Chapter 4
The scent of honeysuckle was heavy in the air, and sleepy dragonflies were buzzing around the garden pond. It was late in the afternoon, and Mina was stretched out on the large hammock in Yata's backyard, in the cool shade of the trees, arms behind her head and idly contemplating the clouds. Quiet moments like this rarely lasted long, and she was taking advantage of it; the events of the past week were still troubling her. 'I used to always be on my guard and I never let anyone best me in a fight. How did I go from that, to walking around without my weapon on me, letting myself get made a fool of by a few village idiots?' she wondered with a frown, swaying slightly.
Memories started playing in front of her eyes.
Mina crouched inside the bush, breathing silently. She had been bathing in the river, when she had heard the telltale snap of a twig, followed by an unnatural stillness. She had already been on edge all day, ever since she had set out from that pub in Gandara; someone had clearly been following her, probably one of the drunkards who had lost money betting against her.
She hadn't bothered putting her clothes back on; whoever this fool was wouldn't live long enough to remember the sight of her body anyway, and it was easier to wash blood off skin than cloth. Grimacing, she tightened her grip on her sword and listened closely, eyes passing back and forth over the scenery.
Just as she was starting to wonder if maybe she was being paranoid, a voice broke the silence: "Hey, if I come out of hiding, would you mind not killing me right away? I have a proposition that I think you'll be interested in." A male. She didn't move. Slowly, a foot edged around one of the giant trees, and then a young man emerged, his open hands in the air and a cautious smile on his handsome face. He was standing mere feet away from her, his warm brown eyes scanning the area past her; he had no idea where she was.
"Um, so, I'll just talk then," he brushed a nervous hand through his light brown hair, putting the other arm down. "I'm sorry for following you. I wanted to talk to you this morning but I didn't get the chance, got held up by some dude who thought I stole his goats. I mean, I did, but he sure was a jerk about it." He paused, clearly waiting for a laugh.
Mina rolled her eyes but the corner of her mouth twitched.
He looked around, relaxing more. "Hm. Hopefully I'm not talking to myself here. Anyway, last night at the pub, I saw your fight with that guy everyone placed their bets on, and you're really great. You mentioned that you're not headed anywhere in particular; well, I'm going to a training dojo on Clouded Peak. There's this legendary sensei there that's offering free lessons to anyone, because he'll be dead by the end of the year. And, um, well, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." He put his hands in his pockets, idly looking around. "Oh, and the name is Mario," he added as an afterthought.
'Eh. Why the hell not,' Mina thought. She quickly rose up, one arm covering her chest. "Mina."
Mario started, surprised at how close she was. "Hey! Great, I thought you left already." His tan face blushed slightly. "Um, do you want me to get you your clothes?"
"No, please don't," added a third voice, chuckling darkly. Mina and Mario both whipped around; on the other side of the riverbank, a towering lizard demon was drooling at the sight of her naked behind.
Mina's lip curled in disgust. Wordlessly, she sprinted toward the smelly creature, passively noting that Mario was right next to her. The lizard demon started cackling, extending its webbed hands to grab her body. Mario sent out a crackling bolt of electricity that wrapped itself like a coil around the extended hands, then he pulled with all his might and yanked the lizard into a forced bow. Smoothly, Mina arced her sword through the air and sliced its head off, wincing as she was coated in a rush of blood from its gaping neck.
"That was awesome! See, we make a great team," Mario gushed, the rope of lightning fading away to nothing.
Shaking her head, Mina sheathed her sword. "We're not a team." Grimacing at the sticky feeling, she walked ten paces down the riverbank and sank back into the water, using a river rock to scrub herself.
"Well, not yet at least," Mario said, smiling quietly to himself, turning away to give her privacy.
"Hey!" The hammock suddenly swung to the side, literally throwing Mina out of her reverie. "Whoa," she yelped, clinging to the sides for dear life.
Relle laughed and climbed up next to her, settling down with her head on Mina's shoulder, the soft curls tickling the older girl's nose. "I totally got you that time! What were you daydreaming about?"
Mina smiled fondly at the young girl, shifting to put her arm around her. "I was just recalling how I met one of my friends, a long time ago, before I even knew you existed." She poked Relle, who poked her back, which quickly turned into a tickle war.
"No! Stop! I don't want to laugh!" the girl shrieked, fighting to get away.
All of a sudden, something sharp swiped in front of Mina's face, and if instinct hadn't pulled her back, she'd have been missing an eye. She rolled out of the hammock and landed awkwardly in the grass. "Damn it," she winced, sitting up on her bruised rear end. "What the hell was that?"
Relle didn't answer. The child was gazing, enraptured, at her hands, and the long claws that had erupted from between her knuckles.
"Oh, your claws finally came out! Aww, Relle, you're all grown up now," Mina beamed, dusting herself off and standing up.
"Holy crap, you're right," Relle said in a voice of wonder, lying back down and staring at her hands, feeling around her knuckles gently, her mouth wide open. "Sorry for almost taking your face off," the girl added, trying not to laugh.
Mina waved her hand. "Daily occurrence in the life of someone as tough as yours truly. Well, this means we have to celebrate," she said happily, clapping her hands together.
"And it also means I'm cooking," Mina added, wincing slightly but still determined.
Relle looked up at her doubtingly, their minds flashing back to the time when Mina tried to make Relle a cake for her eleventh birthday. She had nearly burned the kitchen down, and Yata swore that his nose hair had never fully grown back.
"Well, good thing Mom is a water demon," Relle laughed, gazing at her claws proudly.
Kurama had to flee.
With each passing day, the fox demon could feel Yomi's suspicion growing, and today he had realized he was being watched, though he had yet to catch the fool Yomi must have assigned to follow him.
'It's not safe here anymore. Running will make me a target but I can't be loyal to a king whose trust in me is fleeting. I'll hide out in human world,' Kurama thought as he rushed to pack the essentials into his knapsack, stowing seeds into his hair as he went.
Calling upon his energy, he coaxed the ivy on the stone walls of the castle to form a ladder for him. As some of the first stars of the evening began to come out, he made his way down the slippery stones, his energy masked again. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he took off running for the forest. Once he could reach the cover of the trees, Kurama knew he would make it out of Gandara safely.
"Hey, yo, Hiei!" Yusuke shouted through cupped hands, grinning and waving at the maids who were carrying fresh laundry and all blushing at the sight of the king.
A window opened in one of the towers in Mukuro's fortress and Hiei stuck his head out. "What."
"Cheerful as always," Yusuke smirked. "Get down here!" He grabbed Hiei as soon as he landed and pulled him to the edge of the courtyard, speaking in a hushed tone. "Listen, I was thinking, in case shit gets real and ol' binkypants spits up a new barrier, what do you say we visit human world? I haven't seen everyone in ages, and you could see Yukina," the former detective poked Hiei.
Hiei should have said no. He should have gone with his first instinct, and flat out said no. But he didn't.
Instead he said, "Fine. But how do you plan to cross the current barrier? Unless you've fallen below A class," the fire demon smirked.
Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Hokushin has these energy sucking things that he used to pass through when he and I first met, we can borrow those."
And so they went. And the whole story might have turned out differently if they hadn't.
"Here, what about this?" Mina asked, holding up a strawberry the size of her knee. They were in the marketplace, picking out ingredients during evening market.
Relle wrinkled her nose.
"Wrong season for those, they'll be sour," a warm voice said, startling them. Sidji, the farmer whose fields bordered Yata's house, had walked over to them from his vegetable stall. "Strawberries are best in the winter time," he said, grinning at them, as the stall owner squawked that all her wares were at their prime.
Relle beamed up at him. "I was just about to say the same."
They gazed into each other's eyes, until Mina finally cleared her throat, awkwardly. "Okay, well, what do you recommend then, Sidji? We're having a celebration, Relle's-"
"My claws came out today," Relle hurried to cut her off, proudly showing him the fierce weapons her hands had become.
Whistling softly, Sidji gently took her small hands in his own, not noticing the shiver that ran down the girl's spine at the contact.
Mina stared at them, the pieces finally coming together.
"Figs," Sidji suddenly said, dropping Relle's hands and smiling at Mina, a faint blush on his weathered face. "Figs are sweet right now, if you're making a cake."
"Hey, Kurama, where are you going?" a suspicious voice called out. It was Hishu, one of the young guards stationed at the entrance. Kurama had picked the fire demon for the position himself, after being impressed with the boy's skills during an attack on his hometown.
"Oh, I'm just going to pick Taki seeds, the flowers bloom at night after a downpour," Kurama hurriedly invented, trying to hide his bag behind him. 'Damn it, Hishu, just let me go.'
"He's running away!" another soldier yelled, running over.
Hishu frowned and took out his mace, stepping slowly forward. "Kurama, come back. Lord Yomi gave us express orders, we can't let you leave."
Three more soldiers were running over, pulling out their swords.
'Shit,' Kurama thought. He pulled the rose out of his hair, transforming into his trademark rose whip. "Hishu, I have to go, and I will not hesitate to kill anyone in my way."
Hishu was brought up short, staring at the fox demon whom he had always admired, eyes narrowed. "Then it is my duty to stop you," he said firmly. The young man advanced, his mace now coated in purple flames.
Kurama growled. "Rose Whip, Petals and Thorns!" he yelled, causing the soldiers to scatter as razor-sharp petals were sent out towards them.
"Right, figs," Mina said, still shocked by what she was seeing. 'Relle and Sidji? That's gotta be the weirdest pairing I could ever think of.'
But when she looked at them, smiling shyly at each other, she reconsidered. Relle spent all her free time on Sidji's land, playing with the animals that only survived thanks to his endless bird houses and salt licks for the deer and what have you. And her nose was always buried in a book from his personal library. 'Still, she's 13, and he's gotta be at least twice Yata's age.'
Shaking her head, Mina turned back to the fruit stall and asked for half a pound of figs, counting out coins.
A scream suddenly rang through the air. "What are you doing? Nooo!" One of the stalls on the other side of the evening marketplace had shot up in flames, the air suddenly hot with the smell of burning bread.
Purples flames engulfed the storm and incinerated the petals. Kurama swore and took off running for tree cover with the soldiers right behind him, Hishu at the front.
A burst of lime green energy whizzed over Kurama's shoulder, and as he turned to cut the offender down with his whip, a cage of swirling water suddenly encased him. He had no choice but to raise his energy into a huge burst, dispelling the water but alerting Yomi to his location. More soldiers could be heard yelling inside the castle, pouring out the front doors.
The purple-flamed mace came swinging at the fox demon's face, and he barely managed to wrap the end of his whip around it and cut through the chain, making the weapon useless. "How dare you," screamed Hishu, now sending bare flames at him instead. "You know that weapon has been in my family for centuries, you prick!" The attacks were relentless and Kurama was doing all he could do to stave them off.
Suddenly, an unnatural darkness fell, cloaking the moonlight and blocking out all sounds of the castle grounds. Several soldiers could be heard swearing as they stumbled over tree roots, reaching out blindly.
"Run," a soft voice whispered into Kurama's ear, accompanied by a small hand squeezing his arm. "I'll take care of them."
At least a thousand men were pouring into the square, most of them running with pitchforks or torches, shouting incoherently.
"Denizens of Pike's Village," one of them roared, standing on a crate of potatoes in the center of the marketplace, as his companions ran around blasting stalls out of their way. "If you have ANY pride in yourselves as demons, come with us, take up the march! We are going to Lord Mukuro's fortress, and demanding that she stand up for us, for Alaric, for Makai!" The other demons cheered, sending their energies in every direction.
The fruit stall exploded from a stray hit, sending Mina flying twenty feet back, to land painfully in a flower cart.
"Relle!" she screamed, digging her way out of the broken pots. Through the haze of thickening smoke, she could dimly see Relle in Sidji's arms; he had scooped her up and jumped out of the way, to safety. Relief flooded Mina, her limbs shaking from adrenaline.
"Mina!" Relle cried, desperately looking for her.
Suddenly, Mina was surrounded by men in white pants and grey vests. They grabbed her arms and started running away with her. "NO!" she screamed, wrenching one arm free, grabbing her sword and cutting off the arm of the other. He howled with pain, but Mina took no notice and sprinted back toward Relle and Sidji.
Relle's eyes locked on her own, and a smile of tremendous relief broke across the child's face. Then, a look of horror replaced it. "Mina!" she screamed.
Something heavy hit Mina in the back of the head, and as her vision faded, the last thing she saw was Relle sobbing and struggling against Sidji's grasp to run over to her.
Author's Note: Whoo! I've been looking forward to this chapter since the very beginning. I hope you guys don't hate me (: I know this scene is a bit heart-wrenching, but so is life.
I don't know if anyone noticed, but when the demon in the marketplace called out "denizens," that was my little shout-out (ha, literally xD) to the most amazing fic on this entire site, which has sadly disappeared, "Anything She Does" by Lucretia Decoy. I've reached out to her, trying to get it back up, but no luck so far. But if anyone has read it, high five!
Also, can anyone guess who was trying to grab Mina and finally just knocked her out? Eternal glory (why, yes, I am a HP nerd, however did you know?), depthless gratitude, and endless virtual pocky to the first reviewer who figures it out!
Also, some notes about the ages here. Here is my theory on demon aging, based on the manga: demon bodies grow at a human-like pace up to puberty (I hope we're all picturing evil chubby baby Hiei right now ^_^), but mentally their maturity is farther ahead than a human child, probably because, from what I can tell, demon children are not shielded from the realities of life and death the way human children are (i.e., Rinku, young Hiei with the bandits, etc.). Once they hit puberty, they quickly grow into their young-adult version the same way human children do, but then after that their aging is extreeeemely slow (Yomi, for example, does look slightly older than Hiei, but not by a whole lot). This slow aging can go on for hundreds of years (Yoko Kurama is 700+ but I'm pretty sure he always had white hair), until (this is the part I'm just making up because it makes sense to me) their powers begin to decline, after which they start looking older and older (i.e., Dr. Ichigaki). This has some similar concepts to what Genkai says about reverting to her youngest form when she accesses her powers to fight, although she was talking about spirit energy rather than demonic energy.
Relle is 13, the classic puberty-onset age in both Makai and Ningenkai, that's why she was able to participate in the flowers/tokens part of the Summer Solstice this year; Sidji is 416, and you can see his age on him because of days of working out in the fields, under the sweltering sun. They're not a couple, she just has a major crush on him and he thinks she's sweet, but still far too young. She doesn't like the sound of that XD.
