Once again, I appeared just about ten feet above the ground. I had time to spread my wings but that was about it. Directly below me, a young man jumped as something hit his head. He felt for it and came back with a pure black feather. "Huh…?" He looked up just in time for me to land on top of him. The girl he was walking with cried out in shock and jumped away from us.
"Oh crap, I'm so sorry!" I squealed as I tried to get up but Akumei was on top of me as well. Beneath the two of us, the man's arms flailed and he grabbed hold of the front of my shirt, pulling downwards. I shrieked and slapped him full across the face before I realized what I was doing. "Oh, I'm sorry!"
"Don't be." The girl came back and helped lift Akumei off me as she glared at the guy. She had pretty brown, mid back length hair. The boy had short black hair and glasses, which had been knocked off from the slap.
After I was up and holding Akumei again, I turned and smiled towards her. "Thanks." I murmured awkwardly.
She smiled back pleasantly as the young man began helping himself up. "No problem. If you don't mind my asking… where did you come from just now?"
"You came out of nowhere!" The boy added and then stopped short. "Hey… what are you?"
"Keitaro, that's rude!" She shouted at him.
I just laughed. "Don't worry about it. I get that all the time. Truth is I'm a demon who's traveling between different worlds as I try to return to my own. Ugh, everyone's staring at me…"
"Well you do kind of stick out from the average person." The girl pointed out, seeming to accept my story with ease. "Oh, I'm Naru."
"I'm Kira." I smiled, taking the offered hand.
"And I'm Keitaro." The boy pitched in.
"Nice to meet you both." I nodded slightly and then looked at my dirt smeared clothes. "As you can see I'm definitely dressed to meet people…"
"We can fix that if you wouldn't mind coming with us." Naru offered. "We were just returning home."
"I don't want to cause any trouble…"
"Nonsense, it's no trouble at all! As long as he keeps his hands to himself…" She added, shooting a glare at Keitaro who held up his hands defensively.
I laughed slightly. "Alright…" I followed the two down the sidewalk, walking with my head bowed. Once again, I had pulled out Kaidoh's bandana to hide the ears. The tail was wrapped around my waist and the wings were folded in as tightly as possible. They were still really noticeable though and people wouldn't stop staring. There was also the fact that I was half dragging an unconscious man beside me. "Is it far…?" I asked nervously.
"Nope, we're here!" Naru declared and I looked up, seeing a flight of stone stairs. After a short while of walking up them, I gasped out. "Wow! You live here? It's huge!" Sitting before us was a house, wooden and at least three stories high.
"Well there are others too." Naru laughed. "It's an all girls hotel."
"Then… Why's Keitaro here?" I asked.
She gave an exasperated sigh. "He's the manager…"
"Oh…" I murmured as I followed the pair inside.
She had me set Akumei, my camera with Kaidoh's bandana, and my sword in an unused room and then hang a sign on the door that said, "Do not disturb" so hopefully nobody would enter. Next, we went to her room. "Alright, give me your clothes so I can make sure they're washed."
"Umm… what do I change into?" I asked.
"This." She handed me a towel.
"What…?" My face was gradually growing redder.
"There are hot springs here. It's getting dark so it'll be nice." She smiled. "Don't worry, we'll all girls here and Keitaro isn't allowed in."
"Well I've never been in hot springs before…" I murmured as I began to undress. I quickly wrapped the towel tightly around myself, dropping it low in the back for the wings, as Naru changed as well. Then she took my clothes and we went back into the hall.
We passed a younger girl with short, dark hair who was holding a basket of clothes. Naru greeted her happily. "Hey Shinobu! Would you mind washing these for us?" She requested.
"Ok…" The girl nodded and took my clothes, adding them to the basket. She turned to me, smiling softly. "Hello, I'm Shinobu."
"I'm Kira." I grinned, shaking hands with her.
"Are you a friend of Naru's?"
"Yep! We're heading to the hot springs." Naru replied for me.
"I'll join you later." Shinobu said. "I think the others are already there."
"Alright, see you soon…!" Naru called after her as the girl continued down the hall, but not before stealing another curious glance at me. "This way." Naru directed as we started off again. Soon we came to doors leading outside and went through to the springs. There were rocks everywhere jutting out of the water and steam floating just above the surface. Sitting around various places were several girls.
"Hey Naru…" One of them called. "Who's your friend?"
"Her name's Kira and she's never been to a hot spring before so I invited her."
"Does she have some kind of anime obsession?" Another asked, referring to the ears and wings. The tail was hidden under the towel.
"Nope, they're real!" Naru smiled.
I looked away from all the sudden stares I was receiving. Finally, the one who had asked in the first place shrugged. "Well, come on in. It feels really good tonight."
"Alright, thanks…" I murmured as I slipped off the towel and slid into the water. I shivered at first and then got used to the heat, staying with my chin just touching the surface. "Wow…" I laughed slightly.
"See? It's great living here with it." Naru grinned and then introduced me to everyone. The girl who had asked about my ears was Mitsune. She had short brown hair and was not modest in any way about hiding herself in the water or telling what she thought. She was the oldest at nineteen. Next was long black haired, fifteen year old Motoko who seemed often serious and mostly into martial arts. She was the main person who watched over the hyperactive foreign exchange student, Kaolla Su whose bright, short blonde hair definitely stood out from the usual dark. Su was also the youngest at only thirteen. Naru was seventeen and I was sixteen, right in the middle. Shinobu, the mild mannered one who turned out to also be thirteen, joined us shortly and informed me that the clothes had been hung up to dry.
"Thanks." I smiled and the regular chatting resumed. At one point, Su leapt onto my shoulders and began tugging on my ears until Motoko forcibly removed her. That was really the only interesting thing that happened. Gradually it quieted as it grew later and we all just relaxed. "Wait a second…" I whispered suddenly.
"What?" Naru asked.
"There's no moon tonight…" I frowned.
"Why does that matter?" Mitsune questioned.
"Well, just be ready for a sudden change in my appearance…" I warned. Sure enough, just a few minutes after I had said this, I began to glow softly. Everyone stared as the ears and tail disappeared along with the facial markings. The nails and claws shrunk to normal human length and the pure black hair swirled into sliver. I blinked my eyes and when they reopened, they were ice blue. The glowing faded and I sighed, explaining before they could ask. "I'm not a full demon, close, but not quite. Because of this, I transform into a human one night a month and tonight's the night."
"You still have wings!" Su cried out joyfully as she began playing with them.
"Since they're not part of my demon form, they stay."
"Your human self had wings?" Shinobu asked in wonder.
I laughed. "No, I was in a fight and a demon threw some gas at me. When I inhaled it, I grew these wings. They are not natural, but I am stuck with them now. I am able to pull them in and out but it's really painful and I prefer not to. Oh, can I make a request?"
"Sure, go ahead." Mitsune replied.
"I need a big group picture of us all, including Keitaro as well." I had told them earlier about it and the reason why, so they easily accepted now. "Alright!" I grinned as we all headed out in a big group to change into real clothes. I myself remained in just a towel as I waited for Shinobu to get ready so she could take me to where she had hung my clothes to dry. She finished and I followed nervously, holding the towel tightly around myself.
"Don't worry, we'll be there soon." She smiled and almost immediately stopped at a door. She slid it open and we went through to where a bunch of clothes were hanging on lines, blowing softly in the wind. She pulled mine down and handed them to me. After, we ducked into her room where I changed quickly and then we headed to the unused room where Akumei was. I grabbed my camera and we both rejoined the others. Keitaro was with them now as well.
"So everyone's here?" I asked as Shinobu and I walked up.
"Yes." Naru nodded. After a bit of scurrying around, we all finally had a place where we'd be seen and I snapped the picture before everyone scattered again.
"Thank you very much." I smiled. Suddenly, I gave a soft moan and fell to one knee, waving them off before they could interrupt.
Kira…?
Yeah, I'm here.
Are you ready?
Yes, but will it mess anything up if I move a bit?
No, I don't think so…
Good, because I need to.
All right, I'll give you a minute to get ready.
Thanks… I stood and smiled around at everyone, wincing very slightly. "That was the girl who's transporting me. I just have to get Akumei and my sword and then it's time for me to go. Heh, don't know why but it hurts my head slightly right before she starts talking…" Everyone followed me as I went back to the room and strapped on my sword. I felt Motoko's eyes on it as she owned a katana herself, but I warned her about touching it. Next, I stood Akumei up and held his arm around my shoulder. "Well, thanks for everything. The hot springs was a great break from everything!" We all said our goodbyes and just as the last person was finishing, I began to glow. With a soft grin and a wave, I disappeared from the room.
"Sent her… again…" The girl sighed and her eyes fluttered closed immediately again.
"She's tiring herself out." Kyoshi murmured. "How much longer do you think she'll last?" Hiei just grunted, arms crossed over his chest, so Kyoshi continued. "I told her to get some real sleep but she's just going into light dazes so she won't have to pause in her searches. She is really determined to bring Kira back… I just hope she doesn't hurt herself or anything…"
