It was early in the morning and Dajuna had gone to the meadows to practice her weapon mastery and to do some exercise before she had to leave her village once more. She never stayed for long, just a couple of days, and her people ensured no one knew whenever she would be coming to the village; they would even close businesses to prevent travelers from coming to the town, calling them bank holidays or rest days. She was truly grateful for everything the people did to accommodate her. They knew that if Sagara Nakasuke found out she was back at the village then he would make sure she was forced to come to his domains and accept his wishes and she was not interested in acquiescing his request. Although it was more of an order. Ever since he became obsessed with her he has been stalking her and trying to capture her or blackmail her into becoming his bride and sire his children and it felt like the most atrocious thing a man like him could ever demand from her. Especially when he was involved in the destruction of her village and the amount of orphan children there now were in the area. She did everything she could for them but that still wasn’t close to having their families back. But try telling that to a selfish man who thinks he can have everything he wants. And that was another reason she would rather die than to accept his terms. Besides there was no guarantee that he would not destroy her village as soon as she accepted so, for now, her people were safe. And it was the people of this town, only, that knew she was a demon and they loved her still for all she had done. No one else knew her truth.

And the fact that they had not minded when she told them made them all closer. And so now the whole village was like a single family, they were all interconnected by the secrets they had shared with one another and their will to survive and prosper and all on their own, without any bribery from that daimyo or any other person of power. They wanted to survive because they fought hard enough and because they achieved such a feat with their own hands. At this point that was exactly what her village needed, unity, progress and hope and if they strongly believed that together they could rebuild and fix the town then that was all it would require because they would all work together. And that was one of the reasons she did not give up either, she wanted everyone to be safe and for the sacrifices of their loved ones to not have been in vain. One slash of her katana and she turned around as if to face a different opponent lifting the blade elegantly in order to parry and counter straight away.

She frowned thinking about the daimyo Nakasuke and her grip on the blade tightened. She had to stop herself from spitting at his face the very first time he had asked her to become his bride and sire his heirs. The only reason she did not do such a thing was because she knew that her people would be in danger should she publicly offend him. But he had really tempted her then. In a way she had to thank him, if he hadn’t approached her with such a horrendous proposal, which forced her to run away from him and keep her people safe by joining a band of mercenaries, well, she would not be the person she now was and she was glad she had all the skills she had recently acquired. It ensured she could keep herself safe and protect those around her, she earned a bit of coin that could help her village rebuild and become more prosperous and it made her feel useful. Besides the perks of travelling and being sought due to her growing popularity were things she could not ignore. And a great part of her absolutely enjoyed her new way of life and the freedom that came with it, besides she never accepted jobs that required her to kill because she did not believe in taking lives as any means of justice. However, she did know people like Nakasuke needed to pay for the crimes they committed.

She slashed left and right and twirled the blade to arch behind her as if to parry an invisible attack behind her and she then took a couple of steps back in order to hide the blade on her left and then she took two steps forth and slashed at the neck and then twirled around smiling. Whenever she needed to stop thinking and relax, practicing seemed to have the key. It helped her focus on what she was doing, it cleared her mind and she thoroughly enjoyed it. She stopped for a moment in order to drink some water from her leather skin. It was a hot day and she wished she had decided to wear a lighter dress, maybe she could go to the springs later. But right now she needed to finish her routine and then write a list of things she needed to do and get before her next job and whatever requests the people of the village made. She sorted the lists during her short break as she mainly needed to check them, and then she resumed her training. Her amethyst eyes sparkled with determination and her scarlet hair sparkled with the hot morning sun as she slashed once more, her steps light but well placed one foot in front of the other.

Despite the heat she smiled because she loved sunny days. It comforted her and gave her hope that one day things would work out for her and the village and it strengthened her resolve. Besides everything looked so much better under the sunlight, the flowers sparkled with charm and the ocean waves looked magical. As she continued her training she spotted her cute furry friend called Kyo, it was a red squirrel she had befriended a couple of years ago and it had been following her ever since and she would often stand on her shoulder and accompany her on her adventures. She smirked, she had some nuts so once she finished she would share them with her furry friend.

“Did I wake you up, old friend?” She smirked as Kyo screeched before it ran along the trees in order to climb onto her shoulder as it always did. She smirked and rubbed its belly before she continued training, both were so used to each other by now that Kyo did not mind the force of a slash or the twirl, it melts its balance perfectly well.

And then, just as quickly as Kyo had climbed atop her shoulder, it leapt away from Dajuna and she was a bit surprised at such strange behaviour. It snorted as if to warn her about something but she did not sense any changes around her. The birds seemed at peace, there was no change in the wind, she could not see anything approaching and yet she held her katana tight and looked around her as if she did not wish to dismiss her furry friend completely.

And yet something in her gut told her that something was afoot. She held her blade at the ready and then decided to resume her training although this time her alertness was at its maximum level just in case anyone wished to ambush her. If that daimyo thought he could surprise her and get what he wanted, he was sorely mistaken. She would gladly show him that there was a good reason she was a mercenary that people hired due to being considered the best mercenary around. She had earned that reputation with years of hard work and dedication and she would not accept any insult to her work diligence just because he was a spoiled daimyo with too much power to know what to do with it.

She took a deep breath and focused all her senses on her surroundings but nothing would strike her out of the ordinary and her sense of alarm was still there. Maybe it was all that thinking about a certain spiteful daimyo that got her on her guard and so she decided to resume her training as if nothing even though Kyo was still rattling the leaves as if to warn her.

The room was covered in shadows, and the fireplace and numerous candles seemed to do little to dispel the gloom. A man with short reddish-brown hair and eyes like liquid fire stood in the center of the room, gazing into a crystal orb about the size of an orange. He watched as several young, beautiful women - many of them quite frightened - were herded off the ship and onto a dock by several strong demon guards. He heard a soft noise, and looked up as the door opened. A woman with long white hair and beautiful eyes entered along with a younger man with long dark hair and scarlet eyes.

“Father, the women have arrived.” The young man said softly,

The first man scoffed. “I know already. Do you not think I would keep watch over such an important day? Do not forget who is the master, and who is the pupil, Kyouaku.”

The younger man bowed slightly. “Yes, Father…”

The older man looked to the woman. “Futachi, I want you to go select the loveliest and strongest of the women. My son deserves the best to choose from.” He then smirked. “And the rest can be put in the East Wing. I am sure I can find use enough for them.”

“Father…” Kyouaku spoke up again, glancing at the woman standing next to him. “We’ve discussed this, her name is Futakuchi…”

His father waved him off impatiently. “Yes, yes. Whatever, just do as I say.” He looked at the orb once more. “Hmmm…There’s a rather lovely redhead in this batch. Perhaps you should bring her to me. She could produce you a lovely little sibling…if she survives the coupling.” He smirked. “I did hope to get you a little sister eventually, but they just don’t make human women as sturdy as they used to…”

Nakade sat up in bed with a start. It was another of those weird dreams. He’d been having them with increasing regularity lately, and although the details always slipped away quickly after he woke up, he could always remember it was something about demons…

Which told him it was just a stupid dream - everyone knew demons were just make-believe - but there was still someting about the dreams that left him with a familiar yet ominious feeling. Sighing, he checked his alarm clock and saw it was still an hour before anyone else would be up. He could try to go back to sleep, but experience taught him that there was no point. He climbed out of bed and quietly dressed before he left his room and padded quietly down the hallway. He peeked in on Tama and Omi, and then checked across the hall on Aniko, Jing Yi and Yuki. All the kids were still sound asleep, naturally.. Good. He didn't mind nightmares when he was the only one who suffered with them.

Returning to his room for just a moment, he grabbed his supply bag and strapped on his katana. He had a swordplay demonstration later that morning, and this way he wouldn’t have to return just to get his sword. Leaving a quick note in case his grandparents or the kids woke up and missed him, he let himself out of the house and began to hike toward the path to the woods that led to one set of the hot springs. He needed some more herbs, but luckily they grew in abundance around the springs. He busied himself for some time plucking and organizing the herbs based on the medicinal properties he knew for each one. It was always quite hot near the springs - which made perfect sense, but still - so he decided to shrug out of his yukata top, letting it hang around his waist and continuing his search bare-chested.

While he was out here, he decided to do some cleaning up around the springs so that the day’s patrons wouldn’t find a mess. It amazed him how thoughtless people could be, leaving litter and possessions lying around even though they knew they were not the only ones using the spring. He pulled a trash bag from his small drawstring bag, and began to pick up litter, though he’d have to take it all the way back to the house to throw it away. He then found someone’s earrings and he put those down in his bag for safekeeping. He had nearly finished tidying up everything when he saw something peeking out from behind a rock. Walking over, curious, he reached down and tugged the object free. It was some old book, by the look of it.

“What a waste…” He commented to himself. “An old book like this, and it’s left here to ruin? I don’t get it…” He tucked the book down in his bag as well, and then moved on to finish cleaning and picking herbs. He went to the other hot spring area and quickly tidied that up, picking up more litter and putting more lost items to his bag for safekeeping. He realized just as the sun was coming up fully over the mountain village that he was really, really warm, and starting to get tired and hungry. With his chest still bare, he sat down on a tree stump in the shade and began to look through his bag for a snack. He found the weird book and a package of beef jerky, and he tore into it as he looked over the book, tucking his bag under one arm to keep it out of his way.

The book was very old - though he wasn’t good enough to make a guess at how old it might be, but it seemed a shame that it was just left laying around. The front cover had the emblem of a curving Eastern dragon and the symbol “Winnowing Basket” both in shining silver on a blue leather cover. He looked at the spine, and read it aloud. “The Universe of the Four Gods…?” Well, it sounded really interesting. Maybe the owner had written their name inside it? If so, he could get it back to them.

Cracking open the book, he felt a bit strange, although he shrugged it off for the time being. He opened to the first page and was surprised to realize that it just started with the very first page of the story. Frowning, he began to read it aloud.

“This is the story of a young man from a small town that wanted only to help others and make them happy. Though his adventures would make those who love him most worry, he finally got the chance to help others… As the Seriyuu Seishi, Tensei - the Winnowing Basket. This book is a spell, and the spell begins the moment the first page is turned... So this is the story of how Nakade Kuragarino became the first Celestial Warrior of Seriyuu to ever come from a different world…”

He was shocked at seeing his own name in the book, but before he could figure out what this could mean, he was surrounded by a bright blue light, and he felt like he was falling forward. There was a strange weightlessness for a long few moments - during which he repeatedly saw the symbol for Winnowing Basket floating above him as if it was waiting for him. Hesitantly, he reached out and touched the symbol. It vanished with a soft popping sound, and he felt himself start to fall again…

Suddenly, the blue light faded and he found himself in a meadow of some sort, heading for the ground slower than he expected. He could see a woman with red hair training below him, and his eyes widened. “Look out!” He subconsciously gripped his katana and the strings of his backpack as he finally collided with the woman, knocking her to the ground and ending up sprawled on top of her. He stared into breathtaking amethyst eyes for a moment, only just catching himself enough to avoid resting his entire body weight on her. He had even forgotten he was bare chested, and he stayed there trying to catch his breath and looking into her eyes as he tried to figure out what had happened.

Quite suddenly, he realized how awkward this situation was, and he blushed faintly as he quickly moved to get off of her, sitting on the ground and looking around him “What in the hell is going on here…?”

Dajuna knew there was a good reason Kyo ran away form her, something her friend never did. Furthermore it got so quiet all of a sudden and yet, her state of mind did not allow her to follow suit and hide for whatever the creatures of the wilderness feared to confront. Sagara Nakasuke had that ability of getting under her skin in the worst of ways. She wished she could simply turn her back on him or even stab him, it would do everyone a world of good but that was not how things were solved. She did not wish to become a merciless killer in order to spare herself any more misfortune and keep her people safe, they would never want her to go down that path. Once she took a step there would be no coming back. She had to be patient, help came to those who wait. Although, after all those years, it was not strange for her to start to run out of patience, that was the reason she visited the village as often as possible, because she needed to see her family and loved ones and she needed to remind herself that she was doing this to protect them and safe them any more suffering. Besides, she wanted to see the children and as they said, they would grow quite fast. She did not want to miss a thing. Being a mercenary she had the advantage of picking the jobs she wanted to do and travel as much as it pleased her, it also meant she could easily cover her tracks and Nakasuke would find it hard to actually find her. Her tactic was to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

It was true that the daimyo was persistent and he had enough money to increase the people he paid to find her, but she had gotten so used to his predictability that she could easily avoid and mislead them. Sometimes she even paid them more than the lord and that was enough incentive to stop them from telling him that they had met with the very woman he had been looking for, for along time now. Sometimes she wondered why he had never given up looking for her, surely by then he had met other people who could match him perfectly and become his wife. But of course that brought up another issue, the fact that he had kept looking for her was clear prof of his obsession and a man like that was very dangerous.

For many years Dajuna had nightmares about that man finding her and capturing her in order for her to do his bidding. These nightmares had turned into what she feared the most, she had already lost one family and did not wish to lose another. Besides, she would also lose all chances at happiness and her freedom would be taken form her. Because, a man who obsessed as much as Nakasuke did, he would not let her leave the estate, least of all look at another man. He would punish her for speaking to others to the point where all her self-esteem would pummel and she would be unable to love and cherish her children. It would be a life of the most terrible slavery she could possibly fathom. When she was younger she did not realise this but, as soon as she joined the mercenaries and experienced the reality of life, she became fully aware of the kind of man he was and his designs. With this knowledge she would be a fool if she allowed him to find her and capture her. As soon as she decided this, her nightmares reduced considerably, however, she still had nightmares occasionally and she was grateful for it was a reminder of her aim, to avoid that man at all costs. She learned to fight with the best, martial arts, tactics, geography and survival. She did everything she could think of in order to become stronger and get the upper hand, although she was still a woman, she could find ways to decipher his weaknesses and exploit them.

She had reasons to worry but she could not become as obsessive as he had. Anyone could become a psychopath if not careful. And besides, her life was much more than just avoiding a self-centred daimyo. And being a mercenary also enabled her to keep looking for her dear friend Yukiina, ever since their village was destroyed she never stoped searching and hoping that she was still alive somewhere out there. She swung her katana left and right and parried an imaginary blade behind before breaking free taking a step forward and turning with another slash. She finally took a deep breath and realised as she swung her blade to mimic the cleaning of the blade before she sheathed it elegantly in one swift movement. She could not give up because she knew that Yukiina and all the people who are for her would never want her to. She did worry that someone might have captured her for she was the beautiful daughter of the village chief, but she wanted to hope that everything she did and eery decision she took would lead her back to her friend, whom she loved like a sister.

For a moment everything stilled as if in warning and she saw birds screeching and scattering away from her exact location. She felt confused because she had never seen anything like this happen before and yet fail to sense where the threat could be coming from. That was, until she looked up at the sky and she gasped in sock. A piercing blue light emanated from the sky and cursed through the heavens, she was not sure what this could mean for she had never seen anything like it nor had she heard tales of this. It was true that, thinking about it now, blue was the colour of Seiryuu and Kutou, but could that be related to what was happening at that very moment? She did not consider herself deserving of any special treatment for any of the gods in fact she was rather indifferent to them and their customs, mainly because she failed to understand how powerful beings allowed terrible things to happen to the innocent without batting an eyelash or doing something about it. That did not mean she would not be respectful toward a Miko and Seishi, but she would feel more pity than respect to be honest because the gods chose these people to die and suffer and sacrifice themselves for the alleged wellbeing fo a whole kingdom. If gods were such powerful beings why did they need to sacrifice the innocent? She sighed and then decided to go back to the village and help the people as much as possible before she had to leave again. But then her senses sharpened and she looked around for a moment, what was this strange and overwhelming feeling?

“Look out!”

She gasped and looked above her as a man fell in her direction and the situation was so comical and unbelievable that she just stood there and watched him with shock in her eyes. How did a person manage to get that high up in the first place? She did not see any wings so he could not be a forest spirit, surely a tengu would not prank her with a threat to slam abasing her, right? Only tank loved to trick others. So who was this man that seemed to fall from the sky? It then hit her, she had seen that blue light and its as definitely the land of Seriyuu, was this truly who she thought he was? But she had never head of anyone landing the same way a Miko would and as far as she knew all Miko were women. Could this be a Seishi? But all Seishi were from the land of the gods, this made no sense, in any case she had to give her thoughts a rest because in all her musings she forgot to move away and was knocked back by the force of his fall. Luckily she did not hit her head, but she realised both of them ended in a somewhat compromising situation. Kyo chirped as if laughing at their situation with a rather smug face, Dajuna could easily imagine her telling her that she told her this would happen if she did not heed her warning.

But then something strange happened, as soon as she looked into his deep blue eyes and felt the warmth of his strong body, her cheeks turned the colour of sakura in spring and yer eyes sparkled like gems. She had never seen anyone with this colour of har either, as if it consisted of two different shades of blue. She found herself unable to look away and her hand reached up without her notice to caress his cheek and after that happened she felt as if her mind travelled back in time.

She found herself wearing a rather luxurious robe and bringing tea to someone, she could not see the face completely but his voice sounded familiar, he took the tea with a cool air about him and her hand gently reached to his cheek, “Why, why is it that you never look at me, but you look at them? I’m so much more than any of them, I have devoted myself to you so, why?” The pain in her heart was overwhelming and confusing and her logic found no reason for the man she loved to behave in such a way, Lord or not, how could he prefer mere mortal women? Why could she never get him to look her way or even remember her name? How could she keep on living when every kiss and touch was destined to another woman and they were not even demons like she was. She was kin to him, and yet…

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of unwanted company. A mortal woman approached the Lord and bowed at him before looking at her with deep hatred and in such a condescending way she could barely stand on her two feet without rushing to cut that woman into pieces. She wined when the man stood up without another word and embraced the mortal woman, and when their lips met she looked away, “Gaikotsu…” She felt her heart hurt in such a way that she had to walk away, not before being commanded to prepare them a bath. With tears in her eyes she walked on, to do as the Lord commanded.

She gasped when she realised her hand was on his cheek and their lips were inches away form each other. He would probably think her a crazy person for daring to do such a thing when they did not know each other. Or was that truly the case? What had that been back then? Whose memory was that? And why did she have such flashbacks when in contact with this man? Before she had a chance to come to a reasonable conclusion he quickly moved away and the loss of the warmth and the absence of those deep blue eyes disappointed her and she was not sure why. She then realised that there were tears in her eyes just like in that vision she had just had. She sat up gently and quickly moved to dry her eyes. What was wrong with her? How could someone she did not know and had not experienced affect her so?

“What in the hell is going on here…?”

His words brought her back to reality and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she finally managed to regain composure. She finally moved to kneel in front of him and watched him silently for a moment. He seemed utterly speechless and confused, he was surely not from around here, otherwise he would not be acting so frustrated and shocked. She then remembered that the time she had met Yukiina something similar had happened to her, she had relived memories of a time she could not recall, or a person she was not sure she knew. It had happened when she offered Yukiina a hand to help her stand up. Could he be…

She stared at him deeply, he was a very handsome man and the fact that he wore no shirt did terrible things to her heart and her imagination. But she did her best to keep her eyes on his. Surely he was a demon like her, but she could not be certain. She looked deeply into his eyes for a moment before she spoke through her telepathy, ”Who are you?” I have never seen anyone land from the heavens like you have.

She noticed he had a strange-looking bag but also a katana with him, was he a warrior back in the land he came from? She gently ran a finger along the hilt of the blade, “Are you a warrior?” She took a moment to comment, “I have only heart of women falling from the sky in order to appease the will of a selfish god, but, I have never head of a man doing so, do you… come from another world?” Fascination and curiosity took over and she felt her cheeks warm up again in embarrassment she probably looked like a curious child in his eyes, it wasn’t very lady-like but she could not help it, how often did you encounter people falling from the sky? It was also refreshing speaking with someone who wasn’t obsessed with her in order to get strong descendants.

Realising she had yet to introduce herself and thinking it would not harm to be honest to this man who was most likely unrelated to Nakasuke. So she then said, “My name is Dajuna, by the way.” She then thought for a moment before she stood up and tentatively offered him a hand to help him to his feet, “My village is nearby although I travel, I don’t say here for long, so you are welcome to come with me and get some food and…” She felt her cheeks turn a shade of vermillion before her eyes moved to look back at his chiseled chest but she quickly met his eyes, “…some clothing. The people are friendly and will not ask questions, I’m not sure why you are here but, you are welcome to travel with me to search for your reason to be here.” She hoped that her words sounded honest enough and he did not think she was trying to take advantage of him. But she did not know him enough to trust him with her secret so surely he would understand. Who would expect her to be so honest form the get go? Besides she had not lied, she did travel constantly.

Kyo decided that the stranger was not dangerous and carefully approached them before quickly climbing to Dajuna’s shoulder and rubbing her face abasing the demoness’ cheek. It made her laugh softly like a young child without a care in the world. It had been so unexpected that she could not help finding the squirrel’s antiques amusing. As she laughed the wind caressed her long red hair and her amethyst eyes sparkled with the light from the sun. “All right, Kyo, you earned your meal.” She then offered the Kyo some nuts and watched her scoff them filling her cheeks, she was probably going to hide them from peering eyes and only eat some of them. Kyo then stared at the man for a moment before climbing down and making her way to the forest in order to hide the nuts. She was a smart squirrel and did not wish to share her well-earned nuts.

It was strange how things worked, she had come here to practice and clear her mind. However, fate had something completely different in store for her. This encounter surely would have an effect on both of their lives, for he could have landed anywhere else, and yet, this one spot was chosen for some reason and that flashback, that memory, it could no be coincidental and she was eager to find out. Albeit, aware that she would probably suffer in the process, she had to know what this was for it was not the first time this has happened to her. But ti was definitely the first time it had happened in the presence of another living being, this was no dream, this had actually happened.

It… really… happened…