Off by a Degree
Prologue—Tenichi/Haru Pair
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The sky was dark, and the Shibusen moon was grinning down on its people, blood dripping down its teeth, its black rimmed beady eyes making it seem all the eerier. I was holding my rapier Haru by my side, strolling calmly through the streets. There were no missions for me to accept, so I decided to walk around, feeling the moon grin on me, casting a long dark shadow that trailed behind me, following me, taunting me by never letting me go, reminding me of a sort of dark hidden side. It was mysterious; it was beautiful. Hoshi growled, whipping me in the head with the blunt end of the sword.
"Can I turn back into my human form yet?! I'm cramped in here and we're not talking and you're quiet and—"
"Ssshh, Haru. Listen closely." I said, placing my finger to my lips.
My brown hair wafted in the wind as I felt a soul coming from behind. It was cloaked weakly, and Haru was throbbing, ready to cut into its flesh and devour its soul from the inside out. The coattails of my dress-jacket fanned out behind me as a large gust of wind hit me. The dark forest green brought out my eyes of the same color. A white rose was nestled behind my hair to match the color of the buttons on my dress-jacket. I brought Haru parallel to my face as the kishin appeared in front of us, grinning from ear to ear. Blood was running from its eye sockets, and it looked ready to kill. Spikes ran down its spine, and its claws were very long. I felt Haru lunge, ready to fight.
"Haru, are you ready?"
"Ugh, of course." He sucked his teeth and pulled me towards the kishin. "C'mon, let's get chop-chop-chopping!"
The kishin licked its lips, grinning. "My name is Jeehath, and I have come to gather souls. I am quite hungry, and you seem delicious…" Jeehath lunged, catching me off guard.
I dodged, falling to the ground. I stood back up hurriedly, Haru scolding me. His brown spiky hair floated over one of his crimson eyes. "Yo, watch it, Iilayh!"
"Trying!"
The kishin was strong; a roamer of the streets but very formidable indeed. I crouched on my right leg, pushing myself forward with my left, whipping Haru out and pointing him forward. Jeehath tilted to the right as I flew past him. I quickly turned back in midair and swung Haru hard, Jeehath disappearing in a funnel of black smoke, leaving a black and red soul egg behind. Haru's head popped out of the sword as he ingested it with vigor, turning back into his human state. Haru was tall, around 6 feet, wearing a red shirt with a black star in the center, all tied together with dark jeans with a six inch chain hanging from the belt loop to the left pocket. A black pair of sneakers tied it all together. Haru rubbed the back of his neck, looking at me. There were line with a small line running across the bottom below his eyes.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Well, that was unexpected. I say we go home before we find any others."
"I agree. Dinner probably got super cold by now. I'm starving…"
All of a sudden, Haru and I heard clapping from the shadows. I froze in my steps, ending gracefully at the crest of the staircase. Haru froze rigidly, stumbling over his left foot and falling down the stairs. I winced as each thud from the painful descent down echoed along with Haru's painful protests. I turned and saw Shinigami's son, Death the Kid, with his weapons Liz and Patty beside him. He was clapping; such the cocky one.
"Nice job out there. He was actually my mission." Haru walked up the steps, muttering: "Mother-fucker…that hurt."
"Watch your mouth!" I said, having a shocked look on my face. Haru wagged his finger.
"You don't look cute when you're shocked."
"Then stop making me shocked; your language is appalling."
"I learned it from the one and only."
"Mother—" I drove my boot into Haru's foot as his face went pale, his teeth gritted together tightly. Then I released him. Haru grabbed his foot and hopped up and down, once again falling down the steps. "Sorry I took your mission, Kid."
"Kusottare, Tenichi…" Haru said, walking up the stairs. I smirked at him.
"You shouldn't act like that in front of Shinigami's son, Haru. That's so disrespectful!"
"Your face is disrespectful. Shinigami don't like ugly." Haru mumbled.
"I'll deal with you later!" I said sharply, turning and pointing my finger at him.
"Nyah nyah nyah nyah blaaaah." Haru mocked.
Kid stared at us with a bored expression, and Haru and I finally stopped arguing. Haru seemed to have a glare-off with Liz and Patty, and I simply stared at Kid. A sniffle from Patty broke the uneven, eerie silence that had fallen over us. Haru seemed to go off on Kid.
"WELL YOU ALWAYS TAKE ALL THE GOOD MISSIONS, YOU LITTLE OCD PRONE MOTHER FU—" I covered Haru's mouth quickly.
"Eh…it doesn't matter now. I'll take another mission tomorrow."
"…I'm sorry, Kid." I muttered, holding my head down.
"No problem." Kid examined me as his eyes went wide. I blushed since he was looking into my eyes. Then he walked up to me and turned my rose a mere degree to the right. Then he looked over me again. And adjusted it again. This happened two, three, four times before he got it just right. "There; perfect. Although the rose will never be symmetrical…hmmm, maybe I can take a few petals off and—"
"Ah; no!" I said, taking my rose out of my hair and tucking it in the breast pocket of my dress-jacket. "There solves that problem…"
"You go to Shibusen, right?" Kid asked after a short silence.
"We start our first day tomorrow!" Haru said excitedly. "You know, why is everything so black out here? Come to think if I, I barely go outside!"
Liz got an annoyed look on her face when Haru finished. He just blushed and grinned, waving dismissively. "Hi, Liz!"
"Well, see you two bright and early tomorrow." Kid started to walk back into the shadows when he turned and said: "Fix that lop-sidedness near your right. It bothers me."
Kid, Liz, and Patty walked away into the shadows as Haru stood there, his jaw hanging to the ground. He stomped angrily, thrusting his chin up into the sky. Then he whipped his head to me, outstretching his arms in surprise.
"Are you just going to take that, Tenichi-chan?! He said you were retarded, obviously! Let's go kick his prissy little ass!"
I caught Hoshi by his collar. "No, Haru. Let's just go home."
"…Damn you, teenage depression!" Then Haru ran to catch up with me as the moon grinned a bit wider than before.