Chapter 18: Gratitude
Chapter Text
Caught up in the momentum of the villagers, none of us thought to deny being the Demon Slayer's they requested. While we traveled to the town center we were lavished in effuse praise from the village head. The full story of the Tengu, as revealed by the old man, was told to us. Apparently, the village had an amicable relationship with a group of Kenmun for a few generations. They would trade the Kenmun home-cooked meals, nothing with octopus or giant clams of course, in exchange for help with labor and they achieved a stable peace. A month ago, however, the Kotengu moved into this area of the mountains. The first thing the Tengu did was slaughter the peaceful Kenmun as a show of skill. From that point on the villagers had to live in constant fear of the Tengu harassing, kidnapping, or killing them. The village head's Daughter-in-law and Grandson were kidnapped by the Tengu, and his son rushed out with the family's ancestral blade to save them. Of course, judging by the fact I was carrying the blade right now, he failed in his rescue. The village head's son had little training with a sword and was no match for the bird. He did manage to buy his son enough time to escape back to the village though; I felt a small measure of respect for the man, for his determination if nothing else.
Not needing a mundane blade, I handed it back to the old man. He teared up and bowed deeply in gratitude, praising me for my honor. I was able to explain away Shuten's giggles as her being a child and having a fleeting thought rather than her laughing at the idea of me being honorable. Thankfully, in the time he recounted the tale, the rest of the village cooked up a feast and brought out casks of sake. As the party got into full swing I was approached by an angry-looking child.
"Are you the ones who killed it?" I flash the kid a thumbs up and down my saucer of sake, focusing back on the village girls performing a dance for us. While they certainly weren't professionals, they were enthusiastic in their efforts to entertain the village's saviors. Smiling as the man beside me refills my sake, I almost bring it to my lips when the boy smacks the saucer out of my hand. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"
When the sake splashes on my kimono the music and dance stutters to a stop. The boy pales and shakes as my killing intent washes over the village. I'm actually surprised he's still standing considering the man beside me is passed out foaming at the mouth. I'm about to tell him off when the village head dives to the ground in front of the bow, kowtowing quite impressively. "Please forgive him! My grandson is delirious with grief and made a mistake."
"Grandfa-" The old man turns and levels a glare at the boy cutting off his exclamation.
"Do not speak, you have done enough. This young lady brought an end to that menace and this is how you reward her!" Well, I wasn't going to kill a kid anyway, and at this point, I'm more amused than mad.
A flash of flame dries my kimono and I put my hand on the man who passed out. I swift jolt to his now placid ki flow has him waking up confused. "No harm done, see? We're fine to continue the festivities, this is a time to celebrate after all."
The old man stands and angles his body to place himself in front of his grandson subtly. Good for him, I can respect his attitude at least. Deference when showing gratitude but not willing to compromise the safety of his family. I would just kill the threat, not that that's an option for him. "Now, I believe the boy had a question?"
His complexion has regained color and when my attention is redirected to him, it rapidly reddens further in embarrassment and anger. "My name is Takehiko, not boy. I want you to teach me how to kill Yokai as you do. Those monsters don't deserve to live!"
I can't help it. I laugh, hard. I laugh so hard that by the end the villagers are all staring at me like I'm insane. "Why would I ever do that? Do you think that I'll be able to show you how to swing a sword and you'll turn into some holy avenger? Kid, be honest with yourself; who would waste their time doing that?"
I can hear his teeth grinding from the short distance I sit from him and see his fist balled tightly. He manages to swallow his pride and not lash out at my dismissal of him too hard. "You already stole away my revenge against the monster that killed my parents! Please, just give me this."
"Okay, new angle then. Why do you want to kill Yokai so badly?" I raise a hand to forestall the 'They killed my parent's cliche' that was about to leap out of his throat. "What I mean is, why Yokai specifically?"
The boy stands there baffled for a minute in complete incomprehension. I take the time to watch Yaeko walking into one of the houses of the village, two drunk men hanging off her and another trailing behind staring at her ass. At that moment I pray to any kami listening on their behalf, in hopes that she never played around with shapeshifting too much. While they are going to be waking up sore tomorrow anyway but not that kind of sore.
"Why wouldn't I want to kill them? They're murderers who pick on the weak!" Really, That's your answer? How bland.
Rolling my eyes I reply, "So why not add humans to the list?"
"Huh? No… well… It's different! Yokai eat people, they torture them, and play cruel games."
"Humans do all that too, kid. Although I will admit, cannibalism isn't that common. I'm not saying your vendetta is stupid or anything; it would be pretty hypocritical for me to rebuke you for wanting revenge. What I am saying is that I'm not training a budding racist because they don't want to see reality. Do you think Yokai don't have families? When you go out on your quest for revenge, how many families are you going to destroy?" In the privacy of my mind, I'll admit that I'm not sure if I could train a human without killing them.
Takehiko stomps off with a scowl on his face leaving me alone with the village leader for now. By now the old man has gotten up, thankfully, and watches the boy march off with a sad frown. He turns to me with a look of reproach that washes over me ineffectually. "You aren't wrong but did you have to be so harsh? He's just a grieving boy."
Snorting I savor the rest of the cask of sake. Glancing back to the man, I catch him grimacing at the empty cask. Heh, shouldn't invite Oni to a feast if you aren't prepared to be drained of food and booze. "He needed a wake up call. If you let him stew in his anger he would have done something stupid like take off to hunt the monsters of the world on his own. Better to have his petty little dreams of vengeance crushed than to end up dead with nobody around to grieve for him."
Sighing, he sits down beside me and we stare at the stars.
Tsk, damn kid killed my buzz.
Feeling slightly guilty about eating the village out of house and home I caught a few deer in the woods and brought them as a gift. The villagers were grateful and I could see the relief on their faces knowing they would have enough food to last until they could get more supplies from Toyota or Okazaki.
After going through the village and making sure Shuten didn't do anything too bad we left with a warm round of goodbyes from the villagers. The men Yaeko took to bed last night were up and walking so I think my prayers were answered. Even if I weren't involved, it would've been awkward to see them and know what happened.
Takehiko was notably absent, something that I had expected. From the position of his ki, he was sulking in his house. If he was doing that he wasn't bothering me at least. We should be able to make it from the village to Toyota fairly quickly, and from there 'acquire' a vehicle to drive to Kyoto with. I'm sure some good-natured citizens could be 'convinced' to allow us to 'borrow' their car.
My plans are interrupted when, after traveling for a kilometer, a familiar ki signature slowly makes its way toward us. It's a bit early to break for lunch yet I don't want to deal with this later. "Shuten, go take Yaeko and hunt for a bit, okay?"
Shuten cups her chin thinking about it and a mischievous glint shines in her eyes, "I don't feel like it, Onee-sama. Why should I go hunt for anything, I'm not hungry yet? 'Sides animals don't put up any real fight. Unless… you're trying to get rid of me for a bit. I'm hurt, Onee-sama. What did I ever do?" She hits me with a full force pout, complete with tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. It takes every iota of the immense willpower I've gained in this life to not capitulate immediately.
"If you go right now," Err, quick think of something to offer as a treat in a modern city! What can you even do in modern Japan? "I'll take you to the arcade once we get to the city."
"Hmm, I don't know what an 'arcade' is but it doesn't sound like enough…" The ki signature is getting even closer now and I don't want Shuten to find the kid and decide he's her new plaything.
"I'll throw in candy too but only if you head off that way." I point in the opposite direction of the approaching village boy and Shuten stares at me considering the offer.
"That seems to be enough… what is this 'candy' though?" Why did our village have to be such a backwater? Oh right, complete isolation from the outside world.
"Remember those berries that grow outside the village," Shuten nods. The patch was in the forest and contained Kyoho grapes, except gorged on ki to an extreme. The berries were extraordinarily sour due to the malicious ki native to the village. Kiyoshi practiced in the area though and the influence of his ki changed the sour nature of the grapes making them delicious and sweet. "Imagine those but many times sweeter. Pure sugar in a compact form."
Her eyes go unfocused and a trail of drool slides its way out of the corner of her mouth. She snaps out of her trance and glares at me, "You better not be lying. Come on Yaeko! Time to hunt."
Shuten jumps on Yaeko's shoulders as the latter sighs. The newly mounted demon child kicks her ride into high gear with a cry of 'For the candy!'. This is just in time too as Takehiko bursts through the trees off to the side. The kid is drenched in sweat. This observation makes me realize that we were maintaining a pace meant for relatively fit adult humans, and this boy must have been running at full tilt for someone his age.
"I've *huff* finally *gasp* caught up *pant* to you." Takehiko stops to take a breath and I notice his family's sword strapped to his back. Damn, I was hoping I convinced the kid to give up but it seems I only convinced him to try harder. "I thought about what you said and -how are you not sweating! I thought about it and I'll do it!"
"Umm, do what? I was trying to get you to give up, not give you new ideas." To my completely reasonable question, I receive a fierce glare from Takehiko and a resigned sigh from my mother.
"I'll hunt down all the monsters out there, no matter where they come from or what they live as! I just… I don't want others to have to live with their parents dying like me. I don't want others to have their children stolen from them! I'll be the hero they need, so please, teach me." Takehiko bows a full ninety degrees in front of me, in a surprising display of humility. As much as I want to tell him his speech inspired me or remark about the ridiculous emotional maturity he displayed; one major question demands to be asked.
"How old are you even?" If Shuten hadn't left she would probably be laughing at the sound of my mother groaning and from watching Takehiko faceplant.
For the first time in her life, Suzaku Himejima had been dispatched on a solo mission. This was to be her final test before she was accepted as the bearer of the Sacred Beast of the Himejima clan, the Vermillion Bird. Once she received the power of the Sacred Beast she could finally begin changing her clan for the better, finally starting to rid her clan of the disgusting practices that burdened them even now.
Maybe within the next few years, she could even bring her Aunt and Cousin back into the clan. She smiles sadly knowing that such a thing was far from being realized. Yet she was one step closer wasn't she? One day, she would rid her clan of such injustices, making the Himejima clan something beautiful and worthy of being called one of the Five Great Families.
Apparently, a village in the mountains of the Aichi prefecture had been suffering attacks by a ronin Tengu recently. The Yokai was fairly weak, being a mid-class enemy at best. Against untrained humans, it may as well have been an Ultimate-Class being, however. The demon hunters wouldn't accept such a request, seeing the 'weak' Yokai as something not worth hunting. If she were to admit it to herself, her own clan likely wouldn't either. The only reason they had accepted was that it made a good, low-risk test for the clan heir. Something like this Tengu could barely be considered a warm-up for her with her current skills as an Onmyouji, and she was only fifteen!
She lands her Shikigami outside the village, petting the crimson feathers of the bird affectionately. The hawk-type Shikigami had been her first summon and was by far her favorite. With its ability to fly it was peerless in its utility and was a fierce combatant with razor-sharp claws. She had been training with it for years now and their bond was strong, although she was chastised for treating it as a pet.
The spirits of the villagers were not how she expected them to feel. Normally, in a situation like this, the villagers' auras would be dominated by the deep cold blues of sorrow and the black of loss but their auras were filled with the bright yellow of joy and the fuzzy white of contentment. There were a few outliers; three men carried the pink of embarrassment on their aura, and another aura further away spoke of a lighter loss and the light green of acceptance. She chose that man to head toward, blinking away the spell for aura sight.
The elderly man looked surprised to see her which wasn't a good sign considering the village had requested help. "Excuse me young lady but who may you be?"
"My apologies, this one is Suzaku Himejima, and I have arrived at the behest of my clan to rid you of the Yokai that has been terrorizing the village." She bows slightly to the man, smiling reassuringly.
"Miss. Himejima… the others already arrived to deal with the Yokai. Surely you know that? Don't you Demon Slayers coordinate?" Demon slayers? Why would any Demon Slayers head out to hunt one lone Tengu?
"You misunderstand sir, I'm an Onmyouji from the Five Principle Clans. We took up this task because none of the Demon Slayer families would heed this request." The old man looks exactly as confused as she feels right now.
"Then who did my grandson just run off after?"