𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 犬夜叉 ♡ ; 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚔𝚞 𝚡 𝚘𝚌

demon samurai kenji

"Kenji! Kenji Kenji Kenji!" A slim young man burst through the curtain separating the outside world from inside the hut. His dark brown hair was lazily tied in a bun atop his head as a headband was tied around his forehead to absorb the sweat from the sweltering heat. He wore on the top half of his body a lightweight, cotton kimono while his bottom half suited a more samurai-like attire. Instead of the usual combat boots, he put on his feet more casual sandals as him and his group gathered to rest for the evening.

The young man bowed at the waist, holding his position until he was approved to rise by the one called Kenji. He was the leader of the Samurai and a demon well over 100 years. Only the high-ranking authority and his long-befriended companions in battle knew of this secret, otherwise he would have long since been obliterated.

He sat on the floor of his large hut with two other soldier accompanying him. By the looks of their armor they were all high-ranking but Kenji's, with the seal of the Tsutama Lord that guarded the land adorned on his Samurai armory hanging behind him, even he ranked higher than the others.

"Heh," Kenji smiled, amused at his apprentice Hide.

"You can rise, Hide." Kenji motioned his hand in a welcoming gesture for a few seconds, returning it back to his knee in a resting position.

"What brings you? Why aren't you preparing for the trek back home?" Kenji was instructed to survey the lands outside of the Tsutama castle. Although he had his own "mini" castle outside of the main kingdom with his own servants, a wife, and a child, he was still instructed to fulfill his duties from time to time.

This was the longest he had been away from his daughter Mei and his wife, Reiko. If he checked his journal entries it would be rounding off to the 5th month. Just the thought of how long its been made his shoulders slump and his hart heavy. When he received notification from the Lord that they could return home, he had counted every passing second and hour until he could be with his bride and daughter again.

They would begin the journey tomorrow and it could not come soon enough.

"Ah! Kenji-Sama," Hide took a breath, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. He glanced over at the two other guars accompanying Kenji who bore a cold, stoned expression. They didn't even pay Hide any mind or jump at his entrance. Both were too busy slurping their noodles as their cooked fish continued to cool in front of them.

"There's word around the camp of an attack happening in the nearby lands with another brigade. Our men are hoping to make the move back home tonight instead of waiting till the morning."

Kenji rubbed his chin, curving his mouth into a frown.

"And what pros would it be to begin moving in the dead of night? There's always bandits, mercenaries, and wild animals you have to consider as well, Hide."

"That's true" Hide scratched his head, sucking his teeth at the thought.

"Then I gues-"

"However," Kenji continued.

"If i were to obtain permission from my surveillance companion, Tatsuo." He directed his hand and eyes to look to his left at Tatsuo. He was chewing on the head of his fish with concentration before his eyes darted over at Kenji. Tatsuo and Kenji have fought alongside eachother for years, rising in the ranks together until Tatsuo decided to remain the Imperial Surveyor of the lands. Along with Kenji, he was to accompany him to make any notation of the land outside of Kenji's permitted range.

Sometimes Tatsuo would be gone for days or weeks. It wasn't too uncommon for him to have even stayed at another village inn as a "passerby" to gain more intel.

Tatsuo chewed his food slowly with his eyes closed. He was secretly growing anxious from sitting around for so long and was more than ecstatic to begin journeying back home. His wife was with child and wanted to be close to witness the birth.

Both Kenji, Hide and the second soldier, Daisuke, watching Tetsuo for an answer. Daisuke suited his name perfectly by his build and his stature. He was no lightweight in the battlefield either. Despite his size, he was swift with his sword and light on his feet which made him a formidable opponent and a highly valued ally.

Hide paled in comparison to the revered and feared trio, but he maintained his optimism that under Kenji, he would too be a formidable, renowned Samurai such as he.

"Don't keep the man waiting, Tatsuo." Daisuke scolded playfully. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand to clear any lingering crumbs, immediately dunking those same hands in a small pot in front of him to clean.

"Well," Tetsuo scoffed, "I didn't know I was going to be entrusted with such a. Big responsibility over a meal." His smile indicated his joking gesture.

"How's this?" Tetsuo took a swig of water from his canteen. Standing to his feet he looked at Kenji, then Daisuke, then onto Hide with a mixture of amusement and snide on his face.

"I'll go, because you lot can't seem to stomach going in the dark alone." Kenji surely wasn't going to argue. He had an entire land and a wife waiting back for him.

"The only catch is," Tetsuo's eyes snaked to Hide with a smile, "The runt comes with me." Runt?! Hide's eyebrows scrunched together, crossing his arms in protest.

"Well, i wouldn't necessarily call myself a runt. . " Hide murmured under is breath, however, Tetsuo caught wind of his griping. There was a whisk of air that hurled itself out of nowhere, catching Kenji and Daisuke off guard. Hide, on the other hand, felt the cool steel from the tip of Tetsuo's katana barely touch his Adam's apple. Tetsuo's eyes hungrily flashed from the subtle dark brown to a menacing purplish-red. One of his fangs protruded from his lip as his smile grew.

"So tell me how a skilled demon samurai such as yourself can allow death's embrace to come so closely to your skin?" Hide was too afraid to swallow let alone respond to his interrogation. Keiji shut his eyes, rubbing the space between his brows to soothe his annoyance.

"Tetsuo!" He barked. He warned him multiple times of his temper, not to mention they were to be discreet about their "condition".

"Just because you know he's a demon doesn't mean you go about showing your fangs just because! Remember what happened to the last soldier who couldn't keep his knowledge to himself!" Kenji's sharp whisper made Tetsuo drop his sword unannounced. Without rebutting, he huffed past Hide, shoving the curtain out of his way to walk outside.

Tetsuo held the curtain open, his back to the crew as he spoke.

"We should be back before nightfall." Hopefully if there weren't any bandits he could be back within the hour. If the runt didn't hold him back.