Chapter Text
You were the daughter of two desperate parents. Two poor, desperate parents who also had two other children. You all lived in a region that was plagued with giving tribute to a oni. Well, he was considered an oni, but according to the mumblings of the local shaman, he didn't really look like one. According to the gossiping housewives and village drunks, you heard that he had two parts. His upper half was like a man having traces of green scales scattered across his torso, and the lower half was scaled, like a lizard but wider and with a more powerful tail. He had the ability to conjure up large storms of sand, and almost swallow you whole with that sand, killing you.
The tribute was to sacrifice some grain or wealth to the demon's lackeys who would come to collect at the first of every 3 months. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, however, the recent winter had been absolutely horrible leaving behind no chance for anyone to either take care of their crops or save some of their wealth for anyone other than traveling merchants who would trade their grain and food for wealth. This meant drastic measures. You weren't supposed to have gone, but the whole village was desperate and that included your parents. So with you sat at the shrine where the demon's lackeys collected the usual tribute from, decked in the village's prettiest kimono, with the one thing your family could give as a final send-off, a comb. This comb had apparently been given by a ronin to your great-great-grandmother as thanks for feeding him. It was made out of bone with a design of a cherry tree on it. It sat in your hair, with along with your mixed feelings to the whole situation.
You were quite aware that most of the villagers didn't care about whether you lived or died. You were chosen over another girl since her family had a cow and therefore more authority to say no. However, you were still given a pretty kimono since they hoped you would be enough to settle the debt.
Soon you saw them. A skinny man with an odd hairstyle, with a blue coat and a white lining. He had a yellowish-brown kimono inside with a black sash. He walked alongside a young girl who walked with a pink kimono, holding a tied-up bundle in her hand. The man frowned as he came close and in a shrill and squeaky voice spoke.
"Who are you? Where's the tribute?"
You shifted uncomfortably but sat straight. Well, if you died, at least you died with your dignity intact.
"They...couldn't pay this time's tribute. So they sent me"
He scowled and eyed you from top to bottom. "We can't accept-"
"She's the tribute" chimes the young girl.
He snaps his head to her, raising an eyebrow. "But he expects-"
"Her village has sent her tribute, hence she is the tribute. We have to take her in as is" She says in a solemn voice.
He cups his chin with his hand, looking down in thought for a few seconds. You shift uncomfortably. He sighs in the end, shaking his head.
"Okay then."
And off you went. Turns out they had a horse-driven cart, where you sat along with bags of gold, wheat, and even jewels. They didn't see the point in tying your hands and legs together, as you had thought they would.
"No point in you running, really. We know where you come from." Says the man, sneering at you.
You didn't know whether to scream at him and attack or to break down crying from the obvious ridiculousness of your current situation.
You sat and watched hills, towns, and cities go by. About 4 days later, you arrived at the banks of a wide river, with forests surrounding it. The girl hopped down from the carriage and came to untie your feet. Minutes later, you're led through the surrounding forest, to a clearing with a cave facing it. They set the tributes down in front of the cave, and you sit, hands in your lap. A second later, a bald man with a white, simple kimono comes with his arms folded, and swords at his hip. He stares at you with his brows furrowed and gives you an appraising look. Slowly you see him.
He's much taller than the bald man, with a maroon kimono. His feet are bare, openly showing clawed feet akin to a lizard's. One of his hands is replaced with a gold-curved piece of metal, bearing a sharp end at the tip. You feel dwarfed and akin to a mouse in front of a snake in front of those eyes. Those vibrant purple eyes, bear both appraisal and disdain for your mere presence. His face bore a long scar stretching across the tops of the bones of his cheeks. His other hand holds a Kiseru, the smoke leaving the pipe in an unorganized pattern as he raises it to his mouth to take a breath. Behind him, trails a long, and wide tail, not exactly like a snake, but different.
"What's this?" Comes his voice, low and casual.
"A tribute, sir. From the region after the low hills, before the waterfall."
He steps closer to you, and you have to crane your head to look up at him, he's most definitely an oni.
"Why, are you the tribute?" He asks.
"My village suffered a bad winter, sir. We don't have grain nor gold to offer" You answer in a clear voice though Internally you're screaming with fear.
He kneels, and cups your jaw, his hand almost as big as your face, clawed and scaled.
"What stops me from just killing you, and destroying your village anyway?"
You fought to keep your eyes on his, nails pushing into your palm to keep from trembling or trying to struggle out of his grasp.
"I can be your personal assistant!" You yelped.
He raises an eyebrow. "I have a helper already."
His tail sweeps to the other side revealing an elegant woman in a purple kimono, who almost looks like a geisha with her beauty. She gives you an inscrutable smile, her eyes blue like the darkening sky.
Your mind races, and you blurt out another answer. "Y-your wife then!"
Everything suddenly stops and internally you screech at yourself. But another part of you debates what else could you have said and now there's someone in your head starting the funeral rites-
"Ku-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
You blink baffled at him. What was he-oh? He was laughing. He was laughing at you?
He grins, and you finally see it. His mouth somehow stretches beyond the normal amount so that you see that he doesn't have the normal amount of teeth like any human does, but two wide jaws full of teeth, splitting the skin apart. His kiseru sits comfortably between his teeth. You mildly wonder if it hurts.
"Fine then". Wait what?
He leans closer, kiseru smoke blowing into your face. A dangerous gleam of amusement danced in his expression.
"I'll marry you."