It was a full moon night. A young, blue-haired woman ran down an alley. Unsteadily, her eyes twitched, looking for anything that could help her. Each time her bare feet touched the ground, ice crystals sprouted. From behind, she heard the crunching as heavy boots crushed her trail beneath them. She cast a panicked look over her unclothed shoulder to see her pursuers. Three grim faces stared at her.
Her confused eyes slid to her hands, which were covered with icy blood. She didn't want to kill the man, but when he hit her, she instinctively reacted. She pulled her hands protectively up and the next moment he was impaled by icy thorns. Red splashes spread across her face and upper body. It wasn't her fault. She didn't understand in the least what was going on. Who these people were that hunted her now. But she feared she would die, if she didn't escape.
Seeking help, she scurried on until she noticed a wooden door ajar. Maybe she could hide there. Quickly she slipped inside, her shoulder grazing the gate and covering it with a layer of ice. She felt soft strains of grass, freezing under her soles, while wandering into a dark garden. Her chest rose and fell in rapid succession. Abruptly she stopped when she made out a person in front of her.
"Did you find out what's going on, Shi?" Two red-glowing eyes focused on the fugitive. "Oh."
"Oh my God." The blue-haired's eyes widened in horror.
She flinched as she studied the creature in front of her. The upper body belonged to a woman, but instead of a face she wore a mask from which two red dots glowed. She held her arms in front of her, but where her hands should have been, there were large, insect-like sickles. The blue-haired woman gazed down at the body, which led to a beetle-like lower abdomen that stood on four chitin legs.
The ice oni whirled around, but her pursuers were just coming through the gate. In the moonlight, they saw a woman, who looked at them in surprise. One of the men raised his hand.
"Ma'am. Please bring yourself to safety. This is a police matter." He pointed to the naked woman who was between them. "This person is extremely dangerous and we have to arrest her. Please bring yourself to safety."
The fugitive looked back and forth between the men and the monster. To whom did he speak? To this thing? This creature was clearly the monster here.
"Don't worry," the creature spoke softly, firmly. The red dots in her mask remained on the frightened blue-haired. She raised her voice, "What did she do? She looks distraught and helpless."
"What are you doing out here at this time anyway?" the spokesman of the group asked.
"It's a beautiful night. I enjoy the sight of the full moon."
The men dispersed around the fugitive. "Please get to safety, Ma'am. Cooperate with us."
"I'm safe. My husband is here and protects me from intruders," said the woman, who didn't move.
The men drew guns equipped with silencers and pointed them at the naked woman. "On the ground!"
Trembling, the blue-haired followed the request. She dropped to her knees and stared at the red spots on the creature's face, breathing heavily. "Please..." she pleaded softly.
"Shi! I need you!" the monster shouted, and the men pointed their weapons at her.
"What did you say?!" roared the closest.
"My husband will be right here."
The next moment the farthest man collapsed and hit his head on the floor. The other two spun around looking for an attacker. "Is she?!" one of them asked shrilly.
"No idea!"
The blue-haired woman looked over her shoulder. Two red-glowing spots appeared from the shadows, and the second man collapsed. The red dots moved toward the last remaining man, who opened fire. Dull beats sounded as the bullets hit the body.
A hand shot forward and grabbed the gun on the barrel, whereupon it crumbled. The shooter took a step back, drew a knife and held it ready to fight. A man stepped into the moonlight, but his face was hidden by the shadows. He made a lunge to the gunman, who in turn attacked and stabbed. They could hear the knife slicing meat and a smacking when it slid into the oni's chest, but he didn't care and grabbed the knife-fighter's head with both hands.
"You can't kill me, human!" he hissed in a smoky voice as the man began to moan. In the moonlight, the blue-haired could see the skin turning gray until the body crumbled to dust.
"Everything all right, child?" the woman's voice asked behind her.
The young woman was still staring at the man, who was now looking at her. Now she realized that his face was not covered by shadows. He had none. His head was just a black skull with two red-glowing spots as eyes.
With a fiercely throbbing heart, her head spun around, whereupon she noticed that the monster had come closer. She slipped across the floor in panic, dragging an ice trail behind her until she struck a tree, whereupon ice began to spread.
"Please! Don't!" she wailed as the two figures walked side by side.
"Are you all right, darling?" the man asked as he stroked the chin part of the mask.
"Yes. Nothing happened to me." Both looked at the blue-haired. "What are we going to do with her?"
"Let's chase her away. I have to dispose of the bodies." He took a step forward, but the female creature put a sickle on his shoulder.
"Look at her. She is so helpless. She doesn't even know what she is." Fuming for breath, the young woman looked back and forth between them.
"That's what happened to all of us."
"Maybe it's time for a change."
For a moment he looked at the young, naked woman, anxiously pressing herself against the tree with rime spreading on its surface. "What are you thinking, Sa-chan?"
"I talked to Kira about it. We should form a community."
"We've already tried that. It doesn't work," he interrupted her in a certain voice.
"This time we'll do better. Organized." A sickle pointed to the blue-haired. "She will be the first oni of a new generation. A more peaceful generation."
"She has already licked blood. Damn, I just killed three people," Shi hissed.
The insect-like creature sighed. "You have protected your family."
"We could have handed her over to them. So far, the hunters haven't suspected us." He turned and looked at the creature reproachfully. "You endangered our camouflage, Sachiko."
"Please, Shi. Let us try. Take her in and train her." She gave the young woman a compassionate look. "Let's give her a home and a future." Puzzled, the ice-oni looked at the interlocutors. What did all this mean?
Shi studied her for a little while before nodding. "All right. Let's try." He turned to Sachiko. "But to make this clear: she's your responsibility. You take care of her. I'll take care of the hunters now."
"Thank you, Shi." He nodded and went to the next dead man, whom he let fall to dust with a single touch. The beetle-like legs carried the creature over to the blue-haired, who was still clinging to the tree. "Hello, child. I am Sachiko. What is your name?"
The young woman squinted over to Shi, who took care of the third man. She looked at the monster again. "What are you?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"I am an oni. Exactly like you."
"I'm not like you!" the blue-haired screamed as she turned her face away.
Sachiko put her sickles in front of her torso, just like a praying mantis. "Of course you are not exactly like me." She looked at the ice crystals that had spread around the other oni. "You command the ice and the cold, but you're also an oni."
"I'm not a monster!" the young woman sobbed as her tears froze to icy shapes.
"The monsters were those men who wanted to kill you, because you are different. I don't mean you any harm. I will invite you to my house. There I will let you bathe and give you clothes. I will give you a meal and a sleeping place. Tonight you should be safe and have no one to fear. And tomorrow we'll see what's next."
The young woman thought about it. She had woken up in a forest. She has had a confusing dream, in which she was a beast chasing humans and other beasts. She woke up beside the torn body of a woman. She had touched the lifeless body, but it was turned to ice immediately. Full of panic she fled - everything she touched became ice.
She hid, but shortly thereafter four men appeared and attacked her. In self-defense she had killed one of them and fled from the others.
She looked at the dust piles that had been living, breathing humans a few minutes ago. This thing, this Shi, had killed them without hesitation. Probably these men would have done the same to her if they would have had the opportunity.
"I don't know what to do," the blue-haired wailed as more tears froze on her cheeks. "I don't know what's happening here. I'm afraid."
"It's all right. This is how it is for all oni when they have transformed. We are suddenly stranded in a strange world without knowing who we are. I want to change that. I want to help the oni. I want to help you." The mantis voice was soft and warm.
The ice oni looked up at her with icy eyes. "I don't know who I am."
"You are my little ice princess. I'll name you Yukiko, child of the snow."