Little Oni

With this chapter we reached 40k words!

Lestgooooooooooo!

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'Who was that man?' Walking through the endless castle's hallways, Yasu was again lost in his thoughts one more time.

'What were those wings?' His right hand lightly touched his lips while thinking about the giant winged man.

'Huh?' Trying to find an exit out of the castle, another presence caught Yasu's attention, it wasn't even close to the presence the two giants radiated but still it caught Yasu's eyes, focusing on where it was coming he got surpsised learning that it came from a very small body, one of a child.

Curious, Yasu made his way over to the figure, traversing the corridors of the castle easily now having a clear destination. 

"Why did he have to bring me with him if he always leaves me alone!" Only a few meters away from the room the kid was in, a high pitch voice of a little girl cursing under her breath easily reached Yasu's ears, any other person wouldn't be able to hear those little mutters at such a distance but to him, it was fairly easy.

Sensing her through the room's walls, the girl was sitting on the floor lying her head down on a low wood table in the center of the room. Sighing, the girl sat straight just to let herself fall backward now lying completely on the floor with her eyes closed and her arms sprawled at her sides.

"...At least he could have left someone with me to talk to" whispering even lower, the girl slowly opened her eyes as if her eyelids were heavier than usual, staring at the ceiling, at the edge of her vision a female figure was standing still at the door frame.

Caught by surprise, the girl instantly sprang up from the floor turning around to face whoever was watching her, seeing a white haired geisha with her eyes closed in total silence.

"H-how long have you been there?" Stammering, the girl asked a simple question, nervous for her first interaction with someone from the castle since arriving.

"I've just arrived here" With a polite smile on his face Yasu answered with a light bow sticking to his role for today at this castle. He was certainly intrigued by the little girl in front of him.

Dressed in a kimono, the girl wore strapped on her shoulders two ropes like Oden making a circle behind each shoulder, like Yasu, her hair was white as snow with the tips ending in a turquoise color all held together in a ponytail by two golden ornaments.

Same as the giant he encountered moments ago, the thing that caught his attention were the two orange horns on top of her head that ended in a blood red at the tips.

"And who may you be?" Hearing Yasu's question, the girl lowered her head for a moment before looking up again at Yasu.

"I'm Yamato!..."Placing her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out, Yamato yelled out loud her name"...and..." In an instant that same confidence she showed disappeared. "...I'm Kaido's daughter..."

Silence took over the room the moment Yamato said she was Kaido's daughter, the horns of her head were a dead giveaway but still, hearing from her that she was the daughter of the man who, along with Orochi, took over the country, made him grit his teeth for a moment.

With both of them not talking and the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife, Yamato started fidgeting in her place, she knew that her father was a pirate and a bad man and that the people of Wano didn't like him.

"I'm so-"

"How old are you?" Cutting off Yamato, Yasu, with a more serious tone spoke 

Yasu's tone didn't help calm Yamato instead making her more nervous.

"E-eight" 

Hearing the trembling voice of the girl before him, a memory came to Yasu's mind, the memory of him standing before what felt like an insurmountable wall of strength asking how old was he.

A memory of Oden looking down on him after seeing him beat a man in an alley to save someone.

'I messed up didn't I?' He could feel Yamato's uneasiness mixed with some fear, the girl did nothing neither to him or the country and still, he made her uneasy and scared.

"Are you hungry?" Yasu asks, changing his tone into a more friendlier one.

"Huh?" Yamato's confusion was swiftly silenced by a loud growl coming from her stomach making her blush in embarrassment.

"...Yes..."

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"Dees iss relly deleecius!!!"

Seated in the middle of the room, Yasu smiles as Yamato stuffs her mouth full of rice balls before trying to gulp it all at once getting the lump of rice stuck on her throat. Noting this, Yasu takes a cup filled with tea offering it to Yamato who quickly grabs it drinking it in one go.

"Ahhhh, it was a feast!" clasping her hands together Yamato offers a quick prayer thanking for the meal.

"I'm glad you liked it" Luckily there was a kitchen nearby for the castle's servants 

"It was very good!" A genuine smile grows on Yasu's face observing how happy the girl is.

The food was just plain rice balls and tea, nothing more, they even were cold. He just found them on the kitchen, probably been there for hours, someone had to leave them there to tend to other things, to Kaido or Orochi most likely.

"You never told me your name" The horned girl tilted her head to one side, looking at Yasu's face

"Oh right...Yasu, that's my name"

"Hey Yasu..." Yamato looked down, playing shyly with her fingers, her eyes trying to avoid Yasu's face.

"Yes?"

"Do you know any story?...from outside of Wano I mean" With every word she spoke she sunk more and more into the ground trying to disapear.

Looking at Yasu placing his hand on his chin, little drops of sweat ran down Yamato's face.

"Yes, I know quite a few" When those words came out of Yasu, Yamato's eyes instantly lit up as she got closer to Yasu with her hands clasped faster than what he thought was possible.

"Really!? What are they about!? Tell me please!" Backing down a little, feeling how Yamato much Yamato was excited, Yasu let out a small chuckle of joy. 

"I know one of a city made entirely of emeralds, do you want to hear it?" Opening his arms and with a big smile, one of the stories they told him during his time with Kyomi came to his mind.

"Yes!" Nodding her head very fast, Yamato leaned closer by the second, her eyes shining in excitement.

Yasu let out another laugh before starting to tell the story with time flying between the two with more eyes and ears than those of the two paying attention to the conversation.

"This is bad, we were given clear orders" Hiding inside the small spaces in the ceiling, two figures were spying on the pair.

One of them, the biggest of the two, wore a completely yellow outfit covering his head, face, and body, a large katana strapped to his back.

The other, more slender than the first, wore a similar orange outfit with a blue and yellow mask covering his face and a large ring with four balls on his back.

"The girl was supposed to be alone for the time until Kaido leaves, it was your responsibility to place the seals for no one to come by the room" The masked man looked at his partner, his tone clear that this was no small mistake.

"It wasn't my fault! That geisha just walked through them like nothing, I checked and they were working just fine!" The man in yellow spoke in a panicked tone, confused about how this came to be.

"Tsk, just go inform Fukurokuju. If Orochi hears this we will both be beheaded for your incompetence, I will take care of YOUR mess"

Nodding, the yellow ninja disappeared into the darkness as if never there, now alone, the masked ninja lay there in silence, his eyes focused on the white haired geisha.

"Are all these stories real!? Is there really a city made of gold somewhere in the sea?"

Having finished telling another story about a golden city to Yamato, now he was facing a barrage of questions, everytime he finished a story Yamato just threw more and more questions at him.

"I certainly hope so" Although he wasn't bouncing on his place, his excitement about these stories was no less than the girl's and he was sure that he acted the same when they told him these stories.

"Do you know any more?" She surely was hungry for more tales, but now he couldn't tell her anymore.

"Yes, but I need to go" Like a balloon, Yamato instantly deflated, all her excitemenet leaves her body hearing this.

"Oh...will you...will I ever see you again?" Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, her voice quivering with every word she spoke.

He didn't want to lie to the girl, not even dead did he want to set foot here while Orochi was still the Shogun and he didn't think that he would go near Kaido any time soon.

"I don't know...but I hope so" Getting up from the floor, Yasu made his way to the door, before he could get out of the room two little arms wrapped around him and quiet sobs reached his ears. Placing his hand on Yamato's they both stayed like that for a minute before she let go.

Leaving the little oni alone in the room, Yasu made his way for the nearest exit, he had been here long enough and if he stayed he would burn the whole castle down.