Okay! Now this is where the story really starts!
(Clears throat)
I DO NOT own Saiyuki or its characters! I only own Yuki, Suzume, Aoi, and Kasumi (plus the extra, unimportant characters that aren't part of the manga)
Enjoy!
Culture Shock
Chapter 1: Fate's Hand
On a great mountain behind a small village, there was a small cottage. Everything around that cottage seemed peaceful, a promise of another wonderful day.
"Yuki-sama," a small, high voice trilled, "wakey, wakey! It's time to WAKE UP!"
The tiny voice's volume grew dramatically at the end of its sentence.
A silver-haired girl groaned and threw her pillow at the direction of the annoying sound. She heard a frightened squeal and the sound of her pillow making contact with something small.
She sighed contently and grabbed another pillow to block the sunlight.
"That wasn't nice, Yuki-sama! You almost hit me right there!" The voice suddenly trilled again. Yuki felt herself being rolled out of the bed. She jumped up and grabbed the tiny creature by its neck. "Don't you dare Komu, or I'll wring your neck!"
Komu laughed nervously at his Lady's threat. Although Yuki looked as young as a short, fourteen year old, she was still able to wrap her fingers around Komu's throat. Komu also knew that if he annoyed her far enough, she would make her threat come true.
He didn't want that.
"My a-apologies, Yuki-sama! I just wanted to let you know that the food in the storage is running out. The remaining is either rotten or unripe." He said quickly. Yuki sighed and released the crow youkai.
"This means that I have to back down to the human village, huh? How troublesome." Yuki yawned and jumped out of bed. "But that just means I have to buy more food so I wouldn't have to go down there for a while."
Komu restrained himself from slapping his forehead. The last time she visited the village was a month ago and she bought everything in the market. He was surprised that the whole marketplace didn't go out of business because of her. The problem wasn't the amount of food that they bought, but the amount that his lady consumed every day.
His lady ate more than a dozen men.
"Yuki-sama, do you want me to accompany you to the human village?" The crow youkai offered, though he honestly didn't want to. To his relief, Yuki waved his offer away as if it was an annoying fly. "Don't bother, you'll scare everyone with your freaky appearance."
Komu, a bit offended by his lady's statement, looked himself over to check. To his opinion, he looked fine! His feathers gleamed under the sun. His height was equal to the size of an average rooster, which was common for the crow youkai his age, and his beak and talons were well sharpened, the very image of a perfect crow youkai.
His mistress was a blind fool!
Yuki twitched. "You just thought that I was a blind fool, didn't you?"
Komu immediately denied it. "No! I would never think such a thing!" Did she read my mind?
"No, I did not read your mind."
"I-I never thought such a thing! Yuki-sama is just making guesses!" Komu interjected. "You're being unfair, my lady!" She really can read my mind!
"Liar," Yuki stated without doubt in her voice, "you were thinking that there was nothing wrong with how you look. Well here's my opinion of you: A fat, mini-crow stuffed into clothing like a doll that talks in complete sentences."
"But those parrots talk too!"
"In complete sentences? It's a miracle that those birds could even repeat words!" Yuki shot back. "Humans react negatively just to how I appear and I resemble them the most out of the two of us. They'll fry you alive like some chicken dish if they saw you, not to mention when they hear you. It's better of I go alone."
Komu was about to retort but Yuki cut him off. "Didn't you hate going to the human village, anyways? Look after the house for me."
Yuki was out of the house before Komu could open his beak.
"Yu-YUKI-SAMA! THAT WAS SO MEAN!"
"Yeah, whatever. Just make sure the place is still standing when I come back or you'll be dinner." Yuki lightly threatened.
"B-But I don't want to be dinner!" Komu wailed at Yuki's retreating figure. "Why must you abuse me so, Yuki-sama? Why? WHY?"
Yuki snickered.
Komu was so naïve and easily scared by her obviously untrue threats, but that's what made him so entertaining compared to the past servants that she had. He was surprisingly lenient with her despite his young age.
Yuki's mouth opened impossibly wide as she yawned. She trudged on toward the human village. She wouldn't really roast the crow youkai for dinner.
It would be a pain to pick out all those glossy feathers anyways.
A masked figure with blue eyes landed in front of a village's entrance with an overgrown bag slung over the person's shoulder. Children came out of their homes and surrounded the person and the bag.
The children were all thin and dirty. Some of them barely fit into the clothes that they wore. Yet, they smiled with so much happiness. These children were abandoned because of the blood that they carried. One parent was a human while the other was a youkai.
They were Hanyou.
"Shadow-san! This is amazing! How did you manage to get all of this food?" The children gaped in amazement.
Without answering, the person rummaged little cakes and coins from the bag and handed them to the children's expectant palms. "Wow! We can buy a year worth of food with this money! Thanks, Shadow-san!" A girl thanked graciously.
The person patted the child's head and took off without a word.
"Shadow-san" was just a nickname that this thief earned through years of stealing from the nobles. That thief always hid his face and was talented with disappearing. He stole from the nobles and gave the money to the poor. It was rumored that he was a youkai with a beautiful face that would bewitch any woman and a charm that attracted everyone, man or woman.
"Shadow-san" landed on a thick tree branch and stayed there to take a short break. The thief's ears perked up when the sounds of people were heard.
The thief sighed and watched with faint amusement at the sight of the humans crawling around the forest, looking for her. "Look harder, men! The bastard, Shadow, should be in the forest somewhere. His head is worth a fortune so don't mind about killing him!"
Growing more bored by the minute, "Shadow-san" decided to take a nap to pass the time.
It took three, long hours for the humans to leave. Hints of sunlight shone through the trees and the chirping birds roused the masked thief from sleep. "Shadow-san" giggled and took off his mask with a relieved sigh. "Man, that mask was so stuffy! I can't believe I could survive that long with it on!"
"It's impressive on the amount of time they spend on looking for something that's right above their heads. " Long, orange hair tumbled to the thief's waist and a pair of fox ears sprung out, relived for its overdue freedom. "Too bad they still think that I'm a guy."
The thief reached under her shirt and tore off the bindings that she painstakingly wrapped around her chest the day before. "Don't need this anymore! The kids should be getting worried or suspicious by now. Darn! What kind of excuse should I make up now?"
Correction: "Shadow-san" is a female fox hanyou with a knack of stealing things under people's noses when they deserve it. She is also the oldest of the fourty-six hanyou of the tiny 'village'.
"Kasumi-nee! Shadow-san visited us last night!" A Hanyou child excitedly jumped onto Kasumi's back the moment she entered the village gates. "You should've seen him!"
"…Meh, that doesn't beat a good nap." Kasumi said tiredly. "Now get off so I can get a proper sleep!"
"Oh no you don't!" A hanyou, only a bit younger than her, stopped Kasumi from entering her personal hut. "You're the oldest! That means you have to take the responsibility of taking care of us!" Again. Kasumi silently added.
"Yeah!" Another hanyou joined in. "It's your turn to shop for us, Kasumi!" He held out a bag of money.
"Please?" The younger hanyou chorused. Who could say no to those big, brown eyes? Kasumi wondered.
Kasumi rubbed her eyes and snatched the bag. "Fine I'll go and buy breakfast, but I want a long nap after this."
Those little slave drivers were so lucky that Kasumi loved them to death.
"DIE, DEMONSLAYER!" A snake youkai shrieked as he attempted to bite the lithe figure. His side was bleeding profusely and strangely, the wound wasn't regenerating as quickly as it was supposed to. If he didn't finish the fight now, he was done for.
The youkai cursed his carelessness for being easily cornered by a female Demonslayer. A male would've been less shameful.
Strangely though, the female human had blue hair. Not a common trait amongst the humans. Aside from that, she looked like any other human. She smelled like one too.
It was fortunate that she had no armor on. It made killing the woman easier.
Wait, didn't she tell him her name before? What was it again?
Oh yes, it was Aoi. The name seemed much easier and shorter to label than "human woman" or "female Demonslayer".
Aoi took out a dozen shuriken and flicked them at the youkai's direction. "Presents from the ninja village that you destroyed. You certainly did a great job of killing many of the children and women."
The snake youkai hissed. "I was hungry! It was either our survival or theirs!"
"And I am just doing my job, sir. No hard feelings, right?" Aoi shot back while jumping back to avoid being hit by the youkai's tail. "It's a kill or be killed environment that you're living in, I understand."
"You killer!" The youkai spat. "You slaughter our kind for money! Only because we are what we are!"
Aoi smirked and suddenly stopped dodging. "Well, isn't the pot calling the kettle black? Weren't you doing the same thing to the poor ninja village?"
The snake youkai hissed and spat at the same time before making another desperate strike at the slayer. His teeth grazed the woman's traveling kimono, tearing the whole top apart. Aoi's eyes widened as she grabbed for the remnants of her kimono while attempting to cover her chest.
"Look away ya pervert!" She shrieked while turning away from the youkai. "Do you men have no shame?"
The snake youkai, as desperate as he was, attacked the Demonslayer while her hands were full. "Please die, slayer. I choose to live."
Aoi's eyes flashed into a silver color and the snake youkai froze in horror. The force of the aura that poured out of Aoi prevented movement from the snake youkai. "N-no, this isn't possible! You are human! How can you control youki?"
The slayer ignored the youkai's question and bound the strips of cloth from her ripped kimono around her chest. She knelt down and picked up a shuriken. "I promised a little girl that I would cut you down. Did you know that you killed her father in front of her young eyes?"
"Life is temporary. I killed to eat so I could live."
Aoi nodded in agreement. "Yes, life is easily snatched away. But," Aoi paused and gave the youkai a piercing glare, "you didn't eat all of the humans that you killed. You left most of them to rot and be cried over. You killed them out of pleasure, you scum!"
The snake youkai hissed. "So what if I did?"
"I kill for the people who lost their loved ones because of the selfish desires of a youkai."
Aoi flicked the shuriken and sent it flying towards the youkai's own heart. Even at his dying moments, the youkai's sharp eyes noticed that the woman had a beautiful peony over her heart.
The peony on her skin was no tattoo.
"You're no different than us." The youkai sneered. "You're not even human! You're-"
Aoi ripped the shuriken from the youkai's chest and quickly slit his throat, silencing the creature from saying the cursed words aloud. She calmly wiped the blood from the weapon and pocketed it.
The dead body of the youkai transformed into a huge snake. The youkai's real form defined him perfectly. He might be lucky enough to be reborn as a centipede if not a worm in another life.
Aoi's eyes caught sight of a small village. "How ironic, I didn't know that I'd end up in front of this village. Huh, I guess tracking youkai really do make people forget which direction they were going, though I swear I was no where near here when I caught him."
She shrugged. "Oh well! I need to restock for the way back home, anyways."
Screams echoed through the forest. An unfortunate traveling caravan was attacked by some wild youkai. Many were dead and their carcasses scattered on the forest floor, staining the road with a scarlet red.
A pair of children huddled under the overturned caravan with their mother. Tears of terror sprung from their eyes as they watched their father was eaten alive. Their mother lay unconscious right next to them.
"Kami, please save us!" One child sobbed. "I don't want to die!"
As if to answer the young child's prayers, a glowing arrow tore through the air, piercing an unsuspecting youkai on its neck. It fell with a thud, gaining the attention of the other youkai. They saw their companion's body just in time to see it turn into ashes.
From the forest's mist, a woman donned in the clothing of a miko stepped forward with burning eyes. Her face was beautiful but a bit pale and, like other Japanese women, she had black hair and brown eyes. Her hair was waist-length and was tied back with a plain, white piece of cloth.
She scanned the scene with speculating eyes before notching another arrow. "Oh sinners who have killed." She chanted under her breath, "oh sinners who have shed innocent blood disappear under my holy light, for thee have committed an evil."
As she murmured these words, the iron end of the arrow shone with the same light that destroyed the youkai before. The surrounding youkai began to back away from the woman in either fear or confusion.
"Who are you to tell us this, onna?" One boldly spoke in a low voice. "You aren't one who is pure. You also smell of the stench of blood and death."
The woman didn't answer. Instead, she released the arrow. The flying projectile produced more light than it did before. The youkai had no time to flee. They didn't even have time to cry out in terror before they disappeared.
The children peeked from their hiding place. They flinched uneasily as the miko approached them. She stopped when she was a yard away and offered her hand. "Are you two alright? Don't worry, the scary youkai will never hurt you again." The woman said comfortingly. "Can I have a look at your mother? I need to look at her to help her."
The children, after a moment of reluctance, allowed the strange woman to kneel down in front of their mother. After checking her pulse, the miko reached into her traveling bag and took out a vial. She dropped four drops into the woman's mouth and waited.
To the children's awe and surprise, their mother sprung into life and began to cough. They scrambled to her and hugged her. "Oka-san! Oka-san!"
The children's mother weakly returned her children's embraces and looked up to the miko standing before them. "Thank you, great miko, for saving my precious children."
"No thanks needed. I was just passing by. What human being would turn the other cheek when a youkai is attacking the innocent? I was only doing my job." The miko brushed away the woman's thanks. "I'll stay to help bury the dead before I move along."
The dead were properly buried and the miko handed the mother a bag full of vials like the one that had woken her up before. "Here, if you get dizzy just drink it and you'll be energized until you see a proper doctor. There's a village only a mile away to the south. It's filled with priests so I doubt you and your children will encounter any more youkai."
The mother nodded in thanks.
One of the children, a girl, ran up to the miko as she was preparing to leave. "May I be bold enough to ask of your name, Miss?"
The miko raised her brow in amusement. "Now what use would my name give you, child? It isn't really worth much and it wouldn't fill your little stomach."
"I want to know the name of my savior." The girl said stubbornly. "I want to know the name of the woman who saved my life."
"Yare, yare you really are a stubborn one, aren't you? Very well then, you can have my name if you promise to never tell anyone else or your life will be in danger. Priests don't take kindly to people associated with me." The woman sighed. She beckoned the girl closer and whispered into the girl's ear.
After drawing away, the miko stood up and calmly walked away. The little girl watched as the fog swallowed the mysterious woman up.
The young girl mouthed the precious name and scurried off to her mother's side.
"Hey sis, isn't she going to the Village of Sleeping Mountains?" The girl's younger brother asked curiously. The girl nodded. "Yeah. I hope they treat her well."
"What did that pretty lady tell you, sis?"
The girl put a finger to her lips. "It's a secret."
"You are aware that I can see your future, correct?"
"Yes, everyone knows that Miko has the powers passed from the Gods."
"You will become an important person for this country. You also have an uncanny ability of spreading luck to the people around you. Make the right choices and treat it well."
"I promise. But Miss, you still didn't tell me your name."
A smile
"My name is Suzume."
The girl looked back at the mist and whispered. "Miss Suzume, I wish you lots of luck!"
"I hate shopping in a crowd." Yuki mumbled to herself as she pushed herself through the crowd of people. "I hate not being able to sleep even more."
Yuki grumbled to herself as she stopped in front of a long line in front of the apple stall. She mentally groaned but held it in. Apples were her favorite fruit and she wanted to buy them before she went back to her cozy mountain shack. It was like some sort of reward for her laborious hours of her slaving away to get the things that she needed.
Patience, she needed to be patient.
Wasn't that what her mother told her to be before she dumped her into the shack she now called home?
Yuki took a long, deep, shuddering breath before she faced the long, long line that would probably give her an hour (at least) of standing.
Patience, she reminded herself, patience.
"I want to get that rice cake!"
"No fair! You got to choose the treat the last time! I want to get the red bean dumpling!"
"I want some sushi!"
"Ew, I hate raw fish!"
Kasumi sweatdropped as her "younger siblings" squabbled amongst each other. They had all decided that they wanted to come with her to the market and handpick their treats in the end. "Um, I think the dango stall is open why not get those instead?"
Very bad mistake
All little eyes turned on Kasumi and glared daggers that could kill. She paled and backed away. "…Or maybe not. Go on with your argument. Pretend I didn't say anything!"
The townspeople whispered amongst each other and gave the squabbling children dirty looks. One woman even spat at Kasumi's feet as she walked by. "Dirty half-demon bastards."
Kasumi didn't even bat an eye and ignored the act that was done to her. She went on watching the children she looked after argue with a small hint of amusement and pride. Her kids were strong ones, they were. Hanyou were usually victims of hatred and prejudice because of their mixed blood. They didn't belong anywhere, according to the public. They were abominations, neither youkai nor human.
This was normal for Kasumi.
Hopefully, the society will learn to accept her kind. They were already slowly beginning to after the war. Hanyou were allowed to shop in the same marketplace these days instead of being forced to hunt for themselves by the government.
"Hey! Let me GO!"
Kasumi snapped into attention when she heard one of the hanyou children screams. It was little Kiku, the youngest of the bunch. She was also the prettiest. A thug, who was currently grabbing her arm, slapped her. "Shut up, Brat! No matter how much you scream no one will come to help you! You're a freak!" The thug roughly inspected her face. "A freak with a pretty face, you'll fetch a hefty price."
"I think letting her go would be a good idea, sir."
Kasumi pried the man's arm away from Kiku. She gestured the others to take her away to a safer place. They all nodded and ran without any objections.
She had raised them well.
"Bitch!" The thug sneered and made a punch at her face. Kasumi easily avoided it by ducking. The thug, surprised for a moment that she had managed to avoid his punch, attempted to knee her in the stomach.
Kasumi blocked it with one hand and blinked at the thug, her blue eyes piercing his own. Her lips spread into a mischievous grin that resembled a fox's. She clicked her tongue chidingly. "Now, now, don't be so mouthy now just because you missed me. I want no violence. You can just walk away. No troubles and definitely no broken bones."
"You little vixen!" The thug sneered and spat at her feet, "We all don't want you here! Why don't you and your little band of freaks just die like you're all supposed to?"
Some people in the crowd that gathered during that span of time cheered in agreement. Kasumi's grin faltered a little but didn't disappear. "Now that wasn't very nice."
The crowd threw insults at Kasumi and her kind but Kasumi only focused on the thug.
"I really don't want to cause any trouble."
"Don't talk to me with that kind of tone, Hanyou!" The man punched her with enough force to make her sprawl to the ground. Kasumi winced and touched her throbbing cheek. That was going to bruise.
Something feral flashed across her eyes for a moment but it was gone as fast as it came. She calmly stood up and faced the whole crowd who had gone silent. Even if she was a hanyou, she was a woman and it was looked down upon if a man slapped a female if she wasn't his wife.
The thug, realizing his mistake, backed away from her eyeing the katana at her side, cautiously.
"I just want to shop for what I need for my brothers and sisters and leave in peace. Is that really too much to ask? It's not like I wanted you to give up your first-born child." Kasumi said to the thug and the crowd with annoyance. "Just back off and the problem will just disappear."
Kasumi turned away and began walk away.
The thug picked up an impressive-sized staff that was conveniently right next to him and began to run at her with it raised over his head.
Kasumi, already sensing this, placed her hand over her katana.
Before Kasumi could unsheathe it, however, a shuriken was embedded deeply into the staff. The thug dropped the wooden weapon in surprise. Everyone looked to the direction of where the throwing projectile came from.
"Attacking a person from behind is shameful."
Kasumi's eyes widened in surprise before recovering. She smiled brightly and raised her hand up in greeting. "Hello stranger, long time no see!"
Aoi, with the youkai carcass slung over her shoulder, pointed a handful of throwing knives threateningly at the thug. "Bother my friend anymore and you'll be tasting my knives, got it punk?"
The thug nodded, mimicking a maraca. "Y-Yes, Demonslayer-sama. My sincere apologies, I-I didn't know she was your companion!"
"I'M SO SORRY!" The thug screamed in a girlish way and ran off.
Kasumi laughed. "Man, he looked like he was going to wet his pants!"
Aoi joined in on the laughter and slung the arm that wasn't supporting the carcass around the orange-haired girl's shoulder. "Yeah, it looked pretty pathetic, didn't it? How have you been, Kasumi my favorite buddy in the whole wide world?"
"Life's been peaceful. I'm taking care of a bunch of Hanyou kids now, you?"
Aoi shrugged. "You know us Demonslayers. We hack up a bunch of youkai and sell their body parts to the market, same old routine."
"You still kicking dumbasses at poker?" Kasumi asked under her breath so the crowd couldn't hear.
In a lower voice Aoi shot back at the comment, "Playing the thief hero again? I heard about you in the wanted papers, 'Shadow-san'. You sure know how to attract attention to yourself, with or without a mask."
"Hey, those rich lords were literally asking for it when they flourished all those golden coins in front of the poor." Kasumi said defensively. "And it was all so shiny!"
Aoi rolled her eyes teasingly. "Typical of a fox like you."
Kasumi was about to make a rebuttal to their playful banter but was interrupted by a bellowing voice. "You! Both of you young ladies! You have soaked your hands in blood! Pray to the Buddha and you may be spared of punishment in the afterlife!"
A fat, short, Chinese monk waddled up to the pair and waved his chubby arms dramatically, hitting Kasumi in the face with his wooden beads. She yelped and jumped away so the beads wouldn't whack her in the face the second time. "Pray to Buddha! He is merciful!"
"Why should I pray to a fat man?" Aoi wondered aloud.
Kasumi shrugged from where she stood. "I dunno."
The man narrowed his beady, little eyes and pointed at Kasumi's fox ears. "Your parents have committed a terrible taboo! Repent and Buddha will give you a better afterlife without those ears!"
Kasumi touched her ears thoughtfully. "Well these ears are cumbersome to have all the time. It would be great to not have them on me at all."
The monk nodded. "Yes, that is why you have to pray to the Buddha!"
"But," Kasumi interrupted, "I was born with these. If your Buddha really is some all-powerful being, then why didn't he prevent all of us Hanyou to appear different than the others?"
"Buddha is no all-powerful being. He is only a master who will guild you both into a good life after your reincarnation." The fat monk said self-importantly. "I am his disciple as are many of my brothers back in my homeland."
"Hmm, give up meat and fighting to get rid of my ears." Kasumi pretended to think over it before turning away. "Nah, I'll pass."
"Me too." Aoi chimed in and began to run, grabbing Kasumi's hand. "Run!" She hissed, "These guys never give up when they want to recruit people into their wacky religion! This is the only chance to lose him!"
As they jogged away, the monk waddled after them in an alarmingly fast pace for a fat man. His baldhead reflected the sunlight like a mirror, enhancing the redness of his face as he plowed through the streets.
"REPENT, YOU FOOLS!"
Yuki tapped her foot impatiently as the person in front of her finally stepped up to purchase two apples.
Yuki let out a breath in relief. The old woman in front of her dug into her bag. "Oh dear! I know I have my purse in here somewhere. Do you mind waiting a little bit, young girl?"
Filled with glee that the wait was finally over, Yuki shook her head. "Nope."
The old lady patted Yuki's head. "What a nice girl. I'll try not to take long."
The old lady dug through her enormous bag. "Now lets see…"
"Get away from me, weirdo monk!" Aoi snapped, trying to pry off the overzealous monk from her leg. She has long since dropped her youkai carcass. Pity, she really wanted to make a new blade with its bones too. The monk only clinged on harder to Aoi's leg. "Not until you repent, young lady! You have killed too many and I can't avert my eyes from your crimes!"
"I don't need any damn religion to repent! I don't even want to you crazy monk! Killing youkai is what I do for a living! I did it ever since I could throw a kunai knife!" Aoi told him in annoyance. "Leave me alone! And why aren't you trying to convince her to be a Buddhist?"
"A creature tainted with evil blood will end up in the deepest pits of hell anyways no matter how much she prays!" The monk said while panting, "You on the other hand have a chance! Drop your weapons and become Buddha's disciple!"
Kasumi gripped the monk's robes and tried to pull him off of her friend with no avail. "For a man who's out of shape, he has a strong grip!"
"Repent!" Spittle flew from the man's mouth, some landing on poor Kasumi. "Okay, why is everyone spitting on me today?" The Hanyou asked in frustration and disgust.
"Who cares?" Aoi shrieked, "Get him off of me!"
"Okay, okay, but this is going to take a while. This guy seems persistent."
"REPENT!" The monk screamed for what seemed to be the thousandth time.
"HELL NO!" Both Kasumi and Aoi chorused angrily.
Yuki's foot was tapping impatiently again. Thirty minutes had already passed and the old lady was still digging through the black hole that she called her travel pack. Even the kind man selling the apples was a bit annoyed but to a lesser degree than Yuki's.
"Oh dear, it seems that my wallet isn't in here."
Yuki relaxed her tense muscles. The old lady finally gave up on the wallet searching. Maybe she could now-
"I'll check my other travel pack."
"What the-?"
Yuki gaped at the bag that the old lady produced seemingly out of nowhere. It was two, no three times bigger than the last. How did the old lady even carry that thing? She slapped her forehead in despair.
"I thought these things only happened in stories and pieces of comedic literature." Yuki muttered to herself. "Out of all the people, why did it have to be me?"
The prospect of having a relaxing nap seemed so far away now.
Suzume passed through the stalls of the market with a basket of herbs at her side. The village had treated her kindly and supplied her with the things she needed. Some mothers came up to her with their children and asked for her to read their futures and bless them with luck.
"I'm sorry," Suzume had told them, "I have no control in my visions but I can give this child a protective charm to keep youkai and evil away."
This was a lie but Suzume didn't want to tell them that she saw a bloody battlefield in the children's future. She desperately hoped that the charms would help in the future though it would be doubtful.
"GET THIS NUTCASE OFF OF ME!"
Suzume blinked in surprise at the familiar voice. Aoi?
"I'M TRYING!"
Kasumi, too?
Suzume quickened her pace to where the scream originated. There was a huge crowd but many immediately cleared the way when they saw her. When she came to the center of the crowd, all whispers died out and all eyes were on her.
Suzume stared blankly at her two old friends and at the monk clinging onto one of them.
"REPENT! REPENT BEFORE YOU DIE!"
Kasumi's fox ears twitched and she looked up. A bright smile sprung from her face and she released the fat monk, sending him and Aoi flying into a random direction in the crowd. "Suzume, buddy! Long time no see!"
Suzume raised her eyebrows at her friend's antics. "Weren't you helping Aoi earlier?"
"Yeah and-oh my Kami! I just sent her flying, didn't I?" She slapped her forehead and scanned the crowd. When hear ears caught the muffled sound that sounded almost like a call of help, Kasumi dived into the crowd. "Don't worry pal, I got ya!"
Suzume shook her head and walked to where her fox-eared friend had disappeared. She waited patiently as the crowd separated so she could make her way. For once, she was thankful that they regarded her in such high standards. This saved the time and effort of pushing through them like Kasumi had done.
The monk was still clinging onto Aoi's leg, which was pretty impressive for a person who spent his days in a temple.
It was amazing what religion could do to people.
Kasumi struggled and then gave up with a hopeless shrug. "I guess you're stuck with the little guy, Aoi. I really can't get him off!"
"I'll give it a try." Suzume offered and knelt down to the monk's level. "Pardon me, respected monk but you seem to be bothering my friends. You followers of the Buddha are not supposed to touch the skin of a woman. Shame on you for doing so! I know that the temptations that a woman poses to a man but for shame! Even I, a Shrine Maiden, turn away from those temptations so I could serve and protect Japan's people." Suzume scolded the monk in fluent Chinese.
The monk looked up and glared at Suzume. "Witch! You cast your spells over these helpless people! They will loose their way because of you!"
Suzume's smile remained intact but a dark aura surrounded her, making Aoi and Kasumi back away in panic. It was her infamous 'I-am-smiling-but-I-really-want–to-kill-you-because-you-spent-all-of-my-patience' smile.
"Suzume, I think you're scaring the children." Kasumi called out nervously.
At the mention of the word "children", Suzume's dark aura disappeared without a trace and returned back to its soothing calm.
"You're right, I should-
Suzume froze and her eyes became distant. The villagers began to murmur and whisper in excitement. It was, after all, a very rare sight to see a miko in a deep trance while seeing visions.
The priestess snapped back into reality after a few seconds.
"No," Suzume said with eyes widening, "It will be you who will cause people to face misery!"
The monk paled and backed away. "How dare you!"
Both Kasumi and Aoi shared looks of concern. If Suzume says something bad will happen, something bad will happen no matter what.
"What did you see, Suzume?"
"A youkai horde is coming from the east. This monk didn't come here to Japan alone. Apparently, his companions fell in the hands of a youkai horde because they disturbed their nest. He fled to this village and the youkai are now following his scent to this village." Suzume sharply turned to the inhabitants. "They're coming!"
As if in cue, an eerie howl sounded form the distance. A villager screamed and chaos erupted from the crowd.
In the center of the chaos, Kasumi casually unsheathed her sword and grinned at her old war comrades. "So…anyone up for some youkai ass-kicking?"
Yuki tapped her foot impatiently as the old lady took out the final item from her bag and shrugged helplessly. "Oh dear, it seems that I don't have my wallet. I'm so sorry for making you wait!" She apologized and Yuki sighed in relief. "No, it's fine Granny."
"Wait!" The old lady suddenly perked up. She reached inside her robes and produced her wallet. "It was in my sleeve! I must've forgotten that I placed it in here!"
Yuki nodded. "Yeah, so do you mind paying so I can get my apples?"
"Of course!" The old lady beamed and opened her wallet. She took out her money coin by coin while counting aloud. "One, Two, Three…"
She stopped and looked up at the seller. "How much are these again? I seem to have forgotten."
"Twenty Yen miss."
"Okay, twenty yen then!" The old woman looked at the coins she had already counted. "Oh dear, I've forgotten how much I've put down! I'll count again."
Yuki's eye twitched.
"Dibs on the youkai on the right!" Kasumi crowed happily while jumping into the fray of blood. Her sword hadn't tasted the blood of youkai for years. It felt nice to move around again. It wasn't that she loved killing things per se, but she loved the thrill that she got when she swung her sword. She knew Aoi felt that same about fighting though it was more of killing youkai than the thrill. She had a personal grudge against them.
Don't we all. Kasumi mused while quickly slicing the arms of a centipede youkai.
"You weak Hanyou!" A youkai hissed. Kasumi rolled her eyes. Again with the insults, she knew she was hated by the world, but would it hurt them to keep it to themselves once in a while?
"I know, I know, I should probably die and go to hell. I've been told that multiple times today and I'm sort of getting tired of it. Can we skip all of that and get to the part where I kill you?" Kasumi asked and slid her blade into the youkai's chest. "Thanks, I knew you would understand."
Aoi jumped onto a bat youkai's back and quickly sliced its wings off. "These would make a wonderful purse, don't you think Kasumi? Do you want one?"
"Wouldn't have any money to put in it." Kasumi reminded her friend. "Sell those and buy me dango. That sounds a bit better."
Aoi nodded. "Got it. Dango on me if we all survive."
"Focus or you'll allow one to get through." Suzume scolded.
A group of bull youkai barreled through all three of the women and into the market stalls. They were, unfortunately, the last part of the first wave of youkai hordes so it was a very embarrassing moment, seeing how well they put up before that.
Suzume's eyes became distant for a moment. When she recovered, she grabbed her friends' shoulders, preventing them from going after the demon. "Don't worry, they won't get very far. The villagers will be safe."
"How's that?" Aoi questioned, suspiciously eyeing Suzume's satisfied smirk.
"Never mind that. Pay attention, there will be another coming and its larger than the one we fought earlier. We don't want to repeat the same mistake twice, do we?"
Aoi and Kasumi grumbled to themselves but obeyed. Suzume took a last glance to where the youkai ran.
"Those poor, poor, youkai. Luck was never on your sides in the first place, was it?"
"Thank you ma'am for buying these apples." The seller said politely, "Have a safe walk home."
Yuki nodded and made a shooing movement. "Yeah, leave quickly so you won't bump into suspicious characters and get home earlier, Granny. You wasted enough time in the market."
"I will, dear. Now you hurry off to your mother after you get what you need." The old lady told Yuki kindly while pinching her cheek. Yuki jerked away, making no effort in hiding her annoyance in that action. "You will get back home safely, won't you young lady?"
Yuki hesitated before nodding. "Yeah…sure."
As the old lady walked away Yuki slumped in relief and placed her basket on the counter. "Make it five dozen apples please."
The sellers nodded and turned. "Of course, I'll-
Coincidentally, a group of bull youkai (yes, the same ones from before) knocked down the whole row of stalls, also crushing or dirtying all of the apples. Yuki stared in shock at the precious fruit she had been waiting to get for such a long time. The seller looked as if he was debating whether or not to run and abandon the little girl (Yuki) and save his ass. He, being both wise and cowardly, decided to take the latter choice and ran for it.
"Well lookie here, we seem to have a little girl for an appetizer!" A youkai sneered.
Yuki twitched at the 'little' comment and slowly looked up. The youkai took a step back when they saw the intense glare the 'little girl' was giving them. "Do you know what you all just did?"
"We destroyed a few things, so what? You're going to become a meal anyways so why bother worrying about your village?" A youkai said offhandedly. Yuki cracked her knuckles and began to walk toward the group of youkai. Amused, they stood there as she came. "What'cha going to do, kid?" One taunted. Yuki jumped up to the bull youkai's height, which was a great feat judging by her height compared to his, and punched his face…hard.
"I don't give a shit about what happens to this village. It can burn down to the ground, for all I care. But," Yuki paused before starting again in a darker tone, "You dirtied all of the apples I had to wait to get for three hours, you clumsy dumbasses!"
The youkai howled in pain as blood spurted from his crushed nose. Yuki landed on the ground and looked at her bloody sleeve in disgust. "Disgusting."
The other youkai tensed and readied their axes at the silver-haired girl. One charged at her and swung his ax. Yuki quickly jumped over the weapon and, without problem and effort, threw the youkai over her shoulder.
The youkai's head met the ground and his neck made a sickening crack, making his comrades flinch. Yuki dusted off her hands and stepped over the corpse.
"Which one of you idiots is next?"
"GAAAAHHHHHK!"
The trio looked up from their conversation and watched as the bull youkai ran out of the village, toward them. They had long before finished their battle with the second wave of youkai. It turned out that the other wave was only filled with minor, weak youkai that didn't stand a chance against the three. Kasumi sat up and picked up her katana. "Did you foresee this, oh great priestess?"
"No, I expected all of them to be killed in one sitting." Suzume said to herself in disappointment. "In a brighter note, this means that she's coming right behind them!"
"Who's she?" Aoi wondered aloud. As if to answer her question, a war cry sounded behind the youkai and a certain silver-haired girl appeared in their line of sight. Blood was smeared in her cheeks and her clothing appeared to be ripped and torn in many places. Her purple eyes had a maniacal gleam to it. If this were through a stranger's eyes, they would think that she was insane, which was excusable.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARDS! I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!" She howled.
"Does she really expect them to come back to her?" Kasumi stared at the scene in surprise and amusement.
Aoi let out a breathless laugh. "Oh look, Yuki's here too. I guess Japan's Four Heroes are brought back together again by fate."
"Should we just put those youkai out of their misery?" Suzume asked her companions, "I'm beginning to feel sorry for them."
"Nah," The other two chorused, "Let them suffer."
Suzume shook her head but made no move to aid the youkai.
"You both are so heartless. Say, do you two want some dango? I think there was a stall back in the left and the dango there are still warm."
Screams of terror filled the air for the next hour or so and the three sat and ate dango while it all happened.
The Goddess of Mercy laughed at the scene and clapped enthusiastically. "This is great! I like them! I think that they will be the most suitable of the candidates to make things more interesting for the Sanzo-ikkou!"
Jiroushin, her assistant, sweatdropped at Kanzeon's antics. "I thought you said that you needed to find people suitable enough to break the barrier that's preventing the Sanzo-ikkou from entering India!"
"Yeah, yeah, that too." Kanzeon Bosatsu carelessly waved the comment off and went back to watching the women.
"I wonder," she mused, "if fate is now also playing in this game too."
Jiroushin shook his head confidently. "No, fate never takes a side or favors anyone. She merely chooses lives to mettle by random. It's impossible that she's doing this on purpose. The fact that she had brought these women together was just a coincidence."
Kanzeon slowly nodded. "Yes, that makes more sense. This was all just some coincidence that I will take advantage of."
The Goddess snapped her fingers and a finely dressed girl came to her side at an instant. "Yes, Kanzeon-sama? Is there anything that you need?"
"Yes, I need you to bring those four women over to me and make sure not to alert the other gods about this." Kanzeon ordered the girl. "And be quick about it."
"What the hell are you three doing here?"
The trio looked up from their conversation and dango. Yuki stood before them, covered in blood and dirt. Aoi grinned sarcastically. "Nice to see you too, old pal. Why don't you come over and sit with us? We still have about a handful dango left to share!"
A sandal sailed toward Aoi's head and she leaned back to avoid getting hit. "Now that's not very nice!" She scolded the shorter girl mockingly.
Yuki didn't respond to Aoi's jab and sat in between Kasumi and Suzume.
Kasumi patted Yuki's shoulder fondly while Suzume only smiled. "It's nice to see your face again. You haven't changed a bit since the war."
"Hn."
Suzume moved Yuki onto her lap despite of the purple eyed girl's protests and began to dab her face with a piece of cloth. "The blood was covering your pretty face. Red doesn't look good on you." She said simply.
Yuki stopped struggling and pouted.
Kasumi stood up and disappeared for a moment before appearing again with a pile of small kimonos. "I know these might look a bit girly, but they're your size." She offered the girl. Yuki blushed and muttered her thanks before changing into a lavender colored kimono.
Aoi's face softened and she produced a warm stick of dango and a plate of sliced apples. "You look hungry, kid. Eat up so you can grow."
"I'M NOT SHORT!"
Aoi chuckled and pushed the plate in the little girl's hand. "Yeah, but you still look hungry. Back in the war, you ate more than the three of us combined. I know that you're hungry. You just chased bull youkai around four hours straight."
Yuki hesitated before grabbing a dango stick and shoving it into her mouth with a muffled "thank you". Aoi smirked and handed her some more food.
Yuki felt slightly content with these women around her. She would never admit it aloud but she had missed having them around after the war.
If only all of you can remember…
Kasumi jerked up in realization. "Oh my kami! I almost forgot about the kids! They must be worried sick by now!"
"Yeah," Aoi said while standing up and brushing the nonexistent dust off of her lap, "I better get going. I promised a little girl in a ninja village that I would return this shuriken to her after I killed the youkai that destroyed her village."
Suzume gave Yuki an apologetic look. "I'd love to stay and chat a bit longer, but there is still so much of Japan that has to be cured and saved. I can't stay. Maybe we can all meet again?"
"Che," Yuki crossed her arms and sniffed, "I don't care at all if you're coming back or not! I was fine until you guys came back into my life and it's troublesome that you all are back! I can't wait until I see your asses out of this place! Good riddance!"
Suzume drew Yuki into a hug from behind. "You can't mean that. We'll miss you so much."
Yuki's lips trembled but she kept glaring at the ground. "I meant every word!" She gritted out. "I was fine being all by myself up in my little hut until you three came barging into my life like some sort of bomb! And to top it off, you all got me involved in your little war!"
Kasumi and Aoi patted the child's head. "We love you too." They sighed. They all knew what her words truly meant. They had been through war together for four years. They were separated for two years. Their bonds were much more than some petty friendship.
After a moment of silence, Aoi regretfully began to move away from the group. "I guess I have to go now…"
"Not if I can do anything about that."
The voice that came out of nowhere startled them all. They didn't even have time to react when they were literally blown away by a huge gust of wind.
"GAH! HELP ME!" Kasumi howled in fear.
Both Suzume and Aoi looked too shocked to even scream but fear was apparent in their eyes.
Surprisingly, Yuki was the calmest out of the four. There was no fear and she wasn't screaming her head off like Kasumi. It was as if she experienced this before…
The other three immediately erased that thought out of their mind. There was no way that their young friend could have experienced something like this.
"Did ya foresee this, priestess?" Aoi yelled through the wind. Suzume shook her head. Kasumi, meanwhile, curled up into a ball and screamed bloody murder. She wasn't really a fan of heights.
Then, the wind died down. Instead of dropping from the sky, the four remained suspended in the air. Yuki crossed her arms and glared at thin air. "What do you want, Baa-san?"
"How rude!" A scowling, very beautiful woman materialized from the thin air that Yuki was glaring at. "I took all the trouble of bringing you here so I can see my cute, little Yuki." She walked across the sky as if it was solid ground and stopped in front of the silver haired girl. "You've grown."
"No shit."
"Now, now, you've gained quite a mouth since your exile to the mortal world, haven't you Yuki?" Kanzeon asked in amusement.
Yuki grimaced. "What do you want, old hag? I still didn't finish my punishment. I still have to remain on Japanese ground for another century or so. It must be important if you smuggled me and these guys here."
Kanzeon chuckled and patted Yuki's head. "As I said before, you have grown. Yes, I need the help of both you and your friends. If you haven't heard, there is trouble in China."
"I heard about it," Aoi piped up, "The youkai in China are going out of whack because of this thing called the 'minus wave', right?"
Kanzeon gave Aoi a praising nod. "Bingo."
"What does that have to do with us being here?" Yuki grouched. The Goddess shushed the little girl and explained. "I sent a four man group led by a Sanzo Priest to India so they could put a stop to it. But there seems to be some sort of troublesome barrier blocking their road to India. This was probably Lady Koushu's doing."
"So you want us to break the barrier." Yuki guessed.
Kanzeon nodded.
"No," Yuki said flatly, "I hate doing troublesome things."
"This'll wipe away the century punishment and heaven will owe you a favor." Kanzeon offered. Yuki shook her head. "No way, old hag."
A tick mark appeared on Kanzeon's cheek. "What an unappreciative brat!"
"Stupid old hag!"
"Spoiled brat!"
"Old hag!"
"Brat!"
"Old hag!"
"Who's this 'Lady Koushu', if I may ask?" Suzume asked the Goddess politely, interrupting their little banter. Yuki answered instead. "Her full name is Gyokumen Koushu, the concubine of the Ox King Gyumaoh. I thought she was sealed along with that stupid oaf. What happened?"
"It seems that she wasn't sealed and managed to lift the seal on everyone, aside from Gyumaoh and his wife, of course." Kanzeon replied offhandedly. "She's trying to obtain the Five Scriptures of Heaven and Earth to revive him."
After hearing that sentence, Yuki immediately said, "I'm going."
The Goddess of Mercy raised her eyebrows. "Why so eager now? I thought you didn't like doing troublesome things."
"You already know why, Old Hag."
Kanzeon's lips turned up into a mischievous smirk. "You accepted. No take backs or regrets now. I won't send you back to Japan until you finish breaking the barrier. Oh, and your friends are coming with you too. The breaking of the barrier requires all four of you."
"What? You never said anything about that!" Yuki snarled.
"You never asked." Kanzeon replied simply as she snapped her fingers. "I'll be sending you four to China, where the Sanzo-ikkou are. Best of luck!"
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID THEY WERE IN INDIA!" Yuki yelled as she began to fall. "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY THAT THEY DIDN'T REACH INDIA YET?"
"You never asked."
"YOU SHITTY OLD HAG!"
Groans sounded as the four slowly recovered from their fall. Although the wind did its best to cushion the group's fall, it still hurt.
"Great job, kid. Now how am I going to get this shuriken back to the little kid?" Aoi asked angrily and winced in pain. Kasumi didn't look thrilled either. "The kids are all alone now! How are they going to survive on their own?"
Suzume's eyes became distant before it cleared. She smiled at the pair. "Don't worry, Kanzeon-sama made sure that all of those things are taken care of. Aoi, you don't have the shuriken, do you?"
Aoi groped for the shuriken in her pocket but her hand met thin air.
"See? It's going to be all right. The children are fine too, Kasumi, so be at ease. Yuki never meant any harm when she agreed to that mission, did you Yuki?"
Yuki ignored them and attempted to stand but collapsed. She tried again and again but failed because of her shaky legs. She made a note to punch Kanzeon's face in the next time she saw her. When she lifted up her head to try one more time, she felt something cold press onto her forehead. She froze when she saw a pair of boots in front of her face.
Click
"So they're even sending Brats to retrieve the Maten Sutra? How low."
Yeah, I'm a bit tired so I'm going to stop here. I hope you readers liked it!
REVIEW!