Duo-Yasha: A Braided Fairy Tale

Heero Yuy turned his head to the side as the eraser tip of someone’s pencil pressed against his upper arm for the sixth time that morning. Unable to ignore the jabbing any longer, his dark blue eyes narrowed at the grinning blond girl sitting next to him. Relena Darlain might have been pretty, but she annoyed him to no end, and she just didn’t seem to understand that.

“Hee-chan,” She whispered sweetly, batting her long eyelashes under her light blue eyes to add to the effect. “Do you want to go see a movie after class with me today? My treat.”

“Iie,” Heero replied as he turned back to the work on his desk.

“Okay, maybe some other time then,” She said, not sounding phased at all.

“Iie,” He said again.

“Demo, Hee-chan...”

“No,” He glanced at her as he spoke this time. “I don’t want--”

“Mr. Yuy,” A woman teacher’s voice cut him off. “Do you and Miss Darlain have something you would like to share with the rest of the class?”

As a group of teens snickered, Heero silently shook his head. “Iie Sensei,” He said quietly. He again looked over to Relena, who had turned a light shade of red and was now looking down at her desk, lightly tracing the edge with one finger.

“Well then Heero,” The teacher said with a smile. “Perhaps that means you and Relena have volunteered to be the group to visit the Higurashi Shrine [1] and tell us about some of the interesting artifacts you find there for your History report.”

“Hai! Hai!” Relena shouted happily, remembering the upcoming project before Heero did. She raised her head and looked at him, her smile returning. “We were just talking about how fun it would be to do the project together! Ne Hee-chan?”

The dark haired boy rolled his eyes as Relena smiled brightly. The teacher scribbled the two names in a notebook, then nodded to the smiling girl. “Thank you for volunteering Miss Darlain, Mr. Yuy. You two can give your report on Monday.”

“Kuso...” Heero murmured dryly under his breath.

“I’ll bet this’ll be even more fun than a movie Hee-chan!” Relena said, grabbing Heero’s arm and clinging to it.

“Hn.”

“I’ll meet you at the shrine entrance at three today,” She said as she finally turned back to her work. “Don’t be late.”

Heero leaned against an arch, the entryway to a series of ancient looking structures with one modern home at the very end of the dirt path. He glanced briefly at his watch. Three oh five. She was late. Heero smiled to himself. Maybe he would get out of this yet.

Just as he turned to leave, a girl’s voice shouted to him from down the street.

“Heeee-chan!”

Heero mentally cursed then turned around, having to back away as the girl tried to hug him.

“You came!” She said happily. “Some girl in class said you weren’t going to show up because you hated me or something, but I guess she’s just jealous and she wants to be your girlfriend instead of me.”

“Nani? Girlfriend?”

“Hai,” Relena said as she dragged him to the main part of the shrine. She looked around the area for a few moments before pointing to a building and shouting excitedly,

“Let’s go to the gift shop first Hee-chan!”

Before he could argue, Relena grabbed him by the arm and hauled Heero into the building with a sign labeled “Gift Shop” over the roof.

“Oooh, look Hee-chan!” Relena squealed with delight as they entered the shop. She picked up something out of a bin and held it out to the dark haired boy. It was a small blue glass marble attached to a silver key chain. “Isn’t it pretty?” She asked as she held it up with one hand so he could get a better look.

Heero looked at the marble and raised an eyebrow as he read the label on the chain out loud. “Tama no Youkai?” [2] He read.

“Hai,” Relena said as she dangled the key chain from one finger. “The Demon’s Jewel. It used to give extraordinary powers to demons hundreds of years ago,” She read aloud the back of the label.

“Hn.”

“Aren’t you gonna offer to buy it for me?”

“No.”

“Oh...guess you don’t have any money with you.” Relena looked disappointed for a moment, but then she smiled. “No problem! I’ll buy it and tell everyone it was a present from you, okay?”

Heero said nothing but shook his head in annoyance. As Relena went to pay for her “gift,” he managed to sneak out the door and escape outside. He walked down one side of the path and stopped next to a large tree, tall enough that it towered over all the nearby buildings, not to mention the other trees. “The Sacred Tree,” A nearby sign read. “

This tree was ancient during the feudal period centuries ago. It is probably one of the oldest trees in this part of the nation.” Heero observed the tree for a few minutes longer before moving onto a nearby building.

“Hee-chan!” Relena suddenly called from the shop. Heero sighed and looked over to her as she exited the gift shop and ran over to him.

He had just reached the entrance of the building as Relena caught up to him. As she latched herself onto his arm again she began to ramble on about how she didn’t like how he always ran off without her. He wasn’t really listening; he found examining the building next to him far more interesting.

It was designed to look ancient, but it had probably been built as a replica not many years ago. A sign made of bamboo was hanged on the right side of the open sliding doors. “Bone Eater’s Well,” It read. Under the title, a brief paragraph was written; “The Bone Eater’s Well: A place where the bones of hundreds of demons were placed after being killed. A few days after the bones were dumped in the well, they had disappeared without a trace. To this day, no one knows where the bones went after being placed in the well.” Heero stepped away from Relena and looked inside.

There were no lights on the interior at all. Four steps led down to a very old brown wooden well that was covered with a much newer board nailed on top of it. On top of the new board was a small scroll that read, “Demons Be Gone,” in very large print. Still ignoring Relena’s unceasing chatting, he walked down the first two steps and peered closer at the well.

“Hee-chan?” Relena called, peering uncertainly into the building as she realized Heero had already gone down the first few steps. “What are you doing?”

Heero waited a few seconds before finally answering, “I figured we should start our project here.”

“But it’s so dark and... and dirty!” Relena protested. “Who knows what could be crawling around down there!”

“I didn’t say you had to come,” Heero said dryly. “I can do this whole thing by myself.” Relena said nothing as he walked to the base of the steps and looked around the small room. “There’s nothing down here but dust and cobwebs,” He assured her. After a few moments of hesitation, Relena walked slowly down the first step and let out a terrified shriek as the wooden stairs cracked under her weight.

“What was that?” She asked, freezing in her steps.

“Just the stairs.”

“Oh,” Relena remained where she was, rolling her new key chain between her thin fingers. “You know Heero,” She began slowly. “We don’t really have to do a report on this. I’m sure there’s something more interesting around here we could give our presentation on.”

Heero said nothing as he walked a few steps closer to the well. As he ran two fingers along the white paper seal, Relena’s key chain slipped through her fingers and bounced down the stairs, only stopping when it bumped into the side of the well. The dark haired boy glared at the small item as though it was Relena for a few moments before he finally knelt down and picked it up.

As he got back to his feet, Heero heard a soft scratching sound coming from the well. ~~ Inside? ~~ He wondered curiously. ~~ How could something be inside there? It looks like it’s been sealed for a long time… ~~

“Let’s go Heero,” Relena pleaded as she walked down the last few stairs and latched herself onto Heero’s arm. “This place is scaring me.”

“Hn. I told you before,” Heero said as they turned and headed for the stairs. “There is nothing here to be afraid--”

As the words left Heero’s mouth, the lid on the well suddenly lifted from its place as though it had been picked up by a gust of strong wind. It slammed harshly into the wall and broke into pieces, knocking the dark haired boy to the floor with the sudden force. Before he could turn around, Relena’s high-pitched scream informed Heero without a doubt that something was wrong. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes went wide when he saw what was looming over the well.

It was a woman, at least half of the creature was. She had long blond hair that hung loosely to her bare thin waist. Her lower half had the form of a snake’s body, which stretched a good ten feet around the tiny room. She looked around and ran a hand of sharply clawed fingers through her long hair. Then she smiled down at Heero, showing a pair of white, deadly looking fangs.

“The Tama no Youkai,” She said in a cool tone a seductively evil smile curling her thin red lips. “You have it.”

For the first time in his life, Heero Yuy was actually afraid. He couldn’t seem to lift his feet from the ground. “What the hell are you?” He shouted, suddenly feeling like he was in some cheap B movie.

The creature smiled and circled Heero several times. “Most mortals like you call me Hebi-Yasha,” [3] She said. “Don’t worry about needing to remember it child. It will be the last name you will ever hear.”

Before Heero could get in another word, he felt the lower part of the serpent demon’s body wrap tightly around his waist and lift him of the ground. “Heero!” He heard Relena’s panicked voice calling him.

“Get out of here!” He shouted in reply. The blond girl nodded, then turned and ran without a word. Heero struggled desperately, trying to get out of the Serpent Woman’s grasp. As he struggled, the grip only became tighter until he could barely breathe. The human half of Hebi-Yasha’s body pressed against his own and she smiled seductively at him.

“The Tama no Youkai rightfully belongs to me,” She said in a low tone. “Hand it over and you shall have a quick, painless death.”

“I don’t have…a-anything,” Heero choked as he struggled in several shallow breaths. “Those were just the cheap souvenirs at the gift shop here. Let go!”

“Do not try to throw me off track child,” Hebi-Yasha hissed. “I sensed you possessed the jewel from the other side of the well.”

“Nani desu--” He was suddenly silenced when the snake demon’s grip suddenly tightened so all of his breath left him.

“Hurry and decide boy,” She said as she slithered back to the well. “Either hand over the jewel nicely or die painfully as I take it from you.” Hebi-Yasha smiled as she entered the dark well still holding Heero in her strong grip.

“Let me go!” The dark haired boy warned as he tried to struggle again.

“Be a good boy and hand over the jewel,” The demon smiled. “For your reward I’ll kill you quickly.”

“For the last time,” Heero managed to get one arm free and he swung it wildly at the Serpent Woman. “Let…GO!”

He couldn’t so much as begin to explain what happened next. The dark haired boy closed his eyes tightly as a violet-colored light nearly blinded him. He felt the creature’s hold on him loosen and a strange feeling came over him. When Heero opened his eyes again, he was lying flat on his back on a dry ground made up of dirt and dry leaves. Four dark brown wooden walls surrounded him and above that was a cloudless blue sky.

Heero sat up slowly and looked around. ~~ Was…was that a dream? ~~ He wondered. His wondering dark blue eyes came to rest on a slightly burned pile of snakeskin. ~~ I…I guess not. ~~ He stood slowly and looked around before raising his eyes to the top of the well. “Relena,” He called, for once actually hoping the blond girl was around. “Are you still up there? Relena!” With a frustrated sigh, he paused and looked up at the clear sky. Sky? Hadn’t he been…inside before? He finally gave up on Relena coming to help him and began to climb the closest wall.

He was more than surprised when he reached the top and found himself surrounded by nothing but trees. There had been sidewalks and buildings before. Where were they now? He turned around several times, as if expecting to see the modern structures over his shoulder. Finally his eyes came to rest on something familiar. The Shinboku Tree. A few smaller trees partially blocked the view, but Heero still recognized it. Maybe now he would be able to get his bearings straight. Without another thought he made his way through the smaller trees to a clearing and the giant Sacred Tree.

Heero knew he should have been more shocked by what he saw, but the day had already been too strange to get a decent reaction. He took a few steps forward, his eyes fixed on the still figure in front of him.

A girl?

He looked closer and found it wasn’t a girl.

A boy…with…with long hair.

Heero had never seen a boy like this before. He was wearing a two-piece black hakama that appeared to be a little big for his small body. Long shiny light brown hair flowed loosely over the boy’s shoulders and hung freely to his knees. His head was lolled limply to one side, showing one of his pointed ears and his eyes were closed. Heero felt strange, he had never seen any person like this before. He moved in a little closer, his eyes fixed hopelessly on the boy’s face.

“Oi. Are you all right?” Heero asked, stopping inches away from the other boy.

No answer.

Heero’s eyes came to rest on an extremely withered arrow that held the boy pinned to the tree. He placed one hand on it, but drew it back when the same strange feeling he had experienced in the well washed over him again. What had caused that?

He quickly found himself looking back at the boy’s face. What was so different about him? Before Heero knew what he was doing, he raised one hand and ran it through the boy’s long hair. He had never seen hair like his before, so long and shiny and…perfect. He had never known anyone with hair like his. But what was really so attractive about it? A pleasant aroma came from the loose long strands that smelled like flowers, only fuller and nicer.

As he reached his hand forward again, Heero heard someone in the bushes behind him. “Get away from there!” A male voice shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Before Heero could turn around, a slew of arrows surrounded him, pinning him to the tree against the other boy’s body.

1) The shrine is named after the last name of the main character in Inu-Yasha. Her home is a shrine. Just thought that would be helpful to know.

2) Demon’s Jewel…at least I think so

3) Hebi-Yasha just means Snake Demon. The demon that captured Kagome in the first graphic novel was a centipede demon…what’s the difference?

Ano…any suggestions to what should be in the next part would be most helpful. I was thinking for the prayer beads, instead of using “Osuwari,” Heero could use Shi-ne, considering Duo-Yasha is the son of Shinigami. Any other ideas would be most helpful…I’m kind of stuck here. >.<