Akaya awoke to a shadow in the corner of her room. She kept her eyes half-way shut and crept her hand under her pillow to obtain a grip on the kunai she kept there in preparation for situations like this. She stayed as calm as she could because she knew that she may not like the other option. The figure stepped out into the single beam of light that flooded into Akaya's room, and it was Himeka.
Akaya sighed with relief, and then she let Himeka have it. "What the hell Himeka? Could you not have waited until tomorrow to scare the shit out of me?"
By this time, Akaya's eyes opened wide, and she fell silent. She realized why Himeka wasn't replying. It wasn't Himeka; it was her shadow demon. Akaya was never fond of the shadow demon, but apparently, the feelings were mutual. Yet, it always popped up when Himeka needed it to the most, which meant that Himeka had trained it well. As Akaya sat up in her bed all the way, she realized that the demon had not moved since she first saw it. There was a major detail of the shadow demons that Akaya could remember Himeka telling her: shadow demons mourn heavily after the death of their owner.
Akaya wondered if that applied to all demons. But at the moment, there was only one demon in her room, standing lifelessly in the shadows. And, unfortunately, Akaya knew exactly why it was here. Himeka was one of the best ninjas in the village, which was probably the reason why she was rarely actually in it. Even the Hokage didn't know much about her, but nevertheless, he offered her the ANBU position, based solely on past accounts and her reputation; however, Himeka politely declined it for many years.
Himeka had always told Akaya that love was nothing to be mixed up in, and to some extent, she was right. Akaya, on the other hand, thought love only made you stronger. She would never admit that to Himeka though. It was a lot more trouble than it was worth. But as Akaya fell deeper and deeper into love, she figured out that Himeka had once been in her situation. As a result, her scent was made up of heartache and cheap vodka.
Akaya's eyes teared up. She knew that minor shadow demons connect with one person at a time. Once he or she is gone, the demon diminishes. That is, unless the demon could make a connection with the person that their past owner loved the most. And Akaya knew Himeka cared about her even if she didn't show it very well.
The demon looked so innocent sitting there. It had transformed into the form it preferred: a wolf-like dog. It reminded her of one of the loyal dogs you would see with its owner while they walked through the village. If it weren't for the scornful memories she had with it, Akaya would have found the demon beautiful, even maybe on the brink of stunning. It had crystallized silver eyes, which seemed to twinkle as streaks of light slowly passed onto them. It sat, lonely and depressed, not knowing what it was supposed to do. Not knowing where to go. Not knowing what to do next.
Akaya stared at it from her bed. It looked so different from the last time she'd seen it. It had grown up so much, but then again, so had she. She motioned for it to approach her bedside. "Here Akira. Come girl."
The demon came to her, and as soon as Akaya's hand stroked its back, the demon shifted onto the bed and to the shadow of her feet. It wrapped its tail around Akaya's feet, connecting with the bottom of Akaya's solid shadow. Akira then laid down into Akaya's shadow, melting seamlessly into the shadow's overlay. In seconds, it was no longer visible. Akaya smiled dazedly. "Humph...I guess that's how that works."
As Akaya drifted back into sleep, she remembered something she had heard Himeka say years ago. At the time, it sounded like nothing out of the ordinary. Himeka had been training for an upcoming mission. As she waltzed proudly and tiredly into the living room, Akira followed a step behind her. As Himeka plopped onto the couch, Akira sat on the floor beside her. You could tell they had bonded somehow during that day's activities.
Himeka had not realized Akaya was in the kitchen when she told her profound thoughts to Akira. "You are a very reliable demon, Akira." She scratched behind Akira's ear. "You're not at all like him."
Akaya had always thought that Himeka was just referring to a lost love, but that night, as she drifted in and out of sleep, it clicked for Akaya. Himeka fell in love with a demon. Now that she was dead, Akaya was determined to find out who he was. That was, of course, after she found her own love.