Chapter Two: The Gamble with Fate
"Kyo! How does this look on me?" the dark-haired Succubus asked the sniper.
Kyouri was reading a book until Kohana asked again. "Kyo? What do you think?"
From the book of the book he panned up. Suddenly, he completely forget everything and remembered that "it was bluish teal, and they couldn't get any bigger." He was suddenly beaming bright red and buried himself in his book. "It looks good," Kyo's muffled voice said.
"Ah then I'll take it!" Kohana exclaimed, "I guess it is true, Payon has the best silk. I can fold up my wings with ease in this.Ha ha, I can blend in like a real human."
Kyo looked up at her face. Her twinkling eyes met with his and they both peered at each other's soul. She blushed, Do I really look this attractive? she thought to herself.
"What about your horns?" Kyo asked. Kohana's day dreaming was shattered abruptly, Aw... I guess not.
Kyo then took out a blue feathered beret and handed it to her. She took it and placed it over her head. She then looked at herself in the mirror and giggled. "If I was a human," she said subtly, "this is what I dreamed myself to look like." Kyo gave a slight smile.
The couple then walked up to the shop owner. Kyo placed the book on the counter and showed her Kohana's dress.
"That will be three million and two hundred zeny," the shop owner bluntly said.
"What the..." Kyo replied speechlessly..
"Three million for the high quality Payon silk dress and two hundred for the book," the owner grinned.
Sweat started to drop from the sniper's head as he fiddled around his pack. He then looked at the old grumpy impatient owner, then he looked at the glistening yellow covered novel titled "A Forbidden Romance" which he read the first few chapters of and longed to read the ending, and then he looked at Kohana's fine new dress and her lustrous smile that seems to accompany with it.
He then looked back at the store owner and nervously said, "Se-seriously?!"
"As serious as a heart attack," the store owner smirked.
Kyouri clenched his teeth and said, "Bah, forget the book." He took out a fat bag filled with golden zeny coins and threw it on the counter. As he walked out, he was utterly breathless; it looked as if his heart was ripped out and torn into two pieces. That...that... was a good book, Kyouri thought to himself as an almost invisible tear shed down his right cheek. Then he looked at Kohana's joyous smile and satisfaction with her new outfit, Well it wasn't that bad, he thought again.
Outside, the couple was invited by the quaint and quiet sounds of the forest. Echoes of birds and insects filled the air. There was a sweet smelling mist that pulled Kyouri in a nostalgic vision of himself as a young archer. In the light haze, Kohana's eyes caught a small yellow flower. It had an elegant radiance that looked like a small spark to a roaring flame. She crouched down and her eyes lit up as she stroked the pedals. The dew on the pedals chilled her fingers as she caressed the blossom.
Kyouri crouched down along side her and said, "That's a Golden Dew Drop. They say it brings good luck to anyone who pulls it out." Kohana's eyes glowed bright green and reached in to pull it out from its roots. However, she was interrupted by Kyo again, "-but they say it brings bad luck to any unpure soul who does."
Kohana looked down at the flower and at herself who looked as if she was strangling the poor thing. She pulled off the bloom of the flower and asked Kyo, "Am I a good person?"
He looked back and made a sincere grin which filled Kohana's heart with joy. He opened his mouth and like a herald he responded, "You are."
Those two words made her blush up like a rose in full bloom. She then took the golden blossom and placed it in her dark locks.
Then the woods echoed, "Kyoooooo!"
Kyouri pulled Kohana up and they both looked around, confusedly. Then they spotted a young alchemist walking slowly towards them. He had long brown hair which he tied into a long ponytail down his back. He glares with sharp keen eyes and had a smile of a fox.
Kyouri gave a long sigh, Why him? Why now? Kohana gazed at the other human curiously.
"Kyo, how long has it been? A month?" the alchemist asked.
"It has," Kyouri said crossly.
"So who's this?" the human asked as he pointed to Kohana.
Kohana shyly hid behind Kyo. He then said, "Don't scare her like that, she's kinda shy." She was rather petrified when she met him. If he realizes that she's a monster, she might not seeKyo again.
There was silence.
Kohana swallowed hard. "I'm...I'm.. Kohana, Kyo's friend," she replied timidly.
The alchemist gave a smile. And not just any smile. He smiled a gleaming one just like Kyouri. He then said to the girl, "I am Ryo, Ryosuke. I am a long time friend of Kyouri."
Kyouri sarcastically replied, "Maybe a bit too long."
"Ha ha ha, I love you too," Ryo replied back sarcastically.
Kyouri rolled his eyes disdainfully.
"I thought you were going to alchemy class?" he asked.
"I'm already best in my class. I understand everything," Ryo boasted.
"So why aren't you a Biochemist?"
Ryosuke eyebrow twitched as he tightened his fists. It is true that he knows everything but he really doesn't really follow it up with his studies. In fact, he is rather lazy when it comes with school work. "Shut up, there's a long and complicated system for that. What about you, do you pick up girls now?"
Kohana and Kyouri blushed. "W-w-wait, Kohana and I are g-good friends," Kyouri claimed as he trembled with embarrassment, "d-d-don't you dare throw those kinds of labels on me!"
Another awkward pause.
Ryosuke sighed and with tongue in cheek he said, "Tch, I'm sorry."
Kyouri bowed his head slightly as his currently rosy face started to cool down.
Ryo sucked up his pride and gave a sincere apology: "Forgive me for being so naive."
"I already know you are, you don't have to ask; I anyways do."
Kohana smiled slightly and thought to herself, Kyo has a very awkward forgiving nature. He has a sense of great hate at one point but in the end, he can't get angry at his friend.
Ryo then asked, "How bout you too relax in my room in the inn, you both look tired."
Kyo then looked at Kohana, "Do you?"
Kohana replied, "Yeah, my legs are starting to get tired," because I'm much more used to flying, sheesh, I don't know how humans deal with this.
The couple and the alchemist made their way to the inn. It was new constructed and it loomed over a small lake where Kyo and Ryo hung out as children. The couple looked out the window of Ryosuke's room as the sun began to set. Kyouri and Kohana looked dazedly at the red, yellow, orange, purple, and indigo dance in the sky. As the sun fell into the horizon, it looked as if Kohana's flower soaked in the very light of it. In the darkness, the small blossom looked like a small teardrop of the sun.
Ryosuke ask the duo, "What would you like to drink?"
Kyo replied, "Tea please."
Kohana responded, "Sake."
Kyouri was surprised. She didn't look like a drinker or seem to be one. He then said, "Well well, I had no idea that you were a drinker."
Kohana giggled and whispered in Kyouri's ear, "Alcohol does completely the opposite to us demons. It helps speed up our reaction time and keep us awake."
Kyouri nodded, "I see."
Ryosuke took out a small bottle of sake and a cup of tea of them. He himself had a little bit of sake. The three of them sat down around the table and began to share stories about Kyo and Ryo when they were young. Ryo always laughed while Kyo shook around bright red. Kohana herself could help but give a slight giggle when she needed to. But whenever she does, Kyouri would always scratch the side of his head and gave a giggle as well.
Then Ryo's eyes glistened and he asked, "The both of you? How did you guys meet?"
Kyo and Kohana looked at each other and blushed. After all, they couldn't tell Ryosuke how they really met.
"Well it was a long time ago," Kyo said as he took a sip of his tea.
"Really, well do tell," Ryo asked.
He looked at Kyo who still had his cup up to his face. He then looked at Kohana. When their eyes met, she grasped to put her cup in her face pretending to drink.
Ryo laughed, "Ha ha, you can't do that with sake. Please tell me."
Kyo and Kohana twitched in sync.
Kyo thought to himself, That pervert, he won't stop until he extracts every last detail from us.
He sighed, "Fine I won't ask anymore. I'll get another bottle." Ryo then left the room.
Kohana, now flushed red, turned to Kyo and said, "My wings are itchy."
Kyouri gasped under his breath, "Dammit."
"I don't know how much longer I'm going to take it," she continued, "they're getting to be uncomfortable."
"Okay-okay we'll ask Ryo to leave when he comes back, it is late after all," he reassured her.
But unknown to them, Ryo was a bit too curious from the beginning and listened through the door. Wings? What does she mean? He thought to himself. He then knocked and opened the door.
Kyo rushed to him and said, "Ryo we need to leave."
"Aw and I wanted you guys to stay for the night," he replied.
"This is an emergency."
"Very well."
Kyo grabbed Kohana and they both rushed to the door. That's when Kohana realize something. She turned back and found her flower still on the table. She let go and went after it but because of her lack of balance without her wings, she tripped and fell. Her beret that Kyo gave her fell from her head and Ryosuke gazed with awe.
"Horns?" he asked with his eyes wide open.
She started to cry. She grabbed and covered her horns and curled up into a ball. She was reminded of the hazing, the division, and the pain. She was different from everyone and she doesn't belong. Tears dripped down as she quivered in a ball.
"Ryosuke, you're scaring her," Kyo yelled.
Then suddenly, Kohana's wings ripped through the back of her dress. He stared disdainfully and then looked at Kyouri.
Ryosuke now knew.
Kohana was crying defenselessly. Its over, she thought to herself, it's only been a day a now I'll die. Kyo will suffer too. All because of me.
He looked sharply at Kyouri, "Bringing a monster within city walls is treasonous."
"I know."
"Especially after the invasion of Morroc."
"I know."
"You can get hanged!" He raised his voice.
"I...I know."
"Then why?"
"I don't know."
Ryosuke looked at the shivering demon. She felt his cold stare and didn't look back.
Kyouri then asked, "Are you going to turn us in?"
"I should, and I ought to."
"But do you want to?"
"No idea."
An awkward pause.
It was a hard choice. Being bound to the alchemist guild, he is a devout follower of the law. Demons are not supposed to be within the town walls and that's the fact. Ever since Morroc fell into the chaos, the conflict between demon and human grew.
With that in mind Ryosuke shook his fists and yelled, "God dammit Kyo, why?"
"Because I wanted to!" Kyouri rattled the whole room.
It was the night when bards fell silent. Ryosuke stood there reading Kyouri's glare. What happened between them? Such a maimed friendship between them now.
Then, the silence was broken.
Ryosuke walked past Kyouri to the door and opened it. Kyo turned around to him.
Then through the door's creek, a voice can be heard: "I won't say a word."
The last thing ever heard that night was the slam of the door.
Author's Note: Ha ha I rushed this a bit especially the end, it seemed a bit too cliched. Also a bit too long, I couldn't stop. Anyways, according to RO Future Wiki, episode 12 there will be a monster eruption in Morroc just in case people didn't know. Also sake is an alcoholic beverage.
