He never let his younger brother in on his opinions anymore, especially the ones that revolved around Genkai. It felt as the two drifted further apart every day that they were together. He began to wonder if anyone would miss him if he were to leave. Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance.
A man approached them and offered to sponsor them in the Dark Tournament. Each of them knew about it, and Otouto decided that he wanted to try to bring honor to the Toguro name. Some how, Otouto had made Ani forget about even quitting the team. Of course, that was a decision that he would regret.
One day, Ani was by himself practicing. He never liked going to his brother's dojo, since they learned more based off physical strength in addition to technique. As much as he loved spending time with his brother, his style was one more for finesse, for he had an ability that most psychics would be afraid of—he had the power to morph his flesh.
Even before he could warp his flesh, he depended on speed and accuracy to fight. He was never as strong as Otouto, and he wasn't afraid to admit that. Even Genkai had more strength than he did.
He felt that it was important to improve on what he could do. He could make his fingers stretch to about four feet in length and make them sharp, but what he was having the most trouble with was forming his entire hand into a weapon. He focused hard and slowly the flesh (skin, bones, and muscle alike) of his fingers began to melt together. He was so close to his goal; he could feel the edges of his hand harden and the tip of his fingers sharpen! Suddenly, his concentration was shattered by someone grasping his shoulder. He turned and tried to slap the stranger with his incomplete flesh blade, but he anticipated the move and blocked and apprehended his wrist.
"That was most impressive," uttered the stranger. He was tall with dark hair and dark skin. His blue eyes seemed to shine with the same mischievous grin that he wore on his face. "But you need to be a bit faster with it."
"Let go of me...!" Ani growled in a low tone.
"Not until you calm down a bit, babe."
Babe?! What kind of death wish did this guy have?! The psychic didn't hesitate to sharpen his fingers and thrust at this demented, misguided young man. Unfortunately, this too was anticipated and interrupted. The stranger whirled Ani around, pulled his twisted arms across his waist, and pinned the smaller fighter to his body.
"There. Are you satisfied?"
"Let me go!" cried the psychic as he wriggled in the man's grasp. He pulled his arms harder each time, trying to pry them loose. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!"
"Your new teammate, of course. They call me Akuma. You must be Toguro Ani." Akuma sniffed Ani's hair and added, "Mr. Mayakashi said that you were beautiful. I didn't realize how understated his description was."
Ani fought his grasp harder at the statement and action. He brought his leg up and kicked the stranger. Akuma was surprised by that and eased his grasp on the frail looking psychic. That gave him enough slack to escape. He then turned back to Akuma and threw a punch, sharpening just his knuckles along the way. Without looking at the results of his new trick, he turned and ran as fast as he could back towards the dojo.
---When Ani finally reached the dojo, he didn't stop to think about the class that was going on as he flung the doors open. Otouto saw this and told his students to practice the techniques they just learned. He approached his brother, who fell on his way in. The small fighter was panting and looked frightened.
"What happened?" Otouto asked as he helped his brother stand. "You're home early. Is everything okay?"
Ani shook his head. He murmured through his pants, "A man. . . in the woods groped me. . . He said that he knew Mr. Mayakashi. . . !"
"Akuma," muttered Otouto. "I told him to leave you alone, but he didn't listen." He looked to Ani and shook his head. "I'll take care of it." He looked to the class. "All right, everyone, partner up for sparring practice!"
Every student but one got a partner quickly. Otouto decided that he'd practice with Ani until Genkai arrived. It was also a way for Ani to finish up his exercises for the day. When Otouto left to talk to Akuma, the student stared at the psychic that stood before him. He was very nervous for one reason—Ani's power was creepy!
"Please, don't hurt me, Toguro-sama!" he screeched.
"What makes you think you're going to get hurt?" He smirked and formed his hand into a blunt paddle. He then bopped the fighter in the head and laughed. The young man screamed and jumped away from Ani, which only made him laugh harder.
"Don't do that!"
"Oh, fine," uttered the psychic. He put his hand back to normal and held it up for the student to see. "See, Doku, it's just a hand again."
Doku looked at it and cautiously took a step forward. The evil smirk crossed Ani's lips again as he stretched his index finger to effectively poke the student. This time he made a strange squeaky noise and fainted. A blush crossed his face as he whispered, "Oops... That wasn't supposed to happen..."
Just after Doku passed out, the heavy doors swung open again. This time, a small figure came through. Ani looked over and saw the pink hair and knew who it was. He quietly said, "Good afternoon, Genkai."
All of the students stopped what they were doing and bowed to Genkai. She bowed to the crowd before going to the front of the room with Ani and Doku. She looked at the situation and stated, "Let me guess, you scared him, again."
"Oh, it was all in good fun. He'll forgive me once he wakes again."
"I don't think your brother's going to be thrilled." She looked around and noticed the students still weren't practicing. "Speaking of which, where is he?"
"Looking for Akuma..."
Genkai nodded to acknowledge the statement. She then turned to the students and announced, "You are all dismissed! Report back here tonight at about nine."
As the others filed out, two came forward to take Doku. Once they were gone, it fell completely silent. That was one thing about Genkai and Ani... they really didn't know each other well enough to carry out a conversation without Otouto's help.
Fortunately, the odd silence was short lived. About ten minutes later, Otouto came in dragging Akuma by the scruff of the neck. The new fighter whimpered, "Come on! It's not like I kissed him or anything. I just blocked a couple of blows! I didn't want him to get loose and hit me, so I pinned him. Big deal!"
"You left out the detail where you were hitting on me!" hissed Ani.
Otouto looked annoyed at this fact. His eye twitched as he threw Akuma down to the floor. He growled, "Apologize, now, Akuma!"
"Fine!" He shifted his position to a bow. "I'm sorry Ani that I find you attractive."
Otouto growled in the back of his throat, but that was enough to satisfy him... this time."Be more subtile next time," whispered Genkai to the newcomer. Akuma stood up and bowed at the hips. He looked to Ani and smirked. This team was going to be a good one indeed.
---That night, Otouto and Genkai had went off to their bedroom, leaving Ani and Akuma alone. It was completely silent for almost an hour. Ani didn't bother to break the silence and stood up and tried to cross the room. As he passed Akuma, the stranger caught his hand.
"Matte," he said quietly. "Are you just going to leave without saying 'Good night?' That's awfully rude, don't you think?"
"Gomen nasai," uttered the psychic quietly. He turned to the fighter, who still had his hand, and bowed. "Oyasumi."
"Oyasumi, Toguro-sama." With a yank of the fragile psychic's wrist, he was down almost in his lap. Akuma took advantage of the shock and gave him a quick peck at the corner of his mouth. When Ani got away, he swiped at the near stranger and growled. Fortunately for Akuma, he missed.
"Hentai!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down for his brother's sake. He then stormed off to his room. Akuma sat in his seat, smiling as he watched the small psychic. Something about that man was alluring. He had to make Ani his, somehow...