Lone Scarlet Lily, Hidden in the World of Snow: Waiting for the Spring.
Chapter 6: Rough Around the Edges
Aside from the boy's grunts of struggle as he tried to peal my hands from his clothes, it was quiet. Not even the wind blew through the wintry trees of the forest, most of which had shed their leaves until spring. The hushed silence hovered heavily in the air, causing every slow breath from my lungs to both pull it in to settle over my heart, and release a clouded breath as I prepared myself for what was to come.
I knew exactly what the situation looked like to Midoriko. It was what I was doing, after all: intimidating her little brother. While I hadn't planned to go much farther than threatening him, not unless the boy grew to be more of a nuisance than I expected, being a demon wouldn't necessarily create any doubts over my supposed intentions.
Not that I believed it should.
While I bore no ill-will towards humans, I was still more than willing to kill any of them who barred me from my intentions. It was what all demons were raised to do – survive. Survive by being the strongest so that none could stand against you, so that only foolish beings begging for their slaughter would be your opposition.
Whether that was the right code to live by… well, new doubts were slowly forming. In fact, the more time I spent with Midoriko, the more I questioned the morality of all my decisions and the ripples they could potentially cause. Humans had such frightfully short lives, Midoriko was no exception, and so they wanted to know if they were making the right choices and if their own bright flash of existence had an impact that would be remembered. Demons like myself, on the other hand, had enough time to right the 'wrong' choices we made. The only impact we saw as a worthy goal would be to be strong and survive.
Morality had never been a question in Kitabayashi.
Either you were strong, or you weren't.
Only the strong could decide what was right and what was wrong. So, it wasn't how a demon lived that kept us up at night like it did humans. It was how long we lived that concerned us more – how long we could continue getting stronger and ultimately decide whether our actions were right or wrong in the end.
"L-let me go!"
My attention was drawn back to the struggling boy, and I idly wondered how long it had been since Midoriko joined us in the forest. The cub's face was reddened in both anger and exertion, and while the glare he sent my way was nothing to be concerned about, I could feel a much stronger gaze drilling into my back.
"As you wish, cub." The fabric of his thin kimono slipped through my fingers as I released my hold on it. Within moments, the boy let out a surprised yelp as he tumbled to the ground, cushioned by the thick swell of powdery snow. My blue eyes turned towards Midoriko's figure, who still showed no indication of moving – offensively or defensively. My gaze curiously trailed over the white sheath that covered her sword at her side before movement from the boy consumed my attention.
The cub scrambled to his feet and disturbed the previously untouched snow, some of which was thrown up into the air in his haste. A flash of something sharp and shiny in his small hand drew my eye as he reared his arm back to thrust the weapon towards me. I was a lot faster than a human child, so the action failed to concern me. Had he been older; stronger, faster, more experienced… Then I would feel a sense of urgency at such a sight – an incoming attack from a human. Old, however, this boy was not. Thus, I focused my attention on planning how I would react.
While this boy was Midoriko's younger brother, any who would attack me were fair game for retribution in my mind. That's not to say that I wouldn't be lenient with Midoriko's kin: I would grant him few precious seconds to save his life and back down.
With that in mind, I hardened the skin hidden by my light blue kimono – changing the human-like colouring to the same blue-tinted hue. Small densely packed ice crystals bloomed across the covered skin, lightly pricking my body as I gained a second, harder, layer of Glacial Skin that protruded about a centimetre from the surface of my unshielded skin.
Glacial Skin, another ability I had given a name to, was the ability to defend myself if all other measures had failed and my enemy got too close for comfort. Being a snow-demoness, my body's natural defences were low – I didn't have a hide that offered more protection than… well, my skin was like that of a human's in all honesty. To compensate for that, I could create points on my skin ('Glacial Points') that would generate the ice crystals and anchor them to my skin as the crystals stretched out to connect to other Glacial Points. The small area of skin that surrounded these Glacial Points turned blue – a side-effect of the ability. The ridge where the crystals generated by two different Glacial Points combined was usually the place where weapons would catch and break if enough force was applied. The strength of my Glacial Skin depended on how far apart I positioned the Glacial Points, and how thick the crystals were (the thickest I'd managed to create had the width of an inch). As the ability was rather draining, and the attacks it could usually stop were easily avoidable.
Seeing that my opponent was a child, and his weapon was weak, there was no need for a thicker defence.
I arched my back, predatorily towering over the boy as I stretched the fingers dangling by my side. The knuckles cracked as I rolled my shoulder subtly, preparing myself to shoot my arm forward and snap the neck of the child as soon as he broke whatever improvised weapon he held against my reinforced skin. His small body would fall limp, and crumple into the snow below – leaving his kin to avenge him. A slow exhale left my lips, ushering out a visible breath as I cooled my body and prepared my abilities for when I had to face Midoriko after the death of her kid brother.
It wasn't what I had planned to do when I had met the brat or Midoriko. The thought of killing humans, Midoriko in particular, brought me no joy – they were weak and frail compared to demons, and slaughtering them like the Kitabayashi demons proved only to bring danger. Those that killed humans only wished for empty battles where the winner was obvious, and would bring no advancement in skill or prestige.
Now that I finally wrenched freedom from my own desire for revenge – a desire that kept me subservient and complacent only to further my own needs… any who now dared to raise a weapon against me would pay dearly. I would no longer allow myself to be shackled down helplessly to anything or anyone – be it myself or others.
The brown eyes of Midoriko's kin met my perilous blue ones.
For a moment, I faltered.
Midoriko would jump into action as soon as her kin fell. It would lead to a long, and difficult, battle between the priestess and myself. I had little doubt that I would be the last one standing, as Master Katashi trained me well for more years than she'd been alive, but I also had little doubt that I would have trouble remaining on my feet. With that in mind, my instinctive solution to this situation couldn't be more misguided. Just how would the deaths of these two humans benefit me?
Had I not agreed to travel with Midoriko, as I had nothing better to do in the world? Had I not accepted that this would be a troublesome process because of humans and their natural (and life-saving) instinct to have a distrust for demons? Had I not held myself to a higher standard than lowly demons who would kill those too weak to harm them? Weak beings like humans?
Too easily had I fell into the same mindset of the honourless Kitabayashi warriors, and I snarled at myself in disdain.
The moments I had to think were over – the long and sharpened tooth (or the nail of some demon's claw) that the cub held in his hand neared me. The tooth pressed against my protective Glacial skin, the weak force driving it and the low-level demon it came from barely pierced the layers of fabric that covered my stomach. As it poked through the black folds of my hakama I forced my arm to remain at my side, and I hardly felt the way it snapped as it stuck into one of the grooves the intersecting ice crystals had formed when they joined together. The sound of the tooth snapping off echoed through the forest and in the distance, I could hear startled birds flapping their wings in alarm.
The snow cushioned the fall of the broken tip of the tooth. The boy's face fell just as quickly when he realized what had happened. But, instead of focusing on the fear that now crossed over the boy's face, I turned to Midoriko.
The priestess had drawn her sword, the sharp tip pointed at my figure still. Within a heartbeat she slide the metal back into the sheath and watched me carefully as I studied her. While she had drawn her sword, she severely underestimated how quickly I could kill a defenseless child and her decision to not draw forth her energy to assist her in protecting her kin was almost as insulting as raising a weapon to me without the intentions of battle.
It was something not to be taken lightly in Kitabayashi: raising a weapon to point it at another (or pointing someone out in general) was a declaration of a duel – one that would most likely end in death or mercy.
To the Kitabayashi, they were almost one in the same.
Offering your defeated opponent mercy was to pity – it was to force your opponent to bow their heads to you and declare you mightier and wiser… and right. Those who accepted the offering had to comply to those rules or they would choose death.
When training, there was a slightly different process. To teach young cubs respect for those older and wiser than themselves, those who did not accept the mercy of their opponents would receive a long cut across their back from an ink-stained blade. To Kitabayashi warriors, scars on the back were a great shame. As demons, chances were that the wound would heal and if any scarring occurred it would be barely visible. The ink remained, staining the healing skin with a scar that would never be forgotten nor forgiven.
It was the Kitabayashi way to teach their young that those who are strong decided life and death.
Master Katashi, when in the mood to talk about years long ago, said that it had not always been the Kitabayashi way. Somewhere, the demons decided that strength was more important than other things. The old healer also said that this shift in ideals also brought on the end of healing, and with it, the start of much darker and less honourable intentions.
While I firmly believed that those who were strong decided life and death, I did not believe (thanks to Master Katashi's incessant lectures) that physical strength was the only path the strong should choose. I only had to look at the most recent generations of cubs to witness it – the frailty that came with having one strength instead of many that unquestionably shamed their ancestors.
But, I brushed aside my thoughts in favour of narrowing my eyes at the puzzling human woman who understood nothing of the customs my people once had, "You would allow me the chance to raise a hand against your kin?"
Did she not care for the child? Did she raise her sword because I was hovering over a fellow human and not because her own kid brother was in my clutches? Did she still not know that I would rest well all the same, a human cub's blood on my hands or not?
The last question pissed me off. If she was once again underestimating me, not fully understanding – or not wanting to understand – that I was more than willing to strike any human down if their death benefitted me…
Well, she would do well to have that child not get in my way again.
She shook her head at me, rolling her eyes at my pointed look, "I figured you wouldn't do something so foolish, Nozomi." She advanced towards the cowering boy, fearful not of me this time, but of the look on his sister's face.
"And you, Hotaka! Why are you out here?! What possessed you to do such a thing when Father has forbidden you to leave the village until you're of age?! Sneaking off into the woods could get you into a lot of trouble – and not just from Father!"
"But, sister-!" The cub glanced towards my figure and that of Midoriko's as she came to a stop beside me and offered her hand to help him up, "She's a demon! A snow demon! It's so close to the village, why are you not killing it?!" He pointed his finger at me, and once again I suppressed the urge to respond to the insolence of the thoughtless action.
Humans knew nothing of Kitabayashi customs, after all. Just as I knew nothing of human ones.
"Be careful where you point that finger, cub." It didn't stop me from sending a frigid glare his way, though.
At the sight of my snarl and glare, he quickly grasped the hand Midoriko offered and helped himself off the snow-covered ground. The snow that stuck to his wet kimono slid down the fabric and returned to the white below as he hid himself behind Midoriko's body. He peered around Midoriko, confused and curious brown eyes watching every movement I made as I folded my arms over my waist.
"She's an ally, Hotaka." She ignored the look of disbelief that crossed his face, "Why are you out here, Hotaka? It's far too cold and you know the rules."
The boy said nothing. His brown eyes fell to the snow and they remained there as the silence dragged on. Midoriko seemed unwilling to say anything else, and the boy was adamant at not responding to any of her questions as he shivered in the cold.
"Midoriko, we are wasting time with that cub. Let us be on our way."
I turned, leaving no footprints in the snow as I walked towards the tree I had peered around to see the boy in his predicament. Katashi's bow and his quiver were unmoved from where I had set them down earlier. Glancing around the frosty bark of the tree, I saw Midoriko crouch down in front of the cub, grabbing his shoulders earnestly and speaking to him in low, soothing, tones. He still refused to meet her eyes, and Midoriko turned her gaze towards me as she gestured for me to continue through the forest.
Raising an eyebrow at her, I shrugged and made my way through the mostly-bare forest silently. As I reached the shrine once more, snowflakes softly drifted down from the sky and started adding a fresh layer of snow over the thick blanket that already covered the world.
I liked the snow. There had once been a time, long ago, where I despised the stillness and dullness it brought to the vibrant colours that faded until the seasons changed once more. When the snow pooled into puddles and the frost released the world from its sparkling touch – when colours came back to life in greens and yellows, and the birds sung loudly from their trees…
But as I grew older, I learned to appreciate the stillness in everything. The silence that the blanket of snow brought – how it seemed to quiet everything. It was a world that was different from that of the other seasons, and it was impossible to miss when the Autumn shifted into Winter. It was a season that provided a lot of silence you could fill with your own thoughts, whether they were welcome or haunting.
If Midoriko had come in any other season… well, its hard to say if I would have been less open to the idea of working with a human to slay other demons.
"Nozomi, sorry to keep you waiting," I turned to the sound of Midoriko's voice, seeing her armoured figure coming from the forest with the boy clinging to her back, "We'll have to make a short stop at the village to drop Hotaka off, but then we'll be on our way for our first assignment!" She led the way up the path of stones leading away from the shrine, but her voice was strained as she spoke of the village.
"Then your father took the situation well?" I gave her a sidelong glance as I walked beside her, seeing a small frown spread across her face at the mention of her father.
"…Not exactly." She glanced downwards briefly, before sensing my eyes on her and turning her gaze to me with an even smaller smile, "We'll be out of the village for a little while: there are a band of Harpies* that have been wreaking havoc on a few villages. Our task is to track the bird-demons back to their nest and destroy it."
"Seems easy enough."
The harpies were vicious demons that, from Katashi's knowledge, didn't like the wolf-demon tribes too much. Even he wasn't sure what had sparked the animosity between the two, but they'd apparently choose to eat the wolf-demons over humans if they were nearby. I hadn't seen one in person, but in the books Master Katashi kept around, they were depicted as large pigeon-like birds with harpie-like bodies attached to them from the waist-up. They had large mouths with sharp teeth, and because of their wings the mobility the creatures had was nothing to laugh at.
Tracking them wouldn't be easy – they could cover a lot of ground.
I sent another pointed look at Midoriko, wondering if she chose this assignment just to avoid her father for a longer period than the other jobs would've (as there were probably several to go around, with the amount of demons who viewed humans as nothing but a way to kill time). My blue gaze met the brown eyes of the cub that hung off her shoulders, and as we both refused to look away first I wondered if Midoriko even saw the young cub much.
We walked in silence. The soft crunch of snow underneath Midoriko's feet the only sound that accompanied us on the path other than the distant chirping of tireless birds that was too far away for my human companions to hear. The breath of said humans clouded the air, and I idly noted that the air did seem to have a nice chill to it.
As the forest thinned out, and we approached the wooden walls of the village, the cub looked away first to gaze at his home.
"Halt!"
Two armoured humans prevented further progress to the opening of the wall, as I could only just see the first few houses within the walls from the entrance. They shifted their raised weapons towards me once they recognized Midoriko and the cub on her back, much to my irritation.
"Midoriko, Hotaka!" The second human greeted them while the first never allowed his eyes to stray from me, "What are you doing with… that?"
"That can hear you." I growled at the second human, as I kept my glare trained on the first, "And that is not impressed with you thinking it can't hear you."
Their weapons inched closer to my figure, easily gliding through the air with practiced movements. The first human was equipped with a scowl and beady eyes, a sword in his hands. The second human wore a more neutral expression, her hands tightly gripping her naginata. They didn't pose too much of a threat to me, but if I happened to kill them, more would flood from inside the village – something that was far too much of a hassle to not outweigh the good of stopping them from pointing their weapons at me brazenly.
I bristled at the hand Midoriko gently placed on my shoulder, and it seemed to diffuse some of the tension in the air as I sent a sharp glare at the priestess, which she promptly ignored.
"Nozomi is an ally. I need to bring Hotaka back into the village and get him home safely." She turned to me, "I will be just a moment, Nozomi."
Nodding brusquely at her, I watched her push her way past the humans and turn the corner into the village. With Midoriko out of my sight, I turned my attention back to the Demon Slayers in front of me. They were both wearing armour forged from demon bones, and the stale smell of it had me wrinkling my nose at them.
The snow fell faster, now, and in thicker flakes. As the minutes drew on, the armour they wore grew covered in the soft whiteness, while I remained untouched by the snow. It fell around me, gliding past my figure as if it wasn't there to begin with and marking me as a demon of the snow and cold.
"Lower your weapons, humans." I grinned mischievously – the two humans were the perfect way to entertain myself until Midoriko returned, "I have no intentions on killing you now."
The two glanced towards each other, both unwilling to do what I asked. After a moment, the man took an aggressive step towards me as his sword inched closer to my neck.
"We'll not allow-!" His voice took a deeper tone as he started to threaten me…
"-Wow! It's a genuine snow-demoness! I can't believe Midoriko was telling the truth!"
But the man was cut off by the voice of another human, who came running up from the village. He had long and unruly dark brown hair, as if he had just woken from sleeping and hadn't bothered to brush the strands straight. He had a jovial air about him as he pushed his way past the Slayers, giving them no choice but to lower their weapons as he approached me, stepping in the way of the metal purposefully.
Something about him was unsettling, though. And while I couldn't put my finger on what it was exactly that made me feel as if a void was approaching me, threatening to pull me in and swallow me whole, I steeled myself against his presence and refused to listen to my instincts to flee or fight.
"Is Midoriko known for her dishonesty?"
"No, no! Nothing of the sort! Quite the opposite. She's very honest and kind…" He bowed his head to me, "Forgive my rudeness, snow-demoness, my name's Souma Fujioka. May I ask for your name?"
Instead of answering, I observed the two Slayers behind him. They didn't seem to know what to look at: each other, Fujioka, or myself. Either way, their weapons remained at their sides – fingers still grasping them tightly – but they seemed content to let Fujioka and me speak.
Did no one know what to think of the man?
"Ah, them?" There was a snarl in his voice that I could barely pick up on, and without removing his eyes from my form, he addressed the two, "Kazuki, Maiko, please return to your posts at the gate – I'd like to speak to this woman alone."
The two hesitated, and Fujioka grew impatient, "Now!" and almost as an afterthought, "Please. This lady travels with Midoriko, does she not? Midoriko would hardly choose an untrustworthy demoness as her companion."
While still uncertain, they slowly removed themselves from my attention and stood at attention in front of the opening in the wooden walls, sending wary glances towards the two of us every now and then. Fujioka laughed lowly as my gaze turned back to him, briefly flashing his eyes towards them before fixing his dark eyes back on me.
"Jeeze, I swear I could just kill them sometimes, right? It would spare them from incurring the wrath from one such as yourself, at least…" He laughed again as I raised an eyebrow, "I kid, I kid! Of course, I'm just joking. I figured you'd appreciate that kind of dark humour."
His eyes weren't laughing.
"So, might I get your name now?"
His dark brown eyes were haunting, and didn't hold the same warmth that Midoriko or even her kin had. He spoke easily of murder – not of animals but of the humans of his own village – and held no fear of a demoness so close to their village… on the contrary, he seemed to be rather excited at my arrival. While I was quite tempted to link all those things together as similarities for my own actions against my kin, the uneasiness brewing under my skin only increased.
I disliked the feeling, and decided to lessen it by using his unusual interest in me to gather information.
"You may call me Nozomi, human." I stared him down evenly, refusing to bow my head in greeting, "You speak of Midoriko in rather friendly terms, Fujioka. I've gotten the feeling that relations between her and her father are… tense. Is this correct?"
"Miss Nozomi, eh? A wonderful name. And please, call me 'Souma'." He smiled, "Yes, Midoriko and her father aren't on good terms. I've known her for pretty much my whole life, and he's always pushed her to do better. Too hard, some might say. Even now, when she's probably stronger than all of us Demon Slayers combined, he's still tough on her." He paused, "It's… led to some friction in the past."
"But her decision to take a demoness along on her journeys is probably the most explosive one from both sides!"
"Hmm, I see." That meant that Midoriko truly wanted to give our arrangement a chance, at the very least, "Are you a Demon Slayer as well, Fujioka?" He beamed as the conversation turned to him being the subject, even though a small frown spread across his lips at my use of his last name over his first.
I smirked.
"Well, sort of. A lot of the teams that Tatsuya, Midoriko's father, puts together has someone with at least some medical knowledge. I happen to be the one in my team who knows how to sew them back together, should a demon rip them apart." Another grin, "But I'm still trained as a Demon Slayer as well."
"Why isn't Midoriko travelling with others, then?"
His smile slipped as Midoriko came up again, "That's her father's doing. She's strong enough to not really have problems on her own, and this way she'll get stronger faster." He shrugged, "That's what the story is, anyway. I think there's a lot more going on behind closed doors that led to that decision though…"
"You seem to know an awful lot, Fujioka."
"I'm a very good listener." He tilted his head to the side as he gazed at me curiously, "Tell me, Miss Nozomi, what's a demoness like yourself doing travelling with Midoriko? I've been wondering since the news spread with Midoriko's return: Why? What would a demoness have to gain by slaying her own kind? What sort of experiences do you have to make you side with humans over demons…?" His voice trailed on the last question, indicating that he wanted to continue but decided to end his questioning there.
"So you want a reason?" At his slow nodding as he still analyzed my features, I laughed, "Humans are so uninteresting."
He looked ecstatic at my statement, his dull eyes flashing with interest, "Then why Midoriko?"
Throughout the conversation with the human, I occupied myself with trying to decipher what exactly left me so uneasy about the man, what that 'void' was. So far, I had only come to one conclusion, one that would explain the thinly disguised voracious look in his eyes. A spark of morbid curiosity ran through my being, and I decided to humour the man to see where it led.
"Curiosity is such a precarious thing, Fujioka. Too little of it and the result is a closed and boring life, too much, and it becomes dangerous." I grinned wickedly, "Midoriko intrigues me. Enough to ignore all the dangers of curiosity in favour of chasing the elusive satisfaction that comes at its end."
I slinked towards him coyly, laying a hand over his chest as I pushed him into the wooden walls behind him before pressing my body flush against his. I ran my hand upwards, well-trimmed nails smoothing down his kimono before leaving the fabric behind and slipping my fingers onto his warm skin. His entire body shivered as I trailed my fingers over the skin of his neck, hovering there for a moment as my eyes flashed dangerously up at his before grasping his stubbled chin and pulling his face towards mine. My other hand pressed gently into his chest as I pushed my body even closer to his, subtly pinning him to the wall.
We were kindred spirits, in a way.
The two Demon Slayers were probably oblivious to this man, and the way he looked down at me. The whole village in its entirety – filled with priests, priestesses, and Demon Slayers – probably didn't realize what kind of monster they housed within their walls: too focused on the monsters outside of their walls than the ones brewing within, I supposed.
The differences between us were far greater than the similarities, and the spark of curiosity dimmed as I was left disappointed in the discovery.
The uneasiness I felt in his presence faded away as I identified him. He was a human who, if he had the chance, would fall in with demons rather than humans. He cared not for the people he grew up with, and probably wouldn't hesitate to cut them down if the opportunity ever arose. The way his gaze had barely left me since our meeting and the desire burning under the surface was not of lust, per se, but of a veiled interest of my heritage. The most dangerous aspect of all, I mused, was that he still showed no fear at my advancement. There had been a flicker of curiosity and the excitement that it brought, but no fear. A being without fear was dangerous, indeed. Worst of all…
He was bored.
"Have you ever felt such a thing, Fujioka? That kind of curiosity? The kind that consumes you?" I tilted my head as I looked imploringly into his eyes, "I ask, because…" I pulled his head down, noting that he offered no resistance, and placed my mouth next to his ear, "I know what you are consumed by." I pulled away, untangling myself from the human as I inspected the way he made no attempt to pull himself away from the wall as well as the way his eyes idly traced my figure once more.
My whispered words were half of a bluff, while the other half was speculation. The truth was, I wasn't too sure on what lay just beneath the surface of this human – and I was in no rush to find out. I figured it was only a matter of time until he revealed himself for what he was.
But, in the meantime, I could speculate. A human that longed to be a demon? Or, at the very least, act 'demonic' in the eyes of humans? Yes, the similarities ended rather quickly the more I examined him: The tasteless way he let his guard down simply because I was a demon and introduced himself truly, the lack of courage to do what he willed in his corrupted heart, the fearless way he cast aside his human capabilities to admire a demon's instead…
What a miserable creature.
"While I have no real interest in hunting demons, it is by far the more entertaining sport than the alternative, so…" I smiled sweetly as my gaze froze over into a glare, "…don't bore me."
His face fell at the sudden turn of the conversation, but before I could further imprint the idea of not becoming my problem, Midoriko joined us, "Nozomi, must you always resort to your wicked games?" and she had heard my last comment.
"Why, a game's not fun unless it's wicked in nature, Midoriko~!"
"Sorry, Fujioka. Please pay no heed to her – she enjoys entertaining herself this way."
With only a slanted smile on my face, my eyes proceeded to tell him that what I said was the only thing he should heed.
"Oh, there's no need for that, Yanagi! I found our conversation quite… enlightening!"
"Really?" Midoriko sent me a glance, which I returned with a cheery smile, "That's… good?"
"I believe we should get started on our assignment, Midoriko." I started walking away from Fujioka without another word to him.
I heard Midoriko say her goodbyes to the man before running to catch up to me, matching my pace as she fell in line beside me. She pleasantly started humming a tune as we started our first journey together, and it wasn't until after the village was out of sight that I interrupted her.
"That human, do you know him well?"
"Hmm? Who, Fujioka?" She thought for a moment, "Kind of. He's a little older than me, but he always looked after me when my parents were away. He never got along well with kids his own age, so we used to hang out a little when we were young."
"…I see." He wasn't as friendly with Midoriko as he said, it seems. Using her last name when she appeared was all the proof I needed, but hearing it from her own mouth further cemented the fact.
"He… has always been a little strange-"
"Avoid him whenever possible."
Midoriko paused in her stride as I continued walking. It took her a moment to process what I said before she came running up to take her place beside me again. There was a long stretch of silence, where she was waiting for me to provide more detail over why I wanted her to avoid him. But I adamantly offered no explanation, as anything further would be admitting that I held more concern for her safety then the bare minimum I was required to as her travelling partner. At the moment, revealing that fact to her would open the way to a flood of questions that I couldn't answer yet – whether they would be her questions or my own, I wasn't sure.
"…Alright?" Apparently, he had been a little more than strange if Midoriko was willing to accept it without any further explanation.
After another moment, I moved from one serious topic to another, "I had planned to kill your kin." I watched her face carefully for hints about how she felt about that statement that she wouldn't commit to her words.
"I… know." She took a deep breath, meeting my gaze steadily as she continued, "But you didn't kill him." Her voice grew soft and her brown eyes melted with warmth, "Do you even know why you didn't?"
I pointedly ignored her question and turned my eyes to the path ahead, "You put your own kin at risk easily."
"You killed your own kin not too long ago, I recall."
"No kin of mine were in that village."
She laughed a little, and the sound brought a small smile to my face before I quickly hid it from her eyes, "You are a good person, Nozomi, if a little rough around the edges."
With nothing to say to that statement, taken off-guard by the sincerity in her voice, I clicked my tongue in mild annoyance and picked up my pace. I willed away the childish impulse to prove her wrong just to spite the warmth bubbling in my chest.
*PLEASE NOTE*
Harpies*: These are the 'Birds of Paradise' that are the archenemy of the wolf-demon tribe (Koga, anyone?). They are referenced to in the manga as 'harpies' and it seemed more apt for Midoriko, a demon slayer/priestess to name them by that name rather than 'birds of paradise'.
O
-Disclaimer-
I do not own the InuYasha movies, manga, or anime. The only thing I own are my characters and the fanfic!
O Reviews O
ferallahey: Haha, that it did!
The story certainly is heading... somewhere, huh? Yeah, it's quite the coincidence for Nozo to have found Midoriko's kid brother in the forest. While they might not have gotten a chance to speak further in this chapter, maybe we'll learn later what exactly he was doing out in the woods?
It does look like their getting along quite well, and I'm glad to know you're enjoying how they're relationship is developing (I did see what you did there ;3)
I'm glad you're getting a feel for Nozo's personality - she definitely is NOT going for the 'let's all live in harmony' (which, as you said, is a category a lot of Inuyasha ocs fall into, unfortunately). She's more of a 'don't get in my way, and we might get along' character. We'll see if that changes because of Midoriko's influence in the next couple chapters, though! And I think Sesshomaru will definitely enjoy her carefree attitude, and who knows - maybe they'll try to get stronger together!
Although, I'm pretty sure as she is now, her tendency for mischievousness and her 'wicked games' (toying with humans and threatening them, really) to pass the time might cause a little friction at their first meeting! ;p
RikkiBlake777: Thanks a lot for saying so!
The concept of Midoriko actually having a demon partner besides Kilala/Kirara has been kicking around in my head since the first time I watched the show and Midoriko's fleeting backstory was introduced. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought so, and even gladder that you're enjoying my spin on the idea!
Sesshomaru's gonna make an appearance soon, I promise! Setting up the backstory for my characters is something I like doing (although it takes a while to go anywhere at first, as a result...) but I'm happy to hear you're content with NozoMiko for a little longer! x3
Yeah, Hotaka's definitely a brat. But in the next chapter we'll get to see a little more of him, and hopefully he won't stay that way!
flowermanga: I find Nozo a very interesting character as well! While her initial decision to work beside Midoriko seems heavily rooted in a lot of curiosity, maybe she'll find a few more reasons to stay with Midoriko - especially if Midoriko's already having such an influence on Nozo!
Whether it's a good influence or a bad one, only time will tell...
O
Aaaaand, I have foiled University's goal to have me be a good student and all around productive adult once more! Kidding, though. Nothing can make that happen. Anyways, It's been a while since I posted anything (been on a OP binge and also committed to actually starting a Stardew Valley fanfic with Amaranthyn (you should check it out if it interests you, I'm enjoying writing it a lot), as Uni's kept me busy and I've been facing a lot of family drama recently.
But, hey, at least I'm trying to get back on track!
Next time on the LSL, an Inuyasha fanfic...
Welp. that was a weird interaction with that Fujioka fellow...
Nozo sure is warming up to the idea of travelling with Midoriko, huh?
Is a betrayal coming?! If so, who will it come from?!
Kirara might make an appearance soon?!
NOZOMIKO IS GOING STRONG!
I wonder when Sesshomaru's gonna join in on the fun...
You'll have to tune in next chapter to maybe find out... :3
Thanks for reading, Fireflies!
-Love, Ember ;3
