Disclaimer I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 2

Toga was making his way across the western lands when he caught her scent again. He had nearly forgotten the strange girl from five years ago. Her scent brought him to a rather isolated part of a river. When she caught sight of him the girl gave him a soft smile. But something bothered him.

"Hey! Haven't seen you in a while." She waved.

"You,"

"Me?" Ryan pointed at herself.

"You look the same, how?" He landed on his feet.

"What do you mean? You look the same as well." Her head tilted in confusion.

"How have you not aged in five years?" Her eyes slightly widened at that question, the action did not go unnoticed by the dog demon.

"Oh," Had she not noticed? "that...well y'know," She shrugged and didn't continue, and so he left it at that.

"Why are you here, girl?" Her smile scrunched at the last bit but she continued on.

"I have been doing some reading on yokai and I thought I could find a Kappa here," aaand that was the second most unamused face she had ever seen. His eye twitched.

"Children should steer clear of yokai, it wouldn't be a good idea to provoke them and cause conflict."

"I just want to name them," That made Toga audibly scoff, he didn't know why that innocent answer annoyed him, oh right, it may be because-

"They eat humans-" "And cucumbers."

"- they are not pets, they are not entertainment, and you, have much to learn, you stupid and naive child." His voice deepened with irritation by the end.

"Ryan."

"What?" He was not used to being on the receiving end of that sharp tone.

"My name, it's Ryan, it's not girl, it's not child, and it's not little human. It's. Ryan. And I, mutt demon, am not stupid and naive"

Not many demons gave him any type of attitude, none that survived anyways, and not once had a human ever talked to him that way, few barely ever had the courage to say anything in his presence. He stayed silent and sat down next to her. Observing the river, listening to the fish that swam. A hint of salt touched his nose. Stealing a glance at her Toga saw the gir-Ryan staring hard at the river, her mind somewhere else. She was holding back tears. How could something so small make her cry? Guilt creeped up in him. Why, he didn't know, he never really felt this way, so why now? Gold eyes softened at the girl sniffing away at the few tears that escaped and her runny nose. Toga pulled out a handkerchief, one of the many things that a lone traveler gave him out of fear for his life, from his kimono and handed it to her. And although this action caught her surprise she took it with little hesitance.

"Thank you." Her voice was so soft he wouldn't have been able to catch it without his demon hearing.

"Hm." Deciding to humor her, he, regrettably, inquired about the kappas.

"What made you want to name them?" She blinked away the tears in her eyes and wiped her nose.

"I was um-I had a dream that I killed these turtles...that are ninjas and then I watched one of the cartoons about the turtles that are ninjas and then I watched the movies, and then I thought I wonder what people have to say about them on the internet which was a bad idea- I never knew that so many people were sexually attracted to turtles. And I remembered that in one of the cartoons, people thought they were kappas, so I thought Oh my god what if they are? Then after that I thought No, I don't think they are because they don't eat humans and they like pizza, not cucumbers So then I thought What if I name some kappas after the turtles?"

Least to say, Toga had absolutely no idea what to say to the young girl. He didn't even understand most of what she said, turtle ninjas? Is this human sick? He couldn't even hide the confusion on his face while she looked at him with her big wet eyes. Not wanting to make her cry again he decided to ask her the only thing he somewhat understood.

"And what would those names be?" His voice not showing how lost he was at her previous rambling.

"Uh-they-they would be Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo."

"Ah. What unique names." What else was he supposed to say to such strange names.

"I guess." Ryan sat, bringing her knees up and placing her head on them with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"I'm sorry." She whispers.

"For what?" He asked, he is the one that made her cry.

"For crying, for being emotional, for calling you names, I just...I got in an argument with someone."

"Hm." He truly did not know how to interact with younger humans, so much going on in such a small being. He tried something he once overheard a human mother say to her child.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"M-mm" She shook her head.

"Very well then." Well, he tried his best.

A stomach growl sliced through their awkward silence. Ryan tried to pretend it never happened, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment while she sat under Toga's unreadable gaze.

"Are you hungry?"

"Mm...just a little." She mumbled.

"Do you know how to fish?" Ryan shook her head. "Hm. This would be a good opportunity to learn then."

The next few hours were incredibly frustrating. As it was also the first time Toga was learning how to manually fish like a human. Ryan thought fishing rods would be involved. She was mistaken. Instead fishing involved nets, and fishing between a demon and a 12 year old girl involved petty arguments, wet clothes, poking with a twig(from Ryan), a rather impatient human and three fish getting caught at the end of it. This continued when they had to build a fire because Ryan refused to eat raw fish. But what stood out to Toga most, was the small smile when they were both eating. Speaking of the girl, she let out a long burp and patted her belly.

"That. Was the best unseasoned, undercooked, unidentifiable fish I have ever had." She tossed the remains back into the river. Toga fought the urge to roll his eyes at her words. Would it be wrong to throw a child into a river?

"And thanks for the potential salmonella I see in my future." He, again, did not know what she meant but took the praise nonetheless. "Hn. I also enjoyed it."

"Hey, why do you wear armor? Are you like a soldier? Or a samurai?"

"No, I am one of the strongest demons in the West. That power invites conflict, which is why I wear it. To aid me if someone chooses death in challenging the Great Dog Demon."

"Cool, I wanna be a painter...ooh or a writer," Her feet swinging off the edge of the river.

Toga gave a nod at her answer, "A formidable and respectable title." He had one question that he forgot to ask earlier.

"Ryan,"

"Hm?"

"You mentioned that you can read? And write?"

"Yeh." A small nod accompanied her answer.

"Are you of noble blood?"

"I wish, but no, no I'm not." Ryan wondered what this was leading to. "So why can you read?" Not the question she was expecting.

"In my...country...education is important. So we're taught how to read and write, we also learn how to do calculations and we learn about science and the..um..the world." She sheepishly smiled at him.

"They teach whores to read and write?" His voice held genuine curiosity.

"What!?" His ears twitched at the change in volume.

"You said your people taught you to read and write. Are you not a female escort? A whore?"

"N-no, I'm twelve! Why would I be a prostitute!?" She was getting louder.

"You dress like one, you're wearing a tight hakama and a tight kimono." His calm voice had a hint of confusion, all of which was irritating her even more.

"I'm wearing skinny jeans and a t-shirt!" And now she was yelling.

"I don't know what those ar-"

"I just said it's what I'm wearing!" He could see now that maybe he said something wrong.

"Please don't yell. You're hurting my ears." To that she sat back down, she hadn't even realized she was standing. Ryan took deep breaths to calm down and Toga continued.

"Last time, when we met, you were wearing something much shorter, so I assu-" "You mean shorts? It was a hot day, I didn't know it was gonna rain."

"Ah, shorts." The silence wasn't as bad as when he had made her cry so he took it as a good thing.

"Ryan?" He started, almost shy.

"Yes, Toga?" He gave a small wince at the hiss that came with his name. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I wouldn't want a child in a situation like that." Toga placed a hand on her shoulder.

Ryan looked to the side, away from him. "Yeah well, good intentions don't equal good behavior." "Right. Sorry." He retreated his hand.

Another awkward silence.

"Ryan?" He started once again, with the same voice as last time.

"Yes?" She sighed.

"Why are you out here? Alone?" Something didn't sit right.

"I got in an argument and left. I didn't know what to do once I left so I came here, to name the kappas."

"You shouldn't travel alone. It is dangerous for an adult human, more so for a young female human such as yourself."

"I know, I've been told that I shouldn't make a habit out of this. That I'll get too comfortable going outside on my own, and that someone might take advantage."

"You should listen to them."

"I guess so." Ryan let out a breath, how had this day become so tiring so fast?

"I should head back home." She got up from her spot next to him "Do you know your path back home?" He followed suit.

"Yeah, I do." It seemed her temper died down ever since his apology. He truly did not mean to insult her.

"Would you like me to accompany you?"

"Nah, I'm good," Which reminded him of something else he had been wondering about.

"Ryan, how did you leave? When we were in the cave?" The question took a second to process for the girl, "Oh that, sorry about knocking you out, it was just a safety precaution. It was a strong powder, given to me for these, or worse, situations."

"I see."

"Yeah." A short pause

"Well, I should be heading back now," She points back with her thumb.

"Yes, of course." He takes a step back, and almost turns back to the fish before- "Toga?"

"Yes, Ryan?" He was met with small arms wrapped around his torso, he could tell she was using all her strength, though it didn't hurt, she was human after all, a little one. But he returned it, no one had ever hugged him befores, it was strange, in a good way.

"Thanks, for the fish and everything else, I just...needed a distraction, something to cheer me up, you know? Like a moment to relax."

"I understand." She let go and began walking into the forest, he watched her disappear behind the trees and all the green before he turned to face the river. Only a minute later he remembered something he in turn had not thanked her for.

"Ryan." He called out, walking towards where she disappeared into.

"Thank you for the strange ki..mo...no." She was gone, just like last time. No trace of her except the remains of the fire they built together and some fish bones tossed into the river.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Tmnt, i know it was just a reference but better safe than sorry