Someone I Care

Chapter XVIII

I was walking to do my task. "Finally, I made it," I said. I'm in a village that was just assaulted by marauders. "It seems like almost everyone here was killed by them," I muttered, starting my task. 

I picked up the spirits of the people in the village and buried their corpses. I'm almost done. "Hmm... what are you doing?" someone asked. "Hmm?" I mumbled, "Hey... you look like a miko, am I right?" said the young man. 

I didn't answer his question and continued my task. "Hey...?! Are you mute?" he asked. I ignored him and closed the last grave, then placed a wooden tombstone on their grave. 

I then made my way to the endless meadow, where I gathered a handful of flowers. The young man kept following me and watching me.

I placed flowers on the victims' graves and then prayed for them. 'Wow... thank you, the flowers are so beautiful', said the spirit of a young girl to me. I nodded. 

"Hmm...?! she looks like she's talking to someone (muttering), Hey, who are you talking to?" asks the young man. I ignored him again and walked out of the village. 

"Hey...?!" he called out to me, but I kept ignoring him. I then turned toward the large rock. The young man followed, but when he turned toward the large rock, he found no one; he only found a pile of stones. 

"Heeee... (grinning) interesting," said the young man.

After finishing my task, I was by the riverbank. Taking off my hat and veil, I began to wash my face. "Hah... (sighing) today was a very tiring day", I muttered. 

"Hooo... so you're here", someone said. I turned toward the voice, "?!". The young man was lost in thot as I turned to him. I put on my veil and hat, then stood up fast. 

The young man then snapped out of his reverie, "Hey... where are you going?" he asked, seeing me about to leave. 

I ignored him back, then walked away. "Hoo... you know it's not good to ignore people", the young man said, following me. 

"BANKOTSU-ANEKI!!!" someone shouted from the opposite direction, running toward me. The person then stopped right in front of the young man. 

"What is it? Jakotsu", asked the young man named Bankotsu. "Bankotsu-aneki, we've been searching for you everywhere", Jakotsu said, a little annoyed. 'It's so noisy, I'd better continue the journey', I said to myself.

I then stopped in my tracks, ran back toward them, and pushed them. The three of us fell to the ground, "What the..." Bankotsu wanted to say, but the demon centipede emerged from the ground. 

I drew my sword An and attacked the demon with a single strike. The demon died, and I took its soul with me. 

I turned toward them, 'They look surprised', I said. I approached them, "Are you okay?" I asked. 

They stared at me without saying anything. 'Uh... they seem fine', I thot to myself. Jakotsu suddenly stood up and hugged me, "Wow... You're really amazing, I was surprised to see it", he said with such excitement. 

Bankotsu pulled on Jakotsu's collar saying, "Enough... you're going to kill her with your hug", said Bankotsu. Jakotsu then argued with Bankotsu, and now I'm the one surprised to see their behavior is similar to children's.

 Bankotsu turned toward me, "So what's your name?" he asked. "(Y/n)", I replied. "Are you a miko?" Jakotsu asked. 

I nodded. "I'm Bankotsu and he's Jakotsu... (whispering) be careful around him, he doesn't like women, he likes men", Bankotsu said. "Bankotsu-aneki", Jakotsu whined.

After that, the three of us chatted together until their other friends, Renkotsu, Suikotsu, Kyokotsu, Ginkotsu, and Mukotsu, joined us. 

'Aaa... they're from a different human species, what a strange group', I thot to myself, sighing as I watched their behavior.