I lost myself”

-“Karma Police” By: Radiohead

Chapter 2

Two light blue eyes opened slowly, glancing around warily. The owner of said eyes wondered why he was still alive, and why he wasn’t in as much pain as he should be though the question was answered by the fact that he was mostly submerged underneath a thick blanket of mud and swamp water. The ice demon grimaced in disgust and slowly moved in the muddy waters, letting out a heavy sigh as he realized that his hair hadn’t been spared.

Another set of darker blue eyes snapped open in front of him, and its owner was giggling happily and splashing around, causing a large piece of mud to land on the Ice Master’s face.

“I like mud! Let’s play Splash!!”

Touya had no idea what this ‘Splash’ was, but he didn’t like the sound of it coupled with the fact that they were both wading in mud. It wasn’t as if Touya even had a chance to protest playing such a game as clumps of mud went hurtling towards him. He tried to feebly dodge it, but he was soon beginning to learn that nothing can stop a force as strong as a hyperactive Jin.

“Jin! Stop it!!” he hissed, eyes narrowed and patience wearing thin.

He really hated being dirty, and he was starting to think that no amount of washing ever make him feel clean again. With a heavy sigh, he threw his arms around Jin and hoisted the demon child against his chest, pushing through thick mud that was attempting to consume him. His face was scrunched up in disgust, and his stomach, which was already upset from Jin’s flying, was churning violently from the horrid stench.

One hand reached out for the large, thick roots of a nearby tree, and he gripped it tightly, pulling both him and Jin free of the mud. The demon child had long since fallen into a disappointed pout, wanting to play more in the mud, but whenever Touya glared at him with those super eerie pupil-less eyes, he felt he should listen...somewhat.

The Ice Master didn’t even think to set down the smaller demon so he could run amuck or perhaps decide to dry them off by shooting them up a hundred feet in the air. He had to start thinking like the little monster if he ever hoped to be clean again.

His eyes roamed the terrain around them, searching for a decent body of water to clean them both off, but the task grew increasingly difficult as Jin refused to stop squirming and kicking.

“I want to play some more!! I want to play some more!! I want to play some more!!”

“We will. We will,” Touya said with a sigh, trying to maintain his firm grip on the tiny brat. “We just have to take a bath, first.”

Jin tensed up in his arms, his eyes widening in horror. “A bath!? No bath! No bath! No bath! No bath!!” And with that, Touya found himself sprawled on the ground from a gust of wind he hadn’t even seen coming.

“Jin!!”

The young wind demon took off running away from Touya, which prompted the Ice Master into action. He sprung to his feet and chased the fleeing red-haired, eyes focused on the flash of color, making him absently wonder that Jin looked nothing like his father save for the pointy ears. Even then, Raizen’s ears weren’t nearly as cute as Jin’s. Wait a minute. Cute?? Touya shoved that thought away distastefully. As far as he could tell, Jin was anything but cute.

Stifling an annoyed growl, he pushed himself faster until he was right on the little monster’s heels. His hands reached out and groped Jin’s upper arms, pulling him back against his chest and sufficiently knocking himself down on his back. All the air left his body in a rush as his back connected with the hard floor, but his limbs automatically wrapped around Jin to hold him tight.

“Hey!!” Jin proceeded to squirm like there was no tomorrow and kick Touya a few times in the stomach, certain to leave a few unsightly bruises, but Touya would not release him.

The Ice Master gritted his teeth in determination and held the smaller demon against his chest, marveling at how such a tiny thing could be so heavy. He could barely breathe with the amount of force crushing his chest. He tried waiting for Jin to calm down, and he waited... and waited... and waited some more, but the demon child had an unlimited amount of energy.

“Look, you’re going to take a bath whether you like it or not,” Touya choked out.

“NO!! I hate baths!! Baths are yucky!”

Touya heaved a loud sigh. “Yet you’re perfectly fine with playing around in mud.”

For reasons unknown this prompted a giggle and temporarily stilled the wind demon on top of him. “Mud is fun! Can we go back and play!?!”

“No!” Touya hissed, eyes narrowing at the mop of red hair in front of him. “You’re going to take a-“

“NO BATH! NO BATH! NO BATH!” Jin started shrieking at the top of his lungs, making several nearby subjects of Raizen’s turn and stare at them.

Touya tried slapping a hand over the rambunctious demon’s mouth only to have it bitten again, nearly causing him to release the annoying bundle. The ice demon narrowed his eyes and shot to his feet, more determined than ever. “Look, if you take a bath, I’ll promise I’ll play whatever you want as long as it doesn’t involve mud, dirt, food, or anything that would require another bath.”

To his surprise, Jin actually went still in his arms and seemed to contemplate it seriously, even making a comical expression, tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth. “Okay!” the wind demon agreed gleefully, and Touya let out a small sigh of relief.

“Now, does your palace have any baths we can use?”

Jin zipped out of his arms and yelled “Yep!!” over his shoulder as he went running off towards the palace.

With an annoyed look, Touya trailed closely after the young demon, which proved to be a mistake. Jin scrambled into a large bathing room and jumped into a bath built into the floor, shrieking and flailing his arms, splashing a good portion of water everywhere else. Touya wasn’t spared from the flurry of water that drenched his hair and face, causing the mud to run down his neck and into his clothes. He grimaced and quickly peeled off the soiled clothes from his body without a second thought.

Clenching his teeth together in aggravation, Touya reached out and grabbed the giggling monster, hauling him out of the bath long enough to strip him free of his clothes, as well. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt quite perverted for tearing off the clothes from a demon child who had yet to have his sexual instincts kick in.

Once Touya had gotten them both naked and convinced his mind not to focus on the fact that they were both, well, naked, he slid into the water, sinking in to his shoulders. Jin pulled free and dove under before reemerging behind Touya and dunking the unsuspecting ice demon’s head underneath the water. Touya didn’t even register what had happened until he began swallowing a heavy amount of bath water from a futile attempt to breathe.

All he could hear was insane laughter as he quickly pushed himself upwards for air, his throat burning and his chest puffing out, trying to draw in as much oxygen as he could. He coughed up a good amount of water and glared vehemently at Jin, who actually looked guilty about it.

The wind demon tilted his head to the side and frowned worriedly before slapping Touya hard enough on his back to leave more bruises. That sent the ice demon sputtering forward, coughing further and getting the last bits of water out of his throat.

“You okay?” Jin asked quietly, plucking the matted hair from Touya’s face.

“No thanks to you,” Touya muttered in reply, swatting Jin’s hands away and sweeping the hair back.

There was a moment of brief silence before he heard Jin whisper, “‘m sorry.”

That got the Ice Master’s attention, and his eyes fell on the mop of red hair that was hanging low over Jin’s face, shielding his eyes. Suddenly, Touya found it the most difficult thing in the world to stay mad at the little monster, and his heart clenched tightly, feeling bad about snapping at him so much earlier. After all, Jin was still just a child. He didn’t know any better.

With a loud sigh, Touya shook his head and patted Jin fondly on the shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m fine. Now, why don’t we finish our bath then we’ll get you something to eat.”

Jin perked up at the mention of food, head snapping up almost instantly, a wide grin on his face. “Okay!”

Touya smiled slightly in return and grabbed a nearby rag to scrub himself clean, occasionally grimacing at the amount of mud caked onto his body and the difficulty it took to get himself completely clean. Then he turned his attention to Jin who had been staring at him the entire time, causing the faintest blush to caress the ice demon’s cheek.

“What is it?” Touya asked.

The smaller demon shook his head, giving him a big toothy grin. “You missed a spot.”

“I did? Where?”

The only answer Touya got was a sudden splash to his face.

“You little monster!” Quickly rubbing the water from his eyes, Touya resisted the urge to growl as he reached forward and grabbed Jin’s shoulders, dunking him under the water.

Jin came up with fierce determination and started splashing Touya eagerly, which spurred the ice demon into action, returning all the splashes with furious ones of his own. Within seconds, they were both engaged in a heavy splash fight, which caused most of the bathwater to leak out onto the floor and walls.

Touya didn’t even notice when he and Jin were caught in an uproarious fit of laughter, both their faces flushed and bodies shaking as they continued to mindlessly wet each other.

The splash fight came to an abrupt finish as a loud clearing of throat caught both their attention. Touya’s head spun to the direction of the sound, recognizing the throat clearing instantly. His face paled even more if possible, and Jin shivered as the water around them dropped a few degrees in temperature.

“Daddy!” the wind demon shrieked gleefully.

Raizen was standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression on his face. He might have been trying to contain his fury since the Demon Lord was indeed dripping wet, and his eyes were locked firmly on Touya.

“I see you’ve been giving my son a bath,” he spoke low, those intense eyes starting to rake down Touya’s body, making the hair on the back of the ice demon’s neck stand.

An explanation caught in the ice demon’s throat, but his voice had long since failed him. Instead, he was rooted to the spot, definitely uncomfortable from the way Raizen was looking at him. Something about it made him want to shudder, but he held the reaction, unwilling to offend the Demon Lord, either.

A strange grin broke out on Raizen’s face, making Touya think that perhaps the Demon Lord was enjoying the discomfort he was giving the petite ice demon. He hung some dry clothes on a nearby hook and simply said, “Carry on,” before walking away from the bath without another word.

Jin grinned and slapped Touya on the back before climbing out of the water. “‘m hungry! Let’s go!”

A few minutes later, Touya had them all clean and dressed, though dressing Jin had been a most difficult task since the young demon refused to stay still for more than two seconds. To keep Jin from running away, he held his hand with a firm grip and allowed himself to be enthusiastically led towards the dinning hall. The entire time, Jin had chatted about almost anything, including colorful birds, fighting, and even volcanoes.

Touya did nothing but listen and learn about the demon’s daily life. He learned that Jin really enjoyed flying, a dead give away from their earlier activities. He learned that Jin didn’t like eating birds because it was a crime to stifle their freedom or some weird explanation like that. He also learned that Raizen had seen to it that Jin received daily training, which inspired a deep love of fighting within the wind demon who hoped to become a powerful Wind Master some day.

Once they both sat down at the large, rectangular dinning table, several servants walked in and set down numerous dishes in front of them. Touya didn’t recognize any of the food that was being served to him, having come from a region that was quite far from this one. The array of fruits seemed so exotic and appealing to him, but the main platter that was literally staring him in the face (the thing still had eyes on it) didn’t seem as delectable.

He poked it quizzically with his fork and glanced up to find that Jin’s inane chatter was silenced by a full mouth that was munching away happily at whatever the main dish happened to be. A grimace found its way to the ice demon’s face, more than a little repulsed by Jin’s terrible eating habits. There was blood dribbling down his chin as he chewed with his mouth open, occasionally stopping to lick his lips clean.

Jin noticed Touya staring at him oddly and gave him a wide, reassuring smile. “Eat!” he prodded. “You’re too tiny, ya know! All bony ‘n stuff.”

Touya didn’t take too much offense to that. It was true after all. He had a habit of going many days without eating because of Reisho’s poor money-handling skills. Oh, how it irked him whenever he found out the earth demon had blown yet another one of their payments on gambling and liquor, while Touya was forced to hunt small, feeble demons, skin them, cook them, and eat what little distasteful meat they possessed.

With a deep breath, Touya squared his shoulders and boldly sank his fork into whatever it was that was in front of him, cutting off a chunk of its meat and shoving it into his mouth a lot more neatly than Jin ever would. He chewed for a few moments, starting to think it didn’t taste half bad. Then his eyes watered, and he let out a sound that came close to a whimper.

It was a little known fact that spicy food and ice demons did not mix well.

Desperately plucking a napkin from the table, he spat into it, his face red and a small bead of sweat rolling down his forehead over the bridge of his nose. His throat had convulsed into another coughing fit, and Jin was at his side, slapping wildly at his back, possibly peppering his pale skin with more bruises.

“You okay!?” Jin asked, seemingly panicked about his reaction.

Touya nodded feebly and wiped his mouth clean before clutching at the jug in front of him, uncaring that it was wine he was pouring down his throat. Swallowing down nearly half of its contents, the ice demon collapsed back against the chair, one hand settling on his protesting stomach.

Jin was still staring at him in concern. “You didn’t like?”

Touya shook his head rapidly and pushed the plate as far away from him as possible, causing the wind demon to just shrug, snatch the plate and scurry back to his chair, plopping down on it to eat Touya’s food as well.

In a blink, Jin had devoured most of the contents on the table before deciding he was full and slouching back on his chair, stretching out. “That was yummy!” he exclaimed cheerfully.

The Ice Master just stared, one eyebrow lifted, and more than a little ill. It wasn’t enough that he had put whatever that was into his mouth, but having to watch Jin eat it afterwards in practically one swallow was just beyond disgusting. “What do you want to do, now?” he asked, and at that moment, Jin let out a big yawn.

“Nap time,” the wind demon uttered softly, his eyelids already drooping.

The transformation from being so hyper to incredibly sleepy was quite shocking Touya had to admit. Then again, Touya started to suspect that Raizen may have ordered their chefs to put some sort of sleeping potion into Jin’s food to temporarily knock out the wind demon and offer the entire palace and Touya some respite. Either way, the ice demon would be glad for a little peace and rest to settle his frazzled nerves.

Come to think of it, Touya was starting to feel a little drowsy himself. Perhaps it was something in the wine? He decided he could use a good nap, too, and lifted himself from the seat to cross over to Jin’s side.

The wind demon’s head was already lolled to the side, nearly snoozing in a sitting position. Touya carefully lifted him up and carried him around, stopping to politely ask a servant where Jin’s room was. He headed towards the direction he was pointed in and nudged the door open with his foot.

Jin’s head was drooped against Touya’s shoulder and his mouth was left open, snoring softly, his warm breath tickling Touya’s neck. The ice demon gently deposited him on his bed and tried to move away to leave the wind demon to his slumber but a pair of surprisingly strong arms drew Touya into the large bed.

It didn’t take long for Touya to discover how surprisingly clingy the wind demon was. It did, however, cause great discomfort to be awkwardly pulled against the smaller chest, tiny arms and legs wrapped firmly around his slim body. He could barely breathe in the demon child’s strong grip.

A tuft of red hair was wedged against his neck, making his skin itch, and Touya struggled in vain to free himself from the little monster. Jin was not having it. He was quite determined to make Touya his new squeeze toy.

The ice demon resigned himself to the fact that he was probably not going to go anywhere for a while. Besides, it wasn’t so bad being held by the tiny demon. He hadn’t even realized how badly his own body ached for the heat and security from a warm body. He couldn’t even remember how long it had been since he’d shared a bed with another demon. The ice demon was very notorious for keeping his personal space personal, and sex was just not something he actively pursued. Even if he wasn’t asexual like other races of ice demons, he didn’t care much for physical pleasure, mainly receiving satisfaction from fighting.

As his own eyelids started to drop, he stared down at the bundle that was attached to him, his eyes drawn to the peaceful face that suddenly seemed so irresistibly adorable to him. It was hard to believe that this demon child was so loud and obnoxious when he was awake and so still and quiet while slumbering like nothing in the world could wake him. Touya couldn’t help but brush away some of the unruly hair from his eyes, his lips briefly touching the warm forehead.

Jin’s nose crinkled and his eyebrows twitched as he felt the kiss, nearly inspiring an “aww” from the ice demon, but Touya was just not an “aww”-er. Of course, the entire effect was ruined when Jin decided to randomly kick him, clearly caught in some wild dream. Touya scowled and didn’t even want to think about how many bruises his body sported by now. Jin just didn’t know his own strength.

With a heavy sigh that ruffled the hair on the top of Jin’s head, Touya buried his face against the thick hair and unconsciously inhaled the unique scent he was getting to know as just Jin’s. The scent brought a wave of warmth through his body that lulled him into a fitful sleep, much better than any he had gotten in so long, and the tiniest smile flitted across his lips.

From the doorway, Raizen stood undetected, watching with his own satisfied expression before walking away after a moment to do whatever he does.

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Yay! ‘nother chapter finished! Pats self Please leave reviews! Ahem.