Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): Monster Academy - Taking Root in Strange Climates

[Karren Gaunt]

It was late in the afternoon of Yuuki's second full day at the Academy when, with the jiggle of the door unlocking and the turning of a doorknob, Yuuki entered her dormroom. She was dressed in dirt-stained gardening clothes, hair in a ponytail high on the back of her head. Her expression shifted from the polite, reflexive half-smile she could fake with ease to an honest grin when she shut and locked the door behind her. Truth be told, she wasn't enjoying her accomidations as much as she had hoped she might. The other male monsters in the building were... brutish as a rule, a few going so far as to try and corner her physically. She had been *this close* to unMasking a few times and showing them how the Hina had earned their peace, but Kyohei-San had stepped in and then the overt threats had stopped. Somehow.

The leers that followed, while uncomfortable, were not *much* worse than the cliqueishness of some of the more-unpleasant girls, still... Thank goodness for Kyohei-San and the Gardening Club. The former for being so understanding, and the latter for being, well... As close to home as she had any reason to hope to find here. They had welcomed her imediately, and the resulting two afternoons of working with her fellow young Elementals in couching the ground and water to meet the needs of the plants on the grounds and in the vegetable garden were...

Well, if she didn't have studies to attend to, she'd still be there. The young dryad stripped off her gloves and called out, "Kyohei-San, I'm back."

[Justin OOC]

Kyohei had just finished his search for a good picnic spot and was covered in the smells of the woods, sweat, and exertion. "How'd your day go Yuuki?" He called out as he emerged from the kitchen.

The smells of a light meal wafted through the air, mostly smelling of rice, and baked chicken.

One thing further about Kyohei was that he was a fairly solid neatfreak, in that he kept his area of the dorm clean, and never left things laying about. His Japanese heritage was evident though, in that by the door was a crate with his shoes within it.

[Karren Gaunt]

"It went very well today. The Gardening Club and I went around the grounds after class and helped the trees to start reaching their full potential. Aparently, I'm one of the first dryads to attend the Academy with an interest to help them and the only one in recent years, so up to now they've been reduced to guessing what to do to fix some of the problems that are going on," answered Yuuki with a smile, "But now I have reading and homework to catch up on after cleaning up and preparing a quick bite to eat. Would I be too presumptive to ask if I could have some of what you're making, assuming there's enough? I'll make it up tommorow."

She looked hopefully up at her roomate, clearly more than a little bit tired from today's activities and still settling in under the happy glow of a job well-done.

[Justin OOC]

"Of course you can, I tend to fix enough for leftovers anyway, in case I don't have time the next day." He smiled. "Go ahead and go get cleaned up while I finish, then we can sit down to eat together."

While he had wanted to get his own shower, hunger and courtesy got the better of him.

"I'll get a shower after that."

[Karren Gaunt]

Yuuki nodded her head, "Thank you, Kyohei-San. I'll try not to be too long."

She turned on one heel towards her room and went to fetch her toiletries and a change of clothes, humming the melody of a song her Clan had taken up as their own after a very chance encounter some centuries ago with a band of more-respectful-than-most human adventurers, giving off an almost palpable sense of contentment.

Click to reveal..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrDFKaM-Mk&feature=related

[Justin OOC]

Kyohei listened to her hum for a moment taken aback that she knew the song. He continued cooking, humming along with her, now truly reminded of his life at home.

[Karren Gaunt]

Yuuki smiled at her roomate upon emerging from her room with her toiletries and a change of clothes over one arm. "Interesting that you know that song, Kyohei-San. Is it part of the school curiculum, or do you have some Japanese culture to go with the Japanese cast to your Mask?"

The young dryad was geniunely curious, dirt smudged features patiently waiting for an answer to her question.

[Justin OOC]

He nodded. "I am from Tokyo actually Yuuki. That was a song my sister would sing from time to time."

He chuckled, thinking about her mask comment. He'd have to be very careful.

[Karren Gaunt]

"How hard that must have been for you. A few of my ancestors made a bid at living on the island before humans showed up to ruin everything and forced them back into the Monster World, protectively herding their groves in front of them. A terrible time. Please do tell me if most humans have gotten anymore polite over the centuries during dinner," Yuuki responded seriously, her smile sympathetic as she crossed over towards the bathroom.

[Justin OOC]

"Japan is very Polite." He chuckled. That was how it truly was. Polite, even as they did the most horrible things at times.

[Karren Gaunt]

Yuuki imagined there was a story behind that chuckle but decided to save the probing for dinner, not slowing before getting about the business of her shower. She emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, smelling of fresh soup and shampoo, her black hair slightly damp and hanging loose about her face, clad in a long tunic and pants.

"All done," she called as she gracefully padded over to the table in her bare feet, "Now what am I about to enjoy this evening so I know what I'll have to match tommorow?"

[Justin OOC]

"Rice and Chicken tempura, with strawberries over ice cream for dessert." He shook his head. "I'd understand if there's part you don't eat, and next time I'll try to make sure it's something we both enjoy." He set the dish on the small dining table which was set with two sets of dishes, and glasses of water.

"Bon Appetit."

[Karren Gaunt]

"I humbly receive this," answered the young dryad with an impish grin before settling into the meal with polite gusto, green eyes showing nothing but apreciation for Kyohei's culinary efforts. She hadn't quite had rice and meat prepared this way before, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"Tell me about yourself, Kyohei-San, and I'll return the favor, back and forth until the meal is done and we go our seperate ways for the night," she eventually commented, "Or I can go first if you wish. I apoligize for not doing this earlier but everything has been so new and strange and exciting..."

[Justin OOC]

"I don't mind going first."

He smiled. "I come from a respected family in Tokyo, and as it stands the only male in my generation. I have three sisters, one older and two younger, and I was raised by my grandparents."

"I enjoy painting, cooking and I do my best to keep myself fit. I was trained from an early age to study the martial arts, and only the last two years can I remember attending a real public school."

[Karren Gaunt]

A monster family respected in Tokyo? Interesting. Yuuki's smile was clearly fascinated.

"I confess to being not nearly so interesting myself, Kyohei-San. My tree first bloomed sixteen winters ago and my Aunts have raised me with others of my generation in the way of our Clan, training me in the duties I was expected to perform for them and the elders, learn the lore I was required to master and the protocals that seperate us from the feral ones. I was punished for my failures until I no longer failed and rewarded for my successes with more important duties. Most outsiders might find it a... spartan and harsh upbringing, but I am happy to be able contribute to the growth of the Hina Clan and our Sakura groves."

Yuuki's eyes sparkle with belief, utencil plying about her plate in random happy circles before she comes back to the present, "It's somewhat unprecidented that I was permitted out of the Valley so young, but I can but endeavor to live up to my duties here and harvest a little happiness for myself along the way."

[Justin OOC]

"I'm sure you will." He smiled as they both continued eating. "I've always found Sakura trees calming. Every March we'd go for a picnic during the blooming festival, one of the rare times we all went somewhere together."

He smiled. "So I take it you aren't particularly used to interacting with males then? Your society is matriarchal, and everything you've said leads me to believe that there are no men in it.."

[Karren Gaunt]

"Aside from the occasional outsider envoys I was instructed to sit in on to further my education and lore from the Clan archives, no," confirmed the young dryad, "Like most plants, the Sakura tree always produces a female spirit when it Awakens. Which is I why I'm so grateful for your rescueing me from the others in this dorm. I could have probably stopped them if I Unmasked but..."

"Speaking of which, what kind of subterfuge does a Monster family have to employ to become influencial in the bustling city Tokyo is rumored to have become? Humans have always seemed rather too reactionary to permit such a thing to occur," inquired Yuuki warmly, smiling an admiring smile and fishing for information.

[Justin OOC]

He smiled. "My family is composed of masters of blending in with humanity." This could get out of hand, and though he was sure she'd learn eventually he didn't want to lay it all out right away.

"You looked like you could use a little help is all. Besides, we're going to be living under the same roof, we have to be able to count on each other. Otherwise this won't be pleasant or fun at all."

[Karren Gaunt]

Yuuki took a moment to swallow a bite of food, understanding his reluctance to share. There were secrets she didn't have the right to share either.

"That is true. But there are Monsters enough here who are uncertain enough in their power that they feel the need to challenge for the least benefits. I am merely grateful that you aren't one of them. It takes some of the fearful edge truth from the tales my Aunts told me growing up," the young dryad answered, "So, tell me more about the Newspaper Club. I'm curious."

[Justin OOC]

He smiled. "I'd be interested in hearing what you have been told."

He nodded. "The club publishes the school's monthly newspaper from what I gather. Mostly it's dealing with things going on around campus, sometimes we have interviews with faculty, and We also do get to go to the human world to work up a good writeup on places there. Some yokai will never get to go to these places for whatever reason, so they can live vicariously through us."

"Sometimes there's an issue raised by students, and we can do an article on it, and it's expected to be fair and unbiased, as well as vetted by our own research into things."

"Not long ago we had a series of thefts, and the club was instrumental in bringing it to a close. We've got alot of new members it seems, and I say that being being fairly new myself.

Aria, Delilah, and Darrik are the three who've been in it longest, as the seniors all graduated out last term."

[Karren Gaunt]

"I see," Yuuki answered brightly, having plowed a good way through her plate by now, "I've seen the documents around campus and even read some of one, but It's all been out of context without meaning. I'll really have to see about getting involved part time, my Gardening Club activities permiting."

She mused a moment, "I believed you were promised a few questions back at me, Kyohei-San. You've been doing most of the talking."

[Justin OOC]

"Well mostly I'm just interested in what makes you unique. What sort of things do you like to do, do you have any special needs I should be aware of, since we're roommates."

He smiled, having finished most of his first plate. "I really just would like to know more about you, since i really don't know much."

[Karren Gaunt]

Yuuki paused for thought, struck by something, an epiphany she spoke aloud after a little astonished laugh that lit up her face, "You know, I've never had someone ask me about my desires and really need to ask it as anything other than a courtesy, either because they already knew or because my needs were less important than Clan business. Not before coming here anyway. It's... It's weird."

She paused to pop a piece of chicken in her mouth, actually *thinking* about the question aside from the pat diplomatic deflections she'd been trained to give and finding it harder than she was expecting it to be.

She began anew, "I... I enjoy harmony in the world around me, acheiving the happy balance between stasis and anarchy, whether that involves the plants I can reach out and touch with but a thought or other Monsters who take slightly more work to connect with. I hope for small moments of happiness between good deeds and gestures of respect earned if I earn them, the faint ache of tiredness in my muscles and grime on my hands offset by the happy humming of the world around me moving as it should. That's at the center of it, really, all my Clan has helped me to become in the sixteen years since my Sakura first bloomed and I came into Awareness. Perhaps the world will permit me to try and become more here."

[Justin OOC]

"The world doesn't say or do much Yuuki. You are only limited by what you can imagine."

He smiled. "It is of course a good idea to at least try to get along in the global society, though not everyone does it. What this school is trying to do, to teach Yokai to be a functional part of human society, and not something that isn't understood, or the boogieman they're made to be by misinterpreted lore and legend, that's a truly admirable thing."

"Every Yokai that takes part is one more step on the path to coexistence."

He looked at her and smiled. "All living things strive. I don't see why your desires are any less pertinent than mine, or anyone else."

[Karren Gaunt]

Inwardly, the young dryad sighed. She had been told that outsiders were unaware just how interconnected the world was, how delicate a web everything was and how much damage selfish action could do. And his statements about how important it was for *monsters* to impress *Humans*... Well.

Outwardly, she merely smiled, "You need better ears to listen to the world then, Kyohei-San. You and yours may be masters of blending in with the humans but you've picked up some of the self-centered perspective that makes them so dangerous enmass, too. They've caused as much if not more problems than we in the conflicts between our two kinds, so I don't see why they shouldn't bend knee a little to us, too. It's only fair."

[Justin OOC]

He shook his head. "Most humans fear Yokai, Yuuki. With good reason. Most Yokai can do things no human can, and Yokai can adapt a human shape. That virtually anyone could be a Yokai in disguise is something most people would be greatly unnerved by. You have to understand that humanity is fairly xenophobic on the whole, and they fear and try to destroy the things that make them affraid."

He sighed. He didn't want to tell her, but in truth if they were to live together he didn't want to lie about it.

"Not all of us though."

[Karren Gaunt]

"Numbers make up for a lot, Kyohei-San, and the very fact humans need to dwell in such den..."

It took a few heartbeats worth of thought, but eventually Yuuki got it. Audiably sucking in a breath, she scooted back out of her chair, standing up and flushing in anger, "Did you just say you're a human?! Its a very bad joke if you are, and if you aren't, well, I hope you can explain extremely well *right now*."

Her hair brightened to verdant green and eyes lit up like a pair of candles, the scent of sakura blossoms filling the room instants before a faint hum began to radiate from her, every plant for a kilometer in every direction of the now rather-angry Yuuki shivering once as she asserted her natural authority over them as a daughter of the Hina Clan in need of potential aid.

Click to reveal..

Yuuki takes Monster Form and Activates her Plant Control.

[Justin OOC]

"I plan on it."

He took in her natural form an his smile didn't falter.

"I ended up here by mistake. I boarded the bus I was told to board, and fell asleep. My home was across town from school, so i thought nothing of the ride. looking back the fact I was alone and we never picked up anyone else shoulda been a warning."

I was deposited here, and wandered around until I found my class. I was introduced, and quickly met Delilah, Aria, and Darrik. At lunch I found out I was not at the right school. I was enlightened as to the truth of this school, and I chose to stay."

He sighed. The rest was more confusing, and would likely not improve her mood.

"We got to the bottom of a theft epidemic, and all witnessed another monster, a vampire named Saizo slain by something with relative ease."

"A little after that we went to the human world to find out why a particular hotspring seemed to be swallowing up Yokai."

"We found my three sisters, and were attacked by a pack of seemingly possessed and crazed Celestial dogs."

He shook his head. "My three sisters are All trained exorcists, in addition to being angels. My youngest sister would have killed Delilah were it not for the intervention of her mother, Lilith. Each of them ranks among the most effective warriors of their classes."

"It was there we all met Skye, and after some confusing dialogue betwen her and my eldest sister Aoi, Skye returned with us to the Academy."

He looked at her, his voice never faltering, and never did he seem to be lying.

"I wanted to be upfront with you Yuuki, but as you can imagine, I was abit worried. I can't simply tell everyone."

"You would have found out eventually, but I wanted you to hear it from me. I'm sorry if you feel I've deceived you, but this is a precaution advised by everyone who knows."

"Unless you decided otherwise, we still have to live under one roof, and you have a right to know."

[Karren Gaunt]

Yuuki listened to his spiel with all the gravity of a priest taking a dying man's confession, smile gone and dead as she considered his words. When he finished, she nodded once.

"You were right about one thing, Yokai Hunter," she exhaled, those last four sylables one emotional note away from being a curse, glowing eyes burning into his, "It's much better that I heard about this from you sooner instead of later. And it seems, shockingly, like the band of human adventurers who taught us that song so long ago, that you act with respect towards monsters instead of attempting to burn our forest down to make rice paddies to feed your ever-growing masses or trying to collect the heartwood of an Awakened Sakura to 'cure' a dying king. At least since coming here."

The young dryad exhaled again, relaxing her grip on the world around her, but not Masking herself quite yet, "But what about before? How much like your Celestial sisters were you?"

Click to reveal..

Yuuki Deactivates her Plant Control.

[Justin OOC]

"I'm truly not sure. I remember training vividly, in all manner of martial arts, as well a excercises to fortify my spirit, my mind, and my body, but if you're asking if I've ever manifested wings, and a divine aura, I'd have to answer no."

"Unlike my sisters to my knowledge I'm not any form of angel. I'm simply what I am, and trying to learn more about all of you."

Again his sincerity was pure here.

"I trained because it's what my elder sister and Grandparents wished me to do. I cannot tell you that I remember all of my schooling, but then again most people can't."

[Karren Gaunt]

"I... I have studying to catch up on. Feel free to leave the dishes in the sink. I'll get to them before I turn in for the night, Kyohei-San," Yuuki answered formally, expression a mask as she retreated into her room, glowing eyes glancing at him over one shoulder before she shut and locked the door behind her.

A human? A human yokai hunter of angel-blood on top of that? Dear Matriarchs, this was... but he was so... But could she really... The young dryad leaned against one wall, eyes illuminating her paled features as she wrestled with her thoughts.

[Justin OOC]

He nodded knowingly, and watched her leave. She had a choice to make now.

He would let her make it, leaving the dishes as she asked, but picking up the table.

He knoced on her door as he went to take a shower. "I'm gonna go take shower Yuuki."

He didn't wait for her to respond instead taking his leave and heading to the communal bathroom. She heard the water start and the big glass door slide closed.

[Karren Gaunt]

One math assignment, a re-Masking, and twenty pages of vaguely understood history history later, Yuuki sighed and hugged her knees, nodding to herself. She'd have to trust him. With her safety and her happiness if nothing else. He'd done nothing to deserve her active distrust, and the young dryad was nothing if not consious of the chaos distrust caused.

Tell him in the morning though. Not now, with her emotions running high and tales of self-righteous combat magicians adding magic to a human mob's torches and axes and forcing her ancestors to flee with nothing but their Sakura trees into an unstable rift back to the Monster World.

[Justin OOC]

Kyohei's night was spent finishing a history paper, and then going over the next day's lecture material for chemistry and history. Around midnight she heard the light click and saw his room go dark. He'd finally gone to sleep.