Still not receiving any response from Nao, Kyo was about to jostle her a bit more roughly when another figure suddenly swept into view, cutting them both off from continuing on their way. Kyosuke ground to a halt, stopped himself, glancing to the man with a bit of a glare for barging in the way he did.
âHey, back off pal, we-â Kyosuke didnât get a chance to finish his warning as the silver-haired man revealed himself to be Susumu, though he was going to be no big brother of his. Instinctively, Kyosuke moved partly between Nao and the man, half expecting a fight, but instead, the man launched into a constant chatter.
Confused was one word that described how Kyosuke felt, even more so as he began noticing the odd features that Nao had pointed out earlier. Tails⊠Ears⊠Maybe he was some cosplayer like his sister? That would explain the dumb look. Waiting a moment for Nao to respond, it seemed she still wasnât quite back to herself. Great, looks like heâd have to deal with this freakazoid. He was about to tell the weirdo to buzz off when his sing-songy voice continued straight into some sort of puzzle. Maybe this was some weird travelling circus troupe rather than a cult? Some sort of performance group deciding to toy with them for busting in on their rehearsals? He⊠Well, the bizarre man was strangely captivating, though for some reason, Kyo couldnât help but feel uncomfortable and annoyed by it. This guy⊠Ugh, something about him was irksome.
âA murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven't eaten in 3 years. Which room is safest for him? I'll give you three guesses. On the third incorrect guess, you have to tell me a secret about yourselves!â Kyosuke listened to the riddle in full, and wasnât entirely sure if Nao had heard at all. What was up with her? Well, whatever, he wasnât about to just sit here in silence. Man, did he really have to do everything around here?
"Curious is it not? Such an obvious answer when clearly the lions have starved and died within those three years... Goodluck." Kyosuke glanced to the man who strode past them, another extravagant outfit and curiously strange air around him. They didnât exactly need his help, the answer wasnât that hard. He would have gotten it.
"Very charming, but looks like the game is over. And the terms where quite unfair, and not in our favor, to start with. The correct thing to have done would be a quid pro quo. You tell us things, we tell you things..." Nao, finally seeming to regain her composure, stepped forward past Kyosuke, allowing him to slowly lower his guard. Whoever these dweebs were seemed they didnât see them as a threat. Though, he couldnât miss this chance to point out something that Nao had missed.
âNot in our favour? There are only three possible answers, so we couldnât possibly get it wrong.â Kyo folded his arms, clearly unimpressed. Still, he felt kind of smart, smirking and shutting his eyes. Unfortunately, he didnât notice the other man take flight and leave, so content was he to bask in managing to one-up Nao.
"Ehhmm... regardless how nice it was to meet you.. Susumu-san.. I do think we must take our leave.." Nao took a few cautious steps back, grabbing Kyosuke once again to get them moving. Shrugging free, as he was perfectly capable of walking without her guidance, he couldnât withhold his last snarky comment.
âYou need to work on your act dude. You sound way too annoying to hold an audience.ââDidja know that? Eating its eyes I swear! It was soooo disgusting. Little Birdie is so rude and inconsiderate like that, doing such things in Sanyaâs forest, so why does he always get so mad at me?â As Rika finished her current train of thought, there was a cracking boom as the doors to the temple busted open, though little light filtered in except around the glorious silhouette standing within the frame.
âS-S-San-Nya?!â Rika jumped upright. Sheâd been so distracted talking with Ki that she forgot to make her stealthy escape! Frozen in a position caught in the act, she watched Sanja âcalmlyâ throw his gaze around the room, starting with her, and ending onâŠ
Scampering over to her bag, Rika made one last ditch effort to make a run for it, but it was way too heavy for her to even lift with that much contents.
âMiss NekonyankooâŠâ She heard the soft sound of his footsteps as he approached, and slowly turned to face him, one ear twitching slightly as she braced herself.
âNy-nyah?â In one swift motion, she was grabbed by the scruff of her neck and lifted from the ground, giving a panicked wail of fear.
âIf you do not put my belongs back exactly as you found them, I will rend your feline ears from your small, foolish, destructive head!" âSorry, Sorry, Sorry Sanya! I didnât mean it! I just wanted to borrow them for my stor-â She was cut off as Sanjaâs rage would not be sated by such a paltry explanation.
"I have told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Do. Not. Enter. The. Shrine. You are forbidden in my home! Everytime you come here you destroy and mess up my chi!" Unceremoniously dropped to the floor, Rika gave a soft yelp of pain, rubbing her rear as she fell back, temporarily distracted by the pain. As she opened her eyes again to look up to the looming figure of Sanja, she immediately began trying to scramble away on all fours.
"I will give you until the count of ten to return my belongings as you found them and vacate my temple so I can repair this mess." The intimidating and indomitable shadow of Sanja seemed to grow and follow her, refusing not to be watching over the fearful feline.
Moving to try and push herself up to her feet, Rika gave a genuine scream of fright as she glanced down to where her hand was, a snake like shadow hissing at her and lunging to bite her hand. Once more jumping back onto her rear, the feline backed up by scooching her butt along the floor, eyes darting about fearfully as the shadows closed in all around her. Bumping into the wall, she found herself cornered, and gave a terrified wail of panic, holding her ears over her head and shutting her eyes as she cowered. 10 seconds?! She couldnât do it in 10 seconds! A-and that meant all the shadow monsters were going to eat her! Nooooooo! She was too young and smart and pretty to die!
âAlready eaten one dead cat today, got room for another,â Rika overhead the voice of little birdie, and then her fear grew even more. No! She didnât want her eyes plucked out and and crunched in the beak of Shohei! That was even worse than being eaten by shadow creatures!
Clutching her legs and head to her chest, clenching her eyes shut as tight as she could, she prepared herself for the inevitable, fully expecting to feel searing and rending pain as the shadows tore her limb from limb in a gruesome ceremony of mortification. Her time was almost upâŠ
"Oi. What'd you do this time eh, Rika-chan?" Rika gave another loud and panicked scream that was a drastic overreaction for the strength of the flick she received. Clearly sheâd been expecting something far more painful and it just kind of⊠slipped out. Cautiously opening an eye a peep, she looked to who had spoken.
"I knew you were thick, but I didn't think you would be this phenomenally stupid." Continued the water-dragon, Hakuryuu giving her one of his typical expressions. She wasnât normally the fondest of Hakuryuu just simply because she hated getting wet, but at the moment, sheâd take whatever help she could get.
âSave me save me save meeeee!â Latching hold of him in a tackling hug, Rika practically swung around his body to hide behind him, meekly peering out to look to Sanja and the shadows still circling around them.
"Now be a good kitty and do what your Sanja-sama told you, yeah? Put them back." Giving a soft âNya?â as she was lifted to her feet, Rika shut her eyes again as he began patting and dusting her down, cleaning up the mess sheâd made of herself scampering about the floor. Her poor kimono had more than a few tatters, and there was dust and dirt all over her. Weakly, her eyes started to falter, the sobbing almost beginning. She was a mess! A cute kitty like her looked like a messy muddle! It wasnât fair! She hadnât done anything wrong! She didnât even get away with the stuff! Beginning to voice her complaints as the waterworks started, a prompt shove in the back by Hakuryuu forced her to snap out of it as she stumbled, rubbing her eyes slightly to wipe away the tears.
"Go on, before I dump you in the deep end of the river." Hakuryuu stated, deadpan. Rika pouted, still crying a little with some sobs.
âYouâre all so mean to me. No one looks after Rika, even when Rika really is sorryâŠâ Oh dear, she was speaking in the third-person again. That normally only happened when she was particularly upset. Making some slow, tentative steps towards the bag, keeping her figure tight to avoid the still ever present shadows, she knelt towards the bag and began taking out each of the things. Shohei had already made a bit of a start, but there was plenty in there which needed to be returned. Slowly but steadily, she began taking things back⊠Though it didnât exactly go the best, as she couldnât remember where sheâd taken them from, leading to Shohei having to frequently move the object she just placed somewhere else.
Finally, she was down to the last object: The ornate tea set that sheâd asked Ki to first tuck away for her. Picking up the tray, she headed back over to the shelf where sheâd got it from. It was pretty high up, seeing as Sanja could simply fly up to grab it, so she had to climb a little bit in order to reach. Balancing the tray precariously in one hand as she reached to the shelf and pulled, placing her entire weight on it, there was a soft creaking sound. Panic filled the feline as she swiftly and speedily placed the tea set back on the shelf, letting go and hopping down as she backed up slowly, watching in tense fear. Nothing happened though. The shelf didnât break. The tea set was okay. Sheâd done it! Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned back towards Sanja and Hakuryuu, intent on showing them her best work.
âSee? See - lookie what I did! Arenât you proud?! Check that out!â In a wild motion as she was just so excited, Rika raised her hand to point to the tea set. And slapped the small shelf. Instantly, one side of the shelf fell, beginning to scatter the tea set to the floor, But Rika was quicker than that. Leaping, she moved to catch the tea set, entering into a combat-roll as she deftly managed to save every single one, cupping them against her chest as she bumped against a vase to stop herself falling over.
âPhew⊠Close oneâŠâ Her heart was beating a mile a minute at the prospect of something so unfortunate happening. Sanja wouldâve really killed her if-
*CRASH!* Startled, Rika flinched and jumped, turning to the source of the sound. On the ground, shattered to pieces was the vase sheâd rolled into in her attempt to catch the tea-set. The colour drained from her face. So much so was she scared that she also proceeded to drop the tea set, the tray clattering to the floor as the cups and pot also shattered on impact.
âNyaow, Meow Sanja, I-I didnât mean itâŠâ Rika backed up, arms in front of her defensively, easing her way to the doorâŠ