Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): In the Shadows of the City - Chapter 5 Session 1 Progress

[Justin OOC]

The next week went well. After two days, The 8th head was ressurected, and the team of Priestess's and champions were on hand to seal her, robbing First head's plan for spreading the demonic contagion of both elements now that the feline and canine demons were no more.

The Sixth head went down to them as well, even though his speed was extremely tough to counteract. Kenichi were injured in that fight more than the others, but 6th head Spitfire was sealed at the end of the week.

Thanks to the healing powers of the others, no one died, though things were close.

The following week saw Japan's trade and borders reopen, as things began to return to normal.

5 heads remained, but they made no moves that could be seen, and all five lords stopped attending school. Kenobi was nowhere to be found, and even the Old Man couldn't locate him.

Things weren't over by a longshot, but for now all leads had gone cold.

(OOC life has pretty much returned to normal. The Demons and the Lords are MIA. We'll start here, with what each of you would do in the course of a normal day (until say 6 pm) and once everyone's posted we'll continue.)

[Rorx]

With things nominally returning to normal Jim reverted to a semi normal schedule. Rising at 6am he does an hour or so of kata before grabbing a shower and then a light breakfast. That done he makes sure his bag(s) are ready for school before walking in to the school. At lunch break he attends whichever of his clubs is on (Kendo, Kyudo, or Akido), then has a light lunch while he grabs a few moments to chat and catch up with his friends.

After school he goes home and rushes through whatever homework he has before getting changed and spending some time with his grandfather either discussing his ability or learning his Grandfathers art/craft. Dinner follows this before Jim heads to the Shrine both to workout and to try to figure out how to proceed.

6pm is about the time he would arrive at the Shrine.

[Kenichi]

It was a different day for Kenichi, he had been left with burnscars all over his torso from the fight with the sixth, the magic of the priestesses had taken away most of the damage, but the burn marks had closed due to the regeneration powers of his other self, they were ugly scars to remember him of the ugly being.

Kenichi woke up, took a bath since he had neglected to take one the night before and skipped school that day, he had made a promise the last time he met his father, and he would have to rebuild everything they destroyed the church lacked a minister now so it was deserted most of the time, Kenichi hoped to reverse that.

A day of heavy lifting and heavy music was just what Kenichi needed to take his mind off from the situation he was, crazy as it was, and to drown out the voice on his head.

[Kaori Aoyama]

Kaori had nothing to go home to. Everyone that was a student at the Aoyama Dojo was slaughtered by the demons only nights before. Her parents were gone and her grandfather was in no condition at his age to care for the entirety of the Aoyama ancestral home after the demonic assault. Either way the Aoyama name was finished; who would send their offspring off to learn from an adolescent young girl who wasn't even a master of the art herself?

The place was a crime scene but for reasons she couldn't fathom no police ever came, no statements were taken and the whole thing just seemed to strangely blow over, since after it happened she didn't hear anything more on the subject from her grandfather or the Old Man. She had no idea where the bodies went.

She paid it no mind, as she did with most things that dealt with issues not involving her swordplay. She didn't go to classes that day, she stayed home and cleaned dried blood from the walls and floor of her home. She tore up the gardens after draining the ponds, tossing all the blood stained plants, some still covered in gore, into the empty ponds where she burned them all.

By lunch you could not recognize the courtyard of her family's estate. There was, just like with everything Kaori had held dear in her life, nothing but ashes. There would be no peace, not this day or any other until the heads were obliterated and their master cast back into the blackest pits of its prison.

Her 'friends' would make the most of their day, she would be covered in the blood of her former schools students. Her 'friends' would find ways to give their minds rest from the events of late; she would burn the tainted remains of her home life and watch her memories flutter away as ash on the afternoon breeze. Her 'friends' would spend time with their loved ones, learning and growing in their arts while she would spend the afternoon hours within the smoldering remains of a demon tainted courtyard going over katas and not knowing if she had done them in error because the man who taught her everything she knew barely had the strength to lift a spoon to feed himself.

The more her weapon sliced the air, filling the open courtyard with whistling precision as slight ripples in the air could barely be seen where the blade severed the very wind itself. Frenzied motions took a hold upon her kata as the visions of her life before and now came into focus within her mind's eye. The corpses of her Dojo's students, the blood, the gore, the smiling Demon Lord on the rooftops.

Anger became her discipline. Vengeance was her mentor it seemed as Pain became the lesson of the day. Her sword tore through illusions of enemies, obliterating the phantoms of those she'd grown to hate; all the people who she believed now had everything she'd lost and even the phantoms of those responsible for taking them away from her.

Kurai-Ryuu, her dark dragon, seethed within her. Everything she wanted, it could provide. Strength, power, vengeance, all of it, and as the shadow nimbus around her swelled with power she didn't even notice. So consumed with her own pain she had become, that she couldn't feel herself slipping away from the light.

With a gust of air and a graceful slide of the sword into it's scabbard the nimbus fell away, fading back into her ki. "I must go Grandfather, there is still much to do." She said nothing else to the weary old man as her raven hued hair whipped about face and fell softy down the back of her kendogi where the Ryouichi-Ryuu symbol, a serpentine dragon spiraling around a blue mountain with the full moon in the background, was enveloped within its shadow.

As the gates of the courtyard shut behind her she never noticed her grandfather tears spatter against the cold wasteland of her family's ancient training grounds.

[z-Skye]

Skye woke up slowly, breathing deeply. After a moment, she rolled onto her side and stared at the fans lying there. I hate you, she thought to them. They were the reason the demons were messing with her, and the reason they had killed her mother. The fans didn't respond to her mental abuse, and she sighed and grabbed them, getting to her feet.

The next several hours were spent in practice. Skye knew she wasn't as good as the others, so she had to work twice as hard. The residents of the temple were now used to the pale gaijin and her ghost-dancing with the war-fans. They were also used to her silence and her isolation.

At lunch, she stopped to eat, then went to find Keiko's grandfather. They worked on her priestess lessons, another area in which she was behind her peers, or at least behind Keiko. So she studied twice as hard here, throwing herself into the lessons with an intensity that concerned the older man. She was too serious for her age, even given the events that had occurred. But there was nothing to do; she was behind in her training, and she had to catch up, for the sake of the world. The old priest was sad that the world was such a place were children gave up their childhood to learn the art of demonic war.

[SalmonMax]

Keiko was surprised by how quickly things changed with the binding of the demon lord. The shadow over Tokyo lifted, and the world itself seemed to let out the breath it had been holding. Keiko was nearly beside herself with joy...

Then school, and she discovered something unexpected. Returning to normal meant -everything- returning to normal. Her fellow warriors split up into their classes and were gone; just students again. When she tried to call out to Kaori as they passed in the halls, she got a look that would not only freeze ice, but crack it too. Skye was more friendly, but almost completely inaccessible with her face constantly in some assignment or book. Even when she came over to train, she was completely focused on the lessons, on the training. Keiko's efforts at conversation were politely rebuffed.

So the young priestess took to eating her lunches at her own table again, wondering what could have gone so wrong just when everything was finally going right.

[Justin OOC]

Each of the champions was special, but with only five Heads remaining, The Lords knew they needed to act carefully. Skye and Kaori were the most volatile, and Kenichi and Jim would be easy kills for a mass assault, but First head decided that wasn't how he wanted this to go.

"We need to break them completely, now that things are returning to normal. I have a plan, and you all will do your parts."

----------------------

Rebuilding the church was hard, especially alone. The beginning of Kenichi's day started like any other, till he approached the Altar. A pair of feet extended behind it, cold and dead.

--------------------------

The Shrine was a beehive of activity,with many of the lesser maidens tending it and training, despite the lull in Demonic activity. Jim was easily able to find Skye.

----------------------------

"You're weak, you got lucky, my brothers and sisters will free me, and i will devour your soul Priestess." The 7th head's voice continued, no purification rituals blocked it, Skye simply had to deal with the vitriol and invective the demon spouted, though ignoring it was helping her tune out the rest of the world for her training.

--------------------------------

Kaori's training was nothing spectacular, she'd mastered everything she knew, but it wasn't enough. She couldn't beat the demon who'd destroyed everything, she just didn't have the power.

A familiar sound brought her to a halt, as she saw her grandfather leaning heavily upon the doorway. "Kaori." His eyes could not see, yet he looked right at her, his hands shook, but he knew her still. "Your form is getting better, virtually perfect."

--------------------------

Keiko sat alone the weird girl once again. She felt a nearly overwhelming presence, and felt a hand touch her shoulder. "Mind if I join you Keiko?" When she turned to look at the speaker she saw the smiling face of Alexander Kalinin, First head of Orochi.

[Kaori Aoyama]

Kaori spun about respectfully and Onimaru swiftly clicked back into it's scabbard. She bowed. "Thank you Grandfather. You honor me." She straightened her frame and kept still. "I fear though that virtual perfection shall not be enough. I fear..." the words were difficult for her to say, especially considering she'd never spoke them before. "I-I'm not... str..." She couldn't say it.

She swallowed and figured she might as well be done with it. "Not str... strong enough." The words hurt he more than any blade or claw ever could. Kaori never admitted weakness and the fact that she had to admit it to her Grandfather, the man who had taught her everything she knew, the man who she respected more than anything, just plunged the knife of failure deeper into her heart. "I could not save you, mother, father, the dojo... I've failed at everything you entrusted to me."

[Justin OOC]

He smiled at her admission. "Finally you start to understand." He walked towards her on unsteady feet, to lay a hand on her shoulder. "The Dojo..." He coughed "Is not dead, Kaori, we still live. You have not failed, you have not fallen."

"You have finally overcome your greatest flaw, granddaughter, even if only to a blind old man. Pride has weakened you. Your skill is breathtaking, your natural talent a thing of beauty, but you have always believed you fight alone, affraid because no one meets the standards you set for yourself. You have never been alone Kaori. You bear Onimaru, because of that you're never alone. You just need to learn how to truly be one ith your blade."

He pat her shoulder once. "To do that, I will need to show you the final technique, and teach you the truth of the sword at your side."

[Kaori Aoyama]

"Weakened by Pride? Pride?!?" Kaori stiffened up and started to immediate take command of her high-might attitude. She had almost assembled her retort before her grandfather raised his hand softly to hush the lovely young woman.

"Like the sword, Kaori, pride is a personal commitment." She could see him looking upon her with his empty eyes, as if he could see more than she could despite his blindness. "It is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity. Now lower your voice and listen to this old man."

"Final... Technique?" Kaori asked humbled. "But, I thought you had shown me everything."

[SalmonMax]

Keiko looked around, startled, then jumped back with her hand flying instinctively to her amulet. Immediately she knew it was a fight she couldn't win by herself. Her only hope was to hold him off long enough to escape and get the others.

"You!" she blurted. "What are you doing here?!"

[Justin OOC]

Kaori's grandfather nods. "Everything you were ready for. You know how it is said that the sword is the soul of the Samurai? Onimaru takes that to a level beyond any other. Onimaru has a soul all its own. It is truly a warrior's weapon, and possessed of a warrior's soul. Rarely it finds a warrior worthy of its secrets among our family. It would seem that he has chosen you. Therfore it is my duty to show you how to gain full access to the power of your sword."

"First you must completely clear your mind, and then place yourself into a meditative trance." He looks at her summoning up reserves of strngth he shouldn't have and nods. "I will then stab you with Onimaru, the sword will run red with your blood and you will face the greatest opponent you have. If you are victorious, you will know a power beyond anything you have, if you lose, you will likely die."

He nods "The choice here is yours as always Kaori. I cannot force you to walk this path."

-------------------

Alexander smiled. "Attending class, at least one more time." He noted her hands and sighed. "I'm not here to fight you, not today."

"I wanted to see how you're doing actually solar priestess. After all you've only sealed two heads, and we now have the entire world to play with."

His hand squeezes her shoulder. "I also wanted to play a little game with you."

[SalmonMax]

"I'm fine," Keiko said flatly, finding a wellspring of defiance in her heart. She yanked her shoulder back, trying to loose his hold on her.

"In fact, I'm better than fine. It doesn't matter how much of the world you can move in. No matter where you run, wherever you may flee, we will find you all...and seal you, and the world will go on."

She lifted her chin slightly.

"That's all I have to say to you."

[Kaori Aoyama]

"Then let the first step be my own," Onimaru slid from its scabbard with a melodic tone, like a bow across the violin. "And let the first blood shed upon this road me my own."

She sighed as she placed the blade within her gradfather's hands. "I am ready."

[Justin OOC]

He squeezed harder. "I like it when you fight, it makes breaking you so much sweeter and rewarding."

He released her and chuckled. "I'd take stock of my allies, were I you. I'm sure you'll find alot less than you think you had."

He was gone before she could turn around, his words a barely veiled threat.

---------------------

Her grandfather raised Onimaru and nodded. "I have missed you Old Friend, But now you must become Kaori's as it should be."

In a single deft motion he drew back and plunged the sword forward, through the center of Kaori's chest, blood spattering him as he released the sword, and his grand daughter remained on her knees.

Kaori found herself in a world of grey pillars with a blue sky. Stormclouds gathered all around. Standing atop one of the pillars was a man clad in Black armor, the accents were blood red, and he looked as if he was an ancient Samurai.

"So at last you have called for me."

"What is it you wish for Kaori?"

[Kaori Aoyama]

Her air danced wildly in the coming storm. She took stock of her environment, not knowing where she was, but knowing to well how she arrived. Her fists clenched at her sides as she stiffened up from the chilling cold winds. "I-I don't understand," the young onna-bugeisha looked up at the dark clad man, her voice shouting over the raging winds. "What manner of entity are you who asks to fulfill my desires?"

[Kenichi]

Originally Posted By: Justin OOC

Rebuilding the church was hard, especially alone. The beginning of Kenichi's day started like any other, till he approached the Altar. A pair of feet extended behind it, cold and dead.

"What the..." Kenichi was as surprised as one could expect, he went ahead to inspect, wanting to see if they needed any help.

[Justin OOC]

"I can unlock the power within you to accomplish wish, or seal it for eternity. I give you the choice, Fight, or Flee."

------------------

In the Church Kenichi pulled around the pulpit and saw the message.

"You took our sisters, we have taken your friends." It was scrawled in blood, as the woman had been disemboweld by what looked like a massive sword cut.

[z-Skye]

Skye ignored the demon's ranting. She'd almost gotten used to it, like a bizarre demonic buzz in the back of her skull. It made mediation harder, too, but she decided that working around that during mediation would strengthen her. Lately, everything had been seen as either an aide or a deterrent; there was nothing in between anymore.

Skye saw someone coming, and she turned to see Jim. She waved, but couldn't summon a smile. "What do you need, Jim?" she asked softly, her blue eyes meeting his evenly.

[Kenichi]

"..my friends?" Kenichi´s thoughts immediately went to the priestesses, the other warriors and their missing ally. Kenichi left the church immediately, running down the street to grab the attention of a cop, as soon as he found one he directed them to the church and then ran off towards his school, he had to make sure the others were still all right.

[Kaori Aoyama]

Her eyes narrowed at the 'entity'. "Flee?" She asked, her telltale superior tone coming to the surface in her words. "For an Aoyama that is no choice. When 'fight' or 'flee' are all we are faced with as choices, all we hear is 'fight', the second choice is the option for cowards."

"I am no coward, Spirit." she proclaimed, not knowing what else to call it. "Now come! Challenge me if that is your intention, but do not play games with me."

[Justin OOC]

"No games." Across the field another entity took shape, a familiar shape. It was Kaori, yet not. Her posture was relaxed, her eyes dark red and green. Her armor and clothing were solid white, and Onimaru hung at her side. It was only then that Kaori felt Onimaru in it's familiar place at her side.

"Aww Come on. This child will be no sport, no fun at all. She's weak and pathetic, and totally utterly alone."

The not-Kaori sneered at her and laughed. "Though I suppose this won't be a total loss. If I win, then I get to be in control. Draw your sword bitch, and let's get this party started."

[Kaori Aoyama]

The young woman was stunned for a moment, her eyes widened and her jaw slack at the sight of this undignified image of herself. She would never behave in such a manner, never! Her lips pursed as her knuckles turned white.

Kaori's own crimson eyes met her double and she focused, finding her discipline deep within herself. She would not be a victim of this spirits' games. As her blade slid from its scabbard her gaze locked onto Not-Kaori and she took a defensive posture. "You honor me with this challenge." she said softly and respectfully to her opponent.

[SalmonMax]

Keiko let out her breath in a shaky gasp, and grabbed onto the table she was sitting at for support as the strength fled from her. She fought tears of shame at her own weakness...but then stiffened. She had to let the temple know! The heads of Orochi were moving again!

She left what was left of her lunch behind, and sprinted away from campus towards home.

[Kenichi]

Kenichi ran through the city until his lungs burned from the exertion, the distance to the school was usually cut through on train but for times like this the strenght of the ogre was more than enough to push him through the concrete jungle that is Tokyo.

As he approached the school he saw the tiny figure of a girl run out of the school's ground who he recognized as Keiko.

"Keiko!" Kenichi shouted as he approached the figure running at full tilt, "Keiko! Wait a second!"

[Rorx]

Jim smiled as he appoached Skye, "Need? Nothing in particular, just swung by for some sparring and to try to work out what we should do next. The heads won't be dormant for long, and could be back on the move already."

[Kaori Aoyama]

The battle waged across her soul as the young swords-woman found herself faced with her greatest challenge to date: herself.

The land was like Limbo, the plane of chaos. Floating islands of broken land amidst an infinite horizon ablaze with a perpetual sundown. They leaped down another floating island as the ground melted away beneath them like paint upon a canvas. The echo of steel on steel rang out across the dimension, neither woman giving an inch.

Kaori parried several attacks, her sword being everywhere the blow was just in time to deflect with expert skill and perfectly honed precision. She battled an entity that knew everything she did, was as fast as she was, skilled as she was...

"Your attacks are simple, you can not hope to overcome my defenses with such a simple assault." She commented, with a hint of arrogance to her tone. A paper thin cut seeped a droplet of blood that trickled down her cheek.

Her Other simply grinned. It was nothing more than a thin line across her face. "Is that so?"

Kaori was shocked, while skill wise they were identical, this 'abomination' was comprised of her own ki and its skill extended far beyond her blade. She dashed away, sliding impossibly along the dreamstuff-earth to put distance between her and her darker half.

"Hundred Razor Wind!" she bellowed and her sword tore into the earth and sent forth a spiraling torrent if razor honed wind launched toward her adversary.

Sliding to the side, narrowly evading the attack, her twins right side was shredded by the gashing winds. She seemed to revel in the pain, absorbing it and twisting her face into one of torturous pleasure. "Well, done." She said softly while her blade swiftly sliced through the air in a series of kata-like strokes. "But you're still using the basic techniques. One can not dodge what hey can not see!"

"One Hundred Unseen Razors!" She cried and thin white slices shimmered in the air, trailing her blade as it zipped about unimaginably fast. There was nothing for the briefest of moments before suddenly Kaori was eviscerated by innumerable sword slashes all across her perfect body.

"This s pathetic!" Her twin said as Kaori cried out in agony and hit the ground. She approached swiftly. "We are capable of so much more, and you squander your power with pointless discipline. You still hold on to traditions and precepts long dead, Kaori!"

Barely able to stand she puled her shredded clothing over her shoulder, even here before herself she was concerned with her modesty as a proper lady. "No." She whimpered, pain coursing through body through one hundred paper thin cuts that only seemed aggravated by the soft breeze. "Every age, every culture, every custom and tradition has its own character, its own weakness and its own strength, its beauties and cruelties; it accepts certain sufferings as matters of course, puts up patiently with certain evils."

"Very touching... really." She smirked. "But your road ends here Kaori, I'm without bonds, without traditions to keep my power at bay. You have no hope of defeating me."

Broken, and ready to weep Kaori had to admit she was close to defeat, but she still had one last chance. In her weakened state the attempt might kill her, but it would vanquish this dark spirit forever. It was a small price to pay she reasoned. Hand hand slipped into a fold within her kendogi and slowly she slid into view a prayer strip.

Her twin laughed, halting her approach. "You can't be serious. In your condition the attempt will kill you." She gestured with a sweep of her arm from Kaori's head to toes. "Look at you, you're desperate. Arrogant, pitiable, and vengeful is all that fills your heart girl, The Zanmato will never heed your call."

She focused her ki and felt it fill the prayer strip, it grew heavy and weighted by her negative emotions. Her eyes narrowed as she cast the prayer strip ahead of her and began her dash towards her opponent. The Zanmato would answer her this day for she would not fall to such an entity that would mock her traditions and cast her disciplines aside as falsehoods. She commanded the power of the Ryouichi-Ryuu and it's techniques would answer to her to fell her opposition any and every time!

Her twin dashed forward in a swift assault to meet her other half-way. Together they ran, their eye meeting across the chaotic void of Kaori's tormented soul. The prayer strip danced along the breeze between them, marking their inevitable meeting, its kanji glowing brilliantly as a beacon of what would be the killing stroke.

As they closed the gap their eye never left the others, their gaze locked in what was to come. The moments seemed like hours and they wondered -briefly- why every time they ran really, really, fast the world blurred and became lines.

An echo rang out over the horizon and a flash of brilliant white light flared as they launched past the other in a single glorious stroke.

The prayer strip, the glow if its kanji now carried away in simply glowing motes on the wind. It fell away in two pieces, perfectly sliced.

Kaori opened her eyes slowly. She was in her room with her grandfather watching over her, kneeling at her side.

[Justin OOC]

Her grandfather smiled when she stirred. "You are not dead, I had begun to fear I pushed too hard this last time. How did it go Granddaughter, did you manage to learn the true secret?"

(OOC the rest of you can arrive at the shrine and reveal what's happened to each other and otherwise interact..)

[Kaori Aoyama]

"Ugh. Ow." She groaned, pulling the covers up to her chest. She was dressed, but it just made her feel more comfortable. "Um, I guess, yeah. True Secret learned: 'don't let grandpa stab you in the stomach."

Her smoky green eyes met his, although he couldn't see here. "It's okay though, I still love you." With a smile she hugged her grandfather tightly.

[SalmonMax]

(meep!)

Keiko heard a familiar voice shouting, and she whirled around, still running to see who it is.

"Kenichi!" she shouted. "We have to get back! The heads are...OOOFFF!"

Running awkwardly twisted around, she didn't see the tree root poking up until it caught her foot and sent her sprawling to the grass. A geyser of books and papers erupted from her arms, and her skirt settled entirely too high on her hips.

Even dazed from the fall, Keiko was present enough to correct that with a quick flick of her hand.

"Oww..."

[Kenichi]

"Keiko!" the large man moved faster towards the petite priestess and leaned over to offer his hand. "That's what I was coming to tell you, we have to find the others. I have a horrible feeling, and I got left a little thank you note on the church. We have to find the old man, this does not bode well for us."

Kenichi looked over his shoulder towards the school, you are better liked by the teachers than I am, help me round up the warriors before we go meet your grandfather.

[Justin OOC]

Her granfather was dumbstruck, this wasn't the Kaori he knew. Something had gone wrong. Ther was one way to be sure though. He pulled back from her embrace. Kaori, take hold of Onimaru please, there's something I must see."

He waited, if the sword lashed out at her then she had failed, if it didn't then argueably this was a part of her test.

[Kaori Aoyama]

The blade did not lash out. Quite the opposite in fact; it simply rested within her hands and did nothing. No power emanated from the weapon, no ki seemed to radiate from either her or the ancestral blade.

"Uhhh, yeah. It's Onimaru, thanks Grandpa." Puzzled at how the old man seemed to just hand her random items she looked about, hoping there wasn't anything else nearby he could get his hands on. "Tell ya what. Why don't we take the sharp things and put them out of your reach, kay? Sore tummy, 'member? That'd be great, kaythanks." She set Onimaru off to the side gently, away from where geriatric serial killers could reach it.

She noticed the clock out of the corner of her eye. "Oh no!" She cried. "I was supposed to meet Keiko and the others at the shrine today!"

Hopping up from her futon she took one look at herself in her kendogi and huffed as she rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I gotta get changed! I'm going to be late! This is terrible!" Her glare fell on her grandfather. "You! Out! Out, out, out!" And in a matter of seconds the old man found himself sitting in the hall way as the futama to Kaori's room slid closed with a 'slam'.

[Justin OOC]

"I think we may have lost this war now, because Kaori has finally realized what sex she is.." He knew Kaori was a young woman of extremes, seeing her go to the other end of the spectrum was almost like having a whole other granddaughter.

He sighed and waited for Kaori to emerge, reminding her to take Onimaru with her, for safe keeping.

"Ancestors, protect her."

[SalmonMax]

"Skye and Kaori are usually there or nearby anyway, training," Keiko replied as she gratefully accepted Kenichi's hand up. "And this is really important, what we saw. We need to tell everyone right away!"

She tugs Kenichi towards the shrine, but doesn't take off running again until she sees what Ken's going to do.

[Kaori Aoyama]

She dashed off to the shrine, Onimaru resting on the special sheath she'd added to her school backpack a long time ago to make it more comfortable to carry her katana to and from her Kendo classes.

One after the other her shoes tapped along upon the sidewalk as she rushed along as quickly as she could to the shrine. Although she passed several people she went to school with along the way, no one seemed to recognize the gorgeous young woman in the short pleated skirt and white button up blouse.

"Keiko!" She yelled from far away, waving her hand in the air to get her attention. She ran up close eventually stopping to bend over to huff a bit, giving Kenichi a birds eye view of her 37D cleavage as she regained her breath. It was moments like these, the living in a world where young Japanese girls possessed 37D chests and didn't seem aware that bending over in front of someone allowed for a perfect view, that made being a disproportional animated character with inhuman abilities all the more worth it.

It looked like Kaori, of that there was no doubt. Keiko quickly noticed several red flags however. The girls hair was down and adorned with a lovely red ribbon tied in a bow, not in a pony tail as was customary for Kaori. Her eyes were a smoky green, not red like Kaoris'. Although it was lightly applied she noticed something that Kaori would never be caught dead in (besides a pleated skirt and a blouse that accented her bosom), she was in make-up. Faint coloration of rose to her cheeks accented by some eyeliner and a muted eye shadow. The gloss on her lips really gave away though.

All in all, this young woman was absolutely gorgeous!

"Whew..." She panted and straightened herself. "I thought I'd be late. Sorry it took me so long but on my way here I saw this bow," she pointed to the on on her head. "And thought it was just adorable, so I had to get it!" Her smile could have lit up the Tokyo night.

"Hi, Kenichi!" She waved her hand at handsomely built young man, her chest seemed to move about as she waved like her bra was stuffed with gelatin, creating a persistent *jubblie effect.

Click to reveal..

Features (Appearance): 3 - Unearthly beauty is now big, bad, and in your face! She's not hiding her looks anymore so, look out!

Oh, keep in mind: she has 'Guy Magnet'.

*Jubblie Effect - That strange effect that makes an anime girl's breasts seem to bounce slightly over the most simplest of movements, Like turning around, waving a limb vigorously, walking, or even talking. The game Dead or Alive 2 has an options setting where the breast bouncing could be adjusted... true story.

[Kenichi]

Kenichi felt Keiko pull at his hand towards The Shrine, Skye and Keiko are the only ones who are truly irreplaceable among the warriors, and the cellphones were invented for a reason after all.

Kenichi was about to agree with Keiko when a heavenly visage filled his field of vision, this heavenly visage was also attached to a backpack and a Shinai/Katana holder that he recognized immediately, but the sharp contrast between the last person to be using that and the newest person to be wearing it around was so tremendous that it left Kenichi speechless, when said visage decided to give him an eyeful of a small piece of heaven Kenichi was left breathless for a second before his brain reminded his body that he needed that oxygen STAT.

Resuming manual breathing to stabilize himself, Kenichi could barely utter out single words. "Huh...Kaori...Hello...Yeah..." Kenichi's first natural instinct was trying to put on his charm, but every time he thought about starting that a memory of Kaori slicing through a demon and fighting it hand to hand while Kenichi tended to use bigger implements and throw them at the enemies, for a long time now Kenichi had considered Kaori to be the backbone of the operation and the maximum warrior among them, and yet right now with her dressed as this delicate flower Kenichi didn't knew how to resist trying to turn into a metaphorical wolf except by pure unadulterated fear of female retribution.

"Uh...shrine...going...yeah" Kenichi also blushed, brightly.

[SalmonMax]

Keiko was similarly flabbergasted, though mercifully lacked the hormones to suffer Kenichi's discomfort fully.

"K...Kaori?" she stammered. "Are you all right? What happened?"

[Kaori Aoyama]

"I'm fine," she replied sweetly without missing beat. She gave herself a quick once over to see if maybe she was hurt or something, maybe a nose bleed? "Why?"

[Kenichi]

Kenichi turned to look at Keiko "Of course Kaori is fine, how can you look at her joyful, jovial form and... Oh god, that's too much of a farce." Kenichi said, the disbelief on himself on his face.

"Kaori, what happened? Yesterday you would have slayed me as soon as I turned in the Ogre if you were given the chance, but right now... I wouldn't put it past you anyway, but it does make me wonder why the Ice Queen melted down over night?" Kenichi finished his words and tensed his muscles, readying his arms to try and deflect the probably incoming Onimaru.