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 Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 9:48 pm
Sometimes Tomoko could be considered to have too gentle of a heart for a demon. She got lost easily, cried even more easily, was far too sensitive for her own good, and sometimes could even be considered kind. Not that she wanted to be a kind creature that just ended up some familiar, but she wasn't made of the same toughness that many of the other creatures in her dorm were.
Which had been what Tomoko's real attempt had been when she'd written the post it notes in very poor English script. Her handwriting could even have been considered sloppy. But she'd spent a lot of time making the legible and putting a lot of thought into each and every one of them.
Desades had helped, leaving some of the post its with paw prints on them and the occasional nibble.
The kitsune, after some effort and struggle, had finally written up a note for every door in the demon dorms of something she thought they did exceedingly demon-like at. It had been with that in mind, she'd tucked her ball of stars under one arm, taken the notes with her other, and struck out.
First door had been Barth's; 'You are true to your demonic brethren and what they stand for'. Messy room, lazy, yada yada. It was very fitting for a Sloth demon! Then there had been Riley's; 'You demand great respect from your peers'. Many had followed, each detailing things like 'Thank you for not letting that shark nom me. You handle a weapon well' or 'You are a very scary man, please don't eat me' on the door of one of the horsemen she'd met on the island-of-horrible-things.
She didn't want to think about the island of horrible things.
It was when she'd gotten to a door she hadn't knocked on at all in the past that she stopped, staring at it and seeming to panic to the point of having a near fit outside of it. Or maybe just suddenly on the verge of tears. The thought she was a horrible person crossed her mind more than once, and Tomoko soon went through her pile of notes, finding the one that was numbered in one corner to go to this particular door.
She looked at it long and hard.
'You seem to be well informed and handle group behaviour well'.
She paused, making a face. Who was this again? She squinted her eyes a bit, before she reached out to put it on the door cautiously. Oh god, what if she'd read this person completely wrong in some sort of chance meeting and he thought she was awful for assuming horrible things like what she'd written about them on the note?
Tomoko pulled the note off of the door, then looked at the other doors.
She'd left one for everybody else!! She couldn't just ignore this door because she was anxious!!
She put the note back on it.
Then removed it again.
Then back on....
it turned into a vicious cycle of panic and uncertainty.
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:18 pm
These days, Erebus had a tendency to either shut himself up in his room to read or hang out in his brothers' rooms. Sometimes, he had wondered what exactly was the point in coming to Amityville Academy, and face it, he was kind of homesick, but he wasn't about to tell anyone that. Not even his brothers; it was a tight lipped secret that only he himself knew. What with constantly reading books about the Cerberus ancestors, and especially that one.
The story with his ancestor meeting that kitsune and having lost her; Erebus could read it over and over again without ever being bored of it. It kind of made him a sappy romantic, he had thought, and usually shoved the book underneath his bedsheets when he left his room. Just in case. He couldn't very well have someone like the Gorgons sneaking in and stealing it. Or reading it and then laughing at him and spreading it to the whole school.
Ugh. He groaned at the thought, his tail hanging limply as he stared up at the ceiling. He was intending to simply laze there for as long as possible, but then his ears pricked up, alerting him to some movement outside his door. Gorgons? He thought, panicking. No, wait, it didn't smell like them. It wasn't his brothers either. So who was it skulking outside his door?
Cautiously, he made his way over to the entrance to his room, wondering what he should do. Whoever it was, it sounded like they were still out there, which meant their destination was his door, right? But they won't exactly knocking...
It didn't hurt to open the door. Erebus thought, and did just that. "Hey--" He began, because it was good to greet someone amicably in case it was just some poor lost soul. What happened next was utterly beyond his imagination.
There was now a post-it on his chest, right below the skull clasp that held his tie. And the culprit behind it was a really really cute kitsune girl. W-whoa. He thought, heartbeat quickening, and he could have sworn that his face was turning red. Stop staring, you moron! In a moment of panic, he shifted his attention to the note, plucking it off and reading what was on it.
'You seem to be well informed and handle group behaviour well'.
"U-uh, thanks? That's... really nice of you."
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:52 am
Put it ba-
!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tomoko's three tails had immediately puffed up in surprise when she had missed the door opening and put the post it on another student instead, immediately dropping the rest of the notes and just cradling her ball of stars in her hand, rubbing her palm over the surface of it with a sort of security-blanket esque dedication.
Clearly she hadn't been expecting someone to open the door and suddenly be there.
The kitsune gave Erebus a wide-eyed stare once she finally looked up from the ball of stars in her hand, offering him a shy smile.
"t-thank you..." she whispered, ears perking up ever so slightly. "I....wasn't sure what else to put on there." She looked down at the pile of post its she'd sent flying in her sudden panic and her ears drooped, a frown coming back.
"....Ouuuu... I seem to have...." she scratched the side of her head gently. "Made a mess....oops...."
Tomoko bent down, setting the ball of stars down gently to start picking up the notes she'd sent flying everywhere.
"I tried to write one for everybody, but when I got to your door I panicked trying to remember why I'd written what I had for you..." she explained, seeming almost ashamed of her own uncertainty.
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 9:47 am
"Oh man." He said, wincing as he realized that he had caused her to make a mess of her things. Her notes. She was sticking it on everyone's door, it seemed, and Erebus thought that it was pretty adorable. It was some little encouragement, positive feedback thing that people would like to get, right? He shoved the note that had earlier been on his chest into his pocket, and bent down to help her.
"So uh, you've seen me around before?" Wait, no, that was like he was accusing her of stalking people in order to put these notes right? Ugh! Smooth, Erebus. He thought with an inward groan. Real smooth. "I mean, uh, I haven't seen you around before. I really should have," because she was a kitsune and she was adorable, and he HAD to tell his brothers this news ohgod, "so I guess I'm kind of bad at being social, I think." He paused, and his brain totally started yelling at him for being an utter moron.
"I'm Erebus, by the way." He said quickly, holding out his hand for a handshake. "One of the Cerebus triplets. We don't really look that alike, so it's not that hard to tell us apart actually..." Awkward moment: He just realized that the hand he extended was full of the post-its he helped her pick up. He used his other hand to frantically grab hold of the notes and then offered an empty palm instead.
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 10:21 am
Tomoko gave the boil a long stare, her ears drooping. If he hadn't meant for that to make it sound like she was a stalker, it hadn't worked. The idea that Tomoko had spent possibly days trying to figure out the other demon's in the dorm was not entirely impossible, but the realization that it might have been creepy... well....
The thought was quickly abandoned with the correction, the kitsune's tails twitching in a sort of 'wag' against the floor.
"Well that's no good. I try to spend time with everybody who will have it." she explained, her words enunciated carefully. It was almost practiced, the way she spoke. It could even have been considered unnatural if one wanted to be bothered by it.
"Being bad at the-social isn't too unfortunate though. I think I could help you fix that." she smiled, her words clearly an invitation to spend some time with the kitsune at the boil's leisure. She had nearly taken the offered hand without a thought, before pausing and letting him fix his faux pas with a small smile.
Then she took it once he had amended it.
"I am Tomoko, a kitsune. I live..." she paused, seeming to be trying to orient herself as to where her room was before she crinkled her nose gently and just made a giant circular motion with her hand to gesture the entire building.
"Around here somewhere."
"I have not met a Cerberus before, Mr. Erebus. What kind of demon is that?" she seemed genuinely interested to hear about it, her head tilting to one side.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 7:55 am
"I spend a lot of time with my brothers." He explained. And books. Not a thought he wanted to voice out loud, because Erebus being a bookworm was sort of his own secret. Sure, Arthur and Thackery knew, because duh, they were triplets, but he didn't really want it getting out and be teased relentlessly by those stupid gorgons. It wasn't as if he was accusing her of being allied with the gorgons; besides, he was sure she wouldn't be. It was just that walls had ears and one always had to be careful, right?
"Really?" Erebus' ears perked up, black tail wagging behind him. She said she'd help him! She was nice, as well as adorable! He couldn't stop the grin from spreading on his face as she shook his hand; they were kind of friends now, right? Okay, acquaintances, because friends was probably stretching it a bit, but he was acquainted with a kitsune now! Named Tomoko! It was a really nice name.
"You haven't?" He echoed in surprise. He had to remedy that! Arthur and Thackery had to meet her! "Well, the Cerebus demons are the Guardians of the Underworld. Their mission is to guard the Gates of Hades, and not allow anyone in." Of course, there had been exceptions, he thought. Exceptions that were follies, like that story.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:44 pm
Tomoko smiled as the demon boy spoke, propping her chin in the palm of her hands and giving him a thoughtful look. Oooooooh!
"That is very interesting! Kitsunes.." she paused, seeming to think of an interesting way to label her people, before sighing. "We make illusions, play tricks...though some are quite nice from what I have heard. My father tells me one of my ancestors was a very nice kitsune who had a very noble sister." she smiled, but said no more beyond that, her tails wagging slightly against the floor.
"Though I will admit I am not the best at making illusions however." she admitted, holding out one hand, before pressing the other to the ball of stars settled on the floor, the surface seeming to glitter underneath her touch. The held out hand seemed to glow before a roll of paper formed in her palm.
She offered it out to him.
"It doesn't really..uhh.. feel like paper, see? I can mostly only trick the visual sense at this time."
Tomoko seemed very disappointed by this.
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:04 am
One of my ancestors was a very nice kitsune who had a very noble sister.
Erebus' heart seemed to halt as his brain automatically zoomed straight to the story ingrained in his mind that he was obsessed with adored reading. He wasn't jumping to conclusions, right? That kitsune in the story had been awfully close to her sister and she had been nice. "That sounds like an interesting story." He ventured carefully. "We have stories of our ancestors as well. One was banished as he had failed to guard the gates because he decided to help a noble spirit." Her cause had been noble. She had even drawn back from that evil spirit because she didn't want to get his ancestor into trouble...
He reached out to her illusion; she was right, it didn't feel like the paper notes he was clutching in his other hand. "That's still pretty good though!" He said in encouragement, hoping to cheer her up. "I mean, we're all here to learn, after all. I can just make a wall of fire. And it's not very impressive. Oh, and I can turn into a dog, but that is kind of obvious." And that form wasn't huge and imposing... yet.
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Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 10:48 am
Tomoko frowned a bit. "That's a very sad story. Helping out someone shouldn't be punished by banishing from home." she reached out and patted Erebus's shoulder gently. "I'm very sorry to hear such a mean thing happened to your family."
The paper fluttered from her hand and dissipated once Erebus had taken a look at what she'd meant about her illusions being..lackluster, she guessed. She'd have to practice them at home over the summer, she guessed. Dad would help. He'd frown at her lack of progress, but he would help!
"Ohhh! A wall of fire? That is a rather nice sounding ability. I can.." she paused, crinkling her nose up cutely. "Kind of make fire." Her hand went over the ball of stars in her possession. "It isn't a very flammable fire, but it's..kind-of-fire." The kitsune laughed a bit...though a sly look came over her face. It was adorably sly. Tomoko wasn't good at devious, but she did at least have something resembling a naughty streak.
"Do you want to see?" she asked, looking around the hall to check for anybody who might tattle on her, before finally standing up. The crouching position was actually a bit of a pain to remain in for a long period of time. Her legs burned a bit as she got back up.
Ohhh, they burned. She shook them out a bit, careful not to hit her tails. Tomoko was always careful around them as they curled amongst her feet in a sort of natural way.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:56 am
"The story's been passed down for generations." Erebus said with a sigh, wondering how long ago it had been since that had occurred. "Maybe you'd like to hear it one day?" It would also, perhaps, serve as a confirmation as to whether or not her ancestor was that very kitsune?
"A kind-of-fire?" He asked, ears perked in interest. So hey, that was totally cool because they both dabbled in fire magic stuff, right? That was what he thought so, at least, besides, that cunning look she had on her face right now was possibly one of the most adorable things he had ever seen.
"I would!" He said brightly, his tail giving a little wag in excitement. He got up too, a hand still clutching the notes, and he made a mental note to return them to her later. Or maybe even help her in putting them on doors... even though he didn't really know the others.
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:08 pm
Yeah, Tomoko was adorable by default. Not intentionally, but it was sort of by default. She nodded confidently before she did another sweep of the hallway to make sure nobody was there watching her before she nodded again, pumping one fist as though it was required to boost her confidence.
"Okay!"
She balanced her ball of stars between her hands, it seeming to glow beneath her fingers, a small wisp forming in front of her. It seemed like a weak little thing, like it's fragile conjurer, before suddenly...
FLASH
It burst into a sudden, quick, and very bright light, before vanishing again, leaving behind the barest of heat. Tomoko swooned on her feet, having apparently done the stupid thing known was 'looking into her own flame'. Which just had her about ready to fall over from the shock of it.
Though in that case, it was the point of what she was doing. Bright, quick, and meant to blind. Or rather, only capable of blinding at that point.
Ow.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 10:23 am
Erebus grinned in anticipation, attempting to hold back his excitement; no, he was not about to bounce or wag his tail because she was about to show him a cool trick, which meant that she had an okay opinion of him... Okay, yeah, his tail just twitched, but he had to resist, focusing on staring at the ball of stars... ...
Although his gaze also kept flickering back to Tomoko's face. It was kind of unintentional, because he was interested in what she was about to show him. And what if she thought that he wasn't and and...
There was a bright flash before and Erebus' hand immediately flew up to shield his eyes. The heat was nothing much, considering where he came from, and after he lowered his hand, he noticed how shaky she looked. Concern and worry flooded him and he moved forward to grasp her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Are you alright?"
...Of course she wasn't really alright. That was a really moronic question to ask, Erebus thought with a grimace.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 10:43 am
Tomoko leaned against the Cerberus boil. She could have sworn she was seeing stars everywhere, but she was likely the only one seeing them at that moment. The ball of stars cradled in one arm, she grabbed onto Erebus's shirt with the other one, teetering just a little bit, leaning her head against his shoulder meekly.
"g-Gimme a second...I really....need to remember...to not look...." she blinked a couple of times - or rather, a couple of lot of times, teetering in place even when she held onto the larger body of her current-hero-from-blindness. "I can't see a thing......" Tomoko's ears drooped as she realized she'd temporarily blinded herself using her display - a fitting punishment for having broken the rules.
She'd stand there holding onto him for about a minute, her eyes watering from repeated blinking as she tried to readjust to the much darker interior of the hallway, laughing a bit at herself.
"I always look.." she laughed, before looking up at Erebus's face, ears perking up. "Are your eyes okay? I didn't blind you, right?" Oh, she hoped not!! ;;;;
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:43 am
The close contact was causing his face to heat up slightly, and Erebus hoped that it wouldn't show. It was very unlikely the heat he was used to at home; this was something blazing beneath his cheeks, not surrounding him. He lifted up a hand and patted her head gently, glad from her reassurance that she would be fine soon.
"Nah, I'm um... alright." He didn't think it was wise to mention that he had glanced away from the ball to stare at her ears. But at least he hadn't been blinded too, or they would both have been stumbling around and might have bumped into each other or a wall. "I see what you meant by a kind-of-fire though!"
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:51 am
Tomoko smiled when Erebus said his eyes were fine, the tips of her three tails lifting up just the smallest of bits. But it definitely was a happier posture. She blinked a few more times before rubbing her eyes a-..
....
.....
OH. SHE WAS UH... UMM.. UHH...
It seemed the kitsune had just noticed the proximity and the fainted of blushes formed on her face as she carefully pulled herself away from the Cerberus. It wasn't really a retreat, but she definitely had the same sort of 'OH. UH.. CRAP. HI. CLOSENESS. DURR' reaction that had prompted the heat in Erebus's face. Tomoko hadn't even noticed it on his part.
She was too busy being embarassed for clinging.
"I'm..uh..thank you for..the.." she used her non-ball of stars holding hand to gesture to her shoulder where his hand had ended up in keeping her from toppling over from blindness. "Yeah..."
There probably would have been a long awkward pause but Erebus changed the topic back to her 'flame' and her ears perked right up. Yeah, that was a good distraction!
"Yeah. Chichiue is much better at it than I am...but that's why he's Chichiue...."
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