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Chapter Text

Once upon a time, there was an all powerful God known by many names throughout the lands. "The Beginning and the End," "The First and the Last," "The Alpha and the Omega." They used their power to create the planet of Kabakoporeshion, or Kabakopu. Despite their immense power, they were only one being. To help with managing Kabakopu, they created four lesser deities to govern over the four elements of the universe.

Time, Space, Chaos, and Nature. Snake, Elephant, Rat, and Kirin.

After the four deities were created, the Divine Being filled the lands with greenery, nourished the greenery with water, and breathed life into the air. From there, the Divine Being went into a slumber and entrusted Kabakopu to the four deities.

Time would protect the past, present, and future of Kabakopu.

Space would establish the Heavenly Realm and used her powers to create smaller beings that would help protect the lands.

Nature, from the dirt, formed the life forms that would live on Kabakopu.

Chaos, feeling that it was too boredom, manipulated reality itself to add excitement and fun.

The deities would also go into a small slumber, emerging only if something needed their attention.

Centuries would pass, and a new living being would begin to appear on Kabakopu, having grown from the animals that Nature made.

Human beings.

At first they were simple creatures, but they would gradually evolve and evolve and develop their own sentience. From being beastial in nature and walking on four legs to adopting a form that was a spitting image of the Deities and God itself. They banded together into groups, their intelligence would take advantage of the lands of Kabakopu, and eventually a new aspect of the universe would form.

Civilization. Owl. God woke from their slumber, and sensing the new aspect, would create a new Deity to govern over it.

The other Deities would welcome the new Deity with open arms. Seeing the new life governing over Kabakopu themselves, the Deities feared that the new creatures would continue to grow in power and, eventually, match the power of the Gods themselves. They decided to work together to watch over the lands.

They would be known as The Council.

The Council would watch over Kabakopu for eons and eons, making sure the beings wouldn't become too powerful.

These animal's presences, however, would have and effect on the other life forms. Select animals would begin to adopt a form much like them, and soon they were near indistinguishable.

The beings, having gained intelligence, became arrogant. They thought themselves better than the creations of the Deities, and would desecrate it in order to further themselves. Their progress was too fast, hindering even their own kind, creating the privileged few and the unfortunate majority.

One day, one of the beings would go on a pilgrimage around Kabakopu, gaining knowledge and, in turn, power. His righteous self travelled around to each of the settlements and would try his hardest to get them to change their ways, having regained the respect for God's creations. He would gain respect everywhere for helping everyone, and would even catch the attention of the Deities. He was known by all as "The Sage." At the end of his life, he was met by the Deities.

"Sage." Chaos addressed him. "Do you know who we are?"

"How could I not?" The sage, realizing where he was, got down on one knee and prostrated himself before the higher beings. "You are the Great Ones, the Gods that created and watch over Kabakopu. It is an honor to be in your presence."

"Raise your head, Sage." Nature's soft and gentle voice compelled him to look directly at them.

"You have gained our respect." Time announced. "You, and you alone, remembered exactly where you Humans came from, and respected the lands. Humans, who have gotten arrogant and full of themselves, had been defiling these lands created by our Creator. They thought themselves superior beings, and ignored the other inhabitants of the lands even at the cost of their own kind." She recited. "You, however, are one of the few who thought otherwise. You travelled the world to spread the reminder, and your selflessness earned you praise from all, who revere you."

"We've been watching you." Space said. "Sage, you have truly earned your title from the other humans."

"To see you pass on from the living is a waste." Civilization stepped forward. "Such a righteous soul, such kindness, such selflessness hasn't been seen in a long time. It would be a shame to see you die so young, especially in the middle of a battlefield you tried to stop." It was a tragedy back in the world of the living. The Sage, revered for liberating the oppressed and reforming entire governments, in the process of stopping a war from tearing apart the lands, had been shot.

"I am honored to even be acknowledged." The Sage bowed his head once again, but was compelled to bring it back up by Nature.

"As a reward, we shall grant you partial divinity." Time revealed. "You will live for longer, far longer, longer than any other."

"You will recieve our blessings and have partial dominion over the five elements." Nature continued.

"You will recieve protection by the Angels above." Space.

"You will be unaffected by disease, famine, and all." Chaos.

"You will be able to call upon our help anytime." Civilization.

"This is all too much for someone such as I." The Sage shook his head.

"Nonsense." Time disagreed. "You have earned every right for these rewards. You have earned the respect of everyone, including The Council, and your name is known throughout all of Kabakopu, nearly the same amount of recognition as our Creator themself."

"But, if you ever abuse these blessings." Chaos grinned, a glint in her eyes that sent fear unlike any other inside the Sage. "Then know that we will enact the appropriate punishment."

"I swear that I will use these blessings only when they are needed." The Sage bowed.

"You shall be resurrected, and you shall live once more." Nature conjured a golden apple and approached the human. "Do not take this second chance lightly."

"I, Motoaki Tanigo, swear that I will not waste the second life given to me." The Sage got on his knees. "I shall spread word of your divine beings further and further and bring the truth back out."

...The Sage, liberator of the poor and destroyer of governments, died on the battlefield.

A mere three days later, with the war still continuing, his body would rise once again. Amidst the fighting, the red sea of blood would be parted by walls of earth erecting from the ground up.

"Cease your fighting." The Sage's voice rang throughout the battlefield, halting everyone. "These lands are not meant for fighting." The walls were brought back down. From within the walls, flora and foliage began to grow from the Sage's feet, spreading out towards all directions. By the power of the Gods, he had been resurrected. All who witnessed his rise prostrated themselves and worshipped him.

"O' Sage Motoaki!" A soldier shouted. "We have commited a grave sin! What must we do to atone for shooting you down!?" He bowed his head in shame.

"You need not do anything." The Sage answered. "I forgive all, and I cannot fault someone for doing what is natural during conflict. Raise your head, soldiers." Motoaki knelt down and placed a hand on the shoulders of two opposing soldiers. "Go. Go and inform your commanders of my message. Tell them that, should they continue to tear apart the lands in their petty squabbles, divine wrath shall be brought down upon them. Without mercy." The soldiers scrambled to report back to their commanders, but after the reports were told, the two leaders agreed to cease their fight and form a treaty. A celebration was held in honor of The Sage.

That would be the last time The Sage was seen, for there were no more major conflicts.

"And that is just the legend in this book's universe." The white and black haired girl closes the book as she speaks to no one in particular. "The world of Kabakopu is vast, and it's author has many ideas that they want to put down. With their track record though, don't be surprised if it takes a lot of time to finish." She puts the book back on the shelf behind her. "My name won't be tagged, I'm not supposed to show up yet. I'm sure you can guess who I am though." She waves her hand. "That's all from me though. Enjoy the story~"

"Who is she talking to, Rissa?"

"You get used to it, don't worry."

Chapter Text

"I'm off now!" The light-blonde girl bowed, before turning away from her village's gate.

"Good luck on your journey, Kazama-chan!" The guard waved. "Come back in one piece, okay!?"

"I will!" She shouted back before walking away. Kazama Iroha is a young girl from the Mura, Nasu Mura. As part of the Kazama family tradition, once she reaches of age she is to journey towards the Sakura shrine by herself and take on a quest from the shrine maiden to prove herself and be given the credibility to serve a lord of any of the Kingdoms of Kabakopu. Her family is known for serving leaders throughout the many generations.

As she walked away from her Mura she sees a woman with fox ears and a fox tail in white robes. "Shira-megami-sama!" She shouted, getting the woman's attention. She turned around with sweet potato in her mouth, quickly swallowing it.

"Iroha-chan!" The woman waved as Iroha approached her. "I told you to stop calling me megami, I am Shirakami." Shirakami is a lesser deity who's been protecting Nasu Mura for more than a few centuries. The Kazama family has been there from when she first came to Yamato, aiding her since the first generation.

"But you are Nasu Mura's megami are you not?" Iroha tilted her head cutely.

"Well I have been protecting it for a long time." She hummed. "What are you doing out here alone?"

"As of today I am of age, and so I am to undertake the Kazama Trial." The Kazama answered. The lesser deity blinked, before realizing.

"Oh, are you really already that age?" She wondered. "It feels like just yesterday when your mother let me hold you in my arms as a baby." She giggled. "You really have grown into a pretty girl."

"You're embarassing me, megami-sama." Iroha sheepishly scratched her neck.

"Your famly's been doing the trial for generations and generations." The deity began to reminisce. "Your mother, your grandmother, your great grandmother, and everyone before all took the trials and succeeded. Before they went to serve their lords they all received my blessing and the same piece of advice I always give to your family, which I will now give to you." Iroha immediately got onto her knee, prostrating herself. Shirakami giggled at the action, but cleared her throat. "Iroha Kazama, according to the traditions of the Kazama family you are to journey to Sakura shrine and take on a quest to prove yourself a fighter. As the protector of Nasu Mura I shall now impart my wisdom onto you. Your quest may take days, weeks, months, years, perhaps even longer. But no matter what, you must perservere through it. As a Kazama you have the blood of all the Kazamas before you that will give you the courage. Whatever you may face, it will shape your future for the better or for the worst. You must promise me and Nasu Mura one thing. Come back safely. I wish you good luck and safety on your trial. I, Shirakami, give you the blessing of Amaterasu." Shirakami placed her hand on Iroha's head and closed her eyes as a warm energy coursed through her arm and into Iroha's body. "There, you now feel at ease near sources of fire. You will also never be freezing."

"I am honored, megami-sama." Iroha bowed further into ground before standing up. "If I may ask, what are you doing out here?" She tilted her head again. "My mother said that you are usually present at your house in the Mura at every Kazama's coming of age so you may bless them, but you weren't there."

"Oh I was actually waiting for someone." The deity answered. "I sense a friend I haven't seen in a long time coming, and I wanted to be the first to see her."

"I see. This person must be really admirable if they're friends with you, megami-sama!" Iroha's eyes sparkled at the thought.

"She is, indeed, admirable." Shirakami smiled. "She has lost her true form due to an incident, but I and many other long lived beings have great respect for her. She is one of those trusted by The Sage after all."

"The Sage?" Iroha didn't recognize the title.

"Oh right, Nasu Mura doesn't know about it." The deity hummed. "You'll learn about The Sage naturally from the priestess of Sakura shrine." She said. "Before you go..." She spread out her arms. The Kazama's eyes widened before she threw herself at the deity, allowing her arms to wrap around Shirakami as her own arms wrapped around iroha. "Good luck, Kazama Iroha. Make sure to come back safely, I don't want to lose someone with a soul so kind like yours." She rubbed Iroha's hair before they let go. "Be on your way now."

"I'm off, Megami-sama!" Iroha bowed deeply before turnig around and walking along the path towards Onimori Forest. When she reached the forest she took a moment to stop and take in the beautiful greenery of the trees, the grass, the fresh wind flowing through her hair, and all the critters that she could hear inhabiting the forest. "The forest really is beautiful." She closed her eyes. If she could she would stay there, but she had a shrine to reach so she opened her eyes and resumed her walk. She would stop occasionally to just watch the animals scurry around in their homes. One of the more notable animals she found was a beautiful, delicate butterfly, which she watched fly off into the sky. It was relaxing for her. It was also her way of still sort of being at home. Nasu Mura was sort of secluded and isolated from even other Mura, being surrounded by the forest. The name, "Onimori" didn't help, meaning "Demon Forest...Forest." The furthest from Nasu Mura she'd ever gone was just inside Onimori, but never further or even past that. This would be her first time. When Iroha reached the edge of Onimori it was already close to noon, so she decided to take a short break and hopped onto a tree branch. She took out a small rectangular box and popped the lid off, sliding an eggplant out. She closed the container and put it away. "O' God of Nature, I thank you for blessing these lands and providing us with food to eat." She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together for a few seconds, praying, before opening her eyes and biting into the fruit with glee. It was a big eggplant, about the size of half fo her forearm.

She had always liked eggplants. Since she was a child she would eat eggplants whenever she could. Raw eggplants, in a rice ball, with all the toppings you could imagine. Kids her age would all say she was simply the embodiment of Nasu Mura, considering the name. She just liked eggplants.

When she finished eating she hopped back onto the ground and prepared to walk along the trail again, but she saw something in the distance. A wooden merchant's cart heading her way, but it had been stopped in the middle of the road with two bears harassing it. "Bears?" Iroha grimaced. Bears weren't uncommon, but they weren't common either. They didn't appear much in Onimori, much less outside of it, but it wasn't unheard of for them to harass the merchants coming towards Nasu Mura to do trade. They usually had food with them after all. Bears weren't usually hostile though, and from what Iroha could see, these bears were clawing at the cart and doing all they can to destroy it. It was out of character. She could also see that the bears' eyes were glowing red.

Clearly, something wasn't right. The young girl placed a hand on her sword and slowly approached the scene. The bears hadn't noticed her, but she noticed more about the bears.

They were dead. Or rather, they reeked of death, of rotting flesh and maggots infesting their corpses. She could even see the flies flying around their bodies. They had been dead for a long time, and yet their bodies were being reanimated for whatever reason. Magic wasn't unheard of. Nasu Mura's own protector, Shirakami, could be considered a mage by those who didn't know her. There were even a few mages in Nasu Mura who sometimes contributed to protecting the Mura.

Regardless, Iroha gripped her sword tighter, creeping closer and closer to the bears. They still didn't notice her. She forced her nose to stop smelling the stench, and breathed through her mouth very slowly. She could hear something scurrying inside the cart, but she ignored that. Finally, when she was close enough, she drew her sword and swiftly sliced off the heads of the bears in two strokes. The bears fell limp on the ground as she flicked the blood off her blade and sheathed it. She waited for a moment with her hands still on the handles, but seeing that nothing was going to happen Iroha immediately went to the front of the cart. "Excuse me!" She shouted. "The bears are dead, it's safe!"

"Oh good!" A voice reploid. "Hold on!" She heard stumbling from inside the cart. Two seconds later a woman emerged. She was tall, had long orange hair,and had horns sprouting from atop her head. "An Oni?" Iroha flinched.

"Nope, not an Oni." The woman smirked. "I'm a dragonkin, lost my tail years ago though." She hopped off the cart as Iroha relaxed. "Thanks for those two down. I would have done it myself but my cart's storage is unorganized and I couldn't find anything in time."

"Of course, I saw a merchant in danger so I naturally helped." Iroha scratched her neck. "My name is Kazama Iroha, of Nasu Mura." She introduced herself.

"Ah, a Kazama. I'm guessing you're on your Kazama Trial journey?" The woman hummed.

"Yes." Iroha nodded. How did she know about the Kazama Trial? Iroha wondered. It wasn't knowledge that was privy to most outsiders. "If I may ask, what are you selling?"

"Oh nothing much, not exactly anything for someone as young as you to know though." She laughed. "I sell adult products for...the stressed, if you know what I mean." She laughed harder when she saw Iroha's face light up bright red. "Yeah that's what I was expecting. Anyway, I'm not actually here to sell anything. I'm meeting up with an old friend."

"Oh, just like Shira-megami-sama." iroha hummed. She heard a snort, but when she looked back the woman's face remained the same.

"Hmm...I can't in good conscience let you go without giving you a reward." The woman had a hand on her chin, in deep thought. The girl wanted to say that she didn't need a gift, but remembered Shirakami telling her that it was rude to accept genuine gifts. "Oh I know! Wait here for a second." The woman entered the cart and rummaged around as Iroha waited. Ten seconds later she came back out with a particular sake bottle in hand. "I don't know if you drink sake, but even if you don't it can still come in handy." She held it out. "Take this bottle, on the house!"

"I do not drink, but I shall graciously accept this." Iroha took it and bowed.

"So formal!" The orange haired woman laughed again. "Don't worry about it expiring, it'll last for the next century or so." She began to walk to the back. "Now, I better get going. Good luck on your journey!"

"Thank you!" Iroha waved. "Wait, what's your name!?" The woman stopped.

"Hmm..." She hummed. "For now, call me K!" She disappeared behind the cart, and the cart began to move, being dragged along by something.

"...I don't see any horses." Iroha blinked. She shook her head. It was probably a spell from a tome. She took a look at the sake.

"Asacoco..." Iroha pocketed the sake bottle and continued walking along the road again. She still had a shrine to get it.

Just before the sky began to darken, Iroha reached a small settlement. In the distance she could see what looked like torii gates, signalling that she had reached the home of Sakura shrine. She approached the gate guards.

"Halt!" One of the guards stopped her. "Identify yourself and your business here!" One of the guards scrutinized her, his faced looked as if he could vaguely recognize her but couldn't quiet put his finger on what it was.

"I am Kazama Iroha of Nasu Mura." Iroha introduced herself. "I am here to undertake the Kazama Trials." The guard who was scrutinizing her widened his eyes. He seemed to be much older than the other guard.

"Ah, so you're the new Kazama." He said, his voice gruff and old. "Tate, put down your spear." He said.

"What?" Tate looked incredulously at him.

"The Kazama family of Nasu Mura has been working together with the Sakura Maidens for generations now." The old guard said. "Let her in."

"Y-yes sir." The younger guard relented, putting down his spear. "You may go in." Iroha gave her thanks with a nod and headed in.

"Kazama." Iroha turned around to the older guard. "It goes without saying that the Sakura Maiden should be treated with respect, but treat her like a normal girl too, will you?" The girl blinked. "I know you're curious, but it's not my story to tell. Now go, your quest awaits." Iroha stayed there for a few more seconds, but nodded once more before walking inside the settlement. Navigating the settlement took a bit of time. Despite the location of the shrine being just straight ahead, it actually took seveveral turns to reach it because of buildings in the way. Eventually, she finally reached the torii gates once it was almost dark, approached the donation box.

"Um, excuse me?" She called out. No response. "Miss shrine maiden?" Still no response. Iroha went closer to the donation box. Since she was there anyway she inserted a few coins, rung the bell, and prayed.

"H-hi!" Iroha humped, turning around. She saw a girl in shrine maiden clothes and short pink hair. She was carrying a bag of groceries. "Um, are you here for a blessing?"

"O-oh no, I'm here for something else." Iroha shook her head. "Are you the Sakura shrine maiden?"

"Yes, I'm Sakura Miko." She nodded. "Um, I need to put these away first, Would you like to come inside?" She offered.

"Sure."

"Alright then, please come inside!" Miko slid the shrine's door open and went inside, with Iroha following not too long after. "Uh, please have a seat at the table while I go get some tea." With a nod Iroha sat down on the tatami mats and waited. A minute later Miko returned with a tray of heated up green tea. "Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting anyone so late." She sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"No no it's okay, I took my time getting here so it's sort of my own fault." Iroha shook her head. "My name is Kazama Iroha."

"Oh, you're a Kazama!" Miko clapped her hands together. "You must be here for the Kazama Trial then." Iroha nodded. "I see, my mother told me about the Kazamas before. We have to call upon a Goddess to read you a fortune and determine your quest." She revealed. "However, it's still too early for that. The Goddess is a nocturnal one, she allows herself to be called upon only at midnight. We still have plenty of time, do you have any questions you would like answered?"

"You'll learn about The Sage naturally from the priestess of Sakura Shrine."

"Can you tell me about The Sage?" Iroha asked, remembering what Shirakami told her.

"Ah, The Sage." Miko hummed. "The Sage is a human who lived millions of years ago. In a world riddled with oppression and discrimination, The Sage travelled the world, acquiring knowledge and truth, spreading it around and liberating the oppressed from the governments. There is a tale that he died in a battlefield, but revived 3 days later and gained new powers, conjuring walls of earth to stop both sides from killing eachother."

"He sounds very noble." Iroha hummed.

"The Sage gained fame and respect from everyone and even the gods." Miko nodded, smiling as she recounted the tale. "He is a revered figure in the Sakura family."

It was now midnight. Miko led Iroha outside and to a magical circle within the backyard.

"Kazama-san, please sit in the middle of the circle." Miko asked. Iroha complied, sitting in the smaller circle. Miko held out her hand, her palm facing Iroha as she closed her eyes. "Goddess of the Moon, please grant me your power temporarily so I may tell this young girl's fortune. It is that time of the generation where the Fuuma is to undertake a trial. I ask that you give a divination for the Fuuma so she may prove herself." The circle glowed and began to spin. Miko opened her eyes and swiped her hand to the side. The circle glowed brightly and blinded the two girls.

When the light dimmed down, Iroha and Miko opened their eyes to see a wolf infront of Iroha.

"Ookami-sama, it is an honor to meet you." Miko bowed. Iroha prostrated herself, sensing the divinity from the wolf. "Please grant us your divination."

"..----.."

"..-----.."

"..--.."

The wolf howled at the moon before jumping away, leaving Miko and Iroha to attempt to process the prophecy and make sense of it.

"That...was my quest." Iroha blinked.

"It is late, why don't we try to piece together the quest tomorrow morning?" Miko offered.

"Would it not be better to decipher it right away?"

"It isn't uncommon for a Kazama to decide to make sense of it the next day." The Miko shook her head. "My predecessor, my mother, told me that the Kazama she helped also decided to think about it the next day."

"My mother also?" The Kazama member hummed. "Very well. I do not have a place to sleep yet though."

"You may sleep here in the shrine." Miko smiled. "You don't need to worry about being rude, I'm the one offering after all. It's not rare for a Kazama to take refuge inside the Sakura shrine temporarily."

"In that case, I would be honored."

Chapter Text

"Good morning~" Iroha yawned as she woke up. She opened her eyes and saw walls that she didn't recognize before remembering the previous day's events. She had begun her Kazama Trials and went through Onimori to get to the Sakura settlement for Sakura Shrine. Around midnight she got her divination told by the Wolf, and both she and Miko decided they would think think about the prophecy more when they get some sleep. She rolled up her futon and put it away where she saw Miko's own futon. When she was about to go out and look for Miko, the shrine maiden entered the room accompanied by a pleasant smell.

"Oh you're awake, good morning." Miko greeted. "I went ahead and got breakfast. I hope you don't mind something small, I don't actually have too much money." Both she and the swordswoman sat down as Miko put the plates on the able. Iroha took a look at the breakfast and saw that it was just bread with scrambled eggs on it. She could also smell butter. She wasn't kidding when she said it was something small. Iroha wondered if this was even enough as a snack...oh wait, Iroha usually ate raw eggplants as a snack., she can't really judge.

"It's fine, I don't eat much anyway." Iroha reassured the Miko. They both prayed before beginning their meals. "...Does the shrine get many visitors?"

"Not really, not right now atleast." Miko shrugged. "When...when my mother was the shrine maiden we apparently got a lot of visitors, but none of them really came here to pray or to donate. When I took over I haven't seen more than two people visit per month." She bit into her slice of bread. "It's fine though, the villagers still give me their share of necessities when needed, so I go around every week for their handouts. I offer blessings everytime but they say it isn't needed."

"Oh..." Iroha shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry for...bringing it up." She had accidentally stepped on a dog's tail.

"It's fine." The two continued eating their breakfast in silence, not really bothering to make small talk. Miko preferred the silence anyway. Iroha, on the other hand, just didn't want to accidentally step on another tail and bring up something. Miko's face was neutral when talking about the shrine's lack of visitors, but she could tell that Miko likely had stronger feelings about it. When they finished Miko stood up. "So the divination from Ookami-sama?"

"Oh right." Iroha clapped her hands. "The divination...:" She closed her eyes to think about what the wolf said to their minds. "The Kazama must journey with the Sakura maiden to find The Mother Wolf. Once there she will gain knowledge of the world and her life will change."

"The divination this time is...a bit short." Miko pursed her lips. That's an understatement. Iroha nodded.

"I feel that it's incomplete." The swordswoman said. "As if there's supposed to be more to it." She shook her head. "The Kazama is obviously me. The Sakura Maiden refers to you, but I don't know who The Mother Wolf could be."

"The Mother Wolf may be the allied Goddess of this shrine." The shrine maiden offered. "Ookami-sama. The same Goddess who gave the divination. She has the features of a wolf and is said to be very motherly in the texts." She recounted. "She has her own shrine, though I've never gone there. It should just be south of here through Alfar Forest."

"Alfar forest?" Iroha tilted her head.

"A forest home to the shizen." Miko answered. "A tribe of human-like beings with pointy ears and are very attuned with nature. They guard both Ookami-sama's shrine and also the forest." She took a breath. "Going there will take two days at least."

"Hmm..." Iroha hummed in thought. If the divination really was incomplete and she wasn't just being slightly paranoid, this would most likely only be a small percentage of the trial. It will likely take more than a few weeks. "Will the village be okay without you for a long time?" Iroha asked. "The divination mentioned the shrine maiden journeying with the Kazama, so you'll be coming with me."

"They'll be fine without me." She quickly said. Too quickly. Iroha noted. "It's only a few weeks. The Ookami wolves also partially protect this village. In the shrine maiden's absense, it's said that the wolves pick up the role in place of the shrine maiden." She picked both the plates up and stood. "I'll clean up the plates. You can go ahead and pack your things."

"Huh?" The sudden change in topic made Iroha blink. "Are we going to head out right now?" She had only spent a night in Sakura, Iroha was hoping she could atleast talk to a few of the villagers, see if they maybe knew her mother. The Kazamas all make their way here on their trial after all.

"Well I did say the travel to Alfar forest will take two days. It's better to start early." The shrine maiden stopped at the door. "You can go on ahead so you can talk with the villagers if you want, just wait at the gate when you're done, I have something to do." She exited the shrine's living room without waiting for a response. Iroha just sat there, still a bit confused.

"She told me to pack up so..." The swordswoman stood up and picked up her sword's sheath...and that was it for her things. She didn't really bring too much. Most of her tools or items were on the cloth bag she kept with her at all times, and she had already tied it around her torso upon waking up. "It's like she read my mind. Maybe the Sakura God gives that ability to their shrine maidens?" Iroha walked out the shrine, sliding the door behind her shut.

Miko stayed near the door to the living room until she heard the door slide shut. As it did she let out a sigh. She put the plates away in the kitchen, gave them a quick but thorough enough wash that they were clean, and went behind the shrine. There she approached gravestone. It looked worn down and old, but that it had been occasionally cleaned.

Here lies Sakura Saishi

A loving mother and dutiful Shrine Maiden

A tragic accident in battle with a Po//ore

The last word was scratched out, as if someone came here and hid the name. Miko closed her eyes and clapsed her hands together.

"Mom." She began. "Yesterday at night a Kazama approached the shrine, just like you said they would. Auntie Ookami's wolf gave the divination, and I'm supposed to go on a journey with her. I won't be here for a while. I...I'll be leaving the village." She clenched her hands harder, causing them to start hurting. She felt a hand of some kind place itself on her shoulder, but didn't bother looking. She tried before, and she wouldn't see anything. "I don't know if I can do it, but it's part of my duties as the shrine maiden. I'll be going now. Bye mom. I love you" She bowed before unclasping her hands and stepping away.

"Hey young miss!" Iroha turned around at the voice of a young man. "Over here!" She turned around again and saw a person waving at her. He was behind a counter that was displaying various fish. A fish store. Iroha approached. "Hey, I was looking outside my window last night. You spent the night at the Sakura maiden's right?"

"Yes? Is there something wrong with that?" Iroha nodded.

"You should probably go get blessed soon then, by someone else." He said. "She's a good girl, that Sakura, but...when she took over everyone started noticing this dark aura following her around, haunting her." Iroha tensed. She didn't notice anything of the sort. "I know, seems a bit fishy, but we don't really trust that...thing. Like I said, she's a good girl, but the villagers here don't want to risk it. She doesn't seem to see it either, so everyone here is conflicted." He sighed. "You seem like someone with a good head on your shoulders. If something happens, don't blame it on her, okay?"

"Of course." Iroha nodded. "She seems nice, I would never blame her for something that was out of her control."

"Proving my point." The man smiled. "Now, sorry for taking your time. You should get going." He relaxed. "That is unless you wish to buy from my wares of course." He grinned. "We've got high quality fish here, freshly caught straight from the nearby river! The bass here is only 150 yen!"

"That is tempting." Iroha hummed. "But unfortunately I do have to get going." She bowed.

"It's fine, I get it." The man waved his arm to the side. "If you pass the gates, say hi to old man Gado for me." Iroha waved at him as she continued looking around the settlement. Walking around she saw that all the villagers were, well, villagers. Going about their day simply living life. It reminded her of Nasu Mura, but with slightly less people. Mothers were taking their children out, their children were playing with other children, and the fathers were working hard to earn money and make a living. She could see kites in the sky, riding the wind on strings. A meow below her made Iroha stop walking. She looked down and saw a cat.

"Aww." She bent down and rubbed the cat's head, the purr making a pleasant sensation on her hands. She pulled her hands back before long. The feline looked at her for a bit longer before eventually walking away. "So cute~" Iroha stood back up and continued walking. "I wonder if they sell eggplants anywhere." Eventually she found a store that sold eggplants. She happily approached and bought three and stored them away. She found herself nearing the gate. "Sakura-san said to wait at the gate. Maybe I can sit down?" She went to a nearby store that sold food and bought two sticks of dango before sitting down and taking her time with eating them. It wasn't too long before she saw Miko approaching right as she finished the second stick. She put the sticks away, intending to trash them later, and stood up. "Sakura-san!" Iroha waved as Miko walked up to her.

"Kazama-san." She held up a hand. She wasn't holding much. Just a small bag, her gohei, and likely some food. There was just one more thing Iroha noticed though, something that wasn't there before. "Are you ready to go?" She shrine maiden rubbed her arm uncomfortably. Some of villagers that were roaming about the roads suddenly disappeared. Iroha caught sight of one of the mothers ushering their son to head inside. Some of the shops suddenly closed up despite it being too early. A few villagers were still out and about, but they were noticably trying to avoid the shrine maiden. Normally Iroha would be wondering why, but she could feel something floating next to the girl. It felt dark, almost psychotic. It was like the man said though, the...thing, didn't seem to be doing anything to anyone.

"Y -yeah." Iroha nodded nervously. She could only sense it, but the villagers clearly felt it much stronger. Maybe they can see it because they've been around it for so long? "I already talked to some of the villagers, so I'm ready to head out." The two approached the gate.

"Hey Sakura-can, and Kazama-san too." The older guard from yesterday greeted them. The younger guard was there, but he only nodded at them when he saw Miko. "Are you heading out for the Kazama Trials?"

"Yes." Iroha nodded. "I was told to go towards the Mother Wolf."

"Ah Ookami-sama." He hummed. "Good luck." He turned to Miko."Sakura-chan. You're going with her right?"

"Yes." Miko nodded. "You don't seem too surprised."

"Your mother also went with the previous Kazama on her trial." The guard answered. This shocked the girls. "Your mothers were both good friends. When Saishi-san came back wounded and battered to all of the Hells, she looked like she had the funnest time of her life." He smiled, reminiscing. "I can only hope you have a similar experience." He put a hand on Miko's head and gently rubbed it. "Stay safe out there, okay?" Miko's eyes widened. She stayed there, letting him rub her head affectionately as her eyes watered up.

"...I will." She wiped her eyes and smiled. She turned to Iroha. "Let's go, Kazama." The Kazama only nodded with her own smile before walking ahead. For the first time in a while, the guard saw Miko walk with a genuine smile on her face.

"Hey." He called out towards the two. "Take care of her." He said. Iroha blinked. She thought he was talking to her, but something told her he was talking to something else. Nevertheless, she nodded. When the two were far enough Iroha glanced at Miko. The shrine maiden's face was very bright. She had wide smile that refused to leave her face.

"Our mothers also took the same journey." Iroha suddenly said. Miko glanced at her before looking ahead again. "I wonder how close they were."

"I think they were close friends." Miko said. "My mom only ever used her first name when talking about the previous Kazama. She also had this nostalgic look on her face."

"Do you think we'll be as close as they were?"

"...I don't know." Miko hummed. "Maybe."

"...good riddance." The younger guard said when the two were far away enough. "That dark spirit is still around her. I can only hope that samurai girl doesn't get into trouble with her."

"Watch your, Tate." The older guard frowned.

"But Gado-san, that is clearly a ghost haunting her!" Tate shot back. "What kind of shrine maiden doesn't notice that and exterminates it!?"

"Grief does many things to a person." Gado faced Tate with a glare, causing him to flinch. "Ignorance is just one of them. Say anything more about her and I'll have to remind you why I'm the only guard of Sakura village that's lived past their 30s."

"...yes, sir." The younger guard was silent for the rest of the morning until lunch time came.

The spirit following Miko floated shortly behind the two girls. Their invisible lips curved up slightly as it thought about the request from Gado.

Don't worry Gado-san. I'll make sure to protect her

Chapter Text

Now that they were off from Sakura Village and on the road towards Alfar Forest, Kazama Iroha and Sakura Miko walked in relative silence. The wind felt pleasant, flowing their two sets of hair this time. The air was fresh as always, and the temperature was neither too hot nor too cold, just perfect. The only thing that was off would be the strange spirit that was apparently following Miko, but nothing happened so far, so Iroha wouldn't pay it any attention for now.

The first day consisted of them just travelling as far as they could. When they reached a small river and saw that the sun was already about to set, they decided to set up camp and rest there.

"I uh...forgot to buy food for dinner, heeheehee~" Iroha sheepishly admitted. Miko shook her head after giving her a 'really?' expression. "Sorry."

"It's fine, I brought more food than should be expected for a two day journey anyway." Miko gave Iroha her share of dinner before making another share for herself. It was some fish that was cooked very well.

"You're very good at cooking." Iroha complimented. "It's almost as good as Shirakami-sama's." She took another bite. "Where'd you learn how to cook, if it's not too much to ask?"

"It's fine." Miko said after a moment. "I learned it as a hobby." She lied. "Whenever I saw my mother cooking she always had so much fun. I helped out sometimes, and I thought it was fun too, so I just sort of picked it up." Iroha could tell it was a lie, and Miko could tell that Iroha could tell. Miko stayed silent, waiting for Iroha to call her out on the lie.

"That's a nice hobby." Miko looked at the swordswoman in surprise. "Cooking is a nice hobby. I tried to cook a few times, but uh...I'm not that good at it."

"It can't be that bad." Miko, once again, lied. It took her a while to get good at cooking because she had to learn everything essentially from scratch. Her mother taught her a few things when she was still present, but other than eggs she was clueless.

"I set water on fire." A blink. And another blink.

"What?"

"I...set water on fire." The swordswoman laughed. "It wasn't alcohol either, Shirakami-sama had a sip and confirmed that it was not sake."

"How...how on Kabakopu did you manage to burn water!?" The shrine maiden turned her whole body towards the girl. Even when she was absolutely clueless on cooking, she never set fire on water. It was impossible! Milk can get burned, sake can be set on fire, anything else can be set on fire, but plain, normal water!?

"Even Shirakami-sama was dumbfounded." Iroha giggled. "Obviously I was never let into the kitchen again after that. I've had to rely on Shirakami-sama coming over to our house to cook. Sometimes it was our neighbours, but it was mostly Shirakami-sama." Miko wasn't very perceptive, but even she saw that there was something wrong with what Iroha said. Since she respected Miko's privacy though, she wouldn't pry. They spent another hour just talking at the campfire before they eventually had to go to sleep.

"Good night, Sakura-san!" Iroha called from her branch. For whatever reason Miko couldn't quiet understand, Iroha chose to sleep on a branch in the trees.

"Good night, Kazama-san." Miko responded, before pulling the blanket over herself and closing her eyes.

"Mom!" Miko's voice shouted desperately. "Mom, I'm scared!" She grabbed her mother's sleeves tightly.

"It's going to be alright, Miko." Saishi gently rubbed Miko's head. The small shelter shook as something impacted the walls. "Miko, I want you to listen to me. I need you to stay in here and not make a single noise or move until either I or Gado come find you, alright?" She instructed quietly.

"O-okay, but what about you mom?" The young Miko asked. It was natural, she was still a child after all.

"Mom is going to go take care of the big bad monster outside." The mother said. "Now do as I say, alright?" Miko nodded. Another shake made her flinch. Saishi leaned into Miko's forehead and gave her a gentle kiss, rubbing the back of her head again. "Stay safe alright? I love you." She gave her a brief but tight hug before letting go.

Another shake.

"I love you too mom, stay safe!" Miko gave her one last hug,

Another shake.

"Just hold on for a moment-"

Shake

"Mom will-"

Shake

Shake

"-be back"

"Sakura-san!" Miko is woken up by excessive shaking.

"K-Kazama-san?" Miko blinked awake. "Wh- what's-"

"No time! There's a giant Tiger!" The roar of a tiger all but confirmed her words. Miko immediately forced herself into alerted mode and grabbed her gohei. The two girls leapt away from the tent just as the Tiger's form crash through it. "Sakura-san, I know it's not the time to focus on it, but do you see anything wrong with the tiger?" Miko had to squint her eyes a bit because of the darkness. it was probably around midnight after all. When she looked closer, Miko could see that the black stripes on the tiger seemed unnatural, and the eyes weren't those of a tiger's. A black substance was shooting out from the upper face too.

"What...what is that?" Miko asked, before scrunching her nose up. There was a foul stench. "Is it a dead body?"

"It looks like it." Iroha held her sword out. The tiger stayed completely still, staring at Iroha. Everyone stayed silent. 1. 2. 3. ...! "Sakura-san!" Iroha turned around and leapt at Miko, pushing her away as the Tiger swung at her, the arm elongating somehow. Rolling on the ground, Iroha let Miko go and swung her own sword at the tiger.

"Wha-" Miko took a second to recover from the sudden leaping. She took out a talisman and held it between her fingers. "Color of Suzaku!" The tag lit on fire as she threw it at the tiger's eyes. Midair the talisman burned up and the flames turned into a small bird. It hit the tiger's eyes, causing it to grab at it's face in pain. Iroha took the opportunity swing her sword at one arm, cutting it off completely. The animal roared loudly, making Iroha have to cover her ears in pain. Before she could recover, the tiger used it's other arm to swat Iroha away.

"Agh!" The swordswoman crashed against a tree and landed on the ground, struggling to get up from the impact. "Oh gods it hurts-!" She groaned. Her back was in pain. A roar made her look up. The tiger was approaching her, so she quickly rolled away.

"Color of Genbu!" Miko shouted. Four talismans were thrown on the ground around the tiger, and the ground rose up to trap the animal. "Kazama-san, can you get up?" The shrine maiden approached the downed Kazama.

"Yeah, it's going to be a bit difficult to fight though." Kazama wheezed. Her lungs were out of air. The Sakura maiden placed a talisman on Iroha's forehead, confusing her. She held her had out and closed her eyes. "Flower of Healing." A light surrounded Iroha. When it dimmed down, she noticed that her back wasn't in as much pain anymore. "There."

"Thanks!" Iroha smiled at the shrine maiden. "Now, we still have a tiger to kill." She held up her sword again. Right as she did, another roar sounded as the earth walls exploded. Iroha swung her sword at a debris, cutting it in half. "Sakura-san, can you keep it occupied with the fire spells?" Miko nodded. With a grin, Iroha rushed at the tiger. The big cat roared, preparing to swing it's now regrown arm, noticably almost pitch black. Iroha dodged a swing and swerved to the side. Two fireballs hit the tiger; causing it to flinch as Iroha gave it more cuts.

The swordswoman continued to work in tandem with the shrine maiden to dodge and retaliate the tiger's swings. Bit by bit, Iroha cut off all the limbs before leaping into the air and beheading the tiger as she came to the ground. The head landed on the ground with a thud, and with another thud the body went limp. Iroha jumped back towards Miko, keeping an eye on the black substance. The substance twitched several times before it crawled off of the tiger's corpse, eventually reaching the ground and getting smaller and smaller. Miko shot another fireball at it, but the black substance completely seeped into the ground before it could. The two stayed where they were a bit more, just in case something happened, but Iroha eventually sheathed her sword.

"I think we can approach the corpse." Miko went ahead, slowly walking closer to the tiger while holding her nose. "...it's been dead for well over a week now." Maybe. Neither of them were that knowledgable about telling when someone or something died, but if the corpse was rotting with maggots everywhere it was obvious it had probably been dead for a while now. Using another talisman Miko decided to completely burn the corpse. Right after the corpse was burned, Iroha and Miko ran back to the campsite and looked around.

They searched for any missing items, and found that the only thing missing was some food.

"We have enough for breakfast tomorrow, but just that." Iroha pursed her lips. "I can catch some fish for lunch, but I don't know what we can do for dinner."

"We should arrive at Alfar before dinner, so I don't think we have to worry about that." Miko provided. "...thanks for cutting the debris infront of me as well by the way."

"Huh?" Iroha blinked. "O-oh, of course. I can't just leave a friend to get hit by the debris." She nervously laughed. Miko froze, but recovered. The shrine maiden walked ahead to set the sleeping arrangements back up and try to get some more sleep. Iroha looked back at the two sets of sliced debris. One was obviously the one she cut, but the other one...Iroha thought maybe Miko used a wind spell to cut it. Wind can be dangerous enough to cut after all. If it wasn't Miko...what saved her? Iroha blinked. There was a blue, ghostly figure sitting on the ground with a battle axe on her shoulders. She blinked again, and it was gone. Iroha rubbed her eyes. Still not there. The swordswoman hastily walked back to her tree and jumped on the branch, hoping to get some more sleep instead of thinking too hard about it.

...

...

Miko opened her eyes and stared at the sky. She couldn't sleep. The memo-...the dream from earlier, and the fight with that thing earlier were still fresh on her mind. She tried to close her eyes when she heard the sound of cinders.

"Huh?" She sat up and looked towards the campfire. It was on, lit up brightly. She also heard the sound of cloth of some kind rustling around. Miko stood up and walked over to the campfire. There, she saw Iroha working on her sword. "Can't sleep?" Iroha had to stop herself from jumping at the voice.

"Sakura-san?" Iroha glanced back. "You're awake too?"

"I guess I wasn't as sleepy as I thought." Miko shrugged, sitting down next to Iroha and watching her work. Iroha wiped her blade, sweeping the blood from the tiger off. "What's Nasu Mura like?" Iroha stopped, giving the question a lot of thought. There was a long silence as she thought. "Nevermind, it was just a random tho-"

"It's nice." She resumed working on her blade, interrupting Miko. "It's pleasant, peaceful. Shirakami-san is a wonderful and kind protector. The whole village is friendly with eachother." She slid the blade back into the handle and hammered the pegs back in with precision. "When someone's in trouble, everyone helps out, if someone has a birthday, everyone celebrates it. Sometimes it gets a bit tiring, but it feels like one big family." Miko stayed silent, letting her continue. "A strange family, but a family. I would never want to leave it."

"..."

"But the bird has to leave it's nest eventually." She said. "I don't have to take on the Kazama Trials. My mom returned from hers perfectly fine, so at first I was told that I should take it, but..." Iroha trailed off. "At some point they told me I didn't have to, they actually asked that I didn't. Shirakami-sama told me that it was the first time the Kazama family didn't want their heir to do the trial." Miko stayed silent. Wrapping the cloth around the handle, Iroha sheathed the sword and store it away. "It's getting late. We should try to hit the hay." She stood up, abruptly ending the topic.

"Yeah." Miko stood up, approaching her futon. When she was about to sleep, she glanced at Iroha just as she jumped onto the branch.

"KYAH!?"...right as she fell down to the ground, the branch breaking off. "Am I that heavy!?" She groaned in pain. The branch had been hit by some of the debris from Miko's earth cage, and was considerably weakened. Miko snorted. "Hey!" She started laughing. Before long Iroha was also laughing. They both couldn't stop laughing for a good minute until they both calmed down.

"Do you want to sleep in my futon with me? There's enough room." Miko offered. They were both girls, so it wouldn't really matter.

"I'd love to, but I'm a known cuddler just so you know." Iroha stood up.

"Well the nights have been getting colder lately." Miko shrugged. "They say close contact is a good way to get warmth."

"I'll take you up on the offer then."

Chapter Text

Despite technically sleeping twice in a row, Iroha and Miko were extra tired when they resumed their journey towards Alfar. While they were walking, every few minutes they would both yawn collectively and then laugh about how in synch they were afterwards. Despite them only meeting 3 days prior, technically two since Iroha first met Miko at night, they were already building a strong friendship.

"-And after that I did a backflip and swung my stick around randomly." Iroha explained. "Somehow that let me deflect every single thing thrown at me perfectly." Miko was already giggling at the ridiculousness of it. "To make it even better, because of my adrenaline, when I accidentally landed in a cool pose I just stood up and didn't say anything about it! Everyone was calling me a ninja for so long after that!" They both fell into a laughing fit.

"I don't know whether to think you have a lot of good luck or if you just have a lot of bad luck." Miko wiped a tear off of her eyes. "How do these things keep on happening to you?"

"I have no idea!" Iroha laughed. "They just happen! But that's why, if you ever ask the kids at Nasu Mura about me, they'll talk about me like I'm some master ninja that can do anything and everything."

"I don't think you showing them how to breath from a bamboo stick underwater helped." The shrine maiden giggled.

"Probably now, hehe~" The swordswoman rubbed her neck. She looked ahead and was surprised. "Oh, the forest!" Miko looked ahead as well and saw the line of trees in the distance.

"Not too long now then." Miko smiled. "Just in time too, it's going to start becoming dark soon." She looked up and check the position of the sun. "Back to the other topic, since you were called a ninja a lot, did you ever play pretend?"

"Of course I did~" Grinning, Iroha backflipped ahead and drew her sword. She spun around and point her sword in the air infront of her. "I am the great shinobi, Fuuma Iroha de gozaru! Hahah-" A thunk interrupted Iroha's laugh as she felt her sword get hit by something. "Huh?" She looked at her sword for any chips.

"Uh, look at your feet." Miko said. Iroha took her eyes away from her sword and to the ground. There she saw an arrow stuck to the ground.

"Did I just...?"

"Wow your luck is way too good." Miko nervously. She didn't fail to realize that there was a real possibility Iroha could have died just then. Iroha, however, seemed to ignore that thought completely, or never had it in the first place, as she quickly sheathed her sword and picked the arrow up and safely stored it. "Why would they shoot at us though? Mom said they're usually very friendly."

"It's fine, let's just continue!" Iroha shrugged. She had an inkling of an idea why they would be attacked. Miko did as well. Nevertheless, reluctantly, Miko continued to walk with Iroha. Not too long after another arrow was shot on the ground infront of Iroha, this time with a note. She picked the arrow up and read the note. "Oh wow this is good quality paper." She noted. "Dear Kazama warrior and Sakura maiden, please forgive us for the arrow earlier. We recently promoted a new Elf to guard archer and she is just more cautious than most. Please do not hold this against us." She read out. "Elf? What's an Elf?"

"I think that's what they're called?" Miko offered. "Shizen is just the Eastern term, but they do have their own names in their own language."

"Ooh okay." Iroha hummed. "Well atleast they apologized. A weird way of apologizing, but they apologized." She shrugged, putting the note away. "They have really good eye sight though, we're still miles away."

"A lot of Shizen are archers after all." The shrine maiden nodded as they both resumed their walk. "They need the fantastic eye sight." They both continued to walk, and about half an hour later they were close enough to the gate that the guards saw them. Two woman waved at them.

"Hello!" Iroha greeted. She and Miko blushed a bit. The Shizen, or Elves as they were, were beautiful. Being attuned with nature seemed to give them this natural beauty that didn't need anything like make up. Both the elven woman were very pretty.

"Greetings~" The guards did the same, bowing. "From your appearances, you two must be the new generation's Kazama warrior and Sakura maiden, yes?" The two nodded. "Excellent, we've been expecting you two for a while now." She smiled at them. Her pointy ears twitched. "Please head inside the village. FLARE!" The elf looked in another direction, cupping her mouth. A second later an elf with darker skin and orange hair walked up to her.

"What?" She crossed her arms, and uninterested look on her face. Despite the expression, Iroha and Miko still thought she was pretty.

"As punishment for almost killing this generation's Kazama and Sakura, I want you to escort them." The guard said.

"...alright." Flare only nodded, looking down in slight shame at her mistake.

"Oh she's the one who shot the arrow?" Iroha blinked.

"Yes, and she is very sorry for that, yes?" The elf guard nodded.

"There's no need! Seeing the arrow be shot from so far and still hit my blade was impressive." The swordswoman beamed. "You must be very skilled with the bow!" Flare looked surprised. She was expecting the swordswoman to be more mad at her, there was a very real possibility she could have died just then after all.

"I-" The dark elf blinked. The guard next to her was also surprised, buts he smiled.

"I'm glad you don't take any offense to that then." She crossed her own arms. "But indeed, her skills are impressive. Flare here is one of our best archers this generation!"

"I'm still sorry for shooting at you though." Flare bowed. When she came back up she briefly glanced past Miko, something Iroha didn't fail to notice. "I'll escort you to our village hall." Flare walked ahead to lead the two, but was stopped by the other guard.

"Sylphy, what are you doing?" The guard frowned.

"That's what you should be asking Flare." The elf named Sylphy scowled. "I know you can't see the spirit because of your disability, but Flare can clearly see it. The spirit that's haunting the shrine maiden." Miko's face remained neutral as Tifania looked at her. "If she's truly a shrine maiden of the Sakura why is she not exterminating it? It's her job to lead souls to the afterlife." She then pointed a finger at Flare. "Are you trying to let a vengeful spirit into our village, Flare!?"

"What!?" Flare turned around at the accusation, anger on her face. "Don't just accu-"

"Why else would you not try and expose the shrine maiden then!?" Iroha glanced at Miko, who only looked down. "If she doesn't see the spirit next to her then she's haunted, we can't let her into the village even if the swordswoman is truly a Kazama!" Some of the elves from inside the village were looking at the entrance at the commotion. "This just goes to show what you Dark Elves are still a sta-"

"That's enough, Sylphy." Tifania seemed to command. The tone of her voice was completely normal, yet it compelled everyone to pay attention to her and her alone. "Use that word and I will not hesitate to initiate a duel." Sylphy flinched.

"...Fine." She spun around and began walking away. "Let the damn spirit in. Why does anyone even trust that damn Dark Elf." She grumbled. Iroha and Miko shifted uncomfortably.

"Flare, put your hand away from your quiver." The elf guard didn't need to look Flare's way.

"..yes." Slowly, the dark elf put her weapons away as both the elves took deep breaths to calm themselves down. "I keep on saying that I'm not..." She grumbled under her breath.

"I'm very sorry you had to see that." Tifania turned to the two non elves. "I'll ask the inn to let you stay for a few nights on a discount as compensation."

"No no it's fine, we can't possibly impose on you more." Iroha shook her head.

"It's perfectly fine." The elf guard reassured her. "If it isn't compensation for the display earlier, then consider it a gift to this generation's Kazama and Sakura. Your mother helped out village a lot when she came."

"You knew my mother?" Iroha blinked.

"Of course, in fact everyone in the village knows her." She smiled. "Now go on in, it's getting late and you should atleast check into the inn." She handed flare a piece of paper.

"Follow me." Flare said, beginning to walk again. There was more agression in her steps, almost stomping with each step.

"See you Tifania-san, thank you for welcoming us!" Iroha waved as she followed the dark elf. Miko bowed before following. The village of elves was very new to Miko and Iroha. Compared to Nasu Mura and Sakura Village, the buildings here were mostly made from building inside of the tree trunks, with doors and window frames being made completely of wood. There didn't seem to be glass, with windows having the holes filled in with some kind of transparent magical substance. There were elves of all kind here, with the oldest looking ones only looking like slightly older adults. The younger elves looked younger than even young human adults, as if they weren't of age yet. "Um..." Flare glanced behind her at Iroha, before turning her head so she could see where she was walking. "Can I ask what that was about?"

"Dark Elves and Elves have...history with eachother." Flare began. "Elves are the fair skinned, considered more 'pure' eons ago. Dark Elves, in contrast, are mostly dark skinned, considered 'tainted' and not as pure. They obviously didn't like eachother for a while. Over the years the tensions calmed down, and they sometimes intermingle. They even have interpersonal relationships now." She lightly laughed. "As you can see though, some of that mindset is still there, you'll see it still from the older elves here." She spoke as little as possible, trying not to talk about the topic.

"I see." Miko thought for a moment, before opening her mouth. "Why did you decide to let me in?" Both the dark elf and Iroha stopped walking, looking back at Miko. "You and the other elf, uh..."

"Sylphy."

"Yeah, Sylphy. She said you could both see a spirit haunting me." She said. "Despite that, why did you let me in?"

"Well I can tell you've atleast felt the spirit." Flare said. Miko looked at her. "Despite the fact that it's a spirit that's haunting you, a shrine maiden, neither you nor your companion seem to mind it much." She began to walk again, with the other two following. "I'm sure you've heard that us elves are very attuned to nature, and while that is mostly true there is one thing that everyone forgets to mention." She turned a corner. "We're also able to see and partially interact with spirits, though some aren't capable of their own communication yet even if we can see them. Spirits are...weird. They don't usually get attached to someone so strongly, so the arrow I shot at you two really was just a warning, no idea how it managed to hit your blade though, I guess I'm just a bit off my game today." This made Iroha nervously laugh. "I let you in because I got a good look at the spirit and I could tell it meant no harm." She eventually stopped infront of a building. "We're here. I'll go check out your rooms for you, Captain Tifania already gave me the letter to give to the reception." Iroha and Miko went into the lobby with Flare and let the Dark Elf approach the reception. Iroha noticed something drop from Flare's clothes.

"Ah, Flare-sa..." Iroha tried to call out, but Flare was already a bit far away. "Huh." She bent down and picked the object up.

"What is it?" Miko looked over.

"Flare-san dropped this." Iroha stood back up and looked at the object. It was a small wooden carving of a bird holding a bow. "Cute." She pocketed it for now. "I'll give it back to her later." Miko and Iroha glanced over at Flare in the distance and watched her hand the receptionist the letter. The receptionist, also an elf, looked surprised before sitting up and going through a door to the back. A few minutes later she came back with two sets of keys. They saw Flare bow slightly and look back at them, gesturing for them to come over.

"These are your keys, rooms 207 and 208." Flare handed them both the keys. Iroha got 207 and Miko got 208. "Your rooms are actually near mine. My room is 206. If you ever need anything from me you can probably find me there. If I'm not there then try to find the archery grounds.

"Actually..." Miko spoke up. "If it doesn't trouble you, can I...choose to sleep in Iroha's room?" Iroha blinked. "I don't feel like sleeping in my own room."

"Huh?" Iroha didn't know what to say.

"Sure." Flare nodded, understanding in her voice. "It's because of the stares from earlier right?" Miko hesitated, but nodded. "Like I said, all the elves here can see the spirit next to you, so they're all a little cautious." Iroha's eyes widened. She was so focused on admiring the village itself that she didn't notice any stares directed at Miko. "I'll just go return this key then."

"Oh wait." Iroha reached into her pocket as Flare looked at her. "You dropped this by the way." She held out the small wooden bird. Flare's face turned red as she quickly snatched it.

"T-thanks." She mumbled before hurrying to the reception.

"Huh?" Iroha blinked.

"What's wrong?" Miko asked.

"N-Nothing." She swordswoman shook her head. When Flare swiped her hand and the momentum carried part of her sleeves, she thought she saw a bit of lighter skin under the clothing. Was she really a Dark Elf like Sylphy called her?

Chapter Text

They had arrived in Alfar Village yesterday. Despite that, Iroha and Miko wouldn't go visit the Den just yet. They were allowed to stay at the inn free of charge for a few nights, so they would take full advantage of that. Flare, the dark elf they met, was currently showing the two around the village. Miko of course stayed as close to iroha as she could to avoid the stares from the other elves.

"And this here is the path to the bathhouse." Flare presented. Miko and Iroha's eyes lit up.

"A bathhouse!?" Miko echoed. "A real, live, bathhouse!?"

"I-it's just a bathouse." Flare sweatdropped. "Have you two never seen one before?"

"No." Iroha and Miko shook their heads. "They're not that common, but there's no one in Yamato who hasn't heard of them!"

"Really?" The elf blinked. "I guess they are kind of expensive to build."  She hummed. "Though an open air one would be much cheaper...I'll have to ask the chief about it later." She shrugged. "I can pay for your entries later if you want." She giggled at the look of worship from the two. "Not now though, it's still too early." Iroha and Miko immediately slumped their shoulders in disappointment, earning another laugh from the elf. "Hey don't give me those faces, I still have one more place to show you." The girls recovered just as quickly.

"There's still more?" Iroha was excited. "What could it be?"

"You'll see." Flare began to lead them in one direction. "As a warrior yourself, I think you'll like it." The girls could only blink in confusion, wondering what it was.

Flare, as Iroha would find out, was 100% right. The place she took Iroha and Miko to was the training grounds of Alfar Village. In other words, it was the place all the fighters and warriors went to for training. Iroha's eyes lit up in wonder as she observed all the elves sparring with each other, swords swinging against swords, metal striking metal, and even the archers who practiced by shooting at the targets placed within the trees.

"So many skilled fighters!" Iroha whipped her head around, trying to take in everything. Miko, while a bit less enthusiastic, was looking in interest at a different corner of the training grounds. There was a field where several elves wielded staffs, and were firing spells all over the place. The shrine maiden observed the magic circles forming in the air with wonder as they shot off fireballs, invisible cuts of air, streams of water, even strikes of lightning.

"I knew you'd like it." Flare laughed. "As a warrior myself, I can tell when another person's a warrior through their eyes. Though you being a Kazama and the sword definitely helped a bit."

"Flare!" The elf turned around and saw another elf approaching her. "You're finally here, I see you brought foreign guests as well." He looked at the group. He flinched when he looked next to Miko, but didn't point out the spirit there. "That hair...are they?"

"Yep, they're this generation's Kazama and Sakura."

"I thought so." He laughed. "I'd recognize those hair colors anywhere!"

"You knew our mothers?" Iroha asked as Miko looked their way, a new interest in the topic.

"Young miss we elves live a long time, we knew your mothers, your mother's mothers, and even more than that!" He smiled at the wide eyes on the girl's faces. "Flare-chan here is probably the only elf who hasn't seen more than just your mothers, but that's because she's still relatively young."

"I'm not that young." Flare laughed. "Anyway, I have to instruct some of the new recruits right?"

"Yep, we were just waiting for you." The older elf nodded. "Go on ahead, I'll show these girls around."

"Just don't let them near Sylphie." The younger elf nodded. "You're probably one of the only elves I would trust them with."

"I'm honored." He laughed.

"I'll see you girls later at the bathouse, kay?" Flare turned to Iroha and Miko. They waved at Flare as she went away before turning to the older elf.

"Alright, just keep close to me for now." He said. "We elves are still a bit wary about spirits so forgive us if any of them look at you weirdly." He looked at Miko apologetically. "Anyway, I guess I should introduce myself. I am Zel. Now you might have noticed we don't really give out last names around here." He decided to tell them something he suspected wasn't told to them before.

"I was wondering that." Iroha rubbed her head. "I'm so used to using last names with everyone I meet, only knowing Flare-san's first name is a first for me."

"There is a reason for that." Zel laughed. "We elves don't really have last names. We have our own families, obviously, but if we ever need to introduce ourselves with our 'full' names, we use our village name as our family name. There are only a few exceptions, Flare-chan is one of them."

"Flare-san?" Miko looked at him with surprise. "Really?"

"Yep. Her family is somewhat of a golden egg for the village." He nodded, though his brows rose very slightly. He turned around. "Now, follow me." He lead the two to the grounds where all the elf swordsmen and swordswomen were. "This, as you can see, is where our swordsman and swordswoman train." He presented. "Oh, I see someone's interested." He chuckled as Iroha leaned as close as she could to look at the swords being swung around.

"I-I'm sorry!" Iroha reeled back and bowed. "It's just that the Kazama are the only swordsmen in Nasu Mura, it's my first time seeing so many swordsmen and swordswomen in one place." While occasionally a travelling samurai would visit their village, that was it.

"I see." Zel hummed. "I can arrange a spar for you tomorrow if you'd like?"

"I would love that." Iroha smiled. "For today though I'd like to just explore the village a bit more. I'm having a lot of fun just seeing how our cultures differ."

"Watching a spar would be cool." Miko commented.

"I'll be sure to ask one of our warriors then." The elf nodded. "For now, let's continue our tour!"

For the next few minutes Zel would show Iroha and Miko around the training grounds, telling them about the different weapons and fighting styles. Miko learned a bit more about magic outside of her own, and Iroha can now maybe use another weapon if she was given them. They also learned more about Elven military practices. The elves rotate between the different squads, and everytime they have to learn that squad's main weapon. What ends up happening is they can use whatever weapon they need to depending on the situation. The truly exceptional get to choose one weapon to specialize in and master it. According to Zel, Flare is one such example. Flare's family specifically is a family of the best elven archers out of every single elf.

"Flare-san is supposed to be one of the younger elves here right?" Iroha asked.

"That's right." Zel nodded.

"Why is she already specialized in archery and also one of the best then?" Iroha tilted her head. "What is her family?"

"Oh she never told you?" The elf rose a brow. "I just thought you were following Elven customs and using first names." He snorted. "Her family is somewhat famous even outside of elf kind. She's the current heir of the Shiranui family."

"Shiranui!?" Miko's eyes widened. "The family of archers whose skill is unrivaled in all of Yamato!?"

"Huh?" Iroha only blinked.

"The one and only." Zel nodded in pride. "The Shiranui originate from our village, they are our pride." Iroha only looked between the two in confusion. Miko's eyes sparkled with awe as Zel crossed his arms proudly.

"...y-yeah..." She didn't have the heart to tell them she'd never heard of the Shiranui. 

"Wait, if she's a Shiranui then..." Miko brought a fist to her chin. "Why did Sylphy say she's a dark elf?"

"Oh that's just because it's Sylphy, she considers any elf with dark skin a dark elf." Zel shrugged. "She's the only person here who still uses it in a negative light though. Elves like her are more common outside of Alfar. We keep her because, despite her personality, she's a good enough guard to guard the village. She's actually almost as good as Flare at using a bow." He sighed. "If only she wasn't so stuck up. There's no need to worry about her for now though, she should be on duty today." He then glanced to the spirit next Miko, who the shrine maiden herself still couldn't see. "Hm?" He stared at the spot for a few seconds before a clang was heard right infront of Miko's head. The shrine maiden froze before slowly looking down. A broken arrow, cut in half, lay at her feet. Zel immediately turned around and drew his weapon, a longsword. "Sylphy." Iroha went inront of Miko and unsheathed her sword.

"Commander Zel, how unfitting of a pure elf like you to protect that imitation of a shrine maiden." The elf grinned maniacally. "I know everyone here sees the ghost next to her. Why do you all not do anything about it!? Even the non combatant elves are unnerved by her!"

"There might be a spirit next to Sakura-san but it's done nothing to harm her ye-" Iroha was cut off.

"You stay out of this!" Sylphy shouted at her. "If you're truly a Kazama you would have cut down that fake where she was as soon as you felt that spirit! I know you can feel it!" Iroha grit her teeth as Miko shakily brought her gohei up. "It might not have harmed her yet, but that just means she's working with the spirit! Have we all forgotten what these vengeful spirits have done because of this small bit of peace we have!?" She raised her bow and aimed three arrows at the three. The other elves only watched on in confusion and fear. Before long however they all drew their weapons at her.

"What are you doing, aiming your arrow at commander!?"

"You won't get off scott free!"

"Oh and what are you all going to do to me?" The elf scoffed. "You all know you can't even hope to beat me right?" in response, a group of elves wielding swords and spears charged him. Sylphy only needed to side step them, tripping them before aiming all her arrows at their bodies. She let go of the string, and the elves all cried out in pain. "All of you have grown soft, hesitating to draw blood from one another just because we're the same kind, it disgusts me."

"You're not much older than us!" The crowd of elves declared, anger in their voices.

"That just means I'm better than all of you!" She shouted. He raised his bow again and spun, shooting at every single elf and injuring them.

"You will stop this nonse-" Zel rushed at the elf while he was reaching for an arrow, but stopped when Sylphy stabbed him instead of shooting him. "Wha-!?" The commander swung him, but Sylphy stepped back as his legs trembled. His stomach was pierced through, if it wasn't patched up quick he would die very soon. "Who uses an arrow like a sword!?"

"Anything with a sharp enough edge can be used like a blade." The elf answered. The commander tried to swing again but was kicked to the side by Sylphy, who aimed her bow at Miko. Iroha didn't budge, determined to protect her friend. "Move or you'll also get this arrow through your stomach."

"So what?" Iroha held her sword steadier. "Go ahead and shoot!"

"You're the one that told me to." With a snort, Sylphy let go of the arrow. Iroha held her sword up and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the pain...

...it never came.

A clang entered her ears. She opened her eyes and looked at the ground. Two arrows.

"What the hell are you doing, Sylphy." Iroha and Miko looked at the new voice and saw Flare, pure anger on her face as she looked at Sylphy. Her eyes were glowing, her hair rising ever so slightly, wind surging from the ground near her feet. Sylphy took a step back as sweat rolled down her face.

"Flare-san...?" Iroha couldn't believe the expression on Flare's face. She'd never seen it before on anyone. Miko had the same reaction.

"How nice of you to return, Dark Elf." Sylphy took out another arr- no, she took out 10 arrows at once. In response Flare also took out 10 arrows. "I was just about to erase these fakes. I'm only doing the world a fa-"

"Again with that?" Flare interrupted her. "I told you I'm not a dark elf!"

"And I'm telling you that if you have their blood in you then you're just as cursed as a full dark elf!" She let go of the string as 10 arrows flew at Flare. Without missing a beat Flare aimed and shot her own 10 arrows, shooting them all in the air. Sylphy scoffed before leaping to the side and shooting more arrows. Flare didn't bother moving, shooting down her arrows with ease. "Damn you!" She brought out a small rod and tapped the ground, swiping in Flare's direction.

"That rod-!" Flare recognized it. She immediately jumped to her left as a chunk of the ground rose in her direction, attempting to bash her away. "Sakura, raise a wall up!"

"But yo-"

"This is between me and her!" Flare interrupted the shrine maiden. "I've been been tired of her condescending attitude for a while now!" Miko hesitated, but eventually performed a short prayer.

"Genbu, lend me your power and raise a wall to confine these two!" She chanted. A wall of stone rose in a circle, containing both Flare and Sylphy.

"As expected of a dark elf to be so stupid." Sylphy smirked. "Turning this into a one on one was a bad idea, I have spells!" She brought out the rod again but it was shot away.

"You really underestimate me." Flare lowered her bow.

"Heh." He snorted. Flare narrowed her eyes. Sylphy aimed another arrow and shot it at her. She prepared to shoot it down, but hesitated when the arrow suddenly set on fire.

"What!?" She quickly ducked the arrow. "You're using magic without the rod!?"

"Who said a rod was needed for magic!?"

"What!?" Miko and Iroha, while outside the stone barrier, could still hear their conversation.

"Now come at me!" She shouted. "Just try and beat this!" She shot five arrows into the sky, and with a flick of her arm the arrows were guided by the wind towards Flare. The elf girl shot down the five arrows by herself before shooting another one at Sylphy. She simply waved the air to send the arrow straight into the ground. "You can't beat magic! Nothing can beat magic! To think the graceful elves who were once so proficient in magic have been reduced to mere archers in this day and age!" The elf laughed and laughed, one hand on her face.

Flare and Sylphy exchanged more arrows, with Sylphy using wind manipulation to render all of Flare's arrows useless.

"Face it!" Sylphy laughed again. "You'll be dying here and I'll be the one taking over this village! I'll make sure your kind are beaten down like you deserve!" She stopped when an arrow suddenly pierced her ear, cutting it off.

"You talk too much." Flare said. Her eyes were once again glowing.

"Why you-!" The elf raised her hand and the stray arrows rose to the air. She brought her hand down and made the arrows all shoot at Flare. One by one, Flare shot down each arrow from the air. Instead of aiming once again, she rushed at Sylphy. "Wha-!?" The elf stepped back, tripping on a rock. Before she could get up or respond, Flare reached her, the arrow head stopping just before it touched her neck. Behind Flare the wall broke down as Tifania stepped in.

"Good job buying time Flare." Tifania praised her before turning towards Sylphy with a glare. "And you."

"Me." She scoffed.

"You'll be removed from the guards as of immediately and will be arrested." The elf guard announced.

"As if." Sylphy snorted. She took out an orb as it glowed a black light. Despite how dark it was Flare and Tifania had to cover their eyes.

"That darkness!" Miko gasped as she and Iroha stepped in after Tifania.

"I'll be back, and next time I'll be making sure you dark elves are put in your place!" Sylphy grinned as the darkness consumed her before disappearing, no trace of her left except for the orb, now cracked as it fell to the ground.

"Damn it!" Flare punched the ground.

"It's fine." Tifania said. "For now we have to make a report of this to the chief and try to analyze that orb." She picked the orb up. "This is going to be so many long meetings to go through." Tifania muttered under her breath. "Flare, take Kazama and Sakura to the bathouse, I think all of us can use a nice bath to wash away...this." She gestured at the walls.

"Oh I'll put them back, I'm sorry." Miko bowed.

"No no, it's fine. I think the chief can think of something to do with this." Tifania reassured her. "For now just go rest with Flare, because I'm pretty sure none of us are going to be getting any tomorrow." She sighed, shaking her head in annoyance. "Flare?"

"O-oh, yeah." Flare approached Miko and Iroha. "Come on, we'll be taking that offer I gave way sooner than I thought, but atleast it's something." Iroha and Miko looked back at the battlefield before following Flare out of the training grounds.

"Did you do it Sylphy?"

"No, that damn dark elf managed to best me." Sylphy scoffed. "My ear got torn off."

"It's fine, there's always next time, you just have to continue using our services;" The figure laughed. "It is all for the sake of the Polikore after all."

Chapter Text

The sky was dark outside as Flare lead Iroha and Miko to the bathouse. The two non-elves would go in first. Iroha sighed in satisfaction as she lowered herself into the water.

"This feel so good~" She slumped, her body losing all the tension that was previously there from the incident at the training grounds.

"I've been wanting to visit a bathouse since forever~" Miko agreed. She curled up however, hugging her knees. Iroha noticed this and scooped closer to her.

"What's wrong?"

"The spirit that's constantly following me." The shrine maiden began. "I know it means well, it's been protecting me all this time, but...why am I the only one that can't notice it?" Iroha listened intently, not wanting to interrupt. "I know it's there, but for some reason I'm the only one who just can't see it no matter what. Even you see it."

"That's because she's not just a spirit." Flare's voice revealed. Iroha and Miko looked over to the dark skinned elf as she entered their view. The two non elves only stared at her as they saw her tanned body, revealing very light skin on the parts that her clothing covered. The contrast was a bit jarring, but they had to admit it didn't look bad. "D-don't stare, it's embarra- hey, you're bleeding!" She rushed over to Miko.

"N-no, it's fine. Just...taking in the eye candy." Miko covered her nose and coughed. Iroha giggled.

"Perv." Flare covered her chest before they all laughed.

"What do you mean it's not just a spirit though?" Miko asked. "Also she?"

"The spirit following you's a girl." Flare lowered herself into the water next to them. "But yeah, she's not just a spirit. It's not known to everyone, only a select few families in all of the world are given the privilege to even know about it, something about names having power?" She shrugged.

"So what's the spirit following me then?" Miko asked again.

"I want to tell you." Flare said. "I really do. But the family records say that's supposed to be figured out by the person, er, haunted by the spirit." She snorted at the pout from Miko and Iroha. "If you really want to know, just think about it. Why would a spirit be protecting you?" Flare didn't say anything more, telling both the girls that that was all they would hear on the topic. "So how's your first experience with a bathouse?"

"Very refreshing~" Iroha allowed herself to slide further into the water again. "I could stay here forever~"

"Yeah~" Miko nodded.

"Don't, that damages your skin." Flare warned. This got Miko to immediately get up. Iroha, however, continued staying inside the water as Flare laughed. "Not yet dummy, it hasn't been nearly long enough for that to be a possibility." Miko say back down in embarassment. "I've been wondering for a while now, but what's it like outside of Alfar Forest?" Iroha and Miko look at her. "Elves don't really travel away from their home. I'm no exception. You already know about the Shiranui, I heard a bit of your shouting back at the training grounds, but the current head is still out there as far as the rest of the family knows. I'm not really allowed to go outside the forest yet." She stretched her arms. "All I know about Yamato outside of Alfar Forest is just some stories."

"Well the air is fresh." Iroha began. "In a different way from the air inside a forest I mean. The air also feels really nice flowing through your hair."

"Definitely." Miko nods. "The only bad thing is when it's really windy and the wind starts blowing up your skirt, but there's no one around so it isn't that bad."

"It doesn't really get too windy here in Alfar." Flare hummed. "The trees take the brunt of the wind. Doesn't it get lonely out on the road?"

"I mean we have eachother." Iroha gestured towards herself and Miko. "Other then that sometimes there are travelling merchants just, well, travelling or are being attacked by either an animal or bandits. They sometimes have interesting things being sold, and if you talk with them you can get interesting stories. That's just what I've heard from Shirakami-sama though."

"Shirakami-sama?"

"Oh she's the deity that protects Nasu Mura, my village." Iroha provided. "She was there when the village was founded and has been protecting it for...I don't know how long but the village chronicler says she's been there for atleast a few centuries."

"And what happens to those who ask her age?" Flare hummed.

"Oh if someone asks for her age then that night there will be screams." Iroha shrugged. "Whenever someone asks for her age I always get annoyed because those are the nights where I don't really get too much sleep." She dismissed the topic. "Anyway, if you get the chance you should explore the outside more. It's full of different things to experience. Shirakami=sama would sometimes take me out of the village to watch her ward off any youkai that were nearby, and occasionally she'd let me go help her look for some food to bring back to the village, like fish."

"Now I just want to get out of the village." Flare stretched her arms as she got up. "Hmm...maybe I can ask the village chief?" She pondered. "Now that I think about it, when your mothers came here an elf also went with her." This was new information for the girls. "Actually it was the current head of the Shiranui, she never returned though." Her hend clenched into a fist, but Iroha and Miko didn't notice.

"Why don't you come with us then?" Miko suggested. "If our relatives all travelled together, it only makes sense that we do it too."

"Were all the Kazama Trials like this?" Iroha scratched her head. "I feel like it defeats the purpose of the Kazama Trials to always have other people accompany them." She crossed her arms and hummed. "Ah who cares, you should come with us!" Iroha stood up and took both of Flare's hands in her own. "I would love it if we had someone with your eyes to help scope out the area!"

"Well, I can't just refuse a request with those eyes asking me." Flare chuckled. "I'll ask the village chief and we'll see." The blonde let go of her hands and cheered with the shrine maiden. "I already trained someone I think would be able to replace me while I'm gone, so it should be fine." She muttered to herself. The three spent a few more minutes in the waters before deciding that they had been in there long enough. They stood up and exited the waters, grabbing a nice cold drink to refresh themselves with. "I've used this bath house my whole life but I just can't get bored of it." She looked at the two non elves. "Don't drink all the milk you two, we don't have infinite milk." She laughed.

"It's just so good!" Miko sighed, finishing her current bottle. "I think I'm full though so I'll stop."

"Same." Iroha nodded. "I'm going to miss this place when I continue on my way to the Mother Wolf."

"Well it shouldn't take too long. The Den is right near Alfar right?" Miko looked at Flare for confirmation.

"Den...oh, Ookami Shrine." The elf realized what they were talking about. "Yeah, Ookami Shrine is just ahead of Alfar. It should only take half a day to get there actually." She revealed. "Whether or not your business there will take the rest of the day, I have no idea, but it shouldn't take too long."

"Oh, that's great!" Iroha smiled. "I kind of hope it takes a bit though, otherwise it would feel pretty...uh...uneventful? To just go to the shrine, talk, and then return in just a day." She admitted. "It's supposed to be the Kazama Trial after all. Maybe I'll have to fight someone as a test and beat them to pass?"

"Who knows?" Miko shrugged. "I think I remember mom saying something about the previous Kazama having receiving something as proof that she passed her trial, something about a haori and a new sword?"

"A new sword!?" Iroha's eyes sparkled. "I've been using this sword for years now, but it's just the standard sword that every swordsman gets. It was gifted to me by Shirakami-sama, but my mom had her own custom sword she said she got as a reward from somewhere. I always thought it looked so beautiful, if I can get a new sword I thought I would want something just as beautiful as hers, or atleast something that was cool."

"I'm sure you'll get a cool sword." Flare said. "Now, it's getting late. We should go back to our rooms and turn in for the night."

"Alright." The two followed Flare out of the bath house and back to the Inn. After saying a few words to the receptionist, who waved back, they made their way towards their rooms. "Good night, Flare-san!" Iroha waved. 

"Good night you two." Flare nodded at Iroha and Miko before putting her hand on her door knob. Something made her stop from completely turning the knob though. "...huh?" Miko noticed this as Iroha opened their room's door and headed inside.

"What's wrong?" Miko asked.

"I have a bad feeling about my door for some reason." Flare stepped back cautiously.

"Kazama, I'll follow in a bit." Miko told Iroha before going over to Flare's door. She examined the knob a bit, putting her hand on the door and feeling it up. When she got to the knob she froze. A feeling of unease washed over her. It felt familiar. This uneasiness was the same one she felt during the attack from Sylphy. "This feeling..." Miko stepped back and took out an ofuda, placing it on the door knob.

"Where did you just pull that from?" Flare blinked. Miko didn't respond, focusing on the door knob. The ofuda glowed, and soon the door also glowed. From the edges of the door, a dark substance seeped out, floating into the air before disappearing. "What?"

"Someone put a magical trap on your door." Miko said. "It should be mostly fine now, but I'm not as skilled as my mom yet. You should probably find another place to sleep for tonight."

"Damn, my bow and arrows are in there though." She grimaced.

"I can do more, but it'll have to wait for tomorrow." Miko said. "Maybe you can come sleep in our room for now?"

"...sure, I'll take that offer." She sighed.

"I'l go tell Kazama!" Miko gained a slight bounce in her steps. She opened the door and explained the situation to Iroha.

"I don't mind." Iroha smiled. "It's like a big sleepover!" She threw her fists into the air.

"We won't be staying up all night." The elf laughed as she entered the room. "Remember, tomorrow you still have to go to Ookami Shrine."

"Oh yeah, the Mother Wolf." iroha sheepishly rubbed her neck. "Let's turn in for now." She said.

"Yeah, it's getting late." Flare nodded. "...where do I sleep?"

"Oh..uh..." Miko hummed. "I mean these beds are meant for one person but they're big enough for two, you can sleep with one of us?"

"Or maybe Miko can sleep with me and you can have her bed?" iroha suggested. Flare hummed as she thought about the proposal.

"I'm fine with that." She eventually accepted.

"Sweet. I've already slept with her once so this is fine with me too." Miko jumped. Miko and Iroha slept on one bed as Flare tucked herself into the other. The three slept into the night as the day ended.

"I'm not a betting woman, but if I were to make a bet it'd be that these two are more than friends." Flare quietly chuckled to herself as she looked at Iroha and Miko. The two had their limbs all over each other, hugging one another as they both peacefully slept in the morning. "That or they're both cuddly. That could also be the reason." She decided she could let the two sleep in a bit more, yesterday was tiring after all. And then she remembered her own room and it's problem. "Okay nevermind I need my door purged of that weird darkness now so I can atleast get my bow and arrows."

Chapter Text

"And that should be it." Miko wiped the small amount of sweat off of her forehead as Flare's door finished glowing. She put her hand on the knob and shook it a few times. There was no uneasiness anymore. She turned the knob and opened it, nothing happened. "Yep, it should be completely fine now."

"Thanks again, Sakura." Flare bowed.

"It's no problem, Flare-san. Also, you can call me Miko." She said.

"Why doesn't Kazama call you Miko then?" Flare wondered.

"...I never told her to call me Miko." Miko laughed. "I should start calling her Iroha too honestly, it's a bit late to still refer to eachother by our last names."

"Oh definitely, you two were all over eachother." The elf smirked as Miko blushed.

"I told you we aren't like that." She protested. "Anyway, I should catch up to Iroha for now. We'll wait for you."

"Thanks, I just need my bow and quiver." Flare gave a thumb up as Miko went ahead. The elf went into her room and got her things before exiting it, locking the door just to be safe.

Iroha was waiting on a bench in the lobby area, munching on a snack.

"Hey!" Iroha perked up and turned around to see Miko. "Iroha!"

"Oh, Sak- Miko!" Her tongue slipped, not expecting Miko to suddenly use her first name. "First names?"

"Yeah, I thought it was a bit late to still use our last names." She admitted. Iroha thought it made sense, they did sleep together two times now. "What are you eating?"

"Oh, an elf offered it to me as a free sample, said it was advertising for their shop." Iroha swallowed the bite still in her mouth. "I think he called it a...purezuru?"

"Looks nice." Miko sat down next to the swordswoman, eyeing the snack. Iroha noticed the staring and decided to tear off part of the snack.

"Here, have some." She handed it to Miko.

"Thanks!" The shrine maiden happily took it and plopped it in her mouth, chewing. "Oh this is good."

"I know right?" Iroha nodded. "This purezuru is nice."

"Ah, pretzels." Flare walked up to the two. "The beloved snack of Alfar, who gave you that one?"

"A nice elf offered it as a free sample, said I should go to their shop later if I liked it." Iroha answered.

"Must be Old man Licht." She hummed. "He says it's something from before Alfar elves came here to Yamato. Anyway, we can grab breakfast first and then head over to Ookami Shrine."

"That'd be great!" Iroha nodded. "What do we eat though?" Flare suggested a few options, but apparently having multiple options was a bad idea. Miko and Iroha stayed where they were for a while, trying to decide what they wanted. Flare patiently waited next to them as she sat down. Before they could decide, a familiar elf entered the lobby of the inn. "Tifania-san?" Flare and Miko looked over.

"Oh you three are all together, perfect." Tifania approached them. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important? I need to borrow Flare for a bit. It shouldn't take too long."

"Not really, we were just wondering what to eat for breakfast." Iroha shook her head.

"Hmm." The elf warrior crossed her arms. "I can treat you all to something if you'd like? I just need Flare for a bit, but there's this place I wanted to go to for a while now, just never had the chance because of...ugh, all the meetings." She slumped near the end, dreading the concept.

"I don't mind, it's just a meeting." Flare laughed as sweat rolled down her head.

"Don't underetimate how boring meetings are." Tifania glared at Flare before her eyes softened.

"It can't be that bad, right?"

It was, in fact, that bad. Flare came out of the, admittedly very short, meeting absolutely dreading any and all meetings she might have had in the future. When the meeting was done Tifania took everyone to a recently opened seafood restaurant near the gate of Alfar. Iroha and Miko it was good, but that it couldn't beat the seafood at both of their home villages. Nevertheless they enjoyed the breakfast before they parted ways, leaving Iroha, Miko, and Flare to leave the village and begin making their way towards Ookami Shrine. Iroha bought food to last them until lunch, expecting it to take that long. As it turns out however.

"Wow that did not take long at all." Iroha slumped, disappointed at not being able to eat as Miko giggled.

"Well Flare did decide to purchase a cart for us." Miko turned to Flare. "That definitely made the journey much shorter, but are you sure this was worth spending money on?"

"I don't mind. Besides, there's more food here." Flare waved the worry away. Iroha immediately perked up at the mention of more food. Now that they had arrived at the location of Ookami Shrine, Iroha and Miko were surprised at how...Yamato it was. There was a Torii gate leading to a shrine just like at Sakura village, and the architecture was much more like that of Sakura village and Nasu Mura. It was a strange contrast to the elven architecture of Alfar. They also noticed a lot of wolves hanging around the area. They stared at the girls but otherwise didn't do anything. "Thanks again for the ride, ms.driver!' She turned to Iroha and Miko. "Come on, let's go. Wouldn't want to keep Ookami-sama waiting." They made their way towards the shrine, passing under the Torii gates.

"I've been waiting." A motherly voice entered their ears. Flare immediately prostrated herself as Iroha and Miko looked around in confusion.

"O-Ookami-sama?" Iroha guessed. Miko soon copied Flare. The business wasn't exactly about her after all, it was about Iroha. She was the Kazama.

"Indeed." The voice answered. "The three of you should come inside the shrine, you are guests here." On command, the doors to the shrine slid open by themselves. Flare and Miko stood up and followed Iroha. Once inside they sat down on their knees. "I see you made it." Iroha came face to face with a black haired woman in clothing similar to Shirakami-sama's, except they were black and red. The goddess was very clearly a wolf. "Introductions are due. I am Ookami, the goddess of this Shrine."

"K-Kazama Iroha." Iroha bowed.

"Sakura Miko."

"Shiranui Flare." Flare used her full name, respecting the traditions of the shrine.

"Raise your heads, there is no need to be so formal here." Ookami giggled, her voice soothing the three and making them less tense. "You've done well making it here. I saw the commotion with that Elf named Sylphy here. Now, as I understand it, you're of course here for the Kazama Trial, yes?"

"Yes." Iroha nodded.

"You might be expecting something like a grand journey of sorts, but I'm sorry to disappoint you." The goddess sheepishly admitted. "The trial is just to beat someone I train specifically for the trials." Iroha perked up. "Your companions will have to stay out, but they can choose to watch. You may come in!" She turned her head to the side. The door slid open as a girl around Iroha's age came in. Iroha's eyes widened upon seeing that the girl had two horns sprouting from her forehead. She was an oni. She also saw the two swords strapped to her body. "This, Kazama, is who you will be dueling for the trial. Introduce yourself."

"Nakiri Ayame." The girl bowed. "As you can see, I'm an oni." She scratched her neck. Iroha was cautious. She was taught to be careful near Onis. Miko also tensed up, she was taught the same thing by her mother. Flare was the only person who showed no difference in reaction to Ayame. "Yeah, that reaction's expected."

"There is no need to worry, she isn't like the onis you two are told about." Ookami reassured them. "I understand Shirakami wasn't the one who told you about onis?" Iroha nodded as Ayame sat down next to Ookami. "Hm, I remember Iruka telling me about how Nasu Mura viewed Onis. Don't worry, you'll see the truth for yourself when you leave Yamato at some point."

"Wait what?" Did she just say "when I leave Yamato?" 

"Anyway, the trial." Ookami ignored Iroha's reaction. "Even when you're done with your trial here, your journey isn't over, so it's good that you're gathering allies." She nodded approvingly. "Unfortunately, as I said earlier, they cannot help you with your trial. The duel will take place in a special location." Ookami stood up and went to the door. "You have an hour to prepare. You should use this to get to know Ayame, maybe try to guess eachother's fighting styles. You two." She pointed to Miko and Flare. "Come with me, the duel shall be between them and them only."

"Y-yes." Miko and Flare stood up and followed her. Miko looked back at Iroha before closing the door behind her with a bow, leaving the two alone. Iroha and Ayame both sat there for a few seconds in silence, unsure of how to start a conversation with eachother.

"So..." Iroha began. "...two swords?"

"It lets me be more flexible." Ayame scratched her head. "Whenever I use one sword, keeping both my hands on the handle all the time just feels so stiff."

"I get that." Iroha nodded. "It just seems a bit hard, aren't the swords heavy?"

"Once you get use to it, not really." Ayame shrugged. "But I'm an oni, they've always been pretty light to me."

"Oh yeah." Onis have more natural strength compared to humans, by a lot. If the average human were able fight a large bear in groups, a single weak oni could singlehandedly wrestle a large bear into submission with no problem. There was more silence. They had just met so naturally there isn't much to talk about yet. "S-"

"Do you have a reason for picking up the sword?" Ayame asked, accidentally cutting off Iroha. She lightly apologized for it but Iroha didn't worry about it.

"Hmm." Iroha thought about the question. "Well all the girls in my family are all swordswomen."

"Yeah, but why did you specifically pick up the blade?" Ayame asked again. Iroha only blinked. "These two blades were gifted to me by my master before Ookami-sama took me in. He's the reason I want to get stronger with the blade, to make him proud. I want to face all the strongest people out there and defeat them." Her eyes sparkled as she talked about her dream.

"...I want to fight and hone my skills as a swordswomen." Iroha eventually said. "Finding my mother is one of my goals, but I want to become the best swordswoman!"

"We'll be rivals then!" Ayame grinned. "Two swords versus one sword, it all comes down to skill!" She held a fist out towards Iroha. "Goodluck in the upcoming duel with eachother then!" Iroha looked at the fist before holding up her own, and with a smile she bumps her fists with Ayame's. "I know it's part of Yamato culture, but just call me Ayame, using last names is too formal for me."

"Ookami-sama, may I ask a question?" Flare sipped her cup of tea that the goddess provided, Miko next to her.

"Of course." The goddess nodded. "What is it?"

"I understand that you created an arena for Iroha and Nakiri, but what's with the second dome?" She glances to the side at the two large spiritual domes created entirely by Ookami. The goddess had placed down several ofudas to create a barrier as a sort of arena, and then another one. She had done it so quickly that Miko was feeling inadequate. It only made sense to her, Ookami was an actual deity after all, of course she would be better than a mere shrine maiden in onmyoudou.

"Oh that's for after Iroha passes the trial. Specifically, it's for Ayame." She answered. "I trained her so I know she's strong and I do have faith in her, but the Kazama blood in Iroha isn't something to underestimate. Not to mention I sense Fubu- Shirakami's blessing on her. If Kazama can tap into the true power of that blessing, which I have no doubt she will, she will come out on top in their duel and pass the trial."

"...so the second dome?" Flare asked again, sweat dropping down her head.

"Oh right." Ookami cleared her throat. "Well Ayame's an oni, and despite how hard she's worked to not let her Oni side's personality affect her too much, but if she's stressed or feeling a particular emotion strongly, it tends to come out. I provided the second dome to conjur up some youkai for her to vent on if needed. Of course if that doesn't happen and they both become rivals like I hope then I can use them as training for her as well."

"I see." The elf hummed. "Thank you." She bowed slightly before returning to her tea. Before long an hour had passed, and the shrine's doors slid open, the two swordswomen walking out with smiles on their faces.

"I hope you're both ready." Ookami slowly stood up as one of the domes opened up. "Head on in."

Chapter Text

Iroha and Ayame both stepped inside the dome erected by Ookami. Inside, the two of them stood several feet apart and faced eachother. They stared at eachother's eyes, waiting for a signal.

"Now remember, it's just a spar." Ookami's voice resounded "If either of you declares your defeat, then it's the other person's win. If Ayame surrenders then Iroha passes the test, and if Iroha surrenders then she fails." Iroha and Ayame nodded, letting out a sound to let the deity know. "You both may begin whenever you feel is right." The two put their hands on their hilts, not moving. They were waiting to see what the other would do.

Iroha would have to be careful. She had one weapon less than Ayame. Even if she blocked one of her swords, she was left open for the other blade to attack. The oni knew this, and would no doubt try to take advantage of it. Iroha would have to rely on her intui- Her eyes shrunk as she quickly unsheathed and held the blade up. Ayame's two swords made contact with Iroha's a grin on the oni's face. When did she even unsheath them!? How fast is she!? The ground under Iroha's feet cracked as the impact travelled through her body. She pushed Ayame into the air as she stepped back. The oni flipped to the ground and rushed her again.

"So fast." Flare's mouth was agape as she watched the duel. Miko only nodded, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. "Is that the oni strength coming in?"

"Onis are naturally stronger than humans after all." Ookami confirmed. "With enough training though even a human can achieve the speed and strength of an oni." She took a sip. In the arena, Ayame was relentlessly pushing Iroha back further and further. The human struggled with simply keeping up with the oni's speeds. Every two strikes she blocked, Ayame would use her second blade to strike while the first was still distracting her. Iroha only managed to barely dodge the second blade by instinct. Ookami glanced to the side, towards Miko's direction. "You know you can come sit too right?"

",,,I'm already sitting?" Miko reminded. She thought the deity was talking to her. Ookami shook her head. The shrine maiden looked at where the deity was facing, and realized who she was talking to. "Oh."

"That explains why the spirit didn't introduce herself." Ookami hummed.

"I apologize Ookami-sama." Flare bowed to her. "The spirit usually stays out of our way. I...I honestly forgot about her." She berated herself.

"I think we all did." Miko said. "The only thing I've seen the spirit do is protect me from that arrow yesterday. I still can't see her yet though so I can't properly thank her." She frowned. "All I know is she's been protecting me." She looked back to the duel to see Iroha begin to stand her ground a bit.

Iroha was slowly getting used to Ayame's fighting style. The oni would strike with one blade at a time, and after two strikes she would use both blades either at once or one after the other to confuse her. It was up to the human to be able to predict and deal with which outcome it would be. Iroha dodged a swing, and before Ayame could do anything she decided to go for her own strike. With a grunt she swung her sword down. Ayame spun her body and dodged it, swinging her blade from the side.

The human quickly ducked and swiped her leg at the oni's, managing to trip her. Iroha swung her blade again, but she was interrupted when Ayame's foot suddenly smashed her face and pushed her away. The oni had put her hands on the ground and spun her waist, swinging her leg. An oni's speed is way too good. She gritted her teeth in frustration, not noticing her lips curling up. 

"You're just as good as I imagined you to be." Ayame smiled, holding her swords up. "I'm actually getting a challenge out of this!" The oni kicked off of the ground at Iroha.

"Keeping up with the unpredictability of Ayame's dual wielding is impressive." Ookami noted. While she personally trained the oni in her swordsmanship, even Ookami had a little trouble against Ayame's style of two swords. Although Ookami wasn't a deity that was too focused on fighting, she could still go up against an army by herself with her spells.

"Even with my elf eyes I can barely keep up with Nakiri-san's speed." The elf's eyes followed the oni frantically.

"You mean you can actually make out what she's doing?" Miko looked at Flare incredulously. "All I see is Iroha swinging around and blocking a red blur."

"Seeing Ayame as simply a red blur is still impressive." The deity praised. "Regular human eyes wouldn't even be able to see her arms from how much she moves them around." The deity looked back at the duel. "And that's only from a spectator's view. Iroha must be a natural swordswoman to dodge Ayame's second blade completely on instinct alone." Of course that didn't mean both the combatants didn't hit eachother. If one looked close enough they could see Iroha's clothing had several cuts on them. Ayame's outfit wasn't safe either, though she had much less. "The spirit following Miko has even better eyes it seems."

"Really?" The shrine maiden blinked.

"Yes, she seems to be a spirit that's been around for a long time." Ookami nodded. "Her eyes are so trained she can keep up with Ayame's movements." So that's how she was able to deflect the arrow when I was attacked by Sylphy. Miko thought as she looked to her side. She couldn't tell if she was actually looking at the spirit. "She's actually sitting next to me." Ookami noticed, giggling as Miko fumbled in embarassment. She was literally staring at nothing, thinking something was there.

"You wield those two blades so fluidly." Iroha took a breath.

"And you move that singular blade so well." Ayame replied. "Keeping up with both my blades just means you're the perfect rival for me." She grinned. "I'll be the one winning though." She swung at Iroha, who blocked it. Ayame's other blade swung at her, yet she quickly pushed the first blade away and ducked, swiping at the oni's leg again. Ayame jumped and swung one blade down.

"No." Iroha held her blade up, letting her blade take the force of Ayame's blade. She grit her teeth as the impact travelled through her body again. "I'll win, and I'll pass my trial!" She pushed Ayame into the air. Instead of staying on the ground though, she jumped towards the airborne oni. Ayame's eyes widened as she spun herself in the air to dodge a slice. Ayame shot her leg out and kicked the human further into the air above her.

Ayame landed on the ground, before immediately launching herself up towards Iroha again. The human slowed down her involuntary ascension into the air, and held her sword up as she started to fall down towards the oni.

"Ragh!" Ayame swung both her swords up as the two made contact. Blue embers passed her face as the force from both sides suspended the two in the air. A second later, both started falling down together as the wrestled in the air. Ayame managed to turn them both around and stomped Iroha's stomach to the ground. The human coughed spit out as her body fell to the ground with a loud thud. Iroha saw Ayame falling down towards her, and rolled out of the way as the oni landed on the ground, cracking it and making a small crater. As the human stood up, Ayame rushed at her and swung one sword horizontally. Iroha ducked and jammed her elbow into Ayame's stomach before spin kicking her away. "Payback for the stomach kicks?" Ayame wiped the spit off of her face when she steadied herself.

"Yeah." Iroha sucked in a lot of air. The stomach kicks knocked the air out of her. "I might not be a ninja but I do have do have a few tricks." She muttered to herself, a self reminder as she took out a small ball shaped object. I only one have though. Ayame curiously looked at it. Her eyes ripped away when Iroha suddenly rushed at her. The oni blocked a strike before a white cloud of smoke suddenly exploded from the ground.

"Wha-!?" Ayame spun her sword around, blowing the smoke around her away. The cloud still remained, just with a hole in the middle where the oni was. She looked around for any sign of Iroha. "I guess Ookami-sama never said this had to be 100% a sword duel." Her grin grew wider. A foot step made Ayame turn around just in time to see Iroha near the ground, swinging at her front. Despite her speed, Iroha was already too close for Ayame to retaliate as the blade slice through the skin of her stomach. The oni grunted in pain as she stumbled back. Thinking quickly, Ayame backed into the cloud of smoke, obscuring herself from the human.

"Using my own cloud against me." Iroha smirked, also going back into the smoke.

"She had that!?" Miko's jaw hung when she saw the smoke bomb go off.

"Smart, I never said it had to be 100% a sword duel." Ookami smiled in approval. She could see the wide grin on Ayame's face. Ookami said there were to be no fatal injuries, but she still flinched a bit when Iroha sliced at Ayame's stomach. Thankfully the blade didn't go in nearly enough to actually penetrate the stomach, only to draw blood. "First blood goes to Iroha."

"A smoke bomb." Flare stared at the cloud of smoke. "What is she, a ninja?" She sweatdropped. The two of them seemed to be able to hide themselves quiet well, especially in a cloud of smoke that was going to dissipate soon. "So was I the only one that saw a bit of fire sprout from Iroha's tsuba before disappearing?"

"Oh I thought that was just me." The shrine maiden said. "What was that?" There was no response for a few seconds.

"The spirit was able to correctly guess it." Ookami nodded. "That was Shirakami's blessing at work. She's close to discovering it." If Iroha doesn't discover it, Ayame would no doubt win the duel and Iroha would fail the trial. The moment she notices the blessing though, Iroha will pass right away.

"Blue fire..." Miko looked back at the fight.

Iroha felt that she would be called crazy. Every now and then she would notice blue embers right before she swung. She really hoped it could be used somehow, it would definitely be very helpful in the duel. Plus she technically already cheated by using the smoke bomb. Thankfully Ayame didn't call her out on it, and neither did Ookami-sama, it was probably allowed.

"Hyah!" Iroha ducked as Ayame's sword swung from behind her. Without checking behind her, Iroha immediately shot herself up, hitting the oni's chin with her head. She spun herself around and the side of Ayame's abdomen. The oni cried out in pain, but retaliated with a cut to Iroha's arm and another kick to her stomach, launching Iroha back. The human rolled on the ground before getting up. She had several cuts and bruises over her body. Glancing at her blade she saw that it was starting to chip from all the clashes with both of Ayame's blades. She could feel the two small holes in her own abdomen sting. Ayame's oni horns had been used to headbutt her, and those horns were sharp. Something warm trailed down Iroha's arm, she thought it was the blood from Ayame's cut.

"The only other person who could push me this far is Ookami-sama." Ayame shakily stood where she was. Her legs were starting to weaken, all the cuts on them contributing to it. "To think a human can go toe to toe with an oni in swordsmanship. You Kazama are amazing."

"Alot of this is just on the spot thinking." Iroha admitted. "I don't usually get to fight another person. Sylphy was taken by Flare, and the last thing I used my sword on was an undead tiger." The deity just outside the dome stiffened.

"That just means you're a genius at sword fighting." Ayame praised. She crossed her arms, readying her blades. Iroha readied her own. This attack would be the one to decide who surrenders. The warm feeling was at the forefront of Iroha's mind again. It wasn't blood. She focused on it, and imagined it flowing it into her blade. Heat radiated onto her arm, and a blue light was seen in the corner of her vision. "That fire." Ayame's grin widened again.

"I know this feeling." The warmth was very familiar to Iroha. She somehow knew, she didn't know why, but she just knew the fire could be controlled. The two waited. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Ayame launched herself at Iroha, and Iroha ran, putting as much force into her legs as she can to increase her speed. The human yelled as she swung her blade against the oni's.

There was no resistance. The blade slid right through as they both stopped themselves from moving. A trail of scalding blue fire followed the sword before it, too, stopped. Ayame only stared at her blades as a piece of the metal fell to the ground, melted at the end.

"That fire is just cheating." Ayame laughed, relaxing herself. "Melting my own blades. I'll have to get new ones." She held her arms up, her blades still in them. "You win, we can't really continue a sword duel if one of our swords are broken."

"S-sorry." Iroha took a deep breath as the blue fire disappeared. "I've never done that before. I think it was Shirakami-sama's blessing." She stared at her blade. It was bent. The heat from her own fire made it's own blade soft enough to bend from gravity alone.

"Ayame surrendered, which means Iroha won the duel." Ookami's voice announced. "You can exit the arena now."

"...remind me to not go near that blue fire." Flare nervously laughed.

"Iroha!" Miko ran up to Iroha as she approached them, Ayame behind her. "That was amazing! You both fought so well!" She said. "I could barely keep track of Nakiri-san's movements, and you were able to beat her!"

"It was very close." Iroha laughed. "If it wasn't for the blue fire melting her blades, I would have lost."

"Indeed." Ookami confirmed. "That blue fire was the true objective of the trial." She revealed. "If you lost the duel, then you never achieved control over Shirakami's blessing, and you would have failed the trial."

"So the trial was really to gain control over Shirakami-sama's blessing?" Iroha asked. The deity nodded. "All the Kazama's before me also gained control over it?" Another nod.

"I must admit though, for your blue fire to be hot enough to melt through Ayame's swords instantaneously is unseen." The deity crossed her arms. "Perhaps your generation is the one..."

"The one?" Flare echoed.

"Nevermind." Ookami shook her head. "Congratulations, Kazama Iroha. You have passed the trial." At these words, Ayame quickly rushed inside the shrine. "As such, it is only fitting that you are rewarded, given proof that you passed." Iroha kneeled on the ground as Miko and Flare stepped away, giving them space. "Like your mother before you, and her mother before her, and her mother's mother, and all the Kazama's before you, you went toe to toe with an Oni personally trained by a deity like myself. And just like your predecessors, you managed to light your blade using the flames of Shirakami's Blessing of the Fox." The deity snapped her fingers, and on cue Ayame returned to her side with a large and long box. She set them down infront of Iroha before stepping away. "You, Kazama iroha, have rightfully earned these two items. Go ahead and open it."

"Yes." The swordswoman slowly opened the box and gulped in anticipation. When the lid was fully off, her breath hitched. She already expected what the reward was going to be thanks to Miko, but seeing them in person was still refreshing. It was a new sword with a shiny blade that reflected the sunlight directly into everyone's eyes. Behind her, Flare shielded her eyes with a quiet hiss. There was also a new and beautiful sheath. Iroha carefully took the sword out and felt the weight in her hand. "It's so beautiful." She undid the straps attaching her current sheath to her waist and set it down. Ayame, Flare, and Miko watched with awe as Iroha put her new sword into the sheath and tied it around her waist.

"How is it?" Ookami asked.

"It's perfect." Iroha answered. "It's just like my mother's. Just as beautiful, if not more."

"Don't forget to wear the haori." Ayame reminded her. Iroha nodded as she bent down and grabbed the piece of clothing. She swung it over her back and put her arms through the sleeves. 

"That looks so cool." Miko muttered. Flare nodded, agreeing with her.

"So are you going to give it a name?" Ayame asked. "All personal swords need a name." Iroha unsheathed her sword, looking at it as she gave the name a thought.

"...Chakimaru." She eventually said. "I want to name this sword Chakimaru."

"What about the blue fire?" Ayame asked. "That needs to have it's own name too."

"I don't believe Shirakami actually gave it a name herself." Ookami hummed. "I'm sure she'd appreciate a Kazama giving it an official name."

"Fox Fire." Iroha immediately answered. It was the obvious answer. Shirakami-sama was a fox like deity, and her blessing gave Iroha the ability to use fire with her sword. Naturally, flames from Shirakami-sama's blessing should be called Fox Fire. Plus Kitsunebi sounded cool in her head.

"That definitely fits." Ookami nodded in approval. "Now, it's not late but how about you stay for the night?" The deity suggested. "I think Ayame here would like some help with picking a new pair of swords."

"Sorry again." Iroha bowed.

"I told you it's fine." The oni laughed. "You were an amazing fight. I just need to get stronger, and I'll definitely beat you next time." She held out her fist.

"What are you talking about? I'll win again next time." With a grin, Iroha bumped Ayame's fist with her own.