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Vampire Knight: The Revelation

Vampire Knight: The Revelation

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[ Private Role-Play ]

2,064 readers have visited Vampire Knight: The Revelation since Nephilim created it.

Naga's Shadow, and Dynamite are listed as curators, giving them final say over any conflict & the ability to clean up mistakes.

Copyright: The creator of this roleplay has attributed some or all of its content to the following sources:

http://vampireknight.wikia.com/wiki/vampire_knight_wiki

Introduction




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"The world is full enough of hurts and mischance without wars to multiply them." - J.R.R. Tolkien






We are a world unsure what to do with ourselves.

There is a secret war, fought beneath the notice of most of us, those humans that are lucky enough to live in ignorance of the way events truly move around them. But its subtlety is no true mask for its brutality. People die in this war, every day. People sweat for it, and weep for it, and bleed for it. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters and brothers and cousins. Everyone, it seems, has lost someone, and everyone has lost their innocence.

What started with Three will end with the lifeblood of thousands. Vampires, the creatures of the night which feed upon blood, and their Hunters, humans gifted with supernatural abilities and weapons made to kill the creatures, have warred for eons uncounted. But now… the vampires have found a way to make themselves other to make themselves the mutual predators of vampires. Distilling the blood of a werewolf, they have discovered how to engineer her transformations in themselves, becoming ruthless, often uncontrollable, bringers of death.

When the vampires saw the destruction this wrought upon their ranks, they retaliated, spending untold resources to create something other still, something at once vampire and other, beings with the powers of the oldest and most revered of the Three, the Prophet. The twins that resulted are the master stroke, the evening of the playing field, slayers of wolves and hunters of men. With them, neither side has an advantage any longer, and the war continues on, hopelessly long and bloody.

There are those who understand that this mutual destruction is not what was meant to be, and it is they that both sides fear most of all. Somewhere in a castle in Romania, a small family exists, of mixed blood and heritage, whose interference could easily tip the scales in either direction. So far, they have made no moves nor overtures, choosing to let others destroy one another as they will, but even this has made Hunter and vampire alike wary of them. Now, as the family sends its younger generation to Cross Academy, they find themselves in one of few remaining neutral zones as war rages around them. The Council, too, has sent its weapons, and what will become of this is something only time will tell.

But we cannot teeter on this precipice forever. Come what may, their actions will decide our fates. We can only hope now that they will choose well.




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Hikari Minamoto | Hybrid | Played by | Nephilim

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Naya Akarui | Vampire; Pure-blood | Played by | Naga's Shadow

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Farah Tasogare | Hunter-Hybrid | Played by | Nephilim

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Haru Akarui | Vampire; Pure-blood | Played by | Naga's Shadow

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Reiko Akarui| Vampire; Pure-Blood | Played by | Dynamite
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Tatsuhiko Fujiwara | Experimental Vampire | Played by | Dynamite

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Torahiko Fujiwara | Experimental Vampire | Played by | Dynamite

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Trevor Edyta | Vampire; Pure-blood | Played by | Naga's Shadow

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Ryoku Minamoto | Hybrid | Played by | Nephilim

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Eien Minamoto | Hybrid | Played by | Nephilim



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The GM of this roleplay hasn't created any rules! You can do whatever you like!

The Story So Far... Write a Post » as written by 5 authors

Setting

10 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Hikari Minamoto Character Portrait: Haru Akarui Character Portrait: Naya Akarui Character Portrait: Farah Tasogare Character Portrait: Eien Minamoto Character Portrait: Reiko Akarui Character Portrait: Trevor Edyta Character Portrait: Torahiko Fujiwara Character Portrait: Tatsuhiko Fujiwara
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Steely violet eyes gazed out into the crowd, watching as the students interacted with each other, giggling and smiling as they walked by. Eien's face remained void of much of any emotion, just the barest flicker of irritation shining through as he glanced down to his side. Farah had latched onto his arm, her body trembling a bit as she tried to keep her composure. He couldn't blame her, not really. She was a shy creature to begin with, so being in such a large, occupied space, would do that to her. He sighed softly through his nose, shifting so that he was standing a bit more composed and not enough to disturb his sister.

Farah, on the other hand, tried her best to keep her composure. It was late Autumn, and this festival they were currently attending had caught her completely off guard. She wasn't entirely sure what to do seeing as she wasn't so good at interacting with people, often. Sure, she interacted with a few people here and there, but that was because she had to interact with them. Doing so voluntarily was a different story all together. It required her to talk to more people, and not just about homework either. With that in mind, her arm tightened a bit onto Eien's. He had always provided a sort of stability for her, and of course her sister, Hikari, who was currently missing.

Hikari had found her way to one of the booths, her eyes shining with mirth as she glanced at the objects laid out on the table. Most of them were pendants, some shaped in odd animals, others shaped into different shapes. There were three that caught her eye, and she was trying to decide which one she wanted. They were an owl, a dragon, and a tiger. The owl was carved out of an onyx gemstone, the dragon a sapphire gemstone, and the tiger a jade. They were well made, and for a moment, Hikari couldn't tell if they were real or not. She decided they were not, seeing as they were being sold at the school, but then again, they still could be. She paid for one of them and continued on her way.

Ryoku, however, was grinning from ear to ear, his arms laced behind his head as he stared out in front of him. There were so many fruits just waiting for him to take a bite out of, but he'd have his fun first. Which is why, currently, he was traveling with the two other people in his life he'd consider friends. Well, one of them was his actual family member, so he was stuck with him regardless. Not that he minded, Haru was a blast to pick on. It was interesting to see how many shades of red Haru could turn, and they all always seemed to compliment his skin tone. Well, for now, he'd just pick on the available party to him, starting with the first person he came across next.


Reiko was not exactly sure where Naya had gone off to, but she didn’t let it bother her much. Her twin was always doing something, and it was usually causing trouble. One day, Kiko was certain, it would get Naya into trouble herself. Until then… well, most of the trouble seemed to find her instead. As now, when one of the rubber balls from a carnival game rebounded at the wrong angle from the wall it had been thrown against and sailed towards her head. Her arm snapped up automatically, and she caught it, but the problem was, she missed the fact that there was someone headed towards her with a box of darts for one of the balloon-popping games.

The collision was loud, and the darts when flying, several of them coming loose from the box and starting to rain downwards on the two now-prone people. Reiko was on her feet at once—the person carrying the box had been human, they could really hurt him. Her hands moved quickly as she caught darts in the spaces between her fingers, moving lightly over the ground to make sure she got them all, and when her hand closed over the last one, she breathed a sigh of relief, smiling down at the human with the box, who was looking at her with a slightly-dazed expression, his face red. Probably from embarrassment, poor thing. She tilted her head to the side and put the darts back in the box, helping him up with a hand about his forearm and setting the box back in his arms, then dusting off his shoulders.

“There we go,” she said gently, nodding with a brighter smile. “Everything’s fine now. Just be a bit careful, okay? Everyone’s relying on you to help make this a fun festival, and we should all try our best, right?” The human boy nodded, and Kiko’s gentle smile inched a little wider. “Good.” Stepping back, she gestured for him to go ahead past her, which he did, and she continued on her way, not really aiming to be anywhere in particular.

Nearby, but not so close as to have witnessed the incident, Tatsuhiko was wondering how it was that he was even here. Public spectacles were much more Tora’s area of expertise than his, and in all honesty, he could do without the crowds. Sighing softly, he passed a vendor of artisan jewelry and perused the wares. He was not typically one for ornamentation, but then, the pieces were very well-crafted, and unless he was mistaken, the gems were genuine. He paused, brushing his fingers lightly over the smooth surface of a sapphire dragon.

“It suits you,” said the wareseller, a middle-aged human woman, pushing her square-framed glasses up her nose. She looked at him with something akin to knowing, and for just a moment, he entertained the notion that she might understand just how poignant that statement really was. Perhaps he was reading too much into things, but he tilted his head faintly to the side.

“Perhaps,” he replied noncommittally, and she smiled.

Torahiko surveyed the festival, blinking languidly at the bright nighttime lights and the milling people. So many opportunities, so little time. It was always that, wasn’t it? A lack of time. He’d been running out of it since the day he was born. Unlike the ones beside him, who had all the time in the world, if they played their cards right. Well, he was never one to let it bother him overmuch—it was all about what he did with it, and right now, he intended to have a lot of fun. “Well, well, henchmen,” he said playfully, referencing the jocular nicknames of the men to his right and left, “what variety of mayhem shall we cause tonight?”


"Boss...I think Naya Nii-san is beating us to it." Haru pointed, and sure enough, a few rows down, one could hear -and see- a rather large commotion. Kon, the large dark lion on top of which Haru Akarui rode, as he always did, chuckled. "Haru, Naya always beats us to it. Oh look, and here comes Trevor, right on cue."

True to the familiar's word, the vampire strode right past the trio, and towards where one could see flashes of cornflower-blue hair amidst yelling and destruction. It was a bit unclear as to what exactly was going on, but as Trevor got closer, he could hear what Naya was saying. Or yelling, rather.

"What did you say, you brat?!"

"I said, a girl can't fight. That would be you, little lady."

A vein stood out in Naya's forehead. This kid was human, and probably about seventeen, from the looks of him. Little lady? Little lady? Oh...he was going to get it. He was so going to get it. "Little lady, huh? Do you have any idea who I am?"

"A girl?" He smirked down at her, dark hair falling into his eyes. He was nearly a foot taller than she was, to be sure. But that didn't mean anything, not really. Naya hissed out a breath through her teeth. She drew back a fist...

Only to have it caught by someone. Naya blinked, looking over her shoulder to see her uncle, Trevor. He was chewing on a toothpick as she glared at him. "He's not worth it, Naya." Trevor's eyes slid over to the male, who looked almost haughty. Trevor sighed through his nose. This guy was beginning to piss him off, and for someone as patient as Trevor, that was saying something. "Picking fights with people is not very smart. You never know what kind of friends they have."

He did not, however, give any of them a chance to answer as he pulled his niece away, who was glaring at him. "I would have been just fine, Trevor, he was only a human." Trevor sighed, his hand under Naya's elbow to ensure she didn't slip away from him. "Exactly, he was human, you would have killed him."

"Besides, isn't Mama Kiki always telling you not to fight, Nana-chan?" A small voice spoke up, the small white tiger landing neatly on top of Naya's head. "Shut up, Mako." Naya scowled up at her familiar, and when the three of them got back to where Tora, Ryo, and Haru were, Naya turned and punched Trevor in the jaw, sending him sprawling. "That's for helping me when I didn't need it!" She crossed her arms and then glared at Haru, who couldn't seem to stop laughing.


Ryoku laughed at his cousin's observation of Naya, the ever flamboyant Akarui child. Though he couldn't say he wasn't equal parts amused, Naya always had a certain flair about her that could draw just about any moth to her. Not that he had much to worry about, Trevor was there. Their uncle was the unfortunate soul to be tied to Naya, watching her as she rampaged through the school. His lips tilted into a faint smirk as he stared at his cousin.

"Naya, Naya, really must you torture Trevor so? He's only looking out for you," he crooned out, his smirk widening. He shook his head a bit before walking up to Haru, leaning on Kon and placing his elbow ontop of Haru's shoulder, his other hand laid at his waist. "Besides Haru-chan here is saying you are taking all the fun. That, sweetheart, is a no-no. You gotta leave some for us you know," he spoke, his smirk widening a bit.

Farah, on the other hand, had somehow managed to lose herself and separate from Eien. She shivered slightly, rubbing her arms together to provide a sense of comfort to herself. It did little to calm her nerves, however; a familiar scent came to her, and the barest flicker of a smile crossed her features. She knew who that was, and if she could find him, she'd be okay. But that was if she could find him. Though she caught and held his scent, it was quickly disappearing amongst the plethora of other scents. Eventually, she caught sight of his familiar deep, purple hair.

"Hiko-san," she called out meekly, her voice a note just above a whisper. She cringed at the softness of her own voice, and part of her silently wished she could make it stronger. She'd have to deal with it for now though, and made her way so that she was standing just a bit behind Tatsuhiko. "How are you, Hiko-san?" she questioned lightly, her nervousness ebbing away slowly. He, Eien, and Hikari, always had that affect on her, and she was grateful to have at least one of the three.

Hikari frowned, her face pulled back into one of discomfort as she stared at the fluffy penguin in front of her. She had tried everything she could think of to win the creature, and so far it was proving to be quite the evasive creature. She gritted her teeth, handing the stall vendor another coupon as she tried her hand at the toss again. She missed once, twice, the fifth time she ended up throwing the rest of the rings in a rather hazardous manner, managing to knock one of the rings off and watched as it bounced towards a person. Said person managed to catch it without much effort and steel violet eyes met vibrant mahogany.

"Eien," she addressed her brother as she watched the dark haired male toss the ring towards the bottles, watching as it spun against the glass and fell in place. She pursed her lips together, irritation evidently leaking from her eyes as the stall vendor handed the penguin to Eien. "That's not fair, E-chan," she stated, folding her arms over her chest in the process. Eien merely regarded her with the same stoic face as he glanced at the penguin, then towards his sister. Raising an eyebrow, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if that is the case, Imouto-chan, then I will take my prize elsewhere," he spoke, his voice never missing a step to the monotonous beat.


“Beating us to it does not mean beating us at it,” Tora pointed out with a grin. “Besides, the bodyguard didn’t actually let her fight anybody, so… no points, kitten.” He shrugged with an air of mock sympathy, his smile stretching to flash teeth that still had a hint of fang, even when he was perfectly at ease. Perhaps it was better to say that he was never completely at ease. Tora was always ready for a fight, even when he seemed most relaxed. It was in his nature, like kindness was in the natures of some other people.

Of course, the little white tiger cub jumped onto her head at that point, and his expression changed slightly, though what exactly was different about it would be hard to say. “Hey, little Mayhem! Looks like we have all the tricksters in a row today. I say we take advantage.” As good as his word, Tora winked a bright green eye at Naya and headed into the crowd. The best kind of chaos required a surprising amount of planning beforehand. Kind of like dominoes. You could tip over a few if you wanted, but it was much more effective if they were all lined up the right way, first.

The soft voice halted Tatsu’s movement, and a small smile flickered over his face. He turned to face the snow-haired girl, inclining his torso in a slight bow. It was certainly polite, but not overly formal, exactly. He was polite to Farah because he did not know how to be kind, and she deserved at least that much. “Good evening, Farah,” he said gently, watching as her expression shifted from one of obvious discomfort into something a little steadier. The girl was an open book in many ways, but he’d never use it against her if he could avoid it.

He wondered for a moment why she was here, as if he recalled correctly, she liked crowds no more than he did, but perhaps she had come with her family—many of whom he could presently smell, but none of whom he could see. “I hope you are well?” It was inflected as a question, an indirect way of asking if there was anything he could be doing to help her. He could smell cooking food, and tilted his head slightly to the side. “Have you yet eaten?” It was as much an idea as anything, after all.

Kiko, having caught the scent of two of her favorite relatives, was only just rounding a corner as Eien moved to take his leave, and inadvertently ran smack into him, rebounding off the much more sturdy form of her cousin and landing hard on her rear. It didn’t hurt, but it was certainly embarrassing. Reiko sighed, her face coloring to a pinkish shade. She really was unlucky. “Oh dear,” she said, picking herself back up off the ground and dusting off her clothes. “I’m sorry, Eien. I was coming to see both of you—I did not expect to succeed so… soon.” She cracked a small, very sheepish smile.


Naya made an odd little grunting sound as she stalked off after Tora. He at least knew how to have fun. Preferably the kind where she was not called "little lady". She hated that almost as much as her mother hated being called "princess". There was a wry little smile on her face though, watching her brother and her cousin. They were made for each other, really. If only Haru would open his eyes and see it. Or confess, rather, Naya was well aware of her little brother's affections. She shook her head slightly.

"So I don't get any points for clocking Trevs, either? No fair..."

Haru, on the other hand, had somehow managed to not overly blush, and keep his composure, when Ryoku came over. He was not, however, able to stop his heart from slamming into his ribcage. He really needed to get his head out of the clouds. He leaned backwards slightly, watching as Naya and Tora stalked off through the crowd. He looked back at his cousin. "Ro-chan, they're leaving without us."

Trevor sighed, watching as Naya left, shaking his head slowly. Well, he was now certain of two things: one, if Naya was with Tora, he at least didn't have to worry overmuch about her being in danger. And two: there would be absolutely no stopping her. With that in mind, he turned, waving at his nephew, perfectly content to leave them. He needed a shower.

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Farah Tasogare Character Portrait: Tatsuhiko Fujiwara
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Farah smiled softly at Tatsuhiko, returning the soft bow as she straightened her posture back up. "I...am doing well, thank you for asking. I just seemed to have lost a few members of my family," she replied. She laughed a bit nervously at the way the sentence came out, almost as if they had intentionally lost them, however; that wasn't the case. She had seen something and had pulled away from Eien, who had somehow been drowned away by the crowd, and she had lost him. She had almost panicked for a second there, however; she had caught Tatsuhiko's scent and found him here. She tilted her head to the side a bit as he asked a question. As if on cue, her stomach gave a low rumble, and she blushed lightly.

"Ah, no I have not," she replied meekly. "I..was going to with the others, but...seeing as they are not around at the moment, would you perhaps like to grab something with me?" she questioned, shifting a bit nervously in her spot. "But you don't have to! I understand if there is something else you are in need of doing," she quickly stated, waving a hand in front of her face as she tried to keep the burning off of her face. She didn't need to be bothering him with such a silly request to begin with.

Tatsu looked slightly perplexed for a moment, the expression flitting over his generally-emotionless visage for the barest second before it smoothed back out. He was here at the festival, what else could he possibly have to do? Still, he supposed she was only being polite, and he could understand the need to do that, so he attempted to reassure her. “There is nothing else I need be doing, at present,” he said simply. He did not dare say that he was also hungry, because as far as anyone here knew, he was a vampire, and they did not consume food except occasionally, for the taste of it. He was, in fact, feeling a bit of the bite of hunger, but he would pass it off as this and nothing more when the time came.

He wasn’t sure why she was blushing, but put it down to misplaced embarrassment about the noises her stomach was making. She was a bit oversensitive that way, but it was… a trifle endearing, in its own little sense. She was very bright, Farah was, and he selfish enough that he occasionally indulged himself in her mere presence. He’d never had a friend besides Tora, and he wouldn’t let himself if he could avoid it, but… he did enjoy her company. It was easier not to remember, when she was talking to him about whatever she wanted.

It was for this reason, as well as a general interest in her wellness, that he inquired as they walked, he following his nose in the direction of what smelled like noodle stir-fry. “It has been a while since I saw you last,” he said quietly, steering them both through the thickening crowd. Honestly, it might have swallowed her up, otherwise, but people tended to step around him almost unconsciously. He used this to his advantage now, offering her his arm in a distinctly old-fashioned way before he continued. “I had not realized autumn was already this far passed.” He’d been out of school for perhaps a month, called for his use as a Council dog. Much as he disliked it, it was the only reason he lived at all, and so he continued to do it, as if to affirm his own existence to himself. To remind himself that he was not just a shadow on the wall, a ghost passing by unseen.

They reached the food court area, then, and Tatsu halted momentarily, scanning over the options before turning to the girl beside him. “What would you like? It is my treat, since it has been such a long time.” The barest flicker of a smile passed over his face. It was well known that Tatsu did not smile. Ever. The closest he got were these fleeting little expressions, and those, he only saw the need for with Farah and his brother, so it was hardly a wonder that people were surprised to see him with any company but his own. The whispers did not bother him, and he hoped they did not bother her. She was such an innocent person that he doubted they would.

The embarrassment flickered away from her face as it turned into a bright smile. She wasn't sure exactly why her smile was so bright, but she didn't mind. Tatsuhiko was her friend, and she had always regarded him highly. Not because he was her friend, but because he was her friend. Being the sibling to three, very well-known, Minamoto's wasn't exactly the place to be on, especially when she herself was so quiet and meek. She wasn't as out-spoken, so cool as her siblings, not even her cousins, however; perhaps it was for the best. She didn't have very many friends, and she cherished the people she managed to be friends with. And so far that list was very, very short.

"Ah, it has been a while," she returned, her attention being called away by the sound of his voice. The last time she had seen him was about a month and a few days ago. He had left, not really saying why, but she didn't need to know. She understood, and that was all that mattered. She would never question him about his personal life, nor would she inquire about it. If he wanted to speak of it, he would, and sometimes he did, though it was mainly just about his brother and himself and how they were faring. "Time has a way of escaping you when you don't pay much attention to it, I suppose," she added, smiling still.

She took the arm he offered, sliding her own hesitantly through the loop as they continued walking. The blush had all but faded from her face, however; it reappeared just as fast when she could hear the light whispers floating around. Why were people so easy to jump to conclusions? It was precisely this kind of thinking that had limited her to the handful of friends she had, and this kind of thinking that had landed her on the top of one of the most hated list. Not because she was popular, beautiful, smart, or anything like that, but simply because of who she was associated with. She sighed softly, shaking her head, trying to ignore the words that stung at her like sharp knives grating her skin.

"But still, I hope everything is well, and whatever it is that you were gone for didn't cause you too much trouble," she stated as they finally reached the food court. He asked what she would like, and for a moment, she would have protested at being treated, however; she had learned quite a while back that it would be useless. Instead, she smiled and gave a thoughtful tap to her chin. "The noodle stir-fry sounds good, and it's been awhile since I've had a good bowl. Kari-chan doesn't make it as often as she used to, and I miss her cooking," she replied, giving a light frown before replacing it with a smile.

At the words, Tatsuhiko inclined his head and steered them in the appropriate direction, the loud sound of sizzling accompanied by a truly appealing plethora of smells, which his nose picked up on easily and his mind sorted into different ingredient categories. It wasn’t something he really had to think about—like many other things, it kind of happened automatically. Like the way he filed away everything she told him for possible future reference. He liked to promise himself that he would never use any of it against her, against them—that he would make her in no way responsible for what he eventually knew he would be asked to do. That allowed him to keep the interactions between them genuine. It also ate at him, the guilt for what he must eventually steel himself to do.

But now was not the time to think about that. Placing his order, he allowed her to do the same before paying for both and making his way to a small table. He was enough a gentleman to pull out her chair for her before taking his own seat, pressing his hands together at the palms and offering a small word of thanks over the food before he tucked into it. He didn’t much believe in gods or spirits or whomever the ritual had been meant to thank, but he saw no reason not to use the words anyway. Once they were settled and eating, he took a break between bites to address her earlier words.

“It was nothing terribly difficult,” he told her of the task that had pulled him from school. It hadn’t been, but the way he said it was not the way most people would talk about killing things. This was intentional—he did not desire that anyone know exactly what he did. She always chose not to ask prying questions, and it was this trait that made their curious little relationship possible. It was far from what the whispering tongues were suggesting it was, and at a particularly lewd suggestion, Tatsu glanced sideways, meeting indigo eyes with the speaker’s. The look in his was cold and flat; it was the face the Ghost wore, and it send a visible shudder down the boy’s spine. He cared not what they said about him, but he would not have it insinuated that she was such a person, not in his presence.

The cold look faded, though, and he turned back to her. “I am a little surprised to see you here,” he admitted, and this at least he did freely. “But then, I am not for crowds either, and here we both are. If you would like, I can help you find the nearest member of your family when we are done here?”

The smile never faded from Farah's face, even after their orders were taken and she accompanied Tatsuhiko to a table. He was always so nice, doing things that most would never truly do, at least when it came to most of the male population, and she always found it refreshing. The only other kindness she had known was the kindness she received from her family. They both said a small thanks before eating their food, Farah too caught up in her meal to notice any of the words floating around, nor the look Tatsuhiko had sent a boy just a few tables down. Instead, she directed her attention towards him.

"I'm glad. If it were difficult, I could only hope it didn't cause you too much worry about it," she responded, taking another bite of her meal. "Well, I, honestly, didn't want to come," she spoke nervously when he spoke of being surprised that she was here. It was true, she wasn't one for crowds or large social gatherings, however; she had been literally dragged here by Hikari, and no amount of protesting seemed to help. "Kari can be very...persistent about things," she stated, laughing nervously in the process. It's not that she minded really, and she was here with her family to begin with.

Once her meal was finished, she placed the bowl to the side and tilted her head slightly at his suggestion. "I'd...appreciate it actually," she replied, smiling softly at his offer. It wouldn't do her any good to look for them on her own, though she could perhaps find them just as easily. She could smell all of them around, however; they all seemed to be going in different directions, and it wasn't helping that some of their scents were mingling together with a majority of the humans. Usually telling the difference wasn't so difficult, however; with the added amount of scents, and her own nervousness, she would surely get herself lost than to actually find her family.

It wasn’t so much that he was concerned with her not being able to find them as he was with the difficulty she would encounter getting to them. There were a lot of students and even a few outside visitors and family members about, meaning that the crowds were thick, and Farah was both a timid and a small person. So at her acquiescence, he nodded and collected their dishes, dropping them off at the appropriate spot before moving away from the food court. Discretely, he sniffed the air, and noted that the nearest member of her family appeared to be moving to the edges of the festival. Well, if she had not particularly desired to come anyway… at least the crowd would be thinner there.

Again offering his elbow, he led them efficiently, but without hurry, through the crowd, arranging it so that their paths crossed with Trevor’s. As soon as the man spotted them, Tatsuhiko brought them to a stop and gently dropped his arm. “Then I believe this is where we part for the evening, Farah,” he said, that tiny hint of a smile tugging at his mouth for a fraction of a second. “It was, as ever, a pleasure to keep your company. I shall see you soon, I believe.” With the same polite bow he had given upon meeting her, he took his leave, disappearing effortlessly into the crowd once more.

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3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hikari Minamoto Character Portrait: Eien Minamoto Character Portrait: Reiko Akarui
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Eien blinked down as something collided with him, or rather someone. He blinked slowly as it finally registered who it was, and his brow rose slightly. "Then why are you apologizing?" he spoke, earning a light brush to his shoulder from his younger sibling, whom he turned to face. Hikari pursed her lips together at her brother as she rolled her eyes at him. "It seems that Kari does not want this creature, perhaps it would be best suited to you," he spoke, handing the stuffed penguin to Reiko. If he could have (and he really could have), he would have smirked at his sister at the deflated light in her eyes as he handed Reiko the creature she had tried so hard to win.

"You...are evil, E-chan, so very evil," she muttered beneath her breath, glaring at her brother but shrugged her shoulders nonetheless. Eien merely mimicked her action, shrugging his shoulders as well. "But he is right, I didn't want it," she stated, smiling at her cousin in the process. She did want it, however; she wasn't going to take that away from her cousin, especially since it was Eien giving it to her. She had no idea how her cousin felt about her brother, however; any show of affection from said older brother was something she wanted everyone to know he was capable of such.

"If you say so, Imouto-chan," Eien replied, folding his arms across his chest, a perfect mimicry of their father. Hikari scoffed at him once more before making her way to Reiko's side, linking her arm together with the Akarui. She stuck her tongue out at her brother as he rose his brow once more. "Must you always do that?" he questioned, his tone laced in boredom as he regarded his sister. He turned towards Reiko, though, and sighed softly. "Are the two of you hungry? Or do you still wish to play these games?" he questioned, waving a hand in the direction of the different stalls that housed various games. If they were hungry, he'd accompany them to the food court, however; if they wished to play games, he would accompany them to the stalls. It wasn't exactly something he liked to entertain, leaving his family unattended. Though he was short one sister, he could scent her with someone whom he trusted enough to keep her well.

Kiko blinked down at the (rather adorable, she had to admit it) stuffed penguin now resting in her hands, and then back up at her cousins, who were now engaging in what was honestly rather normal banter for them. She felt herself go a little pink in the face, but thankfully, she was able to force it to subside before either of them had cause to look at her again. She found her smile again, though, when Eien’s posture so perfectly mimicked Uncle Hikaru’s. She’d never actually told anyone this, but her uncle had definitely been her first crush growing up, and the similarities between he and her cousin, for whom her feelings were much deeper than that, were really quite obvious to her, though she took care not to mention it. Their personalities were very different, though—she had realized this a long time ago.

She giggled softly when Hikari stuck her tongue out at him, and happily linked arms with her cousin, the penguin under her other arm. It was going to be a wonderful night, she could already tell; she’d had fewer random mishaps than usual today, nobody was picking on her, and she was with her family. It didn’t take any more than that to make her happy, in all honesty. “Well, if Kari-chan is hungry, we can go to the food court, but otherwise, perhaps we could find some games?” She didn’t need to eat, herself, as a vampire and absent the hybrid traits of both her cousins, but she certainly did not mind doing so, and whatever they wanted was fine by her. It was enough to be with them. Some days, she was reminded of just how lucky she really was, mishaps included.

Hikari waited for her cousin to answer, wanting to know what she wanted to do before adding her thoughts to the mix. She, herself, wasn't all that hungry, and Reiko was a vampire to boot, so she really didn't need to eat anything. The obvious choice would be to make their way towards the games. She turned her attention towards Eien, not really having to say a word as he already made his way ahead of them, but not so much as to leave a distance between them. Hikari merely dragged Reiko along as they made their way to the first game. She tilted her head, inspecting it for a moment before she turned to Reiko and Eien.

"How many," he stated, not bothering to even mask it as a question when he noted the look in his sister's eye. The game was rather plain and easy. It was set up much like a dart table, different colored balloons littering the boards. The stall vendor simply handed him the darts and explained the rules. Pop three balloons, they got to choose a small prize. Pop more than ten, and they could choose any prize. He sighed softly, purchasing the eleven darts and handed them to his sister, who took them almost gleefully. There was a rather interesting looking ferret she spotted, and it almost looked like a red panda, with its coloration.

Without much thought, she threw the darts, managing to pop nine balloons in the process. Something must have been out to get her, or so she thought, as Eien watched in amusement as she missed the last two balloons. "They are close together. How do you miss them so easily?" he spoke, a hint of teasing almost laced in his words. Hikari merely pouted as he allowed the faintest of tugs to pull at his lips, but it wasn't enough to cause him to smile. He could smirk if he wanted to, but then again, it was a half smile, and he never did anything half way.

"Kiko, I think E-chan has it out for me," she merely whined to her cousin, grabbing hold of the girl's arm again.

“But you did so well, Kari-chan,” Reiko replied, obviously confused as to why her cousin was disappointed and also impressed with her success. If it were, her, she’d probably have nearly stuck herself with half the darts, and accidentally hit someone else with at least one, no matter how good her aim was. Of course, when she followed her cousin’s eyes to the ferret, she understood, and frowned slightly. She could try winning it for Kari-chan, but she was afraid her usual luck would hold and it would be a disaster.

It happened, though, that she caught the eye of the student running the booth, and recognized him immediately as the one who’d been carrying the box of the darts earlier. She smiled in greeting, waving slightly, and he returned the gesture, slightly pink in the face. Funny, since it wasn’t all that warm or cold outside. Maybe he had poor temperature tolerance, or really good circulation. He of course knew what was going on, and glanced back and forth between the two girls. “Well, actually… nobody’s hit all eleven all night,” he said with a shrug. “So…” he reached up, unhooking the ferret from the ceiling of his booth. “Think of it as a prize for first place.” he handed the item to Hikari, and Reiko beamed.

“See? You’ve done better than anyone has all night! That’s wonderful, Kari-chan.” She felt a little better now, too, since she had not missed the way Hikari looked a little disappointed when she didn’t get the penguin, no matter what she said about it. Now they both had one. “Thank you, Hiromasa.” The human boy looked very surprised that she knew his name, but just nodded and mumbled something under his breath, his face transitioning from pink to red. Reiko, however, did not notice, as she’d already turned back to her family.

“Okay, so what’s next?”

Even her cousin's words could not keep the dark cloud from hovering over Hikari as she continued to pout. Eien was half tempted to roll his eyes at his sister's reaction, but left it alone. His eyes, however, did not miss the way the stall vendor, Hiromasa, and Reiko's own eyes met, and with a faint interest, noticed the way the boy's face turned pink. His lips pursed into a fine line as he regarded Hiromasa. He watched as the boy spoke, grabbing the ferret and handing it to his sister. Immediately, the cloud dispersed from her and her eyes sparkled. She grabbed the ferret, hugging it to her as she hooked her arm once more with her cousin's.

"There are other games to play, or if the both of you are so inclined, the plays are about to start," he answered. He tilted his head towards one of the stages that were already prepared. What they were going to be showcasing was something he did not know, nor did he care to. If they wanted to watch the play, he would join them. If they wanted to play more games, then he would follow them until they tired. And knowing his sister, she'd probably decide on the games. He was half tempted to leave her on her own, allow her to keep her misfortune to herself before it started rubbing off on him, however; he'd never truly do that.

"Since when did E-chan entertain plays?" she spoke, raising a brow at her brother. "Besides, most of these plays are either sappy, heavily romantic, or just awful and rushed," she added, her tongue slowly making itself known from her mouth. She didn't like romance movies, that much was obvious, and for reasons she did not wish to share. Eien, however, sighed softly, shaking his head at her words. He didn't like much of anything about this festival, and the only reason he was here was to keep an eye on his family members to ensure that they were safe, and not causing too much trouble. Right about now, Ryoku would be causing trouble along with Naya.

“Um, actually…” Kiko ventured, looking a bit sheepish. “I think I’d really like to see the play. Apparently they’re putting on As You Like It this year… and I really do like Shakespeare.” She confessed it a little ruefully, because honestly, the play was silly, and probably not to most people’s tastes, since it had an odd mix of very strange comedy and, as Kari had suggested, more than a little sappy romance. But then… Reiko was kind of a sappy romantic herself, though she generally kept the trait in check very well.

“You two don’t have to come of course. And if it’s bad, I promise we’ll leave, so…” she smiled gently, making a shooing motion with her hands. “Feel free to go have fun without me.” She did want to see the stage before it was inevitably destroyed by her sister or Tora-san or someone else.

Hikari's lips pursed into a fine line at Reiko's suggestion, however; she pulled it back into a smile. "Well, if that's what Kiko-chan wants, then you two go enjoy that play. I, on the other hand, have other things to attend to!" she stated, shoving her brother towards Reiko and dusting her hands off in the process. Eien merely shook his head. He really didn't want to split up, however; he also didn't want to follow after his sister when he knew she was more than capable of defending herself. Reiko, on the other hand...his eyes drifted towards the Akarui and he heaved a sigh.

"Shall we then?" he spoke, offering his arm to Reiko in the process. He watched as Hikari disappeared from sight, shaking his head still as he had somehow managed to find himself in the possession of the red ferret she had so desperately wanted earlier, and yet was so fast to abandon it. He didn't understand his sister at times, he really didn't.

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Character Portrait: Naya Akarui Character Portrait: Torahiko Fujiwara
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Tora’s keen ears would have caught the sound of her approach even if his nose hadn’t done the trick. The grin he wore faded back into a smirk, but other than that, he simply kept walking, shortening his stride slightly so that she wouldn’t have to run to catch up. He was head and shoulders over most of the crowd, actually, which made things convenient on some level, as he could easily scan it for the most likely opportunities for mischief. When it became apparent that his henchmen were not following, he turned to glance down at Naya. “In answer to the question, kitten, no. No points for punching the bodyguard, though it was fun to watch. But. If perchance we can instigate some truly magnificent mischief this evening, I’d be willing to negotiate the total. There’s a prize for fifty points in one hour, you know. Neither of my henchman has ever managed it.”

Taking his hand from the opposite sleeve, he gestured expansively, to indicate the wide array of festival decorations and activities laid out before them. “So? What will it be? Show me some chaos, kitten. Little Mayhem and I will assist, but the master plan must be yours.” So saying, he reached over and plucked Mako from atop Naya’s head, settling the white tiger cub over his shoulder. “Isn’t that right, Little Mayhem?” Tora used his index finger to scratch under the familiar’s chin, quirking an eyebrow at Naya as though awaiting instructions. It might be fun to be the henchman for a change…


Naya arched a brow at Tora, a slow grin spreading over her face. Silently, she began looking around her, her eyes taking in all the different possibilities. Mako giggled madly as Torahiko placed him on his shoulder. "So, Kishi-san and I are henchman? Shouldn't I be a henchkitten?"

Naya had to fight not to roll her eyes. "Oh fine, Mako, sure, you can be a henchkitten." Suddenly, a few different things clicked, and she ran off, coming back with a rather large piece of well-cooked meat, and a length of string. "I've got a job for you, Mako." The tiger cub looked perplexed. "Uh...pass?"


Tora saw where this was going, and burst out laughing, a deep bass sound as much rumble as chuckle. “Sorry, henchkitty, there’s no passing when the boss tells you to do something.” He scooped the cub off his shoulder and held him in one arm, reaching for the string end of Naya’s contraption. With one hand, and the occasional use of his teeth, he rigged the string into a series of knots that would settle as a harness over the familiar, because he didn’t want to choke the little guy with a simple knot around his neck or anything. Sliding the contraption on with a deft motion, he smirked over at Naya, the gesture flashing a hint of fang on one side of his mouth.

“You want the stand with all the animals, right?” He asked, though he already knew the answer, and he stooped to set the tiger cub down, the meat trailing a foot or so behind him. “No worries, Little Mayhem, you’ve got this.” The slightly sadistic nature of the smile he wore and the flash to his brilliant green eyes were really not particularly reassuring, perhaps, but well… they weren’t honestly meant to be. As soon as Mako was off, albeit somewhat reluctantly, Tora glanced around, and scenting no humans, shrugged.

“Well, one more tiger can only make things better, I suppose.” So saying, he shifted, taking on the form of a truly massive predatory cat, his pelt a somewhat-unnatural golden in hue, the black stripes deep as night. His eyes, however, were the same green they always were. All told, Tora was the size of a small vehicle. It was rather obvious to those in the know that he’d been built this way to hunt and kill werewolves, because he was larger than most of them. If a cat could smile, that was the expression on his face, though it looked dangerously like a snarl, not really mitigated at all by the obvious amusement in his eyes.

“Hop on, kitten. The evening’s mistress of mischief should be transported in style, no? Five points for the idea; now let’s see if you can’t amplify the results.”


Mako growled lightly, ending more like grunt, and he ran off, heading towards the booths his master had pointed out. Apparently, someone was running an adopt-a-pet booth...full of dogs. Mako hated dogs. He was a tiger, not some filthy canine. "Master so owes me for this." He grumbled, taking off as soon as he heard the dogs beginning to bark.

Naya looked at Tora, something akin to admiration in her eyes. He truly was beautiful like this. She laughed slightly, wasting no time climbing onto his back. "Five points already, huh? How come Ryo and Haru have never won? They must lack a woman's inspiration."

Mako ran, winding his way in and out of booths and crowds, a trail of no less than twenty dogs clamoring clumsily after him. While at first he really hadn't wanted to do this, there was no denying he was having fun. He only laughed when his master's voice floated through his head, and he did as he was told. There, in the middle of the festival, was a large stage, where a rather poor rendition of Shakespeare's As You Like It was being presented. The tiger cub leapt lightly onto the stage, and then went straight for the lead actor, acting very much like a frightened kitten, latching onto the top of his head, claws and all.

The dogs, right on cue, all clambered up on stage, yowling and barking, most of them swarming the actors, and with a neat swipe, Mako severed the cord holding the piece of meat and leapt onto the curtain, climbing safely out of the canine's reach as he surveyed the mayhem below him. Many people were yelling, some were laughing, but the most was utter confusion.


Of course, when the massive tiger with a woman on his back leaped lightly onto he stage as though he belonged there, the reactions got even more pronounced, especially in the fear and awe departments. It was nothing less than Tora had expected—he knew, without arrogance, that he was rather magnificent in this form. And his other one. Okay, so there was definitely some arrogance involved, but it wasn’t unwarranted. “The first five are easy,” he replied, stalking the edge of the stage and snarling at the nearest cluster of onlookers, who cowered back from him. A strange rumbling sound issued from his chest, similar enough to his earlier laughter that it wasn’t that hard to guess what it must be. “It’s the last forty-five that get a little more difficult. This is barely five-point chaos right here.”

He could think of several things they could do to make it all even more ridiculous, but he was not the master of ceremonies, such as they were, on this particular eve. It was a capacity he’d ceded to Naya, and he wouldn’t do anything much unless it was her idea. Though he did pass by Mako’s perch so that the cub could also hitch a ride on him, now that his little part in this plan was for the moment complete.


Naya laughed, the sound like bells, Mako landing light in front of her on Tora's shoulders. "Then let's see what else we can drum up." Her eyes gleamed.

For the next fifty minutes, the three of them managed the destroy no less than half of the booths, start a number of fistfights, and even set a stall on fire. Naya also spent an amusing twenty minutes shocking people at the kissing booth; that one had actually been Mako's idea.

As it were now, the two of them were, at the moment, watching as the flames engulfed the stand. It had been empty, and they wouldn't let it spread, of course. Of course, she didn't stop people from freaking out over it, many of them running around looking for water. Naya's chuckled, crossing her arms as she glanced over at Tora. "Well, how'd I do, Kishi-Tora?"


At the question, Tora shifted back into his humanoid form, straightening to his full height and raking a callused hand back though his red-brown hair. Cracking his neck first to one side and then the other, he contemplated it with seeming ambivalence for a while, as though mostly unimpressed. Actually, the effort had been rather fun, and by now, the entire festival was in some form of chaos or another. That much was easy to see. And in the eye of the hurricane stood a man, a woman, and a little tiger, wearing matching grins and surveying their handiwork with a sense of satisfaction. “Mm…” he hummed the note in the back of his throat, idly cracking his knuckles. “Not bad, for a no-fatalities situation.” He wouldn’t have cared that much if they killed someone; being raised without a moral compass to be a contract killer would do that to a person. All the same, it wasn’t as though he went out of his way to murder anyone who didn’t challenge him first, so he wasn’t going to dock points for this.

He ran a quick mental calculation. “Comes out to… forty-nine and a half. Lucky for you, I round up, not down, because I’m a generous bastard like that. So, fifty. Congratulations, kitten. You’re officially capable of more mayhem in an hour than either of my henchmen." He crossed his arms over his broad chest and quirked an eyebrow down at her. “That’s a lot of destruction per square inch of person you have there.” He was, of course, intentionally leaving out any mention of the reward for this accomplishment. That, she would have to inquire after herself. It was more fun that way.


"Well, that isn't really surprising, when you look at my mother, now is it? Besides, I've had more experience than Haru and Ryo. Someone could argue you don't pick your henchmen very well." She quirked a brow at him, a small smile on her face. "We should make a habit of this, I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

"Nana-chan, you got fifty points. You're supposed to get a prize, remember?" The tiger-cub spoke up from his position on Torahiko's shoulder. Naya's smile ticked a little wider. "That's right, you did say I'd win something. Dare I ask what it is?"


Tora snorted, his amusement clear on his face. “I do the best I can with what I’m given. There’s always room for a third, if you’re volunteering…” the sentence trailed off into a grin as the cub on his shoulder brought up the matter of his little promise, and he laid a hand on the little one’s head. “Did I? Heh. I suppose I did.” Torahiko was one of those people who enjoyed a challenge like he enjoyed little else, and the rules of this game had long been set. Part of it was that nobody knew what the supposed prizes were, not even Ryo and Haru. Though he suspected that after this story made its rounds, they’d be able to guess what the tenor of the challenge really was. He wondered if they’d try a little harder or not. He was, after all, a man who followed the rules—rather, the ones he made up.

He set Mako back on the ground, straightening up and turning the required ninety degrees to be facing Naya. She was a great deal shorter than him, as most people were, but this only served to amuse him further. “Well… let it never be said that I don’t keep my promises, hm?” he inquired, his tone light and playful. His actions were sure and deceptively swift: he slid the callused pads of his fingers back along her jawline to cup the back of her neck and bent the intervening distance, moving her only slightly forward and causing their lips to meet. Her surprise was such that rendering the kiss unchaste was not at all difficult, and Tora was not the kind of person who let an opportunity of such a nature pass him by without taking advantage of it. For all that, it wasn’t a rushed or hasty gesture—he was rather an old hand at the art of seduction, and that was what it was meant to do. Sensual, languid, and drugging—and he tugged at her lower lip with the lightest application of his teeth when he pulled away, grinning.

Tora licked his lips in a decidedly wicked fashion, winking down at Naya. “I rather expected you’d be delicious, kitten. I’m not disappointed.” He also half-expected to be decked any second now, and honestly wasn’t interest in dodging it, either. It wasn’t like she could hurt him in such a fashion, after all. He might not have minded it if she could.


For the first few seconds, Naya was utterly shocked to the point that she really could do little other than stand there. And even when she did get over the shock, she was not inclined to pull away from him, and she was even slightly dissapointed when he pulled away. Even so, she was not entirely blind to the situation, and after his comment, she blinked, and then she balled her right hand into a fist, scarlet coloring her face to an odd contrast to the blue of her hair.

She drew it back, and then punched him squarely in the nose. "You're an asshole. Some prize." She crossed her arms and scowled. Mako, on the other hand, had collapsed onto this side in a fit of laughter. "That's not fair, Kishi-san, you know Nana-chan--" Whatever the cub had been about to say was cut off by Naya planting a foot on his head. "Shut up, Mako!"


He understood why the bodyguard had pulled her away from the human, though if his laughter was anything to go by, he found it all amusing rather than painful. “That’s some left hook, kitten,” he managed past the residual chuckling. “You sure you weren’t going for the hundred?” He raised a brow slightly at the antics, quite well aware without needing to be told what Little Mayhem was going to say. It was obvious that the girl had a crush on him, and this was something he found rather hilarious, honestly. For all her expertise in chaos, she was also clearly inexperienced in certain ways, and he wouldn’t be terribly surprised if that was the first time a man had kissed her in such a fashion.

He leaned back down so that they were almost nose-to-nose. “You know,” he said in a low, husky rasp, “If you’re not careful, people might start to think that violence is a bit of a kink of yours.” He was really enjoying this too much, but that had never stopped him before. Was it even possible to have too much fun? He wasn’t sure and he didn’t care. “I personally find the notion very attractive, but if you’re not interested…” He straightened and shrugged, his tones fading back into nonchalance. “Then I guess I’ll see you around, kitten.” Folding his hands back into his sleeves, Tora turned and departed, merging into the chaos like he knew exactly where everything was about to be.

It never did to overstay a welcome, after all.

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Character Portrait: Hikari Minamoto Character Portrait: Tatsuhiko Fujiwara
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Hikari frowned for what seemed the umpteenth time that night. Ever since she left her brother's side, her luck had almost increased. She had lost to a child on one of the water boarding games, something she found rather hilarious though really since it was just she and the child. And when the child won, he mimicked a move she had pulled on Eien earlier; he stuck his tongue out at her and scampered away happily with his prize in tow. She was now at a game that seemed fairly easy. All she needed to do was fit a ball into a small bowl, and she'd win the prize in the bowl, which, to say the least, was a goldfish. It, however, was the only goldfish in the stall to be black in color.

She had recognized it to be a black moor goldfish. She had found it odd that they would only have one as she actually liked the black goldfish. When she had spotted it, she made it her goal to obtain it one way or another. So, it was, perhaps, no surprise that she had spent the last ten minutes trying to win the black goldfish. Every time she tried, the ball would end up either on the floor, or in another bowl. She had given away fifteen goldfish by the twentieth minute of standing at the stall, and the vendor was running out of goldfish. He had sighed, irritated that she had refused to give up on the black goldfish, however; a spark of glee filled his eyes when she ran out of coupons.

She sighed defeatedly, running her hand down her face in the process. "I just cannot win tonight can I?" she spoke more to herself than anyone really. It really wasn't her night. First the penguin, then the Ferret, now the goldfish. At least with the goldfish she had managed to win some but not the one she wanted. She pursed her lips together, sighing softly before shaking her head. "Sorry little guy, guess I wasn't meant to have you," she spoke, chuckling at her own words and how ridiculous they seemed to be. Not that she cared, she'd say whatever she wanted as long as it didn't get herself or her family into trouble, and looking a bit insane was always a good way to keep unwanted attention away.

After seeing Farah off into the company of her relative, one of the more responsible ones at that, Tatsuhiko had taken to wandering mostly aimlessly through the festivities. He could smell Tora nearby and knew that it would be trouble for someone eventually, so he was rather hoping to take in what sights there were to see before the general chaos ensued and made such passive enjoyment impossible. So he drifted around almost as though he were incorporeal, stopped only occasionally to speak by people he remembered, but did not know very well. He was uncertain why they wished to speak with him, but he was polite as he could manage, though he seemed to always find himself looking for a way to extract his person from the conversation. He did not understand why so many people found it necessary to touch others when conversing with them. He was unaccustomed to such things and frankly uncomfortable with it, Tora and Farah excepted. Even that was more concession he would make for the nature of the relationship and less a straightforward desire or inclination towards contact itself.

He had thus far not tried his hand at any of the games, as he honestly was not entirely sure of the appeal such things were supposed to have. Most of them tended to be tests of accuracy in some capacity, and he was well aware that his capacities in this area were vastly above the norm, which rather took the amusement out of the attempt. He had grown rather tired of forgone conclusions, all things considered. Nevertheless, he still had a number of paper slips tucked up his sleeve, which indicated his chances to make an attempt at something. Perhaps he should find a small child to which he could give them…? It seemed illogical to hold onto them. Of course, this would necessitate actually interacting with a small child, and he was not so certain he wished to do that.

The solution to his conundrum presented itself—or rather herself—at a booth apparently dedicated to winning small fish. He heard her talking, and for a moment stopped, presuming that perhaps she was speaking to him, but when he glanced over, he recognized that this was evidently not the case, and that the words (obviously not directed at him, now that she’d actually said them) were intended for a small, darkly-hued fish. “Your pardon, Miss Hikari,” he said, reaching into his sleeve. Withdrawing his paper slips, ten in total, he inclined his head politely and extended them. “I was not intending to use mine; so you are welcome to them if it pleases you.”

Hikari was about to leave when a voice caused her to turn her attention towards the source. She furrowed her brows in confusion when Tatsuhiko presented her his tickets, and she stared at them for a moment. He was going to give them to her? Because he didn't intend to use them? Then what was the purpose of buying them? She shoved that thought to the back of her mind. He was just being nice, and she offered him a smile. As much as she really wanted that black goldfish, she had accepted that she just wasn't meant to have it, and that tonight she was just out of luck.

"That...is kind of you to offer, Tatsu, but I am afraid I must decline. It's not that I don't appreciate the offer, I do, but my luck just isn't all that great tonight. I'm sure there is something you'd like to do with them. One doesn't simply come to a festival without the intention of having fun," she stated, shaking her head in the process. She placed a single hand upon his, and pushed his hand back towards him. "Ah, actually," she stated, the sudden idea forming into her head. There was, perhaps, one thing the tickets could be used for, however; it was his decision, and she wasn't going to push it.

"It doesn't require any tickets or anything, and it's more tradition than anything," she began, clearing her throat in the process. "but they are going to be lighting and sending off the lanterns soon. Since I can't seem to find my brothers, nor my cousins or sister, I, uh...," she continued, laughing nervously in the process. Tatsuhiko was Farah's friend, that much Hikari knew, and she knew that he was also a bit like her adopted sister in a sense that they both did not like crowds. At least that is what she deduced by her observations, however; she wasn't going to ask about it, necessarily.

"You don't have to go, but I'd appreciate it if you did," she finished, her smile growing brighter in the process. He really didn't have to go. She could manage on her own, but it would be nice to view the lanterns in the company of someone, whether it was family or friend. In this case, she hoped it'd be in the company of a friend. She'd never truly interacted with the Fujiwara male, besides his brother maybe. Regardless, the decision was his, she wasn't going to force it. She'd go see them by herself if it came down to it. The black moor goldfish continued floating in the water, staring at the two with curious eyes.

He was slightly confused to say the least. He had no use for the tickets; he had not purchased them—they were rather given to him, and he’d been under the impression that everyone received some amount for free. Apparently not so—he wondered why that was. His expression did not change as she pushed his hand back with one of her own, but something in his eyes went slightly unfocused.

There is death on the air. The smell of blood, thick and cloying, crowds his olfaction. He knows, somehow, that much of it is hers. She is gravely injured, and he feels something in him stir. A primal, defensive fury rises, bubbling up from beneath his skin, but his anger is not like fire. It does not explode—it freezes. It freezes everything. Indeed, the air around them seems to grow perceptibly chillier, and he reaches for the sword at his side—

Tatsuhiko’s eyes widened fractionally, and he shook his head in just the faintest movement before he blinked, bringing his oculars back into focus. She was still there—it must not have been a very long vision, perhaps a couple of seconds at the most. They are not usually triggered by anything in particular, but he could not help but notice the coincidence of this one with the brush of her hand. It was particularly unusual because he sensed he was inhabiting his own body in this vision. Most often, he either floated around as some kind of nonexistent observer or found himself passenger in the mind and flesh of another. But Tatsu knew that had been him, which was strange on many levels. Why should he feel such foreign rage at the scent of this person’s blood? Why should she appear in his visions at all? As far as he knew, he was to keep an eye on she and her family, which meant that he may well be one day asked to kill them. This thought itself did not make him angry—only melancholy.

The invitation was most unexpected, and he tilted his head to one side, a lock of dark purple hair falling over the bridge of his nose and into an eye. He supposed he understood the reasoning behind it… and he was not so averse to company as most seemed to assume he was. He only disliked crowds. So he nodded mildly. “Very well,” he said by way of acquiescence. “I do not find fault in the suggestion. I have not seen this lantern-lighting before. Thank you, for the thought.” There was still the matter of the tickets, however, one which was abruptly solved when a small horde of children went running past. They stopped a few booths down, and Tatsu sighed through his nose.

“One moment please, Miss Hikari,” he said, jogging smoothly and oddly noiselessly towards the group of children, most of whom looked to be between seven and ten years of age. He was not the tower his brother was, but neither was his height inconsiderable, and so he crouched so as to be closer to their eye level, saying something too quietly to be heard, which was met with enthusiasm from the kids. He distributed the tickets, one to each, which left him with one. Rather than being unfair, he stood, stiffening awkwardly when one of the younger ones hugged him around the leg. He still didn’t understand contact.

The child eventually released him at the behest of her guardian, and he took a more sedate pace back towards his friend’s sister. Eyeing the one ticket left in his hand, he flickered his glance upwards, then between Hikari and the black fish. Well, it wasn’t like he had anything else to use it on, after all—and one kindness was surely worth another. Placing it down on the counter, he took the object he was to throw and tested its weight and balance for a moment. From there, it was nothing at all to gauge the appropriate distance, and the toss landed perfectly in the center of the bowl the black one swam in. It was placed into a bag of water and handed to him.

Tatsu held the creature up to his face for a moment, blinking at it. “I am told it is bad luck to name such a one,” he said with a trace of skepticism, “but I suppose whether or not he receives an appellation is entirely up to you.” This time, it was not tickets he offered in her direction, but the fish.

Hikari stared with curious eyes as Tatsuhiko seemed to just zone out. She had waved her hand a few times in front of his face, trying to call his attention, however; whatever he was thinking of, seemed to be deep. She rose an eyebrow when she received no response, and was about to call out his name and shake his shoulders a bit, when he seemed to come back. Her brow merely ascended further but she thought nothing further of it. She was about to say something when he excused himself, jogging towards the small group of children that had ran by moments ago. She watched as he gave them his tickets, a small smile forming on her lips as she shook her head. He really was an odd creature, however; that was as far as she'd let her thoughts go. She was about to suggest to leaving, however; he had placed the one ticket he had left, down on the counter where she had been moments ago.

Her brows furrowed slightly as she watched him, curious to see as to what he was going to do, and for a moment, she stared in awe as the ball landed inside the black goldfish bowl. It really wasn't fair, her luck, that he'd be able to do it so much as the first try, however; there was no use in crying over spilled milk. He had won the small creature fair and square, and she was about to applaud him until he spoke. He had said it was bad luck to name a black goldfish, or perhaps just a goldfish in general, but nevertheless, he presented it to her. She took a moment to assess the situation, glancing at the fish and then back to Tatsuhiko. She had wanted it, that much she was certain of, but why was he giving it to her? She thought of it no longer, pushing it to the back of her mind as she took the fish.

"Bad luck or not, everything needs a name," she spoke, staring at the fish. "How would you hope to ever identify it otherwise? Besides, wouldn't you want a name if you didn't have one?" she stated more-so than asked. It was a silly statement, she knew that, but she felt like saying it regardless. "Kuro. It's short, easy, and hard to forget," she finally stated, staring at the black creature in her hands. The two seemed to hold a staring contest, neither one blinking (though the fish really didn't have the capability of blinking) before she straightened herself out. She glanced at the watch on her wrist and pursed her lips together. It was almost time for them to start lighting the lanterns.

"Thanks again, for coming along," she spoke, tucking the fish securely in her arm as she turned towards the area where they needed to go. "You don't have to stay for the whole event. It was made mainly for those who liked the more serene kind of lifestyle, though really I don't see why they would choose lantern lighting for its representation," she continued, glancing towards Tatsuhiko from the corner of her eyes and then back to the black goldfish in her hand.

The statement she made about names was not silly to him. In fact… it was very resonant. For a long time, he’d had no name, either. He hadn’t thought much of it, at the time. When they’d addressed him, they had simply used his number. Nine, they’d said, which he later learned was short for of nine hundred and ninety nine. They’d called Tora eight. At least until Tatsu had taken to calling him Tora, for the creature that he shifted into. Tora had returned the designation with another of the same, and the hiko part was added when they needed official names to register for Cross Academy and otherwise move about in the world. Yes, he understood quite well what it was like not to have a name, and he almost smiled at the fact that she showed no hesitation in naming something as simple as a fish.

It made him wonder, for just a moment, what kind of person he’d be if he’d grown up in her world, and not in his.

But such thoughts were useless, because he was as he was, and he served whom he served. Much of life was more inevitable than others took it to be. But Tatsu could see the future, or possible futures, and honestly, most of the time the possibilities were not broad. Today marked the first significant deviation he’d seen in decades, and the last one had been… unpleasant. He might not know everything, but he knew enough. “No gratitude is required,” he answered mildly. “I am only doing what I wish to do. It is not an inconvenience.” Folding his hands into his sleeves, he moved so as to be walking beside Hikari, though at a respectful distance. That didn’t stop the whispering, of course, but he’d grown used to it by now. There was little point trying to contest the assertions being made, and he no longer tried. Tora seemed to revel in it, but the best Tatsu could hope to do was tolerate it.

He gave the comment some thought, tilting his head to the side before he decided to answer. “Perhaps because lanterns themselves have a warm feel to them. They are fire in its most benevolent, gentle form. A representation that even the most destructive things can be turned to benign purpose.” He wasn’t sure he believed the last part, actually, but it seemed like something that a more optimistic or gentle person might think.

Hikari rose a brow at his explanation. Benign purpose? Fire? Perhaps, it did have a lot of properties and uses. Fire was mainly used for destroying things, however; in some cases, it could be used to provide warmth, to provide light. "That...may be true I suppose. But then again how can you truly say that when the fire is still being destructive? Good intentions or not, it still must destroy something in order to provide that benign purpose. It's...almost a contradiction that way, but I suppose not everyone would see it that way. It still has to feed off of something right?" she stated, pursing her lips together before shaking her head. She probably shouldn't have said that, but for some odd reason, she couldn't keep her tongue from wagging.

"But, as you said, I'm sure that is what they thought. It's also supposed to be a way of sending off spirits, if I remember correctly. Each one is supposed to be a light guiding it home," she stated, smiling a bit lost in the process. "I could be wrong though. Whatever the reason, they are nice to look at, especially when you're with family or friends," she continued, glancing down at Kuro in the process. She'd have to get a fish tank for him now, something she was sure she could get Eien to do the next day or request one from the headmaster. It'd probably be best and easier just to ask the headmaster. As they walked, she could hear a few whispers coming from the other students, and she allowed her irritation to get to her, and she snapped.

"Mind your own goddamn business!" she snapped at them, causing some of them to yelp and turn around while the others covered their faces trying not to laugh. She narrowed her eyes at the ones who were trying not to laugh before sighing and shaking her head. People were always so fast to jump to conclusions, and it irritated her and annoyed her to no end. She had wanted to punch someone once, and she almost did, when they had made a comment about her sister and cousin. It was one thing to say it about her, she didn't care, but to say anything about her family, then that was when she let it surface. No one messed or talked about her family, regardless of what they had to say.

"Ah, sorry about that. They just don't know how to keep their mouths shut," she stated, emphasizing the last word a bit as she shot another glance towards the crowd. She glanced between Kuro and Tatsuhiko, though, before a grin pulled at her lips. She had two new friends now, though she wasn't entirely sure she'd still consider Tatsuhiko a friend quite yet. Friend was a better word than what they were saying anyways.

Tatsuhiko allowed one eyebrow to ascend his forehead. “I am… rather accustomed to such murmurings at this point. I suppose it is one of the drawbacks of being somewhat… unsocial that every time I so much as speak with someone else, it counts as news.” His eyes narrowed slightly, the only sign he gave of his displeasure. They’d always talked about him. Where he went when he would occasionally disappear for weeks at a time, what his business was with Farah, and they usually guessed nothing wholesome. He was sure there would be new rumors about this, simple and honest as it was, within the hour. Honestly, had people nothing better to do than discuss the lives of others? He never had been able to understand it. He supposed she must be even more used to it than he was, given her family. He was a shadow, but they stood quite prominently in the spotlight, the forefront of vampiric society, despite the fact that very few of them were really vampires at all. At least, not entirely. Her side of the branch was more wolf than anything.

Of course, he was not supposed to know any of this, and so he did not comment on it. Instead, he came to a stop beside her, lighting a lantern when his turn came and watching the completion of the ceremony. It was a simple affair, but there was something beautiful to be found in that simplicity. Perhaps he only found it so because it was something he would never have, and the unattainable was always more alluring than the mundane. He wondered again what that vision had meant, that he had, and why she had been in it. Prior to this day, they had exchanged mere sentences in total—usually, he only saw people close to him unless he was looking. He’d caught a couple of glimpses of Farah’s future, even, though he would never dream of telling her what he saw. Some of the endings were, of course, very dark. In no few of them, she was dead. In one or two that he fervently hoped against, he killed her himself. She did not fight him.

The thought made him vaguely sick with guilt, and so he pushed it aside, though the melancholy could not be banished from his eyes. Sighing gently through his nose, he turned to the woman with the fish. “Will you permit me to escort you back to the dorms, Miss Hikari? I am headed in that direction as well.”

"Accustomed or not, they should still learn to keep their big mouths shut. They shouldn't be so quick to judge a situation, and just because two people are walking together doesn't mean anything. For all they know, we could have been siblings, and to suggest...well I guess in one society it wouldn't be frowned on, but still!" she stated, crossing her arms against her chest in the process as she continued to glare at the others who continued to whisper. She shook her head at them and grabbed a lantern when it was her turn to light it. She hesitated for a moment, glancing at the lantern before lighting it, watching as the small flame flickered back and forth, licking the air in a dance. She smiled, watching as it dulled a bit before setting it loose.

She watched in small awe as the lanterns were set loose, some floating in the air while others landed into the small puddles of water. It was a sight to behold, watching as they all littered the sky like floating stars. She reached out, trying to grasp one of them, but pulled her hand back when she realized what she was doing. She shook her head just a bit, her thoughts fluttering just for a moment, over towards her parents. She wondered what they were doing at this very moment, if they were looking at the sky as she was. The thought brought a melancholy smile to her face before she shook it away. She was brought out of her reverie when Tatsuhiko spoke, and she turned, blinking at him a few times to process the question.

"Ah, well if you are headed that way, sure. I could use the company," she spoke, shrugging her shoulders in the process. "I see why Farah enjoys your company so much," she noted off-handedly and nothing more. Which in a sense was true, she could see why Farah spent most of her time with the Fujiwara male. He was...pleasant to say the least, though there was something that was bothering her a bit. "I know it's probably just your etiquette, but could you perhaps not call me Miss Hikari? Hikari would do just fine, however; like I said, it's probably just your etiquette and I understand if you don't. Just...yeah," she stated, raising her brow a bit in the process. Regardless, it was just a suggestion. He didn't have to stop calling her Miss Hikari if it was just how he was, and she would respect that. She just found it a bit odd to be called as such.

The comment about Farah honestly surprised him, though the feeling only manifested as a flicker in his eyes before it subsided. He shook his head when she made the request. Tatsu understood that some people preferred informality, and he tended to defer to the preferences of the other person with regard to such things. He would be perfectly fine doing so here as well. It was just that most of the people in his life insisted on the use of titles, and so he’d gotten use to using them. “I will use your name, if that is what you wish… Hikari.”

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2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Haru Akarui
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Ryoku chuckled slightly at his cousin, watching as Tora and Naya took off towards the crowd and Trevor made his way to leave. Drags, really, but he couldn't blame them really. He turned towards Haru, his arm still resting on his cousin's shoulder as he tapped his chin in a thoughtful manner. "So it seems, Ru-chan," he spoke, removing his arm finally and shrugging his shoulders in the process. "But then again, I think there is a few things we can cook up ourselves," he stated, his smile morphing into a smirk.

Haru looked sideways at his cousin, Kon shifting underneath him. Haru smiled slightly. "Oh? Then what mayhem shall we cause, cousin of mine? I think Boss and Nii-san will have the festival well covered, we should probably head elsewhere." He had a feeling that they would probably both end up taking someone home, they usually did. Haru normally ended up with at least two, as a matter of fact. A slight smirk ran over his face, last week it had been twins. That had been interesting.

Ryoku tapped his chin in a thoughtful manner as he contemplated Haru's question. He was right about one thing, Naya and Tora would more than likely be off destroying things. Not that he cared, he'd leave the demolition to the demolition experts. They were more adept at it than he was, and his forte was more of the seduction type to begin with. He'd probably go and break a few hearts, steal a few hearts just to break those, and then perhaps take an innocent heart and play with it for a bit, however; he'd never go too far with those types. They reminded him too much of his youngest sister, Farah. And though he loved her, he wouldn't do that. Not that he couldn't, but he wouldn't. Instead, a smirk pulled at his lips as he turned towards Haru.

"Well, we could follow after Naya and the Boss, or we could do something a little more...productive," he spoke, whispering out the last word so close to Haru's ear that his breath rolled over the Akarui's ear. He was tempted to nip at it, however; he refrained from doing so and pulled back, crossing his arms across his chest as he smirked at his cousin. There were a lot of things they could do, but Ryoku was more interested in seeing his cousin's reaction and just how far he could go with them.


Haru raised an eyebrow, a light smirk playing across his face as he regarded his cousin. That was not to say he hadn't been affected, as he had. Electricity was thrumming through his veins at that moment, as well as a rather strong desire to pull Ryoku back to him, but he also had been keeping a lid on said feelings for a while now, so he'd at least had plenty of practice. Even so, participation in the playful banter, and perhaps what may follow, certainly was an option.

"You seem quite sure of yourself, Ro-chan. Care to prove it?"


Ryoku rose a brow, a smirk pulling at his lips in the process. He tilted his head to the side, tapping his chin in a thoughtful manner as he gave Haru's question some thought. "Is that a challenge I hear? Because you know exactly how I prove myself to others," he countered, his smirk pulling wider in the process. "Or is that an invitation? Because frankly, I'm fine with either one, though the invitation sounds a little more appealing," he continued, popping his knuckles in the process.

Haru raised a teasing brow, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. Well, there were quite a few different ways to take this, and Haru had always wondered...feelings aside, he'd certainly never say no to a tumble with his cousin, there were very few people in this world that he'd say no to, his sisters and Farah being three of them.

That being said, Haru leaned forward, sliding his arms around his cousin's shoulders, exhaling over his neck before his tongue flicked out, covering over the sensitive strip of skin between the jaw and ear. "It can mean whatever you want it to, Ro-chan..." He purred, his eyes melting into pools of liquid silver. "So the question is, what do you want it to mean?"


"Is that so?" he stated, shivering lightly when Haru's tongue slipped in between his jaw and ear. His smirk widened slightly, turning his head so that their faces were merely inches a part. "What if I want it to mean something more?" he responded, his voice dark and husky as he inched closer so that their noses were merely a hairsbreadth apart. His eyes glazed over a brief vermilion color before he closed the rest of the distance between them, his lips finding the corners of Haru's in the process. It was a chaste kiss, or about as chaste as it could be coming from Ryoku. Of course, he was merely teasing when he spoke those words, however; there was something a bit more meaningful to him.

He had always been aware of his own feelings for his cousin, however; he was unsure of how Haru would react to it if he told him. Haru was just like himself, and it was that similarity that had caused him to hesitate in telling him. Not that he was afraid or anything, he just didn't want to make a fool of himself for confessing to something he knew would more than likely be one-sided to begin with. That was his reasoning, and that was what he was going to stick with. Instead, he pulled away, licking the bottom of Haru's lip before pulling all the way back and a glimmer shining behind his eyes. "But that will have to do instead."


Haru smirked slightly, running his tongue over his bottom lip. He closed one eye, as if contemplating something before making a softing humming noise in the back of his throat, shaking his head slightly. "Oh my...that won't do at all, Cousin. I thought you were better than that at this." He smiled wickedly before all but latching onto the other male, eliminating the space between them.

This time, the kiss was anything but chaste, the amount of heat transferred between the two rather obvious. Kon shook out his mane, trotting off into the crowd. He knew when he wasn't wanted. "Surely you can thrill me more than this, Ro-chan." No, this would most certainly not have to do, not if he had anything to say about it.


Ryoku rose an eyebrow at his cousin, watching as Haru licked his bottom lip before allowing his smirk to morph into a wicked grin. Haru's words only managed to make Ryoku's grin turn to something a bit dark. He did not protest when Haru latched back onto him, his kiss a bit different, more demanding, more heated. Ryoku was only obliged to return the favor, turning his full attention on Haru, and almost frowned when Haru pulled back. His smirk still remained upon his face when Haru spoke again. He tapped his chin in a thoughtful manner, as if contemplating carefully his next choice of words.

"Well, if you are that insistent, there is a rather comfy spot behind those bushes if you are so inclined," he spoke, the glimmer never leaving his eyes.


It was probably pretty stupid, and completely against his character really, but for the moment, Haru was disinclined to care. He had his set of morals, however jaded and warped they may be, for a reason. Sex tended to make things messy in the feelings department, and Haru was already quite certain about his feelings regarding Ryoku. Even so, he'd come this far; he wouldn't be the one to back out now. That grin never left his face as he leaned back in, nipping at the side of Ryoku's neck.

"Hm....thrill me, Ryoku."




Saying that it had been good might well be the understatement of his life. It had been great, and what was worse, Haru wanted more. Of what, exactly, he couldn't really name. He just knew that the fine line he was dancing on was dangerous. Maybe it was his mother in him, but he was still rather disinclined to care.

He propped himself up on an elbow, looking over at his cousin with a contemplative look. "We should do this more often."

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Farah Tasogare Character Portrait: Trevor Edyta
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Farah took Tatsuhiko's elbow without the hesitation she sported last time, and instead took it with a sort of security. He was going to help her find one of her relatives, and that was all that mattered. She could ignore everything else in the process, or at least attempt to. It wasn't long before they approached the closest member, and for a moment, Farah blinked. Even as Tatsuhiko spoke and left, she had trouble keeping her breaths even, and her heartbeat from beating erratically. There, in front of her, was Trevor. He appeared to be leaving the festival, something she actually wouldn't mind doing herself, however; she wasn't exactly planning on being alone with Trevor.

Her face turned a bright pink as she fumbled with the hem of her shirt, glancing away from him in the process. "Good....good evening...Tre...Trevor," she stuttered, cursing herself for fumbling over the words. Her face grew another two shades of red, and if she kept it up, she was certain that her face would be sporting the same shade of red that could easily pass for her mother's hair color.


Trevor started slightly, torn from his reverie by a soft voice. He brought his eyes down to see Farah in front of him, Tatsuhiko leaving. He rose a brow slightly, but said nothing. At least, not until he watched Farah turn from pink to red, and a slight look of concern passed over his face. He could hear her heart speeding up, her uneven breaths. He reached out, pressing the back of his hand to her forehead. "Are you feeling alright, Farah? You look feverish."

If it were possible, Farah would look like a bright red tomato with perhaps a patch of white for the stem and leaves. Trevor's hand rested against her forehead, causing her temperature to flare slightly. She was not unused to touch, her other siblings (except for maybe Eien) had a habit of often hugging or showing some type of affection through touch. Though for her sister and Ryoku, they shared more of a "punch and kick" kind of affection. She couldn't understand it sometimes, but thought nothing more of it. Her thoughts, as of now, were being occupied by his hand, and where it lay.

"I-I'm f-f-fine, Trevor, th-thank you," she stated, stepping back and removing his hand from her forehead in the process. His hand was so warm, and large compared to hers, and she immediately released it as quickly as that thought finished. "Ah, s-sorry! I..I was just...a-are, you leaving?" she quickly stammered out as she fidgeted nervously in her spot. She really wished there was someone else around that she knew, that way she wouldn't be this clumsy idiot in front of Trevor. Oh how she wished she was someone else at times.


Really, after all this time, he probably should be used to her reactions. As far back as he could remember, Farah had always acted this way around him, but even so, it did hurt a little, to see her comfortable with someone like Tatsuhiko or Haru, yet act this way with him. Was she really so frightened of him? Even so, he didn't let it show on his face. His eyebrows rose slightly, and he smiled down at her kindly. "Ah, yes, though I have nothing planned. You're certainly welcome to join me. I'm sure Naya and Torahiko will be, ah...busy here at the festival." He shook his head slightly.

Her heart beat increased rapidly until all she could hear was the drumming of her own heart. She tried to get her heart under control, and had succeeded in at least getting the color to fade from her face. She tried to clear her voice and took a deep breath to regulate her breathing. Once it was under control, she offered Trevor a small smile. "I'd...like that," she stated, walking so that she was next to Trevor, but not too close as to make herself uncomfortable. She was trying to keep calm during the situation, and so far, she was succeeding.

Trevor raised an eyebrow slightly, as she calmed down. He really did not get her at all. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable, so for the moment they walked in relative silence. He'd realized that they'd never picked a destination when they ended up in the forest that continuously crept onto the grounds of Cross Academy, walking by a small stream.

Frankly, Trevor was at a bit of a loss for what to say. He wasn't much of a conversationalist to start with; being alone with someone was generally awkward for him. "So uh...how's classes going?" He wanted to smack himself in the face. Had he really just asked that? Gods, she was going to think he was the dullest person on the face of this planet. Then he wondered why he would bother worrying about what she thought of him in the first place.


They walked in relative silence, something Farah was grateful for, and she was enjoying it. The blush had not subsided, and instead, continued to paint her face a brilliant red. It contrasted against the white of her hair, and brought out the deep blue of her eyes. She fumbled with the hem of her shirt, trying to think of something to say, anything to break the awkward silence, however; she was startled out of her thoughts when Trevor spoke first. For a moment, she contemplated how to answer that.

"Uh, well...it...it was fine," she replied, her ears burning as her face, oddly, cooled down. "We...we were..n-n-not learning any...anything new," she stuttered out, glancing at anything but him. Gods, why couldn't she act right around him? It was plain to see that she had feelings for him, but she was trying so hard to hide them. He probably thought she was odd, or weird, and that thought hurt a bit. What if he thought she was annoying? Oh, that would kill her on the inside, and even that thought alone caused a painful lurch in her chest as she clutched at her chest.

"I'm...s-sorry, how w-w-was your d-day?" she questioned, trying desperately to control her heart beat that was ever rising.


Trevor glanced down at her, a slight smile on his face. He shrugged slightly. "Pretty much the same. I've lived through what they're teaching right now, so it's not like I'm learning. Most of the time what they teach is wrong." He paused, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. He did not miss the way her heartbeat continued to rise.

"Are you sure you're alright? I can leave, if I'm making you nervous, Farah..."


Farah's eyes widened in fear when Trevor mentioned leaving. She didn't mean to make him feel uncomfortable, or unwanted, because he wasn't unwanted. She cursed herself, blaming her nervousness for making him think so as her hand, trembling as it was, reached for his. Softly, her hand grabbed his and she gave it a light squeeze, half to reassure herself that she could calm her nervousness, and half to reassure him she was fine. Shaking her head, she offered a meek smile. She truly hated the way she felt, the way her skin crawled on edge whenever she was near him, the way her beast seemed to want to take over and do things that terrified Farah.

"I'm f-fine, Trevor. H-Honestly," she replied, releasing his hand and allowing her hand to fall to her side. "Y-you're, not m-making m-m-me nervous. I just..." she paused, biting her lower lip in the process. He wasn't making her nervous, he truly wasn't. But how could she tell him that without actually telling him how she felt about him? This...was so problematic and she inwardly wanted to cry. Sighing softly, she offered a reassuring smile to him, one that she could muster as best as she could. "You're not making me nervous, I promise," she spoke, for once, not stuttering, which even shocked her momentarily.


Trevor's eyebrows rose slightly as she took his hand, as if to reinforce her words. She seemed to be struggling with her words somewhat, but in the ends, she seemed to be able to at least voice her main reasoning. He smiled at her, the expression softening his face. He was also slightly surprised; she didn't stutter at all in the last sentence she spoke.

"Well, alright. I'm glad then. It's not always fun being the scary one." His lips perked up in a slight smile.


Farah's face returned to the brilliant red it had once been at Trevor's smile. Oh how she loved that smile of his. It made him so much more beautiful than what he already was, scar included. She knew that the scar had come from Ryoku, a long time ago during an accident, but even so, it was part of him, and she had loved all of him for as long as she could remember. But she was so hesitant, so shy at telling him, and how she wanted to tell him. To let him know that she loved him, had always loved and will always love him. For now, she could at least enjoy his company, and that was what she was going to try. So, she smiled as best as she could.

"Y-you could n-n-never be scary, Tr-evor."

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2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eien Minamoto Character Portrait: Reiko Akarui
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Reiko went from blinking her large green eyes owlishly at her female cousin to being just about to rescind her opinion and go with them to trying to fight down a blush (and, thankfully, succeeding) as she delicately laid her palm on Eien’s forearm. It was honestly silly, how ridiculous she felt whenever she was alone with him. It had been the same way every time for at least thirty years now. She was hopeless, really, and very surprised that he didn’t think she was an idiot by this point. “I-if it’s really all right,” she said, but it seemed to be. He wasn’t the kind of person who said he would do something only to change his mind all of a sudden, anyway.

They managed to find seats without any difficulty, though they filled up in the few minutes after. “Thank you, Eien,” she said, smiling brightly despite herself. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a while, actually… though I was serious when I said we can leave if it’s bad.” She scrunched her nose slightly. She really didn’t like it when people ruined a perfectly good play with poor acting or something. Not that she minded novices; everyone had to start somewhere. It was more like… when you could tell that the actors just didn’t care about the material, and had made no effort to learn about it—it felt like a disrespect for the literature, and Reiko had a lot of respect for literature, being rather a bookworm herself.

Eien tilted his head slightly before waiting for Reiko to take his arm. Once she did, he began walking at a steady pace, one that wasn't too quick nor slow. Just steady. His eyes glanced over the crowd every now and then, watching as eyes would flicker to him and then towards Reiko, and then back to him. He sighed softly through his nose. There were times where he seriously wandered how his father had dealt with such things. It was annoying to be regarded as something...like meat. Though if he recalled correctly, his father had actually indulged himself with these types of things, before he met Shizuka. He was brought from his thoughts by Reiko, and the arrival at the theater.

"There is no need to thank me, Reiko. Hikari can take care of herself, and I'd rather not be dragged into whatever it is she and your sister might conjur should their paths cross. Besides," he spoke, glancing down at Reiko as they stopped walking. "Is there something wrong with wanting to enjoy my time with my cousin?" he questioned, raising a slight brow in the process. He shook his head softly as he returned his attention back towards the stage, a frown etching upon his face as he watched the students set up the stage. They could leave if it was bad, but she was looking forward to this play for a while now.

"If the play is not to your liking, then we will leave. I do not mind either way," and he didn't. This was a once a year festival, one that he was quite well accustomed to by now, and he honestly didn't mind it as much as he might have portrayed himself. It was quite the opposite really. It always amused him, to a certain degree, to see what his cousin and his other family members could pull off. Well, there was also this plus side to it.

“No, of course not,” Reiko answered quickly, waving her free hand in front of her face to banish the thought. No, there was nothing wrong with enjoying his time with her… though honestly, she was probably enjoying it a little too much. She had built something of a resistance to this over the years, and not longer did she have to worry about her heart beating uncontrollably or her face turning red or stammering in his presence… at least not usually. Then again, she did things like stutter with some regularity, if not as often as Farah, the poor thing. She had Reiko’s problem without her coping mechanisms, and it was painfully obvious. Truthfully, Kiko was as much of a wreck inwardly right now as Farah was outwardly when around Trevor, so there was that.

She really did enjoy the theater though, and so when the play started, she devoted her attention to it, or rather she tried. The first actor botched his lines, and all of the acting was… well, she wasn’t sure there was a polite way to say it. Still, she tried her best to enjoy it, but half an hour in, after the seventh missed cue, she sighed and shook her head. This was really pretty hopeless. Reaching over, she tapped Eien’s arm with her first two fingers, making a face and then tilting her head towards the aisle, asking without words if he wanted to leave. She was certainly inclined to. It was pretty physically painful to watch one of her favorites being butchered, honestly.

Eien wasn't much for facial expressions. In fact, his face often seemed to remain pressed into a fine line, a new meaning to stoicism being defined by it really, however; the play had truly pulled at his facial strings. His lips pursed into a fine line before they tilted downwards, the frown growing more prominent with each missed cue, missed line, and atrocious acting. Was this what the drama club was reduced to? He shook his head faintly, only briefly turning to face Reiko when she tapped his arm. He blinked slowly at her before inclining his head.

"Is there any other place you wish to go?" he questioned. The play had proven to be a disappointment, and he still had tickets left if she was so inclined to go play more games. Though he was certain she wouldn't, she wasn't like his other family members that way. Or perhaps she was, and it was something he had failed to notice. He didn't give it much thought as he waited for her reply.

Kiko gave the matter some thought; she honestly didn’t know. If she played the games, it would probably end in disaster, but she wasn’t entirely sure what else she should do. Sometimes, it was difficult to figure out what to do with someone who very rarely expressed an opinion about anything. She knew he had them, somewhere in there, but he was very difficult to read, even to someone like her, who was accomplished at picking up on the smallest facial or body-language cues. Taking a deep breath, she expelled it through her nose, shaking her head a little.

“I suppose it would be no use at all asking what you want to do, would it, Eien?” She smoothed her face out into her best impression of him, pursing her lips into a thin line and letting her eyes take on a neutral sort of look, narrowing them a little so that they were more like his and less like her too-big, too-round ones. “It is of no consequence to me what we do, Reiko,” she said as flatly as she could manage, but she couldn’t hold the impression any longer than that, and burst into a fit of giggles, which was rather unfortunate, really, because of course her vision was hampered by this, and what should happen a moment later but that she tripped on what was presumably the tent-pole of something or another being set up, and with a small ‘meep’ of surprise, headed face-first for the ground. She really was that unlucky, wasn’t she?

Eien rose a brow at his cousin, watching her with curious eyes as she spoke. His brow ascended further when she tried to imitate him. He would have found it rather amusing, however; she burst into a fit of giggles, her eyes closing, and taking a few steps back. He sighed, shaking his head in the process. She was correct though in that thought. It would be useless to ask where he wanted to go, because in all honesty, he wanted to leave already. The people here were already annoying him to a certain degree, but he had enough self-respect to not do anything about it. His other family members, however, wouldn't be so inclined. Even now, he was certain they were causing mayhem.

He opened his eyes in time to see his cousin trip, and without much thought, moved swiftly, encircling his left arm around her torso and pulling her back up to him. She would have been pulled closely to his chest at the motion, and he stared a head as if staring at a foreign object. "Are you alright, Reiko?" he stated, finally lowering his gaze to meet hers.

Rather than smashing her nose into the ground as she had expected to do, she felt something firm grip her around the waist, and she was pulled back against something solid, but warm. Blinking, she realized that she was in fact braced against Eien’s chest, and that it was his arm around her waist, and her heart gave a familiar little lurch and stutter before picking up its pace. She suddenly felt as though she’d just run for days. Coughing slightly rather than laugh nervously, she stepped out of his grip, because while she very well wanted to stay there, that would look strange. By the time she answered the question, there was hardly anything out of the ordinary about her demeanor at all, and even that little could probably be attributed to her near-disaster.

Placing a hand behind her head, she smiled sheepishly, an expression curiously reminiscent of her father. She was honestly just glad she hadn’t fainted right there—it had been a near thing. “Oh, me? Yes, I’m fine! Nothing to worry about—you could have let me fall, you know. I do this sort of thing all the time, really.” Of course, he’d known that already. “Thank you, though. I might have broken my nose, and that would have been a bit messy!” Not to mention a bit uncomfortable for some of the other vampires in the area. Kiko’s blood shared a lot of properties with Ichirou’s, her many-times great-grandfather, and as such, it was somewhat difficult to ignore, especially when spilled.

She pursed her lips in thought, though, and when a loud crash sounded from somewhere in the distance, she sighed. Naya was probably at it again—that happened with alarming frequency. Or… it would have alarmed her, were she not so used to it. Shaking her head, Kiko looked back up at her cousin. She wouldn’t deny that it was at once wonderful and terrible being alone with him, it wasn’t hard to tell that he took no joy from anything here. “Actually, if it’s all the same to you, Eien…” and they both knew it was, “I think I might go back to the library for a while. Festivals are nice, but I think this one’s about to come to an end… Naya’s afoot.” She tried not to feel too disappointed—really, she expected nothing else to have come of this. She would just take it to have been a nice evening with her cousins and be satisfied with that. Reiko was more suited to lonely nights in the library, anyway; it was her comfort zone, and that was for a reason.

Eien furrowed his brows lightly at her comment. "Why would I let you fall? Others may have, but your safety is my concern, regardless of how it comes to be," he stated, his eyes narrowing in the slightest way. Why would he let her fall though? He was here, she was falling, the solution was clear. He caught her, and in doing so prevented her from breaking her nose. He sighed softly, watching as she stepped from his grasp, and bent down to pick up the stuffed animal he had dropped prior to keeping her from falling. Once the creature was situated in his hold, he turned towards her, about to speak when a loud sound caused him to turn towards the direction. He could smell Naya and his brother's friend, Tora, off in that direction.

"Naya," he spoke, shaking his head softly before turning back to Reiko. He regarded her a few seconds before blinking slowly and turning once more in the direction of the crash. "Your sister seems to have a way of causing things to crash and explode, I believe I will accompany you to the library. I do not wish to be around when they burn down the stages or set off an explosion," he spoke, extending his arm out for her to take. The library did have a nice ring to it right about now, excluding the sound of something else crashing echoing about.

It wasn’t an inaccurate assessment of what would probably happen, honestly. With a light sigh, Reiko managed a rueful smile and took the proffered arm. The library it was, then.

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Hikari Minamoto Character Portrait: Reiko Akarui Character Portrait: Tatsuhiko Fujiwara
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Tatsuhiko made his way up the dormitory steps with perhaps a little less fluid grace than usual. Not because he was injured—a pack of werewolves was hardly enough to accomplish that—but simply because he was tired. The last few weeks had seen him out of school more often than in class, and in truth, he’d been running multiple assassinations a night, usually. It had been something of a relief to have to put down rabid dogs instead of people who were more or less minding their own business. That was the trouble with hunter werewolves—they often simply could not control themselves, and lost the ability to shift back, becoming feral and haunting forests and cities alike. The Council preferred that this not become public knowledge, and so he was the one dispatched to deal with it. If they’d wanted a spectacle, they’d have sent Tora instead.

He hadn’t slept in a week, and though he did not allow it to show in his face, save for the darkened shadows under his indigo eyes, he was feeling it, to a certain extent. The sound of soft footsteps and a somewhat-familiar scent reached him at the same time, and he was raising his eyes to greet Reiko Akarui when a small sound of surprise and a scuff both sounded into the quiet, and the selfsame girl came tumbling headfirst down the stairs, eyes wide, but honestly not otherwise appearing all that astonished by her predicament. Indeed, she watched them close afterwards, and her hands reflexively came up to shield her face.

It would have been a rather simple matter for Tatsu to make himself intangible, and she would have passed right through him. He had the reflexes to manage it in the small window of time available, but he did not. Instead, he caught the girl, wrapping his arms around the middle of her back as a matter of necessity—it would do little good to catch her only to let her fall again. Only her momentum was rater than he had expected, and one of his feet slid off the stair he was balanced lightly on, and then they were both falling. Tatsuhiko tucked her head carefully into his shoulder, inclining his own down until his chin met his sternum. That saved both of them from the worst of it, and Tatsu took the impact on his shoulders and back, keeping himself between Reiko and the floor.

When at last they skidded to a stop on the landing, Tatsu noted that one of his ribs had broken with a wet snap, but this was a minor concern at best, considering it was already healing. Once assured that they were in fact both more-or-less fine, he immediately relinquished his hold on the girl, who looked caught between flustered and ashamed for some reason. Her face was red, and he supposed he could understand why—he wasn’t really used to touching people, either, and was fairly certain that he would also be pink if he were not in such control of his emotional expressions. “Are you well, Miss Reiko?” he asked, and that seemed to trigger a reaction, because she immediately scrambled off his person, leaning down only to offer a hand up. He took it, though it wasn’t entirely necessary to do so, rolling his shoulders and folding his hands into his sleeves immediately afterwards.

“Y-yes, thank you,” she said, smiling sheepishly. “I’m very sorry, Tatsuhiko; I’m afraid this sort of thing happens to me all the time.”

Hikari wandered aimlessly through the campus. She dusted off the few pieces of dirt that still clung to her. She and Naya had been at it all morning, showcasing who the better swordsman was, however; as it always was, it ended in a draw. Naya, though, was older than Hikari, and had more experience at it, and that thought alone caused Hikari to grin. If she could keep up with Naya, then she was progressing rather nicely. Though, most of her skill came from her father's teachings, she was still trying to improve. She tilted her head to the side, listening as her neck popped back into place before rolling her shoulders out. After the sword fight, both of them enlisted into a fist fight, all because of something one of them said, she couldn't really remember. She was certain Naya had broken one of her wrists since it still ached a bit.

She, however, was also certain that she gave Naya a bruise somewhere, but being what they were, it was hard to tell. She was snapped out of her thoughts, pausing moments before something fell from the stair steps that led to the dormitory. She blinked a few times, staring a head of herself before glancing at the stair case, and then towards the floor. She watched the scene unfold, watching as Reiko stumbled backwards and offered a hand to help Tatsuhiko up. Still blinking owlishly, Hikari felt her hand cover her mouth, her attempts at stopping the giggles from escaping, however; it was useless. She let out a laugh, clutching her sides as she doubled over slightly, trying to contain herself. Once she settled down her laughter, she wiped at her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Are you alright, Reiko, Tatsu?" she finally managed to speak, still trying to contain her laughter. She hadn't meant to laugh at her cousin, nor Tatsuhiko, but the situation was just a typical thing to happen to her cousin. It was well known that Reiko was not the most graceful of the family, however; it was to be expected by now. Not that Hikari ever found pleasure in her cousin's misfortune. "And I am afraid Rei-Rei is correct, this happens to her all the time," she continued as she shrugged her shoulders. "But still, are you alright?" she added, glancing between the two of them.

Reiko was surprisingly good at reading people, and she could tell that Tatsuhiko was not exactly comfortable with the situation, less so when Hikari rounded the corner, but she could not divine the exact reason why. Perhaps it was something as mundane as being a little embarrassed at being witnessed falling. If so, it didn’t make a lot of sense—the man was positively catlike in his grace and reflexes, she could tell from how quickly he’d reacted. Surely, he could have moved out of the way in time if that was his primary concern? Well, whatever the case, it probably wasn’t any of her business. “I’m fine, thank you Kari,” she said, taking absolutely no offense at her cousin’s ill-disguised laughter. She was used to being the butt of jokes in this sense, and she didn’t really mind. Reiko was fortunate enough to be even more durable than the average pureblood, and so her accidents hardly ever did her much damage at all. She could be thrown into a wall by a catapult and not flinch. The fact that she knew this was something she attributed to one of Naya’s wilder schemes.

She dusted off her dress, noting that Tatsuhiko seemed to have accumulated some dust on his back and shoulders, but he seemed either unaware or unconcerned. “Thank you for your kindness, Tatsuhiko; it means a lot.” she gave him a winning smile, which if anything seemed to increase rather than assuage his discomfort, and he shook his head, which caused the tie binding his hair in its loose tail to finish falling out. He caught the object on its way down, tucking it away into a sleeve, content apparently to shake out his deep violet locks and leave them loose for the moment.

“It is nothing, Miss Reiko” he said dismissively, flickering his glance between the two women.

Kiko snorted, a somewhat unladylike sound that conveyed her feelings quite well. “Just Kiko, thanks. And it’s not nothing, not to me. I should thank you somehow… I know! I was just going to make a hotpot. Do you want to come? Kari-chan’s a really good cook, she can help me make it this time!” Kiko was not bad at cooking at all, but she was not the expert Kari-chan was, considering that she did not have to eat—she just enjoyed doing so. She presumed that Tatsuhiko was a pureblood like her, since he didn’t have the slight tint of human-smell like nobles did, so she wasn’t even sure he liked eating, but she felt she had to offer. If she was at all concerned about the fact that she’d just volunteered her cousin for something without asking, she didn’t show it.

He, however, was a bit more conscientious, his manners only slightly hindered by the fact that he was, actually, starving. He’d been planning on handling it with some blood tablets, as unlike Tora he was not much for the practice of taking lovers, nor feeding from them. He also had no food with which to make himself a meal, and the cafeterias were long closed. “If… if this is Hikari’s wish as well, I suppose it would be rude of me to decline,” he said neutrally, offering the other woman the opportunity to back out gracefully if she had something else to do.

"Wait, what? What are you cooking now?" Hikari stated, slightly caught off guard by her cousin's sudden statement, volunteering herself to help make a meal. Well, she really wasn't doing anything, and if anything, she was a little hungry herself, however; if she did cook, she'd probably end up cooking more than what was needed. Her family, after all, had a very large appetite, especially Ryoku who could eat at least five elephants and still manage to be hungry. She contemplated the thought for a moment, her eyes flickering to Tatsuhiko and absentmindedly dusted the dust from his clothing. She put a hand under chin in the process before grinning brightly at her cousin.

"Well, you are in luck. I am not doing anything in particular, and I am a bit hungry myself. Practice sessions with Nana are always a bit, ah, intense, so to the kitchen!" she stated. She then tapped her chin in a thoughtful manner before turning back to Reiko. "We are not going to make a simple hotpot, not if I have anything to say about it!" she spoke, removing her hand and lacing it with Reiko's. She smiled brightly at her cousin. She'd never admit to it out loud, but she did enjoy cooking. She enjoyed doing it because it was something she was actually good at. Plus, she enjoyed doing it for her family as well.

"Is there anything in particular you are feeling today? Whatever you wish, Kiko and I can make it," she questioned, turning her attention to Tatsuhiko. She could cook just about anything really, given the diverse palates her family had. Some of them preferred soups, sweets, salts, really just about anything. And it was because of them, she could cook just about anything. Reiko was no exception, that much she knew. Farah, Reiko, and herself were pretty much the cooks to the Minamoto and Akarui family, besides her mother of course, however; it was usually left to the three of them. Eien would help out occasionally, but his skills were nothing compared to his cousin and sister.

Tatsuhiko blinked. He had really not been expecting this level of energy from either of them, but it seemed that they were vibrant, kind people. He could see where Farah’s affection for them stemmed. The assassin had to fight not to stiffen when Hikari brushed off his shoulders, but at least he’d seen her coming. His reflexes might have proved to be more harmful then beneficial otherwise, and he didn’t want that. He kept his head turned slightly in the opposite direction until she was finished, murmuring a quiet thank you and clearing his throat a tad awkwardly. That close, it was hard not to notice somebody’s smell, and hers was quite… unique.

He was rather certain that he did not deserve the consideration he was being shown, but the least he could do was not bother them about it. They had clearly decided to do something—it fell upon him to show the proper appreciation and gratitude. “I am not particular about food,” he admitted, which was true. Tatsu could eat basically anything and enjoy it at least to some extent, an ability he had acquired in his childhood, when he was fed things that most would find unpalatable. They’d been nutritious, of course, but… the scientists who’d raised him had not much cared for taste. “Though… I do enjoy tea, when it is available.” He didn’t know if they were planning on making any or not, but… actually. “If the two of you are cooking, I can be accountable for at least this much, if it would be to your liking.”

He had such a formal way of speaking! Reiko almost giggled, but managed to constrain the mirth into a bright smile and an enthusiastic nod. “That sounds like a great idea. We’ll make whatever Kari-chan wants to cook, and you can make the tea!” Leading the way to the kitchen, her cousin’s arm looped in hers, Kiko hopped in place excitedly when they arrived, pulling utensils and ingredients for Kari’s chosen meal from cupboards and the refrigerator, humming to herself as she went. Tatsu, slightly wary of getting in the way, smoothly grabbed the kettle, filling it with water and setting it to boil on the range before choosing the far wall to lean against. He didn’t wish to be a nuisance, after all.

Hikari shook her head softly. They would learn not to leave the decision of food up to her. She followed Reiko to the kitchen, their arms still looped together before dislodging herself from her cousin. She immediately began work on the ingredients laid out for her, grabbing one of the fish and slicing it thinly before setting it into the pans. She worked, next, on stirring together the eggs and batter for the omelette she was preparing, dicing the cooked fish inside of it before pulling it from the stove and began work on the next item. She grabbed some extra rice, frying it before grabbing a few pieces of shrimp and throwing them into the mix.

By the time she was finished, Hikari set before her cousin and Tatsuhiko, an assortment of food, ranging from curry, to omelettes, to various sushi, and lastly, to something simple as an onigiri. Smiling, she nodded her head in satisfaction. It, perhaps, was not as much as she thought she was going to make, however; it was still plenty for the three of them, and still have left overs. Though, if she knew her brother, the moment Ryoku caught the scent, he would be here within mere seconds. Luckily, he was nowhere near, and the three could eat in relative peace.

"A la carte Hikari! My specialty," she spoke, grinning all the same as she placed plates around on the table. "If you guys are still hungry after this, I wouldn't be surprised really, there is a cake in the oven as well," she spoke, turning towards said oven. It was the last thing she did, and would be cooking while they ate. It was just something she wanted to do for dessert, though she had contemplated making the cake, or baking a cheesecake, however; the cheesecake would take far longer, and they only wanted something simple, or at least that is what she thought. Regardless, she shrugged her shoulders before sitting down at the table.

"I hope you enjoy!" she stated, breaking a part her chopsticks before placing food upon her plate. She really did go a bit overboard, but it wasn't like she cared much to begin with. The food wouldn't go to waste one way or another.

They were really something else. Tatsu wasn’t a horrible cook, by any means, but he tended not to make such a wide variety of things, and he’d be surprised if he had half as much natural aptitude for it as they did, especially Hikari. Kiko assisted where pertinent, allowing her cousin to make even more things at once, while the male in the room mostly just steeped his tea. This was something he did very well, however, and based on the assortment of scents his nose was informing him of, he selected a light jasmine to brew, and was pouring the cups of it just as the last of the dishes came to rest on the table. He could smell the cake, too, though he wasn’t exactly sure how he was ever going to get through even as much food as was presently before him.

Reading the speculative hint on his face with some accuracy, Reiko laughed. “She says that because her brother Ryoku eats like he’s never seen food before. You don’t have to feel obligated to finish everything if you don’t want.” He nodded, his facial expression softening.

“Ryoku… he is one of my brother’s friends.”

Kiko nodded, smiling brightly. “That’s the one.” Both of them broke their chopsticks apart, said their thanks, and tucked in. From the way Tatsuhiko stopped after the first bite, staring at his bowl as though confused, she deduced that he must not have had anything like this before. It was hard to tell if his surprise was good or bad, but that much became evident enough when he spoke, very seriously, to Hikari, his eye contact unwavering and the slightest bit too intense for the situation. Perhaps he did not know how to be otherwise.

“I do not claim to know your ambitions in life, Hikari, but if ever you wished to become a chef, I believe you would be an extraordinary one.” The words were obviously sincere, delivered with a soft tone that was nevertheless quite certain, and Kiko sighed lightly. How sweet; it was like something the mysterious lord would say to the heroine of one of her fairytale books, really, or at least that’s how she imagined the tone must be like. Of course, this was hardly like that, but even so, sincere, meaningful compliments like that were rare in her life, where people more often than not teased each other or else were blunt or sarcastic more than anything. It wasn’t hard to see why Farah sought Tatsuhiko’s company so often—she hadn’t felt this at ease in a while, even if he was a smidge awkward. She was, too, so she didn’t mind.

Reiko sipped her tea, her eyes lighting up with delight. “This tea’s really good, too, Tatsu!” His eyes flickered to her, breaking their oddly-long contact with Kari’s and he inclined his head in thanks for the compliment. She smiled, and the stiffness in his shoulders eased slightly. She doubted he ever smiled himself, but the fact that he was enjoying himself was rather apparent in other, smaller ways.

Somehow, they did manage to make it through the food; Tatsu had apparently been hungrier than he’d initially suspected. He found the atmosphere very pleasant, actually, though for the most part, he’s simply listened to the two cousins talk to one another. Now, though, Reiko was saying something about cake, and he found himself a bit curious. If the dessert was half as good as the dinner, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to eat the items the scientists gave him anymore. That… might not be the best plan, but all the same, he did not refuse when Kiko asked if he had room for some.

Hikari blinked owlishly at Tatsuhiko, his words barely registering in her mind as she continued to keep their gazes locked. She'd make an extraordinary chef? She never gave much thought about what she wanted to do with her life before. She had all the time in the world, as far as she knew, and there were perhaps a plethora of things she could do, however; with the war going on, and her family not taking a stand against it, she wasn't entirely sure where or what she'd be doing in the near future. The statement, however, managed to bring out a bright smile upon her face as she grinned at Tatsuhiko, her face dusting a light pink in the process. She was used to praise, but it usually came from her family. Hearing it from someone who wasn't, was a bit pleasant.

"I'll have to keep that in mind then. I do not know exactly what I plan on doing with my life, but I shall take that into consideration. Thank you, Tatsu," she stated, the grin never faltering from her face. "I have to agree, this tea is really good," she added to Reiko's earlier comment. It was rather true, the tea he had brewed was really good. That, or she hadn't drank enough to know what great tea tasted like, but if she had to guess, it would be something like this. She fell into a conversation with Reiko, occasionally directing a question or statement towards Tatsuhiko before Reiko mentioned cake. She glanced around, noting that most of the food was gone and chuckled lightly to herself. Standing from her chair, she left to grab the cake from the counter and set it down in front of the two others.

"It's probably not as good as Mama Rei-Rei's, but there it is all the same. Cakes are not really my specialty," she stated, which was somewhat true. Cooking she was great at, baking she was good at. She could never get some recipe's right, and ended up making things too sugary, or didn't put enough sugar in them. She laughed nervously to herself at that thought. She should, perhaps bake more often. She certainly had the time to do so.

It might have been true that Kari’s baking was not up to quite the same standard as her cooking, but if so, Tatsuhiko barely noticed the difference. He’d never tasted a dessert this good in his entire century of life. When the three of them were finished, he offered to do the dishes after refreshing the tea so that the women could sit and digest for a bit. When he was done, he returned to stand in front of the table, bowing politely. “You have my thanks,” he said to both of them. “Truly, I have never partaken of a meal this good, nor in such pleasant company. I am afraid my brother eats in much the same manner as Hikari’s is described.” there was a flicker of amusement in his eyes, but also the faintest touch of fatigue. What he really needed right now was to sleep.

“If you will excuse me, however, I will leave you both to the rest of your nights.” With that, he took his leave.

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Naya Akarui Character Portrait: Torahiko Fujiwara
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Two months after the festival found winter beginning to settle over the campus of Cross Academy, but it had not yet snowed, and the last of the autumn leaves were tenacious. Today was an especially fine one, a brief respite from the cold snap that had started three nights ago, and Torahiko was taking full advantage of the warmth of the sunlight, sprawled out on the ground in a clearing in the forest that surrounded the grounds. His arms were spread-eagled out to either side of him, his eyes shut, and his chest rising and falling steadily. He was, in fact, asleep, but the way Tora and his brother slept was not the same way that other people did.

Perhaps it was an effect of the time they’d spent in incubation tanks, or perhaps it was the cruel rigors of their training. It might even be the abnormally-high degree of psychic energy in each of them, that gave Tora his psychometry and Tatsu his precognition. Whatever it was, it ensured that even when they slept and sometimes dreamed, they were aware, in some way, of how things proceeded around them in the outside world, able to wake at a moment’s notice and react if necessary. It had saved their lives more than once.

Presently, it wasn’t going to save Tora’s life, but it was going to provide him some entertainment. He sensed her coming, though he supposed she must have miscalculated where he was, because she tripped right over him, headed for the ground at a truly spectacular rate. At least, she was until one of his loose arms moved up to catch her, in what could have been a very lucky movement made by someone entirely caught in dream. Indeed, he didn’t exactly wake up when his tanned arm banded around her waist and stopped her fall by directing it atop his person, causing her to land more or less nose-to-chest with him, which in the latter case was a bare expanse of honey-colored skin, the result of wearing a haori-style shirt rather loosely. Nor was he fully conscious when his grip tightened and his other arm circled around her lower back. Rolling slightly, he moved onto his side and hugged her closer, nuzzling his nose into her hair and inhaling, murmuring something with sleepy satisfaction, too low and rumbly to make out the words properly.

A slight smile took up residence on his face, though without some rather acrobatic escape maneuvers, she probably wouldn’t be able to see it. Her hair, he observed without really having the thought, smelled almost as good as her mouth tasted.


Naya Akarui was hopelessly lost. She sighed, wondering if she should turn around again, but then she was brought back to reality as she tripped. She had been so absorbed in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed the scent, or his presence at all. She let out a slight yelp as she tripped, fully expecting to come face-first to the ground, but instead, she found herself on top of something almost soft as his arm caught her around the waist. She shut her eyes as she landed, increasingly aware that her face was quite literally buried into someone's chest, and it only took one sniff to realize it was Torahiko.

She froze when she felt his other arm encircle her and they rolled over, the motion entangling their legs quite thoroughly. Naya felt her face turning red, she was fairly certain one could feel the heat she was giving off. Tora muttered something, and she realized as he all but buried his nose into her hair that he was asleep. That really only made her blush further, and she was fairly certain that she was the same color as her aunt's hair. Oh, oh, this was so embarassing. This type of thing only happened to her twin, not to her. Well, she supposed there was a first time for everything.

She lay there, chewing on her bottom lip. She'd stopped moving, as when she did, she was rather aware of Tora's body, and that...well. Facing his bare chest alone was much more than she was used to, and while she was trying to decide if she should wake him up or not, she found herself becoming mesmerized by the planes of said chest, the broad muscles apparent beneath skin. She started slightly, realizing her train of thought and she sighed. Her voice was slightly muffled, being so close to him, but she spoke all the same. Her voice sounded oddly small to her. "Tora...? Please wake up..."


This really was just too much fun. To further exacerbate matters, Tora shifted slightly, exhaling a warm breath directly against the column of her throat, curling his much larger frame around her smaller one as though seeking to both give and receive warmth against the chill of the day. It was taking her an awfully-long time to react to what was going on, and though his ego hardly needed the boost, he felt it all the same. Tora knew he was very nice to look at, and he’d rendered more than one person a stammering mess before—it was something he quite enjoyed. But something about doing it to her, someone with so much fire and brimstone in her, was immensely more satisfying.

When she spoke, he considered drawing the whole thing out a little more, perhaps pretending to be a heavier sleeper than he was, but in the end, the prospect of seeing her embarrassed face was far too much to pass up, so he brought himself the rest of the way to wakefulness, cracking open emerald eyes which had a hint of sleepiness left in them still and pulling back just enough to look her in the face. He blinked once, slowly, and allowed the small smile on his lips to spread into something positively sinful. She really was cute when she blushed like that. He took in the full details of the situation—tangled legs, the state of his shirt, that delightful shade of red—and chuckled darkly. One of his hands snaked out from under her, and he used it to prop up his head, disinclined to either let her go or move from his present placement. The other remained banded about her waist, his thumb drawing idle circles at her hip, where his large hand rested.

“Mm… good morning, kitten,” he rumbled in a low-thrumming tone. “You know, if you wanted to sleep with me, all you ever had to do was ask.”


This man. Most of the time Naya was torn between being drawn to him and wanting to beat the living daylights out of him. Now was one of those times. As embarrassed as she was, there was no denying the slight prickle of contentment she was getting from this, though at the moment, the embarrassment far outweighed it, especially when he spoke.

She supposed she should have expected nothing less than that from him. Sometimes she wondered just why she was so attracted to him, the man was a letch. So, trying to regain at least some of her dignity, she managed to scowl into his chest, not giving him the satisfaction of glare at him. However, she was still blushing, so it perhaps lost most of its desired effect.

"I had nor have no such desire, it was you who latched on to me when I tripped over you. Now will you let me go?"


Tora trailed the hand at her hip up her arm and into her hair, toying absently with the cornflower-blue strands, soft against the calluses of his fingers. He wasn’t particularly interested in her denials, especially when it was patently obvious that she had entertained the thoughts she was so fervently denying, now if not before. He blinked lazily down at her, raising an eyebrow as if the suggestion was somehow perplexing. “And why would I want to do that?” he asked languidly, as though bored by the very thought of just letting her get up and go about her day. He did so hate being bored.

There were any number of ways he could have entertained himself in this situation, but Tora hated being predictable, so he went with the one he was quite certain she was definitely not expecting. Rolling them back over, he situated them so that she was laying half on top of him, pillowed on his chest and abdomen, the corded muscle of his arm still keeping her there. “Tell me something about yourself, kitten.” The question was admittedly a bit unusual for him—he was not in the habit of getting to know people he was only interested in bedding, but he was ever a creature of his own whimsy, and had decided that he wanted to hear her talk about herself. So that’s what he would do.


Naya let out a muffled yelp as he rolled again, his arm taking her with him. Being on top of him with gravity doing its job really only made things worse, and she had the very peculiar desire to simply lay there and sleep. That alone was strange to her, but even stranger was his question. At least this way she was able to raise her head enough to look at him, although it may have been better had she not. Her face was cooling slightly, but she was still a rather bright shade of pink.

The universe really just hated her, that was all.

"I don't know what I could tell you that you probably haven't already heard. The school likes to talk about us." That was true, not only was she an Akarui -a rather prominent vampire family- but she was also a twin, believed to be a myth. That had been why her grandfather had wanted her and her sister before they were even born, why they had, between the two of them, more kidnapping contracts out than probably anyone else on the planet. It was a rather interesting thought when one thought about it.

"Though I guess if there would be something you didn't know if would be that my favorite color is green. Obviously, I like cats, and I like fighting." Like him, like his eyes. She sighed slightly. Well, there was no harm in him knowing that, she supposed. "I like to sing, too. Mom says I got that from our ancestor, Naoya. Apparently he was fond of music."


Tora listened surprisingly intently to her words, though his free hand—the one not around her waist, did wander a bit, mostly through her hair and over the contours of her form, caressing with a surprisingly-tender touch, a bit meditative, honestly. He also kept from going anywhere that would really be considered inappropriate, and ended up just stroking her back in circles and sweeps of strong fingers, pausing occasionally on a spot of tension and pressing deftly until he felt the muscle loosen and ease. He hummed a note in his throat when she finished, meeting her eyes, and half-smiling, an unreadable expression crossing his face.

“I don’t care what they say, kitten. I wanted to know what you would say.” And now he did—how interesting. He was admittedly a little intrigued by what she’d chosen to say. It was true that parts of it were things he’d known already, but not all of it was. Winding a strand of her hair upon his fingers, he brought it to his mouth and brushed his lips over it, a curiously-intimate gesture for all that he was touching no skin. Perhaps it was because he did not once break eye contact with her. When he spoke again, his voice was low, rich, and still with that faintest hint of lazy sensuality.

“Sing for me, Naya.”


Naya's eyebrows rose. No one ever asked her to sing but Haru, and occasionally Reiko. She was painfully aware of every touch and movement of his hands, though he at least seemed to keep the contact somewhat decent. Her face finally managed to regain its natural color, though he managed to make her blush again when he began playing with her hair. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt, singing for him, but...he rarely used her name, either.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. A slight smile graced her face, and she let her eyes slip closed, exhaling through her nose gently. She let herself get lost in the melody in her head for a few seconds before beginning to sing. To be honest, as she was singing, she completely forgot that Torahiko was even there. She got utterly lost in the music, and she opened her eyes when she was finished, her face brightened by a genuine smile, pink dusting her face even so.


His gaze never left her, not even when she closed her eyes. She was talented, certainly, but he was less interested in that than he was in what happened to her when she sang, and when she opened her eyes again, it was to see that the expression he wore was curiously-soft. He made no initial comment, simply flowing into a seated position and taking her with him. Tilting his head to the side, he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted her face up towards him. Never predictable, though, he simply pressed his lips to her forehead chastely. “Beautiful,” he said simply, and the arm at her waist loosened, freeing her from his grip. She was free to go with no more harassment than that.

Naya never really knew what to make of this man, honestly. The one who flirted with her and every other woman, who harassed her, who acted like he didn't care, and probably did not for all she knew...kissed her on the forehead and was now simply just letting her go. She just did not get him at all. He was like a puzzle that every time she put a piece in, some other, more confusing empty slot showed up, with more questions than answers.

Even so, it was a slight relief to be able to move again, though it felt strangely cold. Well, maybe that wasn't so strange, considering the weather, but...she shook her head, clearing it, and stood up. She looked at him sideways before leaving.

"All you ever have to do is ask, Kishi-Tora."

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Character Portrait: Eien Minamoto Character Portrait: Reiko Akarui
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Two months after the festival found Eien inside of the Library, a book in his hand as his eyes skimmed over it. He wasn't particularly focused on it, and instead, had allowed his mind to wander. He currently had the upcoming festival in his mind. Though it was still a few months away, somehow, he and his brother and sister's had somehow been dragged into being a part of it. He was not entirely happy about that. Though he did not know what exactly what it was that he would be particularly doing, he somehow knew it was not going to be pleasant. At all. He sighed, shifting in his spot just a bit to find that comfortable space and leaned on his elbow against the arm rest of his chair.

He closed the book in his hand, setting it down on the table to the side of him. It was not interesting to him, and he had no more desire to read it than he did to seek out another's company. Currently, he could sense his brother with Haru and Torahiko, and his sisters were together, doing something he couldn't quite make out. Naya, on the other hand, was with Trevor, or rather the latter was with her. That thought alone caused his lips to tilt just barely, but not enough to elicit an actual smile from him. As odd as his family was, they always managed to be together and destroying or creating something. Which in question left one missing.

His eyes glanced towards the door, and the sight of pale blue hair caught his attention. His stare was blank, uneasy to read, as he regarded his cousin. It was strange, when he thought about it, how she was only a few months older than him, but that did not stop him from regarding her as one of his younger siblings. She was, perhaps, the one who needed to be watched the most, if her clumsiness was anything, though he knew she could be quite capable when the moment came. Regardless, he raised a hand towards her, signaling her that he too was here, before picking up another book, his eyes scanning the page in the process. There had to be something interesting he could read.

Reiko had actually been enjoying a relatively accident-free day: she’d only managed to injure herself once, in the process of reaching for a glass on a high shelf. It had smacked her in the head on the way down, but it hadn’t even broken. So she’d had her supplements this morning without accidents, and that was rather impressive, at least as far as she was concerned. Ever the optimist, Kiko was hoping that it might manage to extend to the rest of the day, as well, and she’d made her way to the library—without tripping on anything!—whilst humming a cheerful tune, which of course she stopped doing as soon as she’d entered. It was rude to make too much noise in a library, after all, even though there was rarely anyone else in here, except for sometimes Eien, or even more occasionally, Tatsuhiko.

She could smell Eien right now, actually, though she was a bit surprised when she came within sight of him and he lifted a hand to indicate his presence. Reiko smiled and waved back—only for her hand to accidentally knock a nearby ladder used for shelving high things, unsteadying the whole lot. Eyes going wide, she made a small noise of surprise and managed to steady the ladder, but not the books that had been on top of it. Her hands still occupied by the wooden contraption, she shut her eyes against the inevitable damage.

“Oww…” she muttered softly when the books had settled at her feet, having, of course, pelted her on the way down. Shaking her head and sighing, she crouched to pick them up, surmounting the ladder with surprising grace when she had them all in-hand and replacing the stack a little more securely. Most of Reiko’s problems were not actually caused by clumsiness, but inattention. She spaced out so often or got so distracted by something that she stopped noticing what was actually going on around her, and was then unlucky enough to encounter basically every mishap she could think of. It was perhaps understandable, then, why her accidents seemed to increase in frequency in Eien’s company. He was about as distracting as people got, at least to her.

Setting a few disturbed hairs back into place as best she could, Kiko gabbed a few books—a strange mix of fairy stories and technical materials on computers and biophysics, and took a seat at the large table across from where Eien stood. “Nothing interesting?” she asked, tilting her head at his obvious lack of success finding anything.

Eien sighed the moment her hand hit the ladder, causing it to shake and start a tumble towards the floor before she managed to steady it. He watched, about to point out the books that were already taking a tumble from the top of the ladder, before the books finally fell, pelting Reiko on the way down and he shook his head. Really, the girl was as accident prone as Farah was to blushing. He could have moved, saved her from the inevitable fall of the books, but something had grounded him to his chair, and so he merely regarded his cousin when she sat next to him, his eyes studying her for a moment. She seemed okay, for the most part, so that was good. It had surprised him, really, that she was so sturdy and seemed to recover so easily. But he simply sighed and nodded his head.

"I am afraid not. There is not much these days that can hold my interest for very long. I am quite bored really," he spoke, the laziness laced in his voice as he spoke. He shifted his gaze to look at the books she had and noted with curiosity the ones she had chosen. "An interesting choice of reading material," he spoke, inclining his head as he referred to her books. "What is it, exactly, that you plan on doing once you leave this place, Reiko?" he found himself asking, a bit curious to know. She was, after all, reading books about biophysics and computers. He knew she was rather talented with said things, and perhaps, she was interested in becoming either a doctor of some sorts, or perhaps a mechanic.

It mattered very little to him, though, as he silently waited for her explanation. She was her own person, and she could do whatever it was she pleased. Though, there was a part of him, somewhere, that was slightly worried. Worried because she wasn't exactly the most graceful of creatures, and anything could happen to her. He was protective of his family, and if he had a say in it, he would keep his family together for as long as he could. He wanted each of them within sight, including the one he disliked the most: Ryoku.

Reiko nodded sympathetically. Though boredom was not often an affliction she suffered from, given how eventful her life tended to be, she could picture just how it worked for him. It wasn’t like Eien had to worry about frequent mishaps and disasters, and honestly, without those, her life might qualify as pretty boring too, though she’d like to think she could find ways to amuse herself. Still there was something about him… like the kinds of silly little things that would amuse her in such circumstances would just annoy someone with as much dignity and distance as he had. It was a difference between them that she felt keenly. She could really picture him, one day, with a lady just as cool and elegant as he was. Kiko knew quite well that she didn’t qualify, and though it hurt, she wore a smile to disguise it.

A smile, she had found, was even more effective than betraying nothing at all.

The question, though, caught her off-guard. What did she want to do when she left Cross? She followed his glance to the books she had, and her smile inched wider. It was a bit silly, but the technical manuals were just things she read for fun. Reiko had always loved learning new things about the world, and how it all worked and fit together. She hadn’t thought much about what she would do after this, not since she was a very little girl. Shaking her head faintly, she picked up the collected book of fairytales. “I haven’t been asked that question since I was a little girl,” she confessed, a little bit sheepishly. “And back then, all I wanted to be was the princess in a fairy-story. It’s… well, it’s ridiculous, I know, but…” she shrugged, placing the book back down gently.

“Would it be too strange to say that the only thing I really want to do after this is be happy? I don't know where that will come from or how I’ll find it, but… as long as I’m happy, and my family is happy, that’s all I need.” There was a part of her that would always ache for a dream unfulfilled, but she knew well enough by now to expect that, and she was slowly learning to bulwark her heart against that eventual pain. The pain of him with someone who suited him as well as she imagined it. She didn’t need love to be happy—she was perfectly capable of finding that in other places. But she knew already, had known for a very long time, that she would love no one else as she loved him. She didn’t have it in her to do that.

“What about you, Eien?” she asked gently.

Happy? She wanted to be happy after she left the school? Had he been any other person, Eien might have laughed at such a silly notion, however; he did not. He was not any other person, and he had found it somewhat admirable, and brave for her to admit that. But then again, who didn't want to be happy? His parents were happy, that much he had known, growing up encased in that happiness, that love. It was, perhaps, any natural instinct to want to be happy. He allowed the barest of hints of his lips tilt up, just barely, but still not noticeable.

"I do not believe it to be strange, no," he spoke, addressing her first statement. "It is a dream as any other, and it is only natural that we would seek out happiness. We, after all, are not like most. We are not humans, and eternity is open to us and as with most things, our desires change. Just as you mentioned you wanted to be a princess when you were a child, and now you express your wish to be happy. One day, that too, will change, and you will want something more than just happiness," he spoke rather lengthily. He turned his attention away from her, just for a moment, when it was returned to her. At the question, he rose a brow.

"I have no use for anything in this world," he spoke almost as quickly as she had finished the sentence. "I plan on returning home after this charade is over with. I do not know why our parents insisted on us coming here, but I shall oblige them. One day, perhaps," he paused, his eyes narrowing just in the slightest, though not in discomfort. "I would like to travel away from this place, and explore the world and all it has to offer," he answered finally, though in reality, he wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to do.

“No use for anything in this world…” she repeated, and her tone was unreadable. She was still smiling, though, and she shook her head gently. It really was just like him, to say something like that. It broke her heart a little more to hear, but he didn’t know that and she’d never tell. Kiko would never want Eien to be anyone other than he really was, and she’d never want for him to start guarding his words for her sake. She loved him as he was, brutal truths and all. Perhaps especially those, because she was used to people treating her a little more… gently than they would others, because of her nature or her frequent mishaps or whatever else they saw in her. He’d never done that, and it was one of the reasons she…

“Traveling would be nice, I suppose,” she agreed with some enthusiasm. She relished in opportunities to learn, and not just from books. They had a fair few homes all over the world, and Reiko had seen a lot in a hundred years, but she did not believe that she was even close to having seen it all. With any luck, she never would—she would always be able to gaze upon things like a child did, with wonderment and awe and true appreciation. Even the little things. But she said none of this aloud; in fact, she said nothing more at all, setting aside the book of fairytales for the moment and cracking open the one on biophysics.

She wasn’t sure she could quite enjoy happily-ever-afters just now.

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Character Portrait: Haru Akarui Character Portrait: Naya Akarui Character Portrait: Reiko Akarui
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For once, Reiko wasn’t in the library. In fact, she was waiting at the gates of the Academy, dressed casually in a long-sleeved shirt, skirt, dark leggings and boots, accounting a little for the winter weather but not actually bothered by it. She supposed it was not long until the holidays, though it wasn’t really something that her family bothered with much one way or another. Still, they might take a trip this year—she honestly didn’t have much of a preference on the matter. She turned another page in her book, only to smell her siblings approaching. Marking her place carefully, she tucked the book into her messenger bag, and her face assumed a small smile.

The Akarui siblings made a point of getting off-campus every once in a while, once a month at least. This usually involved, as it would today, going out into the nearby town and just having a day for the three of them. Reiko always looked forward to it, because while she and her siblings were very different people, she loved them too dearly for words, and considered any time she had with them precious. Even if Naya had nearly killed her more times than she could properly remember and even if she’d accidentally walked in on Haru and a pair of lovers one time, prompting their mother to make the ‘not-under-our-roof’ rule. She attributed both of these things more to her own bad luck than anything, and for someone so hung up on fairy-story happy endings, she was very supportive of her brother in whatever he wanted for his life, even if she did know more about his feelings for Ryo (and Ryo’s feelings for Haru) than anyone would ever give her credit for.

These things—loving and accepting people for who and how they were while still trying to help them be their very best selves—were what the love of a family was about. So when her siblings arrived, Reiko smiled wider, and just barely managed to avoid stabbing herself on the wrought iron of the school gate. This, however, only made her shake her head. She was used to it. “So, where to today, guys?” She asked brightly, taking one of Naya’s hands in her left and one of Haru’s in her right. Sometimes, Reiko was definitely the oldest sister. Other times, one would guess she was the youngest, and this was such a moment, perhaps.


Naya was in a rather simple outfit, a plain white hoodie jacket and a short denim skirt, though perhaps what really seemed off about the outfit were her shoes. Black converse, but unlike most, they reached all the way up to her knees, laces and all. She loved those shoes, really. She was wearing black leggings as well. Haru simply had a pair of khaki shorts and an orange short-sleeved hoodie on. He grinned at Reiko, easily taking her hand. He may be the youngest, but he never really felt like it. He loved his sisters, honestly, though there was something almost...endearing about his oldest sister's habits at times. He had a silly little smile on his face, and shrugged.

"Well, I think a new bookstore opened up in town. We could go there, and of course we have to get Nana her chocolate ice cream topped with pickles. You know she'll complain about it if she doesn't get it."

Naya looked around her sister to stick her tongue out at Haru. "Shut up, Ha-chan." Haru chuckled. "So, managed to escape from fate's little game of chasing you around today, Rei-rei?"


Since they had a destination in mind now, Reiko started walking, paying careful attention to where she was placing her feet so that she didn’t step in a hole in the road or something. It would be just her luck, but she didn’t want to drag her siblings with her if she fell. She might be used to the accidents, but Naya and Haru generally went through life without her level of mishap, and so naturally, they weren’t as used to it all as Reiko had become. She didn’t want them to be, either. While it was probably funny most of the time, and she’d learned to take it in stride, it could be really unpleasant sometimes, too.

“Well, maybe a little, but honestly probably not,” Reiko admitted. They’d reached the town without major incident, but there were more distractions here, and she was more likely to mess something up and cause a disaster. The idea of a new bookstore was almost too enticing to pass up, but she tugged her brother and sister towards the ice cream parlor first. By now, the owner of the place knew Naya’s strange order by heart and greeted all of them warmly. Apparently, his grandfather had used to tell stories of a woman who ordered exactly the same thing, except sometimes with cheese. The comment, made once a few years ago, had made Reiko laugh. Likely, the owner’s grandfather had served their mother during one of her pregnancies.

Reiko herself ordered a chocolate-strawberry swirl flavor, and sat down at one of the tables in front of the window. She thought it might snow soon, the way the weather was going. She loved the snow—there was something almost magical about it, even if it was just frozen water. She tried not to let knowing a lot of science diminish her sense of magic. Where was the fun in that, after all?


Naya bit into her ice cream with a satisfying crunch, Haru sitting across from her with a bowlful of orange creme. She smirked over at her brother, who leveled his gaze at her but waited until she spoke. "So...is there a reason that I can smell Ryo-chan all over you, Ha-chan?"

Haru rolled his eyes at his sister. "That really is none of your business, Nana. What about you? Bossman's scent is still lingering on you." He smiled, satisfied when he saw Naya turn a rather interesting shade of pink. So it was true then, Naya did have a crush on Torahiko. How interesting.


Kiko fought not to giggle at the precision shots exchanged between her brother and sister. She had noticed both of these things as well of course, but she was generally not one to bring them up until it looked like they might want or need some advice on the matter. She doubted that either of them was so inclined at the moment, so she constrained her mirth to a light smile and tapped Haru across the knuckles with the back of her spoon. “Be nice, Ruru,” she said with a light—joking—note of chiding to her tone. “Nana has never had a crush on a boy before. It’s a delicate situation.” The way she raised one of her eyebrows at him, however, suggested that she knew quite well that actually, the more delicate situation was the one her silly little brother had managed to get himself into, because there were much deeper feelings involved in that one than a simple crush.

For all that Reiko didn’t know about sex and intimacy, she managed to know an awful lot about crushes, love, and the sometimes-terrifying, sometimes-exhilarating, range of feelings in between. Where she had come across this knowledge, she had never given even the faintest hint, but most assumed it was from books somewhere. And why not? Most of the things she knew came from books. It didn’t mean she knew less well than someone with a wealth of experience, as she’d proven on more than one occasion, like when Naya had caused the school’s lawn sprinkler system to go haywire and drench everyone. Reiko had been able to fix it without a problem, though she’d been soaking wet afterwards. That was just her luck, though.


Naya chuckled, turning her bright amber eyes on her sister. She had a sly smile on her face as she did so, as if she knew a secret that no one else did. Maybe she did, but really, it was more or less her usual look. "So Kiko...what about you? Ha-chan and I have our relationship problems -Shut up, Ha- but we can't be the only ones, right? Surely you've got your eye on someone, rather than your knights in shining armor you're so fond of reading about." Haru's eyebrows rose, and shut his mouth. He was actually a bit interested to see what his eldest sister would say.

The ploy was so obvious that clever Kiko saw it coming from a mile away. In fact, she’d known the conversation would eventually turn this way since they’d started pestering each other on the same topic. She loved her siblings, but they were hardly subtle. Reiko was not one to lie, especially not to family, but she was subtle, and could easily manipulate the truth so that everything she said would conform to it and her secret would remain just that—secret. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust them… well, actually it kind of was. She had faith that Haru wouldn’t tell her secret on accident, and most likely not on purpose, but… Naya didn’t have much in the way of a filter. It was one of her charms.

“No, nothing like that,” she said, shaking her head and smiling gently. And it was true—her issues weren’t really like theirs at all. Eien wasn’t actively pursuing her as Torahiko was Naya, and they certainly were not… involved the way Ryoku and Haru were. The very thought was almost too much, really. She was just his cousin. “I suppose I’m still waiting—and there’s nothing wrong with a knight in shining armor… as long as he remembers that the lady can save herself just fine, most of the time.” She didn’t let on that the knight she was still waiting for had a name, and definitely not that she suspected she’d never stop waiting. That she’d already all but given up. It wasn’t the sort of thing for light discussion over ice cream.


Naya sighed. "You're no fun, Kiko. That's boring." Haru only shook his head with a smile, and then stood up. "Come on, we've got a book store to burn through. And no, Nana, you can't actually burn it down."

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2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Naya Akarui Character Portrait: Farah Tasogare
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Naya glanced up at the sky. It was night now, and a full moon to boot. While she had none of that blood that boiled within her cousins during such evenings, something about the moon still stirred her. Perhaps it was because she was nocturnal by nature, she'd never really know. Even so, she enjoyed it thoroughly.

It was a peaceful night as she roamed the edges of the forest that always seemed to threaten to overtake Cross Academy. Mako was atop her head, as usual, and she absentmindedly reached up to pet him. Nothing around them stirred, most of the creatures sleeping, save for a few raccoon's. She thought about singing, but instead decided to keep silent. She liked it too much to disturb it just yet. Her amber eyes glowed in the darkness, the only thing, aside from scent perhaps, that gave away her position in among the branches of an old oak tree.


Farah sighed, running her hands against her forearms as she stared up at the moon. She could feel her beast stirring under the moonlight, and it was taking every ounce of strength she had to keep it from rising. She didn't have the control her siblings had, and they were nowhere to be found right now. With their help, she wouldn't lose herself to the beast, and if she did, they would be around to bring her back. Or stop her from destroying something. That thought frightened her. She could lose control any second now, and they would not be around to stop her. A scent filled her nose and for a moment, she panicked. Usually everyone kept their distance from this far into the forest, but it was a scent she recognized.

"Naya-chan, you...you shouldn't be out h-h-here," she spoke, concern laced in her voice as she gazed up at Naya, who was sitting amongst an old oak tree. She closed her eyes as a painful surge coursed through her body. She knew that feeling. She knew it all too well. It was the feeling she got right before she lost control. "P-please...go, Naya-chan," she spoke through gritted teeth. She had maybe another few minutes of control, and even then, it should be enough time to give Naya a head start, with her speed at least.


Naya frowned, her gaze lighting on Farah, who did not look good at all. She didn't have to guess why, she'd seen this quite a few times over in her hundred years of life, but she'd never been alone with one of her cousin's during a shift before. Something tugged at her, trying to get her to do what Farah told her, but...that other part of her simply couldn't just leave Farah alone like this.

So instead of running, like her instinct was telling her to, she stayed, jumping down from her branch and landing lightly in front of Farah. "I'm not going to just leave you, Farah." Mako, however, had listened to his own instincts, and had stayed up in the tree, climbing to a higher branch. The tiger wanted nothing to do with this canine; not tonight at least.


Farah inwardly cried. She wanted Naya to leave her, even if was to leave her alone. Her safety was priority, and Naya knew, or should have known, that Farah could not control her beast. It had rampaged more than once in her life, and it was only stopped by her siblings. The first time she had shifted, she was at least lucky enough to have done so in front of Shizuka and Hikaru, both of whom managed to subdue the young girl at the time and keep her from harming anyone. Her siblings were the ones she relied on the most. A surge of pain shifted through Farah as she clutched her head.

"Na...ya, please," she pleaded to Naya, trying to get the Akarui girl to leave her, however; she could see it in Naya's eyes that she was not leaving. "I'm...so, so sorry," she stated, her eyes conveying her guilt as she felt her body go numb. It was less than three seconds before Farah's body shifted, brown fur covering naked spots, her once white hair, now turning brown. She stood, a large wolf in her spot. Farah's eyes narrowed, her animal instincts taking over her human ones as she turned and spotted Naya. Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, her lips pulling back to reveal pearl white fangs.

She stepped forward, the hairs on her body raising in anger. She knew this scent, this person, but she didn't know who it was. This person smelled of threat, and she wanted to eliminate the threat. Farah pulled back, bellowing out a loud howl as she charged Naya, her teeth glistening as she tried to bite the pure-blood girl.


Well, anyone who said that Naya Akarui was not the smartest person definitely had it right. She was stubborn, and never knew when to simply leave. So, when Farah turned, the hairs on the back of her neck rose, but she stayed put. For a second, she thought that maybe the wolf wouldn't attack.

The howl and subsequent charge proved her wrong. Naya rolled, just missing wickedly sharp claws. She swore under her breath. "No, Farah, I'm sorry." She was an idiot, really. There were several more seconds of dodging and blocking; this was bad. It only got worse when Naya found herself pinned between the wolf and a tree. She had managed to block most of the blow using the tree, but she'd also been bitten, the wolf's fangs sinking deep into the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

Naya whimpered softly, the scent of her blood staining the air. Something felt off, and felt wrong but she didn't understand it. Suddenly she just sort of froze, and there was a sharp pain in her right eye. She couldn't see it, but it began to glow, and she was aware that something was happening, both to her and to Farah. Her head swam, and slowly, the wolf in front of her began to change, and slowly reverted back into her human form.


Farah wasn't aware. She was blank, void, empty. She hated that feeling. It was a feeling she knew all too well, and associated it to that thing she was. She didn't ask to be born this way, and she prayed every night that what she was, wasn't true. That she was a human, that she lived a normal life, and wasn't this creature of death. She never wanted to hurt anyone, but the moment she felt blood touch her tongue, Farah regained her consciousness. She peered out of her beast's eyes, and saw Naya pinned beneath her to a tree, her fangs in her shoulders, and her eye glowing. She wasn't sure what happened next, or if she was even aware anything was happening until she felt the cold air nip at her skin. She was human again.

"Na...ya," she choked out, tears streaming down her face before she lost consciousness. She was sorry, she was so very sorry. She hadn't meant to hurt Naya, and now she was bleeding because of her. She was a monster.

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Haru Akarui Character Portrait: Naya Akarui Character Portrait: Farah Tasogare
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Haru absentmindedly twirled the thick steel needle back and forth between his index finger and thumb. His left arm was behind his head, Ryoku asleep next to him. It had been almost two and a half months since their first escapade, and they had actually found themselves in one another's embrace more often than someone else's. Haru wasn't overly surprised, it was good sex, and about as addicting as a drug, really. It didn't matter how dangerous it got, at this point Haru wasn't sure he could stop if his life depended on it, regardless of how he felt about Ryo. He was addicted to this man.

It was almost enough for him to confess what he felt, but something held him back still. Haru had come to accept what he was, and what he did. Someone like him didn't really belong in a long-term relationship; things always ended up getting messy. Inevitably, Haru got bored. While he was fairly certain he was never going to get bored with Ryo, he was uncertain of the Minamoto's feelings on the subject, so he kept his mouth shut. But there were a great many other things he could talk to him about.

Like the favor he wanted to ask. Haru rolled, laying his upper body across Ryo's bare chest, nudging him in the process. "Hey, Ro-chan. Wake up." He grinned slightly as the male stirred, and held up the needle. "Wanna do me a favor?" After that, he stuck his tongue out, making it rather clear just what exactly he was asking; the steel needle really was only used for one thing, and it was decidedly not for sewing.


Ryoku lay, a content smile on his face as his chest gently rose with each breath he took. As of late, he had found himself more and more in the company of his cousin, Haru, than he had any other student, and he couldn't have cared less. He genuinely enjoyed being with Haru, more-so than any other person he'd ever been with. He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly as he rolled to his side, keeping his eyes closed even after he heard Haru speaking to him. He let something of a whine and groan escape his lips as he cracked one eye open.

"Don't you know I'm not a morning person?" he stated, though it was already almost noon. He opened the other eye in time to see Haru stick his tongue out, holding out the needle for him to take. Ryoku took the object, stared at his cousin, and allowed a smirk to cross his features. He leaned in close, as if he were about to grab the tongue his cousin held out, however; he closed the distance between them, grabbing Haru's tongue and sliding his over it before pulling back. "I can think of other uses for that tongue of yours, but if this is what you want, then alright," he spoke.

He grabbed Haru's tongue, gently, and grabbed the needle and piercing that would need to be applied quickly. The moment his tongue was pierced, Haru's healing factor would kick in and heal it. In order for his tongue to be pierced, Ryoku would need to leave the needle in and slide it out as the piercing was pushed in. With that in mind, Ryoku pierced Haru's tongue as quickly as he could, sliding the needle out and putting the piercing in as fast as his natural speed allowed him to. "Well then, you might want to keep your tongue to yourself for awhile, and I suggest not mentioning it to Aunt Nicole. She...might not be the biggest fan, but," he drawled out, leaning close to Haru's face in the process and smirked.

"I like it."


It was a bit of an odd feeling, having a cold piece of metal sliding through your tongue, but it was also a rather erotic feeling. Haru didn't even flinch when Ryo pushed the needle through; growing up with a mother like Nicole, who made sure all three of ther children could shrug off the effect of her blood manipulation, you knew what pain felt like, and this was certainly not it. There was something just...utterly horrific about having your own blood move without your consent, bending to another's will.

He rolled his tongue around in his mouth, testing the new object as the last bits of his blood vanished and the piercing slowly healed. He grinned then; he liked it, too. As for his mother, well...he shrugged slightly. "Mom will juth have to get over it. Ath for what I can do with thith tongue..." He slid his leg across Ryo's waist and straddled him, bracing himself with his hands on his chest before leaning down.

He kissed him then, though it was quite a bit more gentle than he was used to, and it would have to be for a few days, unfortunately. Even so, the feeling of another tongue on the metal in his mouth combined with his own blood was...well, it was more than enough to get him going. He pulled back slightly, that dangerous grin on his face. "I had a feeling I wath going to like thith, but I think I undereth-timated juth how muth."


Ryoku rose an amused brow, watching as Haru straddled his waist, and placed his hands on the back of his head. He smirked against Haru's mouth when he leaned down and claimed his lips, and for a moment, let a content sigh pass through his nose before Haru pulled back. His smirk remained in place as he rolled his eyes at Haru's explanation. Nicole could be frightening (probably not so much as his father) when she wanted to be, and her ability only heightened that fear. Of course, thanks to the nullification he inherited from his mother, he didn't have to worry about that. But Haru didn't have what he had.

"It's your funeral," he replied with a careless note laced in his voice. His smirk widened to a grin before he flipped Haru over, pinning Haru beneath him and allowed his face to lean closer, his nose barely grazing against Haru's. "So, I guess I should take advantage of the time you have left to live," he stated, moving his head to the side of Haru's neck and trailed his tongue over it, nipping softly at the tender skin in the process. "So what does Haru want to do for the remaining time he has?"


Haru looked a bit surprised when Ryo flipped him over, however; he wasn't really surprised. It was simply how it worked between them. Haru smiled, shuddering when he felt the other man's tongue on his throat. His eyes slipped closed, looping his arms around Ryo's neck. He had been about to answer when his body went rigid, a particular scent hitting his nose, and his eyes snapped open, a glaringly furious shade of crimson. A growl escaped him as he let go of Ryoku, the shadows swallowing him. No one touched his sister and got away with it, he didn't care who it was. He reappeared outside of the academy, taking off in the direction he could smell Naya.

It was a gruesome scene. It also didn't take him long to figure out what had happened, at least with Farah. Under a full moon, she couldn't control it, and Naya had either not left or been too close and unaware. Haru gritt his teeth, but was slightly confused. The night was far from over, so why was Farah in her human form?

"Haru...?"

Her voice snapped him back into reality, and Haru was at his sister's side in an instant. He shrugged out of his shirt, laying it over Farah for now. He could smell Ryo not far; he could take care of his step-sister when he arrived. "Hey." he said softly, his eyes narrowing at her eye. For a second he wondered if she shared his ability, but no. The mark was different, and in her opposite eye. They locked eyes, and he felt it.

Something in his chest constricted, making it hard for him to breathe; it was very strange, it was as if he could feel himself...getting younger, and not in a good way, either. So Haru did the only think he could think of, and activated his left eye. He felt the pressure relieve in his chest, but the two powers were deadlocked; you could actually see time and space beginning to warp between them. Haru frowned. It would seem as if Naya's ability was the opposite of his; when they mereged, it caused instability in the fabric of time and space, and that was dangerous.

"Naya, you have to shut it off. Concentrate, let it slip away. I can't keep this up forever, and neither can you."

Naya looked scared. She didn't know what he was talking about, and she didn't know what to do. Her head felt like it was going to split, and that strange look of the air between them, she didn't like. She shut her eyes, burying her face in her hands. Haru pulled at them, forcing her to look up at him, but in the end, he let out a sigh and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Hey, it's alright, Nana..."


Ryoku felt it the moment Haru's body went rigid beneath him, and his eyes snapped towards the window. That scent, those scents. He knew them, and he cursed beneath his breath when Haru left. He knew how protective of Naya he was, and that alone would cloud his judgement slightly. That sent a low growl down Ryoku's throat as he jumped out the window, applying the speed gifted to him at birth. He arrived at the scene to spot Naya and Haru seemingly caught in a stare off, and he glanced around and spotted Farah laying on the ground, Haru's jacket covering her form. He sighed softly through his nose as he walked to her side.

"I'm sorry, Far, for not being here when you needed it," he spoke gently, caressing her cheek softly and moving her snow white forelock to the side. He removed his outer shirt, since it was a bit larger and could cover more, and placed it over her, wrapping her up in it and carrying her in his arms. He glanced at Haru and Naya, watching the scene unfold. It seems Naya tapped into a similar ability as Haru's, and she couldn't control it. "I'm taking Farah back, take care of your sister," Ryoku stated in a calm tone. This night was going to be a long one, he could feel it.

Setting

9 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Hikari Minamoto Character Portrait: Haru Akarui Character Portrait: Naya Akarui Character Portrait: Eien Minamoto Character Portrait: Reiko Akarui Character Portrait: Trevor Edyta Character Portrait: Torahiko Fujiwara Character Portrait: Tatsuhiko Fujiwara
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It was midwinter by the time things really went to Hell, as Torahiko so elegantly put it. Tatsu and his brother were taking a circuitous walk of the grounds, talking business for once. Tora was of course bored out of his mind, but even he recognized that they were beholden to the Council, the bastards. Well, it didn’t matter much to him. All it meant was that he sometimes had to kill shit, or gather information, both of which he enjoyed anyway. Otherwise, they let him do pretty much whatever he wanted nowadays. His time was limited anyhow—he didn’t see the point in spending the life he had left fighting a leash he didn’t even notice most days.

He zoned back into the conversation just as Tatsu finished speaking, and had turned to glance up at his taller brother from the corner of his eye. Tora shrugged. “Whatever.” it was pretty decent as far as catch all replies went, but he’d apparently picked the wrong one for the situation, because Tatsu sighed.

“Do you ever listen when I speak, or is it simply an exercise in futility to even make the attempt?” Tora snorted slightly, shaking his head and disheveling his shaggy caramel hair even further.

“Wasn’t you talking, Tatsu. It was Councilman Walsh, and you know that as well as I do.” He crossed his arms over his chest, and watched his bother sigh again, this time a resigned one through his nose. It was funny—most people found his brother very inexpressive, like trying to read a blank wall, but Tora knew better. It was just that Tatsu said a lot with a little. Unlike him, who said a little with a lot, being very boisterous but rarely ever giving anything away for truth. They were opposites in just about every sense, but they knew each other better than anyone else ever had or would, probably. Tora at least knew for sure that nobody would ever know him as well as his brother did—there just wouldn’t be enough time. But maybe, one day, after he was gone, someone might know Tatsu better.

The thought didn’t sit well with him, actually, but it, and whatever Tatsuhiko was about to say in response, was cut off when both brothers went still at the same time. Tora did because he smelled something wrong, and Tatsu because he was just that attuned to his brother that he could tell that something had disturbed Tora’s superior nose. Within a few seconds, the Ghost could smell it just as well as the Huntsman, but neither knew what it was. It triggered something in them, though, like a long-suppressed combat instinct. They’d been rather at ease the moment before, but now each was coiled and tense as a taut bowstring ready to snap, something under their skin live and waking, like crackling electricity and roaring flame in their ears.

“Tora…?” his brother started, and the man grinned broadly. He’d never felt this kind of adrenaline rush before, but he didn't need to question it. His instinct, visceral and feral and raw, was demanding a fight, and he wasn’t one to deny his instinct, not in any facet of his life.

“Oh, Hell yes,” he replied, and then the spring-loaded tension was released in both of them, and they were off with speed in excess of bullets for where they smelled the disturbance.

It was closer to campus than they’d expected, but that didn’t really bother Tora any. Each brother drew the blade at his waist, and they charged forward together for the nearest foe, a large, muscle-bound creature with strange green skin and yellowed tusks protruding from its lower jaw, curling up and around towards the sky. They might have been a foot long in total, and the creature was twice again the height of even Tora. It also wasn’t alone—there were at least five in the area, most of them very close by.

It was almost too good to be true. Tora continued his straight-on bull rush, even as Tatsu veered off to the side. While the brothers could fight in concert, there was currently nobody else here, and as such, Tatsu diverted to engage the nearest other foe, a red-skinned creature with black tusks that otherwise looked very much like this one. Tora’s own enemy surprised him by being quite quick, turning what would have been a fatal stab to the chest into a merely damaging one to the left lung. He pulled his blade out immediately, unsurprised when the wound began to close up almost immediately. This was going to be fun.


Hikari sighed, rolling her eyes as Ryoku smirked. He had challenged Eien to a staring contest, one the elder Minamoto had no desire of participating in, however; he was currently deadlocked with his younger brother. Ryoku had resorted to making faces at Eien, trying to get him to blink, however; he only succeeded in making himself blink, Eien's face still passive. Ryoku sighed in defeat and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head in the process. His brother really was no fun. Even as a child, Ryoku did everything he could to just get a peep out of Eien, but to of no avail.

"Really, E, you should learn to relax and loosen up," he spoke, his voice deadpan and neutral, mocking Eien's usual monotonous voice. Eien merely stared at Ryoku, taking a sip of his drink before turning his attention out the window. Something felt unsettling in his stomach, and he couldn't quite understand why. Ryoku rose a brow at the lack of response he received, and turned his attention towards Hikari, about to remark something to her when he noticed the look upon her face. Her brows were furrowed, her eyes narrowed, and he could see the chills crawling on her skin, the goosebumps forming before he turned back to Eien.

"Something is not right," were the only words Eien spoke before he stood, setting his cup down and walking calmly out of the door. Hikari was immediately up, following after Eien as Ryoku sighed. He couldn't smell anything, however; he would trust his brother's instincts. They were a lot sharper than his. It wasn't until the three of them hit the outside, that a foul stench entered their noses, and Ryoku and Hikari twisted their faces. Eien's remained neutral, his head snapped in the same direction the scents were coming from. He could smell Tatsuhiko and Torahiko in the nearby vicinity, probably also investigating, however; there was a scent of blood lingering in the air. They were currently engaged in battle with whatever was producing the foul odors.

Immediately, all three Minamoto's were off, applying their speed towards the nearest scent. The sight they were met with was rather...unexpected. There were two, rather large, and oddly shaped, creatures standing oddly towards the side. They had never seen such things before, and for a moment, all three stood, gauging their foes as the oni turned to face them. Hikari's face morphed into one of disgust as she noticed the large tusks protruding from their mouths. "What are they?" she questioned, a growl emanating from her throat. Eien side glanced his sister as Ryoku shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever they are, they sure are ugly," Ryoku spoke, a grin forming on his lips. The larger of the two oni, growled towards the three, turning so that it was fully facing them. The other one, the one with the darker shade of skin, remained with its back towards them, seemingly occupied with something else. "Oh? Did I hurt your feelings?" he continued to mock the creature, earning a low growl from the oni. He smirked, allowing it to pull at his lips before it turned into a grin. It's been a while since he last had a good fight, and judging by the creatures size, he'd be in for one hell of a fight.

"Ryoku," Eien spoke, his voice, for once, dangerous and low. Ryoku rose a brow at his brother. "You do not know what these creatures are. Do not go picking a fight without determining exactly what your opponent is capable of," he spoke, standing still as he glanced at the oni with its back still facing towards them. Ryoku gave a careless shrug of his shoulders. Why should he be careful? Even if they did not know what the creatures were, there were three members of the Minamoto family present. They would be more than enough.

"Don't get cocky, Ryo," Hikari spoke, however; the moment she did, the oni attacked. Ryoku ran to intercept it, ducking as its claws swiped at him. Eien sighed, his eyes never leaving the other oni. Something seemed off about it, however; he did not move to help his brother or sister with their opponent. They could handle themselves. He noted a slight muscle movement in the oni, watching as it slowly stood and turned to face him. The two stared at each other, almost as if they were waging a silent war within. Without much more thought, Eien was immediately engaged with his silent oni.


There was one oni currently not engaged with any opponent, the creature seemingly staring off into space, however, it was brought back ot the battlefield by a sound. Specifically, laughter. Bright, bubbly, maniacal laughter, to be certain. No one ever really quite understood just why Naya enjoyed fighting so much, but if you knew her mother, it made a bit more sense.

The blue-haired Akarui female could be seen racing across the battlefield, sword in hand and a maniacal gleam in her eye, her little brother right with her. Trevor, on the other hand, kept his distance; he was not one for much close-range fighting, he could cover them -all of them- from a distance. Naya may not have been overly strong, but she was quick, and she dodged a swipe from the oni's large hand, and landed lightly on his shoulder, impaling his eye with her blade. She frowned then for a second; even pushing through his eye was difficult, the oni was incredibly resiliant. She had to let go of her blade and jump backwards, she would have been caught if she hadn't. Haru, on the other hand, was standing back a ways, attacking with his shadows.

For the most part, he was using them as distractions, using his eye to speed up the process of the creature's wounds his sister inflicted. The oni grasped at the stick in his eye; it was an incredible annoyance, and he wanted it out. Naya was grinning madly as she landed next to her brother, whose face was a bit more passive. "Cool it, Nana...you're going to get yourself killed." he cautioned, whereas his sister merely grinned.


Torahiko, like his brother, was a being engineered by the best scientists in the world for exactly one purpose: to kill. Unlike Tatsu, he had never really minded this. But even for him, this was a surprising challenge. He was strong enough to deal substantial wounds to the creature, but its healing factor was simply insane—he’d sliced an arm clean off a few moments ago, and the stump was already sealing over, the limb showing signs of regrowing. In another thirty seconds or so, it would have a brand new arm. Tora’s eyes narrowed—this wasn’t anything he was used to hunting. It was far and away superior to a Hunter werewolf, and he was willing to bet even most vampires would have serious trouble doing any lasting damage to it.

Fortunately for Tora, he was neither of these things, and the prospect of a challenge only made him that much happier. He was aware of others arriving and dispersing, and in fact recognized all of the scents, but he was far too busy with what he was doing to much care. The only other person on the field he bothered to keep much track of was Tatsuhiko, and that was actually impossible, given his brother’s abilities. So Tora narrowed his world until all that was in it was him and the large creature he fought, his lips pulling back from his teeth in a feral smile that was as much a snarl as anything. The deep green of his eyes flashed gold for just a moment before the color settled and he leaped away from a hit, just missing becoming a part of a massive crater in the ground created by the impact of the thing’s fist.

Darting in, Tora took advantage of the still-missing limb to slide in under the creature’s guard, laying a hand on its side and moving away as the psychometric readings bombarded him with information. He was used to sorting through information like this on the fly, and though it was too much focus to attack and sift at the same time, he could defend, and when next the massive fist came at him, he blocked it with one of his own hands, the pressure of the hit sinking his feet several inches into the ground. “Oh good,” he drawled lazily, sounding somehow like a large cat even now. “I was getting so bored. You just might entertain me for a while…”

A particular tidbit of information crossed his mind, and the smile almost fell off his face for a moment. The Council had sent these things? He saw their purpose and snorted. Well, he didn’t care. They hadn’t told him they were doing this, so as far as he was concerned, he’d never discovered the plan and still got to kill it. He’d just… not tell Tatsu until the fight was over and the oni, which was apparently what these things were called, was dead. He could still feel that curiously-charged adrenaline under his skin, different from the kind a normal fight gave him, like an instinct tugging at the back of his mind that had never been triggered before. It wasn’t like it really mattered—he would have killed the creature either way. But the fact that some buried visceral response was urging him to do so was interesting, if not quite yet. He’d think about it later.

Darting in much faster than someone of his size had any right to move, he flayed several massive gashes in the creature’s chest, satisfied when they healed somewhat slower than the first ones he’d dealt. It would appear that this would come down to a question of endurance.

And nobody beat Tora at endurance.

Tatsuhiko’s battle looked much different from his brother’s. While Tora was well-known for being the aggressor in a fight, Tatsu was not currently displaying the same tendency. Actually, he wasn’t attacking at all, simply moving and flowing around the attacks leveled against him with unmatched speed and precision. These were the traits that had been trained into him for a hundred years, after all, and they were his primary strengths in such situations as these, perhaps. Without the benefit of psychometry to impart what he needed to know, Tatsu had to make a study of the creature, to memorize everything about it that he could, his considerable intellect and capacity for such recall working quickly to calculate what it was about to do, aided by his perfect precognition for a few seconds. He was effectively untouchable, but that was not the same as being the victor, not yet.

He seemed to flicker and disappear from view, and indeed, even his smell vanished from the field, as though he’d never been there at all. The hit that had been aimed for him passed right through the spot where he’d been standing, but Tatsu was already behind the creature, watching as it raised its head and sniffed at the air, trying to find where he had gone when its eyes and ears revealed nothing to it. His would not be a battle of endurance—rather, he would operate as he always had: strike first, strike fast, strike last. All he needed to do was find the right opening…

Reiko Akarui had actually been off-campus when the oni first appeared, and as such, it had taken considerably longer for the scent of them to make it to where she was in the town. Even when it did, it was quite faint, and she almost thought she must have imagined it. But it triggered something, a memory not her own, and she gasped sharply, dropping the books she was holding and doubling over, hugging herself around the abdomen as though struggling to keep her flesh together at the seams. And she felt like she had seams, now, and that she was about to burst at them. Her blood was on fire, burning at such a fever pitch it was almost painful to bear. And for someone with as high a tolerance as her, that was really saying something.

She didn’t know what it meant, but she knew she’d find out if she tracked that scent. And so she fled towards it, walking swiftly for just long enough to make it past all the humans in the area before breaking into a run. The burning in her bloodstream pushed her faster than she’d ever had reason to go, until she was nearly flying over the ground, the landscape blurring by around her. She pulled to an abrupt halt when she smelled her family members near odors similar to the first one, and hesitated.

That hesitation was enough, and the owner of the original smell was able to get a hit in on her. Faster than its kin, it was also more subtle, and its yellowed claws raked against her back, tearing easily through the fabric of the handmade dress she wore and leaving her flesh sliced to ribbons. A startled cry escaped her, and the smell of her blood hit the air in a sudden gush. The wounds started healing right away—one of the benefits of having a factor as strong as hers. She whirled to face the creature, barehanded and bereft of anything even resembling a weapon, because she hadn’t been about to bring one into town.

There was a burning, hissing sound, and the creature, onyx-skinned and easily twenty feet tall, resolved into full view from the shadow-form it had occupied only a moment before. The places where her blood contacted its hands seemed to be afflicted as though by acid. Reiko didn’t understand it, but she filed away the piece of information for later use. For now, though…. She just needed to figure out how to stay alive. Kiko saw another swing incoming, and sprang back onto her hands, propelling herself out of the way with a flip. Her focus was intent, and none of her usual clumsiness remained to her. Her eyes narrowed, and she listened for the sound of its heartbeat, something she could just make out, loud against its ribcage but relatively muted compared to the other sounds of battle. That simple knowledge was all she needed, though, and she focused in on the blood she could feel rushing through its veins.

The creature was simply too large and strong to control fully, but she was able to slow it down considerably, and its movements became jerky as it had to fight her control at every step. Okay, so… it probably couldn’t hurt her much for now, but her control wouldn’t last forever, and she still had no real way to damage it, apparently aside from bleeding all over it. So… what now?

Setting

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Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Hikari Minamoto Character Portrait: Haru Akarui Character Portrait: Naya Akarui Character Portrait: Eien Minamoto Character Portrait: Reiko Akarui Character Portrait: Trevor Edyta Character Portrait: Torahiko Fujiwara Character Portrait: Tatsuhiko Fujiwara
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Hikari snarled through her teeth as the oni's claws raked against her forearm, her teeth gleaming beneath the light. These creatures were a little difficult to handle, and even with Ryoku's help, they had not managed to even injure the creature. Eien was faring no better. He had switched to dodging the blows the oni was dealing him, trying to keep its claws from marring him as it had his sister. He could smell her blood, however; he could not afford to take his eyes off of his own opponent. It wasn't life threatening, so she would be fine. The two dealt blows to each other, Eien sporting cracked ribs and an broken arm, but they healed almost instantaneously. A benefit of having mixed blood, perhaps.

Ryoku was faring no better either. He had managed to gain the oni's attention from his sister, however; it cost him a dislocated shoulder, and a large gash across his chest. Hikari had jumped upon the creatures back, digging her claws into it as she held on, trying to keep her balance upon the creature, but she was ripped off, tossed against a tree, and she felt a rib crack. She hissed, pressing her digits to the wound as she rolled away, avoiding the oni's large foot as it came crashing down. Ryoku snarled, the air going a bit colder than usual. He could feel the ice slowly forming into his hand, taking on the form of a dagger before he charged, digging the blade deep within the oni's back.

Eien jumped to the side, barely missing the oni's claws, however; they did manage to rake his shirt, creating large tears down the middle. His eyes narrowed slightly, tilting his head back, narrowly missing the oni's fist as he felt the air graze his nose. This battle was not boding well for them. These creatures did not seem to have an immediate weakness which frustrated Eien. He summoned the purple flames to his hand, molding it until it was but a fine blade and sliced it towards the oni, watching as one of its fingers was severed, and it howled in pain. He watched, an eyebrow raised, as the oni's flesh bubbled. He glanced at the flame in his hand and back towards the oni. Perhaps this could be of more use than he thought.


Haru and Naya were faring little better, if not worse over-all. Naya was now sporting several blunt wounds, showing off many bruises as they slowly healed; she was a pureblood, but she didn't quite have the healing factor her sister did. Haru was a bit worse off, though. Haru's healing factor always suffered a bit, if only because of the fact that he usually ran low on blood supply. Not being able to consume blood tablets did tend to do that to a person. He'd managed to avoid getting hit too much to not have that problem, however; the oni was a bit smarter than it looked, and went after his sister instead, and predictably, Haru made to help her.

Which in the end only managed to get him pinned under the oni's other hand. He felt his ribcage all but shatter, and he heard his sister scream his name. Just in time he faded into shadow, putting distance between himself and the creature, struggling to breathe as he felt his bones mend. It would be a slow process, and until it was done, he was little more than a sitting duck.

Naya's eyes narrowed at the creature, the air around her crackling as the electricity lit up the air around her. She was beyond pissed. Nothing, nothing hurt her brother and got away with it, especially not something this damned ugly. She snarled, her fangs gleaming as she charged, Trevor swearing under his breath as he watched, taking aim and firing. He wasn't able to wound the oni, but he could hopefully keep it distracted. He grimaced as Naya tore the creature's ear off, watching as it began to regrow. Naya could tear him limb from limb, it would do her little good.


As it turned out, decades of experience killing things was rather useful when trying to kill new things. The creature that had been attempting to locate Tatsuhiko suddenly found itself with the blade of a very sharp sword in its skull, buried to the hilt and erupting out its brow. Withdrawing the blade, the half-vampire used his perch on the oni’s shoulders to adjust his position and slash again, this time taking off the entire top half of its head with the precise strength of the blow. Blood welled and spurted from the wound, but Tatsuhiko jumped clear of the collapsing creature long before any of it could hit him. It may have taken some study, but the results could not be argued with—the first of the oni was down.

Across the field, Tora was in fact engaged deeply in a contest of endurance with his, the two battering away on each other with the force of thunder and lightning. Tora’s ribs were cracked and healing, but the worst thing was the cough that wracked him, pulling up blood from his lungs and spattering it onto the ground. It would seem his condition was attempting to get him to slow down. Fuck if he was going to let it.

Despite the ribbons of blood the flowed freely over his lips and down his chin, the Fujiwara’s tiger kept at it, hammering away at the oni, whose healing factor was getting more and more sluggish at it took repeated devastating slices to vital areas. Stripes of red-black blood flew from the curved blade of his katana, joining what he’d donated towards dyeing the ground with the life-essence of the dying.

Really, it was just a matter of who was dying sooner.

And it wasn’t going to be him. With a charge, Tora leapt, torquing his body in midair and hitting not with his sword, but his foot, delivering a solid roundhouse kick to the oni’s temple and dropping it like a very large sack of stones. Once it was down, the coup de grace was a relatively simple matter; he simply drove his blade down into the creature’s heart, ripping brutally sideways with the weapon and tearing the organ in half.

“Regrow that, motherfucker,” he snarled gleefully.

He finished just in time for Tatsu to appear at his side, or perhaps his brother had been there for some time already—it was really impossible to tell with him. He gave his brother a bloody, feral grin, but as always, Tatsu did not smile back. In fact, he simply raised an eyebrow and jerked his head to the side, where Tora could just make out Naya’s twin—Rei, he was pretty sure her name was—ducking out of the way of a hit from an even larger oni, this one the color of a night-dark sky. The grin only widened, and Tora nodded.

The great thing about fighting alongside his brother was that there was never any need to discuss strategy. They worked in absolutely perfect synchronization, as though they’d lived their entire lives inside one another’s minds. It was not so far from the truth. This was the one bond in the world that Torahiko held sacred above all other things, and he knew that Tatsuhiko was much the same. When he could trust no one else, he could trust his brother. When he could be loyal to no one else, he could be loyal to Tatsu. And he’d never have to worry about being burned for it.

The girl was doing something that was keeping it slow and pinned, making their job considerably easier. Both sheathed their swords as they ran, putting a bit of distance between themselves to accommodate the changes in their physiology. Tora descended to all fours, a massive golden tiger, and rushed low, latching onto one of the creature’s hamstrings. He would have pulled it to the ground, save that the massive, indigo-scaled dragon went high, impaling its shoulders with night-dark claws. Tatsuhiko had dropped his blade right next to Reiko, murmuring a quick instruction on his way past which she now took, taking up the blade in both hands. She wasn’t the best with swords, so as an extra precaution, she let some of her own blood down the thing, lunging forward to where the oni was stretched taut between the brothers, using all the force she had to thrust the sword into the creature’s exposed throat. With a wet gurgle, it expired.


Ryoku growled as he sported a fresh wound down his backside. This was getting ridiculous. They were being defeated, and it was something he did not like. For one, he hated losing, and for two, he still had no clue as to what this creature was. It was one thing to know an opponent, but another thing when it was something entirely new. The only supernatural creatures in the world were vampires, however; his mother and father's existence had tipped that a long time ago, and brought forth him and his two siblings. He glanced at Hikari, who was still latched onto, keeping her claws dug deeply in the oni's back.

"Ryoku," she stated, no other words needed as he nodded. In the blink of an eye, two, very large, wolves stood; one black as midnight, the other white as snow. Hikari was the first to charge, her speed amplified slightly as she managed to grab hold of the oni's arm, her teeth sinking into it's flesh as she twisted her body, locking her jaw in place. Ryoku was the next to attack, his jaws latching onto the juncture where neck met shoulder. He pulled slightly, tearing of a chunk of flesh while Hikari managed to follow with another jugular attack, ripping the creatures throat out. Once it collapsed to the floor, Ryoku descended upon its back, his fist pushing as hard as it could and found the creatures heart, crushing it beneath his paws as Hikari was already off to the other oni.

Eien dodged his oni's attacks, his flame sword still in hand as he aimed precision slices to the creature. His flames were slowing down the oni's regeneration ability, however; it still healed. Though it was slow, he was using it to his advantage. The creature was wearing thin, growing tired as Eien drew out the battle, reserving every ounce of strength and stamina he could. It wasn't until his sister came into view that Eien made his move. The moment the oni's eyes were off of him, and focused on Hikari, he made his move. Hikari had managed to latch onto the oni's arm, twisting her body around and pulled, ripping the oni's arm out of its socket as it cried out in pain, unaware of Eien, who plunged his fire encased fist through its chest.

As the other one before it, it fell. "Is everyone alright?" he questioned, his eyes glancing over towards where the others were. Ryoku had shifted back, covering his form back with partial pieces of shredded clothing. Hikari, however, opted to remain as she was, as a beast. If she were to change back, she would be exposed, and she had no desire to reveal herself as such. She huffed, sitting on her hind legs as she glanced towards Naya, Haru, Reiko, and finally the two Fujiwara brothers.

"For the most part, it seems," she spoke, her eyes narrowing in the process.


Luckily, Naya was a bit smarter than most gave her credit for; while she certainly preferred simply tearing her opponent apart, sometimes it took a little more than that; like right now. She'd long given up on her sword, but she gathered the electricity from the air around her, the energy making a high-pitched chirping sound, like a thousand birds.

"Trevor."

The Edyta sighed. Well, it wasn't like anything else was working. He flickered from view, reappearing next to niece, and he picked her up. "We got one shot at this. You ready?" She nodded, the electricity thrumming through her as she condensced it. It was then that Trevor threw her, both his own strength and her power increasing her speed, and she tore through the oni's chest, taking out its heart in the process. It left her rather coated in blood, but she cared little.

Her only priority was Haru. She ran to her brother's side, who grinned up at her. She sighed in relief, and then slugged him. "Idiot! I was worried about you."

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Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Haru Akarui
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Ryoku heaved a heavy sigh, straightening his back out as he shifted from his offensive stance. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he placed a hand on his hip, staring at his opponent who had yet to break one. Honestly, it creeped him out how very little disturbed his brother, but then again, his brother was a creature all his own. He was more his father than Ryoku or Hikari were, and that alone was reason enough to be creeped out by it. Eien regarded Ryoku with an even stare, straightening out his posture before folding his arms against his chest. A smirk adorned Ryoku's face, causing Eien to shake his head and left his brother to his own accord. Their sparring session was finished for the day, he need not linger any longer than necessary.

With a heavy sigh, Ryoku rolled out his shoulders, listening to each one pop before he placed a hand over his left shoulder. "Well that was fun," he spoke to himself, throwing himself onto the ground and gazing up at the sky. He pursed his lips together, an irregular thump in his chest as he propped his elbow up, resting his head in his hand. It's been about three days (which felt more like weeks really) since he last saw his friend. Eien and Hikari had both made sure of that, calling and using him for frivolous things, or in Hikari's case they were. With Eien, it was usually a sparring match, or quick word. He never really paid much attention to what Eien had to say. Usually it only dealt with his ways, however; as of late, he had remained with just the one.

Even when he was propositioned, he would decline it. And that was saying a lot. Ryoku never turned someone down, regardless of the situation. He sighed, something he thought funny and had been doing a lot as of late. He needed to remedy that. With a smirk, he stood from his spot in favor of looking for his remedy.


As it so happened, that remedy was currently in a bit of a pinch; two lions were tearing at each other, though if one looked closely enough, you could tell that they were sparring, though it was not obvious by the noise. They were growling ferociously, and every once in a while they would break away and circle each other, their blue-green manes shimmering ever so slightly.

It wasn't until they caught someone's scent that Haru backed off, shifting back into his human form; while Haru had inherited his father's ability to assume any form he wished, he preferred to take on the form of his familiar. He rolled out his neck as Ryoku approached. Kon shook out his mane, padding over and lying underneath a tree, his head on his paws.

"Ro-chan; you've been neglecting me." He acted like he was pouting, but he couldn't banish the grin on his face, it always seemed to show up whenever Ryoku was around.


Ryoku stared at the scene before him, watching as the two lions tore at each other. An amused smile tainted his lips as he watched Kon and Haru spar. He knew the two were just doing that, sparring, however; to any one else who did not know his cousin and his familar, it would appear that the two were literally trying to kill each other. Ryoku folded his arms against his chest, watching in mild amusement as Haru morphed back into his human form. The grin on his face faltered just slightly at Haru's statement. Who was neglecting who? The way he saw it, Haru was avoiding him, not the other way around.

"Oh? Have I now? I don't seem to recall how it is I that has been doing the neglecting when I recall a certain someone running off as soon as I rounded the corner last week," he replied, the amused smirk placing itself upon his face. Ryoku shook his head an released a slow sigh. "Or is it simply because Ruru-chan's grown bored of me? Oh do tell if I bore you dear cousin. I am sure Kari would just love the chance to drag you away," he spoke, half teasing, half serious, though one wouldn't be able to tell he was being slightly serious. He knew of his sister's little crush on their cousin, however; he also noted that, that crush had lightly began to fade.

He was amused to say the least, however; he never said nothing much on the subject. She was free to like whoever she wanted, and that just meant that he could get Haru more to himself. He blinked at those thoughts though and shook his head. This was just a passing fancy...Haru wouldn't see him as anything more than that, not with the way the two of them lived their lives.


Haru blinked slowly at that. Kari wanted...to what? He scoffed slightly. Kari was...he stopped at that train of thought. His cousin? Well, so was Ryoku, and that hadn't stopped him. But then again, there was nothing between himself and Ryo. He was losing his grip on reality, it seemed. So, instead of acting surprised, he only shrugged.

"Is that supposed to mean something? I mean...she's my cousin. It's not like anything would ever actually happen."


Ryoku allowed a hint of hurt to pass through his features at Haru's statement. Is that how he saw him as well? Just a cousin? Though it was obvious enough that, whatever it was they had, they were more than just cousins, and Ryoku felt strongly about Haru more than just as a cousin should. And the thought of Haru only seeing him as a cousin stung Ryoku, deeply. Without intending to, Ryoku released a slow, drawn out sigh. Perhaps he had fooled himself into believing that there was a bit of hope for them, that they could change. If only slightly, they could change and Haru would be his and he Haru's. They wouldn't need for another, because they would be enough for each other, like his father and mother.

"Cousin, yeah. But don't ever tell her that, you'll break her heart," though it wouldn't really matter, because his heart was breaking ever so softly. If one listened quietly, they could hear the faint echoes of glass cracking, not completely shattering just yet. "Whatever," he stated, a bit of a bite laced behind his tone, though unintentional. He sighed a bit harder than normal and unfolded his arms, placing them to his side. He closed his eyes briefly before turning his back to Haru, taking a step before stopping. He should have known that it would be like this. He should have known better. Whatever his parents had, it was special, a one time thing that very few people could find. And they were lucky, just like his uncle and aunt, Sora and Nicole.

He would never have that. It was better to face it now before allowing it to grow further than necessary. "I need a break," were the only words he left before making to leave. He should have known better.


Haru was...confused. He'd not missed the hurt look that had passed over Ryoku's face. What had that been all about? It wasn't as if Ryoku had any sort of feelings for him. It was impossible. They simply couldn't be; not with the way the two of them were. Even so, he flinched at the bite in Ryoku's voice. He watched as Rykou turn and began to leave; Haru caught himself reaching for him.

He drew his hand back, balling it into a fist. When Ryoku was gone, he let out an irritated sigh, slamming his fist into the tree next to him as he sat down rather quickly. This was nothing less than he'd expected; it wasn't as if there was anything really going on between them, it had been nothing more than a passing fancy.

So why did it hurt so much to watch him leave?

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Character Portrait: Haru Akarui Character Portrait: Reiko Akarui
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A week had came and went, and Haru had neither spoken to Ryoku nor had he tried discussing it with anyone. Many had tried, Naya and Kon being the two main perpetrators. Naya had almost torn his ear off the last time she'd confronted him. At the moment, he was lying on the grass, staring up at the sky as the clouds rolled by. He'd not returned to his usual habits in the passing week, and he had turned down every offer he'd received as well; that in and of itself was speaking volumes on the Akarui's state of mind.

Haru sighed, picking up on his sister's scent. He contemplated leaving, but it was Reiko. He was in no mood to talk, but then...Rei-rei always did know exactly what to say.


Reiko rubbed absently at the bruise fading on her temple and sighed. It was her own fault really. She could climb trees just fine, but she usually managed to fall out of them somehow. So much for trying to relax a little out in nature. Well, that was all right, because really there was something else that was considerably more urgent. She might have seemed like the last person to pick up on what was going on between Haru and their cousin Ryoku, but actually, she’d been one of the first, many, many years ago now. She’d not thought to interfere, however, because it was something she’d rather thought would come about on its own. They were both extroverted enough. But perhaps… perhaps when it came right down to it, they were just as vulnerable as everyone else. Perhaps they, like she, hid it well, only their disguise was a gregariousness and magnetism and reckless attitude where hers was silliness and clumsy airheaded tendencies. It’s not that those disguises were false, only that they hid other parts of what was really there.

On some level, she’d always known something like that was true of Haru. She just hadn’t expected it to become a problem now of all times. So Kiko tracked him to where he lay, brushing her knee-length shorts and soft blouse free of the evidence of her earlier fall and settling down beside him. It was kind of hard to hug somebody like this, so she settled for insinuating herself into his side and laying her head over the steady beat of his heart. Kiko smiled softly, the expression a little bit sad. “It doesn’t sound broken,” she said softly. “But then, they never do.”


Haru sighed. "It didn't break because I got rid of it a long time ago, so it couldn't break." Haru had long given up on ever falling in love; it was stupid and it got you hurt. He didn't want to feel like that, so instead he didn't let himself feel anything.

Yet it still hurt to be apart from Ryoku. That was his own fault. He'd let himself get attached when he knew he should have stayed away. He looped an arm underneath his sister, giving her a light squeeze. "So, what has brought my dear sister to me, for surely you have not come to talk about the state of my heart."


Reiko frowned, tilting her head to look up at him. “That’s not true, Ruru. You still have a heart, I know you do. You’re just very good at hiding it.” She knew, because she was the same. It wasn’t that Kiko pretended not to have a heart, but rather that she pretended that nothing in the real world ever caught its attention in that way. It was easy, to act oblivious to everything but fairytales, and in some ways, it was even true. It was just not the whole truth, and this was her own disguise, her own protection. But… she didn’t think he needed to hide his anymore, because she could see that the one he wanted to offer it to was there, and would accept it gladly, even offer his own in return. Now if only she could make her brother see that, she just might get to witness a real-life happy ending.

“And what if I did?” she asked quietly, a furrow forming in her brows. “What if I was worried about you, because I know you hurt, and I want to help make it better? What if… what if I told you that all you need to do is be brave one more time, take one more risk, and then you could have the things you can’t admit you want?” He didn’t have to admit anything to her if he didn’t want, because she knew, and the way she was speaking about it was making it rather clear. Still, she could tell that he had no idea how close he was to happiness, if only he was willing to reach for it one more time.


Haru sighed heavily through his nose, his expression darkening slightly. He sat up then, the discussion turning in a direction he really did not want it to. "It's not that simple, Kiko." Ryoku didn't feel anything for him, despite their current...predicament. He kept telling himself that because it was easier than facing rejection.

"What makes you think he even remotely feels the same way about me, that I do him?" He blushed; he really hadn't planned on admitting that. Unfortunately Reiko had a knack for drawing things out of people.


Perhaps someone else might have laughed a bit at the sight of Haru of all people, shameless as he usually was, blushing, but Kiko’s face never lost the earnest, concerned expression, and she sat up with him, blinking wide, peridot-colored eyes at him. “But it is that simple!” she insisted vehemently, taking one of his hands in both of hers. “It really is!” She sighed, not really sure how she could make him see what she saw, and chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully for a little while. When she spoke again, it was with a little more gravity in her tone, and more seriousness than she was really known for possessing.

“I know that most people don’t think I notice what’s going on around me, and that’s okay,” she said softly, meeting her brother’s eyes and holding them. It really was—she didn’t mind being thought of as a bit of an airhead and not much else. Because she knew it wasn’t the truth, and that was usually enough. “But I do see things, Haru. Things that you’re too close-up to see. You’ve never noticed the way he looks at you. It’s not just…” her cheeks pinked slightly, and she cleared her throat in an effort to avoid tripping over the words. “It’s not just sex, or lust. Not for him, and not for you.” Maybe it would help to explain it by comparison.

“He looks at you like… like Uncle Hiki looks at Aunt Shizu.” It was indeed very similar, not exactly the same, but close. A mixture of desire, yes, but also a kind of vital connection, deeper than any simple wanting could ever be. It was a needing, or that was the closest word she had for it. Haru, on the other hand, most resembled their mother looking at their father. Reiko always noticed things like that. “I don’t know what you said to him to make him avoid you, Haru, but it hurt him. He’s hurting, just like you are, and don’t you owe it to both he and yourself to see if you can make it right again?” She didn’t want them to hurt anymore, not either of them.

“This time, when you use your words, say what you really mean. Don’t make him guess. Trying to guess at what someone else thinks all the time…” she smiled sadly. “It’s painful, and confusing.” Standing, Reiko tugged on her brother’s hand so that he was, too. This time, when she hugged him, she did it properly.


Haru sighed. Perhaps everything worked out in his sister's little fantasy worlds, but not in reality. Not in his world. He stood when she tugged him upwards, and he wrapped his arms around her in return. He felt the back of his eyes burning; he wanted to say it, to tell him so much that it hurt. But he was too afraid.

"I...can try." two tears rolled down his cheeks as he tightened his grip on his sister. "Thanks, Kiko."

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Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Torahiko Fujiwara
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He was a fool, he'd know he was. He shouldn't have believed what he and Haru had was special, because it wasn't. Maybe he had fooled himself into believing it was true because he wanted it to be true. And for the week, he had ignored his cousin, his family really, and kept mostly to himself. Hikari and Farah had tried, concerned for their brother, to understand what he was going through, and why he wasn't his usual self. He, of course, snapped at the two of them, earning a broken nose in the process from Hikari and a set of tears from Farah who fled. He sighed harshly through his nose, raking a hand through his crimson locks as he pulled a piece forward.

"You were a fool," he spoke to himself, leaning his back to rest against the bark of the tree he currently inhabited. His leg dangled off of the branch as his arm rested against his knee. He was being a child now, ignoring what he had known to be true for a while. But it did not cause the slight ache where his heart was, from lurching forward. He had known pain. Hell, he was half a werewolf, pain was practically guaranteed for shifting. But this pain, it was different. It felt like he couldn't breathe, couldn't sleep, couldn't live properly unless he had the one thing he wanted by his side. He wanted just one thing. Perhaps he should have been selfish.

He should have been selfish and taken what wasn't his and made it his, however; that was just the beast inside of him. His beast, much like any of the beasts of his family, always wanted something, however; he was prone to giving into it a few times. This was different. He had denied it, made it wait until he could figure out where he stood with his cousin, but perhaps it was obvious now. He was just Haru's cousin, and the occasional fuck buddy. There was nothing more to it than that. Maybe he was wrong, but even so, he couldn't see it.

This seriously had to fucking stop.

What were they, twelve? They certainly weren’t any fun anymore, and it was getting to the point where Tora was kind of pissed about it, actually. The three of them were never even in the same damn room anymore. As soon as one of them entered, the other would leave. It was stupid, and—immature as he himself could be when the mood took him—even he knew it was pointless. They were moping and sulking, and it hadn’t taken him long to figure out why. He’d been kind of hoping they’d figure it out themselves, because getting involved in other people’s affairs, especially the love affairs. The word alone scrunched up his nose like he’d smelled something foul, but whatever. This was starting to affect his life now, so he felt somewhat obligated to do something about it.

He sure as hell wasn’t doing all the work though. He was just going to nudge something in the right direction. Well, okay. It was more like he was going to bodily shove something in the right direction, or perhaps pick it up and throw it. Hard. Maybe he’d just throw one of them. Would that solve the problem? Violence solved a lot of problems, but Tora had the sinking feeling that this was not one of them.

Well, fuck.

Oh wait. It was the absence of fucking that was the problem. Shaking his head, the tallest student at Cross easily tracked Ryoku to a tree outdoors. He could smell Haru, too, but that guy was with his sister—the not-Naya one—and he figured she would probably do this kind of thing just as well as him, if not as stylishly. And that was what she was going to do, he was pretty sure. So he sauntered up to the tree, crossed his arms over his broad chest, and sent a green-eyed glare up at his former Henchman #1. He wasn’t really going to call them that until they started acting like it, though. “So… is this spineless moping gonna be a permanent thing, or what? Cause I’m just saying, it was kinda shitty of you to make the little one cry. Also, I’m demoting you. You suck as a henchman lately. Are you gonna tell me what the problem is, or am I gonna have to tell you?”

"Oh? I didn't know henchman could be demoted," Ryoku spoke casually, glancing down at his boss. He rolled his eyes at his statement though. He was moping, sure, he could admit that, but what business was it of his? This was not his affair, why would he put his nose where it didn't belong? He shifted from his spot, falling backwards from the branch and flipped so he landed on his feet. Shoving his hands in his pocket, he stared up at the taller male, a frown etching into his features. He was tall, that much was obvious, but Tora was taller. Not so much that Ryoku had to crane his neck in order to see the man, however; he did have to look up.

"For the record, I didn't make anyone cry. If he cried, it was because of his own volition. And what problem? There is no problem. It was a misunderstanding, and that is all there is to it," he spoke, his voice deadpan as the look he was sending Tora. Though honestly, he knew he couldn't fool the other male and raked a hand through his auburn locks, sighing harshly and a bit exaggerated in the process. "What do you want me to say?" he spoke, the same bite to his tone he had used on Haru was laced with his words. What could he say? Haru was his own person, as was he. He had every right to feel the way he did.

"It's not a problem, more like it's the problem. You've got it easy, going around not being tied down to one specific person, but that isn't what I want," anymore. He didn't want that lifestyle any longer. He was getting old; he was old in every sense of the word. Though he was hardly the sentimental type to think about settling down with just one person, it was perhaps, about time he did. And there was only one person he wanted. He could hear his mother laughing at him in the distance somewhere. She'd probably pick on him too, humiliate him in every sense of the word if she were here, which he was quite thankful for.

“Oh?” Tora replied. “Well s’cuse me; I assumed the little wolf counted as someone. She did run off in tears because you wouldn’t talk to her, did she not?” Tora didn’t always give off the impression of being a particularly smart guy—he actually preferred to play things a bit dumb. But he was sharp as a razor, in truth. He and Tatsu were brothers, after all. The Huntsman raised an eyebrow, the pissy tone of Ryoku’s words completely failing to get any sort of reaction from him. He was about as sensitive as a sledgehammer, and that was a two-way thing—he might be callus with other people, but frankly he didn’t care if other people were pissed at him, either. Sociopathy kind of worked like that, at least in his case.

“And for the record, I don't have it easy because I’m not tied down—it’s easy because I’m up-front about what I want and what I’m offering. You used to be the same, if I recall properly… and I do. But here you are, pussyfooting around like you lost your guts somewhere along the way, and I’m just here to tell you it ain’t like you and it’s fucking stupid. So here’s a thought: tell him what you want. Be as explicit as you like, but for fuck’s sake, be clear. You two aren’t smart enough to have conversations in implication without screwing up the meanings, so don’t try.” he waved a hand nonchalantly in the air, as if to dispel the thought of trying to be subtle. It was definitely not Ryoku’s style, and it didn’t work that great for Haru either, apparently, if he could stick his foot in his mouth like that.

Really, getting all of this through psychometry was a huge pain in the ass, and he’d really rather this ridiculous farce stopped showing up in his visions whenever he happened to brush an object belonging to one of them. It was consuming their damn lives. He wasn’t entirely sure why he cared, but… he’d known these guys for a couple of years, and they were fun to be around, at least until this, wasn’t that enough? “For the record, I kinda want my henchmen back. So do me a solid here and just give it a shot. It can't get any worse than it already is, right?”

Ryoku winced. He'd forgotten he'd made Farah cry. He should actually apologize to her for that. He didn't like making her cry when it was unneeded. "Didn't you know? My guts were cut out and lost along the way," he chided, however; Tora was right. This wasn't like him. He was his mother's son; he told everything as it was. He didn't hide behind words, so why should he do it now? Shaking his head, he placed a hand on his side, giving Tora a trademark smirk in the process. Maybe, it wouldn't hurt, and he'd finally know for sure what Haru saw him as. He could take it if Haru truly only saw him as a cousin, he didn't want to lose what friendship he had with Haru.

"See, now this is the reason we call you boss," he spoke, a hint of fang protruding from his mouth as his smirk deepened. "And here I thought Kari was right for calling you a blockhead," he continued, chuckling deeply. He would take Tora's advice, and seek out Haru. "Besides, I didn't know you had it in you to be so...sagely. I thought that was more your brother's specialty?" he jested, however; at least he was smiling again.

Tora snorted. “She’s plenty right,” he said with a shrug. “And there’s not a sage alive who swears half as much as me… or sleeps with half as many women. So don’t go telling anyone.” He was grinning, though, and winked. “And I’m the boss because I’m awesome. That’s how the rules work. The rules also say that Henchmen have to be awesome, so get back to it, Ryoku. I’ll keep the number one spot open another week, but if you don’t get your shit together, I’m giving it to your sister.” Tora turned, tossing a wave over his shoulder as he left.

“Go get ‘em, wolfy.”

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Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Haru Akarui
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Ryoku shifted, shaking off the tension in his shoulders as he stalked through the campus. It was nightfall, and everyone was asleep as per usual, however; Ryoku knew that his family was more known to be night owls more-so than anything. It wouldn't be too hard to find Haru, but Ryoku felt a shift of nervousness flow through his veins. Straightforward, to the point Ryoku was nervous. He could feel his palms sweating, the grimy feeling of the liquid between his fingers as he wiped them on his shirt. He sighed, running a hand through his loose locks before dropping his hands to his side.

"C'mon Ryo, don't be a chicken shit now," he spoke to himself, shaking much like a dog shakes water off of its fur. It helped release the tension that had suddenly built up in his muscles, and he stretched his arms over his head. He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly as he mulled over his words. He told Tora he wasn't going to back out now. He had to know. He had to know exactly how Haru felt about him. Maybe he had read too much into Haru's words. Perhaps that was how he felt about Kari, not him. But that did not quell the fear that welled up in his chest. He groaned in frustration, his nose twitching in the direction of a familiar scent.

"It's now or never," he spoke to himself, straightening his shoulders back out as he walked towards the spot where he could smell Haru. He found him, lounging underneath a tree, a scowl on his face. Leave it to Haru to be scowling at the sky. It pulled his lips into a light smirk as he dropped himself next to Haru, staring out into the distance as he kept his gaze away from Haru for the moment. "Hey," he spoke, cursing himself slightly for the unintelligent way he started the conversation.


It had been a few days since he had spoken to his sister, yet little had changed. Haru had not gone to Ryoku; nor had he really spoken to anyone else. Despite what his sister had told him, he still couldn't bring himself to believe what she had said. He wasn't sure what had turned his heart to stone; as far as he knew, it had always been this way. It was not something that he could simply relinquish, even to the one he wanted to most.

But perhaps it was a risk he needed to take.

He'd been so absorbed in his own little world that he hadn't even realized Ryoku had approached. When the other man spoke, he flinched rather visibly, glancing in the other direciton as he sat up. His heart lurched, his mind drawing a blank. In the end, he could think of nothing, say nothing. There was a warmth in his chest accompanied by an ache.

"I'm sorry."

He wasn't sure where it had come from, he had simply said it. He wasn't even completely sure what he was apologizing for, either. Because he'd hurt him? Or because he'd avoided him and his feelings? Or maybe, it was all of it.


Ryoku raised a brow at Haru's flinch, and inwardly flinched himself. He didn't mean to cause that reaction, he just wanted to greet his cousin, and speak of other things. He opened his mouth to start, but found he couldn't speak past the sudden lump that grew in his throat. He was slightly grateful that it was Haru that broke the silence, however; his brow ascended his forehead. He was apologizing? For what? He did nothing wrong. It wasn't Haru's fault that he decided to take his statement the wrong way. Ryoku, for the most part, was not an intelligent person, or not as intelligent as his older brother. He knew he didn't get some things, and he would take things the wrong way if they were not clarified, however; he did not give Haru the time or day to do so.

"Don't," he started, sighing and lowering his gaze to stare at the space between his legs. "Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong. I should be the one to apologize. I made a stupid mistake, and I paid the price for it," he spoke, a bit of firmness reinforced in his voice. He shifted so that his gaze was now fully on Haru, staring at him as if studying a piece of art to understand it. It was now or never. He would live the rest of his life in shame if he never said anything, and he couldn't go back on his word. As a man of his word, it was everything, and everything was riding on this one statement. Don't fuck this up Ryo.

"I love you."


For all intents and purposes, Haru's heart all but stopped in his ribcage. He...what? It took him a minute to sort through that one simple sentence, and to restart the organ in his chest. He'd thought that he'd misheard for a second, but one look at Ryoku's face ensured him that he hadn't.

Gods above, but they were both hopeless. Haru let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and stood up, closing the distance between them. Well, if Ryoku could just come out and say it like that, then he had to as well. That funny little half smile played over his features before he looped his arms around the other's neck, locking lips with him. He knew that Ryoku, just like himself, had been with no one since their own last meeting, now more than three weeks ago.

"You idiot. I love you, too." There was a longing, a desire in his eyes. He knew of course, but he still wanted to hear it. "You haven't...been with anyone else?"


Ryoku could feel his heart stopping with each passing moment of silence. It was killing him, not knowing what his cousin was going to say, how he was going to respond to the confession, however; he could feel it slowly kickstarting again. It took a moment to realize that the gap between them had been closed, and Haru's lips were on his. He could feel his heart thumping wildly against his rib-cage, responding to the kiss with a slow kind of hunger as Haru pulled back, his trademark smirk returning to his face. Finally, after so long, so many years, the words he was so afraid of not hearing, were spoken to him, like a prayer he needed to be lifted.

"No one else. There is and will never be anyone else. You...haven't been with any one either, have you?" he questioned, his brow ascending his forehead as he leaned forward, grabbing Haru's lips and pulling on the bottom of his lip. He was being honest though, and that was saying something for Ryoku. There had been no one else since he and Haru had been together, and even now, there still was no one else. There could never be anyone else for him. He wondered, for a moment, if that was how his parents felt about each other. How they could just have that one person and be perfectly happy with it. His mother had told him of how his father used to be, and how in a way, Ryoku resembled him in those aspects, however; he had never wanted one person so much as he wanted Haru. Perhaps...


Haru blinked slowly, pulling back just enough so that he was able to look his cousin full in the face. There was a light dancing in his eyes as he shook his head slowly, replying, "I didn't want to, and I couldn't." He stuck his tongue out then, the metal spike gleaming. "I don't have the key to the lock you put on me."

"Would you like the key?" he spoke, all playfulness pushed aside, his eyes set in a serious tone. He stared at Haru, the statement obvious as to what he meant. He would give Haru a key, one that would bind the two of them much like his parents. It would come with a price; everything came with a price. It was one he was willing to pay, though, and if Haru was as well, he would do it. But he needed Haru to know, and to understand just what this price was. If he still accepted it, then nothing would make him more proud to do so, to give the mark to the one he wanted for all eternity.

"If I give you the key, there will be no going back. We will be as one. We will hear, feel, and know everything for the rest of our lives, not that I'm complaining. But it also means that our lives will be as one," meaning if either one of them died, the other would too. It was a great risk, one his parents knew all too well, and one he was willing to take. Besides, life without Haru wouldn't be life at all. He wasn't sure he could live a life like that, empty, and he was sure his parents felt the same way, just as Sora felt about Nicole and she him.


Haru's eyes narrowed slightly before tilting his head to the side. He was slightly surprised that he'd even asked, but then perhaps he shouldn't have been. He slid his hand to the back of Ryo's head, his fingers threading through his hair as he pulled his head downward, to the bare expanse of his neck that he exposed.

"I thought you'd never ask." he murmured, his eyes glowing vermilion.


Once he did this, it would seal all that they were, and all that they would become. He needn't hear anymore as his fangs elongated, his tongue wiping over the smooth surface of Haru's neck. With a swift movement, his fangs pierced Haru's neck, allowing the venom to seep into the wound as a mark began to form. For each Minamoto, it was different. Where his father's mark had been a moonflower, his mark was something different, more him. Once the deed was done, he swiped his tongue over the mark before pulling back, his eyes glowing a bright amber color.

"You know...we're never going to hear the end of it."


Haru smirked slightly before kissing Ryo again. "I think I can live with that."

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Character Portrait: Farah Tasogare Character Portrait: Trevor Edyta
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Farah stared at the pot in front of her, a thin line compressing across her lips as she sighed softly. The day was just about to start, and she had wanted to get up early to start on her project. She was determined to grow something different this year, however; she wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to plant. She could always grow more vegetables for the family, but the vast gardens they had already would only negate the idea. She sighed softly, shaking her head as a smile replaced her pursed lips. She could, perhaps, plant a flower, but what flower? There were many, perhaps she could cross-breed one? With that thought in mind, she grabbed a few more pots and grabbed a few bags of different flower seeds.

She began mending the soil, molding it and shaping it before pouring it into the pots and glanced at the bags in her hands. "Let's see, I have Geranium, Sunflowers, Amaryllis, Lillies, Chrysanthemum, and Gladiolus. I don't...think any of these are compatible," she muttered to herself. She released a soft sigh before placing the packets back on the small table. The greenhouse of the Academy was small, but at least it was mainly deserted. No one liked to use it, save for herself, and one of her siblings when they came to help her. "Maybe I should just do something different" she continued. Perhaps she should do something different. Usually, she could plant just about anything, however; today seemed a little more...difficult.


The Greenhouse was one of Trevor's favorite places to be. He'd never actually known his mother, but his sister had told him that he had inherited her ability to use Terrakinesis. It was this ability that made him feel like he'd never lost her at all. Of course, he loved Reiko, and would always be grateful to her for raising him, but...she was also not the woman who had given birth to him, or who had given her life to save her child and grandchildren.

He was brought out of his past musings by someone speaking. It seemed that he was not alone, and that they were...talking to themselves. A slight smile graced his lips; it was Farah. He listened to her for a second, before glancing at the flower pots and seeds. his eyes rested on one of the already potted plants, one that looked rather sad and wilted. He wasn't at all surprised; it was a tropical plant, one not suited to this climate. With a slight smile, he twirled a finger, the plant perking up right before their eyes.

"Actually, most plants are compatible, so long as you know how to accommodate for both of them." He smiled down at Farah, his hands in his pockets. "Mind if I join you, Farah?"


Farah nearly jumped out of her own skin when Trevor spoke. How had she not smelled him? Was he here throughout the entire time she was talking to herself? Gods, he must think she's crazy. And it was that thought that caused her face to burn a bright crimson color. Thankfully, it was hidden beneath the mask of the dark, sunlight still being another hour away. She fumbled for her words, juggling the pots still in her hand as she tried to keep from dropping them. Was her nose broken or something? Her sense of smell wasn't as good as her siblings, or her parents, however; it was still canine, and his scent was hardly anything to miss.

"Ah...n-n-no...I mean...yes, y-you can," she began, stuttering as her face turned even darker. Really, it was infuriating how she couldn't speak properly in front of him. She wanted to not look like a fool for once, let alone have him think something was wrong with her. "And...of course m-most are c-compatible but that doesn't m-mean they will g-grow properly," she stated, cursing herself for not making sense as she spoke. It never failed, that her mind and most of her common sense went flying out the window whenever he was here. If only she had the guts to tell him, perhaps everything would not be so awkward. She hadn't missed the way the dead plant sprang back to life, and knew he had something to do with it.

"I'm...s-s-sorry," she quickly apologized as she played with the hem of her shirt.


By now, Trevor was pretty much used to her reactions to him, but every time he'd ever brought it up, he'd only made things worse. So this time, he decided to not mention it. He wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it was worth a shot. Really, all he wanted was for her to be comfortable around him. As uncomfortable as he was around Ryoku, Eien, and Hikari, he was perfectly fine around her, for some reason. So he didn't want her to be afraid of him, or whatever she was.

He winked then. "Or, you know someone who can grow literally anything." He reached out and touched one of the pots she had been holding, and though there had been nothing planted, a single white lily sprung to life. It was different from normal ones; plants created solely from his own ability would never wilt or die, or need taken care of. It would remain, as if frozen in time, so long as he himself was alive. "But if you don't want to cheat, I could always help you the normal way, too." He sat down, motioning for her to do the same.


Farah offered a small smile when he motioned her to sit as he did. She obliged, sitting a few feet away from him as she watched a single lily sprouted from the pot she was holding. The smile merely remained, however; she pursed her lips together slightly. She didn't want to cheat. She wanted to grow something normally. A little help didn't hurt, as long as she wasn't cheating. She set the lily pot down, and grabbed another one, filling it with soil once more before turning towards Trevor. She could still feel her bones quivering from the close proximity, but she could at least pretend she was a bit normal. She then grabbed the seed packets and laid them out in front of her.

"I don't want to cheat, but I d-do want to g-grow something. Finding the r-right combination i-isn't going to be easy with these," she stated, inwardly praising herself for not stuttering as badly. It was true, finding the right combination wouldn't be easy. Most of the flowers always had something in common when cross-breeding. Whether it was the climate they grew in, or the time of season, all of it factored in. Otherwise she'd probably end up with a mutated venus fly-trap that suddenly sprouted lips and tried eating people. She shuddered at that thought. "W-What would you recommend?"


Trevor smiled, looking at the different arrays of seeds. He looked thoughtful for a few seconds, before pulling out the geraniums and the begonias. "There are the closest in climate yet farthest in color, we should be able to get an interesting reaction." He handed them to her while grabbing one of the pots.

"So, are you out here often? We must miss each other, I like coming out here, too. Then again, I'm also in the forest a lot, too." When he grinned, it was almost bashfully.


Farah could have sworn that the world was spinning. She felt light-headed, almost as if she could fly if she concentrated hard enough. This was the longest she'd ever spent in his company without one of her other siblings, and it was a bit nerve wrecking for her. He had never spoken to her this long either, and it was causing her palms to sweat and become clammy. What could she say? What would she say? So many possibilities were floating through her head, and suddenly, the world seemed a little dizzy. She took a deep breath, counted to five, and released it slowly, feeling the weight fly off as she did so.

"Y-yes, I do. Whenever I have the f-free time, I c-c-come here," she replied finally, settling on keeping her gaze anywhere but near him. Curse her and her nervousness. "It would s-s-seem so. Ah, but it's usually l-late by the time I come here. It's always past c-c-curfew hours," she continued. Which was partially true. She did come after hours, however; only when she knew for certain that he wouldn't be around. She knew the forest or the green house had always been his favorite places to be, however; she tried to avoid him as much as possible. It would save her a world of embarrassment, and he having to witness it. She would never admit it out loud, but she'd always enjoyed watching him smile. It caused the blush on her face to deepen more as she tried to keep from staring.


He watched her for a few seconds. It was a bit hard to explain, but it was almost as if he was drawn to her. He was honestly enjoying this time with her. That was not to say he never enjoyed being around his family, but...this was different. He wasn't sure what was so different about it, but he wasn't going to brood over it. For a while, they simply planted seeds, Trevor occasionally taking a shortcut with some of the already-growing plants.

By the time they were done, the sun had risen. He surveyed their handiwork, and he smiled at Farah. "We should do this again, Farah. I enjoy spending time with you."


Was there something on her face? Did she have a smear, a smudge? Why was he staring at her like that? Farah could feel her heart beat rising as she kept her gaze on her plants, trying desperately to fight the assault of her heart against her rib-cage. By the time the sun rose, they had finished planting their seeds, and Farah had barely managed to keep consciousness. This was, by far, the longest she had ever spent in his company, and dare she say, she enjoyed it. Even as spots clouded the corners of her eyes, she had enjoyed doing this with him. She snapped out of her thoughts when he spoke, the blush that had once disappeared, reappeared upon her face. She, however, did not have the coverage of the night to conceal it.

"M-me t-t-too, I-I-I mean I enjoy spending time with you," she quickly corrected herself. When did the world start spining so fastly? And why was she seeing nothing but a sheet of black? Maybe it had something to do with that smile of his, or perhaps the fact that he said he enjoyed spending time with her, and wanted to do it more often. Whatever the reason, Farah found herself unconscious, a light smile tugging at her lips.


Trevor blinked rapidly, reaching out to catch her as she collapsed. He let out a soft sigh. She must not be taking care of herself, if she went around fainting like this. Well, she could have had Kiko's problem, too, he supposed. Either way, he easily lifted her up, and carried her back to the dorms. He was certain Kari would look after her.

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Character Portrait: Naya Akarui Character Portrait: Torahiko Fujiwara
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For the first time in a rather long while, actually, Naya was quite pleased. While she herself had not had a direct hand in it, her brother and cousin had finally found each other; while Naya took no end of pleasure at teasing her little brother about the Mark, she was also inexplicably happy for him as well. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Haru actually smile for truth so often.

Perhaps it was because she was so happy that she could be heard clear across campus; she was singing, something she did not do in public very often. While she was not singing loudly, the wind carried her voice down from the tree in which she sat.

She wasn't bothered at all by the sun that shone down on her, and if anything, it only made her disposition brighter. Mako was sitting on the branch next to her, his tail twitching as his eyes slowly slipped closed. He always did like Nana-chan's singing.


Tora was pleased as well, of course, though naturally much of his satisfaction was from the—rather brilliant, if he did say so himself—part he’d played in the whole thing. Of course it was good to have his Henchmen back and not annoyingly mopey, and he’d happily admit to the fact that he preferred things when all was right with them, but he wasn’t entirely sure he had much of a capacity to empathize. He tended to leave the touchy-feely shit to Tatsu, who was much better at it, what with that sensitive guilty brooding thing he could do. Tora hadn’t ever really been sensitive or felt guilty for anything, and when he wasn’t feeling all that great, he tended to choose coping mechanisms other than brooding. Like breaking shit and fucking. Those were great for relieving tension.

Plus, the look on Tatsu’s face whenever he suggested his brother try his methods was probably hands down the funniest thing he’d ever see. Most people probably assumed his brother had one facial expression—maybe one and a half, if he was feeling particularly bad about something—but Tora knew he had then all. He could even make the guy do any of them except the smiling one. He’d lost that one somewhere along the way… in fact, Tora knew exactly when.

But now he was feeling down, and he didn’t really like it. Time to find a solution, then, and as it so happened, his keen ears picked up on a decidedly-familiar sound. He’d essentially forced it out of her last time, but she appeared to have decided to sing on her own this time. Well. Wasn’t that convenient? Here he’d just been having this problem, and then a solution fell right into his lap. Metaphorically speaking—the more literal version would take a little more work. Not too much, though, because he was very good at what he did.

“Hm… beautiful as always, kitten,” he said as soon as the song fell silent. The compliment slid over his tongue smoothly, easily, and he left it opaque whether he referred to the song, her rendition of it, or just her in general. She was in the lower branches of the tree, and so he could see her quite easily, especially considering his height. “Gotta say, the view from down here is quite something.” He grinned lasciviously—really, the uniform skirts here were delightfully short, unless one elected to wear the long one on purpose. Naya, however, had not.

Tora wasn’t complaining.


How he always managed to sneak up on her, Naya would never know. She blushed lightly, realizing that he'd heard her singing. Honestly, it had been out in the open, so it was her own fault. But she blushed even harder at his comment, and at that...well. Sometimes she really, really hated this man.

She leaned backwards just enough to let gravity bring her down, her fist connecting with the top of his head as she did so, crossing her arms and stepping away from him with a scowl. "So tell me, do many women tell you you're an ass? Because you really are, Torahiko." Her scowl only deepened when Mako jumped from the tree, landing on Tora's head. "Kishi-san!"


He, unfortunately, did not so much as flinch from the hit. Instead, he tilted his head sideways and grinned down at her. “Oh, quite a lot,” he said truthfully. “Though not as many as confess to being fond of my ass, suspect me of being an ass man, or beg me to put—“ his sentence, still truthful but perhaps too much so, was cut mercifully short by the fact that Mako landed on his head. “Hello, Little Mayhem,” he said, reverting from the rather dangerously-low tone he’d just been using to something bright and almost chipper in less time than it took to blink an eye. He reached up and laid a large hand on the cub’s head, rubbing behind both ears at once.

He allowed Naya a moment to think that the presence of children would dissuade him from anything worse, then his eyes fell back to her and the grin inched wider. “Green’s a very good color on you, kitten.”

No part of the Cross Academy uniform was any shade of green.


Naya made an indecent noise and crossed her arms. "Actually, it is not, it clashes with my hair." She chose to retort back rather than to take the compliment. Or whatever it was he'd verbally slung her way. She never could tell, honestly. She sighed delicately through her nose, arching a blue eyebrow. "Just what exactly are you doing here, Tora?"

Some part of her couldn't help but be inherently suspicious. She'd learned that Tora never did anything without some sort of ulterior motive; it made her wonder just why she liked him, loved him, even. But she could not deny that there was something that she felt for him. On Tora's head, Mako giggled. "I think Nana-chan's p-m-essing." Naya glared at her familiar. "Shut up you little furball, or I'll turn you into an actual hat."

Mako only giggled again, his tail flickering back and forth. "I'm already a hat!"


“And a most excellent hat you are, Little Mayhem,” Tora said with a grin, dropping his hand from the tiger cub’s back with a smirk for his joke about what might be causing his mistress’s irritation. Perhaps some men would have been uncomfortable with the mention of such things, but he wasn’t. He honestly found it kind of stupid when other people were. It was just biology; what was there to be uncomfortable about?

Tora tilted his head to the side, his grin dimming into a subtler smile, full of mischief. Reaching out, he caught Naya’s chin and brought his face down close to hers, careful not to unwittingly dislodge his living headwear. “And what would you say, Kitten, if I told you that the only reason I’m here is because I wanted to see you, and this happens to be where you are, hm?He was dangerously close to her mouth with his own, still tilted into that maddening smile that bespoke of things he would not admit to. He was trouble and danger and mischief and a little bit of nonsense, but he was unapologetically, unabashedly, shamelessly, and always himself.

He’d never seen a good reason to be anyone else, anyway.


Naya's eyes widened slightly; being this close to him, she could feel his breath mixing with hers. Her head clouded and she fought to clear it, jerking backwards when it hit her just how close they were. She scowled only further as she felt her cheeks turning red. "I'd say that I don't believe you. You don't just want to see me, do you?"

The trouble was, she was actually hoping that his answer to that would be that he did want something more; her reaction had been instinctual, even as much as she'd wanted to close that gap between them. That infuriated her more than anything, the fact that she wanted to touch him, to feel him. She sighed through her nose. "So I'll ask again, maybe a little more clearly: what do you want?"


Tora huffed through his nose when she pulled away from him, but he let her go. The blush really was quite becoming, he decided. So wonderfully frank, this girl—it was a trait after his own heart. Well, Tora wasn’t really sure he had a heart, but that was probably beside the point here. She was rather poor at hiding the evidence of her desire, also, and it would have been obvious what she wanted even if he hadn’t touched her and therefore been able to read her psychometrically.

“Are you so sure you want to know the answer to that question, kitten?” he asked slowly, his voice dropping to a sensual purr. Tora took another step forward, closing the gap she’d created by moving backwards, the differences in their physicalities obvious in their close proximity. Of course, he fully intended on giving her said answer, whether she confirmed her inclination to hear it or not. “I’ll say it again, perhaps a little more clearly: I.” One of his hands reached out, trailing a thumb along her cheekbone and down the side of her throat, to rest over the point of her pulse. “Want.” The hand slid to her shoulder, but his nose followed, insinuating into the crook of her neck and inhaling deeply, before pulling back so that he was a fraction of an inch from her face, the last word breathed almost into her very own lungs, so close were they.

You.” With no more warning than that, Tora closed the gap between them, capturing her lips with his own, sliding the hand along its former path to cup the back of her neck and thread his fingers through the cornflower-blue silk of her hair. The other arm found a home around her waist, banding there like steel. She wasn’t getting away now—though of course he suspected she wouldn’t really want to.


Well. She had expected something, but perhaps not something so forceful. But then, this was Torahiko. Forceful was his very nature, in certain respects. That aside, she wasn't wholly prepared for her own body's reaction. Heat pooled in her stomach like liquid fire as her arms looped around his neck. He may have been holding her to him, but it was she that pressed herself closer to him, her hands languidly trailing down the front of his chest as her teeth caught his lower lip.

Tora smiled against her mouth, the hand around her waist finding the hem of her shirt and sliding under, ghosting over her side before his fingers rested, splayed, over the warm skin of her back. She was quite instinctive, but still clearly very new to the whole idea, and he found this of some novel fascination all its own. With no effort at all, he picked her up off the ground, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist, but in the end whether or not she chose to was of little relevance, because he moved them until her upper back pressed against the tree, parting her lips with his tongue and sliding it against hers, teasing and coaxing with surprising patience until she caught on to the game, and then, like the fickle creature he was, parting their mouths to instead trail kisses down her jaw and throat, nipping playfully with sharpened fangs at the delicate skin where neck met shoulder.

He pulled away just a fraction of an inch, such that they were still maddeningly close, but not touching. Tora tilted his head to the side, as though studying her, and licked his lips in a decidedly sensual fashion. “We both know what I want, kitten,” he said simply, his smile positively predatory. Taking one of the locks of her hair that had fallen over her shoulder, he twined it almost absently around a finger. “The question is, what do you want? And are you going to take it?”


With her legs wrapped around his waist like that or not, she knew very well what he wanted, and the way her own body was reacting, it was decidedly certain that she wanted it, too. It was stupid and dangerous and she simply did not care. She shivered when he licked his lips, the predatory gleam in his eyes only drawing her further towards him rather than sending her away.

Perhaps she should have run, because now she was falling, with no sense of direction or time or awareness of what would happen. All she knew, all she cared about, was him. Though she wasn't overly sure about taking. He had a much vaster knowledge of this respective art than she, hell, her little brother had more experience in this realm than she, so if this was going anywhere, it was he who would have to lead them. That didn't mean she wouldn't answer his question, however breathless she sounded.

"I want you, Kishi-Tora."


Tora chuckled darkly, but it was not a sound of amusement, exactly. That was all he’d really needed. The rest, he would happily teach. He was somewhat considerate in this arena, however; one made a poor lover if one was only interested in oneself, and Tora didn’t like being unskilled at anything. Sociopath he may be, but he was also capable of some understanding, at least to a degree. Which was perhaps why he proceeded to gather her up in his arms and run them both to her room, not simply grant her request right there. He had no problem with exhibitionism, but he understood that people, women especially, often considered one’s first foray into the delightful world of sexuality to be rather important.

Kicking the door shut behind him, he laid her gently atop her covers, backing up for a moment to appreciate the aesthetics of the moment. They’d be back to the heat in very little time at all, but some things should be done slowly. He hummed a note in his chest as he traced a callused thumb over one of her cheekbones. “You’re beautiful, kitten,” he told her matter-of-factly, tracing his fingertips down her throat and past her collarbone and sternum, “but it’s your spirit that makes you shine.” Leaning down, he kissed her slowly, deeply, and resolved to take his time.

He wouldn’t be much of a knight if he rushed it, now would he?

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Haru Akarui Character Portrait: Torahiko Fujiwara
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#, as written by Asilian
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Tora sat with his feet up on the desk next to his, not terribly concerned about who was supposed to be using it. It wasn’t like anyone really did anything in class, anyway, and nobody stuck to the assigned seating. Basically everyone just socialized, but in a classroom, sometimes while a teacher tried to lecture. This one didn’t bother, merely doing paperwork at her desk with little evidence of interest in what her students were doing. Tora had always liked Ms. Northwood because of this quality… and also because she was smart as a whip and had a really nice ass. It went without saying what he’d done regarding that. Thankfully, she was also one of those people who understood the actual meaning of the words “one night stand” and “casual sex,” in the case of multiple one-nights strung together, as had been the case for several months with them.

More importantly, his Henchmen were back in functioning order, and so all was right with the world again, as far as Tora was concerned. In fact, his life was pretty damn fantastic. Work for the Council had been light, but enough to keep him entertained, Haru and Ryo were happy—which oddly made Tora happy as well—Tatsu was fine, and Naya, well… he could write odes to the taste of that woman. Those were some of his nicest memories in this particular genre now. It had only been a couple of days since he’d woken up next to her, as Tora was completely unashamed of the fact that he was a cuddler and liked to stay for at least a few hours post-coitus for precisely that. He’d been highly tempted by, and successfully made a bid for, round two in the morning, but he’d been dragged off-campus for a job after that. Perhaps tonight…

Needless to say, the smile he was wearing was a very satisfied one. He wondered if she was walking right yet. He had been a little… rough.


Torahiko wasn't the only one who could be rough, but unlike his sister, Haru wasn't complaining. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about Tora sleeping with his sister, though. For now, however, he wasn't going to say anything. Well, other than an idle passing comment, of course. He just hoped his sister had enough sense to understand how Tora was. He found himself idly tracing the outline of his Mark. It was funny; he did it quite often.

It had only been about a week and a half, Haru was still a little surprised to see the Mark in the reflection of a mirror. He yawned absentmindedly at the desk behind Tora as he leaned back in his chair. Class could really be rather boring. "You know, I'm fairly certain the Boss broke Nana." He said idly.


Ryoku sat in the desk behind Haru, folding paper into small planes as the rest of the class chatted amongst themselves. The teacher didn't seem too interested, not that he could blame her, and class would be over soon, anyways. He set one of the paper planes loose, watching as it floated a few inches before crashing into the back of Haru's head, and falling. He sighed, picked up another one, and set it loose, watching it as it floated a little past Torahiko this time, and snorted when it poked the student's, in front of him, eye. He rose a brow at Haru's statement, and allowed a smirk to pull at his lips. Torahiko wasn't the only one who could be rough, sure, but he'd never left anyone without the capacity to walk. It wasn't as much fun if they couldn't use their legs, after all.

"You should know by now, Haru. The Boss breaks everything he touches. Nana...ha, she's no exception, though, you could have given her a bit of a breather," he stated, this time towards Tora. He knew better, though, and that would have been an unlikely scenario. "So, what do we have planned for today? We haven't done anything in the last few days, or last week, and the school is becoming tamed. It needs a little chaos," he stated, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering for a moment if he really wanted to cause chaos. Things were rather, perfect, for the last few days, and everything had fallen back into place. But, then again, he did miss being with his bossman and the other henchman.


Tora rolled his eyes. “It’s not like she was complaining, guys. In fact, it was distinctly the opposite.” He might have chosen to be more specific on the point, because they were damn well asking for it, but the mention of mayhem was sufficiently distracting to draw his attention to it, and he was fine with letting it. “Eh… not my fault some people had their heads stuck up their own asses for so long. It’s boring if I have to do everything myself, you know.” But hey, now maybe that it wasn’t craniums that were up asses, things would go back to normal. Which for them meant a lot of messing with shit.

“Well, I propose we inaugurate the return of official henchman duties by fucking something up. Thoughts, suggestions, ideas, inspirations? Personally I was thinking we coat the whole building in a layer of ice and trap everyone inside, but that would take some logistical planning, and let’s be honest: planning isn’t really your strong suit.” He was mostly talking to Ryo there, because the guy was honestly about as smart as a brick wall some days, but that was part of his fun. Haru was a bit more deliberate, but even he didn’t always see the same big picture that Tora could.


Haru was glad, to say the least, when Torahiko's attention was turned away from Naya. It was one thing to know that your friend slept with your sister. It was entirely another to hear about it, details and all. He propped his chin in his hand, looking bored, and shrugged. Honestly...nothing came right to mind. Though he did agree, the place was becoming more than tamed.

Kon leapt up onto the desk, rubbing faces with his master, the familiar a small black cat. The classroom was about the only place he wasn't a lion. Haru absent-mindedly pet him for a few seconds. "Huh. I got nothing. Unless we want to go paint the town green."


Ryoku raised a brow at Tora's statement, feigning a mocked hurt look before scratching his cheek. He drummed his fingers along the desk, rummaging through his mind for ideas. Tora's first idea, encasing the school in ice, would have been an ideal situation, however; as Tora stated, that would take some planning. He wasn't going to disagree with Tora, because he was right. It wasn't his strong suit and freezing the entire school would take a lot of time, and they'd more than likely be caught before they finished. Not to mention Eien might not take it too well, though Eien could help if Ryoku could get his brother to actually loosen up that way. He shrugged his shoulders; it was a thought to entertain.

"He said destroy. Painting the town green won't necessarily be destroying it, now would it?" he replied, running his finger down the base of Haru's hairline and down his spine to the middle of his shoulder blades. "Though personally, I think if we were to destroy something, it should be something a little more...public. I hear the girl's gymnasium is in the process of being remodeled, but they are still using it," he spoke, a light smirk tugging at his lips. They could destroy it, and if they were lucky enough, they would catch them as they were changing. He also knew that two of his family members were currently also attending their gym class right now. Hikari and Naya might make him pay for it later, but it would be well worth it in the end.


Tora smirked to himself. Watching the two of them interact was really kinda funny. Admittedly not so much now that they weren’t both stupidly trying to hide the obvious, but… perhaps that was fine, since they were happier. It was unusual of him to think so, given how little he generally cared for the happiness of others, but wasn’t Tatsu always trying to tell him that it wasn’t bad to want the happiness of other people? That maybe he should, even? Well, chances were if his brother said it, it was true, but Tora didn’t have much of a moral compass of his own. So he let his brother function as his, meaning that this was a good thing, the fact that he enjoyed their contentment.

“Girls’ gym it is then,” he declared, lacing his hands together behind his head. “Don’t just sit there, henchmen, there’s trouble to be caused.” The smirk grew into a dangerous grin with far too much fang in it for most people to be comfortable. Not that he was overly concerned with the comfort of anyone else. He was going to have fun, and really, that was the important thing, now wasn’t it?

“Now come on, before all your ridiculous happiness makes me ill.”

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto Character Portrait: Hikari Minamoto Character Portrait: Eien Minamoto
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#, as written by Mihael
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Eien sat, his back against the tree as the sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the open woods. He glanced up occasionally from his book, flipping the page when he was done and kept a passive facade. His sister and brother were sparring, however; he wouldn't necessarily call it sparring when Hikari was breaking every bone in her body and Ryoku's body. Though that was irrelevant. Their healing factor shifted the broken pieces back into place as quickly as they broke them. He sighed, flipping another page to his book without reading it. He could hear some of the words being exchanged between the two of them, and he could hear the irritation behind Hikari's voice when she spoke.

"Shut up, Ryo!" she shouted, throwing a fist in his face as he caught it, twisted it behind her back and kicked her away. He merely grinned, laughing manically as he did so. Hikari growled out through her teeth, pushing herself back from the tree she had collided with. She dusted the leaves that had fallen on her, off, and glared at her older brother, watching as he clutched his sides and continued to laugh. "Dumbass, it's not funny!" she shouted, clenching her fists together. Ryoku rose an amused eyebrow and allowed his smirk to grow into an almost feral grin. Hikari's eyes narrowed dangerously thin at her brother, her violet eyes flashing a temporary amber.

"Oh? Did I upset you, Kari-chan?" he mulled out, a dark chuckle escaping his lips. "Or is it that you're jealous? Oh, do tell me you're jealous. It'd make for an interesting topic with Haru-chan," he stated, tapping his chin in a thoughtful manner before side stepping, barely avoiding the fist aimed for his jaw. He twisted his body, laughing still as Hikari merely growled at him, her hair taking to a shade of black. Ryoku raised a brow, Eien glancing up from his book momentarily to shake his head. "Oh? Have I upset my dear sister? Or does she simply wish to let the beast play?" he teased, his own hair turning white.

"Ryoku," Eien spoke, placing the book to his side as he regarded his younger siblings. "Do not provoke her. You know what happened last time," he spoke, his voice flat with a stare to match. Ryoku merely grinned at his brother, flashing a hint of a fang through his lips. "I am warning you Ryoku," he spoke, his aura flaring just slightly. Ryoku's grin merely turned wider, stepping so that he was facing his. Eien's eyes narrowed slightly as he shifted into a challenging stance, keeping his eyes glued to Ryoku as the two stared each other down. Perhaps it wasn't the wisest thing to do, openly challenge his elder brother in such a way, but Ryoku wasn't exactly the brightest of the three Minamotos, and it was a well known fact that he tried, on multiple occasions, to upset his brother.

The last time he upset Hikari, the both of them nearly destroyed the Minamoto home. If it had not been for the intervention of Eien and their mother, Ryoku was fairly certain his father would have beaten him within an inch of his life, or probably killed him; he wouldn't put it past his father. He loved his parents, he really did, but his father terrified him more than anything. And that was saying something considering who his mother was. Just the thought alone was enough to send a chill down his spine, however; he kept his gaze steady with Eien's. The slight quirk of Eien's lips sent Ryoku's brow rising. Eien was smirking, why was he smirking? Oh.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off your first opponent," Hikari chided, her foot connecting with the back of Ryoku's head. He fell forward, flying a few feet before landing face first in the dirt, Hikari smiling triumphantly. He twisted his neck, face still laying on the floor, as he regarded his sister. "It was one of the first rules mom and dad taught us," she continued, the smile toning down to a smirk. It, however, was soon replaced by a scowl as Ryoku merely grinned widely. She really did hate when he did that. "Don't you even dare," she warned, watching the glimmer behind Ryoku's eyes. She knew that glimmer, and her lips pulled back. She took a step back, Ryoku picking himself up from the floor and removing the dirt from his clothes.

"Don't I dare what, dear sister?" he spoke, taking a step forward. "Don't worry, it won't hurt...much. In fact, it might be enjoyable, well, for me at least," he continued, teasing laced in his voice as he raised his hands up. Hikari growled at him beneath her breath, eliciting a dark chuckle from Ryoku before she turned on her heel. Without much of another word, she ran, leaving Ryoku to laugh as he watched her disappear. Eien sighed, picking up his book and dusted it free of the cherry blossoms that had fallen to cover it. He glanced at his younger siblings, shaking his head before turning his heel and walking back towards the academy.

"They should have stopped at one."

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Character Portrait: Hikari Minamoto
7 sightings Hikari Minamoto played by Nephilim
"Beyond the perfect image lies the darkened truth."
Character Portrait: Farah Tasogare
6 sightings Farah Tasogare played by Nephilim
"If I can be kind in a world that isn't, I think...I can at least help change it just a bit."
Character Portrait: Ryoku Minamoto
10 sightings Ryoku Minamoto played by Nephilim
"Life is a big game. You either win, or you lose. There is no in between; no ties or second chances."
Character Portrait: Eien Minamoto
7 sightings Eien Minamoto played by Nephilim
"We are what we choose to be. What I choose to be is nothing less of what I am today."

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Character Portrait: Naya Akarui
Character Portrait: Trevor Edyta
Character Portrait: Haru Akarui

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Character Portrait: Haru Akarui
Haru Akarui

"And there goes Naya Nii-san, blowing something else up. Um, where's Uncle Trevor?"

Character Portrait: Trevor Edyta
Trevor Edyta

"Oh jeeze, what did Naya do now?"

Character Portrait: Naya Akarui
Naya Akarui

"What? You got something to say to me? Go ahead, piss me off, I dare you."

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Character Portrait: Haru Akarui
Haru Akarui

"And there goes Naya Nii-san, blowing something else up. Um, where's Uncle Trevor?"

Character Portrait: Naya Akarui
Naya Akarui

"What? You got something to say to me? Go ahead, piss me off, I dare you."

Character Portrait: Trevor Edyta
Trevor Edyta

"Oh jeeze, what did Naya do now?"

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Character Portrait: Haru Akarui
Haru Akarui

"And there goes Naya Nii-san, blowing something else up. Um, where's Uncle Trevor?"

Character Portrait: Naya Akarui
Naya Akarui

"What? You got something to say to me? Go ahead, piss me off, I dare you."

Character Portrait: Trevor Edyta
Trevor Edyta

"Oh jeeze, what did Naya do now?"


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