Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

"I swear myself to you." In one swift movement, he pressed his lips against hers.

His azure eyes shone in determination as he pulled away. The chain was locked tight. Now he could start healing her.

But her heart stopped right before he started pushing his life energy through their newly created bond, technically marking her recently deceased. That was probably the worst moment of his life. A horrible feeling of being frozen to death from the inside out began settling in. It was probably because of the Tama Chain. Bound by the soul, he would either go into a coma or actually die with her if he let this go on.

After that realization, he hadn't been completely confident that this plan would work, to tell the truth. So after a few intense minutes of cradling her cold corpse tightly in his arms, warding them both from hail with his wings, whispering for her to wake up, and desperately pumping as much life energy into her as he could even as his body started really slowing down, the girl finally showed signs of life as with a spasm she gasped for air.

A flood of relief and warmth rushed through his veins. He couldn't resist grinning widely down at her when he saw her ruby eyes open. She seemed so tired that she didn't even seem to have the energy to be surprised that she was in a weird stranger's arms. He took that moment to check her vitals before she started freaking out or something. The girl was recovering pretty quickly for a human...

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft, stuttering voice. "... Th-thank you..."

He stiffened in surprise, but didn't push her away. Out of all the reactions he had expected, thanking him wasn't one of them. Horns, wings, and enhanced abilities labelled him something freaky in human culture though it was natural in his. That was a well learned lesson from when he was a wee brat, and he wouldn't forget it anytime soon. To have her thank him all of a sudden... There's no way she could've been conscious enough to figure out what my intentions were, so how did she... His brain was beginning to form a coherent theory when she spoke up.

"I h-heard whispering.

Please don't give up. Please don't die.

I couldn't see or h-hear an-anything else. All I heard was the voice I didn't kn-know." The crow boy's light blue eyes stared widely directly into her heavy red ones. It was as if she understood him completely without words. "I may n-not like living, but I've n-never wanted to die like th-that. But you know? Humans can be stupid." The last sentence was surprisingly sardonic and clear from her shivering and purple lips. He must've looked taken-aback, because her expression quickly melted into a grateful smile. "Thank you."

Maybe this girl wasn't so bad after all, he began to think. Abruptly, he found himself feeling flustered and a little self-conscious. Not sure of what to say at first to the girl--what was her name, anyways?--oh, that was something he should probably ask for practicality's sake. He licked his dry lips, and cleared his throat.

"Mako. Yours?" It came out choppy in his nervousness. "Your name, I mean?"

Why was Mako nervous now of all times, now that he had the chance to speak to her? Just a while ago he had no qualms to leaping in and sharing his energy. It's not like she was the first girl he'd ever talked to, and for god's sake it's not as if he was just starting puberty. He was a somewhat mature, young adult.

But he was blushing. Mako would blame it on the cold. Ignore it.

"I'm R--well, everyone calls me Crow."

He had the feeling that there was a story behind her birth name. There was an insistence in her demeanour that rejected query, however. He decided not to push it even if he was curious. Instead, the boy nodded and suggested, "We should probably get out of the cold." And immediately mentally smacked himself for stating the obvious. The weather was hailing. The demon's wings, having slackened after the human girl had woken up, snapped back into a sheltering position.

In Mako's self-scolding, he almost missed the nearly imperceptible twitch at the corner of Crow's mouth. He steeled himself for any possible anger or scathing sarcasm. Thoughtless remarks like that weren't receptive by the women at home... It usually earned him a smack on the back of the head with the "Local Shinbun" (a newspaper), or being ruthlessly teased.

When Crow broke out into a smile of well-intended amusement, Mako couldn't help but flush with elation. Wait, don't get too excited, he told himself, forcing himself to look away, why're you getting so emotional over just this girl? She was a nice girl from what he could tell. She may be the first human female he'd met, but contrary to what formal education taught him, this girl named Crow hadn't panicked or tried to stab at him for his "bizarreness". Perhaps that should make him more alarmed, but Mako wanted to believe that humans weren't all like what other demons warned him about...

"Alright, do you have someplace that you..." Mako wanted to phrase this carefully, as he had a feeling that she wasn't out here wearing insufficient clothing just for fun. "... can go back to? Humans aren't meant to survive this weather."

He blinked, and corrected himself quickly, "I mean, to survive this weather in skimpy clothing and an umbrella--I mean no offence. Sorry, I'll..." Mako cut himself off with a wince and glanced at Crow.

"It's okay. I know I'm not dressed well."

He should've known she wouldn't get offended. She must've sensed how uncomfortable he felt. The realization of that caused him to feel more embarrassed. As if it wasn't enough to be inept around women in general! Now he was in such a queer situation, and met a human girl he especially didn't want to leave a bad impression on! Damn it!

"There is one place, but I-" Crow stifled a cough. Her violent shudders and decrepit sounds were enough to cause this impulsive guy to make a serious plan. "I can't go back, Mako."