Tohru's Demons

Chapter Sixteen: Unveiling Secrets


Whatever the Sohmas had been expecting upon entering Hell, what they saw was not it. Luscious grass spread out in all directions across hills and valleys, webbed through with small, rock-filled streams. The blood-red sun was just settling down into the horizon, coloring the sky vibrantly with orange, pink and golden hues, and set upon on either side by mountains that rose like wolfs' teeth into the small, golden clouds.

It was an understatement to say that the Sohmas' jaws dropped.

"Th-this place is... magnificent." Yuki breathed as he passed through the door. "This is actually Hell?"

"Actually, the demons here refer to it as Dis," Tohru informed him cheerfully as she waited for everyone to get through the window. After Artemis had passed, she quickly closed it and trotted her horse up to the front of the line to walk next to Yuki. Kyo quietly brought his horse up on her other side, Kagura a little behind him. Suddenly Tohru stopped and looked around, her brows furrowed in perplexity.

"Artemis..." she started, her face blushing slightly, as she turned to look at the wolf-demon. "Do you know where the castle is...?" Kyo almost fell off his horse while a bead of sweat ran down Yuki's face at that statement.

"You mean to tell me you have no idea where we are?" bellowed the Cat.

"Shut up, you idiot." Yuki said coolly, his eyes closed in annoyance.

"Why don't you try and make me, prissy boy?!" Kyo yelled back angrily.

"Both of you shut up!" Artemis barked as he made his way towards them. Yuki and Kyo turned to glare at him.

"This isn't any of your concern," said Yuki with cold politeness.

"Yeah, butt out!" snapped Kyo. Artemis let out a dangerous snarl as his hackles rose and his mouth opened, revealing gleaming white fangs. The boys paled as their horses shied away from the suddenly terrifying, and very large, wolf standing next to them, looking like he was ready to attack.

"Artemis, cut it out, you're scaring the horses," rebutted Tohru gently with mild annoyance.

"Why should I have to put up with them?" Artemis demanded. "They're only humans." Tohru gave him a cold glare before deciding to change the subject.

"Do you know where Lucifer's castle is or not?"

"How should I know where it is? I haven't been back here since you left almost three years ago," he snapped scornfully and turned away in annoyance. "There ought to be a demon around here somewhere that can tell us." Tohru nodded and turned to Raha, who was seated behind her on her horse's rump.

"Raha, could you fly up and see if there are any demons about?" she asked sweetly. Raha looked at her as if to say, 'What's in it for me?'

"Come on, please Raha?" When he still didn't move she added, "I'll give you coffee when we get there." She seemed to have said the magic word. Raha immediately spread his wings and took off into the sky to circle over them.

"Coffee?" Yuki questioned.

"Just the beans, he won't touch brewed coffee for some reason."

"That's disgusting..." Kyo muttered and Tohru nodded her agreement. Suddenly, Artemis stepped in closer to the girl and pulled his clothes out of her hands and trotted away to disappear behind a hill without a word.

"Where's he going...?" asked Momiji.

"To change," answered Tohru. "Once he's in wolf form, he's stuck like that for a few hours, but after that he's given a short time to change back willingly, before his body does it for him, regardless of where he is or who he's with. Unless he's hurt, then his body either stays a wolf, or if not, he'll transform into one."

"If he can change on his own, why did he even have to kiss you?!" Kyo demanded angrily.

"His initial transformations are caused by an increase in adrenaline. When injured, your body begins pumping adrenaline, but it can also be triggered by... other things as well."

"You mean, when he kissed you, he got so... excited... that... he..." Yuki started disbelievingly, a look of horror dawning on his face.

"THAT SICK BASTARD!!!" Kyo thundered furiously, so loudly that his horse almost bucked him off for fear. Tohru laid a soothing hand on his mount's neck and it calmed beneath her touch.

"It's not only when he kisses me, if that helps... It also works with other girls, too..."

"What?!" Kyo demanded in outrage. "That makes it even worse!"

"He certainly sounds like the wolf he is," Yuki stated in cold fury. "I'll bet it only works for attractive girls, right?" Tohru nodded mutely, blushing at the hidden compliment.

"You mean if he kissed me, he'd turn into a wolf?" asked Kagura.

"No, because it only works for cute girls, remember?" Kyo snorted scathingly.

"Kyo, you jerk, you're so mean!" Kagura cried, urging her horse forward to throw her fist into his jaw.

"Ow! What the hell was that for? I was only stating the obvious—OUCH!!! Stop hitting me, dammit!" As Kagura tried to pull Kyo off his horse so she could run him over, Isuzu urged her mount up next to Tohru to walk where Kyo had been.

"What is it with you and these horses?" she demanded, catching Tohru by surprise.

"Huh?" asked Tohru, turning towards her in confusion.

"Why don't you listen to people when they're talking to you? I said, what is it with you and these horses?" Isuzu growled irritably.

"I-I'm not sure what you mean, Isuzu-san..."

"What, do I have to spell it out for you?" Isuzu flared. Yuki shot her a warning look, but she ignored it. But when Haru gave her the exact same look, she backed off a bit. When Tohru still looked blank, though, she continued impatiently. "How is it that you practically guessed which horse would be best suited to everyone else, when you hadn't even seen them before?"

"Oh that..."

"And how can you trust that demon's horse not to wander away? It isn't tethered or anything," Isuzu went on, pointing back at Artemis's horse, which was walking passively behind Akito. In fact, it was currently nosing at Akito's pockets, and he kept ill temperedly shoving it away.

"You're not going to believe me if I tell you..." Tohru sighed.

"Honda-san, we turn into animals whenever we're hugged. What won't we believe?" Yuki pointed out politely.

"Good point. Alright... um, how do I put this...? Uh, I guess I could say I have a sort of... connection with animals."

"Connection...?" asked Momiji, coming up behind her.

"Yeah... I can kinda... communicate with all animals..." No one spoke at this statement. They just stared blankly at her for a moment, the stunned silence pressing down on them like an invisible hand.

"Y-you can?" whispered Momiji finally. Tohru nodded mutely, watching them all anxiously, as if afraid of what their reactions would be. They were being surprisingly calm about it, though. After all the strange things they had seen so far and because of their own curse, this wasn't that odd in comparison.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Isuzu demanded. Tohru dropped her head sheepishly.

"My village ostracized me for talking to their farm animals," she replied quietly.

"What?!" Kyo burst out furiously, having finally pushed Kagura onto her own horse. "For talking to animals?!"

"People were very superstitious in my village." Tohru said, trying to calm him down.

"That doesn't make it right!" He objected in complete outrage, refusing to let it slide.

"How old were you?" asked Yuki gently.

"Eleven. But now it's not only animals... I can speak any human language as well..."

"What?!" cried Momiji, looking excited. "So, you can speak German?"

"Ja aber das zählt nicht. Artemis hat es zu mir gelehrt." She answered him in fluent and perfect German, smiling faintly while she turned back to look at him. Momiji squealed in delight.

"Das ist so abkühlt! Jetzt kann ich mit Ihnen ohne Kyo Schlagen mich sprechen!" he giggled happily.

"What did you say?" Kyo demanded.

"That's between me and Tohru-kun!"

"You said my name! I heard you say it!"

"Es ist nicht mein Fehler, den Sie mich nicht verstehen können." Said Momiji with a small smirk at the Cat, while Tohru sweated slightly.

"Quit talking jibberish and speak damned Japanese!"

"I'm sorry, Kyo-kun," said Tohru, trying to calm him down. "I just said to Momiji that Artemis was the one that taught me German, so it doesn't count. But magically, I can speak any language, as long as I have first heard the language spoken and stay in close vicinity with the person or people that spoke it."

"Huh?" said Kyo in confusion.

"Oh, how do I explain this...? Okay, say a person that spoke English came into the room. I don't know English, so they would have to first talk to me. Once they had, I would be enabled to talk to them, in their language. Then if an Italian came in and spoke to me, I would have to speak Italian then, until the English person spoke. I can't know two magical languages at once. If the Italian and the Englishman left, I would be unable to speak either. Do you kind of get it now?" Kyo nodded, looking faintly stunned.

"What else can you communicate with?" asked Haru serenely, completely unruffled by the fact that Tohru could magically speak in tongues.

"What else would she be able to talk to? The trees?" Kyo scoffed.

"Yes," murmured Tohru quietly. Kyo looked at her incredulously.

"I was joking." He said finally.

"I know you were. But I'm not," she replied bashfully.

"You can talk to trees as well...?" murmured Yuki in composed astonishmentt.

"Yes and no. I can hear them sometimes, but I can never make them respond to anything I say..." she replied, a little regretfully.

"What do they say...?" Momiji queried.

"They don't particularly say anything... They sort of... sing..." Tohru looked around at their staggered expressions and giggled slightly, and they gave her perplexity.

"Sorry, but you look a bit over-whelmed. I think that's enough information for one day."

"Yeah." Kyo agreed fervently. "That's enough." Tohru flashed a happy smile at them, but it was not one of her regular smiles. This one held gratitude, and relief, that they had accepted her as readily as she had accepted them.

"Ah, I think Rahallion has spotted a demon," she said, shading her eyes with an arm as she glanced up at the sky.

Somehow, the boys suspected that there was still much about Tohru they didn't yet know, and that they were probably going to find out... whether they were ready for it or not.

To be continued…


Disclaimer: Okay. Okay, this time, I'm going to say it. Just watch me, I will. Okay here it goes. Right... Now. I... I don't... don't... own... I CAN'T DO IT!!!! Okay, sorry! That was a mess up! Do-over! Okay! Okay... I don't... I don't own... Oh, god dammit! This is ridiculous! I DON'T OWN FRUITS BASKEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!! Omigod, I said it...! Yay, I said it with out Shigure making me! I did it, I did it, I did it!!!

Shigure: Good for you!

Raha: I know!!!! I'm totally free! I don't care that I don't own it!!! In fact I'm soooo happy that I think I'll go shove these combustible hamsters down those lawyers' throats over there...

Shigure: O.o


Translations:

Ja aber das zählt nicht. Artemis hat es zu mir gelehrt.— Yes, but it doesn't count. Artemis taught it to me.

Das ist so abkühlt! Jetzt kann ich mit Ihnen ohne Kyo Schlagen mich sprechen!— That's so cool! Now I can talk to you without Kyo hitting me!

Es ist nicht mein Fehler, den Sie mich nicht verstehen können.— It's not my fault you can't understand me.


THANK YOU FWOGGIE!!!!! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!! Thank you so much for catching that little thing with Ayame, I feel like such an IDIOT! I just completely forgot he wasn't even there! Oh, I feel so stupid!!!! If you haven't noticed, I have really horrible memory. I've got like A.D.D. and L.D. too, plus a slight case of short-term memory loss, so it sucks for me, doesn't it...? Anyway, thanks again for pointing that out. GOD DAMMIT I CAN'T BELIEVE I FREAKING DID THAT!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SOOOOO SOOORRRRRYYYYY!!!!!!!!! I'LL APOLOGIZE TO THE WORLD!!! THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay. I'm done.

Also, THANK YOU to FruitsBasketcase and CrazyInsaneAnimeFanGirl (Hey, the spell check doesn't like your names, you know that? Stupid thing, those ARE words! Moron.) for pointing out spelling errors and that Kisa calls Tohru Onee-chan, instead of Onii-chan. I knew one of those was for the girl, but I wasn't sure, so I just guessed. Guess I guessed wrong. Anyway, all of that has been fixed.

And in response to Lewa-the-Punk, why just nine horses...? There are sixteen people there, at least there were the last time I checked, and, might I remind you, Lucifer's pad is a day and a half away, on horseback, if they go fast. Some people would have to walk, and they would slow it down. Right...? Oh, I'm so confused... Please explain...!

Anyway, pertaining to a comment made by the mysterious Dark, I will let Yuki and Kyo fight. Especially Kyo, he's got a new Master. (No, I'm not replacing Kazuma, his old martial arts Master; he'll just have an additional one, whom he fights with on moonlit nights.) I'll betcha can't guess who it is!

-Raha-