Chapter 62: An Angry Kikyo, a Fearful Tsubaki, and a Hasty Retreat
The morning light bled across the sky, growing stronger with each passing moment.
On the open ground of the back mountain, the ashes of the slain demon had not yet dispersed. Illuminated by the rising sun, several wisps of blue-grey smoke curled lazily into the air, carrying the faint, coppery tang of blood. The surrounding forest bore the scars of their battle; several great trees lay splintered and scattered across the earth.
And in the center of this quiet devastation, Kikyo stood. Ten steps away, Tsubaki watched her, a portrait of confusion.
Clad in her white and red robes, Kikyo held her longbow, an arrow already nocked and drawn. The arrowhead, gleaming with a dangerous radiance of spiritual power, was aimed squarely at Tsubaki's heart.
"The ritual duel," Kikyo said, her voice a placid, chilling calm. "Let it begin, Tsubaki."
She repeated herself, her tone so level it held no inflection, no hint of emotion. But Hikaru, standing just to the side, detected the sharp edge of displeasure hidden beneath the surface. He glanced at Kikyo's profile.
As expected.
Though her expression remained that same cool, detached mask she so often wore, her pitch-black eyes were filled with a biting, arctic cold.
This girl was angry.
Tsubaki, however, still hadn't caught on. She remained frozen in place, her face a canvas of bewilderment, thinking only that Kikyo must not have heard her clearly.
"Wait... wait!" she said, her voice rushed. "Didn't you hear what I just said? I said I could give up the Shikon Jewel, as long as you give me that shikigami—"
"Tsubaki."
Kikyo interrupted her, her voice still unnervingly calm. The bowstring creaked as she drew it even tighter. "Draw your weapon."
"What?" Tsubaki was stunned. "A ritual duel… shouldn't it be a contest of spiritual arts? Why draw a weapon—and besides, I said…"
A trace of warmth finally entered Kikyo's voice, but it was a warmth Tsubaki would have rather done without. It was the frigid heat of a banked fire, promising only destruction.
"Draw your weapon," Kikyo repeated, her words sharp and clear. "Let me see the fruits of your cultivation these past years."
Tsubaki's face finally changed. The truth crashed down on her with the force of a physical blow. Kikyo didn't want a ritual duel at all. She wanted… a martial contest?
No, this was something else entirely. She wanted to fight her.
"Kikyo! What is the meaning of this!" Tsubaki panicked, her composure shattering. "I just want your shikigami! I'm even willing to give up the Shikon Jewel! Is that really necessary?!"
Hikaru stood to the side, an impassive spectator to the unfolding drama. He couldn't help the ghost of a smile that threatened to touch his lips. This priestess, Tsubaki, truly had no ability to read the room. Her earlier words had been spoken with such self-righteous conviction, as if her desire was the only thing that mattered in the world.
She had completely disregarded his own feelings on the matter.
He could, in fact, understand perfectly why Kikyo was angry. If someone had approached him and so righteously demanded one of his possessions, he'd be more than a little displeased himself.
Besides, he wasn't some thing.
He was a proper Oni Samurai—the shikigami, comrade, and partner of the strongest priestess of the Sengoku period. He was a… a youkai who had fought through countless battles alongside her.
Ahem.
Though that identity was a temporary fabrication, it was, for all intents and purposes, a legitimate one. To be taken away just like that? What did she take him for? And more, what did she take Kikyo for?
"Kikyo," Hikaru spoke up.
Kikyo didn't turn her head, but he saw her body stiffen almost imperceptibly. "What?"
"I think…" Hikaru said, his tone leisurely, "a ritual duel should follow the proper rules. After all, it's a contest between priestesses. Using a bow isn't very appropriate. It's too easy to injure someone."
His tone was utterly sincere, but his eyes were clearly enjoying the show.
Kikyo finally turned her head to look at him, her gaze simmering with exasperation. It was a look that plainly asked: Whose side are you on?
Hikaru's expression remained calm and composed. "Of course," he added, a slow smile spreading across his face, "if Lady Tsubaki insists on a contest… then that's a different matter."
Tsubaki's face, already pale, grew even uglier. She wasn't a fool. She had witnessed the entire previous battle. She had seen Kikyo's arrow blast the upper body of that seemingly immortal monster to pieces, a feat achieved through sheer destructive force, not just its purification properties. The power was terrifying. If that arrow were shot at her… Tsubaki shuddered, a tremor running through her entire body.
"I…" She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but as her gaze met Kikyo's icy stare, all her words died in her throat.
Several years had passed since they had last met. The woman before her was far, far stronger than she remembered. And though Tsubaki herself had grown, the gap between them had only widened. They were simply not on the same level.
"I concede."
Tsubaki gritted her teeth and spat out the two words. Her voice was heavy, as if squeezed from between clenched jaws, thick with suppressed, gnashing anger.
"What was that?" Kikyo asked, feigning ignorance, her bow still not lowered.
"I said, I concede!" Tsubaki's voice rose, sharp with humiliation. "The Shikon Jewel is yours. No ritual duel is needed. Consider my earlier words unsaid! I'm leaving!"
After spitting out the words, she spun on her heel to leave. But after only two steps, she stopped.
She looked back at Hikaru, her eyes still holding a trace of desperate unwillingness. But that desire was now overshadowed by a much stronger emotion: fear. Fear of Kikyo.
"That shikigami…" she started, as if wanting to leave with one last parting threat.
"Hmm?"
A soft twang echoed as Kikyo's fingers tightened on the bowstring.
Tsubaki immediately snapped her mouth shut. "It's nothing."
Biting her lip, she turned and left, her pace quickening into a near-flight. The figure in white robes and red hakama quickly disappeared into the morning light, leaving only a low murmur hanging in the air.
"It seems… it's time to return to the sect for a visit…"
Clearly, the priestess named Tsubaki had not given up. She could concede the Shikon Jewel, as she never had much desire for it in the first place; it was merely a tool for her rivalry with Kikyo. But that Oni Samurai covered in bone spikes—as a priestess of the Tahoto, a master of shikigami arts, she truly, truly coveted such a powerful familiar.
Regarding this, Hikaru felt a pang of regret. Why hadn't she lost her temper and attacked? It just went to show that entrapment didn't succeed every time.
…
After confirming Tsubaki was well and truly gone, Kikyo slowly lowered her bow. Her expression returned to its usual placid calm. But Hikaru felt that beneath that stillness, there was a hint of… smugness?
No, that wasn't right. It was satisfaction.
"Let's go," Kikyo spoke.
"Where to?"
"Back to the village, to bid farewell to the demon slayers. The matter here is settled. It's time for us to leave."
She started walking forward. After a few steps, she noticed Hikaru wasn't following. She stopped and looked back at him.
"What is it?"
"Nothing," Hikaru said, catching up. "I just thought the scene earlier was quite amusing."
"Amusing how?"
"The strongest priestess of the era, willing to turn on a fellow practitioner just to protect her shikigami," he mused. "If this story were to spread, it would surely be quite the sensation."
Kikyo's footsteps faltered for a moment. She didn't turn around, but from his vantage point, Hikaru could see the very tips of her ears were flushed a faint, delicate pink.
"Nonsense," she said, her voice a little too quick. "I was merely upholding order. Her desire to take what belongs to another was wrong from the start."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "And if what she wanted to take wasn't me, but something else? For example, a sword? A rock? A tree?"
Kikyo remained silent and began to walk faster, her back held ramrod straight. Her long, black hair fluttered gently in the morning breeze.
[Shikon Jewel: Naohi: Favorability +2]
[Current Favorability: 54 (Trust)]
[It conveyed a message to you: "She will not admit it."]
["But you should understand."]
Hikaru looked at the prompt on his system panel. A genuine smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Of course he understood.
It was just that understanding was one thing. Saying it out loud would only spoil the fun.
Some things were simply better left unsaid.
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