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Chapter 1

X-X-X-X

I flinched, pain spreading throughout my body. I...why did this happen to me? It's not my fault...it wasn't my fault people kept calling me 'Dame-Tsuna' or the fact I'm clumsy and not very smart...I didn't...I didn't do anything wrong and they kept hurting me. Kaa-chan isn't any help, she just says that they're picking on me because they like me, but...but...! They hit me and they pull my hair, throw my things about...! That's bullying, right?! Why didn't she believe me and why is it none of the adults around me help...?

"Tsu...chan isn't bad..." I cried silently rubbing my eyes.

That's right.

"W-Whose there?" I looked around silently. "H-Hello...?"

You don't like this place, right? I'm sorry to ask this of you...but I do need your help. In exchange, you can go to a better place where you'll be appreciated. Where you can become stronger.

"You need...need Dame-Tsuna's help?" I was being sarcastic since...no one wanted my help. "I think...you want someone else instead..."

No, it has to be you...after all, you inherited everything from me. Your power is what is needed to save them.

"Save them...?"

This world while peaceful...it seems no one can truly understand you. Will you come?

"..." I looked in the direction my house was in. No one...understands me here...there is only pain. "Is it scary?"

Yes...very scary, but...you will surely find someone special...who will protect you.

"Then I'll go." I let my backpack fall from my shoulders. "Tsu...I don't want...to be hurt by people and there is no one here who protects me..."

Then I'll lead you there. To a village where you can gain both strength and power.

I didn't know that my actions caused quite the panic, but I didn't care. I just followed the voice...the voice of a kind and yet very strong woman. I followed her directions until I ended up at a shrine in Tokyo. I silently walked towards a small building with a well inside and without any hesitation...I jumped down. However where I ended up...was the far past when youkai still reigned.

"Nyuuu?"

"Ha...ah..." A cat-like creature was on my chest, lightly pawing my cheek. "Good morning, Kirara..." I sat up quickly, looking around in a panic. "W-What time is it?! Ah, the sun is high in the air already, I'm late!" I quickly got dressed tying my brown hair up onto a high ponytail before rushing out of the hut I was sleeping in, a naginata twice my size in my hands. "KKKOOOOHHHHAAAAKKKUUUUU!"

"Tsu-watch out!"

"Hiee!" I crashed into a boy my age, the two of us falling to the ground with me on top of him. "S-Sorry! I woke up just now! Even though you're helping me train..."

"It's okay. By the way...can you get up, you're a bit heavy..."

"So mean!"

"Sorry, but it's the truth."

"Mou!"

Kohaku is the only boy my age and well, we've been training together since I was picked up two years ago. Kirara, the Nekomata, had brought me to this village after finding me...after picking me up from the bottom of a well. Kirara was fiercely protective of me to the point that the youkai taijiya decided that it would be fine to let me live here and...I decided to follow their ways and slay demons as a member of their village.

"Wouldn't it be safer if you just stayed in the village?" Kohaku asked as we exchanged blows.

"I could, but I don't...want to be weak anymore. Plus, I owe the village a lot so I want to be useful." I explained taking a few steps forward.

"You could...just get married, right?" Kohaku asked hesitantly.

"I got another five or six years before thinking of marriage. Take this!" I knocked Kohaku's kusarigama into the air before lightly hitting his side with the blunt end. "My win!" I said with a smile.

"Yeah, that's great..."

"Kohaku?"

"..."

"Kohaku..." I poked his cheek, but he didn't respond. In times like this, let's make use of his elder sister's name. "...I wish Sango-nee was a man so I could have married her."

"W-What?!"

"Finally! So, what's wrong? You're acting weird!"

"I-It's just...who would you...marry when you're old enough?"

"Sou ne...I guess I could be sent to another village to marry or maybe I'll marry one of the older boys?" I had no intent on returning to my own time, I like it much better here. "I got time to think about it so there's no need to rush."

"Y-Yeah..."

"By the way, I heard we're going to be fitted for our new outfits today! I'm so excited!"

"Hehehehe...You'll always be the same, huh, Tsuki-chan."

"Don't laugh at me!"

Kohaku and I returned to go have lunch together before it was time for our fitting. I didn't really care about any special details about it, but...Sango apparently did that I ended up with orange colored armor. It felt weird though...but...comforting at the same time. I twisted and turned about, attempting to get used to the feel.

"Come now, girl, stop moving and see if your mask fits."

"Yes!" I placed the mask onto my face, carefully tying it behind my head tightly. "It's a perfect fit."

"Good, good. Now you look like a proper youkai taijiya."

"Thank you!"

"You know how to use this katana, right?"

"Yes, I trained under Sango-nee after all!"

"Good, good! With you, our future generations are secured..."

"Hm?"

"Nothing, nothing, get going."

"Yes."

I walked out and I decided to do some more training in my new armor. It was all too new compared to what I had worn before. I dragged Kohaku along for the ride since he also has to get used to his new armor. It was a lot harder to breathe with the mask, but it would be dangerous not to know how to fight without it on since we won't have that luxury if we encounter poisonous miasma...or so Sango says. I don't really know, but she's got a lot of experience for someone only a bit older than the two of us.

"I can't do it anymore!" I gasped heavily as I took off the mask. "It's so hard to breathe with this on!" I complained letting it hang around my neck.

"Yeah, but...Aneue said that it's necessary." Kohaku said taking off his own mask.

"...Hehehehe..."

"What is it, Tsuki-chan?"

"We look like real youkai taijiya despite the fact we're both kids!" I smiled at him happily. "I heard that I might be sent off on a mission sooner or later...but well, if it's Sango-nee or Kohaku at my side then I have nothing to fear, right?"

"Y-Yeah. I'll protect you, don't worry."

"And I'll protect you too!"

"T-That...I'm a guy, Tsuki-chan! You don't have to protect me!"

"And yet our score is starting to even out!"

I laughed at the look on Kohaku's face before we decided to head back to get some rest. I returned home and I silently sat down on the floor of my small home. I was given this small hut and I lived here with a kind Obaa-san who taught me the ways of this world...until she passed. I was sad, but I had no intent on leaving this hut to live with another family. I mean, I didn't want to intrude and I liked it here...even if I wasn't very good at waking up on my own on time.

"Nyuu..."

"Oh, Kirara. Did you come to visit me again?" The small feline youkai jumped onto my lap. "I'm a bit hungry too, let's eat and then get some rest, okay?"

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"Tsukichiyo, when you came to this village two years ago...in truth, I didn't know what to make of you, but you are a good child at heart. You work hard and you help push my own son to train."

"Yes, thank you for your kind words..." I kept my head bowed before the village chief, Sango and Kohaku's father. "I'm only glad to have such a good friend in Kohaku."

"Just friends?"

"Hai?" I looked up at him, wondering what was wrong. "We're...friends."

"I see...Tsukichiyo, have you considered marrying my son in the future?"

"If...that is what you want..." I blinked up at the man, somewhat stupidly. "I don't know any other boy my age so I guess we would...marry eventually, huh?"

"Hm..."

"Sir?"

"No, don't worry. You'll be accompanying me and several others on a job when Sango returns. You're a year younger than Kohaku, but I'm sure he'll work harder if you are at his side. Rest up until then."

"Okay. Please excuse me then..."

I took my leave and I decided to go swing my naginata about a few...dozen times. I was thinking about the job we would be going on, I don't know...I had this really bad feeling in the pit of my gut. I spun my naginata around my body a few times as I moved about in random directions. Kohaku often sat on the sidelines as I did this and he told me it looked like I was dancing...which was embarrassing to hear. I managed to lose most of my clumsiness after a year of strict training, but whenever I'm not carrying my naginata there are times where I trip over my own feet. I released a sigh before heading home. Sango returned home after two days and...the bad feeling in the pit of my gut didn't go away one bit even after our group of six left the village.

"Is something wrong, Tsuki?" Sango asked staring down at me.

"...I don't know...but...I think something bad might happen...Sango-nee..." I said looking back in the direction of the village.

"Don't worry, if anything happens I can protect you." Sango said patting my head.

"Thank you, Sango-nee." I said smiling up at her.

The bad feeling only got worse the closer we got to our destination...and I was actively shaking. There's something evil in the air, something almost undetectable...a great evil. Kohaku noticed my shaking and he reached out, grabbing my hand. I snapped my head to look at him, my eyes wide with fear. He nodded his head to me, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. I did my best to stop shaking before we presented ourselves to the lord of the castle.

"Don't be so scared, Tsukichiyo! With so many of us, it'll be an easy job!"

"...Hai..." I could barely keep myself focused when we did meet with the lord, that I didn't hear anything. I sensed a presence from behind me. I quickly turned, grabbing my weapon before the others had time to react. A giant spider began to come from the clouds and the others quickly grabbed their own weapons. "It's coming!"

"Good work, Tsukichiyo! Surround it!"

"Yes!"

When the spider began spitting up threads at us, I quickly cut through them before I could get entangled. I charged forward, jumping into the air to stab into one of the legs to pin it down. Kohaku's father did the same on the other side before Sango sent her giant boomerang through it. I struggled to get the naginata out once it was dead, but...well, it was a hook type so it was harder to pull out than I had thought.

"...I'm stuck..." I said unsure what to do.

"Tsuki, when that happens, you have to just cut your way out."

"Ah..." I quickly moved to the other side where the hook isn't and I managed to cut through it after a bit of effort. "Thank you..."

"No problem."

"Are you okay, Tsuki?"

"Y-Yes, I'm okay, Sango-nee..." I sensed danger...killing intent? "Watch out!"

There was a familiar sound in the air and I watched in horror as...a kusarigama cut off the heads of two of our fellow slayers...before inflicting a fatal blow on the village chief. I turned to Kohaku as he caught his weapon, but...he's not himself...! He's not himself, I know it! Sango began fighting Kohaku, trying to snap him out of whatever is going on, but-but...what do I do?! I saw Sango for the lord, leaving her back open to Kohaku.

"...Stop! Kohaku!" He turned to me and he swung the scythe end of his weapon of me. I was cut across the chest and...pain...! "KKkkyaaaaa!" I screamed out in pain.

"Tsuki!" Sango shouted looking towards us.

"T-Tsuki...chan...?" Kohaku questioned slowly.

"K-Ko...ha-kah!" two arrows suddenly pierced me in the chest and I fell backwards as Kohaku rushed to my side..only to be hit in the back. "I-it...hu-hurts...!"

"Tsuki-chan!"

"Kohaku! Tsuki!"

I could barely hold onto my consciousness as a heavy weight was on top of me...Kohaku and...Sango...? I struggled to breathe as the two were lifted off of me and...I struggled to open my eyes, coughing up blood. I heard someone shouting about a doctor, but...Ko...haku...? Through my blurry vision I could see him. I silently reached for him, his name upon my lips. I was lifted up and I saw...a man with long dark hair staring at me in interest...and...he felt...of such a darkness...evil...of a demon.

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Chapter 1 Ends

I started another series~! I know I shouldn't, but this plot idea was stuck in my head for like...ever! Little Sawada Tsunayoshi, or in this case Tsukichiyo, ends up in the feudal era. As for how and why, that will be revealed in the future~! I have many plans for this story and I look forward to writing about it. The Inuyasha part of the story will be sped through and will probably last only 10 to 15 chapters. Tsuki's flames will play a part, but it will be revealed little by little. Welp~! Hope to see you all next time~! Bye-bye~!