19

Chapter 19: The Oni Sage and the Vermillion Bird

Chapter Text

"What do you mean, 'How old are you?', can't you tell?" I squint and really stare at Takehiko, taking in his features and mentally adding what I know from our interactions. My conclusion, I think, is a good one. A damn fine estimate if I do say so myself.

"You are… somewhere between five and fifteen!" Ignoring the laughter of my mother I watch the kid's face contort into disbelief.

"I'm eleven! How is that not obvious? You couldn't have narrowed it down more than a decade?" It's really not my fault dammit! Even in my past life, I was bad with guessing ages. Plus humans develop so slowly compared to Oni. How am I supposed to know how long a human has been toiling in the dirt?

Totally not whining I reply, "Humans all look the same. If you looked like a man I would have guessed above eighteen and you don't look like a baby, therefore five to fifteen. Grow a beard if you want me to guess older!"

"I'm not what's wrong with this situation! Wait, did you say, 'humans all look the same to you'?" He pales dramatically and points the sword at me, the tip visibly shaking.

Releasing my suppressed features I watch mirthfully as Takehiko stumbles, falling down in front of me. He gulps as his eyes follow the curve of my horns, his shaking intensifying. "How could I train you if you fall on your ass at the first mention of something inhuman? Is this all you are, all bluster with nothing behind it?"

Clicking my tongue I start to walk away, making it ten steps before I'm interrupted by a loud cry, "Wait! I'm not finished yet."

Takehiko is using his sword as a crutch, legs shaking like a baby giraffe, but the determination in his eyes is something worthy of respect. Taking a deep gulp of air he straightens, tensing his muscles to stop the shaking, and takes the first step between us. The moment his foot makes contact with the grass I smirk and let some killing intent seep out, watching in amusement as he stumbles again.

"Come on kid, the monsters out in the world are way more threatening than that. Grab ahold of something deep inside you and take that step!" Takehiko bites his lip hard enough to draw blood and drags his second foot forward shifting the sword further ahead.

I, of course, increase the pressure of my killing intent again to halt his progress. With one last surge of effort, he stumbles another three steps before falling face-first on the ground gasping for breath. Squatting down I pat him on the shoulder healing him a bit as I do so. "Not bad kid, not bad at all. You have determination, that's for sure."

While he's recovering I'm taking a deeper look at his ki, soul, and the way the two mingle. What I find is frankly underwhelming. His ki reserves are tiny, probably even smaller than the average human, but I can't know that for sure. His soul is firm, unyielding, and pure; well compared to Oni… So probably about average. There isn't a sacred gear stitched to his soul so either I'm not in DxD like I think or he's not one of God's special idiots. As much as I like the kid's Willpower, I'm not in the market for an apprentice. That doesn't mean I can't do anything for him.

"I can't train you Takehiko, I have my own goals to worry about." His face falls and I ignore the twinge of pity I feel urging me to change my mind. "You deserve something though. I'm thinking five rewards, one for each step, hmm?"

I don't think a human could train the way I did and get the same results, more than likely they would die in the attempt. Since he will seek out something or someone else to learn from if I do nothing I can point him in the right direction and he'll be less likely to get himself killed. "First off, train your body and mind to its limit then push further beyond that. Take that sword in your hand and learn everything about it, meditate on it till you know that sword as well as you know yourself."

"I… I don't understand." Even with his confusion, I can tell he's hanging onto every word. Because of that, I grab the katana from his lap feeling it in my hand and take a couple of practice swings to get a feel for it.

"I'm not trying to be mean but you're weak. You're slow, fragile, and soft. Most humans are from what I understand so don't feel too bad about it. What you need to understand is that the monsters in this world were born stronger, faster, harder, and all-around better than you." His face falls with every word and I almost feel bad even if it's the truth. "So, you need to train harder than them, take that sword and hone your body into the perfect instrument to wield that blade. Be smarter than them, know what they are going to do before they do it, and move to counter it. As for combat, you will only have one shot to kill whatever you fight before they overpower and kill you."

Taking the sheathed blade I slide into a low stance, closing my eyes and imagining an imaginary opponent charging me. I spread my senses out and listen to the sword, the katana having a very different feel to my original Odachi and the bone sword I wield now. Due to the inherent voice of the blade, my sword intent shines differently down it, becoming brighter, and sharper but also more fragile; a fleeting form, fitting for the style of strike that follows.

"A single strike to kill straight from the sheathe." In one smooth motion, the sword flows out of its sheath sliding through the air like greased lightning, silent, and swift. Another swing shakes off the 'blood', the rest being cleaned off with a cloth at my hip before the sword is sheathed again. The click of the sword going into the sheath is punctuated by the trees in the path of the swing being felled. "Iaido kid, learn it, live it, breathe it. Besides that, learn to dodge and only take the swing when you're sure you'll kill the target or else you'll die."

"Practice one swipe of the blade ten thousand times and you may be quick enough on the draw to win a fight." I wait for him to pry his gaze away from the fallen trees before continuing. "Your sword will tell you everything you need to know about how to wield it but you need to open your soul to it. Find a nice quiet space, rest the sword on your lap, and meditate, okay? Actually, this place will probably be a good spot. Here this will help."

Looking around I spot my mother watching us with a fond smile, I growl while frowning at her to ignore the happy feeling in my chest and continue my search. I spot what I wanted and walk over to the large boulder, hauling it out of the ground and carrying it back. I drop it in front of Takehiko with a loud thump. "Sear this into your mind."

It takes me a minute but I shapeshift until I match Takehiko exactly, the boy gaping at the sudden change. "Jeez, just close your mouth and focus." Setting my stance again I repeat the motions from before, this time slicing a deep fissure into the boulder, holding back to not cut through it. As the sword passes through I do my best to seep my sword intent into the imprint left by the stroke of the blade. I do this for eight different slashes covering the full range of motion.

"Ugh, that felt weird, damn you're short." Shifting back I hand him his sword back snorting when I see his blush. "Get rid of that shyness too, wouldn't want a succubus to kill you 'cause she was fighting nude."

Doing some mental math I estimate I'm around four gifts; The fighting style, the advice, the sword intent imprints, and 'awakening' his sword. Well, one more I guess. "Alright, one more thing I guess then I'll leave. Once you think you're strong enough, go find the Grigori. Should be pretty easy, just find an angel with black wings. Maybe. Eh, you'll figure it out. Anyway, you don't have a Sacred Gear but if you're good enough they still might take you and put you in their Nephilim school. If all else fails replicate that sword intent I just used and they should take you."

"Wait! I don't even know your name!" Smiling at the kid I point at him.

"It's Ibaraki-sensei to you brat." I'm rewarded with a wobbly smile and a wet halting chuckle. Of course, this is the moment when Shuten and Yaeko return, a plethora of small animals hanging from their grasps. Shuten catches sight of Takehiko and flashes a dark smile, "We wouldn't have taken so long if you had told me you caught some food already."

With Shuten's joke being said, or actually, she was probably serious, Takehiko flinches again but this time holds his ground. I'm about to explain he isn't food when some Ofuda flutter to the ground around me and a golden dome glitters into existence separating me from the others.

Suzaku was chatting with the village head to get more information about what happened. The situation was confusing but nothing that she could find showed any malicious intent from the group that passed through and removed the threat from the village; if anything they were cordial about the whole affair and just accepted the feast as a payment for the deed. They even caught some food when they realized how much the feast set the village back. While she's interested in this group and knowing who they are it hardly matters now, as they are likely long gone. The problem now is that her task has already been completed for her. Since she's here anyway she promises the village head to find his grandson, this will give her time to put together her explanation as to how someone else finished her task for her; she's not going to just lie and take credit for someone else doing it.

After telling the village head she would assist, she mounted her Shikigami and began flying in gradually widening circles around the village to find the boy. On her third loop, she senses a large burst of killing intent off in the distance. Knowing that the boy could be in trouble she maneuvers the bird towards that direction, surging forward, cutting through the skies at top speed.

On her approach, she places a talisman on the crown of her Shikigami's head. Activating the spell matrix embedded within shrouds their presence, making it so she can take stock of the situation without being noticed. Since she has no information on what's going on things could get worse quickly if she just rushes in.

When she arrives at the scene there is a woman standing off to the side, while another stands near the village head's grandson. When the second woman shapeshifts into a copy of the boy she assumes that the woman is a changeling and plans on taking the boy's place as part of her assignment from the Court of the Fey. Things like this are not uncommon, even if she struggles to understand what the Fey gain from doing things like this. The assumption shifts to her being some other shapeshifter when the woman cuts a… ritual circle into a boulder? When the woman hands the sword back to the grandson she decides that this is all some weird tradition she hadn't learned in her studies and decides to get closer to listen in.

Suddenly, two more strangers arrive and the young one, a child, proclaims that the grandson is food. At that very moment, Suzaku realizes she needs to act. Pulling a special set of talismans from her spatial pocket, she tosses them around the one that feels the strongest, manipulating the wind so they fall in the proper space to activate the spell. A nudge on her mental connection to her Shikigami has it bank towards the boy, grabbing him in its talons as she leaps off its back, it carrying on and flying the boy back to the village.

While she is proficient in manipulating all of the Five Phases, fire is her clan's specialty. As she lands she generates flame from the wood of the forest following the generating interaction of their cosmic cycles. With a gesture, a clear orange flame washes over the clearing driving back the threats. She pulls the flames back to her position floating them around her in wheels of flame and moves into a combat stance, surveying her opponents.

The woman built like an Amazon and the child are both staring at her with unrestrained hunger. From the prior comment of the child she's unsure whether they want to fight her or eat her. Based on how alike they are she assumes that they're related. The first woman who was standing off to the side is staring at her confused, as though questioning what Suzaku is doing. Finally, the one trapped in the barrier is watching the Shikigami fly off with a faint smile playing on her lips.

The others start to walk towards her, the muscular one brandishing a giant metal kanabo, when a voice cuts through the clearing in a commanding tone, "Stand back, I want to fight her." Shocked, she realizes the voice came from the one in the barrier. The woman assesses her, trying to size Suzaku up; suddenly she stills, her pupils dilating when her eyes focus on… her chest… Why must that happen every time?

Tearing her attention back to the barrier that traps her, Suzaku watches her run a finger across it, the barrier rippling on contact. The barrier, one she personally crafted, should be able to hold most high-class combatants with ease. It was designed to absorb impacts to strengthen itself, even if it had an upper limit. That limit, however, wasn't something that was easily reached, surely her opponent can sense that?

"Hmm, I admit I don't know much about magic but this barrier seems fairly strong. It's made specifically with Yokai in mind?" Not wanting to give her opponent anything more to work with she keeps her mouth clamped shut. It seems it wouldn't have mattered anyway since the woman cocks a fist back, the limb wreathed in the telltale glow of Touki, and slams it into the barrier. Suzaku watches in disbelief as the cracks form all across her barrier from the point of impact. "Wow, to think it took a hit! Awesome piece of magic. Hey, what's your name miss?"

A second punch shatters the barrier and in her shock, Suzaku blurts out her name, "Ah… Suzaku…"

"Pretty name, like the Vermillion Bird right? Mine's Ibaraki! Don't forget it, okay?" The name sparks some vague recognition in her but at the same time doesn't make sense. She doesn't know why the name feels so weird so she just watches the now identified Ibaraki roll her shoulders beaming at her. "I've never fought a magic user so please take care of me! If you're disappointing I might just kill you, even if you're hot."

Suzaku reacts to the statement by summoning another Shikigami. An abnormally large black wolf leaps out of the spatial distortion beside her toward Ibaraki. Ibaraki frowns and ducks under the wolf as it leaps to tear out her throat, bringing her arms up and catching it, before tossing it off into the woods. Black flames coalesce into the form of a tiger and the tiger runs off, following the wolf's flight path. "Just the two of us would be more fun, no sense in throwing bodies at me. I won't tire out that easily." The statement is punctuated by a wink and a smirk; Suzaku growls as the innuendo hits her.

She lashes out with the wheels of flame, focusing them into tight discs, and grimaces when they wash over her opponent to no effect. Ibaraki smiles and a wave of flames, hotter than the ones she just used crosses the distance to her. If she had received her family's Sacred Beast it would be child's-play to absorb the flames. Instead, she draws up a pillar of earth, taking the flames and converting them into more earth, making the pillar into a wall. Placing her hands on the wall causes it to take a silver sheen, the wall shrinking into a sphere of solid metal the size of her torso in her hands. Quick calculations form a magic circle that converts her mana into kinetic energy; launching the sphere of metal fast enough to break the sound barrier at her opponent.

She catches Ibaraki's wide eyes and watches as she swings a knife-hand down, coated in that same strange silvery glow, the projectile being bisected and flung to either side of her. That's fine, a flowing movement of her arms shifts the metal into mercury then into water that forms a tight bubble around Ibaraki's head. The infuriating woman just tilts her head and flares her Touki, the water evaporating on contact. "That was really cool. My turn!"

In an instant, the gap between the two is closed and a fist is headed toward her ribs. Years of being drilled in close combat allow her to gracefully pivot, dancing away from the strike. Her opponent spins and lashes out with a back kick, and Suzaku brushes the foot with her arm pushing up and shifting Ibaraki's center of balance. She hears a yelp as she takes quick steps backward, watching Ibaraki catch herself with her hands flipping back up onto her feet.

Even faster than before the distance she just made is closed, a feral smile on Ibaraki's face. Suzaku steps forward, pivoting, and directs a jab past her slamming the heel of her palm into the bottom of Ibaraki's chin. The impact causes her bones to ring and pain flares all along her arm; this woman is harder than the training posts at her clan compound! The pain distracts her long enough that Ibaraki is able to shake off the impact, and Suzaku catches her frowning at her damaged arm. "Sorry, I forgot how fragile humans are, I should have moved with the impact more. I'm glad I wasn't using Touki or else you would have broken your arm. Can you heal that or should I?"

"Wha- Just focus on the fight!" Slapping a talisman on her arm, Suzaku sighs as the regenerative flames of the Vermillion Bird pulse through her arm. She may not have the Guardian Beast bound to her yet but she has already been accustomed to the flames for years now. Pulling water out of the air she launches a barrage of water arrows at Ibaraki, hoping they'll do something. Ibaraki forms a claw with her hands and four black wounds open in the air, bursting into flame and devouring the water before it can reach her. Some of the arrows 'missed' and hit the ground around the woman, nourishing it and allowing Suzaku to mix it with the ash of the old growth. From this, she brings forth thick vines that wrap around Ibaraki. As the vines restrain her, whole braces of sealing talismans are thrown to land on the increasingly ornate weave. Straightening her back and focusing she claps, golden light rippling from her hands, and being emitted from the wicker cage.

Not knowing how long that will hold she gets to work. Processing an immense amount of data, a magic circle the size of a small house blinks into existence around the cage. Dozens of smaller circles form, rotating around the central one tilted perpendicular to the axis of the first, all to contain and modulate the power of the first circle. With luck, her estimation that what she was dealing with was a fire-natured, evil spirit type Yokai would be correct and this spell would finish it. She channels the power of the Vermillion Bird stored in her talismans into the circle and a massive pillar of bluish-white flames erupts, blowing away the clouds in the sky above in a ring. The strongest attack she can pull off at the moment but an attack that would kill anything below Ultimate-Class.

She blinks the spots out of her eyes and searches for the other Yokai, knowing they'll attack her soon. What shocks her is that her target isn't dead. Sitting in a small crater, skin charred, missing both arms, a leg and with blood seeping down her face is Ibaraki. Her heart stops in her chest as her hearing comes back from after the explosion and she realizes the woman isn't howling in pain, she's laughing.

Before her eyes, the skin visibly knits itself together and bone grows out of the stumps on her shoulders and hip. Muscle and skin writhes and spasms as it crawls down the growing bones, ligaments, and tendons leaping to follow. She watches in awe for at least a minute before Ibaraki stands up seemingly without a scratch.

...And very naked her brain supplies, not being able to stop herself as her eyes rake down Ibaraki's nubile form. She hears a wolf whistle from off to the side and her head snaps in that direction. The muscular Yokai gets bonked on the head by the child, the kid whispering something in the woman's ear that causes her to pale and look away. "You really are something, aren't ya? Sheesh, if it weren't for my Body Refinement, Touki, and a Youjutsu barrier I'd probably have died. Pretty cutthroat, Suzaku-chan. If that's how you want to play this don't complain when I kick it up a notch."

Every iota of brainpower she has is thrown into calculations for bodily reinforcement and in the pressure of the situation, she manages a level of reinforcement she has never achieved before. A lightness flows through her body and she feels on top of the world for the briefest moment. That feeling fades when she blinks, her mind suddenly registering the ground flowing in a wave outward from the crater Ibaraki was standing in, the woman herself no longer there. Her heightened senses, having been dialed up as well by the reinforcement, are the only thing that allows her to bring her arms up into a sloppy block on her side. She does this because Ibaraki was suddenly there, a kick already flying toward Suzaku's side. She winces as the bones in her arm shatter upon impact, only managing to dampen the blow enough that her ribs only crack. She focuses on her reinforcement knowing a rough landing was up ahead, even as the pain makes the process far harder than before. Perhaps it's a mixture of the two factors that allows the stray thought of, 'Surely that figure is supernatural. That body was too tight to be normal', to flutter through her head.

She hits the first tree trunk with her spine, the air rushing out of her lungs in a choked gasp. The second she hits at an angle with her legs, one of them breaking on impact, her focus and therefore her reinforcement waning. The ground comes next, a harsh impact that sends her reeling, her momentum causing her to roll and flip a few times before finally stopping; bruised, broken, and bloody.

She must have blacked out since suddenly Ibaraki is in front of her again, standing over her frowning. If she could move she would flinch back at the sight of the woman but her spine might be broken. The image wobbles and fades in and out, something she realizes is probably due to brain damage. 'It's too bad I won't get to change my clan after all.' she thinks, closing her eyes and waiting for the end.

She blinks as her vision and hearing are suddenly restored. "Hey! No time for a nap, I asked you why you attacked me like that! Stupid fragile humans, I hardly even hit you."

"-" She tries to speak but her jaw must be broken too, nothing but gurgles coming out.

"Ugh, I'll just heal you fully and kill you if I don't like the answer. Don't attack me again though else I might get creative." Ibaraki's Touki turns red and a thousand nightmares overlay her form; the dead forms of her aunt and cousin staring at her, eyes glassy and accusing; The Vermillion Bird fully manifested, staring down at her like she's nothing; Nurarihyon and the rest of the East Yokai faction smiling cruelly, all around her the rest of the Principle Clans in chains, ready to be executed; Then finally just the demon in front of her glaring down balefully.

Warmth pulses through her body, repairing all the damage. Suzaku shudders when her spine is reattached, the pain returning with a vengeance but already ebbing away under the soothing Ki. The sensation is so good that she would almost be thankful if she hadn't been brutalized by the woman in front of her. Instead, she settles on glaring impotently, knowing she's at Ibaraki's mercy.

The Ki is pulled out, a small amount melting into her body to ease her pain. She tests her limbs, checking her range of motion. Even if she may die any second now it's a reflex she can't hold back. "What, don't trust that I'd heal you fully? Talk about petty." Gritting her teeth she counts to ten, not giving that woman any more ammunition. "Heh, whatever. Now, why did you attack me?"

Suzaku gapes at the audacity of the woman in front of her. "You tried to kill the village head's grandson just now! I heard that one say you all were going to eat him!" She points accusingly at the child, who looks off into the distance and starts to whistle. Growling she turns back to Ibaraki who's rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

"She was just joking." Suzaku levels a flat stare at her and the woman chuckles uncertainly. "Well, she wasn't joking but I was going to tell her the kid was off limits! Why would I go to the trouble of giving him advice if we were going to eat him? Takehiko would probably be stringy too, not good eating, I'll tell you that much."

Ignoring the implications that they would be fine eating others, Suzaku sighs tension melting out of her shoulders. "So it was all a misunderstanding?"

"So it seems. These things happen though, someone picks a fight with the wrong person, they get destroyed, they almost die. Yep, pretty normal." She stares at Ibaraki, eye twitching, and the other woman seems to understand the unspoken words. "Really, that doesn't happen where you're from? I can't go a day back at the village without having to pull a moron back together that chose the wrong fight. I know what humans do for fun but now it seems so… boring."

Ibaraki helps her up and takes a few steps back giving her space. By space, she means room to stare at the other woman's naked form. From the smirk on her face and the way she flexed slightly, the move was intentional. Just to make sure though, "You realize you're still naked, right?"

If anything Suzaku's question causes the smirk to grow and Ibaraki waggles her eyebrows, "I do indeed. Why? Are you enjoying it?"

The smirk melts into a grimace with Suzaku retort, "No, you literally almost killed me. How would I enjoy that?"

"Sorry. I'm not used to holding back so much. With other Oni, I can crush a few limbs and they can still fight long enough for me to get bored and heal them." What kind of absurd vitality do the people you fight usually have?! Wait, Oni? Hearing a sigh she turns to the other Yokai, her previous thought lost for now but not forgotten.

The eldest woman waves her hand in Ibaraki's direction and clothing appears on her body. When Ibaraki steps back from their embrace the clothes don't move naturally and Suzaku realizes they're just an illusion. Ibaraki calls out to her, gaining Suzaku's attention again. "We're headed to Kyoto right now. If you're going the same way… do you want to come with us?"

Suzaku forces a smile, unsure if this woman is truly stupid enough to think that everything is water under the bridge or if it's an act and she just doesn't care. Instead of saying anything to that effect, fully aware this other being could kill her in the blink of an eye, she accepts. "I actually live in Kyoto, I'd be happy to join you."

As Suzaku dips her head slightly in thanks for the suggestion she hears the eldest woman coo and her eyebrow twitches. She pretends not to hear the woman's comments either, something about 'getting grandkids after all' and how she's 'going to get so much Sake from the betting pool'. Not in her life is that ever going to happen, not with that monster at least.