The One Demon Night Parade

Chapter Three - Rain

I sat on a roof, watching the humans place white flowers on some stone. They were all dressed in black. They were mourning. And they were boring.

I clicked my tongue in irritation. This is all I get when I wake up? This is it? I jumped off the roof, landing silently. Someone in the back of the crowd noticed me staring blankly at all the people and seemed irritated I was wearing white at such a sad event. Like I cared whatever important human died. Humans die all of the time. It was much more earth-shattering when a Yokai died.

Imagine all of the Yokai being massacred in a brief time period. Yokai were eternal. Yokai were always there, and would have always been there. The guilt of surviving ate at me, but I pushed through the crowd of people. Some murmured curses at me, but I pressed onwards until I had reached the steps. I climbed them briskly, the crowd bristling in anger at my audacity. The rain came and I looked up at it blankly.

Even the sky cried more for this human than it did my family.

I took a flower from the pile and shaded my eyes with my hat as the flower burst into a shower of white petals. Someone from the crowd gasped as not even the stem was left. I picked up another flower and did the same. I had gotten through three flowers before the crowd shouted at me in anger.

And then I laughed at them. I recognized the blonde boy and his eyes lit up in recognition at me. He started shouting something to the gray haired man next to him. The one who had me in his grip. He appeared next to me swiftly, and this time I didn't fight it when he detained me. I looked up at him blankly as his only visible eye stared at me with hatred.

Humans are honestly so ridiculous.

They had me detained. I was in a jail cell I could easily break out of. Some time had passed and a new 'Kage' was chosen. And now I was meeting that 'Kage.'

I stared at this blonde haired woman blankly. She seemed irritated.

"So this kid disrupted the Third's funeral and you had him in jail since then?" She asked the other people surrounding her. "This child?" Her eyes swept the room slowly. "You locked up a child for disruption? I understand beforehand he was running around escaping shinobi, but you locked him up for it? He wasn't even a threat!"

"Ren likes new Kage-nee-sama," I said quietly. Her gaze snapped to rest on me and her eyes softened slightly. "Ren didn't do anything wrong, Ren thinks. Ren saw it was gloomy, and Ren doesn't like it when things are gloomy! Gloominess brings about sickness," I told them. It did. Yokai fed on negative emotions. As a Yokai trying to do right and atone, I often made the humans not quite so negative. Though it was quite curious. The humans could see me in my regular form. Normally, humans were blind to Yokai. Had they evolved?

... Was there anyone else who survived except me?

"So, Ren," the new Kage started. "How did you manage to outrun ANBU?" She looked at me seriously. "Someone as harmless looking as yourself, it's quite impressive," she continued, emphasizing the word harmless. I swallowed the incomprehensive words.

"Ren is small," I said quietly. "Ren knows hidey-holes." I gazed at her eyes. Caramel, I noticed. She was conventionally pretty. She sat back in her seat.

"You can use chakra, too," she said. I squinted at her.

"Ren doesn't use chakra. Ren uses magic," I said. "Ren doesn't know how to use chakra." She blinks at me, tilting her head in confusion.

"Very well, Ren. Please demonstrate your magic for us," she asked. I hesitated before looking around the room. I noted they were all shinobi. I sighed.

"Ren doesn't like displaying magic for humans-" I froze. The word was out before I could stop myself. I could feel sweat drip down my palm as my eyes slowly trailed up to hers.