[I'll Grant You Three]
Mikado lugged the heavy pails of water towards the house. Ever since his Mother had divorced his father and lost him to her ex-husband, his new step-mother decided Mikado must be an unwanted child.
The woman never even met him! And his dad didn't change her views, rather passing over Mikado in favor of his new children.
Which left Mikado displaced in his own family.
Kida Masaomi, his friend, wrote and told him all about how his mother was off in court fighting to get him back, but the closest date for a hearing wouldn't be for another three years.
Until then, Mikado lived in his own shack near the edge of his father's property. He studied diligently, hoping to obtain a minor position in the court or do something to help his mother when he finally joined her in three years.
Out of everything in life, he-
He wanted an interesting life. He never wanted to be bored. And the first step to joining the outside world was to be needed by the outside world.
And so far, the outside world demanded he get his own bathwater, heat up his own bath, and scrub the tub clean when he was done.
Mikado sighed. He didn't mind taking a cold bath in the river, except his step mother spied on him.
No, not like that, Mikado corrected himself. Anri, slung over his back released the breath from the tirade she would have started.
His step-mother wanted evidence that Mikado born of a lowly stature instead of his mother's high rank, and possibly enslave and brand him. Taking a hot bath seemed to some reason mean that he was too cultured to be treated as a servant. At least that's what his own spy, Sonohara Anri, reported to him.
She fretted over Mikado, but right now, she was the only weapon standing between Mikado and never seeing the outside world. She sang a reassurance of cut and love to him, resting against his back.
Then Anri started shrieking at him to run.
Mikado lifted his head and looked around. There wasn't anyone near him, and the area was open with little cover, the bank sloping down to the river.
Anri started to shake herself out of her sheath, yelling at him to run.
Mikado looked down the river, then back up the current. Floating down the river was a body, fighting the current. Mikado dropped the pails and ordered Anri to get the house ready, running down the bank.
Anri shrieked at him as she raced away. Let me love him! You don't know him! The sight of the katana vanishing over the woods was the last Mikado saw of her, headed towards the cottage.
Mikado decided that perhaps, rescuing someone from the river would be the most entertaining thing that would happen to him for three years. Perhaps he could write to Masaomi about something interesting.
The current wasn't terribly strong, so maybe the person was a very bad swimmer or just very weak. Mikado grabbed an arm and dragged the person until he could wrap and arm around his torso. Then he struck out with his other arm, swimming on his side.
The shallow area breached, Mikado stood up and dragged the person closer to shore. They were coughing, and when they grabbed the dirt clods higher on the bank, seemed to inhale deeply.
"Take it easy, you nearly drowned. Er, you can stay at my place until you've recovered."
The person heaved, expelling water from their stomach, and then rolled out of the way. Mikado squeaked, and then hauled him up over the bank.
Regretting not asking Anri to come back and help him carry the man, Mikado set about getting the body across his shoulders. The figure groaned.
"It's okay, I got you. Some dry clothes and a nice fire, you'll be better."
He staggered under the weight, and began the trek back. He was departing from the river bank to head into the woods when he realized that he had left the pails of his bath water by the river.
Nothing for it now. Hopefully they would still be there when he went back.
….
Mikado trudged through the woods, approaching the house after another half hour. There was smoke coming out of the hatch, and Anri glowered at him from the doorway.
"That was reckless." She scolded him, taking the man with ease and carrying him in. Mikado rolled his shoulders.
"I dropped the pails. But I can get them later."
"No. Go get them now. I've got this. And if he attacks me, you'd just be in the way."
Ulp. Anri was really mad. She never snapped, but her cold tone informed Mikado how unhappy she was.
Anri's see through shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, Mikado-san. It's just, if you had died, I wouldn't have known. The outside world is more than cruel, it can be careless. I don't want to lose you to that. Promise me you won't send me away next time."
Another thing that always happened. Anri would speak about what bothered her. Not always so soon after the fact, but then again, it had been nearly an hour since he had sent her on her way. She had time to get over the dangerous part of her fury, and now she wanted reassurance.
Mikado nodded, reaching out laying a hand on her shoulder. A lot of people associated Anri with the sword, and well, Mikado associated Anri with the spirit in the sword. The sword was just a medium. His fingertips felt cold, meaning Anri knew he reached for her.
"I promise. I'll go get the pails. I'll take the sheath."
Anri reached into her ribcage and the sheath pulled out of her side. Mikado headed back out.
He popped his head back in.
"Ah, do you want to postpone dinner? I think soup would be best."
Anri nodded, her face still looking at the stranger in his soaked clothes. Mikado opened his mouth to remind her he would do better out of them, and realized that was why she was waiting for him to leave.
Blushing, Mikado walked off.
Anri studied the figure, before raising him up and tossing him onto the open flame.
…..
Mikado found the pails where he had dropped them, one on its side. That was easy enough to fix. This time, he slid the sheath under the pail's handles and rested them across his back. He would never treat Anri in such a fashion, but the sheath would do just fine.
It wasn't his best friend.
…
Back at the house, a red eyed figure groaned and rolled off the fire.
"Didn't you used to be known as Saika?"
"I go by Anri, now. What are you doing out here? You always claim to love humans; you wouldn't be this far away from the capital without a reason." Anri's red eyes glowed in the fireplace.
"Ah, yes. Apparently unbound demons aren't allowed in the capital anymore. There are new laws in the making, and we can't fight them. I think the new Emperor is paranoid, and it's going to create conflict. They forget that not all demons are people eating, grain spoiling, and child snatching bastards. Look at you. It's not the fire. It's the hearth. The hearth and home and you love humans, but I'm not sharing them with you."
Izaya grinned at her. "I bet I can steal him away from you."
"Please do."
Izaya would have face-planted if this was a manga. He leaned forward instead. "Are you…offering him to me?"
"You know how servants are treated? If he doesn't get help soon, that's where he will be. And I may never have a master again. My stipulation, of course, is that I stay with him. Just to be clear." Anri smirked back at Izaya. Then her face twisted. "Please, I beg of you, protect Mikado. But if you hurt him…I will take all the humans from you."
Izaya smirked. "You couldn't control that many."
Anri gave him a demure smile. "I don't have to win them, Orihara-san. I just have to keep them from you. Plus, I'll tell Mikado your favorite food is cooked fish. Imagine all those fish eyes staring at you as he insists in all his kind-heartedness that he fix you your fish until you can eat it with a smile."
Izaya blanched. "Devil woman."
"Oh?" Anri raised an eyebrow. "What happened to your sisters?"
Izaya froze. The fire turned blue, before dying out. The embers gleamed in the sudden darkness.
Anri's red eyes widened.
"God…no…not them…Maybe Shizuo-san…where you near Shizuo-san?"
Izaya shook his head. "During the fight, I don't know if they got him to help them or not. If he was there, then that's a lot more demons for the Heiwajima clan. If he wasn't…I'm going to kill the Emperor and plunge this country into civil war. No one messes with my sisters."
Anri nodded.
"I could see about getting Mikado to help."
The flame roared back to life. Anri pulled a face, glancing between the fire and Izaya. Izaya scowled at her.
"You try keeping a hold of yourself after being submerged in water. But yes, I do have an intense interest in the fact you just called this boy 'Mikado'." Izaya's facial expressions increased as the fire died down.
Anri raised an eyebrow at him. Izaya sighed. "Oh come now, you can't expect me to give you an answer for free?"
Anri raised a bag of flour. Izaya motioned for her to open it. Anri cut the bag open, allowing the poof of flour to enter the air. Izaya nodded, and grabbed a handful, tossing it on the fire. The fire burned orange for a moment, and Izaya coughed hard.
"How long do we have?"
Anri's eyes flicked to the doorway. "Long enough. He'll make soup for you when he gets back. Eat it anyway."
Izaya stuck his tongue out, before straightening up.
"Alright, there's this Miss Ryugamine that's been friends with the Heiwajima's, and she's fighting to get her son back from her husband, something about lineages and whatnot. I'm guessing she isn't actually your average lady to have a son like that.
"Plus, there's this prophecy I was trying to research, but the last person to know it lost her head- it's a Dullahan, and fairies aren't classed with demons, no matter how scary they are. That law was settled so long ago, who thought he'd know to invoke it before the fight? Plus, there was talk that they run a way for demons to get out of the country, but that's about all I have surrounding the name 'Mikado'."
Anri nodded.
"I'll tell you more about the capital if you tell me something." Izaya prompted after a moment of quiet.
"There was nothing, Izaya." Anri spat coldly. "No stars aligning, nothing. Almost the only 'preternatural' surrounding Mikado is his name." Her eyes flick to Izaya's drying skin. "And the fact he pulled you from the river."
Izaya leaned forward. "Don't sell yourself short, kid. You were Saika. And now you serve him. That's not a small feat, itself."
Anri shook her head. "I don't actually serve Mikado. My contract's to another for protecting him. I've forgotten their face. But I do know they had a scar on their neck."
Izaya frowned. "That's…not a lot to go on. So, the capital's started a rogue-demon genocide, cause suspected to be the Emperor, effect and reasons unknown, you're out here serving Kami-only-knows who, to the effect of protecting Mikado, I'm supposedly dead, cause obvious, reasons why unknown, there's a prophecy we don't know, possibly responsible for all of this, and the mysterious country bumpkin with a mother in the capital, who saves left-for-dead strangers and I haven't met yet."
Izaya stretched out by the fire. Anri watched him, her gaze unblinking.
"Izaya. If you are so weak, shouldn't you…"
"No. He forced me into that form and tossed me into the river. That monster…"
Anri watched him.
"I think he was trying to save you." Izaya rolled up and punched the floor.
"And that's why I hate him! Stupid, Shizuo…" The white flames roared up. Anri sat there passively, waiting him out.
Minutes later, the sound of footsteps approaching the door reached them. Izaya choked himself off from his rage, and the fire died down.
Mikado set the pails down outside and opened the door.
"Ah, you're awake! Feel better?" he beamed at the stranger.
End Chapter One