The Time Key

The Baba Yaga

He didn't get his glory, instead, he got the shaft.

He could never breathe a word of this to anyone! They would laugh him right out of the Order!

Not only did he not kill the demon, but he was saved by a little girl.

Because the kid had a crush on him!

As a matter-of-fact, the she wouldn't let him go. The kid kept one hand tightly on his sleeve in desperation, like a barnacle. It was as if she'd never seen humans before. The crowds terrified her.

"Listen kid," Shiro sighed. "Just relax. I'm not leaving you here, my boss wants you taken to True Cross. There's other weird kids like you living there."

"Will you be with me?" She sniffed with tears welling in her eyes.

"Ya." Shiro grumbled, staring out the window. "Unfortunately."

The exorcist was exhausted after battling Hachiro for hours without end, the monster was too strong for anyone to vanquish. The Baba Yaga on the other hand, was just a human pet of the demon. Yet, the pet was more than a pouty little girl, she had a powerful temptaint and was in possession of demon sword.

There was something familiar about her, she reminded him of someone. She had strange pinkish hair, those swirling magenta eyes.

"What's your name kid?"

"Kirigakure." She answered matter-of-factly.

"No, I mean your first name?" Shiro prodded.

The child regarded him with confusion.

She didn't have one.

Shiro felt overwhelmed with pity, he too, didn't have a real name. His earliest moniker was a number from section 13. He was nothing more than an experiment, a test subject. Not meant to have a life or individuality.

"I'm going to call you Shura." Shiro sighed painfully. "Shura Kirigakure."

Yes, that's right. Shiro scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, he named the kid after a woman he met in a bar. But those are the only women he'd ever known, and thus the only female names he had to draw from.

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"You named the Baba Yaga after a woman you met in a pub?" Mephisto laughed outright. "How original!"

"What are the odds," Shiro responded thoughtfully. "That this kid has the same colouring as her? She reminds me so much of that woman."

Mephisto shrugged his shoulders.

"Could this be her daughter?" Shiro gestured to the child sleeping on Mephisto's leather couch. "I mean, she has a demon sword. That's some rare shit."

Shiro pulled it from a sheath on his back and handed it to Mephisto. It's a Fang, the woman I met at the bar also described her sword as a Fang. Do you think her mother might still be up in the mountains?"

"No." Mephisto answered succinctly. "From the research I've been conducting into the matter, each Baba Yaga is an identical clone of their mother. Once each incarnation gives birth, she dies and the child takes her place. That child is around seven, the timeline does line-up."

"If this kid is hers, she's dead." Shiro lowered his head at the reality. "That Hachiro is a sick fuck."

"Yes." Mephisto answered. "I'm afraid so."