Saint Swordsman Kenshiro

Chapter 1

Kagome Higurashi was an athletic girl, excelling in school sports as well as her studies, but leave it to her mother’s packing to test just how athletic the young miko reincarnate could be! “Just a few more important items for you trip, Kagome. You never know if you’ll need them in such times,” were her mother’s words before Kagome leaped into the Bone-Eater’s Well and was teleported to the Sengoku era of Japan.

What ever complaints she had over her mother’s packing was interrupted as when the moment she touched the soil that surrounded the Bone-Eater’s Well, she could immediately feel the presence of a dark aura. Several of them, actually.

Demons. They were this nearby?

Instinctively, Kagome hurried in the direction the auras were coming from, their presence becoming stronger with each step she took until….There!

Kagome quietly hid herself behind a nearby tree, slowly peeking her head slightly around the corner.

Sure enough, they were demons. Ogre-looking demons; two blue and one red.

They were not alone.

The demons had surrounded a tall young woman whose frame was underneath a brown cloak.

“I don’t know how you managed to slay our brother, so we’ll just have to find out by eating the flesh off your bones!” the red ogre grinned, saliva dripping down between the two long rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Oh no! I have to help! Kagome quickly reached for her bow, but her eyes moved back up when she heard swooshing sound with the flapping of a cloak coming from the demons and their prey just before her hand could grace one of her arrows.

The young woman had suddenly disappeared. Judging by the ogres’ surprised looks, none had seen her even move.

Kagome gasped when the young woman suddenly appeared before the tree she hid behind, facing the demons who all turned in both their direction.

“So, you have some reflexes, human. It still won’t save you!” the red ogre laughed.

“There’s no reason for this, you know.” a voice called out from the hood of the cloak, and it was definitely not a woman’s voice.

Kagome and the ogres looked on surprised again.

“Hey! You’re a….boy?!” the red ogre cried, followed by a disappointed grunt. “I was hoping you’d be a woman. After all, female humans are so much fun to terrorize. Just their fear alone, it makes them…tastier.”

It was a moment before what was so far revealed to be a young man spoke up again. “I was going to consider sparing you after taking care of your brother, but now I see that it would only be a mistake.”

“Don’t think you can take us just because you killed one of our own! Our brother was a weakling compared to us!”

“Stand back, brother.” one of the blue ogres spoke up as both moved in front of the red ogre. “We’ll break this human in half and save you his blood.”

“Blood? Yes.” the young man spoke up. “I can even smell it: the blood of the innocence that you all killed just for your own amusements. Just like your brother who is waiting for you in Hell.”

“You go to Hell first, boy!” The blue ogres charged at the cloaked young man…..

…..only to freeze when the young man suddenly dashed right in between them with a familiar swishing sound, and Kagome swore that for a second she could see the gleaming steel of a katana before it seemed to disappear underneath the young man’s cloak.

The red ogre was startled to find that young man standing right in front of him, while the two blue ogres were seemingly like statues, frozen on the spot.

It took a moment for the red ogre to regain his posture. “You are a fast little one, aren’t you? But like I said, even your reflexes can’t save you!”

“Reflexes, huh? They would have definitely helped you and your brothers.” the young man spoke.

“Silence, boy! Brothers, turn and kill this bag of flesh and bones!” the red ogre commanded. The blue ogres seemed though not to hear. They hadn’t even moved to oblige their leader. “Didn’t you hear me?! I said turn! What’s the matter with you…..?!”

The crimson glowing eyes of the red ogre went wide when both the blue ogres suddenly split in half, forming a V arc from their dismembered bodies as they collapsed to the ground, dead.

“BROTHERS!!”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be joining them in a second here.” the young man said, his tone lukewarm, void of any human emotion. For these kind of demons, no emotion as necessary. “You are already dead.”

“HUH?!!”

“….Yeah, that was maybe a little too much.” the young man replied, this time with a hint of comic in his tone.”

“YOU BASTARD! I’LL…GUH!!” the red ogre suddenly froze in place, just like his brothers had a few second ago. It was then that it could feel a small drop of blood leak out from its horned forehead and run all the way down the center of its body. Just as it reached down under the red ogre’s loincloth, the ogre itself split in half straight down the middle.

This fight was over.

Kagome gasped again. She had not even seen the young man attack the red ogre! He must’ve got the red one before sheathing his katana, she thought. Nevertheless, Kagome herself who her share of battling demons with her Inuyasha and her friends in search of the Shikon Jewel Shards, had never seen any being move with speed like that, and to top it all off, the ogres had called him a human!

Or at least, that was THEIR claim.

She watched the young man a little more as he appeared to stare down at the remains of his defeated foe. His eyes appeared to have lifted judging by the movement of his cloak, but he had no other move for a moment.

“Excuse me, but are you a miko?” he asked.

It took everything for Kagome not to collapse. How the heck did he know she was there? Wait, was he even talking to her?!

“It’s okay.” The young man turned around to face her. “I won’t hurt you. I’m a good guy.”

Hesitantly, Kagome moved out from behind the tree. “Um, well, it’s hard to explain, really.”

“I see. I was just wondering because I could sense your spiritual energy when you arrived here.” the young man admitted, approaching Kagome. Underneath the hood of his cloak, Kagome could feel his eyes begin to study her, not to mention the intensity behind them. She felt her cheeks begin to change to a crimson color, but that quickly seized when the young man spoke up again.

“You’re not from around here, are you.” It was a statement.

“Yeah. Uh, that’s kind of hard to explain as well.” she smiled nervously. Kagome quickly regained herself, bowing her head to the young man before holding out her hand in greetings. She was starting to feel like she could trust him. “My name is Kagome. Higurashi Kagome.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Higurashi.” The young man suddenly pulled back the hood of his cloak before reaching out his own hand. “My name is Kenshiro.”

For a third time in the past few minutes, Kagome gasped again. The young man appeared strikingly handsome, but it was not that which surprised her.

Long blonde hair with the back tied in a pony tail, and blue eyes…!