A/N: Hey everyone. This is my very first story. Not sure how good it will be or how you guys will find it, but I will do my best to make it as good as I can. I made this fic after I read Yukina Takanashi's awesome fics entitled "Sparked" and "Shattered Reflection". Her fic makes me want to make a fic based off of the Toji No Miko universe. This chapter takes place in Chapter 4 of "Shattered Reflection", in Konoka's home around 23 years ago, the day when she was bullied and rescued by Yukari and the gang.
Special Thanks to her, for fixing my grammar and allowing me to use her OC's. Tsukuyomihime and hiragi konoka.
Sounds of a quill pen scratching upon paper filled the room. With the window closed, candle light showered into the room, giving some warmth into the relatively empty room. It lighted the white skin of Tsukuyomihime's arm, and the teacup by the other side of her desk. It was her habit to write in the night about the events that caught her attention during her daily life.
Something disturbed her mind that night. As Konoka finally received her okatana, the family decided to make a small party dinner. Although at the time Konoka was enjoying the moment, on the other side, Tsukuyomihime could sense that there was some negativity burdening her daughter. She wanted to ask Konoka what was going on, but thought it would ruin the moment at that time.
'Today Konoka finally received her okatana, and we decided to celebrate her accomplishment. Therefore, I am proud of my daughter. There was happiness in her voice…but there was a slight of sorrow in her eyes…'
Somebody knocked on the shoji door twice.
"Mother,are you still awake?" It was her daughter's voice.
"Yes, come in, Konoka."
The door slid open, revealing a 13 year-old green-haired girl. Her hair was down to the shoulders and covered her right eye. Just by looking at her left eye, Tsukuyomihime knew that her daughter was troubled.
"It's rare to see you still awake at this hour, Konoka."
"…"
"Is there something that you want to tell me?"
Slowly, Konoka nodded and her mother smiled at her silence. She sat on the side of her bed and gestured to her daughter to sit beside her.
"What is it?"
"…I just…I just feel like I don't deserve such treatment from my friends…"
Konoka found herself looking at the floor, feeling guilty. Her mother perhaps thought this was the best way to make her daughter feel at ease. She must be feeling bad.
"Why is that…?"
"Today, my schoolmates insulted me…"
"…"
"And then Onee-chan came to my rescue. She came with her friends, Yukari-senpai... Minato-senpai...and-and ..."
Konoka's mouth began to tremble; her voice started to wither; and in the corner of her eyes, tears started to gather. The first tear fell from her left eye, which was followed by more tears. Tsukuyomihime knew that she had been bullied since her childhood years.
When Konoka was still little, there was a time when she suddenly ran to her mother, embracing her while crying wholeheartedly. And the reason for her tears, at that time, was because of the taunts and insults of the people who were tormenting her.
"Ssh…it's okay. It's okay…"
Tsukuyomihime pulled her daughter closer, before giving her a hug and patting her back gently. It was so warm. So warm and suffocating. Suffocating, yet so inviting, so welcoming, so…so much comfort.
"What did they do to you this time…?" the mother gently asked.
"They…they said...the Origami family should've exorcized you, Mother…" she said, before continuing. "They said aradama's like us are only meant to be destroyed."
Konoka buried her face into her mother's chest. Her hands gripped onto her mother's kimono tightly, as if she was afraid that her mother would vanish if she didn't hold her. Lifting her hands, wrapping them gently around the sorrowful child, Tsukuyomihime began gently stroking her waves of green hair, as she cooed soft words of comfort to help calm them.
"Mother…I don't want to lose you…" Konoka cried as her body shook with heavy sobs, wiping away the tears in her eyes with her thumbs.
"It's okay…Konoka, I'm right here with you..." Tsukuyomihime told her gently, as Konoka tightened her grip.
It's always like this-people would reject their existence because of who they were, even though aradama was also part of the results of what humans created from noro. They treated them as if they were soulless beings, but the fact was actually the opposite.
No matter how cruel they are towards us, we always tried to be good towards them…
No matter how much harm they put on us, we always tried to show them we wish no harm…
No matter how many times they refused us, we always tried to understand them…
People still didn't want to accept their existence. They refused to understand and to coexist, even though they had no intention to harm humans. And here Tsukuyomihime was comforting Konoka from her sorrow of the insults thrown at her mother that the girls from her school said.
"Just why…" Konoka sobbed. "Why Mother…why are they always like this to us…?"
.
.
.
"I don't know, Konoka…"
"…!" She couldn't believe what her mother said.
Those words hurt Konoka's heart. Sometimes in her mind, Konoka always thought about why after all the efforts that she and her mother did have never produced results, at least to get closer to humans.
"Hey Mom…, why did you tell me to never use my powers…?" Konoka asked.
"Because ... it will hurt our friendship with the humans more. They will hate us more and I don't want that to happen to you, my girl," Tsukuyomihime said gently, warning Konoka.
"But, what if someday they will exorcise you!" Konoka half-yelled between her sobs. "I don't want to stay silent if they harm you, Mom," she choked, clenching her palms and dropping painful tears from her eyes.
She understood that what she was wishing for was for her mother's sake. Yet, the consequences were far greater, even though her daughter had enough of the suffering that the humans were giving them. Deep in Tsukuyomihime's mind and heart, she still believeed there was hope for coexistence.
"That won't happen…Konoka…" she whispered, as they let each other go.
Konoka's eyes were still wet with tears. Tsukuyomihime gently placed her right hand on her daughter's shoulder, her left hand cupped her cheek, brushing the girl's tears with her thumb. Finding solace in that touch, Konoka instinctively grasped her mother's left hand. She did not want to let that hand go.
"Why do you say that…?"
"Because I still believe it…" Tsukuyomihime said, with a soft expression on her face, before continuing, "I believe one day, they will accept our existence."
She should've known how hard it was to keep this up and to stay strong. She still cared about the humans. She still had faith in them.
"Konoka…"
"Yes, Mother?"
"Please promise me…never abuse your power to harm humans."
She softly asked her while looking into her eyes with a deep look, the expression in her face filled with love and protection.
"Even if I cease to exist in this world, the emptiness in your heart…you will fill it with the love from your friends and the person you love the most," she said.
"But Mom-"
"Promise me…"
Konoka wanted to reject that particular request, but she could not refuse what her mother had asked for. She just couldn't because this was coming from the person she loved the most in this wretched world.
"I promise…Mom."
"That's my girl…"
Konoka softly nodded. Tears evidently welled up inside those eyes once again to which Tsukuyomihime could not hold herself back from kissing Konoka's forehead. At that moment, the moonlight peeked through the window, bathing both mother and daughter in a beautiful silvery light.
A few hours later, Tsukuyomihime was stroking her sleeping daughter's hair while giving her attention to the moon that illuminated them. This moon...it reminded her about the feelings that were familiar to her.
"Nee-sama…" she said softly, while closing her eyes in remembrance of events that had taken place many years ago.
At that time, on the same night, the moon was so similar to the moon tonight. However, what distinguished the situation at that time from the present were the conditions that occured around her. She remembered a certain village that was burning with crimson flames scattered everywhere, burning whatever it touched,until all that was left were ashes.
All the screams of those who suffered from the crimson flames. The fire that burned everything with no mercy, including men, women, and children. This fire could not be extinguished with water, and there were only two outcomes to this.
The first one was to let it burn till everything became ash. And the second was by asking the person, who owned this crimson flame, to put out the fire. That person who controlled these flames was standing in front of her with two okatanas in hand.
"Nee-sama! Stop this madness already!" Tsukuyomihime yelled at the person in front of her.
The person in front of her stood with her back towards her. Her left hand wielded a double-bladed okatana, Shitsuren. In her right hand was a red single-edged serrated okatana flaming with crimson fire from the other side, Nikko.
"…"
The person Tsukuyomihime called her sister was ignoring her calls, her gaze only focused on the sight of the people she burned with her flames. Realizing that her sister ignored her call, the younger decided to come at her side, intending to stop her sibling from abusing her own power.
"Nee-sama-!"
Just as she was about to touch her sister's shoulder, she immediately dodged an incoming slash from Nikko.
"Nee-sama, what are you-!?"
"Don't you dare…"
"What are you-"
"Don't you dare, Tsukuyomi…"
Tsukuyomihime's sister finally faced her sister, while pointing Nikko towards her...revealing a woman with white and crimson colored hair, looking at her with a pair of deep red eyes.
"BUT WHY!?" she yelled at her sister.
"These humans were proven guilty of hurting and torturing aradama for their own sake to gain noro," she coldly told her sister, before continuing, "and so, these people must receive death as their punishment…"
"But not all of these people are also proved guilty!"
"It doesn't matter...they will also do the same as well…"
Tsukuyomihime couldn't believe what her sister just said. She would execute all those who were not involved because of the guilt of a group of people who have been proven guilty?!
"Nee-sama, if you do that…they will certainly hate us more!"
"…."
"They will cease to coexist with us! They will see us as beings that brings nothing but destruction!"
"Then, so be it! I will kill and burn every human in this world into ashes, so our race can finally have peace!"
Tsukuyomihime's eyes widened when hearing those words. Her sister was going to kill all of mankind because of her hatred towards them. Slowly, she moved back two steps.
"You…you can't do that…Amaterasu-onee-sama..."
"I will do that, Tsukuyomi…"
Bending her face down, she covered her face by dropping her hair down. Not wanting her expression to be shown towards her sister.
"For our sake…for your sake…my dear sister…" Amaterasuhime softly said, but with a cruel and deadly tone.
"Do you think that will make me happy to see you slaughtering humans!" she yelled at her sister.
"I don't care if you don't like it! I'm doing it for your sake!..."
"Then for your sake, Nee-sama…" Tsukuyomihime slowly raised her head looking at her sister deep in the eyes.
From Tsukuyomihime's right palm, she materialized a silver okatana with a glimpse of blue...Mikadzuki.
"I will stop you!" she declared, while pointing her okatana at her.
Without changing her expression, Amaterasuhime then put her stance for a fight. The glowing red eyes were emotionless, but her sister could tell by the twitching of her eyes that she was clearly upset at her.
"I see…then I will make sure to discipline you after I defeat you. Let's make this fair," Amaterasuhime said, as she dematerialized Shitsuren from her left hand.
The two of them start dashing at each other at a wind-like speed, before clashing Nikko and Mikadzuki against each other, making a blue and red energy flash. Amaterasuhime swung her okatana towards Tsukuyomihime, but she deflected it, and used her speed to appear on her right, slashing openly.
"Pathetic.."
Amaterasuhime wasn't as fast as Tsukuyomihime, but she was still fast enough to block her strikes again and again. Amaterasuhime was strong, very strong. Tsukuyomihime was having trouble with getting through her defences.
Amaterasuhime tried to slash at her face. Tsukuyomihime bent her head back and swiped for her legs. The crimson goddess took to the air, avoiding the slash, but received a cut to her leg. She looked flatly at the wound she received, before looking at her sister with a piercing look.
"I didn't expect to be the first to receive a cut from this fight, the crimson goddess said, with a tone that seemed to be a mix of anger and excitement.
She raised her blade up, then sliced it to the air, unleashing a couple of crimson energy slashes towards her sister. Tsukuyomihime was not prepared this time, and moved her body to the side, receiving a cut to her left arm.
Blood started dripping from her wounded arm. Not giving her sister a chance, Amaterasuhime lunged forward with Nikko, trying to make a stab. Despite her pain, Tsukuyomihime blocked the strike with Mikadzuki, and clashed violently against her. Amaterasuhime had more strength than her sister. She slashed at her leg, cutting into it, which caused blood to spurt out at the same time. She pushed the sword away from her, before sending a kick towards her stomach.
She dropped to her knees, and panted heavily from the injuries. She gritted her teeth at seeing her sister's expression, breathing out her sadness and aimed her eyes towards Amaterasuhime, who was waiting for her to stand up.
"Let's finish this, Sister…" Amaterasuhime spoke as she put up her stance.
Tsukuyomihime's chest was so painful that she could barely even breathe, her whole body hurt. Even so, she slowly rose to her feet and then raised her okatana limply towards her elder sister. She couldn't lose here. If she lost, nothing would stop her sister from destroying humanity.
"…"
"This is the end…" Amaterasuhime said, accompanied by a flash of lightning in the sky.
The two of them finally carried out their final attack, both of them dashing at each other with lightning speed.
"!?"
.
.
.
"I'm sorry, Nee-sama…"
Amaterasuhime was surprised when she felt something piercing her chest. She looked down as blood leaked out of her mouth…Mikadzuki had penetrated her chest. As she fell to the ground, her lifeless body was caught by Tsukuyomihime herself, and she held her tenderly in her arms.
Tsukuyomihime peered down towards Amaterasuhime's face and began shedding tears. Raindrops began to fall from the sky, before finally hard rain fell on them and the villages around them.
"Why…? Why didn't you…kill me?" Amaterasuhime asked painfully.
She knew that her sister was not stupid. To think the strike she put between her chest missed her heart.
"Because I don't want to kill my only sister!" she yelled.
"Then tell me…why are you still believing in humanity...?"
"I still believe in humanity because I know they still cannot understand our existence in this world..." Tsukuyomihime said, in a low voice.
She added, "They still don't know the reason for our life in this world…"
It was hard not to let her voice break. Not when tears began to slip through her defenses again. Amaterasuhime's grip on her hand slightly strengthened.
"Nee-sama, what is there for us to live?..." Tsukuyomihime choked on her sobs. "What are the reasons of our existence…?"
"…"
It was correct of what her sister said about the reason for their existence in this world. Amaterasuhime did not reply. She only stared into her eyes for a long time, before eventually pulling her closer.
"Nothing…"
Tsukuyomihime had expected that answer would come out of her mouth. She knew that her sister also did not have an answer to that question.
"Even so...do we even need a reason to live? I don't think so…" Tsukuyomihime slowly spoke.
"If humans don't want to accept our existence in this world, then I shall erase their existence!"
"Then, I'm sorry, I have to do this…"
"What are you-"
Before she could finish asking, red rays began to emit from Amaterasuhime's body. Her body began to look transparent, as she could feel something from her body begin to flow into the sword that just pierced her chest. She immediately knew what her sister was doing.
"I'm sealing you, Nee-sama, from this world. I can't let you erase their existence."
Tsukuyomihime's words were filled with sadness and regret. She regretted that it had to end like this. She didn't want to seal her sister, but she had no choice. If her sister won, she would eradicate humans in this world.
"You… are such a fool…"
"I know…I am."
Tsukuyomihime continued shedding tears, petting the back of her sister's head.
"You know that humans will never accept aradama existence in this world. They will never want us, no matter how hard you try…they will always refuse you."
"Then I will never give up to make them understand that we can all coexist together…because that's my dream."
Amaterasuhime's shaky hand went upwards and brushed her face. Her sister continued to shed more tears as she grasped the hand that was on her face. Amaterasuhime's body began to disappear as her soul slowly entered Mikadzuki, her sister hugging her tightly.
"Then so be it…if ever I come back to this world…make sure your dreams come true… If not… I…will…kill…them… all…"
With those final words, the elder sister finally disappeared from her arms into crimson sparkles that entered Mikadzuki. Tsukuyomihime succeeded in sealing her sister.
Wrapping her arms around the okatana, the younger goddess hugged her blade before releasing small sobs, her tears hitting the blade's surface. She couldn't stop, they just leaked out of her eyes naturally.
Suddenly, two flashes of crimson appeared right in the spot where her sister had just been sealed...revealing a double bladed okatana and a serrated okatana.
"This is…Shitsuren and Nikko." Tsukuyomihime slowly raised the two weapons, before whispering, "I need to seal them."
That night, Tsukuyomihime had witnessed and felt one of the main reasons why humanity hated aradama so much. After what her sister did, Tsukuyomihime felt it was even more difficult to achieve her dream. Humanity increasingly hated them. They saw aradama to be something that could only be used from noro for their own benefit, and blame aradama for its side effects.
They still refused to understand even for themselves, they didn't want to. They instead created Toji and their own okatana to eradicate their race.
Just like what her sister said.
But even so, Tsukuyomihime still tried hard to prove to humanity that there were also aradama, who wanted to coexist with them. She still believed that what her sister said was not entirely correct. Her dream of achieving peace for her race and for her daughter...
Returning her focus to the present time, Tsukuyomihime returned her eyes to her daughter, who was asleep in her lap.
'If I can't achieve my dream, I'm sure my daughter can continue to achieve it…' she thought in her mind, as she stroked Konoka's hair.
There was something disturbing in her mind this time, something big was coming from the netherworld. She didn't know what, but whatever it was, it was coming closer to this world.
Putting aside that thought from her mind, Tsukuyomihime lay herself beside Konoka's sleeping body, before entering her slumber for the night.
A/N: All right, that's the end of Chapter One. in English "Mikadzuki" means "Crescent Moon", while "Nikko" means "Sun light". In the next chapter, we will have Konoka meet again with her friends in RenpuAcademy. This is gonna be a long story, but I will do my best to update at least once a week.