Hours later, the sun had set, and it was nighttime, the three continued walking. (Y/n) had stopped sniffling but sadness was still on her face.
Dororo looked at the two in worry. "Hey, aniki, one-san, are you two hungry?" he asked, trying to get them to talk.
But Hyakkimaru only shook his head slowly and (Y/n) didn't react. Dororo noticed that Hyakkimaru was still holding on to the pouch, and (y/n) had moved onto holding on to his sleeve, almost like a small child.
'Guess they both have other things to worry about' he thought sadly but tried again, "Say, aniki, you've never laughed before, have you?" He asked but Hyakkimaru ignored him. Dororo stopped in front of him with a smile on his face and tried to tickle him, but nothing happened. He was hoping that at least his sister would stop him or scold him, but even she didn't react. "Fine, be that way your whole lives, both of you, see if I care" Dororo sighed and continued walking. But Hyakkimaru stayed where he was, making (y/n) look at him in question, "Hyakkimaru?"
Then they heard voices from somewhere in the darkness.
"I'm never going back to my wife" they heard a man say, "I want to stay with you forever" Dororo and (y/n) start blushing, realizing what they were hearing
"Me too" a woman's voice was heard
"Get a room!" Dororo yelled and started throwing rocks everywhere, "get eaten by a boar! Take this, and this!"
(y/n) sweatdropped, "Dororo...stop you might hit us along with them"
Suddenly, a stick fell and hit the boy on the head, confusing the siblings. Dororo looked up and moved out of the way in time as a giant basket landed where he was standing.
(Y/n) blinked, "that came from...above" she muttered and looked up. Both she and Dororo screamed at what they saw. Alerting Hyakkimaru. He looked up and his eyes widened when he saw the color red. Hyakkimaru unsheathed his blades and ran up the tree. He jumped and slashed at the web, freeing the man.
"i-i-it's a...s-s-s-s-spider" (y/n) whimpered
"Hey, are you okay?" Dororo asked the man, but he was only chuckling in a sort of bliss, "what the heck? Has he lost his mind?"
"That s-s-spider must have injected a venom or something into him" (y/n) said and they looked up to Hyakkimaru.
He jumped to another tree, dodging the spiders' attack. He then lunged himself and managed to cut the spider, making her fall to the ground. As Hyakkimaru turned around, the spider landed on her back but managed to shoot a string of web at him, sending him back and trapping him up against a tree.
"Aniki!" Dororo grabbed a stick of the ground as he made his way to Hyakkimaru. The spider was taking this chance to flee.
Once the spider was out of sight, (y/n) let out of sigh a relief and ran up to the boys. Dororo was struggling to cut the web, which what was obvious since the stick wasn't sharp. "Here, let me" she said as she reached into her kimono and pulled out a small knife.
"you had that this whole time!?" Dororo asked as she cut the webbing and pulled the rest off Hyakkimaru. (Y/n) only nodded shyly
"Urg, whatever! Let's go!" Dororo said as he started running, Hyakkimaru right behind him
"w-wait! We're going after it!?"
"of course!" Dororo made it to a cliff but didn't see anything. "Come on out!" he yelled then sighed, "dang it. It got away" Hyakkimaru and (y/n) walked up to him, the short girl slightly relieved that the spider was gone. "Oh! Aniki! One-san! Look, there's a village down there"
"Good! Let's get out of the open" (Y/n) said as she grabbed both boys' hands and dragged them down, "I don't wish to see that
spider again any time soon!"
Dororo chuckled and whispered to Hyakkimaru, "One-san is terrified of spiders" Hyakkimaru turned his gaze to (Y/n), "she freezes up if she so much as sees a small one"
"Hey what are you whispering to him?" she asked
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they got to the village, the guards gave them a Traveler's Pass each before they could walk in.
"What's with the pass into the village?" Dororo asked
"We have guards out to protect the villagers now" the guard said
"protect them from what?" (Y/n) asked, a bit scared of the answer
"there's a kidnapper in the village" the guard answered
"A kidnapper?"
"Yeah, our villagers keep disappearing almost nightly. That's what those watchtowers are for. You let us know if you see anything suspicious"
"Will do, thank you" (y/n) said as the trio walked on. After looking for a bit, they ended up deciding to stay at a temple. Not like they had any more money to spend for an inn.
"Hey, aniki, one-san" Dororo brought up, "I bet it's that spider monster kidnapping the villagers. Seems like a big problem to them. We could help them out. I bet there'd be a good reward, too"
"And I bet you hope this will get his mind off of what happened too, huh?" (Y/n) whispered to him
Dororo only starred up at the sky, not wanting to say anything. But he knew she was right. Hyakkimaru had been very unresponsive since the incident with Mio happened. At least more than usual.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, they walked around the village. Looking around for any signs for that spider monster.
"No rice patties or fields" Dororo said and looked at his sister, "one-san, we might not find any food in the village"
"Yeah, you might right" she said as she held her stomach
After a while they made it to where there was a crows of people and noticed they were talking about something that was on a sign.
"What's going on?" (Y/n) wondered
"Hey, what does that sign say?" Dororo asked a man
"It says there's a reward for finding the kidnapper" the man replied, "not like it's helping any in finding the kidnapper"
Dororo looked at his sister with a smug look and laughed, "That reward is ours then!" he said
"What, you know who it might be?" the man asked
"After the reward too? I'd stay out of it if I were you. We're dealing with a monster here" Dororo said
"A monster?"
"Dororo! What are you saying!" (y/n) hissed lightly and pulled him away from the man, "What are you doing? Do you want to have these people panic?"
"Hmm? But aniki will take care of it before anyone else is hurt" Dororo said confidently
(y/n) sighed, "stop trying to make him do all the work before we even have a lead" she said and they started walking
"Ha, you just don't want to find it yet because you're scared" Dororo teased making his sister flinch
"T-that's not it at all!" she hissed as she grabbed Hyakkimaru's hand, "now let's go find something to eat!"
Hours later, they did not find anything to eat and they did not have any money either. So later tat night, they went back at the temple and sat on the stairs. Eating berried they found in the bushes around the village.
"I bet the monster only comes out once it gets really dark" Dororo said, not noticing (y/n)'s flinch, "we don't have the energy to search during the day. Gotta be smart" he said then got up, "Alright, let's go Aniki, one-san" he said, earning an eep from his sister.
"W-where gonna go now?" she asked
"Well, yeah" he smirked, "unless you want to stay here by yourself"
(Y/n) immediately grabbed onto Hyakkimaru's arm, "NO THANK YOU!!" she yelled and Dororo laughed as they walked off.
After hours and hours of walking around the village, they again found noting and they ended up going back to the temple stairs, tired and sleepy.
"I'm pooped" Dororo said, "we walked around the village all night for nothing. Where's that spider hiding"
"I don't know and I don't care" (Y/n) yawned as she walked past him
"My brain isn't working anymore. Let's sleep while it's still cool"
"Best idea you've had" (y/n) said as she let herself fall on the grass and knocked out.
Morning came too soon for them. They all got up and walked into the village to see there was any more news on the kidnappings. When they returned to where the sign was, and noticed that there was another crowd around it.
"What's that sign say?" Dororo asked a man
"Another man disappeared last night, so the reward went up" the man answered him
(Y/n) hummed at the sound of that. "But we were up all-night searching" she muttered, "and you didn't see anything did you Hyakkimaru?" she asked, and the man shook his head lightly, "hmm.... maybe, it's not the s-spider?" she asked a bit hopefully, "so we don't have to encounter it again, right?"
"That doesn't change that there's still disappearances one-san" Dororo said
"R-right..." she stuttered out
"Hey, will the man who takes people away get caught?" they heard a little kid ask
"Don't worry, he won't get caught" a man answered, "no man of this village would snitch to the lord no matter the reward"
(Y/n) sighed, "great...wait, what?" She looked over to the two and saw that they were smiling at each other. Strange
Then, a slight rumbling was heard behind them, and they looked at Hyakkimaru, who held his stomach. Then, Dororo's stomach rumbled, and he blushed holding his stomach. (Y/n) chuckled, until hers rumbled as well. She sighed "Let's head back" she said, "we'll munch on weeds and rest up. That's about all we can do for now anyway" she said and Dororo nodded as he and Hyakkimaru walked after her.
The trio found some plants to munch on as they sat on the temple stairs, munching a bit miserably on the leaves.
"If the kidnapper isn't a monster, it will be difficult to find them" (y/n) muttered as she starred, a bit envious, at Hyakkimaru, "but not impossible"
"Today's our last chance to find them" Dororo said as his stomach growled, "this is our last night. You hear me aniki, one-san? We're leaving if we can't find him"
(Y/n) chuckled, "Tired of eating bugs and weeds?" she asked, "well, whatever. We might be hungry but we'll manage"
"You're just happy you don't have to see that spider again!" Dororo laughed
"N-not true!"
"Man, let's just go already" Dororo groaned as they got up and started their search yet again.
After hours of looking, they didn't find anything. Again. As expected, since Hyakkimaru's eyes didn't see any monsters.
"If only your eyes worked for evil humans" (y/n) muttered as she starred at his eyes.
"It's tough on a kid to walk two nights on an empty stomach" Dororo said
(Y/n)'s eyes widened, 'two nights?' she thought, 'I've let my fear get the better of me. I don't think I've ever let Dororo go this long without food. At least not since mama died'
"Sorry aniki, guess we lucked out this time" he said sadly, "we should give up-"
Hyakkimaru put his hand over his mouth, gesturing for Dororo to stop talking. Then he placed his other hand over his ear, letting them know to listen. They stayed quiet and listened closely. It's when they heard footsteps approaching.
"Ohagi, do you need to rest?" they heard a man ask
"Who do you think I am? I could suck the life out of you" a woman's voice, though it sounded familiar
Then, a man and a woman in white showed up and stopped in their tracks at that sight of the three
"You're the guy we met yesterday" Dororo said
"The kids after the reward?"
"You again! Have you come to kill me, you little brats!" the woman yelled
"That voice..." (y/n) muttered then froze when she remembred, "from the forest!"
"It's her!" Dororo yelled and pointed to her, "This woman is the spider monster! I knew she was the kidnapper! Get away from her, old man. She'll suck you dry. We can get food if we beat the monster. Go get her, aniki!"
"Ohagi, a monster?" the man questioned
"B-but, Dororo" (y/n) called shakingly, "w-we were up for t-t-two nights looking and Hyakkimaru d-d-didn't see her at all"
"uh, he probably missed her by a bit. Yeah, that's it!"
"But, with his eyes...Hyakkimaru's don't lie"
The man looked at the woman, and then moved to stand in front of her, surprising both her and the siblings.
"Don't you get what I'm saying?" Dororo said, "that woman is a monster and a kidnapper!"
"I'm the kidnapper" the man confessed, "I've helped people escape from here. Ohagi didn't do it. I don't mind being caught but please let Ohagi go. She's sick and weakened"
(Y/n)'s eyes widened at the man's words "Sick? Why protect a monster?" Dororo asked
Just then, light was seen behind the man and the woman, Ohagi, and the guards showed up.
"So you're the one behind it all. We finally got you" one man said
"We're the ones that found him. We can have that reward, right?" Dororo asked
"Dororo" (y/n) whispered lightly
"Yeah right! We just said that to lure out any squealers" the guard said
"Eh! that's too cruel. That's dirty, you guys are villains!"
"Fine with us" he said, "if we lose any more workers and work slows down, our heads will go flying"
"So that's why he did it" (y/n) glaring at the guards, "you all have been working the men to death in this village. That's why he said 'escape' earlier"
"What do you mean?" Dororo asked
"Earlier, while we were walking, I heard about what happened, how some people have been dying while they have been working. It makes a gal think you know" she said raising her voice, "Why would men put their lives on the line when clearly so many have been dying of the same thing over and over again?" she glared at the guards, "it's because the so-called guards are holding everyone here prisoner and forcing them to work every day" Dororo starred in shock at what his sister just said, "He wasn't kidnapping people. He was saving them!"
The guard growled, "yeah, so what. Catch that man!" he ordered, and the rest of the men ran ahead. But before they could get any closer, Ohagi turned and shot two webs at the first two. Trapping them and sucking them dry.
"Taste disgusting" she said as she stood up.
Hyakkimaru, finally took a good look at her and saw the bright red of a monsters' soul. He held his arm out to Dororo and he grabbed on to it. "Aniki..." Hyakkimaru pulled his arm away revealing his swords.
"I see you won't let me go" Ohagi said
Hyakkimaru ran forward "Wait, Hyakkimaru!" (y/n) yelled, but before he could go further, Ohagi threw the white kimono she wore over her head. It landed over Hyakkimaru and she sent a web around him, obstructing his movement.
"Don't just stand there" Ohagi said to the man, "your job isn't over yet. Which way?"
"That way!" he pointed. Ohagi let go of her web and grabbed his hand before running off.
"Pull the kimono off" (y/n) said as she and Dororo grabbed the material
"Hold still for a bit aniki" Dororo said as he and (y/n) pulled up, releasing him. "I was wrong about the reward, so what now?" he asked a bit sadly
Hyakkimaru only got up and ran after Ohagi
"I'm with you, aniki!" Dororo yelled and ran after him
"Wait a second!" (Y/n) called out as she ran after the two boys, "Hyakkimaru! You're still going to kill her, even though she's not the kidnapper!?"
"Of course he is!" Dororo answered, "she's still a monster after all"
"But...this one doesn't feel right" she muttered
"Huh?"
Dororo and (y/n) caught up to Hyakkimaru who was standing in front of a cliff.
"Not even you could climb this" Dororo said, "Let's go" he said, and they followed the man up the side.
As they ran up after the guards, they started hearing screams. They made it up and saw that Ohagi had captured more men, gaining her strength back. Hyakkimaru watched as the small red soul suddenly grew legs and grew in size.
"I'll drain every last drop of your life force!" Ohagi yelled
(Y/n) flinched frozen at the sight of Ohagi's spider form. Ohagi grabbed three more men, but Hyakkimaru cut the web before they could end up as her next snack. Hyakkimaru then slashed at her, aiming for her legs. (Y/n) shook uncontrollably at the sight of the spider. She couldn't stop so she tried to look elsewhere, that's when she noticed the man lying on the ground behind Ohagi, an arrow stuck out of him and her webbing around him, almost like a bandage. She gasped in realization, right when Ohagi had punched Hyakkimaru away from her
"Aniki!"
"Hyakkimaru!"
"There are no doctors in this village, right?" Ohagi said, "then I will take you to one. I won't let you die"
"She was protecting him" (Y/n) spoke and Dororo looked at her, "That man got hurt and she only went after the one responsible. She didn't even fight back against Hyakkimaru just now." Her eyes widened when Hyakkimaru pointed his sword to her
"I see one of us will have to die" Ohagi said
"No Hyakkimaru!" (Y/n) yelled but he seemed not pay attention
"No. Don't kill..." they heard the man gasp, "Ohagi, you never have, and you never will, right?"
Hyakkimaru watched as the spider monster got close to the man. He was about to move, thinking that she was going to suck out his life. But she merely hovered over him, almost protectively. That's when he noticed her soul. It wasn't a bright red anymore. It was fading to a pale color, almost as if it was calming. Seeing this, Hyakkimaru lowered his sword slightly.
His small movement made the siblings sigh in relief. That's when they heard the men who were wrapped up in Ohagi's web.
"They're still alive" (Y/n) breathed out as she got her knife ready. "You should get going" she said walking over to Hyakkimaru and placing his prosthetics back on his blades, earning a bit of a shock from him. "I will release them, but only once you are a good distance away" she said with closed eyes, "that way they won't catch up with you" in truth she was keeping her eyes closed as to not freeze up in front of Ohagi. After all, just a small spider can make her freeze.
Ohagi noticed and nodded. She changed back to a human form and helped the man stand up, "You can open your eyes now" she said and (y/n) did so and looked at her, "thank you" she bowed lightly and walked inside the cave.
After a long wait, (y/n) released the men and they all walked back down. The men seemed to not bother with following Ohagi and the man. The trio walked to the gate and hung up the Travelers Passes on the door as they walked out. they were very happy to be out of that village
"They're gone now" Dororo said as they walked, "a ghoul that likes a human, huh"
"What's wrong with that?" (y/n) said, "sometimes you can't control who you like"
"The world is full of surprises" Dororo said, "but it's a good thing your hearing was back. Or else it would've ended in a really awkward way...still don't want to speak?" Hyakkimaru shook his head lightly, "Fine, I'll talk for the two of us and cheer things up"
"Please don't, Dororo" (y/n) said pleadingly when a yell from him made her jump lightly
"Ah! A spider!"
"WHERE!?!" (y/n) yelled as she hid behind Hyakkimaru
"Ouch! It bit me!" Dororo yelled and was about to kill it but halted his movement when he remembered Ohagi. "Sorry, I'm the one that scared you, huh" he said as he placed it on the bush next to him.
That's when they heard it. A soft chuckle from the silent man. They both looked at Hyakkimaru in shock.
"Huh? Hey, did you just..."
"You laughed" (Y/n) gasped
"You laughed at me!" Dororo yelled and ran after him him, "I heard that, your first laugh! But that's not the kind I wanted to hear. Not the kind that makes fun of people. A happier laugh, you know!"
(Y/n) couldn't help but laugh at the two. "Urg! Not you too, One-san!"
"Sorry Sorry" she chuckled
~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple hours later, (Y/n) had heard a river and had said that she would run up ahead, leaving the two confused.
"Why would she run off by herself?" Dororo wondered, "maybe she wants to clean up first? Nah, she shouldn't do that while we're on the move" he wondered, "what do you think aniki?" he asked, knowing he won't get an answer, "kind of think of it, do you even get those kinds of thoughts?" he asked, but again he got no answer, "you know, like how maybe you wanna see if you can catch a glimpse of my one-san at the river while she bathing?" Hyakkimaru still did not answer. Dororo only frowned and then placed his hands behind his head with a smile, "well, either way, I wouldn't let you! That's my role as the little brother. I'll protect my one-san from perverts. Even if that ends up being you" he boasted.
Hyakkimaru on the other hand, did not know why he brought this topic up. Why would he want to 'catch a glimpse' of (Y/n)? He sees her soul all the time, along with Dororos'. And what was a pervert? Either way, he could see (Y/n) soul up ahead, and it looked like she had something prepared.
"Hey! I'm talking to you! Aniki!" Dororo yelled, "Do you hear me!? Even if it's you, I'll protect my one-san from anyone who'd want to look at her while-"
"Look at me while what?" (y/n) asked when they finally made it to her. Dororo and Hyakkimaru stopped, and their eyes widened at the many, many, fish that she had prepared around the fire.
Dororo drooled, "one-san, this is why you ran ahead?" he asked
(Y/n) nodded, "of course, what did you think I was doing?"
"Nothing!" he yelled as she sat down and grabbed one of the sticks and started devouring it.
"Come on Hyakkimaru" She said gestured him to sit down, "we haven't eaten a proper meal for past two days, you must be starving"
Hyakkimaru nodded and sat down to eat with Dororo. After eating about four fish each, Dororo noticed four left
"Aren't you going to eat one-san?"
"Already ate before you two got here" she said, "hurry and finish so that we can move on"
Dororo narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Knowing his sister... Right on cue, (Y/n) stomach growled. Getting the attention of both her brother and their friend. She blushed as she held her stomach, hoping it would quiet down. "You haven't eaten at all, you liar!" Dororo scolded, "you always do this! You have to eat too!"
(y/n) looked at him, and then smiled"Yes, but you're the one with the growing body" she said as she grabbed another fish, "so you need to eat more than I do!" she said and shoved the fish in his mouth
"B-but...one-san!" Dororo struggled as she shoved the fish in his mouth
"And you" she turned to Hyakkimaru, "you're the one who's always fighting" she said flexing her arms then grabbing another fish, "so you have to eat to keep your strength up. Remember what we told you before" she said as she shoved the fish in his mouth too.
The two started to cough as they pulled the fish from their mouth. "What about you then!" Dororo said as he grabbed the remaining two fish and held them out for her, "can you at least eat these two?"
(Y/n) shook her head, "no way, that's for you two. I spent all this time catching and making the fire, so you two gotta eat"
Dororo glared, "You're so hardheaded! Just like mama!"
"So what? As long as you two are well fed" she said shrugged her shoulders
Hyakkimaru got up and grabbed the fish from Dororo's hands, surprising the two.
"Wait, aniki, you're not gonna eat them, are you?" Dororo asked
Meanwhile, (y/n) had stars in her eyes, "Yes! Yes! Go ahead and eat them Hyakkimaru! That's the spirit. Keep your energy up and-" Hyakkimaru had stuffed one of the fish in her mouth this time, making her cough. Dororo smiled and pointed to him,
"you see! Even aniki says you have to eat!"
(y/n) took a deep breath after coughing, "but..."
"(y.../n).....eat..." The siblings eyes widened. Hyakkimaru spoke. Just now. Right? The man simply put the other fish in her free hand and moved it to her lips.
"u-um...y-you see. Aniki wants you to eat too" Dororo said rather shakingly from the shock. "Wait, what am I saying! You just spoke!" he shouted, "you just said one-san's name! It sounds nice when you say it doesn't it!? Come on, saying it again! Come on, one more time!"
While Dororo tried to get Hyakkimaru to speak again, (Y/n) couldn't help but blush. 'He just said my name' she thought as she took a bite of the fish, 'that's the first time he's said my name' that's when realized what she had done. "AH! I ate it! I ate the fish!" she yelled in anger, "look what you made me do!" she pointed the fish at Hyakkimaru
Dororo smiled, "good! now you won't be hungry either" he said and (y/n) groaned, "right then, hurry up and finish those two so we can get going!"
(Y/n) sighed in defeat, "fine" she said and ate the rest of the fish.