Touji was the name of my little brother; he was cherished by the clan because of his skills with the sword, even though he was just six years old. Even though I was twelve and older, I didn't show much interest. I've always liked fighting with my hands instead of swinging a sword.
"What is it, Ayaka?" Touji said as he walked up to me. He never respected me, even though I was five years older than him.His body was completely covered with blood.
"Had you been playing with Mitsuri summons again?" I questioned. Mitsuri was touji best friend who had the ability to summon animals, and Touji had the habit of killing them during their training. "Mom will be angry with all the bloodstains you got on you"
"She would care"
"Mom's worried about you; let's go home," I said to him and waved at the elder. "We'll be going now, elder!"
"Okay, dear, just take care," he waved back at us.
I turned to leave.
BOOM!!!!!
The ground trembled under our feet.
"Where did that explosion come from?" Touji asked.
I looked in the direction of our house; smoke had clouded the sky.
"That's our house!!" I yelled.
"Come on, kids, it's too dangerous to go there," the elder said, and Touji and the other kids ran away with him.
"Ayaka, come on," Touji yelled from behind.
I didn't listen to him. I quickly ran home crying.
"I need to see my parents; I need to see if they are safe," I yelled again and again as I ran to our house.
By the time I got to my house, I saw my mom being strangled by a demon. My dad was on the ground, and the building was on fire; half of it had already been destroyed, including the neighboring houses.
"Mom!!" I yelled.
The demon turned around slowly, with a smile on his face. His dark karma was unbelievable; I was finding it hard to breathe just from sensing it. Having his bright red eyes staring at me made me feel like I was looking right into hell. What was this feeling? I couldn't move my body.
"Looks like your lovely daughter is here; why don't you tell her your last words before you die?" The demon said mercilessly.
"Ay...Aya.... Ayaka... please...run," my mother struggled to say before her neck was broken.
The demon turned and slowly walked towards me. I couldn't stand up; I couldn't even move. What's happening to my body??.
He slowly walked to me, looking me straight in the eyes. I tried to move, but I couldn't; I felt useless; I couldn't do anything; I was going to die.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you." He said before squatting in front of me. "That was your mother's last wish, and I've chosen to respect it; besides, she was the demon cat host."
I didn't say anything; I didn't care about anything anymore. He snapped his fingers twice before waving his hand in my face.
"Huh?... You look traumatized. Well, it's not your fault; you just watched your mother die in front of your eyes." He stood up and stretched his body. "I'm going to kill the rest of your clan now; you can try to stop me or..."
I didn't reply.
"Okay." He walked slowly to the village, then stopped. "By the way, the demon will be transferred to you. You'll know when it's coming into your body."
Suddenly, I started feeling pain all over my body. There was fur coming out of my body; I was growing cat ears and a tail. I fell to the ground, rolling on the ground, trying to bear the pain. I didn't even notice when I called out to him.
"Pl... Please... He... help me," I said with tears rolling down my eyes.
"Nah, I got things to do," he said with a wide smile. "You are only feeling pains because your body isn't fully compatible with it, so it's changing your karma structure."
He turned and walked away as I slowly lost consciousness.
***
"Mom, she is walking up!" A little girl exclaimed.
I blinked my eyes for a while before finally opening.
"Mira, I told you not to wake her up," a young lady said.
"I'm telling the truth; she woke up by herself; I didn't disturb her," she retorted.
I stood up from the bed and looked around. I was in a hospital, and the lady who was talking with her daughter sat on a chair beside the window while her daughter stood beside the bed.
I looked at my body; the fur was gone. I touched my head and felt the ears, but it didn't hurt anymore; I could feel my tail.
"What's your name? Where are you from? Do you remember anything? Are you in pain? How old are you?? I bet we're about the same age, right?." The little girl, who I assumed to be Mira, asked.
I tried to open my mouth to speak, but no words wanted to come out.
"My, my... Mira. That's a lot of questions; why not let her rest for a while before we can talk to her?" The lady stood up. "She still looks tired; let's go."
"But mom....."
"Okay. If you come along, you can come back with Yaze to pick her up and bring her to the academy."
"Okay!" Mira yelled as she ran to her mom, and they both left, leaving me alone to reminisce about what just happened.
Mira came back about two hours later with a boy about eighteen years old, whom she later introduced as Yaze.
"So, what's your name?" Mira asked.
I opened my mouth to say something, but words wouldn't come out.
"It's no fun if you don't say anything," Mira frowned. "At least, try to say something."
"Don't disturb her; she's still in shock. We can't force her out of it; we'll wait until she's able to speak for herself," Yaze said. He then turned to me. "By the way, your dad, he is still alive."
My eyes widened with surprise.
"You can come with me to see him now if you want," Yaze continued.
I turned to him and nodded slowly.
***
My dad was doing fine at that time; he told me that he was fine; 'it's just a minor injury'.
"Give it to someone special to you" That was what he said before giving me a present urging me to go to the academy and asking Yaze to train me.
Yaze agreed, and I was forced to follow them and leave my dad behind.
It was about a year later, after I'd gotten a little better before Miss Tokoyami told me what was wrong with him, and since then I've made it my priority to heal him, no matter what.