What's up with Kiyamas always using Ragnaruk beys? Well, this story aims to answer that. At least, the beginning of it.

It was nighttime. In the vast open fields of Taisho Era Japan, a small child could be seen moving slowly across a small dirt path.

His figure was lanky and frail, as if he had not eaten in days. He had messy blonde hair that was tainted with dirt and his kimono was torn and ragged. There were small cuts on his left cheek, as though he had scraped his face with a sharp object. His entire body was shivering and dirty, as the coldness of night was too much for him to bare, coupled with the fact that hadn't bathed in days. In both of his arms were two small ceramic jars covered with a tied red cloth.

The boy travelled as far as his skinny legs could carry him in a desperate bid to search for food and warmth. But with each step he took, his breath grew weaker and weaker. His body could give up at any moment.

And it eventually did, only after a few grueling steps did the child collapsed onto the ground, with the two jars slipping from his grip and rolling onto the dirt, miraculously surviving the fall. The boy tried to stand up again, but by this point, he had grown far too weak. Thinking that there was nothing he could do now, the boy just stayed in his position and closed his eyes.

This was the end.

At least, that was what he thought.

🔥🔥🔥

A faint light shone through the darkness of what was essentially limbo. The brightness lit up the void, forcing a little soul to open his eyes.

What came into view was a small lit lantern and a little bowl of water, both placed on a nearly decayed tatami mat. With a newfound energy that seemingly came out of nowhere, the child lifted his head from the mat. He turned to look at his surroundings. He was in some sort of hut that seemed to have not been maintained for a very long time as there were holes in the wood and roof. He saw that in one of the corners were the two ceramic jars that he was carrying with him before he collapsed.

A soreness suddenly crept up his throat which caused him to cough violently. He had not drank any water in a long time, and his throat was drying up from dehydration. He instantly took the bowl of water and took huge gulps of the liquid, not thinking twice if the it was safe to drink or not. He sighed in relief after finishing his drink. But that was when he realised...

Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Why did he still feel thirsty? Was this his afterlife?

As the boy pondered these questions, a brief shadow blocked the light that was coming from the holed roof. The boy instinctively stood up with all the energy he had and went for the small entrance of the hut. When he stepped out of the hut, the boy looked up at the sky and saw something flying in the air. He was sure that it wasn't a bird, since the thing appeared to be far bigger than one. Gradually, the thing flew closer and closer to him.

Eventually, the thing landed right in front of the boy. It was a creature he had never seen before - a tall black beast with large bat-like wings and sharp, twisted horns. Its eyes were a fiery red and on its ram-like head was a blazing flame. It had hooves for feet and wore golden armour, its design completely alien to the child. He couldn't help but stare in awe at this eldritch being, though he didn't know if he should be scared or not.

"So, you are already awake," the thing began to speak. Its voice was deep, but surprisingly human. "What a shame. If you had not stepped outside, you wouldn't have to see this form of mine."

"D-Did you bring me here?" the blonde boy asked.

"Yes, I did," it replied. "I saw you lying on the ground unconscious, so I picked you up and brought you here."

The boy then noticed that the creature had various fruits and vegetables in its arms.

"You...picked those...for me?"

The creature nodded. "Perhaps I will explain to you further when we are inside. You are still recovering."

And so, the two entered the hut once more. They sat opposite to each other with the small lantern in the middle.

"So, what...are you?" the child asked the beast.

"Humanity has coined many different terms for the likes of me," the beast questioned back. "But personally, I consider myself a demon."

"A demon? But demons hurt people, eat people. At least, that's what my parents told me."

"Is that so? Then why aren't you begging for your life knowing that I might devour you at any moment?"

"Because...I don't really feel threatened by you. I don't know why either, but...I feel like you're not going to hurt me."

The demon stayed silent following the boy's answer. An interesting child he was. A low rumbling suddenly came from the child's stomach, forcing him to take one the fruits and eat it. He took slow, small bites, despite practically being malnourished. The beast let the boy munch on the fruit for awhile before it had something to ask.

"Those jars. What do they contain?"

At this question, the child momentarily stopped eating, a sign that he was reluctant to answer the question.

"You don't have to answer if-"

"They're my parents."

Another silence echoed.

"You're parents? As in, their ashes?"

The boy simply nodded, putting the fruit down. His disheveled blonde hair covered his topaz eyes. "They left me very recently. We lived very far away from any village or city, so I didn't have access to funeral services. I decided to cremate them myself and put them in these urns. I stayed with them at my old house for awhile, before I realised that I should give them a proper burial. So, I started to carry them on my own to the nearest town. I was travelling alone since I didn't have any other relatives."

To burn the corpses of your own parents with your own hands. To cover your fingers in their ashes. A gut-wrenching circumstance, to say the least.

"How long were you travelling up until this point?"

"Over a week, I think? I've been walking for so long that I...somewhat lost track of time. I wanted to reach the town as fast as I could so I rarely took breaks. I guess my body reached its limit."

The fact that the child was able to walk for that long with little nourishment astounded the demon. Humans truly are a resilient kind. They thrive despite all that nature throws at them. But resilience does not mean immortality. It is only humanity's way of delaying the inevitable.

The boy finished up all of the food that the demon had provided for him. He munched on the last piece of apple before wiping his mouth and standing up.

"You've finished it all? It might not be the most filling meal." the demon said, still concerned for the boy.

"No, it's fine. I can survive. By now, I'm used to having an empty stomach." the blonde child then went to the two urns of his parents, with the intention of continuing his journey. He picked up the two ceramic jars and was about to walk out of the hut.

"Surely you aren't travelling alone, aren't you?" the winged beast asked.

"No, I'll be fine," the boy responded. "Besides, we're probably not going to meet each other again, so why bother worrying about me?"

To the demon, the boy did somewhat have a point. He was a human while it was an inhuman. Due to their differences, the chances of them meeting again was surely slim.

Right?

🔥🔥🔥

The big burning ball in the sky was setting and the stars were about to make themselves known to the earth dwellers below. The frail blonde boy carried the urns of his deceased parents tirelessly through the vast plains of unharvested rice fields. It has been three days since his encounter with the demon that saved him from starvation. Even so, he sometimes questioned wether that event was even real, or whether it was just a dream. Perhaps it was a glimpse of limbo and the winged creature was the ferryman tasked with taking his soul, but chose to let him live another day.

As he was walking on the path, three men suddenly walked up to him.

"Hey there, kid," the most built of them said. "Why're you here all alone?"

The boy did not reply. In fact, he was suspicious of them. Why did they suddenly approach him?

"Not one to talk, huh? Well, I don't blame ya. We're complete strangers here after all." the man turned his attention to the two urns the boy was carrying. "Say, kid, those jars look pretty valuable. Care to tell us what's inside?"

It was at this point that the child got a clear idea of the men's intentions. And  they were anything but benevolent.

"They're just urns. They're worth nothing to you." he spat out, holding the jars defensively.

"Oh, really? Men, grab 'em!" the man commanded his two henchmen.

The child tried to run away from them, but they were fare quicker and stronger than him, with one of the two grabbing his kimono and lifting him up. The other man forcefully took the urns from the child.

"Hey, give them back!" the boy demanded, but his cries were left unheard as the man mercilessly threw the urns to the ground in front of him. The jars shattered with an ear-piercing crash when they came into contact with the ground, releasing the dusty burnt remains of two human beings.

"Mom...Dad..." the boy could only utter as he stared down towards the mound of human ashes on the dirt.

The three men on the other hand were disappointed at the fact that they were not going to get a good chunk of cash for the day.

"Damn it! Just some useless dirt. What a waste of time." the leader of the trio grumbled as he kicked the ashes out of frustration, not caring if they were once human. "Leave the brat here. He deserves to starve for carrying this worthless crap."

With that, one of the henchmen carelessly dropped the blonde boy onto the ground. The child didn't bother to confront the men, but was more concerned about his parents' ashes. He crawled up to them in tears as he attempted to gather the remains. The three bandits gave one last mocking look at him before turning to leave. But before they could even take one step from the child...

"Surely that is not a way to treat a child."

A male voice caught the attention of the bandits and the boy. They turned around to see a man walking towards them. The closer he got, the more apparent his appearance was. He wore a yellow kimono topped with a black haori and a large kasa hat on his head that obscured his eyes. The mysterious man halted his movements when he was near the boy.

"You three are adults. Aren't you supposed to be helping children?" the mystery man asked the bandits.

They're leader only scoffed at the man. "Who are you to lecture me on child care, huh?! Get lost!"

"Get lost? Considering that I am familiar with the area, I believe that is impossible." the man responded back calmly, seemingly unfazed by the bandit's intimidation.

"Why you...! Get him!" the leader ordered his two henchmen, who swiftly rushed towards the man to attack him.

The two men were about to punch the man, but the latter held up his two hands and caught their fists. Though it didn't seem like the man was using that much strength, the two bandits were confused as to why their fists weren't moving an inch towards him. Regardless, they chose to use their other fists to punch the man. Unexpectedly, the man in yellow burst into flames, causing the bandits to back away. The fire disappeared and so too did the man.

Confused, the bandits frantically looked around to search for the man but to no avail.

"The hell did that guy go?" one of them questioned.

"Heh, don't know what trick he used just now but I'd say he ran like a coward." the other said arrogantly.

Thinking that the man was finally gone, the bandits were about to leave, that was until the two henchmen inexplicably combusted, their entire bodies consumed by flames. They were screaming and burning alive, the flames evaporating every ounce of liquid under their skin. In a futile bid to save their lives, the two men dove into the wet rice fields to put out the fire. But it was too late, for the fire had already incinerated them.

The leader of the bandits was utterly speechless at the sight of his men almost being burned alive. He then sensed a presence behind him and when he turned around, the man in yellow was right there. In a move of cowardice, the bandit quickly grabbed the blonde child in a chokehold and pointed a blade towards his neck. He stepped all over the poor boy's parents' ashes in the process.

"STAY BACK OR THIS BRAT WILL PAY FOR IT!" the bandit yelled at the mystery man.

The man in yellow did not budge one bit. Instead, he slightly lifted his hat, revealing his left eye. He slowly opened it, revealing a blood red iris with a slit pupil in the middle. For some unknown reason, the bandit felt entranced when he made eye contact with the mysterious man and everything became blurry for him afterwards.

"Drop the knife and let go of the boy." the man in yellow simply asked.

In a hypnotised manner, the bandit obediently did exactly as the man said - he dropped his weapon and released the child from his grasp.

"Drown yourself." the man then said to the hypnotised bandit.

At this command, the bandit took a few steps towards the rice field before falling into it face first.

The boy was left shocked and speechless at what just happened before him. As he was processing the events that transpired, a shadow loomed over him. He looked up to see the man in yellow. The man knelt down and and drew a peculiar mark on the ash-covered ground. The mark began to glow a bright orange, and so did the ceramic shards and ashes. They lifted from the ground and floated around the two.
It was here that the boy began to put together the idea of this man's identity.

The red eyes.

The fire.

The supernatural abilities.

As he wondered, the urns that were once two separate jars pieced together to create one single urn. The ashes of the boy's parents swirled into the urn like a tornado before the jar's mouth was sealed shut. The boy finally figured out the man's true identity.

"It...It's you...the demon." the boy said to the man.

"So, we meet again," the man, or the demon, said before turning his attention to the brand new urn. "I hope you don't mind having your parents in the same urn. My powers are limited, so I am unable to separate their ashes."

"Oh, I-I don't mind," the boy answered as he looked at the urn. "And I'm sure Mom and Dad wouldn't mind either. No matter if they're alive or not, they will always be happy when they're together. And just that thought alone makes me happy too."

The demon smiled softly at the boy. But deep down, he was a bit envious of him for still being so attached to his parents even after they had left this world. The demon never felt such attachments, for the ones who were supposed to protect him left him to fend for himself at a young age. It was not until many centuries later that he was finally shown the light from others who weren't of his flesh and blood. If one he had experienced such love earlier.

"Hey, mister," the demon heard the boy call out. "Thank you for saving me just now. What's your name?"

The beast in human form pondered at this for a moment. Did he ever have a name?

.

.

.

"You wish to call me that, Your Majesty? But that is just a title. My real name is nonexistent."

"There is no such thing as a nonexistent name. Names are just words we use to refer to certain things to differentiate them from one another. Everything that has a name has a preordained destiny, even those whose names aren't truly known."

"But...that name strikes fear in your people. If they hear it, they will instantly run away."

"Do you truly wish to reform?"

"I do!"

"Then work hard enough until that name strikes fear in the kingdom's enemies instead. That way, the folks wouldn't have a reason to be afraid of it. From now on, your name will be..."

.

.

.

The answer was yes. He indeed had a name. He had just been doubting it for so long, but now was the time to accept it.

"My name is Ragnaruk." the demon replied to the boy.

"Rag...na...ruk..." the boy attempted to pronounce the name since it was quite foreign. "Doesn't really roll off the tongue, but maybe I'll nail it some day."

"And what is your name?" Ragnaruk asked the boy.

"Ruu," the boy said. "Ruu Kiyama."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ruu."

"It's nice to meet you too, Ra...Ra..."

Ragnaruk chuckled at Ruu's attempt at pronouncing his name. "It's alright. You will learn eventually."

The demon stood up and turned to the bodies of the three bandits that attacked the boy earlier. They laid stain the muddy water of the rice field.

"Oh, I almost forgot about those guys," Ruu stated. "What should we do with them? People are surely going to find them here tomorrow."

Ragnaruk simply snapped his finger, causing a fire that reduced the criminals' bodies to ashes.

"That should do the trick," he commented. "Such people in society are easy to be forgotten, so the possibility of others noticing their disappearance is very low. That being said, don't follow my example and go around burning bodies. Follow your human rules and you'll make it through in life."

"Of course I won't! My parents already taught me to be a good boy." Ruu proclaimed proudly, before letting out a long yawn.

Ragnaruk looked up at the night sky. The moon was nearing its highest point, signaling that it was almost midnight.

"It's getting late. Let's go back to that hut and get you some rest. I reckon that you had a tiring journey." he said.

"That hut? But I've already gone this far! I don't wanna go back that far away." Ruu complained.

Unexpectedly, Ragnaruk embraced Ruu from behind, his black haori transforming into giant bat wings.

"Nothing is too far when you can fly. Hang on tight!"

Ruu held his parents' urn firmly and closed his eyes tightly as he and the demon lifted off into the sky. When he opened his eyes, he was overlooking a sea of endless rice fields that dotted the land, like a blanket of green that the earth would always wear. His feet were off the ground and he felt the wind in his messy blond hair. He has never seen the sky so up close before. He didn't feel the soreness of his legs, a result of miles of walking without rest.

He was like a bird, flying through the infinite sky with his heart's content, without worrying about the dangers of the land below.

This second encounter between the boy and the demon would be the beginning of a bond that would last for generations to come.