Daybreak - Inuyasha x KNY

3 - Demon

Satomi pov:

My eyes were closed as I played a slow tune – one of the many I knew and now used as a means of earning money in this world whenever necessary. I could sense and smell the several humans that had gathered to listen to my music. The jingle of coins that were thrown into the small bag I had in front of me was audible every now and then too.

When I finished the song I was playing, I opened my eyes. The people around me applauded in appreciation of my tune, some even openly praising me for my skills. I thanked them wholeheartedly, gathered the money I had earned, and excused myself to be on my way.

I had done this only twice in the two weeks I had been here, for I did not need to eat like humans. I ate once every two weeks or so, filling myself with a scrumptious meal of a variety of dishes, though sustained mostly on spirit energy that I absorbed from the sun and the moon and the thriving life around me. I did, however, feast on fruits and berries that I bought or scavenged every now and then while I traveled.

My nose twitched at the sweet scent that was in the air suddenly. Looking to the side, I spotted a food stall with manju on display to be sold. They were hot, fresh out of the oven, and looked more than delicious. I stepped to the stall and looked over the steaming, red-bean buns in delight.

"Wow, these look really delicious!" I said, my smile wide. "May I have one, please?"

Looking at me, the man at the stall regarded me with a cheery smile. "Of course! That will be 120 yen."

I paid him the money after he handed me the soft and fluffy manju. A hum of joy left my lips when I bit into it to taste the perfect sweetness. The bun was so well made that it melted in my mouth. It reminded me of a sweet that Kagome had once brought for me from her world. It had me thinking of her and everyone else I loved. I missed them.

"I haven't seen you before. Are you new around here?" the man asked when I had finished the bun.

"Oh, yes, I'm traveling through here." I answered. "May I have another bun, please? They're absolutely delicious!"

"I'm happy to hear you like my bean buns," he said, grinning proudly. Having paid and thanked him for the second bun I had bought to eat now as well as the three I had parceled to eat later, I excused myself to continue through the village.

This world was vastly different from the feudal era. Besides the more pristine appearance of villages and people along with the advancement in several fields, I had not seen or even sensed a single demon during the daytime in the time I had been here. It was true that demons of this world could not survive in sun – they would disintegrate, being burned to nothingness from even the slightest sunlight. They were rampant during the night though, and most only brutally slaughtered humans to devour them. While devouring humans was the end goal of all the demons, as I had heard from several sources, demons were also sadistic and enjoyed tormenting humans before killing them.

Unlike in my world, there were no good demons here. Humans and demons did not thrive together. It was a world where the stronger preyed on the weaker, where demons ate humans to grow stronger, and where demon slayers trained with the wish to kill all the demons that threatened their peaceful existence.

On that note, the reactions that I had received from the demon slayers I had helped when I first came to this world were no longer surprising.

There was only so much that I could gather from the common folk of the villages. I was yet to know much about the demon named Kibutsuji Muzan besides what I had heard of him from the first demon slayers I had met. He was the leader of all demons, surely powerful and skilled, and perhaps stronger than all the demons of this world combined. One of the demon slayers had mentioned that he was the sole creator of all demons – it made me guess that demons were not born into this world like they were in my realm. I had not the slightest clue of how they were created but I guessed that they were controlled by Kibutsuji Muzan because of that.