[Kaguya]

Toshi remained in her knelt bow tears streaming down her cheeks as she wanted to go back inside the house and hug Yuu, pretending that this whole scene was nothing but a nightmare, she just wanted to know everything was alright at that nothing could harm them.

Ai looked at toshi her eyes narrowing "It is the way of the world Demon" she hissed at him "If she had any sort of backbone, any sort of self respect then she would stand up to me... in all truth, she lives with it because I am the last thing she has left and if I ordered her she would have to leave the house because as I am the eldest the home is mine" she smiled evily seeing toshi's eyes close, knowing every word of it to be true

[Kamikaze Chinchilla]

He was familiar with a similar system, being the footstool of the ones who were lucky enough to be born without the mark. It was a way of life. He paused in reflection of what it was like back at his home, back when he was pushed around. Though at the same time it was different, since he bore no strong sentimental attachment to his family.

Yuu sheathed his sword, but the presence of malice still lingered. He moved his now free hand to Ai's throat, and two curved claws gently poked against her skin, "Then..I should take your ability to speak and ability to write away from you, so that you would no longer be able to order her around."

[Kaguya]

Ai smiled up to her attacker she wasn't worried in the least as she heard toshi crying out in pain "There is my point... i don't need to move, speak, write to get her to do something or to harm her" she say with a chilling tone

"Ai Sempai please stop" her voice was wavering as she spoke, her hand went to her head "Yuu help me" she whispered, she hoped he could her her but she knew it would be impossible as he was in the house, but after a moment the pain ebbed and she let out a sigh of relief

[Kamikaze Chinchilla]

Yuu growled. He didn't want to hurt Toshi's feelings, and at the same time he just wanted Ai to stop harming Toshi. He glared down at Ai and let her go, "You are a wicked human! You should consider yourself fortunate that you have someone who loves you deeply."

He cocked his head and adjusted his wings. the purple light from within the eyeholes of the mask dimmed to a soft glow. Yuu felt defeated since there wasn't going to be a good ending for this as he had hoped, "Then an exchange then. When you want to harm Toshi, lay your fist on me instead." He held his breath since Ai seemed to be a stubborn one in his eyes. Maybe beating up a monster would satisfy the witch more than beating up another human, he thought.

[Kaguya]

Toshi looked to the both, she wanted the fighting to stop she looked to the trees "the harmony has been disturbed, they are not happy" she say rising, her voice almost seemed dead as she walked away from them and sat below a tree, her eyes closing

Ai rose from the ground "She is nothing to you demon, and I will do what i wish to her" she say say moving away from them both "The punishment stands Toshi Chan and trhere will be backlash for tonight" she then back in the house to have another bath

[Kamikaze Chinchilla]

Yuu growled and had nothing more to say towards such a stubborn person. He tried his best to persuade her into doing Toshi less harm, but he failed. It was still pouring, and cold outside and Toshi seemed like she was going to remain outside for the duration of the night, which he felt would have been bad for Toshi's health.

Yuu walked over to where Toshi was and sat down next to her while facing the tree. He lifted his wing and used it to cover her, hoping it would at least keep her warm for the night. He left it at that and didn't say anything, certain that she didn't want to talk to him after what happened.

[Kaguya]

Toshi nodded her head to Ai, she shaked as she thought about the 'backlash' that had been mentioned, though her eyes went to yuu as he sat down "Thank you" she say smiling, closing her eyes she moved into his lap and curled up wanting to share the warmth of her body "She will be punished do not worry" she say her voice was low "There is a reason I say the harmony must remain" she aid with a small yawn as she heard a scream from within the house

[Kamikaze Chinchilla]

Yuu was at least glad that Toshi was not scared of him and moved closer, so he didn't have to worry about Toshi getting sick from the temperature. But he jerked up and cawed loudly, startled from the scream from inside the house. Shivers ran up and down his spine since it happened right after Toshi mentioned that Ai would be punished. He was now frozen stiff with fear. Just what exactly happened to Ai?

[Kaguya]

Toshi looked up to him a small smile on her lips "Ai isn't female" she say with a sleepy tone "He distrupted the harmony of the house and the surrounding area and now is being punished by nature" she say looking up to him "don't worry he can't be harmed within the house, as you can't kill a spirit, but you can cause painful illusions" she say hearing another scream, she touched the tree behind her "please, do not harm him more... I think the lesson has been learned" with that the raining stopped suddenly as silence fell

[Kamikaze Chinchilla]

Yuu squinted and almost cringed at the thought. Ai isn't female? Spirits? Nature doing the punishment on its own rather than someone requesting it? It was so much strange information at once that his mind almost exploded, but at the same time he felt that Toshi had just slammed him with one of the biggest hints he'd ever saw within the past few hours and he didn't even have to ask Toshi for that information. And..after all of that he came to suspect that Toshi was just like Ai, a spirit chained to the physical realm.

He looked down at Toshi, wondering how he was capable of even touching the spirits, feeling their warmth. He tried to act calm, and he was thankful that he had the mask on to hide the fear on his face. He didn't want to imagine what it would have been like if he had been in a complete human form, then he would have just embarrassed himself, "Maybe you should go back inside.."

[Kaguya]

Toshi looked up to Yuu and smiled "Ai is my elder brother... the boy from the story, remember" her voice was warm as she cuddled into him, she felt at peace "On my sixteenth birthday, the day I would be considered an adult... my brother asked me to marry him" she began her eyes closed, her hant touched his head and it would make the images of that day appear in his mind.

Yuu would be able to see Ai in a deep blue kimono and hakama, his hair tied back neatly, Toshi was stood before him in a pale pink kimono, her hair laying gracefully on her back. "Toshi we could elope and be married" Ai said his voice filled with warmth, desire and love. Toshi looked down and stepped away from her brother "We can't Ai it is forbidden, you know this more than I... besides I'm engadged to Yushiro sama" her cheeks went rosy as she said the other man's name "Toshi chan!" would call another male voice, toshi bowed to her brother "Coming" and ran off into the garden. Ai's hands gripped "Toshi you will be mine one way or another through life and death" his voice seethed with hatred towards his beloved sister

The image then flashed to the libary where he could see Ai looking through the books to find something to read. he tripped only to pick up a black book that seemed to be tattered opening it an evil smile came to his face "I have a way now toshi... I'll take out all the obsticals in our way" he laughed evily towards himself, his once calm face seeming to be that of a compleatly diffrent person.

Again there would be a flash, he would be able to see Ai setting up a table with some items and mumbling something underhis breath, the candle's burned blue until they suddenly burned a black the white wax turning blood red as it weeped. His form turned a ghastly shade of white, he held his neck almost as if something was choaking him, screams from the other rooms of the household could be heard as if they where being slaughtered

Toshi opened her eyes and removed her hand from Yuu's head, a tear fell from her eye "I was the only one left alive, I was covered in blood frim trying to wake my parents and our house staff up..." she say looking down "When my betrithed come to visit he thought the worst, he wouldn't listen and had me killed under the tree we sit under now" she say gently stroking the bark once more "Because of whatever Ai done we can not pass on and are bound here" she say taking a deep breath it was easy to see she wanted to cry "The ghost they are afraid will kill them is me" she say her voice trembling, she had never hurt anything in her life and to be the ghost that deturs people from coming here hurt her so much

[Kamikaze Chinchilla]

Yuu didn't think that Toshi would figure him out that quickly since there was no outward physical feature on him that made him resemble his human self, well at least when he was almost completely covered up. But she probably caught on to him when he made a big fuss about trying to get Ai down, or maybe she thought he was associated with his human self. But more than that, he felt pity for Toshi and his heart ached from it. He hugged her, "But I'm came here. Maybe more people will come too."

[Kaguya]

Toshi looked to him and slid his mask up "You shouldn't hide yourself" she say gently "I realized it was you when you paced a wing over me... the same care you showed within the house" she say leaning up kissing him on the cheek lightly, a light blush coming to her cheek as she did so moving back into her curled position in his lap as he spoke and shook her head "No others will come, the forest nor Ai will allow them" she say her eyes closing "You are the first person i've seen in two hundred years" a tired tone was easy to be heard

[Kamikaze Chinchilla]

"That's interesting..I wonder why I was allowed to come here then," Yuu shifted, feeling uncomfortable with his mask off while he was in that form since he was left with a little more exposure. He figured it had to do something with the fact that he wasn't human.

-----------

There was a solitary crow flying in the sky after the storm had passed. It cawed several times, glad to finally fly through a sky that wasn't filled with rain. Kaito had been traveling for several days, after the whole incident with his tribe. His tribe, the foxes, and the weasels had fought off the intruder with all their might, but when things looked futile, the foxes and the weasels had ran and left the tribe to get slaughtered in their own home. He, however, was smart enough to know when enough was enough, so he was the only one who took flight away from the massacre, or so he thought.

He sighed, hoping that the assailant would decide to go in the opposite direction and pick on some other tribe, which he was sure had happened before his own tribe was attacked. But perhaps he could find another tribe and try to join up with them. He peered at the building ahead. It was far off from any civilization, so he assumed it was probably a tengu estate and glided to land on the tiles of the rooftop. They were slick with the rain drops remaining on its surface, and he cawed loudly several times in signal to see if any other tengu were around.

------------------

Yuu instinctively cawed out to the location signal that Kaito made, and that made him wonder if there were maybe other tengu that lived in this territory. The crow flew down and landed on the ground, paying attention to where it landed, then it looked up, only to gaze into a familiar face. Yuu yelped, of course recognizing who the crow was and he quickly shifted back into his human form and lowered himself to the ground in a bow, "Master Kaito, I apologize! Please forgive me!"

Kaito shifted into his human form as well and then motioned Yuu to sit up, after that Kaito got a clean punch to Yuu's face with a sideways swipe, "You damned marked! How many more of our laws have you broken already?!"

Yuu lay there, looking up at Kaito in fear, "Law 33, marked should never take on tengu form unless told. Law 76, marked should never socialize with humans unless told....but she's not human...so..."

Kaito brought out the blade from his side and swung the blunt side down hard on one of Yuu's fingers, where it made a sickening snap sound, "I'm going to let Law 76 slide, since you are right..this one isn't human. So you only get one broken finger for today, for Law 33. Now what do you say?"

"Thankyou for your mercy..." Yuu shut his eyes and tried not to make any sudden movements to show that he was in pain, or else he would get punished for it since he knew Kaito normally used that as an excuse to hurt him more.

Kaito turned to Toshi and bowed his head, "Please do not mind this, M'lady. But I would recommend ceasing any further communications with this marked, to avoid catching his filth." Kaito seemed quite interested in Toshi, since it was rare for him to come across a spirit, but it was his first time coming across a human spirit, which intrigued him more, "Might I ask for your name, M'lady?"

((WALL-O-TEXT, WALL-O-FUN x'D))

[Kaguya]

Heard the cawing and looked around "A crow?" she say her voice showing confusion "Crows don't come here" though on seeing the being in front of them moved onto the ground as she felt Yuu move, and watched as he bowed as low as she did when it came to Ai. "Do you know him Yuu?" she asked only to hear him call him by 'Master Kaito' this didn't sit well with her, though she wondered if how Yuu was dressed would bring reprecutions on her friend

She moved quickly to Yuu and brought up his hand ignoring the other being, he wasn't her concern Yuu was, he was the one in need "Yuu, we best get that splintered so it can heal" she way warmly, she looked up the the tree and smiled "Naira, can I can some strong twigs please?" her voice was filled compassion as she stroked the trees bark, a few seconds later two strong twigs fell to the ground "Thank you" her voice was happy that the tree had heard her.

Taking Yuu's hand once more she undid the bandages she had put on earlier and smilled "Yuu, look... it Looks better than before!" she sounded almost extatic about this fact as she used the twigs to make a splint from the hand before wrapping it once more, caressing his face lovingly as she moved back onto his lap, she leaned up to his ear "The harmony must remain, remember this" she said quietly so only he could have heard it

Her eyes then darted to Kaito "I am still human!" she say her voice slightly scornful as a hard breeze came through the tree's "Her eyes darted to the skys "Sorry... I'll remember" she say her voice sounding slightly nervous "He isn't filthy" she say leaning into Yuu more "He's my friend..." with that she stood up taking Yuu's hand moving towards the house, she was already in trouble so a little extra punishment for not staying outside would be nothing "Besides Yuu is more a person than you or Ai Sempai could hope to be... you are both cruel creatures" with that she moved into the house bringing yuu in afterwards and sliding the door closed behind her

She looked at Yuu with a smile "Best going for another bath to get the chill out" she say leading him back to the bathing room "Remember like before, the clothes come off before you go into the water" she say chuckling lightly "I'll be on the other side, but when your done the towel's and clothing are in that closet there" she would point to the closet.

Moving out of the room she bit her lip knowing if Kaito managed to get here then he must be in need or Ai knew Yuu was there and wanted to punish him, though she shook her head on the second one knowing Ai couldn't allow someone in just to harm someone "Yuu, I have to let KAito in... Remember you are safe inside the house" her voice was reassuring. Touching the wall she sighed "Perhaps remaining outside?" she say gently only feeling a cold tone she moved back to the front door and opened it "Please come in, I am sorry for my coldness... but Yuu..." she closed her eyes "Yuu needed help" she say gently "Do not distrupt the harmony of the house... that is your first and only warning" her voice was cold but she didn't like how he had treated her dear Yuu

(Short story FTW))

[Kamikaze Chinchilla]

Harmony must remain, the words echoed in Yuu's head as he sat down on the floor and curled up into his knees. He was now even more confused about what harmony meant. With what he's seen, Ai had only been punished 'after' he made a commotion out of it. So harmony could mean just taking ones place in the social ladder and bearing with it. He trembled at the thought of having to go back to his old lifestyle, since after having experienced something better he just didn't want to have to face the old life again. And with Toshi's personality, he was sure that she would likely show some sort of hospitality towards Kaito, and at worst would invite him in.

Yuu crawled over to a corner, staring at the water as though it were a vat of boiling poison. If Kaito came in, he knew it would mean bad news for him. With that, he stood up and slipped out of the room, sneaking through the house and back into the room that Toshi let him stay in.

-------------

"B-b-b.." Kaito reached out when Toshi had turned and took Yuu in. He felt frustrated that she didn't bother to stand by and listen to his side of the story. He didn't know what Yuu told her, or what he failed to tell her, but he was determined to get the story straight with Toshi.

He stood there and waited, expecting her to come back out, and she did. Still, despite his anger at Toshi, he acted politely, "M'lady, thank you for inviting me in." He stepped inside, taking off his muddy shoes and leaving them at the doorstep as was customary in his household, "Your invitation means very much to me, since my home was destroyed."