Hehehe. Hello. Disclaimer, bc I think I'm getting better at remembering them: I don't own anything here.

Akeno was trapped. For how long now? She lost count. Days, weeks, months, years? No, not years. Despite being forced to see the gigantic bridge of vermillion, she knew it couldn't have been that long. Or she hoped it wouldn't have. For as long a time she'd been here, never had she seen the sun set. Never had she seen the black night.

She missed everyone. She missed baking sweets for the quiet, sweets-addicted Koneko. She missed teasing her young like-a-little-brother Issei. She missed corrupting innocent, little Asia. She missed bantering with Kiba about whose fandom was worse. But most of all, she missed being by her king's side, standing always to the right and behind, right where she belonged.

She screamed and shouted and pounded against her cage. Every scream sounded like childish laughter. Every pound sounded like a blade smashing against the hard wooden floors of the bridge. Maybe that's because it did.

She screamed and begged, hoping that the man that was in her view could hear her cries for help. But it was no use.

The man twirled and rolled in swift finesse, striking and slashing a body that wasn't hers, yet she every strike and slash felt as if it were her own body being maimed. Violated. Punished.

The masochist in her would've found it hot, if she didn't feel so helpless.

Her spine chilled and crawled, as if something were crawling all around her back. Though for whatever reason, she feared to look back. As if knowing the answer would cause her to lose her sanity.

Then she saw it. The pointed edge of a blade fiercely striking what should be her eyes...but wasn't her eyes. Like a 3D movie, the blade burst through whatever ocular nerve outside was controlling her, and the tip of the blade was a centimeter away from gouging her own eyeball out.

When it retracted, she felt cold and fresh air rush in, and she breathed it in desperation, savoring the smell of sakura and wet leaves in her olfactory senses, before the hole closed up again.

She felt so stupid. She should've screamed! To let him know that she was there. That she was trapped.

Suddenly, fog enclosed the area, and she lost sight of the man, and fear gripped her heart. What if the man ran away? Or worse: died? Then she would most definitely be trapped here again, and she had a feeling that if this man didn't succeed, she wouldn't have the chance to be free in a while. Because this man was the first person she'd seen in a while. In such a long while.

She felt it again. The crawling. Now she was certain; there was something back there, like it was waiting to crawl out and burst forth.

Suddenly she felt a jerk in the cage she was in, as if it was being pulled and she saw the tip of the blade again before it punched another hole in the secondary set of eyes that connected her to the world.

Like before, the blade retracted, leaving a gaping hole. She saw his face. Heavy brown eyes, like they carried the weight of the world. A stubble, like he hadn't shaved in a while. A long scar running through his left brow. And a streak of white hair along the right side of his head.

'Quickly, while his eyes are still on me.'

Without wasting another second, she screamed.

"Help me!"

And she saw it, or she could have sworn she saw

it. The widening of the man's eyes by a fractional amount. Though she wondered if her voice made it to his ears at all, and her mind was just playing tricks on her. The man did not acknowledge anything.

As the hole closed again, she began sobbing to herself.

'I'm so sorry...Rias...Koneko...Kiba...Issei...Asia…I'm trapped here forever…' her tears flowed uncontrollably. This was her final goodbye, she supposed, and she wasn't going to see her friends again. At least if this man killed it...killed her...she would be free. Free from this wretched domain. Free from this wretched life. Free from the blood in her veins. She figured that she wouldn't mind dying.

She felt it again. Crawling—no, the scurrying of multiple legs along her back and up her hair, before bursting upward. She screamed in horror that came out, like many times before, as childish laughter, and then she felt it. The multiple legs pinched her back and her hair painfully, and her cage jerked aggressively, as if someone were gripping her hair and forcing her to move around. She saw the naginata swing wildly at the man, who seamlessly blocked every single attack with perfection.

Slashes and thrusts followed shortly after, inflicting pain upon her cage and her body. The pain didn't matter anymore. For the first time in months, she felt like freedom was within reach.

In her peripheral, she saw multiple tiny legs hanging above her head. She gagged in disgust. Was that a centipede on her back?

A loud screech burst forth, nearly bursting her eardrums as she continued to watch. The man froze in place, and for a split second, fear clenched her heart, before the man snapped out of it, rolling to the side of a disgusting sludge attack. She released a breath she didn't know she held, as the man continued to strike swiftly and parry perfectly, like a well oiled machine.

And then, she felt herself tumble onto the ground with a resounding boom. In her vision, she saw a centipede twitching onto the ground, and the man walked up until she could only see his cloth covered feet.

She heard the sound of a blade being sheathed, and another being drawn. She saw the tip of the blade, coated in a crimson red aura that reminded her of her king's Power of Destruction.

The man raised the blade, and with force, impaled the helpless centipede, and she felt it loosen its grasp on her back and hair. It twitched and screamed in pain, spurting out smaller centipedes from its wounds, as the man continuously ripped the gigantic bug to shreds. She wanted to throw up. After this experience, she would hate bugs forever.

She expected something to happen after. Maybe light at the end of a tunnel, or maybe for her to pass on to the next life, or maybe for her to just...appear in front of her savior. There was none of that. The man seemed like he was expecting for something to happen, seeing how his feet remained planted onto the ground.

Maybe she was trapped. Forever.

She heard footsteps grow distant, and she looked to see feet walk away from her. She began sobbing again, realizing that, maybe the man wasn't her get out of jail free card.

Before all was lost, she heard it. Soft cracks, as the cage surrounding her began crumbling, and light began filtering through the cracks. It felt like a slow process. The sound of cracking and breaking continued, until finally, she felt heavy cloth drape over her body. The shell that barricaded her fully disintegrated, and she felt free at last.

She sobbed harder, her cries reaching the man and he halted in his movement before turning around. She felt so weak. She hadn't cried in a long, long time. And here she was now, crying every single tear that her glans held.

"Please…," she choked out, "don't leave me here."

He halted. Despite the softness in her mangled words, it managed to reach his ears and he turned around.

Sekiro stared passively at the girl who took the spot of the Corrupted Monk, lying there, covered in the gigantic robes of the demonic woman that protected the bridge. She was a literal Yamato Nadeshiko, with creamy white skin, and long black hair tied into a graceful ponytail with an orange ribbon. She looked young. Maybe...seventeen? Eighteen? Was this who that monk was before she turned into...whatever it was that he just fought?

Sekiro was tired, but he couldn't let his guard down yet. He remembered what happened the last time he approached a girl who was crying.

And so, he steeled himself for another possible fight. A phase four, maybe…?

Those thoughts shattered, as sobs reached his ears, and he sighed. She was crying. With her pleas still ringing in his ear, he was doubtful she was any harm.

He found himself trailing back to the robed girl, albeit guardedly, and when he finally came face to face with her, he stared at her for a bit, still assessing whether of not she was going to do anything.

He stared at her gigantic wet violet orbs, her sclera marred with red streaks, as tears still dripped down her cheeks.

Truly, he didn't know what to do, or how to handle the situation. Crying girls were...not something he was subjected to. Often. Or at all. Well, maybe a few times before, when he dealt with a few odd job assignments where he acted as a bodyguard for nobles and their little girls. Though this situation was different.

Deciding that the girl was truly no harm, he dropped his guard, eyes softening slightly, yet still carrying a glint that said 'try anything, and I kill you', and he offered a mechanical hand, which the girl took gratefully after wiping away her tears.

"Thank you," she said, sniffling a little. Pulling on his hand, she hoisted herself up, and the robes fell from her body.

Immediately, Sekiro jerked his head to the side, a small blush forming on his features, refusing to meet her person. Yeah. This was definitely a different situation.

She looked at him in confusion, as if she didn't realize her state of dress. Or rather, her lack of.

Sekiro heard a small squeak, and a quick rustle for the robes on the ground. He glanced over to her before looking away again, and saw for a split second that the gigantic robes of the monk covered her body. At least, attempted to.

"Just," he sighed, "just take this instead."

He removed his orange coat, and handed it to her, which she took gratefully, leaving him in a white robe that covered a steel mesh shirt.

"Won't you be cold?" she asked, pulling the sleeves over her arms, as she slipped into his coat. It was big on her. The hem of the sleeves went a few inches past her hands, enveloping it completely, and the hem of the jacket rested along her mid thighs.

The man shook his head before speaking. He was used to it. "Your name."

"Sorry…?"

"Your name. What is your name?" The man asked, face still trained away from her.

"Akeno. Himejima Akeno," she introduced, and she cleared her throat, as if regaining her wit. "And what do I call my savior? And you know that you can look now, right?"

Despite the fact that she was now donning his coat, he was still hesitant on looking. Though with a twitch of his neck, he slowly turned to face her, and when he finally did, he focused on her unnaturally violet eyes.

"Ookami," he replied.

"Ookami? What a strange name…" she commented, tilting her head, as she raised her eyebrow incredulously.

He furrowed his brow slightly at her sentiment. How was it a strange name? If anything, nobody really referred to him by Ookami anyways. The lone exception being Kuro-sama. Everyone else referred to him as 'shinobi'. A constant reminder that he was a nameless person in their mind. It made sense. He never really left a lasting impression on them anyways.

Mostly because they ended up dead.

And then there was Isshin-sama, who referred to him affectionately as 'Sekiro'. The One Armed Wolf. Funny how it was still a derivation of the cub/wolf name that he was associated with.

Sekiro shook his head, turning away from the over-analyzation of his name...title...that the girl sparked in his head. "If you're fine, then I'll—"

"Wait, please," she said suddenly, and he felt a tug on his mechanical hand as he turned to walk away. Desperation filled her voice. "Let me come with you. I-I don't know where I am and I'm lost."

Sekiro sighed. He wasn't looking for a companion if that was what she was asking. He had a mission after all, and given the fact that she seemed to be in unknown territory, the last thing he needed to do was to babysit. He was making good progress on his objective.

Though despite his compassionless upbringing, he realized that he wasn't the type to ignore the needs of others, and that extended way past his lord's. That was one of the main reasons why he was able to break the Iron Code after all.

He remained silent for a while, trying to decide the best way to approach the situation. If she were with him temporarily, then fine.

The girl fidgeted anxiously, awaiting his answer.

After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke. "I…can take you back to Ashina. That's as far as I can take you."

He felt satisfied with that. He wasn't leaving this poor maiden with god-knows-what that lay behind the oriental gates past the bridge. And he figured that Isshin-sama and Emma-san would be able to help her out, and he would go back to finding an oversized invasive specie-d lizard.

Relief washed over her face at not being left alone, which was then replaced with confusion, and he felt her hold on his hand release. "Ashi...na?"

"Yes, Ashina," he replied, before turning around and walking down the bridge. Strange. She didn't know what Ashina was? It was one of the more...well known territories in Japan, though he supposed that being a guardian demon monk who watched over the divine palace for who knows how long might...deteriorate some of her memory. Who knows? Maybe she just forgot where Ashina was.

"Um...Ookami-san, where is Ashina?" he heard her ask from behind as she caught up.

Sekiro halted, and he looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "In Japan."

She perked at the name.

"Japan? Have you heard of Kuoh?" she asked, and he saw hope fill her eyes.

The man furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar word. He'd traveled a lot throughout Japan. Maybe Kuoh was a settlement? Or a village? He wasn't sure.

"No."

The girl frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"How could you not know what Kuoh is? It has some of the most prestigious academies in all of Japan!"

Now that was news. Academies? Like...education? He'd never heard of any prestigious academies of any sorts before, and if anything, education was mostly reserved for the nobles and generals.

'Oh, so that was it. This girl must have been the daughter of a noble,' he mused.

"I don't know where Kuoh is again, but I can get you to Ashina, and maybe there, you can figure out how to get back to this...Kuoh that you speak of."

He stared at the girl passively, who looked to be in thought. After a moment of no response, he turned around, and began to walk, leaving the contemplating girl behind.

"Waaait!" he heard cry out, as rapid footsteps approached his retreating form.

"If you're going to think, think and walk," Sekiro said, stopping for her to catch up. This was going to be the last time, he decided.

Finally catching up to his side, he saw her pout.

"Do you have a phone?" she asked.

Once again, Sekiro found himself furrowing his brow at the unfamiliar word. "What is a phone?"

The girl stepped back in shock. "Y-you don't know what a phone is?!"

He shook his head. "No. Answer the question. What is a phone?"

It was her turn to frown, and she explained. "A phone is like a small device that you can use to call people, or to look things up on the internet, or to use a timer or calculator. It has a lot of applications."

Her jargon honestly confused him. Never had he heard of any of those things, save for a select few. Calls like...summoning your lord with a reed whistle? Applications, like...applying something? Everything else blew over his head. What is a calculator? What is this...internet?

In his moment of confused analysis, he missed the worried look that filled her eyes.

"What...what year is it?"

Snapping out of his stupor, he was put into another stupor as he stared at her, and a long pause ensued. He...actually wasn't sure. He only had one reference point at which he could confidently tell her, and he doubted it was an answer she was looking for. "Three years after the Dragonspring Pilgrimage."

"Dragonspring...Pillage?" She asked. He almost laughed at the butchering of such a sanctitious time.

"Dragonspring Pilgrimage. Nevermind it. I'm not sure about the year either. So it's pointless to ask. Maybe Isshin-sama might know," he said, abruptly stopping before a small mossy Buddha.

"Isshin-sama?" she asked. In her distraction, she didn't stop walking when he did, losing her footing near a cliff edge by the idol.

Her eyes widened, and as she was about to topple over, Sekiro's hand shot out and firmly grasped her arm, pulling her in before she could fall into the unknown depths below.

"Th-thanks…" she muttered sheepishly, before turning to face the man.

"This was our stop. Unless you wanted to take the long way down," he said, pointing over the edge.

"What? Was that humor that I just heard?" Akeno asked in faux-shock, stepping back as she held a hand against her chest.

Sekiro only shook his head at her antics, and he watched her peer over into what possibly could have been an untimely demise.

She was mentally tiring him. This whole journey, Sekiro was so sure that he had never had a conversation this long. Even Anayama wasn't this...chatty. Or maybe he was, and he just ignored him.

Regardless, he felt like they'd been talking for a while now, and it was just a short walk from the bridge to the communing idol!

"Come here and sit," Sekiro commanded, crossing his legs as he sat in front of the stone statue.

She stuck her tongue at him, before mimicking his position. He could have sworn he heard her

murmur 'buzzkill'.

"Be silent. I need to focus in order for me to transport us," he said, pulling out an incredibly worn down wooden sculpture of a Buddah from a small pouch that rested on his waist.

This was the Homeward Idol; his way of finding himself home. It allowed him to connect to other sanctious resting spots that the communing idols guarded. Like a network of sorts. He liked to call it the Communing Network.

With his free hand, he grasped the girl's hand firmly, before shutting his eyes, and he began to clear his mind. Blackness was all he saw behind his eyelids, and he felt the recollection of recent events fade away into the back of his mind by will. He heard it. Like water droplets dripping into a vast body of water. And he saw blue aura ripple outward from the blackness, forming a soothing and lulling rhythm. Almost there...

"Ara ara, who knew you were such a flirt? Ufufu…" Akeno giggled, earning a soft chop on the head from the shinobi. He opened one eye and glared at the offender who broke his concentration.

"Owie…" she rubbed her head with her free hand.

"Quiet, or I'll leave you here."

She quickly closed her mouth to prevent any other words from escaping it.

'That shut her up quick,' Sekiro thought in satisfaction, raising the old idol up to his head, and began the process again. Blackness once again pervaded his mind, though this time, he couldn't get rid of his mild irritation at the girl. He needed to focus extra hard to clear his mind.

He felt the rhythmic rippling of aura again, and he felt at peace. Then he began to focus. Clear memories of the gigantic fortress called Ashina. Clear memories of the very top of the castle. Kuro-sama's room. He focused on the warmth and comfortability that he felt whenever he was there. Sharing sake with Emma. Greeting Isshin-sama. Giving the requested items to Kuro-sama after months of hard and unforgiving battles. He focused on the idol in his room that looked similar to the one he was meditating to.

Then, he felt it. The warping sensation. The lull and tug of his spirit and body, as if the aura he felt whisked him away, and he vanished.

Kuro was quite honestly, bored. He was bored most of the time, but he was used to it; resigned to sitting locked away in his room, or the villa, or a tower, or wherever it is that was meant to protect him...or lock him in.

He'd been out a few times, back then. He and Emma would take a stroll outside of the tower sometimes, and even more rarely, outside of the castle gates. Oh how he missed those walks. But then again, those walks also showed him the disgusting greed and horrors of his immortality. Especially when it came to the pressuring urges of the general.

Hence, why he came to enjoy reading books. It surely helped pass time, especially since he couldn't be out and about anymore. It also gave him something to do until his shinobi came back. It was a good thing that the castle was filled to the brim with books.

And that was what he was doing now. Reading. He sat perched up on top of a table near the center of the room, using the dim light of a candle to provide lighting for his book.

A shift in the air caused him to jerk his head up, and he stared at the idol in his room. It was activating. That meant...

"Oh, Ookami. What are you doing here?" he asked, as he saw the familiar body of his shinobi form in the collection of blue aura that centered around the idol. He noticed that he did not have his usual coat on.

The Wolf slowly opened his eyes to greet his master, giving him a curt nod. "I'm here to drop someone off."

"Someone? What do you mean?"

"Kuro-sama, this is Himejima-san. Himejima-san..." the shinobi began talking, before pausing, looking back at the empty space beside him.

"Damn it," he sighed. "I'll be right back. If...it were alright with you, do you mind if I put our quest on hold?"

Kuro raised his eyebrows. He knew that his shinobi was a very efficient man. Everything he did coincided, or at least, brought him closer to whatever it was that he needed to achieve. Though he'd heard, and he felt quite proud of it, he might add, that he'd gone out of his way to help a few of the civilians out. So for him to ask personally, if he could put his quest on hold, then it must be important.

"Of course. I wouldn't say that there's no rush to finish my wish, but how come?"

"There is...a girl."

Kuro couldn't help but allow for a laugh to escape his lips. A girl? This was the first time in never that he mentioned anything about a girl. Did he finally get a girlfriend? He shook his head. No, what he was asking of his shinobi, it was...not something good for something fragile and potentially long lasting as a relationship.

"What's so funny?"

With his laugh finally dying out, he continued. "Not once have I ever heard you mention anything about a girl. Ever."

His shinobi furrowed his brow before sighing, and he could have sworn he heard him say something along the lines of "...just like her."

"Well, this girl…," Ookami started, "she appeared after I killed a guardian of the Fountainhead. She was lost and confused, and she needed a place to go, so...I offered to take her here."

Kuro smiled. To hear is one thing, but to witness his compassion and kindness is another. It truly goes to show how much his shinobi had grown, which wasn't a surprise. Imagine his shock when he'd defied his father's will and that ingrained Iron Code of his.

"Mm. I can't wait to meet her," he hummed thoughtfully.

"Kuro-sama?" his shinobi asked, shock evident in his voice and the miniscule widening of his eyes.

"Yeah, you should take her here. We'll make sure to take good care of her," Kuro nodded happily, eyes flickering back to his book. "Well, Ookami? I think you left her waiting. Which, according to what Emma told me, is not something a man is supposed to do, so go!" Kuro shooed him off with his hand before turning back to his book, losing himself into the bound words.

He heard a fleeting "understood" before a flash of blue aura flared around the idol. Kuro was alone in his room again. That was the biggest highlight of his day today, and now, he was bored.

Akeno was mesmerized when she saw blue energy absorb itself inward into the man who sat perfectly still. It was strange, now that she thought about it. She'd noticed that he was a very nonsensical, urgent man. He was always trying to hurry things along, like he was making progress and she suddenly put a damper on it. She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, if that was the case.

But here he was, unmoving like a statue. A perfect state of meditation.

Now that he wasn't trying to keep leaving her behind, she had the chance to get a good look at him. So, she studied him.

His clothes looked worn and overused, as if the only clothes he owned were the ones on his back. Though she noted that his fashion choice was kind of...weird. Shin guards extended into shoes that emphasized his toes. Like what one of those ninja would wear in some of Rias's animes. A beaten and worn down scarf hung loosely around his neck, like it had gone through thick and thin with its owner. There was a blade that was slung on his hip and his back. She remembered how skillful he was with a blade, and she wondered if maybe he could even go toe to toe with Kiba.

The biggest thing that caught her attention was that mechanical hand of his, that slightly resembled the muscle and arteried that resided underneath the epidermis of the forearm. Blood and oil stains marred the arm, and she saw...hints of a feather stuck between the grooves of the prosthetic.

'Did he hit a bird with it or something?' she asked herself humorously. Though once that thought dispelled, she winced at the implication of owning such a thing. To have a body part severed...she wondered what had happened to the man.

After collecting waves of the energy, she felt and saw the man beginning to dissipate into thin air. She was not entering the same physical state.

"No, no, no, no!" She cried out, attempting to latch onto him, but before she could grab on firmly, he disappeared, and all she grasped was empty air.

The feeling of helplessness returned as she laid flat on the floor, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"No, no, what's wrong with me?" she asked herself, slowly sitting up and wiping away any tears before they could spill.

She was Himejima Akeno, the proud and strong queen of Rias Gremory, one of the Great Oneesamas of Kuoh Academy, a super sadist, and she was known to all as the Priestess of Thunder. She was a strong independent woman, that didn't need no man, especially not that antisocial, good-for-nothing, buzzkill of a man that...was the first person she'd seen...in a while…

"Stop that," she scolded herself, slapping her hands against her cheeks, causing them to turn red amidst her usual porcelain skin. She took a deep breath of fresh air. It was noticeably fresh and crisp here, and it made her feel a bit better. Granted, they were on top of a mountain, but it felt so...pure and clean, and despite snow littering the ground, it wasn't cold at all.

She shivered.

Maybe not that cold. Ookami's coat sure helped a lot.

Idly, she scanned the environment around her. Now was as good a time as any to look around, given that she was finally free from that cage that only watched that stupid gigantic bridge. Maybe it would take her mind off of things.

She stared at the direction in which they came from, and walked back towards the gate leading into the bridge.

Finally, she got a different view of the bridge that she thought she was cursed to watch for who knows how long. The bridge was a beautiful vermillion red, dotted with red fallen leaves and patches of snow. She wondered how the leaves were able to remain this color despite their altitude. The corpse of the dead centipede and the enormous robes of the monk remained on the side of the pathway, which did ruin the beauty a little bit.

"Well...the thing that I was trapped in did feel roomy," she thought to herself as she glanced at the robes. She always wondered what it looked like. Maybe she would ask Ookami when...if he ever came back.

She stared at the red gate on the other side of the bridge, wondering if maybe there was civilization on the other side. She did see a temple far off in the distance.

Deciding to explore further, she stepped forward onto the bridge, and the soft pitter patter of her bare feet hitting the wooden floors amplified in the soft silence of her surroundings.

Halfway through, she halted suddenly in her step. Unease and terror building up rapidly within her body, telling her, screaming at her to turn around. That she shouldn't be here. The devil in her did not like being here.

She trembled slightly, about to push onward, when she heard the distinct sound of energy being pulled in the distance, like waves gently crashing against a shore. She immediately bolted back to the statue.

"Ookami-san!" He heard her say behind him upon returning. "Wh-what happened?"

He opened his eyes and turned around to see her running back to him. She was shivering a bit and he saw glimpses of her milky flesh flash through the opening of his coat. They were going to have to do something about that state of dress.

"You were supposed to teleport with me. It seems that I can't bring more than one person, so we'll have to take the long way back to Ashina."

"You teleported?" She asked curiously. It seemed she wasn't unfamiliar with the idea.

Sekiro nodded once. "I did. Are you familiar with it?"

"Mmm...secret~," Akeno sang teasingly.

Sekiro sighed. There were more important manners. For example...

"We'll need to do something about your state of dress. It won't do you any good if you'll be traveling like that the whole way," Sekiro pointed out, as he stood up.

"Oh? Why, don't you think I look good in your coat? Ufufu..." She asked, twirling around once, as the hem of his coat spun upward, revealing her bottom half to him for a second before it settled again to her sides.

He exasperatedly huffed as he jerked his head away, a small blush forming on his face. "Stop that. We need to make progress."

With that, he walked away from the beautiful girl, and through the red gate. The soft pitter patter of her feet running to catch up reached his ears.

"Mouu, stop leaving me behind," she pouted, which he ignored.

He found the robes of the ungodly monk that lay splayed over the dead centipede, and he walked up to it, unsheathing his sword, and slashed them into large ribbons, leaving one large sheet that would turn into a makeshift skirt.

He wasn't a master at making clothes, but the robes were thick and heavy. Perfect for the colder Ashina weather, though he was surprised that, despite being high above in the heavens, it was not as cold as he thought it to be. Shivers here and there from slight breezes that carried the crisp frostiness of snow, but other than that...

"Come here," he commanded the girl that stood behind him, and she walked in front of him, turning around to face the man.

She opened her mouth to speak.

"I don't want to hear it," Sekiro said, and she shut her mouth, puffing her cheeks. A blush adorned his face. He couldn't believe he was doing this.

Taking the large, cut up sheet in his hand, he kneeled and lifted the hem of the coat, tying it around her waist snuggly. He stared at his craft for a second, before reaching far into his small pouch, pulling out a long lilac colored strip of confetti, and he tied it around the knot of the skirt, reinforcing it. He knew he was wasting it, but if worse came to worst, he didn't want that 'skirt' to undo itself anytime soon.

"How does it feel? Serious answers only."

She hummed in defiance, obviously eager to let something other a serious answer spill, before finally relenting. "It's comfortable."

"Good," he nodded, before taking another strip of cloth and handing it to her, "cover your torso with this."

She accepted the cloth into her hand. "You're not gonna tie it for me?"

"No," he replied, standing up.

She smiled cheekily, before allowing the jacket to fall onto the ground, exposing her bare chest to the man in front of him.

"God…" he muttered, as he quickly jerked his head away. That blush was not going away any time soon.

"Ow…" she winced, shutting her eyes tightly as a throbbing headache overcame her senses. She lifted her hand to rub her temple, trying to soothe the mind numbing pain of hearing that accursed name.

Upon hearing the pained response, he turned back to look at her, a slight tone of concern laced into his voice. "What happened?"

"N-nothing, don't worry about it," she managed to let out.

He sighed, deciding to abandon his embarrassment, and he bent down a bit until he was level with her torso. He stared focusedly at her chest, tying the remaining strips of the robes around her body to cover her exposed skin. He tried his best to ignore her huge...things that bounced with every slight movement.

Why did it feel like torment?

"Ara ara, so you are a gentleman after all," she giggled, seemingly recovering from whatever brain damaging episode she may have endured.

He shook his head, returning to full height, and he looked down at her. "We're wasting time. We need to go."

Akeno was glad that he came back, and as a result, she decided to stay quiet for once, as they finally began their journey.

There wasn't much trouble so far—just the occasional jump down onto a platform that would cause her to stumble in her step. Otherwise, the trek to wherever Ookami was leading them to was actually quite pleasant. Although the silence was a bit unbearable. Not even he uttered a word to her the whole time they were trekking, and she was quite honestly bored.

"This way," she heard the man say, and she rapidly shook her head, snapping out of her daydream. She watched the man hop onto a thick branch that twisted. It reminded her of a brown twizzler.

The path he was taking concerned her. She saw the gigantic branch extend onto a trunk, but it was otherwise a dead end.

Regardless, she held faith in Ookami, and she pursued after him, stepping onto the branch that...did not feel like a branch. She was expecting the prickly, tickling feeling of a tree's rough exterior, but she was instead met with a soft, cushioned feeling, like she was walking on straw.

She turned to look at the man, wanting to ask questions, but he was already by the trunk...leaning into it? His mechanical hand was held up, shielding his mouth from the side, like he was whispering.

Her face contorted into that of confusion, as she continued walking, unheeding of the strange curvature of the surface, and as a result, nearly lost her footing by stepping on a downward concave of one of the twisted...things.

Akeno tumbled a bit, but managed to regain her composure as she stabilized herself. She noted that, surprisingly, the knots that Ookami tied into the makeshift clothes were very well done.

She looked back at the man by the trunk, who was now watching her make her way to him. She wasn't sure if he caught that little slip up. It was hard to tell with that passive stare, though the slight furrowing of his brow might have indicated something. Maybe concern?

There wasn't an issue with falling, but she didn't want to just sprout her wings in front of the man. She knew, based on the centipede and...whatever it is that she was in, that the supernatural did exist, and if this truly was Japan, her Japan—her world or dimension for that matter, then devils, angels and fallen angels did exist. But if they didn't, then what? How would the idea of being a devil seem to the man? Would he think she was a demon? Despite being her savior, they knew next to nothing of each other. So she resolved to keeping her blood secret.

She continued, walking even more carefully, as she stared focusedly at the ground in front of her.

Nearly there, she felt a slight rumbling from the ground beneath her, almost like the branch she was on was about to collapse. Panic flickered in her eyes as her head jolted back up to the man, wondering if he was just as surprised as he was.

She was met with the annoyed look of the man, as if his face was telling her to hurry up.

"Hurry up, it's going to move soon. It won't wait for you forever," she heard Ookami call out. It? What was 'it'? What were they on? Her gaze traveled to what seemed to be the top of the tree. If you could even call it that. The very top of the trunk diverged into multiple segments, curling in different directions, with loose strands of...rope sticking out at the ends.

She widened her eyes in realization.

"I-Is that...a Shimenawa?!" she asked in shock, finally make her way to the man who grasped the head. This Shimenawa was huge! She peered down what possibly was its back, and all she saw was the vast expanse of clouds, its back fading into grey to match the cloud's color. She saw the silhouette of a log sticking out from its back, and despite her enhanced vision, it was hard to make out its details.

She decided that her first course of action when she got back, was to beat the everlasting shit out of every single Shinto maiden in Kuoh.

"You know what this is?" Ookami asked, his brow raised in curiosity.

Nodding her head, she too gripped the head of the gigantic talisman, and she spoke. "This is a Shimenawa, a Shinto spiritual rope that wards off evil spirits and disease. I have one back at home, but...I've never seen anything like...this before."

"So you're Shinto then?" he asked. To Akeno, it was more of a statement.

"Yeah. My mother and I...well, my mother was a miko. I was raised in a Shinto shrine," she replied, a look of forlorn graced her face as she stared upwards. She hoped her mother was fine...wherever she was.

Sekiro looked down, his scarf covering his mouth and he closed his eyes.

It was silent for a bit, save for the clacking of his mechanical hand as he moved his fingers.

"...Sorry for your loss," she heard him say softly, and she looked back at him, giving him a small smile.

"Thank you."

Immediately, he snapped his eyes open, as the rumbling became louder and the platform they were on began shaking strongly. "We're going now. Hold on tight."

She opened her mouth to retort, but before she could, the queasy feeling of dropping from the skies filled her stomach, and she let out a loud scream.

The doll bent down slowly, though to the beauteous ravenette it felt like they were falling faster than her flying. She gripped onto the talisman's head for dear life, her eyes shut harshly, as the duo plunged downward in the sea of clouds.

She felt herself lose her balance as one of its arms raised, before slamming onto the ground with a boom that rocked the environment, and it finally stopped.

With trembling legs, she finally opened her eyes, and she was met with a beautiful, isolated cavern of some sort. Light filtered in from above illuminating the room in a bluish-green tint. The ropey arm acted as a ramp that connected to the beautiful lush greenery below.

"What is this place?" she asked in awe as she scanned the cavernous environment. A lonely palanquin sat below.

"A cave for weddings. This...Shimenawa was how I got up there," Ookami replied, pointing upwards.

Interesting. This cave was meant for weddings? It explained the palanquin, but it seemed like nothing had been here recently. The palanquin itself was a pristine white, but the wooden structures around it were defunct and broken down, rotten away by time.

She smiled cheekily. "Ara, were you going to marry someone?"

He shook his head.

"No surprise there, your future wife would think you're a buzzkill," she said, sticking her tongue at him, and in response the man withdrew a small object from his pouch before throwing it at her, connecting with her head and falling onto the ropey platform with a resounding crack.

"Owie...you...you threw something at me!" she shouted in shock, rubbing the part of her head that made contact with the small object.

"You're annoying," he said, withdrawing his extended hand, before walking down the ramp, leaving her behind.

Akeno, not wanting to be left behind again for the millionth time, carefully made her way down to the ground, being less careful this time, given that falling off did not mean that she would be falling through the skies.

Making it to the bottom, she jumped down with a soft thump, her bare feet hitting the grassy patch beside the shinobi. The scent of wet earth hit her nose as she landed.

"Let's go," he said, and the two walked through the area, passing through the lonely palanquin until they came across a shallow moat.

She dipped her toe into the water, and found that it was freezing.

'Why does the cave feel...normal, and the water so cold?!' she complained in her mind. It made no sense.

She heard the sloshing of water, and she watched Ookami wade through the water, heedless of its freezing temperature. 'How?!'

She realized that he didn't know she wasn't following him. Or maybe he did, and he just wanted to leave her behind again.

"U-um…" she started, and the man who was already halfway through, knee deep in the water, turned around to look at her.

"What is it?"

She pointed downwards at her bare feet, already dirtied brown and green from the mud and the grass stains from walking through the grass. She was not going to step in the water.

He sighed, before turning back to her, wading through the water that decreased in its displacement as he approached the shore until he was in front of her.

Removing the covered odachi on his back, he turned around and crouched. "Get on."

"Ara?"

"I said what I said. Get on."

Smiling, she gently climbed atop his back and latched her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. His hair tied into a small bun tickled her nose slightly.

"Choo!" She sneezed softly, and the two rocked slightly upon her sudden movement.

"Watch it," he said, shifting his body. "Are you comfortable?"

"Mmm."

With a nod, the two crossed the water in silence, careful in his step as to not cause them to fall over.

The only sound came from the sloshing of the man's legs in the water.

"Ookami-san," she said suddenly.

"Hm," came his noncommittal reply.

"Why were you up there?"

She knew he didn't really...like conversations, but to her it was so hard to live without a bit of noise. She enjoyed chatter. Hence why she would always strike up small conversations with her peerage mates, or why she would always be talking to Rias. She and her would come up with the most goofiest of conversations sometimes.

He was silent for a bit, as if contemplating on how to answer.

"That...does not concern you," he said coldly. The coldness in his reply surprised her, and she flinched. Okay, so maybe that was a sensitive subject.

"I...Sorry for asking," Akeno resigned, returning to silence, as the two finished crossing the moat.

Upon reaching the other side, Ookami crouched to allow her to climb off his back, and the two continued walking through grass until they were met with a gigantic door.

"Past here will get incredibly dangerous," he warned, as he placed his hand on the door. "I will only say this once. If we face any stragglers, let me engage. Don't let anyone get close, and do not, by all means necessary, let any liquid from the river or the ground from here on out enter your mouth. Do you understand?"

Akeno frowned. He was treating her like a baby! She wasn't one! Though she supposed that, being in a foreign place, she shouldn't let that get to her head. She'd prove it to him later that she could handle herself just fine.

"Yeah, I understand."

"Good," he nodded before pushing the doors open. The rumble from the door shook the cave, and Akeno wondered how strong he was if he could push the gigantic doors open easily.

Upon opening the doors, Akeno was met with the rancid smell of decay and stagnation, and the air felt tainted with disease; she couldn't help but scrunch her nose in disgust. Whatever this place was was such a major contrast to the crisp and pure air up above.

'To think those places were so close to each other, too…' Akeno thought, glancing sideways to the shinobi who seemed unperturbed by the smell. Maybe he was used to it. He did, after all, go this way to get to her.

And so, the two walked forward, steeling onward into the once beautiful Mibu Village.

So this shit happened. Yeah, y'already know, criticisms welcome. I kinda made this for y'all waiting for Iron Code Chapter 3 cos I just finished redoing the first and second chapter for that story too. Butt I also wrote this because I really liked the idea too. Sorta just popped up into my head, and I'm like, "Ooh this needs to get written down." Butt ye. As I continue with the other stories and stuff, see y'all in four years.