"Yes, I do all the chores... I cook, I clean, I do the laundry, tend to the vegtables, and rice, feed the animals... remove them from the cycle of life when needed" she replied without hesitation "As I said before Ai sempai is the head of the household and has better things to tend to" she reply moving out of the bath drying herself with a nearby towel, moving to a small closet near the door she began to dress herself in a single layer pale blue kimono with a pure white obi.

Moving out of the bathing room she moved into the side Yuu was in bringing up her arm so the sleeve would cover her eyes, though brought it down hearing the dripping of water on the floor "Yuu, take them off... you'll get ill" she say moving to a similar closet to the one she had taken her clothing from opening it she looked to him "I'm sure everything in here will fit you" she say moving to get a towel for him to dry off. Closing her eyes she whispered "thank you for bringing Yuu to me"

Yuu was startled that he was instructed to take his clothes off. He had never been told to take his clothes off after a bath before. Nonetheless, he started by pulling off his hooded jacket and dropped it onto the floor. Next came the shirt that was under it, "I've never gotten sick from wearing wet clothes before.."

Looked in the closet and brought out some clothing similar to the ones he had arived to minus the hooded jacket and it would be made from silk "If you tell me what you like wearing I can make it" She say closing her eyes she held out the towel in her left hand and the folded clothing in her right hand "I made these" a smile on her she fought back a cough not wanting to worry him "You are lucky, you have a strong immune system" though she blinked hearing the other door opening "Shhh... Ai's home" her eyes showed she was frightened "if we whisper we will be fine" she would say whispered

He picked the towel up and proceeded to dry himself, and then quickly put the new clothes on. He wanted to be able to move swiftly in case Ai would decide to come towards them. He also picked up his old clothes in case he needed to hide with them. "She came back early..she wasn't supposed to come back until morning.." Yuu made a light hissing sound and then became silent.

Toshi nodded "yes, it's unusual that she be back so soon" she say taking his clothing from him "if you want I can return these to the earth" she say gently taking his hand she moved out of the room with him "We are in there anyway, she doesn't dare go in there" she giggled quietly before moving up the hall where they could talk normally

when safe she turned and looked him as something he said came back to her "Why do you think another like you would come here?" she ask placing his clothing down waiting to hear what he'd like done with them

He thought it was unusual that the head of the household would avoid coming to the area they were in. Maybe it was one of those unclean areas, similar to what he had back at his family's place where it was used as a place of punishment for the marked. He shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, "Hiding the clothes would probably be for the best. And...I think whoever or whatever it was that was attacking, was trying to eliminate my tribe. I think I'm included.."

looked at him and smiled "Remember the boy of my story" she say say placinf his clothing into a drying cupboard "Well the washing room you where in was the male's of the house, she doesn't dare go in there as it was for only the males of the household" she say her eyes closing a sigh coming from her lips "Ai goes no where in the house that involves chores, she says it;s not her responcibility" she done a mimicing tone but then covered her mouth "Forgive me... And she couldn't turn you away even if she wanted to... People of this household can not" she say smiling

Listening to his explination she tilted her head "Your race is under attack?" her voice sounded worried "That isn;t good... perhaps they should come here for safty" concern easily heard, she knew they had done bad things to him but still life was reviered, though she worried that one would come to try and take him away from her

Yuu felt that there was something a little off, and she seemed to brush it off with the apology. Though he didn't give off any hints that he suspected her for something as he was very grateful to her for giving him a generous amount of hospitality. He shook his head, "The others were more territorial than I was, so they most likely stayed. But from what I saw, we had lost too many and I assumed it was a pointless effort to fight it..and the best thing would be to run. I'm really thankful for your kindness..but I think I really should keep moving, maybe in the morning is best."

She opened her eyes and looked to him with a smile of sorrow, she took his hand in his "Nothing can hurt you in here" she said placing his hand on the wall allowing centuries of memorys flood him. He's see a small that looked like Toshi when she was younger helping her father place runes on the walls for safty and protection, after a moment she took his hand away "You will be safe here" she said again, her voice showing how lonely she was

Yuu's eyes grew wide in shock and horror and he almost fell to his knees, but he caught himself by shifting one foot forward. He has seen magic before, but never experienced it firsthand. So now he realized that Toshi wasn't quite the normal person she appeared to be. He moved his eyes around the room and back at her. He was happy that he was protected from the culprit, but he wasn't completely happy though, "There is still your sister. The runes don't protect you from her.."

Toshi looked at him going forward to help him steady himself "It was the best way to show you... I'm sorry" she say she really didn't want to say to much, but since his arrival somethings had returned to her "The protections where put there two hundred and eleven years ago" she say almost whispering that one thing

On hearing his concern she smiled "The harmony of the house must be kept" she say with a smile, she knew that while inside the house she couldn't be harmed thus was the reason she was dragged out of it to be punished "I do not fight, and can not stop the fact I am hurt because of this" she would say with a little yawn "When Ai goes to bed then I can rest also, you can stay with me or you can i can show you to a room" she smiled just as contently as she always did

He barely heard it, but he heard just how many years it was placed. He would have been more shocked if she hadn't shown him the origin of the runes. Yuu assumed that Toshi's longevity was due to the fact that she had magic on her side, but it didn't explain why the father wasn't around. He lowered his head slightly, "I would like to remain in a different room, if that is alright?"

Took his hand and smiled "Okay I'll take you to your room" she say with a content smile, sliding the door open she moved across the dining room and slid another room door open she touched a crystal making a light appear within the room.

It was simple, with a window, a futon and a low desk "I hope this is okay... you can personalize it if you want... Ai won't come in here and you can lock if from the inside if you want to feel safer" she say moving back out of the room "Good night... if you need anything just call" she say closing the room door and heading to the kitchen

"Alright, I'll do that if I need something," Yuu quickly moved to the window after Toshi closed the door, trying to see if he could open the thing, and luckily he was able to flip the latch off and push the window open. A cold breeze hit his face as he stuck his head outside and planted his hands against the bottom of the frame. He was determined to figure out which room Ai was in and make sure to assess the room, but that's something that Toshi probably would have prevented him from doing if he tried to search inside the house.

He placed a foot on the frame and propelled himself out through the window, and before he could touch the ground he had his feather-covered arms spread out and flapped several times before he perched himself in a tree. A strange crow with a white crest on its chest, bright purple eyes, and black feathers that looked ragged and almost not suitable for flight. He was able to do this freely during night time, just like the other members of his tribe. Yuu cawed once and flew to one of the other windows of the building, his eyes seemed to adjust naturally to the darkness and everything looked as bright as day. Unfortunately, it was an unoccupied room with just a few pieces of furniture, so he flew back to the tree again to look around and pick out the next window.

toshi nodded to what he said and went to get the preperation for breakfast in the morning unaware what yuu was doing

Yuu would eventually find Ai's room, it wasn't as simple as the rest of the house it was lavishly furnished with jade ornaments, a mirror a bed covered in fine gold and red silks. Ai had just walked in and flumped on her bed mumbling about something

Yuu turned his head, spotting a glimpse of movement from one of the rooms. He ruffled his feathers and flapped over to investigate the room, almost expecting that it would have been Toshi rather than Ai since he thought Ai might have already been settled in bed, but to his delight he found out that it was Ai's room. Of course he couldn't do anything from the outside when the window was shut. However, he at least learned where Ai's room was, so when the right time came he could launch his attack on her. He flew around and straight back into his room, walking around to see if anything around the room had been disturbed while he was out since he didn't want Toshi to try to figure out what he was doing.

Toshi would be stil busy down stairs as she knew Ai was still awake and wasn't permitted to rest until Ai was asleep but she needed rest, it helped her heal but she knew for a fact Ai was in a bad mood just by the way she beat into her

Ai would be un aware of Yuu's presence, Toshi had made a good job in doing so, but then again Ai would have accepted him into the household and just took out the frustration on Toshi if he done anything wrong.

Yuu moving around the room would eventually have touched a panel that slid down revealing a small enlosure within it would be a picture of Toshi, with the man he had seen earlier, a beautiful woman who would have been the mother and a handsome son. The looks happy together, though on further inspection not everything was as it seemed on the surface

Yuu almost cawed out loudly when he triggered something when he was walking through the room and instinctively flew to a higher place to get away from the threat. On top of the desk, he could see that there was a hidden cavity within the room, and shuddered at remembering how one of the youngsters would frequently make use of the hidden passageways within the kitsune's residence to sneak up on him. His family and one other family within the tribe were very close to the foxes, and unfortunately he was also one of their favorite victims since he could be scared so easily.

Nonetheless, as long as the runes were active, he wouldn't have to fear the same thing happening in this place. He hopped down and walked over to it, looking up and down to see that there was a picture inside. His eyes picked up more detail than his human form could at that distance, and he found that Toshi was in the picture as well as three others. Toshi mentioned that she placed the runes up some two hundred years ago, and she also mentioned that the incident with that family happened over two hundred years ago as well. He felt like he was on to something but couldn't quite place his finger on it. Was Toshi a close relative at the time to the family who was lost, or something else? He wondered where the sister was. Maybe she was excluded, or..? A shiver went down his spine. He knew something wasn't quite right. He'd have to ask Toshi about it later.

He shifted back into his human form, and everything seemed to be shrouded in a blanket of shadows. The light was just enough to allow him visibility of most things in the room so he wouldn't accidentally bump into them due to limited vision. Yuu, instead of slipping into the futon, quietly moved his way to the door to listen to any movements outside, awaiting the time to take action.

Toshi blinked hearing her sister yell for her "I'm coming Ai" she said gently, moving out of the kitchen with a glass of ice cold water, though she jamp hearing another thunderclap the glass sliping from her hand in the main room and smashed upon impact with the floor.

Hearing the smash Ai slid open the room with a crash "You incompetant girl!" she snarled, Toshi was already knelt on the floor picking up the glass "I'm sorry, I got scared by the thunder" she say bowing low. Ai wasn't buying any of it, her eyes narrowed "ohh... the little baby is scared of loud noises" her voice showed an extreme condacending tone. Gripping Toshi's hair, toshi let out a sharp welp even more so as she gripped the broken glass in her hand and was dragged out side.

At the Door Toshi would be flung outside, and landed hard on the muddy ground, tears unable to be seen because of the heavy rain "Ai Sempai?" she mummbled. "You can stay there and get over your fear... you will not enter the household until dawn" was the only reply and with that ai closed the door heading back to her room

Toshi sat knelt by the door taking a peice of material out of her obi and placed it around her cut hand, she closed her eyes and started humming to herself every now and then stopping as a thunder clap happened, she was so scared. Right now she was at the whim of the elements and to the creatures and beings around the area, but she just thought on how much she had helped Yuu and it somehow gave her peace

All of the noises he heard outside of the room terrified him. He suddenly felt weak and curled up, wondering if he really had what it took to do what he planned to do. But out of all the stupid things he could have done, he slid the door open during the time the two were outside and left it open. Then he changed into his crow form and quickly flew to Ai's room and right through the open door. He scurried under the low desk to hide himself and waited for Ai to return, Stupid stupid stupid...I'll be punished for this!

It was too soon for him, since he didn't completely figure out the plan of action for the assault, and he shook uncontrollably. Yuu started to gnaw on his wing feathers in hopes of comforting himself during the tense time, and little bits of them fell to the floor. He stopped and huddled further back under the desk, away from the door.

Ai walked back into the room a sigh crossing her lips as she shook her head, closing the door behind her she went to the window to open it, it was overly warm for her "Stupid girl" she say moving to her bed and layed down "Sometimes I wonder why I was cursed with a sister like her" she growled touching a crystal to the right hand side of her the lights went out "She'll learn on way or another" with that all that was heard was gentle breaths as she fell asleep unaware there was another in her room

Yuu twitched, the sudden light change hurt his eyes and he shut them tightly before opening them again. He grew more disgusted with Ai after listening to her say the horrible things about Toshi, even though Toshi put her best into making Ai's life a good one. Rage boiled within as it burned off the fear that he had, and he walked out from underneath the table and glared straight at the bed where Ai was.

His vision became distorted as he shifted to a more humanoid form with his hands and feet still on the ground. He was dressed in all black, with a cloak that hooded his head and covered much of the robe he was wearing. His long tattered wings and ebony tengu mask barely poked out from under the cloak, but his glowing purple eyes could clearly be seen. He could only remember using this form only two times before, since he was only allowed to do it after being told to.

He reached forward, his hands looked like a mix between human fingers with a crow's leg skin on it. The claws gently brushed against the blanket as he peered straight down into the face of his victim. Almost all of his mind was focussed on Ai and satisfying the current bloodlust that he had. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the shoulders and flapped his wings once to shoot them through the window, and then he landed on the ground the same time he moved his hand to his side to draw out his sword.

Ai's eyes went wide as he felt her shoulder getting grabbed "What did I te..." her voice trailed off seeing the person above her, though her visions was blurred by rain hitting her face "Who the fuck are you?!" she demanded

Toshi heard Ai yelling and stoop from where she was she didn't think of anything else at this precise time, even her own safty. Seeing the figure looming over Ai, she froze "Please don't harm her" her voice was shaky she fell to her knees and bowed low "Please I beg of you" her voice filled with pain at the thought of losing Ai even if she was abused.

Ai heard her sister begging like a dog wanting to protect it's owner, it was only right after all, she was the only person that was left and she knew it. her dear sister was afraid of being alone and without a family to care for her, she thought this was enough to save her

With one hand still holding tightly to one shoulder, the chipped blood-covered blade moved slowly to Ai before stopping an inch away from her neck. Toshi's voice rang out to him and he was drawn out from the back of his mind, suddenly becoming aware of what was happening. He saw Toshi begging him to release Ai, but he stood motionless. This was a time he wish he could have been one of the lucky ones of his tribe, to be able to learn of the spells so he could at least place a curse on Ai. He didn't have such abilities though.

"Why do you hurt Toshi when she has been nothing but kind to you?" his deep, hoarse voice boomed out, hiding the fear that he was feeling and also hid his identity from Toshi since he sounded completely different. Just hearing himself speak in that form was a terrible experience for him since his voice was as loud and sounded exactly like his father's.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-----------

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Short story FTW))

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

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

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

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