Garnet & Amber
XO'MagickMoon'OX
Discussions …
Koryu ate his breakfast in silence … which was unusual for him.
"Koryu, are you all right?" Hisui asked calmly.
"Never better," Koryu grumbled.
"What's eating you?" Kokuyo pressed.
"Nothing!" the other demon snapped.
Kohaku looked worriedly at Koryu. Why was he being so irritable?
"I'm done." Koryu stood and took his bowl over to the sink. Although he had finished his soup, he had barely touched his other food.
Then he left out the front door without saying another word.
"Why don't you go see what's wrong?" Hisui asked Kohaku.
"M-Me?" Kohaku stammered. "Why me? Why not you … or Kokuyo?"
"Why not you?" Kokuyo said.
"Be … Because … er …" Kohaku was speechless. Why didn't she want to go talk to Koryu? What did she have to be afraid of? Well, besides being bullied, course. She sighed. "All right," she reluctantly agreed. "I'll go talk to him."
Kohaku quickly finished her milk and honey before going after Koryu.
That was when the atmosphere shifted. Blue, green, and red mists swirled through the kitchen before taking the shape of three angels: Ransho, Ryuki, and Touki. Ransho, the most levelheaded and calm of the three, was the archangel of Earth. Rowdy and overemotional, Ryuki was the archangel of Fire. Touki, the archangel of Water, was stern and reserved, a real "hard-butt", as Hari had once called her
"My friends!" Hisui greeted. "What brings you here?"
"We're just visiting," Ransho said. "We have something we'd like to talk about."
"Or someone, rather," Touki amended.
Ryuki was just glaring at Kokuyo. The demon glared back.
Touki hit the back of Ryuki's head and the Angel Master stumbled forward. Instantly, Ryuki went up in flames.
"What was that for!" he shouted at the Water Angel Master, quelling the flames enveloping him.
Touki's pale blue eyes caught Ryuki under a paralyzing gaze. "You need to calm down, and leave Kokuyo alone."
Ryuki huffed but nodded. "Fine." He had had it in for Kokuyo ever since the demon and Hisui had run away together. He had very strong feelings for the ex-Angel Master of Wind. And then Kokuyo had taken her away from him (unintentionally, of course).
Kokuyo distinctly remembered Ryuki shouting, "I HATE THAT KOKUYO! YOU HEAR ME! HATE!" once the angel had learned that Hisui and he were together.
"Who do you want to talk about?" Hisui asked the other three.
"Kohaku," Ransho answered. "How is she?"
Hisui smiled. "Oh she's fine."
"I heard she was sick," Touki said.
"Yes, she was, but she's okay now," Hisui responded.
"So someone must have healed her broken heart," Ransho mused. "Who?"
"Well …" Hisui looked to Kokuyo. "Koryu."
The room was silent, each Angel Master too shocked to respond.
But Ryuki didn't stay silent for long. "WHAT! That annoying, smug, little jerk that always bullies Kohaku!"
Hisui nodded. "Yes. He helped to heal her broken heart. She's fallen out of love with Shuichiro."
Ransho looked worried. "But, for that to happen, a love stronger than her love for Shuichiro must now reside in her heart. That's …"
"Extremely rare," Touki finished. "Especially for an angel."
"So she's in love with Koryu!" Ryuki cried.
"I believe so," Hisui responded calmly. "But I don't think she realizes it, and she might even be afraid to accept it."
Ransho sat down, as did the other archangels. "Why do you think that is?" he asked.
Hisui thought for a moment. "There could be many reasons. For one, she may be reluctant to believe that she could be in love with Koryu, of all beings, for he's very mean to her sometimes. Another, more obvious reason would be that she's afraid of getting her heart broken again. So, even if it weren't Koryu, she would still be afraid to love again."
"I see." Touki nodded. "That makes perfect sense."
"So what do you think will happen?" Ransho wondered. "This is quite a situation those two are in."
"Does Koryu love Kohaku?" Ryuki asked, rather calmly for once.
"Without a doubt." Kokuyo folded his arms.
"Are we talking about Master Koryu?"
Two small shadows leapt down from an open window and sauntered into the kitchen. They jumped up onto the table with catlike grace and began rubbing up against Kokuyo, purring contently.
Kokuyo looked down at the two demon-felines in surprise. "Hari and Ruri?"
"Hello Master Kokuyo!" Hari purred.
"Where have you two been? I haven't seen you for …" Kokuyo thought, "nearly fifty years."
"We were taking a little vacation," Ruri explained. "We spent a lot of time in Egypt. You may see us as servants, but in Egypt cats are sacred."
Kokuyo rolled his eyes. "Who told you you could take a vacation? Servants don't take vacations!" He paused. "How the hell did you get to Egypt?"
"Master Koryu took us when he left thirty years ago," Hari said.
"Ah yes." Kokuyo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That was when he took his 'little vacation'."
The black cats traded bemused glances, their yellow eyes glittering. "His 'little vacation'," they purred in unison.
Hisui watched the cats carefully. "What aren't you telling us?" she asked gently.
"His 'vacation'," Hari said, "was more like a 'getaway' …"
Ransho looked at the demon curiously. "A getaway from what?"
"From heartache," Ruri said, being purposely blunt to annoy the angels and demons hanging on their every word.
"Kohaku," Hisui breathed. She looked sincerely concerned, her usual pleasant smile melting into a frown.
"So let me get this straight," Ryuki chimed in. "Koryu was jealous of Shuichiro and Kohaku, and the fact that Kohaku didn't love Koryu caused him heartache, which led to Koryu's thirty-year disappearance. While he was gone, Shuichiro left Kohaku, breaking her heart to the point of making her fatally ill. And the only one who could've helped heal her heart was gone because he himself was suffering a terrible heartache from her being with the man who left her and broke her heart …" Ryuki put his head in his hands and groaned. "This is so confusing."
"It gets worse," Touki said. "After Koryu returned, he discovered that he loved Kohaku, but she was still in love with Shuichiro. Therefore, Koryu now thinks he doesn't have a chance with Kohaku. But, while Kohaku was ill, she realized her true feelings, falling out of love with Shuichiro and in love with Koryu. But Koryu still thinks that Kohaku loves Shuichiro, so he's not going to tell her how he feels any time soon. And, in the meantime, Kohaku isn't going to tell him how she feels because she doesn't know that he feels the same way. To make matters worse, Koryu's just going to go about his normal routine and make her miserable with his bullying in order to hide his true feelings, which is going to give Kohaku the wrong idea of how he really feels about her." Touki closed her eyes, sat back, and folded her arms.
"You are very perceptive," Ransho noted. "How did you know all that?"
Touki opened her eyes and gave Ransho a shrewd sidelong glance. "I am the archangel of Water. Water is the element of love and emotions." She shot Ryuki a look. "And unlike some angels, I observe the world around me in quiet contemplation instead of blowing up in everyone's face."
"This is quite a situation," Hisui muttered.
"What are we going to do?" Ransho asked.
"I think we should just stay out of it," Kokuyo mumbled.
Touki and Hisui nodded.
"That's a good idea," Touki agreed. "Let's just let them work it out themselves."
---
Kohaku floated quietly behind Koryu, careful not to make a sound as Koryu tramped down the street. She had been following him for a while now. She'd followed him around the neighborhood, making sure she kept her distance so as not to betray her presence. She'd followed him into town, where he'd continued to traipse around angrily for a while (how long exactly, Kohaku didn't know), and out of town. Since then, he'd been following some sort of direction for nearly two miles, and all he'd done all the while was mumble and growl incoherently to himself.
He didn't seem to be aware of the angel following him as closely and quietly as his shadow.
Koryu had set out on this walk to vent his frustration. Since leaving town, he didn't really know where he was going, but he found his feet leading him towards his favorite park. Upon arriving, he walked among the beautiful, bare trees and brittle foliage. He stopped at the edge of a pond. The park was, again, mostly deserted, or maybe it was just the part he was in. Either way, he was enveloped in the arms of peaceful solitude. The pond was surrounded by trees and bushes, making it pretty much secluded. Koryu was used to it … being …
Alone.
He stared down into the pond and saw his reflection in the liquid-crystal surface. He frowned. Why didn't Kohaku love him? What was wrong with him? Certainly he was as attractive as Shuichiro …
But then again, Kohaku wasn't the shallow type. She could care less about a person's looks.
Koryu lashed out angrily at his reflection, marring the flawless surface of the pond. Ripples began fanning out to the edges of the pool, and his reflection was temporarily obscured. The water clinging to his hand was ice-cold, and he shivered.
When next he looked down at his reflection, he saw another face next to his, peering over his shoulder ...
Kohaku.
He gasped and stumbled backwards, only to bump into the angel, who was standing behind him.
They fell to the ground, Koryu landing on Kohaku. Once the two realized what was going on, Koryu smirked.
"Get off!" Kohaku demanded.
Koryu was sitting on the angel as if she were a chair. "Oh, come on. I'm not that heavy, am I?"
"Well, you're heavier than me," Kohaku mumbled.
"What was that!" Koryu snapped. "You're way fatter than me!"
"No way!" Kohaku groaned. "Rrrrgh … Koryu! Get off!"
But the demon just sat back, treating Kohaku like a lawn chair, and folded his arms behind his head. "Not until you take back what you said. Besides, you're pretty comfortable," he taunted.
Kohaku huffed. Even though she couldn't see Koryu's face, she knew he was grinning wickedly. What a jerk. She sighed. What was she going to do now?
"Ah, what a lovely day," Koryu said teasingly.
"Kor-yu!" Kohaku yelled. "Move your fat butt!"
"Oh, now I'm definitely not moving!" Koryu leaned back so that Kohaku had to turn her head to the side in order to keep her nose from being squished by the demon's head. His raven hair fell across her face.
Then, a sweet scent filled her nose. She took a deep breath. What was that smell? And why was it so familiar?
It smelled like … night rain, which was odd because it wasn't nighttime and it wasn't raining.
It was Koryu.
"Th-That smell …" Kohaku whispered.
Koryu peered over his shoulder at the angel beneath him. "Oh, so now not only am I fat, but I smell, too?"
"N-No!" Kohaku cried. "It's a good smell."
Koryu suddenly seemed sincerely curious. "What … do I smell like?"
"Night rain," Kohaku replied softly.
Koryu frowned. "What the hell is that?"
"Like when it rains at night," Kohaku explained. "The cool, calm scent of the night mixed with the sweet smell of rain …"
"Hmph." Koryu looked away. "Despite the fact that you just complimented me, I'm still not moving until you apologize for calling me fat."
But Kohaku barely heard him. Her memory was reeling, pulling her mind into a memory of one morning a week or so past. It was the morning, just before dawn, when Koryu had come home. That morning, she had been sick and a bit disoriented, blurting things she would've rather not said … especially to Koryu.
She had also done things she would've rather not done, like leaning against Koryu, looking for consolation and comfort. She distinctly recalled him wrapping his arms around her and holding her close, as if he really cared about her.
But she had thought that was just a dream.
But then, how could she remember his scent so clearly? Surely the only time she'd gotten close enough to the demon to the point that she could recognize his smell – besides now, of course –was that night. So, had it really happened?
But Koryu said it hadn't. "What are you talking about, bubblehead? I never held you!" Had he been lying? Had he been taking advantage of her delirium and foggy memory, playing along with her idea that it had been a dream?
The memory of that morning flashed so clearly through Kohaku's mind that she jumped up in surprise, pushing the demon off of her.
"Hey!" Koryu staggered forward and toppled into the pond with a splash.
Kohaku gasped. She ran to the edge of the pool as Koryu tried to get out … with little success. Kohaku grabbed his hands and helped pull him out. She fell back, breathing heavily, as Koryu stood with his hands on his knees, also gasping for breath.
"W-W-What was th-that all a-about?" he spluttered. He was freezing, soaked in icy water, shivering, his teeth chattering.
"I-I'm sorry!" Kohaku cried. "I … I just remembered something that … eh … startled me."
"W-Well th-that's just grea-great for y-y-you," he snapped. His wings sprouted from his back and he took to the sky, hurrying back to the house to dry off.
"Koryu!" Kohaku called and, her own snow-white wings materializing behind her, took off after him.
---
Koryu burst through the front door, followed shortly by Kohaku.
"Koryu!" Kohaku called after the demon as he made his way to the kitchen.
He whirled on her. "What!" he shouted.
"I … I'm sorry that I … er … knocked you into the pond," Kohaku said softly.
Koryu didn't respond. He just turned back around, his drenched robes flaring out behind him, and continued towards the kitchen.
He stopped dead as he was met with six pairs of inquiring eyes. Kohaku stopped in the kitchen entrance, too, as she recognized their guests.
"Master Touki! Master Ransho! Master Ryuki!" she greeted nervously, bowing deeply.
But Koryu's eyes were fixed on the two demon-cats. "Ruri and Hari?" he asked dumbly.
They leapt off the table and immediately began rubbing up against Koryu's legs. Moments later they hissed and pulled back.
"Master Koryu, you're all wet!" Hari mewed.
"And cold!" Ruri added.
"So I've noticed," the demon grumbled. He left towards the bathroom, intending on taking a hot bath to warm up.
"Kohaku, what happened?" Hisui asked calmly.
"It's a long story," Kohaku replied dismissively. "Basically, I accidentally pushed him into a pond." Then she turned to the three Angel Masters. "What brings you three here?" she asked, forcing a pleasant smile.
"Oh, we're just visiting," Ransho said, smiling back. "We've missed you and Hisui."
"And we've missed Master Koryu and Master Kokuyo, and you, too, Kohaku!" Ruri chimed in, leaping into Kohaku's arms.
"Yeah!" Hari agreed, rubbing up against Kohaku's leg, purring contently.
"Well," Hisui said, standing up, "I'd say it's about time for lunch."
Kohaku looked puzzled. "But we just had breakfast."
"Little one, that was nearly four hours ago. It's now time for lunch," Kokuyo explained calmly.
Upon learning this, Kohaku found that she was, indeed, a bit weary and hungry. She nodded and sat down at the table to talk with the other angels as Hisui prepared the food (or, in the angels' cases, milk and honey).