Six Eyes

Chapter Seven: Flesh and Blood

Kokushibo tried to forget. He did his best to not think about them, to strike them from his memories. But they remained. For over three years, Muichiro and Yuichiro remained in his head.

'This is for the best.' Kokushibo would often remind himself. They're few months together seemed to leave several marks on Kokushibo. When he killed, he did it painlessly. When he ate, he thought of them, and it made him want to vomit.

Everything Kokushibo did made him hate himself. Eventually, he swore to himself that he felt nothing. And like everything else that he said was right, was proven wrong.

***

Muichiro and Yuichiro walked through the woods, carrying several small logs on their back, the sun slowly setting in the west as they made their way back home from a long days work of wood chopping.

"So what are you thinking about dinner?" Muichiro, now eleven years old, asked his twin. "I don't know." Yuichiro responded, putting down his bag of wood next to the front door.

"Ms. Senchiyo gave me some bread after I fixed her door yesterday, so maybe I could cook some rice and duck with it-," "Go ahead and do that." Yuichiro interrupted, walking into his room and shutting the door coldly. "...ok." Muichiro mumbled.

***

Kokushibo sighed as he dipped beneath the ice cold river water, his head falling back to rest on a large stone as he closed all six of his eyes. 'This River...' he thought. 'This is the same one by the boys house..."

He knew the area around him. If he walked up the riverbed it would lead him to their front door. But he understood what would happen if he followed his emotion.

Kokushibo closed his eyes and focused on his mind. It was silent. He could tell, when that man was seeing through his eyes. And right now, there was nothing. He sighed and rose out of the water. "I will only check on them..." he told himself, and hesitantly started to walk up the river.

***

Muichiro finished chopping the onions and slid them into the pan along with the hot oil. Yuichiro stood behind him, scoring the duck breast until it was ready to fry.

"So... we should probably go fishing tomorrow. We can sell them by the market and eat the ones that were left over." Muichiro said as he looked back at Yuichiro. "Hm. Sure" Yuichiro simply replied.

"What do *you* want to do tomorrow." Muichiro asked. Yuichiro sighed. "Chop more wood." Muichiro huffed. "That's all we ever do... why not try something different? Or maybe just rest?"

Yuichiro turned around and gave a mean glare. "Try what else? How else are we going to stay afloat? The villagers need wood so we'll get them some. We're barely getting by as is." He turned back around when he finished. "Here, put this in the pan." He handed back the duck."

Muichiro took the duck and put it in the pan while holding his head low. "I'm sorry..." he mumbled. "It's... fine." Yuichiro looked away. Then they heard the door slide open.

***

The moon hung high in the sky as Kokushibo walked up the steep riverbed. That's when he heard it. A blood curdling scream that echoed through the air. He started to run.

That's when the unmistakable smell of iron came to his nose. He took in a deep breathe and understood what it was. Blood. Sweet, tasty blood. But this time, his body filed with dread.

'It's a dead animal...!' He told himself. 'When I reach the top of the hill the house will be the same as it was three years ago...' when he reached the top of the hill, he saw the house, it's lights on and the door opened. And the red liquid covering the ground and door.

Kokushibo ran inside and saw the absolute horror the was transpiring. In the corner, Muichiro was shakily sitting, cradling Yuichiro in his arms as they were both covered in blood.

In front of them was a tall figure, a demon, who turned and looked at Kokushibo when he entered. "Hey, this is my kill, get the hell outta-." He couldn't finish his sentence before Kokushibo separate his head from his shoulders.

"Boys!" Kokushibo yelled out and kneeled next to Muichiro. "Six... eyes...?" Muichiro asked, still shaking. "Yes... it's me..." Kokushibo grabbed Yuichiro and quickly wrapped his kimono around him tightly.

"Muichiro, do you have medicine? Or bandages?" Muichiro nodded and pointed at one of the cabinets. Kokushibo rushed and over and took out several bandages and some herbs.

"This should help the bleeding..." he spread a herb paste on Yuichiro's wounds and bandages them. They were deep... and they were bleeding a dark blood that Kokushibo knew meant death was imminent.

Kokushibo sighed. There was a possibly that, if he wanted Yuichiro to survive... he would have to turn him into a demon.