"You need to take a firmer stance." Suzahara called out, sitting on a fallen tree as Zakuro and Mei Lin dueled next to the crackling fire. "Dig in your knees. Put your back into the attack."
Zakuro was having a hard enough time without Suzahara's side notes. But she didn't want to snap at him. In fact, at that point, she wasn't sure if she could look at him.
Chichiri continued muttering under his breath as he placed talismans on Suzahara's arms, Mitsukake and Bao Shou writing characters on more. Zakuro frowned, ignoring the previous talismans lying smoldering a little further from Suzahara. The dessert stretch of Sairou extended endlessly in front of them. All the warm clothes they were carrying were torn at the sleeves to feel cooler.
Locals had first advised them against crossing the dessert. Looking at the stubborn bunch, they gave them tips on how to survive the treacherous journey. The strange part about the dessert was that even through they were in perpetual darkness, the weather seemed unaffected. The days were extremely hot and the nights equally cold.
"Maybe we have sunshine all around us but we just can't see it." Mitsukake had murmured looking at the gloomy sky.
Zakuro launched into an attacked. Mei Lin easily side stepped her. She guffawed as Zakuro fell gracelessly. Zakuro was inept at sword-fighting as it was. She was no better distracted.
"Why don't I take over for a while?" Mitsukake offered.
Mei Lin shrugged and went to Suzahara, whose attention was on Zakuro.
"We don't have to do this." Mitsukake said kindly.
"There's nothing I can do." Zakuro murmured, as she slowly rose. "I'm only going to make him worry more."
Zakuro watched Nuriko packing up their things.
"The talismans are wearing off faster." Mitsukake observed. "But Chichiri doesn't feel an increase in demonic chi. If Tamahome is trying to curse Suzahara, Chichiri would be able to figure it..."
"What was she like?" Zakuro said, interrupting Mitsukake and letting him in on her train of thought. "Nuriko. When she was training Ryuu and Zemin at the castle, what was she like? Did she talk about Tamahome a lot?"
"It isn't malice." Mitsukake said, frowning.
"I know." Zakuro replied, taking her eyes off Nuriko. "She is incapable of that. So I want to know why."
Mitsukake rubbed his chin, his stubble making a sand papery noise.
"She never spoke much." Mitsukake said. "Niu offered her the job on the spot. And it looked like she needed a place to stay. But for the first couple of days she was very quiet. Niu tried her hardest to break through to her. And then the bracelet incident happened."
Zakuro waited for Mitsukake to elaborate.
"It was one of the hand maidens, I think." Mitsukake said. "She found this bracelet that belonged to Nuriko. She handed it to Niu to give to back as Nuriko was training with Zemin. Niu really liked that bracelet. She had seen Nuriko wearing one and wanted to have the other. That was the first time Nuriko showed any type of outward emotion. She vehemently refused any offer Niu made for the bracelet. She said it already belonged to somebody. Niu even went to the extent of saying that she will buy it off the person it was promised to. Niu is crazy that way. She always has to have what she wants. Nuriko snatched the bracelet from Niu and called her a spoilt hag. Nobody had ever spoken to Niu that way. Nuriko was ready to leave that day. But Niu stopped her. I'm not sure what they spoke about but they were really good friends after that. It seemed like Nuriko was really getting used to life at the castle until you got there."
It seems like you were brought here just to pull me out of my loneliness. Zakuro heard the distant echo of a memory.
I'm the worst. Zakuro thought.
Zakuro had made up her mind then. She was going to beg and plead and whine and whimper and punch and bite but she was going to get Nuriko back. Zakuro realized that Suzahara wasn't the only person she left behind when she had gone back to her own world. For nine months, Nuriko missed her friend too. And Zakuro was going to do whatever it takes to be friends with Nuriko again.
"Thank you for telling me that." Zakuro said, nodding decisively.
From the corner of her eyes, she watched as Chichiri wrapped up the binding ceremony.
"Nuriko!" Zakuro called out, as she marched towards her.
It was only because Nuriko had turned to respond to Zakuro that the zanbato missed Nuriko's neck, slicing through only a few strands of hair.
"NURIKO!" Zakuro screamed as she rushed towards Nuriko.
But Nuriko was quick on her feet. She stumbled a few steps away, regained her balance and moved towards Zakuro.
"STAY BACK!" Nuriko exclaimed as she tackled Zakuro to the floor, the zanbato missing Nuriko again by a few centimeters.
"Nuriko!" Suzahara and the others exclaimed as they rushed towards the duo. "Zakuro!"
Nuriko scooped Zakuro and rushed towards the others, forming defensive patterns around Zakuro. Large, muscular tengu landed around them, their wings blocking out the light from the camp fire. Chichiri clicked his tongue.
"Sending henchmen to finish his dirty work." Chichiri said as he twirled his shakujo.
Zakuro watched as Suzahara rubbed his arm, smoke rising from the talismans.
"Chichiri." Zakuro said, her voice shaking a little. "The talismans..."
Chichiri glanced towards Suzahara.
"Take care of it." Mitsukake said, drawing out his spear. "We can handle these guys."
Bao Shou and Zakuro simultaneously unsheathed their swords.
"Come out, you bastard!" Suzahara called out to the shadows. "It's going to be a pain to kill your minions and then having to hunt you down."
Suzahara fists were shaking in rage.
"No." Zakuro said, holding his fists. "Your talismans are burning off. You need to go with Chi..."
Zakuro faltered under his gaze. The tengu around studied the surrounded humans with coal black eyes baring their fangs as they licked their lips.
Suzahara drew his sword but Zakuro held his wrists, the last of the talismans turning to ash.
"You need to go with Chichiri." Zakuro pleaded as the tengu closed in on them. "Please. We'll take care of them."
Suzahara turned to look at Zakuro, Chichiri taking his flank. He gently cupped her face.
"I will not let anything happen to you." Suzahara said, a slight edge in his voice.
"OI!" He called out at the top of his lungs, turning his back to Zakuro. "COME OUT!"
Zakuro didn't know if it was a play of light but she saw Suzahara's eyes darken for a moment.
"On my mark." Chichiri whispered to Zakuro.
Zakuro frowned.
"What?" Zakuro muttered.
"NOW!" Chichiri called out.
Mitsukake, Suzahara, Mei Lin, Mei Fong, Bao Shou and Nuriko pounced at the nearest demons. Chichiri caught Zakuro by the hip and shot up towards the sky, two of the tengu giving chase. It took a while for Zakuro to understand what they had done. She couldn't help but chuckle. Chichiri shot fire over his back and singed the tengu's wing.
"When was this decided?" Zakuro asked, her voice hollow.
"Little busy here." Chichiri said, as he twirled mid air, stabbing a tengu through his shoulder with his shakujo.
"I was with you guys almost all the time." Zakuro mumbled. "Did you decide this when I was sleeping?"
"You need to pipe down and let me concentrate!" Chichiri said crossly.
The campfire with the others was getting smaller and smaller by the moment. The tengu weren't letting Chichiri get very far. Three more tengu pursued Chichiri.
"You're all willing to die just to protect me." Zakuro said, her fists shaking a little.
"Aargh!" Chichiri cried in frustration, beads of perspiration dripping down his face. "Will you stop talking and let me concentrate? I'm running low here."
The seconds stretched like hours. Chichiri had managed to only injure the tengu. Their strength was not like the ones they had faced earlier. These were hardened, smart demons.
But demons none the less...Zakuro thought.
As Chichiri swung his shakujo mid air, he loosened his grip on Zakuro for just the smallest moment. Zakuro used the opportunity and kicked herself away from Chichiri, falling headfirst towards the ground.
"WHAT THE..." Chichiri shouted. "ZAKURO!"
Chichiri charged towards her. But in the moment of separation, Zakuro gave herself the smallest paper cut with her sword. The tengu pursuing Chichiri focused their attention on Zakuro. They cawed wildly as they overtook Chichiri and charged at Zakuro, a maniacal glint in their eyes.
The purity of the vessel. Zakuro thought as she smiled, hurtling towards the ground.
She watched as the first tengu was incinerated, the blaze lighting up the night sky. Chichiri came back into focus, his face screwed up in concentration and anger, and was almost immediately obscured by another rabid tengu.
Two. Zakuro counted, as the tengu fell to the ground encased in a lump of ice. Zakuro looked up at the ever-closing moment of impact.
"Beam me up!" Zakuro called out, as the third tengu fell. "Use your ma..."
But Zakuro felt a small hand around her waist and another around her mouth. She watched as Chichiri's eyes widened in shock. Zakuro tried to struggle but her legs were locked too. Her body moved towards the right and crashed through trees, bruising her all over. Zakuro and her "savior" rolled to a halt. Zakuro felt a tree to her back. She looked up to frail shoulders of a boy with vivid red hair flowing down to his back stand in front of her, a zanbato on his shoulder.
Seven tengu's emerged cackling from the forest, rushing towards Zakuro. Zakuro watched as the boy's shoulder rose and fell in a sigh
"IDIOTS!" The boy shouted, his voice still at the cusp of manhood. "YOU LOW-LIFE FILTHY DEMONS! HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY DIRECT ORDERS?"
He swung his zanbato and beheaded the nearest demon. Looking at their comrade fall seemed to have brought some clarity to the demon's thoughts. They looked at Zakuro, now with vacant interest instead of hunger.
"There are six of you and six of them." The boy with the red hair said, rubbing his temples. "Finish the job."
"NO!" Zakuro shouted, as the tengu nodded and took off.
She tried to scramble after them but the boy held her by her hair. He dragged her across the forest and roughly threw her into a tree. Zakuro gasped as her back hit the tree, the wind knocked out of her. For a scrawny kid, he was strong.
"What in the world were you thinking?" Chao Shi said, his face hidden in shadows, as he tried to light a torch.
Zakuro tried to move towards her friends, towards the direction she thought they were in.
"You're going the wrong way." Chao Shi muttered, as he coaxed a fire.
But Zakuro continued moving, her breathing ragged.
"Your stupid plan isn't going to work anymore." He said, as the fire illuminated his face.
Hatred bubbled in Zakuro as she recognized her captor. She recognized his cocky grin as he ordered his minions to kill Li An and the others. Chao Shi smiled as he understood that Zakuro had recognized him. He bowed a little, the zanbato firm on his back.
"We haven't been properly introduced, Lady Zakuro." Chao Shi said, his piercing blue eyes dancing in the torchlight. "I'm Chao Shi. It's a pleasure meeting you."
Zakuro put as much hatred as she possibly could into her gaze and tried to stare him down. But Chao Shi seem unfazed. He merely moved towards Zakuro. But Zakuro didn't flinch. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
Chao Shi balanced the torchlight between two rocks. He caught Zakuro's wrists, spread her arms apart, turned around and sat down on her lap, the zanbato away from his hands reach.
"Pat my head." Chao Shi ordered.
The last couple of moments had taken Zakuro by surprise. Chao Shi caught Zakuro's hand and placed it on his head, as he clicked his tongue.
"We can just wait here till the tengu finish their job." Chao Shi said, getting comfortable on Zakuro's lap.
Zakuro caught Chao Shi's hair roughly.
"Listen here, twerp." Zakuro said, pulling his head back. "Call back your demons. If Tamahome sent you, we will go back in peace. We don't want any trouble."
Chao Shi grinned.
"Kill me then." He said gleefully, nuzzling his head closer to Zakuro. "I'm unarmed if you noticed. Kill me and the demons would have no leader."
Zakuro bodily pushed him away and rose to help her friends. But Chao Shi tripped her with a leg lock.
"You can't leave while I'm still alive, you know." Chao Shi said, sitting on Zakuro's back. "That's super rude."
Zakuro pushed him away and slapped him across the cheeks.
"I don't know what it is that you want and I don't care." Zakuro said menacingly. "I don't have the time to deal with you. I have to help..."
"Help them how?" Chao Shi said, rubbing his cheek. "You can't be the bait anymore. The demons won't want you. You'll just get in their way."
"I can..." Zakuro started.
"Their plan involved getting you out of the way first!" Chao Shi said, scampering closer to Zakuro. "You know how valuable you are when in the face of imminent danger, you are the first obstacle they remove. No matter how long you train, no matter how much stronger you get, they'll never want you."
Zakuro got to her feet and tried to run away. But Chao Shi tackled her again.
"Do I have to tie you up?" Chao Shi said, exasperated.
Zakuro could hear the tengu caw in battle.
"I have to get to them." Zakuro murmured, worried.
"Urgh!" Chao Shi said, angrily. "Are you stupid? Are everybody from your world stupid? Let the demons do their thing. I promise I won't hurt you."
Zakuro clenched her fists.
"You know an awful lot about us." Zakuro said, angrily.
"Not them." Chao Shi said, settling down next to Zakuro. "You."
Zakuro frowned.
"Me?" She repeated confused.
"Well, duh!" Chao Shi said, scooting closer to Zakuro and putting his head on her lap. "You're the most interesting thing to ever happen in this place. Tell me... What's your world like? Who are the strongest demons?"
Zakuro looked at her sword lying away at an arms length, right next to the zanbao. Chao Shi sighed following Zakuro's gaze. He crawled on the ground and got Zakuro her sword. He then nestled on her lap again.
"I'm not above maiming." Zakuro said, the sword on Chao Shi's shoulder.
"Maiming isn't going to stop me." Chao Shi said, as he attempted to drive the sword into his shoulder.
Zakuro instinctively pulled the sword back.
"So, where were we?" Chao Shi continued, as though they were in a picnic. "Right. Who are the strongest demons?"
Zakuro weighed her options for a moment. The tengu listened to him. Her friends and the demons were evenly matched. It was Chao Shi who was the renegade.
A kid. Zakuro thought.
"We don't have demons in our world." Zakuro said, setting her sword aside but still within her arms reach.
She shifted a little below Chao Shi's weight, Chao Shi mirroring her movements.
"You're joking?" Chao Shi said, his blue eyes wide in shock. "I thought that was only a rumor. What do you guys do all day?"
"We're in school most of the day." Zakuro said, angling her body as she prayed with all her might that her friends were OK. "Then we have homework and we hang out with friends mostly. The grown ups have jobs."
"School?" Chao Shi said sarcastically. "That place where the noblemen go? Man! And I thought we had it rough."
He shook his head elaborately.
"Education is the foundation of a well rounded future." Zakuro recited.
"Yeah, yeah." Chao Shi said, rolling his eyes. "I'm glad the demons invaded. I don't know what I would do if things were not like this."
The words pierced Zakuro. She looked down at the blue eyed boy looking back intently at her. He looked like any normal ten year old. For an instant she imagined him born in her world. He would be the cheeky kid in class who always got detention. He would have friends and play sports.
He is just a kid. Zakuro thought.
"Your world sounds boring." Chao Shi said, picking his ears. "What do you guys do for fun?"
"We watch movies, hang out with friends..." Zakuro said.
Chao Shi frowned in confusion. "How is that funt?" Chao Shi muttered. "Are everybody from your world spoilt noblemen?"
Zakuro didn't answer.
A kid. She thought again.
"It's because you don't have demons." Chao Shi continued, a look of pride on his face. "Here, the humans know that every demon they fight, the closer they're to happiness. And so they fight."
"But you fight alongside demons..." Zakuro said, in a restrained manner. "You killed those girls."
"It's the stupid Gods who're to blame, if you ask me." Chao Shi said. "They can't fix their own mess, so they come up with an elusive way for humans to gain power. I was born into a world of demons. Rai Go says that things were different before. But the Gods just want to trick us into trying to find a way to become Gods while they strike deals with the demons."
"What?" Zakuro said, incredulously. "Gods striking deals with demons?"
Chao Shi grinned a little.
"Think about it." Chao Shi said knowledgeably. "There are no character tests to become a God. They're all tests of strength and courage and nobility and blah blah blah blah. Anybody could fake them and clear the challenge. All we know for sure is that the Gods are losing. Siding with the demons makes perfect sense. If we're on their side when they win, we can live like kings in the world they create. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out."
Zakuro was able to understand the loopholes in that logic. But she didn't have the time to argue with Chao Shi. She had found her opening.
Her next actions were more mechanical in nature. She pulled her thighs away, Chao Shi falling on his head. Zakuro quickly scrambled on top of him, her sword at his throat. But the grin on Chao Shi's lips hadn't left him.
For a while, the forest was eerily quiet barring the tengu's war caws. Chao Shi caught Zakuro's hand.
"You know." Chao Shi said, in a tone so normal that a bystander wouldn't know that he had a sword to his throat. "I was five when I first killed a man. Not a man, but man for me because we were of the same age. You see, I hadn't eaten in days and he had a loaf of bread. I first begged for him to share. But the rich bastard wouldn't. So I bashed his head in with a rock. Or wait. Was it the nobleman's daughter? It gets cold in the dessert and she wouldn't share her quilt. She had to go. No, no... wait a minute. Yes. It was definitely the fisherman. Food related again. Geez. Isn't my face red? I get so mixed up sometimes."
Chao Shi raised his head a little. Zakuro instinctively moved back, the sword still at his throat.
"And this is why the demons win." Chao Shi said, licking Zakuro's sword. "It's because you can't get yourself to get the sword through your enemies neck even when your friends are in grave danger. It's because the losing side is always filled with weak men who are too afraid to slit the necks of their enemy."
"Zakuro..." She heard Bao Shou gently call out to her.
Chao Shi gasped and tried to get to his zanbato. But Zakuro dropped her sword, tears flooding her eyes.
"Can you do it?" Zakuro asked, as she restrained Chao Shi by the shoulders.
Chao Shi struggled helplessly, kicking Zakuro in the back. Bao Shou made a movement towards her.
"CAN YOU DO IT?!" Zakuro shouted, her voice shaking. "Can you kill somebody who knew no better?"
Chao Shi wriggled out of Zakuro's grip. He flipped till his zanbato and swung it towards Bao Shou. But Zakuro charged at Chao Shi.
"Leave." Zakuro said, her voice hollow and shaky. "You're outnumbered. He is a God candidate. Go. Get out of here."
"Zakuro!" Bao Shou exclaimed, quickly closing the distance between them. "Get back here!"
"Go!" Zakuro cried, pushing Chao Shi. "Go home!"
Chao Shi clicked his tongue as he jumped back into the shadows. Zakuro was shaking. Bao Shou slowly turned her and pulled her into an embrace.
"This is all he knows..." Zakuro said, clutching Bao Shou's sleeves. "He doesn't know any better..."
Bao Shou slowly patted Zakuro's head. Zakuro faintly heard rustling. She felt a familiar pressure on her shoulder. She turned around to Suzahara's embrace.
"I couldn't kill him." Zakuro muttered. "He gave the orders to kill you all and I couldn't kill him. The worst part is I didn't even want to..."
Suzahara gently comforted Zakuro.
"It's OK." Suzahara said in a soothing voice. "He is human."
Nuriko emerged into the forest, Chichiri carrying an injured Mitsukake. Mei Lin and Mei Fong followed soon, mostly unharmed
"Mitsukake!" Zakuro exclaimed.
He gave her a thumbs up as he lit a ciggarette.
Demons are bad. Zakuro repeated her mantra.
"We're going to the tengu cave and kill each and every one of those demons." She turned to face Nuriko, her fists balled. "Including Tamahome." Zakuro added as Suzahara rubbed the angry red blotch on his shoulder.