And here we have Miroku's chapter, man it's been awhile. Need to stretch out my unused fingers again.

Chapter 9: Miroku

Miroku's Pov:

My name is Miroku. That is what this little….er….wild animal seems to call me. I am named for a great monk of Japan. Mikoto seems insistent that I be used for good, yet she is so naïve.

Mikoto, my small, agile, overly hyperactive mistress, who I hate to say, tosses me over her shoulder as if I'm a backpack.

Now, as one of the most powerful Childs in the dimension where we Childs and Orphans come from, I am usually very proud and don't allow myself to be seen as a mere possession.

Of course, the fact that I take the form of a sword makes me seem like a mere possession more than anything else.

However, ever since I first fell into Mikoto's hands, when she summoned me, the night her Grandfather died she has been tossing me around like a plaything.

At the beginning I felt like breaking the rules and actually speaking to her telepathically, yelling, (Put me down, I am not a toy, little girl!)

However, I've gotten used to it. All of us Childs must get used to the lives that we're suited to in this plain of existence. That is the price we must pay as having the privilege of being the Himes' servants.

As of this moment, all I see is the inside of Mikoto's duffel bag, so I can't really tell you what's going on in this strange outside world of humans, but I hear a great deal of yelling.

There's the sound of screaming and the vibration of the ground, thanks to all of my brother and sister Childs running trouble me. What is happening out there?

Back in the dimension we Childs come from, we are the cause for alarm amongst everyone. We cause the problems. I can sense danger coming closer though, and I wonder whether or not I should make myself into my true form to protect Mikoto.

My sweet, sweet Mikoto who would do nothing intentional to hurt an innocent. She's so young and naïve. I've sometimes wondered what would happen if she fell into the wrong hands….if anyone dares hurt her…well, they may just hope that one of my brothers and sisters get them first.

It may come as a surprise: A flying sword with seemingly no ability to have arms or legs being threatening. However, I've always been able to destroy things just by floating. Mikoto, I worry about her sometimes, and I don't know how much power will be required to help her. My powers are designed to be of use to the Obsidian Prince, though I do not wish to serve him.

I know that Mikoto will fight against her two beloved friends, Natsuki, Duran's mistress and Mai, Kagutsuchi's mistress, the two Himes that are the closest things that Mikoto has to family after her blood brother, who I know to be that sly, evil boy Reito Kanzaki, the Obsidian Lord's vessel to get into this world.

Mikoto has cried often to herself as she lies in bed, whispering against the bed how Mai treats her like a child and doesn't regard her with real feelings, and she whispers that Natsuki doesn't care about her at all and doesn't treat her like a little sister would want to be treated.

I know she's in pain. That's why she searches for her brother Reito, because she doesn't believe that Natsuki and Mai care about her.

I thought about breaking the rules, about speaking to her through telepathy and telling her that she's loved, and cared for. But as a Child like myself that's over 5000 years old and was there when the first Himes in the caves during the age of the giant mammals, I knew very well that the rules were to be reveled in praise and never to be broken, so I've never risked it.

I worry though. I worry about how she so willingly gives her love to anyone that comes by and shows her affection. She'll show love to anyone. She gives love so freely and innocently, I know that she'll be hurt one of these days.

Love, bah, that's an emotion that all of us Childs see as a weakness. And yet, despite that, we know that it's a weakness, but we still feel it for our mistresses.

I'll be lying to you, if I told you we Childs feel what would be described as "innocent" love towards our mistresses. No, not one of us love our mistresses in any innocent way. In fact if any of us had human bodies, it wouldn't stop us at all from holding and taking our mistresses right there. The only safety our mistresses have from us is the fact that none of us have human bodies.

Well, there's that, and the fact that Mikoto only sees me as a tool, a sword, nothing else.

Despite how much I dislike the fact that Mikoto only sees me as a tool, I know that I must keep her safe. Whether she is brainwashed by that necklace that her dark brother gave her or the innocent kitten that doesn't understand the evils of the world I must protect her. Because I love her.

I need to protect her from the evils that exist, and that includes her brother. Reito. The master of deception.

I know that it's fairly inevitable; I will be called as an alley to the prince and be forced into my full Child form as a result. I will be forced to fight against Duran, Kagutsuchi, and whoever else is left after the horrific events of the Festival are over.

Mikoto has already used me to destroy Gakuteno and Yataragasu.

The pain of that was too much. Not only did I have to murder my old friend and brother Yataragasu but I now had destroyed a human male in the process. An innocent named Tate.

That's what's so terrible about the trials of the Hime. Innocents are destroyed in the battles because our mistresses' love for their precious ones is what gives us power.

One would think that wonderful, however, if they knew the truth, and knew what exactly the Hime's lost when they were defeated by their fellow Hime.

Hime can't even end it by killing themselves. If they do, their loved ones will die anyway.

With this in mind, I know that there's no way I can stop the Festival. No matter how much I want to protect Mikoto from the horrors of reality, I know what will happen continually.

Mikoto has already seen the horrors of destroying fellow Childs, I can only hope that Mai and Natsuki can make her snap out of it in time.

My precious Mikoto. I've watched her grow over time, becoming more naïve than wise.

She believes that she doesn't know how to love. Poor girl, that's not true. She loves, if not too much. But she doesn't know how to love individually.

She doesn't know that her feelings for Mai the Hime are romantic feelings.

As much as I'd love to beat it into her that she has the right type of love, it would be breaking the rules.

I can sense that we are approaching another enemy. I don't know who it will be that Mikoto has me destroy this time, but I know I will not enjoy it.

I can only hope that Mai helps her in time before the Obsidian Prince wins. I put aside all my fears; Mikoto dying, Mikoto suffering from seeing anything happen to Mai and Natsuki, Mikoto suffering from finding out just how evil the Obsidian Prince is by possessing her brother; everything and readying myself for another terrible battle.

The least I can do is hope that I will be able to follow Mikoto after she dies. I can't be a Kagutsuchi from the previous Festival and remain on earth to meld with the Crystal Hime like a certain other Child did.

What a fool.

However, Mikoto, my beloved, if I can I will follow her always. A sinner should be with another sinner. I hope my sins in time will be forgiven, as will hers.

Author's Note:

Next up, Duran.