Chapter Ten

"Yura…of the Hair?"

The woman leapt into the air, turning a flip and landed not two feet in front of Gohan. Her feet never hit the ground but Gohan didn't feel her ki raise at all. He could feel it but she wasn't manipulating it like he and his friends did for flight. Rather, she bounced up and down lightly, reminding him slightly of a spring. His focus never left her eyes, those dark eyes which looked at him like a bird of prey would observe a mouse.

She leaned over, deep over, so that her nose nearly hit his. Gohan blushed slightly as his eyes were closer to her breasts than he preferred to be with anyone. She certainly didn't seem to have any shame in it. She slinked one hand forward, pulling a strand of his hair up onto her fingers. Her voice was soft but it had an eerie tone to it, almost like a purring.

"Oh, me oh my…and such tender care given to it…not even a single split end…"

Gohan backed up slightly, prying her fingers off his hair. "Uh…"

"But I was told such remarkable things about that hair…" she crooned, easing back up into the sky, again, bouncing like she was standing on a trampoline. "Where is that beautiful golden color?"

Gohan blinked, stared at her "What did you do to that squirrel?" he demanded out of the blue, pointing at the remains of the poor animal. Yura blinked, cast her eyes over like the thought had escaped her mind. Her eyebrow rose a bit and then she chuckled

"Oh, poor thing…caught in the strands of my web."

"Web?"

Gohan blinked, looked around but his eyes saw nothing. The woods and forest looked the same but Gohan had to admit that it felt different. He couldn't say how but it felt more enclosed though nothing physically had changed. He glanced around a second time, trying to figure out what web she was talking about but once again, he saw nothing.

"Show me that pretty golden color."

Gohan glanced up. "What?"

"I want to see that pretty golden hair!" She said again, drawing her katana and tapping the blade on her lip. "Show it to me."

Gohan snarled, "Why should I?"

"Oh, me oh my. You are a stubborn one. What a shame…so many stubborn people in this time."

"What…wait! You're the one that killed all those—"

"Oh, those in the villages?" she asked, as if they were unimportant. "Their hair was so beautiful yet they made such a problem of getting it." She pouted, eyeing her sword. "And I even went to the trouble to use Crimson to avoid ruining that beautiful hair."

Gohan was stunned ot say the least. "You killed all those people for their hair?"

She grinned, "As I'll enjoy doing to you but not like that. I have plenty black, plenty blond and several inbetween Give me that golden shade!"

Her fingers spread again and Gohan blinked, almost unsure if he'd been seeing things or not but no, he'd seen it, for a brief second. Across her fingers were red lines, glowing in the shape of a net, like an old string game that he'd played when he was little. Then as she yanked the fingers apart, the light vanished and he couldn't see anything else—

PAIN

Gohan yelped in surprise and pain as his body was slammed firmly into the nearby tree at a speed that he normally only reached during flight. His arms went up to push himself away and like a constrictor, he found them unable to move any further. Looking down, he saw small gorges spreading across his skin, leaving red cuts in their wake. And there weren't just a handful of them. They were in numerous amounts, each one drawing a thin line of blood and restricting his movements. He shot his ki up as he fought to free himself.

He could break them easily enough, at least under normal circumstances. The way his arms were pinned made it awkward. Several were wrapped around his neck and the more he struggled, the more they tightened. It made his breathing more labored as they dug under his skin. What were they? Strong as wires yet he couldn't see them, at least not when his blood hadn't highlighted them. Like threads or—

Hair.

Yes, hair…he could see it now, could feel the familiar texture. His heart froze cold in his throat. These hairs…were they from all her victims? Those lost to her blade…were their hairs now decorating his body, pinned him down to let her fulfill another attack? Anger filled his heart, remembering all too well his mother and father speaking about all those heinous attacks, about all the children slaughtered and—

"You bitch! You killed them all! And for their HAIR?!"

His hair stood on end slightly then flickered golden as he tore loose of her bindings and landed a slug to her face. She moved aside, letting him land behind her. At this, she squealed and clapped her hands. "Oh, joy! That hair is gorgeous!"

Gohan growled at her, "Don't get too attached, you aren't getting any of it."

At this, she pouted, sighed, tapping her katana blade on one hand "Me oh my, such stubbornness." She smirked. "I do wish you'd hold still. It'll keep that beautiful hair from getting stained with your blood."

She lunged at him.

OOO

Goku frowned, turning. He felt a ki, no correction, two ki. They were both alien and while they didn't carry a strong power reading, they were certainly ones that made him worry. One was human; no mistake about that while the other was more like Piccolo's ki. He shifted himself to the air, waiting, to see what was wandering about his lands.

He didn't have to wait very long before a small yellow cat darted out, sniffling at the ground. Goku blinked, staring at it. It looked different than the others he'd seen. It had two tails! Not just one that was slightly split but two tails, each with its own base. They were waving independently on their own as the creature sniffed at the ground. Goku pondered slightly to himself that of all things, a cat with two tails should have been no surprise to him, after all he'd seen.

"Kirara, do you smell it?"

There was that other voice. From the bamboo, stepped a young woman, looking to be about twenty by her face but her ki told Goku that she was probably only a few years older than his son. Maybe five or six years older. Yet she carried herself…well, not totally differently than his son did, he realized with a sad comprehension. Like his son, she walked with the gait of one weighed down by guilt and troubles. Yet there was a steady confidence in her eyes. Her outfit was of black suiting and armor, namely over her shoulders, knees and chest though she carried a sack which he assumed was where she held other clothes. Across her back, she carried some type of wooden weapon which looked mostly to Goku like a giant boomerang. Had she set it right side up, he didn't doubt it would be taller than she.

The small cat turned and gave a small meow in regard to its owner's interrogation.

Morecurious than anything, Goku dropped from his spot amid the branches, to greet these strangers, in his typical fashion. "hey!"

Instantly, the woman dropped to her knees and pulled a katana from her waist, pointing it at Goku. The Saiyan backed up, keeping his hands up right. "Hey, hey, hey, I'm not gonna attack you or nothin'."

The woman eyed him, seemed to study his face and to some degree the feeling she got from his presence. She eyed her small cat which approached Goku, nose twitching. Goku grinned, knelt and held his hand out to her to sniff. The cat looked cautious but took a few brief inhales before backing up and nodding to its comrade.

The woman sheathed her blade into a holder on her thigh that Goku hadn't even noticed.

"Didn't mean to startle ya…just wonderin' whatcha doing on my land? We don't get many wanderers out here."

The woman eyed him and stood. "Pursuing a demon."

"A demon?" Goku blinked, his mind doing lots of comparisons. "You don't mean that thing that's been killing off villages around here?"

"The oni, yes."

"An oni?"

"An ogress…" she responded in affirmation. "And with a lust for human hair." She commented. "This place reeks of her nest. Kirara was pursing it."

"A nest?" Goku scratched his head. "You lost me there…"

"You…have not dealt with such demons before?"

"not ones with a nest…" he said simply. "I take it you have." He looked her up and down and laughed again "You could probably send them running!"

She smiled, finally. "My name is Sango and I make it my business to do so." She looked him up and down. "Though you seem as though you are capable of dispatching a demon on your own."

Goku laughed, a hand behind his head. "If I have to I—"

He froze, his eyes jerking to the side as he picked up a sudden raise in ki. "Gohan-"

As soon as he said that, he saw the human woman rushing in the direction of the ki. The small cat by her side became engulfed in flames and a moment later, there was a large cat, at least the size of a mountain lion, probably even the size of a horse, with saber toothed fangs and red eyes and feet that were surrounded by flames. The human woman leapt onto its back, "The oni's here! Let's go Kirara!"

Goku took off after them, but after a different target, his son.

He saw the battlefield before he reached it, as he saw trees collapsing in pieces and bamboo ripped to shreds from where he was.

He sped up, overtook the human woman and her cat and vanished ahead with them in close pursuit.

OOO

Gohan wiped the blood from his mouth; he wasn't doing as well as he'd like to be doing. While he was easily faster than this demon as well as stronger, her damn hair strands were like nets that caught his arms in the middle of an attack. The shattered trees were evidence of her several attempts to pin him again.

He rubbed his neck, where there were still cuts. The boulder she had slammed him into was mere pebbles now. "That was too close."

"Hmph. So. You aren't human."

Gohan met her eyes.

"if you were, that would have taken your head clean off. You have demon blood in you?"

"Demon blood? Like you? Hell no. I'm half-Saiyan!" he spat his father's race's name with pride. Yura smiled.

"Oh, a new breed of demon."

"I said no—"

He jumped, avoiding her katana attack but found his arms once again slamming straight into unseen obstacles. He cursed, barely dodging her katana blade. It cut his arm slightly but missed his neck, her intended target. He pulled hard and the strands broke. He landed on his feet. It seemed the air was a bad place to attack her. Her strands were present up there, though he couldn't see them.

"Gohan!"

The boy turned "Daddy!"

His father rushed the battlefield, his eyes immediately scanning his son for injuries as well as regarding this woman with deep contempt. She blinked, cocked her head as she stood still in the air. "Oh, another one? And do you have beautiful hair too?"

Gohan eyed his father "Don't fly Daddy, she's got some kind of net around here."

"net? I don't see a net."

"neither do I but trust me, I've felt it."

"get ready to feel it again!"

Drawing her katana, the woman lunged-

"Hiraikotsu!"

The oni cursed and leapt back as a wooden boomerang flew in from the side and narrowly missed her blade. She reestablished herself up in the air as the woman emerged. Gohan regarded her with curious eyes but he wasn't about to turn down an ally.

Sango eyed the young boy, the landscape and Goku before removing a small pouch from her shoulder guard and throwing it up in the air. "Goku, destroy it!"

'Eh?" he asked but he didn't wait for her to reply and threw a small ki blast at it. It erupted into a cloud of golden dust. Gohan shielded his eyes and Yura of the Hair cursed, creatively.

When Gohan opened his eyes, all around him were golden strands of hair. To say a net was generous, it was more like a swamp of nothing but hairs. But now, each and every one was coated in a golden dust. He eyed the human woman who smiled at him. "I'd say you can take it now?" she asked him gently. Gohan beamed and then turned his eyes back to his opponent who was growling at Sango at the same time as she gasped in horror at the strands, looking remarkably and ironically like she would cry.

"You'll die for ruining my precious hairs, youkai taijiya!"

Gohan blinked, sorting through the word in his mind: youkai taijiya.

Demon slayer.