Hello all! This is Gigiro with my first post on here. I could not think of a better way to spend my Valentine's Day alone, than drinking Tequila and writing some one-shots with my fave characters. This is just a spill (my term for a quick write), and there is alcohol involved so there are bound to be mistakes. I will work my hardest to keep them at a minimum, but you know how it goes… Please let me know what you think, if there is something I could have done better on then please tell me. I am using my posts as a way to grow as a writer for my own novels that I have been working on.

Remember, I do not own anything you recognize!

_-T-_

With the Water

The sun had set hours ago, but the city was as alive as ever. Couples were going from place to place, enjoying each others company on the one day dedicated to being with someone else. The roads were lit from the street lights high over head, and the city had taken the incentive to decorate them with festivities as they lead towards the fountain where a special event was being held. With hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans, Kurama made his way alone down the street alive with happiness and hormones, feeling neither out of place nor lonely as pairs of people parted to make room for him as he walked against the flow of the crowd.

He had thought that perhaps after school, once he started an adult life working for his step-dad, that women would slow their pursuit in him. However, it did not seem that was the case. He worked for his step-dads company for a year now, and his desk through out the day began to accumulate a pile of letters sent by customers and even a few flowers and chocolates. Just as he did when he was in school he would accept them with a fake smile and then throw them away, unopened, at the end of the day before going home. Tonight though, he thought he would make a change. His step-dad took his mother out for a nice dinner, and his step-brother was out on a date with a girl from his class. So he decided to spend a nice relaxing evening in his favorite spot at the park, watching as the moon climbed to its peak before descending into the new day where he would be once again left at peace for another year.

A simple railing separated urban from nature as he passed through the threshold of the park, a few rocks shifting under his shoes as he walked along the dirt path. Couples covered every bench that was available, and several others had set up blankets where they were doing various things with their partner. He averted his eyes from all. It was not that affection made him uncomfortable, it was a natural thing to do, nor was he feeling the sting of being alone when so many other people had found someone else to call their own even if it was only temporary. No, he looked away because he didn't care. Finding someone to spend time with or to be passionate with was not something he was interested in. His life had always been a unique one, and finding someone with similar experiences that he could connect with was far from plausible. He had friends who accepted him with all of his secrets, and a family who loved him even if they didn't know the whole truth of him. That was more than enough.

The grass was soft beneath him as he strode off the path to the entrance of his hidden area, moving around the foliage and into the thicket. As he parted two bushes and ducked under a low hanging branch to the spot, his eyes fell upon a figure bathed in the moonlight created by the parting in the trees, gazing over the lake that the clearing gave the perfect view of. It was a female, with blond hair that was cropped close like a boys. She was dressed in simple clothes, a loose fitting long sleeve that exposed her shoulders and jeans, and her knees were pulled close to her chest with her arms resting on top of them in a relaxed manner. What little skin showed held a soft glow from the moon, and as she turned to look at him from the rustle that he made with the bushes he locked gazes with eyes as dark as the sky.

"Oh. I'm sorry I didn't realize there was someone else was here." Kurama said politely, turning to leave.

"No it's fine." Her voice stopped him. It was kind, and filled with the smile that she bore on her face. "The space is more than big enough for the two of us."

He looked to her again, and the smile across her lips was soft and genuine enough that he removed himself from the foliage line and into the clearing where she sat. Returning her smile, she looked back towards the water as it ripped lightly from the wind that rustled the leaves and gently moved his hair around his shoulders. Her presence was peaceful and serene, something that drew him in and made him want to sit down in the clearing with her. He found himself moving to find a spot near her, and against his initial plans for the evening of spending it alone, he sat down a several feet away from this stranger.

They were cloaked in silence as the minutes passed. She seemed content with it, breathing steadily as she watched the water with steady eyes, and he was no one to argue against the peace. It was nice. Being with someone else but not feeling the need to talk, to have the presence of another being but being left to your own thoughts. Her movement distracted him for a moment, and his eyes looked over at her as she laid onto her back and looked up at the sky. Her body seemed very small underneath her clothing, nothing more than skin and bone.

"Have you lived here your whole life?" She asked suddenly.

Kurama was stunned slightly at her voice, not expecting her to speak, and considered the answer before responding. She smelt like a human, but the sent of sea water clung to her like a natural perfume. "Most of it." He said finally. "How about you?"

"No. I grew up in America mostly." She smiled to herself as she explained the reasoning from her curiosity. "I wanted to talk about the stars. I miss them."

His eyes cast upward towards the sky devoid of the little white dots, winked out from the lights of the city. He remembered the night sky of the Makai, all of its colors and the danger that it brought with it as the stars coated the sky in various hues and patterns. During another time in his life he loved when the stars would paint the black of the evening, it was his time to thrive, to thieve, to create chaos, and to escape by the skin of his teeth. Until the one time he didn't, and he was then forced to look up at this blank sky with a mostly mundane life.

"Where in America did you live?" He found himself asking, a natural reaction to her statement.

"Hawaii, but I traveled into the continental US a lot." Her head turned towards him, and he smiled at her, noticing that she didn't have an accent.

"You speak Japanese very well."

Her smile widened. "Well, my parents were both born in Japan, as well as my older brother." He noticed that her eyes resembled the water, seemingly rippling with the breeze that wound its way around the trunks of the trees to them. "Do you have any siblings?"

"A younger step-brother." Why was the information that he kept so close to his heart, spilling from his lips? The more he watched her simple movements as she laid in the grass, the more it made him feel like he was on an island with her surrounded by an endless sea of calm tides and a soft wind that blew away any of his barriers. No matter how powerful he became, and how much he was able to protect his family, information like this could still be used against him.

So he turned back towards the water, keeping to himself and rebuilding the walls in his mind that the current of her soothing oceans threatened to break down, and silence once again filled the feet between them.

Hours of comfortable peace passed before another word came between them, and it wasn't so much as it was words as it was movement that spoke volumes. The female beside him, who he guessed was about his age, stood up and walked towards the edge of the water, peering out across its surface at the other shores. Kurama watched with curiosity as she looked around before back at him, thoughts running across her face before it relaxed and then she smiled. Turning back towards the water, she kicked her shoes off, removing her shirt and tossing it to the side before moving to the button on her pants. He felt a flush come to his cheeks at her exposed body, but found himself unable to look away. She was slender but not malnourished like he thought, muscle lined her arms, legs, and flat belly as she removed her clothing underneath the moon that hung high in the sky, her underwear clinging to the small curves of her body. His eyes traced up her frame as she moved to him, locking onto hers as she stopped before him and reached a small hand down to his arm. Gently pulling him up, she smiled at him, a smile that said 'try something with me' and he found himself unable to resist her. He followed her guidance as she pulled him up and then lead him to the edge of the water where she began to back in, touch dragging down his arm and off the tips of his fingers as he stopped before the threshold, watching as the goosebumps from the cold water rose up on her skin and the smile was not swayed from its place.

His heartbeat rose into his throat, catching his breath there as he felt the pull of her presence sink into the water with her, and slowly he began removing his own clothes, piling them off to the side. As he did he stretched out his senses, the park was nearly empty of humans and there were no demons near that could pose any threats while he decided to do something out of character. So he stripped of all but his boxers, wading into the water with her.

Her smile widened, reaching out for his hand again, gently grasping it and leading him out into deeper water. They waded in silence until the water reached up to the middle of his chest, and was covering her breasts. The moon sparkled off the rippling water, making it look like they were swimming in stars as their skin grew used to the cold of space, and like a vacuum he was drawn to her. She looked at home in the water, eyes brighter than the city lights in the distance and smile as wide and content as he had ever seen. Her movements were fluid, moving with the tiny swells that the wind created, seeming like she was dancing with the elements around her. His hands reached out to her body, resting on her slender hips, and he began to move with her. Her surprise was not great, but her look became shy as her eyes cast downward and her arms wrapped around his neck as they danced to the music of the wind and the beat of the water.

Drawing her body in against his, her hands rose up to the back of his head as her face rose up to meet his, their lips intertwining in a kiss as soft as the lap of the lake. Surprise was quickly washed over with intoxication as he kissed her back, arms wrapping around her body to hold her close. Their tongues laced and he felt her hands snake down his shoulders to his chest and the heat rise from their trail before he felt the push against himself, throwing him into the water. The chill of the lake surrounded him and washed over his senses. What was he doing? Why did he follow her into the water? Why was he so relaxed around her? He didn't even know her name and yet he was allowing her to kiss him! So as he recollected himself and breached the surface for air, he saw that she was nowhere to be found. Gone from existence, swallowed by the void. Panic arose in him suddenly, and he reached out his sense. There was no one. The rest of the park was empty, all of the lonely souls had wondered back home to bed, and the enamored hearts had gone back to share a bed.

And he was left alone, head filled with questions and chest ached against his decisions. Wadding quietly back to the shore, he collected his clothes and carefully put them on after shaking the water off his skin. A movement in the water caught his eye causing him to pause. Though there was nothing, and he quickly left, deciding to find his friends rather than lead what ever he might have just encountered back to his family.

_-T-_

Fallen Past Redemption

I watched the humans below as they scurried about, desperate to either impress the one they already have or impress the one they wish to had. It was a sad holiday for them, a holiday that gave the excuse to express the feelings one had for another when one couldn't get up the nerve to do so any other day of the year. Rejection was the only thing higher than the suicide rate on this day, and frankly I don't know which is worse. At lease with suicide you are doing something for yourself and your happiness, unlike when you decide to spill your heart out to another – both are selfish though, and its hard to recover from either. Then there are the desperate… The ones who have to feel like they are wanted so they decide to mate with the thing that will give them the best comfort in bed. They were were the saddest of them all, and though I will never admit, I liked to watch them the most. I loved watching their once content and self-confident mind turn to restlessness and doubt as the day grew short and they turned to drinks that clouded their judgment, acting out of character in order to find someone that would give them the affection they so desperately thought they needed only to have regret fill them in the morning when they realize the consequence of their actions.

Ah, it was a beautiful sight, self-destruction, and normally I would fly from rooftop to rooftop in the city to watch it corrode so many lonely hearts but tonight something else distracted me. It was the blossom of interest, not lust, between two strangers in the night. I was on the nearest building to the park, and watched as two people met in the night under silence. Only a few words were exchanged between them before they were left to their own devices, however it was enough for both of them to have that spark of interest for the other before they went back to their own thoughts. I would have watched them for longer if my thoughts had not been broken by the cold of a blade to the back of my neck.

"Normally I would have killed you by now, but tonight I am feeling generous." A mocking voice met my ears, but I did not turn to look at it.

"How kind of you to spare someone such as myself." I threw back, and I felt the blade press farther against my skin.

"I would not push your luck. You do not fall under the protection of Makai law just because you are in the Negikai." His comment made me pause. Makai law? Was he talking about the new laws that were enacted after the barrier was taken down by the Rekai? I didn't know much about them, they were honestly not my business. This was the one night a year that I was allowed out of my realm to come and play in the humans. "What are you looking for?" He obviously had a point to his question, but what it was I could only guess at.

"Spoiled hearts." I replied, turning my head to look at him, the blade cutting a line across my skin to the front of my throat as I did so. His hold did not falter as I cut myself, the blood dripping down my neck slowly, and my gaze was met with eyes of the same color underneath the spike of black hair. He must have been a demon in order to get his hair to stand up like that. Not that I would have been able to sense if he was or not. I could see both humans and demons, but I could not see their auras. Usually it was the look that gave demons away, they were typically far uglier than humans but I have been surprised in both directions before.

He raised an eyebrow at me, pausing for a good while before questioning me again. "You don't smell like a human or demon. What are you?"

Right to the point I see. I shifted my weight so I no longer knelt on my toes, but rested on my knees. If he killed me, oh well. I would just return to my realm and be laughed at more than normal before going back to my day-to-day. Looking up at him from my position I now questioned why we were created so small. Originally I thought it was to make us harder to be detected, either by sensing or by sight. However, I was nearly hip level with him, and wondered if this was the plan all along.

"As you said. I am neither." My eyes remained on his, body still stiff but a lopsided smile broke my face.

His blade pressed farther into the cut on my throat. "I might be in a generous mood but that does not mean I will be generous with my time for your bullshit answers."

His eyes hardened, but widened as I laughed at him. "Then by all means have your way with me. Kill me if you want. Slit my throat, stab me through the heart, toss me off the building. Or..." He narrowed his eyes again at me as I smiled at him mischievously. "You could let me go back to my people watching and be on your way to more important things."

He thought for a moment, looking around and then pointing the tip of his blade to the bottom of my chin and pressing up, making me move my head up more towards him as he leaned down to me with a wicked smile splitting his face. "Or I could do as you said, and have my way with you."

Wait. What? Really? I thought demons thought us ugly and human thought us horrifying. Sure, we looked human enough, but there were several things that differentiated us. Like our wings. Each of us had four massive wings that sprouted from our back to carry us from place to place, and each of ours were unique to us. Mine were webbed like a bats, black at the cartilage that faded out into a dark blue between the fingers, and had purple claws at the joints. Our eyes were usually a weird color for humans, and our skin could be scaled slightly, like mine. It wasn't anything over the top, just little bits here and there, mostly they were in the places that the humans deemed as 'private' regions so when I did come into the human world I didn't feel the need to clothe myself like many of my counterparts. Most other creatures thought us repulsive in some form or another so it was never a problem before.

My mouth gaped slightly at his comment, leaning away from him. Maybe I should just kill myself on his sword? Not like I wasn't already disgraced enough against my kind, so what if I put more dirt on my name with a suicide to return to my realm? However as his hand reached out to the top of my chest, pushing me down onto my back with my knees still on the ground and his blade still at my throat I could see his heart. It was blackened with mistrust, self-destruction, and greed, but as his teeth met the skin on my neck I saw it lighten with hope. The light was far off and dim, but it was there and I felt myself drawn to it. It was in my nature to want to draw out the light in the hearts of another, but I never saw much of reason to. Drawing out the darkness and doubt was always more fun. But his drew me in and let me relax into him, covering us with my wings as his blade fell to the side and my hands found the folds of his clothes to remove them. The light in his heart grew as he encompassed himself in my hips, and my nails dug into his skin.

I drank up every ounce the light grew and every ounce he gave me through the rest of the night as we changed positions and chased each other across the roof top until he and I rested with quickened breathes. As the light of day began to crest the horizon, I felt sadness for the first time. Whatever part of my body the light hits will be returned to my realm, returned to the place I never felt companionship, never felt wanted, never felt anything other than complacency. It was where I lived for all but one of the days that the human realm had, nothing more. My eyes went over to the man who gave me a night I will never be able to recreate as he redressed himself, sighing to myself at the thought. Perhaps with this transgression against my kind they will finally let me go, let me wander to where I want and not be a burden on them any more.

His eyes caught mine, they were softer than when I first captured them but still hard. His heart lightened, but only to a gray a few shades above black. That was enough for me. For once in my existence I had done my job, I lightened the heart of another and given them happiness on one of the normally depressing days of the year. So as the light first touched my wings and I began to fade back into my realm I gave him a smile. Not my normal mischievous smile, but a real one, one that gave him appreciation for what he had done for me. I saw his eyes fill with confusion as I faded from his existence, slowly returning to my realm with a heart heavier than I ever knew it could be.