Kyoko's Children
The sobbing six year old, mourning the departure of her special friend looked down into the palm of her small hand at the tiny dark creature that sat snuggling her tiny fingers. As she wiped her tears and pocketed the beautiful stone that her fairy prince had given her, she asked it the most important question plaguing her young mind. "Are you a fairy too? Did Corn send you to take care of me?" She sniffled.
The tiny creature looked up at her and smiled. "No mistress. I am your servant. Kuon-san isn't a fairy and I am a demon. I only wish to do as you ask and protect you. In return, I only ask that you acknowledge my existence." The little creature blushed and bowed nobly.
Kyoko-chan's beautiful golden eyes went wide with amazement. "You just want to be my friend?" Being too young to realize the implications of such an act.
The tiny creature nodded. "Yes mistress." The little girl he had found was very special. She could see and speak to them. She had a kind heart and wouldn't abuse them and at such a young age, she had suffered through so much pain and rejection.
She smiled brightly and agreed, not seeing any harm in befriending this little creature. Thus, the first alliance that would last a lifetime, had been forged.
"See how simple it is Mistress?" The new little demon smiled proudly. She had just recently been introduced and pledged herself to this talented young human.
The cute 7 year-old clapped her hands and giggled. "I did that?" She was practically glowing with glee.
The two little demons nodded and sat comfortably on her shoulders. "You did perfectly. We have never witnessed any human accomplish what you have done in such a short time so efficiently and with such finesse." The first told her.
A little tear of pride and joy came to her beautiful golden eyes. "Perfect? Did I really do that well?"
"You certainly did. It usually takes a new demon years to accomplish that particular feat." They bragged.
For the first time in her young, short life, Kyoko-chan felt like she was smart, talented and good enough. "Thank you." She smiled softly and sighed as she stroked the little heads of her babies and admired the thick sheet of ice that covered the small pond near the Fuwa Ryokan in the depths of the hottest summer in years.
As the years went by and the tortures of Sho's fan-girls had increased, more of the little demons had rallied around the strange, seemingly lonely girl. With every beating, every abuse by the girls that worshiped him, his purposeful ignorance of her and his blatant use of her, a new little demon was born or, inducted into the willing ranks to groom this talented little Summoner or, Warlock as some modern individuals would refer to her as.
As her power grew, so did her minions. They were beginning to benefit from what they had cultivated in the girl. They had learned to share their power with her and she with them, making them virtually an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. Had little Kyoko-chan not had a loving heart and the patience and control of a Saint, a certain middle school in Kyoto would have been rife with suffering and death.
"We should go with him Mistress. We should run away." They agreed with her.
"Do you think he asked because he loves me?" She asked her oldest.
The oldest shook her head. "No Mistress, not in the way in which you would like for him to. He's not mature enough. Do not count on him for that, he will only hurt you." She warned.
Kyoko sighed defeatedly. "I suppose you're right. I can still help him out. He is like family to me. We did grow up together, I suppose he's more like a brother. Maybe?" No... He doesn't act like a brother sometimes when we're alone and Oba-san Fuwa said I meant more than that to him. So... What am I? She pondered silently as she packed her belongings for the trip to Tokyo.
When they stepped off the train in the busy station in Tokyo, his change was immediate. Not that she didn't notice the subtle changes as they left Kyoto. He was more demanding, more spoiled, less attentive and he had turned more abrasive. Still, she decided to let is pass and support him as he nurtured his fledgling music career. After all, he still had talent and she couldn't bear seeing it go to waste.
She had just turned 15 that previous December and they had left Kyoto the day after their commencement ceremony for middle school in March. She had worked and slaved, day and night to help him, support him and keep him happy. She had spent many a night walking home alone with nothing to protect her but her own demons. Certainly there were others like her in Tokyo, but many of them didn't realize the potential or, could even control their own demons like she could.
After her first week of working late into the wee hours of the morning, she had gained the reputation and the respect of many a thug. She had been awarded the title "Demon Queen". A title of affection, it was not.
Many knew her and of her. One group in particular that would later realize their mistake and curse their existence later, would be a small group of four with a scruffy looking leader by the name of Kei. Only after being roughed up by the cute little blonde's companion, did he realize his mistake. The Queen had found her King and a formidable opponent he was, but that is knowledge that will be revealed at a later time dear reader.
Now, as I was saying, she had spent many nights and days alone with no one to protect or, take care of her. She was self-sufficient. Honestly? She really didn't believe she needed anyone to care for her; although, it would have been nice if he had even had an ounce of gratitude and acknowledged her. He didn't. He had grown so accustomed to being the spoiled little prince that his parents had raised him to be and she had so willingly stepped into the shadows of subservience, that he never realized or, cared to know that his devoted childhood friend was growing discontented with her roll in life. It was something that not even she had noticed at the time.
It wasn't the fact that he called her boring... plain... unattractive... or, a maid that pissed her off, she had read that from his mind with her growing powers long ago, it was the fact that she brushed it off and chose to ignore it at her own peril. It was her own realization that she would have done literally anything for that one little scrap of affection tossed to her like a stray dog being fed by a stranger, that pissed her off and broke her. It was her thought that, not only had she been abandoned by her mother, her fairy prince and a young man that she considered family, she was not worthy of love or, affection.
Love and affection, the two things that even orphans experience in their lives and no one, not even his parents, deigned to give her a glimpse of that. As a child, when she would fall as all children do, when she would get hurt or, when something made her sad, she only had her own children and they were just learning the same as she was. She had to be strong for them, she had to teach them. There was no one there to pick her up, dust her off and console her. There were no hugs or, tiny kisses that would heal boo-boos. There were no comforting strokes of the hair. There were no celebrations of her birthday by people that were happy that she was alive and in their lives, her birthday was lumped together with Christmas and seeing that Sho's parents only celebrated the occasion for their guests, she was left to sit in the corner to nibble on a little piece of a holiday confection that usually ended up being ripped from her hands and shoved down the gullet of the idiot that was now making her life a living hell. A new demon would be given life every year on that night and that was something worth celebrating to her.
The night at the television station when she had overheard him voicing his thoughts to his manager, she unleashed her full army on him, an army of at least 300 demons filled that room and the force of them could be felt all over the building. Had he known what he was up against, he would have never said a word to her. He would have never challenged her. The clueless idiot that he was, instead chose to mock her and throw a challenge at her that he considered meaningless. How was he supposed to know that the girl that he mistreated was fully capable of opening a portal to the darkest reaches of Hell and sending him there? He couldn't have possibly imagined that she was now, under the tutelage of her demons, able to turn his flesh to stone so that he would have to live for eternity fully aware, yet not able to participate. There were so many wonderful things she could have done to him and he should have considered himself fortunate that she chose not to.