"Thank you, Orochi," I whisper to him. His chest slowly rises and lowers as he sleeps, I smile softly at his peaceful face. The blush on his face made him look innocent like a baby boy. It's amazing how much of a mysterious man could turn into such a small child within minutes.
As I head out of the room, I grab the bucket of water allowing for him to get some peaceful and well-needed sleep. Tomoko is sitting outside on drinking tea and curiosity strikes me, making my body go sit down next to her without a second thought.
"Thank you for getting the water bucket." I lace my fingers together in my lap and close my eyes to take in the cool breeze under the shadow of the house's roof.
"It's alright that's my job," She smiles and takes another drink of tea. "How are you doing Miss?"
I hadn't realized that just only 3 days ago I found out about the horrible fate of my family. Beliath, the one who had begun this feud hundreds of years ago; had now killed off all of the people who stemmed from that grudge. I was the only living person from my clan who was left out of all our historic warriors.
Aiya was the only one who I could talk to but she wasn't my parents, I had been asleep during those days since their deaths. It didn't feel like they were gone at all, it felt as if one single trip to the human world would fix my worries and both of them would still be alive. My mother would be stunningly beautiful as ever and my prideful father would come running to me. But, that was not possible because of Beliath.
"I don't know how I am honestly. I haven't processed it all at. As I have been asleep the last few days, it seems unreal to think I'm now alone in this world. No one is here to guide me as I grow up." My eyes open to see the afternoon sky that is full of clouds and birds flying in the distance.
I feel Tomoko's hand on my back, "You are not alone here. It might seem like it but you have people who would help you through anything." Her words make me feel more relaxed and ease the pain in my chest.
"Thank you." I reach over and pat her head.
Tomoko nods, "You know master was doing so much over the days you were asleep I was very taken aback by his actions. I'm positive the reason why he is laying in his room right now is that Orochi went over his limits."
"Limits?"
She shakes her head, "A demons power is very physically draining, and for a demon to constantly keep using up their energy power without resting is very dangerous. Especially, for someone as powerful as him."
I bite my lip, so he strained himself and got into that tired state I saw earlier? He fell asleep like a newborn baby when I lay him down. "How long does it take for them to recover?"
"It depends on how much you used, and by Orochi's state he might have used all of it."
"Do you happen to know why?" I ask worryingly.
She replies, "Unfortunately, I do not. My best guess is that he is trying to keep you safe and forgot about his well being."
I nod and grimace at the thought of Orochi's state. Even though I was asleep for days he seemed to be doing everything possible to make sure I was safe. How safe is safe right now? I sigh and look down at my hands.
"So what will we do now?" She asks me.
My mind goes blank with her question, what will I do now? Beliath is more likely planning a way to kill me and I have no family to go back to. I had to rely on myself now since I am now on my own. "I wish I knew, I feel like there is no place for me but I have no other place to go to. Orochi has taken me under his wings and it all seems like a blur."
"You don't have to know now, but wandering the demon world without knowing where you are going is a dangerous thing."
"How so?" I look at Tomoko's face but there isn't any emotion to it besides her eyes looking down at her cup as if she was somewhere else.
"You get into trouble. In the demon world, trouble may cause your life." She smiles and looks at me, clearly putting away her thoughts ignoring the fact that I saw something I wasn't supposed to see.
"Tomoko..."
"I'm fine, Miss. It was all a long time ago and has become a forgotten memory." Her hand pats my knee. I know that it probably brings up bad memories for her and should drop it but I can't help but wonder what Tomoko has faced during her life. She seems like such an innocent soul that it seems like nothing bad has ever happened to her.
But the happiest souls are usually the ones who have the most trauma. I sigh, "Yeah okay."
Her eyes light up and she starts to clap her hands together, "Miss! Let's go shopping!"
I feel my eyes go wide, "But last time we did that. We ran into that weird fish lady."
"Yes but now we don't have to worry about that since we are far away." She dances from side to side happy with her sudden mood change.
"Wait, far away?" I raise my eyebrow in absolute confusion.
Tomoko begins giggling at my confused reaction, "We used to be close by the capital of the Demon World, now; we are in the mountain and farmland area. Master said it was the best option to leave the capital so we could hide you from Beliath."
My mouth forms a small 'o' in shock. So what happened when I passed out? We moved, I slept for three days, Orochi is in some type of weak state and Tomoko is the only one able-bodied from all of it? I missed a lot then in those three days.
"Don't worry, Miss. There are tons of things to do in the farming lands and the markets are so much calmer than the capitals."
I bit my lip and think about Orochi being here, would he be alright if we left him alone? "Tomoko, we should go tomorrow. I don't think it's wise for us to leave Orochi weak and defenseless."
Her ears go down and her lower lip protrudes out a little bit, "Alright as you wish, Miss."
I giggle at her reaction and hug her, "Thank you, Momo."
"Momo?"
I laugh, "It will be your nickname now."
"Really? Yay!" I feel her little arms hug me back. "What should we do now, miss?"
As I pull back, I think of what we could do, "Hm..."
I hear Tomoko gasp beside me and stand up grabbing my hand, "I can teach you how to cook something!"
It seemed like she had yanked me up and now was dragging me towards the kitchen.
"Tomoko, what are we doing?" I try slowing down our pace by digging my feet to the ground but she only kept dragging me. How strong is she?!
"Were going to be making the master's favorite food!" She lets go of my hand and turns around jumping like a small child.
Does Orochi have a favorite food? Since when do demons prefer a certain food? Tomoko spins around with a basket full of items and food, "I went to the market earlier and grabbed any things we can use so, now all we need to do is cook it. Now, do you know how to chop and do basic cooking?"
She walks up behind me and ties my sleeves behind me with a long white cloth and does the same to herself.
My eyes open wide as she pulls out a giant clever and gulp, "Uh, yes but not with that big of a knife."
She laughs as she grabs a vegetable and starts chopping at a blinding speed. I pale a little at the sight of her halfway through the carrot she just started. Don't get into a fight with her...
"Get to chopping, miss! Food isn't going to cut itself up into tiny pieces!" She waves her knife at me and I feel my heart drop down to my feet.
"Tomoko! Stop flinging it around like a toy!" I back away from her in fright and laugh nervously.
"It's not like I'm going to hurt you. Just chop and don't be a rock in the kitchen." She grabs the next vegetable and resumes chopping again.
I walk up to the table and start to cut the food as well, not as fast as Tomoko but enough to keep up the pace between us. My chest feels heavy the whole time I stand there because this was one of the things my mother and I used to do together. She would always criticize me on how I cut and she isn't here to do that.
The corners of my lips falter and my eyes water, "Tomoko can you tell me a story about something while I chop?"
Her eyes look up and soften at me realizing this struck close to my heart, "Yes, of course. If it gets to be too much Ren, just tell me."
She begins her story and I dry my eyes, this is going to be a rough world without my parents.