Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.
My name is Mori. I am fifteen years old.
I caught my hand maids speaking ill of my parents, and tried to make them take back their words.
When they didn't answer the first time, I picked up a knife, threatening them.
When they reffused to answer the second time, I lunged at them.
I'm not sure what happened after that.
I felt myself becoming concious. My entire body was screaming.
Whatever I was laying on was semi-solid, and lumpy.
I felt a sticky substance on my face, and hands.
I opened my eyes. I saw the morning mist in the sky.
When did I fall asleep? And why am I out here? I thought.
I sat up, and rubbed my eyes with the backs of my hands.
Upon lowering my hands, and looking around at my surroundings, I saw blood everywhere, and bodies sprawled around the area.
"Ah." I said. "Sou da. I remember now."
I was lying ontop of a bunch of bodies. The bodies of my guards.
They were all dead, and blood-spattered.
I was covered in clotted blood.
My body was sore because I had spent all night killing the guards and maids very slowly.
"Fools..." I said. "You should've taken it back before I even threatened you. You might have lived longer..."
I got up, and realised that I had ruined my good white kimono over the course of the night.
"Well...Guess it can't be helped, now..." I said.
I looked at the rest of the mess I made.
"Time to clean up." I said.
I started gathering the bodies, and throwing them into a pile in the courtyard where I had kicked the guards sorry butts. I had apparently torn some of the bodies apart at some point during the night. There were body parts lying around in the weirdest of places.
"In the big cooking pot? Really?" I asked.
I pulled a foot out of it, and threw it in the bag of body parts I had carried throughout the house.
Once I was sure I had gotten all the bodies into the pile, I took a bucket of oil from the supply to the top of the pile, and poured it over the top of it.
When the oil had spread far enough, I hopped down, and pulled out a summoning tag.
"Spirits of fire, wherever you may reside, hear my plea!" I said. "Please, assisst me in my time of need! Shikikami of fire, I summon you!"
I threw the tag in the air, and it caught fire.
The flames enveloped the tag, until I couldn't see it.
When the flames went back down, a boy in battle armor with flames for hair was floating where the tag once was.
"Honou, at your service, Miko-sama!" He said.
I pointed at the mountain of bodies.
"Set that on fire." I said.
He looked at it. "You got it!" Honou said.
He flew to the top of the pile, and set the bodies on fire.
I stood, and watched them begin to burn.
I did not regret killing them at all. I was pleased to see them dead.
However, in my vague memory, none of them, not even when begging for mercy, had ever apologized for the maids' stupidity. I wanted an apology, and I never got it.
My heart ached. "Now you know." I said, my voice breaking. "This is the way my parents died. They had no hand in my delinquent behaviour! You fools learned this the hard way, because you couldn't ask me about my behaviour first!"
Tears spilled from my eyes.
"BAKA!!!" I shrieked."You turned me into a killer because you couldn't ask a question! BAKA!!!!!!!"
I began crying hard, falling to my knees, and covering my face with my hands.
I hadn't cried in such a long time. Feeling the sting of tears reminded me why I forced them back for so long. They hurt, and made me feel weak, and vulnerable.
I cried until no more tears came to my eyes.
"Wow." came a voice.
I jumped, drying my tears before looking up.
Bankotsu was here, and observing the bonfire of bodies.
"Not bad!" He said, sitting beside me.
I shied away from him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
He glanced at me then turned his attention back to the fire.
"I came here yesterday to kill you, and the rest of the residents here." Bankotsu said. "I was picking my first victim when I heard the maids screaming. When I saw you come out with a bloody knife, I sat back to watch the show. You wore them out, using every torture trick in the book. You're even more merciless than Suikotsu!"
I felt absolutely sick. "I'm not sure how to reply to that." I said.
Bankotsu laughed out loud. "First kill's guilt, huh?" He asked. "That'll pass!"
I shook my head. "I don't think so." I said.
"None of the others did either!" Bankotsu said. "Now, they love killing!"
I lowered my head. "So, you think I'm going to like killing?" I asked. "Maybe I'm not exactly mercenary material, but, I don't like to kill. They spoke ill of my parents, reffused to apologize, and I killed them. I wasn't doing it for the fun of it. I had a reason."
Bankotsu looked at me, smiling devilishly.
"I've heard that one before." He said. "That's the thing about humans. When they don't understand a person, they feel threatened by them. They won't try to understand it. They'll abuse it to death before they ask any questions. You would've been killed, if you hadn't gotten to them first."
I stared at him. "But, we're human, too?" I said.
"That's right." Bankotsu said. "We are human. But, we're also different. We understand the misunderstood. We're the only ones we can trust. All others will continue to abuse us until we either die, or kill them."
My eyes widened. He made a good point, I had to give him that.
But, I had an equally strong teaching from when I was very young. Kill them with kindness.
I had been using such a method ever since I made that child sick. It didn't seem to be working.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
Bankotsu gave me a questioning look.
"I knew what I was going to do today until you came and started talking to me!" I said. "Is there something you want?"
He sighed. "Well," Bankotsu said. "A while ago, Kyoukotsu was killed by some wolf youkai. Shichinintai is down one. After that display last night, I got to thinking. You'd make a good member! I kinda figured from the start that you'd be handy to have around, with your barriers, and spells, but, I had to see you fight."
Bankotsu looked me over. I was frozen like the first time I had seen him.
He had such an odd effect on me. No one else could captivate me without a word.
"Well, if you'd rather stay, that's fine with me!" Bankotsu said. "We don't need another member. Just wanted to see if you were interested."
He got up, and started out. I sat there, thinking back on my entire life, for a moment.
As I came back to present time, I came to think about how Bankotsu spoke to me.
I was an equal. He and I were on the same level.
Only one living person treated me this way, and, she was in the village I hated so much.
I wanted to be an equal, and not live with the wretched people who abused me.
I also wanted...to be understood. I had to catch him before my chance at a decent life disappeared forever. I bounced up, and ran to the gate.
"Wait!" I called.
He stopped at the gate, and looked back at me.
I lowered my head. "I won't kill, not unless I have a reason." I said.
I took a deep breath, and met his eye.
"However, I do want to join you." I said. "So, even if I'm just a hand-maid, please, let me come with you!"
There was a long pause. I swallowed hard.
Then, he smiled. "Good! Now I haven't completely wasted my time!" Bankotsu said.
It took a moment to let this sink in. I smiled with pride, and turned toward the castle.
"Hasu-chan! My bag, please!" I called. "We're leaving!"
In less than a minute, she came out, carrying my bag.
My other Shikikami came to me. "Sa! Ikou!" I said.
I took my bag, and ran to catch up with Bankotsu.
We headed out.
"By the way, what's your name?" Bankotsu asked.
I smiled up at him. "Mori! My name is Mori!" I said.
"Well, Mori, I hope you're ready for this!" Bankotsu said. "There's no guarantee that you'll live through every massacre! And no one's going to look after you!"
"That's fine! As a member of your group, my main concern is keeping my betters alive, right?" I asked. "So, as long as I keep you, and the others alive, I don't care what happens to me!"
He stared at me. "Okay." Bankotsu said.
We headed on down the road, and all the while, I felt good.
For the first time in over ten years, I felt like I was home.
I didn't care what happened, as long as I was with someone who made me feel at home...
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