"What is your name?"
"Tsuyuri Kanao."
"... How old are you?"
"Turning ten this year."
"... So you're the one answering for her?"
"Yes." Kanzaki Aoi nodded at Yuna, who was sitting across from her. Aoi was sitting beside a young girl named Tsuyuri Kanao, a former slave who was brought home by the Kochou sisters a few months ago. "She never speaks after all."
"My name is Kisaragi Yuna." Yuna said to Kanao while pointing to herself. Kanao simply stared at her, clueless. "Kanae-san really likes butterfly hairpins, doesn't she? Kanao looks so cute with that hairpin."
Aoi nodded, chuckling a bit.
"You're right. By the way, Yuna-san..." Aoi trailed off, eyes looking at Yuna with worry. Yuna looked back at her, tilting her head.
"Are you sure you don't have to head back soon? The Wind Pillar is waiting for you, right?"
"Oh... I'll just make up some excuses later."
"... Are you sure he's not going to double your training?"
Yuna scratched her neck. Both of her arms were wrapped with bandages and there were some cuts on her cheeks.
"You're right." Yuna sighed.
"Um... Yuna-san, you got beaten up quite a lot before you met Shinazugawa-san, right?" Aoi asked, clearly aware of Yuna's past. "Doesn't getting beaten up by Shinazugawa-san reminds you of those times?"
"Ah, um, you don't have to answer that! I'm sorry, I must've hit a sensitive topic!" Aoi flailed her arms around and bowed at Yuna, earning a confused look from Kanao.
"It's fine, the past is the past. I don't think about it anymore." Yuna comforted Aoi, patting her shoulder. She smiled at her. "I'm so touched, knowing that someone is worried for me."
"It's true that he's as violent as those who beat me up, but I never thought of him like them." Yuna said.
"I know he's doing it for my sake so it doesn't really bother me. In fact, I enjoy getting beaten by him."
"... Um, I'm concerned so please don't enjoy it..." Aoi muttered and Yuna kept smiling.
"Well then, I guess I should go back now." Yuna stood up.
"Bye-bye, Kanao." She waved at the younger girl, who still didn't reply to her.
Yuna said her goodbye to Aoi before leaving the estate. She walked back to her master's house.
"I'm back."
"Got your wounds treated yet?" Yuna could hear Sanemi's voice from inside while she's taking off her footwear.
"Yes."
Yuna walked into the main room and she saw Sanemi chewing on a piece of ohagi, which she made earlier in the morning. She stared at him, which made him raise his brows.
"What?" He asked, plopping another ohagi into his mouth.
"You know, seeing how often you eat ohagi..." Yuna trailed off. She caught a familiar crow flying past the window so she turned her head to the window.
Sanemi hummed, telling her to go on with her sentence.
"You have to watch your sugar intake." Yuna said, looking back at him. Sanemi gave her a look of disbelief.
"Did you just say that to me?" He asked.
"I guess you wouldn't care..." Yuna muttered. "I'll be the one who look after your sugar intake then."
Sanemi's wide eyes stared at Yuna, who was looking at the window again.
"... WHAT ARE YOU, MY MOTHER?!"
"Oh, I was right!" She exclaimed when she saw the crow again. She immediately turned around and ran out from the room.
"Shinazugawa-san, I'm going to Kimura-san's house now!" She exclaimed.
"The hell?! Your training for today isn't finished yet! You want me to slaughter your ass that bad?!"
"Shinazugawa-san always beats me up every day so I'm already used to it!"
"YOU LITTLE-"
"See you later, Shinazugawa-san!"
"GET BACK HERE!"
Feeling something dangerous chasing behind, Yuna grabbed her footwear and flew out from the house. She couldn't get caught now, especially when she finally got to see the family she's grown fond of.
After she was away from the house, she slipped into her footwear and continued running, accompanied by the crow. A smile was unknowingly plastered on her face as she headed to her destination.
Excitement got the best of her to the point she outran the crow and arrived in less than ten minutes.
"Yuna-chan!"
Yuna's amber eyes lit up in delight as soon as she saw the couple by their house. A baby boy, who was sucking on his thumb, raised his head at Yuna. He gave a wide grin, reaching out toward her.
"Uah!"
Yuna stopped just beside the couple, not feeling tired at all. She looked at the five months old Akira.
"Hi there!" Yuna smiled widely.
•••
"If Yuna-chan become a demon hunter... Then doesn't it mean you won't be able to come here again?" Eri asked, lips curled downward.
"I don't know... But if I don't have any mission then I can come, right?" Yuna asked, her hands playing with Akira's little ones.
"Of course! You're always welcome here! I won't even mind if you live here!" Eri beamed and grinned. "I think of you as my own daughter."
"I'm... happy to hear that." Yuna smiled.
"I thought that something about you is different, and I guess I was right!" Eri said.
"What is different about me?"
"You smile a lot more now! Like, a lot, lot more than before!" Eri smiled.
Yuna herself knew that. She realized that she has been expressing herself more. She wondered what or who caused her to change like this. Was it her aunt's death? Or was it Sanemi and the others?
"I'm really excited to see you all because I miss you so much." Yuna said.
"Awww!!! You should really be my daughter!"
The two chatted together while playing with the baby boy. When Kimura returned home, Eri and Akira looked sad to the point it made the man feel bad for returning to his own house.
"Yuna-chan, let me walk you home." Kimura said.
"No, it's fine. Besides, the house I lived in now is much more farther than mine." Yuna said.
"That's another reason to take you home. The villagers here have been claiming that they saw a demon." He frowned.
"Don't worry, I can just run from it." She smiled.
"See you, Kimura-san." She bowed at him before turning around and running away.
"Ah, Yuna-chan!" Kimura called out but she was nowhere to be seen. "Wow, how fast."
Yuna ran through the dark street. The only source of light was the lanterns hung in front of the shops. Some people were still outside, gathering and talking together.
Yuna paid no attention and ran past them. As she was running, she passed by her house and stopped. She looked at the run-down building.
"... Better go back soon before-"
Yuna instinctively moved her body aside. As soon as she did that, someone charged past her, blowing a gust of wind toward her.
She turned her head around and saw an animal, down on its four limbs. Its body was shaking.
No, it wasn't an animal.
Kimura's words echoed inside her head.
"The villagers here have been claiming that they saw a demon."
Yuna turned her head back and made a run toward Sanemi's house. She was unarmed, she didn't even bring a rope with her. If she did, she could probably practice what Sanemi has taught her about tying a demon up and leaving it until sunrise.
Yuna looked back and saw nothing behind her. The demon didn't chase her. She breathed out a sigh of relief and kept running.
The demon snapped its head toward the scent its nose picked up. It could smell two... three people in the distance. Wasting no time, it dashed toward the direction where the scent came from.
The clueless three men were laughing as they talked together. One of them noticed something running toward them.
"Hey... Watch out! A fox!"
Before he could alert his companions, the demon launched itself toward one of them, biting on his neck.
"AHHH!!!"
"A p-person?!" The men gasped when they got a clear look of the demon. A long, messy haired woman with dilated pupils and sharp fangs.
"W-what are you doing?!"
"Stop! We have to run!"
"B-but-"
"Help! Please help!"
The two men watched their friend reaching out toward them. Blood was splattered on his face and tears streamed down to his cheeks.
One of the man ran toward the demon, punching its face. He tried to pry it away from his friend.
The demon hissed at him and slashed her claw at him, making him scream as he held his face.
The other man, who wasn't wounded, was trembling in his spot with sweat coming out from his forehead. He took a step back, eyes watching the demon in horror. Then, he turned around.
A loud scream rang through his ears and he snapped his head toward the demon. His eyes widened when he saw a familiar figure kicking the demon away from his friend.
"... Ki... saragi...?"
The demon fell to the grounds and Yuna landed on her feet, wobbling. She panted, feeling the adrenaline rushing inside her.
"Go- Please- Keep-" She couldn't think of what she should say.
"Why were you out at midnight when the villagers have said that there are demons in this area?!" She ended up scolding the three men.
"Ah- Wound... Stitch-" She pointed to the heavily injured man beside her. Before she could say anything more, the demon flew toward her.
Yuna crouched down, barely dodging the demon who just jumped over her.
"Hurry up and go!" She yelled toward the men.
The three immediately helped each other to leave from the place. The noises they caused were heard by the villagers. Some of them opening the windows to look at the commotion.
"Close the windows! Don't come out at all cost!" Yuna yelled as she dodged another attack.
"There's a man-eating demon here!"
Hearing her words, they immediately secured their windows and doors in fear.
Yuna stumbled back, eyes never leaving the demon. She cursed inside her mind, she should've asked for a rope before telling them to close the windows. More importantly, why does she, a thirteen years old girl, have to protect some adults from a demon? Shouldn't it be the opposite?
Yuna ran away from there, successfully luring the demon away from the shops.
What should I do now?
If I fight without any weapon, I won't be able to win... Should I run to Shinazugawa-san's house? What if there are more people one the way there?
Distracted by her own thoughts, she didn't realize the demon catching up behind her. When the demon took a hold of her arm, her eyes widened in horror.
She turned her head around and was greeted by the demon's widely opened jaws along with its sharp teeths.
She couldn't react at all.
If a brick didn't come flying toward the demon, her head would've been bitten off from her neck.
The demon growled in pain as the brick fell to the grounds. Yuna immediately yanked her arm away from the demon, ripping her sleeve in the process. She created some distance between them and turned her head to a man.
She recognized him. He was one of the three men from earlier, the one who wasn't injured.
He was her former coworker.
The man who spread the rumor about Yuna being a thief. (Refers to I.7)
Yuna snapped her head toward the demon who charged toward the man. Yuna dashed forward, putting heavy pressure on her legs, making her faster than ever. Before the demon could bite the man, Yuna reached out toward the demon's neck.
Clearly inexperienced, Yuna ended up shoving her right arm right into the demon's mouth. She stood behind the demon, holding it back while its fangs dug into her flesh.
She really didn't know what to do. When she encounters a demon before, Sanemi was there for her to give instructions.
What did he tell me to do? What did I do before? What did I do to restrain the demon?
The panic caused her brain to stop functioning.
"Kisaragi, your arm!"
Yuna noticed that the demon was biting harder. She moved away from behind the demon and brought her right arm down to the grounds, making the demon collide with the grounds. The demon loosened its jaws and Yuna retracted her arm. She kicked the demon's chin, while both of her arms were holding its arms.
"Now that she couldn't use her damned mouth..." Yuna mumbled.
"What to do next...?" Her eyebrows furrowed deeply.
"Fucking brain..."
I'm sorry, Shinazugawa-san. I'll train harder from now on so please just smack something inside my head now... What should I do, Shinazugawa-san...?
A flash of white suddenly passed by Yuna's eyes, along with a sound of a blade cutting a flesh.
It all happened in a second.
Yuna looked at the chopped off neck below her feet. The demon's head was already away from its neck. Her foot, which was right above the demon's neck was fine, no scratches at all.
There was a sound of someone sheathing his blade.
Yuna looked at the person, who looked calm as if nothing happened.
"Tch. What is a little girl like you doing in the middle of the night? Fighting a demon on top of that... Are you trying to play hero?"
Yuna couldn't find anything normal from this person.
But the most unusual thing was probably the white snake around his neck.
The young man's green and orange eyes stared at Yuna. His mouth were covered in bandages.
"You still have long to live, kid. Don't go wasting your live around."
Yuna blinked. She turned her head toward her former coworker. He was kneeling on the grounds, trembling.
"Are you crazy?" Yuna asked him.
"... Actually kid, you're the one who's crazy here."
"Why didn't you run away? You might have been killed earlier!" Yuna shouted.
"You saved me again, Kisaragi..." He mumbled.
"I... can't possibly let someone younger helps me again and again, can I?" The man let out a small, relieved smile.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Yuna asked with a frown.
"Thanks to you... I still have my job and I... I'm still alive." He said. "I can't stand by doing nothing when someone who has helped me is in danger."
Yuna stared at him in disbelief.
"You're crazy." She scoffed at him before turning around. She locked eyes with the young man in stripped haori beside her.
"You should've thanked this person instead of me." Yuna mumbled.
She bowed at the young man who saved her. She looked at the white snake around his neck, who was staring intently at her. She also bowed at the snake before walking away.
"What's wrong Kaburamaru?" Yuna could hear his voice.
"Oh, hey kid, you're injured. You have to get it treated before- What a bratty kid." He mumbled when Yuna was already gone.
Yuna ignored him and ran as fast as she could to Sanemi's house. As soon as she arrived at the empty house, she ran to the courtyard, grabbing a wooden sword laying on the grounds. She swung it as hard as she could.
Weak.
Coward.
Useless.
She yelled many insults inside her mind while swinging her sword against a big tree. Blood trickled down from her arms but she didn't care.
I shouldn't have taken Shinazugawa-san's training lightly.
She swung her sword.
I should have been able to fight that demon.
She swung her sword.
I shouldn't have run away.
With one last swing, the wooden sword in her hand broke in two and the tip flew away from her.
"I can't stand by doing nothing when someone who has helped me is in danger."
"What the hell..." Yuna gritted her teeth.
"I didn't help you so you could help me back." She clenched her fists.
People helped us so they could get something in return. So if I helped someone and they helped me in return, doesn't that make me the same as them?
"... I'm not like them."
Yuna threw away her sword, taking another one which Sanemi usually uses. She swung the sword around, each swings getting stronger and stronger.
I couldn't think clearly earlier. Even if I tried as hard as I can to think, my brain won't work.
My body reacted by instinct but I was too panicked so I screwed up and ended up injuring my arm.
That man wasn't even slightly surprised. He could cut its neck with ease even though my foot was in the way. How did he bend his sword like that?
His breaths, they were even and stable. Even after moving quickly like that, his breaths weren't even hitched.
Rather than feeling down and doubting herself, she trained. She told herself that she'll get stronger so she wouldn't have to be saved anymore.
"Oi, why are you up at this time?"
Sanemi, who just returned from his mission, frowned while watching his disciple swinging her sword around. When he looked at her eyes, he raised a brow.
Her eyes looked blank but focused at the same time. Her moves were sharper than usual and her arm... was bleeding.
"You idiot! What happened to your arm?!" Sanemi yelled, running toward her.
When Yuna swung her sword toward his direction, a strong gust of wind hit Sanemi's face, blowing his hair around.
He stared at her with wide eyes.
Her move was as good as a breathing form and she didn't have any difficulties in maintaining her breaths. He clearly hasn't teach her how to do the breathing technique.
Did she just use one?
"Shinazugawa-san, please come at me with all you've got!" Yuna exclaimed.
"What?!"
Sanemi released his sheathed blade from his belt and used it to block Yuna's wooden sword.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
"Once more!"
She delivered another blow toward him, which he easily deflects.
"Once more!"
"Once more!"
"Once-"
"GET THAT GODDAMN INJURY TREATED FIRST YOU SHITHEAD!!!"
With a blow to the back of her head, Sanemi knocked Yuna out cold and caught her body. He carried her on his shoulder and walked into his house.
"... Ah!"
"The fuck?! You're still awake?!"
Sanemi was about to hit her again but when he noticed she has calmed down, he didn't do it. He placed Yuna on the floors carefully and went to grab the medications. After he took the first aid kit, he sat down in front of her.
"Are you going to treat my injuries?" Yuna asked.
"Are you in a condition to do it by-"
"Yes, I can do it myself."
"STAY STILL!"
"I just feel like... if I let you treat my wounds, they'll end up getting worse." Yuna said.
"If you don't shut up then I might do that."
Yuna shut her mouth immediately.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do." Sanemi said as he wiped her blood with the cloth.
"Wow." Yuna exclaimed.
"I didn't notice this until now but my arm's hurting so bad, it could fall apart anytime soon."
"Can you not say that with such a deadpan look?" Sanemi growled, annoyed at that habit of hers.
"Did you hurt yourself while training? I didn't know a wooden sword can make you bleed like this." Sanemi asked.
"It was a demon."
"WHAT?!"
"And please don't forbid me from going to Kimura-san's house."
"... Tch. What happened?"
After telling him the whole story, Yuna could even feel Sanemi's dark aura even though she wasn't looking at him.
"Playing hero, aren't you...?" He asked with an eerie smile. "Trying to fight a demon with bare hands? My, how fucking bold of my stupid, idiot, dumbass, shitty disciple."
"... Um, please just use one insult at a time."
"Shut up."
"Okay."
Sanemi huffed as he dabbed the cotton on Yuna's arm.
"But what you did wasn't wrong." Sanemi said, making Yuna raise her head to look at him.
"Helping others is what demon hunters are supposed to do. If you have the conscience to do that, then you're already prepared to be a hunter." He said. "You're just stupidly reckless for fighting a demon without any weapon."
"So what's troubling you so much?" He asked.
"There are so many things but I guess it's because I'm weak." Yuna said. "I keep getting helps from people and it frustrates me."
"... That's why I told you I can treat myself." Yuna reached out to Sanemi's hand.
"STAY. STILL."
Sanemi sighed.
"What are you, an idiot? You only trained for a month, of course you're still weak." He asked. "Anyway, what's wrong with getting helps from people? And here I thought you have already thrown away that kind of thinking..."
"I... don't know. I'm fine with helping people but I just... I don't like it if they help me in return." Yuna said.
"Doing anything by yourself won't get you anywhere. You of all people should have known that." Sanemi said.
Yuna kept silent. Sanemi's words were true. She has always been doing things by herself and she didn't get any results. Everything changed after she met Sanemi, everything changed after he helped her.
Yuna blinked in realization.
Shinazugawa-san always helps me without asking for anything in return. But then I feel bad if I don't do something for him so I started taking care of him and his house... Even though he didn't ask for it.
I see... That's just how it is...
"I asked you to train me because I trust you." Yuna muttered. "I guess I have been depending on you..."
"I can't seem to think clearly because my head is spinning... I wonder why..." Yuna sighed.
"You're losing blood, idiot. If you can use breaths then you should try to stop the bleeding." Sanemi said.
"What are you talking about...? If I couldn't breath then I would've been dead..." Yuna said and Sanemi rolled his eyes.
Yuna's eyelids started to get heavier as Sanemi bandaged her arms.
"Placing your trust on someone can make them feel happy, you know."
When Yuna's body fell forward, Sanemi caught her in time. He scooped her into his arms and stood up.
"... At least that's how I feel."