Login Required

Around the mansion, there was a forest and a small path, and the path seemed to lead to a settlement. A road whose colors I couldn't see alone... with the two of us, we could surely walk it with joy.

Koai took her hand, and relying on the distant lights, they walked down the dark night road. Whenever she stopped to gaze up at the starry sky, Koai would also find herself looking up at the stars.
They say the celestial stars show various colors of brilliance and twinkles of light. Humans admire them, the Suimazoku (Green Demon Clan) use them to predict the climate and the abundance or failure of harvests, and the Himazoku (Scarlet Demon Clan) are said to convert them into magical power, into sustenance.
All of this was something the former Koai could not comprehend. She had never admired the sparkle of the stars, nor read anything from them, nor felt any power in them.

But now, she felt like she could understand it... just a little.

Koai walked, feeling the warmth in her hand, occasionally glancing at the girl.

"Hey, Oni... nee-san, what's your name?"
"I am called Koai."
"Koa... i?"
"Is it difficult to pronounce, as I thought?"
The name Koai had always seemed to have a sound that the people of this world found unfamiliar. The girl was from another world, but Koai was suddenly reminded of the past.

"Koai... Koai, Koai... Ko."
She repeated it several times, and then something seemed to click.
"Hey, can I call you Aiko?"

"Ai... ku?"
"Not Aiku, Aiko!"
"Aikwoh?"
What a strange sound, a strange name, she thought.