Tsubaki.
The name actually rang a bell for Kōbe Hikaru.
She was a character from the original story.
A shrine maiden — but not an ordinary one. In the eyes of outsiders, she was a prodigious talent who stood on equal footing with Kikyō, a name spoken in the same breath. In her youth she had traveled widely, practicing exorcism across the land, and had once crossed paths with Kikyō in some village where the two of them hunted demons side by side. She had always seen Kikyō as a rival.
When the demon-slayer clan entrusted the Shikon Jewel to Kikyō for purification, Tsubaki couldn't accept it. She sent a shikigami to ambush Kikyō in secret — only for Kikyō to reflect the attack straight back at her, ruining her face. From that moment she had sworn revenge. Fifty years later, when the original story began, she had willingly fallen into darkness and become a black miko, dealing primarily in curses to bring about the deaths of others.
But looking at her now — arrogant as she clearly was — she was still young, still raw. She hadn't yet walked the road of jealousy and vengeance the way she would in the source material.
And it seemed she had come here for the same reason as in the original.
To compete for the Shikon Jewel.
Tsubaki stood there with her chin tilted high, every inch the proud peacock.
The white robes wrapped her figure closely, and the way she was standing pulled the fabric taut across her chest, outlining a full, rounded silhouette. The red hakama swayed around her legs like a long skirt, rippling in the wind.
Spiritual energy churned around her.
Waves of power radiated off her body — weaker than Kikyō's by a considerable margin, but by the standards of ordinary practitioners, she was without question first-tier.
"Guard dog?"
Kōbe Hikaru raised an eyebrow. He wasn't offended — he just found the comparison oddly novel.
He'd been called a demon before. A ghost. A beast.
Guard dog was a new one.
"I prefer 'companion,'" he said, and drove Hiraikotsu into the ground with a heavy thud that sent the nearest demon-slayers stumbling back two steps. "As for who's the dog —"
He looked Tsubaki up and down.
"— that remains to be seen."
The color drained from Tsubaki's face.
On those striking features, the arrogance at the corners of her eyes froze solid in an instant.
Textbook villain template.
"You demon —"
"Tsubaki."
Kikyō spoke. Her voice was quiet, but it cut cleanly through whatever Tsubaki was about to hurl at him. "You came here for the Shikon Jewel?"
Blunt and direct.
Tsubaki laughed coldly.
Obviously.
She stepped forward, the hem of her red hakama dragging a streak of crimson across the ground.
"That old man handed the Jewel to you. I don't accept it.
"Why should it be you?
"In terms of spiritual power, I am not your inferior. In terms of practice, I have walked every corner of this land and slain countless demons.
"In terms of standing —"
She paused, the dissatisfaction in her eyes sharpening. "My lineage is more distinguished than yours. I began my training in the miko arts before you did."
Kikyō did not argue.
She simply stood there in silence, black hair drifting softly in the wind, her composure so unshakeable it formed a stark contrast with Tsubaki's aggressive advance.
"And so?" Kikyō asked.
"What exactly do you want?"
"A contest."
Tsubaki raised her hand, pointing toward Kikyō. "Three days from now, right here in this demon-slaying village — you and I settle this as shrine maidens. A proper match.
"Whoever wins has the right to guard the Shikon Jewel."
A stir ran through the demon-slayers around them.
"Is this...?"
"Two great shrine maidens dueling?"
"Will our village survive it...?"
Kōbe Hikaru stood to one side, silently watching all of it.
He noticed the expression on Tsubaki's face as she spoke.
Beneath the arrogance was anxiety.
And in those eyes — undisguised, unmistakable — jealousy.
This woman had treated Kikyō as a rival from the very beginning.
But Kikyō had never once regarded her as a rival. That one-sided dynamic was probably what stung Tsubaki the most.
Unrequited feelings were the cruelest kind.
— Ahem. Wrong phrasing. One-sided competitive fixation, rather.
"A duel?"
Kikyō's voice broke through Kōbe Hikaru's wandering thoughts. "There's no point."
Tsubaki's expression locked up.
"What did you say?"
"The Shikon Jewel cannot be guarded by whoever is merely the strongest.
"What it requires," Kikyō said, with the same calm steadiness, "is a pure heart.
"Yours is far too turbulent."
To say this to a shrine maiden — a vocation where inner stillness was everything — was blunt to the point of cruelty.
The color surged into Tsubaki's face.
Furious and beside herself, she raised her hand without warning and fired a pulse of spiritual energy from her fingertips, aimed straight at Kikyō's face.
Fast.
Extremely fast.
But —
Clang.
A ring of steel on steel.
Kōbe Hikaru had interposed himself in front of Kikyō at some point, Muramasa held across his chest, and the blast hit the flat of the blade. The sword hummed with the impact, the pulse of energy sheared cleanly in two by the edge, the two halves flying past on either side to slam into the ground behind him, blasting out a pair of shallow craters.
"An ambush?"
Kōbe Hikaru's voice was perfectly even.
"This is the conduct of someone who wants to guard the Shikon Jewel? Somehow I get the feeling even I, a demon, have more dignity than this."
The flush on Tsubaki's face deepened.
Not shame. Just fury.
"You — demon — get out of my way!"
She raised both hands. More spiritual energy began to gather, condensing into streams of white light that circled her like orbiting stars.
"If you want to play guard dog so badly —"
"Then I'll deal with you first!"
Kōbe Hikaru didn't move. He just stood there, blade tip angled toward the ground.
Behind him, Kikyō hadn't moved either.
But her hand was already resting on her bowstring.
The tension wound to a breaking point. The demon-slayers scrambled to clear the area.
Just as both sides were about to make their move —
"Enough."
An aged voice carried through the crowd.
Everyone turned.
An old woman in a long grey robe hobbled forward on a walking stick, her hair white as frost, her face a map of deep wrinkles — but her eyes held a sharpness that put young people to shame.
"Raising your hand on the grounds of our demon-slaying village —"
Her gaze swept over Tsubaki, then over Kōbe Hikaru. "Lady Tsubaki, do you truly have so little regard for this old woman?"
Tsubaki's hands stilled.
Kōbe Hikaru sheathed Muramasa.
The old woman's position was obvious at a glance.
A village elder — the one holding things together in the Village Elder's absence.
"If you wish to compete, you may."
The old woman planted her walking stick between them. "But not now.
She looked at Tsubaki.
"Lady Tsubaki, your reputation reaches to every corner of the land. Launching an ambush in public would reflect poorly on you, should word get out."
Tsubaki's face cycled between pale and flushed.
"I..."
"Three days hence."
The old woman cut her off. "Three days from now, there is an open clearing behind the mountain at the back of the village.
"If you wish to compete, do it there.
"Our entire village will bear witness.
"Win or lose, there will be a fair reckoning."
She finished, then turned to Kikyō. "Lady Kikyō, what do you say?"
Kikyō was silent for a moment.
Then she nodded.
"Very well."
The expression on Tsubaki's face shifted.
From fury — to smug satisfaction.
Her scheme had worked.
"Good."
She laughed, cold and sharp. "Three days from now, I look forward to seeing just how strong you really are — you, who the world calls the greatest shrine maiden.
"Let's find out."
With that, she turned and walked away.
The white-and-red figure vanished into the crowd.
The tension finally began to dissolve.
Kōbe Hikaru slid Muramasa back into its scabbard and turned to look at Kikyō.
"You agreed?"
"Yes."
Kikyō's expression was calm as ever. "She isn't going to let this go. Better to settle it once and for all than to have her drag this out indefinitely."
Kōbe Hikaru thought about it, and conceded the point.
But something still nagged at him.
"That shot just now —"
He gestured to where he had blocked the blast. "That was deliberate, wasn't it?"
Kikyō said nothing.
She simply looked at him.
That look said everything. — You're only figuring this out now?
"In front of others."
Kikyō's voice dropped low enough that only the two of them could hear. "Your role, outwardly, is my shikigami."
Kōbe Hikaru went quiet.
A shikigami?
He — a Ghost Warrior — was being cast as a shikigami?
"That will be your identity going forward," Kikyō continued. "It's the most convenient explanation, and people won't press for more."
Kōbe Hikaru opened his mouth.
Thought better of it.
Closed it again.
Fine.
Shikigami it was.
It was a useful enough cover when moving through human settlements, all things considered.
"In that case —"
And yet — watching the rare look of genuine seriousness on Kikyō's face — a flash of inspiration struck Kōbe Hikaru, and he asked:
"Does this shikigami come with a salary?"
Kikyō looked at him.
The look carried exasperation, speechlessness — and just a flicker of reluctant amusement.
"Do offerings count?"
"...They count."
[Shikon Jewel — Naohi: Affection +1]
[Current Affection: 50 (Trust)]
[Congratulations — Affection has broken through 50. Second Talent unlocked.]
[Second Talent: Spirit Sight]
[Effect: You can not only perceive spiritual energy, but sense the direction and intensity of its flow with far greater clarity — in your eyes, spiritual energy is light, and it is wind you cannot quite catch hold of.]
Kōbe Hikaru stared at the notification panel.
Fifty.
He'd finally broken through the second threshold.
Next —
He looked toward the direction Tsubaki had disappeared into the distance.
The duel in three days.
That was going to be interesting.
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