Chapter Six - Senses

The snake Demon's lips curled upwards into a cruel smile, an occasional hiss, and the appearance of his forked tongue coming out of his mouth.

"I can feel your fear," He giggled, pupils dilating, and his eyes filled with sick delight. "You're so weak that it's actually cute."

Cute?

Weak?

Kougetsu almost wanted to snort. How dare he underestimate her? As much as she loathed it...it was an advantage, the Cursed One underestimating her so that he could use less of his cursed magic against her.

Deep breaths.

Deep.

Breaths.

Focus.

Focus, focus, focus.

He's trying to provoke her.

She needed to set her plan into action.

'I need to act.'

Kougetsu looked up at the snake Demon, eyes wide and hands trembling with "fear." Tears began to prickle her eyes, forcing out a sob.

"P-please…! I, I don't want to die!" She stuttered, stumbling backward.

Oh, she should've gotten into the acting business instead. Maybe into Noh or Kyogen theater?

"Fool!" The Demon snarled, slithering towards her with its snake-like lower body. "You already sealed your fate when you walked into the farmhouse."

Kougetsu let out an ear-splitting screech, running and almost tripping—purposely, of course—multiple times while trying to exit the farmhouse. She heard the eerie giggles of the Cursed One echo from behind her as she busted open the door, falling onto her side.

"Why are you trying to get away from your inevitable death, naïve mouse?"

She tried not to roll her eyes at his nicknames. Were people—er, Demons— these days just not creative anymore?

She screamed for help, scrambling off the ground, and tried to run further into the deserted, dry field.

"Please! Please spare me!" Kougetsu begged, tears streaming down her cheeks as she continued to tremble.

The snake Demon giggled. "No Peacekeeper has come out of here alive! And you're certainly not the last one!"

Good. He was beginning to take the bait—his ego seemed to get bigger each time she begged, which made him more blind to everything that was going on around him.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Seijuu on the roof of the farmhouse, taking a stance as he was ready to jump off the rooftop at the right time to slice off the Demon's neck, fingers glowing a mint green.

She quickly shifted her attention to the Cursed One in front of her, not wanting him to catch her line of sight and foil her plans.

Kougetsu didn't want Seijuu to get killed because of her.

She already had so much on her shoulders, human blood on her hands—the last thing she wanted as another death on her. Nonetheless, it was someone who she cared about and even considered as a friend.

"Not the last, hm?" She mumbled, looking at the Cursed One straight in the eye, silver eyes narrowed. She bunched up some dirt in her hand, throwing it right at his face.

The snake hissed, scratching at his eyes in an attempt to get the dirt out. Kougetsu's eyes met with Seijuu's, who took it as a cue to attack the Demon and finally slice his neck.

The snakes wrapped around the Demon, however, alerted him—which caused Seijuu to miss his neck entirely. The snakes hissed threateningly, baring their poisonous fangs at Seijuu and stretched out their bodies towards him.

Seijuu cursed, slicing the snakes off the Demon before landing on the ground, using his hands to stop sliding backward.

She used his distraction as an opportunity to unsheathe her sword, aiming for his abdomen.

Taking in a deep breath, she muttered, "Lunar Arts: Winter Moon."

She raised the katana, her palms glowing and merging into the sword; it felt like everything was in slow motion, only she was there in that moment, a chilling gust of wind passing by. A thin yet strong sheet of ice encases her sword as she let out a breath, the puff of white, condensed air escaping her mouth.

With one swift, sweeping motion, the lower half of his body was severed off, the long, slick snake tail disintegrating.

However…

Crack!

She raised her brows, holding up her blade to examine it. It wasn't just the ice that was broken; her blade had cracked slightly, thunderbolt-like markings etched within the forged metal.

'Ah. Renjirou is going to be furious.'

She bit the insides of her cheek, eyes shifting towards the Demon in front of her.

"Argh!" The snake Demon roared, shifting his attention towards her, fists clenched.

"No matter! I can regenerate and fix my eyes!"

In no less than a second, his snake-like lower body was regenerated; in place was glimmering silver scales instead of its previous black ones.

Kougetsu looked over at his face, watching how his eyeballs fell out its sockets, falling onto the ground with a sickening plop.

Kougetsu raised her hand to her mouth, trying not to gag as she watched three snake creatures wormed out of his empty eye sockets, now acting as his so-called "eyes."

"What the hell! That's so—so nasty!" Seijuu cursed, pointing his blades at the Demon, who merely chuckled loudly in response.

"You may think so," He hissed, forked tongue protruding from his mouth, "but now I can see even better."

Kougetsu cursed under her breath, nails digging into the skin of her palm—causing it to tear slightly, light droplets of the crimson liquid trickling down her hand.

She messed up.

Big time.

The cost? Their lives, perhaps.

Kougetsu hated making mistakes. She hated it when things didn't go the way she planned it. She hated it when things went wrong under her watch because of herself.

She is the blame for what was happening right now.

'I'm so sorry, Seijuu.'

'I'm so sorry.'

'You might die because of me. But I won't let that happen.'

Her grip around the katana tightened.

Even if it costs me my life, it's my duty as a Peacekeeper.

"Shit! What the hell is this?!" She heard Seijuu shout angrily, wriggling in the grip of the snakes that the Cursed One had sent to immobilize him. The green python snakes wrapped around his arms, legs, and torso—applying pressure and squeezing tightly.

"Lunar Arts: Crescent Moon!" She muttered under her breath, palms glowing silver as she carefully and swiftly sliced the snakes that wrapped themselves around Seijuu, not wanting him to get in the way of her blade.

Her eyes narrowed, watching the snake disintegrate, steam escaping its body.

"Kougetsu!" Seijuu roared, and she turned around—only to feel like her breath had been knocked out of her. Muscular arms wrapped around her body, Seijuu was now sitting up and straddling her.

Kougetsu's eyes widened.

'Oh, Amaterasu.'

Kougetsu heard a loud crash, causing her to push him off of her to see what had happened. If Seijuu hadn't tackled her, she…

She would've been crushed.

Crushed by the Demon's tail.

How did she not notice?

"Th-thank you, Seijuu," She stuttered out, trying to regain her breath.

He crossed his arms.

"Hmph! Why would I let you get killed? I'm as strong as a god!"

Kougetsu rolled her eyes, gaze shifting over to what the most important thing at the moment—the Demon.

"I'm going to try cutting off his abdomen again. Maybe you could use the opportunity to get his neck." She told him, brushing off the dirt on her hakama and picking up her sword that had escaped her grip when Seijuu tacked her.

"Lunar Arts: Winter Moon." She murmured, taking off in a sprint with her sword in her hands, the tip of the blade dragging beside her as it slowly encased itself in ice—everything around her going cold.

Swiftly, she jumped when the snake Demon attempted to crush her once again with its tail, raising the sword over her head—making an impact with his torso.

"Agh..." She grunted, putting more pressure onto the sword. Kougetsu let out a breath, a puff of white, condensed air coming out of her mouth as she finally sliced off the lower half of its body.

The one problem, however?

Clink!

At least three-quarters of her sword had snapped and fallen onto the ground.

'Dammit—'

The scales were so durable that it managed to break her sword this time. Of course, there were the cracks from earlier, but…

Kougetsu didn't expect it to break.

Poor Renjirou. He will have a stroke seeing the state of the katana now.

"You human scum!" The snake Demon shrieked, his snake body slowly regenerating. "Now, you will surely die! Especially since your katana is broken!"

She clicked her tongue, jumping back every time he swung his tail at her. She tripped, falling onto her back harshly, leaving her breathless for a moment. Kougetsu bit the insides of her cheek, cursing herself and her feet as she felt his tail wrap around her legs, dangling her upside down in the air.

'Hm?'

Tentatively, she poked the scales.

'So, the scales coming to the end of his tail are soft.'

"I'll crush you like an insect!"

An insect? Kougetsu hasn't heard that insult in a long while.

"You'll have to try harder to kill me, Cursed One," Kougetsu taunted, silver eyes boring into his, using what was left of her sword to slice the tail; meaning, her theory was right—the lower parts were easier to cut.

She fell forward, squeezing her eyes shut as she crashed through the roof of the farmhouse, landing on her side—jolts of pain resonated throughout her body as if flames were licking at every inch of her body, burning it alive from the inside.

She coughed, forcing herself to get up, despite her entire body aching. She couldn't let Seijuu deal with that Cursed One on his own; he'd die. She didn't want that.

She placed what was left of her sword back in its sheath, quickly taking off her bow from across her shoulder, taking three arrows from the quiver.

She ran out of the farmhouse, ignoring the pain that consumed her being.

"Seijuu!" She shouted, "Please, listen to me!"

He snapped his head towards her as he sliced more of the snake Demon's python minions that slithered after him.

"Use your Sixth Sense. Feel the vibrations. Because as soon as I release these arrows and use my magic, there will be no light," She told him, drawing her arrows to the anchor point—white fetching tickling her chin.

"Lunar Arts: Hidden Moon," Kougetsu muttered, her palms pulsating with magic as she released the arrows; as soon as she did, black mist surrounded the entire area of the farm—not even the moon's glow could penetrate through the murky darkness that she had created.

She stayed in place, eyes closed as she focused on magic technique one of the shamans from her old village had taught her.

◜"Hitomi-san!" Kougetsu called out, running towards her as fast as she could while waving her hand.

Her head snapped towards the direction in which she came from, her lips pulling upwards into a warm smile.

"My dear 'Kou! Hello," She greeted, patting Kougetsu's head gently.

Said girl bowed politely, looking up at her. "Do you need help? Are you going to the springs?"

Hitomi shook her head, placing her warm hands on hers. "Thank you, my sweet. But I can navigate on my own even if I cannot see. My magic allows me."

Kougetsu blinked. "But how? You have water magic. It has nothing to do with seismic sense or anything like that."

"Oh, it does. Just in a different way," She chuckled lightly, hands leaving Kougetsu to tuck in a loose gray hair behind her ear.

"Really?"

Hitomi laughed, shaking her head at her. "'Kou, there is a method. There's a special technique you can use. My mother and I developed it ourselves since she couldn't see as well. After all, I did inherit it from her."

"You see, by using this technique, you can feel even the slightest vibration as long your bare feet are touching the ground—or if you're wearing very thin footwear. Using those vibrations, I can easily perceive my surroundings," Hitomi explained, gesturing to her feet—which were indeed bare.

Kougetsu's eyes widened. Was that possible? How interesting!

"I never knew you could do such a thing. Could you please teach me?" Kougetsu pleaded, bowing deeply.

"Of course, 'Kou. No need to bow. It seems quite simple but needs the practice to perfect it. You must control your magic and focus it on your skin, especially your feet—doing this, your sense of touch increases by at least a thousand more than normal. You can feel anything. Even the beating of wings from a bird far away." She smiled, patting Kougetsu's shoulders.

She nodded and proceeded to follow Hitomi's instructions, taking deep breaths, her palms began to glow a misty silver-white and tried to concentrate the magic to flow all over her body. It was like what Grandmother taught her, except she was replacing it with Hitomi's methods.

It felt like a whole new world as she continued to practice the technique. Her body trembled as she moved forward, feeling the vibrations on her feet and her entire body, like it was going numb every moment she took a step; she could sense the sign that welcomed hot spring goers just ten steps away, Hitomi's body two steps away, and, and—

It was all so overwhelming.

"With practice, Kougetsu, you will get used to the sensations over time. For the first few times, it will be overwhelming, and you'll have sensory overload," Hitomi told her, placing a hand on her shoulder as she opened her eyes, halting the technique. It was too much for her right now.

"…it's so strange. I don't know if I can do it," Kougetsu muttered, sitting down in front of her in an attempt to calm her frail body. It was probably an after effect of the technique after using it for the first time.

"Hush," Hitomi shushed, placing a finger on Kougetsu's lips, kneeling in front of her. "You can do it. I promise. I believe in you."

She swallowed thickly, feeling a bump beginning to form in her throat.

For some reason, it felt like she was floating. Was this how it felt when someone she liked to put their faith in her?

Her heart fluttered.

"Thank you, Hitomi-san. I hope I don't disappoint you."

"You won't. I know that."◞

Kougetsu sighed at the memory, closing her eyes. At the pulsating sensation of her magic beginning to concentrate on her skin, her hair rose at the back of her neck.

Taking two small steps forward, the tingling sensation of the vibrations washed over her body. Just sixteen steps from her right, Seijuu was standing with both of his swords held up readily.

Twenty-two steps in front of her was the Cursed One, hissing wildly as the snakes in its eye sockets moved around frantically, unable to see its enemies.

With steps light as a feather, she moved around quickly, sending her iron arrows from all directions so the snake Demon couldn't pinpoint her location; with that, she could hear the snake Demon roar in pain, cursing her and Seijuu.

"Seijuu!" Kougetsu yelled, jumping behind the Cursed One, "now!"

She could hear the boy laugh ruthlessly, jumping off the roof of the farmhouse. With ease, using his magic, he sliced off the Demon's neck.

However, as soon as he did, some of the snakes on the Demon's torso cut him multiple times with their fangs.

He grunted as he landed on the ground, the mist disappearing, and the Cursed One disintegrated.

"Seijuu, are you alright?" She asked, jogging over to him as she tried not to limp; she didnʼt want to worry him.

"I'm fine! Just a couple of cuts," He shouted, slapping her hands away.

"Yes, but they're bleeding, aren't they? Let me disinfect them and heal you,"

"Let you what? Listen, I don't care. I don't need any of your weird—" Seijuu stopped yelling as soon as she started to gently massage a sweet-smelling ointment on his collarbone and shoulders, making him relax under her touch.

"Did you say something?" She questioned, looking up at him.

"Sh-shut up," He stuttered, a light pink dusting his cheeks.

He felt stuffy.

He took off his mask and sat on the ground, the chilly breeze of the night air cooling his face. She followed after him, kneeling in front of him as she dabbed more of the scented ointment on her fingers.

It was relaxing. Her gentle touch and the scent.

He kept quiet, paying attention to the sounds around him. He was overthinking. He didn't need that.

"I'm finished. I'll start healing now," She informed him, though it was mostly to herself as she wiped the residue of the ointment onto her handkerchief.

Seijuu would be outright lying if he didn't miss her light, cool touch against his skin. He would never admit that, however. Never.

After using her magic and wrapping one last bandage around his abdomen, she placed her supplies back into her pouches.

"Now that's done, why don't we eat?" Kougetsu suggested, standing up. "There's a village about half-an-hour from here. I'll pay."

Seijuu jumped up, and his lips curled upward into a grin. "Hell, yeah! Let's go!"

Now, wanting to eat food—that was something he would definitely admit.