Chapter 4

A week passed until Kyo could stop falling asleep every couple of hours or so and Akaza said it was time to test his strength before he gave the last dose of blood. This was mainly an excuse for Akaza to finally be able to fight. Akaza enjoyed their fight with a wicked smile on his face, Kyo on the other hand had a serious face while going along with him. After the fight Akaza gave him the last dose of blood which besides some lightheadedness for some hours, didn't have that much impact on Kyo. The following days passed with them both fighting each other, and days turned into weeks, however even Akaza eventually started getting bored of fighting all day.

"Hey, today can we do something different?" asked Kyo while eating some berries outside.

"Something else? Do you want rules for the fight? Like we can't use our arms or something?"

"No. No fighting. Can't we just take it easy today?"

"Hmm sure, you figure it out then." said Akaza, faking a bored expression.

"How about we go for a walk?" suggested Kyo.

"A walk? Couldn't you think of anything more tedious than that?" muttered Akaza but he still followed Kyo when he started walking. A few minutes after they started walking Kyo asked "Do you miss it? Being bathed by the sun I mean?".

"No. Why would I miss something that can kill me? Besides, like you I don't remember my time as a human."

"Sometimes I get this strange nostalgia of being bathed by the sunlight and feeling as if it were burning my skin," said Kyo.

"... I don't care about any of that, I just want to fight and get stronger."

Kyo stopped and turned back to look into Akaza's eyes "One day," he said, inching closer, reaching for Akaza's face with his hand.He put his index and middle finger just below Akaza's eyes and pulled down "I will make you open your eyes to other things and find something that you care about, even more than fighting". Akaza blushed at the words and proximity but just as fast he slapped Kyo's hand aside.

They walked some more and got to a clearing, with a big lagoon in the middle and a waterfall at the far side. "Let's go for a swim." said Kyo.

"Swim? Are you crazy? First walking, now swimming, geez you're so... Do that alone, I'm going back." said Akaza, turning around.

"Come on. Come on" said Kyo, taking Akaza's hand, dragging him towards the water.

Kyo took off his clothes, leaving only his undergarments, and entered the water until it reached his waist. Akaza refused to enter and sat by the shore while the blonde demon swam around. "Is it that fun?" asked Akaza, watching him smile so foolishly.

"It is. You should try it. Come on" said Kyo, approaching him.

"Nah, that's OK." said Akaza, holding his knees up to his torso, his head resting on his folded arms on top of his knees.

Kyo got out of the water but instead of sitting down next to Akaza he grabbed him by the waist and heaved him up like a sack of potatoes on his shoulder and walked towards the water with Akaza squirming trying to free himself.. When the water reached Kyo's waist he put Akaza down and pushed him down. Akaza fell butt first and as the water covered his head, he started flaunting around frantically. Kyo, surprised at the reaction, grabbed Akaza's arm and pulled him up "Sorry, I didn't mean to- '' said Kyo.

"To what? Drown me?" screamed Akaza punching Kyo in the chest out of frustration and fear.

Kyo caught Akaza's fists "Are you scared of water? Is that why you didn't want to come in?" said Kyo chuckling.

"No, I'm not. This water is just too cold,that's all." said Akaza, freeing his hands from Kyo's grasp and crossing his arms over averting his stare.

"Hmm sure... Why not a race then, to get you warmed up?" challenged Kyo.

"Fine!"

They established the finishing line and raced, and while Kyo swan swiftly, Akaza barely moved from his place just kicking and flaunting around the water. Kyo stopped when he realized Akaza was struggling, smiled widely and swam back to Akaza "Come here. I will teach you how to swim." he said, helping Akaza to his feet "You're too weak to compete against." He said it on purpose, he knew Akaza hated to be called weak, and before Akaza could start a revolution against him, Kyo led him to where the water level was around their chest and started teaching.

"Here grab my hands, lay back and try to float. Take deep breaths. I won't let go." said Kyo. Akaza didn't answer and just did as instructed. Soon, after he was able to float by himself, he learned how to move his arms, how to move his legs and how to breathe between strokes. Kyo moved to Akaza's side, while he was floating, put his hand on Akaza's tummy and told him to swim. Akaza lost balance from the distraction of having his tummy touched and sank, Kyo wrapped his arm around his torso and with the other hand grabbed his waist to pull him up.

As soon as his face was out of the water Akaza was squirming and laughing "Stop it! Don't! Let go. Let go.'' Kyo however, delighted at the reaction, did it worse and tickled him for real on both sides. Akaza pushed him and tried to run away by swimming to shore, doing his best to keep his head out of the water. Kyo followed him with a big smile on his face. "Oh that's it. You're swimming".

Akaza stopped in his tracks and looked around, he had moved a lot from the place they were "Oooh. A bit more and I'm ready to beat you" as soon as he said that his concentration on swimming dropped and he sank again. Kyo grabbed him a bit higher than his waist, so as to not tickle him, and they made their way to shore.