4 years ago...

"Kakari!"

Kakari ran as fast as her legs could take her. She couldn't get caught. She just couldn't. She ran and ran and ran, for what seemed like forever.

"I'm going to get you!" someone said from behind her.

Kakari let out a scream as someone grabbed her around the waist. And pulled her up. Then he grabbed her by the ankle and let her dangle.

Kakari laughed, "Papa! Let me down!"

Papa chuckled, "If only I could summer pear," he raised her to eye level, "but if I do, you'd never get to bed."

"Why do I have to go to bed?" Kakari asked folding her arms. Then she giggled. She liked being upside down. She unfolded her arms so they could dangle. Hoping this moment could last forever.

"Because you're still young. When you're older you can stay up as long as you want," Papa said.

Then mama came into the room and papa swung Kakari over his shoulder. Kakari laughed at the quick motion.

"Come on, it's time for bed." mama said.

"But mamaaaaa," Kakari complained.

"Your mother is right," papa said placing her on the floor.

"Ok," Kakari said, "but could you swing me upside down again first?"

Mama gave papa an unamused look. Papa smiled sheepishly.

"Sure, why not?" Papa said grabbing Kakari.

Mama rolled her eyes. Kakari giggled in approval.

Papa swung her upside down. Kakari laughed. Then he put her on his back-Kakari still upside down- and took her to her room. Then carefully, he dropped her onto her bed.

Mama pulled the blankets over Kakari, "Go to sleep now."

"But I don't want to!" Kakari complained.

"Well, if you don't, then the demons will come and eat you!" papa said then he shoved his face into her stomach and made silly noises. Kakari laughed as she tried to push her papa off her.

When papa finally stopped Kakari fell back into her bed. "Demons aren't real," she said.

"Yes, demons aren't real," mama said shooting papa a death glare. He chuckled uncomfortably.

Papa kissed Kakari on the forehead, "Get some sleep my Summer pear."

Then he left. Mother came over and kissed her on the forehead, "There's nothing to worry about, go to sleep now."

Then she left.

Kakari turned on her side. She pulled the blanket over her head. Papa was always joking, but that didn't excuse the fact that Kakari still got scared. Then she slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Kakari woke up to a scream. She sat up and looked towards her door. Then came another. Then a bang. Then some cries. Kakari lay back down and cowered behind her blankets.

'It's just a dream, it's just a dream.' She thought. But tears were still falling from her eyes. She was frozen in fear. Then she heard footsteps.

Kakari felt herself stop breathing. She stopped moving. Then the door opened. Kakari wished she could just disappear.

Then someone grabbed her. She was about to scream, but then someone covered her mouth with their hand. Then she saw that it was only mama. She had tears down her face, and blood was stained in her long black hair and her clothes. It looked like she tried to wipe most of it off her face.

"Where's papa?" Kakari whispered.

Mother didn't answer, instead, she opened the window, grabbed Kakari. And she very carefully placed her outside.

"I love you Kakari," she said, "run, okay? Run and don't come back for me." She closed the window. Then in a horrific moment, blood had been splattered all over the window. Kakari screamed, then turned and ran into the night.

She decided to go through the forest so they couldn't follow her. She dashed into the trees. Branches scraping across her face, ripping her clothes. She felt the tears coming down her cheeks.

She continued running. This is just a bad dream, this is just a bad dream, she kept telling herself, I'm going to wake up, and mama and papa are going to hug me! Although, as she thought this, a part of her knew the truth.

Kakari ran through the trees, rerouting whenever a tree came into her path. Then she felt a sharp pain in her foot. She found herself on the ground covered in mud. She had stepped on a sharp rock. Kakari grabbed her kimono and shoved it in her mouth to prevent anyine from hearing her scream.

She couldn't let anyone hear her. She bit down hard. Tears streamed fast from her eyes. She tried to wipe them, but there was too much.

She pulled the sharp rock out of her foot. And let out another muffled scream. The rock had gone deep into her foot, or it was covered in a lot of blood. Either way she threw the rock at a tree.

She banged her fist on the ground to distract the pain in her foot with another pain. Blood poured from the wound, staining her kimono. She held her foot with one hand as She tried to rip off her sleeve with the other. She could tie the sleeve around her foot, but her strength was leaving her quickly.

She kept tugging at it though. Then she heard the trees rustling. Someone was getting closer to her. She looked around for a place to hide. She looked up at a tree, but she knew she wouldn't be able to climb it with her foot in the condition it is.

She decided to hide behind the tree. She pulled herself with her arms dragging her foot behind her. When she made it behind the tree, she saw that she had left behind a trail of blood.

The rustling came closer. Kakari looked around the tree. Then appeared a man. But not a man. He had grey skin, with green triangles decorating his body. He wore dark blue hakama pants, with a dusty purple haroi, with nothing underneath the haroi, revealing a bare chest. Kakari was now paralyzed with fear. Was this the demon papa had warned her about the night before?

He spotted the trail of blood to Kakari's dismay. She quickly hid her head behind the tree before he could see her.

But he must've seen her cause he then came over to the tree Kakari was hiding behind. But he didn't look behind it, "Are you ok?" he asked gently.

Kakari didn't dare breathe.

"Will you let me clean that wound? It seems pretty bad," he said.

Kakari didn't reply. She wished she could run away but her foot wouldn't let her.

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked. "There's no need to worry, if you don't tell me, I can't help you," he said in an ethereal voice.

Kakari's lungs started hurting so she took her kimono out of her mouth so she could get some air. The air was cold and hurt to breathe in. The grey man came around the tree.

He knelt and started cleaning her foot with his haroi. "Probably need to clean it with water," he mumbled.

"What happened?" he asked looking up at her and pulling her kimono out of her mouth.

Kakari burst into tears. The man seemed unsurprised, he then turned to face the way Kakari had come.

He stood up. Then someone burst out of the bushes. He had pink skin and short black hair. He was covered in blood so Kakari couldn't make out the rest of him.

The man growled, "THAT'S MY DINNER RIGHT THERE!"

The grey man with triangles remained calm, "What are you doing?"

"THAT'S MY DINNER, YOU BASTARD!"

"You already ate this girl's parents, you can leave her be," the grey man said smoothly.

"AND WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN'T DO?!"

"You already ate this girl's parents, you can leave her be," he repeated.

The pink jumped at the grey man. But the grey man looked undisturbed. The pink man swung his arm at the grey man's face. But then he grabbed his wrist and twisted it right off, he smacked him with a disembodied hand in the face. Then he threw it.

Then he turned to Kakari, "Close your eyes," he said with a sweet smile. Kakari didn't hesitate and put her hands on her eyes.

There was a loud cracking sound. Then Kakari felt something warm splatter across her. She shivered. Then there was a smash. But Kakari didn't look up.

This went on for what seemed like forever. So Kakari focused on the thumping in her foot. She'd rather focus on the pain than hear the horrifying sounds.

Then everything went silent. Someone moved her hands from her eyes. It was the grey man. He was covered in blood, but he gave her a warm smile.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He'll grow back in a little bit," he explained, but only made her more confused.

"What's your name little girl?" he asked.

"K-kakari," she answered.

"That's a pretty name. My name is Aki," he said, "are you alright?"

Kakari nodded. Then she paused and shook her head.

"I see," Aki said, "how about we clean that wound of yours?"

He carefully picked up Kakari. He then turned and started walking further into the woods. Then Kakari caught a glance at the pink man.

He was ripped limb from limb. And his head was smashed against a boulder. Blood everywhere. Kakari quickly looked away. She looked at Aki, and there was barely any blood on him. Maybe a splatter here and there, but other than that, there was barely any blood.

He brought her over to a small creek. He set her down and put her foot into the water. Kakari cringed at the pain. Aki knelt into the water and started scrubbing her feet.

"Why are you helping me?" Kakari asked.

Aki hesitated, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Cause you're a demon."

Aki looked up at her. He studied her face- looking for something. "Yes…" he said slowly, "I am… how'd you know that?"

"Cause you look like a monster," Kakari answered.

Aki laughed uncomfortably, "I suppose I do." Then he started scrubbing more vigorously which made Kakari wince. Kakari then patted him on the head.

Aki took her foot out of the water to study it. Then tearing a small piece of his haroi, he placed her foot back into the water and scrubbed it with the piece of cloth.

"You didn't answer my question," Kakari said crossly.

"You didn't answer mine," he said.

"What question?" she asked confused.

"What happened?"

"Oh," Kakari said. Then she started crying, "I-I don't know… but there was blood, and mama was crying… then she put me outside… t-then, then, then there…" then she went on crying. She tried to explain that she saw blood on the window, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Aki dried her foot and wrapped it in another piece of cloth. He didn't know what he should do. The girl just lost her entire family. He looked into Kakari's eyes. Then he wrapped his arms around the small child. And she hugged him back.

Aki wiped her tears, "Please don't cry."

Kakari tried her hardest to stop crying but was unsuccessful.

Aki picked Kakari up, "Do you want me to kill him for you?"

That made Kakari stop crying, but she couldn't help the stutter, "D-didn't y-you a-already?"

Aki shook his head, "He's still alive. But if I kill him, then he won't be able to hurt any more families."

Kakari hesitated, "But what if he has a family?"

"He doesn't," Aki said uncharacteristically.

"Oh, how do you know?" Kakari asked.

"He doesn't," Aki said firmly.

Carrying Kakari, he walked back to the place where Aki had torn the pink man. And to Kakari's disgust, he was sitting up, covered in blood. He was missing a leg, but it didn't seem to be bleeding.

He looked up to see them coming his way. He stood up, and his leg grew back. Kakari thought she was going to be sick.

"How are you supposed to kill him?" Kakari whispered.

"He can't," the pink man growled.

Aki turned his back on the pink man so he could set Kakari down. Kakari kept her eyes on the pink man.

"Do you want me to kill him?" he asked.

Kakari hesitated, "Will it be better this way?"

Aki hesitated, then nodded, "Yes it will be."

The pink man laughed a hefty laugh, "Bastard."

Kakari looked away from the pink man and nodded.

Aki stood up and turned around. Then he smiled, "You should've just settled with her parents."

Then Aki ran at him. He twisted his arm, pulling it off. Then he grabbed him by his neck. The pink man tried to punch him off with his free hand, but Aki didn't budge. Then he tried kicking him. Aki only tightened his grip on his neck.

The pink man tried to breathe. But he couldn't, so his breaths that did come out were gargled.

Then in a slow, deep voice, Aki said, "Look at me."

This sent shivers down Kakari's spine. And goosebumps started to prickle.

The man looked at him as if he had no other choice but to look.

"Very good." Aki continued. Kakari shivered.

Then the man stopped struggling. His face was blank. It looked inhuman. More inhuman than before that is.

Aki let go of the man, who fell to his knees. Aki turned to Kakari with a smile.

Kakari couldn't speak. What had just happened? What was that? Kakari was in shock. Finally, she spoke, "What... was... that?!"

Aki looked at the pink man then back at her, "What was what?"

Kakari just stared at him.

"Oh that. Yes, umm... I hypnotized him," Aki shrugged.

"Y-you hypnotized h-him? But that won't kill him," Kakari said.

"Do you know what hypnotizing someone means?" Aki asked, amused.

"Er... no," Kakari said honestly.

Aki laughed, "Watch this," he turned to the pink man, "stand up." the pink man stood up. "Punch yourself in the face." the pink man punched himself in the face.

"Woah," Kakari said eyes widening with awe.

Aki frowned, then he walked over to Kakari and knelt on one knee, "What are you going to do now?"

Kakari paused.

"Do you have any other family?"

"I don't think so," she said tearing up again.

"How about this, I'll take you as far as the nearest town and can I trust you to find someone to take you in?" Aki asked, "I'd look myself, but I don't want to go in there."

Kakari hesitated, "Yes."

Aki smiled. Then he turned to the pink man, "Go and walk out into the open, and stand there." The pink man turned to walk the way he had come.

"Why must he do that?" Kakari asked.

"Because the sun will kill him."