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Threshold	By : Macx Category: Descendents of Darkness/Yami No Matsuei > General Views: 1649 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants of Darkness (Yami no Matsuei), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Threshold
- 2-part 2
- 3-part 3
- 4-part 4
- 5-part 5
- 6-part 6
- 7-part 7
- 4
- 5
- 6
It was the fourth time for Ryu in GensouKai and by now he had
grown bolder, felt more secure in the world that was still rather alien
for him, and he had begun to explore. Rikugo couldn't always take time
off from his work, and Ryu had reassured him that he was fine. He was finding
a balance and he was finding stability. That Tsuzuki was handling the Palace
a lot better had a lot to do with it, too.
It was on this stroll through the many parks and gardens that he ran
into him. Not literally; not like with Touda. Ryu had been admiring a beautifully
arranged rock garden with a water fountain when he felt the aura and turned.
"So you are the demon, hm?"
Ryu faced the tall, handsome shikigami and immediately realized who
he was. It wasn't the aura alone. It was everything. Sohryu. The Azure
Dragon of the Sky, the Protector of the East.
"I guess," he replied warily.
So far he had met only a few of the Divine Commanders. Byakko, Touda
and of course Genbu. The others were either busy or didn't seek him out,
which was fine with the demon.
"You don't look like one."
"You don't look like a dragon either," Ryu replied and could have bitten
off his tongue the very next second.
He was talking to the representative of the Golden Emperor, the designated
ruler of GensouKai. Great. Wonderful. Step on his toes, he muttered silently
to himself.
Sohryu actually smirked. "We both hide well."
"I'm not hiding," Ryu replied almost defensively.
"I suppose not. Your aura gave you away."
Ryu pulled it more tightly around him, which made the dragon frown.
He knew he was radiating his heritage, but it had gotten better. People
were getting used to him. Not everyone, of course, but the tolerance had
grown.
Blue-gray eyes looked him up and down. Ryu felt like Sohryu was checking
him out.
"I hope I'm not trespassing. I was just... looking around," he explained
carefully.
There had been no privacy signs and he had done his best not to venture
onto palace grounds, especially not the palace that was in the center of
it all.
Sohryu smiled a little. "No, you're not. This is a public place. May
I show you around?"
Ryu hesitated. The leader of GensouKai was offering him... a guided
tour?
"I... thank you for the offer," he answered politely, "but I guess you
have... errr... more pressing matters to deal with than a visitor..."
Sohryu's smile stayed, but the eyes grew a little more intense. "Not
at the moment. You could say I declared you to one of my matters. I'd like
to get to know the demon one of my commanders has fallen in love with.
The demon who seems to come here regularly."
Ryu sighed. Great. Thankfully Sohryu hadn't confronted him the first
or second time he had come here, because it would most likely have left
him a gibbering wreck.
"I could send you my references and my resume. Would probably be quicker,"
he muttered.
Sohryu chuckled. "Maybe, but I hate paperwork."
A black eyebrow quirked. "So I heard."
"Tsuzuki," Sohryu only commented.
"Yes, we talk quite a lot."
"About me?"
"Among other things."
Sohryu just inclined his head in an invitation to come with him and
Ryu did. He fell in step beside the slightly taller shikigami, surprised
how easy it was to talk to someone who was normally seen as unapproachable,
cold and without emotions.
°
Ryu had no idea how much time had passed, but his conversation with
Sohryu had been rather pleasant. Of course, the dragon had asked him a
few very personal questions, but all in all it was nothing he wouldn't
have expected from the Protector of the East. He was the one being responsible
for all of GensouKai in the absence of the Emperor -- which was a permanent
absence -- and Ryu was an intruder of sorts. A demon, nonetheless.
It was while they were close to a small pond that Ryu felt a familiar
aura flare and before he could react, a rather furious looking Rikugo was
facing a very calm Sohryu.
"What do you want here?" the blond demanded.
"I was just talking to Ryu," Sohryu replied pleasantly.
Rikugo gritted his teeth. "You never just talk! He is my guest! You
have no right to question him!"
"I have every right, Rikugo," was the slightly more cold reply. "He
is a demon which is a possible threat to GensouKai. I was confirming his
alliance myself."
Rikugo's aura flared and Ryu's brows rose with it, surprised by his
lover's temper. Normally the astrologer was a rather balanced and calm
individual, but somehow Sohryu seemed to be pushing buttons Ryu had been
unaware of.
So he watched the encounter with interest and confusion. Sohryu's presence
was awe-inspiring. His demonic half could feel the power in the God, could
feel his strength and his distrust of the new-arrival, but there was also
a core of softness, something that was willing to give him the benefit
of a doubt. It was something he had felt in their conversation, which was
now just a lot clearer than before.
The strange thing was the posturing of the two dragons against each
other. Rikugo was positively bristling, spoiling for a fight, while Sohryu
freely emitted waves of dominance. He was clearly telling his subordinate
that should he try for a fight, he would take the challenge -- and beat
him with it.
There was a tug at his pants and Ryu looked away from the verbal fight,
straight into a pair of large blue eyes that had no visible pupil, framed
by a round, child-like face. Long, dark blue hair was elaborately piled
up and there were a dozen decorative elements woven into the long hair.
The child, because she was a child, was dressed in wide robes that seemed
too large for her. The sleeves fell over her hands, of which one was holding
on to his leg, the other was clutching a crumbled paper bag.
"Do you want to see my ducks?" the girl asked.
Ryu blinked, slightly confused. "Ducks?"
"Yes. They had babies. They are really cute. Come!"
And with that she hurried off to the lake not far away. Ryu cast a look
at the two dragons, who were still very much at it, then shrugged and followed
the girl. Let those two battle it out, he mused.
The lake was more of a pond, but it had a family of ducks. There were
two grown ones and a clutch of six little ones. The girl was beaming at
him when he crouched down beside her.
"That's Aka," she explained and pointed at the mother duck. "And the
other is Naka. He is the father," she added.
Ryu had no experience with children per se. The last time he had had
interacted with a child had been two thousand years ago, in a village that
no longer existed, among people of who he had killed many by just existing
as he was. He pushed those thoughts aside.
"Aka's babies are Kuro, Marui, Saza, Yoshi and Toku."
"That's five," he pointed out. "What about the little one over there?"
The girl shrugged. "I haven't named her yet. Do you want to give her
a name?"
"Are you sure it's a girl?"
She beamed. "Yes."
Ryu looked at the tiny duck, trying to think of a name. "What do you
think of Mori?"
The child nodded enthusiastically and held out her paper bag. Ryu took
it and found it was filled with crumbs and something that looked like dried
seaweed.
"I'm Tenkou," the girl introduced herself. "You want to feed them with
me?"
"I am Ryu," he returned the favor. "And I'd be honored."
Tenkou climbed onto his lap as he sat down, completely innocent in her
behavior, not the least scared of an aura she might or might not feel,
but perfectly friendly to a stranger anyway.
"They're fighting because of you, right?" she asked after the first
handful of duck food was thrown. Ryu tensed a little.
"I guess."
"Don't worry. They fight often."
"Really?"
"Yes. Since I can remember."
"Oh."
"It's not bad,� Tenkou added. "They fight and they make up and they
fight again.�
Like an old couple, shot through Ryu's head and he was drawn between
amusement and a stab of unexplained jealousy.
"Is it because you're a demon?" came the next very precise shot out
of the blue.
Ryu clenched his hands around the crumbs. So she did know. She was a
shikigami and she had probably felt his aura because he still couldn't
suppress it completely. He gathered the wayward emissions of energy, which
resulted in a frown on the child's face.
"I'm not afraid of you;� she declared.
"No?�
"No.� Those large blue eyes were suddenly looking at him and Tenkou
gave him a warm, full smile. "You're the first demon I met, too. I like
you."
"Not all demons are like me," he cautioned her.
She was a shikigami and as such, when she was all grown up, might one
day be challenged and won by a shinigami. She had to know that demons weren't
like Ryu.
"I know, silly! Rikugo taught me everything. He's my teacher, you know.
He knows everything! And I know that demons are dangerous, but you aren't.
I like you. And Rikugo likes you, too."
Oh great. Even the kids knew.
"He's nice. You're nice, too.�
Ryu had no reply for that. She was a child, what did she know? She had
no experience with his kin and Ryu himself didn't pride himself on his
forced heritage.
° ° °
Two dragons faced off against each other, one livid, black eyes sparking,
the other radiating a lot more calm but still appearing the more dominant
of the two.

Rikugo, eyes narrowed behind his reading glasses, suddenly frowned.
His gaze darted to the empty spot where his lover had been moments ago
and where now there was... no one. Ryu was gone.
"Where...� he began, confused, Sohryu forgotten.
The blue dragon frowned likewise and suddenly started to smile. "Over
there.�
Rikugo followed his gaze and his eyes widened. Speechless, stared at
the scene. There he was, his lover, Ryu, the demon hybrid, the one person
he loved more than anything else, and he was feeding ducks with Tenkou.
It was a peaceful scene, so totally at odds with the emotions he had felt
until a minute ago, the aggression against the perceived threat of Sohryu.
A hand landed on his shoulder and briefly squeezed it. It was a rather
unusual gesture for Sohryu, as was the expression on his face. It was warm
and calm.
"You and him... you fit," the more powerful shikigami said softly.
It sounded like a blessing. Rikugo blinked at the dragon, who was grinning
at him.
"Sohryu?"
"He is a demon, I can't ignore that, and it will take getting used to,
granted. Take care of him. You might not find someone like him again."
Rikugo tried to understand. Sohryu was... he had said...
"Why?" he asked, mystified.
The blue-gray eyes were unreadable. "Because he makes you happy, Rikugo.
Something no one has ever done before." And with that Sohryu walked over
to the pair at the lake to gather his daughter.
Rikugo was dumbfounded. He knew that if things had been different in
the past, there might have been a chance for him and the other dragon,
but the odds of two dragons having a lasting, loving relationship was close
to nil. Even if positive emotions had accompanied their relationship in
the past, the rather volatile escapades, it wouldn't have survived.

tbc...
- 4
- 5
- 6
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Threshold