Review please :D

desirae668, you spoil me with your reviews T~T I love you so much! :D Truthfully, Ayame is a character that reminds me of my aunt ^^; she's virtually shameless OwO it's sometimes a bit offputting XD

One month and ten chapters :D I feel proud of myself. I'll admit the quality isn't where I want it to be D: but I'll eventually edit it . . . after I've finished it x.x

Hanashobu

Chapter 10: Sake, tattoos, and headaches.

There wasn't much for me to do since I was still injured. If I were better I would have probably joined Ayame in her training, maybe 'accidently' knocked her down once or twice.

She didn't practice during the day anyways, whether for my sake or because she herself could still barely stay awake.

We talked a lot, mostly about random stuff. Her favorite subject was about traveling and places I'd been to in Japan.

"What about your home, what's it like? I've never been on the Western Coast before. Takeshi-sama says it snows even more than it does on the mountains here. Are there many other demons?" she fired rapidly.

We were both sitting on the grass, close enough to the trees to be shaded. She tried to take a nap earlier and I had to bother her before she fell asleep and got cranky. She was still such a brat.

"No, there aren't many demons remaining in the West. If there are, they stay well hidden from humans and other demons." I'd seen more demons here than I had in a life time. Demon crows, foxes and raccoon dogs, spider women, white snakes, even a two-tailed monster cat. It seemed like almost every animal in the forest was actually a demon disguised. "There's always lots of snow in the mountains during the winter, though less falls as you get closer to the ocean."

"Nee-san and I don't have to worry about snow since we're near a spring. The ground is too warm for snow to build up, though it does get muddy. If we do get snowed in Nee-san can always send her shiki disguised as humans to bring us back food,"

"It must be nice, having access to hot springs all year long," I mused.

"What? You don't have hot springs in the West?"

I chuckled, "You really don't get out much do you? Of course there's hot springs in the West, stupid." She huffed, crossing her arms as she did sometimes. I didn't think she realized she was pushing her bosom up. "My family's estate is surrounded by the woods, much like this one, though it's not in walking distance of a private spring. The nearest onsen is public and owned by humans."

She scrunched up her nose, "Uwah, does that mean you actually have to boil water to bathe? That sounds so time consuming,"

"Not everyone has such a convenient home," I chided.

Ayame was quiet for a second, formulating her next question. "What about siblings, do you have any?"

"I have two older brothers and a younger sister,"

"Eh?" she exclaimed, "I thought you were more like the only child type, or at least the youngest,"

I frowned, "Why?"

"Well," she blushed, "you seem kind of spoiled,"

"You should meet my sister then,"

"Ho? How old is she?" she looked genuinely interested. "What's your relationship like? Do you get along or do you argue?"

"She's eleven, no, twelve," I missed her birthday earlier this month when I went to find Hakuouki. Yet another reason to prolong my return, she'd have a tantrum over that. "She's spoiled and hyper. She's the youngest by a far cry and acts completely innocent in Oka-san's presence, though she likes to be rebellious. Rebellious might be too strong a word, especially when I'm sitting next to you,"

She laughed at that, "Give her another few years and she'll be as bad as me,"

"How so?" I asked, knitting my brows together. They were two completely different individuals, I doubted Ayame understood.

Her smile dimmed. "Some people really hate to be put in glass cases,"

I considered that. "That's the most normal sounding explanation I've ever heard from you."

She elbowed me, hard. I stubbornly refused to rub the pain out of my shoulder. "So, what's her name?"

I scowled at her; she was hitting me a lot lately. "Emi,"

She pondered for a moment, "Kazama Emi . . . sounds burdensome,"

I snorted. "Is that a habit of yours? Reading too far into people's names?"

"Uh-m, I guess." She grinned sardonically. "Look at my name, names. Miyaki, Agano, and Kurosawa. Either way, I'm just a flower that doesn't belong. I'm just something to be looked at, something to be forcefully removed and then fed into an arrangement."

I hadn't realized she thought about herself like that. I scarcely understood her. If I saw it her way, I could say she had as many personalities as names. I didn't say that aloud, her self-esteem was deflated enough right now.

"Forget your last name, think about the name your parents gave you," she glared at me. I guess it didn't work unless it was both names. Always so picky, but I continued anyways. "Iris flowers are like weeds; they can grow practically anywhere and bloom longer than most flowers. They don't have the same delicate charm as others, but rather an unexpectedly rough beauty,"

She returned a blank stare. I'd forgotten she wasn't the brightest philosopher around. Any other woman would have taken that as a compliment. She wasn't too good with those.

"Are you saying I'm like a weed?"

I cradled my head, trembling with something like a combination of rage and amusement. I swear she was giving me a headache.

"No, Seaweed Head, I'm complimenting you,"

"Seaweed Head?" she growled, her face turning red, though I doubted it was from embarrassment. "You . . . you!" I didn't think she was smart enough to come up with an insult, "Acorn Head!"

"What?" seriously, that didn't even make sense.

She was blushing now. "Your hair kinda flips out," she gestured lamely.

Ah, I remembered why I found myself laughing more than I ever had before. I was laughing at her and her stupid jokes, crude manners, and pitiful comebacks.

"Stop laughing, you pig," she murmured, arms crossed again. Now really wasn't the time to make a comment about that.

I caught my breath. "You say stupid things,"

"You're stupid," she shot back moodily.

"Ano, Hinata-sama wants to know what you want to eat tonight . . ."

Both of us jumped. I was too relaxed; I hadn't even noticed her approaching.

"Beef cutlets!" Ayame exclaimed, "And, eh-to, more meat?"

Chizuru smiled placidly. I think Ayame's boyish attitude confused her. She probably wasn't sure how to deal with someone younger than her who acted like a boy and had bigger breast than her.

"Why not sukiyaki? At least there's a guaranteed variety," I suggested.

Ayame agreed reluctantly. "And it's nice with rice and sake," she rhymed. "Thanks for cooking for us Chizuru-san; Nee-san's a horrid cook. Oh! Don't forget about Kouta's portion,"

Chizuru had been cooking this entire time? I felt cheated.

"It's my pleasure, I'm just happy to be of use after you and Hinata-sama found us," Chizuru replied conservatively.

"You should take a break and drink with us," Ayame offered. I hadn't thought she was the considerate type.

"Oh, no, I can't drink,"

"Ho? It's easy," Ayame reasoned. Of course it was easy; she just didn't understand.

I grunted. "Stupid, you're the only girl around here who drinks,"

She punched me in the side again and I sneered at her. Gradually, she was beginning to use more force, as though testing how far she could go before actually hurting me. "You could at least come and enjoy the food you cooked; it'd be funny being the only sober one there,"

Chizuru giggled a little, "I'll think about it," she threw over her shoulder as she treaded back to the temple.

"You're the only one going to be drunk," I jeered.

She smirked. "Kouta, is that all you could carry?"

Kouta appeared from an invisible path, disguised as a balding, black haired, middle aged human. He looked like a sake hermit! I couldn't count all the jugs of sake at first.

He shook the guise away like water and laid the cord of strung together clay jugs down. "Phew, that was heavy,"

"Sure it was. You won't even have ten with that amount," Ayame teased.

Kouta rolled his shoulders, sighing. "As long as you don't drink more than you usually do and the brute doesn't drink more than you then I'll have twelve. Two of which I'll promptly drink tonight."

"Ho? I'll have to pace myself then, I can't let you have more than ten!"

"You're so greedy!" he bayed. "Carrying those jugs was hard work; I should get a bonus for that!"

"Maybe," Ayame conceded.

Just how much was she planning on drinking? I calculated the jugs, two and ten for the fox and another seven besides that. I shook my head, what a waste of sake. I could see tonight would be more like a drinking contest rather than drinking party.

The sun had set and the night was bright with the light of a springtime moon. We'd cleared out Ayame's temporary room and set up pillows and armrests for the dinner. It was only set for three though there were a couple extra zabutons and armrests. The shoji doors were wide open, letting the night air in. It was pleasantly cool after the dry heat during the day. Summer had begun.

"I told Aniki to come by if he thought about it," Kouta mentioned. "He probably won't come,"

Ayame had taken a bath earlier and her long hair was still wet and held in a high ponytail to keep off her green seashell printed haori. I had watched her pin it up for about fifteen minutes, carefully combing through each section of hair.

"He hasn't come around to drink since the New Year," Ayame commented.

Kouta sniffed, "For good reason . . ."

Ayame pretended not to hear that and leaned against her armrest. She was wearing grey hakama with the sea green haori. I noticed she had a third black collar under it and pondered if it was just decorative. She had more clothes than even my sister.

Chizuru tottered around the corner, trays stacked three high with plates laden with food. Hinata followed her with the sake. She didn't look impressed.

"Don't think you can get away with this every full moon," she scolded. "What's all the sake for? You couldn't finish all that with five people and Takeshi-sama,"

Ayame waved her off, "Don't worry, ten is for Kouta. We'll probably only drink eight or nine,"

Hinata sighed. "Ten is for Kouta? Were you two gambling again?"

Ayame snickered. "I owed him a favor,"

Hinata gave her a hard look and before shrugging, resigned. "Don't drink too much, you might actually get a hangover."

"We'll call when we want more," Ayame responded.

Hinata grumbled under her breath, leaving the sake between Kouta and Ayame.

Chizuru left after she positioned our dinner trays and I thought there might be an awkward silence. I wasn't used to this type of drinking atmosphere. Usually I drank alone or with Amagiri, and he wasn't much of a talker.

"I hear you've been hanging around a lady friend," Ayame baited, nudging Kouta as she reached for the sake.

"Hmph," Kouta rubbed his arm, eyes narrowed at Ayame. "You hear everything that goes on here, why should I be surprised?"

Ayame's expression became solemn as she poured herself a cup of crystal clear sake. "I don't hear everything. Do you know what I'm referring to?" she passed me the bottle, still satisfyingly hot to the touch. I caught a whiff. Undiluted, I guessed they were dedicated drinkers.

Kouta nodded earnestly. "The spider woman? I was wondering when you'd ask. I heard she came from the South,"

Her lips hovered over the rim of her saucer, she frowned deeply. She probably wondered if it had any relation to the Southern Oni, just as I did.

"Tobi was particularly nettled with you for knocking the snot out of him that last time. He was young and naïve and he hadn't been here for such a long time. He probably didn't realize you could only be pushed so far, and that you were quite capable of killing." Kouta noted the slow sip she took and the drawn line on her face. "Don't look so down, we're supposed to be partying. Hurry up and gulp that drink down and return to being a carefree simpleton,"

She tipped her head back obediently, emptying the cup. She held her cup in my direction and I raised one eyebrow.

"What?"

"Pour me another drink, idiot,"

Reluctantly, I complied. I never thought the day would come when I'd pour sake for a woman. How ridiculous.

"So, what about your lady friend?" Ayame repeated.

"It's none of your business," Kouta muttered over his cup of sake.

Ayame downed her sake again, exhaling patiently. "I hear she has big blue eyes,"

Kouta filled his sake cup again, "They're azure,"

"Same thing," Ayame had turned her attention on the food and was hovering her chopsticks over the meat. "She's a mountain dog, isn't she?"

"So?"

Ayame swallowed a mouthful of meat and seasoned vegetables. "What does your brother think?"

Kouta grunted. "What do you think?" I thought Kouta might have been turning a little rosy from the sake, probably because he was trying to keep up with Ayame. I had already stopped counting how many times she refilled her cup.

She threw back another, hissing contentedly. "I'm pretty sure he's prejudice against crossing," she paused, "he's really pretty though. I guess that proves pretty people are shallow,"

Pretty? I stole a glance at her, looking for flushed cheeks. She didn't appear to be drunk.

"Pff, I'm not shallow," Kouta rebuked.

"Idiot, you're not pretty. You just like to stick your big nose where it doesn't belong,"

I almost choked on my dinner. She had to be close to drunk; otherwise she wouldn't be quite as loose with her words.

Kouta balked. "My nose isn't that big," he stroked it delicately, eyeing Ayame. "You're shallow,"

Ayame disagreed. "I'm not that pretty. He called me Seaweed Head,"

"I'm surprised no one else has called you that," I added.

Kouta giggled, "Seaweed Head, that's a good one. Yow!"

Ayame was pulling his hair, forcing his head to the floor. The neck of his yukata slipped over his shoulder, revealing the edge of a tattoo.

"Ah! I almost forgot. Kouta, show him your tattoo."

"Why should I? Show him yours," Kouta shot back as he fixed his collar.

"He's already seen them," she countered, "plus, I want to show him the ones I did."

He struggled against her futilely, her small fists balled in the material of his yukata. If he didn't let go soon she'd tear it.

"Stop it, you violent woman!" he cried pitifully. I couldn't understand why he didn't just transform or escape. He was drunk; maybe he hadn't realized he could.

I took another sip of sake, watching the entertainment. Ayame was clearly just bullying him halfheartedly.

He tired and let go and she hauled his arm out of sleeve, showing off the tattoo on his shoulder. "See? Isn't it pretty?"

The tattoo had a powdery blue sky with smoky grey clouds and a half cloaked sun. Sakura trees on either side of a frothy white stream interrupted the sky with their pink boughs.

"It'd look nice on a tapestry or a painting," her artistic skills weren't in question, just the medium she used.

"You approve? That's so nice of you," she clapped then cheerily drained another cup of sake. She was starting to look a little drunk, though she'd sounded drunken ages ago. Didn't she say she was going to pace herself?

I reached for the sake container but found it empty, I checked the next two and they were empty as well.

"We're out of sake," I complained. "You guys drink too fast,"

Ayame cackled. "You drink too slowly," she took a deep breath and bellowed, "NEE-SAN! More sake, please!"

Kouta held his ears that had suddenly transformed and simmered at Ayame.

"Yes, yes," Hinata yelled from her room, "I'll bring it in a minute,"

"Kazama, you should get a tattoo," Ayame recommended.

I decided to humor her. "Why should I get a tattoo?"

"Because, look at your skin: it's so smooth and flawless," she said, poking my neck. "Well, 'sides the hole in your chest," she slurred, patting my shoulder.

She rested her hand on my shoulder, squinting at me. I gazed back, wondering what she was looking at. Carefully, I peeled her hand off.

"Your cheeks are almost as red as yer eyes," she covered her mouth with the hand I returned to her. "You haven't even drank that much," she sniggered. "Don't tell me you can't handle yer alcohol,"

"You're drunk," I taunted, ruffling her bangs. And seeing things, I said to myself.

She didn't bother to fix them, even though they were sticking every which way and Kouta guffawed when she turned his way. I grinned; she was influenced by the sake.

"He's flushed, right, Kouta?" she shook him, though he was still cracking up.

"I think you're all a little drunk," Hinata answered, glowering from the doorway, with more sake.

Ayame seemed to have lost her fear of her sister for the moment. "Nee-san, have a drink with us, you're not smiling,"

Hinata laid the tray of sake down and left before her look of detest could turn into anything more. Ayame didn't notice and reached for the sake.

Kouta held his cup out to her and I joined him. She looked confused.

"Pour us some sake, o' violent one," Kouta fake pleaded.

"Un," I agreed.

She obeyed, brooding quietly.

A shadow fell over me as I raised the cup to lips.

"Hah? You've never poured sake for me before," I looked behind me, disgruntled by a tall and willowy man. I would have thought he was a woman if not for the fact that his yukata was open across his chest. His face was soft like a woman's. "What's changed since last I saw you? You've become so tame,"

"Aniki! You came?" Kouta shouted warmly, smiling dumbly. I could see the resemblance between the two of them, though Hayate seemed bolder and more confident than his little brother.

Ayame struggled to get her legs from under her, using my shoulder as a support. It twinged and I grabbed her forearm, forcing her to stay seated. "Hayate, you bastard, how dare you show yer face so late at night?"

He sat between us, graciously putting his arm around her shoulders. That wasn't the type of greeting I was expecting. He leaned down, as though to kiss her, and got a headbutt instead. I chuckled as he rubbed his jaw.

"You put me through the floorboards last time I tried that," he recalled.

"I don't remember," Ayame saucily replied.

Hayate leaned over her, stealing Kouta's sake. He poured himself some, ignoring his brother's embittered features.

"Ah, this is so boring. Sake parties are only fun when you're being rowdy, Ayame-sama. I miss the days when you rampaged," he reminisced.

"You're being awfully intimate with her considering I've heard you hate half breeds," I remarked.

"Heh? Ayame's strength has captured my heart and held it hostage these past years,"

Ayame drew her lips back from her teeth, grimacing at the disgusting form of praise. Her demeanor said she was annoyed and her curled fist told me she was about to punch him harder than he could take.

"Why haven't you been around since the last day of the year then?"

His narrowed eyes and upturned lips seemed to be paper thin. "Well,"

She cut him off with an irritated grunt. "You just want to stay on my good side,"

His countenance changed, playful tone melting. "Am I forgiven?"

Kouta frowned at them, wondering what they were talking about, just as I was.

Ayame sobered for a second, peering down into her sake cup. "Yer forgiven, now get out of my sight,"

He adhered, vanishing in a flash. The atmosphere had suffered but returned to life as soon as Kouta and Ayame began to bicker again.

I hadn't realized I'd been trying to catch up with them and discovered the jugs empty again.

"Nee-san! More sake, please!"

I thought I might actually end up with a hangover.

XD I don't think Oni can get hangovers :P you know, accelerated healing and all, probably a fast metabolism as well =w= makes me so jealous.

Review please :D