Shiori Nazuka's Story

Izuzan is a prosperous and beautiful modern day town at the base of a large mountain. It is nearly large enough to be considered a city and yet it is still not there yet. It has many hotels and attractions, a large school. It is a wonderful place to live with houses ranging from 100 years old to only 5 years old. It is full of charm and history and many Legends... But our story does not take place in the happy town... No in order to get to our story you have to follow an old neglected path up the mountain where you will find an old and desolate shrine... Despite who knows how many years of neglect it still stands the paint is peeled but still visible and it's a surprise the whole thing is still standing. The door to the shrine is always locked and no one can open them or has opened them in a great many years... Our story takes place within the shrine in a place much different then what your use too...



Dai was sitting calmly enjoying a cup of tea as he stared silently at the sleeping humans. He would admit he felt a tad bad about adding in there kidnapping but it was the humans fault for breaking a deal... When a deal was broken with a spirit... Or in this case 5 spirits... There are several ways a consequence can be dealt... In many cases the human who or decedent would be made to suffer... But as that was not an option any of the spirits had been meaning to undertake they had spent a large portion of time thinking of a way that they would cause the humans to pay back there dept... It turns out that kidnapping had been there default solution... Well... It wasn't really kidnapping if it was a dept was it? No it was payment.

Dai sighed and continued to drink his tea. He was tired... He never slept at night so he was of course chosen to watch over the humans... Not that they could escape really... It took a huge amount of force just for the spirits to open the door to the shrine... They had been trapped there for who knows how long... It was not necessarily bad being trapped there... It was an alternate dimension so you could go out into one of the 5 individual gardens and you could always 'sneak' over to the front of the shrine... But it was just a fake you weren't actually out of it... Well... Dai had theorized that people on earths side could see you if you were out in front of the shrine but... He was fairly certain that the spirits would not see the human...

Dai sipped his tea and blinked his blue eyes as a human stirred but then rolled over and went back to sleep... He hoped they were all having good dreams... He... He had done his best to make sure they had all made the journey here asleep and sleeping deeply and nicely... He also made sure that once his fellow spirits went to bed they too would only have nice dreams... But strong as he was he himself would sometimes find that he'd released nightmares unintentionally. Ah to the years where he only knew of dreams...



Felipe stirred and squirmed as he slowly felt his conscious mind reel him out of his sweet dreams. When had he fallen asleep? Last he remembered he was checking out some cool shrine on the mountain... And then... Then what? Snapping awake Feli sat up. Immediately he saw he was not home... He was in a large Japanese styled room laying on a small futon with a blanket... On the floor there were several other people sleeping... And sitting in front of the only door was a very pale man with dark blue black hair and sharp icy eyes."Ah, Your awake..."

Feli starred at the man in shock and he vaguely remembered him. He'd seen him last night... Yes he remembered all too well now. He'd been standing in front of the shrine admiring the old building when the door was ripped open. Next thing he knew he found himself falling asleep and being almost forcibly dragged into sweet warm dreams. He stood happy to see he had his clothes on and began to look around... He knew he should not jump to conclusions but he was pretty sure he'd been drugged and kidnapped. The man only watched him bored as he searched and looked around confused, in fact the man seemed almost too calm as he sat there in a ridiculously loose kimono sipping tea and watching Feli with his head tilted to the side observing him. Where the heck was he?

Kaska stretched as the morning light fell across her bed. Feeling oddly lethargic she pushed the blankets off herself, her movements still heavy with sleep. She paused, something itched the back of her mind. Something about last night ... last night ... The Kidnapped teens!
With an excited laugh Kaska jumped to her feet, pulled on some more appropriate clothes and then walked quickly towards the room where the kidnapped were sleeping. Kaska slowed down as she reached the door, willing herself to appear calm. No doubt Dai was inside and she had no wish to appear over eager in front of him, or anyone really.

Sliding the door open Kaska stepped through to find Dai sitting in front of it. To her disappointment some of the teens had already awoken.
"You're up!" Kaska observed, stepping in through the door and closing it behind her.
She took a step away from the door while she studied the teenagers. Of course she had seen them last night during the kidnapping but she was curious to see their reactions to their new home.

"What are your names?" She asked, before turning to Dai as a thought occured to her, "Do we know their names?"
Kaska hadn't paid too much attention to who the teens were. She was just excited that the spirits would finally have some new faces to socialise with.

The plan to kidnap five teens had brought back something of Kaska's liveliness. She had been scared that the spirits would be alone and forgotten forever. This plan had been the perfect answer to her worries. Kaska couldn't help but beam at the five young people, the ones still asleep and the ones glancing confused around. They were going to have so much fun.

Daiki watched as the humans began to awake looking for escape routes and questioning him. He remained quiet though and continued to drink his tea until the small wooden cup was empty. He stood slowly when Kaska entered. "I know them... But only because there dreams are quite loud..." Gently Dai stepped down. "Please settle down... I do not wish to put you to sleep once more..." He frowned disliking the act of forcibly pulling someone into a dream scape that often resulted in nightmares... Sleep was meant to be a gentle thing... Besides he'd forcibly put them all to sleep already...

Slowly he circled the humans stopping in front of the tan one who'd first awoken. "Felipe..." He bowed gently to the human and moved away over to the girl. She seemed so rude... And a little tense but he could understand why so he'd forgive her harsh speech for now... "Ninna..." Finally Dai walked over to the last of the ones awake gently stepping over the ones who were still trapped in the dream scape he'd inflicted upon them the night before... "Kent..." Dai gently tilted his head to the side his dark blue black hair following his heads direction. "I apologize... I believe I was a tad harsh went I made you sleep yesterday... But we did have to act fast..."

Dai gave an apologetic bow of the head before he returned to Kaska's side. "The rest are still trapped in the dream scape but will awake shortly... They are all unharmed and will be well rested... So there is no need to... Worry." Dai sat his legs feeling weak from his lack of sleep but he knew no one would notice. Slowly Dai closed his blue eyes trying to rest so as not to appear weary and weak in front of there new... What were they? Slaves? Pets? Servants? ... The word that sounded the least harsh out of the ones that came to mind were Humans... Yes in front of there new humans. He hoped the others would wake soon so he could finally sleep.



Felipe was now... Official freaked out... The man with the blue hair knew his name... It knew also the names of the other people who'd awoke... But how??? He'd said something about dreams... Staring shocked Feli watched as the man sat down suddenly but he was sure it was nothing... Well Feli could at least be grateful that the blue haired man was fairly calm and seemed rather level headed... The woman on the other hand Feli had no idea what to think of her just yet... Swallowing hard Feli looked at the other two aside him who'd awoken and the ones still asleep... The man kept talking about sleep and dreams when he'd approached them... But what did it all mean? Though... Whatever it meant it gave Feli the feeling he wasn't seeing his older brother again for a long time...

Hiro Kobayashi & Shiro Kobayashi

Hiro could feel the sunlight hitting his pale skin. He wished to awake and stare at the beautiful sun, but sadly it seemed he was unable. Hiro tossed and turned as he saw visions from varies people's past. He came to the conclusion that they had belonged to the humans. Some of their memories were peaceful and calming, though Hiro wished they were all the same. But he knew that even one could trigger that inescapable darkness, which creeps up on him whenever he sees a bad memory. He could feel the presence of the memories and started to tremble at the rush. He curled into a ball, and started whispering his twin brother's name. Hiro wouldn't dare speak an louder in fear the darkness would find him. He waited in the labyrinth of memories,which was both a garden and a place Hiro went in his mind,for the touch of his brother, the only person able to take him out of these memories.

Shiro awoke to the sun shining on his face, he sat up dazed and completely out of it. He was startled wide awake by his brother's soft whisper, and turned to Hiro alarmed. He could see the cold sweat running down his twins face, and the pained expression he wore as he tossed and turned with vigorous strength. Sadly, this isn't the first time Shiro had to see his brother in so much pain. He knew exactly what to do, even though it would later cause Hiro to cry. He slowly reached out and touched Hiro's forehead, he lowered the temperature in his body so that his hand would send cooling relief to Hiro's body.

Hiro could see a faint light in his labyrinth of memories. He reached toward the light, wishing to grasp it for relief. Hiro slowly opened his eyes, to soon be jolted wide awake by the touch of another person. Hiro didn't recognize who the person was, so he slapped the hand off of him. Hiro gasped as he finally came to his senses to see that it was Shiro who touched him. Hiro was on the verge of tears when he saw the blood dripping from his brother's hand.

Hiro trembled softly as he reached for his brother,"Sorry...Shiro...I'm so sorry."

Shiro looked at Hiro with indifferent eyes, he showed no emotion which scared Hiro since he didn't know what he was thinking. Shiro reached his hand toward Hiro, causing him to flinch on reflex. Hiro's eyes were closed shut, waiting for the pounding on his head, and the throbbing pain. Yet, after a moment nothing came. He hesitated at first, but as time went on he felt nothing. He slowly opened his soon eyes, he looked up to see that, for the first time in a while, Shiro had emotion in his eyes. Hiro stared into Shiro's golden eyes, they weren't their usually cold and distant self, but they seemed...kinder.

"It's those Humans...that are causing you pain."

Shiro never liked the Humans, first off they don't know how to take care of water, and another reason is that they have memories which they dwell on, and it hurts Hiro, since he can see them all. Hiro smiled kindly at Shiro and laughed silently,"Thank you Shiro, but I'm fine now."

Shiro had a look of disapproval, but quickly changed back to his original dull state. Hiro smiled gently at Shiro and looked out at the sun," Was it right to kidnap the humans?"

In someway Hiro felt extremely guilty for what they did to the 5...Humans. He never wished for them to become...their captives. But he also knew the Humans needed a lesson for breaking their promise. But Hiro could see the look of confusion on their faces, when he was still looking at memories in his labyrinth. Shiro saw the once again pained expression on Hiro's face, which he hated.

He flicked Hiro's forehead, and looked at him with an emotionless face,"Don't pity them. It is the humans fault for breaking the promise. They deserve this." Hiro looked down sadly,"Do they really..."

Hiro stopped himself knowing that if he kept dwelling on this question it would lead to know where, and besides he had to get up. Dai had been watching the Humans all night, and he most be very exhausted. Hiro stood up, his yukata flowed as he moved. He smiled at Shiro happily,"Let's go greet the Humans!"

Shiro sighed and followed the childish Hiro as he skipped down the hall. Hiro had completely made a change of expression showing his happy smile to Shiro.

Come to me
We never be apart
The sun you see is me
No more pain
No memories remain
Now you can play with me
So love me now you are the one
I give you all the stars I see
The rain is gone no pain is here
My heart I beg you all your love
Come to me
We never be apart
The sun you see is me
No more pain
No memories remain
Now you can play
All the games with me.

Shiro listened quietly as Shiro started to sing to himself, this usually happened whenever, Hiro was confused...or conflicted. Though his singing was beautiful, it was the words that concerned Shiro. Though he really didn't have time to worry about this since they had to hurry, so that Dai could get some sleep. Hiro ran straight to the room of the Humans, and swung open the door with full force.

A huge smile came on Hiro's face when he saw the Humans, though it did disappoint him that not all of them were awake, and that he wasn't the first one to see them, but oh well. His attention quickly moved to Dai, even though no one could tell, Hiro knew he must be exhausted from watching them all night. He sat down at the small table across from Dai, and smiled softly,"Good Morning Dai. Good Morning Yaji. Good Morning Kaska."

Shiro leaned against the wall near the door looking at the humans with disgust, at the corner of his eye he could see that Hiro was scolding him, so he stopped and looked out the window. Hiro laid his head on the table as he looked at each human on by one,"So even children have sad memories at such young ages."

Shiro heard Hiro's comment and said in an cold voices,"Stop looking at their past Hiro. Your hurting yourself."

Hiro laughed softly at Shiro's worry, since it was rather rare. The question of this morning came back to him. Was it truly alright to kidnap these Humans. It wasn't like they were the ones who truly broke the promise. Hiro sighed to himself, as he watched the Humans reactions. Hiro laughed to himself. He truly wished to show his ears and tail, but he would scare the Humans, and Shiro would scold him for it. So he just had to do with staring at them.

Shiori Nazuka

---

Dreams. She was dreaming? And on top of that, it was a pleasant dream. Quite the rare occurrence for the young lady. However she wouldn't be able to hold on to these sweet imaginings for much longer. The sounds of shuffling feet, speech, and even some shouting began to pull Shiori back into the world of consciousness despite her desires to linger for just a bit longer in her dreams.

But this wasn't right. Last she recalled she was on her bed at home, playing a game on one of her handheld gaming consoles. It seemed now that she was most certainly not in her bed, and as she opened her eyes it became even more apparent, this was definitely not her room. As she sat up and took the unfamiliar environment in she noticed the others in room, four of whom seemed to be about her age and even seen around the village a few times. The other five however were completely unknown to her. Confusion was the obvious reaction, and it seemed that the others with her were equally troubled. Was I... Were we kidnapped? Why? Who are these people?

But one of them had brought food, they weren't tied down or restricted in any way, and the ones whom she assumed were their captors didn't seem to be particularly hostile. Shiori rose to her feet, casting a rather serious gaze towards the ones sitting at the table or near the door. She clenched her hands into fists and hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Why are... Why am I here?" Her voice sounded much less confident than she had intended, speaking forcefully was something she very rarely did and her fear could easily be heard in her voice. She had so many more questions ready to fling towards the group but held them back for the moment. This was the question she most curious over, it was the part of this whole situation that made the least sense to her.

Ninna glanced around, looking at all the events transpiring. 'Not normal...' Was all she could think about the newcomers. The ones on the floor were normal teens, but the others... Hell, they looked more curious than anything else of those they kidnapped, which Ninna was sure wasn't normal. And something was off about their... Everything, really.
Then she had a thought, and looked at each of the teens for a couple of seconds. "What kind of joke is this?" She said, standing straight and crossing her arms. "Are you trying to make us believe some sort of ghost story?" Ninna was sure this was all a prank, after all. She herself couldn't open the doors a couple of years back, and spirits didn't exist... Ninna shook her head. "It will take more than that to make me believe some foolish ghost story."

Felipe was more then confused. People had come into the room and all of them were as odd as the one who'd been there when they woke up... Rubbing his arms to try and get rid of the back feeling that was writing in his stomach Felipe looked around at the others. He blinked in shock when he recognized one of them. "K-Kent?" Felipe moved over to the blond and stared at him relief washing over his face. A small smile appeared on Feli's face. "Well... I was hopping for us to be roommates but this... Is not what I had in mind..." Feli looked over at the spirits watching them talk and do there own thing... Feli sighed and closed his startling blue green eyes wishing he could just disappear and go home back to Spain where things seemed to make more sense and the sun was always casting it's glow on his warm tan skin making him feel safe and at home... But that was not going to happen any time soon... After taking a deep breath Felipe opened his eyes once more and looked over each of the spirits... Everyone was asking questions... But non-of them were getting any answers. Stepping forward shyly Feli cleared his throat. "Ok... Let's start with an easier question... Where are we?"



Daiki opened his eyes and looked over at the humans. "Good morning my friends... I trust you all slept well?" Dai pulled his eyes away from the humans to look over his friends bowing his head gently as to greet them. He stood still a tad shaky from his lack of sleep in the last little while. He tilted his head to the side as he observed the humans. He really had no idea which question to answer first so he decided to answer to the tan one... He'd stood up and seemed the most calm at the moment. "Your within the Izuzan mountain shrine..." Dai gestured to the room they were in. "This is one of the spare storage rooms... But don't worry there is a room for all of you." Dai tilted his head to the side and watched as the one who'd asked the question went wide eyed and became even more confused then before.

Dai blinked and looked over at the other spirits. "I suppose we should explain everything and get introductions over with..." Sighing Dai ran a hand through his hair. "I am Daiki... The spirit of dreams and nightmares... I am the one who put you to sleep and my friends brought you here as well... You are here to repay a dept that is long overdue... In other words you are to serve us until the debt is repaid... Until such a time you will not age or be able to leave unless we free you... Do not anger us... Do not try and run away... And we will feed you and treat you as friends not servants... Try to run and you will only harm yourselves..."

Hiro Kobayashi & Shiro Kobayashi

Hiro wasn't paying any attention to the conversation at hand. Hiro at the moment was completely out of it,before Hiro was very excited to see new...faces, but at the same time he hated serious conversations like the one they were having right now. He heard many questions that caused the guilt of the previous night to submerge once again. He hated the fact he felt guilty, but understood...in some way...that they did have families that missed them. To distract himself he turned his attention over to the window. His eyes went wide when he saw cherry blossom petals fall from the trees. He than looked over at Shiro completely ignoring the issue in front of him.

"Shiro,can I go outside?"

This might have seemed like a childish question, but for Hiro and Shiro it wasn't. There was a specific reason for Hiro staying inside, and the reason was that when he was outside Hiro had more..."attacks". So to prevent that Shiro would monitor when Shiro went outside,sometimes it would only be a few minutes, and sometimes it would be longer. Though whatever the time was Shiro was always by Hiro, never leaving his side, just in case he had to protect him from "seeing". To be honest Shiro wasn't in the happiest mood to deal with the outside problem. Why? Well, five new and quite annoying humans were staying here; inside the shrine, and to Shiro he has to work extra hard so that Hiro doesn't get clouded with their memories.

Shiro looked over at Hiro,"No." With that the conversation was over. Hiro pouted than sat for a second before standing straight up. He probably shouldn't have done that since once up he lost his balance and fell, luckily he caught himself before hitting the ground.

He started to laugh at himself, "Sorry about that, I'm very clumsy sometimes." Shiro didn't flinch by Hiro's accident, but he was watching him carefully. Hiro noticed his stare, it was the same as ever, showing no emotion not even the slightest bit of worry. Hiro snickered mischievously as he got back up and walked toward the window. He lifted himself up on the edge, making sure to steady himself before doing anything else. He reached his hand outside, keeping it there for a good minute. Hiro was very patient and didn't rush at what he was doing...whatever he was doing. He smiled over at the humans, who gave him the look, that he was crazy. Finally Hiro felt something touch his hand, and he slowly brought it back inside. In the palm of his hand laid five bright pink cherry blossom flowers. He turned to the Humans, and walked over to them, very carefully so that the flowers wouldn't blow away. He bent down, and carefully handed each human a cherry blossom flower.

"This one is for Kent. This one is for Felipe. This one is for Ninna. This one is for Shiori. Finally, this one is for Amaterasu." He stood up and bowed his head to all five of them. He quickly raised his head to reveal a gentle smile,"It's very nice to meet you...well, I already met you, but you haven't met me. No, that doesn't sound right. What, I'm trying to say is that I knew of you five,before you-. No, that doesn't sound right either...Umm...".

Shiro couldn't take this anymore, and to be honest he wanted to get all of this over with. He didn't show any emotion, only a blank expression that showed he didn't care about the Human's feelings. He stared at the Humans, and spoke to them in a cold voice,"I'm Shiro Kobayashi. I am the spirit of the Ocean and the Moon. I only have two rules, which you will learn very quickly, since I am not a patient person. First, Do not bother me, if you have a question save it. If you want something from me, don't even waste your breath. Second, You are to be quiet when around me. No loud noises, no sudden outburst, quiet." He left with that, and went back to his corner, acting as if nothing happened.

Hiro smiled sadly at the Humans,"I'm sorry, for his...way of speaking. He really is a good person, he's just...different." He could still see the confusion on their faces. Ninna who was on her feet and Kent who was wanting answer. Hiro sighed softly, this was all a mess. "To finish what I was going to say. My name is Hiro Kobayashi. That guy's twin brother. I am the spirit of the past and future. So when I said I knew you before you knew me, that is what I meant. I kinda looked at your past, I'm sorry about that. I really do hope you enjoy your stay here. Oh, and another thing, if you have any questions about something come and see me. Unlike my brother, I'm happy to help. And I can assure you, this isn't a prank." He looked over at Ninna and smiled at her, as to answer her question, out of thin air a pair of fox ears and a fox tail appeared on Hiro. He moved his tail back and forth, and pulled on his ear to show Ninna they were real.

"See, we are the real deal. Well, maybe this still doesn't make you believe, but I hope it makes you at least have a little faith."

Hiro bowed again his ears twitching, while his tail slowly moved back and forth. Once he stood up straight, he smiled at them once more than proceed to sit back down at the table. He stared at the humans waiting for their many questions.

All five humans had woken up, the confusion clear on all their faces. Kaska smiled at them all as they asked their questions.
Kaska titled her head to the side, wondering how well they would take the news that they were their captives now. Well, 'captives' was a harsh word. It wasn't like the humans would be mistreated during their stay (however long that stay turned out to be). The shrine was a relatively nice place to live as Kaska knew from the large amount of years she and the other spirits had lived here.

Dai's voice brought her attention back to the humans. He was explaining the situation to the humans, that they would serve the spirits to pay off the humans' debt. Kaska smiled happily at them.
Dai then introduced himself, followed by Shiro who then left the room and Hiro.

"My name is Kaska. I am the spirit of fire and snow." Kaska introduced herself, "I hope you enjoy your time at the shrine."
Kaska suddenly stopped talking, a worrying thought occurring to her. She had wished the humans an enjoyable time at the shrine but perhaps they hadn't been the best choice of words considering the way in which the humans had been brought here. She bit her lip before adding, "As long as you follow our little guidelines I'm sure you'll love it here."
Kaska gave an inner sigh. No, those words hadn't been any better than the first. These humans weren't all that happy about being kidnapped and Kaska was sure that they would like being reminded of the rules.

In the end Kaska shut her mouth, she guessed that in the end there was nothing the humans could do. They were here to stay and they were paying their debt. Really, she shouldn't even be worrying about their feelings considering the amount of time that the humans had left them forgotten in the Shine. If she was in her vengeful mood no doubt she wouldn't be so anxious about their feelings, but she wasn't so she just smiled at the five.

(( OOC: To all those that failed to notice! I put up a new thread it has pairings and stuff so go read that~ ))



Daiki blinked. "It seems were all introduced... Now in the matter of pairings..." Dai looked over at his friends and fellow spirits, then back at the humans. "Why do we not pair ourselves with the human we carried?" Dai looked over at Kent... The previous night Dai had be the one to ensure sleep kept the humans unaware of everything but Dai had personally carried Kent... It had been annoying because the human was taller and larger then Dai physically... He was lucky in the case to be a spirit or he would have had a great problem to face. Gently Dai motioned for the blonde to follow him and he left the room giving Felipe an apologetic look... The poor tanned human seemed so afraid and confused he was probably the one who was showing his fear more then the others who'd found anger or respect as there default... And here he was pulling away the only source of comfort the blue/green eyed human had... But they would all see each other again soon... And he was sure that Felipe would be treated well... All of the spirits were kind... A little rough around the edges for a few of them but kind...



Felipe was freaking out inwardly. He wasn't shaking or crying but he was scared and felt very much alone... Not even the beautiful blooms from outside helped him... Though he was grateful for Hiro's actions and bowed his head respectfully to the spirit... He really hopped the person he'd end up with was that kind... But most of the spirits seemed so tense and serious... Felipe watched silently as Dai made the decision of how everyone would be paired before gesturing for Kent to follow him out into the hall... Feli watched in silent horror as the only person he knew was taken away... How is it Dai even managed to carry Kent? The thought spun in Feli's head several ideas popping up but none good enough to keep his attention for long or distract him from the curiosity of discovering his own fate... Gulping Feli looked at the remaining 4 spirits... "So... Who carried me? And ummm... I really hope I wasn't too heavy for whomever it was!" Feli's voice came out sounding awkward and shy... He could not wait until he heart and mind would stop racing so he could be back to his old self... He missed just smiling for no reason already... He just hopped that he would have time to smile in this place...

The one you carried? Dai's suggestion made sense, it would be easy to divide the humans up if they had a simple way of doing it. Kaska's eyes clicked onto the human girl who she had brought to the shrine. Shiori Nazuka. The girl was only slightly taller than Kaska. Kaska had had no trouble carrying the girl though, Kaska being a spirit gave her strength that was not apparent from her appearance. Shiori was also a rather small build, adding to the ease with which Kaska had carried her.

The girl, Kaska's girl, had only spoken once. Her voice had wobbled slightly, the fear thinly veiled.
"Why are... Why am I here?"
Kaska hoped that that fear would soon fade, after all there was nothing for Shiori to be scared of... provided that she did as Kaska asked.

As Dai left the room, beckoning Kent to follow him Kaska took a step forward and gave Shiori a smile, a friendly introduction would hopefully go a long way to insuring that Shiori felt comfortable. Kaska also hoped it would mean that the human girl would be less likely to rebel against Kaska's errands.
"Looks like you'll be coming with me then." Kaska told the girl. She turned and headed towards the door, pausing once she reached it to make sure that Shiori was following her. "I'll show you to your room." Kaska added, to avoid any chance of miscommunication.

She had a room prepared, near her own, that overlooked Kaska's personal shrine garden. To Kaska's mind her garden outshone the others. It was a mix of bright, warm daffodils and winter irises, warm baked earth and frosted grass. Her garden seemed to shift frequently from summer to winter as her mood shifted.
Sure, she liked the others' gardens well enough but it was always her garden that she enjoyed spending countless hours in.

Hiro Kobayashi & Shiro Kobayashi

Hiro's ears perked up instantly when he heard Dai say to get the Human they carried into the shrine. He wagged his tail from side to side as he was excited to spend time with them. Shiro on the other hand, wasn't so excited about getting the human he carried inside. He was originally going to carry Amaterasu,who he wasn't happy about either, but since Hiro was natural weak in physical strength he gave her to him, and decided to carry...Him. Shiro turned his gaze over to Felipe who was on the verge of tears after seeing his friend getting taken away from him. Great I got the loud one.

He looked over at Hiro, who seemed rather excited to have someone to interact with or just see another Human being. Shiro glanced over at Amaterasu...She looked okay, not loud and not too bad. The only thing that worried him was that she might have a bad past...Hiro's power is more attracted to bad memories than good ones, and what if he saw her future? What will Shiro do than, he would have to protect him from so many things. He could hear Hiro humming to himself, he let out a silent sigh. He saw that for the first time in a while Hiro was...happy. Shiro didn't like humans, but he did love his little brother and wanted him to be happy. So whatever happens he just has to suck it up for Hiro, and deal with it.

"Hiro, let's go. Grip your...Human, and lets get out of here." Shiro walked over to Hiro, his face showed no sign of compassion or happiness, it was just blank. Hiro stood up, and jumped around Shiro happily,"Really?! Yay! Let's go and show the humans around." Shiro looked at Hiro, than set his gaze to the crybaby, as was his new nickname. He walked over to him, as if it was some kind of punishment to harbor a Human.

"You. The crybaby over here. Follow me, and you better hurry or I'm going to leave you behind." He didn't wait for a reply, in all honesty he didn't care if the boy followed him or not. Hiro on the other hand cared and went toward Amaterasu happily. He smiled at her calmly," You don't seem like you like to talk a lot, so it's okay to stay silent. I'll just show you around and if my voice becomes to much, just tell me to be quiet." He laughed softly as he looked at Amaterasu.

Now it was time to get Felipe to follow Shiro. Hiro sighed and walked closer to him,"It's okay, you don't have to worry. Walk at your own pace and just follow me and I'll show you around." Though you could see the worry on Hiro's face,"Umm...I don't want to make you worry, but my brother was the one who...carried you in so...he is your partner. I have Amaterasu, if that's okay with you, but if he is...to much just come to me and I'll help you. Well,you two must be hungry. Shiro and I will show you around and than we will get you something to eat."

Shiro was already far ahead. He didn't turn back around to make sure Hiro was following him. He was actually rather annoyed with the fact he had to watch over a human. He could hear Hiro talking to the Humans, which also annoyed him. He stopped and without turning around, called Hiro with a cold tone,"Hiro. Now." Hiro heard his brother's command and stood up. He signaled the two of them to follow behind him as he walked slowly so they could keep up.

Ninna Olla

Ninna was in shock. She was expecting all the weird people to start laughing to say it was a joke, not one of them to suddenly have cat ears and a tail! She looked to the floor, trying to get her thoughts together. 'Does this mean that... That these are the ones who abducted teens, teens who were never seen again?' The thought shook her, but she steeled herself. 'Remember your training, remember your training...' She thought to herself repeatedly. She returned to listening in time to hear that they would be paired up. 'Great, now I'm a servant... I hope it's not a guy...' Ninna glanced at the male spirits, seeing that they were already paired up. She sighed in relief. It was also now that she noticed who the other teens were. 'Kent... He smiles too much. Shirori needs to be more confident. Amaterasu needs to find something to care about. Felipe needs to be more serious.' Ninna went through the list automatically and subconsciously. 'Focus!' She thought to herself.
Ninna looked at the other spirits. There was one other spirit that was obviously her 'master.' Ninna bowed respectfully. "I apologize for my rude behavior." She said bluntly. "I was under the impression that spirits did not exist, and now that I know, I see how disrespectful we were."

Shiori Nazuka

---

It wasn't long after Shiori spoke up that a few of the others did as well, and as they did she began to slink towards the back of the room knowing well that her quiet voice and lack of presence would simply be drowned out. So she just stood and listened, observed as these people attempted to explain the situation.

Spirits? Preposterous. Or so she thought, but one of them sprouted fox ears and a tail, there was also the fact they had successfully kidnapped each of them without any of them knowing. As much as she'd like not to believe it, it was becoming harder to do so by the moment. Each of the spirits introduced themselves with varying levels of friendliness and informed the group that they stolen were away and taken here in order to "serve" them to repay some debt. The details on what exactly they wanted and the duration of their service were not explained.

Shiori was obviously angry, but also afraid. Despite many of the spirit's attempts to appear friendly or reassure them, she wasn't ready to trust them nor was she ready to accept her current situation. But what could she do? The answer was quite obviously nothing. A sigh escaped her lips as her gaze fell to the floor. She heard mention of pairs but only looked up when one of the spirits approached her directly.

"Looks like you'll be coming with me then. I'll show you to your room."

This spirit, Kaska if she remembered correctly, was apparently going to be the one she would serve. She was slightly relieved that she would be with one of the women and that she seemed to at least be trying to look friendly, but she still wasn't happy about it by any means. Shiori's only response was a nod as she followed behind Kaska towards what was apparently going to be her room. It was a nice enough room, another small relief for her, overlooking a strange but rather pretty garden. After a few moments of awkward silence Shiori finally spoke, her eyes fixed on the ground as she addressed Kaska.

"Um... Your name's Kaska right?... I... I'd really like to know... How long do I have to stay here before I can go home." Her voice was meek and quiet, matching her posture and general presence perfectly. Home wasn't exactly a place she missed, she disliked her parents and the village as a whole really, but for the first time in a long time she genuinely wished to return there. She was also a little nervous that her question might come across as being rude but it was a question she desperately wanted an answer to.

Kaska led her human, Shiori to the room she had made ready. It was nice and simple with traditional Japanese fittings. She hadn't decorated the room besides placing a vase of fresh flowers on the small coffee table in the corner.

"Um... Your name's Kaska right?... I... I'd really like to know... How long do I have to stay here before I can go home." The girl asked, her timidness evident. Kaska tilted her head to the side and give Shiori a smile,
"Hmm, perhaps a decade or so. Maybe longer?" Kaska answered pleasantly, she had a skewed concept of time in the way that humans knew it. To her a decade was no more than a small collection of years in her long, long life. She was a spirit after all and had already lived for numerous centuries. What was a decade to someone who had lived for over a hundred years? So perhaps her answer was a bit blunt, but Kaska didn't notice.
"You'll stay with us until the debt is paid." She added as she walked towards the door that led outside. She slid it open, revealing her garden.

It was warm, filled with sunlight and overflowing with bright summer flowers. A clear pond in the corner was currently warm enough for a pleasant soak, something Kaska would often do. Around the edges of the garden could be seen the wintery aspects of her nature, they would grow and take over the garden as her anger grew but currently they were pretty minimal.
"This is my garden." Kaska informed Shiori, stepping through the doorway and to the side so that the girl could see it. "You are welcome to come here any time you wish. That door there will lead you to the other spirits' gardens, you just have to think of each spirit and open the door." Kaska explained, pointing to said door which was sitting halfway down the garden fence. She continued her tour, taking a few small steps to the door next to the one she had entered the garden through. She tapped the screen but didn't open it,
"This is my room." Kaska said happily. "I'm right next to you so whenever I need you I can just pop in." Kaska didn't see anything wrong with the apparent lack of privacy that she was giving Shiori, after all the girl was going to be Kaska's servant from now on. As the master she had the right to do pretty much whatever she wanted.
"Unless you're with me I don't want you to ever enter my room." The smile was still on her face but her voice had taken on a crispier tone. Her room was the one place where she and she alone was allowed. She even disliked her fellow spirits entering. She didn't want to scare the girl by making unnecessary threats, she was sure that Shiori was smart enough not to break Kaska's one rule.

Kaska turned back to Shiori and clapped her hands together, "So, any more questions?" She asked, her voice back to its previous chirpy tone.

Shiori Nazuka

---

A... A decade? Maybe longer? This was not the answer Shiori was hoping to hear, they had mentioned something about not aging earlier, but even so she was still concerned, she'd be missing from the world for all that time. What would happen while she was gone? Would she even have anything to come back to? She felt sick to her stomach, it was likely that she was looking even paler now as well. However she continued to simply follow behind Kaska, nodding in response to her words before they finally came to a stop in front of Kaska's room.

She felt like just curling up into a ball in all honesty, praying that she would just wake up at home. She knew that wasn't going to happen though, she also knew that giving up now wouldn't help anything. But still, she felt that she had to sit down at least. She took a seat facing the garden and pulled her knees up to her chest before voicing another question. "What do you expect from me?... What exactly is it that you want me to do for you? I'm really not good at anything... Nothing useful anyways." Well, that wasn't exactly true, she was a decent cook but she wasn't even sure if these spirits needed to eat. She wanted to plead and beg her to let her go, but she had a feeling that would pointless. She'd never be able to fight her way out, and from the sounds of it escape would quite difficult as well.

"If I... Do well, could I go earlier?... A decade might not be much for you but... For a human that's quite a long time. I know I don't have much room to bargain... And I really don't understand this whole debt thing but..." Her voice trailed off as she wrapped her arms around her knees, staring off into the garden. This was going to be her home, her new daily life for several years. Though she had wanted to this whole time it was only now that tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. She buried her face in her knees in an attempt to hide her tears from Kaska, taking a deep breath as she tried to recompose herself.

"What do you expect from me?... What exactly is it that you want me to do for you? I'm really not good at anything... Nothing useful anyways." The girl's words gave Kaska pause. What did she want from the human? It had been so long since the last one that she had to take a moment to think. Finally as the answers appeared she began to speak, only to find Shiori taking a seat facing the garden.

"If I... Do well, could I go earlier?... A decade might not be much for you but... For a human that's quite a long time. I know I don't have much room to bargain... And I really don't understand this whole debt thing but..." Shiori hugged her knees and as Kaska watched the human's eyes began to tear. As Shiori hid her face in her knees Kaska took a seat beside the girl and put a comforting hand on her back. Kaska's views of human's might not have been the best but she could tell when one was sad.

"I don't know when the debt will be paid, I leave that stuff to Dai." Kaska told her softly, she bit her lip and wondered if she should lie to make the girl feel better. She decided against it, lying never solved anything. "I promise not to be harsh or ask things that is beyond you... but there's nothing I can do about shortening your stay." Kaska paused, trying to find something that might cheer the girl up. "While you're here though you can decorate your room however you want and you can treat my garden as if it were your own." Kaska smiled, her cheerful voice returning as she thought of another positive, "And you aren't the only one! You'll have the other four humans to play with. You can visit them anytime! Come on! We can go find one now. Who do you want to see?" Kaska was thrilled with her idea and waited eagely beside Shiori, hoping that her tears would stop.

Kaska couldn't help but think that human's had got a lot more complicated than the last time they had had them at the Shrine. Then again last time they had been given to them by the town and not kidnapped. She supposed that Shiori was allowed to be a little sad... but the human's had made a promise and that promise had been broken.

Shiori Nazuka

---

Shiori took another deep breath before wiping her eyes and raising her head to look to Kaska as she spoke. It was the first time she had really taken a moment to look her over since they had met. She was surprised at the kindness she saw and even a bit captivated by the odd shade of her hair.

"I don't know when the debt will be paid, I leave that stuff to Dai. I promise not to be harsh or ask things that is
beyond you... but there's nothing I can do about shortening your stay."

She wasn't really surprised by this answer, in response all she could muster was a small sigh as she turned her gaze back towards the garden. Guess I really am stuck here then... Well, at least Kaska seems nice... Then again she did kidnap me in the first place. Shiori shook her head and stretched with her arms straight up in the air in an attempt to relax herself and perhaps rid herself of some of her negative attitude.

"While you're here though you can decorate your room however you want and you can treat my garden as if it were your own. And you aren't the only one! You'll have the other four humans to play with. You can visit them anytime! Come on! We can go find one now. Who do you want to see?"

She raised her brow in response to Kaska's odd choice of words. The idea of decorating her room wasn't particularly appealing, even at home her room was pretty bare. Shiori wasn't particularly pleased with how Kaska worded the second part of her comment however. "Well... I'm not interested in seeing any of them really, they're not my friends... They probably wouldn't like me anyways." She decided to withhold her opinion about Kaska's choice of words for the moment. "And, you didn't really answer my earlier question... About what you actually want me to do for you?" Her hope was that this question would be enough to change the topic away from visiting the others.