Tsukiko - The Feudal Era, 1550 (book 1)

Chapter 2 - My Demon Savior

       When I opened my eyes, I was in a completely different scenery. Instead of the darkness of the well, I was surrounded by bright purples, blues, and pinks, almost like I was floating in the middle of a galaxy. In a moment, the colors faded and returned to black shadows, but now the tentacle was pulling me upwards towards the light. The tentacle pulled me out of the well and brought me in front of its owner, hovering me in the air a few feet from him.

       My eyes widened in shock as I saw a man with long black hair, blood-red eyes, and a demonic yet humanoid body standing before me, the tentacle, and a few others coming out from his back. His facial expression changed from an evil look of joy to anger.

       "You're not Kagome!" He yelled, growling as he threw me to the side and into a tree, the side of my body hitting it harshly. I cried out in pain as I cracked the tree, slowly sitting myself up. I looked up at the man, the fear in my eyes clashing with the furious look in his.

       "That doesn't matter, though; I'm going to kill you anyways," With that, the demon man flung one of his tentacles towards me, the tentacle going through my stomach and out the other side. I gasped as tears welled in my eyes and blood spat from my mouth. He grinned evilly and pulled his tentacle out from my wound, blood gushing from the hole in my stomach. I grasped the gash with my hand and looked up at him, the blood warming my hand and the pain overwhelming me.

       "That should be enough to kill a human girl," he said, turning around and walking away, the bright sun casting shadows along the path he took into the woods. I fell to the side and lay still, my breathing ragged and far apart, my heartbeat slowing down. Blood ran down my chin and pooled before me from my wound, staining my white crop top. I writhed in pain, my eyes losing their focus.

       "So, this is how it ends...?" I ask no one in particular—a soft smile on my face. My vision blurs almost entirely as I gently shut my eyes, accepting my fate. Suddenly, I feel someone put one of their arms underneath my thighs and the other behind my shoulders. I'm then lifted off the ground and carried off bridal style. I slowly opened my eyes and looked up at the person carrying me. It was a demon man, different from the one who attacked me. He had the body of a human man, but he had short, fluffy white hair, midnight gray skin with demon horns and a dragon tail that's colors matched his skin, and black eyes with purple pupils. He held me close to the fabric of his kimono to keep me warm while I still felt numb from the excruciating pain.

       "Do not worry, child, I am using some of my healing power to keep you alive and conscious, but I cannot heal you completely due to the condition you're in," The demon man said, and before I knew it, five minutes later, we arrived at a flat side of a mountain.

       "This is my home for now. My wife Kiyoko is inside waiting," he said. A purple aura outlined a large rock that I assumed acted as the door to the cave home. The purple aura carefully moved the stone out of the way, then shut it behind us once we were inside. Inside the mountain was a big open area, there was a strange looking crack in the stone near the left top corner of the room and a small wooden hut was in the middle of the available space. As we passed them, torches on the cave walls lit with purple fire, lighting our path.

       "Where are we?" I asked him weakly.

       "We're at the cave home where my wife and I have been keeping our ill daughter safe," The demon said, opening the wooden door carefully and then shutting it gently behind him. We had stepped into the kitchen and dining room. The dining table was small, with only three chairs surrounding it, and the kitchen only had a fridge, stove, and a tiny bit of counter space.

       "Welcome home, Kousei," A woman appeared in a doorway presumably leading to the bedrooms. She had fair white skin, long brown hair, and brown eyes. She paused and looked at me, studying me with a worried expression. "Kousei, who is the young girl you've brought along? Is she alright?" She asked, rushing over to me and running her hand gently on my face, wiping away the dried blood on my chin.

       "I found her in Inuyasha's Forest. She's badly beaten. Please retrieve bandages for her wound," The demon man, I now know whose name is Kousei, said calmly but urgently. Kiyoko nodded worriedly and opened a cabinet under the counter in the kitchen, Kousei bringing me to the bedroom and laying me down on a queen-sized bed. Next to the bed I lay in was a smaller twin-sized bed, and laying in it was a girl who looked to be the same age as me. She had the same white skin and brown hair as Kiyoko, but her skin was paler and looked sicklier than Kiyoko's. She opened her eyes halfway and turned to look at me curiously while Kiyoko rushed in and began wrapping my stomach with a large cloth bandage.

       "Stepfather? Who is this girl?" The girl in the bed asked Kousei, coughing violently afterward.

       "I'm not sure, Sasuke. I found her badly beaten and nearly dead in Inuyasha's Forest. Let your mother finish bandaging her before she tells us anything about herself," Kousei says, standing between the girl Sasuke and my bed, watching as Kiyoko wraps my wound urgently.

       After a few moments, Kiyoko tied the bandage tightly and backed away, standing beside her husband as everyone looked at me curiously. I gingerly sat up and criss-crossed my legs.

       "So, tell us, what's your name? Where are you from? I've never seen you around here," Kousei says kindly.

       "My name is Tsukiko Shinigami, and I'm from Tokyo," I say in my soft-spoken voice, looking at the three of them sweetly.

       "To...kyo... I've never heard of it before. You must be foreign," Kiyoko said, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

       "Well, that's exactly it; I have no idea where I am. I was at my friend Kagome's shrine house when a demon's tentacle dragged me down the well, and then I ended up here," I explained, watching each of their reactions. Kiyoko and Sasuke remained confused while Kousei's eyes widened in surprise.

       "You're from Kagome's era? That explains it then," He said, leaning down to meet my eyes, me flinching back a bit out of instinct, "Right now, you're in the Sengoku period of Japan, or so Kagome calls it. It is the year 1550." My eyes widened in surprise.

       "The Sengoku Period?! There's no way..." I say in shock and then cough up blood. Kousei then stands straight up and nods, Kiyoko wiping the blood off my lips and chin with her handkerchief. After a moment, Sasuke speaks,

       "Stepfather, mother, I have an idea that I want you two to hear to help save Tsukiko's life," Sasuke says softly, coughing as she speaks. Kousei and Kiyoko nod and turn to her. I look at her curiously, light-headed from all the blood I lost.

       "What if... I was to give Tsukiko my body," Sasuke started, "I can't heal, so I'm going to die anyway. She can have my body and replace my soul. My soul can then rest peacefully. She can become your full-blood daughter, and you can make her your biological daughter, having features from both of you," Sasuke said softly. Kiyoko began to tear up, covering her mouth as she spoke.

       "What about you, my sweet daughter?" Kiyoko asked, her voice cracking.

       "I want to rest. This illness is too painful to continue bearing," Sasuke responded simply, her eyes full of sickness and desperation. Kousei shut his eyes and nodded, putting his hand on Kiyoko's shoulder. My eyes widened in surprise at Sasuke's idea.

       "If that is what you wish for, Sasuke, we will perform the soul ritual right now. We don't have much time for either of you," Kousei said, moving closer to Sasuke and me and taking one of our hands in each of his. Sasuke nodded, and Kiyoko shifted so she could take Sasuke's other hand.

       "I love you, Sasuke. I won't ever forget you," Kiyoko said, tears flowing down her face. Sasuke shook her head, smiling weakly.

       "I love you too, Mother. You both deserve to have a daughter together that can live. I'll always be there with you guys. I'll come back in the form of a butterfly. When you see one, think of me," Sasuke said, and with that, Kousei began the ritual. His body glowed, the same purple aura that surrounded the rock doorway now surrounding him. The purple glow slowly spread to outline Sasuke, and I. Sasuke fell backward onto the bed unconscious, nearly immediately due to how weak she was from the illness... I could feel myself slowly losing consciousness as well. I felt as if somebody was touching something deep within my heart. I gently leaned back onto the bed I was sitting on and shut my eyes. Before I fell unconscious, Kousei spoke.

       "Do not be afraid, Tsukiko. I will mend your broken body and heart. You will be whole again."