Even hours later, the siblings couldn't get the girl out of their minds. The poor girl has been waiting years for her brother. He then suddenly shows up out of no where, and now he's gone because of them.
Right now, they have set up camp in the woods to rest up. Looking at their companion, maybe it wasn't a good idea. Hyakkimaru was suffering badly with his new hearing ability. He could hear everything and it wasn't pleasant. The hoof beats of a deer. The flapping of wings. The croaking of frogs. The scurrying of animals. Everything was just too overwhelming for him at the moment.
"Aniki!" Dororo called as he tried to touch him
"Wait Dororo-" Before (y/n) could stop him, Dororo had made Hyakkimaru drop to his side still trying keep the noises out.
"Hey" Dororo called but covered his mouth when his sister put her pointer finger to her lips "oops, sorry. It's still too noisy for him, huh?" He said as he looked around, "but it's so quiet for me here, it creeps me out"
(Y/n) stared at the poor man and sighed as she got a cloth out of her bag, "he's just not used to it like us" she whispered, patting his arm lightly and got him to sit upright, "we just need to give him time. He'll get used to it at his own pace" she said as she wrapped it around his ears and tied it above his head.
Dororo tried not to chuckle as he stared at the man touching the cloth, earning a glare from his sister. "Maybe he should give up on going after the next monster" Dororo said, "the reward is handsome, but you're just not fit for it"
"Dororo" (y/n) warned. Hyakkimaru then looked to the side in alert. "What is it?" (Y/n) asked then heard a bird. Just as she heard it, a giant bird burst out of the trees and aimed to grab them. Luckily, (y/n) pushed Dororo down and Hyakkimaru moved out of the way. Hyakkimaru unsheathed both his blades.
"The bird monster! It's huge!" Dororo yelled
Hyakkimaru blocked its attack and the bird flew up and turned to come back down. Hyakkimaru looked confused for a second before getting hit. The bird flew around again, hitting trees all over. Hyakkimaru looked even more confused as he looked around.
(Y/n) eyes widened, "it's the sound! The sound is confusing him!"
"Aniki, don't worry about the sound!" Dororo yelled as he looked at the bird "to your left!"
Hyakkimaru turned and got his blades ready. When the bird came down to try and grab him, he slashed and hit it. But it was strong and managed to grab Hyakkimaru.
"It's in your reach! Get him!" (Y/n) yelled
Hyakkimaru then slashed at its legs and it body, making it drop him.
"Aniki!"
"Hyakkimaru!" Dororo and (y/n) ran to him.
"He's hurt" Dororo whimpered
(Y/n) turned to look at the bird as it came down for a final attack. (Y/n) covered Hyakkimaru as Dororo hugged his sister, glaring at the bird. Before they knew it, the bird was cut to pieces. A figure stood behind the bird.
"It's the priest!" Dororo gasped
"Oh it was you three? What a coincidence" he said
(Y/n) and Dororo nodded to him in thanks and quickly turned to look at Hyakkimaru, who looked like he had a terrified look in his eyes.
"Aniki! Are you okay? Come on, snap out of it!" He shook him, "what's wrong with you? Hey!"
"Dororo stop" (y/n) quietly said as she lightly pushed Dororo away from Hyakkimaru, "you yelling at him isn't gonna help him" (Y/n) had laid Hyakkimaru down on her lap while the priest tended to his wounds. Dororo had explained how Hyakkimaru had gotten his hearing back and that's why he was acting this way.
"I see, his ears eh? Good for him" the priest said
"It's not good" Dororo said, "he's gotten weaker now that he can hear"
"How so?"
"I mean, he got beat up by that ghoul that even you could kill"
The priest laughed, "well thank you"
"He'll be alright, won't he?"
"He will" (y/n) whispered, "he just needs to get used to it. This is the first time he's heard anything in all his years. It must be overwhelmingly loud for him"
The priest nodded, "he's gotten past the worst of it. We could use some medicine, if only we had any"
"I'll go find some. There's a big town across the river" Dororo volunteered
"You'd better not" the priest said, "I heard there's a war brewing. It dangerous" (y/n) looked up at him, hatred in her eyes, "seems like the Sakai clan, who rules this area, betrayed an ally. The two armies have their swords drawn. For strangers like us to go near them now would be suicidal. That's why I turned back and came across you three"
"Dang it!" Dororo huffed, "why do Samurai like to fight so much?"
"Dororo" (y/n) warned when Hyakkimaru covered his ears and turned away. The young man covered his mouth
Dororo covered his mouth in realization,"oh sorry, that was too loud huh?" He whispered
"Don't move, now. Your wounds will open up" the priest said putting his hand on Hyakkimaru's shoulder. Only to have him pull away roughly, making him move a bit closer to the female. "Oh dear. You're like a wounded beast hiding in his cave" the priest said as he grabbed on to Hyakkimaru's arm roughly, pulling it away from his ear and leaned closer, "hear this? This is a human's voice. The other sounds are the creatures in the woods, the fire, and the wind. You have to get used to it. To come out of your cave and live in this world"
Hyakkimaru pulled his hand away and pushed the man back.
"Aniki! He's hurt. Don't force him like that!" Dororo argued, lightly hitting the priest's arm, "he needs time to get used to it" he said, repeating his sisters' words
The priest looked over at the young man, who made himself into a ball. He was using one hand to cover his ear and the other to hold on to his shoulder, as if trying to get away from the man. He snuggled closer to the girl, using her to cover his other ear.
(Y/n) sighed, "I get what you're trying to do" she whispered to the priest, "any other person would've been fine, but
Hyakkimaru isn't normal. He needs time to get through this part, slowly" she said as she stared sadly at Hyakkimaru.
The priest chuckled, "looks to me like you're the only one he'll listen to at the moment"
(Y/n) blinked and after a second started to blush, "huh?"
"He's right one-san" Dororo lightly chuckled as he pointed to the man snuggling up against her lap, "he hasn't left your side, even though he's moved away from me and the priest" he said earning a flustered glare from the girl, "oh, maybe you can rock him to sleep"
"What?" The very idea of rocking a grown man to sleep...it was just off.
"No, really. The lullaby mom used to sing to us"
"A lullaby might be a good change of pace from all the loudness in the forest" the priest suggested, "you could give it a try"
(Y/n) looked uncertain for a bit then looked down to Hyakkimaru, who was still shaking lightly. She let out a sigh, "I guess I should give it a try, maybe it could help him"
"Yeah, and we can all go to sleep as well" Dororo said, "it's been a rough, long day. And he needs to rest more than any of us"
(Y/n) nodded as she closed her eyes and took in a breath.
Before she knew it, the priest, Dororo, and Hyakkimaru had drifted to sleep. (Y/n) sighed and ran her hand over the man's head. 'I hope it helped him somehow. But there's no way he'll be able to get over it in a day' she thought sadly, worried that if she spoke out loud, he'd wake up. Deciding that she shouldn't dwell on it any longer, (y/n) closed her eyes and let herself drift into sleep, not moving for fear of waking him up as well.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, the sound of the birds chirping had woken Hyakkimaru from his slumber. He tried to ignore it, but to no avail. They were just too loud. More so now, then before he fell asleep. He sat up to look around and noticed that (y/n) had stayed in the same position as last night. Since she didn't move, Hyakkimaru concluded that she must be asleep. Amazing that she hadn't fallen over from her sitting position.
Slowly, as to not wake her up, he moved her so that she could lay down. Hopefully, she'll sleep more comfortably. Once he finished, another sound was heard from a distance that caught his attention. He stood up to walk closer to it. It almost sounded like (y/n)'s tone. A lullaby? That's what that man called it, right?"
"What a gentle voice" the priest said and noticed that Hyakkimaru was walking away, "you shouldn't get up yet" he called, only for the man to ignore him and continue walking, "yare yare" he sighed and decided to try and wake up Dororo, since Hyakkimaru had just repositioned (y/n).
Hyakkimaru continued walking, following the voice. It sounded so sweet and gentle. Just like the way (y/n) sung last night.
It was a nice change in sound compared to everything else for Hyakkimaru. To him, if there were more pleasant sounds out there, he'd like to hear more. Maybe they could help him get used to this new sense.
As he continued to follow the song, he noticed there was a person by what looked to be a river. As he got closer, the singing stopped. The person, who's figure looked similar to (y/n)'s, had noticed him.
"Are you hurt? Are you okay?" She asked .Hyakkimaru only got closer and reached out for her "Oh, you can't see" she smiled as she grabbed his hand, "see? I'm right here" Hyakkimaru then faltered a bit, "what's wrong? You must have a fever. You shouldn't be in the water. Come." A fever? Is that what he felt? Hyakkimaru wouldn't know. The girl gasped when he suddenly fell forward in her arms, "oh no, hang in there"
"Aniki!"
"Hyakkimaru!"
The girl looked up to see a boy, a girl and an old man run up to her and the boy. "He feels warm" the girl told them, figuring that this group was his companions
"Warm? A fever?" (Y/n) wondered as she entered the water to help, "it must be the wound" she said as they got him out of the water
"You gave a us a scare" Dororo said, "(y/n) more than me" he chuckled and (y/n) smacked his head
"Enough, we have to take him somewhere to get treated" (y/n) said as she felt his forehead.
"But where, we can't go to the village and in this condition he can't travel either" Dororo said
"You can come with me" the girl said, earning their attention, "I live in an abandoned shrine, you're welcome to stay and recover"
~~~~~~~
After a while of waking and a troubled time climbing some stairs, they made it to the abandoned shrine they were told about. Thanks to Mio, the trio managed to lay Hyakkimaru down for a while longer.
Dororo placed a wet cloth on his forehead, "I've never seen him so weak before" he said
"It must be because of his wounds" the priest said, "but he's also regained many things from the demons. Maybe he's having trouble adjusting"
"He has been getting them one by one, you could be right" (y/n) wondered
Mio came in with more rags, "here are some old rags, but they're clean"
"Thank you" (y/n) thanked, taking the cloths
"Mio, was it? Forgive us for causing so much trouble" the priest said
"Not at all. Please stay until he's better"
"Can we?"
"Of course. There are lots of people here like your big brother. We're all used to it."
"Huh?"
"Don't be shy, say hello kids" Mio called and a couple kids' head popped up from the door way. (Y/n) and Dororo's eyes widened when they saw some of the kids. Some were missing limbs, just like Hyakkimaru. That would explain why Mio was so kind to let them stay. Usually, someone would shoo them away. "There was a terrible war. We lost our houses and everything we had. So we all live together here" Mio explained
"So none of them have dads or moms?" Dororo asked. (Y/n) glanced sadly at her brother, knowing what he was thinking.
Mio hugged one of the little girls, "right. But they're all wonderful children. We make do somehow, even though they're all young"
"Mio! You're still up!?" One of the boys called out "come on, out everyone" he shoo'd the kids away, "Mio, you better get some sleep while you can. I'll watch over the hurt guy, so you go to sleep."
Mio got up, "okay, okay" she chuckled, "if you need anything, ask Takebo here" she told Dororo
"Hurry up. I made breakfast so eat it before you sleep" Takebo said as he shoo'd Mio away as well and then looked at the four guest, "there's some for you guys, too" he said and a little girl walked in with a bowl of stew, "potato gruel. Eat up"
"Go on Dororo" (y/n) said nudging her little brother
"Uh thanks" he said as he took the bowl
~~~~~~~~~
A couple hours later, the priest said he was gonna look for a path for them sneak by the armies. Dororo and (y/n) were getting a bit restless, so they asked if they could help around the shrine in anyway. So (y/n) decided to help Takebo in preparing the food and Dororo was cleaning the floors of the shrine, a bit loudly.
"He's gonna end up bothering Hyakkimaru" (y/n) sighed as she heard her little sibling running back and forth. "Maybe I should tell him to lower down his screaming" she muttered as she made her way to the door. That's when she saw Mio talking to Hyakkimaru.
"I'll get you medicine tonight" she said, "I'm sure Lord Sakai's army has some. I'll be going to work then"
(Y/n) smiled as she came up to the woman"Thank you again for letting us stay" (y/n) said as she walked with Mio
"It's no trouble" Mio replied with a wave of her hand, "I've already mentioned that and besides, the kids look like they like your company as well"
(Y/n) chuckled "I hope so, they're all nice"
The two girls turned to look at the kids calling for Hyakkimaru. "You notice that he seems to reach out for us both?" Mio asked
(Y/n) nodded with a light chuckle, "He probably likes how pretty our voices sound compared to the boy's voices" (y/n) laughed, getting Mio to laugh as well
"Please take care of everyone while I'm gone" Mio said as she walked down the steps
"Of course, have a safe trip" (y/n) waved. A couple steps down, Mio had started to sing her Moriko song. (Y/n) smiled as she tried her mothers' lullaby along with Mio's.
"Wow" Dororo smiled as he heard Mio and his sister. He then noticed Hyakkimaru reaching out toward the entrance, almost as if wanting to catch the sound. "Aniki..." realization came to the boy, "he must like both their songs. A mixture of the two certainly sounds very pretty" Dororo then saw his sister making her way back to making the food. "One-san!" He called as he ran over to her, "Aniki, he likes your songs"
"Hm?"
"Mio's song and mama's lullaby! They sounded pretty together"
(Y/n) smiled, "I'm glad that Hyakkimaru has another pleasant sound to like"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Mio was walking up the steps to the shrine when she noticed Hyakkimaru sitting on the last step, as if waiting for her. "What are you doing out here?" She asked "the medicine? Don't worry, here. I'll brew it for you" she said and noticed that he was smiling at her. She suddenly got the urge to fix her kimono and looked at Hyakkimaru's eyes. "How strange, it feels like you can see. Deep down inside me"
"He can. He sees the color of your soul" Dororo suddenly showed up, "Aniki, don't leave like that. You scared me. And I can only wonder what one-san would've felt if she woke up to you gone"
"The color of your soul?" Mio asked
Dororo nodded, "yeah, I don't get it very much either. But he can see the colors of the soul of living things. Not just people. Grass, trees, animals. He can find ghouls easily, too. I bet they've got a really gross color." He explained proudly
"You said (y/n) is still asleep?" Mio asked, fixing her kimono again
"Hm? Oh yeah. She stayed up late helping the kids go to sleep" Dororo explained
"I see. I'll have to thank her later" Hyakkimaru then tapped her lips with his finger, opening and closing his mouth. "What?"
"I think he wants to hear you sing" Dororo said
"Sing?"
"Seems like singing doesn't bother him. He listens to one-san sing too" he mentioned, "I bet if he continues to listen to you sing, maybe he'll get used to sound" Dororo said happily, "he's like a hurt beast in a cave right now. Draw him out of it with your song"
"But my song isn't that great..." Hyakkimaru only pointed to his own mouth, opening and closing it again, insisting. Asking her to do it. Mio smiled "okay then. Pick a red flower to give to her. In her hair I will put the flower."
~~~~~~~~
(Y/n) groaned as she sat up from her laying down position. "I think I overslept a bit" she lightly chuckled as she moved to stand up. She stood up and stretched her arms out.
"I licked the soil, and it seems good"
(Y/n) blinked when she heard the others discussing in the other room. Seems like the priest is back too. They were starting to think he didn't find a place but by what she was hearing, it sounded like he had.
"Mio, let's go live there!" Takebo exclaimed excitedly and Mio nodded
"Not so fast" the priest warned, "something already owns that land"
"But you said it was a vacant lot" Dororo brought up
"A demon. It's not something we want to mess with lightly."
"Aww man"
"You mean, a ghoul?" Takebo asked
"It's way stronger than just any old ghoul" (Y/n) then heard movement of someone getting up
"Aniki, you're not going out there to get it, are you?" Dororo asked as he got up. (Y/n)'s eyes widened as she made her way to the entrance, "wait, you can't with that injury!" Dororo tried to stop Hyakkimaru, but the man merely lightly pushed the boy away, "Priest!"
"Though I told you knowing you'd go there; I didn't think you'd go before your wounds are healed" the priest sighed as he got up to follow, "you just can't wait, huh?"
Before Hyakkimaru could walk to the steps, (y/n) stepped in front of him. She stood firm with a hard look in her eye. Hyakkimaru was confused as to why she would stand in between him and this demon. "You can not go Hyakkimaru" she said firmly, "you are still hurt. If you go now, you will not recover any time soon"
The priest stopped behind Hyakkimaru. He hoped that the girls' words would change Hyakkimaru's mind. But it seems he was more stubborn than he'd thought. Hyakkimaru moved to step around her but (y/n) stepped in front of him again. Just like with Dororo, Hyakkimaru moved her aside and continued walking.
"Hyakkimaru!" (y/n) yelled after him. the priest sighed and followed behind him. (Y/n) grabbed his arm, "Please take care of him" she pleaded as he continued walking past her. He smiled at her and nodded. (Y/n) sighed sadly and walked back to Dororo.
"You're going to work for the enemy, too?" Takebo asked. (Y/n) stopped in her tracks when she heard what the small boy asked "You mean, you're going to work for both sides?"
Mio nodded with a smile, "Starting tonight"
"That's too dangerous!" (y/n) exclaimed as she walked closer to them
"Yeah, it's hard enough on you already" Dororo followed up
"But we need to get ready to move to a new place" Mio said, "we can't live in an empty lot"
"Yeah but..."
"Don't worry. War took a lot from us, so let's get it back" Mio smiled and looked at the two siblings, "I should rest up while I can. Goodnight then" she said and got up.
(Y/n) narrowed her eyes and followed after her. "Mio" she called getting the girl to stop walking and look at her. "Don't do this" she pleaded
"I must and I will" Mio smiled at her, "like I said, we're about to move and we will need stuff for everyone"
"But this is not how to do it!" Mio blinked in surprise at (y/n)'s tone, "don't overexert yourself for one home. You should save up and recover from this. It's like a new start. It would be better to see your new home grow rather than immediately change it"
Mio only continued to smile. "I understand what you are saying (y/n), but I want for everyone to have what they need once we're settled in. Wouldn't you like a warm place to live in and not a tattered bed to sleep in?" (Y/n) stayed silent. She remembered all the times she and Dororo had slept on the ground. Under a house. In a shrine. In the cold. In the heat. No protection. Her mother and the times she said she was fine, when she wasn't. "You understand" Mio said when she didn't answer, "I have to do this" she walked up to her and placed her hand on the (h/c) haired girl's shoulder, "it will all work out. You'll see" she smiled and walked off to her room.
(Y/n) stayed in her spot staring at the floor in sadness. First Hyakkimaru goes off to kill a demon, still injured from his previous battle. Now Mio wants to put herself in harm's way in not just one, but two armies. She didn't know if it was the war brewing around the corner, or maybe just the fact that the two people she considers friends are putting themselves in danger, but (y/n) had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.