Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Pain, Joy, Life ❯ Hunting ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Many thanks to all the readers and reviewers.

I'd also like to thank Zorra and Valandra, because Zorra will hurt me if I don't:) They're my lovely beta's and I'd be lost without them.

Please let me know what you think.





PAIN, JOY, LIFE

Chapter 4
Hunting

Joji-






I slammed my fist into the back of his neck and he slumped limply to the ground.

All right, so maybe I'm not the nicest guy in the world.

The kid Shit Face had been holding up against the wall looked up at me, terrified. I'm not that scary, am I? Ryo's never afraid of me and he's about this kid's age. Still, the boy kept himself safely backed against a wall, trembling with fear. He'd been beaten tonight, but that probably wasn't Shit Face's fault as he doesn't like to mess up pretty faces.

The boy stayed frozen against the wall, too stunned or afraid to move, with his breath coming out in irregular gasps as he forced himself to keep breathing. I looked down at Shit Face and knew he wouldn't wake up anytime soon. I've been waiting a long time to do that.

Yoko went instantly to the blue haired boy and cautiously put a hand on his shoulder, as if she was afraid he was going to bolt. "Are you OK, Sugar? Did that bastard hurt you?"

The boy looked at her slowly, like he was in shock, then shook his head. "I...I think he...I'm OK." The words came out slow and haltingly, but the kid seemed to be getting himself back together quickly. "I have to go home."

Yoko was fast, though, and grabbed his arm first. "Hold it, Sugar." She took a close look at his face and at his still shaken appearance. "You're not going anywhere tonight."

The boy's eyes widened with fear and God only knew what was going through his head. The boy jerked away from Yoko, starting to run down the deserted street. "Joji, catch him!" Yoko cried at me. I took off after him.

It wasn't difficult to catch him. The boy had lost a lot of blood, from the look of him, and he was limping badly. Whoever hurt him had done a pretty good job of it. I managed to grab his arm and pull him to a stop, but he was a fighter. When he realized he couldn't get away from me, the boy started trying to fight, hitting and kicking for all he was worth. I had to end this or the boy was going to seriously hurt himself. In the end I tripped him and knelt; with one knee on his back so he couldn't get up. Both of my hands pressed down on his shoulders, keeping him pinned down until he finally ran out of strength and stopped fighting.

"Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me." The boy was muttering half to himself while he trembled under me. His eyes, though not closed, were fluttering and I think he almost fainted.

"While I'm here, no one will hurt you." I whispered, leaning down close to his ear.

The boy took a deep, shuttering breath and forced himself to look at me. "Let me go. Please?" God, he's so desperately afraid.

Yoko was coming, I could hear her stiletto heeled shoes clicking as she ran to catch up with us. I slowly pulled away from him, but stood ready in case he decided to be stupid again and try to run. The boy stayed where he was, face down on the ground for a minute before cautiously standing. We stared at each other, tense and watchful. His eyes looked red, like he wanted to cry again.

At this point, Yoko finally caught up with us, looking distinctly out of breath. Those damned heels she wears slow her down terribly. She looked to the boy first as she knows I can take good enough care of myself. "Geeze, kid, you had me worried to death. Don't run away like that!" She reached out to him, but he jerked away again. He seemed like he wanted to run again, but he looked at me and must have known he wouldn't get away with it, because he relaxed as much as he could.

"We're not going to hurt you, Sugar. You can't go home, because you need to get patched up and fed." Yoko actually looked a little hurt by his reaction, but covered it up well with her smile. "You look hungry, Sugar." Her dazzling smile took the boy full force. "I know this great place around the corner, why don't you come with us for a bite to eat?"

He still looked angry and scared, but not like he was going to run again. In fact, he looked a bit paler. I had to strain to see him in the dim street light, but there was something on the side of his face.

Shit, did I hurt him? After I'd promised him I wouldn't? No, the fight was before I'd given my word, so that meant everything was all right.

"Hey, you're hurt again." Yoko looked closely at the side of his face that had something dark running down his cheek and onto his chin. Several drops of the dark stuff dripped down onto his shirt. That was when Yoko took his hand. "You come with us, Sugar. I know just the person to get this all patched up. You poor thing." Yoko had a nasty habit of giving people she liked cutesy nicknames. That's how Ryo earned the name Angel and now this one was Sugar, apparently. Yoko took his hand and gave him a little tug, but he resisted.

"Who are you?" The boy asked. It was a very fair question. He'd just had a very bad experience with Shit Face and that guy was enough to ruin anyone's day. "I don't want to go anywhere, I just have to get home. My dad will get angry if I'm not home when he wakes up."

Yoko's smile never slipped. "You can call me Yoko and my silent friend is Joji." She pointed to me and I really wish she wouldn't. I'd really prefer to stay nicely nameless. "We're your friendly neighborhood prostitutes." If anything, her smile brightened. "Now, don't you worry. We'll take you somewhere safe and you can go home in the morning. It's to late for a nice boy like you to be wandering these streets all alone, you know. Something bad might happen to you. Now, what's your name, Sugar?"

He thought for a moment, but then gave up on trying to decide if we were the good guys or the bad guys. "Touma."

"It's nice to meet you, Touma. Now, it's getting rather cold out here, don't you think?" She said, rubbing her arms where goose bumps had popped up. "I'd like to go somewhere to warm up." Yoko started off, expecting Touma and I to follow. She's right, it was getting cold tonight and I wouldn't be surprised if we wake up to find some snow in the morning.

Again, Touma hesitated. He looked at Yoko's retreating back and then at me. I stepped further away, to give him his choice. We can't kidnap him, even though it really would be safer if he were to come with us, so if he wants to run now would be the best chance for him.

The boy chewed his swelling bottom lip, then started after Yoko. He walked slower than she did and I walked behind him. I don't think Touma liked this much, because he kept looking at me over his shoulder and then would take a few quick steps as if he wanted to get away from me. Yoko looked far less threatening, I suppose.

Yoko's talking all the time that she's walking and anyone who might chance to hear her, might think that she was talking to herself, but I know she's talking to Touma and trying to put him more at ease. She's walking several yards ahead of us, but that's never stopped Yoko from carrying on a conversation, even if it is a bit one sided. She simply speaks louder and really doesn't wait for Touma to answer any of her questions. It's a good thing, too, because Touma doesn't look like he's in the mood to answer questions.

Yoko never seems to stop talking, unless it's in the middle of sex and then she doesn't make any sound at all. Do I sleep with her? No. She's a friend. Maybe more, but she's not the kind of friend I'd have sex with. I love her, more than anyone else in the world, but...it just wouldn't be right to have sex with her.

We're going home, it's to late even for the customers to be trolling the streets and Yoko's tired. Home is kind of a flexible word. Basically wherever we find a place to sleep. I don't need anything else when I have Yoko, anyway.

Touma seems to be getting worse as we walk, he's starting to slow down enough that even when I'm walking directly behind him, he doesn't notice. Touma's head starts to loll to one side before he shakes himself and tries to focus, but it doesn't last long. Soon, he's starting to stagger while he walks, tripping absently over his own feet and only barely catching himself. It's coming soon, I know. The blood loss and stress are catching up with him and, before he knows it, Touma falls.

I caught him just as he hit the ground and held him in my arms. The poor kid is nothing but bones, so he weighs next to nothing. "Took long enough." Yoko whispered at my side. "I thought he'd never pass out."

I just nodded. It would be nice if this city had one of those charity clinics where we could take him to get looked after properly, but that's not going to happen. I lowered Touma to the ground and looked at his bleeding head. It wasn't terribly serious, but bad enough. I think it was partly all the stress from tonight and what had happened with Shit Face, more than just the blood loss, which had made him pass out. Without being asked, Yoko opened her purse and pulled out a roll of bandages, which she handed to me.

"Always be prepared." She grinned. "My brother was a Boy Scout, you know."

I wrapped Touma's head up and picked him up easily. He's far too thin to be healthy. "How far are we?" I asked.

"Just a little further. I don't know where else to go." Yoko started off and we walked side-by-side. "At least there will be hot food and a warm bed for him. It's really not like Shit Face to do this." She touched his face gingerly. "I wonder who did."

Touma didn't stay passed out long. I have to give him points for his strength. He recovers very quickly, even if he does look kind of scrawny. He started to struggle against me even before he'd opened his eyes. "Lemme go!" He muttered.

"Relax." Yoko said in a singsong voice. "We're taking you somewhere safe."

Touma opened his eyes, but it took him a minute to realize he was being carried. He looked up at me and then he really did fight. "Put me down!"

I did. It wasn't wise to draw attention, as you never knew who might be a cop in street clothes. Touma dropped to his feet and stepped away from me, scowling. He stood still for a minute, still swaying a bit, and then raised a hand to his head. His eyes widened when he felt the bandage. "Thanks." He said softly.

"Don't worry about it." Yoko said lightly, taking his arm. "We have to get there before she closes, though. It's late, but if we're lucky, she'll give us some leftovers." Yoko and Touma walked arm-in-arm down the street with me just behind.

"She who?" Touma wasn't fighting anymore. He seems to think that we might be all right since we tried to bandage his head, but he does pull his arm away from Yoko. At least he's wise enough not to trust to easily. "Where are we going?"

Just as he said that, Yoko stopped at the large windows of an old building. Lights shone warmly from inside and I could see the lady moving about inside, so the doors would still be unlocked for a few more minutes. The building was badly in need of repairs, yet it still managed to seem like a friendly, welcoming place.

"This is it." Yoko announced with an overly grand gesture toward the narrow door. "Home sweet home. Well, for today, anyway." There was a sign just above the door, a newly painted sign with a lamb on it. "Holy Shepherd Home."





Ryo-





Ryo wished he could have stayed for Seiji's party, but it was getting late and his granma would start to worry soon. It got dark early with the change of the seasons so Ryo found himself making his way back to the shelter when most everyone else was inside all ready. When he was passing the park, an unusually large area that reminded Ryo of their home in the mountains before they'd come to the city, Ryo saw a flash of white vanish into a stand of trees. It took Ryo only a moment to realize what he was seeing and follow the familiar white and black tail.

Through the trees, Ryo followed Byakuen as silently as he could, though he was pretty certain the tiger knew he was there. Byakuen kept to the ground, sniffing occasionally for whatever he was hunting. Ryo got down onto his hands and knees when Byakuen stopped moving and crouched down low to the ground. That was how Byakuen always acted when he'd found what he was looking for. Ryo edged his way up to the tiger's side and saw what Byakuen was looking at, a flock of six or eight pigeons on the ground, pecking for insects.

It was sort of absurd, watching Byakuen hunt pigeons. Byakuen was large enough to easily bring down elephants, yet here he was stalking small pigeons when they'd never be able to sate his hunger. Byakuen would be as hungry as ever even if he ate the entire flock, but there was nothing else to hunt around here and Byakuen was going to starve if he didn't eat.

Byakuen tensed and Ryo froze, not wanting to interfere, as Byakuen pounced, only to have his prey escape in a flurry of feathers. The tiger watched forlornly as they vanished into the night, squawking loudly.

Ryo burst out laughing and rolled onto his side on the ground. "Missed!" He cried out.

Byakuen walked back to Ryo and was clearly unamused by the situation.

'The mighty tiger, lord of the jungle, outwitted by a dumb bird!' Ryo could barely stop howling with laughter. Byakuen swatted Ryo gently, to show he was insulted. "Aw, s-s-sorry, Yaku-c-c-han." Ryo said, sitting up so he could give his best friend a hug. "Where next? N-n-not enough birds, anyway." Poor Byakuen hated living in the city like this where the only trees he got to see were in the park at night and his meat mostly came from rats he caught and stray animals. In the distance a loud barking caught their attention and Byakuen's ears went up to attention as he turned to the sound. "Want a d-d-dog?" Ryo suggested happily, scratching Byakuen behind the ear.

Byakuen gave Ryo's face a long lick and nuzzled him, starting to purr.





A half an hour later Ryo sat with Byakuen in a back alley near the shelter, watching Byakuen chew on the remains of a large dog. Ryo watched in silence, almost mesmerized by the dark blood on Byakuen's white fur. Byakuen seemed to notice Ryo's interest and, with his nose, moved a piece of the dog to Ryo. Ryo froze, staring at the meat. This wasn't the first time Byakuen had offered apart of his kill to Ryo and Ryo was pretty sure that it wouldn't be the last time. It was tempting, and that was what frightened Ryo. The raw meat did look rather good. But if granma found out...she'd be so ashamed.

Ryo shook his head and stood up, walking away slightly so Byakuen could finish his meal before they headed back to the shelter. Ryo didn't like himself a lot of the time, and he knew why.

'I am NOT a blood thirst animal! I'm normal!' But it was so tempting.





Flashback-




< br> Ryo was terribly hungry. His stomach felt like it was tying itself in knots and Ryo winced at the pain. He told his granma that he was going to go hunting and try to bring back some meat. As they were living in a more rural area, Wakinozawa, at the time, Ryo knew it wouldn't be hard to bring down a deer or antelope with Byakuen helping him. He'd left his granma at their camp under a simple tent with a small fire for warmth while he went off with Byakuen.

It was night, the best time for hunting, and the sky was lit with thousands of stars. Ryo ran beside Byakuen, keeping a good pace, even with how hungry he was. Soon, Ryo found himself slipping into a trace, focusing on nothing more than the faint trail of the animal they were following. Really, he was following Byakuen, the experienced hunter, and his only weapon was his bare hands. Ryo followed Byakuen's every move, from the running right down to creeping up on the prey and lunging out from behind the bushes and tackling it.

The animal was dead in seconds, Byakuen having clawed its face cleanly off and Ryo knelt down, ready to pick it up and bring it back to the campsite. But...Byakuen licked blood off his claws...the smell of the animal seemed so fresh in the cool night air...Byakuen tore a piece of meat off the carcass with his jaws and started eating placidly. Ryo licked his lips. He was so hungry that it was overpowering, Ryo couldn't stop himself from putting his face a little closer to Byakuen's. It smelled so good!

Byakuen looked at Ryo with his deep brown eyes and moved closer, putting the meat just a tiny bit closer to Ryo. 'Just a little bite.' Ryo thought to himself. 'It couldn't hurt.' He laid a hand on Byakuen's back and lowered his mouth to the meat Byakuen was offering to share with him. 'Just one bite.'

OH GOD! It tasted wonderful! Ryo chewed his mouthful carefully, savoring the warm flesh and he swallowed, desperate for another taste. His eyes instantly went to the rest of the dead meat and Ryo couldn't help it. He tore into the meat as eagerly as Byakuen, devouring along with his friend Ryo tore at the meat with his hands and even, at the end, got on his hands and knees and started to eat directly with his mouth, like an animal. He barely felt the animal's cooling blood running down his chin.

Ryo was gorged, though Byakuen had wanted something more, Ryo felt like his stomach was completely full for the first time in a long time. He started laughing when he'd eaten his fill and raised a hand up to wipe off his mouth. His hand was wet, covered in something black in the moonlight.

Blood.

Reality sunk in and Ryo stared at his blood-covered hand. 'I ate it raw. What would granma think?!' Ryo realized in horror. He started to wipe his mouth harder, dearly wanting to get the blood off his face. The problem was that the more he wiped at his face, the more blood got on his hands and he couldn't even see his face properly. 'Granma can't know! If she knows she'll think I'm a freak! I'll have dishonored the family, acting like this.' Ryo tried very hard not to get blood on his clothes while he scrubbed at his face, but it splattered everywhere and had dripped onto his shirt while he was eating.

Byakuen, as if he could tell why Ryo was so upset, put a paw on Ryo's shoulder and gently pushed his friend to the ground. With his tongue, Byakuen licked Ryo clean, taking away all traces of blood from both hands and face. Ryo just lay there and cried, letting Byakuen take care of him. 'I'm not an animal. I'm not an animal.'

Ryo never was able to tell his granma how his clothes had gotten so bloody, but he and Byakuen had managed to bring back another deer. Ryo made sure his meat was almost burned black before he'd eat any of it.





End Flashback-





That wasn't right, normal people didn't do that sort of thing. 'I don't want to be like that.' Ryo thought. 'I just want to be normal.'

While Ryo stood, looking out at the few people passing by this time of night, he thought back to Seiji. Every day that Ryo worked at the Dojo, his speech improved, if only a little bit. Seiji made him feel relaxed and confident. He never laughed and only advised Ryo to speak a little more slowly. Now, Ryo could speak almost without stuttering. It seemed like a miracle sometimes.

'Maybe I should have stayed for Seiji's party.' Ryo thought back to Seiji's invitation earlier that night. 'Yeah, except Touma will be there and I don't want to face him so soon. I'll talk to him soon and try to explain...somehow.' Ryo thought of how much fun they were probably having at Seiji's party. He'd never been to a party, but everyone liked them so much, they must be fun.

After a short while, Ryo felt a nose poke him in the back and he turned to find Byakuen ready to go and looking a bit happier. Behind Byakuen Ryo could see the small pile of dog bones. They would have to go out hunting tomorrow night, too. This just wasn't enough to support Byakuen, living on stray mutts and alley cats.







The shelter was nearly closed, but Ryo knew Sister Jo would be awake and cleaning for a good long while. It gave him a stab of guilt to know that he should be there with her, but he couldn't let Byakuen go hungry, either. After sending Byakuen to granma, who was sound asleep, to get some rest, Ryo went to the kitchen. He filled another bucket of hot soapy water for Sister Jo, who was mopping the floor and got to work with her. They were alone tonight. Strange, as it was getting colder outside. Still, Ryo couldn't complain. Being alone meant that he'd get more sleep and Sister Jo always shared hot chocolate with him when she had a bit on hand.

"Have you finished your homework?" Sister Jo asked when Ryo began washing the tables people had eaten on earlier that night.

Ryo nodded and kept washing. Actually, he had a few more things to do, but if he told her that, she'd make him stop and get his homework done. Ryo just couldn't let Sister Jo clean all this herself. He'd get the homework done later.

They worked in silence for a while when the door banged open and Ryo heard, before he turned around, Yoko's loud, friendly voice. "Hello, Sister! We've brought another lamb for you to tend!"

Ryo turned with a smile that vanished when he saw whom Yoko had brought. Touma, looking like he'd just been run over by a truck, and he was staring at Ryo looking more than a little shocked. 'I don't need this.' Ryo thought. 'I really don't need this.'




Touma-




Touma stared at Ryo. 'No wonder he didn't want me to see his home.' Touma thought, staring at Ryo's stricken expression. No one seemed to notice how they were staring at each other, and Yoko led Touma over to one of the tables Ryo had just cleaned.

"Ryo, Angel, this is Touma. Sugar, this is Ryo, a friend of mine. And this is Sister Jo."

Sister Jo, a small lady dressed as a nun, came right over to me. "You poor thing." She tsked, looking me up and down. "Don't just stand there, kid. Sit down and make yourself comfortable. We've got plenty of food and beds for the night. You'll stay with us. Ryo, dear, go get him something hot to eat, won't you?"

Ryo nodded dumbly and went quickly to what Touma presumed was the kitchen.

"Now, it's none of my business what brings you here." Sister Jo told Touma. "But," She touched his cheek gently. "I really think you should consider getting away from whoever did this to you, young man. This is a safe place, no one will bother you tonight."

"How do you know that?" Touma asked. He won't put it passed his dad to come looking for him or that guy who'd found him on the streets. If it hadn't been for Joji...Touma didn't want to think about what would have happened.

Sister Jo smiled. "We have a secret weapon. Nothing for you to worry about, dear." Ryo came back carrying a bowl of steaming hot soup and a glass of milk. "Ah, here's my little helper." Sister Jo beamed at Ryo, but Ryo still looked worried, staring at Touma.

Yoko and Joji sat at the table with Touma and Ryo went back to the kitchen to get food for them, also. It wasn't much, but it was warm and filling. While they ate, Yoko told Sister Jo that she and Joji would be staying for the night, also, and that it was getting terribly cold outside. There would be snow soon, she was sure of it.

Sister Jo answered that it was fine if the two wanted to stay, but if Yoko's bastard pimp showed his ugly face, she was going to rip a very sensitive part of his anatomy off and turn him into a soprano. Yoko laughed and said she'd probably help. Ryo was, by this time, on his knees, scrubbing under another table and keeping as quiet as he could.





Yoko and Joji had fallen asleep, Yoko was mumbling in her sleep and Joji looked like he was dead, so still and quiet. Ryo lay on the cot next to Touma, but neither of them could sleep.

"You should have told me." Touma said quietly. "I wouldn't have told anyone, if you didn't want me to."

Ryo rolled over to face Touma. "Don't need p-pity." He said seriously. "No one's s-supposed to know. Granma don't like it."

"Oh." There didn't seem to be much that Touma could say to that. He'd seen Ryo's granma, though she was deeply asleep, and knew how much she must mean to Ryo. It really wasn't his business if Ryo wanted people to know or not, and he'd sort of stumbled onto Ryo's secret.

Again, there was silence until Ryo gestured at Touma's face. "Who did it?"

"Dad." Touma answered shortly. It wasn't like it was a real secret, all his friends knew, and if Ryo ended up hanging around Touma much, Ryo would eventually find out, also. "He...uh...gets a little worked up sometimes...and..." Touma hated trying to explain this, he never knew what to say that wouldn't make his dad look like a monster.

"Drinks?" Ryo suggested, not looking at all shocked. Touma thought that Ryo must have seen things like this before and suddenly he didn't feel so self-conscious.

"No. He's a Baptist and doesn't believe in drinking. He just gets mad and sometimes...you see, mom ran away with some guy when I was little. It was my dad's brother she took off with and all. Dad says I look like mom and when he gets angry, he gets confused, I think. He's always sorry afterwards, he always cries." Touma swallowed hard and blushed. He'd never told anyone about his dad like that, not even Shin. "Sorry," He told Ryo in a softer voice. "I didn't mean to blab like that. My dad's not a bad guy, he loves me." Touma was very uncomfortable with Ryo's penetrating gaze and quickly changed the subject. "So, what about your parents? What are they like?"

"No p-parents, only granma." Ryo said uncomfortably, but smiled and sat up on the cot. "W-wanna see s-something?" He was obviously trying to change the subject.

Touma nodded and sat up as well. Ryo reached under his cot to pull out something long, wrapped in red fabric. He smiled shyly and started unwrapping whatever it was carefully, almost reverently. He lay aside the strips of red cloth on the bed beside him and Touma's mouth fell open when he saw what was inside.

"A sword? Where'd you get that?" It was more than a sword and, though Touma didn't know much about swords himself, he knew it was a fine weapon. The blade shone even in the dim light. Its hilt looked like gold and was shaped like a dragon with rubies for its eyes. 'It must be worth a fortune.' Touma wondered why Ryo didn't just sell it and get his granma and himself out of here.

Ryo smiled fondly at the sword. "Mom. She gave it t-to me before she died. It h-has a twin, somewhere." Ryo used one of the red clothes that had wrapped the sword to polish the blade a bit.

"Can you use it?" The only person Touma knew who could use weapons was Seiji.

Ryo's smile faltered. "Used to. I'm n-not to s-strong now."

"If you don't use it, why don't you sell it? You could get an apartment, for a little while, anyway." Touma instantly regretted his suggestion and cringed back when Ryo glared at him.

"M-my mom's k-kat-t-tanta! I'll never sell it!" Ryo started to wrap up the sword again.

"I'm sorry." Touma said. "I just wondered..."

"Tried, once. We were so h-hungry, but granma got mad. S-she said we n-need to keep it." With that, Ryo put the katana safely under his cot again and lay down. "She w-wants me to find it's t-twin."

So, once again, they both lay down. "Ryo?"

"Hm?"

"You...you won't tell anyone I came here tonight, will you? It's just that Shin gets kind of upset when I get hurt and the others are real protective."

"I won't. You w-won't tell that I l-live here?"

"No."

Touma rolled over, relieved that he now had Ryo's promise and he felt sure that Ryo would keep his promise. He started to drift off, comfortable and safe for the first time in a long time, when Touma was suddenly nose-to-nose with a huge furry white face. Large brown eyes staring at him made Touma's heart start thudding hard in his chest.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Touma inched himself away from the thing, but it came closer, putting a paw that was as big as Touma's whole head up on the cot. It put its nose close to Touma and sniffed him. 'Shit, get me away from that thing!'

"Y-yaku-chan. You're s-scaring him."

The thing looked up at Ryo's voice before backing away from Touma and calmly walking around to cot to Ryo's side. Touma propped himself up on his arms and saw the tiger lay down on the floor beside Ryo's cot. Ryo, without hesitation, crawled off the cot and lay down next to the tiger, falling asleep with a smile on his face. He looked up at Touma. "My b-best friend, Byakuen."

Touma blinked. Ryo lay there with his head on the tiger's foreleg and his arm thrown comfortable over the tiger's neck. When Ryo started to snore, Touma shook his head. Well, if Ryo saw no reason to be afraid then Touma shouldn't be afraid. It must be a tame tiger, even though Touma felt sure there must be some law against keeping a tiger in the city like this.






Continued...