Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Hey Yagi! Come get a drink with us!'' The local samurai called out to her, the disguised zodiac goat spirit, as she sat in front of her hut, sharpening arrowheads. The woman with black hair half tied up into a bun looked up, smirking and rolling her dark brown eyes to greet the eager men. Yagi Mitenuru was the alias she used within the village, and as one of the few onna-musha (female warrior), she had garnered a lot of respect in the few years since she had become part of this community back in 1612. While most of them wielded katanas, Yagi used a recurve bow, allowing her to pick off any straggling ambushers during raids. Unlike them though, she generally abstained from the post-battle drinking…along with any drinking in general.

“C’mon guys, you know I don’t drink,” Yagi sighed with mock-weariness. “Especially not in the middle of a nice December day.”

“It’s been 2 years since you’ve came to us, Yagi! Besides, you landed the ULTIMATE shot in the last ambush; you deserve to celebrate with some sake!” Now that was temping indeed. Since coming to live in the mortal realm permanently, she’s avoided alcohol as much as possible, with some questioning her if she took an oath against it. Yagi assured the village people that there was none, she just gets very “embarrassing” when she gets drunk. With the samurai men being the boys that they were though, they were very eager to see this side of her, if they ever managed to convince her to indulge. The samurai put on their best puppy dog eyes for Yagi, as a last-ditch effort.

After several moments of contemplation, Yagi came to a decision. Putting down the whetting stone and the arrowhead, Yagi sighed and put her hands on her legs. Finally, she spoke and raised a finger. 

“...Alright,” she proclaimed absolutely. “Just ONE drink.” The grown men cheered, some pumping their fists in the air while others grabbed Yagi’s arm and dragged her all the way to the sake bar.

“AND THAT’S THE SEVENTH PERSON I’VE BEATEN IN ARMWRESTLING; NOW WHO’S NEXT!?” Hollering wildly, Yagi was having the time of her life! Being able to finally hang with her bros while drinking up? The best thing in the wORLD- They’ve been having feats of strength through various arm wrestling contests, with her being one of the top contenders. Yagi had only downed a few glasses, but she was already red-faced and yelling at the top of her lungs.

One of the bulkiest samurai approached her table, slamming his elbow into the table so hard it made a dent. 

“First time drinker must be pretty confident, huh?” The approaching challenger questioned with wholehearted-excitement, his face flushed from all the alcohol.  “Let’s see if you can beat ME!” 

“OH, YOU’RE ON!!!!” Yagi exclaimed, also slamming her arm down, clapping her hand hard with her opponent’s. Samurai were cheering left and right, though more so for the enthusiasm of the match rather than a specific person. 

As they pushed back and forth, Yagi felt a strange warmth grow from her eyes, trailing up to her head, and then going down to her tailbone. She ignored it though, and just focused on winning. It was the only thing on her mind at the moment, despite the cheering dying down into shocking gasps.

Finally, after a while, Yagi finally managed to slam her opponent's arm into the table, breaking it in its entirety. Onlookers had their hands to their mouths, but it wasn’t for the broken furniture. 

Standing up, she declared “TAKE THAT-” and was about to let out a whooping laugh when the shriek of a goat bleat came out of her mouth instead. Panicked sobriety immediately set in and Yagi put her hands up to cover her mouth. Slowly, she turned around, finding everyone in the bar with a fearful expression on their face. 

The audience had seen this woman, whom they all thought was human, turn into an unknown creature of supernatural origin. Her hair was now all white, giving off a slightly eerie glow. Large ram horns had grown from near her forehead, wrapping around the back of her ears. Darting eyes, which used to be the usual dark brown, were now red with horizontal slitted pupils, like those of a goat.

“What kind of yokai are you? Are you going to hurt us?” the samurai that had initially invited her out now raised their katanas at her, shakily backing Yagi into a corner. The women and other civilians hid behind tables and chairs, while some others ran out to inform the village chief of the happenings. 

“G-guys, it’s me, Yagi!” she pleaded, putting her right hand out while the left stayed in the back to anticipate for the wall. “Does all that time we shared together mean nothing to you?” 

They kept approaching, backing her up until her hand touched that wall. With no visible gaps between the samurai to escape, Yagi suddenly thought of a way out, though it would cement her ruined relationship with the village forever. Taking that internal warmth from earlier, she focused it into her left hand, hoping the wooden walls of the bar catch on fire.

“TELL US,” the samurai demanded. “WHAT KIND OF YOKAI ARE YOU?!” 

“I’m deeply sorry, I don’t know!” Yagi confessed. There were so many different types of creatures out there, would they have believed in Zodiac spirits? 

“...Then we have no choice but to put you down. Go for her head, boys.” As they raised their swords towards Yagi’s neck, she knew there were no other options left. Taking her left hand off the wall, she snapped her fingers. 

The embers she had lain with her fingers spread throughout the wooden walls of the bar started burning rapidly, causing mass panic as people scrambled to exit the bar, disturbing the samurai formation. This chaos allowed Yagi to slip through the conveniently large hole in the wall she had burned to escape out into the dense forest. 

“Go after her!” the samurai leader ordered. “Don’t allow her to escape and harm others!” The samurai immediately listened, following her into the forest. 

“Civilians, if you want to protect your fellow people, take up arms to help us trap this yokai!” The able-bodied did as they were told, while the fearful rest fled to the safety of their homes.

Yagi sprinted through the forest, panting hard as the samurai were close behind her. Thankfully, she had been the only ranged fighter in that village for a while, so she didn’t have to worry about getting picked off by any arrows. 

Still, tears were dripping slightly from her eyes. Two years wasted, gone down the drain. All because she wanted to be social with her bros for once, though it was mostly due to the overindulgence of alcohol that caused her true form to be unleashed. 

Taking a brief refuge behind a large tree, Yagi slipped behind it as samurai ran past her, all none the wiser. While this was an opportunity for her to catch her breath, she knew they’d circle back. Knowing no other friendly villages for the next few acres, There was nowhere left for her to go… 

Out of the corner of her eye though, she spotted an fluttering, unnatural blue glow. Focusing her now-goat pupils, Yagi was able to make out a bright blue monarch butterfly far out in the field. While it seemed it was flying aimlessly, she knew that no supernatural creature, even one of not significant size, wouldn’t have a purpose. 

She knew that if she ran out into the field, the samurai would be able to find her easier. But what choice did she have?? It was either follow the butterfly to hopefully a safe haven or get interrogated and then slaughtered by her former compatriots. 

Taking a deep breath, Yagi leaped out from behind the tree into the field and started tailing the butterfly. As expected, some samurai saw her and immediately called out. 

“There she is!! The yokai who tricked our good men!” They were already twisting her name? By the Heavens Above, she should’ve never trusted mortals.

After following the butterfly for several minutes, Yagi came upon a tall fortress. One dark tower stood at its center while several smaller, straw thatched houses surrounded it. An intimidating wall with large double doors at its front circled all the buildings, with watch stations located on its corners as a singular guard walked along as patrol. The strangest part of this structure was that outside the palace was a scattering of various rotting corpses, ranging from dried bones to those freshly slain. The butterfly landed on top of one of the more recent cadavers and started to feed off the rotting flesh. 

Disregarding this peculiar factor about the place, she ran up the double doors, banging with all her might using her fists. Even though she didn’t look behind her, she knew the samurai were closing in. 

“Please, let me in!!” Yagi begged, her voice ragged from all the running. “I’m being pursued by those who want to kill me!” 

After those words were uttered, the doors creaked open inwards, causing Yagi to fall face first onto the ground in an accidental kotow bow. Lifting her head, she looked up at those who had come to answer the door.

The first figure she saw was a looming, broad man of over 200 centimeters tall. His skin was an ashy maroon color, with short, choppy black hair that came down to the top of his ears while an undercut wrapped around the rest of the back of his head. Adorned on his head was a pair of stubby golden horns, while a weary expression rested on his face. His robes were draped over his right shoulder while a large, black club topped with spikes rested on his left. 

Following the downward slant of the club, Yagi saw a slightly shorter man, though obviously still a bit taller than her. With only a flowery haiori draping his shoulders and some red ropes around his neck, his lithe, fit form showed that on his hips he wore a light colored sash that held up loose black trousers. On his feet were humble black sandals, while the same red ropes from his neck wrapped around his ankles decoratively. A katana rested on the left side of his waist, the hilt glinting in the sunlight while the saya (scabbard) drooped downwards. Gazing upon her with his yellow eyes topped with slight pink, the second man opened his mouth and spoke gently with a low voice. 

“What seems to be the matter, little one?”

Though a warmth entered her and her face began to flush, Yagi resumed her kotow bow and exclaimed her claim. 

“Please, I am seeking refuge. My supernatural abilities have caused my former home to reject me and hunt me down to achieve my death. They are on their way as I speak.” As if right on cue, the samurai finally showed up at the gates. 

While some were frightened by the corpses outside the entrance of the compound, almost all of them hesitantly took out and brandished their weapons. The leader, formerly a friend, pointed his katana at her trembling bowing figure on the ground.

“Good lord of this hold, we request you hand over this unknown yokai. It has caused damage to our property and distrust within our community; it must pay for its crimes.” The second man looked at the crowd with mild disinterest, then knelt down to Yagi, lining up his mouth with her ear, in order to whisper without being heard by all the samurai.

“If I make these men all go away,” he murmured. “Do you promise to pledge yourself to me?” Afraid to utter any words at the moment, she nodded anxiously, face still planted onto the ground. Chuckling, the man stood up and elbowed the broad man. 

“What do you say we help this person in need, Oni Giri?” The taller man, whom Yagi now knows is named ‘Oni Giri’, sighed and let out a reply in a gruff voice. 

“I’ll help them into the gates first, Vox-dono, then I’ll join you.” Vox put on a blazing smile, while Yagi noticed out of the corner of her eye that his sword started to become lit with an unnatural fire. 

“Alrighty,” he beamed. “Don’t take too long~” Oni Giri smirked. 

“I wouldn’t want you to have all the fun. I’ll be right out.” 

As Vox went out to battle the samurai that were pursuing Yagi, Oni Giri hoisted her up by the arm until she was standing on her feet, albeit unsteadily. He had only led her through the front doors before she collapsed onto her knees, legs still shaking. 

“I-it’s alright…” Yagi stammered. “You go help him out!” 

Oni Giri looked back and forth between the woman on the ground and the battle at the entrance until she waved her off. Reassured, Oni Giri ran off to go help Vox. 

Resting into a more comfortable position on the ground, she gazed upon Vox as he cut down samurai with his flaming katana, their wounds instantly cauterizing upon slashes. His eyes seemed to be filled halfway downwards with pink from the adrenaline as he elegantly weaved through the masses, ripped flesh flying through the air like sea spray. 

In contrast, Oni Giri lumbered through the masses, his club knocked out samurai with only one hit, with him squashing their skulls with his sheer weight or another swing of his club. 

Despite the carnage being committed on her former companions, Yagi felt that it was all…captivating in a way. The beauty of Vox’s katana and the brawn of Oni Giri’s club was the captivating performance of a fight. The samurai were no match for the lethal duo.

Once all the samurai all became bloody corpses on the ground, Vox walked over to the star-struck Yagi still on the ground, extending his hand to help her up. Using his momentum, Yagi stood up and found that her stance had stabled, with her legs no longer shaking. When Oni Giri came up, asking whether Yagi could stand on her own now, she gave him a thumbs up with a slight smile.

Satisfied with her state, Vox smiled warmly in return. Letting go of her hands, Vox stepped back, raising his right hand above his head and putting his left behind his back, as if to make a pledge. 

“Now,” he declared “It’s time to seal the deal from before.” Lowering his right hand, now engulfed in a bright, unearthly flame, Vox extended it out to Yagi. 

“Take my hand, state your name, and swear your life to me, Vox Akuma.”

Looking at the hand, Yagi pondered on the possible consequences. Having left Heaven and now distrustful of mortals, this…man? Yokai? He’s obviously of supernatural nature and regarding his broad friend and surname, probably also of demonic nature. Now, making deals with these types of creatures, there’s always an emphasis on names. The question now is whether to keep using her pseudonym or to reveal her true name to someone she just met. 

After a bit of closed eyed thinking, the goat spirit opened her returned human eyes and clasped Vox’s hand tight. The flame burned brighter as she uttered these words, binding herself to the lord that saved her.

“I, Wang Kan Kong, swear my life to my savior, Vox Akuma!!”