Tomoe stood in his water prison, there really was no way out. He tried his fox fire but must as the fake Hikari had said it was useless against the walls of water. He sighed angrily, when he found that fake Hikari she would not get away easily for humiliating him like this.
"Oh my Tomoe got yourself caught by a lowly yokai." Said Mizuki's voice from behind him.
"Where have you been snake?" Tomoe shouted angrily.
"I told you, out for a walk."
"Your mistress was kidnapped while you were on a walk and yet you still call yourself a familiar."
"At least I didn't come and get captured."
"Not being here at all is worse."
"I guess that I could help you out of here...or I could just leave you here." There was a freezing sound and the water prison that trapped Tomoe and Mizuki became solid ice. Then there a large crack formed in on of the walls and the ice shattered freeing them from the prison. Hikari and Nanami stood side by side looking at the two boys.
"Would you boys stop arguing like children. Nanami is bleeding and cold she needs help." Said Hikari coldly. Tomoe and Mizuki continued to stare at her. She had a tail and ears, her body was less like a school girls and more like a woman's. Her hair seemed longer and whiter and her eyes were a brighter icy blue colour. "Stop staring and get on with it!" She shouted at them. Mizuki was the one to leap into action. He took Nanami's hand in his and inspected it.
"It's not that bad. It should heal in a few days." Said Mizuki.
"Who was the woman that attacked you?" Tomoe asked Hikari.
"Her names was Merissa, she was the reincarnation of a cat fish."
"Where is she now?" Asked Mizuki.
"I wouldn't know, she vanished a few moments. Where are Ami and Kei?"
"There still on the beach waiting for us to return." Answered Mizuki.
"Then we should go and met them. I think it best that we head home now." Said Hikari. Tomoe pulled out a green leave from his pocket and threw it at Hikari.
"That should keep you looking human for now." He said.
"Thank you."
"You guys don't by any chance no the way out do you?" Said Nanami.
"I found an entrance a few feet back. I'll show you the way." Said Mizuki as he and Nanami walked off together in front. Tomoe and Hikari followed them side by side.
"You gave up your human form then?" He said breaking the silence.
"What choice did I have? That manic was going to kill Nanami. It is essentially her fault that Nanami's hand it bleeding. She hurt it when we fell into this place. That foul cat fish is lucky to be alive." Said Hikari in a rather dark tone.
"I am surprised that you did let her live."
"I would not have if it were not for Nanami. She didn't seem to think that Merissa deserved to die." As she said this her tone began to soften.
"That is rather restrained of you."
"There was no restraint about it. I was a monster, the way a beat her up. I resorted straight back to the way I used to be. There is no difference from the me now and the monster you hear terrible stories about."
"But Nanami is alive because of you. The monster that I heard stories about would not have let a human girl live. I understand that the you that lived all those years ago had no value for life. Human or otherwise."
"I suppose that you are right but even so I am dangerous. Are you not worried for Nanami's safety?"
"I don't believe that you would raise a hand against someone you love."
"That is where you are wrong. I have done in the past."
"Would you by any chance be talking about Ryuu?" Hikari looked a little shocked that he knew such a name but then it clicked in her mind.
"Merissa must have told you that name. I assume she also told you that I was the one to kill me."
"She did indeed."
"Then I can tell you that what she said was no lie. Ryuu's death is entirely my fault. I could say that it was an accident but it wasn't really. Back then I really didn't value life. The way I saw it was that I was simply ridding the world of foul monsters that prayed on such weak creatures such as humans. As for humans themselves, I never came across one. I never ventured into the human world, it had no interest to me."
"If you loved Ryuu may I ask how it came to be that you killed him?"
"I came back to the place where Ryuu and I lived and I saw that he was with a woman. The woman was actually an old friend of Ryuu and she had stopped by to say hello, that was all but I got so angry at the thought of Ryuu betraying me like that that I black out, just like I used to. It didn't happen much since I had fallen in love with him, he was always there to calm me down and to pull me back to my senses, but that time he couldn't do that. When I did finally awake up at my feet there was the dead body of Ryuu and the woman he was with. I was an idiot, getting angry at nothing and killing the man I loved. Of course I knew from the start that it couldn't last...we both knew that...fire and ice do not mix but like amateurs we ignored they rule and fell for one another any way. That's what I meant the first day I met you. When I said that it doesn't matter if the love is imposable or it should not be, it would happen anyway. You asked me if I spoke from experience. I told you know but it truth the answer was yes." Hearing her say that fire and ice cannot be together stung Tomoe. He felt angry at the comment, he hated it. He wanted to be with her and he wasn't going to let that childish saying not him, even with what happened before. It would be different between him and Hikari.
"Is his death the reason you decided to become as human as posable?"
"Partly but it was not my idea. After his death I tried to kill myself in many different ways. I picked needless fights with powerful yokai in hopes that one of them would be strong enough to finally kill me but it always ended with me blacking put and waking up to a pile of bodies all around me. I even went to the Gods, turned myself in. I thought that after all I had done one of them would wish me dead. They did wish me dead, nearly all of them but all were much to scared to actually end my life. In the end I was shoved in a dark cellar where I stayed in the dark for a very long time. Dwelling in my own misery and sorrow for what I had done. That was when the God appeared. He took me from my cella and he gave me this human form but for whatever reason I cannot remember him now. I am not one to forget such an important thing so I come to the conclusion the he does not want me to remember him. He taught me the meaning of life and it's importance. He promised me that things would get better I just had to keep living. He was so kind to me that I listened to him. I went into the human world, knowing that if I returned to the world in which I came I really would be killed. Either that or I would have to use my black magic and give up my human form, something which I did not want to do. Many years later was when I met Nanami."
"How did you too meet?"
"The first time she wouldn't remember. She was only 5 at the time. I was surprise to see such a young girl walking home by herself. Some child snatchers spotted her and ganged up on her. She screamed for her Mother, screamed for help but none came. I knew that I had to step in. I was a little reluctant at first but I thought that these people might kill the child and having learnt a valuable lesson I knew I could not walk away. As you might have guess although I was in a human form I still had the strength off a yokai so taking them out was no hardship even without black magic. After I save the child I picked her up and carried her home. Before she left she hugged me and called me big sister. An action that caught me by surprise. She asked me if I was her guardian angel, for a minster like me to be called something like that was surprising in itself. She asked me if I would always be there to protect her when I didn't answer. Why exactly I agreed to her question is a mystery to me but I did and I never went back on a promise. When she was old enough I transferred into her school, to be closer to her. She and I have been friends ever since...it's much easier to protect her when she is close."
"I assume that Nanami knows none of this."
"Then you would be right and I have no intention of telling her. It is not something she needs to know and plus knowing her she might think it was a little creepy." Said Hikair with a smile that made Tomoe's heart melt...