him at this time. It was the anniversary of her death.

"You know what I'm doing here." Kai answered, placing a bouquet of white roses on her grave. He dusted the plaque that told people that visited here who Ryoko the Priestess was. He smiled at it.

"I have something to tell you. It's news from Sirob."

Kai frowned, "What about him?"

Ray kneeled down next to him, eyes serious, "He told me something about the jewel, something no one else had known. It was that, besides being a power source, it can also grant the wishes of its user."

"A wishmaker? Why is that relevant to us now? The jewel was burned with Ryoko's corpse centuries ago." Kai answered and Ray continued staring at him with a serious look. Kai looked at his longtime friend with an analytical look, his heart slowing down in anticipation, "Why are you telling me this?"

"The jewel has been manifested once more, Kai."

Kai's eyes widened, "Impossible. It was burned with Ryoko's corpse. Unless-."

"Do you believe in reincarnation?"

TaleoftheReincarnatedSoul

TDWW: Thanks for reading. If you like this story, review, favorite or follow. I really appreciate feedback. See you in the next update whenever it comes!

**Notes**

*Kai reminds me a lot of Sesshomaru so I modeled his demon form around him. Granted, he was supposed to be taking the role of Inuyasha but Kai had better plans

*Ryoko is like Kikyo but I hope she was more likable since she has a lot of Tyson-like traits. After all, Tyson is her reincarnation.

*Anyone knows how to do the line breaks? I'm really bad at them.

*The lands of the demon gods - Suzaku, Seiryu, Genbu and Byakko - and the direction they are in is based on their own position in the night sky.

*Thank you to Whims of Anime (Demons of the arch angel) for beta-reading this.