Captured! Threaded Trap at Kojiwaka Inn

[Taishou89]

Episode Intro Song
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Captured! Threaded Trap at Kojiwaka Inn
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Mitsuyoshi walked next to Koneko as they traveled the road that led through a mountain pass. To avoid the problem of giving Koneko's actual name while she was disguised, he had decided to discuss it with her and select a male name to use. "Hmm... How about Gorou?" He suggested but the image that would appear in both their minds for someone named Gorou, that of a large sumo wrestler of a man, didn't quite seem to connect. "Eeeeto... Maybe Kenosuke?" But the image that came to his mind was that of a weasel of a man, snobby like a court noble. Having already previously listed quite a few names just prior to these last two, He finally  though of one that gave him the appearance of a ronin. "Keiji!" As his mind instantly could see a slightly rougher looking version of Koneko's male disguise, with the stern and serious look, rough around the edges, informal, and a temperament to angry outbursts. The image in his head seemed to fit her perfectly. 

The temperature in the air was a lot cooler as the road took them further into the mountains, add to that the fall season which seemed to have begin, though as they progressed through the mountain pass they would notice the sky had gone overcast, thus causing the temperature to drop further. Although it was still early fall, and these temperatures seemed to be abnormal, given the elevation and the mountains effect on the wind, it didn't seem too out of place that the temperature here would be cooler. As the thought on the temperature suddenly dawned on him that it was fall, a sense of urgency came to him. "Koneko, what month is it?" He inquired, the tone in his voice suggesting concern. If it was the 11th month, it would likely mean he was close to his annual when he would turn human for a 24 hour period.

[Koneko]

There was a look on Koneko's face of deep pondering, having been listening to Mitsuyoshi suggest names as they walked together, but not having heard any she'd like so far. With the image of a sumo in her mind as he thought of the name 'Gouro,' she grunted in disagreement, "nah, pass." Then his next suggestion of 'Kenosuke' also seemed to disconnect with her, "nope, that one sounds a little pretentious." As he mentioned the next one, 'Keiji,' she finally seemed to think on it pretty well, giving it a decent thought. "Hmmm, it's not too much, kinda punchy sounding, has a bit of pride behind it..." she said out loud while tapping a finger to her face, then a smirk soon overtook her lips, "I think you might've done it!" Her tail flicked in a pleased fashion as her grin became a toothy smile, turning her face to look at him and show she rather liked that one. Despite the pile of rejected names in the wake of finding that one, it had been an entertaining discussion on their journey at the very least.

With the cooler air kicking up in a slight breeze, the feline found herself thinking of a nice warm bath to enjoy the cool air better at either an inn or a hot spring if they were ever to be so fortunate to come across one. While she tolerated the chilled air pretty well, steaming hot water to melt into under more frigid temperatures always had a prevalent place in the forefront of her mind around this season. Yet hearing the heed in her companion as he spoke and snapped her to from her thoughts, Koneko blinked in curiosity as he asked his question. "What month? It's the 10th month, why? Is something the matter?" The question had seemed so out of the blue to be something to be concerned about, though moments after she uttered her question, something he'd said before they set out from the tree and the grave finally came back to her: something that was similar to concerns she held for herself on occasion. "Does it have something to do with what you mentioned? The turning human?"

Pausing their progression for a moment, she felt it was important enough for them to take a moment to discuss if there was need for them to plan to keep out of sight or avoid anything that could become a quickly precarious situation. Her eyes mainly focused on him, but glanced around to just be sure they were alone and also noticed the overcast sky. "What do you need me to do when that happens?" While he was certainly skilled enough to hold his own with no doubt in her mind, she still had thoughts some kind of back up plan in case they'd be in too deep for that moment to be in the back of their minds. She also knew they'd have to keep an eye those clouds as well, just in case they'd need to hurry to seek shelter if that next village wasn't as close as she thought.

[Taishou89]

"Alright! Keiji-dono it is." Mitsuyoshi exclaimed upon hearing her approval. The two continued down their path as he suddenly changed the conversation to quickly inquire about the month after noticing the change in weather and temperature. Mitsuyoshi sighed in relief when She had replied that it was only October, until she inquired as to the sudden shift in conversation likely due to his own concerned tone. When she connected the dots to his annual time when he'd turn human, he had to admit he was impressed that she remembered that little bit. "Uh.. Yeah. It's coming up next month." He told her, his tone one of relief. "What do you need me to do when that happens?" He heard her ask as she paused their advance down the path. "Eh? N-Nothing really. It's not like I'm an invalid or anything. I'm still a capable fighter, I just didn't want you to feel surprised or horrified if I suddenly wake up one day with black hair and looking... well like a human." He spoke, quickly changing his tone to try to reassure that there was no alarm. To some extent it was during these times, when he would turn human, that he didn't really regret his half blood. "... Although I have to admit, it's not always the most funnest of times. When I was young, I had come down with a sickness and it nearly killed me within the day, until I turned back later that night and recovered over the next day." He proceeded to walk at a slower pace in an attempt to start their adventure again.

"Is it me or did the Temperature seem to drop again?" he asked, realizing that he started to breath out condensation as he spoke. The clouds appeared to be a little darker than they had been just a short while earlier and a small droplet had landed on his shoulder, followed by another solitary droplet on Koneko as well. "Talk about foul luck..." As the two continued down the path a memory came to him from long ago, when he went on campaign with his brother's army to fight the Suwa, they had marched through this path to get to the Suwa lands and there was an old Inn at some point down this road. "There used to be a little highway inn down this very road, My brother had our army camp there for the night when we were on campaign against one of our Neighboring Provinces. "I don't know if it's still being run, but at the very least we could take shelter in it's ruins. We used to call it 'Hell's Abyss' because it was called the Naraku-Kaoku Inn, but the characters in it's name were read as 'Theater basement home' because many traveling theater troupes would stay and often times pay in some of their props and costume if they could not pay their bill." He spoke, smiling as he recalled the memory of that war. He was injured in the battle the following day and ordered to return to the castle, but the battle itself was a proud moment for him as his actions brought their victory.

[Koneko]

Realizing she'd hit the subject on the nose, Koneko blinked at the notions she might be worried when he woke up different and assured he was still skilled. A small chuckled came out of her for a moment and she gave his a reassuring smile, "I promise I don't doubt your skills, I know you're quite capable." Though a small part of her was a bit astonished he could catch illnesses at that time, let alone had nearly died in a single day's time from it. To some degree it made sense, but it was hard for her to really fathom for the fact she'd really never come to know how it was to catch illnesses humans suffered from, only having known them from tending to Yuzuki on occasion when she'd caught such things. Starting to walk with him as he slowly pressed them forward again, she thought over it a short moment yet, then spoke up with a slightly cheeky tone to prevent the mood from getting too down, "I suppose we'll just have to make sure you stay well then." Even when she'd lose her Daiyoukai powers for her own temporary moments she was never vulnerable, though thinking on it, she realized her own hesitance to mention to him the fact she had similarity in changing looks and abilities on occasion. There was a high plausibly he'd get his chance to see a full dragon on account despite the fact she preferred to stay out of sight for it, then again, it wasn't as if she was keen to mention how she really looked to him either.

"Is it me or did the Temperature seem to drop again?"

Refocusing attention to Mitsuyoshi once he changed the subject, she noticed their breath had become visible and the saw the droplet land on him before feeling one drip onto her cheek once she look up. "Damn... Looks like we're going to be moving a little faster until we're force to take shelter." Pushing on in more of a brisk walk, she held some hope shelter meant the village they were heading towards and not just holding out in some small cave until it passed. While provisions still weren't a problem for the moment from what they'd gotten from those merchants, one option was just more preferable to outlasting against the weather. Glancing back over as her companion then mentioned an inn coinciding with her prospect, the grinned at the possibility. "Well, even the remains of a building might be a better bet than any other of our sparse options to stay out of bad weather. If it turns out to be abandoned, then left behind props might at least help help insulate while waiting this out, but that's just speculating on a worst-case. Hopefully it's still running in some regard." She could see the smile on his face as he seemed to be lost in memory, yet it was hard to avoid his beaming giving off a sense of optimism. "It's settled, let's see if we can find this inn or what remains of it and try to get out of this weather quickly! Lead the way!"

Koneko felt the droplets gaining as they continued, concerned between the fact it was still rain in the dropping temperature. "We should move faster if we can, before this really starts to freeze. If this turns to snow and ice, that could be harder to handle. Though I might be able to give us a little bit of heat and protection if it does get bad enough before we reach the place, but that should probably also be saved for if it's really necessary." She was considering if it was bad enough, she could transfer her fire to her hands as she often did and use her abilities to manipulate it around them once in awhile to at least give a moment here and there to warm up and stave the colder particles off. Though she knew the light of her fire could draw attention to them, so it was best to save such a plan until it really became essential, especially if the mentioned shelter was still fairly close enough so they wouldn't spook the humans around it and bring suspicion upon them for being inhuman.

[Taishou89]

As the rain drops started to increase and with the dropping temperature, he agreed with her. "I think it shouldn't be too far up the road, we should be able to see it around the next couple bends. If my memory is correct." As their pace quickened. Leading Koneko down the road, what started as rain, also began to include small bits of ice. "Ah crap, Hail too?" He cursed as they continued down the road rounding the first bend. Everything seemed to have gotten darker as the density of the clouds as well turned darker. It was starting to look more like a major storm now rather than a passing one as the precipitation increased, pelting them with small droplets of water and small bead sized chunks of ice ranging in size from 6mm to 10mm in diameter. 

As they rounded the next bend, through the trees he could make out the faint glow of a lantern in the distance. "Looks like we're almost there and it seems like somebody's home. So maybe it's not abandoned after all." he said as he picked up the pace almost to a jog as the rain and light hair started to increase. He hoped that their provisions and the scrolls would be fine as a structure began to take shape ahead. The Inn was indeed still operating as  now he made out two lanterns glowing just under the covered wooden gate posts. Briefly stopping to read the name that hung above the gateway aloud "Kojiwaka Inn huh? I guess the old name was a bit too ominous." he said just as Koneko gently brushed past him and pushed in through the gateway. "Do you want to be drenched and freeze or do you want to dry off and get warm?! Think about the name change AFTER we're inside!"

He chuckled a little with a toothy grin as she pushed past. It was indeed cold, but he had to admit the cold rain felt a little refreshing and almost invigorating. "Relax Koneko, a little rain never killed anybody, at least now that we're here and won't freeze now." He joked as he followed her into the covered awning of the gate and entrance. They would instantly notice the strong scent of incense being burned almost immediately as they crossed the threshold. No sooner that they entered, a shoji door slid open to their right and a short elderly man emerged, dressed in brown and smelled strongly of incense. "Hello there! Welcome! Winter always seems to come early in these mountains. I'm Akihiro Kojiwaka, caretaker of this Inn, I take it you folks are looking for a nice warm place to dry and wait out the storm?" Looking at Koneko as she was the first to enter.

Mitsuyoshi was quick to speak, knowing Koneko probably would prefer him to handle the man. "Ah yes, Thank you We are indeed looking for a place to wait out this storm. I'm Mitsuyoshi and this is my traveling companion Ko- Keiji." Almost slipping up with her name again. "I see you two are samurai?" The old man inquired. "We are ronin at the moment, Our last master was recently killed and we are traveling to seek employment with the Daimyo in the next province." Mitsuyoshi through out, intentionally trying to avoid prominent names that may no longer prominent in this current age. "Ah well, I don't know about that but you're welcome to stay here as long as the storm holds out. I don't feel right charging you for a warm shelter in this weather b-" Kojiwaka was cut short as Mitsuyoshi placed single gold coin in his hand. "Please Kojiwaka-san, We are more than glad to compensate you for letting us stay here especially during these hard times." The old man's expression turned to a beaming smile that showed he was missing some of his front teeth. "I have a room just for the two of you, please right this way." Kojiwaka said ushering them in.

The old man led them down the open hallway that fronted a small open courtyard with a small stone garden and bonsai trees. All the while, talking their ear off about the history of the Inn and how it's name was changed 30 years ago when he took over, explaining to them how he lost most of his sons to either war or accidents, and how he lost his wife recently to a poisonous spider bite, so now it's just him and his sickly daughter managing the entire Inn, but that her sickness had worsened and she'd become bed ridden, so now it was just him managing and taking care of everything, and thanking the two of them for their generous payment several times through out the short trip to their room. It was a decently sized room with an Irori at it's center. "I can get that fired for you right away." The old man said as he stepped forward only to be stopped by Mitsuyoshi. "Oh no, Please Mr. Kojiwaka. You work so hard, allow us to tend to it so that you can go and care for your daughter." He said giving the man a bow. "You are far too kind, but I thank you. Call upon me for anything you may need any hour of the day. You know where to find me." The old man gave another big smile before bowing and leaving the two to their room.

[Koneko]

Close behind Mitsuyoshi as they ran, Koneko kept a sleeve up to help keep the rain and hail out of her face as they saw the light, "Good timing, this weather is getting pretty bad." She sounded relieved, while rain didn't bother her too much on it's own, the cold and now ice pelting them was a bit more of a bother she'd rather be out of. Before they got too close, she quickly assumed her male human disguise once again so they wouldn't have to worry too much about anyone seeing her as she normally was. "Finally, almost there," she uttered as they got closer, feeling pretty keen on laying down inside a building again after a few days since the last time. Soon noticing her companion stop at the sign to read it, she kept going past him, not wanting to linger out in the weather, before she stopped a short ways ahead of him for just a moment to glance at him with a curious look. "Kojiwaka Inn huh? I guess the old name was a bit too ominous," she heard him say, quickly retorting, "do you want to be drenched and freeze or do you want to dry off and get warm?! Think about the name change AFTER we're inside!"

Seeming to pout in an oddly friendly way as he joked, quickly resuming her way through the gate to the covered entrance way and brusquely retorting, "I might like water, but I'd prefer to be warm more right now." Having been noticing the smell of incense as she crossed the threshold, but she didn't dwell on it too long before hearing the door open and looked to the elderly man that greeted them fairly quickly. A little stunted for words as he had shown up so abruptly, she soon breathed easy as Mitsuyoshi spoke up quickly. Staying on the silent side, she tossed an annoyed, side-eyed glare at the hanyou as she caught his near slip up, but kept her mouth shut since he hadn't actually said her real name this time. She then did notice the smell of incense seemed pretty strong on the old man, yet she waved it off quickly, assuming he had one reason or another for burning so much of it since it permeated this place.

As she heard the man seem to start offering the room for no charge, she lightly recoiled in surprise as her friend offered a gold coin up only to recoil further as the man smiled with missing teeth. 'I'm sure glad I am a youkai and don't have to worry about teeth missing for too long, that smile was a little off-putting...' Sighing to soothe herself as she followed behind the elderly man, soon her thoughts once again ran crabby while taking in the decent scenery of the courtyard. 'Yare yare... This guy doesn't stop talking, does he? I guess since most of his family died from unfortunate circumstances and his remaining family is sickly it sounds like, he's probably only got strangers to talk to, but i really didn't need to hear his entire life story on our way to a room... I'm just ready to stretch out and warm up.' Quickly shuffling into the room as soon as they were shown the one, the pleasingly nicer room than she'd been accustomed to was more than welcomed once she saw the large space and Irori. 'Finally! And it's a nice room on top, we can have a fire in here and not have our ears talked off more!' Placing the basket of their provisions down, she at least made the attempt to not seem too rude by turning and giving a bow herself, mustering the politeness she could for the small string of words, "ah, yes. Thank you Mr. Kojiwaka."

The moment she could hear his footsteps were far enough away, her disguised disappeared in a little puff and she stretched widely. "For having some teeth missing, that man certainly knows how to run his gums. That was exhausting to listen to," she commented a bit irreverently, glad to have a reprieve for her ears, "now why don't we get a fire going and get to drying off and warming up! We can eat and talk over our plans after since that storm could be pretty nasty. Hopefully won't last too long or make the road too bad to traverse after." As she finished speaking, she casually moved a hand by her lips, doing her normal little trick of blowing over them before non-nonchalantly tossing a couple little sparks into the Irori, tail flicking contentedly as a hearty flame erupted in the pit.

Taking a moment to plan how she wanted to settle in, she then looked at Mitsuyoshi as if she'd just remembered something. "Ah! I guess I should ask since I'm not on my own any more and I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I want to make good use of having a fire to dry some of my clothes. Do you mind if I take off a the top half of my kimono to dry? I'm plenty covered underneath, but I know it could seem a bit indecent... I can leave my hadagi on if it would make you uncomfortable." They were still fairly freshly getting to know each other, so she was trying to adjust best she could from some of her mannerisms from all of her time traveling alone. She also knew from his already fairly polite demeanor that going ahead without asking might take him by too much surprise by how deeply informal she tended to be and make a small commotion: one they didn't need in light of not wanting Mr. Kojiwaka to return if avoidable.

[Taishou89]

Mitsuyoshi had to stifle a chuckle as he heard her remark, trying not to smile but it showed. "Now now, Koneko no need to say such remarks about our dear Inn keeper, lest he be of a mind to toss us back into the cold rain and ice." Mitsuyoshi scolded lightly. "True he is quite a chatter, but the poor man has lost most of his family and has to upkeep this place all by himself while caring for a bed ridden daughter. Quite tragic really, no sons to help out, or inherit this place." Mitsuyoshi's mind started to wonder how the old man's poor daughter would fare if the old man were to suddenly kick the bucket. "Though... it would have been a bit more pleasant if the incense had masked his breath." He said as he wrinkled his nose recalling Mr. Kojiwaka's bad case of halitosis.

As he removed the Kazega and his Wakizashi, he was pleased to find that the room came with a sword simple Katana kake(stand) mounted against the back wall of the room. "Well this is convenient, I take it Samurai must make quite the common guests for this room." As he rested both swords on their spine with the cutting edge facing upwards. Extending his arm out to Koneko in an offer to put her own swords up for her, just as he watched her light the fire with her hands. He quickly joined her at the Irori, just as she had turned her attention elsewhere, to her it would have seemed like he was rushing to the fire to get warmed, but in reality he was baffled as to how she had started the fire, glancing at the fire then at her with a look of surprise on his face. He attempted to imitate what he saw her do with her fingers but to no avail. Thinking it was a Youkai ability that he could learn, he continued to try and create a spark with his fingers as he thought he saw her do. As Koneko shifted the conversation and asked him if he didn't mind her undressing. "Oh no by all means go ahead!" Not even fully thinking of what she had said or how he replied.

It wasn't until her words did finally register and he remembered that she was female and the way he said those last words might have sounded a little too casual. "Eh!? I mean uh, If you're comfortable with it." He didn't want to come off sounding like a pervert, which is how he thought his original tone may come off. Truth be told, he was really disciplined and probably could handle himself well if he had fallen into a room full of naked women without behaving improper like some lecherous samurai he had known back in his days. He'd also known that those Samurai often might have gotten a slap or two for their indiscretions, one of them was even cut down by the woman's husband who was also a samurai. "My apologies I didn't mean to sound improper the first time, I wasn't paying attention..." He leveled with her. "...I have no problem with however comfortable you'd like to dress."

He decided it was probably a good idea to dry his own gear as well. As he removed his Tate Eboshi, his ears perked right out and into position, sprinking water from his soaked furry ears, it was almost as if they were pleased to be free and unrestrained. After placing His Eboshi on the floor, he began to Carefully undo his Uwa obi before Removing his cuirass and hanging both on a blanket stand which he had positioned next to the irori. He'd remove the other parts of his armor and place them in a similar fashion near the Irori to better dry. Sighing in relief as he felt the a cool air across him as the insulation of his armor was no longer there. Almost Instinctively he shifted as he almost began to shake himself dry until a brief memory of being scolded by Akari for doing so indoors reminded him of his current setting and manners. Instead sitting back down next to the Irori and dry off like a normal person, scratching behind his left ear with his hand while refraining from the urge to use his foot. "Oh! Are the scrolls alright?" He suddenly remembered to ask, having meant to since they got to the Inn. Meanwhile, through the shoji doors of their room, Mr. Kojiwaka could be heard chatting away and escorting another customer to a room just past their own.

"Oh what a pleasure to have so many guests tonight. You, sir, are the 3rd one tonight and like my other guests I cannot help but think that you as well remind me of pmy long departed son... It is so nice to have all these guests... It's the most we've had in some time... Please do make yourself comfortable... You know where to find me if you need me..."

[Koneko]

Koneko caught the smile he tried to hide on his face as she was gently scolded, unable to help a slight smile come across her face as she relented, "I suppose you're right, I probably shouldn't be too hard on the man about it since his circumstances are pretty unfortunate and he does seem eager to please guests. But guess it was good I was also a little ways behind you both so I didn't catch as bad a whiff of that breath." With a cheeky chuckle, she noticed him move to the Irori quickly before she focused on checking over the provisions in the basket and then reached into her kimono to pull the scrolls out of the front as she heard his approval to partly disrobe, placing them nearby to their items and looking them to make sure they'd not been damaged from the weather. Satisfied they seemed in good shape from having been kept where she'd managed to keep most of the water off of her, she stood and started to make her way over to the kake, not noticing he'd been trying to imitate her trick nor realize his answer had been given distracted. Then placing her sword on the kake as well, she moved to start tugging at her clothes when she heard him seem to fluster and follow up on the approval he'd given.

Turning to face him with her hands just barely pulling at the collar, the feline blinked at him curiously as he quickly fumbled over his sentiment. "Haaa? Of course I'm-" she started to reply, but paused when he explained further to hear him out. Snickering out a few breaths before she started to laugh a little more robustly, she took a few breaths to finally reply to him and clear the air. "I didn't think such a thing! I was the one who asked so I wouldn't catch you off guard by just going ahead. Besides, I'd say you're more polite than even I am, you're the complete opposite o-" Cutting herself off, she fretted for almost mentioning the dreaded kitsune, as if uttering his name would suddenly curse them with his presence, then scrambled to brush over it, "Errr, just know I don't think you're some kind of pervert, you've been faster to at least attempt to treat me more proper than I'm used to... So I want to at least try to extend some kind of courtesy back on account." She tried to assure him with a smile as she raised a hand to scratch the back of her head, hoping it was enough to also not dwell on who she almost mentioned. She then added with a slight tease to further divert from her near mention, "You must've really been looking forward to sitting by the fire more than you'd let on earlier if you were that distracted for giving the okay on it!"

Once she saw him proceed to remove his armor, she turned back slightly to keep that slight air of decency as she then removed her top layers, pulling them off completely and leaving only her bindings visible that actually kept her fairly modest. The only thing seeming striking about her without part of her kimono on was the fact her stripe markings were now mostly visible, mainly stemming from around the middle of her back, a few wrapped just barely to the front with half covered by her bindings. Shifting back to the Irori and laying out each piece separately so they could dry, Koneko looked to Mitsuyoshi again as he asked about the scrolls. "Oh yeah they seemed to be in good shape! I had them just on me and it was mostly my back and sleeves that soaked through, so they were pretty safe. I put them just over by the basket so I wouldn't drop them."

Her ears twitched as she heard Mr. Kojiwaka bringing another guest down the way, then looked to the door, "guess someone else also was trying to get out of the weather around here too. Might give us better opportunity to discuss where we'll go after this storm breaks without interruption, at least hopefully with another guest around." With her tail swaying in thought, she got up once more and moved the basket closer to where they'd be sitting so provisions would be a little easier to access. Then she moved the scrolls slightly off to the side of it again, close enough to reach when they were ready to start thinking over it, but far enough away from anything that would cause them to get ruined. "We can talk about it after we dry off a little though. There's no telling at the moment how long it will take for the weather to break so I doubt we'll be in a rush by morning either. Mr. Kojiwaka seemed to think it was going to go on for quite some time when we got here from how he originally tried to offer a room, and I'm sure we can trust that judgement from all the experience he was willing to share living and working here so long." She may not have been so keen on having her ears talked off, yet she was at least astute enough to recognize the old man clearly had a fair bit of experience with the area.

[Taishou89]

Mitsuyoshi was relieved to hear that he hadn't come off as a pervert, but he was a bit intrigued when he thought that she might have almost mentioned someone else but quickly diverted it to compliment him. "Well, I can assure you, you won't have any trouble with me, but if you do have any trouble with any perverts, I will personally help you end them. It is unclassy and unbecoming of a warrior to lack such decency towards the opposite sex." He proclaimed proudly. As the topic shifted back to his initial inquiry on the condition of the scrolls, he was pleased that they hadn't been affected by the rain.

As she removed part of her Kimono, he averted his eyes slightly out of respect. His eyes did wander up as he would notice the stripe markings on her back, he was intrigued to see such a display. Koneko truly was the first half breed that he had seen, and their shared features such as her ears, claws, and teeth, was something he would have expected of a half breed, but the other markings, her tail, and some of her facial features were unique and definitely intriguing. His mind began to wonder what it might have been like if he had been born with a tail and some unique markings. He had never seen his birth mother before, but had heard some descriptions of her from his father and that she too had strange markings on her skin, but strangely he had not inherited them.


His mind eventually returned to the original topic that had captured him earlier. "Oh! I meant to ask, how did you do that? I can't seem to get any sparks..." as he held his hands closed to his face and tried snapping at first, then flicking his claws to make a spark. "Can it be learned?" As he got up and walked over to the basket and drew their first bottle of sake that they'd opened the night before "Drink?" He offered as he sat down. Hearing Kojiwaka through the wall, he didn't seem to surprise that there would be another traveler. He could still hear the pitter patter of the rain and hail outside and it actually sounded like it had increased. "Well if we're stuck here for a couple of days, I can recall being in far worse company." Responding to Koneko with a chuckle as he readied a cup for himself and for her. "So Where do you think we might be able to find information about your friend Yuzuki?"


 

[Koneko]

The way Mitsuyoshi followed up an offer to help end any perverts put a thought in Koneko's head of triumphantly laughing over the ever repugnant Kaito in a crumpled heap, cheering together with the hanyou that she'd finally rid herself forever of that fox's wandering gaze and obnoxious advances. For a moment it was pleasing to consider such a victory over him, yet she knew realistically it wasn't so simple: that kitsune was irritatingly durable and often more cunning than he seemed, so the better bet was just to continue doing as she'd done already and avoid him finding them at all costs. 'It's a damn nice thought though... Would serve him right for all his behavior and insistence!' Taking solace at least in the notion, she at least accepted greatly this companionship wasn't going to spiral her frustration like he always managed to.

Finally taking a seat next to him and settling in to warm up and dry off, the feline found herself blinking at him once again in puzzlement as he mentioned her little trick and watched him try to imitate making a spark like she did. "Eee?" She uttered as he got up and grabbed out the sake, seeming to need to process the fact he'd been trying to replicate her inherent fire abilities. The dots slowly started to connect in her head that he'd rushed over after she started the fire and that he'd been distracted when he answered her question as he sat back down and offered that they drink. "Y-you've been trying to...? M-maybe if you have an ability..." Koneko worked at formulating her words, finding it amusing he'd been trying and placing a hand over her mouth in attempt to not let another laugh escape over the misconception, though she was mildly failing as a few muffled snickers escaped her. "A drink sounds great," she managed to reply with some gusto after pulling her hand away for a moment to speak, "though maybe I have some explaining to do about that fire stunt in a little bit..." It could be seen her face was mildly flushed red from trying to contain her laughter before her hand was replaced over her mouth, letting herself calm down so she would be able to talk straight when she could finally find it in her to tell him she could breathe fire naturally and did that to make it less obvious. She wanted to at least let him down easy, certain he wasn't exactly inclined to have any abilities dealing in flames, but maybe in a moment when it wouldn't be crippling her with bemusement.

As she settled down, she removed her hand from her mouth once more to pick up the cup of sake he'd readied for her and managed to give him a genuine smile when he made the comment about decent company. "You can say that again! I can think of much less relaxing company to be in, so you won't be hearing complaints from me!" Taking a sip, she pondered his next question carefully, knowing it had been some time and she'd spent so long searching. "In all honesty, I've been searching relentlessly all this time and information has been near impossible to find. I'm hoping maybe any of the temples or shrines in that list might be where she's gone by now as I'm sure age has been catching up with her and undoubtedly making travel harder for her..." A couple potential leads came to mind for places narrow down initial places to start as she contemplated on it further. "Even though it's been... Nearly thirty years, I still remember around where it was we were set up to camp when she'd disappeared on me and I remember a few of the things she told me about her past before we'd met. There's a possibility something happened and she ended up at a temple or shrine around where we had been resting or perhaps there's a chance we can find someone who knew the woman that helped train her that might know where she'd go or maybe she returned there. I've never been all that ardent on going near such places for... Perhaps obvious reasons given my normal looks, but it might make sense that she would have ended up at one at some point."

Swigging down the rest of her first cup, she held a confident look while setting the cup down to be refilled. "Both locations happen to be here in the East if my memory serves me right, just different locations, but those scrolls should help keep us from having to wander through too many of those places and narrow it down by quite a bit, we can search the closer of the two areas first." The gift of the scrolls had certainly refreshed her confidence in finding the one she'd cherished so much, and getting answers to why the happiness they'd found in one another had so abruptly ended for seemingly no reason.

Topping off her cup, Koneko offered Mitsuyoshi a little more before she looped back to one of his previous questions. "Ano, about that little maneuver of mine," she lightly mentioned, setting down the jug of sake and leaving her cup on the floor for a moment. Raising her hand to her lips, then gently blew across her claws and let the little flames dance above a few of them, then whipped her hand to be face up and held a small flame just above her hand. "It was this little habit that captivated you, ne?" She let it rest there for a moment to let him observe the tiny fire before closing her hand around it and forcing it to extinguish before she picked her cup back up to take another drink. "Have you ever had some kind of affinity for fire?" She was a little hesitant to crush his hopes at once by just outright saying it mainly had to do with the dragon part of her.

[Taishou89]

A confused look crossed Mitsuyoshi's face as Koneko stifled her laugh, it was obvious a funny thought had occurred to her as she even began to blush. He was was a little perplexed as he had yet to add up that it was a special ability of hers to be able to start a fire, but he figured maybe she was having a funny memory, though a part of his mind also suspected that it had more to do with his question. The look on his face disappeared as she accepted his offer. Pouring the sake into her cup, before pouring himself some, the thought began to dawn on him that maybe it was a special ability, but his thoughts were shifted when the conversation moved on to the topic of the Yuzuki.

Mitsuyoshi listened intently as Koneko spoke of her past with Yuzuki. 30 years was quite a long time and that likely would mean that this Priestess would be an older woman even if she were to have been 20 years old at the time, so now he had a little bit of insight on what to look out for. As she mentioned avoiding temples and shrines for her obviously being a Daiyoukai/Dragon half breed, he could somewhat relate, remembering the Old priestess that had urged his father to kill him as he took a swig of his sake before accepting her offer for more. As the conversation returned to his inquiry about the way she started the fire.

He took a swig of his Sake again and paid close attention to her actions, thinking maybe he might learn something from a more up close observation. "Yes! That's it! How did you do that?" he asked as he leaned in for more information. As she asked him if he had any affinity for Fire, he thought for a moment and started to question his own misguided assumption whilst watching the flames flicker in her hand before she snuffed it out by closing her hand. "Eeeto... I Guess I don't." as he scratched the back of his head and blushing slightly as he felt a bit embarrassed at his gullible assumption that it was something that could be learned. now it made sense why she found his question funny. "I take it this is because you're half Dragon?" 

[Koneko]

"Yeah," Koneko responded, an apologetic smile on her face as he seemed to figure it out on his own, "I've been able to breathe fire since I can remember. Actually, I once singed my father's tail on accident when I was really little because I sneezed!" Her grin turned a bit cheeky as she thought about it, "he still praised me for it right after even though I could tell it had taken him by surprise and maybe made him a little upset." Taking down a little more of her drink, she swallowed and set her cup down before tilting her head back so she wouldn't risk burning anything around them, then took a small breath to then allow a small but steady flame to escape from her mouth just to show him in it's raw form. Letting it last only a short few moments, she once again gave him a toothy grin before retrieving her cup from where she set it. "I eventually learned I could control it to do other things: that trick in particular I devised on Yuzuki's suggestion. She mentioned humans might not be very keen on seeing me breathe fire outright, so I taught myself to do that to make it much more discreet."

Now just basking in the warmth of the fire by comparison to the very slight chill that was coming from the door on account of the weather, Koneko just seemed to be fairly content to just be in the moment, even her tail swayed idly. "This sake is still some of the best I've had in awhile! It's nice you thought to have them give us more to enjoy it again," she exclaimed as she drank, grateful Mitsuyoshi was a fairly fast negotiator even if they had likely been swindled by those merchants. Pacing her way through the rest of that helping, she placed the cup down and took a moment of reprieve before offering more and refilling as necessary.

Tilting her cup back for another sip, she seemed to stay relaxed before then considering something as she looked at the sake in the small vessel. "Ne, have you only ever learned to use weapons?" The feline asked curiously, soon following up with, "having been around humans your whole life and the way you get so enthralled by things that are intrinsic to me... It made me wonder if you've ever had the chance to discover anything you're able to do without a weapon in hand." Turning her head slightly to look at him, she stared on as she patiently gave him time to think about it and answer. For her, living life in the world surrounded by others that were in essence like her made it often foreign not live with some reliance on the knowledge and abilities. It had been a dawning realization in that moment that perhaps some of his greenness to understanding what he could and couldn't do was more of stunting from being kept from it and, just maybe, it was also something she could help him discover in tandem with understanding what it could be like to live beyond a simple human existence.

[Taishou89]

Mitsuyoshi found himself smiling as he imagined the the scene of a little Koneko sneezing flames and the awkward scene of her singing her father's tail. He could remember being a kid himself and being scolded by one of Lady Emiko's servants, Mariko, for scratching one of Lady Emiko's kimonos with his claws while it was hanging on display. He was very fortunate that the she had been around rather than Lady Emiko and that she held a grudge against the esteemed wife of his father, so the incident was blamed on one of Lady Emiko's beloved cats who would get away with it. Awestruck as she showed allowed a small stream of fire to flow forth from her mouth, he couldn't help but exclaim "That is so cool! Dangerous though..." Briefly pausing to reflect on it's dangers as well especially in their room "... but absolutely cool!" As she mentioned how she devised the trick with her fingers and how humans would likely not take to kindly to seeing her breath fire, he found himself agreeing. "Yeaaah... I can see most humans not taking it to kindly." Though within him a familiar urge reemerged as he grasped that notion and thought of wielding such power over humans, but he quickly waved it off. Years of suppressed and repressed emotions still fed that side of him that emerged every year during the harvest season, but largely has been kept in check through sheer willpower and music.

"I agree! It's very good, I hope we will be able to find it again and for a fairer price." He remarked as they continued to warm and relax in comfort by the fire. When she asked about his other abilities, he had to think for a moment. "If you mean Youkai abilities, aside from claws and the wind blades of the Kazega, I Guess I really don't have anymore." He thought about it further "But I don't know, I actually kinda discovered the wind blade attack on accident too. Maybe there is more for me to learn and discover, but That's pretty much it." For most of his life he thought his enhanced abilities thanks to his daiyoukai blood, were his enhanced senses, agility, and speed, as well as superior healing abilities compared to normal human, but he never could have imagine a whole lot of other abilities available to him like those in the fairy tales he'd heard as a child. Witnessing some of Koneko's abilities first hand really did open his mind to the thought that maybe there was more for him to learn and discover, but he had no way to know nor did he know how to go about trying to practice them. "I honestly thought that a lot of it was learned from Youkai to Youkai, like a teacher teaches students or parents teach their young, but I've never really known any Youkai to teach me." He pondered for a moment. He could undoubtedly carry himself in the human world and his abilities were truly no match for most mere mortals, but as he witnessed Koneko's abilities he discovered that if he had to engage with a youkai or a daiyoukai or even a hanyou with the kinds of abilities and powers as her, he might not be on an equal footing.

Just Mitsuyoshi's ears perked and he turned to look towards the doorwar as he heard footsteps coming down the hall and the old man Kojiwaka humming a tune as jolly as ever as his steps stopped right outside their door. "Please Excuse me young sirs" Kojiwaka announced as the door began to open. In that split moment of panic as they were about to be discovered in their non normal human appearance "He's coming in" he whispered to Koneko in panic as his eyes frantically looked all over before spotting the bedding just behind him. Quickly he grabbed the blanket bundled himself from head down to hide his ears, as the door slid open and the old man sitting on his knees appeared in the doorway smiling at the two. Picking up a tray carrying two bowls, an Ohitsu(Rice bucket), two small dishes with pickled mixed vegetables, and a lacquered box containing two pieces of grilled saba. Entering the room he approached and placed the tray down next to the Irori, bowing to the fine gentlemen. "Quite a luxury that we were able to acquire some of these fine fish from a merchant who passed through here a day ago, although he ran a bit of a tough bargain, he eventually came around to a fair price." The old man smiled his toothless smile at the two as he noticed Mitsuyoshi all bundled up. "Oh my good sir, let me help you with that." The old man stoked the fire and added a few more charcoals to it. "There that should do it. I shall let you two rest and enjoy. Please have a goodnight and if you need anything..." Mitsuyoshi finished his sentence "We know where to find you." Smiling again a big toothless smile the old man bowed and left their room.

[Koneko]

Considering his answers to her question and taking them into account, Koneko felt some determination that there was at least a likelihood she could help whatever youkai abilities were hidden in him to appear. At this point for him, them being discovered by accident in some form was the most likely way it would happen, but just maybe her inhuman presence would be a bit of a nudge. Though she did have some insight she could offer on the latter belief he stated. "Hmmm, well I'm sure there's some way we could figure out what other abilities you have. Though you aren't entirely wrong, there are some-"

Cutting off her reply as her ears perked and her body straightened for a moment in surprise, she heard Mitsuyoshi's whispered warning and quickly assumed her human look, then tried to stuff down the flustered look on her face. With the top half of her kimono still drying, the upper part of her body's look was a bit of a significant difference: all the markings that had been visible were gone as if without a trace and even the bindings were gone, just leaving her now look as that of a slightly muscular and bare-chested man. As the door slid open, she tried to hold her composure once again, though definitely let any negativity about the sudden entrance fade as at least it was food that was showing up and it didn't look half bad. Sticking to the more silent routine she'd started most of their stay with and even managed a polite bow of her head as Mr. Kojiwaka bid his leave and shut the door. Waiting to speak until she was absolutely sure he was gone, she once again that night mustered a chuckle, "That was almost a little too close for comfort... Though I'll admit, it was a little silly he thought you were cold while you were hiding your ears!" Then looking at the tray, she placed down her cup and brought it closer, placing it between them to be able to share easier. "This actually does look pretty good," she commented as she finally let her disguised vanish once again, "and food with a good drink is pretty welcomed."

Settling back down in her spot, Koneko tried to remember what she was last going to mention. "Eeeeetouuuu... Ah! Right, there are certain things that can be taught as long as the ability is there, like how I mentioned my half brother found a way to teach me to disguise myself like you've seen now and I had to really learn to do as much as I can or my mother taught me to better handle my dragon side. Though youkai differ from humans in there's another way - it's possible to gain powers not had before, but..." She paused, realizing it might sound fairly gruesome considering the world he'd known his whole life. "But that gain of power comes from consuming another, quite literally taking the desired power for one's self." It was an ominous thing to say, yet what pushed her to say it was the fact it was a possibility in the world of youkai. Certainly not overtly common, but far from unheard of depending on the youkai that crossed one's path. "I hope that wasn't too much to say right before a meal, but I'm sure you realize it's a good reason I at least make you aware of it," she then added a touch worriedly, but soon picked up her chopsticks and started to get set on having a little food with their sake.

[Taishou89]

"Too close indeed..." Mitsuyoshi softly said as he lowered the blanket and set it aside. "It was pretty funny!" He chuckled "...Now if I could learn to conceal my appearance like you, I think that would be a good ability to learn." he continued. The room was now a lot warmer with the extra coals but at least most of his clothes and hair felt a lot dryer now as he tied his hair back up. "Mmm! At least the food smells good though!" As he leaned in and took a big whiff of the hot food. As he removed the lid on the Ohitsu, a cloud of steam rose up and out of it as he took the shamoji(rice paddle) and began to scoop some rice into a bowl. Once done he passed the bowl to Koneko, before making himself a bowl. Taking one of the fish with his chopsticks, he laid it over the rice mound before handing the lacquered container to Koneko for her fish before dragging the tray with the ohitsu and the vegetables and letting it sit between them so they both had access. "Oh boy! It smells so good!" He exclaimed as he dug into the fish. It was his first hot meal since 1465 and it certainly was appetizing. "Oishii!"

Although he was destroying the food like a famished farmer at the end of a long day of harvest, he was still listening to what she was said, even if it didn't seem like it. His ears were pointed to her all the while and receiving everything she was saying. "Eeeeetouuuu... Ah! Right, there are certain things that can be taught as long as the ability is there, like how I mentioned my half brother found a way to teach me to disguise myself like you've seen now and I had to really learn to do as much as I can or my mother taught me to better handle my dragon side. Though youkai differ from humans in there's another way - it's possible to gain powers not had before, but..." Quickly adding a little more rice, he moved on to his share of the pickled vegetables and whacked it all like a Typhoon. Satisfied he set the bowl down before pouring some sake to wash it all down before sighing lightly so as not to seem rude as she spoke. "Please continue." He responded as he notice her pause. "But that gain of power comes from consuming another, quite literally taking the desired power for one's self. I hope that wasn't too much to say right before a meal, but I'm sure you realize it's a good reason I at least make you aware of it.."

Gulping the bit of Sake down he looked at her with a little concern. "You mean that if I wanted to learn more Youkai abilities and skills, I'd have to... Take it? as in Kill?" His mind pondered on it for brief moment, it was a strange thing to ponder considering that he has fought in wars and killed many warriors in battle with out much thought of it. All his life he had been trained and almost indoctrinated to serve, while he knew his case was different as many of the other Samurai all had ambitions and sought recognition for their glories and triumphs with the hopes of gaining rich rewards and possibly even Land. While he was exposed to that side of the warrior class, he himself had never partaken in it mostly because it was expected of him to be obedient and to serve. Sure he'd compete like the rest but only for recognition for the attention of his brother and to please him, not for selfish gain, but that was then. In this new life, especially after experiencing combat with the Hounengyo and even observing Koneko's own strength and abilities. If there were much more powerful Youkai than either, It might behoove him to seek more means to enhance his own abilities or make him powerful, if not to better stay alive, but to better aid Koneko.

Though if she meant he might have to kill innocents to do gain more power, that thought troubled him a little. A large part of him didn't believe in killing unnecessarily, but part of him as a skilled warrior, was prepared to do whatever was necessary or commanded of him, it was through that side that he found his strength to do things, especially in war, that would normally be inconceivable to consider by someone outside of the warrior class. However there was also that other, darker side of him, that craved to be let out and seek such blood lust, power and things in life that he had been denied without hindrance. It was in the part of him as a warrior that he found the strength and determination to proceed forward with the task. "I suppose I will have to cross that bridge when we come to it, but I am prepared to cross it if it means that I can learn more to better take on stronger enemies." He said as in his mind he thought: '...I Only hope that the price isn't too steep.'