Enter Hashibira Kotoha and Doma's Return...

"Grandma! Don't leave me!" Shouting, I remembered all the good times I had with her. She continued to move fast. Passing through all trees, I was led to a cliff and then she stopped.

"Grandma, It's me, Sho-..." I reached out my hands and finally touched her as the wind died out and the figure of dust and leaves collapsed, revealing another figure but suddenly my eyes blurred. 'She really is gone….' collapsing to the ground, my mind went blank.

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"Sleep, oh sleep my child" "Oh thee who will conquer the wild…" (I'm making a bs song. Just imagine it good)

A gentle voice rang in my head. 'Her voice is so melodious'.

"🎵🎶🎵🎶"

Time passed, and I realised my head was resting on a soft cushion-like leg. Forcing my eyes open, a beautiful sight greeted me.

It was a woman with eyes shining with spring hue and was bright enough to light up even the darkest of nights. She wore a motherly smile on her pale face, and she was endowed with a head full of raven black hair.

In the woman's arms was a sleeping baby covered in blankets. From what I could see, the baby had a remarkable similarity to his Mother. He had black hair with the end of it dyed in a beautiful blue. The baby, unlike his Mother, also seemed to have a trace of wildness suppressed, and his eyes could not be seen because the baby was sleeping.

Analysing the Mother and Son duo, the Mother finally realised I was awake.

"You had quite the sleep, young boy. Where are your parents?" She said, pausing her song.

I grunted, 'Who is this lady?'.

"It seems your not a talker. Come on, I see you have quite a lot of wounds on your body". The woman said, pointing towards my injured body.

A pain struck my ribs, 'Where did this come from?'.

"Did you poison me!" I said, panicking that I might die just like this. 'What will happen to Mother, Father, Yuki. I can't just leave this world right now, can I?'

The woman looked at me with a motherly gaze, her eyes gentle and soft. She stopped swaying her child in her arms and then rushed at me.

'I'm gonna die just like this.' I closed my eyes, awaiting death…

But all I got was an enormous hug, and her arms pulled me into her embrace.

"Poor child, I can't believe you are so worried. The world has been cruel, has it not? Don't worry. Aunty is here to protect you" She gave me an encouraging smile which told me that everything would be alright.

Staying in her embrace, I cried on her shoulders. 'What is going on with me?'

Breaking out of her embrace after a few moments, I wiped my face, and then the pain resurfaced in my ribs. "What happened?"

"Well, you fell off that cliff right over there" She pointed towards the cliff I was previously standing upon, then continued ", After hearing you fall, I rushed over here to see if you were ok."

"WHAAAAT" I screamed as the birds in the forest flew away.

"Yeh, it's a miracle you're still alive", she gave a smile, "Come on, I'm gonna take you to a place so we can get you a new set of clothes and healed before you can go back to your parents."

My black clothes were ripped in many places, and my hair was a mess. My eyes had bags all around them, and a bit of my blood was splattered on my face forming a scab. My charming appearance was no more.

"Wait," I said, and she looked at me. "What is your name?" I said nervously.

"Oh, my name is Kotoha, and my surname is Hashibira", She giggled.

"I am Shoku, and my family name is Kazuya," I smiled. It's been a long time since I've smiled as a weight had seemingly been lifted off my shoulders.

"That's a beautiful name Shoku, come on, we will gotta go and get you patched up so you can return to your family."

We both arrived at a familiar destination as we walked through the forest. My eyes dilated as my heart started to beat furiously.

Seemingly about to sense my change, Kotoha cocked her head to the side, giving me a questioning yet worried look. "What's wrong Shoku, this is the place".

She pointed towards a large golden Pagoda which stood in an apparent plateau. Women dressed in white stood around the Pagoda while some walked doing their business. Looking upon the scene, it seemed like a typical Temple; however, I always had an underlying suspicion that had emerged from my heart.

Suddenly the doors of the Pagoda were opened, and a man appeared. He wore a golden silk robe and a strange hat. His eyes contained the rainbow of the world, and his face seemed ageless.

"Oh wow, if it isn't some of my favourite people, how are you doing Kotoha and how is little Inosuke," Doma said, looking towards Kotoha and then to me "Shoku, how could you leave big bro Doma alone in such a place" Doma gave a pout and walked towards me.

"It wasn't my intention to leave like this…." I lied. "It is just that I had some family issues that needed to be dealt with. My answers were vague as the air itself became somewhat heavy.

"I will go and get us some tea. I also need to rest, little Inosuke here" Kotoha looked at her son so very dearly and excused herself from our conversation as she lightly hummed another lullaby.

'Don't leave me here with this guy,' I cried tearlessly, looking upon Doma, who smiled at me as he enjoyed Kotoha's singing.

"Her voice truly is amazing, am I not right, Shoku. Come on, let's go inside and talk a bit. We rarely get any visitors, so I wish to make the best of our time together" I walked upon the marble floor once again along with Doma as the serving ladies bowed in unison.

Looking around, I sat down on a small cushion in front of the table. Doma sat before me as we were in the same room as before, which featured a majestic statue and a grotesque mural. A serving lady came and gave us some water, "Doma-san, what happened to the serving lady from before."

I had examined the entire hall, yet I couldn't see her. Facing my question, Doma's eyes popped out for a second, and his entire aura changed. But my extreme senses caught upon it.

"She left the Temple. She was so wicked and tried to sabotage her fellow friends…."

He answered as the atmosphere became ever so eerie.

"What did I miss…." Kotoha came back with 3 cups of tea. Each cup was made of porcelain and carefully crafted, I noticed through my experience in craftsmanship.

"You missed nothing, right Shoku" Doma looked at me, and I nodded.

'No need to get Kotoha into this…'

Time passed as we conversed about various trivial topics like how the weather was until Dohow'said, "So hows your time been here Kotoha? I hope you like it".

"It has been great. I thank you for taking in my son and me in Doma-san. If it weren't for your care, we wouldn't have survived…."

I looked at Kotoha, and I saw not a single trace of lies in her eyes. They only had sincere gratitude. 'Guess Doma isn't as bad as I thought?'

Standing up, I bowed to Doma. "I'm sorry for being so rude, I will come back soon to visit, but I must leave to go back to my parents."

"Of course, how could I keep you away from your parents, especially in a time of such sadness. You can leave Shoku, Kotoha. Can you take him to the exit, please? I have some matters to attend to." Doma looked towards the horizon.

"Ok" We both nodded and left…

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Meanwhile…

In the forest...

"St-t-t-top please, gaaaaaah", blood spurted as a middle-aged man had his neck ripped apart.

"Pew, disgusting, you absolute pest" The culprit stared in contempt at the man and threw his body onto the ground, littering the unforgiving world with another corpse.

The man then looked towards an elderly woman, "Die", he merely said as she shivered and fibrillated. Her body then stopped moving as she left a stench…

Leaving the scene, the culprit walked away as a swarm of black flies came to clean the gruesome torture.

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A/N: Yay, the book is finally speeding up, isn't it : )

This volume will soon come to an end so lets be excited for that : )

My school is gonna start soon so let's be sed about that since that means I'm not gonna be able to write as much I think… So the time schedule will change massively.

I like ducc's : ) Quack