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(( Skip me for Mitsu for right now guys, just assume she is following. Can’t think what to post XD; ))

In the time that everyone had left Neko had went to work on the medicine he needed to prepare for Riyo. Using an end table Neko hoped no one would notice the now permanent purple stain for the flowers he had crushed up on it. Mixing in a few herbs and other dry ingredients the medicine was almost ready to be made into a tea so Neko left for a few moments to get warm water from down stairs. When he returned he found that Riyo was awake and looking at the bed.

“Ah, I see you’re up,” Closing the door behind himself Neko made his way over to the end table and scooped up the medicine he hand neatly piled there and slowly drizzled it into the cup of warm water. He waited for a few moments for the warm liquid to take its toll on the medicine and break it up before he made his way over to Riyo. “Here, drink this.” He held the cup out to her, the water now a light lavender color and smelled of flowers and honey. Apparently Neko had put some honey in the warm water hoping to mask the bitter taste of the medicine a little. “It won’t taste the best but it will help speed up the healing process.”

Once Riyo was done Neko took the cup back from her and set it aside. From there he took a seat at the end of the bed looking at Riyo very seriously. She seemed to be doing better but he didn’t want to stress her too much, but at the same time there were questions he wanted answers to. Though, he wasn’t sure Riyo would even recall what had happened.

“Riyo, I want to ask you a few things, okay?” He waited for a response before he continued. “Back in the woods, when Mitsu handed you the flowers….do you remember what you said?” He looked around a minute to remember where he had placed the flowers. He had set them aside so they wouldn’t be crushed picking out the only two to three violets that Mitsu had picked.

Spotting the arrangement on the table, Neko stood to his feet and retrieved one of the roses. That had seemed to be the focus of interest when Riyo had spoken. Returning to the bedside he held the rose up to Riyo so she could see it. “When you held this, do you remember what you said to Mitsu?”

Wondering if he was going to get any answers at all Neko nodded his head, “Yes, you had said something to Mitsu. About the flower, your childhood, and before you went to sleep you mentioned your mother.” Neko looked at her expression curiously. It was like she was listening but it wasn’t to him. It was like she was listening to someone else in the room. “Riyo, do you remember anything about your past?” By her state of mind it seemed obvious enough but possibly there was a memory there just waiting to get out, itching to surface to shed light on the matter. The thought of uncovering something completely different didn’t seem to cross his mind.

By no means had Neko expected that reaction. “Riyo! Riyo calm down, you’re mother isn’t here! Riyo!” He tried to step closer but she had pressed herself up against the wall in a way that she looked like a cornered animal, frightened and about to be beaten. Unsure if she would retaliate like said animal, Neko continued on cautiously. “Riyo, are you okay?” She had reached behind her neck and brought back a crimson painted hand. Had she scratched herself? “What’s wrong, Riyo?”

Neko stepped closer still reaching out a steady hand to take hold of the wrist attached to her bloody hand while the other one reached forward to pull her head down to view the wound that evidently lay on the back of her neck. He hoped there wasn’t too much damage, but there did seem to be a lot of blood on her hand. “Try to stay calm.” Neko’s voice was even and smooth despite the situation. If one didn’t know any better you would say he had dealt with stuff like this before, but on the contrary.

A look of surprise overtook Neko’s face as he looked at the wound on Riyo’s neck. There was no way she could have done this to herself, but at the same time it looked so fresh like a newly made wound. Releasing Riyo’s hand Neko reached into his medicine bag and pulled out some bandages. They would work well enough to press against the wound and they were clean. Placing the bandages in the palm of his hand Neko pressed it against the wound, putting enough pressure to help stop the bleeding. At this point he was concerned about making the bleeding stop, he would worry about how such a wound got there later.

Somehow Riyo’s words seemed to strike a cord with Neko. It's.. Riyo's fault….M-mother hurt cause of Riyo... S-she was lonely... Riyo.. Drove everyone away... Oh how those words seemed so familiar in Neko’s mind. His grip tightened a little as his mind seemed to sway toward his own mother, remembering her face. She had always been sad, alone with only Neko for company. But despite that she had been a loving mother, taking care of Neko from the very beginning when she could have easily been rid of him.

“It’s not your fault and you don’t deserve any harsh treatment because of who you are,” Neko finally said though it was soft and his focus seemed to be else where. “And never let anyone every tell you otherwise.” He seemed to remember his mother telling him something like that once when he had asked why she was sad. If it was because of him and what he was that was making her that way. If it was his fault that they were outcasts.

Seeing that the bleeding had stopped Neko retracted his hand and rid it of the now used bloody bandage. He was at a loss for what else to say though his expression showed that he was lost in his own thoughts now as his mind raced back to his childhood. This world was a cruel one for those born differently, especially with a dark side to their existence. “Get some rest,” Neko finally said as he stood to his feet. “The others will be back in a while, they will probably bring you something to eat.” No doubt Hitsu would, she was always thinking of others.

"Well..." Hitsu started, looking from one shop sign to the next. "We could look around for a little while, and get something to eat when we're ready to go back to the inn?" It sounded like a good idea. She was hungry as well, but who knew how long they'd be permitted to look around? There were many buildings around, many much larger and fancier than the one that finally caught her eye. There was a glittering in the window, and she moved toward it curiously. Once she'd gotten close enough, it turned out that the light had been reflecting off of a glass orb displayed near the window; A crystal ball. To Hitsu, however, the first thing that came to mind were the glass crystals that she'd seen that made tiny rainbows when held in the sunlight. This couldn't be one of those, though, since it was smooth.

[And yes, I do intend for Hitsu (if not all three) to go into the shop... I'm just sleepy right now so I'm just going to post what I have.]

Following Hitsu closely Mitsu eyed the glittering orb beyond the window. It was pretty and shiny like the water. Tilting her head up she looked further into the shop trying to see what else it might contain when something else caught her eye. Throwing her fear of strange places and people aside, Mitsu walked up to the shop door and opened it stepping in without much hesitation. The inside was a little dark and was fairly well decorated. It reminded her of the nighttime with all the stars and charts hanging everywhere. What kind of place was this?

She looked around for a moment before she remembered what she had come in here in the first place to do. Searching for a moment she finally found what she had spotted through the window, a tiny statue of sorts. It had something inscribed on it about luck and fortune but Mitsu wasn’t sure what that meant as far as the statue went. It was pretty though, a lovely lady made of marble with long robes that draped passed her feet. Lady Luck was what the sign read next to it.

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Neko turned his gaze back to Riyo when she asked why he cared so much. “I’m not completely heartless to not care,” Neko smiled a bit. It was strange that he did care so much for this stranger, but maybe it was because they were alike in a way. But Riyo was really not different than Mitsu when it came to familiarity. “When you found us, you looked like someone that needed help. Just like Mitsu.” Of course, Neko knew that even if they had tried to leave them Hitsu would have thrown a fit. She had far to big a heart to just abandon someone in need. That’s what Neko had always liked about her, it didn’t matter who you were or what you were Hitsu didn’t care.