-wipes tear from eye-
A Red Rose in the Darkness
BONUS: A Lovely Tale
Jin sat on the cold, hard ground, his back hunched over. He would have been easy prey had he not been the hunter. A fat demon rat hobbled by him, right next to him, and Jin snatched it from the ground, immediately killing it by snapping it's neck. Painless. He returned with it back to his camp, where he heard voices. Crouching down in the bushes, he placed his lunch by his side, and used his strong hands to push the leaves from his face.
There, he saw nothing to worry about.
Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki(oh! Sorry, BEAUTIFUL Suzuki) both sat in front of his fire, feeding it more logs so it didn't die.
"Think we should wait for him?" Shishiwakamaru asked.
Suzuki, not in his clown attire, shrugged, longing for a mirror(O.o;;).
Grinning, Jin instinctively reached to his side, snatching up another fat rat, killing it instantly. The two wouldn't each eat their own rat, he knew. They had to watch their weight, after all, is what they would say.
"Hey-a!!" Jin shouted to them, and Suzuki waved. "Rat?"
"Oh no, thanks. I have to watch my weight." As if THAT wasn't expected...
"Too bad, you're eating anyway."
It wasn't until the third night that Jin's company had spent with him did Shishiwakamaru become entranced by him. How little that he cared about his self-image. Jin piqued interest and, for once in his life, Shishi wasn't staring at himself in the mirror. Once he noticed that, he realized that it wasn't simply interest.
It was something more. It had to be, because it would take a raging war to get Shishiwakamaru to turn from his mirror. Not understanding this feeling, the demon decided to investigate. Turning into his true form, a tiny little bird-like thing, he watched the Wind Master go about his daily business. He wouldn't consider it stalking, just... watching someone intently without their knowledge.
He saw the happiness that Jin felt each moment of the day, he watched the demon as he played, looping about through the air, he watched him train to his heart's content. And he watched over the demon as he slept, high above the ground on a sturdy branch of a fine tree. The samurai shifts to his human form and quietly jumps from branch to branch, climbing his way up the tree and stops at the master of wind.
He was surprised how heavily the demon slept. It seemed to him that even one as moronic as Jin would sleep with his guard up slightly. Jin was too trusting of the ones around him. How easy it would be to kill him now, as he slept... he would expect nothing, feel nothing... of course, Shishiwakamaru wouldn't think of it any further. It took one with no honor or pride to kill someone as they sleep, unaware of death as it lurks up behind them.
He wouldn't have it. Perching himself on the closest branch to Jin, he leaned back against the strong bark behind him and crossed his arms. If Jin was going to be foolish enough to sleep with his guard down entirely, the samurai would have to make up for the wind master's lack of guard with double his own.
He stayed awake the entire night through, jumping at even the slightest movement. Nothing would dare come near Jin as he slumbered, Shishi made sure of that. The sun rose finally, but the demon was no less alert of his surroundings. He looked over to his side as Jin groaned and rubbed his eyes. He stretched, unaware of the samurai sitting next to him until he caught a glance of blue from the corner of his eye.
"G'mornin' Shishi!" He said, crossing his legs.
The samurai simply looked at him.
"Wow, Shishi, you look like you got no sleep."
You're a brilliant one, Jin, Shishiwakamaru thought to himself.
"You look like crap."
The demon's eyes widened and he quickly pulled out his mirror.
A shriek erupted throughout the forest, causing birds to fly away in fright and anger at the disturbance. Suzuki came running immediately to the two. He saw Jin floating down with an unconscious Shishiwakamaru in his strong arms. Suzuki's eyes widened at the state Shishiwakamaru was in. What sort of monster would attack him and make him look that tired?
"What happened?" He asked Jin.
Much to his surprise, the Wind Master grinned. Suzuki was about to rip out his throat for smiling at the state the samurai was in before Jin began to explain.
"Well, it seems tha' Shishi was watchin' over me as I was sleepin', and forgo' to sleep 'imself," Jin said, setting the demon down against the trunk of the tree.
Suzuki arched his brow. How unlike Shishiwakamaru to be so selfless. But that still didn't explain... "Why did he scream?"
Jin laughed. "He saw 'is reflection!"
"So, why is he out?" He asked, pointing to the sleeping samurai.
Jin rubbed the back of his head. "Well, 'e needed sleep, ne?"
Suzuki slapped himself on the forehead. "You knocked him out, didn't you, Jin?"
The wind master stuck out his tongue. He took a seat next to the sleeping samurai. Suzuki sighed. "NOW what are you doing, Jin?"
Jin held a finger to his mouth in a shush motion. Suzuki couldn't believe this either. The loudest demon he had ever known, telling him to be quiet. Were the pits of Meikai freezing over? First, Shishi, being selfless, and Jin, being quiet. What's next, Reisho being nice? Suzuki didn't know what to expect anymore.
"NOW," Jin said, mocking Suzuki, "I'm returnin' the favor!"
Suzuki rolled his eyes and walked away.
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Shishiwakamaru's eyes fluttered open, taking in his surroundings. It was around noon, the sun at it's highest in the sky. His eyes widened, remembering the events of earlier this morning. He immediately grabbed his mirror, looking at himself. He sighed. The crappy sleepless look was gone, replaced by his beautiful, ridiculously sexy face. Shishiwakamaru couldn't remember ever facing something that terrifying before, and would be sure to never experience it again.
"Well, Shishi, it seems we kno' where yer' prior'ties lie, ne?" Jin asked, appearing in front of him, floating overhead.
Getting over the initial shock, he hissed back in annoyance. "Well, of course! How could one not have their beauty as a first priority?"
Jin rubbed his chin in mock thought. "If they weren' shallow!"
"WHAT!? Are you calling me SHALLOW!?" Shishiwakamaru shouted, jumping to his feet.
Jin waved his hands around. "I didn' say it, you did!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?"
Jin, relatively calm, answered back. "I dunno..."
Shishiwakamaru exploded. Unsheathing his sword, he took a swipe at Jin, who merely dodged out of the way, the air on his side.
"SHISHI!!" Suzuki exclaimed, running from nowhere and grabbing the samurai's arms as he attempted to chase after the wind master, who had begun zooming off in the opposite direction.
The samurai easily wrenched himself from Suzuki's grip and took off after Jin, chasing down the taunting wind demon. When he got close enough, he jumped, grabbing Jin by the midsection.
Causing both of them to fly dead-on into a tree.
Said tree collapsed from the effort, and when the dust cleared, Shishiwakamaru was lying on his side on top of Jin, his head on the wind demon's chest. Jin was lying on his back against the demolished trunk of the tree, both hands placed on Shishiwakamaru's back, holding him against him. Suzuki ran in at that point.
Shishiwakamaru groaned, placing on hand against Jin's chest to prop himself up somewhat. He looked down at the grinning demon below him, his own shadow cast over Jin's smiling face. His face was dangerously close to Jin's. "You're evil," he hissed, glare set in his features, his hair falling, framing his face. "Pure evil."
Jin's grin grew wider, if possible. "I know."
A hand then found it's way to the back of Shishiwakamaru's head and forced his face lower. With that, their lips connected. Shishiwakamaru's eyes widened in shock. He was so shocked, he didn't know what to do, so he waited until Jin was done before he realized. He pulled away, getting to his feet. "You fool!" He said through gritted teeth. "You disgusting, evil fool!"
Jin laughed, hovering in front of him once again. "You know it!"
"You-you!! You THIEF!!" Shishiwakamaru growled.
"Aww, come on, dun' tell me that was yer first kiss?" Jin said tauntingly. "That's wha' you got all them fangirls for!"
The samurai looked down, boiling in his anger. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, glaring down at the ground. It was a moment of calm before the storm began to rage.
"JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!" He roared before setting off after the already fleeing wind demon.
Suzuki had long since decided to sit down and watch this from a safe, comfortable distance. He pulled out a book and began to calmly read.
"Lovely story, ne Toy?" Jin asked, laughing and remembering that day as they walked through the forest in the Makai.
Touya sweatdropped. "Yes, Jin, exactly the story I wanted to hear while searching for the fountain of youth," he said sarcastically, looking to the side at Sniper who was walking by his side, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Just a little story to pass time," Shishiwakamaru said, shrugging. "Although, in telling it, Suzuki, you made me look like a fool."
The demon in question shrugged. "What are you talking about? I told it exactly the way it was."
The samurai glared in his direction, greatly wishing to be burning a gigantic, painful hole with it in Suzuki's back.
Touya sighed. "Can you possibly survive with this group as long as necessary, Hagiri?"
The sniper in question shrugged. "I'll learn to ignore it."
Jin hovered over him and poked him. "Good luck!"
-the REAL owari-
Hieica: Whoo, it's over and done. -wipes sweat form brow- Oh, just so you know, Touya and Sniper are off searching for something to keep Hagiri alive for a long, long time, as discussed in chapter twenty-four. Jin, Shishi, and Suzuki are tagging along for the fun of it. -wink-
Thank you, all of my faithful reviewers!! I hope you enjoyed the final installment of A Red Rose in the Darkness!!
Swissy: Review. Now. STOP YOUR BLUBBERING AND REVIEW!!!