Chapter 11: Lost and Found
[April 2012]
--- --- ---
It was raining the day of Janice's funeral. Somehow, Charlie found that to be rather fitting. Janice always had loved the rain, believing it to be hopeful and purifying rather than gloomy.
Ryou stood next to him, holding Sophia. As if sensing the general gloom of the atmosphere, the infant was silent. She was awake, but seemed to be content snuggling against the demon, wrapped up in blankets to keep her warm.
Charlie wasn't even listening as the vicar gave his eulogy. The words were empty, especially coming from a man who did not know Janice. Others spoke up, but their words rang hollow as well. Charlie never had quite figured her out, deciding that ultimately Janice was unknowable. She was someone more than human, but human all the same.
He declined to go up to give his own empty words. Janice was a woman who believed in actions, not words. As the funeral came to an end, and people went on their ways after the coffin was lowered into the ground, he turned to Ryou. He wanted to say something to him, but no words came to mind. Instead, he took one look at the despondent expression on his face before placing an arm around his shoulders. "Let's go," he said.
Ryou nodded as they began to walk away. He glanced down at the sleeping baby in his arms. "I meant what I said before. You better not plan on dying."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Charlie replied. "I quit my job at the reservation. I don't know what I'll do now, but-- It's too dangerous."
Ryou was silent for a while as they walked to the church. "You want me to stick around, I suppose. For bonding and taking care of her and stuff."
Charlie nodded. "Yes," he said. "I understand if you don't want to--"
"I don't like it when people are indecisive," Ryou interrupted. "I also don't like people who are demanding or highly opinionated. I like remaining in my comfort zone, and get uncomfortable with situations that force me out of it. It makes me feel like I've lost control over my life. Even though you can be highly indecisive and want me to step out of my comfort zone and deal with a number of unknown variables, I trust you. I recognize your indecisiveness as fear of rejection and failure." He glanced to Charlie. "I hate repeating myself. Don't worry about how I feel. Focus on what you want."
"You don't spare anybody's feelings, do you?" Charlie asked.
"No, I don't," Ryou admitted. "Nor should I. Reality can be harsh. One should always strive to become stronger, and that includes not letting their feelings be hurt by the smallest things." He shifted Sophia from one arm to the other, smiling softly at her sleeping form. "Janice wouldn't want people to mourn her. She'd want them to remember and celebrate her life. Yes, we should still grieve, but in the end I think she planned this."
Charlie gave him a startled look. "Planned this?"
Ryou nodded solemnly. "To get the Glove of Transference, she would need to speak with Karin or someone else affiliated with the Underworld. Janice might have underestimated the amount of energy using such a relic consumed, but it's more likely that she knew just how much it would drain her. She knew using the glove would hasten her demise."
Charlie was silent for a while as they continued toward the church. "Why would she want to, though?"
"Who knows?" Ryou stroked Sophia's cheek as she started to stir in his arms. "She understands that death isn't the end, though, so she doesn't fear it. What happens next is a mystery, but I'd like to think she's happy wherever she is. Who knows? She might even decide to become one of those idiotic ferry girls like Karin if she doesn't want to move on beyond the checkpoint at the Underworld."
"That's a possibility?" Charlie asked.
Ryou nodded. "Karin was a living human once upon a time. She might not remember her life, but she's proof that death isn't always the end. That, and I've been told there are ghosts and stuff at that castle where you learn magic."
Charlie nodded. He remained silent as the walked into the church. It was only then that he noticed that somewhere along the way it had stopped raining and the sun was trying to peek through the clouds.
--- --- ---
Life went on, as it had a tendency to do when one wasn't looking. Over the next few weeks following Janice's funeral, Charlie found himself surrounded by friends and family that wished to express their condolences. Although his parents offered to help him with Sophia when he'd moved back in to the Burrow, he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could. There were times when he thought of asking for help, but those were mainly at two or three in the morning when he was completely exhausted and not wanting to get out of his extremely comfortable bed.
He knew that keeping busy wasn't the best way to grieve, so he did make sure to take set aside some time to remember and mourn. He'd heard someone mention some 'stages of grief' nonsense, but didn't remember what the stages were supposed to be or how they were supposed to be followed. He thought the last stage was 'acceptance', which he thought made no sense. Simply accepting that a person was gone wouldn't end one's grieving. He'd already known that this was a possible outcome since the attack on Christmas Eve. Even before then, part of him knew that Janice's life of fighting demons would catch up to her some day. She was never someone who would die of old age.
He knew better than to blame himself. In the end, what happened to Janice was a result of so many complications that it was better not to bother trying to figure out who held what sort of responsibility. Being angry with himself or others wasn't the best way to deal with his feelings, as it would just turn him bitter and drive people away.
Ryou's words about Janice preferring people to remember and celebrate her life helped him whenever he felt like falling into his grief. Janice wouldn't want him to mourn. She was a fighter that would insist on those who knew her to be strong and move on with their lives. While that didn't make the pain go away, it made the pain easier to deal with.
He accepted Fred's offer to work part-time at the Diagon Alley branch of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, if only because he knew that moping around his parents' house while unemployed was no way to live. He didn't know what he wanted to do for a long-term career, but he knew his daughter needed him, so he would be strong for her.
Three weeks after Janice's funeral, Charlie was getting off work from his part-time job at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He went to the Leaky Cauldron to pick up Sophia and meet up with Ryou, who was watching her. He walked over to the table where Ryou was sitting, raising an eyebrow as he noticed a few witches were surrounding the table and cooing over Sophia.
"She's so adorable!" one witch was saying, trying to get a closer look at Sophia. "Are you taking care of her all by yourself?"
Ryou's eye twitched. "I'm just watching her for a friend." He cringed when a few of the witches squealed with delight.
"How wonderful!" another witch proclaimed. "If you ever need help, here's my grate number on the Floo Network."
Charlie couldn't help but laugh as the witch handed a bewildered looking Ryou a slip of parchment. He slowly approached them, smiling as Ryou was handed a few more pieces of parchment. "That's one way of meeting women," he commented.
Ryou glared sullenly at the group of witches before turning to Charlie. "Are you ready to go?" he asked brusquely.
Charlie nodded and took Sophia from Ryou. "Are you sure you don't want to stick around and get a few more grate numbers?" he teased. At Ryou's growl, he chuckled. "Just kidding. Let's go."
"Is she yours?" one of the witches asked him as Ryou quickly stood up and grabbed Sophia's nappy bag. "She's absolutely a doll! Look! She yawned!"
Sophia had indeed yawned. Charlie shot the witch a weak smile and nodded as he walked toward the door that would lead back to Muggle London. "She's probably feeling overwhelmed," Charlie said. He silently thought to himself that it appeared Ryou was also overwhelmed, as the room temperature was colder than usual. He made sure to wrap Sophia carefully in her blanket.
"Let's just get out of here," Ryou muttered as he followed Charlie, leaving behind a gaggle of disappointed witches.
"You seem to be quite popular with the ladies," Charlie commented as they stepped outside.
Ryou grunted. "For some odd reason, women think that babies are 'cute'. There was nothing 'cute' about the nappy I had to change while you were working. What've you been feeding your kid, anyway?"
Charlie smiled. "Formula."
"Whatever it is, it's toxic," Ryou said, crumpling up the parchments he'd received. "I don't think a smell like that can possibly be natural." He tossed the wad of parchment behind him into the sidewalk. "I'm probably going to have to fumigate my flat to get rid of the lingering stench."
Charlie chuckled. "A Freshening Charm could clear that up," he said. "I've wondered for a while now just how it is you can find the Leaky Cauldron. And get onto Diagon Alley."
Ryou shrugged. "I pay attention." In their aimless wandering, they were walking in the general vicinity of the Ogre's Lair. "It's not that normal people can't see it, they just overlook it. I know where it is, so I'm not going to overlook it. Through here," he said, leading them through an alleyway.
"But without a wand, how can you get onto Diagon Alley?" Charlie asked.
"Magic and Youki are similar enough that I just have to place my hand on the wall and flare my Youki," Ryou explained.
"I wonder if flaring one's Reiki would work the same way," Charlie mused aloud as they continued walking through the streets.
"Possibly," Ryou said. "Your brothers Fred and George taught their kids how to use Reiki from a young age, and I've been told they have basic control over their bouts of accidental magic. Paige's ability to open inter-dimensional portals is actually a mixed use of magic and Reiki. I think magic and spirit energy are somehow linked together, but I have no idea what way that would be. Nor do I really care." He glanced to Charlie. "Where are we going?"
"Ogre's Lair," Charlie said. "And maybe I can get rid of the lingering stench of a perfectly natural dirty nappy."
Ryou shrugged. "Just to let you know, some guy at the Ogre's Lair offered me ten grand if I sold Sophia to him."
Charlie shot him a look. "My daughter is not for sale. And ten thousand what?"
"I know she's not for sale. I declined," Ryou said. "And ten grand fish. I think they were trout."
"Some guy offered to buy my daughter with trout?!" Charlie repeated in disbelief.
"They might have been carp," Ryou replied. "I'm not a fisherman. I'm not even sure if 'grand' stood for 'thousand', or if he was trying to say the fish were 'grand'. His English was very broken."
Charlie just shook his head as they continued walking to the Ogre's Lair. "I wonder if the similarity of magic and Youki is the reason why magic isn't very effective against demons," he mused. "Like how dragons have a natural armor against magic."
"Probably," Ryou said. "Youki is a living force, much like magic is. While those forces don't have sentience or anything, a demon's Youki will innately protect them, just as magic innately protects a spell caster. I'd say it's more an issue of power. If the spell caster is strong enough, or if the spell's strong enough, the demon's defense wouldn't necessarily hold up. Everything has a weakness."
"Like me casting a spell that neutralized Tracy's use of her spirit energy," Charlie muttered, remembering something Ryou had told him in the demon plane. That reminded him… "How is it that I can recognize demons as such now when I needed help from that potion before?"
"Exposure," Ryou said. "You went to the demon plane. You can't get more exposed than that. Your spirit energy is stronger than before. It's also a matter of your mind fully comprehending that demons are real, and you actually paying attention to your surroundings. People don't see what they don't want to see. They try to justify the unexplained."
The rest of their walk was made in silence. Charlie was a bit hesitant to take Sophia inside the Ogre's Lair, despite knowing that no violence was permitted inside the club. Thankfully, they were left pretty much alone as they walked through the club. Well, the bartender offered them a drink called a 'Zila Kren', but they declined and made their way to a door marked 'employees only' that led to Dimonnik Alley.
Charlie had been on the demon street a few times in the past so he could go to Ryou's flat for training. He hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary about the street at the time, although he hadn't been paying much attention. This time, though, he noticed demons of all sizes, shapes, and colors walking down the crowded street. They had just appeared as odd-looking humans to him before, although he couldn't help but wonder what part of his mind would have him see demons with shark heads or tentacles as 'odd but normal'. Some demons he could understand the justification for, as some appeared more or less human, although with odd colored skin like green or purple that was not found amongst humans.
He noticed that some of the shops and vendors were selling rather odd things. There were, of course, more 'normal' shops like a clothing store and a bookstore. There was even something that vaguely resembled an apothecary. He had no doubt it sold ingredients usually only found in the demon place. Further down the road there was a large building with a sign marking it as the 'Bureau of Immigration'.
Amongst the odder vendors, he noticed that one in particular had what appeared to be a demon child standing next to them, holding a sign stating 'child for sale'. Charlie frowned at that, as the vendor was obviously the child's parent.
"It's a scam," Ryou said, following Charlie's gaze. "The vendor takes the money, the kid robs whoever 'bought' them, and they move on to find some other rube."
Charlie still didn't think that was right, but said nothing as he continued to follow Ryou down the street, passing a meat shop that had skinned creatures of dubious origin hanging from hooks in the window. He did a double take as they passed a restaurant proudly displaying a sign stating, 'Now serving roast human, 50z/plate'.
"Roast human?" Charlie said out loud, holding his Sophia closer to his chest.
"It's horse meat," Ryou said. "Eating humans is the quickest way of getting deported back to the demon plane. Most demons around here never have, so they can't tell the difference in taste. Humans actually taste like chicken."
"How the hell would you know that?!" Charlie asked, aghast.
Ryou shrugged. "I used to play poker with a bloke named Grendel before he got his arse sent back to the demon plane for eating humans. He told me humans taste like chicken, and I'm in no position to contradict him." He paused. "Besides, everything tastes like chicken."
Charlie shook his head. "Whatever. Let's just get to your flat."
If Charlie had expected Ryou's spartan flat to appear any more decorated than it had the last time he'd been there, he was in for a disappointment. Were it not for a couple of dishes drying on the counter by the kitchen sink and a partially filled rubbish bin, he would have a difficult time believing anybody actually lived there.
"It doesn't smell that bad in here," Charlie said. "What'd you do with her soiled nappy?"
"Tossed it out the window," Ryou said, closing the door behind him. "The guy who lives below me wasn't too happy, but he complains about everything."
Charlie chuckled. "Did it land on him?"
Ryou smirked. "More like exploded on him. But he shouldn't have been standing on the fire escape and yakking on his mobile phone to begin with. It's annoying."
Charlie laughed. He glanced down at Sophia as she began to fuss in his arms. "Are you hungry?" he asked.
Ryou set the nappy bag down by his kitchen table. "It should be about that time. Her last bottle was about three hours ago." He pulled out a can of formula and a clean bottle. "She doesn't like that teleporting thing you do. It took a while to calm her down after you handed her off to me."
Charlie sat down in one of the chairs, rocking Sophia in his arms. "I know. But Side-Along Apparition is the safest method of travel for babies. Floo is unsafe until they're about two years of age, and Portkeys are far too expensive to be used for everyday travel." He paused. "I really should move to London. It'd be so much easier."
"Then why don't you?" Ryou asked as he started to mix a bottle together.
"Rent's bloody expensive," Charlie said. "Formula and nappies are already putting a sizable dent in what I'd had saved from before, and I don't make enough working part-time to pay for rent on top of that. I can't exactly ask my brothers to stay with them for an undetermined amount of time. They have their own problems."
Ryou was silent for a few moments as he walked over to where Charlie was seated with Sophia. Handing him the bottle, he said, "You could stay here."
Charlie tilted his head as he started to feed Sophia. "Here? I can't even get onto Dimonnik Alley on my own--"
"The door will learn to recognize your spirit energy," Ryou said, referring to the 'employees only' door of the Ogre's Lair. Whenever Charlie had attempted to get onto the demon street on his own, the door would lead to an enclosed courtyard with rubbish bins. Only when Ryou opened the door had he been able to get onto Dimonnik Alley. "Make no mistake, there would be ground rules of you living here. I don't want to come home one night to find you've brought some fuck buddy back here. And you'd be cleaning up after yourself."
"You don't have to worry about me bringing anyone here," Charlie said. "But you'd really want me to stay here?"
Ryou shrugged. "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't."
Charlie contemplated him for a few moments before he looked down at Sophia. "You're pretty good at the childcare stuff…" He smiled at her as she looked up at him. He kissed her on the forehead while she continued to suck on her bottle.
"Childcare involves more than knowing when they're hungry or needing a change," Ryou said. "It involves showing love and affection. I'm not any good at that emotional crap. You should know by now that I'm… cold."
Charlie wanted to argue against that, but he knew Ryou could hardly be described as warm and affectionate. Quite the opposite, really. He kept his emotions guarded, and it could be difficult to tell what he was thinking most of the time. "My mum wouldn't be very happy if she knew I was staying with you. She really doesn't like you."
Ryou shrugged. "I apologize for nothing. If she wants to construe a friendly warning as a death threat against her son, that's not my problem."
Charlie raised an eyebrow. He knew his mother had a horrible first impression of Ryou that hadn't changed much through the years, but didn't know what exactly had happened to give her such an impression. "Now I'm curious. You are going to tell me what happened."
Ryou smiled slightly as he leaned back in his chair. "The first thing you might want to learn if you're going to stay here is that I don't like people waking me up before noon…"
--- --- ---
Charlie had been right about his mother not being happy over his new living arrangements. She protested and argued that living with 'a demon with violent tendencies' was a dreadful idea, and no way to raise a child. She implored him to listen as she ranted about how Ryou was a horrible influence (although she never called him by name, referring to him only as 'that demon'), and how he was likely just trying to gain Charlie's trust so he could do terrible things. He let her rant for the most part, only interrupting her when she tried to make it sound as though Janice's death was all Ryou's fault.
He knew he would calm down eventually, but Charlie was reminded of one of the many reasons why he had left home to study dragons in Romania so many years ago.
"What the hell are we doing here?" Ryou asked, narrowing his eyes and glaring at Karin. Only a couple of days had passed since Charlie moved in with Ryou at his flat, and they'd been called into the offices of the Tantei Detective Agency at 'too damn early in the morning', as Ryou had called it.
"I have an assignment for you," Karin said cheerfully, not to be deterred by the icy glare she was receiving. Or the fact that Charlie was currently using her desk to change Sophia.
"What makes you think we're interested?" Charlie asked, handing Karin the dirty nappy to dispose of. He folded the clean nappy around Sophia. "And I'm not even an Underworld detective anymore. I was just substituting."
Karin made a face as she dropped the soiled nappy into the rubbish bin. "I'm fully aware of that. However, a successor has yet to be found, and I need someone to deal with a todea demon that's been laying eggs in the office."
"Is this anything like that mouse that was in your office?" Charlie asked as he snapped Sophia's body suit back into place.
Karin waved him off. "Don't be ridiculous. A todea demon is much bigger. And uglier."
Ryou sighed wearily. "It's a giant fucking cockroach. Just call a damn exterminator."
Karin frowned. "I'll have you know that I did call an exterminator. He said that he refused to deal with anything bigger than a small dog."
Charlie's eyebrows shot up as he picked Sophia up from the desk. "How big a roach are we talking about?"
Ryou pointed over at one of the walls, where an ugly brown cockroach easily five feet in length was crawling up it.
Charlie's eyes widened at the sight of it. "That is one damn big bug."
"Now you know why the exterminator didn't want anything to do with it," Karin said. "That, and it screeched at him. Unearthly sound. He swore it was part of some alien invasion and went on about calling some men in black, whatever that means."
Ryou rolled his eyes and raised a hand. Ice crystals began to form around the giant roach, which let out a high-pitched wail and tried to scurry away. Its movements were impeded by the ice, and Charlie aimed his wand at it. It was worth a try.
"Reducto," he chanted. From past experience, he hadn't expected the spell to do much. Instead, a splay of greenish-yellow entrails splattered across the room and a good chunk of the wall was reduced to dust.
Karin frowned at the sight of the damage. "You will be fixing that wall."
Ryou chuckled. "That's one way to get rid of it."
Charlie slowly lowered his wand. "I thought magic… I thought it didn't work on demons…"
"It usually doesn't work on higher class demons," Karin explained. "On lower class demons like todea demons it can. There's a formula to it."
Charlie looked to her. "What kind of formula?"
Karin cleared her throat and stood up. She walked to the wall behind her and pulled down a white screen. The lights dimmed, although Charlie didn't see her turn down the lights. Nor did he see a projector of any sort, although a chart somehow projected onto the white screen.
"The Underworld ranks demons according to a class system," she said, somehow wearing a white lab coat and glasses. "The most powerful demons are designated as 'S class', while the weakest are 'F class'. There are high, middle, and low ranges to each class, with the exception of 'S class'. Before he entered the human realm, Ryou there would have been classified as middle C class. Now he would be considered to be in the upper B class."
On the screen, a cartoonish version of Ryou appeared. Charlie recognized the drawing style as the super-deformed style occasionally used in anime or manga. The 'chibi' Ryou on screen smirked and formed an Ice Chain moments before sneezing and turning into a female.
Ryou frowned as Charlie snickered. "Oi!" Ryou protested. "How powerful I am is none of his business! And that's not even funny!"
Karin pretended she hadn't heard him. "On the other hand, Yoru was of the lower A class, and Hiru of the upper B class before their entry into the human realm. Fred and George would both be classified as middle C class now. When they do take their demon forms, they'd be classified as middle B class."
The image on the screen was replaced by animated versions of the twins, who drank something out of a flask. The word 'poof!' appeared, and chibi versions of Hiru and Yoru took their places. The two fox demons looked at one another before Hiru handed Yoru a mirror. Yoru smiled and preened in front of the mirror.
"I find it hard to believe those goons were stronger than me at any point in time," Ryou muttered. "At least I can kick their arses now."
Karin waved him off. "Yes, we know. Keeping the demon classification system in mind, let's go into how magic factors in." The screen changed once more to show another chart. "Magic could also be classified according to the base power of a spell. If we were to use a scale of one to ten, something like the Killing Curse, for example, would have a base power of ten. I suppose wizards could also be classified like demons are in terms of power. The Underworld hasn't set up any sort of ranking system there--"
"Let me guess," Charlie interrupted, "if a wizard is powerful enough, their spells can affect lesser demons."
Karin nodded. "And if the wizard is less powerful than the demon, their spells will have no affect. If they're close in power, the base power of the spell determines whether it works or not. So does the demon's willingness to have a spell cast on them. Otherwise the youki and magic will neutralize one another."
Charlie quirked an eyebrow as a super-deformed version of himself appeared on the screen. The animated Charlie first tried to cast a spell against a demon with an 'E' on their shirt, obliterating the demon. Chibi-Charlie jumped up and down, with a speech bubble appearing stating, 'Wai! Wai!'. Another animated demon with an 'A' on its shirt appeared, and chibi-Charlie's spell had no affect. Chibi-Charlie sweat dropped before slowly backing away from the angered demon. The animated versions of female Ryou, Hiru, and Yoru appeared on screen to stand between Charlie and the angry demon, although Yoru was still admiring himself in the mirror. A thought bubble appeared above Yoru's head, stating, 'It should be a crime to look as handsome as I'.
Charlie's eye twitched. "I don't hide behind others," he grumbled. "And George is not that vain!"
"Maybe George isn't," Ryou muttered. "But she's captured Yoru's personality down perfectly." His eye twitched as his animated self was called a cross dresser by Yoru.
Charlie sighed and shook his head. He looked down at Sophia, who was looking up at him. "This is a waste of time, isn't it?" he asked her, tickling her under the chin.
Karin sighed and the white screen retracted back into the ceiling. The projector turned off and the lights came back on. "Look, the point is it's better not to try to use magic against demons. You don't know how strong they are, and you might not have a second chance."
"I'm not an Underworld detective," Charlie repeated. "Don't ask me to go on any assignments, either. I have a daughter to think about, and as I recall, you were the one who said I was 'poor detective material'."
Karin smiled slightly. "Just get rid of the eggs in the walls and we'll call your tenure over. I'd call Fred or George, but they've made it clear I'm not to call them for pests in the office. And I never said you were 'poor detective material'. Just someone who the Underworld normally wouldn't consider."
Charlie wanted to add that he didn't want to be bothered about pests in the office, either, but he decided to take the time to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while. "I know that Janice is probably happy where she is, but--"
"I can't tell you where she is," Karin interrupted.
Charlie blinked. "I wasn't going to ask that. I was going to ask if you knew she was going to…?" He let his voice trail off, leaving the question hanging.
Karin stared at him for a few moments before walking back to her desk. She sighed heavily as she sat down. "That she was going to die? There's always the variable of free will, but yes. I could see that she was scheduled to die. Knowing how long a person has to live is one of the more unpleasant aspects of my job. And before you ask, it's verboten to inform someone of when they're scheduled."
"I wasn't going to ask that," Charlie said. "But does that mean that our lives are predestined?"
"Not in the least," Karin said. "How long a person lives is ultimately up to them. The choices they make, the lifestyle they lead. The schedule is just more of an estimation on when to expect them and it constantly changes based off their choices and life style. A person who might have been schedule to die of old age might fall into depression when they're a teenager and commit suicide. Or a person who chain-smoked for forty years might quit smoking and save themselves from dying of the cancer they would have developed if they'd continued smoking for just a year longer. People have free will."
Charlie nodded in understanding. "And if someone knew when they were going to die, it would change things." He smoothed down a bit of Sophia's hair, which was sticking up. "You gave her the glove knowing how much it would drain her."
"She asked for it, even after I told her," Karin said. "It was her choice to make. She knew she didn't have much longer, and she was tired of pretending everything was fine."
"I suppose we should deal with the demon roach eggs now," Charlie said. He glanced to Ryou, who appeared to have fallen asleep. He shook his head, smiling slightly. "You did drag us over here pretty damn early," he said to Karin. "He was just getting in for the day when you called. There was a karaoke competition at the Ogre's Lair last night."
Karin quirked an eyebrow. "Everyone thinks they're a rock star these days."
--- --- ---
The todea demon and its eggs having been dealt with (and Karin's office receiving an unwanted 're-decorating' with large chunks of wall missing), Charlie and Ryou walked back to the demon's flat. Well, Charlie walked with Sophia. Ryou was stumbling more than he was walking.
"Why didn't you go home sooner?" Charlie asked after Ryou nearly collided into a lamppost. "You could have at least had a couple hours sleep before we were called in."
"I wanted to win," Ryou said, glaring at the lamppost. They were almost at the Ogre's Lair, which was apparently open all day and all night. "It might not be prestigious or anything, but I couldn't stand for someone with no appreciation for the classics to win. Besides, I know you don't get much sleep either, but you seem to cope just fine."
"There's a potion to give artificial alertness," Charlie said. "And I do try to get naps in during the day when Sophia is sleeping." He smiled down at her. "I'll be glad when you start sleeping through the night."
Ryou snorted. "Good luck with that. It takes a few months for that to start happening. She'll probably take longer because she was born early."
"If things had been different, she wouldn't be due until next week," Charlie mused. "Instead she's seven weeks old as of yesterday."
"Time flies," Ryou said. "Have you thought of what you're going to do for a real job? I mean, we both know you won't last long at your brother's shop."
Charlie paused in thought as they approached the demon bar. "I was thinking of maybe going back to Hogwarts. Teach something. Keep an eye on wayward nieces and nephews. Janice wanted to teach Charms. If I taught it, in a way it would be like keeping her dream alive."
"And who would watch your kid while you're teaching?" Ryou asked as he walked into the door. He grumbled and opened it.
Charlie smiled slightly as they walked inside. Ryou was apparently a klutz when he was tired. "During the day, I could always have other professors with a free period watch her. Or I could bring her to class with me. Something would be figured out before I started. And that's only if I got hired."
"Do you want to teach?" Ryou asked. "Or are you just trying to do something you know Janice would have done?"
"I used to teach newbies at the reservation," Charlie said. They stopped in front of the door that would lead to Dimonnik Alley. "While I'd rather have worked directly with the dragons, the teaching was much better than doing the boring paperwork when I was recovering."
Ryou made a non-committal sound as he opened the door. "Hogwarts is a fair distance from London. I thought you wanted me to do whatever it is I'm supposed to do for Sophia."
Charlie followed him onto Dimonnik Alley. "I do want you to be there for her. That's why I think you should consider maybe taking a position there, too. If not at Hogwarts, then in Hogsmeade. There are demons out there, if Fred's to be believed about how Kyle fought a couple when he snuck to the village with Chloe and Jessica. If you're worried about a job, you could always work for George--"
"I would never work for that idiot," Ryou snarled. "To do so would be to give him power over myself, which is something I would never do."
Charlie glanced to him. "I know you don't like him, but--"
"It's more than that," Ryou interrupted. "Maybe you're blinded to his faults because you're his brother, but he's not that different than Izuna. They use different tactics, but ultimately they're both controlling individuals. They strive to control those around them. With George, it's more subtle. I haven't been able to decipher whether he even realizes what he's doing with Kuroi is a form of control. He's an idiot, so probably doesn't."
Charlie was silent as they walked to Ryou's flat. "Izuna's the reason why you left the demon plane, isn't it?" he asked after a long pause. Ryou unlocked his door to let them in.
"I wouldn't give her that much credit," Ryou said, opening the door. "I left because there was nothing there for me. I ran away from Izuna long before I ever came to the human realm. I have no doubt that I'll meet her again. Maybe she'll have grown stronger on her own and seek revenge. Maybe she'll just try more of her petty tricks. In any case, the little glimpse you got of the demon plane is nothing in comparison to what it's really like there. You're expected to know your place there. You lead or you follow. If someone's stronger than you, you're expected to follow. If someone's weaker than you, you're expected to subjugate them to your will. I like it here in the human realm. Nobody expects anything from me."
Charlie glanced down at Sophia, who had fallen asleep in his arms. He walked over to the crib set up for her in one corner of the room and gently set her down inside. "Even if it's painful to lose people…?"
"Life is full of pain," Ryou said, walking over to the refrigerator. "Pain is completely subjective. I knew it was coming, so I was prepared. Doesn't mean it didn't hurt. It still hurts. But you can't know what it's like to be happy if you never feel sadness. For me, living in a world where I can be free to be myself and to be happy outweighs any pain and sadness I might feel when I do lose people I care about. The pain just makes me gain a greater appreciation for the little things that make life worth living."
Charlie gently stroked a finger along Sophia's cheek before turning away to join Ryou in the kitchen. "Yet you still keep people at arm's length."
Ryou pulled a couple of bottles from the refrigerator and walked to the table. He slid one of the bottles to Charlie, who studied the label. It was a demon brand of drink called Skelail, which Charlie had seen served at the Ogre's Lair but never tried.
"I assume you're referring to yourself," Ryou said, opening his bottle.
Charlie opened his bottle. He took a swig of it, expecting it to be bitter like Muggle beer was. He wasn't disappointed. "If you're not interested in someone, you should say so. You told me that I was making excuses before, but the whole 'line' thing is just an excuse as well. We both know there are options that make it a moot point."
Ryou took a swig from his bottle before setting it down. "I'd rather not get caught up in your agonizing over me," he said slowly, staring at his bottle. "You've offered nothing but excuses when it comes to me. Janice, our friendship… You should know me well enough by now to understand that I'm lazy, selfish, and inconsiderate of the feelings of others. I've never given you any indication of where I stand interest-wise because you've never given me a reason to."
Charlie frowned. "If you know someone is interested in you…"
"I don't know that, though," Ryou said, taking a drink of his Skelail. "You talk about it. You've shown obvious physical attraction to me. But you've never once tried to do anything about it. I offered you the chance to do something about it and you said it would be degrading."
"Because you were talking about throwing scraps at me like I was some sort of dog!"
Ryou shrugged. "I never referred to you as a dog. That was you. And I'm still baffled as to what it is you want from me. You're sexually attracted to me, but you want to be 'friends' at the same time. I offer you the chance to shag and keep things the way they are afterward, and you decline. That's why I keep telling you to figure out what it is you want, because you're sending nothing more than mixed signals. I'm not a mind reader, and I can't figure these things out for you." He took a swig of his drink. "Do you know why I invited you to stay here?"
Charlie blinked. He hadn't expected that question, although he'd wondered the same thing himself. "I have no idea," he confessed.
"You're someone I can relax with," Ryou said simply. "You accept me for who I am, and are even fond about me. When we're not having these repetitive conversations, you're someone I like being around." He leaned back in his chair. "But I think I need to quote a favorite movie of mine, and tell you to 'shit or get off the pot'. Either figure out what it is you want and do something, or quit your bitching. At least Janice was upfront about what she wanted."
Charlie's gaze flickered down to his bottle. "Don't you think the timing would be a bit tasteless?"
"Maybe," Ryou admitted. "I'm running off fumes right now and plan to sleep once I'm done drinking this. I know what you mean, though. The thing is… Timing is never ideal. Shit happens. A couple of weeks before she got with you, Janice had just ended a relationship with some bloke she'd been seeing for a couple of years. She watched him die as someone seeking revenge on her murdered him. His funeral was the day before you two hooked up for the first time. She put on a 'happy face' and pretended nothing was wrong, but grief does strange things to people. Should she have held back on going after you because the timing was 'tasteless'?"
Charlie glanced to Sophia's crib, where his daughter continued to sleep. "Things would have turned out a lot different, I think."
Ryou nodded and downed more of his drink. "It's best not to dwell on 'what ifs'. Don't forget the past because it has its way of coming back to haunt you, but don't dwell on it. Learn from it. Live as though today might be your last, but look toward the future. Whether something happened a day ago, a year ago, or lifetime ago doesn't matter. What matters is today and tomorrow." He finished his drink and stood up. "I'll see you later. Don't wake me up unless there's a fire or something."
Charlie watched him retreat into his bedroom, contemplating what he'd been told. Maybe he had just been making excuses and overcomplicating things… Before Ryou could close the door, Charlie stood up. "Ryou, wait…"