✧█ ＳＴＡＲＬＩＧＨＴ ｆｕｒｕｂａ acc. 1

[Gaymer Glitch]

xxx Hotaru Miyamoto :: The Cursed Cat
▋ :: ▋ :: ▋ :: ▋ :: ▋ :: ▋ ❣ ▋ :: ▋ :: ▋ :: ▋ :: ▋ :: ▋
xxx Like a picture with a cracked frame.
xxxxxxx Fragile, but never tame.

❥ xxx

... .•:´¨•☆ •.¸¸.•´´¯`•´❤
She didn't know if Kouyou wanted anything more than the towels he was currently using. She couldn't tell if it was a very bad cut, nor was she a doctor so she really shouldn't have an opinion about it, but there was a lot of blood. She was just about to ask if he would like her to run and get some, when he opened up and spoke to her first. Of course he wouldn't want any help, and telling her not to tell Cheiko was something he really didn't have to do. Hotaru wouldn't openly talk to that woman unless she absolutely needed to. "You're secret is safe with me." she said, nodding her head in agreement. Though she really didn't understand the lecture part, but she kept quiet on that part. She was finding his babbling to be a bit cute, as he was usually rough and loud and was currently at a loss for words. He seemed to do that a lot around her, and she often wondered why. She was brought away from that line of thought, when he mentioned something about pop tarts. "Um, I just finished them off." she said, looking down at the saucer she had laid down on the floor after she had been startled. The crumbs just stared back at her. She didn't mention the fact that it had been the only thing she had eaten since sometime yesterday afternoon. It wasn't important, and he had only asked about the food. Their small, and awkward, conversation ended abruptly when the girl from before rushed to hold a towel to the tigers bleeding foot, before she stood and turned to her and Hotaru took a moment to look her over again as she introduced herself.


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❥ xxx The girl was...intriguing. Then again Hotaru didn't get the chance to meet any new people, so of course she was going to be interested in this one. Cocking her head to the side the cat listened as the girl introduced herself as Tamiko Amasawa, while adding an honorific to her name in return. it threw her off a bit, as she wasn't used to that. Most of her family called her much harsher things, and the rest didn't bother with it because they were just family. It was nice, and Hotaru decided that she didn't mind the girl being there. Though Tamiko seemed to be under the impression that it was a bother, well if you counted the time, and looked like she was ready to run for the hills. Now Hotaru couldn't have that, not when she wouldn't have another chance like this for no one knows how long. "Ah, no it's quite alright." she started, reaching out to absentmindedly play with one of the long strands of hair that hadn't manage to flip behind her shoulders. "There's quite a few people up and about, so I don't think they mind very much." she finished off, nodding her head. Well if you didn't count the lady that had slammed the door in her face. "Besides, you were here for Ai and it should be between the two of you." After all, they should be given some sort of freedom. That little line just sort of slipped out, right before Tamiko started to second guess herself and mentioning how sick Ai had looked. Then she was heading for the door.

... .•:´¨•☆ •.¸¸.•´´¯`•´❤



✖ xxx ✖ xxx ✖


❥ xxx Hotaru was about to reach out and touch her, not really sure what she was going to do but not wanting her to leave so suddenly, when all the hairs on the back of her neck bristled. She had caught sight of Chiasa, the rat, and suddenly she didn't want to move anymore. Biting her lip she let her arm drop down to her side, clenching her hands into fists and feeling the bite of her nails as the other woman stopped to speak to them for a moment. Hearing that Ai had collapsed didn't surprise the cat, it was only natural after playing out in the rain like that. The distress of her cousin should have earned mor concern, but it sort of just buzzed around in the back of her head as she caught Chiasa's eyes and held her gaze for a few seconds. Then the rat snapped her gaze away and continued on out the door. Hotaru felt a slight pang in her chest as she watched her go, but she didn;t go after her. There wouldn't be any point, as Chiasa had made it a poit to avoid her a long time ago. It wasn't until a few more seconds later that she felt herself relax. She hated how strange things had gotten, and how tense she would get around the rat anymore. At one point they had been friends, but now it was hard to be in the same room as her.

... .•:´¨•☆ •.¸¸.•´´¯`•´❤



✖ xxx ✖ xxx ✖


❥ xxx “I was going to say, “ brought her attention back to the other two that she had been talking to, and for the first time realized that she might lose her first contact with an outsider in a very long time. The tiger was doing his best to talk her into staying, offering her breakfast as he kidnapped her groceries or so it seemed to Hotaru. In the end he offered to let her wait in the kitchen until Ai woke up, and the cat was unsure if she should be included in this. Especially with the glance that he had given her, sometimes it meant that she needed to but out and just go away. But she wasn't about to let the girl go on her own, not if she could help it. "I'm sure Ai will be fine once the good doctor takes a look at her." she said, trying to placate the girl with her worries over her friend. "She'll probably be up and about in no time, so please stay. After all you haven't asked her your question yet, right?" she said with a smile, looking between Tamiko and Kouyou as the tiger also offered to go and offer help. "Or we could do that." she said, nodding in agreement. Though she wasn't sure what Cheiko would think about that one. Probably nothing at all, as she had already invited her into the house and what not. At that moment, as if on cue, said doctor came marching in from the family room with an Unconscious Ai in her arms to reassure everything that Kouyou and Hotaru had just said, though she seemed to do it much better. Keeping to herself Hotaru said nothing, as the dragon ignored her to offer pancakes to the other two and whispering encouragement into the tigers ears. All of which Hotaru couldn't help but hear, as she had an acute sense of hearing. Shaking her head she watched as the dragon carried off the rabbit, and the three were left alone again.

... .•:´¨•☆ •.¸¸.•´´¯`•´❤


❥ xxx That didn't last for long though, as Hotaru had realized long ago that there was always some cousin or another that was around. This time it was Casimir who was coming in through the front door, and really shouldn't they have moved away by now? And if it hadn't been for his quick thinking and reflexes then they would have had a problem on their hands. As it was, he managed to step back before any collisions could happen, and soon was addressing Tamiko. Hotaru wrinkled her nose at his accent, sometimes having trouble understanding what the other was saying, thankfully it wasn't that bad though. She had to agree with him, when he said that his cousins were a bit over whelming. If she were the one just meeting them for the first time she would probably have run. Heck, she'd like to do that now, but that was not an option at the moment. Sighing quietly she drifted out of the conversation, until Cas called out and made a bold move by linking his arms with their new acquaintance. She was surprised when there wasn't a bang or a cloud of smoke, something that would have normally come with something like that and briefly stared in wonder at her cousin for a moment before shaking her head and trying to hide it. Breakfast was mentioned, and it was only when Cas asked if she was hungry, that she realized that she still had the touches of hunger rumbling in her belly. The pop tarts really hadn't done anything to help, and she nodded. "Just a little." she said, blushing a bit as a low growl escape from her midsection. Luckily for her Umeki chose that moment to approach them and inform them of the breakfast that was waiting for them, looking at each of them in turn. It pleased Hotaru, when the other woman looked at her as well and didn't ignore her. She smiled at that. "Thank you, Umeki." she said, bowing a little to her in thanks before turning to follow the others towards the kitchen as the older woman wandered off. No doubt she was looking for the rest of the family. For a brief moment Hotaru wondered how this breakfast was going to turn out.

... .•:´¨•☆ •.¸¸.•´´¯`•´❤

[Alexa the White Rose]

She didn't know what to do, her body obviously acting before she could think straight if she was ready to run out of the house without her jacket, her shoes, or even the groceries she had paid for. All these new people were just overwhelming to her and she just needed air. When she turned to head back outside, when she nearly went bumping into a towering figure. Thankfully she didn't due to the other person being quick on their feet. "A-Ah, sorry." Tamiko said timidly. Looking up she saw it was another man who had a French accent. Tamiko knew nothing of the language herself, but she had heard it in a couple of movies on television. It was then that he apologized to her; hearing him even admit that his cousins were overwhelming. Well, at least she wasn't the only one who felt that way. Suddenly his words sunk in though and she looked back at all the others. Cousins? They were all family? So, they all lived together or were they all just visiting for some kind of family reunion she just so happened to intrude upon? So many questions filled her head. At the feeling of something grabbing her arm, she looked to see that the French-speaking male linked his arm with hers as he lead her into the kitchen. A friend of the family? Well, she was technically friends with one member of the family, but they didn't seem all bad. Maybe a few were rough around the edges, but for all she knew they were just not the socializing type of people. As much as she wanted to refuse the offer to stay, Tamiko's stomach growled once more to remind her that she still had not eaten anything. Tamiko took a moment to look back at Hotaru, wondering if she was coming along or not to join them in eating.

The one woman who hit Kouyou and carried Ai into another room had mentioned making french toast, which was Tamiko's favorite breakfast meal. How could she say no to french toast? As they reached the kitchen, she was in awe over how big it was. "This is...like my dream kitchen!" Tamiko said, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she looked around the kitchen. As a young girl who enjoyed cooking food, seeing a kitchen like this was like going to heaven. The kitchen she had back home was nothing fancy and somewhat on the small side. If her father ever tried helping her cook, he'd be bumping into Tamiko all the time or trying to reach over her for things. Snapping out of her daydream, she realized that there was someone already in the kitchen, another female she hadn't seen before. Turning to the taller male first, she let go of his arm so she could bow politely to him. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Tamiko Amasawa, pleasure meeting you." she said in a soft tone of voice, soon turning her attention to the female and bowing her head politely. She heard Hotaru speak up to the woman, who Tamiko learned that the woman's name was Umeki. So many names, it was a wonder if Tamiko could remember them all. What was there for her to be all nervous over though? Reaching into her pocket, she looked to see that her father had still not called or left a message on her phone. It was alright to spend time here with Ai's cousins, right? After all, some of them did offer her to come inside and have breakfast with them. It would be nice to have company to eat with for a change instead of Tamiko eating all alone like she usually does. The idea of eating with other people made her heart ache; how these people who knew her as nothing more than a friend of Ai's and still made her feel...somewhat welcomed. This was a new feeling to her, a feeling that made her heart ache and flutter inside her chest at the same time. Tamiko felt the urge to just cry in happiness - how emotional she got sometimes over the smallest of things.

She decided that for now, she would stick around. They were probably right when they told her that when Ai wakes up she'd probably want to see Tamiko, so what was the harm in waiting around for a little while? If she had to, she'd just leave her number and have Ai call her later so Tamiko could bring the groceries home before anything gets too warm. The brunette was kind of dreading the walk back home in the rain, it looked like if anything it was getting worse. She only hoped that the rain wouldn't get too bad to make it harder for her to walk home in. As she stood there, she only wondered just how many relatives were staying here, and why were they all cousins? Where were the aunts, the uncles, grandparents? Or even their own parents? Maybe they were still sleeping or was this specifically a cousins-only reunion? She wanted to ask either Kouyou, Hotaru, or the French-speaking male, but she was nervous that asking would be too personal and was just not her business to know.

[Liquor Lips]

tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab
tab tab tab tab tab █████████████████ ▌▌ ::☢ Kisei ! !
tab tab tab tab tab xxxxx✖✖✖ A Troubled Kind Of Mind ► ► ►

WHEN ALL OF YOUR FLAWS AND ALL OF MY FLAWSxxxxxARE LAID OUT ONE BY ONExxxxxALL OF YOUR FLAWS AND ALL OF MY FLAWSxxxxxTHEY LIE THERE HAND IN HANDxxxxxYOU HAVE ALWAYS WORN YOUR FLAWS UPON YOUR SLEEVExxxxxAND I HAVE ALWAYS BURIED THEM DEEP BENEATH THE GROUND

tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ╭☢ xx╭☢ xx╭☢ xx╭☢ I'm not crazy, am I?

►xxx:: He must have startled her. Darn it, he was trying not to do that. He sighed as he watched Chouko puller her Haori up in a more guarded manner. It seemed that today was not off to a good start. Hopefully it would get better. No, he was sure it would. Chouko's friendly face seemed to bolster that idea as she called back a greeting to his own. Things were already looking better. He blinked, when the woman considered the pipe in her hand and he did find himself a little surprised that she even had it. She always seemed so regal and proper, so seeing her like this was a bit of a change. He didn't mind though. It made her seem a little more human, and he was glad he'd seen her. Though, she didn't seem to see it that way as she looked back up to him. “Ah...I hope you can keep a secret Kisei-kun, I wouldn't want Cheiko-san to get mad at me like she does with your older brother,” she had said with a chuckle, and Kisei couldn't help but chuckle along with her. He knew how Cheiko felt about smoking, and it was kind of funny how she went about handling people who did. So he was no stranger to that. "As far as I'm concerned, I didn't see anything." he said, using his free hand to pretend to lock his mouth with an imaginary key. Besides, it was kind of fun to keep a secret with a family member. The moment was short lived though, when she stood up and gave her goodbyes in a very formal manner before turning to leave. "Ah, goodbye then!" he called after her, waving at her retreating back and suddenly he found himself alone again. That was something that could be fixed though, as there had been quite a lot of sounds coming from around the house.

►xxx:: The screaming hadn't escaped his attention, though it had been faint, and he had recognized another fight going on around the other side of the house. No doubt the god and the keeper, because who else would be up to fighting this early in the morning. Biting his lip gently, the brunette took a moment to decide what he wanted to do. Should he go around and find out what damage had been done, or should he go inside and let them be. He worried his lip a bit, before the natural part of him won over and he headed around the house to the gardens. Sometimes he was just too nice for his own good really, but he just wanted to make sure that his family was alright. It took him some time to traverse the grounds, as the terrain changed the closer he got towards the gardens. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the teen found his way onto a small path and followed it to his destination. He wasn't sure where that was, until he heard the quieter sounds of a conversation and followed it to where he found Yasu and Eri speaking.

►xxx:: Yasu looked as though he had gone through the ringer, and Kisei knew what a ringer could be. There was blood and rainwater mixing everywhere, and there was no god to be seen. Apparently the fight was over and Eri was leading Yasu off to get cleaned up. Well, at least everyone was all right. Not sure of what to do anymore, the young Miyamoto found himself back tracking to where he had left of with Chouko. It had felt to stalker like to have gone in after Yasu and Eri, so Kisei had just gone back. It was no big deal, and the walking was good exercise. Alone once again the young male stepped up onto the back porch, closing his umbrella as the roof provided protection for him, and shaking the water droplets from it before setting it to lean against the wall. With that done he walked up to the door and knocked three times. He didn't have to do it, but it was just something he liked to do. He didn't wait for a reply though, and just let himself in. The servants of the house barely blinked at him before going on their way, they were used to him entering like that. Waving at the ones who passed him, the teen kicked off his wet sneakers and took off down the hall. He started to rub his wrist without realizing, not noticing the bruise that had formed on the walk over.

►xxx:: "Good morning!" he called out, cupping a hand around his mouth to magnify his voice just a little. His tongue ring clicked against his teeth and he moved his tongue a little excessively, and he winced at the feeling. "Anyone home?" now that was a stupid question, but he had felt like saying it so he did. Smiling he wondered if anyone was actually still in bed after all that yelling outside, and if they were would they be happy. He didn't let that thought bother him though as he travelled down one of the many long halls that seemed to make up the main house, and for once he wished that he could just find someone. As he walked deeper into the house the smell of something delicious hit him and he realized that if his cousins were awake then they would be having breakfast. The bowl of cereal that he had eaten, well bowls, had already filled him so he wasn't hungry. But it would be rude to be walking around the house, when he didn't even live there, and not go to say hello. With that thought in mind he turned to follow the scent of french toast, having to take two right turns and a left before finding himself in the hall heading towards the kitchen. "Hello?" he called back, just to make sure if it was one of his cousins or not.

[frayedflower]

Chaos; the house today was in chaos. Not like it wasn’t every day. Put twelve-plus family members in contained quarters like this and things were always bound to get interesting. But today had taken things up a notch or five. There was the outsider, there was a whole lot of yelling from outside (sounded like Aka and Yasu; ******** he hoped so, that was always a laugh and a half), and there was this whole ordeal with Ai. And here he was without a shirt.

He was a little relieved for Cheiko’s added support in keeping the outsider there for Ai’s sake, even if he wouldn’t come right out and say it. Though knowing her, she could probably tell him the way his shoulders went lax; he rarely noticed until too late when he got tense. The “lax” period didn’t last him, though, not when the dragon had to go and whisper something like that in his ear. He promptly went stiff as a board and sputtered, hissing under his breath in true feline fashion as she went on to give him the know-it-all look he couldn’t stand. If he’d had fur, it definitely would have been bristling. What the hell was she even – god! (Not Aka.) He was doing this for Ai, not because Tamiko was cute or whatever! He wasn’t even – goddamnit Cheiko!

Even though when it came to causing trouble with their curse, Kouyou was probably towards the top of the list (if he wasn’t number one), he still found himself drawing a short breath when Cas nearly slammed into Tamiko. Sometimes he surprised himself with how deeply some of the family’s prejudices and fears had become ingrained in him – and by surprised, he meant pissed off. The tiger didn’t want any part of it, and he bit the inside of his cheek hard to punish himself. What the hell should it even matter if she stumbled onto the curse? “Yeah, good morning to you too bird brain, “ he grunted as his cousin went ahead and included Hotaru before him. Not like he really needed to be included anyway, but… it was complicated. To be honest, half the time Kouyou didn’t even make sense to himself. There was no way in hell he’d be able to explain his logic to anyone else.

Anyway, the outsider wasn’t his problem now anyway – to be honest, he didn’t really know how she’d become his issue in the first place – not like she really was an issue or a problem, but – oh whatever. There was French toast in his future, and Umeki had given him a beautiful chance to go get some damn clothes on and breathe a little. Could he really ask for more right now?

Oh – well, a ticket to England would be pretty ******** nice. And a college education. And a hell of a lot of things, actually. But at least the basics were getting covered. He turned on his heel and stomped off without thinking. For about two steps, anyway; the second his injured foot made impact, a sharp, throbbing little pain coursed up through his heel and earned a hiss from the tiger. More annoying than the pain was the spot of blood on the floor. Now that, that he really knew Cheiko would give him a rough time for.

So, he improvised. He grabbed the bloody towel and wiped up the spot before it could stain. Then he stomped his foot on that and started walking again, this time using his injured foot to drag the towel across the floor with him. Annoying, and more than a little embarrassing, but it wasn’t like anyone was there to see anyway – and it still beat getting a lecture.

It didn’t take him long to get changed, especially since he was starving and the scent of French toast was unbearable on an empty stomach. He cleaned and bound his foot with a bandage, threw off his soaked clothes into a hamper, and grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt to change into. His hair still hung in wet tendrils around his face even as he slunk back towards the kitchen – pausing as he overheard a familiar voice.

He didn’t really mean to come up behind Kisei, and as always, his voice was louder than he meant for it to be as he grunted back, “Yo. Everyone’s gonna be here soon if they ain't already. Ai passed out but she’s fine. There’s an outsider so don’t act like a moron.” That wasn’t how he meant to say it. He didn’t think Kisei was really stupid. Okay, so the tongue ring was a little... but in some way he sort of got where Kisei was trying to go with it, so yeah. But things just had a way of coming out, and now he’d just take it any way he wanted to. Vaguely embarrassed, though no one would know it to look at him, he ducked his head and pushed past him to go on ahead to the kitchen.

[Grubhub]

Ｔ Ｏ Ｓ Ｈ Ｉ
ｍｏｎｋｅｙ
Ｍ Ｉ Ｙ Ａ Ｍ ＯＴ Ｏ

Chieko's affections and cuddlings were one of Toshi's guilty pleasures and he reveled in it secretly, allowing her to smoosh his long face around for a few seconds and listened to her crowing with delight at his lack of cigarettes today. He snapped out of his reverie when she stood up.

"I'm not a baboon, woman," he whined as he followed the two into the bathroom. "I don't do that red butt thing. Blue is my color." He hopped up on the toilet and watched the doctor do her job, scratching at an itchy spot on his chest. He eyed his toothbrush warily, baring his long fangs in displeasure -- the nicotine patch only reminded him that he was having withdrawals. Perhaps he could sneak away after breakfast...

He followed them back out into the hallway, waving briefly to Umeki when she showed up talking about food and was insanely grateful when Aka went back into the bathroom and brought a towel. It was the small things that Toshi forgot.

"Thanks, Aka," he said, retrieving it from his head and wrapping the towel around his shoulders, knotting it like a cape before reconsidering that his front was fully exposed and wrapped it around his waist. "And let me know if you ever want me to bite Yasu's ear off or something; the dude's insane." He started to nudge his friends down the hall towards the kitchen, his small monkey hands poking at their bums.

"Or I could punch him in the neck. I always wanted to punch someone in the neck." As their little troupe moved into the final stretch, Toshi could feel his stomach twisting in a strange way -- one that didn't feel like hunger. Do not poof naked, do not poof naked, the monkey chanted silently to himself, checking to make sure the towel was secure. Most of the Juunishi had seen naked bits of the other sex before, but transforming at breakfast was a bit extreme. Finally, the trio entered the kitchen and Toshi stopped his butt poking to squirm over to Chieko's far side and grabbed her hand, completely oblivious to the other Zodiacs in the room.

"I will let you eat only on the condition that you promise to give Yasu a shot in the a** the next time you treat him," he said in a serious tone that brooked no argument. "Aka, back me up," he said, leaning over to get the God in his sight.

[shinigamijuni]

locaтιon: gαя∂єи - єяι'ѕ яσσм - кιт¢нєи || coмpany: єяι - кιѕєι - єνєяуσиє - ¢αѕ αи∂ тαмιкσ || wearιng: иι¢є αи∂ ∂яу αи∂ вαи∂αgє∂ υρ || тнeмe: ғaιlιng ιѕ noт jυѕт ғor ғalιυreѕ || тнoυgнтѕ: ωнαт נυѕт нαρρєиє∂؟ || мood: нυиgяу


"I didn't get the s**t punched out of me..." Yasu retorted, like a child would. The truth was, he did. He just didn't want to admit it. The fight was nothing compared to their previous brawls in terms of physical damage, but considering how Aka's harsh words still rung in his ears, the emotional toll was an incomparable substitute for jabs and kick. No one had won that fight, though the swelling bruise on Yasu's cheek would suggest otherwise. Eri was right about Chieko tending to Aka's wounds. He knew the god probably found his confidant by now. And besides, he wanted to stay as far away from the doctor as possible. Not only did he tend to keep his distance from the Dragon, but the last thing he wanted was one of the God's best friends patching up his own handy work on Yasu's face. If cleaned properly it would be fine. Yasu wasn't worried about infection, and Eri had helped him with a fair share of wounds. Letting the girl slip her hand into his bleeding palm, he allowed her to lead him towards the main estate.

Yasu's green orbs followed Eri's gaze as she suddenly stopped and smiled. In one of the windows of the estate, he was able to see Umeki making make-believe eating motions, signifying that she wanted them to come eat. If the meal prepared was like their usual meals, Yasu could only guess that the huge dining table would be full of his awake cousins, possibly including the one who just threw his fist at Yasu's face. Without smiling, Yasu locked eyes with the girl before she disappeared back into the building. Eri had been pulling Yasu about the estate, surprisingly avoiding contact with any of his awake cousins. Soon they found themselves in Eri's private bathroom.

He sat quite like a child in trouble as the younger girl went to work bandaging up his cheek. He was oddly quiet for just being in a fight with Akatsuki. He wanted to talk to Eri about what they had both just heard, but Yasu felt that there was an unspoken understanding between him and his sweet friend. They had both been there and they had both seen the God with tears streaming down his face as he screamed and yelled with more emotion and passion than Yasu had ever heard before from little Aka's mouth. A wet cloth was pressed to his cheek and he winced as Eri bandaged him up and cleaned the blood off his face. Eri was the first to speak, "By the way your little rabbit seemed to have fainted earlier" The Snake knew Yasu too well, as she placed a small hand on his arm, holding him down. If he could do anything right now, he would be busting through every room in the house looking for his little sister. He had told her so many times to be careful in the rain. What if she had transformed-- His body started to tense up and his nails almost re-opened the already healing cuts on his palms. But as Eri spoke again, Yasu breathed out, "but don't worry Chieko was carrying her so she seems to be alright"

Fine. Chieko might have been on the bottom of Yasu's list of bearable people, but he knew she did her job well and because of her, many of the zodiac were well taken care of. Ai was in good hands, and it would only upset her more to see her brother with a less-than-bandaged face and splotches of blood on his clothing. "She's okay then..." Yasu spoke softly more to himself than to Eri. As the girl dried her wet dripping hair, Yasu did the same while examining the bandages on his face. He was more scratched up than he thought and the lump on his cheek made him look about half-chipmunk. There were multiple small stains of blood on the front of his white shirt, so while Eri was still drying up, Yasu stripped off his jacket and peeled off his soaked, bloody shirt, using the towel to dry off his torso before tossing it on Eri's head. "Thanks for the bandage work, Eri," Yasu mused as he tossed his bloodstained shirt in her hamper, like this wasn't the first time he needed to change bloody clothing in her room. "You did a better job patching up than Chieko, if I'm allowed to say that. Plus, no hello kitty bandages," he teased, slowly opening the door to Eri's room and slipping inside, quickly grabbing a fresh shirt and cardigan he had left there before, high-tailing it back into her private bathroom after noticing someone who was probably Eri's mother strewn across her bed.

"Alright," Yasu mused as he dressed himself and pretended to pat his wounded cheek, "Good as new." The smell of french toast had filled the estate building and honestly, Yasu had never been hungrier in his life. The prospect of seeing thirteen more of his favorite people (other than the one right next to him at this moment) was comforting and nerve-wrecking all in one go. Especially considering most of them probably heard or saw the brawl and he now had this chunky cheek as proof of it. But he was used to he ridicule and tension, and he was truly just damn hungry. Plus, he needed to check on his sister and as long as Eri was around, he'd at least have one person on his side if Aka showed up to the table. "Breakfast," Yasu placed his hand in the small of Eri's back and pushed her out of the bathroom.

He walked close to her, though he knew better than to get too close. As they grew closer to the kitchen, the rowdy voices of his cousins almost made Yasu smile. He loved loud noises and having everyone in one room definitely guaranteed that. Nodding to Eri, he spoke softly as to not call attention to themselves right away, "I'm going to check on Ai, but I'll be back." Leaving the Snake behind, Yasu started towards Chieko's room, where he fully expected to find his little sister. If she was sleeping, he told himself that he wouldn't bother her. She probably needed her rest. So, as he poked his head into Chieko's door, he sighed as he saw her chest rising and falling with each breath. The small rabbit was sleeping and she was still in human form. Closing the door, Yasu turned on his heel and looked down both ends of the hallway. On one end, he thought he heard the voice of Chouko and Rin, and on the other, he saw Kisei and Kouyou about to enter the kitchen.

Heading towards the two boys, Yasu listened as Kouyou spouted something about there being an outsider in the kitchen. What? Green eyes narrowed and Yasu waited for the loud tiger to leave before he closed in on Kisei who was being pushed slightly out of the way by Kouyou. "Good morning," Yasu said with a bit of grit in his voice. He like Kisei and was happy to see him interacting with his cousins this morning, but the thought of an outsider infiltrating the walls of the estate made him squirm. Pushing the thought aside just enough to hold a conversation with Kisei, Yasu placed a hand softly on the frail kid's shoulder. "Ready for some breakfast? Or did you eat already? Either way you should come hang out with everyone." For a moment Yasu wondered where Roku was, but before he could even wait for Kisei's response the thoughts of the foreigner invaded his mind. He had to figure out who this clown was. Instead of pushing past the young Boar, Yasu sort of escorted him into the kitchen, hoping that's where he was heading in the first place. Giving a sort of reassuring grin, Yasu dropped his hand from Kisei's shoulder.

There was everyone in the kitchen. And more. Emerald orbs scanned the room as he saw everyone littering the chairs and most of the standing-room of the kitchen. Usually, Yasu would be happy to see everyone under one roof, but as his eyes landed on a little, unrecognizable brunette head, the corners of his mouth turned down. If it wasn't for who he saw next standing next to the outsider, his frown would have exaggerated even more. But Yasu found it increasingly hard to be in a bad mood around the tall french man and his beloved white bird in any situation. Padding towards the pair Yasu spoke clearly, "Good morning, Jacques," he addressed the bird first knowing the sassy animal would somehow appreciate Yasu's attention. Turning towards the man the white bird was perched on, Yasu couldn't help but let his frown soften, "And good morning to you, Cas." Standing directly behind the mystery girl, Yasu placed a hand on top of her head and a slight twitch appeared in his eyebrow as he tried to keep a calm face, realizing it probably didn't help that he looked like a battered cage fighter right about now. "Now, who's our new friend here? Are we adopting strays now?" Using a finger to tilt her head back so he could see her face, Yasu's face lit up. "Oh! It's you."

The girl standing between him and Cas was a face he immediately recognized. She was a friend of Ai's from school, and though the amount of times he had run into her was almost comical, he could not remember her name to save his life. Yasu specifically remembered running into her (quit literally) every time he would go to the high school to check on the public school zodiac members. It was weird how she was the only one who would ram into him at least once while he was visiting the school, her books flying everywhere. Now how she got in their home, he had no idea. Perhaps someone had opened the door to her looking for Ai, but it didn't matter. Having a outsider female in a room basically bursting with young, attractive zodiac males just made the hairs on Yasu's neck stand on end. An accident waiting to happen.

And as if he had called it, Yasu heard the voices of Toshi, Chieko, and Aka. Quickly glancing over to see if Toshi had changed back, every muscle in Yasu's body tightened as he watched the form of a madrill waltz into the kitchen. Toshi was saying something about Yasu, but the Keeper didn't care to listen as he pushed the girl's head back down, facing Cas, her back turned towards the exotic animal that had just entered the room. Yasu had to think fast. Looking up at Cas, the thoughts in his mind churned as he opened his mouth to speak, a worried look lacing his shining orbs. He had even started to nervously bite his cheek, which was absolutely painful and caused him to wince. "Ummm! Cas! Would you help me with Ai? And uh.. our new friend can tag along. Let's go!" Speaking a little too enthusiastically, Yasu grabbed the young girl's shoulders with both of his hands and lead her quickly out of the room, practically pushing her over. They'd have to loop around to Chieko's room, but as long as this outsider didn't see the very out of place monkey in the room, Yasu would do whatever it took. His heart as beating about a hundred miles a minute when he remembered the girl's name. Tamiko. This Tamiko was about to give the white-haired male a heart attack. He even brought his hand up to his chest as he glanced at Cas, hoping they had just avoided a strange and probably unconvincing explanation as to why there was a freaking talking monkey wearing a towel and walking around the kitchen.



ooc: -ωнєєzєѕ- ι ∂ι∂и'т нανє тιмє тσ є∂ιт...

[Welan]

Cheiko was rightfully worried and now that it was getting serious, it was getting boring. Kouji paid attention to what the doctor said but only half-heartedly, it wasn't until she mentioned Chiasa that his interest got gauged. 'I knew it, she's angry at me' Kouji thought to himself as he passed the unconscious girl to Cheiko who welcomed her with open arms. It wasn't that he didn't trust Cheiko but he wondered if she only offered to take Ai off his hands because it was his hands. She obviously knew of Kouji's dirty deeds and probably thought he was a 'bad' person. If it was Umeki, would Cheiko acted differently? It definitely didn't make him feel bad, thinking that Cheiko thought he was worthless, cause really everyone was entitled to their own opinion. Nevertheless it did leave a sour taste in his mouth, Cheiko was someone who he had to intrust his life with health wise and if she thought that badly of him, to what extent would she do to not help him in the future?

“Well, I'm going to go look for Chi guys, but I'll just quickly go through the kitchen and pick up our mess,” he replied to Cheiko's advice with Chiasa, immediately he asked of Cheiko “But...I would prefer you not to tell Ai-chan that I was the one who helped her Cheiko-san, my hands are dirty after all.” Kouji said with a grin but there was an accusatory meaning behind his words. He wondered if the intent got across and then like a jester he let a laugh and pointed at his hands “I meant my hands, I was just dealing with dirty work and don't want to be the one that Ai-chan gets angry at for getting her clothes dirty.” Still smiling like a child, Kouji walked back into the kitchen to notice that surprisingly there was an omelet waiting on a plate for him. Looking around he made sure that the two in the other room didn't lie to him. She was kind in the smallest of ways, when she was angry she was definitely angry but her love for him was still there. It seemed that most of the time, she was the younger one out of the couple. Without waiting to see if Umeki was going to come back into the kitchen, Kouji quickly grabbed the plate with a fork and walked out into the hallway.

He stood outside only for a few seconds just to realize that there was an abnormal amount of chatter going on around the estate. He heard Yasu and Akatsuki for sure, Eri's and Toshi's voice was just as clear as well. “Hmmm, a party was going on and I totally missed all the action,” he regretted staying in and trying to help the rabbit, in the end it was a waste of his time and effort. He should have known better than to help but it was something interesting, unfortunate for him that it ended so boringly. Standing outside restlessly, he mostly just wanted to get out of the estate now. There were too many people coming in at once and really, all he wanted was to have fun. 'Should I go find Chi? Where could she have gone off to, the little squeaker' Kouji wondered as he noticed a familiar silhouette coming closer. To his pure luck, it was Chi who looked freezing. IIt's too cold outside.” the first thing she says to him as he looked at her dumbfounded. Kouji was so sure that he had to go all around the estate looking for her but she came back to him, all on her own. It made him happy, after the Ai fiasco, he was genuinely glad to have seen her.

“Well that's a bummer to hear. And here I was, thinking that we could get out of the estate for a while and I don't know...go vandalize a few things?” he tried to coax the girl. It was the perfect time to get out too, Yasu and Akatsuki were so freaking preoccuipied with themselves that they wouldn't give a rat's a** about them. It was obvious that Chi didn't want to be near the family or anyone else for that matter, she was completely tuning out the other sounds that were coming closer. However, he gave her the final decision. Whatever she wanted to do, he would follow.

[not a safe space]

❝𝖒𝖞 𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘 𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖆 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖑𝖆𝖇𝖊𝖑❞

↪ xxx It was way too damn early in the morning for this s**t. Literally. Ira looked at the pudgy, greasy, heavily breathing kid that was currently leaning over the counter and going through his books. He had just spent the better part of the night working on a full back tattoo and was running on about three hours of sleep tops. He was not a happy camper. The parlor would have been closed down by now, as it was now past midnight, but this idiot had to come waltzing in just as his last customer slunk off to do god knows what. Ira would have just kicked him out then and there, but that would have been bad for business. So he'd cleaned up the chair and his tools, the last guy had bled like a stuck pig, and let the kid shuffle around a bit. Almost a half an hour later he was still dragging his feet and wasting time, so Ira had told him to cut the crap and threw some books on the counter. Which led to the irritating situation he found himself now, as the kid just kept looking back and forth between three different pages. "Just pick one already, or I'll pick one for you and it won't be pretty." he all but growled, checking the clock and missing his beauty sleep. The nerd in front of him squeaked and slammed his hand down on one of the books to point at a tat of a snake draped over a cross. Not something Ira would have picked, but he could care less. If the kid didn't end up liking it there was always surgery. "Where?" was all he said as he led the kid back to the chair and gathered up fresh, sterilized needles. The kid gulped loudly, when he spotted the gun and asked if it was going to hurt in a high pitched, shaky voice. Ira just chuckled as he turned on the tool of his trade, giving the kid a horrible smile as he was allowed access to the upper half of his left arm. "A whole hell of a lot." he said with a smirk and a growl at the same time as he pressed the tool to skin and set to work. A pain filled scream rang out from the parlor, scaring a couple of late night travelers as they passed.

↪ xxx It took him exactly one hour to finish that job., The kid had cried and cried, until finally Ira had etched in the last of the ink and was wiping the area off with his home made batch of cleaning material. The skin hadn't bled all that much, and the ink only ran just a tiny bit when he applied a soothing salve on it. He charged the brat ten dollars extra for the scratches he had put into the arm of the chair, when he had first started to panic and once the idiot had run out of the parlor the open sign was flipped to closed. Finally, he was alone. All he wanted to do was run upstairs and crawl into bed, but he had to finish up first. It took him ten minutes to clean and sterilize the chair and the equipment, and another five to tally up the days earnings before locking up for the night. The blare of the street light outside was his only light, when he all but crawled his way up the back stairs that led to his apartment, Missing the keyhole twice he nearly slammed his fist through the window, before making it on the third try and unlocking the door. Stumbling a bit, he kicked off his shoes and slammed the door behind him. He didn't bother heading to the bathroom, and instead just stripped out of his clothes as he walked towards the open door of his bedroom. By the time he let himself hit the sheets he was completely bare.

↪ xxx He didn't wake up again until about four hours later, when the loud blare of a truck horn had him tumbling out of bed and cursing everything in sight. Still groggy from the night before, the raven haired man turned his head to look at the clock and swore under his breath. Four hours, just four hours! Damn the world and all of it's trucks. Grumbling to himself he pulled his naked body from the covers that he had tangled himself and marched into the bathroom. His head was ringing from lack of sleep, but he knew that he wouldn't have been able to fall back to sleep even if he tried. For some odd reason he always found himself more wired after he got less sleep. Still grumbling the tall male set the water onto it's hottest temperature and stepped in without a second thought. It was scalding, but oddly refreshing as he scrubbed himself clean. Taking no more time than necessary, he turned off the water before stepping back out into the cool air of the bathroom. His skin was red from the heat, but he ignored it as he grabbed a towel and set about drying off. Once no more droplets of water were found he tossed the damp towel into a hamper and stomped right back out into his bedroom. He dug through a few hampers, all of which were filled with clean clothes that had not been put away yet, and came out with a pair of black jeans and a white button up shirt. He threw them on over a pair of black briefs, buttoning the shirt up only half way. He complimented the outfit with a loosely tied tie, and a light black jacket that he turned the collar up on. A black watch and a spiked wristband were next, followed by some socks and his favorite pair of boots. His trademark feathers were added last, and he settled on a simple pair of white ones with red tints to them that nestled just at the end of his hairline. Some people found this style odd, but they could go jump off a bridge.

↪ xxx His appearance looked after, the irritated man vacated the bedroom and opted for the kitchen instead. Passing through the very messy living room area, he made a mental note to clean the place up at some point. Clothes, books, tools, and even some dishes were strewn about the place. It looked like a tornado had hit a mall with a food court. Shaking his head he jumped the three steps that led into the small kitchenette and headed straight for the fridge. He wasn't hungry yet, having eaten something during a break with his better client the night before and only sleeping for a short time, but he looked anyway and was very disappointed with what he saw. An old banana with more brown spots than he could count, a jar of peanut butter, a half full bottle of orange juice, and the missing blue feather he had been looking for the other day. How that had gotten in there was beyond him, but the meager supply of his fridge was just down right depressing. Snatching the feather up before slamming the door, he shoved it into his pocket and made another mental note to go grocery shopping. But he didn't want to do that now, not with the way his mood was going at the moment. He was tired and wired, and there was no food. Rolling his eyes he stepped back down into the living room area and looked around. There was really nothing he wanted to do there, and so made his way over to the door that led back down to the parlor.

↪ xxx The parlor was closed today, as it was his scheduled day off, and hell he was the boss so why didn't he have more days off? He would have to look into that, but right now he was just passing on through. It was raining, when he turned to look at the street after locking the door. Great. He let himself back inside to grab an umbrella, before stomping off through the wet streets. Hardly anyone was about, just the early to work people and the drunks who hadn't quite made it home last night. The latter seemed to make up most of them, and one got a little to hands on as he stumbled by. "Watch your fingers or I'll break them off." Ira growled out as he grabbed the idiots wrist to pull his hand off his a**, bending back the fingers as though to prove that he wasn't joking. The guy they belonged to gargled a bit, shouting out his apology and swearing that he would never do it again and Ira let the poor fool go in favor of stomping off again. No one messed with him after that, and after a moment of just wandering around aimlessly, he wondered what to do with his day off. Really, there wasn't much wondering as to what he was going to do, as he found himself heading down that familiar road that led to the one place he went to more than the parlor. It had been a while since he had visited the main Miyamoto estate, and he was wondering how his favorite family members were doing as he took his time in walking. The house itself came into view soon enough, and he found himself picking up his pace just a bit. And if anyone asked if it was because he suddenly thought of all the treats that Ai usually made he would deny it to his last breath.

【 I R A xx M I Y A M O T O 】

_ ↓ ↓↓ ↓Take it or 〈 Leave It 〉 cause I'll send you to your grave
__________〖 DON'T x go xGetting any bright ideas 〗 I'm not the hero in this S T O R Y
______________________Oh No // You can't get away from this ☠ T E R R I B L E // C O N F L I C T
___________________________________________________☣ ☣So don't even try to Run ∝╬══→

[Liquor Lips]

tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab
tab tab tab tab tab █████████████████ ▌▌ ::☢ Kisei ! !
tab tab tab tab tab xxxxx✖✖✖ A Troubled Kind Of Mind ► ► ►

WHEN ALL OF YOUR FLAWS AND ALL OF MY FLAWSxxxxxARE LAID OUT ONE BY ONExxxxxALL OF YOUR FLAWS AND ALL OF MY FLAWSxxxxxTHEY LIE THERE HAND IN HANDxxxxxYOU HAVE ALWAYS WORN YOUR FLAWS UPON YOUR SLEEVExxxxxAND I HAVE ALWAYS BURIED THEM DEEP BENEATH THE GROUND

tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ╭☢ xx╭☢ xx╭☢ xx╭☢ I'm not crazy, am I?

►xxx:: Ok, so he didn't scream ok. No really, he didn't. He only just mildly yelled out in surprise and only jumped about a few inches into the air when a loud voice sounded off right behind him. He also didn't stumble backwards a bit before he realized just who it was that had been talking. Kouyou. That guy had a bad habit of scar...surprising him sometimes. Not that he let it get him down, though the part where tigers eat bacon did set him on edge when he thought about it sometimes. But that was another time and place. Clearing his throat, Kisei gave the red head a shaky smile and tried to play it cool. Well, as cool as he could be until he registered what the tiger had said. "Eh, Ai passed out? Where is she?" he asked, but Kouyou had already moved on and he was surprised to hear that they had a visitor. Someone from the outside. How was that going to go down? He let the other push him back a bit to get by, ignoring the comment about acting stupid. He'd get him back for that one later. He was more concerned about the rest of the information he had just been told.

►xxx:: He didn't have long to think about it though, as a friendly good morning was thrown his way and he looked over his shoulder to see a familiar face closing in. He smiled back at the older man, throwing in a small wave even though it really wasn't necessary. "Hello Yasu, good morning." he said back, turning to face the other better as he came to a stop in front of him. Kouyou's words about Ai came to mind, and he wondered if he had just come from there. Kisei would have gone to check on her himself, but the stupid tiger hadn't told him anything else about her. For all he knew she was lying on a couch somewhere. But if Yasu was this calm, then she must be alright. He shoved the worry he was feeling down and he looked back up at the older brother as he felt a hand gently land on his shoulder. "Ready for some breakfast? Or did you eat already? Either way you should come hang out with everyone." He blinked at that, shrugging once and feeling the hand on his shoulder move with it.

►xxx:: "I had some cereal before I left this morning." he said, but he wasn't sure if he had been heard, as Yasu suddenly seemed to be thinking about something else entirely. If Kisei knew him like he thought he did, then he was probably thinking about what Kouyou had said earlier. No doubt he had been within earshot, since he had come up behind Kisei right after he left. He was probably thinking about the girl in the kitchen the tiger had mentioned. As though he had read his thoughts, the older male began to guide him along as he moved towards the kitchen. Kisei found it a little odd to be led in any sense of the word, but he didn't want to upset the other and kept his mouth shut as he was lightly pushed into the kitchen. He didn't mind it, as that had been where he was going in the first place, and just smiled at Yasu when he felt the other drop his hand from his shoulder. With the loss of contact, Kisei found himself free to move about and he took the first second or two to look around the kitchen. "Good morning everyone!" It was crowded, almost overly so. A quick head count told him that mostly everyone was there, even Hotaru. He stared at her for a second, just wondering what had brought her out and about, before turning to look at the girl that he didn't recognize.

►xxx:: She was a brunette, one of those cute kind of people. She looked like she would get along well with Ai, and for a minute he wondered if she knew the girl. What little peace that had settled, if any, was broken when Yasu made his way over to the girl. Well he actually greeted Cas and his bird, or was it the other way around, first before turning to ask about the girl. Kisei watched as he brought a hand up towards the girls face, and he worried for a moment that he might do something to her. To say he was surprised when Yasu said something along the lines of 'it's you' was an understatement, and he once again wondered if he or Ai had met her before. Well, obviously from somewhere from the keepers reaction. Alas, he was never going to find out, as the sounds of more people heading towards the kitchen reached their ears and Yasu seemed to have some sort of weird moment, before commandeering Cas on a mission to check up on Ai and inviting the girl who he hadn't met yet to go along. It confused Kisei, as he watched Yasu lead the girl out of the kitchen. Hadn't Kouyou said that Ai was alright? Had he been lying? It wasn't until he spotted a very not in human form Toshi enter the kitchen with Cheiko and Aka that he realized what was going on. Really, it would have been very hard to explain a talking monkey with a towel. Smiling lightly, Kisei shook his head and decided to settle in with everyone and stole a seat at the table. "Glad to see everybody so cheerful." he said to nobody in particular, though he did throw a wave to the three newest kitchen goers. Unfrotunately, he had decided to use the hand that had suffered through the banging of the nightstand, and winced when he felt a twinge of pain flare through it. Lightly grabbing it with his other hand he rubbed it lightly and looked down at it. It was then that he noticed the rather ugly purple bruise that had formed from the bottom of his thumb and all the way around his wrist.

[walking distance]

“I totally gave him a choice! And he’s making the right one,” Chieko insisted at Aka, looking at the mandrill like a mother looked at her honor student. Baby steps, she kept telling herself. Even though she hadn’t helped anyone in the house overcome their smoking habits yet, she was determined to do so by the end of this year. It was her new years’ resolution, after all! Well, it was her new years’ resolution every year, but that was beside the point. Then, when Toshi insisted he wasn’t a baboon and talked about punching Yasu, Chieko could only smile because…well, because her best friend was a monkey, and he was talking. It was like one of those bizarre Japanese commercials, except there was an actual endangered species in their common bathroom. Scratch that, an endangered species wearing a towel as a cape.

“Fine, but make sure you save some for me,” Chieko smiled at Aka good-naturedly, while still discussing who got dibs on beating up Yasu. Before they could waste any more time Toshi was responding to Umeki’s call and prodding the God and Dragon towards the kitchen. His method of doing so—poking both their backsides—was uncomfortable, but effective. She was used to his antics by now. “Alright, we’re going, we’re going.” Soon it was Chieko’s own feet propelling her towards the smell of French toast, and her stomach growled audibly.

It seemed the trio were some of the last ones to arrive, and Chieko smiled at Umeki, who was sitting at the table and eating silently. “Thanks for breakfast, Umeki!” the Dragon exclaimed cheerily. It was always nice to be able to depend on someone else not to screw things up. She made sure to give acknowledging smiles to people that she hadn’t already interacted with that morning; Cas, his bird Jacques, and…Yasu? Chieko wasn’t about to smile at him of course, but she had to do a double-take. His cheek was already noticeably larger than it was since she had last seen him, so the Dragon was sure it was left there by Aka. She nudged the God playfully and gave him a wide grin that conveyed a wordless ‘good job’. But she knew she would have to tend to it later, and she started to space off, counting the ice packs left in the freezer…

…until a small hand grabbed hers, and she jumped out of her reverie. It was Toshi, and it seemed he was holding her breakfast hostage. Chieko wrinkled her nose in response, “C’mon, I don’t want to have to see that. Now let me eat in peace, you little bugger.” Truth be told, she had probably seen every part of every person in the house and could probably match body parts to people, but that wasn’t exactly a talent to be proud of. She wriggled her hand out of the mandrill’s grasp and walked into the kitchen to get the plate that Umeki had set aside for her just in case—it seemed everyone was just staring at the food, but not actually getting any. What was it for, smelling? “Come on, people! Eat already! Umeki went through all this trouble to cook it and you’re all letting it get cold!” Chieko barked, although not rudely.

Out on the table there was already an assortment of various toppings, like fruit, syrup, sugar…but Chieko’s guilty pleasure always sat on the fridge door, right at eye level for easy access. Sriracha, she thought gleefully as she pulled the bottle out of the fridge and turned it upside down. The Dragon put it on everything if she could help it, and tended to go through one large bottle in the span of a month. She gave up offering to share it with others when she constantly got rejected with strange looks. Usually she did some sort of elaborate design (although she was probably the worst artist on the estate), but today she was hungry, so she opted for a simple smiley face with a puffy cheek. It made her smile and she brought her plate back to the table to eat with the others. She spied an empty seat next to Kisei and sat down next to the Boar, then started shoveling the food into her mouth before she remembered her manners.

“Morning, Kisei!” Chieko said, or at least attempted to say. Her mouth was full, her cheeks were stuffed, and her words were muffled, but she put her hand over her mouth to avoid spewing crumbs everywhere. She held a finger up to him as if telling him to wait, chewed for a while, and then swallowed, feeling the burn of the Sriracha in her throat and sucking in air to prolong the feeling. It really was like fire. “You look pretty cheerful yourself. Where’s your brother?” the Dragon asked, folding her French toast into a compact size so she could shove the entire piece into her mouth (she never bothered with a knife). It was a bit surprising that Roku wasn’t one of the earliest ones awake, what with his job and all. Plus, if Kisei was here, the Dog was always hovering around nearby. Chieko thought it was cute, what with their zodiac signs being right next to each other. Although Roku was injured, the last time Chieko saw him…

…speaking of injury, her eyes instantly flicked down when she saw Kisei grab his wrist in a familiar jerky movement that could only be associated with pain. She sighed, put down her fork, wiped her hands with a napkin and then reached for the Boar’s arm. “Let me see,” Chieko said gently, as though she was a completely different person from the one who was ravenously swallowing her breakfast whole just seconds before. She always tended to be more careful around Kisei, giving him special treatment—not enough to make it awkward, but just so he knew that she was always there, despite all the health problems he had. It was admirable really, the way he could keep smiling like that. The moment she glimpsed the purple tinge on his wrist, Chieko got up and headed for the freezer, reaching on tiptoe for an ice pack.

“Here,” she handed the Boar the ice pack and sat down again, certain he knew what to do with it. Bruises were practically attracted to Kisei, and the Dragon knew he couldn’t help it. She stopped telling him to be careful a long time ago because more often than not it was out of his control. His eyes were slightly red, she noted, like he didn’t sleep well and had cried. Nightmares. So many tears today, Chieko thought. First Aka and now Kisei. She only knew how to deal with tears with one way, and though it was awkward with the way they were sitting side-by-side, the Dragon reached over and gave Kisei a comforting hug. Then she pulled back, smiled at Kisei knowingly, and then ripped off a corner of her toast with her fork. It was doused in Sriracha, but she knew the Boar could take it! “I know it looks weird, but you should try new things!” the Dragon put the fork in Kisei’s uninjured hand, and held the ice pack in place as though she were doing him a favor.

[feuillemort]

Cas gleefully led the smaller woman through the estate with practiced ease, following the wonderful smell of breakfast. He didn’t turn around to see whether Hotaru or Kou were following, but he had a feeling that they were. And if not, they should be! It smelled delicious, it didn’t matter if they’d already eaten, they should eat again! That was Cas’ thought anyway, though it probably helped his mentality that the man could eat literally anything he wanted and not gain a pound. As he led the girl through the estate, careful to maintain his grip on her without risking transforming, he could sense her growing confusion but also her wonder. Yes, their home was quite large, and upon a first visit, it could seem rather unnecessarily grand- Casimir would know, he had felt the exact same way the first time he had been brought here by Yasu.

As they entered the kitchen, he couldn’t help the smile that came over his face by how impressed she was. She seemed to forget everything else in exchange for wondering over the room. It, like the rest of their home, was quite large, but then again, it would have to be. Not only were there the fourteen Zodiacs to look after, but every other member of the family on top of that who lived here. Small just couldn’t cut it for a family of their size. Still, it was sweet watching her reaction. The Rooster noticed the Ox had found her way back to the kitchen, and he waved at her amiably in greeting. These two particular Zodiacs had never been the best of friends, and often times grew on each others’ nerves, but for the most part, they tolerated each other and were usually able to enjoy each other’s’ company as long as it was for a short while. He no qualms whatsoever about sharing a meal with his cousin. In fact, there weren’t many of them that he disliked at all. Some found him overbearing and often times far too honest or sarcastic or sassy to be around, but in truth, the Rooster was not a person that was often given to hate, even with his pride and arrogance, he was rather forgiving of human nature when it came down to it. Cas supposed that was fortunate, as he always believed family was important. It would be a shame not to get along, especially in a family as special as theirs. He glanced down at their young visitor once again when he felt her warmth leave his side as she let go of his arm to bow to him and introduce herself. As she finished, Casimir took a step back and bowed in kind, though a Western-style bow with his arm crossed over his chest rather than to his sides.

“Vous avez un beau nom, ma chéri.” As he spoke, he reached out to take her hand in his, and bringing it to his lips, he kissed it softly. “My name iz Casimir Varnadoe. Ze pleasure iz mine.” As he stood up straight once again, he glanced around the kitchen to see that, besides Umeki, the kitchen had yet to become filled with various members of the family, but he was sure it would be soon enough. He turned back to the girl he now knew as Tamiko.

"S'il vous plaît, Tamiko-san." Though Cas had grown up learning Japanese from his father, the only time he ever exercised it was when he actually came to Japan five years ago. He had picked up on it immediately, and before long, he had become quite comfortable speaking back and forth between the two languages, included the honorific suffixes of the Japanese language, though it was possible that it sounded rather odd to his native cousins. “Make yourzelf at home.” He gestured to the many seats that were located all around the room. Obviously, Tamiko was raised well by her parents, as she had been nothing but respectful and polite from the moment she arrived. Cas wanted her to feel that she didn’t need to be so restricted here. Besides, he adored Ai, and any friend of the Rabbit’s as a friend of his. He went up to the stove near the girl and began to pile toast onto a large plate. It would be rude to make her serve herself, especially when they were the ones who invited her to eat. It was exciting, having her here, a brand new face. Thanks to the elders, the Zodiac almost never saw any Outsiders. Casimir had been quite a social butterfly growing up in France, so having Tamiko here was like a breath of fresh air. He hoped that she would like them, and decide to return for another visit. And he hoped the elders and Yasu didn’t force her away. Shrugging off these thoughts, Cas finished filling the plate, and moved back over to the brunette, smiling as he did so.

As soon as he moved closer to offer her the plate, Jacques jumped down from his shoulder onto his forearm and began pecking hungrily at the bread. Instantly, Cas pulled his arm back closer to his body, causing Jacques to lose balance and flap his wings to maintain his perch on his human’s arm. “Jacques!” Cas’ tone was indignant. “Zat iz rude!” The chastised bird seemed to show no shame, and turned back to look at him. “But I’m hungry!” The bird wailed. Of course, even among the other Zodiacs, only Cas could understand what Jacques was saying, as he could all birds. Such was another oddity of the Curse. Each member of the Juunishi could understand their respective animals, and in turn, the animals understood them. “Ah, you should ‘ave eatzen earlier, zen.” Cas thought about telling the bird to apologize, but he quickly understood that, unlike his cousins, that would make absolutely no sense to her, and probably scare her. “Ah vell, one moment, petite dame.” He had the decency to look sheepish about the actions of his bird, and went to the sink to place the plate down on the counter, and then allowed Jacques to jump down and begin eating. That couldn’t have been healthy for the bird, but he was sure he’d eaten worse. So, he began preparing a new plate for Tamiko. He glanced up when he heard footsteps and voices to see Kouyou and Kisei enter into the kitchen, and wished them a cheerful good morning before turning back to his task. Just as he suspected, his family were beginning to arrive with the promise of food. The situation was a slightly tense one, as one wrong move could send their secret out the window, but Casimir found himself unconcerned by this notion. His cousins were capable. He doubted a mishap would happen. As he finished preparing a second plate, he glanced up to a familiar head of white hair coming towards him and Tamiko. Immediately, he felt a sense of becoming unnerved, as he was unsure as to how exactly Yasu would take to Tamiko’s presence. On the other hand, Cas was glad to see him, although the nasty-looking bruise on his face didn’t escape his notice. It must have been from the fight he had heard earlier.

When the Keeper addressed Jacques, Cas smiled as he heard an appeased squawk of acknowledgment come from somewhere behind him. His bird was such an attention-whore. He must get it from his human. He smiled even brighter when Yasu addressed him.

He watched as Yasu examined the girl with slight trepidation, and didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief when he said he knew her. The Rooster heard the sounds of his God, Dragon and Monkey about the same time Yasu did, and was about to turn back to offer Tamiko a piece of French toast when he saw said God, Dragon and Monkey enter the room. Immediately, his previous inner monologue about believing his cousins not creating opportunity for a mishap came flooding back to him, and he realized he had placed far too much trust and expectation in his family. The Dragon was normal, the God was normal, but the Monkey… was an actual monkey. A mandrill waltzed into the kitchen which did in fact contain an Outsider, talking as though it were completely normal. With a towel draped around him. In fact, Cas would have laughed had the situation not been so imminent. Fortunately, Tamiko was facing the Rooster, and the Rooster was looking at the monkey, so it was doubtful she had seen the incredibly odd display. But they needed to get one of the two out of the room quickly, before she noticed and before Toshi transformed back right there.

Bless Yasu’s quick thinking. Cas gave a quick affirmation that yes, checking on Ai would be a lovely idea. He didn’t know what had happened to the girl, but any excuse was a good one. As he quickly followed suit, he had a last minute thought to grab the plate of toast as his stomach growled to remind him. There should be enough there for the three of them, if Yasu were so inclined to partake. He stuffed a piece of the bread into his mouth, and right before crossing the threshold of the kitchen door, he turned around to give the rest of the family a wave and a thumbs up, before disappearing down the hall after Yasu and Tamiko.

As he caught up to them, he offered a piece of bread on the plate to the girl. “I zought you vould be hungry, Tamiko-san. I apologize to ‘av dragged you off zo rudely.” Though as he said this, he gave a look of gratitude to Yasu over the top of her head. “Ah, but you get to zee Ai-chan, no?” She was probably the reason the young lady came out here in the first place. He glanced over at Yasu again, taking in the shiner on his cheek. “And good morning to you, mon ami.” He greeted with a smile, as he had not been able to do so before, but it was tinted slightly in concern.

[frayedflower]

If it had been anyone else, Kouyou would have laughed when they went screaming and flailing about the hot sauce -- but it was Kisei, and so he bit his lip and watched tensely as he waited for someone else to do it. Someone would take care of him, right? It wasn’t like this was just anyone they were burning up here; with their luck, Kisei would find a way to slam his fat head against the table and turn purple for weeks on end.

He resisted the urge to snarl out his annoyance when Eri went ahead and just gave him a glass of water. Really? - did neither of them know how spicy worked? Water wasn’t the worst thing or anything, but come on! Really, when it came to the snake’s comment, he wasn’t sure whether to laugh because giant ape was actually kind of priceless (and any jab against Aka was a good one), or throttle her for insinuating something about Cheiko. Throttling was winning; as much as he hated Aka, he loved Cheiko more. His fingers clenched tight around his fork, bending the frail metal in his grip, as snarl bubbling in his throat, and -- then it happened.

Akatsuki was moving, and even if only from the corner of his eye, Kouyou never took his eyes off the god when he was on the move. But in the same token, he hated looking at him. Every hair on the back of his neck bristled, and all he could see was the Chouko from his childhood staring back at him. No, maybe Aka himself hadn’t been the one to oppress her. That had been made clear a thousand times. But he also hadn’t stopped it. He hadn’t freed her. His birth, his very being, were the whole reason she was trapped in a doll’s world in her would-be porcelain body.

Did he blame him on some level for his father? No -- that burden wasn’t Aka’s to bear. Kouyou’s mother had always made it very clear that the only reason his father was gone was within himself, and the tiger, as a cub, had easily accepted that as a truth. Even if he wanted to resent Aka for it, he’d just been too young, the memories too unclear. But he had plenty enough reason to despise him already; one more burden wouldn’t have made the grudge any more potent.

When he realized Aka was getting a glass of milk, Kouyou felt both surprised and suspicious at once. Was he doing that for Kisei? -- what did he want from the little pig? There had to be a reason. Or maybe it was just his way of showing Eri up. That wouldn’t be the worst case scenario; he’d still be using Kisei as a means for his own ends, but at least it would be more or less harmless and --

Oh, wait. No. No. The tiger slumped to the table and ran his fingers through his hair with a sound that was halfway between a haggard sigh and a growl. “My family’s a bunch of ******** sadists, “ he mumbled to himself, pushing back his chair with a screech and stomping back to the fridge. He grabbed the milk and snatched another glass, every ounce of his body language stiff as he went about getting another glass of milk for the stupidest little pig he’d ever met.

Which was why, when Aka actually turned to talk to him, he nearly knocked the glass right off the counter. He glanced back at the would-be god over his shoulder for a few fleeting seconds, his eyes narrowed like he was debating whether or not to even bother dignifying that with an answer. “Tamiko… Amasawa, I think.” His tone wasn’t as coarse as he wanted it to be; that happened more than once when Aka was involved, and that just pissed him off that much more. “She’s Ai’s friend, “ and that sounded more convincingly gruff as he all but threw the milk back in the fridge.

He whirled on his heel, just in time to hear Umeki completely diffuse the situation. The tiger grinned in response; and rather than greet her back in any normal way, he just declared loudly, “Seriously~ I’ve never seen a more smelly-a** baboon in all my life, " as he trailed back to the table and all but slammed the glass of milk down in front of poor Kisei. “Drink this, stupid, “ and again, really didn’t mean he was stupid; but it was stupid to eat that, come on! Anyone could see that! “Learn some ******** self-preservation already, would you?”

Then he went back to his seat -- the tiger paused for a minute to stare almost blankly at his bent fork. Oh yeah, that's right. He pushed it away from his plate with a disgruntled grunt and a scowl in Eri's direction before he went ahead and started shoveling food into his mouth bare-handed.

[xxPEACHFUZZ]

▉▉▉▉ ♔ ▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉

* s - set ┇ mex❤xFREE ╯
leave me bexxxleave me bexxxleave me bexxxleave me bexxxleave me bexxx
xxxxxxxxxx→ i don't.WANNA 〈 f - fall ✿ 〉
xxANOTHER ⊱ M ✿ M E N T INTO!YOUR
g - gravityxxxxg - gravityxxxxg - gravityxxxxg - gravityxxxxg - gravity

The room was spinning as five year old Ai opened her eyes. Brown hair stuck to her flushed face, and there was a sense of incoherence in the child's look. A burning sensation filled her throat, and she choked back whatever was trying to come up. In the Rabbit's cloudy mind, there were only thoughts of where her brother could be. Small feet hit the floor with uncertainty in their step and she wearily climbed out of bed, and slowly journeyed to the family room to find Yasu. "Yachan?" she called softly. Nausea overcame the child as she hobbled into the family room to find her mother on the couch folding laundry. It was a school day, and sixteen year old Yasu was probably being asked to write an equation on a black board in class. Ai stood in silence at the entry way of the room, and looked down at her feet with nervous tears in her eyes. Her stomach churned and she called for her mother. "Mama." Her voice was barely audible, and quite raspy but Ai's mother looked in her child's direction with apathy and slight disgust. All at once the Rabbit's throat burned again and she could no longer hold back vomit, which landed on the carpet. Sudden shouts filled the child's ears, and words like "disgusting" and "repulsive" were being slammed into her. Hot tears streamed down her face, and she looked up to see her mother's hand coming at her face.

Large brown eyes opened in terror. Ai clenched her teeth and curled her fingers in a fist to try to stop the warm river of tears that were falling down her cheeks. The memories of her parents seemed to be long forgotten, and only reappeared in her dreams. This one was a memory that popped up very often when Ai was sick, and each time it was remembered she felt a stab in her heart. The Rabbit slowly sat up, her shallow and irregular from crying. She pulled her legs in and wrapped her arms around them while she rested her face on her knees. Although the girl was no longer feverish, a light shade of pink still played across her skin and sadness had rimmed around her eyes in a soft red. In between sobs, she took a deep breath in and out, trying her calm her mind and shaking body. As Ai sniffled, she secretly wished that Yasu would come bursting in at any minute, and that he would pat her head and hold her hands until she fell asleep again, like he always did when she was sick. She took a deep breath in, and then sighed it out, trying to rid the selfish thoughts from her mind. Dry tear tracks were left on her delicate face and her sobs stopped.

Somewhat calm and lucid for the first time since she had woken up, Ai observed that she was in Cheiko's room. She pulled the covers off of her body, and pushed the stray hairs from her face. "What happened?" Her eyes were sore and felt swollen from crying as she put her hands over them and took another deep breath in and out. The Rabbit now sat with her legs crossed on the bed, and remembered that she had been going to get Umeki from the family room. Had she passed out? The shades of embarrassment played upon Ai's cheeks when she realized what happened. She knew that she would be scolded for letting herself get sick enough to black out, and would probably be banned from her garden walks for a while. As her mind sharpened further, she notice she was still in her human form and wearing a dress that did not belong to her. One of Cheiko's? Absent minded, she ran her fingers through the hem of the dress. "Yachan," she called out, knowing that her brother would not be able to hear her. Ai sighed at her childish lack of independence from her sibling, and rotated her body so that she could climb out of Cheiko's bed. She would have to remember to thank the Dragon, and bake her a cake for being her prince once again.

Once on her feet, Ai stretched. Her tiny body was sore from sickness and stress. Gathering her damp hair to one side of her head, she let it fall over her right shoulder. A sudden chill crept up her now bare neck and she shivered. The Rabbit still felt tired and so she let herself sit back down on the bed. Part of her wanted to be with people to distract her from her thoughts, and part of her wanted to die of embarrassment. Her family was going to have a field day with her dramatic black out. Ai groaned and fell back ward on the bed, deciding that she would only lay down for five more minutes.


┅ ┅ ┅ ( ❤ HERE ) iam &x&' I.S-STAND
xxxxxxxxxxxxs - so tall! s - so tall! s - so tall! s - so tall! s - so tall!
xxxxxjust!the W - WAY ⇡'M﹝ ✿ ﹞SUPPOSED to bex!
but you're on to mexxxbut you're on to mexxxbut you're on to mexxxbut you're on to mexxx
but you're on to mexxxbut you're on to mexxxbut you're on to mexxxbut you're on to mexxx
xxxxxxxxxxxx◟ A - AND allover ┇ ❤ me

[Liquor Lips]

tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab
tab tab tab tab tab █████████████████ ▌▌ ::☢ Kisei ! !
tab tab tab tab tab xxxxx✖✖✖ A Troubled Kind Of Mind ► ► ►

WHEN ALL OF YOUR FLAWS AND ALL OF MY FLAWSxxxxxARE LAID OUT ONE BY ONExxxxxALL OF YOUR FLAWS AND ALL OF MY FLAWSxxxxxTHEY LIE THERE HAND IN HANDxxxxxYOU HAVE ALWAYS WORN YOUR FLAWS UPON YOUR SLEEVExxxxxAND I HAVE ALWAYS BURIED THEM DEEP BENEATH THE GROUND

tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ╭☢ xx╭☢ xx╭☢ xx╭☢ I'm not crazy, am I?

►xxx:: Cheiko was as loud as ever it seemed, and he was glad to see her. Kisei winced a little at her loudness, but threw on a smile all the same. He liked Cheiko, and not just because she kept him from going six feet under a lot. Ok, so maybe most of the time it wasn't so bad, but the incident with the tongue ring had been a really good factor in that point. But that was another time and place. It was always nice to see the dragon, and he needed some cheer so early in the morning. She had shouted, or barked really, something about eating and for the first time he noticed the pile of food just sitting there. Really, he had smelled it on his way in. It was even the reason he had been making his way towards the kitchen in the first place, so how did he miss it? Not that he was really all that hungry, but it was nice to know that there was always a place for him to eat. He watched as the doctor went about gathering her own breakfast, wrinkling his nose when he spotted her grabbing her usual topping from the fridge. How she could stomach that stuff and not get heartburn was way beyond him. A smile broke out across his face when Cheiko plopped down beside him and wolfed down a big bite of food, before turning to him and offering a greeting.

►xxx:: Well, he assumed that it was a greeting anyway. It was hard to tell when she had a mouth full of food and her cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk. Really it all just sounded like a low powered vacuum to him. He just giggled at that, quirking an eyebrow when she covered her mouth and tried to keep some crumbs from spilling out. "Morning Cheiko, having a good morning?" he asked, completely ignoring all the bad things that had already happened so far. And it wasn't even noon yet, but oh well...that was his life. Smiling he waited as the dragon held up a finger, signalling him to hold on for a moment. He took that brief moment to throw a smile towards the god and the monkey that had accompanied the doctor into the kitchen. "Morning guys." he said, giving a wave to Toshi. He wouldn't say that he was surprised to see a monkey in the kitchen. This was the main estate, he was bound to see an animal or some naked parts at one point in time or another. he was just surprised that he had transformed so early in the morning. Briefly he wondered what had happened to make him go poof, but the thought drifted away as Cheiko seemed to regain herself and dragged his attention back to her.

►xxx:: "Hm, yeah I guess I am having a nice day so far." he said, smiling his big goofy smile at her. "I had a nice walk today." he finished of with that, not mentioning the little incident he had earlier. His wrist gave another little twinge at that, and he wondered how a bruise could hurt so much after forming. Well of course he knew why it hurt, this was his body after all and it was sort of stupid. He continued to rub at his wrist without realizing it, blinking as Cheiko asked him where Roku was. "Eh, I'm not sure. I don't think he was home when I woke up this morning." he said, furrowing his brow and looking down at the table as he thought about it. If he had been home, then he hadn't been awake, but that was strange for his older brother. Had he even come home last night? Maybe he should have tried a little harder to make sure his brother had been alright. It was the least he could do since the other was basically his father, right? Or would he have wanted Kisei to look in on him? That thought didn't settle well with him either, and he made a note in his head to check up on him if he didn't see him before sword practice. Maybe he would check and see if he had fallen asleep at his desk again, which meant that he would stop home to fix him something to eat real quick just in case.

►xxx:: He was pulled from his thoughts abruptly, when Cheiko reached out and took hold of his arm to inspect the nasty bruise that had formed. It made him blink, as he watched her for a moment. She was a totally different person when she was looking someone over, always more quiet and careful. Though it was probably just when she was working with him, as he did have a delicate position that he really hated, but he never said anything against it. He didn't mind it when she was like this, completely different than the woman who had just stuffed a pancake whole down her throat. He winced, when she let go as his arm had dropped a bit and he had to jerk it up to avoid hitting the table with it. "Ah, no it's fine Cheiko you don't have to..." too late, the doctor had already gone off and come back with an ice pack from the fridge and had sat back down next to him again. She was another one that he didn't want to have to bother if he could help it, but she always seemed to have other plans. "You didn't have to do that." he mumbled, but accepted the fact that she was just looking out for him. He reached out to take the pack from her, wanting to just placate her after the effort she had put in, but was stopped in his tracks when she reached over and pulled him into a sort of awkward half hug. It was the sort of hug that said 'I'm here for you', which was nice and the smile on his face turned into a small thank you.

►xxx:: He blinked when she pulled back, wondering what she was up to as she kept a hold on the ice pack and instead ripped off a piece of her french toast. “I know it looks weird, but you should try new things!” And then he knew what she was up to even before she handed him the fork that held the very clearly doused food on the end of it. He blinked, then swallowed as she placed the thing in his hand and he could almost smell the heat that radiated off of it. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the Siracha drenched toast, having a great dislike for anything spicy. But Cheiko had offered it to him kindly and he didn't want to hurt her feelings so he took the offered fork, wincing again as felt the coldness of the ice pack come in contact with his bruised skin. Almost immediately the pain lessened, and he let out a small sigh. Glancing back to the fork that he had been given he made up his mind, and after bracing himself all but shoved the thing into his mouth and swallowed only after three bites. He sat there for a moment, looking at the now bare utensil as he let it sink in what he had just done. It tasted horrible, and the burning he felt at the back of his throw began to grow and grow. Soon it felt as though his mouth was on fire and it took all that he had not to scream like a little girl. "Ah, it's hot, hot hot!" he managed to shout out at a mostly low tone though his voice did squeak once or twice on the second mentioning of how hot it was. God did it burn! He did not like that feeling. "Water, please someone give me some water!" he called out, dropping the fork onto the table with a clang and waving his hand in the air to gain everyone's attention. He didn't care who did it then, as long as they hurried up so he could quench the fire burning in his mouth.