Part 21: Trust Me
Their backs were to a window five stories up.
"Kuwabara," Aniki said almost conversationally, staring at the seething mass of chaos demon in front of them, "Do you trust me?"
The aforementioned human, glowing sword held upright in a guard position, glared at his friend- as well as he could through the blood dripping from the cut on his forehead. "Is this really a good time?" he asked, strained. The demon surged forward a little more, shrieking against the groaning spell wards keeping it in place.
"Actually, it's the perfect time." Aniki retorted, his claw-fingers curled.
"Are you insane?!" Kuwabara hissed, wincing at the sound as one of the spell slips tore.
"Answer the damn question, Kuwabara!" Aniki snapped, his golden eyes still focused on the shadowy goop that surged through the barrier.
"Fine!" the human exclaimed, firing up his aura, eyes going orange with reiki. "Fine, I trust you!"
"Then JUMP."
And that was all Kazuma Kuwabara heard before his back hit the glass of the window behind him with a sound remarkably like the hollow thump of a drum, except for the part where his stomach flew up into his chest. He opened his mouth- to scream, swear, do something- when he felt claws wrap around his shoulders.
He glanced up. An exceptionally large bird- a Makai bird, he realized dimly- hovered above him, grey feathers stark in the moonlight, golden eyes glimmering. Below him, in the five hundred feet between his shoes and the pavement, Kuwabara could hear the telltale hum of a rekai portal- a containment team.
"Holy fuck." He whispered, sagging. The bird said nothing, although it's gaze seemed rather reserved and irritated.
They flew for what seemed like forever, but Kuwabara knew it was only an hour or so. They touched down in a clearing, a few miles from his house, in the park where Yusuke had once fought a soul sucking Oni named Goki. Kuwabara toppled gently to the grass, sitting up as the bird landed, back to him, becoming once more a small, easily irritated demon. Kuwabara stood on slightly wobbly legs, easing his way over to the crouching Toguro.
"You okay?" he asked.
Aniki nodded. "Give me a minute." He said, wincing as his 'wings' slowly straightened themselves out, regaining skin where once were feathers. "I'll be fine."
"Your arms look pretty bad."
It was true; Aniki's arms looked red, pained, as though he had the most severe of rug burns.
"You're heavy." The demon retorted. "And a makai bird is much, much larger than little old me."
Kuwabara decided to let that last comment slide. He didn't want to bleed on his uniform any more than he had to.
"You never told me you could become animals."
"You never asked."
"Aniki?"
"Yes?"
"The next time you ask 'do you trust me', you'd better be telling me what the hell the plan is."
"Yes Master."
"Oh die in a fire."
A/N: Okay, kidlets, so here's how it goes. Right now what I'm gonna post is a bunch of 'in betweens'- meaning stuff that happened between Kuwabara and Ani meeting again and Ani's realization that he considers Kuwabara a friend. Hopefully at some point I'll get to the end. For anyone who loves continuity, guess you're just SOL. Got anything you wanna see happen? Shoot me an email or a PM, I'm open for suggestions. Love ya bai.