"Houshi-sama!"

I had been sitting outside on the porch, watching Kohaku and his sister play with their pet when Kohaku took note of me. Two days had passed, and only then had I realized that their little cat had two tails, and was in actuality a demon. For demon exterminators to take in a demon as a pet meant that there was more to this family than met the eye. They were unusually tolerant; even the young lady of the house was kind enough to me when my hands were kept to myself (which was not as often as it should have been, I fear).

I smiled at the young Kohaku as he sprinted over to me, the small cat in his arms.

"Have you met Kirara yet?" I shook my head and offered the cat a light pat on the head. "Hello there, Kirara," I told her. "It's a pleasure to formally meet you." Seeing her up close, I found it difficult to believe that I had been unable to tell that she was a demon. Her wide red-orange eyes closed in contentment at the gentle touch on her forehead and she let out an endearing mewl. She seemed to like me, which told me that she was quite intelligent.

I looked up to see Kohaku's sister looking up at me, then turning away with a dim blush.

She had not told me her name, nor had she asked for mine. I doubted that my name would have mattered much to her. After that first day, both her father and her brother resorted to calling me "houshi-sama." I did not detest the term, but felt unfit to bear a title of such respect when it was obvious that even young Kohaku knew more about spirituality than I was supposed to know. I had taken to calling the girl Taijya-chan. She hated the name, but did not seem inclined to give me her real one. She was quite strange, but charming all the same.

"Are you feeling better, houshi-sama?"

With a smile, I ascertained that I was. Kohaku had seated himself besides me and let Kirara go. She sprinted off and joined her mistress, bringing a smile to the girl's face. I sighed and tried to ignore her beauty; it would be my luck to find a girl that was as pretty as she was strong and yet be unable to make any sort of advances towards her since even her younger brother was probably able enough to kill me before I knew what was happening. "Much better, thank you. I do believe I am well enough to depart your village soon."

I saw with some surprise that this brought a small frown to the boy's face.

"Where will you go?" I shrugged as I tried to look at the sky rather than at Taijya-chan. "I have never bothered to stop and think of a given destination, Kohaku-kun." Looking down at him, I explained, "I am after a powerful demon, you see. Your father has been allowing me to read some of your village's historical texts to assist me in capturing it."

The boy nodded solemnly and whispered, "Naraku."

I nodded. "So then you have heard of him as well?" Kohaku looked down. "Yes. We've all heard of him. He's a dangerous villain, to be sure. We have kept ourselves hidden from the more dangerous demons who hate us and the villagers claim that he has threatened to reveal our whereabouts if he hears that we know anything about the sacred jewel and are hiding it from him." Looking back up at me, he continued. "Personally, I think that such a rumor is foolish. I have asked Father about it, but he will neither deny nor affirm it." With a pause, Kohaku then noted, "Though we have been getting attacked more and more frequently by progressively stronger demons."

No sooner had Kohaku said these words than a scream was heard in the distance.

I looked up and rose to my feet. I saw that Taijya-chan was gone, as was Kirara. A roar was heard coming from the trees that separated the village from the wilderness. I was about to tell the boy to stay back when he ran forward. "Sister!" How foolish of me. The boy was a trained fighter, and his elder sister has suddenly gone missing. He would not take this laying down, and neither would the rest of the village.

I looked about me to see that the taijya of the village were gathering their weapons and running for the woods, in response to the screams.

Picking up my staff from the ground, I moved to follow after them when a hand fell upon my shoulder. I looked back to see the stern face of a man who looked vaguely familiar. "Stay here, houshi. This is a job for the taijya." I shook my head, feeling something foreboding in the direction of the woods. "No, you don't understand. An ominous presence looms-."

"You've used that line far too many times, houshi."

I blinked at him in surprise. He must have appeared familiar because we had crossed one another's paths in another village. To this day, I am unsure. I only know for certain that he was not a taijya. Walking away, he said, "You're injured and have been receiving good care, and have not found yourself turned away despite your obvious lack of composure. Don't meddle in their affairs, or they'll begin to expect far too much from you, and will be highly disappointed when you don't deliver."

Irritated, I turned swiftly and ran into the forest, ignoring his calls.

I think, on some level, I knew that he was right. I had only recently set out on my own and was hardly as strong as I could have been, caring only for women and the occasional sake. Kami, I prayed as I ran blindly amongst the trees, not realizing that I had sprinted into a different part of the woods than the taijya had. Grant me the power to do these people a good turn.

I only subconsciously realized that my cursed hand was wrapped painfully tight around my staff.

I stopped at a clearing. Looking about, I felt the presence of a demon. Bearing my staff, my free hand slipped within a secret pocket of my robes, clutching an exorcism scroll. Hearing a low growl behind me, I turned swiftly. A large demon was making its way towards me quickly. I was about to call upon my spiritual powers before I looked into its large red-orange eyes and realized who it was.

"Kirara?"

The two-tailed cat was much larger now, flames licking about her body. I walked closer and ascertained that these flames were a part of her and not actually engulfing her. I looked up into her eyes and could almost swear that they conveyed a look of sadness. Coming towards me, Kirara nudged her face against my shoulder. I took this to be some form of an embrace and draped my arm about her neck. My hand touched upon something sticky.

I peered around and saw that her yellow fur was damp with blood.

Taking a step back, I looked at her. She returned my gaze firmly. She had not flinched when I touched her, and so it was safe to assume that the blood did not belong to her. Slowly, I understood that Kirara had come to retrieve me and take me to her endangered mistress.

Quickly jumping onto her back, I called, "Go, Kirara!"

I held onto her tightly as she unexpectedly took to the air. Regaining my balance, I wondered if there was anything that this cat could not do. Thankfully, I was acquainted with a tanuki who also had flying capabilities, and so this was not a wholly foreign thing for me. Looking down, I saw that her speed greatly outmatched that of my acquaintance.

Something dire must have happened to force Kirara to make haste.

As she descended from the air, I quickly saw what had happened. The young Taijya-chan was being attacked by what appeared to be a snake demon. Its monstrous head almost cleared the trees and it stared down evilly at its prey. She was on the ground, her leg twisted in such a way to suggest an open gash, at the least. Having been caught unawares, she was unarmed. Or so I thought at first glance. I did not see her katana lying on the ground some feet away from her, blocked from her grasp by the coiling tail of the demon. I noticed Kirara slowed and wondered why for only a brief moment. A spark of energy surged out and hit her, making her jerk backwards.

This demon had the ability to create a barrier.

I cursed to myself. I had never learned how to break down barriers, only create them. Kirara lowered me onto the ground and I dismounted from her. The snake set its glowing red eyes on me, its expression similar to that of a grinning madman. Desperate to find some way to help Taijya-chan, I took a step towards the barrier and extended my hand.

It passed right through the barrier.

I blinked at it in surprise. Could it be that only demons were repelled by this barrier? How can that be? I looked up at the snake, which emitted a hiss of enraged surprise. Deciding to use this to my advantage, I put on a determined expression and ran straight through this "barrier."

The snake charged at me at the same time.

It made a lunge for me, its jaws opened wide. I jumped into the air and struck its head with my staff, rolling off its back and onto the ground. It let out a sound similar to that of dead leaves rustling on a winter's night as it hit the ground. I got up quickly and sprinted towards the wounded warrior, who was looking up at me in shock.

"H-h-h-houshi-sama," was all she managed to say.

I quickly crouched and looked down at her leg. She had not had the time to change into uniform, and so her yukata was stained by her own blood. Hearing movement behind me, I spun around. My staff's top piece had recently been sharpened by the taijya, and so should have torn open the flesh of the demon. I saw no such injury. This led me to one simple conclusion.

The demon had no flesh.

A ghost, is it? I stood straight and put my hand back into my robes. The snake went for me again. I heard an uncharacteristic screech coming Taijya-chan and could have sworn I felt hands clutching at the hem of my robe. Easily enough dealt with. "Disperse, evil spirit!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, calling forth every ounce of spiritual strength the Buddha had blessed me with as I threw the scroll at the ghost.

It was hit between the eyes, mere feet away from us.

It let out a shrill hiss, if such a thing is possible. As it began to tremble, I crouched once again, and put a reassuring arm around Taijya-chan, who stared on in disbelief. Horrible, earth-shattering sounds were heard, and I saw its weak barrier wavering and then finally fall. Was I able to walk through it because of my spiritual gifts? I had not time to expound on these thoughts as a bright light flared. Taijya-chan and I both turned our heads to shield our eyes.

This put our faces but an inch apart, causing her to blush furiously.

When the light died down, I stood once again and walked to where the demon had been. In its place was a small snake, no different than one would find in a garden. How terrible that even the most harmless of things can be consumed with evil, I thought as I slammed the end of my staff down onto it, putting the creature out of its misery. The average monk would have let it go back into the wild and pray that the animal would find rest.

I am not the average monk.

Looking back, I saw that Kirara had made her way back to her mistress. Taijya-chan was trying to use her in order to help her to her feet. I walked over and extended my hand to her. She pretended she didn't see it and continued to struggle. Amused by her pride and simultaneously aghast by how bloodstained her clothing had become, I moved behind her and took her by the waist. She tensed up, but relaxed when she saw that I was only lifting her onto Kirara's back.

For some reason, I felt that I would have been more likely to do something if she had been strong enough to strike me.

"Sister?" I looked back. It was then when I realized that the sounds of the forest had been silent while the snake was alive. Had the barrier also been enough to block out sound? But then, why would it block out sound and not sight? I had never heard of such a barrier. And had I not also heard the snake's hissing while I was still outside? What exactly was it that enabled me to enter the barrier? I looked up at the large cat, who was accommodating her injured comrade as best as she could. And did Kirara somehow know about it?

"Kohaku-kun," I yelled out, "Gaanetto-sama! Over here!"