Waking Up

Kuronue groaned as he shifted and a wing bent the wrong way. The pain shot through his bones and he bolted upright, clutching at his wing, gasping and gritting his teeth. He opened his eyes and his surroundings slowly came into clarity. "Where the hell am I?" he muttered to himself. The place looked like an infirmary, but his mind was still a blur.

"This is my home, young lad," a brawny old woman appeared in front of him. Though old, she was tall, around 5ft 6, and her presence easily told him she was not to be messed with. The old were the most deadly in Makai anyway; people to be feared and respected for they no doubt encountered and beat anyone and anything in order to live so long. No demon usually survived to be old or ancient, though they were considered immortal by humans.

The bat demon bowed his head in acknowledgment and then asked again, "What is this place? Who are you?" as he went to examin her again, he took more notice of her looks. The old lady wore sky blue hakama, and a blossom pink haori, but her feet were bare. Her hair was the same besides the fact there was more silver from her age. Her eyes were faded silver-blue, telling him she either didn't see much or was blind. Besides this fact, they held clear emotions, and at the moment they were quite amused.

"This is the palace you tried to steal my Golden Mirror of Desire from, Kuronue," she eyed him up and down, "My name is Sakura."

Kuronue's eyes widened, remembering what had happened, "That other woman, Tsunaia, she told you my name, didn't she?" he asked.

"No, I heard Youko call it out," Sakura shrugged, "Oh, and if you're wondering about him, he's safe. However, there's no way or us to contact him to let him know of your safety."

"I'll just go then, he probably thinks I'm dead," The bandit went to move his legs over the edge of the bed he was in, but pain shot through him from various places. The pain made him dizzy and he felt a gentle hand move him to lie back down, "I guess I can't leave yet…"

"No, you can't. Also, he does thing you're dead. He abandoned the Mirror to get my guards of his back, and a woman accompanied him, throwing off their presence making him difficult to track," Sakura started changing the bandages on his abdomen.

Kuronue frowned and said, "Just like Nira and Youko. You'll never find him then, but I'm not about to tell you where they are," he growled, "I'm surprised you're helping me instead of keeping me in a dungeon for stealing."

Sakura raised a grey-pink eyebrow, "Really now? I wasn't expecting you to tell us where your friends are. However, I can lock you up if it'll make you happy. There are indeed a lot of bounties on your head, dead or alive, I'm sure I'll be paid handsomely if I hand you over." She smirked as Kuronue huffed and looked away, "That's what a thought, now shut up while I bandage you."

Kuronue just grunted again and stayed quiet. He even took a small nap since whatever ointment she used made him sleepy. Though, the next time he woke up, it was to pleasurable shivers as a new hand touched his wings. This one was a bit calloused around the tips of the fingers, but it wasn't wrinkly like Sakura or scaly like the nurses he encountered when he was first bandaged. These hands were smooth and soft. To find out whom it was, he open his eyes and he was greeted by a familiar face surrounded by ocean blue wavy locks, "Tsunaia?"

"You remember my name, that's fantastic," Tsunaia said with a giggle, "Most patients don't. How did you sleep?" she never stopped soothing his hurt wing with her water.

The bat demon hummed in delight, "I slept well. How long was I out this whole time, though?"

"About a week, you lost a lot of blood," she answered.

"Wonderful…I need to cut myself," Kuronue just then noticed he was wearing a sleep kimono instead of his bandit outfit, and his ribbons were gone. He sat up and looked around, "Where's my switch blade?"

"What the /hell/ are you talking about?" Tsunaia panicked.

Kuronue rolled his eyes, "Relax, woman, it's something I have to do. My blood is full of magic instead of an element, and it gets built up. If I don't release it, as in cut myself to bleed, I could die. That's what these are from, that my ribbons covered," he showed her his scar-covered arms.

Tsunaia bit her lip, chocolate brown eyes calculating, "How much do you have to release?"

"About a pint every day, but since I lost a lot of blood that one day, and it's been almost a week…" Kuronue thought about it, "I need to release about three pints."

"I have a system that can drain your blood without you having to cut yourself, it is similar to what humans use," Tsunaia got up and went to the cabinets. She came back with a tube attached to a needle, "In Human Hospitals they call this an IV, whatever that means. Then this tube attaches to this bag that your blood drains to, and a pint will fill one of these bags. It can also go back into your body if you have a mass amount of blood loss like when you got hurt."

The bat demon grinned and he held out his arm, "Arigato, Naia. This will sure be a whole lot less messy, too."

Tsunaia smiled, "You're welcome, I'm glad to help." She put everything together and then stuck the needle into a vein. After the whole process, she put the bags in a freezer and went back to the bandit, "How are you feeling?"

Kuro laughed, "A whole lot better, arigato, Naia. Look," he moved his wings freely and his violet eyes sparkled, "Take the bandages off, please."

The water user did so and gasped, "They're all healed! How is that possible?"

"The magic in my blood was built up, like I thought," Kuro said, "Once you helped me release it, it started flowing normally, and my wounds healed. Not all of them, but my wings and the lesser wounds are. The worse ones are starting to, but my abdomen and leg will take a while. I should be fully healed by tomorrow night."

"Do you think you'll be able to walk with support to later tonight?"

"I'm sure I'll be able to by then. Why, though? I'd think you'd want me to stay here and rest."

"Of course, but it's a full moon tonight. I need to perform my monthly worship to the Moon Goddess."

"Moon Goddess? Are you a Miko or something?"

"Have you not noticed the outfit?" Tsunaia asked amusedly. She stepped back to let Kuro look and she wore a white haori and dark blue hakama. Like Sakura she wore nothing on her feet. He liked how she carried herself, proudly and confidently. He also secretly admired her voluptuous body, the way her body curved in all the right places, hips perfect for grabbing and holding onto, long legs judging by the hakama length...what? He was a guy!

Kuro shook his head, "No, I hadn't noticed. I was too busy watching your face. You give the most interesting expressions, but otherwise you're quite serene."

Tsunaia blinked, and then narrowed her eyes, "You and Youko are famous womanizers, don't try and flatter me, Kuronue." She went to the door and was about to leave.

"No, no, no, don't go!" Kuronue reached his arm out and on reflex jumped out of the bed to try and follow, but he instantly regretted it as his injured legs buckled and he fell to his knees, cursing all the while. Why did her leaving make him panic so bad? Ugh, this was not like him!

Naia went over to him quickly, "Kuro, are you alright?" she helped him back onto the bed, "Baka! Don't be reckless."

"You misunderstand, Naia," Kuronue told the water user, "Youko's the womanizer, not me. I got the reputation because when I go out partying with him I am usually drunk when I get laid. Youko can flirt and snatch any woman without trying most of the time. I'm more laid back, more of a follower." He smiled crookedly and said, "What I said to you was the truth. I was paying more attention to your face than your body."

"Alright, alright, I believe you," She soothed as she forced him to lay down. She shook her head, "I have to go prepare for tonight, I'll leave you here to rest, okay?"

"Alright, I'll see you later, then?" He really didn't want to see her go, but she had things to do...

"Of course." Naia patted his uninjured shoulder and smiled before leaving the room.