Tanji - An Introduction

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He didn’t wear them, the wrappings that he’d once wound over his arms, the bandana over his forehead, he didn’t bother with them anymore.

Everyone had scars, he figured, there was no point wearing the arm wrappings that had covered the scars on the underside of his arms. He’d only covered them because he didn’t want to look at them, didn’t want to remember that he’d once been so unstable that he’d tried to kill himself. He wasn’t the first one to try it, certainly, and it was in the past now, no reason to be ashamed of it.

His bandana had covered the Jagan, the third eye he’d been born with. That was definitely not something normally found in the human world. Amazingly, very few humans noticed it. When it was closed, it was nothing more than a slit on his forehead, so most people assumed it was a scar. Humans had a tendency to deny or rationalize anything they didn’t understand anyway.

The phoenix on his back was easily written off as a tattoo, though that had been more awkward during his childhood.

Overall, he could blend in well with humans. That was good, he was here in the human world for his own protection. Apparently, in his home world of Makai, there were a number of forces that wanted him dead. His parents had died to protect him, leaving him at the Kiro Temple. Even his best friend was really there to protect him, one of his guardians, and he had gained others.

So here in the human world, abandoned, scarred, and barely fitting in, was a Prince of demons. The rule of his family had been overthrown generations ago, both from within the ruling Clan, and from Clans who wanted the rule for themselves. It was foretold that a halfbreed Prince would return and unite all the Clans.

He was certainly a halfbreed. His father had been pure Dragon Clan fire demon, a Prince by every right. He had carried the phoenix guardian before passing it on to his son. His mother had been a Jujinkai, an exotic creature from a world at war with Makai.

At least the prophecies or whatnot hadn’t foretold him bringing peace between Makai and Jujinkai. He really would have laughed at that. As it was, he had to survive the human world, return to the demon world, take up rule of the Dragon Clan, then unite all fire demon clans. That alone was too much to think about, but it was something that had to be done, no one else could do it except him.

He sighed, resting his arms on the balcony railing, staring out at the sakura blossoms as they floated away from their branches.

“Tanji?” Kino’s beautiful voice came from the room behind him, her soft footfalls approaching until her hands slid over his shoulders. “What are you thinking about?”

Tanji smiled, leaning his head back to kiss her. “That I’m finally on the right path, Angel.”

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