Hey Guys,
Sorry to bring more somewhat bad news, but I still have not finished chapter 27. I am more or less halfway finished with it, but since things have gotten harder in my life it just couldn't find time. My boyfriend and I broke up on Saturday which left me a little heartbroken and emotional for the rest of the weekend. And this was when I planned on finishing 27, but instead left it with 1,500 words instead of being finished. However, I don't see the need in dwelling on that anymore.
This chapter was basically my need to give Tsumi an honest to god reason to want kinghood. You see, before his only motivation was survival and to protect Kimiko, but that was too flat for a protagonist, let alone main demon. So in this chapter, we get to see what motivation he carries. Not to mention that I wrote and finished this story the day before I came home from my three week vacation, wow that feels like so long ago now. But anyways, I'm a little fond of this chapter if only because it has development of Tsumi and Kimiko and gives us more time with Yukio and Icarus, who I have sort of bonded with.
Oh and PS, if you can tell me where I got the name Kincad from, you win a cookie!
But for now I need to go and get some sleep. We finally start learning drill for MB tomorrow and I can't wait to see what spots I have. So, enjoy the next chapter of DBR!
xKiha
"Are you all okay!?"
The sound of Kimiko Isahowa's voice, well there was nothing like it. But even though it wasn't an annoying voice, the sound of her yelling when she rushed into a small medical ward containing three bookreaders and their demons along with Flynn Fukisa wasn't all that welcome.
The brunette drew in a breath as she stood in front of the now ajar door, smiling when she saw everybody was at least doing well. Sure Mr. Kincad had told her that, but she wasn't willing to believe it until she saw them all okay with her own two eyes.
"Yes, we're all doing fine." Kenja warmly said, finding it rather easy to accept that Kimiko would just burst into the area like this. It came with the package he figured.
The poison bookreader smiled softly as she walked into the room, soon being joined by a breathless Kyo Yakage along with Amera and Tsumi. This of course informing the hospital patients that Kimiko had more or less rushed to get here.
"Kyo's here too?" Kesai asked, turning around from the window he had been looking out of before, focused on the scent of this person he was willing to see as a friend.
"Yeah, I'm here." Kyo replied, now able to catch his breath. "She and Tsumi were helping us with moving the last of my stuff into the new apartment when Kimi got the call and well, I think you can guess what happened from there." The teenager laughing gently, his light green eyes shining to show that he didn't mind being dragged here too much.
Kimiko blushed with slight embarrassment, giggling nervously. "Sorry about dragging you here, Kyo, but I couldn't stick around after Mr. Kincad gave me that call. And since you're part this alliance and everything, I figured you wouldn't mind too much."
"Nah, it's cool, I don't mind at all."
The brunette gave him a gentle smile of gratitude, walking further in the room only to remember what she had really come here to do. It was Flynn everybody was talking about, that the doctor in training had been hurt in a demon battle. For a few moments her hazel eyes darted around the room, the girl biting at her lower lip before she drew in a breath.
Bingo.
Tsumi seemed to know just what the girl was thinking, following behind her as she walked over to Flynn's bedside. He was well, important, being the only doctor the bookreaders could take children like Kesai to. The idea of a doctor trying to remove the "cosplay" ears from the fire kitsune only to find them attached and more than functional was pretty scary, Before you'd know it you could have the government trying to preform tests on the demon children. Well, thank the lord for a teenager like Flynn.
His face was rather pale, his cheeks having slight color. Beads of sweat had culminated on his forehead, his eyes scrunched in a way that alerted the girl to the fact that he was in pain. He seemed to have an electric blanket covering his body which only made the girl all the more curious as to what could have happened when she was gone.
"He's going to be okay. The doctor just told us that his body was in a bit of shock, but he should be able to get out of here by Sunday." Cheshire said, sitting on Aislinn's bedside.
Kimiko's teeth dug a bit further into the flesh of her lower lip, nodding. Today was Friday, so that wouldn't be too bad. "Alright." The girl then turning to look at Aislinn, Kenja and Yukio. "And how about the three of you?"
"We're doing well." Kenja said gently, coughing gently into his hand. "If anything, we just needed a warm bath." Aislinn nodding as that was basically what they had received, now just having to spend a few hours at the hospital so the doctors could "observe" them.
"Icarus and I missed the fight," Kincad said simply, the angel sitting beside him seeming to be disappointed about missing the fight. "We came in the aftermath and ended up being the ride to the hospital."
"If you ask me, that was a crucial part." Kesai mumbled. "Can you imagine us trying to drag Flynn to the hospital with our bookreaders still shaking like they were?"
The teacher laughed, eyes bright with amusement. "I guess you're right."
Tsumi looked over Flynn, sighing as the question he didn't want to ask finally left his lips with his back to the team. "So, the person who attacked you…?"
"Yes," Kenja's voice apologetic. "She worked for Xenolith."
"She wanted to get to me…didn't she?"
"…Yes."
He had known the answer from the beginning, but now hearing it from one of his friends managed to make the statement all the more painful. Once again it was all his fault; people were suffering because he was around. Because he was this purple gem that Xenolith was looking for. His friends, people that were willing to fight alongside him, were getting hurt because these brainwashed minions were only looking to get to him or lure him out.
He hated this so much, hated being liable and the reason fellow demons and humans had to dedicate time and effort to this cause. This was all his fault. He didn't know why this identity had become his, but there was a reason Xenolith wanted him and whatever it was, it was the reason why he was the cause of his bookreader's and friend's suffering.
"Tsumi?" Kimiko's voice suddenly breaking through the thick thought barrier he had been consumed with, voice full of maternal worry. "Are you doing okay?"
His big purple eyes looked up at her for only a second before darting off to look at everybody in the room, today people had gotten hurt because of him and soon enough everybody else would get hurt weather he was there to help or not. The poison demon shaking his head in an attempt to clear his mind of all these bad thoughts before everything suddenly went blank, one black thought attempting to answer this crisis. "Kimiko?"
"Yes?" The teenager noticing how blank and unresponsive the child now seemed, swallowing nervously. "What is it, Tsu?"
"I just need to turn myself in." His partner's eyes wide with shock the moment he softly spoke these words. "Everybody's getting hurt and it's all because they want me. So if I'm gone, nobody can get hurt anymore and we wouldn't have to go to his castle for answers. Xenolith probably wouldn't even be our enemy anymore"
The brunette looked up at all of her friends, hazel eyes desperate for help or at least something reassuring to say instead of the 'hell no, we have to fight, giving up is for quitters' that was trying its hardest to come out.
However, it seemed that nobody had something to say, everybody else just as surprised at Kimi right then. They all knew that his heart was in the right place when he said that, but it also just didn't seem to be an option at this point. They knew that Xenolith wanted the little poison orphan but why? Since only Aislinn and Cheshire had gotten to see Kimiko and Tsumi in honest action with all four spells, the idea of just what power Tsumi really had was pretty ambiguous. Was he some kind of super weapon or killer? Well, nobody knew and it seemed that neither did Tsumi. In the end nobody knew what the honor of being the purple gem really meant.
"Kimiko, Tsumi, let's go for a walk."
It was Yukio Kincad who broke the silence, the man grabbing his jacket after getting out of his chair. Icarus quick to lock onto what the teacher was trying to do as he moved away from the window and took his place beside his partner. "Alright, let's do it."
Kimiko bit into her lip, nodding as she motioned to Tsumi who blinked harshly as if coming to his senses before lowering his head. "Oh, a walk. Okay."
Kincad gave them both a reassuring smile, knowing it was beginning to get late but figuring if anything he could probably drop her off at home during the walk. "Good, then let's get going."
"Uh, Kimiko?" The brunette turning to see Kyo, the raven haired teen a bit nervous about being left with the others who he still didn't know too well thanks to living back in Sendai. "Should I just be waiting here to walk you home later?"
The poison bookreader went to say something only for Kincad to interject. "It's fine, I should be able to take her home during our walk."
Kyo's light green eyes quickly diverted, nodding slowly only because he knew he had to at least respond. "Oh, well alright. I guess I'll be seeing you soon then."
The girl gave him a slight smile, not any happier than he was. "Yeah, I'll be seeing you soon."
"So, shall we?" Kincad opening the hospital door as the two demons slipped out of the hospital room, the teenage girl looking over her friends once more before leaving the others behind to go on a walk to talk about something she still didn't like thinking about.
.
.
.
"You already know what I want to talk about, don't you?"
By now the sun was beginning to set and the sky had taken on an orange and pink color, the city park covered in old snow and dirty ice. Kimiko was unable to look at her teacher, her hazel eyes fixed on Tsumi and Icarus who were walking a bit faster than the both of them. "Yeah, I know."
The teacher let out a soft sigh, his hands in his pockets. "I know it's scary when you think about it, but sometimes, these things just happen. We don't know why we go from innocent to desired, or why our life can be changed so much by something simple like a book. But, there is nothing we can do about it except keep moving forward."
The brunette stopped dead in her tracks, Yukio turning to face his student who lowered her head, trying to suppress her emotions. "But, it's not fair. Why do we have to go through this! Tsumi and I have never met Xenolith! He just has gone after us since our first real fight, we've never done anything to ask for this. He's an innocent, but now he has this guilt and burden to carry."
"Kimiko, sometimes when bad things happen, it's never your fault. But, just because it's not in your hands does not mean that you can't become involved or pay some kind of a pri-"
"But we're innocent!" Kimiko suddenly shouted, feeling a blur of tears begin to fill her eyes thanks to the frustration now overtaking her thanks to the words of Yukio. "In the beginning, Tsumi didn't even want to fight! He ran away from all of this because he was afraid of hurting me and others!"
By now Tsumi and Icarus were looking at the teacher and his student, the poison demon stunned to see his bookreader crying while the angel walked over to them both. "Our current king, he never wanted to fight when he was first sent to the human world either."
The brunette lifted her head, looking down at the holy demon with a light sniffle. "What?"
Icarus gave her a gentle look, nodding to Kincad as if to tell him that being the wise angel he was, he knew just how to handle this situation. "Gash Bell, he's been the king of the demon world for quite a while, a wonderful and benevolent man, but when he was first sent to your world, he was a peaceful coward. His brother wiped little Gash of all of his memories and the blond headed kid was left all on his own, not even sure of what his book did. Even when he managed to find his partner and figure out what his spellbook was meant for, Gash still wasn't the kind of guy who wanted to fight for a battle he only saw as barbaric."
Kimiko was listening to and holding onto every word, nodding slowly as she wiped her eyes in an attempt to rid all of her tears. "What changed his mind?"
"Motivation." Icarus said simply. "He was forced to burn the book of a suffering friend who had been forced to fight. He didn't want to do it, but she had begged and pleaded it of him and his bookreader made the choice to give this girl her wish. Gash was more or less haunted by this memory, which gave him all the motivation he needed.
"After seeing somebody suffer like this friend did and realizing the corruption that the demon battles had, Gash decided that he wanted to be the king. But not just any king, he wanted to be a kind king. A king that listened and understood, who knew not to force any demon to do anything against their will. And you know what? For all the time that we've been able to call him our ruler, he's been true to that. He's been a wonderful king and undoubtedly a kind man. And believe me when I say that just like you two are right now, he had to suffer to get where he ended up at well. However, he only got to where he is now because of the dream he had and how it pushed him forward."
By this time Kimiko was no longer crying, the brunette drawing in a breath. "So, looks like Tsumi is living similar to how Gash did."
Icarus gave her a gentle smile in return, nodding. "It's not identical, but they're a little similar when you place them side by side. Kind of like a spin off with a twist, if you will."
Tsumi had taken the time to walk back to the others and had managed to catch a majority of the angel's speech, now finding himself sniffling as well if only because of the stress of this all and a realization that maybe this was all meant to happen. Suddenly, he felt that he might be able to understand why he was sent here, why he became one of the one hundred demons when there were a few tough children turned away when he took their place.
"So, that only leaves one question."
The ocean eyes of Icarus then fell on Tsumi, the angel knowing not to think anything of the crying poison demon. He knew that if he was the one in this situation, he would be suffering as well. This burden however, seemed to be one that this child would have to carry and his alone. Something was just too different about this time and weather he liked it or not, he could only bring himself to the conclusion that in the end, this would be on Tsumi's shoulders.
"And what is that?" The sniffling demon asked, afraid to look at Kimiko only because he was worried about upsetting her.
"Well, you need to decide what kind of a king you would want to be."
And then all Tsumi could do was look at his bookreader, seeing that her own hazel eyes were on him with understanding sympathy and upset. She couldn't answer this question, but he could and the both of them knew this. "I don't know."
"Yes, you do. You only need to think a little further than you are."
The poison demon continued to look up at Kimiko, biting into his lip. He understood everything now, he was sure of it. Gash sent him here to learn and understand, to help him associate himself with strangers and develop trust with people that he could call his friends. He wanted to help him understand who he was, so the child could finally have more of an identity instead of just being a lowly orphan with nowhere to go. This king wanted to make sure that this child understood that he could make his own identity, that he wasn't that orphan or this purple gem, but he was what his friends and partner saw him for. He wanted that, he earned that and now that he put thought to it; he had wanted it more than anything since he was a street child.
"I want…" Tsumi sniffling, tears beginning to well up as everything became to clear. "I want to be an understanding King! I want people to know who they are and that they make themselves that! I want everybody around me to be able to see me as a friend and know I care about them, even if I'm the one on the throne! I want to help other people with their identities, show them their worth! That way they won't have to suffer, they won't have to spend time wondering who they really are and why they were brought into this world!"
All eyes were suddenly on Tsumi, the poison demon crying rather hard. They all knew he had released a lot of his past struggles to all of them. If anything, he wanted to be this kind of a king to protect children who were in his situation. He must have been the one to feel worthless and the child to wonder about his identity as he was growing up. As an orphan, he had probably wanted and needed an understanding king, which meant becoming one would probably be very dear to his heart.
Suddenly a hand was placed on Tsumi's shoulder, the little boy looking up to see Kimiko smiling to him. She bent down, ruffling his hair in a motherly fashion before beginning to dry his heavy tears. "Do you know who you are, Tsumi?"
"N-No." The poison demon said through his soft sobs.
"You're my partner." The brunette said gently. "And if that doesn't mean something to you, then I'm not sure anything will." Tsumi opening his purple eyes while tears continued to stream down his face in a rather heavy flow. "Sure, we've only known each other for a few months, but that doesn't I haven't figured out who you are. You're a tough kid and even when you're afraid, you're willing to put your life on the line to protect others. We all know you have weaknesses, but there isn't a person in the world who doesn't, and that includes Xenolith and Gash. I know that it must have been hard growing up in demon world without your parents and I get that I'll never be able to fully understand what it would be like to grow up in your shoes. But just because you don't know the two people responsible for your existence doesn't mean that you're a nobody, being without parents doesn't take anything away from your character and it never will. You're my partner in this fight and I'm the only one who can read your book, we have spiritual ties to one another that neither of us really know anything about. But if anything, doesn't being my partner give you an identity?"
Kimiko's partner? The child biting into his lip as he tried to stop all of the heavy tears. "You're partner, that's who I am." Rubbing his eyes, sniffling with his attempts to calm himself down. "You guys, my bookreader and everybody that's part of our alliance, you guys help make me who I am."
The brunette smiled, pulling him close as she began to sniffle as well. "Of course we do and soon enough, you'll be able to learn who you are. We'll teach you, by seeing through our eyes. I promise."
With that, the two began to cry in each other's arms, but this time it wasn't because either felt that they betrayed one another, but because they were somewhat closer. Because now they had more of a reason to be partners, to fight together and to really learn why they had been chosen to be a team in this demon battle.
They finally had a reason to grow stronger.
Kincad looked to Icarus, the wise young angel smiling gently with a somewhat of a know it all look in his ocean eyes. The teacher placed his hand on his partner's shoulder, palm gentle on the child's skin. "You've done very good, Icarus. Obviously, I should be leaving all of the emotional speeches to the holy demons."
"Of course you should, Yukio." The angel replied, smiling gently. "But this one was a freebie, because we need these two to be ready to fight when the times come. Something tells me that we're going to have to rely on them when we get to Xenolith."
By now Icarus's smile had faded, Kincad's hand grazing his bag as the man lowered his gaze. "Are you worried that Hyoketsu won't be strong enough? Or that I won't be in the right place to use Jajjimento?"
"No," The holy demon's eyes lowered. "I'm not worried about us not being in the condition to fight, something is warning me that those two are going to be our only hopes in the end."
"So, are you worried about…?"
"Yes, I'm afraid that I won't be walking out of that castle."
.
.
.
"Anyways, thank you so much for everything you did, Mr. Kincad, Icarus."
Both Kimiko and Tsumi bowed in respect towards the teacher and the angel, cheeks still lightly sparkling with dried tears. They had been walked back to the Isahowa residence right as it had become rather dark, stars already out and shimmering. Now calmed down and ready to be home, they both knew that they had to be grateful towards the both of them.
"Now now, no need." Kincad holding out a single hand to inform the both to stand up straight. "I am sure you would have done the same for any members of your team."
"Of course, but you really helped us out." Kimiko smiled, now looking into her teacher's eyes instead of at the ground. "We never really thought about why we were fighting, but all of a sudden there is an actual goal here. It was long overdue, but now that we have an idea of why Tsumi should fight to be the king, there's a reason for us to fight Xenolith and to learn what being the purple gem means."
Tsumi nodded. "Knowing that I'd like to be an understanding King, a man like Gash, it helps zap away the feeling to run away or give up because I'm being targeted. I want to confront Xenolith now, more than anything else."
Icarus smirked, unfurling his wings with a stretch. "Good, because a fighter without motivation, won't be able to fight as valiantly. You won't have as much strength as a fighter with a reason to keep going on. As long as you remember this goal of yours, you'll find yourself a lot stronger and a lot more willing to push on."
"And that's why I'm grateful." The poison demon nodded, smiling even still. Just with this one realization, he felt so much stronger. He didn't even need to ask Kimiko if she was going through this too, he could basically sense this sudden strength in her and little to say, it was wonderful. Of course he wanted to be stronger, but only if he could get stronger along with his partner.
Yukio lifted a hand once more, but this time in a motionless wave. "Well, we should probably begin discussing plans for our next move soon, we shouldn't dawdle when we have an enemy like Xenolith looming over our heads."
"Of course not." Kimiko nodded. "I guess I'll be seeing you during the weekend then, right?"
"Naturally."
"Well, thank you for everything once again." The brunette smiled, lifting her hand in return while Tsumi stood with his back erect beside her.
The holy duo nodded, giving her gentle smiles before turning their backs to the poison duo and beginning to walk down the streets. The street lamps providing enough light to allow the two to watch the teacher and the angel walk until they faded into tiny shadows.
Kimiko then turned to Tsumi, her hazel eyes soft. "So, we should probably get some rest. Things aren't going to be easy anymore, especially if we're going to beat Xenolith and then make you a king.
An excited smile and a glimmer of excitement filled purple eyes.
"Yeah."