Hakūdoshi speedily yet carefully leaps across branches through the densest part of the forest on his way back to the West Kingdom. His gaze repeatedly shifted from the woody branches and lush canopies to his broken Naginata blade.
A 'tsk' along with a vivid image of the cause, an older cat-woman, immediately entered his thoughts.
'Now I'll have to get this fix!' The white haired tot irritably groans at the painstakingly task that he has to undergo in order to fix his precious weapon.
A small smirk soon stretched across his lips after he recollected that he finally struck and drew blood from the neko-youkai.
'If I had some more of her blood and a fang, I can easily repair this.' He easily recalled the two main ingredients needed to mend the broken blade.
His body eventually came to a halt on an upper branch before he repeated his previous thought, 'Maybe…that can just work.'
As he motions to turn around, a dark shadow unexpectedly passes through his peripheral vision. The young man was then turning his head upward before observing the belly of a horse-like creature passing overhead.
'What the…' but the shock instantly fizzed at the sight of a large white eagle feather that casually glided across the sky.
"Ka…gu…ra," Hakūdoshi startlingly articulated every phonetic sound in the woman's name just from the sight of the familiar object.
An image of the quiet white haired girl all alone and defenseless in the dangerous youkai filled woods swiftly flew to the forefront of his mind.
His fingers in turn tightly clenches at the circular black pole until his knuckles begin to visibly pale in color.
He then grinds his teeth while he angrily utters "That…stupid…wench!"
"I'm going to kill her and that neko-youkai!" Hakūdoshi boldly avows before he promptly retraces his steps away from the forest.
At the same time,
Red eyes casually scan their surroundings for any potential threats from the ayakashi down below but there was hardly a peep from below.
'Maybe they innately sense Sesshomaru's strong presence and run away with their tails between their legs.' She inwardly assumed due to the peaceful nature of the trip thus far.
The brunette simply closes her eyes and quietly relishes in the company of such strength. 'I can't wait until this power and respect is mine!'
Kagura excitingly envisioned her future alongside the Lord of the West while there was audible whispers of jealous women, who envied her position and beauty.
A wide grin materialized across her face until she remembered the major obstacle that was in her way of her utopia, 'I just have to get rid of that boorish cat woman.'
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Kirara stifles a sneeze with one of her hands while the other one tightens her grip around the wound and grumbles under her breath, "Stupid brat!"
The wound was not fully seared due to the unknown demonic energy sealed within the blade, which presently inhibited her regenerative ability.
Another loud groan was slipping from her lips at the sudden sharp movement from walking on the hurt hip.
"We're here, milady." Makoto broke his silence once they arrived at a barely lit entrance with two black flags with "Bath" and "House" on the left and right in white print.
The door slides open before a male neko-youkai bows at their feet and greets them, "We heard of your impending arrival and set up the necessary accommodations for you and your men."
"Do you have a first aid kit or a medic on hand?" Toshu was anxiously questioning the youkai since Kirara has yet to stop bleeding.
"We already took care of that." The male instantly snaps before he adds, "Take her to the Healing Springs, the attendants are awaiting the princess arrival."
"Let's go." Makoto promptly orders the group at the sight of Toshu about to ask yet another question.
The male youkai patiently waits until the entire party completely enters inside of the lobby.
A 'rustle' from the bushes suddenly catches the male's attention briefly before he speedily closes and locks the door.
'So much for walking through the front door,' Bankostu amusingly ruminating while scoping out the bathhouse for another entrance.
His eyes then peered down at the paper talisman within the palm of his hand. 'This is my ticket in.'
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A 'shriek' followed by a 'poof' distinctly echoes through the forest as youkais desperately scramble away from a child with white hair and a Naginata in their grasp.
"He's crazy!" "He's killing his own kind!" "Stay away!"
A broken fang rotates between his thumb and index finger while one eye noticeably peeks through his shaggy untamed bang. After briefly inspecting the object, he was aimlessly tossing it over his shoulder and onto the ground.
'This blade will be too weak.' Hakūdoshi eventually deems as he continues to dash and scan the forest for stronger youkais.
"He's on the move again!" "Run away!" "He's too strong!"
'If I can't find something stronger than that lady then…' He unintentionally pauses in the middle of his pursuit once an idea surfaces to his mind.
Chuckles vocally emit from his mouth after realization settles in, "Ha, the answer was right in front of me all this while!"
Hakūdoshi softly slaps a hand in the middle of his face as a demonic aura manifests from around his child-like body.
'I can't wait to have her head!'
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Jakken suddenly noted that his Lord Sesshomaru slowed his pace before he landed inside of the lush trees canopy and merely stood on a large wooden branch.
The imp toad rapidly gathered the weathered leather reins within his grasp and carefully guided Ah-Uh to the forest floor before the duo on top hops of the dragon's back.
"My lord!" The youkai piercingly calls out only to see his lord take a seat with his back against the trunk of the tree.
"He seems frustrated." Kagura deliberately points out as she lands her feather right next to the dragon-horse, who drops to its belly for a nap.
"His eyes are void…as if his mind is elsewhere." The older woman adds as she finally approaches the imp toad's side with one hand on her hip and the other under her chin.
He cuts his beady yellow eyes over at the brunette once he notices that she was way to close to him than he would like to have her and creates some space between the two.
"He misses onee-chan." A tiny yet bold voice reasons with the other two as she gently rubs her hand against Ah-Uh's scaly skin.
"He doesn't show it…but he really misses Kirara." She positively asserts once she ceases her menstruation on the now asleep Ah-Uh.
The brunette simply stands to her feet, scoots over to the belly of Ah-Uh, and settles down until she finds a comfortable spot to lay her head.
'If what the tot says is true…'' Red eyes then cast from Rin to Sesshomaru, 'then this won't be an easy task.'
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A "hiss" emits from the raven haired woman as the female attendants gently lowered the woman in the water and against the chiseled rock seat.
From instinct and past experiences in a hot spring, her eyes tediously scan every nook and cranny for any demonic signatures nearby.
"You can relax, Princess Kirara." A feminine voice from behind her breaks her out of her inspection for youkais.
"This bathhouse can only be accessed by those with royal blood." The other attendant confidently claims as a means to reassure the fretful woman.
The neko-youkai physically nods her head to show she understands while she inwardly contemplates, 'If you say so,'
Kirara was slowly evening out her breathing before feeling a warm sensation seeping in to the wound and spreading throughout her body.
'This feels…amazing.' She inwardly sighs as she delights in the regenerative properties that the water offers for her weary body.
It was not a completely foreign sensation since she previously felt it before with…a bright blush visibly surfaces to her face.
"Are you alright Princess Kirara?" One of the attendants inquisitively questions since the neko-youkai swiftly slides downward until her mouth was submerge under the surface of the water.
Her response was in the form of bubbles that she blows from her mouth.
Her red eyes aimlessly stare at the rock formation a few feet in front of her when she annoyingly considers, 'He's too busy with that Kagura woman to even think about me.'
She simply rolls her eyes at the mere mention of the woman's name and the pair history with each other before she allows herself to relax.
A sigh escapes her lips in the form of bubbles at the thought of Rin, her imouto, who let her leave even though she did not want to, 'I suck as a sibling.'
She then recalled the times where she unintentionally caused strife for her older siblings and they would repeatedly bail her out of trouble.
'How I bounced the ball that knocked black ink over Noaki's scrolls that he diligently worked on for a week. Yet, he never complained and redid every single scroll just in time for the presentation.'
'How I lost Ayume precious bracelet that our grandmother gave to her for her fifth birthday. She never raised showed her sadness and helped me to find it in one of the shrubs by my bedroom.'
'How I sat and broke Jiro's glasses right before he had to read a Commencement speech for the Demon Slayers class. So he had to read with the parchment close to his face but still brought me along for support. '
'How I used to break curfew and have Isamu always cover for me whenever I needed a few more minutes to sneak back in to the house. He never told a soul about my deviant behavior.'
'Can't even be a good…' The surface of the water started to bubble as the heat emits from the embarrassed woman and rapidly raises the temperature of the spring
"Princess Kirara…it is time to get out." An attendant dutifully instructs while she approaches the raven haired woman with a towel across her forearm.
"Apologizes," Kirara quickly offers an apology, stands on the rock seat and graciously accepts the towel from the woman.
"It is alright. We need to tend to your wound." The other one provides a response to her apology before they lead her back inside of the bathhouse.
"Right,"
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"Could you stop pacing Satoshi, you're going to put a hole in the floor?!" Makoto advises as he reads the scroll on the desk while the others made themselves comfortable around the room.
"That wound didn't heal!" He frantically exclaims as he physically extends his arms outward toward the hip area.
"The only one kind of weapons that deal damage is either anti-demonic or demonic weaponry." Their purple haired lieutenant informs the young man about the potential reason why her wound did not heal.
An "eh" piercingly emits from the young man after he listens to the news.
"Oh…somebody didn't pay attention in Demonology 101." Toshu jokingly quips as he shakes his head and wags his index finger at his companion.
Not to mention that seal on her hand.' Makoto inwardly ruminates as he focuses on the parchment as well as the men so they will not cause a disturbance.
'You don't have much time Lady Kirara,' His eyes briefly breaks from the parchment to the window where night starts to descend on the forest.
'You need to make up your mind.'
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'This thing is like an impenetrable fortress.' Bankostu irritably mumbles as he tries to find the side of the building.
He then peers upward and much to his surprise there was no visible roof, eave or balcony to climb up on. "The hell," escapes his mouth when a dense fog begins to roll in from out of nowhere.
The raven haired male quickly uses his hands to rub his eyes and sure enough the bathhouse slowly fades away inside of the fog.
"Oh no you…don't!" Bankostu declares when he jumps for a window ledge but it disappears right as his fingertips graze the wood but it was gone.
"Damn it," The male irritably curses at his sudden turn of luck to misfortune.
'I will take her from you Sesshomaru if it's the last thing I do.'
