A/N: Hello once again, Denizens of the FanFiction Realm!
If you want a bit of a visual representation for what a lur'mog looks like, you could google a baby murloc for reference. A lur'mog's tail is longer, like a rat, and it has loads more teeth, but they're otherwise fairly similar. The lur'mog's front legs are more like a mouse's, however.
Symbols Guide:
* : Written by CM; She writes for Akari and Hiei
3 : Written by Star (supposed to be the 'heart' symbol, but FF doesn't like the 'less-than' sign, so it's a 3 instead); She writes for Toriko/Shikiyoku and Kurama
~!**!~ : A universal transition between scenes or characters, sometimes used to indicate a passage of time, but most often used to transition between major scenes that are happening. As the story progresses, this will evolve into mainly separating the (usually two) scenes happening between authors/characters.
As a general rule, anything in italics is thoughts.
Unless it's used in a sentence like this, which merely indicates emphasis.
"Quotations are usually reserved specifically for telepathic dialogue being transmitted from one being to another, but sometimes this can also mean a character isn't being careful about what they're thinking and anyone with telepathy in the nearby vicinity can listen in without taking any effort."
The only exception to that last rule is for the Shiba Inu dog, Nabu. All of his "spoken" dialogue will be in italics and quotations, but is communicated through body language or dog-like noises, so unless a character is able to translate those they are unlikely to pick up on what he is saying any more than the average person might understand his general moods like aggression (bared teeth, ears back) or excitement (wagging tail).
In this chapter, the small, black dragon that buried itself in Shikiyoku's hair in the last chapter has dialogue. The dragon "speaks" by telepathically projecting images or pictures and emotions directly into the mind. His so-called dialogue will be in quotes and italics, but because this is a fire-breathing dragon, the dialogue will be followed by a tilde, in a similar fashion as the All-Fire, and will look like the following:
"We fire!"~
Previously on Yu Yu Hakusho!
Akari and Yusuke make quick work of an Aswang,
Koenma promising to send in a crew to clean up the mess.
The two of them decide afterwards to go ahead and get something to eat.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku attempts to access her demonic form once she and Hiei are safely away from the city.
She can feel Toriko within her preventing her from doing so.
Her efforts attract nearby demonic creatures, all of who she manages to turn away once she finishes
except for two of them: a lur'mog who is now wrapped around her fingers,
and a little black dragon who tangled itself up in her hair...
Shikiyoku shifted around, feeling spiritually and mentally exhausted from her earlier tirade, which was strange since she had done no actual physical exertion and her weakness came from somewhere else entirely.
Instead of answering, she got up, the unsteadiness of her feet stemming from that same weakness that was not originating from the any weariness of her muscles, but somehow felt more centered in her very core.
She considered the creature still wrapped about her fingers and he blinked his eyes at her as they stared at one another.
"I don't really know what to do with you."
As she stood, the dragon's eyes never left Hiei's right arm, but after she got up, its ruby gaze slowly lifting up to regard Hiei, again with an intelligence that held sparks of something behind its eyes.
Its calm demeanor did not appear to change, but it did puff out of its nose-slits two tiny black tendrils of energy that curled like smoke out and disappeared quickly into the air.
It opened up its mouth in a deliberate fashion as it stared at him and huffed once, a strawberry-sized cloud of that same energy, now easily seen as so dark of a purple that it was nearly black, silently swooshing out of his jaws.
It turned away from him only briefly to start disengaging itself from Shikiyoku's hair, quietly rustling the dark tresses and starting to crawl backwards out of it before stopping and whipping its head back over to stare at Hiei accusingly.
It had seen how he treated the little one, and it wasn't sure whether it really wanted to leave its hidden perch to go all the way over to him if he wasn't going to be receptive to the honor it would be to have a dragon such as itself upon his person. 3
Red eyes followed Shikiyoku's movements as she moved to stand, Hiei searching for any sign that she may collapse again. But as she spoke to the creature on her hand, something else caught his attention. His red gaze turned to the small puff of black-ish smoke that moved through the air from Shikiyoku's locks. Curious, he waited until another puff of that same cloud was seen, larger this time, but making him realize it wasn't exactly black like simple smoke.
Again, he was reminded of his Dragon of the Darkness Flame.
He nearly scoffed in amusement at the movement of the creature that had begun sliding around, only to pause and turn a glare onto him as if he had been ready to pull it from its hiding spot. How could such a small body hold such an amount of emotion in such small, beady eyes?
He met the gaze of the creature and raised a brow patiently at it. He didn't make a move towards it, nor away from it. He simply stood stock still, watching as if a single movement would scare the creature away.
~!**!~
Akari paused in her descent to the earth, looking down at Yusuke and assessing his reply for a moment before continuing the rest of the way down, having to drop about ten feet to the ground from the next-to-lowest branch in the tree.
She landed with knees bent, the shock making her breath shorten just a little. She was being careless, she knew, but what else could she do? She pushed herself to stand and looked down at herself, frowning at the different slashes in her shirt that could have ended very badly.
"We need to stop somewhere first, then," she said to the boy as she walked behind him, not bothering to catch up just yet. "I don't know about you, but torn shirts aren't very comfortable. And humans don't like them." Her tone was slightly amused, her lips twisted into a slight grin. "Hope you don't mind." *
Yusuke wasn't exactly sure how Akari's shirt had been ripped, that is where, so as he kept walking, he slipped off the outer green shirt of his school uniform and held tossed it behind him in the direction he heard her voice coming from, putting his hands back in his pockets once he finished, the breeze picking up the loose edges of his white sleeveless undershirt tucked into the green pants of the uniform.
"I mean, we can still stop. But people might wonder at what happened if you walk around with it torn. We'll avoid punks thinking I did something to you this way."
~!**!~
After gauging the soul behind Hiei's eyes, a color that so appropriately matched to its current eye-color, the dragon made up its mind and continuing extracting itself, delicately removing sharp claws from the long hair it had woven into and backing out the same way it came in.
It clung to Shikiyoku's shirt with its pointed talons as it picked its way backwards until it was entirely free, and the material was thick enough and tight enough on her person that it did not much give with the bit of extra weight the black dragon added.
When free, its wings spread out and it released Shikiyoku entirely, hovering behind her once as its wings beat twice, fluffing her hair with their wind as it twittered a noise at her, and then soared the short distance to Hiei's right shoulder where it sat in a position reminiscent of Maneshi's sphinx stance, tail hanging down Hiei's back, wings folding up once more.
It lowered its head until it was even with Hiei's eyes, and from this distance, it was easy to see that the scarlet orbs set on its face were whirling from red into a lighter orange as it felt the warmth Hiei naturally exuded.
An impression, brief and nothing more, extended into Hiei's mind: an image of a single flame along with an emotion of identification in regards to both itself and the demon it spoke to. The meaning could not have been more clear.
"We fire!"~ 3
Hiei watched the onyx-colored creature unwind from Shikiyoku's hair and move to the air, making a rather curious sound before flapping its wings over to Hiei and perching on the very shoulder that Maneshi normally hopped up to sit on. He stared into the eyes that watched him, searching for… something. He wasn't sure what it was he was looking for within the gaze that stared back into his own.
Crimson eyes widened as a brief image flashed across his mind's eye and he momentarily sneered in satisfaction, the creature seemingly approving of Hiei's presence in a way that was unique, in the fire demon's opinion.
"Interesting." He eyed the creature for a moment before continuing on. "Indeed, fire."
He turned back to Shikiyoku. "This one isn't so bad."
~!**!~
Akari rolled her eyes as the jacket was tossed her direction, easily catching it from the air and pulling it over her arms and shoulders, buttoning it up enough to cover the damaged part of her shirt. She adjusted it, surprised at the difference in size between herself and him. Sure, she had known he had muscle, but this jacket just about ate her. She didn't even have to worry about it brushing against her shirt's torso where her wound had reopened.
That was one less problem.
"Thanks," she said to him almost lazily, her hands playing with the end of the jacket as she considered it.
Kurama's would be considerably larger due to his height difference.
The physical jerk she made at that thought was a violent one, her mouth releasing a sound she hadn't made very often in her life, and could only be described as an "erk" sound. She ground her teeth together, and her gaze hardened.
If she would have been looking in a mirror, she likely would have hit it to symbolise punching herself in the face for the ridiculous thought.
What had even prompted it anyway?!
She realized she had stopped moving and quickly made her feet continue on again. *
Yusuke stopped when they made it all the way back to the edge of the alleyway, certain by this time that Akari had covered up, but hesitant to actually turn around until she joined him.
"So, where's this ramen place? I think I could eat about now."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku looked over at the dragon and its new perch, reaching up with her free hand to smooth down the hair that had gotten rustled around by the creature.
For a reason she understood, but at that moment chose to claim otherwise about, Shikiyoku could feel the pang of jealousy that wrenched her stomach at the obvious approval Hiei held for the dragon.
She turned back to the lur'mog that was still woven in her fingers, its tail wrapped about two or three of them.
"I suppose you're not all that much trouble." She sighed at it.
It chittered at her as if it could hear the resignation in her voice, as if it could hear that it won the right to stick around.
Shikiyoku didn't really expect it to stay all that long, but for the moment...what else was she to do?
When the dragon turned its head back to regard Shikiyoku, its eyes whorled back to red and the thrumming sound it made at its chest sounded strikingly akin to a cat's purr.
It lowered its head down to Hiei's eyes again, this time the red swirling into emerald.
An impression of a giant dragon, many many times larger in size than the tiny one at his shoulder, so full of energy that it did not appear to have a body and was only made of insubstantial dark-purple energy, brushed Hiei's mind from the dragon on his shoulder. Along with it came a sense of questionness.
"...Where?"~ 3
Hiei, without knowing he did as such, mirrored the dragon's movements by turning to look at Shikiyoku at the exact same time the creature on his shoulder did, watching her interact with the small animal that had wound its way around her fingers. For a moment, he thought it actually fit her, perhaps even Toriko too, if it were not for its origins being the Demon World. It was a calm, docile creature it seemed, and Shikiyoku seemed to not mind it so much as it seemed able to keep out of trouble.
He turned back to the dragon on his shoulder in time to see the small head swivel back to him as well, red turning green as their gazes interlocked and odd sensations, pictures, swooped before his mind's eye. He raised a brow, confused. Why would it know of his dragon?
He could assume they were from a certain line of ancestry, or it could be that this dragon could feel the energy of the dragon Hiei had consumed for his own personal desire. For his own use when necessary.
He lifted his right arm to allow the sleeve to fall down halfway between his elbow and his wrist, the cloth bunching up there where it could go no further without him forcing it up his arm. He held up the darkened tattoo as if asking this?
~!**!~
Akari shook her head at herself as she walked, not even realizing Yusuke had paused at the mouth of the alleyway before she had almost run into him.
A second time.
She gave a small sigh and stepped around him. "It's not too far from here. Just a couple of blocks," she explained, taking the lead as she rubbed a hand to her forehead. "Toriko showed it to me a few months ago. It's my personal favorite, and I suppose that's because it was the first one I'd tried." This small explanation wasn't for Yusuke's knowledge, but for her own distraction as her mind made a very strong attempt to shift back to earlier thoughts.
"The chef is nice as well. Good man, sometimes makes specials if you catch him on a really good day. If you make him laugh, your meal is free." *
"Well, if the food is worth it," Yusuke raised an eyebrow as they started off again, "I'll have to come up with a good joke or something, right?"
He looked up, contemplating as his eyes scanned the sky.
"Any suggestions for subjects?"
~!**!~
At the sight of the dragon on his arm, the emerald eyes widened into red, but very quickly swirled with so many different colors that the hues were difficult to make out. There was certainly purple and blue, green among them, and definitely pink, but the pink was brief as the dragon turned back to Hiei and appeared to regard him in a new light, eyes finally settling into a jasper-orange and almost gleaming.
An image of a dark-purple dragon being struck by something fatal and then swirling into nothingness, accompanied by an overwhelming emotion of sorrow, passed over into Hiei's head. The image went on further to reshow the dragon bleeding and its spirit leaving its body as its eyes closed-as if in deeper explanation of the first image-the spirit taking on an energized form, then the picture shifted to that spirit flying over what could be nothing other than the Ninth Level of Demon World as the ground beneath it was covered with red foliage.
Shikiyoku, having been occupied with thoughts of the lur'mog, only started to look over at Hiei when she saw him move his arm up from his side, and when his sleeve fell away she sucked in a giant breath, a gasp, her eyes widening as she saw the black tattoo that wove about his arm. 3
Hiei watched the many different colors move through the dragon's eyes, the many different impressions moving across Hiei's own mind's eye. He wasn't sure exactly what the dragon was thinking, or saying, or whatever it was it was doing now. He simply waited, half prepared for the rage of such a small creature.
When the color of the dragon's gaze became orange, he didn't react. Not outwardly. Inwardly though, he was slightly curious. Nothing more. Not even when Shikiyoku's sharp intake of breath broke the silence of the clearing that had settled for a few moments.
His eyes refocused on the dragon on his shoulder, staring unblinkingly, void of any and all emotions. He didn't say anything. What could he say? He wasn't sure what exactly the tizzy was about. Yes, it was the tattoo of the dragon, but it wasn't the actual dragon, only the impression of the actual beast in his arm.
If he could, he likely would have allowed the dragon free for the moment to allow the two to interact, but quite frankly, he didn't think it possible since it now did his bidding and was under his complete control.
So he just stood there, staring blankly.
~!**!~
Akari shrugged. "That's the thing. I can't tell you." A wicked smile formed on her lips. "If I do, I'd have to kill you."
She continued on until the stand was in sight, the smell of ramen wafting to her nose on the breath of air that whispered through town. She took a deep breath of it, and just as quickly as any unbidden thoughts had turned her mood sour, the smell of ramen made her mood return to a rather pleasant one.
"Truthfully, I haven't made him laugh yet. Except once."
She moved the flags that hung over the small opening of the stand, ducking just slightly as her eyes looked up to find the chef turning to look at her over his shoulder.
"Akari! You haven't been in a while! You've been avoiding me?" He turned his back on her over the stove before he could see Yusuke.
Akari gave a small, lopsided smile. "Nope, Shyn, just been busy. School, y'know?"
"Right right! Have a seat. Your usual?"
"Of course."
He turned to her with a small smile of familiarity before his eyes zeroed in on the jacket she wore, then shifted to Yusuke. "You're a new face." He paused, glancing back to Akari and leaning forward. "New guy friend, eh?"
"Not entirely. Not the way you think, anyway. He's claimed."
"Too bad." He turned to Yusuke. "What can I get for you, young man?" *
Yusuke gave a good-natured laugh and threw his arm over Akari's neck, resisting the strong urge to grab her cheek in a pinch.
"It's too bad for you, Red. I know you're so into me and all."
He let her go and turned back to the chef, "Whatever she usually gets." He jabbed a thumb at Akari.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku turned away and covered her face with a hand, her shoulders starting to shake, but she couldn't contain the laughter for very long and she threw her head back and barked it out, hands on her hips and a disgruntled looking lur'mog hanging onto several strands of her hair and glaring at her for moving so quickly.
The dragon turned to regard her, its eyes swirling red when it first looked at her, but quickly shifting to purple right before it closed its eyes with an expression that reflected the laughter Shikiyoku let loose in the clearing. 3
Hiei's brow raised curiously as the clearing suddenly burst into the sound of laughter, his eyes turning to Shikiyoku. Her laughter was, in his mind, unnecessary. Then again, he didn't know what she was laughing about, so he stared for a few moments before turning to look at the dragon as well, seeing a very similar expression on its face.
His own expression shifted to mild irritation.
"What's so funny?"
~!**!~
Akari raised a brow at Yusuke as his arm landed on her shoulders, silently wondering if this was his attempt to make the chef laugh at him for a free meal. "Sure, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night," she said as she broke away, taking a seat at the small bar-like counter and leaning forward.
"You bet," the considerably larger man said with a nod, turning to begin making the two ramen bowls. "So, why are you here, now, of all times? If school is so busy, why skip?"
Akari gave a small laugh that barely concealed her nervousy. "I needed a break."
"The weekend just ended?"
"An extended break."
A beat of silence. "And you, uh.."
"Yusuke," Akari informed.
"Yusuke. Why are you out of class?" *
Yusuke sat down on the stool next to Akari, his expression serious as he leaned forward and put his elbows down on the counter, folding his hands together up by his face and resting his nose on his fingers, listening to the shift in Akari's voice.
Dammit, she isn't supposed to be thinking about all that. That was the point.
Yusuke turned to the man, whose name Yusuke had promptly forgotten, his face never faltering.
"I had to save the world."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku held up a hand as she caught her breath, wanting to reassure Hiei that she did not mean to raise his ire at her, but choking a little before she could recover herself.
"I...you...eheh." She chuckled again, "No wonder...heh." She took a second and cleared her throat. "Do you know what that is?" She finally managed to ask, waving her hand in the direction of his tattoo. "Or rather, do you know what that was?" 3
Hiei raised a brow. Of course he knew what it was. He'd defeated it, hadn't he? He didn't reply right away, only taking to holding his hand up so the sleeve fell again, revealing the tattoo once more for him to survey.
How was such a powerful being… funny to her?
He decided not to give his full-blown explanation of an answer, and decided to wave his hand at her to continue on, to make it easier for the both of them. Either he learned something new, or he could simply tell her he had already been aware and go about his business.
~!**!~
Akari's eyes cut to Yusuke curiously, realizing the angle he was going to play. And for once, she thought she might hear the man actually laugh full-blown.
But he merely looked over his shoulder at Yusuke with a smirk and a raised brow. "Is that so? Tell me, what from? Another flood? The wrath of hell?"
Akari snorted. He was close.
"I'd love to hear your heroic adventure, son." *
"There's an evil emperor of another realm who has sent his avatar to try and win a tournament our realm holds every fifty years because he's lost his own body and for some stupid reason winning the tournament is gonna help him get it back." Yusuke looked thoughtful, "I never really understood how that part worked." He shrugged. "But I have to win the tournament for whatever reason. So he doesn't get his body back I guess. I never understood the plotline really. There's just a lot of fighting and I really like that part."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku raised an eyebrow. Surely Hiei was only playing stupid with her.
The dragon seemed to have the same impression, though it opened its eyes and turned to look at Hiei, purple color swirling into the questioning of green.
"The being that tattoo represents dates back to the beginning of the ninth level. The first demon, the original fire demon, became too strong for this realm to hold him. In order to prevent it falling apart around him, he separated the darkest flames from himself and created the element demons refer to as 'darkness flame.' At least...that's the story demons tell. Maybe even one you've heard yourself." She didn't wait to see if he would grace her with an affirmation or a negative, going on, "Truth is, when the fire demon separated that part of himself, it was so strong, and so sentient, that it manifested in a physical form: a female demon able to freely wield the flames from which she had been created. He took her as his mate.
"When she died, her spirit remained so strong that she did not, could not, pass to the other realm, and her ghost took to the skies of the ninth level in the form of this massive black dragon made up of the darkness flames and she wrecked havoc for eons. She was still flying around when I was born. Tons of demons tried to harness her power, thinking she was only an element to be controlled and not an actual spirit."
Her newest Champion had to be power indeed in order to have control of that element, not only the element, but if her suspicions were correct, the original darkness flames itself. Her eyebrows raised at the realization.
"In fact, I didn't even consider that she might actually be gone now. I just assumed we'd been lucky so far and she was elsewhere in the level. It's large enough that even with her massive size we would not have sensed her for a while were she on the other side."
The dragon turned back to Hiei and the same first image shimmered into his mind from its, that of the spirit-energy-dragon, who had suddenly one day shot up into the air with a giant roar, disappearing. This was accompanied by a wonderment at where the spirit had gone. Then the image of the tattoo on Hiei's arm as the little dragon at his shoulder had just seen it, plus a certainty that the spirit of that first female demon was finally at rest, her spirit able to move on now that she was free of her power. Hiei's capturing of the element freed her to move on and meet her mate in the afterlife.
It conveyed all this with a series of images and its eyes swirled a mixture of red, orange, purple, and brown, the last color accompanied within Hiei's mind as a sense of contentment. Fulfillment. Release.
"Thank you."~ 3
Hiei had indeed known of the story. Or, at least, most of it. There were bits and pieces of it that he'd either forgotten over time, or he'd just never known. As for its origin being linked with the first fire demon, that he was sure he hadn't known. It gave him a slightly more interested view on the power he'd come to acquire. His eyes turned down to his tattoo, though his vision of it was blocked with the images and impressions that the smaller dragon flashed across his mind's eye.
He looked up when all was over in his mind, meeting the gaze of the small dragon evenly and giving a small nod.
He hadn't known that he'd released such a being's soul. He'd only wanted the power.
Perhaps it was a bonus?
"No problem.."
He turned back to Shikiyoku and met her gaze squarely, a small smirk on his lips. "Most of that was old information I'd already known. However, the new information is rather interesting." He again looked at the tattoo that had been on his arm since he had consumed the dragon.
He seemed to be taken by surprise a lot more lately, and it was all because he'd come here, to Demon World…
With Shikiyoku.
~!**!~
A small huff sounded from the man, while Akari stared at Yusuke, slightly confused by his explanation. She wasn't entirely sure what he was referring to.
"Is that how it works nowadays?" The man asked, turning around and sliding two bowls to the only people in the place, one for Yusuke and one for Akari. "You're a fighter, then. Bet'cha get into tons of trouble at home, eh?" The man was smirking knowingly at the boy, as if he understood exactly what was going on. "Doesn't impress me, boy. You have to work harder for your free meal." *
"Ahaha," Yusuke finally laughed as the man finished speaking, lowering his arms to rest one along the counter and scratching the side of his face with a finger of the other, "No, I'd actually forgotten about that last part." He sincerely hadn't been trying to make the guy laugh. "I just get so wrapped up in that game though, you know? It's probably my favorite at the arcade." His expression grew more serious with his final statement.
~!**!~
Shikiyoku actually scoffed, "Tch, if you didn't want to hear the old stuff, you should have told me what you knew so it didn't get repeated." She started to walk off in the direction of the next city, trying to force the exhaustion still settled over her bones away.
The dragon's eyes whirled blue with worry, sensing her agitation, and lifted from Hiei's shoulder to fly after her when she got more than a couple of feet away. 3
Hiei didn't react, only turning to follow after Shikiyoku, slightly disappointed when his company left him for her. But he didn't think much on it, only brushing it away as he stuffed his hands in his cloak pockets. He wondered how long the two creatures would stay with them.
"Recounting the story was very generous of you," he commented almost snidely, though he was much more amused than he played it off to be. He truly had been glad for the recounting of the story that he had almost forgotten entirely, learning new things simultaneously.
~!**!~
"I myself enjoy games, though the arcades aren't my favorite. Home consoles work best, especially if you have kids. Saves a lot of money, it does."
Akari smiled at the chef as she took a bite of the noodles, lifting them with chopsticks very carefully to her lips before slurping them up almost too noisily, completely satisfied by the taste. "You do better every time, Shyn. How is it that you make it different every time?"
"Chef's secret, Akari. Can't share the secret recipe."
"Too bad. I'd love to attempt this, though I'd probably screw it up and end up right back here anyway, giving you all of my money."
The man looked at her with a wide grin, as if fighting off a sound that would cost him a meal. "You're my most regular customer."
"and my bartender," she joked, referring to how much she seemed to open up to him. About the mundane things, of course.
"I don't get paid enough."
"I'd be broke if you asked for more."
Finally, he cracked, giving a small laugh and ruffling her hair. "I'll take this one, just for you."
Akari grinned, turning her eyes onto Yusuke. "The secret is getting to know the chef who makes your meals. Otherwise, you're asking a stranger to buy your meal."
"Hey, no selling the secret!"
"I'm not, I'm just giving it away for free."
"Touché." *
Yusuke was going to make a comment about likely forgetting the place as soon as he left so her advice would be wasted, but he was already halfway into his ramen bowl and quiet about it for once as he consumed his way through the tasty meal, his stomach growling as he tried to eat fast enough to satisfy it while he listened to the conversation going on around him.
Hopefully he could remember exactly where this place was...
~!**!~
The dragon flew in front of Shikiyoku and she halted abruptly, taken aback by its sapphire eyes as its wings beat puffs of air softly into her eyes while it hovered at face-level. Shikiyoku murmured something to it after gazing curiously at the two gleaming gem-like orbs that regarded her back with concern. Its eyes swirled a red-orange as it took off, flying over her in the direction they had come from.
She stuck her nose in the air as she kept moving, feeling as if Hiei were mocking her with his tone of voice, "Well, it certainly helps explain why the fire was so interested in you back at ho-...back in the valley." She lowered her face, contemplating her stumble before appearing to shake it, "I guess the story was a thank you for ridding Demon World from its oldest danger, hero." 3
Hiei eyed the dragon that flapped in front of Shikiyoku before flying off back in the direction they had previously come from. He turned back to Shikiyoku, smirking as he watched her head toss back, her hair falling further down her back as her nose moved higher in the air than before.
He didn't reply to her right away. The fire demon was too amused by her slight falter in her words, realizing that she was referring to the valley as her past home. He thought nothing more of it, deciding to bypass that and simply continue on.
"Perhaps it was worth it. I gain much more than I've lost."
~!**!~
Akari lifted more of her ramen to her mouth, her eyes looking down to the rather large bowl filled with noodles and other things. The steam that rolled off made her nose twitch at the amazing smell, actually able to almost pick out the different ingredients for his recipe. But she wouldn't dare attempt cooking. She enjoyed Shyn's style too much to do that to him.
"So, what else besides school is there? Any work yet?"
Akari looked back up at the pot-bellied man who was watching her with keen, curious eyes. She shrugged then gave a small nod. "Here and there," she mumbled around the noodles in her mouth. "It's a hire as needed job, really. No real schedule."
"Sounds… awful."
Akari's eyes flashed to Yusuke momentarily before she shrugged again, leaning back with the bowl in her left hand, chopsticks in her right. "It's not as bad as it sounds. I have more freedom with it than, say, working in a store."
"The pay worth the inconsistency though?"
Akari didn't answer, actually taking a moment of slurping noodles to consider how she should answer. Technically, she wasn't being paid. She was paying back Spirit World… There wasn't a way she could say that. "I suppose. I mean, I'm just a school kid, after all."
"That's the spirit! Hey, Yusuke," the man rounded on the boy, arms crossing over his belly. "While I take the silence as a compliment, I like to get to know my customers. Where do you school? Same as Akari? What do you do outside of school aside from game?" *
Yusuke grinned at the man, swallowing his mouthful of ramen before speaking, "Sarayashiki Junior High School." He blinked for a second, shoveling another bite into his mouth and wondering what on earth job Akari had. He certainly didn't want to work if he could help it. "And I try to stay in as much trouble as possible." He added when he remembered the final question, mouth full this time.
~!**!~
As Shikiyoku walked, she couldn't help the smile she wore, feeling that Hiei's words had put the situation aptly. No demon in their right mind would surely care about the 'heroics,' right? Power. That was the incentive.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized the fact that she had likely pacted with one of the strongest demons the nine levels had ever seen. Well, the potential was certainly there. He wasn't there yet.
The impressions the All-Fire had give her about his Jagan, the little she received about his past-since he was from fire, the fire could read his fire-told her that he was a "cursed child" of the Koorime, which meant extreme power at a young age, knocked among the lowest with the addition of the Jagan, and nearly having regained all of his former power at that very moment...
The Koorime blood prevented it from doing a full, thorough reading of his past, and anyway the fire appeared more excited about their...his future.
Even so, it was impressive. It was more than impressive where demons were concerned actually, and Shikiyoku could feel a newfound respect for the demon her other side chose to ask for protection.
That last thought made Shikiyoku grumble to herself about her inability to return to full demonic form, but she let her former feelings of wrath slip away-or at least tried to-given that somehow the bumbling fool had managed to snag a pact with such a high class candidate. 3
Hiei's hand reached up and readjusted his scarf that he only just realized had been moved out of place by the small dragon. It took a moment of moving the cloth before it was comfortable around his neck again, not restricting but not too loose either. That hand promptly fell to his side again, red eyes now looking down at the ground, watching the grass move all its own. Again, his eyes moved up, this time back to Shikiyoku, not surprised by her lack in reply.
He watched the back of her head for a few minutes, watching the way her hair moved around her shoulders. Again, he felt the ridiculous desire to reach out and touch it, but it was stronger this time. It moved so smoothly that it almost seemed to resemble silk. His pace, unknowingly, picked up just enough that in only a mere moment, he was trailing only a step behind her, hand twitching at his side.
He recovered quickly, blinking as he moved to walk on Shikiyoku's right, still staying a step behind her, but no longer within arm's reach. Perhaps she hadn't noticed…
~!**!~
"A little bit of trouble is good for the soul." Shyn replied loftily, a large smirk on his face. "But too much trouble lands you jail time. Keep it in moderation." There was a pause, then he continued on. "Especially since you have this one with you."
Akari looked up from her bowl only momentarily, a second later turning back down to the bowl in her hand and stuffing more noodles in her mouth. "Me? Why, whatever makes you say that?" She could actually see the bottom of her bowl now, through the broth.
The man leaned over to Yusuke, a hand placed at the corner of his mouth as if telling a very dirty secret that should not be heard by others. "Don't let her looks fool ya. She looks mean, but she's just about as cruel as a kitten."
Akari resisted the urge to snort. Wrong creature. *
Yusuke shot a mischievous look at Akari, that for anyone else might have hinted at a telepathic understanding at the thought that just passed over her mind. In his case, it was just that he happened to follow the same train of thought as the demon beside him.
"Nah, kittens are way too soft and cuddly." Yusuke's grin remained just as toothy. "I would argue instead that her bark is worse that her bite."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku still mused on the potential power her Champion held. And if she was being perfectly honest, she wasn't really sure if she thought the trade off was worth it. Power and innocence? Strange combination.
Thinking of what she learned from the All-Fire, she felt herself better acquainted with the fire demon walking near her.
His discipline to achieve great power was such a cornerstone in his existence that there had simply not been room for 'frivolous' things, that being "everything else" she ventured to guess. He pursued power so relentlessly and for so long that she suddenly found it no longer left her speechless that he appeared to have neither the interest or drive for anything else. He knew nothing else so he had not the capacity for anything else. In place of a sense of more...luxurious pastimes, he instead only had room for the fighting he did that would increase his own self further along.
Fascinating.
Shikiyoku stayed quiet as she walked, lost in her thoughts of the fire demon she knew was near. 3
Hiei kept his eyes forward, away from the silk-like hair that had, for some reason he didn't understand, become quite a tempting thing to touch. It made no sense to him. So, he thought on it for a bit.
He knew her power was of the… pleasing kind… and that it centered around desire. He was also aware that when her energy was released, her hair moved and her eyes seemed to gleam like gems under a bright light. Anything after meeting such a gaze made his mind hazy, and he had trouble recalling some moments after a situation like that.
Perhaps her hair was of the strongest mediums for her energy. It would certainly explain a lot. Especially where Toriko stood with keeping it up most of the time.
Now that he thought on it, how had he not realized? He'd known that her bobby pins had kept her hair up, helped seal away power, but he hadn't much considered that her locks were the main focus of energy.
He really needed to observe her more, he realized.
~!**!~
Akari completely ignored the look that she could practically feel Yusuke sliding her way. The sneer that threatened to form on her face was hard to keep concealed, causing a twitch at the corner of her mouth before she stuffed the last of the noodles between them, making sure her cheeks puffed with the amount of food so that she wouldn't be caught grinning.
"I would agree, but she's kept all her promises on my end."
"Tha's no' many." Akari said around noodles that made her words slur, looking up with a serious expression on her face. "Onl' vishiting."
He rolled his eyes at her, then looked up at a man who entered the stand, calling a brief welcome and taking a few steps over to the customer to take his order. Meanwhile, Akari sent a smirk to Yusuke, and after she swallowed her food she gave a short laugh. "Sometimes I think he might have a little bit of awareness." *
"Shizuru shehz," Yusuke swallowed his bite, continuing to speak in the same low voice in which he started, keeping his eyes on the chef. "Shizuru says all humans have awareness, its just that most of them ignore it or chalk it up to superstitious-nonsense or a disease or something like that. I mean, even I get chills every so often." He stuffed more food in his face and pointed at her with his chopsticks, "Naht vurr of'fn, mind."
~!**!~
Shikiyoku continued heading in the direction of the city that would be the next stop in the journey. Or, she at least planned on making the stop there. They had enough daylight to make it that far, and she had a mind to stay through the night. Of course, she had a couple ulterior reasons for wanting to stop within its walls too...
A trilling sound caught her ear, Shikiyoku had not been moving at a very fast pace simply meandering towards their destination, and it made her stop and turn, seeing the little onyx dragon from before gleaming in the daylight as it soared back to her.
She held up her right arm and it came wheeling towards her, slowing its descent abruptly when it came just above her arm, flapping a couple of times in a hover as it gauged the distance between itself and her extended limb before dropping suddenly in a perch.
Its eyes wheeled green and red as it tilted its head at her and Shikiyoku raised an eyebrow.
"Well, yes."
The green melted into blue, though the red remained, and Shikiyoku sighed.
"No wonder..." She trailed off as the dragon's eyes swirled into orange and green with the red and this time both eyebrows lifted and she found herself shrugging. "I'll live. But if you like."
The red and orange mixed faster this time, though its head tilted and it appeared to move its shoulders up and down in the same motion Shikiyoku had just done, its wings fluttering in the same fashion as it did so and Shikiyoku couldn't resist the laugh as it imitated her.
"Go on, then." She hefted her arm a little and the dragon spread its wings, at that point Shikiyoku actually lowering her arm a bit and then sharply lifting it to give the dragon some velocity as it took off into the sky once more.
As Shikiyoku and Hiei started to be able to see the walls of the city rising up in front of them, the massiveness of it rivaled the appearance of the one they had left earlier in the day, though these walls were much sleeker in their red color, having none of the impurities or shoddy workmanship that the last set of walls did.
When they were roughly a mile out, a more excited trill echoed above them and Shikiyoku stopped again to turn and look.
While one would have been expecting to see a black shape, the strangeness of some sort of red creature swooping down to them made Shikiyoku frown until it got almost right up to her face and she let out a huff of amusement.
The dragon peered at her with ruby eyes whose colors matched the hood that it had up over it face, flapping its wings to hover before her.
Her scarlet cloak was around his neck, hanging far enough down its back-between its wings-to make it obvious the thing was not for the creature as it extended passed even its tail. She reached forward with a smile to lift the cloak back over its head, swirling it off of the dragon once she freed it and continuing the motion to set it once more over her own shoulders.
"My deepest thanks, little one." She reached a hand out from under the cloak to the still-hovering creature, "For your silly show of affection." She did not appear to be actually reprimanding the dragon for having retrieved her cloak, her fingers smoothing against its scales as it purred in contentment with its eyes falling half-lidded, in spite of her usage of the word 'silly.'
As Shikiyoku turned without a word back in the direction of the city, she took off at a run, pulling the hood of her cloak up over her head to better hide her features, tucking her hair within it.
The last mile between them and the gate closed quickly, though this time, while the gates were open, there was hardly a soul milling about except for a couple of guardsmen who didn't give the two newcomers a second glance.
Just a few blocks within the gates and the city started to bustle around them with daily activity and Shikiyoku's eyes were bright in taking in the sights she had so often in the past seen. Everything was almost new and different it had been so long.
A group standing just within the walls of the city did take notice of the pair where the guardsmen appeared not to and that group moved around to cut them off, stepping in front of their path. They were five in number, looking like a gang by the strange wind-like symbol they each had somewhere on their person or their clothing.
"I guess you weren't told, but there is a toll for anyone who wants to view the city."
Shikiyoku held out an arm in front of Hiei as she stopped short of them and she stared up at the demon in front, their leader most likely. The little black dragon that had been flying above them alighted on Hiei's shoulder and settled there, regarding the situation with onyx-colored eyes.
"I don't pay tribute to snot-nosed kids."
A demon or two of the group almost laughed at Shikiyoku's audacity as she stuck her chin out a little farther, her green eyes flashing a little from underneath her hood.
"Lucky for you, shorty," The leader spat, "The price just went double." He stomped closer, getting in her face and leering at her, "Of course, I'm sure we could think of some other way you could pay your dues."
Shikiyoku had a hard time not laughing at the demon, but he noticed the twinkle in her eyes and narrowed his own, reaching up to flip her hood off her head, but she caught his wrist before he managed to touch her.
"I wouldn't." She warned him.
He sneered and flicked it off her head with his other hand, the group behind him sucking in a breath as even his own eyes widened, his nose quickly sniffing the air.
"You don't smell human."
"You're not as dumb as you look."
The demon clamped his mouth shut, but had not moved, staring into her green eyes as his hand tightened over the hilt of a knife he had at his belt.
"I wonder if you bleed like one." The corner of his lips lifted to show his sharp teeth as his hand started to pull the knife from its sheath. "Or are you from The Palace? That would be a mighty fine prize-"
"Garou!" A voice sharply called out from the midst of the crowds around them, approaching the gang from behind and shoving his way through to clamp a hand onto the shoulder of the demon who threatened Shikiyoku.
This demon had brown hair and eyes, a red bandana about his forehead. His green jacket was open at the top, as was the cream shirt underneath it, and both were under the wide belt he had around his waist. His pants were white with brown boots over them that came up to his knees.
The new demon spun Garou around to glare piercingly into Garou's eyes.
"I suggest you leave now before that one kills you." The new demon said in a growl and jerked his head slightly towards Hiei.
Garou did not turn around, the new demons had still clamped firmly in place, but his eyes did attempt to flicker over his shoulder.
He shrugged the new demon's hand off and adjusted his shirt.
"Stay out of it next time." Garou glared back into the new demon's face.
"And let you get killed? Gladly."
Garou shoved his way past the new demon whose eyes followed him as the youngling slouched off with his gang.
Without saying anything, the brown-haired demon turned back to Shikiyoku, his chin slightly raised as he peered down at her almost over his nose with his head turned just a little.
His expression remaining neutral as he put one hand on his hip, he reached out and took Shikiyoku's chin in his hand, turning her face this way and that to scrutinize her profile.
"I'd recognize that jawline anywhere."
"Taka." Was all Shikiyoku said, her eyes almost sparkling up at the full-chested demon.
Taka let out a belly-laugh as he let go of her face, "I knew it was you, sweetheart!" He winked and held out a finger to waggle it at her, "You can't just go and change your colors and think you're going to escape from me."
"Aweh," Shikiyoku's voice took on an air of mock-pity, "Still pining for me after all these years, bird-brain?"
"Oh, I don't know." Taka replied with good-nature, "I think most would tell you I'm a reformed demon since all that time ago. I'm feeling a relapse coming on though." He let his eyes narrow playfully, "You wanna help me out with that?"
Shikiyoku finally laughed, "Ah ha, we'll see."
"Not an immediate no?" He exclaimed, "Be still my core!"
"Taka, this is Hiei." Shikiyoku said in way of introduction, tilting her head slightly to indicate the fire demon with dragon on his shoulder. "Hiei, this is bird-brain."
"Ouch." Taka grimaced as he nodded once to the fire demon, "Harsh."
His eyes alighted on the dragon that had not moved since joining Hiei.
"Ryou! I can't believe you, sir. Ditching your master already?"
The dragon's eyes swirled purple.
"He's going to be heartbroken."
Ryou turned his head to the side and closed his eyelids, loftily refusing to make eye-contact with Taka.
"He nearly destroyed the tavern after you left. I don't know what he'll think of you attaching yourself to someone else."
Ryou opened his eyes and turned to look at Shikiyoku, his eyes shifting into red.
"You and me both, brother." Taka grinned over at Shikiyoku, "Since I'm going to go into a regression, I think some drinks are in order."
"The Niiro Kaga?" Shikiyoku's eyes brightened immensely at the thought.
"Sure thing, sweetheart." Taka's lopsided grin hadn't moved, "It's still alive and kicking. And as worn-in as ever."
"It outta be." Shikiyoku replied, "Been in place since the beginning of time."
"Practically." Taka turned to lead them. "We keep trying to get Kafu to fix up the place, but he won't have any of it."
"That old man is still alive?" Shikiyoku fell in step beside the brown-haired demon.
"Still runs the place." Taka nodded once.
"He was ancient when I first arrived." Shikiyoku seemed impressed.
"Speaking of which..." Taka trailed off, his eyes glancing over at Hiei before he returned to paying attention to leading them through the crowds.
"Hm?" Shikiyoku thought she had missed the rest of his sentence.
"Nah, not important right now." Taka replied, "We can talk about it when we sit down." 3
Hiei was quiet, and had been for hours. Even his mind had been silent, with no real thoughts touching the forefront of his mind. All he did was follow Shikiyoku, because he simply had no other choice. He knew little to nothing about this level, and the only things he did know were only because he'd just experienced them.
Crimson eyes looked up at the wall that had just come into sight from the break in the trees, its color pretty close to his irises. Its height was incredible compared to the previous city wall that he had seen. With the mental image of the previous city wall came the mental image of the many demon inhabitants simultaneously turning and looking up and himself and Shikiyoku, each moving in step together.
A scowl settled on his face. She was taking him through another city, despite his disdain.
He didn't repeat his earlier complaint over cities, since she had pulled to a stop to retrieve a cloth from the dragon he had actually forgotten about over the past few hours. He eyed the cloak, not surprised she'd ended up with it in the end. But, he turned away to regard the city walls again, only moving when the dragon settled on his shoulder and Shikiyoku sprinted past him.
Again, he slowed his pace once he entered the city, looking around at the bustling inhabitants wearily. He wasn't happy about being here. He contemplated turning and simply carrying Shikiyoku out, while his gut churned and his senses seemed to pick up on every single blip of energy in the area.
He talked himself out of it though, just in time for a group of demons to step in their way. He didn't say a single word throughout the exchange, his eyes flashing dangerously and a hand moving to his hip, to the holster of his sword, when one of the demons had made a move for their knife.
He wasn't in the mood to give any verbal warnings. If they decided to act without thinking, he'd simply sever their limbs. Easy as that.
His hand closed around the hilt of his oldest weapon and he pulled at it, only an inch of the blade being pulled from the sheath before another, much larger demon in comparison to himself stepped forward, pulling away the demon whose life had been on the very edge. Even as the group of demons retreated, Hiei contemplated an attack.
But his hand retreated from his katana, allowing it to click back into place on the sheath.
Introductions were made. Hiei made no sound, only nodding once in acknowledgement of bird-brain's existence. But he was very aware at the familiarity between the two, and the familiarity that Taka held with the dragon on his shoulder as well.
Hiei was the odd man out.
As usual.
His eyes turned to the dragon, raising a brow at the creature. Ryou is a fitting name.
He looked back to Taka and Shikiyoku, silently soaking in each movement between the two, each word exchanged as if it were dire for him to remember everything about this moment. And when they turned to leave, Hiei followed after just as silently, eyes taking to looking about himself, completely ignoring the hesitation that Taka held with his last few words.
Words he didn't say.
Whether it was because of Hiei's presence, or anything else, he still felt a bit if irritation rise and settle as a hardened stare straight ahead.
He wanted out of the city. Now.
~!**!~
Akari finished off her bowl by downing the broth and set the white glass on the counter, watching the back of Shyn work over the stove as he chattered to the other customer, tone as if he hadn't been joking about with Akari and Yusuke minutes before.
"Well, I suppose." she finally replied to Yusuke, resting her elbow on the counter and propping her chin on her fisted fingers, turning so she could watch the boy eat. A crooked smile touched her features for the shortest moment before disappearing. "I suppose everyone has their flaws. Not every spirit detective can be completely… spiritual.." She gave a small huff of contentment that turned into a long sigh. "Pretty good for just a stand, hm?" *
Yusuke gave her a roguish smile, "After Sensui, can you blame Spirit World for hiring a punk like me?" He didn't answer her other question at first, but he thought he got his point across anyway by the slurping noise he made as he lifted the bowl to his lips to catch some of the broth.
"How did you find this place again?" Yusuke had lived here, well, forever, and he couldn't seem to recall ever having eaten at this place previously.
~!**!~
There was little more than pleasantries and banter exchanged between Taka and Shikiyoku on the walk to the tavern.
Shikiyoku could feel Hiei following behind them, and despite the large number of demons that surrounded her, his presence kept her calm.
Over the entrance to the tavern was a sign with a painted picture of a red flower.
As soon as they entered, their ears were accosted by the noise and revelry of the demons within, much like a pub would have been in Human World, for all the flack the demons would have given someone for pointing that out.
Tables with benches and stools made from the red wood of the trees in the Ninth Level were filled to overflowing with so many demon patrons and servers alike.
Taka sent a wave to the old bartender who nodded once efficiently at the other demon before going back to serving those who sat in front of him.
Taking the lead and shouldering a path for the two who followed behind him, Taka went for the corner and a table there that was thankfully a little set apart from the general mayhem of the establishment, and he sat down on one side, Shikiyoku moving to slide into a seat across from him.
Without saying a word, Taka caught the eye of one of the servers and held up three fingers. She nodded to indicate she noted his request, turning to finish serving drinks to the table waiting beside her.
Ryou had slid farther over on Hiei's shoulder, closer to the fire demon's head, pulling his wings in tightly against his body in an effort to not get jostled about, occasionally reaching over to place a tiny clawed paw against Hiei's head for extra steadiness when someone would bump into them. He slipped his long scaly tail over Hiei's shoulders and curled it in front of the fire demon's neck loosely to keep it out of the way. He seemed unconcerned with the ruckus, and had in truth been in this tavern many times.
Taka leaned his elbows on the table so that he would be closer to Shikiyoku. Their corner afforded them a little less noise, so he did not have to shout when he began speaking.
"So, what happened, sweetheart?" His brown eyes glanced briefly over at Hiei. "One day you were around, the next no one had heard from you or Iro. Stayed that way for months until I happened to catch wind from upstairs of your pact with Youko, in so many words."
Shikiyoku appeared reluctant to talk at first, but she went ahead.
"Iro's dead." She shrugged when she finally responded. "Youko got hit by Hunters. The entire compound got attacked, actually. The price on our heads is a high one. I just barely got into Human World and they lost me. Been there for the last fifteen years."
Taka's eyes lit up for a moment, "Good warrant then, huh?"
"Better than yours." She resisted sticking her tongue out at him.
He laughed and leaned back, knowing she had not told him everything. He wondered what all this fire demon next to her knew and if he was the reason she did not wish to go into further detail.
"So, you're a free demon now?" He asked her archly as three steins of the beverage he'd ordered slammed the table, he reached for one, but didn't break eye-contact.
"Not in the way you're thinking." She replied impetuously.
"Aw, come on sweetheart, you said I'd be the next one."
"I said no such thing." Came her prim reply as she snagged for another one of the three mugs and took a long draw from it. "But I do remember you claiming that." 3
Hiei frowned as they approached a building that he could clearly tell was a tavern, now entirely set on not going through any other city for the rest of their trip. He disliked the loud noises that berated his ears as soon as the door was open. He disliked the crowd of demons that stared as he passed, moving about in a large group almost and he had to actually shoulder his way through.
Though, his glare did help a bit.
By the time he reached the table, the dragon was almost completely wound about his neck, and as he sat down in a chair opposite Taka, on Shikiyoku's right, he turned to look about the room again until his eyes simply settled on the dragon, inspecting the creature until the conversation picked up.
At first, he didn't care enough to listen in. It wasn't his business anyway.
Until a very familiar name was slid into the topic, at which point Hiei's ears twitched just slightly and his eyes slid over to Taka. He had suspected it had been something of the sort when Youko had healed Shikiyoku, but having it confirmed made odd things swirl inside his core. He didn't understand his own need to listen in to the conversation.
Around every corner, something else pops up.
Drinks were set down, and Hiei glanced briefly at the one left for himself. He gauged it, looking at the liquid within the glasses with slight interest before turning away from it entirely. For the moment, he could care less about beverages. He wasn't hungry or thirsty, so he saw no need in drinking it.
Not even for courtesy's sake for the demon who had obviously ordered it for him.
He leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the knee of the other, turning to eye the dragon again while his ears listened intently to the conversation, a hand lifting to the creature on his shoulders as if to make himself busy.
~!**!~
Akari didn't reply to Yusuke's first question, deeming it as rhetorical, despite the few ideas she'd had in mind for retorts. 'Course, she couldn't really say much either, since Sensui had done very well in using her as a puppet. Even if she had wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to vouch for the guy.
"Toriko," she answered casually with a shrug of her shoulders. "After school one day, she paid for dinner. I've come back at least once a week since, no matter what." She paused and glanced in the direction of Shyn again before turning her eyes back to Yusuke, then let her eyelids slide shut as she realized just how full she was.
Nabu needs something too.
"If I remember correctly, this place hasn't been around longer than a year. Not very well known yet. He said he'd always wanted to open a ramen shop, and, well, this is just the beginning I suppose." She thought on that for a moment, realizing that the human had started rather late in his life to open up his dream place. The man had to be at least fifty, what with the grey hairs that colored his otherwise dark hair here and there.
Suppose even Humans make the most of their time. *
"That girl's got good taste." Yusuke noted, finally sitting back in his chair and stretching a little before reclining at the table before him. How long had she been around? Maybe he was just inobservant. Too busy getting into trouble and saving the world.
Maybe he'd take Keiko here sometime soon…
He got a dreamy look in his eyes that he didn't realize had settled there as he pulled his arms up behind his head and rested in the chair with his full stomach.
Several of my OCs I tend to base on the look of another character already in existence mostly because I can't draw and it makes it easier for, say, a role-play partner to picture the character in their head. For example, Taka the bird demon has the same look as the character Tibarn in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
Shyn - no meaning
Garou - hungry wolf
Taka - falcon (Falconidae family); hawk
Ryou - dragon (esp. a Chinese dragon);
Niiro Kaga - Red Flower Bud
Iro - can mean different things depending on the kanji used. For this particular case it would be "lover," "irregular kana usage, Noun, Male term or language "
Thanks for reading! Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off! -Star