They emerged into sunlight a little over a half an hour later and Kuroi was already sheathing her sword as Midori emerged, blinking. Directly in front of them stood a large house, two stories tall and built of a several additions that stood out as different colors against the aged wood of the main building. A large deck spread out from the front door and wrapped around the corners, disappearing under the edges of the hanging blue tarps. There was very little doubt that the roof was in the need of repair, as a huge pile of shingles lined the wall of the cliff next to the wall. It was the tarps themselves that made up the roof, although one or two had blown up from its anchor and was folded over to reveal a hole like a gaping wound.
"You weren't kidding about needing help," muttered Gojyo, taking in the sight of the roof.
"I smell food!" exclaimed Goku, his face brightening. Midori grinned as the screen door to the house popped open and something hurtled at an amazing speed directly into Kuroi's face.
"Get your psychopathic, blood trail leaving ass down to the river and wash up!" snapped an irate voice just as soon as the soap connected with the girl's forehead. "Now!" A woman smaller than even Midori stormed out of the front door and paid no attention to the four men standing in her backyard. "If I've told you a thousand times-!"
"I know, I know, all right!" Kuroi snapped, bending down to the scoop up the soap. "For the love the gods, you'd think I'd get a little respect around here, for all that I do for you-"
"Do for me!" yelped the woman, who orange-red hair was almost on end with annoyance. "I'm the one that cleans up your messes! The only thing you do for me is make my back hurt!" Kuroi stalked into the house, shoulders hunched forward, soap clutched so tightly in her fist she was leaving a trail of crumbs. "And make it quick! Dinner's almost ready!"
"Soyo?" The timid inquiry was Midori, who was all but hiding behind the nearest of the male travelers – fortunately for her, it was Hakkai, who was the least likely to take advantage of the situation. By least likely, it is meant that he "wasn't Gojyo", and therefore, not going to try at all.
"I'm sorry for my outburst," said the new woman. "That girl just frustrates me, s'all… anyway, I'm Soyo Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you." She gave a bow, one loop of a three looped braid falling down over her shoulder. "Thank you so much for agreeing to help. We really do need it."
"I'll be back after awhile!" Kuroi was trotting down the steps, clad only in a towel obviously made to wrap a much shorted person, loose sandals, and her sword over her shoulders. She paused for a second to twist her hair up with a thin black chopstick and almost lost her towel in the process. Soyo rolled her eyes and was on the verge of speaking when Gojyo beat her to it.
"Maybe I should walk with you," he volunteered. "You said there have been a lot of demons in the area lately and…" Kuroi was giving him the strangest look anyone had ever given him in response to his attempts to see a little action. After a moment, she shrugged and waved her hand dismissively.
"Works for me. Come on," she said, hefting a basket of soap and wash cloth under her arm. "You're holding up the process and Soyo can be a real bitch when you keep her waiting."
"I'll show you bitch, you little-" Soyo started to turn as Gojyo began to saunter after the girl. There was no other word for it, Hakkai felt. It was a saunter.
"I have a dent in the middle of my forehead that says you already have, anechan," commented Kuroi in a singsong voice. Soyo's jaw worked and she shoulders tightened, but Midori laid a hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay," soothed the brown haired girl. "She doesn't mean it."
"Little smart mouthed brat," muttered Soyo, but there was the beginning of a smile on her lips. Midori gave a tiny, exasperated sigh.
"Let's go have some tea," she said, more to herself than anyone else. "If you'd like, I can tell you the story of this place. It's too dark to do any work on the roof, in any case. I'm sorry if we're delaying your trip."
"It's all right," Hakkai assured her. "I think this will be an interesting diversion, don't you, Sanzo?" The priest didn't answer, but instead asked a question of his own.
"Is there some place I can smoke?" Soyo raised an eyebrow, then motioned to the side of the house.
"In the garden, in the back, if you promise not to light anything on fire."
"Hn," was her answer, and Sanzo, as well, sauntered off, but with less of a perverse overtone. Midori directed the remaining two guests to the house, promising to Goku that dinner would be ready soon as she did.
Inside, the house was in much better shape. It was obvious that an effort has been made to keep the furnishings clean and mended, and the room smelled of fresh paint. Midori invited them to sit on a large blue couch as she settled into a chair, and Soyo went into the kitchen just off the sitting room to get the tea. Whatever she was cooking did smell wonderful, and Goku squirmed in his seat, craning his neck for a peek.
"You know," Midori's tone was light and teasing, "I'm sure Soyo could use an extra set of hands, what with Pehji working in her garden and Kuroi… taking a bath. Would you be so kind as to-" It wasn't necessary for her to finish the thought, as Goku took his cue early and bounded into the kitchen, offering his services in a loud, hopeful voice. Midori giggled as they heard Soyo's slightly shocked, if amused, acceptance.
"He's very enthusiastic," she commented, folding her hands in her lap. Hakkai's chuckle was only mildly dry.
"He is," he agreed. Soyo rushed in with a tray of tea, muttered something about not leaving her new "assistant" unsupervised, and then bustled out again.
"My sisters," began Midori, leaning forward to pour the tea from the pale green pot into the white cups, "are not blood related, as you may have guessed. At only one point in time were any children in this house blood related, and that was when Soyo, her brother, and older sister were all living under this roof." She passed a cup to Hakkai and gave a wry smile, "What's left of it, at least." He returned the smile and sipped the tea carefully as Midori lifted the pot to pour a cup for herself. Her fingers were only delicately wrapped around the handle, as if she was prepared to drop it at a moment's notice. These were the not the same hands that had clutched a pair of daggers so tightly just earlier that day.
"Soyo's brother was always a bit of a vagrant. He travels, and sends home things on occasion, money sometimes, presents others. Her sister is married and lives in the village." She straightened and the kept the tea poised in her lap, ready to drink. Her eyes were trained on the steam that danced above the edge of the cup.
"Kuroi is our youngest," she continued. "Soyo is our oldest. That is speaking strictly age wise. Our parents were full blooded demons. When the shadow wave passed through…" Her hands began to tremble, and she steeled her shoulders to calm herself. "As you can see," she started again, her voice forced into a level tone, "there are only the four of us left. Before the wave, eleven people lived here. Us girls, our parents, my husband, and two other full blooded demons. Pehji is the only one that held on to her sanity." Hakkai was intrigued by her choice of words – "sanity", not "humanity". He wasn't going to call her on the difference, but there was something else that nagged at him from her words.
"Your husband was…?" he inquired gently, not wanting to push too far, or to seem too nosy. She had been the one, after all, to start this conversation. He was only in the position to ask questions. An orphanage of demons and humans – such a thing was an uncommon, but, to Hakkai, not at all a bad thing. At least, in theory.
"My husband was a goodly creature." Her words were clipped, and her hands began to tremble again. "He… let himself lose control. He wanted to protect me, but then all he could do was leave me. It was… a hard time. For all of us." Another shake of her shoulders, and she was calm again.
"Forgive me for boring you with this," she went on, sipping her tea. "It's been a long while since we've had visitors at this house. My manners abandon me, it appears." Hakkai shook his head and set his tea down to reach up a free hand to pet the dragon curled upon his shoulder.
"The shadow wave, as you call it, caused a lot of problem for a lot of people," he agreed. "Hopefully, someone is trying to right things." He sipped his tea again while she raised an eyebrow.
"… right," she agreed, not entirely sure what to make of that statement. "What of you and your companions? You seem to be an… interesting collective. Are you brothers?"
"Probably not in so many words," chuckled Hakkai, rubbing the back of his head and chuckling. "We're just travelers, trying to find fame and fortune, and all of that." He continued to chuckle, almost nervously, which only made her raise her eyebrow even higher.
"I see," she stated. "That is… interesting." There was a lag in conversation, broken by what appeared to be singing coming from the kitchen. Hakkai looked up and over, but there was a solid partition between him and the action. Then came the question he had been expecting all along.
"You friend, the red haired one – what are his intentions with my sister?" Midori's face was lowered into her tea cup, but her eyes were locked solidly onto the dark haired man, who, while he had been expecting the question, was now quite suddenly not sure what to answer with.
"Probably not good," he answered, feeling a need to be only slightly less than honest. There was no doubt that Gojyo's intentions were "not good", but to come right out and say was a very crude way to handle a delicate situation.
Midori nodded her head and her lip twitched into a smirk.
"So long as he doesn't hurt her, she won't have to kill him," she answered as Hakkai buried himself in drinking his tea. For a moment, the statement surprised him and the word "ambush" began to call strongly in his mind. Then, Midori continued with, "which is funny, because I've heard tell my sister likes it rough."
Hakkai had never choked harder on tea in his life.0
