Chapter 1: Prologue (plus important info on this monster au)
Chapter Text
*Firstly any and all art linked is by rottencoreflesh101 and yuki2sksksk on Tumblr.
*Secondly and this is VERY important!! The designs for the monsters linked ARE NOT the cannon ones used in the story!! I repeat my designs for them are different and I only linked the ones by other artists to give others an idea for what they MIGHT look like!! I do not claim these designs linked and they ARE NOT the designs used for the story!! Only to give a brief idea of what they are!!
This will tell you all about this small AU.
Hey everyone. In honor of Halloween I thought I'd bring you a second installment for Demon Slayer fans. But this time it'll be a bit different. Instead of a long storyline there will be just a few chapters and then multiple endings with all the Demon love interests from Demon Bride. Sorry for Haishira Lovers. I might do one with the Haishira cast in the future but I just really like the Demon Cast. This is just the summery chapter to introduce you to this small AU and what everyone's roles are in this storyline. I shall now refer to it as the Monster Bride au. Some designs are inspired by rottencoreflesh101 and yuki2sksksk on Tumblr but THIS IS A COMPLETELY different au from their monster au and nothing about their au is cannon to mine except maybe the monsters. With that out of the way let's get into the important info!
*What makes the Monster Bride AU different than the Demon Bride Au?
Well it's kinda like Demon Bride only all the demons are some kind of monster instead of a demon. Except all are intelligent races that can reproduce with humans (think Hotel Transylvania type of monsters). However in this au the Monster population is MUCH bigger than the human population and not everyone knows it. In order to keep peace, Kagaya's family runs a monster hunting business and they can be both hired by people to slay certain monsters or they slay them themselves. ONLY THE HOSTILE ONES HOWEVER. Kagaya has made it his mission to improve relationships with monsters and humans and only attack the hostile ones.
However some villages placate monsters by leaving offerings of food or their daughters as brides. However once every hundred years when there's a full blood moon, the monsters come out to drag away their wanted brides whether the unfortunate victim wants them or not.
(I like the bride trope don't mock me pls-)
Also not all the humans believe in monsters. Monsters are often VERY elusive so a lot of people still don't believe in them or don't know what to believe.
*Who are all the Haishira in Monster Bride?
All of them are just regular humans as in cannon but instead of just demon slayer they're all monster hunters.
-Kaygaya and his family has inherited the organization from his deceased father and run the entire thing to help people however in retaliation, Kagaya was cursed by a witch long ago with blindness. However the kind man doesn't blame all monsters and tries to help improve relationships by sending letters to the Monster King Muzan...Even if he never gets letters back.
-the Kocho Sisters plus Aoi and their helpers run the research and development sector of the organization. They sell everything from garlic to wolfsbane to breaking curses. Kaneo, Shinobu, and Kanae are also monster hunters specialists after a monster claimed the lives of their parents. Often relying on Shinobu's weird concoctions or traps They also receive samples of DNA and sometimes live monsters and/or their bodies from Kanae's fiance Sanemi and his brother or Shinobu's partner Giyuu. Kanae also believed that most monsters deserves a chance to be heard out even if her sisters and fiance disagrees.
-Sanemi, Genya, and Gyomei are some of the powerhouses in the organization and they usually handle the bigger problems or bigger monsters such as ogers or werewolves. Gyomei is actually the one training Genya after a demon attacked his temple leading him to join the organization. Sanemi and Genya joined not too longer after they had gotten old enough too after a tragedy with a vampire. A stray vampire had turned their mother leading her to slay most of their family aside from the two brothers. Gyomei is also an exorcist and helps to remove ghosts or helps the poor souls move on. He's also one of the teachers who teach the new recruits.
-Rengoku and Tengen often work together and can be quite a team. It is said Rengoku's family was blessed by a Phoenix spirit long ago giving his family the signature red hair. The two are the fastest of the monster slayers and are usually the ones to take jobs around towns or villages with monster problems. Sometimes they will be seen with Mitsuri is they need extra muscle.
-Mitsuri is the strongest and most flexible hunter and is the one who handles the REALLY big monsters like giants or dragons if they get too close to towns however she's also the negotiater between humans and monsters. If there's ever a situation that they can solve peacefully usually she's the one called to talk to the monster. She's also the one who's responsible for rehoming the tame magical creatures if they get too close to humans such as unicorns or jackolopes.
-Iguro is an expert hunter and usually has to help Gyomei teach the new hunters. He doesn't like it however. He is secretly dating Mitsuri after a cupid shot him with a confession arrow while the two were alone. Therefore he hates things like love potions and cupids. He literally dives under the nearest biggest object of he thinks he sees one. His expertise is hunting nagas and other reptile like monsters due to one killing most of his family and leaving him scared. The only monster he really won't say anything bad about is ghosts because he often sees them as poor lost souls.
-Tanjiro, Inosuke, Nezuko, and Zenitsu are monster hunters in training after one monster or another claimed the lives of their families. Zenitsu might have a crush on Nezuko which Tanjiro has mixed feelings about. He can often be seen training with the Tokito twins or being mentored by someone. Both Tokito boys were taken in by Gyomei after their parents died of natural causes
-Guyuu is a hunter that specializes in water based monsters. Rogue mermaids, sirens, water elementals, maybe even a young kraken or two. He's seen them all and can often be seen soaking wet from missions and dragging the carcus of some water dweller behind him for Shinobu and her sisters to study.
*Who are the Demons in Monster Bride?
All are some kind of monster but they're personalities are the same as cannon.
Muzan Kibutsuji
-The king of all monsters and non-human beings.
-He's part demon and part fae so he is INCREDIBLY powerful and handsome.
-his blood can be used to give blessings or curses however he can also turn a human into any monster he wishes. Was the one to turn Kokushibo into a monster.
-Lives in his own pocket dimension known as the infinity castle and rarely shows himself due to a secret fear of humans made by Yorichii. The only human he completely trusts is his wife Rei.
-Has a semi deal with the humans. If any creature invades their territory or causes harm then they are free game.
-Doesnt really make an appearance in the story.
Kokushibo
-Muzans right hand man and spy for anything he needs. Was turned into a monster by Muzan after willingly rejecting his humanity to become stronger.
-Was human however he was turned into an Omukade (centipede yokai) by Muzan. He looks like the links ago.
-Out of all the monsters Kokushibo has slain the most hunters and is the most skilled fighter. Often using ambush attacks, being silent but deadly, and his lethal venom.
-He acts as Muzan's assistant doing anything he needs outside of the infinity castle
-He is also Kaigaku's mentor and raised him after finding him abandoned as a child.
-He can switch to his human form but it's incredibly painful
Douma
-Douma is possibly the second monster that has the most interactions with humans. He's a kelpie-centaur seen like in the links below
-Douma has exactly 3 forms. His human form, centaur-ish form, and water form where his horse back legs turn into a fish tail. He can breath underwater, and use his skin like glue when he wills it so. He often likes to pretend to be a centaur or human to catch prey off guard or visit Akaza in his body of water.
-Douma rules over a pretty large lake that's just chalk FULL of fish and other wild life. Surrounding villages think he is some kind of water god and make sacrifices in exchange for letting them take fish from his lake. He devours any sacrifice his lovely followers gift him although raw beef and human flesh is his favorites.
-he likes bothering Akaza as he's one of the few monsters that'll pay attention to him mostly by yelling or fights.
-He has a special relationship with Daki and Gyutaro. Mostly because he partially raised them after their mother attempted to drown Gyutaro in his lake. He ended up drowning her instead and devouring her body. However he took mercy upon the siblings when realizing that they weren't human either.
-He often drags big fish to their forest home or sometimes brings them his human sacrifices. Was also the one to give Gyutaro tips on navigating around hunters if he encountered them.
Akaza
-Akaza is a Betta fish merman like seen in the links below
-Was actually born into a human village with a poor father whom fell in love with a mermaid. It is unclear what happened to his mother however his father tragically took his own life.
-Was once engaged to a human woman called Koyuki but a group of male villagers murdered both her and her father after learning of her monster fiance. After murdering all the ones responsible, Akaza fled to the safety of a nearby series of streams where he continues to live.
-Because of his experiences from humans, Akaza drowns any unsuspecting men whom wonder into his waters but spares women and children. However he remains unseen so everyone just thinks the series of streams are cursed.
-Met Douma when the kelpie-centaur attempted to eat a woman who was fishing in one of his streams. Akaza was luckily able to save her but now Douma somehow sees him as his 'best friend' and continues to make numerous trips a year to see him. Akaza hates him for his eating habits.
Nakime
-Not much is known about her. Her identity is mostly secret to everyone but Muzan.
-He is a cyclops siren hybrid but instead of her voice her power stems from her musical talent for the biwa.
-was taken in by Muzan after he saved her from a hunter and she now dutifully serves him mostly by transporting him and his family about the areas.
-was rumored to once be a famous entertainer for a king
Hantengu And His Sons
Hantengu:
-Hantengu is a shadow elemental often using his abilities to hide in the shadows and whimper and cry until one of his sons find him and brings him home again. He can also shrink his size and has a slight victim complex.
-Was married long ago to a harpy woman who bore him fives sons. However she was tragically killed by some humans when caught stealing a cow when Zohakuten was a baby.
-The death of his wife has made him fear humans more and make his sons very protective of him.
Sekido
-The oldest quadruplet brother and the angriest.
-A lightning elemental. He is 100% immune to lightning and often can be found outside in thunderstorms
-He's the leader of the brothers even if Urogi and Karaku don't always listen to him.
-Surprisingly doesn't hate humans but finds them really, really, REALLY weak and annoying and if one would annoy him he wouldn't hesitate to taze them.
Karaku:
-The second eldest brother and the one with the most experience with humans.
-He has actually dated quite a lot of men and women humans
-Wind elemental
-The most carefree flirty brother and doesn't get along with Gyutaro after flirting with Daki once and then being chased by an angry wendigo brother.
Urogi:
-Urogi is a golden eagle harpy being the only one who took after their mother and the third oldest
-Also the second friendliest of the brothers and like Karaku has had a few relationships with them.
-LOVES hunting prey. Everything from rabbits to giant bears. It's the birds of prey in him.
-Unlike Karaku however he knows how to tone it down more and laughs whenever he's chased by another's angry partner.
Aizetsu:
-Metal elemental and youngest of the quadruplets.
-Aizetsu is the weakest of his brothers being only able to use the iron in his body to create weapons however his favorite is a spear he usually carries in his back.
-Being the weakest has him being self conscious of himself despite his kind demeanor
-He enjoys any compliments or praise he gets and often gets crushed easily.
Zohakuten:
-Tree elemental and the youngest brother of the Hantengu boys. Can manipulate wood and trees.
-The strongest of the brothers despite being only fourteen years old.
-He's as hotheaded as Sekido and often the two will fight and but heads even though they do legitimately care for one another. However his closest brother is Aizetsu whom listens to him. He's also the one who usually stays home with their father.
-Has five earth dragons as pets and gave them all tree names: Maple, Oak, Pine, Birch, and Willow. They were gifted to him as babies by Urogi whom found them while hunting.
Gyokko
-Was a merman mutated by a curse for stealing a vase from a sea witch, is now a spirit cursed to forever haunt the vase he once stole.
-Despite his appearance he's surprisingly content and often just wants to be left alone to work on his own artwork.
-VERY gay for Hantengu
-Doesnt really show up in the story
Gyutaro
-a wendigo born from a wendigo father and human mother. Looks like the links below
-theres not really a lot of his kind left due to humans constantly hunting them. So he's usually on edge especially when it comes to his little sister. No human or monster is allowed near her except for Douma who half raised them as kids. He's also very self conscious about his appearance due to not getting enough food sometimes.
-hates humans for their treatment of him and the fact their mother attempted to drown him as a child. Although...he finds a few human women very pretty looking. Y/n in particular. Not as beautiful as his sister though!
-he secretly likes having someone scratch behind his ears. His tail thumps when someone does scratch him there
Daki
-Daki is a beautiful albino fuzzy drider (spider centaur creature) born from a human mother and drider father and looks like the art linked below
-despite a spider's reputation, many creatures both human and non-human alike have come to try and court her. Most are usually caught in her webs for food or run off or killed by her older brother. The only creature they both welcome unconditionally is Douma who partially raised them and often brings food if they haven't eaten in a while.
-her views on humans is...mixed. she adores the jewelry and cloth they make and her brother seems to have a crush on one. Plus some are delicious! But on the other hand they're really REALLY annoying.
-He's often very vain and complains a lot but is very protective of her brother for how much his kind is hated and hunted by humans so she often puts up web traps around their home.
Enmu
-Corrupted sandman, A K.A. Boogeyman. This man used to work for the man in the moon but would torment the poor souls he was supposed to help sleep by giving them traumatic nightmares. After he was caught he was immediately kicked out and banned from the moon's light.
-knows many kinds of tricks including hypnotism and a few medical techniques from being around humans for so long.
-he's nocturnal and usually sleeps in the shadows or somewhere dark during the day to walk around and torment others dreams at night. However he was surprised to find someone not affected by his abilities.
-he adores the human invention of trains and thus is often spotted sleeping hidden away in train stations or on trains or tormenting sleeping people on trains.
Kaigaku
-Kaigaku is the only known demon-vampire hybrid and was abandoned by his parents as a young child. Was later found by Kokushibo and trained him to use a sword.
-He's not very powerful amongst other monsters but is definitely faster and stronger than a human. He also doesn't need blood to live like a full blooded vampire however he drinks it to make himself more powerful. Different monster's blood has different effects on him.
-Despite his blood thirsty heritage he adores peaches and any food with the fruit in it. He's actually gotten in trouble a lot for trespassing onto human farms for the fruit and was chased away by angry villagers.
-his demon half cancels out most of his vampire halfs weakness. So while he CAN walk in sunlight he's prone to get sunburns very easily. More than once he's shown up to training with red patches all over him.
Susamaru and Yahaba
-both are yokai whom work for Muzan
-they usually just protect his human wife and child whenever they go out and Kokushibo can't accompany them
-they surprisingly work well together
-they don't appear in the story
Kyogai
-Elf-demon hybrid and is actually pretty weak. Is the reason he prefers to remain hidden in his forest mansion and write.
-his two main hobbies are writing and playing the Tsuzumi drum even though he's not very confident about either because of his now deceased father's constant disapproval.
-Actually very neautal towards humans. He doesn't hate them but he doesn't want them around either preferring to just be better left alone. However he does go into monster friendly towns nearby to purchase more books or writing utensils.
-has secretly published MANY popular books under a fake name and has made a decent amount of money from it.
Rui
-Spider tiefling.
-He lives with his parents and many brothers and sisters in the forest and often they compete with driders for territory and food both being spider creatures.
-he's very much like his cannon self and doesn't make an appearance in this story but thought it'd be interesting to mention him anyways.
Honorable Mentions
-Rei is a human while her and Muzan's daughter is a mixture of demon, Fae, and human but looks completely human.
-Hairou is plain and simple a vampire.
-The Swamp Demon is of course a trio of Swamp Monster triplets.
-Yushiro is a fae. Either a fairy or elf.
*What is Tamayo in the AU?
A celestial maiden and Y/n's mother. She was very beautiful and many men attempted to work her, Muzan included before he met Rei years later. Instead she fell in love with a human before he tragically passed away.
She again fell in love with Y/n's father after healing him and years later Y/n was born. Those related to a celestial maiden are blessed with kindness and beauty and Y/n is no exception. And unlike Demon Bride, Y/n does have a good relationship with her parents.
I left whom Y/n's father is ambiguous so you can imagine if it's Yushiro or not.
*What is Y/n in Monster Bride?
Despite her mother being a celestial maiden, Y/n was born completely human. I also left what Y/n looks like completely up to interpretation. So imagine her to look however YOU want.
Now for the important bit...
VOTE WHICH MONSTER MAN YOU WANNA ROMANCE FIRST!!
There's gonna one ending/chapter per character. So choose wisely. Your options are-
Kokushibo, Douma, Akaza, Sekido, Urogi, Aizetsu, Karaku, Enmu, Kaigaku, Gyutaro, and Kyogai
Btw the guy that gets splashed with water is Mitsuri's old fiance because SCREW THAT HEARTLESS JERK!!
****************************************
Beware the blood moon that comes but once a year.
Beware the monsters who lurk and live amongst the world.
Beware of those who seek courtship from maidens.
For every one hundred years a blood moon appears red in the sky. Red like the maiden blood monsters seek out. Widows never remarry. Young women accept no courtship. Young brides check your husband's identities before your marriage ceremony. For monsters will drag you away. For monsters will trick you. For monsters will impersonate your true love just to make off with a beautiful bride. So lock your doors up tight when the blood moon appears. Barricade all your windows. Block up any chimneys. Hide away in your deepest closest. Arm yourself with your finest weapons. Speak not a word and be silent. Sleep not a wink and keep alert for they were all spirit you away.
Mischievous far. Blood thirsty vampires. Carnivorous werewolves. Fire breathing dragons. Scheming demons. And so many more.
Those who refuse to heed the warnings are fated to die to be spirited away never to be seen again. So hide away and don't make a sound. Never answer the door no matter what. And above all else be weary.
Beware. Beware. Beware. BEWARE-
SPLASH!!
Sputters and coughs came from the man before you as water was dumped all over him. You deadpanned stared at him and held up the now empty bucket in your hands. The man spat out some of the water before rubbing his eyes and stared at you from the wet hair clinging to his face. His entire kimono front, shoulders, and head was all wet. A waste of water. Oh well. At least it served some purpose.
"What the hell was THAT for?!," he demanded reaching up to remove his glasses and rub his face. He rubbed the glasses on his sleeve in an attempt to dry them.
You narrowed your eyes. "I told you four times now that I will not now and NEVER WILL marry you."
"And why not?! I'm educated and my family is well off! You'll be able to live comfortably. You're even lucky I chose you over everyone else so many times. After all you're the most beautiful woman in the surrounding countryside!"
"I'll marry someone when I feel like it!"
The glasses were placed back on his face now so he could fully see you properly as he scowled. "Tch. You're making a very big mistake. Every young lady and eligible aged woman is scrambling to get married before the blood moon next year. It's a tradition."
"No. It's fear. 'Every unmarried woman must be married before the blood moon every hundred years or else a monster will drag her away.' That's just a scare tactic men like YOU came up with to scare women into marriages that they don't want!"
"Do you WANT to die an old hag unmarried and unloved without children?!"
"I'd rather die an old hag then end up in a loveless marriage with someone like YOU!!" You then pointed back up the road back towards the town. Good thing you lived OUTSIDE of town so you're not constantly bothered. "NOW GET OFF MY FARM!! AND IF YOU COME BACK A FIFTH TIME I'LL HIT YOU WITH THE BUCKET TOO!!"
"Alright! I'm going! But mark my words! You'll end up regretting your decisions, Y/n Tamayo." He warned with a scowl. "Come next year you'll wish you would've accepted my offer and become a proper housewife."
With a final scowl he turned on his heel and began stopping back up the forest path back towards town. Good riddance. Now you had to get another bucket of water because of him. Who did he think he was trying to use scare tactics on you?!
"Smiley serpant. How stupid does he think I am? Everyone knows monsters don't exist."
Chapter 2: What Shall We Find? (QnA plus last chance to vote)
Summary:
(Just for context. After this there will one chapter and ending for each character except for the Hantengu boys which will end in a poly romance. If there's any suggestions for what you'd like to see them do feel free to leave them in the comments.
Also if you have any questions about the au feel free to ask away don't forget to vote which monster man you want next but YOU CAN'T VOTE TWICE!! Only people who haven't voted yet can vote.)
Chapter Text
You liked living alone.
No one to order you around. No one to say what you shouldn't and should do. No one scrutinizing yourself. It was a good life. Just you, nature, and the few farm animals you kept for company. It was a good life. Your parents were a bit concerned about you wanting to buy a house and live alone but considering your circumstances they agreed and purchased a home from an old farmer as a new year's present a few years back. It wasn't too big. Just two rooms including the bathroom and just a small space in the back for a few animals. Just it was perfect in your eyes. And it was just outside of town. Close enough to visit whenever you wanted but far enough to give you complete privacy in the woods. Which was EXACTLY what you wanted.
Unfortunately your life wasn't meant very easy.
From the moment you were born it seemed your life was going to be a problem for you. Mostly because it was almost like you had a spell casted over you to just have the worst of luck with men. Oh no. They weren't repulsed by you. Quite the opposite actually.
THEY WOULDN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE!!
Your parents must've had at least two hundred offers from other parents to arrange a marriage between you and their sons. Thank the gods above they were amazing and kind and always asked if you wanted any of the marriages. You refused so they refused. And you would still be bombarded with offers of other parents to boys just attempting to court you any chance they could get. It was one of the reasons why you chose to live all the way out here instead of in town where you'd just be bothered. Although men still occasionally showed up here. And sometimes an older man or woman would trying to talk you into marrying their sons. You always refused and made them leave no matter how polite, persistent, or rude they are. And boy. You've gotten a few rude guests you had to kick to the Kirb. But you also had the ones who couldn't take a hint like the one months ago. Stupid guy. He even tried to use that stupid tradition to get you to marry him.
For thousands of years, people married off their daughters and ladies desperately scrambled to find a husband obsessively in fear of a monster dragging them away from as the blood moon came every hundred years. WHICH WAS STUPID!! You've lived your ENTIRE LIFE playing in the woods and walking around and now living in the woods and not even ONCE did you ever see any ghoul, goblin, troll, fairy, ghost, or any other inhuman creature. They only existed in stories and the imagination of children. You hated that so many people were legitimately terrified of this. And you especially hated that someone tried to use that against you! You wouldn't be scared into a loveless marriage that wouldn't be fair to yourself. Or the man to be honest.
With a sigh you woke up that morning and did yours chores which wasn't a lot. Feeding the few animals you had and cleaning your house. Neither of which took very long because of how small your home was and then you started on the laundry. Again it wasn't much and you were just scrubbing a blanket in your home when there was a noise outside that made up you jump and whirl your head towards the back of your house. Your cow was mooing and thrashing about by the side of your house.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
You heard her knock and the kick the side of the house a few times making you drop the cloth and stand up as even MORE noises came from your backyard. Your chickens were going absolutely NUTS!! Clucking and calling a out making you run to the back door and throwing it open-
"AH!!"
Your arms threw up over your face and closing your eyes as a flurry of your hens jumped up and flew a out you in a panic.
CRASH!! THUD!! RUSTLE!!
Your cow mooed louder and ran past you towards the well on the side of your house as a giant black blue went diving into a bush right by your hen house causing feathers to fly and more chickens to rum about in panic blocking your view of...of...Well whatever it was. You blinked just seeing the bushes move and hearing whatever it was crashing through the woods away from you as quick as the wind. Leaving you standing there blinking with a few panicked chickens and your cow irritated and half hiding behind the well....
What in all the heavens just happened?!
The chickens were still running around as the last few crashing sounds made their way into the woods before it was silent all around. You stood there and just...blinked. What was that?! A bear? No, no. A bear was too big and bulky and couldn't run off THAT fast?! You looked around noticing that...no chickens were missing. All fifteen of your hens and one rooster was still around. Oh... Whatever it was you must've scared it off before it could make off with one of them. But what was it? Couldn't have been a fox. It was too big and it wasn't a red color...
"A wolf," you mumbled having finally deduced what it was before scowling. "It must've been a wolf!! A wolf was after my chickens!!"
Scowling you marched on over to the bush where it disappeared through making your chickens scramble from your legs. Grabbing the bush branches, you pushed the thing apart roughly but saw... Nothing. The back of your hill sloped down a hill to where a lot of wild berry bushes and a few fruit trees were ending in a stream that came up to your shoulders almost with how deep it was. Another reason you chose to live here. Free food! You scowled looking around more but there was no signs of any creatures. No wolf either. Curses! It must've ran off before you could see it... You'd buy a trap in town. You were going to head there after you finished laundry anyways. Letting the bush go back the way it was before you angrily turned and stomped off back to the house.
"I'll be damned before I let a wolf make off with my animals. I'll put them all in the barn before I go but first I'm going to get the laundry done."
Unbeknownst to you, eyes opened up from the shadows and followed your form back to your home. You stopped in the doorway pausing... before turning around to fully face the backyard and the eyes widened.
Y O U W E R E T H E M O S T B E A U T I F U L W O M A N T H E E Y E S' S E V E R S E E N.
A shiver went down your spine as you narrowed your eyes looking around.. before going back inside and continuing inside before closing the door behind you. Yeah. You'd finish up before you left for town and buy the BIGGEST trap they had.
The eyes way he'd awestruck at the beautiful figure walking into the house and closing the door. A chicken wondered close to a different bush unknowing. A hand reached out. The chicken only gave out a muffled squeak before it was yanked into the woods never to be seen again.
You finished hanging up the laundry inside and went back out to heard all your chickens back into the henhouse and locked up your still spooked cow safely in the small barn before you left for the town. You thought you heard a twig snapping in the woods behind you before you left down the road towards town but you were sure it was just the wind. You weren't as paranoid as the others in your town. So you started down the forest path back to the nearest town. It was an hour's walk there and an hour walk back. A bit of a way to walk but you'd like to think it helped to discourage others from seeking you out most of the time. You started down the road..but kept looking over your shoulder thinking you heard someone...but nothing was ever there. You got the feeling something was watching you from your home and the feeling didn't go away until you couldn't see your house anymore. Then you felt more at ease. Probably was the wolf, or your paranoia that was thrown a bit since you weren't expecting it. However unbeknownst to you it was something much, much more supernatural than that.
The rest of the trip passed by without incident or without that sixth sense of something watching you. An hour later you arrived at the town. It looked as busy and crowded as you remembered and it was then you realized something. You might as well probably get your shopping done since you were here. You'd be needing some more supplies. So off you went to the first spot which was a candle store, then a library, and a few more places. While at a certain book store however you again felt eyes on you, and this time you turned and found the source of them this time. Four men working on building the side of a new house were staring at you as you skimmed over some books near the doorway. Upon realizing that you saw them, two of them looked embarrassed and sent back to work quickly, one man smirked and winked at you, and another one politely smiled and waved. You frowned before quickly retreating into the store further.
Why did this happen EVERY TIME you went into town?!
You just wanted to get you some supplies and be on your way. On the way back through you stopped by the blacksmith. He sold hunters they needed from bows and arrows to knives to bear traps. You walked right in gaining a few looks from a few men in there looking over the knives and two of which were asking who was presumably the owner which one would be the best for deboning large fish. Amongst the swords and horse shoes, and other items you found the traps. Big ones. Obviously those were for hunting BIG game like bears. But there was others of a more reasonable si-You froze as someone leaned on the wall next to you. Arm above and out. A face smiling down at your head. You turned to see one of the hunters smiling down at you.
"Hello, Wood Dweller "
NOPE!!
You didn't even give him a chance to speak. You turned on your heels and RAN like the wolf itself was chasing you. NOPE NOPE NOPE!! NOT DEALING WITH THAT TODAY!! Besides you saw the prices written above the traps. Too expensive and you didn't have enough money. You'd have to use the old rope tied to the tree trick. Running down the street with basket in hand, you just happened to look up and noticed that the sun was setting. If you didn't want to walk alone in the dark, you'd better head home now. So that's exactly what you did. You veered quickly through the streets as people headed home quickly fearing the dark and so called 'monsters' that lurked in the dark. You didn't fear any fake monsters. You were more afraid of that wolf! But you needed to get back before your animals could be in danger again. So leaving the town behind you veered off the street and down the path leading you back home.
The light was quickly disappearing and you ran faster and faster down the road. Shadows danced across the pathway before you as you went down the pathway. Trees blew creepily and creaked as if their branches were trying to reach out and grab you. To take you captive. It made a shiver run down your spine. You didn't reach your house until the last rays of light left the sky and plunged the world into total darkness. The moon high in the sky and crescent shaped like a sadistic grin. You ran right up to the front door, pulling it open but stopped and looked around you real quick. You saw nothing but the creaking wind and trees. You shivered again before you stepped inside and closed the door. Finally. You were safely home. With a sigh you leaned against the door for a long moment before reaching out to flip the lock. With the door safely locked you pushed yourself off the door smiling and carrying the large basket over to place it gently by your-....Wait a second. Blinking you turned to window and blinked. Your window's shutters were... Open?
YOU DIDN'T LEAVE THOSE OPEN!!
You always closed your shutters before you left anywhere. Why were they open now? Especially when you KNEW you closed them before you left!! Stunned silence filled the dark house as you stared at it silently. Before slowly approaching it and looking out the window into the backyard. The moonlight hit everything in the yard. You saw nothing on the other side. Your brows furrowed. This was... strange. You remembered locking it shut before you left but you must've not locked it properly in your haste to get the trap. Which meant you had to go outside to close it again. ...your form slowly approached the back door and you grabbed a hold of the sliding door at the same time something was walking through the forest. Neither of you two noticed each other. However when you silently opened the door you froze when you heard it. The sounds of something coming from the other sides of the Bushes.
The SAME bushes the wolf disappeared into. But they sounded a bit farther away from the henhouse! That stupid wolf was back!!.. Your eyes flickered to the pitchfork by the he house. If you scared it away by threatening it then it would be unlikely to come back again. It worked once when a fox wouldn't stop trying to bother your hens. It should be work on a wolf too. And if comes down to a fight, you'd have a nice fur to sell in town tomorrow. Slowly you stepped out of the house and back towards the bush. Your bare feet touching the ground gently and quietly enough to not make yourself known.
Step after step after step.
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
Chapter 3: Douma
Chapter Text
(Warnings: Douma IS his own warning. Possibly some innuendos. Douma kills and eats a few people but there's no explicit scenes of killing. Douma is covered in blood at one point. Someone tries to kidnap reader for an arranged marriage.
Firstly here's the results of the voting pole:
Kokushibo: 4 votes
Akaza: 6 votes
Hantengu Bros: Two votes
Kaigaku: 1 vote
Douma: 5 votes
Kyogai: 1 vote
Enmu: 1 vote
Gyutaro: 5 votes
I'll write them in order based on the votes. Thanks everyone for voting. Secondly, now the questions from the QnA.
*What kind of siren is Nakime?
That's left to interpretation.
*Will anyone from Demon Bride make an appearance?
No. No characters like Eri or otherwise is cannon to the Monster Bride AU.
*What kind of monsters would everyone else be such as Rengoku, Tanjiro, etc.?
Oh that's easy!
The Rengoku family: Phoenix harpies
Tengen and his wives: vampire and his 3 brides
Kagaya and his family: dragon Shapeshifters
Mitsuri: cupid
Kanae,Kaneo,Shinobu,Aoi,helpers: fairies
Obanai: naga
Sanemi and Genya: demons
Zenitsu: thunder bird harpy
The Kamado Family: Shapeshifters and tieflings mix. Remember Inosukes dream from the Mugen train arc? Specifically Tanjiro is a Tanuki Shapeshifter and Nezuko is a bunny tiefling.
Kotoba and Inosuke: Fairy and Boar faun
Giyuu and Sabito: Water elementals
Gyomei: Guardian spirit
Muichiro and Yuichiro:: Mist elementals
Haganezuka:all the blacksmiths are some form of metal elements
Rei: both her and her children would be Fae
Hope that covers everyone.
*Is Kokushibo the only Yokai?
No. Daki is actually a yokai too. A jorogumo to be exact. But I usually see it referred to as a drider.
*Have you thought about making Douma a Yuki Onna?
Yes but I liked the ideal of a kelpie-centaur better.
*Do you have any favorite ships?
You bet I do!
Favorite Cannon Ships:
Tanjiro x Kanoe
Kagaya x Amane
Tengen x Wives
Akaza x Koyuki
Mitsuri x Obanai
Favorite Non Cannon Ships
Giyuu x Shinobu
Sanemi x Kanae
Tengen x Wives x Rengoku
Muzan x Rei
But my absolute FAVORITE ship is Demon Slayer Character x Reader. Self inserts are valid as heck and offer so much potential!
*Do you plan on doing anymore Demon Slayer works after this one?
*Glances at two other project ideas*......I mean I might-
*Is there going to be more cute courtship rituals like Urogi building Yn a nest?
Yes! Monsters have their own courting systems different from humans.But it varies from species.
Most of the more animal like creatures like harpies or werewolves court by bringing food offerings or material offerings such as gems, shiny rocks, etc. They may even spare to show strength and dominance.
The less beast like monsters court a bit more like humans. Examples being dwarves, elves, fairies, demons, etc. They'll court based on the magical abilities they have and how compatible they would be as a family unit for future children etc. They take Future planning and family VERY seriously.
*Is Y/n alluring due to a curse?
Nope! Y/n has Tamayo genes and the allure of a celestial maiden in her.
That's all the questions. Thanks for asking everyone! Now onwards to the story!
*************************************************************************************
(Douma seems to fall for Shinobu pretty quickly so I'm experimenting with Douma experiencing feelings fast and falling hard on first sight. I'll probably add more character development later in his route. Also I know Akaza has the most votes but at the time of writing this chapter Douma actually had the most so I will write Akaza next as per the votes. The poem Douma recites is inspired by Corpse Bride vows.)
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. But in the darkness something shined.
CLIP. CLOP. CLIP. CLIP. CLIP. CLOP.
The sounds of hooves entered the air as a creature of one's most insane imaginations walked about. Your eyes shrunk to the size of pins. A man's hair shined in the moonlight. As bright and beautiful as the stars and looking as soft as silk. Except for a peculiar ring of red around the top of his hair like a crown of blood. His eyes were a kaleidoscope with a rainbow captured within his irises as they blinked about. His chest obviously toned well enough to even challenge the most strongest of men.
CLIP. CLOP. CLIP. CLOP. CLIP. CLOP.
There was really only one peculiarity-
CLIP. CLOP. CLIP. CLOP. CLIP. CLOP-
The thing stopped under the lowest branch of a wild apple tree. Effortlessly he reached out and plucked one out before opening up a mouthful of fangs and biting half of it away.
HE HAD THE LOWER BODY OF A HORSE!!
The pale golden horse body was as beautiful looking as the rest of him. With the tail swishing about being the same beautiful platinum blonde silky hair as on his head. His hooves were perfectly polished black and looked like they shined from how polished they were. And BIG horse ears flicked on top of the man's head as he minded his own business and ate the fruit. If there wasn't a man's torso attached to the horse's body you'd say that it would be a beautiful stallion that anyone would be proud owning . He wore a red shirt and some kind of cloak over it. It was ...It looked like.....
A CENTAUR?!
Your mouth dropped open as you continued to stare at the thing that continued to eat it's full of your fruit. You just..stared silently. And stared some more. You shook your head blinking and looked again...It was still there. You could hear it chewing on apples. T-This..THIS COULDN'T BE HAPPENING!! It must've been some dream! You were sleeping walking! Or the light was playing tricks on you! Or your paranoia was making you see things!! Something you ate was making you hallucinate!! You were running a high fever!!
SOMETHING!!
Your brain wanted to pinch your hand or smack yourself awake but paralyzing fear. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening!! You needed to get out of here. You needed to get out of here NOW. You made to just as quietly step back- But you froze as the thing's horse ears flicked in your direction.
"Hm?"
He turned creepily and faster than any human being and rainbow irises made contact with yours. You both stared at one another- You ran. Running back into your house. Fumbling hands shut the door closed behind you and locked it tightly. Stumbling back your lungs heaved for air and you stared at the door. Before your eyes shifted towards the window and you again froze as a smiling face with rainbow irises staring back at you. It was like a shock of electricity went through your body as your jaw dropped. Before your eyes rolled up into your head and you collapsed in a faint to the floor.
The next morning you woke up finding you had collapsed on top of your futon. You disorientedly looked up blinking... before a jolt of adrenaline shot through you. With a scream you turned on your back and scrambled away from the window with the monster peeking in. Only to blink as you found it...shut?
WOT
The windows shutters were closed...The shutters were closed? THEY WERE CLOSED!! THEY WEREN'T CLOSED LAST NIGHT!! You jolted to your feet and approached the door. But stopped before you opened it. Taking a moment you turned your head and quietly pressed your ear to the door....Nothing. Nothing but the distant sounds of birds chirping... Slowly you reached out and clicked the door lock open. Still listening for anything but hearing nothing. Slowly you reached for the sliding door..and slid it open just enough to peek an eye out...
You slid the door wide open blinking.
There wasn't anything there!! Your backyard was bright and sunny and beautiful with absolutely nothing weird there. You just stared. Your head turned left. Your head looked right. Nothing. What the what? Dazed you stepped out on light footed you stepped out and turned to the window. The shutters were closed just like you left it before you left for town the other day. You even reached out to tug it. It was closed tight. Your head whipped to the ground near the window and saw.. nothing. No horseshoe prints and it didn't look like the ground was disturbed. Your head whipped to the bush. The hens in your yard scattered about as you ran past them and through the bush to the other side looking around widely also finding...nothing. No missing fruit. No hoof prints. No nothing.
Just.. nothing.
Like you just had a bad dream.
"Y-Yeah. T-That must've been it." You sighed. Body relaxing and relief washing over you. Careful long strides of some long legs stopped behind you before curiously leaning down to peer over your head. "Heh. I've been hearing so many fairytales and ghost stories that my imagination has gotten the better of me. It was all just a bad dream."
"Yes! I must be so since Im too handsome for a hallucination." You froze as a deep man's voice chuckled behind you. "So I must be a dream come true.~"
You froze feeling the blood drain from your face... before you slowly turned around and looked up. A beautiful figure with horse ears and rainbow eyes chuckled and wagged his fingers at you....You remained staring at him before he leaned down to grin widely.
"My. Oh my. I've never seen a woman with your looks before." He tilted his head with a flick of his ear. "How... interesting."
You were sent shivers down your spine as you stared at those eyes. "Your eyes are strange."
He perked up. So she could talk. "Strangely beautiful?~"
"Empty..." You took a step back as he froze. "Y-Y-You're not human!" You took more steps back as he blinked wide eyed in shock. "W-What are you?!"
He didn't answer at first. Standing there shocked at your blunt words.. before he rose to his full height and turned to you still wide eyed and mouth in a thin line... before a warmth busted from his chest and his hair and tail poofed out in a bristle as something new was added!!.... Before shivering like a naked mole in winter, his mouth broke out in a shaky grin and he decided right then and there.
Y O U W E R E T H E O N E.
Tears so quietly started running down his cheeks as his face split in a Cheshire cat grin. A swirl of strange emotions echoed in him. Before it was always so... empty. Nothing mattered, but now it's like the world suddenly has color. Like..he was just an empty room and someone opened the door and just tossed around a happy flowing assortment of colors. A loud whinny went off as clawed hands grabbed his face. With a happy kick he galloped off in a big circle around a tree and snapped back around to- He snapped his head up and around with a blink as the bush moved and there was a flurry of footsteps before a slam of a door was heard. He stood there blinking for a moment as he noticed no one was there. He blinked before turning to the house-
".....Oh...Um...I guess I have to court her before trying to initiate the mating ritual. I'LL BE BACK WITH GIFTS SOON MY LOVE!!" He called waving to the house despite you not being able to see him at all.
He giddily grabbed his cheeks with a happy whinny and gave a happy trot back towards the stream. He was so happy!! For the first time in forever he was HAPPY!! In his mind he associated the good feeling with her.
SHE made him feel happy. Therefore SHE was the source of the feeling. SHE WAS HAPPY. HE LIKED HAPPY. HE WANTED HAPPY. HE NEEDED HAPPY. HE WANTED HER-....
....no....
H E N E E D E D H E R.
You didn't dare come out of your house for the rest of that day. Or the next. And you only slipped out long enough to take care of your animals and then raced right back inside locking up the doors behind you. This was bad! This was so very, VERY bad!! What were you supposed to do?! You never encountered anything like this before?! You didn't even know what that thing was?! Was it dangerous?! Was it trying to harm you?! Whatever it was it hadn't come back in three days by then...and it wouldn't be back for another week and two days after that. At this point you couldn't tell if you were going crazy or if he was even real, but you ever so slowly started to creep out a bit more but still looked vigilantly over your shoulder but never saw anything even if you thought you heard something. Every little noise put you on edge. Until one day you were getting some water and heard your cow running startled into the barn. Your head snapped over your shoulder instantly.
YOU BOLTED!! With fear shooting down your spine, you whirl around on your heel, flew through the small of your backyard, and almost dove through your back door. Quickly you whirled around to grab your door only to again freeze as you saw the big thing standing in beside your henhouse. HOW'D DID HE GET THROUGH THE BUSH WITHOUT YOU HEARING IT?! He silently stared through your eyes and right into your soul-
SLAM!!
The door was slammed shut and you never fumbled to lock the door quicker in your life. The lock clicked into place and you backed away from the door. Each footsteps sending a thud echoing through your living room until you just stood there and panted in fear as you stood there. The silence almost made a ringing sound go off in your ears as you stood there and breathed out in fear. Your heart was in your throat and hammered in your chest. Your breaths burnt your throat. Your hands trembled. And then you heard it.
CLIP. CLOP. CLIP. CLOP. CLIP-
Your body went ice cold as whatever it was stopped right outside your door. Then there was more silence. Then there was a snort sound like a horse snorting. Then there was a couple of hooves clopping in a shuffle and then you heard it. A thudding sound like he was curiously scrapping a hoof against the door. Before there was a...Whiny horse whinny? Like...an annoyed horse noise? You blinked at it. Still shocked and scared but now caught off guard. What-
"Now this isn't fair!" A loud man's voice whined followed by a loud foot stomping. CLOP!! "How am I supposed to show off my new mate to Akaza-dono if you don't even let me court you!? He'd be so jealous I found someone so pretty!"
You stopped fully and just... blinked at the door. ".... What?!"
You looked over and yelped finding a face literally pressed against the glass as he gave you a weird version of puppy dog eyed. "Come out so we can talk."
You. Just. Blinked. "What? No! I'm not going out there with you!"
"Then open the door and let me come in!"
"No!"
You just watched as he whined again and pressed himself further into the glass smoothing his cheek against the window. Making him look...well ridiculous. "It's not ffffffaaaasiiiiirrr!!!" He whined again. "Every other girl comes to me because they think I'm pretty! What if I say please?!"
".....NO!!"
He pouted before stepping away from the window view. You followed the clip clops with your head until it stopped in front of the door.Anf and there was a massive thud sound. Like a small tree fell over.
"Then I'm not moving until you come see me!!"
..... Again wot
You...You just blinked at the door... before you approached the window again and peeked outside only to find him....Curled up on the ground and pouting?? You just.. blinked at the centaur curled up on the ground on his side arms crossed and face scrunched up like a toddler being told he couldn't get any candy. You just stared at him...Was he serious?
"Are you serious right now?!"
He looked at the window before firmly flopping his head back down and snorted.
"I thought monsters were supposed to be fierce."
"I'll have you know I am considered VERY fierce! I'm just mad right now!"
"..... You've GOT to be kidding me!" You gestured out the window. "My first time seeing a monster and THIS is what I see?! I thought you all were supposed to be scary!!"
"I am scary! And I'm not a monster! I'm a kelpie!" He pouted more as you rose a brow.
"Kelpie? You mean the water horse that eats people?!" Again alarm shot through you. "Then I'm DEFINITELY NOT coming out now!"
"NNNNNOOOOOO!!!" You watched as he gave a half course whine half demon like call before turning on his back and kicking his horse feet up. "It's not ffffffaaaasiiiiirrr!!! I wanna talk!"
......Again THIS was a monster? The only bad thing about him so far was that he was extremely annoying. And he was a kelpie. You've heard a few stories about the mysterious water horse monsters that ate people. So no. You were NOT going to get close to that thing...But the shining was starting to annoy you. A lot.
"Oh for the love of the gods! Fine!" His head perked up funny looking as he looked at you with his skinny legs still in the air. "We can talk through the window I guess."
He perked up immediately and you watched him quickly get up and jumped back as he literally ran to the window again pressing his hands and face to the glass. "My happy, you are so sweet to me!!~"
You took two more steps back from the window just in case. "Uh huh." Ok...You guessed you were doing this. Talking to a monster on the other side of your window. You weren't sure you even believed yourself right now. Your eyes narrowed at him. "Just who are you? What are you?!" Those seemed like good enough questions to start off with.
He gasped as if remembering something. "Oh that's right! I never told you my name!" He waved quickly at you from the other side of the glass. "HELLO! IM DOUMA!!" He loudly greeted you with a smile. "And like before I already told you what I am, Silly. I'm a Kelpie! What's my Happy's name?"
"Shouldn't I not tell you because it gives you power over me...or something?"
"That's fairies and other fae. And sometimes witches." He corrected you. "I can't control anyone with magic. If I could I would've already had you open the door or attacked you outside."
...You supposed that was a fair point. And made sure to keep that information tucked away later. "My name is...Y/n." You narrowed your eyes as he seemed to light up more. "It's very nice to meet you Mr. Douma but you happen to be trespassing on my farm. I'm gonna have to ask you politely to leave."
"Nnnnnnoooo!!" He whined again leaning again the window. You deadpanned now. Again THIS was a monster?! "But wwwwhhhyyyyyyy?!"
"Because I don't want to be eaten by a human eating horse monster?," you bluntly stated the obvious gesturing at him, "That's what you're here for right? To try and eat me?"
He gave a look like you suddenly slapped him. "What? No! I would never eat my happy. No, no, no. I'd never forgive myself!"
"Then what do you want? Apples? Help yourself. There's plenty of fruit in the back. Take as much as you'd like and leave."
"Oh I don't want that either." You opened your mouth to ask what he wanted then- "I want a wife!"
A silence passed through the home.
Your blank eyes and numb mind stared at the window. ".... I beg pardon?"
"I want a wife!" He happily chirped. "And you're my happy. Happy wife happy life as they say! So should we induce the ritual that will seal us as mates now or do you want to wait until later when you get a wedding kimono?"
You still stared. "....What?!"
"Is that a yes or no?" He rambled on tilting his head.
"NO!! I'm not going to marry you!", you squawked staring at him. This thing wanted to marry you!? "Absolutely not! I don't even know you!"
He hummed again before he perked up in sudden realization and snapped his fingers. "Right! The courtship process has to take place first! Here! One second! I brought courting gifts!" He leaned away from the window and pulled a soaked saddle bag off his side. It'd been soaked during his trip back up stream and was full of jewelry and gold bits. "Here!" He held up the bag to the window. "I brought you things I know women like!"
Jewelry, gold, diamonds, and other nice things the humans near his lake sacrifice once a week to him in exchange for his glorious generosity of fishing in his waters. He didn't have much use of them and usually just gave them to Daki or Akaza whenever he visited them, and preferred the offerings of livestock and sometimes humans far better. But surely they'd come in handy when it comes to this problem. He shook the bag jingling the contents inside as she gazed at him blinking. Oh to have his happy in his arms! He'd make her so happy too! He could already picture it-
She'd gasp seeing the contents of the bag and immediately open the door.
"Oh Douma. You're so handsome and strong and rich." Then she swooned opening her arms begging him to take her in his arms. "I'm so grateful you chose a weak human as me for your mate! Let's get married and live together forever! Take me away! I am yours!"
Then he'd take her back to his lake where he'd make the villagers treat her like a QUEEN. He'd introduce her to Gyutaro and Daki and they'd become such great friends!! And he'd show her off to Akaza! Akaza loved women! They'd be great friends too and then his best friend would finally stop being so mean to him! The wedding would be splendid and she'd look so beautiful!!
And he'd teach their children everything he knew.
They would all be so beautiful. Cute little kelpie fouls frolicking around and swimming around and playing with Gyutaro and Daki and they'd be as happy as their mother!
BONK!
He was snapped from his fantasy when a squirrel ran across a branch hanging over him and dropped one of his acorns hitting him on the head. He blinked as he no noticed that the curtains were drawn on the other side of the window and he could no longer see Y/n....He began knocking on the window.
"Darling?"
"I'm not interested! Go away! I have enough problems with men trying to court me without adding a monster into the mix thank you very much!," she called out from the inside.
He whinnied in shock before knocking on the glass again. "Ok. Ok. Maybe I'm moving too fast. Let's just court first then!" No answer and he felt....panic? Is that what this emotion was? "Ok. Can we at least talk? You said we can talk through the window right?"
There was again silence before he heard a groan. "Fine! But don't expect me to come outside."
He lit up. PROGRESS!! "You're very pretty! Do you use one of those fancy skin lotions?" He'd compliment her but disguise it as a question to not come off as pushy.
There was another pause. "...No. But thanks I guess." He smiled again. "Why are you trying to court me?"
Fair enough question. "I think you're very beautiful! And I've never met anyone before who talks to me like you did. Why don't you want me to court you?" He glanced at himself raising a hoof. "Aside from the monster bit."
"Despite the fact that we're strangers? I literally just want to be left alone! I've got men trying to get me to marry them literally every other day! And now just my luck here's another man trying to court me again!"
His ears flicked and smile strained. "Oh?... Sounds like a big problem you have there."
"IT IS!! IT'S SO ANNOYING AND NOW YOU'RE HERE AND I HAVE A HUMAN EATING MONSTER WANTING TO COURT ME!!....No offense."
"None. Taken." Others were just trying to take his happy? Oh that won't do at all. "... How about a deal?"
"Deal?"
He smirked. "Let me prove myself worthy over the human courters. If you are not satisfied by blood moon then I'll take my leave of you with no harm."
A hand grabbed the curtain and pulled it back to reveal your suspicious face. "Yeah? And what's the catch?"
"If you cannot give me a good enough reason to reject me, you become my mate!"
You weren't stupid enough to accept this deal. "That sounds like it'll benefit you more than me on both sides. No deal! Good bye!"
"I can keep other people at bay!" He said quickly before you could close the curtain. "I promise!"
"I can do that myself! What will you do if I agree to nothing?"
"I'll just keep bothering you!"
You groaned before facepalming. This guy was NOT getting it. What was his deal?! ....Deal. you perked up. Deals. Didn't fae creatures like making deals? You looked back to Douma who still smiled at you.
"Hmm...How about a..bet?" That IMMEDIATELY caught his interest.
He hummed. "What did you have in mind?~"
"I bet you can't win my heart by the blood moon. In fact I bet you can't you can't even fulfill all my desires by then. If I let you court me and you can't do that by then, then you leave me alone. And NEVER bother me again."
He smiled impossibly wider. "Deal. But if I fulfill every whim by then, you have to become my wife without a fight. Are you willing to abide by my terms? It's not too late to back out."
With a challenging scowl at him you nodded. "Deal! But we both know I'll win."
He chuckled. "Then I'll fulfill your first whim now." He held up the bag. "I heard you mumbling about being low on money. This should last you quite a while. Any other whims, Darling Wife?"
"Firstly you can not call me that and secondly you can replace the chicken you stole!"
He seemed surprised. "You noticed that?"
"One of my hens mysteriously disappeared the day YOU show up? That's not a coincidence. I'm not stupid."
He chuckled. Smart too. Perfect traits for their future family. "It shall be done. Don't worry about a thing. Can I at least kiss you good bye?"
You rolled your eyes. "The day I kiss you Is the day I agree to let you in my house."
Alright. Bet.
************************************************
He left after that day. Slinking back through the bushes and out of sight. You still remained it your house for another couple of hours before daring to even open your backdoor and look outside. He was gone alright but he left a drenched bag behind. You got your pitchfork to push open the top of the bag to peer inside and your eyes nearly popped out of your skull.
HOLY SHIT!!
THAT WAS A LOT OF GOLD!!
There was a massive pile of gold and different colored jewels and jewelry and silver- EVERYTHING a treasure hunter could want. You stared at it for the longest time before struggling to bring it inside the house.
Perhaps this bet wouldn't be so bad after all.
********************"**********************************************
You didn't see this mysterious Douma again for about another week. In that time you decided to at least indulge yourself a little bit and used a handful of the gold coins to buy a few new books. Once of which was a VERY romantic book you found intriguing.
Hey. You liked reading sappy romance everyone and a while. It wasn't a crime to indulge in a good romance story every so often.
"And then he caressed her cheek and held her close to his body. Their hearts bursting with love for each other!" You gave a giddy giggle squeezing the pitchfork. "Isn't it romantic?"
Your cow mooed annoyed and looked at you as such. Waiting for you to finish putting down fresh straw in her small corner of the barn.
You sighed. "You're right. But still .. it'd be nice to think about." You sighed again. "I'd like someone who'd hold me and love me and tell me sweet nothings. Wouldn't you like that?" Bessy mooed louder. "Yeah. Guess it's easier for cows to not worry about things like romance. I wish one day to find someone like that. To kiss me and hold me tight too."
You went back to finish shoveling out the clean hay before hanging up your pitchfork back up and went back towards the house to sleep the rest of the night off. The darkness outside didn't phase you much anymore and you stepped outside, taking a moment to turn around and close the door behind you.
"My beautiful love.~"
You jumped whirling around at the noise but froze when you saw his form. Ethereal and serene. Like a ghost in the night. The stars paled in complexion to the pale. Broken colors of iris more beautiful catching the moonlight perfectly like stained glass in a fine temple.
"Bind out blood in ceremony and let me share your name." A hand outstretched to you. "Under the stars of the heavens, I solemly swear, that this hand will always be kind and never cruel. That my voice will only speak truth. That this life is now forever yours." The outstretched hand grabbed yours as you stared. Skin was incredibly soft. "Now as yours is mine."
She was beautiful. Her eyes captured the starlight perfectly and he could see the reflection of the twinkling lights in her eyes. Her skin against his rough from work but soft. A testimony of her dedication. She was as memorized by him as he was of her as the hand pulled her closer to the ever wide smile closing the distance between them.
"Bind our souls to infinity and I will promise you love and devotion through sickness and health and beyond the realms of death." Another strong arm wrapped around her body pulling. Pulling her forward until their warmth was shared by contact. "I will love you in all your forms now and forever. Through several lifetimes and back." His voice was low and smooth. A hand reached up to caress her cheek before cupping the back of her head for safe support. "From now to infinity." He was close now. Eyes half lidded. "Unyielding." Her body shivered. "Untainted."
He spoke against her lips before the hand behind her head guided her and both were connected in a sweet kiss. His eyes slowly closed as hers widened in shock to the size of plates.
"HM?!"
Without breaking the kiss, two arms swiftly wrapped around your body and pulled you up bridal style. In fact he took the chance to deepen the kiss and pull your body closer to his. Douma hummed pleased before finally pulling away from you and chuckled at your shocked face. Jaw dropped and cheeks pink. How cute. You didn't respond to him until he started walking by squealing and grabbing onto him.
"W-What are you doing?!"
"Taking you inside of course. After all you said I was welcome inside if I ever kissed you.~"
"Absolutely no-"
Your were cut off again by another kiss from him which caught you off guard and shocked again before he hummed and pulled away with a smile showing off his fangs. "Absolutely sweet. Like honey or sugared fruit.~ Oh I'm going to enjoy this part of the courting.~"
You sputtered before slamming your face into his shoulder and screaming red faced.
(The last of Douma's route will be continued in P2!)
Chapter 4: Douma P2
Summary:
(Warnings: Douma IS his own warning. Possibly some innuendos. Douma kills and eats a few people but there's no explicit scenes of killing. Douma is covered in blood at one point. Someone tries to kidnap reader for an arranged marriage. Threats.
Akaza will be next.)
Chapter Text
"P-PUT ME DOWN!!"
You struggled red faced within Douma's grip but you found out he was actually VERY strong and didn't even flinch at your struggling . Only carried you across the yard and ducked as he just stepped on into your home.
CLIP. CLOP. CLIP. CLOP. CLIP. CLOP.
His hooves echoed across the wooden floors before he stopped in the middle of the home and looked around nodding at the sight. "Nice home. It's very cute. Like you.~"
You still sputtered red faced and pushed a hand against his cheek. "S-S-Stop that!! You can't just step into my home like you own the place and...and..." You patted his cheek feeling wetness. "And why are you all wet?!"
"Oh! I just swam up from the river behind your house!" He smiled. "I got you a few chickens like you wanted! So another whim is filled! On top of the wish you had to have someone to hold you and care for you." He leaned forward. "And whisper sweet nothings to your ear.~"
A hand firmly pushed him farther away as your face burnt red. "H-how did you get the chickens?! You didn't steal them did you?" You asked ignoring everything else he said.
"Oh no. I traded a farmer in exchange for some fish! I was just going to leave the cage on your doorstep but I overheard what you said in the barn and decided I might as well fulfill your other requests while here! And just look at how far our relationship came already! You might as well give in now-"
"I still have a month until the blood moon appears! My chance isn't over yet. Now put me down! I'll have to get you a towel! You're dripping all over my floors!"
He hummed looking down noticing the drips of water on the floor. "Oh."
You were put down on your feet and sighed as you turned to stop your way towards the bathroom and opened the door. You'd have to get Douma a towel to dry off with. Douma however stared down at himself and his clothes. Probably should've taken it into account. He looked back up in time for his face to be smacked by a towel.
"Here. Take this. I'm taking my futon and sleeping in the bathroom."
"You aren't going to sleep with me?"
"Absolutely not." He removed the towel watching as you dragged your futon across the floor and towards the door leading to the bathroom. "I've dealt with you enough for today. But here's another whom for you since you're feeling so generous. Clean up the mess you made off my floor."
He blinked before pouting and pulling his ears back. "But I thought we could cuddle together. It's not very fair-"
"You're the one who made the conditions of the bet. Not me. So just deal with it. On top of that, you can help me with gathering some fruit to sell in town."
"You mean I have to work?"
You smiled at him. "It's not too back to back out." You repeated back his words and he pouted harder as you shut the door.
He pouted harder before a thud rang out as he plopped himself down. "This isn't very fair."
*********************"*********†******************************************
"Darling! Oh darling look at me!!"
You looked up just in time to see Douma literally quickly raise his back legs and kick your apple tree very hard shaking it's trunk. It sent a vibration through it's being but it backfired on him because he was then bombarded by a flurry of apples falling down on himself and leaving him to cover his head from the shower of apples. You busted out laughing at the sight before going to pick up the scattered apples and throw them into a nearby barrel. After it was nearly full you heaved it up and up towards a wagon at the front of your house. You'd let Douma have whatever was left. Unsurprisingly he followed you all the way over and watched you heave the barrel into the wagon alongside three others already in there.
"Can I help more?"
"No. You've done enough for me today. You can leave now." Your hands grabbed the handle of the wagon.
"But I wanna come with you." He insisted and you could hear the clip clops of his hooves as he followed you on the pathway towards town. "I can still help. You could use someone to help you pull the cart."
"I don't think so. There's no way you'd safely be able to go into town looking like you just walked out of a fairytale book. You'd either scare people away or have an angry mob chase after you. Both of which I don't need, Douma."
"Oh...I understand!"
Soon you heard the stop of clip clopping behind you and you smiled. Seemed he finally got the hint. Although...the cart became strangely easier to pull. You ignored it in favor of enjoying your walk through the peaceful woods and pulling the cart along until you got into town enjoying the blissful silence. As you walked into the streets where the path to your house connected, a strange reaction started to occur. As you walked people started to stop and stare in awe. Ok. That was weird. Usually a few men would stare at you but never this many and never women.
"What are they staring at?"
"Beats me."
The cart jolted to a stop. You stared at nothing before snapping your head around and choked on air as you saw Douma...With a completely human body and hands on the cart. He chuckled again staring at your shocked face.
"DOUMA?! What the hell are doing here!?"
"Helping you push the cart. It looked heavy." He then pressed a hand to his forehead. "And I would rather perish then let my darling wife do all this labor-"
"SHH! Don't call me that in public!," you hissed at him before looking around. Now you understood why everyone was staring. They weren't looking at you, they were looking at the beautiful man that was walking with you. "What are you-..How are you looking human?!"
He chuckled. "I can change my form a few times but I did want to help."
You held up your hands like you wanted to throttle him before just grabbing the cart and pulling it. "Fine. But don't call me your wife in public and don't do anything that'll ruin my sales."
"Why are you selling these anyways? I got you enough money to last a lifetime."
"Because I don't want to have all this fruit go bad and I like to earn my living." He hummed again but didn't do anything else as you pushed your cart between two buildings and did what you usually did when this happened. You called out and waved a hand to people passing by. "APPLES!! PEACHES!! COME GET FRESH APPLES AND PEACHES HERE!"
Douma stood by and watched curiously as a few people passed by. A few stopped to buy a few fruits from you but not as many as he'd like. At this point you'd be dragging back a whole lot of fruit. That wouldn't be good. He had to prove himself as a capable mate that could help provide. So that's why his gaze landed on a group of nearby women staring at him. They. Looked. Delicious. But he wouldn't eat them. They'd be more useful a different way. With a bright smile unbeknownst to you he smiled widely and approached the ladies. Making them all fall silent and wide eyed as the handsome stranger stood before them.
"Ladies. My how young and beautiful you look today,~" a voice dropped a tone with a purr making them either blush or giggle, "Like little buds about to flower.~ Could I possibly interest you with the sweetest fruits that'll ever grace your even sweeter lips?~"
AAAAAnd that's how a hoard of women lined up just to buy your fruits. You had no idea where all these flustered blushing women and men were coming from until you heard a giggle and you turned around to find Douma leaning incredibly close to a girl's face and kiss her hand before he gestured to your wagon. With a timid nod she walked off towards you...And you finally figure out why you had such a massive influx of customers. You scowled at him but he only winked your way. That stupid donkey arse! He was bribing people to spend on you! You scowled harder not noticing the tall figure walk up to you until you felt something against your hand and you snapped up only to yelp seeing a man covered in a fur pelt BITE INTO THE PEACH YOU WERE JUST HOLDING!!
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" You pulled your hand away as the man smiled at you. "You looked at the partially eaten peach in your hand in disgust before dropping it. "That's going to cost you two bits buddy!"
He chuckled and stood back up wiping his mouth with the back of his arm. "Well it wouldn't be costing me anything else if you had accepted my offer."
"Offer?" You squinted your eyes at him before they widened in realization. "Nori?"
He chuckled again. "The one and only. I thought you wouldn't recognize me with my new scars. Like them?" He tilted his head at you. "Got them from hunting a monster sized grizzly in the mountains."
You scowled. "I've Heard. I've also heard that you left town last year because you nearly killed a man after you got drunk." You scowled harder. "Why are you here?"
"Your parents didn't give me your hand when I asked them so I came directly to you." Deadly cold, colorful eyes snapped to him with a pop of Douma's neck. Nori leaned forward with a smile. "I missed you. I've Heard you've gotten more beautiful but I wasn't expecting such a diamond."
"How DARE you! My parents have no say in my life! I make my own choices! You've been after me since we were children and my answer is the same to you now as it was back then! No! Absolutely not! I will never marry you. Now either pay for the fruit or get out of my sight!"
He didn't like that statement. You found out when you blinked and a force was on you. It all happened so fast. One moment you were standing there and the next you were being pulled against his harshly by the front of your kimono with a growl. Your eyes wide open as he growled.
"You'll regret this. I'll give you the end of this month to change your mind until I leave. Because either way you're coming with me whether you want to or not. I'll have you for a wife."
"Is there a problem here?" Nori froze and looked up at the looming form of Douma as he calmly grabbed your shoulder and with strength that surprised Nori, yanked you back. Nori yelped falling forward and landing flat on his face."That's no way to treat a lady. You'll pardon me but you won't treat my friend like that in my presence."
Nori snapped up to him looking ready to argue but stopped seeing Douma's shadowed eyes. After a moment Nori slowly got up staring at Douma the entire time before looking at you...And turning and walking away but not before saying-
"Don't forget what I said."
You sighed in relief at his leaving form as Douma didn't let you go. "Who. Was. That?"
A shiver went down your spine from the low dip Douma's voice had despite the smile he wore and shook your head. "T-That was Nori. He's a hunter and his family owns a fur trading business. But he was run out of town last year after he almost killed a man in a drunken fight."
His eyes flickered down to you. "You seem to know him well."
You scoffed rolling your eyes. "Yeah right. He's been infatuated with me since we were children. His parents were always trying to convince mine to arrange a marriage for us but I refused. He's nothing but a beast who thinks he can have anything he wants."
"...What did he want?"
"He wants my hand whether I like it or not. Unfortunately for him, I happen to be very skilled in welding a pitchfork."
Douma's smile crinkled up wider. "Yes...How unfortunate it is for him.~"
The next few days were..odd to say the least. Douma stayed for two more helping you harvest the rest of the fruit behind your house and selling it in town(albeit with his sweet talk-) and just bring a general annoyance. But he left on the third day he left back to wherever he came from. You weren't sure whether to be relieved or concerned about it. However you had other concerns. You could feel the fast approaching blood moon approaching. The end of this month would be the sight and people were starting to get more desperate and scared. Now you couldn't walk into town without seeing most of the women hiding in their houses and peering out of the windows in fear. You started to feel nervous too with everyone acting like this. But it was just one night. You told yourself. It's just one night then the blood moon won't show up until another hundred years. It'll pass and then everything will be back to normal. You stopped going into town after four days with all the fear, in case something did try to take you away. However you had one fear. One REAL FEAR. When you were gathering water from your well two days before the moon. The water was cold and wet- And it spilt on you as something grabbed your arm and whirled around and your eyes widened.
"You didn't forget did you?"
"Darling, are you alright?"
You hummed looking up at Douma whom smiled as you laid against his side. He had come back after taking care of a few things back where he lived and was currently back in his centaur form. But looked puzzled when you suddenly went quiet.
"Sorry. What did you say?"
"I asked if you're ready to accept defeat yet." His ear flicked at you. "After all the moon is tonight and you haven't given me any good reasons to reject me?~"
You blinked before frowning. "Well you'll have to wait until that." You went back to sharpening a carving knife you brought out of the barn. "I have more important things to worry about "
He dramatically gasped. "More important than me?~"
"Yes!" You forced more pressure of the sharpening stone and blade. "Nori tried to make off with me the other day." Douma's form became cold but you didn't notice. "I have him a good kick where it really hurts and gave him a piece of my mind but he'll be stubborn enough to come back tomorrow. So I'm readying myself! He's taking a hunting trip before he leaves so I'm planning on being ready before then."
Douma slowly looked back to you. And his smile slowly widened to show teeth. "What's he hunting? Another bear?"
"There's a herd of wild horses where the streams connect with the local river in the woods. A group of the town's men are going in there to try and round up a few. They'll be good money. Why do you ask?"
"Because he did say he was a hunter. There's many hunters where I come from so perhaps I knew him."
"I doubt it. He's just a hunter."
"True...but soon he'll be prey.~"
"What?"
"I said neigh!"
You snorted at him. "You're really weird Douma."
*******************************************************************************
Beware those who do not herd the blood moon's waning.
Beware those who do not herd the thirst of monsters
For tonight Is the night of monsters.
And a night of bloodthirst.
A fire crackled in a bit of rocks. Feasting upon wood that melted into ashes in its grip. A sloshing of liquid heard as a gourd was passed exchanged from one hand to another. Warm skin of a hand warmed by the fire brought the sickly sweetened alcoholic drink to his lips. It burnt his throat in a good way that left him licking the burning sweetness from his lips with a snack, a sleeve wiping at his face as he did so.
"We shouldn't be out here," one man out of the six gathered around the fire commented. His face illuminated by its flames casting dancing shadows among them. "I don't like how quiet it is tonight. Listen...Not a bird. Not any beast. Not even the crickets sing their tunes tonight. I tell you it is a bad omen."
The man with the burning sweetness on his tongue sneered at his comrade. "Don't start giving me that talk about devils and inhuman monsters. I've hunted and camped in woods more silent than this since I was a child. The only danger you'll face out here is nothing but the usual teeth and claws of a wolf or a bear if you're really unlucky. I don't believe in such things."
The rest of the men only murdered in agreement with him or gave glances of weary. "Then we all share in your incompetent thinking by being out her while the moon wanes ordering bloodlust. And for what? A couple of measly horses that hasn't even shown themselves." A stick was tossed in frustration to the fire. "I tell you the beasts were scared off by something far scarier. I say we take their warning and head home while we still have light to see by."
Another scoff. "A single stallion would fetch more gold than two giant grizzlies on a good day! Are you really letting your fear blind you from what you could have?!"
"Perhaps he's right, Nori." Heads turned to the second oldest man of the group whom was staring at him with a thoughtful expression. "We haven't seen any hide or tail of the herd. Not even a footprint since we got here this morning. Even if there's no monstrous beast, it's obvious that the herd has moved out of the area. We should be home comforting our wives' worries and protecting our families from the dangers of others this night. We'll not be seeing anything here."
"BAH!!" The fire hissed in protest as liquid was spilt on thrown from the gourd splashing it as hot the ground. "You all are nothing but a lot of whimpering dogs catering to a woman's stupid fears! We should be looking more instead of lazing around where nothing is happening!!"
The older man sighed once more. "Alright...We will give one last look around the area, but afterwards we go home. I would rather have the warmth of my wife than that of the fire."
Grumbled were had. Murmurs were said. Footsteps crashed through the otherwise silent night. The light of the moon distorting everything with an eerie red hue as different men headed different directions. Splitting up to widen the search and make it back to dose the fire faster. Perhaps an unwise choice they would make.
Bushes and branches of the trees did not stop the ambition of one man whom stepped his way forward to a direction where the beasts drank their full of water. And the place he'd find a strong stallion or beautiful mare to take for his own. A good horse would put quite a good amount of gold in his pocket. Bushes and leaves scrapped against his body clinging for the briefest of seconds before letting go. No match for the body that marched onwards and onwards and onwards through the dark. Until he got nearer to his destination. A small sound reached his ears. The calming sounds of a running river. A few yards further away from was a break in the brush. Ah. A good place to hunt for the beasts. Lower now his body crawled along and closer towards the edge of the water. A clear view of the entire area.
The moonlight shown up on the deep moving water. Water so deep that the blackness cloaked how deep it was. There he sat as still as a rock. As quiet as a mouse. No noise but the water moving along to break the silence. No beasts could be seen however on the bankside. Irritation made a curse stir from his throat.
To hell with this! He'd get no prize tonight. The only prize he'd get was the woman in the morning. He made to move but a single sound stopped him in his tracks. A pair of eyes looked over and widened in manic glee.
"There you are."
As pale as the starlight, a beautiful horse stood. Nevermind that it was not seen by him just a moment ago. The beast was beautiful as it was large and muscular. A perfect stallion for sure. A coat of the most beautiful pale-blonde and a tail of platinum silver swishing in the light. However he he could not see the beasts' head. Strangely it's body part was stationed within a bush nearby cloaking itself. No matter. Even if it's head was blind, a horse such as this would still sell for plenty.
"Ah. Look at you. You're a beautiful beast aren't you?"
The horse didn't move an inch as he slowly stepped forward with a greedy grin on his face. Step after step he took getting closer to it's body. Nothing but the swishing of it's tail.
"You'll fetch a pretty bit. Bet every man in town would want a fine steed like ya. Haha. Hell I might keep ya myself."
He stood in front of the beast admiring the rising and falling of its chest as it breath. Strong muscles rippling. It still hadn't moved. The beast must've been deaf. No matter. He awed over the beautiful creature before him before placing his hands upon it. Good gods! It's fur was the softest he's ever felt! His hands just SUNK into it.
"Ah. You're just a pretty little thing aren't you?"
The bushes rustled. Eyes turned. His body froze. A torso of a man arose from the bush. Tall and strong looking and a man of platinum cascading down over his shoulders. A head turned with an eerie bone crackling noise as a wide smile speared across it. Red moon illuminating colorful eyes and a sharp smile as horror beyond belief sat in.
"Why thank you.~"
He watched the man's face contort into one of horror as he realized his mistake and became trapped in his skin as he found out he couldn't unstick his hands from the beautiful body. It was like a neverending sticky glue keeping him stuck in place. His breathing became more irratic as his body struggled harder to free his hands. He chuckled at the useless endeavors.
"W-What the hell?!"
"Oh. I'm afraid that won't work. You see a kelpie's skin should never be touched. I'm afraid you can't get out."
"W-What are you?!" A voice of horror yelled out. "WHAT ARE YOU?!"
"Oh how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself." A clawed hand waved at him. "Hello. I'm Y/n's husband. You see.. I've been working very hard to provide and prove my worth to her and I'm afraid someone like you doesn't really fit into the equation. What if someone like you convinces her to leave me? No, no, no. I can't have that....And after the way you treated her in town, I had to do something."
Horrific realization flooded the pale figure. Blood freezing in his veins. "Y-You..."
"Yes. Gaze upon me for it'll be the last thing you see tonight but lucky for you I'm a merciful soul. You'll be a part of me and something greater. I'll be sure to send you to a beautiful eternal paradise."
Colorful orbs rolled back in the creatures head. A jaw unhinged wider than a snakes. A horse front reared up. A screech filled the air that was a terrible cross between a horse whinny and demons cry. A man shriek alongside the deadly cry.
Minutes later there was a rush of footsteps as bodies crashed through the brush. Five men eventually made their way to the river bank where the deadly cries rang from. But not a trace of a man or beast was seen. Nothing but a few last ripples of water.
***************************************************************************************
You yawned widely before looking back out of the window... before tossing the curtains closed again. It was midnight now. The moon hung directly in the sky and shown down dangerously like a deadly red lantern.
Just about seven more hours until sunrise. Then this night will be over.
Douma hadn't shown up once the entire night yet. You were sure he'd given up by now but there was still a chance he'd show up. Or nori if you were really unlucky. Both doors had been locked and you only opened the curtains every so often to quickly check the moons position in the sky. You hadn't slept yet at all during the entire night so far and you'd completely stay up until then-
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!!
You jumped before whirling around to the front door wide eyed. A loud knocking came again before a voice sing songed out.
"Honey, I'm home.~"
You sighed in relief hearing Douma but made no move to unlock the door or even get near it. "Go away, Douma."
"Aw. But I came to see my darling wife. After all....you made a promise.~"
"I've made up my mind. I'm not marrying you."
"You gave no reason to not marry me! And you have a debt to pay dear. After all...You. Lost."
You continued to stare at the door and a small shiver went down your spine. "I'm not ready to marry you! There's a good enough-"
The front door slid right open. Revealing the smiling figure on the other side before he smiled wider and walked in his hooves clip clopping across the wooden floor. Your eyes nearly bugged out.
"... Reason. HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT OPEN?!"
"It's a sliding lock. All I had to do was lift up the door off the frame a bit to slide it out. You should really get that fixed." He ignored your gobsmacked look as he just made himself at home by plopping on the floor and looking around. "Now what did you make for dinner, Darling? I'm still famished from work."
"I-... You-...RRRRRRRRR!!" You grabbed your face sliding down your hands slowly before pointing at him. "You're as stubborn as a mule! I'm surprised you're not half donkey instead!"
He chuckled. "Naturally.~"
You groaned. "What am I going to do know?"
You yelped as a hand grabbed yours and a second later you were just pulled flush against another body as a fanged smile smiled down at you. "Well...We could always do this, My darling wife.~"
Your eyes only widened as a pair of lips again graced yours.
Chapter 5: Akaza
Summary:
(Warnings: Threats. Akaza fights a few people that might not end well.
Also I know this is really late but I apologize. A lot of stressful things irl is going on and it's getting taking up a lot of time. Please be patient for future updates.
Next is Gyutaro.)
Chapter Text
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. You cracked an opening in the branches and looked out. The darkened sky looked out over the entire area. Tree branches swayed and night fell upon the ground. However you froze as your eyes met a pair of yellow irises staring directly back at you from the darkness.
A shadow ran from the bushes with a second.
You jumped in shock from the footsteps quickly departing from the bush and down into the fruit grove. "H-HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! COME BACK HERE!!"
Your arms shoved the branches apart farther just in time for a man shaped shadow figure to go diving head first into the stream behind your house. A loud splash noise followed right after and you say there stunned....Did..Did you seriously just see that?! Did you seriously just see someone dive into the water?! Branches snapped and protested as you shoved them aside and pushed your way through the bush and started your way down the grove and stopped just where the bank of the stream met the water and looked out.
Nothing.
The calm river flowed along peacefully on the warm night without any problems in the world. You stared around the entire place but found nothing. It was like the...man? Whoever it was just disappeared into thin air. You stood there for a few minutes to see if anyone might've been hiding under the water..but no one showed. What just happened?! Who was that?! WHAT was that?! It certainly wasn't a wolf. Or a fox. Or any other animal you knew. A shiver ran down your spine. This was too weird. You needed to get back inside.
A form broke in the water's surface. A head of pink hair and yellow eyes bobbed up and down in the rippling water. Watching as the beauty picked up her kimono and tailed it back towards the house giving one last glimpse back allowing him to see her radiant face again. She was...so beautiful. He'd been carefully observing her for nearly three months now. She was wonderful. Her attitude. Her smile. The way she carried herself. He hadn't seen anyone since his beloved Koyuki years ago..But now...He felt something. Something WARM.
It was time he made a move
You returned to your house and quickly slammed the shutters closed and locked both doors tightly. The thoughts of what that thing was swirling through your head over and over again...Until you came to the conclusion that you were seeing things due to it being dark and your neves being on end. With that solution out of the way it was easier for you to fall asleep. You'd sleep in tomorrow and forget about it. However that was three months ago now and now there you laid. Deep in slumber for hours.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!!
Until you heard a loud knocking on your door.
Your head groggily sat your head up from your pillow blinking. Wild bed head framing your face and bunching up in knots...What? More loud knocks attracted your attention towards the front door and you slowly blinked again as your brain caught up with your tired brain. Someone was at your door. You groaned faceplanting into your pillow. Who could that be THIS time? It better not be that glasses wearing arse again! More knocks rang out and you glared at the door.
"Alright, alright! I'm coming! " With reluctance you kicked off your blanket and pushed yourself up to slowly stand up. With a stretched you yawned before reaching a hand up to rub your face. "Good gods. What a way to start a day?" More knocking drew your annoyance to the door. "I SAID I was coming!" You snapped.
This entire week had been stressful. First that wolf, then one of your chickens went missing, and now it looked like you'd be bothered again. You attempted to fix your hair as you went over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it up with a deep frown. Only to pause seeing whom it was on the other side. A man stood there about your age. He stood just a foot and a half taller, with black hair, fluffy white lashes, and yellow eyes. But what was the most unusual thing was the strange lines of tattoos across his neck. You both just stared at each other until he spoke.
"Miss Y/n Tamayo?", he asked politely making you jump a little.
"I-...Yes? Who are you?," you asked eyes narrowed at him.
"My name is Akaza Hakuji Soyama." He then bowed deeply at the waist before leaning back up and holding up a handful of purple flowers that looked quickly grabbed. As if he had just wretched them up from the ground before you answered the door. "These are for you. They're not nearly as beautiful as your eyes however. I hope I haven't come at a bad time."
You just... blinked looking at him then to the flowers. Before slowly taking them from him. "I-...Thank you. They're very pretty." You then looked at him raising a brow. "May I ask why you're here? If you wish to purchase some fruit, you'll have to wait until I harvest them."
"I'm not here for any of your property I assure you. I came to start my engagement with you." He said it so straight forward and bluntly that it had you blanking a bit.
You. Slowly. Blinked. "I'm..sorry. What?"
"I wish to start my engagement with you." Your jaw dropped at the blunt statement. He held up a hand. "I have already seemed out your parents blessing. They informed me that if you allow me to court you then I'll have their blessings. That is why I'm here. Miss Y/n. I think you're very beautiful and smart. I've seen you many times before and I have come before you." With a thud he lowered himself to his knees and bowed again. "Please allow me to prove my worth to you as a husband."
Your jaw dropped. Your eyes budged. And your body froze just staring at the man. HE WANTED TO WHAT?! COURT YOU!? HIM?! Your jaw tried to make noise but all it had done was make you look like a fish. He continued to kneel there bowed to you unmoving. Who WAS this guy? You practically knew almost everyone in your small town but you'd never seen him before. Why you? Why now? You were no stranger to courters and suitors but...This was rather blunt and out of the blue.
''I-I....I don't-..." You shook your head pulling yourself together enough to look at him properly. "W-Well. That was very forward of you. I've never had someone so...blunt. But I should let you know that you might not be interested in someone like me really."
"I've already considered those factors," he said still not looking up.
"Well...You know I'm very reclusive and I like keeping to myself."
"I'll be sure to respect your privacy, boundaries, and space."
You blinked surprised. "I-...I'm VERY unladylike! I-Im very stubborn! And I say what I like! And I work hard and get dirty all the time!"
"I admire a lady's strength whether it's physical or emotional strength. I've also seen your personality and I deduced that I find that I like it."
You blanked for a moment flabbergasted about it before scowling. Ok. Here's the big one that ALWAYS guaranteed to drive them away. "I worked hard on my own property. Im not willing to share anything with a husband! Not. A. Thing. I don't even think I would want children that's how much I don't want to share!" You smiled. Surely hearing he wouldn't automatically get your property and you refused to bare any children would make him lose inter-
"That's perfectly fine." WOT- "I wouldn't dream of taking anything from you. That would be selfish of me. I wouldn't ever force you to do anything you didn't want either. I understand not every woman would want to be a mother. I'm content with just the two of us."
Silence.
You continued to stare at him mouth open agape as he still remained bowing to you.. before giving a sigh. "You're really making me feel bad for telling you a straight no. I've already told others that I'm not interested."
"I'm only asking for a chance. Let me prove to you that I'm capable as a husband. I'm strong, capable, and I promise to be good to you. All I ask is a single chance."
You hesitated. This guy was serious about it wasn't he? And your usual methods weren't driving him away. But...did you really want this? You DIDN'T LIKE pushy men courting you but maybe you could drive him away by just being yourself? With a small sigh you slumped your shoulders.
"Mr. Akaza. While I'm..flattered that you'd find me attractive enough to want to marry, we haven't even been on a date yet. I don't know you. We're literal strangers. If Im going to marry someone then I would at least like to know them first." You gestured to him trying to let him down as Nicely as possible. "And you haven't even asked me that, and..Well..."
"Rejecting another today?"
You jumped and both turned your heads to find another man standing there. A pretty familiar man actually. He stood there with a pair of glasses slapped over his face and an annoyed look to him. You both stared at him for a moment before he huffed again.
"I figured as much."
You blinked at him before glaring. "Oh. It's you again. What are you doing here? I haven't seen you since I washed you out last year."
He scowled harder. "Believe me if it were up to me I wouldn't be back here but my mother wanted to purchase some apples and you're the only one within walking distance who sells them."
You huffed. "Alright. I can do that since she's a nice lady but don't think this changes anything."
"My offer still stands but I shouldn't even make that offer since Id rather not have that awful personality passed down to my childr-"
"Shut your dam mouth."
The man with the glasses turned his head as Mr. Akaza slowly stood back up finally and turned to him eyes narrowed. "I beg pardon?"
"I said-" Akaza leaned forward enough to nearly touch Mr. Glasses's face. "Keep. Your. Dam. Mouth. Shut. Before I close it for you. Or are you stupid on top of being ignorant and rude?" You both stared at him stunned before you noticed that a very thick looking fist balled up at Akaza's side as if he was about ready to actually punch him anyways.
Mr. Glasses only huffed. "You're obviously new here. If you hadn't heard, Ms. Y/n has a streak of rejection towards suiters. She's a rather disobedient unladylike woman-"
It all happened so fast. One moment Mr. Glasses was standing there and then the next he was dangling in the air by the front of his kimono as Akaza gripped it in a tight fist. A few veins flared up in rage as he did so effortlessly. You stood there shocked at the sight before being able to speak.
"W-What are you doing?! Put him down!"
"Apologize." The man in his grip was lowered only slightly for Akaza to glare his flared eyes into his soul. "Or I'll be forced to break your jaw so you may never insult another woman in my presence again."
"MR. AKAZA!!" You grabbed his arm dropping the flowers and pulled..but found that he didn't budge an inch. It might've been like moving a mountain! "Don't hurt him! He's not worth it!"
"I will. Once he apologizes." His grip tightened up more. "Then maybe I'll show him mercy-"
"IF YOU DON'T PUT HIM DOWN I'LL NEVER ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL!!"
Akaza froze. Akaza's head snapped to you wide eyed. You stared back firmly with a scowl. After a few seconds he sighed through his nose. And Mr. Glasses was slowly lowered until he was placed down on his feet with a terrified look on his face.
"Alright. I'll do as you ask but only because of my respect for you, Y/n."
You sighed in relief and slowly let go but gave him a look. "Thank you. I don't know what had gotten into you but don't hurt him on my behalf."
"Of course. I apologize for acting so boarish. It won't happen again I assure you."
"Uh huh..." You slowly looked back to Mr. Glasses McRude who now trembled in the other's presence. "I hope you're not too hurt. Wait here and I'll get you some apples for your mother no charge. YOU." You snapped a glare at Akaza. "Leave him alone. I don't want you hurting him while I'm gone!"
"You have my word that I won't raise another hand to him again. "
You narrowed your eyes at him before you turned to walk back into your house. "Alright. Wait here both of you. I'll be right back."
Your form had just disappeared when Akaza yanked the other man closer to him by the front with the hand that still held him before giving a cold stare deep into his eyes with a frown. "Listen closely and listen carefully because I'm only going to say this once. You. STAY. AWAY. From my fiance. It took me too long to get this far and I'm not going back. If you do much as even THINK badly of her again then I'll keep my promise of making you eat your own teeth. Got it?" The man only gulped as a reply. "Good."
You returned a little while after with a small basket of apples and the man just silently took it from you before turning on his heels and fleeing the scene. He looked pale and shook to the core which made you give a look at Akaza whom only smiled at you happily. Your brows rose suspiciously.
"Aren't you going to leave too?"
He blinked confused at you. "What?"
You gestured to where the other man fled. "Aren't you going to leave too, Mr. Akaza? I figured your business with me would be finished by now." Didn't he get the hint you were trying to reject him?
But he looked even more confused. "No. I thought we had more business to discuss all things considering. Such as the wedding and the best time for one of us to move in with the other."
A glass shattering sound went off in your mind. "Say WHAT?!"
"Our wedding. We are engaged and it's natural that I'd want to be married after so many years of being apart."
"Are you insane!?" He blinked at your sudden blunt tone. "I never agreed to anyone's engagement! I don't even know you!"
He blinked. And blinked again. Before looking you up and down. Before again blinking. "Wait...You mean you...Do not remember me?" He placed a hand on his chest. "It's me." You still stared. "We met years ago as teenagers by a different river. I asked you to marry me and you agreed."
"Are you talking about the river by town that connects to the streams around here?" He happily nodded. "Tons of people go there all the time to fish or do laundry or..Or whatever. I can't remember if I'd ever met you and that was years ago! But I certainly don't remember ever saying yes to any engagements either!"
Akaza.. slowly blinked. "You... don't remember me? How can you not remember what we spoke to each other with?"
"How can you claim that I agreed to marry you!?"
"How can you claim that you didn't agree it you don't remember?"
You opened your mouth...but closed it before thinking. That..was a valid point. If you didn't remember him then what's stopping him from being right about you agreeing to marry him more than five years ago? Maybe you did agree to it. Or more likely teenage you accidentally gave him the impression that you agreed to it.
YEAH!
That must've been the real reason you didn't remember agreeing to anything. You must've rejected him but he accidentally mistook it somehow for you agreeing to it, and with another rejection on the pile of others you just simply forgotten all about the interaction. Either that or Mr. Akaza here was lying to get you to marry him and was a very good actor. Either scenario was possible and would explain why you didn't remember him at all. Either way you still didn't agree with this. Not really.
"Alright. Let's say that I did agree, not that I am or did but just hypothetically. How come it took you this long to seek me out?"
"I have no excuses for not finding you sooner and I apologize for that deeply," he apologized with a small bow of his head, "But at the time I was dealing with many family deaths and...'unfinished business' with a few huma-...Men." He quickly corrected himself. "It also took me a while to get back to this area and start searching for you. I didn't know where to start, I didn't know where you were, and I only knew your first name. I was only able to find you three months ago when I caught a glimpse of you. I knew your beautiful face. It's not easy to forget."
"Why did it take you another three months then if you found me again?" You asked eyebrows raised.
"I needed time to prepare courting gifts for you and I wanted to ask for your parents' blessings first."
"You asked my parents for their permission? Or to set up an engagement?"
"Neither. I asked for their blessings because I know that means a lot to families. However only you could decide to accept me or not so I didn't need to ask them but I did because I respect you greatly."
You stood there stunned not knowing what to say for a moment before blinking at him. He... really went all out and he's been looking for you for a little more than five years. You felt a bit bad for about to reject him when he seemed so ready and excited to marry you. But..You both were still strangers.
"Alright. What did you tell me when I allegedly agreed to this?"
"That I would come for you and marry you before the blood moon happened. And I intend to do that before it comes."
You paused. "You mean that event that only happens every hundred years? That's two days from now."
"Yes. A lot of young women are already being thrown into marriages, and I've seen many people already starting to board up their windows and stocking up on supplies in town when I attempted to get your parents blessings. I feel very sorry for all the young women forced into quick marriages. I'm very glad you decided not to break off our engagement while I was away!" He smiled again wide, warm, and brightly. "I promise you I'll make you very happy for the rest of our lives together."
You opened your mouth but shut up as he leaned forward to place a kiss to your forehead which was soft and warm. It made you pause as he smiled wider and leaned back to bow.
"I'll be back in two days time to marry you. I have to get a few things as well as settle a few matters and then we can hold the ceremony. Please don't fret about anything."
With one last smile he turned and began to walk away. You stood there stunned before a shot of red blasted through your face and you shook your head. Shouting a 'hey' you looked at him, only to pause seeing he was... Walking around the side of your house? What? Why was he heading towards your backyard? Quickly you made for your backdoor and threw it open. Just in time to see the bush by your henhouse moving slightly as if someone just walked through it. Akaza was fast! But...Why the heck was he heading towards your fruit grove?
"Hey! You can't just go back there!," you called out quickly following and pushing your way through the bush after him. On the other side you saw Akaza walking up to the stream behind your house. What was he doing? "Akaza! You can't just trespass on my property!"
He didn't even look back to you as you got closer. Instead he raised his arms up and without warning dove headfirst into the water. You skidded to a stop as a giant splash sounded off and your arms were thrown up as you were sprayed by droplets. After a few seconds you blinked before looking at the rippling water stunned. And there you stared longer as a bunch of bubbles bubbled up to the surface between the ripples... WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! Did Akaza just dive into your stream?! What the heck was he thinking?! Could he even swim?! You were debating whether or not to dive in after him when something just popped out of the water with another splash making you shriek in shock before you blinked...and froze at what you saw.
A pair of yellow irises and veiny blue sclera with fluffy pink lashes smiled up at you with a warm grin. A strange pattern of stripes covered his face and neck and what other part of his body that your wife eyed were able to see. Pale greyish-white like skin and a pretty pink head of hair. You stared there stunned, slack jawed, and wide eyed as he softly chuckled at your expression.
"I think I might stand out in your mind now," he spoke with a smile, "I have a few things to get done but I'll be back in two days time to come claim you. Be ready by then, My Wife."
You said nothing as he turned and dunked his head back underwater. For a brief moment a large and powerful blue-pink tail rose out from the water before disappearing with another splash and then he was gone leaving nothing but ripples behind. You stood there shocked for the longest time before your face paled, your eyes rolled back, and you collapsed into the soft grass in a dead faint.
By the time you woke up two hours later Akaza was completely gone without a trace. The first thing you did was stare. The second thing you did was bolt back to your house and lock the doors behind you and there you remained the rest of the day. A whirlwind of thoughts clouding your mind. That was Akaza!.. Wasn't it?! You saw him dive into the water. You SAW that thing if it was Akaza! It spoke in the same voice as him! It looked JUST LIKE HIM just with different colors! And then he was gone!! What even WAS that?! A merman?! Siren!? Some kind of swamp monster!? You didn't know. All you knew was that this couldn't possibly have been a dream! Not in broad daylight! Even if it was, how could you be by the stream unless you were sleep walking? Heck. You ALMOST believed that it was just a dream and you were sleepwalking if it wasn't for the fact that you found the purple flowers Akaza gave you on the floor where you dropped them yesterday. It was then that it hit you hard. It WASN'T a dream! It WAS real! It DID happen! YOU REALLY DID SEE A MERMAN!!
AND HE WAS COMING FOR YOU IN ONE DAY-
With fear in your mind and trembling hands you went to work. Locking up your animals, locking up your doors tight, bringing in your pitchfork for protection, and pushing anything you could up against the doors as a makeshift barricade. There you remained all through the second day in fear. Fear building up more bit by bit as the hours ticked away and the night approached fast. Already the sun was setting and the night was quickly taking over the skies. You had to be quick. You had to hide! You'd hide in the bathroom and barricade that door as well just in case. You'd just gotten some food from your grove and was about to store it inside since you had no idea how long you'd be in there and would prefer to have some fresh water and food on hand just in case-
"Y/n!"
You squealed dropping the basket of fruit at the sound of a voice before you could even get to your henhouse. Fruit thudded against the ground scattering at your feet as you whirled around and froze at the sight of Akaza there. He wasn't trying to disguise himself as a human this time and was that menergerie of colors including the pink hair, only this time he had legs. A few droplets of water dripped off his body as he smiled wider and you froze.
"...A-Akaza..."
"Yes. I know I'm early. I apologize for startling you," he apologized holding up a hand with something shiny in it. "But I couldn't wait to see you in this."
"... W-What is it?" You gulped expecting it to be some kind of dead fish by the shiny scales but was surprised when he revealed a bracelet of pearls.
"I wanted to gift you something sentimental. Pure white pearls are symbolic for purity, innocence, and simplicity." He explained holding it out to you. "And they're often used in wedding ceremonies. I couldn't think of anything else that could be more perfect for this moment." He then held out his hand and gently grabbed one of your frozen ones. "It's my wedding gift to you. I can't wait to see how beautiful you'll look in it."
You just stood there frozen and stunned as he happily wrapped the jewelry around your frozen wrist. He stepped back admiring his handy work as you still looked on in shock. The shiny pearls felt smooth, slightly wet, and a bit heavy on your wrist and reflected the red aura of the moon as it continued to rise in the sky with you both standing there. And reflecting Akaza's bright smile.
"Beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous." You looked back to him as he held your hand softly. "You look absolutely radiant in that. I'm so happy for tonight. Aren't you?"
"I-..." You glanced back to the bracelet before shaking your head and taking a step back. He looked completely surprised when you pulled your hand from his. "N-No. I can't do this! This is crazy! ''I-I don't even know you!"
He stood there completely stunned for a good moment before he slowly relaxed. "...You still don't remember me? I would've thought that you'd remember after seeing me in my true form. Do you not remember how you helped me years ago?"
You immediately shook your head no. "No! What are you even talking about?!"
"Over five years ago, I was young and stupid and tried to kill a professional monster hunter. Unfortunately for me he was actually very good at his job and nearly killed me after entangling me in a net. Fortunately by some miracle I was able to escape but I later washed ashore still tangled up." He tilted his head with a smile back on his face. "I very much could've died from dehydration or another far more evil human could've discovered me. However you were the one who did and you helped me without wanting anything in return."
You blinked shocked. "I what?"
"I don't blame you for not remembering. After all we were both still children then. However I was already dealing with so much loss, and a kindness like yours wasn't something I wanted to lose again." He held a hand out again. "So I asked you to marry me and you agreed. Do you perhaps remember that day now?"
You continued to stare at him for a long while. Staring at his pretty yellow eyes and soft smile. No. He must've been mistaking you for someone else. You've never met a merman before although you did remember daydreaming about meeting one like him a long time ag-....
WAIT A MINUTE-
Your eyes widened as a distant memory replayed in your head.
****************************************************************************************
"...Who...W-Who ARE you?!"
"...Akaza."
"Are you going to eat me?"
"I don't eat humans let alone women or children. ...Are you going to stand there and stare at me?"
You felt your body feel cold and frozen just standing there staring at the ..boopiy. creature? Before you. He stared at you with yellow eyes and veiny blue sclera eyes. Pink fluffy lashes matched his hair. His body had a strange line pattern to it as he just laid there staring up at you from being tangled in thick ropes around a admittedly beautiful blue and pink fish tail. You had just been wondering around by the stream and laid down for a nap after fishing unsuccessfully for a few hours now. Then you were woken up by the sounds of something big struggling along the riverbank to your left just struggling behind a thick bush leaning over the river. You assumed it was a beached fish or perhaps a deer that had gotten it's antlers stuck in the branches, however when you pulled the bush away you were shocked by what you saw. So shocked that you sorta..just went on numb autopilot staring at the boy your age struggling to untangle himself.
"I-....WHAT are you?! A-Are you a siren?!"
It was the boy's turn to look annoyed."Sirens and merfolk are two completely different beings. I wished you humans would stop mislabeling us."
Your eyes widened. "Y-Y-You're a merman?!"
"I'm glad you caught on. Now please stop staring. You'll draw attention to me and I don't need that right now."
You opened your mouth and closed it a few times before shaking your head and blinking. "H-How did you get here in the first place?!"
"I was being hunted by one of the Hunters. They're blaming me for a kelpie's killings although I'm sure they don't care." He watched as you stared at him a little longer before a hand touched his tail all of a sudden making him jump. "H-Hey! What are you doing?!"
You didn't answer. Instead tugging at the knots on the tail (that actually felt surprisingly smooth but wet) but found that the thick knots were too tight to be broken and you didn't have a knife on you. The ropes were also tangled up in the lower hanging branches of the bush. That must've been how he got stuck. Unfortunately it looked too terribly tangled up to get out without cutting it either. You'd be unable to cut him out....But.. Maybe he could slip out? He watched as you shifted to his tail and grabbed the ropes around it.
"What are do-AH?!"
He yelp as you bluntly pulled his tail up by the ropes lifting half his body off the went muddy bank and pulled up. The ropes were tight on him. And he was pretty heavy! You grunted pulling at them eventually jumping up and down a bit and trying to hook your fingers under the ropes to try and get a better grip on the ropes- Until something gave. With a wet splat sound, his tail wetly slipped through the ropes and he landed on the muddy ground with a thud leaving you holding ropes in your hands. Akaza hissed in lingering soreness that throbbed from his tail and groaned laying there.
You blinked at the ropes before tossing them aside and leaning over him. "Are you ok?"
"Incredibly sore but I'll live." His eyes turned back up to you surprised for the first time since you both met. "But...you helped me?"
"I mean-...You were stuck. Was I not supposed to? If you wanted to get out yourself then sorry. I guess. I mean I'd want someone to help me if I was trapped somewhere. Wouldn't you?"
"I...I suppose so." He pushed himself to sit up on his elbows raising a brow and looking you over. "It's just rare a human would help someone like me willingly."
You shrugged and looked at him. "I mean you did need help. I'm not sure what else I would do with you."
He continued to stare at you up and down before just silently flipping onto his stomach and you watched as he dragged himself across the short bank and into the water of the stream with a few water shuffling sounds. Blinking you continued to watch as his head reemerged a moment later and he looked at you.
"Never the less, thank you for your assistance. I would appreciate it if you don't tell anyone about our meeting. It would put the both of us in danger."
You huffed. "I don't think anyone would believe me even if I did tell them. I don't even believe this! I'm going to wake up from my nap and this'll all be a dream."
He chuckled. "Perhaps so...But still one good deed deserves another. What's your name?"
"My name is Y/n, Mr. Dream Merman. But I assure you that I don't need anything in return even from a dream."
He smiled wider. "Perhaps not." He then tilted his head. "...Are you married or engaged? Or do you already have a lover?"
"No. I mean you'd already know that being a figment of my imagination."
"Then I shall return to marry you once we're older. In a few years there will be a new blood moon. I'll be back to claim you then. Let this be my marriage vow to you."
"Ok. Mr Dream Mer-"...You blinked. "Wait. What-"
With a PLUNK sound, the head disappeared and you were left there stunned and staring slack jawed at the water. Whatever really happened just...gone. you continued to stare until you did the only thing that you could do in this situation. Go back to your nap, and sleep away the rest of this weird dream.
**********************************************************************************
You continued to stare at him wide eyed and shocked as two powerful arms wrapped around your and gently pulled your body into Akaza's. His forehead dipping down to press against yours.
"Do you remember me now, My Heroine?"
"Oh my gods..." Your eyes finally blinked. "I agreed to be engaged to a dream fish."
The words made him end up laughing at you as you refocused. The red light of the moon reflecting off his eyes and making his colorful body light up like some beautiful stain glass windows before you froze again as a hand gently caressed your cheek.
"Well, perhaps you will find this a little more satisfying than a dream.~ I already gave you my marriage vows, so allow me to seal our ceremony."
You didn't even have to ask what he meant when his face leaned ever closer and a pair of lips met yours.
Chapter 6: Gyutaro
Summary:
(WARNINGS!!: Gore, blood, some graphic descriptions, a few dead animals Gyutaro eats, fighting, killing, mentioned cannibalism, descriptions of Gyutaro's body's condition, threats, mentioning of slaughtered livestock/murder/death, werewolf tries to harm Y/n, Gyutaro cuts and later eats said werewolf, etc.
If you want to know what Gyutaro's cries sound like he sounds like the sounds in this video here.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b9JhRd0KjXg&list=LL&index=1&pp=gAQBiAQB
Kokushibo is next)
Chapter Text
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. The coldness of the air bit down hard on your skin, like painful bee stings pricking your skin. The terror far greater than seeing a thousand wolves sunk in.
c r a c k
A snapping of bones crunched between teeth. A splatter of red laid across the grass. Feathers coated in the red liquid of life laid there discarded. Unwanted by the maw that consumed the flesh between its teeth. Purple irises shook, watered at the sight before them. A hunched shadow devoured everything in its claws. Chew. Swallow. Devour. Chew. Swallow. Devour. Down the gullet and never to be returned again. Never before seen by prying eyes. A low hiss of air gurgled from the frothing mouth. Like a wheezing choke. A second later a bone escaped from the maw with a choke, spat out to the ground thudding along. A sigh escaped the maw, as if the bone had been uncomfortable in its mouth. Your body felt rigid. Frozen in utter horror as your mind struggled to comprehend the mass sitting before you. The horrors of it all as your jaw opened up in terror and the smell of blood combed into your senses-
Sniff.
An ear flickered from the top of the head. The mouth paused mid bite into the small body and slowly raised up. Stringy black hair fading to black cascaded down it's spine.
SNIFF. SNIFF.
Loud questioning sniffs filled the air-
C R A C K-
An inhuman snap of its neck sounded as it snapped to you. And you froze as yellowed eyes stared at your very soul. And for a long moment neither of you moved for a long moment until there was a chittering noise and a half eaten chicken dropped to the ground from his claws.
IT WAS HER. THE WOMAN FROM THE HOUSE.
Bones crackled and creaked as the creature rose inhuman slowly. High. Higher. And then higher. Your head slowly followed the thing up as the bone crackling stopped and you found yourself staring into the eyes of a man's- No...Beast's...It- ..YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING AT!! It was like you were looking at a cross between a man's and animal's face red blood smeared his jaws from the chicken it had been eating however he stopped and stared down it's nose at you easily with it's height. Your hiding place behind the bush no longer secure as it continued to stare at your petrified form. There wasn't enough moonlight to fully see what it was standing in the shadows except for part of its face which tilted.... before a wide maw of fangs smirked down at you. Without warning it leaned down and you clamped your eyes shut on instinct. Surely this is the day you died.
SNIFF SNIFF??
You froze more as a warm breath blew over the top of your head and something heavy loomed over you. You didn't see it. But you sure as hell F E L T IT!! However a touch to your head made your eyes pop open. Your body didn't even move being too scared but your eyes opened to stare blankly at the leaves of the bush, too scared to look up and see what it was sniffing curiously at your head. The thing above had touched you, and currently had a strand of hair being held in his hands curiously.
What a pretty color. He's never seen a shade of f/c so pretty before. And it felt so soft and silky in his hands. And she even smells nice. Like flowers and fruit. Such a clean and fresh and pure scent.
It made him unintentionally release a growl. "You're lucky you know... Being able to have such delicious traits." A raspy voice spoke out of nowhere.
Your pupils shrank so much they nearly disappeared.
T H I S. T H I N G C O U L D T A L K?!
"Do you find me scary? Ugly?", the voice rasped out, like a man with a severely sore throat trying hard to speak after smoking for a hundred years. "It must be nice...Having a roof over your head. A warm meal in your stomach. And a soft bed to sleep in." A growl escaped his throat like a dog. "A pretty thing like you. I have trouble finding any food as your kind constantly hunts me. I can't even catch a break sometimes."
What was it talking about?! What did it want?! ...Food. It mentioned food right?! Your mind flashed back unpleasantly to the once nice hen it had been eating. It was hungry. Whatever this thing was...It. Was. HUNGRY. WERE YOU NEXT ON THE MENU?! Your scared mind raced at a hundred miles a minute. You were going to die and no one would ever know what happened to you. That thought alone was terrifying enough but you hadn't any idea what 'it' even was that was going to be harming you...Wait. It..It wanted food right? That's why it was here. You then felt the weight of s thing in your pocket. There was a piece of cooked meat in your pocket. A very delicious seasoned good piece of meat you'd gotten in town while looking for a good bear trap for the 'wolf'. Perhaps you could use it to distract it. At least long enough for you to get back inside. There wasn't any guarantee it was full proof..but what else were you going to do? Ever so slowly, your hand reached for your pocket-
"What are you doing, Pretty thing?" A small tug on the strand of hair still in it's class reminded you of how close it was.
"You're hungry. I can't let you go hungry. It wouldn't be right."
Have you ever experienced an emotion of fear so strong it rendered you completely numb? That's why you came off so calm when in reality you were absolutely terrified. You felt the eyes of whatever it was locked on your hand as it reached into the pocket and wrapped around a hard object folded in paper. Numbly it was pulled out and held up near your head where you heard more sniffing.
"Pork?"
"Seasoned and cooked. It's yours if you want it."
There wasn't a hesitation before it was snatched from your hand and there was a pleased hum and a moment later you heard a loud tearing noise and messy chewing. The same smacking and chewing noises you heard from the thing eating the chicken, only you didn't hear the sickening cracking of bones...And the touch finally left your hair. The form of whatever it was leaving to stand up too preoccupied with the delicious meat melting in his mouth. Such a beautiful taste. With the looming form partially gone. A numb stiff leg slowly stretched out and took a step back. Nothing happened. She took another soft, quiet, and careful step back. Another one. Another step. And another. Your numb form made it past the henhouse slowly and then to the middle of the backyard not daring to look up at whatever it was-
"Where are you going, Pretty Thing?"
Your body again froze at the voice. But you were SO CLOSE to your open backdoor. SO CLOSE TO SAFETY!! But you didn't even know how fast this thing could move. One wrong move and you could be dead.
"... I'm going inside. It's getting late and I'm very tired. I want to go to sleep."
There was a silence as the thing stared at the women... intrigued. No one had really given him an answer like that before. It made him chuckle after a moment. "A nap? You must be pretty bold to want to take a nap right now while I'm standing in front of you...And so hungry ~ A pretty little thing like you might make for a decent dinner.~"
There was more silence and after a moment purple eyes rose to stare at the yellow ones shining from the shadows. You saw a wide fanged grin but could barely make out the rest of the tall body.
"... Your hunger is not my problem." In an instant, the smile vanished and the eyes blinked. "I have you my own food and there's plenty of fruit and vegetables behind you. If you're still hungry, go have your fill there. I won't stop you from taking it. Now I'm going inside."
You felt the eyes still stock still as you both stared down at each other before you heard the thing make a questioning noise. "...Eh?"
"You heard me. Take what you need from my orchard but I refuse to be anything's food. I've fought too hard for everything I have now."
Again there was an awkward silence and you faintly saw the thing eventually tilt its head at you. As if confused. "Hmph...Bold words for someone so brave...or stupid?"
"I'm not stupid. But I am cautious about you. You're hungry so you can have my orchard."
"Hmm. Tempting. But what if I want meat?~"
"By the looks of it you already raided my henhouse and I already fed you. If you want more meat then there's a stream with fish in it behind you too. I'm not going to feed myself to you." You continued to stare down the creature. "I should be angry but I'll compromise instead. Just take your fill and leave please."
"...And what if I don't want too, Pretty Thing?'
"Then I'll just not talk to you, Pretty Eyes.~" You cooed back to him which... REALLY caught him off guard a he just stared at you.
"....E-EH?!"
Oh?...Was that a stutter?....Wait... Maybe catching it off guard would give you a chance to escape!! It didn't seem to be used to its assumed food talking back. That could be a good thing.
"You must be rather lonely. Calling me pretty at least four times now. I honestly don't know if you want to flirt with me or just jump straight to the kissing bit."
You jumped suddenly hearing a choked dear bleat cut off by a wheezing noise from the creature. "K-K-KISS?!"
"Yes. That's why you're complimenting me right? Although your eyes are rather pretty too. They remind me of shiny gold coins or sunflowers. So pretty." Another weird inhuman sputtering noise was choked out before you fared to turn around as it seemed distracted. "But never the less, I'm tired. Good night."
You then turned and walked to your door. Not run. If you ran them it might've identified you as prey like any other predator. You got into the doorway and turned to close the door behind you. It slid shut as you slowly reached over to click the lock shut. There you stood quietly as silence ensued. And then all the panic and fear hit you at once. THUD!! Your body slumped against the door as your arms pressed against the hard wood as you collars to your knees. However your encounter was far from over when you heard it. A snort. A loud snort like an annoyed horse sounded out just behind the door where your head was lying on it, and then there was a louder sniffling noise as you dared not to move. Then there was a humming noise.
"You don't mean those things. My eyes arent that pretty...Are they?"
"Yes." You didn't know why you answered that. Maybe it was out of fear or automatic politeness but the voice fell silent for a second time.
"...Are you a human? You're really soft looking for one. Are you sure you're not a cupid or Angel?"
"..No."
"Figures as much. You smell human enough....You don't smell of any males either. That means you're not taken are you?" That was more of a statement than question.
"....Why?"
"Why not, Pretty Thing?~ You're definitely pretty enough to drive those crazy enough to fight over you. I've seen you drive other males away... Usually pretty girls like all that attention. Y'know."
Despite your fear an annoyance bubbled out. "I don't. If all they want from me is my looks when that's superficial. Looks aren't everything."
"Hm...That hadn't been my experience. Most people go for looks first-"
"I don't." Your stern voice cut him off. "If I did I would've jumped into the arms of the tailor who came here. If I was looking at any material reasons first then I would've gone with that glasses wearing snob for his money. But I didn't do either now did I? I'm not shallow."
Again another hum. "....Not shallow huh? I bet you're lying about that. I bet you'd marry the first handsome face to walk down here. Wouldn't you? It wouldn't even matter if he was a bad person as long as he had a beautiful face and nice body!"
"I promise you I'd Marry a beast before I did that."
There was silence behind the door before there was a hiss and something pressed against the wood in the area you were from the other side. The breathing had gotten slightly heavier than before. "A beast..like me?"
"Not without being courted I wouldn't. I won't marry a stranger."
A cheek pressed against the wood as if he could see your every detail. "Is that a promise?"
"....a promise..." What you said wasn't a yes or no but it was something you repeated a bit disoriented by the paralyzing fear.
However someone did take it as a yes. Someone who couldn't believe his ears. Someone who froze and shook in shock. He couldn't believe it. Someone as beautiful as her...and someone as ugly looking as him. He couldn't believe it.
And it was all for him.
She was so pretty. So soft. So PERFECT.
A L L H I S
He wanted to feel her soft cheeks on his hands the moment he saw her days ago. She was so pretty. HIS PRETTY LITTLE THING. An involuntary growl escaped from his throat as he pawed at the stupid wood. Not as pretty as his precious sister but she was still more beautiful than any human he's ever seen. He wanted her. His pretty. But he had to wait. He needed to proof he had some worth to give if not any beauty.
"Pretty Thing. You don't know what you do to me... I'll be back. Soon."
You didn't hear his last sentences. Slumping against the door and letting the darkness claim you.
You awoke the next morning with a gasp and terror shooting through you veins. You pushed yourself away from the door rapidly with a shout of terror and scrambling back away from the still locked door. But soon calmed down realizing that you were alone. A quick look out the window was enough to convince you to carefully open the door and look out seeing no signs of anything. No strange creatures with yellow eyes and blood on their face. You were beginning to think that maybe last night had been nothing but a dream until you investigated the area around your chicken coop and froze at the sight of feathers and specks of blood scattered all over the ground. There wasn't any remains, but the feathers and blood droplets was enough to convince you that whatever happened last night was far from a dream. Even more so when you counted your chickens. You had fourteen...but now there was only thirteen. And you had a good idea about where the missing one went. You felt a deep fear form in your body and for a long, long time all you could do was stare off at nothing as your brain tried to process it. All you could do is just....stare at the mess that was once a prize winning hen. Until you got enough sense to whip around yourself. Nothing was there now but it was quite obvious with how skittish your cow and chickens were.
You didn't know what to think!! You had no idea what to do! The only thing you thought of to do was to just look over your animals to make sure they were alright before retreating back into your own home armed with an ax from your small barn usually only used for firewood and locking both doors up tightly. You remained there for what must've been hours. The sun slowly trickling across the sky until it started to slowly go down. The duration of the day being paranoid and checking out your curtains every few minutes or so. However you didn't dare go to the window when sundown approached and eventually night fell. You stationed yourself by the small fireplace curled your knees up to your chest and clutched the axe to yourself. And waited. Perhaps nothing would happen if you pretended to not be home. So you remained silent and still. No fire going. With the doors locked. Curtains closed. Then it was just the darkness and you. Cold silence as you just sat there. High alert as the night rang out....Until you weren't. You must've dozed off at some point because the next thing you knew there was a shrill cry.
A sickly shrill cry left the darkness and reverberated off the walls. Followed by a metal clang. Your axe fell thudding to the ground from your startled form. Your form frozen to the spot...What was- It happened again. Closer this time. A snarking howling noise that sounded like a wolf but...not. Much More...Worse! It was loud enough to make you curl up more and then you froze as a shadow passed by your window. Ice seeped into your veins as you eyes shrank to the size of pins and ever so slowly your head turned to the window and you completely froze as you saw it. A silhouette of what seemed to be a dog's head was seen just behind your curtains against the windows. A large mountain of a creature stood there. Pointed ears flicked as there was a loud smelling noise. All you could do was continue to sit there and stare absolutely terrified...until whatever it was lumbered away from the window You continued to sit there as the faint footsteps faded away and long after it went away. Safe to say you got no sleep that night.
The next morning you felt safer with the sunlight lighting up the world and felt safe enough to gather your wits enough to make the hour long trip to town. Every step you took was filled with paranoia from the last few nights. Looking constantly over your shoulders and gazing at every tree you passed as is something would pop out any minute to snatch you away. Thank the gods that you made it through to the town without any trouble. You decided that you DEFINITELY needed that bear trap after all. Something was going on...And that thought was only solidified by the tense air you walked into. You had blinked surprised to see barely any people out today despite it being a Saturday morning and very warm out. Usually there'd be a ton of people out, but today there seemed to be a certain fog heavy in the air. Only a few people were out today and all seemed to have this scared look about them. Looking around quickly or keeping their heads down and speed walking by. That was weird. But you didn't have time to think about that. You just made your way back to the black smiths where weapons and traps were sold. The air from the town left a strange feeling the more you walked and it solidified itself when you found and entered the shop. Once you did, you were surprised when the blacksmith jumped. A large sword he was holding dropping to the ground with a clatter as he whirled around to you...but soon he sighed and gave a glare.
"Dam it! Why do you women always make it a habit to bother us at the worst times?!"
You blinked before frowning. "That's some way to talk to a customer. I'm just here to buy a bear trap. The biggest one you've got."
"Well you're plum outta luck, Girlie!," he sneered before pointing at a wall, "Because I'm completely out of stock!"
You turned and were shocked to see that the wall that had been littered with traps two days before was now completely empty. "What happened?"
He snorted. "I sold them all. That's what. Everyone's been charging in here demanding weapons and traps and whatever else I have to combat the beast."
Your head turned to him with a snap. ".... Beast? What beast?"
He snorted. "Like you didn't hear." You continued to stare at him and be scoffed again before leaning on the counter. "Four nights ago some beast slaughtered a cow or two from a little farm on the outskirts of town. The farmer claimed it was a gigantic wolf he saw slaughter his bulls. A few hunters were in here the night after intending to go after the creature."
Wait....you remembered seeing them almost three nights ago now. A small group of hunters examining the knives in the corner. One tried to flirt with you the first time you were here making you leave early. You were starting to regret not buying one when you did.
"Their bodies were found slaughtered and ripped apart the next morning. Barely anything was left." Your eyes widened in pure horror as he continued to speak. "Then the next night a slew of livestock was slaughtered and even more was killed last night! Everyone is now arming themselves for whatever evil is closing in." His eyes narrowed. "If I were you, I'd go home and not come back until this whole thing passes. It's dangerous to walk alone right now. Haven't you seen any signs?"
"I...lost a chicken two days ago."
"Then take that as a warning or else you'll be another chicken to the beast."
You left soon after that speed walking your way home a new fear bobbing in your mind like a log floating in a powerful river. What was happening around here?! Did it have something to do with the thing that you saw last night? Did that creature who spoke to you cause all this terror? This was a thing that had you sinking further and further into your thoughts walking in the woods back towards your house surrounded by trees and woods and-
"Pretty Thing.~"
You froze. Body rigid and ice cold as a voice cut through the air...No. No! Your mind must've been playing tricks on you! There was no way that was what you thought it wa- Tree branches snapped and brush rustled as something BIG slithered out of the shadows and stopped somewhere behind your frozen form. A snort followed by the clip clopping of hooves followed a little bit...only to stop even closer to you. There you remained frozen until something else hissed your name.
"Turn around."
You didn't want to. Really you didn't. You'd be stupid to even do so...but ...Your eyes slowly turned until they couldn't no more. Your head followed after followed by your body until you looked all the way behind you. And. You. FROZE. At. What. You. Saw. Deer like legs partially covered by worn gray pants stood on the ground. A long tail with swishing long hair similar to a horse swished at its feet. The torso's structure was... HORRIBLE! Thin. So, so, SO thin it was. You could see the bones under the grey skin and the surprisingly strong muscle structure gripping onto the bones for fear life. Your eyes continued upwards and froze. A bore hung from the air by its back legs, obviously dead but still looking fresh as if it hadn't been deceased for very long. But that's not what made you freeze. Black and yellow eyes half lidded stared at you as a wide smile of fangs grinned. The face framed but wavy long black-dark green hair that was mostly in a long ponytail cascading down his back. Two deer like ears flickered from the tops of his head. And his entire body had black splotchy birthmarks all over him. After a moment of just staring at Each other, the events of two nights before hit you like a ton of bricks and you stared frozen. After a long moment he chuckled again and leaned down to look at you closer. Face inches away.
"Didn't think I would be back, Pretty?"
"Holy hell..." You whispered under your breath getting a closer look at his face making him chuckle.
"Do I look scarier in sunlight, Little Rabbit?"
"You're hot-"
You froze as soon as the words left your mouth and the creature also froze. Both of you staring at one another for a long, long moment.
"...What?"
"What?" You mimicked before slowly taking a step back, and turning around-
"Not. So. Fast." A raspy voice spoke making you pause again and you once again froze -
THUD!!
You squealed out as the boat was dropped in front of you landing on the ground by your feet with a loud thud. And something lanky slunk in front of you from behind and sat on his hunches beside the board. You continued to stare at the wild pig before slowly looking to the creature still in fear as he just ....stared back at you. For a long moment no one spoke. You continued to stare at this....This ...THING as he silently stared back expectantly. What did it want?! Was it going to eat you?! Was it waiting for you to run?! It's eyes flickered down to the ground and then back to you with anticipation and you blinked looking back down to the pig....Was it waiting for you to acknowledge the...pig? You looked between the two a few more times.
"That's...a boar-"
"No shit "
You jumped in shock not only hearing it talk but seeing it's mouth move. It tilted its head even more as if waiting for you to say something else.
"It's...a very big boar-"
"THE biggest. Nice and fat. Good food." He made some kind of half thrum half purr with his throat looking all of a sudden...anxious? "I-I'm a good provider. I bring back the best prey."
You just...stared before slowly nodding unsure of what to do and mostly terrified about making whatever he was upset. "I...Yes. Oh wow. This pig sure looks..." You looked back to it. Dead? "...Big. There would surely be good bacon and pork from a pig that size.
With a slightly anxious look still the thing leaned over to look at your face and you froze as it seemed to be studying you. "....You don't like it."
...You blinked. "What?"
He growled out before leaning back making you jump and expecting to be killed now...but instead he just silently dragged the boat back to him by the legs with a huff. "You don't like it." He eyed the corpse as if trying to find anything wrong with it.".. I'll bring back something better. More plump...An elk. Maybe a nice bear."
"No! No, no. I like pork!" You quickly held up your hands making him snap to you. You didn't want him to get the idea of him bringing himself back a human mainly you, so you quickly turned to appeasing him. "Porks delicious! It's a very good pig!" You assured him with a forced smile.
He still stared at you before giving a loud...whine?? "You're only saying that to spare my feelings."
"No really. The pig is fine. It just needs to be butchered properly."
He looked back to you..and then he moved. It was so fast it had you freezing. You froze as he pushed his face into your face and for a long moment everything was still...until he made some kind of noise and you still stared...was he waiting for you to say something again?
"Um..." Hesitantly you reached up a hand and unsurely pat his head like you would a dog's. "There, there?"
You watched as his eyes widened in awe. She-...She was responding to his proposal. Someone as pretty as her. He chattered before freezing as the hand scratched an area- THUMP THUMP- You blinked again and looked over hearing a large thumping noise only to find the large tail thudding against the ground hair swishing as you scratched his eats sticking from his head. ...Did this thing seriously like head scratches? It might've been cute if it weren't so scary. Eventually whatever it was suddenly planted it's face into your shoulder making you pause as it just leaned against you.
"P-Pretty... You're just...so pretty."
You blanked again. "Um...Thank you? But W-Who are you?"
"Gyutaro," he mumbled without even looking up. "My mate would need to know that-"
A glass shattering noise went off in your head. "..... What?"
"Mine." You felt two arms suddenly but gently wrap around you in some kind of hug. "You're mine now-"
"What are you talking about?!'' With a whine you suddenly pulled his head away from you and held it away from your shoulder. "I don't know what you mean by that but I don't think you're thinking straight."
"You said you'd marry a beast! ME! Before you married a man!" He growled back before he again leaned into you again, this time your arm, 'You promised yourself to me and now you're mine!"
GOOD HOLY FUCK THAT WASN'T A DREAM EITHER!! WHAT HAD YOU DONE!?!? YOU PROMISED YOURSELF TO A-....TO A-.....A...
"What even ARE you?"
He chuckled cracking an amused eye open to stare at you amused. "Guess?~"
Guess?! How were you supposed to guess what he was when he wouldn't tell you?! You just blankly stared at him up and down before landing on his strange deer like legs. What kind of creatures had these legs?!
"Are you...a pan?"
He barked a laugh. "No."
Your brows furrowed more. "...Are you a..faun?"
He snorted shaking his head no against your arm. "Not even close."
"Then what are you?"
"You humans call my kind wendigo."
"Wendigo...I've never heard of such a creature."
"Lucky thing ~" He mused pushing his cheek further into your hand. "All mine too." He blinked as you pulled your hand away to rub your own shocked face.
"I must be loosing my mind. This can't be real."
"I'm literally in front of you."
You looked back to him. "W-Well... I can't be with you."
"Why? Is the pig not enough? I-Ill provide better meat for you! I promise!"
"It's not the pig that's the problem! You've been terrorizing the town!"
For once Gyutaro's face paused.....he blinked. "What?'
"Yo-You've been rampaging through town killing people and livestock! Y-You devoured my chicken!"
"The chicken I ate." He furrowed his brows. "I haven't killed any humans." Not around this area at least- "And I haven't killed any farmers pets aside from the chicken."
You stared at him for a long, long moment. ".... You mean...You haven't been killing animals A-And people for the last four days?"
"I haven't even been in this area for four days!" He barked now a bit annoyed he'd be accused of something. "I've only been here twice. Once two days ago when you promised your hand to me and now today!"
"So...You WEREN'T the shadow thing creeping around my window last night?"
Again you both stared at one another silently before his face slowly contorted into rage. A hiss escaped his throat. You jumped as he shot up to his towering height and grabbed your shoulder with a hiss.
"Show me."
The boat was picked up and flung over his shoulder as he made you walk the whole rest of the way to your house and around to the back which was...awkward as you were mostly silent the entire way there. What if he was lying?! What if he really was the one who's responsible for all the death?! What if there WAS two monsters running around here?! The thought made you feel afraid. But you gestured to the window where you saw the shadow last night.
"It was here but I never saw what it was, only it's shadow."
The boar was again dropped without a thought as Gyutaro(he said that was his name) leaned over the window and inhaled deeply before instantly turning to a sour expression with his nose wrinkled up and teeth exposed in a disgusted expression.
"What is it?"
"Blood and sweat. Smells like a wolf... almost."
"A wolf?" You looked at the window. That must've been a giant wolf.
"I said almost...smells disgusting and... odd."
You stared at him. "...Well everyone's been saying that it was a wolf. What else could it have been?"
"Something else that's dangerous."
Again silence rang out as you stared at the window... before groaning and reaching a hand up to rub your head. You needed to go sit down for a moment. Gyutaro perked back up hearing the back door open and you step inside- only to stop and turn around once you felt something slip in under your arm and slink itself inside. Gyutaro slunk inside on all fours dragging the boar in his mouth and dropped it on the floor before circling and sitting back on his legs looking at you expectantly.
"Cozy home. My sister will be expecting to be able to have room too."
You just stared at the mess he made before dropping your arms. "I think we're going to need to have a talk but not right now I need to have some time to myself. " His face dropped as you pointed out the door. "I need to think about everything that's happening but it's not your fault. It's just something I need to do for myself."
He still stared at you further before giving a guilty look like that of a kicked puppy and like before slinked out the same way he went inside before he sat outside and sat down on his hunches with a kicked puppy look as you closed the door. He felt his ears press flat to his head as you didn't open the door again. Was something wrong? Did you not like the pig after all? He would have to prove himself to her in a different way. And he knew just how he was going to do it.
******"*************************************************************************
The night was on you again. The sleeping form of a girl in bed caught the appeal of all to see. You managed to clean up the mess Gyutaro made and take care of the pig he brought you, which took most of the rest of that day and barely sleeping the last two nights on too of all the work had you dead tired enough to fall asleep instantly despite the fear. ... However it wasn't a peaceful night as evil lurked near. A figure lurked closer and closer to the window. A large snout made it's way up to the window and inhaled deeply.
Warm body. Fresh blood.
CARNAGE.
You were awoken by a loud scraping noise against the door. Followed by a sickening crash noise as something on the other side of the door where broke through. A scream echoing out through the night as you turned and shrieked at what you saw. Long black claws sunk themselves into your shutters ripping the flimsy window protection away and revealed a deformed head of the wolf. It's disgusting maw opened up in a loud cry flinging spit all over your window frothing from its mouth.
CRASH!!
A glass shattering noise went off as a black hand shoved through the mirror as an inhuman arm shot through and flailed about. A spray of glass rained upon you and on instinct you flung your arms up to shield yourself from the spray of shattered glass. One moment she sat there screaming, the next she was scrambling on hands and knees into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind her. The arm flailed about scratching up the walls and searching for some purchase of entry way. Or it would've been if something hadn't cut down through its shoulder leaving a gash and spray of blood splattering against the side of the house. A loud whining of pain sounded out and the creature retreated. A loud deadly symphony of howls, snarls, and demonic sounding deer bleats that had you clamping your hands over your ears and curling into the fetal position against the bathroom door. You stayed that way even as the sounds stopped. Even as something loudly kicked your backdoor in wide open scattering pieces of wood everywhere. Even as you heard something sniffing around. Even as hoof steps approached the door. Even as the bathroom door was slammed open. YOU. SHRIEKED. BODY backing away from the door and scared of your incoming death as a hand wrapped around your ankle and yanked your form back into an...embrace?? You sat frozen as an equally scary but more familiar form pressed you into him and for a long moment you sat froze...until you spoke.
"Gyutaro?"
"I told you.." he hissed pressing your form further into him. "You're M I N E."
"Brother, are you done with this stupid game yet?!" A shrill new voice made you jump. "Just grab the human and let's go home already!"
"Not yet...You take her home. I have one more thing."
You felt like passing out before looking at the creature. "Home...W-What home?"
A cheek pressed against your forehead. "My home. ... You're going to be kept safe."
And his.
*****************************************************"****************
The sunlight shown down on the tiles of a home in the morning. Warming up the world as it lit up like a candle. A field held all silent and sprung flowers in its glory. However it was stained by a red trail tailing behind the stumbling body.
One step. Two steps.
THUD
Stumbling to his knees only to pick himself back up with a pant and keep going back towards the small home in the field. If he could get inside he could stop the bleeding. He NEEDED to stop the bleeding. One last stumble and the body landed face first to the soft grass wriggling and forcing himself up- Until a black hoof pushed him back down.
"Werewolf....No wonder you smelt an odd mix of human and animal. Your whole body carries the stench of death on it. ..Too bad. You have such a handsome face to go along with such an ugly curse...Shehe. How ironic! You were so easy to track too! Leaking like a river like that! Now I've never eaten a werewolf before and I'm fucking hungry from not eating for a few days! Let's see what you taste like shall we?!"
.A scream echoed throughout the field and then once more silence resumed.
Chapter 7: Kokushibo
Chapter Text
First the QnA answers!!
*Will you write about a swap au where the demons are Haishira and the Haishira are demons?
Most likely not. I like a swap au but I don't think I'd write one.
*Will Y/n have a motherly role for Rui in this story?
Unfortunately not. These are only Oneshots and nothing else.
*Will we see a wedding ceremony?
Well yes but only partially as it gets interrupted.
*How many times will Y/n be kidnapped by a love interest and who does it next?
They're not really kidnapping. Technically no one's been kidnapped. In Gyutaro's ending it's vague but it's left open. And the other ones who kidnap or attempt to kidnap Y/n are the bad guys.
*Is Y/n gonna smack some sense into the love interests?
Not really.
*Is Kokushibo gonna just take reader or just court her first?
Court. He is a traditional man after all.
*Is the Hantengu Bros. after Kokushibo's route?
Yes.
*Will Kokushibo's route be spicy?
It'll be sfw. ALL of my works are SFW.
And that's it. Thanks everyone for asking and onto the chapter.
Warnings: Kokushibo is in pretty rough shape with bad wounds and some blood loss, mentioned blood, Kokushibo murders a rival later, mentioned killing/attempted murder, Y/n gets kidnapped for a forced marriage, Y/n gets cut when someone tries to attack Kokushibo, Kokushibo breaks someone's hand, etc.
Just a reminder Kokushibo is a Omukade Yokai centaur creature and looks a lot like the links below.
https://www.tumblr.com/rottencoreflesh101/724273568035274752/some-monster-au-doodles-i-did-at-work-im-also?source=share
https://www.tumblr.com/rottencoreflesh101/724423204823826432/work-doodles-more-of-my-monster-au-i-think-i?source=share)
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. You cracked an opening in the branches and looked out. The darkened sky looked out over the entire area. Tree branches swayed and night fell upon the ground. However you froze as your eyes met a sickening sight.
R E D.
The coldness of the air bit down hard on your skin, like painful bee stings pricking your skin. The terror far greater than seeing a thousand wolves sunk in. A hand flew to cover your mouth as a foul urge to vomit rose and a sickening copper smell filtered through the air.
RED!!
That was the color painted everywhere on the ground displayed before you. And there...lying face down slumped over was a man's body. A canvas for the color. Your eyes shrank in terror and your ears gained a ringing sound all on their own drowning out any noise.
A DEAD BODY.
In your backyard and lying right in front of your face. How-...Where did it come from?! Who was this!? Where did it come from?! You wretched yourself away from the bush in shock and leaned over slightly. The urge to vomit riding as you did everything you could to keep it down. The bush branches snapping back into place hiding the sight from you. Automatically you gave a few coughs and gulped down air in an attempt to calm yourself head spinning. There was a dead man on your property! Oh gods! What if someone thought you were responsible for this!? You could be tried for murders-
Wait...
How did you know he was actually dead?
That one thought made you freeze in your tracks instantly. That's right...How did you know for certain that he was dead? You just merely saw him covered in blood with a gash on his back. Your head turned back to the bush. He...he could've been hurt and tried reaching your house for help. What if he was laying there suffering?! That thought perked you back up into going back to the bush and cautiously reaching out to slightly pull the branches again. The body was still there unmoving. It...sure LOOKED dead but you couldn't tell in the dark. If he was still alive..you had to help him. You couldn't just leave someone to bleed out. The unmoving form still remained unmoving even as you noisily pushed through the bush and stood right next to the head....It was definitely a man. You could tell by how Large the body was and how muscular the exposed skin was. In the limited moonlight you were able to make out long hair and bangs that mostly covered his face and he laid in a position that suggested that he'd collapsed by himself. But the question still remained...Was he still alive?
You hesitated again ...but slowly you reached over to the face laying on its side and touched the long bangs covering his eyes. It was .. surprisingly soft and silky to the touch and you slowly pulled it away from the face to examine it. The right side of a man's face greeted you. You nearly jumped back at what you saw. His right eye was closed obviously either unconscious or dead, and read streaks ran down his face in water dripping patterns from a cut on his forehead. However...that wasn't the strangest bit. There was an odd flame looking birthmark on his neck and part of his right cheek. Odd. You'd never seen a birthmark like that before. However you didn't pay it much mind. Your hand instead went to almost touch his lips and flinched back feeling a weak warm breath blow across your fingertips. You reeled back in shock, hand to your chest, and jumping
HE WAS ALIVE!!
Hands grabbed his right shoulder and HEAVED. Barely moving an inch, but slowly the body turned, and with a thud whoever he was collapsed onto his back. A shocked gasp escaped from your throat upon purple eyes seeing his front body. Oh gods...So much blood. His body was practically DRENCHED in the red color! And you found out why. Mr. Unknown had the front of his shirt ripped to pieces to where it was barely hanging on over his shoulders. A large gash across his front from his left shoulder and ending just above his right hip was exposed to you. Definitely bigger than the gash along his back. And there was a third smaller gash along his right collar bone ending near his bicep. There was so much blood..How was he even still alive!? You also saw he had more of those flame like birthmarks on the upper left corner of his face. How odd. You reached out to touch it- But froze as a strong hand snatched you hand.
A pair of eyes opened up and gazed up at the blurry figure above him. Not making any sense of the blurry, spinning vision. Until the eyes rolled up into the back of his head and the last thing he saw was a glimpse of purple.
**************************************************
Warm.
Everything was warm once feeling returned to his body. Which was odd. He was lying on the cold hard ground last he remembered. Logic was of course the first thing to return to him. His thinking was always faster than his reflexes. Then the feeling of his body settled in. Warmth...but incredible aching, throbbing soreness. It throbbed and panged his body. Hmm..So he wasn't dead after all. It was too painful to be heaven and not painful enough to be hell, and too annoying to be purgatory. So he was Still alive but had passed out for a short while. An acceptable fate. Now...where was he?
Eyes slowly opened themselves up to the world blinking rapidly at the light and his vision blurred until he could see...A one roomed house? It was mostly empty. A coffee table square in the middle, a picture frame or two holding a painting of someone on the walls, a basket in the corner, a shelf full of dishes and other small items, a fireplace with a fire currently going, and a few other bland things. Nothing that really stood out as anything important to him. But who lived here? Why was he inside? How did he get here? And who touched him?
His question was answered when the door opened and the figure of a woman in a blue kimono walked in. The smell of wood drew his attention to the logs she was carrying. Silently he watched as she slid the sliding door back closed with a foot before continuing on to the fireplace and proceeding to feed the fire the wood. He laid there silently staring at her legs as she worked, feeling too weak to look up just yet and not wanting to give himself away just yet. The sounds of a metal poker scraping against the fire appeared for a little while before it too went away and the legs turned to face him. They didn't move again for a long moment before he felt a hand touch his blanketed shoulder- Faster than either expected his left hand shot up to tightly grip a much smaller wrist and squeezed down just enough to get the other body to freeze.
"Who are you and where am I?"
His eyes turned upwards slowly tilting his head...and he gave pause at the shocked face staring at him. The soft features looking as if sculpted by an angel. Soft, warm, and very beautiful. Definitely a woman. You stared at him in shock at how fast the man moved despite the fact that he was still extremely hurt and had blood loss. Whoever he was, he was extremely trained if he could react this fast. You jumped as he lightly squeezed your wrist. It didn't hurt, not at all, but you couldn't move. This man was obviously serious. So taking a breath..you exhaled slowly to calm yourself.
"Calm yourself," you spoke holding up your free hand despite his face already being an odd calm, "Relax back. You might reopen your wounds-"
"Answer me."
"My name is Y/n. Y/n Tamayo. This is my home. I found you unconscious outside last night and brought you in here."
You heard him him eyes looking you up and down.. before he slowly let go of your wrist and lowered his arm back down but paused when he saw the white wrapped around his palm and held his hand out to look at the bandages wrapped around it. Before his eyes slowly looked down at his now uncovered torso and saw even more bandages snuggly wrapped around his entire upper body, over his right shoulder, and part of his upper right arm. A hand reached up to feel his head and again found more bandages wrapped around his forehead. The throbbing soreness he's been feeling eminated from most of the bandaged spots. And a deep inhale made him aware of some kind of ointment or herbal treatment under them.
"...You have treated my wounds."
You nodded finally smiling at him. "I did. My mother's a doctor so I know a few medical treatments."
"My sword. Where is it?"
"It's by the table. You were passed out so I didn't know what to do with it otherwise." He looked back to you. "Your shirt was also ruined but I managed to save your other clothes. They're washed and drying outside so you should be able to get them back soon."
"I see ..Again he looked back to his body. "What of the state of my injuries?"
"You have a few large gashes across your back, chest, and shoulder here," you gestured to his torso. "But they're not deep at all and should heal rather quickly. You have a few cuts also but they're even smaller and should heal faster." You then frowned. "However I am worried about how much blood you managed to lose. There was so much. I honestly thought you were dead when I first saw you."
"I'll live," he said simply before sighing through his nose. "Is there anyone else that lives here?"
You shook your head. "No. Just me-"
"Where does that door there lead?" He pointed out the Smaller sliding door near the shelf.
"Oh. That leads into my bathroom." You blinked before looking at him. "My house isn't that-"
You blinked at the man who was sitting up. ...The man was .. sitting up. The man was sitting up despite his blood loss- He sighed through his nose before pulling the blanket to drap around his shoulders and slowly struggled to stand up. Your jaw dropped in disbelief as he was able to stand up and turned keeping the blanket draped over himself. Eventually you shook you head and snapped after him.
"Hey! W-Wait a minute!" He stopped when you grabbed the blanket around him and tugged back. "Where do you think you're going?!"
"To bathe." He turned his head back to you. "Please bring me my clothes." He then tugged the blanket out of your hands and continued on his way. Grabbing a towel from the shelf and entering your bathroom.
You stood there stunned for a very long time opening and closing your mouth like a fish before you looked at the empty futon and then back to the door as the faint sounds of running water started up. ....HOW WAS HE ABLE TO STAND AND WALK RIGHT NOW?! HE SHOUDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO SIT UP!! But there he was. You were absolutely stunned to say the least, but did as he asked and got the clothes you cleaned from the line. You ended up just quickly shoving them inside closing your eyes and slamming the door back shut to give him respect of privacy. He still took his sweet time however and the next time he opened the door he was fully clothed minus a shirt. Steam escaped from the room behind him as he approached your sitting form at the table but he didn't even acknowledge you. Just reaching out to grab the sword off the table. He stood there examining the sheath of the blade with a calm face... before he paused. His eyes went wide as his arm flew to clutch his stomach as a wave of pain and dizzing nausea came over him. He stumbled two steps to the right before something grabbed onto him barely able to lift him up.
"I TOLD you! You're body's too weak to stand yet. C'mon. Come lay back down." You some how managed to hold up his heavy body just enough to make it back to the futon and help him sit down but he refused to lay down no matter how hard you pushed him to lay back so you gave up and just looked at him breathing heavily. "There. Now don't try that again. You need to recover."
His hair was down now completely cascading down his back and slightly wet covering most of his back but he still turned to you peeking through his hair. "It seems...so. I must take some time to recover."
"I also need you to remove your coat." He raised a brow at you. "To replace the bandages you removed. It'd be better if I treated them properly."
He remained silent but placed the sword on his lap and reached up to silently remove his black and purple checkered coat. You blinked but quickly looked away with red rising to your cheeks. Right! You'd better get those bandages. You were surprised at how silent and calm he was. Not once did he flinch or make a hurt face when you retreated his injuries. Only silently raising his arms and moving his hair when you wrapped new clean bandages around his torso red faced. He was...very physically fit. When you were finished he just silently pulled the coat back over his shoulders.
"You should be fine now but you should rest." He hummed in response. ".... What's your name?"
"Why do you need to know?"
You rose a brow. "Well considering I found a stranger bleeding near my home and treated him without asking for payment in return I think a name would be the least you could give me."
"I owe nothing."
"Maybe not but it would be polite. I can't keep calling you Mr. Stranger."
There was silence again before he said one word. "Kokushibo."
You blinked before smiling. "Well it's nice to meet you, Mr. Kokushibo. Would you tell me what you were doing outside my home?''
He hummed again cracking an eye open at you. "Nosey aren't you?"
"Concerned is more like it. You'd be too if you found a bloodied man outside your home." You then glanced at the sword on his lap. It was a long katana most likely. "...Are you a samurai?"
A large hand clasped around the sword in an instant. ".... I am a warrior." He settled on saying carefully after studying your face for a long moment. "I was engaged in battle before coming here."
Your brow rose. "Combat in the middle of the woods?"
"I prefer traveling without trouble following. The forest provides a peaceful cover. However I miscalculated an ambush. I will not make the same mistake."
Who attacked him? Other samurai? You've seen these men a few times while in town but never spoke to one until now. "....But do I have to worry about trouble coming here?"
"...No. I have already assured that I wouldn't be dealing with them again."
You decided not to delve further into that. Wasn't your business anyways. At least you didn't have to worry about trouble showing up on your doorstep. You slowly closed the box containing your medical kit. "I'll have to buy some more supplies in town. ...Are you hungry? A full stomach would help you feel better."
He hummed again. " You're cooking beef stew in the fireplace." He nodded. "I will take it."
"And water." He again looked at you. "You lost a lot of blood. You need fluids and get rehydrated fast or else something bad might happen." You stood up and turned away from him. "I'd rather not have my guest collapsing on me again." Walking over to the shelf, you placed the box back. "You can stay here until you recover, but I think it might be a good idea if I had my mother come look at you-"
"NO." You turned around blinking at him as he narrowed his eyes at you. "I won't have anyone else seeing me or knowing I am here. I will stay until I am well enough to walk within a week but until then no one else will know I'm here."
The intensity of the state he was giving you reminded you of a wolf staring at a rabbit. ..And you suddenly had a thought that perhaps you had better stay out of whatever business this man had. So you nodded and he relaxed back but still stared at you. Watching as you set about getting him a plate stuffed full of rice and beef and whatever else you decided to give him.
"Thank you." He said plainly before just grabbing a pair of chopsticks to start eating.
"I hope you don't mind such a meager meal. I don't have exactly have access to top meat."
"This will be enough for now but I will need more later to fuel my body's regeneration rate." He said before just silently putting a chunk of the food in his mouth... before pausing before just looking at the food.
You noticed that and tilted your head. "Is something wrong? It's too hot isn't it?"
He was slow to respond. "No... It's quite good. I rarely have home cooked foods." Mostly he feasted on prey he caught these last few decades and home cooked meals like this were rare these days.
You smiled at him. "Thank you. If you're still hungry later then you're welcome to take more of if you can't move just ask me and I'll get you more." A jug full of water and a cup was placed next to him. "Here's some water. Drink some. I'm going to clean up the mess you made of my bathroom. Next time don't leave your old bandages next to the tub."
"My apologies."
He did not say anything else as you left to clean up the bathroom and dispose of the old slightly bloodied bandages he had wrapped around himself. Collecting the dishes he set aside once he was finished with it. He stayed like that for the rest of the day, just silently sitting there and looking like he was in deep meditation. You didn't disturb him still feeling strange from the intense look he gave you earlier. However you did comply with him when he asked for more food before retiring to the futon you set up. Not wanting to disturb him, you just pulled out a spare set of blankets from the shelf and curled up near the front door just in case you needed to jump out for whatever reason. However you woke up the next morning in surprise to find the man sound asleep still.
Seeing as you still had a quiet morning to yourself, you quietly made your way out to start your chores which wasn't too long a job but you thought that the man would've been awake now. You were surprised to see that he wasn't. Instead he remained there in the same position you saw him in when you first got up. Long hair splayed all around him. But what caught your attention towards him was the twitching of his eyelids. He looked incredibly bothered by something. So when a hand touched his forehead, his eyes snapped open immediately to look at you.
"You're running a fever...It doesn't feel too high thankfully. I have some fever medicine in my kit. I'll give you some and you should feel fine later."
He merely hummed before closing his eyes back shut. "Do what you must."
You smiled and made to move..but paused. Removing your hand you stared at his bare forehead in confusion. ".... That's strange. Didn't you have a cut on your forehead?"
"You're mistaken." He didn't bother opening his eyes.
You stared at him before opening your mouth. That's not true. You DID treat a cut on his forehead but again you decided not to bother fighting him and again treat him with a herbal tea infused with the medicine. He opened his eyes and would've sat up to take the drink from you, but blinked as all of a sudden a hand pushed itself under his head and lifted him with extreme gentleness he'd never felt before. As if he was cracked glass and at any moment could shatter. Something warm and herbal smelling wafted over his lips as you cradled his head and held the cup to his lips.
"Here. Drink."
The eyes stared up at yours and how soft your features were... before they glanced at the cup, and slowly opened his mouth. It was enough for you to tilt the cup for him to drink taking great care to not spill any on him. Making sure to also give him breaks between gulps to allow him to breath until it was empty. He'll also need something solid in his stomach. Good thing you still had leftovers from dinner last night. He didn't make any moves to stop you from cradling his head and feeding him until he seemed to be full enough and you gently encouraged him to sit back up. You needed to treat his wounds again. He seemed to struggle to sit up by himself so you had to push him up into a sitting position before you could again treat him. He just remained silent and compliant throughout the entire process until he was laying back down and a cool wet towel was being pressed against his forehead.
"There you go. You should feel better soon. Is there anything else you want?"
"No. This should suffice."
You smiled at him again. "Well you should be well for now. I'll come back later and get you some more water after I finish cleaning the house. For now rest."
He looked at you closely. "You're doing your duties even while caring for someone else fully?"
"Well ..Yes. You're my guest, and I should be a good host but I shouldn't neglect my chores either."
"Hm. The markings of a devoted housewife." He nodded. "Your husband must be very pleased with a woman like you."
You paused blinking.. before slowly looking at him with a look. "I'm not married." His eyes looked back to you. "I'm not engaged either. I clean my home and provide for my own person."
His brow rose higher than before. "A woman living alone and running a farm by herself?" The eyes scanned you up and down. That was unheard of. "With how young and beautiful you are? A woman by your age is usually married or engaged to be married soon. It's unheard of to hear that you're not."
You paused. Before your face lit up a light pink at his words but despite that you shook your head with a frown. "No. I like living by myself and providing for just me. It's simpler and more peaceful."
"You do not want to be married? Or starting a family?"
You gave a thoughtful look. "Well..I think it would be nice to settle down eventually, but it shouldn't be forced. Marriage is supposed to be about love for one another, not just what I look like."
"You haven't gotten any suitors?"
You shook your head picking up a bucket. "No. I have but most of the ones I've gotten have always been pushy or only wanted to marry me because they thought I was pretty or for some other selfish reason. Living a bit far from town helps but sometimes someone still has the audacity to come down here and try their luck. Some more pushy than others. A lot of the time they don't like hearing no."
Kokushibo silently seemed to be giving a thoughtful, considerate look to what you had to say. "I see."
He said nothing else as his eyes closed once again and you left to fetch a pail of water from your well. If he wanted to rest then you wouldn't disturb him. Only rolling up your sleeves/bottom of your kimono before starting to scrub the floors. He remained still as you worked even as you moved furniture and pushed him and the futon over at one point to clean under him. He merely perked an eye open, before immediately closing it again unbothered by anything. Made no difference to you. You just continued to go about your business dusting, sweeping, mopping, etc. You again changed the towel on his forehead and fed him more later in the day but it wasn't anything special. However come the third morning he was there you started to think maybe this man wasn't human. You had woken up as usual and gotten up but froze when you found the back door open and he was just sitting there already helping himself to what must've been the last of the large pot of stew and rice you made. How the heck was he able to eat so much? He noticed you before you could even say something.
"Apologies for devouring your food. If I wish to regenerate fully faster, I need more sustenance to sustain the energy my body uses to generate the healing process. But rest assured this only means I won't be a bother for you sooner."
You blinked looking at where he had been resting the day before then at him opening your mouth.. before just closing it. "It's..not a problem. You must be really hungry. I'll cook you a few eggs."
He only tilted his head slightly as you silently went over to make his bed, without complaining about it to him, before exciting the home to begin your chores. A woman who didn't complain about things he did and just offered him more food without a second thought. The markings of a good woman who'd take good care of her husband and the home when he was away. However she seemed very stubborn minded about remaining single. She'd most likely die alone. He'd just finished the food you'd given him and you took his plate away with a smile when a knocking noise from the front door caught your attention. Kokushibo merely cracked an eye open from his meditative state. Neither of you moved and then the knocking came back again but louder.
"Who could that be?," you mumbled putting the plates to the side.
"A man." From the presence he sensed and by the smell, it was a male around the same age as you and from the smell of animals, he was either a hunter or was wearing some kind of animal pelts.
You hesitated looking at him both wondering how he knew that and a bit concerned. He said he didn't want anyone to know that he was here, but he didn't make any moves to hide or move out of sight...You supposed it would just be ok to answer the door, you just had to make sure to not accidentally show Kokushibo was there. So with a sigh you steeled yourself with a smile and walked on over to the front door, just sliding it open enough to peek your head out... before you blinked and your face frowned.
"What are you doing here?" Kokushibo's head perked up at the heavy distaste in your tone.
"I came to see the love of my life.~ Isn't it obvious?~ I missed you so much.~", came a gruff but young male's voice he'd never heard before.
Behind the door you placed a hand on your hip. "You're not allowed back in town. You were banned after you almost killed that elder a year ago."
"It was an honest mistake-"
"You got drunk and picked a fight with that poor old man for no reason! On top of that you dishonored your family and that was on top of the pile of horrible things you've done!"
"You don't live in town. This is a decent ways from that place, so I'm not breaking any laws." Kokushibo's head turned to the side and rose a brow seeing a hand caress the side of your head through the doorway. "I missed you.~"
SLAP!
The hand was harshly slapped away from your face. "GET OFF MY PROPERTY!!" You bellowed out at him in a tone that surprised Kokushibo could come from such a soft lady. ''I don't know who you think you are but you're not welcome here! You're NEVER welcome here! You disgust me to no end! Now get off my property! I don't want to see you again!"
There was an instant reaction to your words. One of which being that you were shoved back harshly. Enough to send you stumbling back and falling to the floor as the sliding door slammed open and someone stepped inside. The someone was a man about her age maybe a year or two older with a few scars and clothing made from animal skins. Ah. That explained the smell of animals. He walked in initially with a smirk on his face but paused upon seeing the face of another man staring back at him calmly and silently. You shook your head scooting back from the new man entering your home and glared at him. The two men silently stared at one another before finally the first one sneered in anger and pointed at Kokushibo.
"Who the hell are you?!", he demanded.
"Who I am is not important for you to know," he responded back calmly only making the newcomer angrier.
"What?! Did you get married or something while I was gone?!" He snapped to you in question.
"So what if I did?!"
"SO YOU GOT MARRIED!?"
"Again that's none of your business! I don't owe you any explanation on what goes on in my life! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!"
The man didn't. Instead he snarled at Kokushibo who took his sweet time standing up and turning to face him. His calm expression beyond repair making him even more so.
"I believe she had asked you to leave this house," he spoke more calmly half lidded eyes staring at him. You looked up at him. Holy crap...he was a lot taller than he looked.
"Tch. And what right do you have to it?," he asked silently sizing the samurai up.
"None. I am nothing but a mere guest to this household however you are not. Now you had best be on your way. I would find it improper for you to stay any longer."
Perhaps it was the previous blood loss that had dulled his senses or the fact he didn't take this man as a threat (and to be perfectly honest he wasn't a threat at all) but when a hand shot out he stiffened awaiting the blow- However it-...Never came?
The smell of blood filled his nose after a body flew up and something metallic and shiny slashed across your face. A cut formed on your cheek. Pain exploded as you yelled out stumbling back until you collided with a body. Kokushibo blinked as you fell against him easily catching you in one strong arm as you gritted your teeth and clutched your cheek as a cut bled out on. Kokushibo slowly blinked as you felt tests start to stream down your face. Kokushibo slowly let his eyes grow wide before looking at the man who also seemed surprised as he held up a dagger.
"Leave him alone!," you bellowed out at the other man, "He's hurt enough! Just leave us alone! GET OUT! GET OUT!! GET OUT!!"
Well..that escalated rather quickly. He stared at the woman starting to cry in his arms then back to the man holding the knife. Her body was slowly slid until she was gently placed on the floor. Purple eyes blinked as he easily stepped over and placed himself between her and the other man.
"You have been told to leave. If you don't wish bodily harm upon you, you'll honor the request."
The other man stared at him before daring to growl. "Who's gonna make me? You?"
"Obviously. Normally I wouldn't care of what business or purpose you have with her, but you attacked my hostess. I can't simply let that slide."
"I'm not going to let a woman order me around like a weakling. And I'm sure as hell not going to let you get between me and my business!"
An arm was raised up high and the dagger was raised only to be swiped down- And grabbed by a large fist faster than either could comprehend. Shocked eyes stared into the calm face framed by burgundy hair.
CRACK-
Your body curled up on itself as a man's shriek echoed throughout the home. Pain wailing through his hand and up his arm shooting off like fireworks. The knife fell to the ground with a clatter by their feet as Kokushibo effortlessly and calmly crushed the man's hand. It was all a quick blur. His hand swiping from the hand to his neck, grabbing him by the throat and lifting up. You watched shocked as Kokushibo was able to effortlessly lift up the dangling man like he was nothing and walk him to the open front door struggling and wheezing for air grabbing at the calloused hand clamped around his throat. Until the samurai stopped just in the doorway.
"A man's place is to protect and provide for the woman he devotes his life to. Your proclamations of love are as empty as your threats. You are neither a man nor a worthy lover. It's only because I'm being courteous to my hostess that you live. She just cleaned last night and I'd hate to make a mess and ruin all her hard work. But make no mistakes. Should our paths cross again for whatever reason..." The calm eyes narrowed as the grip increased. "I will be the last thing you see before death claims you."
The man's body dropped like a ragdoll with a thud and a large gasp left his mouth followed by a current of coughs as sweet oxygen filled his lungs. He simply watched him wriggle and struggle like the pathetic worm he was before he was able to scowl and struggle himself away. He stood there until he was no longer in sight and then some before closing the door in front of him. Silence resumed for a long moment.
"...That was incredibly stupid of you." You blinked as he turned to look at you. "I didn't ask you to defend me and if you do it again I'll be sure it's the last time you do."
You ...just blinked. Staring at him as tears continued to roll down your cheeks before you scowled. "I-"
"Should be the one protected," he stated bluntly, "It's a man's job to protect the women not the other way around. You've already done me a great deed by feeding me, giving me shelter, and treating my wounds without a thing in return. I owe your safety at least in return." You said nothing as he walked on over to the shelf and grabbed the box you kept your medical supplies in. "Now treat the wound. It will be better if you did."
You wiped at your face before nodding. "F-Fine. But remove your coat so I can care for your wounds in return.''
"There is no need. They will be fully healed by tomorrow anyways."
That wasn't true. The gashes on him weren't deep but they'd take a long time to heal fully. "Even still, it'd be better to treat the wounds until they heal fully and I said I'd take care of you until you healed fully."
He regarded you for a long moment. "A woman who insists on treating others before herself...You would be an ideal wife if the right man wished to court you." You deadpanned at him. "Nevertheless I agree but treat your cheek first."
You didn't argue against that or when he suddenly pressed a cloth to your face to wipe off the tears and blood from your cut. Your eyes just widened as a hand tilted your head up to look at him and he continued working...a redness spreading across your face much to his inner amusement.
"Who was that man?" His voice made you jump.
"W-What?"
"He seemed to know you. Was he a past lover?"
You scowled in his hold. "He wishes. No. Not even remotely."
He hummed. "He seems to think otherwise."
"His family owns a successful fur trading business in town. Because of that he's very spoiled. He thinks he can get away with anything but last year he was exiled from town because he almost killed a man after he got drunk."
"What is his business with you?"
"Nothing. His parents tried to convince mine to make an arranged marriage between us as children and I guess since I've told him no he can't seem to get over it. But I'm afraid he might make good on that loophole." He hummed wiping around your cut. "Technically I don't live in town. It's an hour away down the path. So if he comes back here then he wouldn't be breaking the law.''
"If he returns, he does." You blinked as he seriously spoke. "I warned him. If he so chooses to not listen to that warning then he'll face the consequences of his own actions. I never go back on my word."
You blinked at him before pulling away red faced. "Y-You didn't have to do that."
"I did what my role entails." The rustling of clothing had you look over and freeze as his purple and black checkered coat dropped to his feet and exposed his torso to you. "Now you may treat me like you wanted." Your eyes stared at his toned chest- "It's rude to stare."
Jumping you scrambled grabbing your medical kit as he just calmly raised an arm to allow you to quickly pull away the old bandages and trying (and failing-) to not stare at his torso and his scars-...Wait. The bandages fell away from his skin and you froze staring at his wounds. Except..they weren't wounds. They weren't even scars! They were just light markings that looked extremely faded to the point that they were barely present. You just...stared at them.
Wounds don't heal that fast.
Staring silently you slowly looked up at his eyes. "Is something the matter?"
You opened and closed your mouth but quickly shook your head no. "N-No! You're healing up quite nicely! You were right when you said you'd be better in a week!" You offered a smile. "After this I'll make you some more food and drink. Do you like tea?"
"That's fine....You mentioned that you had no lover?"
You shook your head busing yourself by just removing his old bandages trying not to think too much about the mysterious scars. He... probably just had a rare healing rate. Or the wounds weren't as serious as you thought at first
"No. Most men only wanted me for my looks or my parents money. My father paints and my mother is a good doctor. They make a good living but I'd rather make my own way."
"Would you ever accept a courtship?"
"Well...Yes. I might if the man wasn't interested in my looks or money. Like you for example. You don't seem to care much about those things. If someone as unmaterialistic as you proposed to me or if I asked I would hope he said yes.Uh...N-No offense."
"None taken." He raised his arm higher looking over you carefully before closing his eyes with a hum. "Like me?"
"Y-Yes. But that's rare to happen-"
"I accept."
You paused holding up a clean roll of bandages. "...What?"
"I accept your proposal." He looked back to you. "But I will court you properly first, Wife."
The roll of bandages dropped to the floor
(To be continued in P2)
Chapter 8: Kokushibo P2
Summary:
(Warnings: Kokushibo is in pretty rough shape with bad wounds and some blood loss, mentioned blood, Kokushibo murders a rival later, mentioned killing/attempted murder, Y/n gets kidnapped for a forced marriage, Y/n gets cut when someone tries to attack Kokushibo, Kokushibo breaks someone's hand, etc.
Hantengu Bros are next.)
Chapter Text
Kokushibo did not leave when he stayed an entire week.
His proclamation of Courting you caught you so off guard that for the longest moment you were just...well dumbfounded. Acting on autopilot being too stunned to speak just finishing bandaging him and cleaning up the small mess Nori left behind. Kokushibo took the dagger Nori left, but you had no idea what he did with it. He only returned to what he had been doing before Nori showed up, which was meditate for the rest of the day until it was finally nighttime. Kokushibo insisted on you taking back your futon and you still bring in shock just laid down staring at the ceiling until you fell asleep. You awoke the next morning to once again finding Kokushibo silently meditating in the corner helping himself to what must've been a full jug of water. Yesterday's events shot through your mind and you shot up sitting up immediately.
"I see you're awake," he stared plainly, "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to sleep in the entire morning. I'm quite hungry."
You snapped to him with a frown. "You said you were courting me yesterday!"
"Yes."
"YOU SAID YOU WERE COURTING ME YESTERDAY!," You shouted realization finally slapping you fully awake.
"Yes."
You pointed at him. "Why?!"
"You are a well woman and I have yet to be treated like this even before I met you." He drank some more. "And you asked me for my hand in marriage."
"No I didn't!"
"Didn't you?" His eyes opened slightly to look at you. "You wanted a husband like me and said if I were to ask you or you were to ask me you'd either accept or hoped that I would accept. And I have. However I intend to go about this properly. I'll court you for a while before out wedding."
Your jaw dropped as your eyes practically bugged out of your skull. "I-..."
Oh gods. You HAD asked him hadn't you!? You got yourself engaged to a stranger who had just showed up on your doorstep four days ago! Now he was looking at you expectantly waiting for you to cook for him again! This isn't what you imagined what your eventually engagement would be like! You didn't even know him! You had to break this off now!
"I-It wasn't my intention to!" You quickly said making him turn a brow, "I was only using yu as an example of what I'd like in a husband-"
"And here I am. That problem is solved."
"We don't even know each other that well!"
"That's what the courting process is for. We will know one another in time."
"I-I don't want to be engaged right now-"
"Then you shouldn't have asked me unintentionally or not. I have already accepted. I might change my mind later and break this arrangement but for now I am content with what I see."
"I don't like people who just want to court me for selfish reasons."
"None of my reasons for accepting your proposal were selfish. I accepted because I am content with how you have treated me with kindness and how you go about your daily life. I do not care about money or any property you have. Your beauty is a factor I like but it's not a main reason. Now if you're done giving me reasons to say no I'd like you to cook for me."
"B-B-But our lifestyles contradict each other!," you said in a last ditch effort to convince him otherwise. "I-Im not willing to move away from my parents home and I worked too hard on this farm to abandon it! You'll be traveling around far and wide -"
"And I'll have a home and wife to return to whenever I may need her. I have no interest in making you leave with me whenever I go. That would be inconvenient for us both. My work will be kept separated from home. Now will you be cooking me a meal?"
You deflated only looking at him before sighing and moving to get him the food he asked for. If he was still recovering from the blood loss then he shouldn't push himself until he was fully recovered. He mentioned it would take him a week to recover right? Today was the fourth day so he'll only be here for another three days at most. Maybe he'd forget about you once he left. But for now you'd keep your promise and care for him. It was the least you could do after he drove Nori away. Hopefully that would keep him away too...
Oh how wrong you were about that.
You ended up serving him more eggs and fruit from your back orchard. He didn't seem to mind however and thanked you before taking it. Leaving you to just go about your chores until retiring that night. The next two days were relatively the same. He'd meditate or watch as you went about your own chores or ask you to cook for him which you obliged. You also checked over his injuries only to find they had healed to the point that there wasn't even any scars left behind. You'd never seen anything like in on another man. Even your father had small scars from burning himself on a stove or cutting himself on a widdling tool. Perhaps he was born with fast metabolism that fueled his body's healing? Would be why he ate so much. You didn't bring it up. You did however try to convince him anyways you could to convince him to call off this engagement but he refused every turn. You were feeling relief on the seventh day. It'd be his last day here before he left apparently and you wouldn't stop him. However you weren't expecting him to ask you for a brush for his hair. Huh... come to think of it his hair had been worn down outside of the ponytail he had when you found it.
"I'll fix your hair for you if you'd like me to," you offered which caught him off guard as he blinked at you in light surprise, "I can style hair a little bit. My mother showed me how to, so I can put your hair back up if you want."
Kokushibo just slowly blinked again before closing his eyes with an exhale through his nose. "Do as you wish."
You smiled in return at him and went to fetch your brush. He didn't move but did lightly open his eyes when he heard you return and grab a strand of his long soft hair. It was soft to the touch and you took gently care in pulling apart the small knots you felt before even pulling the brush through. He found the treatment acceptable so allowed it to continue. There was silence for a long time as you worked until you spoke again.
"You have beautiful hair... You're a very handsome man."
You were surprised when a chuckle escaped from him and even offered you a small smile. "Being bold are we?"
"I-Im only being polite!"
"Don't be fooled. I'm happy my future wife has attraction for me." Your face went red again. "But any flirtations will have to wait longer. I'll be leaving tonight." You blinked at him. "I'll have to return to my Master and inform him on where I've been before he becomes displeased with my absence. I'll return within two weeks time before the eclipse is here."
Master? So he was a samurai for a warlord? Or some kind of noble perhaps? You didn't remember there being any near here. He was from far away wasn't he? However if he was going to be away for a while then you'd be able to have time to yourself again at least for a little while. So you only smiled and nodded.
"Are you strong enough to travel?"
"And defend myself. I owe you my thanks for my body's recovery."
"You did the healing yourself so there's no need to thank me. But I won't let you go on an empty stomach. I'll make you look presentable and cool you a large meal before you go. Can't have you hungry."
"What a doting wife I have."
"Don't push your luck."
That's how his last day with you ended. With you tying his hair back how you first found him and making sure he ate well. It was sundown when he stepped out your door and turned back to you. You handed him a small cloth bag with some fruit from your orchard for his travels and he bowed to you before surprising you when he caressed your lightly injured cheek.
"Don't forget me. I will return for you soon."
Your face lit up a red as he smiled before turning again and beginning to walk away. Not down the path to town though but through the woods. You watched as he left silently and just disappeared into the night.
*********************************************************************
The moon shined red as blood tonight as shadows moved.
Quiet night. Unholy night of beasts. Feasting their sights upon the stray women who dare stay out at night when the full moon rises, lighting the pathway for the beasts to claim their prey. Gnashing teeth, snarling fangs waiting to take a bite into innocent flesh where the terrible claws miss. Waiting to snatch you away down into their dark abyss never to return. He was none what so ever concerned about traveling alone tonight. He had better places to be and anyone who dared be foolish enough to tangle with him would never be heard from again. One look at him would deter most creatures away. But his business was not with them.
He was here for the woman.
The woman of purple eyes and far beauty. He never went back on his word and he had indeed returned to the home seeking companionship. However from the first sight of the house he could tell something about tonight was aniss.
Something wasn't right.
The darkness both swallowed him up and closed off the ways both in front and behind him making each end of the pathway difficult to see with the already limited vision he had. Heightened senses were one thing he had been thankful to have retained from years of harsh training to his body and mind. Closing off all senses to be more enlightened to one's world in a different light. Each echo of his footfalls ringing in his mind as the airways of his body forced himself to absorb more oxygen out of the air and each heart beat thudding against his ribcage. Throbbing sensation reaching from his head to his feet with every passing second he was surrounded by the buzzing swarm of danger. Enlightened by the stings of fear. Danger. Dread. Doom. Like many wasps penetrating his most basic human emotions and swelling them up to the point of combusting dangerously all over the peeping, teasing darkness. The soft silk touch of his yakata met his hand. It was hard to move...Hard to will it to move running along the soft fabric to something more smooth and hard. Both basic instinct wasps forcing him to do something so familiar to combat the combustible feelings. To grab at which to protect him and cut it away like a sickeningly sweet cake of misery and despair. Instincts wailing to protect himself from dangers he had yet to see. Had yet to reveal themselves to him. Hopefully to be chased away by the sounds of the silver blade being unsheathed and held out into the darkness to cut it's tainting self down a notch. That his willpower will always prevail over it. Each door slowly passing a tainting gateway. Each with a promise of safety behind it and perhaps even it had occupants inside using it. taking up it's offering of safety from the darkness now dead asleep highly unaware of the sword wielding warrier just roaming outside arm outstretched and staring down the one that dared teased him the most with it's fake promise of protection.
And that promise he would soon come to learn was broken and not even promise to one individual soon enough. As sweat formed on his skin in an attempt to cool it from the harsh tainting from the moment he was face to face with the door that broke it's sacred promise. At first glance to one in the dark it was as taunting as all the others he had just passed, but if one took time to see it's true mockery and failure hidden by the teasing darkness they would've seen it. The remnants of a beast. Looking as though it had clawed and kicked it's way at the door's sacred locks to be allowed entry inside the room beyond it. In it's wake leaving the door in misery and ruins. A slight opening between itself and the wall where one could look into the room beyond it and see nothing but more darkness laughing back at you.
It begged for him to open it further, to peek further into the darkness beyond the door that should have protected the occupant inside. The apartment was still, quite, far too quite for his liking. The broken splintered door only left so little to memory, and with cautious pushed aside Goemon shoved the door open to reveal the horror to his eyes. His eyes widened: there where obvious signs of struggle, evident by the turned over coffee table and the furniture pieces that lay toppled on their side as though someone had carelessly kicked it over in its rampage. Goemon treaded carefully inside the apartment, his shoe crunching on the remains of a picture frame that had been knocked over, its broken shiny cover a perfect match of the doorway half hanging from its hinges - the cover to what lay beyond broken to bits. Someone clearly had been here and there was very obvious signs of a struggle.
And SHE was gone.
Taken by something or chased out he wasn't sure. But the entire small home was wrecked. Then he smelt it. A familiar smell of a human male and animal pelts. It sent a rigid feeling through his veins before an intensify in calm, silent rage. A rage so intense that he felt nothing but calm. Well now...if someone wished to see his wrath so be it. But let it not be said he didn't warn him.
"LET GO OF ME!!" The rage and desperation in your struggling was all for nothing as you were continually dragged against your will towards the destination of your kidnapper's choosing. You didn't know what was worse. The sting of the ropes forced around your arms forcing your arms to your body, or the too big white kimono that was forced over your head. A tacky excuse for a wedding kimono. "HELP!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!"
"SHUT. UP." A man's voice hissed near your ear and painfully pulled your body uncomfortably close to his face as Nori hissed. "No one's gonna help you. They're too scared of getting carried away by invisible monsters." You winced as he gave a hasher tug. "And no one will suspect a thing. They'll just think you got carried off by a bad monster and forget all about you. And by the time anyone else thinks otherwise we'll be long gone." He chuckled next to your head making you lean forward away from him. ''Won't we, My Little Wife? I just need to get refuge at the temple and have one of the monks bless our union."
You hissed leaning away from his rotten breath. You had to get help! Where was everyone!? No one even peeked their eyes out to see your yelling through the windows. Your screams and cries of help echoing out through the night and going unanswered. You were being kidnapped and no one was going to help you! Nori laughed again behind you and you gritted your teeth before leaning forward more and with all of the strength in your jaw, you bit down onto his bandaged broken hand. Nori's reaction was instant. He. SHRIEKED. He shrieked in pain in ways you've never heard a man scream before but you continued to bite down when he started flailing. Taking the opportunity to catch him off guard, your head snapped back releasing his hand to collided the back of your head with his nose painfully. Your head throbbed immediately after but it worked. He let go.
You RAN.
your legs moved your body in a speed you've never thought was possible back up the road where you were dragged from. Your heart pounded in your throat. The back of your head throbbed from where it made contact with Nori. And behind you you heard his hellish screaming. Your footsteps echoed throughout the empty silent streets giving away your position as you continued to run- Until something slammed into your back hard enough to send you flying forward and landing painfully onto your face.
"You stupid girl!" He snarled above your struggling form trying to get yourself up without your arms to lift you. "I swear when I get done with you you'll be nothing but a-"
"A what?"
Nori snapped up to the voice and you froze from the intensity behind it but relieved that at least SOMEONE else was here to possibly help you. Nori's face contorted into one of absolute horror at the sight before him. His scream cut off by a hand wrapped around his throat before lifting him up as you continued to struggle. Eventually your head lifted up and you froze at the sight of a hundred miniature legs and you followed them up until they connected to a segmented body..It's shiny outer shell shined I the red moonlight but you could see anymore than that due to your position. Nori was raised until he was staring in horror. His face reflected in six eyes shiny from the moonlight.
"I warned you." A gutteral hissing sound left his throat the jaw unhinged and two mandables pushed themselves out from the maw.
Nori shrieked.
Your eyes clenched shut hearing his scream end with a sickening crack sound and then there was a loud thud of something else behind you. You froze not daring to move. Until something was suddenly raked down your back and you were suddenly freed from the ropes. But that doesn't mean you were out of danger yet as something Snatched you up by the back of the kimono and pulled up into two arms and carried up by hundreds of those mini legs until you were twisted into held up bridal style as something turned and you snapped your head up...only to feel absolute utter horror as not one but three pairs of sinister eyes stared at you from above. Your mouth fell open as the man... Creature??? Walked away carrying you bridal style in it's arms.
"Oh my gods... Kokushibo."
The six eyes stared at you in acknowledgement to your words before he spoke.
"I told you. I make it a point to always keep my word, and I intend to keep my word on keeping you."
Chapter 9: Hantengu Bros
Summary:
(Warnings: The boys are in bad shape, mentions of wounds, blood, Karaku is poisoned, Sekido has a broken leg, Urogi was shot with an arrow, Aizetsu has some wounds, etc.
The song Y/n sings is A Thousand Years Lullaby version by Christina Perri and fenekot - Hush little baby don't you cry (Mockingbird) (Lyrics) although sone words of tge second song has been replaced to better fit the narrative. Link to songs below.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9EuXUgxiEVo&pp=ygUYYSB0aG91c2FuZCB5ZWFycyBsdWxsYWJ5
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BLlkQFfCg08&pp=ygU_ZmVuZWtvdCAtIEh1c2ggbGl0dGxlIGJhYnkgZG9uJ3QgeW91IGNyeSAoTW9ja2luZ2JpcmQpIChMeXJpY3Mp
Enmu is next)
Chapter Text
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. You cracked an opening in the branches and looked out. The darkened sky looked out over the entire area. Tree branches swayed and night fell upon the ground. However you froze as your eyes met a sickening sight.
R E D.
The coldness of the air bit down hard on your skin, like painful bee stings pricking your skin. The terror far greater than seeing a thousand wolves sunk in. A hand flew to cover your mouth as a foul urge to vomit rose and a sickening copper smell filtered through the air.
RED!!
That was the color painted everywhere on the ground displayed before you. And there...lying face down slumped over was a man's body. A canvas for the color. Your eyes shrank in terror and your ears gained a ringing sound all on their own drowning out any noise.
A DEAD BODY.
In your backyard and lying right in front of your face. How-...Where did it come from?! Who was this!? Where did it come from?! You wretched yourself away from the bush in shock and leaned over slightly. The urge to vomit riding as you did everything you could to keep it down. The bush branches snapping back into place hiding the sight from you. Automatically you gave a few coughs and gulped down air in an attempt to calm yourself head spinning. There was a dead man on your property! Oh gods! What if someone thought you were responsible for this!? You could be tried for murders-
Wait...
How did you know he was actually dead?
That one thought made you freeze in your tracks instantly. That's right...How did you know for certain that he was dead? You just merely saw him covered in blood. Your head turned back to the bush. He...he could've been hurt and tried reaching your house for help. What if he was laying there suffering?! That thought perked you back up into going back to the bush and cautiously reaching out to slightly pull the branches again. The body was still there unmoving. It...sure LOOKED dead but you couldn't tell in the dark. If he was still alive..you had to help him. You couldn't just leave someone to bleed out. The unmoving form still remained unmoving even as you noisily pushed through the bush and stood right next to the head....It was definitely a man. You could tell by how Large the body was and how muscular the exposed skin was. In the limited moonlight you were able to make out long hair that mostly covered his face and he laid in a position that suggested that he'd collapsed by himself. But the question still remained...Was he still alive?
You hesitated again ...but slowly you reached over to the face laying on its side and touched the long black strands of hair covering his eyes. It was .. surprisingly soft and silky to the touch and you slowly pulled it away from the face to examine it. The right side of a man's face greeted you. You nearly jumped back at what you saw. His right eye was closed obviously either unconscious or dead. Your hand instead went to almost touch his lips and flinched back feeling a weak warm breath blow across your fingertips. You reeled back in shock, hand to your chest, and jumping
HE WAS ALIVE!!
Hands grabbed his right shoulder and HEAVED. Barely moving an inch, but slowly the body turned, and with a thud whoever he was collapsed onto his back. A shocked gasp escaped from your throat upon purple eyes seeing his front body. Oh gods...So much blood. His body was practically DRENCHED in the red color! And you found out why. Mr. Unknown had the front of his blue shirt ripped to pieces to where it was barely hanging on over his shoulders. A large gash across his front from his left shoulder and ending just above his right hip was exposed to you. There was so much blood..How was he even still alive!? You reached out to touch his forehead- But froze as a strong hand snatched you hand.
A pair of eyes opened up and gazed up at the blurry figure above him. Not making any sense of the blurry, spinning vision. Until the eyes rolled up into the back of his head and the last thing he saw was a glimpse of purple.
**************************************************
Warm.
Everything was warm once feeling returned to his body. Which was odd. He was lying on the cold hard ground last he remembered. Logic was of course the first thing to return to him. His thinking was always faster than his reflexes. Then the feeling of his body settled in. Warmth...but incredible aching, throbbing soreness. It throbbed and banged his body. Hmm..So he wasn't dead after all. It was too painful to be heaven and not painful enough to be hell, and too annoying to be purgatory. So he was Still alive but had passed out for a short while. A gasp escaped from the sore dry throat that sent him into bouts of a coughing fit. It caused his chest to hurt so much a whimper escaped from the sore body.
Where was he? Was he home with his brothers? He so wanted nothing more than to hear his father's quivering voice and Sekido angrily yelling at him while forcing him to eat food to get better. Zohakuten telling him how dumb he was. Karaku and Urogi hugging him affectionately.
Blue eyes slowly opened themselves up to the world blinking rapidly at the light and his vision blurred until he could see...A one roomed house? It was mostly empty. A coffee table square in the middle, a picture frame or two holding a painting of someone on the walls, a basket in the corner, a shelf full of dishes and other small items, a fireplace with a fire currently going, and a few other bland things. Nothing that really stood out as anything important to him. But who lived here? Why was he inside? How did he get here? And who touched him?
His question was answered when the door opened and the figure of a woman in a blue kimono walked in. The smell of wood drew his attention to the logs she was carrying. Silently he watched as she slid the sliding door back closed with a foot before continuing on to the fireplace and proceeding to feed the fire the wood. He laid there silently staring at her legs as she worked, feeling too weak to look up just yet and not wanting to give himself away just yet. The sounds of a metal poker scraping against the fire appeared for a little while before it too went away and the legs turned to face him. They didn't move again for a long moment before he felt a hand touch his blanketed shoulder- Faster than either expected his left hand shot up to tightly grip a much smaller wrist and squeezed down just enough to get them both to freeze. Blue eyes snapped upwards and paused at the sight of a-..
...A-A woman?!
THE. MOST. BEAUTIFUL. WOMAN. HE. HAD. EVER. SEEN. Was standing there above him looking surprised when he grabbed her hand. Blue eyes stared widely at her.. before the tight hand slowly loosened their grip and he let go of her. She pulled her hand back looking it over before looking back at him and slowly smiling.
"I'm sorry. I guess I must've startled you." She tilted her head at him with a smile. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"
His mouth dropped open but all that came out was a torrent of violent coughing which caused pain to EXPLODE in his chest. His body wracked violently as waves of pain washed over him. A force in the form of two hands slam down onto his shoulders to still his body.
"Easy! Easy! Breath slowly. Slow your inhaled." The gasping from the male under you coughed and sputtered and looked like a drowning fish before he finally was able to lay back mouth open and gulping mouthfuls of air. "There you go. That's it." You slowly pulled your hands away from him. "That should feel better soon. Are you feeling better?"
To your surprise a choke noise escaped from the man's throat and he shook his head no. His blue eyes looked at you. And you couldn't help but stare in awe. They might've been the prettiest blue eyes you've ever seen but what was strange was that the sclera and pupil were both blue. Huh. Strange. Was he born with a rare eye coloration or something? The blue eyes weld up in tears water about to spill over before a sob escaped his mouth.
"It hurts," he whimpered in a voice you never heard from a man before, "I f-feel s-s-so..weak."
You instantly felt bad for him. "Yeah. I guess having a wound like yours would hurt but you're ok." You tried to calm him down by smiling and patting his arm. "It's not very deep and you should make a full recovery if you rest up and take care of the wound."
A shaking hand reached up to grab the blanket covering his body and lifted. The blanket shook in his Shaking hold and he could barely lift his head up to peek at his torso, but he saw the clear wrappings around his torso and the snug blankets tucked around his body with care. He stared at your handywork before allowing himself to flop back into place and turn his tearful eyes back on her.
"D-...D-Did you D-Do this-s?"
"If you mean your wounds no. I didn't hurt you but I did find you outside my home and brought you in here." You gestured to his torso. "And I bandaged you as best as I could. The wound is big but the cut wasn't deep and I could treat it easily. Although you're going to be sore and weak for a while. What's your name?"
"A-Aizetsu."
You beamed softly at him which made his face turn a deep shade of red. "Well Aizetsu, my name's Y/n! It's very nice to meet you. But if it's not too much to ask how did you get in my orchard?"
He sniffled before reaching a shaking hand up to wipe at his face. "I-I don't r-r-remember. I w-was-....T-There was a f-fight a-and U-Urogi G-Gotta hit by an arrow a-and he dropped me.." His pupils widened in horrific realization. "I-I fell....I-It hurt.. s-s-so mu-much."
"Hey. You're alright now." He was surprised when something soft pressed against his face making him jump but then blink bewildered as something soft wiped his cheeks.But his eyes widened in shock as he realized that SHE was the one wiping away his cheeks. Humming softly as she shushed him. "There, there. You'll be alright now."
But that raised more concerns. He said he was in a fight? What kind of fight left him like this? If someone else was hurt then why didn't you find anyone else with him? He said whoever it was dropped him. Does that mean someone abandoned him here? That was sick. Would that mean there was a chance of danger coming to your doorstep. And THAT'S what worried you the most.
"You said there were someone hit by an arrow?," he nodded in awe captivated by your beauty and softness as you continued to wipe his face up without complaint. "Does that mean there's someone else hurt outside? Are you alone?" He continued to stare wide eyed at you. "Mr. Aizetsu?"
He jumped blinking at you. "Uh?! Oh! N-No. Noone else. "
"Then are you alone?" You pulled your hands away.
He whined as your hands left him but shook his head. "No. N- Not for long. My brothers w-will come looking for me."
"You have brothers?" He nodded. "That's good. You can stay here until they find you then. Are you hungry? I made some homemade soup and rice, and I'm sure you must be thirsty." Blue eyes perked up at the promise of food and nodded eagerly making you smile. "Then I'll get you some. Just sit tight for a moment."
He watched as your form walked on over to the shelf Gathering bowls and anything else you needed before heading on over to the lit fireplace. A few minutes later you returned with a bowl of delicious smelling stew and tea in hand. He would've sat up to take the drink from you, but blinked as all of a sudden a hand pushed itself under his head and lifted him with extreme gentleness he'd never felt before. As if he was cracked glass and at any moment could shatter. Something warm and herbal smelling wafted over his lips as you cradled his head and held the cup to his lips.
"Here. Drink."
The eyes stared up at yours and how soft your features were... before they glanced at the cup, and slowly opened his mouth. It was enough for you to tilt the cup for him to drink taking great care to not spill any on him. Making sure to also give him breaks between gulps to allow him to breath until it was empty. He'll also need something solid in his stomach. Wiping his face when he finished. He didn't make any moves to stop you from cradling his head and feeding him until he seemed to be full enough and you gently encouraged him to sit back up. You needed to treat his wounds again. He seemed to struggle to sit up by himself so you had to push him up into a sitting position before you could again treat him. He just remained silent and compliant throughout the entire process until he was laying back down and you smiled at him again.
"There you go. You must feel better with something warm in your stomach. "
"Yes," he agreed, "Um...C-Can you tell me how long I've been here?"
"I found you yesterday around sunset and you've slept through most of today. So almost a full day and night. Not too long.''
He hummed again. "Then my brothers are s-surely already on their W-Way here."
You looked confused at him. "How would they know you're here?"
"They'll follow my scent."
"Oh..They have a hunting dog?"
He hummed again fiddling with the blanket. "S-Something like that?
You didn't know what he meant by that but decided not to pry him when he was already hurt. The rest of the day passed by smoothly since Mr. Aizetsu fell back asleep shortly after he ate dinner leaving you to go about business as usual until sunset came back and you see herding your animals back inside their pens. Your cow seemed rather on edge for some reason. Seemingly irritated as you lead her back into the barn, not seeing the figures limping into your house through the front door on the complete other side of your house. You finished putting away your animals before mindless just walking to your back door and stepping inside- ...Huh. Hey. When did the candles go out? And why was the fire so low? Not thinking anything of it, you just closed the door behind you and grabbed a few logs next to the fireplace. Tossing them in and grabbing the poker to prod the small fire into feeding on the new logs and bringing more light into the house. You smiled at the warmth until you heard the shifting of something behind you. You instantly turned smiling assuming Aizetsu had woken up. Only to freeze in horror as the darkness held four looming figures staring at you.
Four pairs of eyes. Red as blood. Green as acid. Yellow as sickness. Blue as sorrow.
All four stared at you from the corner of the room as your jaw dropped open in shock-
"Shit! She came in before we left!" The yellow eyes turned to the red ones. "I told you we should've waited until she fell asleep before grabbing Zetsu!"
"SHUT UP, UROGI!!"
The loud yell made you jump and fall over as you scrambled back against the wall-
"S-Sekido, D-Dont scare her. After all she did save my life."
"THAT'S WHY WE SPARED HER IN THE FIRST PLACE!!"
"W-WHO ARE YOU?!" All four pairs of eyes turned to you as your shaking hand grabbed the poker, holding it in front of you like a makeshift sword at whomever the eyes were. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?!"
There was silence as they all stared at you unblinkingly.. before a noise made you jump. A strike of a match lit up as a tiny flame floated towards a lamp hanging from the ceiling and lit it up brightening the house further. And what you saw made you nearly drop the poker. Standing there was four men.
INHUMAN MEN
One had red eyes and leaned heavily on a staff. His left left lifted up and looking not good. One with green eyes slumped against the wall breathing raggedly and smiling despite his condition. One with yellow eyes and...PART BIRD!?!? Your eyes widened in horror more. A HARPY!! A FREAKING H A R P Y WAS STANDING IN YOUR HOME!!! He held Aizetsu in his talons as the blue eyed man looked at you apologetically...only...there was something different about him. Now there was two horns sprouted on his forehead when there wasn't any just moments ago. He stared from the Harpy's arms and-...And-.....
Why did they all look alike?
Aizetsu had the same face as the other three. The only differences were their eye color and the fact that Mr. Red and Green eyes had a long strand of hair running across their face. They all stared at you and you stared at them for a long,long, LONG moment of silence. Nothing but the crackling fire to break the silence. Until Aizetsu spoke.
"Y-Y/n. I-Im sorry. We were supposed to leave before you got back inside."
You didn't speak at first. Only stared at the four of them in utter bewilderment. Scanning over all four of them slowly.... before slowly asking. "What...ARE you all?"
"We're elementals. E-Except for Urogi, obviously."
"Elementals?! ...As in the fae creatures that control aspects of nature!?"
Aizetsu nodded. "Yes. I'm s-s-so sorry for not telling you before-"
"SKIP THE APOLOGIES!!" You jumped when Mr. Red Eyes snapped with a growl. "WE GOT AIZETSU AND THAT'S ALL WE NEEDED!! NOW LET'S GO HOME!!"
"Uh...We can't? Aizetsu can't walk like this," the harpy spoke to red eyes, "And Karaku's still poisoned. What are supposed to do? Carry them both while you hop on one leg?"
"YOU CAN USE YOUR ARMS FOR THEM AND CARRY ME WITH YOUR FEET TALONS AS YOU FLY YOU IDIOT!!"
"I STILL HAVE ARROWS LODGED IN MY WINGS!! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CARRY ALL THREE OF YOU LET ALONE FLY?!"
You just... blinked as the two men began to argue and Aizetsu tried and failed to get them to stop bickering. What was happening right now? You still stared as they argued before looking at the green eyed man and was surprised to find him slyly smiling at you. He gave a half lidded look before winking and you deadpanned back at him. Before he suddenly stiffened and shot into a leaned over position. The sounds of wretching followed making all three of his...brothers(???) shut up and look behind them as you paled. Again silence rang supreme. Until the brothers looked at one another awkwardly.. before they slowly looked at you.
You stared blankly. "....Did he just vomit on my floor?"
"Yyyeeeaaah. Sorry about that," Yellow Eyes said slowly looking at you, "He's hasn't been feeling so good since getting jabbed with a poison dart. He'll live but it has to wear off-"
"HE PUKED ALL OVER MY CLEAN FLOOR!", You bellowed catching all four off guard from the sudden RAGE you felt staring at the mess the green eyed man made before pausing seeing the trail of red pooling from your open front door all the way to where the men were standing there. "YOU'RE TRAILING BLOOD?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I JUST CLEANED MY HOUSE THIS MORNING!!" YOU POINTED AT THE BATHROOM. "ALL OF YOU! GET IN THERE AND WASH YOURSELVES OFF!!"
"WHAT?! AND WHO ARE YOU TO BOSS US AROUND!?", Red eyes snapped back instantly.
"YOU'RE COVERED IN BLOOD AND STILL DRIPPING IT!! AND YOU PUKED ON MY FLOOR!! GO WASH YOURSELVES OFF OR ELSE!!"
"Or else what?" He hissed exposing his fangs growling and narrowing his eyes. "Do you seriously think a girl like you can scare me? I'd like to see you try to make me do anything!"
Your eyes narrowed at him and a large scowl appeared on your face.
**""
"Are you still hungry, Aizetsu?" You smiled at the man's face cradled in your lap as he stared at you.
He gulped nervously face red and pointy ears pinned to his head. "I-Im good," he squeaked out which made you giggle at him.
Last night had been a big whirlwind. Sekido had not expected the iron angry grip on his ear as you dragged his limping, half hopping, cursing form into the bathroom and scared Urogi enough with your irate yelling at him to drag his other two brothers into the bathroom after Sekido. Then with the limited light you had, you cleaned the blood trails and the vomit as you heard arguing and water being splashed about in your bathroom from the brothers irritating you further. It. Took. FOREVER. To properly clean everything up and air out the foul smells of copper and stomach. Don't even get you started on how much you had to wrestle Sekido down and fight him in order to force him to lay down and strap his broken leg in a splint. Which still left you with a few cuts from him wrestling with him. Nothing serious but it still annoyed you to hell and back.
"I'm real sorry about the mess last night, Sweet cheeks." Your head turned deadpanned to the green eyed demon. He was laid next to Aizetsu with a wet towel over his forehead and a clean bucket next to him in case he felt like getting sick again. "Do I get to have some food too?"
Your brow rose. "Is your stomach going to be able to handle it?"
"It's been hours. My stomachs settled and I emptied it out completely. ...I'm kinda hungry to be honest."
You sighed but moved to get him some food too. "Fine. But if you feel like you're about to be sick, you better let me know. You can't take the antidote anyways on an empty stomach."
Karaku lit up as he watched you grab another bowl of soup and come over to position his head the same way you did Aizetsu's. In your lap cradling his head and lifting the bowl to his lips. Last night you had also learnt their names and conditions. The one you currently fed was called Karaku and he'd been shot by a poisonous dart. The poison wasn't enough to kill him, just immobilize him and make him sick but you were familiar with the herb used to make the poison and knew the antidote to it. He'll be fine but it'll take time to get out of his systems completely. Aizetsu still had that obvious wound on his chest that needed to be mended but he'll be ok in time. Urogi, the harpy, was the least hurt. He had a few arrows lodged in his left wing you had to carefully extract and stitch up the small wounds but overall he could walk, talk, and if it wasn't for how close his left wing was held to his back compared to the right one you'd never tell something was wrong with him. Sekido (the only one you had to physically fight-) was the second one mostly ok, but his leg was broken and you had to maneuver it back into place before forcing it into a splint to keep it still enough to heal correctly. He was also the most stubborn of them all. Currently he laid propped up against a wall angrily eating a bowl of soup Urogi had given him earlier. He muttered curses between his at first but had shut up and stared silently when you started treating the others after fighting with him. Especially when you cradled Aizetsu and then Karaku with such gentleness as if they were cracked porcelain cups ready to chip away again. Red eyes blinked slowly as you wiped at Karaku's smirking mouth.
"Are you thirsty? I have some tea."
He gave a purr of content. "Sure. If it means I can get to look at your beautiful face more.~"
You just stared blankly at him more. "Flattery will literally get you no where. I'm still angry with you all for stealing my chicken-"
"Hey! Urogi was the one who stole it for food!"
"I was hungry and it was convienet!" Urogi wisely shut up as you snapped a scowl at him. Awkwardly he shuffled in the blanket wrapped around him. "Um...When can we have our clothes back?"
"Once they're done drying from the wash and I meand them. They were all filthy. Until then the spare clothes I gave you will do."
That was another thing about her. She insisted on taking care of them full despite them being obviously not human and could pose quite a threat. Perhaps her concern or anger clouded her judgement of danger but it...was very strange to him. Eventually she finished up taking care of Karaku and turned back towards Urogi with a frown.
"You're lucky I don't charge you for stealing my hen. They're not exactly cheap to replace! And who just walks on another person's property and steals their animals!?"
"Um...A hungry person?" You scowled harder. "Shutting up now!"
You groaned before just shaking your head. "Are any of you still hungry? I can get you some more."
"I'm fine," Sekido bluntly stated before turning away from you. "You're bothering me too much!"
You frowned further before rolling your eyes and walking away. "Well if you get hungry again let me know and I'll get you all back some more. I'm gonna go outside and see if your clothes are dry. I can nend them afterwards and give them back."
"Do you want some help?"
You looked at Aizetsu. "In your conditions? No. I'll be fine. You just rest up and get better-"
"It shouldn't take long! Our healing process is faster than you humans!", Sekido snapped annoyed.
"Really?...How long will it take all of you to fully heal then?"
"My little cuts should heal by the end of tomorrow," Urogi chirped proudly before looking over his brothers, "Them...I'm not so sure. Maybe a..." His eyes squinted as he thought hard on it. "Week? Maybe two weeks? Can't take longer than that though!" He smiled confidently. "We should be out of your hair before the blood moon."
"Is that really in two weeks?''
You really had lost track of time then. You just hoped that there wouldn't be anymore Fae creatures showing up like this unannounced. You were already having enough trouble wrapping your mind around these four that suddenly dropped in on you unannounced. You didn't need anything else also stopping by.
"Y-Y/n?" Your attention went back to Karaku suddenly waving at you with an upset look on his face. "Uh. Hey Sweetie. Can you get me another set towel for me? I don't...feel too good-"
"THROW UP ON MY FLOOR AGAIN AND I'LL MAKE YOU CLEAN IT!"
*****************************************
It was pretty awkward taking care of four men (Elementals at that) in your home. Mostly because they would NOT. STOP. ARGUING. You managed to get their names down. Urogi and Karaku would often poke jabs at Sekido who would yell back at the two laughing at him and attempt to swing that staff of his at them-... Until you wrestled it away from him and wouldn't give it back.
"GIVE ME BACK MY STAFF!!"
"You can have it back when you all leave! You can't just try to hit them when you're all hurt, Dummy!"
And no the staff was put in the barn with the rest of the farm tools. And this was only the second day they were there. Aizetsu kept profusely apologizing for his brothers' actions even though you assured him it was alright. However the third day was when things started to get ... interesting. Karaku was awfully quiet. Only lying down with his eyes closed other than when he asked for some food or drink from you. You checked him over. He was still sick and he seemed to finally be feeling it. Hopefully his body would heal soon and the medicine would be helpful. But it didn't seem to be anything serious. At least not at that time. You left early right after retreating their conditions and making sure they had something to eat. You'd need to purchase more blankets and bandages for them all. However you were never expecting the storm when you returned almost three hours later.
"S-Sekido...Am I going to die?"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DIE!!!"
A firm hand squeezed onto Karaku's arm like a lifeline, angry viens bunched up as the tense silence hung into the air. Karaku's chest rose and fell in raspy breaths as it hurt to breath. Everything felt too hot, too cold, too- A choked so escaped from his mouth as Aizetsu laid on his side and patted his shoulder.
"It's ok! You're g-g-gonna be ok. Breath. O-Ok?"
"DAMMIT!! WHERE'S UROGI WITH THAT GIRL!?"
No sooner than he said that the front door slammed open and said harpy came jumping in quickly dragging a woman's cursing and angry body behind him.
"WE'RE HERE!" said harpy yanked you over making you stumble and dropped the basket in your hands spilling everything over the floor. "I GOT HER DON'T WORRY!!"
"What the hell is going on here?!", you shouted pulling and yanking at Urogi's iron grip around your arm. "Your brother snatched me up in the middle of the path! He's lucky no one saw him fly-"
Anything else you were going to say died on your tongue as you saw the scene Urogi pushed you towards. It was the three that couldn't move yet. Sekido was sprawled across the floor in an awkward position on Karaku's left side death gripping his arm and glaring at you. It looked like he dragged himself all the way across the home just to lay beside his brother. Aizetsu was painfully sitting up on Karaku's other side where he's always been since you took him in only he looked panicked at you.
"Help him please!," he pleaded panicked voice wavering, "He's having trouble breathing!"
Urogi squawked as you forcing pushed him away and immediately ran over to Karaku. Jumping over Sekido's body and knelt by Karaku's head. A hand immediately plopped itself onto his forehead between his horns. A second hand pressed to his cheek making his blink up his green eyes at you. You stared at him silently.. Before you sighed and moved your hands from him.
"It's the poison isn't it?! He's not gonna die is he? "
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM!?"
"He's running a small fever." Both brothers fell silent and just .. blinked at you as you stood up and crossed your arms. "He'll be fine. I just need to make him some herbal tea. You all are over worrying yourselves."
There was silence as they all looked at one another.
"You mean... He's not gonna die?"
"No. He's not even in any danger." Aizetsu immediately sighed flopping back down to the floor and Sekido mumbled curses under his breath removing his hand from Karaku's arm. "I'll make you all some food while I'm at it... but first I better move you back to bed-"
"IM STAYING RIGHT WHERE IM LAYING!!", Sekido yelled from his awkward laying position.
You didn't feel like arguing with this. "*Sigh* Fine. I'll move your futon over here but I'm looking over your leg first. You might've harmed it crawling over here."
Sekido did not fight you struggling to move him back into position and fixing it where he laid down next to his brothers with his splintered leg propped up with a few pillows. Just pouted and watched you closely with narrowed eyes as you went about making them some food and started handing them out bowls. By now Aizetsu was able to sit up and you didn't need to take care of him but you did still need to help out Karaku whom purred out as you cradled him.
"Y-Y-You're a real angel. You k-know that?"
You rolled your eyes but smiled. "No. I'm more of a devil myself "
For the first time all day, Karaku smiled even as you held up the cup to his lips to drink. "Ooh.~ Even better. Because that's exactly my type.~"
Oh be quiet and drink." He chuckled despite himself and you just pushed the cup into his lips. ...But paused feeling the hair on his head. The long black hair was clean and soft but it was also tangled. They needed that taken cared of too. "Do you think you can sit up if you try?"
Your question caught the man off guard but he shrugged. "I mean I can try but I don't know...Why?"
"Because Im taking care of you. Now come on and try."
Karaku was confused but shrugged and proceeded to try and get himself into a sitting up position. He struggled a bit but you pushed his back and Aizetsu reached over to pull his arm so he was able to sit up. He blinked as you handed him the cup and told him to drink it as you just got up and walked over to the shelf in your house.
"Hey, Sweet cheeks...What are you doing?"
You grabbed something and turned around revealing a brush. "Taking care of you like I said. All four watched as you once again stepped around them all until you were seated behind Karaku and he paused feeling you touch his hair. "So messy.. Can't be healthy for your scalp. Hold still."
Karaku's eyes widened as did. The strategic touch was light and he didn't move as she hummed and just started untangling the unruly mane of black hair cascading down his back. Everyone's surprised eyes were on you as you worked on him and used the brush you had in your possession. Brushing and gently prying apart knots in the black locks until the brush was going through without any resistance. Only then did you stop and smile.
"There. All better."
Karaku didn't say anything. Only reach up a hand in awe at the gentle treatment. You smiled at your work shuffling back to admire it... before your eyes wondered over to Sekido. His hair was in the same tangled mesh Karaku's was. Automatically you just reached over to gently grab the strands but jumped as he snapped his head around to snarl red eyes at you.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Helping you."
"WITH WHAT?!"
"Your hair?" You rose a brow pointing at your own head of hair to clarify. "It's all tangled and I thought the reason we came back here was to take care of you two." You reached out aga- Two hands snapped up to cover the top of his head. "Gyutaro, how am I supposed to help you if you do that? Move your hands."
"NO!! I don't like being touched!!"
"Oh... That's ok. I don't like that either." You held up the comb. "Then you can use this and do it yourself."
"NO!!"
"Then one of your brothers can do it."
"NO!!"
.....You deadpanned. "Not this again. Why must you Always be stubborn? Look just do it."
"NO!!"
"Either you do it or I'll hold you down and do it myself! That's bad for your hair and scalp health!"
"N-"
"Just do it, Sekido!" Karaku said admiring his own hair with a hand. "Quit being a big baby."
"Who's side are you on?!" He yelled at him as you took his distraction to grab one of the loose straggly strands of hair. "I SAID N-"
He froze. Something soft and gentle touched his head which automatically made him freeze. His body instinctively standing on end and a thumb and finger curiously tugged gently at a strand of hair....But no hard metal comb yanked through his scalp. Instead two gentle hands caressed the strands and gently began to weave out the tangled big and small so slowly it didn't even pinch. A hum of a woman's patient voice sneaking through as she worked. The murmurs of a lullaby echoed and gentleness wafted with it. And all of his brothers watched as she hummed.
Silence. Other than the lulling memories of melodies and the soft touch that was left behind.
"Heart. Beats. Fast. Colors and promises. How to be brave? How can I love when I'm afraid to fall? But watching you stand alone?" You gently pried apart two strands of black hair as Sekido remained still. However his brothers' eyes all widened seeing his face. "But watching you stand alone, all of my doubts suddenly go away some how."
Aizetsu looked down as he watched Sekido's hands grip into the fabric. Urogi fell silent as Sekido didn't make any moves to stop her. And Karaku stared in absolute shock as tears weld up in those red eyes and freely flowed down his face from the gentle treatment.
"One step closer. I have died everyday waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more. " You continued working through the hair which was surprisingly easy to brush through. "Time stands still. Beauty in all she is. I will be brave. I will not let anything anything take away what's right in front of me. Every breath. Every hour has come to this."
Sekido's arms lightly shook as she nearly completed her work and red eyes watery glanced at the shocked brothers. They all looked incredibly shocked at him.
"One step closer. I have died everyday waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more. And all along I believed I would find you. Time has brought your heart to me. I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more."
You finished up Sekido and leaned back to look at your handywork. However he just slammed his eyes shut from view of his brothers and snapped his head away so you didn't have any clue he was even crying. Instead you rose a brow. Jeez. You weren't expecting a thank you but that was a bit rude of him. You looked over at Aizetsu next. The brothers were so busy still staring at Sekido in shock that they didn't see you walk around to sit next to Aizetsu until you touched his hair making him jump and look at you in shock.
"Hush little baby. Don't you cry. Everything's going to be alright. Stiffen up that upper lip little baby. I told you I am here to hold you through the night. I know Mommy's not here right now and we don't know why. We fear what we feel inside."Aizetsu's blue eyes widened to the size of plates as you gently combed through his hair which went through easily. "It may seem crazy, Little Baby. But I promise we're gonna be alright."
You kept going on to finish your job humming all the while to yourself. Unknowingly to you, Sekido wasn't the only one who was now crying. Aizetsu felt himself starting to cry from the gentle treatment and humming the woman gave him. Larg fat tears stung his eyes before flowing down his cheeks and dropping onto his blanketed covered lap. You hummed along until you were finished before standing up and turning to Urogi still frozen there.
"Ok. Now it's your turn." He didn't respond. "Urogi?" He still didn't say anything making you raise a brow confused before looking behind you and looking shocked as Aizetsu cried. "A-Aizetsu!" You immediately went to grab his shoulders. "Are you ok? I wasn't too rough was I? Oh no. Did I bump into your injury?"
He didn't answer for a long, long, LONG MOMENT. Before he slowly looked right right in the eyes.
"A-Are you single?"
You blanked. Staring at him for a bit before you blinked. "...What?"
"Yo-You don't have a-a-any lovers right?," he managed to stutter out catching the attention of the the other three. "Y-Y-You're N-Not engaged t-t-to anyone else...R-Right?"
You just... slowly blinked at him. "....What?"
You jumped as two shaking hands gently grabbed your cheeks. "Y-Y-You're so kind..So beautiful. Can I...PLEASE can I...W-WILL YOU BE MY WIFE!?" He ended up shouting that last bit rather loudly.
Silence rang out as your draw tried to work itself as he still stared watery eyed and cutely into your eyes. "......WHAT?!"
"Aizetsu." All eyes turned to Sekido as he furiously wiped his face before snapping at him. "Correct yourself. She won't be 'YOUR' wife." Aizetsu's face fell before Sekido's eyes turned to your squished cheeked frozen face. "Shell be OUR wife."
"WHAT?!"
"I SECOND THAT MOTION!" Karaku piped up instantly.
"NE THIRD!," Urogi chirped waving an arm around as you went blank.
"Wait...WHAT ARE YOU ALL TALKING ABOUT?!"
"From this day on we're courting you. We're going to provide our wife with anything she needs."
Sekido looked at you seriously and you froze staring at them all. Before slowly realization crawled over you and all you could mutter was three words.
"Screw my life."
Chapter 10: Enmu
Summary:
(Warnings: Enmu IS his own warning. Possibly some innuendos. Enmu gives someone nightmares.
I know it's shorter than the others but these are only meant to be Oneshots and nothing else. Apologies however. Kaigaku is next.)
Chapter Text
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. You cracked an opening in the branches and looked out. The darkened sky looked out over the entire area. Tree branches swayed and night fell upon the ground. However you froze as your eyes met a pair of teal irises staring directly back at you from the darkness.
A shadow ran from the bushes with a second.
You let out a squeal of fright and fell backwards stumbling back a few steps before falling on your backside. Shaking your head, you looked back up to the bush..but you didn't hear any footsteps or anything else that signalled another person. Just the wind and rustling of leaves. Slowly you stood back up and reached back out for the bush. It's branches were parted wider than before and gave you a clear view of the other side. The moonlight enough to allow you to see out in the orchard clearly but there was no one. No person or animals. Just empty waving trees. You allowed them to close back and stood there for a long moment before shaking your head.
"It must've been a wild animal. I must've scared it off when I freaked out."
Nevermind you didn't hear anything run away. You just didn't hear the footsteps over the wind and your yell. That even might've been the animal that ate your chicken! You frowned at the bush but eventually turned and walked back into your house. There wasn't anything else you could do. It was already gone. All you could do was go back inside and close the door behind you. You were tired and right all all you wanted to do was sleep. You'd go back to town tomorrow and buy another trap. Your body soon was laid along the futon, a blanket pulled over yourself. Within the quiet home your eyelids drooped until blackness seeped in and you were lulled into a deep peaceful slumber. Nothing but your gentle breaths and the wind outside to disturb the darkness.
However something else did stir.
The shadows moved in the darkness. An elongated shadow crawled along the floor passing by the light of the fireplace and stopping just in front of the woman. A figure arose from it and two teal eyes stared down at the figure before him.
"My, my. Look at what poor little flower I stumbled across.~ Hmhmhm.~ Such beautiful eyes and soft features.~ It's a wonder that you're all alone.~ Usually young women like you would be married by now.~ Oh well. I wonder what beautifully horrific dreams a pretty little delicate flower like you will have.~"
A hand reached over pulling a strand of hair away from her face causing her to move in her sleep snuggling closer under the thick fluffy blankets. A sadistic grin plastered on the face before a single fingertip pressed into her forehead as excited eyes watched and waited ...and waited....and waited. Before blinking.
Why wasn't anything happening?
He paused blinking. Lifting his finger to glance at the top briefly before pressing it back into the woman's forehead and again waiting. But even after waiting five minutes staring intensely for any change nothing happened. It was like he wasn't even focusing his energy on her. ....She should be having a nightmare of her family being eaten by wolves right now! WHAT WAS GOING ON? She hadn't moved in the slightest! Or screamed! Or woken up! Or cried! Or..Or ..OR ANYTHING!! Why wasn't she experiencing any nightmares!? How...Strange. The hand retreated with a hum. Now THIS was odd. Even if she was in a dead enough sleep to not have any dreams she should've gotten a nightmare because of his powers. She didn't have any blessings or talismans preventing him from giving her nightmares otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get inside here or spy on her for the past few nights to plan his next nightmare victim.
"You're able to resist my abilities.... Interesting. I've never seen anyone do this before.~" A hand reached over to run his knuckles on the side of her cheek. "Now what could you be hiding under that beautiful face- ?!"
He was cut off as purple eyes popped open with a snap. Irises snapping up at him and shrinking- One moment he was staring at the sight of a sleeping Beauty and the next something had quickly snatched his arm and thrown over he went. He body was thrown completely over the futon, stomach painfully slamming against the floor hard enough to make the air expell from his throat. A wheeze escaped his mouth but he froze as a weight slammed down on his back in the form of the woman's knee. There he laid against the ground one side of his face smooshed against the hard wood floor and halfway staring up shocked at the woman holding his arm at a painful angle. Your beautiful anger snarling down at him. For a moment noone spoke until she snapped his arm back painfully making him flinch hard.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?," she growled making a shiver go down his spine.
"Impressive.~ No one's ever woken up during my visits before ~"
"ANSWER ME!! What are you?! A thief? Trying to run me off my property?! I bet you're the one who stole my chicken aren't you?!"
"I'm none of those things, My dear.~" He dared a smile. "I'm a Boogeyman. You just happened to catch me before I could try my nightmare sand next.~"
You...just blinked at his widely smiling face. ".....What?''
A deep chuckle escaped his throat before before your very eyes the man's body slowly turned all black as if the shadows crept over his skin and seeped into his clothes. You shrieked at the sight dropping his arm and jumping off his back. Your eyes widened in shock as the black form literally melted becoming one with the shadows before he dispersed within the darkness of your home. Leaving you standing there staring wide eyed.
"What the FUCK?!"
That's how the entire process lead up to today you both supposed. This Boogeyman, Enmu, came back again a few nights later and tried to give you nightmares again which you woke up to and managed to clock him in the face with a frying pan and proceeded to chase him a few feet before he disappeared like he did last time melting into the shadows. But he came back again. He didn't show up every night. It was always a few days to a week apart between visits and you always woke up when he arrived for some reason. Also for some reason you didn't feel... threatened. You supposed you should've been considering that a stranger kept showing up in the middle of the night I'm your home with obvious supernatural powers no matter how tightly you locked your doors. But he wasn't very threatening. Only asking what objects you'll chase him that night. To which you'd start chasing. It was getting ridiculous considering this had gone on for more than six months now. But you had learnt a few things about him.
His name was Enmu, and apparently he was a Boogeyman whom fed off the fear people emitted from the nightmares they gave. However he was curious as to why he couldn't give you any nightmares and kept coming around to try and remedy that. However you could clearly tell that wasn't the whole truth judging by his blushing face and giggling demeanor every time you spoke to him now. It happened after you caught him and pushed him against the wall.
Yep. He's become infactuated with you but you couldn't give it a care. By now you'd become used to his visits and seeing him in the shade during the daytime. He's pretty harmless. Greatly annoying and bothersome but harmless. Or at least to YOU he was. To others...that was a very different reality. You could only sit down there one day working on chopping some vegetables for that soup you were cooking and of course Enmu was there looking over your shoulder and smiling.
"Did you have sweet dreams last night?~ Were they about me?~ Us?~ Our wedding-" he was shut up when a carrot was thrown over your shoulder and bonked him square on the forehead before falling to the floor with a thud.
"You're determined to try to talk me into letting you court me aren't you?"
"....We aren't already?" He sounded confused and a little sad before clutching his chest placing a hand to his head. "You wound me."
To his delight you ended up snorting and shaking your head. "You know you're really are a drama qu-"
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!!
You both were interrupted by a loud knocking on your door. It made you both look and blink. Now who could that be? You placed down your cutting knife and walked on over to the door with Enmu watching nearby curiously and out of sight from the door. He watched as you opened it and blink .. before an instant frown coated your face in a deep scowl.
"Oh. It's you again," you spoke to someone outside your door before crossing your arms. "What do you want now?"
"I've come to see if you came to your senses and changed your mind like a sensible woman. Are you ready to finally accept my proposal and become a proper housewife?", an unknown man's voice spoke out from the other side
He was curious enough to slink into the shadows outside in the corner of the roof and peep his eyes out. What he saw was the blandest most boring looking man with glasses he's ever seen standing there. He stared annoyed at your scowling face.
"You're kidding me. Right?" You scoffed rolling your eyes. "I thought you would've learnt from last year that I wasn't interested. Why are you here when you know that I'll just say no again?"
"Because I decided to be generous and gift you one last chance to be with someone as high society as me."
"Generous!? Gift me?! Did you hit your head or something?! That's the most narcissistic thing I've ever been told! My answer is NO! My answer has always been no and it WILL ALWAYS BE NO!!" You then pointed back up the pathway he came from. "NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT AND GET OFF OF MY PROPERTY!!"
INSTANTLY the man's expression soured at your glare. "Fine then! But don't blame me when you become nothing but an old hag living alone for the rest of your life!"
With that he turned with a huff and started stomping his way back up the pathway back towards town. You both watched him go and a moment later Enmu reemerged from the shadows next to you once he was out of sight and wouldn't see him. His first thoughts instantly went to the image of a spoiled child.
"Interesting." You jumped whirling at Enmu who tilted his head at the pathway. "He seems to be upset. Do you know him? Who was he?"
You blinked before glaring again. "He's someone who wouldn't stop bothering me last year to become his wife. He only stopped after I threw a bucket of water at him but I guess he wanted to give it one last shot." You slammed the door shut before turning and stopping back towards your dinner. "I wish he'd just get it through his thick head that I'm not interested!"
He only hummed in interest before turning to the door. Well...it has been a while since he fed from someone's nightmares anyways.~
*************************************************************************
The quietness of the study was unbroken as the man silently studied along the table. The silence was only filled by the ticking of the clock behind him and the crackling of the fire in the fireplace that filled the study with warmth. The light danced across the shadows and lit up the place in the dark. It was a rather cozy room with many shelves of books, comfy chairs, and the table with a giant map sprawled upon it. Yes. His father would be pleased with the surveillance work he made of the new farmland he purchased. They should be able to divide it enough for the blueprints for the many houses. Renting the houses out to people would certainly bring plenty of money. A yawn escaped from his throat as hands reached up to remove the glasses before a hand ran over his face. It was getting late. A hard day's work deserved a good rest. The man stood leaving the comfort of his warm study before walking away to exit into a hallway. It wasn't too hard to find his futon inside his bedroom. With a small action of placing his glasses on a nearby table, his body curled up inside the bed cozy and warm.
But not safe.
Shadows moved. Elongated alongside the wall. Teal eyes crinkled up. A smile giggled gleefully. An arm extended itself out.
"Oh how sweet.~ Looking so peaceful in slumber.~ Not a care in the world...I wonder what hellish escapades you'll have within a world of nightmares.~ Such a sweet vengeance for an intruding obstacle.~ Hmm...I know. Let's make you fear ever speaking with a certain person ever again.~ Oh what fun we'll have once I'm done with you.~"
A fingertip pressed against the soft skin of the man's forehead. Manic glee rising as the brows furrowed more and more. And soon his mouth opened up. And a scream shrieked out.
Chapter 11: Kaigaku
Summary:
(WARNINGS: Blood and mentioning of blood, a dead chicken, Kaigaku is part vampire in this au so he drains the chicken of its blood, Kaigaku gets hit by a shovel,etc.
Kyogai is next.)
Chapter Text
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. But in the darkness something shined. The coldness of the air bit down hard on your skin, like painful bee stings pricking your skin. The terror far greater than seeing a thousand wolves sunk in.
c r a c k
A splatter of red laid across the grass. Feathers coated in the red liquid of life laid there discarded. Unwanted by the maw that consumed the flesh between its teeth. Purple irises shook, watered at the sight before them. A hunched shadow devoured everything in its claws. Down the gullet and never to be returned again. Never before seen by prying eyes. A low hiss of air gurgled from the frothing mouth. Like a wheezing choke. Your body felt rigid. Frozen in utter horror as your mind struggled to comprehend the mass sitting before you. The horrors of it all as your jaw opened up in terror and the smell of blood combed into your senses-
Sniff.
An ear flickered. The mouth paused mid bite into the small body and slowly raised up.
SNIFF. SNIFF.
Loud questioning sniffs filled the air-
C R A C K-
An inhuman snap of its neck sounded as it snapped to you. And you froze as glowing blue eyes stared at your very soul. And for a long moment neither of you moved for a long moment until there was a chittering noise and a chicken drained of blood dropped to the ground from his claws.
IT WAS HER. THE WOMAN FROM THE HOUSE.
Silence rang out as the creature rose inhuman slowly. High. Higher. And then higher. Your head slowly followed the thing up as the thing stopped and you found yourself staring into the eyes of a man's- No...Beast's...It- ..YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING AT!! It was like you were looking at a monsters face red blood smeared his jaws from the chicken it had been eating however he stopped and stared down it's nose at you. Your hiding place behind the bush no longer secure as it continued to stare at your petrified form. There wasn't enough moonlight to fully see what it was standing in the shadows except for part of its face which tilted.... before a wide maw of fangs smirked down at you. Without warning it leaned down and you clamped your eyes shut on instinct. Surely this is the day you died.
SNIFF SNIFF??
You froze more as a warm breath blew over you and something heavy loomed over you. You didn't see it. But you sure as hell F E L T IT!! Your body didn't even move being too scared but your eyes opened to stare blankly at the leaves of the bush, too scared to look up and see what it was sniffing curiously at your head. Before whatever it was smirked in amusement and pride at her. Yes. That was right. BE AFRAID OF HIM! He was stronger, faster, and smarter than she'd ever be. Oh he loved it whenever puny humans trembled under his terrifying and strong person. This woman was no different than the rest of them. To add for good measure he let out a little hiss and snap of his fangs at the pretty face. The loud CLACK noise his teeth made had her flinching hard. A deep chuckle of satisfaction left his throat as she trembled...And a hand slowly reached out for something he couldn't see.
"Scared aren't you? It'd make sense. After all.." Black claws reached out to push some strands of hair away in order to better see those scared purple eyes. "There's very little you can do abou-
D I N G-!!!
A very loud and metal DING rang out into the night as a shovel was swung and made contact with whatever creature it was. It's head snapped to the left and down it went unconscious. It's large black body landing face first on the ground with a thud as limp as a ragdoll. You stood there shaking and panting holding up the shovel in your hands. Thank the gods by some miracle you'd left it leaning against your henhouse just within reaching distance of where you stood by the bush. Speaking of which- Without you or that ..thing holding it back anymore, the Bush's branches fluttered back into place leaving you panting and heaving. Blinking as your mind tried taking everything that just happened in.
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!
Ever so slowly the bush was again patted before they stopped to let purple eyes stare at the clearly unconscious body. Slower footsteps approached until they stopped by the man's (??) head and stopped...A shovel lowered and gently poked and prodded at the thing's head. It didn't move an inch proving that whoever it was, he was completely out. Eventually you gave a relieved sigh but that still left you standing there with whoever this thing was. Your eyes glanced at his meal that was once a plump prize winning hen and a twinge of anger kindled inside of you. Your eyes looked back to the unconscious creature..Well...he wasn't dead. You could see his chest rising and falling in breaths.
...What were you supposed to do now?
*************************************************************************
MMMMMMOOOOOOO-
Black and blue eyes popped open immediately but blinked back closed as his vision danced and swirled dotted with polka dots. His head swam as a groan escaped a wide maw of fangs. The triple vision swirling until the three things before him became one and-
!?
"AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!?!?!"
His head ripped away from the tongue licking his cheek and an indignant screech of disgust ripped from his throat. A loud moo escaped from the large animal penned up next to him. Immediately the body moved to quickly sit up but instead he yelped and face planted into a ground covered in hay. At least it cushioned his throbbing head-
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!"
He hissed struggling against the ropes tying his body-...Wait a dam minute. ROPES!? The things trapped him tightly in their grip as he cursed and struggled against them. On top of all of THAT the right side of his head THROBBED from pain! It felt like he had been hit by a stampede of horses!
"Hey. You."
He froze at the voice. A FEMALE voice. Coming from right behind him. His head snapped behind him faster than any human scowling and hissing in rage only to pause at the figure he saw. A woman dressed in a simple kimono comfortable enough to work in. Purple eyes scowled down at him with a frown. In her hands held firmly was a shovel.
"So you're finally awake."
His reaction to you was instant. He hissed and continued with his struggling flopping around and wriggling like a worm having a seizure. "UNTIE ME!!"
"Fat chance. Why would I untie you after you stole and killed my chicken and then threatened me?"
"LET ME GO!!," He screeched eventually stopping on his back to glare up to you with a scowl and fangs bared. "HOW DARE YOU TIE ME UP!?"
"How dare you steal from me?! What was I supposed to do?! Not defend myself?!"
"Where the fuck am I?!"
"In my barn." At this he gave pause, blinked, and finally took a moment to look around him. Obvious farm tools were mounted along the right wall. The entire floor was covered in hay. A small area next to him was fenced off to act like a small pen for a single cow that mooed again as he looked around. "I would've brought you inside my house but I don't know you all too well. How's your head? I suppose it would hurt seeing as I clicked you pretty well."
He continued to stare... before scowling at you harder. "YOU HIT ME IN THE HEAD WITH A FUCKING SHOVEL?!"
"YOU THREATENED ME?!," You shouted back at him, "AND STOLE MY CHICKEN!! HOW DID YOU EXPECT TO REACT!?" He didn't answer at first but flinched when you suddenly squated down eye level with him still holding the shovel narrowing your eyes. "Now who are you and what are you doing here?" He hissed- The metal end of the shovel was raised to his chest. "I have a shovel and I'm not afraid to use it."
Blue and black eyes looked at you then at the shovel. Then at you. Then back at the shovel. Then seemed to think for a moment before hissing and pinning his pointed ears back. "I'm Kaigaku. Now untie me-"
"Not until you tell me what you're doing here."
"Oh for fucks sake!! FOOD. ALRIGHT!? I WANTED FUCKING FOOD!," he spat at you with a deep scowl, "I saw food, I was hungry, and I ATE. As simple as that! You weren't going to miss one dam chicken and a few peaches-"
"That chicken-" You cut him off poking his chest hard. "-cost me twenty coins same as the others! She wasn't cheap! What gives you the right to just come onto my property and take more of my property you...you..... What are you anyways?"
You'd never seen anything like him. Grey skin, weird stripe markings on his cheeks, black eye sclera, pointed ears, and fangs. Two top fangs were much larger than all the others. Was he some kind of monster? He gave a deadpanned look before rolling his eyes and scoffing.
''Im a vampiric demon." He then gave an (not-) intimidating smirk. "I need a certain amount of blood to survive. You should be lucky I didn't consider you to be on-"
"Wow. You must really love this shovel."
He sputtered a few noises indignantly. "I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW IM MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU'LL EVER IMAGINE, WOMAN!!"
"Uh huh. And that's why I was able to tie you up right?" He only glared at you and you sighed. "Well...I guess I can untie you. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with you and to be honest I'm not really too fond of having you around."
"Oh FINALLY!!"
"But if you try to attack me, Ill hit you again and throw you in the river out back," you warned him to which he still scowled at.
He said nothing but yelped as you just grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him over to lay on his stomach. On his back was the knot keeping all the ropes together. All you had to do was grab one end and tug. Instantly he felt himself be freed. The ropes gave out and you blinked as he inhumanly stood up faster than you expected. His body shaking like a dog's to toss the ropes off of him before hissing in relief. His hands rubbing every inch of his sore body eventually stopping on the right side of his head. The pain was STILL throbbing there and his previous flopping around and yelling did not help it. He hadn't felt like this since Kokushibo slammed him into a boulder during a training session. You noticed the groaning and gestures he made with his hands as if in pain.
"Are you alright?," you asked slowly standing up
"You hit me with a dam shovel!," he snapped but winced as a pang of pain shot through his head. "Do I LOOK ok to you?" He hissed through clenched fangs.
A small feeling of guilt washed over you. Oh yeah. You did so that. "Will you be ok?"
"I'll regenerate after a few hours." But until then it'd be hell. He jumped as something grabbed his arm and pulled him forward.
A thud rang out as you dropped the shovel and grabbed the man with both hands and pulled him forward. He stumbled a few steps as you walked and immediately shot a scowl at you getting ready to shout at you to let him go..But he paused seeing your face. The sunlight from the entrance bounced off your body and your eyes reflected the light brightening up the purple shining within them like two perfect lavender diamonds. Your gentle smile and soft lips smiling at him.
"Well let's go get you something to ease your pain. I have a tea mixture that's a pain reliever. Not sure how well it'll work on demons or whatever you said you were but you can still have some."
He only still stared... Like the first time he saw you- "Why?"
"It's called being the bigger person. And I don't like the idea of someone I hurt running around with an injury I caused. If it's really serious then I'd rather have you get help."
He hummed but otherwise said nothing as you pulled him from the barn and towards the small house. His brow rose higher as you reached out to open up the back door before proceeding to pull him in. He chose to just stop and stare in the doorway. It was a one roomed house. It was mostly empty. A coffee table square in the middle, a picture frame or two holding a painting of someone on the walls, a basket in the corner, a shelf full of dishes and other small items, a fireplace with a fire currently alive and heating a kettle, and a few other bland things. Nothing that really stood out as anything important to him. His eyes turned back to you before he hissed again and reached up to cradle his head as another pang of pain flashed through his head. HE SWORE HE WAS GOING TO GET PAYBACK FOR THIS-
"Why don't you have a seat?" You turned from the shelf with a small box. "I'll get you some tea and you can rest a bit."
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." He grumbled but wobbled his way over to plop himself down in your futon without any care for how you'd react.
He groaned again and held his head in both hands now that he could sit down. Gods this was stupid. He knew he should've stopped by that dairy farm instead but they didn't have any peach trees and he couldn't pass up the chance to indulge in his favorite fruits. ... He's learnt a hard lesson. From now on all his meals will be taken with him TO GO. He barely looked up when you came back over with a warm cup and small wooden box in your hands although his nose wrinkled up at the smell of horrid rotten vegetables. It came from the cup you shoved under his nose making him lean away and glare at it.
"The hell is that?"
"Herbal tea."
"Smells like shit. Are you trying to give me a stomach ache on top of giving me a headache!?"
You gave him a blank look. "It might not taste very good but it'll help with the pain. Now drink up." You pushed the cup into one of his hands.
Usually he would've refused and just argued but the throbbing pain overruled any arguing. So he just sucked it up and brought the foul smelling liquid to his lips despite his nose's protesting. A glass shattering sound went off in his head as soon as half the small cup was sucked into his mouth. His eyes bulged out, his cheeks puffed out, and it took everything in your power to not instantly snort in laughter at his reaction to the foul smelling AND TASTING tea. The grip on the cup increased as a single tear fell down his cheek...Oh good gods....IT TASTED SO FUCKING BAD!! He nearly choked before he forced himself to swallow the terrible tasting tea and instantly gagged sticking his tongue out in the universal sign of disgust. You couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"YUCK!! What the hell is this?! Poison!?"
"It's just herbs and water."
"It tastes worse than it smells!!"
"Well I never said that it would taste good. Finish up the rest of it and I'll make you something to eat."
He casted a scowl your way. "If your cooking is already this bad then forget it!"
"Too bad. I was going to make some homemade peach cobbler."
You nearly laughed again as he perked up at you in interest. "......Peach cobbler?"
"Made with fresh peaches straight from my own orchard." He fully stared at you now. "But only if you finish up the rest of that tea."
"What?!"
"You already finished half of it. Just down the other half... Unless you don't want peach cobbler and homemade freshly brewed peach tea."
He perked up more. "Peach tea?"
"Finish drinking first. Then we'll talk food."
He scowled again before staring down at his cup with disdain and disgust. Was it really worth the food?....His peach addiction told him yes. So grumbling Kaigaku braced himself and tried not to smell too much of the smell as the rest of the foul smelling liquid was forced down his gullet. He hoped his stomach would forgive him for this.
-TWO HOURS LATER-
It wasn't as scary as you thought having someone who wasn't human sitting in your home. He was WAY more annoying than scary especially when he was scarfing down what must've been his fifth plate of peach cobbler you offered him as you took the chance to bandage his head. When you first touched it he snapped up and kissed at you-
He was cut off mid hiss by a hand slapping over his mouth. "Oh hush up. It'll help your pain."
"Hell no! Why would I let you touch me when you already hurt me?"
You only deadpanned at his stubbornness. "Do you want me to kiss your booboo and make it feel better?"
He blanked. "....What-"
He didn't even finish as two small lips pressed into his temple as you kissed the sore spot he was clutching earlier. The plate of food nearly dropped from his hands as he choked. Your gentle touch was gone soon after and you took his frozen, red faced form as a chance to finish bandaging his head. He flinched at your sudden touch but didn't stop you before you finished bandaging his head.
"There. That should help with it. I think you should stay here."
Still red faced he snapped up to you snapping out of his stupor. "WHAT?!"
"Just in case you have a concussion. I'd feel better knowing you were alright fully."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just walk out of here like I should've done in the first place-"
"Peach cobbler." He fell silent as you rose a brow. "And home made foods and anything else you might want."
"... ...."
Kaigaku found himself staring up at the ceiling and grumbling as you pulled the blanket over himself and smiled sweetly. Stupid pretty-....PETTY human!! You yourself pulled out a pair of spare blankets and pillows for yourself before falling asleep in a different part of the home. From that day onwards you thought you weren't going to see Kaigaku but to your surprise he started showing up a few more times and every time you'd find him in your peach tree scarfing down your hard grown fruits. At first it annoyed you and you'd chase him from the trees with your shovel but after the fourth time in one month you gave up at just expected him to show up at this point. Which was at most once a week. You got the impression that he really loved peaches. At this rate you'd never have any to sell ever again. Kaigaku was still annoying however he was smart enough to stay a good distance away whenever you held something big enough to chase him with in your hands.
"Are you just going to sit up there all day watching me work while eating my produce?" You spent nearly the whole morning reaching up and straining to get the apples on the bottom branches of your apple trees while blue-black eyes just stared at you.
He scoffed stuffing another fruit in his mouth from the branch he laid upon. "It's not my fault you're so dam short- AH!!" He ducked as an apple harmlessly was thrown past his shoulder. "HEY! The hell was THAT for?!"
"For being a lazy asshole. If you want me to make you food then quit being an arse to me."
"You women are all the same. You get your pretty little head too big and think you can boss everyone around."
You smirked. "Oh so you think I'm pretty?~"
"What?! No! I was just saying you shouldn't be a smart ass!!"
"You you think I'm smart too?"
"YOU'RE REALLY STARTING TO PUSH YOUR LUCK!!," He snapped red faced now.
"Oh ..So I'm lucky too.~ How cute of you to think so.~" You continued to giggle at his red face as he sputtered.
"SHUT THE HELL UP!!"
Chapter 12: Kyogai
Summary:
(Hey everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone who read this far and liked my story enough to read it to it's end. I had a lot of fun writing it and it makes me happy knowing some people loved it enough to read it fully. If you liked this consider checking out my other works. Thanks to everyone for reading this, faving it, or leaving a nice comment. And thank you to Koyoharu Gotouge for creating such wonderful characters and giving me the opportunity to make this wonderful story.
I know this last bit might not be monstrous and shorter than the other chapters but again these are just meant to be Oneshots done for fun.)
Chapter Text
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. Two eyes stared back at you. A snarl of fangs growled at you from the animal as black as night staring back at you.
A wolf.
IT WAS A WOLF!! The wild animal stood there growling at you for a few more seconds before just turning and running off. You watched as it disappeared into the darkness and heard it thundering through the brush until the sounds faded away to silence again. You ended up staring for what must've been a good five minutes before eventually you left the bush and stomped your way back into the safety and comfort of your house. You'd go back to town tomorrow and see about getting a trap once and for all. You weren't about to let that animal get away with eating on your livestock!
******************************************************************
The day was absolutely lovely. The trees swayed lightly with the wind as the flowers bloomed and the warm summer sun shone down on the earth below.
Yoi started down the forest path back to the nearest town. It was an hour's walk there and an hour walk back. A bit of a way to walk but you'd like to think it helped to discourage others from seeking you out most of the time. The rest of the trip passed by without incident or without that sixth sense of something watching you. An hour later you arrived at the town. It looked as busy and crowded as you remembered and it was then you realized something. You might as well probably get your shopping done since you were here. You'd be needing some more supplies. So off you went to the first spot which was a candle store, then a library, and a few more places. While at a certain book store however you again felt eyes on you, and this time you turned and found the source of them. You were expecting a lot of things. A man learning at you again. Someone wanting to flirt. Maybe even another customer waiting for you to move. But it wasn't any of those things.
A simple man was staring downwards at you.
Amongst the few small shelves of books and one or two other people walking around browsing was another man around your age. His long black hair cascaded down his shoulders and his black eyes stared directly down at you but...He didn't look smug or awestruck or blushing or anything else you usually saw when someone stared at you. He just looked surprised. Like if a miracle had happened right in front of him. You both just stared at one another in silence before you awkwardly looked around you and then back to him before clearing your throat. He reacted instantly. He jumped eyes shooting up to your raised browed face.
"Can I help you, Sir?"
He blinked again before shaking his head and holding up his hands. "N-No. I-Im so sorry. I-I didn't mean to stare. I-I was just l-looking at the book you were h-holding." He then pointed at the book you currently held.
You looked at the book you had curiously plucked off the shelf to look at. A romance novel. Seemed interesting. "Oh.." Oh. Was that what he was looking at? Well it was relieving at least. "Did you want to look at it too?"
"N-No! Not that. I-I was just surprised that you were holding it..Is all." His dark eyes trailed off as a hand rubbed his neck. "I-I don't see a lot of people b-buy books by that specific author."
"Oh. Really? I wouldn't think that would be too weird. I mean this is the sequel to the first book and I wanted to know what happened to the Prince." The man ended up gawking at you in surprise again. "....What?"
"Y-You bought the first book!?," he asked rather loudly making a few people look over at you. You leaned back as he suddenly leaned forward. "As in..You actually bought it? And actually READ it!? A-And liked it enough to get the next book?!"
...You blinked as he stared at you in a mixture of disbelief and surprise and awe. "Um...Yes? Why?"
"B-Because I wrote it! I-I didn't think anyone would really be interested in purchasing anything from M-My personal works," he confessed a bit embarrassed to admit it again averting his eyes as you blinked at him.
"Wait. You wrote all these books?"
"Well...N-Not all of them. Only a few b-but I help run the store s-s-so the owner let's me put up a few copies of my own works for anyone who m-might want them." He shrugged. "It's not much, but I guess i-its better than nothing "
"No way!'' You lit up with a smile. "That's so amazing ! I had no idea there was an author here! I really like this small series with the Prince and the soldier girl pretending to be a man."
"You don't think it's a bit over exaggerating?"
You shook your head which surprised him. "Not at all. I really like how they became friends before you decided to add any romance. It makes the couple feel better connected to each other."
"REALLY!?"
You nodded again smiling wider. "It's a lot more satisfying than a forced fairytale romance. I didn't catch your name by the way?"
"Oh..Um." he cleared his throat. "I-its Kyogai." He nodded at your hand. "You can see it on the book cover."
Your eyes looked at the book again seeing the name Kyogai sprawled on the bottom. "Ah. So it is." You smiled back to him. "Well I'll definitely be buying this then. I can't wait to see what happened after her secret identity was uncovered, then I can get a trap."
"Trap?"
You nodded. "I have a small chicken stealing wolf problem but it's nothing I can't handle." You gave a small bow to Kyogai with a bright smile on your face. "Thank you for writing such wonderful stories for entertaining myself with. I'll be sure to come back for more."
His face lit up a red as he only managed to stutter out, "O-Of course."
You chuckled at his reaction only making him turn a deeper shade of red before taking your leaves, purchasing the book before making your way out of the shop and back towards the blacksmiths. For once a pleasant experience that made you smile. Now to take care of that wolf problem.
Chapter 13: Tiefling
Summary:
Tieflings are derived from human bloodlines, and in the broadest possible sense, they still look human. However, their infernal heritage has left a clear imprint on their appearance.
(You might recognize this from Monster Bride. I forgot to make Kyogai a monster in Monster Bride so I fixed it for Spooktober.)
Chapter Text
You liked living alone.
No one to order you around. No one to say what you shouldn't and should do. No one scrutinizing yourself. It was a good life. Just you, nature, and the few farm animals you kept for company. It was a good life. Your parents were a bit concerned about you wanting to buy a house and live alone but considering your circumstances they agreed and purchased a home from an old farmer as a new year's present a few years back. It wasn't too big. Just two rooms including the bathroom and just a small space in the back for a few animals. Just it was perfect in your eyes. And it was just outside of town. Close enough to visit whenever you wanted but far enough to give you complete privacy in the woods. Which was EXACTLY what you wanted.
Unfortunately your life wasn't meant very easy.
From the moment you were born it seemed your life was going to be a problem for you. Mostly because it was almost like you had a spell casted over you to just have the worst of luck with men. Oh no. They weren't repulsed by you. Quite the opposite actually.
THEY WOULDN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE!!
Your parents must've had at least two hundred offers from other parents to arrange a marriage between you and their sons. Thank the gods above they were amazing and kind and always asked if you wanted any of the marriages. You refused so they refused. And you would still be bombarded with offers of other parents to boys just attempting to court you any chance they could get. It was one of the reasons why you chose to live all the way out here instead of in town where you'd just be bothered. Although men still occasionally showed up here. And sometimes an older man or woman would trying to talk you into marrying their sons. You always refused and made them leave no matter how polite, persistent, or rude they are. And boy. You've gotten a few rude guests you had to kick to the Kirb. But you also had the ones who couldn't take a hint like the one months ago. Stupid guy. He even tried to use that stupid tradition to get you to marry him.
For thousands of years, people married off their daughters and ladies desperately scrambled to find a husband obsessively in fear of a monster dragging them away from as the blood moon came every hundred years. WHICH WAS STUPID!! You've lived your ENTIRE LIFE playing in the woods and walking around and now living in the woods and not even ONCE did you ever see any ghoul, goblin, troll, fairy, ghost, or any other inhuman creature. They only existed in stories and the imagination of children. You hated that so many people were legitimately terrified of this. And you especially hated that someone tried to use that against you! You wouldn't be scared into a loveless marriage that wouldn't be fair to yourself. Or the man to be honest.
With a sigh you woke up that morning and did yours chores which wasn't a lot. Feeding the few animals you had and cleaning your house. Neither of which took very long because of how small your home was and then you started on the laundry. Again it wasn't much and you were just scrubbing a blanket in your home when there was a noise outside that made up you jump and whirl your head towards the back of your house. Your cow was mooing and thrashing about by the side of your house.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
You heard her knock and the kick the side of the house a few times making you drop the cloth and stand up as even MORE noises came from your backyard. Your chickens were going absolutely NUTS!! Clucking and calling a out making you run to the back door and throwing it open-
"AH!!"
Your arms threw up over your face and closing your eyes as a flurry of your hens jumped up and flew a out you in a panic.
CRASH!! THUD!! RUSTLE!!
Your cow mooed louder and ran past you towards the well on the side of your house as a giant black blue went diving into a bush right by your hen house causing feathers to fly and more chickens to rum about in panic blocking your view of...of...Well whatever it was. You blinked just seeing the bushes move and hearing whatever it was crashing through the woods away from you as quick as the wind. Leaving you standing there blinking with a few panicked chickens and your cow irritated and half hiding behind the well....
What in all the heavens just happened?!
The chickens were still running around as the last few crashing sounds made their way into the woods before it was silent all around. You stood there and just...blinked. What was that?! A bear? No, no. A bear was too big and bulky and couldn't run off THAT fast?! You looked around noticing that...no chickens were missing. All fifteen of your hens and one rooster was still around. Oh... Whatever it was you must've scared it off before it could make off with one of them. But what was it? Couldn't have been a fox. It was too big and it wasn't a red color...
"A wolf," you mumbled having finally deduced what it was before scowling. "It must've been a wolf!! A wolf was after my chickens!!"
Scowling you marched on over to the bush where it disappeared through making your chickens scramble from your legs. Grabbing the bush branches, you pushed the thing apart roughly but saw... Nothing. The back of your hill sloped down a hill to where a lot of wild berry bushes and a few fruit trees were ending in a stream that came up to your shoulders almost with how deep it was. Another reason you chose to live here. Free food! You scowled looking around more but there was no signs of any creatures. No wolf either. Curses! It must've ran off before you could see it... You'd buy a trap in town. You were going to head there after you finished laundry anyways. Letting the bush go back the way it was before you angrily turned and stomped off back to the house.
"I'll be damned before I let a wolf make off with my animals. I'll put them all in the barn before I go but first I'm going to get the laundry done."
You finished hanging up the laundry inside and went back out to heard all your chickens back into the henhouse and locked up your still spooked cow safely in the small barn before you left for the town. You thought you heard a twig snapping in the woods behind you before you left down the road towards town but you were sure it was just the wind. You weren't as paranoid as the others in your town. So you started down the forest path back to the nearest town. It was an hour's walk there and an hour walk back. A bit of a way to walk but you'd like to think it helped to discourage others from seeking you out most of the time. You started down the road..but kept looking over your shoulder thinking you heard someone...but nothing was ever there. You got the feeling something was watching you from your home and the feeling didn't go away until you couldn't see your house anymore. Then you felt more at ease. Probably was the wolf, or your paranoia that was thrown a bit since you weren't expecting it. However unbeknownst to you it was something much, much more supernatural than that.
The rest of the trip passed by without incident or without that sixth sense of something watching you. An hour later you arrived at the town. It looked as busy and crowded as you remembered and it was then you realized something. You might as well probably get your shopping done since you were here. You'd be needing some more supplies. So off you went to the first spot which was a candle store, then a library, and a few more places. While at a certain book store however you again felt eyes on you, and this time you turned and found the source of them this time. Four men working on building the side of a new house were staring at you as you skimmed over some books near the doorway. Upon realizing that you saw them, two of them looked embarrassed and sent back to work quickly, one man smirked and winked at you, and another one politely smiled and waved. You frowned before quickly retreating into the store further.
Why did this happen EVERY TIME you went into town?!
You just wanted to get you some supplies and be on your way. On the way back through you stopped by the blacksmith. He sold hunters they needed from bows and arrows to knives to bear traps. You walked right in gaining a few looks from a few men in there looking over the knives and two of which were asking who was presumably the owner which one would be the best for deboning large fish. Amongst the swords and horse shoes, and other items you found the traps. Big ones. Obviously those were for hunting BIG game like bears. But there was others of a more reasonable si-You froze as someone leaned on the wall next to you. Arm above and out. A face smiling down at your head. You turned to see one of the hunters smiling down at you.
"Hello, Wood Dweller "
NOPE!!
You didn't even give him a chance to speak. You turned on your heels and RAN like the wolf itself was chasing you. NOPE NOPE NOPE!! NOT DEALING WITH THAT TODAY!! Besides you saw the prices written above the traps. Too expensive and you didn't have enough money. You'd have to use the old rope tied to the tree trick. Running down the street with basket in hand, you just happened to look up and noticed that the sun was setting. If you didn't want to walk alone in the dark, you'd better head home now. So that's exactly what you did. You veered quickly through the streets as people headed home quickly fearing the dark and so called 'monsters' that lurked in the dark. You didn't fear any fake monsters. You were more afraid of that wolf! But you needed to get back before your animals could be in danger again. So leaving the town behind you veered off the street and down the path leading you back home.
The light was quickly disappearing and you ran faster and faster down the road. Shadows danced across the pathway before you as you went down the pathway. Trees blew creepily and creaked as if their branches were trying to reach out and grab you. To take you captive. It made a shiver run down your spine. You didn't reach your house until the last rays of light left the sky and plunged the world into total darkness. The moon high in the sky and crescent shaped like a sadistic grin. You ran right up to the front door, pulling it open but stopped and looked around you real quick. You saw nothing but the creaking wind and trees. You shivered again before you stepped inside and closed the door. Finally. You were safely home. With a sigh you leaned against the door for a long moment before reaching out to flip the lock. With the door safely locked you pushed yourself off the door smiling and carrying the large basket over to place it gently by your-....Wait a second.
Your eyes widened as you saw a black shadow slip into the bush.
Stunned silence filled the dark house as you stared at it silently. Before slowly approaching it and looking out the window into the backyard. The moonlight hit everything in the yard. You saw nothing on the other side. Your brows furrowed. This was... strange. You remembered locking it shut before you left but you must've not locked it properly in your haste to get the trap. Which meant you had to go outside to close it again. ...your form slowly approached the back door and you grabbed a hold of the sliding door at the same time something was walking through the forest. Neither of you two noticed each other. However when you silently opened the door you froze when you heard it. The sounds of something coming from the other sides of the Bushes.
The SAME bushes the wolf disappeared into. But they sounded a bit farther away from the henhouse! That stupid wolf was back!!.. Your eyes flickered to the pitchfork by the he house. If you scared it away by threatening it then it would be unlikely to come back again. It worked once when a fox wouldn't stop trying to bother your hens. It should be work on a wolf too. And if comes down to a fight, you'd have a nice fur to sell in town tomorrow. Slowly you stepped out of the house and back towards the bush. Your bare feet touching the ground gently and quietly enough to not make yourself known.
Step after step after step.
Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.
And you froze at what you saw-
The winds howled as the darkness crept across the skies. The darkness behind the bush shielded your form from the moonlight which cascaded down between the trees and clouds in the sky. The shadows danced and branches creaked as the wind blew them about. Like arms beckoning you closer to grab you away in their rough grip. Drag you into the shadows never to be seen again. Two eyes stared back at you. A snarl of fangs growled at you from the animal as black as night staring back at you.
A wolf.
IT WAS A WOLF!! The wild animal stood there growling at you for a few more seconds before just turning and running off. You watched as it disappeared into the darkness and heard it thundering through the brush until the sounds faded away to silence again. You ended up staring for what must've been a good five minutes before eventually you left the bush and stomped your way back into the safety and comfort of your house. You'd go back to town tomorrow and see about getting a trap once and for all. You weren't about to let that animal get away with eating on your livestock!
**********************************
The day was absolutely lovely. The trees swayed lightly with the wind as the flowers bloomed and the warm summer sun shone down on the earth below.
You started down the forest path back to the nearest town. It was an hour's walk there and an hour walk back. A bit of a way to walk but you'd like to think it helped to discourage others from seeking you out most of the time. The rest of the trip passed by without incident or without that sixth sense of something watching you. An hour later you arrived at the town. It looked as busy and crowded as you remembered and it was then you realized something. You might as well probably get your shopping done since you were here. You'd be needing some more supplies. So off you went to the first spot which was a candle store, then a library, and a few more places. While at a certain book store however you again felt eyes on you, and this time you turned and found the source of them. You were expecting a lot of things. A man learning at you again. Someone wanting to flirt. Maybe even another customer waiting for you to move. But it wasn't any of those things.
You blinked.
Before your eyes widened at what you saw.
A TIEFLING!?
Amongst the few small shelves of books and one or two other people walking around browsing was another male Tiefling around your age. His long black hair cascaded down his shoulders and his red and blue eyes stared directly down at you but...He didn't look smug or awestruck or blushing or anything else you usually saw when someone stared at you. He just looked surprised. Like if a miracle had happened right in front of him. A pair of horns curled back like a goats on his head and a long lizard like tail swished behind him. You both just stared at one another in silence before you awkwardly looked around you and then back to him before clearing your throat. He reacted instantly. He jumped eyes shooting up to your raised browed face.
"Can I help you, Sir?"
He blinked again before shaking his head and holding up his hands. "N-No. I-Im so sorry. I-I didn't mean to stare. I-I was just l-looking at the book you were h-holding." He then pointed at the book you currently held.
You looked at the book you had curiously plucked off the shelf to look at. A romance novel. Seemed interesting. "Oh.." Oh. Was that what he was looking at? Well it was relieving at least. "Did you want to look at it too?"
"N-No! Not that. I-I was just surprised that you were holding it..Is all." His dark eyes trailed off as a hand rubbed his neck. "I-I don't see a lot of people b-buy books by that specific author."
"Oh. Really? I wouldn't think that would be too weird. I mean this is the sequel to the first book and I wanted to know what happened to the Prince." Honestly you were more surprised Tieflings read books. The man ended up gawking at you in surprise again. "....What?"
"Y-You bought the first book!?," he asked rather loudly making a few people look over at you. You leaned back as he suddenly leaned forward. "As in..You actually bought it? And actually READ it!? A-And liked it enough to get the next book?!"
...You blinked as he stared at you in a mixture of disbelief and surprise and awe. "Um...Yes? Why?"
"B-Because I wrote it! I-I didn't think anyone would really be interested in purchasing anything from M-My personal works," he confessed a bit embarrassed to admit it again averting his eyes as you blinked at him.
"Wait. You wrote all these books?"
"Well...N-Not all of them. Only a few b-but I help run the store s-s-so the owner let's me put up a few copies of my own works for anyone who m-might want them." He shrugged. "It's not much, but I guess i-its better than nothing "
"No way!'' You lit up with a smile. "That's so amazing ! I had no idea there was an author here! I really like this small series with the Prince and the soldier girl pretending to be a man."
"You don't think it's a bit over exaggerating?"
You shook your head which surprised him. "Not at all. I really like how they became friends before you decided to add any romance. It makes the couple feel better connected to each other."
"REALLY!?"
You nodded again smiling wider. "It's a lot more satisfying than a forced fairytale romance. I didn't catch your name by the way?"
"Oh..Um." he cleared his throat. "I-its Kyogai." He nodded at your hand. "You can see it on the book cover."
Your eyes looked at the book again seeing the name Kyogai sprawled on the bottom. "Ah. So it is." You smiled back to him. "Well I'll definitely be buying this then. I can't wait to see what happened after her secret identity was uncovered, then I can get a trap."
"Trap?"
You nodded. "I have a small chicken stealing wolf problem but it's nothing I can't handle." You gave a small bow to Kyogai with a bright smile on your face. "Thank you for writing such wonderful stories for entertaining myself with. I'll be sure to come back for more."
His face lit up a red as he only managed to stutter out, "O-Of course."
You chuckled at his reaction only making him turn a deeper shade of red before taking your leaves, purchasing the book before making your way out of the shop and back towards the blacksmiths. For once a pleasant experience that made you smile. Now to take care of that wolf problem.
Chapter 14: Kelpie
Summary:
A kelpie, or water kelpie, is a mythical shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Scottish and Yorkshire folklore. It is usually described as a grey or white horse-like creature, able to adopt human form.
(Kelpie Douma's design is by Rottencoreflesh101 linked below. Kinda connected to Monster Bride but it's not cannon. Warnings for cannibalism mentioned, kidnapping, and mentioned death. Maybe for attempted murder as technically Y/n gets 'sacrificed' to Douma.
https://www.tumblr.com/rottencoreflesh101/724273568035274752?source=share )
Chapter Text
What lead you to now?
The nearly watery grave within the dark waters bobbing up and down kicking and flailing your arms for dear life against the currents. Against the water dark and dreary. Towards the small plot of land you saw before that monster could come back to get you. The water splashed and sloshed around as you swam around in the darkness. Throat, nose, and lungs burning from coughing up water and spitting it out. Get away! Get away! You had to get away!!
"Darling!?," a voice called out over the waves making you momentarily stop horrified and look around floating in place. "My beloved lotus! Where are you?!"
No. Not HIM again!!
That crazy horse was the reason you were in this mess in the first place!! If he hadn't insisted on bothering you then none of this would have happened!! Ever since that crazy donkey found you and decided that you both were Soulmates you've been having nothing but trouble!!
Living next to a swamp wasn't really an ideal place to live to be perfectly honest. It was dark, dreary, and full of who knows how many creatures to you it seemed like a nice quiet place for you to settle down and start over after a bad break up. The housing was cheap and your few neighbors were really nice. There was just one strange thing. The locals told you to never go into the swamp especially at night for the local swamp was ruled over a fearsome creature for hundreds of years and eats those who wonder too deep inside.
Oh yes. You've heard about the legends before coming here. It was a great tourist attraction during the summer actually.
Apparently there was a Kelpie in the swamps. A fearsome cannibalistic creature that could take on the form of a horse and a man and lived in the waters. There was also ghost stories of an ancient cult that lived in the woods and kidnapped people traveling on the roads or near the swamps to sacrifice to their Kelpie god. You didn't really believe in such things however. Come on. A cult and swamp monster? That's a classic ghost story only found in horror movies and scary books.
It was true that there had been lots of unusual disappearances in and around the area but it was probably due to the rough waters and actual REAL predators that lived in the swamp like alligators, crocodiles, giant pythons, bears- Things you actually believed in and knew that was real unlike the stories of an imaginary cult and swamp monster. So you herded the locals warnings for going near the swamps at night, but only because you were scared of actual threats not imaginary creatures.
Or at least you thought it was imaginary.
You had to have a run in with the stupid Kelpie on your farm when he decided that YOU were his object of affection.
It had started one day in town. You were just grocery shopping for a few essentials and had ran into HIM in the store. He was tall like six almost seven feet tall. Long beautiful blonde hair that cascaded down his back and the most unusually beautiful yes you've ever seen. It was like a rainbow was captured in stain glass. You couldn't help but stare at the unusual man browsing the meat stand the butcher had. He was humming literally tapping a finger to his chin as he eyed the meats before him. Next him him were two women both dressed exactly the same. Long white(slightly dirtied dresses-) and sandals.
Oh NO!! NOT HIM AGAIN!!
"My Lord, why not get the lamb chops this time?," one suggested to him gesturing at the said meat. "You've had it less compared to the other meats."
"I know but it's just so difficult deciding what to eat when I get tired of the regular food. Fish and offers gets boring once and a while y'know?", he replied back to her as he just continued to stare at me meats.
You could only stare at the man goofily dressed in strange clothing. The only normal thing about him was the bandana on his head. You stood there glancing between them and the meat racks were the pork you needed for dinner was. Should you continue waiting or ask them politely to move out of the way? You were debating on just abandoning the idea of dinner altogether when suddenly the man turned and caught your gaze. You both stared at each other for a second before he lit up.
"Why hello there!!," he loudly shouted way too loudly appropriate for a market place and waved a hand to you. "I see I have an admirer!~"
.... Your brow rose. "Um.. Actually I just need those pork chops in front of you." You gestured in front of him as he turned. "Do you mind?" He didn't say anything at first staring at the pork before taking a step back silently. "Thanks."
Wordlessly you just scooted over, grabbed two pork chops, and just threw them in your shopping basket before leaving. Not really thinking much about the strange man and women behind you. What you weren't expecting was to hear the footsteps behind you as the man abandoned his place as the butcher sold his meats.
"Y/n, my darling!," he gushed out following you as you groaned annoyed in your head. "We haven't seen each other since I slayed your other suitor. Don't you want to-"
At which point you had turned around and slapped a hand over his mouth with a glare that shut up the man. "Will you shut up?!" Nervous eyes glanced hastily around the marketplace as people walked around the stalls, a few giving you strange looks. "The last thing I need is people knowing what happened to him and thinking I had something to do with it! I don't care about what you think our previous deal was, I want nothing to do with a crazy horse and his cult!!" With force you pushed him away from you(or pushed him as much as you could with him built like a brick wall-). "Just leave me alone and stay away from me already!!"
His face was blank as you quickly walked away, ducking between people to hide. Douma stood there unblinking even as the two women concerned caught up with their dear leader.
"My Lord?," one spoke lightly poking his sleeve as he stood there, "Are you quite alright?" Her head turned to where you had disappeared. "Who was that woman?"
"...Oh. No one special." He forced that usual grin on his face as he turned back to them. "But I think I'll get pork chops tonight! "
You had hoped you had seen the last of that Kelpie at the marketplace. The stupid mule kept showing up at your home with gifts and whines and literally sometimes you'd walk in to him waiting in your own house like he owned the place!! You were REALLY tired of dealing with a love struck pony. But you never thought you'd be in this situation. Tending to your garden one moment before hearing footsteps behind you. Next thing you knew there was an incredible pain in your head and you blacked out on top of your carrots and onions. The next time you woke up you were somewhere cold and laying on something hard...Was that wood? Did you trip and fall on the floor?
"It's amazing what soap and some makeup will do!! Doesn't she look beautiful with her hair braided like that?!"
"Lord Douma will be so pleased with his monthly sacrifice!"
When you fully woken, you were horrified by the sight before you. You were sat in a chair staring at least ten to fifteen different women you had never seen before all looking crazed and doting manic smiles on you.
"What the hell?!" You tried to get up but was terrified to find yourself tied up with ropes to a sturdy wooden chair. "WHERE THE HELL AM I?! WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!"
"It doesn't matter who we are. In the end you won't be around long enough to know us a significant amount anyways. It's almost time for you to go to eternal paradise."
You shrieked and screamed out as hands grabbed the chair around you, half dragging half carrying you out a rather large side door to where your horror found much more people! Men and women all wearing the same bland white clothes and sharing the same insane grin. You were dreaming! You had to be dreaming about some kind of nightmare as you were dragged out into the chilly night air and were horrified to find yourself dolled up in some kind of lacey white gown with literal flowers braided into your hair and through your screaming and thrashing you tasted what tasted like cheap lipstick on your mouth. Despite your thrashing and cursing at them, you were powerless to stop them from heaving you up and setting you down in what sounded like a wooden floor, but it wasn't a floor.
THESE NUT JOBS WERE PUTTING YOU ON A BOAT!!
An old, crudely made boat that looked like it would sink with the slightest touch. You screamed out and pulled and pulled against the restraints that held your wrists. Pain interrupted across your skin as the ropes rubbed the skin raw, but your left hand was starting to slowly slip out from under the ropes. The fear and panic building as the boat creaked under the weight of your body as they pushed your boat off into the unknown of swamp water and trees filling up the space between you.
You tugged and tugged and HEAVED until finally something gave. Your hand pulled free from the ropes and someone yelled something pointing at you. But it was too late since you were too far away to do anything about it. You scrambled, managing to get your other arm free before working to untie the ropes around your legs heart pounding as the boat filled with water, and the panicked shouts of multiple people were coming from the shore you ignored in favor of getting your right leg free. You were frantically pulling on the other leg when the scariest thing had occurred.
A hoof emerged from the water and placed itself on the edge of the boat.
You shrieked as the boat tilted forward as a second hoof joined the first and then the most grotesque horse head slowly emerged from the dark waters slowly, water dripping off it's bulging scaly skin as it's horrific kaleidoscope eyes landed on you..and then it's horrible maw just dropped open.
"Lotus?!"
You shrieked out as finally the boat tilted all the way and you were plunged into the same water as the ugly monster in front of you. In your frantic thrashing somehow you were able to get your other leg loose. You didn't know how but you didn't question it as you kicked yourself to surface and filled with adrenaline started swimming as fast as you could towards the nearest land you could see in the dark. Now here you were, clothes clinging to your body with petals from those stupid flowers leaving a trail in the water as you attempted to get away from the ghost story come to life.
"Y/N, COME BACK!! I CAN EXPLAIN!!"
Like hell he could!! THAT WAS HIS TRUE FORM?!?! If you knew what he truly looked like, you never would've let him kiss you with that horrible image! You just swam and swam reaching out to grab onto wet reeds and muddy banks as you crawled your way out of the water and made a dash for it. Bare feet squishing and thudding against the swampy ground as you made a break for it heart pumping and running as fast as your legs could carry you through the darkness of the swamp until another horrible sound behind you entered your ears.
THE SOUNDS OF A HORSE RUNNING.
Fuck!! You had forgotten about his second form!! That stupid centaur mimicking form of his!! You barely had time to react when an arm snatched you up and you screamed again immediately going to fight whatever had a hold on you.
"Darling, please stop fighting me."
"LET ME THE HELL GO YOU HELLISH SPAWN!!" You WAILED looking up to see the handsome face of the man whom usually presented itself to you now looking hurt at you in his arms. "PUT ME DOWN!!"
"Now I can't do that. You'll only run away from me permanently then!" He whined pulling you closer to the point he held you like a child would carry a teddy bear in one arm. Your kicking and hitting didn't seem to be doing anything to him. "*sigh* All that hard courting gone to waste. Now I have no choice but to go the difficult route...Oh well."
Pages Navigation
jlupton on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Oct 2023 10:09PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Oct 2023 10:16PM UTC
Comment Actions
jlupton on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Oct 2023 10:11PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Oct 2023 10:15PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Oct 2023 10:16PM UTC
Comment Actions
Historylover17 on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Oct 2023 11:07PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 12:02AM UTC
Comment Actions
Benis_Bingus on Chapter 1 Fri 20 Oct 2023 11:38PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 12:02AM UTC
Comment Actions
LittleBitDelulu on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 12:22AM UTC
Last Edited Sat 21 Oct 2023 12:23AM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 12:30AM UTC
Comment Actions
Miffty on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 01:02AM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 01:29AM UTC
Comment Actions
CrystalFreak24 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 01:10AM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 01:28AM UTC
Comment Actions
MelaTOEnin on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 07:50AM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 11:44AM UTC
Comment Actions
Elise (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 08:04AM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 11:44AM UTC
Comment Actions
Jane (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 12:00PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 12:56PM UTC
Comment Actions
Account Deleted on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 01:03PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Oct 2023 03:15PM UTC
Comment Actions
glory_777 on Chapter 1 Sun 22 Oct 2023 09:11PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sun 22 Oct 2023 09:20PM UTC
Comment Actions
MomokoHigurashi20 on Chapter 1 Mon 23 Oct 2023 12:01AM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Mon 23 Oct 2023 01:32AM UTC
Comment Actions
AnimeBlue on Chapter 1 Mon 23 Oct 2023 03:49PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Mon 23 Oct 2023 03:56PM UTC
Comment Actions
TinySakura on Chapter 1 Sat 04 Nov 2023 08:53AM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Sat 04 Nov 2023 11:02AM UTC
Comment Actions
B (Guest) on Chapter 1 Mon 06 Nov 2023 02:33PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Mon 06 Nov 2023 02:48PM UTC
Comment Actions
Melcaara on Chapter 1 Mon 11 Mar 2024 04:29AM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 1 Mon 11 Mar 2024 01:41PM UTC
Comment Actions
CrystalFreak24 on Chapter 2 Sun 22 Oct 2023 11:21AM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 2 Sun 22 Oct 2023 11:45AM UTC
Comment Actions
Bass10137 on Chapter 2 Mon 23 Oct 2023 03:39PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 2 Mon 23 Oct 2023 03:56PM UTC
Comment Actions
Account Deleted on Chapter 3 Mon 23 Oct 2023 11:34PM UTC
Comment Actions
Itshauntedtoon3 on Chapter 3 Mon 23 Oct 2023 11:37PM UTC
Comment Actions
Pages Navigation