Kohaku saw him kind of curl in on himself, and she coaxed him. "…It's okay… Don't worry…." She was tempted to nuzzle him again, but she acknowledged their exposure.
"I've been told by Youichi and Mamoru that your past is… Relatively the darkest I've heard from the human perspective….." Akira nodded his head. "I'm sure all these great people will take the best care…"
Rigel didn’t say a word. Couldn’t say a word. He felt like a fish drying in the sun, unable to do anything. They knew his story, they could assume some of the things that happened. So all he could do was be examined.
Kohaku hated to see Rigel like that, but any kind of thing and they'd be found out for sure. And maybe even shunned.
Akira shifted. "Well…. I bid the best to the both of you. I'm off to get my long-overdue rest." He stood up stiffly, shuffling up the stairs.
She watched as everyone sort of dispersed themselves and went on to business. "…Did you hear…? The human scourge is on the rise again…."
Rigel glanced at Kohaku, worry etching his every feature. He didn’t want to be an outcast anymore, he’d rather die if he had to live alone- accompanied by the emptiness of his own mind and the feeling that had been seared into him by Peter.
As they were preparing something to eat, Junichi came trotting down the stairs. He turned through to the dining hall, and jumped when he saw Rigel– he was almost sure he was gone for good when he was dissed heavily by Daichi.
"Y-you came back…." He stammered with astonishment. "It's good to have you back. I'll be honest…"
Rigel tensed, managing to nod his head a little in acknowledgment. He still only felt comfortable around Kohaku, after all that had happened… After how many times Peter’s hands had crawled over his skin and touched him in places he didn’t want to be touched.
"Daichi said he was wrong when he shunned you…. It wasn't his right…" Junichi adverted his gaze to Kohaku. "…And I'm happy you got outta there with hardly a bruise…." He may have been wrong, yet he wasn't about to question it.
Rigel didn’t move from his place slightly behind Kohaku, waiting for the conversation to be over cause he just hates people, like me He kept his eyes fixed to the ground, biting his lip uneasily.
Junichi nodded at him. "Don't give your hopes up…." And he walked away back upstairs.
Kohaku glanced around cautiously before slipping her arms around his neck. "After all that you went through…. I think you deserve some appreciation…"
Rigel’s muscles eased as he relaxed at Kohaku’s touch. “Thank you…” He murmured, “Thank you for being here for me…” Rigel slowly wrapped his arms around Kohaku, enjoying her warmth.
Kohaku gave herself to Rigel, soon curling her tail around his waist. "What can I say?… If you were there for me, why shouldn't I be there for you?" She continued to take caution, but didn't really show it all too much.
(Meanwhile….)
"…You scared him off." He grunted. "Out of all the things."
"Well, don't blame me… After all, he lead us to a hotspot…. Look at all of them…" She pointed up at multiple bear Doku Ningen, minding their own business. "Soon, they'll be bowing at Ryuu's feet."
They snickered, one taking out a damaged assault rifle. "There's only room for one race on this planet…."
Rigel tucked his head into Kohaku’s shoulder, whispering, “Do you still love me?” After all that had been done to him, after he had revealed Kohaku’s powers to Peter, and he had been used up… “I’m broken…” There. It was a truth of Rigel that he would never show to anyone else, other than Kohaku.
She nuzzled his cheek. "Of course I still love you… You were here when I needed you most…. I will always love you, Rigel." Kohaku carressed his neck, warming him up. Never can I go back to my platonic life…
(Meanwhile…)
He cocked his gun. "You ready?"
She loaded up her crossbow. "You kiddin'? I was born ready."
They placed their handkerchiefs over their noses and went on out, unloading every bullet and every bolt upon anything that moved.
Doku Ningen everywhere began to drop like flies, until the remaining ones fleed– somehow.
"Who knew believing in humanism was so…. Brutal?" She frowned, yet couldn't help but smile.
Rigel closed his eyes, that warmth filling him up. It wasn’t like the fire Peter had used on him- this was filled with comfort and love. He wanted to cherish every bit of it.
(Blep I guess I'll post the templates after this…)
Kohaku carefully licked at him, like little puppy kisses. "Never will I be able to go on without you…. You mean more than the world to me… To us…." She smiled warmly.
(Meanwhile….)
They traveled through the village, picking them off one by one.
"That was a good run," He smirked, coming up closely on Naoki's house. "But…. There's one place where that damned panther can be. And that's here."
She smiled. "We got you now, sneaky feline. There's nowhere to run…"
Rigel was so close to leaning in and kissing Kohaku, but just before that- he felt something. He picked his head up, feeling the presence of metal not to far away (the guns). “Kohaku… I feel something…” Rigel shifted uneasily, debating whether or not to pull the metal towards him.
"What… What is it?" The worry in his voice channeled into her heart, and she was stricken with it as well.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Junichi was nearby, so he opened it to answer it, only to be greeted by death itself.
He was shot, point blank in the chest.
(gasp of horror)
Rigel stumbled back out of shock, the blood the splattered in the air reminding him so much of- Rigel’s powers came to defense for him, yanking at the metal to throw it away.
The gun left the guy's hand, and he yelped. "What the hell!?"
Kohaku screamed, slipping her tail under her legs. "J-J-Junichi!!" She stammered. The sudden shock of death petrified her, as she locked eyes with the killers.
(Lol, I'm feeling too lazy to fill out an entire template for them. But the guy's name is Alex, and the girl's name is Yasu. I'll fill out a real template a little later, if that's okay.)
(It’s totally fine)
Rigel’s intincts kicked in, and he brought up a mask that he hadn’t wore in a while. He stepped around Kohaku, putting himself between her and the killers, who he noticed were humans- but not making it seem like he was defending her. If I could convince the humans to leave… I need to make sure they don’t know of my magic and how I like the Doku Ningen…
“W-Who are you?” He asked, no more than a nervous guy who just witnessed a lot of blood.
"Who does it look like we are?" The guy cracked his knuckles, growling with the absence of his gun.
"We're here to simply take care of business," The girl chuckled.
Kohaku didn't like their attitude or level of sarcasm at all. "Help…. Me…. Ryuu….." She squeaked quietly, clinging to Rigel hopelessly.
“That’s kinda vague, but okay,” Rigel weaved the mask of coldness over himself, slipping into his past self like a sock, “I guess it’s not every day two murder’s come barging in and killing someone without explanation, but okay,” He shrugged, very carefully prodded with his powers and finding their bullets. He made sure to get a good grip on them with his magic, so if they dare fired the bullet wouldn’t hit Kohaku.
Kohaku let out a whimper as Alex kicked Junichi's body away. "You don't understand," He growled. "Doku Ningen is a race of the past."
"They have no place in modern day, if they just hide in their so-called holes, thinking everything's gonna be all rainbows and unicorns." Yasu growled, raising her crossbow with a loaded (steel) bolt at Kohaku.
Without warning, she fired.
Rigel halted the metal bolt in midair, genuine anger darting of his face. There was no point in a mask if the humans weren’t even surprised by the fact that Rigel -a human- was present. He glanced at Junichi, sorrow in his eyes before he plucked the metal bolt out of midair and it shifted in his hand to form a knife. “She hasn’t done anything wrong,” He said softly, grabbing Kohaku’s hand and squeezing it.
Kohaku began to cry. "Rigel…." She murmured.
Alex shook his head. "Doesn't matter if she did anything wrong or not…" He tried to hold back his surprise that Rigel bent the bolt into a knife. "All that matters is that she needs to die, as every other animal human living on this planet."
Yasu's hand shook a little as she put her crossbow away. "And what's a human like you defending an animal like her in the first place?" She spat on the floor, inches away from Junichi's nose.