Captured! Threaded Trap at Kojiwaka Inn

[Koneko]

Staring at the wooden cat as he pulled it out, a small bit of determination built up in Koneko. She couldn't guarantee finding anything considering she'd barely any idea what any of the humans he mentioned looked like, let alone scents or where they could really start looking for anyone who gave a resemblance considering the amount of time that had passed for him. Let alone even a human child would be lucky to live so long. Yet she could hear the fondness in his voice like that of at least a guardian, and from her perspective they were much like a family torn apart even if he'd not thought of it that way. For now, the only thing she could do was hope that indeed Hanako had a good life since and she took some ease in seeing him at least seem hopeful about what may have happened to the girl. 'A better life than I had I hope, hearing this child was surrounded by treachery and danger.'

As Mitsuyoshi moved on to actually stating how old he'd been at the time, she visibly recoiled in shock, even her tail fluffed slightly and shot out straight in disbelief. "F-Fourty-three?! Y-you were practically a child when you married!!" Koneko seemed dumbfounded that he even called himself old at around 133 years of age, her gaze wandering off to the side to hide some of her flustered expression, "You're still really young! What do you mean you're an elder or old?! I almost feel inadequate just knowing that's how quickly you married, I'm still fairly young myself and have not come to know a- aaahhh..." Her face was beet red, but she turned it back to face him and raised both hands to disengage the subject, "N-never mind, forget I said anything, I'm just stunned is all!" One of her hands moved to sheepishly rub the back of her head, trying to push her thoughts back to the issue at hand for now. 'We really do need to leave this situation alive first or our ages really aren't going to matter...'

Moving back to the true topic at hand, she gave cheeky grin to his agreeance with her sentiment of him not becoming dinner. Yet she spoke up a slight return to his notion she'd been solely after him, "I'm almost certain I've been in her sights at this point, I think faintly remember slapping a hand away and my blanket was over me this morning when it shouldn't have been after I was bitten by a very large spider..." Sitting back and and thinking about it a moment, the feline pondered it. "Is it really only because I'm stronger? Or perhaps it's because the incense only..." She jumped slightly when exclaimed out about the spiders, "Now that you say it again, I saw even a spider by the previous victim's bed and things didn't seem to get worse until we started seeing them." With her tail flicking once, she did recall she'd been bitten by quite a large spider, and as he started to ask, she was prepared to answer that she'd really not felt the effects until she had been, but his question being cut short by his shout and movement made her recoil again. "Mitsuyoshi! Are you-?!" A gasp of panic cut off her words, seeing the smashed spider in his palm and then watched him collapse. She knew this situation was about to get away from them once again, expecting an attack to come at her as well as she glanced around the floor nearby. 'This isn't good... I have to stop them before they can get me so I can protect him!!'

Eyes locking onto small spider, her hand came down upon it hastily, then glancing around as she anticipated something like before only to feel her outstretched hand bitten. Sweat beaded on her in horror as a pained hiss slid out of her, then her eyes changed red as she tried to fight off the venom with all she could muster. "I have to do something before I succumb..." she growled out, slamming her tail tip down on the offending spider and whipped her head around furiously to fight off the effects. 'Wait... I know I was asleep when I swear I was touched, but I remember feeling it and slapping a hand away in my dream!' She could feel the toxins making her drowsy, her red and gold eyes threatening to close, but her mind raced desperately to find some answer. 'If something can wake me up... Maybe movement or if I can predict at least the youkai will touch me again...' Her fading vision realized Mitsuyoshi was just by her still, and no doubt she'd be after him again first. Pushing her body to collapse with her head just on top of him, she reached a hand and gripped to his kimono, then curled her tail just barely over his legs and feet, tiredly hoping the demon would need to touch her to get to him. "I swear I'll... stop her... this time..." Koneko mumbled out as her eyes closed, her ability to stave the venom off for now gave out and she drifted off.

[Taishou89]

The door of their room slid open just enough as the old figure of Kojiawaka peeked in through the crack. In his hands he held a clay vase which he promptly removed positioned it's mouth inside of their room and removed it's lid. A thicker and visible off white miasma poured forth into their room and quickly blanketed the floor of the room with the overpowering scent of incense, that was the camouflage for Mistress Chi's Hormonal toxin. It would ensure that her victims fell into a trance like state and make them more susceptible to her mind probe and control. This miasma was much more concentrated and powerful, intending to ensure that her prey would fall deeper in her mind web. Covering the jar after it's contents emptied, Kojiwaka placed the jar down and closed the door to allow the contents to permeate and to be inhaled and absorbed by the the room's occupants. Little did he, or by extension Mistress Chi, know that down the hall and around the corner a figure lurked, spying on the strange behavior of the old man. It was Kayumi.

Shiori had long gone to sleep, but Kayumi, whether out of distrust for the ronin attempting to take advantage of them while they slept or not, had been suspicious all along. 'What is he doing?' She thought to herself as she peeked around the corner, watching the old man release some kind of strange contnet from the large vase. Something was definitely not right here at the inn, and perhaps her suspicions were misplaced on the ronin who now apparently seemed to be subjected to something strange. As Kojiwaka closed the door he carried the jar back to wherever he came from before she snuck down the hall to the room where the Ronin were staying. cracking the door slightly, the thick miasma leaked out into the hall and dissipated on it's floor. 'What is going on here???' as she eyed the thick gas fog blanketing the floor. She could make out the figures of the two ronin laying atop one another. She pushed her way in and closed the door behind her. Moving closer toward the unconscious duo it didn't take long for her to quickly notice the strange features of the two ronin. 'Are those... That one has Dog ears?! This ones face almost has cat like features as well! Is that a tail as well???' as she eyed the strange creatures before. They were human like but bore animal features. 'Are they demons? why are they sleeping?' Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted as the old man's footsteps could be heard approaching. Quickly she rushed into the closet where the bedding would normally be stored as quietly as she could to get out of sight.

As Kojiwaka slid the door open, he saw the state of Mitsuyoshi and Keiji. 'Well this is certainly unusual...' Mistress Chi remarked as she eyed the figure of Keiji almost in a protective like position resting over Mitsuyoshi. Within Mitsuyoshi's dream, he seemed to have forgotten everything that had just occurred moments before he passed out, as the setting around him was his room in the castle. "Please Excuse, sir." a woman's voice announced from outside the door. "Enter..." He replied as the door then slid open and a young lady attendant bowed. "My Lady Emiko requests your immediate presence." she reported to him. A jolt of boyhood fear crossed over him at the mention of her name, but he bowed and acknowledged. Since Akari came into his life and was given charge over him, he would never have been summoned by Lady Emiko except in extremely rare occasions in which she felt transgressed by him for whatever reason and desired to remind him of his place in the world. Gazing down at the small figure that lay across him, he saw the sleeping form of Hanako. He made every effort to carefully and gently move her so that he would not wake her at all, if she would stir, he would gently reassure that all was well and to go back to sleep and it would be vocalized and observed by Kayumi in the real world as he gently moved Koneko off of him so as not to wake her.

In the real world he rose up and off his bedding and proceeded down the hall like an entranced and possessed figure with the old man Kojiwaka following closely behind. Once they were gone, Kayumi emerged from the closet and stepped over to the strange creature or person remaining in the room. 'Should I wake it?' she thought, considering the possibilities that it might be dangerous, but her instincts were telling her that something was off and that there was cause for alarm, and this one's friend might be in peril. Instinct would ultimately win out as she gently shook the sleeping hybrid. "Hey Mr, Wake up... Something's wrong with your friend... That old geezer came back and took him somewhere..."  She quietly whispered as she continued to try and shake her. Seeing no response she gently reached down and pinched Koneko's nose, hoping that it would arouse her from her sleep. "Wake up!"


Anxiety filled him as he walked down the halls of the castle, it's appearance seeming darker than he remembered before, almost foreboding the mood of the meeting with his step mother. Samurai lined the halls before crossing the inner sanctum of the castle. Here two women sat just outside of the sliding doors of her room, both bowing to him before turning towards the doors. One announced his presence. "Emiko-sama, Mitsuyoshi-sama has arrived as you have instructed." they announced as they bowed and awaited her response. "How many times must I instruct you, not to refer to him as such. A dog is not worthy of such honor." A voice scolded the attendant. It was quickly followed up with a formal apology before Lady Emiko granted permission for him to enter. As the doors were slid open, both female attendants bowed low. Mitsuyoshi promptly dropped to his hands and knees and bowed in respect. 

Lady Emiko, dressed in the finest and most elegant silk kimono's that Lord Mitsutomo and subsequently Lord Mitsutada could afford, sat on a raised tatami mat in her meeting chambers. "Disrespectful!" she scolded him, not satisfied with his bow to which Mitsuyoshi promptly deepened his bow practically nearly touching his forehead on the floor. With a scoff, she remarked "After all these years you still can't show proper respect!" She then waved to the senior attendant at the doorway. "Help him." To which the senior of the two minor attendants moved forward and reluctantly touched the back of his head and barely applied any pressure. She appeared hesitant to force a man, let alone a Samurai, to such disciplinary actions. Upset by her attendant's reluctance, Lady Emiko stepped stepped forward casually and smacked the back of the attendant with her folded fan. "Fujiko... That is not how it's done." She scolded, before mumbling about how she had such incompetent attendants. As the young woman quickly power lowly just as Mitsuyoshi, begging for her Lady's Forgiveness. She was quickly waved off by Lady Emiko, forgiving the actions of the young woman before kneeling down infront of Mitsuyoshi. 

"Watch closely..." She stated as she reached out and grasped the back of Mitsuyoshi's head. Mitsuyoshi began to brace himself for what was coming next. "He is a Samurai only in name, you must not think of him as anything more than a Dog... For that is what he is." She then shoved the back of his head into the floor, intentionally pressing his face into it's hard surface. "A dog... dressed in fine clothing, masquerading as a Samurai, only granted the title and position because my husband's kindness was taken advantage of by some wolf demon whore..." She rubbed his head further into the hard surface. Letting him up to catch his breath, and releasing her grasp over him. As a Samurai and hanyou, particularly the daiyoukai side of him, there dwelled a deep resentment and anger within him as his own personal pride and esteem was trampled and humiliated, but he fought with all his might to suppress it knowing full well that it would not bode well for him if he were to act on it. "Fujiko... You do it. Show me that you can be taught." She warned the young girl, knowing full well that she didn't even need to hint of the repercussions for not doing so.

"Fujiko-san... It's ok." He whispered to encourage the girl, knowing full well that the girl was just as much afraid of Lady Emiko as he had been as a boy. "I did not give you permission to speak!" Mitsuyoshi suddenly felt an angry hand grasp him by the ears and raise him enough. He fought with all his might to avoid any display of pain or weakness, but it was hard to not wince even the slightest, stifling the urge to yelp and whimper as she then thrust his head down towards the ground and releasing him. Still reluctant, but in fear of her Lady's wrath, Fujiko then promptly grasped the hanyou by the back of his head and forced him to kiss the floor yet again. Lady Emiko, now satisfied, stood and walked back to where she sat originally. "That will do Fujiko-san, that will do." as she took her seat again. "You may Approach Dog-sama" she mocked. Mitsuyoshi raised from his bow and approached, stopping at the normal distance for an audience. "Closer..." she said, he moved closer, almost slightly hesitant. "Closer you insolent mangy dog!" she scoffed in annoyance. This continued one more time until Mitsuyoshi was practically face to face with his step mother. Mitsuyoshi averted his eyes as she leaned in towards him and a moment later he felt a small prick on his neck. 

Shocked, his eyes focused on the woman infront of him as her image faded into that of that of another. Almost immediately, the dream faded and the conditions of the real world were made. A dark and damp room, laced with spider's silk and lumps, no cocoons, all over the place. Kojiwaka's lifeless and limp body resting on a pile of cocoons, his body now looking more deteriorated than it had earlier, a bundle of of incense had been stuffed in his his mouth. He knew that he was still weak and sickly, but now his body did not respond. It took a lot of effort to speak, but he could just barely communicate. She wore a black Kimono with red and gold floral patterns, and her skin was ghostly pale, her long black hair was parted in the center, much in the fashion of old court noblewomen as it fell behind her and despite her obviously unsettling appearance as a youkai, she was rather very attractive and seductive looking in her human form. A set of long fangs now extended from her mouth and her forehead stretched and formed 6 eyes as 8 legs stretched out from her back and any resemblance of a beautiful woman would have quickly departed. Her legs grasped him as her hands wove her silk around his paralyzed body, nice and tight just in case the paralytic venom wore off.

 "Mitsuyoshi-dono... I'm pleased to finally meet you. I'm the lovely and irresistible Mistress Chi." She said flashing a seductive smile. "Haven't heard of me? Oh well doesn't matter. Such an interesting, yet pathetic life you've lived..." She assured as she stroked the side of his face and gazed into his eyes. "It's such a shame that it had to come to this, but... Who knew half breed blood would taste so good... I can already feel an increase in my powers just from our time together last night. Heh heh Fear not though..." she paused to rethink the phrase. "... Actually, Please do fear. The blood always tastes so much better when you're afraid! It will all be over in just a moment, so don't worry about that." She finished wrapping him in silk, leaving his head and neck exposed. Helpless, he couldn't even call out to alert Koneko as his mind began to wander if this is what fate had in store for him. 'KONEKOOOOO!' he screamed in his mind, unable to produce it with his voice. A moment later, the he felt her fangs puncture his neck again with not just a piercing pain, but an almost burning sensation as Mistress Chi began to feed on him.

[Koneko]

Sounds of a forest echoes around Koneko once more as she woke with her head laid gently in the lap of her beloved, the silky soft feel of her short kimono making it difficult to want to move from the spot as she rubbed her eyes lightly from freshly waking. "Yuu-chan?" she asked, at least glancing up at the woman she rested on and was met with a warm smile. "You're finally awake, Keiji? You took quite a long nap," Yuzuki said, "since you're finally awake, we should go ahead and take a bath together like you wanted when we got here." The feline felt shifting under her head, reluctant to get up from her comfortable spot, though, for but a few moments, she swore she heard echoes of a different voice soothe-saying her as her body in reality fidgeted restlessly at being moved and gripped to Mitsuyoshi's kimono a little tighter until he'd managed to remove her off to the side without waking. Her body remained where it was laid, but her body in her dream finally stood up, shifting her gaze to the side and seeing the mentioned river just a short bit away from the two of them. The human woman went on ahead, turning only once to beckon her lover to follow her before reaching the edge of the softly flowing river to disrobe and enter the refreshingly cold water and escape the summery heat.

"The water's so nice! You really should join me Keiji!" Yuzuki called again, now relaxing in the nearby water's cooling currents. Koneko started to slowly walk forward to join the woman as asked, but stopped upon getting a strange sense of déjà vu and abruptly mulling to figure out what it was that felt wrong. From the river waters, Yuzuki quickly noticed her sweetheart's hesitance and then asked her, "is something the matter, Keiji?" That name! That name the woman called out was messing with her again. The moment she recognized the inconsistency as had been there before, she shifted uncomfortably both between the dream and reality in clear discomfort. In the dream her hands raised and held to her head as if struggling to remember why that name was wrong and in reality she seemed to shake and and fidget, mumbling in both over and over, "That's not right... This isn't right..."

"What's not right? Whatever it is, don't worry about it right now! Just come keep me company here in the water," the woman replied, the silhouette of her form seeming to add temptation to draw the half breed to her. "No... There's something I have to do... But what was it? I swear there was something..." The hybrid was straining to figure it out, fighting to regain some sense of herself and what she couldn't quite remember was going on. Before the human woman in the water could try to quell her with words further, a large form burst from the river, water rushing down from it to reveal part of a glistening gold and sliver dragon. The great beast arched it's head down so it's piercing sea green eyes could gaze upon Koneko before a booming female voice emanated from her, "you have not yet been bested! You mustn't stay distracted, remember!" What couldn't be seen under her suddenly calmed body in the waking world was a soft glow radiating from her chest, concealed between the floor and her curled position, the wisdom pearl hidden there working to counteract against the effects of the venom as she'd been becoming aware of inconsistencies in her dream.

"M-Mother?!" She shouted out loud in her dream, staring in disbelief at the grand figure before her. In a single moment, the imagined woman and the surrounding forest faded out, the water of the river seeming to surge forth at the behest of the dragon before her, surrounding them in it as it expanded in the visible area. The dragon's long body surrounded her as the both free floated, her long snout meeting her daughter's smaller form while the half breed herself reached out in return to greet her. "Koneko, there are others here that need you. You must wake up!" Just as quickly as she'd appeared, the dragon vanished and a strong current picked up instead, rushing the feline off with it. Water was nothing as she was as if water herself, but strangely she felt different in the torrent while still unable to place what felt wrong. Clearly this was a dream for everything she saw and how it all seemed to fade in and out at will and the vision of her long departed mother even told her to wake up, so it made sense it felt odd. Yet this was rare sensation, an inability to breathe. Was this drowning? She wouldn't know personally as she'd never experienced it.

Gasping and struggling for air, she knew this wasn't right in her mind while her head struggled on it's own to get her nose free, soon bolting upright to gasp in some air while one of her hands clasped gently over where she felt irritation on her face from the pressure of having her nose held. Now woken up with a start and her head feeling as if it were almost on fire, Koneko hadn't quite grasped just who exactly had freed her from her slumbering prison, snarking out on instinct, "OI, what's the big idea pinching my-" Her words stopped dead as she recognized the face of one of the women from earlier, her ears falling back with her tail thick in surprise as a small panic set in once she realized all of her normal features were on display. "Y-you're- What are you doing in here?!" she questioned frantically with a mild nervousness before her other hand touched the empty bedroll and realized the warm body of her friend that should be there was missing, "Mitsuyoshi!! Sh-shit...!" A frustrated look crossed her face as she realized everything had still gotten away from her, 'I can't believe I was moved without being woken right away!! Please be alright...' Jumping to her feet in a rush, she dashed to snatch up her sword from the stand before tearing off to the door and peering in each direction just outside of it for signs of her companion, pausing for a brief moment, "Kayumi, wasn't it?" The feline's head turned back and looked at the girl, a faint smile of gratitude adorning her lips, "thank you for waking me up. Stay here, it'll be safer for you to keep as far out of the way as you can."

With her warning said and a serious look replacing any trace of emotions, she bolted out of the room towards Kojiwaka's office. 'There's one place I've not snooped around, and Mitsuyoshi mentioned a she... I vaguely remember something about the old man having a daughter, but we've never seen her... I think he said there was a basement too, I just hope I'm right about where it is and I'm not too late... Hold on for me to get there Mitsuyoshi!!' Tearing in to investigate with little regard for the door, the hybrid burst through and searched around as she panted, catching the sound of a voice talking as her ears swiveled. "I'm pleased to finally meet you. I'm the lovely and irresistible Mistress Chi. Haven't heard of me? Oh well doesn't matter. Such an interesting, yet pathetic life you've lived... " Clenching her teeth, she could guess this 'conversation' wasn't going anywhere good, causing her to hurry in the direction she heard it, all the while still feeling some lagging effects of the venom of the earlier bite. 'I can feel it... Like it's drained some of the energy right out of me... But I won't let it stop me until I make sure I kill this damn youkai!!' Reaching the spot she held Mitsuyoshi captive, a mild horror hit her as she realized the place was full of cocoons undoubtedly each filled with a previous victim, then her vision tracked over to the eight-legged figure leaning in and sinking her fangs into her friend's neck. In a burst of speed, she lunged and dug her claws right across the Jorogumo's back and shoulder to force her to release him before ripping her away to put herself between the two.

"Irresistible? I've met plenty of human women more desirable than you," the hybrid mocked, irises glowing brightly despite the sweat gathering on her face from resisting the venom. "I've had just about enough of you toying with us and making a meal of my friend," she then snapped, finally placing her stayed katana on her right side and placed her hand on the hilt, ready to draw it at the slightest movement, when she noticed the body of the old man with incense shoved into his mouth from the corner of her eye. 'Th-That's! So she was making him eat the incense?! Disgusting!!' Glancing over her shoulder, she tried to quick get a look at how her companion was doing despite being mostly encased in silk while trying to keep an ear out for her opponent, "are you okay, Mitsuyoshi? Sorry I'm late..."

[Taishou89]

'Koneko! I thought I was a goner!' Mitsuyoshi thought to himself as he heard Koneko's voice. Recoiling in shock and pain, Mistress Chi arched her head back, hissing loudly in anger as Mitsuyoshi's blood sprayed from her mouth at her reaction. Dropping the restrained hanyou onto the floor in front of her. A handful of small spiders suddenly appearing on her back and quickly sealed her wounds with their silk as she swiftly turned to face her attacker, standing over Mitsuyoshi guard her dinner from a would be threat. "You!?" she yelled as all of her eyes glared at the half breed in a moment of anger at the ronin's defiance. "Keiji You naughty boy! Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a beautiful woman when she's occupied with a gentleman?" her look turning to one of smugness. "I'll have to teach you a lesson in chivalry and humility, but first perhaps you should rest yourself until I finish my meal." She extended her arm and pointed at Koneko. Suddenly 7 larger spiders, roughly the size of the ones she'd used on Keiji before, surrounded her. Without warning they leapt at Koneko. She might have been able to swat and kill some, but at least 3 would find their mark and sink their venomous fangs into her and inject her with a large doze.

'That ought to knock him out this time...' she thought as she watched her spiders assault the other youkai. Witnessing Koneko fall to her knees as the venom coursed through her veins, Mistress Chi was all but certain that it had the desired effect and turned to pick up Mitsuyoshi and resume feeding on him. "I'm sorry my dear for the interruption, but I don't think we'll have to worry about that pesky and insolent Keiji anymore." But a sudden gasp from behind her gave her a moment of pause. Turning around she saw Keiji pick himself up off the floor. "What?! How!? That is impossible!" As a brief shiver of fear ran through her. With the amount of venom that would have been delivered a weaker youkai or a man would have more than just died from that, they'd have likely dissolved. 'Could I have seriously underestimated the powers of this youkai!? No... Even for a powerful Youkai she should have been on the verge of death at the very least.'

A smile quickly and just barely formed across Mitsuyoshi's face as he cheered Koneko on within his mind 'She must have developed an Immunity! Come on Koneko! You can do this!'. As he felt a slight trembled across his body and realized that he had smiled as well. 'Is it wearing off?' He began to focus his energy on trying to move and to his deligh he could feel his hand trembled as he willed it to. His own system appeared to have been working on fighting the venom's effects. 'Yes! I just need to keep trying and maybe I can get out of this and help her!' as he slowed his mind and focused in on himself, much like how he had when he first learned to use the wind blade attack, attempting to boost the energy of his own body to repair and overcome the effects of the venom. As he cleared his mind and began to focus, a strange song had begun to play in his mind, he couldn't make out it's lyrics as it sounded foreign and strange, but the tune sounded strangely familiar. He had heard it many times before but he didn't know it. His ears twitched a little, clearly overcoming the effects of the paralytic venom, but he did not hear any music with his ears and it quickly became apparent that  It was clearly within his mind. 'Where have I heard it before???' He thought for a moment before something in him told him to clear his thoughts. Closing his eyes, he forced all thoughts to empty his mind and focused in and to an extent followed the strange song of a memory he could barely recall.

Quickly she recomposed herself, and smirked smugly. "So you're worth my time after all... You know Keiji-dono, you've been quite cold towards me, perhaps I should warm you up." She waved her hand across and Suddenly from every crack and crevice in the room, appeared an army of spiders varying in sizes but mostly no bigger than the previous larger ones that were used to tranquilize Keiji. The Spiders quickly surrounded the half breed, their eyes glowing an ominous red in the darkness of the room. "I would prefer to drink that wonderful blood of yours, but I could also go for some roasted flesh." She chuckled evily as small sparks emitted from the mouths of all the little spiders illuminated the room as the larger spiders throw a steady and narrow stream of fire while the little spiders shot balls of fire at her. "Keiji-dono, I've worked so hard to get into your heart, it's rather funny that I will end up feasting on it." She bellowed a loud cackling laugh. "It's such a shame... Both you and Mitsuyoshi would have made such fine pets... Oh well."

[Koneko]

Noticing the Mitsuyoshi seemed unable to talk, she at least took the relieved look he had as a sign he wasn't too much worse for wear from when they'd passed out aside the fresh bite to his neck. Returning her attention to her opponent, she snipped back at her, "Too bad I skipped the lesson in chivalry, but I don't think I need to learn it from the likes of you!" Yet she became defensive upon realizing she was going to try again to put her to sleep, watching as the seven large spiders surrounded her and then charged. Removing her hand from the hilt, she swatted the air to slice through four of them, but felt the sharp sting of the remaining 3 latching onto different parts of her, growling out in pain. 'Ugh! Kuso... This is so much venom!' The feline thought through grit teeth as she sank to her knees, panting from taking so many toxins in at once and struggling to support herself. 'I can't lose here! I won't lose here!'

Pushing herself as hard as she could, the pearl hidden in her chest started to glow again, helping her stave off the venom alongside the immunity she'd been building up from fighting it off from the last two bites. "Don't... You DARE think..." Koneko snarled through a few heaving pants, "That I'm going to... Let you defeat me!" Forcing herself back up to her feet, she still seemed to be sweating and looked a bit rougher than when she'd gotten there, but her footing stayed solid and she wore a toothy smirk while her irises still glowed brightly. "I've fought more fearsome demons than you! It's only a pity this space is so cramped, or I'd squash you underfoot like the insect you are!" This time she didn't hesitate to draw her blade into her left hand, though took a moment to try to fully compose herself before she'd prepare to lunge in a counter attack. 'My father was a great warlord... I might not want to have titles and honors like he did anymore, but I'm still going to make sure I live up to his reputation so I don't sully his name!'

It seemed, however, even that moment's repose was giving the jorogumo too much space to act as she noticed herself getting surrounded by spiders after main youkai's retort, shifting her position more defensively in preparation to move from potential lunges again. Then she caught the next quip her eight-legged foe had to say. 'Roasted flesh? Does she mean...?' An assured smirk graced Koneko's lips as the army of spiders all began to spit fire in different styles at her, even her own chuckle escaped from her. Whipping her freehand around, her claws and hand began to collect up some of the fire sent towards her, allowing some to build up before she sent it in a decent-sized burst back at a good portion of the spiders. "Heh! Sorry to disappoint you, but you won't be getting a taste of me whether blood or roasted and my heart will be staying right where it is!" Pausing her wisecracking for a moment, she took a breath and turned to spray her own stream of fire right back at more of the little spiders, moving it right across another section of them in a fairly controlled fashion despite the size of flame she spat. "Cute trick, but I can do it better!" She allowed both hers and the spiders' flames to dance around her, using it to remove the tiny vermin from her presence.

Turning back to Mistress Chi, she let out a low hiss, then slid a finger next to the side of her katana, pulling her aura from the hand holding it down to the tip, coating the blade entirely. The last words the feminine spider had spoken seemed to truly irk the hybrid, bringing out a presumptuous sense of pride. "I, Koneko, am nobody's pet!!" With her tail flicking behind her, she held her weapon offensively and traded off in being the aggressor, dashing in to stab and slice initially, but ultimately using the opportunity of likely surprise to overwhelm with a barrage of strikes. All she needed was one perfect opening to kill her, to end her threat to her companion and any future travelers, yet her overconfidence and hot temper had miscalculated just how fast she was still recovering from the toxins. While she was capable of moving and fighting, she started to realize her movements and reactions from pushing so eagerly were still slow. 'I need to commit and push her back, I was better on the defensive, but if I can keep her overwhelmed I can end this sooner!' She resolved to push despite her mild sluggishness, overtly ambitious to end Mistress Chi's terror as quickly as she could muster.

[Taishou89]

"What?!" Mistress Chi exclaimed as she observed Koneko not only manipulate her own fire, but then breath it against her own spiders. Keiji's wisecracking and stubborn defiance had pushed her to her limits as she surged forward with impeccable speed and unhindered by the fires that danced around her. It would have been a frightening sight for any mortal to see this large spider woman, standing nearly a foot taller than Koneko, suddenly rush through the shadows and come into the light by the fire and to cross through it unaffected and with such speed. Taking advantage of her sudden and swift advance, and sensing that her venom still held some effects over the defiant Keiji, Mistress Chi quickly used one of her left legs and swatted her hand hard not only pushing the sword away from her front, but causing her to lose her grip and send the sword to the floor off to the side, clanging against the wall of the storage room. Almost immediately after, she moved quickly to backhand Keiji with her right hand to stun her, while two of her legs shoved Koneko against the wall just next to the doorframe.


"Bad Kitty! I've had enough of your rude behavior!" She hissed as she used her body weight to pin Koneko against the wall with her two legs, "It appears my venom still has some effect on you... Keiji-dono. Heh heh heh" She then began applying pressure against him, causing the razor sharp edges of her legs to pierce right through both of Koneko's shoulders and right into the wall behind her. The Jorogumo made sure it went slower than a swift thrust to better inflict more pain. "Heh heh heh..." Mistress Chi delighted in the pain she caused the defiant Keiji as he yelped and winced. "A youkai warrior like you yelping like a woman, how shameful!" Mistress Chi teased as let out a loud laugh. Smelling the fresh blood that had been drawn, she leaned in close to Koneko's face with her long fangs extended to see the fear and shame in her eyes. 'My you are still quite stubborn...' The Jorogumo thought as she observed Koneko's struggle to refrain from letting her emotions and fear be shown. Her tongue extended from her mouth as she lowered her head to the wound in her opponent's left shoulder and began lapping up Koneko's fresh blood. "Mmm! I knew you would  taste so good Keiji-chan." Intentionally lessening the honorific for the defiant warrior, trying to belittle and humiliate him.

Meanwhile, as he lay on the floor still bound by the cocoon, Mitsuyoshi was pleased to be able to feel his fingers and most of his body begin to respond to his brain's command as he now began to struggle and stretch the silk enough that perhaps he could position his claws just right to puncture it 'Come on! Come on!' His mind railed as he struggled. 'Success!' as he felt his right index finger finally poke through the material, quickly he managed to quickly poke the rest of his fingers through, allowing him to grasp the material and rip it away, enough that he could squeeze out from it. He was still weak and even just trying to escape from the cocoon was a struggle that normally wouldn't be as he panted, wiping the sweat that formed across his brow. 'I've got to save Koneko!' He thought to himself, not even trying to voice it, as surprise was his ally and the only thing he could depend on in his weakened state that might actually tip the balance enough that both he and Koneko could kill Mistress Chi.

As Mistress Chi lapped at the blood, her eyes caught sight of the edges of her chest wraps. 'What's this?' pulling her face back and with a swift hand she reached down and yanked Koneko's kimono down just enough to see the wraps better. "You! You're a woman!" Mistress Chi Hissed appalled that this entire time she had been after a woman. It all made sense now to her why Keiji never succumbed to the Miasma, Why she'd mistaken the ronin for a bishounen, and why, as she suddenly recalled, her name was Koneko. Her face turned to disgust and anger as she hissed loudly. It quickly turned to a growl as she lunged forward and into Koneko's neck, sinking her fangs into the base of deep her neck as she began to inject her with the same Paralytic venom she used on many of her prey. No sooner had she sunk her fangs in and begun to inject her venom, in a sudden flash her right leg that had pinned Koneko was suddenly severed. Recoiling in shock and in pain, she withdrew her left leg, still leaving the remains of her right pinning Koneko to the wall. "Mitsuyoshi!?" A surprised look crossed her face not expecting him to be up and about.

Mitsuyoshi had managed to free himself and recover enough strength to charge the Jorogumo and with all of his strength swiped his claws down onto her right leg pinning his friend to the wall, instantly slicing through it like a hot knife through butter. Panting as he shifted his feet for better balance, and leaning forward slightly, he drew his father's Tanto from his obi and held it low and to his side. "You dared to ruin my memory of Ayame, tainting it with your vile image and stench! I abhor you!" He shouted. Mistress Chi stumbled back in pain as her own blood spilled to the floor from where her leg had once been. "You Insolent! Pathetic! Mangy little fleabag!" She spat at him in anger. "I gave you the gift of my love and presence... Although it was to be the only consolation before your death, but still. You dare meme and disfigure me?!"

She then charged the weakened hanyou with considerable speed despite missing one of her legs, but Mitsuyoshi held fast and determined to exact his promise to kill her for impersonating and tainting the memory of his beloved wife. As she was practically on him he suddenly raised the tanto and extended his arm out just in time as her own momentum would drive the blade right into her stomach, using his feet position and his forward cant to absorb and hold against her force. As her momentum suddenly stopped, just before she could react he drew his left hand upwards and slashed at her face. As it happened she had been recoiling to dodge the move, but wasn't fast enough for the edges of his claws still scratch her cheek deep enough to cause a strip of flesh to hang. Mitsuyoshi, weakened from the action had collapsed to one knee panting and struggling to stay upright. 'No... Please... Lend me more strength...' he pleaded with his body, knowing full well that threat remained.


Mistress Chi Roared in pain as she stumbled back with enough force to break Mitsuyoshi's grip over the weapon, taking it with her. Grasping her face as she roared and screamed in pain and horror. "My Face! My beautiful face! What have you done to my Beautiful face!? I should have killed you last night you pathetic... ARGH!!!" She screamed in fury as she reached down at the blade protruding from her stomach and removed it without flinching. With a renewed sense of energy, she rushed forward prompty picking up the weakened wolf hanyou and pinning him against the far wall of the room, much like how she had done to Koneko. Yelping as his left shoulder was pierced while, over his right shoulder, the remaining stub of her leg dripped blood over him. "You!" she thrust the blade into his abdomen as he gasped, struggling to resist and break her grasp. "Mangy!" She thrust it into him again "Flea Ridden lap dog!" Thrusting A final time, but this time his body went limp, now weakened severely from the sudden strikes and everything thus far. She withdrew her leg from his shoulder, allowing his body to fall to the floor in a small puddle of fresh blood caused by himself and Chi's leg. He was still alive, but he could barely force himself to speak let alone move. Satisfied that the hanyou was almost dead, but not before she could finish off Koneko and feed on both of them, the Spider turned around to find a surprise.

Little had Mistress Chi or Koneko known, Kayumi had not heeded Koneko's instructions and instead followed after her to observe what was going on in this strange Inn. Now just as the Jorogumo turned it's attention to Mitsuyoshi, Kayumi had taken the opportunity to try and help Koneko, hoping that the Jorogumo wasn't able to inject enough of it's paralyzing venom to knock her entirely out of commission. "Hey you! Don't give up now! Please!" As the young girl held Koneko's sword in one hand and attempted to remove the Jorogumo's leg impaled in her left shoulder. She pleaded as she finally managed to remove Mistress Chi's leg allowing Koneko to collapse against the wall freely. "Please! You're our only hope!" The village girl shook her. "What have we here? So the Human girl planning to repay the favor of her knight in shining armor?" Mistress Chi snarled. "I will drink YOUR blood and bath in her's..." The Jorogumo pointed to Koneko. "... to replenish my beauty."  As her face producing a half smirk as she started to move in on the two. 

[Koneko]

Grunting as her sword was knocked away, Koneko tried to retaliate with the claws of her other hand only to grunt once again and stumble back from being slapped before feeling those thin legs on either shoulder force her to skid back to pin her against the wall. She grabbed on to each to try to push back, though was unable from already still struggling against the venom and the full force of body weight keeping her pushed back which left her merely baring her fangs and growling. 'Damn... This isn't good, I need to get free,' she thought desperately, holding firm to the legs pinning her before wincing and crying out in pain, shifting uncomfortably as they slowly pierced into and through her before screaming out and panting. With each whimper and call, it was impossible to hide the feminine nature of her voice, soon hearing herself mocked for it and making her merely grit her teeth and bare her fangs further in spite of the tears welled in her eyes from pain. "Heh, I've been through...worse! This is...nothing! Be-sides, only a...matter of time 'till...I crush you! We'll see who's...shameful then!" Keeping a tough bravado up in the face of her assaulter, she refused to give Chi the satisfaction of seeing any fear or weakness if she could help it, hissing out threateningly instead after her return quip to help hide it.

"Better enjoy it while...you can before I rip you to pieces!" The hybrid snarled, trying to find an angle with her arms she could attempt to lash back without being impeded or causing too much pain when she noticed Mitsuyoshi getting free from the corner of her eyes while the spider was distracted lapping up her blood. 'He got out! I knew he had it in him! If he can cut me loose then we can kill her together!' Keeping quiet on the matter, she continued to try to shift but changed her strategy to trying to pull at the legs again, leaving a wide opening for him with her own appendages out of the way. Koneko's internal confidence of the situation changed upon realizing Chi seeming to notice something and pull back, a look of confusion on her face flipping to flinching as her kimono's collar was pulled open enough to see her bindings. "You! You're a woman!"

"Keh, what of it?! You're the one's been advancing on me and actin' like a floozy!" The feline snipped back, using her sharp tongue to hide her concern and hold her attention with a wide-yet-pained smirk on her face, "Besides, maybe I'd have reciprocated some interest if you weren't so utterly repulsive." It wasn't too long before her cockiness did change to alarm for just a moment, only for the fact the Chi suddenly lunged for her neck, leaving her shrieking out once again in pain at he moment her fangs sank in. 'NO!' she thought frantically, just as Mitsuyoshi launched his attack and forced the jorogumo to release her bite. Feeling the venom course through her once again, her grip on the legs loosened from her arms falling limp, and her body went slack on the legs, eventually supported solely by the severed one that forced her to stay dangling there.

Panting hard, fought within herself to stay conscious and alert, catching only moments of the scuffle her companion entered with their opponent in her vision. Letting her eyes close for a few seconds in hopes a small conservation of energy would help her regain strength a little faster, her ears perked first in elation at the enraged voice of the spider, hoping they'd gotten that upper hand again. While her eyes were closed, she felt the leg holding her to the wall shift and jostle as a voice called her to open her eyes. "Hey you! Don't give up now! Please!" She observed helping her was the girl that woken her earlier. "Kayumi...?" The questioning of her voice came out quiet and weak, the leg coming free from the girl's efforts and she dropped and slumped to the floor with her back against the wall, a trail of blood left from where she slid.

Koneko's ears perked again, the sounds of yelping had her forcing her eyes more open, horror and enmity filling her as she not only heard the sound of a blade repeatedly stabbing, but also witnessed it was Mitsuyoshi receiving it before he dropped to the ground. Her gaze moved back to Kayumi as the girl jostled her and pleaded, "Please! You're our only hope!" Then a low growl started up from her as the girl was noticed by their enemy and threats of death thrown at them. Kayumi got up in a desperate bid of panic, holding the katana in front of her despite having little idea how to use it properly. "Don't come any closer!" She shouted, though there was little confidence in her voice as they were approached, an overwhelming sense of terror at the tall creature approaching led her to swing the sword in a frenzy to try to strike or at least back her off. "Get up PLEASE!"

Now witness to the girl making an uncertain and risky move, the half breed started to move. 'This can't be the end... I refuse to believe this is how it ends for us...' On sheer will alone this time, Koneko forced herself to her knees and rose from her spot on the floor. 'This can't be the end... I won't LET this be how it ends for us after just meeting...' Glaring Mistress Chi down regardless of her bloodied and worn appearance, she spoke to Kayumi. "Move behind me and hang onto my sword. If she comes close to you, don't hesitate to defend yourself, even if I'm right there," for just a moment, she forced a confident grin in the girl's direction, "and no matter what you see, please don't be afraid of me." There was clearly a nervous if not terrified look on the girl's face, but there was little choice but to do as she was told before dashing behind Koneko while still holding the sword defensively.

Shifting to stand as stably as she could, the feline didn't remove her gaze from her target as she let her eyes change to red and gold and the passive pressure she gave off felt stronger. "I won't let anyone but you die here, besides, my blood is too rich for the likes of you to bathe in it," her voice came out rougher and more dangerous while her fangs grew down past her lips, "Though, I guess I'll have to be a little more serious now." Leaping forward, there almost seemed a renewed sense of energy from her as she caught her claws on fire and tore after the jorogumo with a focused fury, the flames trailing behind each swipe to rip into her from what she could catch and deal damage while also forcing her to dodge. Any legs that came toward her she clawed right through, hissing and spitting as she kept her attacks intent and concise. "Flaming Plume!" she snarled out, the fire from her claws combining into a large flare that moved in a fluid motion right for Mistress Chi, the hybrid in tow jumping right through the head-on fire attack. Whipping her body around, she landing a hearty and full round-house style kick into the spider's side. With all of the might she could muster, she used that kick to knock Chi towards the wall Kayumi stood near, then shouted, "Now! While she'd stunned!" 

The girl panicked, unsure of what to do, and swung the sword at the on-coming demon, hoping she would hit and landing it deep in the spider's side. "T-Take this!" While it went in a decent enough way from the impact velocity, it wouldn't be enough to do her in, yet, which was why Koneko was still pursuing quickly in tow. Her appearance lightly changing still with her ears offset to the side and scales running down the length of her nose, a fairly frightening sight from how fast she approached. "This is the end of you!" Grasping the jorogumo to stop her from continuing to fly back too far, she concentrated the claws on her freehand to a point and drove her arm straight through her chest with a blow intended to kill. She'd given everything she could yet muster into that last stunt, feeling faint as she sank back to the floor and dragging the youkai with her and pinning her down, refusing to let herself go limp until she could feel the spider was actually dead. Only after that point would she finally allow herself to fully collapse and return her appearance to normal. "Are you...both...okay...?" she asked weakly

[Taishou89]

The battle waged on ferociously as the 3 women battled it out, back and forth Chi and Koneko exchanged blows and danced until Koneko had Chi right where she wanted her and at her her mark, the young human girl Kayumi delivered a distracting blow with Koneko's sword. Finally and with force, Koneko seized the moment to strike, sending her hand piercing straight through Mistress Chi's chest, completely annihilating her heart. With a piercing scream of shock, pain, and ultimately anger, in her final words did express "Im..poss..ible...You!" One hand grasping Koneko's arm as it remained impaled her and the other reaching out and grasping Koneko's hair, until her eyes rolled back and her body fell limp.

Collapsing to the floor in exhaustion and relief "Are you...both...okay...?" Koneko asked weakly of her companions there. Shaken and a bit relieved, Kayumi responded "I Think so..." as she began to search herself. Mitsuyoshi had managed to roll onto his side and dragged himself across the floor to where the Spider lay with Koneko, leaving a smearing trail of blood as he did so. Groaning he finally stopped as he was close enough to see her well enough. A trail of blood ran from his mouth, signing he had internal injuries "It hurts... but I think... I'll live." This was undoubtedly probably the worse injury he had ever sustained, not only did Mistress Chi stab him with such force, she had undoubtedly hit several of his internal organs and might have even cracked a few ribs. The fact that he had coughed up blood at some point implied that she had knicked one of his lungs, but fortunately because of his own healing abilities, and the strange song that he could still faintly hear within his mind, his lungs had already begun to seal the wound to stop the bleeding, and he had noticed this as after coughing up what blood he did, it no longer felt as hard to breath anymore as it did just a moment ago and the relief felt as one who would expunge phlegm when sick. His body had already begun to work on repairing itself, but it would still likely take quite some time to be back in traveling condition, let along fighting condition as he rested his head on the cold hard surface of the floor in exhaustion.

"Are you sure it's dead?!" The young Kayumi asked, as she hesitantly approached the duo. Mitsuyoshi's ears perked at the strange voice. "who's that?" he asked Koneko. "Oh Mitsuyoshi, Kayumi. Kayumi, Mitsuyoshi...." She introduced exhaustion lacing her tone "...and yes Kayumi... She's dead." Koneko responded exhaustedly resting herself on the ground. Just as Mitsuyoshi was going to ask about Kojiwaka, he opened one eye and saw the old man's body off in the corner. Suddenly the old man's body rapidly decayed and disintegrated to just a skeleton as a sign that Mistress Chi's powers had faded and she was indeed dead. "Oh... Nice to meet ya." He said weakly with a wave before letting his hand fall limply back to ground. Suddenly Mistress Chi's body began to tremble and vibrate. Kayumi yelped in fright as she jumped back slightly. "Ehhh???" as Mitsuyoshi and Koneko both responded in unison as they looked up, hoping that she wasn't reviving herself. "Oh for crying out loud!" Koneko groaned thinking that the Spider was coming back to life, until suddenly the body of Mistress Chi burst into thousands of little spiders which scattered across the room and over everyone.

"EEEEEEK!!" With a high pitched scream Kayumi began to jump around trying to keep her feet off the ground as the spiders scattered everywhere. "Well this is unpleasant..." Koneko remarked as hundreds of little spiders scattered and crossed over her. "Ugh... I've had it with spiders..." closing his eyes as the spiders freely ran across him. "Koneko? Do you hear that?" He asked her, still hearing the song within his mind. Curious to see if it was just in his mind, but of course it would be. As Koneko would eventually confirm that she didn't hear anything except Kayumi Screaming, he began to wonder if this was the sound one heard before death, if he'd been wrong about his injures. "Well... I know I've done nothing but sleep these past couple of days and the past 90 years, but... I'm..." He faded mid sentence as his own body urged him to rest. Causing a minor alarm for Koneko until she could hear lightly snore, inhaling a spider and coughing just a little before swallowing it and resume snoring.

As he slept, he began to dream as he found himself in a beautiful garden, but it was not like the one of Nishino Castle, it was the gardens of a larger estate with it's own, almost lake size pond. Snow capped mountains dominated the horizon, with beautiful pine trees as a familiar sound came from the distance, as he gazed to a gazebo that extended and sat upon the pond, he saw a woman from whence the song was emerging. As he approached curiously, her back was turned toward him as she continued to sing that strange and familiar song. Drawing his Shinobue, he began to follow her notes, joining with her in her display, matching at first her musical note, before turning to harmonize with her. She wore a remarkable white Kimono with Red, Pink, and Gold floral patterns and her long brown hair was tied neatly in a long ponytail that ran down the length of her back. Though she never turned to face him he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of familiarity with this woman. 

His mind wondered as she continued her song, matching and harmonizing with each and every note, yet she never turned to look at him and he would not see her face, despite being aware of his presence. Her song continued, almost seemingly on repeat as time seemed to suddenly pass. As the sun set and the clear night sky and the brilliant stars began to show their duet finally came to an end as she sang the final lyric. She seemed to start to turn to look at him and his heart raced as he anticipated and waited to see the woman standing before him, in his heart he had something told him that he knew who she was, but before she could fully turn and before he could see her face, he was torn from his Dream as he returned to the woken world with a gasp.

 Little would he know right then and there, that 2 nights had pass and it was now the early morning of the 3rd day, since he had knocked out. Sitting up he winced slightly as he drew back the covers and saw his bare upperbody and the bandages wrapped around him as the memories of the battle returned to him. He wouldn't know it right then, but his fever had long settled, and his body had ridden itself of the intoxicating miasma and the spider venom, thus successfully healing most of his organs that had been injured or damaged from the battle, but the wounds themselves were still healing. His sudden movement had undone some of the stitches that had been done to seal some of his wounds and begun to bleed lightly again. "Ugh..." he groaned in pain as he noticed the bandages begin to turn red from his blood. "Well... I'm not going to do that again..." Looking around the room he saw Koneko was resting nearby and Kayumi and another woman apparently had also moved into their room. It was likely that they were caring for him and Koneko, but it was also likely that after the event with the Mistress Chi, they probably felt safer being closer to 'Friendly Demons'.

[Koneko]

Laying exhausted in the mess of spiders skittering all over her out from the Mistress Chi's corpse, Koneko's ear flicked on hearing her companion ask an unusual question. "Koneko? Do you hear that?" She raised a single eyelid to glance towards his direction despite the body laying in the way. "Hear what? All I hear is the moving of all these stupid spiders and screaming," she groaned out, closing her eye again even though she was wondering what he supposedly heard. With his next remark, she managed to open her eyes and lift her head in concern as he drifted out, "M-Mistuyo-" Hearing his snore and cough from a spider getting sucked into him, she relaxed her head back on the ground despite the uncomfortable circumstance of being covered in the tiny arachnids. Tired eyes trailing over to the girl dancing around, she called for her attention, "Kayumi..."

The girl jumping around in fright at all the spiders stopped for just a second, "h-huh? Ahhh! Eeek!" She resumed panicking to get some spiders off of her, but she was now listening. "Can you... Set up the room... for us...? I'll get him... Upstairs... after... a nap..." The feline's words came out slow and exhausted, giving a decent yawn before her heavy eyelids closed again. It would be a short while before she'd wake and manage to carry herself and her friend back up in spite of her worn appearance and found herself explaining what she could managed to the shocked and overwhelmed Shiori after her younger sister had undoubtedly tried to in spite of some refute and disbelief. From there Koneko let herself entirely rest for the couple of days, allowing the sisters to do as they needed to aid their recovery and helping with mundane issues or chatting from time to time in moments she was awake. It had taken at least a full day for the sheer amount of venom she'd taken in to mostly clear from her system more visibly, which was the only thing that had slowed down her body's healing of the large wounds through each of her shoulders.

Koneko's nose twitched as she smelled the freshly leaking blood, opening her eyes from the futon she rested on to see Mitsuyoshi sitting up. "It's nice to finally see you awake again," she commented with her voice lowered to let the two women sleep, "You've been out cold for the few days since we fought that youkai, but you already sound far better than you have this whole time." Shifting to her side under the blanket covering her, she continued a little more, "the women from the other day, Kayumi and Shiori, they've been giving us a hand until we're in condition enough to be on our way. Actually, Shiori's going to try to help repair our clothes for now last she mentioned. She tried to get all the blood she could out shortly after they got us situated. We really owe them for all of this honestly..."

Soon the younger woman stirred a little hearing the whispers, mostly having been a touch on edge and alert since the incident with the more dangerous demon. "Oh, you're awake and you're bleeding..." Kayumi said in hesitant surprise as she sat up herself, unsure about this ronin since it was the first time she'd get to really interact with him. She continued to question, seeming hesitant to want to come near while he was awake, "how bad is it?" That's when the feline finally sat up, it now apparent her hair was down from the tied up position it usually was in, concealing her back, and she kept the blanket held over her front, bandages wrapped over each of her shoulders. "If you can grab my hadagi for now, I'll help if need be Kayumi," the half breed spoke up while looking at the girl, "these bandages should be able to come off me a little later, then I just need fresh bindings." It looked like the sister that was awake had a bit better trust around Koneko, getting up from her bed and looking for the article of clothing that was off to the side to be set for repair. Bringing it over to the youkai, she moved slightly between the two half breeds, giving Mitsuyoshi a hard stare, "you best not be having any kind of perverted thoughts either because we're helping!"

With her back turned as she slid the undershirt on and tied it shut, the feline gave Mitsuyoshi a sheepish glance and smile as the accusation was thrown. "I promise he's not like that either, Kayumi..." she assured as she got up once she had her hair out from under the now tied garment, the holes where she'd been pierced through visible along with leftover stubborn bloodstains. Shiori could be heard shifting lightly as well, mumbling out tiredly, "Kayumi... Stop being rude..." Yet the words seemed to be a bit more of a knee-jerk reaction as she just moved a little and continued sleeping. With a slightly abashed chuckle, the hybrid moved over to see how bad the bleeding was and undo the now soiled bandaging while having the younger sister find some fresh ones and bring it over, "with some luck, the rest of your wounds should heal fairly quickly now and we can all get out of this mess soon, though I've barely checked the weather outside since we'd been in bad shape."

[Taishou89]

"My head and mind certainly feel a lot better too." As Koneko mentioned how Kayumi and Shiori have gone out of their way to help them, it was then that he realized that Koneko wasn't in disguise nor did he have anything to cover his own ears, causing a brief moment of alarm until he realized that the sisters would have been well aware and still helped them. "I agree, for all of their care and to stick around afterwards even knowing us as we are, we owe them a great deal." Mitsuyoshi's eyes wandered over to the two human sisters. 'Despite knowing that we were not like them, she still decided to stick around and help us, she even got her sister to help as well...' the thought did intrigue him as he had never known Commoners to have been so welcoming to a stranger with animal like features that obviously signed of a youkai, even the few times that he had been seen without his head wrap back in the day, caused quite a commotion among some of the villagers, with most usually either avoiding or trying to ignore him, as if they thought that by not acknowledging him, he would disappear like a ghost, or most times they'd just end up running away in fear entirely. Wincing slightly and softly hissing as he gently lowered himself back down so as not to cause the rest of his wounds to open again.

"Oh, you're awake and you're bleeding..."

Peeking one eye open to notice Kayumi had waken. "Sorry, I Didn't mean to wake you." As he reached down and felt his the bandage over the wound that had reopened. "My apologies, I was careless when I came to." as he then noticed Koneko getting up and realizing she didn't have her hadagi on, he quickly shifted his head away to allow her some privacy, slightly embarrassed that he'd even looked in the first place. Though he had been around quite a few women in his life, life in the castle was a little more... Spacious and so it was very rare to come across any woman undressed unless it was in one's private chambers. "You best not be having any kind of perverted thoughts either because we're helping!" The girl's remark caught him off guard, "Eh??" he reacted, blushing as he thought she had saw him glance over just prior. "I would never!" he remarked hushed, but with enough emphasis to convey he was appalled glancing back at the two when Koneko came to his defense. "I promise he's not like that either, Kayumi..."

 "Exactly! I may be a man, but I am a warrior, civilized, and a Wolf..." He frowned, while blushing at the same time. Though he was proud of all those things, little did he know that he was probably among the few of those exact things that actually followed a code of morals in the present age of Warring States. Almost immediately before he could say something further, his ears caught the words of the other sister "Kayumi... Stop being rude..." but quickly noticed she appeared to still be asleep. It was then that he deduced that this was likely such a common thing for the Kayumi to do if her Sister was instinctively reacting in her asleep. He started to chuckle at the the moment but his chuckle turned into a kind of laughing groan "Arrrrrrr..." that almost sounded like a wolflike howl. "How cruel... I can't even laugh because it hurts." he fought against chuckling at his own painful irony as Koneko moved over to check his wounds.

Fortunately it wouldn't be too serious, as it was still mostly closed, just a small part had been torn by his sudden movement. "If not for these surface wounds and their sting, I'd probably not have noticed that I was even wounded or still recovering." He boasted, trying to sound tough. Though it was true, Once his body had ridden itself of the venom and the miasma, his internal organs had recovered and his even his ribs didn't seem tender or sore anymore, it was just the muscle and skin that were still healing, but even now his shoulder wound would have nearly completely healed. "I'll be honest I think this was the worse shape I've ever been in after a fight." He admitted to the Youkai. 'It's definitely a different experience fighting a stronger and non human enemy...' He'd only ever really fought mostly other Samurai in battle, where one on one his skills and abilities gave him a major edge and the only danger was when it became a numbers game, but even the bulk of the peasant soldiers that the Samurai employed often would falter just at the mere sight of him. 

However, Encountering such Youkai as the Hounengyo and especially Mistress Chi, it definitely started to highlight to him the need to train and become stronger, just like He and Koneko had talked about a few nights ago. 'I have to get stronger, Otherwise how can I serve and protect my newfound friend.' his eyes turned upon Koneko as he silently pondered, while she tended his bandages. She was powerful indeed, but some part of him felt there was another side of her that she kept hidden, and it was that thought that inspired him to feel the need to, if not protect her, at least assist in doing so. 'I know she says she is searching for Yuzuki, but I can't shake this thought that she is running from someone as well. Therefore I shall adopt her cause... It is the least I can do for all she's done for me... the warrior without a master...'  While forgetting that he was now staring at her, another thought suddenly came to mind as he remembered the woman from his strange dream 'Who was she and Why do I feel like I know her? What was that song?'

[Koneko]

While Koneko removed the soiled bandages and used them to sweep up some of the remaining blood, Kayumi brought some fresh ones they had yet over, making a slightly sharp remark about the assurance given, "I'll only give the benefit of the doubt because you've been traveling together..." For her it had yet to remain seen that he was absolutely trustworthy, though she'd not entirely say either the framework for the proof had been started from having been witness to the fight in the inn's cellar. Either way it even got a slight chuckle out of the feline in tandem with Mitsuyoshi's boasting to save face, finding his attempt to stay tough in front of her admirable and endearing while it all brought a chirpy expression to her. "From the looks of it you won't have these wounds to much longer anyways and you'll get to have your laugh back later. I'll wrap them anyways just in case." Working on wrapping the wounds back up with some help from the village girl, his next comment led her to try to reassure him best she could.

"Truthfully, that really wasn't my best fight I've been in, though it wasn't helping to have all of that venom slowing me down. You're lucky you aren't a human considering the injuries you sustained, but you're healing better than you had with the incense clouding the air." Koneko wouldn't admit it out loud, but even through her state at the time, she was worried about how severe his injuries were when Mistress Chi had dropped him to the floor after stabbing him so viciously. It didn't take too much time for them to have his wounds dressed again, her tail wiggling as she gave a gentle pat off to the side of his wound, "that should do it, just don't sit up so fast again." The feline looked over slightly to notice her companion seemed to be staring fairly intensively at her, wondering what had gotten him so focused in. "What's wrong? Is there something on my face? Ah! There's not another spider on me somewhere that I missed, is there?!" The daiyoukai had managed to keep her voice down, but her hands were frantically searching over herself to make sure it wasn't a spider. "I don't see any..." Kayumi added in, having noticed the hanyou's stare and looking over the feline nervously when she brought up the possibility of another arachnid.

Satisfied that eventually even her friend confirmed there wasn't another spider as well, she sighed out in relief before asking, "are either of you hungry? I can see what else I can find before it all goes off, and I'd like to do at least something as thanks for all the help and tolerance you and Shiori have shown us." The girl nodded in response, though got up and moved back over to where she'd been sleeping to be closer to her sister, still giving a narrowed look to Mitsuyoshi despite the vouching he'd been given earlier, "I think I could eat, but I'll stay over here until my sister wakes up." Giving a consoling grin while scratching her face to her companion, the hybrid soon got up to slide gently out of the room, "I'll see what's here yet and be back in a little while. Go ahead and rest a little more in the mean time."

[Taishou89]

Lost in thought he failed to realize he'd been staring at Koneko whilst pondering about the strange woman from his dream when her reaction pulled him from his thoughts "What's wrong? Is there something on my face? Ah! There's not another spider on me somewhere that I missed, is there?!"  He blushed as he quickly tried to reassure. "No! No Sorry, my mind was absent from the present! You're fine, really! There are no spiders." He quickly changed the direction of his gaze as Kayumi confirmed there were none. "I guess the spiders must have really got to you, eh?" He playfully joked at her reaction. "From your stare I thought she might've found a way to come back for a moment..." Koneko exhaled in a sigh of relief from the confirmations it was nothing, her tail casually shifting has he began to speak her praises.

 "I'm pretty sure that Spider is long dead. I've done some pretty disgusting things in the past, but I have to admit the hand through her chest was pretty impressive." He smirked as he complemented the Daiyoukai's move, until Kayumi abruptly chirped in. "I knew it! You are a pervert!" Mitsuyoshi blushed and instantly started to retract what he said. "NO! It's nothing of the sort! I merely meant to say that I've used my claws to do some pretty gruesome things myself... Wait.. Why's your mind in the gutter!?" He flipped back on to her. Instantly seeing her face go red with a combination of anger and embarrassment at having her own accusation thrown back on her, Kayumi just tossed the rag into his face and turned away.

Pulling the rag from his face and letting it drop to the side of his bed he had a puzzled look. 'Such a strange girl... If she can't handle it, why dish it out?' though to be fair in his defense he did not know her history. "Hey, I didn't mean anythin-" his words cut off as she shot him a scary glare, sending his ears to go flat and back "Aah!". A brief flashback to the Suwa campaign, when he'd been wounded by an arrow and was sent back to the castle for care with a group of other wounded Samurai, he remembered what one of the veteran wounded warriors laid out to the group traveling back. 'Rule #1. if a woman is nursing and caring for you, Never and I can't emphasize this enough, NEVER anger them. You can flirt, but NEVER anger them or YOU WILL Regret it.'  Wise words that he'd blown off then, as all he had was an arrow wound and knew he would have fully recovered from by the middle of the night. "Ka-Kayumi, I didn't mean it! Really!" desperately trying to ease the girl's mind. Koneko finally was able to get a word in between the two "I... Think he meant the fact I used my claws to kill the demon... I did put my arm right through her..." She realized there may need to be a bit of explaining about Kayumi later when there was better opportunity, given she knew but hadn't thought it would become important for him to know before everything happened.

 "Oh Well I hope not for all our sakes." The young girl replied before stepping away to step away to get get more bandages. It was then that Koneko leaned in to Mitsuyoshi and whispered. "I'll tell you about it later." before turning her attention to the rest of the group. "Are either of you hungry? I can see what else I can find before it all goes off, and I'd like to do at least something as thanks for all the help and tolerance you and Shiori have shown us." Koneko asked. "That certainly would be great, Now that you mention it I'm famished, I don't think I've eaten since the first night here." Mitsuyoshi replied as he gently and slowly sat up on his elbows, wincing slightly but fortunately his wounds didn't reopen. "I think I could eat, but I'll stay over here until my sister wakes up." Kayumi's eyes darted to Mitsuyoshi like daggers. "How can I prove my integrity to you???" Mitsuyoshi pondered aloud. Giving a consoling grin while scratching her face to her companion, the hybrid soon got up to slide gently out of the room, "I'll see what's here yet and be back in a little while. Go ahead and rest a little more in the mean time." but in Mitsuyoshi's mind he had to wonder if he was safe being left alone with the fiery Kayumi. 'Geez, I'd almost suspect that I'm in danger again with that glare...'

As Koneko left the room, a horse could be heard neighing, following the sound of the Inn's front gate opening. "Hello! Just a couple of traveling Merchant's here. We're looking to rent a room!" A familiar voice called, before suddenly the same voice began to scold his companion. "Jiro Stop playing around with the horse and bring the goods inside." Mitsuyoshi's ears would have quickly picked up on it as well as his eyes went wide. "Them..." Looking at Kayumi he changed his tune. "Kayumi could you please pass me my hat, it should be next to my armor over there." The girl brushed him off with a "Hmph!". Mitsuyoshi sighed to himself as he cursed in his mind 'Oh by the Gods...' before recomposing himself. "Please Kayumi, I'm really sorry and I didn't mean to say that you had a dirty mind. Can you forgive me?" he pled with all sincerity and as much charm as he could summon in his voice. 'Before we are discovered by those two...' his urgency was alleviated when he felt his laquered standing eboshi hit him lightly in the chest. "Thank you, I swear I'll prove my integrity to you." he said as he frantically positioned the hat on his head and stuffed his ears up and into the hat, not wanting to run the risk of Murada and Jiro fetching a group of armed villagers to hunt them down. A loud yawn sounded as Shiori sat up in her bed. "Kayumi are you being rude again?"

[Koneko]

The sound of an approaching horse and an all too suddenly familiar voice and name instilled a moment of panic upon Koneko, twitching before impulsively assuming her disguise though with a hint of annoyance. 'N-no way!! These guys again already?! They couldn't wait to show up until we were well out of here??' the feline thought, mostly in complaint of her fairly bedraggled and disjointed appearance. Scooting quickly around to the front to see what she could do about distracting them off, she put on her sharpest look to add that touch of intimidation as she appeared at the front. "Ah, I see our paths cross again," she struggled out, trying to seem relatively polite, though part of her began scathing remembering the trespass about her name, "I regret to inform you the owner of this inn and his kin were killed by a demon recently, you'll find no keeper to tend to the place as of a few days ago."

Holding hope mentioning the youkai having been around might drive them off and spare them the fresh encounter, yet she also suddenly realized she'd just admitted some of the items in this place as being free game for pilfering, as they'd been making use in the meantime themselves. 'Mitsuyoshi paid for the room, but, with that dis...' her thought needed to pause, her mental hang up on the smell of decay still giving a small gag reaction she managed to hold back in front of the merchants, 'the geezer gone, there's no reason for the payment to stay here for these two swindlers to take. I'll find it first before I move onto seeing what's available yet for food.' That was all the resolve she needed to decide she'd stay up front until they were either driven off or move to a room on their own accord. Besides, she wasn't about to play host for them since this place wasn't her own business anyways. Then it became more pressing her look was also still very scruffy, holes in her hadagi with the blood that hadn't come out along with it not having been tucked in and bandages visible through the holes, her hair down rather than tied up as usual... Undoubtedly she was being questioned about her rough appearance and the fact she'd mentioned a youkai nearby.

"There's... little to concern about as far as the demon anymore. My cohort and I took care of the beast already and have just been taking the time to recover from our own vicious encounter. It was quite a fearsome encounter, and I'm afraid we both were fairly worse for wear," Koneko continued to try to emphasize the danger the Jorogumo had presented, while not untrue, she tried to make it seem a bit in excess in hopes Murada might be hit by a bit of cowardice, much like his companion Jiro obviously more consistently was. "It was really quite dangerous, I'd say we were lucky to leave the fight with even wounds this light," she added, dramatically placing a hand over one of the holes in her hadagi and putting on a destitute expression. 'This is really not ideal, I'm doing my best to try to at least pretend to be polite and not slip up on this. Come on run away already,' the hybrid thought, a little bit of her irritation slipping through from the fact she was still stuck there doing her best to talk her way through it without Mitsuyoshi there to take the reigns on lying more smoothly to them.

[Taishou89]

(Insert Totosai's theme)
(^ click)

As Koneko emerged, Murada seemed pleasantly surprised to see her, no doubt because of their last transaction. "Koneko-dono! It is so nice to see you. Where is Mitsuyoshi-dono?" He would be able to surmise the answer to his question in the explanation about how the two had killed a demon here. Glancing over her worn clothing and some exposed bandages, it wasn't hard to tell that it must have been a fierce battle, though the thought that pleased him the most was that there would not be a need to pay for a room anymore and now there might even be more opportunity for them to make money, plus there might be some other valuable goods left behind in the old Inn. As Koneko told of their fight and how fierce and terrifying the demon was, A look of concern crossed his face as he took it in but what would follow next would be the opposite of her intention. "All the more reason to spend the night closer to you both." Murada quickly turned and shouted out to Jiro. "Jiro, Hurry up and unload that cart and see to the horse, there are demons afoot!" Jiro could be heard fumbling with something outside. "Deemons?!" he responded as he shuffled in through the gate quickly carrying an insanely absurd amount of goods and still managing not to stumble over. "Excuse us!" Murada bowed slightly as he gently brushed past Koneko and took off down the hall leading Jiro. "Good morning, Koneko-dono!" Jiro called as he passed.

Briskly walking down the hall, Murada opened the first door he came and found Mitsuyoshi and the two girls sitting there with a dumbfounded look on their faces as he quickly apologized for the interruption before turning to Jiro. "Next room, down the hall!" To which the skinnier man quickly brushed path. "Mitsuyoshi-dono there you are!" He exclaimed with a beaming smile. "It's so good to see you and in better condition than we thought! Koneko-dono told us everything." Before Mitsuyoshi could respond the older man abruptly turned his attention on his partner. "Jiro! You Imbecile, not that room, that's too far! Do you want to be far from our brave demon slayers while demons are out and about?" Jiro could be heard stumbling back down the hall. "Ah, as I was sayin-" Murada was briefly cut off by his companion "Uh boss can you open the door for me?" Murada gave a heavy sigh of annoyance before bowing to the occupants of the room. "Please excuse me." before sliding the door closed and walking over to the next room, his voice could be heard scolding the younger man, before a roaring sound of things crashing over could be heard followed by the two Merchants bickering, mostly with the older fat one admonishing the younger one. Heaving a sigh he turned to look at Kayumi and Shiori. "That is Murada and Jiro... Traveling merchants... Better hide your coin purses ladies..." He warned before laying back down covering his face with his hands in grief.

[Koneko]

Unable to help flinching at Murada's reaction of deciding they would stay anyways, Koneko wore a frazzled look as she was breezed past by the two before her expression went flat. 'Ugh... That Murada is impervious... I better get to finding what we paid and if there's anything else before he undoubtedly gets to it and then get to making something to eat...' Grumbling under her breath while having to keep her disguise, she got to searching around quick for where Kojiwaka had hidden the payments from his customers and finally tucked in her hadagi to help hide it on her person. With that squared away so they had a better leg up over their newly obnoxious company, she went ahead and found what may have been left over and unspoiled for food, proceeding to prepare enough to at least feed the four of them with a little bit of extra.

Returning to the room with the food set out on a tray similar to their first night there, she slid the door open and then closed it behind her before placing the tray down fairly in the center of everyone to make it easier for them to pull from it to eat. Though she wore a slightly forced smile, there was an air of disdain and defeat while she'd entered, undoubtedly because of the new guests that had arrived. "I hope this is fine, it what I could find that was still in usable condition," Koneko said, disparagement soon becoming apparent in her voice as she then mentioned, "Also, sorry I wasn't able to spare us the presence of additional company, I tried to play up the danger, but I'm not the best smooth talker..." With a frustrated sigh, she had little choice but to keep up her appearance for the time being, hoping there would at least be a moment later she could get her bandages off and re-situate herself thanks to the unexpected additional visitors. "I hope at least they have caused too much grief for the rest of you. I guess it's worth putting out there don't have to worry about using the name Keiji for me with them, unfortunately they already know me as 'a man named Koneko.'" Her distaste for the merchants was quite palpable, or rather more specifically Murada seeing as he was pushier and seemingly conniving of the two, not to mention the one she held the main blame towards over the insult to her name.

Getting a serving of food set for Mitsuyoshi so he wouldn't need to get up, she figured it would double as an opportunity to pass to him what she'd picked up as well, taking a seat on her knees next to him and waiting until he sat up to hand off a portion of food. Speaking quietly, she retrieved the pouch she'd found from inside her hadagi and placed it down and slid it over next to him as she mentioned, "I don't trust our esteemed merchants too much, so I thought it would retrieve this before what you paid to the old man could end up in the wrong hands. Plus I doubt they honestly need anything more after our last encounter." With that said, the half breed got back up to get her own serving of food, finally speaking up on Shiori's status of being awake, "I hope we didn't wake you earlier, Shiori, or those two for that matter... Since I'm back in perfect shape I wanted to at least help out more and at least repay the assistance you both put in for our recovery." For a moment she paused to actually bow low and fairly respectfully to the pair of women, "I truly thank you for all both of you have done, let alone being okay with us as we are rather than fearing us. We might not have even been here recovering if it wasn't for Kayumi's to start." Returning to a seated position so she could eat, she wore a warm smile for the time being. "If there's anything you need me to do, please don't hesitate to let me know, even if we should cross paths again."