The blue oni looked like a human but was as reclusive as an oni. He only had one friend, the red oni.
Ever since he had finished building his house, he had never gone out again.
He spent all his time alone in his house, writing and drawing, filling one sheet of paper after another. No one knew what he was doing.
The red oni sat down in front of the blue oni without ceremony.
He imitated the posture of an adult oni, resting his chin on one hand, and began to think.
"Hey, Blue."
"Do you like humans?"
The red oni was very interested in humans.
Even after seeing the nearby villagers for the first time, he still couldn't contain his excitement.
The blue oni said flatly, "I don't."
The red oni asked in confusion, "Eh, human food is so delicious, humans are so smart and interesting. Why don't you like them?"
The blue oni said flatly, "Humans are cunning. Their hearts are full of malice. They're full of hostility toward us oni."
Although the blue oni was reclusive, his thoughts were very simple.
Since humans didn't like them, why should he like humans?
But the red oni argued, "Blue, have you forgotten what the oni elders told us? Since we've decided to settle here, we need to build good relationships with the humans around us."
"Live in harmony with the nearby humans."
The blue oni was silent.
Of course he understood this principle.
Nowadays, this land had long become human territory.
They could only survive in the cracks between humans, and getting along with the humans around them was essential.
But the blue oni's reclusive personality made it very hard for him to build relationships with humans.
The blue oni didn't care either.
As long as he had a stable home and a friend like the red oni, that was enough for him.
Just then, after thinking for a long time, the red oni suddenly spoke happily.
"Blue, I want to become friends with humans."
The blue oni was startled. He clearly hadn't expected the red oni to be so direct.
He spoke slowly. "Then go ahead. But be careful of those humans."
The red oni smiled. "Blue, let's go together. Let's play hide and seek with the human children and play games with them."
The blue oni hesitated for a moment, then said, "I... I don't want to see humans. You go by yourself."
With that, he carefully put away a paper covered in drawings and took out a new one from the drawer.
Seeing that the blue oni didn't want to go out, the red oni didn't force him. He said happily, "Alright, Blue. When I become friends with the humans, I'll introduce you to them."
"Then we can all play together."
As his best friend, how could the red oni abandon the blue oni?
The blue oni was stunned for a moment, then said, "O... okay."
The red oni: "Then I'm going."
The blue oni: "Al... alright."
Watching the red oni skip away, the blue oni suddenly felt reluctant to see him go.
He wanted to play with the red oni a little longer.
But because of his reclusive personality, he could only watch the red oni bounce away, unable to say anything to make him stay.
After the red oni left, the blue oni placed a sheet of paper on the table and picked up a brush made from animal hair, drawing carefully on the paper.
He was drawing scenes of the blue oni and the red oni playing together.
He wanted to record all those moments of happiness in his drawings.
Meanwhile, on the red oni's side, the red oni laughed cheerfully and hopped and skipped away from the blue oni's home.
Following the villagers' path, he crossed the forest and the river and arrived at the foot of the hill.
He kept going until he finally found the human village.
The red oni was overjoyed.
He couldn't wait to become friends with the humans, to taste their food, and to earn their acceptance.
So he began looking for villagers to greet and introduce himself.
He wanted to tell them that his name was Red and that he was a kind oni.
But after walking through the village, he didn't see a single villager.
They were all out working in the fields.
Just as the red oni was feeling disappointed, as he passed through a grove of trees, he finally saw a group of human children playing in the forest.
They were playing hide and seek, playing eagle catching chicks, and playing ball games.
Their laughter filled the air.
They were having so much fun.
Hearing the children's laughter, the red oni was very happy too.
He cautiously crept up behind the children and hid behind a tree, watching them play joyfully. He wanted to join them.
So he poked his head out from behind the tree and greeted the children.
"Hello there!"
"My name is Red!"
"I'm a kind oni!"
"Can I play with you?"
Looking at the ball the children were tossing back and forth, the red oni's eyes were full of anticipation.
It was as if he had already received their invitation, and in the next moment, he would be playing with them.
But then, the moment they saw the red oni, the children all screamed in fright.
"An oni!"
"The oni is coming!"
"He's so ugly! Will he bite us?"
"Don't be afraid! My mom said all oni are afraid of beans! Throw beans at him!"
"Don't come any closer, or we'll throw beans at you!"
Before the red oni could react, the children had already grabbed handfuls of fresh beans from somewhere and, without hesitation, threw them at him.
The red oni tried to explain. "No, no, no! Don't throw beans! I'm Red, not an evil oni! I never bite people!"
"I want to play with you!"
"Let me play with you!"
To show his goodwill, the red oni deliberately bared his teeth in what he thought was a smile.
But the red oni's face was bright red, which looked very frightening. Even his smile seemed scary.
The children saw his smile as a fierce, threatening grimace.
They immediately grabbed more beans and threw them.
"Throw the beans!"
"He's definitely an evil oni!"
"Mom said evil oni love to bite children!"
"Drive him away!"
One handful after another of beans hit the red oni's body.
Just as the children had said, beans were the bane of oni.
When the beans struck the red oni, he hopped and jumped in pain.
He even started to cry.
"Wah wah—"
"I really am a good oni. I really don't bite people!"
"I just want to be friends with you!"
"Wah wah wah—please stop throwing beans! I really hate beans!"
The red oni still wanted to explain, but how could these children listen to him?
More and more beans rained down on him.
The red oni was in so much pain that he kept backing away.
He couldn't take it anymore.
So he ran away from behind the tree, crying loudly.