Naming a Demon

Story: Before the Twists of Fate

By: Sky

Izaiyoi played with the beads around her neck, trying to distract herself from her discomfort. It had been two days since her son was born, and still she could not decide a name for him. She did not want to name him after his father, for that was still an ache in her chest as to what she had done to conceive her child, but she would not regret giving birth to her boy. The only thing she really regretted was that Grandmother had not been there to see him, and would never see him grow. She had wanted to be there so badly, but time and age had finally caught up to her. A single silent tear stole down her cheek, and Izaiyoi wiped it away. She could not cry now over Grandmother. The older woman would not appreciate her sitting there and crying while her son remained unnamed. Izaiyoi could always claim she came from a clan that even now did not like to name their children until they were older, but that would be lying, and she did not want to start her child's life out with more lies then were already in place.

Her fingers gently stroked the Shikon no Tama around her neck. Strange that the jewel of legend that was known to bring such calamity in the past, was bringing her comfort and peace now. And she sure needed that comfort. Her life had changed so much in the last two months, from Grandmothers death to her son's birth, that she wasn't sure how she should feel. But that thought was for later. Now, she had a more pressing matter.

Izaiyoi had never wanted to know if it had been male or female, as each had strong points for Exterminators. She had thought of a few names, with Grandmothers help, but none seemed to fit currently. The little dark-haired boy beside her; with chubby cheeks and a piercing cry that reached to the end of the hall, did not look like a Akihiko, Hajime, Hiroki, or Katsuro. Those were the names that she and grandmother had come up with. The little squalling bundle didn't look like an "Arata" either, or "Ichiro" which had been her extreme back-up name if she couldn't find anything else, or if the others had not fit. She had even flirted with the idea of calling him "Takizo" after his father, but if she had ever seen Imiko again, her sister would know who the child's father was by the name, and that could create some problems. Then again they were Exterminators and things like crossing bloodlines seemed to happen a lot of the time.

So for a moment she sat there, and contemplated a name for him, and her mind wondered again. Exterminators were supposed to hunt demons, but those were only myths and legends. Nothing like that even existed anymore in this time, and those that could have been considered "demons" in the past were well gone. The Exterminators were built up and bred on a lie. They seemed to be nothing more then mercenaries, being hired out because of their generations of reputation for being great fighters. The pen tapped on her mouth as one word circled around her head: Demon. Her violet eyes lay gently on her son who had finally dozed off. The child would never know he was an Exterminator, and that his mother had been a failure. He would never be constricted like she had been by the bonds of being in an Exterminators clan. Though despite that, he was an Exterminator threw and threw. His mother might have been bad at it, though she was of the blood, and his father was certainly very high in the ranks and was very strong. Hopefully the baby had gotten more of his fathers blood then his mothers.

Izaiyoi shook her head. That didn't matter. The boy was still of Exterminator blood, even if he would never know it. His momma now watched over a gem that the clan had been looking for for centuries. He would never know the clan he descended from, but he would be reminded of it every time he spoke him name. The child would be called Yasha. So Izaiyoi lowered the pen to the page, and immortalized her thought with a few strokes of ink. He was now sealed from the clan; the only 'demon' that they would need to hunt, and they would never know he existed. Finally, Yasha had his name, and it seemed to fit him well.

She lifted the child from his bassinet, waking him, and then started to feed him. He would be her reminder of all she had lost, all she had gained, and all she had to live for. After all, it was just the two of them now, and Izaiyoi would never let the clan get their hands on him.

Well, many of you have asked who his father was, so now you know. Yes, you can find him in the story, though it would be interesting if you understand what that means in relation to other characters in ToF and KoF. ^_~

Would love to hear from you, and read some comments. And yes, this is amazingly short. It's only meant to be a small idea.

~Sky