curse my stubbornness! // a 1x1 with Raylen and loulou800

[loulou800]

こうすけ － ＫＯＳＵＫＥ
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currently a half-demon | location: the forest | mood: crafty, bugged
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Kosuke kept his eyes on her as she got all fired up. He had to admit, she was a feisty little human. She spewed words at him like it was no tomorrow and if he hadn't been so wiped out, he would've sneered at her and probably walked off, and would try to steal the stone at another time. But, since he was still recovering from that blast of power (his body was feeling just the slightest bit better, but not all the way just yet), all he could do was roll his eyes. She was droning on about him threatening her, something, which to him was no big deal-- if she crossed him, he'd have no choice but to defend himself. She was the one who had purified him, dang it, and while she might have been defending herself, he had thought that he was probably gonna die right then and there. She knew of his powers, from fighting with the demon, while he had no heads-up or anything about her powers. She could talk all she wanted, he didn't care-- or so he told himself, as he shifted a little, his eyes not looking at her but feeling maybe the tiniest shred of regret for his threat. Whatever. She had it coming. Hell would freeze over before he'd apologize to her.

The sound of her laugh caught his attention, causing him to look over at her in disbelief. Laughing? She was laughing? Mind you, it was a quiet one, but his ears picked it up easily. What the hell? he thought. She was just yelling at me a few seconds ago, and now she's laughing? Is she crazy or what? It was when she said that he was afraid of her, that he found himself straightening up, even though it still hurt; no longer leaning against the tree. "Who said?" he sputtered, giving her another glare as he shook his head. "Who'd be afraid of you?" he scoffed, crossing his arms and looking away. "That'd be stupid. As if." He tried to act all calm and collected but his heart was racing; he was a little afraid of her powers but he wouldn't admit that to her, never in a million years. He was much too proud to do anything like that. And to a human? Pfft. No thanks. It made him feel pathetic, more because she was gloating in-front of him while giving him some sort of smug smile.

Once her laughter died down, she decided to introduce herself, saying that her name was Asuna. Huh. It was a pretty name, he supposed; a name that meant "future", or "tomorrow". However, having a pretty name didn't make her a pretty person. He took another look at her, inwardly shrugging at her appearance. She was okay, nothing special. Whatever (Kosuke was really just lying to himself about her looks). She went on further to elaborate that her mother had given her the stone when her family had essentially been killed, and her sister had been abducted. He had to admit, that sucked. A lot. He shifted back against the tree, his arms still crossed as he listened to why she treasured the stone so much, and why she wouldn't give it to him. Hmph. That was fine. He'd take it from her another time, maybe when she was sleeping. She was better off without the stone; she'd be a walking target for trouble if she kept it with her. It wasn't worth it for her to keep, even if it was all that she had left about her family. If she kept it, she'd meet the same fate as her family.

That story, though... it sounded familiar. He would bet that it wasn't just demons that had attacked her village, but humans as well. They'd been working together back then, and he was positive that there must have been some humans working on the inside, which would've helped the demons plan their attack. In-fact, if that were the case, then that village was as good as gone. He was surprised that Asuna had escaped; did someone take pity on her? Or did she happen to use her purifying powers to get away? Either way, he didn't want to ask her questions about the event, not wanting to make it seem like he was actually interested in her story. Honestly, though, as he continued to think about it, there must have been a reason why they terrorized the village, and it must've been because of the stone. Someone must've tipped off the demons; given them a lead after it being out of sight. It was out of sight because of her, this girl that was in-front of him. How could no-one see that it was with her all along? Was she able to conceal it, or something? What was with her? He personally hadn't heard of the stone's whereabouts for years and years, but maybe someone spotted it, and decided to make their attack. The timeline didn't quite match up, from what he knew about when the stone was last seen, but he knew that the woman who had it had died. Could the woman have been this girl's mother? It was a possibility that he wouldn't shake off, not yet.

He looked at her with disbelief in his eyes. "Please! How did you not know that you were carrying the stone?" he said, a little annoyed. "I mean, with the powers you have, you'd think that you would know that you were carrying around a magnet for power. You should be able to sense that kind of a thing." He shook his head, peeved that this girl was just walking around willy-nilly with the stone for most of her life, not even knowing the kind of weapon that it was. Not even knowing that if she was discovered with it, she'd be killed for it, like how that bull demon leapt at her from the forest's shadows without her being aware of it. She was just dumb, he concluded. Seriously, if she didn't even know, then she shouldn't be handling the thing. Yeesh. As he listened to her more, she suddenly jumped to the idea of him helping her control her powers. Him! Help her?! Please! He looked at her incredulously. She must've been kidding, but her face showed otherwise. He was just about to tell her "no" before walking away, but he paused, thinking. If he helped her, then maybe she'd start to trust him-- and if she trusted him, then he could get close enough to her to steal the stone away, and never look back. Yep, that could be a plan. A fool-proof plan. He'd have to be convincing, though. Make it seem like he really was interested in helping her, and maybe flirt his way into her heart before making off with her necklace. Yes, this could work. But not before giving her the impression that he was doing this begrudgingly. He still had to show a bit of his personality that he had shown her from the beginning.

Rolling his eyes, he gave her another glare before uncrossing his arms, walking forward a bit so he could face her more than he was before. His limbs were falling back into action, but he could tell that he was still going to be sore, at-least until the end of the night tonight. He couldn't do anything about that, except rest it off. "Fine," he said his tone dull. "But you owe me for this." He thought, pondering his options. "I want a hot bath and a nice dinner. I'll decide the other details later. Now show me to your home." He brushed by her, walking in-front before pausing, turning around. "And it ain't my fault if you can't keep up with your... your training or whatever. And if you purify me again, well, you know what I can do." He grinned evilly, extending a weak flame from his hand. Dang it, he thought. I'm still too weak to do any kind of damage. I should rest early tonight. "And while you're walking me back to your home, hide the dang thing, okay?" He added, pointing to her stone while tapping his foot impatiently. "We don't need to be dealing with no demons or humans when I can hardly make a flame and you don't even know how to use your powers."

(( that's crazy HAHA. it IS a great coincidence :'D
also, what do you want to call the stone? I can only think of the Sacred Stone LOL but it sounds too much like the Sacred Jewel oop ))

[Raylen]

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This demon that was in front of her. he was demanding wasn't he? All give me this and give me that. Sarcastic words behind gritted teeth and narrowed eyes, had she not just blasted the both of them into oblivion she was sure she'd be more afraid. However, under the circumstances, the blast was an exceedingly useful ice breaker. Despite his words and his standoffish demeanor, this big tough guy act that she was certain wasn't all there was to him, he had agreed to help her. That was worth at least a hot bath and some food, if she could explain to her grandmother what had happened. She wasn't sure that conversation would go down well... Could he pass as a human? Looking at him now she knew that she couldn't see him as anything but a powerful monster, but her grandmother had grown old and weary and would likely not pick up on anything odd about him. She hoped.

"for your information, half-demon, that was the first time I have ever blasted light out of my palms. Do you want me to try it out again?" her eyes narrowed in a sideways glance, but there was a small smile to show that she was just joking "but I suppose that a hot meal and bath is the least that I can do for you saving my life earlier, even if you did threaten it directly after that" She said in his direction, if he was really smart he would have let the bull demon finish her off and then take the jewel if he wanted it so bad. This was what made it clear to her that he wasn't all tough guy, he had saved her life, and he was willing to help her get control of her powers. Asuna was still weary of this man. He was reluctant to help her and she knew deep down that he saw the stone around her neck more so than he actually saw her. She tucked the stone inside the front of her kimono like he suggested. As if a demon wouldn't sense it behind the rough fabric of her clothes and would have the decency not to shove a hand down her front to get it. This guy was a genius, she decided sarcastically.

The demon had just taken off without her towards her home! Asuna quickly scrambled to her forgotten sandals and slid them on her feet, almost tripping over herself in the process. "Hey! wait up, you can't just walk into my house without me you fool" She walked briskly to keep up with him and his long legs "Do you think you can, oh I don't know, tone down the demon in you for a little bit? and maybe help me come up with a background story as to why I am bringing you home when its so close to dark? She cringed at the sun that was receding behind the trees, she would need a good excuse for why she was coming home so late. It was likely that neither of them would have a warm meal tonight as dinner was probably ready almost half an hour ago. Oh her grandmother was going to be furious with her! bringing home a demon that was a male, and she'd been gone way longer than she had ever stayed out before. This was an idiotic plan, she shouldn't have agreed to bring him home with her, it was nonsense!

"I think that we can convince my grandmother that you are homeless and I saw you wondering in the woods, you look it" she mentioned to his ragtag clothes, she looked no better than him and certainly worse than when she had left but she could make something up that she fell. "And the trail was muddy so I slipped and fell down the bank and into the creek" she said more to herself than to her companion next to her, she was growing flustered the more that they walked because every step was a step closer to her home. Her grandmother was going to kill her!
This isn't going to work, I am way past curfew, my clothes are ripped, I've been in the woods of all places, and I am toting a demon with me, not to mention you are a male!"

In exaggerated and dramatic motions she flailed her arms out and covered her face with them in a groan. Maybe she should just give him the stone and let him be on his merry way, and Asuna can say that she was attacked in the woods and barely escaped. But if she gave him the stone he would leave along with every opportunity to get her sister back. Maybe telling her grandmother the truth would be the best option, the truth is so crazy it was unlikely that she would believe her. That she had been attacked, she had blown up a man, and now she had this crazy idea that she could go after her sister. The entire way down the creek back to her home she pulled and twisted at her fingers nervously and looked from her feet back to the demon that was a step or two in front of her. "I am not sure that I ever properly thanked you for saving me back there, even if you just wanted the stone"" She tried to offer him a kind smile of appreciation in his direction.

Asuna took the time to sort of look at him. She'd looked at him before, but this wasn't a life threatening situation. He looked normal to her, not like any demon that she had seen before in her lifetime. Nothing like the monsters that attacked her when she was younger either. He was tall and most of his features were human, and oddly enough beautiful. Most demons to her were ugly and lacked all self control, they were evil and did things only if there was something in it for them. This man showed restraint, to an extent, and had helped her before. His fire powers were unlike anything she had ever seen before... He was familiar to her, but what or why she was unsure of.



So I kinda had this idea that her grandmother isn't actually senile and old but very wise, and knows immediately that the stone has been used and her granddaughter used her powers. Her grandmother also would know who kosuke is, and then Asuna who knows kosuke from stories will freak out bc she thought he would be ugly and demented but he isnt, and then get flustered for basically calling him cute. it would be a wholesome scene.

[loulou800]

こうすけ － ＫＯＳＵＫＥ
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currently a half-demon | location: the edge of the forest/Asuna's village | mood: teasing, casual
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"Try it," he dared, looking back at her when she said that she'd give her powers another go. He just snorted, knowing that she wouldn't be able to, seeing as she didn't even know how she had enacted her powers in the first place. His guess was that when she felt like her life was in danger, when the demon approached, and when she felt angry at him, that those emotions triggered the stone to glow and flash, causing her priestess powers to show itself. Whether or not that was the first time that had happened, it had happened today, and she looked awfully shocked by the extent of the power. Just based on her reaction, he guessed that she had absolutely no reason as to how those powers exited out of her body. By daring her to try her powers out on him again was like asking for a death wish, but he had absolute confidence that she wouldn't be able to produce the power again, at-least not to that extent.

He nodded, a smug smile forming on his face. "That's right, you do owe me," he said cockily, crossing his arms as he walked further ahead, humming a little as he imagined the bath and food. He was feeling kind of hungry, and he usually had an insatiable appetite when it came down to it. The bath would probably do him some good as well, and would likely soothe his tired muscles. Things still tingled a little bit, but at-least it didn't feel like a giant rock had crushed itself down on him like how it had felt when she had first flung him back. He almost shivered, thinking back to that moment. He definitely didn't want to end up in that position again.

He heard her come up quickly behind him, trying to match his speed. He was a pretty fast walker, and being tall meant that his steps were twice the size of hers; she was pretty small compared to him. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered, a slight bit of a smile making its way onto his lips. "You should be showing me the way anyways, seeing as I'm your guest. Yeesh, where are your manners, girl?" he asked teasingly as he slowed his pace just the slightest. He paused, listening to her idea of a background story, his eyebrows furrowing at her ridiculous thought. "Me?" he stopped in his tracks before walking again, giving her an incredulous look. "Me, homeless? You've got to be kidding me. Do I look homeless to you?" He was honestly insulted. He liked to think that he looked pretty decent; even handsome, dare he say it, and he liked to think that his appearance was well put together in that he passed for someone who lived a fairly humble life. But homeless? What the hell? You look homeless, he thought, purely out of spite towards the girl. It was a good thing he didn't voice that out loud, otherwise he'd probably receive a thwacking on the head or something. She obviously didn't look homeless, he was just being petty.

At the mention of their clothes, he glanced down at his. His looked fine, hers, on the other hand? He held back a laugh as she looked worse for wear. Maybe she should go along with the ruse of slipping down the trail, which caused her kimono to rip. He thought a moment before saying, "Well, instead of me being freaking homeless, maybe you could say that I rescued you when you fell." He grinned cheekily, wanting to put himself in a good light. "I just happened to be passing by, and heard you scream. I followed the trail to find you lying down in the creek, and helped you. Then I walked you back home because it's getting dark, and it's because I'm a gentleman." When he noticed her get antsy at the fact that yes, he was indeed a male, he grinned, stopping right in-front of her, causing her to stop in her tracks. His light grey eyes seemed to shine mischievously at her as the sky was getting darker. Time really had passed quite quickly today, which was bound to happen with all the events that had gone on. "Hm, something wrong with me being a guy?" he asked, his voice lowered as he leaned down a little. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm a gentleman half-demon, walking a klutz home, right?" His breath fanning over her face before he turned right around, whistling with his hands in his sleeves as if he hadn't just gotten all up in her space. He was obviously trying to flirt with her, trying to make her feel flushed as some sort of weird satisfaction for himself. It provided some sort of entertainment when she was acting flustered, he found.

His ears caught her faintly thanking him for saving her, and he merely shrugged. "Yeah, well, I was just concerned about the stone." he said. "No-one's seen it for years. You just happened to be there, carrying it, so of course I had to save you, to save the stone." He said this all very casually, not really realizing that she really was thankful for having saved her life. He really didn't mind, actually. His mother had taught him to take care of women, but that didn't mean that he couldn't tease them or maybe get mad at them when he wanted to. He'd usually get more aggressive with guys, seeing as how he viewed them as tougher than girls, anyways. He clearly had some kinks to work out in his personality; he was only this way because of the way that he and his brother were treated when they were younger. They weren't accepted by demons or humans, so he grew to have a distaste for both kinds, except for Taiki and his parents, of course. He behaved the way that he did to get things to go his way often, and he usually didn't realize the repercussions that his actions had on others. Perhaps this girl would be able to straighten some sense into him.

They finally reached the clearing of the edge of the forest, where Kosuke could clearly see human civilization. There were still a few huts that were lighted up from the inside, but a majority of them were already dark, signalling that they had gone to bed for the night. "So, which one's yours?" he asked, looking back over at her. With the half-moon shining brightly in the sky, he looked like a handsome sight, with the way the light reflected on his hair and on his eyes, creating an almost ethereal look to him.

(( LOL he IS demanding, he's acting like a brat LOL
by the way, he still hasn't introduced himself by name, i'll let Asuna's grandmother do that heheheheh so Asuna can realize that he's the dude from the stories! and she can say he's cute like you said LOL ))

[Raylen]

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Asuna had nothing to respond to the man but to roll her eyes and scoff. Him? a gentleman? Save her from the creek? Absolutely ridiculous. It was smart though. Her grandmother may buy it, her falling and screaming and him coming to her aid. It made some sense the more she thought about it, she was a young girl in feudal japan. A man making sure she got home safe and walking her home would have been natural and not raise any questions. The only questions that may be raised was the state of her kimono, but those were small details that could be exaggerated by the fall and the mention of a few sharp twigs and rocks, surely. "Okay fine, we will go with your version of the st--" she trailed off, her voice going silent, he had stopped walking, and so had she to avoid ramming into him. The half-demon was awfully close to her, closer than he had been when he had her against a tree and tried to steal the necklace. His words were chilling and mischievous and his breath fanned across her pale cheeks that were slowly heating up into a bright pink. She could feel the warmth in her face and ears and only hoped that it was dark enough to not notice the blush that had overtaken her face. His eyes were beautiful, she decided, they were predators eyes, but for some reason they didn't scare her.

When he turned back around and acted like nothing happened, she exhaled a breath that she had been holding. "no, there is nothing wrong with you being a male" her voice was mousy and quiet, trying to regain her composure and straighten her posture. She took steps to keep up with him but did not dare look at him for the rest of the walk, keeping her face pointedly faced away several degrees in the opposite direction. She was too afraid to look at him again, she didn't want him invading her personal space. It was harassment she decided and she didn't like it. lies.

She was taken out of her daze when he asked her what house was hers, but put right back in it when she looked at him in the moonlight. It really wasn't fair, of all demons that could have saved her it had to be this one. It was kind of hard to hate something that looked so inviting. Lucky for her he opened his snarky mouth often, and that was a rather good repellent. She probably looked so dumb right now, admiring a demon in the dark and taking way too long to answer his question. What had the question been? "W-what? oh, uhmmmm" She looked to her left at a small cottage with one torch still lit outside and light illuminating the inside, "This one, follow me please" she said, not really in his direction, and then walked in front of him quickly. She wanted to get as far away as possible, even though he was about to enter her quaint home. She matched her steps with the cobble stone walkway and took a deep breath when she stepped up to the front door. Her heart pounding.

"Grandmother? I'm home" She pushed open the door and took off her shoes, she turned to make sure that the demon was following her and then turned back to the just large enough room, "You will never believe what happened today, I-" she began, but was cut short when she realized that her grandmother was sitting calmly on the floor with her eyes closed at their chabudai, an old and worn low squatting table. Hot food was on the table, which was odd because she was entirely passed her "curfew" and all too much food was on the table for just the two of them. ""Grandmother?" She said once more, and the old lady opened her eyes slowly.

"Hi Asuna" she said to her granddaughter who had inched her way into the room and grabbed the sleeve of the demon behind her, pulling him in by the cloth and shutting the door behind her, Asuna's violet eyes were wide and nervous, "Hello, Kosuke... taking care of my granddaughter I see?" She said dryly with one eyebrow raised. Her hands motioned to the table for the pair to take a seat and after a few seconds of contemplation she sat down on the floor in front of the food. Asuna's face turned to "Kosuke" and then back to her grandmother.

"You know this man?" She asked, her voice in complete disbelief and her face giving way to all of her confusion, "Do you also know that he is a de-" her grandmother cut her off, "-demon? yes my dear I do, anybody in their right mind would know who the half-demon Kosuke is, and so do you" Asuna held a pensive look before it jumped to recognition and she stood up from her seat on the floor, "Wait?! This is Kosuke! from the stories? there is absolutely no way that this man is that demon, he's not ugly and disfigured, he's--" Asuna stopped herself when she realized the next word that she was going to say, she was going to call him beautiful. It was certainly no surprise to anybody, but she just knew that admitting it would be the end of her, as Kosuke would never let her live it down. She sat down on the floor once more, her cheeks another shade of pink and her eyes downcast to her hands that fiddled with eachother in her lap. "Yes, You thought that such an infamous demon would surely be grotesque, I'll have you know my dear that he is" the old woman narrowed her eyes towards the half-demon who hadn't appeared to recognize her yet, the years had grown on her and she was not surprised. "Don't tell me you've forgotten your favorite priestess now? Does the name Saitou ring a bell, demon?"

Asuna looked back and forth from her grandmother to the demon, too much was going on for her to keep up. "You're Kosuke, the famous demon? Your father was.. really powerful" She acknowledged, trying to get everything straight into her head, "And... you know my grandmother...? a priestess?" she turned to the old woman, who nodded her head. This was not a joke. "He's been trying to steal that stone from our family for generations, though he sucks at it" she said the last part with a challenging glint in her eyes and a sly smile before she turned back to her kin "it's been dormant since your mother's death, but something awakened it today and I am not entirely sure what" The dark haired violet eyed girl narrowed her eyes at the demon, how old was he? He looked no older than his early twenties at the absolute most. Did he not age? did he just look mostly man?

"Does this mean mom was.. and I am, a priestess?" She had heard of priestesses, they were rather uncommon now that the demon numbers had grown and demons started destroying villages. She had never seen that side of her mom before, or her grandmother. Her family died years ago and that eliminated any possibility of her learning from her mom, she turned to her grandmother. "Yes my dear, you are. I never told you because I figured you wouldn't have needed to know, being a priestess is more danger than it is helpful in these times, but the stone awakening means that nobody here has a choice, including you, half-demon" Asuna sat back in silence, looking at her grandmother in a new light, she also looked to Kosuke. Finally putting a name to his face. He wasn't any different, but seemed more personable with a name now.


woowooo, red is her grandmother!
and yes, not saying his name was perfect:)

[loulou800]

こうすけ － ＫＯＳＵＫＥ
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currently a half-demon | location: Asuna's/Saitou's hut | mood: bugged, surprised
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With the girl's quiet response, Kosuke smirked, amused that he was able to get such a response from her. He totally saw her blush, and he thought it was cute, of all things. He could still her flushed face in the dark; being a half-demon, many of his senses were heightened. It was only in his nature to make a girl flustered; if one paired it with his looks and his personality, one would find that you could either get a really nice, romantic guy, or a really mischievous, flirty guy-- Kosuke, at the time being, was the latter. Whether or not that was an advantage or a disadvantage, he had fun with it, and it usually got him what he wanted-- so he supposed it was an advantage, but it could certainly be a disadvantage, as girls could easily find distrust in him if he always relied on his flirtatious remarks to help him get by.

The hut that she pointed to was on the left of them; a small but decently-sized hut, he supposed, for her and her grandmother. It was still lit up, meaning that her grandmother had been waiting for her, and Kosuke wondered what kind of a woman she was. Was she shy yet feisty like the girl? Or was she strict and fixated on rules? He had no idea what to expect as he followed the girl to her hut, walking along the cobblestones. The house itself matched the others in that it was a dark brown, made of sturdy enough material that a human could live in. The roof looked the sturdiest, actually, and he wondered if the other villagers helped the girl and her grandmother build it, seeing as there was an elderly living in there. As he looked more at the hut, and at the others that surrounded it, he wondered if living in huts made these villagers happy. He had never lived in a hut, more like a really fancy house (due to his father's status), so he'd only known big spaces in a house that could feel very empty if no-one else was around. When his parents died, their family home had been burned to the ground by several demons that had a bone to pick with Hikaru, and since he had died, they now went after his sons. Sure, they were powerful at that time, but not powerful enough to defeat one-hundred demons all at-once. They did one of the most cowardly things in their life, or something that they considered cowardly at-least, and they ran when the home burnt to the ground. Ever since then, they just camped out in the forests, and defeated demons that ever crossed their paths there. Of course, over the course of many years, they grew stronger, and one could say that if you were to fight against the brother tag team, you'd surely lose. They both had an amazing ability to control their powers, with Kosuke's being fire and Taiki's being lightning. Their powers all had to do with light somehow, seeing as their father's ability was both fire and lightning. He could combine both, even to create a crazy powerhouse of abilities. Seeing their father in action was magical to the two sons, and it was during moments such as these that they wished that they were full demon.

As soon as Kosuke walked into the hut after the girl, he cocked his head. The old lady sitting in-front of him looked... familiar? He didn't know why, as he didn't know any old women, but he shrugged it off to perhaps some sort of old memory of an old woman who used to take care of the family's estate. She greeted her grand-daughter, her voice sounding wise. Food sat on the table in-front of them, and Kosuke felt his tummy growling in hunger. It looked delicious, he had to admit-- and there was so much! Bowls of rice, a pot of hot soup, fish, vegetables... it was more food than he had seen in one setting in more than a few years, really. His stomach was ready, and his mouth was ready to consume the meal in-front of him-- but even he had enough manners to know not to dig in without saying anything, knowing that he was a guest.

Things got strange when the old lady said his name. He blinked looking from the food to the grandmother, his hands on his knees as he was now sitting down next to the girl. "... huh?" he said dumbly, genuinely confused as to how she knew him. Maybe she'd heard of him visiting around these parts? He was fairly well-known, after-all. He looked at her-- he didn't think that he knew her. He cleared his throat. Rarely was he at a loss for words. "You know me, or something?" He pointed to his chest, blinking. He ended up turning his head to the girl beside him, who now realized that she knew who he was from stories that circulated around human villages. He found himself holding back a laugh at her realizing that no, he wasn't "ugly and disfigured", but rather... what, was she about to say something quite the opposite? A smug look would've wound its way to his face if not for the old woman saying that her name was Saitou.

Saitou... wait, Saitou?! Kosuke instantly sat up, putting his hands on the table. "Wait, Saitou? As in the priestess that used to hang around my Dad when I was a kid?" He looked at her, blurting out out something that he probably should've thought about before he said it. "The years haven't been good to you lady, sorry I didn't recognize you." He cleared his throat, settling back down and placing his hands on his knees once more. "No way. I thought you were dead. You were what, eighty or something when you hung around us?" he asked, scratching the back of his head nervously. This woman in-front of him used to get mad at him and Taiki when they were kids and creating a ruckus. Out of all the people that used to punish them for misbehaving, he was the most afraid of her (although now, looking at her, he wasn't so afraid-- just kidding, he was a little bit afraid still). Even though she shouldn't have, she used to give them a light zap of purification to knock them to their senses, making them stop whatever they were doing... temporarily. They had a knack of always getting into trouble, and Saitou would always find them, when their father was off in battle or when their mother couldn't control them all that well.

He was snapped back to reality when the girl spoke up, saying that his father was powerful. He crossed his arms proudly, nodding with a childish grin on his face. "Dang right my Dad was powerful!" he said, more than happy to boast about his father. "Demons from all over were afraid of him. If you got him angry, there was no doubt that he'd kill you, or leave you on the brink of death that you wished you were dead." He paused. "Of course, if you were on his good side, he was the nicest guy, like me and my brother." He grinned, thinking about how times used to be before answering her other question. "Yeah, I know her. I didn't know she was your grandmother or nothing, that's a shock to me. She used to hang around the area I lived in growing up." He was genuinely surprised about this, but it would explain why her powers were so strong-- Saitou's abilities were always remarkable, so it'd only be natural for her kin to be powerful as well.

He turned his attention back to Saitou, rolling his eyes. "I don't suck at it, you old hag," he insisted, glaring at her. The old nickname he and Taiki had for her still stuck. "You guys just have a... a good way of hiding it. Whatever. I know where it is now, it's with your damn granddaughter." He pointed his thumb at her, missing the girl's narrowed eyes at him. They were accusatory, but he was too riled up at the old lady's comment to give the girl any notice. If he did, he probably would've seen the cogs in her head turning, thinking up all kinds of questions for him, and connecting the dots on what his age really was. "What do'ya mean, a choice?" he asked. "If you mean about making sure no-one gets the stone, I'm already on it, so you can stop your yabbering." Even though he was afraid of her growing up, he had certainly grown since then, and so had his bravery. He had a foul mouth then and a foul mouth now, that wasn't about to change anytime soon. Since he knew the lady, and she knew what he was like as a person, there was no reason for polite formalities now. Quite frankly, he just wanted to eat. He wouldn't admit it, but it was nice to see a familiar face from the olden days.

(( LOL i thought that him saying she was eighty would make Saitou smack him on the head or something heh, what if she was actually only like in her late twenties or something back then LOL
also, thanks for separating the colours, it helped hehe
glad that Saitou could introduce him!
also, he'll stop calling Asuna "that girl" sometime soon haha ))

[Raylen]

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Asuna was overwhelmed, to say the very least. The information that had been thrown upon her was absolutely ridiculous, but she was not so stupid to think that it wasn't real. She knew it was. No matter how much the news of being a priestess bothered her and caused her confusion, she had shot light out of her hands. There was no denying that. Despite not wanting to believe that this stone held certain purpose, a demon had attacked her today, and her family was attacked years ago. What didn't make sense was the gap in between, she hadn't seen a demon in years. Not directly. Villagers had been attacked by a random stray demon here and there but that was normal for everybody, a full scale attack hadn't been launched anywhere near her village in almost a decade and the hiatus confused her. Why stop searching for such a valuable stone when you had come so close? What happened? Her mother was dead and the stone had been with a young girl who up until this point, had no idea what it was. This last decade seemed as good a time as any.

She was brought out of her intense thinking by the conversation of the other two sitting at the table, her grandmother and him bickering like they were old friends. It was odd, yet again this whole entire day had been such, so it wasn't out of place. She touched her hand to her chest as she did all the time when she was nervous or thinking about things, she made sure that the stone was still around her neck. Just double checking. It was always there, she'd never checked and it not be there, that constant in her life always grounded her. It was a simple thing, but it worked for her. Again, she found herself lost in her own world and shook her head lightly to refocus on the action before her.

"Listen here, Kosuke" her grandmother said angrily, but Asuna knew that is was all for show "The years may have worn me down, but don't think that means suddenly you can walk all over me" she stuck a finger out at him, the end of her hand glowing with a dull yellow-white light. Asuna's had been purple, and far brighter. "I was only 31 when I took care of you, you runt. Respect your elders" with eyes narrowed into a scowl she dropped her hand to her side. She took this time to then pick up plates and bowls and hand them to the two youngsters, not that the half-demon was all that young, but he certainly acted immature. Asuna took the time to pile her plate with food, not realizing the extent of her hunger "You're one to make fun of my grandmother for being old... what are you like 40? you're old enough to be my father" she said and scrunched up her nose, though that did nothing to make him any less attractive. She began to shovel food into her mouth in an oddly delicate fashion so that she wouldn't have to look or think about him.

The old woman at the table looked at her granddaughter and sighed, a small smile on her face, though her heart was saddened. She had retired her duties as a priestess when she found that she was pregnant, and then completely hid her abilities when she found that her daughter was pregnant. Priestesses weren't safe in these times, especially not one with a soul stone. She feared for her only living kin, and with a hard expression turned back to Kosuke, "Yes, that is exactly what I mean by no choice" Her voice all to serious, "I know you well enough to know that you can't leave the soul stone, and I know my daughter well enough to know that she cannot protect it, yet" Saitou stared deeply at the boy.

The boy that had turned into a man in front of her, he wasn't the same demon she had come to know many decades ago. Sure he was still mischievous and a little punk, Saitou figured that that would never change. However, he was also very powerful now, his father wasn't famous for nothing, and he himself had a reputation of his own. It seemed that he both lacked and held an abundance of maturity, sure his words were crude and his grammar was perhaps not the best, but he had acted selflessly today. Saitou didn't need to be in the forest to know that. She had been worried watching them grow up, Taiki had walked on the line and retained more demon qualities than he did human, but she never got to see the remainder of his childhood because she had left. Kosuke had always retained more of his mother's qualities, but she also had no way of knowing how he would have turned out. It was now decades later that the same boy sat in front of her as a man, and she was, though she would never admit it, proud of him. She didn't say she liked the idea of her daughter in the protection of a demon, but if it must have been one, she was glad it was one of Hikaru's sons.


"Now, I have been up far too long waiting on the arrival of you kids, and I have grown tired" Saitou was older than she would have liked to admit, and long days of working and a long night of waiting on her daughter had caused her a great deal of stress. She knew her daughter had many more questions, personal ones, about her mother and her sister that she would not ask about in front of the half-demon. She had answered all that she could now. "But I have questions still" Asuna said on queue around her mouth filled with chicken, and her grandmother smiled, standing up from her seat. "I know my child, I will answer all your questions in the morning once we have all had some time to rest, I am sure today was not easy on you either" Asuna had to admit that she was tired now with her belly and her mind filled with both food and history. "Asuna will show you to where you may sleep, it's right down the hall, behave" she said the last word like a threat. She had said that word so many times to a young Kosuke and Taiki that she momentarily saw the young boy in the chair. She blinked, and he was grown again. "Goodnight, my Suna"She lent a soft smile to her granddaughter, her childhood nickname warming Asuna's face with love, and with as much grace as an old lady could have (not much) she exited the room to her quarters.

Asuna had cleared her plate of food, and sat quietly at the table. She was staring at Kosuke, there was nothing better to do until he finished up eating. "Why on earth did you not tell me that you were Kosuke earlier?" she mumbled grumpily, "probably would have helped your pathetic effort at the stone" Asuna stuck out her tongue, knowing nothing to do besides antagonize him. The space was uncomfortable now in the silence, without her grandmother here. She was sitting alone at her table that she had grown up eating on for the last 10 years with a powerful demon that she still hadn't decided what to think of him. He had his good moments and his bad moments, just as any right and normal being would, she just hadn't decided if that made him innately bad or good. Perhaps he was both, and that was part of him being a hybrid. Maybe she couldn't define him as good or bad. she liked to think that she herself was good, but even in her short mundane life she had done some bad. She certainly had not killed anything though.

Asuna took this time, while Kosuke was eating everything but the table in front of him, to clear empty plates and discard of everything on the table. As was her normal duties on any normal day, to clean the table while her grandmother went off to bed. She would then shower and go to sleep. She paused momentarily when she thought about Kosuke still having to take a bath and him sleeping in the room just across from hers. She certainly would lock her door, Asuna decided. She would also sleep with lanterns lit in her room, if it looked like she was awake perhaps he wouldn't sneak in and kill her. Maybe he would anyway. She continued clearing the plates.


I figured not to have her grandmother share everything now, and can share more in the morning here in a few posts. Perhaps Kosuke jokingly tries to reach for the stone (or seriously tries to take it idc) and then Saitou can see and reprimand him and then explain what the soul stone does. That it's good for priestesses and bad for demons and that's why it can't fall into their hands.
If we want then we can have like a serious talk between Kosuke and Asuna about why Kosuke wants the stone at the expense of his humanity, just a little building opportunity:)
and of course, eventually kosuke won't want the stone.
Lmk

[loulou800]

こうすけ － ＫＯＳＵＫＥ
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currently a half-demon | location: Asuna's/Saitou's hut | mood: full, casual
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"Oh whoops, my bad," Kosuke said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I could've sworn you were eighty..." A bit of an impish smile made its way onto his face as he placed two hands in-front of him. "Kidding, kidding." he grinned, not wanting to get a beating by Saitou. The truth was, was that he really did think she was older than thirty-one; as a kid a lot of adults to him looked much older than they were (except for his Dad). He didn't know why that was the case, but for him to say that Saitou was pushing eighty was a bit of a stretch. He could easily have said something like fifty, but it felt like old times to tease the priestess in-front of him. A lot of the antics that he picked up on came from Taiki, but it was also because he had fun with teasing others; it was simply in his nature to do so. It made him feel more at-ease, for one thing.

At the next moment, he was instantly greeted with a bowl and chopsticks, to which he dug right in, his stomach crying out for food. It was still hot, too, which made him feel warm as he ate. He had to say, the food was really good. He hadn't had a home-cooked meal in what seemed like forever. He dived in for a big bowl of rice, several pieces of fish, and some carrots first, but there was no doubt that he'd finish up the entire table if he could; his appetite was bigger than typical humans. His ears tuned in to the girl calling him forty, which made him chuckle. "Nice try," he grinned, his mouth full of food (his mannerisms at the table weren't all that great). "Try going up like ninety more years. I'm pretty young for a demon." He continued to eat, as if being one hundred and thirty years old was normal. "But you're what, eighteen? Nineteen? We're around the same age, mentally and physically. Demons just age a whole lot faster than you humans, and our physical appearance doesn't catch up with us until we're much older." He shrugged; this kind of thing was normal to him. He felt sorry for humans, who never lived longer than perhaps one-hundred, it seemed. He still had a ton of life left to go. He looked over at the girl, who was starting to shovel food in her mouth like an animal. He almost snorted at the sight. Looks like he wasn't the only one without table manners.

"Yeah, yeah," Kosuke mumbled, restraining the urge to roll his eyes at the old woman. He knew that she knew that he was really only interested in the Soul Stone, but in-order to continue to have an interest in it, he had to protect the girl too, or at-least help her out in some way; such as eliminating the demons and humans that would seek out the stone for themselves. That much was obvious. It wasn't really a choice for him to make, he just had to do it to make sure that the stone didn't get into the wrong pair of hands. He glowered at the woman in-front of him, noticing her staring at him with a far-away look in her eyes. "What?" he said, the corner of his mouth holding a few pieces of stray rice grains. He grew a little uncomfortable with the woman's gaze, wondering what she was thinking of.

Before he could say anything more about her staring, Saitou announced that she was going to head to bed, reminding him to behave. He merely "tsk"'ed in response, shovelling more food down his throat. He merely mumbled a faint "'night,", before finishing up the rest of the food on the table, not wanting to waste a single bit. The fish, in particular, was his most favourite bit, as it was cooked to a tender temperature, and it went well with the rice. He also knew that if he didn't finish up the food, it would be perceived as a waste, and if Kosuke was ever sitting at a table full of food, he'd never waste it-- provided that it was tasty food, that is. As he continued to eat, the table was quiet, what with Saitou the facilitator having gone to bed. The girl looked like she had finished eating, so Kosuke grabbed the last piece of vegetable before finishing off the last grains of rice in his bowl, also putting his bowl down on the table.

He felt her eyes on him as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, looking over at her curiously. He was about to joke about her not being able to keep her eyes off of him when she asked him about his name, and why he hadn't introduced himself earlier. "Yeah, right," he said. "I really don't think you would've given me the stone even if you did know my name. You seemed pretty tied to it, there was no way that you were gonna give it to me willingly." He shrugged, reaching for the abandoned tea at the edge of the table and taking a swig to wash down his meal. He wouldn't admit it, but she was pretty brave for facing off against a half-demon such as him, who could've easily burned her (if his powers hadn't been drained at that moment). The silence dragged on, the pair not really knowing what to say to each other. Kosuke wasn't uncomfortable in the silence, by any means, but he could feel that the girl was. He figured that when she started to clear everything off the table that that was her way of dealing with the quiet, unsure of what else to say to him.

Sighing, he saw that she was trying to carry five plates at once, along with two bowls stacked on top of that. He shook his head, standing up and brushing by her, easily taking the dishes from her warm hands with only one of his own. The dishes weighed nothing to him, and he balanced them with ease. "Let me get these, you should really only be grabbing like two at a time," he said, no hint of teasing or flirtation to be found. He was just doing it out of his own heart, and he would've done the same if his mother were to try to carry so many plates at once. "You're gonna drop everything if you keep grabbing this many, you idiot. Let me do it. Go prepare my bath; I'll bring these over and wash the dishes. You guys have a stream along some of your main crops, don't you?" he asked, wanting to confirm. Since he frequented the forest behind Asuna's backyard so often, he was bound to know the general outline of her village. To the back of the village, tons of crops grew, and running along those crops was a stream. He also knew that there was a small river bank behind the hut, but he figured washing the dishes in the stream by the crops would be faster, as there were quite a few to clean, and there was more water there anyways. "Besides, if you dropped a plate on your foot or something, your grandmother would whoop me." he added darkly, not wanting to feel her wrath at the moment.

[Raylen]

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Ａｓｕｎａ Ｈｉｙａｔａ

Asuna's face was shocked when he explained that he was actually around 130 years old. She was pale for a second, thinking of all that time that had passed that he had been alive. She suddenly felt like such a child next to him, even though she was a young woman in age. "I'm 19" she said, suddenly shy and intimidated by a man who had lived almost 6 times longer than she had. Though, he lost all intimidation points when she thought about how he had acted over the last few hours. He may be 130, but I'll be damned if he's pushing 13 mentally. "Yea, I guess your right... I don't know what came over me really, I just knew I couldn't let you have the stone" She shrugged, Kosuke was now standing and walking towards her.

Asuna "harumphed", blowing air from between her lips in a pout as the half-demon took the plates from her that she was struggling to carry. She'd been clearing the table for years, who did he think that he was? She was grateful nonetheless, but she found him being nice was disturbing and possibly even an annoyance. She was partial to the snarky Kosuke, it was much easier for her to get riled up than it was for her to let her guard down. As if on queue, he called her an idiot. The corners of her cheeks slid up into a sly smirk. Ahhh, there it is. She laughed softly to herself, turned to him and in a dramatic fashion she curtsied to him, pulling at the torn threads of her kimono. "Thank you, Lord Kosuke, for gracing me with your assistance and helping me, a puny weak girl, clear the dining table" she said sarcastically and in a formal voice, her lips puckered as she gave him her best puppy dog face, "Is a warm bath all you need, my Lord? Perhaps a swift kick in the bum?" she smiled, standing up from her curtsy and theatrics to laugh at herself and her joke. She could joke with him like this couldn't she? Even though he was a demon? Her grandmother was comfortable enough around him. She wasn't as familiar, but he certainly felt familiar. It's as that saying goes, your friends are my friends? or something like that.

He wasn't an easy person for her to read, she could see when he was irritated, that was obvious... but anything else she struggled to decipher on his face. His actions had confused her as well, saving her, threatening her, making fun of her, well.. he hadn't really complimented her yet unless you include his few comments about her powers. Even then those had been backhanded compliments, insulting her stupidity while complimenting her power. She would take it though. She was overthinking her powers now and him relenting to helping her. Did he feel trapped now? In the moment she hadn't cared, but now that things had wound down and she had time to think without adrenaline coursing through her, did he even want to help her? or was she forcing him? She was simply too nice of a person. Not even wanting to take advantage of a half-demon. puzzled, Asuna sighed and shrugged to herself. Turning to the man who was currently assisting her in her nightly chores.

"If you walk just through the door we came in and go around the side of the hut there is an irrigation pump that we use for the garden, cleaning dishes, and clothes" she threw her thumb back, pointing at the door they had come into. "I'll be down the hall in the second set of doors on the left in the washroom, please don't do anything stupid" she pleaded emphasizing which doors the washroom was located, she didn't think he would do anything stupid on his own but the last thing she needed was the fool breaking all of the dishes or something else destructive. "I'll wait for you and you can take a bath first" she called behind her shoulder as she disappeared down the hall. She walked through the first set of doors on the left, it was a small room with a palette on the floor for guests to sleep. On the far side of the room was a chest that was filled with clothes, they were her dead mother's and father's clothes, and some of her sister's. Her and Saitou had yet to get rid of them after a decade. Asuna figured that her father's clothes would fit him. She grabbed the robe on top and towels to take to the washroom that was the next door over.

The girl sighed as she got to work with the task of Kosuke's warm bath. It took her a little bit longer than it normally would have, her body moved slowly with exhaustion from the day and she was really in no rush. If Kosuke came in and his bath wasn't ready he could just deal with it. She made sure to neatly fold the robe on a stool and set the towels next to the bath, oils, fragrances, and soaps were all neatly placed next to the towels as well. She hoped that would satisfy Kosuke, he didn't seem like the type to be took picky with his baths. She double checked that the water was heated.

When she was finished she walked herself straight across the hall to her room, a little bigger than the guest room and held more things in it that were hers. She decided while she waited that she would at least wait in clean clothes that weren't ripped. She made her way to the chest that held several kimonos, setting her sandals next to the box. First she took off her necklace and hung it on a rung on the wall. The only time she didn't wear the stone was to take a bath and to sleep, it just wasn't practical or necessary. She took off the ripped clothing and looked down at her body, a substantial bruise covered the left side of her body, from her hip bone up to her ribcage. It didn't exactly hurt her when she moved like it had earlier, but to touch it certainly stung and she frowned when she did so. Asuna prodded it several more times, assessing that no ribs were broken and that it certainly could have been worse. She took a big hit and was grateful that a bruise was all she came out with. A warm bath would ease it a little bit and some sleep would do wonders for the ugly contusion that turned her pale skin a blue-ish purple. Her grandmother would be absolutely livid if she could see it right now, she would probably hurt Kosuke for letting it happen even though it wasn't his fault. She laughed at the thought of it and pulled the kimono on to her body, tying it neatly, turning back the way she came to head back to the washroom and check on Kosuke.

[loulou800]

こうすけ － ＫＯＳＵＫＥ
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currently a half-demon | location: Asuna's/Saitou's hut | mood: teasing, calm
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Kosuke rolled his eyes, resisting the temptation to flick her on the forehead when she was calling him a lord. As he gathered up the rest of the dishes with ease, now using both of his arms to carry them in full, he merely shook his head, a slight hint of a smile threatening to make its way onto his face. This girl's got spunk, he thought to himself, amused by her childish impersonation of doting on him, as if he was higher up than her. Of course, he did think that he was of higher status than her, but thoughts of her priestess powers made him reconsider. If anything, she could be on an even playing field with him, and if her powers got stronger, she might even be able to surpass him. Huh. That was an odd thought. A human, to potentially surpass a half-demon? He didn't know what to make of that.

"I'll give you a swift kick in the butt if you don't shut up," he muttered, refusing to laugh along with her joke. She thought she was really funny, wasn't she. He found her antics a little annoying, but didn't do anything more to stop her, as it did provide the slightest bit of entertainment. He rounded the side of the table, finding a pair of chopsticks that had dropped to the floor. He fumbled with them with his toes, of all things, not wanting to lean down and thereby potentially have all of the dishes crash down on the floor. Once he was able to secure them with his foot, he tossed them in the air. The chopsticks landed on top of two dishes, teetering a bit before falling into place in a snug manner. "If I really was a lord, you'd be doing all sorts of other things for me, such as preparing all of my meals as I see fit, or finding me some pretty ladies to serve me sake." He looked over at her, about to say something but thought better of it. He probably would've said something dumb about the way that she looked, or something, and he wasn't eager to either get a teasing or an angry backlash from the girl.

She seemed more at ease now, what with her teasing. He wondered if it had anything to do with him knowing her grandma. He supposed that they had some sort of a connection with that-- mind you, it was a connection from when he was just a kid, and the girl hadn't even been born yet. She still had a lot to learn; loads of things to learn about life and about herself. Kosuke had plenty of time for this so-called "self-growth", and while he felt that he didn't need more growing up within himself, others could certainly say otherwise. It was interesting; sometimes one's flaws weren't so easily spotted by the person whose flaws they belonged to, but an outsider could certainly see them. It was a fresh pair of eyes that Kosuke likely needed in his life, seeing as how he was too stubborn to realize when he was being a fun guy and when he was being a jerk.

"Oh, okay," he said. "But wouldn't it be easier to... ah, nevermind." He would've gone down by the stream, but if she wanted him to use the pump, then so be it. It'd be slower, but if that was what they wanted to use for their dishes, he supposed that he should just go along with what they felt was best to clean up. "And don't kid yourself, I'm not gonna peep or nothin', geez." Kosuke said, hearing her very clear instructions on where the bathroom was located. "What's there to look at, anyways?" He smiled smugly. He had said that last bit absent-mindedly, while getting a kick out of her for fun. His eyes held a twinkle in them, letting her know that he was really just playing with her, but he really had no interest in peeking. There were other things for him to look at besides her; the world was filled with all sorts of beautiful women. There'd probably be some pretty girls in the village, not that he'd try anything with them other than give them a signature crooked smile.

He carried all the dishes in his arms as he kicked open the door, rounding the corner to the side of the house where there was indeed an irrigation pump. Placing them all down on the floor, he noticed a slightly stained pink tub with a yellow cloth inside; probably used to put the clean dishes in after they were washed. He wondered if the tub itself was actually clean, but upon first sniff it smelt just like nature; fresh and dewy, like how grass smelt when it had just rained. Placing the tub under the pump to quickly just rinse it off, he placed it to his right as he squatted, taking each dish and scrubbing away with the cloth, making sure to get every last sticky piece of food off of the said dishes that he was washing. It was a good thing that he was here to have eaten dinner at the girl's place tonight, seeing as how he had practically inhaled everything, which left only a few plates with a few scraps here and there.

It didn't take him very long to wash the dishes, even with the pump (which he thought would be slow) and soon enough he was all done. He quickly washed his hands under the pump for good measure before grabbing the tub, now filled with the drying bowls, plates, and chopsticks. Getting up, he rounded back to the inside of the house, but not before looking around him. The village was pretty much dark now, as most folks had fallen asleep. In-fact, it was really only Saitou's hut that was still lit up. Being in an environment such as this made his heart ache a little, as he hadn't been in a setting like this in such a long time. Of course, visiting the villages as a young kid, he was always made fun of, so the memories weren't all that pleasant, but he always felt a sense of togetherness when he saw a cluster of huts such as these in a village, all working together to look after one another. He could only imagine what it'd look like in the morning, when everyone was awake. Would they judge him? Would they treat him the same? He really couldn't say, as he hadn't been in the company of humans for quite some time. Besides, he was all grown now, so if anyone tried to get on his nerves, he could easily just use a flick of a flame and make their clothes catch on fire. That would be fun.

Turning back into the hut, he found the girl waiting for him, wearing a new kimono, a deep purple one that emphasized the colour of her eyes. "Bath all done up?" he asked. "The dishes are done." He placed them on-top of the small table that they had been sitting at earlier before turning back to the girl, walking towards her and down the hall. He was determined not to say that she might've looked pretty in her new kimono, so he merely passed her as a way for him not to say anything other than what needed to be said. The bath certainly was all ready; he could see steam coming from the bath, and a new set of robes sat on a little stool along with a towel. In all honesty, he didn't really want to wear the robe that she had laid out for him-- this yukata that he wore was something that his mother had made for him, and he usually didn't like to wear anything else (growing up, it was only the yukata or nothing at-all). Wearing something else felt like he was doing bad to his mother. All sorts of other girly things, such as oils and fragrances sat beside the bath, things he knew that he didn't need but he guessed he appreciated the sentiment all the same. He'd definitely use the soap though, as he was feeling a little sticky from sweat. "Thanks," he said, giving her a tip of the head. "Looks warm." He hovered inside, eyeing her as she stood near him, staring at what, he didn't know. "... are you gonna keep staring, or...? I'm not gonna invite you in, you know, that'd be indecent. It's not like we're married or nothin'." He grinned, bracing himself to dodge for a sure thwack on the head.

(( cheeky Kosuke tsk tsk
also "pushing 13 mentally" LOL he's is a little immature, i'll give you that LOL ))

[Raylen]

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Ａｓｕｎａ Ｈｉｙａｔａ

Asuna was found in the hall tracing a painting with her finger. It was a family painting, She was maybe eight. She looked like her mother, Ayame, who had the same stark black hair and violet eyes that she did. Pale skin and slim figures. Cheeks that were tinted just slightly pink. She stood next to her sister who was several years older, Niro was a little taller than her and had brown hair that was short and looked neat. Whereas Asuna's looked the equivalent to a frizzy ball. Niro took after her father with darker features and brown eyes, she filled out her kimono more than Asuna, curves that she would never have in this lifetime. Her father, Sora, was steady as an ox in the photo, a kind smile with kind eyes and working mans hands that held his daughters and his wife close to him. Asuna matched the smile in the painting with her own sweet one, it'd been a while since she had really thought about her parents. The ache in her heart was dull, but it was still there.

Asuna snapped to attention when she heard Kosuke entering the hall. She was pleased when he announced that the dishes were done, she was grateful that he had taken the load off of her shoulders and left her to run a bath. She remained quiet as he stepped into the bathroom and made surer that he had everything that he needed. When his comment about inviting her to the bath with him came out of his mouth she flushed a bright pink. Perhaps it would pass off as being flushed from the steam in the bathroom. She let out a petty girlish growl and clenched her fist, bringing it up to smack him in the side of the head out of spite and ignorance.

"You ignorant buffoon who do you think I am!" She said in a loud voice, her first swinging in what she was sure to hit his head of dark hair. It was almost too good to be true and at the last minute possible, just as she'd seen him do with the bull, he side stepped in a flash. Oh what she would do to wipe that sly smirk off of his face. She was sure that if it were possible, steam would be coming out of her ears. Suddenly feeling regretful of thinking earlier that she liked a snarky kosuke she gave him a snooty sideways look and turned to leave the half-demon be. "You make another comment like that one and I'll have you sleeping on the floor at the foot of our shrine, demon"" she glared, blowing air out of her mouth to fan her hair out of her face. She knew she was acting like a little kid, but it was hard not to when he belittled her so. She knew it was a joke, but it didn't infuriate her less. She turned away, giving him one last glance behind her.

"I'll be in my room across the hall, you let me know when you're done" She ordered and didn't wait for his response, all too eager to get out of the bathroom and away from him and his flirty cheeky self. It was absolutely infuriating! He barely knew her and he was making jokes like that. It was absolutely unbecoming and indecent to make that joke to her, a young girl, who was alone, and had never even had the opportunity to ponder the likes of getting even emotionally attached to a man. She sighed heavily and stomped her way to her room in a fit. Deciding that while she waited for him to take his bath she would read on her palette next to one of her lanterns. Reading wasn't normally a pastime she took part in, there were often far too many things to be done throughout the day for just her and her grandmother, but she decided now was as good a time as any if she was waiting on the half-demon across the hall to finish up.

Asuna soon immersed herself into the story of Urashima Toro, a man who saved who saved a turtle and was granted permission to go under water where he was given a box. His happiness would last so long as he did not open the box, however, he disobeyed and opened it anyway once he was back on land. Urashima thought that the box contained happiness and that was the reason that he opened it, but he grew old and weary and died soon after for opening it. She pondered this quietly, setting her tale aside and folding her arms. Urashima kind of reminded her of Kosuke. Urashima and the box. Kosuke and the stone. She looked to where the necklace hung on her wall next to her bed and above her clothes chest. Will the stone really grant Kosuke everything that he has ever wanted? Or will it prove to be an empty box that steals away life? He was not getting the stone, she knew he could not have it, but she still wished that in some other lifetime that the stone brought happiness to those who so desperately and hungrily sought after it.

Perhaps in another lifetime... Maybe her mother was alive too? and her father was out working in the rice fields and her sister was helping her hang clothes on a line. Her mother still had the stone, not Asuna, and her grandmother Saitou wasn't as worn and tired as she was in the present. She dreamed in this lifetime of hers that her grandmother and her mother didn't have to give up their duties of being priestesses. Asuna dreamed that the demons and the humans were friends, they built up communities, they built up each other. She smiled at this thought, it was peaceful and soothed her. Reminding her of the way the stone made her feel. Warm. It was hard now, to keep her heavy eyes open as she waited for Kosuke to clear out of the bath and she had no intentions of even properly getting under the silk of her palette. Right on top of it she laid, closed her eyes, and dreamed of worlds that would never exist. She would just take a bath in the morning.


Urashima is the japanese equivalent to pandora and her box, One of my professors shared a story ab him, It might be accurate for feudal japan? it's an extremely old tale but I'm not sure of the timeline. Now that I think about it its kind of a clever metaphor and reminds me of kosuke's story/plot to a point.

also I apologize in advance, I had a hard time brainstorming how to interact and function while he was in the bath I could have had her yell at him but I didn't want to focus too much on them just cleaning themselves and going to bed... I figured something could either happen and he wake her up and attempt to steal the necklace. or we could time hop save it all for tomorrow, both could go to bed, and they wake up in the morning and we continue with what we had talked earlier about with the stone, Saitou, and the talk ab why kosuke wants it so bad? again, i apologize