Okie dokie. This is the story about Kyo's past that I mentioned in the latest chapter of Starlight. If you're not reading cause you heard it from that, this may be a small bit confusing. Not sure, I come up with this stuff as I type. Sad really. Anyway, this is kinda AU, and set right after Kyo's mom died. But he never met Kazuma (that's him right?). I also made things a bit harder for him (such as beatings from people who are afraid of the cat's original form) just to make it a bit more believable. The first part is sort of centered around Spirit so you can understand how much she actually cares about Kyo and how sadistic she gets when angered, then it may or may not flip over to Kyo. I'm also not sure whether or not it will be one or two parts. Depends on how long it ends up being. I think I'm rambling... on with the story!!
Spirit tugged at the black wristband that was snugly stuck to her left wrist. When ever a demon—for reasons even she didn't know—came to Japan, a black wristband with a silver picture of a hand above a Celtic looking roaring lion with a 'v' shape that had three three leaf clovers in it (A/N: That's the Cullen crest for you who are into Twilight) appeared on its left wrist. It identified them to humans who knew what the symbol looked like, and made things harder for them to lead a normal life. There was also no way to take it off.
Today she had been doing a lot of running to keep her energy levels up, seeing as Japan was relatively peaceful thanks to the Demon Crest, which is what the symbol was known as. But it was a nice place to visit to get away from the frantic life she normally lived in America or some other country. If she found the right town. Anyway, because she was running a lot, sweat had gotten under the wrist band, making it itchy. And she hated it.
Sighing, she folded her hands behind her back, hiding the crest from any prying human eyes. Today, or this evening rather, she was visiting the Souhmas, a local; and very large; family that were cursed with the twelve, or thirteen if you counted the cat, animal spirits of the zodiac. She knew their secret, and had to check on the head of the family now and then to make sure that he—she; Spirit corrected herself—hadn't cracked. To put it simply, Akito had made a deal with the devil and several times said devil had come close to collecting. Entering the 'outside' of the Souhma grounds she quickly made her way to the inner part, not looking forward to the shouting and maniacal screams that were sure to follow.
Her ears pricked suddenly, and she slowed to a halt, listening intently. Narrowing her cold gray-blue eyes, holding her head at an angle, she could faintly hear stifled sobs and a mantra of 'its not my fault' coming from behind one of the smaller buildings on the 'outside'. Following the voice, she jumped up into a tree to get a better view. She tried hard to keep her normal calm visage when she saw a small orange haired boy, only about eight years old, crouched on the ground in the back yard of the house. Furrowing her eyebrows, she thought about why he was crying, and was hesitant to approach him. That's when she saw the red and white beads around his wrist.
So he's the cat eh? Wonder what happened? She thought with a sad tinge to her thoughts. She wasn't sure whether the one cursed by the spirit of the cat would like being approached by a demon, seeing as the whole Souhma family was familiar with the Demon Crest, and she couldn't keep it hidden forever. Resisting the temptation to bang her forehead against the trunk of the tree she was perched in, Spirit decided to wait a while to see if he said anything else.
After around half an hour, she was starting to lose her patience. Tapping her slightly clawed hand against the rough branch she leaned on her other hand, which was against one of her knees. She perked up however when a man approached him. She could see in his frame that he must have been the kid's father, but his face was anything but loving or sympathetic. If anything it was filled with utter hatred, and the desire to be rid of him once and for all.
Spirit stiffened and stifled a snarl when the man kicked the child in the side, sending him sprawling on the ground. He continued to kick him for a while, and raised his fisted hand, about to punch him. That's when Spirit couldn't stand it anymore. She leaped down from the tree and appeared in front of the man, holding his arm firmly with her left hand, the Demon Crest close to his face so he knew what he was dealing with.
"Move a single muscle, make a single sound, touch the kid again, and I will make you suffer." she snarled, with a deep rumble to her voice. Her pupils had contracted to nothing but cat-like slits in her rage, but she managed to smother most of it and keep her thoughts coherent and to keep from killing the bastard.
He started shaking in his fear, and attempted to look Spirit in the eyes, but was too scared. Her expression was a mixture of beastly rage and something that only those who had been in the bloodiest of wars, or who had been a true parent to their children would recognize. The deep desire to protect who and what needed to be protected. He cried out sharply when she dug her nails into his wrist, her lips pulled back into a furious snarl, showing elongated canines which; if her mouth were closed fully; would have stuck out over her bottom lip. He tried to pull away, but she didn't even budge.
"W-Who a-a-are you t-to tell me what t-to do?" he stammered in a slightly squeaky voice. He had yet to notice the Demon Crest, even though the silver fabric of the symbol flashed in the afternoon sun.
Spirit smirked, sending shivers down his spine. She drank in the scent of his fear and her smirk grew. "A demon of the worst kind." she growled, cocking her free hand back, claws exposed, ready to slash as his stomach and disembowel him. He finally looked at her wrist and gulped, starting to try to pull away frantically, but it was in vain. She reveled in his hysterics, savoring every moment that she kept him prisoner, waiting for his death. But she wasn't going to give him that gift yet, oh no. She was going to let him simmer for a few years, waiting for the day to come, then she was going to make him suffer in the most horrible ways.
Flashing her free hand forward, she left deep but not deadly claw marks across his stomach and pushed him to the ground, standing on his chest. "If you so much as dare blame the kid for this, I'll return even sooner to kill you. But know this bastard, I will return. I hope you have your will written out by then, because I won't give you a chance to do so when I come back." she snarled, pushing down on his chest, hearing a couple ribs crack. Removing her foot, she turned to the kid, who was laying unconscious on the ground, blood on his lips from being kicked in the face and stomach.
She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed the main house.
"Yes?" came Akito's voice from the other line.
"I apologize Akito, but I'll have to come by some time next week. Something came up." she said shortly.
"What kind of something?"
"Something that doesn't concern you. At least not quite yet. If the time is right when I come by, I will tell you then."
There was a short pause before she heard a sigh, and Akito replied with a controlled edge of irritation to his—her; Spirit thought again—voice. "Very well. I suppose you have a valid cause for skipping out on me."
"Though I wouldn't put it those exact words, yes. I will speak to you again next week." she snapped the phone closed and bent over the boy. "What happened to you I wonder?" she whispered to herself running a hand through his orange hair. "Why were you crying?"
Picking him up, minding any damaged ribs, she cradled his small frame close to her body, knowing he wouldn't transform unless she wanted him to. The only perk to being a demon at the moment. Carrying him swiftly to the apartment she was renting in town, she swept the coffee table free of clutter and laid him there, removing his shirt. Wincing at the purple bruises that were all over his chest and stomach, she concentrated on the ancient words that her teacher had taught her, using the healing spell to repair any internal damage. Though healing spells weren't her strong suit, she was able to heal all of the damaged bones and organs from his father's beating, replacing his shirt and laying him on the couch. Retrieving a blanket from the linen closet beside her own bedroom door, she laid it over him carefully and trotted into the bathroom to wash the yuck off her hands from the kid's father.
-Kyo-
Kyo cracked open his crimson eyes and blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in pain. His stomach and chest weren't throbbing like they had been when he passed out. The second thing was that he was comfortably warm. Shifting, he felt a soft blanket laying lightly on him, and the soft fabric of the comfortable couch bellow him. He could vaguely hear water running in another room he supposed, and took the opportunity to try to sit up.
In doing so, he felt no pain whatsoever. He knew that at least two of his ribs had been broken in his father's attack, and wondered why he wasn't hurting. Am I dead? He wondered, looking around. The room he was in was of a comfortable size with forest green walls and chocolate brown carpet. The furniture in it matched the walls and floors with greens, pale yellows, browns, and blacks. There was a large flat screen across from the couch, which had a coffee table—which was a glass panel supported by a tree-like stand—between them, and various book and CD shelves arranged neatly around the room. Glancing to his left he saw a large window with white blinds and light brown blinds, which were drawn, beside which was a brown painted door. To his right was a cream colored bar with neat stacks of paper, a radio, and a couple coffee cups sitting on it. Beyond that was a clean kitchen with elegant light blue trim work by the white ceiling. The wall was a pleasant gray and the floor was russet brown wood.
Good lord I feel out of place. He muttered to himself. Turning around, he saw a short hall with pale blue carpet and crimson walls with a few paintings and photos hanging on the walls. He could see a white door closed on the right side and two open doors on the left. Standing up, he crept cautiously into the hall, hearing running water behind the closed door. Peering into the first room, he saw that it was an obviously occupied bedroom. The bed had a somewhat thick leopard spotted quilt thrown messily onto crimson sheets. The bed frame looked antique, with peeling dark russet paint, but in a nostalgic way even to someone as young as Kyo. The carpet was also leopard spotted, whereas the walls were a deep red, and the ceiling was gold with a white ceiling fan. A dark auburn desk with a light auburn chair stood at the head of the bed, and a smaller flat screen was directly across from the bed. Next to it was a tan floor-to-ceiling shelf with various nick-knacks on the shelves, with drawers below. On the wall across from the door was a square window with gray blinds and russet shades, both of which were pulled up or to the side. At the foot of the bed was a cream colored closet door, the kind that bends outwards. Not wanting to invade any privacy more than he was already, he backed out of the room and moved to the next one.
It looked unoccupied, but had a small bed with navy blue sheets, which went well with the lighter blue walls and the deep green carpet. A small desk stood by the window which had white blinds that were pulled up, letting the evening sun into the room. Beside the desk was an empty set of shelves, which would house movies or something. A small set of drawers sat across from the bed next to the small flat screen, and like the other room, a folding door lead to an empty; in this case; closet.
Backing out of this room, he looked down the hall and saw another closed door. He tried this one, not hearing anything behind it, but found that it was locked. Kyo jolted some when he heard the water in the other closed room shut off and raced back to the couch quietly, huddling under the blanket, pretending to sleep. He heard some shuffling and the door opened a few painful minutes later. A small sigh escaped the mystery person and he heard another door close, opening another few minutes later. Quiet footsteps drew closer, and he tried not to jump when he felt a comfortably warm hand rest on his forehead.
"Well at least his temperature's normal. Wonder when he'll wake up though." said a somewhat deep female voice, with a slight and unplaceable accent. He heard the girl straighten up and the soft footsteps faded then grew louder as he supposed she went into the kitchen. Cracking his eyes opened, he got a glimpse at her back. She had silvery brown hair that was cut raggedly at the middle of her neck, and had somewhat pale skin. She was wearing a dark purple shirt that was slightly baggy, but Kyo could see that she was comfortably skinny, and had some slight muscle. She was also wearing baggy black jeans with a red belt that looked too loose to hold up her pants, but they weren't falling off her butt so he supposed she didn't care or did it on purpose.
He hastily closed his eyes again when she sat at the table, not facing him, but could probably see him out of her peripheral vision. Deciding to take a chance, he peeked open his eyes again, curious about the person who had most likely either found him or saved him. He couldn't see her whole face, which was a good thing, but he could see that she was very young looking, only about fourteen or fifteen. On her ear was a small indention, like something had taken a bite out of it, which something probably had. Her bangs hung down to just past her eyebrows. She had a strong neck, and broad looking shoulders, like she spent her spare time at a gym, but you had to look to notice. On her left wrist was a black wristband, but Kyo couldn't see if there was any design on it or not, and around her neck was a black cord with two silver dog tags and a gold star on it. That was all he could see from his position, if he wanted to get a closer look at the girl, he would have to get up, and face either harsh treatment or questioning.
"So kid why was your father being such a jerk?" she asked suddenly, not looking at him. Kyo slammed his eyes closed and heard her chuckle. "Don't think I don't know when I'm being examined kid." he opened his eyes and saw her looking at him with gray-blue eyes. They had a hint of icy resentment, but it was overpowered by curiosity and worry.
Sitting up, Kyo didn't make eye contact as she stood in front of him, but he could feel her staring at him in an analyzing and calculating way. "I-I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble." he stammered, near inaudibly. The girl however didn't seem to have a problem hearing him and she chuckled again.
"Don't worry, the only ones who have caused me problems today are your father; I suppose that that's who he is; and Akito. I was supposed to check on the lunatic today, but I got... a bit sidetracked." she paused, and Kyo felt the couch dip as she sat down. "I heard you crying and saying 'its not my fault' when I was on my way to the main house. Why?"
Kyo stiffened and hugged himself, as if to protect himself from any physical assault. "My- My mother k-killed herself... everyone says it-its my fault. But its not! I- I would never do anything like that!" he finished quickly, unsuccessfully suppressing the stutter. Ordinarily he wouldn't tell anyone, but he felt that he owed this girl that much.
She didn't reply for what seemed like forever. Kyo jumped when he felt her place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I know kid... you're the cat right?" his head shot up and he unintentionally met her gaze. For a brief second he felt like something was going through his memories, his life, but it left as soon as it appeared, so he shook it off as nothing. "I knew it. Those beads were the first indication I had." she lifted his hand, and inspected he rosary around his wrist carefully. Sighing softly, she peered at him through sad, and soft eyes. "Its not right for a child to be treated in such a way. Just because there's one thing different about you, you have to suffer all this torment." she smiled sadly at him and stood up abruptly, folding her hands behind her back quickly. "I tell you what! How about I blackmail Akito into letting you stay here until I have to leave. I know you don't know me, but you can trust me." she said with an excited edge to her voice.
Kyo blinked at the words 'blackmail' and 'Akito', wondering what she meant, but shrugged it off. He stood up as well and debated between extending his hand or bowing, but decided to shake hands with her, reaching out with his left hand. "I'm Souhma Kyo." he said with a smile. "I'd be glad to."
He noticed the girl hesitate, but she shrugged and reached out with her own left hand, giving him a good look at the wrist band on her wrist. His crimson eyes widened when he saw the demon crest glaring at him with the silver fabric, but he felt no hostility when she took his hand in her own, shaking it gently. "All my friends call me Spirit. You can too if you want." she said politely, withdrawing her hand swiftly, and replacing it behind her back.
Spirit winced to herself at Kyo's expression. It was a mix of fear and astonishment, and she waited expectantly for running and screaming, but it never came. He simply blinked up at her through his strange red eyes and smiled a true, happy smile. "Pleased to meet you Spirit." he said cheerfully. He thought for a moment before continuing thoughtfully. "You know, most stories that I hear about demons make them out to be bloodthirsty and cruel. You're not like that at all!" he sat on the couch and looked up at her.
Sitting as well, she let out a dry laugh. "Well, I've had practice with suppressing my kill drive, but when I get mad it gets harder. Like earlier, I wanted to kill your stupid father, but I didn't. Instead I left him to stew over the threat that I would come back to get him one day." Spirit thought for a moment, leaning back. "I suppose you could say I'm one of the more civil demons... most of the time."
Looking at the clock on the wall above her calendar, she paled when she realized the date. Scratching her chest thoughtfully, she heaved a huge sigh and stood again. "Uh... I'm having a friend over tonight, and he can be a bit brash so don't be scared by him." she said sheepishly, trotting into the kitchen to boil some water. Whether this is to throw on the bastard or to make tea with is yet to be decided. she thought ruefully. The second she completed the thought, a tall black haired man burst through the door with an unusually large grin on his pale face. "Doesn't anyone knock anymore? Or is this a half-way house to you?!" she snapped, glaring at him, slamming her hands down on the bar.
The man laughed in a deep voice and smiled at her. "Oh relax Spirit! Don't you know how to have fun?"
"Damn it Damien!" she snarled, slamming the door closed, locking it securely. "You're not here for fun. Give me your status report and get the hell out!" Damien simply laughed and sat next to Kyo, who looked at him slightly scared. He looked at the child with kind, wise deep red eyes and ruffled his hair.
"Adopting kids now are you? You've gone soft Spirit! I'm surprised." he grinned at Kyo. "Don't let her get to you. She's a big softie." Spirit glowered at him, one eye twitching comically. She suddenly snickered and leaned against the wall.
"Yeah, he looks like one of those kids you trampled when you had to get a shot and ran out of the doctor's office." she sneered.
Damien spluttered indignantly. "I didn't run! I walked quickly and with purpose."
"Are you kidding? You got out of there so fast you left skid marks on the damn kid!" they glared good-naturedly at each other for a while before Damien started laughing.
"Any way. So far every thing's been peaceful. But what do you expect, with the Demon Crest and all." that's when Kyo noticed that he had the Demon Crest on his left wrist too. He peered at the black haired man harder and noticed how much he and Spirit looked alike, though he looked to be about twenty. The line of their jaw was similar and the broadness of their shoulders was almost the same, though Damien was taller than her.
"Excuse me, are you two related?" he asked quietly. Spirit snorted and put Damien in a head lock, giving him a noogey, after that is, throwing the boiling water on him.
"Yeah, he's my younger cousin. Though I'd deny any relation to him in public." she said over the man's protests.
"You're not older than me!"
"Oh yes I am! You're only a little over two thousand years old, I'm over twelve thousand. You just look older." she corrected him. Yanking him to his feet, she shoved him to the door. "Now get out."
"Wait! I have one more thing!"
"What?!" Spirit snapped, still shoving.
"What size dress do you wear?"
Spirit nearly fell over at the question. "I don't know! I don't wear dresses! I make a point of avoiding them!" she snarled, throwing the door open. "Now don't come back unless you're dieing or on fire." she finished, slamming the door and locking it.
Kyo blinked at her and tried not to laugh as she rested her forehead against the door, obviously exhausted from dealing with her cousin. He could vaguely hear her muttering to herself about how she can't deal with him without being drained, and how she'd rather go without him in her life.
"I don't think you're on the best terms huh?"
She shook her head meekly. "Not really. Call it a dysfunctional way of life." she looked at him carefully. "You're pretty smart for an eight year old." she commented. While Kyo turned an interesting shade of red at the complement, Spirit shuffled into the kitchen and poured herself a large cup of coffee, heating it up. She looked at him for a moment from her position and seemed to be waging an internal war. "Tomorrow, I'll bring you to the park or something. Its the birthday of one of my friends daughters, and I think they'd like to meet you. The mother's one of the only humans, aside from yourself, here in Japan who's accepted me without question."
Kyo blinked in surprise and nodded. "Sure!" he said happily. Spirit nodded and fished her cell phone out of her back pocket, dialing her friend. Kyo watched, trying to follow the conversation.
"Hey kid. Where's your mom?" Spirit asked after a moment. There was a pause, as the child handed the phone to her mother. "Hey. I've recently 'adopted' a kid and I'd like him to meet you and miss thing." another pause. "Uh, tomorrow at the park if you don't have anything else going on." yet another pause. "Say around one? I don't wake up until noon anyway."
Noon? Kyo thought skeptically. I wake up at five! I'll be waiting for hours. He sighed and stretched, leaning back against the soft couch.
"Yeah sure. Hm? My treat." a pause, but a loud one seeing as Spirit had to yank the phone away from her ear. Switching, she rubbed her abused one delicately and laughed. "I won't hear another word. I've saved up, so there's no prob-what?" again, a pause. "No no no. My treat. Spoil yourselves once in a while. I know for a fact that between you and your kid there's not much extra cash to go around. I live by-or used to live by myself." she rolled her eyes and mouthed 'I know lunatics' at Kyo who couldn't help but smile. "Darn it woman! Stop! You're making my head hurt. Wait don- and you did. Honestly, you need to stop apologizing for everything. You sound like your husband." Crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue, Spirit sighed. "No that's not a bad thing." deciding she'd had enough, Spirit came up with some excuse out of thin air. "Uh. Excuse me, I left my toaster in the oven. I was making eggs and I don't want them to freeze." she snapped the phone closed and put it gingerly down on the bar like she expected it to bite her.
Kyo couldn't hold it in anymore and started cracking up, while Spirit looked on with a 'what did I do' expression. Eventually she joined him. "You really do know lunatics." he laughed, but was cut off by a long yawn.
"Tired are we?" Spirit asked with a chuckle. Kyo nodded through half lidded eyes. Spirit motioned for him to follow her and lead him down the hall to the second bedroom. "Let me go get that blanket from the couch." she trotted back to the couch, snatched the blanket, stopping at the linen closet to get a couple pillows as well, and shuffled back to the room. Kyo was already sitting on the bed, swinging his legs and staring at the floor with a sheepish expression. "What?" she asked after setting the items down.
"Its just... you don't know much about me, and I don't know much about you... but you're still being kind to me as though I were just a normal kid who you've known your whole life." he felt Spirit sit beside him and wrap an arm around his shoulder. She pulled him close, and he waited for the ever familiar 'poof' of him transforming, but was startled when he didn't.
"Don't worry about it Kyo." she murmured. "I know much more about you than you think." releasing him, she stood up and stuffed her hands in her pockets, walking to the door.
"...Spirit?" Kyo called just before she left. She turned around one hand resting on the door frame, having been reaching for the light switch. "Thanks." he continued, blushing slightly. Spirit smiled and flipped the light off, closing the door half way.
"No problem." she whispered. He heard her door close quietly and laid down, resting his head on the soft pillow.
Why didn't I transform? He wondered. Then: I wonder what kind of demon she is? His thoughts continued along this line until he drifted into dreamland.
Early the next morning, Kyo sat up drearily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with one hand, the other stretched toward the ceiling. He looked out the window, seeing that the sun was barely up like normal, and stood up. He almost went to his drawer to get a clean change of clothes, the remembered that all his things were back in the Souhma house. His crimson eyes flew open however when Spirit opened his door with her foot, carrying five large boxes in her arms, with all his things in them.
"Afternoon sleeping beauty." she said with a snicker, setting the boxes down with a huff.
"Afternoon?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah. This window blocks out a lot of the sun's light so people can sleep longer. Dunno why though. Anyway, it's about twelve thirty." she leaned on on of the boxes, which was easy seeing as they were stacked as high as her shoulder.
"How did you get all that?"
"Hm? Oh, I pulled some strings, scared the life out of your dad again, and went through your room packing all clothes and valuable looking things. I'm surprised that there wasn't more, but considering who you are, I suppose it's nothing to worry over." she replied calmly. "Get changed, we have to be at the park in twenty minutes." she trotted out of the room, smirking.
Kyo carefully unstacked the boxes, laying them in a line, and started digging through the three that had clothes. He eventually found a loose pair of green khakis and an orange shirt. Throwing them on quickly, he raced into the kitchen still tugging on his shoes. Spirit handed him a plate with some salmon and seasoned rice on it and he sat at the table quickly. Both scarfed down the food as fast as they could without making themselves sick, and ran out the door. They had to run to get to the park in time, but luckily Spirit's apartment wasn't that far from it so they weren't exhausted when they got there.
Spirit pulled out her phone to check the time and grinned when she saw that they still had a couple minutes to cool down. Sitting in the shade of a large tree near the entrance, they talked about random things until two people arrived. One, the mother obviously, had long red-orange hair and pretty brown eyes, the other, her daughter, had brown hair and blue eyes. "Hey!" Spirit called. "Kyoko! Touhru! Over here!" they looked over to them just as Spirit was pulling Kyo to his feet.
"Hey!" Kyoko laughed as they ran up to them. "How long have you been waiting?"
"Not long." Spirit shrugged grinning. She looked down at Touhru and laughed. "Happy Birthday kid." she said, ruffling her hair. She noticed that Kyo was hiding behind her and rolled her eyes. "This is Kyo."
Kyo tried to protest as Spirit pushed him forward, but the next thing he knew, he was face to face with Touhru. He turned as red as his eyes and mumbled a shy hello. Touhru giggled and said hi back, but with more enthusiasm. He was introduced quickly, and soon Touhru was dragging him to the playground with Spirit calling after them that Kyo didn't like to be hugged. Kyoko looked at the younger looking girl beside her and laughed.
"So how long has Kyo been staying with you?"
"Huh? Oh, since yesterday. I saved him from an abusive father. He's... different... than the other... more 'special' Souhmas. Its cruel, just because there's one thing different about him he gets tormented in such a way." she snorted and crossed her arms. Kyoko shook her head in dismay.
"It really is..."
"Mama! Spirit-onee-san! Come play!" Touhru called from the playground. The two looked at each other and laughed, running up to the kids, playing tag, climbing on the jungle gym and such. When the sun was starting to go down, they all sat heavily on the ground, panting. Touhru giggled and said with a huge smile: "That was fun! We should play again tomorrow!"
Spirit sat up and looked at her apologetically. "Sorry Touhru. I'm taking Kyo somewhere tomorrow. It was supposed to be a surprise for him, but I guess not anymore." she looked at Kyo with an 'I'll explain later' look. He nodded and laughed at Touhru's pout. "Come on, let's get something to eat. My treat." she said, ignoring Kyoko's protests that she should pay.
When they reached the restaurant, Spirit pulled out a length of velcro and used it to hide the Demon Crest so she would be allowed in the building instead of chased out with a knife. Demon or not, she could go without adding another scar to her already long list of scars. Dinner passed too quickly for their liking, and pretty soon, they were going separate ways.
Reaching the apartment, Kyo immediately demanded to know where they were going. Spirit sighed and sat him down. "Well, if you want to, I'm going to take you with me on a bit of a... shall we say 'training trip' that will last until you're twelve. I'll teach you how to fight and if your body can handle it, I'll teach you some magic." she looked at him expectantly and blinked.
"A training trip? To where?" Kyo asked in wonder.
"The mountains and forests here in Japan. The reason it's only until you're twelve is 'cause that's when I have to go back to America. I never stay in Japan long because of the whole Demon Crest thing. But I'll come back when you're sixteen to see if you've kept up your training, and if I'm impressed I'll give you a little something." pausing she continued slowly. "So what do you think? You think you're up for it?"
Kyo was silent for a couple minutes weighting his options against each other. Then he remembered Yuki, the boy who was possessed by the rat spirit and became a bit angry. He wanted to beat he damn rat and claim his rightful place among the zodiac. Looking up at Spirit with a look of determination, he nodded curtly. "Yes. I have some plans that this would be useful for." Spirit looked at him carefully and nodded with a grin.
"Awesome."
Alright! This has to be the longest thing I have ever written. But its not over. There will be a second chapter showing when Kyo meets up with Spirit again when he's eighteen, but before the curse is broken. I'll get started on that right away! Enjoy!
