Yo! I feel really sick for some strange reason. I've wanted to get sick for a while now so that I can miss school (I haven't missed a day of school this year. No joke.) but why does it have to be on the weekend? If I really am sick, that means I don't get to skip school. I don't think I am sick, though. I'm feeling a little better with the passing minutes. I just feel a little hot. In any case, today was pretty awesome. I ate a banana split (YUM~) and saw a movie with my friend. Then, we ate a hamburger. Ever since that hamburger I've been feeling sick. I know that hamburger place well so it can't be the food… can it? Ugh.
Well, that's enough of my blabbering. Let's get down to what I've been wanting to say. I'm shocked with the number of reviews I've been getting recently! So once again, I want to thank Devi, triple baka, Kingofstories01, xxEmmaliesxx, unknown137, and everyone else! A special thanks again to The Minister of Silly walks who is also a great writer. Go check out his fanfic and leave him a review, by the way. It's much better than mine :P.
AYAME TIME! Get ready, set, go!
WARNING: A little bit of violence in the first part of the story and near the end. This is Higurashi, so you should be able to deal with it. If you can't, then you can skip the part. It's not too bad, really. Just wanted to say for people who don't like reading about violence.
~~~~X~~~~
MANY, MANY, MANY YEARS AGO… (We're talking hundreds):
The small village called Onifaguchi was actually quite the peaceful place at times. Villagers would spend their days crowing their crops and in their houses, worshiping the god named Oyashiro-sama. The only thing they really had to fear was the local Watanagashi festival that took place every year. Well, that was until two months ago, anyways. Now, the villagers were almost always on alert. A bunch of men in their middle ages were gathered on top of a lookout area that was located just in the middle of Onifaguchi. From there, they could see everything in their village. All of the villagers that lived in Onifaguchi were counting on them to yell out a certain signal so that they could hide in their homes. A signal that went like:
"SHE HAS RETURNED ONCE AGAIN!" screamed out a man with coarse blonde hair. "EVERYONE, GET TO YOUR HOUSES! READY THE WEAPONS!"
With that single sign, all the villagers that had been working on growing their crops instantly dropped their tools and ran screaming into their houses. Mothers grabbed their children and hid them in the safest places they could possibly find while they protested. The young children didn't quite understand what danger they were in. The men at the top of the lookout area drew out weapons of many kinds. Some of them wielded bows and arrows while others held knives. Some, however, did not need a weapon, as their skills in material arts were good enough for them.
"Move out!" cried the same man. When he did so, all of the men jumped from the lookout and landed safety on their feet to the ground. They dashed forward, some clutching their weapons tightly. Beads of sweet trickled down some of their foreheads in fear of what was to come for them.
The blonde man halted, and so did the group of men. In front of them stood a beautiful woman with long, blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She wore a white kimono that flowed slightly in the wind. However, looks could be deceiving. This woman was the whole reason why the village of Onifaguchi was in a state of unrest.
"Madoka! Why have you returned?" the man at the front of the group demanded, holding up his sharp knife threateningly.
A chuckle sounded out. "Oh, you fool. Why do you think I've returned? I'm hungry and there are no close villages besides this one. A demon has to eat when she is hungry," spoke the demon woman named Madoka. She smiled a little, showing off her sharp fangs. "It looks like you've formed quite the group here, hm?" she observed.
"Of course!" snapped a man, his hair slightly grayed. "Are you kidding me? You killed my son and ate him a week ago! We're all here for revenge!"
Madoka raised an eyebrow, not the least bit intimidated. "Oh? That boy was your son? He put up quite the fight before I managed to tear his heart out," she spoke, smirking. "He tasted rather foul, so it wasn't worth it. Oh well, what's done is done, right?" she taunted the group. Madoka was a very sadistic demon that took great amounts of pleasure in killing humans in the most gruesome and thrilling ways she could think of. She mostly did it for the pride of killing great amounts of humans rather than because she wanted to eat them. She also found it rather fun to tease humans and anger them purposely. She knew that she was superior to them in strength.
The man with the grayed hair couldn't take it any longer. He drew out his sharp knife and charged towards the demon, pointing the blade directly at it. Madoka smirked and watched the human's enraged actions, finding it unthreatening. Just before the sharp blade of the human's knife hit her directly in the heart, she grabbed it with her hand. The blade cut into the skin of her hand, causing crimson blood to trickle down the blade and drip on the floor. "Pathetic," spoke Madoka, not feeling pain from the blade digging into her skin. She pried the knife out of the man's hand with ease and tossed it behind her back carelessly. She did not waste a single second afterwards. With great speed, she grasped on to the man's neck and applied her inhuman strength to it. The man let out cries of pain, which were muffled by the hands around his neck. In seconds, a snap was heard and the man fell to the floor with a hollow thud, dead.
"Who's next?" asked Madoka, licking the blood off her hands while staring at the group of men challengingly.
All the men were frightened. They had just seen another comrade die in front of their eyes in a matter of seconds. How could they beat a demon like her? She was just too strong for all of them.
The blonde-haired man leading the group gulped. He had to be brave. Drawing his knife, he threw it at the demon in front of him. It cut through the air with its point aimed directly at the demon's heart. Madoka let out a sigh before suddenly leaping out of the way of the knife. She landed on top of the blonde-haired man and sat down on his stomach. Sitting up, she positioned her sharp claws on the man's chest. She began to laugh madly as she ran her claws down the man's chest, cutting it open. She kept tearing and tearing at it until the skin had been completely ripped off. After that, she scooted herself backwards so that she was now seated on the man's long legs. She then snatched up the knife that had landed in the dirt and stuck it inside the blonde-haired man's stomach. The knife was torn through the man's stomach until it ripped right open down the middle. She smiled evilly as she lifted up his shirt just enough so that his ripped stomach was exposed. The men around them took a step back and covered their mouths to prevent themselves from throwing up as Madoka stuck her hand in the opening and began to tear out his organs in clumps.
"Killing people is so much fun!" cried Madoka through her laughter as she held a bundle of guts in her hand, allowing some to slip through the gaps between fingers.
The men around her could no longer take the horrid sight before them and ran away screaming. Some of them could no longer resist the urge to throw up and did so as they attempted to flee from the psychotic demon in front of them.
Madoka stopped laughing when she noticed that everyone had left. "Aw… couldn't take the sight of a little bit of internal organs? Too bad," she spoke. Madoka tossed the organs she was holding aside and removed the knife before she plunged into the man's heart, finishing him off. She sighed, now bored. "Man, it's too bad I only killed two today. Next time, they won't be so lucky," she muttered. Bored, she threw the knife away and got off the now dead man. She didn't even give the dead bodies another look before she scampered off back into the thick forest.
~~~~X~~~~
The many villagers watched in fear as a group of men came back carrying the dead bodies of the two men that had been killed by Madoka earlier that day. Parents covered their children's eyes, not wanting them to take a look at the horribly mutilated corpses.
Among the villagers was a young woman with long, green hair and light green eyes. She was about twenty years old. She sported a black kimono with some white patterns decorating the soft fabric. She didn't look the least bit surprised at the state the corpses were in. She had seen Madoka do much, much worse. This was hardly gruesome compared to some other deaths that she had inflicted on the villagers.
"Father, there are only two corpses this time," she spoke to the man standing next to her.
"Yeah. It looks like the other hunters were able to flee in time," commented her father.
The men carrying the corpses carried them out of sight. They were to be tossed in a pile containing other dead corpses. There were just too many for them to bury properly. Instead, the villagers had decided that they'd keep a pile of corpses to avoid having to bury so many bodies.
"How many does that make?" asked the girl.
Her father shook her head. "I don't know, Ayame. It's got to be at least fifty by now. Maybe sixty," he answered.
The crowd began to disappear, some having run away at the sight of the two corpses and some having left after the corpses were unable to be seen. This was the only memorial they ever gave the dead. Once again, there wasn't enough time to give each and every one of them a funeral. The villagers would always line up whenever new corpses were brought in and they'd watch as the other men that had been pursuing the demon carried the corpses to the pile. That was if any of the hunters even made it out alive in the first place.
"We can't go on like this forever!" the man yelled out to the remaining villagers. "We need to kill this demon once and for all!"
A laugh sounded out from one of the people standing across from him. "Seriously? I don't think you've been doing anything about it, Sonozaki Takeshi-sama," spoke a young man with dull yellow hair. He wore a smirk on his face, clearly trying to provoke the man named Sonozaki Takeshi.
"Kimiyoshi Toshi," growled Takeshi, staring straight at the man across from him.
Toshi approached Takeshi and the girl standing next to him, not once wiping away his taunting expression. "Hello there, Takeshi," he spoke hostilely. "And hello to you, Sonozaki Ayame-chan," he added on, looking down at the scowling green-haired girl in front of him.
"Kimiyoshi Toshi, what do you want from us?" asked the girl named Sonozaki Ayame in an unfriendly manner. She instantly sensed an unpleasant atmosphere growing around the three of them. As the head of the village, Toshi took great pride in himself and his status and always made sure that the other villagers knew their place as subordinate members of Onifaguchi.
"Oh my, you certainly look a little upset to see me. I wonder why~?" he taunted, still smirking. In truth, he already knew the answer to that question. He hated the Sonozaki Family and always attempted to poke fun of them in any way he could possibly think of. Right now, he was having fun getting them all worked up and annoyed at him. He found it extremely entertaining to do so.
Takeshi clenched his fist and resisted the urge to punch the village leader in the face. "…Would you kindly leave us alone?" he requested.
"Oh? But I was only commented on the fact that you've never done anything to try to drive that Madoka demon out of the village. You were speaking about how the demon needed to go away, weren't you?" he replied.
Ayame felt rage grow up inside of her. How dare the village leader talk like that to her father? "Excuse me, Toshi-san. I believe you haven't done anything to stop the demon besides force unwillingly men to go attack her and setting up that nasty corpse pile system," snapped Ayame, defending her father and her family. As the person with the most power in the village, Toshi had forced various men to go and kill the demon against their will. Some of them, however, did go off and fight the demon upon their own will. Sometimes, they would come to avenge their children or their lost spouse. Of course, no one had ever succeeded.
"Mind your manners, Sonozaki girl! It's Toshi-sama!" snapped Toshi right back. "Don't you dare go forgetting who the leader of Onifaguchi is! It's me, Kimiyoshi Toshi! The Kimiyoshi Family has always ruled Onifaguchi! And let's not forget which family is the lowest one of the Three Great Families! It's your family, the Sonozaki Family! You guys were only crowned a Great Family so that you could take care of the Watanagashi affairs! Sometimes, I wonder why I don't just demote you to a normal family!" Toshi told the two Sonozaki Family Members sternly. "Or maybe I should do that…?" he added on, giving the idea some serious thought.
"That's enough you three!" a voice bellowed out of nowhere, startling the three of them. They all whipped themselves around to look at a grown woman with long, blue hair flowing down from the top of her head standing near them. "Toshi, you've gone too far! Takeshi, you have angered our village leader enough already! Would the both of you just stop fighting?"
Toshi looked angered at the interruption. "Furude Takara! How dare you interrupt our conversation! I was making sure that these wretched Sonozaki idiots understood their place!" he yelled at the blue-haired woman.
The woman called Furude Takara gave him a menacing glare. "I have had enough of your reminders, Toshi. We all know you're the most powerful in the village. Now would you just shut up?" she requested unkindly.
Toshi spat at the Furude Head and gave her a warning glare, telling her to also remember the fact that he was higher in status than she was. Takara, however, did not look the least bit threatened by his glares and instead narrowed her purple eyes at him. Toshi let out one last growl before walking off, leaving the Furude and the two Sonozaki Family members all alone.
"Gee, what the hell is up with him?" muttered Takara.
"He's just a little too proud of himself," answered Takeshi, watching Toshi's back as he wandered off into the distance.
"You got that right. That man has got to do something about this demon. You can't just order a bunch of inexperienced men to go out and kill the damn thing. She's just to strong for them," murmured the blue-haired woman. "Besides, he claims he's such an amazing fighter. So why the hell doesn't he just go do it himself? He'd be known as a damn hero for the rest of Onifaguchi history."
Takeshi's eyes suddenly lit up upon hearing Takara's last sentence. An idea began to form in his mind; an idea that would certainly give the Sonozaki family some pride as one of the Three Great Families of Onifaguchi. "That's it!" he cried out. "Thank you, Takara! I know what I need to do now! Come now, Ayame. I need to talk to you in private," he spoke before grabbing his daughter's hand. She opened her mouth to protest but was pulled away before she could do so.
Takara raised an eyebrow at the two of them. "Now what was that about?"
~~~~X~~~~
The two of them returned to the Sonozaki Manor soon after. The Sonozaki Manor was quite small at this time and could hardly be called a manor. They had just enough rooms to fit the main family and several servants as well as a kitchen and a bathroom. Not only that, but the rooms weren't very well furnished either. This was just one of the ways in which the Sonozaki Family was inferior to the other two great families of Onifaguchi.
Takeshi, the current head of the Sonozaki family, was sitting in the largest room on top of a cushion. He held a cup of tea in his hands and would take a sip every minute or two. In front of him sat his daughter and heiress to the Sonozaki Family, Sonozaki Ayame. She looked at her father curiously, wondering why he had called her here. Normally at this time of day, she would be spending hours practicing her swordswoman skills and material arts.
"I need to make the Sonozaki Family great, Ayame. Everyone says that we're inferior and I can't take anymore of that," Takeshi spoke, taking a small tip of his boiling hot tea. "We need to become stronger."
Ayame titled her head to the side. "Now how are we going to do that, Father? Kimiyoshi will never let us grow any stronger than he is. He's just too concerned about his power and all that stuff," she asked her father.
A sigh. "Yeah, I know about that. But I've come up with something that will certainly give the Sonozaki Family something to be proud about," he replied, setting down his now empty cup of tea on the wooden floor next to him. "It's something that will get the village to respect us instead of that Kimiyoshi idiot."
"And what would that be, father?" asked Ayame once again.
Takeshi closed his eyes of an extremely dark green shade. With a deep breath, he spoke, "I'm going to kill Madoka all by myself. That way, we will be recognized by the villagers at the heroes of Onifaguchi forever."
Visible amounts of shock spread across Ayame's face. "What was that, father?"
He cleared his throat. "I said, Ayame, I'm going to kill that vile Madoka myself. I will not get help from any of those other villagers no matter how experienced some of them might be. The only good fighters are from the Furude and Kimiyoshi family, after all."
Ayame seemed hesitant. Madoka had killed so many men without even putting any effort into it. How was her father to beat such a horrible demon? And what was to happen if he were to die? Of course, her father was much more experienced than the average Onifaguchi member in terms of fighting. But that didn't mean she still was worried for his sake. The demon was tough and could easily kill him. "Father, but-" she began to speak.
"No buts, Ayame. I've already made up my mind," Takeshi said, cutting her off. "All Toshi has been doing is sit around on his big fat butt and watch as people die. There's no way inexperienced men like that could ever kill a demon like her. Toshi is no good for the village, Ayame. He doesn't even know what he's planning. The system he has set up is all wrong. The demon always knows exactly where the people are located because they are always in the same place waiting for an attack. Instead, I'm going to go search for the demon and ambush her when she doesn't suspect a thing," he explained.
That plan might just work. Madoka always knew that there would be humans waiting for her at that same spot every single day, so there was never a chance to pull a surprise attack. If he were to go looking for her and surprise her, he might just have a chance at slaying the demon once and for all. "Father…."
Takeshi stood up and brushed off his clothing, smiling at his daughter. "Don't worry, Ayame. I'll definitely come back alive carrying the corpse of that disgusting demon," he reassured her. "I'm leaving now, so…"
Ayame wasn't totally convinced, however. "But father, what if you don't come back?" she asked him.
Takeshi grabbed his katana from behind him. It was a special katana that he had used since he was a teenage boy, or so he told to everyone that asked about it. He had quite the skills fighting with swords and had passed down that skill to his daughter. "Then, I want you to know now that you're my precious little daughter and I love you… so much," he spoke, patting his daughter's head of green hair.
Ayame looked down at her feet. "Thank you, father," she managed to mutter.
~~~~X~~~~
Takeshi had left the Sonozaki Manor on his quest to slay the demon that had been tormenting the village for such a long time. Now, Ayame was in her room waiting for her father's return. He would certainly come back with that demon dead, wouldn't he? Her father was strong and wasn't someone to be underestimated. He could surely kill her, right?
Sighing, Ayame rolled over on her futon. He had left a few hours ago, so it shouldn't be too much longer until he came back. In truth, she was jut horribly bored and needed someone to talk to.
Ayame pulled herself from the comfort of her futon and walked out of the door. She figured that since there wasn't anything for her to do, she should just go and practice her swordswoman skills. She often took her training very seriously and practiced it every single day. She had already practiced earlier that morning but she found herself with nothing better to do. She dragged herself over to the small dojo that they held in the back of their house. It wasn't anything too marvelous, but she could at least train there. The green-haired girl took a step into the dojo and began to walk towards where they kept their weapons. Besides her father's katana, every weapon was kept in the dojo. She didn't have a weapon that specifically belonged to her and shared them all with the rest of the family. The previous Sonozaki heads practiced with these same weapons when they were still in training.
Glancing around the many types of swords that the Sonozaki family kept, she tried to figure out which one she was going to practice with today. Of course, there wasn't anyone to practice on but that didn't mean she couldn't train. She decided just to use a bokken for now, which she often used for training when she was all alone.
It was always hard training without a target for her, so Ayame decided just to focus on the movement of the sword and her slices. If she couldn't perfect her sword movements then she might was well give up on fighting all together. It was important that she practiced every day or else she might just lose her skill. Her father had often told her stories about the past Sonozaki heads and how they had worked so hard on training every day, including himself. She felt pressure on herself as the Sonozaki heiress and figured that it would be terrible if she didn't learn how to fight. After all, the Sonozaki family had to show that they were just as good as the Kimiyoshi family to the rest of the village.
"Wow, you're good, sis!" a voice called out of nowhere.
Startled, Ayame dropped the sword and turned around to the source of the voice. Sitting there was a girl completely identical to her, watching her train with the sword. "H-Hana! How long have you been here for?"
The girl named Hana smiled. "I've been watching you for quite a while. Kind of makes me wonder why you're so dedicated to training yourself in sword skills," she spoke.
Ayame sighed at her younger twin sister. Hana was a girl who was ridiculously laid back and hated any kind of work. When Takeshi had offered to help her train a little, she instantly refused the offer saying the training was just too much work. Hana spent most of her days wandering about the village talking to kids her age and spending time lying down in her room. "You could at least try handling a sword once. Who knows, you might actually find it kind of fun," she suggested.
Hana shook her head almost instantly. "Nope, not a chance. Fighting is kind of boring. I'd prefer to do reading or something," she replied, not even giving the suggestion a thought.
Ayame frowned at her sister's lack of motivation to do anything at all. "Well, do you want to do something else, then? I'm kind of bored of training right now, so we could go out," she suggested. The older green-haired woman picked up the abandoned sword from the ground and stashed it away back where she had found it. She was done training for the day. It wasn't really worth it if there wasn't anything to practice on. Perhaps she would train with her father when he got back.
"Great idea!" replied Hana with an excited grin. She instantly hopped up from the ground, wanting to leave as soon as possible. Taking a walk around Onifaguchi was one of the very, very few things she enjoyed, after all. It was one of the very few things that she and her sister had in common.
And so, the two sister set out on their walk through Onifaguchi. It was actually a very beautiful land. The villagers made sure that the land was beautiful and rich. The crops they often grew also made the village slightly more pleasing to look at. Many villagers also tended to gardens that they would fill with as many colorful flowers as they could possibly fit in their area.
"Just remember not to go too far west," Ayame reminded her sister as they walked side by side down the dusty paths, "that's where the pile of dead bodies is kept."
Hana wrinkled her nose in disgust. "That's gross. Why exactly do we have to keep a pile of dead bodies anyways? If we can't bury them, can't we at least set them on fire so that they don't make the village smell?" she grumbled. The only disturbing thing about that day was the fact that the land smelt slightly of rotten corpses from the large amount of dead bodies pilled up far west.
"Yeah, but then the village would smell like burnt stuff," Ayame pointed out.
Hana shrugged. "Better than the village smelling like dead bodies."
Just then, a piercing scream sounded out west of them. In a matter of seconds, a young man came running from the west as fast as a chicken with its head cut off. "I saw it! I saw it!" he screamed out, fear in his lilac eyes.
"Tatsuya-kun?" spoke Hana, confused.
The young man with silver hair stopped in his tracks. "Ayame! Hana! I saw the pile of dead bodies by accident!" he cried out in fear. "I was just wandering around doing some chores for my dad and them… oh my god!" he spoke, remembering the gruesome image of the rotten bodies sitting one on top of the other in a sloppy pile. "I think I'm going to barf!"
Hana jumped out of the way. "Well if you're going to throw up, do it somewhere else!" she snapped at him.
"How many bodies were there, Tatsu-chan?" asked Ayame, curious.
The man called Tatsuya looked a little scared. "There must have been fifty of them! Or maybe there were sixty? No, it must have been a hundred bodies!" he cried out, flailing his arms. "I'm going to dieeeee!" he screamed, sinking to the ground.
Ayame sighed. "Man, Tatsu-chan, you're so weird!" she laughed.
Hana raised an eyebrow. "He's too weird."
Tatsuya stood back up, brushing off his brown shorts. "But in all honesty, the murders are getting a little much, eh? Someone's gotta to stop that demon woman. Madoka, was it?" he spoke, trying to get the dust out of his pants.
"My dad's out to kill her now," Ayame informed the silver-haired man in front of her.
Tatsuya jumped back in surprise, stumbling on his feet a little. "Whaaat? Why would he do something like that? Isn't that a little dangerous?" he pointed out.
"To be short, we're sick of how Kimiyoshi is leading the village and how he's always saying that the Sonozaki family is inferior to him. So, basically, he's doing it to gain power for the Sonozaki family," explained Ayame.
Tatsuya nodded knowingly. "Yeah yeah, I get what you're saying. The Kimiyoshi family is kind of stupid, to be honest. If I were to be completely truthful, I'd say the Sonozaki family is my favorite of the Three Great Families of Onifaguchi," he spoke, running fingers through his short silver hair. "Kimiyoshi Toshi is a total jerk and doesn't know how to run the village. His son is kind of stupid, too. I mean really! He doesn't understand half the stuff I tell him. Furude Takara has some serious attitude issues and her daughter is no better. I like your dad, though. He's a cool guy who has always been nice to me. Besides…" he suddenly cut off, taking a step forward towards the two girls. "…The Sonozaki family has a pair of such beautiful twin girls~" he added on, smiling at them in a not-so-innocent way.
Ayame blushed red. "W-Wait a moment! W-What are you trying to say?" she stammered.
"I think you're beautiful is all," he spoke nonchalantly, knowing his words were causing her to blush. Tatsuya was quite the strange person. When he wasn't acting like he was a stupid little boy, he was acting like a total flirt. He found it fun to make girls blush like that. "So nothing much, I guess."
Hana sighed, not one bit taken by his flirting. "Okay, that's quite enough Tatsuya-kun. We all know you have a huge crush on my sister. Now let's get going!" she cried out, dragging her twin sister away from the handsome silver-haired man by her kimono as Ayame tried to protest. She waved a quick goodbye to Tatsuya before she was pulled further and further away from him by Hana.
"Gee, sis, I don't see why you like that weirdo guy. He's a total idiot and he sucks at flirting," grumbled Hana.
Ayame blushed, looking away. "Stop it… Hana. I just do… okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever sis. Now let's go stop by the butcher's house or something. I'm getting kind of hungry," she spoke, tugging on her sister's hand
~~~~X~~~~
The woods of Onifaguchi were thick and unpleasant to walk through. Most villagers were advised never to set foot deep into the woods, for that was where demons lurked. When the fear of Madoka rose, the number of people that wandered in the forest diminished until it reached zero. The woods had been abandoned by all human life for months.
Well, until now, that was.
Takeshi pushed himself through the many trees, determined to find the demon that had been terrorizing the village for months. His katana was strapped to his back, sheathed. He was not enjoying the woods one bit. He had been in the woods several times before as a child, and even then he found it a little unpleasant to walk through. Currently, he was trudging through a mountain covered with trees. In the distance, the Saiguden was visible. He wasn't too sure where to start looking for the blonde demon, so he figured that he'd just go wandering around the outskirts of Onifaguchi.
He growled as a low branch scraped against his cheek and drew a little blood. He was beginning to get a little irritated with the amount of trees that plagued the mountains. Just how many trees could a single forest have?
After what seemed like hours, he came to a strange clearing. For some reason, there was a spot where there were no trees. The area was shaped like a circle and was covered in dirt. He kicked some dirt up, not knowing what to do next. He had wandered so far and there was no sign of the demon.
Sighing, Takeshi crossed the clearing and went further into the woods. There just seemed to be no end to the trees.
That's when he spotted her from a slight distance. Madoka was sitting on a rock facing a very, very shallow stream. She was poking at the rocks underneath the water and was running her claws through the stream. She lifted her claws out, picking at them a little with her fangs. She was clearly unaware of the presence of the Sonozaki Head just behind her.
Takeshi unsheathed his katana and held it at the ready. Perhaps he could run up to her and slice her head off when she was still unaware of his presence. It was a long shot, but he decided to go for it. If he couldn't slice the head, he'd slice a limb or two. He just needed to strike a severe blow while she wasn't looking. That would give him the upper hand for the rest of the fight and could possibly guarantee his victory.
Madoka was still unaware as she held her hand up and spread her fingers apart so that she could get a good look at each sharp claw that was attached to each one of her five fingers. She wiggled her fingers, titling her head curiously. Takeshi raised his sword, ready to fight the demon. Then, he charged at her. He couldn't make very much sound or else she would surely notice him.
Takeshi aimed for the neck. If he could slice her head that would mean that he could kill her instantly. Madoka instantly sensed that was something behind her and whipped herself around, catching the sight of the man running towards her with a sharp katana. Shocked that someone would actually run into the forest to travel her, she was temporally frozen to the rock. However, she quickly got over that. Madoka tumbled out of the way without thinking, causing Takeshi to miss his target and slice through thin air instead.
Madoka did a summersault before whipping herself back to her feet so that she was facing her attacker. "My, my. I'm surprised one of you actually came out here to search for me. Not only that, but I'm surprised that you found me," she purred. "Guess I'll just have to take you down, too. You humans never do learn, do you? You can't beat a demon~."
Takeshi smirked, clutching the hinge of his katana. "I guess I'll have to prove you wrong on that one, then," he spoke, slowly drawing closer and closer to the demon. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sonozaki Takeshi, the head of the Sonozaki family. Killing me will not be as easy as killing those untrained men back in Onifaguchi," he spoke in an attempt to distract the demon from the sword he was drawing closer and closer to her.
But Madoka was no fool. She knew exactly what he was trying to do. "Is that so? Well give me a good fight, then. And don't try to fool me by using such silly matters. It won't work," she added on, glancing at the katana that was making a move to chop off her head.
Realizing that his plan had failed, Takeshi made a quick slash of his katana, aiming for her limbs. Madoka smirked as she jumped up and the katana's blade ran straight under her feet, just missing her. Madoka lunged herself forward to claw the man, but Takeshi managed to duck out of the way and sent Madoka crashing into a nearby tree. Seeing this as an opportunity, Takeshi lunged the katana forward to slash the demon's back. The katana wasn't a very good sword for stabbing but it was masterful at slicing and cutting. Just to be safe, Takeshi had swiped a small knife from the kitchen and had stuffed it in his pocket in case he needed to use it. The blade of the katana sliced the demon's back just barely, drawing a medium amount of blood.
Madoka gasped as her back was sliced; surprised had having a human actually injure her besides when she blocked their attacks. In a rage, she whipped herself around and clawed his chest deeply. Blood filled the wounds on his chest and began to seep out and trickle down to his stomach. Takeshi stumbled back, one hand on his injured chest and one had still holding onto his katana. The Sonozaki let out a battle cry, swiping his katana down from the air and onto the demon once again. But Madoka was sure she wouldn't be fooled again. She quickly pounced out of the way of the sharp blade and watched as the katana instead cut open the tree she had been against. Now, Takeshi lunged for her with his katana again. Madoka was getting a little bored of this fight, so she decided to try to make things a little more fun for her. She caught the blade of the katana in between her two flat palms and held it there for a little while with all her strength. Clamping down on it, Madoka pulled the katana out of Takeshi's hands and sent it flying behind her. Now that Takeshi didn't have that katana, he'd have to come up with another way to fight her. He ran towards the katana, desperate to use it, as it was his best shot at victory. Madoka grunted and blocked his way, wanting to have a more interesting battle.
Takeshi had no chose. He drew the knife that he had stored away in a small pocket and pointed it at the demon in front of him. He wasn't confident on his material art skills, so using a weapon, even if it was just a small one, was his best bet. He made a move to stab her in the heart. Madoka instantly knew what his target was and caught the blade of the knife with her hands. Grumbling with annoyance at his failed attempt, Takeshi pried the knife away from the demon's hand, causing it to slash the inside of her hand and wound it badly. Blood dripped from her palm and flowed like a river down her wrist and her arms. Madoka cursed under her breath and stuck out her pink tongue to lap at the sticky red liquid. The Sonozaki smirked. This was his chance. He brought the knife upwards on her face, slashing her eye. Madoka screamed out in pain and abandoned the palm of her hand to clutch her eye with that same bloody palm. Blood splattered her face and poured down to the ground. Madoka removed the palm and blinked open her injured eye. A large mark that went down her eyelid indicated that she had certainly been injured.
"Let me show you that pain… twelve times worse!" cried Madoka. She positioned her claws near his face and swiped it upwards to his eye. She dug her claws in deeply until his left eyeball came clean off and rolled to the floor. Takeshi instantly dropped the knife on the floor with the shock at receiving such an immense amount of pain. He used that now free hand to cover where his left eye used to.
Madoka smirked and picked up the discarded small knife. She hovered her toes above the dislodged eyeball and rolled it between her toes, smiling at the feeling of it. The next thing she did, however, surprised Takeshi. She whipped herself around and dashed into the forest away from his sight.
"Wait a moment, you vile demon! You'll pay for that!" cried Takeshi. He sped himself after her. He came too far to not finish this battle. He absolutely had to kill that demon. That way, he could give the Sonozaki family the pride they deserved.
He followed her into the thick woods, all the while trying to avoid being further injured by the low branches that covered the area. Madoka turned her head slightly and gave the man a quick glare before returning to pushing herself through the thick trees. Growingly, Takeshi figured he had no choice but to follow her until she stopped walking.
They came to the same clearing as before. At this moment, Madoka turned around to face him. "You know, the moment I ran you should have picked up your katana," she reminded him, smirking. "It looks like you're a fool after all."
In a matter of seconds, Madoka slashed the knife across his stomach and split the flesh open. She stuck the knife in and began to cut through the rest flesh that was located around the wound. She smiled as he screamed out in pain and with realization of his careless mistake. If he had just picked up that katana, everything would have been different. Perhaps he could have even won the battle. Madoka focused on pushing the knife deeper and deeper and deeper into his body. With a quick movement, she stuck the knife inside the slit of his open stomach and cut through his body upwards. A shriek sounded out from his mouth as his vision began to blur.
"I just love hearing you scream!" cried Madoka as she removed the knife and plunged it into an untouched part of his stomach. She then removed it and kept plunging the knife in and out of him on every part of his skin that was untouched. Finally, she decided that she was bored of torturing him and thrust the sharp knife into the man's heart, killing him instantly.
"Oh, how I just love killing people! It's so fun~! I come up with new ways every time!" the demon cried out with maddened laughter as she looked at the dead body on the ground. "Madoka wins once again!"
Her laughter faded as she contemplated what to do next. "I think I'll keep this body with me as a trophy for defeating the head of one of the Great Families of Onifaguchi," she decided, grabbing the body by the feet and dragging it into the forest. "Perhaps I'll get a snack afterwards…"
~~~~X~~~~
"SHE HAS RETURNED ONCE AGAIN!" bellowed the new leader of the group of men hunting down the demon. "EVERYONE, GET TO YOUR HOUSES! READY THE WEAPONS!"
Ayame spotted in her tracks when she heard the cry. Wait a moment… Madoka had come back? She stood there frozen as all the people around her ran screaming into their houses. Hana gave her a worried glance, knowing exactly why she was afraid. The two of them had gone shopping and were now carrying a load of food that they had bought from the butcher's house and the farmers. Most of the time, villagers were glad to give out free food to the Sonozaki Family as respect.
"F-Father…" was all Ayame managed to stutter out. Without thinking, she dropped the bags she was carrying and dashed towards where the call came from.
"Sis! Hold on a second! Don't go over there!" Hana cried to her sister. But it was already too late. Ayame had disappeared from sight, leaving her sister with a bunch of bags to carry back to the house all by herself.
Ayame ignored all the screaming voices around her. She didn't even notice the villagers looking at her as if she had gone mad. A worried and feared expression was plastered across her face as she sprinted forward. She was not scared of the demon. She only feared for her father's life. Some older people yelled at her to find a place to hide or else the demon would surely kill her the most horrible way she could possibly think of.
But all that didn't matter to her. Her father had gone out to kill the demon so she would never come back to them and now she had returned for a meal. Did that mean her father was…?
Ayame stopped when she reached the lookout area. She looked down over the railing and saw a group of men staring horrified as Madoka tore the heart of one of the men right out of his chest using her claws, sharp as the deadliest of knives. She saw no sign of her father. Determination growing inside of her, Ayame clutched the railing and threw her body over the edge. She landed on her two feet with a thud. It had been a lucky break that she had ended up landing on her feet instead of her back or any other part of her body. She hadn't done something like that before, ever.
Madoka was busy poking the heart in her hand with one of her sharp claws, laughing all the while. She stopped, however, when she noticed the green-haired woman stomp over to her with an enraged yet worried expression. "Oh, it looks like we have an unexpected visitor," she purred, dropping the heart on the ground.
Ayame took a deep breath. She couldn't be scared of this demon. She had to be brave. "My name is Sonozaki Ayame, heiress to the Sonozaki Family! What have you done with my father?" she demanded.
The demon crossed her arms. "Oh, Sonozaki, eh? I think that was the name of the man I killed a few seconds ago. He put up a good fight, though. Managed to scar me right here," she spoke, pointing a sharp claw to a scar that went down her eyelid. "But I managed to take him down eventually. Wasn't too much different from killing one of these men."
Grief filled Ayame. Her father was dead. Now, that left her as the head of the Sonozaki Family. "You bastard! You killed my father! Now, I'm gonna kill you!" she screamed out in a rage. Her father had been there for her her whole life after her mother had died from giving birth to her and her sister. He had taken great care of them and treated them both with equal amounts of love. Now, he was no longer there for her.
Madoka frowned. "Whoa there, I only came here for a quick snack. If you want to fight with me, meet me tomorrow. There's a clearing up the mountains and just past there there is a meadow filled with flower," she explained to the green-haired woman. "Meet me there at sunset tomorrow. I'll fight you then."
And with that, Madoka retreated into the woods carrying the man she had just killed so that she could eat his remains in private.
Ayame stood there, breathing heavily. She would have to avenge her father. Her father had left this world because he wanted to bring pride to the Sonozaki Family and had failed. Now, as the head of the Sonozaki Family, she had to do the same. She had to finish up what her father had failed to do.
"I'm going to kill that demon and avenge my father," Ayame decided out loud, determination in her voice. The same determination that her father had had before he had past a way.
The men around her looked genuinely surprised with her sudden decision. "Whoa! We can't have another Sonozaki dying! Who would lead the family if you were to die?" one of the men pointed out.
Ayame gave that same man an icy-cold glare, telling him silently to shut his mouth. "I will not die. I will definitely kill that demon and avenge my father. "
Her decision was final. She would meet with the demon in that specified location at sunset tomorrow and finish her up once and for all. Then, the Sonozaki family would gain pride and be recognized as a greater family in Onifaguchi. Perhaps they'd even surpass the Kimiyoshi family. But most of all, she wanted to avenge her loving father that had cared for her all her life.
No one could stop her now. That was something she was sure of.
~~~~X~~~~
Crimso's Corner.
Hey there! I kind of rushed at the end because I got to go out for a walk while it's still nice outside. My mom said she'd give me ten minutes to finish my chapter and that includes writing this note here and uploading the chapter! So yeah, kind of rushed at the end.
So how do you like Ayame's tale so far? Cool, eh?
I still feel sick, by the way. I hope that goes away soon.
By the way, thanks for all the reviews. This here is a reminder to please review this chapter as always. If you review this chapter, you get tickets to the Crimso Land Amusement Park. Oh yeah, and you also get a bonus ticket to bring a friend if you noticed that the area where Takeshi and Madoka fought was the camping grounds.
Crimso's Corner is real short today. I split the chapter in half. I was originally going to do the whole story in one chapter but I figured that was a little too much. So yeah, not as long as I imagined. It's still the longest chapter I've written for a while, though. I hope I made up for that last short chapter.
Out.
~Crimso