The Road Less Traveled {Fuyuko}

[Fuyuko Tama]

She watched Rin carefully lift the flute, obviously intending to look t it. “It is not wise to be so trusting of people, especially those you have just met” His voice was dull, just like before, but she could see that he really meant what he said. “I could steal this, you know. You are lucky I am not a bandit” He didn’t sound like he meant that, though. He began to examine the flute…with his fingers. She watched him in interest, wondering why he wasn’t just looking at it. It wasn’t terribly pretty, she knew, but still…

But she chuckled again at his words. “If you tried to steal it, I’d hunt you down and I’d get it back” she promised, a slight growl in her voice, and she really meant it. She wasn’t sure she could kill him, not that she would anyway, but she knew for a fact she would inflict damage if she tried to. “That flute means the world to me. And also…you’re not the first person to tell me that I need to be less trusting” She smiled a bit twistedly. “I don’t think I’ll listen to you either, though. If I didn’t ever trust anyone, just because I hadn’t to known them for very long, I’d be very lonely” That’s how she saw it. Most adults didn’t really agree with her, which kind of made her mad, but she guessed she might be able to understand it one day.

“Thirteen years, eh?” he repeated, and she nodded. It was a pretty long time, even for her. It was really no wonder she was so good, though. “That is quite a long time. What is your age?” He sounded uncertain, for once, and confused. She wondered how old he thought she was. She looked down at herself. Did she look that young?

Ohh…wait. Human. Of course. Rin thought she was a human! She slapped her forehead at her own stupidity. “I’m twenty-seven human years old” she answered, feeling stupid for not pointing this out earlier. “Physically…I might be eight or nine?” she ventured, not really sure how these things worked. She had never really had to put her own age into perspective with any of the human children she played with, mostly because they never asked. “I think”

Then, almost without warning, Rin put his cane down. She followed the movement with surprise, wondering why on earth he would do that. Her question was answered, however, when he began to run his fingers over the holes of the flute as if to familiarize himself with them, and then began to play. Her eyes widened at the noise. It sounded choppy and halting at first, as if he didn’t remember the song, but he fell into rhythm almost at once. The song was very sad, and it made tears come to her eyes. She thought it was beautiful. She wondered where he had heard this song, or if he had written it himself. The thought was lost, though, as she got lost in his music. It flowed smoothly from the flute, and his fingers moved effortlessly, like they were dancing. She thought she saw him swaying slightly, but that might have just been her. It sounded…young. Young and sad, but free. It sounded lost, but focused, cold and lonely. It sounded like Rin. It made her feel sleepy, but not in the bad way. It calmed her and made her feel safe. She fought a childish yawn, but she did end up rubbing her eye with the back of her hand.

As he had with her, she waited until he was done to praise his song. And praise she did. She started clapping softly almost the second he lowered the flute, and smiled softly. “That was beautiful, Rin” she said, her voice soft and sincere. “You play beautifully”

[Rin Hayashi]

“That was beautiful, Rin. You play beautifully.”

The girl’s words were accompanied by a small applause as she clapped her hands together. Rin lowered the flute from his lips, and then slowly extended his hand in the direction of the girl, holding the instrument out to her. He waited for her to take it. “I am afraid I only know one song,” he told her. He wasn’t sure what had inspired him to show this girl something so personal to him. Perhaps it was easier to speak in the language of musical notes rather than words. Words had never been something that Rin was skilled at, even when he had lived among other people. He’d been happier back then, yes, but he had never been that social of a boy, always a little different from the rest.

As Rin waited for the girl to take back her flute, he said quietly, almost teasingly, “ It seems you were lucky today, as I have no interest in stealing your instrument.” And this was true. She was very lucky. Rin knew that there were many people who would have taken the flute from the girl, stolen it for themselves, probably to sell and make money off of. She was indeed lucky that he was honest, not some scummy lying human. He wouldn’t steal from her. No, he wouldn’t do that. He was not a thief! Well, actually, that was a lie. Occasionally he stole, but only from people who he thought deserved it. That was okay, right? If they deserved it then it was simply karma getting back at them in one way or another. And the only thing he ever took was food, nothing that valuable…

There was a short silence, and then Rin spoke again, his voice suddenly a lot more serious. “Also, about what you said before,” he began quietly, “You are correct. If you do not trust people…you will be lonely. However…” His tone raised a pitch, and he held up a finger, pointing in the direction of the girl.“Trusting people is like gambling. Sometimes you will be lucky, but sometimes you will come out worse than you were before.” He was silent for a few moments after that, letting the girl think about what he had just told her. He wondered if she would understand his words. She sounded quite young, even though she claimed to be older than him, and he wasn’t sure if she knew very much about gambling.

That's right, yes, this girl had claimed to be twenty-seven years old, which must have been a lie, because that would make her older than him. He could swear on his life that her voice was coming from somewhere close to the ground, so if she was really as old as she said she was…she must have been one short twenty-seven year old. And not only that. Her voice, the things she said, they all sounded similar to what a child would say, someone young. No. She could not be twenty-seven. That was impossible.

Rin’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. There was something else she had said that bothered him. She was twenty-seven…but she looked eight or nine. How was that possible? He couldn’t see her with his eyes, and all he had to go off of was her voice, so he had no idea if she was even telling him the truth. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had jokes played on him before… After all, what better victim to tease than a blind man?

“Are you really twenty-seven years old?” Rin asked out of nowhere. He was frustrated that he could not figure this out. He didn’t like not understanding things.

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[Fuyuko Tama]

"I am afraid I only know one song" Rin said as he handed her flute back. She took it and held it to her chest, It was still warm from being played so much, and she imagined she could still hear the echoes of the songs playing through it still. She curled her fingers around it adoringly, rubbing at some dirt on the corner with her sleeve. "It seems you were lucky today, as I have no interest in stealing your instrument"

She scoffed slightly. She didn't understand why he kept insisting upon reminding her that he could steal her precious flute. She knew he could, but she also knew that he wouldn't. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would just steal a flute, especially so far away from anyone who would buy it. Besides, in its slightly beat-up condition, it wasn't worth that much. She decided against speaking her mind on the subject again, and just let his statement stand.

She set about putting her flute away now that she was done with it. Thinking back, she didn't know why she had taken it out in the first place, but now she was glad she had. It had shown her a little bit more about Rin the wanderer, and she was happy for that. Happy to know that there was now one less stranger in the world.

"Also, about what you said before" he spoke suddenly, and she jumped. To her embarrassment, she had almost forgotten he was there still. "You are correct. If you do not trust people...you will be lonely" Then, he pointed at her, and his voice got more serious, if that was possible. "Trusting people is like gambling. Sometimes you will be lucky, but sometimes you will come out worse than before" Her eyes widened slightly at the statement. His hand dropped back down to his side, and he was silent.

She truly thought about those words. That was true, what he said. Trusting people readily could be dangerous, but it wasn't as if she trusted every person she met. She was jut kind to every person she met. Looking back, now, she wondered if that truly made a difference. She suddenly felt sad to think how much harm the world could cause her. If she trusted the wrong person, she could end up dead or worse. "Was I lucky in trusting Rin?" she murmured to herself, and looked up at the young man. She thought she was, but he didn't seem too happy.

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed Rin's changing expression, or growing confusion. So his sudden question startled her quite badly. "Are you really twenty-seven years old?" His voice was confused and frustrated, and she wondered how he could not see it. She may look more human than not, but everyone else in the world noticed her demon heritage right away!

"Of course I am" she said, her voice confused, and then felt like smacking herself again. Smooth, Fuyuko! "Hanyou children don't age as human children do...it will be many years before I am physically twenty-seven" she said, figuring she may as well be gentle in the revelation.

[Rin Hayashi]

“Was I lucky in trusting Rin?”

“It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Rin told her in reply, monotone voice echoing quietly through the air. Yes, she had been lucky. Lucky that he was not a bandit, that he wasn’t going to hurt her, or abduct her. He could see that this girl had her own set of beliefs and she was going to stick to them no matter what he said. That was fine, and, actually, he respected her for that. It might get her in trouble someday, this whole ‘trusting everyone’ motto, but if it’s what she wanted to do, who was he to stop her? It wasn’t as if he was her father. He was just some random passerby she’d happened to run into, quite literally.

“Of course I am.”

The girl sounded confused when she spoke, like her being twenty-seven was the most obvious thing ever. Rin remained silent, trying to figure this out. He didn’t like being confused, not at all. He liked to feel as if he knew everything, alas, he did not. Then, to his surprise, the girl in front of him spoke again, further answering his question. “Hanyou children don't age as human children do,” she explained to him. “It will be many years before I am physically twenty-seven.” This confused Rin even more, but only for a moment. Hanyou? What? Had he misheard her? He pondered this for a few seconds before suddenly recalling the term from his memory. Wait. Hanyou… It was a word he had heard once before. It was used to describe those that were not human, but not demon, a mix of something in between. This meant that the girl he was talking to was not just a simple child. If what she said was true, she could actually be quite dangerous.

“Ah,” Rin said in his quiet voice, a little unsure of what exactly to say to the girl. “I see. I suppose that explains it.” He had never met one of these creatures before. It was odd. She seemed human enough to him, every bit as human as he was himself. He supposed this whole thing could be a big bluff, but somehow he doubted it. He was a pretty good judge of character, and he didn’t think that this girl would tell a lie, at least, not about something like this. There was something about her, maybe her innocence, that led him to believe this. He did still wonder though. Was she an adult or was she a child? She acted like a child, she spoke like a child, and yet she was older than him… It was strange to think about. “Interesting,” he mused, adding it as an afterthought.

Rin was silent after that. The news that this girl might not be fully human didn’t seem to bother him. Or, if it did, he didn’t show any signs of it. He figured that people already gave her enough trouble for what she was, judging her on things about herself she could not change. After all, he knew how humans were. They feared what was different, and because of this, they would shun it.

And then, like Rin always did when there was nothing left to say, he turned and started to walk again, not giving any real warning. His feet just started to carry him away It was what he did when he ran out of things to say. He would just move on, go on his way, and he would never see the person again. He knew it was rude, but it was just what he did. There was really no use in talking to any person in particular for too long. If he did things this way, if he kept his meetings short lived, the voices he heard would soon fade from his memory, blur together so no one in particular stood out. He never usually thought twice about this, however, today, he let his footsteps slow for just a minute, and he turned his body slightly, facing back in the direction he’d came, in the direction of the girl. “Well, are you coming or not?” he muttered, voice slightly demanding. He waited where he was standing for a few seconds, and then he turned and went back to walking.

What the hell was he thinking? What’d he done that for? Rin sighed inwardly. It was just because of that stupid pity story she’d told, the one about her parents being dead and crap… He’d feel like some kind of monster just leaving her out here to fend for herself. She seemed to have managed so far, however long it had been, but still… Even if she was some sort of demon, her voice still sounded young and childish to him, and even Rin had a conscience. He couldn’t just leave a kid out here completely alone. Who knows, maybe he’d get lucky and she wouldn’t even follow him anyway. Knowing his luck though, that was doubtful.

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[Fuyuko Tama]

She watched his face as she told him she was a hanyou, half expecting to have to immediately turn around and run for her life. Most people just figured it out, and once they did... But to her pleasant surprise, he didn't even seem to care. He looked thoughtful for a moment, as if he was rolling the concept around in his head, and then he just said, "I see. I suppose that explains it." For a moment, she wasn't quite sure she was supposed to be about the complete lack of violence. It was quite a new experience for her. "Interesting" was all he said, seemingly thinking aloud. His face betrayed no anger or disturbance, and she wondered if he truly didn't care about her blood.

The next few moments, once again, were spent in total silence. She had no clue what to say in response to his lack of response, and he apparently just didn't have anything to say. The silence grew, almost a buzz in her ear, until she really wasn't aware of anything else. Normally, it would cause her discomfort or unease, but she felt none of that this time. She was surprisingly numb. She wondered vaguely if Rin was always prone to long silences in between his thoughts, or if she was really just that boring. Either way, she had never spent this much time not talking to anyone. She considered trying to break the silence, but she still had nothing to say.

Not much that can be said.

Then, she just seemed to blink, and Rin had already turned away. He was walking away from her, not looking back and not saying a word. She just stared after him, still standing there in silence. The wind began to blow again slowly, and she looked up at the sky for a moment, noticing the sky had darkening considerably. She should probably start to move too...even for her, this mountain was not safe at night. She looked at Rin's retreating back and sighed softly in...something. Was it regret? Affection? Sorrow?

She supposed this was not something she should have been surprised or concerned over. As he had already proven and pointed out several times, he was not the type to trust or linger on others. And really, they had only known each other for a little bit now, not really long enough to know anything much besides each other's names (and in his case, some of her past). They would both move on and never speak to each other again, and never to think back to their chance encounter on the mountains. This was something she knew, but...she felt very sad to see him walking away, as if the thought of never seeing each other again was something that would follow her for the rest of her life...something she would always wish she hadn't done.

She turned slowly and made to walk in the other direction, the way she had just come. Before she could take a step however, Rin's voice rose up behind her. His footsteps had stopped.

"Well, are you coming or not?"

His voice sounded almost demanding, as if he were ordering her to do something, and he stood for just a few seconds before she heard his footsteps walking away again.

For a few seconds, Fuyuko just stood there, stunned. His words barely even seemed to compute. Her hand found its way to her heart, as if to make sure it was still there, and she realized that if she turned and followed Rin, even if it was just for a tiny, tiny bit, and even if Rin didn't like her (which it seemed he didn't)...she wouldn't be alone anymore. For a minute or so, her body wouldn't move. Then, almost blinded by tears that mysteriously appeared in her large youthful eyes, she suddenly spun around and ran after him, his form a blurred image in her vision.

She caught up to him, and began to walk behind him and slightly to the left. She was crying silently, not even bothering to wipe away her tears. The joy and gratitude that she now felt for this man felt like too much for her tiny body to contain, and she felt like laughing, singing and crying all at the same time.

"Th-thank you, Rin" she managed to say through the tears.

[Rin Hayashi]

The dark-haired man wasn’t sure what to think as he walked away. He was a little baffled with himself for even offering such a thing to the girl, something outrageous as letting her tag along, because usually he would just walk away without breathing a word, leave whoever he had been talking to in silence. Neither would say anything, and then they would go their separate ways, never to meet again. That’s how it always was. It was a rule. A rule that Rin had created for himself. Never talk with any individual for too long, the less personal the conversation the better. And above all, never cross paths with anyone more than once.

At first there were no footsteps, and as Rin slowly turned to walk away, there was nothing behind him but silence. He figured that the girl had gone off her own way by now, as she didn’t seem to be following him. For some reason, he’d thought that she would have come with him. He didn’t know how he felt when he did not hear her footsteps behind him. His heart seemed to sink ever so slightly. Disappointment? No, that made no sense. He should be happy that she was not following him. He didn’t want some child tagging along at his heels for the rest of his journey, or however long she planned to stay. That would just be disastrous. Rin mumbled something to himself, lifting a hand and passing it through his raven black hair. But…he couldn’t just leave her there, could he? He bit down on his lip, frustrated. Maybe deep down, somewhere in his subconscious mind, he had wanted her to follow. Not that he would ever admit to that, to himself or anyone else.

Rin thought about turning around to look, to see what she was doing, but then he stopped himself. No. Never look back. Keep moving forward. Fuyuko would probably be standing there like some hurt and rejected puppy, and he didn’t want to see that. Whatever… at least he didn’t have anything to feel guilty about now. Perhaps that was why he invited her to come along with him. If he did that, at least he wouldn’t be seen as a cold hearted bastard who left a child up in the mountains. Yes, walking away so suddenly had probably been a bit harsh, but he had offered to let her come with him. So, it had really all up to her, completely her choice.

Just as Rin was certain that he was alone again, the familiar heaviness of silence setting in, the loneliness, he heard the footsteps. The reaction was a bit delayed, but suddenly he could hear the soft thuds behind him, pounding against the ground as the girl rushed to catch up with him. Ah, so she was coming after all, was she?

“Th-Thank you, Rin,” the girl said when she had caught up to him. Rin frowned at the stutter in her voice. It was muffled, as if she had been…crying? The male kept walking, listening carefully, and was able to detect the very slight sniffle coming from he. Great. He’d made her cry? His grip on his bamboo cane tightened a little, but then he inhaled slowly, calming himself. “Thank me for what? For letting you come?” he asked, his voice holding a calm tone. “That was not my choice. That was yours. You could have followed me even if I told you not to.” Rin was silent for a few long moments, nothing unusual for him. He slowed his pace so that the girl could keep up easier, positioning himself so that he was walking beside her. Then he added a little softer, like he was attempting to sound comforting, “Anyway, now that you are here, there is no reason to cry.” He reached down a hand, letting it rest atop Fuyuko’s head, and gave her hair a gentle ruffle.

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[Fuyuko Tama]

The only change she noticed in Rin when she caught up was his grip suddenly tightening on his cane. She was a bit surprised, then, when he began to talk again. ”Thank me for what? For letting you come?” he asked, his tone calm. She nodded, her gaze fixed straight on the road in front of her feet. She didn’t want to look up for fear of seeing something that might prove to her that this was just a dream, and she was going to wake up on the side of the mountain trail, still alone. His voice cut through her silence again, as he continued his previous statement. ”That was not my choice. It was yours. You could have followed me even if I told you not to” he pointed out. She laughed softly. He had a point. They were technically going the same direction anyway, so she could have followed him with that excuse, even if he hadn’t wanted her to. But...

"I wouldn’t, though" she said. "I wouldn’t follow you if I thought it would make you unhappy” she told him, and she meant it. That was part of why she had taken so long in following him. She probably would have turned around and gone back the way she had come if she even conceived the notion that hearing her behind him would upset him. She didn’t know him well enough to know if he had asked her out of guilt, or if he really wanted companionship.

With that, they fell back into the silence that seemed to afflict them so much. She didn’t mind so much, now, knowing that the silence was not born of two companions who were tense and uncomfortable or anything of the sort. There was simply nothing that needed to be said right now. Rin slowed down slightly and moved so that he was walking beside her. She looked up at him. He was so not that much older than she was, but he still looked like he had endured an eternity of life. She actually felt a kind of admiration for him, for a variety of reasons (not the least of which was that he had endured her this long without getting too annoyed, which was something no adult had done thus far), and felt very happy that of all the companions the world could have handed her, it gave her this one.

”Anyway, now that you are here, there is no reason to cry” he said, and her eyes widened when he put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair lightly. The gesture was small, and probably meaningless to him, but it meant to more to her than almost anything.

”Y-yeah” she said, but still couldn’t make the tears stop. It was such a shock, and such a joy, for her to have someone warm beside her while she walked.

[Rin Hayashi]

“I wouldn’t, though. I wouldn’t follow you if I thought it would make you unhappy.”

Rin lifted an eyebrow at this comment. Did this mean that she thought by following him she believed he was happy? He thought about this for a moment, but was unable to come up with an answer. He couldn’t decide whether he was annoyed or relieved; annoyed because he now had a sniffling little girl tagging along with him like a small duck, relieved because he was no longer alone with his depressing thoughts. “I see,” was all he said, and he continued on walking, trying to keep his pace slow so the girl would be able to keep up with him. He listened to the sound of her footsteps, measuring the time between the light little thuds that struck softly against the dirt, and matching his own stride to hers. How long would she be with him, he wondered? How far would her small feet be able to carry her before she’d had enough? Rin was sure that she’d soon grow bored with him and leave. Children didn’t seem to have very long attention spans, and he was hardly an interesting person.

As he walked, using his cane to probe the ground in front of him, Rin realized his hand was still resting atop the girl’s head. It was a strange sensation. She was radiating warmth, something he had not felt in a long time. He was so used to the cold, to the lifelessness of solitude. This girl’s soft hair felt odd under his palm, a foreign texture. He let his hand rest there for a moment longer, and then slid his arm away, letting it rest down at his side again.

“Y-Yeah.”

Rin could tell that she was still crying. He could hear the waver of tears in her voice, the emotion in it. He thought about telling her to stop, that there was no need to be shedding tears, because, after all, he had allowed her to come with him and there should be no reason to be sad. However, as he listened to the quiet sniffles, he realized that perhaps it wasn’t sadness she was feeling, but something else. He’d heard other humans use the expression ‘tears of joy’ before. It was not an emotion he had ever felt himself though, so he could not fully understand it. He wondered what it would feel like to be so happy you cried. He smirked a little. He couldn’t even imagine that. It sounded ridiculous. Had he really made this girl that happy?

“Be sure not to fall behind,” Rin warned her quietly, unsure what to do about her tears. He was always the one who made people cry. He hardly knew a thing about how to stop them!

“Were you headed anywhere in particular?” Rin asked, breaking the silence that had set in. He, himself, had no real destination. He had just been walking, wandering through the landscape as he often did. He had no idea where this pathway was going to take him, where his feet were going to lead him. He would worry about that when he got there. Perhaps he would end up in another part of the forest, or maybe it would be a village this time. There was really no telling. If this girl, if Fuyuko, wanted to tag along, she was just going to have to deal with that. Well, unless she had somewhere she wanted to go in mind. Because, seeing as Rin had no real destination, he didn’t have much of a problem with letting her choose which road to take.

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[Fuyuko Tama]

Rin's hand stayed on her head for quite a while. She wondered if something was wrong, but then it moved off slowly. She let out a little "huh" sound that was part confusion and part resignation.

"Be careful not to fall behind" he said, and she nodded. "I won't" she promised.

And, once again, the silence. This time, Fuyuko took this time to somehow stop her tears, stubbornly telling herself that she was crying like an idiot for no apparent reason and that Rin probably didn't like it. So, she took a very deep, quick breath, and let it out, as if pushing all of the tears out of her body. After that, she managed to stay completely silent, as soon as she stopped panting. She reached up to rub some dirt out of her eye absently.

“Were you headed anywhere in particular?” Rin asked suddenly, and she thought about it. She had never really been heading anywhere before, and now was no different. Having a destination, she decided, kind of took all the fun out of the journey.

"No, not really" she said, racking her brain trying to remember if she had set out a goal for herself today. She really did just walk around with no particular destination, but she usually strived to be at least within a ten miles or so of civilization, just to be safe and to feel comforted. That, and she couldn't really make money in the middle of nowhere. "Although I was aiming to get to a village within the next week or so" She spoke very seriously. "I was hoping to make some money in the next village, though I don't know how far it is"

She let out a startled squeak when she heard something moving in the bushes ahead of them. She did a little jump back, and then felt like an idiot when a small cat pulled itself out of the bush, protesting loudly at the burrs that were stuck in its fur.

Rin momentarily forgotten, she ran forward to grab the cat. It tried to run when she got close, but she put a hand on its back and held it in place. It calmed slightly, but it still breathed quickly. She knelt down and began plucking the burrs out of its fur. When she was done, she patted its head and lifted it up, petting its fur. "There, kitty!" she said cheerfully, and put it back down.

She looked up at the sky and her blood ran cold. "It's almost night-time"

[Rin Hayashi]

“No, not really. Although I was aiming to get to a village within the next week or so. I was hoping to make some money in the next village, though I don't know how far it is.”

Rin made a face at this, though he did his best not to voice any discontentment. “A village, eh?” he spoke quietly, as if to himself. He detested villages. There were always too many people there, and to be honest, it scared him. There were not many things that fazed the seemingly fearless Rin, but large crowds happened to be one of them. All the different sounds coming at him at once shook up his sense of direction, and he often became lost, which later meant he had to ask for directions, something he hated doing. Perhaps he would walk with this girl until she reached this village she spoke of. If he did that, got her to some type of civilization, then he would feel better. He wouldn’t be leaving her in the mountains to be eaten by bears of slaughtered by bandits.

“Then I shall escort you to this village,” he announced, a note of finality in his voice, as if not giving this young girl a choice. After that, well, he had no idea what he would do. Probably just go back to his usual lifestyle, head back to the forest. He’d know the girl was safe and out of harm’s way, so he wouldn’t have that to worry about anymore. Yes, he would be doing a good deed this way. He almost felt like a good person. Almost.

Rin was about to say something else, but suddenly the girl beside him let out a startled squeak. He tensed, hearing the bushes rustle somewhere nearby, and, being the pessimist he was, he automatically assumed the worst. It must be bandits. They’d come. He knew that it was getting rather late, as he could no longer feel the heat of the sun beating down on his back, and the closer to dark it got, the more chance they had of running into perils. After the sun set it was no longer safe to be traveling. Rin took a step forward, putting his staff in front of him. “Get behind me and –”

Meow!

Wait… what? Rin lowered his staff, suddenly feeling very foolish. A…cat? He mentally slapped himself in the face, quickly taking a step back, acting as if that had never happened. He stood there in silence for a few moments, mentally cursing at himself. He needed to wait longer before reacting so suddenly. It’s just…he was a very suspicious man, probably a bit paranoid at times.

“It's almost night-time.”

“Ah, is it?” Rin took her word for it, as he could not see the sky himself. He imagined the sun slowly setting in the distance, the atmosphere darkening. “If that is the case, we should probably find somewhere to take shelter for the night. Do you agree?” He was unsure where they would go though, as this was a place he had never been before, so he did not have any landmarks to go off of. This was all unfamiliar territory to him.

A happy meow broke through his thoughts, and the next moment Rin felt something bump up against his leg. He stumbled a bit, surprised at the sudden touch, but managed to catch his balance at the last moment. Great! Now he had a cat following him too? What more did he need? Rin sighed, letting his shoulders sag as the animal rubbed itself all over his legs, meowing and purring. “This animal, he began, sounding a tiny bit annoyed, “What do you propose we do with it?”

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[Fuyuko Tama]

"Then I will escort you to this village" Rin had said, when she told him her destination (or lack thereof; she had no clue where the next village was). That made her feel happy, though she wondered if he would leave her at that point. Though the thought made her sad, she knew he had absolutely no reason to stay with her after that. They had only known each other for maybe an hour, after all.

Fuyuko giggled slightly at Rin's brief show of defensiveness when the cat came out of the bushes. Though he stepped back and just stood as if everything was normal, she had seen the brief look of...slight embarrassment and disbelief that had been on his face when he realized the "danger" was nothing but a little lost kitty. He remained silent for a few more moments while she pet the cat, while it purred loudly. She let out little croons of childish delight at it, completely absorbed in this new acquaintance.

"Ah, so it is. If that is the case, we should probably find somewhere to take shelter for the night. Do you agree?" Rin said, and she looked up at him, a bit surprised. She was used to being ignored when adults made decisions like that. But she nodded anyway. "Yeah...there might be something further up, I hope" All she saw right now was trees, and none of them good enough to set up a decent shelter. She bit her lip slightly. "I don't know if this mountain has lots of demons, though" That was really her main concern. While she had powers, she knew that against a full-powered demon, she would be very ineffective. And Rin, as a human, would be just as powerful (less).

Imagine a hanyou like me being such a weakling and being afraid of the dark! she thought somewhat huffily, and thought of her brother's taunting face as she chewed this prospect. She let out an angry huff, as if he really were taunting her, and her foot rubbed in the dirt.

Then, the cat walked over to Rin. She got distracted by the movement and watched as it wound its way around his legs and began purring loudly. He let out a really big sigh and his entire body seemed to slump as if in defeat as he said, his voice laced with annoyance, "This animal. What do you propose we do with it?

She blinked. Again, he asked for her opinion. Maybe it's because I'm close to him in age she reasoned. She sighed, though, because she really had no idea what they would do with a cat. Though she wanted to keep it, she could tell by Rin's face that he didn't like it. "I think we should follow it!" she said, in a sudden flash of brilliance. "It doesn't look that dirty, so maybe there's a house or something!"