After a warm day, the night had finally come to cool the western portion of the Makai lands. It was not as cold as the morning had been, with its dampness or foggy breath, and it lacked the chilled breeze in the air, but was cool nonetheless. The darkened night's sky looked like the length of a new kimono that had been dipped in indigo dye, held up to the heavens by many crystalline stars as if they were presenting it to the gods as a display of their own awesome creation.
Each sparkling orb seemed alight with its own life and yet, at the same time, remained part of a greater whole as well. As different as the Makai was from the Ningenkai with regards to their lands, foliage, and climates, both shared one common aspect: the arrangement of the celestial beings. The shapes, long believed to hold some mythical significance for the human race, also had their own special meanings to the inhabitants of the demon realm. Behind each set of stars lay stories to be told.
The kimono sky was dotted with only a few scattered patches of fluffy clouds, enhancing the beauty of the night rather than marring it; for the moon shone and its glow lit the mists of the clouds from behind, making them appear more ethereal than they already were. It was under this enchanting sky that Jin lay back on the dry, but soft grass with his right hand behind his head, chattering away at Einin as if she understood exactly what he was saying.
She lay on her back upon the wind master's sternum while his other hand held her much smaller one. He was having a grand time telling her a story about one of the most important constellations amidst the night sky...well, it seemed important in Jin's mind.
"...Now ya' see that star o'er there is part o' one o' his feet, and the three all lined up look like his belt, those other two are his impressively broad shoulders...umm...Ah! And that star, a bit above the shoulders, is the horn that lies atop his noble brow...hmmm, now where was I in the story? Ah yes, anyway the extremely handsome, brave, and...err, strong master of all the winds was named...uhh, Gin! Yeah that's it! Anyway, Gin was the one and only, grand master of the wind across the whole demon realm...did I mention he was handsome to boot?! And in this particular instance he was facing a mighty warrior, not one o' those buggery demons you met this mornin' but a true fighter worthy of Gin's awesome skill and honor! The warrior's name was...uhhh..." Touya sighed almost painfully after nearly an hour of Jin's story telling.
Touya sat atop a small log to the side of a grassy knoll, which was adjacent to a small pond far into the western Makai. He had dragged the natural seat onto the grassy shore next to a small dirt patch, which he could only identify as a previously made fire pit. His legs were crossed as he leaned forward with a stick, stoking the fire to make it spark slightly and light some more of the freshly laid wood. The fire pit itself was small and the fire was not one fit for cooking, but Touya felt the only need they had for a fire in the first place was to give some light to their temporary campsite for the evening. His partner lay only six feet from where Touya sat, which was close to the edge of the water. At this point, in Jin's enthralling narrative, Touya glanced over slightly before speaking up.
"Was his name Yusuke?" he asked in a bored tone, with an underlying a hint of sarcasm. Jin frowned before responding.
"No, ya' silly pixie! 'is name was not YUSUKE.........it was Yasaku!" Jin said matter-of-factly. Touya sweat dropped as his eyes closed and his mouth grimaced, holding in another sigh.
"Jin if you are not going to even tell her the real story behind that constellation, which I believe the humans call 'Orion', then the least you could do is..."
"Aww, Touya don't be such a stick in the mud! You're supposed to tell kids stories, especially when they're little ones...it gets their imaginations working and all that. If you don't, then they end up having no personalities, social skills or creativity...hmmm, sounds like Reisho!" Jin finished before laughing at his own joke. He then picked up Einin into the air as he sat up to cross his legs Indian style. Jin turned slightly to the ice demon just enough so that Touya could see the wind master's profile being illuminated by the fire. Touya watched on, still stoking the fire slightly, as Jin turned Einin around in his hands to look into the red-head's grinning face.
"And we wouldn't want a thing like that to happen now would we, angel? No we wouldn't, no we wouldn't! Don't need another cranky pants like Reisho do we, darlin'?" Jin asked Einin goofily, bringing his face closer to hers every time he asked a question. She would giggle in delight and pat his face with her hands as she so often did. Touya smiled slightly at the wind master's antics, wishing he could join in...but another thought had come into his mind, causing his handsome face to fall into a frown. He turned back to the fire, stoking it harder this time, still aware of Jin talking more nonsense to Hikari only six paces away.
The day's trek had not been a hard one, nor nearly as time-consuming as Jin had originally anticipated...'What a surprise,' Touya thought sarcastically, though not in a mean way...Jin simply had no knack for judging time. By morning, if they left early enough, before the sun even rose, they would get to headquarters by daybreak. This fact held no comfort for Touya in the least, but it had to be done for that was the end of the time limit Reisho had given the pair to complete their mission.
"I..." Touya started softly. This caused Jin to cease his joyful playtime with Einin, and turn to Touya with a receptive look on his face. Jin looked at his comrade expectedly, while pulling Einin into a gentle embrace. Touya half chuckled, in a sad way, before continuing. "I...half wish that you had been right." Jin quirked an eyebrow to show his confusion. "...about headquarters being farther away than they really were."
"Ah, you mean about seeing Reisho again so soon?" Jin asked figuring that was what Touya was referring to. As much as Jin did not like Reisho, for many reasons, Touya had always seemed to hold a personal discomfort around the demon leader of their Shinobi clan.
"No...I mean now that we are going to arrive so early, leaving before the sun rises and coming to our destination at dawn...this morning's beauty will have been the last light we witness for...well, I don't know how long. There will be no more sunrises for an indeterminate amount of time and it all depends on how tomorrow goes. Once we arrive back at headquarters, you know what awaits us there," Touya finished on a gloomy note, no doubt picturing in his mind scenes of their home that Jin was also familiar with.
The Shinobi clan lived and breathed in the darkness; their encampments enshrouded by canopies of black clouds and the landscape dead from the lack of life giving light. Most of the clan stayed in systems of caves to ensure that no light touched the skin of a Shinobi who was not on patrol outside the clan boundaries. The chill of that place was not the cheerful welcoming of the autumn season from this morning...but one of no future spring. Though Touya could not feel the cold as the others, he could still sense it's meaning.
Jin pondered what Touya had said before looking back at Einin. Touya's eyes were scrunched up and his brows furrowed in some deep-seated imagery from the past.
"We still have her," Jin offered hopefully holding Einin up for Touya to see. The ice demon glanced over at the infant and the grinning demon below her. Though the site was endearing to the ice demon's heart, it did not lift his spirits as Jin had hoped. 'Well I will just hafta' try somethin' else now won't I?' Jin thought to himself still eying his friend. Jin then started to flop over on to his stomach, almost facing his friend, while placing Einin on the ground before him in the same lying down position.
"Touya come look here...I wanna show ya' something'!" Jin exclaimed happily. Touya turned himself fully to the wind master at this point, putting his stoking stick into the fire as fuel. "Ready?" Touya nodded slowly, wondering what his insane partner had on his mind. 'Why am I always afraid to ask what he is going to do next?' he asked himself. 'Because you know he going to do something insane...with Jin that's inevitable,' he responded to himself. 'Oh yeah.'
"Okay then, now watch this," Jin instructed before turning to Einin. He raised his chest onto his elbows, as he placed one hand over Einin's eyes gently. The little girl began to make sounds of confusion; Jin grinned at the adorable site almost unable to hold in the anticipation. "Okay darlin', where's Jin?!"
Touya would have fallen over in stupefaction, if he had not wanted to see what Einin would do. "Where's Jin?!...Here I am!" Jin said playfully as he removed his hand from Einin's face. She looked at him and smiled before saying, "Ah!", which Jin interpreted as: "Oh there you are!"
Jin smiled even wider at this and Touya could not help but give a small twitch at the corner of his mouth. 'Well good to start, but I wanna make him really smile...hmm, what to do next?' Jin thought, hoping to make Touya give at least some sort of chuckle before the night was over. Einin seemed to help Jin in that department when she gave a great big, and equally adorable, sneeze right in Jin's face.
Jin looked horrified, and a little frustration mark showed up on his forehead due to being covered in numerous unidentified and oddly colored fluids. Jin looked over at Touya with this expression and Touya began to tremble slightly. At once, the wind demon was worried. 'Why the heck is he shaking? I didn'a think I did all that bad.' Jin got his answer as Touya's face erupted into laughter...well, it was certainly laughter when compared to Touya's default sober demeanor.
"Ah ha ha ha...!" Touya put a hand over his mouth and pointed at Jin, nearly tearing up in the eyes it was so funny to him. "Oh gods Jin...ha ha ha...I think my...my sides are going to split...he he he," the laugh had worked its way down to a chuckle but Touya's smile was still there as he watched the wind demon clean off his face with part of his cloak. Jin grimaced a little at being sticky, but once he caught a glance at Touya's face he felt the discomfort was worth it...and Einin seemed thoroughly pleased with herself, cooing happily on her stomach.
"Oi...the things it takes to make you smile me friend!" Jin said jokingly as he got up. "Here, hold her for a sec while I wash me face off...Hey, I don't remember feeding her stuff that looked like this?!" He walked over to the pond gathering some water to his face as he crouched down low. Touya, meanwhile, got down on the ground to sit leaning against his log. He reached out to the squirming Hikari and pulled her to sit in his lap. His legs lay open, as Hikari sat within the V shape they created. Touya raised his eyebrows as she managed to sit up without much of his help at all, leaning against his stomach softly.
"Hmm, you noticed that too eh?" Jin asked as he got back to the pair by the fireside. Touya never ceased to be amazed by how perceptive of the ice demon's thoughts Jin could be when he wanted to. "She's gotten better at holdin' her head up and sittin' with out me havin' to hold her hands at all! I dare say she will be able to crawl soon enough...won't that be a site?!" Jin said excitedly, gently clasping one of her little hands in his own large ones. Jin sat cross-legged in front of Touya and in between his spread legs. They formed a nice little circle around Einin.
"You're gonna be a big, strong girl some day, aren't ya' darlin'? I don't know what it is about her Touya, but I just find her so fascinatin' and all! I mean she used to seem so weak after the raid, but now she's getting' to movin' around a lot more. Just look at her hair and all that! It's hard to believe that a little girl this adorable could even exist; like she's from one of those tales up in the starry sky." Touya smiled as his hands played with her soft hair from behind.
"Hmm, I wonder what kind of a mixed demon she is?" he asked honestly. Jin perked his ears up and looked down at the girl perplexed as well.
"Oi, I haven't the foggiest of clues as to that...we'll just hafta' wait until we get back to headquarters...as useless as he usually is, Reisho still has some kind o' knack for figurin' out demons." Touya sighed inwardly as the dread of tomorrow began to creep up again.
"Jin...we should be ready for whatever Reisho decides to throw at us," Touya began quite frankly, but still brushing his fingertips over Einin's hair and she played with Jin's fingers joyfully. Jin looked up into Touya's somber face. "I know that we can not very well prepare a possibly vital battle plan now, but being prepared mentally is our only option. No matter how professional Reisho must be under Shinobi law...he will certainly make things difficult for us regardless." Jin thought on these words for a moment or two before responding. His brow quirked up a bit as he raised his head more to Touya's gaze.
"Touya...why do ya' think Reisho has got it so bad against us? I mean he certainly is no ball of bloody sunshine to the others either but he seems to have a harder spot in his soul for the both of us."
"Well, isn't it obvious Jin? I mean, you have been working under him for longer than I have," Touya said meeting Jin's gaze. The wind master just looked even more confused and scratched his head absent-mindedly. Touya chuckled slightly before explaining.
"As far as I can see it...we both burned him badly enough...in our own unique ways."
"What are ya' meanin'?"
"Jin for the whole time you have been here in the Shinobi clan, have you ever shown Reisho one ounce of respect or recognition as the leader? I mean even at the Dark Tournament, you took on the leader of Urameshi's team instead of allowing Reisho to have that honor...he who technically was our chosen match leader in the first place," Touya began, not in any criticizing way but simply telling the gods truth about what had happened in the past.
"I guess you're right...then again, in my humble defense, that bloody bugger never did a thing to earn my respect now did he?" Jin said. "Beat you up often enough...and that is more truthful than anything," he practically spat out. Touya nodded slightly to demonstrate that he at least shared some of Jin's feelings towards those events.
Whether at the Dark Tournament or back at headquarters, Jin was usually aware of Reisho's offenses against Touya. Reisho tended to be the hardest on Touya...pushing him the most in training, denying him the most when it came to food and clothes, and lashing out at Touya the most when the earth master was in the mood for a beating. Jin was often very verbal about his feelings toward Reisho's misconduct, which gave Touya the added responsibility of keeping Jin's temper in check.
"No he did nothing to earn your respect as far as I know, but in the Shinobi's situation we are expected to...well, follow blindly; which I am somewhat glad to say is not one of your stronger traits," Touya responded. "I think one of the things that drives him up the wall the most is that fact that he has no real control over you Jin." Jin's eyes widened at this a little.
"You are a much stronger demon within your element than he is...that was demonstrated at the Dark Tournament. Also you disobey him blatantly in front of the other Shinobi...in a way this rubs his own short comings in his face and makes him appear to be a weak leader. Reisho absolutely hates the fact that he can't give you orders with assurances that they will be carried out, which is partly why he allowed us to be partners in the first place...he knew that I have an, at times, unfortunate tendency to follow with out question, which means you would help me do the work as my partner; and he also knew you would follow along with me just because it was me you were following.
"Yet, Reisho still feels the need to keep you around due to how strong your youki is. In a way it is ironic how he despises the strength that mocks him, yet also depends upon it to keep the Shinobi alive." Jin was taken aback by how insightful Touya truly was; sometimes the wind master forgot that most often it was the quiet one's who had the most meaningful things to say. But Jin felt something nagging at his mind.
"There's somethin' else isn't there? Somethin' you won't say...I can feel it in me bones me friend," Jin said seriously, peering into Touya's pupil-less eyes. Touya sighed a little before continuing.
"The fact of the matter is Jin...you are not like the other Shinobi. Even I fit in more when it comes to this issue," Touya said looking away slightly. Jin cocked his head to side confused at what Touya was trying to get across. "Your demeanor is not one of a conquered Shinobi, like myself or Bakken...it is not one of a being who has no hope of leaving the clan...it is not one of a crushed spirit. You have this...aura about you...this...I don't know if I can describe it..." Touya stopped to look at Jin, who was by all accounts still perplexed. Touya worked his mind to find the right words.
"You appear happy...as if you have some sort of protective barrier that sits between you and the darkness of the Shinobi world. While the others openly display their bitterness at being kept from the light, you bounce and fly around as if nothing keeps you tied to the earth beneath you...nothing ties you to that place and its darkness. Your spirit is still alive and free to abandon the clan if it pleases, and some of the others...are jealous of this fact. They see in you someone who does not submit to the dark but still reaps the benefits of being a Shinobi, what little benefit there still is. You have been saved from the dark life merely by your sunny disposition, while the other Shinobi feel the weight of their metaphorical chains. It hurts them, even Reisho, to be around someone appearing to be unaffected by the darkness...like a harsh slap in the face." Jin thought hard about this...his face serious and almost sad. He looked back up at Touya as if he had done something wrong.
"Does it...does it hurt you at all, Touya? Me tryin' to look on the greener side o' the grass?" he asked almost afraid of the answer. Touya's face vaulted.
"No. Nothing like that at all my friend...I would have said something to you if that were true. The other Shinobi may look at you and think they see a demon who is impervious to the pain and dreariness of our lives...but I know you better than that, and I know that without feeling some pain you would not have this...almost natural disposition to being happy. There is a human saying: 'A heart that is impervious to pain, is also impervious to joy.' I believe that because you can still feel the darkness and recognize it, you can also feel more acutely the joy in the world around you. Jin, you manage in some way to make your own happiness from the small things in your life. You jump for joy at the sight of a new day or at a strong breeze blowing through your hair. I understand it is not that you don't feel the sorrow of the Shinobi life...you just find joy in simpler things that most others would overlook, and that makes up for it...I guess." As Touya finished his speech Jin could not find words. His mouth hanged open and his eyes were wide in awe of this demon before him. 'How does he get me so well?!' he asked himself, amazed once again at how perceptive Touya was.
"Ya' hit it right on the head there, Touya...it's good to know that someone's figured me out, ya' know?" he said honestly and thankfully. Touya smiled at his friend genuinely.
"Hn, no problem you big elf," he responded teasingly. Jin wiggled his ears at this and ruffled Touya's hair with out even eliciting a grimace from the ice demon's countenance...he would allow it this once.
Then Jin's face became confused again.
"Wait...didn't you say we both burned 'im...Reisho I mean? Well, I guess it's obvious what I've been doin' to him, though I think he deserves it, but what did you do to ruffle his feathers so much?"
"What do you mean?" Touya asked his face becoming somber again.
"Well remember at the Dark Tournament, how the bugger punched ya' into the wall and all the other times he's battered ya' behind the ears? I didn't think you did anything so bad as to make him..." Jin stopped at the look on Touya's face. It was tight almost to the point where one could not tell if he was a living, breathing being or a forlorn ice sculpture in the woods. 'He's trying to push somethin' down...somethin' he wants to forget,' Jin thought to himself observing this change in his friend's demeanor.
"Touya?" The ice demon did not answer at first and he had stopped brushing through Einin's hair. Truth be told, Einin had fallen asleep during their conversation and now lay peacefully against Touya's abdomen. Jin did not like the look on his friend's face, but he felt he had to know the cause of it in case it was useful for tomorrow's encounter.
"Touya? What did ya' do to make Reisho so angry with ya'? It couldn't have been worse than all the stuff I put him through," Jin said prompting his comrade to speak openly. Touya sighed and brought his head back up to Jin's eyes, which were shining expectantly.
"When I first arrived to the Shinobi clan we were both young, you and I...though you of course were only a bit older, but I guess that's irrelevant." Jin knew that when Touya was hesitant about speaking his mind he tended to beat around the bush and go onto unrelated topics. "Reisho, as a clan leader, was competent enough and I saw no reason to disobey his orders...I acted as respectful and loyal to Reisho as I was taught to by my former master. But after a month or two of training with the other Shinobi, Reisho made a request of me that I had to refuse...my refusal is why he lashes out more at me than the others," Touya said, leaving the statement hanging in the air like a leaf about to fall. Jin looked at him in a pressing way to go on.
"Well, what did he ask of ya'?"
"...Reisho came up to me after we'd had a briefing on one of the other missions. You were able to go off on that mission and work as a Shinobi since you had seniority over me; so I had to stay behind and train more. I guess I resented the others mildly...I was young and did not understand the patience of waiting till I was ready to fight. I really just wanted a chance to join with the others and maintain my honor.
"Reisho seemed aware of this, and came to speak with me after the briefing was over with and everyone had left. He said that he would allow me to go on the next mission with the others if I gave him something in return. At first I was thrilled at the prospect...but luckily for me I had the sound mind to ask what the price was." Jin still watched Touya's face as he spoke. His friend seemed hesitant to proceed and at this point Jin was lost...what could have Touya done that was so bad? "He requested that...I be his bed mate."
At this Touya stopped to observe Jin's reaction. He expected to see Jin disgusted with the idea, but instead found his jaw set tight and his eyes intent on Touya's eyes. Touya felt it was best to continue, otherwise he was afraid Jin's jaw would snap from the tension.
"When he asked this I was taken aback. I then confessed...I guess out of fear, that I would not ask anything more of him and would resume my training until I was deemed prepared enough to go on my own. I thought he would understand...but instead he seemed silently enraged. I could feel the earth beneath me quivering and I thought for a moment that he would strike me. At that age I was...foolish to say the least. I guess I then agreed just to placate him and keep him from going over the edge with his temper." Jin stiffened at this and his teeth ground together harshly. Touya stopped suddenly and looked at Jin's expression.
"Jin...are you..."
"Did he touch you?" Jin blurted out. Touya looked at him wide eyed, before feeling both of Jin's hands reach across the small circle and set themselves on his shoulders. Touya then realized that this admission was hurting the wind master worse than it was hurting even himself.
"Did...he touch you, Touya?" Jin was almost afraid of the answer. The ice demon felt it best to respond promptly.
"Well, I went with him initially...but as I walked beside him to his chambers, I began to regain my senses. I stopped suddenly in the passageway and waited until he noticed...which did not take long. His eyes burned into my own like the sun; he seemed so angry. I restated my refusal to be with him in that manner. That's when he lost it, screaming that I had rejected his generosity," Touya ceased his narrative to regain his track of thinking. "I suppose that your question was asking about whether he touched me...inappropriately. He did not." Jin sighed softly in relief at this.
"Good then I don't hafta' kill him just yet," he said with angry brows and a frown still set on his face. Touya continued, not sure if Jin would still feel relieved when he was done speaking.
"Simply put, he began thrashing me mercilessly...by this time I had not developed any distinction between respecting my leader and being a pawn in his clutches. I lay there and did nothing to defend myself," Touya said. Jin's face jumped at this.
"What?! How could ya' do nothin' like that?!"
"I was new to the clan Jin, and Reisho was my leader; I was brought up only to respect and obey...even if it meant doing some things I would not be proud of later." Jin grumbled at this, disliking Touya's former master more and more for his, in Jin's mind, foolish teachings on following a leader.
"Anyway, Reisho had about one full minute of physically berating me and yelling at the top of his lungs...even though I was almost out of it, I feel him trying to drag me to his room after the beating had ceased. Luckily, and surprisingly, for me, Gama came into the passageway from around the bend in the cave. Reisho had turned around toward Gama, and stopped moving immediately and then tried to act as if he were taking me to the infirmary for treatment of my recent wounds. Like a knee jerk reflex, he easily concocted a story about me being atop one of the caves training only to fall after a careless slip...and Gama, even though he probably knew better than to believe such a tale, at least pretended to believe Reisho, and I was taken to the infirmary by the both of them. Later on, by the time Reisho had worked up the temper to face me again, you had arrived and were in the room next to my cot, joking with me about how clumsy I must have been to have fallen," Touya finished. Jin stared for a moment at his own hands.
"Jin, what's wrong?"
"I can't believe I was so...so stupid to be fooled by one of Reisho's lies. I believed him too! About you fallin' and him findin' ya' like that on the ground. And I was too damn belligerently optimistic to notice that your injuries in no shape or form coincided with the story...oh boy, if I had paid more attention Reisho would have gotten a sound thrashing from my tornado fists," Jin seethed while crossing his arms.
"Which is exactly why I did not tell you," Touya responded looking at his comrade with the most honest of expressions. Jin cross his eyes and cocked his head to the side, as he usually did when a bit of information went right over his head. "If I had said anything to you about what had occurred, what would you have done do you think? At the least you would most certainly have gone after Reisho. At the most you could have brought down serious consequences upon yourself. What good would that have done? It only would have gotten you severely punished...I did not want my one and only friend being tossed out of my life simply because I made the mistake of not saying 'No' the first time Reisho asked me." Jin's ears perked up at this.
"I...was your only friend?" he asked quite innocently. Touya grinned and then continued to brush through Hikari's fine hair.
"Hn, of course. I certainly did not make close friends before the Shinobi...that part of my life was non-stop training in the woods with just my master. You were the only person who even showed me an ounce of kindness when I first joined the clan, and I certainly held no interest in befriending Reisho, Bakken, or any of the others. They just...did not seem to understand me as you do," he explained, his face looking reminiscent of days past with his Shinobi comrade.
"They treated me like my heart was as cold as my skin. I know I am not the warmest of demons when it comes to feelings...but I do still feel; I am still capable of showing my emotions. They had misconceptions of who I was...where as you had none. You treated me like I had blood flowing through my veins...like I deserved a kind word or two, and so I guess I was naturally drawn to you...even if you were a little more energetic than what I was used to.
"That's what makes Reisho hates us so much...when I rejected him, he saw I was quite eager to be your partner. I guess it was yet another slap in the face when the ice demon Reisho coveted became close friends with the wind master he could not control...Thank you for being that friend Jin; I dare say knowing you has made me a better demon than I would have been, had I never met you," Touya stopped to find himself smiling genuinely before turning to look once more at Jin. The wind master appeared deep in thought.
"Jin..." The demon in question raised his eyes to Touya's inquisitive gaze. "Out of curiosity, just why did you stay with the Shinobi if you were always strong enough to leave them for good? Why not go out and train by yourself with out any confining regulations?" Jin did not even have to think about his answer.
"Because I knew that you would still be with them, even if I ski doodled," Jin answered softly. Touya's face vaulted into a surprised expression. 'He stayed for me?' "To tell ya' the truth, before ya' came along I'd been plannin' on leavin' once the winter's snow fell. I had no one there who cared about me or for whom I cared a lick about. The only reason to stay would be some of the money we occasionally received and the chance to fight...but as you know I have no problems finding myself a bit o' trouble, whether with the Shinobi or not.
"I had figured it would be easy enough for me to fly up into the sky and over the clouds, beyond the Shinobi clan's grasp. But, low and behold, jus' before the snow came...you arrived. It was like a fresh wind had come down from the North. So I decided to stick around for a little while more to find out what made ya' tick and all that. It seemed to me that ya' had somethin' worth sayin' about yourself...and I was right. That's what made me stay...you were there, you were someone I wanted to know and be partners with. I knew from the start we would make a great pair you and I. I also knew that because of your training, ya' wouldn't leave unless ya' felt it really necessary...so I stayed too; figured you were a good example to follow by. Believe me, me friend...it was well worth the wait and I am better because of it!" Touya's face flushed slightly at this. It had been a while...no, ages since they had spoken this honestly about themselves. With the recent events soon to hit some sort of climax, this conversation made sense. Neither knew what would occur at headquarters tomorrow and it was like laying everything bare on the table before heading into unknown territory.
Jin started to snicker.
"What?" Touya asked. Jin softened his little laughter before answering.
"Ya' got that red look about your face...he he he...always happens when we talk like this," Jin said grinning with a tooth poking out the corner of his mouth.
"Uh, sorry?" Touya suggested...he really had no idea what made his blush so funny.
"Nah, nah. Nothin' to be sorry for! I think it's endearin' and its nice to see that look after so many years of bein' too preoccupied to have a real conversation, ya' know?" Touya did know, and was pleased to hear that Jin held these talks in as high a regard as the ice demon did. "Besides, ya' know it's hard for me to criticize ya' when I care about ya' so much!" This made Touya blush more, which in turn led to and extended performance of Jin's snickering. Touya could not help but grin a little at the situation.
"Hn, sometimes I wonder how a frigid ice pixie like myself could ever get along so well with an overgrown belligerent elf like yourself," Touya said smiling with his eyes closed.
"Jus' lucky stars on both our sides I guess! But let's make that 'an incredibly handsome and well built elf' next time alright?" Jin said shaking a finger jokingly at his friend. Touya chuckled before standing, while moving Hikari into a more comfortable position in his arms. He stretched out one hand to freeze over the already dwindling embers of the fire. Jin decided to follow his example, silently agreeing that it was time for slumber, and used his abilities to blow upon the fire until all of the light from it was extinguished.
The only remaining shine across the land came from the full moon hanging at the highest point in the sky. Touya looked up in wonder at how large it appeared and how the brightness could still cast shadows on the landscape. Jin had walked away from the pond toward the tree line and was already using his cloak to snuggle up in as he sat down, his back against a tree.
"It's a full moon out tonight..." Touya said softly still gazing up into the night's sky. Jin looked at the ice demon perplexed before peering up at the glowing orb amongst all of the other shining diamonds. "The subsequent nights will only get darker from here on as the light wanes," he finished on a somber note. Jin took notice of the hidden meaning...the light was diminishing, as they would soon enter an indeterminate time of darkness.
"But don't forget...there is always a new moon on our horizon," Jin responded. Touya smirked a bit before nodding to let Jin know he had heard him. Touya walked over to Jin's tree cradling Hikari snuggly in his now cloaked arms. He sat down next to the taller demon sitting shoulder-to-shoulder...well, shoulder to mid-bicep. Remembering his earlier promise to let Jin carry her for the rest of the way back, Touya handed Einin gently over to Jin who eagerly took her into a hug in his large arms. The ice demon lay his head against the taller demon's arm, trying to get comfortable. Jin in turn wrapped his cloak around Touya's side as well making a nice little sandwich out of the three demons. The comrades fell quickly to sleep by each other's sides, though the speed was not due to any eagerness toward experiencing the darker tomorrow.