02. Like Fairytales

There is a legend that happened in the past, hundreds of years to be precise. A story that is believed from generation to generation in the Akibara family, because it is closely related to the stories of their ancestors' lives as well as their present lives.

This legend tells the story of a miko girl who fought a demon who had caused a major disaster on earth. An extremely powerful ugly demon with an extremely terrifying face.

He is a demon in the form of a monkey with an ugly and creepy face because he is covered in hair around his eyes. His body was tall and big like a giant. When compared to now, it might be like a tree hundreds of years old. At first glance, this demon is similar to one type of monkey * in the Japanese archipelago. This gray hairy devil has destroyed many human settlements, for his own satisfaction.

Indeed that is the nature of the devil, happy with destruction, immorality and things that are strictly prohibited by God.

According to legend or other word of mouth, during the life of the miko, the girl tried her best to seal and eliminate the existence of the being who had caused this trouble with her great supernatural powers. The devil who has killed so many humans must be immediately locked up and purified with the power that comes from within a person's soul, and a miko or priest alone can do it.

The girl spent a lot of time searching for her whereabouts and pursuing Yamasuke, the name of the monkey demon who was always hiding from her. And even after meeting, the miko will immediately attack Yamasuke without mercy.

In their battle, the miko relentlessly continued to launch attacks of pure spiritual power at the demon who called himself the God of Death.

Obviously, he was just a demon who somehow recognized himself as a god. The call clearly didn't suit he very well. There was no way a devil could turn into a god, even if he could, that sense was absolutely impossible. Because, there is only destruction everywhere.

A very fierce fight broke out, between a human child and a cunning demon. The shrine maiden has a beautiful name; Akibara Kimiko. That great girl then released a tremendous amount of power to destroy the demon monkey who was also fighting back, with a power that was no less extraordinary than her.

The sky before was bright, suddenly gray and gloomy. However, no one seemed to have noticed such a small thing. When Kimiko is in danger, he puts a barrier around her. The devil chuckled, then gave the miko a fierce look. "Take cover behind your barriers, eh?" He scoffed with a contemptuous laugh.

Kimiko just didn't answer quietly. Reacted and didn't even respond to the devil's words. It wasn't that she couldn't reply to the devil's arrogant words, but this time his goal was only one.

That is, to eradicate the demon monkey for ever from the face of this earth.

While the big demon was busy laughing, Kimiko seemed to be preparing herself. This was the only chance to exterminate the demon monkey, just as the demon relaxed his guard.

Kimiko then took out a pendulum with a crescent shape surrounded by two black dots. The strange-shaped weight is used as a pendant from a chain of necklaces that has been imbued with spiritual power.

The girl in black hair with bangs framing her face immediately put on the silver necklace and recited a spell, just when the ugly monkey demon started to rampage, and almost harmed the Akibara girl.

The spell is so powerful. When chanted continuously, the spell was able to catch and stop the movement of the demon monkey who was constantly struggling, trying to get out of her grip.

The technique works like a hand catching a small hamster.

The girl attempted to seal the demon into the pendulum which is now around her neck as a necklace pendant. She must not fail, if she fails then she will be finished. Kimiko tried hard to catch Yamasuke's soul, it was seen from his movement that several times backwards — as if she was pulling something.

However, Yamasuke's resistance was not to be underestimated. The vicious creature's strength seemed astonishing as it overcame the energy in the pendulum worn by the miko, and made the shrine maiden feel the consequences.

Akibara Kimiko was thrown away due to the dark energy that pushed her attempt at sealing, sending her flying fast and crashing into a large tree that was behind her. She was thrown over the cliff, hit a hard object and fell to the ground. A thick clot of blood suddenly seeped out of her mouth, dripping causing her tiny lips to fill with a dark red color.

The girl coughed several times, and again vomited gore blood from her mouth. Kimiko almost reached her limit as an ordinary human.

However, at least the young girl managed to injure the demon, because the dark demonic energy if it was attacked or overflowing with pure spiritual energy would cause great pain. This also applies to the monkey demon who is staring intently at her.

Kimiko smiled faintly. A little more ... a little more she will achieve success.

"Damn it," cursed the demon with his body badly injured in several places. His large body looked charred, because it was burned by the holy power of the miko. "You ... try to hurt me," he said in a deep voice that trembled with anger.

The devil growled, not accepting the actions of the human child who had so dare injure his immortal body. He grinned, at least all he got was the wound, but it wasn't enough to kill him.

If only the spiritual power inflicted upon him were greater, Yamasuke might lose and disappear from the surface of the earth forever.

"Now, I will kill you, devil," said Kimiko. She then took out her purification prayer beads which gave off a meta-white light. Yamasuke gave her a hard look.

"ONLY A HUMAN LIKE YOU DARE TO THREATEN A GOD!?" the wrath of the monkey demon while releasing his immense demonic power from his right hand. He then formed a firball with dark energy that looked terrifying. Evil energy swirled around him.

The fireball in the demon monkey's hand grew bigger and bigger. Kimiko in the end is just an ordinary human, she began to despair when she saw the terrible power of the devil. In the last remaining strength, the girl also made a bigger and stronger barrier. The devil made it even more furious.

"OI, Miko yo! Damn you and your offspring! You, and all of them! Must hand over your daughters to me when she turns 18!" shouted the devil.

Yamasuke then released the ball of evil power and aimed it right at Kimiko. The girl stared hard. The miko then resumed chanting, concentrating her energy core on the flap of her hand. She had to resist the demonic power in front of her if he was to survive the attack.

Yamasuke looked indifferent, he said again, "Lock them up in the Underworld for 100 days. If any of your descendants can beat me, then I will declare all of you free. But, if you lose ... then their free souls, I will become their my slaves, to serve this great me! "

The demon in the form of a monkey with gray hair then burst out laughing, trying to disturb the concentration of the demon exorcist girl who was in front of him. Kimiko put up a square, still trying to hold back the large ball that was pushing her light barrier even further with tremendous force.

Yamasuke — the demon monkey just chuckled, then again said, "If you don't hand it over to me, then be prepared ... THERE WILL BE A BIG DISASTER on this earth that befalls your family!"

Both of Kimiko's hands trembled violently, feeling unable to hold back the evil energy that the devil threw at her. The monkey demon smiled cruelly seeing Kimiko on the verge of defeat.

"Remember my curse!" exclaimed Yamasuke with his voice booming like lightning in the daytime.

The barrier Kimiko made finally cracked, the tremendous force that kept pressing on the barrier made Kimiko's thick barrier shattered. The demonic energy in the form of a giant ball aimed right at the poor girl who was now ready to meet her end. However, Kimiko only smiled.

Yamasuke smiled broadly as he witnessed Kimiko's defeat. 

"Ha! Taste it, human!" sneered the devil as he turned around. Get ready to go back to his world.

~ • ~ • ~

Asano notices his granddaughter Rin dancing at a performance of their family's Akibara shrine. A dance that is believed to be an entertaining dance dedicated to the God. Can also be done as a way of communicating with spirits. That is the meaning and use of the kagura dance.

The clatter of the bells and the strains of the musical instruments being played were heard accompanying Rin's whirling steps as she raised her suzu* up high. A flower crown adorned the top of the girl's head with thick black hair.

Asano stared at her granddaughter's dance with an overly serious expression. Her granddaughter had grown up even more, without knowing that she would be sacrificed as a victim of the curse that Kimiko received, some more than 500 years ago.

Asano knew that her granddaughter's fate was so sad, but she also felt sorry for her daughter, Kaede. Her son who has lost his first child named Akibara Yuuto. The boy's disappearance was a wound in the Akibara family, when Yuuto's disappearance was when Rin was seven years old.

Kaede has lost a child to continue hereditary, so what can they do but accept fate? Against him? Really it is impossible.

The old woman suddenly remembered Kimiko's struggle to survive, after being attacked by a demon who fought her a day and a night. The girl then gave up her status as a guardian of the temple, then married an ordinary young man and got offspring.

However, the demon monkey's curse had already begun.

Kimiko's daughter with Akibara Shota, disappeared when she turned 18 years old. The poor girl disappeared without a trace, but Kimiko could guess where her first daughter had gone. Of course, Satniko had already been brought by the demon monkey's messenger to the Underworld, without their knowledge.

Since then, nothing has been able to stop the curse of the demon monkey who is still roaming freely out there. Now, they can only hope Rin can erase the curse from the Akibara family's life forever.

Only Rin, she is their family's only hope. Therefore, for the sake of the Akibara family's survival, they are willing to sacrifice Kaede and Hideki's beloved girl, to be sent to the Underworld for 100 days.

+ Note +

- Kagura suzu (神 楽 鈴) is a set of twelve bells used in the Kagura dance or is a piece of equipment commonly used by miko during the kagura dance.

- Kabuki is a traditional Japanese theater known for its performances filled with beautiful and mesmerizing singing and dancing. In modern Japanese, the word "Kabuki" is written in the characters "Ka" which means song, "bu" means dance, and "ki" means dance. Usually, the Kabuki players will stage the drama by singing and dancing, also wearing heavy make-up and the players will use rice flour on their faces to get a real white color and get a "porcelain" impression.

- The Japanese monkey is a species of monkey from the Cercopithecidae family that is endemic to Japan. This monkey is often called the snow monkey because it lives in the middle of a snowy area. The Japanese monkey consists of two subspecies: Macaca fuscata fuscata and Macaca fuscata yakui.

Hi, thank you for reads Devil's in Love. I hope all of you guys give this book rate, so I can improve my story more. Feel free to ask anythin in comentar. Thanks for your attention :)