A/N: Updates are going to get a little slower since I'm prepping to return to campus soon. Thank you all for your patience and patronage. This chapter's title is owed to a type of eel and Dean Martin.
That's a Moray
Moonlight shone through the open window and cast Rin's dark room in a silver glow, lighting up the cerulean hues in Kichiruka's irises. He was shirtless and hakama rode low on his dappled waist. Rin sucked in a sharp breath – just as she thought, the spots really did go all the way down his chest. The last disappeared under the square knot below his stomach. Kichiruka pulled her close in a fierce embrace.
"Rin," he said, looking deep into her eyes. "You realize how I feel about you, right?"
Yes. Maybe. She stood on tiptoe to graze her ear against his mouth. Please say it.
"You're like a sister to me."
"Yes, and I –" Wait, what? No! No, this isn't how it's supposed to go! She pulled back to gape at the demon.
Kichiruka laughed and his usual smile took on a funny lopsided quality. Suddenly his spots faded and his chin sprouted a few whiskers. When his hair lost its spikes and bled from silver to black, he looked at her with soft brown eyes.
Kohaku?
Rin woke up in a cold sweat. "God!"
Kichiruka knelt beside her. "Are you okay?" Concerned wrinkled the spots on his brow. He blinked, but his eyes stayed their gentle blue. "Have a bad dr—"
Grabbing the back of his topknot, Rin dragged the demon down for a deep, passionate kiss. When she was through he lay there petrified, just staring back.
"Well, say something!" she snapped.
"I am so hard for you right now."
Rin sighed. Good. I guess. "Wait, when did you get here?"
Kichiruka grinned.
Oh, what the hell. Rin reached for him again.
Then opened her eyes for the second time.
"What the…?" It took a full minute to register the empty room and the creeping sunshine that filtered through the shades. She smacked a hand over her forehead. Just a stupid dream…
"Couple of creepy dreams," she said out loud to test the surety of her voice. The sturdy resolve resounded in the room's quiet. Rin was awake. And she certainly hoped Kichiruka didn't see her as a sister.
Er, not that I want to be anything more…
It wasn't as if she wanted Kichiruka that badly. He was, after all, a demon. Rin felt her stomach squeeze involuntarily. She crossed her legs and tried to ignore the gathering moisture. Why didn't his species seem to matter as much as it was supposed to?
Okay, but he probably won't take it seriously. If she was going to leave this little village, she didn't have time to mess around. Even if I do want him…a little, the girl conceded.
Rin sighed, rolling over. Kichiruka said he would be busy for a few days, but that hadn't stopped him from dropping by the next. Or trying to, anyway. Rin shuddered to think what would've happened had the water demon been half a second slower. She hoped Sesshomaru's demonstration was enough to keep him away.
But what if he never comes back?
Rin curled tightly under the blankets. She didn't want Kichiruka to leave, but she couldn't blame him if he did either. The thought alone made Rin's chest tighten. Tch, it's only been a day and he's having an effect on my anatomy. Rin's toes curled. She could already hear Kichiruka's reply to that. But without the demon's antics or even just his jovial presence to bounce her along, she had trouble visualizing her day, like a very important piece had been cut out of her routine.
Or maybe just a break from it all.
He made everything new. Even her plain little village was seen with a fresh perspective. She loved watching Kichiruka's eyes light up when he got excited, the way his laughter bubbled like a fountain, and his strange philosophies that occasionally surfaced. It's because of him that I've stayed, Rin thought remembering how anxious she was to leave her hometown as soon as spring had arrived.
Why?
Still wide awake, her mind drifted before it dug up perhaps its most absurd memory.
.
Rin was laid up with her bad ankle and Kichiruka came poking around the village nearly every day. No matter how many times she assured him that she'd walk again, the demon persistently popped up to check on her. Rin thought it was annoying, until a time when he didn't show up at all.
"What are you looking for?" Kagome asked, joining her young friend out on the bench in front of hers and Inuyasha's home.
"Nothing," Rin answered, voice muffled by the hand under her chin. Although she stared across the busy street scene of neighbors plus one incoming merchant, her eyes didn't see any of them.
"I'm sure he'll be by today."
"You think?" Rin said absently.
Kagome smiled triumphantly. "Aha! You are thinking about your little demon friend!"
Rin's chin slipped off her palm. "No! An' don't call him 'little,'" she grumbled the last.
"Okay, you're thinking about 'Kich',' then?"
"Cut it out, Kagome," she harrumphed. The priestess had been brutally teasing her with the backclipping of Kichiruka's name ever since she'd overheard it.
"She gets it from Sesshomaru," Inuyasha snorted, dropping from the rooftop.
"I think you're right," the priestess sighed at Rin as if studying a pitiful broken-winged bird.
"What?" the girl snapped. She was starting to get why Inuyasha got so offended when he was compared to his brother. It was pretty damn annoying.
"That attitude," the priestess said. "In this case, when you love someone you're the last one to know." With a lazy yawn, Kagome beckoned for Inuyasha to follow her out to Sango's house.
"Hey, you can't leave me stranded here!" Rin shouted after her.
"You won't be shortly."
To her conflicting annoyance, Kagome was right. Kichiruka showed up in the next minute. Rin hadn't known it then, but Kichiruka was especially fond of the fact that he had one thing only two other people in his world did: thumbs.
"Hey, Rin! I've been practicing all morning," he exclaimed, emerging from a water-filled basin. "Did you know you could do this with thumbs?"
He wiggled the opposable digits for a full minute in front of his eyes, then touched each finger to them. With a whoop of joy, he delighted in the snapping sound that emitted when he rubbed his thumb and middle finger together.
Falling in love? With him? Rin peered at Kichiruka from the corner of her vision: he sat on the ground snapping his fingers and humming some off-beat tune.
They're all crazy, she had thought before limping to a seat and waiting for Kichiruka to join her.
.
But now Rin wondered just how farfetched Kagome's notion was. And why did it take a threat of permanent loss just to realize how much something meant?
Wonder if that's why Lord Sesshomaru worries so much.
And it wasn't like she could take Kichiruka with her. Early on, she had made an effort not to grow attached. Sometimes she asked for the demon to return, other days she didn't bother. What if he just said no? What if she used up all his friendship? Getting tangled up in the light blanket again, Rin tossed to her other side. Maybe this attachment was the sort of stupid thing Sesshomaru had admonished her against.
And still Rin couldn't help wishing: Please don't be gone.
She gazed at the window a moment before noticing just how late the morning had grown. This is too much to think about right now.
Lifting up the shade, Rin peeped out the window, surprised – but can't say shocked – to spot Sesshomaru among the people. Not that that's so hard to do. Everyone might have been going about their daily business, but they all kept a ten-foot radius from the daiyokai. Their adversion was a stark contrast to the more tolerant – if occasionally manipulative – stance they afforded Kichiruka in the short period they'd known him. Over the years that Sesshomaru had spent with around the village, no one ever got used to having such a demon so close. Even when he completely ignored them.
Like a sleepwalker, Sesshomaru strolled aimlessly along. Silver bangs swished as his head swung slowly from one side to the other. He kept his eyes half closed as if shutting down any other senses that might influence his nose.
He's tracking. Rin shivered, knowing the target perfectly well. Dropping the shade before Sesshomaru decided to pay her a visit, she went back to bed. Maybe if she slept in the dog-demon wouldn't come sniffing around here. Fat, lardy chance. All she could hope was that Kichiruka stood away.
"Hey, Rin?" A little voice that came from under her pillow sent Rin jumping for the ceiling. "It's Kichiruka. Can you hear me?"
Rin scooped up the earrings, shooting glances all around. "Yeah, I'm here."
"Whoa, look, you never mentioned this guardian of yours is a predatory greater demon."
"Don't you have more important things to do?" she snapped, immediately regretting the terseness of her words.
"I'm on break," he huffed. "Anyway, now that I know what he is, just who is he?"
Suddenly, Rin felt a tremor run up her spine. Sesshomaru's aura was drawing closer. "Gotta go. Sorry."
Muffling Kichiruka's protests in her fist, she did some fast thinking and grabbed a wash cloth, wrapped up the earrings, and stuffed them into the depths of the hearth, beneath the thick soot and charred timber. With the exception of being in Sesshomaru's company, Rin had already been wearing the earrings since she'd gotten them. They're cute, she had reasoned. But just in case sweat and scent hadn't completely altered the smell hopefully these last, desperate measures would.
Rummaging through the chest in the room's corner, she fished out some incense leftover from Obon. It didn't matter if it was lit, if she could just crumble it and scatter the scent enough to deter Sesshomaru's nose.
Then two firm knocks thudded against her door's post.
Sesshomaru would have preferred to enter as he pleased, but since Rin was growing up he started allowing her more privacy. She wasn't a child anymore. He was frankly reminded of that when she came to the doorway in her sleepwear, smelling…mature.
"What have you been –? Never mind." He didn't want to know. But he did look over her head and couldn't find any trace of men in the small quarters.
Rin's face heated up. Times like these she really wished Sesshomaru had normal olfaction and couldn't detect her every emotion or arousal.
"Change your mind about Takeda?" he asked offhandedly, choosing to remain outside with the fresh air.
Rin scowled at him.
"It can still be arranged," Sesshomaru deadpanned.
Rin rolled her eyes. If he was in a good enough a humor to joke like this perhaps there still existed a chance that he would let suspicions of Kichiruka's presence go.
"So what man is on your mind?"
"None." None human.
Sesshomaru arched a slender brow as if to ask, "Is that so?"
Rin wanted to shoot back, "Like you don't think about women," but she wasn't too sure. For the time that she'd known him, Sesshomaru seemed damn near celibate. That's probably why he's so uptight. But, putting her own theories aside, Rin simply answered his question, followed up with a polite request to ready herself for the day ahead.
Don't screw up a good thing. Just get him moving.
Sesshomaru left. And returned the following day.
To his vexation the mysterious demon's scent grew weaker with every hour. Jaken's inferior senses were useless and the daiyokai had half a mind to interrogate the villagers. As if they know of anything…
Humans, Sesshomaru knew, were collectively stupid. As it was, few remained articulate in his presence. He decided to spare himself the headache and keep tracking on his own. By the third day, the dog-demon was tempted to write the whole fiasco off as a possible misfortune negated by his very presence. But what if that demon came back?
Then it dies.
Sesshomaru found small consolation in this thought. He sensed Inuyasha getting increasingly agitated by these patrols, but strangely his typically confrontational sibling didn't come out snapping and lunging as usual. Did he not want to address the subject? Or was there really no danger and Inuyasha finally learned the art of humiliation after being a long-time student?
The tip of the dog-demon's furred mane flicked. He didn't want to go and leave matters to chance. Standing on Rin's roof, he scanned the skies. Sesshomaru's head suddenly snapped in the opposite direction as he honed in on a demon's scent. He knew this one and its riders well.
The two-tail.
Kilala coasted in for a landing and amber eyes observed the little crowd that flocked around the neko-mata. Kohaku slid slowly off. But it was the accompanying rappa who carried his chain-and-sickle, worry creasing her fine features. It was difficult to see from the angle of the slayer's body, but Kohaku's arm rested in a makeshift cloth sling. Sesshomaru studied the wind currents and sifted out the scratchy scent of dried blood.
The daiyokai's mane and clothes were still settling when he landed in front of his one-time protégée. People instantly cleared space, save for Rin and her friends.
Claws reached out to graze the top of the sling. Kohaku recoiled with a wince, but his fingers flexed and his whole arm moved.
A flesh wound, then. Golden eyes searched the slayer's face.
"A mantis – from the Mainland, I think," Kohaku explained, "with claws faster than I anticipated."
"How careless," Sesshomaru droned.
Inuyasha muttered something about being an unsympathetic bastard, but Kohaku spoke over him. "Miyoko suggested we ought to come back and rest here." He nodded toward his fiancée. Sesshomaru didn't so much as glance in her direction. His sights stood adhered to the slayer's arm. The scent on Kohaku's wound was different than the one haunting the village.
"Were you successful?"
"Yeah, it's dead." The young man nodded curtly.
Sesshomaru offered a faint smile. Although Kohaku was injured, the taijiya's presence alone seemed to assuage his nerves. He trusted Kohaku more than most other associates, human or demon.
"I sense there's been a run of yokai in this area," Sesshomaru said, switching the subject slightly. "Alert me if you notice anything unusual." The daiyokai kept his tone clipped, but his eyes lingered on Kohaku's arm. He snorted as he took his leave.
It was just as difficult letting boys go, too.
oOo
Kichiruka surveyed the area surrounding the rice paddy, poking out no more of his face than necessary. He wasn't used to being cautious on Rin's turf and realized just how sloppy he'd grown. His eyes darting from one place to another, Kichiruka braced himself for a set of claws to come out of nowhere and shear his head off.
But the demon kept wondering that if he had met this protector of Rin's from the get-go would matters have been much different?
Quit being a pansy. He sprang out of the water, startling several women working nearby.
"'Morning!" he greeted cheerfully before continuing on his way. Keeping an eye open for any danger, Kichiruka raised the conch to his chin. "Hey, Rin, where are you?"
He waited a moment, then asked, "You there?"
"Kichiruka?"
"Hi!" At her light laughter he felt a tension evaporate from his shoulders. "Rin dear, where are you?"
"Miroku's house." She hesitated. "We have company."
"Oh." Kichiruka stopped walking in the middle of the road, a man driving his ox cursed his way past. "Can I still come over?"
"Sure!" Kagome's voice chirped through the conch. Kichiruka picked up some of Rin's grumbling for the priestess to quit grabbing her ear and didn't she mind? "Come on over! Rin could use you around."
Kichiruka smiled. That was all the invitation he needed. When he arrived at the small mansion, Rin was already outside waiting.
"Hey." She could see the millions of questions playing across his face. None of which she really felt like discussing.
"So, who's over?"
Rin exhaled in relief as he asked the easiest of the questions, even if her reply came out in a choppy, "Kohaku, he was my, er, is a…childhood friend."
"Ah." Her discomfort left Kichiruka puzzled, but he decided not to go into it. Even if she likes to cross-examine the hell out of me.
The guest room was spacious enough to accommodate Inuyasha, Kagome, and who Kichiruka assumed was Kohaku, along with another woman. Kohaku stood when he saw the demon enter. Drowning blue eyes looked him up and down and the taijiya felt his hand clench for the kusarigama that rested in the opposite corner, too far away to be effective. He stood.
Kichiruka tilted his head. Huh. A young guy. And injured.
"Nice to meet you," he said kindly, but no sooner had he finished bowing
At the unnerving way Kichiruka circled Kohaku Kagome thought of sharks and their prey. She noticed their water demon had folded his hands behind his back. As if he were avoiding direct contact. Kichiruka's circle tightened when suddenly the strange woman shoved a palm into his chest with more strength than he had expected from her. "Enough," she growled.
"Huh. If he takes a bite out of him, we're tossing fish-boy back in the lake," Inuyasha drawled. Kagome and Rin glared at him.
"It's okay, Miyoko," Kohaku demurred, his hands on her shoulders. He looked back up at the water demon. "You want to touch, don't you?"
Kichiruka smiled. This man was familiar with yokai.
With a gusty sigh, Kohaku stepped forward and waited. Mercifully, this yokai had some sort of upbringing to politely extend only one claw-tipped finger. He ran it over the slayer's fine beard, carefully tracing his jawline. Then his hand fell to his side. "Done," he announced.
If everyone was surprised by the brevity of Kichiruka's examination, their shock skyrocketed when Kohaku looked gravely back and said, "My turn, demon."
Inuyasha exchanged a look with Kagome who glanced at Rin who slipped a hand over her eyes.
Kohaku reached out to feel one of the tines on Kichiruka's head. The demon held perfectly still as fingers separated the strands of hair comprising the first spike.
"Hmm, hair and not scales," Kohaku mumbled. "A very good guise. Miyoko, remember this please." He turned back to his subject. "Heh, thanks."
Kichiruka smiled. "Glad to return the favor."
Demon and slayer sat down in time, apparently satisfied with whatever they saw in the other.
Rin groaned. This is too weird.
"So you're a friend of Rin's?" Kohaku asked.
Kichiruka looked at the girl and smiled. "Yes," he said to her.
From the corner of her eye, Rin saw the ninja pass a sleeve over her mouth to hide her grin.
What're you laughing about, Ayu?
"So this is the guy who makes you smile so?" she leaned in to whisper.
Rin frowned. "Does it look like I'm grinning from ear to ear?"
"It's in your eyes, silly."
Rin shut up and tuned back into whatever everyone else was talking about.
"I noticed the sickle. Is it yours?" Kichiruka nodded toward the kusarigama.
Kohaku nodded. "I'm a professional demonslayer."
Kichiruka turned to Rin, a playful smile curling the corners of his mouth. "You like putting me around dangerous people, don't you?"
In spite of herself, Rin laughed. And sharp ears fluttered to catch every fluctuation.
"So, you're from the ocean, hm?" Kohaku leaned forward in interest, drawing Kichiruka's attention back. "Which coast?"
"Mikan."
"The one with all the tangerine groves?"
"That's our namesake!" The toothy grin spread wider.
"May I see?" Kohaku pointed at the conch shell propped against the demon's shoulder.
"Oh, I only know a few parlor tricks," Kichiruka said, rubbing the back of his neck and keeping his gaze low.
"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Inuyasha huffed from his corner of the room, arms folded behind his head. "You're pretty damn good at what you do."
"He works hard for it." Rin's voice brimmed with unchecked admiration and she was treated to a rare blush rising from the water demon's cheeks.
"So what do you have planned for today?" Kagome asked brightly.
"Oh, nothing…" Kichiruka looked quizzically at Rin. "You?"
Rin shifted a little. Now that Kichiruka was here she wanted him all to herself.
"Why don't you spend the day out for a while?" the priestess suggested. "I know you've been working hard to keep busy the past couple of days without Kichiruka around."
Rin resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Could Kagome embarrass her any further? "Kohaku's injured, though, and –"
"I'm spoiled whenever I get back here," the demonslayer interrupted with a hearty laugh. "Go on and take Kilala with you. She gets antsy being cooped up." Kohaku nodded to his demon partner.
"Fine," she sighed so as not give away her own relief. But Rin smiled as the kitten skittered after.
Kohaku watched the pair leave. He wasn't sure if Kichiruka counted as "unusual" since everyone here seemed to know him, but the taijiya wasn't going to betray Sesshomaru's confidence either. He'd remember to discuss it with Rin later.
Outside, Kilala scuttled up Kichiruka's shoulder. Extending a black paw, she tentatively tapped him on the head. He blinked back and the little cat mewed delightedly.
"Maybe she thinks you're edible," Rin giggled. "Kilala likes fish."
"Does she?" he cooed, picking her up and nuzzling her nose. Then in a swirl of flames, Kilala transformed. Kichiruka backed up, tripped, and fell sprawled in front of the great cat's paws. His yelp was muted by the slurpy, reassuring strokes that she licked over the water demon's face in a friendly greeting. Kichiruka held his breath and waited for her to finish. This wasn't the tactile exchange he was used to.
Laughing, Rin locked an arm around Kilala's mane. "Enough, girl. Hey, Kich', wanna get to the brook really fast?" A devious glint gleamed in Rin's eyes.
Kichiruka looked between her and Kilala. His consent came hesitantly.
"Hop on," she said, mounting the demon cat.
"Ride the two-tail?"
"Yeah, what else?"
Kichiruka was half expecting something more exciting that riding an animal that would presumably just bound over the land. Well, if Rin thinks it's fun…He got on.
But when Kilala sprang into the air she didn't come back down. Kichiruka yelped and latched on to Rin. She frowned disappointedly. This wasn't the way his body was pressed to hers in the dream.
"I hate heights," he said in a voice that sounded suspiciously like a whimper.
Rin blinked. "You are a demon, aren't you?"
"And? I'm water, not air!"
Oh, sure, skating down a suicidal ice slope is no problem, but a little flying? "Don't be a baby. Look down at the village."
Kichiruka did, and felt his stomach lurch. "How much farther?" He closed his eyes before his head started to spin. Suddenly, the gut-wrenching sensation of a freefall jolted him enough to open his eyes.
"We're here."
Kilala came to a smooth enough landing, but Kichiruka dove into his element at the first second.
"Thanks, kitty-cat." Reaching out of the brook, he patted Kilala between the ears and she purred appreciatively. Then he sank back into deeper water
"Do I have to fish you back out?" Rin teased from the bank.
Kichiruka's eyes batted back over the surface. "Fine," he grumbled, crawling out. The water demon lay on the earth for a while, embracing its shiftless, solid form. He rolled on his back, but closed his eyes against the sky.
"Okay, it wasn't that scary." Rin lightly tapped a knuckle against his head.
Then Kichiruka hushed her. Motioning with his eyes, he "pointed" to his outstretched palm and the creature resting inside it. "A bee."
"Careful!" Rin cautioned, falling back off her heels. "Watch out for that stinger!"
She didn't quite realize how unnecessary the warning was until Kichiruka gave her a droll look. "I'm not sure whether to be enthused or insulted that you occasionally forget I'm yokai," he mumbled. Returning his attentions to the bee, the water demon observed, "Its wings are frozen."
Rin nodded. "Yeah, I think that happens if they spend the night outside the hive. They liven up, though, if they sit in the sun long enough…Could you please get rid of him now?"
"Her," Kichiruka corrected. "Only the females fly." He extended his hand to her, but she shirked away.
"I…I don't like that buzzing they make," Rin admitted sheepishly. "Like right before they sting you."
Matching the bubbling cadence of the brook, Kichiruka laughed softly. "Everyone I've met, humans and yokai alike, they all want control." Kichiruka extended his spotted arm demonstratively, letting the bee scuttle from his elbow to wrist. "That's why we imagine…and why, when something displeases or frightens us, we destroy it."
Rin's eyes widened as he made to smash the insect. "No!"
The sly smile that stretched across Kichiruka's face assured her he wouldn't.
"You're twisted," Rin scowled at him.
Kichiruka chortled, then continued evenly. "But reality, you see, is so much less predictable. We try to escape it just as comprehension and tolerance of this changing world elude us."
"That's why I love wishes." With a flick of his wrist, the bee whizzed off. Rin failed to suppress the yip its buzzing excited from her throat. Kichiruka laughed. "Oh, wishes string you along and just when you think the opportunity is near it flits away. How I love to make them real…"
"Are we still talking about wishes?" Rin finally asked. Can you be serious for just one moment?
Scratching Kilala between her ears, Kichiruka chuckled. In one breath, he answered both her questions. "Possibly."
oOo
"So how far have you gotten?" Tensai dryly asked, half-focused on his engravings.
Kichiruka brushed aside a bit of seaweed that had caught on the tablet he was studying. Tensai's "office," sterilized as it was, never seemed to be devoid of oddball plant life. "Well, she's definitely warmed up to me. But I'm not sure if…"
"I inquired about your progress with terrestrial prowess," Tensai snipped, "not your little love life."
"Who's talking about love?" Kichiruka straightened and crossed his arms over his chest.
"You're the one with the wandering mind, you dolt. That's the second question I've posed today that you made relative to your so-called coach." Yellow eyes rolled in their sockets coupled with a disgusted sigh. "You're besotted with her," he accused.
"No!" Kichiruka denied vehemently. After all, he'd never admitted to anything.
Tensai's eyes narrowed, but he simply grumbled, "Good. She's a human."
Kichiruka felt a wave of umbrage on Rin's behalf. "What's that got to do with anything?" he challenged.
"You'll outlive her or she'll outgrow you soon enough. It doesn't matter which comes first, so don't bother."
"How would you know?"
"Before I became your teacher I had a life, boy." The way he slung the words made Kichiruka feel callow and stupid. And angry. Tensai didn't know Rin.
"This, Master Tensai, is a subjective experience; you can't compare it to anything else," he defended. "She makes me feel alive. I…I love her not just for who she is but for what I become when I'm around her. I can feel my soul finally stir for something worthwhile."
"Fool, yokai don't have souls!"
Kichiruka fell silent. We don't? He considered this information. What did it feel like to have a soul? Or to be void of one? Tentatively, he poked his stomach. "Then I suppose I've grown one."
"Damned idiot!" Tensai swore, slamming the tablet down on his stone desk. "Get over it! What? Do you think you'll spend your whole life with her?"
Mirroring his master's frown, Kichiruka stared fixedly ahead. Tensai flinched.
"You really do, eh? Is that why you've been performing these little daredevil feats? Why you're so carelessly expending your own life's energy with the conch? In hopes you'll match her lifespan?"
"…Yes."
"Ah," he sighed in mock enlightenment. "So you have this all planned out. Then explain to me, what are you going to do when she wants to have children? Can you take responsibility for that?" His tail lashed as he stalked straight up to Kichiruka. "Humans are prejudiced against our kind enough and demons likewise, what do you think the world is going to be like for a half-demon?"
"Half-demon?" Kichiruka blinked.
"Your offspring, moron!" Tensai roared. "If you die within her lifetime who's going to tend to your brood? And if you decide not to have children, well, who are you to deny her such a thing? If you love her, who are you to be so selfish?" Kichiruka noticed his master wasn't staring at him anymore, how the sails on his arms and head quivered. Abruptly, Tensai swung around on him. "Get out," he spat, lip curling in a snarl. "Get out of my study before I forget all I've invested and kill you now."
Kichiruka paddled back. "Master?"
"OUT!"
Hurriedly, Kichiruka disappeared in a self-made whirlpool. When he opened his eyes again he was looking at the inside of his home. As his vision cleared his mind grew cluttered again. The young demon wasn't sure what to make of his emotions anymore. Were they just whims? Ones that he would regret indulging? Would he have to sedate the memories with a flask like Tensai? Was he just wasting everyone's time? What did Tensai know about Rin's kind anyway?
Apparently a lot.
.
A/N: Thank you for reading. Reviews are always appreciated.