"My, my, they've grown." Tsuru let out something akin to a shriek at the feel of hands
massaging her breasts. She tried to evade the demon's grasp, but was distracted by the mouth
suckling on her neck. She shouldn't be feeling so good... she shouldn't be enjoying this
treatment from the woman who killed everyone she loved.
Tears pricked at her eyes as her body betrayed. After some time, Isaka let go and
said, "Train more, pretty Tsuru. You're still not strong enough." She left in a whorl of
shadows, leaving the young exorcist sitting on the ground, flushed and crying.
Tsuru had been running into Isaka off and on, the result the same. Tsuru would get
mad, attack and Isaka would beat her, compliment her and usually violate her. The ebony
haired beauty continued her trek across the woods, with a sigh. She was 18 now, a grown
woman.
Train more. That's what she always said - train more. Tsuru gritted her teeth and
pushed on. She would do just that and she would do it well! As she came over a steep hill,
she could hear a cry in the forest.
Without hesitation, Tsuru sprinted towards the sound, soon hearing roars as well. She
came upon a little girl hiding beneath some rocks as a giant demon tried to entrap her in
its jaws. She continued to scream and move away for luckily the demon's mouth was too big.
It was a nasty thing and Tsuru didn't hesitate to sucker punch it.
The demon let out its own cry as its spine shattered beneath Tsuru's large blade. With
a swift stroke of her katana, its life was ended. She gave it a hard kick, watching it fall
down into a ravine. The scavengers should thank her for their next meal...
As Tsuru cleaned her swords of blood, she peeked in between the rocks, to see the
little girl cowering from her. "Hey," she said. "I'm not going to eat you."
Tsuru sheathed her weapons and reached out to the little girl. At first, she shrank
away, but she eventually grasped Tsuru's hands. She had to guess that the girl was six or
seven with brown hair done up in a ponytail. Her clothes were dirty and ragged from running
in the woods.
"Are you alright? That demon didn't get you, did it?" Tsuru asked doing a quick once
over.
"No... thank you for saving me," the girl responded quietly, holding something in her
hands. Tsuru could see it was a shining red gem.
"Did you risk your life for that?" Tsuru asked, kneeling down to the girl's level.
"I... my uncle always wanted one but he never had time. I went down to where they are
and then the demon saw me as I was leaving... there are scary things in the woods," the girl
sniffled out.
Tsuru gave her a hug and hoisted her up. "Don't worry - I'm sure he will be happy with
it. But just don't go off into the woods randomly again, okay?"
The little girl nodded and wrapped her arms around Tsuru. "Can you show me where you
live?"
"...yeah. Keep going straight then right at the dead tree." Tsuru nodded and carried
the little girl as she continued along the path. As she walked past the dead tree, she could
tell that the girl was asleep, still clutching the jewel in her hand.
Tsuru watched as the trees and the foliage dropped away, eventually showing a
beautiful town. She almost woke up the girl, but a young man came running at the entrance.
"Mara! Mara!" The little girl woke up and looked over at him.
"Daddy!" she said, suddenly hiding the stone in a pocket.
"Me and your uncle were worried sick! Look at how messy you are..." he said before
looking at Tsuru. "Thank you so much for bringing her back to us. I was afraid she'd been
eaten."
"Oh, it wasn't any trouble at all," Tsuru said, setting down the girl. She went over
to her father and hugged him.
"Ark, did Mara come back?" The father, presumably Ark, looked over his shoulder at the
man coming out of a house.
Tsuru felt a prickle go down her spine as she picked up on his malevolent presence. He
was a powerful demon, yet... Mara and Ark were definitely human. The man went over to the
little girl and kneeled down.
"What did you think you were doing, you little runt? You could have gotten killed!"
With that, the demon proceeded to give the girl a light noogie. "Never do that again!"
"Waaah! Alright, Uncle! I won't, I won't!" He smiled at the girl who then handed him
the red stone, almost secretly.
"I went to get it for you," she said quietly and her uncle gave her a surprised look.
He then proceeded to ruffle her hair.
"You crazy kid, I should be even more upset for that..." He stood up. "Never ever go
outside again, alright?" She nodded and stood next to her father as the demon turned to
Tsuru.
"Thanks, stranger. You saved our little Mara from who knows what..." Ark smiled as
well, but Tsuru couldn't help but tense up as he got closer.
Such a strong demon... that was when she tried to notice the other villagers in the
town... now that she focused on it - they were all demons.
Crap. She walked right into a demon settlement, but Ark and Mara were humans...? The
man stopped in front of her before drawing his sword and aiming it at her throat.
"Alright, exorcist, tell me, who are you with and where are they hiding?"
Ark protested at his action. "Bakra! She just saved Mara what-"
"She's an exorcist - can't you tell from her weapons?" He continued to hold the sword
up, the tip almost piercing her flesh. Tsuru closed her eyes and proceeded to unbuckle the
straps holding her weapons. Both swords dropped to the ground, making Bakra relax.
"I promise I'm not here to attack this town and I came alone. Mara was being chased by
a monstrous demon and I saved her. That's all," she said in a calm voice. Bakra continued to
look at her and sheathed his sword.
The two of them had made quite a spectacle with almost half the village watching.
"...alright. You don't seem like you're lying," Bakra said, stepping away. "But I swear -
should you lay a hand on anyone here, I won't hesitate to rip you apart!"
Tsuru nodded and watched a few other demons take her weapons. Bakra gave her a
quizzical look when it required two demon males to carry the blue sword. She figured she
could get them back later, but...
"I think that's more than enough. The girl isn't going to harm anyone," Ark said,
walking over to her with Mara. "I suppose you would like to at least stay a night? You can
stay at our house-"
Bakra let out an indignant snort, but Ark ignored him. "Like I said, we have an extra
room, so we would love it if you would stay."
Mara nodded in agreement. Tsuru felt like she had no choice but to accept.
*****
Bakra was still eyeing her in suspicion as Ark got her some food. She thanked him and
began to eat, still getting a glare from the demon.
"So... what kind of exorcist are you?" Tsuru looked up at him. "I mean, you're by
yourself and you aren't attacking-"
"Maybe she's different," Ark said, giving Bakra a disapproving look. Mara just watched
the conversation in interest. The demon's expression soured.
"Really? Now that would be a first..."
"I've only killed demons that wouldn't stop their rampage," Tsuru murmured, not liking
the feeling Bakra was giving off.
"Rampage? Is that what you guys call it now?"
Tsuru gave him a slight glare. "I don't know what you're accusing me of, so just go
right out and say it!"
Bakra stood up, looking ready to argue his point when Ark intervened. "Alright, that's
enough. It's Mara's bedtime and you promised to read her a story Bakra."
The little girl beamed at her 'Uncle' and the demon caved. "Okay, okay. The one about
the unicorn again?"
Tsuru loosened up as the demon left and Ark noticed the change. "I'm really sorry
about him. He has dealt with a lot of exorcists in his life, so that's why he's so bitter.
He's a kind man, taking care of me and Mara after we had nowhere to go."
He smiled and gave her another helping of food. "So, are you really Mara's father?"
The young man shook his head.
"No, I found her when she was barely walking and she just calls me that. Bakra isn't
her uncle, but we couldn't exactly have her calling us both 'daddy'." Ark let out a chuckle
and Tsuru stopped mid bite.
"...wait... are you two...?" Tsuru tried to convey her question on her face and Ark
looked embarrassed.
"Yeah... you don't find that offensive-"
"No! No," Tsuru said, a bit too fast. "Of course not. I mean, I understand what you're
talking about."
It was a bit silent until Ark grinned. "Really? There's a huge reputation in this area
for girls like that. You may not want to tell anyone else, though... the guys don't mind,
but the girls..." Ark shook his head. "I worry for little Mara sometimes..."
Tsuru gave him a concerned look. "The girls? What's wrong with the girls?"
Ark shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure you'll find out tomorrow."
*****
And Tsuru did find out. It wasn't something she noticed at first... but she became
aware that something was off. The town was filled with mostly demons who would stare and
whisper at her - that wasn't strange. It was the girls that were strange. It started off
with one needing help carrying groceries... then helping retrieving a scarf from a tree...
catching a fish from a pond... helping a girl into an outfit...
Now, she was chopping firewood for a demon girl. Tsuru removed her jacket and picked
up the axe. It was so light compared to her Uncle's sword, so she didn't mind doing it at
all... except...
Tsuru looked over to see quite a few demon girls watching her cut the wood. Awkward.
She tried to continue working on it without blushing, but she started to figure out what Ark
had meant - while there were plenty of girls not that way, the lesbians of the town were
quite...
Well, they just weren't shy of anything. "There you go," Tsuru said, setting down the
axe.
"Oh, thank you so much!" A girl cooed out, giving her an affectionate hug.
"Aren't you tired?" Another one asked.
"Yeah - you can come to my house and I can get you something nice to drink..."
Tsuru backed away from the girls. "Uh... that's really nice and all, but I wouldn't
want to intrude..."
The girls continued to pull at Tsuru, trying to get the ebony haired exorcist to come
with them.
"Alright, alright - I think Tsuru needs to go," a voice said, cutting through the
chatter.
Bakra stepped towards the group, saving Tsuru from her new, over zealous friends.
"Ah, Bakra! You're such a meany! We just want to spend time with her," a girl said and
all her friends mirrored her protest.
"You're all worse than a pack of dogs in heat," Bakra shouted back, pulling Tsuru
along. The girls continued to protest, but eventually went back to their homes. "Sorry about
that," he said to Tsuru. "They're all young demons so they tend to get a little... well,
they get very passionate about things. Those girls will get better when they grow up, but
just don't go out at night if you're saving your first time for someone else."
Tsuru flushed at his words. "Thanks... I guess I should have taken Ark's warning much
more serious..." The sun was setting and Bakra was heading in a different direction than his
home.
"I was going to spend time with a few friends and since it's too dangerous to send you
back on your own, I figured you could come along," Bakra said. Tsuru was a bit surprised.
Was he actually trying to be nice to her?
They arrived at what she presumed to be a bar and as soon as they entered, many
slurred cries of, "Bakra!" rang out.
"Hey, he's actually got a girl with him! How's Ark supposed to take that?" A demon
asked before getting smacked on the back of the head.
"Shut up! You know I can't leave her around here. This one," he said, pointing at
Tsuru, "is like a little lamb. Speaking of which, your daughter was actually all over her.
All those frickin' broads out there..." Bakra scoffed and sat down.
Tsuru stood there for a while, not sure what to do, until she was practically shoved
to a table. "Alright, little missy, you wanna drink?" A different demon asked, motioning to
the bar.
"Oh, oh no, I don't drink," Tsuru murmured. Bakra, who was sitting next to her
laughed.
"Really now? I guess I shouldn't be surprised since you're an exorcist and all."
There was a slight pause in all the noise as the demons picked up on the word
'exorcist'. Tsuru got nervous, but she heard someone say, "So that's who you are! I heard
about the exorcist that saved Mara, but you sure are different from what I expected."
She let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. The demons continued to
drink and roughhouse, asking her awkward questions all the way. Somehow, they got to talking
about girls and boys.
"Ya see," a demon started, "Bakra over here is a real man's man - chivalrous to the
ladies and all, but-" Bakra knocked the yapping demon on the head.
"Please, spare me. You still can't get over the fact that I got Ark and not you,"
Bakra said and the demon snickered.
"What ever Bakra. Maybe you're just jealous of my sweet wife?" The joking continued on
and on, until the focus was turned on Tsuru.
"So what about you? Got any boys waiting for you back home?"
Tsuru flushed bright red. "Uh, no, I just don't... boys aren't really my thing."
All the demons, including Bakra, exchanged looks and said, "Oh..."
"That makes sense - the girls must have known."
"But you don't think she's...?"
"Nah, she could have run into her, could she?"
Tsuru tried to pick up on their mumblings, but the subject soon changed. The demons
went back to their raucous behaviors, so she tried not to think about it. Soon, they began
to file out one by one and the girl felt Bakra tug on her arm.
"Let's get going."
As they walked out into the night, the streets deserted, Bakra asked her a question.
"What happened to your eye?"
It was sudden, but she didn't hesitate. "It got hurt in a... well, it wasn't a battle,
really. My clan was massacred and I foolishly tried to face down the demon." She thought of
Isaka for a moment, that infuriating demon. "I'm still trying to find that demon and avenge
my friends."
"Revenge, huh? If everyone were like you, the world would be a chaotic place... not
that I don't consider a good girl." Bakra turned back to look at her. "It's just... my whole
family was killed by exorcists, slaughtered. I've seen little children executed, people
tortured. Hellish things have happened on this earth and yet, it is the people like you who
caused them. Exorcists. If I wanted to get revenge... hell, if everyone was after
revenge..."
The man shook his head and looked away. "If we all tried to kill those who wronged us,
where would it stop? If us as demons tried to take our revenge, you'd just crush us,
wouldn't you?"
Tsuru shook her head. "No... no! You're not... I would never do that-"
"Tell me - have you ever met demons like us? Who live like humans? Or maybe you're
still too shocked to see we're not eating the flesh of babies."
Tsuru looked down at her feet, still walking behind him. "Maybe you are special,
Tsuru. If you were like all the others that I accused you of acting like... well, then you
wouldn't be listening to me and you wouldn't have sat with me at the bar. But... but give up
on this revenge stuff. The hatred will never stop."
The rest of the way back was silent.
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