Kiso Village and the Mysterious priestess from another time

[Koneko]

Kaito's clone had made it to the side of the building where he could stay concealed enough to not be seen while listening and observing. He'd found himself there just in time to overhear Fuzenmaru nearly cut down Mizuko and Lady Fusae's fast excuse, giving himself and Mitsuyoshi some breathing room on having surprise over this sudden foe, then heard him letting the villagers go. 'So he's trying to take over this village? That would for certain explain the way they were so on edge about the fact I'm a kitsune...' Thinking quick as the villagers were slowly starting to disperse, the look of his clone changed to be like that of a simple farmer from the fields and quickly moved himself into the decent-sized group, making sure to bump into a few to cover his scent with the humans around him and intent on getting a little more information about this opponent when he then saw him pull one of the young girls to the side, clearly intent on not just forcing her to marry him, but likely far worse if he was left to have the chance. Gritting his teeth for just a moment, he changed his plan on the fly, intent on rescuing the girl from this situation first, 'The nerve of this bastard! I can't let this girl be left to his sick fantasies like that!'

He expertly put on a much more distraught act, peeling himself from the crowd with a pitiful desperation, dropping to his knees a short distance away from the two-tailed. He began pretending to beg and plead more than convincingly, suspecting at worst he could bait his adversary into letting go of the girl and attempting to retaliate on himself. "M-my Lord... P-please my l-lord..." he played up as if a timid, lowly human trying to timidly get the youkai's favor, "Sh-she's my fiance... I beg of ye p-please s-s-s-spare her..." Allowing his distressed expression to be seen before deepening his bow, trying to come off as lesser than the scum before him. Staying prostrated with his head low to the ground he listened closely to the movements of the kitsune before him, looking for the right chance to catch him off guard. Ever since he'd gotten close to the Kimura's estate he could smell Lady Fuase's blood strongly, confirming what he'd seen from the sky as blood from an injury and, considering he didn't take the priestess lightly himself, he had a feeling there had to be a reason she couldn't fend him off somehow. Now he'd be able to find out just what he was about to be up against.

While his clone went ahead to cause a distraction to save the young woman from having to get too close to this enemy kitsune, he himself as a bird flew a little further off and landed in a tree to observe from a distance away. 'From what my duplicate saw, he's wearing a cuirass and there's no doubt that yari is what he's been using to cut these humans down... But, it looked like Lady Fusae hadn't made even a scratch on him just from the state she was in alone. With how she rallied on us yesterday, there's no question she wouldn't go down that fast normally, even for her age. Once I get this started, I'll be able to see what I need to do to take him down... I won't let him walk away with terrorizing this place or intending to treat the women here like that, and I'm not going to leave it dangerous like this for Konene to come back to!' He resolved within himself to take the disgraceful fox down. 'Now all I need for him to do is try to put one of those grubby feet on my other self and we'll see just how well he dances!'

[Taishou89]

As Mitsuyoshi continued down the path, his vision started to improve greatly. He still couldn't see fine details and things were still cloudy and blurry in appearance as they drew closer but he could clearly make out the shapes of objects, trees, and the path. With this, he was able to increase his pace as he rushed back towards the village. He paused for a moment as he broke through the treeline, squinting to try and see if he could see details a little better to no further avail, but it didn't matter as his sense of smell would guide him where he needed to go. 'Stupid Kaito! That bastard... How could he just abandon me in such a dire situation. I'm not completely helpless I can still fight!' He growled as he saw the shape of the old and worn Torii, before promptly passing under it and proceeded down the steps. Before he even made it half way down the stairs, his foot missed one of the steps, slipping past it's edge, causing him to lose his balance before tumbling down the rest of the stairs until coming to complete stop just fronting of the rear of the new shrine. "Ughhhhh" the hanyou groaned, partially in pain but mostly in frustration.

His thoughts quickly tuned however, when his ears perked up to the the sound of soft sobs coming from a small window at the base of the shrine's structure. Sniffing the air, he could tell it was a human, and by the sound he could tell it was a young girl. Carefully he crawled his way towards the windows on all fours until he was was at the small opening. "Hey there, little one..." he called softly into the small window. Chiyo was startled by the voice of a stranger, but even more startled when she saw the ears of it's owner. "Another demon!" she cried as her sobbing intensified. "No no! It's ok, don't be afraid. I'm one of the good ones! I won't harm you I promise. I'm here to help Lady Fusae." Mitsuyoshi said in a hushed tone, trying not to draw any attention since danger was indeed afoot. As the little girl looked back up at him, she recognized him as one of the youkai that had arrived the previous day, and seen earlier that day when they set out for the old shrine. Noting a change in her breathing and sobs, the hanyou knew that she'd eased slightly. "What happen here? Who did this?"

"F-Fuzenmaru, the great fox demon... He c-came back to take claim the village. H-h-he.. s-slain.." The young girl's sobs began to pickup again as she recalled the trauma of the horrible sight she witnessed. "Shhhh, shhh. It's ok you need not say more. I'll take care of this Fuzenmaru, you just stay hidden for now until it's safe." Mitsuyoshi then made to pull away, until Chiyo called out to him in fear. "Please don't leave me!" she cried as she rushed to the small window. Getting back down and bringing his face closer to her, he could now see the details of her face. Reaching down and carefully wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of his fingers. "You'll be safe here, I'll come back for you, I promise. This Fox demon doesn't smell too strong, I'll make short work of him." He smiled reassuringly as he stepped back and got up. A look of determination crossed his face as he made his way around the structure and towards the village center. By the sounds of things, the villagers seemed to have been released as he saw a large mass of figures in the center where the smell of blood was the strongest. 

The villagers gasped and parted as the hanyou approached and he could make out the origin of the scent of blood laying on the ground as some village men stood up from kneeling next to the bodies. One of them approached "You're Mitsuyoshi-dono right?" The figure inquired. By the sound of his voice and his scent, he could recognize it as Lady Fusae's right hand man, Hachiji. "Yes.... Where is he?" The hanyou asked, implying to the culprit of the slain men. "Fuzenmaru is at the Headman's house, he has claimed Kiso as his own village." Hachiji explained as Mitsuyoshi stepped up and past him slightly. Turning to look over his shoulder at the head militiaman Mitsuyoshi spoke. "Take the villagers to the old shrine in the forest until it's safe to come back. Also there's a young girl underneath Lady Fusae's Shrine, please take her with you." The hanyou instructed as he began to proceed to the Kimura's home as Hachiji bowed "Mitsuyoshi-dono! Beware, his spear and armor are enchanted by a spell. Neither Lady Fusae's arrows or talismans had any effect on him." The village called out to the hanyou as he continued. "Thanks, I'll bear that in mind..." Mitsuyosh continued on his way, leaving Hachiji to begin ushering the rest of the militiamen and the villagers to the old shrine in the woods. "Enchanted spear and armor that can thwart sacred arrows and talismans...Hmm.... Dammit Kaito... Where are you? I can smell you but I don't hear any fighting going on. What the hell are you doing?" Mitsuyoshi cursed softly as he made his way out of the village.

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

"What is this??" Fuzenmaru growled as this lowly villager approached pleading and claiming to be the woman's fiance. Looking down at the lowly figure bowing on the ground, he approached the man slowly, still gripping the young woman in one hand while holding his spear in the other. As he got near, he stopped as his nose caught a whiff of the man's scent and recognized it as one of the Youkai scent off the women earlier. His lips curled into a smirk as he raised the figure up from his bow with his spear so that he could see his face. "Did you really think you could fool me? I am the Great Fuzenmaru! You'll find no greater Kitsune Youkai in these parts than I! I'm so powerful that even lesser Foxes know to when I make my presence known!" The Fox lord bellowed out an evil laugh as he stepped back just a little. "Even if she is your Fiance, She's mine now." Fuzenmaru then thrust the spear right through the chest of Kaito's clone, A brief reaction of pain and shock crossed the clone until it disappeared in a small puff of smoke. "A doppleganger?! Uuuugh!" Fuzenmaru then through the woman to the ground in rage as he growled, realizing he'd been duped. 

(BGM for next)

"So you're the Fox that had the village all riled up when we showed up around here, huh?" A voice came from the gateway to Kimura's estate. Expecting to see the actual owner of the clone himself, he was a bit surprised to see the owner of the other scene that lingered on the other woman. Sniffing the air a few times, before a disgusted look crossed Fuzenmaru's face as he wrinkled his nose and covered it with his free hand. "I thought I smelled the foul stench of a half breed around here, your foul and polluted blood lingers like the stench of death and permeates everything you touch!" The Fox lord spat at him. Mitsuyoshi's expression soured further as his pride was insulted. "... Heh heh heh.. You're quite small as well!" Fuzenmaru chuckled as his words stung the hanyou. Standing at 6'5" Fuzenmaru towered over the 5'6" hanyou.  Eying up the wolf, he noted the armor and weapons and immediately thought of a potential use for the wolf, perhaps an extra hand to run things. "I'm Mitsuyoshi Nagano, Former Samurai of the Nagano Clan and-" Much to his annoyance, Mitsuyoshi's introductory speech was cut off by the Fox lord who wore a bored expression. "... I'll throw you an offer Half breed. Pledge to serve me and do my bidding and you will be spared and maybe you might even better your pitiful existence through serving me."

"Here's my counter offer, Let everyone go and leave this village with your life. If you refuse then your life is forefeit." The hanyou spat sharply as he shifted his footing for combat. 'Damn... With my vision still blurry, I can't use the Wind blades without risking hitting any of the innocents... I'll have to be extra careful about the reach he has with that spear... Where the hell is Kaito? That Coward!' Mitsuyoshi thought as he drew his sword and held it with both hands ready and in front of him. "HA! To think a Puny Half breed could take me on? The Great Fuzenmaru! Fool, I reject your offer. Prepare to die, little man!" With that Fuzenmaru charged forth with his spear. 

Mitsuyoshi could only see the blurry silhouette of the Fox lord coming at him and hear his rapid approach. Having to refrain from using his wind blades, he would have to fight the old fashioned way, but his limited vision would present a challenge as he couldn't see the Fox Lord's spear tip very clearly, which meant trying to thwart and parry it, would be a bit more challenging, not to mention the clear advantage that a spear had over a sword in reach. Fortunately, the hanyou had faced opponents armed with spears, and quite a few of them operating in a unit, he knew just exactly how a typical spearman would charge. This knowledge coupled with the fair assumption that Fuzenmaru was right handed gave Mitsuyoshi some idea how the Fox's assault would go. 

As the blurry figure approached rapidly, Mitsuoshi quickly parried the spear off to his left with his sword as he spun around to slash at the exposed side and back of Fuzenmaru, only to have his sword suddenly bounced off by the barrier that shot forth from Fuzenmaru's armor. "Hiding behind magic? You have no honor at all, you coward!" Mitsuyoshi chided. Just as Fuzenmaru spun around and brought the tip of his spear in a downward slashing movement toward the hanyou. "Silence Half breed! An abomination such as you has no right to judge what is honorable or dishonorable!" Mitsuyoshi managed to thrust his blade upwards and using his left hand against the back of his blade, forced the spear away as he leaped back and to his left before readying himself for another attack.

With his vision still blurry, it would be hard to shift and go on the offensive. Mitsuyoshi knew this and on one hand, had settled to try and wear him down before he could chance a shift to attack the Fox. However, as they continued to exchange strikes and insults, Fuzenmaru was quick to pickup on the Hanyou's Defensive posturing and nature. "Can you only defend? I thought you were some mighty warrior or something, eh Half Breed?" As he launched a series of swift attacks against the hanyou. The fast motions and lightning fast thrusts and swipes, made it extremely hard for Mitsuyoshi to dodge or parry all of them, as Fuzenmaru's spear tip grazed the Hanyou's left cheek and drew blood. Leaping back, Mitsuyoshi's left hand quickly grasped his cheek as he quickly felt the warm blood the seeped from his wound. 'Damn! He isn't tiring at all!' Mitsuyoshi cursed in his mind. 'Kaito Damn him that coward!'


Fuzenmaru chuckled sinisterly as he saw the blood trail down his face. "What's the matter little man? All this talk of Honor and you're still h-" Fuzenmaru's words were cut off as the Hanyou started to rush him. "That's the Spirit!" The fox lord shouted as he spun just as Mitsuyoshi was about to slash downward atop him, swiftly using the butt of his spear to meet the hanyou's blade and then twisted quickly thrust it away from him. The motion breaking Mitsuyoshi's grip on his sword and sending the sword flying off to the hanyou's right and embedding in the post on the veranda. Now disarmed, The Fox lord sent a swift kick to Mitsuyoshi's stomach, meeting the plate of his armor and causing him to stumble back before swinging his spear around and thrusting it's point square into his armor just above the family crest. The strength of the armor held and prevented it's penetration, but the impact point happened to be the rounded surface where the right shoulder strap connected, severing it's connection as it slipped through with ease and into the unarmored part of his shoulder. "Gaaah!" Mitsuyoshi cried out in pain as the spear pierced his shoulder. The blade stuck in him and met with bone, forcing him backwards as the Fox Lord continued to press forward with his momentum. Grasping the spear with his left hand, he desperately tried to pry it out of his shoulder, while still moving backwards, and fighting the searing pain that surged, until finally his back hit the wall of one manor's structures and with a loud sickening pop and crackle sound, the pain nearly tripled as the blade went right through him and into the wall behind him.

Gasping as he tried to pry the spear from him with his left hand, now weakened by the reverberating pain coursing through his body. His right, and dominant, arm unresponsive and seemingly just dangling loosely, but still in place. "Damn you!" The hanyou cursed as he continued to try and fight. "Heh heh heh... If I were you I'd reconsider my attitude, half breed. I may grant you a clean and quick death. Otherwise..." Fuzenmaru then twisted the spear slightly and yanked it out from the wall and Mitsuyoshi's shoulder, causing him to collapse to the ground, falling right onto his injured side. The sudden wave of pain, caused stars to and flashes to come over his vision, and with the sudden pain he couldn't even let out a cry in pain, only a loud audible gasp. "... I rather quite enjoy seeing you suffer. At least a Half breed will last longer than the frail body of a human like that Priestess... Perhaps I shall keep you around for my amusement after all."

[Koneko]

Hearing the words spoken before his clone dispersed, Kaito took in the information to start devising just what he was dealing with. 'So he's sharper than I expected with how pompous he seems to conduct himself, but talk about an ego on this guy... Yeesh! Guess I'll have to show him who's the lesser ki-' As he'd begun to expand his wings back out, he froze and whipped his head over to confirm the voice he was hearing was Mitsuyoshi's having shown up in the few short seconds his clone had been eradicated. "So you're the Fox that had the village all riled up when we showed up around here, huh?" His jaw still slack from a slight bit of stun as he rested his current bird wings, he then began to think to himself, 'Mitsuyoshi?! What is that kid doing and how did he make it here with his eyesight still in poor shape?! Doesn't he realize how dangerous a youkai causing this much panic for a whole human village could be?' He'd concluded there was no doubt with how good the hanyou's nose was he must've smelled Fusae's blood a ways back, and he could gather that enough of his vision must have returned to get him to this point, yet he was certain there was far more to this two-tailed than met the eye. Especially how brazen this kitsune was to be out in the open with no tricks so confidently spoke of some kind of trickery he had up his sleeve against those who'd want to stop him, 'then there's the fact of how nervous he got realizing other youkai were around when he was so confidently talking to Lady Fusae... We have to be his weakness against so boldly positioning himself like this, but it might be more difficult to find out what it is with him running in like that...'

As he listened to the exchange that started between Fuzenmaru and Mitsuyoshi, it caught his eye that the girl that had been tossed to the ground was still cowering there, too frozen in fear to move. 'If Mitsuyoshi's going to start a fight, she's going to be too close to danger, I'll help her get out of here first,' he thought, quietly producing another clone that took the form of a normal-looking fox and had it dash over to her. Capturing the frightened girl's attention, his duplicate stared at her before nosing her to move before taking her sleeve in his maw and tugged gently on it, indicating he wished her to follow. It took a few moments more to draw out her courage to move, hearing her timidly ask, "you want me to follow?" before nodding his head and leading her to where he'd noticed Asami, Yasuko and Mizuko had all taken Fusae off to behind the village headman, of whom he also stopped for a moment to convince to follow, speaking in a hushed voice to the surprise of the girl following him. "Kimura-dono, you should follow too while Mitsuyoshi has him distracted. We'll take care of things out here." The girl was suddenly shocked to hear the fox talking, but understood it likely was whoever the stranger was before that was trying to save her earlier as the headman recognized the voice. "Ah, Kaito-dono, it's relieving to see you and Mitsuyoshi-dono made it back to the village from the shrine," the headman started, but the fox nudged him along before the offending youkai fighting his companion could notice them, "We'll save the small talk for later, you both need to follow me out of here right now." With a nod, Kimura and the girl followed after the fox as fast as they reasonably could after he took the lead to where he could smell Fusae's blood was the strongest.

Continuing on to lead the further in, the fox spoke up once again in a more normal volume of voice to the two humans now that he wouldn't pull dangerous attention to either of them, "I'm taking you both to stay by Lady Fusae, you'll be safer staying away from the outside, the courtyard is too dangerous for humans to be sitting around in... You lass, help those women tend to her. Kimura-dono, inform her what's going on. I'll be keeping an eye out in case things get ugly and need you all to move." The girl agreed to what she was instructed, "okay, I'll help how I can... Th-thank you... for helping me Mr. Kaito..." Kimura himself even added in his gratitude to the conversation, "Yes, Kaito-dono, thank you both for helping us against Fuzenmaru's return." That was all he needed to hear to confirm this kitsune that had shown up was indeed the reason they'd all been on edge about himself to begin with.

His true self back in the tree quickly continued eyeing the encroaching situation like a hawk, observing Fuzenmaru dashing in to strike down the hanyou for him to be, gratefully, parried. Then he got the first hint of his notion of realizing this situation had a trick to it arise with the barrier that pushed Mitsuyoshi's counter-attack off. 'Damn... I knew this couldn't be so simple, it appears weapons won't be penetrating that barrier, so that's why he's so cocky.' Grimacing slightly, he now knew he had to use this unexpected exchange to find the answer, his own presence was better kept quiet to keep a small advantage over their enemy - if Fuzenmaru kept his conceited attention on the wolf and forgot much about his own presence past the clone, it gave him the upper-hand to to pull off a better planned surprise attack. Though even he could tell the time he'd have to do so was short, noting much of his remaining companion's moves were solely defensive and more holding him off. Shifting to a better vantage point in the tree to more clearly see the seemingly one-sided fight, he began scanning their opponent over for any clues to break or disarm the barrier, 'there's no way he doesn't have a weakness, he's only a two tailed so I can't imagine the barrier he's using is purely something he's conjuring if it's only appearing when he's attacked.' Noticing the situation growing more desperate as his samurai companion took a slice to the face, he grew uneasy starting to prepare for even an opening to relieve the hanyou from the imbalanced battle, yet the pause was not long enough to act efficiently as the wolf over-eagerly rushed the opposing kitsune.

It was in that moment when Fuzenmaru span with his spear to parry and disarm Mitsuyoshi that Kaito could pinpoint it from his position in the tree: a talisman affixed to the back of the curiass. 'Wait! That has to be it! Now it'll come down to testing how to snatch or destroy it if weapons won't work...' Yet he was running out of time to think before his hand was forced to action as the wolf was rapidly disarmed, took a swift kick to the gut and then a head-on blow and destructive blow from the spear to him shoulder. 'No! Damn it! he should have stayed where I left him! If he gets any more injured than this under my watch Konene really will make a pelt out of me...' With the likely weakness discovered, he let his reservations of dashing in go, favoring now his ability to plan and test some theories on the fly now that he had his sights on a particular part of the the target. Raising his wings, he began to take to the air once more, hastily sending three clones out of his regular visage to take the heat off of his wounded companion and begin testing the triggers for the barrier.

The one that dashed from his left tossed a couple of shuriken from just inside his loose kimono to pull the malicious kitsune's attention off of Mitsuyoshi for just a moment, while the other two flanked on the right, one darting faster to dive in and grab the hanyou. "I hope you didn't forget about my presence," the clone causing the distraction scoffed out, brandishing two more shuriken in his hand and fanning out his five tails, "why don't we find out who the lesser fox is here, shall we?" As his snark barely ended, the clone that dove in from flanking stayed low to the ground before twisting up and dragging a hand upwards in a sweeping motion to the opposite side of Fuzenmaru, a blue flame dragging up with it to conceal that space just between him, the clone and the samurai, "Fox Fire!" In next to an instant the flame spread wide and covered any vision of that space, allowing the precious few seconds for Kaito's duplicate to scoop the wolf up from his spot on the ground and dragged him out of the line of direct combat, leaping up onto the roof and disappearing to the other side of the building to be out of sight. The other duplicate that had also flanked filled in the gap quickly to pull attention to himself once more, catching a remaining plume of blue flame on a kunai and using it to take a swipe towards the pernicious fox's face to test the barrier further between it's reach and what would set it off.

"Do you know how incredibly stupid of you that was?!" he scolded a bit harshly as he reached the other side of the roof, "With humans still in the immediate line of danger and running in without getting any kind of idea what you're up against - and opposing a fox this audacious no less! You should have been expecting to be tricked by now after yesterday!" Despite his sharp words, he moved Mitsuyoshi with surprising care, leaning him back against the wall as cautiously as he could before taking a look at the wound. "You must have a habit of running right into trouble between this and everything yesterday," Kaito then commented idly from observing how nasty the wound was and considering the fact he'd likely run in on still impaired vision from how defensively he'd been fighting, "I can draw one of the village girls out here with something to at least get this covered over for now, thankfully they're all safe and caring for Lady Fusae, though Fuzenmaru seemed a little on edge when he picked up our scents on them and there must be a reason for that. Now stay here and let me handle Fuzenmaru."

'If I can get that spear away from him, I'll put him on the defense and be able to overwhelm him easier,' he thought as he observed from the sky again, 'I can keep him busy and guessing which one of my doppelgangers is really me, I'll play it up that the one that moved Mitsuyoshi is my real self, then I'll get him to charge that one and it'll give me an expected path to take that yari from him.' After devising his plan on the spot, his two duplicates that had been keeping Fuzenmaru busy backed off a slight bit to irritate him, one even ducking and rolling under a wide sweep of the pole-arm, effortlessly dodging the offensive motion. "You're fast, but that yari seems a little unwieldy when your opponent doesn't have to prepare much with their own weapons," he mocked, making a stab at his superiority complex. The duplicate that had disappeared over the other side of the building was soon making it's way back over, landing on the ground, the glint of light reflecting off Mitsuyoshi's sword embedded in the post drew his attention quick. Looking back over to the two-tailed that was currently distracted, he quickly got the perfect idea to bait him right into his own trap to remove the spear from his opponent's grasp. Dashing over to it, he began attempting to remove the Kazega from the post, making a convincing effort of seeming his intent was to try using it in the fight. Of course he already knew wielding the blade against the barrier was pointless, but why not play into Fuzenmaru's ego for a moment and use it against him. As his effort to pull it continued, one of the other two keeping the two-tailed busy made sure to 'unintentionally' draw the other fox's attention toward himself over by the veranda with another seeping attack of his fox-fire coated kunai. "Heh! You'll never catch me with with that spear, I was careless before, but you won't get me again!" He touted further in confidence, further pushing to bruise his ego and nudge him right in to where he wanted him.

[Taishou89]

"Damn you..." Mitsuyoshi growled through gritted teeth in frustration. Trying to push himself back up to a sitting position and off of his shoulder, he fought desperately to fight the pain and to not let his pain be known, but it was impossible as short whimper like groans escaped him as he single handedly forced his body up with the weight of his armor not helping at all. Under normal circumstances he would have easily pushed himself up, but the excruciating pain combined with his body still trying to heal his vision, seemed to have weakened him. Never the less, Mitsuyoshi defiantly sat up, his eyes glazed from the pain and his stubborn will to not show weakness. "I will have your head..." He hissed as he glared up at the towering figure of Fuzenmaru, his vision still blurry but for once he could actually make out the Fox Lord's facial features and the sadistic grin he wore, almost seeming to relish in the Hanyou's pain.


"Though your blood reeks of the abominable act of your conception, you at least proved to be quite entertaining compared to those pitiful spearmen. Your armor tells me that you're someone of considerable skill and training, but I saw nothing but raw stupidity here. Why is that?" As the Fox lord raised his spear and held it's point just inches from Mitsuyoshi's face. Gazing into the Hanyou's eyes, he could see a slightly clouded layer just barely visible now over his gold irises. "Could it be that you can't see?" Fuzenmaru chuckled. While the two interacted Mitsuyoshi had just caught a brief glimpse of a small blurry 4 legged figure gently escorting the young village girl off and out of sight. 'So he is here... That coward! we could have taken this guy easily if he'd lent a hand.' The hanyou cursed in his mind before turning his attention back to the Fox lord. "I can see just fine!" He rebuked as he back handed the spear away from his face with the greaves on his left arm. Mitsuyoshi still had one last attack up his sleeve, if he could manage to produce another Howl like he did back in the forest, he could perhaps cause the Fox Lord to stumble back or even disorient him enough that he could get to his feet and give a little more, but with how weak his body felt at the moment it was questionable if he could even muster up the strength to suck in enough air to produce that powerful howl. Fuzenmaru bellowed out a loud and sinister laugh. "Though you're a half breed, I like your spirit! If only you would have served me I could have forgiven your half blooded ancestry." The Fox Lord then drew his spear back, preparing to deliver the coup de grace.


"I hope you didn't forget about my presence," A voice called from behind and off to Fuzenmaru's left. "Nani?!?!" The Fox lord turned to find another Kitsune running at him, just as he missed the other two that moved around behind his back in the right moment. "I hope you didn't forget about my presence," Just as one of them swooped in and snatched up Mitsuyoshi with great speed and swiftness, much to Mitsuyoshi's own displeasure as the sudden move agitated his wounds and caused more pain. "Ow! Damn you Kaito! Gentle! Gentle!" The hanyou cursed drawing Fuzenmaru's attention as he swung around again, "why don't we find out who the lesser fox is here, shall we?" just as the 3rd doppleganger of Kaito's swooped in and with a blue flame emerging from his hand, "Fox Fire!" swept upwards and covered the entire backside of Fuzenmaru in it's fire, his barrier completely useless and defenseless against such an attack. The talisman affixed on the back of Fuzenmaru's armor went up instantly and burned quickly to ash and his once visible barrier had disappeared. Just then one of them had managed to get close and swipe at his face with a Kunai bearing some of the blue flame, cutting his left cheek and engulfing the wound with it's flame which ended up consuming his whole head in the flame.  "ARGH! Damn you!" The fox lord snarled As he swung with his spear in a wide circle to Force the clones back and create some distance and reach for him before grasping his face with his left hand in pain, putting the fire out. When he removed his hand, his face had transformed to his true face, that of a Fox with bright orange fur and red eyes. "Which one of you is the real one!? How dare you interfere! I'll show you who's the great Fox here!" He growled as he eyed each one surrounding him whilst holding the spear extended and pointed outwards.

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

"Do you know how incredibly stupid of you that was?!" Kaito scolded the Hanyou harshly as the two came to rest on the roof of Kimura's manor.  "With humans still in the immediate line of danger and running in without getting any kind of idea what you're up against - and opposing a fox this audacious no less! You should have been expecting to be tricked by now after yesterday!" Mitsuyoshi just scowled as the fox continued to scold him, even he had to admit himself that his actions, though brazen and courageous, were foolish. "You must have a habit of running right into trouble between this and everything yesterday,"

"Well I had to do something and I had no idea where you were or what you were doing, You know exactly what he intended to do to that poor girl! I couldn't just stand idle and wait for him to be done with his business ruining her life!" Mitsuyoshi finally retorted sharply. "At least I wasn't hiding like a Coward, wherever you were hiding!" Instinctively he wanted to cross his arms, but the sudden sharp pain reminded him that it wouldn't be possible. "Hiding?! Coward?!" The fox snapped back with a few flips of his tails in clear offense, "I was well aware of what he was intending to do with her since I heard it directly from him! My clone would have already been taking care of him if he hadn't seen through at least part of the trick, but you showed up before I could start my next move! The point is I'm supposed to be out of sight so I keep him guessing while keeping control of the situation!" Near snarling out a sigh to regain his temper. "Well maybe if you didn't leave me behind you could have filled me in on what you were planning to do!" The Hanyou retorted angrily, still sore about being left in the dirt, blind, and having to struggle to find his way back. 

Kaito closed his eyes and reopened them before continuing, "look, I adjusted to the unexpected change and got her and Kimura-dono out of there while you kept him busy. They're both safe for now, but they won't be for long until this guy is dealt with. I've got him distracted, now I just need to break down his advantages." The clone stood up to head back over the other side of the roof to continue his own efforts for the cause of the village, a cocksure tone in his voice by the end of his statements, "we'll discuss getting you used to the way I do things later, I'm bringing some help to you for that arm. I can draw one of the village girls out here with something to at least get this covered over for now, thankfully they're all safe and caring for Lady Fusae, though Fuzenmaru seemed a little on edge when he picked up our scents on them and there must be a reason for that. Now stay here and let me handle Fuzenmaru.This Fuzenmaru is about to find out what a joke he is!" There were no further words before he disappeared over the roof again to head back into the fray.  Mitsuyoshi heaved a sigh as he realized that Kaito was right, it was a waste of valuable time to argue while the enemy was still about and barely even injured.  "Kaito!" Mitsuyoshi called out, getting the double to pause briefly to look at him. "... Ganbatte yo!"(Do your best!). Mitsuyoshi's vision was still improving by the moment, but the little confident smirk Kaito's double shot him was actually quite reassuring. It was now all up to Kaito to save the village.

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

"Stay still and meet your demise with dignity!" Fuzenmaru growled as the doubles ran numbers around him dodging every move he made. They were smaller and faster and as annoying as mosquitos as he constantly swung and thrust every which way, missing them every time. "Pesky Childish Fox Unworthy of being a great lord like myself!" The Fox lord growled. "If it's games you want to play, I have one for you that you surely can't avoid." Fuzenmaru then jabbed the butt of the spear into the ground to stand on it's own leaving it vulnerable and out of his hands just briefly, as he reached into his kimono sleeve, removing a handful of small pebbles before flinging them up into the air. "JIZO BARRAGE!" As the little stones reached their height in the air, they turned downwards and suddenly turned into fairly large Jizo statues that raced down back toward the ground, raining down on the immediate vicinity of Fuzenmaru with loud ground shaking thuds and essentially ending up smashing both of the doubles that Kaito had harassing him. "So you were both fakes..." as he analyzed the surrounding destruction by his Jizo statues. Within moments they all transformed back into pebbles. "Come out and Face me Kitsune to Kitsune!" As his hand slowly reached for his Yari.

[Koneko]

The moment it was observed from the sky above that Fuzenmaru had set the spear down, Kaito knew he couldn't let the opportunity pass to remove it completely from the equation. 'Not what I expected, but I won't complain,' he thought to himself as his bird form began to take a dive for speed, just before transforming back to himself and pulling a small pebble from his own vest, hastily tossing it towards the spear. As it descended that much faster than himself, it grew larger into a boulder before crashing down upon the spear, nearly taking the opposing kitsune's arm with it. Landing on it with surprise and shock in his favor, he immediately bound right off of it and send his knee right into the face of the two tailed before kicking off and leaping back. "I don't think you'll be needing that spear anymore if you want this fight to be kitsune to kitsune," he scoffed cockily, a smug grin held on his face, "besides, calling for a fair fight when you've been using tricks of your own seems a little indignant to me. I bet you make a pretty sore loser."

'I better make sure to take this guy out so there's a village for Konene to come back to... It's bad enough she got taken somewhere before we could do anything about it, without her help this guy might take a little time to squash even after bringing this fight to be more fair... I'd rely on Mitsuyoshi, but that wound is going to keep him down for a little while on top of his eyesight.' Considering the predicament, he began devising more of a plan. Kaito knew shifting his position in the blink of an eye would stay his strong suit here, in fact, shifting his position would likely be the way to get to this Fuzenmaru, seeing as his clones were enough to anger him - that rage would be what he'd exploit to win this by keeping his opponent's judgement clouded and staying one step ahead. "... Ganbatte yo!" The last thing the wolf had said to him before his clone had made it's way back over the roof, strengthening the smirk on his lips, 'Heh, thanks, though, if I'm right, this guy should go down pretty easy! He's counting on me and so is the whole village of Kiso, so I have to make every move count!'

"Well then," Kaito started, his right leg sliding over the ground behind him, preparing to move with speed, "I hope that spear wasn't your only method of fighting, it would be a shame to have overestimated you from the beginning!" Without another word he dashed forward, zig-zagging rather than moving in a direct line and pulling leaves from his open kimono that he tossed a few paces before his intended attack, aiming directly for Fuzenmaru with them before a couple seemed to erupt like smoke bombs and those that didn't formed into shuriken. The assault was another distraction, intended to cause minimal damage and break his focus while the five-tailed himself slid towards the ground and swung his leg around to sweep his opponent's and trip him - a move to see just how well his focus could be kept on himself - though he prepared to for the case of shifting position with the risky move. Evading capture he'd pushed to become his best talent, yet he always kept prepared ways out of it or ways to throw an adversary off to maintain that slippery nature.

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

"Quickly, this way! I put him over here to prevent Fuzenmaru from injuring him any further," the fox-shaped clone insisted as it led a small entourage, consisting of Mizuko and Asami, behind him carrying supplies to bandage up Mitsuyoshi. Pausing just under the spot he'd remembered leaving the hanyou, the clone transformed into his normal look as the women glanced around confused as they couldn't see the person they were being led to find. In a short moment, he gently put an arm around the waist of both of them, then darted out and leapt onto the roof smoothly, though still garnering a couple of squeals out of the women for the sudden motion. "Pardon my grip, but it'll be safer for everyone up here," he said as he set them down and directed them to the injured companion, "hope I wasn't gone for too long, Mitsuyoshi, but these two should be able to help." Kneeling down, this clone seemed to now stay ready, as if paying attention to what was happening on the other side without being over there, the words lady Fusae had spoken a short while before rolling through his mind as he considered what he'd been told. 'This Fuzenmaru definitely has an ego to him from what Lady Fusae was mentioning from his first appearance, really that revealed itself fairly quickly with how he talks to anyone around him as well... She had to use a talisman to weaken him in his last appearance, but I have more than enough fox magic at my disposal as well as speed, I should be more than strong enough to match him in a fight at the very least.'

When the women both had regained their footing from being set down on the roof, they both near audibly gasped to see the deep wound to Mitsuyoshi's shoulder. "Mitsuyoshi-dono! Let me take a look and see what i can do to get this covered right away," Mizuko insisted, moving right away and intending to at least get him patched up without too much more hesitation. It was a little rough to see the hanyou that she had gotten to know a little better just the night before already this badly hurt while defending them, yet part of her knew after how gentle he'd been that he would certainly show up to help them against this threat. Asami seemed frozen in a little bit of shock, much like she had been seeing how similar the injury was to the one Lady Fusae had obtained in front of them, yet worse seeing as his arm hung limp. After a moment she propelled herself forward towards the two and began to help, helping to gently prop up his arm so it would be easier for Mizuko to wrap the bandage around the area. "Kaito-dono... Mitsuyoshi-dono... Will Fuzenmaru be able to be stopped? Both wounds I've seen so far look really bad," she asked a little afraid of the progression of everything. "I'm handling this guy as we speak, Asami, don't fear, I won't let him get close to any of you," Kaito's clone reassured strongly, though with a soft smile to ease the servant girl. While it did ease her, she seemed naively curious to what he meant if he was here with them how he was also dealing with the threat of the other kitsune, resolving to take a peek at least over the top bend of the roof once the hanyou was sufficiently patched up.

[Taishou89]

Recoiling his arm just in time to avoid being taken out by the boulder as it crushed the polearm that had been planted in the earth. "My Spear!" The two tail exclaimed As he growled as his eyes shot over to the figure that had sent the stone. Silently his eyes narrowed and focused on the figure through the cloud of dust that had lingered from the barrage of Jizo statues. As Kaito's image came in to clear view, Fuzenmaru's eyes widened as he took note of the amount of tails the kitsune had, gasping softly as his right foot stepped back in alarm. 'Five tails! It can't be!' the alarm rang in his mind. Excessively Proud as he may be, even he knew that a Kitsune of 500 years or more would undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with. His alarm and fear soon began to fade as a memory flashed in his mind. 

"Fuzenmaru!" An ambient voice had called to him in the darkness at a distance. "Awaken..." the voice echoed. It was much nearer than it had been prior. "Awaken, I say!" the voice was now before him. As the Fox opened his eyes, his vision blurred as his eyes adjusted and found a shadowy cloud looming over him, despite being like a mist of shadows, it stood out in the fire lit earthen room that he found himself. Alarm coming over him as he awoke to find himself unclothed, his fur covered and drenched in viscous substance and the foul stench of death and blood lingering permeating the room. "Ah There you are Fuzenmaru..."

 Quickly his pride had returned and bolstered him and Fuzenmaru recomposed himself. 'What have I to fear?' as he shifted his position, posturing to fight. "5 tail, What is your name? Tell me, so that I might have it written on the plaque where I hang your severed head in my new manor!" as the larger Fox suddenly barreled down on Kaito's position. If there was one thing Fuzenmaru had over Kaito still, was that it was his size and physique was larger than the 5 tailed Kaito. However, Kaito was quicker and much more agile and had managed to dodge the initial charge and ended up leaping to the side opposite of Fuzenmaru. The larger fox turned and growled. "You may be fast, but I'll catch you and when I do, you will regret not simply laying down and accepting your fate!" Fuzenmaru growled as he moved to charge the 5 tail again, but stopped immediately when he found that it was Kaito who was coming at him. "A ha! That's more like it!" but his grin was soon turned to a look of dismay and surprise as Kaito pelted the area around him in smoke bombs and through the clouds of smoke that had enveloped him, a rain of shuriken silently whizzed through the clouds like a barrage of death. Amongst the barrage, a single boshuriken, whizzed straight and center of the barrage.

"Fuzenmaru... You serve me..." the voice's origin came from the shadowy cloud of mist. 'What manner of beast is this?' the fox had thought to himself as he lay in the strange pit. "... and so long as you serve me, you cannot be killed. For it is my spell that has awoken you from death. I am your Lord and it is to I that you owe your debt of your second chance in this world."

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

Mitsuyoshi had watched the battle intently, his vision, still fuzzy and blurred, had recovered enough that he could witness the battle and identify Kaito and Fuzenmaru. Mitsuyoshi was very interested to see how Kaito fought and equally just as livened to see Fuzenmaru be defeated as he watched every move from the rooftop. So focused on the battle and every move they two kitsunes made, he barely even felt any pain as he'd move in excitement. "Mitsuyoshi-dono! Please stay still or your wound will worsen!" Mizuko urged helplessly as she gently tried to hold him still in an attempt to calm the hanyou while Asami tried to close his wound. Just below them, Fusae, though wounded herself, had managed to open the door of the room in the manor that she was being treated, to observe the ongoing battle. As she sat there on the floor, her bloodstained kimono top partial undone revealed a large bandaged area over her left shoulder. A concerned Yasuko suddenly appeared behind her. "Lady Fusae, You should lay down we only just managed to seal your wound." But the Elder priestess waved her comment off. "Tis not the first wound that I've had, likely t'will not be the last either, of that I can assure you young Yasuko." The elder reassured.

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

An eerie an anxious air lingered as all eyes gazed intently on the clouded grounds of the manor, waiting to see what happens next. As the smoke began to slowly fade and disperse, the lone figure of Fuzenmaru was made, still standing in the same spot he had been. As the air cleared further it was revealed that the barrage of Shuriken had found their mark as the Fox's armor barely held in place by a now single strap and bloody marks and torn cloth hung from the form of Fuzenmaru at the heart of his breastplate was a single puncture and it was from there a copious amount of blood drained. His right eye was wide in surprised, while a Shuriken remain lodged in his left one. "This is Impossible..." Fuzenmaru cursed softly, he could feel a familiar feeling begin to overtake his body. '... You cannot be killed...' as he recalled those very words promised to him, yet now as he stood there this familiar feeling he had felt when he had escaped from Kiso prior. It was then when he was laying there in the woods with the spear still embedded in him. It was cold... very cold...  "This can't be... I did... Why??" As his body began to fail him, he collapsed to his knees. 

Shock and disbelief would be the last facial expression he wore before his furry skin began to wither to the bone before disintegrating entirely and scattering to the wind as dust, leaving his skeletal remains to collapse into the pile of his armor and what remained of his clothing. The distinctive skull of the Kitsune, coming to finally rest atop the mouth of the cuirass, the single boshuriken that had flown among the others would disintegrate and disappear before anyone could approach the remains. Some short distance away, a raven sat in a nearby tree, the very tree where Kaito had perched upon as a bird to observe the events earlier. No one would notice it until as it took flight when it broke the silence with it's haunting croak as it headed westerly.

[Koneko]

"I go by Kaito, though I'll have to disappoint you about my head - I rather like keeping it attached to my body!" The five tailed shot back as he moved in, easily weaving around Fuzenmaru's larger size before he continued on to launch his own aggressive rebuttal. With the smoke he'd provided and decent barrage of shuriken finding their mark through the air, the older kitsune was confident his assault would at the very least humble the village's aggressor via subduing him with a large influx of wounds. 'Then I can move in and deliver that final blow this guy deserves,' he thought to himself, expecting a wild swing to come for him through the clouded area. Yet it never came, bringing him his own pause. 'Surely he didn't have a trick to counter me up his sleeve, egotistical as he is, he didn't seem the kind to plan several steps ahead past his enchanted gear...' Moving a few more paces, he soon stopped, staying low to keep some cover, and waited for the area to begin to clear, hearing no movement and staying alert for any signs there was a return trick taking place. As the vision over the area improved, he soon found himself standing back up in some disbelief, noting the two-tailed hadn't moved from his position and in fact had taken pretty substantial damage from his shuriken, noting even one had been lodged in the bewildered fox's left eye.

As his observation of the wounded enemy continued, Kaito soon noted the spot that appeared to be the deciding blow he thought it odd it was a spot he'd seemingly not hit himself. Yet his time to study the inconsistency only lasted moment before the next strange development of his defeat set in as his body began to rapidly deteriorate. 'What?!' the last-standing kitsune thought to himself as he watched the other wither, knowing full well that was not a usual circumstance for the deaths of those like him. 'Could it be he was...? Something doesn't feel right about this...' His thoughts continued as his body relaxed and he took a few paces forward while the bones of Fuzenmaru collapsed into a pile upon the now unoccupied piece of armor, only to pause and gaze off into the distance when he heard the call of the crow that took off from nearby. 'It feels like there was more to this, he was intent on putting up a fight, but how can it be that it seems he was nothing more than a dead man the whole time? Perhaps even for a kitsune he became a vengeful spirit? No, that doesn't seem right...' It was true he'd seen many unusual things over the course of his long life, but he couldn't place what felt wrong about this, what the reason for it could be.

Yet it turned out there wouldn't be enough time to really observe and ponder over the oddity as soon one of the village men could be heard. "Did you you see that?! Look! That Fuzenmaru is dead! He did it!" It wasn't long before a few more of the villagers had popped up, revealing a few had been watching what was going on to share with the others if their strange visitors from the day prior would be victorious in their liberation. Murmurs began to start from them as they shared the same sentiment as the first man to speak up, then a couple ran out to take a closer look for themselves seeing the remaining kitsune standing there without seeming as on alert. Kaito himself felt his attention pull to them and away from his thoughts, a bit of surprise as the humans of this place were trickling in so quickly after their attacker had been defeated. "Fuzenmaru has been defeated! It's really true! The kitsune from yesterday stopped him!" The different sentiments kept pouring out one by one, as the now excited and over-joyed villagers that had stayed nearby to spectate on behalf of the village began to trickle in and surround the fox who was taken aback at the response in that moment.

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

"He's dead," the clone yet on the roof with the others stated in the moments of his real self's observations, though his own words seemed to reflect the tiny bit of uncertain disbelief in his real self, "It's over and Kiso won't have to worry about him coming back this time." It could be seen from the roof the real version of Kaito had taken those few steps forward before the other villagers could be seen moving their way over to him. "So it's really over for good?" Asami asked, as she turned from peering over the side after the first mention of Fuzenmaru's defeat to look at the fox. She'd paused part way through trying to close Mitsuyoshi's wound after already struggling to get that far from his eager moving around to see for herself, though feeling the hanyou move under her other hand reminded her she still hadn't quite finished her work of it and so she quickly reset her attention and tried to continue closing the wound, glancing over now and then as she awaited an answer. "I'm certain," Kaito began, the moments he'd had to observe the rapid decay of their enemy told him all he'd needed in order to know that his end was final lest some other magic brought him back. Though the clone started to sheepishly rub the back of his head as is true self in the court yard was slowly being surrounded by villagers. "Hmmm, I was going to confirm his death with Lady Fusae and Kimura-dono myself, but it looks like I'm getting a little swamped out there... So this duplicate is going to have to do again." He turned and gave a hearty smile worthy of his fox nature to help calm the three on the roof, adding to the confirmation as his posture had clearly relaxed. "Why don't you take a breather and let the girls do their job in the mean time, Mitsuyoshi?" he continued, giving the hanyou a pat on his better shoulder as he got close before quickly shuffling off and hopping down, adding, "I'll be back in a moment to get you down, just take it easy for the time being!" As he darted quickly back to the room, he thought to himself while considering what he'd seen, 'besides, I need to know more about their first encounter. I don't know what it is about it yet, but that way he died doesn't sit right with me...'

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

With the family just finishing up eating dinner, Kiyomi had managed to explain over the course of the meal just what exactly had happened to her for the past couple of days since she had disappeared. "You're really, completely certain it was the shrine itself that did this and not a youkai?" her father pressed again, giving a glance over to their extra guest who had been glancing at her surroundings now and then in clear curiosity of the place. Koneko had been trying to be subtle about the fact she wasn't exactly being present for the meal or the family talking, but it was hard for her to not want to take in the little bits of unusual things she was unused to seeing - the TV in the corner, the light fixture above the table, framed pictures along the walls - there were so many unusual things she'd never seen before here on top of those people called officers earlier and many other things. She wanted to know about all of it, but didn't know where to begin to ask, yet her attention was pulled back again to the fact there was a conversation when she heard Kiyomi speak her name. "I'm sure, really, really sure it was the shrine, Dad! Koneko was pulled here just like I explained what happened to me, though I don't know why she was able to come back with me," the young woman insisted, "She even was looking out for me a little just like I said the villagers did after we met and warned me to stay away from one of her friends!" This caught her father's attention, now concerned hearing there might be reason to worry about someone his daughter had been around, "warned you?! Is he dangerous?" The miko realized she'd maybe not said it the best way, but the tiger decided it was perhaps best she step in to clear the air. "The only thing dangerous about him is his lack of conducting himself in an appropriate manner, otherwise he's about as harmful as a mouse," she sighed out, a gentle note of irritation in her voice talking about the fox again. "I can understand hesitance in trust one such as myself, but all I can do is assure you I only seek to protect humans. As long as Kiyomi is near to me, she will be under my protection," she added, having caught the slight air of distrust having bubbled back up from their initial encounter earlier.

"Minoru, Koneko seems pleasant enough, I'm sure she means well with both of them insisting," Nozomi piped in with a smile, clearly more content there seemed to be people her daughter in the few days she was missing found to not only keep her safe, but seemed to be able to be budding friendships of her own as well. "Oh, that does remind me, I've had a little more burning curiosity from something you said earlier," she continued, her eyes coming to rest on the feline now. The daiyoukai had noticed the two younger siblings' eyes on her the whole time here and there, able to mostly ignore it knowing they were still fascinated and curious like she was about this place, but this sudden turn of attention upon her made her twitch slightly with a nervous notion, as if she could sense she wasn't about to like the question about to be asked. Stuffing the last neglected piece of food on her plate into her mouth to help give a nonchalant appearance, the feline's eyes met over with Nozomi's as she prepared for the question about to be asked. "Earlier you said you were a half tiger youkai, I was wondering what you meant by that?" As it was laid out more bare that was in fact the words she'd let slip earlier, suddenly even Kiyomi's glance shifted to Koneko now that it was pointed out. "Huh? Now that I think about it, you did say that... But yesterday you only said you were a tiger youkai?" Trying to hide the amount she was suddenly fretting from visible view, the feline herself realized she'd unintentionally backed herself into a corner. "E-eeetou... I-I might've misspoke in the heat of the moment..." she insisted, trying to brush it off and move past it, trying to stick to her choice not to let those who didn't need to have the additional knowledge know. "It sounded like you were sure of yourself, whatever you were going to say next when you said it," Hiriko suddenly piped in, Airi nodding with her statement with some zeal as she too seemed eager to know. 'Yare yare... Is this whole family this interested and eager to know as much as they can about me?? I'd almost think there was something was wrong with them having little self preservation if it wasn't for these two priests at least being skeptical of me... I guess I'm not getting out of it this time either...'

There was a small sigh of defeat that came from the feline as she very slightly hung her head, then a deep breath as she relinquished to her fate of answering their curiosities. Taking in one last glance of the eyes all on her in keen interest, her head raised to sit up properly and she closed her eyes again to state the fact. "Since most of you seem to really want to know, I'm... a..." Koneko paused, clearly hesitant and unwilling to want to finish the statement, but she took one more breath and forced the answer out of herself, "I'm a half dragon." There was a short pause, a deafening silence. Her eyes opened at the uncertainty why it was so quiet to be met with looks of awe and the eyes of at least the three daughters seeming to glimmer and sparkle at the revelation, even the two men at the table seemed to look on in surprise to the answer. Ears folding down a little as she now better understood the response to here answer, she tried to prepare herself for a potential onslaught of excited questions finding their way to barrage her. "A dragon?!" It was Airi this time that piped up, seeming for once more eager than the rest to break the silence. "Are you a really soft and fluffy dragon like your tail is?" The look on the feline's face spoke of just how rattled she was to be asked such a thing. "Eh... EEEEEEEEEE??!" The sound had escaped her mouth while she seemed to shrink, almost as if she was afraid of the notion even being indulged in any thought, a few at the table seemed to be considering it. Kiyomi was the one that seemed to bring some comfort by changing the subject of questions asked, "So the scales you have, that's because of being a half dragon then?" Recovering lightly from shrinking back with some willingness to answer that question, she still wore a look as if she'd been caught red-handed. "Yeah, that's really why I have them..." she replied, her tail having on automatic response slid in front of her and her fingers had begun to play with the scales mindlessly. After that question, it wouldn't take long for a few others of varying variety to crop up from the other family members while the thought was fresh and the relevant party present.

Questioning having finally exhausted out, the young miko excused herself and the hybrid from the table on the notion of showing her around the house and finally getting herself a real bath - the kind she was actually used to. "Thank you again for dinner, mom! And thank you for letting Koneko stay, dad!" Kiyomi said cheerfully as she waved herself out of the family room before moving to usher the feline up before pulling her by the hand first towards her room to grab them both a change of clothes for after. By the time the door had swung open, Koneko's eyes were once again curiously glancing at everything they could take in inside of it, still so awed herself by all the strange things the likes of which she'd never seen before, even the furniture was only matched in look by things she'd seen across seas in her time. Standing on her own as she looked around while the miko had moved further in to dig through a drawer for a couple pairs of pajamas, making sure to check and see if some were a little extra baggy to accommodate the difference in size and height between her and her new friend. Finding a pair she thought might work, she moved back over and handed her the other set, "here, for you to wear after we get a bath!" The daiyoukai looked down in confusion at the items being handed to her before slowly raising her hands to take hold and observe them slightly. Yet the time she had to do so became suddenly short as Kiyomi once again pulled her along to guide her to another room before shutting the door, one that seemed to the feline to be split into a couple different small chambers with one tiled and containing odd fixtures. "Wh-what is this room?" she asked in almost nervous curiosity.

[Taishou89]

Silence permeated the air as everyone held their breath waiting for the smoke to clear. As it finally did, the gruesome sight of the aspiring Fox lord was revealed, as shuriken jutted from across his body, including his left eye. The stunned expression on his face revealed that he had not expected this outcome before slowly collapsing to the ground. Mitsuyoshi, his eyesight finally what it normally was, watched intently as the Fox lord collapsed. Mitsuyoshi's excited movements had ceased, making "You did it?" He exclaimed in hushed disbelief as he tried to determine how exactly Kaito could have killed him so easily. "A lucky kill shot perhaps? I can't tell from up here..." He pondered aloud, as Mizuko and Asami also watched in awe. "Did he really kill Fuzenmaru?" Mizuko asked openly.

What followed took everyone by surprise as Fuzenmaru's bodily rapidly aged, decayed, and withered away to bones. "Ehhh?!" the hanyou exclaimed aloud as he observed. Though his experience with Youkai was limited, particularly with more capable youkai in human form, of all the youkai that he did encounter and slay none had ever decayed rapidly and wither away to bones before. 'How could this have happened?' the hanyou pondered silently and somewhat alarmed. The silence of the aftermath was broken by gutteral croaking caw of the raven as it flew off, the sound instantly caught the hanyou's ears and drew his eyes toward it curiously.  

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

"Did you you see that?!" One voice called as another exclaimed "Look! Fuzenmaru is dead! He did it!" soon the villagers began to pour out of their hiding spots and curiously rushed to see the remains at the Headman's manor. The murmurs soon turned to cheers and joy as one man cried. "That Kitsune did it! He saved us all!" As another man cried out "Kaito is a our Savior!" before the crowd soon quickly gathered around Kaito in adoration. One older village man even through out a proposition for him. "Kaito-sama, will you take my daughter as your wife?" as the elder held a very well fed plump and bashful young woman before him who batted her eyes. "She will bear you a lot of strong kids for sure!" another village man remarked as another chuckled. "Maybe he'd prefer a more experienced woman." a voice said as the crowed made way and revealed a short older woman. "My husband recently passed away but he always remarked at my skills and abilities not just at homemaking but also child bearing." As a group of 6 young kids poured in and surrounded her all making a fuss for each of their own as she tried to hush them and keep them in order. A well built middle aged village man bellowed out laughing at all the propositions for the Kitsune. "Don't worry there'll be plenty of time to choose later." As the man gave him a good strong pat on his shoulder "Come! Let's celebrate! Bring out the Sake and rice!" The man called out to the others.

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

"Hmmm, I was going to confirm his death with Lady Fusae and Kimura-dono myself, but it looks like I'm getting a little swamped out there... So this duplicate is going to have to do again." As the fox turned and gave them a hearty smile of typical Kitsune fashion. "Why don't you take a breather and let the girls do their job in the mean time, Mitsuyoshi? I'll be back in a moment to get you down, just take it easy for the time being!" The kitsune said but before Mitsuyoshi could even respond "Wait-" Kaito had already leaped and darted off. Heaving a huge loud sigh. 'He's going to forget about us...' Mitsuyoshi thought to himself as he resided himself to relaxing for the moment while the two girls finished patching him up. 'It seems strange that Fuzenmaru would have been felled so simply by a barrage of Shuriken. A typical human, maybe... But a youkai? there's no way... Unless maybe it was poisoned? Hmmm I'd have to go down there for a closer look, but I can't smell any poison even from here...'

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

Fusae made her way carefully toward the remains of Fuzenmaru as the crowd carted Kaito off to the village center. "Lady Fusae, you should rest." A concerned Yasuko said softly, following behind the elder priestess. "Worry not about me, Young Yasuko... I have handled far worse and still tended the needs of the Village the next day thereafter." The elder reassured as she carefully knelt down to examine Fuzenmaru's remains and his armor. Noting the numerous Shuriken that still remained lodged in some parts of the armor and the one in Fuzenmaru's eye socket. As she carefully used her hand to examine the remains, she discovered the single hole in the breastplate. It was this hole that she surmised was cause for Fuzenmaru's death, but she could find no Shuriken amongst the remains that remotely looked like the type to make such a hole, nor even a Kunai or arrow. 'Intriguing... None of these weapons killed him...' she pondered in her mind as she collected the remaining shuriken. "Yasuko, be ye so kind as to fetch me a box to contain Fuzenmaru's remains and these shuriken." she instructed as the young woman complied. Just as a woosh and impact sound came from behind them.

"Oof!" The hanyou exclaimed as he collapsed to one knee, after leaping down with both women on his back. Miraculously, given his situation, he was able to keep both women from falling off his back or getting injured. "Mitsuyoshi-dono! Are you ok? We could have waited for Kaito-dono." As both women quickly dismounted and started to check his recently bandaged wounds. Fortunately they hadn't reopened, but it was apparent that the Hanyou wasn't at his full strength after the amount of blood he had lost. "I'll be fine... Don't worry, I've had worse...  Believe me." He replied, as he recalled the instances of his encounter with Mistress Chi and the aftermath. After recomposing himself, he made his way over to where his sword was imbedded into a post, promptly retrieving it with ease the moment his hand touched it's hilt activating it's abilities before sheathing it in it's saya. A short distance away, he knelt down and picked up the blade of Fuzenmaru's Yari, still in useable shape and attached to the shaft which was the only part that had been damaged. Admiring the quality of such a craftsmanship after surviving being crushed by one of Kaito's rocks. All that would be needed was a new staff to fix it to and it could be serviceable.

"It's good to see you aren't badly injured, Lady Fusae..." Mitsuyoshi spoke as he approached the elder priestess at the remains of Fuzenmaru. "Thyself is looking spry as well..." the old priestess replied. He would immediately take note of the single hole in the breastplate of his armor and quickly point it out. "That must be the kill blow..." as he pointed at the puncture with the tip of the Yari's blade. "I guess Kaito did manage to take the pompous fox down..." The wolf remarked a bit impressed. "A precise blow to the heart would have killed anyone, even Youkai I'd imagine. Strange way to die though withering away like that - Eh?" He inquired As Fusae had muttered something softly at the tail end of his last comment. "Fuzenmaru was already dead before he stepped foot in this village..." Fusae repeated herself, but this time aloud. "It is the only reason to explain why his flesh rapidly decayed and withered away leaving only bones... Also None of the Shuriken that are present here match that hole in his armor." The sudden revelation caused this ears to perk up. "That is... Intriguing..." Mitsuyoshi murmured as he started to look over the Shuriken that she had collected. 'So It appears there is something more going on here... Though, I wonder what?'

[Koneko]

"Kaito is our Savior!" The fox began to glance around himself as he was soon surrounded by the villagers, noting the pure relief and elation they had at the visible end to the tormentor of their village. "Kaito-sama, will you take my daughter as your wife?" Twitching with his whole body, he turned to see the robust woman and her father, then raising his hands to begin motions as if trying to quell the people and cool them down for a moment. "Err, hold on, wait a momen-" He was cut off from his statement as the man spoke again and the woman batted her eyes, his own expression turning somewhat sheepish from the sudden offers despite keeping a decently composed demeanor. "She will bear you a lot of strong kids for sure!" The youkai's attention turned again to the immediate interjection of an older woman that approached and put in her own bid at him. "Maybe he'd prefer a more experienced woman. My husband recently passed away but he always remarked at my skills and abilities not just at homemaking but also child bearing." Kaito's expression almost turned mortified when he saw the woman's troupe of 6 follow after her, eyes glimmering at the fox they thought of as a hero and a hopeful prospect he'd be around more often even with their mother hushing them. "Really, it's very kind of you both to offer but-" It was useless once more to even attempt tp get words out, as the last man stepped forward and made an offer he could more easily get behind without quite so much pressure for a permanent agreement up front, oddly calming as the man pat his shoulder strongly. "Don't worry, there'll be plenty of time to choose later. Come! Let's celebrate! Bring out the Sake and rice!"

With the entire group of villagers agreeing in pretty close unison to the proposal of a celebration from narrowly avoiding the iron hand of a would-be oppressor, Kaito took in one last observation of their joy and rapidly came to an understanding what this meant to them. 'The one that caused them constant concern in the back of their minds is dead and it looks like my being in the center of it has at least restored some faith for these people in the notion not all kitsune will cause such trouble. It would be better to let them have that rather than bring them a new concern of a greater threat... And a little bit of celebrating doesn't sound too bad if I can maybe get a little taste of alcohol and a sampling of some delights without complete committal...' Shaping up just as speedily, the fox recomposed himself and instead cried out excitedly, "Villagers of Kiso! Let us drink to the death of Fuzenmaru and the end of his threat to your home!" Having helped rile and amp up the gathering of all those present, he felt himself nearly carried away by the joyous crowd, he himself letting go to his more miscreant ways and sank into enjoying the praise and hearty, celebratory energy of the crowd as they shuffled away cheering into the late afternoon.

-----------

"This is the bathroom! I know it's different from what you're used to, but I'm sure you'll like it!" Kiyomi responded to the feline, her tone a mix of excitement and reassurance, "It feels like forever since I last had a normal bath even though it was only two days!" Just how chipper she was managed to melt away any concerns Koneko had of wariness over this strange space as she moved to go prepare the bath. Setting the borrowed clothing down next to where the priestess had placed hers, the tiger now moved and glanced around the tiled part of the room more curiously until she heard the sound of the faucet, her attention pulled towards it quickly to the come to the realization water came from the fixture on command. "What?! You can pull water into this place so easily like this?!" She stated in surprise, soon answered with, "Not only draw water without having to go get it, but it heats up on it's own too, so we won't have to work too hard for a bath either." the youkai was left in stunned silence, while she could move water on command with ease herself, she'd not expected such a thing even more easily accomplished without powers and with the added benefit of heat no less. Smiling up at her awestruck friend, the young woman then went ahead and offered, "I can help wash your hair and back since I can imagine this is your first time taking a bath like this, and that way I can show you some other things we use to wash here that's not available back in the Sengoku period! I help my sisters in the bath all the time so it's nothing new to me to give you a hand."

Koneko was rendered fairly speechless in fascination of this place, there had already been so much to take in from the rest of this house earlier, but even this was beyond what she'd ever have imagined for the era she'd stepped into. Her ears twitching with all the fresh intake, she slowly let a relaxed smile form on her face before finally agreeing. "Alright, I'll help wash yours in return then," she offered in trade calmly before starting to disrobe. "Go ahead and put your clothes over where we left the pajamas I gave you earlier and I'll finish getting this ready for us," Kiyomi replied in return, the cheerful smile having yet to leave her face for even a moment. It wasn't long before the bath was finished being filled and the young woman too got ready to bathe, soon showing her friend to the stool to sit on and showing her the shower head she would be using to prevent from taking her by surprise. The moment the water sprayed out onto her ears and hair, the feline's ears and tail flicked to the uncommon sensation, yet she quickly seemed to nearly melt from the fact it was heated water rinsing over her. "That feels nice..." she remarked in a dreamy tone, clearly now soaking up the moment and letting the concerns on her entire current predicament melt away, "...I wish I could have this all the time..." Turning her head here and there to enjoy the warm water from all angles she could, it was only a few moments more before Kiyomi hung the shower head back up for a moment and grabbed the nearby bottle of her favorite shampoo to use and got ready to lather it into her friend's hair. Once it was opened, the daiyoukai's nose began to wiggle and sniff the lightly humid air, curiously asking, "what is that? It smells really nice, like some kind of fragrant fruit."

"This is shampoo! It'll make your hair not only smell nice, but feel nice too as well as soft," the young woman replied, practically beaming. Giving it a moment's thought, the prospect did sound at least intriguing enough, so Koneko tilted her head up slightly to give the girl better access to her hair, "alright, I'll give it a try." She could feel the liquid-like substance seeping into part of her hair at first before feeling a lather form as the shampoo was worked through her long hair towards the back, the slow melting feeling coming over her again as she almost felt a bit pampered from the help, closing her eyes in relaxation. Once the longest lengths of her hair were sufficiently sudded up, Kiyomi then tracked her way back up towards the top of the youkai's head, trying to work her way around the large ears at the top, yet, despite her best efforts to be respectfully avoidant of touching them, as she worked a lather around the base there were suddenly a few soft sounds beginning to be heard. It was very faint at first, but, as the priestess paused to listen closely, she soon began to realize the sound that was slowly getting a little louder was purring like that of a cat. It took only a few seconds more for the tiger to snap-to from her relaxed state after noting all movement of the young woman had paused, one of her hands shooting to cover her mouth as she shot up from where she'd been sitting, a bright blush hidden as she mumbled through the soft purr and her hand, "I-I-I...!! Y...you...!!" It was clearly taking her a moment to get her bearings straight and to focus on calming back down from sudden embarrassment. "Y-You didn't hear anything, g-got it?!" she asserted despite her voice still being muffled by her hand, soon putting on a demanding show with her next statement, "I'll let you finish the rest of my hair, b-but I don't want to hear a single question about it...! And not a peep to anyone else!!" Having to stifle a laugh with her arm, the priestess nodded her head to agree and beckoned the flustered youkai to take a seat once more. "Why don't I just come around the front and finish your hair from here," she said once she knew she'd be able to hold back even a giggle, moving in front and leaning enough to finish the front portion she hadn't quite gotten to. Wordlessly the feline agreed, though she gazed up at the girl before her once before casting her gaze to the side and closing her eyes as a blush was maintained on her face, the exact reason unclear why, yet it worked in favor for the next step: rinsing.

"Alright, keep your eyes closed and I'll get this all rinsed out, then I can do conditioner and let you wash up while I finish up your hair," Kiyomi said, her upbeat attitude staying intact. Yet the young woman thought to herself as she rinsed the lather from the feline's hair, 'I think I get it now why she didn't want me to touch her ears, I had no idea she could do that, but I guess it must make her embarrassed.' A slight pout had gradually come across Koneko's lips as the shampoo rinsed from her hair, her own thoughts having taken off in her head, 'I can't believe I just let that slip out so carelessly!! And in front of another recently met person too! I'm losing my touch with keeping all these things about myself hidden, I gotta get it together with all these new faces or I'm going to end up letting it slip who I really am and the things I'd like to keep buried in my past...' Soon feeling the water move away again and the young woman start to move the last mentioned substance through her hair, the feline's eyes opened once again. She undeniably still enjoyed what felt like pampering, though she couldn't help still sounding a bit vocally frazzled over her slip up as she spoke up, "so this stuff will make my hair feel different too and not just smell nice?"

"That's right! And the body wash after this will also make the rest of you feel more clean than I'm sure you're used to as well," Kiyomi followed up, this time avoiding the area around the daiyoukai's ears with the conditioner and covering all the hair she could before going ahead and rinsing her hair out again. Shortly after, she grabbed a salux cloth and went ahead to prep it with body wash before moving the now freshly cleaned hair out of the way to scrub her back. It was quickly notable that Koneko had begun sniffing the air again, and even that her sourness had seemed to finally lift. "There's so much nice-smelling and convenient stuff here for bathing, even my most decadent bathing experiences weren't as luxurious as this," she commented shortly after her nose stopped twitching, once again soaking up the help with the new experience of getting clean. "I really missed all of this a lot even though I'd gotten a bath a couple days ago... It just wasn't the same as my normal routine," the priestess commented back, a bit of relief to be back where she belonged coming through her voice again, "though I don't really have anything to scrub your tail, but I guess if you end up staying here long enough we can go pick some fur shampoo up later." The remark took the youkai by surprise, turning her head to look at the woman behind her while she exclaimed, "there's that shampoo stuff for fur too?!" Giggling lightly, the young woman nodded, "mhmm! It's really for pets, but I'm sure it'll be just as nice!" A pout once again came across the tiger's face at the sentiment of it being for pets, even if it did make some sense, "just remember I'm not some pet and I won't complain!"

It wasn't long from there that Kiyomi had finished scrubbing Koneko's back, letting her have the salux cloth to clean the rest of herself while she got started on her own hair. Shortly after they'd swapped places and the feline went ahead, returning the favor of washing Kiyomi's back as she worked on her own hair before rinsing off and getting the first chance to enjoy the hot bath. The look on her face as she got in spoke of just how fast she melted into an almost zen-like state, finding a way to lean in the basin to really relax and sprawl out a bit. "Aaaaaahhhh! This really IS just like having a hot spring whenever you want, the water feels so good!" she exclaimed, soaking in the moment as her new friend continued her own normal hygienic routine. "I'm glad you're enjoying it! Maybe tomorrow I can show you around a little bit too, even if it's just here at the shrine! It might be a little more like when I help visitors, but I'm happy it'll be more casual and actually like what having a friend is like!" The statement caught Koneko's attention, despite the delivery tone being quite excited and cheerful, it wasn't lost on her that there was a reminder this girl had seemed fairly lonely even the night before after they met. 'I do want to go home, I know that dumb fox is probably worried sick about me as if I can't handle myself.... But maybe it's fine I just stay a little longer for her sake and let her enjoy the company. The shrine isn't going anywhere and I can figure out it taking me home later... At least this girl can enjoy getting some happiness with having me around for now. I'm sure Mitsuyoshi, Kaito and Lady Fusae will be fine on their own for a little while, even if they get worried...Kiyomi seems to need this...' Wordlessly she made the decision to push away all other concerns for the time being and let herself really begin to relax in the moment.

It wasn't much longer before they'd swapped places and Koneko began working on at least making sure her tail was de-tangled, and a short while later both were drying off with towels shortly before getting dressed in the pajamas they'd brought into the front half of the bathroom with them. Once dressed, Kiyomi introduced the feline to a hair drier and they took back off for her bedroom to get started on drying their hair and the youkai's tail.

[Taishou89]

"This guy... He didn't even do anything that great, and from what we suspect now, it looks like he didn't even kill Fuzenmaru." The Wolf sighed in annoyance as Kaito was eagerly carried off by the joyous villagers to celebrate, his comments made soft enough to not be heard by the villagers as they departed with the new found savior. "Do I detect a bit of envy from thee?" the priestess asked as she side eyed the young wolf. "Eh?? No, I'm not envious. It's just that he barely did anything except drop a stone on Fuzenmaru's spear, throw some smoke, and threw some shuriken. I'll even bet that he knows that it wasn't his Shuriken that killed Fuzenmaru." Mitsuyoshi retorted matter of factly while avoiding eye contact. "Aye... Though thy age be advanced greater than my own, thou art a prideful young samurai indeed." Fusae gave a light chuckle along as the hanyou's true feelings were betrayed by his body language. Yasuko, Asami, and Mizuko giggled at the comment before Mizuko chimed in. "It's ok Mitsuyoshi-dono, we know you fought valiantly desptie all odds." the young woman consoled. "Wait it's not like that, I'm not feeling Envious of that Fox. I don't need special attention like that, I just think he's full of himself all the time and always basking in it." 

"Worry not Mitsuyoshi, it is best for the villagers to believe that it was indeed Kaito, to show that not all kitsune are malicious with an insatiable lust for power like Fuzenmaru, lest they forget that some Kitsune are the messengers and servants of the Gods. Which is why..." The old priestess turned to the three young women. Who perked up to listen intently as the elder addressed them "... Girls, it is best that we keep this little bit of information about Fuzenmaru's true cause of death a secret from the rest of the village. It is better to let them believe that it was Kaito who slain Fuzenmaru, lest they be filled with anxiety over what other dangers and evil is afoot. You must swear that you will not utter this information elsewhere." Fusae emphasized. Recognizing the seriousness in her tone, all three bowed and swore in unison. 'I cannot be certain at this exact moment, but since the slaughter of the Monks of Hokkokyusei-ji temple, there has been an unsettling feeling in the air across the land and the curious and strange circumstances of Fuzenmaru during this encounter was undoubtedly suspicious..' The weight of Fusae's words of evil being afoot brought about thoughts of his newfound friend and the young priestess. 'I hope Koneko and that young innocent priestess are both alright... either way that young priestess, Kiyomi, She's got Koneko to protect here wherever they are and I have all the confidence in her, hell I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for her. Nevertheless I still do hope they are both alright...'

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

Somewhere in the Mountains outside of Kyoto...


In a dark cavernous dwelling, a raised stone altar and a small shrine sat erect atop a large rock with an old wooden stairway extending to the base of the cavern floor. A pair of old torii stood one at the base of the stairs and one at the top. At an altar before the shrine a ray of light shone from an opening in the cavern that cast upon the altar. A small camp fire set between the altar and the front of the shrine dimly lit the surrounding area along with the beam of light from outside. The silhouette of a man could be seen sitting inside the structure of the old shrine, his dark clothing blended with the shadows in contrast to the pale color of his skin. In the darkness the sound of prayer beads being rubbed together while he chanted lowly and in a monotone voice. The fluttering of wings and a brief shadow was cast over the altar before the Raven's croak announced it's arrival and landed upon the altar. 

"Fuzenmaru was a fool, he lacked finesse and strategy. He was a brute who was better suited to being a soldier rather than a Captain or of higher position, yet if he hadn't been so brazen and hadn't risked exposing us before we were ready, I would have had no problem with him being the Lord of that small and inconsequential village." A masculine voice spoke upon the Raven's landing and came from the figure in the shrine, his back still facing the altar. In a cloud of shadowy mist, a woman standing at approximately 5'2" and wearing a dark blue fine silk kimono with patterns of white flows on a branch, with blood red flowers scattering as if from the wind and from the very same branch, over her shoulders she wore a mantle of large jet black feathers, which parted at the front. Her Kimono was worn loosened at the top and around her neck to better show her fair and skin and feminine features. With her talon like black nails she brushed a strand of hair back behind her left ear. Over her lips she wore black lipstick and eye liner which extended just a little from the edges of her bright emerald eyes. "But my Lord are we not in need of soldiers?"


"Fuzenmaru was useful fool, but none the less expendable. That old Priestess is far too keen, from the moment he had struck, I could tell that she was beginning to connect the dots with the Hokkyokusei-ji temple. It would have been no problem if he had killed her before that Hanyou and that other Kitsune got involved, I could have let whatever fate befall him as those two would have likely not thought to question his actions, but that old Priestess... Even now, as you departed that village, she'd become more suspicious." The shadowy man responded without giving a direct answer to her question. "Are you afraid of one priestess and two youkai, one of whom isn't even a full youkai? What are they to us?"


Almost in swift response the man's figure turned into a shadowy mist and blew flowed outside and stopped just in front of the woman as the man's figure formed from the mist. He stood a good foot in height over her and even more so with his Tate eboshi hat which made him look even more taller. His hair was jet black, with only a group of red hairs forming a streak on his head with a strand from his bangs hanging over his face. His skin was pale, almost ghostly, his face was narrow and angular, almost fox like and his eyes were of an amber color and shone brightly in the lighting. He dressed in attire commonly adorned by nobles of the Imperial court, but wore the Colors Black, Purple, and crimson. The woman recoiled slightly at the sudden and swift movements before recomposing herself and bowing her head and averting her eyes in deference but fear that she had touched a nerve and fear that she too was expendable. "Yami..." He began. "... It is not fear that drove me to end Fuzenmaru's service but simply that his usefulness had run it's course and loose threads are better severed early before they can unravel the entire garb... powerful as I may be, there are others who pose a serious threat still and it is better that they are not made aware of my existence until I have the upper hand." as he lightly caressed the side of her face, running his finger down and under her chin before raising it so that now she was now making eye contact with him.


There was a momentary pause as his eyes seemed to glow as he gazed into her own eyes. a small and transparent shadowy mist almost serpent like, traveled from her and across his finger and into his enclosed palm which he then opened as he withdrew his hand to show her. In his palm the transparent shadow formed into a mist like sphere before he raised it in front of himself and proceeded to inhale the mist in it's entirety. Yami would suddenly feel as if a weight had been lifted from her chest. "Your loyalty and your service have proven quite indispensable, continue serve me faithfully and without fail and you have nothing to fear going further." Reassuring her as he stepped back. "We have much to do, Yami. Tonight is the night of new moon, go to the Capital and bring me the Yata no Kagami, for I have other uses for you than to be scouting and watching over potential vassals all the time."


"Yes, My lord..." the raven youkai bowed as her lord stepped backwards and back into the shadows and then the darkness of the old shrine. His form melting into the shadows leaving just his pale skin and amber eyes being all that was visible..

[Koneko]

With hair and fur all dried off for Koneko, Kiyomi encouraged the feline to sit on her bed to get acquainted with it before she would start her own long process of drying her own hair. As the youkai stood, she habitually moved her hand through some of her hair, giving her pause as she glanced to what she could stare at of her freshly dried locks. "I-it feels softer!" the youkai exclaimed in wonder as she could now notice the difference with her hair dried, "It feels almost as smooth as silk!" The priestess held the drier down for a moment to stifle a slight giggle and and reply with a smile, "I told you it would feel soft and nice, I'm glad to see you approve."

"I'm rather stunned there's so many unusual things like this here, and useful things too... I'm not fond of the loud sound of that thing in your hand either but I have to admit it's impressive how quickly it can dry my hair and fur off," Koneko admitted, pointing at the hair drier before at least picking up her clothing and neatly folding it and set to the side for her to put back on later, by the next morning she assumed, before laying her katana over top. "There's so much more I hope I can show you tomorrow, and some things maybe I've always wanted to do depending on what we have time for!" There was a pleasant note of excitement still in her voice as she thought of even just simple things like stopping off to get crepes as a treat with a friend or even go window shopping by more than just herself. In the following moments the feline moved to the bed finally and turned to sit down on it, only to get another surprise of just how comfortable even something to sleep on was here. "Th-this is what you sleep on usually?! It's so springy and plush it's incredible!" The youkai was baffled that there was bedding available that was even as luxurious as this, her more animal-esque instincts kicking in as she shuffled further on to sit with her legs crossed, trying to study the cushioned surface she now sat on with hands and eyes. With another giggle, the priestess was beaming from the amazement of this new friend. "Go ahead and get comfortable, it'll take me a little while to get through drying my hair even with this hair drier," she encouraged with a jovial tone in her voice. Without much need for the encouragement, the tiger slid her wrists across the bed, stretching with a very cat-like posture as even her tail seemed to stretch before laying out on the cozy sheets.

A final smile came from the human across the room as she turned and went back to working on her hair, near humming from how much nicer it was to share a little time with someone else, someone that didn't think of her as being strange or different: at least not in the same way as people did here in her time. Koneko herself snuggled her face right into one of the pillows on the bed, relaxing as she stay stretched out as a small thought passed through her mind, 'Yuu-chan... I wish I could show you such a comfortable place like this... You never thought anything bad or complained about how our conditions were always traveling, but I wish I could give you something so cozy like this as you deserved for all you gave me... I hope... I find you... soon and I can... show you this...' A few minutes passed by and Kiyomi looked back over to see how the daiyoukai was getting along only to notice she'd already fallen asleep on the bed nearly as fast as she'd laid down. With a comforted smile, she could only imagine the reasons the tiger had fallen asleep so quickly, but none the less was relieved her bed seemed to get a seal of approval on comfort. 'I hope everyone else is okay with her here with me, I remember they'd been talking on moving on to another village back in that time, but it seems me being involved ended up getting in the way of that in the end. I'm happy she ended up coming with me, but I hope it didn't cause more trouble for everyone else and they're doing okay too for how nice they all were to me. Maybe somehow I can get a chance to say goodbye to them still when Koneko does have to actually go home... If only there was a way to have them be my friends for longer than just a few days...' It would be a little longer yet for her to finish her hair, but she decided this time she wouldn't dwell on the ending and partings, but enjoy and soak up the moments she would be getting to enjoy now for as long as she could, just something she could hold onto from here on out where she didn't feel so out of place. 'Just for a little longer,' she thought as she soon laid down in the space on her bed next to the feline and began to drift off herself.

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Daylight poured past some of the curtain that had been left open in Kiyomi's room as the feline slowly opened her eyes to take it in. With a gentle groan she glanced around from her curled-up position on the bed, then closed her eyes and snuggled her face into the the cozy sheets with her tail tucked close to the upper half of her. 'Morning already... but this bed is comfy... I don't think it'll be a problem if I stay right here a little longer. I'm sure Kiyomi doesn't-' Then realization suddenly hit her as her eyes snapped back open and she lifted herself slightly to glance around her vicinity as the young priestess was missing from the room. "Kiyom-!" the tiger began to call out when her left ear swiveled to the sound of the door, her gaze soon following behind to see the young woman just walking in dressed in more casual wear rather than the miko garb that had felt a bit more like the norm. "Oh! Koneko you're awake!" She exclaimed with that beaming smile on her face like she'd worn last night, "You must have been really tired, you were asleep so fast and even out cold when I woke up this morning. I thought maybe it would be best to just let you sleep since I thought maybe you don't get to sleep a lot in the time you're from." Attempting to hide a sheepish look that tried to overtake her face, the tiger sat in a way very reminiscent of a cat sitting on it's haunches complete with her tail curled around in front of her, soon at least beating the expression that tried to overtake her as she let out a relieved sigh. "I almost was worried something happened to you when I realized you weren't anywhere nearby, though maybe that would have been an over-reactive thought with this being your family's house..." Her gaze turned to the other side as she slightly admitted alongside that notion, "Though I'm not used to waking up for there to being no chance of threats in the morning either... But this bed is really something else too, I've never slept on something this enticing before..."

Her left ear flicked again as she caught the sound that seemed to be a stifled laugh, turning her gaze back to the odd priestess with a curious glance. With a hand over her mouth, Kiyomi seemed to be trying hard not to let a lighthearted laugh escape her, realizing the youkai's eyes were back on her soon after. "O-oh... I'm sorry, I really don't mean to laugh but it's just so... so silly you say morning because it's a little bit into the afternoon. I was actually just coming back this way to see if you were doing okay or maybe see if you were willing to be woken up because you seemed so tired." With the fact slowly dropped out there, Koneko's eyes slowly went wide with a slightly slacked jaw and a bright red blush overtook her cheeks and nose as embarrassment began to take hold. "I... I was... for... it's..."

"You were sleeping so peacefully I didn't want to disrupt you, my mom saved a little something for you to eat when you woke up and she said her and dad would take care of the temple grounds today so I could make sure you were alright and have some time to spend with you after you woke up." Kiyomi had explained further as she came to sit on the bed next to Koneko, trying to still politely hide that she thought it was now even funnier the tiger seemed to be in a bit of dread she'd slept so hard. Suddenly the feline slid into a more proper form and bowed low in apology to the young woman, managing to state, "Please accept my apology for sleeping like that on you, it's very unbecoming of me to promise to keep an eye on you and then leave you to fend for yourself like that. Forgive me for my-" Her apology paused as the priestess could no longer hold back the laugh she'd been staving off, the lighthearted tone showing through everything. "Oh, no, Koneko it was okay that you did!" She managed to say as she calmed down, now with the youkai's attention fully on her, "at worst we just have a little less of today to spend together, but there's still more than enough to do! We can even go walk my sisters home from school in a little while." With everything seeming to be alright, the feline sat back up, then looked over to her clothing, "Well, I guess I should change back into my clothes since it sounds like we're going out." Her speaking up now became a way to brush off her embarrassment and bury it if it wasn't as much of an issue as the human said. Yet as she brought up the subject of clothing Kiyomi seemed to think for a moment, quickly piping up before Koneko could shuffle off of the bed, "Hold on, while it's not exactly out of the ordinary to wear more traditional clothing here, I think you'll blend in better if I find something that might fit you out of the clothing I have!"

The feline looked over at the woman, then glanced over the clothing she wore, an uncertain feeling over taking her on what to think of dressing in public in a style so foreign to her. It had been one thing to borrow what she'd slept in, but she'd no clue what she could possibly be given to wear, yet if it made it easier for them to get around without as much attention... "A-alright," Koneko agreed slowly, sounding resolved despite the slight hesitation. A reassuring smile was shot to her from Kiyomi before the human got up and began to quickly glance through some of her clothing, looking for something that would accommodate the difference in their body types and height reasonably well but also look decently put together. A few moments went by before she moved back to the bed and laid out a couple of the items, making a few determinations as her gaze shifted between the daiyoukai and the clothing. "These ones I think will work the best, I'd ask if you want to wear shorts or pants, but... I don't know if we can work around them fitting around your tail on such short notice, so I think this medium length skirt will do to fit around that! This top also is made to be a little baggy and is a little longer so it should fit you no problem! If you'd prefer something over top of it I can see what else I have!" The more this went on, the more delighted the priestess seemed with determining an outfit for the feline to wear while it gave the tiger herself a growing uncertainty as if this could prove a bit worrisome for her own state of being. "Go ahead, try these ones on," Kiyomi insisted as she handed the clothing over to the youkai, "if you're here long enough, we can find you some clothing you might like more and some other things that might make you feel better wearing modern outfits like this, but these should do the trick for now and shouldn't feel too bad!" With the insistence, Koneko finally let our a sigh and accepted the items, taking a breath to resolve getting dressed into them over her normal wear.

It was only a few moments and a little bit of readjusting as she figured out how to wear the odd garments before she'd finished dressing, Kiyomi helping after she finished to make sure it all fit and was worn right. "Perfect!" She exclaimed as she determined the feline was now sufficiently dressed and would blend in right, "...well almost, but I'll tell you when to look human when we go outside." She seemed all the more chipper as Koneko looked herself over, a slightly grousing look present in her expression. The difference in the clothing was new and, while she didn't exactly mind, the look and feel of it all would take some getting used to. 'Whatever there is to see here to go through this much effort to blend in better be worth it,' the daiyoukai thought to herself, though even her thoughts interrupted suddenly as her stomach growled loudly. "Oh... Well I did mention my mom set some food aside for you, let's go and you can have something to eat quick before we go outside!" As the tiger was about to pitch in a reply she felt the priestess grab her wrist and gently yet excitedly pull her along down to the kitchen, soon being asked to sit at the table while the food was heated back up a little for her to eat.

[Taishou89]

On the Morning of the third day from the battle with Fuzenmaru...



Mitsuyoshi stirred from his sleep to find himself laying on the ground along the wall of Fusae's home as the sun peaked through the window and it's curtain. Since the attack and subsequent defeat of Fuzenmaru, he had an unsettling feeling about the entire affair and had been on edge. Despite his own injuries, for the past two nights he had taken it upon himself to take a guarded stance. Like days of old, when pulling guard duty in the castle, he had sat with his back against the wall, only allowing himself to slip into a sleep light enough to remain alert and respond to the slightest sound, but still able to get some rest. However, waking to find himself laying on floor and covered with a blanket, signed that he had passed out into a deep sleep and someone had graciously covered him with a blanket. 

"Thou can't be on guard continuously, even if thou art a half youkai, Mitsuyoshi." The voice of the older priestess spoke as she sat at the edge of the Genkan attempting to fix her sandals with little success due to her own injuries and her right arm being in a sling. The hanyou gave a toothy but fairly silent yawn as he stretched his arms out. His Juban, though washed, was stained in blood and still torn from Fuzenmaru's spear. Kayumi and Shiori had since returned from their journey the day prior, albeit a later than expected, and Shiori graciously offered to fix his kimono top for him, but for the time being he had to do without it. His armor rested against the wall near where he had fallen asleep. Mitsuyoshi stepped off from the Genkan and knelt before Fusae to help her get her sandals on. "Shouldn't you be resting, Lady Fusae? Your injuries have yet to heal..." He said to her. His own injuries had fully healed thanks to his hanyou abilities, but Fusae was still an elderly human woman.


"Mitsuyoshi, There is still much to do in the village and I am not completely unable to do anything, but I thank thee for thy assistance." The Old priestess said as she stood with a groan. "Can I at least help you with whatever it is you have to get done?" He said as the old woman made her way to the entrance. "I appreciate thy offer, but If I sit still my body will only decay, I must keep active. Oh, thy breakfast is sitting next to the Irori and Shiori had stopped by to say that she hopes to get your kimono stitched some time today but that she has been quite busy. Anyway, I shall return later." 


Mitsuyoshi had taken to staying with Fusae, instead of at the house gifted to Kaito and the group for dealing with Fuzenmaru, but felt that the constant late night celebrations were a bit too noisy for him to really rest and were more distracting to him who had been trying to remain on guard. 'Mitsuyoshi! lighten up and live a little!' the intoxicated Fox's voice rang as a recent memory played in his mind of the first night. Though, what weighed on his mind more in the present was the still yet unknown status and whereabouts of Koneko and the young Priestess Kiyomi. After quickly chowing down on the breakfast that Fusae had left him and after tying his sandals on, he fixed his swords into his Obi and set off for the old shrine to take another look for any clues.


Stopping at the little home that the Village had gifted to them, Mitsuyoshi was not surprised to find Kaito still snoring away with two human girls and several empty jugs of sake scattered about. "You party animal..." He sighed as he removed his sheathed kazega and nudged the fox with it. "Oi, wake up Kaito!" he called as nudged him before poking him in the ribcage with it. Finally getting a response from the fox. "Mmmn.. We can have another go in a minute." as he then started to nuzzle into the neck of one of the girls in his bed, before resuming his snoring. "Ee...to...." A look of biwilderment on the hanyou's face as he stepped back, inserting his sword back into his obi. "This guy... I just..." He then heaved a sigh before taking his leave from the residence Muttering under his breath "Useless...."


Making his way out of the village and down the path to the old shrine, Thoughts and wonder filled his mind of the whereabouts and well being of his companions. "That was very strange... I've never heard of anybody just disappearing into thin air like that... Were they taken to the heavenly realm?... Or were they..." His mind drifted to the notion of them traveling to the other realm that was a little less positive. "..No... I should hope not, I mean either way I'm pretty sure Koneko can candle whatever dangers they come across but still...." He sighed before settling on the more hopeful thought. "Wherever they are I just hope they're alright and come back soon. I don't know if I could handle Kaito's lifestyle on my own for very long..."


Finally he found himself at the Torii fronting the shrine's boundaries and paused for a moment to take in the sight before him again. The old and poorly kept shrine, moss beginning to grow on the stone pathway as well as some of the sides of the shrine itself, amidst an otherwise serene forest backdrop. He couldn't see anything different from when they had first come here before, everything looked as it had been before. Though he couldn't explain the strange happening a few days ago that resulted in the disappearance of Koneko or Kiyomi, there was only one other thing he could think to do. Bowing once at the torii, Mitsuyoshi then crossed under it before approaching the shrine itself and taking another good look at it. Standing before the old shrine he bowed deeply before removing a coin from his sleeve and placing it at a small offering plate fronting the doors of the shrine. Stepping back, he bowed deeply twice before clapping his hands twice.

"Spirit of the stone from the heavens, I know not of your feelings or of your origins, but I humbly ask, nay... I beseech you to safely return my friends from wherever it is you have taken them to. I will do all that I can to honor you."