Blood in Flame and Water

The Human in the Demon, and the Other Way Around

Walking along the night-lit grass, Yasha finally healed completely from all his wounds caused by his fight with the Hashira Himejima Gyomei. The walk to the Hokkaido region was a long one, and getting over the canal separating the two islands was easier to cross this time now that Yasha had found an abandoned bridge on his initial journey to the Gifu prefecture.

He could smell the scent of home soon enough, which considering he lived within the mountains surrounding his village, the smell of floral and leafy vegetation, wood, water, and stone was what he considered sanctuary. Now returning from a mission assigned by his Master, it seemed all too familiar and inviting. With the full moon held high, Yasha was at peak strength, and was hungry enough to poach an entire block of those humans down in the village.

However, one human that branded themselves into Yasha's brain kept him from riveting through the village just yet. It was bastardly of him to leave Mitski behind, but if he had been a moment late to his and Kokushibo-sensei's tutoring session, it would not have mattered if he had shown up at all. The Upper ranked oni was an honorable one at that, and any lack of punctuality was seen as disrespectful. Kokushibo-sensei gave Yasha one chance, and Yasha would not put his life on the line for a child Yasha barely knew if his sensei, or his Master, would be the ones seeing to his punishment.

Though with that not being the case as of now, a tingling feeling tickled at the bottom of the demon's ribcage. It had him on his toes, unable to stand still for long, and looking over his shoulder at every sound. Hissing to himself, Yasha headed towards his cave, not allowing himself to hope that Mitski would have tried to make their way back to it after his disappearance. Though he knew it was only hope, and logic would kill any sort of reassurance Yasha attempted to console himself with. The path to the cave was too steep, it took a demon, or someone severely light on their feet, to reach Yasha's cave. The demon ensured it stayed that way, picking that location for a reason to house his trophies and hide his most precious belongings; though those were few and far between. It occurred to Yasha, just then, that perhaps the cave wouldn't be the same nor feel the same without a certain special possession that the oni housed recently.

Now standing in front of the low hanging cave, Yasha clicked his tongue against the back of his throat, alerting any entities that possibly hid inside. Bending down underneath the overhanging rock and vines that covered the only way inside, the oni cleared the vines and walked inside. Darkness met him, darker even that outside due to the absence of the moon's light. Turning towards the pit where the fire used to be lit, only long past fading ashes lay in a pile so old no smoke rose from the remains.

Humming to himself and turning towards both his and Mitski's nest, he walked over to it and kneeled beside the edge. Grabbing a piece of folded and rumpled fabric that the child used as a pillow, the demon brought it to his nose and took a deep inhale of the scent. Eyes fluttering half closed, Yasha allowed the milky prepubescent smell of Mitski's scent to lay over his senses. Mitski was a child so their scent reflected that. Unlike grown women who smell of pastries, cakes, flowers, and blooming spring cherry blossoms, or the men who smell of late night cloudless skies, wood burning campfires, savory and glistening meat, and the steel of working tools, children didn't smell of much besides milk and the scentful things around them.

Babies and children up to the age of puberty smell of milk to demons. Fresh milk layered under what the child grows up around, but those scents don't go much further than skin surface level.

Some demons find this smell attractive, pulling them in and begging to feast upon the children. However, to Yasha, he had no interest in the smell or consumption of children's blood and flesh. He himself hates and looks down upon demons who target kids. That's why he's not ever laid a hand on children, even if he himself can see the… tendencies these children show at a young age. Yasha makes sure to keep an eye on those, though.