Ayumi was sitting alone at a fire she had built. It had been three days since she had first been captured. She poked the fire once more and sighed from boredom. At least in her time there were books to read, even if they were boring. She slowly got off of the wet log and doused the fire. She looked around and saw Kagura flying far overhead on a feather. She didn't see Kohaku anywhere.

"Hey," Kohaku said from behind her. Ayumi jumped and turned around. "Naraku wants me to take you somewhere."

"Where?" Ayumi asked.

"We're going to a village nearby," Kohaku looked away before continuing. "Naraku doesn't want you around when a… friend comes."

"A friend?" Ayumi wondered but she shrugged it off and followed Kohaku as he traveled out of the castle's magic. Ayumi was nervous when Kohaku told her to stay there then suddenly ran off. She didn't want to stat out alone, but she didn't want to disobey him.

"It's safe," Kohaku said from behind her.

Ayumi jumped again and wondered if she would ever get used to that. "Safe from what?" she asked.

"There were bandits waiting ahead," Kohaku answered.

"You didn't- You didn't kill them did you?" Ayumi asked. She searched his blade for any blood, but none showed.

"No, they were on the path nearby. If you listen, there are no sounds of animals or forest life besides the trees. That means that there are most likely bandits ahead." Kohaku explained.

"Oh, cool! Any other forest tips to give out?" Ayumi asked.

"Umm, if it happens, I'll be able to explain it better," Kohaku frowned. All of those things were second nature to him, how would he be able to explain?

"Cool," Ayumi smiled and began walking on the path again. Kohaku followed her, his trained steps making no noise at all. He looked at her bouncing hair and smiled as the sun made it seem like it glowed. Ayumi looked back to check on him and he quickly looked down. He blushed, but couldn't understand why he did.

Ayumi turned back and blushed too. She felt her heart flutter when she saw him blush. She listened to the birds that hardly ever played in the city. They sounded so near, unlike the pigeons of downtown Tokyo that sang on the tops of the towers. She listened as Kohaku's footsteps broke a twig behind her. She froze, Kohaku didn't make any noise. He was a demon hunter, and they are supposed to be like ninjas.

Ayumi turned slowly to see a group of people surrounding her and Kohaku tied in a net hung from a tree. Ayumi's heart jumped into her throat as the men advanced. Their eyes were all clouded over by shadow. Ayumi looked for an opening, anything to get away, but she didn't see one.

Kohaku pulled out a dagger and started cutting the wire net. He had found the bandits on the other trail. Had they seen him? He broke one of the cords and started on another as the bandits pulled out their knives and moved closer to Ayumi. Kohaku broke through another cord, but it wasn't fast enough. Ayumi screamed as the first bandit broke the ring and lunged at her. She dodged, but fell as he slashed again.

The man slashed at her throat as she screamed again. She kicked up and hit him in the stomach before he could slice her. He fell to the ground next to her and she moved quickly to stand. Another man broke the circle as the first one was getting up. She dodged him quickly and ran to the opening he had made. Kohaku cut through another cord and reached down. He grabbed her arm and swung her up into the tree.

Ayumi was breathing heavily as she helped Kohaku break free. She undid the knot at the top of the net as the men started climbing up the tree. Kohaku fell from the net and landed on two men. He got up as one of the men sliced down. The man sliced through his companion and yelled with rage as Kohaku jumped up and embedded his knife into the man's neck. Ayumi looked away and felt like she was going to vomit. A man reached up from a branch below and grabbed her leg. She screamed and kicked the man off of the tree. She climbed higher as three more men followed her.

Kohaku was still busy fighting off five men with one blade. He didn't want to kill any of them in front of Ayumi, but he had to. He heard her scream again as a branch broke from underneath her and she dangled from a branch that was slowly cracking. Kohaku looked up and got sliced in the stomach as the men surrounded him. He tried to dodge all of the blades, but couldn't. He pulled out his chain-sickle and began to strike down the opponents.

Ayumi couldn't look. She had to focus on the branch. She slowly made her way towards the edge to the branch, hoping she could reach the other tree. The men were stating to climb closer still and the branch was about to break off from all the weight. Ayumi swung and jumped to the next branch as the first one fell to the ground. Ayumi screamed at Kohaku. He dodged the broken branch just in time and jumped up to climb to where Ayumi was. The men below weren't moving, either they were unconscious or dead, one couldn't tell. Kohaku grabbed Ayumi's waist and slowly helped her down from the tall tree.

Ayumi smiled as she stepped away from Kohaku and blushed when he looked away. She looked at the bodies of the bandits and pulled out a sword that wasn't bloody. She shrugged and said, "Just in case," when Kohaku looked at her strangely. She couldn't stand looking at the bodies for very long and told Kohaku she had to go to the bathroom so he wouldn't know she vomited. The sight of so much blood ad mangled bodies made her realize why her mother didn't stay here long.

She walked back the trail and smiled as Kohaku cleaned his chain-sickle. She sat down on the fallen branch and began praying for the souls. She felt that it was the only thing she could do. Kohaku gave her another strange look, but she didn't notice. She finished her prayer as Kohaku stood to go. Ayumi slid her sword into her belt loop, amazingly it fit, and followed Kohaku down the trail.

They reached the village by the afternoon and saw that it was deserted. Ayumi let out a depressed sigh when she heard her stomach growl. She added a point to the mental list of why Kagome goes back to her time and doesn't stay in Feudal Japan. She looked around and saw a little boy cowering in a corner of a building and walked over.

"Hey there, I'm Ayumi. What's your name?" Ayumi asked politely.

"You're a demon! Please don't kill me!" The boy cried.

"I'm not a… never mind," she realized she was technically a demon since her dad was, but that didn't mean that all demons were evil. "I'm a good demon," she smiled. It didn't have the effect she had wanted, but the boy turned to look at her.

"A good demon? Are there good demons?" The boy asked.

"Well, I am, so I guess so. What's your name?" Ayumi held out her hand and helped the boy stand.

He was still shaky and nervous when he stammered, "H-Ha-Hara."

"Hara, where is everyone from this village?" Ayumi asked.

"They ran away. Most of them were killed by demons. I had to find my sister, but I couldn't see her. It was late and the demons were like dark shadows in the sky!" Hara hugged Ayumi and cried into her shirt. She patted his back and tried to give him support, but she didn't know what to do.

"Don't worry, I'm sure your sister is around here somewhere," Ayumi lied. She didn't think that a young girl would still be alive after a demon attack, but she had to give support to the little boy.

"Ayumi, come here." Kohaku ordered. He sounded tense and nervous. Ayumi pushed Hara off of her and grabbed the handle of the sword she stole.

"What is it Kohaku?" Ayumi asked. She listened and heard no noise except Hara, sobbing into her arm. "Another bandit attack?"

"No, it's bigger than that." Kohaku grabbed his chain-sickle and Ayumi pulled out her sword. She really didn't know how to use it, but she hoped it would help.

"It's the demons! They've come back!" Hara cried into Ayumi's arm and grabbed her leg tightly.

"It's coming," Kohaku warned and tightened his grip on his weapon.

A swarm of demons flew over the kids' heads and turned around in the sky to attack. Most of them looked like giant snakes with wings protruding out of their bodies every ten feet. Some of them had arms with dagger-like claws on them. All of them had fangs that snapped at the group. Ayumi managed to cut on down, but it instantly healed.

"Nothing's working!" Ayumi cried as she watched Kohaku's attack instantly heal.

"We have to find my sister!" Hara pulled on Ayumi's arm. Ayumi dropped her sword and fell to the ground. Hara started to run to the nearest house and tried to open the door. Ayumi grabbed her sword and ran after Hara, not hearing Kohaku's orders to stay near him.

"Wait! Hara, come back!" Ayumi yelled as Hara pried the door open and went inside. Ayumi ran up to the door and saw a little girl hiding under a table. She walked in as a demon flew by and stopped by the scared little girl. Hara was talking to her and asking all sorts of questions. The girl didn't answer any of them.

"Ayumi, something's wrong," Hara warned.

"You think?" Ayumi said sarcastically and motioned to the door when a demon flew by.

"She won't talk! Miharu is the only one who can save us!" Hara cried, ignoring the demons surrounding the building.

"How can she save us? She's just a little girl! We have to help Kohaku!" Ayumi shouted over the roaring and screeching of the demons.

"I am not a little girl!" The girl pouted.

"Well then, if you're such a big girl, than help us!" Ayumi shouted. The girl looked away and didn't say anything. Hara glared at Ayumi. "Look, I'm sorry, but if we don't get out of here the demons are going to hurt my friend." Ayumi said softly, she had to be face-to-face with the girl so she could just hear her.

"I need your help." The girl whispered to Ayumi.

"How?" Ayumi asked as the boy let go of the girl.

"Grab my hands," the girl murmured and held out her hands. Ayumi wasn't sure about it, but she grabbed them. A burning pain shot through her body and she closed her eyes. She tried to pull her hands free, but couldn't. She struggled against the pain, her vision was blurry and soon, all she saw was darkness.