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Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): Monster Academy - You were right


Justin OOC

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More than the others, Yuuki's reaction worried him. They had to share a room, and she'd suspected him from the start. Gradually, she'd warmed to him, and he didn't want to ruin that.

The nightmares had gotten worse, the memories more intense. He awoke a number of times to find her in his doorway, wondering why he'd called out.. He waved off her concerns, nightmares were normal after all, and privately her concern hurt him more, knowing she might not forgive him when he told her.

He cooked the meal she'd enjoyed most so far, and had it waiting for her when she came home. He'd tell her honestly, but that didn't mean he couldn't share at least one last good meal with her.

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With a content hum, Yuuki entered their dormroom, locking the door behind her. Things were... getting easier. The play was interesting if puzzling in what it said about what humans wanted to pretend about themselves. The classes were starting to make a little bit more sense. The Gardening Club under the direction of William-Sama was honestly entertaining work, the kind of duty she loved pulling at home.

Finally, the Matriarchs had informed her Kyohei-San was to be watched and was important. So she would. If he had the trust of her elders, her own unease was a childish thing to be discarded with the chaff.

The young dryad smiled and took in a deep breath through her nostrils. Oh. That meal again. "It smells delicious, Kyohei-San. What's the occasion?"

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He nodded, "There's some things I need to talk to you about."

He wasn't smiling, and she could only guess what this was actually about. He waited for her to take a seat, and did the same. His presentation of the food was immaculate, suprising her. Clearly whatever was on his mind was important.

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He took a deep breath. "Your instincts were correct with me Yuuki."

He set the chopsticks down, and sighed. "You know that I've been having nightmares the last few nights. That's not all they were."

"I was remembering things, horrible things."

He shook his head. "Human that I am, I was a Yokai hunter, Yuuki. One of the best, and I hunted alongside my siblings, as hound would course the prey, and more."

"I felt you should know. I wrestled with telling you this, because you were so worried about it when you first found out I was human. Then your concern with the nightmares... I just.." He shook his head. "You have a right to know this."

"I cannot change what I used to be. I won't ask you to forgive my past, but I ask that you judge me based upon what you have seen of me. I feel in part that I let you down. I cannot explain why i couldn't remember, though I do imagine it was something one of my sisters did."

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The Hina dryad's expression was carefully composed, green eyes blinking, once twice thrice, before she said softly with no more than a faint hitch in her breathing, "...I see."

She very carefully, very politely, took the time to chew and swallow a bite of the meal, wrestling to keep her emotions in check enough to make a single statement and ask a single question, "It could very well be an eniemy of your family seeking to weaken them by robbing them of their greatest young hunter instead your family attempting to plant a sleeper in the Academy. The memory gambit is a two-way tool. We've used it from time to time in our wars of survival."

Her eyes bored into his, only a shimmer of conflict showing in the grim quirk of her lips as she asked, "I'm told Sakuras rarely become Aware outside of the Hina Valley anymore, especially in the Human World, Kyohei-San, but how many of my feral Cousins have you helped murder or soulbind?"

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Kyhoei closed his eyes, and fought back the urge to vomit as he recalled. When he had seen it all, he opened his eyes and shook his head. "I have never slain or hunted a Yokai like you specifically, though if we are counting all elementals, then the number that I remember is ten. Four that controlled flame, four that could make the earth move, and two who controlled water."

As he spoke he remembered being burned, crushed, and nearly dessicated in those fights, yet he lived on, and in more than he wished, his was the last blow against them.

"Perhaps you are right, but I simply do not know."

"My grandfather always told me it was a crime to harm sakura, especially those on our family estate. There are at least two dozen there, and they've been there a long time. as far as I know, they're all healthy, but none are awakened."

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Another bite chewed and swallowed.

"Well... That's something at least," Yuuki conceded with a nod and the ghost of a sad smile, "At least you don't have as far to climb in regards to me and mine as some might. And you've done a lot of climbing with your conduct since I've been here. The world determines what we're allowed to become, Kyohei-San, and it seems the world wishes you to become something more than what you were."

"Far be it from a member of the Hina Clan to impede that," she chuckled, looking down at her plate.

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"It's very good," carefully answered the young dryad, leaving out the fact memory gambits often had a final hook at the bottom to ensure they went to plan, quite nasty ones in-fact. She had been told to look out for him, and doubting him was not part of those orders.

"How are you finding the play?"

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"I think it's going well, though I am curious at Serena's casting choices. I'm happy with my part. I'm not particularly good for acting on stage."

It was the same humility he'd shown then entire time she'd known him.

"What about you, are you enjoying it? I know we sorta dragooned you into the club, and then right into the play..."

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"It's been... interesting so far even if the play is missing an epilogue or two where eiether Princess Humperdink enacts her retribution to preserve her place as heiress to the throne or Wendy engineers a ploy to destroy the Princess and her realm. I mean, she left Humperdink's entire powerbase intact. That's as careless and stupid as anything Humperdink did," Yuuki answered, having obviously thought about this cunundrum, "And it's not like it's taking away all my time. I can still get hours in on the Gardening Club."

She shrugged and smiled around a mouthful of food.

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"Well it's supposed to have a happy ending. Most fairy tale style stories do, at least in the west."

He shook his head. "Besides, humans are not known for their logic, and so we don't always think about that sort of thing. When seeing movies or plays, we allow the world of the performance to be real for that time, no matter our own beliefs. That's the suspension of disbelief."

"How are things with the gardening club? I remember talking with its president once, when I first got here. It seemed to be relaxing, but in the end I didn't join, because all I can do is work with my hands, that and my relatively human outlook on gardening."

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Yuuki chuckled softly between bites, countering, "Whoever said that monsters were any better when it came to educating our very youngest or reassuring our oldest the world just might be sane and fair? Humans simply play out the same character flaws monsters do, albeit in far denser numbers and with more haste."

"It's... good work, the kind I'm used to from home. William-Sama gives us a list of anything special that needs doing each day we meet, Kala-San persuades the earth to reshape itself to be more condusive to growth, Lily-San and Erica-San make sure the water follows suit, and I listen to the plants and make sure they're getting what they need. I could do more without my Mask in place, but... It's nice even in the fashion I can serve."

She smiled in recollection, gathering another bite full of food for consumption.

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"You are very beautiful without your mask in place Yuuki. Even if the only time I have seen it was when you looked ready to kill me."

He nodded. "I'm glad you're doing well and enjoying yourself here." He finished off his plate.

"What would you like tomorrow?"

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"Tommorow is my night to cook, so it's a surprise," countered Yuuki gamely after a pause to reflect on the oddities of a human who took a warning display as a charm point. A Dryad Unmasked was one prepared to kill to defend herself, her tree, and others. Given who and what he had been and might be again... well, perhaps not so surprising.

She buried that small unhappy thought beneath her discipline, chewing a biteful of food.

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"That's one way of putting it. My tutors presented me with the best resources they could gather about the Human World once I was selected for this duty over the rest of my cousins, but there is a a lot that's requiring mor than a bit of thought for me to digest if only for the sheer detail the classes go into. Also I think one of the resources they got was a second hand bit of 'East German' social propaganda for children," the young dryad confessed with an embarassed chuckle, "But that's something I'll be able to overcome eventually I hope."

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