A/N: My first Okami fanfic, written on a bit of a whim. I got the idea while reading the Okami Artbook, which is awesome - if you're an Okami fan then buy it, if you're not an Okami fan... then why are you reading an Okami fanfic? Anyway, this is about Oki and Kai. I don't even know if this is a legitimate pairing, but I think they're cute. This is my first attempt at writing proper romance (a bit of yaoi doesn't really count) so please do read and review it - I appreciate your comments and criticisms as always! Oh, and thanks for taking time to read this!
Edit: Reading this while listening to "Oki's Fate" or "Oki's Theme" from the Okami Soundtrack is really sad :(
Ice Breaks
I am a hero. A hero must be alone.
Why didn't she understand? Why did she keep following him?
"Go away."
"Oki -"
"Go away."
"Listen to me, Oki!"
She sounded so upset. He hated seeing Kai cry. He hated himself for making her feel sad.
"I'm leaving, Kai. Don't try to stop me."
She ran forward; grabbed his wrist in an iron grip. Oki didn't hesitate. Drawing Kutone with his free hand, he slapped her arm with the flat of the blade. The girl let go with a high-pitched yelp. Then she narrowed her eyes at him, snarled, and transformed.
The next thing Oki knew, he was lying with his back to the snow, pinned down by a sleek brown wolf. Kai's face, beautiful even when she was a beast, was just a few inches from his. Her eyes raged with equal measures of anger and frustration. Oki glared back, furious at having been caught off-guard. He scrabbled around with a free hand for Kutone, but the sacred sword was out of reach and he couldn't move with Kai's wolf body on top of him.
"Get off me, you stupid girl!" Oki snapped. With a huge effort born from his months fighting demons in the wild, he flung her off and leapt back to his feet. As she bounded towards him again he turned, snatched Kutone from the floor, and hit her with its hilt straight across her chest. Kai collapsed on the floor. Oki turned away from her and started to walk back into the forest.
"Don't go, Oki!" Kai was desperate again, pleading. Oki could hear her footsteps pounding through the soft snow towards him, but he didn't stop walking away.
Kai flung her arms around him, human again, and Oki paused. She was so close. He could feel the beating of her heart, even through the many layers of fur they both wore. She whispered, "I'm scared, Oki. There are demons out there. I don't know what I'd do if you were killed. Please, just stay here!"
Oki wrenched himself free from her grasp. "If you try and follow me, I'll cut you down myself."
"Oki..." she murmured. He knew there were tears in her eyes without having to turn around. Kai poured all her emotions into her words. "Oki, I love you."
Oki didn't even look at her. "I wish I had never come back," he said bitterly.
Oki ran. He knew Kai was following him, and it only made him run quicker. He was in wolf-form now, all four paws beating against the icy ground. Kai was fast, but he was faster. He could easily outdistance her here. He hoped that once he had lost her she would give up the chase and go home. Go back to Wep'keer, where it was safe.
All he wanted was for Kai to be safe, and while she was with him, she would always be targeted by demons. Why couldn't she understand that?
A roar of frustration tore from his lips; a furious wolf-howl that shattered the dark silence of the snow-covered forest. He was too far away for Kai to hear him now. There was no one out here but him, and the demons.
Oki kept running until the sun had completely slipped down beyond the horizon. Only then did he stop, panting fiercely, and changed back into his human form to rest. He sat down with his back to a huge, age-old tree, and took Kutone in his hands. He thought about Kai, about Wep'keer, about the home and friends he had had to leave behind.
And he cried. If he had been with someone else, he would have been too proud to shed a tear. But here, out in the empty expanses of the forest, he was not ashamed to weep. The tears froze on his cheeks, yet he did not brush them away immediately. A single, choked word escaped his lips. "Kai..."
A growl came from the trees not too far away. Blinking away the tears, Oki was up on his feet and alert instantly. It wasn't a wolf cry - it was a demon, and he recognized it straight away. With his back to the tree, he raised Kutone and glanced into the darkness. He thought he could see a pair of red eyes glowing, just for a second. Then they vanished, and four more pinpricks of light appeared, seemingly floating in the darkness. Oki settled into a defensive stance.
"I don't deserve you, Kai," he whispered to himself. "Not like this. But I won't make you wait much longer. I will become a hero. Soon, when Kutone shines for me, I will come home."