Four Seasons (Sesshomaru Fanfiction)

Summer: Chpt 2

2. We Meet Again

"I have never seen a wound like this before. I can't tell if these things are burns or claw marks...or both," muttered an extremely short, elderly woman. "You should be more careful next time!" She scolded the demon as she tended her wounds.

The red headed demon sat on the wooden floor of the small hut, unmoving, with a bored look on her face, wincing every now and then at how tightly the old woman was wrapping her bandages. The woman, who went by the name of Kayo, had been taking care of Akiko for as long as she could remember and was the closest thing to family that she had. Occasionally, she would feel slightly pathetic knowing that her only companion was an old human, but nonetheless, Kayo was quite useful at times, and nice to talk to - even if she was a bit...grouchy.

"All done," Kayo sighed when she was finished, folding her arms and examining her work. The burning had eventually stopped on its own, thankfully, and Kayo had given her some kind of paste for the pain. Now all that was left was a bit of blood that was already beginning to stain the bandages. 

Immediately, Akiko got to her feet, whispering the word "thanks," before making her way towards the door.

"I'm not going to waste my breath trying to stop you from leaving - even when your wounds aren't healed yet - so just make sure you don't do anything stupid while you're gone."

"Of course, of course," she gave the old woman a dismissive wave before exiting the hut. 

As she walked away, she heard Kayo call out to her "and make sure you come back for dinner!"

Strangely, it brought a smile to her face, though Akiko knew quite well that she would have a hard time keeping her word, for there was far too much chaos to cause in the world of the humans. 

She left the village of the old woman, and it wasn't long before she found another human village.

"Shouldn't you be looking for that demon that injured you? Why must you always procrastinate, you idiot?"

She could practically hear the old lady's voice ringing in her ears, reprimanding her.

Ignoring the voice in her head, she stood, scheming, a large smirk on her face. Even with her recent injury, she couldn't help but want to steal from the humans. She loved the thrill of it, and also the amusement that it brought her. She supposed it was partly because of the way she had been brought up.

Though she had the old woman, Kayo was still just a human, and Akiko had often thought it unbecoming for a demon to rely on a human for any sort of assistance. So, instead, she had relied on stealing and -though not as often - killing in order to survive and provide for herself. Though, of course there were the occasional, tender moments, when she would accept Kayo's offers of food and care - the moments that made her smile and then immediately question why is was that she was so happy. 

As she brushed off the thoughts of the old woman, she focused her attention on another human. The little girl walking a slight distance away from her in the meadow was making her way towards the nearby village with what seemed to be a brand new kimono in her small hands. Kimonos weren't Akiko's preference - she found pants and a cropped shirt to have been much more comfortable - but she knew some greedy human merchant would pay a decent enough price for the item. From the looks of it, the kimono seemed pretty expensive. All she really wanted, though, was to see how the child would react.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a young woman - stealing, humph." The voice in her head scolded her as she slowly followed behind the girl. It seemed that, after spending so much time with Kayo, the old woman's voice had taken the place of her own conscience.