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Long ago, the village of Kunikida was terrorized by four demons.
No one knows what they wanted out of the place or its inhabitants, nor did anyone know where the four demons came from. All that mattered was that every one hundred nights, they would rush from the woods and tear the large village asunder, stealing their wealth and terrorizing the populace. Every attempt they made to ward off the demons has failed, and the demons were never satisfied with any sacrifices they’ve made to appease them. As such, they had no choice but to rebuild the village every day after the latest fall, with many mourning the loss of those who have perished under the demons’ raids.
It was only when a powerful exorcist from Mount Hiei arrived that the demons were finally driven away. They fought ferociously, practically leveling the entire settlement during the fateful bout, but they were eventually defeated. To prevent such a tragedy from occurring ever again, the exorcist placed a protective spell over the village, ensuring that no demon or spirit could ever approach again.
Yet the demons remained, injured but ultimately alive. Lurking in the forests nearby, the four beasts were slowly left to starve, for they could no longer reap the souls nor pilfer the wealth of the village they once scared into submission. Little by little, the demons’ forms slowly faded, from the monstrous beasts that they were before to the barely-humanoid bodies that left them vulnerable to the same mortal concerns they previously thought they were above.
And on the night before another starvation-induced hibernation, one reached out.
“Excuse me?” a young woman’s voice asked.
“…g-get away… from us…” the yellow male demon grunts. “…we’re tired…”
“…it’s naptime, just shoo… shoo already,” the green female demon waves off.
“…sorry,” the blue female demon murmurs, glancing at the male red demon who’d fallen asleep before the rest.
The young woman sighs, looking down at the four demons now lying asleep in front of her. Her eyes soon fall onto the blue demon, and she kneels over to her.
“I know it may seem sudden, but… I’m here to help you,” she whispers. “I can take all of you in, and… we can tend to my shrine together.”
“…girlie… I doubt we’re allowed… anywhere near holy ground,” the green demon deadpans.
“They don’t say you can’t come in if you aren’t invited,” the woman retorts. “As the resident maiden, I can do that.”
“…what’s in it for us?” the blue demon asks.
“A proper place to rest,” the woman says with a smile, “food and water, shelter, and a chance to turn a new leaf. You may even be able to purify yourselves in the process.”
Hearing that, the blue demon perks up. “…you sure?” she asks back.
“There were tales,” the woman answers, “but we won’t know until we’ve tried, right?”
Seeing the olive branch held out by this unassuming shrine maiden, the blue demon turns to her peers. The yellow demon was hesitant, his head shaking, while the green demon just let one eye open wide, akin to a raised eyebrow. The red demon was still asleep, but she shook her head and turned her attention back to the girl.
“…on one condition,” the blue demon asks, “you… tell us your name first.”
The girl nods, standing up to address all four demons at once.
“Natsuki,” she answers. “Shinoda Natsuki.”
The green demon lets out a chuckle in response.
“…funny, we ain’t got any of ours,” she mutters in response.
“And that’s what we’re here to change,” Natsuki holds out her hand. “Come with me.”
The blue demon sighs, glances at the still-sleeping red demon, and takes Natsuki’s hand.
*---*
Months have passed since Natsuki first took them all in.
As it turns out, the shrine belonging to the Shinoda family is located too far away from Kunikida to matter in that village. Thanks to this distance, when word of how the demons had left the area began to spread, the now-liberated villagers began to celebrate. Soon, their life begins to improve, and before long, the demons’ names fade from the village’s memory.
And just as the village’s recollection of the demons’ forms faded, so too did the demons’ own monstrous visages begin to fade.
The blue demon – Ao – has transformed into a woman with long, curly blue hair and lapis eyes. The green demon – Roku – has become a woman with short, wavy green hair and emerald eyes. The yellow demon – Kou – has turned into a man with golden blonde hair held in a low ponytail and amber eyes. All of them had lost their demonic attributes, save for the red demon – Aka – who still bore his horns, neatly parting his short, red hair and stood parallel to his ruby eyes.
And as Aka watched his fellow once-demons frolicking in the grassland around the shrine, he let out a scowl.
“Aka!” Ao calls out as she walks up to him. “You don’t wanna join us?”
“No,” he grumbles. “What’re you lot even doing, anyway?”
“Roku’s gotten the idea to gather flowers,” Ao explains. “Something about making a gift for our beloved Natsuki, made from those.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re gonna drag me out of the shade to pick some weeds,” he deadpans. “Look, aren’t you supposed to be concerned?”
“Of what?” Ao tilts her head.
“That we’re losing what makes us into us,” he points out. “You, Roku, and Kou… all of you are practically indistinguishable from the humans we once ruled over. Don’t you think that’s a betrayal of ourselves?”
“No,” Ao shakes her head. “Just because it makes you you, doesn’t mean we’re all going to see it as our zenith. We’ve hurt too many people as demons.”
“We’re demons, that’s what we do,” Aka shoots back. “We need them to be scared of us! There’s no point to running around, frolicking with the humans like we’re born and raised among them.”
Ao sighs in response, shaking her head. She then stares down Aka and places one hand on his shoulder, looking him dead in the eyes as she speaks.
“If you’re so adamant on going back the way we used to be,” Ao hisses, “at least tell me why that would make you happy.”
“You already know,” Aka retorts.
“I no longer do,” Ao responds. “Back then, the three of us just went along with you because you’re the strongest and we had no idea where else to go. That’s not the case now.”
Aka grits his teeth. “Fine. I want to go back because I feel free as a demon. Because I’m not beholden to this ‘purity’ drivel and can be myself without worrying about others,” he says. “Doing this takes that away from me. I hate it.”
“And you don’t suppose that your thinking is too narrow?” Ao asks. “You’ve told us, day and night, over and over again. ‘We have to become demons again, so we’ll be free’ every single time. Don’t you have better uses for that ‘freedom’ you so desperately crave?”
“What better uses? Picking weeds, stitching rags, sweeping cobblestone?” Aka asks back, before sighing. “Look, I get it. You three enjoy them so much. But… I don’t want this. I’m not ready to let go of my ways.”
“And that,” Ao’s stare turns into a soft smile, “is why you join us when we go out. Will you?”
“Fine, fine,” Aka mutters, sighing.
Ao chuckles, before letting go of Aka so he can stand up.
“Now, as I was saying, we’re looking for some flowers,” Ao says, gesturing at Roku and Kou as they pick out two flowers matching their respective colors. “Mind giving us a hand? We have until the afternoon before Natsuki returns from the nearby town of Takami.”
Aka nods, and Ao gently leads him to where the two other once-demons are gathered.
“Oy! What’s keeping ‘im so moody all day?” Roku asks, still crouched in the grass.
“The usual doom and gloom,” Ao answers. Aka glares at her in response, but Ao simply bats his shoulder in response.
“He’s been having a lot more of these ‘freedom’ fits, though,” Kou points out. “I’m a little worried about him…”
“Kou, I’m not that much of a bastard,” Aka retorts.
“…y-you’re not reassuring us any,” he says, before standing up.
“Push comes to shove, we’ll handle it as a group,” Ao finishes, before turning to Aka. “Now, we’re only missing some red flowers for the crown. Can you help Roku find them?”
“Eh, he’ll be needin’ MY help for the most part,” she responds. “Poor guy can’t step on a mound of dirt!”
“Oh, you—just watch me, okay?!” Aka snarls.
“Okay, okay, mad boy,” Roku waves him off, chuckling.
Aka scowls at her, before walking off to look for flowers. However, he couldn’t pick even a single one before his sandal accidentally hit a mound of dirt, earning a disgusted growl before he blasts the innocent mound with a small fireball. Aka shoots a glare at Roku as she bursts out laughing, rolling around the grass before long.
“You really need to be a lot less trigger-happy around nature…” Ao deadpans.
“I can’t help it, okay?” Aka whines. “I have to show those lesser beings who I am!”
“…we are SO going to die,” Kou grimaces, shaking his head.
*---*
The first thing the once-demons did upon Natsuki’s return was gather up for lunch.
While the food she’d made was subpar by human standards (and definitely not good, in Aka’s own opinion), the four nonetheless enjoyed the food they now have to eat in order to sustain themselves. However, they spend much of that time talking about what they’ve been doing with the shrine while Natsuki’s away. Roku and Kou even got chances to ask Natsuki about Takami Town partway through, with the two once-demons marvelling at the sheer difference in size between the town and Kunikida Village.
They even manage to get Aka interested in Takami Town itself. He proceeds to disappoint Ao by talking about destroying it afterwards, though.
“Eh, ‘scuse our friend here,” Roku says after one of Aka’s tangents about setting Takami Town ablaze. “He’s uh… mite cranky about losing his power over humans.”
“It’s proving to be a long haul for him,” Kou adds. “Are you… sure this is what you want?”
“It’s the best I can think of,” Aka mutters.
“And that’s your problem, there,” Ao retorts. “You can’t think of it, sure, but sometimes you really have to give up on logic and take in the weight each moment bears. Can you?”
Aka lets out a sigh, shaking his head.
“Worry not, we’ll be around to help you,” Natsuki says with a smile. “I know it’s been hard on you, but I’ll be listening if you wish to tell me something.”
“He’d prolly just go on his usual ‘kill maim burn’ tangents again,” Roku deadpans, causing Aka to shoot her a glare. “That aside… we made something for you, Natsuki-chan.”
Natsuki perks up as Roku stands up and grabs the crown of flowers that the once-demons made. It was a simple vine crown, yet the entire length of the vine is adorned with plenty of baby blue eyes, daylilies, and gyoiko-zakura flowers. Several spots have the flowers replaced with red spider lilies, carefully woven into the crown at points that let it provide symmetry amidst the chaotic arrangement of other flowers.
“This is…?” Natsuki asks, holding the crown in her hands.
“Yep, we spent the morning making this!” Roku says with a proud smile. “I plucked a few outta your gyoiko-zakura tree, while Kou and Ao picked the daylilies and baby blue eyes, respectively. Aka even found us some red spider lilies, too!”
“…on Ao’s behalf,” Aka cuts in.
“You didn’t say anything against helping us pick flowers,” Ao retorts.
“Mm-hmm! And so, allow us to present you this circle of flowers as our gift,” Roku finishes.
Natsuki glances at the crown once more and gingerly wears it over her hair. The colors stood in clear contrast to her long black hair, and Natsuki swore she may have seen a few of the flowers glow when she put on the crown.
“I don’t know what to say,” Natsuki whispers, beaming.
“You don’t need to say anything,” Roku retorts. “After all, without your ever-shining sun, we’ll all still be trapped in our buds, secretly tearin’ up at the idea that we gotta hurt your peers just to survive. And the sun doesn’t say anything, does it?”
“It doesn’t, but…” Natsuki looks up to the once-demons. “…thank you, still.”
Roku chuckles in response before kneeling beside Natsuki and wrapping around her in a loving embrace. Aka grimaces once more, while Ao and Kou slowly move away from their spots at the dining table and join in as well.
Eventually, a reluctant Aka slowly steps closer and takes Ao’s side as he completes the circle of five that make up the shrine’s residents.
After some time, the once-demons slowly let go of Natsuki as she turns to them.
“…I still can’t believe… I’d have this many friends among the malevolent forces of our land,” she says, chuckling.
“Same here,” Roku retorts. “Can’t believe we’d see the day we become what we once took from, let alone be treated so kindly by so many of them.”
“The distance helps, I think…” Kou adds, pointing in the general direction of Kunikida Village.
“Oh yeah, speaking of that village,” Natsuki interjects, “I met a boy from there while I was in town earlier. Did you know what he said about the place?”
“It got boring,” Aka cuts in, his voice a lot harsher than he intended.
“Eh, well… you could say that, but that’s not what he said,” Natsuki chides him before she continues. “No, he said that the village is finally able to grow. Without demons to terrorize the populace, they could finally thrive and become a town of their own.”
“Did he say anything about Heian-kyō, by chance?” Roku asks. “Heard from the blokes who came over to the shrine that a number of visitors there came from Kunikida.”
“I… don’t think he did?” Natsuki says, putting a finger to her chin. “I didn’t ask him that question, so the topic never came up.”
“Ah, okay,” Roku chuckles. “I’ll ask another passersby later on, then.”
The discussion peters out soon after, and the once-demons soon leave to do their own things. Kou stays to grab some snacks, Aka goes back to his usual spot to brood, while Ao begins helping Natsuki do the laundry.
Roku briefly catches a glimpse of Aka glaring in the direction of Kunikida Village, but she pays him no mind and simply goes back to her tailoring.
*---*
“Natsuki?” Kou asks just as the latter finishes her bath. “Have you seen Aka?”
“Hmm? I haven’t,” Natsuki answers. “What happened?”
“W-well… I asked Aka for help with dinner, and I asked him to keep an eye on the millet for me, but when I came back, he’s gone,” he explains. “And I think he took one of the knives.”
Hearing that, Natsuki hurries past Kou and heads straight to the kitchen. Sure enough, the sliding door is open, leaving the path to the forest behind the shrine wide open.
“He left…” Natsuki mutters.
“Should we chase after him?” Kou asks.
“We’ll have to make dinner first,” Natsuki retorts, shaking her head.
“W-what? But who’s going to keep an eye on—”
“I’ll make dinner for you,” Natsuki cuts in with a smile. “Go, see if he’s alright.”
“I’ll be back!” Kou exclaims, before he takes off in a dead sprint.
He rushes through the woods, weaving around trees and through shrubbery, calling Aka’s name as he goes. He brought no light source in the confusion, leaving him to be consumed by darkness, yet Kou’s eyes retained their ability to see in the dark from his life as a demon. As such, he deftly kept to the trail leading further away from the shrine with nary a single wrong turn along the way.
“Aka!” Kou exclaims once he sees Aka sitting on a tree stump in the middle of the forest. “What’re you doing out here?”
“This,” he holds up the stolen kitchen knife and a rock.
“Why? I’ve already whetted that yesterday,” Kou asks back.
“It’s in preparation,” Aka answers after a pause, “as tonight… I’m going to pay Kunikida a visit.”
“What the… no, we aren’t,” Kou insists. “That village has forgotten us. There’s nothing waiting for you back there.”
“And that’s precisely the problem I want to solve,” Aka hisses, rising to his feet. “I don’t know about you or the others, but I want the sights of the red demon burned into the minds of the new Kunikida Village. Just like it was before.”
“But… what’s there to gain from it?” Kou narrows his eyes. “They’ve prospered. Grown from the measly village we’ve known for years. They won’t back down this time.”
“Which is why I’m going there,” Aka retorts. “Think about how much more we could get if we were to raze that blasted village now, after it’d gotten so much fatter in our absence. We’ll be thriving before long!”
Kou grimaces upon hearing Aka’s proposal. His expression hardens, furiously shaking his head before glaring at Aka.
“No,” he hisses. “I don’t care if it makes us prosper as demons. I’m not going to follow you, and I don’t think Ao or Roku will be willing to let you off the hook, either.”
To Kou’s surprise, however, Aka simply nods.
“If you so insist,” he mutters, twisting the knife in his hand, “then stay. You, Ao, Roku… you may be against me, but you’re still my only friends. So stay here and don’t get in my way.”
Kou grimly nods, his face falling. “…c-can you at least stay for dinner?” he asks weakly.
“I was going to, anyway,” Aka’s expression softens. “Come, I’ll lead the way back.”
With a gesture of Aka’s hand, the two male demons begin making their way back to the shrine. Neither Kou nor Aka spoke of the encounter to the three women, save for Aka asking if he could stay up late to prepare something he wished to set up in order to honor the rise of Kunikida Village. Though Ao was suspicious, she nonetheless gave him the benefit of the doubt and simply reminded him to be back before midnight.
And so, Aka sat outside, waiting for night to fall.
*---*
Contrary to what he told the others, Aka did not spend his time waiting for them to sleep by sitting around outside the house or going to the forest again.
He had perused Natsuki’s brush, picking up a sheet of paper with which he intended to write his eulogy. Taking a deep breath, he dips the brush into ink and begins writing.
“To Shinoda-san, and the other three demons I once fought with,” he writes, “when you see this will tomorrow morning, know that I would have left for Kunikida Village once more. I’m aware that all of you wish to bury the hatchet, to let that village prosper in our absence while we carve out new paths for ourselves. Yet the power that we once held over Kunikida is all I know. To that end, I wish to see that prosperous village and lay claim to it once more, so that I may once again live a life that I had been cut off from.”
He takes another deep breath before continuing.
“By any means, I implore you to stay in this shrine. Live your happy lives, let your dreams among the humans at Takami Town shape the paths you now walk. No matter what will become of your lives, promise me that you will move far away from my shadow and do with Shinoda-san what I lacked the courage to do.”
Without realizing it, he’d choked back a tear. Wiping it away, he spends some more time drawing a sketch of Kunikida Village, taking care to remember every single detail he once committed to memory throughout the times the once-demons had razed it.
With the letter finished, Aka stands up and folds the paper in half. He places it on the dining table, putting his whetstone down as a paperweight.
Driven by everything he’d done with his newfound family, Aka peers into the room where they’d set the tatami mats. All of the shrine’s residents are fast asleep, no doubt having gone to bed far earlier than him. Ao had taken the middle, placing a pillow where Aka himself would be for reasons he knew he’d never find out. Roku had taken the farthest side, snoring loudly as she lay on her back. Kou had, for reasons unknown, slept right next to Natsuki, the shrine maiden holding him in his sleep like a mother would her son.
“They’ll be happy,” Aka whispers, managing a small smile.
Taking deep breaths, he finally shuts the door and leaves the shrine through the kitchen. Once he’s sure that no one can hear him, he snaps his fingers and engulfs his left hand in a bright red fire before sprinting down the forest.
The night falls silent once the crackling of his fire dies down, leaving only the crickets’ chirps and Roku’s snoring.
Later that night, the village of Kunikida is raided by a single demon.
Though the protective spells initially held, the red demon eventually proved to be too much for the village to ward off. He had discarded every notion besides the malice that had once defined the four demons, letting his pride power him far beyond what he normally needed. As such, he’s able to rush from the woods and tear the burgeoning town asunder, stealing their wealth and terrorizing the populace. Though the idea of appeasing him once more is proposed, the swiftness and brutality of his onslaught meant that even the village’s massed bounties could neither hold nor satiate his desires.
The same powerful exorcist from Mount Hiei arrived not too long after, prepared to drive the red demon away once more. They fought ferociously, practically leveling the entire settlement during the fateful bout, but this time, the demon’s might proved to be too much for the exorcist’s spirit. Such was the hopelessness caused by this realization, upon dawning in the villagers’ minds, that they could only send a messenger to Mount Hiei to warn them that one of their kin had fallen.
In the end, the fires had burned away the last of Kunikida Village. Amidst the ruins of what was once a prosperous village and rising town, in the middle of the masses of fallen villagers and incinerated livestock, the body of the exorcist lay alongside the demon’s cinders with a most peculiar sight: a single sharpened kitchen knife that had pierced the exorcist’s heart, tightly gripped by a severed demon hand.