A General and a Princess
He landed in Royakan's Forest and ran the last couple of kilometers to the mountainside where the den of his friend was located. Flying was sure fun, but he loved the feel of the dirt under his paws, the sway of tree limbs as he was passing them, the pure joy of muscles flexing under his skin. Somewhere during the run he let his form change and shrink. What was a huge white dog one minute the next was a tall man in white kimono, a ponytail of silver hair and furry mokomoko flying behind him as he made his way to a huge cave entrance.
He stood there for a minute, but the other youkai didn't come out. It was unusual, Royakan should be already greeting him and telling him to come in. The wolf youkai guardian of the forest was a kind person, a good host. He wouldn't let a guest just stand before his door. Luckily his guest wasn't the shy type, who would patiently wait for an invitation.
He wasted a moment to take a long sniff of the air around, just to make sure there was no danger. Who knew, maybe Royakan was wounded? Or there was a threat keeping him hidden? But there was no smell of a youkai in the air. No, instead there was a smell of a young human woman. He growled as he walked in, his step soundless. A young human female in a youkai's den could be only a miko desiring to kill the youkai. Who knew, maybe Royakan was already...
His step faltered when he heard a soft laughter from the cave located ahead of him and being Royakan's main room. He sneaked closer carefully, his brows rising when heard a low chuckle - it was definitely Royakan's voice. But why was he laughing with a miko? It didn't make sense!
"Oi, stinking miko!" he jumped into the cave, tall and threatening, his youki swirling around him. He wanted to scare the woman, warn her that she would die if Royakan was harmed in any way. But his words died on his lips. He managed to make a few sounds, but no one, even himself, could decipher them.
Royakan was sitting by a low table, holding a sandal in his hands - it was obvious he had been repairing a broken strap. On the other side of the table, pouring tea to two cups, sat a beautiful human maiden, her black hair flowing down her back and pooling behind her. Her multi-layered kimono and elegant movements when she put the pot on the table showing her high rank in human society. The female, who was startled at first, finished pouring tea and picked up her cup. Royakan was too busy staring at his new guest to notice his own drink standing in front of him.
"Royakan-kun, your tea will get cold," she reminded him and the wolf shook visibly. He cleared his throat.
"Touga-sama," he licked his lips. "This is Izayoi-hime and she bears no ill-will towards me. Please, don't be rude as you usually are, she's my dear friend."
The daiyoukai's golden eyes widened a little before he stood in a more relaxed position and inclined his head royally.
"My apologies, princess, I was merely worried about my friend's well-being," he said.
The female gave him a cool glance and turned her head to look at Royakan. Well, this was awkward, human females were usually gawking at him and sighing dreamily, not glaring. Well, all those who weren't running away screaming in terror. He was so focused on being confused that he realized he was walking to sit beside the table when he was already close to it.
"May I have a cup of tea?" he asked. Royakan gave a nod and jumped up to fetch a cup for him. Meanwhile the daiyoukai observed the female, who seemed to be more focused on her tea, looking down in her cup. He couldn't smell fear or disgust from her, in fact she smelled kinda nice.
"Why aren't you afraid?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Should I be? You're obviously Royakan-kun's friend and I know he's a good judge of characters. He wouldn't befriend a foul creature," she glanced at him and he found himself mesmerized by the depth of her big eyes. Sadly, she quickly looked down, like any well-mannered female. He opened his mouth to say something before he heard her sweet voice, soft like a whisper of the wind. "Besides,Royakan-kun told me a lot about you."
"Huh? What did he say?" he tilted his head like a curious puppy. He felt that had he have a tail it would be wagging.
"Well..."
"I found one!" Royakan put on the table a wooden bowl, smiling happily. The lady stared at the container almost dropping hers. Touga glared.
"Why am I to drink in a wooden cup? Ya have porcelain ones!" he complained.
"Um... Touga-sama..." Royakan looked down, twirling his thumbs like a little pup. "You see... After the last time you broke six of them..."
"I was angry!" he exclaimed. "Like really bad!"
How could his friend treat him like this, and in front of a lovely maiden? So he broke a few cups, big deal. Royakan apologized, but refused to bring his grandmother's priceless porcelain cups. Touga growled and scowled, his hands stuck in his sleeves, as if telling his friend he wasn't going to let him win the stare battle.
Suddenly both youkai jumped up when they heard the sound of a liquid being poured in a vessel, mixed with a soft giggle.
"You look cute when you're pouting, Touga-sama," the princess voiced her opinion.
"I don't pout. Daiyoukai don't pout," Touga pouted and glared at the tea cup in front of him. This time Royakan joined Izayoi's giggle with a chuckle of his own.
"Keh! You're going to get it, wolf!" Touga warned his friend, who sat down and resumed repairing the sandal. "Why are you repairing it? What happened?" asked the inu youkai when he couldn't contain his curiosity much longer.
"Oh, I believe the story of this sandal belongs to the lady Izayoi," Royakan grinned at the female who blushed fiercely.
No one of the three gathered around the table knew it was but the first of many times they were going to gather like this and share stories.
A/N: I felt like writing something about Inu no Taisho, sorry if it turned out to be bad.
Poor guy, he didn't seem to make a good first impression :DD