Trapped in Toono village
Disclaimer: I don't own nurarihyon no mago or any of its characters
Yusuke smoothly pulled the bristles of the hairbrush through her sleek, shoulder length raven hair. The silver highlights caught the bright sunlight that intruded through the cracked open window. Yusuke had combed the brush through her hair millions of times. Any tangle or knot that had ever excised in her hair had been long gone. Yusuke didn't care how long she had been brushing; all she wanted to do was waste as much time as possible.
Today was the day that she would accompany a group of the yokai exterminators on their mission. As much as Yusuke begged her uncle to let her stay at the temple, her uncle replied saying that it would be better for her and would help to boost her nonexistent skills in demon slaughter. Yusuke's family, the Kimura family, was made up of a long line of yokai exterminators that posses the unique skill to craft weapons that can be used to kill yokai. Unfortunately Yusuke had never had the ability to wield a weapon or even craft one. Ever since it was proven to her uncle that she could not slay yokai he has been very hell bent on training her and making use of her.
Even if the training killed her, he never wanted to give up. Yusuke inhaled a shaky breath as she slowly set the comb done on the wood vanity. Yusuke stared into the mirror at her reflection. Her long and raggedy, uneven bangs stretched low, almost covering her eyes. Yusuke had never bothered to cut them because they never bugged her or affected her sight. She wore a dark, black priestess uniform with traditional sandals. Yusuke skimmed herself one more time before giving a nod of approval.
Yusuke's silvery-grey eyes glanced back at the thin wood bokken that her uncle, Yamato, always forced her to miserably train with. Yusuke was not sure whether or not to take the wooden sword along with her. After a moment of thought, the raven-haired girl decided against it. As much as her uncle forced it upon her, Yusuke was against harming both humans and yokai; after all she was part yokai. Yusuke always wondered if that was the reason why her wretched uncle seemed to take so much joy in hitting her as a punishment.
"Yusuke, get down here right now! You're supposed to leave in five minutes!" yelled Yamato from the lower level.
His raspy voice crawled up the stairs and attacked Yusuke's sensitive eardrums, causing her to jump. Once she recovered, Yusuke's eyelids fell low in sadness. She never asked for the life she had now. She never asked to have no parents and to live with an abusive uncle. She never asked to be born as a half yokai nor did she ask to be born with no exterminator abilities. Yusuke exhaled loudly. She stood up from the spot that she had been kneeling on the floor and slowly dragged her distort form down to the front entrance.
There Yamato and a small group of five exterminators stood. The five exterminators exchanged looks to one another while Yamato's dark eyes stayed glued to Yusuke with a seemingly impatient expression folding over his face. As Yusuke approached them Yamato spoke.
"Finally! What took you so long?! Didn't I ever teach you to do as you're told and be on time?!" Yamato screamed.
Yusuke kept her grey eyes focused on the stone path which seemed to be much more appealing than Yamato's oily, scowling excuse for a face.
"Are you even listening to me, Yu?!" Yamato yelled once more but this time roughly grabbing hold of Yusuke's shoulder.
Yusuke's eyebrow twitched at the sound of the name "Yu" escaping from his small mouth. Yusuke's mother was the only person in the world who got away with calling her Yu and since her mother was dead, there was no longer anyone in the world who could call her by that name. Out of anger and annoyance, Yusuke roughly pulled her shoulder out of Yamato's grasp in a rude manner. Yamato's mouse-like eyes widened shortly before returning to their usual slanted position with his eyebrows furrowing suit.
"Please uncle, do not call me by that—"Yusuke was cut off by the back of Yamato's hand whipping harshly against her soft cheek.
The impact of the hit sent Yusuke stumbling to the cold ground. She landed not-so-softly on her side. Yusuke wasted no time to absorb the throbbing pain in her cheek. She quickly bolted up to her feet with her small hand gently caressing her hurting face. Yusuke's eyes were shaped in the best death glare that she could conjure up however her expression had no affect on Yamato.
"How dare you act in such a way towards your own uncle! I was the one who raised you and trained you after your parent's unfortunate death and this is how you thank me!? You should learn some respect you ungrateful brat." Yusuke's uncle rambled on, every word he spoke dripping with venom.
Yusuke gave a weak nod but did not wipe away the glared that she wore. Yamato let out a huff before turning on his heel to face the five exterminators.
"Now remember what I told you. When you all return from Toono village, I expect Yusuke's skills to have increased." Yamato spoke coldly.
"Have no worries master Yamato, by the time we return your niece will be a fully fledged exterminator." One of the five exterminators exclaimed.
The boy's words managed to bring a stingy smirk to Yamato's face. Yusuke shook her head in disapproval. She didn't understand how they could believe that she would become a skillful exterminator just from attending one mission. Despite the emotionless look that sat on Yusuke's pale face, she was shaken on the inside. Toono village was supposed to be full of yokai, in fact the village itself was said to be like a yokai. The only way to get in and out was to have the ability to cut through fear. Luckily all of the exterminators had that ability but obviously Yusuke had no idea how.
In the event that all of the exterminators get killed and Yusuke is left alone then she would surely be killed. The very thought of entering a yokai village sent chills slithering up Yusuke's spine like cold snakes.
"Lady Yusuke, c'mon." one of the exterminators called over his shoulder as entered through the large purple slit through the sky. A strong yokai aura was seeping out of it like mist. Yusuke knew that once she stepped through that opening that she was endangering her life all because of her forceful uncle. She could feel the sweat on her forehead stream down her face until it met its end once it dropped from her chin. Yusuke managed to swallow the troublesome lump that had lodged itself in her throat a while ago.
The raven-haired girl cautiously made her way towards the purple, ominous opening. The short walk seemed to take forever as she slowly brought herself to a stop once she reached the front of it. Yamato snapped a few discouraging words directed to Yusuke but she could barely hear anything over the rapid drumming of her heart. Yusuke had not expected herself to be as scared as she was to enter Toono village but it could not be helped. After all, Yusuke would be risking her life and there was a high chance that something bad might happen.
Finally after what seemed like centuries to Yamato, Yusuke followed after the five men into the opening. Shortly after she entered, the slit closed up like a zipper as if it were never opened. Yusuke stepped into the other side of the cut fear. She was greeted by the scenery of a large, rich and green forest filled with many tall trees that formed somewhat of a canopy that masked most of the forest from any sunlight. Most of the trees looked to be centuries old judging by the size of their thickness. Yusuke's nervousness had quickly dissolved at the sight of the large forest. She had always loved forests; to her they were very calming. The raven-haired girl threw wondrous glances in every direction.
As Yusuke curiously looked around the area, the five men that she had followed in there were carefully studying their surroundings in search of yokai. Just as Yusuke took a step forward one of the men whirled their head in her direction.
"Lady Yusuke, look out!" he screamed as he pushed Yusuke out of the way of an unknown attack. The two of them fell to the grass with a loud thump. Yusuke's head had an unpleasant encounter with a hard rock, instantly knocking her out cold. The man that had fallen on Yusuke quickly jumped to his feet leaving the unconscious girl on the ground.
"Yokai!" one of the men exclaimed. That was the last muffled noise that Yusuke's fading hearing could pick up before she lost all consciousness.
"Wow, these guys were a bunch of weaklings. They weren't even a challenge for me!" Awashima spoke while sheathing his sword.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure these guys are supposed to be from that Kimura family of yokai exterminators. They're supposed to be strong I guess that was just an overstatement." Dohiko added while giving a light kick to one of the dead bodies that lay on the ground.
"Hey look, this one's still alive." Amezo spoke while pointing a scaly, webbed finger at an unconscious girl. "Heh...you know she's actually pretty cute." He added.
Awashima, Dohiko and Itaku all gathered around the raven-haired girl with interest. Amezo was right. The girl's chest was slowly moving up and down, filling her lungs with air.
"Huh, your right. Should we just kill her now?" asked Awashima, gripping onto the hilt of her blade.
"Wait." Itaku stepped in as he intently examined the girl. The three yokai patiently awaited an answer from their friend as he studied her. Something about the girl just didn't seem right. She was small and petit compared to the other exterminators, she didn't even posses a weapon and her aura. Her aura was defiantly the strangest part about her. She looked and seemed human and yet she had half of a yokai's aura.
"This girl...is half yokai."
The other yokai's eyes widened slightly.
"Really? Then why would she be hanging out with a bunch of demon exterminators?" Awashima inquired curiously.
Itaku merely shrugged off the blonde's question. It was defiantly strange for anyone with yokai blood to be among exterminators of all people. Not only did she seem so much different from the five men that she had arrived with but even her clothes were not the same. All of the other men wore very expensive looking, high in quality clothes that were all white in colour. Even their hair was neatly trimmed and pulled back in a ponytail. All and all the five men looked to have lived very rich and wealthy lives. The girl however wore a poor quality priestess uniform that had small tares in various areas and looked more like many black rags sewn together in an attempt to make an outfit. It looked very worn out and was covered in dirt and the odd stain that barely showed on the black fabric. Her raven hair looked scruffy and raggedy as if it were cut with a knife. Her messy bangs seemed to cover most of her pale, dirt spotted face.
It was strange for a half yokai that looked so poor to be in a group of demon exterminators. The only explanation that Itaku could think of was that perhaps she was mistreated in her family for the reason that she was half yokai. There was a heavy silence that surrounded the four yokai like a blanket.
"So...should we take her lord Akagappa?" asked Amezo, breaking the long silence.
The other three nodded in agreement with the kappa's suggestion. Itaku reached down and hoisted the girl's small form into his arms before following his friends into the canopy of the trees, jumping from branch to branch towards their destination.
The faint sound of muffled voices intruded Yusuke's ears. Her heavy eyelids slowly lifted revealing the sight of ceiling rafters. Yusuke blinked a few times before her sight and hearing became clear. Once she became aware that she was no longer in the forest with the five exterminators, Yusuke sat up so fast that she feared if she had done so any faster than her head would fly off of her body. Yusuke desperately scanned her surroundings in hopes of being somewhere safe but she was horribly mistaken.
Yokai of every sort surrounded Yusuke in a large room with little furniture. Each yokai her eyes had caught sight of, were large and strong looking. Defiantly the type that could snap her neck with one blow. Yusuke's grey orbs finally landed on what seemed to be the largest yokai in the room. His large red head almost touched the roof. The yokai sat cross legged while he was being served by a much smaller and younger looking demon. His dark eyes were glued to Yusuke in somewhat interested manner. Harsh comments from the other yokai in the room bounced off of the walls and attempted to enter Yusuke's ears but she ignored them all. The yokai that she had now spotted appeared to be the leader. Yusuke stared up at him as if asking for him to speak. There was a short silence between them before Yusuke finally spoke up.
"Where am I?" she asked being sure to mask any fear that she felt.
"You are in Toono village." The large yokai responded vaguely.
"Who are you?" Yusuke questioned farther.
"I am lord Akagappa, leader of this village." The yokai, Akagappa, replied in a deep voice. There were many unanswered questions that Yusuke had but before she could continue her "interrogation", Akagappa stepped in and spoke.
"May I ask what your name is?"
"...Yusuke Kimura..."
"I see, so you belong to the Kimura family of yokai exterminators am I correct?" Yusuke gave a slight nod of her head. Only then did she realize that the entire room had fallen silent except for her and Akagappa.
"Then tell me, if you are half yokai then why are you an exterminator?" There was a long and silent pause as Yusuke thought of an answer to Akagappa's question. She wasn't an exterminator, her uncle always forced her to be one but she would always fail. After a few more moments of thought, Yusuke parted her dry, chapped lips to speak.
"I'm not...an exterminator. I-I can't kill yokai even if I wanted to. It's my uncle. He forces me to train so that I can be of use to him and he keeps me trapped in the temple." Yusuke's voice became lower and lower with each word that came out of her mouth until she was finished briefly explaining. Akagappa nodded in understanding as he took a minute to think about what he should do.
"She's lying!" one of the yokai in the room yelled, starting an uproar.
"We should just kill 'er now!"
"She's a demon exterminator! She can't be trusted!"
Almost all of the yokai in the room were yelling out their thoughts on how she should die by then. Each comment that reached Yusuke's ears made her feel more and more uneasy. "Are these yokai really going to kill me?" Yusuke thought to herself. The same thought continued to bounce around in her mind, booming louder and louder with each passing second. Finally Akagappa raised his hand slowly as a gesture for everyone to settle down. The entire room fell dead silent as the yokai awaited their leader to give the word to kill the half breed.
"I have made a decision. I do not believe that this girl means us any harm and so I will allow her to stay in Toono village. She will take care of the chores as payment for her life being speared."
At the sound of his deep, calm voice speaking those words, Yusuke's mind became a conflicting tornado of emotions and thoughts. Part of her was afraid of having to live in a yokai village and feared how they would treat her but another part of her screamed that it was an opportunity to get away from her prison and her uncle. It was a chance for her to escape her twisted life and start anew. "Who knows? Maybe I might end up making friends here." By then Yusuke had completely forgotten about her fears and doubts about living in Toono as they slowly disappeared into nothing.
It was truly amazing that Yusuke could go from having her inner emotions in turmoil to feeling slightly excited and interested in how her life would be form then on. Yusuke certainly was strange sometimes. The voice of Akagappa had towards Yusuke's ears but she didn't bother to listen as she was still in deep thought. Less than a minute later, Yusuke was shaken from her train og thought and pulled back into reality by a gentle hand being placed on her shoulder as a smooth toned voice spoke to her.
"Excuse me? Miss Kimura?"
"Huh?" Yusuke's grey orbs tracked the source of the voice to a young woman. There was a soft smile across her lips that gave her a very polite look. The woman's friendly looking amber eyes complimented her shiny pink hair that was tied neatly in two buns with a lone braid hanging on the right. She parted her pristine-like lips to speak once more.
"My name is Reira and this is Yukari." Her petit hand was moved from Yusuke's shoulder to the top of a young girl's head. Only then did Yusuke notice the small little girl, clinging to the side of the young woman, Reira. Her enormous chocolate brown eyes stared intently at Yusuke as if she were looking into her soul. Yusuke's gaze wondered backup to Reira as she spoke.
"Here, I'll show you around the village." Reira stretched out her vacant hand in front of Yusuke, welcoming her to take it.
The raven-haired girl cautiously slipped her hand into Reira's as she was helped to her feet. The pinkette turned on her heal and headed towards a sliding wood door, grasping Yusuke's hand with her right and Yukari's hand with her left. Reira let go of Yusuke's hand to open the door and stepped through. The half yokai took one last glance behind her at the dim-lighted room. She had managed to catch a glimpse of a young male's silhouette before she was softly pulled through the doorway by whom she guessed to be Reira.
Once through the door, the tour had begun. The yuki-onna had lead Yusuke through almost the entire village, pointing out key information along the way. Reira also explained what chores Yusuke would be expected to do and how to do them in a quick and efficient way. Throughout the whole tour, Yusuke remained silent, not speaking a word. At some points, Reira had begun to question if Yusuke could even manage to speak at all. Finally after what felt like hours of nonstop walking, the three girls had finally gotten to their last stop.
"And finally, this is where you will be sleeping." The pinkette said softly as she gestured to the large room.
Yusuke scanned it carefully. The room was quite plain, with no decor and little colour other than the vibrant designs of the covers for the beds that littered the floor. Each bedcover had a different design to meet the tastes of its owners and each was neatly made. Reira strolled to one of the beds that were packed neatly in the corner closest to the door with Yukari trailing behind her.
"Here, this one can be your bed." Yusuke gave a small nod of understanding before walking towards Reira and Yukari.
She gave a small bow of gratitude.
"Thank you for the tour, it was very kind of you to show me around." Yusuke spoke in the most polite way that she could.
"Oh, its fine, you don't have to thank me, really. It was actually quite pleasant to spend a bit of time with you, Miss Kimura."
"Please, call me Yusuke." A bright smile tugged on the tips of Yusuke's lips. She couldn't help but smile at the thought that she might have been accomplishing the task of gaining a friend. There was a moment of silence before Reira spoke, her soft expression losing all meaning and being replaced by a serious one.
"You know...I'm surprised that you seemed to agree so willingly to this job. I mean, isn't there anyone back in your home that you might miss?"
"No." Yusuke spoke bluntly in a monotone.
"Oh...I see. Well I'm sorry that you feel that way."
"Don't be. I really don't care where I am, as long as I'm away from that hell house, I'm fine. Besides, I'm sure that living here won't be all that bad." Yusuke gave Reira a reassuring smile who in return, smiled back.
"Well it's already sundown. Maybe you should get some rest. After all, this must have been a bit of an exhausting day today plus you're going to have to wake up pretty early from now on to start your chores."
"Alright. Thanks again, Reira, Yukari." Yusuke gave the two yokai one last soft smile before they exited the room with Yusuke staying behind to rest.
Once they were gone, Yusuke plopped herself down on the semi-soft bed and buried her tired head in the fluffy pillow, soon falling into a well needed sleep. It turned out that she was actually much more exhausted than she had thought.
