The rest of the day went relatively well, they explored the town and played around a little. They even had some photos for a souvenir. Akeno laughed a little at the photo where Azrael fell in the lake while trying to catch the hat of a little girl. He could have used his power, but it seemed like he wanted to behave like a normal human.
The day was coming to an end. Already dusk was falling and the stars in the sky became more visible. After playing around, they went back to the temple. Currently, they were seated on the stairs as they admired the sun setting behind the trees.
It has truly been a long time since she felt so much happiness. She didn't have to worry about food nor a shelter. She didn't have to worry about what would happen tomorrow. She didn't have to wonder if her existence was cursed.
For the entire day, she wasn't Himejima Akeno, the girl cursed and rejected by her entire clan. The girl who no one wanted to have, the girl whose only destiny was to die at the hand of her relatives.
She was just Himejima Akeno, a normal little girl who played around like normal people. She brought the stack of photos next to her heart,
'This is like a dream. I wish this day would never end.'
Sadly, dreams were dreams because of their ephemeral nature. No dream would last eternally,
"Say, can I call you Onii-sama?"
"..Hum? Of course! I will be happy to have such a beautiful little sister."
"Ne...Oni-sama do you want to listen to a story of mine?"
She decided that she would leave this town tomorrow night. She couldn't afford to stay here. She didn't want to implicate him in her problem. But, she didn't want to leave like that, at least not without telling him a part of her story. No, apart from the identity of her father, she would tell everything,
-----(Akeno POV)
Who am I?
When I, Himejima Akeno, was young, I kept on asking myself that question.
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I, who had lost my mother by the hands of those who detest my father, disagreed with him and continued to have a lifestyle where I traveled to different places by myself when I was ten years old.
It's an age that was practically impossible for one to live on one's own.
I definitely can't rely on my father. If I did…I feel like my heart would break from the sorrow of losing my mother and being scared of the hatred others had towards my father. What I had in my hand was my pocket money with only a bit of savings in it.
I was thinking of buying a present for my mother for her birthday using that money. I did my best to not use that money, but I couldn't overcome my empty stomach that had reached its limit, and I ended up using it while I kept on apologizing to my already dead mother inside myself.
The memory of that time is still buried strongly in me.
There is a limit to money. It's not infinite. I didn't have my father and my mother. I needed to somehow make some money despite being a child. However, there was no way that there were places that would hire a child that was merely ten years old.
My merit is the ability to control lightning that was passed down from my father and the power to purify spirits that I learned from my mother. It happened on a certain day. I helped a child that was possessed by an evil spirit by chance. Then the child's parents gave me a small quantity of snacks. I thought that this was it. That this was the only thing I was able to do.
From then on, I started to talk to the people that were possessed by evil spirits, purified them, and had a lifestyle where I received a bit of money and food from them. I couldn't have a luxurious life. I didn't have any place to live in. However, I was able to survive.
"Akeno, I will teach you how to drive away scary ghosts." What my mother taught me helped me to survive.
It was lonely to sleep by myself…however, I didn't want to die yet. After that, I traveled around Japan, I started to learn how to communicate with abnormal beings and was able to take my distance from humans. If I had to be grouped, then I would be grouped in with the abnormal beings.
Even though I have the appearance of a human, I carry the blood of a supernatural being. So it isn't wrong for me to be classified as a non-human being. I had realized that myself, despite being only ten years old. It was easier not to be hurt when I interact with others while telling myself that.
There were those that wanted to take me in from the people who I had saved from the evil spirits. If there were people who actually mean it, there were also people who had other intentions.
I was able to realize that. The world isn't a place filled with good people. There's way more bad people than good ones.
I found myself being chased. I was also targeted many times, like the time I stepped foot on the territory under the jurisdiction of the Church that detests my race, and also by trainee monks who saw me as a hindrance to their job.
A year and a half had passed since I had a lifestyle like that. Around the time I had started to become familiar with traveling around the country purifying evil spirits, I had become friends with small Oni and was able to control them.