She looked to be seven or eight years old, with her hair in twin tails, wearing simple cotton clothes and straw sandals on her feet.
Her face still bore clear panic; she must have been hiding in the Shrine Hall when the demons attacked earlier.
"Kaede."
Kikyo's voice was uncharacteristically soft, "It's alright now."
The little girl named Kaede rushed to Kikyo and hugged her waist tightly.
"I was so scared! There were so many scary sounds outside! And so many demons!"
Her voice was tearful.
Kikyo lowered her head and gently patted her back.
"It's all over."
Kaede looked up, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Kikyo, "Really? Have the demons all been driven away?"
"Yes."
Kikyo nodded.
Kaede finally let out a sigh of relief, the terror on her face gradually fading.
But the next second, her gaze fell upon the figure behind Kikyo.
Hikaru.
Clad in tattered crimson armor.
Pale, disheveled hair.
And that—
Crimson oni mask.
"Ah!!!"
Kaede screamed and sat down hard on the ground.
She pointed at Hikaru, her finger trembling violently.
"Oni, oni, oni—!"
Hikaru: "..."
Well, this reaction was normal enough.
If it were him, suddenly seeing a guy wearing an oni mask standing in front of him, he would probably be stunned too.
Not to mention a little child.
"Kaede."
Kikyo's voice was calm, "He is not an enemy."
"B-but his face..."
Kaede hid behind Kikyo, only revealing half her head, staring at Hikaru without blinking.
In those eyes, there was both fear and curiosity.
Kikyo, however, glanced at Hikaru.
She seemed to want to say something but hesitated.
Hikaru understood what she wanted to say.
This oni mask was indeed too terrifying.
Let alone a child, even an adult would feel unsettled seeing it.
He looked down at himself.
Tattered armor, stained with blood.
Pale long hair, messy like grass.
Plus this scarlet oni mask... no matter how you looked at it, he was a villain.
"...Forget it."
Hikaru sighed.
He raised his hand and touched the edge of the crimson oni mask on his face.
Since he transmigrated three months ago, he had almost never taken off this mask.
On one hand, it was out of habit; on the other, there was no need.
Anyway, those he encountered were either demons or Demon Slayers who wanted to kill him; none of them required him to reveal his true face.
Furthermore, as an Ghost Samurai, this mask was, in a sense, his second face; it was a layer of armor formed by his Demonic Qi—his oni energy.
His 'protective shell'.
But things were different now.
He was standing in a human village.
Standing in front of a little girl who would be scared to tears by his face.
And standing in front of the strongest miko of the Sengoku Period, who seemed to have initially trusted and accepted him.
Fingers hooked onto the edge of the mask, applying gentle pressure.
Click.
The crimson Oni mask fell away.
Moonlight spilled onto the face that had been hidden for three months.
It was a young face.
Looking about seventeen or eighteen, with regular features and clear-cut contours.
Although his skin was so pale it didn't look like that of a living person, that very paleness instead accentuated a sickly handsomeness.
His inverted black and white eyes glowed eerily in the moonlight, his scarlet pupils like two burning gemstones.
Paired with that long, pale hair...
"So handsome..."