Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Wander, wander, wander... hm?" Akou thinks as he hears an unfamiliar voice. He turns and steps back slowly but says nothing. His tomato red hair seemed to have prickled a little as if he had been startled but his face didn't show it. The frown he had was still plastered on his face and his crimson eyes were still burning but seemed to have changed; his right eye radiating a dim mystical light and the other seeming rather bloodshot. Then, all at once, his expression becomes amused. He recognized her from Fushou's memory. “Speak of the devil,” Akou mutters to himself as he places a hand over his face a moment then shuts his eyes. He inhales slowly and then exhales. Once opening up his eyes again, they would be the same eyes he’d have before, clear and crimson. “So you’re Tsutae, huh? The wet look suits you,” Akou replies sarcastically lowering his hand. As he spoke he wondered why she showed herself now and to him. He wondered why she didn’t just go after Fushou and Hikai. Then, before he knew it, he was beginning to form what he planned to ask her in his head. He was about to spew forth wonderings that he found quite entertaining. “Aren’t you supposed to be tracking Fushou?” He asks, turning from her to look in the direction Fushou and Hikai had run in. “Are you trying to pull something over? Why would you reveal yourself to me?” He continues, tilting his head in her direction with one eyebrow raised.

“Let’s go then,” replies Tama starting to walk a little ahead of Yuriko. After a moment he hears a light thud but thinks nothing of it. It took Tama a moment before he realized what the thud was behind him. He freezes before slowly turning to see Yuriko passed out on the ground. For a moment he says and does nothing. He just stares down at her. Finally his face grows pale and sweat drops line the sides of his face. “Gah!” Tama yells as he clutches his mask tightly in his hands. “Y-Yuriko-chan? Now isn’t the time to fall asleep… Maybe she’s Narcoleptic…? Low blood sugar…? Dehydration…? Just plain sleepy…?” Tama gets upon his knees beside her body. He reaches his hands towards her before tugging them back and then doing the same thing over again. He didn’t know what to do. Was she breathing? Tama begins to lean forward in order to try and listen to Yuriko’s chest to see if she’s breathing before stopping. Even though he had a good intention that was still her chest he planned to plant his face near. What if Akou saw that?

Tama places his ear to Yuriko’s chest a moment before smiling. She was still breathing which was good but so was somebody else; very loudly too. It sounded like someone that was hyperventilating or something. Tama turns around slightly before his face grows pale once more. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING TAMA?” Akou bellows as Tama flickers to his feet. He extends his hand out in front of him defensively before noticing Akou was no longer there. “Die,” Akou states gliding past Tama and over to Yuriko as blood spews from Tama’s mouth. Jammed in between Tama’s rib cage nearest his heart could be seen part of a kunai, the rest inside of him.

Tama’s mouth drops as he imagines that scenario. He even doubted just listening to her breath through her mouth or nose wouldn’t be seen as Tama trying something with her to Akou. He typically acted before thinking. And even if he were to find out that she wasn’t breathing he couldn’t do anything. Mouth to mouth resuscitation was even worse than innocently listening to the air filtering in and out of her chest. Tama considered himself a friend of Akou’s but he highly doubted Akou would let Tama use mouth to mouth on Yuriko even if he didn’t misunderstand it as something else. “I’ll just take you to Akou,” Tama finally declares snagging up Yuriko and gently cradling her in his arms after placing on his mask.

Back in town, perched high atop a building, Hikai sat. One leg dangled over the side of the building while the other was propped up and supporting his arms, supporting his head. His chin digs into his arms as he stares absentmindedly before him. Behind him Fushou stood staring in the direction Hikai was. After a moment Fushou begins removing his cloak. As he did he began to remember the pain he’d felt from the blade of his opponent entering his body. He hadn’t felt such a pain before in his time being a part of the human world. He didn’t exactly like it. Even though, when it happened, he wasn’t really in control he still felt the pain. It was as if he was inside of his body but someone or something else was controlling it. Fushou clenches his fist then opens them before doing it again. He stares down at his hands before looking down at his cloak upon the ground. He adjusts the tattered white shirt he wore that seemed much too big for him before stepping over to the buildings edge. He sits beside Hikai a moment before looking over at him. “What is it?” Hikai asks as Fushou looks away from him nervously. He stutters a while before Hikai’s eyes slide over to look at the nervous child. “Akou and I were bound to go at it sometime. Though it wasn’t as serious as it could have been… as it should have been. Fighting is a natural thing. We are always fighting something so what does it matter if it’s Akou? We conflict in any and every way. And I hate who he is. So fighting between us will always be. Don’t be so down about it.”

“But you and Akou should try understanding one another.” Fushou replies as Hikai grunts. “You and Akou know very little about each other person wise. Maybe if you two tried getting along then you wouldn’t hate each other, you would find common ground, you wouldn’t fight.”

“You think like a child.”

“Because I am… I mean! Oooo, what I said wasn’t what a child would say.”

“Not exactly but it would be just as naive. Just try not to worry about things that you shouldn’t. This is between Akou and me. So just play like you don’t notice any of it.” Hikai replies as Fushou pouts. Every time Hikai looked at Fushou he would sense evil in him but also innocence. He had heard that Death Swallowers were similar in origin to Death Eaters. And the Death Eater Hikai knew—the one named Sei who leader of Dragon Coven that Hikai belonged to—was a very dark individual. He was evil but in an almost innocent way or perhaps evil in an almost idiotic way. He liked things that most would consider evil or perhaps morally wrong. But he didn’t seem to do evil things unless he didn’t know any better. He was like a child who didn’t see why bad was bad and good was good. But, unlike Sei, Fushou wasn’t an evil individual. The only time that Hikai noticed Fushou’s evil side was when he fought in Hidden Moon. And even then he wasn’t sure if what he had been told about Death Swallowers was true or not; that they are born from the greed and treachery in the world. Was Fushou’s innocence just some trick? Did he really care whether or not Hikai and Akou fought? Or was he after something and needed Akou and Hikai to get along in order to get it? Was he really the boy Hikai saw? Or did he possibly have another side to him that held that greed and treachery? “Fushou…?” Hikai starts as Fushou looks over at him. Hikai notices the way that Fushou sat, a perfect mimic to the way Hikai sat, and soon shakes his head. “No…”

“What is it Hikai?”

“It’s just… I wonder… Why are you a member of Utter Calamity? Unlike me, you didn’t join because of what you are and the fact that you were apart of Dragon Coven which is a small squad under Utter Calamity. You joined the head group, Utter Calamity, after finding your way to Feudal Spain somehow. So, why did you join? What brought you there?”

“I joined because I was alone. Well, I felt alone anyway.”

“Felt alone?”

“I always travel around with a Descartes named Lite; though she’s not here now because she’s looking for something. But she wasn’t solid like me or you because she’s a spirit. So I sort of wanted more company than just her. So one day I told Lite. She was the one who led me to Feudal Spain. I joined Utter Calamity because the people there were the only ones that noticed me. The other people I’d met paid me no mind or didn’t care to have me around because I’m a Death Swallower.” Hikai stares at Fushou whose face was slightly covered by his hair. After a moment the boy looks up at Hikai and smiles cheerfully. Again Hikai was confused.

“Wait… you’re friends with a spirit?”

“Not friends really, she’s more like a mother to me. She’s not like many spirits that float around or have passed on. She can take up a body if she so wishes. And sometimes, if you look real hard or she wants to, you can see her.” Hikai raises an eyebrow a moment before Fushou turns to stare out before him. "I have to go..." Fushou states as he stands. Hikai begins to stand but soon shakes his head. If Fushou had to go then he would not follow after him. "Don't worry, I'll be right back," he continues with a smile before rushing off. Hikai began to wonder if Fushou had the makings to be his best friend. But as soon as that thought entered his head the image of Grimace also enters his head. Why was he thinking about her now? Why was she always on his mind no matter what he did?