Part Two: Ani?
The next morning finds Kuwabara on the verge of hyperventilation. He has gotten no sleep and is not about to while being cuddled into one of the most dangerous demons in the Makai. 'Please don't let him wake up and react badly, please don't let him wake up and react badly, PLEASE don't let him wake up and react badly,' he thinks over and over AND over again. By the time Oto finally DOES wake up, Kuwabara's mind has gone through a whole list of possible scenarios…none of them good. "Did I pull you close?" Oto inquires.
"Y-yes," Kuwabara responds quietly.
Oto says no more and Kuwabara doesn't push the subject. Both quietly get ready and leave. They had a long day ahead of them and are still trying not to think about why it is they are teamed up. However, it seems to be the only thing Kuwabara CAN think of. He tries once more to sense the smaller demon. There is still nothing and it frustrates him.
Their journey is silent and tense and more often then not Kuwabara wonders how Oto is holding up or what he's thinking. He doesn't like that Oto is so hard to read. The stoic demon was really beginning to make him feel uncomfortable. "He never told you that Ani was released from that plant?" Oto's question throws Kuwabara completely off guard.
"No, no he didn't. If he had, I would have gone to look for him to make sure he wasn't allowed to go around killing people," he responds.
"He wouldn't have wasted his time on killing people. My brother is not like normal demons…well, neither am I but that's not the point. He prefers to keep to himself and as long as others don't bother him, he's happy. It's when you get annoying people who are loud and annoying that it makes him want to kill them."
"So THAT'S why he hates me." Kazuma knows that this is no time to be humorous but he can't help it. The mood was just to tense for him. He sees Oto look at him for a moment before the demon goes back to walking deep in thought. Kuwabara sighs softly. "What happens when we find him?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what happens when we find him?"
"That really depends on the state he's in once we do locate him," Oto responds, "We'll figure it out when we find him." Neither one says it but they both hear the underlying rest of the sentence; "if we find him."
It is late afternoon by the time they reach the next town and both are tired and in need of nourishment and rest. They continue walking looking around for somewhere to stop and rest. The loud clamor of the town does nothing for their already short tempers and neither takes very kindly to the loud noise or the bustling people. And that's when it happens. Someone walks right into Oto. Of course it doesn't even make him budge but the demon is in no mood to deal with unobservant people. "Watch where you are going!" he snaps at the figure.
"M-my apologies, s-sir, I w-wasn't paying attention."
Kuwabara sucks in a deep breath. Even after ten thousand years he'd recognize THAT voice anywhere. Even before the male looks up with those familiar golden eyes, Kazuma knows that it's Ani. But seeing the deep pain held within those orbs breaks his heart. "It's alright," Kuwabara assures him quickly, "He wasn't paying much attention, either."
"I should have been. It's my fault," Ani responds, "It's always my fault."
Kuwabara bites back the scathing comment he wants to make and kneels so that he's eye level with Aniki. "Not everything is your fault. Do you have a name?" he inquires hoping Oto is intuitive enough to keep his mouth shut and say nothing.
"N-no. Slaves don't have names. We don't deserve them."
Kuwabara gives a warning glance at Oto feeling the burly demon's anger rising. "Well, I don't particularly care for such cruelty to another person. Demons shouldn't treat other demons like that."
"I'm not a demon…I'm a slave."
"You are NOT!" Oto growls.
Kazuma inwardly groans wondering if Ani was about to bolt. He wouldn't blame the demon if he did. Oto could sound very threatening when annoyed and at that moment he was a little more than annoyed. "Yes," Ani says quietly, "I am."
"He isn't causing problems, is he gentlemen?" a voice inquires. Ani's frightened expression tells Kuwabara that they had found who owned him.
"Actually, he is," Oto responds suddenly startling not only Ani but Kuwabara as well. The carrot-top stares at the burly demon wondering what the hell he was doing.
"It seems that you are in need of another lesson, slave," the demon says coldly to Ani. Watching the smaller demon shrink further only infuriates Kuwabara. He wants nothing more than to lash out and kill the demon where he stands. However, Kuwabara realizes Oto's entire plan when the demon turns back towards him and says, "Would it please you to teach him his place, sir?"
"Absolutely," Oto responds. Though it definitely sickens Kuwabara, he realizes that Oto hadn't had much of a choice. There would have been no easy way to get to Ani if he hadn't mentioned that he was being bothered by the smaller demon.
The carrot-top takes a few minutes to look over Ani while Oto and the demon talk. It is heartbreaking to see how absolutely pitiful Ani looks. Nowhere does he see the fighter he'd met and feared at Tarukane's or subsequent meetings after that. Finally, he hears the demon turn to start walking off. "There is an inn down to the right, Kuwabara. I'll meet you two there in a little while."
It doesn't take Kuwabara long to figure out where Oto was going or what the demon had planned. "Slowly and painfully, Oto," he says. The demon looks back at him and he sees the dark glint even through the glasses.
"I plan on it. Clean him up and try to get him to realize that we are not going to hurt him."
"Will do," Kuwabara responds before slowly approaching Ani, "Come on, you're filthy and need a bath." He knows that Ani's not going to want him close but to watch him recoil from him just breaks his heart. Whatever had happened in the past, the small demon hadn't deserved this…not at all. They both walk down the road and Kuwabara watches as he walks near him but not near enough to let Kuwabara get a hold of him. "I'm not going to hurt you…he isn't either."
"You need not promise me anything, master," Ani responds tonelessly.
"Kazuma," Kuwabara says softly, "my name is Kazuma. Please don't call me master."
"It is expected. Slaves do not call their master's by name." His voice is hollow and emotionless and Kuwabara would give anything to hear his nemesis as he had sounded at the Dark Tournament. Anything not to have to hear this hollow, dead tone. 'I am so going to kill Koenma for this,' he thinks, 'I really am.'
He arrives at the inn and requests a single room. He sees the amused expression on the demon's face and realizes what he thinks he's going to do. Giving him an ugly look, Kuwabara leads Ani up the stairs to the room. He doesn't know what to expect when he tries to bathe him but he's sure that it's not going to be good.