Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen Angel ❯ Sign of the Demon... ( Chapter 9 )

Right…I should probably type the next chapter to "New Sibling", but I don't feel like it…I started it, but got bored, so I wrote this instead. My friend, Tokui Yaiba, said that this was her favorite one of my fics, so I'm updating it. I hate all of my stories, even the ones that aren't on any website, except "Adventures of the Masaharu Girls". I like that fic! ^_^ Anyways, you guys should seriously go read Tokui's story! Her username is Tokui Yaiba so go read her fic! Oh, and it's an InuYasha fanfic! It's really good!

Last time:

Mitsukai was giving Amy a lesson on how to `traverse the mind', but she decided that instead of entering the creature he caught for her, she would enter his mind. After a few introductions, she finally left his mind and began practice on her original target.

This chapter takes place about three days after the last chapter.

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~* 10:52 am *~

"I hate this bed," Amy muttered grumpily as she sat up, squeezing her eyes shut as the sun's rays assaulted them from behind the blinds

"I have other places you could sleep, you know," came Mitsukai's deep voice from just above her.

Her eyes immediately shot open to find Mitsukai sitting on the edge of her bed, leaning over her.

"Kya," she screamed as she pushed him back and sat up, grasping her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

Mitsukai looked at her as if she had suddenly grown a second head.

"Don't look at me like that," she said, glaring at him. "You know full well what you did."

He brushed it off and stood. "You should learn more discipline. Sleeping in like that can't be too good for you, ne?"

"Shut up, jerk," she yelled at him, obviously agitated.

He shrugged, walking toward the door.

"How long were you sitting there," she asked before he had a chance to leave.

Mitsukai turned around to look at her, a slight smirk on his face. "Long enough, dove," he said with amusement in his voice. With that said, he left, leaving a very pissed of young woman sitting in bed.

~* 11:03 am *~

Amy walked into the kitchen to find Mitsukai sitting at the island bar, reading the same scroll that she had peeked at.

"What're you reading," she asked as if she didn't have a clue.

"You should know," he countered, glancing up at her.

She blushed, but didn't reply, scrounging the fridge for something to eat. When she didn't find anything that suited her, she decided to sit across from Mitsukai and see if he was in a talkative mood.

Amy opened her mouth to ask him something, but he interrupted. "I don't know where Kage is; yes, I'm a demon; and I'm trying to find something out, so I don't have time for any more of your questions," he said, not bothering to look up at her again.

Her mouth quickly snapped shut, grinding her teeth in impatience. She watched as he stood up and retreated to his room. `That jerk thinks he can just blow me off like this,' she huffed to herself. `What's he doing anyway?'

Amy quickly stood, following Mitsukai to his room and down the stairs into the large library there.

"I told you nosiness isn't a good quality," his voice resounded throughout the room. "You should learn better habits," he said as he wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders and grabbed her jaw. "What are you doing down here?"

"I wanted to know what you were doing down here," she said, seemingly completely unfazed by his nearness. "And I want to know what that scroll means," she added after a moment.

She felt his arms tense for a moment, but he still said nothing. Amy tried to turn to face him, but he wouldn't loosen his grip enough. She began to panic when they were both enveloped in his giant black wings.

"I thought I told you not to panic. It suffocates me," he hissed into her ear.

"I wouldn't have a reason to panic if you would release me," she lashed out.

He hesitated a moment, but did as she suggested and let her go. She immediately turned around to tell him off, but found no one behind her.

"You need to learn how to keep up," he called from the other side of the room.

"How - but - you - how did you do that," she finally asked.

He glanced back at her from one of the desks in the back of the room. "You could say it's a demon thing," he said, just loud enough for her to hear. "Did you actually want to know about those things, or could you just settle on leaving me be," he continued rudely. "I would rather you just leave…now."

She huffed, her anger suddenly flaring. "Why should I," she asked. "Shouldn't I stay with you? I mean, you are supposed to be protecting me, right? What if one of those monsters attacks me while you're down here?"

"All excellent questions," he said, turning back to the desk behind him, "none of which I will answer."

Amy stomped angrily over to him. "So, you just want me to go up there again, with the knowledge that at any moment some horrible monster could attack and kill me, and you'll still be down here totally unaware," she yelled at him.

He seemed to seethe in front of her for a moment before he whipped around, grabbing her shoulders before she could even blink. "If you would wish for one to kill you right now, I would be more than happy to oblige," he hissed menacingly in her face. "It matters not to me whether you live or die. Without you, the world would go on with the demons occasionally killing, but with you here, they will attack more frequently. I could end it all right now with one swift blow. Do you wish that," he asked, his normally kind eyes turning into the black abysses they resemble, staring down at her through silver slits.

She looked away, toward the ground in shame. After a moment, he released her, staring at his hands as if in shock. His eyes widened perceptively as he looked from his bloodied claws to Amy's frightened face.

"Amy," he choked out. "I…"

Before he could force anything else out, she bolted for the stairway. "I'll take my chances with the other monsters," she yelled as she disappeared into his room.

Once she was out in the hallway, she leaned against the wall just outside of his door, sliding down to sit on the floor, trying to calm herself down. `Why would he say those things,' she asked herself. `He's never acted like that before. Did I really cause that?'

A moment later she heard a horrendous roar from downstairs, followed by a loud crash. Curiosity winning over her reasoning, Amy cautiously made her way back into his room. `I won't let him see me,' she told herself. `I'll just see what that noise was.'

She peeked into the library to find it a complete mess. She stepped fully inside, not finding Mitsukai anywhere within the room. The desk that he had been reading at was now right next to the stairs instead of across the room where it should be, the papers, books, and other items that were on it strewn across the room. She walked over to the fallen desk, running her fingers over the deep claw marks.

She followed the trail of papers and books to the original position of the desk. Lying in the spilled ink and small blots of blood was the woman's bracelet she had seen days before. She carefully picked it up, looking over the details. It was a thin black, leather strip with a small latch and a dragon pendant. It was carefully detailed and looked almost real. She wrapped her small fingers around the pendant and continued to look around.

There were huge, black feathers scattered about the room. Books were knocked off the shelves where the desk had been thrown. And in a few places, she found blotches of blood, but knew it wasn't hers. The small pricks in her skin from Mitsukai's claws were not large enough to bleed anymore than a few drops of blood, which were either on his claws or absorbed by her shirt. `He must have hurt himself,' she mused, `but how…and why?'

Amy shook her head and looked back down at the bracelet, tracing over the body of the dragon as she admired the beauty of it all.

"Elegant, isn't it?"

She suddenly spun around to find Mitsukai standing in the doorway, and took a cautious step back away from him. As she stared at him, she noticed the spots on his folded wings where he was missing feathers. It was bleeding profusely, but she knew that it would stop soon enough to save his life. He wasn't going to die. `He couldn't die like that.'

He lifted his hand halfway to stop her, but decided against it and lowered his hand again. He waited as Amy ran her eyes over him, studying his current state.

As she looked over him, her eyes stopped on something else that was quite interesting. Forgetting about what just happened to her, she walked over to him, running her fingers over an unfamiliar scar on his left shoulder. He flinched away from her touch, tensing as she ran her fingers over his cool skin. She seemed oblivious as she continued to study his shoulder.

"What's this," she asked, still staring at the scar. "That wound shouldn't have healed into a scar like this."

He didn't answer, but she didn't mind; she was still looking over the scar. After a moment, she realized what she was doing and pulled her hand away, taking a few steps back.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I've just never seen a scar like that."

Mitsukai looked down and shook his head. "It's fine, though, no one has asked about it in…..decades," he said, looking up at her again. "You wish to know about it, then I suppose?"

Amy took a step toward him. "You don't have to tell me, but I would like to know, if you don't mind."

Mitsukai looked at her for a moment as if weighing his options. "You know I am not human," he said, glancing at her shoulder as she nodded and slowly brushed her fingers against the torn skin. "I am also not of human age."

"Huh," she asked densely.

He sighed, but let out a small, half-hearted chuckle at the look on her face. "I am not as young as I look. How old do you think I am," he asked, sitting down on the fallen desk.

"Um, you look around 25, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"I am older than you could imagine," he continued. "In your human years I will be 937 in October."

"What?!"

Mitsukai flinched at her volume, but nodded his head. "Yes, but if you translate my years by how much slower I age, I am around 24."

"You mean like dog years? For every human year, a dog gains seven years?"

"Something like that, but it's more along the lines of me only gaining one year around every 39 years. But no demon has ever died of old age, so I'm not exactly sure."

Amy nodded in understanding. "Okay."

"Now, it was 554 years ago, when I was about 382, I was constantly saving one woman from demons." As he spoke, his eyes became distant, looking past Amy. "She would never accept my help, even after I saved her life many times. She did not trust demons, and with good reason; I was the only one that did not hunt, maim and kill humans just for fun," he snarled at the thought, but continued in a calm voice. "During one battle with a horde of demons, I was badly injured and she tended to my wounds. When I awoke, I was too drained to move."

His voice steadily became harder with anger and pain, "she took a knife while I was disabled and carved the word `Oni' into my flesh. As she cut into my shoulder, she told me, `this is so that anyone you come across will see through your trickery and right to the monster inside.' After she was done, she left me bleeding in the forest, unable to move. Luckily, I was still able to erect a barrier around myself, so I lived. I never saw her after that, but I knew she would not die so easily."

Amy stood up from where she had sat on the ground while he was talking, walking toward him. She fell into his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm so sorry, Mitsukai," she cried into his chest.

He tensed, unmoving, when she fell into him. After a moment's hesitation, he cautiously placed his arms around her shoulders.

"If one encounter with someone was that bad, I could never imagine how hard it was for you to act kind to another living soul," she continued.

Mitsukai ran his claws through her shoulder-length hair in an attempt to calm her, relaxing a bit when her sobs died down a bit.

After she was calmed down, she leaned back away from him, blushing slightly.

Amy was staring at him in awe. "Oni," she repeated the word. "What does that mean?"

He looked at her oddly. "Oni is the Japanese word for demon. She would never see me as a person, only as a beast."

"So," she began, "you're from Japan?"

Mitsukai nodded. "Most demons are, but some originate from other countries, most of which are located near Japan or the other Asian countries."

"Why did you move here," she asked.

He shrugged. "I traveled the rest of the world over. Why not here? Besides, I had orders to find you. You weren't anywhere else, so I began searching the U.S. a few decades ago. I only spend about a year in each city, searching the surrounding cities while I'm there."

"Where did you get your orders? I mean, who gives them to you?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, dove," he replied, tracing a clawed finger along her jaw.

"One more question, please," she begged.

He sighed, but caved in at the pleading look she gave him. "Why do you call me dove?"

Mitsukai tensed, pulling his hand back to his side. "There's no easy way to answer that," he said, standing up.

"Just try, please?"

He sighed. "It has something to do with your powers, something that I shouldn't tell you just yet. Everything will be revealed in time, chisai no hato."

She looked at him curiously, but pushed it from her mind as she followed him upstairs to get something to eat. They had spent longer downstairs than she had first thought; it was already afternoon and she was getting hungry. `Maybe he'll cook me up some stir-fry again,' Amy thought hopefully.

When they were upstairs, Mitsukai stopped and turned around, looking at her. He grabbed her, pulling her into his embrace. "I am sorry for attacking you earlier by the way," he whispered into her ear. "My nature as a demon is to attack first and ask questions later, and I lost control of my temper. That hasn't happened in centuries."

"I understand," she squeaked out, blushing furiously.

He kissed the junction between her neck and shoulder, causing her knees to give out, then released her and walked out of the room, leaving Amy on the floor in astonishment.

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O.O Wow…Did I really write that?! Poor Amy, she must have died of embarrassment or something.

Amy: No, I'm still alive!

Taiyoukai: (pulls out baseball bat) (drags Amy backstage) (comes back without bat) As I said, she must have died of embarrassment when Mit kissed her! ^_^; Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's longer than the rest…I think. (shrugs) Oh, well, who cares?

Readers: We do!

Taiyoukai: (glare) I said, `who cares'?!

Readers: Umm…not us…?

Taiyoukai: ^_^ Right!

See ya next time!

Happy Haunting,

Chisai Oni