A/N- Nobody reviewed! RUDER!!! You're all pieces of poopy!
Disclaimer- This would be a Japanese anime by now if I owned it.
"Okay," I stated easily, eyes narrowed at Dravis. "Start talking. How do you know Miuri?"
Dravis shrugged. "She came to the past with a friend of mine named Kyoufu about two and a half weeks ago, just before you did. I met her, and she seemed nice. However, she was very determined to find you and help you. You seem to mean a lot to her, but I can't for the life of me figure out why."
I glared at him, then blushed slightly. Miuri was worried enough about me to come to the past?
Okay, so we've been best friends since I was three. So what? I mean, I know that is a while, but I kind of expected her not to remember me for some reason. I thought that she would have forgotten me by now. I really thought that people didn't think of me as that big of a deal. However, I guess I was...
Yuuki walked up to me and touched the rope that was binding me... still. Some certain people didn't believe in releasing me.
"These are tight knots," Yuuki stated.
Larka came over to look, a frown on her face. "Those Mirror Brats or whatever they're called really know how to tie you up. How're we supposed to untie this stupid thing?"
Oki silently came over, and began fiddling with the knot. For some reason, it felt kind of... familiar, I guess? Like I'd done this before with Oki. What was that called? Deja vu, wasn't it? But... there was a difference. I don't really know how to explain it.
"Hey..." I began slowly. "Dravis... what is this D. A. K. L. S.? I mean, I know that they're trying to help me and all, but..."
Dravis hesitated, then took a deep breath. "It all began just before the War of Nippon and Time began..."
At that time, there was peace in Nippon. In Hell, it wasn't quite that peaceful, but there was no war. Back then, King Lee was merely Prince Lee. He followed in his father's steps like a duckling after it's mother. He was a quiet boy, but everyone knew he was hiding something.
I had just started dating Larka. She was only thirteen in human years. But I was still in love with her terribly.
One day, when we were just hanging out, Larka practicing on the guitar and me just watching and listening, we heard a loud knock on the door. At that time, Waka was out taking care of some business in the capital, so we were home alone.
It was Oki. He told us that Waka couldn't come, but something bad was happening. Hashigami, his girlfriend of sorts since Amaterasu left him, had left to help take care of business upon Mount Fuji.
Oki told us that King Karasak, the Lord of Demons at that time, was dead. Murdered. Some people said, later, that he was murdered by his own son, Prince Lee. I now agree.
Prince Lee was to become king that next week. However, Waka had a vision that he would lead the land to despair, death, and eternal flames. Oki said that he was now praying, no begging, the Gods to not allow Prince Lee to become king.
Larka grabbed my hand and said that we should find the God of Time to end the time of Prince Lee. Before I could agree, Oki said that Waka and Rosco had both said that we should find Hashigami because in Waka's vision, she had disappeared, not to come back. And, at the moment, Hashigami was heavy with child.
We agreed to go to Mount Fuji first, mainly because Larka had a slight crush on Oki.
Along the way, we were going through some woods. Inside the woods, there was a wolf. I wasn't sure, but I thought it might be a Ghost Wolf, a type of demon that transcends time. They're a type of demon that exists, but doesn't really. I'm not exactly sure how to describe them.
But I knew that they had left this world. They had done it to achieve spiritual peace of sorts. So I couldn't really believe it.
The wolf stood in our way. Its eyes seemed to flash all sorts of colors. Out of pure instinct, I grabbed Larka's arm. I wasn't sure if we could trust the... Ghost Wolf, I suppose.
A voice rung inside my head: Be not at fear. I am what you see.
I told Larka that it was a Ghost Wolf. A Ghost Wolf of the lost tribe of demons, here in the mortal realm.
I asked it why.
The wolf turned away and began slowly walking. After about ten feet, it looked back at us, awaiting for us to follow. I had a strong sense that we should.
We followed the wolf, who took us further and further from the edge of the forest in which we traveling in. Larka asked me where we were going, and if we should really trust her (I figured out that the Ghost Wolf was a female by this point). I wasn't quite sure how to answer.
The wolf quite suddenly stopped, and stared at us, wisdom deep in her eyes. I heard a soft noise.
Both Larka and I turned around. A man stood there, wearing a white yukata. He had black hair that fell down just to his knees. He held a long staff in his hand. Something about him felt kind, protecting, soft... fatherly. Something I'd never felt.
There was also a sense that I'd only felt a few times before. The feeling of a god.
"I am Izanagi, the God of Creation," he said. There was a power in voice that demanded respect but also gave love at the same time.
Larka bowed before him, getting on her knees. "Lord," she said softly. I followed the suit.
"Arise," he said simply. "For I have much to say, and so little time. I must first say that the God of Time is gone."
Larka quickly stood up, her eyes wide. "What?! What do you mean?!"
"Kouin has always been selfish," Izanagi said softly. "So he left. He made O-Kuni-Nushi change him in the way that he would no longer have his memories. He then changed himself into a child, just after he went to the future. He wished to... to become a better person."
"What a fool," Larka said angrily.
"He is, Samsara-Tsuki-Yami," Izanagi agreed softly. "And now we need him. However, another thing that is needed in which to save this world from destruction. You must raise an army for the God of Time so that he may be ready for almost anything. So that he may be ready to destroy King Lee."
"Who can help us, though, Kami-sama?" I asked. "We must find Hashigami."
"Hashigami is well, but she is for another battle," Izanagi said sternly. "For now, you must help my servant, Nokori, to create an army. To create something to go against King Lee, lest the gods fall."
Larka looked down at her hands. "Lord of all... we will do our best with Nokori."
The Ghost Wolf, Nokori as she was called, gently nuzzled me. She looked up towards me, her eyes saying what she wanted.
A true rebellion.
Dravis shook his head, sighing. "We've been organizing your army ever since, Jin."
I stared at him for a moment before shouting, "What?! I-I-I am supposed to control an army?! By the wishes of Izanagi?! Does the world have a death wish or something?!"
"Jin," Yuuki said in annoyance. "Stop moving around. Oki can't untie you if you're running around like an idiot."
I slowly sat down, sighing. "I'm sorry, I... I just don't understand. How am I, the most stupid and weird person in the world, supposed to save the world? I can barely make my own breakfast. There has to be some sort of error."
Larka shook her head. "This is why I call you a dork. Because you don't know what you're capable of. You give up before you start. We all know you can do it, but you don't know. You're so stupid."
I felt my cheeks redden.
"Hey, Larka, isn't there food that we need to get? Looks like you're all out," he stated.
"We should hunt," Oki said, sounding tired. "My hands hurt from doing this for so long. And it's made of divine string, which is impossible to break. I'll have to try again later."
I sighed and nodded. I could understand that.
However... I was suddenly wishing that I had listened to my dad when he started going off about our Shinto religion and about how it was important to keep our Japanese heritage sacred and not to listen to my mom's Catholic ways.
I weakly laughed to myself. I was such a stupid teenager.
Larka, Dravis, and Oki quickly left, especially after Oki's stomach growled loudly... leaving me alone with Yuuki.
"So..." I said slowly. "How're you today?"
"Um..." she replied simply.
Being alone with girls was never good for me. I've only ever been good alone with my mom, my two sisters, and Miuri. To me, this was pure torture. I absolutely hated being alone with girls. The only thing that I hated more than that was school.
"Jin..." Yuuki said softly.
"Er, yes?" I answered.
"I was just wondering, but... do you like Larka? Like, more than a friend?" she asked.
Okay, if my face was a tomato, it would be pale in comparison to how red my face was at that moment. "Wh-wh-what?!" I demanded. "Of course not! She's just a-"
Yuuki was staring at me. "She doesn't like you back."
"Ouch. You could at least be nicer if you're gonna say something like that," I mumbled in annoyance.
"So you do like her," Yuuki stated.
I blushed again and pushed back a few stray hairs. How was I supposed to reply to something like that?! It was like when Miuri asked me if I still used a nightlight when we started our first year in junior high... not that I do now.
"It's okay," Yuuki said. "I'm not going to tell anybody. I'm not that sort of person. I'm just a little... sad, I guess."
I looked up at her in confusion. "Huh?"
Yuuki stood up and said, "I'm sad that you're going to get your heart broken so fiercly. It seems like it will really hurt you."
Riku looked towards the sunset, his white hair floating around in the wind. He played with a rock, occassionally glancing over the wrecked city that would later be named Tokyo.
"Do they... remember us?" he asked the man who was sitting next to him softly. "Does anyone?"
Amatsu Mikaboshi looked towards him. Riku couldn't see his face but he knew that there was an answer there. And that answer was yes, and that everyone missed them. But he shouldn't dwell on it too much, lest he become lost in the light.
Riku shrugged.
Amatsu pressed his black hand to the boy's hand. His face told the story that said that Riku shouldn't fall into the grasp of Benzaiten.
"I won't," Riku insisted.
Amatsu disagreed. His inward love for Jin was too great.
"I don't love Jin," Riku stated in annoyance. "I want to kill him."
Amatsu said that he would cry in secret every day if he killed Jin. And, less than a year later, he would join Jin. He needed to find an escape route from Benzaiten.
"I don't need to escape because I'm not wrought down by her," Riku growled. "That diety has no control over me."
Amatsu said it was common to feel this way.
By this point, Riku just looked away. He wasn't going to argue with the God of Evil over a peddling topic like whether he was in love with Jin or not. It was a silly topic, and Riku was defintely not in love with his worst enemy.
He blushed as he thought about the possibility of it. Certainly, this sort of thing happened in manga quite often enough, but it didn't happen in real life.
Suddenly, an image of Jin smiling came into Riku's mind. Once again, Riku blushed.
He couldn't help his feelings, after all.
I touched the knife at my side table gently. Smooth steel. It flashed in the dim light gently.
I picked up the small knife finally and began slowly making my way to the door, where General Riku stood. His long white was tied into a ponytail, and his eyes were light-green and cool at the moment, reflecting his feelings. Although, as a demon, he could appear any way he wished, he preferred to look like he was twenty-five or thirty.
"General," I said softly, handing him the knife.
He nodded, and his eyes turned from green to an amber color. I knew that meant he had mixed emotions about doing this.
"You can do it," I said easily. "I know you can. Just try your best for me."
He nodded. I took his hand slowly.
"Remember, you are my spy against the God of Time. I trust you. But don't be too close to him," I said softly. "Because you are mine. You are my toy. You are my friend. You are my bodyguard. You are mine, and you are not his. Just remember that much at least."
General Riku nodded.
Lee smirked at the memory. It was rather funny, really. How much he had liked Riku back then. He was still a toy now, but differently. More like a pawn in the game of chess.
He glanced around the empty throne room. It was going to be a dull day, wasn't it?
It had been exactly eleven days since Jin first came to the past. Eleven days, two hours, twenty-three minutes, and fifty-four seconds. Oh, yes, King Lee of the Demons was keeping very good track of the time since Jin had come in.
And, since Miuri had come in, it had been seventeen days, eighteen hours, six minutes, and ten seconds. Since Riku had come in, well, Lee wasn't keeping that good of track.
Lee stood up, his black hair falling into his eyes. "Amatsu Mikaboshi. Come out, O Lord."
The black cloaked God appeared from the shadows. His red eyes and face that was in the shadows said many things... like how he questioned the loyalty of Riku. Riku was loyal at the moment, but... but later he could become the fatal point of Lee.
Lee nodded. "Anything else?"
Amatsu looked away. He went to the shadows. He had nothing left to say.
"Remember to contact Amida for me, yes?" Lee murmured. "With Jin being almost powerless, the God of Death is very powerful at the moment. Time doesn't rule at the moment."
Amatsu didn't answer, but he did disappear.
Lee sat back down upon his throne. He smirked slightly, resting his head upon his fist. "Gods are so fickle."
"Sire!" A small demon suddenly cried, bursting into the room. "Sire!"
"It's proper to bow to your king," King Lee stated out of boredom.
The demon gave a quick bow. "Sire! We found out where the D. A. K. L. S. is hiding!"
One of the King's eyebrows rose. "Really? I could use some good news."
"They've been hiding in Mount Fuji this whole time," the small demon cried.
"They will have the protection of Sengen-Sama there, clever little brats," he growled. "We can't touch that holy place."
"Humans," the small demon said, as though reading King Lee's mind.
King Lee smiled cruely and nodded. "Yes. Humans. Send the message to Riku."
"Wha-what exactly...?" the demon asked nervously.
"That his girlfriend has been found," Lee answered. "And that we're going to kill her."
A/N- Review... and I have a feeling that some clarification will be needed.
Shinto: the religion in which Amaterasu and the other gods exist.
Izanagi: the God of Creation in the Shinto religion.
Samsara-Tsuki-Yami- Samsara means reborn. Tsuki-Yami is the God of the Moon. So Larka is the God of the Moon reborn.
Kami-sama: Translates to god.
Hashigami: McKayla's god. Can translate to Chopsticks-God, although that's not what she's god of.
Amatsu Mikaboshi: The God of Evil.
Riku and Lee...?: It was common in this era for a boy to look up to a man and have them become... lovers of sorts. And this is the relationship between Lee and Riku at the time.
Riku and Jin...?: Will not come to pass. They're too different. I only am putting it in because if I didn't the story would be different.
Sengen-sama: Sengen-sama is the Goddess of Mount Fuji. She protects it.