Do you believe that demons could fall in love?~~
Sakura Shinguji is a princess and Priestess. After her family was killed by bandits when she was 17 years old, she left with the dog demon Sesshomaru and his servant Jaken.
After joining Sesshomaru's...
I flick my gaze over to find Kikyo sitting on a bay horse behind Sesshomaru, looking weakened by the barrier. She's a miko, meaning she's a dead priestess who was raised from the dead. But I don't detect a trace of malice from her...
Rin exclaims as she races over to me, "Mummy, Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin hugs my legs as she hides behind them.
What's she doing here?
Kikyo uses her bow to help her stand as she makes her way over to us, wobbling.
Jukotsu gasps, a hand over his wound as he takes a step back, "That dead priestess again! She scares me more than anyone!" Jukotsu then runs away.
I sheathe my katana at my waist as I go to pick Rin up and hold her against my hip, the girl burying her face in my shoulder as Kikyo approaches Suikotsu, using her bow like a walking stick."
We watch as Kikyo crouches beside the brunette man. He opens his eyes to look at her, a smile appearing on his lips.
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"Kikyo-sama," He says. "It's you." She gasps in surprise.
"Doctor Suikotsu..."
His eyes wavering, Suikotsu murmurs in relief, "At last, I have returned." His jewel shard becomes purified. He turns his head away to look up at the sky. "The tainted dark light blocked my way. I couldn't become myself." A pong moment of silence, as though the priestess was pondering what to do. "Kikyo-sama?" She glances to him questioningly. "Please remove the sacred jewel shard from my neck. Do that for me, then all will be over. I can rest in peace. My last wish is to be released."
"You're certain?" Asks Kikyo. "Do you choose death?"
"I'm certain," Suikotsu says while closing his eyes briefly. They begin to waver at memories. "I finally remember what happened. I died before, long ago in the past. When I was alive before, I was tormented by uncertainty. I-I didn't know what was right and what was wrong."
As the doctor kneels over an injured girl in a burning house, he frantically wiped at the blood on her face as he breathes, "I can save her! I know I can save her!"
"Doctor, it's too late for that child!" Says an old man.
"Just let her die and let's get out of here!" Says another.
"Don't be ridiculous! There's still hope," Suikotsu says, still trying to tend to the girl.
"But the samurai are heading this way!" The younger man says. "They'll kill us!!"
Suikotsu tells them, "Flee is you want but I'm going to save this child."
Suddenly, a samurai appears out of nowhere and thrusts his spear into the girl, killing her.
Gasping in disbelief, Suikotsu looks up at the samurai as he says, "You... killed her! Why?! How could you do that?!"
The samurai simply responds, "I put her out of her misery. You should be grateful." The samurai yanks his spear out of the girl's chest. The point was dripping with blood, causing Suikotsu to gasp sharply in horror. The samurai sneers. "Just following our lord's instructions. He instructed us to kill every last person in the village." The samurai stalks towards Suikotsu who scrambles backwards on his hands, horror plastered on his features, mouth agape.
The scarred samurai laughs darkly.
Suikotsu hoods up his hand as he stutters, "N-No...! Stay away!" He snatches up the nearest weapon, a scalpel, and thrusts it at the scarred samurai with his eyes closed, killing him.
"I was a physician who had sworn to save people's lives!" Suikotsu continues breathlessly. "And yet, I had killed someone with my own hands! Looking back, I was probably harder on myself than anyone else would've been. I couldn't forgive myself. I didn't know what to do. That's when it happened. When I heard the voice."
Suikotsu was crying into his hands from the shock when a voice suddenly demands, "Why don't you stop acting the part of a saint?" Suikotsu jolts upright in shock. "You really aren't interested in helping people!" Suikotsu looks around for the owner of the voice, but there was no one else there. "Deep inside, you want to kill." A sinister figure with two green lines on each cheek and his forehead with metal claws on his hands suddenly appears in a vision behind him, shocking the doctor further. "You're just itching to kill and kill!"
"... Suddenly, it became clear to me, the person who was speaking was me, myself." Suikotsu tells us how he'd killed many people after that. "Incredible evil lurked in my heart and that evil made me kill over and over again."
After killing many, Suikotsu turns around to find two ravenettes, one with short hair in a topknot, the other's in a braid that hangs down to the floor, his arms crossed over his chest. He has a lilac star on his forehead. That man nods his head, as though in acceptance.
"Not long afterward I met Bankotsu and joined the Band of Seven, and murder came second nature to me. I've done some horrible things." His eyes waver. My dark side has killed so many, and during it all, the doctor in me was helpless to stop the senseless brutality. No matter how many lives I've saved, no matter how I tried to make a difference, my soul has no hope of being redeemed."
Kikyo tells him comfortingly, "Doctor Suikotsu, you are not alone in your turmoil. Good and evil coexist in all men who walk the Earth. You must not give in to the dark side."
"You're wrong, Kikyo-sama," Suikotsu grits out. "I would likely do it all again if I were able to. I couldn't stop myself. The mere thought of it is unbearable!" Tears are streaming down his face. "Please, I beg of you, Kikyo-sama! Remove the jewel shard. Give me death and release of my tormented soul."
"Doctor Suikotsu..."
"Please do this for me," He begs. "I beg of you."
Kikyo reaches out he hand but grunts and clenches it, as though she's hesitating. Kikyo goes to take out the shard but gasps and retracts her hand just as Jukotsu's blade races out there her. It cuts out the jewel shard before retracting back to Jukotsu who catches the jewel shard in his hand. He smiles.
"I'll take this as a memento!" Then he whirls around and races off.
"Doctor Suikotsu!" Kikyo gasps, looking back at him.
"And so it ends," The brunette says. "It's finally over." He's smiling as Suikotsu's body glows before melting away, smoke wafting up from it. Rin gasps, burying her face in my shoulder as Shinobu also gasps and jumps from fright, but he doesn't look away. The rest of the flesh melts from Suikotsu's bones.
Kikyo closes her eyes as she prays for the doctor. Rin looks back at Kikyo before glancing to me pointedly. I nod my head once with a smile before I set Rin down.
She steps up to the beautiful priestess as she says gratefully, "Excuse, Priestess? Thank you so much for saving my life."
Kikyo responds in relief, "You're welcome. I'm glad you weren't hurt. You must've been scared."
Rin nods her head in agreement. She says, "At times, he was frightening, but other times..."
As I notice Sesshomaru walking off, I call, "Rin. Time to go." She looks up in surprise before bowing in gratitude to the priestess.
"Goodbye!" Rin calls.
I pause as I half turn away from her, gratitude in my own voice. "I don't know how to thank you, Kikyo-sama, but I'm forever in your debt, for you've saved my daughter's life."
"There's no need..." Kikyo was saying but I was already walking after my lover, picking up my sword along the way, feeling the beautiful priestess gazing after me.
Sesshomaru suddenly pauses, Tokijin strapped to his side once more. He looks back at the retreating priestess.
I prompt, "Sesshy-kun?"
Sesshomaru responds, "We must leave, Sakura, Shinobu, Rin."
