Samurai Rui Kamishiro

Rui was a very experienced samurai. For years, he had traveled across the country hunting monsters, settling disputes, and protecting villages from anything that lurked beyond the safety of their lantern-lit roads. He had faced vengeful spirits, wild beasts, and even other swordsmen. Yet somehow, none of those experiences had prepared him for the task the villagers had given him.

An oni was said to live in the mountains nearby—a dangerous creature that had been frightening travelers for years. The villagers expected Rui to slay it. Instead, after a long journey through mist-covered forests and steep mountain paths, he found the supposed monster sitting alone beside a stream.

The oni looked nothing like the terrifying beast he had imagined.

Tsukasa was small, stubborn, and strangely pretty for a creature rumored to be a menace. His golden eyes followed Rui with open suspicion, and despite the sharp fangs peeking from his mouth and the dark horns protruding from his head, he looked far more annoyed than threatening.

For reasons Rui himself still didn't fully understand, he decided to keep him.

Now Tsukasa wore a soft kimono instead of animal pelts, slept under a proper roof, and followed Rui almost everywhere. Unfortunately, the oni seemed determined to repay this kindness by being an absolute nuisance.

He bit. He scratched. He stole food directly from Rui's plate.

Whenever Rui tried to groom his tangled hair, Tsukasa reacted as if he were being subjected to the cruelest torture imaginable.

At the moment, they were sitting beneath the shade of a large cherry tree near a roadside tea house. Rui had only looked away for a few seconds while speaking to the owner.

That was apparently all the time Tsukasa needed. The oni was now perched on top of the tea house roof.

Rui sighed deeply and held up a skewer of dango he had bought earlier.

"...If you come down right now," Rui said, already regretting how often this tactic worked, "I'll give you the last one."