Keisuke Fukuyama's Story

It had started out as an ordinary day. Go to school, then attend clubs, spar Saeko (which he lost), then shower and change into some normal clothes before meeting his friends at the front of the school. From there they would decide what to do, and today they had just happened to decide to hang out in the forrest near the sacred well. It was a place where he'd always felt that he could relax the most, but for some reason something strange had happened and they'd all somehow ended up at the bottom of the well. Keisuke had decided to stay behind and allow his friends to climb out first in so that he could catch them if any of them fell, no one needed any more injuries than the one's that they'd already sustained from the first fall. He watched each of them carefully looking for the first signs of one of them about to lose their footing so he could leap into action right away when he saw Deidre stop. "Deidre-chan, what is it? What's going on up there?" he shouted up to her unable to see pass her or anything at all that was outside the well.

As soon as everyone was out of the well he began climbing, figuring that this would be the only way that he'd get anyh answers since none of his frinds were answering him. He was half-way out when Saeko called down to him, teasining him. "Come on Keisuke, I may be faster than you, but you're not usually this slow," she teased, crossing her arms over the edge of the well.

I was making sure that none of you fell while climbing out Saeko-chan," he called back, ignoring the tease. As soon as he was out he took a good look around them, also noting the strange surroundings. Then he looked back and examined the well, and what he found he couldn't believe. "Saeko-chan, I think that this is the exact same well that we fell down, only it looks newer," Keisuke stated hesitatingly before quickly standing up in panic. "I say we find a place to lay low and try to figure out what exactly happened before we go off and do anything else," he suggested, but when he looked up he noticed that two of his friends were already walking off somewhere. "Hey! Come back here! We can't be just stumbleing about here, we need to get our barings first," he shouted after his friends as he ran after them.

Just as he was catching up, Keisuke noticed Deirdre pull her hand away from her head and caught a glimpse of blood. 'Damnit, this is exactly why I wanted us to get our barings first, so that we can check to see if we had any less obvious wounds from that fall!' he hissed to himself in his mind as he sped up even more.

When he caught up, he caught a glimpse of something watching them from above which put him on edge even more that he usually was as he took his friend's hand and yanked her back behind him protectively. As a crowd started to gather around them he backed up to where his other friends were, trusting Saeko to watch his back and forcing Deirdre back with him. "I don't know why you ran off like you did, but let Saeko-chan take a look at you. She might be able to do something about that head injury of your's," he hissed behind him as he threw a worried glance over his shoulder.

Turning back to the front Keisuke took in their situation and figured that if worse came to worse he could probably take on the regular looking people but it would be pretty difficult by himself. Then he saw the tall man that the fox creature had been talking to and knew that he'd more than likely need Saeko's help in dealing with that opponent. The fox creature didn't look like it was too much of a theat, but not wanting to underestimate it he made careful note of where it looked and which way it moved. However, it wasn't the ones out in the open that had him so on edge (though they contributed a great deal to his stress as well), but it was whatever he'd seen hiding above them that really had him nervous. It was the one that was hiding that could attack from any angle at any time and he'd have no way of knowing it until it was too late.

Instead of just making a run for it Keisuke decided that the best way to get out of this situation alive and well was to answer their questions as well as he could. "Well, we were just taking a walk in the wood over that way when we got lost and somehow ended up here, so if you don't mind I really think that we should be going now, *domo sumimasen for disrupting your day **O-sama," he explained in as relaxed a manner as he could giving him an easy grin.


*-I am very sorry (formal)
**-a polite title used to refer to a stranger (Keisuke didn't hear Jin being introduced)

He was about to pull his friend back behind him when someone jumped down from above scaring away two women. When the new arrival began to approach Keisuke noticed that it was the same person that he'd caught a glimpse of when he'd rushed over here and immediatly became more tense. He watched every movement looking for any sign of ill-intent towards them and prepared himself to leap into action when he reached out his hand to touch Deirdre. As the new arrival moved his hand back and gave some advice he pulled his friend behind him once more. "All head injuries are serious, no matter how small. Now please let Saeko-chan take a look at you Deridre-chan," he asked.

As he turned back to the person(?) in front of him, he was about to ask that he not act too familiar with them when he called over to someone. Immediatly he turned his sights in that direction, looking for the new threat that he hadn't noticed before as he cursed himself. His posture became more anxious until he noted that the person in front of him didn't seem to like the newest arrival all that much so he figured that he wouldn't have to worry about them teaming up against them. If they were lucky then the two would start fighting each other and they could make a quiet get-away.

He tensed when he saw something go pass him and he wanted to turn around right then and stop it, but he knew that he needed to watch their front. The only reason that he was able to stop himself was because he knew that his friends could handle themselves and that Saeko, especially would make sure that all of them were safe. Sure enough, almost as soon as he heard Molly cry out he could hear Saeko refusing the fox then Molly nervusly trying to cover up her small fright, a quick glance back showed Saeko standing between the fox and their friends. Keisuke was able to further relax when Deirdre reluctantly agreed to allow her friends to take care of her, he knew that she hated to be taken care of but there was a line between being looked after and being watched out for. It was something that they both had trouble distinguishing most of the time. When he felt Molly slide up to him nervously, he knew immediatly that something was wrong, and he soon found out that she had now slipped from manic mode to depressed by the tone of her voice. Reaching back he grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly as he whispered to her, "Molly-chan, try to relax some, we'll wait and see what happens first. It looks like these two guys are going to sart fighting and when they do we might be able to slip away unnoticed."

As he was watching everything that was going on around them he noticed that in the time that he'd glanced behind him turned back the shirtless guy had disappeared. This only served to put him even more on edge, although he knew that only his friends would be able to tell the difference, everyone else would see a calm kid with a calm grin. Keisuke kept an eye on everyone else as he discreetly searched for the person that had left his field of vision, he hated opponents that he couldn't see, it made him feel open. So as tightly wound as his nerves already were it wasn't a good idea for anyone he didn't know and trust to just appear out of nowhere behind him. The only thing that he heard was an unfamiliar voice behind him, no words just sound and that was enough for him to iniciate an attack, piviting on the heel of his left foot as quickly as he could and using a combination of his weight, strength, and momentum raised his right leg for a kick to the stomach of the person that he'd percieved as a threat.

"Help?" he asked dumbly as the foot was removed from his neck, he was still too lost in his own mind to registar much, all he knew was that this guy had just taken him down easily and that was causing him to have small flashes of 'that' day. "threat... don't attempt..." he whispered seeming to hear only those words. "So many... too close..." he said almost silently as he sat up and held his left arm to his chest, if anyone were to lift the sleeve they'd find multiple scars from vicious cuts and burns from cigerets. In fact such scars and burns were found all over his body so he always wore long-sleeves and jeans or pants in order to cover it up, only Saeko had ever seen them before since they often trained together. There was nothing wrong with his arm now of course, it was just that the memories has brought back the feeling of agonizing pain. "Please... just give us some space..." Keisuke asked barely a tremor in his voice as he tried to clear his mind of the past and he was finally able to piece together what was going on as he spoke a little more firmly, "If you want to help... just give us some space." He then held out his right hand to comfort Molly in her depressed state even though he was having trouble getting himself back under control as well.

.

Keisuke took Saeko's offered hand and used it as leverage to pull himself up. "It's nothing, there's just too much about this situation that's similar and its causing me to have flashes," he whispered in her ear knowing that she'd know what he was talking about before she tore herself away to deal with a lecherous monk. He then turned to Molly and took her hand in his to try and calm her down, hoping that she couldn't feel the slight tremor going through his body. It wouldn't do to send her even more into a depressive state and he really didn't need her asking any questions.

The half-blood bristled; visibly upset that Bishamon had yet to respond. A thought crossed his mind, and he wondered if his brother had actually just run off and his scent was simply lingering among the trees. If his elder sibling decided to fight and cause trouble, Katsu wasn’t entirely sure how it would end. Lord Bishamon was considerably stronger, faster, and better with his weapons than he was. The only thing Katsu really had going for him in a fight was his ability to keep a level head on most days of the month. His brother, however, was relatively hot-headed, where most of the mistakes in battle were made. Out of the few encounters the two of them had, few of them had been violent, and none of them Katsu actually won on his own. Granted, at this time he had the demon slayer Jin with him. The two were tentative allies for the time being, although Katsu was not sure how long that would last. They had few reasons to work together, aside from the fact that Katsu generally didn’t cause trouble for humans and preferred to be left alone. That and he had recently developed a ‘helpful’ reputation among the local human villages. It wasn’t that he went out of his way to help; it was simply more troublesome to have the people around him suffer while he was around. It made his stays in villages much more comfortable, considering that despite his demonic appearance, those he helped were more than happy to provide him with a little bit of food and shelter. Although, as often as someone was happy to help, there was an equal amount of people who were displeased with his methods or still quite perturbed that a demon—even if it was only a half-breed—was anywhere near their village.

He drew the onyx blade from his back and drove it into the soft earth before him. It would simply slow him down as it was and it wasn’t like it was particularly sharp or worthwhile as a weapon at the moment. Eventually he intended to find the name of the blade to bend its sealed power to his will. But until then, it was mostly dead weight. His claws could handle most adversaries. With the silence from his brother, his attention was drawn once more to the cluster of strange people. Tahra was busy attempting to tend to the wounded one, whose blood was toying with his sense of smell. When she addressed the fact that they had seemingly appeared from the bottom of the well with no previous scent, he scoffed, shaking his head. Obviously humans couldn’t do that. He took the lull in his ‘conversation’ with his sibling to examine the group more closely. He didn’t move from his spot as the male lashed out at Jin, holding back a laugh of amusement. To think the strangely dressed human could even touch the demon slayer. From what Katsu had observed, he would have trouble hitting Jin if he tried. And he was a half-demon. Then again, Katsu was more than capable of ripping through the demon slayer apart if he really wanted to. He was unable to keep back a chortle as Jin put the human in his place, on the ground. One of the human girls seemed to freak out, which caught Katsu off guard. The male on the ground pleaded for space and he gave the lot of them a skeptical look.

Troublesome. How very troublesome they are. What have you done, fox? He thought, frowning as he sighed heavily. He gave Jin a bitter look, but managed to hold his tongue. The monk approaching was a strange development. What is this? A show? How many more humans are going to disturb my lovely day? He tilted his head, remaining silent for the time being. It was becoming less and less amusing, this day. The monk seemed to be more interested in the ladies than the others around, leaving Katsu with a bad taste in his mouth. Not that he cared all too much. He wanted to lie down and go back to his vivid nightmares. They seemed more preferable than the panicked humans that stank of strange smells. He blinked slowly as the monk offered to take the lot of them away from the half-breed and his two ‘companions.’

“Tch. They’ve got even less of a reason to trust you than us. Not that I care much. Go with him if you want. Less trouble for me.” He scoffed, turning his attention back to the tree line. “They’re too jumpy anyway. The fox should have left them in the forest where they came from.”

"We are all just... people challenged I guess you could say and this crowd and people poping out of nowhere is not really helping any," Keisuke answered hoping that it would get everyone to back off. For some reason, the odd animal ears and tails on what looked to be normal people and them saying demon and halfdemon wasn't really bothering him all that much. As he took the time to think about it he came to the conclusion that maybe he'd read way too much fiction and should probably start reading more educational material, like science magazines or something. Mentally shaking his mind of these thoughts, he looked at his friends wanting to go back to the well and try to figure everything out, he didn't trust the man with the weapons or his compainions and he was even less inclined to trust the monk, especially around his friends.

Kiske chuckled inwardly when Katsu made his aggressive claim. He was more than welcome to try but the monk had trained most of his entire life to prevent demons from tearing him and others around him apart. He'd at the very least make it a challenge for the youkai and besides that he doubted the half demon really meant his words. But at his acceptance of help Kiske could hardly contain his excitement. This was just the chance he had been looking for ever since he had started designing enchanted weaponry. A close up look of a legendary weapon and a chance to study it in depth. True he only had rumors of stories to go on but he was sure with the actual object within reach he would be able to unravel the mystery much quicker then just reading the stories.

"Oh I'm glad to hear you say that and I would be more than happy to assist you." Kiske said but then turned his attention back to the strange humans who seemed to be frozen in place, not moving and not speaking. "But you are right, we need to take care of these humans first as they are sure to attract attention from the nearby youkai..."

As the half demon turned to call to the humans Kiske cringed when he mentioned that bit about the youkai. You just had to mention that to an already half terrified group of strangers, didn't you...Something tells me your people skills are a bit on the lacking side. Kiske thought to himself as he stepped forward to place a hand on the youkai's shoulder. "Do you have a house in mind, my good youkai? Is there a large enough residence that you have access to? If not might I suggest we find a nice inn where we can rent some rooms for the night? Assuming of course this village has such a location."

Kiske paused to address the group of humans as a thought occurred to him. "It just occurred to me that not a single one of us has asked what the group of you wish to do so I do believe now is as good a time as any to find out wouldn't you say? So how about it? Would you like to stay with this odd group of friendly people until we get this whole mess straightened out or would you rather strike out on your own and hope to find your way?"

As he regained control of his emotions he was able to pay closer attention to what was really going on around him. With the man with the wepons gone, it put him at further ease since there were no shiny shap pointy objects around, he really hated blades of any kind. During his observaton h was able to pick up on a few things and by the time that they were once again addressed he knew exactly what he wanted to do. Then when when the guy with the canine ears mentioned being eaten by other demons witout a hint of humor he quickly changed his mind. "I think we should take up the canine-man's offer, I trust him more than anyone else we've met so far today and I actually like him, he's very honest," he suggested to his friends knowing what an impact that would make since he hardly ever took a liking to someone let alone say that he trusted someone let alone another guy, it was the reason why he only had female friends. "*Domo sumimasen if I seem rude monk-san, but I do not trust you around any of my friends, **domo arigato for your concern though," he said politely as he gave the man a respectful bow.


*I am sorry(formal)
**thank you very much(formal)

The monk blinked a few times before looking first at the half demon and then back at the boy, surprise written clearly on his face. Trusting a demon over a holy man? That's simply unheard of and frankly I'm insulted! the monk thinks to himself as he hangs his head and lifts his hands up in a sign of befuddlement, Can't a guy simply show a little concern for the well being of an attractive female without being instantly branded anymore? It usually takes a few days at the very least...

The monk looks back up at the humans. "Well I'm sure we'll come to an understanding eventually but until that time you are more than welcome to count on the good youkai here to...protect you from the various dangers of this world." he says with a slight chuckle. "That being said, I will be accompanying this demon myself for a spell myself so we will have plenty of time to get over this distrust and I'm sure we'll all become fast friends."

Kiske takes a sidelong look at Katsu's stony face, Although with this one's disposition that might be a bit harder then originally advertized...

The half-demon was taken aback by the young male human’s willingness to trust him over the monk. While neither of them had done anything that would earn a great amount of trust, the typical response was ‘die, demon, die,’ and ‘save us, holy man.’ Not a polite, ‘I’d rather follow the demon, thanks.’ Not one person he’d ever met had essentially complimented him on his honesty. He was greeted more with malice and sarcasm for it. He blinked, confused a moment, and then shook it off, addressing something that had been grinding upon his nerves for quite some time. “Tsk. Half-youkai, youkai, canine-man, I have a name you know. I’d appreciate it if you lot’d use it for once.” Katsu scowled. It took him a moment to realize that he had not introduced himself properly to the group, as he was more concerned with his brother’s presence and the Tahra’s jabbering mouth. He ran a hand through his hair and let it rest upon his neck for a moment. “My name is Katsu. Nothing more, nothing less.” He said simply, not caring much to find out what the others were called. Although he knew their names, he still addressed Tahra as ‘Fox’ and Jin as ‘Demon Slayer.’ He was uncomfortable being familiar enough with a person to refer to them by name. It meant being attached, and being attached often meant weakness or coming despair. This he learned the hard way many times in his early years. Keeping them at an arms length was much easier to deal with than having to suffer someone he was fond of. Why he felt obligated to keep them out of trouble at this point was beyond his comprehension.

“There is a small shack you all can stay in. I think the demon slayer left some food behind, it should be enough to hold you off until tomorrow.” He stated simply, turning heel and expecting the others to follow. “I’ve traded one human for five. Bisha-nii will surely believe I’ve gone soft.” He muttered under his breath. “We won’t all fit in there comfortably, but I prefer sleeping outside anyway. It’s really only built for two or three people.” He paused, mulling over his options and what the monk had said earlier. “I’m not going to baby-sit you all. If you wander off, I will let you die. If you’re not happy with that, I suggest you go look for someone else to cry to.” He slid the door open to the small shack-like house, revealing it to be mostly empty, save for a fire pit and a bit of travelling food. Katsu frowned, and looked over the group of six. “You can fight over the space yourselves. I’ll be on the roof if you need me. But I suggest not needing me.”

"I second that," he said as he hurried up, almost dragging Molly behind him, forgetting that he still held her hand. "*Gomen kudasai," he whispered under his breath as soon as he entered and removed his shoes before moving aside to allow the others room to get in as he ignored Katu's gruff attitude. "**Domo sumimasen for your hospitality Katsu-san," said louder to convey his gratitude, "We will be sure to get out of your hair by tommorrow if at all possible, but it might be a bit difficult since I have no idea how we got here." Here he finally let go of Molly's hand and took a seat in the far corner so that no one could sneak up on him and so that he could see anyone that entered.

*forgive my intrusion (something you say when you enter someone else's home)
**thank you very much (polite)

The monk silently watched as the humans slowly trekked into the one room shack which quickly filled up the small space. Once the last one entered the room he stepped up to the door but didn't enter, expecting their distrust to make them uncomfortable with so many people in such close quarters. Besides he was sure they needed time to talk about what the group of them was going to do without an outsider intruding. "I do believe I shall sleep under the beautiful stars myself tonight and let the four of you keep your own company to make certain decisions that you need to make. However do not hesitate to ask if you need any assistance as I will not be far from the residence myself." Kiske paused and then took a step inside just far enough to provide Keisuke a flint and tinder set. "There is some firewood stacked in the corner over there it seems. Feel free to use this to start yourselves a cozy fire if you get cold or desire more light." He stepped back outside the doorway and bowed back to the group as he shut the door behind him.

Once done Kiske looked at the slowly descending sun and wondered when those beautiful women from earlier would be returning to the village. He had just about decided to go look for them when he remembered his promise to stay near the residence and with a mental sigh he resigned himself to staying near the shack for the night. He looked up to the roof of the shack and saw Katsu sitting alone and decided it wouldn't hurt to get to know his new traveling companion better. He nimbly clambered up the side of the shack, lifting himself up seemingly without effort and then walking across the roof until he reached the apex and took a seat a few feet from the youkai.

For several minutes the monk simply sat in silence, meditating on the events of the day and what possible futures might be coming their way. Eventually he addressed Katsu while keeping his eyes closed in meditation, "Well Katsu, I'm not sure if I ever introduced myself to you so allow me to do so now. My name is Harin Kiske, a traveling monk of the order and it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance. If I might be so bold as to say, you are not like most other youkai I've ever met. The majority of the Full-Blooded demons I've met have been for the most part bloodthirsty monsters, and the half-demons only one step short of that, most desiring nothing more then to cleanse themselves of their hated human side that they saw as weak." At this Kiske turned to look at the demon, his grey-blue eyes questioning, searching the half demon's face for answers. "How is it then, that I managed to find one such as yourself? Who seems to actually have a soft spot for us lowly humans? Are we not seen as inferior in your eyes? Also, why do I have a feeling that you're more...protective then your seemingly callus comments lead us to believe?"