The Girl, the Yokai, and the Promise

"No, no. It's no trouble at all really. It's the least I could do, you know?" she said, cheeks flushing out a little. She thought she heard him talking to someone but she just ignored it and told herself that she was imagining things. She bent down and started picking up a few things as Kazuma did. She was a little embarrassed by some of the things that had been tossed around the room. Certain items were a little too girl or cute for someone like her. She couldn't help what she loved, though, she didn't like others seeing. Kazuma didn't see her as a regal ice queen like most people did though. Still, she was suppose to be a grown adult and she had quite a few stuff animals in her bedroom. She couldn't help it when they looked so cute! She walked over entrance way and picked up her bag that drop and took off her shoes. She began to clean out her bag and throw away her old food and wash the box in the sink. "Is there anything you would like? I went shopping last week so I still got some good ingredients left..." she said looking back at him from the sink.....
 
"Okay, if it's no trouble then." He replied, cocking his head to the side lightly upon noticing the faint flushing of her cheeks. Then he went back to picking up various items and placing them back on their original locations, giving them a curious look though he would not comment or ask Yukina about them. She had her tastes and a few of these things actually secretly suited the girl, plus Kazuma owned a few odd things too that most 'normal' people or yokai would possess. Old works of literature, art, weapons, and armor. His most prized possession was Nobunaga's sword that Kazuma's own grandfather had given the warlord when he first started his journey to 'unite heaven and earth', he had managed to uncover it and restore it back to its old glory. Occasionally practicing with the blade in case he needed to use it against another, even if he was a yokai, the wolf just couldn't always rely on his control over the window or his other powers. He needed to keep himself in tiptop shape. Once everything was put up, he walked over to the counter and gave Yukina a smile. "I'm not picky, anything you want to make is fine with me."
 
"Okay then, let's see what we have." she said, opening up the fridge. It had been awhile since Yukina cooked for someone else, so most of the time she didn't make enough for more than one person. She looked through her ingredients and found she just had enough to make both of them some chicken teriyaki. It was a simple dish, but all the same, still pretty good. "Chicken Teriyaki it is!" she announced, pulling out the chicken she needed. She started to cut the chicken, she noticed that Kazuma was watching her. It embarrassed her a little. When she was in middle school, she yearned for the chance to make him food. She use to practice all the time, even though her mother had a cook hired. The cook use to get so mad when Yukina first started. She would ruin pans and make some of the most fowl smelling things in the world. Now that she has been forced to make do on her own, she had gotten a lot better at it. She threw the chicken into an oiled pan and set the rice cooker to cook. She went back to stir the chicken. Trying to break up the silent, Yukina tried making small talk.

"So...are you okay? I was out cold for most of that and I didn't see if you actually got into a fight or not...."
 
Kazuma was mostly silent, pulling up a chair that was nearby so he could sit down and watch her. He had always wanted to try her cooking and see how she did it, sure, he had chefs but it just didn't feel the same. Plus he wasn't allowed in the kitchen so he couldn't watch them cook anything, that was probably because of the incident that happened in the kitchen when he was younger. "Sounds good." He commented, placing both arms on the counter and then resting his chin on them. Unknown to the wolf, his ears and tail had suddenly appeared and his tail was wagging in a way a happy dog's would and his ears were perked up like a curious puppy's. When it came time to eat, the clan would always force Kazuma away from the kitchen and into the dining room to sit in his chair, it was something he really didn't enjoy but it was something the head of the clan had to do. Soon, his mind wandered to what the female yokai had said and ran it several times through his thought process. What on earth did she mean testing something, whatever it was, he sure did not like her meaning behind it. Then he looked back over at Yukina and nodded.

"I'm fine, no marks or any type of wounds. There wasn't a fight at all, once I located her she quickly fled."

 
Yukina looked at him, and noticed his new features. She made a strange face, trying to hold back a laugh. He looked really adorable, him sitting there, wagging his tail. "That's good to hear." she said, letting a small laugh out. As she finished browning the chicken, she lowered the heat and added in the soy sauce, sugar and mirin. She stirred it a little and went into the fridge and pulled out some green onions to chop up. She moved the counter where Kazuma was resting and started to chop. She went back to thinking about the attack. It scared her, not only because the woman knew how to get to her, but that she attacked her at home. What if she was here on her birthday. Was her apartment safe enough? What about the people that live here as well? She frowned a little at the thought that other might be in danger as well. She decided to ask Kazuma about it.

"Hey......Kazuma? If they can get to me here, is everyone safe? When my birthday rolls around, would here be the safest place for me?"
 
Kazuma cocked his head to the side, curious about the face Yukina was currently making in his direction. When she laughed, he arched a brow but decided not to make any comment or remark, it will nice that she could still laugh or smile even after being attacked. That showed she wouldn't be easily affected when more showed up, though he would be on full alert now and would definitely be closer by now to easily get to her within a moment's notice. But still, it was pretty bold that a yokai would attack Yukina in her own home, it was also extremely dangerous which meant he'd have to sleep in the alley more often at night to make sure none tried a surprise ,night, visit. If it was like this now then there was no doubt it would be worse once her birthday rolled around and her powers finally revealed themselves; his name would only deter the lesser yokai. The stronger ones would easily attack without a care.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask that," He sighed lightly, "the others in the place probbaly wouldn't be bothered with. The safest place for you would be either in the holiest place with the strongest priest/priestess or in the home of a yokai."
 
Yukina let out a sigh. "Well, I don't know where the holiest place is or who the strongest priest or priestess is or how long it would take to find both and get to there." she finished chopping up the green onion and threw it in the pan with the chicken. "So that leaves a home of a yokai....." She stirred everything together and turned the heat back up. "Any suggestion?" she joked. She knew he lived somewhere in the mountains. They first met in the forest behind the temple, which lead up to the mountain. She wondered what kind of home he lived in. It mustn't be a very big home. There have been many records of people traveling up into the mountain at the temple. None of them said anything about a home up there. But he said he had a clan. Did he live in a hidden village up there? She tapped her spatula on the side and shut off the heat. The rice wasn't done yet so she pulled out two bowls and set it by the rice cooker. She leaned on the counter next to it and looked back at Kazuma for an answer.....
 
"Neither do I, my kind and holy places rarely get along; the temple before an exception of course." Kazuma replied, drumming his fingers against the counter top. Mount Fuji was a pretty holy place, with its secret inner sanctum but he wasn't sure if the monks that used to live there were still alive. It had been about fifty years since he had last been there and it wasn't exactly a nice trip to remember, a lot of fighting, curses, and drinking. "Well, there is an Oni colony not to far from here that is in an alliance with me, there are some crows about a hundred miles south of here." He rubbed his chin, "Some fox demons to the east, and I believe some sprites off at the nearby shore." The wolf told her before looking up to meet her gaze with a slight, teasing, smirk. Of course, his home was also available but he wanted to hear it from Yukina's own words; he couldn't help it if he wanted to tease the girl a little. She was pretty cute when she was embarrassed, flustered, or pouting. "Unless have any ideas or special requests?"
 
Yukina smiled as he returned the jest. She knew that best place for her was his place and that he wanted her to say that she wanted to go to there. She heard the tab pop up, signaling that the rice was done. Filling each bowl halfway, she moved over the chicken to add it on top. "I don't know how much you trust them. But I would just like to point out that out of the three yokai I have met, only one of them, didn't have the mind to eat me...." She suddenly had a thought. She knows that last time she teased him, he got really angry at her, but she couldn't help it.... "But you never know," she said, turning around and put a bowl in front of him. She pulled out some chopsticks for both them and handed him a pair, "Maybe I will meet the man of my dreams there. I'm sure with my current position, I would have plenty of suitors...." she gave a little sly smile as she set down her own bowl down. She pulled up a stool and sat down. She clicked her chopsticks at him, 'Who would you suggest?"
 
Kazuma took her response into consideration as he glanced out toward the balcony and scanned the horizon for anything. He was definitely going to have to be more alert for now on, he couldn't make the same mistake he had today, he couldn't let Yukina suffer like that. "The only ones I truly trust are the Oni and Foxes, the others I trust as much as I would a very bad gambler." The others may be in an alliance with his clan, but he knew at anytime their allegiance could easily turn and they would team up with a different clan if it worked in their favor. When Yuki started talking again, he turned his attention to the bowl she placed down then looked to her curiously as he took his chopsticks. Almost instantly, his ears lowered and his tail stopped wagging and instead spiked out in an agitated manner before both attachments disappeared. But he wouldn't catch her smile, Kazuma's attention would go back to the bowl as he pulled the chopsticks apart and was wondering how much it would take to blast them into smithereens. "Go for the Onis then, their only form is a human one so it wouldn't be too odd for you to live there. I heard their leader, Tsunarna an old friend of mine, is looking for a wife and I guess in female terms he is quite attractive. The foxes' second in command, is also in the market for a bride but I've never had the pleasure of meeting him. Then they probbaly have other members in their clans that are also available, you'll have a large number of men to find the man of your dreams."

Then an idea of his own popped into the young wolf's mind. "I've also heard that the leader of a Okami clan close to the temple you work at is looking for a bride. Though he's fine with starting out as friends and progressing through the relationship at a pace his future bride is comfortable with; from friends to, boyfriend/girlfriend, then to husband/wife."
 
Yukina let out a sarcastic laugh. That joke sure did back fired on her, huh? She broke apart her chopsticks and picked up a piece of chicken, pointing it at him. "You're funny." she said, eating the piece. She checked him out while he examined his food. Kazuma had grown up to be a good looking guy. She remembered him being such a scrawny kid. He definitely filled out since then. Their little moment on the couch confirmed that. Her cheeks burned a little and she quickly went back to her food. "So I am guessing you are never going to let that go, huh?" she said poking at her food before taking another bite. She had half the mind to cave into him but the old hurt still burned in the back of her mind. Maybe if she explained it to him, he would understand. She set down her chopsticks and folded her hands in front of her. "Okay, do you want to know the real reason why I think I will never get married? Do you really want to know what happened that made me decided that love is not for me?"
 
Kazuma glanced over at her while also breaking his own chopsticks apart, at least he had gotten a laugh out of her. When Yukina pointed the chicken towards him, he was tempted to eat it before she could pull it away. "I try." He replied, picking up his own piece and plopping it into his mouth. Then the young wolf turned his attention back to the food and started to eat, to be honest, her joke about possible suitors had made him pretty jealous. Yukina was cute when she was just a kid, but now she was a beautiful young woman and would definitely not have trouble finding a guy one she lightened up. "...I just don't want to let you down again and you could also say I'm selfish too; I don't want to let go of one of the happiest moments on my life." He told her but didn't go to meet her eyes. As the clan leader and with the war that raged on before Kazuma ended it, meeting Yukina and making that promise with her was what kept him going on when war broke out. When she asked him, he sighed, looking down at his chopsticks. "I'm not sure...I still want to hope someday you'll still find happiness, even if I can't give it to you." Kazuma would mumble very softly to the point where it almost could not be heard, then he looked at Yukina. "I'm all ears, I want to know what happened to you."
 
Yukina's eyes lowered to her hands and she let out another sigh "Okay." she said clearing her throat. "So, you know how my parents were fighting really badly before I left. Well, it wasn't always like that. My parents were a good couple. He brought her flowers, she kissed him off to work. Just your average love story that everyone wished for. But the fighting started. Fighting is normal, I mean it happens. But the fighting got slowly worst. My father started coming in much later then normal. My mother would stay up and wait for him. I would be woken up by their spiting matches in the middle of the night. I watched this so called great marriage fall slowly apart. I will always remember the day my father left. My mother was fighting with him, again. Then the truth come out. My father has been sleeping with another woman. Not only had he been sleeping with her, he been sleeping with her since before my mom and him got married. " Yukina let out a little laugh, "And the funny thing was that my mother was cheating on him too. Then they got into this fight if I was really his and it ended with him storming out and never came back. My heart broke. These two people were suppose to be in love and they just...." she let a sigh, "I don't know.....They were suppose to be my role models, teach me what love really was. But the only thing they taught me was that love was just something was so easily thrown away. " She rubbed her face with her hand. "I tried to find away to prove that love was more than that, but the more I looked, the more I realized that they were right. and I....I don't want that." She picked up her chop sticks and poked at her food again, "And that is when I decided love was not worth it. I don't want to give my heart to someone, just for them to so easily be able to throw it away without a care.....So there, I said it..." she said, picking up another bit food and took a bite. God, did she sound like a pitiful person. She hated it when she sounded like that. It was so much easier to say she just hated everyone and just wanted to be left alone. But in the end, she was too scared......
 
Kazuma nodded when she asked how he knew about her parents fighting, there were a few times when they were younger when she'd come crying to him about it. It always made him a little sad as he held her in his lap and tried his best to comfort her until the small Yukina would stop crying. As she continued, he placed his chopsticks down and pushed his bowl away slightly before turning his attention back to her so he could show she had his undivided support. After she was done talking, it could be seen that the wolf had visibly lowered a little as he hesitantly moved a hand and pulled her chopsticks away before placing them down and taking ahold of her hand with his own. "Something," He sighed, "Something similar was going on with my own family at the time. My parents weren't exactly in love, it was an arranged marriage and while my father eventually fell for my mother, she cared more about power than my father. She acted like she loved him in front of the clan with this huge, elaborate, act and had me and my two younger brothers but my father and I could see it was just a charade." Kazuma paused looking up to look at Yukina's face. It was easy to tell that this was a hard subject for him to talk about but he was going to do it anyway. "Once I was old enough, she attempted to plant doubts about my father into my mind and say that he was no longer fit to lead and that it was my duty to take over from his weak rule. Of course, I played along while I was really telling my father and that's when she tried to have him assassinated so I could succeed him early. But when it failed, my father and I knew we could no longer act oblivious to what she was doing and shared it with the clan. Then a few days later my mother just disappeared." Kazuma snorted and shook his head. "Likely with one of the men she was sleeping with." Then the wolf lowered his head and sighed a bit before moving to take her other hand with his and gently squeeze both of them. "Our situations are similar." Finally, he decided this was something he needed to say if there was any hope for her to ever open up to him or even for her to find happiness. "Yukina, I would never do something like that to you, I'd rather damn myself to the inferno." Kazuma leaned forward and grinned at her. "And when an Okami falls in love, they stay loyal for life. Even if I wasn't an Okami and instead was human..." He let go of one of her hands and raised his to gently touch her cheek, "I would still fall for you and be a loyal boyfriend and husband to you."
 
Yukina watched him as he told his story. For most of her childhood, he had been her comfort. Someone she could run to when she need someone to tell her that everything was going to be alright. She always wondered what was going on in that head of his. Even thought she could feel there was something wrong, he would still smile for her. And she loved that. She squeezed his hands when he took hers and never looked away as he spoke. He did it for her, it was her duty to return that same kindness to him. Her eyes started to water a little when he told her he would rather burn then betray her like her father did. When he touched her face, she closed her eyes and pushed back against it with her cheek. She really wanted to believe everything he was saying. To run away with him and never look back. But still that pain held her back. She laughed a little, "You're an idiot..." she muttered, still with a smile on her face, "You should be running scared. You would be much better off with someone else...." She lifted her face away from his hand and picked up her chopsticks again. "You should eat your food before it gets cold." she said, picking up a bit and putting it in her mouth......
 
Kazuma cocked his head to the side and gave her a lopsided grin while laughing softly. "That may be true but I'm your idiot." He stated, proudly, and cheerfully. Then when she pulled away, the wolf nodded before picking up his own chopsticks and thought about it what she had told him. "Nah, I think I like where I am. Bah, stop trying to get out of it missy, I fell for you and you're not getting rid of me so easily." Smirking, he picked up another piece of chicken and popped it into his mouth and hummed a little. It was actually nice, being able to tell someone besides his clan what had happened between his parents and being able to confide in someone who had a similar situation. "Yes, yes, I'm eating, Yuki. See?" He dramatically shoveled some rice into his mouth before closing it and chewing. Then noticing some rice on the corner of her lips, he picked it off with his free hand before placing it in his own mouth with a soft smile before he continued to eat. "Still a somewhat messy eater when it comes to rice I see." The wolf teased, glancing in her chicken before taking some chicken and rice into his mouth. "You know, I may have to come over more often. You're a really good cook." He beamed.
 
Yukina smiled as he joked about him being her idiot and nodded. This felt nice, being open with someone for once. And at least it was someone who cared about her feelings. Whenever she tried to talk to her mom about it, she would brush it off and her step father said that she should go see a counselor if she was having problems like this. No, this is what she needed. She needed what Kazuma always had for her. A warm place and gentle smile. When he wiped the piece of rice off her mouth, she blushed a little. She checked her face for more. When he said that her wouldn't mind coming over more often, she nodded her head. "I actually wouldn't mind that. Sometimes I eat with my uncle, but sometimes it gets a little boring with him." she said with a smile, "And thank you. I use to be a really terrible cook, but living by myself has forced me to get better so I can stand my own cooking." She finished her food and stood up, "If you want more, there is some. If not, I'll take your bowl, so I can wash it." she said taking up her own stuff and going to the sink to wash out her bowl.......
 
Kazuma went back to eating his food while humming. Being able to sit on a stool and not be surrounded by loads of people was nice, he was so used to being surrounded by his clan when it came to eating. The room was big enough so everyone could have their space but they always crowed around him and talked way too loud, and Kaz just didn't have the heart to push them away. Plus being able to actually talk about something other than his duties was a nice change, hence why there were times when eh would go missing; just lazing around the forest or temple where others wouldn't think to look for him. He needed a break now and then, he deserved it. "I can attest to that, he's not the best man to have an interesting conversation over dinner. He even makes me bored with all the facts, and then he always reviews my duty as the temple's protective yokai." He replied, finishing off the rest of his bowl. "You..terrible at something, oh how I would have loved to see that, I could have teased you then." The wolf laughed while looking up at her. "No thanks and I'll wash my own bowl, it's the least I can do." He said to her while standing up. Then he followed her over to the sink but stood off to the side so she could have some room to wash her bowl.
 
Yukina laughed at his joke about teasing her. She nudge him with her hip when he stood next to her, trying to be a little playful. She washed her bowl slowly, using the time as an excuse to stand next to him longer. She wanted to lean on him. It had been so long and she felt so safe right now. She let out a sigh. They didn't actually discuss where she would be going for her birthday. She was still curious about it and the it was probably better for her to be there. He may have suggested other clans but there was only one person she really trusted. She finished washing her bowl and put it in the drying rack. "So....Can I stay at your house for my birthday?" she said, gripping the sink rim and leaning on it. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, her cheeks pink from embarrassment.
 
Feeling Yukina nudge him, Kazuto chuckled, glancing in her direction with a cheerful smile. Watching her clean the bowl, he mimicked her actions before turning his attention fully to the bowl and his thoughts roamed. Maybe visiting Mount Fuji would be wise, perhaps the monks there still lived and knew of a way to help Yukina with her powers or maybe Yukina's uncle could point them in the right direction. Or as he suggested, staying at one of the other clans if she wasn't comfortable being in the place he lived. Snapping himself to reality and looking at Yukina, he threw the thoughts about her going to another clan out the window. Placing his bowl on the drying rack too and wiping his hands off on the towel, he turned and rested his side against the sink before leaning towards her a little. Seeing the light tint on her cheek, a large, mischievous, grin would plastered his face and his eyes would brighten. "Of course you can, I can probably whip up a cake for your birthday and through a proper celebration." The wolf stated then straightened himself up before taking a step towards her. Keeping his smile, one arms moved under her legs and the other went behind her back; pulling her away from the sink and picking her up in the traditional princess carry. "Anything for you."
 
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