“Hello, Asuka. Remember me?”
It took me a while to recover from the shock. What was a 17-year-old version of me doing here in the year 2012?
She apparently read my mind, for she said, “I am here… because you wish to turn back the hands of time.”
“What?”
“I said I am here because you wish to turn back the hands of time. Apparently you need advice from your former self.”
I was confused until I remembered my thoughts when I had visited my old apartment. I wish I could turn back the hands of time… And my wish had been granted, though not in the way I expected it to. Now, I was standing in a park, talking to myself… pun intended.
The young Asuka’s voice snapped me back to reality. “Chishio and I are greatly concerned about your well being. You’ve weakened considerably, and your condition is worsening with each passing day.” She walked over to me and took my hand, as if she was examining it. “Your chakra supply has depleted. I can barely make out your circulatory system,” she muttered, looking me up and down. “You definitely need our help…”
“Indeed,” a voice to my right replied. I spun my head around and met the face of a girl a couple of years older than me. She was as tall as me, had short, reddish brown hair, and deep green eyes that screamed, “I’m a demon!”. It was as if you could look into her eyes and be staring straight into a deep bamboo forest. Her skin was slightly pale, and she had three blue teardrop-shaped markings beneath her left eye. She wore a Victorian-style dress, indicating that she had died in the early 1800s. “Ch-Ch… Chishio!? Is that really you?“ I stuttered.
She smiled sweetly. “Yes… I don’t think you’ve seen me in my original form- -the body I inhabited before I died. But… this is not the time to talk about such things. I’ll be straight to the point… Asuka. You need help, and you need it badly. If you keep on going downhill, then you’ll surely die.” She stared into my eyes. I turned to my younger self. She nodded in agreement.
“So… What are you going to do to help me?” I asked. “Well,” my younger self replied, “I can’t really guide you or help you, but Chishio can. That’s why she’s staying here.” Confused, I asked, “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know it, but as time passed, you were unconsciously rejecting your bijuu traits. That’s why you could never contact Chishio. You were blocking her out. Have you tried turning into your demon form recently?”
“Yes… but for some reason I couldn’t transform. Is it because of my blocking out my demonic powers?”
“Yup. But now, you’ll be able to access them again.”
“Nani?”
“You’ve opened up to your inner self again. When I enter your body again, you’ll be back to where you were three years ago, probably even a little stronger. But, Chishio is going to stay in this world with you to help make sure you don’t start degenerating like you’ve been doing. Besides, it’s best I stay inside of you; it would look odd if I went out into public with you. So… it’s best I go now…” She said, and faded away.
I suddenly felt a rush of dark energy return to my body, and I knew I had returned to my original state of power. Now, all that was left was me, my suitcase, and Chishio. She opened a black parasol and started walking, gesturing for me to follow. This was going to be interesting…
* * *
Chishio and I had been walking together for some time, talking to each other about various things. We had long past Tokyo’s city limits, and now we were walking along a dirt road as the sun had begun is descent below the horizon. “Where are we going?” I asked. “For you to practice,” Chishio replied plainly. She then took a sharp turn into the tree line, and I followed. When we had gone a couple of hundred yards into the forest, she froze, breathing deeply, as if to sample the air for something. I did the same, and immediately the scent of human entered my nose. “Demon bounty hunters,” Chishio said. “Damn, we’re lucky today.” A mischievous smile crossed her face, and she began to yell. “Demon! Help! I’m being attacked by a demon! Somebody help me!”
The demon bounty hunters arrived within seconds. There were nine of them, and they surrounded us. Apparently they were not expecting someone being “attacked” by a demon, for they were carrying swords, not guns. “Which one is the demon?” a man, obviously the leader, demanded. “H-her… That girl… I thought she was h-human… B-but she‘s a DEMON!” Chishio said, and lifted a trembling finger at me. “She attacked me! She turned into a demon and attacked m-me!!!” “Don’t worry, ma’am. Just stay calm. Come on , men! Get her!” the lead bounty hunter yelled, and they all unsheathed their swords and charged.
I was too confused to react in time. Chishio saw this. There was a brilliant flash of green light and I could hear the screams of the men. The light faded and I saw her in her demon form, standing over the mangled corpses of eight of the men. She was over two times the size of my current demon form. Instead of my choker, she wore a leather collar with a teardrop-shaped stone of jade in the middle. Her claws were several inches longer than mine. Her two giant tails twisted wildly about each other, flicking and moving about like leaves in the wind. Small plants of all sorts sprung out of the ground beneath her feet. I was awestruck, for this was the first time in many years since I had seen her in that form.
She lifted her bloody paw. “See this?” she asked in a thundering voice. “I dispatched them with one swipe of my claws. One day you will be like this! You will one with me, and we shall walk through the bamboo forests together! Now, you must hurry and kill the last one. If you don’t, he’ll inform D. Kyuubi and we’ll have hell to go through!”
I snapped out of my trance and transformed. My younger self was right. I was more powerful now. I could feel my newly-restored supply of chakra coursing through me. I turned my attention to the last man left, who was still dumbfounded. He turned and looked at me, fear in his eyes. I quickly used my chakra to form the shape of a knife and stabbed him in the chest. He cried out and fell to the ground, dead. “Very good,” Chishio said, and turned back into her human form. I followed suit.
We surveyed the scene of bloody carcasses. “That’s good for now. We’ll have to find another place to train unless we want to be here when someone comes,” Chishio muttered. “But where are we going to-” I was silenced when she touched her finger to my lips. She was sampling the air again. “Come on,” she said, and started running. I picked up my suitcase, which I had dropped during the fight, and struggled to keep up with her.
“What now?!” I yelled.
“I smell a bijuu. It’s that Raijuu fellow that you met after you first joined the club. There’s at least another bijuu with him. I think… Oh! It’s the Kokoro girl! Hurry, Asuka! We could get some help from them!” Chishio was excited now. She was sprinting like an Olympic runner when we arrived at a clearing. This was Raijuu’s house… I paused. “Maybe we shouldn’t go in there…” I said uncertainly, but Chishio had already thrown open the door.
Oh. Shit. What would they do? It’s been a long time since they last saw me, and they’ve never seen Chishio before. I stood still, a few feet behind my counterpart, bracing for the worst.
~Asuka
~Chishio (Even though she wasn't narrating the story)
Anyone can continue now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Haaaa! Yeessshhh! FINALLY got Chishio's profile up! She sounds pretty, no? :D Heheh now do you know why I split the story into two parts? >.<
I really hope Raijuu lives where I said he lived. If not... *Screwed!* XD
Uhhhhhhhh... That's it! Bye byes! ^^"
