Chapter 4: Impossible Dream
Setsuna had fallen asleep. She had met Hisui again that following night at the well. They hadn't had a demon slayer job that day so they mostly just ran some errands for Kohaku, going to the market to pick up some supplies in the morning.
They walked together early in the morning, neither of them seeming the slightest bit tired from their late night meeting as they walked calm and coy hand in hand.
Setsuna looked comfortable in her casual clothes as she wore a yellow and purple kimono with her hair still tied up in a ponytail, she carried herself like a Princess as she walked beside Hisui.
She and Towa always had the prettiest Kimonos, oftentimes setting the trends for the rest of the village girls with newer styles or being the first to have the new colors for next season. Their father never came for a visit empty handed so Setsuna had always thought that maybe he did love them if he was going through the trouble to make sure that they all had nice dresses to wear.
Though their father was never around in the way that Moroha's father was, she could at least see the effort that he put into visiting them.
Hisui looked nice as well as they walked to the market, he was in his casual clothes that were dark blue and his clothes were more loose fitting than his demon slaying armor.
"Will you come over to my home to train after we finish at the market?" Hisui asked her, suddenly bringing her out her thoughts during their comfortable silence.
"Wouldn't the slayers guild be better for training compared to the limited space that you have?" Setsuna asked, completely oblivious to his romantic advances.
"Um.. Yeah but we wouldn't be alone." Hisui blushed nervously.
"Oh, So we weren't alone enough last night? You sure want to move fast." She stated, neutrally and without emotion and Hisui panicked.
"No I wasn't thinking like that!" He stated frantically as he stopped walking and quickly turned to face her fully. Grabbing both of her hands as he pleaded his case to her.
"I only wished to spend time alone with you respectfully and maybe read books together in my family study. I only intend for it to be like when we are typically together. I wasn't hoping for anything inappropriate." He explained himself so fast and quickly only pausing when he caught her smiling at him and he realized that he had been the victim of yet another one of her stone faced bluffs.
His brows furrowed down as he was about to retort but she kissed him. Squeezing his hands that were still holding hers and closing the distance, pressing her lips to his so sweetly that he just had to kiss her back which made him forget all about his nervousness at what he thought had been a misunderstanding.
He brushed his lips across hers deliciously, in response to how she was making him feel and he held her hands tighter too before she moved her lips from his with a playful smile on her face. The special smile that she only ever let him see and their eyes met as she spoke softly.
"I like being alone with you too." Was all that she said which effectively made his heart stop beating before she pulled him along again so that they could continue on their way.
Their trip to the market was a short one. They knew where to go to find everything that they needed and which places to go first and last inorder to make the trip as fast as possible so they had spent little time at the market and were soon on their way back to the village even deciding to take a shortcut through the woods on their way back with the newly bought supplies. Though this short cut would prove to have some obstacles.
As they were walking back to the village and Hisui was in the middle of being the most endearing person that Setsuna had ever met as he spoke some of the poetry that he had recently read. Poetry that made him think of her.
Though she was playing it cool her heart was beating a mile a minute until she stopped abruptly, turning serious which brought Hisui back to reality as well.
"What's wrong?" Hisui asked, concerned at her sudden change.
"Someone is following us." She stated, stone faced and Hisui groaned.
"Today is supposed to be an off day." He complained.
"Show yourselves!" Setsuna yelled as she and Hisui turned around, nothing happened at first.
"We know that you're there. Come on out and we won't hurt you as long as you leave us alone now." Hisui said and 6 men appeared from the forest.
The men were all buff and bulked up too, they looked like they had been former soldiers or mercenaries for hire, but the two young people didn't even cower at the sight of them.
"Hurt us? You're not even armed." One of the bandits said smugly. "I think that you've mistaken the situation."
" You leave all that you've got here and we'll let you live but fight back and we'll be taking the girl with us as well." Another one of the bandits said and not even a moment later he was knocked to the ground by said girl, with a strong punch to the jaw.
Setsuna was almost too fast for the bandits to follow as she swiftly leaped over so that she was right in front of the one that had threatened them and swiftly knocked him out. Before looking at the rest of them.
"Would anyone else like to try at robbing us? Like he said we're both unarmed." She stated calmly but the remaining bandits had all paled at her actions.
"She.. she's just like him!" Another bandit yelled with wide eyes.
"Attack the boy!" He said now running straight for Hisui with his blade drawn. Hisui quickly and swiftly attacked the bandit's stance making him fall off balance as he disarmed him and then knocked him out as Setsuna quickly took down two more of the bandits while he did so. With only a few quick kicks and punches.
The bandits had been no match for them, even unarmed. Fighting the bandits was only child's play to the experienced demon slayers. The last bandit standing ended up running away.
The fight had barely lasted five minutes and after the teens had knocked all of the bandits unconscious they decided not to give chase to the last one and simply went about their day unfazed by the encounter.
Setsuna and Hisui dropped the supplies off to Kohaku and then went to Hisui's home where they were disappointed to see that they weren't alone as his sister Gyokuto was there finishing work and she sent the two back to the slayers guild to deliver more mask to Kohaku as Gyokuto had just finished making them. To which the two did begrudgingly, both frustrated that it didn't look like they would be alone anytime soon today.
They still hadn't told anyone about their intentions for each other. Hisui's parents were still away and Hisui wanted them to know first before everyone else, and Setsuna always got embarrassed everytime that she tried to tell her mother or her sister so she had just decided to tell them after Hisui told his parents.
His home was a little farther out from the rest of the village so it was a bit more of a trip to travel from place to place and then come back. Once they arrived back at Hisui's place for the second time that day the two were surprised to see that his sister had left during their absence and they decided to skip the training part of what they had planned and go straight to the study where the family had an impressive collection of books.
Since no one was around to question or catch them in their alone time together. While Towa had lost herself in training at the slayers guild that day. Setsuna had been getting lost in spending time alone with Hisui.
Hisui's family study was decently sized and there was a desk in the middle of the room that was surrounded by books as well as a few chairs.
Hisui immediately went to show Setsuna the book that he had just finished reading so that he could loan it to her to read as well. He told her small details about the mystical story of the lake goddess and how she'd enjoy it too.
Then he showed her the poetry book that always made him think of her whenever he read it, sharing with her some of the poetry that always made her cross his mind whenever he saw the words.
He stood in front of her as he read each passage, eyes shining with passion and she had sat on the corner of the desk watching him the entire time as he read her each poem.
"I don't know much about how to label the things that I feel, all I know is that when I look at the sky I see freedom, when I look at the dirt I see breakthrough, when I look at the ocean I see serenity, and when I look at you I see everything." He smiled as he finished, eyes meeting hers again and her heart beat faster. Hisui kept going.
"Like breathing, loving you is the most natural thing that I've ever known."
"You're quite the romantic. I would have never guessed before we became lovers." She smiled after he had read those passages of poetry. Setsuna had never considered herself to be easily moved by such things but when she was alone with Hisui and he spoke to her sweet and sincere the way that he did she could barely breathe.
"I wasn't romantic before you. You always filled my mind and confused my thoughts but when I see these words and you cross my mind these beautiful feelings that you make me feel suddenly start to make sense. I guess I just can't help the way that my heart beats for you and only you" He said seriously as a sweet smile tugged at his lips and she broke eye contact with him first blushing heavy in the study alone with him.
"Read me another." She said with pink dusted cheeks as she finally willed herself to look into his eyes and get lost again. And he did as she commanded gleefully as more and more tension filled the air between them.
Tension at how close they were but not close enough as, Hisui's sweet words flamed their hearts. The two typically weren't alone like this during the day, they usually had to wait until night to do anything else besides holding hands or else people would recognize their relationship so they were both happy to not have to wait until night came to be able to express their true feelings to each other. After a particular passage.
"I may never find the words beautiful enough to describe all that you mean to me but I will spend the rest of my life searching for them." Hisui said and at this point the tension in the room was killing both of them and he reached over her as she was setting on the desk boxing her in between his arms as he placed the book behind her and onto the desk and she watched him the entire time her violet eyes getting dark with want as she reached for him placing her right hand on his forearm and Hisui paused.
He was just as excited about being alone with her and he wanted her to but he needed to make sure that he stayed calm and remained a gentleman. He told himself this a few times before he couldn't help but close the gap between them and get completely lost to her touch and they kissed with more passion then normal.
Setsuna laced her fingers through his hair, keeping him close to her and dancing her lips across his in the way that she knew he loved.
He tried keeping his hands on either side of her on the desk but the way that she kissed him was maddening and when she touched him he burnt under her sweet touch. He couldn't hold back anymore, he ran his hands up her sides and he felt her shiver in his arms which sparked even more desire in him as their kisses got longer and the touches got bolder from both of them neither voicing any protest and both rationalizing what they were doing with the fact that they would be married one day.
Hisui had taken down her hair in their passions and Setsuna wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him even closer and this time he gasped in surprise, their make out session was getting more and more intense and neither of them really knew where it was leading both too lost in each other to think properly.
The door to the study opened abruptly and the two lovers froze, eyes darting to the door where Hisui's sister Kin'u stood.
She squeaked when she saw them. Messy haired with their clothes crumpled and faces flushed. They both jumped apart at having been caught as Kinu's voice filled the room.
"So this is why you broke off that engagement!" She said and the two of them were both too stunned to answer right away from the embarrassment that they were feeling at having been caught in such a way and they both fumbled at their clothes trying to look presentable once again.
"Listen… sis…we're um… I'm going to be officially courting Setsuna once mom and dad return so can you please keep what you saw today a secret." Hisui asked, trying to play off the embarrassment of being caught but his sister saw right through him and snickered.
"Oh, I'll keep your secret." She smiled. "But it will cost you." She said in a sweet voice and Hisui just knew that this meant that he would basically be Kinu's slave until their parents returned home and Gyokuto would most likely find out tonight too as the two sisters never kept secrets from each other.
"I...I Should get going." Setsunna said.
"So soon?" Hisui asked.
"Yeah, you should stay now that I'm here and the two of you have a proper chaperone." Kin'u smiled and Hisui groaned.
His sister turned to him. "You can't just see each other unchaperoned! Are you trying to ruin Setsuna's reputation? It's important to leave what you two were just doing for marriage only." Kin'u emphasized. "It's a good thing that I caught you when I did. Who knows what might have happened had you been allowed to go on." Kin'u said.
"We were only kissing!" Hisui reassured embarrassed, and Kin'u looked at him suspiciously.
"I really do have to go, I have to meet Towa and Moroha at the slayers guild." Setsuna lied.
This whole situation made Setsuna uncomfortable and she was ready to get out. The only saving grace was that she had not been caught by her sister who no doubt would have never let her live down being caught like this.
Still Kin'u was a nun, and she could only imagine what she thought of her now having caught her with her little brother in such a way.
"I'll walk you out." Hisui said, and Kin'u at least allowed them to do this alone. Hisui apologized as soon as they were outside.
"I'm sorry, had I known that she might come home early I wouldn't have—"
"It's okay we were both getting kind of carried away." Setsuna said doing her best to hide any real emotion that he might have picked up on and they both found it difficult to make eye contact now.
"Will you meet me at our place again tonight?" Hisui asked quietly, not wanting Kin'u who was no doubtly trying to listen in from inside to hear what they were talking about.
Setsuna nodded.
"Just don't keep me waiting." She teased straight faced, before leaving his home and then again meeting him that night at the bone eaters well and that was how she had gotten herself into the mess that she currently was in now.
That night she had met her love by the well again and somehow they had both fallen asleep beneath the stars.
Setsuna felt the warmth of the sun tickle her face and the absence of a blanket over her body. She didn't quite register that she wasn't at home yet as she moved closer to the source of warmth that she had clung to all night on her left side, it smelled like Hisui she thought in complete bliss for all of 5 minutes until she shot up abruptly.
"Wake up!" She yelled. "We fell asleep!"
Hisui rolled over the opposite direction from her.
"My family is going to know that I stayed out all night and you will never hear the end of this from your sisters if they catch you." Setsuna said and Hisui sat up groggy and way too adorable for his own good as he rubbed at his eyes.
"When did you fall asleep?" He asked with a yawn.
"How would I know, I wasn't keeping track of time. I didn't see you fall asleep either." She said.
"It was nice sleeping next to you." Hisui smiled and she wanted to kill and kiss him.
"Well it's going to be our first and last time if you don't hurry it up." Setsuna hurried him along and he finally stood up.
He tried calling Kilala but she was nowhere to be found, they both proceeded to look for her for a long time after that but to no avail and they ended up having to go their separate ways as they had a slayer job to get to soon.
Setsuna reassured him that they would find Kilala before their job that day and he kissed her quickly before they both went off to sneak back into their own homes.
When Setsuna got home however Towa had been gleefully waiting for her return and was ready to hound her with questions. So much for being discreet Setsuna had thought. Towa cought her as she entered their home and Rin was right behind her in their kitchen.
"What were you doing hanging out with Hisui all night!?" Towa asked.
"What makes you think that I was with him?" Setsuna asked, trying to play it cool.
"I smell him all over you. You're as subtle as Sora when he's insulting Moroha's cooking." Towa smirked. "You're sneaking around." She teased in a sing-song voice. That made Setsuna roll her eyes at her sister.
"Setsuna, if you really like Hisui you should just say so." Rin said matter of factly with a smile. "I'll talk to your father and I'm sure he'll come around if that's what your heart wants." Rin smiled.
"I..I do not need father's approval." She said.
"My. Now you sound like your sister. You two are so headstrong. You get that from your father you know. He can be stubborn too." Rin said.
"So sis what were you doing? Would it make Yuna scold and scream at you if she knew?" Towa asked teasingly.
"No Towa we did nothing improper."
At least not last night, the thought went through Setsuna's head and her face heated up slightly.
Both her mom and sister noticed her change in demeanor at that question right away.
"Have you been improper with him before?! If he's done anything I'll—"
Towa said protectively as her mother gasped at the implication of what might have happened.
"He is always a perfect gentleman. We merely fell asleep that's all and it was accidental." Setsuna hissed.
"I trust you sweetie just make sure that he's being respectful with you or your father will have no choice but to kill him." Rin smiled. "Oh and bring him over sometime he better at least ask my permission to court you. How long has this been going on? I assume this isn't your first late night meeting." She teased.
"Mom! We haven't been meeting for long, just a few weeks." Setsuna lied.
"Few weeks? You two have been acting awfully close for way longer." Towa said as she thought more about it. "Did you tell Moroha about this?"
"Why would I tell her if I did not tell you?"
"Fair." Towa said.
"Awww, why would you not tell me first. I think that Hisui's a very handsome kid and he's a great choice for you." Rin smiled seriously and Towa laughed at the way that her mother described Hisui like a little kid.
"Mom." Setsuna said as Towa continued to laugh.
"Setsuna, if you both behave maybe you'll get permission to hold hands soon." Towa teased which earned her a glare from her sister who only sighed before deciding that she was done with this conversation.
"I'm going to change, Towa you had better get ready or we're leaving you behind." Setsuna said as she disappeared into the back of the house and Towa rolled her eyes.
"You're not even dressed. You're the one who's making me late." Towa said. Knowing full well that she was the one who was typically over sleeping and annoying her sister, but this time she was already dressed in her light blue and black demon slaying gear. Rin only laughed at the exchange between her daughters.
"You girls, be safe out there." Rin smiled. She knew that her daughters were strong but ever since Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had left to investigate Naraku's potential successor she had been nervous about sending her girls out to slay demons without her husband there to protect them should they need it. There was never a guarantee that he was near whenever they left the village, but she knew that if they were ever in any real trouble he wouldn't be too far behind.
"Don't worry about us, I'll pick up any slack that the others have so no one will be in any real danger." Towa said confidently, making her mom laugh.
"I have no idea how both you and Moroha don't drive everyone mad with your antics together." Her mother teased.
"Oh they do but they know that they need us." Towa smiled and Setsuna came back into the room dressed in her demon slaying gear.
"Don't worry mom, I'll have this one's back."Setsuna said, rolling her eyes at Towa and her mom smiled more.
"My strong girls please stay safe." She told them and they ate a nice family breakfast together before the girls headed to the slayers guild.
"You can't just take Kilala wherever she's near! I thought that I had lost her." Hisui said as he cried into the cat's fur in relief.
He had looked everywhere for her and was a complete nervous wreck when he got to the slayers guild only to find her sitting safely in Moroha's lap as she spoke to a dark haired stranger.
"I didn't mean to. I just need to borrow her for a minute. I asked and she said it was okay." Moroha said.
"What do you mean you asked!? She's a cat." Hisui stated annoyed beyond belief.
"Yes but if she didn't want to help me she didn't have to transform." Moroha said. "What were you doing in the village that early anyway?" She asked and a light blush covered His face.
"What was he doing? He was sneaking around the woods and spending the night with my sister, that's all." Towa said, effectively embarrassing both Hisui and Setsuna as she and her sister just arrived.
"Towa shut up, the whole guild doesn't need to know about the personal affairs of others." Was all that her sister said annoyed and Towa smirked.
"Hisui, you and my cousin did what!" Moroha said.
"Now that's worse than the two of us." Yuki stated and now all eyes were on him as everyone besides Moroha noticed his presence for the first time.
"This is Yuki, he's coming with us today." Moroha smiled.
"What!" Hisui and Towa said in unison. While Setsuna stayed quiet, her expression showing all the disapproval she needed.
"You can't just invite anyone off the street to come kill demons with us." Hisui said. "It's extremely dangerous to let someone untrained accompany us on a job."
"He has fighting experience." Moroha stated proudly. "Yuki has been traveling the continent since he was a kid so I trust that he's more than capable. If anything happens I'll just save him if I have to, so none of you will have to bother with protecting him if anything goes wrong."
Moroha actually wasn't that sure about Yuki's ability. She had never seen him fight before so all she knew about his abilities was what he had told her but after sleeping on the thought of if she should let him come with them. She wanted to see if he could actually hold his own.
If he was weak and had been able to survive as a traveler all this time that meant that she would be more than qualified to travel as someone who was powerful and if Yuki did prove himself to be weak while on a mission with her it didn't matter because she and her cousins and Hisui would be there so she really didn't see any risk in this scenario.
"I've killed many demons over my travels, and I owe Miss Moroha a debt for helping me yesterday so I would appreciate it if you all allowed me to accompany you today so that I might be of assistance to you." Yuki said seriously.
He spoke and sounded like someone respectable but Setsuna didn't trust him. He had just shown up out of nowhere and now her cousin was traipsing around with him like they were the closest of friends after only one day. She carefully observed him as he spoke and though he looked genuine when she looked into his eyes she just felt as though she shouldn't trust him.
Setsuna looked at Yuki coldly as he finished speaking. "What kind of debt do you have to my cousin?"
"Oh that." Yuki said innocently and honestly. "She healed my wounds for me and allowed me to stay with her and her family last night. I cannot repay her enough."
"You had some man that you just met staying in your home last night!" Hisui asked, surprised but there was accusation and disapproval in his voice. As Setsuna's eyes widened in shock and so did Towa's though Towa soon smiled at this revelation.
"What I do is not you or Setsuna's business. I'm in charge at home so what I say goes." Moroha said quickly in defense of her actions. She hated when Setsuna and sometimes Hisui acted as if they were so much older than her. Setsuna only had an extra year on her, they were basically the same age.
"You're my cousin, you are my business." Setsuna said. "What are you going to do when aunt and uncle come home? What are you going to say when Yuna tells them what you've been doing?"
"I haven't been doing anything. They'll never hear of this and you better not tell them. Yuki and I aren't even romantically involved so I can invite him to stay with me as much as I want." She threatened with a fierce look on her face.
"Calm down sis it's not like she's doing anything that you wouldn't. You did sleep with Hisui in the woods last night and were not giving you shit about whatever the two of you did." Towa said, trying to diffuse the situation and Setsuna wanted to kill her.
"Can you for once in your life have common sense. Hisui and I have known each other for years. They've known each other for less than a day. And all Hisui and I did was fall asleep underneath the stars. It was nothing scandalous." Setsuna said and Towa rolled her eyes ignoring her.
"How did you get Yuna to let him sleep over?'' Towa asked Moroha with genuine curiosity, on how she had been able to pull this one off.
"It only took a few quick words and promises, they're best friends now." Moroha lied.
"He cannot come with us." Hisui reiterated. Not only was this man untrained but he had no idea what his intentions were with Moroha who was basically like a younger sister to him. He had to block this man from getting closer to her.
"Agreed." Setsuna said.
"Of course you'd agree with him." Moroha rolled her eyes. "I am your cousin, you traitor."
"Don't be childish Moroha, it's dangerous for him to come with us. What if he dies?" Setsuna said.
"He won't, I already told you he has experience."
"If this came to a vote." Towa said. "We have two against and two for so that means that he gets to come along." She stated matter of factly.
"That shouldn't mean that he gets to come, it should mean that it cancels out and he has to stay. He's untrained." Setsuna said.
"Sorry your highness but you can't always have the last word. The demons only a 3.5 anyway and there are 4 of us. Just let him come along like Moroha said if he proves himself to be weak. She or I will handle it since we both agreed to let him come along. " The two sisters stared off for a long time before Setsuna sighed.
"Fine, but I am absolutely not going to be playing at protecting him for even a minute. You two want to take him sight seeing on our mission then he's your responsibility. You and Towa's." Setsuna said seriously and Hisui nodded in agreement with her.
"Don't expect any help from me either, our job is my first priority not the safety of a potential liability." Hisui added.
"I would never wish to be a burden to any of you, no need to think of who might have to help me should I need it. I guarantee that I will not be in the way of anyone." Yuki said confidently and Hisui exchanged a glance with Setsuna, neither of them completely believing that Moroha and Towa wouldn't be protecting him.
Hisui then briefed them all on the demon report that they would be responding to.
"They weren't traveling to a village, they were traveling near the crossroads that has been an essential trade route for merchants for years. The trade route had become compromised for the last 2 months as multiple people reported that they had seen a centipede demon. The group was to go and investigate these claims and to slay any demons that they might find.
The group began their journey to the crossroads that would take about 3 hours on foot and the teens were setting out bright and early with Hisui and Setsuna leading the way while Kilala rested on Hisui's shoulder and Towa Moroha and Yuki walked a few steps behind them.
"What? You're still mad that I left you with Shinji yesterday?!" Towa exclaimed. "I should be mad that you never showed up to train with me. You know that the other slayers are no match even for training. I barely got a good workout." Towa said.
"I had to suffer through another smug and hopeless proposal because of you I'm not letting you off the hook." Moroha said standing her ground.
"But I helped you just now. I voted to let Yuri tag along today." Towa said.
"His name is Yuki." Moroha said before crossing her arms and not speaking to Towa for a good five minutes.
"Look what I have." Towa smiled before pulling out a bottle of salt and Moroha's eyes lit up.
"I was going to give it to you yesterday to make us even for Shinji, but since being on your side about the traveler wasn't enough. You can have this but only if this makes us good." Towa said in her best attempt to negotiate with her cousin.
Moroha took the purification salt and smiled. "We're good now, but don't do that again, I mean it."
"What use could you possibly have for salt?" Yuki asked, confused by their exchange.
"You'll see." Moroha smiled and so did Towa like they knew something that he didn't and the family resemblance was uncanny.
"You two are rather lively." Yuki finally laughed. This family was out of their minds. He had thought. "Didn't you say that you're related earlier?" He asked.
"Towa and Setsuna's father is the brother of my father." Moroha stated.
"So Towa and Setsuna's dad is half demon as well?" Yuki asked.
"My dad is a full demon, our parents are only half siblings." Towa said.
"Does that make you just my half cousin then?" Moroha asked teasingly.
"No, we're real cousins." Towa said.
"Towa being a half cousin doesn't make us any less family." Setsuna said not even turning around to look at them.
She was taking note of how Yuki responded to the information of them having demon blood. Humans sometimes acted prejudiced once they found out but it would seem as though Yuki had already been made aware of this before now and it didn't seem like it bothered him.
"If your father is a full demon then you and Setsuna must be just as strong as Moroha. That's incredible." Yuki said.
"Actually I'm stronger." Towa humbly bragged and the three of them carried on quite the friendly conversation.
"Sometimes I think that those two are twins." Hisui said with a light laugh at Towa's reaction.
"They both need to learn how not to let the smallest of praise go to their head." Setsuna said.
"You love how they react and you know it." Hisui teased before grabbing her hand and she squeezed his in return.
"So how long have you two been having secrets in the woods?" Moroha asked once she finally noticed their linked hands in front of her and the two blushed at having to speak about their relationship.
"Almost since I ended my engagement 3 months ago." Hisui said honestly.
"You kept this a secret from me for three months!" Towa said. "A few weeks my ass Setsuna. When you had said a few weeks, I had originally thought at least a month tops."
"I only noticed that you two were being weird two weeks ago." Moroha said, completely surprised.
"We…we didn't mean to hide it from you, it just wasn't necessary for you two to know." Setsuna said seriously.
"Did you hear that Moroha?" Towa said.
"I did, she thinks that we're unnecessary." They both played up looking as if they were saddened by this news. Setsuna quickly decided that she was not going to play into their dramatics.
"If that's how you choose to interpret things." Setsuna stated simply before facing forward again.
"Setsuna!" They both whined at the same time.
"You're supposed to feel bad about making us sad." Moroha said and Towa nodded.
"How the two of you feel is your own concern, I've already told you that I didn't intend for you to be made upset."
"Be careful Hisui. Setsuna doesn't care when people are upset." Towa said.
"You two are way too dramatic." He smiled. "Please don't be too hard on us for not telling you sooner. We had to be sure first before telling anyone that's all really." He said honestly.
"Fine but only because you asked." Moroha said.
"Now who's the traitor?" Setsuna said.
"You all are really close aren't you?" Yuki asked.
"Yes." Hisui as well as Moroha said.
"Sometimes." Towa said.
"Not at all." Setsuna said.
They had all answered at the same time and then couldn't help but laugh, even Setsuna laughed at how fast everyone had spoke at the same time.
They continued on their way, Hisui eventually warming up to Yuki as they talked and Setsuna wasn't being as cold to him anymore either though she was still keeping the amount that she spoke to him at a minimum. When they finally arrived at their destination.
Moroha had covered her nose almost immediately when such an awful stench hit her face while Towa and Setsuna had winched at the unwelcome oder.
"Do you smell that?" Towa asked her sister.
"That smells like human blood and a lot of it." Setsuna said. "Too much for this demon to be ranked 3.5." She stated seriously.
"If this demon is a 3.5 we all need to be on high alert." Hisui said. "Especially you rookie." He said to Yuki who nodded.
Hisui pulled out a map of the forest and the group all gathered around it as Hisui familiarized them with the surroundings.
"I'll fly overhead with Kilala to see if I spot anything." Hisui said as Kilala transformed and he went to the sky surveying the area before returning to them.
"I didn't see anything out of the ordinary aside from some damaged trees, more inward. That's probably where the demon is, we should seal off the perimeter so that the demon can't escape. Moroha, you can start left and I'll go right until we meet then we'll slay the demon." Hisui said though his spiritual powers weren't as strong as hers he was still capable of creating a pretty decent barrier with seals. They would seal off the perimeter with a barrier seals and then go slay the demon.
Moroha nodded at his request. She, Towa, and Yuki took off in one direction while Hisui and Setsuna went the other way and they began sealing off the area. As Moroha was placing her second to last barrier charm she felt the wind change as a centipede demon rushed at her from the trees.
"You there, what do you think you're doing in our woods!?" The demon screamed as it rushed down at her but was easily overtaken by Towa who slashed the demon clean in half and its remains dropped in front of them.
"Looks like we killed the centipede demon." Yuki said. While Moroha and Towa only shook their heads.
"The demon said "our woods" there must be more of them." Towa said. As she remembered its words it had said our woods implying that there were more of them.
"There's got to be more than one with the way that this place smells." Moroha said and they continued to place the seals until they met up with Hisui and Setsuna again and then followed the terrible stench that they were all smelling to the demon.
When they reached its nest they found mostly bones and no sign of any demons. That was until Setsuna took another step forward and a centipede demon much bigger than the one that Towa had killed earlier sprung from underneath the ground and Setsuna reacted quickly going in for the kill, swinging her blade at the three eyed demon as the others tried to keep their balance while the earth shook underneath them but Setsuna's blade did not cut through the demons thick skin and the demon grabbed her fast immobilizing her and licking her face.
"You're half demon, aren't you." The demon purred. "What nice snacks have wandered into our woods today!" The demon exclaimed excitedly, tightening its grip on her. Before Moroha's sacred arrow cut through two of the demon's arms and Setsuna was able to break free of the demon's hold and Jump down next to Towa.
"Are you alright?" Towa asked.
"I'm fine, completely disgusted but alive." Setsuna said as the demons set it's sights on Moroha who had injured her. Turning its head unnaturally as its neck cracked and it looked menacingly at her.
"Come here and let me see if your blood tastes as sweet as I imagine." The demon shrieked at Moroha who had taken a step back to shoot another arrow.
She didn't have time in the split second that the demon had set its sights on her to pull out her sword and attack with a crimson dragon wave so she shot another arrow to which the demon dodged but Moroha only smiled as the demon was mere inches from her just as Yuki lifted her from the ground and dashed the opposite direction of the demon. With her in his arms now.
"What kind of demon hunter just stands there like a sitting duck you can't pause in..." he stopped scolding her just as her arrow split into multiple and they rained onto the giant demon immobilizing it.
He put her down. "What were you just saying?" She smirked at him and Setsuna went in to deliver the final blow now that they had injured the demon enough to immobilize it for a short time but the demon shrieked loud and shrill making all of the teens pause and winch as the blood curdling shriek lasted for over a minute and when the demon was done several more centipede demons had appeared bursting up through the ground and even springing from the trees there were at least 10 more centipede demons now that had come out of hiding.
One headed directly for Hisui who had jumped over it and onto Kilala's back before throwing Hiraikotsu and cutting off some of its tail but not finishing it completely. Setsuna hastily jumped from the main demon that had shrieked and swiftly used her blade to slash the demon that was behind Hisui and aiming to kill him as his Hiraikotsu came back.
Towa had also been bit by one of the demons who had snuck up on her when she was facing another just as she landed the killing blow on one of the demons another centipede demon had sunk its teeth into her and this pissed her off. Why were demons always biting her? She had both of their heads not long after.
In all of this chaos, A demon had gone straight to kill Moroha right away when the centipede had shrieked. One of the new arrivals had went right at her back and Yuki jumped over her head and killed the demon cutting straight down the middle of its skull and the centipede that had shrieked was able to free itself in this time now lurching at Moroha who had temporarily immobilized it in the first place, but she hit it with a crimson dragon wave as Hisui finished killing his set of demons and rushed over to Moroha grabbing her and swinging her onto Kilala's back.
Hisui removed her out of the demon's sight which allowed for Towa to land the final attack that killed the demon. The last 3 centipede demons became more aggressive after they killed the leader but the teens managed to kill them no problem.
The job had been a lot more work than any of the teens had initially thought. After making sure that there were no more demons they made their way back to the village after patching up their wounds.
Moroha and Setsuna had been mostly unscratched. Hisui had a few bruises but nothing serious, but Towa had a bite wound on her left arm and Yuki had been cut on the back of his upper shoulder. Moroha had quickly applied first aid to them before they went on their way.
"What an under-report of what to expect." Hisui scoffed as they headed back to the village.
"Any human that got closer to actually find out the truth probably died." Towa said. Before smiling. "Speaking of humans, you did really great out there today. It looks like Moroha and I were right to vouch for you."
"Thanks." Yuki blushed at the praise.
"See I told you we had nothing to worry about." Moroha said.
"Had I known the true level of danger we'd be facing out here I would have never let someone who's ability that I wasn't sure of tag along. But I do have to admit that I was impressed." Hisui said.
"You're fighting wasn't as unpolished as I had assumed." Setsuna complimented. Yuki had killed 3 centipede demons and it hadn't gone unnoticed by the group.
"Wow, her highness can be nice to the new guy." Towa teased. "How much longer do you plan on staying with us ?" Towa asked Yuki, she liked him and thought that he would be a nice addition to their team.
"I appreciate the praise, I really do and it's been great fighting alongside you all but I have to leave tomorrow morning." Yuki said.
"So soon?" Moroha asked saddened by this news that he hadn't told her yet.
"I have to meet up with my uncle again." He said.
"Well if you're ever back around this way you're always welcome to come hunting with us. You'll even get paid too." Hisui said which he knew would sound good to anyone who was traveling and most likely always needed the coin.
By the time that they had returned back to the village it was already night.
The teens all went their separate ways and Yuki had gone home with Moroha again as she had insisted so that she could better treat the slash on the back of his shoulder, besides doing the simple patch that she had done earlier.
Hisui had offered him a room at the sayers guild for free since Yuki had helped them that day but Moroha had refused to let him take it. She quickly pulled Yuki along in response so that the matter couldn't be further discussed. It was really late by the time they had returned to her home and all of her siblings were sleeping.
"You really were impressive out there." Moroha said when it was just the two of them. "I wasn't sure what ability you were going to have when it came to this sort of thing so I'm glad that you were as strong as I had hoped. I guess those bandits who attacked you really did just end up getting the better of you." She teased.
"No, talk of those bandits again, that was a fluke. If I were to see them again things would be different " He reassured and she laughed.
"I trust that you believe that your debts to me are paid now." She smiled as she got her medical supplies to bandage the wound after she would finally clean it properly.
"You did cut down one of the demons that was aiming for me. I think that's more than enough for only healing you." She said.
"I consider us even." He said with his eyes closed and a smile on his face as he relaxed and she smiled.
"I'm going to ask you to respectfully remove just the top of your kimono please." She asked, not even risking giving him another situation to bring up later out of context.
"Ohhh how polite this time. No underlying threats or aggressive assertiveness." He teased as he removed the top of his kimono so that she could see the back of his shoulders and examine his wound again. He only removed it so that she could see the top of his shoulder blades just like earlier.
"No crying out like a child and throwing a tantrum as I try to help you this time?" She asked in response teasingly.
"I was not crying." Was all that he said annoyed and she started to clean the wound on his back but as she did so his kimino pushed more down his back and she saw the large burn scar in the shape of a spider and her heart stopped beating as she froze. Her fingers stopped over his wounds as her mind raced and she couldn't stop staring at the burn that had only been described to her by granny Kaede.
Something was wrong, something was very wrong. The spider burn was the mark of Naraku. Why was it on Yuki? As if he sensed her thoughts he spoke.
"It's ugly isn't it? My scar but it will never go away, it's the only thing that my father left behind." He said calm like this was no big deal and she paused before speaking,
"Yuki, I don't understand… you its… that mark is..."
This was theYuki that she laughed with, he liked teasing her and being sarcastic and making people misunderstand their relationship. He had told her brothers stories before dinner, he had cut down demons to save her just hours ago and then he shyly conversed with her best friends all afternoon after he proved himself to be a good fighter and got embarrassed from all of the praise he was getting. He couldn't want to hurt them, he just...
She stood up. "Yuki that mark on your back, it can't be related to Naraku. You aren't… you aren't a monster, you're not like him." She said, Pleading for him to say anything at all to contradict what she was thinking and put her worries to rest.
And now he was frozen as if he didn't know what to say now in these uncertain moments that lasted only seconds but felt as if all of time had stopped for hours as Moroha waited for him to say something, anything before he turned around to face her and as he did the hour must have turned midnight.
His dark hair cascaded into white and his once brown eyes were now a deep red color and he looked completely different from the Yuki she had only just met but had wanted to know everything about.
Had everything really been a lie? She thought and he looked into her shocked and pleading eyes with no emotion at all as he finally spoke.
"It was a surprisingly nice dream that we shared together over these last two days. It was a beautiful illusion that was more lucid than reality. I knew that we only had so much time left before we would wake up." He stated with an unreadable expression.
"You…don't you, you don't want to." She stammered as she thought back to everything that he had told her.
You don't want to take revenge against my family? You don't want to take revenge aginst me? She thought as the words that she wanted to say died on her tongue and she closed her eyes breathing in deeply as she considered what to say and he pulled his Kimono back over his shoulders.
"Had I made you speechless like this earlier I would have teased you to no end, had I made you speechless for any other reason than the repulsion you must be feeling now." He stated as his red eyes met hers again as she looked at him once again. Her eyes were full with so much emotion while his stayed empty as if all of this had been an inevitability from the start.
"Yuki, you must be half demon like Towa and Setsuna. That explains the time of weakness why you smelt human. Why, I was able to heal you that day." She said out loud what she had just pieced together.
"Just because I know your true self doesn't mean that I am repulsed by you. If you tell me the truth, I promise that I'll try to understand you. Everything can't have been a lie I know it couldn't have. You didn't plan to meet me that day, did you? You can't want to hurt me, your friend who has talked to you for hours and has fought beside you." She asked in disbelief.
Yuki only stared into her eyes for a long moment before finally answering. "You shouldn't ask questions that you might not like the answers to."
She grabbed his hand and he froze. He hadn't expected that at all and her actions had startled him.
"You were not pretending to be happy. You were actually enjoying being with me and everyone else. I know it." She said, squeezing his hand and he pulled back sharply.
"You are naive and you are clueless! You act as if nothing in this world can harm you and you let someone who has had a lifelong vendetta against your family sleep under your roof. My veins almost burst as I slept in the same home of the people who murdered my father. The people who condemned me to a life alone!"
"Shhhhh! You'll wake everyone up." Moroha had said in a worried and hushed tone and Yuki Chuckled bitterly.
"You're right and I wouldn't want that." He said as he remembered why he came here.
"Answer my question." Moroha asked again as her expression changed to one more strong.
"Walk with me." Yuki said, turning his gaze from her and her brows furrowed. "Leave this village with me and I'll tell you everything, if you leave this house with me, I'll let the others stay in their dreams un-scratched and blissfully unaware of the wrongs that their parents are responsible for." He started calmly and Moroha clenched her fists.
She thought that from his perspective If he had planned to hurt her it would be better for him to try and do it away from the village. She shouldn't go with him. If he really did want to hurt her and she proved to be no match she'd have no one to help her if they were alone but if she kept to the surrounding woods she did however have a good chance of evading him if she needed to. She knew these woods like the back of her hands even at night. It would probably also be better to deal with him away from her siblings as well so that they wouldn't have to make sense of Yuki like this. In that part at least he had been considerate, she thought bitterly. She contemplated all of this before agreeing to go with him.
They left her house and soon were outside of the village and past the tree where they had first met and now they were near the bone eaters well and she stopped following him silently.
He hadn't made her leave her weapons behind when they left so she didn't feel like he had planned something sinister. Unless he thought that she'd be easily taken down now that he had regained his demonic powers but even if he was back at full strength she was sure that he knew all too well that she was no easy target.
"We're not going any further until you answer my questions. Why did you come here Yuki?" She asked seriously with a fierce expression.
"I already told you that I want to avenge the death of my family." He stated calmly.
"I know that you want to avenge your father, but do you want to avenge your father so badly that you'd hurt me to do it?" She asked in a voice so soft that it barely qualified as a whisper. She thought that Yuki was her friend and now he was acting like he wanted her dead. She really couldn't believe it.
"Well, I can't imagine that you wouldn't be upset by my preferred outcome to this situation but it can't be helped. I want them to feel the pain that they've caused me over my entire life. Your parents are just my natural enemy. I didn't plan on meeting you. I had only wished to observe you all in my state of weakness. Us meeting is your own fault for always sticking your nose into the business of others and always acting as if you're invincible to all the harm in the world. This time you weren't."
"Your father was a monster! He ran around for over 50 years cursing and killing and breaking up families. He killed the woman that he loved because he couldn't have her. He tried to kill my father and mother multiple times! He's committed so many crimes that no one should ever commit. He was a monster but he is not you. You don't have to go through with this!" She screamed at him but he didn't waver.
"He was my father for whom I am named after. My true name Onigumo is something that I will never be able to escape from. Our parents were natural enemies so that makes us natural enemies even if you don't like it." He stated as if it were all fact.
"It doesn't have to. We don't have to be anything that we don't like. I reject any notion of you being my enemy." She said still trying to plead with him and Yuki chuckled darkly.
"I wish that it were that simple. We need to go. I'll at least leave the children out of this, if you corporate." He said.
"Out of what?"
"I only need one of you to get the others to follow. Your slayer friends will surely come if I take you and then once I have you all Inuyasha and Sesshomaru will follow and I'll be able to get my revenge. I don't want to involve the children. Just you will be enough so don't make this more difficult than it has to be." He said and Moroha realized that there would be no more reasoning with him. Not when he didn't want to hear her and she took a deep breath.
"I…I can't let you do that. I can't go with you." Moroha said as she drew her sword and Yuki looked at her disappointed and his expression made her waver just a little as she asked. "Are you sure that you want to do this, you can still change your mind. You can stay here with me and be friends with the others too. We'd all still accept you if you let us." She tried one last time and he scoffed.
"Stay here in this village and be trapped with you forever. Isn't that the same thing that you claimed would ruin your life? I bet you really wish that you could go back to the day we met and leave me for dead now." He said dryly.
"No." She said not even hesitating. "I'd still save you."
"You'll change your mind soon." He said and Moroha slashed at him with her sword. Her heart wasn't into it though as She attacked and Yuki was taking advantage of her weaknesses pining her in a way that she normally could have easily avoided with his sword to her neck.
"Stop this or I'll have to fight back." He said.
"Go ahead, if I have to beat the sense into you then I'll do it!" She screamed at him and she got serious now as they fought and their blades clashed.
He was aiming to injure her now and she had to be just as willing to hurt him or she'd lose. She was fast on her feet as she dodged his attacks but he was just as quick even managing to cut her face. His blade had barely grazed her cheek but she had understood that he meant it as a warning.
He understood how she moved after watching her fight but she had only known him during his period of weakness, she had no way of knowing exactly how he fought or the true extent of his abilities so she had to be on high alert and she had to be quick. He suddenly slashed heavily and a purple wave of energy came flying at her.
She barely managed to dodge and she used crimson dragon wave in retaliation, her most powerful attack and a dark purple barrier that she couldn't slash through appeared around Yuki who only looked at her coldly now.
"You can't hurt me, you have no choice but to come with me." He said releasing the barrier and grabbing at her but she was able to evade him. She swiftly dodged and evaded his grasp, frustrating him until he ended up swinging his weapon again and attacking her more relentlessly which blew her back and rattled her with more injuries but she kept getting back up.
"Stop fighting, I don't want to have to kill you." He said his expression not nearly as cold as before.
"You wouldn't." She said. Yuki had been fighting her fiercely but she could tell, she could see it in his eyes that he was torn.
"Don't test me!" He yelled as he attacked her again and her sword got knocked from her hands at the force of his attack. She quickly grabbed her bow in reaction and pulled out an arrow. With a fierce look on her face as Yuki put up his barrier again.
Just because she knew how Yuki felt and that he didn't want to be doing this, didn't mean that she would comply with what he wanted. She'd stop him and then they'd talk properly.
"No demonic energy can piece my barrier." He said just as she shot through with just one of her arrows and it immediately shattered his barrier and landed straight into his wounded shoulder.
"Those arrows of yours are going to be a problem." He said as he gritted his teeth through the pain and now he was really mad. She managed to reclaim her sword and he wanted to end this as fast as possible now.
Her heart might not have been in this fight at first but neither was his, not until now. His energy attack met her crimson dragon wave and they canceled out as both of them breathed heavily at having exerted so much energy they were both reaching their limit and in one more effort he used his energy attack again rising his sword high and slashing once again and the purple wave came at her and this time she didn't counter with her own attack maybe she realized to late or maybe she was out of stamina but she couldn't counter in time for what would surely be the final time he would need to attack her.
Moroha just held firm as his attack met her blade head on. Moroha did stagger under the attack using her sword to protect her from the blast and she had managed to narrowly cut through it but it had been too much for her to continue fighting like she had been.
She stumbled backwards after managing to scave off his attack but it had been too much for her and she was slowly starting to lose her fight with consciousness and she felt her legs give out as she fell backwards and then suddenly there was no ground underneath her.
She didn't hit the ground and she kept falling long and fast. She barely realized that she had just fallen into the bone eaters well. She didn't even scream as it took her, she just looked up at the night sky which was moving farther and farther away. The last thing she saw was Yuki's outstretched hand, in front of his face which was unreadable as she fell and disappeared.
Leaving Yuki there alone in the woods like he had imagined her there to begin with, his throbbing wounds were the only reminder that everything had been real as he looked into the empty well. He couldn't even smell her blood. She truly had just vanished.
A.N:
Disclaimer: The three poetry quotes that Hisui reads to Setsuna are not mine. I found them on Pinterest so I'll link the pins.
Like breathing, loving you is the most natural thing that I've ever known.
-Alicia N Green /52ET5Bb
I may never find the words beautiful enough to describe all that you mean to me but I will spend the rest of my life searching for them.
-John Mark Green /3beCpvc
I see everything
/1ZZHB7d
Thank you for reading. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter as well and thank you for the follows favs and reviews. Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think. I will be out of town next week so the next update might not come until later next Sunday but if I can post earlier I will.