Disclaimer and explanation: I'm fairly too poor to own it, so obviously I don't. Heh. On the explanation, I'm calling this an experiment, I may not be new to writing, but I'm new to this particular area. This is just a step in hopefully the right direction to becoming familiar with it. I welcome comments, and criticisms, but I do not welcome flames.

Warnings: Manga based. Also, I'm plugging in a few of my own ideas here, namely on the relationship between the four gods and the god of destruction. So this is probably a little AU. Other then that, its yaoi. Karlman/Yaksha, mild Gateau/Marron.

Enjoy!

The Way Of Things

"One of us will have to guard him," the dark haired lord of Rebirth, Yaksha, said, turning black as night eyes upon his companions.

"Yes, I plan to enter the world soon to do so," Karlman, guardian of the North Sky said, turning his own deep blue eyes from his lover. Yaksha was still displeased with his decision; yet, he had supported it, knowing it had to be.

"I know, but there must be a closer guard to him. You will not be able to be at his side until much later," Yaksha argued.

"I will be closer, and since I am going soon after Karlman, I can keep an eye on him," the Holy Demon Kurin said, frowning slightly at her fellow god's stubborn mood.

"That will still not be close enough… And you know how you get around him," he couldn't help looking a little accusingly at her.

She shrugged, twirling a fiery lock with a finger, "They don't call me a demon for nothing, Yaksha."

"Indeed…" Yaksha sighed, not daring to even look at the Mother of West Apros. Apros was the one he couldn't stand to face these days, because he had failed her almost as much as he had.

"It looks like it is up to me then. It is my duty after all, as his older brother," he said.

"Yaksha…I thought the plan was to not burden that poor woman further? She already must bear one child of fate, but two?" Karlman asked, troubled.

"What else would you suggest, Karlman? It is our fault, my fault, that he turned into this and destroyed everything. We cannot allow him to do so again, and if that means that I must follow him step for step, so be it!" the normally serene being tensed, eyes as tormented as his brother had been the moment they had sealed him…

"…Apros, Kurin, leave us?" Karlman asked softly.

Kurin merely nodded, leading the silent goddess away, leaving them alone. As soon as they had gone, Karlman approached the slighter man, wrapping his strong arms around him.

"Yaksha…" he began, only for the hard voice to cut him off.

"Do not tell me that this is not my fault. Had I protected him like I should have, none of this would have happened. We wouldn't be the last ones left, and our world would still be here!" Yaksha struggled; trying to pull away, only for Karlman to pull him closer, tightening his hold.

"This is no more your fault then Apros's, and she blames herself just as much as you blame yourself," Karlman said.

"Apros couldn't have seen…" again he struggled, and again his lover restrained him.

"Stop it! She was closer to him then any of us, even you. No one could have saved him from himself, no one. So stop it! Be reasonable, this isn't the Lord I know," the god of the North Sky sighed.

Yaksha finally stopped fighting, though he didn't relax, "I can't help but feel guilty…"

"All of us feel guilty. Goodness, you're not the only one acting out of guilt and grief. Apros won't speak anymore, Kurin doesn't flirt with every remaining living thing, and I…"

"You don't disrobe in front of me as often as you used to…" the older god couldn't help the vaguest smile that flittered over his lips.

"No, I don't. I don't even lower my hood much anymore, do I?" Karlman was a little pleased to see even that small sign that his lover wasn't completely lost in his grief.

"As sad as this is, I miss that…" Yaksha sighed, leaning back against him, still a little tense.

"I know. We both miss a lot of things…" Karlman said softly.

Silence draped over them for a while, Yaksha slowly relaxed in his protector's embrace while Karlman rested his chin on top of his smaller companion's head. For just a space of time, neither spoke, but merely took brief comfort in each other's presence. Yet that was gone with Karlman's next words.

"You still intend to follow him, don't you?" he whispered, knowing it was a foolish question. He knew his love well enough to know the answer; he just needed to hear it from those pale lips.

"Yes…I will follow him, and I will not fail this time," Yaksha said, unrelenting, yet vaguely remorseful.

"I know you won't…." the silence threatened to fall again, yet the guardian could not let it, "I hope we will hold these feelings when we are reborn. I can't imagine not loving you…"

Yaksha was silent, though he finally did pull away from Karlman's loose embrace, and began walking away, distancing himself. He stopped a few meters away, "I can't answer that. Perhaps we will, perhaps we won't. That is not the main concern…" he turned back to him, torment once more in the inky depths of his eyes, "Though…if you still love me then, don't give up on me. I can't promise I'll feel the same then, but here, now, I do love you, and perhaps it will transcend to my reborn self. Just have hope that it will, and it may spring forth again, eventually."

"Then I will keep these feelings deep in my heart, right next to the purpose that we must fulfill," he approached slowly, until he could nearly touch him again, "I wish this had not come to pass…"

"I wish the same… Yet, we can do nothing more for it now, merely make sure it does not happen again," the mage swordsman said.

Karlman started to say something more, yet Kurin swiftly came forth from the void, her blood red eyes regretful, yet her voice urgent, "You must go now, Karlman, or else you will be born too late."

Karlman nodded, and silently looked to Yaksha before turning away, "I will see you again. I will see you all again…" he disappeared into the void.

Yaksha watched him go, before closing his eyes, and turning away. Now the fight had begun again.

owowowowowowowowowowow

Gateau looked curiously around as they walked down the hall, on the way to meet this 'Big Mama, as Chocolat had referred to her as. She had said that this was the woman who would approve whether he became a Sorcerer Hunter or not, though Chocolat had assured him that little stood in the way of him getting that approval, since he did have his formidable strength and strange immunes to magic.

Suddenly, a wisp of black hair caught his attention, and he turned, just in time to watch a young, beautiful creature run past him. Stopping, he stared as the vision kept going, finally disappearing from view behind a corner.

"Who was that?" he asked, just a tad breathlessly.

Chocolat stopped, and looked towards him, "That was Marron Glace, another Sorcerer Hunter. He works with my sister and Darling," her voice almost purred over the last word

"Darling?" he questioned as he turned back to her.

"Carrot Glace, Marron's older brother," the woman explained, her eyes sparkling just a little at her 'darling's' name.

Oddly, a chill ran down Gateau's spine at the former name, though he couldn't explain why. They continued on their way, finally reaching the chamber. Chocolat motioned him to remain outside, while she slipped in, leaving him alone.

But not for long as the same raven-haired vision suddenly appeared at his side. Glancing down, he marveled at the boy beside him, who was breathing the tadest bit hard, as if he had been running for a while. Black eyes turned up to him, and suddenly he was struck with two things, a great feeling that he knew those eyes once, and an odd sort of stirring in his chest, like that of a small flickering flame.

"Excuse me, but are you waiting to see Big Mama?" the boy asked, in a voice deeper then Gateau had expected.

"Yes, Chocolat told me to wait here while she spoke with her," Gateau explained, continuing to shamelessly stare at the youth.

The boy, Marron, blushed a little, though he looked a little annoyed at the attention, "Ah, then I suppose I will have to wait as well."

"Yeah, looks like it," older teen finally cut his stare, looking away for a moment, "Chocolat says your name is Marron Glace."

"It is," the boy said simply.

"Well, mine's Gateau Mocha. Perhaps we'll be working together sometime," Gateau said.

Marron blinked a little in surprise, "You're here to become a Sorcerer Hunter?"

"I am, for various reasons," that elicited a knowing, small sympathetic smile from Marron. The tiny flame in him stirred a little higher.

"Mama will probably let you in, and we could always use the help," Marron assured him.

They waited in silence for a time, both wrapped up in their own thoughts, Gateau's mostly revolving around the young man at his side. He felt so familiar to him, yet he knew he couldn't have met this slender beauty before. He would remember that, this was something Gateau, despite his sometimes absent mind, knew for a fact.

Marron shifted eventually, and sighed softly, "I shall just have to speak with her later, I suppose," he turned to leave.

Gateau opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the words wouldn't come, and he wasn't sure what he could say.

However, just before the younger teen disappeared around the corner, he glanced back, and smiled, "I hope to see you again, Gateau Mocha," he was then gone.

Gateau stared, then truly smiled for the first time since his parents' deaths. He hoped he would see him again too.