DISCLAIMER: I do not own Saiyuki. Please don't sue me. Suing is a bad, bad thing. : Screams, running away from angry lawyers with big brief cases :
In a darkened hut somewhere in the middle of an old forest a small, black haired child wakes up screaming. "NO!"
At the child's cry, another girl, one that looks like an older version of the child, comes running in. "What's wrong, little one?" She asks calmly, pulling the golden-eyed thing into her lap. "Do you want to talk about it?"
The smaller child leans into her sister, sobbing loudly. "They won't go away, Onee-san!" She tells the young woman. "They won't go away!"
The girl looks down at the crying child. "What do you mean?" She asks quietly. "Who won't go away?"
"They're chasing me and then I fall down." Fearful little hiccups interrupt the girl's words. "There's a light and the shadows get scared, but a big monster yells, "Keep moving!" so they do. They move faster and faster. They run at the light and then-" The child breaks off, looking at a speck of white on the hard wood floor.
"Then what, Chiisai?" The woman rocks her younger sister soothingly. "Tell me." She says.
"Well," the child begins, "the light fades. It turns into a shadow and comes after me. Onee-san, it's so scary! The shadows chase me again, and they just won't stop! My legs hurt, my eyes burn, I can't even breathe, but they won't go away!" The child bursts into tears once more.
Shaking the youngling gently the older girl tries to stop her renewed sobs. "Oh, Chii! Next time, dream that you have my sword. Then, run after the monster. If you kill the monster, then the shadows will change. They'll be nice to you. They will become lights, and you will be safe."
The one named Chiisai looks at her sister with a hopeful expression on her face. "Promise?" She whispers.
The older girl answers her, nodding. "Yes, little One. I promise. Now, go back to sleep. I will stay with you and keep the shadows away."
"Thank you, Onee-san." The child says, hugging the older one tightly. "I love you!"
"And I you, my little Chiisai." The honey-eyed girl murmurs. "And I you."
Only moments pass before the child speaks again. "Onee-san." She says.
"Yes, little one?"
"If the shadows come, will you protect me?"
Looking down at her sister, the young woman speaks gently. "Yes."
The child gives her a skeptical look. "Always?"
"Always, baby." She answers. "Always and forever."
"Thank you, Onee-san." The child hugs her sister again before snuggling closer and preparing for sleep.
"You're welcome, little one." The older says. "Goodnight."
Some hours later, the child's sister is awakened by her screams. "Onee-san! Onee-san, save me!"
"Hold on, child! I'm coming!" The girl calls, believing her sister to be having another nightmare.
"Onee-saaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" The little one screams as her sister pounds on the door. The hunk of wood swings aside to reveal a grisly scene.
"Chiisai? Chiisai!" The woman bolts awake, screaming from her nightmarish memory.
The door to her room bangs open to reveal a young man of seemingly sixteen years moving forward worriedly. "Kumori?" He says, watching the tears work their way down the girl's face." Kumori, What is it!" He cries. "Tell me what's wrong!"
The girl called Kumori turns away. "I-It's nothing." She says. "A nightmare. That's all. Just a nightmare."
"Kumori," her handsome friend starts, "that's the third time this week that you've woken from a nightmare. If you talk about it, it just might go away."
The girl shakes her head fervently. "It won't ever go away, Goku!" She screams. "It won't go away because… because I killed her! I killed her, Goku! My little one! My Chiisai! I swore I'd keep her safe from the shadows and I let them have me! I gave myself to them! And then I let her blood run through my fingers! But that isn't the worst part, Goku."
"Then what is?" He asks.
"…" The young man watches her in her silence.
"Kumori?" He asks.
"I liked it." Her whispered words are barely audible.
"Liked what?" The guy cocks his head to one side in a manner that would be comical if the situation were not so serious.
"I liked killing her." The one called Kumori mutters in disgust. "I tore out her still beating heart and laughed. She looked so betrayed but I didn't care. I just laughed."
"…" The girl turns her head towards the man named Goku, her catlike eyes narrowed into slits as she watches him. "You think I'm a monster. Don't you?"
"No, Kumori." He answers at last. "You're not a-"
"STOP IT!" She screams, interrupting him. "Don't lie to me, Goku! I know I'm a monster! I killed my little Chiisai and I loved it! If that doesn't make me a monster, I-"
"NO, KUMORI!" He cries, taking hold of her shoulders and giving them a little shake. "If you're a monster for that, then I am, too! For all the women and children that I've killed!"
"I-I don't understand." She mumbles, shaking her head in confusion.
"I'm a demon, too, Kumori." He reminds her. "It's in a demon's nature to kill. You are no more a monster than you are pleased about what you did. Do you regret killing her?"
"YES!" She hisses vehemently. "Of course I do! She was mine!"
"Why?" He asks. "Why do you regret it?"
"Because-" The dark haired young woman freezes for a moment, as if in hesitation. "Because I loved her."
"There!" He cries triumphantly.
"What?"
"THAT is why you aren't a monster!" He says. "Demons are creatures of madness. Restraints suppress that madness. Without them, feelings of love and regret are pushed down and out of the way of the madness and anger, but you still loved her and monsters don't love, so, you aren't a monster."
"I-I think I understand." She says. "But, it still hurts."
"I know. But that's just more proof that you aren't a monster. I don't think it's possible for you to be one. No matter what you do." He pulls the girl to his chest, kissing the top of her head softly.
"Thanks, Goku." She says, returning his hug. "I never thought I'd ever hear any kind of wisdom from your mouth. ESPECIALLY not when it comes to something like this."
The young man laughs aloud at her comment as he holds her tightly to his chest. "I'll take that as a compliment!"