Well, I managed to get this chapter done without spending all evening on it for once. I feel pretty good about myself, actually. I only had about a thousand words left when I sat down this morning. Granted, that makes this a rather short chapter- it hardly tops out over five thousand. Oh, well. That's still good, right?
Okay, time for Aerie to rant. Here's the deal: when I write a fic using cannon characters, I tend to snatch up anything I can get my hands on that includes those characters to study them. So recently I had the chance to grab a couple of Yu Yu Hakusho games; Tournament Tactics, which I love, and Dark Tournament for Playstation 2. IF ANYONE CAN FIND ME INFORMATION ON HOW TO PLAY THIS STUPID PS2 GAME, I WOULD LOVE THEM FOREVER! I'm a devoted Nintendo girl; the Wii, the Gamecube, the entire Gameboy line... This Playstation controller thing is a mystery to me. And then there's the game itself; every character has individual combo codes for their moves. The button combo that unleashes fury with one character does NOTHING with another. So of course the game starts out training you until you're pretty much a pro with old Yusuke and then immediately throws you into a battle relying soley on Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and the Masked Fighter, NONE OF WHICH YOU KNOW HOW TO USE YET! And training mode doesn't actually teach you to use the moves against something that's fighting back. So instead I tried out a little something called Arcade mode, which lets you take on a set series of characters, and discovered through beating up some stupid ogre that Arcade totally suits my training needs. And then it throws the second character in the lineup at me... and character two won't even keep his freaking feet on the ground...
Yep. You guessed it. I've had my ass handed to me by Jin more times in the last few days than I can even count.
First of all, as I said, the bastard's feet don't even touch the ground. That's enough to throw anybody off. He also gains his energy back way faster than old Yusuke, so he's throwing out the powerful moves more often; he can use his tornado fists pretty much any time he feels like it while you're crying for the energy to pull off the spirit gun just one more time. And then there's that wind barrier, the lovely little cyclone that sends me scrambling to the other side of the screen because if it hits you... just ouch. So of course he always does that when I'm in the middle of charging it. And then there's his crouching moves; you know, get down low and hit under your opponent's defenses. Well, aparently crouching when you're a foot off the ground is really hard, so instead Jin- you're going to love this- SITS DOWN A FOOT OFF THE GROUND and starts beating you up that way! I still haven't figured out how the guy kicks from a sitting position. I'm not even sure I want to.
But wait, isn't this one of those awesome games where you can get behind your opponent and smack them that way? It is, but of course IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY AGAINST JIN! He has this... this kick... I don't know how else to describe it... that covers a full 360 degrees around him. How? Simple. He literally does the splits in midair and spins. It's cheap. And painful. Very, very painful. Poor Yusuke...
So usually I just run around like crazy waiting for him to start charging his tornado fists- thank goddess that takes a few seconds- and then I just shotgun him in the butt. Because here's the other really, really entertaining thing about fighting Jin- because he's up in the air, none of the hits land right. You can't hit his head unless you get really, really lucky. It's too high up there. Headshots all land on the chest. Shots that should land on the chest hit right around the stomach. And any blows intended for the stomach... well... you can guess from there. The guy is freaking resiliant. I've never met a guy who could take even one good shot to the crotch and stay standing and he's taken at least fifty... anyway, it makes it easy to run around him and hit him in the butt with the spirit shotgun. Until he does the splits. So the shotgun to the arse is usually reserved for when he's charging tornado fists, and of course he always seems to catch on to my plans and won't actually USE tornado fists then... Somebody get me a players guide, I need to figure out how to actually unlock this character and start using these evil, evil attacks on my own...
And the really pathetic part? Just when I get to the point where I'm ready to start screaming he does his little victory pose and I start laughing all over again...
Ah, crap, I'm supposed to be posting a chapter! Well, we've made it to chapter six pretty well. As always, the reviews and faves are a big boost to my personal happiness. I think this is a good time to note that Kaze no Fantasia has three distinct 'acts' to it. As it is, we're still in the middle of Act One... the initial meeting. The story does not end when Jin finally tracks down Touya and goes home. So there's plenty of fun left to go around, I promise. Now let's shut me up and actually get on with the chapter already!
So let's go!
Monday afternoon was turning out to be rather quiet. Jin turned another page in the book he was reading. Mana had finally taken his bandages off and promised to start helping him search for Touya after school... starting tomorrow. Today, apparently, she had a bit of work to take care of herself.
"Hey, Jin? Can you do me a favor?" The wind master looked up from his book, curious. That was new; the girl didn't usually ask him for favors. He glanced towards the door of the apartment, waiting to see if she'd call again, before standing up to head inside. The apparition raised an eyebrow at the sight of the human girl; her hair was pulled up into a tight braid and she was wearing a gi with a dark green belt wrapped around it. That was new. She had also tugged the padded post and the floor mat out of the corner. "Could you please help me carry these up to the roof?"
The roof? "M'kay, sure. I can do that for ya." The roof sounded nice, actually. He hoisted up the column, following the blonde as she dragged the floor mat behind her. "Are ya sure ya should be exercisin' today? Ya did pass out yesterday..."
'I'm fine. I'm just doing physical training today." Mana locked her door once they were in the hallway and headed for the elevator. Jin followed along, resting the post on his shoulder and holding it in place with one hand. The healer stared at him. "That thing weighs over sixty pounds. How much can you lift?"
"Em... I'm not really sure." The redhead shrugged. "This don't feel all that heavy to me, to be honest with ya. Do ya have a hard time with it?"
"I have to roll it to the elevator," Mana muttered. "I can pick it up a bit, but I can't carry it."
"Well, ya are just a bit of a thing." Oops... now the girl was giving him a harsh look. "I mean, ya still got a lot of growin' to do, ya know?" Ah, jeez, now she just looked insulted. He sighed. "I bet by the time yer bigger yer gonna be able to pick this up and throw it at me head."
"Right." Mana stepped onto the elevator, her back to him. Jin sighed and followed her into the slight space. That conversation could have gone better. Mana glanced over her shoulder at him. "Hey..."
"Yeah?" Jin wondered if he wanted to know why the girl's cheeks were turning pink. He watched as she shifted her grip on the folded mat. "Come on, wot ya got to say?"
Mana shifted again. "Thanks for looking after me last night..." Ah, jeez, the kid was blushing. Jin waited for her to keep going. She stared at the buttons on the wall the entire time. "I mean, I know it's probably a pain in the neck having to deal with me. I don't mean to be that way. So thanks..."
The wind master sighed. "Ya know, kid, sometimes I have a hard time tellin' if yer for real or not."
"What?" Okay, now the girl was looking at him. Jin couldn't help cracking a small grin.
"Ya heard me just fine, I'm thinkin'. The way ya act, sometimes a guy can't tell, ya know? One moment yer confident, and the next yer cheeks are about as rosy as mine own hair." Like right now, he thought with a silent chuckle. Mana had turned back to the panel of buttons- was staring at it as though waiting for it to display some sort of secret message, in fact- and was flushing darker than he'd ever actually seen her. He reached over and patted her on the head; that only made the condition worse. "See, right now I'm thinkin' ya best be sitting down somewhere. It can't be good to try and exercise with the blood all up in yer face like that."
"Jin... could you please just stop talking now?" Oh, that was cute, she was barely mumbling now. It made him want to try tousling her hair a bit, but the elevator doors opened and she was already heading out. He followed her, amused, onto the roof and looked around. Now this was a good place to be! The roof was wide and open, right up there in the sun, and the air was nice. He glanced over; Mana was unfolding the mat onto the ground. He set the padded pedestal down next to it. "Thank you. You can head back downstairs now, if you'd like."
"But it's nicer up here." Jin headed off to look down the front of the building. It was a pleasant looking street, not too busy, but not quiet enough as to be boring. Nice...
"Suit yourself..." Mana's reply sounded distant, like she wasn't quite focusing. Jin turned. The healer was sitting on the mat, doing stretching exercises. He walked over and sat in front of her.
"Do ya always come up here, then?" Mana looked up at him, blinking. "For the exercisin', I mean. Do ya always do this up on the roof?"
"There's more room here than in my apartment." The healer was practically doing the splits as she leaned over to grab one of her own feet, resting her forehead on her knee in the process. "I come up here when it's warm enough, which is pretty much any time but winter."
"Wot all do ya do?" Jin shifted, getting himself more comfortable; the ground was not only rather cold, but it was a bit too hard to sit on easy. Mana swung over to the other leg without actually raising her body. The redhead raised an eyebrow. Flexible... Then again, he noted, her legs weren't entirely straight out. Her angle needed some work. He was about to suggest it when she actually answered him.
"I do stretching work, then a bit of acrobatic exercise, then I practice strikes on the post, and then I finish it off with kata." After a moment, Mana swung back around to the original leg. "I took gymnastics from the time I was five until I was ten, and I've been in karate since I was seven. Any more questions?"
"Nah, not really." Not yet, anyway. Jin watched her go back and forth a few times and trying to do the math in his head. The belt around her waist had a set of three black lines at the end of it. Third degree green out of how many, though? There were too many forms of martial arts in the human realm to guess. "Hey, wot kind of karate are ya takin', anyway?"
There was a sigh. "I thought you said you were done with the questions."
"I was, but I was tryin' to figure out yer belt there..."
"Gojo Ryu Karate-do. The techniques are half soft-style Chinese, half hard Okinawan fighting. The belt order is white, yellow, orange, blue, purple, three degrees of green, three degrees of brown, and ten degrees of black." Mana switched directions again. "And I'm told that there's also red after black, but the highest degree I've met was a sixth degree black belt." Mana sat up and stared at him. "How are you doing that?"
Jin was too busy trying to calculate how often she promoted to figure that one out. That came out pretty solidly to once a year... "Doin' what now?"
Mana pointed. "Jin, you're sitting a full foot off the ground."
"Oh, right." Jin shrugged. "It's just somethin' I do. I don't much care for sittin' on a ground that hard. The air is softer, so I sit on that instead."
The blonde stared up at him. "You're just a little crazy, aren't you?"
Jin grinned. "Ya mean yer only just figurin' that one out, then?" Mana looked totally unimpressed as she pulled her feet in. He watched as she touched the bottoms together and slowly started pushing her knees to the floor. "So why do ya train in a fighting style that's half an' half that way?"
"As opposed to what, straight beating people up?" Mana bent forward and touched her head to her feet. Jin stared; he didn't even think he could do that. "The softer moves are good for hitting an opponent that's just tried to strike you. Some of my favorite blocks are designed to strike at the same time."
"Ah." So she was fond of using her own opponent's strength, then. That was probably a good idea for a girl like her. Jin settled back a bit, giving her some more room to work with. Mana went from basic sitting stretches to a few standing ones, and then- and suddenly Jin was glad for the gi- she did a hand stand. The demon tilted his head. "Ya got good balance."
"I work at it." The girl looked like she was focusing pretty hard as she did the splits up-side down. "I have to stay in top physical shape to become a full-fledged spirit detective." Mana swung her legs back down and walked to the end of the mat. "I'm not that big, so instead I have to be fast and agile."
"That makes sense." Jin watched as the girl did a few somersaults. "Yer so light, if somebody landed a good hit on ya they'd knock ya clean away."
"Gee. Thanks." Oops, there was that flat tone again. Jin sighed and stood up. Mana looked at him blankly. "What are you doing?"
"Provin' a point." Jin reached over, seizing the blonde by the waist, and hoisted her up. Mana yelped. "I'm not tryin' to insult ya or anything when I say yer small. I'm just sayin' that yer a young girl with a lot of growing to do. I'm pointin' out a fact, nothin' more than that."
"That's nice, now put me down!" Jin ignored her, tossing her lightly over his shoulder.
"See, it's like ya don't weigh nothin' to me at all. Yer wot, maybe a hundred pounds?"
"That's none of your business!" Mana tried to strike him from her position; he jostled her lightly, throwing her aim off.
"Come on, now, no need to be so hostile about it. All I'm tryin' to say is yer just a-" Mana bit him in the back. Jin very nearly dropped her on her head, just barely managing to keep a hold. "Ahright, ahright, I get the idea. I'll put ya down now."
"Thank you!" Mana smacked him once her feet were back on the mat. "Don't you ever do that again!"
"Well, fine, but you have to stop being insulted over somethin' so silly as that." Jin gave her a light poke. "It's not good for ya, getting' all up at arms about little things. There's always somethin' bigger to worry about, no need to get mad over stuff ya can't help."
The girl's hands clenched and unclenched a few times before she turned away from him resolutely. "Fine. Just... leave me alone about it, okay?"
"Ahright..." Hmm. Well, that was definitely a sensitive point. Jin sat quietly in the sunlight while Mana did more of her exercises. The air was so crisp and clear up here, it was easy to get lost to time. Staring up at the clouds, watching the sky behind them change colors at twilight, the wind master didn't even realize he was hungry until Mana tapped him on the shoulder. He blinked. "Eh?"
"It's time to go in." Mana stood straight. "Could you please get the stand?"
"Yeah, that's easy enough." Mana headed for the elevator, tugging the mat. Jin walked behind her with the post. It seemed like a fair trade, hauling this thing to the roof for some time in the sun. Mana headed off to her room with a brief 'thanks' over her shoulder, so he put the stand back in the corner himself. The girl seemed to have calmed down during the rest of her exercising. Her stature seemed to be a big deal to her, so he probably shouldn't bring it up again. He wanted his dinner, after all.
Mana did do the cooking once she was cleaned up, heading to her room shortly afterward dinner. Jin listened carefully, but he didn't hear her cough that night. She seemed to be doing better now that she had some energy in her. That was good. He didn't like having to worry over things like that. She was a nice girl, and she worked hard. It didn't seem fair to him that she should get sick that way just for doing a good thing. He'd have to find some way to thank her for taking care of him...
Mana spent most of Tuesday's school hours letting her mind wander. Today she was supposed to help Jin look for that friend of his. Her pencil wandered over the paper of the notebook in front of her, never actually touching down. It was a skill she'd worked out quickly when she'd started middle school; Hachiko always let her copy notes anyway, if she really had more important things to think about. How to find a stray demon was definitely more important today. She really should have asked Jin more about this Touya guy, but the fact was she just hadn't been thinking clearly at the time. The healer tapped her pencil against the desk, eyeing the clock as the teacher assigned homework. She was on her feet the moment the bell rang. It seemed like school was lasting longer and longer every day...
She had only gotten as far as the school gates when she heard the shout. "Hey! Koyama, wait up!" The blonde flinched. Hadn't they agreed never to be caught speaking to each other in school? She scowled inwardly, but managed to work up a more agreeable look on her face before she turned. After all, if she couldn't find Touya on her own in the next week or so she could very well have to ask him for help...
"Urameshi." The black-haired spirit detective ran over, not even slightly winded by the sprint. Mana sighed inwardly. "What seems to be the rush?"
"I needed to catch you before you left. Loan me your demon compass, would you?" He shifted, obviously not pleased about having to ask the favor. Mana sighed softly.
"First tell me what happened to yours."
"Does it really matter?" Oh, good, now he sounded irritated. Mana scolded herself inwardly; that reduced her chances of getting aid later. "It broke."
"Can't you just ask Botan for another one?" Mana shifted her bookbag on her shoulder. "Or is this not the first one you've broke?"
Yusuke Urameshi actually almost flinched. It was a tiny tic, but she definitely caught it. "They're too flimsy for the stuff I go up against. It's not my fault I break them. I'm not the one dealing with the standard D's, you know." It was Mana's turn to cringe now. Of course he would remind her. Urameshi got to fight in the big leagues while she was stuck as support. Mana turned on her heel, feeling a sudden surge of resolve. The hell she would ever ask him for help! She'd find Touya on her own!
"Sorry, I kind of need mine myself. You should talk to Botan about getting a stronger model. Maybe the tools the defense force uses could work on your targets if they're that powerful." She started walking before he could try to argue it out of her. "Now if you'll pardon me, I have a lot of work to take care of today."
"Right." She glanced over her shoulder; now he was staring at her. Finally, Urameshi turned. "I'll talk to Botan, then. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway."
Ugh...
She made it home without further incident, climbing up the fire escape to get to her apartment. To her surprise, the balcony was empty. Mana stared towards the open door. "Jin?"
"'Ello there!" The blonde blinked at the reply... from up above her. She managed to step back just as her houseguest vaulted down from the roof. What had he been doing up there? "Saw ya comin' today, I did. Are we gonna be headin' out soon?"
"Yeah, just let me get changed first." Mana dropped her bag by the door as she stepped inside. "I hate going out in my uniform. I hope you don't mind."
"Not a problem, I guess." Jin leaned against the doorframe. "I'll wait for ya out here."
"Sure thing." Mana headed to her room. The first step was untying those stupid braids. She sighed, staring into her mirror. She wanted to be taken seriously in life. No one would take a girl in pigtails seriously. Yanking the bands from her hair, she pulled the plaits out and shook her hair loose. There, she was feeling better already. Sighing softly, she grabbed a jean skirt and a floral blouse from her dresser. It wasn't easy to be convincingly innocent all the time. She eyed the tiny blossoms on the shirt, small, inconspicuous... sometimes she was kind of jealous of Urameshi. He honestly didn't care what people said about him. If he was gone from school for days or weeks at a time and people started badmouthing him for it, he didn't care. If he actually came in with some sort of mysterious injury and rumors started spreading, he just shrugged it off. Yusuke Urameshi let people talk without being bothered. Mana shook herself suddenly. That was nothing to admire; that just meant he was an idiot who didn't think about his future. It wasn't confidence, it was stupidity. She didn't have to be envious of that.
It didn't take her long to get ready to head out. The important thing was to look natural, as if this was just an afternoon out on the town. Hair clips and lip gloss were a girl's best friends. She sighed. She hated it sometimes...
By the time she headed back out into the living room she was perfectly composed. Jin was counting on her to get home, and she needed to keep her focus on that. The redhead was sitting out on the balcony, looking towards the end of the alley. Honestly, she was a little jealous of him, too. He was so lively all the time; he seemed more and more active every day now that he was finally recovering. No wonder he'd managed to break the seal; standing where she was, she could clearly sense his yoki. It had to have been the poison that had made him weak enough for her to seal, she decided. Had he been this strong then, she would never have been able to tie it off. "Are you ready to go?"
Jin turned, and the healer wondered what it was he was smiling so brightly about. "Yeah, I've been ready most all day." He headed for the fire escape. Mana clicked her tongue, and he turned back. "Wot?"
"Your hat?" She picked it up off the coffee table. "We'll stop and get you a better one, but for now you need to wear this, okay?"
"Oh, ahright..." He took the cap from her hands, shoving it down over his head with a scowl. "The thing's uncomfortable, though. And it's a girl's hat, isn't it?"
"It's an androgynous hat." Mana crossed the gap to the stairs. "No one will ever guess it's a girl's hat. It's too neutral."
"Yer still makin' me wear a girl's hat," the apparition grumbled. Mana almost felt herself smile; that accent of his still seemed kind of cute, even if the origins were a complete mystery to her. Maybe if she asked he'd tell her about where he was from? It was worth a try; Jin had been pretty good with information so far. She headed down the stairs and then the ladder, dropping to the ground below. "So where're we gonna be lookin' today?"
"That depends." Mana moved to the side so he could get down; Jin actually dropped from the top of the ladder. "What's your friend like, anyway? It could give us an idea of where he'd go for shelter."
"If I know Touya, he'll be somewhere cool." Jin shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He seemed to enjoy wearing them, Mana noted. "Touy, he's an ice user. He don't like it so much when the weather's too warm." The demon huffed lightly. "Honestly, though, the weather lately's been kind that way. Not too hot for him to be out comfortably. He could be anywhere, based on that." Jin looked towards the street. "Although if I had to guess, I'd say he'd be somewhere near the parks and things," and at this a wry grin spread across his face, "because he'd probably be out there lookin' for me afore I can go causin' trouble."
Mana stared. "Somehow, that makes a lot of sense."
Jin nodded cheerfully. "Touya's the responsible type."
"So what's he look like?" Mana headed towards the street. 'Could be anywhere' wasn't enough to go with, so she might as well start with the theory that Touya would be looking for Jin. "Is he distinctive at all?"
"I guess so, yeah." Jin fell into step next to her. "If I had to call it, I'd say he's right about your size. Not the biggest guy, Touya. I still wouldn't recommend crossin' him, though. Ya look at him and there's just something there that's unsettlin' like. Personally I've always thought it was the eyes." The redhead tilted his head. "Never did figure out how the eyes worked."
Mana wasn't sure she wanted to know, but if it would help Jin she had to ask. "What do you mean by that? Is something wrong with his eyesight?"
"No, his sight's just fine. That's what's always puzzled me, actually. You see, Touya's eyes don't got any pupils." Jin paused to look around while Mana tried to picture that. "He hasn't been in this area any time lately."
"How can you tell?" No, she couldn't picture the eyes. She'd seen demons with eyes that had looked like nothing but pupils, big black voids, but never ones that lacked them entirely. She sighed and looked over at the apparition; he was looking around, trying to decide which way to go. He hadn't heard her. "Jin, how do you know he hasn't been here?"
"It's the air." Jin started down the street. Mana tagged along, trying to keep up with his long strides. "It's somethin' I've learned to sense. Whenever Touy's been about the wind has this little edge of chill to it. It's not yer usual cold breeze, it feels too unnatural-like. I've always found it to be pretty useful, helps me keep track of him." The apparition looked back at him. "Where do ya think we should go from here?"
The truth was, Mana didn't have the slightest idea where to start. She sighed. She couldn't very well tell Jin that. He was looking at her with wide, hopeful blue eyes. "Well... there's one area in town that's kind of nice. It's mostly shops and things, it would be an easy place to hide and find food. If I were stuck in a strange town, those are the first two things I would look for; food and shelter in a safe location, away from trouble. We can try that district for today."
Jin nodded. "Lead the way, then!"
Three hours later, they'd found nothing. Mana sighed, settling onto a bench. "I guess he's not in this area. We can try somewhere new tomorrow."
"That sounds good." Jin didn't seem bothered as he flopped down next to her. "We'll find 'im by and by, no sense worryin' over it." The girl was glad he was so confident. She certainly wasn't. How could they have even been sure that Touya was in this city? Mana stared at the ground in front of her. There had to be a better way to do this than blind searching. Vaguely she wondered if she could ask Kurama for help; of all of Urameshi's crew, he was the most likely to give her the time of day. He was also the smartest in the group. The problem was, she'd have to ask Urameshi how to get in contact with him... Mana was startled by a sudden poke to her ribs. "You in there?"
"Ah... yeah." Mana shifted slightly. Why did he do that? "Just planning out where we go from here. If we don't find him in a week, I'm going to enlist some help, I think."
Jin was actually quiet. Mana turned; he was looking at her with an unnervingly thoughtful expression. "That sounds okay with me," he said finally. She blinked as the redhead reached over and ruffled at her hair. "I don't mind hangin' out here a bit. It's a nice place."
Mana pulled away from his hand, noting with dismay that the action only seemed to amuse him. "That's good. Are you hungry?"
"Starvin'. Only do ya think we could maybe finally get a different hat first? This one really is getting' annoying. It's startin' to itch at me."
"Oh, all right." Mana got to her feet. "I saw a place back a block and a half or so that should have something you'd like. Come on."
Jin actually whistled as he followed her. Mana wasn't sure what to think of his perpetual carefree attitude; wasn't he concerned for his friend or for whether or not he'd be able to go home? The girl cringed inwardly. What on earth was she going to do if they couldn't find him a way home? She couldn't hide him forever. She had nowhere to send him, though, if her father were to come home unexpectedly or... she winced at the prospect... if Botan were to pop by unexpectedly like she sometimes did. Just how much trouble would she be in if Spirit World found out she'd decided to randomly harbor a high-class demon without telling them about it? What kind of punishment was there for that?
Then again, what kind of punishment would there be for Jin and his friends if Spirit World found out the barrier was being breached that easily? Either way, this was not an easy situation...
The next surprise poke made her yelp. "Jin! Stop it!"
The apparition ignored her protests. "How far did ya say the shop was, now?"
"About a block and a half." Mana blinked. Oh... fiznit. They'd passed it. "Sorry. It's back this way."
Jin reached over to poke at her again. The blonde scowled and swatted his hand away. "Ya doin' okay there? Ya seem distracted."
"I'm just thinking." Mana stopped in front of a small clothing shop. "Here. This place is big on accessories. They should have something you can wear."
"Sounds good." The redhead stopped, eyeing the storefront. "Em... are ya really expectin' me to go in there, though? Seems a bit flowery. It don't seem like the kind of place where I'd even find somethin' wearable..."
The healer scowled. "If you don't go in, then you'll just have to live with what I pick out for you."
"I'm goin', I'm goin'." Mana followed Jin inside, sighing softly to herself. Did he mean to give her a hard time, or did it just sort of happen? She was really getting tired of being poked all the time! She waited as Jin meandered around the store, eventually coming back over to her with a funny little hat in his hands. She stared at it; it was sort of a tweedy little thing, almost like a beret, but it also had a little bit of a rim to it. For the life of her, she wasn't even sure what a hat like that was called. "Do ya think this'll work?"
"I guess so." Mana took the tag to pay for the hat, heading back outside when she was done. Jin was waiting; the first thing he did was shove the old cap at her. The blonde rolled her eyes. "Do you hate it that much?"
"I told ya, it itches!" Well, the new cap did suit him better, she decided as she looked him over. How was it that he was so energetic all the time? She envied that, the way he seemed to just let everything roll by him. "So are we goin' back to eat now, or are we gettin' somethin' while we're out here?"
"We'll get something here in town." Mana didn't feel like cooking. The fact of the matter was, sometimes it just annoyed her. It was polite to cook for people, she knew, but that didn't mean she wanted to do it every night. "Have you ever had sushi before?"
"Mebe once or twice." Jin fell into step next to her as she started walking. "Hey, Mana?"
"Yeah?" Why did he always call her by her first name, anyway? Mana had never known a demon could be as friendly as Jin was. Most of the demons she had ever encountered had viewed humans as food sources, tools, playthings, or at the very least lesser beings. Actually in Jin's case humans did seem to be a form of entertainment, now that she though about it. The way he was always teasing her was a good example, and he'd done the same thing to Sachiko. That wasn't a promising thought...
"Thanks for helpin' me out like ya have been." The girl blinked, startled enough to stop walking as the apparition reached over and rested a hand on top of her head. "Ya don't find a lot of people who're willin' to stick their neck out for someone they don't even know out like that, not in your world and not in mine. Ya got a rare kind of kindness about ya."
Mana swallowed. No one had ever said anything that... that nice to her before. Damn it, she had to say something now. "Thanks... that... that means a lot to me." As soon as the words left her mouth she realized with a start that it was the truth. It did mean a lot to hear someone say something kind to her for a change. She glanced over; Jin was waiting for her to start walking again with that same carefree expression on his face he always had. Mana felt her cheeks flush as she tried to look him in the eye. "You're a very rare kind of person yourself," she mumbled, giving up at last and hurrying along down the sidewalk. The redhead laughed.
"Yeah, I guess I am. I mean it, though. Yer a good girl."
He started teasing her again not even ten minutes later... but somehow, Mana discovered, she no longer minded at all...
