Crimso's Notes:
The idea of going back to school after a long weekend makes me want to cry… Really, it does. I can't stand the idea of being back in the classroom tomorrow, doing some work. I would much prefer to be writing this fanfiction, or playing games on my 3DS or on the computer. Really, I dislike school. But then again, who doesn't? It's really getting in my way this year.
My head hurts. I hope this doesn't affect my writing. Maybe it's because I've been playing my 3DS a lot. …I dislike images in 3D… even though I have a 3DS.
~~~~X~~~~
Chapter Twenty-Two: Trust
A memory was constantly repeating in Shion's head. All she could seem to remember was that man's knife plunging into her back, and then her sister's cries when she went to slash up that man for doing such a thing to her. After that memory, there was the memory of Keiichi telling her to run, which she did. She ran far, far away from that man. But the problem was, she didn't know where she was going when she ran. She had just taken off in a random direction, and hadn't followed Keiichi.
Sis… this was the one word that was running through her mind as she remembered these incidents. She pictured her sister with the katana in her hand, screaming as she slashed the man up in every spot she could find. She was not nice to him, and she had had a perfectly good reason to be mad. The thought of her sister warmed her heart. She was such a wonderful sister.
But now, for some reason, all Shion felt was emptiness.
What had that man done to Mion? Had he caught her? She didn't know. She hadn't been anywhere near her sister when it had happened. The man may or may not have caught her. She could be suffering now. Thinking about that basement made Shion want to punch a hole through someone's head. That was the last place she wanted to be, even if it was with her sister.
But perhaps it would be better than to be anywhere without her.
She was alone now. Her sister was somewhere, maybe caught, and she didn't have her by her side anymore. Where she had gone, Shion didn't know. But what she did know was that she'd rather have her by her side underground in a cell than to be where she was right now.
Well, maybe. She wasn't even sure where she was. Everything that passed through her head were just memories and sounds. She knew that she was dreaming, and yet, for some reason, she found herself unable to wake up. She wanted to do so, to escape the painful memories, but for some reason, she just couldn't.
And then an image flashed through her mind, one that was not a memory. She pictured the man grabbing Mion, and then attaching a leash to her collar and dragging her away with him, perhaps to the Sonozaki family, where they would imprison her. Not only that, but she was sure that they would punish her if that were the case. Perhaps they would find the most brutal way to do so. And maybe, just maybe, they would just kill her when she got there. There was no point in them being there, anyways. They had been just sitting there underground like trophies. There was no need for them. Perhaps the family head would final realize that and just kill her on the spot.
Another image came to her mind. This time, it was the image of the man holding a knife to Mion's throat before slashing it open, killing her. It was one that made her blood boil, and her fear escalate. She knew it was just a dream, but the very image of her being killed made Shion want to scream. What would she do without her sister?
She didn't know. And that's why she would prefer to be with her sister than anywhere else.
"Sis…" she whispered in her sleep. "Sis, sis, sis…"
Once again, the image of her dying appeared, causing Shion to shift uncomfortably in her sleep.
"Sis… sis… SIS!" she screamed out.
And with that, her eyes flew open, fear in them. The first thing she caught sight of was another pair of eyes, ones that instantly filled with shock when they saw her eyes shoot open without any warning whatsoever. The eyes blinked once or twice before the whole figure of the person jumped up, startled. He looked really scared for some reason.
"Gah!" he cried out. "D-Don't scare me like that!"
Shion blinked up at him, confused.
A sigh sounded out from the back of the room. "I told you that she was going to wake up! Man, getting scared like that… that's really just like you!" a voice called out.
"...Sorry! It was so sudden and…!" the figure protested.
"I'm going to go make a call… you work on what you were doing," sighed the voice. Footsteps followed, and the second figure disappeared out of the room.
The person who had been startled when she woke up sighed. He sat back down again, looking back into her green eyes. "I'm sorry about that. But… you just scared me." He rubbed the back of his head.
Shion blinked at him. "…Where am I?" was the first thing she asked, disregarding what had just happened. She looked about the place she was in, finding that it wasn't a cell of any sort or anything that looked like the Sonozaki basement. Another thing was for sure, and that was that she certainly wasn't outside right now. In fact, she was currently laying down on a futon. It looked like she was inside someone's house. She looked back at the person who had been looking at her when she woke up, her eyes blinking with confusion. Who was this guy?
"My house," he replied. He looked back down at the ground beside him, which had a bunch of medical supplies sitting on it, such as bandages and some kind of strange medicine.
"Why?" she asked. She tried to remember any incident that would have caused her to end up here, but the only thing that came to mind was her running away, and her sister trying to defend her. Surely he wasn't referring to that.
He looked down at his feet. "I…" He shook his head. "I saw you on the ground this morning as I was walking through the forest. You were bleeding and you looked like you were dying, and I couldn't just leave you there…"
A voice sounded out from another room. "He carried you all the way here after that. I was surprised. To think that you would do something like that…"
He grinned sheepishly. "You were really hurt. There was a whole bunch of blood. What happened?"
It appeared to her that he had no intention of doing anything bad to her, so she decided that she'd explain. "I got chased by some guy hoping to capture me. I got separated from my sister…"
He looked surprised. "Sister? Most demons don't have siblings. And if they do, I don't think they know they're their sibling…" He sighed. "But in any case…" he looked down at her neck, where her collar was placed. "You're a Sonozaki, huh? That's kind of funny… I heard from my friend there weren't any left." He paused for a second. "Number Twenty-Eight, huh? Sonozaki Demon Number Twenty-Eight…"
Shion looked down at her collar. For some reason, her nametag had fallen off, revealing her number. It had probably happened during the chase.
"No," she answered.
He blinked at her. "Huh?"
"It's not Number Twenty-Eight. My name is Shion. My collar used to say Shion, but it appears as if that part of it came off." she explained to him, pointing to the number on her collar. "Don't call me Number Twenty-Eight. I am not Number Twenty-Eight." She was very serious about that. Number Twenty-Eight was the name she had when she was trapped underground. She was a free demon now. She didn't have a number.
He looked a little confused, but it appeared as if he decided to comply. "Oh. I'm sorry, Shion." He then smiled at her for some reason, which was something that kind of startled her. "And my name is Satoshi. Houjou Satoshi. It's nice to meet you, Shion." And then, for some reason, he reached out and patted her head, in the process ruffling her green hair. "I won't call you that. Don't worry."
Shion felt relieved. The boy had complied to her request so quickly, not even bothering to ask why a demon would have a name, as the only ones that did have names were the head demons.
"So, Shion," he spoke, changing the topic. "My little sister went to call our friend, but I can ask her to call up the Sonozaki family for you. I'm sure that they really miss—"
"NO!" she screamed out, instantly cutting off whatever Satoshi was trying to say. "No! Do not call the Sonozaki family! I don't want to go back to that place!"
Satoshi was taken aback by her response. She hadn't even let him finish his sentence before refusing his offer. He looked shocked, at first, but his face softened. "I guess that the Sonozakis don't treat their demons very nicely. We try to do a better job of that. My friend, Furude Rika, makes sure she feeds her demons every five days at most. We clean out cells and change the demon's clothing regularly," he said with a smile. But then, that smile turned into a frown. "But I suppose the Sonozakis aren't like that. I heard Kimiyoshi hardly ever feeds his demons. …Is it the same?"
Shion nodded, horribly painful memories filling her mind. She could remember the spark hope she would get whenever Yasuo came down with a single slab of meat, which was an event that only happened once a month, if she was lucky. "The Sonozaki family was very cruel to us. Even though it was just my sister and I, we'd only be fed at least once a month. They rarely ever gave us new clothing, and it was rare that our cell would be cleaned." She shook her head, trying to forget the painful memories. She was a free demon now. She didn't need to remember all of that.
Satoshi must have seen the pain in her eyes, as he reached out and began to ruffle the top of her head again. Shion, for some reason, began to blush at such an action. Did he have a habit of doing this or something? "Don't worry. You're not with the Sonozakis anymore. You're here. I'll make sure you're okay," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I won't give you back to them. Stay here."
Shion wanted to ask him about returning her to Keiichi, but she said nothing of that sort. She couldn't bring up the fact that Keiichi had stolen the demons, because she knew he would get in trouble. So, she decided that she would listen to him and stay with him for the time being. It was the only option at the moment. "Thank you," she told him. She was grateful, really. If he really fed demons that much like he said, then she could expect a good meal. Not that Keiichi was any different, though.
There was a moment of silence after that, in which neither of them really knew what to say.
"…Houjou Satoshi?" Shion finally spoke up.
"Just Satoshi is fine," he replied.
"All right then. Satoshi-kun?"
"Yes?"
Shion fidgeted a little bit. "…By any chance, can you tell me if you see a girl that looks exactly like me? She's my sister. We got separated and…" she looked down, picturing her sister in her head. She had been with her sister all of her life, and this was the first time she spent any time away from her. She wiped away any tears that began to form, trying to hide them from the boy in front of her. "…Well, I want to see my sis again. I-I think she got captured… and…" Shion couldn't stand the idea of her sister being captured. What would they do to her then?
"Of course. She looks exactly like you? Exactly?" he asked.
Shion nodded. "In every single way."
"Are you two identical twins?" he asked.
"Yeah." She thought back to the time where Keiichi had first given her that mirror, and when she had first looked into it. She had been shocked to see her sister's face in that mirror, but what had shocked her more was when she realized that the face in the mirror was not her sister's, but her own face. That was the first time she had ever seen what she looked like. Tears started to stream down her face as she thought about her sister some more. Perhaps she was trapped again, and maybe even beaten or killed. What would she do, then?
She couldn't stand the idea of her sister being taken from her. If that happened, she would probably try to kill herself. Life would be too different without her. What if I never see her again? She realized that this was possible. Maybe she wouldn't ever find her sister, and maybe she wouldn't ever get to see her again. She clenched her fists as she thought about that. How would she be able to survive without her?
Satoshi noticed she had begun to cry, and alarm rose inside of him. "…Don't worry," he told her, once again reaching for the top of her head. "I'm going to find your sister for you. I promise…"
Shion clenched her teeth and nodded. She didn't know if she could trust him on that, but he seemed like the kind of person she could depend on.
Just then, the two of them heard two pairs of feet running up the stairs. A few seconds later, two girls appeared at the top, one with yellow hair and the other with blue hair. They stopped to look at the scene before them for a few seconds. Then, the blue-haired girl ran towards the demon, looking at her with wide eyes.
"Is she really a Sonozaki demon? I thought they were all dead!" cried the blue-haired girl.
Satoshi nodded, pointing to the spiked collar around her neck. "See? Only Sonozaki demons have this kind of collar. She's a Sonozaki demon."
The girl with blue hair looked at her collar closely, her eyes wide. "She really is. Sonozaki Demon Number Twenty-Eight, huh?"
"Shion," Shion replied, shuddering at the mention of that number. She never wanted to hear someone call her by that "name" ever again. "Call me Shion. Don't call me Number Twenty-Eight. The Sonozaki family doesn't own me anymore…"
The blue-haired girl looked puzzled. "Huh? Did you run away?"
Shion nodded. "Yes. And I don't want to go back there ever again…"
Satoshi turned to the blue-haired girl and nodded. "She apparently escaped with her sister, but she ended up being chased by some guy. When I found her, she was lying on the forest floor. I think she passed out."
"Ah?" Rika turned back to the demon, observing her closely. "I'm surprised. To think that Oryou actually spared two demons… that's kind of shocking. I heard that she wanted to end the demons because she thought it would start a war or something similar to that." She narrowed her eyes as she tried to get a better look at her. "But there has to be some reason she was spared, along with her sister. Why didn't Oryou want to kill these two, when she murdered all the others? She even murdered her most trusted demon…"
The girl with yellow hair shook her head. Shion noted that she looked kind of like Satoshi. "Beats me. Maybe there's something special about her that makes her different from the other demons. I'd say that the horns, since none of our demons have horns, but a lot of Sonozaki demons had horns…" She looked at the girl her age. "I think that's what you said anyways, Rika."
The other girl nodded. "You said that you had a sister… where is she?" she asked her.
"I have no idea," answered Shion, looking down at the futon she was still underneath. "She may or may not have been captured. And maybe… maybe they killed her." She felt a few tears beginning to form in her eyes as she thought about the idea, but she quickly wiped those away along with the idea that her sister may be dead. Satoshi had promised her that he was going to find her, and she believed him. "But please tell me if you see a demon that looks exactly like me. She's my identical twin, so it should be obvious that she's my sister when you see her…"
The blue-haired girl's eyes grew wide. "Identical twins?" she repeated. She took a moment to look at the girl, and then scratched the top of her head. Suddenly, her eyes filled with shock and surprise, a look of sudden understanding on her face.
"Huh? Rika? Something happen?" the young yellow-haired girl asked, confusion on her face as she looked at her friend.
She slowly nodded her head. "I just realized something. I thought that she looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn't put a finger on it." She looked at the demon once more, and then nodded. "She looks like Sonozaki Akane. You know, Takeru's mother."
Satoshi raised an eyebrow. "She does, now that you mention it…"
"Yes. And do you remember how Takeru told us that his mother had twins that were taken away from her before she had Takeru? Well, I think that she's one of the twins. I think that the Sonozaki family took her away from her mother the moment she was born and turned her and her sister into demons, and then locked them in the basement and prevented anyone from finding out. Maybe that's why Oryou didn't want to kill her. She probably had a soft spot for her, because she's her granddaughter." She nodded. "That has to be it. I don't think it would make sense any other way! Oryou would never spare anyone otherwise!" She smiled, certain that her theory was correct.
Shion was shocked by how fast Rika caught on. Now that she thought about it, Keiichi too had figured out who she was when the identical twin thing came up. He had come to the same conclusion, too, minus the whole thing about Oryou killing all the demons, as he hadn't really been considering that factor. Thinking about this made her recall their first meeting, and how shocked they had been when a random boy had wandered in. Had she known that that boy would be the same boy that would set her free? No. She had been doubtful. Mion, on the other hand, believed him right away.
So, did that mean she should trust this boy, using the same logic? She doubted Keiichi and first, and he actually had done what she wanted him to do. Satoshi seemed like a nice guy, and someone who was very honest. He was very kind, too. He didn't seem to be the kind of person to lie. I think that I'll trust him on this one. I have no other options right now. …I can't go outside, because the demon killer may try to bring me back again. I have to rely on this guy.
"That's right," she replied. "Someone told me that I was the daughter of the Sonozaki family, who had been turned into a demon and locked away. …I've never met my mother, so I don't know if I look like her. Is that really true?"
The girl nodded her head as she looked at the girl. "You look a lot like her. I should have noticed it the moment I walked in. I bet if you were to go out, everyone would know who you were."
"That's why I wasn't ever allowed outside. The Sonozaki head didn't want my mother to know that I was alive." It felt strange to mention her mother, as she had never seen hers before. What was she like? Was she a caring person? Would she love her if she were to see her?
The yellow-haired girl looked towards Satoshi. "I think that you can tell family easily. A lot of people say I look like my brother." She then turned towards the green-haired girl. "My name is Houjou Satoko, by the way! You can tell we're siblings by the eye and hair color, and also the similar name. For some reason, my parents decided to name us really similar things." She shrugged. "But whatever the case is, I'm Satoko! I'm a master at traps, and I can set up a trap in a matter of seconds! In fact, I even managed to outsmart the man who has been kidnapping all the children! He came after me, and bam! He was caught in my rope trap! He couldn't even lay a hand on me!"
As soon as she mentioned the case of the missing children, Shion's eyes widened. She thought back to the time where her master brought down that little boy, and then ordered her to kill him. Then she thought back to the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that… She and her sister were the ones that had killed all those kids when the kidnapper took them. Was it a huge case up here, where people were wondering who the kidnapper could be? She knew the identity of the kidnapper, but she couldn't say anything. She had strict orders not to.
But then, she realized. She was a free demon, now. She didn't have to listen to his orders anymore. So why was she holding back? She was about to open her mouth to tell them the truth, but then she shut it. What if he found out that she had told him? He would surely beat her for it, especially since he was now on her tail. And not only that, but what would they think if they knew she was the one who had killed all those children, along with her sister? She didn't do so because she wanted to, but it would have a huge impact. Maybe they wouldn't want to be with her anymore. Maybe then they'd call the Sonozakis and send her back to them, even though she promised not to.
And then… maybe Kei-chan will find out.
No. She couldn't tell them. Even if she wanted to, and even if she was a free demon, she couldn't speak a word on the subject. It was wrong not to, but she didn't have a choice. It was then that she realized that she didn't have very many choices in anything. She didn't have any choice but to stay here for now, and she didn't have any choice but to keep her mouth shut about the identity of the kidnapper. So, I guess I'm not completely free yet, huh?
She sighed and shook that thought out of her head. "It's nice to meet you, Satoko. My sister and I have similar names, too," she replied, a smile on her face. She then turned back to the blue-haired girl who had been speaking to her before about her identity. "And your name is…?"
"Furude Rika," answered the girl. "I'm the current head of the Furude family. And yes, I know, I'm very young. …My parents died, so I was the only one left to take care of the family. I run the Furude Shrine and I take care of all the Furude demons." She then nudged Satoko in the stomach, a grin on her face as she did that. "But really, Satoko helps me out as well! And Satoshi's really good with helping the demons, too! We all work together on making sure that the Furude demons are at one hundred percent!"
Shion grinned at that thought. The Furude demons must be happy. They probably were aloud to go outside, since the only reason why she wasn't allowed to in the first place was because they didn't want her mother to see her. They got fed every few days, and they were treated nicely. It would be nice if I were a Furude demon, and not a Sonozaki demon. Maybe things would be different…
She decided not to think about that. It was impossible, and there was no point.
"I'm guessing the Sonozakis didn't treat you well," Rika commented, seeing slight pain in Shion's eyes.
Shion cringed and nodded. "They didn't feed my sister and I very often. We were left in dirty clothing, and a lot of the time the cell was covered in dirt. The floors are not very comfortable to sleep on, either. But luckily, I had my sis to snuggle with, so it was okay." She smiled at the thought. "Because of my sister, I am still here. I don't think I would have survived if she hadn't been there for me. I think that I would have begged my master to kill me if that were the case."
Her face then twisted into a frown. How had she spent the night without her sister? She never had been able to fall asleep without her at her side before. Probably because I passed out, like Satoshi-kun says. I don't think I would have been able to sleep if it weren't for her.
And then, another thought rose in her mind. How was her sister doing? Was she able to sleep without her? She shuddered at the idea. What if she hadn't gotten any sleep last night? She could remember the nights she spent without sleep. They were never any fun for her. What if her sister had experienced such a thing last night? She was worried.
But I shouldn't be worried. Because Satoshi-kun promised me that he would find my sister for me…
She looked up at the boy, and at his smile. Something about that smile made her happy, and it gave her some confidence. He had promised, after all. Yes, he's definitely a person that I can trust. He will find my sister for me. And then, I don't have to worry about her anymore…
~~~~X~~~~
"Shion!" cried Keiichi as he ran throughout the very thick forest. "Shion! Where are you? !"
It was early in the morning, and both him and Mion decided to go on a hunt for Shion, just like he had promised. They were searching every part of the forest, hoping that she was nearby. He was sure that he had checked everywhere in the forest, but he couldn't allow Mion to be let down. He had seen how scared she had gotten when her sister wasn't there.
Yeah, I can't allow Mion to be like this any longer. Not only that, but Shion is my friend… and if she's been caught…
Keiichi clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He didn't want to think about that.
Still, though, Shion was nowhere to be found. No matter where he looked in the forest, and no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find any trace of the younger green-haired girl. With a sigh, he wandered off further into the trees. He had no idea if he had looked in that spot already, but there was no way to tell. All the forest looked the same to him. It was just tons of trees, the amount seemingly not ending.
"SIS!" screamed Mion as she frantically ran about the area. "SIS! ANSWER ME! IT'S MION!"
He shook his head. They had been searching for about an hour and a half, now. With still no sign of Shion, there was little chance she was still in the forest. If she had gotten lost, it was likely that she had been found by some villager and taken back to the Sonozakis. And if she had been caught… well, then, she was probably with the Sonozakis. But I can't just go there and ask if they have seen a green-haired girl! They would get suspicious!
There was almost no chance that he would run into her here. Someone had probably captured her, if not the man who had ran after her yesterday.
"Mion," he told the demon gently. "It's no use. As much as I hate to admit it… Shion's… Shion's…" he clenched his fists. Those words were painful for him to say. "She's probably been captured…" He couldn't stand the idea, but it was the truth. "I-If that man didn't catch her… someone probably saw her collar and took her back to the Sonozakis…"
Mion turned around, her green eyes wide with fear. "T-They've probably locked her back up in that cell! And she's probably being beaten or tortured now!" she yelled out, accepting the idea instantly. She had already believed that this was the case, after all. "I was right! Oh Sis!" she cried, sinking down to the floor as she thought about the idea. "I'm never going to see you again!"
Keiichi walked up to her, a frown on his face as he looked at the state she was in. She looked horribly, horribly upset. He bent down to the ground and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her. His presence had helped her yesterday, after all. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders gently, trying to soothe the girl. She instantly whipped around and buried her head into his chest, sobbing.
"It's okay, Mion. …I'm here for you," he whispered, holding her closer. "I'm not going to leave you."
She continued to sob, clutching onto his shirt as if she was hanging onto him for life. "She's going to be trapped again, and they're going to kill her! She's never going to see the outside again… and… I'm never going to see her again!" she screamed out, her voice muffled by the shirt her face was pressed against. "Oh Sis…. oh sis…"
He held her tighter, trying to calm her down. He wanted to reassure her that he was going to find her, but he had no idea how he was going to do that. Sure, he could go ahead and tell her that, but she'd be counting on his words. He wasn't sure how he was going to get Shion back if the Sonozakis had her. Now that she had been stolen once, they would be looking out for the person who stole her. Perhaps he would strike again.
The best he could do for now was to hold her tighter.
~~~~X~~~~
"Are you sure you can't find Shi-chan anywhere?" Rena asked as she stared at the demon in the corner, who was playing with the sheets of her futon, having nothing better to do at the moment.
Keiichi nodded. "I looked everywhere in the forest, but Shion was nowhere. Sure, that guy may have captured her, but if he didn't, then some person probably saw her and noticed her collar, and then they probably sent her back to the Sonozakis." This was the only explanation. "I'm sure the Sonozakis were offering a high reward for the captured of the twins…"
"I don't know about a reward, but Hayashi-sensei and Masaru-san certainly did mention bringing the demons back." She continued to stare at the demon, feeling horrible for the girl. "Poor, poor Mi-chan. She looks heartbroken."
"She is," Keiichi replied as he too looked at the girl. "She couldn't sleep last night. She always sleeps with her sister at night, and since she was gone…" He blushed a little as he remembered how Mion had crawled into his futon last night, and how the two had snuggled together until they fell asleep. He felt his heart thump in his chest as he thought about how he had felt at the time.
Love… I'm in love with her…
The thought was strange to him. He, a human, was in love with a demon. This was probably something unheard of in the legends of Onigafuchi.
But that's because everyone thought that demons were vile creatures.
No one in the village of Onigafuchi thought of demons as anything more than evil creatures that wanted blood. Apparently, they couldn't feel emotions and had black blood, both of which were lies. These were things that were believed by everyone in the whole village, him and Rena aside.
"It's funny. I never thought that demons could feel that way before," Rena commented. "Before, I had only heard about demons wanting to rip people's flesh and tear out their organs. I had never heard of anything that said that demons actually could feel emotions and have feelings that humans did, too." She thought back to how Mion had smiled at her when they met, and how surprised she had been when that had happened. "I never thought that I would see a demon so heartbroken."
"Me too. From what I read before I actually met the twins, demons were all terrible creatures and they would kill you without a second thought," he replied. That's what the book had said when he had gone to do some research, after all. "The legends I heard said the same thing, too."
Rena looked over to the boy. "You mean the one about Makoto and Koichi?"
He nodded. "That one."
The Legend of Makoto and Koichi was one he had only heard about, not one he had ever read about. From what he could tell from Koichi's book, though, was that the Demon King, Makoto, was a ruthless killer who sent his demons to murder hundreds of humans. He was evil, vile, and cruel. However, Koichi, who was the head of the Kimiyoshi family, set out one day and killed Makoto. Then, having no leader, Koichi forced the demons to be the pets of humans.
But was that really true? Was Makoto really a killer who had no sympathy for humans? Was he really that cruel? He had thought over this before, but he hadn't come to a conclusion, as there was no way that he would ever know. No one knew the true legend of Makoto and Koichi. Everyone knew it from how Koichi told it. And, being the legend of Makoto and Koichi, such was only half of the story. No one knew how Makoto had felt about the whole thing.
Surely he had a reason for killing people. Even a demon wouldn't kill without a reason. Perhaps he had been hungry, and wanted the humans so that he could eat them. That was possible. Had Koichi not considered that perhaps Makoto was just hungry? Sure, he could have, but he may have only thought of him as evil for that reason. Demons got hungry just like humans. They needed food. Makoto was probably just trying to feed himself.
But it was useless trying to understand it. There was no answer to the tale. No one knew the true story. Thinking about such a thing was just a waste of time.
"Was Makoto really that bad? Was he?" Rena asked, a small frown on her face. "I don't want to go against Koichi and say such a thing, but it's most likely true. I mean, look at Mi-chan," she said, gesturing to the demon. "She has horns, and people would think that she's evil by just giving her once glance. But you didn't. Even if she didn't have horns at that time, she was still a demon. When you got closer to her, you realized who Mi-chan really was." She paused for a moment. "Makoto could have been the same way. Maybe he wasn't evil."
"I was thinking that he wanted meat to feed himself," commented Keiichi. He had already moved on from the subject in his mind, but it would be strange just to change it here. Even if they couldn't figure it out, there was a meaning behind his wondering. "Demons get hungry. They eat humans. Of course a demon would go out and try to feed. It's not like they're doing something evil and cruel by feeding themselves. They're just trying to feed themselves."
"I think that's it. I just think that Koichi wasn't open to that idea. He was convinced that he was a murderous demon who wanted nothing more than to slaughter humans. Makoto probably wasn't like that," she replied. "I think that he may have been a nice demon if you talked to him. Just like how Mi-chan looks scary, but she's not."
Keiichi glanced at his demon friend. Her horns had gotten quite large, and they were very noticeable. However, that didn't mean that she was an evil person.
"It's too bad, though," replied Keiichi. "We'll never know the true story. There's no one that knows if from Makoto's side. We'll just have to assume that he wasn't like that. There's no way we'll know if he really was a good demon." He sighed as he thought about this. Sure, there was no way he would know, but it didn't matter too much, he supposed.
Rena didn't say anything for about thirty seconds. "That's not true," she finally spoke.
Keiichi blinked at her. "Huh?"
"That's not true," she repeated. "There are many who know the story from Makoto's side."
Keiichi was puzzled. "Rena?" There were people who knew about it from Makoto's side? He hadn't read any books about it, and he didn't know any villagers that would know the story from the Demon King's side.
"The demons do," replied Rena. "The demons that have been there since the end of Makoto's rule. And two particular demons come to mind when I think about that."
Keiichi had never considered such an idea. Of course the demons would know how Makoto felt! But Mion doesn't know the tale, and I don't know which demons WOULD know the tale. That aside, I can't just march in there and ask a demon for the tale…! But who were these two demons that came to her mind?
"Kaede and Kai," she replied. "Those two were Makoto's guards. I heard they were both very loyal to him. Kenji is dead, but that doesn't matter. There's still the two of them." She nodded her head, certain of her idea. "Those two would definitely know the truth, and the whole legend. I'm not sure where Kai is, but we can certainly ask Kaede about it. She's really nice. I've talked to her before."
Rena was right. He could ask Kaede about the tale. It wouldn't have a big effect, but it was always good to know the truth. After all, Makoto's true personality was something he had been wondering about for a while. Besides, it wouldn't hurt if they took a little time off and asked Kaede. It wasn't like Kaede or Rika would tell anyone that they went down to ask her.
"Let's do it," he decided. "Let's ask her."
Rena smiled at him. "Let's."
The two of them stood up, and Keiichi grabbed his bag. He probably didn't need it, but it became a habit for him to carry it with him everywhere he went. Rena grabbed her own bag and nodded to Keiichi. "You know how to get to the Furude place, right?" Keiichi asked her. "I've been to there once before, but I'm not sure how you would get there."
Rena nodded. "I've been there a few times before. I know how to get there."
That made things easier. "All right." He paused suddenly, tuning to glance at the demon. She hadn't moved one bit since they had come back from their search. "What about Mion?"
The orange-haired girl glanced at the girl in the corner, sighing. "Well, we can't bring her with us. I think we'll just have to lock her in here for now. I don't think that anyone will be able to get in with the door locked, and I doubt that someone would attack a house in the middle of the day." She shook her head. "Poor Mi-chan…"
Keiichi felt bad for her. He wanted her to tag along, but there was no way that they could hide her collar. Her horns were large, but they were small enough to hide underneath a hat. If someone were to see her collar, she would be caught, along with him, and they would be punished. He wished he had the key to that collar, but he didn't, so there wasn't a single way they could get that stiff, metal collar off.
He walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She whipped around as soon as she felt his touch, gazing at him with green eyes that were filled with pain.
"Mion," he told her gently. "Listen, Mion. I'm going to go. The house is going to be locked, so no one can get you. Don't worry. I will be back."
She nodded, but her eyes were still full of pain. It hurt Keiichi to have to leave her when she was in such a state.
"…You'll really be okay, right?" Mion asked.
Keiichi shot her a reassuring grin. "I'll be fine."
Mion didn't look convinced. She was thinking back to the attack, and how she had lost Shion. She didn't want to lose Keiichi, too. She loved him, after all.
Still annoyed with himself, Keiichi walked over to his cabinet. He opened the bottom drawer and began to fish around in it, his hand then grasping onto a small object. He pulled it out, revealing a rather shiny and expensive looking bracelet. He had found it on the ground one day, when he was in Tokyo, and he had decided to keep it. He never had anything to do with it, though.
He didn't know why, but he handed the bracelet over to Mion. He felt as if he needed to give her something to cheer her up, to reassure her. "Here," he told her as he placed it in her hands. "It goes around your wrist. It's a bracelet I found one day. I think that it would look really pretty on you," he told her.
She looked at, staring at it with wide, emerald eyes. "It's pretty," she commented. Slowly, she took it and fumbled around with it, trying to get it on her wrist. When she did, she looked at it some more, holding up her wrist to look at it. "Thank you."
She seemed happy with her gift, which was something that cheered Keiichi up. It made him feel better about himself, especially after the girl had lost her sister and was now being left alone. He wasn't sure how much good it would do for her, but it would keep her happy for now.
"All right. I'll see you soon, Mion," he told her. Then, he turned to the orange-haired girl. "Let's go."
And so, the two friends left.
~~~~X~~~~
"Eh, you want to talk to Kaede?" asked Rika.
Rena nodded. "We need to ask her a few questions," she explained. "I know it seems a little funny, but please."
Rika, who had been playing around with Satoko outside her house, shrugged. She wasn't sure why they would need to talk to her head demon, but it didn't really matter. "Well, I guess you two can talk to her. She'll be glad to answer any questions you have. I'm not sure what you want to talk to her about, but…"
Satoko shrugged. "Might as well let them. I trust my friends, after all."
"Yeah, sure," decided Rika. "The storage house is over there. Here, I'll go with you."
Keiichi grinned. He was pretty sure that Rika would let him in when he asked, but it was good to hear that he was correct when he made that assumption.
She turned to Satoko. "Satoko, you go off and check on Satoshi. See how he's doing with his job."
Satoko nodded. "Right," she replied before running off.
Rika returned her gaze to the two teenagers, nodding at them as she reached for her key, which she had been keeping in her pocket. "I'll let you guys in, and I'll be there while you guys ask Kaede the questions."
Well, it didn't seem too bad. Besides, there wasn't too much to be suspicious about if they were to ask them about the Legend of Makoto and Koichi. It was just a legend that they were curious about, after all. The three of them walked towards the storage area as Keiichi wondered what Rika would think when they asked their question to Kaede. She wouldn't be too surprised, would she? They were more curious than anything, after all. It wasn't like they were trying to pull some scheme off with information about the legend. They just wanted to know the truth.
Rika opened the door to the storage, which looked quite a bit like a tool shrine, and gestured for them to come in.
When Keiichi stepped inside, he noted that it was quite different from the Kimiyoshi area and the Sonozaki area. The Sonozakis resembled a basement quite a bit, and as did the Kimiyoshi area, despite not being underground. The inside of this was made like the inside of a shrine, representing how the members of the Furude family were the ones that took care of the Furude shrine.
All the demons turned to look at him. Not too many of them seemed to have very malicious gazes. In fact, most of them just returned to whatever they were doing when the boy walked inside. A few of them growled and shouted a few things, but that was about it. It was a lot different from the Kimiyoshi Manor, in which the demons seemed to be quite rude, and a few rather curious as to whom he was.
"Kaede is in the very back," Rika said as she gazed at a screaming demon out of the corner of her eye. "Allow me to take some time to tend to this demon here…"
Rena smiled and nodded at the girl. "Okay. Thank you, Rika-chan."
"Welcome!" she cried as she ran over to the demon in the cell.
With Rika gone, Rena and Keiichi continued down the rows of demons. The cells were very similar to the ones in the Sonozaki and Kimiyoshi manor, aside from the fact that the inside looked a little more like a shrine, as he had noted before. The demons looked at them briefly as they went by their cells, though they didn't bother to ask why they were there. The fact that they had seen them enter with their master indicated they weren't here to steal anything, and there was no reason to be hostile towards them.
Eventually, the two of them reached the back, where Kaede was currently residing. She was sitting against the wall of her cell, seemingly deep in thought. Her eyes were shut, though she peaked one open when she spotted the two of them.
"Ah, Maebara Keiichi and Ryuuguu Rena," the demon spoke as she stood up and walked over to them. "Has my master invited you in to speak with me?"
Before Keiichi could say anything, Rena nodded. "You were one of Makoto's guards, weren't you?"
"Yes," replied Kaede. "I was there from the start of Makoto's reign to the end."
Keiichi looked over to Rena, not really sure how he was going to phrase anything to Makoto. "Well… um…" Keiichi began to speak, feeling a little nervous. Kaede's story about Makoto, if she was going to share one at all, was going to be quite biased in the favor of Makoto, as she worked for him and understood him. However, since they already had the biased version from Koichi, the two would work together. "…I'd like to hear about the Legend of Makoto and Koichi. You know, how Koichi killed him, and all other things in that legend."
Kaede looked a little surprised and somewhat distraught, but only for about a split second. "Let me guess, Koichi's side of the tale didn't seem correct to you?"
Now it was Keiichi's turn to be surprised. How did Kaede guess? "…Yes. It seemed a little strange."
"It is. Koichi was a very confused man," Kaede replied. "He didn't understand Makoto."
"I'm going to guess. Makoto wasn't a man-eating, ruthless, evil killer like they described him to be?" Rena commented, thinking back to all the words they had used to describe the Demon King in that legend. Cruel, disgusting, ruthless, evil, bloodthirsty, unjust… there were just too many words they used that were negative. It seemed that he placed a negative adjective on every one of Makoto's actions.
Kaede sighed and nodded her head. "…There was a lot to Makoto that Koichi never really got. I think that he thought that all demons were killers, and that they all saw humans negatively." She shrugged. "That is true. No demons like humans, and no humans liked demons. They didn't get along, simply because they didn't understand each other." She sighed. "But Makoto knew better."
Keiichi blinked. "Did he really?"
Kaede raised an eyebrow, somewhat disturbed by what he had said for some reason. But she continued on anyways. "Oh yes. Makoto knew about humans and demons all too well, and was able to establish an understanding of both of them, despite being a demon," Kaede explained.
"…I guess that means that he wasn't so bad as the people described him, then," said Keiichi as he thought about her words. She was saying that he could understand humans and demons, which was a unique ability. Keiichi couldn't see how he would want to use that for evil. If anything, that meant he understood both points of view and understood that there was a misunderstanding between demons and humans.
Once again, the orange-haired demon looked a little irritated and somewhat disturbed. "Of course not. Makoto was just a poor little girl who wanted what was best for both species. She didn't want all the hate between humans and demons. …I believed in what she thought, and I followed her wishes until the end of her life."
Wait a second. Did she just refer to the Demon King Makoto as a girl? But wasn't Makoto a Demon King? Takeru said that Makoto was male, too. He looked incredibly confused, as did Rena, and it didn't take long for the demon to notice this.
"…I think that the title Demon King implied that Makoto was male. No. She wasn't. …Koichi's detailed book on the myth was lost over time, but in that book, he clearly describes Makoto as being female. People were taken in by the demon king title, and her image was twisted." Kaede sighed as she looked up at the ceiling. "She was called the Demon King, but that was because the previous Demon King was male, and there was this legend about the king…" she shook her head and sighed. "But whatever the case is, Makoto was indeed female and she is indeed different than the legends describe."
Keiichi was puzzled by this and had to wonder how the tale managed not only managed to twist who Makoto was, but her gender as well.
But he shook that off. If such a thing happened, then Makoto must be really different than described.
"Tell me," Keiichi said. "Please tell me everything you know."
Kaede nodded. "All right. I'll tell you all I know about Makoto, and how she came to her brutal end…"
~~~~X~~~~
Crimso's Corner V.2: ULTRA LONG EDITION
Oh look, it's 4:54. It's not 2 am like usual! But of course, it's a Friday like usual. I actually had the whole scene with Satoshi and Shion at the top done on Tuesday, but I stopped writing until today due to work. I had a Spanish test, which I think I failed. I never do well in Spanish. I just can't do well in Spanish. Math is getting very complicated and hard for me to understand, and school work has just been awfully tough. I did the second half of this chapter over a while. I did most of the searching and the conversing in Study Hall, I wrote up to the part where Rena and Keiichi decide to leave in Lunch, and I wrote the rest up until the point where they meet Kaede in History class. …Yeah, I'm stupid, but History… it was another day where we went off-topic and talked about random things. This happens often. I wrote the rest of that just now, of course.
And now, I have a few things I must talk about, so let's get moving with this. I'm sorry, this Crimso's Corner is going to be extra long, but bear with me.
First off, BFB. So, Michael S. Repton pointed out about fifty mistakes with the last chapter, and I realize this, but as with mistakes I've made in other chapters of GED, I just have to go on. I can't go back and fix the details right now. It doesn't affect the overall outcome of the scene. Keiichi's parents die and Shion gets separated, and then Keiichi realizes he's in love with Mion. I'm really grateful that he pointed them out. Really, but I have to go on for now. This will be fixed when I have time.
Let's talk about THIS chapter. Well, this is mostly a transition chapter. …A long one, at that. There's a few things I'd like to bring up. First, SatoShion. …I've never written it before, and I don't really like the pairing all that much. I mean, I support it, but I don't read fanfiction about them or write about them or anything like that. I don't know how far I'm going to go with them. It's likely that it won't be anything romantic, but we'll see. I don't want to force a pairing that I don't know how to write well onto myself. Let me know what you think about this. Do you want me to include some romantic relation between them, even if I may screw it up and write it terribly? It's not something I'm confortable with. Okay, so now that that's done, let's move on to the second topic. It's about the bracelet Keiichi gave Mion. It may seem random, but it's not. It comes up later. I don't throw in random details just for them to never show up again, after all. Well, usually.
Third, Makoto. …I don't know what happened with her, really. I think I originally planned her to be male, but after I posted the chapter describing her as the Demon King, and as male, I decided I wanted her to be female. It worked into the storyline, though. And just like before with The Tale of Sonozaki Ayame, there's going to be a few chapters about this tale and what happened, described like it's currently happening. …I actually have no idea how long this is going to last, but I will tell you that the whole tale is not just so that you know demons are different. There are things that will pop up later from the tale, so it's necessary. I hope this won't be 30,000 something words like TTOSA. That was never intentional. It just HAPPENED. Just like how this chapter is now 9,000 words.
And now that that's done, let's talk about random things. Today is 11/11/11. This is not going to happen for another one hundred years. Did you make your wish at 11/11/11 11:11:11 AM? I did. I was taking a Spanish test while I did it. We paused the test and waited for 11:11:11… and it was worth it. There's going to be another 11:11:11 tonight, so I'm looking forward to wishing again! I have things in mind…
And now, we get to the part where I ask you to review. Yes, you should review! If you review, you can get... hm... something very special. ...I have an idea! You can go to the Crimso Park, which contains all kinds of animals. I like animals. You should, too, so that's why you should review. I've been looking around for typos a lot this chapter, but if you see any, you should let me know. It happens that some slip my gaze. If you do point out a typo, I'll give you action figure of Satoshi. Action figures are brand new reviewing prizes!
Let me end this ultra long note here. Or, as my Spanish teacher would say, a hyper long note.
~Crimso
P.S: I was having a hard time trying to write "he" whenever they mentioned Makoto. I hope I didn't slip.
P.S.S: Anyone notice how lame my chapter titles are? Yes, they are. This one was going to be called Truth, but I realized that that was the title of chapter nineteen of GED, which took place before TTOSA, much like this one takes place before Makoto and Koichi's legend. It would be too alike. Sure, Tour was a name I used in GED, but it's different in this case...! I'm sure I titled another chapter the same title as GED, too. Why can't I remember which one...?