Yukina shuffled down the hall, holding a tray weighed down with a simple meal of grilled fish and rice. Kuwabara walked slightly behind to her right, feeling a little better about Chijou after seeing that she was more tame with Yukina than she had been earlier with Genkai (or rather, to herself, after Genkai so generously triggered the realization of memory loss). Seeing the wounds on Chijou's face as only faded traces of what they were prior to the healing gave Kuwabara a sense of relief and gratefulness towards the koorime.
"Kazuma-san, be sure to keep your voice steady when you speak to Chijou. She is skittish still, I think," Yukina told Kuwabara, who nodded in response and made a mental note that he needed to refrain from using his normal tone of speaking.
Yukina stepped back, allowing him to open the door before she padded in, noticing that Chijou had sat up rather quickly upon hearing the door creak.
"We've brought you some food," Yukina said softly, kneeling down to place the tray beside the futon. She picked up the bowl of rice and without hesitation took Chijou's hand, bringing it to the bowl as well. "Here, some rice."
Chijou had flinched at the contact, but when her hand touched the bowl she all but snatched it from Yukina, bringing it to her nose to sniff it cautiously. Kuwabara inhaled sharply but did not say anything at the sudden movement, choosing instead to kneel behind Yukina to her right once more.
"Oh, careful!" Yukina let out a surprised squeak as Chijou started shoveling the rice into her mouth with her bare hand, inhaling the grains without even so much as chewing. Yukina brought her hands up to stop the other girl, but Kuwabara held his own arm out quickly.
"Don't mess with people like that when they eat food, Yukina," he cautioned, his eyes narrowed as if he suddenly knew everything about Chijou, "she's like a cat… she might bite you. I mean, she already clawed herself," he whispered the last part, glancing at the other girl to make sure she didn't hear. But since almost her entire face was shoved into the diminishing bowl of rice, he assumed she didn't.
Considering how easy it was to get Chijou to eat (she had even taken the fish from Kuwabara's hands), it was substantially more difficult to get her into a bath. Rather, it was hard to get her to sit on a stool and wash herself before the bath. Yukina had helped her undress, but once on the strange tile floor of the bathroom, Chijou was on high alert. The koorime had guessed that being in a new room was a little iffy for the girl, but she knew that once she had relaxed in the water she would probably be willing to come here more often.
"Let's wash up before we get into the bath, okay?" Yukina said, folding her own clothes and leaving them on the shelf beside the door. She knew that Kurama was outside of the door in case of an emergency, but she (again) felt the slight pang of annoyance at the fact that everyone around her (perhaps minus Genkai) felt the need to treat her with such discretion. If anything, Yukina knew what she was doing when helping this girl more than the boys did.
Holding Chijou's arm gently, she lead her over to one of the stools. "We sit here and wash before we relax in the bath," she explained, patting the girl's shoulder as she tensed considerably. "It's okay, here, I'll help you wash your hair."
When Yukina started the showerhead water, she saw Chijou jump to her feet and back away as if something had burned her. She hadn't touched the water yet, though.
Thinking back to Kazuma's comment earlier, Yukina couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "You are like a cat."
Setting the running showerhead on the ground beside the drain, Yukina walked over once more to Chijou, but this time instead of holding her arm, she reached down and held her hand instead, hoping for a more personal and assuring touch. "This won't hurt at all."
Chijou's expression did not change, and she even tugged her hand back slightly, though not away from Yukina's grip. She seemed more worried about this water than she had about the fact that she was being forced to stay in the temple.
"Here, come feel the water and see if it's too hot.
Yusuke swore up and down that he hated questioning and being around Chijou (especially looking at her eyes, which he tried to avoid), but by the third day of questioning he had to admit that after she had calmed down, it wasn't as uncomfortable being around her. A few more days of this wouldn't kill him (unless Chijou actually was going to turn on them). Kurama still did most of the talking, though. They hadn't made much progress on the stance of her memories or anything similar, but Kurama noted that sometimes Chijou would say something that perhaps hinted to her background.
"We've already gotten through everything basic I suppose," Kurama said, putting his pad of paper and pen down beside the cushion he was knelt upon. "Since you don't remember anything thus far, do you mind if I maybe try to… relay some of the information you've given that has allowed me to theorize about you, Chijou?"
Chijou's lips tinned, confusion evident on her face, but she still nodded her head slightly. "Theor…ize?"
"Yes, I've come to the conclusion that you are fully human. However, when we speak of Yukina and Kuwabara, you only ever refer to Kuwabara as 'orange,' and even Yusuke as 'green.' That tells me that, obviously, you cannot see well enough to distinguish features, but you can see color. Which is good. You've also referred to Kuwabara as 'Yukina's man,' which could say a lot of things, but I think that wherever you are from had a female in the highest position of power."
Yusuke noted that Kurama had not discerned the difference in their own references on the part of Chijou, how Yukina and Kurama were referred to as their own names. His lip twitched up a bit when he remembered Chijou referring to Kuwabara as 'Yukina's man,' but he realized he had thought nothing of it at the time. Kuwabara was always at Yukina's heels and had obvious feelings for her after all.
Chijou's nose scrunched up a bit as she mumbled, "No remember…" but after a moment she hung her head, letting out a soft sigh, "no remember… clearly. I…" she held her hand out, clenching it into a fist before relaxing it back out so her palm was visible to them, "feel… maybe Kurama and that kind, not so much common?"
Yusuke thought that her speech was getting to be clearer as they spoke more with her, but something about what she had just said put him on edge.
"That kind?" Yusuke repeated, brows furrowing. "What do you mean, 'that kind'?"
"Yusuke, I think she means men. Men were not common where she was."
Kuwabara was much more relaxed around Chijou after helping Yukina with her meals. It was breakfast, possibly the end of the week, but he wasn't keeping track as much as Kurama seemed to be.
He followed after Yukina, this time holding the tray in his hands with a sense of pride. Chijou had been taking food from him more often these days, and gaining the trust of someone made him feel good about himself. He no longer felt as cautious around her, and things were seeming to settle down with the whole situation. They still hadn't heard anything about her past, though, and Kurama said that he had theories, but none of them fit the pieces of the puzzle together quite right.
When Yukina entered the room, Chijou was already sitting up on her futon, feet tucked beneath her and hands folded in her lap properly, as she had been taught by the koorime.
"Oh, you don't have to sit like that for so long, Chijou!" Yukina hurried over, kneeling before the other girl and looking over her legs with worry. "You'll lose circulation if you sit like that for too long. How long have you been up?"
"Polite," replied Chijou, wiggling her legs out from under her and moving so that her feet were free.
Yukina sighed, smiling slightly and then motioning for Kuwabara to come in. He obliged and sat next to her, legs crossed. Putting the tray in front of him he said, "We brought you something new this morning!"
Shifting her attention from Yukina, Chijou looked over to Kuwabara, sniffing at the air a bit. Her eyes slid down to the food, though Kuwabara was sure she couldn't see what it actually was.
Taking his chance again, Kuwabara lifted the bowl of fresh berries and leaned forward to touch it to Chijou's arm. She brought her hand up and took the bowl slowly, guiding it to her nose to sniff at it once more. Kuwabara watched as she plucked a berry from the bowl and plopped it on her tongue, and he leaned forward as she chewed to see her reaction.
Her eyes widened slightly and she brought the hand that had plucked the berry, putting it on the other side of the bowl and holding it like a precious item that was given to her by the gods.
"New?" She asked, her eyes never leaving the bowl in her hands.
"Yeah, they're raspberries!" Kuwabara replied, his smile widening. "Do you like them?"
Chijou bowed her head slightly, taking in a deep breath. Both Yukina and Kuwabara watched as she began to eat the berries once more, seeming to savor each one of them.
"You must really like them, you never eat this slow!"
Chijou halted her movements at Kuwabara's exclamation, her head snapping up sharply in his directly. He flinched at her movements, not liking the glare she was now throwing his way.
She looked at him for a few seconds before she looked back down at the bowl, muttering, "Special meal, idiot."
Sputtering for a response, Kuwabara bellowed, "Did you learn that from Urameshi?!"
Hello! Happy Friday! I'm trying to show a slight progression of relationships between everyone and Chijou, and I think that next chapter will possibly be the other week of moments, or after the fact, or whatever I think of I guess! I know where I wanna take this for sure but when it comes to putting those ideas into practice and writing it proves a little more difficult!
Anyway, I tried to do these from the perspectives of a few of the team members, mainly Kuwabara, as I think he and Chijou are going to have a special relationship since he is basically the one who cut her from the ground. Not like a ROMANCE but you know, just a close relationship. She and Yukina already are pretty close, and I like the intimacy of bathing together as a way to bring them closer. Chijou is starting to pick up mannerisms and words from others, though! Her speech is still stilted and everyone will find out why when her past is revealed!
Thanks for reading! look forward to another update next Friday, hopefully! :)